Checkpoint Reached: Five Years Old. Introduction and Training
Author's Note
Hey look at that, I'm not dead!
Hello again, reader, I'm happy to announce the sequel to A New Starting Point! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I do heavily apologize for not uploading anything or writing out any updates.
But I am back, and I hope you enjoy the story ^^
Checkpoint Reached: Five Years Old. Introduction and Training
The world has changed, hasn’t it? The vamponies had gained a new leader with the wedding of Prim Bite and Lunar Flarion. A new treaty of peace had been signed by the Wereponies, who asked to join the Vamponies in harmony, ridding their king from his throne in a large civil war. Aided, of course, by the Vamponies. Once the war was over, the king locked away for crimes he had committed both against his own ponies and the Vampony kingdom, the Wereponies now happily live alongside the bat vamponies in relative harmony. New jobs for both had opened, both Wereponies and Vamponies dominated the market with their game that they hunted in the forest. Selling their products of both meat and crop around to the corners of the globe. Griffins, Minotaurs, and so on, once hermit kingdoms of their own reason, slowly opened up their trading posts, the king and queen of the Vamponies sent out diplomats as a way to increase communication that was long lost when the Solar Empire rose. The Moon Mother still watched from her kingdom, alone in her isolation with those of the past to keep her company. Ever since her great great granddaughter, Prim, got married, she too had opened up a bit and looked for a pony to call her lover.
Yet, this is the world on which they tread, but each pony, each creature has their own personal worlds that they see to. Each world a new one to see from another. That is where the story begins.
---5 years later---
A small beam of pure energy shot out and struck the target dummy, hitting it directly. However, the only damage it caused was a slight burn, and nothing more.
“Oh come on!” whined a small blueish gray filly.
“That’s alright,” said a large blue stallion, his one red eye looking down at the small filly,” Not everyone can up and summon runic magic with their hooves, but that doesn’t mean that you're just going to know how to use it. Now, take a deep breath, channel your energy through your hooves and outwards through the rune, make it your outlet.”
“Alright, dad,” The filly nodded.
She stood up tall on her hooves, held one out and closed her eyes, she whispered softly as a small runic pattern appeared in front of her, it glowed a soft purple color as she went silent, trying to focus her energy out into her outlet. The glow started to intensify as a soft, purple mist formed around the small filly, her wings stretched out and readied... then, she fired. A much large blast exited the rune, hitting the wooden dummy right in the chest, leaving behind... just a larger scorch mark.
“... Wow...” The filly pouted a bit, then looked at her hooves,” am I doing something wrong?”
“No no, you’re doing wonderful,” The stallion smiled softly as he sat down next to her,” Magic takes a good long while to learn. Almost everything does.”
“But what about talented ponies?” the small filly asked.
“If they are born with it, then that is something that you will learn when you’re older, but, even ponies who seem very talented took their time in studying, practicing, and so on.” The stallion replied.
“How long did it take you to learn magic, dad?” She asked as she looked up at her father.
“Years, but that is because of different reasons, it will take you a while, but I don’t think it will take too long~,” He replied with a smile.
A small, gray coated mare walks in with a gentle smile, her wings folded gently to her side and her purple mane put up in a nice ponytail.
“Hello, you two~,” The mare smiled softly,” Lunch is ready.”
“Alright, Prim,” The stallion smiled as the small filly climbed onto his back.
“Okay, mama,” The small filly replied as her father walked with her mother and her to the kitchen for their lunch.
The small filly was sat down at the large dining room table, her food, a small, cut up steak with some steamed veggies and apple juice to drink. She smiled happily and started to nibble on the tiny meat cubes. The blue stallion had the same as his daughter, however, it wasn’t cut up and he had a different beverage. He smiled gratefully and kissed his wife on the cheek, then dug into his own meal while his wife dug into her own.
“Bite Size, please use your fork instead of biting down onto the plate,” Prim scolded Bite gently, without having to open her eyes to know what her daughter was doing.
Bite, the young princess, nodded and grabbed her fork and gracefully stabbed her meat cubes, picking them up and eating them two to four at a time with however many her fork could carry. Her mother happily ate her meal, as well as started up a conversation with her husband and daughter.
“So, how is training going?” She asked with a smile.
“It’s going well, she’s moving along nicely in her training,” He smiled softly,” She still needs to practice, but, so far, it’s going well~.”
“I still can’t make the dummy explode...” Bite replied with a pout.
Her father chuckles,” I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about making the dummy explode for right now, Bite.”
“But... that’s what the cool anime hero does to the villains in Auntie Night’s shows!” Bite countered with her fork, now filled with both the cooked meat cubes, and accusation, but mostly meat cubes.
“Oh? Which anime is that from?” Prim asked softly.
“Kono... subshii... something?” Bite stammered a bit, trying to remember the name of the anime.
“Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku Wo?” Prim asked with a cute smile.
“...” Bite’s eyes were wide open a bit, then she slowly nodded,” Y-Yeah.”
Prim giggled softly,” I guess you like Megumin?”
Bite nods happily and smiles,” Yeah yeah yeah!”
Her father chuckled,” You two and your anime.”
Prim rolled her eyes playfully,” Oh please, Flare, we both know that you enjoy a few animes~.”
His red eye looked over at her as he smiled softly,” Have you been going through my movie boxes?”
“Maybe~,” Prim giggled as she ate her lunch.
Flare simply chuckled, finished his meal, and his beverage. He got up and walked to the kitchen and cleaned off his plate. When he returned, Prim and Bite were talking about anime with another guest, Prim’s sister and Bite’s auntie, Night Blossom, and the second oldest sister, who was sitting back and talking about other animes that they might enjoy. She also was scheduling another “Anime Sleepover” with Bite Size.
“I think around 6 or 7 o’ clock tonight would be nice, she can sleep in my room again, I’ll put up a sleeping bag.” Night Blossom told Prim, who had asked about when the time to bring Bite over to her room was.
“Yay~! Anime!” Bite yelled happily as she hugged her auntie.
“Bite, dear, please don’t yell while in the dining room,” Prim scolded.
“Sorry, mama...” Bite responded.
“You have a little bit of all the sisters in you, Bite, you got my love for anime and literature, Prim’s calm and caring nature, and Midnight always being very loud~,” Night responded with a smile.
“I HEARD THAT!” came a female voice passing by.
The group in the dining hall laughed as Midnight, the third and oldest sister walked by.
“That never gets old,” Flare responded as he sat down next to Prim.
“She’s your boss, I’d watch what I say~,” Night responded.
“No no, I’m his wife, I’m the boss~,” Prim joked, earning another round of laughter, at least from the three adults.
“You’ll understand when you’re older, Bite,” her father says with a warm smile.
“Okay dad,” Bite smiled as she got off of her chair, walked over and hugged him.
He smiled warmly as he hugged his daughter close. Night and Prim smiled at the cute sight until the doors creaked open. The group looks over and see a purple-maned, light grey-furred, older looking mare with blood-red eyes.
“Grandma!” Bite squealed happily as she jumps off her dad’s lap and hugged the mare.
The older mare giggled as she scooped up the tiny filly and hugged her closely," Hello, little one~."
Bite giggled happily as the mare gave her a loving squeeze.
"Ready for your flight training?" the mare asked sweetly.
"Yeah yeah!" Bite nodded with an adorable smile.
"Alright, mind if I borrow her for a moment, then?" She asked, looking at Bite's parents.
"Of course, mom," Prim replied with a nod.
"Yes, go right ahead, Mrs. Honey Glow," Flare responded.
"Alright~," the mare looked down at the filly, then put the filly on her back and walked out to the courtyard.
-_- in the courtyard -_-
"Alright, ready for your next flying lesson, Bite Size?" Honey Glow asked with a sweet smile.
"Yes, Grandma!" Bite responded happily, her wings unfolded to show that she was, in fact, ready.
"Good, now, for today's lesson, I am going to teach you how to glide in the air and move without losing momentum."
"Really?" Bite asked as she titled her head slightly to the side.
"Mhm, now, follow me~," With that, Honey walked over to a tall box of wood and climbed onto it. Bite followed and was helped to get onto the box.
Bite stood there and looked around, even though they were on a slightly elevated surface, taller than the dummies used for sparring and practice, she still couldn't help but feel bubbly and gitty with being this high up. Her grandmother looks down at her happily.
"Alright, Bite, how, what you want to do is spread out your wings." Honey stated.
Bite followed her instructions, she unfolded her wings, then looked at Honey.
"Now, take a step back, then, with a quick pace, jump off the edge and let the wind guide you. Like so." Honey unfolded her own wings, then took a few steps back, then with a quick pace, she jumped off the box and glided around the box, then landed right back in her normal spot.
Bite smiles happily and shuffles a bit, then follows what her grandmother did, her wings spread out and tries to glide like how she was shown, but on her return trip to land on the box, she missed it by a little, her legs hit the box and she faceplanted onto it. Honey leaned down and gently picked up Bite in her hooves.
"Are you alright, sweetie?" She asked softly.
"I'm okay..." Bite responded her legs now a little sore from the sudden impact.
"Would you to continue?" Honey asked.
"Yeah!" Bite smiled as she flapped her tiny wings happily.
Honey smiled warmly as their lessons continued. They trained for the rest of the day until they were called for dinner. The two happily went to go eat where the rest of the family sat. Dinner was short this time of day since everyone had worked hard and they all wanted to go to bed, Night Blossom and Sharpening Stone, the colt of Midnight and Tattered Moon, held heavy eyes as they walked back to their rooms for some rest. Bite Size, now aching from her training a little bit, which consisted of not only gliding but more flying practice, headed off to bed slowly but with a happy smile.
In her room, Bite yawned and stretched, then walked over to a large cage housing a large, black raven named Feathers. Bite happily pulled out some food from the small food box and gave it to Feathers, who cooed happily and nuzzled Bite's hoof. Bite, smiling a little wider now, said goodnight to Feathers, got under her covers and fell asleep.
---Check Point Reached: The Story Begins---
Checkpoint Reached: 7 Years Old. Day Out With A Bird
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait, I got sick and I'm trying to get better, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I don't know when the next one will be out. Sorry.
Checkpoint Reached: 7 Years Old. Day Out With A Bird
The moon shined brightly up in the sky, noon had arrived. A small filly princess had just finished training and had the rest of the day to do whatever she wanted, as long as she was back before moon down and dinner. Today, however, the night was bright and perfect. There wasn't much wind, it was nice and cool, and the courtyard was perfect for getting stuck in a bush again. This little filly, however, had different plans than getting stuck in a bush because she thought it would be a good hiding spot from her older cousin.
"Feathers~!!" Bite Size squeed as she ran into her room.
The raven cooed as she saw her owner run into the room and unlatch the lock to her cage. The door flung open and she hopped out and onto Bite's head. She ruffled and fluffed up, then moved down and sat on her back. Bite gigged and nuzzled the large bird, who cooed happily in response, rubbing her cheek against her owners. Bite smiled and trotted back out of her room, her destination in mind, the Court Yard.
She trotted along the decorated and smooth, dark crystal halls of the castle, humming a little tune as she did so. Feathers chimed in with a caw or two in response to certain parts, always earning a little giggle from the filly. She pasted by guards, giving them a little wave. She passed by the kitchen and stopped for a moment. She knew that she wasn't allowed in there just after having lunch, more so with the large raven on her back. But, she only smiled and trotted on in, knowing that Feathers would be well behaved and that she might be able to sneak out a treat for both of them. She licked her lips, thinking about the delicious pie that the head chief, Lemon Zap. She barely managed to get halfway into the kitchen before she was called out by the mare.
"Bite Size, dear, what are you doing here after lunch?" The mare asked as she set down a freshly baked loaf of bread. Her eyebrows raised a bit as she looked at the princess filly. Bite stopped and looked up at her, looks like being sneaky with a raven on your back wasn't easy, more so in a very white kitchen.
"Well?" She asked again, this time looking away as she handled another loaf of bread.
"Well... umm.." Bite tried to come up with a good lie on why she was in here, other than she was looking for a certain pie.
"If you're in here to get a certain cherry pie, little missy, then I guess you'd have to reload a checkpoint and try again~." The mare teased.
"Awww!" Bite huffed and looked down.
"And you know the rule about having Feathers in here. I know she is a good bird, but she can still cause issues!" The mare scorned.
"Hm..." The filly looked back up, then walked over to the chef, "Can I pwease have some pie?"
"Hmhmhm~," The chef smiled, knowing the game they were about to play, "Alright, what is it you are going to promise me?"
The filly smiled, she knew this would work, "If you give me two small slices of the pie, I won't bring Feathers in here anymore~!"
The older mare thought it over, then shook her head, "You aren't supposed to bring her in here in the first place~."
"Aaaaaand~" The filly smiled, "I'll tell you whenever Auntie Night Blossom is going to raid the fridge~!"
"Selling out your auntie, huh~?" She mused, "May I ask why~?"
"She is getting chubby!" Bite giggled. This earned a soft giggle from the chef, who thought it over.
"Alright, alright~." She smiled, "Two slices of pie for that is a good deal for me and you."
Bite smiled with joy as Lemon walked over to one of the bigger fridges that held the pastries. She pulled out a nice, large cherry pie and a knife along with it. She cut out two, nice pieces and put them on a plate, then handed them over to her little co-conspirator. Bite took them both, putting one on her back and carried the other in her mouth. Feathers right then and there wanted to dig in, but Bite told her to wait until they were outside. With pie in hoof, a plot to catch her slightly chubby aunt in the act of raiding the fridge, and a happy raven on her back, she continued her quest to go outside and explore.
Walking along with pie in mouth and on her back, she finally got to the door that leads to the courtyard. She opened up the door and walked outside, kicking the door closed once she stood on the steps to the beautiful courtyard. The flowers were in bloom, the trees were full of leaves. The raven, who sat silently on her back, started cooeing, then crowing. She unfurled her large, feathery wings and flew to a nearby tree, perching herself on it and looking down at her owner. Bite Size giggled and walked over to the tree. She laid down at the trunk and began to eat the slice of pie she was given all while Feathers ate her own slice. They both loved the taste of the fresh, albeit cold pie, enjoying each bite they took of it. The first to finish and also the messiest was Feathers, whose feathers now contained a slight reddish tint that faintly smelled of cherry. Bite Size finished last, licking her lips to get the small amount of pie that remained. She looked back up at the tree to her beautiful, and now slightly red, raven.
Bite unfurled her own wings and flew up to sit next to her little bird buddy, and to get a birds-eye view of the nearby area in the courtyard. Who knew what adventures awaited them both? Maybe a stroll through the maze, finding the coolest looking spider in the weaver yards? Sneakily taking a mango or two from the tree? So many possibilities for them to choose, but that had to choose one. So, for confirmation, Bite looked at Feathers and asked, "What do you think we should do?"
Feathers merely cawed and looked at the maze. Bite followed the gaze of the bird and smiled. She looked back at Feathers, unfurled her wings, then said, "The last one to get there is a rotten egg~!"
Just like that, she took flight, her wings flapping and gliding through the wind. Behind her, Feathers followed suit, trying to catch up and pass her. Yet, even if the bird was almost the same size as the young filly, the young filly had an advantage, her gliding was a lot smoother and was a lot easier to manage without the worry of ruffled feathers getting in the way. She landed at the entrance, one wing still extended. Feathers soon landed on the wing and hopped onto Bite's back.
"Ready?" Bite asked, looking back at the bird.
"Caw!" was the reply she got.
In they went, the tall walls of leaves and vines blocking the view of the entirety of the maze, only allowing for the singular path for them to follow. Bite's hooves stepped against the soft grass as she navigated through the maze. She knew exactly which paths to take to get out of here, to reach the end. Yet, she didn't wish for that. She wished to find something of the past. Something her father left behind when he first explored the maze. She was on a mission to collect them and make the best Father's Day present she could with them, even if Father's Day was a long time coming. That just gave her more time on what to actually do if she finds them. So the adventure was mostly two-sided, on one hoof, she wished to explore the maze to its fullest, leaving not one turn unfounded, but also to find the rods that her father used to mark a way back to the entrance. She remembers that he told her he never fully collected all of the rods, opting to leave some there just in case they are needed. In some way, they were, so some were missing. That didn't dampen her spirit though, not until she gets stuck in the wall, but that only happened once and it was actually a shiny bug.
Her eyes scanned the walls, looking for anything shiny and white. So far, her search has yielded no results, maybe they looked different after 6 years of being in a maze? She didn't know if they could or couldn't rust, they were magic, but she didn't really know the... what did her aunt call it... elements it is made out of, least she thinks that is what it is. She pondered this, absentmindedly walking right past one.
"CAW!!" Feathers cawed loudly, snapping the young filly out of her thoughts. She looked up at the raven, her head tilted a bit.
"What is it, Feathers?" She asked, to which the bird looked at the rod and cooed softly in response.
Bite looked over and her eyes lit up. She smiled and with a new slight pop in her step, she went over and tugged on it to pull it out of the hedge. It put up a lot more fight than normal, yet, she continued to try and pull it out. Then came the snap. She fell backward while Feathers took flight to avoid getting squished by her owner. Bite held, within her mouth a part of the now broken rod. A blue liquid flowing out of the main part, which was still stuck in the hedge. It seemed that her father had put that one in a bit too deep, or the bush grew too tightly around it and weakened it. Either way, she at least got the part that held the gem. She got back up and laid her part down onto the ground and inspected the gem, as expected, it was a blue one.. but it was losing color. She frowned and looked back up at the other part, it clicked. She sighed and gently picked it back up. Holding it in her mouth, she spread her wings and flew into the air with Feathers. She flew out of the maze and back to her room to deposit the now black gemstone. Guess this one won't be of any use in the future. Her plan to explore the maze had been slightly dampened by the broken rod, a small project she was working on that involved them was now caught one short. Before she jumped back out into the courtyard, she checked the time.
An hour or so had passed when she explored the maze, not too unusual, it seemed time would melt into the green bushes of the maze sometimes if you weren't careful. With her spirits slightly dampened, she opted to go and see if she could go and fetch a large, ripe mango or other fruit from the garden. She knew that her grandmother would go there from time to time, sometimes even watering and trimming the garden herself alongside the staff.
Bite had been caught trying to steal from the garden more than once, each time was her trying to be more crafty than the last. The only time she wasn't was when her grandmother wasn't there and a few of the senior staff members were too busy trimming, hedging, or watering other plants to be too bothered about the filly.
She sighed and hopped back out the window, gliding with Feathers next to her to the garden, right over the spider weave, which produced the amazing silk some of the higher quality dresses were made out of. She remembers one spider there, the biggest one of them all. It was really friendly to her, but mostly it minded it's own business while she tried to feed it crickets. She smiled when she landed, remembering her spider friend as she observed the garden. So far, there were only a few staff members out, tending to the plants as usual, no sign of her grandmother.
"This'll be easy~," she grinned as she snuck into the strawberry patch to get to the mango trees, which were past the strawberries and through the watermelons.
her body was low to the ground as she walked past the strawberry plants. The watermelons and mangos were just insight. She slowed and looked at the ground carefully, making sure her hooves didn't make contact with anything dry or crunchy. She was successful, but her cover would be limited when she reached the- wait, where is Feathers?
"Stupid bird!" A thick German accent came from one of the workers as they tried to shoo Feathers away.
Bite smiled a bit, a distraction! She got up and made a silent dash to the watermelons, her hooves carefully navigating them in hopes that she didn't trip over and roots or watermelons. Through the melons, she can see the mango tree, which held many mangos, as she ran, her eyes tried to spot the largest one she can grab. Just as she tilted her head to scan some more, her hoof is caught on a melon root and she trips, smacking her face into the hard soil with a rather loud and unhappy thud and slight crunch. Two of the workers heard this and came over to find that one of the princesses had tripped on a melon root, face planted, and had broken her nose.
Soon, Lunar and Prim were notified about this as their daughter was brought to the doctor. Prim held her filly close while the doctor examined her. Lunar had gone off to go and get Feathers and put her in her cage for a timeout for bothering the workers. Bite sat there, close to her mother and with a doctor using healing magic to settle her broken nose, she sniffled softly, not minding the broken nose, she had gotten them once before when playing with her cousin. She was mostly embarrassed that she was found out and had tripped over a melon root while trying to steal a mango.
"There we are," the doctor said sweetly as her magic faded from Bite's nose," It'll sting for a little bit and you'll have to breathe through your mouth from time to time, but you'll be fine dearie."
"Thank you, Dr. Heartbeat," Prim smiled softly.
"Thank you, Dr. Heartbeat," Bite copied, looking down some as she felt her mother's eyes look at her. She was in trouble.
Bite hopped off of the table and walked alongside Prim, who's once soft smile had faded into a small frown.
"Dearie," Prim started," What were you doing out in the melon patch? Why didn't you tell the staff you were there?"
Bite looked down, her cheeks now warm with a blush," I-I was... trying to get to the mangos..."
Prim sighed softly and looked at her daughter," Dearie, you know you aren't supposed to be taking the mangos from the garden unless grandma tells you you can."
"I know.. but they're just soo good!" Bite countered, frowning softly.
"I know, but you need to be a big girl, don't' steal fruits from grandma, ok?" Prim stated it was more of a command than a statement.
"Ok..." Bite looked down, her ears and wings drooping a bit.
Prim lead her daughter back to her room and laid her down on the bed to get some rest and let her nose settle. Feathers was in her cage. her mother gently kissed her forehead and told her to stay in her room until supper. A little while later, her father walked in and asked her if she was alright, with a few questions of his own. She was in trouble for her repeated offense of doing this another time. She was grounded for a day from going into the courtyard. She pouted but didn't argue. Lunar gently kissed her cheek, then headed off out of her room, letting her rest.
Today didn't go as fully planned, but, she gave a small smile. She got to spend a good amount of time with Feathers out in the courtyard, to spend time with her friend, even if it lead to her getting a broken nose.
Checkpoint Reached: Birds of a feather flock together
