Chapter 4: The Children of Shimmering Hope
The doors to the Town Hall were flung open as fourteen bipedal children ran outside. Their colors varied, but not nearly as much as ponies’ colors did. Every single one was wearing clothes, too, just like Dolphy was.
The final child out turned around and shut the doors behind her. She looked like a smaller, pink version of Dolphy.
The children were all shouting in excitement, causing Pinkie to bounce around excitedly while Fluttershy started to back away slowly.
Dolphy put a finger to his mouth and whistled, causing the children to quiet down.
“Children, these are the…” Dolphy turned to Twilight and said: “wait. I forgot to ask what you are. What are you?”
“We’re ponies,” Twilight said simply.
“Thank you,” the dragon-like adult said, nodding before continuing. “These are the ponies who the portal ejected into our world earlier. You all helped me to get them to the hospital, so you’ve already seen them, but I think it’d be best to have some proper introductions.”
The children lined up by sub-race and faced the ponies.
“Okay, I’ll start with the rabbit-likes, since they’re first in line,” Dolphy said.
“This is Hip and his sister Hop”, the two bipedal rabbits smiled and waved. “They’re rabbit-likes.”
Moving on to the next pair, Dolphy continued: “this is Miragg and her brother Ulf,” the pair of burly green children gave the slightest of smiles. “They’re orcs.”
The adult put his hands on the shoulders of the next pair and continued the introductions: “this is Matthew and his sister Julie. They’re fox-likes.” The two bipedal foxes smiled shyly, and Dolphy moved on to the next pair. “This is Wynn and her brother Vincent. They’re elves.” The two slightly taller children smiled brightly and nodded their heads. “This is Bodwin and his sister Gretta,” he said as he put his hands on the next pair. “They’re dwarves.” The two shorter and stockier children grinned from ear to ear and waved. “This is Ashe and her brother Shade,” a purple-skinned girl with ribbed wings on her back and a skeletal boy with bony wings and a cloak nodded. “They’re monster-likes.”
The final pair of children was standing a bit more apart than the other pairs, and Dolphy just put his hands on the boy’s shoulders without touching the girl. “This is Huey. He’s a human.” The boy smiled weakly and gave a little wave.
Moving to the final child, Dolphy scooped her up and placed her on his shoulder while she smiled at him affectionately. “And finally, this is my daughter, Kryanna. She’s a dragon-like, like me.” Kryanna nuzzled her father’s cheek, then turned to the ponies and waved.
Dolphy slowly put his daughter down and turned to face the children. “And children, these are Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and—” he noticed that Fluttershy wasn’t with the other five, but was sitting a few blocks away from them. He shook his head and walked over to her. “And this is Fluttershy,” he said, motioning to the yellow pegasus.
Shade raised a bony hand.
“Yes, Shade?”
“Why do they look so funny?” the young reaper asked.
A few of the children nodded to confirm that they were thinking the same thing.
“Well, Shade,” Dolphy began, “they’re from another world, and—“
“Which one?” Gretta asked as she interrupted the adult. “They can’t be from the Nether, since they don’t look built for intense heat.”
“They can’t be from The End either,” Hip added before Dolphy could respond. “Only Endermen live there ever since you and Wyvern defeated the Enderdragon, right?”
“Yes, but—“
“And they can’t be from the Promised Land, either,” Vincent cut in. “You said that the only life there is plants!”
“They’re from none of those places,” Dolphy sighed. “They’re from a world made up of curves.”
“But curves aren’t real!” said Ulf, provoking nods from the other children. “Mom and Dad said that curves are just stories!”
“We were wrong,” Dolphy said, provoking gasps from the children. “Apparently, there are other worlds where curves exist, and are even the norm. Worlds where ours looks just as strange to them as theirs would to us.”
Twilight nodded in agreement.
“I say we listen to Daddy!” Kryanna said before any of the other children could come up with another argument. “If those shapes aren’t curves, then what are they?”
The other children just stood there, dumbfounded.
Dolphy watched his daughter with a proud grin on his face, the love for her very easy to see.
“Krya’s got a point…” Huey said timidly, provoking another set of gasps from the children.
“Huey doesn’t talk very much,” Dolphy whispered to Twilight as the children stared at the human boy. “Not since his parents disappeared. He spends most of his time in the library, trying to discover any clues for how we can rescue them.”
Twilight nodded in understanding, then turned to watch the children’s discussion.
The children stopped talking and nodded to each other in agreement.
“If that’s why they look funny,” Shade said to Dolphy, “then we’ll just have to accept that for what it is.”
Dolphy sighed in relief.
“Okay, children, back inside, please,” he said. “I have to talk to our guests in private.”
The children groaned, but they obeyed anyway.
After the last one had gone back inside and the door shut, Dolphy turned to face the ponies.
“Okay, I know you only recently got here, but I could really use your help,” he began. “My wife and Huey’s parents were kidnapped about ten months ago, and I’ve been unable to search for them or rescue them because I have to protect and care for the children. If you could help me to take care of them for a while, I might be able to rescue the other adults who are still alive. Especially my dear wife.”
“We’ll have to think that over, Dolphy,” Twilight replied. “We’re grateful that you’re letting us stay here, but that’s asking quite a lot.”
The adult dragon-like sighed.
“Okay,” he said. “I understand. Please just give it some serious thought. That’s all I ask for now.”
Suddenly, his face lit up.
“Wait… Are any of you hungry? It’s almost dinner time.”