Silver Spoon Adopts a Naga

Chapters

Chapter 2: Parent-Teacher Conference Gone Wrong
Chapter 4: Evening Talk and Action
Chapter 5: Bandages
Chapter 6: Early Morning Visitor
Chapter 7: Kind Care
Chapter 8: Places Out of Sight and Out of Mind
Chapter 9: Cute Things Can be Dangerous
Chapter 10: Castle of Friendship
Chapter 11: Of Kingsnakes and Treaties
Chapter 12: Stern Lectures
Chapter 13: Basic Consideration
Chapter 14: Monster Pony of the North
Chapter 15: Hurts and Friendship Lessons
Chapter 16: Not Built for Naga
Chapter 17: Family Contract
Chapter 18: Silly Celestia Sells Soggy Spellbooks
Chapter 20: Memories on Stage
Chapter 21: Meeting Princess Twilight
Chapter 22: S.M.I.L.E
Chapter 23: Headquarters Established, Assignment Given
Chapter 24: Apple Bloom's Wild Plan
Chapter 25: Reassessing
Chapter 26: Arrival at the Silver Estate
Chapter 27: Legacy of Gilted Silver
Chapter 28: First Meeting With Grandparents
Chapter 29: Talking Through Closed Doors
Chapter 30: House Tour
Chapter 31: The Mysterious Madam Glass
Chapter 32: Schedule Change
Chapter 33: Ninjas and Pirates, Tigers and Gators
Chapter 34: Trainride to Crystal Empire
Chapter 35: Arrival at the Crystal Clutch
Chapter 36: Meeting The Crystal Clutch
Chapter 37: Naga Games
Chapter 38: Five minutes
Chapter 1: Last Day of the School Year
Chapter 3: Conversations With Almost Cheerilee
Chapter 19: Principaled Discussions at Theaters

Chapter 2: Parent-Teacher Conference Gone Wrong

Dinky Doo had caught them as they were leaving to brief them on Candy's situation. It was an eye-raising explanation for sure, and she knew she'd need to take some time to visit the filly soon. Right now, her focus was on Sisstet, though, as she wasn't going to be of much use to the dumbfounding situation Candy Apple was in. She thanked Dinky for the information and then left the school with Sisstet in tow.

On the way to Sisstet's house, the two of them briefly stopped by Twist's work so Silver could fulfill her promise of chocolate. Twist herself brought the treat out for him, and her snakelike student broke it in two with his claws and immediately swallowed down one of the pieces in a single gulp. Naga might be omnivores who were capable of eating almost anything organic (and had in the past attempted to put ponies on the menu), but sweets were still sweets and still delicious. Silver personally preferred peppermint sticks to chocolate, but she had a reason to be biased.

Twist laughed after Sisstet finished off the second half of the chocolate bunny in the same manner he'd swallowed the first half. "You know, you'll enjoy it more if you let it sit in your mouth for a few seconds. You barely have time to taste it if you gulp it down like that."

Sisstet coiled up slightly in embarrassment. "I don't chew very good." He then opened his mouth wide, wider than any pony possibly could, to display the inside of his mouth. Inside his maw were his two large fangs, spreading out along the gums were much smaller needle-like teeth, nothing meant for chewing. The passage into his throat seemed much larger than it should have been for a creature his size.

Silver was unperturbed by the display, but Twist took a frightened step back while staring at his fangs. Sisstet's wide-open mouth blocked his view of Twist's fright, and the candy maker had recomposed herself by the time he shut his mouth again.

Only Silver would have noticed that the smile on Twist's face was forced as Twist spoke to the young naga again. "I see… well, maybe you should just suck on the candy and let it melt in your mouth. Next time you come by, you can try one of my patented peppermint sticks. Do you have any fun plans for summer?"

"I need to do a report on changelings. I'm going to try to find a changeling," Sisstet replied.

Twist chuckled. "While I'm sure that Silver Spoon appreciates you taking her summer assignments seriously. That's not really what I had meant by fun."

"My projects can be fun," Silver protested as she crossed her legs against herself.

Twist walked over and gently touched a hoof to Silver's face. "You know what I mean. You're just as happy there's no school to worry about for three more months."

Silver smirked. "Okay, that's fair. By the way, where's my kiss?"

"I'm on the clock. There's no kissing or nuzzling on the clock. That's a rule my employees have to follow, so I have to follow it too," Twist replied as she pulled her hoof back. "I'll give you plenty of kisses later." She looked back at Sisstet. "So, what else are you doing this summer?"

Sisstet picked at one of his claws nervously. "I don't know. Female guardian had an egg. Sshe won't let anycreature near the egg. Maybe play with my toy train, somewhere away from her."

Silver's eyebrows rose. "Sythel had an egg? You never mentioned that. You're going to be a big brother then."

"Ssort of," Sisstet replied in a quiet voice. "Guardians are not really my parents, so the egg is not really my sibling. They've been acting differently since it was laid."

"Well, having a baby is a big thing. They are probably very occupied worrying about that," Twist said. "How long does it take a naga egg to hatch?"

"Not ssure, my guardians did not say. They don't act worried. They act… different. Female guardian just guards the egg and won't let me or male guardian near it. Male guardian just acts unsure and confused about many things. I don't think they know what they are supposed to do. I think they might contact kingsnakes for answers."

Silver's eyebrows shot up. "Why? I know having a baby is a big deal, but it typically isn't something you go running to your ruler with questions about. Could you imagine what would happen if Princess Twilight had every mare who got pregnant running to her asking her what to do about it?"

Sisstet quivered a little. "Naga are different. Naga don't do anything without kingsnakess' orders. Guardians are not sure of where having egg fits with their orders, so they are confused. They aren't sure if they should keep the egg, send it back to the Clutch, or send it to the Crystal Clutch."

"Uh, there's more than one Clutch?" Twist asked, looking back and forth between Silver and Sisstet for an answer.

"It's what they are calling all the young naga they sent together to the Crystal Empire," Silver explained. "Since there is a lot of them all gathered and raised together at Princess Cadance's school, the naga started referring to it as the Crystal Clutch, and calling Princess Cadance the 'kingsnake of the Crystal Clutch'."

Twist gave a quick, forced laugh. "Heh, wonder how she feels about that title. I always found it weird that it was Cadance that put them all in a boarding school and Twilight Sparkle that put them in small family units. It seems like it should have been the other way around, just thinking about the princesses."

Silver shrugged. "The kingsnakes made both Princess Twilight and Princess Cadance honorary kingsnakes when the princesses thoroughly routed them in battle. It is considered their highest show of respect; it also gives them official authority over the naga sent to live in Equestria. And yeah, I agree that I would have thought they'd have the opposite approaches for dealing with teaching the naga Equestrian ways, but here we are."

"Maybe guardianss can ask Princess Twilight for guidance, instead of other kingsnakes?" Sisstet suggested. "I've never seen the kingsnakes, but I know they're scary. Guardians say kingsnakes can eat grownup naga whole if they displeased them."

Silver reached over and laid a hoof on her student. "Hey, I'm sure that they haven't done anything to get any of you eaten. Now, let's get you home, and I can tell them about the excellent progress you've made this year. I'm sure they'll be happy to hear you're doing so well."

He nodded, but still seemed nervous.

Sisstet's house was on the far side of town in what some creatures called the poniless district. The term was a misleading one, as there were a few ponies that lived out this way, primarily the few thestral residents of the town who enjoyed having more privacy, and many that would visit for business. This part of town had houses that were spaced further apart from one another, a lot more trees and bushes between houses for privacy, and very few shops.

The few shops that were out this way tended to specialize in products and services that might make ponies uncomfortable but were needed for several of the species. The primary shop that came to mind that ponies, in general, might avoid was the meat market. Many creatures required varying amounts of meat in their diets, and ponies didn't always feel comfortable seeing cuts of meat being put on display. Sisstet's guardians both worked for the meat market.

However, the meat market wasn't completely avoided by ponies. As ponies sometimes needed meat for certain pets. Ponies also typically had no problem with fish being put on display for consumption, as that was what they'd previously fed many of their carnivorous pets before being offered more variety. Even with easier access to pet food for carnivores, these ponies still fished, as it had become a hobby, and now would simply sell their catches to the meat market for extra bits. There were a few farmers that kept livestock as well and would occasionally bring an animal to market (the Apples were known to bring pigs once a year). Meat that came locally was valued much more than imported meat, and ponies that provided fish and other animals were paid well. The meat market also provided gelatin to Barnyard Bargains, which had previously been a costly dessert ingredient that had to be imported from the Griffin Empire but was now much more affordable in Ponyville thanks to the local production.

She had students that came from this area, and they were her only reason to visit it. Sisstet was one student that lived out this way, Godfrey was her other current student that did. Her previous graduate class had a thestral colt that she had to visit regularly because a great deal of his schoolwork ended up being homework. She wanted to make sure he was getting the same amount of personal instruction as the rest of the students in her class (the school district had been accommodating enough to pay her extra for having to go over to his house every weekend). Her visits to her thestral student had been frequent enough that she generally knew her way around this part of town.

It didn't take long to reach Sisstet's home. His house was one of the most unique in Ponyville, more a burrow into the ground with a large entrance door than a freestanding structure. An old diamond dog had previously owned it, but he had moved away to be better cared for by other diamond dogs, and it had sat vacant for a full year before Sisstet's family had taken it over. From the outside, it looked like the entrance to a storm cellar with a mailbox. Once inside, there was a descending path that went into a long circular hallway, which was more cave than a hallway. There were a few hollowed-out alcoves of various sizes for sleeping and storage, along with a larger area near the entrance that served as a living area. It did have running water, but she was unsure exactly where it entered or where it exited.

Sisstet pulled open the entrance and announced himself. "Guardianss! I am home. Miss Silver Spoon is with me."

After he made this announcement, the young naga slithered aside so Silver could go in. She took a deep breath before going in. She'd been here a few times, but it was still unnerving each time. It was just how dark and claustrophobic the place was. There were glowing crystals embedded into the walls, seemingly at random, that provided light, but it was still hard to see more than a ponylength or two ahead of her with any clarity. It didn't get much easier walking in with additional visits.

She walked in and suppressed a shudder when Sisstet entered and shut the door behind them, making the place even dimmer.

The place was much warmer than her previous visits. On all her previous visits, this place had been slightly chilly, but now it was hot. There was also a notable increase in humidity within the burrow as well. The area felt very much like a sauna now. It even had the smell of cedar that accompanied a sauna.

Sisstet did his slither-crawl past her, going deeper inside, and she quickly lost sight of him. She took one last deep breath and then walked down the path towards the main 'room' at the bottom of the way.

The main room was somewhat bigger than a pony living room, not only in square footage but also with a much higher ceiling. It was much better lit than the rest of the burrow. Two paths exited out to the left and right of the room. On one side of the room, just to the side of the left path, was a small table that had a toy train set, complete with track, and many small figurines. Bits of roots from above could be seen poking through the ceiling, as well as several different satchels hanging out of pony reach from hooks in the ceiling. There were cedar boxes placed along the walls that weren't previously there, that she could see steam coming out from. On the other side of the room, there was another table, this one larger.

Sythel was coiled up tightly under the larger table and seemed to have made a nest of sorts with wool blankets. The adult naga had dark brown and black scales, a massive flared hood, and she was staring at Silver with pure menace. Her coils were much more extensive than Sisstet's and seemed large enough to fit a pony through them. Silver knew that if the naga brought herself to full height, she could tower over most resident dragons in stature (although she was still no match for the many century-old dragons which were rarely seen outside the Dragon Lands). There was no sign of where Sisstet had slithered off to-- probably somewhere deeper into the burrow.

Silver just froze with primitive fear under the gaze of the naga, as some part of her mind told her that she was prey, and if she just held very still, the predator wouldn't see her. It was an irrational feeling, but that didn't diminish the intensity. The spell of Sythel's gaze was broken when Sisstet's other guardian, Mishset, came slither-crawling in from the other side of the room. He was of similar size and coloration to Sythel, with a slightly smaller flared hood and a streak of dark blue that ran like a stripe through his scales. Sythel turned her menace on him as he entered, but he didn't seem nearly as bothered by it (although he too kept his distance from her).

Mishset kept his height low as he turned his attention to Silver, and began speaking in his much more hissy speech. "Welssome, teassser pony. Sisstet iss ssoing well? Make kingssnakess ssappy?"

She always had to listen carefully and repeat in her head what was said to her by Sisstet's guardians. They seemed all but incapable of saying certain letters correctly and dragged out their S's far more often. With Sisstet the extended S was much less pronounced, and almost like a nervous tick, rather than a speech impediment, and one she was working to help him overcome. His guardians were now far easier to understand than when they first came to Ponyville, but it was still a challenge at times.

"Sisstet is doing exceptionally well," she said, going into full teacher mode. This was a parent-teacher conference, and that was something she could deal with. "He is a little shy still, but he is talking more in class. He has made a few friends as well. He is starting to fit in well with Equestrian society. Your kingsnakes will be very happy."

"Good," Mishset replied, then looked over at his mate "Musst desside what to soo wis sim. Ssythel sseeing very sstuborn about egg."

Sythel tightened her coils and hissed angrily. "Mine! No, go to Clutch! Mine!"

Mishset hissed back at her. "Kingssnakess orserss not ssay two. Need to soo ssomesing."

Sythel put one of her clawed hands over her coils protectively. "Mine!"

Silver tried to figure out what the problem was but came up empty. "Um, excuse me? What is going on?"

The male naga turned his attention back to her. "Kingssnakess orserss to raisse one young. Two not orser. Shoo not have two."

"Ssen Ssisstet back to Clutch. Not mine!" Sythel hissed again, now wrapping her torso around her coils as if giving the egg underneath them all further protection.

"You can't do that!" Silver shouted. "Sisstet is doing so well. You'd take him away from all his friends and put him back in a negative environment. You'd stifle all the growth he has made. I don't mean this to be rude, but out of the three of you, he is most at home here in Equestria. He wouldn't fit into your Clutch."

The male naga crawled up near her, and she got that menacing feeling again as he stared into her eyes. "You ssay Ssistet iss better with poniess?"

She gulped but nodded. "Yes. He should stay here."

Mishtet stared at her for a few seconds, then his eyes widened. She was afraid that was a sign he was about to strike, but instead, he turned back towards his mate. "Know what to soo! Give Ssistet to teasser pony. Sen only one. Kingssnakess be sappy poniess claim sim."

Sythel seemed to brighten up, and Silver could swear she started to purr. She had no idea that naga purred. "Iss good idea! Keep mine. Ssisstet continue to make kingssnakess sappy. Give teasser pony Ssisstet to live with ser."

She took a step back in disbelief. "What?! You can't do that! You're supposed to take care of him!"

"Sake sare of one," Mishset corrected. "No two. We sake sare of new one. Ssisstet no neess uss if gooder san uss wis poniess. We give Ssisstet to you. Make kingssnakess sappy."

She shook her head, still unsure how a simple parent-teacher conference had escalated to this. Naga were crazy! "I-I need some time… time to… I just need some time."

Without another word, she turned and retreated out of the burrow. She needed advice; she needed advice now.

Chapter 4: Evening Talk and Action

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Chapter 5: Bandages

The office that they intended to convert to a bedroom hadn't even started its conversion, but Sisstet needed somewhere to sleep for the moment. For the current night he'd have to spend it in the living room, on the couch. Lantern had been convinced, with some effort, to go his Mishtet and Sythel to tell them the whereabouts of the young naga, and that Silver was taking care of him. There was no telling how the two older Naga would react to Sisstet's sudden disappearance at this point, and she would rather avoid them doing anything rash. Lantern said after he spoke with the older nagas he would keep his patrol close to the house, just in case Sisstet made a fresh attempt to run away.

Silver had sat up watching her young charge until she was confident that he was asleep, and it was getting close to midnight when she was sure that he was definitely asleep. Twist had sat in the dining area, with a clear view of Silver and Sisstet, with her muscles tense. Silver knew what was on Twist's mind, and knew the conversation that was going to be coming as soon as they left Sisstet's earshot. She'd deliberately stayed watching the young naga perhaps longer than she needed to just to avoid it.

As she stood up Twist got up as well. "Come on over here so I can check your bandages," Twist instructed.

Yep, she definitely knew what was on Twist's mind, but she did as she was instructed. She walked over to her wife, sat down, and held out her bandaged foreleg for inspection. Twist immediately set to work checking the bandages with an overabundance of care.

"They're fine, really," Silver whispered. "They'll almost certainly be good to come off tomorrow."

"You'll change them out tonight and give that bite another thorough washing," Twist ordered in a hushed voice. "We should have already taken you to a doctor. You're going to one tomorrow."

"You're overreacting," she said with a yawn.

Twist stopped inspecting the bandages and looked her in the eyes with her brows angled high up. "Overreacting? He bit you! He bit you hard enough to draw blood. We should have somecreature checking your blood for poison."

Silver arched one brow at her wife. "He's not venomous or poisonous, Twist. I do know some things about naga. I've been teaching for years, and believe me, every once and a while foals bite. I've been bitten by foals before."

Twist gasped. "You never told me you've been bitten by foals while teaching!"

Silver rolled her eyes and set her leg back down. "Have you ever had to restrain a foal when they're in a physical fight with another foal? They do a lot of squirming, and if that doesn't work, they'll sometimes bite. It doesn't happen that much, but it happens. I've been bitten twice over the years while breaking up fights. It wasn't anything serious in either case."

Twist snorted. "Be that as it may, this wasn't a fight you were breaking up, and his teeth aren't like pony teeth. He could have seriously injured you!"

"But he didn't. He was angry, hurt, and scared. He's part snake, and snakes strike like that sometimes when they're too upset and not feeling trusting about anycreature. I'm a hundred-percent sure that if I got too close to Sythel's egg she'd do much worse to me," she took a deep breath before continuing. "He didn't finish the bite either. I think he was in shock that he even did it. Sisstet is normally very gentle, but can you tell me that you wouldn't be at your worst if you had to go through what he has in the last day?"

Her wife, still frowning, looked back towards the couch. She stared at it for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Silver. "Okay, I'll cut him some slack, but this can't happen again. I do want you to see a doctor still. I'm guessing foals don't normally draw blood when they bite, and even if he isn't poisonous or venomous that could still get infected."

Silver accepted that with a nod. "I think if I keep it clean I'll be fine, but I'll check with a doctor tomorrow, just to be sure. I'll want to get a checkup for Sisstet anyway."

With that said, some of the tension seemed to leave Twist. The other earth pony gave her a hug and then looked around the room briefly. "I'll go into work for a half-day tomorrow. I'll tell Bonnie I need a few days off to help deal with all this. I have plenty of vacation time I'm owed, and she and Lyra are taking off for a short vacation next month with the Golden Horseshoe Gals- so she owes me a chance to take a few days for myself sometime before that anyway. I'll see about getting that office converted and finding a bed for the room."

"I appreciate it," Silver replied with a smile, but her smile didn't last long. "I suppose I'm also going to have to go visit Mishtet and Sythel tomorrow to tell them I'm taking custody of Sisstet. I'll need to find somecreature to watch Sisstet when I'm doing that. Him going back there right now wouldn't be a good idea."

"Maybe Diamond or one of the Crusaders?" Twist suggested.

"Maybe, or maybe Dinky," Silver said thoughtfully. "First thing in the morning he and I will go by the doctor, and then I will check with a few creatures to see who's available. Then I'll go see the naga." She glanced over at Sisstet's backpack which was on the dining room table. "I saw you going through that. What did he bring with him?"

Twist sighed. "It looked like a toy train set, with accompanying figurines, some various pieces of fruit, and some... some dried and salted fish." She gave Silver a wide-eyed look. "I know naga eat just about anything, but does he need meat in his diet to be healthy?"

"I think so…" Silver answered warily. "I know it's a little different than what we're used to, and I'm not exactly sure how much is necessary. I know at the school I need to guarantee that he gets at least one serving a week, according to Princess Twilight's guidelines, but I'm not sure if that was in addition to him getting regular servings at home."

"That sounds like something important to find out, and soon," Twist responded, looking at the backpack with mild distaste. "Silver… I know I normally am the one cooking, but I don't have a clue how to prepare meat. I mean, I could possibly do it with instructions, but I have no idea if I'm going to be doing it right. I normally taste test my cooking to judge what I need to adjust, rather than follow strictly to recipes. I can't taste test meat. I'm not even sure how we are supposed to store it or anything like that."

"I know it runs higher in price than fruits and vegetables, and it normally is kept chilled," Silver said as she thought back to what she knew. "The school keeps a small amount of meat for students that need it, and Cheerilee always went over the budgets with the faculty before the start of every school year. I remember her describing how much meat we'd be purchasing each year and how much it cost. Not that I recall the exact figures, just the general idea. I think it was mostly fish that we kept, as well as large insects."

Twist shook her head. "Still not sure how to handle that."

"Technically, ponies can eat meat. It is just a taboo, and it isn't really good for us," Silver reminded her. "If you really need to taste test it to see if you are doing it right-"

"Silver, no! Oh sweet Twilight, that just makes me want to vomit thinking about it."

"We'll figure it out," Silver said as she stifled a yawn. "But it's late. Let me go rewash these scrapes and change the bandage, then I'll join you in bed. This will all work out. I'm sure of it."

Twist gave the bandaged leg a pointed look, but didn't comment on it. "Don't take too long. I don't fall asleep right if you aren't snuggled up close to me."

Silver gave her a quick peck of a kiss on the lips. "I won't be. I'll be in bed in just a few minutes. Love you."

"Love you too. Now hurry up."

"Yes, ma'am," Silver giggled. Then hurried off to the bathroom.

She flipped on the electric light as she walked into the bathroom, glad that her house was one of the houses that had been wired with electricity. She wasn't always so sure what to make of the princess's various modernization reform programs, but electric lights in houses was one she found very useful. When she'd been a foal she'd have had to walk around at this time of night with a candle or firefly lamp, and those were really annoying to deal with when you were exhausted and in a hurry. She recommended to all her friends that they should get electricity in their houses too. Her earth pony friends were typically the ones most open to it, both Diamond and Applebloom had switched their houses over before her. She didn't have a single unicorn friend who'd switched over though; they didn't understand the struggle of late night candles.

She walked over to the tub and turned the shower on. As the water began to flow she carefully unwrapped her bandages, and considered everything that happened today (or yesterday by this point).

Twist was definitely not as onboard with this as she hoped she'd be. Sisstet's little snap certainly hadn't helped with that. Silver had to admit that she hadn't been expecting him to do something like that, but felt she dealt with the situation well. It was a one time incident, and it was over now.

Pain caused her to wince when she stuck her leg under the flowing water. Maybe that doctor visit was going to be worth it. She pumped out some soap from the dispenser and started lathering up her leg, still thinking, and the pain subsided back to soreness and discomfort.

Assuming she could get Twist to come around, what was she going to do if Princess Twilight objected to her taking permanent custody of Sisstet? She couldn't think of any reason why the princess would, but the naga integration program was one of the princess's pet projects. Sisstet lived in Equestria at Princess Twilight's allowance, and the princess had far more control over his placement than she did any other creature's.

She turned the water off, and started drying her leg. The pressure from the towel stung a little, but it wasn't too bad.

Leaving Sisstet for an hour or more with somecreature else also had her worried. He was already dealing with abandonment issues, and didn't like the idea of leaving him alone so soon after what happened. There was no help for it though, she had to go speak with his former guardians, and he was not going to force him into their presence after they had tossed him aside as they had.

She walked over to the still open first aid kit, and began wrapping a fresh bandage around her leg.

All she could do is see what tomorrow brought. She'd set her alarm clock to get up earlier than normal. She wanted to be awake before Sisstet, so he didn't wake up somewhere unfamiliar by himself. Twist might not appreciate the clock going off earlier, but Twist could go back to sleep after. Silver would just make sure her wife got up at the normal time.

With her leg rebandaged, she shut the first aid kit, and headed to bed, flicking off the light switch as she went.

Author's Note

Not a long chapter, but wraps up day one. Day two will be a very busy day.

Chapter 6: Early Morning Visitor

The sound of the alarm clock woke Silver with a start, and the darkness of the room left her momentarily confused about whether it was morning or evening. A vague sense that she was supposed to be up doing something flirted across her mind, but she was having trouble focusing on it. After a late night, morning had come far too early.

"Urgh, turn that thing off, Silver," Twist groaned as she pulled a pillow over her head.

Silver reached over and gave their alarm clock a strong bonk of her hoof, silencing the annoying mechanical device. She tried to remember why she had set her alarm to go off so early, all the while fighting the strong urge to just go back to bed and spoon her wife. The only thing keeping her up was the nagging certainty that she had set the alarm for some other reason than to have her beauty rest brought to an abrupt and annoying end- as that didn't seem like a goal she would set at all.

Her eyes went wide as it finally came to her. She needed to take care of Sisstet!

Her hop out of bed caused it to shake, and Twist grunted further displeasure at having her sleep disturbed. Silver hurriedly put on her glasses and didn't even stop by the mirror to brush her bedmane out; she just went straight out to the living room.

Spotting Sisstet still asleep on the couch was enough to let her to sigh with relief. There had been a small fear that he'd have gotten up and tried to run away yet again while she was sleeping. She wasn't about to wake him yet, but she had plenty to do still.

Content that she still had her young charge on the couch, she decided that she could take a few minutes to tidy herself up so she looked like a civilized pony instead of one of her pasture dwelling ancestors.

She took her glasses off and went to the bathroom. After a brisk shower and a quick brush of her mane she looked herself over in the mirror to determine if she looked decent enough to be pleading with important creatures today. She briefly lamented that years ago she had cut a lot of the poof out of her mane. Her attempts to keep a high class mane style through the first week of college she had learned exactly how much work her parents' servants put into styling what she had felt at the time was a very basic mane style, and gained new appreciation for what the 'help' went through for the sake of their paychecks. After the first week there she had gone to Applebloom's Manehatten cousin and had it all trimmed to something more manageable. She'd kept it fairly basic since then, but it would be really helpful today if she still had her old mane style from when she was a teen. She really wanted to put her best hoof forward for whatever authority figure she was going to plead her case for keeping Sisstet.

After leaving the bathroom she stopped by the bedroom to put on her pearls before returning to the living room and putting on her glasses. Sisstet was still asleep, and she decided the next thing to worry about was making sure he started off his day with a healthy breakfast… which she may or may not be able to provide since she only knew some of his dietary needs. She mentally added asking somecreature more learned than her what exactly he should be eating and in what portions. For today she was just going to go with some basic cereal and juice. He'd eaten the equivalent of that at the school, so it couldn't be that bad a breakfast.

She was walking to the kitchen when there was a knock at the front door. She gritted her teeth as she looked quickly at the couch to see if the knocking had disturbed Sisstet, but he didn't show any signs of stirring. Wondering who could be visiting this early in the morning, she hurried to the door and opened it

Standing on her doormat was Sweetie Belle, with her young son all by laying against her where he stood. The unicorn mare gave Silver a sheepish smile. "Hi, Silver. I'm glad to see you're already up. I need a big favor."

Silver blinked, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was. "Um, what can I help you with?"

Sweetie patted a hoof on her son's horn. Before beginning her frenzied explanation. "I reeeally need a last minute foalsitter for little Silk. Starlight has drafted me into helping with some emergency magical research involving Candy Apple's condition, in addition to me needing to help with the School of Friendship graduation ceremonies, plus dealing with Flurry Heart- she just showed up out of the blue the other day and has already blasted a hole through one of the school walls, and little Silk's father- big surprise here- has told me he's too busy this morning- again. I'd normally ask Scootaloo or Applebloom, but Scootaloo is busy helping Rainbow Dash with something, and I think I'd die if Applebloom's water broke while she was trying to watch little Silk. Can you pleeease foalsit little Silk?"

"Sweetie Belle, today is-"

She was cut off by Sweetie Belle using her magic to grab Silk Sheen out of the flower bed. She hadn't even seen the colt wander away. "No! We do not take naps in other creature's flowerbeds! You're going to get your fur all dirty doing that, and mess up her flowers. I know you're tired. It will be just a little longer before you can lay back down for a nap, okay?"

"But Mommy-" the ivory furred colt began (he could have been Rarity's son instead of Sweetie Belle's with his coloration), as his eyes started to build up for an epic temper tantrum. He was three years old, and from Silver's experience he was quite prone to dramatic temper tantrums. Sweetie said he inherited being overdramatic from his aunt.

"As I was saying," Silver cut back in. "Today is not a good day. I actually need to find a foalsitter too. Sorry, Sweetie Belle."

Sweetie Belle let out a groan as she set her son back down. Silk Sheen seemed to lose interest in his temper tantrum as she released him, perhaps because he no longer had her attention for it.

"Great," Sweetie Belle mumbled, and slumped her head in defeat. "I guess I really should just hire a full-time nanny. I've got the money for it. It's just that I've always wanted to avoid looking like a stuck up rich pony that had servants for everything. However, it seems like the only way I'll ever end up stopping having to worry about last minute foalsitters." The unicorn turned to her again. "Do you have any suggestions on where I even go to do that? I know it was technically your parents that had servants, but you must have seen them doing that at some point."

Silver shook her head. "Honestly, no. I don't have a clue." It occurred to her that she'd need to be telling her parents she was adopting a naga. That conversation might not go well. Her parents found something to object to about most of her choices- although rarely the objections she anticipated. "I'll be talking to them sometime this week. I'll try to remember to ask about it."

Sweetie Belle nodded glumly. "No matter what I'll have to go check with somecreature else for today." Her brow furrowed as she looked back at Silver. "Why do you need a foalsitter though? Are you helping with one of your students?"

Silver shuffled her hooves nervously. "You could put it that way. I was actually going to need to either visit the mayor or Starlight Glimmer about that. I'm trying to take legal custody of Sisstet."

"What?!" Sweetie Belle shouted in dismay. Silk Sheen jumped backwards, now fully awake, and landed on his rump.

"Hush!" Silver whispered through her teeth. "He's asleep on my couch. I don't want him waking up until I can give him my undivided attention."

Sweetie Belle looked to each of her sides quickly before returning to the conversation. "Was he being abused? You weren't there, fighting in the Naga War. I wouldn't put it past those naga to-"

Silver shook her head. "It wasn't abuse. It's something else. Let's call it neglect. It's more complicated than that. I do need your help though. You personally know the princess, and she gets to make all the decisions regarding the naga living in her realm. I need your help to plead my case for adopting him."

The other mare gaped for a moment before replying. "I'll help you, if you're sure this is what you want to do, but I think you really need to think hard about this. Naga aren't like other creatures-"

"He's a kid like any other kid,," Silver hissed defensively. "He just needs a good and nurturing home."

Sweetie raised up a hoof defensively. "Look, I agree he needs a good and nurturing home, and I don't doubt for a second that you would do everything that you could to provide that. Your heart is in the right place, and I'm really happy you care so much about him, but my point still stands; naga aren't like other creatures.

Silver snorted. "I don't see where he's that different."

The Crusader frowned. "Okay, let me go over some things. Are you going to be able to explain to him the changes his mind and body are going through when he gets older? They aren't the same as what happens with a pony, and will be very hard for you to empathise with when they're happening- maybe even just as frightening to you as for him. Are you going to get a bigger house for when he starts to grow? He isn't going to stay this small forever, and this house isn't built for somecreature that big to live in comfortably. I'm sure you stick up for him as a teacher now, but what about all the stuff that he is going to endure outside of school? What happens when grown adults start treating him badly? Those same grown adults you have to teach the kids of? What are you going to do in that situation?"

"What do you think is better?" Silver half-growled. "If you think it's such a bad idea, then what is your alternate?"

"Maybe you should-" Sweetie paused and grabbed Silk from the flower bed with her magic, setting him back down beside her. "I think you should consider the school that Princess Cadance set up. Naga are similar to ponies in one way, they tend to do things together in groups- clutches. He would be surrounded by naga his own age. Naga who will be dealing with the same kinds of issues as him. The staff there has been specially trained in dealing with all things naga, and won't be caught off guard by his differences in development. It could be a good experience for him, and provide the best care. I thought from the start Princess Cadance's program was better than Princess Twilight's, and I still do."

Silver sat back on her launches and sighed. "What if I went and visited the school? They could give me advice. He has friends here, and I don't want to take him away from them."

Sweetie grimaced and looked out to where the sun was rising. "That might work. If you're a hundred-percent committed I'll argue to the princess to let you keep him… I feel simply dreadful for not knowing this, but what's his name again?"

"Sisstet."

"Sisstet," Sweetie repeated, then floated her son onto her back. "I really need to get going; I'm running behind as it is. Just think about what I said, and make sure you are doing this for him and not yourself."

Silver didn't get to ask what her friend meant by that last part before Sweetie Belle went hurrying off. She gently closed the door and gave a start when she turned around and found Sisstet staring at her. He was down on his arms, and his coils stretched back behind him towards the couch.

She took a deep breath before smiling at him. "You're awake. I'm sorry if my conversation woke you up. I was trying to let you sleep some more before serving you breakfast."

"You want me sstay with you, Miss S-Silver S-Spoon?" Sisstet hissed out with far more feeling than she'd heard from him before.

She hurried over to him and gave him a hug. "Yes, yes I do. I'm sorry I ended up running away yesterday. I was just in shock."

"Sso, you'll be my new guardian?" Sisstet asked.

That was still in flux, and she didn't want to make promises she couldn't keep. So far there were a bunch of doubters, but she wasn't going to back down just because they said it wouldn't be easy.

"If I have my way, then yes. I'm going to do everything I can to become your new official guardian."

Author's Note

Sorry that updates are going slow. Summer heat is killing me and making me feel ill.

Chapter 7: Kind Care

The doctor visit was starting off with a few bumps.

"What do you mean you don't know if he is healthy or not?" Silver demanded.

The elderly Nurse Redheart sighed. "I told you; we have no doctors who are familiar with naga. There's nocreature here that can tell what's healthy and what's unhealthy for him. You might even know more than the staff here can tell you. Have you considered taking him to a veterinarian?"

"A veterinarian?! He's a kid, not a pet!" Silver shouted in outrage, making the nurse flinch back.

Redheart gave her a tight smile. "Miss Spoon, I understand your frustration. I would be just as upset in your position. I'm not telling you this because we don't want to help. Bad medical advice can be worse than no advice. We don't want to tell you anything that might end up hurting the… hurting your student."

Silver glared and wondered what Redheart was originally going to call Sisstet. He couldn't be that different physiologically than most other creatures. She was sure they just didn't want to deal with a naga, no matter how much the nurse protested to the contrary.

Sisstet, for his part, kept quiet. He was curled up into a tight ball next to her left hind leg. It was unfortunate that he was hearing all of this, but she didn't really have an option to keep him away from it. She wasn't just going to leave him somewhere by himself while she fought with the staff, not with the way ponies had been looking at him. Most of her interactions with him had always been in the classroom, and she had pride that her students knew to treat every creature with compassion and respect. She should have realized that adults weren't so tolerant and accepting. It hadn't been too bad on the walk up to the clinic, where every creature could give them a wide breadth of space, but being confined into the smaller space of the lobby had revealed a whole other side to the citizens of Ponyville.

"Is there anything else I can assist you with, Miss Spoon?" Redheart asked, as if trying to end the discussion about Sisstet. "I noticed you have a large bandage on your leg. Do you need medical attention for that?"

She'd promised Twist that she'd have her leg looked at, but right now she was too angry at the clinic staff to stay any longer. "No, it's fine. I guess I'll just be going, and trying to find somecreature else to provide us care. Come on, Sisstet. We're leaving."

She was glad when Sisstet uncoiled and followed her as she matched out of the clinic with her head healed high. Her behavior might have appeared to onlookers to harken back to her snobbish foalhood days, but she wasn't about to let them get away with treating another intelligent creature like a pet. Although- they could be correct about bad advice being worse than no advice. Admitting that fact to herself took a little of her moral outraged strut out of her step, but only some, as it still didn't excuse them for looking at him like he was some monster.

That still left her having made no progress on her morning endeavors. She still needed to have her leg checked out, and she still needed to find a foalsitter for Sisstet while she visited his former guardians. About the only thing she might have accomplished was inadvertently alerting the authorities that she was planning on taking full custody of him. Sweetie Belle was almost certain to tell her boss- Starlight Glimmer- about it, and the headmare of the School of Friendship would in turn communicate that on to the Princess. It was still going to be a good idea to visit the headmare herself though.

After aimlessly traveling a short distance from the clinic she had to stop to determine where exactly she was going. "Sisstet, where have you been going to the doctor?"

Sisstet tilted his head in confusion. "Doctor? I've never been to a doctor."

She turned and stared at him. This really shouldn't be a shock to her, given who his former guardians were, and how basic their ideas of nurturing and care were, but it still was a shock all the same. "What happened when you got sick? You do get sick, right?"

He nodded. "Misss Fluttershy comes to visit me when I get sick. She's nice, but she talks funny, and always tells me how cute I am."

Silver felt a wave of relief. She had a good friendship with Fluttershy, and on many times she had taken her classes on field trips to the animal sanctuary. If there was one creature in Ponyville that could be counted on to treat Sisstet properly, it was Fluttershy. The soft spoken pegasus was also known to be fairly well versed in information concerning uncommonly seen intelligent creatures, like the breezies and bushwoolies. It seemed like that knowledge might extend to naga as well.

"We're going to go visit her then," Silver announced. "I'm going to see if she can watch you for a little while."

Sisstet cowered down and whimpered. "I- I thought you wanted to keep me."

She immediately lowered herself down so she could look him in the eyes. "I do want to keep you, but I need somecreature to watch you for maybe two or three hours while I take care of some things. I'm just getting you a temporary foalsitter."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Why do I need ssomecreature to sit on foals?"

He doesn't know what a foalsitter is? "What did your guardians- excuse me- former guardians do when they both needed to work and you weren't at school?" She was already dreading the answer.

He shrugged. "They just left me at the house."

She grit her teeth. "How often did they do that and when was the first time they did it?"

The young naga seemed confused. "Um… they do it at least once a week, ssometimes more. I don't remember the first time. They've always done it that way, since before I started school."

Now she had another reason to rage. A kid his age being occasionally left alone at home for an hour or so might not be too bad, not ideal, but not completely neglectful. However, this wasn't an occasional thing according to what was described, nor for just an hour or so. What was worse, they had been doing this back when he was four or younger- which wasn't okay under any circumstances. No one should leave a foal that young unattended at home for hours on end! What if he got hurt? What if someone with ill intent noticed they were doing it and came after him when they knew he'd be home by himself? She didn't want to think anycreature in Ponyville would do such a thing, but there was clearly not much love for nagas to be had- not to mention Ponyville was a tourist hotspot, bringing in strangers who might do anything.

She gathered her feelings and bundled them up so she wouldn't let him see her anger. "A foalsitter is a term for someone who takes care of a foal for short periods of time when a parent or guardian isn't available, usually for a few hours, though sometimes for a day or two. You'll have foalsitters from now on when both Twist and I are unavailable to be with you."

"Twisst is the other pony at your house?" He asked.

Silver nodded. "She's my wife. She'll be your other guardian."

This seemed to puzzle Sisstet for some reason. "But… you are both female. How do you make eggss?"

That question took her by surprise. Intolerance towards same-sex couples was rare these days, and mainly circulated among the upper class were they were greatly concerned about the production of heirs to family lines. She had suspected that her parents might have felt that way about her and Twist when she first brought up her engagement years before. They object to her, at first, but not because of that. It turned out they were more concerned that Twist didn't come from a wealthy family or have any large personal wealth. She didn't expect that kind of reaction out of one of her students.

She decided to just do her best to explain it. "We love each other very much. Couples like me and Twist might not be able to produce foals together, but we can adopt, or become pregnant by other means. The most important thing a couple should have is love and respect for one another, and Twist and I have that."

"Oh…" Sisstet replied, and she could see him trying to think it through. "I'm not ssure my guar- my old guardians love each other. I'm not sure they love anycreature. Does that make them a bad couple, Miss Silver Spoon?"

Silver grit her teeth again. "Sisstet, I want to be honest with you, but if I express myself about that it might not be pretty. So let's just not discuss it. You're very intelligent, and I'm sure you can guess my answer."

He huddled up on himself slightly. "Okay, Misss Silver Spoon. Are we going to go see Miss Fluttershy now? I don't mind being with her for a few hours. She's nice."

Sisstet had a very simplistic view of others that she could appreciate. He divided them into two camps, nice and not nice. She wished she could have as easy to understand view of the world.

She stood back up. "Yes, we're going to see Miss Fluttershy now. She's going to make sure you're healthy, and maybe watch you while I get what I need done."

He nodded, and followed her as she began walking again.

Silver sat by a stream at the sanctuary, surrounded by bunnies, and watched as Fluttershy thoroughly examine Sisstet.

The pegasus poked at Sisstet's coils. "Is anything sore when I do this? How has your appetite been lately?"

"I eat normal, right now," Sisstet replied. "Nothing hurtss."

Fluttershy nodded and stopped poking. "Okay, then your summer shed isn't getting ready to start yet."

"Summer shed?" Silver asked.

Fluttershy turned to her. "Yes, naga typically shed their skin during both the summer and winter. He's probably been on his summer and winter breaks from school when it has happened before. You can usually tell it is getting ready to start because their skin will become very sensitive and they'll lose their appetite."

Okay… shedding skin. It was different from what she was used to, but it was apparently something normal. She could at least expect it now. "What do I do for him when he's doing that?"

Fluttershy ran a wing over Sisstet. "Don't touch him much during those times. His new skin underneath is going to be very delicate at first, and you can damage it. He still needs to eat, but focus on very soft foods, like soup or pastes- nothing big and solid. Keep him hydrated as well, with plenty of water. Light sponge baths are okay, but let him be the one cleaning himself. He'll know how much pressure he can be applying without it hurting. Oh! And he'll be a bit of a grumpy-gus, don't let it hurt your feelings; he's just uncomfortable. Warning signs start about a week before, the shed itself lasts about a week, and he'll still need you to be gentle with him for several days after it is over."

"Thanks for warning me about that," Silver said with sincere gratitude. "I'd have been freaking out when it happened. It's nice to find somecreature that knows a lot about nagas."

Fluttershy beamed. "Oh, thank you! But, I don't really know that much, to tell the truth. Not as much as I'd like to. I know about the very basics for when they're healthy, what they should be doing to stay healthy, and the normal things they go through regularly- like the shedding skin, but I don't know much at all about naga illnesses or a lot of other things. The staff up at the school in the Crystal Empire know a lot more than I'll ever know."

"But he said that you come take care of him when he's sick."

Fluttershy smiled. "Normal colds and flu for nagas aren't really different than colds and flu are for ponies. They have certain illnesses that are naga specific though, and I don't know how to treat those. He'd need an expert from the Crystal Empire for that." She then hugged Sisstet and nuzzled him. Sisstet's seemed to have conflicting mix of heartfelt appreciation for the affection and the strong desire to get away. "Thankfully this cute little guy hasn't ever gotten any of those kinds of sick."

Silver huffed in frustration. "Darn it. I was hoping that somecreature around here would have like a big book on everything to know about nagas."

As soon as she finished speaking, two big yellow eyes popped right in front of her face, making her flinch back in fright. "Hello! I was in the neighborhood, as I always am- since I'm always lending my dear Fluttershy a hand, a claw, or a hoof- and I couldn't help overhearing you need a big book about nagas."

The eyes pulled back from her face to reveal they were attached to the mismatched form of Discord. Now that the initial jump scare was over she gave the draconequus a suspicious eye. "I don't want you doing anything to harass or torment Sisstet for your amusement."

Discord recoiled in mock pain. He then held up a claw and a halo appeared over his head. "I'd do nothing of the sort. I promised Princess Twilight that I'd do nothing that would upset any of the naga in her realm. She made it quite clear she'd be cross with me if I did." His head suddenly shifted shape to a warped likeness of Princess Twilight- if she had brown fur and big yellow eyes. "Discord, if you do anything to the nagas to frighten, practical joke them, or in any other way make any of them uncomfortable, I'll put you in stone right alongside Chrysalis and Tirek for a year." His head shifted back to normal. "Needless to say, I don't feel like being a pigeon toilet for a year. It makes my back so stiff, and I always find some bugs that decided to make a nest in my ears."

He snapped with his paw, and a large book that was nearly half Silver Spoon's size appeared in front of her. She walked over to it and read it's title aloud.

"Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, Didn't Want to Know, and Would Rather Not Know About Naga, by Some Guy." She frowned and looked up at Discord. "By Some Guy?! Is this book supposed to be a joke?"

Discord's expression switched to something between annoyed and angry. "I'll have you know it is a very thorough explanation of everything your little earth pony mind could think to ask about naga. Everything in it is absolutely true. I told you I have no intention on being turned to stone, and I meant it, but if you don't want my book-"

She quickly huddled over the book. "No! I mean yes! I mean- thank you very much for this. I'm sure it will be very helpful." She actually had no idea how helpful it would be. For all she knew he filled it with pointless naga trivia and left out everything of importance, but she wasn't going to risk that it really would answer any questions she had.

Discord crossed his arms. "Hmm… that's better. Seriously, you ponies are so ungrateful for my very generous aid. I'm always helpful, but I'm met with nothing but suspicion and hostility."

Fluttershy walked over to him and patted him with a wing. "I think you're very helpful, and I'm glad you're around."

As Fluttershy sat and mullified the Lord of Chaos, Silver Spoon opened the massive book up to the table of contents. It was quite impressive, and if it was to be believed it did cover literally every question she might come up with specific to nagas. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what order the chapters were in; naga history was sandwiched between chapters about naga physiology and one-thousand-and-one uses of naga skin (she'd count that one under things she'd rather not know). There were over thirty different chapters, with each chapter covering a hundred pages or more. There unfortunately were no subdivisions of chapters listed, so if she wanted to find out about anything specific she would be left blindly combing the appropriate chapter until she came across it. Still, this was going to be a massive aid.

However, she realized she had a problem. "Fluttershy? Do you have a cart or something I can use to bring this book back home with me? It's way too big to stick in my saddlebags, or for me to try to balance on my back all the way home." She briefly considered asking if Discord could just teleport it to her house, but she had a feeling it would end up on her roof or some other absurd place if she did.

"Ohh," Fluttershy meeped. "I think I might have something. It would take me awhile to get it though."

Silver nodded. "That might be fine. I had another favor to ask… do you think you could watch Sisstet for an hour or two? I need to go somewhere I'd rather he not be."

Fluttershy immediately grappled Sisstet up in a big hug, hovering in the air and holding him several feet above the ground. Sisstet struggled briefly, before realizing he was in the air, and immediately went still after that.

"Of course I wouldn't mind!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She then set Sisstet back down and gave Silver a serious expression. "But I can only watch him for an hour. My brother is supposed to be coming to drop off my niece for the day. Citrine Breeze is a little older than Sisstet, but she can be… opinionated and abrasive towards others. We're trying to break her of that- which is why she's visiting today- but she might say some hurtful things to Sisstet if he's here with her."

Silver blinked, the idea that Fluttershy had a bully for a niece was somehow more shocking than anything Discord might have done. "I'll try to be quick then. Thank you for doing all this."

Fluttershy's smile returned for a moment before her eyes settled on the bandaged leg. "If it's okay to ask, what happened to your leg?"

Silver held it up. "This? It's nothing. Sisstet just bit me last night while he was upset. It wasn't very deep, barely deep enough to draw blood."

The yellow pegasus mare's eyes went wide. "Oh my! When you get back I need to put a salve on that. Naga aren't venomous, but there are many types of bacteria in their mouths that ponies don't have. Those can cause an infection if not properly cleaned with antibacterials. I insist you give me time when you come back to look at it. I really should be doing it now, but I don't have the right supplies on me."

Alright, so perhaps Twist did have reason to worry about it. Silver resolved not to make a big deal about it to her wife. Just some extra precautions. "I'll make sure to let you do that. I'll be back as soon as I can. Sisstet, I'll be back in less than an hour. Stay out of trouble for Miss Fluttershy and do what she says.

He poked his head up out of where he had coiled in on himself. "Yess, Miss Silver Spoon."

She then turned and hurried off. Not looking forward to her confrontation with the adult naga.

Chapter 8: Places Out of Sight and Out of Mind

Silver Spoon didn't have too far to go from the animal sanctuary to where the naga lived. In less than fifteen minutes she reached their door and gathering up her courage to confront them.

"Okay, Silver, how are you going to play this?" She asked herself out loud. "Are you just going to tell them you're taking custody of Sisstet and leave, or are you going to tell them exactly what you think of them and what they have done to a poor defenseless kid?"

Much as she hated to admit it. The idea of doing anything that might enrage them made her want to run and hide.

"Best to keep it simple," she answered herself. "Tell them I'm going to be taking custody, and leave it at that."

She knocked on the door to their dwelling, and stepped back, waiting for one of the naga to answer. Then she waited some more, and some more, and then knocked again.

"Maybe they aren't at home?" If they were at work in the meat market she didn't want to make a scene in public. Plus, it seemed unlikely that Sythel would leave her egg unattended with how protective of it she had been yesterday.

She squared up her haunches and walked up to the door. "I'm going to regret this."

Pulling down the handle, the door opened with ease. She pushed it all the way open and stuck her head into the dimly lit entrance to their burrow. "Hello? Anycreature home?"

"Ssurry-ssore legss san enter," the unmistakable voice of Sythel echoed from down below. Okay, we're back to furry-four legs. No problem.

Silver entered the burrow. It was even more humid and muggy than it had been before. It must be something they needed for the egg, since they didn't typically keep it this way normally. She made her way down into the main entrance room- which she guessed counted as the living room. It was still dimly lit, and Sythel was still curled up underneath the table.

I'm just going to get this over with. She stood as tall and confident as she could as she stared at the coiled up mother-to-be. "Sisstet is in my care, and I'll be keeping him. You don't need to concern yourself with him anymore."

Sythel tasted the air with her tongue, and the female naga wrapped herself more proactively around the egg in her coils. Her eyes remained locked on Silver. "Good. I keep mine."

Silver narrowed her brow. "Tell me, are you going to feel as strongly about what's yours after that egg hatches? Does the little life inside of that egg matter to you as much as the shell around it? If you lay another egg, are you going to toss this kid aside as well, since you were only ordered to have one?"

Sythel hissed menacingly, so much so that Silver wondered if she needed to make a break for it- not that making a break for it would do much, adult naga could move frighteningly quick when on the attack. Sythel didn't move from her egg, nor give any further response.

Trying to register her courage, Silver steadied her shaking legs and put in a brave show. "Where are Sisstet's things? I'm going to need to have somecreature come get them, but I need to know what they are gathering first."

A clawed hand pointed to the hall on the far side of the room. "Ssird sen ssat way."

Pretty sure she said third, but not sure what 'sen' means. Silver thought to herself as she turned around. Sythel probably said den, in place of room, so third room walking that direction, easy enough.

The heat and humidity here were beginning getting to her. She wiped her brow and hurried along the dimly lit passage deeper into the burrow. This was actually her first time venturing beyond the first room, and she moved slowly, taking in everything she saw.

There were a few small shelf-like alcoves along one side of the wall. Most of these were empty, but some held jars and other things. A branch in the path came up quickly, but when she stuck her head into the path to the left she found it opened up into a small chamber, a few personal belongings were scattered haphazardly around this chamber, along with some wool blankets. This was most likely the adult nagas' room. She veered away from it, and continued down the path to the right.

Another branch came up shortly after, and she gagged off the smell that was coming off from the left. What the smell was she didn't know, but it was so overwhelming that she didn't know why she didn't smell it elsewhere in the burrow. She tried to force herself to look at what was in that direction, but her ability to breathe was too encumbered, and her eyes watered so profusely she couldn't even see properly. Putting one hoof in front of the next, she hurried past it to the right, and after a few steps the foul odor abated.

What in Tartarus was that? Whatever it was, it wasn't sanitary, not at all. Who was responsible for checking in on these nagas' living conditions? Whoever they were, they certainly weren't doing it. The idea that Sisstet had been living in such conditions raised her ire even further. Something needed to be done about whatever that was. It was another thing she'd need to alert the authorities about. She would have done so long ago had she known.

She took a moment to regain her breath, still puzzled about why the smell didn't travel further. When she was leaving she'd need to walk back by it, but was at least aware of it now, and could rush through that area. This path supposedly looped around and came out into the original entry room, but that part of the room was directly next to Sythel, and she was certain getting that close to Sythel when the other naga feared getting that close was about as dumb a thing as she could do.

After a very short distance going forward the path branched again. This would be the third branch, so that meant the third den, Sisstet's room. Walking to the left for the first time, she found it opened into another small chamber. It was very much like the first one- depressingly so. There were some wool blankets piled up in a corner, a small stack of books that she recognized as all being assigned reading she had given out at one point or another, his school satchel, and a firefly lamp placed near the blankets. The room had no furniture, and the only other things in the room were a few of the glowing crystals embedded in the walls to provide dim light, and some papers that had been carefully hung on the walls.

She stepped into the room and looked around, hoping that there was more that she hadn't been able to see from the entrance. Regretfully, there wasn't much else to see. There was a large flat stone on the floor of one corner that had some paper and writing utensils near it, and that was the only new thing revealed. Where was his bed? Where were his decorations? Where were his toys?

A quick inspection of the blankets didn't reveal anything hidden among them, but did reveal they were very dirty. She wasn't sure if these had ever been washed. The papers on the walls were mostly school work that he had done a particularly good job on and she had written praise on. Some of these she only remembered vaguely, while others she remembered well. There was one corner that had non-schoolwork hung up. These were birthday cards and Hearts and Hooves day cards from the past year going back to when he started school. She encouraged students to give these to each other every year.

Frowning, she debated just marching straight out of the chamber and leaving. There didn't seem to be anything he would need here. She reconsidered that though, and began slowly taking down each of the papers and cards from the walls and putting those carefully into the satchel. She decided not to bother with the rest, all those things could be replaced (and needed to be replaced based on their condition), but these papers and cards were possibly sentimental. When she finished she put the satchel strap around her neck and gave one last forlorn look around the room.

"I'm sorry, Sisstet," she whispered. "If I had known about this I would have done something about it. I'm going to make sure you get to live better than this."

She didn't find any hygiene items in the room. He didn't come to school dirty and smelly, so he must have some somewhere, but she wasn't going to go looking for the bathroom to find them. They could be replaced as well. She would feel better if he didn't carry over anything from this place that he didn't have to, even a toothbrush. This place was a testament to neglect, and she wanted him to have a fresh start with no reminders of the neglect he had endured.

There were definitely going to be a lot of words said to the authorities, and as soon as she got back to Sisstet that was where they were going- straight to Starlight Glimmer to demand the princess be alerted and step in. It wasn't just for seeking justice for Sisstet. Sythel had an egg, and that meant a whole new innocent kid that might be subjected to this. She could give the two adult naga some small benefit of doubt that they simply didn't realize this was neglect or what they should be doing, but someone should have been checking in in them and making sure things didn't end up this way. She was going to find out who had been responsible for that, and see to it that justice was done. This wasn't just a failure of the naga, it was a failure of Equestria in keeping its most vulnerable cared for.

Faced with what she was seeing, she had a major epiphany. It was her failure too. She should have asked questions. She should have done more to find out what conditions he was living in. A horrifying thought entered her mind, about whether there were more students she had taught that had endured such neglect. How much duty did she have to pry into their home lives? In a perfect world she'd have no reason to, but where she was standing at that moment shattered all illusions of a perfect world where all her students had perfectly happy and healthy home lives. She should shoulder some of the guilt for Sisstet, as there'd been signs she'd ignored, but should she feel any less guilty about any other student that was also being neglected at home?

From now on she was going to pay closer attention to any warning signs. These were her students, and she wasn't going to accept any of them being subjected to these kinds of conditions.

She hurried back out through the passageway, barely noticing the stench of the earlier chamber in her rush to get out. When she reached the entrance room she stopped and glared at the naga sheltering the egg in the corner.

"Who was supposed to check in on you?" She demanded a hiss, unable to mask her fury.

The massive naga actually looked shocked that a pony was taking such an aggressive stance towards her. Sythel just answered with a shake of her head. "No ssurry-sore-legss come. Lest alone."

It took a moment longer than normal to try to translate that garbled speech into something coherent, but the meaning became clear. Whoever was supposed to be checking in on them and giving them guidance had not been coming. It blunted her rage only a little, but she reminded herself that she had stated often enough that the naga were woefully ignorant about how to care for Sisstet. She just hadn't realized how ignorant they really were. Why hadn't he said something about this? Had he at any time hinted at it, and she just failed to pick up on it?

She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. It didn't work very well, but it had enough of an effect that she wouldn't growl out what she needed to say next. "I'm going to be reporting everything I've seen to the authorities. If you're telling the truth, then you aren't fully to blame for this- not fully- but this is not acceptable. Expect the princess to send somecreature to come and inspect your home and ask you questions."

It was hard to read Sythel's face. "Se sshall do as kingsnake sayss. May sshe not dine on our boness."

Silver blinked. Did Sythel honestly think Princess Twilight would eat her if angry? They'd been here for years. Hadn't they learned anything about Equestrians yet? Sisstet knew better (aside from apparently thinking Pinkie Pie ate promise breakers), so couldn't he have educated them?

She shook her head. This was for the princess and her officials to deal with. Sisstet was what she needed to worry about now. She and Sisstet were going to have to have a long talk about all the things he'd never told her, and she was going to have to make some apologies of her own.

Chapter 9: Cute Things Can be Dangerous

Silver was still fuming as she stepped back onto the animal sanctuary grounds. She was going to gather Sisstet and march her way over to Starlight Glimmer to report what she saw and demand to know who had been responsible for checking in on the naga.

"I don't wanna!"

That wasn't Fluttershy or Sisstet. Silver quickened her pace, and when she reached the main part of the sanctuary she found a standoff in progress.

Sisstet was hiding behind Fluttershy, who was calmly facing an equally yellow pegasus teen filly- only with a navy blue mane done up in exceedingly elaborate curls. The filly was one of those rare ponies that were blessed with exceptional height. Although thin and wirely, and not yet full grown, she already stood taller than Silver or Fluttershy. Ponies like that tended to do well for themselves. Nobility often viewed them as closer to alicorns simply because of their stature. Some of them even going so far as to seek out a marriage with ponies that were of alicorn stature. They had a misguided notion that marrying exceedingly tall ponies would somehow increase the chances an alicorn would be born from the marriage. Therefore you could be as dumb as a brick, and half as talented, and you could still land an extremely wealthy spouse if you were that tall. It didn't even matter what background you came from, it was an instant ticket to social mobility.

It also tended to turn such ponies into royal brats.

Fluttershy showed astonishing calm in the face of the temper tantrum she was currently facing, and gave the filly her trademark kind smile. "Citrine, I know you aren’t used to working with animals, but I think you'll find it's really enjoyable to help care for them."

Corrine stomped a hoof and pointed a wing at a group of bunnies. "They're dirty, smelly, and they eat their own poo!"

The bunnies collectively gave the teenaged pegasus an indignant glare, although it looked like one immediately ate something that may or may not have been a rabbit pellet.

Silver slowly walked up to Fluttershy and Sisstet. "Is everything okay? I didn't think I was gone that long."

Fluttershy turned to her with a soft smile. "Oh! You weren't gone long. My brother just showed up early with Citrine. Actually, almost immediately after you left. You just missed him."

"Help me!" The younger pegasus cried out. "My parents are forcing me to do work for my mean old aunt!"

Fluttershy's ears and smile drooped, and she turned back to her niece. "Your parents think it will be good for you, and I do too. You can't go through life just being pampered. You need to help others as well."

The filly sat on her haunches and wailed up at the sky. "But it's dirty! I'm going to get all hot and sweaty. I don't need to work. I'm going to be a model! Make your snake-thingie pet do it!"

Fluttershy stomped a hoof. "Citrine Breeze! Sisstet is not a pet! He is a guest here, just like you."

"So why aren't you making him feed the animals instead?" Citrine whined. She then wiped a glob of snot off her nose with her hoof, noticed that she had snot on her hoof, and briskly started wiping it on the grass. She then pointed a wing at Sisstet. "If he wants to do menial labor I don't want to stand in his way. Forcing me to do it is really just discriminating against him."

"I'd like to feed the animalss," Sisstet said meekly.

Silver shook her head. "Maybe you can help Fluttershy out some other time, but we have things we need to do."

"You're in league with her!" Citrine yelled out. "I should have known. Any pony with such a dreadful mane must be an agent of oppression!"

There was a flash of light and Discord appeared right in front of the obnoxious filly, locking eyes with her. "Citrine Breeze! It's been too long… or perhaps not long enough. Once again you prove that absence truly makes the heart grow fonder."

The filly stepped back. "That's what Mommikins says to Daddikins whenever she's going on a business trip."

"I can't imagine why she takes so many," Discord sardonically replied.

"Discord, be nice!" Fluttershy called out. "Zephyr has gotten much better. Yes, he can be a little much sometimes, but he is much more considerate to other creatures than he used to be. He wants us to help Citrine learn to appreciate the hard work others do, and we should be supportive."

Discord lounged back in the air. "Oh, alright. I suppose he has dropped from a ten on the annoying scale down to maybe a seven- I'm being generous with that rating, since I'm a generous guy- but this little filly better not continue to run at an eleven or she may regret it."

Fluttershy's eyes narrowed. "Discord-"

"Don't worry, you won't even notice I'm here," Discord cut in. He then snapped a claw and vanished.

The Element of Kindness inhaled deeply and then let out a long soothing breath. "Citrine, this won't be as bad as you think. We'll start off light." She pointed to a stone shed with a wooden door. "There's a large bag of yummy fresh greens right in there. The key for the shed is hanging on the tree next to it, out of reach of the bunnies. I want you to get those greens and fill the bowls for the bunnies. That doesn't sound hard, does it?"

The filly stuck her nose up in the air. "I don't wanna, and you can't make me."

There was a blur of action and Fluttershy was suddenly hovering right by the filly with their noses touching. "Excuse me? My brother dropped you off here with the purpose that you would help out with the animals. What I'm asking you to do is not hard. You will do it or I will explain to both of your parents that you refused to do it, and you'll have to go home knowing they are both very disappointed in your behavior. Do you want to disappoint your parents? Do you? What will you have to say for yourself?"

Citrine cringed back. "Okay, I'll do it. Just stop being scary...please." Fluttershy pointed a leg towards the key and the filly took off at a frenzied gallop towards it.

Fluttershy gave a satisfied nod then flew back over to Silver. "I'm very sorry you had to see that. I don't like having to get that firm, but sometimes it's the only way."

Silver watched as the bunnies huddled behind the filly opening the door to the shed. "I teach for a living, so I'm forced to put my hoof down from time to time. Were you able to find a cart for me to carry that book home in?"

In the distance she saw Citrine had gotten the shed open, but was now fighting to keep the bunnies out of it.

Fluttershy gasped. "Oh no! I didn't get a chance. Zephyr showed up so early that I didn't get to do anything after you left. I'm sorry. He just had so much to say."

Some of the bunnies had made it past the filly and were now trying to haul out a small wooden crate with a carrot symbol painted on it. The filly jumped out of the shed and started shoving the crate back inside.

Silver watched as the situation with the bunnies continued to escalate. They were now throwing small pebbles at the filly. "I'll just get the book tomorrow; no need to worry yourself about it. I think your niece needs some help."

Fluttershy failed to take the hint to turn around, even as the filly started charging the bunnies while beating her wings like some angry goose. "I'm really sorry about her behavior, but teaching her how to care for others will be a rewarding experience for her."

A portal opened in the air and Discord's paw came out of it and snapped. All the bunnies sprouted bat wings and fangs. Citrine skidded to a halt, and who was the pursuer and the pursued reversed.

Sisstet was watching the chaos as well. "Misss Fluttershy, I think feeding the bunnies might be too hard for her."

And once again Fluttershy misinterpreted what was being said. "Oh, she might act a bit dramatic about it, but I'm sure if she just applies herself she'll laugh at how silly she was being for thinking it was hard."

Citrine tried to scream out in terror, but a large lemon materialized out of thin air and lodged itself in her mouth. All the other animals in the sanctuary circled in to watch- except for some raccoons who were raiding the now open shed.

Brat or not, the filly didn't deserve that. Silver decided she couldn't let this continue. "Fluttershy, I really think you should turn around and look at what's happening."

"Huh?" The Element of Kindness turned around and did a wide-mouthed game at what she was seeing. That didn't last long before her eyes narrowed. "Discord! Stop that right now! How am I supposed to convince her that feeding the animals isn't hard when you're doing that!"

The bunnies' fangs and wings vanished, sending them skidding through the grass. The lemon vanished from Citrine's mouth and she let off a nearly out of breath scream before finally colliding with the backside of a bear.

"I think we'll be going now," Silver said in a rush, giving Sisstet a nudge to start him moving. "I'll come by for the book tomorrow. Good luck with...all of this."

Fluttershy didn't even notice them leaving. The older mare had her attention divided three ways already between berating Discord, scolding the bunnies, and trying to comfort her hysterical niece. Silver remembered then that Fluttershy was going to treat her leg, but now didn't seem the best time, and she was running behind as it was.

"I don't think I want to ever get a pet. They're kind of sscary," Sisstet said with surprising stoicism as he hurried along beside her at a fast slither.

It hadn't been something she'd been considering getting him, but at the moment she thoroughly agreed with the sentiment, at least in reference to bunnies.

They made their way through town and eventually reached the School of Friendship. There were a few members of the faculty working on graduation preparations outside, but there was no sign of Starlight Glimmer or the Crusaders. Silver was sure Starlight would normally be directing things personally.

She looked around and spotted a staff member she was acquainted with, Petunia Paleo. She didn't know Petunia exceptionally well, but she and Petunia had both gone to school together- with Petunia graduating about two years after she did, and she'd had the mare over at the school a few times over the years as a guest speaker about history and prehistoric creatures. Petunia always seemed to be an odd choice of staff for the school, not because the mare was unfriendly, but her focuses were far more on scholarly pursuits and field research than getting everycreature to be friends. Petunia seemed a better fit at some other university where those things came first instead of being supplementary to the school's primary goal.

Petunia had been diligently working at putting up a tent when Silver approached her, and the mare gave Silver a big smile when she spotted her. "Hello! I'm afraid you've caught us at a bad time. If you were going to try to talk about having your student transferred into one of our younger classes for next year we won't be taking those applications for another week. Although I'd love to have a real live naga attending here so I can pick their brain."

Sisstet immediately slithered behind Silver and she turned and gave him a confused frown. "What's wrong?"

"Sshe's wants to pull out my brain!" He replied while trembling.

She had to resist the urge to laugh. It would hurt his feelings if she laughed at his misunderstanding. "It's just an expression that means she wants to question you because she thinks you know a lot of really interesting things. Don't worry, she's not going to hurt you." She turned back to Petunia. "I wasn't looking to enroll him here. We came to speak with Starlight Glimmer."

Petunia frowned. "This is an even worse time to try to speak with the headmare. She's caught up trying to figure out how to solve a magical problem involving Candy Apple. I actually wish I was being asked to help with that. There was talk about a previously unknown species of sprite that might exist somewhere in the Everfree, and I'm just dying to find out more. We're short on staff at the moment as well. They just rushed Applebloom off to the doctor because she's about ready to give birth, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle took off not long after to go be with her. Perhaps you should come back in a few days after everything has all settled down."

Applebloom was giving birth today? That was unexpected. She didn't think that her friend was due for another week. She'd need to find time to go visit and congratulate her. That wouldn't be today though. "It really can't wait. I need to talk to somecreature about the naga. There's been a problem that I need to alert authorities about."

Petunia sat down. "Well, if it is a criminal problem the creature you should be going to is the mayor. If it is any other type of problem with them, other than maybe magical, then you should probably be seeing Cozy Glow instead of Starlight."

Silver blinked. "Cozy Glow? Why her?"

"Because Cozy Glow is the Minister of Trade and Immigration," Petunia explained in a professor's lecturing tone. "Anything that goes in or out of Equestria she gets reports on and monitors on behalf of the princess. All the naga living in Equestria technically fall under her supervision, through her agents. If there was a problem with the local naga her local agent would report it to her, and she would make a decision on how to deal with it or decide if the princess needed to be involved."

"Well, whoever her local agent is hasn't been doing their job very well then, because there is a problem that has been going on for some time," Silver replied forcibly. "Where can I find Cozy Glow?"

Petunia pointed a leg at the Castle of Friendship. "She has offices there. The castle serves many purposes. I know you know about it housing the town library, and being where Starlight makes her home, but it is also where Cozy Glow's home and offices are- as well as some temporary housing for student families. You can just ask one of the guards in the main lobby to direct you to her and they should take you right to her."

Silver gave the castle a brief glance. "She doesn't require that I make an appointment or anything, does she?"

The other mare shook her head. "Oh no, she always says that if anycreature is coming to see her they must have a good reason, and she wants to address that right away. She's really uptight about making sure everything she is in charge of is running smoothly. Any problem that occurs she believes reflects back on her, and she's very concerned about maintaining a good reputation with the princess. She'd rather have it reported to her quickly and directly so she can deal with it before it has a chance to embarrass her. Whatever your problem is, she'll deal with it swiftly."

Well, at least she could expect something to be done. "I guess I'll go see her then. Thanks for the information."

Petunia smiled in response, but it slipped into a worried frown a second later. "No problem, but a quick warning; if somecreature under her wasn't doing their job she's going to come down on them hard- like really hard. Cozy is downright vindictive to any agent that makes her look like a fool for trusting them. You're going to be inviting her wrath down on whoever that is."

Silver narrowed her eyes and gave a small smile. "Good." She then turned to Sisstet. "Let’s go Sisstet. I want to have time to set up your bedroom still, and we've been out much longer than I planned."

Author's Note

Wishing I could get updates out faster, but the heat is killing me. Summer is my most hated season. My body runs cool, as well as having very low blood pressure, and as a result it doesn't regulate temperature well at all. My body typically runs about 95-96 degrees Fahrenheit when I'm well, so 98 degrees for me is a fever. Even mild high-70s temperatures can leave me feeling sick if I spend extended times in them. Despite the heat I will still make sure all my stories are getting regular updates.

Chapter 10: Castle of Friendship

Silver had never understood exactly how the physics of the Castle of Friendship worked. Nothing about the floor plan made the least bit of sense. A creature could walk around the entire outside of the castle and never see a window on ground, aside from two in the front, but once inside they could find many stained glass windows letting in daylight within the tree trunk section of the castle. In addition to this the floor plan for the first floor had no way of physically fitting in the circumference of the tree.

She'd never personally gone outside the first floor, since the main library and town meeting hall were on the first floor and those were all that she ever needed to visit. She had a student years ago that had wandered off to the other floors. Silver had been frantic that she had lost one of her students, even more so because that was when she was in her final year of teacher apprenticeship and had just recently taken full control of the class. The guards had not let her go searching, and after a long hour of waiting had finally brought the missing colt back. He had explained there were seemingly endless strings of doors, hallways, and staircases. Foals could exaggerate things, but she didn't doubt he could easily have gotten lost in a maze of corridors that defied logic.

Now she was getting ready to venture into the great unknown of the upper floors of the Castle of Friendship.

Sisstet took more time dealing with the front steps of the castle than Silver, as stairs weren't exactly slither friendly, and she had to wait for him after quickly climbing the few steps. Once he had scaled them they moved at a slow pace by a number of other ponies through the giant front doors of the castle. As soon as they were in the main lobby Silver was greeted by a familiar voice.

"Hey, Silver! Over here!"

She turned and saw Diamond Tiara wearing some saddlebags while standing by one of the guard's desks, waving to her as the unicorn guard behind the desk fished out a badge from somewhere. Silver walked over to her lifelong friend while triple checking along the way that she wasn't losing Sisstet in the crowd.

When they reached Diamond the other mare gave her a brief hug in greeting before stepping back. "Silver, I heard you came by the store yesterday to find me. I was going to come visit you later on today to see what was up. Is everything alright?"

Silver gave a shake of her head, and gestured to Sisstet. "I'm taking custody of one of my students, or at least trying to." She looked down at her charge. "Sisstet, say hi to my friend, Diamond Tiara."

Sisstet meekly waved a claw at her at Diamond. "Hi, Miss Diamond Tiara."

Diamond did a double-take as she looked at Sisstet, but then gave him a comforting smile. "Nice to meet you, Sisstet. You don't have to call me Miss though. Only my employees call me that. You can just call me Diamond, or Diamond Tiara if you really don't feel comfortable yet speaking in a familiar manner with me."

"Okay, Diamond," he replied with a shy grin, before huddling up closer to Silver.

Diamond turned back to Silver without the smile. "Taking custody? That's serious. I'd ask more questions, but I'm assuming you need to talk to Cozy Glow."

Silver blinked. "How did you know?"

Diamond waved a hoof and chuckled. "If you're adopting a somecreature that wasn't born to Equestria you have to go through her, so it isn't hard to figure out. You're in luck. I was just about to go see her myself about some imports that I'm trying to get into the shop that aren't currently covered by her import-export lists. We can go up and see her together." She turned to guard. "Hey Gleam, can you fetch two more of those badges for my friends here?"

The stallion nodded as two more badges with lanyards floated out. "I was listening and am already on it. I just have to add them to the visitors list; Silver Spoon and Sisstet, correct?"

"That's correct," Silver confirmed.

He floated the lanyards with badges around each of their necks while scribbling a notation in a nearby book using a quill. "You're all good to go. If you're going up with Diamond Tiara you don't need to wait for us to provide an escort, since I'm sure she knows the way by this point. Please keep your badges on while on the upper floors, as their removal will cause the defensive spells to mark you as an intruder rather than a guest, and remember to return these badges when leaving."

Diamond gave the guard an appreciative smile. "Thank you very much, Gleam. It's always a pleasure seeing you." She turned back to Silver and Sisstet. "Just follow me and I'll have you up there in no time."

The businessmare started trotting off to a door on the side and they followed quickly after. Once they all arrived at the door Diamond held her badge up to it and it clicked open.

"These things work with doors that you need to open to get where you're going, but don't work with other doors," Diamond explained. "If you ever get lost you can always just keep trying these at random doors. If it opens you know you're going the right way, if it doesn't you know that was the wrong way to go. You can also take them off and guards will come running to get you- in most places, anyway. There are a few places that you'll have other stuff happen, and you really don't want to be in those places with your badge off."

Silver raised an eyebrow. "Speaking from experience?"

Diamond pushed open the door, revealing a stairwell. "Experience with the guards coming. The other cases I've just heard stories, everything from animated statues attacking, stun beams suddenly firing, to being turned to stone on the spot. There's some places in here they don't want uninvited guests just wandering around in. One of those places is near Cozy Glow's office, so keep these on at all times."

Silver watched as Sisstet gripped his badge tightly against his chest area. She could empathize; getting attacked by an animated statue or being turned into one herself were definitely not things she wanted to happen. They didn't play around with security here, even if it was the Castle of Friendship.

Diamond led them into the stairwell which looped up in what looked like an endless spiral going upwards. Silver took one look at the stairs then looked at Sisstet.

She bent down. "Come, hop on and hold on. I'm not going to make you try to crawl up all those stairs."

He didn't need any further prompting. He slithered up onto her back, grabbing part of her mane in his claws and coiling part of his body around her torso. It wasn't really tight, but she still hoped that nothing frightened him too much while he was on her like that. If he constricted too much she might have some problems breathing.

Diamond watched the two of them with interest. "You really have a lot of trust in each other. That's good." She then frowned. "Before we head up, I need to ask something."

Silver braced herself for it. "If this is about whether I'm qualified to raise-"

Her friend shook her head. "No! If anycreature is qualified, it would be you. I've seen you with kids before. No, I need to know what exactly my mother is about to get in trouble for. I want to hear it from you before she tries to spin it."

"Excuse me?" Silver replied in confusion. "Why would your mother be getting in trouble for something and why would I be the one to know about it? Is this something to do with Candy Apple?"

Diamond shook her head. "No, it's about the naga. My mother was supposed to be keeping an eye on them, but you wouldn't be here trying to take custody of Sisstet if everything was going well with them. I know Cozy is going to come down hard on my mother for it, so I prefer to hear the story from you first hoof."

Silver's eyes narrowed and she once again felt rage build up. "Your mother?! The Spoiled B-" She paused and caught herself. "How and why did she even get that position?"

"She's had it since they first came to town," Diamond explained. "Cozy's predecessor gave her the job. She originally wanted it to find an excuse to get them kicked out of Ponyville, but as years went on and she didn't find any excuses she just kind of got bored and lazy with it. She actually has one of the maids write up her monthly reports about them for her."

Silver gaped. "What?"

"I slip the maid a few extra bits every month to make sure she writes up a nice report. She pretty much just makes things up," Diamond continued.

"What?!"

Diamond flinched. "I thought I was helping! I love my mother, since she's my mother, but you know what she's like. She'll go to great lengths to just put others down. I figured it was better that she wasn't actually making an effort. I own the meat market, so I get the adult nagas' performance reviews. They aren't the friendliest creatures, but they show up to work on time every day and do a good job without causing trouble; they're upstanding workers. I also figured if their son was any problem you'd have mentioned it to me a long time ago. I didn't want them to get unfairly treated just because they're different."

Silver facehoofed. She could sadly see the logic behind what Diamond had been doing, but it wasn't okay. "I appreciate what you were trying to do, Di, but you may have caused more damage in the long run. The issue isn't what they do, it is what they don't do. The issue is parental neglect."

Her friend looked downcast. "I'm sorry, Silv. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"You could have just reported that your mom wasn't doing her job and asked them to appoint somecreature else to do it. You could have been asked to be kept anonymous if you were concerned about setting off a fight with your mom."

"Hindsight is twenty-twenty," Diamond replied. "I'm sorry."

Silver shook her head some more. "Just lead the way, and don't talk to me for a few minutes. I need to calm down. I'll probably forgive you, since your heart was in the right place, but I'm extremely angry at you right now."

Diamond gave a disheartened nod, and began leading them up the stairs.

The trip upwards took several minutes, and it seemed at times as if the stairwell would never end. There were doors at regular intervals along the stairwell, all marked with various labels which Silver couldn't really tell the meaning of; things like Sundrop Five, and Crystal Nine, with no seeming rhyme or reason in the numbering or naming convention. She was sure it made some sort of sense to somecreature, but it didn't make a lick of sense to her. They eventually stopped at a door labeled Statue Four and Diamond held the badge up to the door before opening it.

They exited out into a hallway of the same blue crystal that formed most of the castle. There were three paths, one that went straight forward towards a single door, and one each going off to the left and right that had several doors along them. A red carpet with a gold trim ran along each hallway, and there were potted plants placed every few pony lengths. Diamond led them straight forward down the hall with the single door, then gave it a few quick knocks.

"You may enter!" Somecreature called out in a feminine voice. Diamond held her badge up to this final door then they all shuffled in slowly to the room within.

The room was decked out with expensive looking couches, tables, statues, paintings, and tapestries. In the center of the room there was a pegasus mare reclining on an armless couch, head propped up on a throw pillow, with an unrolled parchment suspended in front of her face by the magic of a nearby unicorn servant. Even though Silver's only time ever seeing Cozy Glow was years before when the pony had tried to take it over Equestria it was easy enough to recognize this mare as her. Cozy Glow still had close to the exact same mane style she had as a filly, aside from a long braid that now trailed down her neck and over her shoulder. She was slightly plump, but not really fat. She wore some expensive looking gold earrings and a very elaborate necklace that matched. Each of her hooves were shoed with silver, and her fur and wings looked like they were fresh from a very expensive spa treatment. Several unicorns stood at attention that were clearly all servants, and they kept themselves with a complete lack of expression that was common in veteran servants.

"I'll be with you in just a moment. I need to finish reading this report, and determine a reply," Cozy Glow said without taking her eyes off the parchment floating in front of her face. "Tea Time, can you please move the parchment along so I can read the bottom better?"

The parchment shifted position so the mare was now reading more closely to the bottom. She reached down with a hoof and snatched up a small cherry from a plate beside her and popped it in her mouth. She chewed slowly for a few seconds before swallowing. "Thank you. You may roll that scroll up and set it aside to be scanned into the database. Quick Note! I need you to transcribe my reply to the griffin ambassador. Starting now.

"Ambassador Graffle, I have read your proposal concerning opening a griffin fishery on the coast of the North Luna Ocean near Tall Tale. From a trade perspective I can find no fault in your proposal, and think that it could bring a great deal of profit to both our nations. However, since your request requires the lease of land and a potential impact on Equestria's wildlife I alone cannot approve this. I will bring the matter to the princess's attention, with my endorsement, and she shall consult with her appropriate advisors about the above named issues. I promise that this should be taken care of within a moon, and you should hear a final answer before two moons have passed. If there is found to be a problem with the proposed fishery we will make you aware of our concerns and present a counterproposal. In the name of Princess Twilight Sparkle, may her reign be long and just, Cozy Glow, Minister of International Commerce and Immigration. Make sure that letter is properly edited and sent off promptly, and make sure my viewing crystal is prepared within an hour for me to contact the princess- actually, make that two hours."

"Yes, Minister," the unicorn who had been writing the reply said with a bow, before hurrying around Silver and the others, and then out of the room.

Cozy Glow stretched all her limbs and then sat up. "Golly! Diamond Tiara you have brought such an unusual entourage with you today. I'm used to you coming alone. What can I help you with?"

Diamond gave a big smile. "I'm here on separate business than them. We just happened to arrive together. I have some requests involving imports of several types of canned meats, but I feel that my friend Silver Spoon's business is a bit more urgent and will wait until her business is taken care of."

Cozy Glow raised an eyebrow and looked at Silver. "Silver Spoon? I can't say I recall ever meeting you, but I believe that naga is Sisstet, our local naga foal, correct?"

Silver gave a brief bow of her head, unsure what formalities she was supposed to follow in this case. "That is correct. I teach at Ponyville Elementary; Sisstet is one of my students. We're here for two reasons your… I apologize, I don't know the proper greeting."

Cozy Glow smirked. "Your grace is technically correct, but you can just call me Cozy. I like to consider everycreature who comes to my office my friend. Please, continue."

Silver nodded again. "First and foremost I need to report that I have found that Sisstet's guardians are severely neglecting several of his needs, and have now put him out of their home into my care. The second matter is that I wish to take formal custody of him with the purpose of adoption."

Cozy Glow's eyes flashed briefly with anger, so briefly that Silver thought she might have imagined it, then went wide. "Golly! That is a very serious charge. I admit, I'm a little surprised by it. I read all the reports about all the naga living in Equestria and I haven't heard any indication of any such neglect towards Sisstet before this point. Are you sure this isn't simply something caused by a recent stressful event or something else that is preoccupying his guardians?"

Diamond stepped forward. "Cozy, I need to bring it to your attention that my mother, Spoiled Rich, has been sending you fictitious reports and has not in fact been checking in on the naga as she was supposed to be."

Cozy Glow's expression darkened. "And you can confirm this?"

Diamond bowed her head. "Yes, ma'am."

The two-time arch villain's expression stayed stormy, but she nodded in turn. "Very well. I'll deal with Spoiled Rich later. Thank you for bringing her dereliction of duty to my attention." She then turned her face back to Silver. "And I assume that you have ample evidence that neglect has been ongoing and damaging?"

"Yes, Cozy," Silver replied.

Cozy Glow finally got up off her couch and gently massaged her head with the ends of her wings. "I don't think there is a need to bring the princess directly into this, although I'll be alerting her about the situation and advising her I'm dealing with it. I'll consider your request for full adoption. I need you to prove that you can properly care for him, and I'm giving you a month to make sure of that before I personally inspect you. I'd advise you to make at least one or two trips to the school in the Crystal Empire to get advice. I've already dealt with one pony who couldn't do their job, don't make yourself the second. You won't be happy if I'm unhappy."

Silver gulped. "Understood."

The pegasus turned her attention to Sisstet. "Since I can assume nothing from my reports about you is true, how about you tell me about yourself, Sisstet. I want to be your friend."

Sisstet trembled behind Silver's legs. "I learned about you in s-sschool. You were a very bad pony."

That made Cozy Glow chuckle. "I prefer to think I was an overly ambitious and misguided filly who would have been unhappy as ruler of Equestria. The princess recognized what I truly desired, and that I had a specific skill set that could serve Equestria. She found a way for me to work for the common good while satisfying what I really wanted. There's a place in Equestria for everycreature, including ponies like me. There's a place in Equestria for you as well. What are your needs?"

Sisstet looked up at Silver, and Silver tried giving him a reassuring smile, even if Cozy Glow made her extremely nervous. The mare might have been 'reformed' but it seemed reformation only went so far.

"I just want creaturess to like me, treat me nice, and not be scared of me," Sisstet answered.

"Golly! Such humble goals! Yet, I suppose for a naga they are highly admirable ones that may at times seem so daunting," Cozy replied. She then walked over to a glass vase filled with what looked like many different colored candies, and reached a wing in and pulled one out. "Would you like a candy? And then you can tell me about your guardians and your home life."

Sisstet looked at the vase and licked his lips. "Can I have a blue one?"

Cozy's demeanor suddenly changed, stiffening up. What was wrong with his choice? A forced smile plastered on her face. "Can you do me a favor? Can you come point at a blue one for me?"

Sisstet looked up at Silver again and she just shrugged and urged him on. Cozy Glow might not be the nicest pony, but she was one they needed on their side. Sisstet slithered and made his way over to the vase, then pointed at a round blue candy.

Cozy's eyes narrowed. "Now, can you point to a red one?" Sisstet seemed confused by the request for a second, but then did as instructed.

"Now point to a yellow one?" Cozy continued, seeming even stiffer. What was this about? This was strange.

Sisstet did as instructed and looked up to the pegasus for approval. Cozy's face was unreadable as she responded. "You can see in full color, can't you?"

"Um, yesss?" Sisstet answered in confusion.

Cozy began rubbing her head again and made her way back to the couch, and flopped on it. She raised a wing high in the air and began giving orders. "I'm going to need the meeting with the princess moved back up to thirty minutes from now, and tell her that it is urgent! Somecreature find me an expert on naga etiquette who can advise me on how to write a letter properly to a kingsnake- actually, scratch that, I'm letting the princess deal with that. I want somecreature to find me Spoiled Rich and bring her here. Make it very clear that I'm not happy."

Silver couldn't figure out what had suddenly changed, but she was determined to find out. "What's going on? What's wrong with Sisstet seeing in color?"

The pegasus raised her head and looked back at Sisstet. "Most naga are color blind, there is only one group of naga that aren't, and it was part of my agents' jobs to report to me if they came across a naga that could see in color. Since he can see in color, and it has gone unnoticed so long, we might have an international incident to deal with. If I could throw Spoiled Rich in a dungeon I would, because this is going to look very bad for me to have not brought it to the princess's attention earlier."

Silver's heart moved up to my throat as I asked the question she already guessed the answer to it. "What type of naga aren't colorblind?"

Cozy looked back at Sisstet. "Kingsnakes, and that means you might not be able to keep him."

Author's Note

I'm interested in some additional editors for this specific story. I have other stories I'm writing, and do all my writing on cell phone which leads to a lot of strange autocorrect errors, misclicks, and occasionally missing words that my eyes just kind of glance over without really seeing and spell checker fails to catch.

Chapter 11: Of Kingsnakes and Treaties

Silver looked at Sisstet with shock. "You're a kingsnake?!"

He cowered down. "I- I don't know. I don't think sso. I'm not big. I'm just normal."

Cozy sat up. "Oh, if he can see in color he's a kingsnake." She hopped off her couch and started pacing. "On the plus side he is still very young, so maybe this won't be an issue. We can just contact the kingsnakes, and explain he just started seeing in color, and then they can take him back to the Clutch. After that everything will be fine."

"I don't want to go to the Clutch!" Sisstet screamed. "I want to sstay with Misss Silver Spoon and all my friends."

Silver looked at the young naga, still not believing that Sisstet could be one of the dreaded kingsnakes. She then turned back to Cozy Glow. "You must be mistaken. Sisstet can't be a kingsnake."

Cozy bared her teeth, and stomped a hoof with a hiss. "No! There is one- just one- identifying trait that the kingsnakes use to determine which of their young are kingsnakes, and it's seeing in color. There's no mistake. Don't argue with me about things you don't know anything about."

"But surely they wouldn't have made a mistake and given out a kingsnake egg," Silver reasoned.

Cozy shook her head and laughed, causing Silver to trade nervous looks with Diamond. The pegasus stopped laughing abruptly and went stone-faced. "There's no such thing as a kingsnake egg. Kingsnakes and regular naga all come from the same eggs. Perhaps one out of every few thousand eggs ends up being a kingsnake."

"Seeing in color? Is that really all that separates a kingsnake from a regular naga?" Diamond asked in confusion. "That seems kind of… well, a stupid way to determine who's in charge. And I thought kingsnakes were bigger than the rest."

Cozy groaned. "Uck! Fools! There are three differences in kingsnakes and regular naga. One, they see in color. Two, they grow much bigger. And three, they live upwards to ten times as long. They like to pretend they are naturally smarter too, but all evidence points to that being completely based on how they are raised. He starts off the same size as any other naga, but he's going to keep growing long after the other naga have stopped. All those traits are always tied together- always!"

Sisstet began to cry and whimper, and that made Silver's heart ache. She didn't know how to take the news that Sisstet was a kingsnake, but she understood that right at this very minute he was just a scared kid who needed her. "So what? So what if he's a kingsnake? Look at him; he's not dangerous."

Cozy gave her an incredulous look. "Are you kidding me? We can't have a kingsnake living in Equestria! Do you have any idea how big they get, or how much they eat? The stories about them eating other naga aren't a myth. If they are angry or hungry enough they'll cannibalize them in a second! They will eat just about anything else too: ponies, griffins, changelings, even younger dragons! Even if that weren't a problem- and that seems like a big problem to me- the kingsnakes explicitly told us that if any of the eggs they gave us ended up being kingsnakes that they wanted them back. We made a deal, and we need to honor it."

"But you are supposed to help us!" Silver pleaded.

The pegasus frowned. "Look, if he were a regular old naga I'd have no problem with him staying here under your care. Nocreature would be hurt by it. You might think I'm just being mean, but I'm just being rational and pragmatic. Crossing the kingsnakes on a deal we made in good faith could ignite another war with them. Sure, the princesses would probably soundly defeat them again, but before they did there'd be a lot of misery for everycreature. All the adult naga living in Equestria would go on the attack in an instant if the kingsnakes told them to, and the average pony isn't going to be able to put up much of a fight against them. There'd be a lot of destruction and a lot of creatures hurt or killed before we won again. Nocreature wants that, especially me; Princess Twilight would fire me or put me back in stone if that happened on my watch."

A unicorn servant entered the room and bowed. "Minister, the princess is ready on the viewing crystal. Shall I bring it in?"

"That was fast," Cozy replied. "Yes, bring it in right away."

The unicorn bowed and exited the room. He was gone only a few seconds before he entered again with two unicorn guards levitating a large milky-white crystal. They placed this crystal in the middle of the room and backed away as the unicorn servant shot it with a jolt of magic. The color then shifted from milky-white to ice-clear and an image of the princess sitting on her throne appeared within it.

"Cozy Glow, I was told you have an urgent matter to speak to me about," Princess Twilight said in a conversational tone.

Cozy bowed her head. "Yes, Princess. It has come to my attention that we have a kingsnake among the young nagas in our care. I'm sorry that it has taken so long to find out about it, but I just learned that my agent who was supposed to be monitoring him and his guardians was just blowing smoke up my tail. I'll be making plans for an audit and tour of all my agents and the naga they were supposed to be monitoring to make sure nocreature else has been shirking in their duty."

Twilight frowned. "A kingsnake? I'll need to contact the Clutch to start making arrangements for- you said it was a him, right?"

"Yes, your majesty. His name is Sisstet. He is actually from the naga placed in Ponyville," Cozy confirmed with another bow of her head.

Princess Twilight nodded. "For Sisstet to be returned to them. I'm disappointed to hear about this, as I feel that most of our naga foals have been doing exceptionally well according to your reports, with only a few exceptions, and I was looking forward to taking my own tour soon and personally meeting each and every one of them. Having the one in Ponyville end up having to be returned is especially disheartening for me on a personal level. I need to come to Ponyville soon on a different matter, and will take time to speak with him. Asking him to leave his friends and family must be devastating news for him, and I want to try to give him some comfort."

"There is a complication," Cozy said gently, shifting her weight nervously from one hoof to the next. "I only discovered that he was a kingsnake by chance after his teacher came to me claiming neglect by his guardians. If my agent wasn't doing her job it is easy to see where neglect could happen, since you know how the adult naga are if they don't have somecreature explaining each and every thing to them about raising a foal."

Twilight's brow narrowed. "So he's been mistreated?"

Cozy bit her lip. "I've yet to find out the full details. He seems particularly… timid, but otherwise doesn't show signs of physical abuse. His teacher was deeply concerned about his care, and has requested custody and adoption of him."

Princess Twilight's brow shot back up. "Miss Cheerilee? She's requesting to adopt him?"

The pegasus shook her head. "No, it is Miss Silver Spoon. I have tried to explain the situation to her, but she is very adamant that she wants to adopt him, even with the revelation that he's a kingsnake."

"Tell me, Cozy, what was your mood like when discussing this with her?" Princess Twilight asked slowly.

Cozy took a half-step back. "I may not have been in the best of moods…"

"Which means you likely were about as gentle as a rampaging Yak," the princess concluded with a sigh. "I value the services you do, and you do them well. But please, try to be more consistent with showing compassion, even when there's no diplomatic reason to do so, okay?"

Cozy lowered her head. "I apologize for disappointing you, Princess."

Princess Twilight gave the pegasus a sorrowful look. "I really do value the job you do. I can think of nocreature who could do a better job at your position. I also have seen glimpses of you showing real compassion and friendship from time-to-time, even back when you were a filly plotting how to take over Equestria. I never believed you to be a lost cause in terms of friendship, and I still don't. I don't consider you fully reformed, but reformation can be a process sometimes, and you've come a long way- one that I have been proud to see. I hope you continue to try to be a better pony while continuing with your excellent work in my government."

Cozy shuffled her hooves again. "Um, Princess? Not that I mind your friendship speeches, but can we not do 'em when other ponies are watching? It's embarrassing."

The princess blushed. "Sorry, you know how I can get. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"I know," Cozy said with an eyeroll. "I have Miss Silver Spoon and Sisstet right here. I'm guessing you'd like to talk to them."

"They're there right now?" Princess Twilight said with a blink. "Why didn't you say so?"

"I didn't want to interrupt your friendship speech," Cozy deadpanned.

Princess Twilight sat up straight, making herself appear more regal. "Bring them forward then. I can only see a tiny bit of what's around you from here."

The pegasus gestured Silver and Sisstet over. Silver felt Sisstet crawl under her for shelter as she took up a position where Cozy Glow had been standing.

"Silver Spoon! Or should I say Miss Silver Spoon? My, how you've grown! But I guess it has been that many years," Princess Twilight greeted happily. "Forgive me for assuming that it was Cheerilee right away when Cozy brought up Sisstet's teacher. She's just the first pony I think of when creatures say teacher in Ponyville and aren't talking about the School of Friendship. I remember seeing your name on my list of teachers attending my speech about the future of Equestria a few years ago, as it caught me by surprise. I even half-wondered if it was some different pony named Silver Spoon. You never struck me as being the teacher type as a filly, although I'm pleasantly surprised."

Silver chuckled. "That's quite alright. Cheerilee was the face of Ponyville Elementary for the majority of my life, as well as my mentor and friend. I also don't expect you to keep up with every single resident of Ponyville and what they do. You've got a whole country to run, after all."

"But I do wish I could keep up with more than just a select few of the creatures there after all the happy times I spent there," Princess Twilight replied wistfully. She then shifted to a more serious expression as her eyes drifted towards the shivering naga beneath Silver. "And you must be Sisstet. You can come out. I won't hurt you. I know this must be a very confusing time for you."

Sisstet just kept shivering and didn't come out. Silver bent her head down and looked under her legs. "It's okay, she just wants to talk to you. I'm going to talk to her too. We need to convince her that you should stay."

He peaked his head up from his coils and then cautiously crawled out from under her to face the crystal. "Hello?"

The princess smiled at him. "Hello, Sisstet. You are such a handsome young naga. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. I think it might be better if you just call me Twilight though. It might help you feel less nervous."

He examined the crystal. "Do you live in that rock? I thought you were bigger."

Twilight giggled. "No, this is just for me to talk to creatures that are far away from me. Surely Miss Silver Spoon has told you about me and Princess Cadance at school, right?"

Sisstet nodded. "Sshe did, and she has a poster with you on it that she shows us. But I also heard you were a kingsnake, and that must mean you are big."

That got more of a laugh out of her. "I am pretty big, compared to most ponies. I thought I was as big as I would get when I took the crown, but I kept on growing. I'm an honorary kingsnake, not an actual kingsnake, but I hear you're a real kingsnake. That must have been surprising news for you. How do you feel about it?"

He hesitated. "I don't want to be a kingsnake. Kingsnakes are big and sscary, and they eat creatures. I don't want to be scary or eat anycreature."

The princess gave him a sad smile. "If you can see in color you are a kingsnake, and nothing can change that. What you do have control over is how you behave. You can choose to be nice and not eat anycreature and try not to be scary. You should meet the dragonlord's father. He's really big and intimidating, but he's a big softie. Dragons have hoards, and do you know what he hoards?"

"What?" Sisstet asked curiously.

Twilight looked left and right then covered part of her mouth with a wing conspiratorially. "Cute little stuffed animals. I'm talking about toys, not actual animals, before you get the wrong idea."

Sisstet cocked his head. "Really?"

Twilight nodded. "Oh yes. Every time the dragonlord visits Canterlot she ends up going on a buying spree from every toymaker in the city to bring back to her father's hoard. The toymaker guild considers it like a special holiday."

Sisstet grinned, but it was short lived before recoiling again to shiver. "But I don't want to leave! I won't get to ssee Candy, or Autumn, or Cheese, or Caramel, or Miss Silver Spoon anymore."

"I'm guessing those are all your friends?" Twilight asked. "I'm actually familiar with who a few of them are if that's so. What about your guardians? Won't you miss them?"

Once again, Sisstet hesitated. "I guesss."

"You guess?" Twilight asked curiously. "Does that mean you possibly won't miss them?"

He shivered in place, and just nodded. Silver couldn't take it, and bent down and pulled him into a hug. He didn't resist.

"I see…" the princess said slowly. "The accusation was neglect, correct?"

Silver just nodded, and kept hugging the now crying Sisstet. Then out of nowhere, Diamond stepped forward in front of the crystal.

"Princess, your majesty, ma'am," Diamond began. "I don't know the details of whatever treaty you have with the naga or why you have a provision where kingsnakes have to be returned to the Clutch, or much about why anything is the way it is with it. I'm sure there are good but complicated reasons, since I'm sure you wouldn't agree to an unjust treaty. Doesn't Sisstet get a say on what happens to him? I know one of the goals of the treaty was to make more free thinking naga. What kind of message do you send to the other naga living in Equestria if when one of their own makes his mind up about something you immediately overrule it and say his opinion doesn't matter? Is that the message you want to send to the other naga? That them thinking for themselves doesn't matter in the end?"

Cozy Glow bolted forward and pushed Diamond away from the crystal. "I'm sorry, Princess. She isn't directly involved with this, and should have let you finish your questioning."

"There is nothing wrong with one of my subjects speaking their mind," Twilight replied. Silver could see her frowning now that Cozy and Diamond were now off again to the side, and she could see the princess looked troubled. "I understand that concern, and think it is a concern worth addressing."

"So he can stay with me? I can adopt him?" Silver asked eagerly.

"Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves," the princess replied quickly. "I think a good point was made and it is one I agree with. However… there is also the matter that the kingsnakes have a treaty with us and we have a duty to honor it. If we don't then they have no reason to honor their own agreements with us, and that could lead to another war. That's something else I simply cannot ignore."

"But Princess-" Silver began.

Twilight held up a wing. "Let me finish. What I can do is discuss this with the kingsnakes and hope that they will allow him to stay with you. I cannot promise that they will agree to that, and don't know how likely it is that they will. In the meantime, you may continue to care for him, since he trusts you and you clearly care about his welfare. I will give you further updates as I have them. I must stress, if they refuse to budge on this issue I have no choice but to send him back to the Clutch. I will not have my citizens die for this, and I don't think either of you want that either; no matter how much it hurts to prevent it, or how unfair it might be."

Silver felt like crying, but kept a brave face. "How long until we know?"

The princess shook her head. "That I'm also unsure about. It will be at the minimum days, but that is unlikely. It is more likely to be months. It can take days just to get in contact with them and get a reply. More days to properly arrange a meeting. Then who knows how long actually negotiating. Don't expect anycreature to be showing up at your doorstep anytime soon demanding you surrender Sisstet."

Cozy Glow stepped back in front of Silver. "Should I start arranging a delegation to the Clutch then? And might I remind you, we will still have a problem when Sisstet gets older. Cities in Equestria are not built to house full grown kingsnakes. You could just as easily have former dragonlord Torch to take up residence in one of our towns as you would a full grown kingsnake."

"You will be working with Spike on this one," Twilight replied. "And I understand the long-term problems, but at this moment they are far in the future, and we have many years to consider them. It isn't much different than my long term concerns with our dragons, even if it takes more years for them to reach full growth. If he ends up staying we might have him be the test for what to do with them when the time comes."

Cozy bowed her head. "Understood, Princess."

"I must get going, since I have been putting other duties off for this conversation," Twilight continued. "I will be in Ponyville within the next few days to help deal with Candy Apple, and I will meet with you all after that problem is resolved."

"We'll be awaiting your arrival," Cozy replied. Silver could just barely make out that the crystal reverted back to milky white after that.

"Minister, the pony you requested is ready and waiting," declared the same unicorn servant who led the crystal in.

"Send her in," Cozy replied as she went back to her couch and began lounging again as if she hadn't a care in the world.

Silver didn't feel any such calm. She was ready to give Spoiled Rich a very fervent chewing out. She looked down at Sisstet first though and saw he had once again balled himself up proactively.

She gently ran a hoof over his coils. "Don't worry. I'm going to protect you. I'm also going to do everything as if there's no chance you'll be leaving, because I know the princess will come through."

He peeped his head up and looked at her, and she saw he had been crying. "Really?"

"Really," she replied with forced confidence. I really hope so. She thought mournfully.

Chapter 12: Stern Lectures

Silver watched as Spoiled Rich walked into the room. Silver's primary dealings with Spoiled over the last few years were in regards to Spoiled being the head of the school board, but the mare had managed over the years to insert herself into various committees and groups throughout town, and as such managed to hold some level of influence in many different aspects of Ponyville life. When Diamond took full control of the family business she hoped to force her mother to be nicer by putting her on a well-defined allowance far below what Spoiled was accustomed to having. With less access to free money the snobbish pony was forced to rely more on her interactions for influence rather than her pocketbook. This somehow had the exact opposite effect Diamond had been intending, since Spoiled seemed to double-down on bullying.

Spoiled scanned over everyone with her eyes, lingering on Diamond longer than the others before turning her attention to Cozy Glow. "I was told, very rudely I might add, that you wished to see me?"

"Oh golly, yes!" Cozy replied. "I wanted to talk to you about your reports about the naga in town. Tell me, do you recall what you said on your last report?"

Spoiled's expression went blank. "I don't at the moment. I write many reports about many things throughout the week. I'm a very busy mare."

Cozy nodded along. "Of course, I know you have soooo much to do! Let's make things more general then. You see Sisstet over there? I'm sure you must be on a first name basis with him, being required to check in on him regularly for me; can you tell me what kinds of toys he owns? You don't need to be extremely specific. You can say things like action figures, balls, toy weapons, and so on, you get the gist."

Silver suppressed her smirk as she watched a bead of sweat run down the side of Spoiled's face. "I- I don't really recall that either. I tend to tune out such small unimportant details. I wasn't aware I needed to actually report on what he was engaged in playing with at the time of my visits."

"I see…" Cozy replied with a disappointed looking frown. "Let me jog your memory a bit. In your last report to me you stated you engaged our young naga friend in a game of chess, and found him an skilled opponent for his age. Is chess not something you consider a toy?"

"Oh- yes, of course!" Spoiled blurted out, glancing over at Sisstet quickly and back to Cozy. She was visibly sweating now. "Well, since it is a game enjoyed by many nobles of all ages I don't really label it as a foal's toy."

"What'sss chess?" Sisstet asked in confusion. It made Silver want to hug him even more.

"The game we played the other week," Spoiled hissed through the side of her mouth.

"But we never-" Sisstet began.

"Hush while the adults are talking. Stop interrupting!" Spoiled ordered.

Cozy tilted her head. "Oh my! It seems he doesn't remember that, and you don't remember that either. We understand though, we can't expect immature kids to remember everything in detail. Here's another question for you; can you tell me some details about Sisstet's home? I mean, you've been there soooo often that you should be able to tell me a lot about it."

Spoiled chewed on her lip. "It's primarily underground."

"Great! Now tell me about the living room and Sisstet's bedroom," Cozy said encouragingly.

"It's all in my reports… I think they are far more thorough in their descriptions than what I can tell you off the top of my-"

Cozy stopped smiling and glared. "Cut the crap, Spoiled Rich. I know you haven't been doing your job. I'm just shocked that you're continuing to try to lie to me when it should be obvious that I'm aware of your lies. It's a shame. I thought we were friends, but honesty is a very important part of friendship, and you aren't being honest with me."

Spoiled stepped back a step. "I-"

"And don't get me wrong," Cozy continued. "I get that you enjoy the perks of having authority. I too enjoy living in a castle, enjoying luxuries, having servants to command whenever I please, and the ability to completely ruin anycreature that crosses me…"

Spoiled gulped.

Cozy hopped down again from her couch and advanced on Spoiled. "But there's a few key differences between you and me. I actually do the work that I'm supposed to be doing! I'm also perfectly content having everycreature I work with happy. If they're happy then my place here is secure. When they aren't happy then I'm not happy, because then my place isn't so secure anymore. I'm about to have to deal with some unhappy kingsnakes because of you."

Spoiled settled her hooves in place and stuck her nose up again. "You can’t dismiss me, I’ll resign first. I never found this position to be as fulfilling as I originally hoped."

Cozy smiled. "I think dismissing you will be a start. Although you are free to resign first. I can't really stop you from doing that."

Spoiled sniffed. "Very well then, I resign, effectively immediately." She then turned to leave.

The pegasus kept smiling. "Tell me, how many little positions like this one do you have?"

Spoiled froze.

"A few, right? Well… hopefully nocreature here spreads any gossip about your abysmal job performance," Cozy continued. "But what they do in their free time is up to them."

The snob turned back around. "This is slander!"

Cozy shrugged. "Only if it isn't true. You may be going now, but there's one other matter I need to address first."

Spoiled laid her ears back. "What is it? I have better things to do than be subjected to your-"

"I just need you to take your guest badge off," Cozy said while pointing to the badge hanging around Spoiled's neck. "Tea Time, will you be a sweetie and please remove that from her? She is no longer a guest in this castle."

Spoiled's eyes went wide and she tried to hold the badge against her chest, but it vanished and reappeared around the upraised hoof of the unicorn servant. "But how am I going to get out of here?"

Cozy shrugged. "There are safe paths to navigate when leaving. Not the same one you came up, but there are safe paths. You'll just have to figure them out. Don't worry, none of the security measures are lethal, this is the Castle of Friendship after all. Do mind the statue at the end of the hall. You can be on your way now. If you run into trouble the guards will eventually find and remove you. Have a pleasant day."

"B-but-" Spoiled stuttered.

Cozy raised a wing. "Guards, get her out of here."

Before anyone could remove her, Spoiled turned and exited the room in a rush.

"She isn't going to get hurt, is she?" Diamond asked worriedly. "I know she can be a royal pain, and deserves to be taken down a peg now and then, but she's still my mother. I don't want anything really bad happening to her."

Sisstet grabbed onto one of Silver's forelegs and she sat down and pulled him close to her.

Cozy Glow shook her head. "Nah, only her pride. Most of the spells are designed just to knock intruders unconscious, and they aren't painful. Starlight would never install any sort of spell that would actually hurt anycreature. She'll search around for the way out, inevitably get knocked out, and the guards will come dump her outside. We even have a patch of mud outside specifically to toss her in because landing in mud is a softer landing than landing on hard dirt- if a bit more messy. You don't even have to worry about the gossip. I wasn't lying that I can't control my servants' gossip, but they're well trained enough they know better than to talk about what goes on in private meetings. I will be speaking to other ministers about her though."

Silver didn't know how to feel about what happened to Spoiled. She wanted Spoiled to get what was coming to her, but this felt petty and cruel. She didn't even get to speak her mind to the rich mare.

Cozy sighed. "Anyway, now that the trash has been taken out we can wrap up our other business. Silver Spoon, it seems the princess is going to be trying to fulfil your request. That isn't something I agree with, but she supersedes my authority. Plus, if anything goes wrong it's on her, not me. That makes me perfectly happy since it has no negative impact on me whether your request is successful or a failure, and I'll do what I can to see you can adopt him as a result. I make no promises that it will happen, only that I will make a full effort at it. This will take some time before a final decision is made, months."

"What do we do until then?" Silver asked.

"In the meantime I will temporarily grant your request to be a caregiver," Cozy answered. "I am personally going to be looking into your accusations of neglect, instead of going through an agent. I'll also personally be checking in on you in a month's time- if things haven't gone badly with the kingsnakes first- to make sure you are properly caring for him. I'll also be looking to recruit a fresh agent who I can trust to do their job to monitor him and his former guardians. Perhaps I'll talk to Fluttershy about doing that."

Relief washed over Silver upon hearing that she'd still have custody of Sisstet. She wished Cozy would be more reassuring about Sisstet would be staying, but she supposed she preferred honesty over false expectations.

"If there's nothing else you need to discuss, you may be on your way," Cozy concluded.

"Good luck with everything," Diamond said with a smile. "Come by Barnyard Bargains tomorrow, I'll give you a one-time seventy five-percent discount on all your purchases made tomorrow so you can help make Sisstet feel at home."

Silver smiled back. "Thank you, that's very generous of you."

Diamond chuckled. "It's no problem. I'd like to just give you presents, but I can't just be giving stock away. The staff will have your coupon noted when you arrive." She then sighed. "I'm supposed to be going out with my parents to a restaurant tonight. I can already tell you Mother is going to be insufferable after what just happened. I'll probably need to give Rumble a big discount at the store in anticipation of how she's going to treat the wait staff."

Silver grimaced. "Good luck with that."

Diamond shook her head. "It will be okay if I give him enough of a heads up and tip the staff well for putting up with her insults. It wouldn't be the first time. You go take care of Sisstet. I'll worry about my mother."

"I'll see you both later then," Silver replied. She then looked at Sisstet. "Come, climb on my back, and we'll go downstairs. Twist will be wondering where we are at, and we still need to make your room ready and find you a bed. Say goodbye to Diamond and Minister Cozy Glow."

The young naga climbed into her back as instructed and coiled himself around her barrel. "Goodbye, Diamond and Minisster Cozy Glow."

"Have a pleasant day. Just follow the stairs down to the ground floor, don't forget to place your badge up to the doors," Cozy replied, then turned to Diamond. "Okay, I'm assuming you have the paperwork detailing these imports you're interested in-"

Silver exited the room, and proceeded to the stairs. She used her badge as instructed at the stair door before passing through. Sisstet kept firmly constricted around her.

"What happenss if they say no?" He whispered to her.

It took her a second to respond. "We are going to assume they aren't going to say no."

"But what if?"

"It won't happen. Princess Twilight will make sure of it," she answered firmly.

When they finally made it back home she found piles of boxes in the living room. Along with the book that Discord had given her.

"Twist?" She called out as she bent down to let Sisstet slither off her.

Her wife hurried to them out from down the hall, looking exhausted. "Hi! Sorry about all the clutter. I didn't realize exactly how much stuff I had packed into the office over the years. I didn't have anywhere to put it all yet, and just took it out here for the moment. The room is pretty much clear, and there's supposed to be a bed getting delivered in a little while. I was just dusting things up while it was mostly empty."

Silver looked around at all the boxes. "What is all this stuff?"

Twist walked over to one box and opened it. "Mainly posters and fliers for old promotions at the shop that were left over. We always made more than we needed and it just seems to have piled up. It's mainly trash. I'll have somecreature come haul it all away to be recycled. A very angry filly with a cart came and dropped off that book for you a little while ago."

"You already ordered a bed?" Silver asked in confusion. "When did you have time if you worked this morning and did all of this?"

"I have a regular customer that's a shift manager at Quills, Sofas, and More. I made arrangements with him while I was at work," Twist explained. "It won't be a really fancy bed, but it will be a suitable foal's bed along with two pillows and a basic quilt and sheets- I think he said they'd be in light blue. I'm also leaving my desk and chair in the room so Sisstet has some other furniture."

She grabbed her wife up in a tight hug, and gave her a big kiss. "Thank you! I love you so much! You're the best!"

Her wife chuckled. "Anything for you, Silv. I love you too. By the way, I'm officially on vacation for the week starting now. Bonnie complained about the sudden announcement I was going on vacation, but after she heard why she got over it. She wishes us the best of luck and says hi to Sisstet."

Silver gave Twist a gentle smile. "You seem more okay with this than you did last night."

Twist looked over at Sisstet. "I had most of the day to put it into perspective. He's different, but not that different. I mean, thirty or forty years ago ponies would have hysterics over the idea of adopting a griffin or a changeling, and now nocreature would get upset about that. We'd even considered adopting outside our species before this, and the princess's family adopted a dragon. Naga are just less familiar to us, but I'm sure they're no worse to raise, and just as deserving of love. You know him well, and I trust your judgement. I still need to get to know him, but if you think he belongs here I'll probably end up feeling the same."

Silver beamed, but then she recalled an important bit of news and her smile and ears dropped. "Um...about him being different. I may have underestimated how different he actually is. You might want to sit down for this."

Twist frowned and sat. "What is it? Does he have some sort of disease or disability?"

"No…" Silver said slowly. "It's just that I kinda-sorta just found out he's actually a kingsnake. He didn't know either."

Twist's eyes went wide. "Kingsnake?! As in big as a house and can eat a pony whole kingsnake?"

Sisstet slithered over to Silver and she pulled him into a hug before meeting her wife's eyes again. "Yes, although I promise you that Sisstet would never do such a thing. I'm a firm believer in nurture over nature."

Twist glued her eyes to Sisstet and gulped nervously. "That still means he can get as big as a house. That means a castle would even have trouble holding him, and we don't exactly live in a castle. No matter how much we nurture him we can't change that part of his nature."

"He's nowhere near that big yet," Silver replied and pointed at him as if her wife was missing that point.

"How long until he reaches that size though?" Twist asked. "Foals usually go through growth spurts during puberty, but that's crazy. By the way, is that even the proper term? I feel like an idiot not knowing what to call him other than kid, and I've been trying to avoid being unintentionally rude by calling him the wrong thing."

Silver sat back and went into teacher mode. "The term the naga use for their young in general is really difficult for other races to say. The common practice is for other races to just refer to young naga the same way they would their own young. Since we are ponies it is perfectly alright to call him a foal." She dropped her lecturing voice as she continued. "And to answer the important question; I don't know. Sisstet, do you know?"

He shook his head. "I've never sseen a kingsnake, other than the princess."

That wasn't entirely true. He saw one every time he looked in the mirror, but Silver wasn't going to correct him on that. She instead turned back to her wife. "It will probably take a long time. We know dragons can get even bigger than kingsnakes, but Ambassador Spike, while big, isn't anywhere near that kind of size yet, and he's only a year or so younger than we are."

Twist didn't look that reassured, but she lifted her forelegs up and put them to her barrel and then away and back again, all while taking long breaths. "Okay, hopefully not something we have to worry about for a long time. I can deal with this."

Silver rubbed a hoof across the floor while looking down. "There is one more thing I needed to mention."

Twist groaned. "Silver Spoon, I am doing my best to see Sisstet as any other foal, and you are making this harder and harder to do that. What is it now?"

Silver hesitated, not wanting to upset her wife any further, but she needed to be honest. "There seems to have been a stipulation in the treaty with the naga that we are supposed to immediately give them back any kingsnakes we find among the ones living in Equestria. Cozy Glow seemed certain that not giving him to the kingsnakes could cause a new war with the naga. Princess Twilight says she'll try talking them down."

Twist's mouth hung open and she just stared for a solid half-a-minute before standing up and walking silently towards the kitchen.

"Twist? Where are you going?" Silver asked fearfully.

"I'm pulling out the rum and getting a drink. Then I'm going to sit and think for a while," Twist called back.

Chapter 13: Basic Consideration

Silver considered going into the kitchen after her wife, but ultimately decided she needed to give Twist some space. Twist said she needed to think, and it was best just to her that time.

"Doess Miss Twist not like me?"

She looked behind her to find Sisstet cowering behind her rear legs. How could anycreature find him frightening? He was so timid.

"She doesn't dislike you," she replied as she turned around to face him properly. "This is just a lot for her to take in all at once." She glanced back towards the kitchen briefly. "And to be fair, this is going really fast for her. Bringing you into our home like this is not the way these things are normally done."

"How are they done?" Sisstet asked.

She sat down. 'First, the adults sit down and have many discussions to decide if they want to adopt. Second, they decide together that they are ready to begin the process. Next, with couples like me and Twist, we would go to an orphanage and tell them that we have intentions of adopting. The orphanage would interview us and check out our home and then decide if we were likely to be a safe and loving home. Then they'd start discussing the kids under their care and… it's a long process, and we've kinda skipped over everything after the first step."

"Sso, wasss I supposssed to go to an orphange?" Sisstet asked in a hiss, stretching his S's far more than he normally did.

She shook her head and bent down. "No, there's never going to be an orphanage for you. I think everything will be alright, once the princess has negotiated with the kingsnakes."

Sisstet stared down at himself. "I don't wanna be a kingsnake. They're big and mean. Even my guardians are afraid of them, and they aren't afraid of anything. I don't want creatures to be afraid of me, and I don't want to be mean."

She laid her bandaged leg on him. "You are a kingsnake, and we all need to accept that fact, but there's nothing saying you have to be mean or scary."

He squirmed. "But that's what it means to be a kingsnake."

How was she going to explain this to him? She looked back at her cutie mark. "We define who we are, not any cosmic destiny. If we don't like the fate that was laid out for us we only need to make the effort to change it. I changed mine, and you can change yours."

"I can make myself not be a kingsnake?"

She shook her head. "No, but you have control of how you act and what you choose to do. Nocreature can make you behave a certain way or do something in particular if you don't let them." She pulled him closer. "Remember our lesson about pony cutie marks?"

He nodded. "It is what makes each pony special and different, but naga don't get cutie marks."

She nodded. "That's true, but the fact you're a kingsnake is like a pony having a cutie mark. It defines you, but it is up to you how it defines you."

"I don't understand."

She pointed to her flank. "I have a silver spoon for a mark, and it defines me, but I have chosen how it defines me, and that is not the way it did originally. It means something entirely different than when I first got it. I redefined what having this mark meant, and so I redefined myself."

He stared at her cutie mark. "You said your mark meant you wanted to feed and norsh young minds."

"Nourish, not norsh," she corrected with a giggle. "That's what my mark means to me now, but when I was your age I thought it meant I wanted the best things in life just given to me. When I got a little older I determined that didn't feel very satisfying, and I decided it meant I was supposed to run my family's silver business. Some things happened, and I dropped out of business school. After that I decided that I didn't want anything to do with business anymore. It took a little while to find my new meaning, but it happened, and I'm very happy with it."

He looked up at her. "So I can change my mind more than once about what being a kingsnake means to me?"

She rubbed his head and ears. "You can change your mind as much as you want until you find a meaning that makes you happy." She stood up. "Now, we've been outside all day, and you need to clean yourself up. I'll show you where the bathroom is and you can take a shower. Um- you are familiar with how to take a shower by yourself, right? I didn't get to see what your old bathroom was like."

He nodded. "We had a tub and shower."

She figured as much, considering he didn't come to school filthy. "Come on then. I'll show you where the bathroom is and the clean towels."

He gave her a confused look."Clean towelss?"

She flicked an ear. "To dry yourself with after your shower."

"I dry on my own, if I wait long enough." He then pointed to his coils. "Nagas don't have fur or hair to hold water. I normally took bathss though. Baths make me feel good."

"He's a reptile, Silv." She turned to see Twist had walked back in. "Reptiles absorb water through their skin, it's good for them. He really should have a bath with that in mind. You're a teacher, you should know this."

"I'm not an expert on everything just because I'm a teacher," Silver replied. "Where'd you learn that?"

"I had a pet snake for a while when I was a young foal," Twist answered. "I ended up setting him free because feeding him mice freaked me out, but I remember some things. Let him soak for a while in the tub, it will relax him. It's okay to leave him alone in there, he won't drown or anything. If he's like a snake he can hold his breath for a very long time. My old snake would sit submerged in his bowl of water so long sometimes that I thought he drowned."

Sisstet nodded along. "Yeah, I can hold my breath for like thirty minutess before it starts to hurt. I like being alone though. Even my guardians never stayed with me when I took a bath."

Silver frowned. She wasn't very happy with the idea of leaving him unsupervised, in the tub or out of it, but if he was used to privacy with washing she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "Alright. I'll let you be unsupervised in the tub. You can take a nice long soak, but you still need to dry off after you're done. You can't be tracking water through the house."

It didn't take long at all for her to show him the bathroom and the linen closet. She made sure he was going to use soap and let him take care of himself from there, while she exited back out to the living room.

Twist gave her an appraising look. "Okay, starting this yet again. He's a kingsnake, you're sure about that?"

Silver nodded after she climbed up on the couch next to her wife. "Cozy Glow and Princess Twilight both seem confident about that. I just learned that most naga are color blind, and kingsnakes are identified when they're young by the ability to see in color. Sisstet can definitely do that."

"So it's like a recessive trait," Twist speculated. "Kinda like how two ponies of one tribe can sometimes have a foal from a different tribe that they don't even have close family members of, just because one of them had a so-many-greats grandparent they don't know about who was that tribe. Is that about right?"

"I'm not sure, but that sounds like that might be how it works," Silver replied with a shrug. She gave her wife a questioning look. "How are you feeling about this after the latest… surprise?"

Twist glanced briefly back towards the bathroom, perhaps trying to judge if Sisstet could hear them. "I heard you talking with him. I think comparing to tribes might have been better, but the talk about cutie marks and destinies got your point across. The important thing is he won't be a monster if he isn't raised to be one, and I know we would never let that happen. So I'm not so concerned about that now that I've had time to breathe and clear my head."

Silver laid her ears back. "But…?"

Her wife exhaled. "Another thing you said is true too. This is going really fast for me and I feel like you're making choices for both of us. I'm sure Sisstet is a sweet kid, but I haven't gotten to know him. This is kind of our foster period, and I'm going to try to get to know him, but we don't know yet if I'll be a good fit for him."

"I'm sure you will be," Silver said confidently, but then dropped her voice. "I am sorry for pushing all this on you so suddenly though."

Twist wasn't done. "It's also clear neither of us know as much about nagas as we should if we should if we were to consider adopting him. We talked about being open to adopting outside our species, but we understood that doing that meant we would thoroughly educate ourselves on whatever species we were considering adopting before we even started fostering them. Us not knowing much about nagas is unfair to Sisstet, and potentially dangerous. I mean, I made an assumption about something a few minutes ago based on my understanding of snakes, but we could unintentionally hurt him doing things like that."

Silver pointed at the large book sitting on the floor. "That's supposed to tell us everything there is to know about nagas."

"And judging by the size of that thing that's a lot of things we don't know, but we should have read up on before we got to this point," Twist replied. She looked at the book. "Since that tells us everything, supposedly, can you go check a few critical things real fast?"

Silver blinked and climbed down from the couch. "Sure what do you want me to look up?"

"For starters, how long is it going to be before he gets physically too big for us to deal with? It would be wrong to just assume it takes a very long time just because it takes dragons a very long time."

"That's fair," Silver replied as she reached the book. She opened it to the table of contents and just stared at it with her mouth agape.

Twist gave her a single raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

Silver shook her head. "I knew how extensive this was earlier, but it's still just mind boggling how much information they have crammed into this thing. Give me a minute or so, the way they have subjects listed makes no sense at all, so it takes time to just to find it on the table of contents."

"Who wrote that book? Discord?"

"He might have," Silver replied, then her face lit up. "Here we go! Kingsnake equine-naga growth and development."

"There's non-equine naga?"

Silver nodded as she started flipping through pages to the appropriate spot. "Yeah, they have lots of sections about bovine-naga and avian-naga, just as many sections as the equine ones. I guess that's good."

Twist tilted her head. "Why is that good?"

"Less reading," Silver answered. "That's two-thirds of the book we don't have to worry about."

Twist snorted. "Great- so only a third-of-a-million pages to read instead of a million."

"It's only about two thousand pages," Silver replied as she continued to turn pages to find the appropriate entry.

"Oh, I guess that makes it light reading then," Twist giggled. "Something small to read between reading the dictionary and the encyclopedia."

Silver turned and stuck her tongue out at her wife, then went back to flipping pages until she found what she was looking for. "Here we go! Average size and weight ranges of kingsnakes by age." She paused and looked through, then grinned in triumph. "Sisstet won't reach full size until he's around eighty or ninety years old, and should be able to fit into an average pony house until he's about forty or so. He'll reach average naga size somewhere between twenty and twenty-five years old."

Twist stared at her like she was crazy. "How long do kingsnakes live?"

Silver pointed at the chart. "This says they can live upwards of seven hundred years, but more commonly live to be around four or five hundred. Sisstet's has a lot of life ahead of him."

"And for the majority of that life he'll be too big to live around ponies," Twist reminded her grimly. "He'll have to go back to the Clutch eventually when he gets too big, and he won't have a clue how to interact with naga there because he'll be so used to dealing with ponies and other creatures instead."

Silver flattened her ears back. "Do you have to keep being so negative?"

Twist hopped down from the couch and came over to her. "I'm trying to be responsible and think about everything involved, including what's best for him. Did you ever think that maybe they wanted the kingsnakes back because they felt it was best for them to be raised in the Clutch if they'd be forced to return to it? That's a pretty jarring culture clash we'll be putting him through."

Silver stomped. "We can find a way! He has made it clear he doesn't want to go there. Regardless, that's not a problem we need to immediately worry about right now."

Twist looked at the chart with a small frown. "Alright, let's wait to discuss that one with the princess, since she'll no doubt need to get involved, and might already be thinking of a plan if she is going to try to negotiate for him to stay."

Silver did a brisk nod in response.

"Now, let's look up what exactly his dietary needs are," Twist continued.

Silver groaned at the thought of another search through the massive book, but brightened up as she had an idea. "Hey, can you grab a box of your old sales fliers?"

Twist blinked. "Sure, but what for?"

Silver pointed to the massive tome. "Bookmarks."

Sisstet really wanted to just submerge his head beneath the warm water of his bath, but he couldn't hear clearly that way. Water made sounds all weird, and he couldn't tell what they were supposed to be, just the general direction they came from.

It seemed to him that Miss Twist really wanted to send him back to the Clutch. He wanted to stay with Miss Silver Spoon, since she had always been so nice to him. He couldn't think of another grown-up that had ever been as nice to him as Miss Silver Spoon was. His guardians definitely weren't nice. They threatened to bite him and scared him that one time they read his report card and Miss Silver Spoon had said for them to encourage him to do better. Miss Silver Spoon came and yelled at them after she found out. He'd never seen anycreature go up to his guardians and do something like that. They listened to her too, and never did anything like that again.

Staying with Miss Silver Spoon would be the best, but could he risk the chance they'd send him back to the Clutch? Even his guardians didn't want to be in the Clutch. They said every naga in the Clutch lived in fear of the kingsnakes, and if you did anything the kingsnakes didn't tell you to do they'd gobble you up. Sometimes the kingsnakes would eat them even if they didn't do anything wrong, because they said there were too many naga and not enough food. His guardians liked living in Equestria. Ponies didn't just decide to eat creatures like that. He might be a kingsnake too, but maybe the reason there weren't a lot of kingsnakes was all the big ones ate the small ones before they could get big. If they didn't want too many naga then they probably didn't want too many kingsnakes either.

There wasn't much of a choice. If they were going to send him back to the Clutch he needed to run away, but he didn't need to do that…yet. He still wanted to be here, and he was going to hope Miss Silver Spoon stop them from sending him away.

Chapter 14: Monster Pony of the North

Sisstet was excited to see his new room, especially since they were putting a bed into it right at this very moment. Unfortunately, the bed had come with a very strange pony who was kind of scary.

"I have a request, and don't get upset; can I please get a sample of your blood?" The pink unicorn mare with the big grin on her face asked.

He tried to hide in his coils. "Misss Silver Spoon!"

Miss Silver Spoon came hurrying over from the hall where she'd been directing the ponies with the bed. "What is it, Sisstet? Is everything alright?"

He stuck a shaking claw out at the unicorn. "Sshe wants to take my blood!"

The pink unicorn groaned. "Why does everyone get so upset about that? I even told him not to get upset. I just want a little biological sample."

Miss Silver Spoon bent down and gave him a gentle rub with her hoof and he peaked out in time to see her turning her attention to the unicorn. "We're very grateful for your help getting the bed through the door with your teleportation, but you're scaring Sisstet. It also isn't normal for ponies to walk around asking for blood."

The unicorn sat and tapped her chin. "I thought I had all the social innuendos of being a pony down. I really need to add that to my list of things that aren't acceptable in Equestrian society. This is the second time this week I've messed up on that one. Princess Twilight is going to be so disappointed in me."

"Sshe'ss really weird!" Sisstet hissed accusingly.

The unicorn looked offended. "Says the horse-snake hybrid!"

"What'ss a horse?" Sisstet asked.

The unicorn gave him a surprised look, then pointed all around her. "It's what all of them are, and me too, I guess."

He peaked out a little more. "I thought you were all poniess."

She waved a hoof dismissively. "Horses, ponies, close enough." Then looked back at him excitedly. "I've met lots of ponies at this point; changelings, griffins, talking yaks- the yaks were kind of embarrassing to meet. You never know what is supposed to be an animal and what's supposed to be a person. How was I supposed to know asking for some yak milk was going to be obscene? But anyway, you're the first naga that I've met. I want to learn all about you and document it for my research."

Miss Silver Spoon gave the same look she gave during some of the more interesting show and tells. "Excuse me, Miss-"

The unicorn put a hoof out in greeting. "Luster Dawn, personal student to Princess Twilight Sparkle, and resident of the School of Friendship."

Miss Silver Spoon shook hooves with the pony. "Well, Luster, we appreciate you helping with the bed, but why are you here again?"

Luster Dawn sat down and took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, I had been doing important work with Headmare Starlight on a magical cure for a filly named Candy Apple, but that hit a roadblock when we ended up needing certain biological components from the Everfree Forest, and Professor Applebloom can't take us out to get them because she's giving birth or something. Professor Sweetie Belle had said something about a naga one of her friends was adopting, and since I was kinda trying to avoid a certain alicorn- who overreacted dramatically to me asking for her blood- I decided this was a good time to broaden my understanding of the many strange and wonderful creatures of this world. I mean, my other research is on hold anyway, so why not? Also, I like not being incinerated, and Flurry Heart wants to atomize me. So, it's a great time to go for a walk around town."

Sisstet blinked, and tried to figure out all that she had just said. "You're trying to help Candy? Sshe's my friend."

Luster frowned. "She wasn't a great friend to me. I desperately needed a living pony shield to keep Flurry Heart from blasting me, and she didn't help me at all. However, I'm still going to do everything I can to fix her problem though."

Miss Silver Spoon looked flabbergasted that the unicorn wanted to use Candy as a shield. "I'm sorry, but we're still trying to settle Sisstet in, and it's been a very emotional day or two for all of us. If you want to ask Sisstet some questions, maybe we can arrange that at a future date- without any taking of blood." He wanted her to just leave forever. She'd wanted to take his blood!

Luster hung her head and sighed. "Alright, but I'm going to come back and set up an appointment." She opened the front door and began stepping outside, but froze in her tracks, before jumping back inside and slamming the door shut.

Miss Silver Spoon arched an eyebrow at her. "What are-"

Luster dived behind Miss Silver Spoon and cowered in terror. Nearly knocking Sisstet over in the process. "Hide me!" She then immediately got up and ran deeper into the house.

Both he and Miss Silver Spoon turned in confusion to try to figure out why she'd just taken off into the house like that when the door broke wide open and rained splinters down upon them.

"Fear not, citizens! Your future empress of the North has arrived to save you!"

There was a big pony with wings and a horn now standing in the area that once was the front door. Sisstet had enough of scary ponies at this point and quickly got down as low as he could and slithered under the couch. It was a tight fit, but it was safer than being around the monster pony.

"My front door!" Miss Silver Spoon screamed.

He couldn't see what was going on from where he was, but he could hear the shuffling of hooves. A second later he heard the monster pony speak again. "Oh- um- sorry… I got a little carried away. I can- um- fix that. Really sorry."

A few bits of the door had been pushed under the couch by the explosion and pushed deeper under it by his efforts to join them. Now all those pieces lit up in a pink light and started moving on their own back out from the couch. Some of them hit him in the nose on the way out. "Ow!"

"Oops! Sorry again!" Monster Pony said sheepishly. "Auntie Luna and Auntie Celestia never told me about how many repairs are required when fighting villains."

"What villain!?" Miss Silver Spoon yelled. He'd never heard her sound so outraged.

"The pink unicorn that was no doubt menacing you for some diabolical scheme!" Monster Pony replied. Then did a single laugh. "Ha ha! The door is fixed! Another crisis resolved by the future empress of the North!"

"Wha- you broke the door to begin with!" Miss Silver Spoon gawked. "Get out of my house! You too, Luster Dawn! I don't know what insane game you two are playing, but you aren't going to wreck my house and terrorize me, my wife, and Sisstet to do it."

"Sisstet?" Monster Pony replied in confusion. "That's a naga name. There's a naga here? Is this some sort of nefarious plot between Luster Dawn and the kingsnakes to overthrow Equestria?"

There was a stomping of hooves from the hallway. "What under Twilight's sun and moon is going on out here?! What's with the unicorn trying to hide under the bed? What was all that noise? Why is there an alicorn standing in our living room? Where's Sisstet? Are we already having issues with Sisstet being a kingsnake?"

Sisstet tried to hold his breath as Monster Pony 'ha ha'ed' again. "Ha ha! So, there is a plot with the kingsnakes! At last, I get to prove myself as a hero in battle! Come out, archfiend!"

"Okay, that's it!" He heard Luster yell, followed by more stomping. "There is no plot between me and the kingsnakes to overthrow Equestria! I have had enough of your moronic slander! I'm the personal student of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and right now I'm wondering how someone- excuse me- somepony as intelligent and gifted as her could have such an incompetent brute of a niece as you!"

He could hear Monster Pony growl. "I'll show you who is maronic and incompotent!"

There was a sound of somecreature either coughing or trying really hard to hold back a laugh, and the Monster Pony whooped. "I see I've left your foul tongue speechless. Now, I just have to find this kingsnake. I've already figured out there must be a secret tunnel under the house, leading to a massive underground cavern. Kingsnakes are too big to fit in houses and move about Ponyville undetected. The only way they could do it is with secret tunnels."

The couch above Sisstet started to glow and flipped over, leaving him exposed and staring at Monster Pony. She stared back at him, and her face was puckered up in the same way his got when he bit into a red candy thinking it was an apple or cherry flavor- only to find out it was nasty cinnamon.

"Did somecreature cast a spell to shrink it down?" Monster Pony asked in confusion.

Miss Silver Spoon raced over and pulled him protectively up against her. "He's a foal! Leave him alone!"

Monster Pony's mouth worked for a moment like she wanted to say something, but she kept losing what it was. Eventually she managed to speak. "This went much differently in my head."

"Something went on in your head?" Luster scoffed. "You could have fooled me. I thought you just charged in, horn blazing, ready to decimate whatever you found without giving it even a first thought."

Monster Pony shook her head and then pointed at Miss Twist. "She said that he was a kingsnake!"

Miss Silver Spoon continued to grip him tightly as she replied. "He is a kingsnake, a kingsnake foal."

The massive pony stared at him again for a moment then her rump just dropped to the ground with a plop, and she hung her head. "I screwed up again, and made a fool out of myself."

"Yeah, you did," Luster agreed. "Doesn't your mother run a school for naga? What would she say if she found out you were terrorizing a naga foal like that?" Sisstet wanted to point out that Luster had been scary too, but it seemed like a bad time to bring that up.

Monster Pony acted like she'd just been slapped. "Mom would be furious, and it would scare all the foals back at the Crystal Clutch. I think that second part is worse. They all seem to like me. I foalsit them sometimes, and I like doing it. They're the only foals I'm allowed to foalsit because normal creatures might feel like they are getting special royal treatment. I couldn't stand to have them all afraid of me."

Sisstet uncoiled a little more and peaked his head up higher. Monster Pony knew other naga foals? He never met another naga foal before, but she knew a whole school of them.

Miss Silver Spoon noticed him looking, and looked back and forth between him and Monster Pony with an odd look on her face. She then turned towards Monster Pony. "I think Sisstet might be willing to forgive you, if you tell him a little about the Crystal Clutch." That was one of the reasons Miss Silver Spoon was a teacher, she was smart, and could tell what foals were thinking. He wished he could tell what creatures were thinking.

Monster Pony looked at him, and he cowered back down again. When he did, her expression went from sad to miserable. "I'm sorry for scaring you, kid. My name is Flurry Heart, heir to the Crystal Empire throne. The naga foals back home think I'm great, but I guess I didn't make the best first impression with you. Can we start over?"

He lifted his head up again. "What are they like? The other naga? I just know my guardianss, and what they say about naga."

Flurry Heart blinked, and rubbed her head with a wing. "I'm not sure how to answer that. They're just kids, and kids are all different from one another. Drest isn't like Pennes, or Pennes like Khen, or Khen like Susster, or any of the rest exactly alike any of the others. They all have their own interests, their little things that make them different than the rest- some of them a lot different. They're like one big family though, them and their caretakers and teachers."

Miss Silver Spoon released him as he uncoiled the rest of the way and crept a little closer to Flurry Heart.

The big pony smiled down at him. It made her look less scary. "Your name is Sisstet, right? I think that's what these ponies called you."

He nodded. "Yess, that's my name."

She flicked an ear. "You've got an odd little lisp there. None of the naga back home have that."

"What'ss a lisp?"

Flurry Heart blinked. "It's- um- I'm not really sure how to define it. It's this funny thing- with the way some creatures talk-"

"He doesn't actually have a lisp," Luster interrupted in a haughty tone. "Lisps result in different speech defects. I would count it more as a learned verbal tick. If he was living with grown naga- as is customary in Equestria proper- he would inherit some of their speech patterns. Naga language has a lot of long S's is it, among other unique features, and this is typically one of many things that carry over when they learn Equestrian. I read all about it in Princess Twilight's diplomatic library."

"Know it all," Flurry Heart muttered grumpily.

Luster snorted. "Well, if you spent more time studying, instead of blowing things up, you might know it too."

Flurry laid her ears back. "I study! Mom and Aunt Twily made me learn all kinds of spells to repair things and help heal creatures… because I tend to blow things up- alot… but I'm better at those spells than anypony! Even the other alicorns aren't as good as me at those spells."

It was now Luster's turn to blink. "Okay… well, that's something I didn't know. I'm sorry for implying you are stupid. You're still foolish, but not stupid."

"Apology accepted- I guess," Flurry replied in a confused tone.

Sisstet was feeling a little more at ease, now that everycreature wasn't yelling. "How many of them are there?"

"Twelve of them, not counting the six adults," Flurry replied. "The foals actually spend time every week helping the adults figure out things, since the adult naga have a harder time learning their lessons. It's a funny sight, Watching the foals trying to teach their elders about how to tell a joke, teaching them how to draw, or how to sing a song- or even trying to explain why the adults would want to do those things."

He crept a little closer. "They all get along? The foals and the adults?"

Flurry grimaced. "Most of the time- they do get frustrated and angry from time-to-time. That's not any different than any other creature though. Naga just get a little more bite-y when they are angry and frustrated. They feel bad for it afterward though, and we have a special bunch of these weird gelly-foamy pillows set aside for them to lash out on when they really need to blow off steam. It's very rare anycreature gets bitten."

"Rare- but not unheard of?" Miss Twist asked in a concerned tone.

The bigger pony looked uncomfortable. "Naga have a much stronger instinct to bite rather than yell or scream when angry. I don't know why that is, but it's just how their instincts work. That doesn't mean they don't know that isn't okay. Most of the time they just separate themselves from whatever is making them mad until they calm down enough to talk about it, and if they are really enraged they'll go take it out on one of the pillows I mentioned- those things are really durable. Still, sometimes a bite will happen. They feel immediately bad about it, and we have doctors available to help anycreature that got bit."

"So anycreature that a naga bites should see a doctor?" Miss Twist asked in a firm tone.

"Twist, it's not a big deal," Miss Silver Spoon said in a hushed tone.

Everycreature's eyes went to the bandages around Miss Silver Spoon's leg, and Sisstet coiled up again.

"Come here, and let me see that bite," Flurry ordered. It definitely was an order, not a request. He could hear her voice shift from nice Flurry Heart to the Monster Pony once more, and he cowered down some more.

"Can I examine it?" Luster asked. "I've never seen-"

"No, you can't!" Monster Pony barked. Luster pouted, and Sisstet was now down as low as he could go.

Miss Silver Spoon looked like she wanted to argue, but one look at Monster Pony's glare made her comply. She walked forward, sat down, and started unwrapping her leg. This was apparently too slow for Monster Pony, and she lit her horn and all the bandages came off in a rush. She then kept her horn lit and held it up close to the bite- which looked very puffy.

"You've got a small infection spreading," Flurry said in a calmer voice. "Luckily it hasn't spread too far or gotten into your bloodstream. I need to take care of this right away so it doesn't turn into a big infection. Hold still, the more you struggle the more I have to grip you, and that distracts me. This might feel like it is burning, but I know what I'm doing with healing spells. The infection and any surface bacteria that haven't taken hold all need to be purged before I actually repair the bite itself."

"You actually do know what you're doing," Luster said in wonder.

Monster Pony came back with a growl. "I'm not a complete screw-up! Stop treating me like one or I'll need to use my healing magic to put you back together." Luster let off a squeak and hid behind the couch.

Miss Silver Spoon let off a hiss. "That hurts."

"You know what else hurts? Having to have your leg cut off because the infection spread too far, or having your organs stop because it got into them," Monster Pony snapped.

"You've got a rotten bedside manner," Miss Silver Spoon complained, then winced and hissed again in pain.

"Well, I don't plan on being a doctor. I'm going to be a warrior," Flurry replied. Her horn stopped glowing and she stepped back. "There, all done. Infection and bacteria are gone, and the wound is mostly healed, aside from those spots being bald. You might want to keep a bandage over that area to keep it clean while the fur regrows."

"Were you exaggerating?" Miss Twist asked in a tight voice. "Could she have lost a leg or had organ failure?" Sisstet wanted to crawl away. She was talking to the alicorn, but she was looking at him.

Flurry Heart shook her head. "No, organ failure is less likely, as you'd definitely have noticed something wrong before it got that far, but if the infection spread too far around the leg even I wouldn't be able to heal it. Only thing to do would be to cut it off."

Miss Twist's face was stoney as she turned to Miss Silver Spoon. "Silv, we need to have a talk."

The guilt got too much for Sisstet at that moment, and he took off down the hall into the bathroom, crying the entire way.

Chapter 15: Hurts and Friendship Lessons

After seeing Sisstet slither rapidly off towards the bathroom, and then hearing the bathroom door slam, Silver turned and leveled an accusing glare at her wife. “That was too harsh! He's just a kid!"

Twist blinked then narrowed her brow. "I wasn't going to say anything to him about it. I was going to chew you out for not going to the doctor like you said you would."

Silver pointed a leg down the hall towards the bathroom. "You were staring right at him!"

Twist scrunched up her nose. "I can't help it! You could have lost a leg! A leg! Although part of that is your fault, he is the one that injured you. Forgive me if I'm a little concerned about you trying to mother a type of creature you don't know much about, one that can seriously hurt you. This isn't your classroom; you can’t control everything here; it's our home."

Silver wanted to say that a classroom was more like controlled chaos, but saying that would be like saying she didn't have full control of her class. Instead, she stomped a hoof. "Do you have to be so negative about everything! You're right; I didn't take the bite as seriously as I should have—that is not Sisstet's fault."

"His bite was what could have cost you a leg!" Twist fired back.

"How was I supposed to know it was going to be that bad!"

"Um- where I'm from, if something bites me, and especially if it breaks the skin with the bite, I would probably need to go see a doctor to ensure there wasn't an infection," Luster added in helpfully.

Silver gave the unicorn a dirty look. "Nocreature asked you, and Sisstet is not a thing!"

There was a blinding flash of pink light. "ENOUGH!"

They all blinked to clear their eyes and turned to see Flurry seething with anger. "Maybe it's just me being the daughter of the Princess of Love, but I can't stand when creatures that love each other fight like this."

Silver snorted. "Well, tell her to stop being so hard on Sisstet, and angry about what I had no way of knowing about."

Flurry looked Silver in the eyes. "I think your wife has some valid concerns."

Twist smirked. "Thank y-"

Flurry rounded on her. "As does yours! You're not without fault. So, sit your flanks down, both of you, and listen to me."

Both of them connected their rear ends to the ground in unison, not wanting to make the alicorn angry.

The young alicorn looked back and forth between them, before taking a deep breath and then sitting down as well. "I don't know what all the circumstances are, but I gathered you two are taking care of that foal, and neither of you are educated about nagas. Ponies are perfectly capable of raising naga; my mother has proven that. You do need to take time to learn what you are doing, though. Red-maned pony, you need to try to show more optimism about being able to care for Sisstet. White-maned pony, you need to admit you need to learn more and to take more care of yourself. You aren't doing Sisstet any good by losing one of your legs out of negligence."

"Who are you, and what did you do with the big oaf?" Luster asked in confusion.

"Shut up, blood-sucking fiend!"

"Oops, there she is," Luster replied with seeming relief. "I was afraid you were a rogue changeling for a moment there."

Flurry gritted her teeth. "Where exactly are you from anyway, where foal bites make you need to go to the doctor?"

Luster took a nervous step back. "Uh, Canterlot…"

"No, you're not. I know accents, and you don't have a Canterlot accent," Flurry replied with a grimace.

Luster sighed. "Okay, you got me. I'm originally from the other side of the mirror portal, but I've been in Canterlot most of the last two years, except for a few trips home to see my parents before moving here."

Flurry grinned. "Ah, ha! That's why you're so weird. I'll get back to you and your interdimensional conquest plans later." Luster started to splutter as Flurry turned back to the two earth ponies. "Anyway, white-mane-"

"My name is Silver Spoon, and that's Twist."

"Sorry, Silver Spoon," Flurry replied while bowing her head. "You need to learn more about nagas if you are going to care for Sisstet properly. I'll send a letter to the Crystal Clutch to make arrangements for you to visit and talk to the caregivers there." She then turned to Twist. "And while you are very right to be concerned about your wife's health, you need to do a better job of making Sisstet feel welcomed. Do you really dislike or distrust him?"

Twist frowned. "I haven't gotten a chance to form an opinion about him yet, but I trust he is well-intentioned. I just worry about him hurting one of us by accident- like he already has."

"That's part of the nature of family. They can hurt you unintentionally, although it is typically emotionally," Flurry replied. "You're accidentally hurting your wife and Sisstet emotionally, and it needs to stop. Sisstet seems like a good kid to me, and even more timid than most of the naga I know. I'm sure he is going to try to be extra careful not to bite. The Crystal Clutch can give you advice on how to help him with those impulses. He isn't some unthinking beast that is at the complete mercy of his instincts. Bites might still happen there, but that's because they're a bunch of emotional kids who are still learning self-control, and bites aren't that common even then."

"What are you the princess of again?" Luster cut in with an arched eyebrow.

Flurry blushed. "I'm the future empress of the north."

"That doesn't answer my question," Luster remarked. "I don't recall learning what you ended up being the princess of. I remember learning about some of your mistakes. I recall something about the Princess of Lust-"

"We don't talk about that!" Flurry said, turning a deep shade of red. "That was an error on my part, a big one, and we're just going to forget that I ever considered that, or that anything ever happened. In fact, I don't even know what you're talking about. That's how forgotten it is. Stop villainously spreading slander about me!"

"Well, I only bring it up because you seem more in your element now than when you're being all Princess Blast them all and let Faust sort it out," Luster replied.

"I'm going to be a great alicorn warrior, and you will not distract me from my destiny, you interdimensional blood-sucking fiend!"

Luster fluttered her lips. "Whatever."

"Evil unicorn, always looking for blood, and now embarrassing me," Flurry muttered as she turned away from Luster. "Anyway, you owe each other an apology, and you both owe Sisstet an apology."

Silver gaped. "Why do I owe Sisstet an apology?"

"You haven't properly educated yourself about nagas, and your negligence could have left him with a load of guilt for costing you a leg. He doesn't need you making him feel any more guilty about that than he already does," Flurry explained.

"You made a big deal about my leg right in front of him!" Silver snapped.

"She's got you on that one, oh future empress of the north, " Luster said snidely.

The alicorn gave the unicorn a dangerous glare, and Luster hastily ducked back behind the still overturned couch. Silver wondered why Luster Dawn hadn't left yet. She was at least a little bit fearful of Flurry Heart, possibly with good reason, and she wasn't contributing anything useful to the conversation. Maybe it was just the unicorn's academic curiosity overrode good sense. Yet Luster kept on antagonizing the alicorn- heh, and Luster accused Flurry of being foolish.

"Alright," Flurry grumbled. "I could have shown my concern about your wound in a better way. I apologize for that- and I apologize for breaking down your door, and for terrifying Sisstet."

Luster peeked out from her shelter behind the couch. "And for trying to blast me into oblivion?"

The alicorn sneered back at Luster. "I'm still on to you, invader. You will never get to work your foul blood magic while I'm around."

Luster came out from behind the couch, looking incensed. "It is not blood magic; it is genetic research on blood that I just happen to use magic to conduct. You're positively medieval."

Silver had heard enough. "Hey, can you two take your friendship problem somewhere else, other than our house?"

Twist nodded. "Yeah, I don't think you're accomplishing much by fighting in our living room, and I'd like to keep it from turning into a battleground."

Luster perked up and grinned for some reason. "Friendship problem? This is a friendship problem, isn't it? This is great!"

Flurry looked baffled. "Huh?"

Luster started happily cantering to the front door and opened it. "Come on, Princess Blasty, we need to resolve our friendship problem. Princess Twilight will be thrilled!"

Flurry just looked around in confusion as Luster left the building. "Okay… um- right then. I guess my job is done here. I'll be in touch after I get a reply back from the Crystal Clutch. I'll get going now, I guess. I need to find out what that fiend is up to."

And without further ado, the alicorn exited the house and closed the door behind her.

Silver let off a sigh of relief. "Well, that was interesting."

"They could have put the couch back in place before they left," Twist grumbled. She then walked over and flipped the couch back into an upright position.

"I'm going to go check on Sisstet, do you want to come, or do you want to wait?" Silver asked as she started walking towards the bathroom.

Twist considered it for only a moment. "I'll let you deal with him by yourself for right now. When you've gotten him calmed down, I can apologize, and we can talk to him together about what happened. It gives me time to think about how to express myself without upsetting him again."

Silver turned and smiled at her wife. "I appreciate you taking the time to do that. I love you."

"Love you too," Twist replied while smiling softly. "Go take care of him, and I'll get out here back in order."

Silver silently crept down the hallway and knocked on the bathroom door gently when she reached it. "Sisstet? It's Miss Silver Spoon. Can I come in?"

"No."

She hung her head. "Is it because you're using the potty?"

There was a moment of silence before he replied. "I already usssed the potty- I fell in. I'm sssorry; I never used a regular toilet before."

She blinked and thought back to whether she had ever seen him go to the restroom while at school. Oddly, she couldn't recall him ever asking to use the restroom, and he was usually one of the first students out when she escorted them all to the restroom. It only now occurred to her that she wasn't sure how some creature with a snakelike body used the toilet. She wasn't even sure he had a butt. This fell under the category of information she'd never needed or wanted to know before but now seemed pertinent to know all about. It was too personal a detail for her to ask him about, and it would have to be on her list of things to look up later that night.

"Are you hurt? Is there a mess?" She asked, focusing back on what was critical at the moment.

"I'm not hurt. I jusst got pee-pee water on me and the floor," he sniffled.

"I can help clean that up. You don't need to feel embarrassed about it," she said as soothingly as she could. "So, can I come in now?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He started sobbing loudly. "Be-becaussse, I hurt you, bad. I don't want to hurt you."

"That wasn't your fault," she replied firmly. "You were terrified and angry. It's already fixed."

"I don't wanna hurt any creature, esspecially not you."

She put her hoof on the door handle. "And I trust you. I'm just going to come in and make sure you are alright."

"No!" He screamed.

A hoof grabbed Silver's shoulder, and she looked back to see Twist shaking her head. "Silver, listen to the kid. He's telling you that he's agitated, doesn't want to hurt you, and that he doesn't want you to come in. Remember what Flurry Heart said about how the naga back in the Crystal Clutch will separate themselves if they get upset enough to bite? Put your instincts on hold and take him seriously. If this is going to work, you need to listen to him when he is telling you important things."

"I've had him near me before when he's upset and was never bitten then," Silver objected. "He hides under my desk from time-to-time."

"And did you pull him out right away, or did you give him time to calm down first?" Twist asked.

Silver hung her head. "I gave him time to calm down."

Twist gave a knowing nod and stepped up to the door. "Sisstet? It's Miss Twist. I'm going to get you some towels and put them right inside the door. I won't come in. You can take a bath if you want, and when you're ready, you can come out and talk to us. I'll even make us all some candies while we wait for you. Is that okay?"

"Are you m-mad at me?" Sisstet asked in a trembling voice.

Twist chewed on her lip for a moment before replying. "I'm not mad at you. I do want to talk to you about what happened, but I want you to feel safe when we do. I was just very worried. You understand, right? Wouldn't it feel awful if something terrible happened to Silver Spoon? I was scared, just like you are right now, but we can figure out together how to make it so that doesn't happen anymore."

"You mean it? You're not mad?"

Twist snorted. "I'm mad, but I'm not mad at you. I'm angry at Silver Spoon because she promised me she'd go to the doctor and she didn't. She and I are going to have a long talk about that later, just the two of us. You don't need to worry about that."

"I got Misss Silver Sspoon in trouble?"

Trust sighed. "She's not in trouble. I'm sure she's learned her lesson. I'm still upset about it, but it's because I love and care about her very much. Which would upset you more; her losing a leg, or you getting in trouble?"

"Her losssing a leg."

Twist smiled. "And it's up to us to make sure she doesn't do anything foolish like not go to the doctor when she knows she needs to. Can I count on you to help me do that, Sisstet?"

"Yess."

"Good colt," Twist replied. "Now, run yourself a bath and relax. We'll put a few towels just inside the door in a few minutes. Come out when you're ready."

"Okay, Misss Twist."

Silver gave her wife a happy smile as she blinked away tears. "Thank you," she whispered.

Twist grinned and shrugged. "You aren't the only one who has to deal with kids regularly. Have you ever tried being diplomatic with a foal who isn't getting what they want in a candy shop? You don't stay in business long if you don't learn how to deescalate things. Come on; you can help me make some candy canes."

Silver kissed her wife before Twist could start walking back to the kitchen. Things were looking hopeful again, after a disheartening day.

Chapter 16: Not Built for Naga

Sisstet collapsed down on the floor. His body ached from trying to drape his coils over the toilet in a way that he could finish using the potty without falling in this time. It hadn't been a natural position to be in, or comfortable at all. He put his hands down on the ground and tried to loop the back of his coils just the right way around the toilet's opening, since if his whole body was up there, he couldn't angle it right to not get it all over him instead of where it was supposed to go. He managed to do it, though.

Lifting his head back up and looking back at the toilet made him pout as he saw he'd still made a mess around the edge with all his effort. It even got all over him. It hardly seemed fair that he tried that hard, and it still didn't work out. Regular potties just weren't built for naga. The potty back home was better designed for him.

Except that wasn't home anymore. His guardians didn't want him.

He shook his head and tried not to think about that. Miss Silver Spoon and Miss Twist had put some towels just inside the door sometime while he had been trying to get himself ready to poop, and he slithered over and grabbed one. After a minute or two of wiping down the floor and the toilet, he smiled as he saw they were all clean. His smile fell when he saw that he'd spread a mess through the bathroom as he slithered. Maybe taking a bath first would have been a better idea.

The tub was easy enough to plug and turn on. He watched the water rise and turned it off when it was high enough. He placed a hand in the water to test it, and was happy to feel that it was just the right temperature. He'd take a bath and then go back and properly clean up his mess.

He was just getting ready to pull himself up over into the tub when the bathroom door opened, and Miss Twist looked in, holding some wash clothes in one hoof.

"I'm not coming in. I just remembered we didn't leave you any regular-" she began and stopped as her eyes fell on the yellowish poopy slither trails he'd left as he moved around the bathroom. She traced them with her eyes from between the door to the toilet, and back to the tub and it's side. She took a sniff and dropped the cloths as she covered her nose. "How in Equestria-?"

He just couldn't seem to do anything right with Miss Twist. Every time he thought things might be getting better with her, something happened that would make her mad at him again.

"I wass going to clean it up! Honesst!" He squeaked.

She just looked around at the mess again, and after giving him one final look, closed the door. "Silver!" He heard her calling, as her hoofsteps retreated from the door.

There was nothing he could do other than what he already planned to do. He needed to clean up his mess, but first, he needed to clean himself up. He climbed into the tub, hoping he wasn't going to get into any more trouble than he was in already.

He wanted a long soak to make him feel better, but he was afraid if he took too long, they'd come back and see the mess was still there. It would also probably be harder to clean up if he gave it too much time to dry. He just needed to get himself clean and then hurry up and clean the rest of the mess. Maybe if he got it done fast enough, they wouldn't be mad at him. He'd already been kicked out of one home; he didn't want to be kicked out of another.

The bath was short, just long enough for him to make sure he scrubbed all his scales clean. He pulled the plug and watched the water run down the drain, and as it got low, he made sure that all the nastiness went down the drain with it. With that finished, he climbed out of the tub, fetched a towel, and got to work on cleaning up his mess.

The door cracked open briefly a few times as he was cleaning, but neither Miss Silver Spoon nor Miss Twist came in or said anything. They left him undisturbed as he scrubbed the floors. It took a while to do, but eventually, the bathroom was spotless. He didn't have a clue what to do with the dirty towels, and ended up leaving them in a pile in the corner. He hoped Miss Silver Spoon and Miss Twist wouldn't mind, since he cleaned everything else up.

Getting everything clean again had calmed him down. Part of that might be because now he was tired, and part of it might be just being happy he'd fixed his mess. He was still dreading what the adults were going to say, but he was more ready to face them now.

He slithered to the door and opened it up. Both the mares were out in the hallway, a short distance from the door.

"I cleaned the bathroom, but I didn't know where to put the towels," he explained.

Miss Silver Spoon and Twist looked at one another, then back at him. Miss Silver Spoon smiled at him. "We heard you cleaning. We are glad you care about cleaning after yourself, but you didn't need to do all that."

"I disagree," Miss Twist said quickly. "You did what you should have done. It was the responsible thing to do, and I'm glad you did it without being prompted. I'll show you where to put the towels in a few minutes, but first, we all need to go to your new bedroom and have a talk."

Miss Silver Spoon frowned at her wife. "Actually, I think we should talk in the living room, and show him his bedroom after that."

The other pony blinked. "Why? I figured we could take care of both things in one go."

"Because his bedroom should be a safe place that is his, and I don't feel comfortable having serious conversations there until he is settled into it," Miss Silver Spoon explained. "Everycreature needs a safe place that they can go that they feel is theirs. It's something that I had growing up. No matter what was going on between my parents and me, my room was mine, and they wouldn't trespass into it. They wouldn't even let the servants in to clean without my permission. It was my safe place, and I want Sisstet to feel he has a safe place too."

Miss Twist looked at him for a second before looking back at Miss Silver Spoon. "We'll talk about that later, but the living room will be fine for now."

Without any further discussion, the two mares walked back to the living room, only glancing back briefly to make sure he was following. He slithered along after them, hoping that they weren't planning on sending him away.

Miss Twist gestured to a couch, and he understood he was supposed to take a seat there. The two of them took seats on a sofa directly across from him. Miss Silver Spoon looked sad, which worried him, and she was looking at Miss Twist expectantly.

"So, we need to talk about you biting," Miss Twist began.

"I didn't mean too. I-"

She clicked her tongue and raised a hoof. "Hush for right now. You'll get a chance to speak, but hear what we have to say about it first."

He closed his mouth and sat still, gripping his hands in front of him.

Miss Twist adjusted her glasses before continuing. "We all heard what Flurry Heart said about naga biting. We know that naga are more inclined to bite than other creatures, based on your instincts. We also know that the nagas living up in the Crystal Clutch are learning methods to keep from biting other creatures when they are upset. Silver has told me how smart you are, and if they can learn how not to bite, then you can too."

He wasn't sure if he was allowed to talk yet, so he just nodded. He didn't want to bite anycreature.

The candymaker took a deep breath and gave him a strained smile. "Both Silver and I understand that you were incredibly upset at the point you bit her, and that it is not normal behavior for you. I still need to stress to you how much you could have hurt her, not because I want to punish you, but because understanding how bad it could have been might help you stop yourself in the future if you are that upset again. Do you understand?"

He wanted to cry again, thinking about what might have happened, but he nodded.

Miss Twist still had a strained smile. "You were with us as Flurry Heart was explaining the methods the naga use back at her home. I'm not so sure if I'm happy about the idea of giving you some pillow to bite, but we'll discuss that with the caretakers at the Crystal Clutch when we visit and ask how necessary that is to do. For now, if you think you need space, we are going to have a safe word, fibblefabble."

I blocked. "Fibblefabble?"

She nodded back at him. "Fibblebabble. I know it is a weird word, but it is something you wouldn't normally say, so we'll understand instantly what you mean without you having to give further explanation."

Miss Silver Spoon cleared her throat and spoke for the first time in the conversation. "You are only to use that word when you need space and are afraid you might bite. It isn't to be used to just get out of conversations you don't like or be abused in any other way. It is an agreement between you and us that we will respect you telling us you need space, and that you will only use it when you're sure it is needed. If you start using it all the time, it loses its meaning, and we'll feel we can't trust you."

"Do you understand and agree?" Miss Twist asked as she arched an eyebrow.

"I undersstand and agree, " Sisstet answered back quickly.

Miss Silver Spoon looked relieved and then looked back towards the bathroom down the hall, and her ears fell. "There's something else we need to ask you. Is using a normal toilet too hard for you? I want an honest answer."

He sunk into his coils and didn't reply.

"You don't need to feel embarrassed," Miss Silver Spoon said in a hurry. "I only realized today I'd never seen you use the restroom at the school. After hearing that you fell in, and then finding out about your other mess, we need to know if that is something that we need to fix."

He shivered, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "It'ss hard. I tried. I tried really hard to do it right."

Miss Silver Spoon sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that."

Miss Twist looked at her. "We don't have the money for a proper remodeling of the bathroom, not with everything else that we need to get for him. We need money for an extra freezer as well, if we are going to be storing meat. I wouldn't be surprised if there's more we need to do."

His teacher closed her eyes and lowered her head. "I know."

He started trembling violently. "Are you going to ssend me away becausse I can't use the potty right?"

Miss Silver Spoon's eyes popped open, and she shook her head. "No! We aren't sending you away."

"Silver, you know what we'll have to do," Miss Twist said slowly.

"I don't wanna be sent away!" Sisstet wailed. He wanted to hide in the bathroom again.

"We aren't sending you away," Miss Silver Spoon replied firmly.

"But you are going to have to do the thing you don't want to do to make this work, Silver," Miss Twist said just as firmly.

Miss Silver Spoon closed her eyes again and covered her face with a hoof. "I know."

He lifted his head just a little. "What do you have'ta do?"

Miss Silver Spoon lowered her hoof and then started up at the ceiling. "I need to go to my parents and ask them to help us."

"Maybe they'll be nicer this time," Miss Twist suggested with a forced smile. "I mean, we did convince them to give their blessing for our marriage eventually."

Miss Silver Spoon gave her wife a flat look. One of those looks she tried to hide when a student said something completely crazy. "After you gave them an hour-long presentation showing that your candy store had franchise potential, and selling them on the idea of setting up franchises for it."

Miss Twist blushed and looked down. "Bonnie barely agreed to let them. She didn't want there to be multiple shops where we weren't present. It felt like selling out on our quality if there were shops in our name that were doing who knew what in terms of quality. She only agreed for our sake."

"And what do you expect them to demand this time around?" Miss Silver Spoon asked in an exasperated voice. "That's if they don't just reject us immediately because they're stuck-up noble want-to-be's who don't want to be associated with a naga."

"We don't know until we try," the other earth pony replied. "We could try getting a loan from a bank, but that's an extra debt we don't need."

"I'll try. I just am not going to enjoy it, and I'm not looking forward to whatever they demand," Miss Silver Spoon said as she got down from the couch. "Let's show you your new bedroom, and then you can make candy with Twist while I go deal with my parents."

Miss Twist went wide-eyed. "You're going right away?"

His teacher nodded. "I want to get it over with as soon as possible. At least I can find out how bad their reaction will be."

Sisstet had his own worries. Miss Silver Spoon was going to leave him alone with Miss Twist. He wasn't sure if Miss Twist wanted him around. She kept saying things that seemed like she might not like him.

"First, one last thing," Miss Twist said before Miss Silver Spoon could go any further. "Sisstet, I realize you have a problem with your S's. We're going to help you with that, over time, but for right now, we need to cut out a prominent S word from needing to be said all the time. You don't have to address either of us as Miss while you are here. This isn't school, and although we understand you are respectful, it is easier to try to help you say words properly if we don't overburden you with words that already have long S's. You shouldn't have to be formal at home in any case."

His teacher blinked. "I suppose that's alright. However, I should still be addressed as Miss at school. I had always wanted to help you with your speech to help you fit in more, but never could address it properly while dealing with all the other students. Twist's right about you needing to be less formal at home. It doesn't feel like home if you are addressing us that way constantly. Home should feel more relaxed. I was always kinda annoyed that your guardians had you addressing them as guardian, instead of something more personal. We aren't going to treat you the way they did. Just say Silver Spoon and Twist, unless we are at school."

He wasn't sure if he was ready to do that yet, but he nodded along. Why did it annoy Miss- why did it annoy Silver Spoon that his guardians always had him call them guardian? Wasn't that what they were? Maybe they weren't much of guardians if they sent him away, but he didn't understand how that compared to the two mares. Teachers were supposed to be called Miss or Mister. He'd still do what he was told, though.

"Let's go show you your room," Twist said as she got down from the couch. He followed them to the room, still trying to figure things out in his head, and still worrying about being left alone with Twist.

Chapter 17: Family Contract

"I think we should have taken more time to ask questions before investing in a bed," Twist said in frustration.

Silver resisted saying how was she supposed to know. It was evident that Twist was right; they should have asked about what proper bedding for a naga was before spending money they couldn't afford to waste on a bed.

Upon seeing his bed, Sisstet had climbed up on it and proceeded to grab up all the sheets, along with the pillows and blanket, and make himself a nest on top of the bed. Most of the bed was being unused, aside from the area dedicated to his naga nest. He coiled up in it and seemed quite satisfied with his work.

There wasn't much else to the room at the moment—just the bed, chair, and desk. The bed coverings that he'd transformed into a nest were all green, and he blended in with them somewhat. The room had a single window that was above the headboard of the bed, with white and red curtains that were held over from Twist's office. Sisstet's bag had been moved to the room, minus the fish, which were now on the counter of the kitchen until they figured out how to store them properly.

"I don't suppose they do refunds or allow us to trade-in for a smaller bed and split the difference?" Twist asked in a hopeful tone.

Silver shook her head. "Never known them to do so. All sales are final."

Twist fluttered her lips. "Ponyfeathers." She instantly went wide-eyed and covered her mouth, and Silver gave her a scolding look for cussing in front of a foal.

To both of their surprises, Sisstet had quickly fallen asleep upon cuddling up in his nest. Silver supposed it had been an emotionally exhausting day or two for him, and emotional exhaustion could lead to physical exhaustion. He also had spent a lot of energy slithering around town and cleaning the bathroom—him needing a little nap after all that made sense.

"You know, he really is adorable right now," Twist said softly.

"Adorable enough for you to forgive him for biting me?" Silver asked.

Twist snorted. "It's been discussed, and as long as it doesn't happen again, we don't have anything to worry about."

Silver relaxed. "I'm thrilled to hear that."

"Go ahead and visit your parents," Twist instructed. "If he wakes up while you're gone, I can try to interest him in making candy with me. I'll be reading over some sections of that book while he sleeps."

"I don't know what we're going to do if they turn me down, " Silver said worriedly. "We could improvise some things, but anything that's a clear improvisation isn't going to pass Cozy Glow's inspection next month. Adoption agencies made it clear they'd be picky about details like that. I can't imagine that Cozy Glow would be any more lenient than an adoption agency, especially with a naga."

"If it doesn't work out with your parents, do you think the Princess might have some sort of financial aid for us?" Twist asked.

"I doubt it," Silver answered. "It's the same issue as with Cozy Glow. If you're going to adopt a foal, you have to be able to prove you can support and provide for all the foal's needs. Do you think an adoption agency would give us money to remodel to fit their standards? Obviously, they wouldn't, and I doubt it is any different with the Princess. It's kinda cheating going to my parents, but at least we can count them as part of the extended family support system."

"Support and your parents aren't words that typically go together, but maybe it won't be so bad," Twist replied. She then frowned. "I suppose I need to contact my folks as well, although I don't think they'll be that difficult about it. Bet you five bits, the first thing they ask me is if he brushes his teeth regularly."

Silver giggled as she thought of her wife's parents. "I bet you ten bits the first thing they ask is if they can give him a full dental check-up, followed soon by a suggestion for braces."

Twist rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't be shocked. But hey, I have one of the best smiles in Ponyville because of my parents being so picky about my dental health as a filly, so I can't be mad." She raised an eyebrow at Silver. "Even if a certain filly and her best friend used to pick on me for my braces."

Silver's ears fell. "I said I was sorry about that."

Lips connected with hers, and then pulled back as Twist smiled. "You're long since forgiven. I married you, didn't I? And I know you enjoy my nice straight teeth when they-"

Silver quickly put a hoof over her wife's mouth and giggled some more. "Watch it! He might only be pretending to be asleep. You're being bad!"

Twist's eyes glittered as Silver let her hoof down. "When they hold a spoon."

Silver turned her face away, blushing. "I'm going to buck you if you don't stop."

"Really? That might be an incentive to keep going." Twist said mischievously as she leaned forward.

"Twist!" Silver said in a high whisper, now blushing furiously, and pushing her wife back. "You're incorrigible! Really, save it for later. I need to get going."

Twist gave an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. "Okay, okay, good luck with your parents."

Silver turned and gave her wife one quick peck on the lips. "I'll need it. Be back soon."

She was let into the gate of her parents' estate without a fuss from the servant on duty. Technically she was always welcome to come here. Still, she always half expected somecreature to say her parents didn't want any common riffraff lowering the value of the property with their filthy presence. Once upon a time, when she was a young filly, she tried to emulate her parents. She'd mostly abandoned those habits by her later years of primary school, and completely abandoned what was left of them by the time she'd abruptly quit business school. Now she found those sensibilities downright disgusting.

She didn't have any animosity towards the wealthy as a whole. Diamond was rich, and lived in a big mansion with lots of servants, but Diamond didn't look down her nose at creatures with more meager lifestyles and incomes. Diamond helped build others up, and gave them opportunities; both of Silver's parents made sure every creature knew they weren't worth their time. Spoiled Rich at least made some effort to pretend she cared about the welfare of others, if only to give herself more power over them, but her parents couldn't be bothered with that much. They cared about money and the family business, and that was it.

The yard was the same as it ever was, lots of bushes cut to resemble ponies dancing. She didn't give it much of a look as she marched up to the front door and knocked.

The door opened, and she smiled as she saw a familiar face. "Madam Glass!"

The elderly head of the servant staff blinked. "Young Miss Spoon! Always good to see you. You don't visit nearly enough, little filly."

Silver chuckled into a hoof. "I'm well into my thirties; I'm hardly a young filly anymore."

The older earth pony mare arched an eyebrow at her. "At my age, everycreature's young! I read you stories, repaired your glasses, and prepared your meals since you were younger than the students you teach. You'll always be Young Miss Spoon to me." Madame Glass sobered up. "But I suppose you must be in some trouble. You never come to visit your parents unless you need something."

Silver's joy at seeing her old friend faded. "I do, but you understand why I don't like visiting."

The mare glanced back into the house quickly before turning around. "I can't be saying nothin' bad about the Mister and the Misses. Not my place. Come in, come in. Make yourself at home, and I'll let your parents know you have arrived."

The door was opened wider, and she bowed her head to the old madame as she walked into the house.

The main room was much the same. Every bit of furniture was trimmed in silver lacquer, and the walls were all lined with glass display cases that held every type of silverwork that anycreature could imagine existing, and many they might not be able to imagine. There were a few paintings of long-dead relatives hung high on the walls. The chandelier hanging center above the room was silver; the doors had silver trim, even the edges of the rugs were colored silver. So much silver everywhere that it became gaudy. A grandfather clock, with silver inlays, steadily ticked away the corner.

There was a stone bust in another corner that looked unfamiliar, probably yet another relative that did something to earn the family wealth and prestige. On the far wall, hanging above the fireplace, was a family portrait of her and her parents that had been painted when she was around seven years old, not long after she'd gotten her cutie mark. It was the only evidence she belonged to this family in the room.

"Make yourself at home, young filly, " Madame Glass said as she closed the door and hurried towards the study. "I'll see to it that your parents don't keep you waiting."

Silver walked over to one of the ornate couches and took a seat. She had no sooner done so than her parents came out of the study.

"Spoon! You have decided to grace us with your presence," her mother, Silver Sheet, said as she made her way to the opposite couch.

"Indeed," her father, Silver Wright, said as he took a seat in a nearby chair. "I don't suppose you are visiting us to tell us that you are abandoning your teaching career and wish to be involved in the family business."

"No, Father," Silver replied stiffly.

Her mother had the gall to look disappointed. "A pity. So what do we owe the honor? Perhaps you've decided to divorce that candy maker and get married to a stallion? It would be upsetting after all that effort we put into franchising her business, but if it meant a possible heir to the family business, we'd happily suffer the loss."

Silver gritted her teeth and narrowed her brow. "I love Twist. How can you even think that I would consider doing something like that? I don't even like stallions."

Her mother laughed. "Oh my! I don't understand why you insist being attracted to stallions is needed. We've been over this, dear. The only pony attracted to stallions in this house is your father. It's why we married. He could have his trysts with stallions, and I could have my own with mares. It's no wonder you came out a filly-fooler. Nothing is stopping you from marrying a stallion, making the sacrifice to produce a foal, and keeping that little tart of yours on the side."

There was no point in dragging this out and letting them continue to enrage her until she finally said something she'd regret. "Twist and I are trying to adopt."

"Truly?" Her father asked as he leaned forward with a hungry look in his eyes. "Well then, that is quite good to hear. Your mother and I were almost convinced that you'd leave us heirless."

Her mother also gave a satisfied grin. "This is excellent news. Please, tell us of this foal."

Silver took a deep breath. "He's a naga."

Both her parents jumped back in their seats. It only took her mother a second to recover. "A naga? As in, the half-snake creatures that burrow holes in the ground?"

Silver steadied herself. "Yes. He's actually a kingsnake."

Her mother arched an eyebrow. "Those are the ones that get very large, and command the other naga, correct?"

Silver nodded. "That is correct."

Her parents shared an unreadable look between them. "How old is this kingsnake naga?" Her mother asked.

"He's eight years old, which is comparable to an eight-year-old pony."

Her father leaned forward again. "And you said, trying, I do believe. Trying and doing are two different things."

She took another deep breath. "Because he is a kingsnake, Princess Twilight needs to negotiate with the kingsnakes for the right for us to keep him. I'm told this could take months. We also need to make adjustments to our home so we can pass appropriate inspections. That second part is why I'm here. We need to do some renovations and get some items, but we don't have the money for it."

"I see," her father said grimly.

Her mother got down from the couch and gestured at her father to head towards the study. "Wright, a few expedient words, in private."

Her father nodded and followed. "Indeed, this must be discussed. Wait here, Spoon. We shan't be long."

Her parents left the room, and she was left listening to the clock tick, trying to resist biting her hooves or going home before they returned.

The clock had barely counted out two minutes before her parents returned and took up their seats again. To her shock, they were both smiling.

"We have decided we are willing to invest in whatever you may need," her mother announced.

Invest. That meant they expected to get something out of this. She didn't respond; she just waited for the next horseshoe to fall.

"However, we have conditions," her father tacked on. There it was. At least they weren't going to make her wait. "This is technically a loan, that we shall forgive over time, provided you meet the appropriate terms."

It was her turn to arch an eyebrow. "And those terms are?"

Her mother raised her nose. "We don't care what you call him at home, in public, or at that quaint school of yours, but we expect him to be adopted with a name change to Silver Scale."

"His scales aren't silver-colored," Silver protested. She didn't know why she was protesting that, but it still rankled her all the same.

"A trifling detail," her father responded.

Her mother was not done. "Further, we expect Silver Scale to spend one weekend each month, and one full week out of each summer, under our care. This shall continue until he has completed his primary schooling. If a month is unable to be met due to some unforeseen circumstances, we expect two weekends the next month. There is no leeway with the summer requirement, although you are free to choose which week or weekend in both cases. Failure to give us this time with our adopted grandson will result in you forfeiting the terms of the contract, and we shall accept repayment."

Her brows shot up. "You want time with him? Why?"

Her mother put on a look of mock hurt. "Is it so wrong for grandparents to wish to spend time with their grandson? We also want to ensure that he is getting a proper well-rounded education, one that goes beyond your humble curriculum, and to introduce him to the family business. We have not given up hope that he might maintain our family legacy where you have not."

Silver gaped. "You're prepared to give over the family business to a non-pony?"

"Why, of course, dear," her mother replied. "Equestria is changing. It is becoming more cosmopolitan, with many species calling it home. We can cling to the idea of only ponies running our business, and become irrelevant relics, or we can adapt, and keep our family distinguished for generations to come. We have no intention of becoming relics."

Her father gave a wicked grin. "And the fact that he is one who by right of birth has command over one of those species is even better. Our family has had to suffer the title of merely merchant class for generations, and this may finally push the Silvers to a place among the nobility, as has long been our proper due. Yes, we may transition from a family of earth ponies to one of naga, but it shall still be the Silver family. We cannot let this opportunity be wasted."

Her mother nodded. "This is truly a relief and a blessing. We'd feared our family business and legacy would be lost with your refusal to be involved in it, and your insistence on lowering your station. We'd even looked into adopting an alternative heir."

"But the adoption agencies dared to claim we were unsatisfactory, the gall!" Her father all but spat. Silver Spoon resisted the urge to make any comment about how foals needed a loving home, and her parents lacked in that department.

"A grave insult, that was," her mother lamented, then smiled again. "We didn't have faith you would do much better at adopting if we failed. But all of that is behind us if you have the princess aiding you. We are prepared to pay for any additional legal counsel you may require."

"So, do we have a deal, daughter?" Her father asked, holding out a hoof.

She looked at the proffered hoof warily. "What if Sisstet-"

"Silver Scale," her mother corrected.

She shook her head and decided not to argue about that at the moment. "What if he decides he isn't interested in the family business either?"

Her parents looked at one another, and her father turned back towards her. "There is a specific risk involved in any investment, that it might be wasted. If he chooses to go another direction, that is his prerogative. However, I have high hopes that a species that is at home deep in the earth may find our silver mines more enticing than you do. Do we have an accord, daughter?"

She stared at her father's waiting hoof. She hated their reasons for wanting to do this, but it would make sure Sisstet's needs were met. She also couldn't deny he might end up being interested in the family business where she wasn't, and there was nothing wrong with that in and of itself. She and Twist would be the primary ones raising him, and they'd teach him to be a better creature than her parents were. If he did end up taking control of the silver mines, he wouldn't be a snob who looked down on others.

She leaned forward and touched hooves with her father. "We have a deal."

Chapter 18: Silly Celestia Sells Soggy Spellbooks

Sisstet yawned as he woke up. He hadn't intended to fall asleep, but the blankets and pillows were just so comfy. He peeked his head up but didn't see anycreature in the room with him—only a few pieces of furniture and his open bag.

He slithered away from the covers and down onto the floor, immediately going over to his bag. Inside was his toy train and all its passengers. He looked at the desk, and then took his bag and climbed up on the chair.

One by one, he unpacked the pieces of his train set and set them out on the desk. There were five train cars, several strips of a track, and over a dozen little ponies. Each train car was in a different color; purple, green, blue, yellow, and red. Each train car, except for the red engine, could open its roof and let him put the ponies inside. With extreme care, he carefully put the track together and connected each car on the track, while all his passenger ponies waited to be placed.

"That's a nice train set."

He jerked back in surprise, and saw Miss Tw- Twist standing at the room's door. He tasted the air with his tongue then looked back at his train set. "It's my toys that Cheesse gave me for my birthday."

Twist walked into the room, but she didn't seem mad, so he didn't try to hide. She came up and looked closer at the train set. "So, it's your favorite toy?"

"It's all my toyss," he replied, and began putting some ponies in the blue car.

Twist frowned at him, and he worried he did something wrong again. Why'd he always do the wrong things around her? He didn't even know what he did this time.

"You mean the only toy you could bring?" She asked.

He shook his head. "No, all my toys. It iss lotss of toys. There are all these different train partss and all these ponies. Ssee?"

She didn't seem to understand. "It's one train set. When you say Cheese, you're talking about Pinkie Pie's youngest colt, Cheese Slice, right?"

He nodded. "Uh-huh. Cheesse iss my friend."

"What birthday did he give you this train and all these ponies?"

"My last birthday," Sisstet answered. "Cheesse found out my hatch day was coming up, and he asked if I wass having a party. I told him I never had a party for that. He screamed and ran off, which wass scary. Then he came back with a cake and a big box wrapped in paper. He said he told his mom when my birthday wass, so nocreature would forget anymore. I don't know what he meant, ssince I was hatched insstead of born like poniess, but the cake wass good, and the box had this train and all these poniess."

"What did you play with before then?" Twist asked.

He opened up the yellow car and put some ponies in that one. "I draw or stack up rockss to make thingss. I dig in my room, and there are alwayss cool rocks to use. I play with my friendss from school too."

Twist frowned at him, and couldn't help but cringe a little. What did he do wrong this time?

She stopped frowning and gave him a friendly smile. "You really have a problem with your S sounds, don't you?"

He ducked down low. "Ssorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be sorry. I had problems speaking correctly when I was a foal. I tell creatures it was because of my braces, but that's not really true. I had problems before I ever got them."

He lifted his head. "Really?"

"Really," she confirmed with a nod.

"But you talk good now," he pointed out. "How did you get better?"

She sat down next to him. "It stayed that way for years. My parents took me to a speech expert, and he taught me some exercises. For about two months, after I got home from school, I would sit and say tongue-twisters for about ten minutes."

"And that made it better?"

She nodded. "Yes, it did. It was a matter of practice, but after those two months, I seldom had a problem again. I might have gotten over it even faster if I had practiced every day like I should have, or practiced for longer every day."

His coils loosened, and he spread out more upon the chair. "And I can get better too?"

She giggled. "I don't see why not. Flurry Heart said the naga foals up at the Crystal Clutch don't have any speech issues, so that means there isn't anything biologically stopping you from getting better. I can teach you some of the tongue-twisters I used, and you can practice on your own."

He tilted his head. "But, I don't want to twisst my tongue up."

That made her giggle again. "It doesn't twist your tongue up. You are supposed to say them quickly, and while you are saying them, it is easy to mess up what you're trying to say. That is how you get good at speaking clearly. If you can learn to say those things correctly and quickly, over and over again, then you have fewer problems with saying other things correctly."

He uncoiled so far he nearly fell out of the chair, and had to wrap his tail around the back of it to stay in his seat. "Tell me ssome!"

"Okay, let's start with an easy one," she took a deep breath. "Repeat after me. Silly Celestia sold soggy spellbooks to some shiny silver seaponies."

That was a lot of S's. "Ssilly-" He stopped and flicked his tongue rapidly in annoyance with himself for messing up immediately.

"Don't feel bad if you don't get it right away," Twist said quickly. "Just say it as best you can, and then we'll work through each part, together. After that, we'll try saying it correctly as one full sentence, okay?"

He relaxed again. "Okay." He took a breath and tried again. "Silly Celestia sold ssoggy-"

Silver closed the front door behind her and resisted the urge to just slump down on the floor. She knew she should be happy. Her parents were supplying all the funds that were going to be needed. They even, against all expectations, were thrilled and entirely on board with bringing a naga into the family. That was all good news.

However, having to deal with their back-hoofed insults about her and Twist, all while trying to negotiate as much wiggle room as she could into their contract, had been an ordeal. On the plus side, she'd gotten lots of concessions out of them. They were so desperate to have a potential heir to the family business that they'd allowed her to get far more rights in the deal than they usually would have let happen. The visit had been a victory, but an exhaustingly won one.

She didn't see Twist or Sisstet anywhere, but she heard talking back in Sisstet's room. She walked by one of the couches and removed her new-slightly-used saddle bag her parents gave her to carry home the contract so she and Twist could both sign. It was a very expensive saddle bag, made of fine silk, but her mother said it was too last season, and had no desire to keep it. Giving it to her had no doubt been just a way of showing off their wealth. Her parents could afford to toss away things that would have cost other ponies more than a month's wages. At least she got a nice new saddlebag.

With her baggage removed, she moved in towards the bedroom to see how her wife and Sisstet were faring.

"Okay, now we'll try a harder one, " she heard Twist saying. "Stallions stay silent selling silverwave and soap surreptitiously in secluded spots."

Silver stepped into the doorway as Sisstet was staring blankly at Twist. "What does ssara-ssura- that word mean?" The young naga asked.

Twist put a hoof up to her chin. "I'm not sure. It's just part of the tongue-twister."

Silver came up quietly behind her wife, who had her back turned to the door, and put her mouth right behind her wife's ear. "It means trying to avoid being noticed."

Twist gave a startled yelp, and instinctively bucked. Silver anticipated the blind bucking, and was able to dodge it. Twist turned and scowled. "Cute, real cute. If my legs connected with you, I would have no sympathy. You got that? None."

Silver turned her head coyly. "So, I suppose I don't get a kiss then?"

Twist closed the distance and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'm not going to punish myself by withholding kisses. How did the visit with your parents go?"

Silver rubbed a hoof against a leg. "We're getting the money after we sign a contract. They've got conditions, but the conditions aren't as bad as they could have been."

Twist frowned and glanced back at Sisstet. "Hey, would you mind practicing by yourself for a few minutes while Silver and I talk? You can practice as you play with your train."

Sisstet nodded. "Okay." He then turned his attention back to the train as he began to recite again. "Silly Celestia-"

Silver and her wife walked back out into the living room. Twist noticed the new saddlebag, but didn't comment on it.

"So…" Silver began. "They are actually happy we are adopting Sisstet, which shocked the poop out of me. Why they are happy isn't so surprising. They see Sisstet as a potential heir to the family business."

"And I'm guessing him taking it over when he grows up is their primary condition," Twist muttered.

Silver shook her head. "Actually, no, they didn't require it. However, they've made it clear they want plenty of opportunities to market it to him, and time indoctrinating him in how he comes from a long line of silver miners and silversmiths."

Twist rolled her eyes. "Your parents have never used a pickaxe or crafted anything in their lives."

Silver agreed, but she understood her parents' thinking. "Even if no member of my family has so much as raised a pickaxe or personally sat down crafting silver into things since my great-grandfather, they still own the mines, and they employ miners and silversmiths. They see themselves still as miners and silversmiths by extension, and have this big family pride about it. Equestria's wealth flows from the Silver family mines. I got so sick of growing up while hearing that said repeatedly."

Twist rolled her eyes again. "As if silver was the sole basis for the economy."

"To hear them say it, you'd believe it, " Silver replied with a groan. "Anyway, Sisstet has to spend one weekend every month with them, and one week every summer. I negotiated it so these could be supervised visits, so we can be present for whatever they say or do."

Her wife's ears fell. "Making us stay there a weekend every month, and a full week every summer? That's going to be miserable!"

"I'm hoping they pawn off most the stuff on Madame Glass and only come out occasionally to monologue about how great the family business and legacy are," Silver replied in a sullen voice. She wasn't looking forward to it either. It was no doubt going to be non-stop insults to her and Twist, and trying to combat them trying to put snobbish ideas in Sisstet's head. That second part is why she had to make sure she was present.

"There's some other details. Like, if we finalize adopting Sisstet we need to adopt him under the name Silver Scale," she added.

Twist flicked an ear. "I don't have any objection to the name, but name changes are a personal decision, not something that should be dictated."

Silver shrugged. "It may go on the adoption papers, but I plan on continuing to call him Sisstet unless he decides he wants to change what we call him. It's ultimately up to him what we call him, even if we adopt him under that name."

"I can agree with that," Twist replied. She looked back towards the bedroom. "Silver, he's never had any toys, aside from that train set. We need to get him some new toys. We also need to figure out what to do with that bed if we aren't going to need it. I hate to have it wasted. It just takes up too much space that he could use for other things, and that room is already kind of small."

Silver smiled. "I actually thought about what to do about the bed. We can donate it to Sweetie Belle. Her colt has been sleeping in a crib until now, but he is getting too big and old for that. We can give her the bed, and she can donate that old crib to Applebloom."

Twist came and gave her another smooch. "Sounds like everything is in order. I guess we need to start reading over and signing this contract."

Silver paused before heading to the saddlebag. "Are you sure you are alright with all this? I know you've had your reservations."

Twist sighed and nodded. "I'm going to do my best. We got a little bonding time today, and we'll get some more soon. This can work."

Silver made the advance this time, kissing her wife with more than just a peck, before stepping back. "I love you."

Twist necked her. "I love you too."

Chapter 20: Memories on Stage

Silver was about ready to sink into the floor as the final act of the play was getting ready to begin. She was glad Diamond wasn't here, as Diamond was the only one who could have been more mortified by the performance. It wasn't that it was a poorly performed or inaccurate portrayal of them; if anything, it might have downplayed some of their behavior. It did thankfully, leave out the entire Equestria Games incident, where she and Diamond had mocked Scootaloo for not being able to fly, but it had left in most of the rest. If that had been left in, she would have bolted from the theater out of pure shame. Apologies and forgiveness had been exchanged long ago about these things, but seeing it all played out felt like ripping open an old wound.

"The actresses playing you and Diamond Tiara are excellent, all the actors are, don't you think?" Dinky asked in-between bites of popcorn. "I'm getting flashbacks just watching them."

She gave her friend a cross look. "The foals are mostly adult changelings who're professional actors, and the adult ponies are professionals as well; I would expect them to be good." She then pouted. "I wish they weren't so good, and they let the actual foals play leads instead of just background ponies."

Dinky shrugged. "It is a professional performance, so we should expect professional actors. It is a great enough experience for the kids to be extras in a professional show. They learn about choreography, and a few of them have even gotten a couple of short speaking lines. I think we really should start doing a yearly school play, as you suggested. The students should get a kick out of it, and it teaches them important lessons about teamwork and dedication. Autumn Blaze has an apprentice who will be needing to go off and find work soon; maybe we can try hiring him on as a drama teacher- if the school board allows for it in the budget. What do you think?"

"I think I'm going to die of embarrassment," Silver lamented and sank lower in her seat.

"Oh, don't be like that," Dinky chided. "All your students know you, and they know you care deeply about them. The version of you up there on that stage has been gone longer than any student at our school has been alive, and they probably think of it as just a fictional version. Some of their parents probably remember it, but those parents all know you. Stop worrying."

Silver glanced around the theater to see if anycreature was looking at her, wondering how she could have been such a cruel filly. "It's hard not to worry."

"If this play was about somepony a little older than us, and it had Cheerilee depicted as a bully when she was a foal, would you think less of Cheerilee?" Dinky asked.

She frowned. "Cheerilee said she was shy as a young foal and didn't start coming out of her shell until her later years of school."

Dinky shrugged. "We don't know that. That's just what she told us. If she was a bully as a foal, would you think any less of who she grew to be?"

Silver shook her head emphatically. "No! I know her, and would never think any less of her."

Dinky smiled. "And your students won't think any less of you either."

Silver gave a small smile, but she still wished she could make herself small and less noticeable. She turned and looked at Sisstet. "Are you enjoying the play? The Crusaders are good friends of mine… even if we weren't so great of friends back then."

Sisstet gave her a puzzled look. "Did they really get covered in tree ssap that much?"

She blinked; that wasn't the question she was expecting. "Um, I'm not sure. I know it happened at least once, maybe twice, but the play might be exaggerating that for comedic effect."

"Getting covered in tree ssap is funny?" Sisstet asked.

Silver went wide-eyed and shook her head. "Only in plays, like this one. It isn't funny in real life. Please don't get covered in tree sap to try to get creatures to laugh. It's very uncomfortable and disgusting."

"Oh," Sisstet replied, and Silver wondered if he had been considering it. He then ducked down slightly. "Did you really make fun of them for not having marks?"

That was the question she had been dreading. "Yes, I did. I made fun of other foals for a lot of things. It wasn't really about them having or not having marks, though."

"What wass it about?" Sisstet asked, lifting his head slightly.

She sighed, and her ears sagged. "It was about finding something to make them feel small and less important. Bullies want to feel power over others, and they find whatever way they can. Some bullies do it with physical intimidation, others- like the type I was, try to make others feel embarrassed and ashamed. If it wasn't their lack of marks, then it would have been something else I made fun of them for. I would have found something."

He cringed. "Why would you want to do that? It's mean."

She nodded. "It's mean and wrong; that's why I don't tolerate it among my students. As for why bullies would want to do that… some feel powerless, and bully to feel like they have power over others since they have no power over their own lives. For me, it was about status."

He gave her another confused look. "Statuss? I don't understand."

She shook her head. "I was raised to think that I needed to place myself around other rich ponies to earn their approval. The only other rich foal in town was Diamond Tiara, so I did what she did to earn her approval. The reasons she bullied were different, and you'll see them soon in the play, but I did it because she was my rich peer, and she expected me to. Then one day, I realized that even with me doing what she wanted, she didn't appreciate me or value me, and no matter how much I went along with her, she wouldn't truly care about me. So I abandoned her, at least until she decided she wanted to turn herself around."

"But you made up with her, and sshe stopped being so mean?" Sisstet asked in a hopeful tone.

Silver nodded. "Yes, and I also started to realize around that time that I didn't like how a lot of rich ponies thought and behaved. They are so concerned about being seen as better or having power that I don't think they can really be happy. Don't misunderstand or jump to cast unfair judgments; not all rich ponies are like that, Diamond isn't, and Sweetie Belle and her family aren't, but many are, and you should be wary of those ones. Whenever you meet my very wealthy parents, don't let them convince you that you need to treat others like dirt or fawn for the approval of wealthy creatures, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay."

The lights dimmed, and a spotlight appeared on stage. Autumn Blaze then walked out from behind the curtain and waved to the audience while grinning happily.

"Hello, everycreature! I hope you all are enjoying the show, the concessions, each others' company, the fantastic day, and appreciate that while this play may imitate life, that in watching it, we might appreciate the wondrous and amazing gift our lives are, and that we are all players in the greatest play that there ever was, and the stars! I won't go in too much of a tangent, but I wanted to thank you all for coming out to support our theater and our production, and I know all our actors and hard-working crew appreciate you coming to support them!"

The crowd gave hoofstomps, cheers, and applause. The kirin sat smiling as she waited for the noise to die down.

"Ponyville has a rich history of heroes, and I came up with this play to help celebrate three significant ones and the humble beginnings that they came from. I'd thought about a lot of other ideas too, such as-" She stopped, waved one of her hooves in front of herself, and chuckled. "I promised no tangents! I need to keep focused. Anywho, the Crusaders themselves were unable to attend tonight, since Applebloom is in the process of giving birth. I hope everycreature here sends their best wishes to the new mother, and that her foals have just as amazing adventures as she did when she was a foal. Maybe with a little less misadventure. I mean, tree sap is so hard to get out of fur!"

The crowd gave a chorus of awes, giggles, and cheers.

Autumn Blaze gave a little hop. "Buuuut, I just found out that we do have one of the original ponies that our main cast is playing right here in our audience tonight!"

Oh no. No, no, no, no!

A second spotlight appeared, focused on Silver Spoon, and she froze in abject terror.

"Everycreature give it up for Ponyville Elementary's own Miss Silver Spoon! Woo hoo!" Autumn Blaze said with a cheer.

Silver didn't know what to do; the spotlight was on her, and everycreature was looking at her. She just lifted a hoof and waved feebly.

"Let me give some words of praise for Miss Silver Spoon," Autumn Blaze said as she paced back and forth on the stage with her spotlight following her. "Yes, she isn't depicted in the most flattering light for much of this production, but she's a shining example of how a creature can grow and change. My son is one of her students, and I know he thinks she's great. I know she also does a great job teaching him. I look at his homework sometimes, because I want to be a good and helpful mom who helps her kid with his homework, and I just stare at it all befuddled. I look at it and think, woah, he must know so much more than me about these subjects. I've got a pretty smart kid, because he gets excellent grades. That means he has a good teacher."

Now Silver felt like she was going to blush to death. Could a pony blush to death? She might soon find out.

The kirin stopped and shook her head. "I'm going off on a tangent again. Anyway, I don't want to understate how great all of the teachers Ponyville Elementary are; I see you out there, Principal Dinky Doo, Miss Flower Bed, Miss Tulip Down, and Mister Stone Carver, you're all great too, but felt the need to give a special shout out to the one who we're currently portraying in our play. We've got many students from the school participating in this play, and they're all wonderful kids with wonderful teachers, and I've enjoyed working with all these kids. Everycreature, give one last round of applause for Miss Silver Spoon and all the teachers of Ponyville Elementary, and make sure to give a huge round of applause to these hard-working kids at the show's conclusion!"

There was a massive round of applause, hoofstomps, cheers, and whooping. Silver felt entirely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from the community. It wasn't just her; Dinky was blushing fiercely now as well, and she could imagine Tulip, Flower, and Stone were all feeling the same.

The applause lasted for several deafening seconds before dying down. Autumn Blaze gave the crowd one more enthusiastic wave as she started trotting off stage. "Now time for the final act. On with the show!"

The curtain rose, and one of the actual foals, this one playing Pip, came running on stage. Silver smiled, as she had guessed that was what would be coming.

The act progressed, and the musical number where the Crusaders encouraged students to vote for Pip ended, and Silver braced herself for seeing her confrontation with Diamond.

"Silver Spoon, you didn't vote for me?!"

"No, I didn't!"

"But you're my best friend."

"Am I? Because I tried to help by mentioning your surprise statue, and suddenly, I wasn't allowed to speak. You could have actually won this election if you'd just listened to me. You wanna know how? Sorry, I'm not allowed to speak."

The changelings playing them really did capture their likenesses perfectly, and the one playing Diamond Tiara had a look of such hurt and betrayal that it made Silver Spoon all but relive the moment, only this time without her feeling the anger she had felt that long-ago day. Seeing her best friend, or at least, the foal version of her best friend, looking that anguished, made Silver break down crying.

Twist reached over Sisstet and gently touched her, giving her an understanding smile. Silver gave a small smile of gratitude back.

Sisstet looked up at them in confusion. "What-"

She shook her head, and made a shushing gesture. The play was still going, and they could talk about it later.

The play continued, and she smiled as she watched herself and Diamond Tiara embrace again as friends during another musical number. Soon after, the Crusaders got their marks in spectacular fashion. She wasn't sure they had floated in the air and been all enveloped in a light like that back then, since she hadn't been looking, but she was pretty sure that was just for dramatic effect. A final song was performed, and a curtain call was done for all the performers, with a special second curtain call for the foals that elicited so many camera flashes that she worried the foals might end up blind. She knew she was blinking due to it all.

Sisstet tugged at Silver's fur, and she looked to see what he wanted.

"Why did you cry?"

She gave him a soft smile. "Oh, that. Well, during that particular scene, I was just very upset at how much I had hurt my friend."

He gave Silver another puzzled look. "But you- the filly you- didn't look sad, sshe looked angry."

Silver nodded. "I probably was angry back then. It was so long ago that I can't be completely certain. But I'm not angry now, and that really did look like Diamond and me when we were fillies. It was like reliving the moment, only this time I cared when I saw the look of hurt on her face. I don't know if those were the exact words I said, but it sounded like something I'd have said back then, and it hurt seeing myself be that cruel and hurtful to a dear friend, even if I knew it was a play."

"But you made up, and she desserved it," Sisstet asserted.

She frowned, and Sisstet coiled up slightly. "We did make up, but she didn't deserve to be hurt in such a cruel way. There's never a good reason to be cruel to anycreature, no matter what they've done. I should have made it clear that I did not appreciate how she treated me, but I didn't need to be so mean about it. I'm just now realizing how much the two of us got away with back then, and thinking that if I were in Miss Cheerilee's place, there would have been a lot more detentions."

"Well, to give Cheerilee credit, it was hard to punish you without punishing Diamond. It just wouldn't have been fair," Dinky cut in. "And it was next to impossible to punish Diamond because of you-know-who. She probably could have given you detention for what you said to Diamond in that one scene, but after all that she had put up with from Diamond over the years, she might have just let it go. Nocreature is perfect, not even Cheerilee."

Silver wanted to object to any criticism of their shared mentor's character, but Dinky probably had a point.

"So, where to go for dinner?" Twist asked.

Silver stood up. "I know a place not far from the meat market that serves vegetarian and carnivore meals, and is clean and nice. I stopped by there a few times for a quick snack when going out that way. It's griffon owned and run by one of my students' parents, we can stop by there."

Twist stood up. "Sounds good to me. How about you, Sisstet? Do you want to try some griffin food? I'm fairly positive they eat fish, although they might prepare it differently than you are used to."

Sisstet smiled and nodded vigorously. "Fish ssounds good!"

"Fish it shall be," Silver said with a chuckle. "Let's get going. It is a little bit of a walk to get there, and we don't want to be out too late."

Chapter 21: Meeting Princess Twilight

Two full days and three nights, that was how long Sisstet had been staying with Silver Spoon and Twist. The last two days had been great—for the most part. Sisstet had been worried that Twist didn't want him, but she seemed to like him now. Yesterday, Silver Spoon had gotten him lots and lots of toys, more toys than he ever imagined anycreature ever having. There were so many of them that he hadn't even gotten to play with them all yet. Twist had been helping him with his speech problems, teaching him how to make candy, and both the mares had been giving him hugs. He'd never been hugged so much in his life, and he liked it. They were the best new guardians he could ask for.

What wasn't so great was that two of his friends, Candy and Cheese, had gotten into big trouble and had almost died. They were safe now, but Candy was still in deep trouble and facing expulsion from school.

He was in the big meeting room at the school, and there were lots of creatures here. Silver Spoon and Twist had him sandwiched between them. They were all there to see the school board decide Candy's fate.

"Iss Candy going to be okay?" he asked his teacher-turned-guardian. He messed up an S again but was too nervous to care.

Silver Spoon hugged him. "She's got Cheerilee here to defend her. Cheerilee will back up everything Candy says. Don't worry; there's no way she'll let Candy get expelled. No matter how much Spoiled Rich tries to argue it."

Twist leaned over. "Think we need to hush. The meeting is starting."

That mean old mare that had been supposed to be checking up on him and never did was talking. She had a lot to say, and he had a hard time following all of it. When she kept talking and talking and talking, he started to feel a little sleepy.

He was almost asleep when he was startled by some gasps and everycreature turning to look at something. He turned to look as well, and his eyes went wide when he saw that the princess herself had come! Everycreature started to bow, and he dipped himself down low so she wouldn't get mad at him.

The princess gave a small frown to them all. "You can all stand up. I don't care much for bowing. I'm sorry I wasn't here earlier. That grain sprite that you caught gets really feisty if you do anything to its loaf of bread. It took me a while to get to where I could properly study its magic without having to fend off defensive attacks from it."

There was now more talking—the mean mare, the princess, other ponies, Candy, lots and lots of talking. There was even another set of gasps, but there was so much talking going on that he couldn't keep up. The monster pony, Flurry Heart, came in and said some things—actually, she mumbled some things, she didn't seem happy to be there. The princess said more things; Flurry Heart said more things. All this stuff seemed too complicated for him. He just wanted Candy not to get in trouble. The princess was here now, and that seemed to make everycreature assume she'd fix everything, so he felt less nervous—and more sleepy.

"I feel honored; you never fall asleep in my classes," Silver Spoon whispered, causing him to stop dozing off.

"You don't ssay things complicated so I can't understand," he replied.

Twist giggled. "Hear that? You know how to break things down well for your students to understand."

Silver Spoon smiled. "It's my job, but I'm glad to hear I succeed at it."

"I don't want Candy to go someplace else!" Autumn Fire yelled out, making another round of gasps happen.

"Me neither! She's my best friend!" Cheese yelled right after.

It seemed like all his friends were yelling to try to help Candy. Were they going to take Candy away? Maybe he needed to yell something too, so everycreature would know that taking Candy away would be bad.

Sisstet sat up as high as he could and yelled out the best defense if Candy he could think of. "Sshe's nice… "

All eyes turned to him, and he immediately ducked back down. Did he do a good job? Did he help? Silver Spoon pulled him into a hug and smiled at him. That made me relax a little. She wouldn't be smiling if he'd done something wrong.

More yelling happened. Miss Cheerilee yelled something, and then Candy's parents, and then the mean old mare yelled something that made everycreature hush.

The princess, Miss Cheerilee, and Candy all started talking together, and Sisstet began to feel bored again. This time his eyes did droop down and close.

Sleep must have won out, because the next thing he knew, Silver Spoon was shaking him gently. "Wake up, sleepy-head. It's all over. Candy isn't going to be expelled or left back a year."

Sisstet lifted his head and looked around. Everycreature seemed to be leaving, except for Candy's family, who were all crowded around her.

"Can I go talk to her now?" he asked.

Silver Spoon shook her head. "I think right now she has enough creatures crowding her, but we can wait for her outside. You have somecreature waiting for you outside anyway."

He blinked, wondering who could be waiting on him. "Who? Iss it Autumn Fire?"

She chuckled. "He might be outside, waiting for Candy, but you have an appointment with the princess. We can't keep her waiting too long, so don't be nervous."

Telling him not to be nervous didn't help him not be nervous. He tried to hide that fact, though. Silver Spoon didn't seem worried, neither did Twist, so it couldn't be bad.

He followed them outside, and saw there were still a lot of creatures here. Some were only talking, but some seemed to be waiting. Autumn and Cheese, along with their parents, seemed like they were waiting for Candy to come out. He also saw the Princess waiting, with Flurry Heart, Luster Dawn, Fluttershy, and Cozy Glow, all standing close behind her.

He followed Silver Spoon and Twist, making sure his two guardians stayed between the princess and him. When they came to a stop, he did his best to huddle behind Silver Spoon and try to keep out of sight, even though he knew that the princess had to have already seen him.

Silver Spoon and Twist started to bow, but the princess spoke up. "Please, don't bow. If you aren't greeting me while I'm on my throne and it isn't a formal royal visitation, there's no need. This might be a royal visitation, but it is an informal one, so let's keep it that way. You can educate your students about that as well, since I've been trying to break creatures' of that habit for years now."

Silver Spoon lifted her head back up. "I apologize, princess, but I'm not sure informing my students would help much. It can be hard for the average creature to tell the difference between what qualifies as a formal visit and an informal one. It might be second nature to you, but most of the rest of us don't typically need to learn those things. Most would question why we were educating students about the formalities of government rather than focusing on the more essential facts about how it operates."

"Mom says Auntie Celestia's advice was just accept it. Otherwise, creatures will stress themselves out, trying to figure out what kind of visit it is," Flurry Heart said in a proud tone. "She said you should accept the little annoyance than for you to stress them."

The princess frowned. "She never told me that."

Flurry Heart looked down. "Um, Mom says she doubted you'd take that advice, and maybe Auntie Celestia thinks the same."

"You can get stubborn about trying to correct things," Fluttershy said gently. "No offense intended."

The princess looked around at the ponies with her and then snorted. "Okay, that might be a little accurate. Anyway, we're getting distracted. I'm here to meet Sisstet, and to give some updates and instructions since I received a reply from the Clutch much faster than I anticipated."

Silver Spoon looked back at him. "I think the princess is ready to talk to you. Come on out and say hello."

Sisstet wanted to keep hiding, but he knew that Silver Spoon wouldn't let him and that this was important. Forcing himself to be brave, he slithered out from behind Silver Spoon and looked up at the tall alicorn.

"Hi," he peeped.

Twilight Sparkle smiled at him. "Hello, Sisstet. It is nice to meet you face-to-face. I heard you are friends with Candy Apple. You must be thrilled she has been helped."

He cautiously nodded. "I am, but I didn't really understand why it wass happening."

She nodded. "It might have been very confusing, but what matters is it all worked out. Now, I don't want you to be nervous, but I'm going to have to ask Silver Spoon and Twist to step away for a few minutes to give us some privacy. Will you be comfortable with that?"

He shook his head. "No! I want them to stay with me."

Silver Spoon put a hoof on his back. "It's okay; we won't be far. She's not going to hurt you."

The princess held up a wing. "If he objects to you leaving for a few minutes, then that tells me some of the things that I wanted to ask in private. You may stay. I want Sisstet to feel safe." She lowered her wing. "May I come closer to you, Sisstet? Silver Spoon and Twist won't be leaving."

He nodded slowly. "I guess sso."

The giant pony stepped forward and bent down to look at him closely. Her size was intimidating and reminded him of his old guardians. He could imagine her eating him with little effort. "Hmm, your scales look a little worn. Have you been feeling less hungry today?"

He nodded again, but didn't say anything. How did she know he wasn't as hungry today?

"He only ate half his breakfast, your majesty. I was a little concerned," Twist said.

The princess lifted her head. "It's no cause for concern, just the early stages of an incoming molt. Give him soups and soft foods for a few days until it passes, and be ready for him to get a little grumpy, as well as wanting a few more baths. He's getting ready to shed his skin, and that's a perfectly natural process."

He ducked down low again. "I don't like that. It itchess and hurtss."

She gave a small chuckle. "I understand, but it can't be helped. I'll tell you a secret. I have to preen my feathers, and I detest it. There are servants who can do it for me, but I swear it feels even worse when they do, so I do it myself. You'll feel much better and happier when it is over, and your new scales will make you look much more handsome."

He peaked up. "Handsome?"

The princess nodded to him. "An attractive set of fresh scales is always going to make you look handsome. Ask any kirin or my little brother Spike—he's a dragon."

If she had a little brother who was a dragon, and she was an honorary kingsnake, then did that mean Princess Twilight was part pony, part naga, and part dragon? She looked like a pony, but she was a really big pony. He thought Flurry Heart was the largest pony before, at least the largest mare—Candy's dad and big brother were about Flurry Heart's size, not counting the wings and horn, but Flurry Heart looked tiny next to Twilight Sparkle. If she was part naga and part dragon, it made sense that she'd be big.

"I see no signs of neglect or mistreatment in Sisstet's current care," Princess Twilight announced. "I'm concerned that he seems easily frightened, but that could be a result of his previous care or just natural disposition. I hope that with love and care, he can get a little more confident and bold."

"We hope so as well, princess," Silver Spoon replied.

The princess's face became stonier. "I do have some updates about the kingsnake situation. My initial request to have Sisstet stay here was flat out denied."

Sisstet cowered low and whimpered. He wanted to cry, but didn't want to cry in front of the princess. He could hear Silver Spoon and Twist making pained sounds.

"However," the princess continued. "Cozy Glow sent a message to them as well that arrived shortly after mine, and I received a much more favorable reply. I was initially hesitant to discuss the details that she included in her letter, but it seems that her judgment about what would help persuade the kingsnakes was well placed." The princess turned and raised an eyebrow at the pegasus in question. "Even if she should have consulted with me about it first."

Cozy Glow stood up straight and raised her nose high. "You told me to do whatever I could to help try to keep Sisstet in Equestria. I thought it was hopeless until I researched Silver Spoon's family. I knew immediately that a kingsnake becoming the potential heir to most of the silver mines in Equestria would be an opportunity that would make them much more amenable to keeping him here."

"And you were right," Princess Twilight confirmed. "But it might have been nice to consult with me before making our neighbors think they might be able to eventually claim part of our mining industry."

Cozy Glow was unfazed. "I made no promises of concessions, nor do I think they will be interested in taking the mines from us. Sisstet is a citizen of Equestria, and if he inherits the mines, they stay with Equestria. I brought the kingsnakes to the table. You know what they're going to actually want, and that could be a boon for us in the long-term. I may have solved two problems, where you only asked me to solve one. I think I did a good job."

The princess sighed. "You might be right, but still, consult me in the future before doing something that could have that kind of effect."

Cozy Glow finally bowed her head. "Yes, Princess Twilight."

"What are the king snakes going to want if they don't want the mines?" Silver Spoon hesitantly asked.

Twilight Sparkle turned back to them. "That's not an immediate concern, but don't worry, your family's legacy won't be given away to the Clutch. I'm not prepared to discuss it further until negotiations begin. Which brings me to the next point, they're sending a kingsnake here, to meet Sisstet and you."

"As in a full-grown kingsnake? The ones as big as houses?!" Twist asked in fear.

The princess nodded. "Yes, a full-grown king snake from the Clutch. It will take time to set that visit up. I will have to arrange transport, accommodations, and more. Large dragons can fly in and leave the same day the same way, but kingsnakes don't fly, and that's a lot of territory I have to bring a kingsnake across to get here. It isn't something we can do without thorough planning and preparation. Plus, it would panic everycreature from the border to here if I didn't warn them first."

Sisstet was shivering with fright now. He was trying to be brave, but they said a naga as giant as a house was coming, something that could gobble him up in one bite. If it didn't like what it saw, it could eat him or demand he go back to the Clutch.

"So, what do we need to be doing?" Silver Spoon asked calmly.

"Just continue to take care of Sisstet, and I'll be giving you a little help," Twilight Sparkle replied, and then gestured to the ponies standing behind her. "Fluttershy is going to be taking over Spoiled Rich's position for checking on our resident naga. If you have concerns, you can speak to her. My niece and my student are going to help Cozy Glow with other details dealing with this upcoming visit."

"Us?!" Flurry Heart asked in shock.

The older alicorn smirked. "Yes, you two, and I expect you both to listen to Cozy. This is an opportunity for the two of you to bond, learn a little about diplomacy, and take some limited responsibility. You both could stand to learn some diplomacy skills, and you both want opportunities to prove yourselves, right?"

"Flurry Heart and diplomacy?" Luster Dawn asked in disbelief. "I know that I can do great at whatever I apply myself to, but Flurry… she's Flurry Heart. Things tend to explode around her."

The younger alicorn rounded on the unicorn. "I don't always blow things up! I still haven't decided if you need disintegrating, so watch what you say about me."

The princess and Cozy Glow looked at each other and gave sad shakes of their heads. Twilight Sparkle cleared her throat. "And you could both stand to learn a little humility and work on forming friendships. Luster, please don't antagonize my niece, and Flurry, no disintegrating anycreature—we had this talk already. The two of you share a lot in common if you'd just give one another a chance."

"But Flurry—" Luster began before the princess cut her off by covering the unicorn's mouth with a wing.

"Luster Dawn, you are a brilliant and amazing student, but I can send you right back to your mother at any time. Your mother and I have been very good friends since I wasn't much older than you are now, and had more than one adventure together. I know she'd be deeply disappointed to hear you saying disparaging things about my niece rather than doubling down on trying to make friends."

Flurry cracked an eyebrow up. "Who is your mother?"

Luster sighed. "Sunset Shimmer, and I don't want to be sent home. It was always my dream to come back to where my mom came from and become a great mage, like her and Princess Twilight. Earth is just so boring since Mom and her friends tracked down all the rogue Equestrian magic years ago. I never even got to see much magic at all back home because I was so little when the last of my mom's adventures were happening. You wouldn't really send me home, would you?"

"At least until you could learn a little about friendship," Twilight replied. "And only if you antagonize my niece so much she turned somecreature to dust. I might send Flurry with you if she did."

"You'd exile me?" Flurry said with a gasp.

"Could be worse; she could turn you to stone," Cozy Glow said with an evil looking smirk. Sisstet couldn't put a claw on why, but that pegasus was creepy. "I reserve the right to fire these two if they become too much trouble."

The princess nodded. "Agreed, but give them as many opportunities to do right as you can."

Cozy's smiled dropped, but she nodded. "I need to get going. There's lots of work to be done, and I'm not needed here anymore."

"You have my leave," the princess replied.

After Cozy Glow had flown off, Twist cleared her throat. "Can you trust her? Something about her screams, up to no good."

The princess sighed again. "I know Cozy is a little—devious and self-serving, it is true, but she enjoys her comforts and feels she has just enough authority not to become a burden on her, as well as a position that lets her flex her manipulative nature more positively. She also does have her moments where she is legitimately caring, few as they may be. I trust her."

Sisstet didn't trust her, she was just too creepy, and he worried Cozy Glow would find some excuse to give him back to the Clutch.

Chapter 22: S.M.I.L.E

Sisstet sat, waiting for Candy to exit out of the building. Behind him, a few lingering foals played on the school playground equipment, with their parents watching. He was not the only one waiting. Silver Spoon and Twist sat talking with Cheese's mother, Autumn Fire's parents, Principal Doo, and another mare that Cheese had identified as his Aunt Marble. The mean old mare, Spoiled Rich, had hurried out of the building minutes before, giving everyone dirty looks as she passed by, but the Apple clan had yet to emerge.

"What's taking so long?" Autumn Fire grumbled. He was sitting to Sisstet's right, and his tail was lashing back and forth on the dry ground, making a little cloud. Every once and awhile, Sisstet was sure that actual smoke came off it, instead of just a cloud of stirred up dust.

"Do you think they told her that she had to stay in the school there all summer?" Cheese asked from Sisstet's left in a worried tone, voice cracking.

"No," Autumn replied quickly. "They said she wasn't getting punished."

Cheese chewed on his lip. "But they said that she'd still get punished by the principal and the teacher. Maybe that's the punishment they were talking about."

Autumn pointed a hoof behind them. "Miss Silver Spoon and Principal Doo are right back there, and they're waiting too. They aren't keeping her in there. She's just taking forever. It's been like hours."

Sisstet turned to him and blinked. "It has only been a few minutess." He corrected his friend.

Autumn crossed his forelegs over his chest. "Well, it feels like hours."

The kirin's tail flicked even more violently. It struck Sisstet's, singeing him. The burst of pain made Sisstet dive forward, immediately raise his head high, baring his fans, and let off a long menacing hiss. Both Autumn and Cheese fell backward and crawled away on their backs in terror.

"Sisstet, no!"

The fear-filled sound of Silver Spoon's voice snapped him out of his burst of rage. He saw his friends staring at him with wide eyes while they shivered, and he immediately cowered back down upon himself. Autumn and Cheese's parents came rushing over to check on their foals while giving him angry and distrusting looks.

Autumn Fire was the first to shake off his fright and pushed his mother's hooves away. "I'm fine, Mom. It's my fault. I think I burned Sisstet by accident."

"Are you sure?" Autumn's mother fussed as she looked him over. "I want to know if you're completely sure, or halfway sure, or a quarter sure. Did you scrape anything or sprain your tail? I had a terrible tail sprain once, and I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but then when—"

"Um, I'm completely sure, Mom," Autumn answered before his mother could go on a long tangent. "I'm not hurt. The only creature who got hurt was Sisstet." Autumn looked past his mother at Sisstet. "I'm sorry. I was getting a little hot. That's been happening a lot. I might be getting to where I can go nirik soon."

Whatever anger Autumn's mother had about Sisstet's outburst seemed to evaporate immediately, and she started talking to herself. "Oh! Oh my! It's okay, Autumn; your son is just getting older. You knew this day would come. You just didn't plan for it the way you should have. That's not a big deal. It's not like he's going to burn any buildings down. This is a natural part of growing up that all kirin go through. I just need to invest in a fire extinguisher and maybe give him access to the stone room. Oh! Anger management classes. I definitely need to invest in anger management classes for Autumn—for him, not me. You don't need anger management classes for yourself, Autumn; you need them for Autumn. Keep focused. Oh, why did you name your son after yourself? It gets so confusing. I need a third-party. Noteworthy! Have we got fire insurance on the house!"

Autumn's dad started trying to soothe his mother. While that was going on, the ordinarily loud Pinkie Pie silently hugged Cheese. The yellow colt just accepted it just as silently.

Sisstet felt a wave of relief that he hadn't hurt his friends and that his friends' parents seemed to have lost interest in him. That relief went away as he realized that Silver Spoon and Twist hadn't run over to him just like his friends' parents had for them. He had been hurt, his tail still stung, and no one was giving him hugs and making sure he was alright. He looked over to them and saw they were very slowly and cautiously approaching him.

"Sisstet… are you calm?" Silver Spoon asked when she was a few steps away.

He understood why he wasn't getting hugs now, but understanding it made him feel worse. They were afraid that he might bite them. He couldn't blame them. He had already bitten Silver Spoon once, and if Autumn hadn't backed away as fast as he had, Autumn might have gotten bit too. He didn't want to bite anycreature.

"I'm calm. I won't bite," he replied dejectedly.

Silver Spoon changed her pace and reached him quickly. She didn't grab him into a hug, though. She came up beside him and sat, spreading her forelegs to let him know she was offering a hug. Twist sat beside her and looked worried. He couldn't tell if the worry was about him being hurt or if he would hurt somecreature.

He slithered to her quickly, eager to be comforted. Silver Spoon carefully pulled him close to her and hugged him gently.

"I'm trying not to apply too much pressure on you," Silver Spoon explained. "I know you just got a burn, and you're also getting ready to shed your skin. Let me know if I'm hugging you too tight."

She was barely putting any strength into the hug. "You can hug tighter. It's only my tail that hurtss. Can you make it better?"

Silver Spoon hugged him tighter, and it felt good having her warm fur tighten around him. She also turned to look at Twist.

Twist came closer and examined his tail, not touching it. "I don't see anything that looks too bad, just some inflammation. When we get back home, I'll put something on it. I sometimes get burned too. It's one of the hazards of working around ovens all day. Even when you try to always be careful, it can still sometimes happen."

"For now on, be careful about being too close to Autumn when he's agitated," Silver Spoon advised. "He doesn't mean to hurt you, but accidents can happen. He'll need to learn to distance himself a little when he's getting angry, but you should still pay attention to warning signs he's getting hot."

"And if you get hurt or angry, you should immediately do the same," Twist added. "We know you don't want to hurt anycreature, just like Autumn doesn't. You did the right thing, moving away from them like you did, even if you hissed and scared them."

"I don't want to be sscary," Sisstet cried.

Silver Spoon hugged him tighter and rocked him gently. "We know you don't, but it is better if you give them a scare than hurting them. That's your way of warning them that you might bite. It's instinctual, a self-defense measure, and something that you'll try to do even if you aren't thinking straight. When we get hurt or scared, we don't always think straight, and we can do things we regret in those moments. The thing you end up regret doing should be scaring them rather than hurting them. Don't you think so?"

"But I don't want to sscare...scare them or bite them," he replied, correcting his speech.

"We know you don't," Silver Spoon repeated. "We'll try to find ways of helping you not need to hiss, but for right now, nocreature is mad at you for it. You heard from your friend. He understands."

"I suppose so," Sisstet said slowly, looking over at Autumn and seeing that his parents were now talking and Autumn was just watching him, looking sad.

Silver Spoon released him from her hug. "Now, why don't you just apologize to your friends for scaring them and let Autumn tell you he's sorry for accidentally hurting you."

Sisstet turned towards Autumn. "I'm s-sorry for s-scaring you."

Autumn came closer to him and gave a weak smile. "I'm sorry for burning your tail." He held out a hoof. "Still friends?"

Sisstet placed his clawed hand against the hoof. "Still friends."

He then looked over at Cheese. The colt was free of his mother's embrace and dragging a hoof back and forth on the dirt. "I'm not mad. Can I hug you?"

Sisstet blinked. "Yess, I'm sor-"

He didn't get to finish his apology before Cheese all but lept on him, hugging him. It was a shock, but not the kind of surprise that would make him hiss.

"Aww, ya'll ur so cute," a familiar voice said behind him.

He and Cheese broke their hug and looked back at Candy Apple standing just behind them. She looked tired, but she was smiling. Her family was coming to greet the other adults, and old Principal Cheerilee had moved to speak with Principal Doo.

"It's great to see you, Candy. I love your new cutie mark," Autumn said, almost bashfully. He then licked his lips. "You're you, aren't you, and not some other creature? You sound like you, but I never know."

Candy's smile got bigger. "Yep! Ah'm me, and going to stay me from now on. Ya seem mighty glad to see me." She batted her eyes at the kirin. "Ya know, when Cheerilee was in mah head, she made me see things about ya I didn't before. Do ya think ah'm cute, Autumn?"

Autumn went wide-eyed and backed away. "I-I um… I mean to say-"

"He thinks you're really pretty," Cheese said with a laugh and a giggle.

"Cheese!" Autumn shouted, looking even more like he wanted to run away. Candy added some giggles of her own, but still gave Autumn a shy smile.

Sisstet crept forward towards her. "I'm glad you didn't get in trouble, and that you aren't going to be other creatures anymore. I didn't like all those other creaturess."

Candy stopped giggling and gave him a sad look for some reason. "Ah'm really sorry 'bout some of them. Ah know some didn't treat ya right. Ah saw everythin', but couldn't do nothin' 'bout any of it. Ah promise, mah word as an Apple, that ah'll treat ya right from here on."

Candy's earth pony brother Caramel Apple walked over and joined the group. "Is mah sis gettin' ready ta get ya'll into trouble?"

The little red unicorn filly turned and glared at her brother. "Ah am doin' nothin' wrong!"

Caramel didn't look convinced. "Ma said that ya got an adventurin' cutie mark, and ah need to make sure ya don't do nothin' crazy because of it, and Pa said it was mah job as your big brother ta make sure ta ya keep safe."

Candy growled and stomped her hoof. "Ah am going ta be a great unicorn mage and adventurer, like Princess Twilight's grandpappy. Ah fought off a timberwolf by mah'self. Ah don't need ya watching over me like a little filly."

"Ya are a little filly, and ya almost burned ya'self up fightin' that varmint," Caramel countered.

Candy raised her nose high and sniffed. "Ah'll get better. Plus, ah got all mah friends here who'll be mah posse."

"What's a posse?" Sisstet asked in confusion.

"It's a group of creatures that go out an' fight All the bad guys, right all the wrongs, and do good things," Candy explained. She then suddenly smirked. "Ah know! We can be the new agents of S.M.I.L.E! That was what Princess Twilight's grandpappy was in charge of, but they went away."

"I smile all the time, but what does it mean to be an agent?" Cheese asked.

"Trouble," Caramel muttered.

"Ah, thought ya liked it better when ah was doing stuff like this!" Candy shouted at her brother.

"That was before. Pa said, ah gotta keep ya safe now. He said it's a big responsibility," Caramel replied. He then softened his expression and looked pleading. "Ya almost died, sis. Ya can't be doing that stuff. Ah don't want ya ta die. Ah was really scared when ya were lost out in the woods, both times, and Ma, Pa, Aunt Applejack, Aunt Applebloom, Strawberry, Rainbow Dash, and Bright were all scared too. We're ya family, don't ya care 'bout us?"

"Ah care!" Candy retorted. "Ah'm not gonna-"

"Excuse me, students," Principal Doo interrupted. She had come over to them, flanked by Silver Spoon and old Principal Cheerilee. "Since the majority of you were in Miss Silver Spoon's class, we felt like we would break some news to you now."

Candy immediately shifted her attention and gave them a suspicious frown. "What ya mean, were?"

Principal Doo smiled at them. "Miss Silver Spoon is not going to be your teacher next school year; she'll be taking over my old class, from before I was promoted."

"Aww, but we like Miss Silver Spoon!" Autumn protested.

"We don't want her to go away! She's our favorite teacher!" Cheese cried.

"She's been ya only teacher," Caramel said to the younger colt.

"She's still my favorite," Cheese replied.

Sisstet felt a wave of panic. Miss Silver Spoon was supposed to watch over him. He didn't want to have a different teacher. He felt like crying. "Why? Why can't ssshe ssstay our teacher?"

Principal Doo sat down and touched a hoof to his shoulder. "Actually, because of you, but that's not a bad thing."

"It's Sisstet's fault?!" Autumn yelled while giving him an angry look.

Principal Doo looked up. "Students, please, let me explain. Miss Silver Spoon is trying to adopt Sisstet, and we aren't allowed to have teachers teaching their own foals. Somecreature would say he only gets good grades because Miss Silver Spoon is his mom, and she boosts his grades. It might not be true, but the rules are in place so nocreature has any reason to accuse anycreature of anything like that."

"Miss Silver Spoon is going to be Sisstet's new mommy?!" Cheese exclaimed excitedly. "That's great! We need to throw him a party, a you got a great new mommy party!"

Autumn still didn't look happy, but he didn't look angry anymore. "I suppose that's alright. I still think it's unfair they make her go to a different class. She wouldn't cheat his grades."

"I agree with you. I know she wouldn't do anything like that, but the rules are the rules. They're in place to protect us, and we all have to follow them," Principal Doo replied.

"So… who is gonna be the new teacher?" Candy asked.

Dinky Doo looked to her side at old Principal Cheerilee. "Miss Cheerilee is coming back to Ponyville and will be taking over the class. I tried to convince her to take back over as principal, and let me teach, but she wouldn't do it."

Cheerilee held a hoof to her mouth and chuckled. "You were such a quiet filly, but you've grown into a highly capable mare, and you're going to be a great principal. You've proven you can stand up for all our students against bullies like Spoiled Rich early on, and you're an excellent administrator. I'm sure you'll only get better with time, and you have a lot more years left in you than I do. I feel better for our school, knowing you're going to be at the helm."

"Cheerilee is gonna be our new teacher! This is awesome!" Candy crowed.

The teacher coughed into her hoof. "It's Miss Cheerilee, Candy. I know you and I have a special bond, but I am not going to show you favoritism. On that note, I'm also giving you notice that you won't be allowed to demonstrate potion making in my class."

"Aww! But Aunt Applebloom was gonna to supervise it!" Candy protested.

Cheerilee smirked. "And she's the one that caused me to institute the ban, and she's still banned from demonstrating potions in my classroom. That's what a lifetime ban means. You've heard my thoughts on the matter, so you know I'm serious."

Candy sat and crossed her forelegs over her chest. "Well, there goes looking forward to that."

"I'm sure Applebloom will be more than happy to teach you about potions still, just outside my classroom," Cheerilee said. "I also am the one who'll be dealing with your summer punishment. I decided that you can help me and Miss Silver Spoon get our respective classrooms set up. She needs to move her decorations and supplies to a new room, I need to decorate the classroom the way I prefer, and Principal Doo still needs to get her stuff out of that other room."

Candy flicked her tail. "Ah suppose that's better than cleaning gum off desks."

"That's all we needed to say, you can all go back to playing," Silver Spoon said, then the adults turned and left, chatting with each other as they went.

"Sso what is S.M.I.L.E?" Sisstet asked. He didn't want to think about having a new teacher next year. Miss Cheerilee was always nice, but she wasn't Silver Spoon. There was no point complaining about it, though.

Candy grinned. "We're going to hunt monsters!"

Chapter 23: Headquarters Established, Assignment Given

Sisstet caught a ride on Miss Applejack's back as all the foals made their way to Sweet Apple Acres. Candy had said something about restarting the Cutie Mark Crusaders to her Aunt Applebloom, and the mare had excitedly given instructions to take them somewhere.

He wasn't entirely sure how they were supposed to be the new Cutie Mark Crusaders since Candy, Cheese, and Caramel all had their cutie marks, and he and Autumn couldn't get cutie marks. At least, he didn't think he and Autumn could. He was pretty confident that Silver Spoon had taught them that Kirin's equivalent of marks was differences in the shapes of their horns—which if you weren't a kirin, you might not notice all the details in the form. There hadn't been any lesson on naga getting or not getting marks, but since naga weren't ponies, it didn't seem likely.

They were walking through the Apple orchard. Technically, Candy, Caramel, Cheese, Autumn, and Miss Applejack were walking while he rode and Miss Rainbow Dash flew along above them.

It felt like they had been walking a long time, but this was the farthest away from the main part of town he had ever been. The farthest he had ever gone was from his old home to the School of Friendship, and if he had to guess, this was at least twice that distance. It definitely looked different than anywhere else he had ever been. There were trees everywhere, and he couldn't see any buildings at all. Being somewhere where he wasn't either in a building or where he could see a building made me feel very exposed and nervous, and made him grip all the harder onto Miss Applejack, but she didn't seem to mind.

Silver Spoon and Twist had said it was okay for him to visit the Apples, and wanted him to spend time playing with his friends. Spending time with his friends was great, but he had expected it to be somewhere they would be somewhere more familiar. Was this the woods? Would they run into a timberwolf? Candy wanted to fight monsters, but he didn't think she meant to start today!

"Almost there, ya'll," Applejack announced. "Ya'll are going to love it. Me and my friends played here when we were youngins. Applebloom and her friends took it over when they were young and gettin' up to mischief. Then finally, Bright Pear and his friends had it most recently. That there old treehouse has been the refuge of any number of foals."

"Um, Miss Applejack?" Cheese said in a wary voice. "If it is a treehouse, should Autumn be coming into it?"

Autumn stopped where he was and glared at Cheese. "Why shouldn't I come to the treehouse?"

"Um, you sort of catch on fire when you get mad. Fire and trees don't go together—sorry," Cheese squeaked.

Applejack stopped and looked back. "Uhhh, maybe we can put a barrel of water in place— in case of emergencies. It shouldn't be a problem. There have been plenty of kirin in Ponyville for a while now, and the town hasn't burned down because of 'em."

"See, it's fine, Cheese," Autumn attested.

"Ya know, Princess Twilight when she was much younger, and a unicorn still, would sometimes catch on fire too if she got too riled up," Applejack said in a nostalgic tone."Ah reckon that there are lots of unicorns that are like that. They say that unicorns are like distant cousins to kirin, so they do some of the same things sometimes."

"Candy has a flame as part of her mark, and she set part of the woods on fire," Caramel observed. "Can she catch on fire?"

Applejack shook her head. "Ah don't rightfully know—she could. That means havin' some safety precautions in place for fire ain't just because of Autumn. Plus, I know foals get up to trouble. Applebloom sure did give us all regular scares when she was a youngin'— gettin' into trouble in ways you wouldn't believe she could, so it's always a good idea to be ready for anythin'. Best not to go assumin' anythin' about anycreature."

"Doess it hurt? Catching on fire?" Sisstet asked.

"I've never gone nirik, but my mom says it doesn't hurt," Autumn answered. He looked at Candy. "Kirin are supposed to go nirik, though. It would probably hurt for any other pony."

"Never hurt Twilight none," Applejack responded. "Maybe it has to do with it being your own magic. Ah ain't an expert in that. Haft to ask a unicorn mage, or my sister might know. Applebloom knows more about magic than most unicorns. Regardless, ah don't think it will be a problem."

Well, if Autumn's tail was any indication, it could still burn other creatures. Sisstet knew it would burn him at least.

Applejack came to a sudden halt that almost dislodged Sisstet from her back, but he managed to grip on her tighter. She grunted in discomfort, and he immediately loosened his coils slightly.

"Okay, ya'll, we're here," Applejack announced as she pointed up at a tree.

Sisstet looked up at the tree. There was definitely something up there, but he couldn't make out what it was between all the leaves and branches. There was a long set of steps that ran down from the tree to the ground, but he couldn't see where it went in the tree. Was this supposed to be hidden?

"Ah, cain't really see it," Candy said in confusion.

"It just needs a'little ol'fashioned handiwork," Applejack replied. "It's been sittin' vacant since Bright Pear couldn't use it anymore. There's a hole in the boards up there where he fell through. Ah told that colt that he didn't need to be jumping around up there with how big he was gettin', but the dang fool wouldn't listen."

Rainbow Dash landed down in front of them. "Don't worry. With me helping, you'll have this place fixed in five seconds flat."

"Only if they want it done wrong!" Applejack protested.

Rainbow turned and glared at the farm pony. "Hey! Is that any way to talk about your future wife?"

Applejack stepped forward and butted heads, literally, with the pegasus. "Ya may be my intended, but that doesn't mean ah trust ya any more than ah ever did when it comes to putting somethin' together right. Ya rush too much and mess it all up!"

"Just because it is done fast doesn't mean it is done wrong!" Rainbow shouted as she spread her wings. Sisstet began to wonder if being on Applejack's back was a good idea. It seemed like the two ponies were going to fight.

"Have ya forgotten what happened when ya volunteered to help with the zap apple harvest?" Applejack asked with a growl.

"Hey! How was I supposed to know my pegasus magic would make the trees come alive and attack us? Who would have predicted that?" Rainbow said defensively.

"Or when ya tried to rush the barn raisin' durin' the last reunion?" Applejack continued.

Rainbow backed away and blushed. "Uhhh… that one might have been on me. Nocreature got hurt, hehe."

"Or when ah asked ya to help feed the pigs?" Applejack said without relenting.

"It… could have gone better. In my defense, I'm pretty sure that rooster had it out for me."

"Or—"

Rainbow did a few quick flaps of her wings and went into a low hover. "Okay, okay! I might not be the best at doing farm tasks. How about I help deliver the supplies here for the kids? I can't mess that up."

Applejack grunted. "Ah suppose—"

"On it!" Rainbow yelled, then dashed away through the air.

The farm pony sighed and shook her head. "That featherbrain rushed off without checkin' with me to see what was needed or where to get it." Applejack let off a second deep sigh to punctuate her mood, then turned to the foals—minus Sisstet, who was forced to stay behind her head due to being currently wrapped around her. "Mind the hole in the corner of the house, but the rest should be safe for you to explore. Ah went out and looked this place over when we were searching for a certain little filly and colt the other day. Figured there were a small chance ya were hidin' here."

"Yeeeah—sorry 'bout that," Candy said sheepishly.

"Sorry, Miss Applejack," Cheese said just as sheepishly.

Applejack bent down, which Sisstet took as a sign it was time for him to exit his pony ride. He released his grip and slithered off quickly,

"Go on up and check it out," Applejack insisted. "Just mind the place Bright fell through the floor."

Candy, Autumn, Cheese, and Caramel all ran by Sisstet and Applejack, and the other foals quickly ascended the stairs up into the tree. Not wanting to be left behind, and more than a little eager to be in an enclosed area, Sisstet hurried after them.

When he reached the inside of the treehouse, all the others were already looking around. There was a lot of space up here, enough for more than a dozen kids, if they squeezed in right. There was dust everywhere, and leaves, and everywhere a foal went, they left tracks in the dust. The walls were even covered in dust, although there were many rectangular spots on the walls that were less dusty—perhaps where something had previously been hanging. In the far corner, there was a large hole in the floor that Cheese was currently sticking his head in for a closer examination. There were two windows, and both of them currently had tree branches poking through them.

"This is perfect!" Candy exclaimed as she looked around.

"Glad ya'll like it," Applejack called out from below. "Ya'll can take time to get your bearings. If Rainbow Dash shows up with the right supplies, you can fix that there hole, sweep out the dust and leaves, trim back the branches, and have this place lookin' good as new in no time." The farm pony paused. "And if she ain't got the right supplies, tell her, ah've gone back to the house, and she can come ask me like she shoulda before."

Caramel pushed Sisstet aside to look down the steps. "You're leaving?"

"Yep," Applejack answered. "Treehouse is a place for foals, not grown ponies. I expect ya'll to head back to the farmhouse before it gets dark, and one of us will escort Autumn, Cheese, and Sisstet back home. Till then, ya'll will be good on ya'lls own—long as you stay here. Ah'll see ya'll in a while. Have fun till then."

Sisstet slithered around the room at a slow pace, feeling the cracks in the boards beneath his scales. He came over by the hole in the floor and looked down before immediately pulling his head back and backing away from the gaping chasm. It was a sheer drop down to the ground through that hole and seeing it made his belly feel woozy. His first real exposure to heights had been when that bat pony had carried him around in a net, and he decided that he didn't like heights, not at all. Just thinking about heights made him want to hide, shiver, and bite all at once.

"Alright, agents, now that we have our base of operations, it's time to get to the first order of business," Candy announced.

"Ya ain't huntin' monsters!" Caramel shouted.

Candy waved a hoof. "Well, not yet. We ain't ready for that."

Sisstet felt a wave of relief. He didn't want to go hunting monsters. That sounded scary. "What are we doing?" he asked.

Candy grinned. "Ah figured that since all the great heroes come in groups of six, like the Elements of Harmony, we need to enlist a sixth member."

"I'm confused," Cheese said while scratching his head. "Are we S.M.I.L.E, the new Cutie Mark Crusaders, or the Elements of Harmony?"

"We're usin' the name Cutie Mark Crusaders as an alias. We're really the Agents of S.M.I.L.E and the new Elements of Harmony!" Candy said proudly.

"We can be both?" Sisstet asked."And what's an aliass?"

"It's our name we give, so they don't know our secret identity," Candy explained.

"How do we know what element we are?" Autumn asked with interest.

Candy pointed at the kirin. "It's easy. Ya're the Element of Loyalty because ya're so loyal and devoted, and ya think ah'm cute."

Cheese giggled as Autumn blushed, and Candy turned her attention to the yellow colt. "And ya're the Element of Laughter because ya mom was Element of Laughter, and ya like to laugh." She pointed at her brother next. "And Caramel can be the Element of Honesty because an Apple should be Element of Honesty."

"Why not you?" Caramel protested. "Ya an Apple too!"

Candy flicked an ear. "Because ah have to be the Element of Magic, obviously. Don't go tellin' Ma and Pa we're doin' this either."

"Ya want me to be the Element of Honesty and lie?!" Caramel demanded in outrage.

"Keepin' a secret ain't lyin'," Candy replied with a sniff.

"What am I?" Sisstet asked.

The filly grinned. "Ya are the Element of Kindness because ya are shy and timid, like Fluttershy. We need to find an Element of Generosity to complete the team!"

Sisstet considered his designation. He had heard many creatures tell him lately that he was unusually shy and timid for a naga. It was true that he did scare easily, and he didn't like to interrupt others when they were talking, but he usually didn't think much about it. While being compared to Fluttershy was a good thing, he wasn't sure all the creatures had meant it as a good thing when they called him timid. The kingsnake that was coming was probably going to be judging him. What would the kingsnake think if it thought he was too scared of everything?

Maybe hunting monsters would be a good thing. It would prove that he could be brave, too, just as long as Candy didn't get them into too much trouble.

"Now, let's get to work, figurin' out who is gonna be the sixth member of the Agents of S.M.I.L.E!" Candy ordered happily.

Chapter 24: Apple Bloom's Wild Plan

Silver felt anxious as she and Twist approached Apple Bloom's house. "I hope that Sisstet is okay. He isn't used to going without adult supervision."

Twist gave Silver a long-suffering look. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash will be with them at least part of the time, and I'll be checking in on them periodically. They're basically letting him play in their yard. Other foals his age go out on their own for an hour or two at a time, provided they tell their parents where they are going. We have to start giving him a little freedom. It isn't good to over-shelter him."

"I know, but we've only had him a few days. It isn't like we sheltered him that much so far," Silver whined.

"And we aren't going to fall into the habit of being too sheltering, now are we?" Twist asked with a tone of finality.

"He is going to have to be away for a few hours at a time here and there, no matter what," Twist said with a sigh. "You saw that list of things we needed to remodel that Cozy Glow gave us. He can't be slithering underhoof when the workers come in to do that."

"Yeah, I know," Silver replied. She scrunched up her muzzle. "I can't believe it is so extensive! We wouldn't need that many things done if one of us were giving birth to a foal. Such as moving our windows and making them bigger, seriously?"

"Whatever Cozy Glow wants. At least your parents are going to be taking care of the bill," Twist replied. Her ears then sagged. "Sorry that I won't be able to be there when you first arrive to have him visit them tomorrow. I can only take off work for so long, and this past week was kinda last minute."

"It's okay. Let's focus on this visit first before worrying about that visit," Silver said and then knocked on Apple Bloom's door.

The door opened quickly to reveal a very frazzled looking Scootaloo. "Relief at last! Thank Twilight! You have no idea how good it is to see you two."

Silver laid one ear back. "Is it that bad?"

Scootaloo dejectedly shook her head. "I don't know. Sweetie has been pointing out that I usually am so good with kids, but I normally deal with older kids that I can give lessons, pep talks, and advice. I can't do that with babies. Babies don't understand what I'm saying. I feel so lost when they start crying because I can't calm them by talking them through whatever their problem is."

Silver perked her ears up. "It sounds calm right now."

Scootaloo snorted and muttered. "Right now, yeah, but that can change at any moment. Maybe this is why I should stay single and never have any kids. I can't do the whole mom job like Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom." She looked back briefly into the house. "Apple Bloom's sleeping again. She really shouldn't have gone out today, not after the delivery she went through, but there was no stopping her. Try to keep the noise down and don't bother her."

Silver and Twist stepped past the pegasus as she stepped aside. "Will do," Silver replied. "Who else is here?"

"Tender, Sweetie, and Sweetie's kid," Scootaloo answered as she gently shut the door. "Sweetie's niece was here for a little while, but Sweetie got so fed up with her attitude that she just told her to go home. Rarity is going to be mad—not at Sweetie Belle, but at that bratty filly. It's hard to believe they're even related."

The living room of the house had a cornucopia of decorations and items. There were the regular sofas and table, with knitted cloth coverings, but the things up against the walls and on the walls were always more eye-catching. There were three large bookshelves, two of which were packed with books dealing with every arcane subject a pony could think of; the third had an assortment of trophies from various dance competitions. Most of the awards bore just Tender Taps' name, but there were a few that were dedicated to the best couple and had Apple Bloom's name included. Hanging on the walls were photos of the couple, along with a few scattered pictures of each of their families. Silver also counted six stylized medicine masks—one more than her previous visit, similar to the ones that Zecora once kept in her hut. At least one of them, she was sure, must have come directly from the zebra since it looked older and was hung in a place of honor above the fireplace.

Scootaloo led them up the stairs to a hallway with four doors. One of the doors was padlocked and had a sign hanging on it saying Apple Bloom's Workroom; Danger Keep Out!. The other three doors were open. One was a bedroom where Apple Bloom was sound asleep. Another door was to a bathroom. The final door led into the nursery, where everyone was gathered.

Sweetie Belle, wearing her knitting glasses—why anyone needed glasses for knitting was a mystery to Silver— looked up from her crochet as they entered and held a hoof up to her mouth in a shushing noise. "Keep your voices low. It took a lot of work, but all three of them are finally napping together. I thought we'd never get them all down."

Silver smiled as she walked towards the large crib holding the three colts. "Having three newborns is a lot to deal with. I hope Apple Bloom isn't planning on having any more soon."

Tender Taps eyes dilated. "Sweet Twilight, no!" he whispered fiercely. "We had been trying for a while, and she finally decided to brew a fertility potion. It worked—worked better than expected. I never imagined we would end up having triplets."

"That was a pretty potent potion," Twist said in amazement. "She could probably bottle that stuff up and sell it on the open market for a lot of money."

Silver felt a tapping on her back leg and looked back to see Silk Sheen. "Miss Silver Spoon. Did you know that used to be my crib?"

She smiled at him. "I know. You got too big for it. I'm told you got a new bed. Do you like your new bed?"

Silk nodded. "I like my new bed. It is really big and really bouncy."

Sweetie Belle smiled softly at her son. "Miss Silver Spoon gave that bed to us. You need to tell her thank you."

"Thank you, Miss Silver Spoon," Silk Sheen said in a rush. "Miss Silver Spoon. Did you know there are babies in the crib?"

Silver suppressed a laugh. Oh, the scandal, babies sleeping in his old crib! "I kinda guessed that. That is what is normally in a crib."

"But-but...I'm not a baby anymore, so I sleep on a bed now," Silk continued to explain, full of seriousness. It was amazing how small foals could explain things that were obvious to the adults as if they were complete news to the adult. It was a little sad that she never got an opportunity to deal with Sisstet at this development stage. Something was endearing about a foal explaining basic concepts. Well… it might get annoying after a while, she supposed, but it was still adorable in small batches.

"Silk, how about you go back to playing with your blocks for a minute, and let Miss Silver Spoon look at the babies," Sweetie suggested. "Do you think you can build us a little house?"

Silk nodded enthusiastically and ran over to his blocks in a corner. "I can build a big house!"

"Keep your voice down. You don't want to wake the babies," Sweetie said in a hushed voice.

"Okay, Mommy," Silk replied, and went to work stacking his blocks.

"See, that I can deal with. Perfectly reasonable," Scootaloo asserted.

Sweetie Belle gave her old friend a flat look over the rims of her glasses. "If you think he is perfectly reasonable whenever he gets tired and grumpy then you're in for a shock. You've also never had to deal with a toddler who has been told that can't leave the table until they finish their peas."

"Peas are yucky!" Silk declared.

Sweetie Belle laid her ears back as she looked at her son. "Your opinions on peas are noted. You're still eating them."

"Nuh-uh," Silk replied with a giggle. His mother did not seem to think it was funny, but didn't press the issue further for the moment.

Scootaloo held up a wing to muffle her voice as she whispered to Silver. "I personally agree with him. I can't stand peas. I used to hide them in my mane and then dump them down the toilet the first chance got. Aunt Holiday was furious when she finally caught me, but Auntie Lofty thought it was hilarious."

Silver gave Twist an eyebrow. "You'll back me if there is ever any sort of disagreement like that with Sisstet, right?"

Twist looked away. "Of course." That did not seem promising. She should have expected as much out of a candy maker. Still, they'd work it out.

Silver turned her attention back to the crib. Two of the colts looked almost identical, and had their Aunt Applejack's coloration of fur and manes. The third colt looked nothing like his brothers. He had a dark green mane and bluish-green fur.

Tender Taps came up beside her and pointed to each colt. "Our oddball there is Tangle Bloom. The other two are Soft Shoe and Apple Delicious… I had blankets to identify each of them on them, but it looks like they've pushed them off. I'm not really sure which one of them is which right now. Their mother can tell them apart."

"I get Tangle Bloom's name comes from his mother, and Apple Delicious is carrying on the Apple family name, but where does Soft Shoe come from?" Silver asked.

"It is a type of tap dance dome without horseshoes," Tender explained. "It was the name I picked out. Apple Bloom picked Tangle Bloom's name out, and we picked out Apple Delicious together when we wanted to honor his Apple roots."

"Makes sense," Silver replied. "They're all adorable. Most ponies make a big family over time. You two did it all at once."

"We ain't done yet. Ah plan on having at least one filly still," Apple Bloom said sleepily as she stepped into the room. She was in the old scarf she often wore, and it looked like she had slept in it.

"You can't be serious!" Twist said in a hushed exclamation. "Three colts aren't enough to keep you busy?"

Apple Bloom yawned and walked over and looked into the crib with a smile. "Oh, ah reckon they'll keep me plenty busy, but I promised ma Great Auntie Goldie that I would pass this here scarf she gave to me before she passed onto mah own daughter. Ah gotta have a daughter to do that. Ah don't mind. Ah like the idea of a big family. At least any future foals we have will know they have three big brothers to protect em."

"No offense, Apple Bloom, but how will you continue to teach at the School of Friendship if you have that many foals to take care of?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I feel like I have my hooves full with just Silk."

Apple Bloom shrugged. "Figured ah might have ta retire and be a stay-at-home ma."

"Retire!" Scootaloo shouted, and instantly had every pony in the room shushing her. She continued in a whisper. "You can't retire! We're a team. We all teach at the school together. Who will be the honesty professor? Who will teach potions? Who will tell us how to deal with stuff from the Everfree Forest?"

"Ah can still be consulted, and there's plenty of creatures who can teach honesty," Apple Bloom replied. "Ah've got more than one creature that ah've taught potions to over the years who are qualified to continue where ah left off. As for Everfree lore—ah got a plan for that."

"What plan?" Sweetie asked. "No creature knows as much about the Everfree as you do. You're irreplaceable when it comes to that. Unless you are going to go hunt down and drag Zecora back to Ponyville."

"Silver Stream knows a fair bit about the Everfree, and Petunia has been pestering meh to learn more since she got hired. Ah plan on teaching both of em," Apple Bloom said calmly, then looked towards Silver for some reason. "Ah'm also considerin' teachin' mah niece and her friends about it."

"Candy Apple?" Silver asked in confusion. Then her eyes went wide. "You said and her friends. You don't mean to include Sisstet too, do you?"

Apple Bloom nodded. "Candy has shown a knack for gettin' herself into sticky situations, and gettin' into those situations in the Everfree. I reckon she'll drag her friends into misadventure with her sooner or later. Forbiddin' her won't help, she's too headstrong for that. Bannin' her and her friends from seein' one another to try to protect them just hurts everycreature involved and encourages disobedience. What ah need to do is make sure she and her friends actually know how to recognize danger and how to avoid it. If they understand and respect the forest they're far less likely to become victims of it. Ah don't intend on settin' them loose in there willy-nilly— ah'd supervise to keep them safe."

"But they're so young," Silver said breathlessly. "It might not be a bad idea, but surely it can wait a few years."

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow. "And how many times has mah niece gone into the Everfree this year? Last time she brought Cheese with her. They almost got killed. Ah can be mad and upset, and have every right to be, but ah'd rather they understood the dangers. That takes educatin' them. Ah started learnin' when ah wasn't much older than they are now."

"And you said you would be teaching Silver Stream and Petunia Paleo at the same time, right? So, there would be three adults with them at all times," Scootaloo added on. "I know Silver Stream can handle herself fairly well, and Petunia may not be a fighter, but she is very alert and observant."

Sweetie sighed. "I don't believe I'm saying this, but you might want to teach Flurry Heart and Luster Dawn too. Flurry could stand to learn to be more responsible in the wild, especially after her fiasco the other day with the cockatrice. Luster is Twilight's star pupil, and it stands to figure Twilight might eventually send her on more dangerous missions. Knowing how to handle herself in dangerous places would be good for her to start learning now, since most of her education has been just book work and lab work. The two of them combined add extra magical muscle to keep the foals safe."

"We haven't agreed this is alright, yet," Silver reminded them. She shared a look with Twist. "I think we need to have a long talk about this."

Apple Bloom nodded. "And I need to talk to all the other parents involved to get their permissions. Take your time discussing this. I know it is going to take me time to speak to everycreature else."

Silver frowned. She was fairly sure both she and Twist would be in agreement that this was far too dangerous for Sisstet, but they'd discuss it.

Chapter 25: Reassessing

Silver sat on her couch, reading the massive naga reference book, while watching Sisstet play with his train set and a collection of toy carts that she had recently bought him. He seemed pretty content and happy, aside from the occasional scratch of his scales.

Twist was in the kitchen, making dinner. Tonight's dinner was a bit more involved than regular dinners since this was their first time making sure meat was available to Sisstet. Complicating dinner further was the fact Sisstet scratching at his scales was a sign of an impending molt. That made the preparation of the meat more complicated. It had to be broken down into even smaller pieces than usual since he was not supposed to have large chunks of solid food during the molt, but still required meat in his diet. Silver had offered to help her wife with the preparation, but Twist had firmly refused, saying she wanted to master the prep on her own. They were all having a stew, but Sisset's serving would have the extra ingredient mixed in.

The particular part of the book she was reading was making her queasy. It had to do with what exactly melted naga scales were helpful in. There was a large selection of potions, which made her wonder if Apple Bloom would try to ask them to give her Sisstet's molted leavings. Her friend hadn't asked, but the listings seemed extensive enough that it seemed like something Apple Bloom would ask about. Also listed as uses was food for certain types of animals, and it gave a list of these as well—many of them she had seen at Fluttershy's animal sanctuary more than once. The idea of feeding any part of Sisstet to animals or being ground up into a potion was enough to make her stomach turn, and she didn't see herself offering to save the molt for any creature.

It became too much for her, and she closed the book before it ruined her appetite for dinner.

Sisstet looked up at her with a troubled expression as he heard the book close. "Misss Silver Spoon—"

"No need for the miss, Sisstet," Silver reminded him. He was getting better about that, but it was still a habit that wasn't completely broken. "What is wrong, dear?"

"Do you think I'm too sscary and shy?" Sisstet asked worriedly, setting his toys aside.

She blinked. "You are a little shy, but there's nothing wrong with that, and you may grow out of it. What do you mean by being too shy?"

He fidgeted with his claws while looking at them instead of her. "It'ss just that Candy said I was really shy, and so did Miss Cozy Glow and some other creatures. They said it like it was bad."

Silver's brow narrowed. "Did Candy Apple say you were shy in a way that you felt was picking on you?"

He shook his head. "No, she said I was like Miss Fluttershy, which I guess is good. Miss Cozy Glow and other creatures said it like I wasn't normal, like I was weird. Am I weird?"

She left the couch and had to resist hugging him or patting him on the back while he was physically sensitive. "There's nothing weird about you. You're your own individual."

"But they said naga aren't shy," Sisstet asserted.

"Well, you haven't met many other naga, and I'm sure most of them haven't either, so you can't assume you know what other naga are all like," she calmly replied. "Do you think Twist and I are weird?"

He shook his head. "No, but you aren't weird."

"Really?" she questioned. "She and I both wear glasses and have since we were foals. Most ponies don't need glasses until much older."

"Wearing glasses isn't weird," he replied.

"But most ponies don't need them," she said as she pointed to the glasses on her face. "So if we're different from most ponies, why don't you think we are weird, but you think you are weird because you might be different than most naga?"

Sisstet cowered down. "What if the king ssnakes don't like it? What if they ssay they have to take me away?"

"That won't happen," she quickly reassured him, but the pit of her stomach twisted up. She didn't know for sure they wouldn't do that. She had no idea what their expectations were. She also didn't know what they meant she was supposed to do since it clashed with her normal teacher's instinct to foster everycreature's uniqueness—at least if it wasn't hurting anycreature, and tell them it was something to be praised. She wasn't ready to abandon her better nature yet.

"But what if it doesss?" Sisstet whined. "I don't want to get taken away to live with the big sscary kingsnakess."

Silver started to reach out to him, but remembered at the last second she could accidentally physically hurt him right now, and she pulled her hoof back with a sigh. She could already tell his molts were going to be almost as stressful to her as they were for Sisstet. Still, she wanted to comfort him when he was obviously worried and distressed.

"I don't want you to worry about trying to be what other creatures want you to be," she said in a soft but firm voice. "What you need isn't to be less shy. What you need to learn is how to be more confident. Fluttershy may be quiet and reserved, but she has confidence in herself, and even though it isn't her nature to be assertive, she gets assertive when she feels she needs to be."

Sisstet rose his head. 'How do I do that?"

"Find something you are good at is a start. Don't let yourself get discouraged when you're trying to master new things, either. It normally takes time to get good at something," she replied.

"Silver… can you come here, please?" Twist called out from the kitchen.

"Stay here," Silver ordered.

Hearing the strained pleading of her wife's tone, Silver almost ran to the kitchen. Twist had to do a lot more heavy cutting with meat; did she cut herself? Had she spilled water on herself while it was boiling? All kinds of scenarios played through her head as she rushed to Twist.

Twist was huddled up on the floor, crying. Silver's lungs clenched as she hurried over to Twist and started checking for injuries.

"I tried, Silver. I really did try, but I can't do it," Twist sobbed.

After a few seconds of checking, Silver found no sign of injury. That was a minor relief, but it didn't fully relieve her. Twist was still crying on the floor.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Silver asked.

Twist shook her head, still crying. "It's the fish. I could deal with it before when I just had to cut it into pieces. I can pretend I'm just cutting up some vegetable after I cut away the head and don't have to see its eyes staring at me like they are asking why a pony would do this to them. The bones, though, I can't deal with deboning."

Silver pulled her wife into a hug. "It's okay. We'll figure something out. We aren't the only ponies that have to do this. You know Fluttershy has to do it with all those carnivorous animals she keeps."

"She's been doing this forever and probably sees it as some circle of life thing," Twist replied. "I don't know why the bones bother me so much. Ponies eat bones already."

Silver blinked. "We do? I don't recall ever gnawing on a bone."

"Where do you think gelatin comes from?" Twist asked. "And I go through a lot of gelatin."

"Yeah… I knew that. I just try not to think about it," Silver replied, feeling ill.

"I just can't stop thinking about how I am pulling apart an animal when pulling out the bones," Twist whined. "Normally, I wouldn't need to, but he has to have the bones out when molting and has to have everything in small pieces. Sisstet can eat the bones fine normally. Technically, he could eat the whole fish without me cutting it up, but it's easier for us to deal with if I cut it up, so we don't have to think about what each of those little slices are… am I wrong for doing that?"

Silver sighed. "I don't know; it’s a lot of adjustment for us. Maybe cutting it up is just a way for us to get used to it, and we can stop doing it eventually."

"Well, it needs to be cut up right now and have all the bones pulled out, but I don't know how to manage it," Twist said, deliberately turning her head, so she wasn't looking at where the fish was being prepared. "Can you take over? I… I just can't."

Silver sat up and looked at the fish. The carcass looked like a wild animal had been ripping at it. There were bits of flesh with bones sticking out everywhere. Beside the remains were a set of tweezers and a knife that Twist had been using so she didn't have to put her mouth into the meat, but both of these were covered in goop that no doubt belonged inside an animal's body. Silver felt like she was going to vomit, and sat back down, shaking her head as fast as she could without further inducing her desire to upchuck.

"What are we going to do?" Twist asked in a defeated voice.

"You could ask Sisstet to help you," Silver suggested. "I'm sure it won't bother him like it would one of us. It could be a way of introducing him to cooking more food. You had him help you with candy-making already. He won't always have us to prepare food for him, so it is an important life skill."

Twist shivered. "I don't know how much I can teach him when I can't even stand to watch what he's doing. It's not like I'm an expert on this type of preparation anyway. Taking the bones out seemed way too physically difficult for me to have been doing it right. I was practically shredding the fish...oh sweet Twilight… I'm going to be sick."

"Try to walk him through it verbally and check his finished product. If the bones are all out, or at least mostly out, then maybe it won't bother you as much," Silver suggested as gently as she could.

"Maybe… we can try," Twist said in a pitiful tone.

Silver stood back up. "I'll send him in. I'll give you a minute or two to wash your face and collect yourself so he doesn't see you and get worried."

Twist nodded as she lifted her glasses and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, just a minute or two. I don't need too long."

Silver bit her lip. "By the way. I think I changed my mind about him getting lessons about the Everfree from Apple Bloom. It could be something to boost his confidence, and he should be safe if he is with Apple Bloom. I trust her."

Twist stood up and made her way to the sink to wash her face. "I'm not really in a good state to discuss it right now. We can discuss it later. We need to see how he feels about it and talk to Apple Bloom some more about the details. Then we can decide. Let's focus on dinner for now."

"I'll go explain you need his help, then send him in," Silver said over her shoulder as she walked back towards the living room.

Sisstet gave her a worried look as she approached him. "Iss Twist okay?"

She nodded and gave him her best reassuring smile. "Yes, she is. She's just having a little trouble with dinner. She wants to see if you want to help her."

The naga foal blinked and gasped. "She wants my help?"

"Yes, your claws can be very useful for doing all kinds of tasks she has problems with," Silver explained. "Before you go help her, you need to go wash them. You don't want to get dirt and stuff into the food, do you?"

He shook his head. "No. I don't want to get dirt in the food."

"Then go wash up, then go to the kitchen to help Twist," Silver instructed with a smile.

Sisstet slithered off to the bathroom in a hurry. Washing his claws was necessary, with how much he had been scratching himself, but it would also buy Twist some time to collect herself.

Still, he had introduced a new worry to her. He needed to make a good impression with the kingsnake whenever it came, and given how dominating the kingsnakes were, she could believe that they could be displeased with him cowering in fear. They might be disgusted and angry that one of their own was easily intimidated, and that could lead them to take Sisstet away to correct what they saw as a problem. She didn't want him to lose his gentle nature, but he needed to be more confident and less fearful. Hopefully, learning how to deal with the outdoors from Apple Bloom and helping him develop new skills would giving him that confidence in himself to banish his fears.

Author's Note

Just a little chapter to keep this one moving. I'm currently working on three long fics and will be focusing one at a time to try to clear them. Unfortunately, this one is the farthest from complete, so it is third in line, but I will be doing occasional updates so that it doesn't fall entirely off the radar.

Chapter 26: Arrival at the Silver Estate

Sisstet slithered closely behind Silver Spoon as she walked through town, trying to take in all the new sights while making sure he didn't lose her.

Before Sisstet had come to live with Silver Spoon, he had been to only a few places in Ponyville, or anywhere really. His entire world had consisted mainly of his home, the schoolhouse, the meat market where his guardians worked, and the places in-between that he had to pass to get to each location. There had been a few places that he had gone on field trips, but those were few and far between. If the field trip had required a permission form, he never got to go on it. It wasn't that his old guardians were unwilling to sign the papers; it was that his old guardians had no idea how to sign a form. He tried teaching them how to write a couple of times, but they always got frustrated and mad, and when they got angry, they got scary. That ended with him being left out of about half of the field trips where he would be stuck working on homework in the principal's office.

Now, it seemed he was off to see a new place every day, and today was no different. They were going to spend the weekend at Silver Spoon's parents, who lived on the rich side of town, a place he definitely had never been.

The houses here were so big! They also all had fences around them; some even had walls, like they were castles. He wondered if any of them had moats. If he had a moat, he would go out and lay in it every day. It would feel so good. Thinking about that reminded him of his itchy scales, and he had to stop to scratch himself. Silver Spoon would get a little ahead of him, but he could catch up. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the temporary relief his claws brought.

"Egads, does it have fleas?"

"Keep your distance, my heart. It could be wild."

He opened his eyes and saw two fancy-looking ponies looking at him funny.

"It's looking at us, love of my life," the stallion said as he backed up.

The mare backed up a few steps as well. "Do something, dear, before it comes at us."

Silver Spoon quickly put herself between him and the two fancy ponies. "Excuse me? He's a foal. Don't treat him like some wild animal. Just go back to strutting around and trying to convince everycreature you are important."

The mare raised her nose high. "Why! I never!"

The stallion raised his nose to equal height. "This neighborhood is declining in quality. We should consider moving back to Trottingham. Property values will plummet if they keep letting things like that into the neighborhood. Really, they should gate the community to keep the beasts out."

The two fancy ponies then walked away, still holding their noses high. Sisstet wondered how they avoided tripping while doing that. There was no way they could see where they were going.

Silver Spoon sighed and turned to look at him, looking sad. "Sisstet, I need to let you know, many of the ponies in this neighborhood can be rude. Don't let anything they say get to you. That being said, I know you are feeling physically uncomfortable right now, but try to avoid scratching yourself if you can. I'll see if I can get Madam Glass to run you a bath as soon as we get to my parents' house. That might help you feel better. Maybe she can rub some oatmeal on you."

"Oatmeal?" Sisstet asked in confusion. "Like you eat?"

Silver Spoon nodded. "Yes, but it can also help with itching." She looked down and whispered. "It also takes time to apply and remove, and I'd rather you had more time before you meet my parents. My parents are a lot like those two ponies we just saw. If they say anything to you that makes you feel bad, you tell me, okay?"

He cringed down. "They are mean?"

Silver Spoon bit her lip for a few seconds and seemed to be considering her answer. She eventually sighed and hung her head. "They aren't good ponies, but they aren't bad ponies. Some of the things they try to interest you in might be good for you if you are interested. We need their help, but any help they give will be because they think they are getting something out of it. Be on your best behavior while you are there, but make sure to tell me when you feel like they are saying something that isn't right—particularly when it comes to how they look at other creatures or what's important in life."

"I'm not ssure what you mean," he replied as he fought the urge to scratch.

The earth pony sighed again. "Just talk to me about whatever they talk to you about and tell me if they say anything you think is mean."

He picked his head up and nodded. That he knew he could do.

They continued for another minute or two down the road till they reached a great big wall made out of bushes—or maybe it was a regular wall that was covered with leaves? It was hard to tell which unless he got close and stuck his claws into it, but he didn't want to get separated from Silver Spoon again. Whether it was made of bushes or bricks, it had a gate, and it had a pony standing just inside the entrance, and Silver Spoon went up to talk to the pony.

"Miss Silver Spoon," the pony, an older unicorn stallion, said in a way that made Sisstet wonder if he just woke up or if he was getting ready to fall asleep. It was very tired and bored sounding. The stallion then looked at Sisstet with an equally bored and tired expression. "And this must be Master Silver Scale. That Master and the Mistress are expecting you. You may enter and proceed to the front door."

He didn't correct the stallion because Silver Spoon didn't try to correct him. He wanted to, but he didn't want to be sent away while they waited for whoever Silver Scale was. Still, it felt like lying, and lying didn't feel good. He would have to ask when he got a chance why Silver Spoon didn't correct the tired unicorn.

The gate opened to let them in, and as soon as he had fully slithered through, the gate closed behind them, and he heard it latch.

There was a white brick path that led up to a white stone house with silver streaks and lots of windows. The house was massive, just like all the others in the neighborhood—three stories tall.

There were extensive gardens with lots of ponies working in them. Many of the bushes were shaped like ponies except one; that one was in progress of being trimmed by a unicorn mare to look like some sort of snake monster. The mare stopped what she was doing to look at them, him in particular. She looked back and forth between him and the ugly-looking bush, then suddenly tossed her shears down on the ground and stormed off like she was angry. Did he do something wrong?

They went up to the front door, and he hid behind Silver Spoon as she knocked on it. She only gave two quick strikes on the door, but after about three seconds, the door opened, revealing an earth pony mare who looked so old that Sisstet couldn't tell if her fur was grey and her mane white because that was what they were supposed to be or if they had just gotten that way with age.

The mare may have been ancient, but her smile was young. "Young Miss Silver Spoon! I'm so glad you are spending the weekend here!" She then turned her attention to Sisstet. "And this must be the young Master Silver Scale. What a nervous-looking little dear."

"Hello, Madam Glass," Silver Spoon said with a beaming smile.

This pony seemed nice, and Silver Spoon seemed to like her, so he felt a little braver with her. "My name isn't Ssilver Scale. It is Sisstet."

Madam Glass blinked and then looked back at Silver Spoon. "The dear has a little speech impediment, does he?"

Silver Spoon nodded. "A little, however, he is getting better at speaking. It is worst when he gets nervous. I haven't talked to him about the Silver Scale name, but he is right; that is not yet his name. Please refer to him as Sisstet until when and if he decides he wants to be called Silver Scale."

The old pony nodded. "As you wish, young miss. Sisstet it is. Even the Mister and the Misses can't make me follow an order to call somecreature by the wrong name. It ain't proper. Come in, come in! It also ain't proper to leave you standin' at the door like a load of vagabonds."

They followed Madam Glass into the house, and the old pony shut and locked the door behind them. Sisstet looked around and was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff that filled the room; all of it seemed to either be made of silver or had silver on it somewhere. His eyes were drawn most to a painting above the fireplace that had a pony family and a filly that looked just like Silver Spoon—even with the same glasses and necklace.

"I shall be alertin' the Mister and Misses that you've arrived," Madam Glass announced as she weaved her way effortlessly through the maze of stuff as if she didn't even have to look where she was going.

"Wait!" Silver Spoon said in an urgent tone. "Can you tell them that Sisstet requires a bath before they meet him?"

Madam Glass stopped and looked at Sisstet. "The dear might be a little dusty from the road, but even the Mister and Misses would not begrudge him that while in their presence."

"He has a severe case of itchy scales due to a normal naga process of shedding skin, and a bath would help him feel more comfortable," Silver Spoon clarified. "I was hoping maybe you could give him an oatmeal scrub—gently, to further ease his discomfort. We don't want him to have his first impression with my parents be him scratching himself over something he can't help."

Madam Glass gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my! That would be the wrong hoof to start off on, and I certainly want the young master to make a positive first impression. We can't have him scratchin' himself through it like he's got a case of fleas—and if some of the younger servants saw, oh the cruel gossip they'd spread! I'll let the Mister and Misses know to wait till I bathe him, and I know remedies better than oatmeal that can help soothe even the most persistent itches."

"Thank you," Silver Spoon said with a sigh of relief. "As always, you are always the best part of visiting my parents."

"You flatter me, young filly," Madam Glass chuckled. "Let me be gettin' to the Mister and Misses, and you can make yourselves at home while you await my return."

The ancient pony exited the room through a side door, and Silver Spoon turned towards him and sat down.

"I neglected to tell you that my parents are determined to have you named Silver Scale," she said gently. "They may get their way on that. It is hard to argue with them when they are paying for everything we need. I want you to know that even if that happens, you don't have to be called that if you don't want to be called that. It would just be a name on a paper. Even Princess Cadance has a second name that she seldom uses, Mi Amore Cadenza."

Sisstet flicked his tongue at the strange-sounding name. "What does Me Amorri Cadensa mean?"

Silver Spoon laughed. "That isn't quite the right way to say it, but it literally means I love Cadance. Don't you think that's a silly name to have?"

He tilted his head in confusion. "So… she loves herself?"

"You can see why she doesn't care for the name," Silver Spoon giggled. "Seems kinda self-centered, doesn't it?"

"Who would even name her that?" Sisstet asked, still completely confused.

Silver sighed. "I'm not sure if it is true or not, but I'm told that her adoptive parents were a little… happy when they adopted her, and when they were asked for a name by the pony registering the name, her adoptive mother cried out in Prench that she loved Cadance, not realizing the pony registering the name didn't understand Prench, and so she was officially named Mi Amore Cadenza. One big mistake that they didn't even realize happened until afterward."

This still made no sense to him. "Wouldn't they notice right away that the name wasn't right?"

Silver chewed on her lip. "They were… happy, and sometimes when grown-ups get happy, they drink a lot of cider, and it makes them kind of funny in the head for a while, and they can't think straight. Cadance's parents were delighted they were getting a daughter. That's an important lesson, don't ever drink lots of cider, or you might end up doing something foolish you don't remember."

"Oh," Sisstet replied, flicking his tongue in thought. "Did you ever drink lots of cider and do stuff like that?"

"Sisstet… let's not talk about that, okay?"

He hung his head. "Okay."

"The young miss, when she was drunk, told her parents they were disgraces as ponies and that flies circling dung were higher lifeforms than they were," Madam Glass said as she entered the room. "Although, she used much more colorful language to say it. Very improper behavior."

Silver Spoon's ears flattened to their sides. "Madam Glass! I would have rather that Sisstet not have found out that I said that."

"Everycreature says things they sometimes regret saying," Madam Glass said sagely before giving Silver Spoon a comforting smile. "The Mister and Misses do care very much for you, dear… they just aren't always the best at showing it, and I know that you care about them as well, even if you aren't the best at showing it either."

"I'd still rather he hadn't heard that," Silver Spoon repeated.

Madam Glass raised her nose up. "It is good for the young master to learn that family love can be complicated and that even though sometimes hurtful things are said, it doesn't change the fact that family is still family. Your parents may become his grandparents, and he'll be seein' the friction you all have. He needs to know that sometimes even you say things you don't mean in a regrettable moment."

Silver Spoon's ears swiveled backward. Sisstet cringed down a little because he could tell Silver Spoon was getting angry, and when his old guardians got angry, it never was a good idea to be in sight. "I said that after they kicked me out of the house."

"I'm well aware," Madam Glass said with a sniff. "And I spent much of the following two days after that consoling your parents as best I could to tell them they were not wrong in what they did, nor did you really hate them."

The gasp that emanated from Silver Spoon made Sisstet cower lower. "You agreed with them kicking me out of the house?!"

"Of course, young miss," Madam Glass replied with a nod. "You needed a push to get your life moving. You were such a mess after your abrupt return from business school—hence your drunken state at the time that you compared your parents unfavorably to flies. You now have a happy and fulfilling life. Would you have reached this point if your parents allowed you to stay, wallow in self-pity, and continue to drain their liquor stores? Kicking you out was the kindest thing they could do. Even Fluttershy herself would agree."

"Th-they felt… bad about it?" Silver Spoon asked in a shaky voice.

"Of course they did, young miss," Madam Glass replied in a kind tone. "They don't show their feelings much around others, even family, but old Madam Glass they don't keep their guard up around. I'm like part of the house, and no pony thinks much more of my presence than they do any of these old busts. I dare say that with how tied I am to this place that my spirit will reside here even after I am long gone."

Silver Spoon was crying, and Sisstet hugged one of her back legs to comfort her. She reached around and pulled him into her forehooves, hugging him gently and kissing him on the head.

"Now," Madam Glass said in a firmer tone. "The young master was needin' a bath and a scrub. Let me be gettin' to that before the Mister and Misses get impatient. Come along, young master Sisstet."

"Go on. It's okay," Silver Spoon assured him as she wiped her face. "She'll make you feel better, and I'll be right here waiting for you when you're done." She finished wiping her face and turned to give him a soft smile. "Madam Glass will take care of you."

"That I will," Madam Glass said with a beaming smile. "I have cleaned the bottoms of three generations of Silvers. I can clean another with no problem." Her smile dropped as she examined him. "Um...where exactly is your bum?"

Sisstet timidly pointed to his cloaca area, even though it was hidden currently by his scales.

The old pony tilted her head and stared at the spot before shaking her head. "If you say so. I'll figure it out. The body parts might be different, but a foal is a foal."

"Be careful when scrubbing him," Silver Spoon warned. "He is very sensitive right now, and it doesn't take much to hurt him. It isn't just him I'm concerned about in this case. He wouldn't mean to, but when he is in pain, he can lash out and bite, and his bites aren't anything like a pony bite. Those fangs aren't decorative; they do exactly what you think they would do."

The old mare seemed ready to protest that it wasn't a concern, then took a second nervous look at his fangs, making him feel self-conscious about them and try to hide them from view.

"Maybe we can find somethin' the poor dear can chomp down on," Madam Glass finally said after a moment's consideration. "My pa and I once had to set my brother's leg after he twisted it so much that the bones stuck out. Had to put a stick in his mouth to bite down on, we did, otherwise he might have bit off his bloody tongue like the fool he was. Might need something bigger than a stick here. I'll think of somethin', don't you worry, and I'll do my best to be gentle like he is a newborn babe. Come along, young master. Sooner we get this done, the better."

"Go on," Silver Spoon prompted again.

He knew Silver Spoon was trying to protect him and Madam Glass, but her cautioning about his bites made him feel bad about himself. He didn't want to hurt anycreature, and he didn't like the reminder that sometimes he could without meaning to. He flicked his tongue and silently told himself that he would make sure not to bite, no matter how much he might feel the need. With that promise to himself made, he quietly slithered out from behind Silver Spoon and approached Madam Glass.

She gave him another smile. "I know being in a new place is scary, and you aren't feeling your best. Let's take care of that second thing first, and we can work on the first after that, okay?"

"Okay," he answered, trying to sound brave and confident before following her out of the room.

Chapter 27: Legacy of Gilted Silver

Silver Spoon tried to stop herself from pacing as she waited in the sitting room. All the opulence and silver-gilt everywhere had once been something that she felt as normal and her right by birth when she was a filly. Now it made her feel like she was in the home of some tyrant who would execute a creature for looking at them wrong.

She knew this was unfair. Her parents were actually very considerate of their employees—insisting on making sure no employee overworked themselves, that they were paid well, and taking safety concerns within the family mines extremely seriously. Of course, this was because her parents believed this to be a good business practice. You had a harder time maintaining a workforce if your workers were overworked, injured, or left for better-paying jobs. Her parents even oversaw the franchisees of Twist and Bon Bon's business, and they included as part of the franchise contract equally strong concerns about employee welfare. Diamond Tiara had even studied the Silvers' policies and adapted them to her own business not long after taking full control of it. The Silvers were model employers.

However, they were still want-to-be nobles who thought of themselves as inherently better than the average creature, and that was one major thing that separated them from her. It would also be her challenge to keep them from transferring those ideas onto Sisstet.

Her pacing abruptly stopped as she heard the door to the next room open, and she turned just in time to see Silver Wright and Silver Sheet enter. Her parents did a brief glance around the room, perhaps trying to find Sisstet or Madam Glass. When neither was found, they settled their eyes on her and went to take seats.

"Spoon, might I inquire, where is our prospective grandfoal and Madame Glass?" her mother asked as she settled into an overplump velvet cushion on the floor.

"Yes, it is odd, finding you here, by yourself, without even having attention from the help," her father said as he took up a seat on a separate cushion, separated from his wife by a sitting table. It was a little odd, seeing her parents sit in those places. Normally, they took seats on the couches so they would be elevated higher than their guests.

It didn't take long for her to figure out their choice of seating. That particular table they were next to had four cushions surrounding it, one of each of them, and one each for her and Sisstet. A small silver bell that could be tapped to summon a servant had already been set out for it.

"May I sit?" she asked as she gestured to one of the unoccupied cushions.

Her mother inclined her head. "By all means. This is a family visit, not a formal one. You need not ask for such simple courtesies, nor should Silver Scale. We still await your answer, Spoon. Where is our prospective heir, and why is Madam Glass not attending you?"

"Yes. It is improper for you to be sitting both unannounced and unattended. I would never believe it of Madam Glass if I were not seeing it at this very moment," her father said, spreading his disapproving frown about the room.

She walked over and pulled one cushion back slightly so she could sit and see both her parents' faces at once instead of having to turn back and forth between them. They waited patiently as she took her seat.

"Sisstet is going through a period of skin shedding," she explained after settling on the cushion. "This makes him very itchy, and I thought it might be good for Madam Glass to give him an oatmeal scrub to help alleviate some of his discomfort."

"Aw! Very good. Now we understand," her father said with a nod as his frown disappeared.

Her mother nodded as well. "Indeed. A good first impression can only be made once. While a poor showing can be overcome, it is best never to have to be put in a position where you are forced to do so. It is an important life lesson and one I am glad to see you imparting."

"Yes," her father continued. "While we had been briefed about the certain biological differences in naga, we, as it stands, are not yet practiced in viewing them. Thank you for briefing us on his current condition. We shall endeavor not to hold Silver Scale guilty of matters of nature that are beyond his control."

Silver held a hoof up in objection. "Until Sisstet approves of you doing so, I would prefer you not use that name. You can discuss it with him if you want, but he decides what he is comfortable being addressed as."

Her parents looked at one another then back at her.

"We shall agree to this," her mother announced. "However, when he is not present, we shall discuss him by his new family name. The name Sisstet we shall use more familiarly. Familiar names are of acceptable use in casual settings."

That was about as much as Silver could hope for, but hey had mentioned something else that had caught her ear.

"You said you were briefed about biological differences on naga; who briefed you?" she inquired.

"Oh! We had an enlightening discussion just the other day with Minister Cozy Glow over tea. We host her often to discuss trade arrangements for unrefined ore," her mother explained. "The minister showed great enthusiasm at the prospect of Silver Scale becoming the heir to the Silver mining empire. The minister assured us of her support in this endeavor as well as the crown's. She also supplied us with a copious amount of reading material about nagas and kingsnakes in particular."

Her father leaned forward with an eager gleam in his eyes. "The minister also hinted that the princess may be considering a reshuffling of the nobility. While the crown would never be so short-sighted to cause outrage by stripping the existing nobility of titles, there can be a reorganization of what lands are held by what house."

Her mother gave an evil grin. "Equestria holds much more territory than when many of these houses were established. Much of that territory is lightly populated or not populated at all. There are some, shall we say, freeloading nobles, who do not properly attend their duties that may find themselves in possession of lands that are more fitting to the level of attention they have displayed. This opens up opportunities for families who have displayed their worth and service to the crown to be rewarded with the titles they so deserve."

"Most of our most valuable mines are territorially close together and the most profitable ventures in their regions," her father continued. "The noble who currently supervises our lands makes an incredible amount in taxes off our work and only gives a portion of that to the crown—with little public improvement to his lands to show for it. If that noble were to be reassigned elsewhere, and our family elevated to its dutifully earned place, we could pay higher taxes to the crown than it now receives and still come out paying less than we are currently beholden to give."

"The Silver Dutchy does have a nice ring to it," her mother said wistfully. "Silver Scale could easily become the first non-pony Duke, and with some careful guidance, lead our newly claimed lands to be the most profitable and fastest-growing parts of Equestria."

"It is what our family deserves for generations of diligent care of Equestria's silver," her father said with a haughty sniff."And kingsnakes can live for centuries. That ensures we have no fear of our line suddenly dying out or him being forced to selects an unideal heir simply because there is no one else to choose."

"That's how you end up with cretins like Blueblood heading a family," her mother sniffed. "It's a shame he has sired a list of bastards. It would have been nice to see the decayed line of Platinum die out at last, but there is always another bastard in that line—literally and figuratively."

Silver was not so enthusiastic. "Becoming nobles, another reason for you to look down your noses at my friends."

Her father sat up and stiffened his back. "You mistake us, daughter. For what they were born into, your friends are quite capable ponies."

"But nobility is not the worth of a single individual," her mother said with a nod. "It is the staying power of a family's value to the nation, showing its continued worth over many generations. That is why we are worthy while so many of the current nobles are not. Many of your friends have proven themselves as individuals—the Cutie Mark Crusaders are notable examples of this, two of whom have sisters who have also proven their worth."

"But what of their foals, future grandfoals, and great grandfoals?" her father asked with a raised eyebrow. "Will the trend continues, or will they fade into the background? This has yet to be seen, and until it does, their families are lesser than ours. Those of us sitting here may never see the final result, but we can hope that in the coming centuries they will continue to show their worth and Silver Scale will be there to advocate for their family's rightful elevation if they have demonstrated it. Until then, they are individuals who are worth holding good business relations with but not to be seen as equals. Their families haven't earned it yet."

Her mother sighed. "That's the problem with new money, like the Rich family. They get so above themselves. While we can hope that your friend, Diamond Tiara, can right the ship, there are already cracks showing in the family's capabilities and worth by way of Spoiled Rich. The minister hinted that Silver Scale's poor conditions may have been a result of Spoiled's neglect, and the minister hinted that equal neglect or outright incompetence elsewhere may lay at her hooves. This is what comes from ponies trying to believe they are better than they are, others having to suffer. She is unworthy of her husband, unworthy of her daughter, and unworthy of the station which she aspires to."

"And things are not looking promising for Diamond Tiara," her father said grimly. "If she wishes to serve as the matriarch of her family, it is her obligation...no… her duty to assert a higher degree of control over embarrassing elements such as her mother. Her continued failure to properly do so reflects poorly on her."

"Although your friend has yet to marry, so the point may be moot. The Rich line may pass with her if that doesn't change soon. In a few years she will be too old to be having babies," her mother added in and then gave an exaggerated sigh. For a moment, her stiff upper-class composure dropped and it was just an old mare sitting on the cushion. "It makes me feel quite ancient, thinking of ponies of my daughter's generation getting too old to be having foals. I am glad you are adopting. I was becoming worried."

Silver scowled. "So which reason do you detest Twist more? The fact she can't get me pregnant or because she is beneath me?"

Her mom blinked. "I will not ask the indecent question that goes along with that. To address your question. We were primarily concerned with our family line and business continuing. If we are going to be transparent, if Twist were a stallion who could get you pregnant, or if she had an interest in the family business, we would have warmed much more quickly to her."

Her father coughed. "Yes, but that is in the past now. There is now a possible heir and that changes everything. Your wife shows excellent dedication to her craft, and her business should prove to maintain profits for years to come. Her presentation to us while she was courting you showed she has a good head for business and that is partially why we were willing to invest the money into expanding her brand name. We still wish she had an interest in the silver industry, but this sweet shop of hers will prove to be a decent minor side venture for the family. When her partner decides to retire and gives sole ownership of the business to Twist, we shall transfer ownership of our franchises to you and your wife. They may not be our preferred sources of income, but we intend to keep them Silver family-owned and that should always mean something. We are confident your wife will run them well. We shall hold out hope Silver Scale will take over the primary business and find competent help to supervise your wife's pet interest whenever she retires."

"And if he decides he would rather follow your wife's example, very well," her mom said with a sigh. "Focusing on candies and cookies rather than silver ore will decline our family's prestige, but the family will survive. That is what is most important."

Silver bit her lip and tried to hold her anger in check. She knew she should be happy that her parents were willing to sacrifice some prestige to accommodate the fact that they might not find anypony… anycreature now… who would continue their precious silver mining legacy and the power that came with that. Still, that was the problem. It was always the family's power and prestige that came first. Every member of the family was but a tool for the family name. That was how they saw Twist's passion for making candy and that was how they would saw Sisstet. Love was never in the picture, only how useful to the family someone was. They probably judged her as a useless disappointment who only salvaged some usefulness by marrying somepony who could maintain some economic power for the family—if in a reduced form.

It made her sick to her stomach that she ever aspired to be like her parents.

Showing anger wouldn't help Sisstet, and Sisstet needed her parents on his side. That meant she couldn't afford an angry outburst at her parents.

"We'll discuss that at a later date. For right now, Sisstet's welfare is what is important," Silver said, at last, refusing to refer to him as Silver Scale.

"Indeed," her father agreed. "I'm assuming you have some demands for us?"

She nodded. "I already told you about the name thing. I'm telling you now not to expect him to have perfect manners or speech. He is a kid, and he is often nervous and scared. His former guardians showed him no signs of love or compassion, and that has only negatively impacted him. I don't know if you two have it in you to feel those things for him, but I expect you to at least try to fake it. Do you want a component and capable heir? Well, to get that you need an heir who feels loved and wanted. Love for a kid is not something that a kid should have to earn."

"I don't see where—" her mom began, but Silver held up a hoof to cut her off.

"You say you have respect for a pony that exercises their craft well?" Silver asked with firm determination. "I am a teacher. That is my craft, and I like to think I put my whole heart into it and do a good job. I don't claim to have all the answers to everything, but I think you will agree that I have a professional qualification for saying what foals need. More than anything else, foals need compassion, love, and understanding. They need a family that makes them feel there is no condition for their love. If there are conditions for love that means there is a chance of never being good enough. A foal who never feels they are good enough can never truly be happy or learn to show proper love to others."

Her parents both stared at her with wide-eyed shock, mouths open in disbelief.

It was her mother who was the first to try to find her words. "Spoon… you don't honestly believe that we don't…"

Her father was not so kind in his response once he found his words. "You ungrateful hypocrite! I think of all the things we do for you, and still, you feel like you can lecture us about freely giving love when it is you who are never satisfied with u—"

"The young master is ready!" Madam Glass announced loudly, far more loudly than she normally would, as she entered the room. Her eyes quickly passed over each of the ponies in the room, and the meaning in her gaze was clear. She knew what we were talking about, and we would stow away that conversation for the moment so Sisstet wouldn't hear. The old maid had acted as stand-in mother to both me and father, and despite being a servant of the family, held powerful sway over both of us. A sway that so powerful that neither of us would risk disapproval in her gaze.

All three of them straightened and put smiles on our faces like there hadn't been a fight getting ready to break out.

"Very good. Send him in if you would, Madam Glass," my father said with a beaming smile.

So, my first week in Tartarus begins. I will endure it for Sisstet. Silver thought to herself.

Chapter 28: First Meeting With Grandparents

Everything in this house was enormous. It was also very shiny. Even the wood was shiny, and he wondered how much polishing it took that every last piece of it reflected light. It made Sisstet afraid to touch anything because he might mess it up. If he could avoid touching the floor, he'd do that too.

Everycreature was looking at him; Silver Spoon, Madam Glass, and two older ponies he guessed were Silver Spoon's parents.

He wanted to hide, but that would mean touching something, and he was sure he'd get yelled at if he did that. He could hide behind Madam Glass, but he still felt guilty for a few minutes ago and didn't want to get too close to her. While she had been scrubbing him, she'd accidentally rubbed a spot wrong, and he'd struck at her with his fangs. He hadn't hurt her. There had been a big red rubber ball in his mouth wrapped up in a washcloth; that had blocked him from biting her. The strike had startled the old mare, but she hadn't seemed angry about it. She'd mostly seemed apologetic for having hurt him. After a minute of it occurring, she'd acted like it hadn't even happened. She was a nice pony, a very nice pony, but that only made him feel even more guilty for lashing out at her.

"Ah, Sisstet! Please, come and sit. We are eager to finally meet you," Silver Spoon's mom greeted. She then turned and smiled sweetly at Silver Spoon. "See, I can accommodate his choice of name."

"Basic decency isn't worth a pat on the back," Silver Spoon muttered. Sisstet didn't think he was meant to hear that.

Silver Spoon's dad gestured to a cushion directly across from Silver Spoon. "We have a cushion waiting right here. No need to stand…." The stallion trailed off on what he was saying and frowned at him. Sisstet cowered down, unsure what he had done. Had they found out about him trying to bite Madam Glass? He'd just met these ponies, and he was already in trouble.

The stallion did an embarrassed clearing of his throat. "Oh, dear...I ask your forgiveness. I seem to lack knowledge about appropriate terminology. I must have overlooked that in my reading." He turned towards his wife. "Dear, do you recall what verbiage we should be using instead of sit and stand? They seem improper to use in relation to a creature who doesn't have legs. I do believe I am committing a faux pas."

Silver Spoon's mother went wide-eyed for a second and gasped. "You are correct, and I have made the same oversight. Spoon, dear, what terminology should we be employing? I had thought we had thoroughly educated ourselves in preparation for this visit, but it would appear there have been lapses in our education."

"He's perfectly capable of speaking for himself," Silver Spoon replied tersely. Why was she upset?

"Young Miss Spoon," Madam Glass said with restrained anger. "Foals are perceptive, but they don't always understand what they are perceiving. He might not understand that your resentment is not directed at him." She turned and smiled at Sisstet. "Nopony here is angry at you. Your mother and grandparents have funny ways of showing love for one another; they sure do. Don't follow their example."

The stallion cleared his throat again and coughed. "Those titles are not official yet, even if we feel confident they may yet be secured. You also overstep yourself, Madam Glass."

"Forgive me for reminding you, young master, but I have always been the caretaker of this family's young since I was old enough to know where foals come from. I would be negligent in my duty if I did not speak on our newest young master's behalf," Madam Glass responded calmly. She then grinned wider. "It feels good to have a foal in this house again."

"I'll be the one raising him this time, not a servant," Silver Spoon said firmly.

"And I'm overjoyed you will, young miss, I am. I just hope you're willing to accept some advice at times from those experienced with raising foals. You're an excellent teacher, or so my old ears have heard, and that will give you a great foundation, but that is not the same experience as being a parent. This is a new role for you," Madam Glass replied with a bow of her head.

Sisstet wondered if the old stallion was sick because he kept clearing his throat. "I see...very good, Madam Glass. I retract my objection about your behavior. Keep up the good work."

"I believe you were going to ask Sisstet what terminology he prefers to his locomotion, dear. May I take the liberty?" Silver Spoon's mother asked.

"The lead is yours, dear," the old stallion answered, extending a hoof towards her.

She nodded and then smiled at Sisstet. "I apologize for the delay in asking, and thank you for your patience, but clarifying such matters is part of proper household order. Now, may I ask, is walk and sit proper terms for the actions you take or are there terms that are both more preferable and suitable?"

Sisstet blinked. He had thought that they had all forgotten about him. He didn't mind being forgotten about; that meant he wasn't the center of attention, but that attention had returned, and he now resisted the urge to cower.

"Ssslither and coil up," he said simply, not sure what else he was supposed to say.

"Well then, you may slither over to this cushion and coil up upon it," Silver Spoon's mother instructed as she gestured to the empty seat. "Hup hup, we are waiting.*

Sisstet did as instructed, and once in place, did everything he could to resist the urge to cringe. He also didn't put his claws on the table, afraid he might scratch it.

"Such a timid child," Silver Spoon's mother observed. She then looked at Madam Glass. "Did the dear give you any problems?"

Oh no, here was when they were going to get angry.

"Nothing that was his fault, and nothing I couldn't deal with," Madam Glass answered, looking down in shame. "Young Miss Spoon alerted me to the risks of scrubbing him too hard, and I tried to avoid it, but I still ended up hurting the young master. I do beg your forgiveness, and his."

Silver Spoon let out a worried gasp. "He didn't bite you, did he?"

"No, young miss; ol' Madam Glass was prepared. I just feel terrible that I incited a strike at all; yes, I do. Can't fault a foal for lashing out when in pain. I know I bucked more than one doctor in my youth. I'll take it as a learning experience," Madam Glass replied. She then looked at Sisstet. "I do beg your forgiveness. You were holdin' up so well that I didn't think a might harder scrub would be too much. I now see ya' were trying to put on a brave face. Perhaps next time, we can work out some sort of signal that it is gettin' to be too much before it reaches that point. Is that okay?"

"Okay," he answered quickly, then remembered that she had asked his forgiveness. "I'm ssorry I bit. I didn't mean to."

"No need to apologize. I'm sure you'll grow out of the habit," Madam Glass said with a smile. "Now, be a good little colt and introduce yourself to your future grandparents."

He looked at the other two older ponies and timidly raised a hand, remembering how Silver Spoon had taught him to introduce himself to new foals. "Hi...I'm Sssisstet. What are your namess?"

Both of them smiled, which meant his greeting must have been good. Silver Spoon's mom was the first to speak. "We are delighted to finally meet you, Sisstet. I'm Silver Sheet, and this worthy stallion is Silver Wright. I hope you will be calling us Granny and Grandpa as soon as legal formalities have been resolved."

"And it is mere formalities, I'm sure. With both the Princess and Minister Cozy Glow working towards that transaction, it should be seen as an inevitability," Silver Wright chimed in happily.

Silver Sheet followed right after. "Spoon has spoken well of you, but we wish to hear from you directly. I hear that your academic excellence is laudable. Is this true?"

He wasn't entirely sure what she meant by that but answered as best he could. "I make good gradesss."

Silver Sheet beamed. "Very good!"

"And what about your socialization?" Silver Wright continued. "Public education over private instruction is preferable because of those connections that are gathered there. How does your social circle progress?"

Sisstet blinked. "I...um…"

Silver Spoon gently reached out and touched him. "They are asking about who you have for friends."

He nodded, now understanding. "I'm friendss with Candy Apple, Caramel Apple, Cheese Sslice, and Autumn Fire." He thought for a second, not wanting to leave any creature out. "And Miss Flurry Heart, Luster Dawn, and Miss Fluttershy."

Silver Wright seemed pleased with his answer. "The Apples are certainly an up-and-coming family, with widespread influence, worthy of having friendly relationships with, despite their meager cash flow. Nopony can complain about Princess Flurry Heart, Fluttershy, or Princess Twilight's personal student; those are all fortuitous connections to make. The Pie foal is not on the same level, but even though Miss Pie lives humbly, she is rather rich thanks to her husband's factory. That makes him at least worth the time of day. That other one...Autumn Fire, was it? I am not familiar with him or her."

"He's a kirin," Silver Spoon explained.

"He'ss got a crussh on Candy," Sisstet supplied.

Silver Wright frowned slightly. "Schoolyard crushes rarely bear fruit, as my daughter can no doubt attest to. Still, I suppose one weaker connection is not the end of the world. We all need to show we aren't above associating with the common folk. Perhaps the young kirin's friendships will lead to some success down the road, and unlikely as it is, maybe the infatuation will withstand puberty and time and be reciprocated, which would instantly increase his prospects. The Apple filly does seem to have an affinity to fire, or so I heard. It is within the realm of possibility that affinity will carry over to her love life."

"I'm not comfortable with you discussing my students in this manner. Nocreature is better than another," Silver Spoon said through gritted teeth. "And Sisstet can be friends with who he wants."

"Of course he can, dear," Silver Sheet said soothingly.

"We are merely ascertaining what benefits his current friendships may net him in the future," Silver Wright said in clarification. "He may associate with whoever he wishes, but we are happy to hear he has many associations which could return long-term dividends. We have misjudged the benefits of certain friendships before and don't wish to make that error again. If we could go back and do it over once more, we would have pushed for you to strengthen your friendships with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Hindsight makes us all look foolish. He is welcome to take chances on the riskier stock. Little is lost in this case, and it could turn out to be profitable."

"Not every relationship needs to be viewed through the lens of a business transaction," Silver Spoon hissed.

"Of course they do, dear," Silver Wright chastised. "Every relationship comes with a cost and potential set of benefits which must be weighed. Even the simple turnip farmer must decide if associating with their neighbor is worth their trouble. Another example is marriage. Marriage is at its heart a business transaction. It is a joining of assets and a merger of goals. If it weren't a business transaction, we would have no need for it since nothing is stopping you from bedding whoever you wish."

Sisstet had been listening and was confused. "Do you not love each other?"

The two possible grandparents looked at one another as if asking the other to give an answer.

Silver Sheet suddenly came down with whatever her husband had and needed to clear her throat before speaking. "My husband and I are the best of friends and closest of confidants. I trust him absolutely, and I know he does the same for me. If Wright were to expire, I would be quite distraught for a considerable amount of time."

"As I would for Sheet. I would be inconsolable for a lengthy period, I'm sure," Silver Wright added in.

Silver Sheet nodded. "And we both do love our daughter unconditionally...even if she does not always believe we do."

Silver Spoon snorted, affirming that the last part was genuine.

Her mother gave her a half-frown before continuing. "However, our relationship was built on a different foundation than Spoon and Twist's. We have no desire for that kind of physical intimacy from one another. We also came into our marriage knowing it would advance each of our business goals and influence. You can only be partners in everything and so deeply invested in the same mutual goals for so long before a certain...I guess the wording is emotional dependence… begins to take hold."

"Sharing the same moments of triumph and despair, sharing the same joys and sadness, there is no way you cannot begin to invest yourself in the other," Silver Wright quietly added. "Yes, we love one another, but love like one might feel for a sibling, parent, or an offspring, and that love came well after the wedding vows were said. I think it is despicable bigotry that our marital relationship is put on a lower pedestal by the general public than those born of blind sentimentality."

"You always try to say there's nothing wrong with doing things your way, but then find ways to insult those who are different than you," Silver Spoon practically sneered.

"Roads run two ways, my dear," Silver Sheet muttered.

"Sssso, do you love me?" Sisstet asked, voice breaking.

The two older ponies looked at one another again like the other was supposed to answer.

"We...that is to say…."

"It is difficult to speculate…."

Sisstet might not be as old as these ponies and might be just a kid, but he could tell when somecreature was trying to avoid answering, and he could tell what avoiding answering meant. His breathing got ragged, and he didn't want to be touched. He didn't even want to be seen. Without saying a word, he left the cushion and fled the room as fast as his coils could take him.

Chapter 29: Talking Through Closed Doors

Silver Spoon wanted to throttle her parents, but there wasn't anything new about that. That had been more or less the norm since her mid-teens. What was new was she wanted to throttle her parents on somecreature else's behalf. How dare they upset Sisstet like that.

She'd been up and following after Sisstet before her parents could get a word out of their mouths. That was just as well. It would have quickly devolved into a yelling match with things said that she would regret later. They didn't matter at the moment; only Sisstet did. She needed to find him and do everything she could to make him feel better and remind him that she was not her parents.

The problem was that the young naga was considerably faster than anycreature might expect, and the fact he was small and could get through cramped areas much more easily than a pony made it that much harder to keep up. She wasn't even sure she was keeping up or not because he was also excellent at hiding and her foalhood home had no shortage of hiding spots—a fair number of them she had lost the ability to access as she had grown into maturity and likewise gotten too large to fit into.

"Young Miss Spoon, ya might want to try the kitchen," Madam Glass said from behind her.

Silver Spoon turned and looked at the old servant who was calmly standing in the doorway to the main living room with a smile on her face.

"Why the kitchen? You were slower out of the room than me. How would you know?" Silver Spoon asked in bewilderment.

"I have a sense about these things, yes I do," Madam Glass chirped. "No pony or creature can evade ol' Madam Glass in this house. When were you ever able to hide from me when you were a filly? I tell you, he's made his way to the kitchen."

"AHHHH! SNAKE! SNAKE! SOMEPONY SAVE ME!"

Madam Glass rolled her eyes. "Told ya. That was the cook. You might want to hurry before she assaults the young master with a frying pan."

Silver Spoon didn't need more prompting than that. She quickly hurried to the kitchen and found a unicorn mare in an apron perched atop the counter with a frying pan threateningly clutched in her magic as she gazed at the floor in fear. The cook's head shot up as Silver Spoon fully entered the room and rapidly started shaking her head.

"Don't come in, miss. There's a snake, a big one! You should tell the mister and misses so they can call the exterminator!"

Silver Spoon gave the cook a stony gaze. "Sisstet isn't a snake; he's a naga, and he isn't going to hurt you. He's scared and upset and looking for a place to hide. Where'd he go?"

That didn't seem to calm the cook at all as the cook frantically looked around the floor. "I don't rightfully know, miss. I saw it come in, and I leapt to safety."

"Him not it. Sisstet is a foal, not an animal," Silver Spoon reiterated. She then drew herself up and did her best to put on her bratty rich pony airs for the first time in many years because she knew that was what the cook would best respond to. "If you aren't going to be of assistance, then get out of the kitchen and wait. Go on, scram! I'll take care of this myself."

That was all the cook needed to quickly vacate the room, practically knocking Silver Spoon over as she tried to get out of the way of the retreating servant. She wasn't going to make any big deal about that, though. What was important was finding Sisstet.

"Sisstet? Where are you?" she called out. She waited a few seconds but got no answer. Her ears sagged—nothing to do but search.

There were plenty of cabinets, small tables, barrels, and storage crates to use for hiding spots. A quick duck of her head and gaze around the room that way quickly eliminated simply going under a table as his hiding spot.

"Cabinet there, on the far wall, bottom right."

She turned and saw Madam Glass had entered behind her and was pointing at a particular cabinet. Silver Spoon turned to look where the old servant was pointing. It didn't seem any different than any other cabinet in the kitchen. It wasn't ajar or shaking, and the kitchen was too well kept to leave tracks. She strained her ears and didn't hear any incriminating sounds resonating from there. How was Madam Glass so confident? Past experience made her not doubt her foalhood caretaker's word, but she still wished she could figure out how the old pony tracked creatures in the house so quickly. It was downright uncanny but also seemed like something that could be beneficial to know how to do as a parent. However, it was a question for another day. Right now, she needed to calm Sisstet.

Silver Spoon cautiously walked over to the cabinet Madam Glass had indicated and sat down beside it. "Sisstet? Are you in there? It's only me—well, me and Madam—"

She glanced back and found the old servant had left without a word—maybe to deal with the frightened cook. Not only was the pony capable of tracking others quickly, but she was also fast and silent when coming and going.

Silver Spoon turned back towards the cabinet. "Well, just me then. Are you there? Can you come out?"

No verbal reply was given, but she heard movement within the cabinet. In any other pony's house, that might have indicated a rat, but she had never seen a rat in her patents' mansion in her life. It had to be Sisstet.

She sighed. "I know you like to hide when you are upset. I'm not going to force you out, but I want you to at least talk to me about what you are feeling. I care about you—love you. I don't want you to feel this way."

There was some shifting and sniffling. "They don't."

Silver Spoon bit her lip. How to respond to that? "I'm angry at them for saying that, but I blame myself. I should have seen it coming. My parents are a lot of things, but one thing they aren't are liars. They're as honest as the Apples, maybe more so. I think most of the things I got in trouble for as a filly involved telling lies. They didn't care whether I was a bully or everypony's best friend, but they wouldn't tolerate me telling even so much as a white lie about anycreature."

"Which meanssss they don't love me," Sisstet cried.

She gave a sad nod, even if he had no way of seeing it. "They don't, but they do care about you. Maybe they will love you in the future; I don't know. I know they're sad that they upset you."

"What do I need to do to get loved?" Sisstet timidly asked.

Her head shot up, and her back went rigid. "You do nothing. Never believe you have to do things to earn love, ever. Love is not something that you earn or buy. It is something freely given. However, my parents aren't the types to give things away without expecting anything in return, so that makes it hard for them to love. I know it seemed cruel for them to tell you that, and I suppose it is, but at the same time, I should be happy they didn't lie. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel; I just feel angry."

Sisstet was quiet for a second. "Do they love you? They sssaid they do."

She exhaled a long breath. "And my parents never lie. I suppose they do love me, but we have a complicated relationship. Love can be like that sometimes. I love them too, even if they make me angry and even if we don't see the world the same way. Just know that nocreature requires that you love them. Love can't be forced, and nocreature should try to force it. I do love you. I want them to love you too, but I don't have the power to make that happen. It has to happen naturally if it happens at all."

He was silent. That was just as well. She needed a few seconds to gather her thoughts so she could say what she needed to say next.

Those seconds passed, and she licked her lips. "All that being said, I need you to try to get along with them. They are helping us, and we need their help. I can't do everything I need to do to keep you without their assistance."

"W-why are they helping if they don't love me?" Sisstet asked in a whimper.

She did her best to keep negative emotions out of her voice as she answered. "They hope you take an interest in their business so you can be their heir instead of me. They want it to stay in the family, and if I adopt you, then you're family."

"But I thought they loved you," Sisstet said in confusion. "Why me and not you?"

She gave a sad smile. "I wouldn't be happy following in their hoofsteps, and that wouldn't be good for me or the business. My parents know that, and that's why I'm getting skipped over. However, you aren't me, and you might decide you like it, and I want you to know there's nothing at all wrong with that."

"Will they love me if I—"

Silver Spoon cut him off. "Stop!" She then took a deep breath. "Don't do anything specifically to try to earn their love. If you want to follow them in the business, it should be because it's what you truly want to do, not because you think it will make them or me happy with you. I'll be fully supportive of you no matter what you choose to do with your life, and they understand you might not find it to be your thing either."

"How do I know if it'ss my thing?"

"You don't need to worry about that until after you're done with your primary schooling, so you have years to figure it out yet. No rush," Silver Spoon gently replied. She then cautiously rapt on the cabinet door. "Think you're ready to come out now? I'm not sure what is stored in there, but I'm assuming it's a little cramped."

"There are lots of big pots in here," Sisstet answered. Silver Spoon smiled a little as she noted he didn't fumble his S's that time. That meant he had calmed down.

She chuckled. "Well, you don't belong with the pots. I would really like to hug you, and it's hard to do when you're in there. You might not have noticed, but I don't fit in kitchen cabinets anymore."

There was some rustling, and the cabinet door cracked open wide enough for Sisstet to flicker his tongue out, testing the air outside. She was unsure exactly what that accomplished, even though she'd seen him do it a few times before, and she knew snakes did the same thing. She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by highlighting his non-pony habits, so she made a mental note to wait to ask about it when there was a more relaxed setting. Whatever the tongue was checking for must have been satisfactory, as his head soon followed after it.

He didn't fully emerge yet. Instead, he looked around, checking for threats. The cook might have given him an additional scare earlier. She was patient as he went through the actions that made him feel safe. It took almost a full two minutes from when his tongue had first snuck out the door, but he eventually seemed to think it was safe enough to fully exit the cabinet, immediately slithering close to her and wrapping his arms around one of her forelegs.

"Is it okay if I gently hug you?" she asked, knowing that just because he seemed more at ease didn't necessarily mean he was, not to mention she was unsure how physically uncomfortable he still was due to his molt.

"Soft hug, not hard," he answered with a nod, still latching on her leg.

Silver Spoon pulled him into a hug as gently as she could, exerting practically no pressure at all and giving him plenty of room to escape her grip if he so chose. It was a tough line, trying to balance out making him feel protected while not accidentally hurting. She might not be a farmer or a miner, but she was still an earth pony and had earth pony strength. As earth ponies grew into adulthood, they learned to treat the world as if everything was potentially breakable. Every earth pony colt or filly had at least one incident during puberty, if not numerous incidents, where they inadvertently damaged or destroyed something with their budding strength. Her worst incident was slamming her hoof on one of her parents' good tables in frustration and snapping it into two. She'd learned after that to be far more careful. However, dealing with Sisstet made her push the need to be extra cautious with her strength to new limits.

Actually, her incident of breaking the table had a silver lining. Her parents had taken the time to comfort her when she was crying, not even seeming upset about the loss of an expensive table. Times that they showed affection had been rarer than most parents typically showed their foals, typically leaving things to Madam Glass to deal with, but those times weren't non-existent, and they were memories she deeply cherished. They reserved their displays of love for more significant life events— her cutecinera, helping her cope with emotional and bodily changes during puberty, birthdays, Hearthswarming, really-really terrible days like when she had briefly broken off her friendship with Diamond Tiara as a foal. Her parents were capable of letting their petty noble-wannabe faces drop and showing genuine affection, even if it was seldom. Knowing that gave her some hope that they could show some love to Sisstet.

She slowly released her hug and smiled down at who she hoped would be her adopted son. "I think we should head back into the other room and give my parents another chance to talk to you. I'm not sure if they will show it or not, but I know they're very sorry they upset you. The only way they'll learn to love you like I do is exposure, and we can't do that hiding in the kitchen. Can you be brave and try again?"

He latched onto her leg tighter and didn't say anything.

"How about if I let you ride on my back? Will that make it easier for you?" she asked.

He was still silent, but he nodded. She bent down and let him get in position, wrapping his coils around her for security.

Time to try this again.

Chapter 30: House Tour

Sisstet followed behind the adults, staying close to Silver Spoon's rear legs. He wondered why anycreature could possibly need so many rooms that they didn't even use. Yet Silver Spoon's parents calmly stated that room after room was a guest room, or a study, or a second study, or the study they used only on holidays. They must have been very smart if they had so many studies.

"And this room is Spoon's room," Silver Wright said as he gestured to another shut door that looked like all the others. "She and her spouse will be sleeping in there while you all holiday with us."

Silver Spoon raised an eyebrow. "That's not my room."

"Dear, that old room was too small for a couple," Silver Sheet said with a tsk. "You'll find this one much more suitable. We've had it prepared for years, but we have never had the opportunity for you to make use of it."

Silver Spoon frowned and looked around. "You haven't mentioned any servant rooms. You haven't moved them all to the servant quarters again, have you?"

"Oh, no," Silver Sheet replied. "Only Madam Glass is in the servant quarters, and you know we have offered her a room outside it numerous times, despite the fact she always curtly refuses. No, all the other servants have taken lodging in Ponyville and commute to work daily. Why they would want to do so when they could live here with room and board included, we don't know, but they're quite adamant about it. Even the younger ones we brought on only stay a few nights then say they prefer lodging elsewhere."

"Very strange. You would assume the younger ones without any built-up assets would be eager to stay so they could accumulate savings in their accounts, but alas, that is not the case," Silver Wright said with a shake of his head.

Silver Sheet stopped in front of a door. "Aww! Here we are. Sisstet, this will be your room whenever you stay with us."

"It's my old room," Silver Spoon said with a satisfied smile.

They opened the door and gestured for him to go in. He looked up at Silver Spoon for reassurance, and she nodded. He slithered past her into the room.

The first thing that struck him was it was big, like everything else in the house. It was as big as the living room, and the kitchen at Silver Spoon's home put together. That wasn't what held his attention for long; there was something far more interesting.

"That's a lot of toysss…" he said breathlessly.

There were toy trains and airships, stuffed animals and creatures, stacks of board games, action figures with playsets, balls in a range of sizes, and even one of those electronic games that he had heard about but thought was just a myth of the schoolyard. There were also crayons, coloring books, and paints. He had believed that Silver Spoon had bought him a lot of toys before, but that number didn't even make up a third of what was here. He could play with a different toy every day for the entire summer and still not play with them all.

"We were uncertain what amusements were your preference, so we indulged in a bit of everything," Silver Sheet said, sounding almost bored. "If there are any that aren't to your liking, inform us, and we'll donate the said novelties to the servants who have foals. I'm sure they will be delighted at the gifts."

That made him wonder if he should try to find things he didn't like so the other foals could get presents. That would be hard because he couldn't imagine not enjoying toys, and he didn't want to lie. Still, there had to be toys he liked better than others, right? He couldn't even play with all these toys.

"If you would direct your attention to the far right side of the room. You will get a preview of the upgrades currently underway at Spoon's residence," Silver Wright said, pointing in the direction.

"Currently underway?" Silver Spoon asked with a hint of anger.

"We figured it would be best if they were done while you weren't staying at your house," Silver Wright explained.

"Without consulting me? You have ponies in my house, doing things to it, without asking my permission first?" Silver Spoon demanded.

"You needed the work done, were going to have it done soon, and you're going to be out of the house for the week. Now was a perfect time," Silver Wright listed off slowly.

"That isn't the issue, and you know it," Silver Spoon half-growled. The teacher then took a deep breath. "We'll discuss it later, in private."

"As you wish," Silver Wright replied. "Sisstet, please, go take a look."

Sisstet didn't like the tension between the adults, but he didn't want to stir it up even more by being disobedient.

He slithered over to where he was directed and found two things; one was a much bigger tub than the one at Silver Spoon's house. It could easily fit three grown ponies in it, and it had a ramp going up to the edge. He got close and peeked in it and saw there were spaces indented on the inner tub leading up to the ramp. He recognized what they were; they were to help him climb out. There was also a showerhead directly above the tub instead of on the side.

Off to the side, there was an odd little drain on the floor. It was square and had a pair of spigots on either side of it, but only a single handle.

"That is your new privy," Silver Sheet said proudly. "You simply need to slither comfortably over the grate, and do what nature commands. Once you are done, pull the handle, and it will wash away any remaining nastiness. You can use the same method to do a quick rinse of yourself. Personally, I find this new design quite sanitary and easily adaptable to ponies. We are already looking into all such facilities in our house to match, as well as all the facilities at our businesses."

Silver Sheet cleared her throat. "If you have a piece of matter too big to wash down normally, simply hold the handle down, and the grate will open enough to allow it to pass through, but don't be on top of it when it does."

"So that's the new toilet," Silver Spoon said as she came and looked it over.

"Spoon! Don't use that word! It is so vulgar," Silver Sheet scolded.

Silver Spoon turned and crooked an eyebrow. "It's the most common term, mother. I suppose the design isn't too bad. It's sad my bathroom is too small for a tub like this one."

Silver Sheet waved a hoof and laughed. "Oh, we are having them expand that."

Silver Spoon's eye twitched. "At the expense of what?"

"Well, at our expense, dear. I thought that was clear," Silver Sheet replied.

Silver Spoon facehoofed. "What is giving up space to make up for extra bathroom space?"

"Oh, that," Silver Sheet said with a chuckle. "Just some of your yard. The rooms in your house were too… cozy… in dimension as they were. Honestly, I don't even know how you can stand to live in such cramped quarters."

Silver Spoon winced. "I had flowers planted all along the border of the house. It took a lot of work to do that."

"I fail to see how flowers fix it being a cramped space," Silver Wright said dryly.

"They don't! Urgh! You two will never understand the joys in simple things," Silver Spoon grumbled.

"They liked the toilet," Sisstet pointed out, trying to think of anything to defend Silver Spoon's parents.

All three ponies looked at him, and he suddenly felt the need to find a hole to slither into. What did he do wrong? Silver Spoon said he was supposed to try to get along with them, and he tried saying something nice. Her mom seemed excited about the toilet, which seemed like a simple thing.

A throat cleared, and they all turned to look at Madam Glass standing in the bedroom doorway. "Excuse me, Mister, Misses, and young Mister and Miss. Minister Cozy Glow has arrived and is waiting in the primary sitting room."

"Is it that time already?" Silver Wright asked. "Time has quite gotten away from us."

Sisstet remembered her. Cozy Glow made him nervous. Yeah, she gave him candy, which was nice, and she got mad at Spoiled Rich for not taking better care of him, which also seemed good. She also was one of the ponies trying to make sure he could stay with Silver Spoon. All those things should add up to her being somecreature he liked, but something felt bad about her, something he couldn't taste, but knew was there. Maybe it was the fact history lessons taught about how bad she had been as a foal, but it felt like more than that. He didn't want to see her more than he had to.

"Why's she here?" Silver Spoon asked.

Silver Wright started walking to the bedroom door, and Madam Glass stepped in and out of his way. "We can discuss that with her. Come along," the old stallion instructed. "Madam Glass, can you please see to Sisstet's needs. It would be better if he weren't underhoof."

The old servant bowed her head. "Certainly. It would be my pleasure."

Silver Spoon still seemed unhappy as she came up to him, even though she was smiling. "I'll come find you again as soon as I'm done with whatever this is. Be good for Madam Glass. Don't give her any trouble."

Sisstet nodded. "I'll be good."

She smiled bigger and gave him a kiss on the head, which made him feel good. He never got kisses from his old guardians. Silver Spoon didn't kiss him much either, but she kissed him more than he'd ever been kissed before. He wasn't sure why ponies gave kisses, he preferred hugs, but he knew that it was a sign of love, and that made him happy.

The three Silvers left the room, leaving him with the elderly Madam Glass. He needed to be good and polite. What was the good and polite thing to do?

"Ssorry for biting at you," Sisstet said, hunkering down low.

The old pony smiled. "Don't ya worry 'bout that. Ya can't hurt old Madam Glass. How 'bout we finish the tour of the house with the gardens outside? I know you saw most of the inside."

"They didn't show me your room," he pointed out.

She shook her head. "And ya won't be seein' it. Nopony goes to my room, not even the Mister or Misses, or the young miss. You wouldn't like it anyway. It's dusty and smells."

He blinked and looked around. Nothing in the house was dusty. This was the most dust-free place that he had ever seen. It was hard to imagine any part of the house that was dusty and smelly. Just knowing that there was a place like that in the house made him want to see it even more because it was so different than anything else here.

"Come now," Madam Glass said, gesturing to the door. "Ol' Madam Glass doesn't go outside much these days, so this will be my treat as well, but we needs to be careful. Servants working outside can be easy to spook. Catch them unawares, and they go white as a sheet they do."

He started slithering to the door. "Why do they do that?"

She sighed. "Ay tend to come up on ponies rather quiet-like. These ol' hooves are light as a feather. Ponies will be about their business, and they do a start when they see me just standin' there. I keep mainly inside these days, and they keep mainly outside, besides the cook— who would just as much prefer not to be sharin' space with me, but has come to some resolve not to be too bothered by my way of poppin' up unexpectedly."

Sisstet looked up at her. "Maybe you should make more noise."

She shook her head. "A good servant does not bring attention to themselves unless they need to. Out of sight and out of mind, my old Papi told me when I was a young thing."

Sisstet didn't know much about servants, so he didn't think it would be right for him to disagree with her. He instead slithered past her out the door. Once out the bedroom door, he slithered partly down the hall, but stopped when he didn't hear her following. He looked back, but didn't see her behind him.

When he turned around, she was in front of him. How did she do that? Earth ponies couldn't teleport.

She turned and gestured for him to follow. "Come along, young master. It is a pleasant day out. The air will do you good. The air gets so stale in here."

He wordlessly followed.

Chapter 31: The Mysterious Madam Glass

Sisstet followed Madam Glass out through the front door and into the sunlight. The house was positioned, so the sun was currently beaming brightly onto the yard in front of the house, and he could only presume that the backyard was nice and shady. The grass was even, without a single blade of it higher than any other. The bushes, when not shaped into leafy displays of ponies or animals, were squared, and not a single leaf or twig was out of place. There were four ponies that he could see tending to every shrub, bulb, and vine with extreme care. Looking at this, it occurred to him that perfect houses required a lot of work to maintain.

"Madam Glass, ma'am, I have a quessstion," Sisstet said as he continued to observe his surroundings, testing the air with his tongue–it tasted very fresh, with hints of sweat in it.

"Nothin' wrong with askin' questions. It's how we learn best. What question do you have for ol' Madam Glass?" the old servant asked with a smile.

"Why does it take more ponies to keep the yard nice?" he asked. "You said it was just you and the cook that came inside. How does the inside stay so nice and clean with just you two, but the yard has all these ponies working on it?"

Madam Glass chuckled. "Oh! You're a perceptive one, young master. The mister and misses will be quite pleased to hear that. The answer is that out here, there be so much more trying to break down the order of the place, don't ya know. The trees, grass, and bushes be tryin' to grow how they want to grow and not how the mister and the misses want them to. Ya can try to tell a tree not to do that, but trees are stubborn and ain't the types to listen to those instructions. Furthermore, there is the wind and the rain and the sun out here. Them pegasus ponies do a brilliant job telling the weather what's what, but the weather still will shift the dirt and blow the dust and make things a mess. Ay tell ya, its enough to drive a good servant to drink, as it did my ol' pa many a day."

"Oh," Sisstet said, taking notice more of the light breeze that was currently blowing.

The old servant bent down and partially covered her mouth to do a whisper. "But the biggest reason is, ol' Madam Glass ain't got a green hoof like these servants out here do; otherwise, ay'd put this yard to right faster than any of 'em. I keep the house clean, not letting a single speck of dust settle."

He blinked at her. "All by yourself?"

She nodded. "All by myself. Not a thing out of place inside the mansion. Ay have my pride. Now, it's rude to block the front door. Let's take a little stroll…slither in your case."

Sisstet followed close behind as they left the porch and ventured out into the yard. Upon leaving the path into the grass, he savored the feel of the grass against his still very sore body. This grass even felt different than the grass in the rest of town, like a fuzzy blanket. It was much thicker than it looked too.

They came up to the unicorn mare who had earlier been trimming the bush to look like a snake monster. She didn't seem to notice them since her focus seemed to be entirely on her unfinished work. The shears levitated in her magic, but she wasn't currently using them. She was staring at the bush and muttering at it.

"How to salvage this? How to salvage this?" the gardener fretted. "They should have let me get a good look at him before having me start this or give me a photo or something. How was I supposed to know what a naga looked like? I wasn't anywhere near the fighting during the war; I only heard stories. I might have to ask the earth ponies to pull up the whole bloody bush and plant another. They won't like that…."

"If ay may," Madam Glass spoke up to the gardener. The gardener jumped a full ponylength into the air, dropping the shears from their magical grip, before landing and looking at Madam Glass in abject terror.

"Th-they said you d-don't come out of the house," the gardener stuttered as the blood drained from her furry face and she began backing up. She seemed absolutely unconcerned about Sisstet; her eyes were locked on the elderly servant. Why was she acting like that? This seemed much worse than just being startled.

Madam Glass tilted her head slightly. "Ol' Madam Glass has been known to go as far as the front gate when the mood suits me. Normally not much reason to leave the house, but ay'm watching the young master, and the dear could use some air. Ay won't be troubling ya outside for long."

The mare still looked like she wanted to turn and run. In fact, Sisstet was pretty sure that Madam Glass's explanation of being outside had only frightened the gardener even more than they already were. However, the unicorn mare looked at the bush and licked her lips.

"What is your suggestion? You have a suggestion?" the mare asked, keeping her eyes glued to the bush and purposely not looking at Madam Glass.

Madam Glass kept on smiling as if the pony wasn't being rude. "Ay happen to know that Poppy Seed has a talent for helping branches bud. Yea can trim the whole thing down, which is just as well since the young master is so small, and with her help, ya can get fresh buds on the shrunken shrub. That saves ya the trouble of gettin' a new one."

"I'll take that under advisement," the mare replied quickly, then started muttering again. "If I hang around. She isn't supposed to come outside. They promised."

"Glad to help. We'll leave ya to your work," Madam Glass said happily. Had she not heard what that pony was saying? Maybe she was hard of hearing because she was old. "Come along, young master. Ay can show ya the pool. It's just around back."

She turned and walked away from.the gardener, who turned and watched closely Madam Glass depart, as if making sure she was really going. Sisstet was confident that the gardener was holding her breath. The gardener still hadn't looked at him. It was like he wasn't even there. He turned and slithered after the old caretaker.

"Why was that pony ssscared of you?" he asked as he closed the distance.

She didn't turn to look at him as she replied. "As ay said, they get a little spooked. Didn't hear us come up on her, the poor dear. A spooked pony can take some time to settle down."

"She said bad thingss," he replied, not backing down.

"Ohhh, ya misinterpreted, young master," Madam Glass said, not breaking the smile in her voice.

"I'm not sssure."

Madam Glass stopped and looked at him. Her smile faded and she bent down.

"Let me talk to ya, not as a caretaker, but as a pony who has seen some things," Madam Glass said, sounding serious. "Ya're a creature ponies take a fright too, one that makes them shake in their wee withers. Ya haft to learn to pretend it ain't happenin'."

Sisstet blinked in confusion. "Why?"

"They haft to learn ya are just a regular ol' creature, just like them. Ya can't tell them. Tellin' them don't do a lick of good. Ya have to show them. They won't believe ya saying it, and ya can't seem hostile, even if ya deserve to be. It makes them think they were right 'bout ya."

"Oh," he said, feeling small. None of that seemed very fair, but Madam Glass was an old adult, and old adults were supposed to be wise, so he didn't want to question it. Plus, that would be rude, and he was supposed to be on his best behavior.

Madam Glass, seeing him not reply, must have taken him for listening well, and resumed guiding him to the pool. It only occurred to him after he started to slither after her that she had completely avoided answering his question about why the gardener had been so scared of her. She'd turned it around into a life lesson somehow, and he wasn't really sure how it had happened. He couldn't ask him again, at least not so soon, because that would be nagging, and nocreature liked nagging. He had learned that from his old guardians. They said little worms that nagged too much got eaten. Madam Glass wasn't a naga, so he doubted she could eat him, but she could get mad. He would just ask Silver Spoon instead.

Not that his curiosity about the subject was any less as he followed. There seemed like there was an army of gardeners here, and they all stopped and stared as he and Madam Glass passed. Some of them looked at him, and a few seemed frightened of him, but most were looking at Madam Glass, and he could tell that she was still the one they were more scared of. He saw some of the ponies whispering to each other as they watched her, and he wondered what they were saying. Madam Glass didn't ignore them; she smiled at them, even though she kept walking.

"Here we are, young master. The pool," Madam Glass announced.

He looked at it and didn't know what to think. It was big. As big around as Silver Spoon's house. It was one big rectangle with stone blocks– inlaid with silver, of course. It had a diving board, and lots of chairs around it with umbrellas for shade. It was a very nice pool. However, he had been kind of expecting something grander after seeing everything else in the house. It was as big as the community pool that Silver Spoon sometimes took the class to, but part of him expected it to be bigger, or to have a water park or something. He would still enjoy laying in the pool and swimming, and without anycreature else sharing it with him, he would have lots of room and not have to worry about startling any ponies or other creatures. Was it possible to really like something and be disappointed at the same time? What kind of feeling would that be called? He should ask Cheese Slice. Cheese Slice had a way of making up words to fit the situation. He could also ask Candy. She was smart and knew a bunch of weird stuff.

"The pool hasn't gotten much use these past years," Madam Glass lamented. "The mister and misses don't really come out here that much. The young miss used to bring her friend Diamond Tiara over whenever she could. The young miss even brought over other ponies sometimes, even if ay think she was doing it just to show off, at least early on. Ay hates to say it, but she was a spoiled one back then, even if she did get better when she got older. Goin' off to business school changed her even more, and even though the mister and misses might not care for how it changed her, ay think she came back a better mare– once she stopped mopin' about all brokenhearted."

"Can I have friendss over?" Sisstet asked. Lots of creatures in the pool wouldn't be good, but if it was just his friends that might be nice. He didn't want to spend the whole week not seeing his friends.

"Ay don't know why not," Madam Glass replied. He noticed that the way she talked changed when she was around Silver Spoon's parents. Not a lot, but she sounded more like Candy when away from them, and the way she talked sounded a little more normal when around them. He wondered if she was related to the Apples. Maybe she was a pirate. Didn't pirates talk like that too? If she was a pirate, that would scare ponies.

"Can I invite them now?" he asked.

"The mister and misses might want ya to hold off until next visit, just because they want ya to themselves as much as possible while gettin' to know ya. Ay'm sure they want ya to spend time with friends. Spendin' time with friends is good for a foal."

That was disappointing, but he wasn't going to get upset. He slithered over to the edge and looked into the pool. The water was clean and clear. There was no sign of dirt floating around in it or leaves. It was like the house, spotless.

"Now, ay should have asked this already, but ol' Madam Glass can get caught up in the excitement and forget important things sometimes. Do ya know how to swim? It's okay if ya don't. We can find ya an instructor."

"I can sswim," he said as he lowered his head down and flicked his tongue out to taste the water. There were no nasty chemicals like the community pool. This was nice clean water.

"Well, a few pool rules for ya," Madam Glass said. "Ay would say no running by the pool, but ya can't run, so that rule don't make a lick of sense. No goin' under the water for more than thirty seconds. Ay don't want to worry ya drownin'."

"I can hold my breath way longer than that," Sisstet said proudly.

Madam Glass shook her head. "Well, don't. You'll still worry me, and ol' Madam Glass can't swim to jump in and save ya. Convincin' other ponies to jump in would be a chore. Best not to have reason to do it."

"I won't stay underwater that long," Sisstet promised as he slithered over the edge into the water. His head was underwater for a brief second before it was back up. He paddled with his arms and swished the rest of his body to keep moving around the surface.

"A fine swimmer ya are," Madam Glass complimented. "Naga seem built to swim. The last rule is no cannonballs off the divin' board."

He kept moving but raised his head further out if the water. "I can't cannonball. I can't really jump. I just kind of fall off diving boards."

"Be careful with the board then. Don't want ya hittin' your head or some other sensitive part," she blinked. "Forgive me, young master; ay forgot a rule. No piddlin' in the pool. Want to keep the water nice and clean, don't we?"

"I won't pee in the pool," he assured her as he continued to swim around. It felt nice on his scales. It made them feel less itchy.

He dived down to the bottom, propelling himself with his whole body. He touched the bottom then came back up. It had taken about ten seconds; he counted.

"Madam Glass? Did you really help take care of Silver Spoon?" he asked after resurfacing.

She came over to the edge of the pool and sat down. All the other ponies in the area had apparently found things to do somewhere else because none of them were in sight.

"Oh, yes. Her, her father, and his before him," Madam Glass replied.

That made her really old, but he thought it might be rude to comment on that. "Was she really a bully when she was my age? I don't think I believe her. She's too nice."

"Haha!" Madam Glass laughed. "Yes, she was, sad to say. Ay blame that Diamond Tiara filly for it. The young miss would do anything to please that filly. Took a lot for her to eventually turn on her friend, but she eventually learned the friendship only was goin' one way. Still tore her up to do. Ay can't even blame that Diamond Tiara filly. Her mum was…still is…a right…hmmm…ay don't think ay can say what she is to a foal."

"A meanie?" Sisstet suggested.

"That be a good startin' point for what to call her," Madam Glass agreed. "Luckily for the young miss, her friend eventually learned to stop listenin' to her mum, and became a right decent creature and true friend. That was the end of young miss's bullyin' career. Warmed my ol' heart when it finally happened. It just didn't suit her. Her mark weren't made for a bully."

"She gets mad at her parents a lot. Did she get mad at you?" Sisstet asked.

Madam Glass frowned. "One time, she did. Every year, a year's students at the school do this cart racin' thing. They gets an adult to help them and ride with them, at least, they had an adult ride with them back then. I seem to recall there was some commotion that year that brought that second part to an end. Ay helped her make her cart. A good cart it was; sure to be the fastest."

"Did it not win and she got mad?" he asked.

Madam Glass shook her head. "She ain't even get to race, got left out. The mister was originally goin' to ride with her, but he came down with a dreadful flu that day. It t'weren't no excuse, he was sick, and had been lookin' forward to ridin' with his daughter. The mister might seem cold, but he does love the young miss. The misses was away on a business trip, so she was right out as an option, so the young miss asked me. Ay told her no. That made her more furious than a rooster stuck in a feed bag in the middle of a storm. Ay suggested another member of the staff, but she wasn't having it."

Sisstet swam over to the side and propped his arms over the edge to latch on. "Why didn't you go with her?"

Madam Glass looked away. "Ya don't see me galavanting around town, do ya? Ay got my duties here at the house."

"You never leave?" he asked in confusion. The other ponies seemed amazed she was even outside.

"Only when ay absolutely have to," Madam Glass said firmly. "Takes a life or death situation to pull me away. My place is here."

She seemed forceful and less nice when discussing this subject, and that confused him. There must be some other reason. Everybody got days off from work. So she couldn't be working all the time. It also seemed kinda bad, never leaving the house. It was a nice house, but it would get boring being here all the time.

Madam Glass perked her ears and looked back at the house. "The minister and your soon-to-be mum are done talkin'. Best be headin', back in. Can ya get out of the pool with no assistance?"

He nodded and pulled himself out. How'd she know they were done talking? He wanted to ask, but his last question seemed to have made her a little mad, and he didn't want her mad at him, so he decided not to ask. He just followed her as she led him inside.

Author's Note

Sisstet lives! This might be a little rough but wanted to get a chapter out. I know it has been a while since my last update. Have multiple other projects I'm working on, and my new job leaves me exhausted every day. I hope all of you are doing well.

Feel free to say in the comment section whether you want next chapter to follow Silver Spoon or Sisstet's perspective.

Chapter 32: Schedule Change

Silver Spoon sat on one of her parents' overstuffed chairs, worriedly tapping her hoof on the silver gilded rest. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous. Well, she knew why but didn't know why she couldn't dismiss it as being silly. This was good news, and it was a chance to escape her parents' mansion with Sisstet for a few days, even if her parents would be in tow. Sisstet would be the one she could imagine being nervous, even if he shouldn't be.

Cozy Glow took another sip of wine from her silver tankard, lifting it gently to her lips with a single wing. She then set the tankard down. "You have provided acceptable hospitality, and I look forward to continuing our business relationship. However, I need to see a certain shy yellow pegasus concerning some additional matters involving Sisstet. I expect you have no objections to Fluttershy taking over the duties formerly held by Spoiled Rich?"

Silver Spoon's ears perked. "None at all. I look forward to regular visits from her, and I'm sure Sisstet will also. I know she has nothing but Sisstet's best interests at heart, and if she has any feedback about his care, it is given out of concern for him."

The former foal tyrant shrugged. "I doubt there will be many issues with you raising him. The only thing that could have been seriously problematic has already come to light, and we're dealing with it. The necessary renovations are underway, so that is taken care of. Sadly, I doubt the naga back at the Clutch will appreciate or understand the change in the level of care. At this point, even Spoiled Rich could get away with doing the job with the same level of effort she put into it before, but she embarrassed me, and an example must be made."

Silver Spoon chewed on her lip. She couldn't believe the words that were about to exit her mouth. "You aren't going to make too much of an example out of her, are you? I understand she deserves to be humbled, but she's also Diamond Tiara's mother, and Diamond is my friend, my oldest friend. Diamond might find her mother as difficult to deal with as the rest of town, but that doesn't mean she doesn't love her mother. She'd be upset if her mother were punished too harshly."

Cozy Glow pursed her lips and got a sly look in her eye. "That is true…I sometimes forget how much others will do for their family since my mother was even a less stellar example of parental care than Spoiled Rich, and I never even met my father– probably somepony wasting everycreatures' air by breathing like my mom. I will have to have a talk with Miss Tiara about some matters. Thank you, that reminder was beneficial."

Did I just open Diamond up to some sort of blackmail? Silver thought worriedly. What should she do? She should say or do something, but she couldn't even be sure what Cozy Glow would do, and Cozy Glow was on a whole other level of influence than Spoiled Rich. Confronting the pegasus wouldn't do much good. Maybe she could say something to Princess Twilight or Princess Flurry Heart…on second thought, not Flurry Heart. The younger alicorn tended to be more than a bit rash, and she could only imagine what kind of fiasco might happen if Flurry Heart decided to play the hero in the ways she seemed most inclined to do.

"I shall escort you out, Minister Glow."

They all looked up to see Madam Glass standing at the door with Sisstet close behind her. The old mare was amazing at anticipating these things. Silver wished she had the same intuition about where she needed to be at any given time. Sometimes she wondered if Madam Glass had some magic dedicated to that.

Cozy Glow smiled. "You have such an attentive servant. It is so hard to find help that can anticipate where they are needed. Tell me, how much are the Silvers paying you? I'm sure I could double your salary to come work for me."

Silver's father's eyes widened. "Minister Glow, I say! It is quite unseemly to try to poach your associates' employees directly in front of them."

"Unorthodox and, I dare say, rude," Silver Sheet said with a sniff.

Cozy Glow waved a wing dismissively. "Why not do it in the open? Isn't it duplicitous to try to do it behind your back? That isn't a very honorable thing to do. I'm affirming the quality of your hiring selections. Shouldn't everycreature in a professional setting seek the best workforce? It is just business."

"Sir and Madam, if I may, I can speak for myself," Madam Glass said in her most formal tone. She gave Cozy Glow a quick bow of her head, and her features relaxed. "Let meh say less stiff-like that aye do feel delighted at yer offer, but mah place is with this here house. The Master and the Misses see to all that aye want and need, so glittery bits don' make ol' Madam Glass bat an eye. Thank you for complimenting, but this pony ain't on the market."

Cozy Glow smirked. "And she can switch and maintain different speech patterns in an instant. Mode switching is an underappreciated but valuable talent that is so hard to find among ponies. Oh-well, I tried. Pity it didn't work out. Anyway, that will be all. I hope you all enjoy your visit to the Crystal Empire. I shall remain in touch. You may escort me out, Madam Glass."

Madam Glass gestured, and Minister Cozy Glow walked to the front door without further conversation. That mare gave Silver the chills. She might be reformed, but reformed into what. Cozy Glow might work for Equestria's best interests, as well as Sisstet's, but only because it kept her accommodations from the princess and her influence strong and growing. In theory, everycreature wins in that arrangement, but Cozy Glow still felt like a bad apple. What she did to Spoiled Rich back at the castle still unnerved Silver. It wasn't teaching a lesson; it was making sure somepony felt small and helpless. Spoiled Rich was guilty of the same offenses, but two wrongs were still two wrongs, not a right.

"The nerve!" Silver's mother exclaimed in her most insulted tone after she was sure Cozy Glow was out of earshot.

"Now, now, Madam Glass said her peace and shut the offer down," Silver's father placated. "Still, perhaps we should insist on giving her a raise or insist on her having a better room for herself."

Silver's mother waved it off. "We can make the offer, but she'd turn it down again. I wish she wouldn't, as all creatures should be paid their worth, it sets a bad precedent to not and reflects upon us, but the mare has made her position clear. At least Madam Glass doesn't discuss her meager compensation with others, at least, not to my knowledge. We'd never get any creature to work for us again if they knew how poorly she is compensated in comparison to the exceptional work she does! If she weren't so loyal, I would have her fired for rejecting a salary increase!"

"Wouldn't that spread through the gossip mills of the board rooms," Silver's father mused. "But I would not allow her dismissal. There is something to be said about the loyalty an employer owes to an employee who has given them a lifetime of hard work. Plus, she is practically family."

More than practically. She wiped your bottom and comforted you on your bad days, just like she did me growing up. If you fired her, I would probably stop talking to you. Silver thought to herself.

She glanced at Sisstet, who seemed unsure what to do with Madam Glass no longer present, and with a smile, she put the entire incident with Cozy Glow out of her mind for the time being. "Come on over, Sisstet. I have some good news. You can curl up next to me if you feel comfortable doing so."

He slithered over to her in a rush and up beside her, coiling up tightly beside her. She resisted the urge to lay a comforting hoof on him. She knew he was still sore and itchy, which meant he set the boundaries on how he was to be touched. It wasn't what she would have preferred, but this was part of what came with parenting a naga.

Her parents sat silent, respecting that it was her who should give the news. She was thankful for that.

"We are going to be cutting our visit here short because we're all going to go visit the Crystal Empire and let you meet the other naga foals there. You are going to get to meet other foals just like you!" she said excitedly, hoping her visible enthusiasm would be contagious, despite being secretly nervous about this.

He raised his head out of his tight coil and flicked his tongue a little. "Oh. That'ssss nissss."

Ponyfeathers, he was nervous, very nervous, if the amount of trill said anything. He was trying to hide it but doing a worse job than her. Was he worried about the same things she was?

She took a deep breath. "I know it can be scary meeting new creatures, especially ones you see as your peers. These naga have grown up under very different circumstances than you, and you don't need to compare yourself with them."

He lowered his head. "Princessss Flurry Heart ssssaid they don't talk like me. They'll think I'm weird or ssstupid."

She held his gaze and focused on speaking both firmly and caringly. "You are a very bright and intelligent young foal. You are also doing much better with your speech. You only fall back into this pattern when you're nervous, and that's okay. It's alright to be nervous. If it happens when you meet these other naga, be honest and tell them the truth. Remember, they'll be nervous about meeting a naga foal from outside their group too. The only naga they've known are each other. Knowing that you're as nervous as them can help ease their anxieties and yours."

"You think sso?" he asked, head raising a bit more and with a little bit of optimism in his voice.

She wanted to nuzzle him so badly, but she resisted. "Think about it. These foals have spent their entire lives in a nursery together, with only limited exposure to the outside. Ponies raise them instead of naga, so they behave more like ponies, but most of what they know about the outside world is what they read in books and what their caretakers tell them. You've lived your life outside. You see the things they only read about, including color. That you're a kingsnake must make them very nervous about meeting you. It's up to you to let them know you're just another foal like them, and you aren't scary."

Silver Spoon's father cleared his throat. "We'll be with you on this excursion, and the minister thought it might be an excellent idea for you to invite your friends along. They provide additional support and show these common naga how they can be friends with ponies too."

"DAD!" Silver shouted. "I do not want you to get Sisstet thinking of the other naga as common naga!"

"Well, dear, what would you have us call them?" her mother asked with a raised eyebrow. "They aren't kingsnakes like Sisstet; therefore, they are common. Would you prefer the term regular? Perhaps the term base or vanilla? As you yourself pointed out, they will see themselves as different, and all share the same vision disability."

She was ready to snarl. "It isn't a disability!"

"Really?" her mother asked in a calm yet condescending tone. "If they are doing a job where recognizing a color is important, they are at a decided disadvantage, are they not? I would call that a disability."

"You might as well say we are disabled because we can't fly like pegasi or easily cast spells like a unicorn," Silver asserted. "Why not push it all the way, and say all ponies but alicorns are disabled?"

Her mother shook her head. "Now you're just being ridiculous."

Her father raised a hoof. "We aren't saying that they don't have many upstanding qualities, and we are sure they are competent and intelligent foals. Perhaps focusing on the vision issue was a mistake. My understanding of their sense of taste leads me to believe they far surpass us in that sense, which makes up for colorblindness. This is not the only area in which they differ. They shall never reach the size or age Sisstet will. He needs to understand he walks…slithers a much different long-term path than these other naga. He can see them as peers from now till his early adulthood, but eventually, a time will come when they cannot be viewed as the same."

She leveled a hard look. "Four steps forward and eight steps back. We are going to drop this subject before I say something I regret."

Silver saw that Sisstet had curled into a tight ball again, and her stomach twisted. He didn't like conflict, and he especially didn't like conflict revolving around him. While he did need to learn to cope with conflict, he was still at the stage where he needed to feel safe and secure. Her quarreling with her parents in front of him did not promote feelings of security. Still, some things needed to be said before other things became too problematic.

"Sisstet and I are going out for a while, but we will be back," she announced as she carefully left her seat. "We need to go by my wife's job and let her know the Crystal Empire trip is happening sooner rather than later. I doubt she'll be able to take time off for it on such short notice, especially right after taking time off on short notice not long ago. Summer is a hectic season for her. We also need to check with the Apples, Pinkie Pie, and Autumn Blaze to see if they will allow their foals to come along."

"We understan-" her father began.

"I'm not done," she said sternly as she cut him off. "In the meantime, let me remind you that Twist and I are the ones seeking to adopt Sisstet, and we intend to raise him a certain way. You need to take time to think about how you can respect that better, so visiting you doesn't have to be something I dread every time it comes up. Are you going to be his grandparents that he loves, or are you going to be some ponies I have to tell him not to listen to? I'd rather you be part of the family than our nemesis. Think about it."

They stared at her, looking dumbfounded. She was perfectly content with them being at a loss for words.

"Come on, Sisstet. I'll buy you a treat when we get to Twist's shop. We can talk about things along the way."

Chapter 33: Ninjas and Pirates, Tigers and Gators

The sun was shining brightly as Silver and Sisstet made their way back to the main street of Ponyville. This part of town had mostly gotten used to seeing Sisstet, so few expressed any shock at seeing him, aside from one couple who were obviously tourists seeing what else the town had to offer than the giant crystal tree castle.

She’d put off talking long enough. “Sisstet, I owe you an apology. When I’m around my parents, I tend to get very defensive and easily angered. You shouldn’t have to see that. I do have issues with things they say, but I should talk to you about those things in private, not get into yelling matches with my parents.”

“I undersstand,” Sisstet replied.

She smiled at him. “Of course you do; you’re a smart colt. Let’s hurry over and see Twist. She’s going to be shocked at how fast things are going.”

“Is Madam Glass a pirate?” Sisstet asked.

She paused in her tracks, unsure if she had heard that correctly. “Is Madam Glass a what?”

Sisstet coiled slightly and quickly flicked his tongue. “Iss Madam Glass a pirate?”

Okay, she did hear him correctly. “No, she’s not, nor do I think she ever was. Why are you asking?”

Sisstet pointed back the way they came. “The other ponies at the big house were scared of her, and she talks sorta like a pirate, so I wondered if she was a pirate.”

It was always surprising what made sense to foals. They had the wildest imaginations and came to the most bizarre conclusions. “The other servants get a little jumpy and unnerved around her because she moves very silently and very quickly, and she always takes them by surprise. She can be standing right behind you or walk right past you without you noticing because she's so quiet—sometimes, she can even be right in front of you, and you won't notice her till she speaks. She's very proud that she can come or go with nopony noticing; she believes any good servant should be able to do that, but none come close to matching her. Instead of a pirate, I’d have thought you might think she was a ninja since she’s so stealthy.”

“Is she a ninja?” Sisstet asked.

She shook her head and chuckled. “No, she’s not a ninja. She’s just a sweet old mare who has been perfecting her craft since before I was even born. Come along…actually…” She bent down. “Get on. I’ll give you a ride.”

He slithered across the grass and climbed up her side onto her back. It stung a little as he climbed. Were his claws getting sharper? They weren't sharp enough to penetrate her, at least not with her fur, but he also wasn't trying to. If he lashed out at anycreature, he could possibly do some serious harm. Should she trim his claws? Would that hurt him? Did he need them to be sharp? Would it impair his climbing abilities if she trimmed them? Would it impair him if she didn't trim them? It would be nice if she could ask him, but he barely knew more than she did about his species. She made a mental note to read up on naga claws as soon as she could.

She frowned as she felt something odd about how he felt against her back. “Sisstet, is everything okay?”

“Ssskin almosst ready to come off,” Sisstet replied. “Got loossser after Madam Glasssss ssscrubbed it.”

“No need to be nervous,” she assured him. “Are you hurting?”

“No, hurts less since it is all loose, but feels icky. Don't like it,” Sisstet answered.

“Well, I'll re-read the section about that tonight, and we'll see if we can get it off…or do we need to do it sooner?” she asked. “You've gone through this before; you tell me.”

“Guardiansss used to make little cut down my back so I could squeezzze out,” Sisstet answered.

Hmm, she wasn't sure she could do that. It seemed like something that had to be done with a great deal of precision; otherwise, she might end up cutting into more than the dead skin, and her experience cutting vegetables typically ended with lopsided cuts that didn't bode well for a job like this. Twist might be able to manage it. The issue they'd both face was the idea of cutting into Sisstet. They wouldn't actually be cutting him, but it would feel like it to them. Somepony else might have to do it. Who would be willing to do it and be able to do it without accidentally knicking Sisstet in the process? Should she try going to his old guardians and see if they'd be willing to do it? If she did, she could at least observe the process to know what to do in the future. Would they even be willing to? They had just dumped him like yesterday's garbage. Her blood still boiled just thinking about it.

“I'll see if I can find somecreature who can help you out of your skin,” she told him. Okay, that was one of the oddest things she had ever had to say.

“Miss Spoon! It's getting to be a common sight to see you with a naga on your back. How are you doing today?”

She turned to see one of her former students, an orange earth pony mare named Tiger Lily.

She smiled at the younger mare. “You don't have to call me Miss Spoon like I'm still your teacher, Tiger. How is the flower business going?”

She giggled. “Business is good, but my aunts are as easily spooked as ever, and some of my cousins are just as bad. You might want to avoid walking by the stall with that little guy on your back. They'd be on the ground in five seconds flat. The horror! The horror! Hehe.”

Silver had to force herself not to scowl. Tiger wasn't the problem or even guilty of anything other than reminding her how poorly some ponies might still react to Sisstet. The flower ponies might be overexcitable and dramatic, but it was easy to picture many ponies reacting that way. Sisstet and the other naga may have lived in Ponyville for years, but they'd kept primarily to themselves and only traveled to a few places in town. Now that Sisstet was being seen more often, ponies would slowly start to get used to him. She had faith in her hometown to adapt and become welcoming, but she still feared that there would be hiccups along the way that would hurt his feelings. He was only a foal; he would have difficulty understanding that they just needed to get used to him. Then there were the tourists; they'd always be questionable about how'd they react.

She forced a smile. “Well, I'm glad you don't react that way, and I hope your family can adjust to seeing Sisstet.”

Tiger Lily giggled. “I'm sure they will, as long as they aren't all together. They rile each other up. They aren't so bad individually. Anyway, I just wanted to say hi. Have a good day!”

Hmm, was there a way to get Sisstet one-on-one time with each of the flower ponies? They were potentially the worst Ponyville had to offer in terms of a bad reaction. Getting them to be comfortable with Sisstet would help prevent them from causing an uproar that spread to others.

She waved goodbye to Tiger Lily and turned to look at Sisset. “Everything okay back there? Talk about those ponies didn't upset you, did it?”

He shivered. “Am I really that ssscary?”

“You're unfamiliar, and some creatures are afraid of what's unfamiliar. Don't worry. As they get used to seeing you, you'll become more familiar, and they'll stop being afraid. Don't worry about those flower ponies. I once saw them faint because they didn't have the proper change to give to a customer who overpaid. They are the queens of being overdramatic.”

“THE HORROR!! THE HORROR!!”

She turned to watch ponies scattering in fear. They weren't reacting to Sisstet since several of them ran very close by them without any concern about being near the little naga. Something else had spooked them. Was this a monster attack? Did she need to get Sisstet to safety?

She blinked as a raccoon ran by, dragging a ribbon attached to a platter with a cake. It seemed to be running in terror.

”ROAAARRR!!!”

Gummy, in all his titanic gator glory, came charging down the street, chasing after the raccoon and dropping pieces of luggage that had been bound to his back as he went. A second later, Cheese Sandwich came running behind.

“Sorry, folks! Gummy is just a little agitated about a thief! No need for alarm!! We'll throw a big party for you afterward to make up for this!!” Cheese Sandwich yelled as he hurried after the gator. The first of his foals followed breathlessly after him, and the last trotted along behind, seeming completely unconcerned and uninterested in anything other than picking up the fallen luggage.

“At least there's less crowds now; that's a positive,” the second Pie foal said in bored fashion as they continued after their father, sibling, and pet.

She sighed and shook her head. “Never a dull moment with that family. I guess they're back from their trip. Pinkie and Cheese Slice should be happy.”

“That cake wasss for Cheesse Ssliice,” Sisstet said, flicking his tongue as he spoke.

She gave him a quizzical look. “How do you know?”

“Cheesecake,” Sisstet answered.

He could tell that at a distance? “Wow, I couldn't tell what kind of cake it was from this far away. You have better eyes than me.”

Sisstet shook his head and flicked his tongue. “Can smell and taste in the air. Can't now. I think it is too far away.”

So, that's what those little tongue flicks did. His tongue must help with his smell and taste receptors to gather information….that was actually a little creepy. That meant he wasn't just smelling everycreature when he did that; he was tasting them. By this point, he had to know her taste well.

She shook her head, refusing to let herself be disturbed by what was something that was natural to Sisstet. It was just a different way Sisstet gathered information about the world, not something to be horrified by.

She watched Tiger Lilly run by, screaming in terror. It turns out that Tiger had at least some of the flower pony fright in her. It just took something bigger to trigger it. A giant gator running through the streets roaring was apparently a bigger deal than a pint-sized naga riding a pony's back. Silver was familiar enough with the Pie family pet to ignore whatever Gummy was doing. Gummy was the least dangerous reptile she had ever met. Even Sisstet was more threatening than the domesticated gator.

“I hope he doesssn't eat the raccoon. The raccoon was just trying to get food. It might have babies,” Sisstet said.

“I'm sure he won't,” she assured him. “Fluttershy would have a conniption if that happened. They don't want to upset her. She's calm and quiet most of the time, but when she does get angry, she's one of the scariest ponies you'll ever meet.”

“She was angry at that pegasus filly and didn't seem scary,” Sisstet disagreed.

She chuckled. “No, she got annoyed at that filly. Getting annoyed might lead to getting angry, but it isn't angry yet. You get annoyed without getting angry. You were annoyed about your skin shed, right?”

“But I sssnaped a few times,” Sisstet said with a whimper.

“Yes, because somepony did something that made you hurt, and you reacted without meaning to. That isn't even being angry; it is just protecting yourself,” she reminded him.

”STOP CHASING THAT RACCOON!!!!!”

Silver flattened her ears against the noise. “And it seems Fluttershy took notice, and she's angry.”

Sisstet shivered. “I don't want to make her mad.”

“I'm sure Gummy stopped,” Silver replied. “Anyway, let's hurry to go see Twist.”

Chapter 34: Trainride to Crystal Empire

Sisstet stared out the window of the train car in fascination. Trees and hills zoomed by in the distance. He'd never been on a train before, and it moved so fast.

“Ya will get motion sick if ya keep staring out the window like that.”

He turned and looked at Candy. “We're on a big trip, farther away from home than we've ever been. I want to see everything.”

Candy stared at the ceiling and groaned. “Ahgh! It's just a train. We should be figurin’ out who our sixth member for S.M.I.L.E. will be.”

Caramel grunted. “Don't mind Sis. We all know how crazy she is, an' she's only gotten crazier since she got over that curse. Ya can keep lookin' out that window if it makes ya happy.”

Candy started pounding on her brother with a hoof. “Ah ain't crazy!!”

“Says the pony hitting meh over an' over. Ouch!! Stop that! It hurts!” Caramel fussed.

The door to their compartment opened, and Strawberry stuck her head in. “Everything okay in here? I thought I heard yelling.”

Candy immediately sat upright. “We're fine! Ya must be hearin' things.”

Caramel stared at his sister in disbelief. “Ya were just poundin' on me!”

“No, ah wasn't,” Candy said with a sniff.

Caramel scowled. “Sis, Apples don't lie. Sisstet, back meh up.”

Candy threw up her forehooves. “Okay! Okay! Ah mighta given ya some light pats.”

“Light pats?!” Caramel objected.

Candy sniffed. “It's all relative. Ya are alright. Ah ain't hurt ya none. Ya'll are all physically tougher than me. Yur an earth pony. Ah'm just a unicorn; unicorns ain't that athletic-like.”

Sisstet wasn't sure if he was physically tougher than Candy, plus she knew all kinds of magic. She could fry him with her fire if she wanted to. Honestly, she was kinda scary.

Strawberry frowned. “Candy Apple, you need to behave yourself. Please don't make me regret letting you tag along on this trip. Your brother and I don't want to have to worry about you getting into trouble while we get wedding supplies, and your friend doesn't need you stressing him out. This trip is a big deal for him. You need to be supportive, not a troublemaker. Do you want to be forever known as a troublemaker?”

Candy's ears sagged. “No, ah don't. Ah'll be good.”

Strawberry smiled and nodded. “Good. Do you want me to ask the train staff to bring you three some snacks?”

“Yes, please,” Candy said.

“Snacks sound good,” Caramel agreed.

“Okay,” Sisstet quietly said. He was a little hungry, but he was craving meat, and he didn’t think there’d be any on the train. Silver Spoon said her book told her that he would need more meat as he got older. She said he needed the protein to grow. He'd still need meat after he grew up to full size, but not as much. Everypony told him his full size was really big, like big as a house big. How many fish would he need to eat to get that big?

“I'll let them know, and they'll be here soon. You foals be good, and if you need anything, I'm right across from you; Silver Spoon and Twist are to the compartment to the left, and Silver Spoon's parents are to your right, ” Strawberry said. Shen then exited and slid the door closed.

“Nice of your grandfolks to pay to let us travel in the fancy part of the train,” Caramel said.

Sisstet hung his head. “They aren't my grandparents yet. Silver Spoon doesn't seem to like them, and they don't love me like she does.”

“Then why they doin' all this for ya?” Candy asked.

Sisstet flicked his tongue. “They want me to take over their family business…I think. Their business or Twist's business; I'm not really sure. It getss confusing.”

“An' Miss Silver Spoon don't like that?” Caramel asked in confusion.

Sisstet rubbed his hands against his tail. “I think sshe doesn't care about that. They fight about other stuff. Her parents use words like businesss, duty, wealth, responsibility, and reputation a lot. Silver Spoon just wants me happy. That stuff seems like it makes them happy, but it makes her mad. I don't really understand. I don't like that they fight. They pay for thingss for me I don't think Silver Spoon can buy.”

“Hmm, a mystery,” Candy said thoughtfully. “Could be a job for the agents of S.M.I.L.E.”

“Every darn thin' that ya don't get don't have to be some dang adventure,” Caramel scolded. “Yer suppose ta be stayin' out of trouble.”

Candy glared at her brother. “Hey there! Ah'm tryin' to find less dangerous adventures, since everypony wants to raise a fuss about meh doin' dangerous stuff on account of meh bein' too little or draggin' others into it. It's less fun, but ah'm tryin'.”

“Dangerous ain't fun,” Caramel insisted.

Candy laid on her back and sighed. “Is this meh life now? Forever dogged by meh brother to not have fun? Oh, the betrayal! El vu, Bruno?”

“What ya carrin' on about?” Caramel asked in confusion.

“Don't know. Ah've got a lot of weird leftover stuff in meh head,” Candy said as she stared at the ceiling.

Sisstet didn't understand a lot of things, but he wasn't sure if he would ever understand Candy Apple.

“Well, I'm going on an adventure,” Sisstet offered, not wanting to be left out. “I'm going to see other nagas.”

“Urgh, more naga that don't want to eat anypony. That's not very excitin’,” Candy muttered.

“Sis! Be nice!” Caramel scolded. “This means a lot to him.”

Candy rolled over to face Sisstet. “Sorry, Sisstet, that was plain mean an' uncalled for. Ah shouldn't have said that. Ah'm just so darn bored, and them naga are goin’ to be just like ya, all timid-like. That's good for ya, but not exactly excitin' for meh. Ah don't even think they'll let anypony but ya see ‘em, so ah don't even get a chance to make new friends.”

“We get to explore the Crystal Empire,” Caramel reminded her.

She rolled back on her back. “Wooo-pee, a lot of crystal stuff. We have a big crystal tree castle in town to look at already. Seen it, done it.”

“We can see Princess Cadance and Princess Flurry Heart,” Caramel offered.

“The dum-dum and her ma?” Candy asked. “Are ya tryin' to bore me? Although…maybe Dum-Dum will do something stupid and cause a catastrophe. That might be fun.”

“I think Princess Flurry Heart is still in Ponyville,” Sisstet reminded her.

Candy groaned but did not reply. She was kind of scary if she wanted something bad to happen. Sisstet decided not to tell her that he hoped nothing bad would happen. She might not like him as much if he did. However, Miss Flurry Heart was his friend, and he didn't like Candy calling her names.

“I don't think Miss Flurry Heart is dumb,” Sisstet said. “I think she's big and strong and has lots of magic. She goes looking for adventures, but sometimes things go wrong because of how big, strong, and ready for adventure she isss,” Sisstet said.

Caramel chuckled. “Sounds familiar.”

Candy glared at her brother. “What ya insinuating?”

“Ah ain't insinuating nothin'. Ah don't even know what insinuating is. Ya makin' up words?” Caramel snapped back.

“Are ya sayin' ah'm like Dum-Dum?” Candy demanded.

“Well, minus the big and strong part. Which makes it all the worse. The princess is at least big and strong enough to survive being a gosh-darn fool lookin' for trouble,” Caramel answered. “Remember how yer last adventure turned out? Yeah, ya sent that timberwolf runnin' with its tail between its legs, but ya nearly fricasseed yerself. Worse, ya almost got Miss Cheerilee and Cheese fricasseed, too. Ah don't want ya gettin' hurt or gettin' anypony else hurt. Ya got to stop lookin' for trouble. Ya ain't no big-shot hero. Ya just a filly who bites off more than she can chew.”

Candy got up and wiped her nose with her hoof. “Ya don't know anythin'! Ah'm goin' ta be a great hero. Ah got my mark for it an' everythin'. Ah don't understand why ya got to be so mean ta me about it!”

She jumped down from her seat and went to the door, which slid open due to her magic. She raced out the door and slammed it behind her.

Caramel groaned and stood up. “Dang-nabbit! Candy, ya can't go runnin' off like that! Sisstet, go get the grown-ups. Ah'm goin' to go chase down my sister before she goes and does some fool thing.”

The colt hurried after his sister, leaving the door to their compartment hanging open.

Sisstet flicked his tongue. There was bread getting close, with cherry jam and honey. It tasted very sweet, even at a distance. He could tell Candy was close to where the food was. She tasted like burnt paper and smelled slightly musky. Caramel had gone off in the wrong direction. Sisstet wondered if he should go to the grown-ups like he was told or if he should go after Candy since Caramel went the wrong way. No, going to the grown-ups was the right thing to do. He didn't know what he would do if he caught up to Candy. She seemed like she was upset, and chasing after a scary pony that was upset, even if she was his friend, was a bad idea.

He reluctantly left the window and its view. He made it as far as the door before a pony with a cart came up and blocked it. He could smell the bread and jam from this close.

The mare smiled. “Foals? The Crystal Train Company is pleased to provide you with these complimentary-” She looked down at him and suddenly stopped talking, just stared.

He stopped and gave her a timid wave. “Hi.”

”AAAAAHHHH!!! SNAKE! NAGA!!” the mare screamed, knocking over the cart and running away. The jam and honey splattered everywhere, including Sisstet's face.

He shook his head and clawed at his face, trying to get the sticky jam and honey off. There was even some in his eyes, and it stung a lot. All he could smell or taste were cherries and honey. He wanted to find a safe spot to coil up and hide from the screaming pony, but he didn't know where to go on the train that was safe to hide.

“FOUL MARE! YA HURT MAH FRIEND!!”

“Candy, no!”

“Sisstet!”

“Somepony, get some water before the train catches fire!”

There was so much yelling, and he could feel all the fear in the air. He couldn't see and could smell or taste things right, and his eyes burned. He didn't know where to hide, so he did the only thing he could and coiled as tight as he could and hid his head. Without even thinking, he started hissing to keep away anything scary.

“Twist! Stay back! He's in a defensive position. He's scared. He might lash out without thinking.”

“But we need to see if he's okay, and we can't leave him here if that fire-”

Water suddenly started coming down hard. Was it raining on the train? Why was it raining on the train? Everything was wrong. Sisstet tried to coil tighter.

“-never mind. They have an emergency sprinkler system.”

“Egads. This is quite the fiasco. I will have to lodge a strongly worded complaint to the management of the train company.”

“Spoon, is Silver Scale unharmed?”

“It's Sisstet, mother, not Silver Scale, and I don't know yet. He needs to calm down enough for me to see. Go make yourselves useful by trying to smooth this over with the train staff and keeping out of our way.”

“What do we do, Silver? Is he hurt?”

“I don't know, but we must let him calm down, or he might bite. I'm worried, but we have to do this right. Let's just keep talking so he can hear our voices and know everything is alright. How's Candy doing? He must be worried about her.”

“Um…crying…but she isn't trying to murder the serving pony anymore, so that's a plus.”

“If that serving pony hurt Sisstet, I might finish the job Candy started.”

Everyone seemed okay, and that was Silver Spoon and Twist talking. He tried to stick his tongue out to taste the air, but honey got on it, and he quickly retracted it. It was still raining, and that was wrong, so he stayed coiled up.

“I think he's loosened his coil a little, and he isn't hissing anymore,” Twist said. “Sisstet, are you okay?”

“Can we check you for injuries?” Silver asked. “We need to know if you're hurt.”

It was still raining, but they didn't seem bothered by that. Maybe it was okay. He'd never been on a train before, so maybe it rained on trains sometimes. If that was so, then he had to be playing with his toy train wrong. How could he make it rain when he was pushing his train? Did he have to wait until it was raining for real to play with his train? That would mean he wouldn't get to play with his train as much anymore, but he wanted to do it right.

He slowly uncoiled.

Silver Spoon suddenly gasped. “What is that? Is that blood!?”

Blood? He wasn't bleeding—at least, he didn't think so. His eyes stung from the food that got in them. He couldn't even see straight to know what was going on, and he still could only smell cherries and honey. Was he bleeding? Had he gotten hurt? Now he was getting scared again.

“Silver…what are you doing?” Twist said nervously.

“She hurt Sisstet. I'm going to-”

“Miss Silver Spoon, stop!” Caramel yelled. He isn't bleedin’. That's jam!”

Oh…Sisstet supposed that cherry jam might look like blood, and it was all over him. That made him feel a little better. He wasn't bleeding, but he still felt icky. He had sticky stuff all over his face. Maybe he could use the rain to wash it off. What was Silver Spoon going to do before Caramel yelled?

He uncoiled all the way and held his face up to the rain. The rain felt good, but it only washed some of the sticky jam and honey off his face. He needed help.

“Ssssilver Ssspoon?” he whined. “I need help. I can't get this sticky stuff off my face.”

“Yes,” Silver Spoon replied. “The towels from this cart are wet now, but they should do the trick. I'm going to come wipe your face. Before I do that, are you hurt? Is anything causing you pain or soreness? I don't want to hurt you accidentally.”

“My eyesss ssting,” he answered.

“Miss Silver Spoon, he isn't made of paper. Don't you think you're being overly cautious with him?” Strawberry said.

“Pot callin' kettle black,” Candy muttered from somewhere off to the side.

“You just tried to burn down the train we are currently riding on. Anypony who wasn't extremely cautious in dealing with you would be a darn fool. It's not the same. I know you have a lot of drive and energy, and you have nothing but the best of intentions, but you are very young, extremely reckless, and know too much about things a foal shouldn't know for your own good. You have a lot of knowledge and skills, but you severely lack in wisdom and experience, and those you can only get with time. Let's hope the Silvers can convince the train company not to press charges for all the damage you caused and for nearly maiming part of its crew. Now sit still and be quiet!” Strawberry snapped.

“Bet ya heard that there speech from Ma,” Caramel giggled.

“Except for the burning down the train and attacking its crew part, yeah,” Strawberry replied. “And don't think you're off the hook either, mister. You were supposed to be keeping her out of trouble. Your parents are going to be very disappointed.”

“Awww,” Caramel whined.

Sisstet felt a damp towel touch his face as Silver Spoon started wiping away the jam and honey from his eyes.

“Sisstet is a kid, but he isn't a pony foal,” Silver Spoon said calmly as she gently wiped. “In all the ways that matter, I can treat him just like any other foal, but I have to always remember that he isn't always going to react to things the way a pony foal would. That requires a lot of love, but it also requires being careful. He gets information about the world in ways that are different than us. He can get hurt by things that wouldn't hurt us. Also, unlike us, he's from a primarily predatory species. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that means he has methods to hurt others that we don't, and he can lash out without thinking if he's scared or hurt—so I have to be cautious when he's feeling that way. I don't want him hurting me or anypony else, not just to protect those around him, but even more so to protect him, because he has a sweet and gentle nature, and hurting anycreature would make him feel terrible and make others fear him. He isn't a monster and shouldn't ever have to feel like one.”

Silver Spoon cleared her throat. “And Candy shouldn't be made to feel that either. Yes, what she did was wrong and reckless, but she thought she was protecting her friend. She should still face consequences for this, but she does need to be praised for what she did right. Thank you for trying to protect Sisstet, but next time, Candy, please, go find an adult instead of trying to take matters into your own hooves.”

Candy muttered something, but Sisstet couldn't tell what. It didn’t sound like she was agreeing. He guessed she still didn’t think she needed adults to do things for her.

“Spoon!” Silver Spoon’s dad said as he returned. “You’ll be pleased to know that we have managed to placate the conductor. Candy Apple will be required to make a formal apology to the stewardess, and we have made promises for considerable financial restitution for the damages done. The stewardess will also formally apologize to Silver Scale for her highly unprofessional behavior—please understand we use that name because this is a formal matter, and he should be addressed properly. Everything is taken care of.”

“Thanks shall not be required. We desire this incident be swept swiftly under the rug,” Silver Spoon’s mom said. “Unfortunately, we will be confined to our car for the remainder of the journey despite the fire damage and the entire car being drenched in water. These are despicable travel conditions, not fit for the lowliest of beggars, but we were unwilling to press the issue considering how unfavorably this incident could reflect on the Silver family, and it is in Sisstet’s interest to also protect the reputation of the Apples, given his close relationship to these two junior members of that family.”

“She attacked mah friend. Ah, ain't apologizin',” Candy loudly reasserted.

“You're already going to be in a heap of trouble with your ma. Do you want to dig yourself deeper?” Strawberry asked with a blend of anger and frustration.

“Sis…if you don't apologize, we might get kicked off the train. We're in the middle of nowhere with no supplies. You might think you're tough enough to rough it back to civilization, but do you think everypony else here is? What about Sisstet? Do you want him to have to Slither all that way?” Bright Pear asked.

Sisstet had seen how much ground gad whipped by; he knew he couldn't slither that far.

“Miss Apple, I believe coming to your friend's defense to be a noble intent. However, it may conciliate you to know that the stewardess accidentally overturned the cart in her attempt to flee. It was not her intention to pelt Sisstet with condiments,” Silver Wright said.

“What's conciliate mean?” Caramel asked in confusion.

“It means calm me down, Dum-Dum,” Candy snapped.

*Ya don't have to be so rude in tellin' me!” Caramel snapped back.

“The mare is actually fretting over her part in this fiasco and worried she may lose her job,” Silver Sheet said, ignoring the brewing argument between siblings. “She was very distraught that she might be unable to provide for her foals if she becomes unemployed. Do you wish to be responsible for foals who had no involvement in these events, do you?”

“Suppose not,” Candy muttered as it stopped raining. “An' suppose ah don't want to make everypony walk to the nearest town. Ah'll apologize.”

Silver Spoon sighed with relief and smiled at Sisstet. “And I hope you have no problem with the stewardess apologizing to you.”

“That's fine,” Sisstet replied. It seemed like everything was going to work out…except for one important thing. “Silver Spoon, I have a question.”

“What's that?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Do I have to play with my toy train in the rain to do it right?”

Chapter 35: Arrival at the Crystal Clutch

After traveling through the Crystal Empire to get to where the other naga were, Sisstet came to several conclusions. The most important of these was that Crystal Empire's roads were much too hard and there wasn't enough dirt and grass. The next most important conclusion was that everything was too shiny. It was so shiny that it hurt his eyes to look around. The third most important conclusion was it was too big, and it wore him out trying to keep up with Silver Spoon as they went through the city.

Silver Spoon eventually took notice of his discomfort and let him onto her back. He was a little embarrassed because he was trying to do better at slithering along on his own, especially if he didn't have itchy ouchy dead skin to worry about. Staying on her back was probably a good idea. Ponies kept staring at him. None of them screamed or anything like that, but they backed away when he got close and conversations hushed up when they saw him. The naga in this city must not get out much, otherwise ponies wouldn't stare so much at him.

They eventually reached the palace at the center of the city. It was like a big tower standing on four legs, and it had a big open area underneath it. Castles and palaces must have strange designs as a rule. The castle back at Ponyville was a big tree, and this was like a big needle standing on four legs. They had to look weird and they had to be very tall. That had to be how creatures would know they were important. He wondered if this place was bigger on the inside just like the tree castle in Ponyville..

An unfamiliar pink alicorn was standing underneath the big needle castle. That had to be Princess Flurry Heart's mom. She was really tall and had a flowing mane like Princess Twilight. She didn't look that much like Flurry Heart...maybe the mane, sorta…it was hard to tell with it doing that weird blowing thing. Hopefully she wasn't as loud as Flurry Heart.

As they got close, the alicorn princess spread her wings in greeting. "Welcome, Silver Spoon and…forgive me…I was given two different names for our little naga friend, and I'm unsure which is the correct one."

Silver Spoon groaned for some reason before replying. "I'm guessing my parents stuck their noses in. Please, call him Sisstet. Sisstet, say hello to Princess Cadance."

"Hello," he said, peaking his head around Silver Spoon's head.

Princess Cadance smiled at him. "It is good to meet you, Sisstet. I'm sure all the clutch will be even more excited to meet you."

Sisstet didn't know what to say, and he pulled his head back behind Silver Spoon's.

"He can be a little shy," Silver Spoon quickly explained.

"That is perfectly alright. We have at least one in the naga clutch who is on the shy side," Cadance replied, still seeming friendly. "I do need to warn you, there are several of them that are anything but shy. Try not to let them overwhelm you. They're friendly, just very enthusiastic. There may also be a few that are nervous. They've developed some ideas about kingsnakes and need to see that you're just like them…not a giant snake that's going to eat them."

"I would never eat anycreature!" Sisstet protested.

"Except fish," Silver Spoon corrected.

"Well...that doesssn't count," Sisstet replied in a quieter voice.

Cadance's smile slipped. "The clutch also eats a good deal of fish. I admit, I've tried to sit down and have a meal with them, and I've done my very best to eat fish, but…it hasn't gone well. They say it is alright that I can't seem to manage more than a bite or two, but I worry sometimes that it hurts their feelings. My daughter has no problem chowing down on any manner of thing. If only I had her disposition when it came to food." She gave her guards a look. "I also envy her not being treated like she is made out of glass. Nopony thinks she needs a battalion of guards to defend her."

"Only a battalion of guards to ensure she doesn't demolish any buildings, majesty," the guard captain quipped with a smile. The princess gave him a dirty look, and he immediately stopped smiling. "Well…there's no denying she is somewhat destructive, your majesty."

Cadance sighed. "She'll do better."

"Of course, your majesty," the guard replied. He didn't sound so sure.

The princess grunted and looked at Sisstet, putting on a smile. "Anyway, it's time to bring you to the Crystal Clutch. If you would follow me. We won't be needing the guards for this. Their presence would only serve to make everycreature nervous."

Sisstet felt a little better about them not coming along. All those guards standing around with weapons were kinda scary. Ponies sometimes got really angry and scared around him because he was a naga. They'd yell or scream or make threats. He didn't want to be around a bunch of ponies with weapons if they got angry or scared.

The princess gestured with a wing for them to follow her, and Silver Spoon started walking quickly to catch up, making Sisstet grip her tighter with his coils. She made a grunt when he did and he immediately relaxed his grip a little, afraid he might have hurt her, but she didn't say anything about it. He hoped he didn't hurt her. He still felt very bad for the time he bit her. He didn't think he could squeeze her enough to hurt her bad, earth ponies were real strong, but he didn't want to hurt her at all.

They walked to one of the legs of the big needle castle where there was a door. The princess used her magic to open it, revealing stairs that went down. He flicked his tongue, tasting the air, but couldn't taste anything different than he could before. That was weird. Back at his old home he could taste the dirt and the roots that were underground even when he was outside the burrow, but he didn't taste anything like that from these stairs even though they went underground. The air tasted the same as up above…like he was sucking on a piece of quartz.

"Watch your step," the princess cautioned. "The stairway isn't very steep, but it does go down a fair way, so a tumble would undoubtedly lead to injury. The lighting is a little dim as well."

"I'll be careful," Silver Spoon assured the princess. The princess nodded and started down the stairs and Silver Spoon followed.

Sisstet looked at everything as they went down the curving stairwell. The walls were flat and smooth, all made of blue crystal, and the stairs were all blue crystal as well, each wide enough that he could lay across one without hanging off. There were some other crystals in the walls that gave off a little bit of white light, but it wasn't super bright, just bright enough for ponies to see. The stairs kept going for a long time, and he started counting each step they went down. He hadn't started right away, so he was unsure how many steps they'd gone down when they finally reached the bottom, which had a pair of big pink doors.

The princess did three knocks in an odd beat on the doors before she lit her horn and opened them. Sisstet blinked because the light on the inside was brighter than in the staircase—not as bright as outdoors, but still bright.

"It's the princess's mommy!"

"D-d-did she bring the k-k-kingsnake with her?"

“I don’t see him.”

“It could be a her!”

“They said it was a him!”

"Ow! Stop pushing!"

"I didn't push! You just got in the way!"

"Foals! Please settle down!"

"Is the kingsnake here? I wanna see the kingsnake!"

"Foals!" the princess called out. "Please, settle down. Sisstet is here, but he's a little shy. You are going to overwhelm him with all your energy."

"Hear that Sentie? You need to back off!"

"You're the one who needs to back off. I wasn't doing nothing."

"O-o-h no! The kingsnake is here!"

"Hey! Don't hide! Scaredy-scale!"

"I'm not a scaredy-scale! I-I just feel safer over here."

"I wanna see the kingsnake!"

"Can you please settle down? Sheffe, stay out of the cupboards. We discussed this. They aren't hiding spots.”

"Well, they certainly sound like a rambunctious group of foals," Silver Spoon remarked.

"Forgive them. They don't get a lot of interactions with ponies outside their appointed caregivers, and the only other naga they see are the few adults that guard over them," Princess Cadance explained.

Sisstet shivered. There were grown-up naga here? His guardians had always been kinda scary. When his female guardian had her egg she had gotten very scary, threatening to bite any creature that got near it, even him or the male guardian. He didn't want to get bit.

"Where's the kingsnake? I think I taste another naga out there, but it tastes normal, except maybe a little dusty."

Dusty? Did he taste dusty? He flicked his tongue, but he couldn't tell. It was hard to taste himself. He tried tasting for them, but it was a mix of tastes. They tasted vaguely like his guardians, but not quite, and it was hard to pick out how many of them there were because it all blended and combined with all the crystal taste from the building. They were probably used to it, so they could pick out what was different, but he couldn't.

"I'll let Sisstet in once you all coil up and quiet down," Princess Cadance said. "He's shy, like Sheffe, and more than a little nervous. I want you each to be still so each of you can be introduced to him in turn…and that means coming out of your hiding spot, Sheffe. He isn't going to eat you."

"B-b-but kingsnakes eat other naga when they get mad!"

"I'm an honorary kingsnake, and I have never eaten any naga," Princess Cadance reminded the naga.

"That doesn't count. You don't even eat yummy fishies," a different naga replied.

"Well, Sisstet isn't any bigger than any of you, so he'd have a hard time dining on you if he were angry," Princess Cadance assured them. "Stella, what are you hiding under that blanket for? You normally aren't so timid."

"He can see colors."

"Yes, he can. That doesn't explain why you are under a blanket," Princess Cadance replied.

"He might think I'm ugly. None of us can see colors, so we can't tell. I don't want to find out I'm ugly."

The princess sighed. "You aren't ugly. You have very pretty scales. Please, come out from under the blanket."

"It doesn't count if you say it. You're a pony, not a naga."

"Sweet harmony," the princess sighed. "I promise you he won't think you are ugly, but he will think you are too scared to be his friend if you keep hiding."

"Stop hiding so the kingsnake can come in! I wanna see the kingsnake!"

"We know!" two or three of the others said in chorus.

Princess Cadance stood silent for a few seconds, watching, before she spoke again. "Good, Stella. Thank you for coming out from under the blanket so we can all see your pretty scales. Sheffe, please, come all the way out of the cupboard. If you don't, I'm going to teleport you out and seal the cupboard so you can't slither back in. I don't want to embarrass you like that."

"Stop being a scaredy-scale, Sheffe!"

"And, Sentie, please be a little nicer. You are sounding like a bully, and that will make Sheffe and Sisstet nervous. Do you really want to make a kingsnake feel nervous?" Princess Cadance asked.

"You said he wasn't any bigger than us. He can't be dangerous."

"He isn't any bigger than you right now, but he will get bigger, eventually. First impressions can sometimes last a lifetime. Do you want a giant kingsnake to have a negative view of you instead of thinking of you as a friend?" Princess Cadance asked. "Believe me, I've had a full-grown kingsnake stare at me contemptuously. It isn't the most comfortable feeling, even though I knew it wouldn't eat me. Something two stories tall with a mouth that can devour a pony whole can be intimidating even for an alicorn."

"No...that doesn't sound like a good thing. I'll be good."

Sisstet couldn't imagine wanting to eat a pony or another naga. He also couldn't imagine being two stories tall. He'd been told he could get that big, but he still couldn't imagine it. Where would he sleep? He wouldn’t even fit in Silver Spoon’s parents’ house if he were that big.

"Should you really be saying things like that to them?" Silver Spoon asked with concern. "I don't think it is a good idea to give them the idea Sisstet might later retaliate."

The princess glanced back. "As a teacher, you understand I have to speak to what works with each of them. Sentie understands things from the perspective of who has the power. It's how he understands things. There always has to be a hierarchy, and he has to know where he fits in the hierarchy. That requires being a little harsh sometimes. Something you may not understand with naga is that every common naga is born with a certain amount of predisposition towards some job in their clutch. While I hope we can make it so they don't have to define themselves by that predisposition, I do have to understand it is there and deal with it. Sentie is an enforcer type. You may not understand the full implications of that, but I do. I would disrespect Sentie if I treated him only as an enforcer type, but I also disrespect him if I don't treat him with the knowledge of what type he is."

Was he like that, too? Did he have a type, other than just being a kingsnake? What type would he be? What types were there? He thought about his old guardians, and he wondered what types they were. His old female guardian might have been that enforcer type, because she was extra scary.

"Where's the princess?" the one he figured was Sheffe asked nervously. "She can protect us."

"You don't need protecting right now, but I'm a princess and I can protect you," Princess Cadance assured him.

"Yeah, but you're like the pretty princess and Miss Flurry Heart is like the knight princess," Sheffe countered.

Princess Cadance sighed again. "I assure you, I'm more than capable of dealing with this—not that there is any danger. However, Flurry Heart will be along later. No, you can't hide until she gets here."

Sheffe whined.

"Alright, well, how about we work our way to you coming out. We'll let the others start, and you can then see that everything is safe. How about that?" Princess Cadance asked.

"Okay..."

"Can we see the kingsnake now?!"

"Yes," Princess Cadance replied. She then stepped aside.

Silver Spoon turned her head to look back at him. “I think you should go forward on your own. Don’t worry; I’ll be right behind you.”

“Alright,” he replied nervously.

She bent down and he reluctantly released his grip on her and slithered down to the floor. He took another taste of the air, but still couldn’t tell much more than there were naga beyond the door. He could make out Silver Spoon’s taste, but couldn’t really separate the princess’s from all the rest. He took a deep breath and slithered through the door. It was time to finally meet naga his own age. He hoped they liked him.

Author's Note

Should have the next chapter ready late tomorrow.

Chapter 36: Meeting The Crystal Clutch

Author's Note

There are a lots of Naga and concepts introduced here. Many with similar sounding names which may get confusing. So, I'm giving a quick guide at the top to help keep track of them all for you to reference. I recommend skipping reading over the rest of this note initially and only coming back to it as needed. Putting it in spoilers accordingly.

Sheffe: Hides most of the time, has black scales, no head frill, and larger claws. Burrower type.
Syx: White and blue scales, extremely fast and invades others personal space. Asks a lot of questions. Hyperactive. Head frill. Scout type.
Stella: Green scales with purple stars. Has painted the scales around her eyes purple to match her stars. Head frill. Rookery nurse type.
Sentie: Slightly larger and more muscular than the others. Green scales with red splotches. Head frill. Enforcer type.
Saba: Female. Green and yellow scales. Head frill. Large scar on side. Forager type.
Met: Male. Glasses. White splotches on green scales. Head frill. Forager type.
San: Adult rookery nurse. Brownish green scales with neon green stars.

Two unnamed naga youth. One a male with black scales with yellow stripes and head frill. Another a female with no further description.

Three adult males: all with various shades of green scales and color splotches. Enforcer types.

Naga types: Enforcer, Scout, Burrower, Rookery Nurse, Forager, Kingsnake.

Enforcers: Larger, more aggressive tendencies. Head frills.

Scouts: Very fast, ask many questions, tasting constantly. Tend to report what they see.

Burrowers: No head frills. Larger claws. Can dig quickly. As fast as scouts but less able to visually keep track of things.

Rookery nurses: Head frills. Have distinctive star patterns on scales. Naturally protective and nurturing of young.

Foragers: Generalists. Head frills, variety of colorations of scales with stripes or splotches. Tend to be more submissive towards enforcers and rookery nurses (all naga tend to be submissive towards kingsnakes).

Kingsnakes: As youths they look like foragers, but they keep growing beyond the sizes of other naga and have much longer lifespans. Only naga that can see in color.

Chapter 36: Meeting The Crystal Clutch

"Hey! He doesn't look that special!" one of the naga said.

"He's smaller than me!"

"Sheffe, you're being a scaredy-scale for nothin'!"

As soon as he entered, he felt like retreating. There were more naga than he had heard voices for—he saw seven, but he knew one was still hiding—eight naga his age. Most were primarily green with either stripes or splotches of some other color, although there was one that was black with yellow stripes. They were all looking at him, tongues flicking.

His nervousness increased as he caught sight of the adult naga in the corners, but they didn't seem that interested—he counted four of them. He could tell they were watching, but there were no tongue flickers, just watching. They were all green with different colors of stripes and splotches. There were also four grown-up ponies standing nearby in a group, watching, the shiny crystal pony types.

It was a big open room, all the same blue crystal as the city above. There were cupboards off on the side walls. There were little tables, pillows, and blankets spread around the middle of the room, along with books and toys. There was one wall that had lots of papers with drawings on it. There were a few doors, all shut. He wasn't sure where they all slept. Maybe they slept out in the middle of the room. There were a lot of pillows and blankets.

"Are you really a kingsnake, or were they just making that up?" one of the male naga asked.

Sisstet looked at him. "You have yellow ssstripes going down your ssscalesss."

The naga blinked and flicked his tongue but didn't say anything.

A blanket rustled and another naga stuck her head out. She was green just like the rest, but he could see purple scales around her eyes, and it looked like she might have some purple scales in other spots. She saw him looking at her and immediately retreated back under the blanket.

Another naga, this one bigger than the others, with red patches here and there among his scales, rose himself up high on his tail. "You're supposed to be what we're scared of? I don't think you're that special. They could have told you Shesh had yellow scales."

Sisstet coiled himself up and hunkered down. He recognized the voice. This was the one who was bullying before, Sentie. They said he was an enforcer type. That must mean they were the tough ones, the fighters.

"Don't pick on him. You remember what the princess said. He'll remember," another naga, one that hadn't spoken before, said. He had glasses and white splotches on his scales. Sisstet wondered what type he was, but he didn't even know there were types before just a few minutes ago.

One of them suddenly slithered quickly over to him, coiling around him and flicking his tongue quickly. This one had a mix of white and blue scales.

"Ohhhh, I get to see the kingsnake! You smell dusty. Why do you smell dusty? Your name is Sisstet? I'm Syx. Do you want to be friends? Where are you from? We don't go outside much. I want to see other places. Do you get to see a lot of places? What are other places like? What do they taste like? Are there lots of things to see? Are there lots of things to do? What do little ponies look like? Do they look like big ponies? Do they have fur or scales?"

"Syx, give him some space," one of the ponies standing close by said.

"Yeah, back off, Syx. You never give anycreature space," one of the other naga said.

Syx sniffed and flicked his tongue close to Sisstet a few more times and then cautiously slithered back to the group. Sisstet struggled to remember all the questions he had been asked. Why had Syx gotten so close to him and spent so much time tasting him?

"How about you all line up so we can do proper introductions?" Princess Cadance suggested.

"Come, foal, you heard the princess. Line up," one of the ponies standing close by said.

The other naga started moving to line up after that. Stella, who was still under her blanket, moved with the blanket still on her, but he could see more of her as she moved. There were definitely purple stripes.

"Sheffe, that means you too," one of the ponies said, speaking at a cupboard.

Sentie turned, still standing high on the tip of his tail so he was almost as tall as the princess, and gave the cupboard a menacing look. "Come on out, scaredy-scale! He's little, and he cringes as much as you. You should get along great!"

The cupboard cracked open and a tongue flickered out. The door suddenly opened, and the naga inside quickly slithered out. He moved so fast that Sisstet barely got a look at him before Sheffe got under a blanket at the end of the line and hid there. How did he move so fast? Sisstet could move fast, but not that fast! He looked like another black one, but it was hard to tell what other colors there were, not with how fast he moved and hid.

"That will do," Princess Cadance said. "Sisstet, to quell their curiosity, and because you are the guest here, how about you start by introducing yourself?"

Sisstet didn't really feel brave enough for that, but it would be rude if he didn't do what a grown-up asked him to do, and he didn't want to make a bad impression by being rude. He lifted his head.

"I'm Sssisstet. I only found out I wasss a kingsssnake lesss than a month ago. I go to Ponyville Elementary Sssschool. Sssilver Ssspoon wasss my teacher, but now sshe isss trying to adopt me. I'm friendsss with poniess and a kirin. I like trainsss."

"You talk weird," Syx said. "Why do you talk like that?"

"He sounds like the guardians," one of the others said as they glanced at the adult naga in the corners.

Silver Spoon came up close to Sisstet and touched him gently. "Sisstet tends to draw out his S's when he gets nervous but speaks more clearly when calm. Please be nice to him. This is his first time being around so many of his own kind, and his old guardians weren't always the nicest to him."

"Why were they not nice? Is he defective or something?" Sentie asked.

"Sentie, manners. Don't be so rude. We'll give Sisstet some more time to settle," Princess Cadance said. "With that in mind... Stella—"

The blanket with the purple-scaled naga jerked. "Yes?"

"How about we start off with you introducing yourself? Come out from under the blanket and let Sisstet see your pretty scales," Princess Cadance concluded.

The blanket shook. "Why me first?"

"Because I think you will make him less nervous," Princess Cadance explained. "Can you think of anycreature better to do that? You are less pushy or overbearing out of our normally outgoing naga, and unlike Syx, you can give others time to breathe and process what you are saying. No offense to you, Syx. Your inquisitive and eager nature is endearing, but a little overwhelming for some."

Stella shook the blanket off herself, displaying herself at last. She really did have purple highlights on her green scales, but they weren't stripes or splotches—they were stars, aside from the purple around her eyes. It really made her stand out a lot.

"Hmm, Stella as in stellar," Silver Spoon muttered.

Sisstet didn't know what that word meant, but it seemed good.

Stella looked at him. "I'm Stella. The guardians say I would probably be a rookery nurse if I was back at the main clutch. I guess that's nice, but I don't know if I'd want to be stuck with that job. I met Lady Rarity and saw all the pretty dresses she makes. I want to make pretty things. I'm not sure I could make dresses, but I draw things. Do you... do you think I'm pretty?"

"Y-you're very p-pretty," Sisstet stammered, blushing.

"She paints the scales around her eyes. She asks the ponies to make sure the color matches her stars," Syx said, getting close to her and pointing at her eyes. She hissed and tried to bite him, but he quickly dodged her. "Hey! Ponies said no biting!"

"Stella, do we need to get one of the gel pillows?" one of the ponies asked.

Stella gave Syx a dirty look but shook her head. "No, I won't bite him. He needs to back off, or I'll claw him."

Syx coiled up and giggled. "Naw, I'm too fast. I don't know why you all always try to bite and claw me. Why do you do that? I think it must be a game sometimes. I am very good at this game. You never get me."

"Idiot," Sentie muttered.

"No clawing either. We settle our disputes with words. Syx, your turn," Princess Cadance said firmly.

Syx slithered in a circle where he was. "I'm Syx. I like to see new things, but they don't let us out much, so I have to look at pictures in books instead and look at what the others are doing. I'm really excited to meet a kingsnake. I thought you'd be bigger. Do you have the power to shrink? If I could shrink, I would slip under the door and go explore outside. I tried digging, but I can't dig through crystal. It hurts my claws, so I don't do that anymore. The others are always biting and clawing at me. The ponies say I invade everycreature's personal space, but I don't understand that. We all live here, so it is all our space. It is as much my space as theirs, so how do I invade it? Getting close to them lets me see what they are doing and what they taste like. Guardians say that I would be a foraging scout if I were back at the main clutch. I like that idea. It means I'd always be out looking at new things. I love seeing and tasting new things, and want to see and taste them all then tell everycreature what I tasted and saw."

"You really never let him out?" Silver Spoon asked the princess.

"We're concerned he'd get into trouble, or that he'd slither off and not come back," Princess Cadance explained.

"Hhhe'd come backkk," one of the adult naga hissed. "Ssscoutsss don't jussst ssscout. They rrreport. Hhhe wouldn't be able to resssisst coming back to ssssay what he ssssaw. It isss what he isss."

The princess gave the naga a dirty look. "He is more than just a creature of impulse, and even if impulse drives him that much, it is dangerous for him to be slithering off on his own."

The adult naga shrugged. "If sscout doesssn't come back, that isss report in itssself."

"This is not your clutch in the badlands. This clutch is meant to become more. Their lives are treated with value here. I'm not risking their lives," Princess Cadance asserted.

"Then you are sssuppresssing them and making them weak," the naga replied.

The princess flared her wings. "I'm an honorary kingsnake. Are you going to argue with me?"

The adult naga flicked his tongue and turned his head. "No... do asss you like, kingsnake. I missspoke."

Sentie looked on eagerly. "Are you going to fight?! Are you going to force the guardian to submit or be eaten?"

"You do not fight a kingsssnake, foolissh worm! To fight a kingsnake isss death," the adult naga hissed. The other adult nagas hissed along with him, and Sentie quickly cowered.

The princess lowered her wings. "It is okay to question me, but I am the authority here, and I will guide this clutch as I see fit. You are free to voice your opinions, and if you do it constructively, I'll listen, but any naga that chooses to get violent with me will be sent back to their homeland. Do I make myself clear?"

"Sshould jussst sslay troublemaker and make example, like true kingsnake. Naga that do not lissten to kingsnakes only good for food. Young would behave better if you ate one or two of them for dissobeying, or at leasst sscewered them," another adult hissed. "But I sssshall not quessstion you."

"It seems like you are trying to walk both sides of the line here, princess," Silver Spoon said.

"I'm trying to find the right balance," the princess replied in a tired voice. "They respect my daughter more. They like her physical approach to things. She actually decked one of the adult naga here once after they got into an argument. We had to hospitalize him for about a month after. He couldn't understand why we nursed him back to health or understand why I was furious with Flurry for lashing out violently. I can't get through with these adults, but I'm hoping for more with the kids."

"Saying you can't get through with all of uss is unfair. I try my best to adapt to what you wish," a different adult naga said, this time a female, the only female out of the four.She had stars on her scales like stella did, but hers were a neon green on top of her normally brownish green scales.

"And do you have disagreements with how I do things?" the princess asked.

The female flicked her tongue. "I agree, in principle. I do not undersstand many of thesse things, but I do my besst to try, and my besst to learn. I think the issolation is not good. You wissh them to be more like ponies, but the only ponies they regularly ssee are thesse rookery nursesss. They are good ones, but not what most our young need to interact with. I think they should go to regular pony sschool, like thiss kingsnake."

The princess raised an eyebrow. "I take your opinions more seriously, San, since you are the only rookery nurse they sent, and one of your eggs is among our foals. Do you not worry they'll get into major trouble?"

"Cannot learn if never get chance to mess up," the female replied. "The kingsnake iss alive and has not been murdered. He goes outside. He goes to pony sschool. Ponies don't hurt him. He musst not hurt ponies."

"You're a mother to one of them? Which one?" Silver Spoon asked with interest.

San pointed. "Sentie iss my hatchling. He will messss up more than the othersss. He doesss not fit asss well with gentle poniessss. That meansss he needsss more chancesss than the resst to get it right. I want him to return to clutch to hold great authority, not to be viewed asss failure and devoured."

"Failure... how... what do you mean failures get eaten?" Sisstet asked in fear.

San looked at him. "You're different. I don't think they will let you return. Booksmart kingsnakes too dangerous to allow in the clutch. They want booksmart common naga. They want them to run clutch and make the clutch benefit from their smarts and get lots of food eassier. If Sentie cannot help clutch run better because he iss booksmart and can work with poniesss to get the clutch food, then Sentie may end up being food."

She looked at the other adults. “They don’t care if young fail or the young do well. They only do their job. They have no egg in this nesst. Sentie iss my egg. I’d rather he face little rissssks and live than face a bigger rissssk unprepared and die.” She looked at the princess. “Would you demand the ssame for your daughter? I don't underssstand the thingsss you teach the young. I try, but maybe I’m too sset in old waysss and my mind can’t adjust to the new. Sentie knows more than me about many thingss, for which I am glad, but I know Sentie needssss to be better. My hatchling issn’t going to return home unprepared. He will not disappoint the kingsnakess and become their snack. I will defy you if I think that will be the case—honorary kingsnake or no.”

The three other adult naga hissed angrily at her, but San ignored them.

The princess blinked. “They surely wouldn’t-” She looked at San’s face and then bit her lip, looking down nervously, before looking back up. “If this is a legitimate concern, then I want to discuss this in much more detail with you later. Why are you only now bringing this up after eight years?! I thought that they would be too valuable to your kingsnakes to ever face that fate.”

San pointed at Sisstet and he cowered down. Why was he important?

“That one goess to pony school. That one hass pony guardian. That one might not return to clutch, but that one iss doing well with poniess, desspite being a kingsnake. Poniesss should be running in terror, but he sslitherss in here with no trouble, yet my sson iss confined in here because he iss too sscary,” San hissed, spitting as she did. “You think kingsnakess getting forced to adapt to pony culture with this treaty, but kingsnakess ssee opportunity—not booksmart, but cunning. They ssee better trade thankss to naga trained and educated by poniess making good dealss and making clutch run better. What elsse they do doess not matter, only that the clutch runss better. If they don’t do that, then they failuress, and not worth anything, ssince they can’t do normal naga jobss either now. They are only good for meal if they fill no role.”

Cadance sat down. “I thought we were building bridges—that they saw the strength of the pony society that defeated them and wanted to emulate it and grow stronger. We’ve had such success with other species doing the same thing.”

“Maybe you can do that, but only with common naga, not kingsnakess,” San said. “Kingsnakess are unchanging. Kingsnakess only look for more opportunitiess for food for themsselvess and clutch. They care nothing about how they get it. They care nothing for each naga on their own, only ssuccesss of clutch ass whole. They sssee thesse naga ass having job to do, and if any naga can’t do job, then that naga can only ssereve the clutch ass the kingsnakes’ food.”

Some of the other naga went and hid under blankets and a few of them started eying cupboards. Even Sentie was looking around like he wanted to hide. Sisstet wanted to join them, but instead he coiled up in place as tight as he could.

“Sisstet is a kingsnake and he isn’t like that!” Silver Spoon said touching her hoof to Sisstet’s side protectively.

“That iss why he can never return,” San replied. “Kingsnakes cannot afford to change. They musst remain focussed on the ssame old thingss, or become dangerous. A kingsnake iss dangerous, but simple to understand and simple to know how to pleasse. The system works because they simple to understand and have simple goalss. A booksmart kingsnake changes everything. A booksmart kingsnake starts to want more than just food. Very dangerouss, very very dangerousss. Breakss undersstanding, demandsss more that might not be possssible, jeapordizess uss all with their unknowable wantss. Kingsnakes don’t learn much—basic numbers and letters, just enough to barely read signs posted by other creatures in case it iss important. They can’t write, but they teach young ones that it has happened before where kingsnakes got smart, and to be content with their simplicity for the good of the clutch. Smart kingsnakesss only bring death and destruction to clutch. Doesn't matter if there are good smart kingsnakes. Only takes one bad smart kingsnake. If all king snakes smart, there will always be at leasst one bad one or more. If they have to live with a good smart kingsnake, they will learn to envy smart kingsnake or feel challenged, and try to be smart too, and at least one will bad. Better if all of them are not ssmart; it iss not worth the risk. Just feed them and keep them happy and simple. That is what iss best.”

Silver Spoon gaped. “I think…I think we might have been building the wrong arguments for the kingsnakes to let me keep Sisstet. It might be much simpler than we expected....I also think my parents are going to be very disappointed.”

“Why?” Sisstet asked, unsure why Silver Spoon’s parents would be unhappy. This all seemed scary, but it seemed to him like they’d want her to keep him—which was good. Even if it was because they thought he was dangerous—which was bad. Was he dangerous? Thinking about that made him feel bad.

“I don’t think the kingsnakes would be very happy with the idea of you getting a noble title, which kind of ruins my parents plans,” Silver Spoon replied with a sigh. “I’m only disappointed because you might have ended up wanting it. Now, it doesn’t seem like you can be afforded the chance. I don’t like the idea of denying you the opportunity, even if it wasn’t something I would want for you.”

He snuggled close to her. “That’ss okay.”

“Are we going to get eaten?!” Sheffe wailed.

“Oh dear…” Princess Cadance said. “You are all very precious to me, and I won’t let that happen. I’m going to make sure you all have the tools to be very successful so you don’t have to worry about that, and if any of you look like you might be in danger…we’ll figure some other solution out. I can negotiate to keep you—not all of you, since that would probably make the kingsnakes mad, but those of you who might be struggling. I do want to see as many of you go back as possible, because you can do a lot of good, and make the lives of your clutch much better, and I believe you want to make them better too. I’d rather have to deal with any one of you effectively running the clutch than one of those kingsnakes who care about nothing beyond food. The kingsnakes might always be there in the background, but it is you who will hold the real power in the clutch. You who will govern. You who I will call my friends.”

“Provided they keep kingssnakess happy,” one of the male naga guardians said, sounding bored. “If young nagass make it sso I stay full and sstay ssafe from kingssnakes, I don’t care what they do. Crysstal Empire iss nice. We never hungry. We don’t have to work ass hard. If young naga make clutch more like thisss, clutch will be happy, kingssnakess will be happy. If they fail, we know how to ssurvive the ssame way we alwayss did.”

Cadance smiled at San. “Well, there is one thing we have as a bridge. Mothers still love their babies and will fight for them with all they have.”

Sisstet thought of his old female guardian, and how protective she had been of her egg. He wondered how long it would be until that egg hatched. What did baby naga look like? No creature had taken a picture of him when he’d hatched. So he didn’t know what he’d looked like. She likely wouldn’t let him get close enough to see. They hadn’t even let him out of the burrow until it was time for him to start school. It would be years before he met the hatchling. He’d be half grown by that time. Maybe he could be like a big brother to the hatchling. That might be nice. Some of his friends had lots of siblings, and they all seemed to care about each other a lot.

Princess Cadance looked around. “Maybe this way of doing introductions is too formal. How about we play a game instead?”

Sheffe stuck his head out of the blanket, revealing his black scaled face. The others had at least small frills around their heads, just like Sisstet, but Sheffe had no frill at all.

“Hide and seek?” Sheffe asked in a hopeful tone.

Sentie flicked his tongue. “I like tag better.”

“How about a treasure hunt?” Silver Spoon suggested.

Syx looked excited. “I get to find things? I can find things!”

Silver Spoon seemed to consider. “Maybe a little too good at finding things. Perhaps you can be one of the ones that hides things…along with Sheffe. You can divide into two teams. Syx and Sheffe can be on opposite teams, and their teams need to find what the other team has hidden first…with Syx and Sheffe confirming those are the things they hid after each thing is found.”

“Won't we see them hide the things?” Sisstet asked in confusion.

Syx laughed. “Sheffe and me move too fast. We can slither around the whole room too fast for you to keep track of. We can hide things without you knowing where we put them, even with you watching.”

Silver Spoon blinked. “Well, I was going to suggest the others cover their eyes—”

Sheffe shook his head. “Don’t worry. We’re super fast. None of the others can move half as fast.”

“I chase Sheffe out of all his hiding spots. He tries to get away, but I can keep up. None of the others can do that,” Syx said.

“Two little wormsss are very fasst. We can’t even chasse. Don’t think we could catch in open territory either,” one of the adult naga confirmed.

“Oh,” Silver Spoon said, sounding amazed. She looked at Sheffe. “Are you a scout type as well?”

Sheffe ducked back under his blanket. “No “

“He’s a burrower,” Princess Cadance explained. “He is made to dig quickly through dirt, and he can move even quicker when there’s nothing to dig through. He can match a scout’s speed, even if he uses it differently. Be careful, he has bigger claws than the others. He can accidently do a lot of damage with them if he is startled.”

The blanket shook. “I don’t want to hurt any creature. I’m very careful. I won’t hurt the pony or the others.”

Stella slithered over to a table and gathered up some small things. “They can hide these. I was trying to knit, but I’m not very good at it.”

“Thank you,” Princess Cadance said. “Don’t get discouraged about your results when knitting. You’ll get better with practice. I’m confident about that. No one starts out good, and your hands give you an advantage to develop better skills than ponies.”

The princess looked around. “Stella, how about you take lead of Sheffe’s team, and direct them. Sentie, you can lead Syx’s team. Consider yourselves the commanders. Sisstet, Saba, and Met—you all will be with Stella and Sheffe. The rest of you will be with Sentie and Syx.”

“Syx needs to have his eyes covered when Sheffe is hiding things,” Stella insisted. “It won’t be fair if he watches. Sheffe is fast, but Syx can keep track of him.”

“A fair point. Agreed,” Princess Cadance replied.

“Awwww,” Syx whined.

Two other naga slithered up close to Stella. One was the male who had glasses. The other was another female naga who looked plain green and yellow but had a huge red scar going along her side. It looked like she had gotten hurt really badly sometime before. Another plain-looking female and male slithered up close to Sentie. The two who came up to Stella must be Met and Saba. Was Saba the scarred female? Sisstet didn't know a lot about naga names to know which were boy names and which were girl names. Still, that scar looked like it hurt. What had happened?

She noticed him looking and moved so Stella was between her and him. He felt bad. He didn't mean to stare.

Stella noticed Sisstet looking at Saba, and she gave Saba a hug. She then looked at Sisstet again. "Saba doesn't like creatures staring at her scar. She's okay. It happened a long time ago."

"What happened?" Sisstet asked timidly, trying not to look at Saba.

"She startled Sheffe, before he got good at not clawing," Stella explained. "Sheffe felt really bad about it. He hasn't clawed anycreature since then, but the ponies still worry he will."

"I'm not mad at him. I know he didn't mean to," Saba said quietly.

Sheffe trembled under his blanket.

"Doesss it hurt?" Sisstet asked, still trying not to look.

"No, just looks bad," Saba answered in a low voice. "It used to hurt, but it got better. It feels bad when I coil up too tight, so I don't do that."

"I wanted to make her a dress to cover it up, but I can't sew very well, and clothes don't work so well with nagas," Stella said, sounding sad. "Wish Lady Rarity would come back. She could figure it out."

"It's okay," Saba replied. "The teachers tried to give me a bag to carry that covered it, but it rubbed and made it itch."

Sheffe's blanket continued to tremble, but he didn't say anything.

“Alright, foals, lets begin the game,” Princess Cadance announced.

Chapter 37: Naga Games

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 38: Five minutes

The young naga raised themselves higher on their coils as Flurry Heart entered, their excitement evident in their movement.

"Princess Flurry Heart is back!"

"Why were you gone so long!"

Several of them noticed Sisstet trying to stay behind the others, and their attention shifted.

"Princess Flurry Heart, there's a kingsnake here!"

"He isn't really big."

"He seems nice, not like big kingsnakes."

"Guess kids will be kids, no matter what species," Luster Dawn observed as she came in behind Flurry Heart.

"And I will pulverize you if you try to take their blood for your dark magics," Flurry said menacingly to Luster.

Luster leaned her head back and groaned. "When are we going to get past this? I take a few blood samples for research, not for dark magic! You know a lot about medicine; this should be a concept you understand! I thought I had gotten that through to you, you big overpowered brute!"

"Just making sure you know these naga are under my protection," Flurry stated.

"Yes, of course," Luster said in an exasperated tone. "Let me find my notebook so I can start taking notes about naga group dynamics."

"Flurry... dear... you haven't gone and tried blasting Luster Dawn to smithereens again, have you?" Cadance asked.

Flurry blinked. "No, isn't that obvious? Do you think I'd let the demon get away again?"

"This friendship lesson is still a work in progress, but it has been mostly violent free," Luster Dawn said.

"Mostly? What do you mean—" Cadance stopped and shook her head. "I don't want the details. Just tell me nothing was destroyed, and I'm not going to be reading about any rampages in the papers."

"Nothing was destroyed and you won't be reading about any rampages in the papers," Flurry Heart assured her mother. Luster Dawn gave a small nod as she pulled a notebook and pen from her saddlebag.

"They bulldozed my front door, but they fixed it immediately," Silver explained.

"I didn't want the details," Cadance reiterated.

Flurry Heart moved closer to where Sisstet was trying to stay hidden behind the other naga. "There he is! How do you like the Crystal Clutch? These little guys... and gals... are my buddies."

"Awww, you already knew!"

"Did you really destroy the pony's door? Did it explode? I bet it exploded. I wish I saw it!"

The young naga were all raising themselves up eagerly to get closer to the princess—all except Sisstet, whose coils remained tight and low.

"The clutch isss nice," Sisstet said softly.

Sentie's hood flared slightly. "He's a scaredy-scale."

Flurry Heart frowned. "That's not very nice. You shouldn't call creatures names."

"She doesn't even realize the irony. I wonder if it is narcissism or if she's autistic," Luster Dawn muttered.

"Aut-what?" Flurry Heart asked, glancing back at her companion.

"Does Equestria not have the concept of autism?" Luster Dawn asked in shock.

"I don't think so…." Flurry Heart answered.

The pink unicorn made some notes. "Interesting."

Flurry Heart shook her head. "Ignore the interdimensional demon masquerading as a pony. She's strange. I'll protect you if she tries anything."

"I am fine with being ignored," Luster said as she made more notes. "And can we drop the demon thing, please? I'm not a demon. At home, I'm human, not a demon."

"Potato-potato," Flurry Heart replied dismissively.

"Literally no one pronounces it that way," Luster replied.

"Well, you two seem to be getting along," Princess Cadance said, giving both a long look. "How are the preparations for the kingsnake visit going?"

"The kingsnake is right there!" Syx bounced excitedly on his tail, pointing at Sisstet.

"The BIG kingsnake visit," Princess Cadance amended.

"Oh," Syx said, lowering his hand. His eyes widened. "Wait! BIG kingsnake visit!? I can see a big kingsnake?!"

"I prefer you not," Cadance answered briskly.

Syx's posture drooped. "Awww!"

"It's going fine," Flurry Heart assured her. "The HUMAN wants to take some notes about naga group dynamics and interview the adults here to get a better idea about social protocols and whatnot."

"I'm only a human back home. I'm a unicorn when I'm here, and I plan on staying here, aside from an occasional visit to go see my parents, so refer to me as a unicorn," Luster flatly corrected. "And yes, I do want to do some interviews."

"She writes more things down than Aunt Twilly," Flurry Heart said. "Whatever keeps her occupied and not stealing creatures' blood."

"Princess Twilight is my mentor, but if thinking that I need to be occupied in order not to perform dark deeds, then sure, let's go with that," Luster said in exasperation.

Flurry snorted and looked to Sentie. "You know, when I was little, my Aunt Twilly yelled at me for doing something bad, and I got scared. Even nowadays, I can see she's mad at me sometimes because I messed up at something, and I get scared. I get scared because I know I disappointed her. It isn't like disappointing my mom. My mom will forgive me for anything. With Aunt Twilly, I know she cares about me, but she isn't my mom, and there's always this thought in the back of my mind that maybe this time she won't get over whatever it is that I did. Maybe that kind of thing scares Sisstet too, only all of you are his Aunt Twilly."

"I don't get it," Sentie replied.

"I'm not your Aunt Twilly. I'm Saba," Saba protested.

Luster Dawn made some notes. "Is poor abstract thinking characteristic of naga?"

"It is typical of eight-year-olds. Their ability to think abstractly is still developing," Silver sternly informed the odd unicorn. "As you already mentioned, kids are kids, regardless of species. Maybe you shouldn't paint broad pictures of a species by a few quick interactions."

"So, your assessment is they follow developmental patterns in common with ponies?" Luster asked, still making notes.

"From what I have seen, yes," Silver replied. "I could be wrong. I'm not an expert on naga. Maybe you should be talking to San over there. She probably knows everything there is to know about naga development."

"They will learn to think abstractly," San confirmed, her tongue flicking steadily. "Don't know pony young, so cannot compare. Can generally do it by time they are fending for themselves."

Luster Dawn did a short hum and made some more notes.

Flurry tried to sneak a peek at the notes, but Luster hid them from her, which made Flurry lay her ears back. "Always taking notes," Flurry muttered in frustration.

"Some of us like to be thorough in our research instead of just doing things," Luster replied.

"You do just ask for blood samples," Flurry countered.

Luster lowered her pen. "I'm sorry. I was overexcited to see a natural-born alicorn and let it get the better of me as I thought of all the research potential. When are you going to let it go?"

"Why won't you let me see your notes then?" Flurry Heart asked.

Luster looked down at her notebook, giving it a long look, closed her eyes, and sighed. "Because my hoofwriting stinks, and I'm embarrassed to let anyone see it."

"It can't be that bad," Flurry said.

Luster shook her head. "I have to stare at it sometimes for minutes to figure out what I even wrote."

Syx suddenly bolted close to Luster and stuck his head right in the notebook. "Ohhh! Pony is right. Writing very very bad. Not sure it is actual writing. Is it writing? Hard to say."

Luster pulled her notebook away. "Thanks. I didn't really need the confirmation. Shoo!"

Syx quickly retreated back to the rest of the naga. "It was really bad, makes Sheffe's writing look really good. I tried to read it, but I couldn't.”

Sheffe, who Silver just noticed had fully come out from his hiding spot to see the young princess, looked doubtful about this claim. He did look different than the others. While the others had relatively short claws, Sheffe instead had claws that were nearly three times the length and thick. He had brown stripes going down his primarily black scales, and absolutely no hood at all. He was also bigger than most, about the same size as Sentie. Between his coloring, size of his claws, and comparable size to Sentie, he was actually more intimidating to look at than the enforcer. His lack of hood when all the others had them actually somehow added to the intimidation factor instead of subtracted. No creature who just saw him for the first time without witnessing his timid and gentle nature would believe him anything but dangerous, but Silver had witnessed his nature and knew better.

Sisstet was actually not too far from Sheffe, but didn't seem to react to the very different naga. He still seemed more intimidated by Flurry Heart, despite having encountered her more than once. Flurry was probably the most intimidating presence at the moment. Even the adult male nagas weren't a threat to her. Cadance had said something about one of them having been hospitalized after getting struck by her. That was a very intimidating level of strength. How would he hold up when he finally had to face an adult kingsnake if he was cowering around Flurry Heart? Still, this had been a lot back to back for him.

Silver walked over to Sisstet, carefully navigating around the various naga. She bent down as she reached him.

"Hey, you're looking a little overwhelmed. Do you want to take a short breather?" she asked him.

Flurry looked at them. "Something wrong?"

"Just nerves," Silver answered. She kept her focus on Sisstet. "Want to take five minutes outside the clutch to settle? I know you've been doing your best to be brave. I think you are doing a good job. There's no shame in needing a few minutes to settle."

"Five minutess would be good," Sisstet agreed.

"Five minutes it is," she agreed. "Do you want a ride?"

"Yesss, pleasse," Sisstet said, nodding.

"Get on," she said, lowering herself even further. He quickly complied.

"Is the kingsnake leaving?" Syx asked in distress.

Silver stood up as Sisstet coiled tightly around her. "Only for a few minutes, and, please, refer to him by name. You wouldn't like the others going around calling you the scout, would you?"

Syx looked at the adult males. "They do."

"Well, does that bother you?" Silver asked.

Syx's tongue flickered a few times. "I will call him Sisstet."

Silver spared the three adult males—enforcers—a look. "And the three of you should call the kids by their names too."

"If they live to be full-grown, then we will," one of them answered. "Namess are for those who live.”

Silver felt her stomach tighten and hurried back towards the door.

Her thoughts were chaotic as she opened the door. Did the males intend violence? No... Cadance would never allow it to happen, and San certainly seemed protective of Sentie and would alert Cadance if such a thing was a threat. That meant high child mortality. They'd mentioned predators, and with all the focus on food there might have been a scarcity—meaning starvation. They also seemed to make them fend for themselves after they reached teenaged years, which could lead to any number of things—predators, accidents, starvation, angering an older naga and having that naga strike them down or take a bite out of them, displeasing a kingsnake with poor performance. The idea of what naga young might endure in the main clutch was horrifying. It was a fight for survival, and those that survived to adulthood didn't allow themselves to even acknowledge young until they made it through the gauntlet of horror to adulthood. Sisstet would have survived if he had been hatched in the main clutch, protected by his type, but how many of these others would never have made it to adulthood if they'd been hatched there? She didn't want to think about it.

"You're mad," Sisstet said as she shut the door. "I did sssomething wrong."

"I'm not mad at you," she assured him. "I'm not even mad. I'm just... you didn't do anything wrong. There's just a lot on my mind. I figured there's a lot on your mind too—different than mine. Want to talk about it?"

Sisstet coiled tighter and she grunted. He instantly relaxed his coils.

"Sssorry," he said.

"It's okay," she replied. "So, let's talk.”

"Don't know what to ssay," he replied, clearly embarrassed.

She smiled as she considered how to ease his tension. "Stella seems pretty."

"I guesss sso," Sisstet replied. "Sshe got mad when I was throwing sstuff."

"And she said it was okay. She just needed you to stop. She didn't try to claw or bite at you like she does when she gets mad at Syx, and she seems to get along with Syx... most of the time. Why were you throwing things?"

"Jussst wanted to find knitting," Sisstet answered.

"You wanted to impress them by earning the team points," Silver said.

"Yesss," Sisstet quietly acknowledged.

"It's alright. I understand, but you don't need to worry so much about impressing them. They are probably just as worried about impressing you."

"They are?" Sisstet asked.

"Didn't you notice Stella and Sheffe hiding at first, or hear Stella say she was worried you would think she was ugly?" Silver asked. "Sentie might be a little rude, but you've dealt with worse. He's nowhere near as bad as Mint back home. You might not be best friends with all of them, but you can be friends with some of them, just like back at Ponyville Elementary. I can tell Stella wants to be friends, and Sheffe looks like he could use some friends—I think he thinks he is big and scary, but he seems like a big softie. More of them could be friendly too."

"Sheffe isn't that scary," Sisstet replied.

"And neither is Flurry Heart," Silver said, pushing forward now that he responded calmly. "She clearly loves all those naga, and would do anything for them. She is working hard with Luster to make sure everything goes well for you. I know she can be a little loud at times, but she's just... passionate. You've been around her. You should know she would sooner cut one of her own wings off than hurt you."

"I don't want her to cut off one of her wingsss," Sisstet whined.

"She won't, because she isn't going to hurt you," Silver said soothingly. "Do you believe you can be friends with some of the naga?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Cadance was suggesting letting Syx and Stella come visit Ponyville, just for a day or two. How do you feel about that?" she asked.

"Maybe," Sisstet said cautiously. "Candy and Cheese would like them, I think."

Silver had to agree. Sweet Apple Acres might actually be a good place for them to stay. She'd have to speak with Ma Apple about it.

"And what about San coming with them?" Silver asked carefully.

"Sshee'ss sscary," Sisstet said.

"Perhaps she is," Silver conceded. "She is a full-grown naga, and I wouldn't call her nice, but she is something else important—caring."

"But you just said she's not nice," Sisstet said in confusion.

How to explain this?

"Not everycreature that cares is nice. Sometimes they're kinda mean. There's different types of caring. San is harsh, but it is because she worries. You know how you sometimes bite when you get scared? San gets harsh, but that isn't because she doesn't care—it is because she cares a lot and is scared. She didn't grow up with lots of affection, like ponies typically do, like you will, so she doesn't know how to be gentle or nice, but she does know how to care about young naga, especially her son."

"Why'ss sshe sscared?" Sisstet asked. "She's big. Nothing can hurt her."

That remained to be seen, but she wouldn't mention that.

"She's scared that these naga aren't going to do well enough, and the kingsnakes are going to punish them for not being good enough. I suspect that some of the kids in there worry about the same thing, but aren't saying it. They need you to be brave and tell them they're good enough. I think it would make them feel better hearing it from you."

"Why me?" Sisstet asked.

"Well, for starters, you're a kingsnake. That part shouldn't matter, but to other naga, it does, and we have to accept that and try to do good with it. I don't want to ever hear or see you lord that fact over other naga, but we have to recognize that they take it seriously. On top of that, you've been out socializing with ponies. You've got experience they don't have, and they know it. Your opinion matters."

"I don't undersstand," Sisstet replied.

Silver sighed. Sisstet was smart, but he was still only eight. Perhaps she should simplify things.

"That's alright. The main things you need to understand is that even though you might not believe it, your opinion matters to those foals, so you should try to be encouraging. As for San, she doesn't know how to show she cares the same way you and I would, but that doesn't mean she doesn't care. If she didn't care, she wouldn't pay so much attention or say so much."

"I sstill don't think the naga will listen to me," Sisstet said. "Sentie calls me a sscardey-sscale."

Silver thought Sentie might be trying to compensate for his fears a bit by mocking others, but she doubted Sisstet could fully understand that. She needed to give him examples to focus on.

"You remember how excited some of them were to see you while some others were scared to see you?" Silver asked.

"Becausse I'm a kingssnake and that'ss sscary," Sisstet said bitterly.

"Stella wasn't scared of the big scary kingsnake things," Silver reminded him. "Do you remember what she was scared of?"

Sisstet sat still, thinking for a few seconds. "She was scared I would think she wasn't pretty."

"Yes! She wasn't scared of you gobbling her up. She was scared of your opinion of her. She wants you to think she is pretty," Silver asserted.

"Sshe iss pretty," Sisstet asserted.

"And I know it means the world to her that you told her so. Your opinion matters to them," Silver explained. "I know their opinion of you matters to you too, but you need to realize they're just like you. They met a new naga and they want that naga to like them. Your fear of what they may think of you can get in the way of that. What would have happened if Stella stayed so scared you might think she is ugly that she never came out from under that blanket?"

"I wouldn't have seen how pretty she is," Sisstet answered.

"Do you understand now?" Silver asked.

"I think so," Sisstet answered.

"Want to go back in there and give this another try?" Silver asked.

"Okay."

As Silver reached for the door handle, dread coiled in her stomach. The upcoming kingsnake visit... She'd been trying not to think about it, but the thoughts slithered back. Refusing to allow Sisstet back into the main clutch would be one thing, but what if they saw him as too dangerous to even let live? True, the alicorns would be there to protect him, but she'd heard whispers about full-grown kingsnakes—how even alicorns treated them with caution. Her hoof trembled slightly on the handle. How far would a kingsnake go to eliminate what they saw as a threat?

"What'ss wrong?" Sisstet asked worriedly.

She shook her head. "Just a little shiver. I guess the cold climate is getting to me. Let's go back inside where it is warm."

"Okay."

Chapter 1: Last Day of the School Year

Silver Spoon let out a long sigh, and resisted the urge to pound her head against her desk. The last day of school every year seemed to have some sort of curse about it. Every year, going all the way back to when she was a student herself, something happened to make what should be the easiest day of the school year into a disaster. This wasn't the worst disaster ever, but it was undoubtedly in the top two or three. In the past few years, her empathy for Cheerilee had grown exponentially. If Cheerilee really had gone crazy, the last day of school every year had to have played some part in that.

Candy Apple had a surge, a big one, right after accidentally starting a food fight. Either one of those things would have been bad, but manageable on their own, together they were more troublesome, but combined with the fact today was also career day, and visitors to the school had gotten pulled into it. It had been chaos, and she was still dealing with spooked students now that the tumultuous lunch hour had ended.

Most of the students had settled down, though a few of the more skittish ones still looked unhappy. The most skittish of her students, Sisstet, was the only one not back in his seat; the poor little naga was coiled up under her desk, and seemed to have no intention of leaving his safe spot. She was content to let him stay there, at least for the time being. He could be coaxed out after class was over.

"Alright, class. I know the lunch break was chaotic, but it's over now," she called out in a firm voice. She then softened her expression and smiled after she saw she had their attention. "Luckily, it's the last day of the school year, and we will be dismissing early."

The class's mood immediately changed to happy excitement, and she spotted a few of them getting ready to break for the door. "Not yet! We're dismissing early, but not that early! Don't worry; we won't take long. I just have to give you your report cards and explain the details of your summer project."

Disappointed sighs echoed through the room as students settled back down in their seats. She'd told the class that there would be a summer project earlier that day, so there weren't any looks of shock, but there were a number who looked as if they wished she'd forgotten about it.

She walked back to her seat behind the desk, and gave Sisstet a check to ensure he was still alright, before taking her seat. "Next year will expand your social studies curriculum. In anticipation of this, I have assigned each of you a tribe or species that is not one of the three main Equestrian pony tribes, and you'll be doing a brief report on their culture, history, and what you think they bring Equestria with their friendship. I expect at least a page each for their culture and history, and at least half a page on what they contribute to Equestria with their friendship."

Her griffin student raised a talon, and she pointed a hoof at him to acknowledge him. "Yes, Godfrey?"

"Can we do our own species?" Godfrey asked.

She shook her head. "No, none of you will be doing your own species or tribe. This is about learning about others. I have already picked out an assignment for each of you. There are some duplicates."

Godfrey raised his talon again, and she rolled her eyes as she anticipated his standard question when he got assigned something he didn't like. "No, you can't trade assignments," she answered before he could ask. The griffin lowered his talon, and this time it stayed down.

She opened the big drawer of the desk and reached in with both forelegs to pull out the stack of report cards, then reached down once more with her mouth to grab her assignment sheet. After carefully setting them all down on the desk, she smiled at the class. "I'll be calling each of you one by one to come to get your report card, and I'll tell you your assigned tribe or species at that time. Return to your desks afterward; the entire class will be dismissed together. If anycreature has any questions about their report card or assignment, they can come ask me right after dismissal."

She gave one final beaming smile at the class. "Right now, I'm pleased to announce that nocreature here failed at any expectations or subject areas this year, though a few of you came close on one or two areas, but you all pulled through. I'm very proud of all of you." Technically, Candy Apple had failed her attendance expectations, but as per-the-usual, she wasn't present at the moment; therefore, the praise of the class was accurate.

She pulled the first report card off the stack with her mouth and set it on the edge of the table. "We're going in alphabetical order, so first up is Autumn Fire." The kirin colt came up, and she pushed the paper with her hoof, so the edge of it was hanging off the table. As he grabbed the report card with his mouth, she gave him his instruction. "Your assignment is the thestral tribe. There are plenty of books on them in the library, and there are a few thestrals in town you can consult, although you should try to be courteous of their nocturnal schedule if you do. Understood?"

The kirin nodded while still holding his report card in his mouth, and then walked back to his seat. The next report card was Candy Apple's, and that would need to be passed on to Principal Doo in order to give to the filly and her mother.

"Autumn, can you do me a favor and run Candy's report card to Principal Doo's office for me?"

The kirin immediately hurried back over from his desk. "Yes, Miss Silver Spoon."

"Hurry straight back once you are done, and don't disturb Candy," she instructed. "Tell the principal her report is on changelings."

The kirin already had Candy's report card in his mouth, and just nodded his affirmation before rushing out the door.

With that taken care of, she moved on to the next. "Cheese Slice! Come and get your report card. Your report will be on dragons."

The process continued with few problems. Most took their assignments without protest or noticeable reaction. There were some wistful sighs of 'lucky' by other students when Egg Yolk was assigned crystal ponies, although the earth pony colt seemed disappointed he hadn't gotten something more exotic. They were the easiest tribe to do, but somecreature had to get them. Godfrey seemed perfectly happy when he was assigned the Abyssinian cats. Melody Rhyme stared blankly for a moment when she was given buffalo, as if she'd never even heard of them. Mint Cherry blanched when he was assigned diamond dogs. She set Sisstet's aside when his turn came up, with the intent of giving it after the class dismissed. Star Bell let off an exaggerated sigh when she was assigned Yaks. Zappy Cloud was the only student that put up an open protest when she was given her assignment.

The yellow pegasus filly went rigid upon hearing who she'd be reporting on. "Naga! But they're so big and scary! Can I just interview Sisstet?"

She leveled a firm gaze at Zappy. "No. Sisstet didn't grow up with his culture. There are books on this subject in the library. You aren't required to do an interview if you don't want to. It is just a good way of learning straight from the source. However, if you interview a naga, it should be one of Sisstet's guardians."

The filly's ears went flat as her eyes widened so much that they might pop out of their sockets. Silver Spoon did feel some sympathy for her student. Sisstet's guardians could be frightful to be around. They wouldn't hurt anycreature, but that was because they'd been told not to. Just like the crystal pony assignment, this was a case where somecreature had to be assigned the naga; She was making sure all the major races and tribes with significant ongoing interactions with Equestria were covered, and naga were one of those races.

Zappy retook her seat, and that was the last of the report cards she needed to call students up for. She lifted her hoof in the air and made the announcement everycreature had been waiting for. "Have a good and happy summer. Class is dismissed!"

It was amazing how quickly students could move when being dismissed for summer. She was of the strong opinion that they could outrun Rainbow Dash herself.

There were a few students that lingered behind. Autumn Fire and Cheese Slice both wanted to ask about Candy Apple, and she could only recommend that they check on her themselves. Mint Cherry tried to argue he should have gotten a better grade on getting along with other students. The colt was lucky the report cards were made out before today, or he might have gotten a lower grade in that, and she informed him she would be taking time very soon to visit his parents and discuss those issues. Egg Yolk wanted a different tribe to report on because his twelfth cousin, twentieth removed, was a crystal pony, which meant he was practically a crystal pony himself. She told him she would overlook his 'close' crystal pony relatives, just this time, and that he still needed to do his report on crystal ponies.

After a few minutes, there was only one student left in her classroom to deal with. She looked under her desk at her final straggler. Sisstet was still coiled up in what looked like a brown and green ball. "Hey, everycreature else is gone. You need to come out. You can't spend the whole summer down there."

"I can too."

She grinned. "Really? What are you going to do about food?"

"I'll eat ratss and bugss." Okay, she was now sorry she asked that question.

She was undeterred, though. "I keep my classroom clean and sanitary. You won't find any rats or bugs here. Even if you did, you wouldn't want to eat just those things all summer, would you? Plus, it would get pretty lonely."

Her timid student finally decided to peak his face up, and tasted the air briefly with his snakelike tongue. Naga faces were remarkably ponylike, if you could ignore the fangs, and the rest of the body. Sisstet had the very beginning of a frilled hood forming around his head, similar to a cobra's. Both his guardians had full frilled hoods, and she assumed this to be something that all adult naga had, but for some reason were not born with. If she just looked him in the face, she could imagine she was dealing with just another pony colt. A few things were true, though; he was a student in her class, and all her students were unique individuals who had different needs she needed to account for. His needs were just a little more complicated than some of her other students.

"It's perfectly safe to come out," she assured him, beckoning him with one of her legs. "Candy's surge is over, and she's gone home. There's no more food fight. Mint has also gone home, and won't say cruel things anymore. I'm going to walk you home personally, and will make sure you stay safe."

He lifted his head a bit more and pulled sat upon his clawed hands. "You promise?"

"I promise. I'll Pinkie promise if that will reassure you more."

He blinked. "What's a Pinkie promise?"

It was her turn to blink. "You've lived in Ponyville most of your life, and you don't know what a Pinkie promise is?" He shook his head. "Well, it's a special promise that no one is allowed to break, or Cheese's mom will come and hunt them down."

He recoiled back down. "I don't want you to be eaten!"

She cocked her head and one ear to the side. "Who said anything about being eaten?"

His tail gave a shiver. "That's why things hunt, to eat. I don't want Cheese's mom to eat you! You're nice!"

She shook her head. "She's not going to- never mind. The point is, I'm not going to have to worry about that, because I'm going to keep my promise to you. Come on out. We can stop for chocolate along the way."

Resorting to bribery wasn't a great habit to get into, but it was the end of the school year, and he was about to have to face his guardians with his report card. That hadn't gone over well last time he'd given them his report card; another reason why she was personally taking him home, to see that there was no repeat of that.

Sisstet uncoiled himself and started to move out from under the desk. Naga didn't have hind legs, so he did a combination crawl with his arms and slither with his tail. He looked so tiny when he was coiled up in a ball like that, but she knew he was actually longer in the body than her, and when he lifted himself to full height with that tail, he stood taller than her. His guardians were much more impressive in stature, and much more intimidating when they went full height. She'd heard tales about their kingsnake leaders (the term was used for both genders for some reason), and they supposedly make the regular naga look small. She hoped she'd never have to meet a kingsnake.

She hopped down from her chair and hugged him. "There now. That wasn't so hard, was it? Are you ready to go home?"

He dipped his head. "Yess, Miss Silver Spoon."

She beamed. "Good." She then grabbed his report card off the desk and passed it to him. "You've gotten excellent grades for this final semester, which had you end the year with excellent grades in most areas."

He held the report card in his clawed hands and looked up from it after reading for a moment. "I made a lower grade in getting along with everycreature than the rest of my grades."

"Yes, you did," she confirmed. "You didn't fail it, though. I can't give you top marks in that if you don't socialize more. There's nothing wrong with that, but I have to recognize the students that make that extra effort to be friends with lots of others. If you want a higher grade in that, you'll need to try to be more involved with other students."

He flicked his tongue and cowered slightly as he went back to looking at the report card. "Guardianss might be mad about it."

She sniffed. "And I'll explain to them that there is nothing to be angry about. You're a little shy, but that's alright. Now, your summer project is going to be on changelings. There's three of you in the class that got them for an assignment, so if you want some extra credit towards your grade for socializing, you can try maybe working with one of the others over the summer to help get the project done. Do you understand the assignment?"

He sat up and nodded. "Yess, Miss Silver Spoon."

She gave him a brief pat on the back. "Good. Now, gather up your things, and we'll be on our way."

Sisstet did his crawl-slither back to his desk and grabbed his backpack. He carefully put his report card inside and slipped his arms through the straps. He then turned around to her. "Misss Silver Spoon, I have a question."

"What is it, Sisstet? You can ask me anything."

"If Cheese's mom hunts down creatures that break Pinkie promises, and she doesn't eat them, does she grind them up and put them in cakes for others to eat?"

Chapter 3: Conversations With Almost Cheerilee

Author's Note

A lot of this chapter is cut and paste from chapter 24 of Quantum Leap Forward, but it changes the perspective around to Silver Spoon instead of Cheerilee. A lot of the second part of this chapter won't be new to readers of that story. Spoilers to anyone who hasn't read that one and was intending to. This story is listed as a sequel instead of just a spin-off because it does spoil some details of QLF.

Chapter 3: Conversations With Almost Cheerilee

Silver's first instinct was to go seek out Twist, but when she got back to the Twistabon Candy Shop, she found it in the middle of a massive rush. She knew from experience that it was next to impossible to separate Twist from her work when that was going on. She could talk to Twist, at length, later that night, but it would have to pass for now.

The next pony she considered talking to was Diamond Tiara. She galloped along the streets to Barnyard Bargains. Diamond had taken full control of the business from her father just a year or two before and was now there during most daylight hours. She had been at the school earlier that day for career day, but that had been again business-related. Despite being almost always doing something to further her business, Diamond did typically have time to stop and talk if she was found. Part of it was just being a friendly pony; the other part was Diamond felt it was of utmost importance to maintain good relations with everyone in the community.

Silver rushed into the store and skidded to a halt as she realized she was about to break one of Diamond's rules, no running in the store. She did walk at a brisk trot up to the customer service desk where a green earth pony stallion was sitting going over some forms. He took notice of her as she approached and put the papers away to focus his full attention on her.

"Hello, Miss Silver Spoon. How can I help you today?" He asked with a pleasant smile.

She returned his smile, though, with her anxiety at the moment, it was a little forced. "Is Diamond Tiara in? I need to talk to her about something, something important."

The stallion looked apologetic. "I'm sorry. Miss Tiara is currently out conducting interviews. She had her previous interview time at the school cut abruptly short today. She decided to personally meet with the students that had expressed interest in working for us at their homes for them to get their fair opportunity to market themselves as they planned. She may not be back in today."

Horsefeathers! "Alright, thank you very much. Can you let her know I came by?"

"Of course. She might not get the message until tomorrow, though."

Silver kept her smile on. "That's fine." Not really, but there wasn't much she could do about it. "Thank you again."

Two options down, and she still needed someone to talk to.

She replayed the conversation back again in her mind. Maybe she had just misunderstood them when they seemed to be trying to just give Sisstet to her like they'd give away a piece of unneeded furniture. Their speech was tough to understand sometimes; maybe she had just seriously misunderstood. She doubted it. All her previous dealings with them showed they didn't have any particular affection for Sisstet. He was a task for them; make sure the young naga is given food, shelter, kept safe, an education, and that they listen to ponies' advice. Listening to advice didn't overrule their very literal view of the instruction they were supposed to raise one naga. They weren't cruel; they were simply too simpleminded to care for Sisstet properly. Although in other circumstances, Sythel's reaction to the idea of her egg being taken from her might have been encouraging that they might somehow have learned to love something.

The princess was technically their kingsnake; maybe she should try reaching out to the princess. Princess Twilight could clear this entire matter up quickly. There was no way the princess intended them to take their orders to raise a naga that way. Unfortunately, the princess was in another castle than Ponyville. The best that could be done quickly would be to try to reach out to Starlight Glimmer and hope the headmare could get a message to Princess Twilight. Princess Twilight could solve this entire thing right away.

Silver hesitated, rather than head off towards the Castle in Ponyville or the School of Friendship. What was the result she wanted from going to the princess? Was it to force Mishtet and Sythel to keep taking care of Sisstet? She'd long argued that the two weren't abusive, but they seemed to be emotionally neglectful. Was Sisstet going to get the love and care he needed if he was forced to stay with them? Nothing that she had seen suggested that. She needed to hear from him exactly what he thought of their love and care, as it stood.

Her face fell as she realized she'd made a grave error, no matter what the outcome with his guardians. They had offered him to her, and she had run. Sisstet had not been present in the room, but that didn't mean that he hadn't heard the entire exchange. He had listened to the creatures that were supposed to take care of him try to give him away.

And then he had heard her all but refuse to take him.

What would Princess Twilight do? Maybe she would sit down and try to explain to the adult naga how to be better parents? Perhaps she would take Sisstet away and send him to the boarding school in the Crystal Empire? Or perhaps she would try to put him with a different naga 'family'. There was no telling how the other naga 'families' were doing in other places in Equestria. Silver honestly didn't know. They could all be doing much better than Sisstet's, all doing much worse, or doing much the same. Perhaps it was mixed results, and likely was, or at least she hoped it was. She didn't have much faith that all the rest were doing better, but she wanted to think at least some of them were.

She decided not to go to the princess, at least not yet. It was her duty to advocate for her student, but she needed to know what she was going to advocate. She quickly considered her other friends that she could go to for advice, and one by one, she was forced to dismiss them. Dinky was the principal of the school, and would feel obligated to go straight to authorities with this. There was no question Silver would need to get authorities involved, but not yet. She considered each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and had to dismiss them because they'd almost certainly go to Starlight. Going to the mayor was out of the question, as Amythyst Star was about as by-the-book a mayor as they came.

A crazy idea about who to go to for advice formed in her head, Cheerilee: Cheerilee had been her mentor for years, and she trusted her with her life. More importantly, she trusted her with her students' lives. Unfortunately, Cheerilee had run off from Ponyville, and there were whispers among the faculty that it had been some sort of nervous break. However, there was another version of Cheerilee currently available, or at least so she'd been told.

She turned in a new direction, one towards Sweet Apple Acres.

It was early evening when Silver Spoon reached the farm. She wondered if creatures would think her insane for doing this, and a part of herself believed they'd be right. She was here now, though, and she was out of ideas on who else to turn to. She gathered up her courage, stepped up to the Apples' front door, and knocked.

She could hear mumbling as the latch for the door was unlocked. Something about hoping that it was at least some good news: she didn't have that, but at least she could say that she wasn't here to increase the Apples' woes.

Ma Apple opened the door and looked disappointed. "Hello, Miss Silver Spoon. I'm assumin' that you've got some news from the school for Candy." She let Silver in, and Silver came just inside the door.

Silver tried to put on a reassuring smile, and answered softly. "I'm very sorry about everything that has happened to your daughter. I can't even imagine the stress you are under. I can promise you I'm not here to give you any more bad news."

She spotted Bright Pear trying to eavesdrop on the conversation, but the young stallion noticed her eyes pass over him and froze. Ma Apple must have had eyes in the back of her head, because she spoke quickly to him without even turning her attention away. "Son, please give the teacher and me some privacy. If somethin' needs to be discussed with you, it will be."

Bright Pear immediately retreated into the kitchen, and Silver let out a long breath. "I'm here to speak with Cheerilee."

Ma blinked. "With Cheerilee? You don't mean Candy?"

Silver nodded. "I mean Cheerilee. If her mind is really in your daughter's body right now, then she's the pony I want to talk to. It's a personal matter, unrelated to her current situation, so I'd want a private conversation. Can I speak to her, please?"

Ma chewed on her lip then turned. "Cand-...Cheer-..." The mare shook her head and snorted, seeming at a loss at what to call her daughter. "Little filly! Please come here."

Her muscles were tight as she waited for the filly to appear. Candy Apple was a small red unicorn filly with a dark magenta-purple mane and no cutie mark as of yet. For the past few months, she had constantly been pretending to be other ponies, or at least that was what everyone had assumed. Now there was evidence that those creatures' minds had indeed taken up residence in her head, and the most recent one was none other than Cheerilee.

"Miss Silver Spoon-" Ma began. Oh, that wouldn't do! Not with her old mentor!

"If that's really Cheerilee's mind in her, then just Silver Spoon will do," she said hurriedly. She was not going to be formal with Cheerilee. She needed Cheerilee to trust that she believed she was there, so she could have an honest conversation.

Ma Apple seemed confused about her insistence in dropping the honorific, but didn't object. "Okay, well, Silver Spoon wanted to speak with you in private. The two of you can step just outside, but don't go wanderin' off, and come right back in when you're done."

She watched Candy-Cheerilee's ears perk up at that, and the edge of the filly's mouth just barely twitched upwards for just an instant. Ma Apple walked away, but glanced over her shoulder consideringly as she walked into the kitchen. It was doubtful Candy-Cheerilee took notice of the look. The filly seemed to be studying her instead. She wondered how she was coming off to her former mentor right now.

She didn't want an audience, so she directed them towards the outside. "Let's step on out. It's a warm evening." She had no idea if that was true; she'd barely been paying attention. With all the running about and anxiety she was feeling, her sense of temperature wasn't to be trusted.

She looked around at nothing once they were outside, unsure how to even have this conversation. The filly ended up being the one to break the silence. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Silver Spoon licked her lips. "Dinky briefed me about the message Rainbow Dash delivered. It's a little hard to believe, but if two former princesses, Starlight Glimmer, and two of the element bearers believe it, then it most likely is true."

"Three of the element bearers," Candy-Cheerilee corrected. "Pinkie believes it as well. She did before any pony else." There was no point in keeping that secret any longer.

Silver nodded and hung her head. How had she blinded herself to it? What kind of friend had she been to Cherrilee when she needed one? It was best to just think of this filly as Cheerilee for the moment. It was Cheerilee wearing Candy's body, and a younger version of Cheerilee at that, but the evidence said it was Cheerilee.

"In that case, I guess I owe you an apology. I should know Cheerilee, she wasn't just my old teacher and my supervising principal, she was my mentor and friend. I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"Well, to be fair, I'm from twenty years ago, so at least half of that hasn't happened yet," Cheerilee replied. "I actually was surprised to see you became a teacher. In my time you're about to graduate and seemed very unsure what to do with your life. I wouldn't have expected you to go this direction."

That actually made her chuckle. Oh, if this younger version of Cherrilee even knew what kind of path Silver had taken to end up as a teacher. There were times back then when she thought her life was ending, and in a way, it had. A better life had begun though.

"I'd have called you crazy if you suggested it to me at that point. Life takes us in unexpected directions sometimes. We think we know what we want, only to find disappointment and heartache, and after that passes we find that there was something better waiting for us the entire time."

"I can certainly agree with unexpected directions happening," Cheerilee grumbled. "I certainly didn't expect to find myself here."

"I couldn't even imagine," Silver said slowly, then took a deep breath. "I didn't come just to apologize, that was kind of secondary. I came because right now I need my friend and mentor to help give me advice. I know we don't have the same history, but you're still Cheerilee."

"You want my advice?" Cheerilee seemed puzzled by this.

She nodded. "It's about Sisstet… I don't even know how to begin. Give me a moment." She would get through this conversation calmly and rationally. She also wanted to be sure she expressed what hapoened clearly. "I took Sisstet back home today after school. His guardians can misunderstand things that I couldn't imagine them misunderstanding, so I wanted to discuss his report card with them when he gave it to them."

Cheerilee was quick to interject. "I don't really know anything about naga other than what you shared with me earlier today."

"This isn't really a strictly naga issue, even if them being naga plays a huge part in it," Silver said with a shake of her head. "Sythel, his female guardian, has recently laid an egg. She is very protective of the thing, which is understandable-- it's actually the closest thing to love I've seen out of them. However, the orders that the naga were given by their leaders didn't really account for another foal, and their interpretation of what they should do is… alien to what anycreature I know would think."

Cheerilee laid back her ears, and her voice shivered. "What do they think they should do?"

The memory of their dismissal sent rage through her. "They think their obligations involving Sisstet are over! They took the fact they now have two foals instead of one, and the fact Sisstet has been doing better than them in terms of integrating into Equestrian society, and they decided that he no longer needed them!"

There was one thing that could outrage a teacher beyond belief, and that was the mistreatment of a student by their patents. "What! He's what, eight or nine years old? He's not old enough to fend for himself!"

"Apparently foals even younger than that used to be made to fend for themselves back in the Clutch," Silver growled. "Oh, but that's only half of it. I lost my temper when I heard this. I didn't even care that they're huge and capable of ripping me apart with ease. I told them flat out that he couldn't be allowed to fend for himself at his age, and it was his guardian's responsibility to care for him."

"And what did they do in response to that?" Cheerilee asked in a hushed voice.

"They didn't get angry," she said quietly. "They said that 'if furry-four-leg teacher thinks he needs to be cared for more, then furry-four-leg teacher can care for him'." Well, that wasn't the wording they used, but they'd used that term in previous visits, and it was easier to use than 'teasser pony' which didn't make sense if you didn't hear it constantly from them. She was having to do a lot of interpretation of what they said too, but she knew what they meant.

"It wasn't even said with hostility or mockingly, they meant it!" She continued. "What better way of having naga integrate into Equestrian society than to have a pony raise one. They even seemed to think their leaders would be pleased with them for coming up with the idea! And with how warped their culture's thinking is I can't say for sure they're wrong."

Cheerilee shook her head in disbelief. Silver understood the feeling. "How-how could a society like theirs have even sustained itself? Changelings weren't this bad, and changelings had to live under absolute authority as well."

Silver shook her head. "Changelings had to at least think for themselves when they were out doing infiltration. Their queen didn't crush out all free thought, just any disloyal thought. Naga didn't get that much. Their 'kingsnakes'-- which is an odd term because they use it for all their royalty and both males and females-- made every little decision for the lesser naga. The lesser naga didn't ever even go out of shouting distance of a kingsnake, so they were never in a position they needed to think for themselves."

"But there's no kingsnake here, right?" Cheerilee asked in a puzzled tone.

"No, they are all up north, far west of the Crystal Empire," Silver explained. "They overextended their population threshold to where their lands couldn't support them. They initially tried invading Equestria, but after being soundly beaten back by Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence, they decided they needed to learn how we do things-- we easily won and were thriving, so we were worth emulating. As part of the peace treaty, they have sent out their excess population into Equestria for re-education. It hasn't gone the smoothest, because none of the kingsnakes came, and these regular naga only understand following orders. What free thought they do manage has less logical reasoning than a foal."

Silver sighed again. "But Sisstet has been encouraged to think for himself his whole life, and been shown love and kindness they never knew. He is a perfectly wonderful foal, although his emotional needs at home aren't really being met as they should be."

"So what did you do after they tried to unload him on you?" Cheerilee asked.

The shame of her reaction came back and hit her again, and she felt ashamed as she answered. "I was so shocked I just kind of froze. I stuttered out something about needing to consider things, and then I fled. Worst of all, this whole conversation happened right in front of Sisstet. I'm worried about what kind of effect hearing his guardians trying to toss him out, and then me reacting the way I did, will have on him. He could take it as nopony wanting him."

There was several seconds of silence, and she worried she'd disappointed her old mentor. Cheerilee finally spoke up though. "When you were telling me about him earlier today, I got the impression he meant more to you than just a student. You seemed to want to fill his emotional needs yourself, and you seemed to show an attachment I would more expect out of a parent. Are you considering bringing him home to live with you?"

"I-I don't know," Silver said quietly. "I was just so caught off guard by the whole thing. I'm trying to think about what is good for Sisstet. Do I bring him home? Do I find somecreature that the naga will listen to when ordered to care for him? Do I go to the princess and let her deal with this? I need advice, and I didn't know who to go to at this hour. Twist was working late today, so I haven't had the opportunity to talk to her yet. I figured if you really have the mind of Cheerilee, then you're a pony I trust for advice."

The filly seemed to gain more confidence, and she sat up straighter as she began her reply. "Well, talking to your spouse seems to be the next logical step. I don't doubt for a minute that you're ready to step in and be his adopted parent, but it is important that both his potential parents feel the same way. If Twist is onboard with the two of you adopting, then you need to talk to Sisstet to find out what he wants. This can be a very confusing time for him, and he is almost certainly hurting right now, so be patient with him."

Silver let that all sink in, and as she did Cheerilee gave her a knowing smile. "I don't think you needed me to tell you all that though."

"I needed to hear it from somepony other than myself. This is a big thing, and I need to know I'm thinking straight," Silver replied. She then stood up. She knew what she wanted to do to advocate for Sisstet now. "I do want to give that foal a good home. I guess it is time to talk to Twist to find out if I have one for him. Thanks for helping talk me through this."

They talked for a few moments more, mainly about Candy-Cheerilee's own situation, then she turned and headed home to speak to Twist.

Chapter 19: Principaled Discussions at Theaters

"You know, we should go out and do something," Silver said, as she closed the guidebook on nagas.

Twist and Sisstet turned from where they were sampling their freshly made peppermint sticks. "What did you have in mind?"

Silver shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe we could catch a play, then eat out tonight. Somewhere that serves meat, so you don't have to figure out until tomorrow."

Twist looked at the end of the kitchen counter, where the fish were still sitting, and laid her ears back. "Eating at a restaurant might not be so bad, and we have some financial flexibility if your parents are going to be helping. As for the play- um… you do know what Autumn Blaze is premiering tonight, right?"

Silver lowered one ear, not liking the tone. "What is premiering?"

Twist sat and nervously rubbed a hoof against the floor. "The story of how the Cutie Mark Crusaders came to be. I'm not so sure you want to see that one."

Her eyes went wide. Oh, this could be bad. "Well… I suppose that I might as well see it if only to see how awful it makes me look."

Sisstet flicked his tongue a few times. "Why would it make you look awful?"

She looked away. "I wasn't the nicest foal when I was your age. Actually, I was kind of a bully."

Twist arched an eyebrow. "Kind of?"

Silver snorted. "Okay, I was a bully, and I bullied the Crusaders a lot. If they're doing a play about how the Crusaders got together, it will have to show that."

Sisstet gave me a skeptical look. "But you're nice. You can't have been a bully."

Twist chuckled. "Oh, she and Diamond Tiara used to be a terror when they were young. Every foal in Miss Cheerilee's class was scared of them, except for the Crusaders. That might be why they picked on them even harder than the rest of us."

The reminder of how she treated others made Silver lower her head in shame, and Twist quickly cleared her throat before continuing. "But- she and Diamond Tiara turned themselves around. By the time we were all getting ready to graduate, the two of them were my best friends. They weren't just my best friends either, aside from the Crusaders, they were the two most well-liked and well-respected students in school."

Silver raised her head and smiled. "I wouldn't say that. Snails was pretty popular by the time he graduated, and I'm sure he was much more popular than Diamond and me."

Twist snorted. "Well, he was already a buckball star by then. Still one of the biggest buckball stars in the league. By the time he retires, they'll probably have a whole wing of the buckball hall of fame dedicated to just him."

"He might already," Silver laughed. "Did you know my parents tried to get me to date him? Said he was an up-and-comer in unicorn society, and I could do worse."

Twist walled over to her and gave a smooch. "Well, you just had to settle for me."

"You two do a lot of kisssy stuff," Sisstet observed. "Guardians never did that."

They must have at some point if there is an egg waiting to hatch. Silver thought to herself. Still, it brought up a significant concern. How comfortable with affection was Sisstet?

"Does it bother you, seeing us kiss all the time?" She asked. Twist backed away and gave the naga a concerned look.

He shook his head. "No, jusst different."

"Good," Twist said happily, and then laid another quick kiss on Silver's face. "Silver and I are a very kissy and cuddly couple. We might kiss and cuddle you at some point." Sisstet immediately retreated slightly at this announcement, and Twist's ears fell somewhat. "But only if you're comfortable with that. We would never want to make you feel uncomfortable."

Silver felt overwhelmed with love for her wife and immediately pulled Twist into a tight hug. She got close to her Twist's ear and whispered, "You are sexy when you get maternal, you know that?"

Twist giggled and pushed her away. "Not in front of the kid, Silv." Sisstet didn't seem to understand the exchange, and just let watching in silence.

Not feeling that put out by her wife temporarily brushing her back, Silver continued to grin joyfully. "So let's go ahead and go see this play. Sisstet, just remember that any portrayal they do of me in it is of me from a very long time ago, and creatures can change. I know Mint Cherry said some things to you earlier today that bordered on bullying, and I want you to keep in mind that he can get better, too, alright?"

Sisstet nodded. "Okay."

She frowned slightly. "But if anything like that happens again with him, or any other creature, you let me know right away. I have a low tolerance for bullying."

He nodded again, this time more vigorously. "Okay."

"Shall we get going?" Twist asked.

Silver nodded. "Let's go see this play."

They arrived at Autumn Blaze's theater within a few short minutes. The theater had been built about ten years before, just across the street from Ponyville town hall. It had quickly become a popular location to visit since the residents of the town had previously had to travel to Canterlot or Manehatten if they wished to see a professional theater production. There was already a small line to get in when they arrived, but a familiar couple was waiting just ahead of them.

"Silver!" Dinky said with enthusiasm; she had one of those fancy new cameras around her neck that didn't make a big flash. Dinky's husband and mother were with her as well, and waved. "Great to see you. Have you come out to support the foals?"

Silver let herself get pulled into a hug by the former teacher turned principal. "I'm embarrassed to admit. I didn't even know about this production until a few minutes ago. Where's little Dabble?"

The principal released the hug and beamed. "My baby is performing in the play, and you'll never guess who she's playing!"

Twist chuckled. "Let me guess, you?"

Dinky looked shocked. "How'd you guess?"

"Maybe because she's the spitting image of you as a foal," Silver replied with a chuckle for her wife.

Dinky looked smug about it. "It's just a background role, I don't think she even has any lines, but she's still in the play. Most of the cast are students from our school. It's shocking you just heard about it."

"Well, I have been caught up dealing with Candy Apple all year long, and right now am focused on Sisstet, so I've been a little out of it on the extracurricular activities, " Silver confessed. "Plus, if I'm portrayed in the play like I was as a foal, then some of the students might have conspicuously failed to mention the play as a result."

Dinky had turned her attention to Sisstet upon mention of him, and Silver could see the question on the principal's mind. Dinky was a fairly perceptive mare, and that had been one of the reasons that she'd been installed as principal when Cheerilee had abruptly retired early in the school year.

"We'll talk about him later, in private," Silver whispered.

Dinky nodded and then gave Sisstet a grin. "Good afternoon, Sisstet. I rarely see you away from school. I don't think you've met my husband or my mom." She gestured to the stallion standing by her. "This is my husband Button Mash; he has a very cool job. He helps design arcade games."

Button held at a hoof to Sisstet. "Nice to meet you, Sisstet." The young naga stayed quiet, but reached out a claw and gave an awkward hoofshake with the earth pony.

Dinky gestured to the older pegasus beside her. "And this is my mom. Say hi to Sisstet, Mom."

Derpy blinked and then tried to focus her eyes on Sisstet, which didn't work out, but she still smiled at him happily. "Hi, there! Some ponies call me Derpy, some ponies call me Ditzy, some ponies call me Muffins, and some ponies call me Bubbles." Derpy frowned and seemed to start getting distressed. "But I seem to have forgotten what my actual name is."

Dinky gave her mother a sad look and touched a hoof to Derpy's shoulder. "It's okay, Mom. We all know who you are."

Derpy started smiling again and instantly seemed to get distracted by a poster advertising the play.

Silver leaned forward and whispered to Dinky. "How's she doing?"

Dinky watched her mother out of the corner of her eye. "She's fine, most of the time, but she gets confused more often than she used to, and her memory gets fuzzy on some things. She still has an excellent memory for other creatures' names and the places they live, but sometimes confuses foals with their parents, especially if they look similar. She has even confused Dabble with me, and she'll seem to think I should be a foal still, like she can't separate the past from the present."

Silver looked at Derpy, and felt terrible for wondering if it wouldn't be better if Dinky got somecreature to look after her mother. Derpy was still an effective local mailmare. Doing that job might be one of the few things keeping Derpy's mind from slipping farther, as it gave her something to focus on regularly. What was worrisome was she was confusing her granddaughter with her daughter when she lived with them… maybe it was time to have her retire and have a full-time caregiver. However, It wasn't Silver's place to say anything. That was a decision for Dinky to make.

They were slowly ushered into the theater and took their seats. Silver ended up in the middle of the aisle, with Sisstet immediately to her left, and Twist just past him. Dinky took the seat on Silver's right, with her husband on her other side and Derpy getting the seat on the far end near the wall.

A unicorn passed out programs to them, and Silver sat and read over the cast. There were indeed about a dozen students from the school involved in the play. Most of them came from a year or two above Silver's class, and the remainder actually seemed to come from the first-year class. Her ears fell when she saw herself listed as one of the primary characters, although she didn't know the particular changeling student playing her that well. Dinky's daughter, Dabble Doo, was a first-year student and was listed as background pony number four, with an asterisk noting that to be Dinky Doo.

As they settled down and waited for the show to start, Dinky leaned over next to Silver and whispered, "So, what's going on with Sisstet?"

Silver glanced to her side and saw Twist explaining to Sisstet who each of the characters were in the play- including herself. "I'm attempting to adopt him."

Dinky's eyes widened. "You're serious? I won't ask what happened with his guardians, at least not here, but you really are planning to adopt him?"

Silver nodded. "Yes."

The principal smiled. "Well, good for you. You will make a great mother. I couldn't imagine my life without Dabble." Her smile went away. "However, as principal, I do need to advise you this may impact your teaching position."

Silver jerked her head around to stare at Dinky. "What do you mean?"

Dinky sighed. "The EEA has a policy where parents cannot be the teacher in a classroom that includes their kid. They say it could lead to favoritism in grading. I may be forced to reassign you to another class."

"I would never fudge Sisstet's grades," Silver growled.

"I don't think you would, but it isn't a matter what I think; it's a rule," Dinky replied. "If Dabble were a year younger, she would have been in line for my class if I hadn't been promoted to principal. I would have had to be reassigned. I don't make the rules; I just enforce them. We can cry about whether they are fair or not all we want, but at the end of the day, we have to follow them."

Silver was dumbstruck. The system was set up for one teacher to teach over a class for each of the years they were there; to follow them from their first day of school to graduation. Teachers built strong bonds with their classes, and those classes were almost like a family to them. Some of the students spent more time with their teacher growing up than they did their parents. Getting separated from her class that was still in progress was heart-wrenching.

"Who would take over my class? Where would I be assigned?" She asked in a low voice.

"I don't know who would take over the class yet," Dinky replied. "After the fiasco with career day, Ink Pot doesn't intend to return. I was hoping to retain her after she took over my class, but she plans to move on. With that in mind, I'm going to be trying to hire a teacher over the summer. None of our three apprentices are ready to take full control of a class yet, and I'm not going to be unfair to them and our students by dumping them into a position they aren't yet prepared for. I will likely assign you the position Ink Pot would have had by having you take over the incoming class in the fall."

Silver couldn't be mad at Dinky. The two of them had a long history since they apprenticed together under Cheerilee, and she knew her friend was unhappy about this as well. Dinky was only doing what she had to do.

"On an unrelated note, I have a small piece of good news," Dinky continued. "I finally got a reply back from Cheerilee, the real Cheerilee, in regards to the old student records. She'll be arriving back in Ponyville tomorrow to help me get them. I know you've missed her just as much as me. I'm going to try to convince her to spend a day or two."

Silver smiled. "That's great to hear. If you can convince her to hang around for a little while, I'd love to get a chance to see her."

Dinky smiled briefly, but only briefly. "And on unrelated bad news, we still have Candy Apple's decision coming up. Can I count on you coming to show the filly some support?"

Silver nodded. "Whether I end up being her teacher again after this, she's still one of my students. I'll be there."

They hushed as the lights dimmed in the theater, leaving only the stage lit. The show was about to begin.