This Day Aria

[Princess Cadence]

(September 2nd, open to all who want to encounter the princess of hate.)

Silver tipped hooves moved across the dirt as the female, eyes narrowed and teeth gritted together, stared at the grounds of the flowery and beautiful Everfree forest. Yuck. Her eyes narrowed even deeper as she pushed towards the trees. She wanted to hear and see if any of these brats were here. Brats that apparently could be her's.

She scoffed, head raised. Children? Goody two shoes children at that. Ha, that was a laugh. She now wished she'd brought her cowardly husband. Shining Armor needed a laugh. 

She pushed on, past the palace where her Aunts lived, past a few other landmarks.

She was headed to Ponyville to observe, not to encounter anyone. Despite that being to the contrary as she would discover.

[Deleted]

"Squallfeather? Eris? Anypony? Oh, come on... Don't tell me I'm here all alone..."

Inky had somehow managed to get herself lost. Her intention had been to get a better idea of what this world was like compared to the one she was used to, but in the process she'd only failed at navigation and succeeded in bringing herself closer and closer to the princess of hate. Some navigator she was. Maybe they ought to have called her Ditzy Scales instead of Inky.

The only sound beyond her voice that would betray her was her wings flapping. Inky had hoped that in gaining some altitude she would get some better view of the surrounding area. Once again, though, she was failing miserably. Her ears flattened against her skull and a low groan escaped her as she dropped onto the ground. Her wings were then tucked back into their proper places and she began to walk forward. It must have been an odd sight, a bipedal half dragon, half pony, but who really cared? Inky was moving and that was what mattered in the end.

"I wish those guys would've just told me where they were going. I'm not a baby; I can handle my...self?"

Inky stopped speaking when she caught sight of the pink alicorn just ahead of her. Green eyes sparkled briefly with the hope that this was her aunt, but then she remembered where she was. Could this really have been the same pony?

"A... Aunt Cadence?"

[Princess Cadence]

"Aunt what?"

Cadence hissed as she turned towards the bipedal creature that was addressing her. Her pierced ears folded back as she smirked towards the small animal before her. That was her name. But she was Aunt to NOPONY. Her silver tipped hooves pushed towards the weird creature. Her wings unfurled and closed as she tucked her head close to her chest.

"I am Princess Cadence," she sniffed, "But I suppose I'm not the one you expected, hm?" She grinned, evilly.

"So, what're you supposed to be?" She hissed, "You're not a dragon. You're not a pony. What are you then?"

[Deleted]

Whoops... Well, at least Inky had confirmed that the pony was the opposite of her aunt. The hybrid took a step back as Cadence moved closer and a nervous laugh filled the air. Then came the question of what in the world she even was. Inky looked herself over and tilted her head a bit. Half pony, half dragon... Yep, she was a strange one. She even stood more like a dragon than like a pony. No magic to speak of beyond flight, she wasn't sure if she could breathe fire... But she was still a hybrid.

"Well, you already hit the nail on the head. I'm a mix of both. Half dragon, half pony... All Inky. I'm Inky Scales," she said. Why she was trying to be friendly with Cadence when it was clear that the other pony wasn't the sort she'd want to make friends with was unclear, but Inky was rather young and naive. She had yet to learn just how different Cadence was from the one in her world.

[Fire Ruby]

Not that she'd usually admit to stalking anypony else. But Fire had just been far too curious.

The dragicorn had been wondering this new - but hardly improved - version of Ponyville, trying to get her head around... things in general. She was the daughter of the smartest pony that side of Equestria, after all; even if she hadn't inherited all of her mother's genius, if shouldn't have been so hard to figure everything out. But she wasn't getting anywhere fast, no matter how simple it should have been.

What had distracted her had been the sight of another dragon-pony hybrid like herself. In fact, more than just like herself; the other mix-breed had not only the same purple coat, but also a very familiar telltale red and purple streak in her mane... in fact, all the signs that pointed to the two of them probably being very closely related.

Which was impossible. Fire would have known if she had a younger sister.

Still, the sight of a freak so like herself had intrigued the adolescent. Fire had taken up surreptitiously following the other creature as she wandered into what ought to have been the Everfree Forest, but clearly wasn't. So far, Fire Ruby had made no attempt to approach the other girl, instead just watching and listening; at least until the younger female ran straight into 'Aunt' Cadence.

Fire not only knew Aunt Cadence, but she had liked her and Uncle Shining a lot the few times Mom had let her visit them in the Crystal Empire; and she also knew that this wasn't her. Sure, the alicorn before her had the same build and colour and mane as the ruler of the Crystal Empire; but that was where every similarity ended, and Fire had a very, very bad feeling about this version of her aunt.

And also a feeling that somepony needed to make sure this 'Inky' stayed safe around what was clearly a dangerous equine. Blowing a tiny curl of flame into the air as she expelled a huff of breath, Fire shoved her way out of the undergrowth until she stood at Inky's side, and eyeballed Cadence warily.

"Which is odd, because I knew for a fact that I was the only one. But there you go." Her words might raise the question of how long she'd been listening in, but Fire didn't care; what she cared about was making sure nothing bad happened here until she'd got the answers she wanted from Inky.

[Princess Cadence]

"Well, you already hit the nail on the head. I'm a mix of both. Half dragon, half pony... All Inky. I'm Inky Scales."

What was this little booger being so nice for? Her pierced ears folded back as she stared towards the purple thing. She gave a snort of sarcastic laughter towards the little female. "Well aren't you cute." She said the word 'cute' as if she was slicing the air with a knife. She unfurled her wings when the second dragon unicorn mix approached. Her maw parted as she folded them again, shock and surprised on her face. Another creature. Both had cutie marks, which marked the pony parts, but they both looked remarkably similar to dragons. Dragons mating with ponies? How odd.

She backed up a few steps however. "Guess you're not as unique as you thought, honey dear," she offered, acid dripping off her tongue.

"Y'know," she said, "It's rude to eavesdrop when you weren't invited to the conversation."