Chapter 1

A woman sat at at table sipping tea from a cup, she always enjoyed a cup of tea to calm her nerves after work. Dealing with students was stressful at times, but there wasn't a day where she would say that helping shape these young students into productive adults wasn't worth it. Her students were amongst the best and the brightest that Canterlot High had to offer. A smile crept on her face at the idea of being named teacher of the year as she ran a hand through her multi-colored hair. Her, Miss Celestia being named Canterlot High's teacher of the year, that would be an honor. She couldn't help but laugh a little, gaining the attention of a blue haired woman across the dining room.

"Tia, what is it that has you in such a good mood?" the woman asked.

Celestia looked towards her sister, "Oh, it's nothing Lulu, I'm just thinking about the possibility of winning Teacher of the Year at Canterlot High. It would be an honor," she replied in her usual calm manner.

Her sister appeared annoyed at this, she had watched her sister work herself to the bone on a daily basis. Grading papers, grading tests, grading notes. She wished that her sister could have a day to herself and was glad that the summer was about to finally start for them. "Tia, you need to remember that you need to take care of yourself as well, dear sister. You're not going to be any help to Canterlot High if you run yourself into the ground, you know. Plus Mom and Dad aren't around to help us anymore, Tia. Please promise me that this summer you'll try to take time to yourself and relax," the blue-haired woman pleaded, worried about her older sister. She knew the sleepless nights, she knew all the coffee that her sister drank in order to stay up and it scared her to the core.

Before either of them could respond though, there was a crying noise outside that confused the both of them. Always one to want to help someone else, Celestia stood up and walked to the window to expect to see a child out there or someone in need of help, but she didn't see anything. She walked over to the door and looked through the peephole. There wasn't anyone in front of the door, but the crying was loud and it sounded different from that of a child, it sounded like an infant. She hesitantly opened the door, unsure if it was a trap or not. She looked around and then looked down to see a baby in a cradle at her doorstep, there wasn't a note or anything attached to it. It looked as if it had just been abandoned there. The shrill piercing cry of the infant reached her ears, hurting them.

Her sister peeked from behind her and the two of them looked at each other for a moment before Celestia handed her the keys to the car, "Lulu, I'm going to need you to get some stuff at the store. We're going to need bottles, diapers, and formula!" she hastily listed out.

"We're not going to keep it are we?" her sister asked shocked at what the older of the two of them was planning.

"Lulu, we don't know if he or she has parents or if they want him or her. This infant needs someone to take care of them. If no one claims them for a month, then we'll raise them as our own," Celestia said, disarmingly. Luna saw the logic in her words and sighed, she was defeated and she got into the car to go to the store.

Celestia picked the infant's cradle up and brought it into the living room. The poor child was crying loudly and she picked the infant up, holding the young child against her. Sensing the presence of someone near, the infant started to calm down, but she rocked him gently anyway. She knew that the poor dear was lonely and confused, it was a big world out there and this baby didn't know what was going on or where its mother went. She wanted to find this person's mother, but she noticed something, the infant in her arms had a skin tone that she had never seen before and it was a stark contrast from even her own. He wasn't as pale as she was, but the skin was definitely a shade of brown.

After a few minutes of being rocked back and forth, the infant settled down and she got a good look at his arm. There was a band around his arm that had something written on it that she couldn't understand. She figured it was a different language, but that it was just one that existed on her world. After all, Aliens didn't exist as far as she knew. She laughed a little to herself as she waited for her sister to arrive back. She found this to be a new experience, but one that she didn't dislike and started to enjoy as the minutes went by. She had always been a mentor to other people's children, but to have a child of her own, that would be a wonderful experience.

It took half an hour for Luna to return with bags of diapers, formula and a few baby bottles. She noticed her older sister on one of the chairs cradling the infant that they had found. Annoyed, she stormed into the kitchen to place the bags on the counter. First thing she was going to do was make signs for people to come claim this child. The last thing she wanted her sister to have to do is take on another burden.

She walked past the two of them, "Remember sister, you promised if someone grabs them during the month, you'll give them up," she muttered angrily.

All the older of the two did was nod with a smile, "And I'm going to keep that promise, Lulu," she replied. The younger sister stormed to her room, leaving the older sister with the infant that was now in her care.

Chapter 2

A month had passed since the mysterious infant had arrived on their doorstep. Despite all of Luna's protests and attempts to get someone to claim the child, no one arrived to claim it. During this month, they also were able to confirm that the child was a he. He had become very attached to Celestia during the last month. He got fussy when she was at work, much to the annoyance of her sister, who tried her best to calm the infant down. She particularly didn't enjoy changing the infant's diapers, she had no idea how something so small could produce so much waste, nor how it could smell so foul. She sighed as she looked at the calendar, she knew that she had been defeated, that no one was ever going to claim this child for their own.

She walked into her sister's bedroom where her sister was quietly rocking the infant back and forth with a bottle in the child's mouth. She leaned against the door with a frown and her arms folded, she wasn't the least bit happy that something was going to get in the way of her sister's ability to rest well. She loved her older sister, more than anyone else in the world. Ever since their mom and dad left, she was the only one the blue-skinned woman had, but now they would have this child with them as well.

"Luna, you seem to be bothered by something, care to tell me what's wrong?" Celestia asked in a concerned tone, looking at her sister. She wanted her younger sister to be happy above all else. But she also knew that she couldn't abandon this infant that lay happy in her arms, feeding from a bottle. She could sense that there was tension between the two of them because of the infant, but she didn't want to say anything about it first.

"It has been a month and as promised, we will keep the infant. But he is going to need something more substantial than just that cradle if he's going to stay here. He's going to need his own room eventually and for now, he's going to need a crib," the younger woman replied, she was unable to hide the fact that she was annoyed in her voice.

The older woman placed the child into the cradle and nodded in agreement, she was going to go pick out a crib for her new adoptive child, but first she was going to make a call. She walked to the phone and dialed a number to a friend of Luna's. The dial tone sounded on the phone and she was hoping that the woman she had in mind was going to be there. Tense seconds passed, she would need a babysitter to give her sister a break from watching the infant. "Hello?" a voice said on the other side of the phone.

"Cadance, you're off for the summer, right?" Celestia asked curious if she'd get a babysitter in time.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask, Celestia?" Cadance replied over the phone.

"I need someone to come over and watch my adoptive son while Luna and I are getting some things for his baby room. I know it's sudden and all, but I'll pay you to do this favor for me," the older woman replied.

"It's no problem, I'll be willing to come over as soon as possible. What's the child's name?" the other woman asked.

Celestia was stunned, she was so focused on getting someone to watch over him that she hadn't given him a name at all. There was silence between them as she tried to figure out what to name her new child. She had never given it any thought, any consideration. She had expected for life to have taken the child away from her when she got most comfortable with him. "He... doesn't have a name yet," the words escaped her mouth before she could stop herself. She was surprised at this fact, not expecting to be so honest with her sister's friend.

"Oh, well. I'm sure you'll come up with a name by the time I get over there," the other woman replied cheerfully.

The phone hung up and she hung up her end and walked over to the cradle, Luna was sitting in the chair looking at the sleeping infant who looked so peaceful. She was still annoyed with this development and it was written all over her face. "Sister, you don't want him to grow up being afraid of you, do you? He's your nephew after all, I want him to love you just as much as I do," the near-white skinned woman said disarmingly.

The blue woman looked away and her older sister smiled and embraced her in a hug. Though the younger sister wanted to be mad at her big sister, she couldn't find it in herself and she returned the hug. The two of them looked at the child for a moment before Luna stood up and left the room to go wait for Cadance, leaving Celestia with her new son. The teacher didn't know what to call her child and she just looked at him and noticed the reddish hair on his head. There wasn't a lot of it yet, but it was there. She smiled slightly, being reminded of the sun at twilight. She figured that a name revolving around the sun would be good for him, but she knew that Sunset wouldn't fit a boy.

She wracked her brain trying to come up with a name, but nothing came to mind. She sat down in the chair and rubbed her forehead, 'Seriously, a name shouldn't be this difficult to come up with,' she thought as she felt a bit of a headache coming on. It was tense for her, this was her child, her baby boy, she was going to raise this child up to be a fine scholar and a fine man, but even now she couldn't figure out a name for him. The tenseness turned into frustration as her hands balled up into fists, it was such as simple task that other parents had done, time and time again, but here she was failing at it.

The doorbell rang, snapping her out of her thoughts and her frustration. She needed to look presentable for the babysitter after all. She looked down at her child and smiled, he hadn't stirred while she was trying to figure things out and the doorbell hadn't disturbed him. She knew that both she and her sister had some sleepless nights lately because he was a fussy child who wanted to be held or be fed or changed. It wasn't an easy task for either of them, but she felt love for this child and knew that despite Luna not showing it, she loved him too. She smiled at the infant before straightening out her hair to the best of her ability and put a smile on her face to make herself look presentable.

The pink skinned friend of her sister's walked into the living room and Celestia noted that the girl had her hair in a ponytail. "Where is the darling little one?" she asked.

The older of the two women motioned towards the cradle, "Solaris is sleeping in his cradle, right here," she said, not noticing that she had addressed the infant by a name.

"So his name is Solaris, that's a very nice name. Sounds like you gave him one for an affinity to the sun and it's almost Medieval or Renaissance in origin," the pink, purple, and yellow haired babysitter mentioned.

Celestia was shocked by this, she didn't intend to give her child a name, it just slipped out. She figured that it was going to stick and she shrugged with a smile, it was easier for her to just accept things as they had happened rather than to fight it after all. "Luna and I are going to go to a furniture store so that we can set up the little one's room. If he gets hungry, be sure to feed him. There's Formula in the fridge, but he likes it warm, something that Luna doesn't entirely get," she said causing her sister to shoot a glare at her.

"In addition, the diapers are in the closet as well as everything you need to clean him if he has an accident," she finished as she pointed towards the closet.

Cadance nodded and smiled, "I promise you that I will take good care of little Solaris. I'll make sure that he's as happy with me as he is with you," she said with confidence, though neither of them were sure how much of that was her being polite.

The older woman nodded and grabbed the keys to her car, grabbing her sister on the way out. The two of them were going to head to the store in order to get the necessary items on their list, but as she opened the door of her car and got in, she realized this was the first time since the child had arrived on her doorstep that she had left him in the care of someone other than her sister. She couldn't help but to worry but Luna placed her hand on her shoulder, "Sister, don't worry, Cadance is great with children. He'll be fine," she said reassuringly to her older sister.

Celestia relaxed a bit at this, but as she closed the door and started up the car, her worries didn't go away. She wondered if she would be able to focus while at the store. She looked in her car to make sure that she had her cell phone on her, that way if something did happen, the babysitter could call them. When she found it, she finally was able to completely relaxed. She buckled her seat belt and adjusted her rear view mirror. As she backed out of the driveway, her thoughts turned to the kind of decor that she would choose for her child, something she had never given any thought to. She hoped that Luna would be able to help her out with this, but she was unsure. Only time would tell and it was still half an hour from the furniture store. There was plenty of time for her to figure it all out.

Chapter 3

The two women arrived at a furniture store, it didn't specialize in making baby rooms, but it was the only one close to their house that delivered furniture. Celestia started to look around with Luna in two, the two of them didn't have anything in particular in mind, but the older of the two was happy as she could be to be here for a child of her own. A brown man with tan hair, wearing a blue suit walked up to them, "Hello ladies, what can I do for you today?" he asked them.

"Oh we're just looking for things to furnish a baby's room with is all. Nothing too expensive, I need to be able to afford it on a teacher's salary," the taller of the two women responded.

"Right this way," the man replied.

He led them through the store to the baby's section and in an instant the multi-hue haired woman's eyes lit up. She started wandering the furniture while her sister looked at other pieces of furniture. It was all so expensive, but at the same time, it was high quality. She started to wonder if she could afford it, so she turned to the man that led her here in the first place, "Excuse me, but is there any way that I could be able to pay off my purchase monthly?" she asked.

The man nodded, "Of course. How much will you be making as a down payment today, though?"

The woman frowned, she hadn't given that any thought, she wanted the best for her new son, but at the same time, she knew that she and her sister needed to eat. She ran some numbers in her head and figured that she had enough money to last them over the summer and have enough for emergencies. Luna's part time job was able to help them with some expenses as she saved up for college, but she wondered if her sister would be happy about helping pay to take care of the child. Her brow furrowed in frustration and concern. She had all of her finances figured out until the child that unexpectedly showed up at her doorstep had arrived. But since no one came to claim it, it was her duty to do her very best to raise the child as her own.

She felt alone, her frustration turned to a slight hint of anger, though outwardly she kept it under control. She knew that she would have to calm down, that an unforeseen expense like this happens to everyone. Just for most people, it wasn't a child that just appears on their doorstep. She started to wonder why it had been her that had been chosen for this task and why not someone else. She leaned against a wall to gather her thoughts, but a hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Sister, I know that you are going through a lot of stress and I know that your son hasn't gotten used to me, but I promise you that I will stand by you and help you raise your new child to the best of my ability. If you need any money, know that I will give it to you, I promise. That's what you've done for me, now let me return the favor to you," Luna said to her.

This calmed Celestia's mind, what was a whirlwind of uncertainty in her mind became clarity. She turned her head and smiled at her sister, now knowing that if the two of them put their finances together, they would have enough money to get through this. Sure times may be tough from time to time, but it would be better than nothing. She pulled a checkbook out, "I will pay 500 dollars as a down payment today and pay the rest in monthly installments, but not a moment before I pick out the furniture I want for my son," she said confidently.

The man nodded and left the two sisters to look at the furniture. A crib made of oak, but painted a soft blue color caught the younger sister's eye, "Tia, since he's your son, how about something like this? You've always enjoyed the day more than the night and the light blue reminds me of the skies during the day." She pointed at the crib for her sister to see.

The older of the two sisters walked over to the crib and shook her head, she pointed out a crib that was made maple, it was a bit on the expensive side, but it didn't have any paint on it that could chip off and be eaten by the infant, "I believe this would be a better choice, Lulu. There isn't any way that Solaris could get sick by eating the paint from the crib. Plus it's hard for this lacquer to chip off. It's more expensive, but it will last longer and will save us money in the long run," she said.

Luna nodded a little, she had followed what her sister had said and she smiled a little bit. What her sister wanted to get from this store, she'd get. But at the same time, the younger of the two sisters started to wonder why she was here, if her sister was going to veto her decisions in the first place. She backed up a step and watched as her older sister waved the man down.

"I want to get this crib," the multi-hue haired woman said.

"Very well ma'am. If you'll follow me, I'll get the paperwork ready to have it delivered to your home. Will there be someone there to pick it up?" the man replied cheerfully.

The older of the two sisters nodded and was led to a desk where the man pulled out the paperwork necessary to have the crib delivered to her place. She filled it out and handed him the check for five hundred dollars. The two of them shook hands and smiled and there was an unspoken agreement between the two. Celestia walked back over to Luna and smiled with a nod. "The crib will be delivered this afternoon, Lulu. I'll drop you off at the house so that you can spend some time with your friend while I go to another store and pick up the rest of the things I need. I'll be needing to use our SUV for that," she said to the blue haired woman.

The blue skinned sister nodded with a smile as the two of them walked out of the furniture store and climbed into the car. She was glad that she wasn't going to have to take care of her niece on her own. He got fussy when her older sister wasn't there to hold him and cradle him as she always did. She glanced at her sister and wondered exactly how she did it. The infant in their care was always so fussy, so unruly when she wasn't around, but was a perfect little angel when she was.

The ride home was quiet and uneventful and Celestia dropped her sister off to grab the SUV. Luna waved her older sister goodbye for the time being and walked into the house to expect her nephew to be screaming loudly. To her surprise, there was nothing, no sound except for Cadance singing quietly. She walked into the living room where the cradle was and she saw the pink woman holding her nephew who was awake in her arms. The infant's attention was grabbed by his aunt walking through the doorway to the living room and he started to reach for her. This shocked the blue-haired woman, he had never done this before. He had always been fussy around her, always got cranky.

Cadance handed the infant off to her as she sat down in a chair and she looked down at her nephew who kept reaching for stands of her hair, but not being able to grasp anything. He was quiet, calm and she placed her finger in his tiny hand which curled around her finger. She gasped lightly, not expecting this. For the first time since the infant had arrived in their house, she saw what her sister saw in him. This new life wasn't just some random person that had been left on their doorstep to her, this was her nephew. He gurgled at her as she gently took her finger away from him and she for the first time since he had arrived, spoke gently to him, "Since you're part of the family now, I guess I will help Tia adopt you into our family, little one."

"He likes it when you speak softly, all babies do. They really are curious at this age and respond more to emotion and tone than words. How old is he?" Cadance replied.

"Two months old. He was a month old when we found him. I'm sure Tia and I will be able to raise him into a fine young man, even if I wonder why his parents have abandoned him," the blue-skinned woman said, sadness in her voice.

The pink woman nodded and Luna rocked her nephew gently until he fell asleep. She placed him in his cradle and covered him so that he would be warm, but made sure to leave his head exposed so he could breathe. She had time before her older sister arrived and when she did, the three of them would set up the baby room, but until such time she and Cadance caught up on old times, discussing their plans for college and for their future jobs. They made sure to do so quietly so that they wouldn't disturb the infant in the room with them so that they could also relax while they waited for Celestia to return from the store.

Chapter 4

Three years had passed since Solaris had arrived on Celestia's doorstep, Luna had gone to college with Cadance. Yet, Celestia didn't have anyone to take care of him while she was away. She had decided that it was never too early to get a start on his education, so she had enrolled him into preschool so that he would finally be able to make new friends on his own and would learn new things so that he would have a head start when he finally got to kindergarten. Her sister had already left for college that morning, leaving her to wake her son up and get him ready for preschool.

She walked into the room quietly and looked at her son who was still sleeping in his bed. She had picked him a small bed that was shaped like a race car and got him some sheets and blankets that were adorned with a video game series that was popular at the time. She didn't really know much about it, because she wasn't a video gamer, but she figured he would. She walked over to him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, "Solaris, it's time to get up. You don't want to be late for your first day, do you?" she asked.

He opened his eyes and frowned at her, she could tell that he was nervous. He always had either Luna or Cadance with him when she was away, but now he'd be going to be with people he didn't know. People he would consider strangers and would be afraid of. She tried to smile as gently as she could, but he still backed away, she could see the fear in her eyes. "Solaris, all children have to go to preschool and eventually school. I promise that I'm not abandoning you, I'll be back to pick you up after preschool ends, I promise. I will be there to pick you up every day and if I can't, your Aunt Luna will," she said reassuringly.

He didn't move any closer, but he did climb out of bed and she helped him get dressed. He didn't like this one bit, but knew not to fight her. Though she was a kind and gentle woman, she was very harsh when she needed to be, but Luna was moreso. He feared his aunt, because when he'd get in trouble, she was the one that was more strict. She had harsher punishments than her sister, but running to his mother didn't get him out of that punishment. She led him out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where she picked him up and put him on his high chair.

She walked over to the stove and prepared a bowl of oatmeal, it wasn't much, but it was at least something. She also got out a brown paper bag and put some apple slices in a container in there for a snack, as well as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for his lunch. She handed the child the bowl of oatmeal and poured him a glass of milk.

"Thank you, Mommy," he said with a smile.

"You're welcome," she replied.

Solaris started to eat his breakfast, but he began to pick at it, figuring that if he didn't finish the oatmeal, he wouldn't have to go preschool. Celestia on the other hand got wise to this a while back ago. She grabbed the phone and pretended to dial a number and placed the phone to her ear. She waited for a little bit and without a change in her voice said, "Hi Lulu, it's Tia. My son is misbehaving and I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of punishment I should give him. Why that's a bit harsh, sis, but you're better at this than I am," she said calmly.

The young child freaked out, "Mommy! I'll eat! I'll eat!", he cried out.

"Nevermind, Luna. He just agreed to behave. I'll keep that punishment in mind if he starts to misbehave again," the mother said with a sly smile, as she hung up the phone, being sure not to tip her hand that she hadn't ever dialed a number in the first place. She walked over to the table and sat down with the paper bag in hand. She had her keys in her blazer pocket and was ready for her job as Vice-Principal of Canterlot High. She was glad that the Principal had agreed to allow her to come in late on the days her sister had morning classes so that she could take her son to preschool.

She watched as he sipped his milk from his cup and finished his bowl of oatmeal. A smile crossed her face as she picked them up from the table and placed them in the sink and she watched as her son tried to climb down from the high chair. This caused her to panic a little and she darted to the chair to lift him off it. "Solaris, you could have gotten yourself hurt! The chair could've fallen on top of you, or you could've hit the floor, or you could've hit the table. Don't scare mommy like that again!" she exclaimed in surprise.

He nestled against her, placing his head on her neck, "I'm sorry, mama..." he said softly.

She stroked his hair and grabbed a pair of juice boxes out of the fridge, placing them in the brown bag and she rolled it up. She walked out of the house with both the bag and her son in tow and fumbled around to get her keys out of her pocket. She made sure to lock the door of the house and walked to the SUV and unlocked the door. She placed Solaris into the child's car seat in the middle seats and made sure that he was buckled in safely and securely. Even though this was her first and so far only child, she ensured that she had read up on how to take care of him and ensure that he would be safe. She was the one who did most of the babyproofing of the house to make sure that he wouldn't get hurt back when he was an infant and later a toddler.

She gently closed the SUV door and locked it. She entered the vehicle on the driver's side door and closed it behind her, locking the door as she did. She buckled her seatbelt and started the ignition. She adjusted her mirrors to make sure that she would be able to see behind her without any issues. She took a look at her son and smiled slightly, it was going to be a fifteen minute drive to get to the preschool, but she knew that with her bluff and threat to have Luna punish him, he wasn't going to give her any trouble.

Chapter 5

Celestia had gotten Solaris out of the car and into the preschool. She had been worried about Solaris throwing some sort of fit about getting out of his car seat, but he was well behaved for that. She followed the map of the building that she had been given and arrived at a classroom in short order with her son in tow. The red haired boy looked around, his eyes scanning the room for anything wrong. A light blue skinned woman walked over, "Hi, I'm the teacher here, Dawn Care. You must be Celestia," she said as she extended her hand to the nearly pale woman.

The vice-principal of Canterlot High shook the teacher's hand with a smile the light blue skinned woman knelt down, her gray eyes looking at the child before her, "This must be little Solaris!" she exclaimed excited.

The young child became deeply afraid of someone other than one of the few people he had known in his short life and hid behind his mother's legs. Celestia moved out of the way and he moved back behind her legs and buried his face within the violet pants. He felt safe with his mother and didn't want to leave her side, this place was new and it was scary to him. This new adult wasn't someone he knew, these children he was going to be around weren't people he knew. He didn't want to risk leaving his comfort zone, he knew where he felt safe and where he felt the best. He was terrified of all of this, which didn't surprise anyone in the slightest.

His mother finally pried him off her leg and knelt down next to him, "I promise, I will be back at four PM," she said as she gave him a hug.

She handed his lunch and snack to the teacher and broke the hug, standing up. She walked out of the room leaving the young child on his own. He tried to run after her, but his shorter legs meant that he couldn't keep up. The door closed before he could get to it, causing him to stop at the door. Everyone was looking at him, but he didn't care. All he wanted was to see his mother or Miss Cadance as he called her again. He didn't want to be in this new place where he didn't know anyone. Tears started to form in his eyes and he started pounding on the door. "Mommy... mommy please... mommy come back! Mommy!" he started to call out.

Gentle arms wrapped around him, Dawn Care had seen this going on and had quietly followed the boy over to the door. She gently lifted him off the ground and took him over to a corner of the room where she could speak to him alone. She moved a couple of mats around and ensure that the child would be comfortable as the two of them spoke. She placed him on the ground and sat down, knowing that it would be easier for her to get through to him if she wasn't standing up and being authoritative. The two of them locked eyes for a moment, but Solaris looked away from her. He saw that everyone was looking at him and he got angry. "Go away!" he screamed.

"That is not how we talk to the other students around here, Solaris," the teacher said firmly, but calmly. She wanted to get his attention, not cause him distress.

He looked at her attentively, a look of pain was on his face, but she knew that it was a mask to hide his fear. She knew that she had to be careful in order to win his trust, "I know that you're hurt and I know that you're afraid. This is likely the first time you've not been with your mother and I know it's scary for you to be away from her and in a strange new place. But, I promise that there isn't anything here that will hurt you and all of your classmates are really nice and just want to get to know you and be your friend," she said gently.

He didn't entirely understand her, but her gentle tone was enough to get him to give her a chance to see if she was right. She gave him the same look that his aunt gave him when she wanted him to apologize to his mom. He turned around to the other students and looked down, "I'm sorry," he muttered.

"Louder," the teacher said.

"I'm sorry!" he cried out.

The rest of the students looked at each other and went back to what they were previously doing. Except for one of them, it was a red skinned girl with orange and yellow hair. She walked over to him and smiled at him, holding her hand out to him, "Hey, kid. My name is Blazing Shield, what's your name?" she asked, introducing herself in the process.

"Solaris..." he replied, looking away from her.

The teacher smiled a little as it was an improvement from what had been just earlier before. The young child was finally talking to someone. Blazing grabbed the other child and led him over to the activity table, "Come on, kid. You just need to color with us! It'll be fun!" she exclaimed.

The young boy didn't know what coloring was, but he was surprised when their teacher placed a box of crayons and a piece of paper with something drawn on it, something he didn't recognize. He looked up at the teacher pleadingly, he had never seen one of these things and she walked over to him with a gentle smile, "It's a fish, Solaris, you can color it however you want. The idea is for you to continue to develop motor skills with activity time, plus coloring is fun!" she said excitedly.

He nodded and pulled out a blue crayon and started to color in the fish, he didn't know what motor skills were or what develop meant, but the teacher was right, coloring was fun. He enjoyed it, even if he had never done it before. It was fun and kept him busy.

It wasn't long before he was done coloring the fish and he looked up for his mother, who wasn't there. Tears started to form in his eyes again, but the teacher walked over and looked at the fish, "That's very good Solaris!" she encouraged

She noticed the pained look in his eyes and sighed, kneeling down to look him in the eye. "Solaris, would you feel more comfortable if I were to call your aunt. Your mom listed her as an emergency contact and she'd be able to get here easier than your mother would," she offered.

Solaris sniffled and nodded, the teacher stood up and motioned for him to get up as well. He followed her as she pressed a button on the wall, "I need someone to watch over my students while I go make a call," the teacher said calmly.

A few quiet minutes passed as a green skinned man walked into the room, he and Dawn Care shared a quiet nod in understanding with each other. She led the young child out of the room and into another room that had a phone, she helped him on the chair and picked up the phone. She dialed a number and placed it against her ear, "Hello, is this Miss Luna? Yes, your nephew is seeming to have a bit of anxiety, I've tried to get him to calm down, but it would seem that he is very emotional without his mother around. Oh, I didn't know that. Would you like to talk to him for a bit?", she said into the phone ending with a question.

She handed the phone to him and he held the object in his hands as best he could, "Aunt Luna?", he asked.

"Solaris, I know that you're upset. Celestia told me earlier that if I had to, I'd be able to stay at the preschool with you on days where I don't have a lot of classes to make sure that you get accustomed to being there. Do you need me to come up there?", Luna asked over the phone

"Y-yes, I miss mommy...", he said sadly, eyes nearly full of tears.

"Well I'm not mommy and I know that you're afraid of me to some degree as I'm more harsh than your mother, but I'll stay with you and help your teacher out. I know that deep down, you want to go home, but you're too young and both Cadance and I are trying to become teachers," she replied sternly.

"O-okay," was all he could say.

He handed the phone back to his teacher who placed it against her ear, "I'll stay here with him him until you get here, ma'am. I promise." She hung up the phone and sat in a chair near her young student.

"She said that she'll be here in twenty minutes, I'll stay here and make sure that nothing happens," the teacher said gently.

Solaris nodded, he felt alone, but at least with someone else here, he'd be safe and secure. He didn't trust the teacher, but he had no other choice to listen to her. He hugged his knees and rested his chin against them, looking to the door in anticipation, it'd be the longest twenty minutes of his life as thoughts of his aunt and mother both not showing up entered his head, which further saddened and scared him. He wanted to see his aunt immediately, but unfortunately for him, he was going to have to learn patience for the first time in his life.

Chapter 6

Luna climbed into the car that her sister had gotten her so that she could go to and from college, but also so she could get to her nephew if he needed someone to be there with him. She promised him that she'd be there in twenty minutes, but as she buckled her seat belt, she remembered something that always calmed her nephew down as she started the car. She pulled out of the parking lot and started to drive home, her blue hair being moved by the wind. She'd have to pick up Cadance later in the day, but by then, her sister would be off of work will have likely swung by the preschool anyhow.

She parked in the drive way and entered the house. A short trip through the hallway led her to her nephew's room. Celestia made sure that he kept his room tidy and cleaned up his toys, but there was one toy in particular that Cadance had given him that keeps him calm. She didn't understand why, but her sister had told her that it was his favorite toy as it was the first gift he was able to remember. She looked through the toy chest and started to move things around until she was able to pull out a stuffed animal. It was some form of pony, an odd choice of toy for a young boy, but it seemed to keep him calm. This was the first time she was able to get a good look at the toy though, it was an alabaster white pony with wings and a horn. The mane was colored orange and flowed gently as did the tail.

She found something strange about it, but on the flank was stitched an image of the sun itself. She didn't know what it meant, but she shrugged it off. As she walked out of the room, she was sure to close the door and as she got to the front door, she realized something. The toy she was holding was from a cartoon that she used to watch when she was a little girl. Memories started to flood through her mind of getting up on a weekend and excitedly going downstairs to watch her favorite morning cartoon. She couldn't help but crack a smile from the nostalgia and she gently placed the stuffed toy in the passenger seat as she climbed into the car.

Without any more distractions, her thought turned to her nephew. She wasn't thrilled that he couldn't go one day without his mother or babysitter, but she'd be lying if she said that she was surprised. She knew how close to her sister the child was and her mind started to wonder why he had been abandoned at such an early age. Though she didn't exactly want Celestia to keep it, her older sister did and she was stuck with the child. But it wasn't all bad she had to admit. Her sister was happier now and definitely more relaxed, they were both doing a good deed, especially to someone that was helpless and in need.

She drove to the preschool, knowing that her nephew would be understandably upset with her as she did promise to be there earlier than she got there. She climbed out of the car, making sure to grab the toy as she did. She walked into the building and followed the signs towards the classroom she was trying to find. "Excuse me, are you Luna?" a voice behind her asked.

Startled, she turned around to look at the person who asked the question and noticed that it was a teacher. "Yes, I'm looking for Dawn Care's classroom," she responded as calmly as she could.

The woman nodded with a smile, "I'm Dawn Care. Solaris is in the office here. He seems really distressed, more so than most kids his age," she reported.

Luna nodded and walked into the room, she saw her nephew on a chair and she could tell that he had been crying. "You lied," he said sadly.

Every instinct in the back of her mind told her to punish the child for calling her a liar, but she pushed it back to her mind. She would have a talk with her sister later on about that. "I'm sorry, I went to go pick up something from home that I'm sure will make it up to you," she replied calmly.

She held out the stuffed pony and he looked up at it, reaching out for it. She handed it to him and he hugged it tightly, relaxing almost instantly as he did. His face was still covered in tears, but she took a paper towel and wiped those off with a soft smile. She wanted her nephew to trust her, even if she knew that it was her duty as the aunt to help her sister raise him, even if that meant being the one who was more willing to punish him for his misbehavior. She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked behind her to see the teacher. She nodded and turned back to the boy on the chair, "Solaris, I'm going to go talk with your teacher right outside. Okay?" she informed him

"Okay, Aunt Luna," he replied.

She turned around, but felt a tug on her sleeve, "Yes?" she replied.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?", she asked, her voice more stern.

"Saying you lied," he replied, his tone was remorseful.

She nodded with a smile, "I forgive you."

The two women walked out into the hallway and closed the door behind them. The teacher looked at the dark blue skinned woman with a frown, "Is there any abuse going on at the house or anything that I should know about?" she asked.

"Dammit, Tia. You didn't inform the teachers about this..." the other woman swore, annoyed at her sister.

The teacher folded her arms and frowned, looking at the boy's aunt for some sort of answer to her question. "Tia and I found him on our door step three years ago in a cradle. He was alone and no one was with him. No parents, nothing. We waited for a month for his real parents to come find him, I made posters to let them know that we had found their child, but they had never showed up to take him. He was abandoned at an early age. Neither my sister nor I have any idea where he comes from or who his blood relatives are," Luna replied.

The teacher looked a bit shocked, she had expected something like this, but hoped it wasn't the case. A child like that who had been abandoned didn't usually find a loving home. Knowing that there wasn't any abuse going on was at least uplifting. "Apologies, but some of the kids that I've taught who act similarly have been abused. Some of them have abandonment issues like he does. Some of them found loving homes, others didn't. I don't know what happened to any of them after they left my class though," she said, her voice soft and her tone saddened.

The two women looked away from each other for a bit, the teacher didn't want to say anything, she felt regret for accusing the other woman of abusing the child. The aunt didn't want to say anything, because she wanted to comfort her nephew. It was an awkward silence between the two of them, neither side being upset with the other, just not knowing what to say. "It's snack time," the teacher finally said.

"If you want to show him that you are trustworthy, you need to be with him while he eats his snack, I will remain out here," Luna replied gently.

The teacher nodded and left for a moment, she returned with the snack and entered the office where Solaris sat. The aunt looked through the window with a frown as her nephew initially refused to eat. She realized that this was going to be an uphill battle and was considering entering the room to give him more confidence. But much to her surprise, he timidly took the food that his mother had prepared earlier in the day. A smile adorned her face, she wouldn't admit it to her sister or to her nephew, but she was proud of him. Even if she was right outside the office and he could see her, he managed to show a bit of courage when she wasn't in the same room as him. She wondered how much of that was the toy and how much of that was her, but she had a feeling that in the upcoming days, she'd find out.

The teacher exited the office with the child and the two women nodded at each other, "I'll be available for the rest of the school day, I don't have to pick up my friend until five," the dark blue skinned woman said, reassuringly.

The teacher smiled and led the two of them to her classroom, she was relieved that a problem had been solved, even if she wouldn't have been able to get ahold of the mother of the child, it seemed like the aunt was able to calm the situation down. Solaris noticed that his classmates were laying down on mats and he carefully walked over to an open mat and laid down on it. Luna grabbed a blanket that hung from a hook and laid it over him, making sure to keep his head exposed. The young boy smiled and was soon out cold for a nap. The teacher quietly went back to her desk while Luna found a chair to sit in. She didn't know how long nap time was going to be, but it was something she had experience doing when Cadance was sick and she had to care for her nephew. She had been called to the school to watch over him and that's what she was going to do until Celestia arrived.

Chapter 7

The rest of the day had gone relatively well, and Luna had already left to go back to the college to wait for Cadance to get done with her classes. Solaris sat at his table, clutching his stuffed pony, he didn't feel alone with the pony there. At least not as alone as he did earlier in the day. He looked at the clock and wished he could read what it said. He knew numbers, he just didn't know what the small tick marks between the numbers on the clock meant. Dawn Care noticed this and smiled slightly, "It's three fifty-two PM, Solaris. Your mother said she'd arrive at four, you've still got a few minutes to go," she said reassuringly.

The young boy was anything but reassured, he just wanted to go back home with his mother and spend time with her. He started to get fidgety and started to get more and more upset. He kept glancing at the clock, anxious as he did so. He was the only child left in the class. The only one who remained in the school even. All the other kids had already been picked up by babysitters or parents, he was left alone with his teacher and he didn't entirely trust her. She was someone different to him, someone that wasn't his mom and he didn't like it.

Minutes passed by, but they felt like an eternity to the young child. Four PM arrived and there was no sign of his mother. The blue skinned woman sighed as she looked at the clock, knowing what was about to happen next. She had hoped that Luna would've been able to stay longer to prevent this. Solaris started to sniffle and then full on cry. He felt like his mother had abandoned him, he felt as if he was alone in the world and no one loved him. The sadness quickly turned to anger and he started pounding on the desk and screaming, forcing the teacher's hand. The teacher walked over to the table and gave him a stern look, "Solaris, your mother is just running a little late. Please calm down," she said firmly.

He didn't listen. He continued screaming and hitting things, all while crying. She grabbed him by the arm gently and walked him to the time out corner. "You're to stay there for five minutes or until your mother gets here," she said firmly.

The child stood in the corner, he was now upset that he was being punished and yet he didn't know why. He wanted his mother or his aunt, it didn't matter which. He just wanted to go home. He cried and cried in the corner, eventually quieting down and falling silent. Five minutes had passed and there was no sign of his mother. "You can come out now, Solaris,"

He turned around and walked back to the table, climbing into the chair to sit back down. The teacher looked at him and frowned, "Solaris, sometimes people are late. That's no reason to start hitting things. That's why you were put in time out. I know that it hurts, especially given your unique circumstances, but you cannot pitch a fit like that," she said.

She didn't want to be harsh with the kid, especially since it was his first time not being with the people he had grown up with and she had to get his aunt to help him adjust to this. She had a feeling this child was going to continue to be a problem as the year went on, but she was determined to do the best that she could in order to help him and help prepare him for kindergarten. That was her job after all, one that she took seriously at that.

He didn't really understand all of her words, but that was the tone his aunt usually used to get across that he had done something bad. He looked down at the table quietly. He didn't want to have to apologize, he didn't want to have to be in trouble. He didn't like his teacher very much after what had happened and he wanted to get away from her. A sheet of paper entered his vision, it was the thing he had colored earlier in the day, he hadn't really remembered it, but seeing it made him realize that he wanted to show this to his mother. It was something that he was really proud of.

The door opened and an alabaster white skinned woman walked in, "I'm so sorry, the traffic was a nightmare. I didn't intend to be late. He wasn't any trouble, was he?" she asked, concerned that her son might have pitched a fit.

"He had a tantrum, but I put him in time out, he's currently just sitting at his table, refusing to talk to me or anyone else," the teacher replied.

Celestia walked over to her son, she was disappointed in him and had heard from Luna that she had to arrive in order to calm him down earlier in the day. She had expected that to happen since he didn't want to leave that morning, but she had expected him to be more willing to be patient and not pitch a fit. She knelt by him and looked at the picture on the table, it was a fish. She smiled softly, noticing the colors of the fish. It was striped in the same colors as her hair.

"I made this for you, Mommy..." he said sullenly.

"I see that and I'm very proud of you for making it. Your teacher and aunt told me that you had a bad day. You do know that means you're not going to get any ice cream tonight, don't you?" she replied calmly.

There was silence from the child, he was clearly upset about this new development. He had always enjoyed his mother getting him ice cream, it was a wonderful bonding experience between the two of him and like most children, the sugary dairy product was very delicious to him and made him happy. But what made him the most happy was spending time with his mom. A tear ran down his cheek and she instinctively hugged him and he hugged back. "I'm sorry, Mommy..." he said quietly.

She ruffled his hair and nodded, picking him up off the chair, "I know you are, son. But that doesn't mean that you didn't do a bad thing today. I'm sorry, but I cannot reward misbehavior. If you have a good day tomorrow, I'll reward you with ice cream, how about that?" she told him as she walked through the halls of the building.

He rested his head against her shoulder and simply nodded. At least there was hope that he'd get ice cream, even if it wasn't for today. He wanted to make his mother happy, but at the same time, he didn't want to be away from his mother. He held tightly to the stuffed pony toy as he was carried out of the building. She placed him in the child seat in the middle seat and made sure to buckle him up safely. She climbed into the front seat and sighed, "Cadance is going to be over for dinner, so I'm going to stop by Canterlot Fried Chicken and get us a bucket of chicken and some sides," she informed him.

He nodded a little, "Mommy... can you get nuggets?" he asked.

"They only have tenders dear, they don't have chicken nuggets. And before you get upset, sweetie, Chicken Tenders are basically the same as nuggets, except bigger", she replied.

He had started getting sad, but hearing that he'd have more chicken to eat for dinner made him happier. His mother drove out of the parking lot of the preschool and into the drive through of the chicken place. The two of them waited until it was her turn and she ordered the food. A twelve piece bucket of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, macaroni and cheese, eight biscuits, and a an order of chicken tenders and fries for Solaris. She pulled into a parking spot and waited for her food to arrive. The two of them didn't say anything as the child closed his eyes and started to drift off for a nap. He felt safe and secure with his mother and she smiled, not wanting to disturb this serenity.

She had allowed him to fall asleep and when the food arrived, she quietly placed it in the passenger seat to make sure that everything was indeed there. Without a word, she smiled at her son in the rear view mirror and pulled out of the parking lot. Her destination was home and she was going to wake him up when she got there, not a moment before. But since Cadance and Luna wouldn't be around til about five-thirty anyhow. She figured that she could take a scenic route back home. Both to relax her nerves after a long day at work and to give her young son a chance to catch a proper nap after a stressful first day of preschool.

Chapter 8

A few years had passed and Solaris had finally entered elementary school. It was summer finally and his birthday had arrived. The seven year old child awoke in his room which had been painted with the night sky. Ever since his aunt had showed him some of the constellations, he took a fascination with the night itself, even if he was afraid of her because of her stern demeanor. He threw on some clothing and wrapped a bandana around his head as he was on a mission to try to find his presents before his mom or his aunt woke up. He quietly walked to the door and opened it. He made sure to close it behind him and look through the hallways. There weren't any adults moving around, so he quietly moved towards one of the closets.

He quietly opened up the closet and then heard one of the doors open. He quickly closed himself in the closet and hid under one of the big moving boxes that his mother had kept all of these years. He waited patiently as he heard someone move towards the closet. His heart started to pound in his chest, his breathing became more rapid and shallow. He was scared, and for good reason when he saw through the slit of the box that the door had been opened. His aunt's blue legs stood there and by the stance she had taken, she most definitely wasn't amused. She kicked the box to startle him and he held his breath to not make a noise. He didn't notice, but she had placed her foot on the box soon after and pushed it off him, startling him.

He bolted out of the closet, too fast for her to react. "SOLARIS, YOU GET BACK HERE, YOUNG MAN!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

He had no intention of returning to her, as he knew what that would mean. He'd be spanked and sent to his room for an hour. He started to run as fast as his legs would take him, which for a kid was surprisingly fast. At his age, he was able to outrun his aunt, but his mother's longer legs allowed her to still keep up with him. He reached the back door and quickly unlocked it, knowing his aunt wouldn't be far behind. He closed it behind him, unfortunately in his aunt's face, pissing her off further than she already was. He darted across the yard and up the rope ladder to his tree house.

Luna was too late to reach the rope ladder as her nephew had already reached the top and pulled it out of her reach. She stomped her foot on the ground, furious at what her nephew had just done, but then she got an idea. She walked over to the shed and pulled out the rake and started to reach for the rope ladder that had been pulled up by Solaris. Try as she might, she couldn't reach it, but was able to open the trap door that had been installed. She didn't know how she was going to get up there, but didn't want to embarrass herself by standing in the back yard with her morning clothes on, yelling up at the tree house that her nephew had climbed into.

She put the rake back into the shed and walked back into the house, furious with him. She opened up the fridge and grabbed some leftovers. She closed the door and took her meal to the table, sitting down to eat it as she watched the back door carefully for any signs of the rope ladder being lowered. Celestia walked into the kitchen and grabbed a box of pancake mix out of the pantry, "Why are you glaring at the back door, sister?" she asked.

"Your son tried to find the presents that we had gotten him and wisely gave to Cadance and then when I caught him in the act, he ran outside and ran into the tree house that we had built for him. If I catch him, I'll definitely give him the punishment he deserves," she muttered angrily.

The older sister sighed and put the pancake mix back up, her son had been naughty and it was time for her to lay down the law once more, he would have to be punished for his misbehavior. She walked outside and over to the tree house with a frown on her face. She folded her arms in front of her chest and looked up to the structure, "Solaris, come down here. The longer you stay up there, the longer it's going to take for you to get pancakes and the more trouble you're going to be in, young man," she said, sternly.

She was annoyed that her son was still acting this way, she had tried to teach him better than this for the last few years, but this chain of behavior had repeated itself every year for his birthday. She was getting tired of it and for the first time, she was going to be the one to put her foot down. She waited for a little bit, but the door didn't open, she figured her son was being rebellious, "Solaris, get down here now!" she said, raising her voice.

The door didn't open, so she walked into the shed and grabbed the ladder. She placed it under the door and climbed up it. At the second to last rung, she opened the door to the tree house and stuck her head in it to see that her son was asleep. She climbed into the tree house and shook the child awake. "Mama?" he asked, groggily.

She pointed to the trap door, "You're in a lot of trouble young man. There's a reason we don't have your presents around here any more for your birthday," she said, annoyed.

He looked at her and opened his mouth to protest, but he knew better than to argue with his mother. If she was like this, then there was no hope for him getting out of trouble. He extended the rope ladder and climbed down to the regular ladder and then to the ground. Celestia did the same before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him inside of the house. She pulled him past his aunt who gave a smirk, "You shouldn't have done all of that, Solaris. You would've been in less trouble than you are now," she stated.

Celestia took her son to his room and sat on his bed, laying him over her knee. She didn't enjoy doing this, but she spanked her son for his misbehavior and he started to cry. She stayed her hand at the first sign of tears and then pointed at his bed, "You will stay here for most of the day, if you misbehave further, we don't go to Wonderbolt World later. Understood?" she said firmly.

He nodded and sniffled, climbing into the bed and laying down. She really hated having to spank her son. She stood up and walked out of the room, not wanting to turn around to face her son so he wouldn't see the saddened look on her face. She walked down the hall and into the kitchen where Luna was waiting. "So it's about time you punished your son like that," she remarked.

"I've done it before, sister. It brings me no pleasure to do so," the older of the two replied.

The alabaster white woman walked over to the coffee maker and brewed the two of them coffee, Luna had the summer off from college and Celestia had the summer off from work. The two of them had spent most of the summer up to that point just relaxing and getting a few things around the house done. "I'm going to go hang out with Cadance for a bit, it's been a while since I've seen her, I'm sure that you can take care of things while I'm away, right sis?" Luna said to her sister.

The older woman nodded, "Of course, Lulu. Solaris isn't going to cause any more trouble, he knows the stakes. I'll make some breakfast for when you get back and he gets let out of time out," she said as she turned to the stove.

The younger woman nodded and left the house to her sister. The two of them wondered quietly if it was okay for Cadance to let the young child play her old game system with her old games. Especially the one about sneaking around. Celestia regretted not asking her sister to ask Cadance about it, but unknown to her, Luna was already planning on it. As the car left the driveway, the alabaster white woman started on breakfast. She was going to be cooking for four people once more, but a thought entered her head, she had been single for the longest time and now that she had a son, maybe it was time to find a boyfriend and a husband. She didn't know if it'd work out, but she figured a male figure would be helpful for her son, so she was going to try at the very least.

Chapter 9

Celestia sighed as she walked back into the kitchen, she hated having to lay down the law with anyone, but she also knew that there was a time that she had no choice. Luna had left to go see Cadance, leaving her alone with the boy. She didn't get all that much time alone, but she didn't exactly mind, she enjoyed the company and being around others. She walked over to the coffee pot and made herself a cup of coffee. She mixed a little sugar and creamer into it and thought about her own youth. She was a well behaved child with good parents, she always got good grades and listened to her parents. Her little sister however was a bit of a troublemaker at first and received the most discipline, but she had shaped up and become a but authoritative in her own right.

She sipped at her coffee as she closely watched the clock, she wasn't going to allow herself to have anything to eat until her son got out of time out, but after what had happened, it would be an hour before he was let free. She walked into her living room and sat in front of the television, noticing that something was plugged into it. She hadn't really ever paid attention to it until now, it was a game system and plugged into it was a copy of Mega Mare 7. She had heard of this series from her younger sister.

The alabaster white woman turned on the television and decided to give the game a try. She was placed on a ruined road, something that she wasn't accustomed to. It didn't take her long for her to figure out that pressing the directional pad allowed her to move her character. She started to move to the right and was met with a screen transition where she met the creator of the titular Mega Mare, it was a rather rotund man with a large beard, "Heh, you kind of look like Santa," she observed.

She continued to the right and encountered a few enemies, she started to press buttons on her controller and couldn't exactly figure out how to play the game properly. She never really did play video games all that much even if she did allow her son to do so once he had finished his homework and chores. Luna was at least responsible enough to play the games. An enemy had kept attacking her character until the character died and she sighed a bit, making a mental note to ask her sister if she could spare some time to teach her how to play these games.

She turned off the game and turned on the television, laying down on the couch. She was moderately dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, so she wasn't worried about if a guest came over randomly. She flipped through the channels until she found something that she wanted to watch and upon finding her favorite sitcom, she placed the remote down and started to relax. She didn't let her guard down though, she still listened out in case her son tried to escape from his punishment early. She wasn't afraid to further punish him as she had threatened to if he were to misbehave further.

She watched a couple of episodes, able to finally have an hour to herself to relax and not have to be a mother or a vice-principal. For that hour she was just Celestia. She sighed a little and stood back up, her stomach started to growl and she walked into the kitchen, getting the pancake mix out as well as the syrup and chocolate chips. She oiled up a skillet and pulled out the spatula and measuring up. She measured out the mix that she would need for the pancakes and then measured out the water necessary to make a batch of pancakes. She took care to pour some chocolate chips into the batter and took a whisk out of the drawer to mix the ingredients together.

She turned on stove and waited for steam to rise from the oiled skillet. She poured some batter out onto it and watched the pancake carefully as the edges started to dry up. She flipped the pancake and allowed it to cook until steam rose from it. She then scooped it up and transferred it onto a plate with a smile on her face. It was a near perfect pancake, something she had a lot of practice making since her son loved pancakes for breakfast. She continued the process with the rest of the batter and then turned her head slightly as she made some regular pancake batter, "Solaris! Your punishment is over, you can come down and get some pancakes!" she called out.

She waited for a moment and then poured out some more batter. She was intent on making four pancakes each for herself, Luna, and Cadance. She wanted to surprise the other two when they inevitably arrived. She heard a chair get pulled out from the table and she placed her spatula down to walk over and push her son's chair closer to the table, so he'd be able to eat over his plate instead of the floor.

"I'm sorry, Mommy," he said quietly.

She nodded and walked back to the stack of pancakes she made for him, she pulled a fork out of the drawer and poured some syrup on them. She walked over to the table and placed them down in front of them. He started to slowly eat his breakfast as she went back to flip the pancakes she was making for herself and the others. "Solaris, you should know better than to try to open your presents early. This habit of yours is why we don't have your birthday presents here and is why I'm glad that Santa doesn't bring your presents until christmas," she said sternly.

He could only look down, his blue eyes staring at the stack of pancakes. What she said was right, he did have a habit of trying to open his presents early, but that was because he was impatient and wanted to see what he had gotten for his birthday. She continued to cook the pancakes and sighed. "Solaris, I'm not mad at you, just somewhat disappointed. You can be a good child most of the time, it's just that when you get into trouble, you get into some really serious trouble. Your Aunt Luna doesn't particularly enjoy punishing you, but she knows from our parents that applying the proper discipline can cause someone to shape up. She used to be quite the troublemaker back in the day, you know. A lot like you are now, but a fair bit worse," she stated to him.

The child took a bite of pancake as he thought of what to say. He looked back up at his mother who still had her back turned, "So if I hadn't hid from Aunt Luna and just told her the truth, I wouldn't have been in trouble?" he asked.

"You still would've been punished, but you wouldn't have been punished severely. It is better to ask for permission than it is to have to ask for forgiveness, my child," she said as she finished up the pancakes.

"I understand, Mom," he said sadly in response.

She nodded and left the pancakes on the counter, making sure to turn off the stove and remove the hot skillet from the burner. She grabbed her stack of pancakes and walked over to the table with a fork in hand. She sat across from her son and smiled gently at him, "Solaris, I love you and I have always loved you since the day you entered my home. I want you to always know that you will be my son, no matter what happens, but I want you to grow up to be a fine young man, not some delinquent. You're important to me and I know you're important to Luna, the two of us want to see you succeed in life," she said in a motherly tone.

Solaris couldn't say anything in response, he just sat there stunned at what his mom had said. It was something she had said many times over the last few years of his life, but every single time it had left him speechless and defenseless. He had learned how to not have to rely on having to have her around constantly as he grew up and he had learned how to not have to have his stuffed pony around. But his mom acting like a mother always made him drop his guard, it was as if he enjoyed having someone there to take care of him, someone there to rely on. He couldn't explain why, but he had hoped that he would find out the answer to that in time, but for now, he was focused on his breakfast. He wanted to go to Wonder World, but he knew that he'd have to wait for his Aunt and his babysitter. Until then he quietly ate his breakfast with his mother, smiling a little as he did so.

Chapter 10

There was a knock at the door and Cadance smiled as she walked out of the kitchen to her front door. She had been expecting to see her friend for a while and had expected her to be excited for a birthday party. Much to her shock, when she opened her door, she saw her friend who didn't look particularly pleased, "Is there something wrong, Luna?" she asked, concerned for her.

Luna nodded slightly, "It's my nephew, he seems determined every year since you got him that Metal Hoof game that he was going to sneak around to try to find his christmas and birthday presents. It's starting to get on my nerves, but at least my older sister finally did something to punish him, even if it did take him to run out into the yard to try to escape me. I'm surprised he didn't try to kick me or anything. She was more lenient than I was about it though, she always has been. Though I do suppose her compassion can be admirable," she replied.

The pink woman nodded, she was glad that Celestia was very compassionate, otherwise she wouldn't have met one of the children she had the joy of babysitting while their parents were gone. She got lost in the thoughts of a few times where she would have to babysit the child of someone else at the same time and she'd watch as they played together. Though for some reason, Solaris was quick to open up most of the other children while she was around. They played very well together, always being polite and sharing with each other. But there was one child that she remembered most of all that he didn't get along with. She was always focused on reading as if was the most fun game in the world for her. But the young boy wanted friends he could play with, he was energetic and always wanting to have some sort of fun and reading was boring for him, it was nothing more than school work to him.

There was one particular time where she had gone to the kitchen and not long after, the young girl, Twilight Sparkle had run into the kitchen crying while bleeding from a scrape on her forehead. She quickly found out that Solaris had taken the book she was reading and threw it at her. She had sent him to time out for this and watched him carefully as she had bandaged up the lavender girl's wound, making sure that there wasn't going to be any lasting damage. She had wanted to make sure that he wasn't going to try anything while she wasn't watching.

Being brought back to the present, she sighed a little bit. "Yeah, Solaris can be a bit of a hot headed troublemaker when he doesn't get his way. But you and your sister are doing the best you can at raising him," she said.

Luna nodded a little, there was a somber look on her face, "There was a bracelet on him that was of a language that I do not know. My sister doesn't know it either, but we figured it wasn't important. Do you think that if you had the time, you could try and figure out where it's from, Cadance?" she asked.

The pink woman nodded affirmatively, "I'm sure that there's some professor at the college that does language studies that would know. What did the language look like?" she replied.

The blue woman tried to recall, "Well, it was lettering very similar to our own, but the words weren't recognizable. To be fair, Tia and I weren't very big into language and she was more focused on the fact that she now had a baby that she could raise as her own," she replied calmly.

The pink woman nodded slightly, she wouldn't be the first to admit it, but deep down she wanted to someday settle down and raise a child of her own. She enjoyed her job as a babysitter and was thankful that her grades in college had allowed her to keep a scholarship that she had earned in high school. She just didn't know when she'd be able to find the time, or someone to be with to have a child of her own. She sighed a little sadly, something that didn't go unnoticed by her friend. "Tell me what's on your mind?", she asked, concerned.

"Just all of this babysitting makes me want to have my own little one some day. I'm sure it'll be a magical moment for me to finally be able to hold my own child in my arms after giving birth to them. But it seems that day is so far away with college and my future in being a teacher getting in the way. I heard you were going to try to be a teacher at Canterlot High. You wish to support your sister?", Cadance replied calmly, running a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, Tia acts like doing all of the work she does on her own doesn't bother her, but I can tell it's stressing her out a bit. Raising a child that does have a habit of getting into a lot of trouble is adding onto her stress and I know that it can't be healthy for her. It's why I've been doing what I can to get home before she does and why I go out of my way during my free time to do some of her work and to help her with Solaris. I'm glad you've been there to help us out as well, Cadance. You've been a great help over the last several years," Luna said as she walked over to a window.

The pink woman walked over to a closet and opened the door with a smirk, "It's a good thing that I don't ever babysit anyone over here. Otherwise, your nephew would've found all of his presents," she gloated

The blue woman laughed, she knew that her friend was smart, but she had never given her enough credit for how crafty she really was. She realized she had forgotten to ask Celestia when she wanted them to bring the presents over to the place, but she figured that she'd err on the side of caution and wait til they returned from Wonder World if they were still going. She had spent the last week sending out invitations to the families of everyone who Cadance babysat as well as some of the friends that her nephew had made at school, it was shaping up to be a birthday party that the young boy would remember for years to come.

The two of them looked at each other and nodded a little, they both had an understanding without having to use any words. The both of them figured that they would bring the presents after that part of the party. The pink woman grinned, "I'll quietly sneak away from the party and retrieve the gifts, he'll notice that you were gone, Luna. You're his aunt and you're usually there with him, even if it's to make sure that he stays in line and for him to eat his vegetables and do his homework," she said slyly.

The blue woman's phone buzzed and she checked it, "Tia wants to go have some breakfast at home with her," she said.

Cadance nodded with a smile and she locked the closet. Her friend left the house first and she made sure that everything was locked up and secured so that no one would be able to get in and out of her house without breaking in. She left her house and locked the door, entering the car that Luna had gotten into the driver's seat of. She buckled her seat belt and chuckled, "Do you think Celestia is going to enjoy the fact that we're going to be doing most of the work for her son's birthday party?" she asked.

The blue woman smirked a little, she honestly knew that her sister would be slightly annoyed, but she really didn't care much. She didn't want to see her constantly stressed out, so she was going to take charge as the authoritative aunt. It didn't matter if her sister or her nephew liked that or not, it was what she had planned from the beginning. She started the car and pulled out the driveway. First thing first, she'd go back home and have breakfast with her sister. After that, she'd wait til the afternoon and then they would go to Wonder World for the birthday party.

Chapter 11

The afternoon had arrived and Solaris was allowed to wander Wonder World finally. He had been given about ten dollars worth of tokens and there were other kids around his age there too, including a blue skinned one with multi-colored hair that for some reason enjoyed the ball pit. He didn't pay her any attention though, there was a particular game here that he wanted to play, one that he had enjoyed ever since his babysitter had mistakenly let him watch a movie about dinosaurs, not realizing until it was too late that it wasn't a good pick for a three year old child. He walked over to the machine in question and he saw that an adult was standing there, but the adult looked different from other adults that he knew. Most of them were clean shaven, but this one had a neatly trimmed beard. His eyes were focused on the screen and he was using the light gun with expert precision.

The young child could only watch in awe, but was surprised when the stranger put a token in on the other side and pressed the button on the console, pulling the other light gun out and aiming it at the screen. He was not prepared for what the man did next, he was expecting the man to wildly fire both of the weapons at once. Instead, the man fired one of the guns until the game told him he was out of ammo and swapped as he reloaded, ensuring that he'd always be able to fire his weapon at the dinosaurs that were trying to reach his character. It was like something he had never seen before, no one had ever showed such skill at this machine, and yet here was this man acting as if it was nothing.

Minutes quickly blurred together as a crowd started to form, mostly of other children, but there were some adults mixed in. There was a bunch of murmuring about the fact that everyone they knew required multiple tokens for this machine to even get far into the game, yet this guy was on the final boss after using only two tokens, one for each gun. His eyes never wavered, and everyone wondered if the man had even blinked once during the entire thing, "While I appreciate an audience, all of y'all murmurin is breakin my concentration," the man said in a thick southern accent.

Everyone fell silent as he started to attack the final boss, it was a dinosaur from the newest movie, the Spinosaurus. The adult playing the game smiled a little as he rained fire down upon the beast. Quickly firing through clip after clip of ammo while avoiding as much damage as he could. Within a few minutes, the dinosaur roared in pain and retreated, signalling the end of the game. The entire crowd, including Solaris erupted into cheers as this man did what none of them thought possible, but the man merely put the light guns back where they originally and calmly walked away. Solaris didn't feel like he could match the skill of the man he had just watched, so he wandered off to a racing game.

As he sat in the chair of the arcade, he inserted a token and grabbed the steering wheel. A raspy voice spoke up next to him, "You think you got what it takes to beat me, kid?" the voice asked.

He looked to his side and saw the girl he had seen earlier, she was smirking at him as if she was the queen of this arcade machine, "No one's faster than I am," she stated.

He stuck her tongue out at her, "You're a girl, how can you be good at video games?" he asked.

This riled up the blue girl and the two of them started the race, Solaris thought he had her beat, but she quickly drove up behind him and passed by without any issue. The race was clearly over from that point, but he kept trying, desperately to get anywhere in the race. He kept falling further and further behind, but this girl was able to beat him soundly and without any issue. This infuriated the boy, "You cheated!" he accused her.

"I don't have to cheat to beat someone like you, I've been playing this arcade since I was three years old, I'm really good at games like this," she stated proudly.

"You're still a cheater! Everyone knows that girls can't play video games as well as boys can!" Solaris reiterated.

The girl took offense to that and pointed to an arcade, "I come here to play that one all the time, it's a great game. Let's see how well you do if you're so good at video games," she taunted.

He walked over to the arcade, it was a game about a fighter jet, he inserted a token and started to play the game. Almost immediately, he was overwhelmed and defeated, he had never played a flight sim before. He got frustrated, but the girl from before walked over to the machine and put her token in. She started to expertly play the game, avoiding missiles as if they weren't even an issue for her. He watched in both shock and awe as she blew through the game. When she beat it, she turned over to him as he stood there slack jawed, unable to process what just happened. He had always believed that girls weren't good at video games, but here was this girl who just easily beat him twice.

"You just gonna stand there or are you going to apologize to me," she huffed.

He pouted and folded his arms, "I"m sorry," he said in an annoyed tone.

The girl smiled and wandered off to play some more games leaving the child on his own and separated from the group he had come to the place with. But as a young boy, he had ideas of where to go to get into trouble. He decided to head towards the playground that Wonder World had. It was a very fun place for any kid to go without any tokens and he felt like he wanted to climb things. He took his shoes off at the door and placed them into locker they had set up for shoes and ran into the tunnel. There were kids his age climbing around and playing in the different ball pits, but none of that mattered to him.

He saw his objective, a climbing wall for the kids. It wasn't very tall or very steep and had foam padding at the bottom, so if any of them fell, they wouldn't get hurt. But he ran towards it and started climbing it, he felt alive while doing this. He really felt most alive while being active and he couldn't explain why, sure he loved video games, but he enjoyed running and climbing. He had always wondered what would new adventure each new day would bring him. He climbed to the very top of the wall, despite it not being allowed and he looked down from the top of the mountain.

He smiled as he looked down upon all of the kids, until a ball hit him in the head and that was enough to knock him off his perch. But he didn't fall towards the foam matting that was there for the children, he fell off and slammed into a yellow tunnel with his right arm. Pain erupted through it as he felt a painful snap. By the time he had hit the ground, he had erupted in tears and was screaming loudly, moving his right arm hurt like he had never been hurt before. He tried to get up, but he couldn't.

The kid who threw the ball walked over to him and hit him in the face again, "Dumb kid, you got beat by a girl at video games and then you tried to play king of the mountain. Serves you right!" he taunted.

Solaris noticed the red skin of the older kid in question and screamed in pain as the others moved away from him. Luna was the one who entered the tunnel and the playhouse, much to his surprise and he was still scared of her from this morning, so he tried to move away.

Being much smaller than she was and having an injured arm prevented him from getting very far as she quickly grabbed him, "Solaris, where are you hurt?" she asked in a concerned voice.

He didn't respond, but it was pretty obvious where he was hurt from the fact that in his escape attempt, he didn't move his right arm very much. She gently grabbed his arm and he tried to yank it from her, but her grip was firm, "Solaris, please work with me here. I just want to see how badly you're hurt," she said firmly.

The boy complied, he was still crying as Celestia rushed into the tunnel, "Solaris, I heard you screaming, is everything alright!?" she called out.

The younger of the two sisters moved her hand gently, but firmly along the arm to check for any fracturing, while trying to minimize her nephew's discomfort. She found where he had been injured upon reaching the upper arm as he winced and started sobbing louder. She moved her hand in that area and felt movement where there wasn't supposed to be any. It didn't take her at all long to figure out what had happened.

"What is it, Luna?" her older sister asked, noticing the look of concern on the woman's face.

The blue haired woman sighed as she gently scooped up her nephew, "Tia, can you help me with him and can you ask Cadance to get his shoes? I thought his arm was bruised at first, but with a simple test like this, I can't tell how bad the injury is. I don't know whatever went on in here, but I'm very sure he has a broken arm," she replied, her voice full of sorrow.

Celestia nodded and walked over to her son, she helped her younger sister pick him up. The two of them helped him out of the playhouse area, what was supposed to be a happy day for the child turned into a hospital trip. She wasn't happy about this at all and she looked down at her son who looked up at her pleading, almost as if he didn't want to leave his own birthday party, "Solaris, I promise to you that I'll make this up to you. I'll organize another party for you, but right now, we need to get you to the hospital. Having your arm treated is a lot more important than having cake and opening your presents," she said reassuringly.

He rested his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes, he was upset that he wasn't going to be able to finish his birthday party, but he knew that there was no fighting his mother when she took that tone. "Mommy, will you stay with me there?" he asked, scared.

He had always had a fear of hospitals and doctors especially, he couldn't explain why, none of them could. But just being separated from his mother or his aunt at one was enough to send him into hysterics. His mother however nodded to him, "Of course I will. Luna and I will both stay by your side during this, and Cadance will come with. I promise. If you're a good boy at the hospital, I promise you that I'll go get something special to eat on the way home, okay?", she replied.

"Okay, Mommy," was all that Solaris could muster up the courage to say as he was carried out into the SUV and buckled into a seat securely with his aunt holding him close.

His mother climbed into the driver's seat of the car and started the car, she sighed as she hadn't expected to ever have to take her son to the hospital for any sort of serious injury. It was usually just for him being sick when the urgent care facilities were closed or his primary care physician wasn't available. This wasn't something she had ever wanted to do, but as a mother, she was prepared to do it. She promised herself silently that she would do her best to help her son's recovery go as smoothly as possible as she started the drive to the nearest hospital.

Chapter 12

Solaris had arrived at the hospital and X-rays of his arm had been taken. He had been left in the room with his mother who was holding him closely. She felt guilty about letting him out of her sight which caused him to get hurt, but at the same time, she knew that she needed to give him space so that he could grow on his own. She was taking care to make sure that she didn't touch his injured arm for fear that it could be broken. He had calmed down considerably since they had left Wonder World and she knew that it bummed him out that he couldn't be there. "Mommy... it hurts..." he said, his voice full of pain and sadness. It was almost as if he could barely talk through it.

"I know, sweetie," she replied in a soothing voice.

The two of them sat in silence as doctor walked in carrying the X-ray images. He placed them on a lit board and pointed at a circled area, "Your son has an oblique hairline fracture in the middle third of his humerus. We don't treat these with a cast, but he will have to either keep his arm immobilized in a sling or a brace. As you can already see, there is swelling and bruising on his arm. I'm going to apply a splint to his arm which will immobilize his arm and allow it start the healing process. I will also be giving him a sling so that his arm may hang freely at his side so that it'll heal properly. After three weeks, come back and we'll switch it out for a functional brace to allow free movement of the shoulder and elbow," he said in a professional manner.

The seven year old boy looked down, he was upset about this whole thing, but the pain in his arm was extreme. The doctor walked over to him and handed him a small cup with child strength painkillers, "These will help with the swelling and the pain, young man," he said in a calming voice.

Solaris grabbed the cup from the green skinned man's hand. He took the medication and drank the water he was given. He was still quiet as he was in a lot of pain, but the doctor walked out for a bit to allow the medication to take effect. Celestia looked at her son sadly as Luna walked into the room. "How is he, Tia?"

"He's in a lot of pain, he's barely speaking. He's also somewhat depressed. He loved climbing..." she started.

The mere mention of climbing caused a reaction in the child, he started to shudder and squirm. He didn't want to be there, he didn't want to hear about climbing anymore. It was something he never wanted to do again after this trip to the hospital. His aunt walked over to him and stood in front of him to stop any ideas of escape. If necessary, she would restrain him, but by necessity, avoid the injured arm. He stopped squirming and the alabaster white woman sighed, "I guess he won't be going to the tree house anymore. I'll see about having it taken down this weekend. Luna, can you watch him while I have that done?" she asked quietly.

The blue woman nodded gently, "I've not had anything planned this weekend. I'll be around," she said as she ruffled her nephew's hair.

In her mind, she had already planned out a weekend for her nephew. Since he wouldn't be able to play any of the games that she or Cadance had bought him, she was going to play some video games for him to watch so that he wouldn't be entirely bored. She pulled out a handheld device and sat next to him, "Solaris, I know it hurts and I know you want to cry, but why don't you watch me play some games?" she offered.

He was happy to pay attention to something, anything that kept his mind off things. He watched as his aunt booted up this arcadey flight simulator, he didn't catch the name of it, but there were planes and the action was fast. He watched as she was able to quickly maneuver her craft to be able to avoid missiles and get behind her opponents. He felt a desire to play the game, but he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. As she played the game over the next half hour and he watched her, the pain started to subside and eventually he didn't feel any at all.

The doctor walked in and started to place the splint on the child's arm. The swelling had gone down slightly, which was good and Solaris didn't struggle. He seemed a bit more lively. "Will I be able to use my arm?" he asked.

The doctor shook his head, "I'm afraid not for a few weeks, after that, you'll have to do regular physical therapy to get strength back in your arm. But you're still young and the injury isn't too severe, you'll make a full recovery, young man," he stated with a frown on his face that turned into a comforting smile.

The child didn't move his arm at all as his mother ruffled his blue hair. They had dyed his hair that color to be more like his aunt Luna and he wore it slightly long, down to his shoulders. The doctor smiled at the child's willingness to cooperate with him and when he was done, he walked over to the counter and pulled out a lollipop. He walked back to the child and placed the immobilized arm into a cast and smiled slightly as he gave the child the lollipop. The blue haired child took it with his free hand with a frown, he wanted to be able to use his arm again, but he would have to wait.

Cadance walked in carrying a box, "Your mom and I wanted to wait until your party was over. The rest of the gifts are at the house, but I figured you'd want to
open up one of your presents here, sorry that your birthday wasn't a happy day for you," she said sadly.

"Oh, so it's your birthday? I'm sorry you had to come here, young man. But I hope the rest of your day goes well, sport," he said as he finished the work.

The pink woman handed the child the box she was carrying, it was wrapped up in nice wrapping paper and had a lovely little bow on top. He ripped into the paper and noticed that she had gotten him a Ponystation 2 for his birthday. He was excited at first, but then remembered his arm with a frown. "I'm sorry I can't play it," he said sadly.

"I'll tell you what, Solaris. I'll go out and buy some games so that you can watch me play the ones I buy so that you won't be so bored all the time during your recovery. Heck, you seemed rather interested in Ace Combat, so I think you could be my unofficial co-pilot in any of the PS2 Ace Combat games. I've been wanting to play it for a while now, but I've not had the time or the system," his aunt offered.

He leaned his head against her with a smile, "Can we go home now?", he asked.

"Yeah, you're ready to go, little guy," the doctor said as he backed away.

Solaris climbed off the bed and started to walk to the door, but Luna grabbed the Ponystation 2 from him, "You wouldn't want to break this would you?", she asked sweetly.

"No," he responded sadly.

She nodded and the four of them walked out of the emergency room and Celestia walked to the clerk as the rest of them walked out to the SUV. Luna climbed into the back with Solaris and pulled out her Pony Station Portable and started playing Ace Combat X with him in the back, it kept him calm and the two of them were mostly waiting for his mother to return. She selected an aircraft that she had unlocked after beating the game once and going through it again. He pointed at the screen, "What's that?", he asked her, curious.

"That is a fictional superplane. It's called the XFA-27, it first appeared in the second game in the series," she replied calmly, holding him close.

Celestia soon returned and sat down in the driver's seat, it was going to be a long way to their place, but as Cadance got into her own car, the two vehicles drove out of the hospital parking lot. The only noises on the way back were the Ponystation Portable and both Solaris and Luna talking about the game she was playing. The alabaster white woman couldn't bring herself to say anything, the regret that she had allowed her son to be injured like this was weighing her down too much. She held back and fought the tears that wanted to flow down her face, but at the same time, she smiled slightly seeing her sister and her son finally starting to get along.

Chapter 13

Luna and Solaris had spent the entire week together, and he was really starting to look forward to spending time with her, especially since his mom was also off work for the summer. He was still unable to move his arm because of the brace he was wearing, but he was getting used to it. Just spending time watching his aunt play games was starting to be routine activity for the two of them. She was at the moment playing Ace Combat 5 and had just gotten to the mission known as Four Horsemen. It was a standard mission or so it seemed, but she had to time her attacks on radar sites with her wingmen so that the Yuktobanians weren't alerted to the surprise attack.

Celestia walked into the room with lunch for the two of them. She had made a sandwich and salad for her sister and a grilled cheese with tomato soup for her son. She placed the tray with Luna's food next to her younger sister with a sweet smile and then walked over to her son and sat down next to him. He had difficulty eating as he couldn't steady the plate or bowl as he ate and had spilled the soup on his first day which thankfully wasn't hot enough to hurt him, but it did require his covers and sheets to be washed from the staining that it caused. She picked up the spoon and dipped it into the soup. She lifted it up to his lips and he opened his mouth as she placed the spoon in. It broke her heart to see him like this and initially, he had resisted being fed until Luna had gotten fed up with him and refused to spend time with him until he swallowed his pride and allowed his mother to feed him soup.

The blue haired woman continued with her game while all this was going on, she was absorbed into it, making sure to time her attacks with Edge's countdown to ensure that the enemy forces weren't alerted so that she would be able to continue on with the mission. She grabbed the sandwich and took a bite, it was turkey and provolone, not her first choice, but the lettuce and tomato that her sister had put on it, with a dollop of mayo made it better. She paused the game and got up to leave to the kitchen, leaving her nephew and her sister alone in the room.

Neither of them had anything to say to the other, Celestia looked at her child with a sad look in her eyes. She wished dearly that she could heal his arm in an instant, but she couldn't. All they could do was let the arm heal on its own. She placed the spoon back onto the tray and placed her hand on her son's cheek. He looked up at her and the two of them locked eyes. The mother with a saddened look in her eyes and the son with a look of frustration in his. Neither of them wanted him to be where he was now, both of them wanted him to be happy and to be able to play, but it would only be another week until that would be the case.

Luna returned to the room with drinks, one with a straw for Solaris and one without for her. "Thank you, Aunt Luna," the boy said, his voice not hiding his frustration with all that was going on.

"I know you're frustrated, I know that you would prefer playing these games yourself. Until that arm heals though, you'll need to keep it immobilized," she replied in a neutral tone.

His arm started to itch again, it was nothing new since he wasn't able to wash the arm because of the brace. But it was still annoying. He started to scratch at the bandages that covered the brace, but Celestia grabbed his hand firmly and gave him the look that she'd always give him if she wanted him to stop doing something immediately. Though he initially struggled, he quickly stopped and she lowered his hand back to his side. She went back to feeding him his lunch, but he didn't seem to have much of an appetite after that. She tried to get him to eat, but he just refused. "I'm not hungry, mommy... I think I'm just going to get some sleep..." he stated.

Both his mother and his aunt nodded, with Luna pausing her game as she was still in the middle of the mission. As she turned off the TV, her sister grabbed both of the trays and the two of them left the boy in his room all alone. The boy laid back on his bed and rested his head against his pillow, using his good arm to pull the covers over him, leaving his head exposed. He lacked the drive to do anything, he didn't want to sit around and just watch TV, he didn't want to just watch his aunt play games, he wanted to be the one playing those games.

He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, but for the first time in his life, something peculiar happened. He found himself floating in a void full of stars, a voice called out to him, but it was a name that he couldn't recognize. He turned to see a world which he flew to, entering the atmosphere of. Everything was brightly colored and he landed on the world. The voice sounded familiar to him as it continued to call out to him, but he couldn't explain why this was. He walked through the town, there were brightly colored ponies around the place, something he couldn't quite figure out and he arrived at a sign that said, "Manehattan".

He looked around figuring that it was a freaky dream and when he turned, he saw something that made his blood run cold. There was a black pony with green hair and green eyes standing there, the pony had holes in its legs and a crooked horn. He found himself in an unfamiliar house where two ponies that felt familiar were standing next to a cradle, which had a foal that looked a lot like him in it. The black pony walked into the house and paralyzed both of the adult ponies with her magic. The child started to fuss uncontrollably, but something happened, the mother and the strange black pony used their magic on the infant at the same time causing a cascading effect.

The scene melted away, he was unable to shake a terrible feeling that something bad had happened to those ponies. But a gentle voice spoke to him in the void as a light started shining on him, "Solaris, that is your name, correct?" the voice asked.

"Yes," he timidly responded, as he covered his eyes from the blinding light.

A strange pony that looked a lot like him walked towards him from the light, the colt and the boy looked into each other's eyes. Neither of them said anything for a moment, just standing there in silence. "Do you want to play something?" the colt asked.

Solaris just shook his head and then another voice, this one familiar spoke through the dream, "Solaris, wake up honey. You're having a nightmare," the voice belonged to his mother who was trying to wake him up.

His eyes shot open and he looked into his mother's face, she had a worried expression on her face and he was scared. The nightmare had shook him, he wanted to know what had happened to those ponies, but he didn't believe that they were real to begin with. The idea of colorful ponies seemed a bit silly, even to the seven year old boy, but the black one filled him with dread and he couldn't explain why. He hugged his mother with his good arm who hugged back, the two of them kept the embrace until he finally calmed down. "Mommy, there's no such thing as colorful ponies, is there?" he asked.

"They're just a cartoon on the television, Solaris. I think Cadance has been letting you watch a little too much of it," she replied.

His heart settled down, but then he asked a question that she wasn't prepared for, "Who is my daddy?", he asked.

She didn't know how to answer that question, but she knew this day was coming ever since she had found him on her doorstep seven years ago. She sat down next to him on his bed and leaned forward to try to hide the look of pain on her face, but he wasn't fooled at all. "You're not my real mommy... are you?" he asked.

The words cut into Celestia's heart like a knife, she always thought of herself as the boy's real mother, but it was probably better to tell him the truth now. "Solaris, seven years ago, I found you in a cradle on my doorstep. Luna didn't want to keep you at first as she thought raising a child would put too much on my already full plate. I however couldn't bear the thought of abandoning you, so she and I made a deal. We would search for your true parents for a month, try to find someone who had given birth to you, but we had absolutely no luck. I took you in as my own son, even if you weren't my flesh and blood, you are still very much my child and I am your mother. If your real parents are out there, I promise you that I will reunite you with them, even if it means that you'll leave me," she said sadly.

The boy was crying, but he hugged her tightly and buried his face in her shoulder, "I'm sorry for saying you're not my real mommy, mommy. I won't ever leave you, I promise!" he cried out.

The two of them embraced each other and they held the hug for several minutes before she broke the hug off, "Solaris, I have loved you ever since you came into my life. I want you to be happy. I want you to know that no matter what happens, you will always have a home here," she said reassuringly.

The two of them shared a smile and Celestia walked out of the room to let her son go back to sleep. This time, he fell into a pleasant dream of his arm having been fully healed and him playing with his mother.

Chapter 14

It had been three weeks since Solaris had broken his arm and he had regained the use of his arm. It wasn't much, but physical therapy, though painful was at least allowing him to regain the use of the arm. He sat in his room as the nightmare he had was still bothering him. Since he was able to play games, he was alone in his room. He had no one really to turn to or talk to, he had been told time and time again since that nightmare that the world he saw was fictional and that he watched too many cartoons. He couldn't shake the feeling that it was something more than that, something that he couldn't explain or even understand.

He looked out the window as a bird flew on it and rested on the windowsill. He wanted to find the answers, but there wasn't any possible way for him to do so. It had all felt so very real to him, like it was another world that he entered. Could he only enter it in his dreams he wondered. He laid back down in his bed and stared at the ceiling, he didn't really want to go anywhere or do anything. But suddenly Cadance walked in with someone new. This was a strange person that he had never seen before, but she thought he could help him.

The man walked over to the bed and nodded to Cadance, ruffling the boy's head. "Hey there, I've been hearing that you've been having rather vivid dreams about this strange place and this city you call Manehattan. It sounds a bit strange, but I've been doing some work on this bracelet of yours with Cadance and the language isn't matching up to any language in the world as we know it. Not to mention, but I've done a little digging and there was once a child that looked exactly like you, same skin tone and everything. However there were some differences. Now while I doubt that you are from another world or anything, there's a high chance that perhaps you were created as a clone and dropped here by the researchers who made you so that you could grow up to be a normal child in society," he stated calmly.

Solaris didn't understand a single word that he had been told, but something in him had given him a deep fear of this person. The man stood up and he walked towards the door. No sooner did it close did the child run to his window and open it up, climbing out and hitting the ground on his feet. He ran to the fence and quickly climbed over it despite only having full range of motion with one hand. He ran as fast as he could along the sidewalk. He was scared, terrified and he knew where his mom worked. He wanted to get to her as fast as possible as he didn't wanna go to whatever evil lab he had come from if he was a clone.

He ran as fast as his legs would take him towards the high school. He had hoped that Cadance and that creepy person wouldn't come and follow him in their car and wouldn't know where he was going. Minutes soon turned into a half hour of straight running and he finally reached the school. He saw the wondercolt statue and nearly collapsed against it. He was exhausted and tired, unable to keep going anymore. He laid his head against the mirror and tried to catch his breath. He was still highly alert, listening out for cars that were coming, but his eyes soon grew heavy and he fell asleep again.

This time, he found himself as one of the creatures from his dreams. He was standing on all fours in a strange lab, he was scared while humans in white coats looked at him and started speaking about him. There were machines around him and he couldn't see the faces of the people through the bright lights. He looked around him in a panic, but couldn't wake up. He was stuck in this nightmare. He started to run from the people and out into the maze like base. The walls were white and he couldn't see where he was going, all he could do was gallop. He heard the people scream at him for him to come back to be experimented on, but he wasn't going to turn back any time soon.

Everything started to melt away much to his horror as he saw his mother look down at him, "You're not my son, you're just a freak! An experiment gone wrong!" she yelled, before she turned away.

He started crying and reached out for her, but she walked away and his aunt Luna had appeared before him, "You're a bad horse! You don't belong inside or as part of the family! Get outside and eat the grass like you're supposed to!" she yelled as she picked him up and threw him out of the house.

Solaris landed on the grass and looked down at his body, his pale body had changed color to a bluish fur. A red mane fell from his head and stayed limp as he looked at himself in a puddle on the ground as Cadance came out and tried to feed him an apple, "You're just a little pony. You deserve nothing in life!" she called out as he whinnied sadly.

The man that Cadance had brought with her started laughing maniacally as he walked towards the young colt who backed up towards the fence. "You're nothing more than a freak from a lab. Something that shouldn't exist in the world. Something that doesn't belong. Go back to your lab, you damned freak!", the man yelled at him.

The blue colt found himself backed into a corner and he charged through the man, knocking him over and he turned around to see the man laying there on the ground. His head was twisted to the side and there was no breathing, nothing. He walked over carefully and poked at him with a hoof. Nothing. The man was dead and it was his fault. He started wailing loudly which brought everyone to him and all of them chanted one thing, "His blood is on your hands! You are nothing more than a failed experiment from a lab! You are nothing more than a murderer!"

This continued on until he finally bolted awake to see the very disappointed face of his aunt staring back at him. He looked around to see both his mother and Cadance looking concerned and the man from before looking at him. He tried backing up away from the man, scared of him, "You! You turned me into one of those horses! You died! You died!" he screamed aloud.

Everyone looked at him puzzled, they were concerned, but the man calmly stepped back, "Solaris, I was trying to be a bit funny earlier to make you laugh. It's not unheard of for people to greatly resemble or look exactly like one of their ancestors. I'm a big fan of science fiction and all, so I thought you'd appreciate it as well," the man stated.

Celestia walked over concerned and then frustrated. She grabbed him by the arm, "You ran away from home, you're grounded for the next month. No TV, no video games, Solaris!" she said firmly.

She and Luna both carried him to the SUV and placed him back, as they drove away from the statue, he couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the last time he'd ever see that statue again. He looked back at the front of the car and looked down, he was frustrated and hurt and no closer to the answers that he wanted to find. He looked down at his hand and he closed it tightly. He was going to find the answers that he sought, but he had no idea where he would start to look. But little did he know, his life was going to change in the not too distant future. How it was going to happen was a mystery to all, even to him.

Chapter 15

Solaris awoke in his room to his alarm, the clock on his dresser said 5:15 AM. He wasn't used to waking up at this time, but it was the alarm his mother had set. He reached over to the alarm and tried to hit the off button, but couldn't find it. He became quickly frustrated with it causing a lot of noise and he grabbed it off the table and slammed it down. This caused the alarm to stop making noise, but also broke it. He groaned as he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, only for his door to swing open and the light get flicked on. He shielded his eyes from the bright light by pulling the covers over his head. He wasn't very happy about getting up this early and the light put him in a worse mood.

"It's time to wake up, Solaris. Celestia is in the kitchen with pancakes," Luna's voice said without any energy.

He could tell that the two of them were tired, his mother was always a morning person while his aunt was always a night owl. He sat up in bed, his red hair falling in front of his face and he looked at his hand, it was starting to turn blue. He flexed his hand to make sure that it wasn't a dream, but whatever had caused him to appear different from other people here was starting wear off. But he was always from this world, he thought. At least that's what he had been told.

He looked at his aunt and tried to fake a smile, but he couldn't hold it for long. He was too tired to show any emotion. He climbed out of bed and started to put on his clothes. His aunt had left the door to give him some privacy as he dressed and put the supplies he'd need in his backpack. He had stayed up late last night despite what his mother had told him and now he was fatigued and tired because of it. His first day of high school and he was probably going to fall asleep in class. What a way to spend his day, he figured.

He slowly shambled out of his room with his backpack slung across his back and down the hallway. His mother was in the kitchen making pancakes as she usually did. She always personalized the pancakes for each member of the family, but he slumped into a chair and slammed his face into the table with a groan. "Stayed up too late last night, Solaris?" Celestia asked in a smug tone.

He knew that tone, it was her patented, "Mother always knows best" tone and it annoyed him to no end, because she always used it when she was right and he was wrong. She turned to him wearing her usual cooking apron over her principal's attire and he looked up from the table, groggy and barely able to keep his eyes open. Luna placed a cup of steaming hot coffee next to him and poured in a little cream and sugar. "Normally we don't allow students to have coffee, but in your case, I think you need a little," she said with a smirk.

The bluish skinned teen didn't bother to hesitate, he grabbed the cup and greedily started gulping it down in spite of it burning his mouth as he did so. He didn't care though. The pain would be temporary, but with his mother being the principal and his aunt being the vice-principal, him being in trouble wouldn't end at school. It'd continue at home as well. His mother placed a plate of pancakes in front of him and he grabbed a fork to eat them. He kept his table manners as the caffeine had yet to take its hold on him, but he desperately just wanted to go back to sleep.

He finished his breakfast and walked out to the living room to lay down on the couch. He noticed that his aunt had left her shoes under the table and sighed, "Aunt Luna, you left your shoes in here again!" he called out.

"Why don't you pick them up and move them if they're bothering you, Solaris," she replied back.

He didn't want to touch her shoes, he had been punished time and time again for touching the clothes of either his mother or his aunt. Instead he moved away from the couch and sat in one of the chairs, closing his eyes to try to take a nap. He wasn't aware before today that five AM was a time that existed. Celestia walked into the living room and kissed him on the forehead, "Listen Solaris, I have to head to the school to get things ready. Luna will see that you get on the bus safely and then drive to the school herself," she said gently.

He made a groaning sound, he didn't like it when she kissed him on the forehead, it made him feel like she was treating him like a young child instead of the fourteen year old that he was. She smiled and left the house leaving him and his aunt alone. He started trying to go back to sleep, but the caffeine from the coffee hit his system and his eyes shot awake. He hadn't been this awake in a long time. He turned on the television because he couldn't sleep and just watched some mindless early morning shows.

It wasn't much, but it made the teen happy. It allowed him to relax from the stress of being awake at an insanely early time, but he wondered if any of the other students had to wake up this early. Getting up at five AM for a bus that probably wasn't going to arrive til 6:30 seemed a bit much. The dark blue woman walked into the living room and turned off the TV suddenly, "It's time to go wait for the bus, Solaris. Celestia and I won't be doing this every day as we have to both make sure we get to work. Don't think about skipping school because we're not watching you either, we'll know if you've been there or not. It's part of our job description, child," she said in a stern tone.

Solaris grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder as he stood up. He took care not to hit anything, but the look on his aunt's face showed that she was very much displeased by his action. He smiled sheepishly as she pointed at the door sternly. He sighed and left the house to stand in the driveway. It was surprisingly chilly and he had forgotten to grab a jacket. He knew that despite the fact that it was September, it was still going to get a fair bit warm by the time he returned home.

He rubbed his arms as he was starting to get colder, the wind was picking up and it wasn't helping. The cold bit into him and he started to shiver. Much to his annoyance, his aunt walked out with a jacket and a smile on her face, "I can get you a jacket if you wish, Solaris," she offered politely.

He didn't like that and turned his head away from her. The bus thankfully showed up and pulled in front of his house. He was the only student on this street that went to Canterlot high, so there wasn't anyone else that could have seen his aunt or so he thought. The doors opened and he climbed onto the bus, the driver nodded to him and he started to make his way back. There were dozens of students and none of them were giving him a look that he liked. He walked all the way back so that he wouldn't have to deal with them.

One student in particular, a senior moved back closer to him. "Does the new little freshman want his mommy to get the students to be his fwiends," he said mockingly.

Solaris looked up at the student, recognizing the voice and then he recognized the person in question. Anger flared in his mind as he remembered his broken arm from seven years ago, his right hand balled into a fist and he clenched his teeth. He would love nothing more than to get his revenge, but he instead chose to breathe. "Aww, the wittle freshman is getting mad," the older student said mockingly.

The bluish skinned teen took another deep breath, this wasn't worth fighting over. This wasn't worth getting in trouble over. However, he felt himself get pushed against the window. That was the last straw for him. The young teen's fist flew out and he decked the older teen square in the face. Blood leaked from the red teen's nose as he held it and backed up a couple of steps. The younger teen wasn't done, he stood up and shoved the senior into his own seat and then grabbed him by the head. He pulled his arm back, but the bus stopped quickly and before he could do anything, a couple of students pulled him off the senior and helped the bus driver hold him in his seat.

When he was properly restrained and he calmed down, the bus driver walked back to the driver's seat and continued driving to the school. Solaris wasn't thrilled with this and he knew that he wouldn't be allowed off the bus until his mother had come to get him once he got to school. He looked out the window, but made sure to shoot a glare at the senior that had tried to bully him, but the senior didn't recoil. The two of them glared at each other, but there wasn't any more fighting between them. Just silence as the bus quietly continued toward the school.

Chapter 16

The bus had arrived at the school and the Senior, a teen Solaris had learned was called Garble, was allowed off the bus to go directly to the nurse's office. The freshman was surprised that he was allowed off the bus immediately. As he walked down the stairs though, it became clear. Luna was standing there with her arms crossed, she looked extremely disappointed in him. It was obvious that she had been sent by his mother to collect him and take him to her office.

"I know the way there, Aunt Luna," the teenager stated quietly.

The vice-principal nodded and then her gaze was brought upon the Senior that had tried to sneak away. "You're coming with me," she ordered.

"But, I didn't do anything!" the senior tried to protest.

"You have a history of trying to start trouble and bullying," the blue woman stated firmly.

Solaris smiled somewhat, this filled him with a bit of joy. But he still had to go to his mother's office. He tried to remember the layout of the school from the time he had come here when he was a child and the tour that his mother had given him. He adjusted his backpack and pulled out the map to the school, but someone clearing their throat behind him startled him.

"Good morning Solaris, I heard that you had an altercation on the bus on the first day of high school. Would you like to come into my office?"

The voice belonged to his mother, and by her tone, he could tell that she wasn't at all pleased. But it was less of anger and more disappointment. He was still on edge after being startled, however.

"I was just looking for your office, Mother," he replied calmly to hide the fact that his heart was slamming in his chest.

She walked in front of him and nodded. She led him into the front office and then to a small office within the office. "Please, sit down, Solaris," she told him.

He sat down in a chair and he looked his mother in the eyes as she sat down. He took his backpack off and placed it on the ground. There was a silence between the two of them, neither of them really needed to say what they were both thinking. That he shouldn't have gotten into that fight. "Garble is a known bully and a troublemaker. This isn't the first time he started a fight with someone, but it is the first time he started a fight with someone and never fought back. Either you beat him so badly he couldn't fight back, which considering he's on the football team and you're not exactly a professional boxer..." she started.

"Mother, he's the one who broke my arm all of those years ago!" Solaris interrupted with a protest.

A glare from his mother made him shrink in his seat. "Sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted you," he said apologetically.

"As I was going to say, it was either you had beat him so badly he couldn't fight back or he's playing it up so that he can try to get out of being in trouble and at the same time getting you into more trouble. Now the fact that you assaulted a student still stands, it doesn't matter why you did it. You will be spending the day in in-school suspension," the principal stated clearly.

The teenager nodded in acceptance of his punishment. "What's going to happen to Garble?" he asked out of curiosity.

Celestia looked at her computer and sighed, "He's been causing so much trouble over the past four years. He has more suspensions than any other student, he's defaced the school time and time again. He's been the reason we've called the police more times than we can count. We will not be suspending him this time."

Solaris was about to start protesting, he felt that this was unfair. Garble was going to get away with all that he had done to him and to others and he was going to spend the day suspended within the school. He was angry at this, he had to tell his mother how he felt.

His mother instead turned the monitor to where he could see it, Garble wasn't going to get away with anything. He was going to be expelled from the school. This filled the freshman with glee. There was some justice in the world. He picked up his backpack and stood up from the chair. He turned around to leave the office, but his mother wasn't finished with him. "Now that I've gotten done talking to you as your principal, it's time I talk to you as your mother, if you don't mind."

The teenager turned around and sat back down in his chair, he placed his backpack on the ground and nodded to his mother.

"Solaris, I know that my sister and I haven't been able to give you the best childhood and I know that it can be hard on you since you don't have a father or a father figure in your life, but Luna and I have tried. I don't know why you've started to become more aggressive lately, perhaps it's the lack of a father figure in your life, perhaps it's just in your nature. I don't know. But you're going to have to learn how to control it, I don't want you getting hurt. If you ever get attacked, try to run away and find an adult. Don't stand your ground and get hurt. I wouldn't know what to do if you had gotten hurt, my son. Not a day goes by that I don't think of the time that I failed to protect you. The day that you broke your arm."

Celestia stood up and walked around the desk, embracing her child in a hug, but he started to struggle.

"Mom, you're embarrassing me!" he protested.

"You're too embarrassed of your own mother to hug her?" she retorted.

"This is at school in front of everyone!"

"I am still your mother, Solaris. No one will think any less of you for a mother showing her child that she cares about him."

The teenager continued to struggle, but the principal's grip was too tight. He wasn't able to escape from her hug. Luna walked into the door and started laughing. "It looks like you and Tia are having a bonding moment, I'll be back later then," she said as she started to walk back out.

Celestia let go of her child and looked to her sister, "Luna, can you show Solaris where he will be spending the rest of his school day today?" she requested.

Luna nodded and looked at her nephew, "I'll show you where students spend their time in in-school suspension," she stated.

The two of them left the room and when they were out of earshot, the vice-principal finally spoke up.

"I have no doubt that you were defending yourself. But Solaris, if your motive was revenge, please stop trying to pursue that. All the pursuit of vengeance brings upon you is disaster and more hatred. It's a never ending pursuit. As you get your revenge, someone will seek their revenge against you and so on and so forth until someone is killed. Please keep this in mind as you spend your day in suspension."

The two of them stopped in front of a room and the blue woman stepped inside as Solaris took a seat at one of the desks. He pulled out the supplies he had gotten for the school day and prepared to start the day. His aunt walked over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I'll be back to deliver your lunch when your lunch time comes up," she said comfortingly.

He nodded slightly and looked forward at his desk as she walked away. A smile reached his face as he thought about the fact that Garble had been thrown out of school. Even if he was the last straw on the camel's back, he had gotten some sort of retribution.

Author's Notes:

This chapter had been rewritten based on constructive criticism that I had received.