Princess Cadence and Shining Armor have alicorn fillies. One is normal, the other, not quite.
A couple years after moving out of the Crystal Empire castle to live alongside and more like their subjects, Princess Cadence and Shining Armor decide that they are ready to have a foal. They got twin alicorn fillies, and couldn't be happier (they tried).
One of these fillies is Skyla, and aside from being an alicorn, is pretty much normal. The other one is Inova, a (literally) reborn human.
In the castle of the Crystal Empire, two ponies, a mare and a stallion, were getting ready to sleep. These two ponies had been married for almost ten years and loved each other dearly, and wouldn't give up the other for the world. Their love was truly powerful and powerfully true.
These ponies, known to the world as Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, soon got in their oversized bed and cuddled up next to each other. Unbeknownst to them, a fly was buzzing around in one of the homes of their subjects. This fly also went unnoticed by said subject, who was away on vacation.
"Shiny?" Princess Cadence asked.
"Yes, Cadence?" Shining Armor asked back.
"Does living in the castle seem like a bit too much to you at times?"
"Well, it is nice living here, but it does get a bit overwhelming at times. Why do you ask?"
"I've been thinking over the past week about moving out. I want to live in a house like our subjects do."
"Oh?"
"Yes. The first time I came to your place to foalsit Twilight, well, that was the first time I had been in a more normal house. Before then, it was either a castle or mansion that I was in. And at first, I felt rather uncomfortable in the house. It was close in ways I wasn't used to, and much smaller than any other residence I'd been in."
"I still remember your face when you saw how close the kitchen was to the living room" Shining said, a fond smile on his muzzle.
"Well excuse me for being used to going through halls and doors to get anywhere before then" Cadence snarked.
"Okay, okay. You are excused. Go on."
"Thank you. But as I spent more time at your house, I began to feel differently about it. The closeness, both of the house and its occupants, became rather comforting. I actually started looking forward to foalsitting Twilight because I could escape the lavish, empty vastness of the other places."
"And then you started visiting us."
"Oh, yes I did."
"You came by so often that we started to consider you an honorary family member. We even turned the spare bedroom into 'your' room."
"Yes, yes you did."
"And after the first night you spent with us, we had fake adoption papers ready at breakfast."
"I remember that. Those papers are still in the scrapbook. Anyways, I want a closeness like that again. Besides, I don't like living at my workplace. I have to sleep lighter than I'd like in case I have to take care of something, and the sheer vastness is a bit much at times."
"I agree with you there. What kind of house do you want?" Shining Armor pulled out a quill, inkpot, and scroll, ready to take notes.
"I want a one story house with three bedrooms, a large bathroom, a cozy living room, a fairly large kitchen and dining room, and perhaps a space for our hobbies."
"What if we have a basement for the hobby space? We could split it into separate areas for our own purposes, and it would let us keep our private projects more private."
"Ooh, I like the sound of that. And how about some outdoor space too?"
"That sounds good. And if we find a house we like without a basement, we can just have it added on."
"Oh, yes. Let's take the next few days off to do some house shopping!" Cadence was giddy at the prospect.
"Alright. I have all our desires on here, so let's get some sleep."
Soon, an alicorn and unicorn were asleep together, the prospect of a home outside the castle on their minds all the while.
~The next day, after looking at lots of houses~
"None of the houses we looked at work for me" Shining said as he flopped onto the bed, his hooves aching slightly from walking all over the empire.
"Really?" Cadence asked as she flopped across his back.
"The ones that were close to here felt too spacious, and the ones further away felt a bit too small. Those that had the right amount of interior space didn't have enough of an outdoor area."
Cadence was silent as she thought for a bit. "What if we have our dream house built?"
"That could work. All we need to do is find a plot of land and somepony willing to build there."
"I don't think we need to worry about finding somepony willing to build for us. We just need the right plot of land."
"How about you fly around, use a sight sharing and telepathy spell, and we can look that way?"
"Tomorrow."
~Tomorrow and After~
Cadence was flying around the Crystal Empire, looking at empty plots of land. After an hour of searching, she and Shining Armor saw the perfect plot of land. They both took note of where it was and set out to buy it. At least Shining Armor did. Cadence went out to find a construction company. Both were done fairly quickly and met up at the plot of land, where blueprints were started.
Over the next six months, construction of the house went smoothly, which shouldn't be much of a surprise in the Crystal Empire, where the temperature and weather conditions were constant at all times. While the house was being built, Cadence and Shining Armor looked at furniture. They did not go all-out with their considered options and eventual purchases.
The move out of the castle and into the new house went very smoothly, thanks to the help of Celestia, Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. By sheer coincidence, those exact same ponies were invited to a small housewarming party immediately after the move was finished.
As Cadence and Shining Armor continued living in the house, they did stuff they couldn't have done, or at least not with the same degree of freedom, at the castle.
Shining Armor found out why he was never allowed to cook when he burned a cold lettuce, tomato, and daisy sandwich. Much to Cadence's horror, he vowed to improve his cooking skills.
Cadence took up painting. Under the pseudonym of Credenza, she made some extra bits by selling the paintings.
As they got used to living in their house over a couple of years, thoughts of having foals crossed their minds. Eventually, they acted upon these thoughts in a scene the author is not willing to write.
~A week later~
"Princess, you are pregnant" the doctor said.
"Whoo!" Cadence and Shining Armor happily exclaimed before giving each other a double high hoof.
"With twins" the doctor added.
Reportedly, two unicorn head shaped holes appeared in the ceiling after those words, and the room would forever be tainted with a sense of happiness. Coincidentally, Shining Armor and Cadence had a painful headache over the next few days. The chances of these all being related are about the same as the doctor mentioning that the due date would be anywhere from late April to early May.
The next eleven months were filled with sleeping, eating, working, and other normal things, with the exception of Cadence being pregnant. It took both a long time and practically no time, along with many meals seasoned with thyme, but eventually, it was time for the foals to come into the world.
Life on Earth is interesting. It is a miracle of natural chemistry and time. It is a force to be reckoned with, for it can choose how to shape the world around it. It can do and create almost anything it wants to, whether by direct means or through the use of tools. Without life, a planet may as well be dead.
Life on Earth is boring. I wake up, feed my cat, Notch, and either get ready for work, get ready to take care of errands, or start doing things around the house. Today was not a work or errand day, and I had nothing planned with anyone either, so I decided to work on a few projects of mine.
The first of these projects was making sure my bed didn't go anywhere. I did this by keeping my full weight on it. I most certainly did not decide to simply sleep in until noon. That would be silly.
After I had made sure my bed wasn't going anywhere, I got started on my next project: sketching out designs for fantastic armor, weapons, and machines. Among my favorite designs were armor mounted weapons and giant robots.
My day from there on consisted of me listening to music, posting some pictures of my designs on my modestly followed blog, amusing Notch when she wanted attention, and snacking occasionally. It's not difficult for me to get wrapped up in these designs and spend hours at a time on them.
Eventually, I had to get to sleep for the night. I was getting tired and I had work tomorrow. I finished up my current sketch and then went straight to bed. I did not pass Go and I did not collect $200. I did find a quarter, though.
As usual, Notch claimed her spot on the bed shortly after I was comfortable. Tonight, she stretched herself across my neck. An odd position, but she's a cat, they do what they want, and it's not the first time she's slept there. Sleep came just as it had thousands of times before for me as well.
~-----~
"Greetings, human" a booming voice said, pulling me from fully asleep straight to fully awake. The first thing I noticed was a lack of a sleeping cat near me, followed immediately, almost simultaneously, by the space I was in. It was a pure void; truly colorless, lacking black, white, or anything. A moment later, I saw a giant, scary looking robot with menacing red eyes approach me. The giant dual bladed scythe it carried did not help it look friendly at all. "I am Death, and you are here for a reason."
I couldn't muster up enough courage to even vocalize a simple greeting, let alone a coherent question.
"Your time has come to leave Earth and move on to your next life." Death continued. "I must congratulate you though. Very few have managed to avoid everything that would have killed them just by staying home for the day."
With great effort, I managed to get my brain to work and devised a most eloquent response to Death's statement. "Huh?"
"I had set up multiple instances of fatal car crashes that would only happen if your car was there, tainted food that, once again, would only happen if you were there, and even had situations where a bullet would be what did you in. But you managed to avoid all that by staying home. As a result, I had to make a hard kill with you. Do you have any questions for me?"
I was speechless for a bit before I spoke. "Why me? What's going to happen now?"
"You are going to be reborn as royalty on a planet not too far from Earth. I do not know why you got chosen for it, just that you did." I didn't even see the scythe come at me and only figured that it had from seeing that I was now held in the crook where the blades attached to the shaft. "And our time here is done. Never again shall we meet, and never shall you remember your time with me." With that, Death swung his scythe, flinging me away to somewhere in the universe. Before I could see where I was going, everything went dark and my mind seemed to fragment and shatter.
~-----~
It's warm and dark here, if a bit wet. I feel. . . safe. Like nothing can hurt me. I'd love to just stay here forever. However, a part of me seems to not be fully in here, like the space is just a bit too small for me.
"Alright Princess, we can see the second one's horn. Just push a bit and she should come out." Huh? What was that sound? And why do I feel like I'm moving?
After a minute or so, I feel a strong force push me out of my warm and dark area into a cold and bright one. With my eyes shut, I started to cry, wanting to go back to the warm, comfortable darkness. Not even being dried by something soft and warm helps; it's still bright and something else is getting at me. A sound, I think?
Even as I'm put in an oddly comfortable embrace, the sound does not stop. I continued crying.
"Inova, please stop crying" a different, more comforting, and strangely familiar voice pleaded. I can't stop crying though, that sound is still there.
The sound seems to get quieter as I get more tired. I have just enough energy to start opening my eyes, and a multitude of voices speak up at once, and I can't make out what they're saying. As I adjusted to the light, I saw a lot of faces in many colors looking at me. The pink one seemed to be looking at me a bit differently than the others.
I mustered up the energy to look from them up to a different, lighter pink face. Something about it calmed me and before long, I was asleep.
~-----~
*Canterlot Times*
Princess Cadence Gives Birth to Twins
At 10:04 PM on April 30, 1015 ANM, in the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence gave birth to twin alicorn fillies. These future princesses have been named Skyla and Inova. Skyla is darker pink than Princess Cadence, her wings become purple towards the tips of her feathers, her mane and tail are violet and light yellow, and her eyes are light blue. Reportedly, nothing interesting happened with her delivery, which was the first of the two. The second filly, Inova, has a coat and wings of all orange, her mane and tail are black with light blue stripes, and has slightly darker blue eyes than Skyla. Apparently, she cried for about thirty minutes after delivery, not even stopping when given to Princess Cadence. She seemed to quiet down due to exhaustion before falling asleep in her mother's loving embrace.
The former bearers of the elements of harmony were all present. We asked each of them for a short opinion of the foals.
"They are both positively adorable" Ms. Rarity said.
"Ah don't know what to tell ya. I like them both" Applejack said.
"Um, I'd be willing to foalsit them" Fluttershy said.
"I think they're cool" Rainbow Dash said.
"I have extra curricular material planned for them already" Princess Twilight Sparkle stated.
"There's some greater force at work here" Pinkie Pie said, before putting on a tinfoil hat and running around like a madmare. We here at the Times love her antics.
We surveyed all of our staff members on this topic as well. General consensus is that the foals are adorable, we're curious about how they'll grow up, and that the bearer of laughter is crazy. Our reporters will conduct surveys throughout Canterlot for opinions, which we will present the results of next week.
It's been some number of days since I was born, and I haven't gotten anything in me. For some reason, the sight of mommy's teats or a bottle makes me cry until I fall asleep. I'm very weak right now, and movement is difficult. It's easier just to not move at all. The feeling of emptiness in my belly has faded to the background of my mind.
Today is a special day, apparently. Skyla and I are picked up and put in pouches on mommy's sides before we leave home. We're covered by her wings, and I like that. I decided it would be a good time for a nap.
When I'm woken up, we're in an unfamiliar room. Mommy's laying on the ground, and I soon feel myself being set against her chest, along with Skyla, who starts wandering around.
Soon, an unfamiliar pony came in. "Hello, your highness. I'm Dr. Softhoof, and I'll be your foals' pediatrician."
"Thank you" mommy said. "Could you start with Skyla?"
"Of course, Princess." The doctor lay down across from mommy and started looking over my sister. He also asked mommy things about her, which she answered.
After he finished with Skyla, I was floated over to him. After a few seconds of looking at me, he spoke. "I've never seen a foal in this bad of a shape. I think the only reason she's still alive is because she's probably immortal. Has she gotten any milk?"
"No" mommy said. "Every time she's presented a bottle or my teats, she cries herself to sleep. I don't know why she does that."
"Every time?"
"We try to get her to drink some milk when we feed Skyla, but she doesn't take to it at all. Shining Armor and I are actually considering having Twilight raise Inova until she's eating solid food."
"Princess Sparkle?" The doctor finished looking me over and I was floated back to mommy. Both her and the doctor sat up, Skyla and I at mommy's hooves.
"Yes. We're thinking of having her just teleport the milk into Inova's stomach."
"I wouldn't suggest doing that, your highness. Even if it's done slowly, teleporting the milk in won't end too well. Inova might also have trouble learning to eat properly later on as well."
"Hm?"
"If you were raised with milk and food being teleported into your stomach, what would you do with food set in front of you?"
Mommy was silent for a while. "Alright. So if teleporting isn't a viable option, what else can we do?"
"Either some mind altering spells, which I really don't like the sound of, or a nutrient drip."
Something inside me took note of those last two words. I don't know why they seemed to scare me, but I knew, somehow, how to avoid it. I went between mommy's legs and immediately found a teat, which I started nursing from. I did not stop until I felt full, at which point I was floated over mommy's shoulder and pat on the back until a small burp came out of me. For once, I was feeling sleepy in a good way.
"Well doctor, I don't think we'll have any problems with her not feeding again" mommy said. Not long after, I was asleep again.
*Afterwards*
Princess Cadence put Skyla and Inova back in their pouches after talking with Dr. Softhoof a bit more about them. After deciding on the next checkup date, Cadence paid for the appointment like any other pony would have to and left to head home.
When she got home, after doing some light grocery shopping, Inova was still asleep and Skyla still had plenty of energy. After putting the groceries away, Cadence lifted Skyla out of her pouch and set her on the floor, where she immediately started exploring. Inova was taken out and set on the couch, still asleep.
After spending some time with Skyla, Cadence set about making supper for herself and Shining Armor, who was still working back at the castle. It was his first day back since Inova and Skyla were born, so there was a bit of a backlog for him. Shining was liable to get caught up in his work, like his sister did, though he had a bit more restraint. He knew when to stop and take a break.
While she was waiting for Shining Armor, Cadence went ahead and started eating her supper. Fifteen minutes later, moments after finishing her food, Shining Armor came in.
"Hello, Shiny" Cadence greeted. "How was work?"
"Hey Cadence" Shining Armor replied. "Work was pretty good today. I didn't have as much of a backlog as I thought I did and finished all of it."
"That's some good news. But I have better news" Cadence levitated some food onto Shining's plate.
"Better than getting through a week's worth of backlog in a day?" He sat down and took a bite of his food. "Better than this meal?"
"Inova finally started nursing."
Shining Armor let that fact sink in for a bit. "How did you do it?"
"I was at the pediatrician's office with the fillies and the doctor. I was talking with him about what we might have to do to get Inova healthy again, when she moved and started nursing off of me. I don't know what brought it on, but I have a feeling she'll drink from now on, whether from me or a bottle."
"That is good."
"Yes it is. Speaking of the foals, it's about time to feed them. I'll go take care of that."
~-----~
I was awoken by mommy gently shaking my body.
"Inova, Skyla, it's your mealtime" she said. I don't know quite what she meant, but that feeling of emptiness I had so recently gotten rid of was back. Skyla and I were placed between mommy's legs and we both started nursing at the same time.
After we finished and burps gotten out of us, daddy came in. Skyla was given to daddy for some reason while mommy stayed with me. I decided to move around a bit to explore. The going was slow, and mommy helped me a lot. By the time I had managed to cross the room, I was tired and collapsed onto the floor slowly, aided by some force I couldn't see.
Mommy and I kept doing that for a while until something warm and wet appeared in my diaper. I didn't like how that felt and started crying. I felt myself floating and soon found myself on my back on a table with mommy over me. But even as she changed the diaper and cleaned me (which felt nice), I couldn't stop crying for some reason.
Just as I was about to fall asleep, something else warm and moist, more solid than the first thing, appeared in my diaper, causing me to cry loudly again. Once again, mommy changed my diaper and cleaned me, but I fell asleep during the cleaning. It felt nice.
---Interlude one: About two weeks old and at three in the morning---
“Cadey, the fillies are crying. Do you want to take care of Inova or Skyla?” Shining Armor groggily asked.
“Both of them? I only hear Skyla crying” Cadance said with a yawn.
“Give Inova a moment.” Sure enough, Inova could be heard crying alongside Skyla less than a minute later. “And there she goes.”
“Hm. I’ll take care of Skyla. You get Inova.”
“Right, right.”
Cadance and Shining Armor went to the foals’ room and picked up the filly they had chosen. Skyla wound up having a fully loaded diaper while Inova’s was still quite clean. While Skyla was getting her diaper changed, Shining Armor took Inova to the living room and set her on the couch before sitting on the floor himself and started thinking out loud.
“When you cry, you always cry yourself to sleep despite all efforts to calm you down. When your sister cries, you always start up a moment later and go on until you cry yourself to sleep, despite all efforts again.”
Shining Armor’s brain was still partially asleep and Inova was still crying, both making thinking a bit difficult. However, an idea did not escape him. To test his idea, he made two small soundproof barriers and gently placed them in Inova’s ears. Miraculously, her crying quieted down until she was simply awake, a tired look of relief on her face and an amazed look on his.
“Honey, I got Inova to stop crying!” Excitement and triumph were evident in his voice, along with an energy level he shouldn’t have at that point in the morning without copious amounts of caffeine, sugar, magic, or magical sugared caffeine.
“I’m almost done with Skyla. I’ll be there in a moment” Cadance said.
While he was waiting for his wife, Shining Armor gently dispelled the barriers, picked Inova up and gave her a hug, which she returned as best she could. Despite his efforts to set her back down on the couch, Inova did not want to let go.
Shining Armor relented and went back to the hug, and it was like that that Cadance found them. “How did you do it, Shiney? I’ve tried everything in the books and practically wrote a whole new one trying to get her to be quiet.”
“I figured out what makes her cry until she wears herself out. It’s one of the last things you’d probably expect though."
“Just tell me, please.”
“Only because you asked so nicely. What makes Inova cry herself to sleep, I believe, is that she’s hearing herself cry and that keeps her crying.”
“Wait, let me see if I have that straight. Inova cries herself to sleep because she hears herself crying?”
“More or less.”
“Does she like to hear herself crying or something?”
“No, I think it’s that she hates the sound of crying, but the only way she can show her discomfort is by crying. That spurs her to cry more.”
While Shining Armor and Cadance discussed Inova’s behavior further, and eventually onto other topics, the filly in question fell back asleep in her father’s embrace. She also had a tight grip on his neck, putting him in a predicament, to which a solution was soon voiced.
“Cadance, how about I sleep on the couch tonight?”
“Why?”
“I’m right here, and walking all the way back to her room might wake her up, and who knows what might happen after that?”
Cadance thought it over for a bit. “Alright. I’ll get a blanket for you two. Go ahead and get comfortable.”
Shining Armor slowly made his way onto the couch, careful not to disturb Inova too much. Fortunately, all that happened was that Inova shifted her grip a bit. Cadance returned with a blanket a moment later and spread it over her husband and filly, even tucking them in. “Just this once, Shiny.”
“That’s fine” Shining Armor said moments before he and Cadance shared a kiss and she went back to the bedroom. From that point, everyone slept well through the rest of what was left of the night.
"Inova, Skyla, your dad and I have to go take care of some things for a while, and we can't bring you with us" mommy said. "Somepony else will be taking care of you today."
I could hear dad talking with somepony close by in the house. Whoever it was, she had a very nice voice. Not as nice as mommy’s though. Hers was the best.
Skyla and I each got a wing hug and kiss just as the new pony came in sight. “Girls, this is Sweetie Belle, and she will be foalsitting you today. Daddy and I will be back later tonight, so don’t worry." She then turned to Sweetie Belle. "There's a hundred bits in the kitchen for you, and a cheat sheet for what to do with each filly. Have fun~."
"Thanks, Cadence. I promise the house will be intact when you and Shining Armor get back" Sweetie Belle said. Shortly after they laughed a bit, the front door closed and mommy and daddy were gone. Skyla ran towards the door and tried to go through it, to no avail. After a few seconds, she started to cry, and I reached up to cover my ears.
Sweetie Belle picked up my sister with her light green magic and cradled her in her forelegs, singing a bit. Her voice was very clear, and the song seemed to calm Skyla down.
"Let's play with some toys, you two" Sweetie said, putting Skyla in her magic again and picking me up. I don't like being picked up that way, and I started flailing my limbs.
"You're safe, Inova" Sweetie said in that soothing voice of hers. It only paused my flailing for a few seconds, and soon, I was set back on the floor, along with Skyla. I like the floor.
Sweetie Belle left for a bit, and Skyla and I started playing with each other. It was fun until Sweetie came back and picked Skyla up in her magic and me by the back of my neck with her mouth. I did not complain.
We were put down in our room, which was full of toys.
“Alright you two. Let’s find something to play with together” Sweetie said. “How about dolls?” She floated some dolls out of the toy box, along with some wagons, which she set down on the floor. Skyla went for the dolls, and I went for the wagons. I liked moving them without a doll attached.
As Skyla and I played with the dolls and wagons, Sweetie Belle hooked up wagons I wasn’t playing with to dolls Skyla wasn’t playing with. My sister and I were quick to disconnect them.
Eventually, it came to be time for feeding. Skyla and I were taken to the table where we were sometimes fed while Sweetie went into the kitchen. She came back with two bottles in her magic. One was floated over to Skyla, who greedily accepted it. I was picked up and held in one of Sweetie’s forelegs as she held the bottle to my mouth the other forehoof.
“You’re an odd filly, Inova” Sweetie said as I started on the bottle. “I’ve never heard of a foal who prefers being fed like this. Then again, the world is a big place.”
I didn’t really know or care what she was talking about. All my attention was focused on the bottle ahead of me. The bottle that I had no clue on how it was being held. It’s very confusing.
Eventually, after Skyla had already done so, I finished my bottle and got burped. A few minutes after that in the living room, I felt the liquid wetness in my diaper, and I froze up, with only my eye twitching occasionally. On the way to the changing table, I felt the icky wetness appear as well.
The diaper changing didn’t go as fast as when mommy does it, but I still got cleaned and a new diaper was put on me. While it did feel nice, I didn’t want to live like this for long. Something in me didn’t like it.
After I was set back on the ground, I could hear Skyla crying, and then I couldn’t hear anything as Sweetie went to get Skyla and I was surrounded by a light green bubble. I figured it was time for Skyla’s diaper change.
I decided to take a nap right there, and so I dozed off. I do remember being picked up and put in the crib before sleep fully overtook me. Sweet, warm, comfortable sleep.
“Inova, Inova” a voice like mommy’s said. “Wake up Inova, it’s time for bed.”
As the voice said to do, I woke up, but now I couldn’t go back to sleep, no matter how much I tried. As if responding to my efforts, a bottle floated in to the crib. It looked just like all of the other bottles I’d sucked from, but something about this one was a bit different somehow.
As soon as I pulled it in and started drinking from it, I found out what was different: this meal was warmer than usual. It was a nice warmth. A warmth that made me sleepy again, even though I just woke up. I fell asleep again with the bottle in my mouth, not even half empty.
I know you said you were willing to foalsit for us, and as a friend of Twilight's, and thus a friend of ours, we would have let you foalsit Inova and Skyla when the need came. Unfortunately, and I hate to say this to you, we needed a unicorn foalsitter.
The reason we needed a unicorn specifically is because of Inova. Whenever Inova starts crying, she doesn't stop until she falls asleep, or as has happened a few times, throws up and then falls asleep. One night when Skyla needed a diaper change in the middle of the night, her crying woke up Inova, who also started crying. I took Inova to the living room while Cadence changed Skyla's diaper and cleaned her up. I don't know how I came up with the idea, but I put a small soundproof shield in each of Inova's ears. Almost immediately, she stopped crying. When she looked at me, she had a thankful expression on her face that I swear was beyond her age.
What I've concluded is that Inova doesn't like the sound of crying, even when she's the one crying. Looking back, even to when she was born, this seems to be the case. I've tried it with her other times she was crying, and it worked to stop her crying every time.
Skyla's behavior is more normal. She only cries until she's taken care of, and is quite friendly with everypony.
I can say with certainty though that we will consider you in the future for foalsitting. Once again, I'm sorry we couldn't have you as our foalsitter right now.
Sincerely, Shining Armor.
P.S. Cadence says hello.
Dear Shining Armor,
I understand why you can't have me as your foalsitter right now, even if it does sting a bit. I'm glad you thought of me though. I look forward to foalsitting Inova and Skyla at some point.
Discord's doing good and well. He's taken a turn for the musical recently and even made his own band of Disclones. From what I've heard, they're doing well with their music.
Oh, would it be alright if I bring one of my gentler animal friends when I come to foalsit for you? I'd like to introduce Inova and Skyla to a live animal.
Today's meal is different than normal. It's not in a bottle, and it has a smell to it. I don't know what it is, but dad's got something on his hoof with a bit of the stuff on it. It looks strange too.
"Open up, Inova" he said as he moved it closer. I got a better smell of it. It smelled sweet, but was still strange. I didn’t open my mouth.
“It’s tasty~” he said as he pushed whatever it was against my mouth. It felt kind of weird, and when he pulled it away, some of it remained on me. I tried to get a good look, but it was just out of my sight. I heard mommy and daddy laughing a bit at something, though I don’t know what.
After a while, I licked the stuff on my muzzle, getting a taste of it. It tasted good. Daddy was quick to bring more of it, and I ate all that I could.
For a few days now, I've felt something vague, yet meaningful inside me. Something I wanted to get out, and something mommy and daddy use all the time when they talk: words.
It's breakfast, and we're having oatmeal. Mommy and daddy are using something with their glows, but Skyla and I are just sticking our muzzles in our bowls. It was after I pulled my muzzle from the oatmeal that the vague, yet meaningful thing started to come out.
"Dur" I said. It wasn't all I wanted to say.
"I think Inova's about to say her first word!" Daddy said. He and mommy turned to look at me. Skyla's muzzle was still in her oatmeal.
"Duri" I got out. A few tries later, I got to "duria". Mommy and daddy agreed that that wasn't a word and went back to their food.
Soon enough, with a few more tries, I said "durian!" Mommy and daddy both stopped eating and looked at me strangely. I wonder if I did something wrong.
"Shiny, did Inova just say what I thought she said?" Mommy asked daddy. The thing she was holding in her glow fell to the table.
"I think she did" Daddy said. Mommy's face started to turn kind of green, and then she ran off for some reason. I heard a door close, and then some kind of nasty sound. While the nasty sound was happening, Daddy turned to me and spoke again. “Who told you about that trip to Indoneighsia?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
According to Mom, today is a very important day. She said that Skyla and I are starting something called “school” today. She also said that she’ll be gone for a while, but that she’ll be back, kind of like how dad often left the house, but came back every time. She was also wearing gold things.
After breakfast was finished, Skyla and I walked with her to a place that looked really nice and new. A large crowd was gathered in front of it, but we did not join them. Instead, we went around them to an area behind some walls. Mom nodded to somepony and they went out and faced the crowd.
“Mares and gentlestallions, I’m glad you could all make it out here today” the mare said. “Today is a very important day for the Crystal Empire, as the Pristine Pearl all-grade school is the first modern school built here. All grades from Kindergarten to tenth will be taught here, along with a wide variety of classes. As the principal of this school, I look forward to seeing all the colts and fillies here succeed and learn skills they will use throughout their life. And now, the honor is mine to introduce not only Princess Cadence, but also her foals Inova and Skyla.”
The mare bowed and left as mom walked out to where the mare was, and there was much stomping in the crowd. She guided Skyla and me along with her wings, and we faced the crowd. For some reason, I was kind of nervous. I looked behind me and saw two doors with a large ribbon across them.
“Thank you, Principal Polished Apple. Everypony, I am honored not only to open this school, but also to have my fillies, Inova and Skyla, enrolled here” Mom said. “I’m certain many of you have places to be, so I’ll make this short. Everypony in grades four through ten, you will have half an hour in your respective commons before you have to be at your first class. Just follow the signs upstairs. Everypony with foals from kindergarten to third grade, I will personally show you the way to your respective areas. Finally, it is my hope that all of our foals, regardless of heritage, treat each other well. With that said, I hereby open the Pristine Pearl all-grade school.”
I saw mom float up a large pair of scissors and cut the ribbon on the doors, followed by more stomping sounds. Skyla and I were guided to a spot in a hall, where we sat down with Mom. Lots of ponies moved through the area. Some of them gathered around us while others didn’t. Among those who did gather around us were other ponies that were about my size.
After a few minutes, mom stood up and started walking. Skyla and I, along with the ponies that had gathered, followed her. Some of them went in a different direction than we were. We wound up in a huge room with lots of things in it. More things than I could name. I began wandering around, curious as to what all was there.
I was climbing on something when a voice called out “Colts and fillies, come here please.” I looked around and quickly saw the source: a green mare with a shiny purple mane and tail. I didn’t see mom around, but I wasn’t bothered by that. I made my way over and sat down next to her, as lots of others similar to me did. Skyla sat next to me too, but she looked kind of distressed. Everypony was sitting between two other ponies.
“Hello everypony” the green mare said. She was a shiny pony. “I'm Ms. Tina, and I’ll be your teacher. Before we do anything, let’s learn everypony’s names. How about you go first?” She pointed a forehoof at me. “What’s you name?”
“Inova” I said.
“Hello, Inova. Everypony, say ‘hi’ to Inova” Ms. Tina said.
“Hi Inova” everypony said, except for Skyla and the teacher, who didn’t seem to mind.
“And who's that next to you?” Ms. Tina said, looking at my sister.
“Um, I’m Skyla” She said.
"Hello, Skyla. Everypony, say 'hi' to Skyla."
"Hi, Skyla" everypony said, including me.
Everypony else introduced themselves the same way.
"Alright everypony. Let's start learning the alphabet, then we'll play for a bit" Ms. Tina said. She picked something up with her mouth and quickly drew something on the wall. Once she was done, she moved to the side.
"This is an A, everypony. It's the first letter of the alphabet. Repeat after me. A."
We all said "A" at the same time. It seemed pretty easy for me.
After some time on A, Ms. Tina drew a B on the wall. Once again, it was quite easy for me. We went through the whole alphabet like that. It was all pretty easy for me, although some of us did have some problems.
"Alright everypony" Ms. Tina said. "Let's play for a bit. Please don't leave the room~" I watched everypony leave the area and go around the vast room, playing with toys and each other. I was happy just to move to another spot on the floor and look at the alphabet on the wall. Each letter was distinct and clear. I don't know why it fascinated me though.
I was brought back to the world when Ms. Tina said "Everypony! Back to the circle, please!" I looked around a bit before going back to where I originally sat.
Once everypony was gathered around, Ms. Tina spoke again. "We're going to practice writing some letters now." She then erased the alphabet on the wall and rewrote the A. "Who wants to go first?"
Almost immediately, everypony ran up to her to try writing it. I didn't, as I had my ears folded against my head to keep out some of the sound everypony else was making. I also scooted away from everypony a bit before simply just walking a distance away.
It was only after Ms. Tina got everypony quieted down and taking turns writing A's on the wall that she noticed I wasn't up there with everypony else. It didn't take her long to find me, and after making sure things were going well, she walked over to me, laying down in front of me. "Why are you over here, Inova?"
"It was too loud" I said.
"Oh. I see" Ms. Tina looked around a bit, spending a bit longer looking at everypony who was writing A's. "Take a seat here" -Ms. Tina guided me to a nearby table- "and I'll be right back." She went back to everypony else and got them writing B's before getting something from her desk and coming back to mine, putting paper and a marker on it.
"Can you write an A, Inova?" Ms. Tina pulled the cap off the marker and held it out for me. I took it in my mouth and made an A on the paper. It did not look as nice as Ms. Tina's, but it was clearly still an A. "That's good. Can you write a B?" She traced out the shape of the B with a hoof. I followed it as best I could.
With every letter Ms. Tina taught us how to write, she would check on me to see how I was doing. After we finished O (which I wrote three times for some reason), a bell rang out, surprising everypony. Ms. Tina was quick to calm us down. "Calm down, everypony, calm down. It's lunchtime, so please sit at a table like Inova is."
After looking at me, everypony moved around to various other tables around the room. Skyla sat at my table, straight across from me. Ms. Tina took the marker and papers off the table shortly afterwards. We were only waiting for a couple of minutes before a unicorn came in, pushing a cart with boxes on it. One of the boxes was covered in an orange glow before being set down next to Ms. Tina. As the unicorn left with the cart, Ms. Tina opened the box. "Okay everypony. I'll hoof out your lunches. Wait until everypony has one before you start eating. Who wants theirs first?"
Skyla practically shot straight up in the air, she was so excited. Other ponies simply held a hoof up. I didn't though. After calming everypony down, Ms. Tina began hoofing out smaller boxes that looked different from the one they came out of. When she didn't get the first one, Skyla pouted. We did get our lunches pretty quickly though, and Skyla almost immediately went to open hers before Ms. Tina stopped her and reminded her to wait for everypony else to have theirs too before starting. The boxes we got were black, oval, and sounded like they were made of wood.
Eventually, everypony did have a lunch, including Ms. Tina, who was sitting at her desk with her own lunch. "Alright everypony, go ahead and start eating."
Skyla practically tore the lid off of hers before stuffing her muzzle into the food. I looked at the food and saw things I liked, so I started eating too, though more slowly than Skyla. Everypony was eating more slowly than Skyla.
I wasn't even halfway done with my lunch when I heard a familiar whining sound from across the table. Skyla had finished her food and looked sad. I ignored her as I ate, although I did wrap my forehooves around my lunch container to keep her from getting at it. I did not want to share my food.
I managed to finish all of my food, but I was still a little hungry. I knew that I wouldn't be getting any extra food, since Skyla already asked about it and nearly threw a fit.
Once everyone was done and Ms. Tina wrote something down, we were all guided outside for recess. I looked at everything. There was a large thing made of wood, rope, and metal that could be climbed on. It was in a huge area covered with bright, smooth wood pieces. Smaller things were also set up around the area, and it all looked kind of fun, but I wasn't done exploring.
Not far from the big thing was a big hole filled with sparkling sand. Just past the sand was a big metal thing with more of the smooth wood under it and some bigger pieces hanging on it. I chose to go over and sit on one of the bigger pieces, which wasn't easy since it moved around when I pushed it even just a little bit. I did get on it eventually, but I noticed it still moved around a bit. I wrapped my forehooves around the metal it was hanging on and felt quite a bit safer.
I decided to just sit there. I found out that moving my body in certain ways made me move forwards and backwards, and so I had fun with that. I also found out that not moving slowed me down. I just watched everypony playing around. Skyla was having lots of fun playing with other ponies on and around the large thing.
After a while, Ms. Tina called us back inside, saying that we were going to finish the alphabet. While everypony was going back to the first area, Ms. Tina pulled me aside.
"Inova, if you want to, you can go back to the table you were at before" Ms. Tina said.
"Okay" was my reply. I made my way back to the table I was sitting at and sat down at it again. Ms. Tina quickly put the paper and marker I had before back in front of me. Soon, we were back to the alphabet, reciting what we went through earlier before working on P. Ms. Tina wrote the letter on the wall, I would write it on my paper while everypony else wrote it on the wall. After checking my letter, she would go back and write another.
After we did Z, Ms. Tina said it was nap time. She also said we could play quietly in the room if we wanted to. I chose to take a nap, and made my way over to an alcove with a soft floor. I grabbed a pillow, found a comfortable spot, lay down on my belly, and set my head on the pillow. I felt somepony put their head on my back; a quick glance showed it to be Skyla, who appeared to already be asleep. I set my head back down and let myself doze off. I felt more ponies gather around us and fall asleep. I could swear I heard a click of some kind before I was fully asleep.
I woke up to somepony gently nuzzling my face. Somepony much bigger than me, and kind of familiar too.
"Inova, Skyla, it's time to go home” said a voice that sounded a lot like mom’s. I opened my eyes and saw that, indeed, it was her. I could feel her nuzzling Skyla's head on my back. I could also feel Skyla not moving from or on my back. I noticed that most of the ponies that had fallen asleep next to me were gone. I did hear hooves nearby though, along with sounds of ponies having fun.
After a few minutes of mom nuzzling Skyla, and Skyla not reacting, I decided to move. I stood up and Skyla simply slid off of me, her head hitting the soft floor, and not waking up.
"Inova, Skyla, how about we get some ice cream on the way home?" mom asked us. I said "yes" while Skyla bolted awake, and began nodding really fast.
"Alright you two. Come along" mom turned to leave, and Skyla and I followed her after stretching our legs and wings. Ice cream was waiting for us, after all.
The sparkling sand, while pretty, was like the sun up above: relentless and endless. For days, maybe weeks now, I have been wandering in this wasteland, no food or water in sight. I don't know how I've survived as long as I have. There are hoofprints like mine, but they lead nowhere.
I stumbled along the desert dunes, the heat and light of the sun burning the skin under my dark pink fur to a crisp. My feathers were full of sand as well, making them itchy and heavy. After so long, I collapsed and looked up at the sun, wondering if anypony would find me.
Suddenly, I saw a familiar orange face over me. My sister had found me! Unbridled energy sprung forth from my weary body as I hugged Inova.
"Thanks for finding me, Inova" I said. "I've been lost for too long in this desert, and I'm so happy you found me!"
"Skyla" Inova said. "Class started five minutes ago. Please get out of the sandbox."
*Inova*
Mom and dad were laughing after I told them about what happened during recess yesterday. All four of us were on a train, heading somewhere called Canterlot. I've never been there before, but apparently, I have a couple of aunts there.
After we left the bubble of the Crystal Empire, I saw white stuff outside. The window also became cold to the touch. Fortunately, it was still warm inside the train. Along the whole trip, the white stuff was everywhere outside. Mom and dad called it snow.
Eventually, we stopped somewhere. Mom put a scarf around my neck and soft things on my hooves, then did the same for Skyla. Once that was done, we got off the train. There were lots of ponies out there, and nearly all of them bowed for us, at least for a bit.
"How about we get some hot chocolate?" dad suggested.
"Hot chocolate does sound nice" mom said. "We can get some while we're visiting their aunts."
"Nah. The hot chocolate there isn't as good as at Pony Joe's. Trust me."
Mom sighed. "Oh alright. It'll be an adventure for the fillies, at least."
I didn't know quite what they were talking about, but I followed mom, who was following dad. Eventually, we wound up at a small shop, and we walked inside. The inside smelled sweet. Skyla started running around, looking for the source. I stuck with dad as he went to a booth and sat in it. Mom was busy chasing Skyla, but she eventually did catch her and sat down across from dad and me.
A tan earth pony came over pretty quickly. "Shining! It's been years since I last saw you. And you have the family with you, I see."
"We're here for Hearth's Warming, Joe. It's also the first time we've taken the fillies outside the Empire."
"You came out here just to see me? I'm honored."
"Actually, we're on our way to the castle. I decided to bring us here first. We need four hot chocolates and some frosted donuts. Pink."
"You're serious? Pink icing? Do you really want to start them on that?"
"Yep."
"Your funeral, pal." Joe then went off to do stuff.
Mom leaned across the table and began talking with dad too quietly for me to hear. She didn't seem happy, but dad got her to calm down. Skyla was full of energy and was having a hard time sitting still, the only thing really keeping her from running off being mom's wing.
It wasn't long before Joe returned, a tray on his back full of good smelling stuff. He put the tray on the table and let us be. Skyla was even more energetic now, and it was only mom's wing that kept her from pouncing on the table. Dad used his magic to give each of us one pink icing and sprinkle covered donut and one drink. I picked up and quickly took a bite of mine.
It was delicious. So very, very delicious. And perfectly sweet. I quickly finished my donut, and all too soon, it was gone, though I could still taste it. Next, I looked at the drink. White wisps were coming off the open top, and I could feel a bit of heat coming off the drink. It also smelled good. I put both forehooves on it, brought the edge to my mouth, and sipped the liquid inside.
I felt the warmth of the drink flow through me as I drank it, getting rid of a chill in me I didn't realize was there. I found myself unable to stop drinking it, it tasted so good. The warmth that filled my body felt really good too. Unfortunately, I ran out of hot chocolate before I knew it.
Mom and dad were just finishing their donuts and drinks, while Skyla's appeared to have disappeared some time ago. She was asking for more as well, with mom and dad saying 'no' every time.
Eventually, we left the place and began walking again. We hadn't been walking for long when Skyla saw a warm cookie stand and ran to it, mom hot on her trail.
"Skyla, you've already had some sweets" mom said. "You don't need more right now."
"But, but, cookies!" Skyla replied. Her eyes were starting to water, as was her mouth.
Mom sighed. "Shining, go ahead and take Inova to her aunts. I'll take care of Skyla."
"I'll see you there, then" dad said. "Good luck, Cadence. Come on, Inova."
I walked next to dad in silence. Everything around us was getting brighter and more colorful as we went on, and I was amazed by it all. Sometimes, I'd go look at something shiny, but then dad would get me to walking again.
We stopped for a bit at some large white and dark blue doors. A white unicorn in gold armor walked up to dad and talked with him a bit before going back and having somepony else open the doors. We went inside and the doors closed behind us as we walked on. In front of us was a huge castle, even bigger than the one at home. I caught sight of a white pegasus with gold armor flying above us before landing somewhere on the castle and going inside. More doors were opened for us as we made our way inside the castle.
Dad and I stopped in a room lined with books. A fire was burning in the fireplace, and there were various cushions spread around the room. Before I went anywhere in the room, dad took my scarf and the things on my hooves off of me. I saw them float into a box the same color as my fur. There were other boxes like it in different colors, though only mine and one colored like Skyla's fur were solid. The others had various pictures on them, though I had no clue what they meant.
Dad and I were the only ones in the room, so we got comfortable on some of the cushions around the fireplace. It wasn't long before the door opened again. I looked over to it and saw a light blue pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail walking in. She had earmuffs on her head, and there were bits of all over her.
"Hah, it's nice to be inside" she said as she tossed the earmuffs into the box colored like her fur. "Oh, hello Shining."
"Hello, Rainbow" dad said.
"Where's the rest of the family?" Rainbow asked as she lay down next to me. She began looking me over and making silly faces.
"Probably just getting to the castle walls around now. Skyla saw a stand with warm cookies and Cadence chose to get her away and back on course to the castle."
"Why not just buy her some cookies and call it done there?" Rainbow stroked my back with one of her wings. It felt nice.
"We got donuts and hot chocolate at Pony Joe's earlier. Skyla finished her donut and cocoa before the rest of us."
"Sounds normal for a foal."
"She drank a large hot chocolate in less than a minute and was even faster on the donut. She was still hungry after that."
"Wow. I tend to rush through meals and I don't eat that fast, even when I'm in a hurry."
"She always eats fast and never seems full."
Just then, the door opened and a few ponies walked in together. I didn't hear much of what was going on before I felt dad's silencing shields fill my ears. I looked at who was coming in and saw a white pony, followed by a dark blue and a lavender pony. All three had horns and wings, and the white and blue ones were really tall. The lavender one was a bit smaller than mom, though.
Speaking of mom, she came in next, Skyla in her telekinesis and looking like she was crying rather loudly. Mom didn't look too happy as she took Skyla's scarf and the things on her hooves off and put them in the box colored like her.
Another of dad's shield appeared, this one encompassing himself, Rainbow, and me. The ones in my ears vanished as well.
"So, Shining, how about I take Inova somewhere a bit quieter?" Rainbow asked.
"Sure" dad said. "Inova, go with Rainbow Dash, okay?"
"Okay" I said. When thee shields that were in my ears came back, the bigger one vanished. I stood up and felt Rainbow's wing on my back as she led me out of the room. Shortly after the door to that room closed, the shields in my ears vanished.
"Between you and me, 'Nova, I can't stand the sound of crying foals either" Rainbow said. "So, what do you like to do?"
"I like to draw" I said.
"Then let's go draw some stuff! Once we get the stuff to draw with" Rainbow thought for a bit before laying down. "Get on my back, and we'll find somepony that can help us."
I made my way onto Rainbow's back before she stood up and started walking down the hallway. It wasn't long before we saw a pink earth pony mare with a trolley heading our way. Her mane was really curly and bouncy, her eyes were a bright blue, and she looked like a castle staff member.
"Excuse me" Rainbow said. "Could you get us some drawing supplies? Even just pencils and paper will do."
"Sure thing!" The pink pony reached into the trolley and pulled out pencils and paper for us. "Here you go, Dashie."
"Thanks, Pinks" Rainbow said, letting me hold on to the paper and pencils. She hadn't gone far before she turned around really fast, the only thing keeping me from falling off her back being her wings. "Wait, Pinkie? Why are you dressed like the castle staff here?"
The pink pony was quick to reply. "They had an extra outfit, and I talked them into letting me bring the snacks to our little meeting. Oh, is that little Inova i see on your back?"
"Yep. We're just heading somewhere quiet for Inova to draw at. Things got a bit loud in there for her."
"Next door on the left. Nothing's going on in that room."
"Thanks, Pinkie" Rainbow went down the hall and went in the door Pinkie indicated. The room beyond the door was very simple, consisting of a low table and cushions. A small fireplace warmed the room and glowing crystals lit it up. I climbed off Rainbow's back and went to sit at the table. She caught up with me and put the pencils and paper on the table before sitting next to me.
"So, what do you like to draw?" Rainbow asked me.
"I don't know" I said as I picked up a pencil with my mouth and began drawing one of my usual things.
"Really? It looks like you know what you're drawing."
"Ah dunno wah ih is" I said, without letting go of the pencil.
"Oh. Well, it looks like you're drawing a sword."
"Is that what it's called?" I dropped the pencil and looked back at my drawing. The word 'sword' seemed to fit it very well.
"Yep. Although I've never seen a sword with a curved blade like that."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No. I think it actually looks pretty cool. Maybe you can be the princess of blades when you grow up."
I thought about that for a bit. The title did sound cool, but I didn't really care for it that much.
I kept drawing swords for a while, with Rainbow drawing some of her own and commenting on some of mine. She even drew her own versions of some of mine. For a few minutes, we had a game of sorts going, where one of us would draw part of a sword, then hoof the drawing over, and the other would draw another part of it. Whoever drew the last part got a point.
After the sixth game drawing (the score was 3-3), the door to the room opened. I looked over and saw a light yellow pegasus with a long, flowing pink mane and tail enter, a small basket filled with red things being carried in her mouth.
"Hey, Fluttershy" Rainbow said. "How are you doing?"
Fluttershy came over to the table and set the basket down on an empty area. "I'm doing fine, Rainbow" she said. Her voice was very soft. "I heard you were over here with Inova, so I came to visit. I brought strawberries."
"Cool" Rainbow bit on the green part of a strawberry, tossed the whole thing up in the air, and caught it back in her mouth, chewing on it. "I've been drawing with Inova."
"Really? What have you been drawing?"
I moved one of the cooler pictures over with a hoof and showed it to Fluttershy. "We've been drawing swords" I said. "What do you think?"
Fluttershy's face seemed to pale as she leaned back, her eyes wide and body trembling a bit. I put the drawing back down and Fluttershy stopped shaking. A moment later, a slightly dark feeling came over the room.
"Rainbow Dash" Fluttershy said. Her voice was the same, but she didn't sound happy. "Why did you teach Inova what a sword is?"
"I didn't teach her that, Flutters" Rainbow's voice was kind of shaky. "But I kind of did teach her that, too."
"Explain yourself" Fluttershy said. I reached for one of the strawberries in the basket with my mouth. Something told me to move slowly, so I did.
"I asked her what she liked to draw, and it turned out she liked to draw swords, but she didn't know what they were called, so I told her."
The dark feeling lifted as I bit into the strawberry. It was juicy and delicious. "Really?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah. I know, it sounds strange, but why would I make that up? How could I make that up?"
"Oh. I see. Inova, did you enjoy the strawberry?"
I paused in my reach for another of the fruits. "Yes. It was good."
"That's nice to hear. I grew them myself. They're not the best, but I hope you like them."
"Fluttershy, I don't know how many times I've told you this," -Rainbow picked up a strawberry with her hoof- "but your strawberries are always good. There's no reason to be concerned about ponies not liking them." She then tossed the berry up, bounced it off one wing, bounced it off the other, and caught it in her mouth.
"I know. Um, can we change topics?"
"Sure. Go ahead and give Inova one of your hugs, Fluttershy."
I looked over at Fluttershy, who was moving behind me. I then felt her forelegs wrap around my body, and pull me in for a hug.
Being hugged by Fluttershy felt very nice. Her fur was thick and soft, and she felt warm. It was like she was a plush with a small fire inside her. She also nuzzled me, and it felt good. I practically melted right there. Even mom's hugs weren't this nice. She even smelled like the strawberries she brought. I saw Rainbow walk next to us, sit down, pick up a berry with one forehoof, open my mouth with the other, and put the strawberry in my mouth. Like the first one, it was juicy and delicious.
I could get used to this. Fluttershy hugging me, Rainbow feeding me strawberries occasionally, and a warm fire providing comfortable heat. Unfortunately, it did not last, as the strawberries ran out. I didn't eat all of them, as I'm sure Skyla would have tried to do.
A few minutes after the strawberries were finished, Rainbow spoke up. "I'm going to go see if things have calmed down in the other room. I'll be right back."
"Okay" Fluttershy said as Rainbow left the room. She then looked to me. "How about we get your drawings gathered up, Inova?"
"No" I said. "I like being here."
"So do I, Inova, but we have to get up at some point. Everypony else is waiting for us."
"But I want to stay here."
Fluttershy went quiet for a bit before speaking again. "Inova, go ahead and feel my feathers." Fluttershy extended a wing, and I felt the inside of it. It was really soft. "If you come back, I'll let you lay down under my wing."
I considered her offer. It sounded really tempting. I relented and made my way out of the hug. Fluttershy went over to the drawings and used her wings to sweep them together and straighten them up. She just finished gathering the pencils when Rainbow Dash came back in, informing us that things were calmer.
Fluttershy gave the drawings to Rainbow before collecting the pencils and her basket before leading me out and to the other room. Inside, there were a couple more ponies in there. One was orange with no horn or wings, her golden mane and tail tied with red bands. The other was a white unicorn with a curled purple mane and tail. Both were mares. My dad was the only stallion in the room.
"Oh, there's Inova" the white pony with a horn and wings said as I came in. "She's adorable, just like her sister."
"Inova, I'll be near the fireplace" Fluttershy said. "You should meet those ponies first. They are very important." With that, she went over towards the fireplace and lay down.
"Come along, Inova" mom guided me with a wing towards the tall white pony. Her mane and tail were multicolored and waving about. I didn't feel any wind though. Next to her was a tall dark blue pony. Her mane and tail waved about and looked like the night sky. "These are your aunts Celestia and Luna. They move the sun and moon and are the princesses of Equestria."
Mom moved back a bit as they lowered themselves to get a closer look at me. "Hello, Inova" the white one said. "I'm your aunt Celestia. Can you say my name?"
"Celestia" I said. It wasn't too difficult.
"That's right" aunt Celestia said. "Your sister called me Celery for some reason." I gave a soft laugh at that.
The blue one spoke next. "I'm Luna. You can call me 'aunt Luna' if you want."
"Luna?" I said.
"Yes, Inova?" Luna asked as she moved her face closer to me.
"Boop!" I said as I put a forehoof on her muzzle, just like dad sometimes did to me. Luna's muzzle scrunched up and her eyes crossed as my hoof made contact with it. I could hear some laughter in the room, and Luna's face was starting to get a bit red.
"I didn't know your face could do something that cute, Luna" Celestia said.
"I'll have to paint this when I get home" mom said. "It's just so cute!"
"Can you send me a copy, Ms. Credenza?" aunt Celestia's voice had become kind of playful.
"Certainly, Ms. Sunny Skies. Of course, we will have to discuss payment."
I left mom and aunt Celestia to talk and found Fluttershy laying down by the fireplace. When she noticed me, she opened up a wing, which I crawled under. Once I was against her body, she closed her wing a bit, putting some comfortable pressure on my body. The softness of her wing and body, combined with the heat of the fire, made me sleepy. I felt Fluttershy nuzzling me as I dozed off.
Today's the 25th of December, which is also called Hearth's Warming Day. It's apparently something called a holiday, and it happens every year. We've been in Canterlot for four days, and will be here for ten more so we can celebrate something called New Year's eve. After that, we'll be taking the train home on January 1st, a Sunday. The 1st of every month is on a Sunday. I don't know who chose to make the calendar with 35 days every month, but it's boring that way.
Last night, we saw a play about Hearth's Warming. I fell asleep during it, so I don't remember much of it. I just remember something about three tribes and extreme cold. I also remember the big cookie I was given before the play. It was peanut butter and it was delicious. Skyla had three of them.
Mom said that there are things called 'presents' back at the castle for Skyla and me. Presents are apparently things given on special occasions, like certain holidays, birthdays, or other times. You also don't know what they are until they're opened. It sounds like something fun.
The presents we're getting tonight apparently aren't at the castle. They're with some ponies mom calls my grandparents. She says that they're dad's parents, along with aunt Twilight's.
On the way there, we stopped at the place with the delicious hot chocolate and got some. It was really just dad and I who went in. Mom and Skyla went a different way earlier. While we were waiting for eight hot chocolates, I got some small powdered donuts. I could fit a whole one in my mouth, and they were delicious. I finished the last one just as dad got the hot chocolates in some trays that looked like they were made of paper. He held them with his magic as he leaned down next to me and whispered "don't tell Skyla about the powdered donuts. Don't tell mom either. Can you do that?"
I whispered back "I can do that."
After we nodded in agreement, dad stood back up and we made our way out. There was hardly anypony outside, and the snow was falling at a nice pace. Enough was coming down to be interesting to look at, though it probably would be nicer to do that from inside.
I followed dad as he walked down a road lined with houses that were smaller than ours, though not by much. Every house had glowing things on the outside, and they looked really cool. He turned to walk to one that had fewer lights on it than the others and knocked on the door. After a few moments, a blue unicorn stallion opened the door.
"Dad!" my dad said before turning to me. "Inova, this your grandpa Night Light. Say hi."
"Hi, grandpa Night" I said.
"Hello, Inova" grandpa Night said. "Come on in, both of you."
We went inside, where it was indeed warmer. The inside wasn't as open or big as home, but it still felt nice. To the right, I saw a tree covered in lots of colors of things, some of which changed colors. Under the tree was a bunch of boxes, each one covered in patterns and tied with a ribbon. There were fewer colors of ribbons than there were box patterns.
Also to the right was mom, Skyla, aunt Sparkle, a dark white unicorn mare, and a purple and green thing. It stood on two legs, had a tail unlike any pony's tail, and was almost as tall as aunt Sparkle. Whatever it was, everypony seemed to get along with it.
"Is that Skyla's sister I see?" The dark white mare said. "And her father too? Is Inova a little troublemaker? Is that why you came later?" Her tone was never really serious, but it kind of sounded like she was.
"No, that's not why we're late" dad said. "Inova and I stopped at Pony Joe's and got some hot chocolate fore everyone." Dad began giving everyone a hot chocolate, including the purple and green thing. Skyla was on hers really quickly.
The hot chocolate, just as before, was really good. I drank mine at the table in front of the couch. The purple and green thing came over near me and spoke. "Hey, mind if I join you?" The voice was kind of like dad's, but also different, so I think it's a he.
I didn't say anything, but I did scoot over a bit for him. Even when he was sitting down, he was bigger than me. "I'm Spike" he said. "I'm a dragon, Twilight's top assistant, and something like a son or brother to her. I'm not sure how it works." As he spoke, i saw his pointed teeth and leaned away. He caught on to that fast. "I'm not going to hurt you, Inova. Yes, I have pointed claws and teeth, but I'm friendly. See?" I watched his arm come over my head and felt his claws on the top of my head. He then started scratching me between my ears and it felt really good.
I had no reason to fear him now. Yes, he's a dragon. Yes, he's got pointed claws and teeth. He might even be able to breathe fire. But he can scratch me between the ears and it feels really nice.
After a bit of scratching, I got back to my hot chocolate. The dark white mare sat down next to me opposite Spike. "Hey, Inova. I'm your grandma Velvet Sparkle."
"Grandma Velvet?" I said.
"That's right. It seems you and Spike are getting along quite well."
"I gave her an ear scratching" Spike said. "She seems to like it. See?" I was once again scratched between my ears and I found myself leaning into the scratching. After it ended, I went back to my hot chocolate. I had to finish it myself before Skyla got to it. Spike and grandma Velvet had their own hot chocolates and were talking about things. As I drank, I kept leaning back to get more of the delicious liquid to come out. I eventually fell onto my back and let go of the cup. Fortunately, it was empty, so the floor didn't get to try any of it. I saw it get picked up in dad's magic and get put somewhere.
I sat back up and poked Spike. It felt like he didn't have fur, but something tougher. I then poked grandma Velvet. She was like mom and dad, having fur and being squishy. She also felt warmer than Spike did. I continued poking both of them for a while before wandering off to find and play with Skyla. I saw aunt Sparkle following me, but I didn't pay attention. She watched over Skyla and I as we played and explored the house.
"It's time to open presents, everyone!" mom called out. Aunt Sparkle put a wing on each of our backs and guided us back towards the living room. The boxes had been put into different stacks, and it looked like they were sorted by ribbon color.
Grandma Velvet seated me at one of the piles. "These are your presents, Inova. You have orange fur, so you get the presents with the orange ribbons."
I looked at the pile of presents. It was almost as big as me. I looked at it carefully before pulling out one of the smaller presents with my forehooves. After some careful inspection, I figured out that the outside was just paper and I started dragging a hoof along a surface, attempting to tear it open. Unfortunately, that didn't work.
I heard paper tearing nearby and looked in that direction. Skyla was using her horn to tear the paper. I looked at my horn before trying the same trick Skyla had figured out. To my satisfaction, I heard tearing paper. I looked at the result of my first attempt and saw the rip, through which I could see something colorful. I put a hoof on each side of the tear and pulled each side apart. Grandma Velvet helped me with the ribbon, which I couldn't tear or bite apart.
Inside was a box with pictures and words all over it. I didn't know what it was.
"What is this, Velvet?" mom asked. She didn't know what it was either.
"That-" grandma Velvet said "-is a modular wagon. You said Inova likes to play with the wagons instead of the ponies, so we got some that she can build. Who knows, she might come up with something else."
I liked how that sounded. I also saw more presents, and I set to work opening them. I got markers, some music toys, and even a train. I didn't look at what everypony else got, since I was focused on my presents.
After I had opened all of my presents, I went back to the modular wagon. Mom helped me open it and get the toy out. There were lots of pieces there, with various pegs and holes. I quickly set to work putting the pieces together in various ways, making different kinds of wagons.
As I built my wagons, Skyla played with her dolls. Grandma and Grandpa also brought us more of them. I even got a modular pony set, and the parts in that were able to connect with the wagons. I found myself building even more weird things as I put parts together.
Eventually, I had to leave the toys, as supper time came about. Skyla brought one of hers with her to the table, but mom floated it back to the rest of her dolls. Skyla whined a bit before mom told her to calm down, as we were about to eat. Skyla quickly quieted down at that. The table itself was oddly empty.
“Everypony, I made my famous casserole tonight” grandma Velvet said. “A double batch, at that.” The only ponies who didn’t cheer at that were grandma, as she was the one talking, and me, since I didn’t know what she was talking about. “I’ll have everyone’s helpings out in a moment.”
While grandma Velvet was getting the casserole, grandpa Night Light and Aunt Sparkle started talking about things with mom and dad. I didn't listen to what they were saying.
Eventually, I caught a whiff of something. It smelled really good. Skyla smelled it too, and it looked like she wanted to go right to the source, but mom kept her from going anywhere with her magic. The source of the smell came into sight soon enough, as grandma came back with eight plates in her magic. She put a plate in front of everyone before sitting down with her own plate. Skyla was struggling against mom's magic to get to the food.
"Wow, Cadence" Spike said. "I thought you were just exaggerating when you said Skyla was an enthusiastic eater."
"We have to keep what leftovers we have in high places" mom said. "Once she masters telekinesis, I doubt leftovers will even exist at our house."
"Really? And I thought the Apples had appetites" Spike turned to grandma. "Can we start eating now?"
"After Skyla calms down" grandma said. "She may be cute, she may be one of my grandfillies, but she has to control herself a bit before she eats." Her horn glowed and Skyla was put into a sitting position. "Otherwise, everyone else will get her food." Skyla's ears shot up straight at that. As mom and grandma released their magic, Skyla stayed still. "And if Skyla eats slowly, she will get to eat dessert first."
For the first time that I could recall, Skyla wasn't eating something that was right in front of her. I was amazed. Mom and dad were amazed too.
After a minute, grandma spoke again. "Everyone, eat up."
I leaned down and took a bite of my food. It was DELICIOUS. Everyone else seemed to agree with that, as I figured from the lack of conversation.
Aside from the delicious casserole, the rest of supper was uneventful. After dessert, I returned to my wagon building, which I continued at until I fell asleep.
"Cadence, Shining Armor, please take a seat" Polished Apple said to her royal guests. "I'm glad you could make it today."
"So are we" Cadence said. "After all, the education of our fillies is very important."
"I agree. Education is very important. Tea?"
"No thanks" Shining Armor said. "We'd rather just find out how our fillies are doing."
"We can do that. I'll start with Skyla, if that's alright."
"It is."
Polished Apple picked up one of two folders on her desk and opened it up. "According to her report card, she's above average in most of her classes. She appears to have some difficulty in math and science though, where she's performing a bit below average. Her magic strength and finesse is quite excellent, and her flight skills are developing nicely.
"In and out of class, she gets along with other students quite well. She already has at least ten close friends by the looks of things, and manages to pick up another every couple of weeks.
"Of course, these aren't my observations. These are just what the teachers are reporting."
"I wouldn't expect you to be watching our foals while they're here" Cadence said. "But what have you personally seen of Skyla?"
"Not much, to be honest. As you're aware, my office is more in the area of the older students, so I don't see the younger ones very often. However, I'm sure that, as they advance, I'll be seeing more of them.
"But getting back to Skyla, there is one pressing issue with her: her appetite."
"I had a feeling that was going to come up" Shining facehooved. "Just give it to us straight."
"As you wish. She's often the second one to finish lunch and snacks in her class, but-"
"Wait, second?"
"Inova's usually the first, and I suspect that's because she knows her food wouldn't be safe with Skyla around. Anyways, after Skyla's finished her food, she goes around trying to get more. Of course, we don't let her, as the other foals need their food too. Unfortunately, she tends to whine in her next class, math, about not getting the food she was after. I'm not sure if this is why she's not doing as well in math, but I'll see to it that her next math class is at a different point in the day."
"We'll see what we can do about that. How's Inova?"
Polished Apple closed Skyla's folder and set it aside before picking up Inova's folder and opening it up. "Inova is quite different from Skyla. Inova's grades are almost all spectacular. In fact, they're so good, the teachers let her go around and help the other students. She doesn't seem too keen on helping Skyla though. Nopony's asked her about that though. Still, we've seriously been considering moving Inova up a grade."
"What's stopping you from doing that?" Cadence asked.
"The classes she's not doing well in: flight and magic. She's actually at the bottom of those classes. Personally, I find that to be quite peculiar, what with her being an alicorn."
Neither Shining Armor or Cadence could think of anything to say, they were so stunned.
"In both classes, she apparently forgets that she has the appendages for them and occasionally asks why she's in the class.
"In magic, she shows difficulty understanding the basics. She gets the concepts, but actually has trouble putting them in action. We've given her a personal tutor for that class, and that helped her a bit, but she's still at the bottom.
"She's also got a tutor for flight, but she's still at the bottom there too. She's overly cautious when walking on the clouds, and she seems to have trouble just moving her wings around when they're not closed. When she does get airborne, even if it's just a few inches off the ground, she immediately panics and falls back down. Fortunately, she doesn't get hurt more than a little bump here and
"Honestly, it seems like she's more like an earth pony in an alicorn body most of the time. Speaking of earth ponies, she's doing well in phys ed. Not spectacular like her other classes, but nowhere near as bad as magic and flight. She does seem a bit klutzy at times though."
"I suppose we'll have to give her some extra magic training at home" Cadence sighed. "And I'll have to cover the flight too."
"We'll do our best here at the school to help Inova. You can be sure of that.
"That brings us to the last topic for Inova as well: her behavior."
"I don't like the sound of that" Shining Armor said.
"Inova's actually very well behaved. The only times she gets in trouble isn't when she breaks a rule, but actually needs help. She seems to get picked on a bit due to her shorter stature, and tends to stay close to her teachers because of that. She also doesn't seem to interact with other foals very well, and has only made one friend. Overall, she's rather antisocial."
"Just like Twilight was" Cadence and Shining Armor said at the same time, which elicited a small round of laughter from everypony in the room.
"Still, are there any other concerns regarding Skyla and Inova you may have that we can address?"
"Not today, Principal Apple" Cadence said. "I think we have enough information on our fillies for now."
I woke up the same way I usually do: Skyla jolting awake next to me, jumping around me saying "Breakfast!" a few times, and falling onto the floor and running out, which amused me. I could faintly smell something good in the air. It smelled like. . . cinnamon rolls. With citrus icing!
I quickly got out of bed and ran to get to the dining room. Skyla was already at her spot at the table when I got there, and I took my spot next to her, an excited grin on my face.
"Good morning you two" mom said. "Your dad had to leave early, so he won't be joining us for breakfast today."
"Aw" Skyla said, disappointment in her voice, while I let out a sigh of relief. Skyla often asked him to make something extra for breakfast, but everything he made that wasn't liquid in a glass came out burnt all over. Not even a cold peanut butter and jelly sandwich was safe. Last time he poured himself a bowl of cereal, it caught fire.
Mom took her spot at the table and gave each of us two cinnamon rolls. Skyla grabbed one of hers with a hoof, tossed it in the air, and caught the whole thing in her mouth while I picked up one of mine, found the edge of the roll's spiral, and began unraveling it as I ate it, enjoying each bite. Citrus cinnamon rolls are my favorite breakfast food.
I had just finished my first roll when Skyla asked me "are you going to eat that?" and pointed a hoof at my remaining roll. Both of hers were gone.
"Yes, I am going to eat it" I said as I picked it up and started eating it the same way as the first one.
"Are you going to eat all of it?"
"Yes" I turned away from Skyla as I finished my roll quickly. The sooner it was gone, the less likely Skyla was to whine. After I was done, I turned back to the table to get some orange juice, but Skyla grabbed my face with her hooves and turned me to face her before I could get the juice.
She stared at me for a bit before licking my lips and releasing me. "You had a bit of icing there." That wasn't the first time Skyla had done that, but I knew that someday, I'd figure out a way to keep her from doing that. I knew mom and dad wouldn't do anything, since they thought it was cute.
Now that I was free from my sister's hooves, I turned back to my orange juice. I grabbed the glass with both hooves and carefully drank the juice. I had learned a few times what happens if I try to drink too quickly, and I hate it when my face gets wet and sticky. Having fur can suck sometimes.
Eventually, it was time for mom to take us to school. She helped Skyla and me with our saddlebags, which recently grew ever so slightly heavier with ten bits every day for lunch.
On the way to school, mom always had to hold Skyla back with her magic to keep her from wandering off to some food stalls in the market, and today was no exception. I just stayed by mom the whole time and kept my eyes forward. However, there was this one alley close to school that always drew my attention as we walked past it. There was a faint aroma coming from it that I couldn't quite place, but smelled familiar somehow. It was something I knew I had to keep Skyla from knowing about. Fortunately, she never seemed to catch that aroma since there were other stands nearby with other food.
We showed up at school fifteen minutes early, as usual. Mom took us to our classroom before giving each of us a hug and leaving. Skyla found one of her friends, a pegasus filly called Arctic Tail, which I found to be a silly name, and ran over to her. I went to my desk and opened it up, putting my saddlebags inside. With the bags side by side and the openings facing me, they fit perfectly. I was able to keep everything organized as well, with blank paper, pencils and bits on the left and everything else on the right. Apparently, aunt Sparkle did something similar when she was in school.
To pass the time, I usually drew things. I pulled out a pencil and my sketchbook (3rd one of the school year) and opened it to a blank page. I stared at it for a bit before simply putting down lots of dots in a spiral pattern, with the dots being closer together as they got towards the center, until I just started filling it in.
After ten minutes, I was finished and was thinking of what to call it when somepony spoke over my shoulder.
"What did you draw today, Inova?" The voice belonged to Mr. Bluffs, my geography teacher. He was an earth pony with brown and yellow fur, a bright, nearly glowing golden mane and tail, and was always upbeat. He always liked to see what I drew before class started.
"I don't know. I kind of know what it is, but I'm not sure what it's called."
"How about you start with a word that describes its shape? Maybe the next word will come naturally after that."
I wrote 'spiral' at the top of the page. The next word came smoothly after that without me realizing it. I looked at the word and felt it to be fitting.
"So that's a spiral galaxy?" Mr. Bluffs asked. "It looks very nice. I don't know what a galaxy is, but it's almost time for class to start, so put it away."
I looked at my spiral galaxy a bit longer before closing my sketchbook and putting it away and pulling out my yellow and brown geography folder. Today, we're going to be learning about Zebrica.
After geography and a teacher change came math. I always got everything right in this class, and it was all very easy. One time, I asked for all of the math problems we would be getting that week, and I got a small stack of papers, some labeled CW and others labeled HW. I ignored everything going on in math that day and finished the whole stack right before class was over. The next day, I got the papers back, and I had answered everything correctly.
Eventually, it came to be that on Mondays, I would get a stack of papers of the week's math problems, and I would power through it all during that class, leaving me to help my classmates with their problems. The only times I wasn't allowed to help was when we were taking a test, which I always finished first and always got everything correct.
After math was over, Skyla, I, and my earth pony classmates went outside for Earth P. E., which I kind of liked. However, I never ran fast, because that was when I started to get my legs tangled and I would fall, resulting in me getting laughed at. One earth filly in the class, Diamond Heart, decided to stay with me after the third time I fell early in the school year.
We became friends, but because we were in different first grade classes, we didn't see each other much. I wish we could be together more often.
After Earth P.E., Skyla and I went to our next class: Magic. I did not like this class. Even though Ms. Shimmer was patient with me and gave me lots of help, I couldn't get most of it. Here, I was at the bottom of the class. Some of my classmates were already levitating things a couple inches off the ground while I could barely produce a spark if I was lucky. Skyla could hold a glow for a while when she tried.
I caught a glimpse of Ms. Shimmer's notebook once, and I saw a ranking of magic reserves for the class. I was the one with the least magic in me. For some reason, it wasn't as demotivating as you would think.
Finally, lunch time. Ever since the holidays passed, the first grade classes got to eat in the elementary cafeteria. The eating area was split into three sections for the first, second, and third graders.
Today's special was something called 'tacos'. I was mildly surprised to see that they looked like what I imagined them to look like. I saw soft shelled tacos and hard shelled tacos, 1 bit each. I got one of each, as an idea was forming in my mind. I also got some seasoned fries for 2 bits and a carton of milk for 1 bit, coming to 5 bits. Skyla got double of everything I did, as usual.
After we paid for our lunches, Skyla and I went our separate ways. She found a round table in the middle of the floor with her friends and I found a smaller one off to the side. Shortly after I sat down, Diamond Heart joined me, putting her lunchbox on the table.
"Hi, Diamond" I said. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, Inova" Diamond said as she opened her lunchbox. "How was magic class?"
"I only made a single small burst of sparks today. I don't get the stuff there at all either. And I've also got the least magic there. I hate magic class. What do you have for lunch today?"
Diamond listed off the items in her lunchbox as she took them out. "I have a peanut butter and sweet hay sandwich, cheesy carrot slices, milk, and a brownie. Do you want half of the brownie?"
"Sure." I liked the desserts Diamond shared with me. They were always delicious. Before I got to the brownie, I first set my taco plan into motion. I opened up the soft taco and used my fork to spread the squishy, cheesy insides around before putting the hard taco in the middle and putting the hard taco in it and folding the sides up.
I took a moment to admire my creation, the double taco, before taking a bite of it. It was delicious, and since Skyla was elsewhere, I was able to slow down and enjoy the meal. I looked around and saw that those with the hard shells were making messes with the shells breaking under the force of a bite, and those with the soft shells were losing bits of filling with each bite. I had no mess of any kind with my double taco.
I didn't think on it for long as I ate my lunch. I offered some of my fries to Diamond, but she turned down the offer, as usual. After I finished those, I got my brownie half from Diamond (which looked a bit bigger than her half) and bit into it. It was so delicious, I almost ate it like Skyla would have.
Once I had finished the brownie, I licked my lips and drank my milk. Diamond finished hers shortly after I did, and after we took care of our lunch items, we went out to the playground and played around. We had fun until it was time to go back inside for our classes. Diamond and I hugged each other before going back inside to our classrooms.
My next class was language arts, which I was at the top of. Yesterday, we got a list of five fruits to learn. When mom looked at the last one with Skyla last night, her face turned kind of green. She had to run off before she could finish spelling out the word with her.
Today, we spent the first part of class going over the spelling of various fruits. After that, we read simple books about fruit. I finished first, wrote a little bit about what I read, and got permission to draw in my sketchbook for the rest of class. I drew a sword that looked like an orange slice.
After language arts, Skyla and I got our saddlebags and went to our final class, which was outside. We sat on the ground near a cloud structure for a moment before our teacher, a short orange pegasus mare with blue sunglasses, landed on the clouds.
"Welcome back to flight class, everypony" Ms. Radar said. "I've set up an obstacle course for you all to practice gliding in. I've put some turns in it, but they should be easy enough for you to get the hang of. Go on and get started."
All of my classmates ran towards the start of the obstacle course, but I kept sitting there.
"Is there something wrong, Inova?" Ms. Radar asked me.
"Why am I in this class again?" I asked her.
Ms. Radar rubbed her forehead with a forehoof and sighed. "You're in this class because you have wings. Everypony in this class has wings."
I looked at my back and saw my wings right there. "Oh." I forgot about them a lot. I got up and made my way towards the cloud structure, stopping at the very edge of it, my trembling forehoof just inches from the cloud.
"You can step on the clouds, Inova. You won't fall through them."
I knew that I wouldn't fall through the clouds. I knew they were soft. I also knew that I was too scared to step hoof on them. After keeping my forehoof over the cloud for a minute, I ran back to a crystal column and hid behind it.
"Inova, please come back here." Ms. Radar said.
"No!" I said. "I don't wanna."
"Inova, you're an alicorn, and you have to learn how to fly. Part of that is walking on clouds. I know you're afraid of falling through the clouds, but your magic will keep you safe."
"I don't have much magic."
"Even just a little bit will keep you safe. You'll be fine."
"No! I'm not going on the clouds."
Ms. Radar sighed before jumping and gliding over to me. "Inova, I'm not asking you to fly like a pro right now. All I need you to do is walk on the clouds in the starting area. If you can do that without hesitation by the end of the school year, that will be enough."
"But what if the clouds break?"
"Then it's a very short fall to the ground. Less than a foot. You'll be fine no matter what."
I slowly came out from behind the crystal column and made my way back towards the starting area. I looked at the cloud surface and cautiously set a forehoof on it. My hoof sunk a little bit into the cloud, which held firm. I pulled my hoof back before putting it back on the cloud, which still held firm.
While I kept poking the cloud, Ms. Radar came up beside me, stuck a forehoof under me, and tossed me onto the clouds. It wasn't the first time she had done that. I wasn't tossed far, and I knew in my head that I would be fine, just like all the other times I had been tossed onto the clouds. Despite that, I still let out a small scream right before landing on my underside on the cloud. The fact that I never fell through always amazed me for some reason.
"Inova, you need to get comfortable with walking on clouds" Ms. Radar said as she walked up next to me. "Like I said, it will be enough for you if you just get used to walking on the clouds by the end of the school year. Of course, if you can do that and a bit more, that would be even better.
"I have to check up on the other students, so just work on getting used to walking on the cloud in the meantime." Ms. Radar flew up and over the course and went off towards a section of it. I could hear her helping some other students with something.
I stayed in my position and turned to look at my wings. They felt familiar, as they always had been a part of me, but also felt weird, as if they weren't supposed to be there. Because of the weird feeling, I was a bit of a wing klutz.
I have gotten some lift before, but it took a lot of effort, and the feeling of my hooves leaving the ground and nothing supporting me freaked me out to the point that I crashed a second later. I was laughed at by my classmates for that. I haven't gotten any lift since then.
After flight class, mom showed up to get Skyla and me.
"So, how were your days?" Mom asked us as we walked home.
"Fine" I said.
"It was fun!" Skyla said. "We had tacos for lunch. I used all of my lunch bits."
"Those tacos must have been good" mom said. "Did you use all your bits too, Inova?"
"Yes" I said. I didn't actually use them all, but I didn't want her to know about the bits I was hiding away in Skyla's and my room. I didn't want Skyla to know about them either because I was pretty sure she'd just buy a lot of food and eat it all.
After a bit of walking, mom said "who wants ice cream?"
"I DO! I DO! I DO!" Skyla shouted.
"Do you want some too, Inova?"
"Sure" I said. "Can we go to Central Creamery?"
"Of course. We need some milk anyways. Your dad burned the last of it trying to make a bowl of cereal before he went to work today."
"Again?" Skyla and I asked at the same time.
"Again. Still, it's a good excuse for us to get some ice cream. Skyla, don't ask for every flavor this time. You can have no more than two scoops. Same goes for you, Inova."
"But I never asked for every flavor" I said.
"I know. I meant that you can only have two scoops of ice cream."
"Oh." That made sense.
When we got to Central Creamery, Skyla ran and jumped up to the nearest freezer, her muzzle pressed against the glass. I walked over to a different one and stood on my hind legs to look inside. This one usually had. . . yes, there was the flavor I wanted.
"Girls, do you know what you want?" Mom asked us.
"I want every flavor" Skyla said, to nopony's surprise.
"Choose one or two flavors, Skyla. Otherwise, you'll only get one scoop of one flavor. Inova, do you know what you want?"
"Two scoops of raw honey" I said.
"That's good. Skyla, do you know what you want?"
"I want two scoops of everything flavor" she said.
"There is no everything flavor. You're down to one scoop of one flavor. You have twenty seconds to choose or I'll choose for you."
Skyla became frantic, looking at every flavor she could while mom counted down from twenty. Just as mom was about to say 'three', Skyla said "Chocolate marshmallow".
"Chocolate marshmallow? Skyla, I said one flavor, not two."
"Actually, Princess-" the pony behind the counter said "-chocolate marshmallow is a flavor. It's chocolate ice cream with marshmallows in it. It's actually pretty good."
"Really now? I'll have to try it sometime. We'll have one scoop of chocolate marshmallow for Skyla, two of raw honey for Inova, and a blended dish of strawberry and cherry for me. Oh, and a gallon of milk. Can I get the milk on the way out?"
"Certainly. That will be nine bits, please."
Mom gave the pony nine bits and led Skyla and I to a table. "So, what do you two have for homework?"
"I've got none" I said. "I did it all in class."
"I have math and spelling" Skyla said.
"Any in geography?" Mom asked.
"Nope."
Mom turned to me as our ice cream was delivered. "How was magic and flight, Inova?"
"Not good" I said. "I only made a small amount of sparks and I'm still scared of stepping on clouds." I leaned forward and took a small bite of my ice cream. It was really good.
"Then we'll practice tonight." Mom floated her spoon into her ice cream before taking a bite and smiling at her blended flavors.
I was the last of us to finish, as usual. Skyla's single scoop was gone in less than a minute while it took a couple minutes for me to finish. Mom was done between us. Once I was done, mom picked up the milk and we left Central Creamery for home.
Once we got home, mom and Skyla went to the living room to work on homework. I went to Skyla's and my room and went to my toy chest, which Skyla couldn't get into. Skyla had her own toy chest, but I couldn't open it. I opened mine and moved a few things aside to get to my hidden bit box. I got my five leftover bits from today and put them in the box. Once that was done, I opened my gold trimmed notebook I kept in my saddlebags and put in a '5' for the bits I put in today. I added them up to what I had saved so far and got 200. I felt really proud of myself. I basked in that pride for a bit before hiding the bit box back under my toys and closing the chest.
With mom and Skyla working on Skyla's homework, I found myself with nopony to play with. I asked mom yesterday if I could go to town alone, and she said I had to wait until I was in middle school, which was just under two and a half years away. I didn't want to wait that long.
I left the room and went over to mom, who was still helping Skyla. "Mom, can I take a nap?"
"Yes, but just for 30 minutes" she said. "If you don't wake up by then, I'll wake you up."
"Okay" I went back to my room, darkened it, and climbed into bed, where I fell asleep in about five minutes.
"Inova, wake up" mom gently said as she lightly shook me with a forehoof. I opened my eyes and sat up, still feeling a bit sleepy. My bed was a lot more comfortable than I remembered. "You overslept by 15 minutes."
"Sorry" I said.
"You're not in trouble. I lost track of time too. So, how about we practice your flight a bit?"
"Sure."
"Excellent. While you were asleep, I moved you to a cloud bed."
I looked at what I was sleeping on and promptly freaked out, flailing my limbs and falling to the floor only a foot away.
"Inova, I've heard that the goal for you in flight class is to get comfortable with walking on clouds" mom said. "Until it's time for supper, we will work on getting to that point."
"But I-"
"No objections, Inova. This is a vital skill you need to learn. Now then, I'm sure you noticed that the cloud was really comfortable when you woke up."
"Yes."
"You were in it for 20 minutes. Your magic is more than enough to keep you safe while you sleep on a cloud."
"I thought you wanted me to walk on clouds?" I was perplexed. What would sleeping on a cloud prove to me?
"If you can fall asleep on something, you can walk on it. How many times have you jumped on your bed with your sister, or fallen asleep on the floor?"
"A few?"
"That's right. And not once did the bed or floor break under you. The clouds are the same way for you. They won't break under you just by standing on them."
I looked back at the cloud I apparently slept on. It was just floating there, not moving or doing anything. A few months ago, I was weirded out when I first saw a cloud near the ground in flight class. I thought clouds were supposed to be high up in the sky, just floating around on their own.
Before I could put a hoof on the cloud, Skyla jumped onto and off my back and onto the cloud, forcing me onto the floor with my legs spread out. I quickly got back to my hooves and jumped up onto the cloud to try and push Skyla off. It quickly turned into a play fight with me on the losing end, as tended to happen. Skyla was a bit bigger than me, a bit stronger, and had more magic in her.
Our fight on the cloud didn't last long, as it was pulled out from under us, causing us to fall the short distance to the ground, where mom split us up with her magic. "No fighting, girls." Her voice was stern. "Skyla, go to your room until it's time for supper. You'll also be there after supper. Inova, you will practice magic after supper's cleaned up. No playtime for either of you tonight."
"Aww" Skyla and I said together before she slowly went to our room. Once mom and I saw that she had indeed gone to our room, mom and I faced each other.
"I think we might have gotten you over your reluctance of getting on clouds."
"How?" I asked.
"You didn't hesitate to jump on the cloud after Skyla jumped off you. If you were still scared, you wouldn't have done that."
"Really?" I looked at the cloud as mom brought it back down closer to the ground. Once it was in front of me, I poked it. As expected, it did nothing. I jumped onto it like I did after Skyla jumped off of me. All that happened was that I landed on the cloud. I jumped off and on it a few times, a smile on my face.
"Good job, Inova" mom praised me. "Do you remember the wing exercises from flight class?"
"Yes."
"I want you to do some of those until supper is ready. Tonight is a casserole night."
"Okay!" I liked mom's casseroles. They were always delicious. Except for the one time dad helped her. That one was so bad, it dissolved the dish it was in and part of the floor once it was out of the oven. We ate out at Emerald Thursday's that night.
While I was doing wing exercises to the best of my memory, dad came home. He had a tan folder in his magic and went to the office room with it. I kept at my exercises, even though I wanted to follow him.
Eventually, supper came around. My wings were tired, and I couldn't find the strength to fold them on my sides. I got to my spot at the table while mom went to get Skyla and dad. I didn't have to wait long for my family to show up. Skyla and dad took their spots at the table while mom got the casserole and glasses of water, which she put on the table.
"So, how was your day, Shining?" Mom asked as she served us with her magic. I quietly started on my portion.
"Not bad" he said. "I got some suggestions for new procedures for the Crystal Guard. I should be done going over them before nine-thirty."
I didn't pay much attention after that, as I kept my focus on my food. I was eating faster than I did at lunch, since Skyla was right next to me. Even though we were eating the same way, with our muzzles down in our food, she was eating much faster than I was, and was already halfway done. I moved my plate away from her a bit and ate a little bit faster. The casserole was good, and I wanted to enjoy every bite of it, but I still wanted to feel full. I hated going to bed hungry because Skyla ate my food.
Eventually, supper came to an end. Dad was quick to clear the table and wash the dishes. Skyla went to our room while mom and I went back to the living room to work on my magic. In the hour mom and I were at it, I managed to create a few small spark showers, but nothing more. I still couldn't focus my magic into my horn very well.
After that, it was bath time. Mom set the water in the huge round tub and had Skyla and me get in. The water was nice and warm, and had a smell like jasmine. At least that's what mom says it smells like. She always puts something in the water before any of us get in. She says it's to help keep the mane, tail, and fur clean and smooth. As far as I know, it works.
Mom and dad came back, and just like every bath time, they joined Skyla and me in the tub. And just as always, I got this strange feeling. I liked bathtime, as everypony was here, and pony families apparently bathed together all the time. Something about everypony bathing together also felt strange to me, like it was something that wasn't supposed to be done.
The strange feeling about everypony bathing together always went away the moment mom or dad started washing my mane by hoof. It felt great and really relaxed me. There were times that I nearly fell asleep from that alone.
After my mane was washed, my fur was next, starting with my face and going down to my rear. It always felt a little strange at the end, kind of like the feeling I had about everypony bathing together. That feeling of it being normal, but something small in my mind not quite liking it. It really bugged me.
My tail was done with a quick wash with a shampoo comb run through it a few times. Always quick, never anything of note there.
Mom took care of preening Skyla's and my wings, and she always worked to teach us how to do it. I had a rough idea on how to do it, but because I was a wing klutz, it didn't usually end up looking nice. There were always missed and misaligned feathers when I did it on my own. Sometimes, my wings wound up looking worse after I preened them myself.
Once everypony was clean, the water was drained from the tub while we stayed in it and let the water drip off of us for a bit before we got our towels, which matched our coats. The towels were always warm and toasty. They apparently had long-lasting warmth charms in them, and I liked to bring one with me whenever we left the Crystal Empire. After leaving the bubble around it, it gets chilly in the train pretty fast.
After we were all dry, we left the bathroom for some tea before heading off to bed. Mom always made it slightly sweet, and I was fine with that. Better that than dad making it. The tea always gave me a short burst of energy before I got really tired and made my way to bed. Because of that, I liked to just drink it and go straight to bed. Tonight was no exception.
Just as I was almost asleep, mom came in, carrying Skyla in her magic. Skyla was already asleep and didn't react to being moved. It was difficult to wake Skyla up. Mom gave us both a hug and wished us good night before closing the door, plunging the room into darkness suitable for sleeping through the night in.
I was running. There was nothing I could do but run. A giant monster, at least ten feet tall, dark crimson, and with six glowing eyes was chasing me. It had a giant sword that it used to cut down everything in its way, and whatever it cut bled a lot, even things like rocks and the ground. The sword also sent out a spray of blood whenever it was swung, and whatever the blood touched started to rot and fester. When the rot was cut, large chunks of flesh exploded outward. I even saw the monster catch and eat one of the pieces without pause.
I've ran through Canterlot, Ponyville, and am currently running through a thick forest. I am sore all over and out of breath, yet I have to keep running.
I saw a white glow up ahead against the red-orange sky, and aunt Luna appeared. Finally, I was safe. I stopped a short distance behind her and plopped down on the ground. I looked back the way I had come and saw a thick mass of branches where I had come from, aunt Luna facing it. Seconds later, the bleeding sword cut through the branches with no problem and the monster followed with even fewer. It saw Luna, who fired a bolt of magic at its head. Despite the direct blow, the monster was unfazed. With its free hand, it grabbed aunt Luna's horn and snapped it off with a sickening crack. Before she could do anything else, one of her wings got cut off by the giant sword, along with part of her ribs.
The monster grabbed Luna's neck just under her head, its fingers breaking her skin and making her bleed. Then, in a deep voice, it spoke. "I am Chimatsuri Dokoku, the incarnation of fear."
"Get out of my niece's dream, demon" Luna ordered. She tried to cast a spell, but all that happened was blood spraying out of her broken horn, some of which landed on the monster's face. It opened its mouth, and a tongue far too long for its head licked some of the blood off. "Delicious. I've never tasted blood this exquisite before. I want more, now."
The monster tossed aunt Luna up in the air before slashing her with unnatural speed, cutting her into large chunks, which hit the ground shriveled up, drained of all blood. Her head rolled towards me, bits of the skin falling off as it came closer. When it stopped, it looked like a patchwork of bone, muscle, skin, and bits of eye all over.
I was too tired and stunned by what I saw to do anything but see the blade, dripping with blood, falling towards me.
I woke up screaming and breathing heavily, covered in a cold sweat. A minute later, mom came in to comfort me.
"Shh, Inova. It was just a dream. It was just a dream" she whispered. I cried into her fur. I was still so scared by what I saw. I tried not to fall asleep. During one such effort, I heard mom mention how Skyla was still asleep despite what just happened.
Luna woke up from her dreamwalking screaming and breathing heavily, covered in a cold sweat. A few minutes later, Celestia entered her room.
"Luna? Is everything alright?" Celestia asked. She looked around the spacious room and saw Luna cowering in a corner, huddled and shivering in her blanket, fear on her face. Celestia drew closer before kneeling down and asking again. Luna's eyes never moved.
"Demon. Blood. Giant sword. So much pain. Dissection" Luna said, clearly unable to form full and proper senses.
"Was it somepony's nightmare?"
Luna just nodded, still staring straight ahead.
"Can I see what you saw?"
Luna nodded again and cautiously lit her horn. Once the spell was going, and it was evident Luna wouldn't move, Celestia put her head against Luna's horn.
Over the next fifteen seconds, Celestia experienced everything Luna had in the nightmare, though it felt like hours had passed once it was over.
During the fifteen seconds after seeing the nightmare, Celestia wormed her way into the blanket and huddled in fear with her sister.
After fifteen minutes huddled together, the royal sisters had finally calmed down. After ordering some hot cocoa with a practiced spell, Celestia was the first to speak. "Whose nightmare was that, Luna?"
"It was Inova's nightmare" Luna said, disbelief in her voice.
It took a moment for that to sink in for Celestia. "Inova? As in, the same Inova that we are aunts to?"
"Yes, her. I don't know what could have inspired such a nightmare, especially one of such detail."
"Should we tell Cadence of the demon?"
"I don't know, 'Tia. On one hoof, it would let her know just what scared Inova. On the other, well, look at us" Luna motioned to herself and Celestia, still wrapped up in the blanket and huddled in the corner.
Moments later a knock sounded from the door. "Your hot cocoa, Princesses" a maid called.
Celestia cast an illusion and opened the door, appearing to accept the hot cocoas right at the door. "Thank you. Have a good evening" Celestia said.
"You too, your highnesses" the maid said before leaving. Once the door was gone, the illusion also vanished and the hot cocoas were quickly brought to Celestia and Luna's lips, the sweet, warm chocolate drink helping soothe their nerves.
"I think we shouldn't tell Cadence" Luna said.
"Oh?" Celestia asked.
"I think the only ponies who should know the details of this nightmare are you, me, and Inova. Any more, and things might get out of hoof. It could even induce a whole slew of nightmares among our ponies, and that would mess up everything for them. This can't be known to anypony else, not even Cadence."
"You make some good points there, Luna. But why shouldn't Cadence know?"
"Have you talked with her when she's sleep deprived? She says things that should be secret. Sharing the nightmare with her would probably put her in such a state, and she'd probably slip the nightmare out."
"Ah. Now that that's settled, do you want me to sleep with you tonight?"
"Gladly, sister. But I have one condition" Luna stated.
"What is it?"
"That we finish the hot cocoas and talk about better things first."
"Oh, your demands. They are so unreasonably reasonable" Celestia overdramatized. "I bow to your conditions, Princess of the night."
I did not feel good when I was woken up by Skyla running out of bed over me to get breakfast. My nose felt stuffed up and I had no energy. I couldn’t smell the food either. I wanted to get out of bed, even if I just rolled out and fell onto the floor. I had the willpower to move my body a bit, but not enough to matter. I also felt really warm for some reason.
A few minutes later, mom showed up in the room. “Inova? Are you okay?”
I tried to speak, but all I could muster was a groan, followed by some coughs that hurt my throat. Once the coughs were out, mom put a forehoof on my forehead. She pulled it away after only a second. “You’re burning up, Inova. You are sick and you are not going to school today.” I couldn’t argue with that, even if I wanted to. “You can stay there. I’ll be right back” mom said before quickly leaving the room.
I heard her talking with dad and a minute later, he came in and put his hoof on my forehead for a second before taking it off. “You really are burning up, Inova. Your mom could have made today’s pancakes on your forehead.” Breakfast was pancakes today? Aww. I loved pancakes, but I had no energy, and now that I thought about it, I wasn’t hungry either. Weird.
After helping me sit up and comforting me for a bit, dad left the room. After what sounded like Skyla leaving with dad, mom came back in, a glass of orange juice in her magic. “Are you hungry, Inova?”
“No” I weakly said.
“Oh. Well, you should at least drink this.” Mom floated the glass up to my lips with her magic and gently tilted my head back with her hooves, helping me drink the juice. For some reason, I couldn’t taste the usual sweetness and flavor of the juice. Still, I kept at it until the glass was empty. “Feel better?”
“Not yet” I moaned. “What’s happening to me?”
“You’re sick, Inova. Don’t worry though. I’ll be here to help you get better.”
“Oka-. . . Ah. . . Ah. . CHOO!” I sneezed and a glob of greenish stuff flew from my nose, along with a bit of the orange juice coming back out my mouth. The sneeze was so powerful, it hurt my throat, making breathing painful for a few seconds. As the pain faded away, I slumped in my position, not caring about how my fur and feathers got messed up.
“Inova, we are going to the hospital” mom said. “You’re sicker than I thought you were.” I looked at her and saw the stuff I sneezed out in her magic. It was kind of gross. “But first, let me get rid of this stuff. Could you get out of bed in the meantime?”
I nodded before getting my body moving, a task that was a bit easier now that I was more awake. I was still sluggish, and I didn’t so much get out of bed as I did stumble out, landing on my side on the floor. The impact definitely helped wake me up more, and I got my hooves under me not long after mom got back.
After making sure I was steady on my hooves, we left the room, though I found myself struggling to keep up even before we got to the front door. Not even in my P.E. classes did I get this exhausted. Mom caught on to that and levitated me onto her back. I would usually flail around from that, but I just didn’t have the energy to care.
Once mom was sure I was in a good position, she went out the front door and took off from the porch, flying over the roads and houses. It didn’t take long for us to get to the hospital, which wasn’t very busy at all. We were quickly led through the hospital to a room that I had vague memories of, where mom put me on the soft table with the crinkly paper.
It wasn’t long before somepony came in. Mom didn’t give him a chance to speak. “Doctor, Inova’s really sick. I cast a diagnosis spell earlier after she sneezed. She has both a cold and pony pox.” I didn’t know quite what she was saying, but it sounded bad.
“Pony pox? Wasn’t she supposed to be vaccinated against that?” the doctor asked her.
Mom leveled her gaze at him. “Are you new here?”
“Moved to the empire last month from Fillydelphia, your highness. Why do you ask?”
“There’s a reason Inova didn’t get the pony pox vaccine. . .”
“Don’t worry Inova, it will be over quickly” mom softly said. It didn’t help me. All my attention was on the item in the doctor’s magic. I had already backed into a corner and my breathing was rapid. I could feel my heart beating hard in my chest.
“Please, calm down” the doctor said. “It’ll only take a few seconds.”
I wasn’t quite sure what happened next, but I felt something building up rapidly in my horn, and before I knew it, a huge blast of magic went in the doctor’s direction. I think mom got him out of the way, and for a few seconds, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening. Once the magic ran out, I saw a hole in the wall easily big enough for me to jump through. The hole went through a few walls, in fact. Despite my exhaustion, I didn’t fall asleep or pass out, my tired eyes staying on the doctor.
“Doctor, I don’t think Inova will let you give her the injection” I felt some of my fur bristle at that last word. I don’t know why.
“So that’s why there’s some orange circles here” the doctor said. “So, how long has she been sick?”
“Since she woke up. She was fine when she went to bed last night. Right, Inova?” mom said. I nodded in agreement, since she was right. I felt just fine when I went to sleep last night.
“Hmm. Normally, I would recommend something that would be injected-” I tensed up at that. “-but considering what has happened before, I can’t recommend that. At the least, Inova hasn’t shown any of the more visible symptoms of pony pox. In fact, if it she didn’t have a cold as well, it might have shown up later when treatment would have been really difficult, considering Inova’s reaction to needles.”
“So what do I do, doctor?”
“Go with higher doses of cold medicine” he said as he started writing something down. “Also go to the pharmacy and get this. Just have Inova take it with water once per day until she’s healed. She might get a little loopy though.”
“Thanks. How long do you think it will take for her to be healed?” mom asked as she floated me onto her back.
“With the medicines, plenty of fluids, and a healthy diet, she should be ready for school this Friday.”
“That’s great. Have a good day, doctor. . ?”
“Teal. Just Teal. And I wish you the same, your highness.”
“Doctor Teal. Thank you” mom said as we left the room, a piece of paper in mom’s magic. We went down a few hallways, mom apparently getting lost a couple times. Eventually, we came to another room, this one with a mare behind a desk built into what looked like a sturdy glass wall. Mom gave her the paper and got a small white bag in return, and we were quickly on our way back home, mom flying once again.
The next couple days were a blur, and mom says I acted like I was drunk, whatever that means. I do remember spending lots of time in bed, drinking lots of water, and mom not leaving my side for most of the time.
I woke up on Thursday feeling just fine. No stuffed up nose, no aches, and no sluggishness. When Skyla ran over me as usual for breakfast, I was able to smell. . . prench toast! I felt my stomach growl, but paid it little mind as I chased Skyla to the breakfast table, us taking our seats with practiced ease, though I did miss a few days, so I wasn’t as practiced. It was still easy though.
Mom brought the prench toast to the table and had a very relieved look on her face, though her voice still had concern in it. “Are you feeling better, Inova?”
“Prench toast please?” I answered with a smile.
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then” she said before floating some prench toast to everypony, and drizzling the syrup as well, starting with my portion. I was quick to dig in, and with the first bite, I remembered what flavor was. It was a glorious thing. “Oh, Inova” mom continued. “I went to Pristine Pearl on Monday while you were asleep and got all the classwork and homework for the week.” Oh no. “You can stay home again today, but you’ll have to do your schoolwork.”
“Why can’t I do that, mom?” Skyla asked from behind her sparkling clean plate. If I didn’t know her as well as I did, I’d say she wasn’t served anything. But I knew how she ate, and that was very quickly.
“Because you didn’t get sick” mom answered simply. “You are going to school today, Skyla. No questions.”
“Aww.”
“As for you, Inova-” Here we go. “Here’s your schoolwork for this week.” mom floated over a stack of paper an inch thick. I felt a prench toast and syrup filled pit form in my stomach. “And I’ll be giving you extra flight and magic lessons too. We all know you really need those.” Okay, it couldn’t get worse than that, right? “And let’s get it all done before Skyla gets home.” It did get worse. It’s going to be another long day at home.
I showed up at school on Friday and was almost immediately tackle hugged by Diamond Heart. “I missed you, Inova!” I liked the hug, but the tackle had a bit of force to it.
“Hi, Diamond. I missed you too” I said, returning the hug, but not the tackle. “How have things been since I’ve been gone?”
Diamond broke the hug and we went inside. This year, we had math together for first period. “Everypony seems to be getting sick now for some reason. I’ve been lucky enough to avoid it though.”
“That’s good. Do you have any idea what it is?”
“I’ve been hearing that it’s a cold that’s been going around. The teachers seem fine though. Maybe they’re the ones spreading it around?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then what’s your idea?”
“I think it just spreads from pony to pony. Somehow.”
“Hm. Oh, I saw your mom come in on Monday during social studies and get your work for the week. Did she do that for all your classes?”
“Yes. There was at least an inch of paper” Diamond groaned at that. “And mom made me do it all before lunch yesterday. And then she had me practice my magic and do wing exercises until Skyla got home.”
“I have no idea what it’s like to have magic or wings. Can you tell me?”
“You’re asking the wrong pony, Diamond.”
“But you have both” Diamond said as we approached our classroom. “Why can’t you tell me?”
“I often forget that I have my wings and horn. I’m also not very good with either.”
“How bad could you be?”
“We’re in the last semester of third grade. There are second graders who started out the first semester better than me in magic and flight.”
“Really?”
We sat at our desks next to each other. “Yes. All my magics are weak, and I don’t have much of them either.”
“Is my earth pony magic stronger than yours?”
“I think so. I wouldn’t be surprised.”
Eventually, math started. A noticeable amount of our classmates were not there, likely out sick. We gave the teacher our daily work, my stack thicker than everypony else’s, and were given our warm up word problem. At least, everypony else got one. I probably turned mine in already.
While everypony was working on their math problems, I chose to work on a different one of my own: basic levitation. I put a pencil on my desk and tried to levitate it. In the five minutes it took for everypony to finish their problems, I had managed to get my magic in focus (for the moment) and maintain a thin glowing field around the pencil for a couple minutes. The pencil never moved, despite my best efforts.
The rest of the day passed by rather quietly and peacefully. Nothing of note happened. I felt sure that, within a couple weeks, things would be back to normal here at school.
School was going great. Aside from my usual problem classes of flight and magic, I was doing spectacularly well. Social studies, history, math, basic P. E., and literature were a breeze. I still haven’t made any new friends since Diamond Heart, but I was fine with that.
Recently, about halfway through fourth grade, mom and dad started letting Skyla and me walk home from school without them. Skyla missed walking with them. She said that she didn’t like walking home without them and, more importantly (in her eyes), she couldn’t get any snacks on the way home. We still got our 10 bits daily for lunch from mom and dad, and Skyla still spent all of hers on lunch, while I still spent only half my bits, unless I had to spend more. My stash of bits was getting larger and harder to keep hidden. We’re going to be learning about things called banks soon in social studies. I’m not sure what those are, but something in me says that I need one.
Skyla and I took different routes home. She often headed straight home, sticking to the way we’ve taken for years. I preferred to walk with Diamond Heart to her house, where we would say our goodbyes and I would walk home.
The path to Diamond’s home took us through the cheaper area of the market. Until I came through with her, I’d never been there before. It wasn’t as nice looking as where I usually went, but it had a different feel to it that wasn’t bad. It was like the difference between standing up properly and laying down casually. The more I came through here with Diamond, the more I started to like the feel of the area. I didn’t stop anywhere though, as I was busy walking with Diamond.
Today’s walk with Diamond was going as normal, with me helping her figure out problems from some of our classes. Today, it was a bit of Equestrian history. “So it was unification, then Celestia and Luna showing up, then Discord’s reign, then Nightmare Moon, the Diamond Dog war, Minotaur conflict, Griffon negotiations, and Deer trading routes.”
“That’s a lot” Diamond said. “How does Ms. Tomes expect us to memori-”
I cut her off with a hoof to her mouth. “Shh. Do you smell that?” I had caught a whiff of something in the air. I sniffed the air until I was able to pick out the direction it was coming from. Diamond caught it as well, and while neither of us were Skyla, we knew it was something tasty.
Our search for the strangely savory scent’s source showed us to a somewhat shady side street. Fortunately, it wasn’t far from the main path we took, and not too far in either. We found a door, and next to it was a sign that said “Mr. Slice’s Pizzeria”.
“Pizzer- Pizzari- Inova, how do you say that word?” Diamond asked me.
I studied that word for a while. It had that strange feeling of familiarity to it that many things did to me. “I don’t know. How about we ask whoever’s inside? And we can find out what this scent is.” That scent was also strangely familiar. It wasn’t a dangerous one.
Diamond thought for a bit. “Alright. You first.”
“No, you can go first.”
“No, you.”
“How about you?”
“Nah. Perhaps you?”
“I’d be honored to let you go first.”
“The honor would be mine, princess.”
She was getting serious. “Then as princess, I ask you to go first.”
“I thought princesses would lead others, not follow.”
“No. You can go first.”
“No, you.”
“No, you.”
This went on for a few minutes. At some point, things changed
“No, I will.”
“No, I will.”
“No, I will.”
“No, I will.”
“Alright Inova. You said you’d go first, so go ahead.”
I was about to counter her when I realized she got me. I hung my head in defeat and turned to the door, a sign on it saying ‘Open’. I took a breath and pushed it open, a bell ringing as it opened.
Not long after Diamond and I let the door close behind us, a tan earth pony stallion came out from the counter to our left. He sat facing us, so we couldn’t see his cutie mark. “Hello. Can I help with anything?”
I looked towards Diamond, to see if she’d ask the questions. She put a hoof on my muzzle and turned my head back to face the stallion. He kept a decent amount of distance between us and felt friendly. It seemed I would be talking to him too.
I sighed before asking “what is this place?”
“This” the stallion said as he held his forelegs out “is my pizzeria. My name is Sliced Cheese, but please, just call me Mr. Slice. I make pizza.”
“What is pizza?”
“Hmm. I can’t really explain it that well, so how about I let you two try some?”
I looked to Diamond, who simply shrugged. I turned back to Mr. Slice. “Sure. Nothing fancy though.”
“No problem. Just take a seat and I’ll bring you some sample pizzas.”
As Mr. Slice went back behind the counter to our left, we walked forward and looked to the right. The floor was a dark tan wood, the tables were mostly deep red, and the chairs had similarly colored cushions on black frames. There were also booths, with dark green benches around dark green tables. Off in the corner opposite the entrance, the floor went down a couple steps, where more booths were, along with a big green table with a variety of differently colored balls on it. The whole place was well lit, but not bright like outdoors. It was a muted light that felt both welcoming and relaxing.
Diamond and I found ourselves a small table with four chairs and sat at it. I could see now that the table top was a lighter wood than the floor, and that was true for all the tables. We took our saddlebags off and set them on another chair. Not long after we sat down, Mr. Slice came over with a couple small glasses of water. “Your samples will be done shortly.” I nodded in response as I took a sip of my water. It was good water.
It wasn’t long before our samples were brought out, Mr. Slice not only giving them to us, but also taking a seat with us. The samples were no bigger than Mr. Slice’s forehoof, and they looked to be some kind of bread with a red sauce and melted cheese on top. Each one was cut into four sections, and were steaming a bit. Diamond and I each took a slice of our samples and put them in our mouths whole. The slices were small enough for that.
As I chewed, the flavors of the pizza made themselves known. The bread part was very nicely seasoned, the red sauce was tomato sauce, and the cheese was delicious. I chewed until the piece was little more than mush, at which point I swallowed it. I felt the heat in it spread through my body quite nicely.
“So, how is it?” Mr. Slice asked.
“It’s delicious” I said. “I’ll have to get mom and dad here sometime.”
“Just your mom and dad?” Diamond asked me. She had a second sample slice in her hooves. “Why not Skyla?”
“She’d eat half of everything, then eat the other half. Have you seen her eating at lunch?”
“Yeah. She gets a bit more than everypony else, but you both get 10 bits every day for lunch, so she can get more.”
“She uses all 10 bits at lunch. I eat less at lunch to save money. I always have. I still have five bits on me. Say, what can I get for five bits here?”
“You could get a medium pizza with up to two toppings, or three small pizzas with one topping each, normally two bits apiece. Do you want to bring some small pizzas home for your family to try?”
I thought it over. I really did want to bring some home for mom, dad, and even Skyla to try. I also liked bringing home leftover bits to put away. I took the second slice of my sample and put it in my mouth. It was then that my mind was made up. “I’ll take three small ones like the sample.”
“Three small cheese pizzas it is. And you?” Mr. Slice asked Diamond.
“I don’t have any bits” Diamond said.
“Then how about I give you some samples for home?”
“Really? I can bring some to my parents?”
“Yes, you can.” I was liking Mr. Slice. He’s both friendly and nice. Very generous as well. “I’ll even give you both another sample for free.”
“Really?” I said. “Thanks, Mr. Slice.”
“No problem. Get your bits ready and I’ll get your pizzas ready” Mr. Slice left us and went back behind the counter, where we could see the kitchen. I didn’t look there for long as I opened my saddlebags and fished out my leftover bits. All five were there, and I put them on the table. I also ate my fourth slice, leaving the third one for now.
After all my bits were out, Diamond and I watched Mr. Slice work, and we also saw his cutie mark: a slice of pizza, though it looked to be from a larger pizza than what Diamond and I got. We watched him spin and toss the dough, press it out to the right sizes, spread the sauce, put on the cheese, and put the pizzas into an oven. He wasn’t done though, as he accidentally answered a question that was starting to form in my head. He was folding up some flat boxes, which looked big enough for our pizzas.
I finished the last slice of my sample right as we got our pizzas, each one individually boxed up. The boxes were plain white with no marks or prints on them. “So, how do we get these home?” Diamond asked him.
“On your backs. Just put on your saddlebags and I’ll help you fillies with the boxes” Mr. Slice said as he collected the five bits and Diamond and I put our saddlebags on. Once we had our bags on and were standing on the floor, Mr. Slice started stacking the boxes on our backs. Diamond got her three sample boxes before I got my three small boxes and sample box. They were balanced quite well. The only thing I really noticed was the warmth of the bottom box’s pizza. As we left, he said “have a good day” and waved to us. I nodded back and wished him a good day too as we left.
We were quick to get back on our route towards Diamond’s house. We filled the time and distance with talk about the pizzeria. Diamond thought the place could have been brighter, but I found the slightly darker color tones to be rather comforting. We did disagree on a few things, but we both agreed that the pizza itself was tasty. Eventually, we got to Diamond’s house, where we nuzzled before parting ways. We normally hugged, but our backs were occupied and would have made that unwise. “See you tomorrow, Diamond.”
“See you, Inova” Diamond said before going inside. On the way home, I was deep in thought. I had to figure out how to get inside without Skyla smelling the pizzas. She had no idea what pizza was, or even the notion of what it was, but she would know at first sniff that it was food. If I went in the front door, she’d be on me in seconds. If I went in the back door, I’d only have a few seconds more. I knew mom and dad would be home, and Skyla would probably be doing her homework, complaining and dragging it out.
I finally settled on a plan right as I approached the house. I made my way to the front door along the crystalline path as quietly as I could, a task not made easy with hooves. The steps up to the front patio were a bit of a challenge, considering the pizzas on my back. I did make it up though, without a single pizza sliding out of place.
Step 1: done.
After I reached the front doors, I did something that happened a couple times per week: I knocked. Mom and dad always opened the door on my right, so I pressed up against the left door. Sure enough, that pattern held true and the door opened. After a few seconds, dad stuck his head out and looked around it didn’t take him long to see me.
“Oh, hello Inova” he greeted me before sniffing the air. “It smells like you’ve got something there.” His voice had dropped quite a bit, presumably to keep Skyla from hearing him. He also lowered his head to mine. “What is it?”
“I’ll share later” I assured him. “For now, I need a bubble to block the smell, and perhaps quiet my hooves. Can you help?”
“Of course” dad said, his horn glowing with his magenta magic and a bubble forming around me.
Step 2: done.
I walked inside, my hooves making no sound at all. Dad and I made our way to the fridge. Everypony aside from me called it an icebox though. I liked what I called it though. It sounded cooler. Dad put a bubble up around the fridge, took the pizzas off my back, and put them in with his telekinesis. I still had to get that down. Almost all the unicorns in my classes could do it with ease, and those that couldn’t do it with ease could still do it. I could only manifest a glow around my horn and a trace of one around an object. If I tried really hard, I could make an object move a very little bit.
Step 3: done, and some sorrow achieved. Magic sucks when everypony but you can use it. Even more so when you’re an alicorn.
“Do you have homework, Inova?” dad asked me. Since Skyla and I shared most of our classes, he already knew the answer.
“Yeah. I’ll get started on it” I replied before going over to the living room, where Skyla was at the coffee table trying not to do her homework, a pencil rotating in her telekinesis. I felt more sorrow at my lack of magic skills kick in. I sat down next to Skyla, pulled out my homework with my mouth, snagged the pencil from her magic with a forehoof, and set to work. I made sure to put a wing up so she couldn’t copy my work.
Mom showed up a moment later, and she jumped a bit at my presence. “When did you get home, Inova?”
“About 10 minutes ago. I’m almost done with my math homework.” I felt Skyla trying to look over me, and I pushed back a bit before mom moved her back with her telekinesis. I now had both sorrow and thankfulness at the same time.
“I didn’t hear you come in though.”
“Dad can tell you more than I will. Just be sure to soundproof the space when you talk to him. Oh, could I get my homework bubble?”
“Sure thing, Inova” mom put up a light blue bubble around me with her magic, tinting everything outside it with its color. From outside, it was more solid looking. I could still be seen easily enough, but what I was writing was harder to discern. It also quieted everything outside of it. I could still hear things, like Skyla complaining, probably about how she couldn’t get my help now. Not that I’d help her anyways.
I got through all my boring homework in less than an hour, at which point the bubble still held up. I looked at it and my sorrow returned. Since my homework bubble was basically a privacy bubble, I curled up on the floor right there after putting everything away and let some tears quietly flow, partially out of frustration, partially out of sadness, both stemming from my lack of magical capabilities. The bubble, while it did basically give me the privacy to cry alone, also cruelly reminded me of my suckiness with magic.
I think I may have cried myself into a nap, because the next thing I was aware of was mom gently shaking me. “Are you okay, Inova? It looks like you’ve been crying.”
“It’s nothing” I told her as I stood up.
“It’s your magic again, isn’t it?”
“Yeah” I conceded. “I try my best to use it just like every other unicorn and Skyla, but I can’t even lift anything. I’ve seen second graders use telekinesis, but I have so much trouble even just getting something small to shake a tiny bit.” And now I could feel the waterworks starting back up. “Why am I so bad at magic?”
“Perhaps you’re just a late bloomer with your magic.”
“World record late bloom then.”
“Inova, I know you’re smart” mom lay down and draped a wing across me. “I know you understand how magic works. You are at the top of your magic class when it comes to understanding how it works and even grasping more advanced material.”
“But I’m at the bottom because I can’t do anything with that stuff.”
“Well, I can’t argue with that. But I just know you’ll figure it out at some point. Maybe it’s part of getting your cutie mark.”
“Maybe.” I could see the value of getting my cutie mark, and I think one of my classmates has theirs already, but I just didn’t care about it as much as everypony else. “Are there late bloomers for cutie marks?”
“Oh, yes there are. I heard about one pony who didn’t get hers until she turned 15 years old and had a foal.”
“What was her special talent?”
“Being an excellent mother.”
“Do you know who she is?”
“I believe she delivers the mail in Ponyville. Maybe you could ask your Aunt Twilight about seeing her?”
“I could.”
“That’s more like it. Now come on. Supper’s about to start” something dark pink rocketed past us at high speed and blew our manes into mild disarray. “And there’s Skyla. Shining did tell me about you bringing something home that smelled good. I want a full explanation about it before we eat.”
“Oh come on!” Skyla almost shouted from the table. That earned a small chuckle from mom and me.
“Up and to the table, Inova. You don’t want to keep Skyla waiting, do you?”
“Yes and no” I stood up and made my way over to the table, taking my usual spot at it by Skyla. Mom and dad joined us soon after.
“Alright Inova” mom started. I felt like I was on trial. “You brought some food home for us tonight. Shining doesn’t know what it is, I don’t know what it is, and Skyla doesn’t care what it is. Enlighten us.”
As mom demanded, I began enlightening my family. “After school, I was walking with Diamond to her house, as usual. Along the way, I caught a whiff of something. Diamond smelled it too. We followed it to a door in an alley. We went inside and it turned out to be a restaurant. Diamond and I got free samples of the food there, and we liked it. Oh, the owner called the food ‘pizza’, and it was delicious. It’s cheese and some kind of seasoned tomato sauce on a round bread. It’s great when it’s fresh from the oven. Anyways, we were also offered some to take with us. Diamond got three more free samples for herself and her parents, and I bought three small ones and got an extra free sample pizza. We then left. I walked with her to her house, and then came home.”
Mom and dad paid attention to me, while Skyla looked kind of frustrated with some thoughts of hers. Dad was the one to break the silence. “So, where is this place? And who’s the owner?”
“I’m not going to tell you that” I said.
“And why not?” he sounded serious.
“So Skyla doesn’t go and eat the place out of business.”
Mom sighed. “if it were anypony else you were talking about Inova, I’d send you to your room with no supper.”
“Hey!” Skyla said.
“However, I won’t do that because, as much as I don’t like you saying that about your sister, we all know you’re being honest. Now then, I’ll go get the pizzas from the icebox. Inova, who gets the sample size?”
“I would say Skyla gets it, but that’s both mean and not my plan. I get the sample one, since I had one earlier.”
Mom went to the kitchen and got the pizzas, still in their boxes. She put one in front of each of us, and as I told mom, I got the smallest box. Once they were all in place, she opened them, revealing the pizzas inside. It was then that I realized a small hitch in my plan to introduce the family to the greatness that is pizza.
The pizzas had been in the icebox, and were now cold.
I looked up from my pizza and realized that mom and dad were watching me, waiting for me. Skyla was trying to get to her pizza, but one of dad’s shields was holding her back.
I picked up a slice of my cold pizza. “It was warm earlier.” I put the slice in my mouth and for the second time today, I was amazed by pizza. “It’s still good when it’s cold. I like it this way.”
“Really?” Mom and dad studied theirs and took a slice in their magic before taking a bite. Judging by their faces, they liked it.
In the time it took mom and dad to finish half of their pizzas, I finished my sample one. Skyla had her whole pizza down when they had just finished their first slice and I was only starting to chew my second piece. I expected no less of Skyla.
“So these are also good when they’re warm?” mom asked me.
“Oh yes. I wouldn’t reheat cold pizza though. If I want a warm pizza, I’ll get it fresh. Besides, the place has a nice feel to it. And no, I’m still not telling you where it is.”
“I thought so. Skyla, since you’re already done, you can go back to your homework.”
“Do I have to?” Skyla almost whined.
“Yes, young Princess. Now go.”
“Alright” Skyla slowly made her way away from the dinner table. After seeing that she was indeed gone, dad set up a bubble.
“Now that the room is soundproofed, could you tell us a bit more, Inova?” dad asked me.
I began spilling more details to mom and dad. I told them about Mr. Slice, the pizzeria’s location, and what it was like inside. I even told them that pizzas could be customized with various toppings.
After they both thought for a bit, dad spoke up. His voice was mocking seriousness. “Inova, Cadance and I will conduct an “official” investigation into Mr. Slice’s Pizzeria ourselves. It will be conducted during school hours tomorrow, so neither you nor Skyla will be present. This is to remain confidential, so you are not allowed to tell your sister about it. Can you keep it a secret?”
I smirked. “Keep what a secret?”
“That’s my little Princess” dad said before he officially bought my silence on the matter with a slice of his pizza, which he floated over to me. I ate it at a pace Skyla would describe as ‘fairly slow’, but I enjoyed each bite of it.
“You know Shiny, I think we’re the only ones who can really say that. “My little Princess”. Truly, a unique blessing” mom said.
“You’ve made that observation a few times every month for a few years now.” The conversation between them was getting a bit mushy, so I finished off my bribe and left the dining room, passing Skyla on the way to our room. Tonight, I was going to draw something. Perhaps a throwable shield?
The second Saturday of every February: the 14th. Hearts and Hooves day. I never paid it much mind before, aside from the candy exchanges at school the day before. Nopony ever got any from Skyla, and there is hardly anypony who doesn’t know why. Seriously, her resistance to food is like butter under a hot battle axe. The only time she shows any restraint is when bits are an issue.
Mom always got excited about Hearts and Hooves day. She says it’s a day for couples to go and enjoy themselves together, and for new love to blossom. I’ve heard older students at school call it “Singles Awareness Day”. That honestly sounds kind of sad.
Wait.
Singles Awareness Day.
The acronym is SAD. That’s just sad.
Anyways, mom’s been encouraging me since the 35th to take Diamond somewhere special. Well, I, as a fourth grade alicorn filly, don’t know of any kind of special places I would take her. Seriously. I’ve only been allowed to wander the Empire on my own for a few months, and I haven’t done a thing with that privilege aside from walking home with Diamond and our semi-regular trips to Mr. Slice’s Pizzeria on the way to her home. We usually went there after days with multiple tests. I’ve aced all of mine (except for magic and flight), but Diamond often looks rather frazzled after those days are over. We like the table we first sat at, and always took the same spots.
With the regularity of our visits there, I crossed Mr. Slice’s off the list of one potential place to go with Diamond. That brought my idea pool down to empty.
Mom won’t let me do nothing, so what am I going to do?
Today’s the 14th, and I’m standing in front of Diamond’s front door. Mom walked with me, despite me saying I didn’t want her to. She said she wanted to see where Diamond lived, and so I let her come with. I suspect something more is ahoof though. Why today of all days? At least she let me walk up to Diamond’s door by myself.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Why was I so jittery inside?
In a few seconds, the door was opened by a unicorn stallion. He was white with a tint of blue, his mane and tail white with a hint of red, and his eyes were green. I couldn’t see his cutie mark, and though I was slightly curious, I didn’t care much about it.
The silence that felt tense for me was broken by him when he saw me. “Oh, hello Inova. Are you looking for Diamond Heart?”
“Yes” I simply replied. “Is she home?”
The stallion didn’t answer because he turned around and called for Diamond. While he wasn’t looking at me, I looked back out front. Everything looked normal, except for a pink horn sticking over the fence out front. A long pink horn. One I could easily recognize, especially with a similarly colored pair of ears and a small part a three colored mane also visible. A plan was quick to form in my head as I turned back to face the doorway.
I faintly heard Diamond’s voice say “One moment, dad!”, confirming what I thought.
“She’ll be down in a moment, Inova” Diamond’s dad said.
“Thank you” I replied. “You know, I think Princess Cadance would like to talk with you.” I spared a glance backwards and saw the horn move a bit. “Wouldn’t it be amazing if she just stood up out of nowhere? Like the other side of the fence?”
And like that, mom stood up. “Oh, come on, Inova! How did you know I was there?”
“Reasons” I turned back to the doorway. I just caught sight of the stallion’s tail as he went back inside, but more importantly, I saw Diamond. “Hi Diamond.”
“Hello Inova” Diamond said with a smile. “Happy Hearts and Hooves day.”
“You too. And I have no idea what to do now.”
“Same here.”
“Could I come inside?”
Diamond turned to face inside. “Mom? Can Inova come inside?”
A mare’s voice said “Sure thing. Cadence too.”
I looked behind me and saw mom coming up the sidewalk. She had none of her regalia on today. I went inside with Diamond before she got to the door and went with her to her room.
Princess Cadance walked into her daughter’s sister’s friend’s parents’ house. It was a very modest house. Diamond Heart’s father gave a small bow and led her to the oval dining room table.
“Would you like anything to drink, Princess?” he asked as he led her to a spot at the table, before heading towards the kitchen.
“Just some plain tea would be nice” Cadance said. “And please don’t call me Princess while I’m here. Just Cadance is fine. By the way, I don’t think I know your names.”
“Oh, sorry Princes- I mean, Cadance” Diamond’s mother, a unicorn mare of glossy bright red fur said, her mane and tail a soft gold color. Her cutie mark was a gold ring inlaid with numerous red gems. “My name is Ruby Cutter. My husband is Nicked Artery. Most ponies call me Ruby and him Nick.”
“It’s nice to meet both of you” Cadance said as Nick returned with three mugs of fairly plain tea in his magic, distributing one to each pony at the table. “Judging by your accents, I’d say you lived in Canterlot for a while.”
“We did, Cadance” Nick said. “However, we chose to move here when we had our little Diamond Heart.”
“Why, if I may ask?” Cadance asked as she sipped her plain tea.
“Between us, we had enough bits to be part of some upper class events” Ruby said. “The nobles who casually spent bits on those kinds of things took a liking to us and we became faux nobility, as we called it. When I got pregnant, I chose not to know anything about the foal growing in me. When I broke the news to them, they all expressed hope for it to be a unicorn, like all of us were. They seemed repulsed at the notion of an earth or pegasus foal, but especially earth.
“Finally, the day came when Diamond was born. As you know, she’s an earth pony. When I held her for the first time, I realized that not only would Nick and I be shunned by many nobles, but our little filly would also face social difficulty.”
Nick interjected. “I’m not sure if it was the medicine they had her on, the hormones, or if she really was 100% rational, but the next day, she said ‘Let’s move to the Crystal Empire’. She told me why she wanted to move, for the sake of our little Diamond. I found myself in full agreement. One month later, we had everything packed up, and at the end of the next month, we had moved in here. We raised her with love, found out about Pristine Pearl, enrolled her, and here we are.”
“So you chose your foal over status and prestige” Cadance summarized. “I chose to downgrade from the castle to a normal house because living in the castle, while nice, was becoming a bit much. In fact, you moving here for your foal makes me feel a bit selfish for moving out of the castle.”
“Don’t worry, Cadance. That was years ago before you had Inova and Skyla. Say, how are they doing? What was it like raising alicorn foals?”
“Fairly easy, at least compared to what I’ve heard about raising other kinds of foals. Neither of them had any random magic surges, flew away, or showed super strength. We think that’s because they have more passive outlets for magic.”
Any further conversation was postponed as Inova and Diamond Heart came down the stairs. “Mom, can I have some bits for Diamond and I to get some ice cream?” Inova asked Cadance.
“Of course” Cadance said as she summoned a small bag of bits and floated it over to Inova, putting it around her neck. “Have a good time, you two.”
“Okay” Inova said as she and Diamond left the house to go have ice cream together on Hearts and Hooves day.
After a moment of silence, Cadance broke it. “You know, food has always been a big part of my life ever since Inova and Skyla came into the world.”
“Food is an important part of any life, Ms. Cadance” Nick said. “It is, after all, how we sustain ourselves.”
“Yes, but I think it’s more prominent for me than most others. Mostly because of Skyla. She eats up everything that the rest of us don’t. We never have leftovers because of that, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I can hardly remember what leftovers are anymore.”
Ruby answered the unspoken question she had perceived. “Leftovers are great because you can stretch a meal out and save a few bits. You can also share them with friends. Just be sure you remember they’re there, lest they go bad.”
“Oh, that’s what leftovers are. The only way I see leftovers happening is if Inova defends some kind of food she really loves, and I doubt that’s happening any time soon.”
“I remember Diamond’s first encounter with solid food. She just made a mess with it.”
“Do foals normally do that at that age?”
“Yes” Nick answered. “Did yours not?”
“Skyla just ate everything put in front of her and Inova seemed to know what to do from the start. Skyla also cleaned up any messes that were made. That hasn’t changed a bit to this day.”
Nicked Artery, Ruby Cutter, and Cadance continued talking and were becoming good friends. For at about an hour, they talked about their experiences with their foals. Stories were shared, laughs were had, and sympathy was given. Just as their discussions were winding down, Inova and Diamond Heart came back.
“Hello, girls” Cadance greeted. “How was your day together?”
“It was good” Inova said. “We had ice cream and went for a walk together.”
“We had a Hearts and Hooves banana split” Diamond added. “Inova’s side had honey flavor and my side was vanilla flavored. It was good.”
“It does sound good” Nicked said.
“Well, it was nice meeting you two” Cadance said to Diamond’s parents, signifying the end of the meeting. “We should have a family dinner together somewhere. Have you tried Emerald Thursday’s?”
“Yes, we have” Ruby said. “I’ve been trying for years to find something bad on their menu, and I’ve yet to succeed. When should we get together?”
“I’ll have to look over our schedules. I’ll send you a letter with some possible dates and times.”
“That sounds good, Cadance” Nicked said as the princess stood up. “We’ll be looking forward to it.”
“As will we. Have a good day.” Cadance politely made her way out, waiting only for Inova to finish her hug with Diamond. The day had been a good day.
“Inova, Skyla, I am going to teach you both about a spell that will let us speak to each other with our thoughts” mom said. “It’s called Telepathy, and no matter where in the world we are, it will let us communicate with each other instantly.
I was interested, though not enthusiastic. My magic has been getting better and I’ve been getting better at it. I’ve recently gotten a good grasp on telekinesis, though I still have problems with it, namely remembering that I can do it. Also, her description of the telepathy spell sounded distantly familiar to something, like various other things I’d learned about.
“Unfortunately, I have some personal errands to run, so I’ll have to teach you about it later today, alright?” Mom followed up with.
“Aww” Skyla said. I gave a more noncommittal shrug as mom left.
I decided to go back to my schoolwork. We started studying the minotaurs recently, and they fascinated me. What really held my attention was their hands. Sometimes, when I gazed upon one of my forehooves, I could sort of feel something there that wasn’t, a ghost of a feeling. The minotaur hands, while not exactly like what I felt, were the closest match.
My fascinating study session, which Skyla was prompted to join, was eventually interrupted. "Girls, you're about to hear your mom's voice in your head" dad said. "That will be her talking to you."
"But mom's not home" Skyla pointed out. "How will she be talking with us?"
"It's the telepathy spell. She'll be in your head in a few seconds."
A few seconds later, mom's voice appeared in our heads. "Inova, Skyla, are you there?"
Skyla started freaking out a little. "Mom? Where are you?" She started frantically looking around the house for her.
"I'm at the market. Is there anything you'd like?"
"Wait, you're talking to us from the market?"
"Yes. I'm looking at some of the bakers' stalls right now."
"Ooh. Ah, I get it now. Could I get some frosted sugar cookies with pink glittery sprinkles on them?"
"Sure. Inova, is there anything you'd like?"
The question barely registered in my head. The whole concept and use of this spell seemed very familiar to me, like I'd seen or used it before. But I knew that I'd never experienced this before either, so what was it?
"Inova, are you there?" Mom asked.
Finally, I couldn't hold it in. "Where have I heard of this before!?" I nearly shouted.
"Are you okay, Inova?" Mom asked. Dad and Skyla were looking at me with concern and curiosity, I believe.
"I don't know. It's just. . . This. . . It seems way too familiar. I'm heading to my room." I imagined, for some reason, hitting a flat red crescent shape with my hoof, which cut the telepathy spell off. That scared me even more and I ran to my room, where I immediately hid under the covers of the bed.
Hiding there offered some degree of comfort, but it didn't do much. How do you hide from what scares you when it's your own mind?
Today is a unique day. It’s a Saturday, and I get to sit with mom in court today. Skyla got to sit in court with her last Saturday and apparently fell asleep during the third petitioner. I’m kind of amazed she even lasted that long.
Mom is sitting in her crystalline throne and I’m sitting in a smaller gold one. It’s a smidge big for me, but it was apparently made so that Skyla or I could comfortably sit in it. Since she’s a little bit bigger than me, it was built more around her size.
One of Mom’s assistants, a beige pegasus mare, made an announcement. “The Crystal Court is now in session. Today, we have five petitioners.”
“Who’s first?” I asked before mom could say anything.
“A unicorn named Wealth Spread. Shall I call him in?”
“In a moment, Manila” mom said before I could say anything. She turned to me and leaned in close. “Inova, you really should watch me first. I know how to handle petitioners, and observation is a good way to learn.”
“I’ve heard you and dad talk about court before” I countered. “I’ve heard enough to figure things out. Petitioner comes in, states their case. Princess considers, gives verdict. I think I can handle it. Besides, he sounds easy enough.”
“You think you can handle it?”
“Yes.” I turned back to the assistant. “Manila, please bring Wealth Spread in. I will handle this one myself.”
Manila’s eyebrows raised a bit before she put her professional face back on and made the official summons. “Presenting Wealth Spread, from Canterlot.”
A red unicorn stallion walked in. He seemed confident in his movement and posture.
“Hello, your highnesses” Wealth Spread said. “It’s an honor to be petitioning before both of you on this lovely day here in the great Crystal Empire.” I swear I could almost feel the butter he was using in his voice.
“You will only be petitioning to one of us, Mr. Spread” mom said. “And it’s not me.”
“Then does that mean I’ll be the first to petition before Princess Inova herself?”
“Yes” I said. “Please state your case.” Truth be told, I already had a feeling on what he might say. I’ve never told anypony this, but pony names seem to be fairly indicative of what that pony is like fairly often.
“It would be an honor. I simply want the rich nobles to pay more in taxes, and for that money to be given to those who don’t have as much. The nobles hold too much power, and exert it in numerous ways to keep those with less money in poverty. They have enough bits to survive while those with less can start living better lives.”
“Let me stop you right there. I have a few questions for you regarding this idea of yours.”
“Go ahead, Princess Inova.” I felt his air of confidence change a bit.
“Under this system of yours, everypony would make and have the same amount of wealth as everypony else, right?”
“Of course. Every family will have a good house, good food, good friends, and enough money.”
“So tell me this: what would motivate anypony to do anything if their wealth remains the same?”
“The goodness of their hearts, of course. Construction companies have access to the resources to building materials, so they should build houses for those that need them.”
“But if everyone’s wealth is the same, then wouldn’t everyone have the same access to the same resources?” Wealth Spread was caught off guard by that question. I continued on. “When the free money stops coming in, what will the formerly poor ponies do?
“Do you have a job, Wealth Spread?”
He was slow to snap out of his stupor. “No, I don’t. But to be honest, neither do you, yet.”
“Your second point is pointless. I’m at work right now. You, on the other hoof, have the time to find a job.”
“I will not work for some rich pony to further their agenda.” He was starting to sound upset.
“What is this agenda?”
“To keep money out of the hooves of those who need it by keeping it to themselves.”
“Their servants need it. Their chefs need it. Their landscapers need it. Those who sell them the goods they have need it. And if those rich ponies want to keep on having their place cleaned, fancy cuisine, manicured gardens, and high end collections, they have to pay somepony for it somehow. It’s a system that’s worked well so far.
“I have heard enough to be able to tell you that your system wouldn’t even last a decade or two. Please leave the court.”
“You’re just going to kick me out of the castle like that?” He was starting to sound a bit mean.
“Not the castle. Just this room. You can still visit the rest of the castle grounds, just like anypony else. I will ask again: please leave the court.”
Wealth Spread left in a huff. The courtroom was silent as I felt all eyes on me. Finally, I broke the tension. “What? Did I say something wrong?”
“Well, no, but don’t you think you were a bit. . . blunt?” mom asked. “I’d have refused his petition too, but I would have turned him away more gently.”
“I’ve seen aunt Celestia be gentle like that. I’ve also seen the same pony petitioning the same thing to her before numerous times, to the same gentle letdown. Besides, I also saved us some time. How long do most petitions last?”
“Thirty minutes.”
“I was done in under ten. Who’s next, Manila?”
“A unicorn called Macaroni Wheat. Strange name. Shall I send him in?”
I had no idea what to think of his name. I felt a little bit of hunger though for some reason. “Go ahead.”
Manila introduced Macaroni Wheat in a professional manner. The stallion was neatly dressed and neatly groomed, though he seemed a little uncomfortable, like it wasn’t normal for him.
“What brings you here today, Mr. Wheat?” I asked.
“Your highnesses, I have created a new food and I would like you to try it.” Pulled in by his magic was a serving cart. On top of it was a domed platter. “I call it pasta.” He lifted the dome off and underneath it was a plate full of light yellow stringy stuff.
Normally, when I looked at food, I thought of it as another thing in the world. But for some reason, I was drawn to this. I found myself leaving my throne and walking up to the plate. There was a fork in the pasta already.
“May I?” I asked the stallion.
“Go ahead” he said.
I focused a bit to get my telekinesis going, grabbed the fork with it, twirled it in the pasta, picked up a decent mass of it, and took a bite.
Silence filled the room as I chewed the soft, buttery pasta. All awaited my reaction.
After much chewing and thought, followed by swallowing it, I came to a conclusion. “I have reached a conclusion” I dramatically announced as I stuck the fork back in the pasta.
“And what’s that, Princess?” Macaroni asked.
“I want more of this stuff. Seriously, it’s amazing.” I took another big bite. “Mr. Wheat, do you have more?”
“No, but I can make more.” He was starting to smile with a bit of pride.
“Mom, I’m afraid I must leave the rest of court in your capable, experienced hooves. Macaroni, we shall go to the royal kitchen! I have so many ideas for your pasta.”
I spent the next few hours in the kitchen with the stallion. We came up with many shapes of pasta, ranging from thick to thin, long to short, and even bows. One thing I liked about pasta was that, when dry, it could stay in the pantry for some time and be just fine.
Once we were done, we had come up with over fifteen pasta styles made, though no names for them. I did come up with ‘spaghetti’ for the one he brought in, and he had made a small one that looked like a curved tube as well that he named after himself (it was his cutie mark as well). We chose to call the stuff Macaroni Products, approved and endorsed by Princess Inova. I had a good feeling about it.
“Girls, I have news” mom said at the dinner table. Dad seemed to be in on it and something didn’t feel right to me. “You two are going to have another sister.”
“Really?” Skyla asked. She seemed enthused about the news.
“Really?” I asked. I wasn’t enthused about the news.
“Really” dad said.
“Are you adopting?” I asked, hoping that was the case.
“Nope” mom said. “She will be born the same way you two were.”
I stopped paying attention to the world around me as plans started formulating in my head. Faint memories of when I wouldn’t stop crying and memories of stories of how I wouldn’t stop until I wore myself out (until dad accidentally figured out that my crying fueled itself) came to mind. I also remembered that there were some fillies at school older than me who had their own foals already, and when those foals started crying, even when I folded my ears down and covered them with my forehooves, I still got intense headaches from the sound.
With the experiences at school in mind, I began imagining what it would be like with a foal in the home with us. She’d probably stay in the same end of the house as the rest of us. When she would cry at three in the morning, mom and dad would respond to it, Skyla would sleep through it, and I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. Even if I were to move to the guest room at the opposite side of the house, I’d probably still wake up when she cried. I’d wind up losing lots of sleep, which is important for my grades. My A’s would go down, and my flight and magic grades, which have been improving, would crash and burn respectively. I’d also become more irritable and probably develop a short temper because of it. I did not see that ending well, and I’d probably make regretful choices along the way. Diamond Heart would stick through it with me, but I didn’t want her to have to endure a me like that.
Thinking of Diamond brought a new idea to mind: I could leave and stay with her for a while. I’ve got plenty of bits from my lunches secretly saved back, so if I have to pay some kind of rent, I could. I liked the idea of moving out before the filly shows up.
While the idea of moving out sounded good, I didn’t like the idea of just picking all my stuff up and walking out. That would be too painful for my family. Sure, the best way to remove a bandage was to just rip it off, but this wasn’t like that. This was more like applying a bandage. It had to be done slowly and carefully to make sure the healing could actually happen.
Yes, I’d make my way out of here gradually. I’d snag some stuff from my room, walk to Diamond’s home with her, set the stuff up, come home, and go about as normal. As time goes on, I’d decrease my presence a bit at a time, and I’d cede more control of my room to Skyla. But first, I’d have to actually see if I could stay with them. I’m sure the answer will be Yes, but it’s best to make sure beforehoof. And if that didn’t work, I always could-
“Inova, are you okay?” mom asked, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Hm-what? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking about something” I answered.
“Do you want to talk about it? You had a bit of a dark look on your face.”
“It’s alright, mom. It’s nothing to worry about.” I was actually worried about a lot of things. I was so worried that, if I’d actually not done it all earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to do my homework for the week. Thank goodness for that, at least.
“How much longer is this going to take, mom?” Skyla asked for what had to be at least the fifth time this trip.
“We’ll be in Griffonstone in a couple hours” mom answered. “I’m sure you can find some way to pass the time until then.”
I had certainly found a way to pass the time. I had brought my second best friend, a nice thick sketchbook, along. I also brought along its cohorts, the pencil gang, and its trainer, the sharpener. We were on an airship, which was good, since Griffonstone was on the other side of a sea. We got on last night, though I had to carry Skyla onboard since she fell asleep while we were waiting for it to arrive. Dad was being the pack pony, carrying all our stuff. Even though we only had the essentials, some entertainment, and some snacks, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling I had grown accustomed to that something was missing. I knew nothing was missing, but the mind is a strange thing. At least, mine seems to be.
I was currently sketching out a human design. A couple days after mom told us we were going to have a little sister, I found a club at school that caught my interest. It’s a club for those interested in humans. Apparently, humans were this kind of mythological non-magical creature that walked upright like a minotaur, but was more slender, furless, and squishier. What they lacked in physical power, they made up with brain power and tools. Inexplicably, I found myself drawn towards them, like I found something I didn’t realize was missing.
My telekinesis has, coincidentally, improved by leaps and bounds. After hearing numerous concepts of what humans could do with their hands and how they manipulated things, I began imagining my telekinesis as an invisible arm. Immediately, my problems became moot, and one of the fillies there suggested I take up swordplay. It did sound interesting.
“Hey, Inova, can I have some of your pasta?” Skyla asked me.
“No” I said. “The answer is always no, so stop asking.”
“But I’m hungry.”
“Our last meal on here was twenty minutes ago, and they let you clear out all the leftovers since they’ll be restocking when we land. Now, could you please leave me be? I’m busy here.”
Skyla slunked away, to a destination I couldn’t care less about. I went back to my sketching.
We got off the airship the same way we got on it: Mom leading us, dad carrying our stuff, and me carrying a sleeping sister of mine. I’d say she sleeps like a log, but I’ve seen logs that rest lighter than she does. Admittedly, that was a captive pack of timberwolves taking a nap at the Canterlot Zoo, but my point still stands.
Fortunately, we had a chariot awaiting us. I put Skyla at one of the spots inside, then mom, dad, and I got in. “So, what’s going to happen?” I asked mom, who had been here and done this before.
“You’ll just have to wait to find out when we get to the castle” she specifically answered in a vague manner.
“Alright. But how will we deal with Skyla?”
“Don’t worry about that. How’s your human art coming along?”
I pulled out some of my less “classified” sketches to share, the papers floating between all four of us, but only facing three of us. “I’ve gotten pretty good at drawing them. They’re not like everypony else’s drawings, though.”
“How so?” dad asked.
“The sizes are all different. Especially the head. The ones I draw are smaller and more detailed.” I pulled out a comparison picture one of the other club members let me have. The proportions and detail levels were vastly different between the two drawings.
“I see” mom and dad quietly said. “Why do you draw yours so differently?” one of them asked.
“It just feels more right to me for some reason. Not that there’s anything wrong with the other style, but I like mine more.”
“You do seem to be more detailed in your drawings than a lot of other ponies” mom said.
“I do try.” I politely gathered up the drawings and put them away. “So, what are the griffons like?”
“What have you learned about them in school?”
“They’re part eagle, part lion, at least in appearance, the females tend to have sharper features than the males, they have a king and queen, and they hunt for some of their food.”
“They’re also less forgiving than ponies” dad added. “I’ve sparred with griffon soldiers before. When I train ponies with my shields, they stop after the shield is broken. The griffons don’t stop.”
I thought about that for a bit. It certainly sounded like the griffons were already better fighters than ponies, at least in that aspect. Maybe I could spar with a griffon. I got my notepad (one of many that Auntie Sparkle gave me and Skyla for our most recent birthday) and made a note of that idea.
Soon, a castle came into sight. It looked very solidly built, especially compared to Canterlot Castle. The walls were made of lots of large gray stones weathered from lots of age, lots of battles, and lots of weather. It looked like this castle had seen a lot in its time.
Seconds before we stopped, mom faced Skyla and said to her “new food awaits”. The effect was immediate, as Skyla shot awake almost instantaneously.
“New food?” she excitedly asked. “Where?”
“Calm down, Skyla. We’ll get to it soon.” As mom said that, our carriage came to a halt. Outside was a red carpet leading straight to the entrance, and on either side of the carpet was a row of griffon guards, armed with spears and trumpets.
As we stepped out, a squire offered to take our things, and none of us objected. Dad took the travel bags off and gave them to the griffon, who quietly went behind the guards on our right. To the left was a griffon I didn’t see, who announced our arrival to everyone in the area so loudly and so suddenly, I jumped a bit. He was quick to offer his most sincere apologies for startling me, so that’s good.
Our walk to the entrance was accompanied by the fanfare of trumpets. I was at least expecting that to happen. Mom used the telepathy spell to keep Skyla and I focused on the walk. I can’t really blame her for having to do that, as there were so many new sights to take in that both of us were kind of distracted.
After a few minutes, we arrived at a large chamber with a round table in the middle, surrounded by numerous chairs. Mom and dad took their spots while Skyla and I were directed to ours. All four of us were together, mom on my right side, Skyla on mom’s right side, and dad on Skyla’s right side. Across from us were two griffons of powerful statures, one male, one female. Around the perimeter of the room were numerous guards, armed and armored. At once, I felt safe and slightly endangered, but mostly safe.
“Greetings, Princess Cadence, Prince Armor” the male griffon said. “And greetings as well to Inova and Skyla. I am Emperor Steelwing, and I, along with Empress Aietos, welcome you to our realm.”
I could tell Skyla wanted to ask where the food was, but was holding back. “It’s a nice place” she said.
“Thank you, Skyla” Aietos said. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ve also heard this is the first time you and Inova have been to Griffonstone.”
“It is.”
“I’ll have a guided tour set up for you then. Shall we begin this meeting?”
“That would be nice” mom said. “These kinds of meetings are best kept short.”
“I agree” Steelwing said. “But we can’t have a good meeting on empty stomachs, right?” He clapped his talons twice, and a door opened, griffon chefs filing out with covered dishes on their backs.
“Girls, this is going to be the hardest part” mom said with the telepathy spell. “Your dad and I are used to it, so we can put up a passable facade.”
“Do they do. . . whatever they’re going to do every time?” I asked.
“Every time” dad answered. “And it never gets any easier for me.”
The covered dishes were neatly laid out in front of all six of us. Skyla was already sniffing around hers, and I curiously sniffed around mine too. Aside from the metal, I couldn’t smell anything of note.
“Now then, let us dine” Steelwing said. On his cue, the domes were lifted off our plates, revealing. . . something that I didn’t really recognize. It was a light brown piece of something with bits of black here and there, and it was on a bed of green stuff. I looked and saw mom and dad cut off a little bit with their fork and knife and take a small bite. Skyla, for once, was actually looking it over.
I cut off a small piece of my portion (I cut a bigger piece than what mom and dad did), and saw that the inside was slightly pink. I took a closer smell and decided it wasn’t a bad smell. I then took a breath and took a bite. I chewed it for a bit.
It.
Was.
Delicious.
I paid the rest of the world no mind as I cut more and more off, enjoying each savory bite. I don’t know what this stuff is, but I like it. The flavor, the juices, the texture! I had no idea that I missed this stuff.
I, unfortunately, ran out of it. It was then that I looked up and saw everybody looking at me, except for Skyla. Her portion was also gone, but she was also looking a little bit green. Personally, I felt just fine. “Is Skyla alright?”
Everybody looked to Skyla. She was looking a little dizzy. “mom?” she said. “I’m feeling weird. What’s happening?”
Dad leapt into action. Well, he more magicked into action, as he made a partial bubble shield and pushed Skyla’s muzzle towards it. Moments later, I turned away as I heard Skyla lose her lunch into the shield. I kept my gaze averted as the lost lunch was poured into a waste bucket. I did not want to see that. I heard a thump and looked to see what it was. Skyla had fallen backwards and she did not look good. “What just happened?” Skyla asked.
It was at that moment a realization dawned upon us: Skyla had never thrown up before. At mom’s request, Skyla was taken out of the room to rest and recover. All eyes turned to me, a bit of tension in the air.
“What?” I asked.
“Are you okay, Inova?” Aietos asked, the concern clear in her voice.
“I feel just fine. Also, what was that stuff?”
“Meat” mom answered. “What was it this time, Steelwing?”
“Steak from some of our finest livestock” the emperor replied.
“I liked it” I said. “I never knew anything this good existed.”
“Inova, can’t you feel the tension in the room?” mom asked.
I looked around at everyone. They still seemed to be waiting for something. And they were looking at me. It was like they were waiting for me to do something. Wait. . .
“Am I supposed to get sick like Skyla did?”
“That’s what we’re waiting for” dad said. “How are you just fine?”
“I just am, alright? Can someone explain what’s going on here?”
Steelwing cleared his throat. “Inova, your kind are herbivores. You mostly eat plants. What you ate was part of a carnivore’s diet. Ponies don’t handle meat very well. Do you even know where meat comes from?”
“No.”
“We raise and slaughter animals for meat. Pigs, sheep, and cattle are our meat animals. What you ate came from a cow.”
I was confused now. “Wait, what?”
What followed was an explanation on the difference between Equestrian and Griffonian cattle, along with the process used to get the meat. I was fascinated by the explanation, and I felt fine the whole time.
“Alright, I understand now” I said. “So, are we going to start this for real or should I just go stay with Skyla?”
“How about you go be with your sister?” mom said. “I think she needs you more than we do.”
“Alright” I left my spot, a griffon already ready for me at the door. “Oh, mom, dad, I finished off your steaks for you. Steelwing, Aietos, please pass my compliments to the chef. Oh, and can you also let them know that I have ideas? I think they’ll like them.”
“We shall do that” Steelwing assured. “But enough chitchat. Inova, go tend to your sister. Cadence, Shining Armor, we will begin our regular discussions soon.”
I wanted to know what was going on, but I left anyways. I followed the griffon to a medical area, where I saw Skyla laying on a bed. “Hi, Skyla.”
“Hey, sis” she said. “Are you alright?”
I sighed. “Yes, I’m fine. It seems I can eat meat with no problem, though a bit of ketchup would have been nice.”
“Was that what we were given? It just looked like one of dad’s cold sandwiches to me. It smelled kind of like one too.”
I facehooved at that. “Of course you, the only one who even can eat what he cooks, would think that.
“I think the reason they only takes small bites of it is to avoid getting sick like you did. Eating it at all is probably a gesture of some kind.”
“Way, over my head, sis. But if I got sick, how are you alright?”
“To be perfectly honest with you, I HAVE NO IDEA!”
“Wasn’t that just a little over the top for saying something like that?”
I shrugged. “Eh, it seemed to fit the moment. Do you want me to see if I can get you anything? Some water should help you feel better.”
“I’d rather have some dessert.”
I noticed a pitcher of water and a glass on the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed. I walked over to it and poured some of the water into the glass. “I’ll find you something. In the meantime, have a glass of water. Sister’s orders.”
“Oh alright then.”
I quickly found a medical griffon and asked about any cold desserts they might have that Skyla could eat. All they had available was plain vanilla ice cream. I was hoping for a bit more. Oh well.
I found the cafeteria easily enough and got some big dishes of vanilla ice cream. Apparently, word of my liking of meat had spread like wildfire. The griffon offered me a little something called bacon. I took it and took a bite.
Sweet aunt Celestia, I just found perfection. Bacon is AMAZING! I also got an idea right there, and asked for a few crispier pieces of bacon. I broke them apart with my magic and sprinkled the bits on what would be my ice cream.
“It’s beautiful” I said.
The griffon helping me was too amazed to say anything, but did nod and gave me a couple spoons when I asked if I could take the ice cream. I made my way back with no difficulty, aside from a few mistaken turns.
When I got back to Skyla’s room, I saw that the glass of water was empty, along with a good portion of the pitcher. I also noticed Skyla was not in the bed. A closed door in the room that was open before told me what I needed to know. I set the ice cream down next to the water pitcher and waited, resting my magic a bit. Yeah, I have telekinesis down colder than the ice cream, but I still need to strengthen my magic.
Soon enough, Skyla came out of the bathroom, wobbly on her legs. She also had a hollow look to her face. “Hey, Inova” she weakly said.
“What happened?” I asked as I went to her side.
“I saw a griffon eating some meat like what we got. I felt like I did earlier and rushed to the bathroom, but nothing came out.”
“Ooh. I think I’ve heard mom call that a dry heave. It’s happened to me before. Anyways, I brought us some ice cream. The one with red stuff on it is mine.” I lay down on the floor and floated the ice cream over while Skyla lay down with me. She was quick to dig in to her ice cream, though nowhere nearly as quickly as normal. I also dug in to my ice cream, and it was good.
“I’m already feeling better” Skyla noted after a couple bites. “I can see why you got ice cream while you were super sick before.”
“It helps get rid of that burn in your throat and calms your stomach. Truly, truly amazing.”
Skyla and I continued at our ice creams, and for the first time ever, I finished my food before Skyla did. Admittedly, I did remember after about the fifth bite that the bits of bacon were meat, and that prompted me to eat faster for Skyla’s sake. I got a serious case of brain freeze, but I think it was worth it.
“So, why do you think you’re okay after eating that meat stuff?” Skyla asked me.
“I told you before, I don’t know” I said. “Maybe aunt Pinkie could help with this.”
“Nope” Pinkie Pie said. She was alone with a pony-length Gummy in her room, under a suspended hard hat.
“She should be able to help” Skyla affirmed before sighing. “We’re leaving tomorrow, right?”
“As far as I know, we are. You should just rest up for now” I told Skyla as she got back in the bed and I collected the ice cream dishes. “Drink plenty of water, stay resting, and when we’re back home, I’ll get you a large pizza with everything you like on it.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I’ll even see if Mr. Slice will make that pizza sandwich idea you came up with.”
“Thanks, Inova. You’re the best sister I’ve ever had.” Skyla reached out for a hug, a gesture which I returned. Hugs are nice things, especially if you and the one you’re hugging have soft fur coats. I found it quite enjoyable.
“I’m the only sister you’ve had.”
“Good point. But it won’t be like that forever.”
“Please don’t remind me.” I broke the hug and went towards the door. “I’m going to find where my drawing things are.”
“Can I have some of your pasta?”
“I’ll bring you some, but only because it’s a special occasion.”
“Thanks.”
It took me a bit to find a griffon who knew where our belongings were taken, and I think he was still new because we made multiple wrong (though close to correct) turns. The room set aside for me and my family was apparently on the opposite end of the castle. After taking a moment to gather my art supplies and a couple pasta containers (prepared before we left), I had the griffon guide me back. The trip back didn’t take as long since the route was still fresh in his mind. I thanked him once we got back to the medical ward and went into Skyla’s room.
“What took you so long, sis? Get lost on the way?” Skyla teased.
“As a matter of fact, yes” I answered. “Do you want the bow ties or spiral tubes?” I would have used the proper names Macaroni had gotten from one of his friends in Bitaly, but most of them slipped from my mind repeatedly, so I often stuck to the shapes.
“I’ll take the spiral tubes.” I floated the appropriate container to my sister’s waiting forehooves and opened it for her, a fork already inside. I liked to be prepared, and having a clean fork for each dish while traveling sounded like a good way to keep things a bit cleaner.
I enjoyed my pasta with Skyla. Things seemed to be a bit more normal now. All was peaceful, and all was well in the little world Skyla and I found our minds in.
Skyla was well enough when mom and dad came to visit around dinner time for her to leave the room. We had made a few odd pictures in the meantime by taking turns with a pencil and drawing our own things. My favorite was a forest clearing with a four portal arcing waterfall over a gazebo.
We went back to our room for dinner, where we had some more equestrian meals delivered. I quietly realized that, without meat, my meal was kind of boring. Looking back, nearly every meal I can recall was kind of boring. Maybe it’s because I have new knowledge of something I can eat.
After supper, we went to sleep. Our airship was scheduled to leave early tomorrow, and we needed to be ready. Also, I didn’t want to carry my sister while she was asleep again. That sucks.
It’s the first day of school. For the 8th time. That’s right, it’s the start of 7th grade for me. I am ready for it. Aunt Twilight sent Skyla and me checklists of things we’d need before the start of school. It’s the fifth time she’s sent such lists. I’ve always been able to get mine cleared easily since I’ve kept all my school stuff together in one place, and this year was no exception.
My first hour class this year is health and equine anatomy. The teacher gave us a quick overview of what we would be going through, and I could tell that some of my classmates were already not looking forward to some of the material. Personally, I did well compared to them. Not once did I flinch at any of the mentioned topics. After that, we were given a couple of pamphlets that were more palatable to everypony: clubs and extracurricular activities.
I was browsing through the clubs, looking for one in particular. I found it in its rightful place towards the end of the H’s: Human Club. Joining that one should be easy enough, since I joined it a couple months before the end of last school year. I should see if Diamond would like to join it too.
The extracurricular classes were another matter entirely. Music sounded good, but that was also one of my regular classes. Spellcrafting and aerial acrobatics were right out for me, even if they’d help me with my flight and magic. I couldn’t see myself doing any athletic activities either, and I didn’t really care for them either.
Finally, I found an extracurricular class that I was interested in. I had passed it over earlier because it started with “thaum”, meaning magic would be involved. I didn’t even look at anything that started with “thaum”, honestly. The one that caught my interest was Thaumechanics, and it was described as a class to create small mechanical items with magical properties. I could even build some of the things I’ve drawn over the summer, such as some shoes like what mom and my alicorn aunts wear for court, though mine had room for extra tricks.
While waiting for the period to end, I talked with a black pegasus next to me. His name is Vanta, and his coat and feathers are the darkest I’ve ever seen. Now, I’ve seen ponies with black coats before (who hasn’t?), but Vanta’s coat appeared to absorb all the light. It was like looking at a pony shaped void. The only part of him that didn’t look like void was the whites of his eyes, with more visible when he spoke. He was friendly, but apparently hadn’t made many friends because of how his coat absorbed all light. I’ll admit, his coat was a bit freaky, but it was also kind of awesome at the same time. I think I’ve made another friend.
Second hour was a boring one for me. I found math way easy. And it was also the first day of school, so nothing much really happened. I did see some younger students in the class. They must be really good at math to have gotten the choice to jump the grades like that.
Third hour was one of my dreaded classes: magic. With my skills, I’d normally go to a lower grade classroom, but my understanding of the concepts and forces was top notch, and the grades I got on those papers were what kept me advancing through the grades. I’d probably still find a magic tutor to help occasionally. Maybe Ms. Shimmer could help me. She’s nice and has experience.
Fourth hour was culture studies. Apparently, we’d be learning more in depth about the cultures of the non-pony sapients, and the first ones we were going to learn about were the griffons. That brought back some tasty, tasty memories. I may have gotten a few odd looks when I smacked my lips at the thought of a juicy steak wrapped in bacon. I really had to make a trip back to Griffonstone sometime just to try the meats. I hadn’t been back there since our first trip, and I’ve had cravings for meat since then, at least once per week.
Lunch was a little disappointing, especially after my recollection of steak and bacon. That extra variety in my taste made me realize how limited equestrian meals were. Almost everything was plant matter, though there were things like eggs and dairy products as well, so there was that at least.
Oh, there’s also been the addition of pasta dishes. They started serving pasta after Hearth’s Warming last year. Macaroni’s business has been growing fast. I know this because of the small profit cuts I get (a few hundred bits per month) and letters that are in with the money. Macaroni never sends me free pasta, but that’s alright with me. He needs every bit of product out that he can get out. Besides, it’s not that expensive. I’m not sure what to do with my fortune though.
At least Diamond and I still have lunch together. We each got cheese and daffodill lasagna with a side of grilled vegetable salad and milkshakes to drink. We were dining like princesses at a small table a bit away from everypony else.
“So, how’s your first day going, Inova?” Diamond asked me over her lunch that I bought for her because I’m nice, rich, and like her a lot.
“Well, I think I’ve made a new friend” I said. “His name’s Vanta, and he has the blackest coat I’ve ever seen. I’ve never even seen ink that dark.”
“Just how dark is he?”
“What’s the darkest thing you can think of?”
Diamond put a hoof to her chin in thought. “The inside of my closet with the door closed, the lights off, and at night.”
“Take that darkness, and imagine it as a pegasus. Also, make it even darker, to where you couldn’t tell the feathers from the fur.”
Diamond’s face became one of intense concentration for about 20 seconds. “That’s hard to imagine, Inova. I’m getting a headache just trying to imagine that.”
“Oh, sorry. Um, imagine pink butterflies!”
Diamond’s face relaxed a bit. “That’s easier and so much cuter to imagine.”
I decided a change of topic was due. “So, have you looked into any clubs yet?”
“I did that in third hour. Cooking club sounds like a good one for me, and my last class is also cooking, so I won’t have to go anywhere else. Mom also said that I should learn how to cook.”
“Cooking club, huh?” I couldn’t think of anything to say to get her to join the Human club. “Could you save some samples of what you make for me?”
“You’re my best friend, Inova. Of course I’d save some samples for you.”
We enjoyed the rest of our lunch before going outside. Part of me felt that we were supposed to go to our next class right after lunch, but that part quieted itself pretty quickly once we got outside. It was time to just run around and have some fun.
Eventually, it was time for Diamond and I to head to our fifth class of the day, and the only one that we shared: Phys Ed. It was a fairly normal obstacle course with the standard rules of no flight and no magic. Phys Ed is designed to make the body stronger, after all. Flying over obstacles or moving them aside with a spell kind of defeats the purpose.
This year, we got a dull yellow unicorn for a coach. Her special talent is apparently gravity manipulation. I could feel the ideas starting to flow through my head when I learned this tidbit. I’d have to talk with her later on.
We got a good sample of her coaching style, namely the same exercises we’ve done before, but with a spell that slightly increased the effect of gravity in the area. It certainly made things harder to do. Most of the class complained, but I took the challenge on.
After being pulled down for a class, it was time to go in the opposite direction for my next class: flight. We were encouraged and given time after phys ed to rinse off, but I didn’t take that opportunity. Instead, I simply rested. I was going to explain an idea I had for some gravity affected courses, but I only got as far as saying I had an idea before I had to go.
I’ve gotten better at flying. I spent a couple weeks over the summer in Ponyville getting flight lessons and training from Rainbow Dash, one of aunt Twilight’s friends and apparently the captain of the Wonderbolts, a position she’s held for almost a whole decade. Not once during those two weeks did I set hoof on solid ground. It was kind of scary, in all honesty.
I was still kind of shaky on taking off and ascending, but at least I was able to reliably do both now. Gliding was easy once I got my wings to the correct position. I should have been able to do that years ago, but I kept on passing with subpar skills and superb understanding, like in magic, though not as bad.
This year’s flight instructor is a pegasus named Spitfire. She apparently used to be a Wonderbolt. We went through various exercises, during which time Spitfire got on almost everypony about one thing or another, though she seemed to not be as bad with me, despite my lackluster skills. If she was spitting fire with everypony else, she was spitting embers with me. I’m not sure why, but I’m just glad she seems to be at least a little forgiving.
After finally getting rinsed off, which felt wonderful after two highly physical classes in a row, it was time for my seventh class: science. Science is fun. I’m sure I could figure out how to (metaphorically) blind someone with it. Aside from that, I don’t have much to say about it.
Starting in 7th grade is 8th hour. For me, that means music. Ponies are fairly in tune with music, and are the most likely out of all the sapients on Avol to break into spontaneous song numbers. There was one time Pinkie Pie apparently got over half of Ponyville into a spontaneous song and dance routine.
The first week of music is planned out as thus: figure out an instrument that you like. Whether by luck or coincidence, I found one that I liked on my first try: the piano. The piano is more of a unicorn or pegasus instrument due to its small keys, though earth pony variants do exist.
In the piano, I saw lots of potential. Also, the phantom hands I often feel came into effect. I knew from that that this was the instrument for me. I tried playing a few notes by hoof, which didn’t really seem to work out for me. A bit of telekinesis did great, and the keys were apparently sensitive enough to be played by wing. I’ve never really been a musically inclined equine, but music started coming to my mind. It wasn’t necessarily coherent, but the form was there.
We had to try multiple instruments, so I eventually left the piano. What caught my attention next was the xylophone. I soon found myself tapping out a bit of a tune on it. In the cacophony of other students trying instruments out, my tune was lost, but I didn’t really mind.
The third instrument I tried out were chimes. Well, I call them chimes, but the label on them called them Tubular Bells. They played like the xylophone, but were vertical instead of horizontal and made of metal instead of wood. They made some really cool sounds.
Eventually, we were called to attention by the teacher, who told us that we would be doing a few concerts throughout the school year, as well as providing music for plays done by the acting classes. We were also given a week to decide if the class was suitable for us. Personally, I found myself liking it already, so I figured I’d be staying.
I found Diamond again on the way out, and so I walked with her. We talked for a bit about our classes. She was quite enthusiastic about learning to cook, though the teacher did apparently say something about the possibility of working with foods and ingredients that ponies might not like. The first thing that came to mind was meat. The second thing that came to mind was to swallow the saliva that was building up in my mouth at the thought of delicious meat.
Note to self: get to Griffonstone again for meat. Cravings must be satisfied.
On the way to Diamond’s house, we stopped for some ice cream. I could have bought it, but Diamond insisted she buy it since I bought lunch. I wanted to argue the point, but found I couldn’t bring myself to, and so with an imaginary sigh of defeat, I let her buy our ice cream. We each got triple scoop bowls, which I took to the table because I have telekinesis.
We talked about what our classes were and which ones we were looking forward to most. Being an earth pony, Diamond had two more free spaces for classes than I did, since she had neither pegasus flight or unicorn magic capabilities. One of those classes she had was a study hall. I envied her for that. I’ve never had a study hall. I’ve never really needed one, but it sounded good.
Overall, today was a good day. Not much can be added to that.
This year, we’re going to Canterlot for the Fall Feast Festival. Mom says this year will be different for Skyla and me, though she hasn’t explained why. All she’s said is that it will give us a slightly different perspective on things. She also said we can bring anything we want with us. I’ve made some shoes for my forehooves with mechanical hands on them. I can’t walk with them on, all they can do is open and close, and they currently use the wearer’s magic as a power source, so simply wearing them for too long (about an hour) will result in magical exhaustion.
Aside from the usual fun and festive Fall Feast Festival festivities, aunts Celestia and Twilight will also be teaching Skyla and I a spell only alicorns can use. They didn’t give us any details, though mom and dad seemed to know what it was. I do know it’s not the spell to raise and lower the sun or moon since unicorns used to do that and there’s a secret group of them to take charge of that if aunt Celestia and Luna can’t do it for some reason.
The train ride to Canterlot went as normal: one suitcase taken to the luggage car while the four of us got onto a first class car, where we spread out a bit. Mom’s a good way into her pregnancy and it’s showing. She’s still a few months away from giving birth (something which disgusted quite a few of my classmates in health class), so that’s a few months left before I leave to keep my sanity. I’ve already let Skyla take full decoration power of our room, and it’s showing. I don’t really care much for her tastes, but I’m able to put up with it.
I shivered as we passed through the Empire’s bubble. It’s something I always noticed when travelling, but I was also used to it, so it didn’t really bother me. I pulled a magazine, the Creative Inquiry, out of my saddlebag to read. I found and bought it at the station while we were waiting for the train to come in. There were a myriad of topics brought up in it, especially theoretical constructs, both physical and magical.
I was browsing through the creativity contests, where a problem was presented and readers could submit various solutions, and the best ones would get 12, 6, or 3 free issues of the magazine as a prize, when I was poked with a slightly chilled hoof. “Want to play a game with us, Inova?” mom asked. I looked to the floor and saw a copy of Economic Empire set up. I looked between it and the magazine before deciding to play.
We all knew that dad was bad when it came to cooking. He’s the only pony I know who can put a dry slice of bread in a toaster and have it come out both burnt and soggy. And on low power at that. However, he seemed to get all the good luck with his food properties. Chefs the world over came to try his cooking, he wrote a top selling cookbook with color pictures, and it even spawned a few cults.
We didn’t finish the game, due to our joyous laughter at what we imagined. We also arrived at the Canterlot station, where mom teleported the game back home. I’m sure Aunt Twilight and my grandparents would love to hear that story.
It was colder than usual in Canterlot. In fact, there were already traces of snow in the air. Just a flake or two here and there. Still, it was a little chilly. I guess the weather teams here decided to start rolling winter out a bit sooner. That or there was new management. I was glad to have my fur and feathers though. It would suck not to have any right now.
As usual, we picked up our suitcase and made our way to a carriage that was waiting for us. We hopped inside and the stallions pulled us towards Canterlot Castle. To be honest, I kind of felt bad for them, having to pull a chariot in the cold. In fact, something about us ponies pulling things ourselves felt. . . odd to me. I at least figured there could be some way to make a powered carriage that could protect both the passengers and whoever was operating it.
I let those thoughts simmer as we approached the castle. After about 20 minutes, we arrived. As always, we thanked the stallions as we went inside. We were promptly tended to by a castle attendant, who took our suitcase to our usual room in the castle. We made our usual route through the castle, grabbing some quick snacks the kitchen had prepared for all of us on the way. They were very good snacks.
We met aunt Celestia, Luna, and Twilight, along with grandma and grandpa, in the throne room. They were sitting on pillows and having tea, and there were pillows for us too. There were also a lot more pillows set aside for some reason. They all looked perfectly fine to me. There was even a big, thick looking blanket folded up there for some reason.
“Hello, everypony” Celestia greeted us. Luna waved as she usually did. We gathered around and sat on the pillows. I didn’t feel like sitting with my immediate family, so I picked up my pillow and moved it to be between aunt Luna and grandma Velvet. I also happened to be closer to the extra pillows and blanket, neither of which held my interest at the moment.
“Now that everypony’s here, I’d like to go ahead and teach Inova and Skyla the spell” aunt Twilight said.
“Excited, are we, Twilight?” Luna said.
“Sorry. I just want to teach the spell as soon as possible.”
“Go ahead” mom said. “I won’t demonstrate it though, since I am pregnant. I don’t know how it would affect the foal.”
“That’s alright, Cadence. Celestia can demonstrate.”
Two pillows were encased in Celestia’s glow and floated over to her. After they were set on the ground, her horn lit up brighter, then she glowed like her sun. Once the glow died down, there were three smaller ponies where she was before, each sitting on a pillow. One was a unicorn, one was a pegasus, and one was an earth pony. All three had the same coloration as Celestia did.
“Hi” all three Celestias said, each of them smaller than the original. I raised an eyebrow at the sight.
“This is a spell that is exclusive to alicorns” Twilight explained. “Alicorns have traits of all three types of pony, and so are essentially three ponies combined, at least in concept. This spell cleanly separates all of these aspects, turning one alicorn into three ponies. One of them will hold more consciousness than the others, and it’s the one with the magic you’re most attuned to. My central self, along with Celestia’s, are unicorns. Cadence and Luna’s central selves are pegasi. I predict that Skyla’s will be unicorn and Inova’s will be earth pony.”
“It’s a fairly easy spell to learn, so you two shouldn’t have any problem learning it” unicorn Celestia said. “The three of me will go get us some extra tea and snacks.” The Celestias walked off to do just that.
Aunt Twilight called Skyla over to her to teach the spell while Luna and I faced each other. Luna’s my favorite aunt. She’s the only one who plays tactical games with me.
The spell itself was really wasn’t simple, but it wasn’t remotely difficult either. Even I could cast it with no problem, I think. I saw a bright light from Skyla’s direction and when it died down, I saw a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony in her place. All three began poking each other before deciding to stage a raid on the kitchen and rushing out, aunt Twilight hot on their trail, casting her own splitting on the way.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and cast the spell. It felt strange, like I was being pulled in four directions, but it wasn’t unpleasant either. My view of the inside of my eyelids was soon replaced with a bright light blue. When the light left, I felt myself in four places. Three of them felt normal, though each a bit less than my alicorn self. The fourth one felt at once strange and alien, yet at the same time perplexingly familiar. Also, the inequine part felt really, really cold. I opened my inequine eyes and saw the equine three of me standing there, eyes closed and shivering, though not as much as I was.
I moved what felt like an arm and brought into my sight an open hand. My chill was not forgotten, but I was fascinated by the hand.
My pegasus self opened its eyes next and saw everypony else looking back at the strange me. I turned to look at myself, and I immediately saw that the strange me was human and female. She had pale skin, the same blue streaks in her hair that were in my mane and tail, and her overall proportions were different from what the human club came up with, but they worked. Upon seeing myself, my human self forgot about her hand and curled up, her face turning red.
I forgot to mention that my human self was wearing the same amount of clothes that I usually do on a daily basis, which was none. My unicorn self came to shortly after that realization, and quickly levitated the blanket around my human self without looking at what she was doing.
My human self wrapped the blanket around her completely, and all four of me calmed down after that. It helped that the blanket seemed to have warming enchantments in it. My equine selves felt the relief of the heated blanket, and it was big enough for all four of me to get inside comfortably, so we did.
While I was in my toasty cocoon, my pony selves gathered around my human self. It was both strange and comforting. There was only one opening in the cocoon, and human me, which seemed to be the central me that aunt Twilight described, used that opening to look outside. Mom, dad, and aunt Luna were towards the wall, discussing something that was most likely related to me.
“Inova?” grandma Velvet said from just outside my cocoon.
“Hm?” all four of me replied at once.
“Are you alright? Do you need anything?”
“Answers” earth pony me said first.
“A hot chocolate” unicorn me said.
“More answers” pegasus me said.
“Warm clothes” human me said. “I’m cold outside this blanket, I don’t like not having something on, and I don’t know why.”
Grandma Velvet sat near me, just at the edge of my limited sight. “I wish I had the answers, Inova” she said. “What you did has us all confused.” I saw grandpa Light heading towards the room’s exit to get the hot chocolate.
“All I did was cast the splitting spell as aunt Luna showed me” my unicorn self said. “I had every thaumatic path at the right frequency and the spell’s build correct. I don’t know where I went wrong with the casting to get human us here.”
“Hey, we all cast that spell together” pegasus me countered as she looked her wing over and straightened some soft feathers. “We all cast it correctly. Or maybe we cast it too well and created human us in the process.”
Earth pony me claimed human me’s lap. “Maybe we should look at the spell on paper” she said. “It is an alicorn only spell, so it probably isn’t as refined as other spells are. Maybe there’s a miniscule chance of this happening each time.”
Human me thought as the pony me’s tossed around possibilities. After a minute, she spoke up. “What if the spell worked exactly as it was designed to?” This stopped the conversation. “Think about it. What if my presence in us is why we’ve had as many difficulties in life as we have?”
“Hm” all three said as they thought. Earth pony me spoke first. “That would help explain why we tripped over our hooves so often.”
“And the flight problems” pegasus me said.
“And the spell casting problems” unicorn me said.
“There’s also the phantom hand sensation we got used to” human me added while looking at the appendages. “We even made those thaumechanical hands.”
“Oh yeah” the pony mes said.
A moment later, the door opened with a bang. All four of me looked out and saw what could only be described as somewhat surreal. Three of my sister were fighting three of aunt Twilight and three of aunt Celestia. I couldn’t make out what any of them were saying, but their fight was coming my way. Grandma Velvet had gotten out of the way, but unicorn me had a different idea. She lit her horn up and held all nine of them in place.
The room was silent as the fight was brought to a halt. The nine fighters turned to face my direction. Unicorn me poked her head out first. “Would you stop that racket and pull yourselves together?”
All the brawlers looked at unicorn me in surprise. She was holding them all with no apparent effort. After a couple seconds, aunts Twilight and Celestia merged back into their alicorn selves, Skyla quickly catching how to do it and becoming a single alicorn once again. All three were dropped with no grace at all.
Before any of them could ask what just happened, grandma Velvet stepped forward and brought them up to speed, also summing up the conversation I had with myself.
So it turns out that Aunt Twilight actually knows quite a bit about humans, and actually understands why human me wants clothes. She also concluded that, since humans are bipedal, flightless, and don’t have magic, those human traits could have been what impeded my progress in those areas. Unicorn me’s mass levitation earlier was strong evidence of that.
Twilight also said that Rarity could help with making some clothes for me. Celestia added that Rarity wouldn’t have to make clothes for human me, as the splitting spell also worked on anything that’s worn. She demonstrated by splitting again, the peytral, tiara, and shoes she had on were triplicated. She unsplit shortly after, and the articles came back together as well.
All four of me decided to come back together, and unicorn me undid the splitting spell. She saw the uncasting of the splitting spell and had figured it out herself.
Once I was back together, I felt more comfortable in my skin, though the fact that human me was embarrassed by not having any clothes on still haunted me. Besides, the blanket was warm, and covered me quite nicely. I levitated a pillow over and lay down, resting my head on it and closing my eyes as I tried to think through what happened. Maybe aunt Luna could help me in my dreams.
It’s Saturday, January 35th, early afternoon. I’ve been waiting and planning for this day since I heard the news back in April. All of my important things have been moved out, leaving only myself, my thaumechanical hands, and one final task. It was the task I wanted to do the least, but I knew I had to do it.
I sat in the living room and cast out a brief telepathy call to mom, dad, and Skyla, asking them to join me. Moments later, they were sitting across from me. Mom looked like she was ready to burst at any second, her belly was so swollen.
“Everyone, there is a reason I called you here” I started. I wrote this speech a month ago and practiced it alone after school in the auditorium. “I’m not sure if you noticed this or not, but I have been decreasing my presence around the house since April. My bedroom, formerly evenly designed between myself and Skyla, is now entirely her own design. I have been out more often and longer after school as well.”
“Now that you mention it. . .” dad trailed off, his mind already at work.
I continued. “I devised a plan moments after mom told us she was pregnant again. Mom, dad, I’m sure you remember how my own crying caused me to cry more.”
“We do remember that” mom said.
“I’m also a very light sleeper. With that in mind, and the fact that new foals can cry at any time, I quickly imagined myself losing sleep. I could imagine the sleep deprivation causing my grades to plummet and absolutely destroying my flight and magic progress. On top of that, I’d probably snap at everypony more often, and not in the Discord way.
“Ever since I learned the splitting spell, my thoughts have found their way to darker areas. When I first imagined what I might do when sleep deprived, it was simply snapping at Diamond and scaring her. Now I’m worried that I might strike her as well, and the thoughts of what could happen terrifies me.”
“That. . . does sound scary” Skyla said.
“And so, in conclusion” -I paused to take a deep breath- “I will be leaving today in order to preserve the peace around this home. I’m sure it hurts, but it is necessary. Before I make my way out of the door, I will play one last piece for us.”
I walked over to the piano, sat down at it, and put on my thaumechanical hands. After discovering my human side, I’ve made huge advances with them, thanks to having my own pair of hands.
“What will you be playing for us, Inova?”
“I haven’t given this piece a name yet, to be honest” I admitted before I put my hands and horn to work and played it.
After I finished the piece, my hands were almost out of magic. I don’t know why playing a piece that’s not even three minutes long drains a full charge so quickly, which normally lasts around fifteen minutes.
I did not take a bow once I was done. I simply levitated my hands off and walked out without saying ‘goodbye’. I could hear mom starting to cry as well for some reason. All the way to the front door, I kept my posture composed. Only after I had closed the door did I let myself feel the tightness in my chest and allow my eyes to water. I knew this would happen, and I really didn’t want to leave my family, but if I turned back now, ten months of meticulously planned work and effort will have been for nothing.
After walking for a bit, I reached my destination and knocked on the door. It was answered by a familiar face. “Hello, Ms. Cutter” I greeted.
“Hello, Inova” she greeted in return. “Did it go as planned?”
“Yes, but it really hurts” I admitted.
“I can tell. Come on in and we’ll have lunch. Diamond got something new from Mr. Slice earlier. She says it’s a new kind of pizza that he hopes you like.”
I walked inside. “Really? Have you tried it yet?”
“We chose to wait for you. Nicked put a low power heat spell on it to keep it warm. That was after I decided that taking it from the box was not how it should be served when a Princess is coming over and put it on a stone platter. We’ve done it before and it’s actually more enjoyable that way.”
“Really? We’ve always just used the box and regular plates at home. It’s less cleanup work, and since we have high class stuff all the time, the lazy way is actually a nice change of pace.”
“Seriously? The royal family eats pizza straight from the box?”
“Well, when you put it that way, it does sound ridiculous.”
Ms. Cutter laughed. “My family has more class than the royal family! Mwahaha!”
She got so absorbed in her laughter that she didn’t seem to notice me quietly walking away. I made my way upstairs and to Diamond’s room. The door was closed, so I knocked. After a moment, it opened. “Hi, Inova” she said.
“Hey Diamond” I greeted back. “Do you know why your mom’s evil laughing her head off?”
“She does that from time to time. Just give her a few minutes.”
A few minutes later, Ms. Cutter caught up to us. “So, what are you two going to be doing tonight? Hoof painting? Mane braiding? Colt gossip?”
“No mom, we’re not going to be doing any of that” Diamond said. “You know we don’t do that kind of stuff.”
“But isn’t that what regular fillies are supposed to do during sleepovers?” Ms. Cutter always did this when I came for sleepovers.
It was time for my bit. “Ms. Cutter, I’m not sure if you’ve realized this or not, but I’m not exactly a regular filly.”
“And how are you not a regular filly? Hm?”
“I’m an alicorn. Most fillies are not alicorns. In fact, I would say a fairly large percentage of fillies are not alicorns.”
Ms. Cutter put a forehoof to her chin in thought. “You make a very good point, Inova. Pizza’s ready at any time, so you get to make the supper call for tonight whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks.” I took on a faux-prench accent. “Now then, would you kindly leave Diamond and me alone? We have business to discuss.”
“Oh, alright.” Ms. Cutter left us with a huff that I knew to be more playful than anything and closed the door with her green magic. Hers didn’t have the wavy glow most unicorns had, and she said hers still had a bit of a wave to it, but she’d lost most of it from focusing it away when working closely with small gems. An odd story, but the world’s full of them.
Once we were alone, I turned to Diamond. “Want to see a spell I learned a few months ago?”
“What is it?” Diamond asked me. “And how many times have you botched it?”
“A splitting spell focused on me, and I haven’t messed it up at all, surprisingly. I will need your blanket though.” I felt a tiny bit of heat in my face, but my fur kept it hidden.
Diamond obliged, taking the blanket off her bed with her mouth and giving it to me. “Can I ask why you need it though?”
I felt my facial heat increase. “Umm, personal reasons. Y-you’ll see what I mean.” I took a breath and cast the splitting spell. It was the one spell I was able to say I really learned quickly.
Once the spell was cast, human me was quick to wrap the blanket around herself, as usual. All four of me were standing.
Earth pony me was the first to speak to Diamond. “So, what do you think?”
Diamond was speechless and looking right at human me.
“Equestria to Diamond Heart, hello, do you copy?” Earth pony me shook her a bit.
Finally, she said something. “What is that?” She was pointing at human me.
Unicorn me answered. “As you know, alicorns possess traits of all three pony tribes. The spell we cast gives each trait its own form. It seems that there’s human traits in Inova somehow.”
“Shouldn’t that be a secret spell?”
Pegasus me answered. “Actually, it isn’t. Information on this spell is open to the public, and aunt Celestia said that we can cast it any time. It’s just that a unicorn will get nothing from casting it.”
“Oh. Why does your human part want to stay covered up like that though?”
“No idea” human me answered. “I don’t like not having something covering me for some reason. My pony selves are fine with no clothes, but I’m not. The best we’ve come up with is that it’s something about humans in general.”
The four of me came back together with a simple agreement over our shared mental network and unicorn me casting the spell. I was whole once again inside the blanket, which I discarded from me and levitated back onto Diamond’s bed. “So, pizza time?” I asked.
“Sure” Diamond answered, still in her thoughts about what I’d shown her as we left her room and I called for dinner. “Can you show that spell to mom and dad?” she whispered on the way to dinner.
“I guess so. It’ll just take a bit of prep.” I turned my vocal focus to the living room, where Ms. Cutter and Mr. Artery were reading a magazine and the newspaper respectively. “Supper time.”
Diamond’s parents set down their reading materials and all four of us sat at the table, two large pizzas on two stone platters. They didn’t look like they had any regular sauce on them, and it looked like there was pasta on it.
Mr. Artery used his magic (which looked just like Ms. Cutter’s for some reason. Probably a similar one) to distribute the slices. All of us got one each to start. It also seemed like they were all waiting for me to try the new pasta pizza first. Using my magic, I got the slice on my plate onto my forehooves and took a big bite.
The cheese flavor was rather prominent, but the pasta’s texture was also there. It was surprisingly good, and I expressed this sentiment to everyone before my third bite. Everyone agreed that it tasted pretty good.
Each of us was full with three slices, leaving half of a pizza. “I guess you two can have the leftovers for breakfast” Ms. Cutter said.
“Yay!” Diamond cheered.
I was perplexed. “What do you mean by ‘leftovers’ Ms. Cutter?”
Three stunned gazes locked on me. “You’ve never had leftovers before?” Ms. Cutter asked me.
“Leftovers are the food in a meal that’s not eaten, right?” This was a somewhat odd concept for me.
“Yes. Did Cadence not make enough food for your meals?”
“What? No, we always had filling meals. Skyla just ate everything that was left untouched, unguarded, or unclaimed.”
Ms. Cutter blinked for a few seconds. “Oh, now I get it.”
“How could you have not known of her appetite?”
“We simply thought that there was always an exact amount cooked to feed and satisfy everypony” Mr. Artery said.
“I see. So, how do leftovers work?”
Ms. Cutter had Diamond show me what to do with the leftovers. Apparently, there’s no single way to contain every kind of leftover, but for the pasta pizza, Diamond had me float out four plates. She put two slices on one plate, the other two on another plate, then had me turn the remaining two plates over to be used as lids. They were then moved to the fridge. The whole thing was a rather exciting anticlimactic learning experience for me.
That’s a description I’ll probably never use again.
Princess Cadence is in the hospital with a serious case of, as she calls it, a broken heart. When asked for details, she couldn’t say anything coherent, so we turned to Prince Shining Armor.
“Inova left the house yesterday” the Prince told us. “Ever since Cadence told us she was pregnant again, Inova apparently had plans made to leave. She was very subtle with them, and none of us noticed what she was up to until she pointed it out yesterday. She played a piece on the piano and left while Cadence started crying.”
Attempts to ask Cadence about the music were answered with sobs. Our dedicated royal reporter listened closely and was able to make out the word “wedding” from underneath all the crying. Shining Armor was unable to clarify what she might have meant, and staff speculation was everywhere.
Cadence’s doctors say that her emotions, which could impact her magic, may impact her unborn foal’s health, though they are unsure how. They remain optimistic though that the foal will be healthy.
-Werdfer Word
“Inova, take a look at what you’ve done” Ms. Cutter said as she floated over a newspaper article about mom over breakfast. Diamond and I had our leftover pizza, which was still a new experience for me. “Does that make you feel bad?”
I read the short, though informative article. “I already feel kind of bad about leaving like I did yesterday, but now I’m feeling worse.”
“But you’re not going back on your actions, are you?”
“Nope.”
“I thought so.”
“Also, they didn’t even try to find me to get my side of the story.”
“I’m sure somepony will find you and ask about it. Just keep your story consistent and you’ll be fine. I hope.”
The next day at school was different than usual. The usual groups were still in their usual places, though more eyes seemed to be on me than usual. Other ponies also seemed to give me more distance than usual.
One difference that really stood out was Skyla. As soon as we made eye contact, she rushed over and tackle hugged me.
“Inova! I’m so glad you didn’t leave the Empire to go to Griffonstone like we thought you would. Well, I thought you would considering your tastes, and mom and dad couldn’t come up with anything else, so they just went with it, but I’m just so happy to see my sister is still coming to school!”
“Skyla” I strained to say. “I’d like to breathe. Please.”
She didn’t seem to notice my apparent peril. I could feel my body relaxing under her tightening hug until I was limp. However, the lack of air to my lungs didn’t seem to do much. I could still think and sense the world around me, especially Skyla’s happy chatter at me, but movement was nigh impossible.
I think it was a matter of minutes later that I was released and I was able to breathe again. My inhales were rather extended, and for a bit, I just stayed on my back, enjoying the feeling of air going in and out.
“You okay, Inova?” Diamond asked me.
“Yeah” I answered. “Yeah, I’m fine. I now know what it’s like to have the air crushed out of your lungs, though. It’s not fun.”
“No, it isn’t.” Diamond helped me back to my hooves. “Let’s get to our classes.”
Health and math went similarly: my classmates seemed to somehow give me extra space while being no further than normal and didn’t talk to me. This really messed with me, since I was the one that my classmates often turned to for help. I still did the work that was assigned.
I want to think I handled it alright, but I don’t think I did. I couldn’t maintain my focus as well as usual in magic, and faltered during some spells. One of my classmates, Nightshade, chose to tease me over it. It did not help that she sat with me and the teacher had set us up in teams of two a couple weeks into the school year. The idea was that having one classmate to compete against would motivate us all to do better, and it seemed to be working with Nightshade. It didn’t work with me, since I didn’t really care and was just happy with my own progress.
In culture studies, Nightshade’s teasing was close to the forefront of my mind and distracted me from the history of Saddle Arabia. Normally, I’d be paying attention to this, as Saddle Arabians have had to fight to defend themselves from minotaurs in the past, and I found combat interesting for some reason. Most ponies didn’t.
I got a reprieve from my less than stellar day with lunch. I met up with Diamond as usual, and aside from eating with her, I also got a hug from her, which made me feel a lot better.
After we finished our food, Diamond and I chose to go outside. We chose to do some light exercises before phys ed started and the gravity got turned up. Almost nopony liked the increased gravity the teacher used, but the effects of training under it were already evident. The finals for last semester had the phys ed classes competing against each other, grouped into teams by teacher and hour. All of Ms. Gravity’s classes had the fastest and strongest ponies. Our teamwork was a bit lacking though, and I think that’s because we were more focused on just getting through the class than working together.
I felt a lot better after the light exercise. My mind was clearer and I felt like I could take on the world. There was nothing that could get me down, nothing at all!
At least until I was reminded that we were wearing weighted vests during today’s class and that our gravity level was going up a bit. Today, we were also playing soccer. I don’t really like playing soccer all that much since I tend to trip over my own hooves more often than not. As a result, I was often a goalie, and today was no different.
While the ball was out on the field and not heading my way, I did some wing exercises. I’ve gotten good at keeping them closed in the higher gravity, and I’ve been working on moving them as normal. Ms. Gravity probably took my idle movement and came up with the idea to have the goalies constantly doing light exercises. Honestly, it’s a good idea.
Our game ended 0-0, but nobody complained. It was tough, we had fun, and everyone was happy to leave the gravity behind and rinse off. I didn’t rinse off though, since my next class was flight and there was another rinse after that.
I flew up to the clouds over the school. If I recalled correctly, we would be continuing practice with transitions between areas of very high pressure and low pressure. That, or manipulation of hail clouds. The flight instructor this year is a little air-headed at times.
Turns out today was a surprise review on basic rainclouds and thirty minutes of actual flight. I was glad we didn’t immediately start with flight, since I was still tired from phys ed. I think that’s the biggest obstacle that’s keeping me from the A grades.
Early in the school year, I rinsed off after phys ed like normal, and I discovered that that wasn’t a smart move, as the water my fur and feathers held chilled fairly quickly. After a couple weeks of that, I chose to skip the rinse and just came up to the clouds. I didn’t get chilled, but some debris that was on me became rather irritating. I found that preferable to becoming a flying popsicle, and the irritation was always gone before science, so it wasn’t all bad.
Speaking of science, it went like health and math: left alone in the crowd of classmates while class went on as normal. I didn’t like that feeling, but at least there was only music left to endure.
Music was completely different from what I expected. I was sitting at the piano as usual, my thaumechanical hands on my forehooves, and the class’s attention was on me. Everypony wanted to know what I had played that caused my mom to break down in tears. My answer of ‘the piano’, while entirely correct, did not satisfy them. I couldn’t tell them more since I had no name for the tune I had played, and I wasn’t going to play it for them either. It had hurt me too, and I didn’t want to bring it back up yet.
After the buzz of activity around me died down, class finally got on track. The rest of the period felt a bit off-key though. I think the teacher picked up on it too, and we were let out ten minutes early.
I waited for Diamond at our usual meet-up spot by the entrance of the school. Normally, she’s the one waiting for me, but today was different. The last bell rang and less than a minute later, Diamond met me, and she was mildly surprised to see me waiting for her.
“Have you learned how to teleport?” Diamond asked me.
“Nope” I answered. “I got out of music early.”
“Oh. Ice cream on the way home?”
“You really know how to twist my wing. You know that, right?” I held out a wing and bent it as if somepony was starting to twist it.
“Oh, I’m so mean. And to twist your other wing, I’ll buy the ice cream.”
I held out my other wing and bent it too. “You’re evil. Just so evil.”
Diamond and I were quiet for a bit before we broke out in laughter. For a good minute, we just laughed. After we collected ourselves, we left the school and went out to the ice cream parlor.
All day, nopony asked me why I left my family. That did put a bit of a damper on my day, but part of me wasn’t really surprised either.
After we got to Diamond’s home, I nearly started to go back to my home, but I caught myself and went inside. The rest of the day was homework, supper, a bit more homework, an evening bath, and bed.
Honestly, the day didn’t go as bad as it could have. I was thankful for that at least.
It’s Friday. It’s been almost a week since Inova left us. Dad and I have been at the hospital with mom more often than we’ve been at home, and none of us like it. The doctors say mom should be ready to deliver the newest member of our family any day now, so that’s good, at least.
Speaking of mom, she’s doing a bit better. She seems to be mostly over Inova leaving, but we all miss her. We were planning on making her the one to cook after our little sister was born, since mom would be too busy with the foal, I can’t cook anything without eating sampling the whole meal to make sure every part is good, and nopony but me can eat dad’s cooking.
Today at school, Inova found me after classes let out and gave me an envelope, which she told me not to open or read until I was back with mom and dad. She was very serious about it.
I saw her leave with Diamond as she has for a long time, and I went towards home as usual. Dad’s asked me to pick up the mail from home and bring it to the hospital. He’s been working from there as well, refusing to leave mom’s room. I’ve been staying there as well since I don’t want to be home alone.
I kept Inova’s envelope in my saddlebag as I got the mail and newspaper. I sorted it out into things for dad, things for mom, and the well-wishing cards. The cards made up more than half of today’s mail again. I’d probably be going through them tonight.
On the way to the hospital, I got myself a snack bouquet. I always ate those from the bottom up, saving the sweet and savory flowers for last. I also brought Inova’s envelope out of my bag with my magic. I knew looking it over from every direction wouldn’t reveal anything, but I did it anyways.
I finished my bouquet right as I reached the hospital. It was good, as usual. I passed by various ponies as I made my way up to mom’s room. Almost all of them were hospital staff.
“Hi mom, hi dad” I said as I entered the room, numbered 555. “I got something from Inova today.”
“Hm?” mom asked. “How is she?”
“She seemed upset about something. She didn’t want me to open this until I was here with you.”
“Then it’s probably something for all of us to hear” dad said as he closed the door for some family privacy. What he said made sense. “Open it up and read it.”
I opened the envelope and unfolded the letter inside before reading it out loud. “Dear family: I want you to know first and foremost that I still love all of you. Even my new little sister. I can’t find it in my heart, soul, mind, or anywhere to not still love you.
“Skyla may have mentioned how I was kind of on edge when she saw me. There is a very simple reason for that: nobody has asked me what my side of the story is for why I left. Everyone except Diamond Heart is giving me extra space, and even though I know why they are, it still unnerves me.
“I will state here why I left, so that you may know my reasons and have a document to back any press releases you may make on the matter. The first reason I left goes back to when Skyla and I were still in diapers.” I blushed a bit at that before continuing. “I remember the first time dad put his soundproof shields in my ears. Before then, whenever I cried, I would always cry until I ran out of energy and fell asleep. I was the reason I cried for so long so many times. I still have no idea why that was.
“My second reason goes with my first: I am a very light sleeper. Whenever Skyla’s woken up at the smell of breakfast or gone on a midnight pantry pillage, she always went over me. Her leaving and walking over me always woke me up. Mom, dad, I’m sure you don’t have to imagine what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night because of a crying foal. I think Skyla’s the only one who has to imagine it, since she can sleep through anything, like that one time she was sleeping on mom’s back at the train station and the train whistle blew right next to us. I was jolted awake. I couldn’t sleep for that whole train ride.
“Now take that and spread it out over days, weeks, months, even past a year. If I were to stay with you, I would lose a lot of sleep. I’m imagining that the lost sleep would make me a little crazy. General irritability would be the result, and I can’t help but imagine myself destroying things around the house and being a pain in the plot. My imagination continued down the dark side and I could see me taking a. . . more direct method to quieting my little sister. A method that normal ponies would not exactly get back up from.”
I paused in my reading to drink some water before continuing. “I also imagined that I would no longer be the stellar student that I am at Pristine Pearl. I saw my academic scores going down, my flight taking a nosedive, and my magic progress fizzling out.
“What I do not want known in any kind of press release, should you do one, is that I’m staying with Diamond and her family. I do not want them to have the potential of the media hounding them over their heads, even if my very presence makes that impossible already.
“To sum up, I’m leaving home to preserve my sanity and keep everyone safe. I still love all of you, but please don’t try to talk me into visiting for a while. Not until my new sister can control herself.
“Sincerely, Inova.”
All three of us were quiet as we thought about the letter.
“I. . .” mom started. “I’m not sure where to start.”
“I don’t know either” dad admitted.
“How about the beginning?” I suggested as I reread the letter to myself before giving it to mom.
Mom looked it over. “It’s good to know she still loves us. That really puts my mind at ease.”
“She also made a good point about her side of the story not being known” dad said. “I’ve been scouring the newspaper everyday and haven’t seen any articles on her opinion.”
“I think most ponies are just afraid to ask her” I said. “Especially after this long. She was rather upset when she gave me the letter.”
“Maybe it’s like when she cried when she was younger.” All eyes turned to dad. “Think about it: she would cry herself to exhaustion because her crying made her cry more. It took outside interference from me to end and discover that cycle. Now, because she left us, ponies are giving her extra distance, nopony’s asking her about it, she’s becoming more irritable, which causes ponies to keep their distance, and nopony’s asking her about it.”
“And knowing her, she’s not going to look for the help she needs herself” mom finished before sighing. “What if we have Diamond Heart help her?”
“Inova would notice that” I pointed out. “I think one of you should announce why she left.”
“Why would you think us announcing why Inova left would help her?”
“Inova was the one to bring up the idea.”
“Maybe I could just take it straight to the newspaper?” dad suggested. I thought it sounded good. “There wouldn’t be as much fanfare, but the message would still get out.”
“Go for it” mom encouraged.
“What about how Inova imagined herself reacting?” I brought up. “I can’t imagine her doing those kinds of things.”
“I can’t either. Destroying things around the house and being mean just aren’t her.”
“What did she mean by a direct method normal ponies wouldn’t get up from?”
Mom and dad looked at each other before quietly agreeing that he would be the better one to explain, as tough as it would be. “When you or Inova cried, we figured out what your problem was and took care of it. By Inova’s phrasing, that would be the indirect method of quieting a crying foal.
“Have you read any of Inova’s comics?”
“I’ve seen some of them.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Cadance asked.
“Inova likes action comic books” Shining stated. “In those comics, the characters have various fighting techniques. Her favorite is The Hopper, and he fights cyborgs from the Lightning Organization. When Hopper finishes them with a powered kick, the cyborgs are never heard from again.”
“They go boom, I think” I said as I thought it over. “Wait, does that mean Inova would kick our little sister?”
“Hopper uses more than just kicks to finish his opponents. He can use any weapon he can get his hooves on. I think Inova, at her worst, would do things like that to her. A normal pony. . .” Shining took a deep breath. “A normal pony would die from things like that.”
The words hung in the air for a while. “Oh.” I said. “That’s not good at all.”
“No. Honestly, if she could imagine herself doing that, I think she probably took the better course of action.”
“I suppose” Cadance said. “It still hurts that she just left like she did, but I think what she imagined herself doing is far worse.”
“I think I’ll get started on writing out the article for the papers” dad said as he gathered up some paper, ink, and quills with his magic. “You know, I’ve heard that bottling up stress isn’t good, but what I think Inova’s done is prevent the stress from getting into that bottle in the first place.”
“Huh” mom and I said at the same time.
“I think I’ll write that down and give it to Inova on Monday” I said. “She loves it when anypony points out her creative solutions and ideas.”
“Kind of makes you wonder what your cutie marks will be” mom said.
“Yeah. It does.” Neither I or Inova have gotten our marks yet. More ponies in our grade have them than those that don’t. Our royal status keeps us from being teased, but I’ve seen it happen to others. “She seems to take it in stride though.”
“Maybe it’s her human part? Twilight’s told me that humans don’t get cutie marks.”
“Yeah. Why does she have that in her anyways?”
“Nopony seems to know. Now, Skyla, get started on your homework. You and Inova’s little sister wants me to rest.” Mom relaxed and closed her eyes. She looked more peaceful than she has over the past week.
I used my magic to take off my saddlebags and pull out my Culture Studies folder. It was a reading assignment on griffons. I held back a shudder at the memory of the meat that made me sick and Inova ate with no problem as I got started on it.