//------------------------------// // The News // Story: Family Tree // by miss-cyan //------------------------------// Pinkie’s day out with Bluey had been a success! Every activity had gone so smoothly, and she had even picked out a present for her party while they were out. It was a surprise though, she had kept it in her mane ever since they left the toy store. And Fluttershy had liked her too! Pinkie thought things were going to go sour when they weren’t talking much but Bluey had stuck it out like a champ! Nice conversation, some real smiles, and she got to pet so many animals. At first Fluttershy had only agreed to it because a) Pinkie had vouched for her, and b) To get the animals ready to be adopted into pony homes, they needed to be “socialized”. Getting pet and treated nice by ponies who weren’t her really helped. And they even got to see Sweet Wheat get her cutie mark! But Sweet Wheat had talked about changing her name once she got her cutie mark before, like foals do sometimes. Pinkie was glad her name, even if it was a nickname, fit her so well. Her older and younger sister had changed their names when they got their cutie marks. Limestone didn’t want to be “Blinelda Ellen Pie” anymore, and she couldn’t blame her baby sister for losing the name “Inknacious Nadeen Pie”. But their foalhood nicknames had only stuck in her case. Pinkie wondered, sipping her Banana Bonanza, if Sugar and Silver Maple had changed their names at some point. Maybe Pinkie had met them before and just didn’t know it? Something to remember tomorrow when they got the files from Town Hall. “Hey Pinkie?” Her thought bubble burst when her friend got her attention. “Do you like your shake Bluey?” she asked, hoping she would. “Yeah, it’s…super good actually.” She smiled really softly, and Pinkie’s insides flipped around with happy thoughts. Yes, more real smiles! This is the best day ever! “But I think after this I’m gonna head home.” Her happy insides stopped flipping. Sad guts only now. “Oh no! Is everything okay?” she asked, her ears feeling sad too. “Did you get a brainfreeze?” “No, I’m okay.” She sighed. “I just…haven’t done something like this in a while. I’m kind of all worn down from today.” “Oh, no problem!” It wasn’t anything she did. “I’ll get the bill and-” Hang on… “Wait…what do you mean? You haven’t done what in a while?” she asked, not understanding. “I meant like…been out with a friend all day.” “Do your friends not like to do fun stuff with you?” her brain started moving. “I can give you a bunch of ideas for when you go back home. Like scavenger hunts, and baking cookies, and-” “No, I meant, y’know. I don’t hang out with anypony.” She shrugged, pulling her milkshake closer to her on the table. “I don’t have friends, back home. Today was kind of different.” Pinkie’s stopped sipping her milkshake. Wait. Wait wait… Her brain was catching up. Wait wait wait waitwaitwait… “You WHAT!?” She could shout now; Sweet Wheat and her family had already left. Bluey jolted in her seat, her ears flipping down. “Geez Pinkie, what’s your deal?” she frowned. Pinkie slapped her hooves over her mouth. “Oops. I meant to shout but not that loud.” She laughed, before switching back. “You don’t have any friends?? At all?” “Nope.” She shrugged again. “Nopony to have fun with? Or hug or tell jokes or share secrets or…anything?” she couldn’t believe her ears. “No, none of that stuff.” She sipped again. “I had a roommate before she moved out. We didn’t like the same things so we didn’t hang out. We weren’t friends, I guess.” Pinkie knew there were some ponies out there that liked to be on their own. Even Fluttershy had days where she needed to be by herself, but…no friends at all? Pinkie didn’t want to shout again, even if she felt like it. Even ponies who wanted to be alone were okay with it. Bluey was a grown-up, she could do whatever she wanted as long as she liked. But all those fake smiles… “But Bluey…are you, y’know?” The pony she’d spent the whole day with looked up at her. She had to ask. “…Happy?” Bluey’s face didn’t change, but her shoulders jumped slightly. If she hadn’t been watching she would’ve missed it. Pinkie could tell something was there. Something she’d never seen in a pony before. Bluey’s eyes went from one side to the other before she finally talked again. “Yeah, I’m okay. Don’t worry about me Pinkie.” She smiled. But it was the fakest smile she’d used since they met. Practiced, like she told herself that all the time. Pinkie’s heart hurt. She wanted to hug her. She wanted to tell her she could change. She wanted to help her smile for real a million more times. But she didn’t. Bluey was sad, and she’d probably been sad for a really long time. It was like Fluttershy. No matter how many times her friends told her there was nothing to be scared of, no reason to be so shy, she stayed herself. If she changed, it was because she changed on her own. And Pinkie had been friends with Fluttershy for a while now. She’d only known Bluey two days. She couldn’t promise to make things better. Bluey wasn’t even going to be in Ponyville very long. And what happened when she got the stuff from the files? Would she meet the ponies, go back home and still be sad? Would this be the thing to make her happy? Pinkie didn’t have a clue. “Okay, I’m sorry.” She said, smiling at the blue pony. “But hey, at least you have me, right? Your new pal Pinkie is here if you need her.” And Bluey smiled a little, for real. It was still off, still out of practice. But she’d take it. “Thanks Pinkie.” I was feeling more drained than before. Pinkie really cared about all that. But I was fine, and I told her as much. I hadn’t had any real friends since like…middle school maybe? And I was okay with it. I was kinda messed up otherwise, that’s what the meds and therapy were for. But I’d been on my own for a long time. Hell, the closest thing I’d had to a friend in years was- I froze, realizing what I almost dug up. I shook it off, burying it back, way deep down where it belonged. I’d had a tiring enough day as it was. Pinkie picked up the tab like she said she would and we walked some more. I was going in my direction, and her place was on the way. “Are you staying in Ponyville, the inn maybe?” she asked, bouncing alongside me at my pace. “I could come get you in the morning and we’ll go to Town Hall.” Ah hell…I can’t let that happen. Hold on…What was the town with the hotels…Rare Find said… “I’m staying in a hotel out in Neighton, down the road.” I lied, but it was a believable lie. “I’ll meet you at your place again, maybe we can have breakfast?” “Ooh Yeah! You’re gonna love my pancakes!” she started rambling off flavors to make and I chimed in every now and then, not doubting they’d be good. We got to the gingerbread house after pancake flavor number fifty-seven, might’ve been apple preserve and caramel, when I turned to her. “Okay, I’m off.” I said, giving her a smile. “You wanna meet here at eight again?” I wanted to get to the files sooner than later. But a thought hit me. Be more considerate Lottie. The thought said. “Or later, if you want to sleep in a little. You were up a while with those cakes if I’m remembering right.” “Aww, don’t worry about me! I went to bed early last night. I’m a morning pony, always bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!” That phrase changed a bit somehow, coming from somebody who actually had a tail. I laughed a little at the idea of Pinkie popping out of bed in the morning, fully alert and on the move like a squirrel. “Okay, eight it is.” Before I could go, Pinkie got in another hug. I didn’t want to lose my footing by hugging back with both front legs, so I relented to hug back tight with just the one. I couldn’t see her face, but I felt her move a little like she was holding in a giggle. Such a huggy pony. “See you tomorrow Pinkie.” I said, on my way. She waved really hard and smiled wide, just like yesterday. “Bye Bluey!!” she called after me, just a bit too loud. I didn’t mind as much when it wasn’t right in my sensitive pony ears. I made it home with no problems, but her words echoed in my head the whole way. “That we’ll be friends, Bluey!” “This is my new friend Cornflower Blue!” “But hey, at least you have me, right? Your new pal Pinkie is here if you need her.” I was starting to feel guilty. “It’s not like I’m being awful to her.” I reasoned with myself, setting my coin purse on the coffee table. “I’m having fun with her, even though I’ll be gone soon. And I’d never be coming back, but…I’m not doing it to be mean. It’ll be like she…has a friend who moved away.” “Who never visits again. Or writes letters because I live in another dimension or something…” This reassurance wasn’t really helping the way I’d hoped. “I can lie my way out of a lot of questions she’ll have…even if it feels kind of crappy.” It was kind of ridiculous, feeling guilty about lying when everything about “Cornflower Blue” was a lie. Sure I’d told the truth here and there, I make toys and have no friends, I liked that movie and I loved her cakes…But everything else was a lie I told to get what I needed to be human again. Right down to my pony name. “What if it doesn’t matter.” I whispered. “What if I’m lying and feeling bad and making friends and I don’t-” I had to stay positive. I had to believe that Sugar or Silver or anybody knew a way to change me back. That I would be able to face my family as a person again. That not a single pony would suspect me of being me in the meantime. I stared at my bare backside. “A cutie mark.” I shook my head, even the name was unbelievable. I broke it down for myself. Ponies have cutie marks and it represents what they’re good at? Rare Find mines gems, and he seemed pretty good at it. Pinkie plans parties and bakes, and her cutie mark showed that too. The kid at the café sang really well and got one about music. But it appeared. I still wasn’t over that. “So you’re a little pony kid, you figure out what you’re good at, and you get a mark that shows that? I guess it would be easier to get hired when the universe plasters your job aptitude on your body. The manager stares at you like: So I see you’re good at baking? You’ve got the job.” I recalled my thinking when I saw the cutie marks on the ponies in the picture. "Hell, there's mythical creatures involved. Maybe it's something dumb. Like...magic. Whatever." The pictures appearing, the telekinesis that the unicorns did, it was still so far-fetched, but every time I thought that something else happened that I couldn’t believe. I had three theories on my lack of a cutie mark, with this new information. “One, I don’t really have any job skills and something is aware of that. But that outs me anyway because ponies get them by a certain age, much younger than me. Two, I’m not tied to whatever source lets them appear because I’m not from ponyworld. It came in a flash of light, that had to come from somewhere, maybe magic? Or three, probably the most believable answer, I’m not really a pony. No mark would show up for me because whatever changed me just made me into the shape of a pony.” That made it even more dangerous if I got caught. If they saw me and knew something wasn’t right, it raised questions. I wouldn’t be a pony, but what would that make me. I had a feeling that “not a pony” would be a good enough answer. “Good thing a pony in a jacket doesn’t stand out.” I sighed. I had more immediate things to think about. “If those files point me someplace close tomorrow, I’ll want to have everything I need.” That included having all my pony stuff in one place. If this stuff belonged to one of them or someone they knew I might just be returning some long-lost property. It would be able to prove who I was since they were from my side of the portal. “I guess I have a craft project to do.” When I was up in the office, looking for the hobby knife I’d seen in the drawers, I looked around the office for anything I could use as a pony to take back downstairs with me. The stepladder would come in handy, but the thought of dragging it backwards down the stairs scared me, as did pushing it down and hoping it didn’t break anything. I missed books. It was a lot of tv watching the last couple of days and the novel I’d been reading was sitting on the bookshelf way out of my reach. I imagined reading would be awkward with hooves anyway, just holding the cover down on the paperback will I turned pages very carefully. Sitting there I looked at the books that had been left on the other shelf on the far wall of the office. They were all Grandpa’s books, mostly westerns and books on WW2. He was born right after the war, if I remembered so I didn’t understand the fascination. He didn’t read much anyway, so none of them were very thick. “Lots of books on home repair, I might take a look at those once I’m back to normal…A heart-smart cookbook, that could be useful. Couple of Computers for Dummies books…True Grit, some Steven Kings, Black Beauty, The Hobbit-” Wait. I looked again and sure enough, Black Beauty was smack in the middle of the shelves. His letter was coming back to me. Once you find that, you’ll know where to look next. I grabbed the stepladder in my teeth and desperately dragged it in place. I had terrible balance as a pony but I could hardly think about falling off at the moment. “It’s the only horse book on the shelf…” I muttered, swatting at the book just out of reach. “C’mon, c’mon! If I just-shit!” I bumped the underside and it fell to the ground, but I did too. I was in a heap of pony limbs and stepladder, my back aching from the impact. “Shit…fuck that hurt…” I got back up, and thankfully nothing seemed to be broken. I snapped the front cover open, pushing through the pages, looking for anything. A letter in the pages, a highlighted passage, a dog-eared page, writing in the margins. I looked over every page, twice. I sat there for a good while, rechecking everything. I even picked the book up in my teeth and shook it like a dog in case something was stuck somewhere I missed. I took of the dust jacket, I rechecked again, but… Nothing. And as I sat, wondering if I had been mistaken, or if it was right, and it’s the only book that’s out of place, there were no other animal books, no other horse books, it has to be this, a thought hit me. “He wrote that letter pretty recently.” I said, barely above a whisper. It fit. He was hesitant about the whole thing. He left me the letter, but another part of the big secret with more conformation was another thing. He had wanted to get around to it, sooner or later, but did he even mean for me to see the letter? It was in a locked drawer and he died so suddenly. He died before putting all of this into motion. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the next place to look was still somewhere in the house. But this book looked brand new, the spine wasn’t even creased yet. Had he bought it just for this? Had he left me one puzzle piece short? I sat on the floor for a long time. I would pull myself out of this new sense of helplessness eventually, there was stuff to do before tomorrow. But for the moment, I just needed to sit and mope. It wouldn’t make me feel better. But it would make me feel something. It was the middle of the night, and Spike had long since fallen asleep. Twilight had been pouring over written records from early Ponyville for Celestia knows how long. Accounts from the founding, land surveys, farmland records, anything she could get her hooves on. But nothing so far had pointed to anything unusual going on in those woods. They weren’t well explored like Whitetail Woods or had even the brief writings on the Everfree, and any map she found of them was never very detailed. It was just wild forest, untouched by ponies like she’d first thought. A thought had occurred to her that maybe books hadn’t contained any clues to the mystery, but perhaps the microfilms in the basement of the library would point her in the right direction. She searched through headline after headline of the Ponyville Chronicle, this course of research taking a lot longer because of the lack of a table of contents or index. She had gone back about twenty years or so when a headline caught her eye. “What? That’s…that can’t be right…” She went further back and found a very similar headline, the story seeming familiar to the first. Her quill was scratching furiously off to the side, making notes of everything. “If this is right…then…” She hoped against all hopes that what she was reading was all a big coincidence. If this was what she suspected it to be. “I have to keep looking. I have to know all the facts. If I’m right…Ponyville might be sitting next to a greater threat than anypony realizes!” And if she was right, she was really glad that she had put up that sign. Despite the fact that I hand stitched the toys I made, I still had a sewing machine, and thank god it was already threaded, I don’t think it could’ve worked with hooves. What I figured out to do was to very carefully use my light grabbing to take a hobby knife blade, cut a spare blue tote bag I had width-wise and turn it into two half tote bags. Then I sewed it up and turned the handle into two straps that sat across my back like homemade saddle bags. I took a spare strip of fabric and made a strap for the underside, so it wouldn’t slide off when I sat down. They were big enough to hold my stuff and small enough to fit under my jacket. It was crude, but nothing I owned had pockets big enough to fit more stuff. I had briefly considered buying something like a dog backpack or saddlebags, but they were bulky, and I wasn’t about to spring for overnight shipping for something I’d never use again. I got it done and the stitches would hold long enough to get me back to normal. I slipped the book into one of the totes, the brush, the bits and the photo into the other. It all looked like stuff a normal pony would carry, I hoped. If Sugar and Silver or whoever were actually in Ponyville somewhere and Pinkie was just mistaken, or they lived in a town close by that I could hitch a ride to, tomorrow might be my last day as a pony. I had to believe that. “I better get to bed.” I decided, setting my makeshift saddlebags on the chair in the bedroom. “Tomorrow might get to be pretty tiring.” I stared up at the ceiling, my heart refusing to settle down. I was anxious and upset, but I was trying my best to be hopeful. “Just one more day…” Pinkie had decided that she would make pancakes for the Cakes too, since Mr. Cake had made breakfast yesterday. She whipped up a bunch of everypony’s favorites. Red velvet for Mrs. Cake, Buttermilk with apricot jelly for Mr. Cake, and funny face baby pancakes for Pound and Pumpkin. For her and Bluey, she made up a couple of tall stacks of chocolate chip pancakes with chunks of extra chocolate melting in-between every flapjack. And strawberries, with whip cream. “Goodness Pinkie, your new friend must have as big an appetite as you do.” Mrs. Cake commented, looking at the serving she was making at two places at the table. She was happy to hear that the day out Pinkie had the day before was a success, and good breakfasts always came after Pinkie had a good day. “Yeah! We ate my cakes yesterday and she still had room for more later!” she laughed, flipping the pancake in the skillet into the air. “And she said it was the best cake she’d ever eaten!” “That’s quite a compliment!” Mr. Cake smiled, sipping on his morning coffee. “Hee hee! Bluey’s real sweet when she’s happy!” Pinkie giggled, running over the twin’s pancakes next, funny faces at the funniest. They clapped their hooves and laughed, digging in. “Thanks for letting her come over for breakfast!” “Oh, don’t mention it Pinkie.” Mrs. Cake smiled. “She won’t be in town much longer, I think you said? You should get a little time with her before she goes.” Pinkie lost her bounce for a moment, feeling a little down. “Yeah…I’m gonna miss her.” She sighed, flipping the pancake with a lot less enthusiasm. “But the party I’m gonna throw for her is gonna be a great way to say goodbye! I got her a present, and it’s gonna be a smaller party, because she seems kind of nervous around lots of ponies. Ooh, and I’ve got plenty of deserts and punch ready for the big event. I don’t know her favorite kind of party decorations, but I think I can whip something up!” “She’s been nice to you so far?” Mrs. Cake wondered. She knew what they did yesterday, but not how Cornflower had treated Pinkie the whole day. “Yeah, she’s super nice! She loves my baking and she gives great hugs, and she was nice to Fluttershy, and…” Pinkie got this look on her face, somewhere between happy and sad. It made the Cakes glance at one another, unsure of where her head was. “…and I wish we could have more time together. I wish I could see more of her smiles.” They looked at each other again. No, it couldn’t be… There was a knock at the back door. “She’s heeeeeree!” Pinkie gasped, setting down the rest of the Cake’s orders in front of them, racing around the table. The door flew open to reveal the pony they’d heard so much about. She was very blue with a dark grey jacket and looked a little tired. “Hi Pinkie.” She said, smiling. Pinkie laughed, pulling her into a hug. She sighed good-naturedly and hugged her back. “I smell pancakes.” “And now you see pancakes!” she laughed, stepping aside. Her eyes fell on the tall stacks and the Cakes. “Oh…Hello.” She said, kind of awkwardly, shuffling in with her ears down. “I uh…Pinkie didn’t say we’d be eating with anypony. Hope I’m not intruding.” Darn it Pinkie. I thought, these four new ponies throwing me off a bit. If I knew there’d be ponies to talk to I would’ve mentally prepared. “Oh, you’re not intruding dear.” A blue earth pony mare with swirly pink hair said. “Come on in, have a seat.” “Sorry, hi, pleased to meet you. I’m Cornflower Blue.” I gave a weak introduction. I was running on about three hours of sleep. I’d had worse nights, but the stress had kept me awake. “It’s nice to meet you Cornflower.” The mare smiled. “I’m Cup Cake, this is my husband Carrot Cake.” She gestured to the lanky yellow stallion at the table next to her. He nodded, smiling from behind his coffee cup. “And these are our foals, Pound and Pumpkin Cake.” The babies at the table weren’t earth ponies like their parents, but a pegasus and a unicorn respectively. I wondered if they were adopted, or if any kind of pony could have any other kind. The babies looked at me, kind of wide-eyed at the stranger in their house. “Aw…Hi babies.” I smiled at them, waving a little. They babbled and laughed, clapped their tiny hooves together. The three adult ponies seemed happy with this. Pinkie was on my right and to my left was Pumpkin in a high chair. And I couldn’t help but notice something about this breakfast. Pinkie and I had about a dozen pancakes each, while the other two adults at the table had only three each. Oh god, don’t tell me. It seemed like ponies weren’t exactly the bottomless pits I took them for. Pinkie and I were though. It’s one thing to eat two cakes with a pony who eats as much as you do. A dozen flapjacks in front of your hosts, on the other hand… “We hear you’re gonna be out and about again with Pinkie today.” Mr. Cake said, mentioned. “Got anything fun planned?” “Uh, not really? We’re going out to pick up something from Town Hall I’ve been waiting on.” “Oh?” Mrs. Cake asked, it seemed like she wanted more details. “Yeah!” Pinkie cut in, backing me up. “Bluey doesn’t know her way around or know anypony in town, so I’m helping her with finding what she needs!” “Well, you two let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.” Mr. Cake offered, taking a bite of his pancakes. “We will.” Pinkie and I both said, although Pinkie was louder. They seemed happy with our responses, so everyone dug in. It seemed everyone ate their food face first like Pinkie too, although she really dug into the pancakes. I was afraid that was another thing just she did and I followed along, not questioning it. “Mmm. These are great Pinkie.” And once again, completely honest. Pinkie swallowed a huge mouthful of pancake and laughed. “Aw shucks, Bluey. Glad you like ‘um!” With some light conversation and retelling how our day went yesterday, soon my plate was clean. I had finished before Pinkie because she was doing a lot more talking than I was. “Goodness, I didn’t think anypony had an enthusiasm for sweet things like Pinkie Pie.” Mrs. Cake laughed. I got a little self-conscious, wiping at my mouth with a napkin. “Oh, don’t be embarrassed, Cornflower. There’s nothing like having a happy guest with a full stomach.” I was glad that it wasn’t too off-putting for them. I guess living with Pinkie Pie made eating this much seem more normal. I smiled and nodded at her, my ears still tucked in from my discomfort. “Hey, you finished!” Pinkie said, standing up from the table. “Do you want some more?” “No, Pinkie. Thank you.” I actually could eat more but I wasn’t about to admit that. “I don’t want to be too full while we’re out and about.” She understood, chomping down the last of her pancakes and licking the whip cream from her face. She put our plates in the nearby sink and we said our goodbyes to the Cake Family. As we left, I could hear the two talking to each other kind of enthusiastically. I wondered what got them so excited before brushing it off. We were on our way to answers, I hoped. A file clerk unicorn mare had a box on the table waiting for us. “Here you go Pinkie and uh…Pinkie’s friend.” She smiled, taking the top off the box. “The files I pulled were really far back in the basement, so I did some digging. These are all the files from two ponies you’re looking for, plus immediate family and the files on their house. If there’s anything else you need just give a holler, ‘kay?” “Thanks Prim! You’re getting a super special birthday cake this year!” She left us to it, and Pinkie started spreading things out. She scanned the file folders, looking for I didn’t know what exactly. “Hmm…Here are the birth certificates!” She laid out two papers with black and white baby photos on them. One had an earth pony foal, and the other a unicorn. “Sugar Maple and Silver Maple…they were born on the same day! They’re twins, like Pound and Pumpkin!” So that answered my question about any kind having any kind. “Mother: Scarlet Maple, Father: Silver Shimmer…” She skimmed some other files, pulling one out. “Nothing here on the Dad, I don’t think he lived in Ponyville…but…here!” There was another paper with a photo, but not a baby one. “Here’s Mom’s job license!” She was an earth pony with an old-timey curled haircut. “And I think I saw…” Pinkie looked between the birth certificates and this new file. It seemed to make her sad. “Pinkie? What’s up?” I asked, sympathetic but frustrated because I couldn’t just read it and know. “I found the mom’s death certificate…she died when they were just ten.” I felt bad about it, of course. But I felt worse that I couldn’t let myself dwell on it for very long. My ears went down but I had to press on, this was too important. “Pinkie, where are they now? Or…where did they live back then?” I was still skeptical about Pinkie actually knowing everyone in town, but I wasn’t about to question the only pony willing to help me. “They…hm. They lived at…42 Sundance street. I think…Yeah! Blueberry Scones and his wife Cinnamon live there now, I helped plan their baby announcing party a few months back!” “Any forwarding address?” I asked, feeling more and more desperate. “Hmmm…Nope, nothing here.” She sighed, and so did I. “So maybe…” I was saying this theory as it popped into my head. “The Mom passed away, and they went to live with Dad? Or another relative? Any addresses for them?” Anybody else I can get in contact with if this lead doesn’t pan out? “I don’t think so…But there aren’t any death certificates for Silver or Sugar so they're still around, somewhere…” I thought about something, it seemed a little far-fetched, but it was all I could think of. “We have an address. Do you think Blueberry Scones and Cinnamon would mind if we popped by?” I asked, wondering if it sounded weird. “If Scarlet died suddenly, Sugar and Silver wouldn’t have been able to take everything they owned with them. With no family in town nopony would’ve claimed it, I don’t think. If anything, any clue at all is still in the house…” “Hey yeah!” she hopped around me in a circle, clearly on board. “They’re a nice couple, I’m sure they’ll help us out!” A blue earth pony stallion and a very pregnant brown mare answered the door. They indeed knew Pinkie and thanked her for her party planning, but I wasn’t really paying attention. My mind was racing with hope that this wouldn’t be a dead end. The couple listened to Pinkie’s story, minus the details about me, and they were very sympathetic. They didn’t have a forwarding address either, but there were other things to do. “We bought this house from a different family, so some of the stuff up there might be theirs, not the Maple Family’s.” Blueberry said, and they brought us to the pull-down ladder into the attic. “We didn’t want to get rid of it, in case somepony came back for something.” “Those were good instincts to follow.” I assured them, grateful for the possible break. “If anything we find is related to our thing, is it okay if we borrow it for a bit?” “Well I don’t see why not.” Cinnamon. “Oh, and if you see anything baby-related that’s not in too bad of shape would you bring it down with you?” “You got it!” Pinkie cheered. I started to make my way carefully up the ladder and into the dusty attic. The sun was pouring in through a small window on the wall, so it wasn’t hard to see around us. There were boxes everywhere, but I was determined. I went to the farthest corner where the oldest stuff might’ve got shoved and started searching. Box after box of knick-knacks and old blankets, what looked to be festive decorations and indeed, some baby stuff Pinkie was more than happy to run down for the happy soon-to-be parents to inspect. And then I struck gold. The first box had some décor items that were very vintage-looking, dusty doilies and ceramic figurines of ponies doing various activities, but there were also a couple of photos. And sure enough, they were of our ponies. “Pinkie, there’s some stuff over here!” I called to her. She zipped on over to help with the boxes closer to my area. I showed her the photos, one was of the mom and fillies, all together in their living room, smiling. The other was of both parents with the kids in some garden? But the twins were still in diapers, closer to the Cake twins’ age. The dad, Silver Shimmer was a unicorn with little square reading glasses and long braided hair. They all looked happy together. There was more stuff in the next box. Stuff like pony dolls and stuffed toys, brushes and ribbons. Little girls stuff. I picked up a small box, it was as big as my hoof but very fancy-looking. It jingled a bit when I picked it up, it was the tiniest music box I’d ever seen, I carefully wound it a little, but no music played. Huh, busted. When I opened it, there was a little key inside. I think I’ll hang on to that for now. I lifted my jacket and put the box into my bag. Keys are always good to have. There was also a set of brushes that looked a lot like mine. I pulled it out of the saddlebag, and sure enough, it was a size between two others the same color. Putting it away before Pinkie could notice, I kept searching. “Oooh! Look at this!” Pinkie pulled a little umbrella from the box she was looking in. It wasn’t a rain umbrella, it was made of cloth. “It’s a little white parasol.” I held out a hoof and she handed it to me. I opened it, seeing that it was about the size for a small kid. Then Pinkie gasped. “Bluey, that’s bad luck!” she cried. So we have the same superstitions, weird. Then she gasped again. “Wait a second…I’ve seen that cutie mark before!” she grabbed the parasol from my hooves and pointed to a little embroidered, blue sewing machine on a corner of the canopy. “Somepony put their cutie mark on it? Like a designer tag?” I asked, guessing at it. I suppose that’d be good for business, if all cutie marks are different. “Yup! And I know who made it! And who juuuust might know more about our ponies!” We had walked all the way across town and then some, out to a place Pinkie called “Sweet Apple Acres”. It was the local apple orchard, and Pinkie said her friend Applejack lived there, along with the same Apple Bloom I’d met before. I asked Pinkie who we were going to go and meet there, but she said that she wanted to be one hundred percent sure about who made that parasol before she got my hopes up. I told her it didn’t matter but she stuck to her guns. This lead might be my last chance. We walked through an arch towards a big red barn, but Pinkie assured me it was in fact, a house that just looked like a barn. I decided to take her word for it. Pinkie knocked on the door and we were eventually greeted by an orange earth pony with light blonde hair. “Well hey there Pinkie Pie! What brings you down here?” “Hi Applejack! This is my new friend Cornflower Blue! We were wondering if you could answer a question for us?” she asked. Oh so this is Applejack. She has a southern accent too. And…a cowboy hat to boot. “Oh! So this is your new friend?” she asked, a weird smile on her face. “Rarity said you were hanging around town yesterday with a gal she’d never seen before.” “Yeah! We had a blast!” she giggled, and Applejack invited us into the kitchen. “Well, first thing’s first. It’s nice to meet you Cornflower Blue! I’m Applejack, and this here’s my home.” She went in for a handshake, but it was the firmest and roughest one I’d had yet. “It’s a pleasure to have you here!” “It’s…a pleasure to be here.” I laughed awkwardly, rubbing my shoulder. “Well ain’t you just too polite?” she laughed. “What can I do you for?” Pinkie pulled the parasol from her back, opening it for her to see. “Pinkie Pie, that’s bad luck! Don’t let Granny catch you, she’ll break out the clovers and start burnin’ sage!” “I know but it’s important!” Pinkie said, showing her the embroidery. “Is that your Great Grandma Sew-and-Sow’s cutie mark? I thought I remembered seeing it from your family photo album.” she asked, my head was starting to hurt from these pony names. Applejack squinted at the parasol, her face lighting up with recognition. “Well, would you look at that!” she laughed. “It sure is! You got ahold of one of her old sewin’ jobs! Imagine that.” Pinkie jumped into the air, the parasol catching her there and lazily floating her down. Don’t think about it. She hugged me for the second time that day, giggling and whooping. “I knew it!” she cheered, closing the parasol again. “Bluey, I might know a pony who can help us!” Applejack, at Pinkie’s request, took us to the living room where there as an old green earth pony mare, and Apple Bloom. They were knitting. This is just…wow. I could barely grab or handle anything. If I had known that this kind of control was possible, I would’ve tried a lot more things by then. “Hi again Miss Cornflower!” Apple Bloom waved, her other hoof holding a thick ring of yarn. “Hi there Apple Bloom.” I smiled, trying to be nice, despite the butterflies in my stomach. “Granny! Pinkie and her new friend want to talk to you, if you don’t mind company.” Applejack asked her, sitting down in an armchair in the room with us. This wasn’t too private, so I didn’t mind an audience. Pinkie and I sat on floor cushions in front of Apple Bloom and her granny. “Well hey there, young fillies!” she shouted, her accent so much more pronounced than her granddaughters. “What brings you two here?” I was almost too nervous to speak. Pinkie leaned against my side, and I swallowed my doubts, pushing them deep down into my stomach. She was here, she had been so supportive of me. This could be it. “Uh, sorry to bother but…” I pulled out the parasol, not opening it but offering it for her to see. “I think your…mother…made this parasol. For either Sugar Maple or Silver Maple.” I realized how off this sounded. I couldn’t remember things that happened to me a few months ago. I was asking her, an old lady, to go back half a century. “Sorry hun, we grow apple trees here, not maple trees.” She smiled, knitting away. “You want good maple trees, you should try Vanhoover.” My hopes were sinking fast. “No, ma’am. I have…this parasol. Do you recognize it? Do you recognize the names Scarlet, Sugar, or Silver Maple.” “Hmm...that's ringing a bell, but...it's fuzzy. And para-what? Looks like you only got one of somethin'.” she lowered her knitting a little to squint at it. “Oh, looky here! It’s one of them fancy things! Those used to be all the rage back when I was a young mare.” “No, I just…” Was this old mare all there? I would just scream if my only lead had dementia. “Ma’am. Please, I need you to look at this parasol, it’s important!” “Oh, well why didn’t you just say so?” Oy. “Let’s see now…” she held out a hoof and I handed her the parasol. She slipped on some reading glasses from a chain around her neck and inspected it. “Oh…yep! This is one of Mama’s works alright! And you said Maple?” I nodded, every muscle in my body tense. “Well, let’s see now.” She looked deep in thought. “I believe Scarlet Maple…yep, she was the town medicine mare back then! One of them fancy “herbo-liches”.” “A…herbalist?” I offered. “That’s the one!” she laughed. “She and her two girls moved to town waaaaay back when, right after the town started attractin’ new folk from all around. They were from some big city…Manehattan maybe?” “You knew them? Your mother knew them?” I felt lighter, and Pinkie was next to me, her eyes wide and shimmering with anticipation. “Momma made that for that little unicorn of hers. She was one of the only unicorns in town back then. Poor thing was sensitive to the sun, and she was only going to school on cloudy days. Momma didn’t think that was right. So she made her one of them fancy umbrellers.” “Great Granny Sew-and-Sow was the only professional seamstress in town. And there weren’t any big stores here back then neither, so here’s the only pony she could’ve got it from.” Applejack chimed in. “Right you are Jacky! Anywho, it’s a shame what happened to that Scarlet Maple. She got real sick with the consumption. Back then they’re weren’t no medicines to treat it, and no hospitals in every town. Even towards the beginin’ there was nothin’ nopony could do. Poor mare just got sicker and sicker. Didn’t take long.” “Heavens to Celestia…” Applejack had a hoof to her mouth, her ears down. The rest of us were doing about the same. But I pressed on. I had to. “And then…she sent Sugar and Silver away. Do you know where they went? Where they might be now?” Granny looked a little puzzled. “Oh no, young filly. Scarlet Maple didn’t pass until after all that went down.” “…After…all what went down?” I asked, not liking what I was hearing but genuinely confused. “You don’t know?” I shook my head, getting worried. “…Scarlet came running out into town one night, cryin’ and hollerin’ up a storm. The whole town got together but nopony ever caught wind of ‘um.” Pinkie was holding my hoof now. “They just disappeared, ‘bout fifty years back. Nopony ever saw ‘um again.”