Just Like Her
In Flurry Heart’s young and humble opinion, Mommy was the best pony in the world (tied with her Daddy, her aunt, her grandparents, whoever had recently given her any of her favourite snacks, and whoever she needed to bargain with).
Right now, Flurry Heart was sitting quietly next to her, practising her telekinesis on a humble set of paper, glitter and glue. Occasionally a blue aura, nearly identical to hers, would appear to bring in stray glitter back into the fitting pot or wipe up stray glue.
Mommy was busy talking to some important looking ponies. At first she had listened, but the droning sentences flew through her ears without considering a stop in her brain. She had pulled out her masterfully hidden art supplies – pink saddlebags were surely invisible against her coat – and began to work on her masterpiece.
It was slightly abstract at the moment. Flurry Heart was completely undeterred.
Flurry Heart wanted to be just like her mommy, but all the boring talk and sitting on thrones and more boring talks were off-putting. Releasing her grip on a brush, she thought of the things mommy enjoyed most that she could copy.
Kissing daddy – Definitely not, because they were always gross together when she was just out of sight and to them that meant she wasn’t there at all.
Pony watching – Mommy liked to relax on a balcony or walk through the Crystal Empire to talk to just about anypony. Surely a less gross option, but there was only so much of that she could take.
Ruling – Absolutely not. Mommy surely was faking the enjoyment she got out of talking to boring ponies (which she was still doing) and looking fancy.
Then it occurred to her.
Mommy was the Princess of Love, and she always knew just who to subtly nudge together, whether it was conveniently introducing them at an event or giving an approving comment as she walked by a pair of ponies. She always had a smile on her face afterwards, so getting ponies together must be one of her favourite things.
Flurry Heart didn’t exactly know how Mommy did it, but everypony always told her how alike they were. Surely it couldn’t be that hard, right?
–
The best place to start was definitely at school. At her Mommy’s insistence, Flurry Heart went to a public school meaning she had plenty of targets to practise her surely great skills on. Tucked into bed, she wondered how to push her classmates together.
It took a great deal of wondering, and she turned to her Aunt Twilight’s favourite thing to do. She wasn’t as good as Mommy, but there was plenty to learn from her too.
That night, she fell asleep drooling on a piece of paper with everypony’s names written down.
–
The list, thankfully, was not mentioned during breakfast, or when they were brushing their teeth together, and the worst possible scenario – being mentioned while Mommy was brushing her mane – was also avoided.
Now tucked into her saddlebags (this time blue, otherwise everypony would think she had forgotten them), her paper joined her on her journey to school. With the path memorised, Flurry Heart was free to consider the planning she had carefully made, though for some reason she kept being turned around by guards, even though she was sure she was going in the right direction for school.
In the end she had simply written down a filly’s name, next to a colt. Her decision making was very solid, as she had paired them based on if their coat colours looked nice together, since every couple in public always looked good together.
Flurry Heart’s List of Future Cute Couples (Cooties Come Free) bounced next to her school supplies as she trotted through the school’s doors.
–
After a short walk, Flurry Heart sat down at her desk in the back of the class and pulled out her List underneath the desk away from any prying eyes. Going from first to last was proper list etiquette, and so her search across the classroom begun.
–
Her first targets were a pair of crystal ponies - best to start easy, after all. Amber Glow was a filly with a pleasant orange coat and white hair, and Flurry Heart had paired her with a quiet blue colt named Cabochon.
Amber Glow was surrounded by a small herd of foals, smiling and laughing while she caught up on the weekend’s activities. Cabochon, meanwhile, was sat next to Flurry Heart, looking in the same direction.
Without any hesitation, she turned to him and spoke in her loudest possible voice. “Hey Cabochon! You should go talk to Amber Glow too!”
After Cabochon had given her a dazed look and Amber Glow had turned towards them curiously, she tugged on his hoof with her magic and trotted over to the filly, smiling innocently.
“Pri- Uh, Flurry Heart…” Amber Glow backed away slowly. “...What are you doing?”
Cabochon dutifully followed Flurry Heart and murmured something apologetic.
“I’m trying to be like Mommy! Her favourite thing to do is getting ponies together, and you two look nice together! She always says opposites attract, too!” She continued smiling, oblivious to the concerned looks being shared by several foals. “You’re always so outgoing, but Cabochon doesn’t talk to anyone! It’s perfect!”
A pregnant pause filled the room. Amber Glow and Flurry Heart maintained eye contact, while Cabochon tried to invent a way to become transparent without the help of the Crystal Heart.
“But, he’s kind of uncool, you know?” Flurry Heart tilted her head as the other filly spoke. “He never talks to anyone, he just looks all bored in the corner. I don’t mind colts, but he totally doesn’t act like one.” Amber Glow glanced towards Cabochon, frowning slightly.
The other foals muttered amongst themselves. “That’s kind of mean…”
“It’s true, right?”
“He does blend in…”
“Sorry, Cabochon…”
Flurry Heart frantically looked between the pair she had tried to make. “But you could help him! Or something like that. And your coat colours look nice together!”
Amber Glow laughed nervously, then spun around. “I… have to go to the toilet! Yeah, the toilet. Seems good right now. Bye!”
As soon as she ran out, the crowd around her desk dispersed. Flurry Heart maintained her light grip on Cabochon and frowned.
Heavy hoofsteps approached. Much heavier than a foal’s.
“Flurry Heart, what have we told you about magic conduct? Just because you’re a Princess…”
–
Teacher’s offices were boring. None of them ever had anything interesting to look at while boring stuff was being said and she had even had her List confiscated.
“...tell your mother. Flurry Heart? Are you listening?”
Her entire body stiffened. “Don’t tell Mommy!”
The teacher sighed. Flurry Heart stared at him as hard as she could. She put on her best stern Princess look – learnt from Mommy, of course – but said nothing.
“Flurry Heart, it’s extremely impolite to touch others with your magic like that. Not to mention, you really embarrassed both Amber Glow and Cabochon. Honestly, what were you thinking? You can’t play with another pony’s relationship like that. Let things happen as they are…” Flurry Heart, however, had stopped listening. Evidently, the matchmaking plan wouldn’t work, at least at school. “Flurry Heart?”
“If you keep up with these misdemeanours, we’ll have to talk to your parents, okay?”
“Okay…”
The List was discarded on her way home.
–
In a moment of downtime, Flurry Heart snuggled up to her mother, a pink wing wrapped around her while blue magic dragged a brush through her mane. Mommy was humming something, a gentle melody she always defaulted to. Behind them, Daddy was shuffling through papers.
“Mommy? How do you do your love thing?” Flurry Heart shook the brush away and gazed upwards. Purple eyes met blue and the older alicorn hummed thoughtfully.
“Well, it’s just my talent” – she pulled away from Flurry Heart to sit up and lit up her horn – “I can see all the love that everypony has.” Blue ponies appeared in front of the pair. “It’s intuition now - that means I mostly know it without looking - but when I first gained my horn I had a spell that let me see directly. So, for example…”
Flurry Heart watched as different lines appeared between the ponies and frowned. “I don’t see anything like that. Why not? I want your magic, too.”
Cadance looked over and smiled. “Because it’s not your special talent, dear. I got my cutie mark when I became an alicorn. Maybe you’ll be able to see it one day, or maybe not. You shouldn’t worry about something like your cutie mark yet, anyway.” She gently pet Flurry Heart’s mane with a bare hoof.
“But I want to be just like you.” Flurry Heart frowned and leant into her mother’s hoof. “I want to do everything you do.”
Soft, wonderful giggles escaped from Cadance. Flurry Heart instantly perked up at the sound, if only a little. “If everypony was exactly like the pony they admired, the world would be boring. Thousands of ponies raising the sun, or thousands of ponies trying to rule a kingdom. Even thousands of ponies just trying to do the same job a kind pony once did for them - could you imagine?”
“Ruling a kingdom would probably be easier with so many ponies…”
Shining Armor snorted at Flurry’s innocent comment.
“No, it wouldn’t be, sweetie. I’m sure you’ll understand when you’re older.”
The lounge room fell into a comfortable silence again, and the family of three dozed together on the lush rugs and pillows.
–
Flurry Heart continued the week with thoughts of thousands of Celestias in Canterlot and thousands of Aunt Twilights making lists, though she wasn’t sure how many lists that would equate to.
Despite their conversation, Flurry Heart was on the lookout for ponies once again. Having failed at school, she moved her attention to another familiar herd: the castle staff. Attendants, guards, maids, and other roles she didn’t know the name of were all free for her picking. Since she was a Princess, it was okay for her to pull whoever she liked along.
Desert Rose was an earth pony maid who had come from a small Equestrian town. She was chatty, vibrant and had even helped Flurry sneak a few snacks from one of the kitchens.
She had proved herself to be a worthy target.
–
Even though it failed at school, matching colours and a dash of personality seemed to be the perfect recipe for a couple. Mommy and Daddy looked good together, and their differences made everything better.
An opposite of a maid, Flurry Heart decided, was a guard.
The problem? All the guards looked the same. Most of them wouldn’t patrol without the illusions, with a notable orange exception (she didn’t even know why he was the exception, but she didn’t question it). This left her colour matching options sorely limited.
All day, she had been tailing Desert Rose, who was happy to indulge the young alicorn with whatever conversational topics came up.
“Desert Rose, what kind of stallion do you like?”
The white mare froze up. Apparently, this topic was an exception.
“Oh no. Princess Cadance told us to watch out for you, Princess. We are not getting into that, okay?”
It seemed like being Mommy was out of reach again, for now.
–
Looking near hadn’t worked, so looking far was the next option. But how could she do that without leaving the Empire?
She looked down.
Blank paper looked back up at her, surprisingly free of the arty mess covering the rest of the desk.
SPIKE DO NOT READ!!!
Dear Aunt Twilight,
To be more like mommy I am making couples. So far nopony in the Crystal Empire has followed my advice, even though I put a lot of thought into it and used checklists like you.
When you visit you never bring any stallions with you. For next time I have made a list of stallions in the Crystal Empire who you can bring home with you (you can do that because you are a Princess)
-Also a Princess Flurry Heart
PS Please let somepony else bake next time you visit, your cupcakes are not tasty
Short, but sweet. Satisfied, Flurry Heart charged her horn, ready to try out the communication fire spell that she had been working on.
Until Daddy walked into her room, and her spell fizzled out. He grabbed the paper in his own aura and scanned it. Several long seconds passed.
“Flurry, you can’t send letters like this –” Shining Armor’s face was creasing, though his voice remained even “– what have we told you about matchmaking?”
Flurry Heart offered no reply.
Shining Armor’s composure slowly slipped.
“...We’ll send this, but don’t tell your mommy.”
—
Flurry Heart was happy that her Daddy finally seemed supportive in her new hobby. Aunt Twilight probably wouldn’t reply for a while, though, so she paced around the castle trying to come up with new ideas. Her trusty invisible saddlebags accompanied her.
“Flurry? I have something to show you.” She turned around and came face to leg with a pink coat, and looked up at Cadance. “Come to the balcony with me.”
Flurry eagerly trotted after her mother. It seemed Cadance had picked her own favourite balcony, offering a far-stretching view of the colourful buildings of the Crystal Empire and all the ponies milling around it. She placed her forehooves up on the golden railing, while Cadance sat behind her and nuzzled her gently. “Turn around, Flurry.”
Cadance’s horn lit up with a spell, and she gently touched her horn to Flurry’s. White briefly filled her vision, and when it came back, she was once again facing the Empire’s ponies.
Except now, they were glowing – in a different way to the glow activated by the Crystal Heart – and she could see faint lines in different colours, stretching between ponies and far beyond. She took in the sight with awe.
“This is how I can see the world, my talent as the Princess of Love. I don’t use it often, but isn’t it amazing?” Cadance smiled. “I asked your Aunt Twilight for help with the spell to share it.”
Flurry’s attention was completely taken by the new sight she had gained. Lines moved to and fro with the ponies, creating a mesmerising effect. She turned to her mother, and saw a beautiful bright line between the two of them. Flurry Heart grinned, not saying a word, and buried her face against her mother in a tight hug before returning to surveying the Empire.
“Just please don’t use this for matchmaking ideas.” Almost as soon as it had appeared, the fantastic sight vanished, leaving the ordinary Crystal Empire behind. If she closed her eyes, she could still see all the wonderful colours in her mind.
“Thank you, Mommy! I have something to show you too!”
Flurry Heart dug into her invisible saddlebags, and pulled out a piece of paper laden with glitter and glue, decorated with colourful markers.
FOR THE BEST MOMMY EVER
Cadance’s face lit up, and she took the art in her own aura, cuddling Flurry Heart lovingly. She gently stroked her daughter with a wing and hummed her gentle song. “Thank you! Let’s go put it up with the others, shall we?”
The two alicorns returned inside, with an extra spring in their steps.