Livia

“I spend every moment of my life, when I am outside our family home, second-guessing everything that I do. I study people's faces to make sure that they are accepting what I am saying, that they are never confused or offended. I make myself smaller. I shrink away, eyes downcast and hand outstretched. For a crumb of sympathy.”
― Elle McNicoll, A Kind of Spark

“The ocean needs all kinds of fish, Keedie says quietly. Just like the world needs all kinds of minds. Just one would be really dull, wouldn't it?”
― Elle McNicoll, A Kind of Spark

“Silveny's pregnant,' Sophie told her friends when she joined them for breakfast.
Fitz dropped his fork. 'Are you sure?'
'Oh yeah,' Sophie mumbled, sinking into the chair next to him. 'She showed me...'
'GAH!' everyone said.
Keefe pushed his plate away. 'I'm done with food forever.'
'Me too,' Dex agreed.
'Me three,' Biana said.
'Seriously, that is one batch of memories you do not have to show me,' Fitz told Sophie. 'I don't care if it's part of our Cognate training.'
'But it's still huge,' Biana added. 'Do you know how far along she is?'
'I'm guessing it's new, since the last few times I transmitted to her she didn't mention anything about--'
'STOP!' Keefe held up his hands. 'Ground rules for this conversation: All talk of alicorn baby-making is off the table--got it? Otherwise I'll have to rip my ears off. And for the record, I do not want to be there when Baby Glitterbutt arrives.'
'Me either,' Fitz said. 'My dad made me go to the Hekses' unicorn preserve for a delivery one time.' He shuddered. 'Who knew they came out so slimy?'
'Ew, dude, I did not need to know that. Can we talk about something else? Anything else?'
'Does anyone know how long alicorns stay pregnant?' Sophie asked.
Biana shook her head. 'We've never had a baby alicorn before. But I'm pretty sure unicorns are pregnant for eleven months. So maybe it's the same?'
'Do you think Silveny knows?' Fitz asked. 'If her instincts are telling her she's pregnant, maybe they'll also tell her how it's going to work.'
'I guess I can ask. It was hard to get information out of her. All she wanted to tell me about was--'
'STOP!' Keefe said.
'I wasn't going to say that. She was telling me that she's really hungry. I'm not sure if it's a pregnancy craving or an excuse to get more treats, but she went on and on about how she needs more swizzlespice. We'll have to find a way to let Jurek know.
'Do you think he already knows?' Fitz asked. 'He's the equestrian caretaker at the Sanctuary. Maybe he...saw stuff.'
'WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT THE GROUND RULES?' Keefe shouted, covering his ears. 'That's it, this conversation is officially over. Next person who says "alicorn" is getting pelted with fruit.'
'What's wrong with the alicorns?' Granite asked behind them.
He'd arrived with Mr. Forkle, each of them carrying stacks of scrolls.
'Silveny's pregnant," Sophie said, and all the scrolls went THUNK!
'Are you certain?' Granite whispered, bending to gather the uncurling paper.
Sophie nodded, and Mr. Forkle rushed to her side. 'Tell me everything.'
'And I'm out!' Keefe said, covering his ears and singing, 'LALALALALA! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!' as he raced up the stairs to the boys' tree house.”
― Shannon Messenger, Neverseen

“If they don't see it's wrong, if they don't say it's wrong, it can happen again. It could happen to you; it could happen to me.”
― Elle McNicoll, A Kind of Spark