A Tale of Something New

Sugar Belle took the information I hid from her before rather well. Considering that said information contained details such as: me being an artificial life-form, on top of being a failed experiment, and being revived with no destiny, fate, or Cutie Mark; I was pleasantly surprised. Her only response was that she had heard stranger. I opted not to ask.

The next morning started out in a rather exciting manner. When Azurinne was discovered in my room, most of the nurses, save for Redheart, were all rather frantic in their attempts to get rid of her. Nurse Redheart simply scolded Azurinne saying she 'should know better', and opened the window to send her on her way. Sugar Belle had already been out of the room before the nurses walked in and saw Azurinne, as such, I don't know where she went or what she was doing. As for myself, aside from the loud wake up call from a screaming nurse, I was completing my exam with Nurse Redheart to ensure I was fit enough to be allowed out of the hospital.

“I hope you aren’t planning on making this a habit,” said Redheart, “as much as I enjoy spending time with you, I would love it more if you weren’t injured when we spend it.” We both giggled at that. She was a great pony, and seemed to be one of the best nurses here. She looked at my scans before smiling to herself. “You seem to have recovered quite well. You may feel a bit tired, but some breakfast in the cafeteria will snap you right out. Do you have any plans today?”

“I heard from Sugar Belle, that the princess and Starlight were expecting to speak to me about something.” I hop off the bed and rush over to give her a hug. “Thank you for everything, and I’m sorry about the way we got to see each other again.”

“Don’t mention it. Now go on, breakfast will only be open for another hour or so, and there might not be much left in terms of good food. Down the hall to your left and through the green double doors.” With that I rush out of the office to get something to eat.

After breakfast, I met Azurinne outside the main entrance of the hospital. We both decided that it was better to get to the castle sooner rather than later, and then were on our way. “So… you said that giant crystal tree is the castle?” She nods. “Well, alright then. Nothing left to do, but to go there.”

After some time, we ran into Sugar Belle and Big Mac walking and having a conversation. "Big Mac, Sugar Belle," I call out, "good morning."

While Big Mac simply nods as he turns to me, Sugar Belle turns to greet us, "Good morning, did you both sleep well?"

"We had a very interesting wake-up," we say in unison. This caused us both to stare at each other and giggle. The look of confusion that appeared on both the stallion and mare caused our giggles to burst into full out laughter. "The nurses had interesting things to say about cats in patients' rooms," we continued in unison causing us to drop to the ground holding ourselves in our laughter. Even with the tears in my eyes, I could clearly see a very warm smile coming from both adults viewing us.

Once I calmed down, I was left wondering something. "Big Mac, have you always been aware that Azurinne could speak?" Simply giving me his hardy 'Nope' where he adds some length to the 'N'. "Did Sugar Belle inform you?" To this he gave me a hardy 'Eeyup', indicating I guessed correctly. This got me to a bit of a mischievous attitude. "You know, I accidentally called Sugar Belle, 'Mom'. Will you be making it, so I can call you 'Dad' soon?" The look on both their faces gave Azurinne and I another round of laughter.

"Laugh all you want, you two, but you won't be laughing when it actually happens," she countered.

"When?" Azurinne barely managed to call out in-between her fits. I could swear Sugar Belle's coat turned from pink to bright red from embarrassment. Poor Big Mac was really panicking at this point. Once again, I managed to regain control of myself, and got back to my hooves. I then rushed to them and gave both their forearms as warm a hug as I could give. I don't know what they did for that moment, but after, they both gave me a hug of their own. I suddenly felt Sugar Belle's hoof playing with my mane.

"Now don't move," she chided, "I'm just giving your mane and tail something that will make them look nicer." At her command, I remained still while she worked. Once she was done, both herself and Big Mac backed away and she pulled out a mirror from her saddle bag. Staring at myself, I remember when I first met her, and she first called me her ‘little mini me’. Now looking back at me, was the image of a tiny Sugar Belle with a red mane. My mane pushed to one side being held together at the bottom by a band with 2 blue spheres, and looking at my tail was an identical band. The moment everything registered, I did the only thing sensible a pony in my position would do. I tackled her down in the biggest hug I could give. "You're welcome," she said in a giggle as the wind returned to her. At least, I think that's what she said as it's kind of hard to hear when you bury your face into some pony's coat.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get her to like you more than her actual parents." Said Azurinne in amusement.

"If I didn't know any better," she said staring down at me as I kept her pinned to the ground, "I'd say it was working." This got me to get off her in surprise allowing her to get up. "Now don't be that way. I know that I can't replace them. That isn't my intention." I felt my ears touch my skull as I stare down. She then put her hoof below my muzzle and lifted my face until our eyes met. "I can't replace them, and I don't want to try. Until you get them back, I am going to try to raise you as best as I can with as much love as I can possibly give you. They can take over again once we find them."

"Until we find them, I'm going to need a father," I teased causing her to hold me tight and shake me lightly. "I get it! I surrender!"

"That'll teach you to be smart with me," she said teasingly, but then letting go of me. "Now off you go. You can find the castle from here, right?" I deadpan her. Then stare at the rather obvious giant crystal tree, and turn back to her. "Well, as long as you don't get lost. Azurinne, I'll leave her to you. I'm getting Big Mac to escort me back to town. We'll be back tomorrow." With that we waved them off and were on our way.

"So... what do you plan on doing after we rescue your other parents?" Asked Azurinne with a wide grin.

"Have us all move near Sugar Belle," I replied, "I doubt anything could beat the idea of having two moms and two dads."

"Two dads?" She asked.

"Sugar Belle did say, 'We'll be back tomorrow.' Just why does Big Mac have to staying all day and night?" I countered amusingly.

"Cherry Blossom!" was all I heard before I found myself at the bottom of a pony pile.

"Hey girls, what's up?" I asked groaning and trying to drag myself out.

"Me, from the looks of it," said Scootaloo at the top of the pile.

"I really like your mane," added Sweetie Belle.

"When did y’all get here? And did you happen to see mah brother?" Apple Bloom asked as I finally managed to pull myself out of the pile. I straightened myself up before turning around to answer them.

"In order from top to bottom. Scootaloo, not funny. Thank you, Sweetie Belle, Sugar Belle styled it for me. Apple Bloom, I got here about a week and a half ago. Sorry for not contacting you, but I was asleep for the entire time in the hospital." The last tidbit caused them all to stare at me worried. "Don't worry, Nurse Redheart gave me a check-up this morning, and I'm 100% fine. As for Big Mac, he went to take Sugar Belle home, and they both won't be back until morning." My emphasis on 'both' caused them to giggle.

"Do you want to go play with us later? We're on our way to school now," Scootaloo said.

"Sure, I'm on my way to talk to Princess Twilight," I replied.

"What for?" Asked Apple Bloom.

"To be honest, I don't know," I replied, "Mom said she wanted to speak with me."

"'Mom'?" Sweetie Belle repeated impishly causing me to stare dumbfounded.

"So, does that mean mah brother's gonna be called 'Dad' soon?" The look on their faces is telling me that my blush is just as bright as Sugar Belle's was. "And does that mean that Aah'm going to be your aunt?"

"Karma~" sang Azurinne. At that moment, all three Crusaders looked at her and stared. "Oh... fiddle sticks." They then proceeded to rush at her, but stopped short of her as she had decided to float up to just above the top of a tree. "I seem to have spoken too soon."

"Is she floating?" she asked me before turning back to Azurinne, "are you floating?" This caused Azurinne to roll her eyes as she lay down on the air in a trickster grin she had not used since I met her. "So... You can talk?"

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo," I called to the three, "Azurinne is a Cheshire cat." A look of confusion was written on all three of their faces. "Yes, she can talk, and she is indeed floating. Cheshire cats have many abilities that make them very... unique. I'm sorry that I never told you." It was then a bell could be heard in the distance.

"Oh no, we're gonna be late!" Pointed out Apple Bloom in a small panic. "We'll see ya later, Cherry Blossom. We'll talk after school." With that the trio ran off, and I followed suit with Azurinne following behind. The rest of the walk to the castle was rather uneventful. I met with the same mail mare that always visited town, and some other ponies. I will say this. Ponyville is rather peaceful. Though, when I said this to some mare, her only response was that it was 'wasn't Tuesday'.