Ponies on Earth and their New Horizons

Chapters

Chapter 2: Up, Up, and Away
Chapter 3: Chilling in Cooler Climates
Chapter 4: Picture if You Will
Chapter 5: Daddy's Little Demon
Chapter 6: Magic Journeys
Chapter 7: Beyond the Stars
Chapter 8: Star Struck
Chapter 9: Settling In
Chapter 10: Reflections of Equestria
Chapter 12: Two Worlds, One Story
Chapter 13: Back to the Old Grind
Chapter 14: Workplace Monotony
Chapter 15: Family Business (Trips)
Chapter 16: Poolside Bonding
Chapter 17: Making Magical Memories
Chapter 18: Uneasy Dealings
Chapter 19: The Start of Something Grand
Chapter 20: The Dream Seekers
Epilogue: A Dreamer Seeking Dreamers…
Chapter 1: A Refreshing Winter Getaway
Chapter 11: Raising a Foal Is a Lot Trickier Than It Looks…

Chapter 2: Up, Up, and Away

Eclipse Family Christmas

A warm glow radiated from almost every inch of the Eclipse household, the colorful lights outside blinking in tune with the cheerful music that was playing.

Silver and Scarlet sat on their couch dressed in their finest Christmas sweaters, apparel that was mostly unnecessary given their fur, but apparel that kept them nice and cozy in the chilly desert weather all the same.

Their dog Cosmo sat on the ground curled up next to Orion, who was happily chasing his tail every time the dog would wag it. With a smile Scarlet gently lifted Orion up and carried him over towards the tree, setting him down near a large present.

“Well, go ahead, Orion, they’re all yours,” She said with a big smile.

Orion slowly stepped forward and took a few curious glances at the colorfully wrapped presents that sat under the tree, hesitantly nudging the side of one with a hoof.

Silver excitedly nudged Scarlet’s side, leaning in close, “Do you think he’s gonna like it?!”

She smiled, “We just have to wait and see.”

“Should I go help him open it? I mean he’s never had a Christmas like this before.”

Scarlet looked towards Silver and raised an eyebrow, “Silver, he hasn’t had any Christmas before, he’s barely going to be one. Just give him some time to take it all in.”

Silver nodded, snapping a few photos of the colt, “Well I know… I’m just so excited, it’s our first Christmas as parents, you know how I get about this stuff.”

Scarlet smiled, “I do,” She quickly gestured towards Orion who was tapping the side of the box with a very confused look on his face, “Oh Silver look! I think he’s going to try and open it. Why don’t you go show him how.”

Silver slowly trotted over towards Orion, getting down to his eye level, “Hey buddy, are you excited for your first Christmas?”

The colt looked up towards him and then back towards the presents, seemingly unsure of what to do.

Silver pulled a present over and gently pulled at the wrapping paper, tearing a small piece away, “See, just like this,” he pushed the present over towards Orion, “Now you try.”

The colt began to nudge at the paper as Silver excitedly snapped a few dozen photos. A big grin spread across the colt’s purple face and he began to quickly tear at the paper, giggling at the sound it made. More interested in the sound than the presets themselves, Orion jumped up and ran towards the rest of the boxes, roughly tearing at the paper and kicking it around, earning a laugh from Scarlet and a panicked reaction from Silver.

“Wait wait wait! You gotta be more careful! You’re supposed to look at your new toys!”

Orion giggled as he jumped into the pile of torn paper with Cosmo, ignoring Silver’s pleas entirely. Amused at the sight, Scarlet let out another laugh and began taking a few pictures of her own, much to Silver’s dismay.

“You mind giving me a hand here? I want to make sure he likes his toys!”

“Just relax, Silver, he’ll get to that in his own time. Just sit back and enjoy it, it’s so cute watching him play with the paper like that.”

Silver nodded, hesitantly looking between Orion and Scarlet, “I… okay you’re right,” he said, giving her a quick nod.

“I’m going to go make some hot chocolate, do you want a cup?”

Silver smiled, “I’d love that, you want some pancakes too? I could whip up a batch real quick.”

“Only if you’ve got some more of that mango syrup.”

“Ha! Is that even a question?” Silver retorted with a smirk.

“Nope!” She replied, glancing over at Orion who was now snuggled up with Cosmo and a large pile of plush toys in a nest of torn wrapping paper.

Silver laughed, pulling Scarlet in for a warm hug, “Merry Christmas, I love you two so much.”

Author's Note

I know this is a very short chapter, but it's just a surprise Christmas entry that was completely unplanned. Wrote it out as a little writing exercise on Christmas Morning that was meant to accompany some art I didn't have time to make, and hadn't planned on publishing it anywhere. I figured it'd make a nice little prologue to some more of the tender family moments in the next chapter, it doesn't really have any impacts on the story itself.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you all had a wonderful day!

After writing this I had some ideas on how to flesh it out and better integrate it into the New Horizons story as a whole, so consider this a little preview of what’s to come down the line. I’ve got a nice long outline of scenes I want to add in sometime soon!

Chapter 3: Chilling in Cooler Climates

Author's Note

Takes place about a month after Eclipse Family Vacation, in late December

Daddy’s Little Demon

The moonlit desert landscape zoomed past them as they drove towards the Phoenix airport. Silver and Scarlet sat in the back seat, Orion cuddled in between them and Marcus in the front. An adventurous-sounding melody played over the radio in the background, almost seeming to emphasize the journey that was about to take place.

“Okay so you’ve got everything you need right? We’re not forgetting anything?” Silver asked her for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Scarlet laughed and rolled her eyes, “Silver, I’m good. I don’t need to bring that much with me anyways, just the essentials for the trip.”

“Alright, alright, I just want to make sure you’ve got everything. This is kind of a big deal, after all.”

She smiled. “Look, I appreciate the concern, but I’m good. Crescent’s already got my notebook, and I’ve got all the books and notes I needed to bring over.”

The van pulled up towards the curb and came to a stop. “Alrighty, this is the end of the line,” Marcus cheerfully called back to the family.

Silver nodded towards him, “Thanks Marcus, go ahead and find a spot to park for a few. I’ll give you a call once we’re ready to go.”

He returned a quick nod, “Gotcha boss.”

The trio hopped out of the shuttle and Marcus pulled away while Silver walked Scarlet into the terminal and towards the airport’s security checkpoint, Orion happily trotting alongside the pair.

The trio stopped a short distance away and Scarlet turned towards Silver, hesitating for a moment, “So this is it. I’m actually going to go map out another world’s stars.”

Silver gave an excited nod, “Yep! You’re about to become an interdimensional traveler! How does it feel?”

She shrugged, “I mean, I’m a little nervous, but I think it’s exciting. It’s going to be weird being gone for so long, but this is like a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“Well you never know, maybe you’ll impress them and they’ll let you come back again. This could really be the start of something big you know?”

Scarlet smiled, “Of course, I know it’s only for this one project but hey, never say never. If I was able to impress Crescent’s boss then maybe there’ll be more chances like this in the future.”

“Yeah, and hopefully we can come along next time too.” He added with a smile, pulling Orion close to him with a wing.

She looked down towards Orion, “And you’re going to be good for Silver, right?”

The purple colt nodded excitedly, pushing away from Silver to cuddle up closer to her.

“Good, I’m gonna miss you, little buddy, but I’m only going to be gone for a little while.”

Silver sighed, “It’s sure going to feel like so much longer, but I’m glad you have the chance to do this. Who knows when you’ll ever have the opportunity again?”

She pulled him into a hug, draping her wings around both him and Orion, “I know, don’t worry though, I’ll be home before you know it. Are you sure you’ll be able to manage everything on your own though?”

Silver nodded. “Yeah, it can’t be too bad, right? I mean, I’m just watching Orion, keeping an eye on the house, and keeping us fed. I think I can handle this for a month, what’s the worst that could happen?”

She smirked. “Oh, I can think of about a dozen things that could go wrong, but if you think you’ve got it, I'll take your word for it.”

He smiled, “Thanks Scarlet. You’re gonna have such a fun time, the least I could do is make sure you don’t need to worry about us while you’re gone.”

“Okay, well I really appreciate it.” She shifted her saddlebags into a comfortable place on her back and looked towards the security checkpoint, and then back towards Silver. “Oh, and one more thing, if any of the night pony mares try and make a pass at you while I’m gone, they better know that they’re going to regret it when I get back.”

He chuckled, “Oh believe me, they know better than to try and make a move on me when you’re gone.”

She nodded, “I know it’s redundant now, but it’s going to be an issue to watch out for when Orion’s older, especially given how much we already travel outside the Oasis as it is. That’s why this is so important to me.”

He paused and nodded, “You don’t need to stress about it, I’ll make sure that they get your message loud and clear. You go and enjoy yourself and let me worry about everything out here. It’s not every day that you get to just hop dimensions and go look at another universe’s stars after all, I’m kind of jealous to be honest.”

She glanced down to her gauntlet to check the time, and then back over towards the checkpoint. “Well I better get going,” She pulled the two in for one final hug and a kiss goodbye. “I’m going to really miss you two, but I’ll be back before you know it.” She paused, “Please please please promise me you won’t burn the house down Silver.”

Silver smiled, "I promise I won’t burn the house down. We’re gonna really miss you too, I can’t wait to hear all about your trip once you get back, now you go have fun!”

She smiled and walked towards the security checkpoint as Silver raised his gauntlet and started to call Marcus. The moment he took his eyes off of the purple colt, he started to run over towards Scarlet, no doubt confused as to why she was suddenly leaving the pair. Noticing this, Silver immediately ran after him, Quickly pulling him close and comforting him.

“Hey buddy just relax, I know it’s confusing to you, but mommy’s just going on a vacation. You’ve gotta stay here with me okay?”

Orion glanced back over towards Scarlet with a concerned look spread across his face and tried to wriggle free, finally relenting when Silver pulled him closer. He sniffled a few times as Silver embraced him.

“Don’t worry little buddy, it’ll all be okay, I promise. I’m gonna make sure you have such a fun time that you won’t even realize that mommy’s vacation is over.” He said reassuringly.

Silver’s gauntlet chimed once, as Marcus’ voice came through, “Silver? What’s up? Are you all set?”

Without breaking his embrace, Silver spoke back a quick reply, “Yeah Marcus, we’re all set. Go ahead and pull up and we’ll meet you outside. I’ll just be waiting by the door with Orion.”

“Alright, see you in a few minutes boss.”

“All set to go Silver?” Marcus asked as he opened the van door.”

Silver nodded, gently lifting Orion off of his back and setting him into the van, “Yeah, mind if we just hang out for a little white? I just want to watch the planes take off for a few if that’s okay.”

Marcus shrugged, “Sure, I’m on the clock so that’s fine with me.”

“Thanks friend,” Silver added with a smirk.

He hopped into the van and Orion excitedly jumped onto his lap, immediately looking out the window as Marcus walked around the van and took his seat.

He buckled in and put his car into drive, pulling over to find a parking spot with the view that Silver had requested. Meanwhile Silver’s thoughts drifted to what the next month would have in store for him. Orion at least seemed to be in better spirits now, which brought a smile to Silver’s face as he watched the colt excitedly take in his surroundings, but he knew he wouldn’t stay this way for long. It was only a matter of time until the colt realized that something was up, and Silver knew that he would be in for a rough ride if he didn’t take charge and keep a hoof on the situation.

“This work for ya boss?” Marcus asked, pulling Silver from his thoughts.

Silver looked around and nodded, “Yeah, thanks Marcus. I just want to clear my thoughts a bit before we head out. My uncle always did this when we’d fly, it gave him a sense of peace even when he knew that he’d probably never know which plane we were on.”

“Hey whatever works for you man, I’m just glad to help.”

Silver smiled, “Thanks Marcus.”

The human nodded, “Any time boss.”

Silver stepped out and set Orion down, watching as the Colt excitedly started jumping around on the pavement. He smiled at this sight and looked towards the runway, watching the different airplanes take off, making sure to keep Orion in his peripheral vision. “It’s sure gonna be a long month, Marcus.”

Marcus nodded while typing away on his phone. A few minutes passed before he turned towards Silver, setting his phone aside for the moment, “Don’t you two spend some time apart when you go on trips anyways?”

Silver nodded his head, “Sure, for like a week, maybe even two, but we’re still able to keep in touch while we’re apart, be it through the dream realm or just plain old calling. We can’t do either of those this time.”

“Aha, I see. So basically this is the first time you two have ever been away from each other for any significant amount of time without the ability to actually chat.”

He nodded, “Yep. Don’t get me wrong though, I’m really happy for her, but it’s just a weird feeling knowing that she’s going to be gone for a month and there’s no way to get ahold of her. I mean, having Orion around is nice, but it just feels like we’re both already missing something.”

“Your better half, eh?”

He smirked, “You could say that.”

Marcus patted him on the back. “Well, I’m sure you’ll survive, it’s only a month, what's the worst that could happen? The whole place goes up in flames and we enter defcon one?”

Silver let out a few laughs and glanced over towards Orion, who was chasing a nearby lizard around, “You never know. I’ll get over it though, I mean it’s just taking care of a restless foal from the tribe that’s known for their protective and aggressive instincts, who's never been apart from his mother for more than a day and is starting to show signs that he’s not going to be so docile anymore.”

He let out a chuckle, “Ahh yes, so he’s becoming one of the little diablos that I’ve heard so much chatter about then? Sounds like you already know what you’re in for.”

Silver nodded, “I kind of have an idea, I guess we’ll just see how well it goes. He’s only a foal, what's the worst he could do?”

Marcus gave him a quick pat on the back, “Well good luck man, I think you’re gonna need it.”

Silver raised an eyebrow, “You think so?”

Marcus simply laughed, “Ha, that’s a good one!”

Silver sat in the front seat with Orion cuddled up next to him. The colt was still awake, though for now he just sat staring out the window. The early morning sun had started to rise, and was shining brightly on the landscape, making Silver squint his eyes reflexively every time they passed a reflective road sign, Orion on the other hoof was perfectly fine with the bright world outside, finding more interest in it than Silver would have guessed a foal could find, especially a night pony foal. He never ceased to be amazed at how foals could find something interesting in seemingly mundane and boring experiences like a car ride. Still, Orion’s wide eyed interest in the world outside never failed to bring a smile to Silver’s face.

Marcus turned the music down just low enough so he could actually hold a conversation and gestured towards the air controls. “Getting enough air? You’ve kind of been silent this whole ride.”

Silver flicked his ears without thinking, shaking his head and then turning towards Marcus. “Yeah, sorry, just thinking about what I’m going to do for the next month. Usually we take turns watching him during work, but he’s gonna be with me 24/7. It’s exciting, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but it’s just a lot to plan out right now.”

The human nodded along, “Well why don’t you just relax and take it easy for a little while, you’ve got the next couple days off right? Just hang out and spend some time bonding with him, worry about planning work around it later. I know Diamond’s going to understand.”

Silver raised an eyebrow, “You think? I mean he’s always been really accommodating for stuff like this, but I don’t want to make him do all the work when he doesn’t need to. It’s just not fair you know?”

Marcus nodded, “Isn’t that what the whole executive reshuffling was for? Setting up directors for the core divisions that answered to you two so you wouldn’t have to spend so much time making every single decision? Plus he hired that dull unicorn for a reason too right? What was his name? Harding?”

Silver shook his head, “Hard Case. He’s definitely a bit dry but the stallion really knows how to get things done.”

Marcus smiled, “Well there you go, see? It’s gonna be a breeze. Hell I’m sure Scarlet will be back before you even realize it, so you might as well just spend as much time as you can bonding with the little diablo.”

Silver let out a few laughs, “Oh come on, he’s not a diablo… yet.” He looked down at Orion, “I mean, you don’t think he is… right?”

Marcus chuckled to himself, “I guess we’ll wait and see.” He straightened up in his seat and pulled in towards the city gates, flashing his ID to the guard. “We’re almost home, you want me to just drop you off at your house?”

He nodded, “Yeah, please. Are you going back to the advanced systems lab or do you have the day off?”

“Nah, I’ve got the day off, why?”

“Oh nothing, I just wanted to talk with Tinker and Sprocket about the memo they sent me. It’s no big deal though, I can handle it later..”

“More of their standard fare budgetary requests?” Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I think so. I’m sure they’ll wind up talking about city infrastructure again. They’ve been pestering me to approve the budget for the new APMs but we’re still dealing with construction delays on the new sectors so that’ll probably get pushed back a few months while we sort some contractor issues out.”

“Did you guys think about requesting some more funding from Sunset Blessing?”

Silver nodded, “That was one of their proposals, but I’d rather do this on our own. We’re almost close to paying her back for the initial land purchase too, Patrick said we should be able to finish up payments within the next fiscal year.”

“And then we’re done working with her?”

Silver shook his head, “No, not yet. She’s got some intriguing assignments so we’ll probably stick with her for as long as we keep getting those.”

“The extra cash influx is useful, eh?”

“Oh, more than you’d think.” He said with a smirk.

“Well we’re almost there, same time in a month?”

Silver nodded, “Yeah, thanks for the ride Marcus.”

Marcus hopped out of the van and walked around to open the door for Silver. Orion jumped down and rolled across the ground, earning a few laughs from Silver and Marcus.

“Alright man, let me know if you need anything alright?”

He nodded, “Alright.”

Orion looked around at the empty home and then back towards Silver, giving him a look of confusion.

Silver smiled, “Alright buddy, it’s just you and me until mommy gets back home in a month. Are you ready to have a fun time?” He excitedly asked the colt.

Orion glanced around again and returned with the same confused stare.

“Don’t worry pal, we’re going to have so much fun! We’ll watch movies, play games, you won’t even realize she’s gone!”

His face creased in worry, as if the thought of her not being around was the worst kind of fear imaginable. He quickly began to trot around the room, letting out a few sniffles as he hurriedly dug around every nook and cranny in search of Scarlet, much to Silver’s concern. Silver trotted over towards the colt and pulled him close with a wing, “Hey hey, calm down, buddy. I know you’re wondering where mommy’s at but it’s okay. I promise she’ll be back soon, she’s just on a little vacation, just like the ones I go on.”

The colt glanced around a few more times before snuggling up close to him, earning a smile from Silver. “There you go, see? It won’t be so bad. Now why don’t you go grab your toys and I’ll get some dinner, we can play until bedtime.”

After a few more glances around, Orion excitedly ran off towards his room while Silver trotted towards the kitchen. Their old rescue dog Cosmo perked up from where he was sleeping on a bed in the corner to greet Silver with a wag of his tail and a cheerful sounding bark the moment that he walked into the kitchen.

He smiled, “Let me guess, you’re hungry and already miss Scarlet too eh?”

Cosmo barked again.

Silver chuckled, “I figured. Just hang on pal, let me grab you something too.”

He reached into the pantry and retrieved both the dog food and a box of pasta. He quickly filled Cosmo’s bowl and then began to start on their own dinner.

As he brought a pot of water to a boil he couldn’t help but wonder what Scarlet was up to. A twinge of worry also passed through him as he glanced back over towards Orion’s room, The colt wouldn’t take to being apart from Scarlet well, and even he was starting to wonder what the next month would have in store.

As much as he had travelled during the early days of getting the Oasis set up, he was still able to actually talk with her while he was away, and even then his trips never lasted more than a couple weeks at most. This was new territory for all three ponies and he wasn’t sure whether it would be an easy month or a challenging one. He could hear a few soft crashes coming from Orion’s room, no doubt from the colt excitedly digging through his box of toys looking for whatever wound up being his favorite. Night pony foals had a well earned reputation of being called “diablos” by some of the local residents in and around the Oasis, and he could definitely understand why they earned that nickname.

Night ponies in general were more aggressive and protective than the other tribes, and even though Orion was still young, it was clear that some of those instincts were starting to take hold. Seeing that the water had come to a boil, he added in some noodles and gave them a few stirs. Orion cheerfully trotted out of his room, dragging a blanket with a bunch of his toys on it behind him, grinning proudly.

Silver smiled at the sight, “You’re not a little diablo right buddy? You’re gonna be good for me while mommy’s gone?”

The colt let out a series of giggles and started playing with his toys while Silver watched on, unsure of what the month would have in store.

Silver was peacefully resting in a dreamless sleep. It wasn’t something he did often, but sometimes he just wanted to sleep in peace and rest without distraction. Cosmo and Orion had gone to bed curled up together next to him, something that the dog no doubt enjoyed given that he would normally sleep at the foot of the bed alone. The house was peacefully quiet, almost painfully so.

A dull thud followed by a loud crash from somewhere in Silver’s room pulled him from his sleep, causing him to jump up out of bed and run towards the sound with reflexes that only a father could have. Cosmo jumped up and chased after him, curious to see what all the commotion was about.

Silver immediately caught sight of the colt in the act of climbing up his bookshelf. Much to his surprise, Orion was holding onto the shelves with his wings and reaching up towards one of the small plush toys that sat on top of the shelf. As Orion reached in vain, the shelf began to rock back and forth, threatening to tumble over entirely, causing another gasp of worry from Silver. He quickly but carefully grabbed Orion and pulled him loose from the shelf, making sure it was secure and earning a few annoyed flaps from the colt’s wings.

Silver gave him a quick pat on the back to get his attention. “Hey hey hey, calm down, it’s just me.”

He gently set Orion on his bed; a large mattress covered with an assortment of pillows and blankets, then he leaned down to get to Orion’s level, “Hey buddy, you really scared me. I’m not mad but you need to be more careful next time, please promise me you won’t do that again, okay? Now what were you trying to get?”

Orion looked up at the shelf again longingly. Silver followed his gaze, noticing which plush Orion was after. He nodded and stood up, pausing as he noticed what he had missed initially. The lamp that had formerly sat on the desk next to the bookshelf was broken into a handful of sharp glass pieces on the floor. He sighed and carefully stepped over it, grabbing down the stuffed night pony plush that resembled Scarlet and handing it over towards him. “Okay, is that better?”

Orion smiled and pulled the plush close to him with his wings, burrowing into the pile of blankets and cuddling up next to the plush Scarlet.

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Alright good. Please come get me if you need anything else okay? Just… just stay where you’re at while I clean this up real quick okay?”

The plush in question was one half of a set that was made to resemble the couple, an odd pair of items to have in the house, but it was a wedding gift from Scarlet’s grandmother and they couldn’t say no to her, not after she had painstakingly created them.

Silver started to sweep some of the glass together as best as he could. There were still a few small pieces left, so he’d have to get the vacuum… and hope that Cosmo and Orion wouldn’t freak out at it.

An idea hit him, and Silver walked back over towards Orion, “Alright buddy, we’re gonna go to the living room so I can clean this up, you’re gonna have a little sleep over with Cosmo while I do this. That sounds fun right?!”

The colt smiled and ran towards Silver, pulling the plush with him. Silver carefully picked him up and trotted out to the living room, pulling his door shut behind him as they walked out.

He laid out a few blankets on the low sitting couch and gently set Orion down on them, calling the dog over too.

“Alright Cosmo, please keep an eye on Orion.”

Cosmo responded with a bark, walking around in a circle and then cuddling up next to Orion.

Silver paused for a moment, debating whether he should get a picture of the adorable moment before running to go handle the broken lamp. As much as he wanted to capture this moment to share with scarlet, a quick thought back to the glass on the floor and needing clean it up while the two were docile settled the debate for him. He calmly walked back towards his room, grabbing the vacuum from the hallway closet on the way over.

Not wanting to waste any time, he swept up the larger lamp pieces into a bag and set it to the side. There were still smaller pieces of glass on the floor and even though they probably wouldn’t cut up their hooves, Silver didn’t want to take any chances with leaving them there in the open. Wanting to get this done as quickly as possible, he turned on the vacuum and finished cleaning up the broken glass before Orion and Cosmo could react to the loud noise.

Happy that everything was all safely cleaned up, he turned off the vacuum and sat down for a moment. Just as soon as he thought that everything had gone off without a hitch, he heard another crash from the living room, earning another panicked reaction from Silver.

He darted out into the living room and gasped in shock as he watched Orion climbing into the empty space on the entertainment center where the TV had formerly resided. The TV in question was now lying face down on the floor, but that was the least of his concerns right now.

He ran over towards the Colt, unsure of how to respond. “What’s gotten into you little buddy? You’re gonna give me a heart attack at this rate!”

Orion simply giggled and hopped onto Silver’s back. Silver trotted back over towards the couch and set Orion down again, this time making sure that he was still visible in his peripheral vision as he leaned down to inspect the broken TV.

Convinced that Orion wasn’t going to run off again, he turned to lift the TV up, sighing as he noticed that the screen was damaged with big black marks spreading over the LED like stripes. He pushed it off to the side, suddenly hearing the fast paced clip clop of hooves on the tile followed by a series of frantic barks as Orion suddenly started chasing the dog around the living room.

Silver watched as Cosmo ran in between the couch and lamp, getting tangled up in the tall lamp’s cord in the process and pulling it over and into the wall with a yelp. Orion began to giggle as he ran towards Cosmo, finally pushing Silver over the edge of what he could tolerate right now.

“STOP!” He shouted out, causing Orion to stop in his tracks.

The colt started to whimper as if he thought that Silver was mad at him, noticing this Silver quickly ran over and scooped him onto his back, taking the time to untangle the dog from the cord too. He trotted back towards his room, double checking that the glass was fully cleaned up.

He set Orion down into his bed with the Scarlet Plush close by and got down to his eye level. He shook his head, “I’m not mad at you buddy, you just scared me is all. I don’t know what we’re gonna do, but Scarlet’s going to kill me when she hears about this.”

Orion cuddled up to the plush and proceeded to let out another series of giggles.

Silver calmly walked through the old courthouse with two student teachers, a green pegasus named Lightning Glow, and a maroon night pony named Moonlight Star. The two had petitioned for a school to be opened in the Oasis, and were more than happy when Silver had agreed to take them on a tour of the different buildings that might be suitable for the pilot program that they were proposing.

Orion was cheerfully trotting around the large meeting room they were currently standing in, running wild, but calm enough that Silver didn’t have to worry about him. The colt had scared him with his series of stunts a week ago, but had stayed relatively calm up until now. It was clear that he had a ton of energy that needed to be put into something, and as long as he wasn’t doing anything dangerous, Silver could tolerate it.

“So I know that this is one of the older buildings, but it was fully renovated and reinforced. For a while it was the old courthouse, but it could easily be converted into a small school, at least for your pilot program. We can always look into expansion and purpose building something at a later date whenever the need arises for it.”

The maroon night pony nodded, “How’s the power grid here? I know some of the older buildings weren’t all up to code yet, it’s important to know because if we’re going to be serving everyone here the lights need to be running at night.”

Silver nodded, “Perfectly reasonable question Moon, part of the renovation involved getting this up to code so we could actually utilize it for more than just storage, I know that a lot of old town will probably go unused after we start expanding, but I wanted to make sure we could utilize it as best as we could before then.”

She nodded, “I know that the foals here are too young to start formal education, but I want to make sure that everything’s up and running before we get to that point, measure twice cut once as they say.”

“Will the shuttles service this or is it worth petitioning for a dedicated school shuttle?”

Silver looked towards the pegasus and nodded, “Of course, right now I don’t think we’ll be able to fit a dedicated shuttle into phase one, but there’s an existing stop outside that’ll service it. We’re looking at a handful of foals right now, probably a few dozen more by the time this needs to be fully running, if the demand is there by then we can look at fitting that into the revised transportation budget. I know Sprocket and Tinker have been getting on my ass about getting that up to speed.”

While the three were chatting away, Orion took it upon himself to clumsily climb up onto the stage that was set at the far side of the room and began jumping up and down, giggling at the hollow sound that the stage made when he landed on it, a sound that was now echoing through the room.

Thud

“Obviously we’ll need to clear out the building and possibly modify the layout, but I’ll leave you two to decide. Keep in mind that this will probably only serve as the preschool long term, and maybe up to second grade if there’s a need for it in the immediate future.”

Thud

“Well this room could work as a multipurpose room, the kindergarten I went to as a foal basically had one big room divided up into four classrooms that way, but they could open it up more as needed.” Moon added

Thud

“Ooh yes, I like the idea Moon! There could even be a—”

Thud

The two paused as they started to become acutely aware of Orion’s antics. They slowly glanced over in the colt’s direction, much to the confusion of Silver.

Thud

“What’s up? Was it something I said?” Silver asked, raising an eyebrow.

Thud

Lightning awkwardly smiled, “Silver, does your foal… is he umm... always this energetic?”

Silver glanced over to the colt, who was still excitedly jumping around on the stage, oblivious that he was starting to become a nuisance, “Yeah no, he’s kind of going through a phase right now. I’m trying to give him some slack and let him get his energy out in a safe way… sorry if it’s bothering you, I can go get him if you want.”

Moonlight stared on with an understanding look, “He’s becoming a diablo…”

Lightning gave her a small jab in the side, “No it’s fine, don’t worry. I can kind of understand, at least if what Moon told me is anything to go by.”

The hollow thuds were growing louder as the colt started jumping around in more varied patterns, giggling like he had discovered a new and exciting way to have fun that no one had ever tried before.

Silver let out a sigh, “Just give me a moment,” He turned towards Orion and began to sternly raise his voice, “Orion please take it down a notch…”

The colt only began to jump faster, much to Silver’s annoyance.

Silver closed his eyes for a moment and turned back towards the two, letting out a breath, “Alright, give me just a moment, he needs to learn that he has to follow my rules instead of making up his own.”

Lightning was about to speak up, but Moon quickly shushed her, “It’s a night pony thing, there’s a reason why we call em’ diablos here.”

Lightning returned a quick nod and watched on as Silver trotted towards the colt, who proceeded to jump off the stage and start running around like an excited dog. The more Silver would chase him, the faster he would run until the two were practically engaged in a full on race around the meeting hall.

“Orion enough is enough! You need to stop right now!”

The colt only responded with a series of giggles and began to rapidly zigzag around Silver, earning a chuckle from Moon as the poor director tripped and fell, sliding into a wall and letting out a pained grunt. Orion pounced on him earning another groan of pain.

Lightning looked towards the maroon night pony with a look of concern, “Should we help him?”

Moon let out another chuckle, “No, it’s just a phase of night pony development… one that I don’t think Silver was prepared for.”

“And you were?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.

Moon shrugged, “I had Marco to help, Silver’s wife’s off in another world right now, I can’t imagine it’s been easy for him dealing with it alone. I’m sure he’ll figure it out on his own in due time…”

Silver slowly walked back up to the pair, completely out of breath, “I’m… I… Sorry about that…” He took another moment to compose himself, letting out a deep breath as Orion continued to happily trot around the three, “Look, this is highly unorthodox, but considering that the closest school is almost 2 hours way, I’m going to run the budget proposal over to Patrick and fast track it for you. Why don’t we break for now and meet up in an hour, we can look over what needs to be done before I head home for the day.”

The two looked at each other with a bewildered expression before Moonlight Star spoke up, “This uhh—”

“—Works great for us! Thanks so much Director Eclipse—” Lightning excitedly finished.

Silver raised a hoof, “—Just Silver, please. I know I’m the director here but we don’t need to act so formal. Hell I’m sure we’re all in the same boat, if we’re going to operate as a private city we should probably make sure our foals are getting a good education that isn’t going to set us back four hours each day, I’d say that’s more than important enough to warrant fast tracking.”

The maroon night pony nodded, “Glad we can all see eye to eye on that,” She paused and looked over towards Orion who was currently trying to scale the wall with his wings, “Uhh… Silve—”

Without a second thought Silver followed her gaze and bolted off to grab the energetic foal, “Orion NO! I told you no more climbing until mommy gets home!”

As he reached up to pull the colt in, Orion leapt off of the wall and landed on Silver’s back, much to the older night pony’s relief. Silver glanced back over towards the two teachers who were staring at him with a look that was a mixture of concern and intrigue. “He’s not a diablo… I promise!”

The maroon night pony returned a look of understanding and nodded, no doubt fully aware of what Silver had been going through. “Good luck boss, you’re gonna need it.”

Silver gave a quick nod and trotted towards the door, hoping that Orion would settle down for the trip back to City Central. With a sigh, Silver raised his gauntlet and began to speak a command, “NAVI, Please schedule a budgetary meeting and send an alert to Patrick, ASAP.”

One Moment Director… Meeting with Patrick scheduled.

Silver breathed a sigh of relief, “No more games Orion… please.”

The colt simply giggled and snuggled up closer on Silver’s back.

Over the next week Silver had taken to keeping a close eye on Orion, and much to his relief there hadn’t been many other incidents of note. Any time that the colt would start to act up he’d immediately jump into action and find something that Orion could do to wear himself out. So far Silver’s plan had worked save for a few small slip ups and a few broken shelves.

Silver sat in his office working away at his desk while keeping a close eye on Orion, who was playing in the corner with some of the toys that he had brought along. The diablo was docile for now, but Silver knew that it was only a matter of time until he slipped up and let his guard down. Orion would recognize that moment and strike when he least expected it.

He glanced back to his computer for a moment, and then back towards where Orion was, suddenly noticing that the colt had trotted towards one of the large bookshelves in his office.

A smirk spread across his face as Silver jumped up and ran over to him before he had a chance to even touch the case, “Oh no you don’t! We’re not having another cookie jar incident this time!”

He scooped up the colt and trotted over towards Diamond Glider’s adjacent office, giving the door a quick knock.

“Come in!.. Oh, Silver, what’s up man?”

In a deadpan serious voice, Silver answered his friend. “The little Diablo’s growing restless. I’m going to go break for lunch early and take him out to the park to play. I’ll be back in a few. If anything comes up just give me a call.”

Diamond chuckled, eyeing the two, “Got your hooves full? It’s fine, I understand. Good luck man.”

Silver walked out to the balcony and set Orion down for a moment, tightly wrapping his hooves around him so he wouldn’t be able to wriggle around. He gently took off and began to fly down to the park that was set up near City Central. He came to a soft landing and set Orion down, double checking that the park gate was closed and secure.

“Okay little buddy, we’re gonna have a fun time here and you’re not going to get into trouble again, okay?”

The colt giggled and nodded, quickly taking off and running a few laps around the playground. Silver ran after him and jumped up onto the equipment, calling him over towards the slide.

“Come on buddy, you like the slide right?”

Orion ran over and jumped up the steps, trotting towards the slide and eyeing it with hesitation at first. Silver picked up on this and inched closer to it. “Look it’s fine, I’ll go down with you if you want.”

Orion hesitated for a moment, but finally started to trot towards Silver. He pulled him close and held onto him as the two went down the slide together, earning an excited squeal and big happy grin from Orion.

As they touched the ground Orion jumped up and excitedly ran towards the top of the equipment again, jumping up and down a few times before bravely sliding down the slide once more.

“See?! It’s fun right?!” Silver excitedly cheered at him.

Orion giggled and proceeded to run back to the top again and sliding down a few more times. By the eighth or ninth time he was out of breath and desperately in need of some water.

Silver smiled and picked him up, bringing him towards the water fountain. As Orion drank, Silver could only smile at the thought that his plan had worked. He had caught the colt before he had a chance to cause trouble and had successfully worn him out enough that he’d likely be ready for a nap when the two returned to his office. Plus he was able to share a few adorable moments with his son, and he wouldn’t trade any of those for the work he was currently missing.

Silver glanced over towards Orion, chuckling as he noticed him carefully trailing a small insect. “Whatcha got there buddy?...” he paused as he noticed that it was a small harmless spider, a sight that still sent a shiver down his spine. “That’s uhh… that’s quite a find… maybe we should stay away from it— NO!”

Before he could even finish Orion pounced on the spider and quickly ate it as if it was some kind of treat, much to Silver’s horror.

With wide eyed panic he immediately shouted out to the colt, “Orion! Spit that out right now, that is not candy!”

The deed was already done however and Orion only returned a happy grin, much to Silver’s dismay.

Silver looked on with a mortified expression on his face. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO He quickly thought to himself in a panic as he raised up his gauntlet to make a call. “Navi call Dr. Wayne Marshall on the priority line.”

Calling Dr. Marshall. Please standby.

Silver pulled Orion close, keeping an eye on him as the Oasis’ resident doctor answered the comm.

“Ah Silver, good morning. What’s the problem?”

Without hesitation Silver quickly broke into a frantic explanation. “Doc, I don’t know how to explain this but I’m with Orion at the park and he just ate a spider. Should I be concerned?”

“Fascinating, I haven’t heard that one yet.” The unicorn answered in genuine interest.

Silver’s eyes widened more, “What do you mean fascinating?! Doc, should I bring him in?”

“Do you know what type it was?”

“I… uh… guess it was just a daddy long legs, should I be worried?”

“You guess or you know?”

Silver rolled his eyes, “I know… look, you know I hate the things, is Orion going to be okay?”

Marshall laughed, “Of course, if it’s just a daddy long legs he’ll be just fine. It’s not exactly common out here but it hasn’t been unheard of for Equestrian night ponies to eat insects for protein. It maybe wasn’t the healthiest choice for him to just eat it off the ground, but he should be perfectly alright.”

“So you’re saying that he’s just going to eat insects now?!”

“Well no, at least not unless you specifically prepare them for him. He’s a night pony though, your tribe has that subtle predatory instinct that he’s probably just now acting on. Just keep an eye on him and discourage him from eating anything you don’t specifically prepare and you’ll be fine.”

The color seemed to drain from Silver’s face, “So you’re suggesting that I prepare spiders to eat now?!”

“Only if you want, I’d suggest you give it a try though, you might find that you enjoy it more than you’d think.”

Silver sighed and tried to clear his head, “Thanks Doc, I’ll uhh… give you a call if I need anything else answered.”

“Please do, take care Silver.”

The call ended and Silver got down to Orion’s level. “Okay buddy, I don’t know how I’m going to explain everything to scarlet, but we’re going to have a safe and fun rest of the day at home, where you can’t eat anymore spiders.” He sighed, I thought I had every single angle covered… Scarlet’s never going to let me live this down.

Orion simply giggled at him again as Silver carried him up to his office.

“Alright buddy, we’ve only got a week left, I really need you to be on your best behavior okay? Please?”

Silver sat by the luggage carousel with Marcus and Orion, who was currently trotting in a circle around the two.

“Does he uhh… ya know, ever get tired?” Marcus asked in curiosity.

Silver shook his head, “Nope. You were right though, he got over Scarlet being gone real fast… and decided to suddenly gain a bunch of energy too.”

The human let out a few laughs, “Well I guess I can see why they call ‘em diablos now.”

After what felt like an eternity he finally spotted Scarlet walking through the arrival gate. With a newfound energy, he picked up Orion and excitedly trotted over towards her, catching her by surprise with a tight embrace.

The very exhausted looking Stallion pulled her into a tight hug while Orion excitedly ran up to her, bringing a smile to her face. “Scarlet, I’m so glad you’re back home! I missed you so much!” He said as if he was relieved that she was back.

“Silver— what’s gotten into you?” She questioned in a daze, the sing songy quality of her voice standing out more now that she was back on Earth.

“I just missed you. I knew taking care of a night pony foal on my own would be hard, but man, it’s a lot harder than I thought! Your voice sounds beautiful by the way, is that a hint of Equestrian I’m hearing?”

She returned the embrace and held him close for a few moments, glancing down towards Orion who was excitedly jumping around, “Well… I’m glad you had some time to really appreciate the miracle of fatherhood… So how was it? The house isn’t a wreck I hope?”

He broke the hug and let out a nervous chuckle as he looked down at Orion, who had a large grin on his face, “Yeah… about that… He’s uhh… well you missed his diablo phase— but I think he’s over that now!”

She let out a sigh and shook her head, worried at what the response would be, “Silver…”

He began to gesture around with his hooves, “Don’t worry though, I figured out how to keep him calm and It’s only a few holes in the wall!.. and some broken dishes here and there— don’t worry, I cleaned up the glass right away and no one got hurt! And uhh… oh, he also kind of got into the pantry and figured out how to climb up to the top shelf— we’re gonna have to fix those too. Oh, and the TV’s broken…”

She quickly cut him off, “Okay, how about you tell me what isn’t broken? I feel like that’s going to be a lot easier.”

“Well the windows are good, and he didn’t break the other TV… Oh and I got the most adorable pictures of him snuggling up with Cosmo and that plush your grandmother made for us… So uhh.. How was your trip?”

Unsure of how to react to the news, she simply let out a flurry of laughter, catching him off guard entirely, “Silver, it was great. I’ve got a few souvenirs for you two and I’ve got enough notes to write my own book… Sounds like Orion really gave you a run for your money though.”

Silver let out a few nervous chuckles and waved her towards the exit, “Yeah… we can talk about that over dinner, why don’t you tell me all about your trip on the ride back? I’m Sure Orion’s dying to get some attention from you too.”

Scarlet looked down at the excited colt and smiled, “Is that right now? Well how was your month little buddy? I’ve got some presents for you that I think you’re gonna love!” She reached into one of the bags she held at her side and pulled out the spider plush, earning a nervous glance from Silver.

Orion excitedly jumped over towards the plush, pulling it close and holding it tightly, earning a happy cheer from Scarlet. She glanced over towards Silver, walking towards him with a grin, “I know you’re gonna hate this, but I’ve got a new recipe that we have to try sometime… baked tarantula— I know you don’t like spiders but it’s meat we can actually eat and you don’t know what you’re missing, trust me!”

She felt a twinge of guilt as the color seemed to drain from Silver’s face for a few moments, “Yeah… uhh there’s one other thing I forgot to mention… Orion kinda tried that out on his own too and I think he’s a fan…”

She raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean by that… he didn’t get into too much trouble right?”

“He uhh, well he ate a spider but Wayne said it was okay and actually suggested trying it myself… I guess I know what’s for dinner then?”

Scarlet let out another series of laughs and shook her head, “I feel like your month might have been just as exciting as mine.”

Silver nodded, “Oh you don’t even know the half of it… It’s great to have you back home though, I think I need another vacation after this, maybe we could take a trip to the lake when we get back?”

Scarlet smiled, “I’d love that, we’ve got so much to share with each other.”

Chapter 4: Picture if You Will

Author's Note

Part 1 of Scarlet's perspective. Huge thanks to Lawra for letting me use one of her characters and for contributing some ideas to this chapter.

Takes place about a month after Eclipse Family Vacation, in late December

Star Struck - Part 1

-=Part 1=-