For the first time since arriving in Equestria, I could look back with some fondness on those first few awkward days as I sat in Twilight's castle with Cherry while she ate her first meal as a pony. At the very least, I could reassure her that nopony minded her dipping her muzzle into her food.
When I saw her looking longingly at the glass of apple juice by her plate, I smiled and said, "Just close your hooves around it like this." I pantomimed the action.
Cherry nodded and attempted to follow my lead, the glass wobbling a bit.
"Grab it a little further back from the edges of your hooves. You won't have to hold it really tight, since there's a kind of stickiness there."
Cherry smiled as she lifted the glass, only to gasp as it slipped halfway to her lips. I tried to grab it, but my horn was too slow to respond. Rarity snatched it with her magic just before it could crash to the table.
I rubbed a hoof through my mane. "Um, okay, maybe you do have to hold it a little tighter. Sorry."
"It's okay," Cherry said as she clamped her hooves more firmly around the glass. She glanced at Rarity. "I thank thee."
"No trouble at all, darling," said Rarity. After Cherry managed to raise the glass to her lips, Rarity grabbed a napkin in her magic, rolled it up, and bopped me on the head with it.
"Hey!" I cried. "What was that for?"
"That was for trying to use your injured horn," Rarity said, wagging the napkin at me like a human might wag a finger. "After the doctor told you to stop using it until it healed."
The moment I had set hoof back in Ponyville, Rarity had praised me for my bravery, then switched to Mom-mode and read me the riot act as she marched me to the hospital. Cherry had thought the whole incident very amusing. "The doctor didn't tell me to stop using it, he just said to take it easy."
"Well, I'm telling you not to use it, young lady," said Rarity. "Or would you prefer to be grounded for the duration?"
"No," I groaned.
"Then you'll do as I say."
I sighed dramatically. Cherry giggled.
I turned my head as I heard hoof-falls in the hallway. My eyes wandered to the pendant around Twilight's neck as she and Applejack entered the room. When she had offered earlier to take the pendant, I had wasted no time in divorcing myself from it.
"Hello, everypony," said Twilight.
"Howdy, all," said Applejack. She turned to Cherry. "I gotta head back ta the homestead, sugarcube, but ya can come on over whenever yer ready."
Cherry smiled and nodded. "I thank thee, Applejack. I will be done shortly."
I raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"
"Applejack hath agreed to take me in for a while, at least until I acclimate a bit more."
"Oh, um, okay," I said.
Rarity must have heard the disappointment in my voice, as she lay a hoof on my shoulder. "I wish we could put her up, but we simply don't have the space at the boutique."
"I wouldn't mind sharing my room with her."
"I know, but ... well ..." Rarity's gaze flicked to Cherry.
"I requested it, Candy," said Cherry in a soft voice.
"You did?"
"It is not that I do not wish to be around thee, but I thought this a better fit for what I have become."
"That's kinda what I figgered, too," said Applejack. "She's an earth pony, so it jus' makes sense she spend time around other earth ponies. Kinda like how it was good ya spent so much time 'round other unicorns til ya got the magic stuff down."
I nodded slowly. "I guess I could see that, yeah."
Cherry smiled. "And it's not like I'm moving away. I'll just be at the farm. Thou canst visit me as much as thou wishest."
"Mebbe we can work on her speech, too," said Applejack.
Rarity gave her a wry grin. "Yes, I'm sure the Apple family can have her speaking like a proper country bumpkin in no time."
Applejack smirked. "Very funny. Well, I'll see ya in a bit, Cherry. If somepony would be so kind as ta escort her ta the farm later, I'd be mighty obliged."
"I'm sure Candy and I can do that," said Rarity.
Applejack tipped her hat and headed out. I watched her go before I turned to Cherry. "Um, that kinda reminds me of something I wanted to ask you. Did you have a choice of what kind of pony to become?"
"Yes, I did," said Cherry.
"And you chose an earth pony? I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, just ... well, it would've been nice if we could practice magic together."
"It is hard to explain. It simply felt right for me." Cherry grinned. "Thou always sayest I was very 'down to earth' in our world."
I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha."
"I suppose a better explanation is, after everything that happened, I needed to feel grounded or anchored again."
Yeah, that was totally her. If I had any doubts that this was really my old friend, that would have dispelled them.
"I think an earth pony is an excellent fit for you, dear," said Rarity.
Twilight took a seat at the table. "And I can't think of a better place for her to become acclimated to life in Equestria than Applejack's farm."
I smirked. "You know, Cherry, you could've become a changeling and looked however you wanted."
"Now who is trying to be funny?" Cherry said with a wry grin. "In truth, I had considered it, and Discord had encouraged it. Again, it came down to desiring that anchor."
Spike emerged from the kitchen. "Cherry, can I get you anything else?"
"No, I believe I have enough, Spike, I thank thee," said Cherry.
"Anypony else want anything?"
"Some tea, please," said Twilight. "Something relaxing."
"Coming right up!" Spike turned on his heel and scurried back into the kitchen.
Rarity turned to Twilight. "It has been a trying day, has it not?"
Twilight glanced at one of the windows. The moon hung low in the sky, having risen a short while ago. "I'm just a bit tired."
"Once Cherry has finished her meal, we'll all get out of your hair so you can get some rest."
Twilight smiled. "It's okay, I don't mind having you here. I meant what I said at the wedding."
"I did wonder what had come over you," said Rarity. "Since you had yet to tell me what happened in the forest at the time."
I tuned them out. Cherry became my complete focus. I wanted to imprint her new appearance in my mind. It would be hard to displace her old look.
"Is something wrong?" Cherry asked.
I blinked. "Um, no. Sorry. Just ... you're different now. I mean, the way you look, not, um ..."
"I am different," Cherry said softly. "And not just appearance."
An unbearable silence reigned until I could no longer stand it. "Oh, but ... yeah, of course. Lots of things change when you're a pony."
"I don't mean that."
I sighed. "Yeah, I know, but I could always hope."
Cherry reached a hoof towards me. I didn't hesitate to touch mine to hers. "What I told thee about moving on, about letting go, it still holdeth true, just in a different way. Thou dost not need me--"
I swallowed. "Ch-cherry, don't say that, I--"
"Please, let me finish. Thou dost not need me as thy counsel." She smiled. "But I would be most pleased if thou wouldst continue to be my friend. Our relationship must change. In many ways, it hath changed already. Thou not only standest on thine own, but thou hast someone ... ah, somepony to provide what I once did."
She glanced past me, and I gazed affectionately at Rarity as she chatted with Twilight. Cherry was right. Rarity now held the place in my heart Cherry once had when she acted as a sort of surrogate for my birth mother. I reminded myself what Fluttershy had said when I had expressed my fears she would feel ignored if I spent more time with others. This was really no different.
As if echoing my thoughts, Cherry said, "Thou canst not rearrange thy life for me. If anything, thou hast been too closely tied to me out of necessity."
"Just reassure me, please," I said in a quavering voice. "That you didn't choose to be an earth pony or stay with Applejack's family just to separate us."
"Not at all," said Cherry without hesitation or breaking eye contact. "I did what was best for me, and I would expect thee to do no less for thyself."
I smiled and drew her into a hug.
I heard a clop of hooves as Rarity left her seat. "I believe we should see Cherry over to Sweet Apple Acres."
I turned to her. "Yeah, it's getting late. I'm kinda tired, too."
"Oh!" Twilight said. "I just heard from Starswirl's avatar. He wants to address us."
Rarity yawned. "Can't it wait until morning?"
"He says it's urgent."
"And I wish to know if he is all right," said Cherry.
Twilight glanced down at her pendant, and her horn glowed. The avatar materialized next to her, his face drawn into a frown. It eased as he gazed at Cherry. "I trust thou art getting along well?"
Cherry smiled. "Yes, I am doing fine. It will take me time to get used to this form, but I have a lot of friends who will help."
At the word "friends", the avatar's face became sad, and he uttered a long sigh. "That is good. I wish thee well, Cherry, as this is the last time we will speak."
Cherry's smile faded. "What? Th-this is goodbye?"
"I don't understand," said Twilight. "You'll no longer manifest after this?"
The avatar turned to her, eyes glistening. "No, Princess. What I mean is, I am ending my existence."
"What??" I cried.
"You cannot be serious!" Rarity said, aghast. "You would end your own life?!"
"S-Starswirl," Cherry said in a quavering voice. "Please, don't do this."
The avatar scowled. "Stop it. Thy sentiment is misplaced. I am not a spirit. I am not and never have been alive. I am but a figment of the real Starswirl. And it is the only way to deactivate the artifact permanently."
Twilight raised her hoof to the pendant in a gesture eerily reminiscent of my own. "But why?! Why destroy yourself? Why destroy the pendant?"
"I have given thee the answer to thy first question!" the avatar growled. "As to the second, as long as it exists, somepony will desire it."
"But if it can be fixed--" Twilight began.
"Absolutely not!" Starswirl's avatar thundered. "It was that thinking which began this sordid mess in the first place!"
"Hey, who's doing all the shouting in here?" said Spike as he stepped into the room. "Do I need to put on more water for -- gahh!" Spike zipped behind Twilight. "What is that, a ghost?!"
The avatar raised an eyebrow.
Twilight rolled her eyes. "No, Spike, this is just a manifestation of Starswirl, like I told you about."
"Um, okay," Spike said, stepping out from behind Twilight. "Does he want any tea?"
"Uh, I don't think so."
"Okay. I'll, um, just be in the kitchen then."
He zipped away.
"Dost thou realize thou hast a dragon in thy castle, Princess?" the avatar said.
"Yes, he's my beloved friend and assistant," said Twilight.
The avatar frowned. "New alicorns, princesses who doth not hold court, dragons running amok. What hath this world come to?"
Rarity tossed her mane. "Much good, I would say, if your attire is representative of the fashion of your day."
Cherry's eyes glistened. "Starswirl ..."
"Do not call me that," said the avatar. "I never truly was him."
Cherry frowned. "I will call thee Starswirl as that is what I have come to know thee as, and by thine own insistence! Thou canst not tell me how to feel." She gave me a forlorn look. "It never works."
My throat tightened, and I had no words for them. I had little doubt I was the last pony the avatar wanted to hear from.
The avatar sighed, his expression softening. "No, I suppose I cannot."
"Thou shared thy pain with me," Cherry said.
"A mere echo of pain, dearest Cherry. Perhaps it should have died with the real Starswirl."
"You never destroyed a magical artifact," Twilight said. "That is, the real Starswirl never did. Why would you? Like anything potentially dangerous, it can be protected."
The avatar paused before turning to face her. "Thou dost not need it." He hesitated, glancing away for a moment. "Dost thou wish me to say it? Very well! Thou art better than Starswirl!"
Twilight's pupils shrank. "Really?"
"Thou dost not need this pendant. Thou knowest everything about how it works, and more."
"Not everything," said Twilight. "Why did Starswirl create it? Was it to help his dying friend Far Seer?"
The avatar started to pace. "Starswirl had already become interested -- no, obsessed -- with the magic behind life and spirit as so many of his friends passed on from age or circumstance. When Far Seer revealed that he had foreseen his own death, it lit a fire in Starswirl's heart, and he committed himself to defeating death itself."
"But then why is there no record of Far Seer's illness in his own journal?"
"Because Starswirl expunged it."
Twilight's mouth fell open. "But I checked for that sort of concealment!"
The avatar smirked. "Heh. Perhaps Starswirl did manage to best thee at something. Regardless, he wished to leave no clues as to what he had done."
"But whatever for?" Rarity said. "Isn't the desire to save the life of a friend a noble one?"
The avatar frowned and jabbed a hoof towards the pendant. "He failed to create life from non-life but forged ahead and created this abomination! He knew this would require a living, breathing, sapient host! And yet he created it anyway! Only when Far Seer would have no part in it did Starswirl realize his mistake. And to compound it, he nearly made an even more colossal blunder."
Spike peeked into the room, a tray and tea set perched on his claws. "Is this a bad time to bring in the tea?"
Twilight levitated the tray to the table. "It's fine, Spike, thank you."
"Starswirl became Far Seer's final caregiver, keeping him as comfortable as possible," the avatar continued. "Starswirl was ready to destroy the pendant until, in the fevered delirium that accompanied the final phase of the illness, Far Seer delivered vivid predictions of future calamities that could destroy Equestria. That was when Starswirl made his final mistake, when he believed he could ... that he should maketh himself immortal to continue to offer his wisdom to the coming ages and prevent these potential disasters."
"Um, Twilight?" Spike said in a tentative voice.
Twilight levitated her tea cup, not taking her eyes from the avatar. "Not now, Spike."
I heard a faint slurping noise but ignored it and asked, "Is that why he never destroyed the pendant?"
"Indeed," said the avatar. "The desire to fix the pendant somehow and achieve his original goal consumed the rest of his life. It strained his relationship with Celestia and Luna when he became jealous of their Ascension into immortal beings."
"But he never actually used the pendant in this form," said Twilight.
"But, Twilight--" Spike said again.
"Shhh!" Twilight hissed back.
"Not until it was used on me," said Cherry in a small voice.
"What difference doth it make?!" the avatar thundered.
"Why, it makes a great deal of difference!" Rarity declared. "He kept true to his morals in that he would not displace a spirit from its rightful body just to further his own life!"
"Twilight!" Spike cried.
Twilight sighed. "Spike! Can't you see we're having an important conversation?"
He twiddled his claws. "Yeah, but--"
"But what?"
"Your tea is drinking itself."
Twilight stared at him, then dropped her gaze to her teacup and gasped. "What?!"
She lowered the cup. The tea within steadily drained to a now very distinct slurping sound. Twilight turned the cup around, and her face twisted into a frown. "Discord!"
A painted image of the draconequus on the side of the cup now stepped into full view. "Really, Twilight, you ought to talk to Fluttershy. She has much better taste in tea than you do." The tiny image of Discord snapped his talons. He vanished from the side of the cup and appeared full size standing on the table.
I didn't even flinch. Really, this insanity was becoming routine for me.
Twilight face-hoofed. "Discord, we're trying to talk to Starswirl's avatar! He was telling us the rest of the story behind the pendant."
Discord gave Twilight an imperious look. "Yes, fine, I'll let your little exposition fairy here continue. I'm here at Fluttershy's request, if you must know. Far be it from me to interrupt his little pity party."
"Pity party?!" the avatar roared.
"Oh, so you're not going on and on about woe to Starswirl and the terrible evil he hath wrought, and please let me atone for it?"
"This is not atonement," said the avatar. "There can be no atonement for those whom are dead and gone."
Discord smirked. "It's like I said before: you have no idea how to have fun. Why, even atonement can be fun! Or hadn't you been paying attention to what I've been doing all this time?"
"Whatever are you talking about?" Rarity asked.
I frowned. "Oh, he better not be talking about everything he did concerning me and the pendant!"
Discord grinned and waved a paw. The word "WINNER!" appeared over my head in flashing neon. Canned applause sounded, and confetti rained down on me.
"You? Atone for something?" Rarity said as she helped me get the detritus out of my mane. "And atone for what?"
Discord waved his arms. "Oh, you know. This and that. Trivial stuff, really, not worth talking about."
Rarity narrowed her eyes. "Try again."
Discord frowned and folded his arms tightly. "And-sending-an-artifact-to-another-world-which-caused-somepony-to-get-killed-which-I-never-meant-to-happen-in-the-first-place-and-if-I-didn't-do-anything-Fluttershy-would-eventually-find-out-since-she-always-drags-these-things-out-of-me-and-I'd-never-live-it-down." His last words were wheezed out as he literally turned blue, his eyes crossing. He drew in a massive breath and returned to his normal hue. "Satisfied?"
"Discord," said Cherry in a soft voice. "All that thou didst ... all of thy help ... it was all because thou felt thine actions had caused my death?"
I gave Discord a stunned look. "Is that why you were so upset when I made the sacrificial move in our chess game?"
Discord's gaze narrowed and shifted between Cherry and I. "Maybe," he grunted.
Twilight smiled. "It's what I told you before, Candy. Discord never did anything to intentionally kill anypony, and he did the right thing in the end."
"Hmph," Rarity snorted. "Only after putting everypony through much needless stress!" She turned to Discord. "I ought to give you a piece of my mind for endangering both Candy and Sweetie Belle!"
"You're too late," said Discord. He lowered his voice as he shifted his gaze to the side. "Fluttershy beat you to it."
"Discord?" said Cherry.
Discord raised an eyebrow.
Cherry smiled. "I thank thee from the bottom of my heart."
Discord's expression softened. "You're welcome," he murmured.
Yeah. Totally Cherry. Thanking the very creature that had set up this mess in the first place.
Discord's lips slowly curled into a sly smile. "Saaaay, I have just the way we can make Starcurl the Breezy's bit a lot more fun."
"Oh, dear," Rarity groaned.
"Discord, wait," Twilight said.
Discord waved his claw. "Oh, don't worry, Twilight, your little idol here can finish what he has to say."
"I have said all I had intended," said the avatar. "All that remains is for me to dissipate my essence back into the magical weave of Equestria from whence it came."
Cherry's face fell. "Must thou do this, Starswirl?"
The avatar stepped up to her with a look of affection that I had never thought I would ever see on that face. "Cherry, our paths were never meant to cross. I existed only to protect the pendant and prevent it from being used, and later to protect thee. Now that those responsibilities have been fully executed, there is no purpose for me to continue to exist."
"Except as my friend."
The avatar hesitated. "I ... I have never ..." He took a deep breath. "I thank thee, Cherry. Thou hast lifted a great weight from me. It pained me that I would go knowing thou resented me. I am sorry I could not be the friend thou truly needed."
I uttered a ragged sigh, and my eyes misted. Rarity draped a fore-leg around my barrel and squeezed me gently.
"I realize I can't convince you to stay," said Twilight in a somber voice. "But I do have one more question for you."
The avatar turned to her. "And I know what it is. What of Far Seer's predictions?"
Twilight nodded.
"None came true. Not even close. Now thou understandest the full implication of Starswirl's mistake. He was tempted to use the artifact to his dying breath, and had he used it, he would hath made himself immortal at the expense of others ... for nothing. Perhaps he can be praised for holding to his morals to the end, but it came at the cost of his happiness in his waning days. One of his last actions was to create me to safeguard the artifact, and that work is done. And thus, I am done. It can be no other way."
All my previous anger towards him for his abrasive manner now turned to sympathy. Starswirl had indeed created this avatar at the lowest point of his life. All of his frustration and bitterness -- maybe inadvertently -- had been crystallized into this being. I felt sorry for him; the peace I had achieved with my own emotional turmoil would forever elude him.
Cherry's eyes glistened. "G-goodbye, Starswirl. I thank thee for everything thou hast done."
"Fare thee well, dearest Cherry," said the avatar. To my surprise, he turned to me. "And fare thee well also, Candy Swirl. Cherry hast no friend better than thee."
My heart lurched, and my vision blurred. Rarity hugged me close, and I sniffled once. Spike stepped up to Twilight, his own eyes glistening. Twilight pulled him into a hug.
I thought I even saw Discord look a bit sad.
The avatar lifted his head and closed his eyes. His image became blurred like a camera losing focus. He dissolved into sparkles of light which scattered about the room before fading away.
Cherry lowered her head, and tears dripped silently. I reached over and drew her into a tight hug.
Rarity let out a slow, ragged sigh, and Twilight lowered her head as if in a moment of silence. She flinched when energy suddenly crackled around the pendant like tiny forks of lightning. In a few seconds, they faded away. Twilight lighted her horn. "I-It's done. The thaumic matrix of the pendant has collapsed." She removed it and placed it gently on the table. "And the binding magic is gone. It's just a piece of jewelry now."
I stared at the pendant for what seemed a very long time. I took a deep breath as I remembered in crystal clarity the moment my birth mother had given it to me as a sign of her love. I felt so sorry for her. If she had any inkling about what it really was, I doubted she would have ever given it to me. Cherry would never have died and ...
... and what?
What would I have had? A life going nowhere because I didn't know how to deal with my pain? Living with a relative who didn't give a shit about me? Maybe even coming to hate my birth mother for putting me into that situation? It was almost embarrassing that I couldn't see past the end of my own nose until it became the muzzle of a strange pony body in an even stranger world.
My musings were interrupted when Discord swept down and snatched the pendant in his claw. "Okay, everypony, it's becoming far too much like a wake in here for my liking. So, on to fun!"
"Discord!" Rarity hissed. "Put that down! Regardless of its lack of magic, it's still an important keepsake to Candy. Perhaps she wishes to keep it."
"No," I heard myself say.
Rarity turned to me. "Candy? Are you sure?"
I stared at it one last time. I remembered the tree Apple Bloom had shown me. I finally understood what that little filly was trying to tell me. I had memories nopony could ever take away from me. I didn't need the pendant. My birth mother would have understood.
Perhaps Cherry knew what I was thinking. She always had a knack for that. She lifted her gaze, wiping her eyes with a back of a hoof as she slowly smiled at me and nodded.
"Yes, I'm sure," I said.
Discord grinned and hopped off the table. "Well, there you go!"
"Discord, what are you up to?" Twilight said in a warning tone.
"Doing you all yet another favor. Don't thank me all at once."
"What are you talking about?"
Discord waved his paw, and a huge vertical zipper appeared in the air. "Now you all know this pendant is just a tawdry knick-knack now, but the Queen of the Large Hams doesn't." He pulled the zipper down. It opened into a dark cavern dimly illuminated with sickly green light. Insect-like creatures buzzed in the distance.
Twilight gasped. "Is that ... the changeling hive?!"
"Now I'm going to make a prediction," said Discord with a smirk. "She's gonna see it, give one of her silly speeches about taking over Equestria, and then when the pendant doesn't work, she's going to shout 'Noooooooo!' like the drama queen she is."
"I don't believe this," Twilight murmured.
Discord grinned and stepped through the zipper. "Oh, Chryssiiiieeee! Look at the present I brought yoooou!"
The zipper closed up behind him.
"Doth he always act in such a theatrical manner?" asked Cherry.
"Yes," groaned Twilight, Rarity, Spike, and myself at the same time.
The zipper suddenly opened to the resounding changeling queen cry of "Noooooooo!" as Discord stepped out of it. He closed up the zipper. "So predictable."
"What happened to the pendant?" Twilight asked.
Discord grinned. "She tried to send her magic through it and ... poof! Blew up right in her face. Actually improved her complexion, if you ask me."
The pendant was gone forever. So that was what closure felt like. It felt damn good. "Thank you."
Discord winked at me. He clasped his claw and paw together. "Well, you know what they say, time and chaos wait for no draconequus!" He pulled the zipper down again. Beyond lay a twisted realm of broken land at odd angles and strange colors swirling in the sky. He waved, stepped through, and closed the zipper behind him. It vanished a moment later.
Even after having lived in Ponyville for months now, I still marveled at the utter quiet of the night. The hour was not terribly late, as the moon still sat fairly low in the sky, our shadows long in its silvery light. My birth mother had often joked that in our tiny hometown they would roll up the sidewalks at night. I imagined she would have said the same thing about Ponyville.
"What is it dear?" said Rarity as we headed back to the boutique after dropping off Cherry at Sweet Apple Acres.
"Hmm?" I said in a distracted voice. "What is what?"
"You smiled suddenly. If I've learned anything about teenagers, it's that your ilk rarely smiles spontaneously."
I rolled my eyes, but I grinned just the same. "I was thinking about my original mother back on my world."
"Were you now?"
I heard the cautious tone in Rarity's voice. She assumed that was still a sensitive topic with me. I wasn't sure how to express that I had finally moved on, but that sensitivity was one of the things I loved the most about her. "I was thinking about how easily she made the transition from a small town to a big city. Sort of how I imagine you might be, given how much you go on and on about Manehattan."
She waved a hoof. "I don't talk about it that much."
I smirked. "I think the only reason you don't talk about it even more is because you're so focused on opening another boutique in Canterlot."
Rarity smiled faintly. "Well, the idea of one in Manehattan may have crossed my mind on occasion. Just a fleeting thought."
I grinned, "Uh-huh. Suuure."
"Now don't get sassy with me, it's far too late in the day," she said, though she was smiling. "But what about you?"
"Huh? What about me what?"
"You had to transition the other way, dear."
I snorted. "Uh, right. I changed species in coming here, so naturally what I'd be most worried about is living in a small town. Yep, nailed it."
Rarity simply looked at me and raised a single eyebrow.
"I really hate it when you look at me like that," I groaned.
I lied. I loved it, because it was coming from her. But, hey, I was a teenager, I had to keep up appearances.
"Then maybe you'll answer my question," she said in a lofty voice.
"Oh, fine." I paused as I looked down the empty street. I actually had no ready answer. Well, I had an answer, but I wasn't sure it was the one she wanted to hear. "I do miss some things about living in a big city."
Where she was cautious in approaching the subject of my mother, I was the same towards anything that hinted I might not want to stay in Equestria. Really, it was pretty much a done deal, even if I had not stated as such. That I remained human in my dreams bothered me, but did it really matter? Or was that one last mystery I needed to solve?
Rarity took a deep breath. "Shall we point out the manticore in the room? Candy, do you have any aspirations to return to your own world?"
"I don't exactly have a lot to go back to."
Rarity stopped trotting and turned to face me. "Humor me for a moment, dear, please," she said in a soft, sincere voice. "What if you could return to a good life in your own world. Would you go?"
I hesitated, despite how she might interpret that. I had to hesitate. Maybe it was my penchant for over-complicating things, but I felt reluctant to give her a simple answer. From her tone, I could tell she would be very unhappy to see me go, but I knew she would not stand in my way if I chose to leave. I loved her all the more for it.
"I would like to stay," I said softly.
"That doesn't quite answer the question."
"Yeah, I know."
"Are you worried about something, Candy?" said Rarity.
Damn, she could read me so well. "I guess it's hard for me to shift out of crisis mode. Maybe I keep thinking something will happen to force me to consider leaving. Like, I don't know, not being able to get a cutie mark."
Rarity sighed. "You have indeed been hanging around the Crusaders too much."
"Oh, stop. I pulled that example out of my tail."
"Then if that is the best you can come up with, is it truly something to be worried about?"
Surely I had other reasons, and that was just the only one at hoof. Yet as I wracked my brain, I could not come up with anything else. Every sign I could see pointed to my home being here in Equestria.
Rarity smiled and stepped closer. "You mentioned to me earlier that the mantra you've been operating under is 'think, don't emote.' Perhaps you've taken that as far as you can. What does your heart tell you?"
I smiled. This time I did not hesitate. "That I'll stay with those I've come to love."
She touched a hoof to my shoulder. "And I certainly love you, Candy."
And then, finally, the word came to me as easily as if I had been using it all along. "I love you, too, Mom."
Rarity gasped. "Candy ... d-did you just ... oh, my stars, come here ..."
She drew me into a tight hug, and we simply stood there in the quiet, the only sound that of our breathing. I felt her tremble at first, but the longer we embraced, she steadied and let out a heartfelt sigh.
When she drew back from the embrace, her lovely face seemed to glow in the pale light of the moon, her eyes glistening, a wide smile on her muzzle. Except ...
... the moon was behind her.
Rarity -- Mom -- gave me a suffering look. "Candy, what did I tell you about using your horn?"
I looked up. My horn was glowing, the same mysterious soft radiance that had happened the other night. "I'm not doing it!"
And like before, it faded away.
Mom lifted her gaze to it (honestly, I really liked calling her that). "Hmm. The doctor did say you might have occasional magical discharges while it heals. Perhaps that was one of them. Are you in pain?"
"Not at all. In fact, it kinda felt good."
"Well, I suppose we'll keep an eye on it. For now, we ought to get back."
I smiled. "Sure thing, Mom."
She smiled again, her eyes misting once more.
What had just happened? The same as before? Earlier, I had assumed it to be just something related to the crisis. It could have been nothing, just a random magic discharge. Yet something told me it was more than that.
But ... what?
That was a question for another day. I felt at peace for the first time in a very long while. I fully intended to enjoy it.