“Don’t. You. Dare.”
“Well maybe I will. I mean, it’s only fair isn’t it!?”
“You know it was an accident!”
“Yeah, well it still happened!”
Normally on a Saturday morning, the inside of the Crystal Boutique was rather quite and peaceful. The shop’s owner, Rarity, enjoyed taking a break from a long week of work by spending a serene few early hours enjoying the presence of her beloved husband, Spike. However, this particular Saturday, the mundane serenity was harshly shattered by the squabbling of two hybrid-pony siblings. Not only was Rarity running early errands for a special order from Canterlot, but Spike was away on royal business in the very aforementioned city. She had asked her two children to come over and watch the shop while she was out, intending to have a family breakfast when she retuned. However, unbeknownst to her, Crystal Clarity and Turquoise Blitz were dead center in a heated argument and had been for the last couple of days.
“Come on, T!” Claire huffed as she dramatically rolled her eyes. “I didn’t burn those flowers on purpose. I sneezed! If you didn’t want them to get damaged so badly, then you shouldn’t have left them out. You know I have allergies.”
The condescending tone in his older sisters voice only made the flustered dragon stallion all the more angry.
“Those flowers were for Annie! For our anniversary! They were here favorite and they don’t sell them in Ponyville, Claire! I had to get them imported from Trottingham! Trottingham!”
“Turquoise, calm down! I realize they were special and I am sorry, but this whole dilemma is really your own fault.”
Turquoise let out a growl at this comment and Claire let back another one in frustration.
“That being said, there is no reason for you to crush my gift to Elusive!”
For the first time that morning, Turquoise let a smirk spread across his face. Directly underneath his claws was a small box he had found in Claire’s own shop the day before. The tag on it which read ‘To Elusive’ was a key give away that its as for his sister’s own anniversary, and knowing her it was probably expensive.
“Well you destroyed my anniversary gift! So I should be able to destroy yours!”
“An accident, T! An accident! That’s all it was! Now are you going to be a civilized pony and give me back my gift... Or are you going to be a brute and make me do something rather unladylike.”
“Hmm, let me see... Yep, I’m crushing the gift!”
Without hesitation, Turquoise lifted his leg and prepared to bring a powerful claw down on the costly item. However, Claire expected such a behavior and quickly fired up her magic within her two horns. Before T’s claws could strike the gift, a magical
aura surrounded it and it disappeared from under him. Turquoise was left confused as his claw struck the floor of the shop and looked up to see his sister smirking with the present in her magical grasp.
“Agh, Claire! You...you just have to ruin everything!”
“Oh please, T, like me not letting you destroy my present is ruining something.”
“You know what... it is! You’re ruined my flowers! You ruined my anniversary! And you’re ruining my life! Can’t you be a good sister for once, Claire!”
A pregnant pause settled over the siblings as Turquoise’s words sunk in. Slowly lowering her gift to a nearby table, Claire remained silent for a while before speaking up again.
“Well maybe this wouldn’t have happened if you were a better partner to Annie. In fact, I don’t event even think she deserves you... Come to think of it, she may think that too. After all, I thought I saw her being particularly comfortable with Prism the other day.”
Crystal Clarity once again let out a triumphant smirk, before her face twisted into a surprised frown. Staring back at her was her brother, tears welling in his eyes and fangs bared like an animal.
“I hate you, Claire! I hope Elusive leaves you for someone who’s not a freak!”
Before his sister could react, Turquoise Blitz flared his wings and marched towards the door. Jerking the door to the Crystal Boutique open, he marched outside and swiftly took to the air, leaving a speechless Claire still inside.
“Claire, Turquoise! Darlings, I’m home!”
Rarity sung out to her children as she reentered the Crystal Boutique. It had been quite nice of them to watch her shop while she was away that morning and she believed a breakfast together would be a sufficient reward. As the alabaster mare, moved through the hallways of her home, she was puzzled by the apparent lack of her offspring.
“Crystal Clarity? Turquoise Blitz? Are you home?”
“Yes, mom, I’m in here!”
Rarity smiled once again as she heard his daughter’s voice. Entering the kitchen she was exited to see both of her children, but was surprised when she saw one was missing.
“Darling, what happened to your brother?”
Much to Rarity’s confusion, Claire visibly shrunk back and widened her eyes. She appeared lost in thought until she refocused on her mother a minute later.
“Oh, uh... he had to... leave. Said something about forgetting a thing he had to do.”
“Oh... well that’s a shame, I was looking forward to having breakfast with both of you. Well, if he had a previous engagement, I guess I won’t hold it against him... So, Claire, how is my daughter doing?”
In truth, Crystal Clarity wanted to say ‘terrible’ or something along the lines of ‘my mind and my body are on the verge of breaking,’ but she simply flashed a strained smile towards her mother and slowly nodded her head. Rarity, somewhat puzzled, changed the subject due to her daughter’s apparent discomfort.
“So what would you like for breakfast?”
“Well, a few gem pancakes would be...”
“Gems!”
“...Well, yes. You can put gems in pancakes, you know. You’ve made them for us dozens of times.”
“No, no, darling. I was supposed to pick up a few special gems for your father for when he returned from Canterlot. It was one of my errands and it was supposed to be a surprised.”
“Oh, well, how about I go pick them up, mom?”
Truth be told, Claire probably needed a walk and some fresh air to clear her head.
“Oh, dear. That would be lovely. They were delivered from the Crystal Empire to Twilight so you can gather them at the castle.”
“Okay, be back in a bit.”
As Claire moved towards the door, Rarity could not help but notice the still bothered demeanor of her daughter. She made a mental note to ask her about it when she returned as she heard Claire close the door to the Crystal Boutique.
Strolling through the streets of Ponyville, Claire kept her eyes on the ground as she navigated the familiar path to Twilight’s castle. The young dragon mare replayed the morning’s skirmish with her brother over and over in her head, trying to find when it first turned so personal. She realized that what she had done was bad, but it was just an accident! It was no reason for
to say Elusive would leave her because she was a freak!
At the thought, Claire lowered her head even more. He knew that was one of her greatest anxieties. Not just being saw as a freak by other ponies, but being left by Elusive because of it. She was utterly shocked and completely hurt that he would stoop so low in such a pointless argument. It’s not like she had brought up Ann...ie. Claire only felt worse as she realized she may may have took things too far first. She also knew T’s greatest fear, losing Anthea. Sighing, Claire continued to dwell on the issue until her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
“Hey, Claire!”
Looking up, Claire was surprised to see Prince Night Light Jr. staring back at her, until she looked a little further up and saw that she had indeed arrived at the Castle of Friendship.
“H...hello, Night. I’m looking for your mother.”
“Oh, she’s in the castle. If it’s about those gems from the Crystal Empire, they got here already. Yep, aunty Cadence had Valiant deliver them personally. Well anyways, I’ve got to go find Pixel or Ice. It was nice to see you, Claire!”
Crystal Clarity smiled at her young cousin as he trotted by, thankful for his words. Heading into the castle, Claire decided to put today’s events at the back of her mind for now. Knowing her aunt, Claire suspected Twilight would be in the royal library. Eventually, she reached her destination and her assumption was proven correct as she spotted a familiar purple figure browsing a section of books.
“Aunt Twilight!”
Princess Twilight Sparkle was stirred from her focused reading by the sound of her name and turned around to see who wished to see her. However, she was instantly delighted and smiled at her surprise visitor.
“Crystal Clarity, how nice it is to see you!”
Trotting towards her niece, Twilight wrapped the dragon mare in a hug before breaking off and continuing to speak.
“Excuse me, I was just looking over a few ancient laws. I was giving Nighty a few lessons, but he decided to go find his friends.”
“Yes, I saw him on my way here.”
“Well that’s good... Wait, let me guess. Rarity sent you here for Spike’s gems.”
“Oh, Aunty, as perceptive as ever.”
The two mares shared a laugh as Twilight led Claire to one of the castle’s kitchen. On the crystal counter, Claire saw a large package which Twilight instantly grabbed with her magic.
“Rare Crystal Empire gems, harvested by the Princess of Love herself. For you, or for your father I guess.”
“Great,” Claire sighed, taking the package in her own magic. “Thank you very much, Twilight.”
Claire went to leave, but was surprised when the gems wouldn’t move with her. Turning around, she saw Twilight keep the magic within her magic and set it back down on the table. Grinning at her niece, the Princess of Magic didn’t want her to leave just yet.
“What is it, Twilight?”
“Claire, I can tell when something’s bothering some pony... Well, not always, but its pretty clear something is bothering you. Care to share what it is?”
“No, no, there is nothing really, I just...”
Claire was cut off by the unconvinced look her aunt gave her and sighed in defeat.
“Okay, there is something weighing rather heavily on my mind.”
“I thought so, well...” Twilight began as she pulled out chairs for her and Claire, “let me hear it.”
“...Can I ask you something?”
Twilight was caught off guard by the response, but nonetheless replied due to her intention to help her niece.
“Of course.”
“Did you and dad ever fight when you were younger?”
Instantly, Twilight’s eyes widened at Claire’s question.
“Uh, y...yes. A few times in fact. Why? Are Spike and Rarity fighting? Does she not want you to pick up these gems? Because I...”
“N...no, they’re not fighting.”
Sighing, Claire finally decided to reveal her situation to her aunt.
“Turquoise and I got into a big fight this morning and at the end it turned very... personal.”
Twilight then fully realized her niece’s situation and calmed down when she heard what was going on.
“Oh, Claire, siblings fight all the time. It’s just natural. I know you two are very close so this would be upsetting, but I’m sure he didn’t mean anything he said.”
“He called me a freak!”
“Oh.”
“And he said Elusive would leave me for it!”
“Oh!”
“And I said Anthea no longer loved him!”
“Claire!”
“I know!” cried the dragon mare ash she buried her face in her claws. Claire weeped fully in front of her aunt she finally faced the full force of her argument with her brother.
“I...I ruined his present to Annie for their anniversary and... and he was going to ruin mine for Elusive, and we both got mad and... and... I’m sorry, T!”
Twilight watched sympathetically as her niece cried in front of her. She decided to let her get it out for her system before she wrapped Claire in anther hug, causing her to momentarily stop sobbing.
“Oh, Claire. I know what it’s like fighting with your brother. I loved Shiny and Spike so much that when we fought, it was devastating.”
Twilight then broke the hug, but left her hooves on the young mare’s shoulders.
“But it always got better. We always made up and we still love each other very much.”
“R...really.”
“Of course... Here, let me tell you a story.”
“A story?”
“Yes, its about your father. When he was just a baby dragon and was still my assistant before I became a princess. You see, it was on my first birthday I celebrated in Ponyville. Your mother had to be in Canterlot at the time, so we decided to move my party up there. We had a great time, but... we forgot to tell Spike.”
“What? You forgot to tell him?”
“Yes, when I got back to my library, I found it full of handmade party decorations and there was a beautiful homemade cake lying on a table. Instantly, I realized what had happened and I felt terrible. When I went to apologize to Spike, we got into a huge fight.”
At the memory, Twilight turned away and her eyes began to tear up.
“He... he said that I was being a horrible friend and that I had failed Princess Celestia. And I said that I might send him away.”
Claire was shocked at her aunt’s words, knowing how devastating that night must have been to both parties.
“Oh, Twilight, what happened after that?”
“Well in short, he left and I cried. I couldn’t sleep that night. I was sure I had just lost my number one assistant for good and it was all because of a fight.”
Claire’s eyes widened as she heard this, suddenly wondering if she might lose her brother in her life somehow because of what happened that morning. However, she quickly let the thought go as Twilight once again smiled while she continued her story.
“But the next morning I found him cooking breakfast for the two of us. He told me he was sorry and felt horrible for what he said. I told him I was sorry and that I would never send him away. We made up and our bond as siblings grew even stronger.”
“Wow... that was... actually really sweet.”
Wiping away the last tears from her eyes, Claire followed her aunt’s lead and smiled once again.
“Thank you, aunty, I needed to hear that.”
“I thought you might. Now...”
Twilight grasped the package of gems in her magic and much to Claire’s surprised, it with a flash.
“I sent the gems right to Rarity so you can go find your brother. I’m pretty sure he’ll want to see you too.”
“Thank you so much, Twilight, I...I have to go find T!”
Watching her niece speed out of the kitchen, Twilight couldn’t help but smile warmly at the situation. Walking back to her place in the library, the Princess sat down in her reading spot once again and picked up the book she left off on. However, using her magic, she simultaneously materialized a picture in front of her. Gazing at the photo of her and a much younger Spike, Twilight smiled and brought it to her chest before continuing with her reading.
Unknown to most ponies, there was a secret path on the edge of of the Everfree Forrest that brought you to a giant cliff if you followed it. While exploring one day, Turquoise Blitz and his sister found the path and the cliff and ever since, it had been their secret spot. They went there together whenever they felt like they and to get away, they felt rebellious against their parents, or if either of them had a problem the other could help them with. However, Turquoise was here alone today and the absence of his sister weighed heavily on the dragon stallion’s mind.
It had been a while ago that he began to regret his words against Claire and it was just now that he was starting to severely miss his big sister. Refusing to outright cry, Turquoise gave a depressed sigh and let out a small flame to dispel some of his troubles, but neither seemed to his sad state justice.
“I thought you might be here.”
Turning around, Turquoise was shocked to she his sister standing before him, baring a sad smile. Claire walked over to where he was sitting and sat beside him, not able to look him directly in the eyes.
“Claire, what are you doing here?”
Instead of answering, Crystal Clarity stared out into the expanse beneath the cliff they were sitting on. After an extended silence, Claire turned towards her brother and teared up for another time that day.
“T, I’m so sorry about this morning. I... I wasn’t thinking straight. Of course, Annie still loves you. And it was okay you felt like destroying my present. I deserve it.”
“...Claire. I’m sorry too, sis. You’re not a freak and Elusive would never leave you. And no, I shouldn’t have threatened to destroy your gift. You... you’re not ruining my life. You are a big part of it and...I love you.”
“I love you too, T.”
Instantly, the two siblings embraced tightly in a massive hug. Claire rested her head on Turquoise’s shoulders, as he rubbed his claws across her back. Breaking the hug, the Claire and T looked at each other warmly then over at the sunset beginning in the distance, thinking how lucky they were to have a sibling they loved in their lives.
“You know it’s night right now and mom still has no idea where we are or why we missed breakfast.”
Author's Note
Hey, everybody! Thanks for reading and please leave any comments you might have. Any feedback is much appreciated. Thanks again! 
