It was late in the afternoon when Citrine finally decided to go back home. She tried getting more answers from the other officers but it seems that no one else wants to talk about it. Either they don’t know or are forced to keep their mouths shut. Seeing no other choice, and remembering what the stallion told her earlier, she decided to just call it a day.
“Goodbye, miss,” the guard gave a small wave as he took the card from her. He may be silent, but Citrine liked his politeness.
“Goodbye, have a wonderful day,” Citrine said in return, giving him a small smile. She swore she saw the guard grin, though he went back to his uncaring look almost immediately.
Once outside of the building, she took a deep breath and sighed. She learned a lot today and it was overwhelming. Maybe it was a good idea after all to go home early, she could use the remaining time to process everything that happened. Carefully looking at her surroundings, she quickly walked back to her beloved house.
The trip back home was really uneventful. Ponies continued with their lives as normal. The foals rushed out of school as soon as it was finished, the adults mingling at the market area, and Citrine just walked home. Finally, she reached the front door of her house.
Knock
Knock
Knock
As expected, her knocks are left unanswered, which either means nopony is home (which is unlikely) or Citrine’s father is still at his room, still the depressed stallion he is (which is more plausible). With a sigh, Citrine opened the door and stepped inside.
To her surprise, the house is lit, or the dining area anyways. Either somepony broke and is raiding their foodstuff or her dad is finally out of his room and decided that it’s time to talk to his daughter.
It must be an intruder.
Citrine carefully walked towards the lit area, grabbing the closest blunt object beforehand(or hoof). It was your household-friendly baseball bat, given to Citrine when she was a part of the baseball team. It really wasn’t much use though as she was kicked out of the team as soon as the ball struck her in the head. Hard.
Baseball bat by her side, she slowly walked towards the lit area. Due to how often the house is covered in darkness, the light proved to be more ominous than inviting.
Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.
She was ready to teach the intruder a thing or two about batting. She was ready to use her bat one more time. She was ready to take advantage of the adrenaline coursing through her body. But she wasn’t ready when she heard a voice call out from the dining area.
“Citrine? Is that you that opened the door?”
Despite all of her logical and unbreakable reasoning, she was wrong. It wasn’t an intruder.
It was her father. And for the first time in many years after the death of her mother, he finally spoke again. To her.
“Y-Yes pa, it’s me,” she stammered out, somewhat in shock. She reluctantly placed her bat next to the wall, unsure if it’s really her dad or not. But no matter how much she can reason to herself, she knows that only her father can sound so…
“Ah, Citrine...Come on, don’t let your father forget how you look,” he said, sounding relieved. “I know it’s been a long time but...I think it’s time for me to be your father again.”
Even with those comforting words, Citrine continued to doubt. How many years has actually passed? 5? 10? 20? It’s been so long, can she really walk towards the stallion she once referred to as father and look at him in the eye?
Reluctantly, she went in the dining area. There he was, in front of her eyes, waiting for her with a smile. But that smile made her even more suspicious of him. How can such a sweet and comforting smile be so threatening?
“Come on, take a seat next to your old stallion,” he said, patting a chair next to him. “There’s a lot of things I want to tell you.”
With even more reluctance, Citrine did everything slowly. Something or someone in her mind is screaming ‘DANGER!’ at her and she can’t help but agree with it.
“I ,uh, hi pa…” Citrine greeted him, her voice sounding so pathetic.
He smiled, or made his smile even look more friendly looking, “I know it’s been a long time, Citrine, but you have nothing to be afraid about. I...I have thought quite a lot actually and I realized how much my withdrawal from your life may be affecting you. I just want to...apologize and hope that we can still make amends.”
“But...I, uh, I don’t know where to start…” Citrine hesitantly told him. “I don’t really know what we can talk about after all these years…”
“I know where we can start,” her father said with a sigh. “Where this all began, your mother’s death.”
Citrine froze, chills going up her spine. Her father has never spoke about her mother, never after her death. And for years, he would never even mention her, as if she never existed. Everything that is related to her mom, from family pics to messages and letters from, all disappeared the day after her death.
“Wait, dad, before we can talk about that, can we talk about something more comfortable first?” Citrine asked, no, begged. She also forced a smile. “Please? I just want us to talk about us first before we get to mom. You disappeared for so long, you’re now like a stranger to me.”
Her dad’s smile wavered for a moment before a sigh came out of him, “I...I didn’t realize how much my disappearance affected you. Sure, Citrine, let’s talk about us.”
Citrine got him in her trap now. She desperately need to know whether her father was the real deal...or something else.
“Hey, remember when I was on the hoofball team?” She asked, sounding nostalgic. “You were happy that I joined and did your best to train me to become a skilled shooter.”
Citrine’s father beamed, “Of course I do! And when I saw you win your first match and you won, I felt like the happiest stallion there is.”
“Oh my Celestia, I can’t believe you still remember!” Citrine laughed, “And how about the time you helped me with this project that was really hard to build. A working boat model?”
He hummed for a bit, as if thinking, “Ah, yes, the boat. I can’t explain why you chose it but you chose it. But with our hard work, it floated and sailed away.”
Citrine sighed nostalgically, “You still remembered...even after all these years we haven’t talked.”
“Of course I remembered, you mean a lot to me even if I stopped...being your father,” Citrine’s dad told her with what sounded like regret.
“One more remembering before we go to mom, okay?” Citrine said. “Remember the time where we watched spy movies together and how I admired the hero?”
“He was brave and kind after all,” her father affirmed.
“And how there was this mare that I said I related to her?”
“You claimed she did the things you believe would you would do in the same situation,” he agreed again.
“And finally, on the scene when she was not sure the main character was exactly the main character so she would ask a bunch of questions...to make sure he is the real main character…?”
Citrine’s voice was cold and sharp. Her father started to open and close his mouth, trying to find a way to answer this.
“I, uh, I-I don’t think I-”
Citrine quickly used her magic to grab the baseball bat she kept out of sight and held it threateningly.
“You have failed all of my questions. I was part of the baseball team, not hoofball, and I never won a match. There was no boat, it was a house, and lastly, I never watched such movies with you,” she growled. “Who are you and what have you done to my real father?!”
Her dad, or not her dad, looked at Citrine in surprise before smiling. A not-so-kind smile.
“You’re a pretty clever mare than I have realized,” he said, shaking his head. “I thought you’re just another mare who would believe in anything just to keep her family together.”
“Another…?” Citrine asked, curious to if he was just saying that as an overused expression or if he actually did this to others.
“Citrine, you were the first one to find out I was a fraud,” he told her, still with evil grin and calm tone. “But you’ll also be the last one to know.”
Citrine gasped in horror as she watched him suddenly be enveloped in green flames. Soon, the flames cleared to reveal one of Equestria’s worst enemies: A changeling.
“W-What have you done to my father?!” Citrine asked again, ready to strike.
“His in his pathetic room, slowly bleeding out and pathetically regretting things,” he sneered before showing his fangs. “Don’t worry, you’ll join him soon enough.”
With a terrifying screech, he lunged at her, fangs bared. Citrine quickly hit him with the bat, which sent him flying towards the counter with a crash and leaving the bat broken and useless.
Citrine immediately rushed out towards the door, her only escape. But in her panic, she failed to see how fast her attacker recovered and the chair that has been thrown at her.
CRAAAACK!
The chair broke as it collided with Citrine, knocking her down to the ground, also dealing tremendous pain and damage to her. Tears were streaming down her face as she sobbed and painfully and slowly crawled her way towards the door.
She heard hoofsteps getting closer to her. The door was still too far from her and no amount of crawling can save her. Even her magic was useless, as the pain was too much for Citrine to even concentrate to cast a simple spell. Knowing this, she allowed herself to cry but still, she inched her way towards her escape.
She was stopped by a stomp to the back, making her scream in pain. She cried, looking at the door that taunted her now instead of saving her. Seconds after the devastating attack, her attacker kicked her hard in the sides. Another scream from Citrine and the attacker smiled even wider.
“D-Don’t kill me...P-Please…” She begged desperately.
He leaned in closer to her ear, “Oh, I’m not going to kill you...not yet anyways. Kill you, they said. Do anything to her, they said.”
Another kick in the sides and Citrine let out a weak yelp. Too injured to even use her magic, she silently cried. Was this the end? Maybe they were right, maybe she shouldn’t have investigated. She could have just accepted what was told to her and move. Have a normal life, even...but now, it seems it’s too late for that. She’s sure her last family member is dying and she’ll disappear off the face of Equestria without the answers she desperately needed.