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Description

With friends to know,
And ways to grow,
Reading Rainbow~

direct followup to this:

So these two get along really well.

Montezuma and Smokescreen were having some trouble catching Ellie up academically, what with her being a feral child and all. They applied research and private tutors and specialized psychologists, but teaching Ellie to read/write/communicate was still very much a slow process...and further compounded by Monty's staunch refusal to have her poked and prodded at by ponies that wanted to study her. Smoky and Monty were privately very worried, torn between pushing Ellie harder to catch up, or letting her struggle along at her own pace. Ellie is easily frustrated and overstimulated- public school isn't an option, but she's miserable with private tutors. Smoky and Monty are truly at a loss.

Enter Ellie's cousin, Oddball.

It was supposed to be a casual playdate- Smoky catching up with his "Aunt" Pandora and introducing Odd to his new cousin....the adults have tea while the kiddos romp around in Oddy's playroom. At least, that's what Smoke thought the kids were doing. When he pokes his head in to check on them, he sees Odd handing Ellie a pawful of candies and asking her some strange math problem....before he can remind Odd that Ellie's not quite up to fractions yet, he's flabbergasted to see Ellie count and produce the correct number of candies, demonstrating not only a clear grasp of fractions, but division as well. What.

Upon noticing her dad standing there, Ellie excitedly grabs a piece of crayon and proceeds to show her work- When did she learn to long divide? Are those variables and coefficients? What?

Oddball is a very good teacher. I don't think I ever announced it formally, but Odd is autistic (Cupcake is as well, it's pretty common in the Pie family). He went through a nonverbal period himself from about ages 2-5, making his moms worry if he was ever going to talk, then startling the hell out of them both when he abruptly began speaking in complete sentences. He just kinda "gets" Ellie, and wasn't phased when she didn't understand his teachings- he just switched tracks, applying different methods (direct instruction, visual learning, inquiry-based learning, kinesthetic learning, etc), until he hit on a teaching style she understood and thrived under. Odd likes reading to Ellie and giving her "homework"- something Monty and Smoky thought to be a joke, but were surprised to find Ellie taking it quite seriously. Odd is the first person to get El excited about books- he's got his own private library of kid's books (gifts from Nana Twilight- Odd appreciates them but is largely disinterested in fiction) and Ellie's allowed to take as many as she likes. Currently, she quite enjoys horror, and is rapidly devouring increasingly advanced books. Monty is now having to awkwardly explain to a huffy Ellie why Smoky's personal collection of Stephen King is inappropriate for bedtime stories, and having to negotiate a chapter from Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark instead.

The pair enjoy nothing more than a quiet afternoon reading together. I imagine Monty and Smoky are busy in the background whipping up some fresh-baked cookies for the kiddos~

bonus notes:

-Ellie is a pretty sharp kid, but struggles articulating her thoughts into words due to her delayed language acquisition. Even into adulthood, her speech is heavily fragmented, (eg. "I go there, come back soon, yes?"), so for the most part she doesn't speak much at all. Her preferred way to communicate is through sign language.

-Ellie loves absolute garish clothes combos, she always looks like she got caught in a girly mall kiosk explosion. This total disregard for the rules of fashion have earned her the instant love of her Auntie Pandora.

-Ellie's infrared vision means she's the only one alive who can see Smoky when he's invisible, which was a pretty big hit to Smoky's ego. Still, she often manages to play along when he sneaks up on papa Monty to spook him half out of his fur

bonuc note from : Phoenix is Ellie's godmom and loves that weird kid to pieces. Imagine Smokescreen and Monte just looking at the weird, bright, borderline-obnoxious stuff that Phoenix gets for Ellie and both of them being vaguely unamused (Smoky because he doesn't really get that kind of stuff, Monte because it's a fashion DISASTER those colors clash SO BADLY) and Nix standing her ground like. Look assholes. She hasn't had a normal childhood. If this kid wants rainbow sweaters and neon leg warmers and clip-on flower earrings and shiny nail polish you bet your *ass* I'm gonna provide those for her when her life up until she met you guys was a cryptid child-on-the-run desperately trying to survive. (And, well, they can't argue with that.)

~~~
more monty and smoky stuff:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Description

With friends to know,
And ways to grow,
Reading Rainbow~

direct followup to this:

So these two get along really well.

Montezuma and Smokescreen were having some trouble catching Ellie up academically, what with her being a feral child and all. They applied research and private tutors and specialized psychologists, but teaching Ellie to read/write/communicate was still very much a slow process...and further compounded by Monty's staunch refusal to have her poked and prodded at by ponies that wanted to study her. Smoky and Monty were privately very worried, torn between pushing Ellie harder to catch up, or letting her struggle along at her own pace. Ellie is easily frustrated and overstimulated- public school isn't an option, but she's miserable with private tutors. Smoky and Monty are truly at a loss.

Enter Ellie's cousin, Oddball.

It was supposed to be a casual playdate- Smoky catching up with his "Aunt" Pandora and introducing Odd to his new cousin....the adults have tea while the kiddos romp around in Oddy's playroom. At least, that's what Smoke thought the kids were doing. When he pokes his head in to check on them, he sees Odd handing Ellie a pawful of candies and asking her some strange math problem....before he can remind Odd that Ellie's not quite up to fractions yet, he's flabbergasted to see Ellie count and produce the correct number of candies, demonstrating not only a clear grasp of fractions, but division as well. What.

Upon noticing her dad standing there, Ellie excitedly grabs a piece of crayon and proceeds to show her work- When did she learn to long divide? Are those variables and coefficients? What?

Oddball is a very good teacher. I don't think I ever announced it formally, but Odd is autistic (Cupcake is as well, it's pretty common in the Pie family). He went through a nonverbal period himself from about ages 2-5, making his moms worry if he was ever going to talk, then startling the hell out of them both when he abruptly began speaking in complete sentences. He just kinda "gets" Ellie, and wasn't phased when she didn't understand his teachings- he just switched tracks, applying different methods (direct instruction, visual learning, inquiry-based learning, kinesthetic learning, etc), until he hit on a teaching style she understood and thrived under. Odd likes reading to Ellie and giving her "homework"- something Monty and Smoky thought to be a joke, but were surprised to find Ellie taking it quite seriously. Odd is the first person to get El excited about books- he's got his own private library of kid's books (gifts from Nana Twilight- Odd appreciates them but is largely disinterested in fiction) and Ellie's allowed to take as many as she likes. Currently, she quite enjoys horror, and is rapidly devouring increasingly advanced books. Monty is now having to awkwardly explain to a huffy Ellie why Smoky's personal collection of Stephen King is inappropriate for bedtime stories, and having to negotiate a chapter from Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark instead.

The pair enjoy nothing more than a quiet afternoon reading together. I imagine Monty and Smoky are busy in the background whipping up some fresh-baked cookies for the kiddos~

bonus notes:

-Ellie is a pretty sharp kid, but struggles articulating her thoughts into words due to her delayed language acquisition. Even into adulthood, her speech is heavily fragmented, (eg. "I go there, come back soon, yes?"), so for the most part she doesn't speak much at all. Her preferred way to communicate is through sign language.

-Ellie loves absolute garish clothes combos, she always looks like she got caught in a girly mall kiosk explosion. This total disregard for the rules of fashion have earned her the instant love of her Auntie Pandora.

-Ellie's infrared vision means she's the only one alive who can see Smoky when he's invisible, which was a pretty big hit to Smoky's ego. Still, she often manages to play along when he sneaks up on papa Monty to spook him half out of his fur

bonuc note from : Phoenix is Ellie's godmom and loves that weird kid to pieces. Imagine Smokescreen and Monte just looking at the weird, bright, borderline-obnoxious stuff that Phoenix gets for Ellie and both of them being vaguely unamused (Smoky because he doesn't really get that kind of stuff, Monte because it's a fashion DISASTER those colors clash SO BADLY) and Nix standing her ground like. Look assholes. She hasn't had a normal childhood. If this kid wants rainbow sweaters and neon leg warmers and clip-on flower earrings and shiny nail polish you bet your *ass* I'm gonna provide those for her when her life up until she met you guys was a cryptid child-on-the-run desperately trying to survive. (And, well, they can't argue with that.)

~~~
more monty and smoky stuff:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Enjoy my content? Please consider supporting me on Patreon! I upload all art early to my patreon, and patrons have access to WIPS, concept art, sneak peeks, and exclusive doodles and headcanons!

Support on PATREON!