Dog Years - Intro (Orion, Laika - Satyr)


                                            >Be Orion, satyr son of Twilight Sparkle and Anonymous the super nerd.

                                            >It's early in the morning and you're getting ready for school.

                                            >"Hey, Rory. You got a letter. It's from Laika."

                                            "Thanks, Mom."

                                            >You open the letter and give it a quick read.

                                            >It's amazing how much your friend's writing has improved during the year she's been away.

                                            "Oh cool, they're moving back to Ponyville."

                                            >"Really? That's great. I'll bet Laika will be so happy to see you again."

                                            "Yeah, I can't wait to tell everyone else."

                                            >Your older sister grins. "Can't wait to have your little shadow around again, huh?"

                                            "She's wasn't my shadow, Glimmer." you grouse, even as you know she's just messing with you.

                                            >"Hah! I'm pretty sure she gave Winona a run for her money with the whole loyal fido routine."

                                            >"Glimmer Sparkle!" your mother snaps, "I will not have anyone using racial innuendos under my roof."

                                            >Your sister immediately stammers out an apology.

                                            >Feeling bad for her, you come to your sister's defence.

                                            "I don't think she meant it that way, Mom. You know she's fond of Laika."

                                            >"I'm sure she didn't, but words have power. Even words without any ill intent behind them."

                                            >The rest of breakfast is spent in relative silence, the happiness of your friend's return tempered by the awkward atmosphere after you mother's outburst.

                                            >The thing is, you can't really blame Glimmer for what she said.

                                            >You love your younger friend Laika to bits but you have to admit that the half-diamond dog, half-human has always been a little... peculiar.

                                            >Diamond dogs, like there non-speaking cousins, tend to be very loyal to those they consider friends.

                                            >And before she moved away with her parents to the Crystal Kingdom, you had been real pals.

                                            >That meant that she had followed you around like, well, a little puppy.

                                            >Not that you would ever say that out loud.

                                            >Of course, it's weird.

                                            >You know that Laika and her family wouldn't have any problems with you calling attention to her canine nature.

                                            >But a number of ponies, your mother included, think that doing so constitutes bigotry.

                                            >Then again, you never really had to deal with all the problems that faced the older satyrs when they were first introduced to pony society, so you tend to give those older ponies the benefit of the doubt.

                                            >With breakfast wrapped up, you grab your bags and head out the door.

                                            >On the way, your mom takes your sister aside and assures Glimmer that she's not mad and that she loves her.

                                            >Your sister smiles and says she understands, then gives your mom a hug.

                                            "D'aaaaaw!" you gush.

                                            >"Hush you." the older alicorn grumps. "Honestly, where did I get such a sarcastic son from?"

                                            "I could tell you, but it's such an long answer that we'd be late for school." you shoot back. "Come on, Glimmer."

                                            >On the way, you meet up with Thistle who's hurrying as fast as she can on her short little legs.

                                            >"Huff, huff. Go-good morning!" she weezes.

                                            >"Let me guess, you slept in again?" Glimmer chides.

                                            >"NO!" the dragon-half blushes. "It's just a long walk from my house."

                                            >"You say that every morning."

                                            >"Yeah? Well, uh... So do you!"

                                            >"Thistle, that doesn't even make sense..."

                                            >Having heard this argument more times then you care to remember, you decide to break it up with the best tool at your disposal: gossip.

                                            "Guess what I learned this morning." you interject.

                                            >"What?"

                                            "Someone's moving back from the Crystal Mountains."

                                            >"Ohmygosh! Is Laika coming back?"

                                            >You nod your head in the affirmative.

                                            >"Hooray!" She starts skipping with delight.

                                            >Sharing a look with your sister, you both silently agree that a pudgy little half-dragon skipping along on her stubby pinions might just be the most adorable thing you've ever seen.

                                            >"When does she arrive?" Thistle asks.

                                            "This weekend."

                                            >"Aw, I can't wait. We can go digging for gems again!"

                                            >Glimmer rolls her eyes but you just chuckle.

                                            >If it were anyone else besides Laika, you might accuse the little dragoness of exploiting her friend for free gems.

                                            >You know, however that Thistle and Laika share an equal interest in uncovering crystalline treasures.

                                            >In fact, when they were much younger Thistle had been very shy and the ever-curious Laika had scared her a bit when they first met.

                                            >That lasted until you convinced your canine friend to share an emerald with the reluctant Thistle.

                                            >It had been smooth sailing from then on.

                                            >Now Thistle actually considers herself something of an older sister to the younger half-breed, nevermind the fact that she is only a year older.

                                            >"This'll be fantastic." she rambles on. "We can have sleep-overs and play dress up and have bar-b-que's!"

                                            >Shaking your head at her enthusiasm, the three of you finally arrive at school.

                                            >At lunch time, you share your news with the rest of the class.

                                            >Mostly, everyone is excited to hear it.

                                            >Although a few have their reservations.

                                            >"I'm fine with her coming back, as long as the little mongrel can keep from destroying any of my clothes this time." Garret sneers.

                                            >You do your best to bite back you response.

                                            >It will be nice when the older boy graduates next year.

                                            >You kind of hope the rumors are true and he goes to Manehatten for secondary school.

                                            >"Garret you take that back!" Glimmer growls. "You know for a fact that she never messed with any of your things."

                                            >"Well, she might have." the pale half-pony sniffs. "You know how diamond dogs are."

                                            >Garret had definitely inherited his mother's disdain of the canine cave dwellers, which is ironic seeing as how Spike has just as much reason to dislike them and yet Thistle doesn't seem to have any problems with the species.

                                            >Of course, Garret IS kind of a jerk most of the time.

                                            >Not that you'd say that to his face.

                                            >That task is best left to your sister.

                                            >"Garret, you're a real jerk sometimes, you know that?"

                                            >"My, my. With that kind of sweet-talk it's no wonder you don't have a boy-friend."

                                            >Glimmer's face immediately crumples at the cruel accusation.

                                            >Oh. No. He. Did. Not!

                                            >You are a pretty meek dude.

                                            >Your magic is fairly weak, all things considered, and you're not very buff either.

                                            >But you'll be a monkey's uncle if you let this... this FOP strike your sister where it hurts her the most and get away with it!

                                            >You wait until Garret, triumphant in his victory, turns and starts back towards the classroom.

                                            >Luckily, it's rained the previous night, giving you the perfect set up for what you are about to do.

                                            >You wait until the tall boy is stepping close to a puddle of brown water and fire up your magic.

                                            >Again, your magic is not very powerful, but it doesn't need to be in this case.

                                            >That's because your father has taught a very special style of warfare.

                                            >A style that he told you was originated by a group of elite warriors from earth called the 'ninja'.

                                            >The whole point of this type of stealth warfare, you father had taught you, was to take out your enemy without them ever knowing what hit them.

                                            >That means you might using an enemy's own appetites against him, like that time you planted those sulfur-laced gems where Muddle would be sure to find them after he teased Thistle.

                                            >The results had been spectacular, with that knuckle-head suffering explosive indigestion for a week.

                                            >Or, one could go for a more direct route.

                                            >Say, casting a nearly invisible spell under a certain white-coated dandy's hoof to reduce friction to near zero, thus causing him to slip and face-plant in a large mud puddle.

                                            >Ker-splash!

                                            >After a bit of flopping around the now filthy Garret hauls himself up and looks at his clothes in horror.

                                            >"Augghh!!" he screams, glancing about wildly.

                                            >He looks at you and your sister but part of you father's ninja training also involved maintaining an air of what he calls 'plausible deniability'.

                                            >In other words, you look just as shocked as everyone else on the playground.

                                            >Just then, Ms. Cheerilee calls an end to lunch.

                                            >Garret pulls himself up and goes wailing to the teacher.

                                            >He babbles on about a 'fashion emergency' and the need for 'multiple industrial-strength stain sticks'.

                                            >The assault is so overwhelming that Ms. Cheerilee let's him go home to get cleaned up.

                                            >There's the usual chatter as you all head in but your sister stops you just outside the schoolhouse.

                                            >"A friction co-efficient reducer, huh?" she deadpans.

                                            >Ouch, busted!

                                            "Look, sis, he..."

                                            >"That was pretty good, casting it from that distance." she goes on like your mother in teaching mode. "And I wouldn't have even felt it if I hadn't been so close."

                                            "Sooo... you're not going to tell on me?"

                                            >"Our mother is the Princess of Friendship, Rory. But even she's dropped the rainbow hammer on bad guys from time to time." She grins, "Just don't do it too often, ok?"

                                            >Returning her smile you both head into class.