Difference

Chapter Three – Lightning Ember

“Where is he?” I groaned looking around for him. We had been waiting at the mail office for my adoptive uncle for nearly thirty minutes now. I had trotted around the block several times looking for any sign of a dark grey Pegasus with a short yellow and red mane. All of those times I’ve had no luck in finding him. This last time I had stopped and sat down on the bench with Lime Monsoon. “Do you think something happened to him?” I asked worriedly.

“He’s probably with some mare,” Lime Monsoon said uninterestedly. “You know how he likes his mares. How

many foals does he have now?”

“I think he has eight now,” and all by different mares. While Lightning Ember was a nice enough stallion he was a pony you didn’t want your colt or filly to see as a role model. My mother only trusted him because she had known him since she was a young filly. Also he had always protected my mother and nearly almost died saving her once. So my mother never saw any problems with him being around me because she knew he’d never hurt me. “Actually I think ten now, my mom said one of the mares was pregnant with twins.”

“How about we try for ten foals?” Lime Monsoon asked with an eyebrow wiggle.

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Do you want to lose something?”

“Correct and she has an uncle who isn’t afraid to go to jail,” a thick voice said making us jump. Looking around I saw Lightning Ember standing there with a smirk on his face. “You can be like me, just be there for your foals when they need you,” that was another thing about him. Despite having so many foals, he was always there for them. He rarely missed a birthday and when he did he always sent a present for the foal.

Lime Monsoon kept his poker face on, but I knew he was silently screaming. Lightning Ember had some draft pony blood in him which gave him big bones and hard hooves. Also because of this his wings were huge and thick. They could easily cover up a little mare or a couple little fillies. “It’s nice seeing you again,” I came over and hugged him.

He hugged me back. “Sorry I was late, my oldest girl was having problems.”

“She’s about to go to university isn’t she?” I asked. I had once met his oldest daughter, but we hadn’t really hit it off. She was possessive over her father and it was something I couldn’t really blame her for. Having a father that constantly went with other mares and had more children, had to be hard on her.

“Yeah, she’s studying over in the area closest to the Zebra lands. She had always hoped to study their culture and find a way to further peace among their land and ours,” I hid a grin as his chest puffed out a bit and his wings fluffed up a little.

“What if she hooks up with a Zebra stallion?” I said coyly.

“Then I’ll make sure he isn’t like me,” he looked off to the side like he was ashamed of saying that. Which I had to agree with him, while he was a player he was very protective of his daughters. This was the main reason most of the mothers of his daughters still allowed him to see his kids.

“What would a half Zebra half Pegasus look like? As far as I know there aren’t any winged Zebras flying around,” Lime Monsoon said.

“A flying Pegasus with stripes?” I offered.

“Well the Zebra genome is dominate over the Pony genome. The foal will probably just look like a striped Earth Pony with either his or her parent’s features. Now there is a slight chance that the foal might get wings if the Pony parent’s genome is strong enough,” Lightning Ember said. We both looked at him awestruck. “What? My oldest girl is a science nerd, stay around her long enough, you’ll start picking up things.”

I just shook my head and grinned. “So where’s this Pomegranate Unicorn invention my mom bought?”

“Oh right here,” he said pulling it out of his saddlebag. It was just a simple cube with little spheres on each side of

the cube. “The Unicorn said to bury it in the ground in the orchard and let it do the work.”

“Okay,” I held my hoof out for him and when he didn’t hoof it over I gave him a look.

“I was hoping you’d let me come down with you to see your mother,” there was a look on his face that suggested that he was keeping something to himself.

After a minute I nodded my head and watched him put it back where it came from. “Alright lets go.”

It had taken nearly an hour and a half to get back down to Saddle Valley. Lightning Ember had gone on down to the farm while Lime Monsoon helped me bandage myself back up. Pulling the hoodie back over my head I walked over and placed the new hoodie in the bewitched chest and closed it. Walking back out of the caves I started the trek back home with Lime Monsoon.

“Cinnamon, I’m getting an uneasy feeling about your uncle,” Lime Monsoon said as we passed a pond under a willow tree.

I looked over to him and arched my eyebrow. “Why?”

“He…he just seemed like he was trying to hide something all the way back home. Believe me after raising two twin fillies…I know how to pick up on stuff like this,” he looked around. “Do you think he’ll reveal your secret to your family?”

I was taken aback. “Why would he? He has to reason to.”

He shrugged. “I dunno,” he was quiet for the last leg of the journey until we came into the town. He stopped in

the crossroads between his house and my farm. “Stay with me tonight?”

Normally I would have said no, but the look he gave me convinced me not to. He genuinely looked worried for me. I knew my mom or dad wouldn’t have a problem with it. After all those years of being my foalhood friend and him rising to the challenge of raising two fillies…my parents trusted him without a doubt. “Alright,” I walked with him down the road towards his house.

A couple minutes later we arrived at a small cottage. Before he could open the door, it banged open startling us both. In the doorway stood a little white coated and light green maned Pegasus filly. “Where have you been?” she said with mock anger. “Will I be expecting to become an aunt?”

My cheeks flared with a blush just as another almost identical white Pegasus filly with a light red mane popped up. “Yeah did you do it? Was he any—”

“Bluegrass Sunshine and Jubilee Rose!” he shouted cutting Jubilee Rose off.

Both of the fillies laughed mischievously as they cantered back into the house. When they were gone Lime Monsoon looked at me with his cheeks red hot. “Sorry about that, they are starting to pick things up in school.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry, their mischievous side is cute.”

“Yeah it’s cute!” the fillies called in unison.

Lime Monsoon stomped into the house. “So help me…” his voice faded as he went deeper into the house.

I smiled trotting into the house. Closing the door and locking it behind me I took my hoodie off and undid the bandages. If only it could be like this at home, I thought rolling the bandages up. After I stored everything on top of a cabinet I trotted off to find them.

I found them in the fillies’ room with Lime Monsoon pulling the stuffed Spitfire and Rainbow Dash out of the bag. “The wonderbolt mares!” they cheered picking up the stuffed mares.

“What do you say?” I said with a grin.

“Thank you, big brother,” they said in unison.

“You’re welcome. Now did Aqua Pond feed you guys?” he asked referring to the sitter who had watched them while he was gone.

“Yes,” Bluegrass said not looking up from the stuffed Spitfire.

“Alright, well Cinnamon Lily and I are going to the other room. I expect you guys to go to bed soon, you have school tomorrow,” Lime Monsoon said from the doorway.

“Okay, go make a foal,” Jubilee said with a smirk.

Lime Monsoon threw her a glare, but closed the door behind him. I walked with him to his room where he sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked tired and looked like he needed some sleep. I came and sat beside him. “Want me to be with you?”

He nodded and pulled me to him with a soft kiss.