Chapter 1: "Flurry Heart, A Baby Prodigy?"
It had only been a few days since Flurry Heart had been left with Twilight Sparkle and after a series of events that made the unexpected visit very much an up and down roller coaster, Twilight was now looking forward to resuming her normal life as the Princess of Friendship. However, one morning, Twilight heard a knock at the door. Opening the door, a magenta colored pony with three smiling flowers on her flank was on the other side.
"Hi Twilight," said the pony. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I thought I could just come over for a little bit with most of my students still in the hospital."
"Sure, Cheerliee, come on in," said Twilight, allowing Ponyville's schoolteacher inside and shutting the door. "I know it hasn't been easy for you, not seeing your students and all."
"Yes, well it certainly has been too quiet to say the least," sighed Cheerliee as they walked towards Twilight's dining room. "I will admit that I certainly do miss the laughter come out of them. But, horsey hives are nothing to joke about."
"Yeah, I know how you feel," remarked Twilight. "Horsey Hives do take time to heal, but perhaps a lot of time. But, at least, I tried to brighten their spirits a little bit, even though I got called a bad aunt by the Equestrian press for scolding my niece."
"Speaking of your niece, Twilight," said Cheerliee. "The reason I dropped by was because I was thinking about something that you might be interested in. I think, being a schoolteacher, that your niece might be gifted."
This caused Twilight to stop drinking her morning cup of tea and stare at her friend.
"What makes you say that?"
"I just think that when your niece drew on my chalkboard," explained Cheerliee. "Her drawings were somewhat advanced for a foal her age. She is only a baby after all, but she certainly has potential."
"Well, she is an alicorn," replied Twilight, shrugging her shoulders. "The first alicorn born in Equestria for that matter. But, you and I are friends, Cheerliee, and I certainly am not going to give you any argument for that matter. What do you think I should do?"
"Perhaps you can have her evaluated by a team of gifted unicorn teachers," suggested Cheerliee. "I have a few friends at the School for Gifted Unicorns that would be more than happy to evaluate your niece."
Twilight considered the matter, but remembered all too well that the ponies who observed her entrance exam were very stingy and difficult. She didn't want Flurry Heart in a similar situation.
"I'm glad you have a suggestion for Flurry Heart," said Twilight in hesitant voice. "But, she is a baby after all, Cheerliee, and those proctors at the School for Gifted Unicorns are…"
"…Perhaps more than willing to see a baby prodigy," interrupted Cheerliee, sensing the anxiety in her friend. "But, you will probably never know unless your niece is tested. Remember, your niece is only a baby, but you never know until you at least try."
…
A Baby Prodigy?
…
Those were the words that rang through Twilight's mind as she absorbed what Ponyville's resident schoolteacher had told her.
"I'm willing to do whatever you suggest, Cheerliee," said Twilight. "Perhaps Shining Armor and Cadence would be interested, but the decision on whether or not Flurry Heart gets tested will rest with them since they are her parents."
"Then talk to them the same way I am talking to you," replied Cheerliee, getting up from the seat she was sitting in. "It doesn't hurt to at least try and test to see if she is gifted. What do you say?"
"I guess you are right on that, Cheerliee," sighed Twilight as she walked Cheerliee to the front door. "Let me talk to my brother and sister-in-law about your suggestions and then I will get back to you."
Hugging each other goodbye, Twilight watched as Cheerliee left her castle and then shut her door, looking down at the crystal floor with a worried look on her face.
"I just don't think Flurry Heart should face those proctors at the school," Twilight whispered to herself as she walked towards her throne room. "They are just nothing more than big scary bears and I think Flurry Heart has had enough encounters with big scary bears to last her a lifetime."
Entering her throne room, Twilight sat at the friendship map and stared right at the part of the map where Canterlot was located. Twilight knew that her friend was right about one thing: that Flurry Heart was possibly gifted, but she couldn't know until Flurry Heart was tested.
"Hey Twilight," said Spike as he walked into the throne room, clutching his Rarity doll. "I heard Cheerliee was here. What's going on?"
"Spike, do you think that Flurry Heart might be gifted?" Twilight asked, much to the baby dragon's confusion. "Only because Cheerliee says she might be gifted and she thinks that Flurry Heart may need to be tested. But, I just don't think Flurry Heart should even be tested only because of those proctors."
"Well, she is an alicorn," remarked Spike, sheepishly. "Doesn't that automatically make her gifted?"
Twilight said nothing and could only think of what Cheerliee had told her. But, if Flurry Heart was going to be tested, it was going to be overseen by ponies who would be patient and understanding with Flurry Heart.
"Spike, see if you can take a note to Celestia and Luna," ordered Twilight. "Tell them that Flurry Heart needs to be tested for being gifted and I think them, Cadence and I will be the ones who oversee it."
"Are you sure that they would want to do that?" remarked Spike, shrugging his shoulders in confusion. "I mean, you are princesses and I think that you all have much better things to do than to simply test a baby for being gifted."
"Don't forget," said Twilight. "That Celestia did take me under her wing, so if Flurry Heart is to be gifted and taken under somepony's wing, it would have to be us four."
Although he thought it was somewhat against better judgment, Spike did as he was told and sent the letters out. Soon, Flurry Heart would be put under the microscope…
Chapter 2: "How to Test Flurry Heart?"
The thought and suggestion of her niece being gifted made Twilight eager to find out if it was really true. Being a studious pony, Twilight made an immediate decision to approach the situation by relying on past efforts.
"Twilight, are you certain?" asked Spike as Twilight drew up plans in her study. "I mean, testing Flurry Heart the same way as when you tested Pinkie Pie? Doesn't that sound a little, I don't know, irrelevant?"
"It's not irrelevant Spike," answered Twilight, heavily concentrated on her plans. "If Cheerliee says that Flurry Heart might be gifted, then I have to believe her unless Flurry Heart acts differently otherwise. Boy, can you imagine how far Flurry will go if she is gifted?"
"I can only imagine," he muttered to himself. "Only going so far because she is an alicorn."
"I heard that!" Twilight said, turning around sharply towards Spike. "Just because she is an alicorn doesn't make her gifted just like that, Spike! Look at other ponies like well Starlight or even me. Starlight's not an alicorn, but she is gifted with magic. Flurry might be the same way but not just with magic. There is something about Flurry that maybe, I don't think any of us have seen yet."
Spike merely shrugged his shoulders, knowing that perhaps his friend and boss was doing another one of her freak outs. Still, Twilight had her reasons and she wasn't alone.
…
Later that day, the four princesses gathered in Canterlot with how to address the situation with Flurry Heart.
"She's been acting strangely for the past few days," said Cadence. "I don't know what it is, but its definitely behavior that is alarming."
"In what way, Cadence?" asked Luna.
"Well," answered Cadence. "Flurry would normally be covering us in mashed peas, but instead, she's trying to act, I don't know, perfect like a young filly. It's strange and very alarming."
"Acting perfect?" remarked Celestia. "This is very unusual. It could be something that comes with being a natural born alicorn. After all, Flurry Heart is the first born alicorn in Equestria. She certainly has the potential, although we just don't see it."
"That's why I think we should test her," suggested Twilight. "Cheerliee suggested that if Flurry Heart has the potential to be advanced, then we need to find out for ourselves."
The three other alicorns each agreed with Twilight.
"Perhaps we can do some kind of simple testing," remarked Luna, who was writing down possible tests for Flurry Heart. "Problem solving, construction, something like that. Nothing too extreme and around Flurry Heart's natural level."
"When do you think we could start?" asked Twilight.
"Hopefully as soon as possible," said Cadence. "But, there is something else that Shining Armor and I have been noticing."
This caused Twilight to look over at her sister-in-law.
"What's that?" asked Twilight.
"Well," answered Cadence. "Just the other day, Flurry became frightened when there was a loud noise like an alarm. She just enveloped herself in a bubble and ran into a corner, crying softly. It had to take us a few minutes to calm her down, but she never acted like that before until then."
Twilight nervously looked down at the table as she knew very well how sensitive Flurry Heart could be. She knew that even though scolding Flurry Heart was justified, she was a baby nonetheless.
"Hmm, could be another sign that Flurry might have some kind of disorder," suggested Luna, causing both Cadence and Twilight's eyes to widen in shock. "Something related to how her brain processes sound."
"What do you mean 'disorder'"? asked Cadence in a panicked voice, glaring at her younger aunt.
"Cadence, calm down," said Twilight. "We can't just jump to conclusions like that."
"Twilight is right," remarked Celestia. "I think Flurry Heart may be much more than just gifted and we need to find out what it is before we draw any conclusions."
Cadence quickly composed herself before she could freak out over her daughter's well-being. However, she still had her nerves about her.
"I guess you may have a point," she said nervously. "It could be nothing, but we can't be sure until we test Flurry."
…
Once the meeting ended, Twilight returned to her castle not thinking about the meeting itself, but about Cadence. Sitting in her study, Twilight looked up at the ceiling and began to think of the road that she and the rest of the alicorns were going to travel on. Fortunately, she didn't have to think that far for at that moment, Starlight came into her study.
"Hey Twilight," said Starlight. "What's going on?"
"Oh, Starlight," chuckled Twilight nervously, turning around to face her pupil. "Nothing, I was just thinking about my niece, that's all."
"Flurry Heart? What about her?"
Twilight knew that she was going to get personal with Starlight, but there was no other option for her to take.
"Starlight," she asked. "When you were younger, were you ever tested for anything that you might have been born with?"
"Um, why do you ask?" asked Starlight, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Is something going on?"
"Well, we think that Flurry Heart might be gifted or something," answered Twilight. "But, we aren't sure unless we test her. I mean, I know your family life wasn't very good, but were you ever tested for any disorder?"
This made Starlight feel very confused at her mentor.
"Um, no?"
"I see," said Twilight, to Starlight's ever-growing confusion. "You probably may have something that you may never have known you have, Starlight. But, I can test you another time. Right now, its about Flurry Heart."
"Um, okay?" remarked Starlight in a confused tone. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Not quite," said Twilight. "But if we need you to help us, Starlight, we'll let you know."
Starlight confusingly left the study while Twilight continued to draw up plans to test Flurry Heart. Soon, Twilight eventually came up with a list of tests for her niece to undergo to see if she was truly gifted.
"All right, this looks as if it should be enough to test Flurry," said Twilight, studying the list. "Only time will tell."
