Author's Note

Rewritten chapter.

3. Metamorphosis

Dad set a plate of fruit on the table and gave her a poke. "Hey, kiddo. Don't worry. You're only suspended for a week." He pecked a kiss on her cheek. "I contacted Mom, and she should come back soon."

Misty let out a noncommittal grunt as Dad went upstairs. Once he was gone, she poked at the fruit with a hoof.

"Misty," said a voice.

"Who's there? Dad?"

The voice sounded amused. "I'm not your Daddy."

"I don't like being teased," Misty said sharply.

"I'm sorry, Misty. Come to your room, and I'll show you what I am."

Misty crammed her mouth full of fruit before heading up the dingy staircase.

Leafy was on her bedside table, in its tiny white pot, but he was different.
He had a straightforward face: two eyes and a mouth on a new white flower head.

The voice came from Leafy itself. "I want to make a deal."

Misty crept toward Leafy and stopped a metre away. "What are you?"

"I heard your anger, Misty. I want to be more than a plant, and the only way you can do this is to get the Fire Flower. It will give me form, and we can share its' magic, so you become powerful beyond your understanding. What do you say?"

"Really?" Misty jumped around in her room. "Yes, yes, yes. Where is this Fire Flower?"

"It's on an asteroid, a chunk of rock that comes near your planet. Every trillion years, this asteroid comes close. In ten years-"

"Ten years!" Misty stopped leaping around, squinting at Leafy. "Isn't there another way I can become super powerful? My Dad told me hard work would get you everywhere. Is Dad lying?"

A strange wheezing sound came from Leafy. It was laughing, his stalk bending over, his eyes closing.

Misty growled deep in her throat, pressing her hoof against Leafy.

"Answer me!"

"Careful, child. Your Dad might hear you."

"I can stop watering you!"

Leafy stopped laughing, wiping tears from his eyes using his leaves.

"Sorry, Misty. Kirin magic is nature-based, growing plants-"

Misty blew her bangs out from her face. "Tell me something I don't know."

"...And you don't have that innate power."

"What power does this Fire Flower even have?"

"It can give you everything."

Misty pursed her lips. "Fine, it better be worth it, or else."

Leafy crossed its leaves and rolled his eyes.

Misty spent quite a while talking to him, asking him everything she could about the flower.

Unfortunately, he didn't know much.

She left the conversation feeling frustrated.

"Misty," Dad called from downstairs. "Someone's here to see you."

Misty ran downstairs, her eyes widening. She didn't know who she had been expecting, but it wasn't her Mom: Bluebell Flare.

Mom was the colour of bluebells, from her mane to her fur coat, to her eyes.

"You hurt one of your classmates," she said.

Misty groaned. "She deserved it."

Dad stepped back, fading into the background. "I'll start on dinner."

"You do that," Mom said, her eyes not straying from Misty. "I'm very disappointed in you, Misty Flare." She had used Misty's full name.

Misty didn't waver, staring back. She couldn't show any weakness. "I'm already suspended."

"Well, you're grounded now too."

"Daaad," whined Misty.

"Dear," said Dad, as he flitted around the stove. "Do you really have to ground her?"

"Yes, I do," Mom replied.

Misty sagged with every word. "Noooo."

"I want you to apologize to the filly you hurt. Your Dad and I are also going to have a long talk." She paused, the pots and pans clanging around as Dad cooked. "Oak, did you tell her we might move?"

"I thought you were against it," Dad said.

Mom shrugged. "It might be a good idea. I'll come with you."

"Really, honey?"

"No pet names."

The next day, Misty sat in the schoolhouse with her parents.

On the other side were Nettle and her two parents, and Cheerilee sat behind her desk.

"I want her punished," Nettle's Mom was saying snootily. "She hurt my daughter. Just look at her nose."

Nettle sniffed pitifully. She was definitely playing it up.

"I understand that," Cheerilee said.

"We're moving away later this year," Mom said.

Mom had made him agree on moving. So they were starting the brewery.

Misty looked over at Nettle, and Nettle smirked.

"But Nettle was mean," Misty said. She told Cheerilee about making fun of Savarin and how Nettle had been talking about her.

Nettle hung her head.

"This is unacceptable," Cheerilee said. "I want you to apologize to each other and also to Savarin."

"I'm sorry for punching you," Misty said. She didn't mean a word of it.

"I'm sorry for being mean," was Nettle's apology. She also didn't mean it.

-

The packing started in earnest. Unfortunately, their house was in disarray for most of it, forcing Misty to head outside for her fun.

She still went to school and was forced to also apologize to Savarin for being mean to her, which wasn't fair in her opinion.

Nettle had been meaner to Savarin for longer.

On the playground, Misty brought out a book and sat on the grass. She was like Savarin.

Nettle and her friends stayed in the same spot, laughing while looking in her direction.

Misty couldn't do anything about it.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she sat nearer and nearer to Savarin.

They sat in silence, but there was a sort of tentative camaraderie between them.

A few months later, it was Misty's last day of school.

She said goodbye to her classmates and, after school, she got her things from inside her desk. She had dozens of brightly coloured pens and markers, which she put into her bag.

She looked up when Savarin walked by.

"I'm leaving," Misty said. "You better be happy. And, I'm not going to the Unicorn School. My Mom won't let me."

There was a giggle.

When she looked at Savarin again, her face was severe as it always was, but with a very, very small smile. "I'm not happy you're leaving, but I'm happy you punched Nettle." Savarin giggled again.

Misty's jaw dropped, and she could feel her face heating up. She'd never heard such a nice laugh, and it was like wind chimes or something princessy. She reached into her bag and tore off a piece of paper.

Quickly, she wrote down her new address at Kirin Grove.

She passed it over. "If you want, we can write letters to each other. Or don't."

Savarin hovered the piece of paper to her face, sliding it into her book. "I'd like that."

Misty smiled. At least one good thing had come out of all this. "Bye."

"Bye," came the tiny reply.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

The following week, they went to Kirin Grove. In the years since Applejack and Fluttershy had visited, the train station near Kirin Grove had been spruced up, and the track even went further into the jungle itself.

There were even benches for creatures to sit and wait.

There was a festival going on when they arrived. Their new house was a mansion, set away from Kirin Grove.

Most of the trees were still saplings, but Dad told her where everything would go for his new brewery.

She made herself smile.