Three and a half months after Pear Butter was exposed as a quasi.
Deep within Phoenix Castle, Twilight Sparkle entered into her alchemy lab. The colony ship-turned-castle had been quite cramped when it was first laid down, but the process of cannibalizing the ship had given the changelings an excuse to expand the size of carefully selected areas by removing whole sections.
At present, a quartet of drones were already in the chamber toiling away with the completion of their latest project. The walls were covered end to end with books and scrolls climbing towards the ceiling while vials and tinctures of alchemical agents lined the shelves closer to the ground. The total cost of the reagents alone would buy a city block in Canterlot.
There were a couple of sedated drones, blue and purple both, who were encased in large glass tubes filled with multicolored liquid. Three of the scientists were studying the new strains, while the last one was overseeing Pear Butter who was resting on a bench while her legs were all knee deep in her own vat of alchemical soup.
Twilight gave a few passing words to the trio before arriving at the quasi’s side. “Feeling alright, Pear Butter?” she asked with morning tiredness.
The former earth pony wanted to wave in greeting, but had been instructed to not step out of the vat. Not that she felt she could. While she had a nice cushy bench to lay on, the process itself was a metabolically draining experience. An unexpected side effect was that Pear was unable to actually sleep, no matter how tired she was. Since alchemical dipping was still experimental, Twilight had opted to minimize the risks to Pear Butter by making her stay in the shallow pool of alchemical reagents for the whole treatment, rather than short doses over a longer period of time. The bags under her eyes were so heavy she hadn’t been able to lift her head off the pillow until Twilight’s arrival gave her motivation to look up at her. “Tired as a bump on a log ta be honest, yer highness.”
“Well, let’s hope you can get some proper rest soon.” Twilight turned to the tending scientist. “How’s she doing, Test Tube?”
The stallion nervously held his clipboard close to his face as his eyes scrutinized the readings taken from the night shift. “Provided Tangent Curve was not asleep at his desk when he took last night's readings, I think the subject is ready to vacate the vat.”
Twilight’s mouth made a pressed line at how clinical Test Tube was towards Pear, but she decided not to call him on it for now. “Excellent news. Pear, would you mind lifting your right forehoof for me?”
Too tired to be properly remember she normally couldn't, the quasi did as instructed with some difficulty. Test Tube spat a bit of re-engineered salve designed to break resin apart. That allowed Twilight to offer Pear some magical assistance in pulling the leg free.
Twilight shook away some of her own morning fatigue and used a simple spell to remove the clingy chemicals and loosening resin off of Pear Butter’s lifted leg. Luckily for the vat, Test Tube moved in after her to place a lid on the hole, to keep the air out.
It didn’t take long to see that all signs of chitin were completely removed. However, while Pear had a normal looking pony leg and hoof, she now possessed the hoof structure that enabled wallwalking, a feature she had orginally lacked. Not… quite what I was aiming for, but I hope she sees this as a plus rather than anything negative.
After inspecting the rest of Pear’s legs and finding they were complete as well, Twilight lifted the wobbly mare away from the vat while Test Tube took a small hose to wash away the small fortune of spent chemicals. During all of this time, Pear had finally succumbed to her exhaustion and collapsed into sleep.
Pear Butter slept through the next two days. When she awoke to the gentle chiming of a clock, she found herself stretched out in a large bed within a guest room in the castle. It was a room on par with what she had grown accustomed to in the Sparkle Manor: finely decorated, yet with a hint of modesty. The key difference however, was the masterwork of artistic moving gearwork along the walls. All of it was behind glass to protect against accidents, and muffle the sound.
She rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out, only to realize halfway through that her hooves felt normal against her eyelids. Blinking the last of the sleep away and holding her hooves out, she saw peach colored hooves and fur adorning her legs once more. Quiet tears fell from her eyes and she shoved the blankets away to see her back hooves were the same.
She actually did it! Pear Butter could still feel the bed sheets rubbing her wings and the weight of her horn. Ah may never be who Ah once was, but at least she got me as close as possible.
<Ah good, you’re awake,> Twilight called out from within her head.
Pear Butter jumped out of her skin, she was so startled, and fell hard on the carpeted floor. <Wha? T-Twi, er, Ah mean, your highness?> Pear asked instinctively, without realizing she didn’t vocalize the question. She cast her gaze to and fro, looking for the purple Queen, or even a PA speaker, but found no obvious source.
<I take it Polybia never spoke to you over her Link.> Twilight’s tone was sympathetic enough to give Pear pause. <You remember when I told you one of the conditions of remaining Stellar’s foalsitter was to join my hive mind, correct?>
Pear dumbly nodded her head, not even thinking if Twilight could see her.
Since she could not see the act, Twilight decided against puppeting the mare and opted for plan B. <I’m going to have to apologize for this ahead of time.>
Pear Butter’s world bent and shifted. For a full second, she felt like she was getting pulled through a tunnel of silver light before being deposited onto a grassy plain. The grass and dirt beneath felt real and the early morning sun warmed her skin. Taken completely by surprise, she instantly began hovering and scanning her surroundings until she spotted her new Queen standing a few feet away. The taller changeling bore a small motherly grin and just by looking at her, Pear felt at ease, as if her fears and nightmares were dashed away by Twilight’s presence.
Yet Pear Butter had spent enough months under Polybia to not trust her sudden mood change, and resisted the calm by remembering Twilight’s hostility when she was outed as a quasi. “Where am Ah?”
“To keep the answer simple, you are within a small artificial landscape I’ve created within the hive mind. Personally I like the term Linkscape. I coined that one by the way,” Twilight added with a hoof on her chest and proud grin on her face.
Pear Butter nervously fidgeted with a lock of her curly hair. “Ah see.”
“I would have preferred to have spoken to you in person, but a queen’s job is never done,” Twilight added with both pride and enthusiasm. Her tone quickly shifted to a more serious one. “As I promised, I only looked into your mind enough to see you are no threat to my family, and I’ve left the rest of your thoughts private.” She breathed, giving Pear a moment to process. “Pear Butter, I’ve noticed you’ve been respectful in addressing me since coming here, but you have never called me, ‘my queen’.”
Pear Butter shied back a bit, wishing there was something other than open fields of grass to hide behind. “Ah- Ah’m sorry if Ah’ve insulted you-”
“You misunderstand me,” Twilight interrupted in haste to keep Pear Butter’s building panic from derailing her thoughts. Twilight sighed, trying to think of a diplomatic way of putting it. “What I’m trying to say is, Miss Pear Butter, do you wish to be one with my hive, or would you prefer to be mentally isolated like non-changelings are?”
Pear Butter went wide-eyed for a long moment before subconsciously shielding her chest with a raised hoof. “Yer - yer givin’ me a choice?”
“I am,” Twilight replied with her firm but well practiced regal voice. “I originally required your connection so I could have better access to your mind. I couldn’t be sure just how much of your personality was being shaped by the geas Polybia placed on you. For all I knew, you could have been a hardened criminal who wouldn’t think twice about harming Stellar Drift or my father once the geas was removed.”
“Ah figured as much,” Pear replied while scraping the grass. She briefly marveled at how authentic the fake world felt. “At least ya don’t have any doubts now though, right?”
“I don’t, and I’m glad you understand,” Twilight continued with a nod of approval. “So I’m going to leave it up to you. Do you wish to be removed from the Link, a biologically dangerous prospect, but if that's what you want, I'd abide by your choice.” Twilight caught a whiff of morose resignation in Pear’s slight frown. “I would like it if you’d prefer to become a full member and citizen of my hive, should you wish it.” Twilight suppressed a disappointed frown from appearing. “Or… perhaps we can keep the status quo and we only maintain a basic connection for emergencies and is probably safer for you in general than the first option.”
Pear Butter closed her eyes to think. She took in the sun’s warmth, the smell of wild grass, and the soft wind in her mane. It was so perfect that it reached the realm of the surreal, even more so due to the highly technological hive she was in. She could even feel the traces of her earth magic entwine with the earth and grass.
Twilight waited as patiently as stone for an answer. Luna had told Twilight of Pear’s dreams that included Stellar Drift, of caring for Stellar as if she were her own daughter. This was not a mare Twilight wanted to sour any further than her earlier confrontations already had.
“Ah thank you for the options,” Pear answered at last. “But Ah don’t think Ah really have a choice. Ponies out there‘re fine and dandy with changelin’s so long as they’re from your hive. But if they knew Ah was freelance, they’d rightly be a mite suspicious.” Pear Butter opened her eyes to find Twilight giving her a sad yet agreeable frown. “‘Sides, bein’ separated would end up killin’ me. Last time it happened after Polybia,” she seethed, “died, Ah could barely move. Even if that alone don’t kill me, starvin or going thirsty ain’t worth the pride.”
“I… wasn’t aware of that,” Twilight replied glumly. “Sorry.” There was a pause. “Assuming this was on your mind, no, I can’t reverse the changes to your nervous system to make you more independent, not without turning you completely into a changeling. As I’ve told others who…” Twilight closed her eyes to steel herself from dark memories. “Tried to turn me back into a pony. Once a changeling, always a changeling.”
Pear Butter nodded gratefully, but her ill mood lingered. “I figured as much. Thanks for tellin’ me the truth of it.” Pear Butter lifted hoof up to eye level, enjoying the feel of the gentle wind on her fur. “But um - bein’ in yer Link ain’t no different than bein’ in Polybia’s. Plus if Ah stay in, Ah can tell ya if any danger happens to the family quick smart, and you—”
Pear Butter hesitated once she realized Twilight was barely controlling her laughter behind a hoof. She was struggling so badly that echoes of her laughter gently rolled over the land.
“What’s so funny?”
Twilight had to leverage all of her experience to control her mirth enough to talk. “I'm afriad I've given you the wrong idea. While you are connected to me, just enough to keep any withdrawal symptoms from manifesting apparently, you are not part of the greater Link. I’ve kept you shielded from joining the main chorus. It’s been my experience that anypony who even briefly joins the chorus will never leave willingly, changeling or not. So I thought you’d prefer to decide for yourself on this.”
“Do Ah have ta be connected to this ‘chorus’ at all?” Pear asked after some thought. “Is it dangerous ta not be part of the whole hive mind?”
"I can't say for sure on the long term, but so far you seem in good health." Twilight tilted her head slightly and gave a contemplative frown. “Such as it is, I suppose. The fact is, you are more drone than pony. I’ve cleaned up what you wanted me to, but at the end of the day, your nervous system was almost completely transformed. If what you said about your medical condition after Polybia died, and before being connected to Stopwatch, I presume, then I would hazard a guess in saying that’s why you are still alive at all.
“In light of that, I would not risk full separation if I were you.”
A depressed sigh escaped Pear Butter, it was not surprising news, just unwelcome. “Ah see.”
“As I mentioned, you can remain as you are,” Twilight offered with a carefully crafted neutral expression, “and I’m willing to refrain from speaking to you over the Link if you so desire. It will be about as close to a pony’s isolated mind as possible. But,” she added with much more enthusaism, “allow me to toot my own horn for a moment by saying you would be far and above happier being fully integrated.”
Pear Butter became more conscious of the insect wings resting on her back, and she reached up to rub the horn she knew she hadn’t be born with. The months of hating what Polybia had done to her festered below the surface. She had already tried ripping her wings off once, only to find the pain unbearable and the cursed things grew back in a few months out of spite. Pear had not dared harm her horn or peel at her chitin for fear of lethal injury or being exposed as a quasi.
Yet here and now, Twilight, who had reversed some of that damage Polybia inflicted, was asking her to be a willing member of her hive mind. “Will Ah still be able to foalsit Stellar? Ta see and help her grow into a proper mare?”
An approving hum escaped Twilight. “I must confess my surprise at how… loyal you are to the directive Polybia placed upon you. Especially since you seem to revile her so vehemently.”
Pear looked away and snorted angrily. She feared the foul language she’d unleash in the presence of a queen she actually respected, so she chose her words very carefully. “Ah don’t remember much of who Ah used to be. But every time Ah held Stellar close, Ah felt pride and joy at seeing her bein’ happy… Ah bet my bottom bit Ah was a momma when Polybia foalnapped me. Ah don’t know if Ah can have foals of my own anymore, and mah original kids could be long gone by now.
“Even if Ah could never call Stellar Drift my own, Ah’d be happier than a pig in mud if you’d let me keep bein’ her sitter.”
A sorrowful, fragile smile crossed Twilight. “When we first met, I sorely misjudged you, Pear Butter. For that I’m sorry.”
Pear tried to wave it off with a causal hoof shake. “Don’t be. You thought somethin’ was off about me, and you were right with the whole geas and belongin’ to a rival queen bit. Ah…” Pear Butter’s dismissiveness drained away along with her good mood. “Ah woulda done the same thing. Ah bet the old me wouldn’t though. Probably how we got spirited away in the first place.”
The ‘we’ in that statement brought Twilight’s mood down further. The Queen voiced the answer she suspected Pear was too polite to ask for. “I’m afraid we never found your partner Paint Brush. There’s no real point in using wanted posters, but I hope we pick him up alive one day.”
“That poor stallion,” Pear whispered more to herself than Twilight. “He was so scrambled up by Polybia, the pony he used ta be is probably long dead.”
Twilight let the conversation hang for a long moment. She could see Pear Butter was close to breaking down, and felt some silence would help her recollect herself with dignity.
It was not too long before Pear Butter’s sniffles died away. Here in this Linkscape, she didn’t possess the red rimmed eyes her real body surely did. “This… um… this Link a’ yours,” Pear started, trying to keep her voice free of emotional hiccups. “Will Ah still be mahself if Ah fully join? Ah don’t want ta be brainwashed into bein’ a yesmare.”
“We all change, Pear Butter,” Twilight explained with more sympathy than the academic lecture she wanted to give. “Every species does through their experiences. But I can tell you that our conjoined hive mind champions individuality. Ad… mittedly, conformity is a bit of an odd thing to our species. The drones’ genes make them predisposed to be uniform in thought, to an extent, so most of the individuality pressure has to come from the queens. So…” Twilight frowned at herself for taking too long. “Yes, you will still be able to think for yourself and be independent in that fashion.”
Nodding in acknowledgement, Pear Butter steeled herself. “Ah suppose that’s ‘bout what Ah expected.” Pear Butter fell silent and cast her gaze up to the wispy clouds in the distance. “Lil Stelly’s the reason Polybia freed me from her pod prison, and then from her control entirely. Ah owe that little filly so much and she don’t even know it. Ah guess… Ah guess the only way ta best understand her as she grows up is to be a part of her hive mind, isn’t it?”
Twilight merely shrugged at the observation. “It’s what we are. Stellar especially since she will one day be a nexus of her own section of the unified hive mind.”
“Then Ah want ta be apart of that. That so called ‘chorus’ and all if that’s what it takes.”
“As you wish.” Twilight’s image glowed bright violet as she released the dam of voices.
Polybia’s hive mind left Pear Butter woefully unprepared. A cacophony of loving voices surrounded Pear and lifted her spirits with passive encouragement backed by the weight of tens of thousands of souls. Pear staggered to the ground, utterly enraptured by the full voice of the Link so readily embracing her. Gone was the cold isolation and the silence that caused dull pain in the back of her head ever since waking from the pod. Here, she was family. Not a servant to a caring aristocrat. Not a simple foalsitter, not an outsider, not some malformed quasi, but a sister. She belonged. The voices, energetic and overflowing with the deep ties of family, resonated with Pear to her very core. It did not matter to the thousands of other drones that Pear didn’t come from their Queen, only that Twilight had accepted her into the fold.
Pear Butter fell on her side as brain-clouding joy overwhelmed her. The need for family ties that she had tried to project onto Stellar was satiated in an instant. Tears streamed down her face as she wept in utter bliss. With Twilight’s gentle guidance, Pear Butter took her place within the chorus of the Link to add her own voice to the eternal song.
The world around Pear Butter shifted and she was dropped back into the real world inside her guest room. Towering over her was Twilight Sparkle and two attending caretakers. Pear Butter had been weeping here too, and looked up to Twilight’s offered hoof, and then to her face. It was the same face Twilight always had, but now Pear felt half of the other voices of the hive mind calling to her. Twilight was the absolute center of their world, the Queen-Mother. To Pear, who always believed that Celestia loved all of her subjects, it was entirely different to feel that love.
With a knowing warm grin, Twilight pulled the dumbfounded mare to her hooves. “How about we start over, you and I?”
A wide grin cleaved Pear’s muzzle and she eagerly accepted the hoof. “Gladly, my Queen.” For the first time, Pear was relieved to have a queen worthy of the title.
After helping Pear Butter up, Twilight hugged and nuzzled the foalsitter, making Pear return it in earnest. The two caretakers joined in, mirroring the embrace in the hive mind. Through it all, Pear Butter wept wracking sobs at how much pain her transformation had caused her, only for Twilight and her hive mind to turn it all around into a blessing. Pear grapsed Twilight harder, begging this wasn’t some fevered dream.
On their part, Twilight and the two caretakers strengthened their own embrace, helping Pear Butter cry away all the emotional turmoil she had been shouldering until now.
After a time, Pear Butter was emotionally exhausted, and finally brought herself to let go of Twilight. “What happens now? Do Ah go back to Canterlot or stay here?”
Twilight’s tone remained warm, but developed a commanding edge. “As you know, Stellar Drift is to be reared in both a pony and changeling environment. So you will be traveling with her back and forth from now on, at least when my father can’t make the trip. Your place will be at her side until she is of age. After that, I’ll leave the matter between the two of you.
“For now though, Stellar and Amber are being tended to in the Brass and Steam Kindergarten. We have to reinforce that love of engineering after all,” Twilight added with a sly grin. Twilight took a moment and hummed curiously at the mare before her. She’s passed the tests. Let’s see if I’m right about another little mystery. Twilight adopted a friendly and casual tone. “You know what? It just so happens to be cider season in Ponyville, which also happens to coincide with the Sisterhood Social this year. I’ve tried to convince everypony to make it the Sibling Social to include males, but they just decided to host that event on Father’s Day instead.” Twilight shrugged with mock helplessness. “At any rate, why don’t you join Rainbow Dash, me, and some of our children in Ponyville? I can only imagine the case of cabin fever you must have by now.”
Ponyville. Even after hearing about the growing town mere weeks after first arriving in Canterlot, the name had brought ghostly memories. One thing she had learned through casual eavesdropping, was that Applejack lived there, plus, Apple Bloom was in town on break from engineering school. Pear was up until now incapable of confronting neither of the sisters directly due to the geas forcing her to shy away. But now… now she was free, and given an open invitation to boot. Pear Butter’s wings buzzed with more excitement than she realized. “Ah would absolutely love to!”
The train from the hive to Ponyville hissed to a complete stop. Since Twilight had departed on her own to find Rainbow Dash, Intel was designated as Pear’s escort. And here I thought I’d get the day off. Lucky me.
The Captain of the Jevruun Vrunningee moved to join Pear (who had been smushing her face expectantly against the window the entire ride over) with far more dignity, and had the common sense to fly over the crowd so she could easily keep up with the running mare.
The majority of the other passengers were changelings, though there was the odd mix of imperial thestrals and sphinxes. Pear Butter paid neither them nor Intel any mind and spotted the ticket master kiosk currently free of any travelers. She made a mad dash through the crowd to get to the earth stallion manning the post before any customers could beat her to it and slow her down.
With Intel trailing behind her, Pear Butter all but slammed into the kiosk, startling the stallion into banging into the opposite side. “Farm! There’s a farm here, right?!”
The stallion gave her a baffled look and looked to Intel who had managed to reach them. The captain shrugged at him. “Uhh… I take it you’re here for cider season. You have that look about you,” he muttered. “But yes, if you follow the main road, you should see signs directing you to Sweet Apple Acres. Are you here for the cider or the Social?” he asked, trying to get the manic mare to leave as soon as possible.
The actual details of both events escaped her for a long moment, long enough for Intel to answer for her in an almost bored tone. “She’s here on business with the Apples, or something.”
It took the stallion a moment to realize Pear was a changeling since her eyes didn’t have the typical blue glow. “Ah, I see. Well, the Social isn’t until tomorrow morning, so I would imagine Applejack is at her shop in town square.”
“Thank ya, thank ya!” Pear called out as she raced away. With the wider town open to the station, the crowd had thinned considerably, giving Pear Butter more room to run. Intel chased after the manic mare through streets and and alleyways before curiosity got the better of the captain. The small town had grown quite a bit since Twilight founded her hive, let alone when Pear Butter was abducted. What scant few hints of memories she had of the layout were prodding her in the wrong directions. It didn’t help that industrial development had led to several stretches of town being rezoned and built up.
Intel had no trouble following after the mare from the air as Pear neglected her wings entirely. It’s like she doesn’t know how to get to the Square.
<Hey, momma, is there a reason Pear wants to meet the Apples so badly? Isn’t she just some half-drone you picked up from grampa?>
Intel could almost feel the coy smile on her mother’s face. <Oh, I think there’s much more to her than meets the eye. Just keep an eye on her though. If she breaks anything running around, just have it charged to the treasury.>
<Okaaayyy. Why not just gift her the location for Aunty Apple and save us the trouble?>
<Some things are best done on your own. Let her have this.>
Intel almost missed Pear’s sudden left turn as she flew after her, barreling over an aging brown earth stallion with grey hair, causing him to drop a load of firewood. Intel hesitated long enough to see the stunned gaping jaw on him before having to chase Pear Butter again. He looks like he’s seen a ghost.
The town was all wrong. The ghostly memories, barely coherent enough to give instinctual directions, were useless. The number of brick and mortar stores were above and beyond what she vaguely remembered. What few houses she ran across had either become larger apartments or were far more wealthy than the small, sleepy town had any right to be in her time. She came to a stop upon seeing a large building on a low hill with tall spindly towers that looked like an overcompensating chimney. A few pegasi had a dark grey cloud hovering just over the mouth of the black belching chimneys. That was most certainly not there before. She just so happened to catch them moving the grey cloud away to replace it with a white and puffy one.
Is this really the right place? Are mah memories that tore up? The sound of buzzing wings behind her caused Pear to look back at her escort. Intel. While Pear had inherited some empathic abilities, Intel was too far away for them to work, so she couldn’t tell if the full changeling was annoyed or bored from this distance.
“Why don’t you try flying?” Intel called out. Now that Pear had stopped, the Queen’s Guard landed next to her. The pair were standing on the walkway of a cobblestone road near the retirement home. A few aged ponies were nestled on their rocking chairs, oblivious to them.
Pear Butter shuffled nervously on her hooves, trying to fight the urge to follow her instincts over learning the town’s new layout. “Ah uhh… Ah don’t want any of the Apples to see me first, is all.” Pear Butter closed her eyes to think and calm her nerves. The chorus of the hive mind was a tempting place to retreat to, to allow her anxiety and stress to be diluted through just listening to her new kin. The hive mind’s subtle nature was a constant reminder that she was now part of a greater whole, but it was by no means a dominating impulse. Pear squeezed her eyes tighter to reassert herself. No, it’s not their troubles, only mah own. As if to comply with her wishes, the chorus dimmed to only the background of her mind.
Intel sniffed out the will for self-assertion, but nothing else of Pear’s inner conflict. “Were… were you somepony important to them?” Intel asked in a much more somber tone.
The question caught Pear Butter completely off guard, and she stared at Intel for a long silent moment. Only the clip clop of hooves or the occasional chug of steam engines filled the street. “Twilight didn’t tell you all about me? But you’re her personal bodyguard or something, aren’t you?”
Pear Butter caught a brief flash of pain in Intel’s eyes. Not physical, but one of longingness, and dare she think, kindredness. “Only the queens know us drones inside and out, as is proper.” Intel’s eyes focused intently on Pear’s non-glowing eyes, trying to judge on what to say. “Twilight may have accepted you into the hive mind, but you are still a mystery to the rest of us. It’s… not something I’m used to in kin.”
Pear scuffed at the ground, her searching gaze went back to the streets. “Ah’d tell ya, honest. But first Ah have to know if Ah’m actually somepony to the Apples. If Ah was a friend, kin, or… even a rival. It’s all Ah got left of mah past life.” Pear looked back at Intel. “Ah know Ah can never be that pony again but… ”
Intel’s eyebrows lifted at the news, her somberness forgotten. “Did you try looking into the census archives in Canterlot?”
Pear sadly shook her head. “Ah couldn’t. Every time Ah went there the geas would keep me from entering the door like Ah was some sorta vampony that hadn’t been invited.”
Intel studied Pear intently before sighing heavily. “That must have been horrible, being a prisoner in your own body.” Intel hugged Pear after the former pony retreated back into the alleyway and started crying quietly. Intel was mildly impressed she didn’t want to weep openly in public, causing a scene. “Come on, you’ll find the Apple Store two streets down and to the left.”
Pear silently accepted the news as an excuse to recollect herself a bit faster than she wanted. Once the tears stopped and she rubbed the water off her face, Pear turned to give Intel a small annoyed scowl. “You knew where to go this whole time? Seriously?”
Intel rolled her eyes, the mood lost. “Peh. Well, yeah. You just ran off before I could show you.” She flew into the air to be just below the roofs of the nearby structures. “So unless you want to run around aimlessly again, follow me this time, eh?”
“It wasn't aimless,” Pear Butter countered with a huff and a stomp. The fuming frown only deepened when Intel just gave her a disbelieving smirk. “Fine, Ah'll fly this time.”
And there it was, the Apple Family Store. It had a deactivated red neon apple sitting on top of the whole place with a windowed front. Within was a display of not just apples and cider, but all kinds of jiyya products. A few thestral couples were eyeballing the bulbous fruit with gluttony. Superimposed on the window in front of the jiyya display was a stylized thestral chowing down approvingly on the fruit. The store as a whole had a strange mix between rustic wood, brass, and iron.
The store was lit, but a large sign on the polished wooden door read ‘out to lunch’. There was a little clock on the sign, indicating the break had just started less than a minute ago.
Pear Butter stood in the middle of the street with Intel beside her. She gazed at the store as if it was both a beacon of hope and a monster of emotional devastation all at once.
“Intel ‘La ‘Gence, my long time friend and ally!” a deep masculine voice called out from behind the pair. Both mares turned around to find a muscle-bound thestral stallion. He had a single saddlebag that smelled of hay burgers and pickles. He wore a massive, friendly grin and had a foreleg open, ready for a bear hug. “How’s my favorite trooper?”
With a grin to match, Intel cackled at the proper use of her full name. “Dusk Branch, I was hoping I’d get to see you again!” She all but leapt into his waiting hug and the two squashed each other to see who would relent first. No matter how much she tried, Intel didn’t have the strength to match Branch and released him first. “How’ve you been ya big softy?”
Dusk Branch bellowed a laugh at her, before faking insult by gasping and holding a hoof to his chest. “Da, there’s not need for such cruel words between friends. Why I got voted the toughest nut in my family ten years going, I’ll have you know!” He dropped the act as quick as it came. “So what are you doing here? Finally got some time off?”
“Almost.” Intel turned around and pointed a hoof at Pear Butter who was waiting politely. “I have orders to escort Ms. Pear Butter over here to meet with the Apples, or at least Applejack.”
“Is that right?” Branch asked rhetorically. He slid past Intel to both size up the odd changeling and to offer a hoof. “Well you’re in luck there, I was just coming back with lunch for all while AJ did inventory. The name’s Dusk Branch.”
Pear Butter smiled at the friendly giant and eagerly shook his hoof. “Pear Butter, heh, as you heard. Are you a family friend or just an employee?”
“Ha! A bit of both and more. I’m Applejack’s fiancee.” His grin widened at Pear’s astonished reaction. “But come, come, we can all chat and eat. I brought enough for all, and the store can’t stay closed for lunch forever.”
As Intel moved up alongside them, Branch found it a perfect excuse to rope her into a second hug, and partially dragged her to the door. “Come my friend, we simply must have lunch together. I want to hear all about your crazy stories.”
Intel didn’t need much prodding, but she played the part of a resistant guest and pulled against him, not that it helped. “Think you can stomach the good stuff this time? AJ got pissed when she had to clean your breakfast up off the floor last time.”
"That was not my fault. I had a bad cannoli, it disagreed with me horribly, is true. But now, I can listen to the worst you can throw at me this time, without fail!"
Pear chuckled behind a hoof and followed them in. Ooh, Ah like him.
The jolly group made their way inside with Branch calling out as soon as the door shut, “Soups on, everypony!”
“Oh, you better not have brought soup!” a terse Applejack cried out from behind the stockroom door. “Ah tolda,” she burst through the door with eyes zeroed in on Dusk Branch. “You best be playin’ again, ya big lunk.”
“Dah! You know I only be fooling.” Branch teased with a flourish of his left hoof. “But let us quibble for fun later, we have guests!” Branch stepped aside to reveal Intel and Pear behind him.
Applejack had marched half way across the store by the time the stallion moved aside, and she stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing Pear Butter. Applejack’s mouth was agape at a pony that had stepped out of her time-fogged past.
As for Pear, the instinctual fear of the geas’ reprisal for being this close to Applejack hit hard, but the punishment didn’t come. This was her chance, at long last. Even still, her heart pounded in her chest, and she broke out in a cold sweat trying to come up with something to say.
Both Intel and Branch were puzzled by the reactions, equally unsure of how best approach the situation.
“Landsakes,” Applejack said slowly, almost reverently. Upon regaining her wits, she noticed the horn, holes, and short yet noticeable fangs the mystery mare possessed. The only thing that gave her more pause than the mare’s colors, face, and curly hair, was that her turquoise eyes had no blue glow, allowing them to shine on their own. Her brow furrowed in mild suspicion. “You look… awfully familiar. What’s your name, missy?” Applejack asked the mare that looked slightly younger than she did.
“P-pear Butter,” she replied shakily. “Ah—”
Pear stopped when she saw Applejack getting angry in a hurry. “Pear Butter ya say?” Applejack gave Pear a look that could melt steel beams before glaring at Intel. “Girl, Ah’m gonna say this once. Ah like a good joke er prank, but anythin’ about mah parents is off limits, ya hear me?!”
Intel cowed out of surprise under the seething fury and waved her hooves placatingly. “Whoa, wait a second. Hold up! If this is a prank, it’s news to me.”
“Well, ain’t that the biggest donkey manure lie Ah’ve ever heard!” Applejack stormed over and jabbed the drone in the chest with a hard hoof. “Y’all should know family is sacred. And as for you—” Applejack began as she returned her ire towards the peach colored changeling, “—Ah should throw… you…” Applejack stopped as she stared at Pear Butter’s cutie mark, or at least what was left of it. Applejack stepped off to the side to get a better look at the damaged cutie mark.
Pear Butter kept scurrying away until she bumped into a shelf. She cowed a little at the irate farmpony, but stopped resisting after she had nowhere else to retreat to.
Applejack ignored Pear’s flight, and focused solely on that distorted cutie mark. She had fully expected to either see the unforgettable jar of fruity cream on Pear’s flank, or no cutie mark at all. Yet what she found looked like a smear of darker peach colors mixed with the light blue of glass and a hint of red from the lid.
The lapse in Applejack’s anger prompted Branch to come over and lay a reassuring hoof on his fiancee’s back. Applejack grabbed the offered hoof with her own. “Who are you?”
Pear Butter refused to let the hive mind shoulder any of her anxiety. She took comfort in the presence of the chorus, but she wanted to do this solely with her own strength. Shoring up the courage to speak, Pear Butter started slowly. “Ah’m hopin’ somepony from here, actually.” She risked an upward tug on her lips, but Applejack’s stern look made her press on before losing her nerve. “Ah know Ah used to be a farmer when Ah was a pony. But a long time ago, Queen Polybia,” Pear Butter forced the words out with deep hostility instead of the usual, less identifying, and decidedly more crass names she reserved for the dead queen. “She, foalnapped me and put me in a pod so she could use mah experience as a farmer to feed her swarm.” Now that she had started, the words flowed faster and easier. “She woke me up ta be a guard for her royal daughter and sent me and one other to Canterlot. Her daughter was, uh, Stellar Drift by the way. The whole time though…” and on Pear Butter went, spilling every little detail, emotion, and event she remembered.
Through it all, Applejack listened with rapt attention, yet she kept the walls around her heart. This was not a scar she wished to open so readily. Her mouth was bone dry all the same. Applejack’s memories of her mother were almost as faded as the quasi’s own, worn away by time rather than alchemy. The singular thing Applejack remembered most of all though, was her mother’s kind voice. A voice that had always put her at ease as a filly with lullabies and praises. She grasped Branch’s hoof tighter and tighter as Pear’s story continued right up to the end.
“...And so Ah ended up here,” Pear Butter ended hopefully, looking at Applejack with shaky optimism. “Ah can’t tell ya how much Ah’ve wanted to meet ya. Ta learn who Ah used to be.”
Applejack licked her parched lips with a sandy tongue. She looked to Intel for a moment. “Ah know you’re listen’n, Twi. Ah can’t see ya letting her get to say her piece like this if you didn’t believe her.”
Everyone looked to the soldier as Intel bore her mother’s eyes and voice. Twilight put on a troubled, if regal air. “I had Starlight Glimmer double check my investigation on her cutie mark. It’s badly degraded, as you can tell, but it is real. Polybia was a lot of things, but I can’t see her awakening a random prisoner and injecting your mother’s broken memories, assuming she somehow acquired them in some other way. Only to then not use her against you in some manner.” Twilight caught Pear’s stunned reaction at being called Applejack’s mother out of the corner of her eye. “As far as I can determine, Pear Butter is who she says she is. Anything more than that, I have to leave up to you and the rest of the Apples.”
“Are - are you seriously tell’n me mah momma ain’t dead!?” Applejack took a tentative step forward, daring to hope this wasn’t some sick joke. RD maybe, if she were stinkin’ drunk. But not Twilight. “Are you for real?” she asked desperately, tears starting to fall. “No foolin?”
Pear Butter could feel it in her heart. Older though Applejack may be, having a moment to look her in the eyes was all she needed to connect some of her broken memories. A tearful smile crossed Pear Butter, with, she too making that first step. “Ah am, by Celestia’s light, Ah am!”
With a rush of tears, Applejack burst forward and embraced her long lost mother in a crushing hug. Pear Butter responded in kind, the both of them a reunion neither thought possible.
Upon Intel’s suggestion, Twilight erected a privacy screen over the windows. Both she and Dusk Branch watched mother and daughter cry out decades of absence. Catharsis of such depth, such reopened pain, was a rare and surprisingly euphoric emotional high for Intel, and Twilight by proxy.
So caught up in the waves of euphoric catharsis were they, that neither of them noticed Dusk Branch suddenly catch them as Intel started to keel over. The flash of vertigo brought both queen and drone back to their senses, only to have to resist the euphoria again.
“You ladies are suckers for a good, tearful reunion aren’t you?” Branch flashed a thankful grin as he helped Intel stand again. He whispered to as to not disturb the reunion. “My Apple was always mum about her parents, now I see why.”
As if on cue, both of them overheard Applejack ask her mother the question Twilight had dreaded. “Where’s pa? Did he get woken up too?”
As Twilight mustered an answer, it was Pear Butter who spoke first. She pulled away from Applejack with a deep pained sorrow threatening to eclipse her joy. “Ah don’t know, exactly. Ah told you Polybia woke me alongside a stallion. After a while, Ah thought he was mah husband, or at least a special somepony in some manner. But…” Pear Butter steeled herself, and found strength from Applejack’s side-hug. “But whoever he used ta be is long gone. Polybia changed him too much for any real memories to return. The last Ah saw him, his only thoughts were to protect Stellar Drift, not because she deserves it, but because it was Polybia’s final command.”
Applejack wiped the tears from her eyes, a surge of righteous anger coloring her voice. “If Ah had known.” She turned that furious look at Twilight. “Ah’d have gone on that warpath with ya. By Celestia, Ah’d have done more than Luna did. A thousand times more.”
Twilight heaved a slow controlled breath. “Let’s not dwell on her. Polybia is dead and locked in a horrible afterlife. We should leave it at that.”
“Aye,” Pear Butter agreed while putting a hoof on Applejack’s withers, drawing her daughter’s attention, which softened into sympathy. “Ah say we forget her entirely, that’s the worst thing we can do ta her.”
Applejack squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth to release some of her anger. In the end, she wasn’t very successful. “Fine. But we should look for that stallion. He might be pa, or he might not… anymore. But Ah want to be sure. If only to put him to rest for real.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “Between Princess Luna’s and Rainbow’s efforts, I have no doubt we’ll find him eventually. Once we do, you can be brought in, but for now, please don’t let this news hound you. Leave the hunt to us, and focus on your own life.” If only Stopwatch was able to track him through her connection with him, but that would be too easy now wouldn't it?
“Ah… Ah know ya will, Twi. Thank ya.” Pear Butter walked up behind her and nuzzled her daughter, eliciting a grateful, if teary smile from the farmpony.
“Come on,” Pear offered with excitement to chase away the negative pallor that threatened to ruin the day. “Show me this cider season and Sisterhooves Social Ah kept hearing about on the train over!”
Seeing the ice breaker for what it was, Dusk Branch leapt at the opportunity Pear presented. “Ah ha! Excellent idea! We should make it a whole affair, all day!” He manhandled Applejack into a side-bear hug while gesturing wildly with his free foreleg. “Think of the headlines we could bring. The season is not only expanded to Jiyya cider as well, but we can have the return of my future mother-in-law as the keystone! Oh, what fun we shall have!
“Come, my dear sweet apple, we have much to do!” Dusk Branch belted off a jolly laugh as he all but dragged Applejack away to the storeroom. Applejack offered only playful resistance, producing giddy laughter from the changelings who briefly remained on the store floor.
Once the couple were out of sight, Pear Butter inched over to Intel and whispered conspiratorially at her. “Oh Ah like him, where did she find him? Is he one of them imperial bat ponies?”
Twilight giggled behind a hoof. I could just hive chat for perfect privacy, but where’s the fun in that? Intel conveyed her own lack of amusement, only for Twilight to perform the Link equivalent of blowing a raspberry at her. “Nope, he’s Equestrian born and bred. AJ picked him up after she went searching for a jiyya expert. She wouldn’t go into details, the spoilsport, but I think we can guess how the two met.”
“Ah might be able to leverage some maternal strings to get the truth,” Pear Butter snickered happily. She took a long moment to enjoy the feel of social gossip. As the two passed theories back and forth on how Applejack and Dusk Branch got together, Pear Butter's eyes wandered throughout the store’s interior, marveling at what her family had accomplished in her absence. The general layout was about as much as could be expected, with shelves lined with various types of apples, jiyya, or their fruity products. There were also a number of simple machines, by changeling standards. Each of the machines served an obvious function, be it product lifting or sorting; very little was left to artistic flair, save for the repeating cutie mark of an apple on top of a shield. Pear Butter walked off towards the stockroom, but stopped at the sorting machine. “Did an Apple make these or is this one of yours?” Pear asked, breaking the chain of gossip.
With a proud grin she reserved for her students, Twilight was all too happy to let the topic shift and extol the tale. “This was designed and built by your very own Apple Bloom, thanks to my excellent engineering school of course. Bye the bye, she’s staying at Sweet Apple Acres this week.”
It wasn’t long before everyone made towards the asphalt road into Sweet Apple Acres. Along the way, Twilight had arrived with her real body, allowing Intel to scamper off to enjoy some free time. The quartet had chatted up all the minute little things both had lived in Pear’s absence. Applejack had been mum on most of Apple Bloom’s achievements, willing to wait for her little sister to speak for herself later, and so Apple Bloom could see her mother’s pride first hand. Dusk Branch had been more than happy to go into every little detail about jiyya farming and his own family business.
Twilight merely added occasional commentary, happy enough to see the light return to Applejack’s eyes. Something that had been missing for a while.
The group was along the same old dirt path between the main freight road and the farm house. Pear Butter took in all the sights. The healthy and bountiful apple trees stretched far and wide in perfect rows. There were even some new pear trees, and by Pear Butter's critical eye, she could tell they were only a year away from producing a full crop. Off in the distance were rows of massive greenhouses with even more trees within.
The group was halfway up the road when Pear Butter popped the question Twilight had been dreading. “Ya only been mentioning yer siblings. What about your grandparents? Weren’t some of them alive before Ah was taken?”
At that, Applejack stopped walking and stared longingly at a particularly young apple tree. “Well…” Dusk Branch gave her a side hug, but knew Applejack well enough to let her speak on her own. “I don’t know if you remember, but Grandpa Apple died well before you were… taken. But Granny Smith, she - she passed on last year.” Applejack leaned into Dusk Branch’s barrel silently thanking him for his strength. “Oddly enough, yer father, Grand Pear, passed not a day after.”
“Oh.” Pear Butter’s ears wilted with a mix of anger and sorrow warring over her face. “Ah wish Ah remembered either of them.”
Wiping away a tear, Applejack turned back towards Twilight. “Is there anything you can do about that?”
“Afraid not.” Twilight used her magic to project a brilliantly cut gem. “Memories can only be saved like that in a memory crystal. Since Polybia abhorred individuality in her… subjects, nothing like that would exist for Pear.”
Dusk Branch pulled away from Applejack and waved towards the farmhouse. “As horrible as all this is, I think we should focus on making new memories instead of letting what horrors Polybia inflicted on us. To show we can move beyond her.”
Pear Butter found vindictive strength in that. “Agreed. Ah want to see mah family, even if Ah have ta reintroduce myself.”
Shaking her head to cast the pallor of depression aside for the time being, Applejack interposed herself between Pear Butter and the farmhouse. “As good an idea as any other. Why don’t Ah make sure everypony is ready before ya come on up. Ah won’t tell them who, just that somepony important is coming to see us.”
Twilight stepped forward and placed a wing on Pear’s back. “Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you to shout us over.”
Nodding in agreement with her queen, Pear Butter smiled. “Ah can hardly wait.”
“Well, won’t be long, Come on, DB, time to rouse the family!”
“As if I would ever miss this!”
With that, the two ponies raced off, leaving the two changelings alone for the time being. Now that they were out of earshot, Pear Butter looked up and gave Twilight a long worried look. “Mah queen, can Ah stay here for a while? Like, longer than the social, at least?”
Twilight bore the same concerned motherly face she often bore with her children. It wasn’t quite neutral, but it wasn’t smile or frown either. “Your meeting with Applejack was the final bit of evidence I needed to be sure you were who I thought you were.
“Pear, you didn’t choose to be a changeling, half though you may be. So I don’t want to force you into it either. You may stay as part of the hive mind, of course, but if the farm is where you choose to stay, then far be it from me to keep you away from them.”
Twilight could see the conflict on Pear’s face. “If you’re worried about Stellar Drift, don’t be. I have more than enough caretakers who can help daddy out in raising her in Canterlot when she’s over there.”
For the longest time, long enough that Twilight expected Applejack to call them over at any moment, Pear Butter stewed in her own thoughts. But eventually, Pear Butter shook her head. “No, Ah can’t do that. Not ta Stellar.” Pear gave Twilight a determined stare that brooked no rebuttal. “Ah don’t care if Polybia forced me inta bein’ Stellar’s guardian. That filly is kin, more now than ever.” Pear glanced out at the trees gently swaying in the wind. A pained expressed marred her face. “Ah want ta see mah pony family a’ course, and Ah want ta visit often but… Ah can’t abandon Stellar just to make mahself happy. Neither can Ah do it ta Night Light, Pranceston, or Azure Skies. Polybia may have forced me into it, but Ah choose to stay.”
With a few tears of her own, Twilight knelt down to be eye level with Pear Butter and embraced her. An act that surprised the former earth pony before she eventually reciprocated. “You’re a wonderful person, Pear. I know you’ll do an amazing job with Stellar.”