Pulse walked alongside Beat down a crystal road. "Why did Mom give you a special day? Did you do something I didn't hear about?"

Beat pranced as she walked along. "She said I was growing up. She wants to make sure I understand what happens when I do." She frowned a moment. "She didn't talk about any of this with you?"

Pulse kept walking alongside his sister. "Not that I can remember." He grinned at her. "Is it exciting?"

Beat huffed once. "And scary." She raised a hoof to tap on her metal cheek. "But it was girl stuff, I think. You aren't a girl, right?"

"Nope." Pulse seemed sure of that. "I remember, a little. There was a girl place and a boy place. I wanted the boy place."

Beat erupted into a new smile. "I remember that! I wanted the girl place."

"We were so young then." Beat's smile wilted as she considered things. "How will we tell? When we're grown up?"

Pulse trotted alongside Beat. "I dunno." He brushed against Beat with a clang of their metal forms meeting. "Maybe the first time we get to decide what our shells look like without mom or dad getting a choice?"

Beat swished her tail. "But we can change that any time. It's not a sign." She kicked a rock on the road with a metallic clink. "You're older than me, Pulse."

Pulse laughed at that. "By a few seconds! Sis." He grabbed her in a firm hug. "We're twins."

Beat hugged him back. "Even if you're the oldest." She frowned again. "So, um, are we both going to grow up?"

Pulse held still as he considered the question. "If we're not sure what that means, I guess we won't know until it happens. If I feel grown up, I'll let you know." He released Beat. "Let's get to school."

Beat considered his words, then nodded. "Alright, brother. Let's do that." She smiled and nudged Pulse on ahead of her, running off with him towards the school building where they would join their friends and classmates for the day.

Their teacher seemed happy to see them, but he was happy to see all of them as he started the day's lesson on ancient crystal empire friends and foes. "The yaks were once ancient trading partners." He pointed to some chalk drawings of these large shapes with larger horns.

Pulse could feel the energy of all his classmates gathered together in a group, eager to learn. Their teacher did his best to encourage that energy and expand upon it.

He took a step towards the other side of the room. "They've been out of reach with us since before we even were gone. Are they hiding, perhaps waiting for the right time? Are they just being cautious? We do not know." He swept his gaze over his class. "But they are formidable opponents." He smacked a hoof down on the ground with a loud noise. "Which is why we gave up fighting with them a long time ago. Let us hope, if they ever reach out to us again, it will be with kindness."

Pulse thought on those words as he did with all the lessons. The Yaks. He couldn't imagine fighting a pony, let alone a large and horned being such as that. Maybe he'd meet one one day, and make friends instead. He nodded at that revised idea. Making friends with a big yak sounded like it could be a lot of fun! He tapped his hooves, smiling at that daydream.

Beat seemed more interested in the drawings on the chalkboard. "Do we still have those?"

Their teacher smiled warmly at her. "We're safe. I don't think you'll need to learn to fight them any time soon." He drew a heart next to the imposing figure. "If you see one, offer a hoof. Hopefully they'll respond in kind. Now, onto far more scary creatures." He erased the yaks and got to drawing a new form. "Dark and terrible, the umbrum used to hunt our fear, and they were very good at getting it."

Beat clapped her hooves together with audible metal clicks. "What? A creature that feeds on fear?" She shook her head in disbelief. "Are you sure they even existed?"

Their teacher drew an imposing shape, made of dark wings and a body as if encased in shadow. "They were very real. We sealed them away, so they wouldn't haunt ponies again. Unlike the yaks, I can't recommend offering them a hoof. Monsters, they can only live by terrifying you."

Beat put a hoof to her chest. "But how would they get it from us? Just being scary?"

Their teacher stopped drawing for a moment. "Well, yes, to start." He turned to Beat and the rest of the class. "Then by hurting you. They hunted ponies, eagerly, taking pleasure in our cries of anguish. We fought them off, with many great heroes sacrificing their lives for the sake of our world." He nodded firmly at that. "Because of that, we will never see another one again. But just to be safe, we can learn about them, so we will always remember how dangerous they are."

He pointed off. "The Crystal Heart helps keep them locked away. So long as we keep it energized, they have no chance of returning to bother us."

Pulse considered those words. The Crystal Heart was a source of power and a source of energy. "How does it do that?"

The teacher put a hoof to his chin. "Good question, Pulse. The Heart is a powerful object of ancient times. It uses that magic to keep them contained." He pulled back and swept his eyes over the class. "Some ponies say the heart gives the crystal ponies special powers too. You remember the last crystal fair, do you not?"

The class became a busy exchange of memories of the last fair and the fun they all had in it.

Pulse and Beat looked confused, having not had the chance to be at one yet. "You mean the one with all the crystals and gems and singing and dancing?" Beat didn't understand why her teacher was so surprised by their lack of knowledge on the matter.

The teacher clapped his hooves together. "Only one crystal. The heart. We celebrate and remember all the reasons we have to be happy, then we share that happiness with the heart. In turn, it protects us for another year. I am told that when you hold it, you can feel all those memories like they're your own."

Beat put a hoof to her cheek as she thought about that. "So we share our memories?"

"Just a rumor." The teacher doodled on the board. "Only the princess has permission to reach up and hold the Crystal Heart. The rest of us can only imagine about it. All I know is that it's wonderful. A source of hope and light in our city."

Pulse bobbed his head. He didn't fully understand, but that was alright. His teacher wasn't trying to confuse him, he just didn't have all the answers.

When school let out for lunch, Beat quickly gained a few joyful colts. "You're back!" They circled around her. "We were worried something happened to you. Your mom didn't tell us anything."

Beat bumped against a colt as they walked along. "I'm fine. Just another adventure with my mom. We saw a bunch of new things, but we're home now." She grinned at the colts as they walked down the street. "Did you miss me that much?"

"Yes."

"Yes twice!"

A third colt thumped his chest. "Yes a million times!"

Beat giggled at their excitement and nuzzled each in turn. "You're so silly." She laughed as they broke out into a little game of chase, and she had no trouble keeping up. They didn't go too far, it was only lunch after all.

Pulse watched Beat and the colts play. He looked over to a filly sitting near him. "I don't get it. Why are they so excited?"

The filly sighed and looked up from her sandwich. "I dunno. Maybe they're just happy to see their friend again?"

Pulse perked up at that. "Oh, yeah. That's a good reason. I'd be happy if I saw a friend again." He offered a hoof to the filly. "You won't go away, will you?"

The filly giggled at that and accepted the hoof bump. "Of course not. We're friends." She considered Pulse a moment. "You don't have friends like that?"

Pulse shook his head. "I never had one get that excited to see me before."

The filly chuckled and waved a hoof off. "Well, you'll make friends in your own way, I'm sure. You have the right idea, offering a hoof. Hm." She looked at her fellow fillies. "You made some friends."

The other fillies nodded. "You're a nice colt."

"We're glad you're here too." Another filly burst into giggles. "It's nice to have a colt that doesn't want to shove us."

"Sometimes, it's hard to find somepony to play with. You always play nice." The first filly nodded. "Even if you don't play filly games."

Pulse held still a moment as he took that all in. "Oh! Is that why you pick me for games? Because I don't shove?"

"Yep." A filly nodded to herself. "The boys are too rough sometimes. We get tired of being on the other side all the time." The fillies made noises of agreement at that. She pointed at Pulse. "You always tag with barely a touch. The other colts sometimes shove and push. That's no fun at all."

Pulse turned towards Beat and her little group. "I hope they stop being so rough soon." He leaned against the filly next to him. "Friends shouldn't hurt each other."

The fillies bobbed their heads in agreement. The conversation flowed on to other topics, many of them filly related. Pulse wasn't very interested at first, until he realized something. "I'm metal."

A filly blinked at this sudden statement. "Yeah?"

Pulse pointed at himself. "You could use makeup to color me. I could change how I look without a whole new shell."

A filly clapped her hooves together. "That would be so cool! We could give you a whole new look!" She jumped up to her hooves and raced off. "Be right back!"

Another filly pointed at Pulse's hair. "I'm going to give you a lovely little braid."

Pulse began to beam at the idea of being allowed to have fun with his looks. "You mean like the ones you fillies wear?" He waved a hoof. "And ribbons?" He paused. "My hair is a metal shell. How will you get it to braid?"

The filly leaned in. "You underestimate me!" She rushed off and returned with a magnet. "Ta da!" She stuck the magnet against Pulse's metal frame and it held up the string that made a crude braid stay in place.

Pulse blinked at this. "Oh! It worked!" He could feel the magnetic attraction, but he wasn't about to let go of it. "Can I keep it?"

The filly giggled at him. "If you like it. I think it looks good." She tied it off. "Now I have to make sure your hair matches." She spent the rest of the lunch period getting Pulse's mane in order. His body was metallic and as such had no need for makeup, but she had fun trying it on anyway. The whole crowd worked together to create a living artwork out of Pulse.

By the time he returned to class, he looked like a whole new colt. His mane had been woven into three sections, tied off with simple bands of pink, purple and blue. Some pony had even done a bit of work on his tail. His coat shined with the metallic luster of silver.

Beat gaped at what had happened to her brother. "Are you okay?! You're not hurt are you?"

Pulse touched his braid with a hoof. "We got distracted with a different game." He blinked at Beat. "I look pretty!" He peered closer at Beat. "Don't you like it?"

Beat laughed nervously. "Yeah, um." She shook her head slowly. "If you like it, good." She peeked at her brother. "Who did this?"

Pulse beamed and waved towards the group of fillies nearby. "Them! They made me a new style for the day." The fillies were waving at Beat, making it clear who Pulse meant.

Beat seemed relieved that her brother wasn't taken away and painted up against his will. "They could have at least told me what they were doing. I thought somepony had hurt you!"

Pulse nodded to Beat. "They asked me first. They're not bad ponies. Your friends wouldn't do things to you without asking first, right?"

Beat blushed a bit at that. "Yeah. I mean, no." She bumped Pulse's shoulder. "That's not what I meant." She peered at the fillies. "I'm just glad you're safe."

The sibling's touched snouts in a moment of agreement. Beat giggled, breaking that moment of quiet. "You look so different though! I didn't know your coat could change color like that."

Pulse brought his tail around to take a look. "Oh. Yeah. That's glitter." He reached over and rubbed at Beat's cheek. When he brought his hoof away, some of the glitter stayed behind. "See?"

Beat squeaked at being painted. "Hey!" She rushed to a mirror propped against a wall for a proper look. "Look what you did." But her tone wasn't nearly as annoyed as she thought it should be. The glitter was actually kinda nice there. "Hm."

Pulse grinned at Beat. "It looks pretty good." He touched his own mane. "Do I look handsome?"

Beat peered back at Pulse. "A little, I guess." She returned to her seat. "You are a dork, brother."

Pulse paused at that word. "A dork?" He glanced around. "What's that?"

Beat put a hoof over her mouth, trying to stop herself from laughing. "You are!"

Pulse looked confused a moment before a slow nod came. "Then I will be the best dork ever."

Beat found her giggles hard to contain at that point. "Brother! You are so silly!" She tried to get control of herself as their teacher returned. "But that makes you better." She reached out and touched his hoof.

They smiled at one another before turning to face the front of the class. The teacher was resuming their lessons, and not paying attention to him was rude, and could get them chastised.

Their teacher eyed Pulse and said nothing about his new appearance. He merely smiled at them, then back to his notes.

After school let out, the pair walked home together, sharing some ideas about the day. "I want to show this to mom." Pulse waved back at their various new magnetic accessories. "Maybe she'll want to decorate herself too. Do you think we'll get in trouble?"

Beat laughed at that. "What? No. I don't think anyone will mind." She kept walking with Pulse. "But what about those fillies? Will they redecorate you every day?"

Pulse considered that a moment. "I wouldn't mind."

Beat blinked at that. "Why? You don't like how you look?"

"Not that." Pulse waved it away. "I like them. I like them staring, and, um." He glanced away, coloring faintly. "I like them touching."

Beat suddenly shoved him. "Ah ha! You're a colt after all! And here I was worried you were just like me." She pranced around her brother, grinning up at him. "You like it when the fillies are nice to you. A little early for that, don't you think?"

Pulse's blush was only growing worse. "You like it when the colts play with you. Stop being mean! Just because you're my sister doesn't mean you can tease me like that."

Beat leaned against Pulse with a soft smile. "Of course I can. I'm your sister." She nudged his shoulder. "Teasing is a thing we do, but I don't want you to be hurt, even by me. Um, so, sorry, if that really bothered you."

Pulse tapped Beat on the nose. "I am just glad to see you happy. When you come back from an adventure with your friends, you always smile and bounce around. It makes me happy."

Beat flashed a brilliant smile. "You're the sweetest little colt." She pounced him, hugging tight a moment. "Let's go show mom what you did to yourself so she can decide if she likes it or not."

Pulse let out a sigh as he walked along with Beat. "I love you too."

A few ponies eyed Pulse as they walked by, but nopony stopped them. They scampered side by side back into the crystal palace.

Author's Note

I swear, Beat and Pulse are a good distraction. Little metal foals, learning about the world and themselves.

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