'Light (Not That One)

The dining room presents an awkward silence, broken only by snapping jaws, whose owner, Lorien, is chomping away at the Griffonstone meat before him. If he looked up, he would see just my back. Across the dining room table from me is Firelight; to my left, Aita; and to my right, Cozy.

Aita tries her best to lighten the mood by sipping her cola, expecting it to be at least okay. Her eyes widen in surprise and finishes the sip before setting the glass back down.

“Whoa! Cozy, did you make this?!? I love it!”

Cozy Glow confirms with a nod. “It’s a homebrew apple-flavored cola. Thought I’d make a little something like that to shake things up. What about the hay burgers?”

“We probably should-” I am interrupted by a crunch from Firelight as he starts eating the hay burger as suggested. Then Aita tries hers too, Firelight washing down his with the glass of cola before him. The two moan in bliss.

Lorien has finished his dinner by now and is licking his lips as he comes up beside me and puts his paws on the table.

“Lorien, down,” Cozy calmly commands, scooping up some of the horseshoe fries into her mouth afterward.

“He’s okay, Cozy,” I tell her, turning to Lorien and petting him. “Besides, it seems he’s picked up on the air in here. Wouldn’t you say?”

Out of the corner of my eye, Firelight looks away from my direction, probably thinking he’s in much trouble.

“Firelight… what’s that look about?” He looks back at me after hearing concern in my voice. “You know why Lorien wondered off, right?”

Aita and Cozy gulp down the food they had already in their mouths and chug their colas, Cozy reeling from the carbon bubbles passing through her esophagus.

“Aita? Cozy? Do you know what this talk is about?” I ask them.

“Yuh-huh…” says Aita uncertainly. Cozy just closes her eyes in anticipation of whatever I have to say.

“You see, Firelight has let Lorien wonder off twice now under each instance of your supervision. And while it’s relatively reckless to do so, he is not at fault.” At my announcement, Firelight’s hay burger falls out of his magic as he is surprised at this judgement. “Aita? Cozy? Did you two ever do anything about this behavior, or anything to prevent it in the first place?”

Aita is the one to answer me. “I… I thought I did; I had Firelight help me find Lorien in the castle until we came up empty and just went to see the races, and I had later combed through the castle again just before now to see if he marked anywhere. Was… was that not enough, Chrysalis?”

I shake my head to Aita. “At least you did do something about it. Cozy, I expect better out of co-hostesses like us, which is something you and Aita failed at by not communicating to Firelight the importance of keeping an eye on Lorien. But since we’re all here at the moment… Firelight?”

“Yes?” says Firelight.

“While you’re not at fault for letting Lorien separate from you, Aita and Cozy, it is important to know that foxes heavily insist on doing what they want within others’ consistent boundaries. Likely he simply wanted me to join him to watch Cozy participate in the Running of the Leaves as well as letting me and Aita know that dinner was almost ready, but what if it wasn’t Lorien you weren’t watching over, and it was a different fox altogether. Because if it wasn’t him, their intentions might not’ve been so pure, especially one the same age as him.

“Princess Aita Bagley-Handy, Organizer Cozy Glow, isn’t there something you’d like to say to Firelight?”

A wave of guilt appears to wash over Aita and Cozy before they turn their gaze to Firelight. They sigh together. “We’re sorry.”

“We got so caught up spending time with you,” Cozy continues. “that we also forgot about Lorien.”

“We should’ve been upfront, but we weren’t,” Aita adds. “I guess Cozy and I owe you guys, don’t we?”

“No you don’t…” Firelight firmly answers.

Aita and Cozy look at him, stunned.

“What good would it do to humiliate children for a lack of communication of all things if… anything? What matters is that you learned your lesson. Besides, Chrysalis already has you covered. For now, let’s just sit down and finish our takeout… I-I mean hay burgers and fries.”

Aita, Cozy and I burst into laughter, hearing Firelight’s slip. Meanwhile, Lorien runs up to Firelight and rubs up on his side. In fact, Aita in particular is laughing so hard that that laughter turns into a coughing fit, so she quickly floats a nearby napkin to buffet the wind coming out of her protesting lungs.

“Breathe, Aita!” I barely manage to say before laughing harder along with Cozy.

By now even Firelight is joining in with his own chuckles.

It takes a bit of time, but everyone winds down, leaving the air much more relaxed than it was just before.

Cozy sighs. “That was great. So, uh… so we’re good then?”

“Absolutely,” I tell her. When I finally float my hay burger, now able to concentrate partly on my meal that’s still intact, I take a fairly average sized bite, only to realize how packed with passion and love the hay burger is. “Well, color me impressed, Cozy. Did you do this?”

“Yep. Taught myself during Cliptalk’s after school program…” Aita and Firelight stare at Cozy. I’m fairly certain she’s referring to the area she grew up in, considering that’s where Cozy’s parent’s letters are coming from.

“Y’know… in Fillydelphia,” she clarifies.

To say the least, dinner last night was a rollercoaster. One moment guilt had overwhelmed me inside and out, and before I knew it, one slip-up by Firelight and I was aspirating from laughing so hard. At least now we’re all back on good terms.

It’s currently morning, and we’re all about to head out. The moment we’re out, however, Chrysalis and Lorien split from the rest of us.

“Aren’t you coming?” I ask.

Chrysalis nods. “You know how it is with Lorien. He loves his routines. We’ll catch up after we’re done.”

Later on, Firelight, Cozy Glow and I arrive at the train station and come up to the ticket booth.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t keep you company over at Sire’s Hollow?” Cozy asks. “I haven’t even seen that town before with my own eyes.”

Firelight laughs as he turns his head to his right to us. “I didn’t say that. Only that you shouldn’t visit just because you owe me anything, because you don’t,” he states before facing the booth attendant. “One please.”

As the ticket slides into view, Firelight floats it into the chest of his overshirt and turns back to me and Cozy. “Besides, you can always visit any time, not only this moment.”

“I’m not so sure if Chrysalis is going to be okay with the both of us going,” I cautiously say. “Lorien’s care is a big responsibility, and she spent a lot of time with him yesterday.”

My ears twitch to the sound of teleportation magic coming from behind me. Turning around, I am greeted by the sight of Chrysalis and Lorien.

Chrysalis has a knowing smile on her face. “Am I missing anything important?”

“Eh…” Cozy shrugs. “Just playing around.”

Chrysalis turns unamused, and so does Firelight.

Cozy flinches when I face her with clenched teeth. “Cozy…”

“Kidding… Aita and I were feeling up to going to Sire’s Hollow and spending some time with Firelight.”

“And I suppose you’ll be leaving Lorien with me again?” Chrysalis asks, which makes the air uncomfortable. “I thought so… Cozy Glow, do I seriously need to tell you not to pawn off your share of pet responsibility? You already left Aita alone with that when you took part in the Running of the Leaves, and you were also too focused on cooking last night to keep an eye on Lorien.”

As Chrysalis lectures Cozy, the latter becomes progressively more shocked and worried. “B- but what about Sire’s Hollow?!?”

“That will have to wait until you get some help from Dr. Ralph, because I have a feeling you found out about Medicgate before you helped set up the Running of the Leaves.” Chrysalis sits down and slides Cozy with toward her with her hoof. “In the meantime, you will need somepony to help you look after Lorien while Aita and I go.”

While Lorien comes up next to Cozy and holds her hoof, making her giggle, a letter materializes in front of me.

My dear friend, Aita,

Forgive me for not writing back right away, but I do have all of your games’ source code with me, sans the ones you brought with you when you first moved. I’m home right now, so if you’d like to meet around lunchtime, I’d be okay with that. Really interesting that you said you wanted to learn to code like I do; it’s pretty niche, even among unicorns, but I could teach you AIO assembly if you wanted. If you do come, please bring Fragmen Gregarius with you; that spell is integral to how my code gets assembled.

Yours truly,
Moondancer.

“Um, Chrysalis?” I say, unfurling and showing off the letter. Chrysalis comes to me. “Looks like our trip will have to wait too. I have to go to Canterlot.”

“Approved, Aita. I see Moondancer has replied to your letter at last.”

Cozy startles Chrysalis and Lorien with a loud “WHAT?!?”.

We all look at Cozy as she stammers. “B-but why? I just don’t get it; Aita, you’re the smartest child I know! If this is what I think it’s about, you’re already the best at it!”

“I think I know what’s going on…” Firelight starts. I try to continue for him, but Chrysalis stops me.

“No need to explain, Aita. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I didn’t?” I repeat. “But, wasn’t I partially res-”

“I wasn’t talking about letting Lorien wander off; it’s your identity. While it is important to communicate information to somepony else who otherwise might have the wrong idea, identity is the one part of you that should be authoritarian,” Chrysalis explains.

“Meaning… nopony questions what or who I am?” I rub my chin in thought. “Well that explains why Kevin cut me off back when recounting my reaction to you and the princesses’ retirement.”

Cozy taps me on the shoulder, getting me to look at her. “Before you do go, who’re you gonna get to help take care of Lorien? He does come from Sweet Feather Sanctuary; wouldn’t it make sense to have Fluttershy?”

I shake my head. “Foxes don’t get along well with most other canids… except for dogs. I can imagine Sophie and Tim would never want to have to look over him. Double for Rarity. Sugar Cube Corner doesn’t even have an enclosure nearby. and no cloud-walking spell to hang out with Rainbow Dash, since it would be just you, Lorien and her, bell notwithstanding. Only one off the top of my head that could readily help is Applejack.”

“Do you know where Moondancer lives?” Firelight asks me, which I nod yes. “With your ability, you can get to her place in a jiffy.”

Chrysalis smiles to Firelight. “Perhaps you’re onto something. Cozy and I will take Lorien to Sweet Apple Acres, Aita. After yesterday, you deserve some time to relax in Canterlot, maybe even pay Twilight and Spike a visit: I hear their school has accrued a new student. Just teleport before the train arrives, and I’ll be there in time.”

I nod before hugging Chrysalis. “Thanks, Chrysalis.”

She and Cozy fly off to the south, leaving me with Firelight. As one final gesture for me to go, he nods to me. So, I start my horn and teleport out of the train station, leaving Firelight alone there as I take in the new environment that is Moondancer’s front yard.