The day dawned bright and cheerful, as scheduled. I had to give props to the West Milfoil weather team – they’re really good at adhering to schedules. I kicked the blankets off, rolled out of bed, and stretched out all four of my legs. Once each had made a satisfactory crack, I stretched out both wings to their fullest.
After showering and preening my wings, I ventured downstairs for breakfast. My sister was eating a bowl of cereal, and she poured a bowl for me as soon as she saw me. “Good morning, Cozy!”
“Mornin’ Flit.” There’s no such thing as a ‘good’ morning if it means having to get out of my comfy, cozy bed. I nuzzled Flitterheart. “Love ya!”
“Love you too.” She nuzzled me.
Despite my disdain for mornings, I was bubbling with excitement as I poked at my breakfast. My family’s very involved with charitable work, and I was finally old enough to help. We were headed to an empty patch of clouds where we’d build a cloud home for a needy pegasus family. I looked over the blueprints as I absentmindedly shoveled cereal into my mouth. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what I was looking at though. “What will I be doing?”
“We’re going to help our cousins with the interior. Brightheart, Proudheart, Swiftheart, and I have been doing this for a few years, so if you have any questions, just ask and we’ll be happy to help!”
“Okie dokie!”
We arrived at the worksite to find Uncle Braveheart and Auntie Treatheart hard at work building the external walls. They’d managed to get an entire corner of the house built before the rest of us arrived. They didn’t have any foals of their own, so it had just been the two of them working until we showed up. Uncle Loyalheart and Aunt Gentleheart arrived with our cousins a few minutes after us. Brightheart was grumbling with how long Proudheart had taken in the bathroom, as usual.
Uncle Braveheart waved to us all from the ladder and immediately tumbled off to the clouds below. “Whoooooooa!”
I was the closest to where he’d landed, so I zipped over and poked my head into the hole he’d punched into the clouds. “Are you okay?”
“I landed my head, so no harm done.” He climbed out of the hole and patted the fluffy clouds we were standing on. “And clouds are kinda soft.”
I chuckled. Pegasi were supposed to be graceful, but he had an absolutely horrible sense of balance. At least he always kept a good sense of humor about it, laughing about his misfortunes instead of complaining about them.
He and Auntie Treatheart had started work not long after sunup, and they’d managed to get most of two exterior walls built in that time. That gave us something to work with, and I watched Flitterheart and our cousins to get a feel for what I was supposed to do. They started by shaping interior walls, and I followed their lead. My first attempt was a little crooked, but my second was just about perfect. Proudheart made a few minor alterations to it, but nothing drastic. I quickly noticed everypony had their own style. Swiftheart was incredibly fast, but prone to making mistakes. Her errors were tolerated, however, because her speed offset them – it was like having two extra ponies working with us. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Brightheart was slow, but incredibly precise. Flitterheart fell somewhere between the two extremes, while Proudheart was a perfectionist, going over everypony else’s work like a supervisor.
“Swiftheart, there’s supposed to be a door here.” She’d effectively walled all of us into the room we were working in.
“Oops.”
Proudheart cut a doorway into the wall, and Swiftheart immediately started working on the next room. Instead of following Swiftheart, Flitterheart instead turned her attention to crafting furniture for the room we were in. It didn’t take long to guess from both the size of the room, and the fact my sister was sculpting a sofa, that this was intended to be a living room. I set my attention on making an end table.
And so it went for the rest of the morning and half the afternoon. By the time we were done, there was a split level house built where there’d been empty clouds hours before. It had been grueling work, but I felt better for all the effort expended. A family is going to live in a house I helped build. Cool! Wait, a family? “Mom?”
“Yes Cozy?”
“Does the family we made this for have any foals?”
“Yes. Two of them.”
I grinned. “Flitterheart, give me a hoof with something really quick.”
“Okay? What do you have in mind?”
“We’re going to make a little playground for the kids.”
“Oh, good idea!”
“Help me grab that rainbow over there.”
I yanked the rainbow from the clouds it was resting in, and Flit grabbed the other end. Between the two of us, we flew it back to the newly-built home. “Fly in a corkscrew, sis.” Flitterheart followed my lead, and we twisted the rainbow into a spiral. Once we had it in the proper shape, I sculpted some clouds into the shape of a ladder, and Flit attached the end of the rainbow to the platform I added at the top.
Inspired by what we’d just accomplished, our cousins started shaping a simple merry-go-round.
“Swing set?”
I nodded at Flitterheart’s suggestion, and let her take the lead.
When we were done with the swings, we finished wrapping everything up and we all returned to our respective homes.
“Come on, Cozy, let’s get cleaned up.”
“Do I have to? I already showered once today.”
“Yes, you have to. We got really dirty and sweaty with all the work we did.”
After we’d freshened up, Flit pulled some games out of her closet, and we set them up on her bed. I won two rounds of Candyland and The Game of Life. “Oh wow, I forgot I even had this game.” Flitterheart blew a layer of dust off a box. “Risk.”
“How do you play?”
“I haven’t got a clue. I never played it. Great Uncle Coldheart got it for me a few years ago for my birthday, but you were too young to play against, and I sorta forgot about it.”
Risk turned out to be a strategy game, with an emphasis on conquering the entire world. Equestria, the Dragonlands, the Griffin Empire, Yakyakistan, Mt. Aris/Seaquestria, the Crystal Empire, Mustangia, Abyssinia, and Saddle Arabia were all labeled on the game board, and divided up into six territories each.
“Pick a country, Cozy.”
“I like cats. Give me Abyssinia.”
“I guess I’ll take Equestria. Then we each put troops in the other territories. You’ll get more troops for every full country you control.”
Without really intending to, we’d divided the game board almost perfectly in half. We each controlled three countries, and we were splitting three others. I had the eastern side of the world, while Flitterheart controlled the west.
As always, my sister insisted I start things off. I had no clue what I was doing, but my best strategy was to try and overpower my sister for a fourth country. That would mean more reinforcements during future turns. It seemed like the most logical course of action, and I had slightly more troops in the Crystal Empire than she did. Thus my quest for world domination began.
The Crystal Empire fell to me on the first turn, but Flitterheart forcibly took Seaquestria, evening the score. That left the Dragonlands as the only contested area on the board. It was tempting to try taking it, but it seemed like the obvious move – the one she’d be expecting. Gaining an advantage in material can come from acquiring an entire country, or from just occupying one of the six territories in a given country and preventing Flit from getting the reinforcements she expected. It also puts her on the defensive. Now she’s forced to either deal with the intrusion to her territory or continue to lose vital reinforcements. I nodded my head to the sage advice. I didn’t know where the sudden strategy had come from, but I giddily invaded the under-protected Mustangia.
She took the territory back on her turn, but I’d anticipated that. Instead I’d beefed up my forces on Abyssinia and used the sea crossing to attack the game board from the opposite side. A sneak attack on Yakyakistan, which my sister had also unwittingly left vulnerable to attack. She’d doubled down in Equestria, which was a prized territory in terms of reinforcements with two extra troops per turn than any other territory. But all the other countries, combined, will be Equestria’s undoing.
One by one Flit’s defenses fell, and I conquered territory after territory, then country after country. Battle tactics weren’t her forte, but then again, they’d never been mine until now, either. I don’t know where the voice in my head came from, but it’s smart. A few more turns and the game was officially over, when Flitterheart’s final Equestrian stronghold, Canterlot, fell to my troops.
Complete world domination! Now to win the game of life.
Oh, I already won that before you showed up.
Correction: Flitterheart let you win before I showed up. And I’m not talking about that silly game, but real life. Do you really want to go to school, slave away at a career, have a few foals, and die? We’re better than that. We’re better than everypony, and it’s time to make them see that.
How?
By winning. Not some stupid game, but rather real life. If we were to conquer Equestria and become an alicorn, we’d be immortal.
That would be cool.
Then we’d crush our enemies to dust under our hooves.
That doesn’t sound very nice.
“That was a good game, Cozy. You thoroughly kicked my flank. You’ve got a knack for this game.”
I grinned. “Beginner’s luck.”
Flit pulled a chess set out of her closet. “When it comes to strategy games, chess is the standard all other games are held to.”
“Have you ever played it?”
“Well… not exactly.”
“Do you know how to play it?”
“Nope! But there are instructions in the box. So like Risk, we’re both going in blind.” She pulled the instructions out and explained how the game worked. The pieces all moved in unique ways, and the rules were complicated. It was a far cry from my favorite game, Candyland. I barely understood how to play when she was done reading the instructions. I had a feeling she was in the same boat.
Flit had given me the white pieces, meaning I got to go first. I stared at my pieces, trying to determine which one to move.
Do you want to win?
Yes! That’s the whole point of playing a game, right?
Of course it is. Now just listen to me and you can’t go wrong. Jump the third pawn from the left out two spaces… I did as I was told, moving the pawn exactly where the voice told me to.
It wasn’t long before I started picking off her pieces. I ignored Flit’s pawns for the most part, instead removing her main threats one at a time. She’d jumped out one of her knights, and was awkwardly maneuvering it around the chessboard. And moving it from her back rank left a very exploitable hole in her defenses. Move your bishop out one space, then take her rook.
Oh golly! That’s devious!
It’s smart. She won’t even be able to take your bishop in retaliation because her own bishop is in the way of her queen. Leave it there.
I shouldn’t move it back for protection?
Nope. If she doesn’t take the bishop and doesn’t move her king, we can use it to checkmate her later. Now that Flitterheart’s down on material, I think it’s time to bring the big dogs into play. Let’s break out the rooks.
Rooks are more powerful than bishops. Both pieces can advance all the way across the board in one move, but bishops are limited to diagonals, and can only be used on one color square or the other. Rooks can cross the board by rank or by file, regardless of the color of the squares they pass over. While they may not be as powerful as a queen, you get two of them. Remember, the point of chess is to trap your opponent’s king in a way that he can’t escape.
My rooks made a mockery of my sister’s defenses. Because Flit had yet to take a single one of my pieces, my own pawns were more of a hindrance to my moves than any of hers. Rather than go for the easy victory, I cruised my rooks around the board, picking off more of her pieces just because I could.
She moved a piece, ending the game immediately. At best, she had half a dozen moves left. But that was absolutely the worst move she could’ve made, and now the game was over. Or it would be in just a second.
I moved a rook, effectively boxing her king in. “Checkmate!”
“Good game, sis. You’ve got a knack for this.”
There was a flash of light and she stared at my hindquarters. “Your butt’s glowing!”
“You said the b-word!” I giggled. She’s gonna be in so much trouble when Mommy finds out!
“Cozy! You got your cutie mark!”
I turned and looked at it. “Oh! A rook! My special talent is chess!”
Not only had I just beaten my older sister at chess, I’d somehow managed to acquire my cutie mark before her too. Best day ever!
She wrapped her forelegs and wings around me. “I’m so proud of you, Cozy. You’re smart, and you’re going to go far in this world.”
Of course I am.
Wow, where’d that come from? Mommy always says not to brag.
It’s hard not to brag when Flitterheart’s been utterly humiliated at chess. And look at this shiny new cutie mark. She’s almost two years older than us and we got our mark first.
I don’t like these thoughts. Who… who are you?
You don’t? That’s too bad, because you’re stuck with me now. I’m the new and improved Cozyheart. But if you need a way to differentiate us, call me Cozy Glow. Right now, though, methinks you should really be paying attention to our sis.
The new voice in my head was right. “Oh! Now your butt’s glowing, sis!”
She stuck my tongue out. “You said the b-word!” But she looked down, and got a good look at the two intertwined hearts on her flank. “Wow! We both got our cutie marks together! I couldn’t have gotten mine without you!”
“And I couldn’t have gotten mine without you!” I nuzzled her.
She nuzzled me back. “I think this calls for ice cream! I know where Mom keeps it.”
I buzzed my wings and followed Flitterheart to the kitchen. She flew up to the highest cabinets and grabbed a pair of bowls, which she hoofed down to me, then she opened the freezer and grabbed a big tub of ice cream out. Vanilla was the only flavor, but she got the whipped cream and chocolate syrup from the fridge, and then found some rainbow sprinkles in the cabinet.
Mom came downstairs as Flitterheart was squirting whipped cream on my ice cream. “Are you two having dessert without me?”
“Sorry, Mom,” we said in unison.
Flit grabbed another bowl from the cabinet and scooped some ice cream out for Mom too. “We were just celebrating. Cozyheart got her cutie mark!”
“And Flitterheart got hers too!”
We turned our rumps towards her at the same time, and she studied our newfound marks. She smiled at Flitterheart’s, but her jaw dropped when she got a good look at mine. “A chess mark?” She pulled out a family scrapbook. “I don’t think anypony in the family’s ever gotten a cutie mark that didn’t have a heart in it in some way, shape, or form.”
She hugged us both tightly as she flipped through the pages of the scrapbook. There was an ice cream cone topped with a heart, a heart with wings, a heart within a star, a star within a heart, a heart wearing a crown, etc.
Mom nuzzled me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I would’ve given you a chess-related name. We can get your name changed if you want?”
I nuzzled her back. “I like my name.” Mommy smiled at that.
We ate our ice cream while we looked through the scrapbook, but there were no cutie marks without a heart. I was unique among our family.
Of course we’re unique. Had I not intervened, your cutie mark would’ve been lame: a heart wearing a ski cap. You would’ve lived out your existence as a nurse, helping patients with a gentle touch, similar to your aunt’s. Now we’re destined for greatness!
That mark sounds cute in all honesty… And what’s wrong with helping ponies?
There’s nothing wrong with helping ponies. Think about how many ponies we could help if we were in charge of Equestria.
As soon as we were done with our ice cream, I excused myself to go to my room. I grabbed the chess set from Flit’s room and set it up on my bed. Cozy Glow was more than happy to play me, even if I had to move her pieces for her. Our first game was a disaster for me. I was almost as bad as Flit was. At least I took out two pawns and a knight before I got checkmated.
Our second game went just as poorly, as did the third. I thought I was making progress on the fourth game – I captured Cozy Glow’s queen! Only to immediately get checkmated on her next move.
Congratulations! You just fell for a queen’s sacrifice. A trap to draw out the unsuspecting and the uninitiated. Remember, while the queen may be the most powerful piece in chess, the king is ultimately the only piece that matters. The pawns, the knights, even the queen, they all exist to serve the king.
“Knock knock!” Halfway through our fifth game Flit barged in. She took one look at me playing against myself and giggled. “Sneaky! Getting practice in. You should teach me how to play better.”
I will, as soon as I finish learning. At the rate I’m getting my flank hoofed to me, that might be a while…
Muhahahahaha!
That laugh is really creepy.
But so much fun! So here’s how this is going to go down, you’re going to learn by me telling you where to move, and she’s going to learn from us spanking her. Repeatedly.
But spankings are bad. I thought back to the few times I’d been naughty. I don’t want to spank her.
It’s an expression. It means we’ll defeat her so easily she shouldn’t have even bothered trying.
I started moving the pieces back to their correct starting positions. I’d at least learned that much, even if the strategy aspect was still unfamiliar. I set the black pieces on my side. “White always goes first, sis.”
She looked down at the checkered game board and made a surprising first move – opting to hop a knight over her row of pawns. She really likes the knights. Let’s break her of that habit, shall we? Knights have a limited number of options per turn. You can more or less guess where she’s going with this.
My vision blurred and I saw dozens of potential outcomes for the game. In almost all the scenarios, my pawns picked the knight off before it even got close to being a threat. But if I moved the wrong pawns and failed to move the right ones, she could trap my king behind the row of pawns. Sneaky. Do you think that’s what she’s trying to do?
If she was a better player, yes. In this case, that would be dumb luck. But we’re not going to give her that option, are we?
I moved the pawn out from in front of my queen. My king would no longer be trapped, and if the knight landed somewhere close, it could be dispatched quickly.
She did a bit better the second time around, and she even managed to capture a few of my pawns. She continued improving with each game, while I really started grasping the game with the ability to see all the potential outcomes of moving any given piece.
Flit threw in the towel after having her rump kicked a bunch of times. I set the pieces up another time, and once more I played Cozy Glow. I’d improved dramatically, but she was still the superior chess player, beating me as easily as we’d beaten Flitterheart.
Eventually Mom came in and turned the light out, signaling it was time for bed. I brushed my teeth and put my pajamas on – the super comfy footy pajamas that kept me warm and cozy. I curled up under the blanket, then Mom tucked me in and kissed me goodnight.
Try as I might, my brain refused to turn off. It was like trying to fall asleep on Hearth’s Warming Eve. I stared at the ceiling in my darkened room. I rolled over onto my side, trying to get more comfortable, cozy even, but that only resulted in staring at a wall instead. My last resort was to cocoon myself in my blankets. When that didn’t work, I threw my hooves up in frustration.
I want to cuddle with Flitterheart.
Tell her we had a bad dream.
But that would be lying. I could say ‘I can’t sleep.’ That’s the truth. My mind quickly formulated my sister’s reaction. It was, of course, positive. There’s nothing I could say to her that would result in her refusing me the chance to cuddle with her.
‘I wet the bed.’
I looked down. No, I didn’t. I haven’t done that since I was a foal.
She wouldn’t let you sleep with her if you said that. Oh sure, she’d help us get cleaned up, probably even change our bedding for us, but she wouldn’t let us snuggle up with her. ‘I hate you, Flitterheart’ wouldn’t work either.
Why would I say that? Why would I even think that? I love my sister!
They’re possible things we could say. Not that we would. We’re a good pony. Remember how we could see all those various outcomes when we were playing chess? We can do that with the things ponies say, too. But let’s just go with ‘I can’t sleep.’ That’ll work, and we’ll get what we wanted. Isn’t that swell?
I nodded as I wriggled out of the blankets.
Take the cat.
I looked at the little gray-striped tabby plush on my bed. My absolute favorite stuffed animal, I took her everywhere. Lucky?
Yes. We’ll look even cuter and more huggable with a plush toy. We’re the most adorable filly in all Equestria. Gotta use that, girl.
Oh golly, now you sound like Mommy. She’s just biased. I’m not the cutest filly in the whole world.
Oh yes we are. In case you’ve forgotten, your mother is named Trueheart. She’s a living lie detector. So if she says we’re the cutest, we really are. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. Only the cutest, sweetest, most innocent pony is worthy to have me grace their presence.
I thought you were me.
I am you. But I’m also me. It’s complicated.
So does that mean I’m still me too?
Nope. You’re us. I’m also us, yet still me.
I don’t get it.
It doesn’t matter. We are one. Now grab the toy and march our little hooves into Flit’s room. The sooner we do that, the sooner we sleep. Don’t forget – we’ve got a big day tomorrow.
Lucky clutched between my forelegs, I fluttered into my sister’s room. “Flit?”
“Hmn?”
“I can’t sleep. Can… can I cuddle with you. Please?”
“Of course.” She lifted the blankets up and I snuggled up against her. She wrapped a foreleg around me and pulled me against her barrel. I sighed in contentment and mirrored her pose, pulling Lucky tight against me. Flit will keep me safe, and I’ll keep Lucky safe.
Since it was a special occasion, Mommy made my favorite breakfast: pancakes! They were Flit’s favorite too, so that wasn’t surprising. As always, Mommy had drizzled the maple syrup into smiley faces, with a big pat of butter for a snout.
I almost felt bad eating them, but they were so tasty.
“Wanna play?”
“Of course!”
I followed Flit outside, and we stared at our empty backyard. “Are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
“I think so, Flit, but this time you wear the tutu.”
“Right. Wait… huh? What tutu?”
“I’m just being silly, sis. Of course I’m thinking what you’re thinking. We just built a playground for complete strangers yesterday, and we have all this space in our backyard.”
She nodded. “That slide you came up with is awesome. Let’s start with one of those.”
I beamed at the compliment. “Yeah, it looked like a lot of fun. It’s a shame we didn’t get a chance to try it out. We need to do this so we can, uh, test for defects. Right?”
“Right.” Flitterheart grinned. “Let’s do this!”
Since we lived on the ground, we couldn’t use clouds as a building material. We scrounged up some wood, nails, and a few unused clothesline poles and set to work making our own playground. Our parents came out and assisted us with the project. After a few hours’ work, we had a swing set, a spiral rainbow slide, and a seesaw. We’d wanted to make a merry-go-round, but since we hadn’t helped with that one, we weren’t sure how they’d worked it out. Brightheart had a gift for engineering that neither Flit nor myself shared.
Daddy finished packing down the dirt, and our parents sat on the swings to test the strength of the swing set. We’d used sturdy boards, and it held. Once we were positive it was safe, Flit and I sat in the swings, and Mommy pushed me, while Daddy pushed Flitterheart.
The slide was supported by a pair of clothesline poles. Flit and I had wings, so we didn’t need ladders to get up to the platform. I fluttered to the top and slid down the corkscrewing rainbow slide, giggling the whole way down. “Oh golly! This is super-duper fun!”
Flit followed me down, but instead of sailing off the end and landing in the grass, she pumped her wings and flew into a loop, landing perfectly on all four hooves. My jaw dropped. “That was awesome!”
Flit chuckled. “Hey, my little sister beats me at every game we play, I’ve got to be good at something.” She tousled my hair. “She even got her cutie mark first. Talk about a little overachiever.”
I blushed. “Oh Flit, you’re great at a bunch of things.” I tacklehugged her and we fell to the ground in a heap. “And you’re the bestest big sister, ever!” I nuzzled her.
She nuzzled me back. “And you’re the bestest little sister, ever!”
We got back to our hooves and I glanced at an empty space in the yard. I want to make a merry-go-round like our cousins did.
Don’t look at me. I don’t really do physics. Now if you want strategy and foresight, however… Don’t you know a few fillies and a colt who made one of these just yesterday? Aren’t they stopping by later today for our, whatchamacallit, cutie mark thingie.
Cuteceañera.
Yeah, that thing. Really important, big day and all. I can’t wait for the party. And we can ask our cousins for help. Why, I bet if we asked in just the right way, they’d be happy to do it for us, as a gift. Just think about it, and the right words to best get what we want will come.
“Cozy?”
“Yes?”
“You okay?”
“I’m super-duper, why?”
“You keep gazing off into space.”
We’ve got to work on our communications skills. We begin multitasking training tonight. Right now though say we’ve got a lot on our mind. Make up some horseapple excuse.
“Sorry, Flit, I’ve just had a lot on my mind since I got my cutie mark.” I’m gonna tell her about you and how I can see all these outcomes.
We can’t. She… wouldn’t understand. This is a unique ability nopony else has. You can’t tell anybody because they’d think you were crazy. Having voices in your head is usually a sign of dissociative identity disorder.
What’s that?
Multiple personalities. Now answer Flit before she panics.
“I just, well, I guess I’m getting older. It’s funny how I was in such a hurry to grow up, and now I’ve got my cutie mark and I’m growing up so fast. Oh golly, I just want to play and enjoy being a kid.”
Flit pulled me in tight for a hug. “Oh Cozy, you don’t have to grow up just because you got your cutie mark. You got yours really young, I don’t know anypony else who had their mark at your age.”
“But doesn’t having a mark make me an adult?”
“Well, yeah, I guess legally you’re an adult now, but that’s really only so you can start apprenticing in your destined career choice. Your cutie mark signifies who you are and what you enjoy doing. You should have a pretty good idea what you want to do with your life from here on out. I’m guessing you’ll want to be some sort of grandmaster of chess.”
Nod!
I nodded. “Yeah, and I don’t know how to go about doing that. What about you? You got your cutie mark yesterday too.”
“Oh gosh, Cozy! It’s wonderful. Everything’s so clear to me now. I’m going to be a teacher, working hard to bring out the best in fillies and colts. I couldn’t have gotten my mark without you – helping you discover your talent enabled me to find my own. I want to keep doing this.”
“That’s awesome, Flit.” I wrapped my wings around my big sister. “You’ve got such a big heart.”
“We all do, Cozy. We’ve got ‘heart’ right there in our names.”
I chuckled and she wrapped her wings around me in an embrace.
Spice Cake was the first of the guests to arrive. A friend of my sister’s, I took door duty to give them a chance to catch up with one another.
Ding dong.
I opened the door and was shocked to see the latest guest to arrive. Oh golly, even Great Uncle Coldheart came to see us! His blue coat and frosty white hair matched well with his cutie mark: a heart frozen in a block of ice. An earth pony, he was the only Heart family member that wasn’t a pegasus.
Maybe that’s why he’s so mean – he’s jealous that we can fly and he can’t. I’d say he was just getting cantankerous in his old age, but he’s always been like this.
How do you even know that?
I have my sources.
“Here. I got you both something.”
And by ‘both’ he means ‘share this solitary gift that I bought from the clearance rack of the toy store’.
Be nice.
I’ll be accurate. See which one gets us further in this world.
“Are you going to let me in, or are you just going to stand there gawking all day with your mouth hanging open?” He glared at me and I shivered under his gaze.
“Sorry.” ‘I’m just surprised to see you.’ Negative reaction. ‘Thank you very much!’ Also a negative reaction. ‘Come right in.’ Indifferent reaction, but the best possible outcome. Appropriately named. Oh stars, now Cozy Glow has me doing it. “Come right in!”
“Whatever. Where’s the cake?”
I pointed the way and he disappeared into the house.
More of Flitterheart’s friends showed up next: Caramel Sundae and Glow Stick. They went off to play with Flit and Spice Cake.
Where are our friends?
Flit’s friends are our friends too.
I repeat: where are our friends?
I don’t have any friends of my own.
Our classmates are just jealous of us. We’re cute, we’re smart, and we’re super nice! We’re better than them and they can’t handle that.
Nopony is any better than anypony else.
Oh? Are you saying those scammers Flim & Flam are just as good as Princess Celestia?
No, I mean, I guess some ponies are worse than everypony else.
Which in turn means some ponies are better than others.
I guess. That was an uncomfortable line of thought that went against everything I held dear. Everything my family held dear.
My musing was once more interrupted by the doorbell. “Uncle Braveheart!” He looked a bit different.
“Uh, yeah.” Uncle Braveheart grinned sheepishly. “Sorry we’re late. I uh, sorta stepped in bubblegum and didn’t realize it. Then I was scratching my mane and well…” He trailed off and turned his head, revealing a new bald spot.
What a doofus.
Uncle Braveheart’s not a doofus. Okay, he kinda is. But that’s not nice to think.
Look on the bright side – he married into this family, so there’s no chance his genes are inside of us.
Auntie Treatheart giggled as she followed him in. She hoofed a cake to me, and I carried it to the refreshment table.
Is it me, or did Aunt Treatheart get fatter since the last time we saw her?
She did not!
Did so. I bet she bakes two cakes at a time. One for her, and one for everypony else.
You’re cruel! Her cakes are totally the best!
Ding dong.
Uncle Loyalheart and Aunt Gentleheart were the next to arrive, with our cousins in tow. Or to be more precise, Proudheart and Brightheart were in tow, while Swiftheart had galloped to the door to be the first one inside.
Luckily for her, speed doesn’t kill.
It doesn’t?
Nope. It’s that sudden stop at the end that gets you. She’s right about one thing, though.
What?
In this life there are winners and losers. Her mistake is she thinks life’s a race instead of a game. That just makes her the fastest loser. Keep listening to me and we’ll be a winner.
Proudheart was the next to enter, her father holding the door for her.
Announcing her royal highness, Proudheart! A filly who doesn’t have a budget for beauty products so much as she has a percentage of the GDP.
I couldn’t help myself – I laughed at that one. Her siblings were always complaining about how much time she spent in the bathroom, and she never left home without a mirror.
“What’s so funny?”
‘You had to be there.’ Negative reaction. ‘You.’ Extremely negative reaction. Wow, that filly can hold a grudge. Golly, thirteen years before she’d even speak to me again? ‘Your sister’s enthusiasm.’ Eye roll. ‘I know we’re not supposed to laugh at others, but…’ Bingo, we have a winner. A little gossip is just the right sleight of hoof. I motioned her close and whispered into her ear. “I know we’re not supposed to laugh at others, but check out Uncle Braveheart’s new ‘do. I dare you not to laugh.”
They were the last to arrive, and I moseyed towards the refreshments. The cake had yet to be cut, but there were chips, pretzels, a fruit tray, and punch. Great Uncle Coldheart was hovering over the snacks, and I decided I’d rather not have food if it meant not dealing with his icy stare. I poured myself a cup of punch and wandered around the party.
Funny how we’re one of the guests of honor, but nobody has any time for us. No one’s even looked at our flank to see our new mark. Who cares, we don’t need them, anyway. Listen to me, we’re going places, with or without all of them.
My parents were chatting with my aunts and uncles. Flit was in her bedroom playing a game with her friends. My cousins were out in the backyard, examining the playground Flit and I had built earlier in the day. Perfect!
Showtime! Show me what we’ve learned.
I fluttered up to the top of the spiral slide and pushed myself off, sliding down and into a loop just like Flit had taught me.
“Nice style!” Swiftheart had given me a wing’s up.
I beamed at her praise. “Thanks!”
“What you really need back here, though, is a merry-go-round.”
“Swiftheart!” Proudheart chased after her sister while Brightheart just groaned.
“It was supposed to be a surprise. When we got here and saw you hadn’t made one, we were going to make one as a surprise for you and Flit. Then you came out and Swiftheart was supposed to distract you.” He rolled his eyes.
“Proudheart knows she’s never going to catch her, right?”
“I sincerely hope not. The longer they’re occupied elsewhere the more time I have to work. This’ll go faster without their assistance.”
I plopped my rump down on the end of the slide and watched the aerial dogfight between my cousins. Swiftheart had speed, but Proudheart had agility. Swiftheart was toying with her sister, letting her get close and then zipping off in a different direction. That only made Proudheart more determined to catch her.
Brightheart whistled and I looked over to where he’d been working. He’d finished the project quickly. Swiftheart zoomed down to the clouds, landing next to her brother. Proudheart dove right for her sister, but Swiftheart stepped aside at the last minute and Proudheart crashed into Brightheart instead.
“Dogpile!” Swiftheart hopped on top of her siblings, and I followed her lead.
“Get off.” Brightheart stood up, shaking his sisters and I off of his back. “Merry-go-round’s done. I’m going to get something to eat.” He turned to me. “Congrats on your cutie mark. I look forward to playing you in chess one of these days.”
Oh, he’s getting in over his little purple ears. Still, he’s probably better than Flit, so at least he might be a step up from the tutorial mode.
Hey!
It’s the truth.
Brightheart went inside and I played on the newly-built merry-go-round with his sisters. With Swiftheart galloping alongside, the roundabout got up to impressive speed. There’s no way Flit or I could get it going this fast.
Eventually Mom poked her head out the backdoor and called us in to eat. The cake Auntie Treatheart had brought was fantastic, as expected. Then we had ice cream and opened our gifts. Nothing really struck my fancy, but I thanked everyone for their gifts regardless. It’s the polite thing to do.
It’s the smart thing to do. You never know who’s going to be useful to you. No sense burning bridges until you need to burn them.
I thanked everyone again, then excused myself to put everything away, and Flitterheart followed my lead. Once I was done, Flit appeared in my room and hoofed me a box. “Congrats on your cutie mark, sis.”
“Flit! You got yours too.”
“I wanted to get you something.”
I’m so embarrassed, I didn’t get her anything. I shredded the wrapping paper to discover a chess set inside. I gasped. “Oh Flit, it’s perfect.”
She reached over and enveloped me in her wings. “Thought you might like that. I picked up the fanciest one I could find.”
I leaned against her as tight as I could. “You’re the best sister ever.”
“She nuzzled me. “I try.”
We returned to the living room where the party was still going on. Great Uncle Coldheart had split as soon as we’d eaten, and much to my surprise, Proudheart was restyling Uncle Braveheart’s mane. The bald patch had been cleverly disguised and was no longer visible. Apparently she had yet to inform him of that fact, as she was still working on the rest of his tangled hair.
Flit’s friends said their goodbyes, and the party was down to just the Hearts. Mom suggested we have a sleepover with our cousins, which was met by enthusiastic cheering from four fillies and groaning from one colt. I don’t know why he’s complaining. Colts have cooties, so he gets to take my room, and the rest of us will all cram into Flit’s.
First of all, colts don’t have cooties. That’s just a myth told by grownups so fillies and colts don’t do anything they’re not supposed to. As for his complaining, it’s because instead of having to share the bathroom with two fillies in the morning, he’ll have to share it with four.
The rest of us aren’t as bad as Proudheart.
No one is as bad as Proudheart.
Four fillies galloped up the stairs, and one underwhelmed colt followed.
The first game we played was Twister. “Right hoof, red.” Four hooves touched red, and one colt collapsed from his lack of coordination, wiping out the rest of us in the process.
I popped out of the tangle of tails, legs, and wings. “Maybe we should stick with board games.”
“I tried telling you that earlier! Some of us aren’t flexible.” Brightheart huffed and flicked his tail as he stood up.
“Or coordinated.” Swiftheart added.
Brightheart glared at Swiftheart. “I think I’m going to call it a night.”
“Not so fast. We haven’t done makeovers yet!” Proudheart was standing in front of the door.
Brightheart backed up until he was against the far wall, while the four of us closed in on him. His sister may be the one with superequine speed, but he managed to open the window in record time and defenestrated his way to freedom.
“Hey! Come back here!” Proudheart flung herself out the window after him.
Swiftheart stretched and flopped onto Flit’s bed. “They’re gonna be a while.” She yawned. “Wake me when Bright looks fabulous.”
“Why?”
“Because if I know my sister, I’m next, and I want time to escape.”
I hopped on the bed next to Swiftheart and Flit snuggled in behind me. Swiftheart is really warm. Must be all that running around she does. I cuddled as close to my cousin as I could, and my sister held me tight. Being between them was perfectly cozy, and I couldn’t think of a better way to end the day. I’ve got the best family in the world.
Author's Note
Story notes: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/915707/story-notes-heart-in-pieces
