Moonglade stepped out of the shower, toweling herself down and removing all the sweat and grime that she had accumulated over the course of that afternoon’s sword lesson. Ms. Lionstrike had taught her a new disarming move, and they had spent most of the lesson practicing it. She had copied the move easily enough, demonstrating it to her tutor’s approval. Moonglade wished she could learn calculus like that, but it just wasn’t coming to her very easily.

“Dumb calculus…” the young changeling mumbled and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror as she dried her blonde curly hair. “Aunt Ivory’s right. Why does anyone even need to learn this?”

“I don’t know,” Mishter Schniffs replied from her bed, his voice traveling into the bathroom, sounding like he was actually in here. “Seems rather pointless to me.”

“Right?” Moonglade continued to complain all about it, continuing on even after she was done drying her hair. “Maybe I’ll go for algebra or something, the next school year. Algebra sounds easy enough.”

“Probably still not very useful,” Mishter Schniffs huffed. “When would you even need to apply this knowledge? You’ll just forget it over the summer break anyway.”

“Oh, you’re right about that.” Moonglade wrapped the towel around herself and stepped out of her bathroom, releasing a cloud of hot air into her room. “The only good thing calculus has done for me is let me spend more time with Home Run. Speaking of which, I think I’ll message him.”

The young girl sat down on the edge of her bed after grabbing her two phones from her table. She was about to ask Home Run what he was up to today, but then she saw she had a few missed calls from Sunny Flare on her Silver Rose phone.

“Oh, I wonder what she wants.” Putting it to her ear, Moonglade cleared her throat and waited for her to pick up on the other end. “Maybe she wants to meet up and screw or something. I doubt Aunt Ivory would let me though.”

Five and a half rings later, someone picked up.

“Hello?” Sunny’s voice said.

“Hey, Sunny,” Moonglade said in her Silver Rose voice. “What’s up? You need something?”

“Yeah, umm… The others are… coming over tomorrow for a study session. I w-was wondering if, umm, if you would like to come… over too?”

“Oh, is this an invitation?” Moonglade said cheerily. “Of course I’ll come. There’s just one thing.”

“Oh, that’s great, Silver!” Sunny sounded happy on the other end. “So what’s this thing?”

“Where do you live?”

“Oh, uh, right… Heh, I kinda forgot about that. Umm, I live close to school. Over on Hoofset Street. Oh, number fifteen.”

“Number fifteen, Hoofset Street,” Moonglade repeated. “Got it.”

“Awesome! So I’ll see you tomorrow… Umm, would you like to come over earlier? I-I mean, you know, before the others get here? We’re meeting at three o’clock.”

“I’ll check with my mother if she has any plans, but I should be able to.” Moonglade nodded, even if Sunny couldn’t see her.

“Okay, well, I really look forward to seeing you, Silver. Let me know, okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll let you know when I find out.” Moonglade nodded to herself again, she didn’t know why. “See ya, Sunny.”

“Yeah, hope to see you tomorrow, Silver. I, um… I love you, Silver.”

The young changeling looked at her phone screen after the call ended, looking at her reflection.

“Looks like I’m going to have to change my persona early.”

Her relationship with Sunny was progressing so much faster than her one with Home Run, though at least she had so far managed to avoid falling in love again. She couldn’t afford to make that same mistake twice, especially if it meant she would be in serious trouble with even her aunt.

Feeling up for a little snack, Moonglade left her room and went down to the kitchens, grabbing a bag of unshelled peanuts from the large walk-in pantry. Tearing open the seal, Moonglade tossed a few into her mouth and crunched with satisfaction, walking out slowly to the first floor’s living room.

The young changeling threw herself on one of the couches, busily enjoying her peanuts as she looked at nothing in particular. She began wondering how this relationship with Sunny would go. Every time she was alone with Sunny, the place always seemed to smell strongly of lust, usually more so than love. Sunny did love her, yes, but she was really lusting after her too.

Lusting after Silver Rose. Moonglade had to remind herself that she was currently not Silver Rose. She couldn’t deny that she was excited to go spend time with her Crystal Prep friends. She had only gone out with them once and that had been before the Friendship Games.

Crunching another peanut, she absentmindedly wondered just what kind of studying they would be doing. It would be difficult, she thought, to remain on task. With Lemon Zest’s inability to sit still, Indigo Zap’s sporty nature, and Sour Sweet’s constant snark, studying would no doubt be harder than if there was just one or two of them.

In a short expanse of time, Moonglade finished her bag of peanuts and put it on the table for disposal later. She was debating whether or not to go upstairs and turn on the Neighstation when her mother walked into the room, wearing a billowing summer dress. There was a belt around her waist with a holster attached.

“Ummm…” Moonglade swallowed and pointed at the gun in the holster. “What’s that for, mother…?”

“Oh, this?” Ebony Wings tapped the pistol. “It’s been a while since I last had a firearm training for you. Time to get back to it, huh?”

“Oh. Yeah. Why do you do the firearm training, mother? Isn’t this more Aunt Ivory’s territory?”

“Well, she’s up in my room… resting, let’s say that.” Ebony rubbed her hands together. “And besides, it was me training you since you were young. It’s always been me.”

“Oh,” Moonglade couldn’t think of anything else to say.

Her mother turned around, her dress flapping in the breeze. “Well, come along. The faster we do this, the more time we’ll have.”

“Okay.” Moonglade got up and dusted her skirt. Then she realized she wasn’t wearing a skirt and she was actually still clad in only her towel. “Oops…”

With a red face, the young changeling zoomed up to her room and swapped out her towel for her white sleeveless shirt and black skirt, grabbing her hairband as she left her room.

In no time, she was outside at the shooting range, with her mother already standing there, spinning the pistol with one finger.

“Took you long enough, snowdrop.” Ebony patted her daughter on the head and handed her the pistol. “Now it’s been a while. Do you remember how to turn off the safety?”

“Yes, mother,” Moonglade found the safety and switched it off.

“Now you do know that you should only spin the pistol when the safety’s on, right?”

“Yes, mother.”

“And here are your earplugs.”

Moonglade screwed the cones of foam into her ears and gave her mother a thumbs up.

Ebony Wings nodded approvingly. “Yes, otherwise it could go off and you could hurt yourself. Now. I set up a couple of targets on the range that will pop up at different intervals. Your task is to shoot each of the targets. The closer to the bullseye the better. Any questions?”

“Sounds understandable, mother.” Moonglade held up the gun. “I’m ready.”

The first target shot up over on the other end of the range, almost startling the girl. It was a picture of Principal Cinch and Moonglade liked that very much. Fumbling the gun for a second, she eventually got it up and ready, with the barrel pointed at the Cinch target. She fired two rounds, one hitting the target in the right shoulder, and the other going under her left arm, hitting into the brick wall at the back.

“We’d best not let this get back to the school,” Ebony Wings observed wryly. “Wouldn’t want them to think you’re practicing to be the next school shooter, now would we?”

“No, mother.” Before she could get a bullet between the Cinch target’s eyes, the next target popped up behind a bush, this one a picture of some man with balding hair and glasses.

Moonglade didn’t know who he was, but shot him anyway, hitting him both times in the chest.

“Hey, I think I’m getting it back already.” The young girl grinned.

“Yes, your aim is rather good,” Ebony agreed, her arms folded across her chest. “But stay focused.”

And then a third target popped up just behind the Cinch target, this time the picture of the mayor of Canterlot, someone who Moonglade recognized from the newspapers. Not hesitating, she took aim swiftly and fired three bullets, one clipping him just over the hairline, one in his chest, and the other embedding itself in the Cinch target’s right arm.

Frowning, she fired the remaining three bullets at Cinch, one missing and the other two finally finding their marks in her head. The slide of the gun clicked empty and Moonglade lowered it.

Then a fourth target appeared behind one of the low walls, a picture of Canterlot High’s Principal Celestia, but Moonglade didn’t have anymore bullets.

“Oh, uh, was I supposed to save on the bullets, mother?” Moonglade looked at her empty gun.

“Well, yes, I didn’t expect you to miss today, but good effort anyway.” Her mother clicked on a button she had and the targets all shot up. There was just one more after the Celestia target, which was a picture of Sunny Flare.

“Uh, is there a reason all the targets are of people we know? I mean, except the old guy. I don’t know who he is.”

Ebony waved her hand. “That would be my father-in-law. We’re not on the best terms now, so I put him up there.”

“Wait…” Moonglade thought about it. “My grandpa? I have grandparents?”

“Well, your father was human, so yes. You still have grandparents. Mine are long gone, as you should already know.”

“Well, why did I have to shoot my grandpa?” Moonglade looked back at the target with the balding man. “What is he like? Is he nice?”

“I don’t know,” Ebony Wings said defensively. “It’s been literally years since we last spoke.”

“So I actually have a grandpa. That’s cool! I mean, it’s interesting, mother.” Moonglade didn’t know she had more family besides her mother and aunt, but it would only make sense that her father had more family too. “How about father? What was he like?”

“Now, we’ll continue with these here targets, but we’ll change up the weaponry a bit.” Her mother didn’t answer her question. Again. This wasn’t the first time.

Ebony Wings took the pistol back from her daughter and passed her a long, thin shotgun. Moonglade racked the pump once and aimed down the sights.

“It’ll probably be easier to hit the targets with this, but you have fewer shells, so try not to shoot wildly. I’ll start the targets back up again.”

With the push of a button, the targets all went back down again. The first one to show up this time was the Celestia target. Moonglade didn’t exactly know her well, so she fired the shotgun, blasting off a portion of her side. The recoil was a little strong, but nothing her love energy couldn’t handle.

The next target to pop up was Principal Cinch again. Readying herself, the young changeling aimed a little higher, and with the pull of her trigger, there was a blast and Principal Cinch’s head vaporized into tiny plastic fragments.

How do you like that, Principal Cinch?

She fired again, this time blowing away Cinch’s midsection. Moonglade grinned and was about to shoot a third time when the target popped down and the Sunny Flare target appeared.

Moonglade leveled the shotgun to shoot, but an uncomfortable feeling emerged in her gut and she hesitated.

“Oh come on, the target won’t be up forever, you know?” Ebony Wings tapped her remote control. “Go on. You can do it.”

“B-But… that’s Sunny… Why would you put Sunny up there? You know she’s in a relationship with m- I mean, Silver Rose. I-I can’t shoot her.”

“That’s the very reason I put her up there, my little snowdrop.” Ebony’s face remained stoic. “Unlike your relationship with that boy, which you have seemed to fail in remembering what he is, before that happens again, I want you to remember that these relationships are not real. They are food. They are prey. If it comes between you or them, I do hope you pick yourself. Now… shoot her.”

“Mmmmnnngg…” Moonglade shakily lifted the barrel to the Sunny target’s chest, her finger slowly curling around the gun’s trigger.

And then at the last second, she pulled the gun slightly to her left as she pulled down on the trigger, the blast going wide, only just nicking the corner of the target’s right elbow. The rest of the pellets embedded themselves in the wall behind.

Ebony Wings was unimpressed. “That was a terrible shot,” she said critically. “You can’t just let your aim go just because it happens to be a picture of one of Silver’s school friends. What if next time I replace all the targets with Sunny and company? Are you going to miss every one of them?”

“Umm… Umm, I…” Moonglade scratched at her cheek, looking away from her mother.

“Not good enough.” Her mother narrowed her eyes and walked over, snatching the shotgun from her hands. “What I expect you to do is this.” Then she lifted it in one hand and pulled the trigger. In that instant, the Sunny target’s head and upper half of her chest was blasted apart by the shotgun. Moonglade had flinched when her mother had fired. “And this is what I want to see in the future. Is that clear?”

“Uh, y-yes, m-mother…” Moonglade gulped. Would she be able to do it though? She knew she would have to, but she didn’t think she would still be able to do it, even if she was shooting plastic cutouts.

“Well, I suppose that concludes our short session for today,” Ebony Wings said primly. “Unless there’s more that you want to shoot, that is.”

“Um, I’m fine, mother.” Moonglade took one step back. “Umm, though, mother… I, uh… Sunny invited me to her place to… study with the others tomorrow. She asked if I could go over earlier to, um… hang out?”

“Why, sure you can.” Ebony unfurled her fingers in one hand, taking a look at them. “While I lecture you on not getting attached to them, I never said you couldn’t continue to bring love back. Of course you may go. Go as early as you want. Would you like to borrow one of my special toys?”

“She most certainly doesn’t need any of that…” Ivory Wings staggered over, one hand on her hip. Her white hair was untied, blowing around in her face and she didn’t have her glasses on. “Like I said, sister, she needs to take it slow. She’s done enough rolling in the hay for now. We don’t want her to keep doing it so frequently. She’s still young.”

“You don’t want her to keep doing it.” Ebony waltzed over to her sister and lifted the shotgun to her shoulder. “I think she should keep it up. Have you smelt all the love she’s brought back in just these two weeks?”

Ivory groaned. “I have, and while I do like the smell, we shouldn’t be encouraging her to keep doing it. Like I said, she’s still young and she should be taking this hunt slower.”

“Ugh, very well, very well…” Ebony waved one hand. “Since you showed me such a good time earlier, I’ll let you decide this one. Moonglade, listen to your aunt. I’ll put this shotgun back, then I’m going to take a shower. She leaned in and kissed her sister on the cheek. “I’ll see you two later.”

Moonglade watched her mother leave with the gun, then approached her aunt. “So… Aunt Ivory… what’s the plan?”

“You may still go, but I don’t want you getting too intimate with that Sunny Flare.” Ivory Wings tried to arrange her hair, but gave up after a few seconds. “You may go just a little earlier. A little love won’t hurt, but nothing too extreme, okay? I don’t mind you making out, but that’s as far as I would like for you right now, we clear, sweetie?”

“Sure, Aunt Ivory.” Moongladed nodded. “I’ll try my best. What if she… what if she wants to go further? I don’t want to disappoint her.”

“You’re going to have to.” Ivory wagged a finger. “She shouldn’t be thinking so much of such things anyway. You’re both still in high school. If anyone finds out what you two have been doing… your mother isn’t going to like it, whether she encourages you to do such things or not.”

“Yes, Aunt Ivory.”

“Good.” The older changeling patted her niece on the shoulder, then looked at the various targets. “So, how goes your shooting? Have you gotten better?”

Moonglade turned and looked back at them. Principal Cinch and Sunny were no longer recognizable, but the others were still roughly in one piece.

“I had to get the hang of it again, but I think I did okay today.” Then the girl’s eyes focused on the target of her supposed grandfather, his face smiling back at her. “Aunt Ivory, has mother ever told you of my grandparents? As in my father’s parents, not hers or yours.”

“Can’t say she has. I’ve been around less than you have, remember?” Ivory tilted her head to the side in question. “Why?”

“See that one? The man with the glasses?” Moonglade pointed at the target. “Mother says that’s grandpa. She said she hasn’t talked to him in years. I’m guessing not since-”

“Not since your father died, I’m sure,” Ivory finished the sentence for her. Then she sniffed the air. “You want to meet him, sweetie? Why would you want that? You don’t even know him. You didn’t even know about him until now.”

“I’m not sure, Aunt Ivory. But…” Moonglade continued to look at the cutout target. “I have more family out there. More than just you and mother. I have family from father’s side. I wonder what they’re like.”

“Well, if your father is anything like you and your grandparents like him, then I’m sure they’re nice people.” Ivory Wings wrapped her arms around the young changeling, at the same time, using her as a support. “You’re nothing like your mother, do you know? Well, most of you. You do look like her. And you have a little bit of her temper, um, no offense, sweetie.”

“Wow, thanks. I’ve never trashed a room just because I was angry, though.”

“That’s because you don’t own the house,” Ivory Wings said fairly. “And you know better than to rip people’s arms off and beat them to death with it.”

“I do.” Moonglade smiled happily. “So let’s say I do want to see my grandparents. Do you think mother’ll let me?”

“Who knows, sweetie.” Ivory rubbed her niece’s head. “But just remember, your father died before you were born. That’s a long time ago. They might not even know they have a granddaughter, if your mother didn’t tell them anything. And she delights in not telling people things.”

“Oh.”

“In fact,” Ivory said, holding up a finger. “We don’t even know if they’re still alive. You should ask.”

“Mother doesn’t know.” Moonglade remembered her earlier conversation. “She said she hasn’t met them in years, so I doubt she knows anything about them right now. I hope they’re still alive, Aunt Ivory. I like the thought of having more family.”

“Well, I’m sure if you look around the internet long enough, you should be able to find your grandparents. Whether you should see them is another matter entirely.”

“Oh, yes, I forgot I could do that.”

If her father was a famous actor, then she would definitely have no problem finding him on the internet. The question now was whether she would be able to find her grandparents there too. Then the young changeling wondered if she could find herself on the internet. She was the daughter of Ebony Wings, after all. Perhaps she had articles on there that detailed her lifestyle. Paparazzi always managed to find ways to find out what you do in your personal life, though, she was sure they had nothing on what happens within the estate. Her mother made sure of that.

Ivory Wings sighed and took out a silver flask from behind her back, unscrewing the lid and taking a swig from it. “Want some, sweetie?” Ivory held the flask out.

Moonglade looked at the flask. “What’s in it?”

“I dunno. Bleach?”

“You’re drinking bleach?”

“Well it’s not like it’ll kill me,” Ivory reasoned before taking another sip.

“But does it taste nice?” Moonglade watched the bottle’s contents disappear down her aunt’s throat.

“Ha! Nope. Not at all. Tastes very chemical-y, as a matter of fact.”

“So ummm…” Moonglade put her hands behind her back. “Why are you… drinking it?”

“Because your mother’s already drunk all the tequila and vodka in the house and I’m thirsty.”

Moonglade blinked a few times. “Why don’t you just drink water, Aunt Ivory?”

“Huh.” Ivory drained the flask and swished the bleach around in her mouth. “That never occurred to me. I must be channeling too much Parisa. Only she could be this random…”

“Oh, umm… okay, Aunt Ivory.”

“Well, let’s not waste time out here, sweetie. Come, walk Aunt Ivory back in so she can rest her back.” The older changeling leaned on her niece as they walked back towards the mansion. “I tell you, if your mother keeps this up, I’m going to need a doctor, even with my healing powers…”