Chapter 2

How to (Not) Make Carrot Soup

~46th of Spring, 980 LSE – Hoofington, Equestria

The next two weeks flew by in a flash and before Omni even knew it. Everyday of anticipation started to make him more and more anxious. However, not all had been going as planned as Feather Flight had caught the feather flu as had half of Hoofington's pegasus population. This put a major derailment on their plans, and Omni could not take Bella with him if there was not an adult present. Minors had to be at least eight years of age before they could travel unaccompanied by a suitable chaperone.

"I can't believe this is happening!" whined Omniscient Chronicle uncharacteristically as he stared at his coffee in the hospital break room. "Bella was looking so forward to going this Bitsday too …"

"Trouble with the trip, lad?" asked one of his co-workers with an odd accent as he sat across from him at the small break table. The stallion looked tired, and obviously had not gotten much sleep with the constant call-ins from the feather flu epidemic.

"Liver, you have no idea how disappointed my sister will be that she can't go with me," the colt said with a shake of his head. "I wish I was a year older; I'd be able to be her chaperone."

"Yeah, sounds like Herdsday troubles alright," said the older earth pony as he drank his entire mug of coffee in one go. "They say it's supposed to be such a happy day for families to get together and share time with one another, yet the only ponies that ever seem to enjoy it are singles that've cut ties with their families."

Omnicron could not help but chuckle. "You know, my family never usually seems to have that problem. We usually go to the park or something."

Liver snorted. "Yeah, right. You, Feather, and your sister maybe. I never saw Chrono leave the hospital 'til closing hours." He inhaled his doughnut before continuing, "How's your mum doing anyhow? I heard she just got a light case of it."

Omnicron sighed. "She's recovering quickly, but she's still on bed rest." Then, he got an idea. "Hey, how about you come with me? We're friends right, and you can get the wife something nice while we're in Canterlot."

The stallion shook his head. "I've already used all me vacation time this year, lad. If it wasn't for that, I'd be happy to come along and see how me hometown's doing."

Omni raised a brow. "Double bummer for you. You can't even take Hearth's Warming off then, huh?"

The stallion shook his head. "Nope, I have to be on call even for that. It bucking sucks being older, lad. Enjoy your youth while you've still got it."

The unicorn colt nodded. "I wouldn't know. My old man has a thermo up his arse too far to let me take any time off besides what's granted to me by days of the week."

The older doctor got up and sighed. "Well, duty calls. You better get clocked-out and gone before they rope you into something. I know they love to do that."

Omnicron stood, straightening his white medical coat, and nodded as he followed the other doctor out of the break room. "Doing that now. Good luck!"

"Tsh! As if! Probably just a broken leg or something," scoffed Doctor Liver Well trying to lighten the mood as he trotted off. "Luck on the trip, lad! Say 'ello to me folks for me!"

"Will do!" called out Omni as he started his way, report on his latest patient in his telekinetic grasp, to his father's office—who was technically his superior. However, upon arrival, he didn't find his patriarch there, so he left the report in the 'to look through' pile and left to punch out.

After checking out of the hospital for the day and officially starting his two-week vacation, Omnicron headed out the main doors to see a very familiar unicorn waiting for him.

"I expected you to finish that report sooner, Omniscient. Was Liver Well yakking your head off again?"

Omnicron raised an eyebrow suspiciously, wondering why his father was out of his medical coat and had his glasses on for once. "You could say that, but honestly, I was just puzzled on how Topaz Heart was reacting to the new joint medication we were giving him. It's acting oddly like an aphrodisiac."

Chronoheart gave a quirked brow of his own. "That IS odd. I'll have to look into that when we get back."

The colt came to a sudden halt. "Pardon? Did you just say 'WE'?"

Chrono looked a bit disheartened as he nodded his head. "Yes, my son. I did. Look, I know I've been a terrible father to both you and Bellatrix. I guess I was so caught up in my own world that I never really even thought that you might want anything different."

Omnicron frowned. "What's with the sudden change of heart then, Father?"

The older unicorn looked away from Omni as if stricken by the words. "Today is the day my own father died a score ago. He was the only pony I could never save, and he died when I was seventeen—away in med school. I think that's why I've been pushing you so hard, and I lost sight of who you really were."

The brown colt raised a brow. "And Bella?"

Chrono pushed his glass up with his telekinesis. "I'm not going to lie; she was an error. We never expected to have a second foal—especially this late—but I'll never regret having her come into the family. I've already arranged it with Chairpony Stable Mind to have me on call on the second half of Herdsdays and all Friendays for now on. I'll also allow you to go back to school if you wish."

Omnicron was shocked. He had never seen his father so glum and serious about a family matter before. He's actually being sincere with me! He realized suddenly. "Does that mean Bella can come with us?!"

His father shook his head sadly. "You know leaving your mother alone with feather flu is a serious no go. She's still bedridden and can slip back at anytime. I would ask some of the others to watch her, but with the epidemic and all … Well, I don't think I need to continue. Bellatrix won't be going to school either so she can watch Feather better. I taught her what to look for and the emergency notification spell earlier this morning actually." He genuinely smiled. "She excelled at it, unsurprisingly. You may just have a rival yet."

Omnicron rolled his eyes with a smirk. "Oh! Celestia forbid a sibling rivalry!"

Chrono laughed, and they both continued to their tower-home.

Thankfully, the trek back was uneventful, and they made good time getting back and found Bella attempting to cut up a carrot by holding the knife in her mouth as they entered the kitchen.

"Now, I know I said you did very well mastering that spell and memorizing the symptoms of progressive feather flu earlier this morning, Bellatrix, but you shouldn't be messing around with knives without supervision yet," scolded Chronoheart as he carefully used his telekinesis to take the chef's knife away from the filly. "Don't make me take back what I said already."

Bella looked glumly at the floor. "I just wanted to get some of Mama's carrot soup ready for everypony so we could share a meal together before you and Omni leave, Dad."

Chrono sighed and set the knife aside as he raised his daughter's head with a hoof. "Look at me. I know you want to be a big filly, but let your brother cut the carrots. I'll get the water going, and you can add the spices. How about that?"

"Okay! I can do that! Mama showed me!" chirped the filly with glee with a small hop.

Omni had the thought of taking the knife and spinning it around a few times around his hoof to show off his dexterity, but figured better of it when his father gave him the 'don't you dare' look. So, he merely went about nodding with an 'innocent' smile and using the knife properly with his magic to start cutting up the carrots instead.

About half an hour later, the soup was done. Or, at least, it was SUPPOSED to be soup. It looked more like pumpkin pie filling to Omni. "I think this is why Mom never lets us do any of the cooking, Father."

Chrono nodded. "Yes, um, let's just make some nice daisy sandwiches instead."

"How about we halve some potatoes and pour the carrot stuff over them and bake it!" suggested Bella as she started toward the pantry.

Omni looked to Chrono. "Do you think that would work?"

His father looked at the ruined soup skeptically. "I suppose, but I don't know how to even turn on an oven, let alone use it." He looked up at his son. "Do you?"

The younger shook his head. "Mom always told me to stay away from it. Said something about burning the whole neighborhood down or something."

"Now how could …" The stallion shook his head. "Never mind. I'm going to go ask our neighbors for help and invite them for dinner as well. I know you would probably like to see Cheerilee again. Keep an eye on your mother and sister while I'm gone."

Omnicron just froze as his father left the kitchen. Wait … When did Father figure out Cheerilee and I were friends? When did he ever find the time, rather? Did Mom tell him? He face hoofed. I hope he doesn't think it's THAT type of relationship …

"Um … Brother? Can you help me here? I can't lift the sack of potatoes," whined Bella miserably from under a rather large sack of potatoes, interrupting his rather uncomfortable train of thought.

Omni could not help but laugh as he lifted the potatoes off his little sister. "Bella, you should know better than to try to lift things bigger than you!"

"I just opened the pantry, and they fell on me!" snapped back Bella indignantly with an adorably angry glare.

The older brother huffed with a smirk as held in his laughter. Bellatrix really could be such a klutz at times, but he supposed that came with being so young too. Still, that adorable glare was almost too much.

After a few moments, Omni instructed Bella how to properly hold a knife with her magic—keeping his own on standby just in case—and the two halved about a half a dozen potatoes while waiting for their father to return.

His little sister actually was pretty good with telekinesis as long as the object she was holding did not exceed her body weight, and for being seven-years-old, that was amazing. If she got the proper teaching, she could very well outstrip him in magical prowess one day. He could not say the same for the intelligence department, but she was still above average in her ability to read, write, and comprehend Equestrian Common, though she was lagging a bit behind in both Modern Pegasi and Unicornian.

Omnicron himself was fluent in all three of the modern versions of the Tribal Languages as well as Common—as was standard—but he knew only a dash here and there of ancient Unicornian. His Minotauren was passable, but only barely, and he could only read Griffonic. Zebrican, Saddle Arabian, and Neighponese were completely beyond him though. How could one read hieroglyphs, squiggles, and characters with eight different meanings after all?

There was actually little conversation as the siblings waited, but the wait didn't last much longer as Cheerilee cantered into the kitchen saying, "Hi, everypony! How you doing, Omni?"

The brown colt smiled at seeing his purple earth pony friend. Omni was a bit relieved she was not wearing that odd git-up, aside from her odd zigzag mane and tail style, she normally wore though. While he tended to where a white dress shirt and his medical coat at times when he was being absent minded, she would wear a quirky combination of a checkered neckerchief, mulberry leg warmers on her hind legs, some various bracelets on her right foreleg, and some odd hair accessories.

"Why, hello, Cheerilee! You're not wearing your usual? That's a shock," he teased. Cheerilee and him often made jokes at each other's expense, but it was always in good fun. Besides, it was hard to find another pony to talk to when you were essentially a foal prodigy. You had to take good friends where you could get them.

She smiled deviously, showing her braces as she did so, with her green eyes showing a mischievous sheen in them. "And you're being absent minded again I see. Even your father was out of his medical outfit today. You're slacking on me, Omnicron."

He looked down to see he was still in his dress shirt and medical coat. "Well, at least I can say I'm an evil professor or something instead of a hooligan, now can't I?"

They both started to laugh while Chronoheart and Cheerilee's father Hopdiddy walked into the room talking about the latest stock prices in the Orange Corporation of Manehattan. Hopdiddy was an earth pony like his daughter and worked as a comedian, as his cutie mark being a single large laughing smiley face that was rolling its eyes suggested. His coat was a vivid bright blue, and his mane and tail were a vivid orange and electric green in color. Omnicron thought he was going to have a seizure every time he looked at the brightly colored pony, but the guy had an infectious air about him that always made a room's mood brighten.

The earth pony stallion gave Omni a slight punch in the shoulder as he broke off conversation with Chrono. "Sup, kid? Don't see ya much these days. I heard ya got quite the chance of a lifetime! An actual chance to privately meet with the Princess herself? I gotta say you're a lucky colt!"

Looking straight into Hopdiddy's striking red eyes always did make Omni a little nervous. He diverted his gaze some as he said, "Sorry, the epidemic and getting ready for the meeting with the Princess has been keeping me insanely busy. How've you been, and where's Mulberry?"

His friend's father laughed. "Don't sweat it, kid. I know you're kept busy; I was just giving ya a hard time." He gave Omni a reassuring smile. "The wife's upstairs checking on your mum."

He nodded gratefully, but then, he noticed Cheerilee was looking at the … carrot stuff.

"What? What is it? Pie filling?"

"It's carrot soup!" cried out Bella indignantly before all eyes turned to her, making her shrink in embarrassment. "Uh, it was supposed to be …"

Cheerilee gave Omnicron an amused look. "Omnicron, don't tell me you actually tried to cook. You know you're not supposed to be within thirty feet of an oven."

He blushed in embarrassment and diverted his eyes to his father. "Well, it was kind of a team effort …"

"Yes, we … uh … cooked the carrots for too long, so we were going to put them over the potatoes and stick them in the oven, but …"

Hop raised a brow. "But?"

Now, it was Chrono's turn to be red with embarrassment. "Well, none of us know how to turn it on. We were kind of … hoping you and your family could help, and we would all get a chance to socialize some."

There was dead silence for a few moments before a sound came from the doorway. "We'd be happy to help! What are friends for?"

All eyes in the room turned to an earth pony mare as she walked into the kitchen. If Cheerilee was a bit darker, one could almost swear that they were looking at an adult version the same pony with bun-styled mane and tail rather than the current fad, and a cutie mark that was a mulberry with a couple leaves in the background. The awkwardness broke immediately.

"You know I'm going to be teasing you about this for the rest of your life," whispered Cheerilee as she scooted next to Omnicron whilst Bella and the adults started getting the dinner ready together.

"Hey, at least it isn't like that time you got that thing stuck—"

Cheerilee blushed furiously as she whispered harshly, "Hey, I thought we'd never speak of that again!"

Omni looked at her with raised brow and his 'I win' smirk. "Truce then?"

Cheerilee rolled her eyes and giggled. "Blackmail, huh? Whatever happened to patient confidentiality?"

His smirked widened into a mischievous smile as he rolled his eyes. "Doesn't count for off-the-job work, toots. Sorry."

She punched him in the shoulder playfully.

"Ow! Hey!"

"Sneak!" Cheerilee stuck her tongue out at him, and they both laughed before joining into the cooking fun with the rest of them.

In the end, the dinner and subsequent game night was a big success, and even Feather Flight was allowed downstairs to enjoy the festivities despite her condition. There was even an impromptu talent contest which surprisingly Bellatrix won by using her magic to mimic all their voices and just her observation skills to mimic their mannerisms. To this effect, all the ponies present were dumbstruck at the seven-year-old filly's ability to use such complex illusion magic with such finesse.

"Well, gotta hoof it to ya Chrono, your filly there has a future in showponyship!" blurted out Hopdiddy with a stamp of applause. "To the Great and Powerful Trixie, everypony!"

All the ponies in the room gave a roar, "TO THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!!!"

The little filly turned so red in the face, Omni thought she was going to die of embarrassment, but he was happy for his little sister's achievement tonight. Tonight would the best night of young Omni's life, and in two days, he would have the life changing moments of it.

Author's Note

Well, here's chapter two as promised. A bit of a mood lightener, this one. I hope you all enjoy it and give me feedback on whether it is good, or need work. Thanks for reading!

Also, to the Great and Powerful Trixie!