Chapter Four : Part-2 A : Packing Up and Meeting Ethern's Friends
By : The Eternal Star

It's been a few hours since my family had landed, although the more accurate term would probably be my father and I had landed back in our home. During the flight, my mother and brother split up with us because they had to go to my brother's combat academy to file and sign forms of his withdrawal from it.

Currently, I was standing right before one of the bookshelves in the living room and moving the books from the bookshelf into a few crates behind me based on their tags using my magic. The sofas behind me were already brought outside by my father so I had no trouble walking while carrying crates full of books in front of me using my magic.

I passed the door and walked another few meters forward before I placed all of the boxes down to the area in front of me, which was already filled with dozens of other packages and crates full of books. When I say my mother was a bookworm, she really is a bookworm. The books in my mother's library sections of the lab had been emptied, so the last package of books I just put down was the last one.

I swiped the sweat forming on my forehead off with my right hoof as I was panting slightly, starting to feel tired after spending a lot of my mana casting magics to move multiple books and crates at once. I looked back at the house and sighed in exasperation as there were still many things to be packed and carried outside, I hadn't even finished with the first floor yet.

I glanced to my left and saw my father floating stack after stack of weapons and armor of different kinds he brought out from the armory room, I wondered for a moment why we had that much armor and weapons in the first place. However, that is none of my concern as I glanced back at the dozens of boxes in front of me and thought.

'How are we gonna bring all of these packages to Alavis? There are too many of them and I doubt even my parents could carry all of it with their magics, especially with the fact that their attention would have to be divided between each package, and that's not counting all the other larger items and stuff we are gonna bring with'

Deciding that it would be wise to ask my father about this rather than thinking about it on my own, I approached him and saw that he was just putting his last stacks of armor, so when I was close to him he noticed my hoof steps and turned his head toward me just in time as I asked, "Dad, how would we bring all of these packages, armors, weapons, and furniture to Alavis? Surely we aren't gonna carry it all the way there are we?"

My father stayed silent for a few seconds as he stared at my questioning face before he let out a slight laugh, shaking his head a few times, and then said, "We aren't gonna haul of these to Alavis, my filly, that would be straight out ridiculous. Instead, we would use an airship service to transport us and all of our belongings to Alavis."

After hearing my father's answer, I blinked in surprise as I didn't know and certainly didn't expect this world to have an airship. I then tilted my head to the right slightly and asked with a questioning tone, "We would use an airship to transport us and haul our belongings to Alavis?"

Hearing my question, my father answered by saying, "Well my filly, an hour ago I had called an old friend of mine who is an international air delivery and transport service manager if he could fetch us a large and strong enough airship that can transport us and carry all of our belongings to Alavis this night."

My father chuckled for a moment before he continued, "My old friend is more than happy to provide one for us and he said that he would be the one to drive the airship as it has been quite a while since we met each other, he even told me that the airship service would be free as all expenses would be paid by him."

I once again, blinked in surprise at my father's answer as I didn't know that he had a friend who was an airship service manager. Then again, I didn't know that this world has airships until today. After I recovered from my surprise, I asked my father again, "Dad, who is this old friend of yours and how did you meet him?"

This time, my father just smiled as he deflected my question by saying, "My filly, the answer to that question would be better off explained when my friend arrived. Anyway, I'm gonna go to your mother's lab now to move the bookshelves out, if you're feeling tired then get some rest, my filly, don't overwork yourself like yesterday."

And just like that, my father walked to my mother's lab and got inside it, leaving me alone outside processing what my father had told me for the past few minutes. I then got myself back into the house to continue packaging small items in the house and thought.

'Hmm, so this world has airships huh? Perhaps this world wasn't as technologically behind as I thought, would be interesting to see how far the technological advancement of this world stretched. For if I want to invent something revolutionizing, I must know just what counts as one.

Also, what does Dad mean by it would be better off to explain who his old friend is? Just who is this friend, could it be one of my father's friends while he was still in combat academy, or could it be an old companion who used to do quests with father, until he went a different path?.

Two hours had passed since I returned to the house to begin packing the small items into the crates again, during which my brother and mother had returned about half an hour ago, with the former quickly beginning to help me with packaging, while my mother set herself to begin cooking foods for lunch in the kitchen.

Currently, I found myself with my brother in my parent's room as we sorted through the last cabinet containing crystal water bottles, before placing all of the water bottles we collected inside one of the opened crates behind us that are already stacked with bottles.

"And there we go, the last cabinets in this room have been emptied and all of the crystal water bottles have been put into the crates. Now we just need to put the mattress, pillows, and other things in your foal cage into the last crate, then we are good to bring these crates outside." My brother said as he placed the last bottles into the crate before walking toward my foal cage.

I just nodded my head and followed my brother as I yawned, my body and mind were already feeling tired due to how frequently I had to use my magic to haul and move multiple objects at once for the past few hours. When my brother began removing the pillows and mattress of my foal age, I began dozing off and my eyes closed on their own.

Just as my mind was about to enter sleep, my eyes immediately opened back up when I heard my brother say, "So, this is where all of my missing writing utensils and notebooks went, slipped in the corner of your foal cage mattress or hidden under your pillows?."

I looked up at him to see him gazing down at me with narrowed eyes and bemused lips, I smiled sheepishly and let out a small chuckle before saying, "Hey, when you're a two-years-old filly who fears that her parent would reject her if they ever discovered her preferences, but was also trying to write.

You have got to find a way somehow to gather the writing utensils and papers to write on, if I can't do it conventionally then I have to do it unconventionally by sneaking into your rooms and 'borrowing' the items I needed to learn to write."

My brother continued to stare down at my face for a few seconds before he sighed and said, "Since there's no more secrecy about that, next time just tell or ask me first before you borrow my stuff. Do you know how much trouble I got when my mother saw a lot of missing notebooks or writing utensils inside my drawer?"

I watched as my brother picked up all of the writing utensils and notebooks previously hidden in my foal cage, before proceeding to open two of the crates behind us and placed the items respectively, then said, "Sure big brother, I'm sorry for the troubles I have caused over the years and I'll be sure to ask you next time before I borrow any of your stuffs."

I began moving the small mattress, pillows, and blankets in my foal cage out and proceeded to float them with my magic into one of the empty wooden crates labeled with 'Critic's Stuffs' behind me. After that, I looked across the room and saw my brother do the same as we locked gaze with one another.

Our gaze kept locked within each other eyes for a few seconds, before my brother bit his lips and shook his head a few times as if he was trying to shake off something from his mind, then looked at the crates behind us and said, "Well little sis, I guess now that all of the crates were filled, let's bring these packages outside."

I gave him a nod as an answer and lit up my horn as I conjured multiple telekinesis patterns in my mind alongside some other specific order symbols, before enveloping half of the crates in my magic crimson aura and floating it off the ground. I saw my brother did the same next to me, only his horn and the other half crates were enveloped in lime aura.

After that, we begin making our way outside and down the stairs with each of us carrying half a dozen crates in magic. I let my brother and his crates go through the door and down the stairs first, when he was done it was my turn and I did the same as him.

However, when I was walking down the stairs I was thinking about the moment before when we locked our gaze and looked at each other eyes. I wondered what is he thinking that made him bite his lips and shake his head like that, for I only saw him as my sibling and surely he saw the same for me.

As I walked outside the door of the house, I saw my brother already stacking his half a dozen crates in the designated spot for small luggage. He saw me getting closer and stepped aside to allow me to place my other half-dozen crates stacked next to his own.

After all was done, I swiped another sweat forming on my forehead with my right hoof and took a deep breath to calm my racing heart. I looked to my right and saw my brother just standing there looking at me with widened eyes, I wondered what caused him to doze off again and approached him closer before waving my right hoof in front of his face.

Seeing that my attempt to garner his attention was proven futile, I gently knocked his forehead with my right hoof as I asked, "Hello? Is my big brother Ethern there inside that head? Or is he somehow still missing?"

This time, my method was effective as my brother immediately blinked as he was broken out of his trance. He then closed his eyes and shook his head several times while I was putting my right hoof down, at the same time he was also quietly mumbling, "No, no, no, no, not like that."

After a few seconds he finally stopped shaking his head but still closed his eyes, seeing this I decided that it would be the time for me to ask what made him doze off twice already, "Hey big brother, what caused you to doze off twice today already? Are you tired, sick, or is there something in your mind?"

Hearing my question, my brother opened his eyes and hastily replied, "I'm not tired nor am I sick, little sis. And there's nothing that you should be concerned with. Trust me, it's all just in my mind and soon it will be gone, I'll be alright."

My brother then put up a smile to show that he was 'alright', however, I'm not convinced that he was alright. But when I was about to press him on this, I was cut off by our mother shouting from the kitchen, "Arcane! Ethern! Come into the dining room, lunch is ready! Critic, come here it's time for me to feed you!"

Upon hearing Mother shouting that lunch is ready, both of our bellies grumbled and I commented, "Right, you and Father didn't eat breakfast this morning and I'm sure I haven't been breastfed by Mother either. Breastfeed.... mare, I missed eating solid food.

It's rare for me to feel envy at what somepony else has achieved or got, but right now I envy you, brother, for you can eat mother's delicious foods every day while I'm stuck with drinking her milk for probably the next one or two cycles."

My brother and I then slowly made our way into the house and toward the dining room, during which my brother replied to my comment by saying, "Little sis, father, mother, and I may not have eaten breakfast, but we certainly have a direct nutritious milk source right with us from the beginning.

Why are you looking at me like that? All of the milk you see father, mother, and I drink every day comes from mother herself, it is very delicious and nutritious milk so if anything I should be the one to envy you, you are allowed to drink as much as you want at any time you want.

While mother only allowed dad and I two small jars worth of milk every day for each of us, before you are born we usually would have triple than that you know."

I had already stopped my walking to stare at his face in bewilderment as soon as I heard that my father and my brother had been drinking my mother's milk every day, while my mother herself drank her milk. My brain was short-circuited as it processed the new information for a few seconds until I debated it in my mind.

'Why would these Alicorns not consider those a taboo... now that I think about it, in a way it kind of makes sense doesn't it? I mean, they drink milk coming from the female of their species, which makes sense considering it's milk that by default is meant to be drunk by another Alicorn after all.

This also raises some questions now, why did humans consider it a taboo act to drink the milk of their female species unless you are a baby or have special needs? I mean, it's milk produced by human females that are designed to be drunk by another human, they consider that taboo yet drinking milk from other species was not?'

My brother must have seen me deep in my thought with my expression still in bewilderment as he too stopped his walking and asked in confusion, "Why are you deep in your thoughts as if you were debating something? Surely you remember from your previous life this common fact?"

Hearing my brother asking me in confusion, I slowly turned my head to face him with my eyes still widened and said, "I don't remember or even know that you all have been drinking milk coming from Mother herself."

Upon hearing my answer, my brother face hoofed and then said in a surprised tone, "Damn, Death must have been deleting most of your memories if you don't even remember. I guess that would explain about the quite amount of knowledge gap I had s-"

My brother's words were cut off as we heard Mother shouting from the kitchen again and this time with slight anger in her voice, "Ethern! Critic! Stop whatever you two are doing right now and quickly get in here! Especially you, Critic! You're injured and your body would need nutrients if you want the wounds to be healed properly!"

Since none of us wanted to test Mother's patience further, we quickly galloped our way past the door and toward the dining room. As soon as we entered it, our sight were greeted with three crystal plates with on top of them was a whole big grilled fish, its bodies were polished with ketchup and tomato sauce in a vertical zebra pattern on top of the dining table.

The grilled fish is surrounded by vegetables you would expect from a salad, beside it on a separate plate is an intact white rice in the shape of a small size reversed bowl with silver spoons and knives on each side. On the left side, there's a huge glass full of milk that now I know where the source comes from.

All in all, it would have been a very appetizing meal were it not for the fact that right next to the table, our mother stood with an unamused expression as she looked at each of us and said, "What's taking both of you so long? My filly Critic, You know that it is already past your feeding time, and you're injured.

Now what are you waiting for, Ethern? Go eat your lunch with your father, I have to feed your little sister first as even though she acts like she is around your age and maybe more, she's still an Alicorn foal and thus requires breastfeeding from me."

I watched as my mother made her way toward me while my brother walked to one of the chairs and sat himself on top of it, before proceeding to eat his meal. As soon as I was in her range of reach, my mother brought her head closer to me before gently biting my neck and proceeded to carry me upstairs like a mother cat would to her kitten.

After she had walked up the stairs, she headed toward my brother's room and opened the door. She entered the room and went straight to the violet bed that was supposed to be mine when I had grown up, she quickly got herself to lay down on the bed with her side, all the while still gently biting my neck.

She then put me down on top of the bed and released her bite, as she brought her right wing toward me I asked, "Mom, did you really have to breastfeed me now? Couldn't you just like, pump the milk into a glass or cup then give it to me so I could drink it?"

Upon hearing my question, my mother just shook her head as she let out a giggle and wrapped her wings around my body before saying, "No way my filly, my maternal feeling and instinct wouldn't allow me that unless I had no choice. Also, I liked the feeling of satisfaction I felt after I had fed you and I know that you would feel the same.

Alongside that, it is scientifically proven that a foal that is provided milk by direct and deep interaction between the mother and the foal a.k.a breastfeeding, would have a stronger bond with its mother and I intend to strengthen the bond I have with my filly and vice versa in any way I could."

As my mother started to bring me closer to her teats, I just sighed in both annoyance and a strange yet understandable sense of acceptance, soon enough I was face to face with her teats and I quickly latched myself on both of the nipples at once and sucked the milk out of it.

My mother let out a slight gasp and a muffled moan as she tried her best not to scream out, no doubt she wasn't expecting me to latch and sucked both of her nipples at once. A few seconds later the sweet sour milk I loved poured out of my mother's teats and went straight to my hungry belly.

For the next few minutes, my mother closed her eyes and occasionally a passionate moan or gasp would escape her lips as I sucked on her nipples and draw the milk out of it. Soon enough the milk stopped pouring out and my belly was full, I let go of my latch and my mother brought me up to her face before saying.

"There you go again, my filly, all nice and full. I must admit though, this is the first time you went for both of my teats instead of just one, I guess that muzzle of yours is getting big enough to fit both of them, doesn't it? Now, I need to clean your wounds and change the bandage on it."

She then got herself to a sitting position while still holding me in my wings as I answered, "Well, as much as I don't like to admit it, there's indeed some sense/feeling of safety, comfort, and assurance when you breastfeed me... alongside your milk is to my liking, mom. So when there are two sources, why not take both of them at once if I could?"

She then turned my body around so she could see my wounded wings, before gently bringing me down to her lap, I heard her horn light up and I saw the same saddlebag that my mother wore when we were in the hospital, encased in blue magic as it was floated from on top of my brother study desk.

The saddlebag was then brought toward the bed before it settled down right next to us, my mother then opened it with her magic before floating out the same glowing bottle I was given in the hospital toward me and said, "Now my filly, I need you to drink this potion before I start cleaning and changing the bandage on your wounds."

My mother doesn't need to say anything else as I grabbed the potion from her magic with my hoof and opened it up with a pop, before proceeding to quickly gulp down the sour liquid along my tongue and straight to my throat. I let out a squee at the sour taste of the liquid touching my tongue and my mother watched with a chuckle before saying in a stern tone.

"You liked the sour taste of the potion, don't you? I do hope that you won't try to injure yourself after your current wounds have healed so that you are allowed to drink the sour potion again, for if you did then Empress Kinersia herself can't save you from my wrath."

Hearing my mother's warning, my gulping of the sour liquid slowed down as I wondered if my mother had just somehow read my mind. After the potion was empty, I brought the bottle to my mother who quickly grabbed it in her magic and placed it back into the saddlebag, I then responded to my mother's warning.

"Don't worry Mom, while the sour taste of the potion fantastically satisfied my unique appetizer, I knew better than to try to injure myself so I was allowed to drink the potion. Also, I didn't think I could bring myself to intentionally hurt or injure myself as my mind would have none of it."

I watched as my mother floated out of the saddlebag a roll of bandage, a one-liter bottle of saline solution, a syringe, a few gauze, and a pack of antibiotics. I then felt her magic on my right wing as she slowly unwrapped the bandage on the wounds on it before saying.

"Good, because I will not allow you to ever harm yourself unless it is necessary and there are no other choices. Now be quiet and keep your wings still my filly, mommy has to focus herself on cleaning your wounds and changing the bandages on them first, tell me if it hurts too much."

I gave her a nod and tried my best to keep my wings still, I saw beside me that the saline solution bottle was opened before the needle of the syringe was plunged inside, after that the saline solution inside the bottle was draped into the syringe for a few seconds until it was full.

By the time the syringe was pulled out and the bottle was closed again, my mother had fully unwrapped the bandage, and the wounds were now being exposed. My mother quickly brings the syringe closer to my wound before pressing the syringe as it releases a stream of saline solution directly onto my wounds.

My mother repeated this a few times until all the wounds on my right wing were sprayed and the syringe was empty, she then proceeded to grab one of the gauze with her magic and began cleaning the infections and dirty blood off my wounds, I let out a slight hiss as the process caused pain to erupt in my wing.

After a few minutes and several pieces of gauze were spent, my mother finally cleaned the last wound. She then pressed a sterile gauze on one of my wounds and held it there as she began wrapping the bandage upon it and across my wings, after that was done she did the same thing several times until all of the wounds had been bandaged and she said.

"There we go, the wounds on your right-wing have been cleaned and bandaged. Now I just need to do the same on your left wings, so how are you holding up, my filly? Are you okay for me to continue or do you need a few minutes until the pain subsides?"

I swiped a sweat forming on my forehead and cheeks, before motioning for her to continue with my right hoof as I said in a slightly ragged breath, "I'm holding up the pain fine, Mom. I'm not gonna cry over a little pain as I'm no ordinary foal, so please continue."

Hearing my answer, my mother let out a chuckle as she shook her head and said, "Okay then." Before began unwrapping the bandages on my left wing and opened the saline solution bottle again so she could plunge the syringe in and draw the saline solution into it.

After that, she finished unwrapping the bandages on my left wing just a minute after she pulled out the syringe and closed the saline solution bottle. She proceeded to spray the saline solution over my wounds with the syringe like before, after which she grabbed several sterile gauze and began cleaning the wounds.

Another few minutes and several gauze were spent again, she cleaned the last wound and pressed a sterile gauze on one of the wounds before wrapping a bandage on it and across my wings. After repeating the process several more times, my mother finished wrapping the bandage on my wounds as she let out a content sigh before saying.

"And with the wounds on your left wings cleaned and bandaged, we are done with healing your injuries for now. I must say my filly, you are indeed no ordinary foal when it comes to handling pain as you don't even let out a single tear or scream, well done."

After my mother finished caring for my injured left wings, I was left with a slightly shaking body, ragged breath, and widened eyes as my mind recalled the pain I was feeling before again and again. Before I responded to my mother's praise by saying with a slightly stuttering voice.

"O-of course, m-mom. I-I can shrug off little p-pain like this e-easily, though I guess f-from now I-I would defer myself from injuring accidentally my w-wings again i-in the future. For while I-I could handle the p-pain, doesn't m-mean I want to f-feel it a-again."

My mother let out a giggle upon hearing my stuttering voice and saw my tensed, flared wings. She then used both of her forehooves to gently fold my wings to my side as she said in a hearty voice, "Well, that's what you get for daring to do a sonic boom and getting yourself injured as a result, my filly.

But anyway, now that I have fed you and tended to your injuries, I will go downstairs to the dining table and eat my lunch. If you're feeling tired then feel free to rest up on the bed for the time being, I don't want to see or hear you went unconscious again, my filly."

I gave her a nod as she brought me off her lap and onto the bed next to her, she then got out of bed and picked up the saddlebag with her magic, before placing it on top of my brother's study desk as she walked out of the room and headed downstairs.

After my mother walked out of the room, I lay down on the bed on my back, careful not to accidentally sleep on my wings. I then grabbed a violet pillow above me before I placed it right below my head, for the next few minutes I just lay there and stared at the ceilings.

The feeling of both pain from before and exhaustion after packing items and hauling so many crates with my magic finally settled in, now my wings felt like they were being cut into multiple pieces while my horn strangely felt numb, but there was a faint crimson smoke originating from the tip and immediate surge of pain whenever I touched it.

Both of these feelings coming from my body combined, tell my brain that it is a no-go to move or do anything else. My eyes began to feel heavy as I began slipping in and out of sleep, I tried to keep myself awake but after I let out a yawn, I decided that I deserved rest and closed my eyes.

'Well, I had done my part in helping pack out the house and I rather not test what would happen if Mother found me unconscious just a day after my last one.' This was my last thought as my body began to relax and my mind drifted off to sleep.

A few hours later, my eyes opened as I was awoken to the sound of loud knocks coming from down the stairs followed by a distinct shouting, "Hello Ethern, are you inside the house? It's us Tenebri, Noxerus, and Stella, we want to know why you decided to withdraw from the Combat Academy. Are your family and you moving out of the house? Then to where?"

Several seconds later, I was surprised to see my brother shouting from beside my bed as I didn't realize that he had been inside the room with me, "Wait over there, Noxerus! I'll go meet you outside now!". He then sprinted his way out of the room and down the stairs.

I got to a sitting position and glanced at my surroundings, I noticed that the room was empty with my violet bed and pillow I was sleeping on were the only things inside the room. I wondered for a moment why my brother would be in the same room as me when there was nothing else to pack up in there.

Before I face hoofed as I recalled that I was his little sister who suffered quite an injury after a dangerous flight that could cost her life, from his perspective he must checked up on me very often during my sleep to see if I developed any nightmares or traumas related to it and would try his best to comfort me whenever it occurred.

'That's certainly thoughtful of him, much better than my previous life siblings ever were as they are just a bunch of brats, I'm sure by now they are still smooching off their parents as they refused to work a job that 'didn't fit their liking' or 'the work condition is unfit for them'

I bet by now they tried several times to gain any percentage or leverage over my investments, savings, and wealth were it not for the fact that I had set it up with my lawyers to be given to childcare organizations in case I passed away and still have no wife or kids, I still give my parent just a tiny bit of my wealth though.'

I thought in my mind as my face developed a scowl as I recall my previous life siblings, they were very unpleasant to say the least, always trying to mooch off what I had gained even when I threatened them with violence. I quickly shook off my head to banish that thought, let it be that something in the past stays in the past.

Now, my thoughts wonder who's my brother friend was. There's must have been at least one colt judging by the previous shout, considering that now I no longer exhausted. I decided that I should indulge my curiosity as I got out of bed and began making my way out of my brother's room toward the stairs.

After I had left the room and was making my way down the stairs, I heard conversations brewing from down below just outside the door of the house, and by the sound of it, my brother currently was speaking to his friend and this was what I heard.

"...-I'm sorry my friends, I really don't want to leave you all but the unique circumstances of my little sister, Critic, forced my family and I to leave this city and move somewhere else far away from here."

I then heard a filly voice respond to my brother's apology as she asked, "Just what unique circumstances does your little sister have that would require you and your family to move elsewhere? This is the capital city of the Forcinetic Empire, Vistentia, surely if she had any illness, injuries, or whatever problems your little sis has could get healed and solved?"

Judging by the quiet response from my brother for the next few seconds, I'm guessing he was biting his lips as he considered whether or not he should spill the real reasons, "I'm sorry again, my friends, but I can't disclose these unique circumstances my little sister have, for it is critical for her well-being."

Another male voice asked my brother and this time came from a different colt, "Could you tell us at least where your family is moving into? And when would you ever come back here, if you ever will?"

This time, my brother just sighed in sadness as he said, "I regret to say this my friends, but my parent told me that I can't disclose where will we ever be moving so that in the case that my little sister's unique circumstances were to be discovered early, it would give us some extra time to devise a new plan.

As if whether or not my family and I would ever come back... that remains to be seen, but odds are, we would likely never meet again until at a much, much, much later date. But I promise to you all, I will never forget the friendship we had forged and experience we had experienced during it, so once again, I'm sorry,"

It was after my brother said this that the group went silent and I finally finished my way down the stairs, I looked up to see my brother standing in between the doors with standing in front of him with sorrowful expression, were his friends.

The one in front left of my brother is a lime Alicorn colt with a bright red-brown striped mane and tail, his eyes are pleading at my brother yet the colt says none, his mane is curt and short similar to my brother's and now I noticed that all of my brother's friends had the same cut short manes, which mean it must be a regulation from the combat academy.

The pony standing just under a meter away directly in front of my brother was a deep purple Alicorn colt with a magenta and cyan mane and tail. He stood slightly taller than my brother and if I were to compare it, my brother's height would only reach the purple colt's lower forehead.

Just like the previous colt, he too had a cut-short mane although he is slightly zagged in appearance. He was looking down at my brother with an angry expression yet I could see that he was also harboring feelings of sorrow in his eyes, which were slowly letting out tears,

The one on my brother's right is a dark blue Alicorn filly with aquamarine and forest green mane and tail. She stood slightly shorter than my brother with her height reaching to my brother's middle forehead, her mane is similarly cut short but if one were to see with keen eyes, her mane is slightly longer and was shaped like waves you would see on the beach shore.

She was looking directly at my brother's face with narrowed, scrutinizing eyes filled with question and accusation. Yet her ears were curved down alongside her lips in a frown as no words were being said, making it clear that she didn't know what to say regarding her thoughts.

As I continued observing the groups from the stairs though, the dark blue filly's eyes suddenly went past my brother's form as she looked at me with widening eyes and asked, "Who is that light violet little filly with bandaged wings behind you, Ethern?"

Hearing the dark blue filly's question, everypony's eyes suddenly went on to me as my brother turned around to see me and asked me with quickly widening eyes, "Critic, little sis, I don't know that you had awakened from your sleep and why did you come down the stairs?"

After hearing my brother's words, the lime Alicorn colt beside him then asked with an incredulous tone, "Wait wait wait, the little filly over there with bandaged wings is your little sis, Critic? I recall you telling us last week that she just turned four years old, how is she able to walk? Let alone making her way down the stairs without stumbling or falling."

The dark blue filly then quickly rushed to my brother said as she said, "Forget about all of that, this little filly is the cutest one I have ever seen, I want to hug her so bad." Before she proceeded to quickly walk up to me and before I could react, she brought me up to the chest, turned me around, and hugged me to her chest.

She began nuzzling my head and cheeks gently with her muzzle several times while whispering sweet words to my ear, she took notice of the bandage on both of my wings as she said in a sorrowful yet comforting tone, "Oh, little filly, what happened to your wings? Don't worry, big sis Stella will ensure that this won't happen to you anymore."

While she continued saying sweet and nice words to me, my right eye was twitching in annoyance as I realized that the filly who was hugging me was most likely a Force or Telekinetic Alicorn, for her physical affection was at a similar level to my mother when she is feeling happy.

Even worse, while I had grown accustomed to my mother's very physical and sometimes shameless display of affection toward my father, brother, and me. I certainly didn't want a stranger who I only knew the name of just seconds ago, hugging me and saying sweet honey words to me on the same level as my mother.

Because of this, I had concluded that I should give her a small but meaningful lesson that taught her that sometimes a cute, innocent-looking filly, or anything similar, is a disguise for something that could strike you hard if you ever decided to mess with it as I thought.

'Damn it filly, you are just as worst as my mother was when it comes to physical affection. But at least my mother was reasoned to be out of love and care toward all of her family, while you're a stranger who just decided to hug somepony else filly without their consent, let's just hope you liked being electrocuted a bit.'

I conjured the appropriate spell pattern for the type one electric surge spell- which was categorized as level one Lightning/Blitz magic -alongside some specific pattern symbols so that the spell would be directed to flow from my horn down to the rest of my body.

As my horn began to light up in crimson magic, the dark blue filly- who now I know name to be Stella -saw my horn lighten up in magic as she said in an excited, "Ooo, is she about to accidentally cast her very first spell now? I can't believe that I wo-."

I cut her off as my magic had built up enough in my horn and I cast the spell, resulting in a high burst of electric velocity to be summoned on my horn as it traveled quickly in all directions down my body. The electric burst then met with Stella's wings and a spark sound was heard, quickly followed by her flinching and dropping me to the ground as she yelled in pain.

"AHHH! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Please somepony splash me with water and stop my feathers from burning!". I turned around and giggled upon seeing Stella's feathers lit up in a small fire as smoke could be smelled in the air, the lime colt quickly came to her aid and lit up his horn in red magic.

A water ball the size of the filly in question then appeared above her before it splashed right on top of her head, the water hit her burning feathers and quickly extinguished the fire with a steaming sound. With the fire now gone, there's now a dark blue filly drenched wet with slightly burned feathers.

When she looked down at me with a surprised and questioning gaze, I narrowed my eyes at her and my expression turned not amused as she asked, "Did she just unintentionally shock me with an electric surge spell? Damn, Ethy, you have one heck of a little sis, she most likely would be a Lightning/Blitz Alicorn if I were to guess.

Also, what's up with her narrowing her eyes at me with not amused expression? Pretty sure all foals I have met and interacted with liked it when I hugged and said sweet words to them, and why do I feel dread rising inside me when I looked at those orange eyes?"

As I continued staring at her with narrowed eyes, my brother and his other two friends came to Stella's side, the former sheepishly smiled and laughed upon seeing the look his friend got from me, then said nervously, "Well, my friend Stella, my little sister Critic here is definitely unlike most or even every foal you have met and interacted with.

Those narrowing eyes and not amused expressions she gave you meant she didn't like you or what you had done before, she doesn't like it one bit when others she barely knew just hugged or even just touched her without any close bond or reasonable reasons.

One last note, her name is Critic because when she was looking at you like that, it would feel like she was criticizing you for the mistake you have made. Depending on the severity of the mistake, her gaze may be more intense or soft. Judging by the intensity of the gaze, she doesn't like you from the start, and your action before just made it worse."

Before Ethern's friends could react or respond to what he said, I stand up and cut all of them as I spoke with annoyance, "Damn right brother, what he said is very true and I certainly didn't like you now, filly. You are almost as bad as my mother was when it comes to physical affection, but at least my mother has a perfectly reasonable reason."

My ability to speak swiftly and coherently as expected, was met with every one of my brother's friends attention quickly darted toward me as their eyes widened to their full in complete shock with Stella letting out a surprised gasp while the lime colt shouted, "What the! How?!"

After that, silence filled the rooms for the next few minutes before I asked, "What?"

This caused all of my brother's friends to snap out of their trance and shock before Stella let a squee as she brought me to her face with her wings and said in an excited tone, "EEEE! You could talk! You could talk! You are not only cute but your voice is also adorable!"

She then proceeded to hug me to her chest again, and this time she did so while making squealing sounds, my eyes narrowed and twitched even more at this and I conjured the electric surge spell pattern again in my mind alongside building up magic in my horn.

After my magic had built up, I released the electric surge spell as it flowed down my body. Instead of electrocuting her though, as soon as the electric flow hit her body, her body somehow nullified it as I heard a tink sound followed by her giggling as she said.

"You're trying to electrocute me again, aren't you? Well, the same trick won't work on me twice you little cutie of a filly, I had cast an electric nullifier spell on myself, so you can't zap me again with that electric magic of yours."

'Alright that's it, if I didn't dislike you before I definitely did now. Do you think I'm a one-trick filly? I'll show that the one year I had spent learning magic in this world gave me a lot of spells and ways to make you regret being so physically affectionate toward me' I thought in my mind as I conjured up a different spell that would incapacitate her.

It has been quite an interesting spell to learn, it's a level two Water/Ice magic and overall the one I had quite a fun time learning, the spell is a type one frozen shockwave and as the name implies, it would freeze anything I aimed this spell for, though the freezing only last for about ten minutes since it's a type one.

Stella noticed my horn lighten up in crimson magic as I built up magic, she chuckled and said in a challenging tone, "Are you trying to cast another electric surge spell at me? Go ahead, it would do nothing to me."

'Oh it's not an electric surge filly, for I intend to encase your body fully in ice' I thought in my mind as I granted her wish and released the spell toward her, it took less than a split of second for the spell beam to hit her right on the chest and soon enough, ice quickly started to encase her body from where the spell had hit as her expression turned into one of shock.

She wasn't able to react fast enough to cast a counterspell and her body was now fully encased in ice in just five seconds since she was hit, she wasn't able to move or speak with her eyes being the only thing that could dart left and right, or particularly at her wing which now is frozen solid while still hugging my form.

I used this opportunity to wiggle myself out of her wing grip and I succeeded as after a minute, I fell to the ground with a thud and soon crawled my way out from being under her. After that, I stood up and checked on my wings to see that it was a bit soaked, but the water-resistance bandage had done its job to prevent water from soaking the bandage and entering the wounds.

I then looked up to see Stella's eyes looking at me with a pleading look, no doubt she was hoping I could and would reverse the spell on her. I just shook my head at her and glanced at my brother and his friends, with the former only had a slightly surprised look while the latter had massive widened eyes staring at me as their jaw dropped to its fullest.

After a few minutes of silence, I decided to cut off their trance and asked, "Brother, why do two of your friends here staring at me as if they have never seen a filly cast a spell?" This finally broke my brother's friends out of their trances as the lime colt quickly asked in a shocked tone.

"How are you able to do all of that? How are you able to cast spells with such ease and how did you even learn how to cast spells at all? How did you even be able to talk, understand your surroundings, what you and we are saying, and then respond to it appropriately? How did you-"

As the lime colt began to ask me more and more questions, each one with a more shocked tone than the last one. I decided that I had had enough of him questioning me as I used my magic to clamp his muzzle shut, preventing him from saying any more questions as I asked with annoyance.

"Is this how colts these days interact with fillies? By questioning and practically interrogating them with a bunch of questions that progressively get more personal? Try to at least have some manners and introduce yourself before asking me any questions would you?"

The lime colt tried to move his lips in an attempt to speak, but the only thing that could be heard was mere grunts and vocal sounds, at least for a few seconds until the deep purple colt slapped his friend on the muzzle with his right hoof as he said, "The little filly is right Noxerus, why did you interrogate her instead of politely asking questions? You have no manners."

He then glanced at me and moved forward slightly with his expression turned into one of remorse as he said in an apologetic tone, "Please excuse my friends here, Noxerus and Stella, the little sister of Ethern, Critic. Noxerus is rather blunt when it comes to asking questions and sometimes he got carried away a bit.

While Stella very often expresses friendly physical affection to those she has met, she has problems when it comes to understanding boundaries, personal space, and relation limits of others around her. So please, forgive my friends for the mistakes they made."

I turned my gaze to look at the deep purple colt, whose name must have been Tenebri since I heard him calling the lime colt Noxerus while the dark blue filly still frozen in ice is Stella, I then said, "Well, at least one of you has some manners. Now, would you introduce yourself and your friends here to me alongside why did you come to visit us in our home?"

Tenebri expression turned into one of seriousness and serenity as he said steadily, "My name is Tenebri and the lime colt you had before clamp the muzzle is my friend, Noxerus, while the dark blue filly that you had froze a few minutes ago, is another one of my friend named Stella.

We come in here to ask your big brother Ethern here regarding the reason why he and his mother decided to withdraw him from the combat academy he was in, when we got in here, we saw a lot of furniture and crates outside the house. We wondered if your family is moving out of the house to go elsewhere and we want to know why and to where."

Hearing his explanation, I turned to look at my brother who now I noticed just staring at me with unblinking eyes as he had no doubt, dozed off again. I just sighed and decided to ignore this as I instead asked my brother, "Brother, I trust that you had only informed all of your friends here about the reason we moved out of the house and my unique circumstances that are allowed by Mother?"

After a few seconds of silence from my brother, he finally broke off his daydream with a blink as his mind processed the question I asked before to which he responded, "Huh? Oh, yeah right. I only told them what our mother allowed me to speak to others who weren't cleared by either her or our father.

Although I suppose that keeping any secrecy would be useless now as my friends by now had understood what I said about your unique circumstances, thankfully I still managed to not spill as to where we will be moving into."

I nodded in approval at my brother's response as I saw in the corner of my eyes at the kitchen walls, my mother standing there holding three syringes filled with green liquid in her magic, she then noticed me eyeing her and motioned for me to continue to the next part of the plan.

In response to my mother's motion to continue, I glanced back at Tenebri who was still looking at me with a serene expression, as if he was waiting for me to say something, and said I did, "Well, as you and your friends can see, I'm no ordinary filly as I had been proven to be much more intelligent and have higher magical affinity than those of my age and much, much above.

This would naturally mean if somepony were to know my unique circumstances and spread it to others, I would become the center of attention. It would not have been a problem were it not for the fact that it would draw the attention of the Imperial Ministries."

I then moved my gaze to my brother before I continued, "I can't allow that to happen and I'm sure my family wouldn't want for that to happen too as it would lead to them discovering my unique circumstances, of which they would react by trying to 'encourage' my family and me to be enrolled into the Imperial Academies."

I can sense that questions started to appear in my brother's friend's mind, they have no doubt wondered why I would try my best to avoid the chance of receiving the highest and finest level of education and training the empire could provide. My guess was proven correct as Noxerus finally asked something after he had been slapped in the muzzle by Tenebri.

"I'm sorry for my previous behavior, Critic. Now, why would your family and you try to evade the chance of a lifetime? I mean, it's the Imperial Academy where the head school is Empress Kinersia herself, it is known to produce some of the brightest minds in the world that revolutionize one or more aspects of Alicornkind in a good way.

Also, could you please free my friend Stella here from being encased in ice? I know that she made a mistake before but at least let her apologize on her own for it."

Hearing his question and request, I nodded my head as I lit up my horn in crimson magic and began removing the ice that encased Stella, since it's ice that is produced from my magical energy, it didn't take me long to free her since it just requires me to reverse the spell and absorb the magic used.

As soon as she was freed, she quickly glanced down at me with tears in her eyes and said in an apologetic tone, "I-I'm sorry, Critic. I-I realize that what I did before is a mistake so would you please forgive me for it? I would try to even earn it if you didn't want to."

This time, I was the one to be surprised since I have read that Force or Telekinetic Alicorns are quick to ask forgiveness of those they had wronged unintentionally or not, but I certainly didn't expect them to be feeling guilty with tears and all, I then said in a slightly stunned tone.

"Your plea for forgiveness is granted as I had no reason to withhold you from it, Stella. As long as you refrain from trying to get that close and affectionate toward me, if we had been friends for years or cycles then it wouldn't be a problem, but the fact stands that we are just strangers who know each other name."

Hearing that her plea was granted, her demeanor quickly changed back to before with a smile on her face as she said in a joyful tone, "Thank you! Thank you! I promise that I won't repeat that again and about the last part, would you like to be my friend?"

I was once again, surprised at just how fast this particular type of Alicorn can change their demeanor from guilt and tears to cheery and joyful just by hearing that their mistake was forgiven by those they had wronged, I just shook my head in disbelief before saying.

"Considering what would happen in the next few minutes? Yeah, sure I would like to be your friend but know that what was stated before is still in effect and don't get all jumpy and affectionate to me all of a sudden."

In response, she just gave me a happy nod and said, "Absolutely."

While Noxerus raised one of his eyebrows hearing my statement before he asked, "What do you mean by 'considering what would happen next'? What will happen in here in the next few minutes if you don't mind me asking?"

I glanced up at Mother still hidden behind the kitchen walls and signaled her with a blink of my left eye, before I moved my gaze to his face and said, "Well how about all three of you come here closer as I don't want my parents to overheard our conversations, especially concerning what I'm about to say next."

This request made them have questioning looks plastered on their face, but they didn't question and moved closer to me just like what I had asked. After a few seconds, they stood right before me and Tenebri asked, "Now what are you about to say next that don't want your parents to overhead it?"

My eyes moved to my mother who now began moving stealthily and progressively closer to behind them with three syringes ready in her magic, I then moved my gaze and stared directly at Tenebri's eyes before I asked, "You all remember when I said that I don't want the Imperial Ministries to discover my unique circumstances right?"

To my question, they responded with nods and I continued, "Well, my family and I wanted to ensure that the Imperial Ministries didn't find out about my unique circumstances alongside ensuring that there are no loose ends when it comes to it.

One such loose end is this information was heard or discovered by ponies we don't trust to be able to keep it a secret, hence why I'm sorry about what is to happen next, but this must be done to ensure secrecy."

Right after I said that my mother stood before my brother's unknowing friends and she quickly injected the syringe into each of their necks, she quickly pressed down the syringe while they let out a startled shout and tried to move away. But it was too late since the green liquid had entered their bloodstream and the effect was immediate.

My mother pulled out the syringe as we watched my brother's friends collapse to the ground unconscious, we waited a few more seconds to ensure that they remained unconscious until my mother spoke up, "Well, that's one less loose end for us to worry about, everything goes as we planned, good job my colt and filly."

You may be confused as to why we did all of this, the answer to that would be when my mother and brother had just returned several hours ago. They quickly discussed with my father and me the possibility that a few of Ethern's friends would visit our house to either say goodbye or ask him why he withdraw from the Combat Academy several hours later.

The result of the discussion was that all of us collectively agreed that we couldn't risk any loose ends, if any of my brother's friends were to know the reason we are withdrawing my brother from the Combat Academy due to moving elsewhere is already enough of a secrecy threat, combined with some of my brother's friends in the academy were foals of several Alicorns who worked at Imperial Ministries.

Hence why we came up with a plan that if some of my brother's friends indeed visited our house, my brother and I would be the ones to distract them while mother would be the ones to administer them syringes filled with amnestic, anesthesia, and sleeping agents, while father would be the one to carry them to somewhere else that would make sense for Alicorn of their age to be asleep and not in their homes.

My father then appeared right next to my brother as he dispelled his invisibility spell and said in a proudful voice, "That's indeed very good of you Ethern and Critic, both of you managed to stall them long enough for your mother to prepare and administer them with the syringe while I get to position for extraction, I'll handle things from here."

After he said that, my father lit up his horn in red magic as it enveloped all three of my brother's friends before he and them disappeared in a red burst of light, I then looked up at my brother and said, "Well, I'm thankful that you agreed to this brother since you know, they are your friends you had befriended for years."

My brother then walked up to me before putting his right wing on my shoulder as he said, "Hey when it comes to important matters like this my family always comes first and meh, it's not like they are gonna remember anything that had transpired so in their eyes, my family and I moved out of the house faster before they can give us a visit."

I smiled at him and my mother walked up to me before bringing her left wing down onto my back before she said, "Now that the problem has been solved, Ethern, I want you to go have a shower since after all of the hauling of crates and items we did before has made you stink a bit.

As for you my filly, I need to clean your body and wounds alongside changing the bandage again, I don't trust that you would be able to clean yourself without getting your wounds soaked."

And just like that, my mother carried me up onto her head with her wings before she and my brother walked up the stairs and headed toward our respective shower. The house items and furniture have been packed and moved out, a loose ends have been prevented, now we just need to wait for the father to return and the airship to arrive.

Author's Note

Something has started to take effect...

Anyway, holy shit I didn't realize that I had been writing a chapter ten thousand words long in just under one week since the previous chapter, this is gonna be quite a hard chapter to edit.

In the next chapter, we will explore who MC's father's friend is alongside how this family of four settled into their home in a new town. See you all next Sunday