The Story of Dr Sine

The Story of Dr Sine: 1

One warm April morning in Manehatten, young Lucius Sine was sat out in the garden of his penthouse apartment, reading. The air was fresh and sweet, because of the numerous flowers and plants that adorned his rooftop garden. He loved it up on the top of the sky rise where his family had lived for the last few years. Lucius was very young when his family had moved from a quiet suburban street on the outskirts of the city to the larger open plan penthouse on this skyscraper, to make an impression on his father’s business clients. If Lucius managed to get close to the edge of the garden wall, he could almost see his old street on the horizon. His mother and father were out, as they were most of the time, attending a formal party or celebrating some sort of financial boom in Lucius’s father’s business. Lucius wasn’t exactly sure what it was that his father did, but whatever it was, it kept the whole family living the highlife. Lucius Sine stepped away from the wall and returned to his book. It was about biology. Lucius read through the book at a rapid pace. He mostly knew it all anyway. He finished the book and tossed it onto an increasingly large stack of books growing behind him. Standing, he walked inside through the open glass doors, and around the house to the library. He opened the mahogany doors and was met with a library rivalling that of the Canterlot archives. The room was hexagonal, and every wall had a large wooden book shelf crammed with books of all sizes and shapes. He closed his eyes and illuminated his magic. He picked a book at random and pulled it from its shelf. He opened his eyes to look at his choice. ‘Equestrian Myths and Legends’

Nope, he’d already read that one. He put it back and tried again. ‘Advanced Astronomy: The Minor Celestial bodies’

Lucius smiled happily. He loved astronomy. Carrying the book out onto the open air of the garden, he sat down in the bright sunlight and began to read. It was a shame it wasn’t already night. He scrutiny the book for the rest of the day, until at 12 noon the families maid turned up to make him his dinner.

He turned as she entered the room via the large oak doors. “Hello Lucius!” she called kindly “What do you want for dinner?”

“Can I have an apple pie?” asked Lucius, hurrying back into the kitchen

“Of course you can” She beamed and fished around in the cupboards for the ingredients. Whilst it was cooking she walked around the house, dusting the table tops and sorted Lucius’s piles of books back onto their respective shelves. Once the house was spotless once more, she returned to the kitchen and checked on the pie.

“Do you know when mother and father are going to be home?” asked Lucius “I heard they were going to a big party tonight, and I was wondering if they’ll be back before I go to bed”

“I’m not sure if they will Master Lucius” responded the maid. “Your father is giving a speech at the Mayor’s birthday, and the festivities will be going on late, until the early morning, I expect”

Lucius was sad. He wanted to tell his mother and father about all the astronomy he had learned that day, But it looked like it would have to wait. His face brightened when the maid gave him his pie.

“Oh wow!” he exclaimed “this is the nicest looking Apple Pie ever! Thank you!” he hugged the maid’s legs. He wasn’t just happy to have been given the pie, but to also have some company for a while. He was fed up of his parents being out all the time, he barely ever saw them.

After dinner it was dark, and whilst the maid washed the dishes, Lucius hurried up the spiral staircase to his bedroom, and out onto his balcony. Up here, he was the tallest pony in the entire city, and it was where he was closest to the stars. He kept his telescope on the balcony, and he looked up at the moon with its craters and the cratered pattern on the surface of the moon. His father had told him that Princess Luna was in charge of the moon.  He said that Celestia wanted to make laws and rule on her own so she made Luna in charge of the moon, when everyone was asleep. Lucius felt bad for Luna. Being in charge of the moon sounded lonely. At least he had the maid to talk to, she didn’t have anyone, because everyone was asleep. His father was part of a group of ponies who had been set up like a secret club. They called themselves The Children of the Nightmare, and held meetings and other secret things. To Lucius it sounded like a lot of fun. He agreed that it was unfair for Celestia to make Luna contol the moon for no reason, but his father had said he wasn’t allowed to come to the meetings that he went to until he was older. It just wasn’t fair thought Lucius. He wanted to help Luna, but he had to wait until he was older. He stepped away from the telescope and went back into his room. He got into bed and got out his bedtime reading, a huge thick book of Equestrian history. He read a few pages and then put it back under his pillow, he didn’t want to read it all in one go.

The maid came up to his room, having finished the dishes.

“Goodnight Master Lucius”

“Goodnight”

He listened as she went downstairs and tuned off the lights, then the reassuring click as she locked the door from the outside. It meant nobody could get in except his parents, and they wouldn’t be in until much later. He was all alone. He opened his bedside draws and took out a small creased piece of paper. On it was a crudely drawn picture of a black pegasus, streaked with green lines and red hair. The paper was well worn, and Lucius held it close to his chest. It was Blaze, his only friend. His parents didn’t approve of imaginary friends, and they had screwed up his picture when they saw it, but little Lucius had saved it. He wished that Blaze was real.