----------- Melody's Tale - Humble Beginnings -----------

The library was stifling that day... Melody tapped her pen on the desk and looked lazily out of the window, across the meadow, towards the sea... Wistfully, the young woman heaved a sigh. A voice broke her out of her reverie.

"Melody? Something the matter?" She asked quietly. Melody smiled up at Twilight Sparkle, her teacher, her friend, her console... Her mother.

"No, mom... I'm fine." She tore her attention away from the beckoning, glimmering blue water, forced herself to focus on the half-completed worksheet before her. Twilight stood up and padded closer, bending over to survey her work.

"Hmm..." Twilight said softly, leaning over the paper. "Aah, yes... Verse struggled with this a bit, too... Do you remember the equation I showed you last week?" Twilight said, tapping the problem that had Melody tripped up.

"Uum, that mass divided by critical arcane percentage is the vector for an apex on the substandard arch?"

"That's the one. If you apply that here," Twilight pointed to the complex equation beneath Melody's eyes. "You get the result you're looking for. Don't worry, that's a tricky bit of magic." Twilight smiled and kissed the top of Melody's head, eliciting a warm smile. Now that she knew what her mother wanted from her, she worked through the next few problems.

"Okay... I think I'm done." Melody stretched her back, listening to her vertebrae pop in a line. Twilight set her own book aside and stood up, leaning over to peer down at the completed worksheet.

"Hmm... Is this," She tapped the page, "The equation for an interior or an exterior Arcana Majora spell?"

"Uum... Interior."

"Okay, I just wanted to clarify." Melody probably hated these moments above all else. Magic wasn't like mathematics... It wasn't the sort of thing you could mess up and try again on. If you added numbers wrong, you could always just return to them later on. But if a spell went wrong, lives were forefeit. Twilight's expert eyes scanned her work with the sort of scrutiny a hawk pays it's prey from a mile up. To her teacher, nothing short of perfection was acceptable.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Melody swallowed hard and fought the nervousness that welled in her throat as Twilight's brow drew down further. "Melody." She finally said after a few moments of standing over her daughter.

"Y-yeah?" She swallowed hard once more.

"This is..."

A whimper.

"Perfect." Twilight's word sent a wave of relief through the young woman, making her sag in her seat. Twilight playfully ruffled her hair and took the sheet of paper, slipping it into a manila folder with ten similar pieces of work. "And that's it for today. With time left before lunch. Honestly, kiddo..." Twilight returned, smiling warmly down at her daughter. "You're gonna be just as good as me at this rate."

"Hardly." Melody stood from the desk and wrapped her arms around her mother. Only seventeen years old, and Melody was just as tall as Twilight. Not quite as tall as her other mother, though... Or her father, depending on the scenario... That, and she doubted she'd ever be as tall as her brother. "Rumor has it at my age, you were already Celestia's protoge, and had a hand in defeating Nightmare Moon to restore princess Luna to her rightful place. All I've ever done is-"

"Shifted the tide?" Twilight offered with a proud smile. "Aced every exam to date throughout your entire education? Something that I only accomplished through hard work and diligence?" True... Last winter, Melody had been the one to save their home from a powerful storm, and she hadn't missed a question yet... Twilight reminded her on almost a daily basis how she had gotten where she was through diligence and hard work, not napping and pure talent. True... Her favorite shade tree near the beach was calling her name...

"So am I free, then?" Melody asked, extricating herself from the tender embrace of her mother.

"I suppose so." Twilight groaned, nudging Melody's hip with her own. "Go. Take your nap. I'll know where to find you come supper." Melody kissed her on the cheek and padded upstairs to change...

"Phew..." Melody stripped her shirt off, thankful to be free of the restricting fabric. Her jeans left as well, and just as she went to pull on her swimsuit, Melody had to stop and look at herself in the mirror. Melody was slender, but not without her strong features. A healthy balance of tall and curvy, she was growing into her late-teen body well. Starting from the bottom, she had two dainty, graceful feet that carried her through the steps of many intricate dances with ease. These led up to her well-defined calves and thighs, flaring out into her wide hips. A family trait, it seemed... Her prominent hip bones protruded from her skin as she ran her hands down them, feeling the swell of her figure...

Living in the small-ish home next to the ocean with no way to get external supplies save for a bi-monthly drop from one of their avian friends or another, Melody had grown strong and fit from an early age. Her flat stomach bore the slightest hint of a 6-pack, leading up to the smooth flesh of her ribcage. Rising gracefully to the bottom of a moderate bust, Melody sported two healthy breasts, only a cup size smaller than Twilight's. All sweeping up to somewhat wide shoulders and a delicate, graceful neckline, pointed jaw, and drawn, almost pixie-like features...

She boasted a set of neon-green eyes, and high cheek bones. Twilight had told her this was a sign of nobility, knowledge... Thin eyebrows and a low forehead, Melody's eyes were almost always half-lidded in what could be anywhere from a sweet, seductive look to 'Holy crap I just woke up.' To top it all off, though, her hair was a pale teal color, all the more offset by her striking neon-green eyes... Not the subtle, dulled emerald or the strikingly eastern bright green... No, Melody's eyes seemed to flash with that bright green glow. She wasn't the most striking individual in Equestria, but she wasn't normal... Not like Lily. Curly red hair and brown eyes. That, compared with Twilight's purple hair and matching eyes, Melody began to wonder exactly where she came from.

Shrugging the notion off, Melody continued dressing, slipping into a tight-fitting 1-piece swimsuit ideal for fighting the rough currents in their own private little cove. She nabbed a towel from the closet in the hall and thundered down the steps. Twilight called something unintelligible to her, but Melody could hardly hear it. In her heart and her mind, she was already amongst the waves...

The tall grass of their meadow whipped and tugged at Melody's eternally-pale skin as she flew through it, grinning like the child she was at heart. Tossing her towel up onto it's usual branch on the lone tree standing at the edge of the sea, Melody thrashed through the shallow surf and dove in. The chill embrace of the clear saltwater blasted away the grogginess from the morning's study session, made her grin as she surfaced and cleared her nostrils of the offending water. A wave pulled at her, lifting her up to her feet, and setting her up to dive in again. Melody loved the water, and would swim anywhere from fifteen minutes to three or four hours in a day. That, and the hard work of growing their food with Lily, Melody managed to stay very fit. She swam about in the surf for a good hour before crawling up onto the beach and walking to her favorite tree.

This one tree stood at the edge of the meadow, where the strong grass roots gave way to clean, white sand. The dropoff was about a foot, and it was over this that Melody swung her legs, her upper body stretched out on the towel. She laced her fingers behind her teal hair, closed her eyes, and let the sound of the waves crashing on the shore lull her off to sleep...

Melody napped often. Twilight said she was much the same way when she was developing, as frequent sleep helped both her formidable magic and her body to grow much faster. Melody got at least eight hours at night, with a two or sometimes three hour nap during the day. Lily had told her that during her infant years, she would sleep sixteen hours straight.

"Hey sis." The voice made her eyes snap open.

"Shit, Verse, don't scare me like that!" She panted, her chest now heaving with the shot of adrenaline to her system. Her brother Verse had much the same physique as she did. They were, after all, twins. While her hair grew long and straight, his was short, and had a very slight curl to it. Nothing major, just a little bit of a nip at the end... If he ever let it grow longer than two inches, it probably would curl around. But oh well. While Melody was tall and slender, her brother was taller still. Skinny, almost. But his muscles were well-toned, and he was often complimented for how handsome he looked. His eyes had the same flashing green look as hers, and his skin never darkened for all the long hours they spent in the sun. They both remained delightfully olive-toned.

"Mid-day nap?" He teased. He was dressed in swimming trunks and nothing else, sitting next to her on a towel of his own. She must have been out, since the sun was markedly lower in the sky and she hadn't heard him approach.

"Mid-day coma more like it." Melody groaned and stretched, feeling the joints of her bones pop and crack. This tree was dangerous. She could sleep under it for ages... Verse chuckled at her joke and stretched out. Both of them looked up through the leaves of the tree at the clear blue sky above, the sound of the waves lapping the shore providing the sound track to their lounging.

"You know... We really have it made out here." Verse said quietly. Melody pondered his words for a few moments. Twilight encouraged the two of them to debate often. She wasn't sure if this was an invitation for an extra-cirricular lesson or just idle chat. She answered platonically.

"How do you figure?" Verse lifted his arm, gesturing to the sky.

"Think about it, Melody... Equestria is at war. People are dying every day from Fillydelphia to Stalliongrad, from Ponyville to Eyriewatch. Not just natural death, either... But true, heart-stopping, family-rending death..." He closed his fist and brought it back down behind his head slowly. "We don't have to face any of that there. The war doesn't go even as far south as Appleoosa, let alone all the way down here. Here, we can sit back, relax, and build our knowledge. How many weeks has it been since our last storm?" Melody thought for a few moments...

"Twenty-one."

"See? Five months, and not a single storm. No death of the family, or friends... No strife, no conflict... No nothing. How many other people can count on one hand the number of day's it's been since they last risked their lives? Since they watched a friend, or a comerade fall? Since they witnessed death in one shape or another?" He sighed and shook his head. "It just makes me wonder... Why are we this far south? How come this clearing and the surrounding jungle is all I've known for seventeen years of life? What did our mothers do to carry us this far south, away from the threat?" Melody identified with his line of logic. But Twilight had taught her to play both sides of an argument, even if the other side was one she didn't agree with.

"What if they just lived here? Before the war?"

"Melody. Come on. They tell us stories about when they used to live in Canterlot and Ponyville. And if they lived here, then why don't they speak the native tongue? Jokkan and Miko know our language, but we don't know theirs, and neither to Twilight or Lily... For two fourty-plus-year-old ladies, you'd think they'd have picked up a few words here and there..."

"Maybe they're refugees of the war?"

"Then why aren't they with the other refugees? Auntie Dash was talking about some unrest in the refugee camp outside of Appleoosa last time she visited. That's just north of the jungle. So why did they come through the jungle? What's more, Jokkan tells me none can enter from the north unless they have a guide... I'm telling you, Melody..." Verse said quietly. "There's something fishy going on here..."

"WHATTAYA TWO LOUNGING ABOUT FOR?!" The throaty roar of Lily's voice rang out clear across the meadow. Their mother, fiery-headed and looking cross, was stomping through the high grass towards them. Melody and Verse both rolled to their feet, grinning at one another. "I thought I told you two, no more making out beneath the tree." Lily growled as she padded closer, parting the grass with each step she took.

"At least I don't make my kids listen to me make their other mother cry at night." Melody shot her a teasing quip. Lily picked up the pace, both children stepped down from the meadow onto the white sands of the beach. Lily stripped her shirt off, tossing it forward to land next to their towels on the ground.

"At least I don't get caught yanking my meat to a picture of Applejack." Lily's shot made Verse stumble. Melody siezed the opportunity and broke for the sea at a dead run. Cursing, her brother fought to regain lost ground, even as Lily dropped down onto the beach, now wearing just her swimsuit, and all three of them made for the water. "I'm gonna getchya!" She hollered after both of them. Letting out a queal of childish delight, Melody dove into the surf, cutting through a wave with ease. Verse was less-graceful but much more powerful, and soon had made up the ground he lost in the frenzied sprint towards the water. Lily, always the tricky one, shifted just before her feet hit the water, growing avian wings from her back and flapping hard enough to kick up spray.

"No- ack! Pphbt! No fair!" Melody cried out as Lily quickly gained altitude and distance on both of them.

"CANNONBAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!" Dropping her wings and tucking her body in, Lily dropped straight for them. The cheerful cries of both children sounded as she impaced the water between them, the force of her cannonball spraying them both with a generous portion of water.

"Ugh!" Verse directed a splash into his mother's face as her grinning head resurfaced, and only got one right back. Thrashing about, all three of them splashed and laughed and played, chasing one another through the water, fighting or riding waves together, and generally just having a good time. That is, until Melody spotted something. She treaded water, watching their doom approach.

"Oh no." She said quietly.

"What?" Verse stopped at the expression on her face, and even Lily pulled up short as her daughter raised a shaking hand.

"What is it?"

"What?"

Lily and Verse followed her finger towards the advancing person.

"Oh no."

"Not good."

"RUN! SPLIT UP!" Too late. The purple field of magic slammed into the water fifty feet past them, kicking up a massive wave.

"AUGH!"

"NOOOOO!" The three were caught up in the wave, tumbling and twisting and dragging along the sand, all the while Twilight stood on the shore, grinning at them. Coughing and sputtering, the three crawled up onto the beach, on their hands and knees before the powerful magi.

"You got it in my NOSE." Verse grunted, sniffing to eject the saltwater.

"I don't EVEN want to think about where I've got sand right now..."

"Ugh. Twi, I swear..." Lily stood up and advanced upon her wife. "You gotta stop playing in the splash fights with us." Twilight squealed as Lily picked her up in a sandy, wet hug, both children watching them spin around in a wide circle.

It's moments like these, Melody thought with a smile, that make me wonder if the world is really at war... How can the two of them be so happy together when so much has been going wrong?

--------------------

"Hmm... Purple."

"Wrong, it's blue. Try again." Lily pointed at Verse this time. "Celestia."

"That's easy, golden. Like the sun."

"Oh come on, you give him the easy ones!"

"Shush." The fork swung around to Melody. "Luna."

"Midnight." She answered immediately.

"Good. What about... Shining Armor?"

"His is purple, like Twilight's."

"So why did you answer purple when I asked Rarity?"

"I... Oh, damn." Lily harrumphed and pushed her plate away in defeat. With a cheer of triumph, the other three set in on dessert. It was an after-dinner pastime. They would quiz one another, and the first person to give up had to wait until the others ate their dessert before they could. Melody watched with a scowl of mock contempt as the other three ate the delicious-looking cake ravenously.

That night's quiz had been the color of different notable magi's aura's.

"Do you miss her at all?" Melody asked quietly. "Rarity, I mean?" The question caught both Twilight and Lily by surprise. They looked at one another for a few moments before setting their forks down.

"I don't think a day goes by that we don't miss her." Lily said softly, her eyes looking off somewhere else. They often did whenever Melody brought up the deceased magi. "But she's in a better place now. Celestia herself told me long ago not to mourn for those who have passed. The place they go to is infinitely better than here. If anything, we should be jealous..."

"Just not enough to hurry up our own arrival." Verse added, already done with his slice. Twilight chuckled and took a bite of hers before Lily continued.

"Rarity was the element of generosity before myself. You know the story of Nightmare Moon and Discord. Neither of those two would ever have happened if it wasn't for Twilight, Rarity, and all the others. Your mother and her friends are heroes. I doubt I'd ever be able to live up to what they've accomplished."

"That's not true." Twilight smiled as she took over for her love. This was another part of the day Melody looked forward to. More often than not, the four of them would talk, Twilight and Lily sharing stories about history and major events. "If it wasn't for Lily and her... Admittedly brash... Way of approaching things, I never would have come to love her as I do. And without that true love, you two wouldn't have been born." They joined hands, though one of Lily's was busy trying to catch up. Melody almost swooned at the sight.

Almost.

"Tell us about the flight from Canterlot." Verse said quietly. The look on Lily and Twilight's face darkened substantially. They both seemed to deflate... Melody always thought that they looked vibrant and young, full of life. No older than 25. Now, when Verse asked the same question he did about once a week, they grew silent. Melody swore they looked their age, then... 45 and 43...

"When you're older."

"We promise." It was the same answer they gave every night. At first, Verse had whined and groaned and complained. Now, he just shrugged and waited. They would tell the two of them what happened. When the time was right. Their mothers never broke a promise.

"Twilight, help with the dishes?" Lily asked, kissing her on the head. Slowly, the two regained some of their youth as they set about cleaning up. Melody, however, hadn't touched her cake yet. Indeed, she left it there, as both her and Verse left and headed for the tree...

"I really wish they'd tell us already..." Verse said quietly, both of them staring out over the sea. The moon had risen, hanging low over the horizon. Each new wave that rolled onto the sand crept closer and closer, inch by inch, as the tide came in. Verse and Melody tried to do this every night... Watch the moon rise over the sea, it's ephemeral glow lighting the entire ocean... They would talk. Of nonsensical things. Of their lessons in magic. But tonight, the topic was much darker...

"They will, Verse... When the time is right..." Melody said. She herself had doubts, though... It'd been three years since Verse first asked. Three years they had been shunted. Three whole years the truth had been kept a secret from them. Melody wasn't angry or resentful... She just wished Lily and Twilight trusted the two of them more...

"I don't understand sometimes." Verse said, ever quiet. Melody almost lost the sound of his voice on the crashing of the waves. The breakers were rough tonight. "About Twilight. About Lily. About US.... Melody, you and I both know we're anything but normal..." She had to agree on that front... She felt it. It was in her bones, in her blood... It pounded through her, perfectly in sync with her heartbeat at times. Then it would vanish, leaving her cold and shaky... What it was exactly, she didn't know... Why she felt it, she could never tell...

"We're young, Verse." Melody said at last. "We have the rest of our lives ahead of us to learn the truth, to see the world. For now, why can't we just enjoy this here? This moment? Right now?" Her brother sighed and leaned back on his hands.

"You're right..." He muttered. She arched an eyebrow at him.

"That's the first time you've agreed with me when I say something like that."

"Yeah, well... Times are changing. I can feel it." The wind ruffled their hair as he spoke, and to Melody, those words had never sounded more true...

"I hope they don't change too fast..." She muttered quietly, hugging her knees to her chest. She watched the waves lap at the edge of the beach. Soon, the saltwater would fill their little cove, and the moon would light it all into molten silver. "I kind of like it here..."

"Yeah, but don't you ever wonder if there's anything bigger out there for us to be doing? I know I sound the polar opposite of earlier today, when I was saying how lucky we are... But... I mean... They may not be in the greatest position, but it's certainly got to be more interesting than this, right?" Verse spoke up, gesturing out towards the southern sea. "Fighting a war, killing in the name of your country... Honor, courage, bravery, tales of action and excitement... Gotta be better than this, right?" Melody pulled her knees tighter.

"You know what they say..."

"What's that?" Verse's eyes flashed as he looked over at her.

"From humble beginnings, expect great things..."

--------------- Notes from the Author ---------------

I understand there isn't any sex yet. As opposed to my other stories when sex was the focus, this one will only have it when it's fitting for the story.

Which will hopefully be a lot.