Sisstet was excited to see his new room, especially since they were putting a bed into it right at this very moment. Unfortunately, the bed had come with a very strange pony who was kind of scary.
"I have a request, and don't get upset; can I please get a sample of your blood?" The pink unicorn mare with the big grin on her face asked.
He tried to hide in his coils. "Misss Silver Spoon!"
Miss Silver Spoon came hurrying over from the hall where she'd been directing the ponies with the bed. "What is it, Sisstet? Is everything alright?"
He stuck a shaking claw out at the unicorn. "Sshe wants to take my blood!"
The pink unicorn groaned. "Why does everyone get so upset about that? I even told him not to get upset. I just want a little biological sample."
Miss Silver Spoon bent down and gave him a gentle rub with her hoof and he peaked out in time to see her turning her attention to the unicorn. "We're very grateful for your help getting the bed through the door with your teleportation, but you're scaring Sisstet. It also isn't normal for ponies to walk around asking for blood."
The unicorn sat and tapped her chin. "I thought I had all the social innuendos of being a pony down. I really need to add that to my list of things that aren't acceptable in Equestrian society. This is the second time this week I've messed up on that one. Princess Twilight is going to be so disappointed in me."
"Sshe'ss really weird!" Sisstet hissed accusingly.
The unicorn looked offended. "Says the horse-snake hybrid!"
"What'ss a horse?" Sisstet asked.
The unicorn gave him a surprised look, then pointed all around her. "It's what all of them are, and me too, I guess."
He peaked out a little more. "I thought you were all poniess."
She waved a hoof dismissively. "Horses, ponies, close enough." Then looked back at him excitedly. "I've met lots of ponies at this point; changelings, griffins, talking yaks- the yaks were kind of embarrassing to meet. You never know what is supposed to be an animal and what's supposed to be a person. How was I supposed to know asking for some yak milk was going to be obscene? But anyway, you're the first naga that I've met. I want to learn all about you and document it for my research."
Miss Silver Spoon gave the same look she gave during some of the more interesting show and tells. "Excuse me, Miss-"
The unicorn put a hoof out in greeting. "Luster Dawn, personal student to Princess Twilight Sparkle, and resident of the School of Friendship."
Miss Silver Spoon shook hooves with the pony. "Well, Luster, we appreciate you helping with the bed, but why are you here again?"
Luster Dawn sat down and took a deep breath before speaking. "Well, I had been doing important work with Headmare Starlight on a magical cure for a filly named Candy Apple, but that hit a roadblock when we ended up needing certain biological components from the Everfree Forest, and Professor Applebloom can't take us out to get them because she's giving birth or something. Professor Sweetie Belle had said something about a naga one of her friends was adopting, and since I was kinda trying to avoid a certain alicorn- who overreacted dramatically to me asking for her blood- I decided this was a good time to broaden my understanding of the many strange and wonderful creatures of this world. I mean, my other research is on hold anyway, so why not? Also, I like not being incinerated, and Flurry Heart wants to atomize me. So, it's a great time to go for a walk around town."
Sisstet blinked, and tried to figure out all that she had just said. "You're trying to help Candy? Sshe's my friend."
Luster frowned. "She wasn't a great friend to me. I desperately needed a living pony shield to keep Flurry Heart from blasting me, and she didn't help me at all. However, I'm still going to do everything I can to fix her problem though."
Miss Silver Spoon looked flabbergasted that the unicorn wanted to use Candy as a shield. "I'm sorry, but we're still trying to settle Sisstet in, and it's been a very emotional day or two for all of us. If you want to ask Sisstet some questions, maybe we can arrange that at a future date- without any taking of blood." He wanted her to just leave forever. She'd wanted to take his blood!
Luster hung her head and sighed. "Alright, but I'm going to come back and set up an appointment." She opened the front door and began stepping outside, but froze in her tracks, before jumping back inside and slamming the door shut.
Miss Silver Spoon arched an eyebrow at her. "What are-"
Luster dived behind Miss Silver Spoon and cowered in terror. Nearly knocking Sisstet over in the process. "Hide me!" She then immediately got up and ran deeper into the house.
Both he and Miss Silver Spoon turned in confusion to try to figure out why she'd just taken off into the house like that when the door broke wide open and rained splinters down upon them.
"Fear not, citizens! Your future empress of the North has arrived to save you!"
There was a big pony with wings and a horn now standing in the area that once was the front door. Sisstet had enough of scary ponies at this point and quickly got down as low as he could and slithered under the couch. It was a tight fit, but it was safer than being around the monster pony.
"My front door!" Miss Silver Spoon screamed.
He couldn't see what was going on from where he was, but he could hear the shuffling of hooves. A second later he heard the monster pony speak again. "Oh- um- sorry… I got a little carried away. I can- um- fix that. Really sorry."
A few bits of the door had been pushed under the couch by the explosion and pushed deeper under it by his efforts to join them. Now all those pieces lit up in a pink light and started moving on their own back out from the couch. Some of them hit him in the nose on the way out. "Ow!"
"Oops! Sorry again!" Monster Pony said sheepishly. "Auntie Luna and Auntie Celestia never told me about how many repairs are required when fighting villains."
"What villain!?" Miss Silver Spoon yelled. He'd never heard her sound so outraged.
"The pink unicorn that was no doubt menacing you for some diabolical scheme!" Monster Pony replied. Then did a single laugh. "Ha ha! The door is fixed! Another crisis resolved by the future empress of the North!"
"Wha- you broke the door to begin with!" Miss Silver Spoon gawked. "Get out of my house! You too, Luster Dawn! I don't know what insane game you two are playing, but you aren't going to wreck my house and terrorize me, my wife, and Sisstet to do it."
"Sisstet?" Monster Pony replied in confusion. "That's a naga name. There's a naga here? Is this some sort of nefarious plot between Luster Dawn and the kingsnakes to overthrow Equestria?"
There was a stomping of hooves from the hallway. "What under Twilight's sun and moon is going on out here?! What's with the unicorn trying to hide under the bed? What was all that noise? Why is there an alicorn standing in our living room? Where's Sisstet? Are we already having issues with Sisstet being a kingsnake?"
Sisstet tried to hold his breath as Monster Pony 'ha ha'ed' again. "Ha ha! So, there is a plot with the kingsnakes! At last, I get to prove myself as a hero in battle! Come out, archfiend!"
"Okay, that's it!" He heard Luster yell, followed by more stomping. "There is no plot between me and the kingsnakes to overthrow Equestria! I have had enough of your moronic slander! I'm the personal student of Princess Twilight Sparkle, and right now I'm wondering how someone- excuse me- somepony as intelligent and gifted as her could have such an incompetent brute of a niece as you!"
He could hear Monster Pony growl. "I'll show you who is maronic and incompotent!"
There was a sound of somecreature either coughing or trying really hard to hold back a laugh, and the Monster Pony whooped. "I see I've left your foul tongue speechless. Now, I just have to find this kingsnake. I've already figured out there must be a secret tunnel under the house, leading to a massive underground cavern. Kingsnakes are too big to fit in houses and move about Ponyville undetected. The only way they could do it is with secret tunnels."
The couch above Sisstet started to glow and flipped over, leaving him exposed and staring at Monster Pony. She stared back at him, and her face was puckered up in the same way his got when he bit into a red candy thinking it was an apple or cherry flavor- only to find out it was nasty cinnamon.
"Did somecreature cast a spell to shrink it down?" Monster Pony asked in confusion.
Miss Silver Spoon raced over and pulled him protectively up against her. "He's a foal! Leave him alone!"
Monster Pony's mouth worked for a moment like she wanted to say something, but she kept losing what it was. Eventually she managed to speak. "This went much differently in my head."
"Something went on in your head?" Luster scoffed. "You could have fooled me. I thought you just charged in, horn blazing, ready to decimate whatever you found without giving it even a first thought."
Monster Pony shook her head and then pointed at Miss Twist. "She said that he was a kingsnake!"
Miss Silver Spoon continued to grip him tightly as she replied. "He is a kingsnake, a kingsnake foal."
The massive pony stared at him again for a moment then her rump just dropped to the ground with a plop, and she hung her head. "I screwed up again, and made a fool out of myself."
"Yeah, you did," Luster agreed. "Doesn't your mother run a school for naga? What would she say if she found out you were terrorizing a naga foal like that?" Sisstet wanted to point out that Luster had been scary too, but it seemed like a bad time to bring that up.
Monster Pony acted like she'd just been slapped. "Mom would be furious, and it would scare all the foals back at the Crystal Clutch. I think that second part is worse. They all seem to like me. I foalsit them sometimes, and I like doing it. They're the only foals I'm allowed to foalsit because normal creatures might feel like they are getting special royal treatment. I couldn't stand to have them all afraid of me."
Sisstet uncoiled a little more and peaked his head up higher. Monster Pony knew other naga foals? He never met another naga foal before, but she knew a whole school of them.
Miss Silver Spoon noticed him looking, and looked back and forth between him and Monster Pony with an odd look on her face. She then turned towards Monster Pony. "I think Sisstet might be willing to forgive you, if you tell him a little about the Crystal Clutch." That was one of the reasons Miss Silver Spoon was a teacher, she was smart, and could tell what foals were thinking. He wished he could tell what creatures were thinking.
Monster Pony looked at him, and he cowered back down again. When he did, her expression went from sad to miserable. "I'm sorry for scaring you, kid. My name is Flurry Heart, heir to the Crystal Empire throne. The naga foals back home think I'm great, but I guess I didn't make the best first impression with you. Can we start over?"
He lifted his head up again. "What are they like? The other naga? I just know my guardianss, and what they say about naga."
Flurry Heart blinked, and rubbed her head with a wing. "I'm not sure how to answer that. They're just kids, and kids are all different from one another. Drest isn't like Pennes, or Pennes like Khen, or Khen like Susster, or any of the rest exactly alike any of the others. They all have their own interests, their little things that make them different than the rest- some of them a lot different. They're like one big family though, them and their caretakers and teachers."
Miss Silver Spoon released him as he uncoiled the rest of the way and crept a little closer to Flurry Heart.
The big pony smiled down at him. It made her look less scary. "Your name is Sisstet, right? I think that's what these ponies called you."
He nodded. "Yess, that's my name."
She flicked an ear. "You've got an odd little lisp there. None of the naga back home have that."
"What'ss a lisp?"
Flurry Heart blinked. "It's- um- I'm not really sure how to define it. It's this funny thing- with the way some creatures talk-"
"He doesn't actually have a lisp," Luster interrupted in a haughty tone. "Lisps result in different speech defects. I would count it more as a learned verbal tick. If he was living with grown naga- as is customary in Equestria proper- he would inherit some of their speech patterns. Naga language has a lot of long S's is it, among other unique features, and this is typically one of many things that carry over when they learn Equestrian. I read all about it in Princess Twilight's diplomatic library."
"Know it all," Flurry Heart muttered grumpily.
Luster snorted. "Well, if you spent more time studying, instead of blowing things up, you might know it too."
Flurry laid her ears back. "I study! Mom and Aunt Twily made me learn all kinds of spells to repair things and help heal creatures… because I tend to blow things up- alot… but I'm better at those spells than anypony! Even the other alicorns aren't as good as me at those spells."
It was now Luster's turn to blink. "Okay… well, that's something I didn't know. I'm sorry for implying you are stupid. You're still foolish, but not stupid."
"Apology accepted- I guess," Flurry replied in a confused tone.
Sisstet was feeling a little more at ease, now that everycreature wasn't yelling. "How many of them are there?"
"Twelve of them, not counting the six adults," Flurry replied. "The foals actually spend time every week helping the adults figure out things, since the adult naga have a harder time learning their lessons. It's a funny sight, Watching the foals trying to teach their elders about how to tell a joke, teaching them how to draw, or how to sing a song- or even trying to explain why the adults would want to do those things."
He crept a little closer. "They all get along? The foals and the adults?"
Flurry grimaced. "Most of the time- they do get frustrated and angry from time-to-time. That's not any different than any other creature though. Naga just get a little more bite-y when they are angry and frustrated. They feel bad for it afterward though, and we have a special bunch of these weird gelly-foamy pillows set aside for them to lash out on when they really need to blow off steam. It's very rare anycreature gets bitten."
"Rare- but not unheard of?" Miss Twist asked in a concerned tone.
The bigger pony looked uncomfortable. "Naga have a much stronger instinct to bite rather than yell or scream when angry. I don't know why that is, but it's just how their instincts work. That doesn't mean they don't know that isn't okay. Most of the time they just separate themselves from whatever is making them mad until they calm down enough to talk about it, and if they are really enraged they'll go take it out on one of the pillows I mentioned- those things are really durable. Still, sometimes a bite will happen. They feel immediately bad about it, and we have doctors available to help anycreature that got bit."
"So anycreature that a naga bites should see a doctor?" Miss Twist asked in a firm tone.
"Twist, it's not a big deal," Miss Silver Spoon said in a hushed tone.
Everycreature's eyes went to the bandages around Miss Silver Spoon's leg, and Sisstet coiled up again.
"Come here, and let me see that bite," Flurry ordered. It definitely was an order, not a request. He could hear her voice shift from nice Flurry Heart to the Monster Pony once more, and he cowered down some more.
"Can I examine it?" Luster asked. "I've never seen-"
"No, you can't!" Monster Pony barked. Luster pouted, and Sisstet was now down as low as he could go.
Miss Silver Spoon looked like she wanted to argue, but one look at Monster Pony's glare made her comply. She walked forward, sat down, and started unwrapping her leg. This was apparently too slow for Monster Pony, and she lit her horn and all the bandages came off in a rush. She then kept her horn lit and held it up close to the bite- which looked very puffy.
"You've got a small infection spreading," Flurry said in a calmer voice. "Luckily it hasn't spread too far or gotten into your bloodstream. I need to take care of this right away so it doesn't turn into a big infection. Hold still, the more you struggle the more I have to grip you, and that distracts me. This might feel like it is burning, but I know what I'm doing with healing spells. The infection and any surface bacteria that haven't taken hold all need to be purged before I actually repair the bite itself."
"You actually do know what you're doing," Luster said in wonder.
Monster Pony came back with a growl. "I'm not a complete screw-up! Stop treating me like one or I'll need to use my healing magic to put you back together." Luster let off a squeak and hid behind the couch.
Miss Silver Spoon let off a hiss. "That hurts."
"You know what else hurts? Having to have your leg cut off because the infection spread too far, or having your organs stop because it got into them," Monster Pony snapped.
"You've got a rotten bedside manner," Miss Silver Spoon complained, then winced and hissed again in pain.
"Well, I don't plan on being a doctor. I'm going to be a warrior," Flurry replied. Her horn stopped glowing and she stepped back. "There, all done. Infection and bacteria are gone, and the wound is mostly healed, aside from those spots being bald. You might want to keep a bandage over that area to keep it clean while the fur regrows."
"Were you exaggerating?" Miss Twist asked in a tight voice. "Could she have lost a leg or had organ failure?" Sisstet wanted to crawl away. She was talking to the alicorn, but she was looking at him.
Flurry Heart shook her head. "No, organ failure is less likely, as you'd definitely have noticed something wrong before it got that far, but if the infection spread too far around the leg even I wouldn't be able to heal it. Only thing to do would be to cut it off."
Miss Twist's face was stoney as she turned to Miss Silver Spoon. "Silv, we need to have a talk."
The guilt got too much for Sisstet at that moment, and he took off down the hall into the bathroom, crying the entire way.