//------------------------------// // The Gift // Story: Family Tree // by miss-cyan //------------------------------// I grabbed at Twilight’s hooves on my cheeks, gently lowering them as she stared me down. I was beginning to think lack of sleep had driven this princess crazy. “A vision.” I asked her bluntly, and she nodded frantically. “I must’ve seen it somewhere-” “No!” she stood up in the chair, and I shrank away, mildly concerned. “I checked, and rechecked, everything I’ve found and every mention of them! Their cutie marks were only recorded in the article! The fact you know them, and even the coloring…any photo from before the time that they disappeared wouldn’t have been in color!” I opened my mouth to counter this ridiculous claim. But I stopped. None of the photos I’d seen had them with their cutie mark. Even if they had, every single one so far had been in sepia-tone. How did I know the colors of something I’d never seen? “No…visions? I don’t know if that’s a pony thing, or what but-” “I don’t know it happened!” her ears were twitching now, her eyes a little too. “I don’t know how or why or what is going on with any of this! A creature nopony has ever seen before turns into a pony with magic I can barely recognize! And a forest next to Ponyville is host to some kind of…plant or magic or creature or…something!! Something that snatched innocent foals into the ground, leaving no trace for their families to know what happened to them!” She was getting teary-eyed and I was realizing what was going through her head at the moment. She slumped back into the chair, sniffling. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say or do. “I’m a princess! An Alicorn!” she sobbed, and my heart broke a little seeing this pony so defeated. “If I can’t find out how to protect the ones I care about, what use am I to them?” She turned to me and I froze up, unsure of how to comfort her. “What if a little pony had wandered too close to whatever’s out there and…and I couldn’t save them? I could barely save you, and I was following you and it took almost every bit of my magic just to fend off whatever’s out there! Five! Five colts and fillies-gone to that…thing!” Wait… “Five…I…I only saw the Maple twins…” I ran my fingers up through my hair, scratching the top of my scalp all sorts of irritated. “Five…three more tiny little ponies…” She straightened up, trying to discreetly wipe at her eyes. She told me about the little pony children that had gone the same way the little fillies had. How they’d just disappeared and were never seen again. My anxieties about the forest only grew stronger. Some part of me, deep in my gut, knew those nightmares were real. I could’ve been one of them. I could’ve died by those vines. “I need your help.” She put it plainly. “If anything, you can tell me can help me make sure that nopony else is lost to this…I’d be grateful, and I promise to help you with whatever you need, whatever brought you here.” With me back to my old self, I didn’t need the twins to help me turn back. But the other mystery of how all of this came to me, and not to mention getting back home…I still had no idea if the portal refusing to open back there in the woods was a temporary setback. “I…I gotta get home.” I said, hoping for the only response I could. “I’ll tell you everything I know, I’ll even help you make sure that…whatever it was…doesn’t hurt anyone again, if I can. But I need to go home. Deal?” She smiled with big tired eyes and held out a hoof. We shook on it, as well as a hoof and a human hand could. “Deal.” I put my jacket on under the sheet, despite Twilight saying she didn’t mind seeing my body. I had to tell her that I was the one that minded. “So, your kind is…modest?” “You could say that.” I sighed, doing up the zipper and the snaps. It was my only piece of clothing, so I was feeling a little oddly sentimental about it. I lifted the sheet and kept my lower half covered. I guessed I could ask for a safety pin or something to turn the sheet into a makeshift skirt, just for moving around temporarily. “I don’t really see the issue, given that I’ve already seen everything, but whatever makes you comfortable.” She smiled, trying to reassure me, and I groaned a little at the thought of a pony princess forever knowing what I looked like naked. But I just had to live with it. But not another pony soul was getting a look at me in the buff, not even the doctor! “What was your next question?” I tried to move it along, and she retrieved her writing stuff with her magic. “You said that the vines transformed you.” She asked, still wining a bit at the statement. “Your transformation into a pony was entirely from outside forces…the same magic that put you under that sleeping spell, I’d imagine. But…” She sat thinking, tapping her quill against her cheek. “You’re absolutely sure that your kind don’t use magic?” she looked at me, with a look like she wanted to believe otherwise. “I don’t have it and I can’t use it. Hell, before I came here, magic was just…you know, storybook stuff. Whatever you…sensed, the vines must’ve done something to me when they made me a pony.” “Well…I can’t disprove that at the moment, I suppose. I never got a look at you before you were transformed…But no magic at all…It’s hard to imagine.” “Well hey now, you’ve got magic, and unicorns too, but I haven’t seen the earth ponies or the pegasi with any of that glowy business.” I said, crossing my arms. “And they seem to get by just fine, it seems.” “Well, magic is more than just spells…” she sat up straighter, moving her quill to her words like they were practiced. “Unicorns, and Alicorns, use active magic via their horns. Earth ponies use passive magic with their hooves, and Pegasi both their wings and hooves. Most creatures in the world use or have magic in one form or another. It’s not just a thing we have, it’s…As much a part of us as the air we breathe.” I guessed, in a huge long shot kind of way, that a “magic” world like this would be more than just what I could see. With how many similarities I saw to Earth, it was hard to keep in mind just how far from home I was. “So, I guess me coming in saying that I have no magic is more or less proof of how weird I really am here.” I shrugged. “I don’t just look different, I’m out of place.” “Well, regardless of how your species operates, there is something there now. I’ll keep an eye on it, but I have no reason to think you’re in harm’s way. Your body isn’t rejecting any magic I’ve used, and you don’t seem to be in pain.” That was a little upsetting. I’d reacted bad enough when my whole body was different, but now, a little bit of that forest was sticking with me. Like a scar scratching away deep in my insides. I was getting a little nauseous at the thought. I clenched my hands and tried to hope that it would go away. “What I can’t figure out is why?” She was frazzled again, writing furiously. “Why? Why did those vines…that odd magic…bring you here, change you? Then try to kill you? Is it possible…ponies are its sustenance and it made you one just to consume you? But why drag you here from another world? And how!? How do vines master interdimensional portal travel when ponies have only ever theorized about it!? I’m wracking my brain trying to figure out the magic behind this when I can’t even comprehend it!” She groaned angrily, scratching the quill across her scroll, underlining with surprising ferocity. She looked up at me with equal intensity and I tensed up again. “There’s no enemy to face head-on here. No one creature could have controlled all that magical energy to cause this and fighting the vines on my own nearly got both of us hurt. I don’t know what’s causing all this death and terror and I…” her ears fell, and her head bowed down with it. “…I just want to help.” I looked down at my hands, trying to think of what to say. “We both want the same thing, I guess.” I shrugged, not looking up. “In my dreams…I saw those two get swallowed up into the ground just like I almost was. And no part of me should’ve wanted to go anywhere near that bundle of terror-vines but I always tried to help. Even though I was scared out of my mind remembering how I was damn-near entombed and strangled by those things I couldn’t let it happen to them. I wanted to meet them, just to get my body back at first. But the more I found out about them the…realer they got. They weren’t just two ponies who could get me what I wanted, they were two little girls who didn’t deserve what happened to them.” I remembered the box, the letter, the overwhelming isolation. “And in a way…they were part of me, part of all my crap I’ve been going through.” “So, I get it, I do. Wanting to help, even though you’re just…you. And whatever limitations that may bring. But…you’ve helped me. More than any stranger would, more…than I deserve. So…don’t sell yourself short Princess.” Soft snoring next to me. I sighed that my little speech had gone unheard, but I could tell that she was running on fumes. She’d been up working on me for almost a full twenty-four hours after all. I slipped an extra sheet over her, letting the worn-out pony princess get her rest. I would try to get some shut-eye too, if only to keep quiet for her sake. I had a feeling I’d be pretty busy come morning too. Pinkie Pie had been patient, honest. But a whole ‘nother day had gone by while Twilight had been trying to undo the magic on her friend. And every hour that went by was an hour that Pinkie wondered if something had gone wrong, or if Twilight couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She thought about sending a note, maybe tied to a bird, or a balloon maybe. But every time she formulated a new plan she sadly thought about Twilight maybe telling her she was just getting in the way, or breaking her promise. Mrs. Cake looked at the sulky pony who only slightly perked up when a customer came in. She and Carrot Cake had only been able to get the barest of information out of her the past two days, and even then, it was nothing revealing. They tried their best to respect her privacy, but seeing their usually hyperactive friend and employee so out of sorts was at the very least upsetting. “Pinkie dear, I know you’ve been keeping this to yourself, but you’ve…just looked so out of sorts these last couple of days.” Mrs. Cake remarked, having just sent the last customer home with a baker’s dozen of cupcakes for their filly’s sleepover. Pinkie had already worried the Cakes by trying to protect Bluey’s situation, and she felt guilty for worrying them so much. But what to tell them? She figured a half-truth would still make her a big fat liar, but once everything was out in the open, she could introduce Bluey to them again and everypony would make up, easy-peasy. “Well…After the party, Bluey got…sick. Like, magic sick. And Twilight’s doing her best to help her. I’m not supposed to be there but…I miss her. I’m worried about her.” She slumped her head onto the counter, just waiting for her friend to come through that door and tell her everything was alright. “Oh! The poor mare! Well, if anypony can help Miss Cornflower Blue with a magic problem, you couldn’t hope for anypony better than Princess Twilight.” She stepped over to Pinkie, giving her a sympathetic smile. “I know you and Bluey were getting to be good friends. No wonder you’re so out of sorts.” “I just…I just want to see her.” She sighed, flopping her upper body down on the counter. “Just to know she’s okay. But I’m not allowed to visit.” “Goodness, it must be something serious.” Mrs. Cake said mostly to herself. “Well, you sitting tight and hoping for the best is like…doing your part.” Pinkie looked up at her and the older mare smiled gently. “Well wishes don’t seem like much when somepony you care about is in harm’s way. But if you were laid low with something, you’d hope that everypony was out there, thinking about you, even if they couldn’t be there with you.” Pinkie had felt pretty useless the last couple of days. She could barely bring herself to give the customers a real smile to brighten their day a little. Like she loved doing. But things would be better. Maybe not today, or the next day, but hopefully not three days. Pinkie had her limits, after all. “I’ll keep my smile on, and hope for everything to get better.” She nodded, standing a little taller. “And when she…gets better, I’ll be right there!” The front door opened with a bell chime, and Spike was there, looking out of breath, doubled over. “Twilight…sent me…Phew!” he straightened up, groaning. “Hospital…go now…Aw geez…” Pinkie’s smile came back, and she looked to Mrs. Cake, dancing on her hooves so fast a pony might think she was about to run a marathon. The mare nodded, guessing that she wouldn’t have time to get a whole sentence out. “I’ll be right there!” she bounced into the air, taking off up the stairs so fast she left a Pinkie-shaped puff of smoke in her spot. She zipped down again, barreling past the exhausted young dragon who flopped forward onto his stomach. Mrs. Cake went to him, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry Spike, looks like you’ll have to catch up to her.” She said, helping him up. “I figured. But I still gotta go get the others. Twilight said Pinkie should be first though.” He brushed himself off, heading out the door. “If I can wake Rainbow Dash up this early, she can help me get the word out.” Mrs. Cake watched him go, thinking about Pinkie’s friend. “All this excitement.” She headed back to the counter, ready to decorate another baker’s dozen of cupcakes. “I guess it must be one of those things that Pinkie and her friends have to deal with. I’m sure they’ve got it under control.” I woke up to a knock on the door, and Twilight jerked awake quite gracefully, wiping away a bit of drool from her mouth. She flopped out of the chair, a tangle of limbs and wings, before righting herself and smoothing out her mane a little. She opened the door just a crack, and then all the way for a pony I’d never seen. “Doctor Horse, so glad to see you this earbly in the mornding…” she shook her head, blinking a few times. “Sorry, I meant-” “Quite alright, Princess.” He trotted in the room, and I pulled the sheet up a little, tense and still half-asleep. He looked me over, and I could see the surprise. But to his credit, he kept his cool. “Well now, you must be the patient I’ve been expecting.” He smiled, nodding his head at me. I nodded back, not really having any words for him yet. “I assume everything went according to plan, Princess?” “Yes! And no, I fell asleep! Oh! I gotta…gotta do the stuff!” she was still trying to shake off the sleep. She piled her writing material on the counter and turned to me. “We can continue in a bit.” She said, calmer. “I have to tell my friends what’s happened and get a few things, and Spike can help…I’ll be back, with Pinkie too. If that’s still what you want?” “…Yeah.” I nodded, tugging the sheet around my shoulders. “I’m…actually kind of looking forward to it.” “Well then, I think a certain somepony will be the first to know.” She smiled, nodding to the doctor and stepping out. He turned to me again. And half-asleep me was a bit less afraid of this new pony face so hopefully that would stick. “Good to see you awake, Miss Blue.” He was looking to my chart, and I could see a faint purple bruising around his muzzle. “I’m sorry.” I muttered, quieter than I meant to, and I cleared my throat. His head tilted, and I pointed to my own nose. He went a little cross-eyed to look down his muzzle and it was almost cute. I reminded myself that he was a grown adult and my doctor. He waved a hoof. “Nothing to apologize for.” He assured. “But if it makes you feel better, you’re forgiven.” He came to my bedside, and I didn’t mean to shrink away from him, but he didn’t look like it offended him any. “How are you feeling?” he looked at the part of my arm not inside the sheet. “The bruising is starting to heal already but I’ll have to inspect you for any fractures if you’re in any pain.” “I’m, uh…I think I’m okay.” I hadn’t felt like anything was broken. “Just…a bit stiff.” “Well, you were in a coma. You’ll have to stretch those muscles when you’re feeling up to it. Your speech isn’t slurred…any grogginess?” “No more so than any other morning.” He laughed at that. And it was a real laugh. He was treating me like any other patient. “To be honest, I’ve never had a patient like yourself, so if anything is out of the ordinary for you, you’ll have to be the one to tell me.” “I…I feel okay, except for the bruises.” I told him. I hadn’t felt any pain in the rest of my body during a late-night trip to the bathroom, though my legs were a little weak from being in bed so long. “Um, I hate to ask, but the next time you step out could you find me like…a safety pin or something? I’ll uh…need to borrow this sheet for a bit.” “I’m sure I can find something for you. If you were a pony, I would get you a pair of scrubs like the surgeons wear…I can’t imagine being furless at this time of year.” “I usually wear more clothes than this.” I shrugged, adjusting the sheet so I was just covered from the waist down. I reached up to my hair, feeling some tangles. “Again, hate to ask but, I haven’t seen myself since before. Is…there anyway I could see a mirror, maybe a brush?” “I can pick up a comb from the nurse’s station. And I’ll see if I can borrow one of their compacts for you.” He looked me over, head tilted a bit. “Your complexion seems healthy, and the bruising on your neck is much fainter than the rest.” I reached up to my neck, I hadn’t even realized how far up the bruises went. And here I was worried about my hair. “I must look like quite the sight…” I sighed, trying to smile. Pinkie was going to see me looking like a strangulation victim, though I suppose I technically was. I tugged up my collar a little, not wanting her to worry. “From what I’ve heard you’ve been through quite the ordeal.” He sounded like he was trying to comfort me, pushing his stethoscope up into his ears. “Nopony will blame you for being a little disheveled. May I?” I hesitated, but I leaned down for him to do his job. He put it to my upper chest, and asked me to take deep breaths. He moved to my back after. It was more or less like a regular check-up. He went back to the chest to get a listen to my heart. He looked concerned. He put a hoof under my jawbone before looking to me. “If you’re looking for a pulse, go a little lower.” He went to the side of my neck, finding what he was looking for. After a moment or two, he pulled away. “Your heartrate is rather high, more like a foals than an adults. I’m getting seventy beats per minute.” “That’s normal, I’m pretty sure. Sixty to one-hundred is normal.” “For an adult pony it’s thirty to forty…interesting. What’s an average body temperature for you?” “Ninety-eight point six.” I told him, and he offered an old-fashioned mercury thermometer in his hoof. I put it under my tongue and he went to my chart, writing things down with a pen in his mouth. “Closer to one hundred is what I would’ve expected for one of my patients.” He came back over and reached up, grabbing the other end of the thermometer with his mouth. I winced a little at the sudden close quarters but if he noticed he didn’t show it. I would think that ponies must have great immune systems not to get germs from using their mouths all the time. "Well, I pretty much feel okay, like I said. You don't have to-" My stomach interrupted me, growling loudly. I grimaced, remembering how hungry I'd been when I first woke up. "Geez, I think my body's mad that I tried to sleep that off." “Well, everything seems normal, from what I can tell. I’d advise against any strenuous activity until you see how it may affect you. I would just recommend you stay hydrated and eat regular meals, whatever that might entail for you." He put my chart back in the caddy at the end of the bed. "Speaking of which, I'll have something brought to you as soon as I can. I have to check up on my other patients, but then I’ll see about the other things you requested.” “Thanks, Doctor.” I said, glad for that to have gotten over with as painlessly as possible. I was awake now, and I hoped the rest of my encounters with ponies would go so smoothly. I pulled the sheet back around my shoulders, feeling a little vulnerable again. He nodded, stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind him. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I sat, wondering about how much longer I’d be here, what could be done to get all this sorted out and get me home. I didn’t think that my family had caught on yet to my being gone. I did leave my phone at home, but they knew I wasn’t much for phone calls so hopefully they hadn’t jumped to any conclusions. “I’ll get back, and…I’ll grab some actual clothes, for one. And some shoes. A shower, definitely. That little pony tub in the bathroom looked a bit snug for me. And I’ll check in with my folks, just a casual hello, so they won’t feel like they haven’t heard from me in a while. Then I can come back here and keep helping with all of this. If they even need me.” It was kind of funny. All I wanted was to be human again and now my future was once again uncertain. I was just Lottie again. I just knew a little more now. Just your average twenty-something who also happens to hop dimensions and nearly get murdered by plants. I hoped that once I got home, I’d be able to live all of this down. I didn’t need any more traumatic crap mucking up my day to day. Home… “Please!” I begged, panting and coughing a little from the run. “Please! Send me home! I need to go back, I can’t stay here! I can’t stay here one more second!” I stood out there in that forest, sure that it would send me home like it had before. I wanted everything back to normal so bad, I didn’t even think to run from those vines when they appeared. I pleaded with whatever force controls that portal and…it ignored me. “No…it was a fluke.” I told myself, gripping the sheet tight. “It…maybe it was because…I was being followed? Yeah, I was always alone before. And! And it could’ve been the wrong time of day, I pretty much use that thing early morning and just before sundown, I tried to use it smack in the middle of the day!” I felt panicked, no matter how I tried to rationalize it to myself, the thought of never getting home was sinking deeper into the pit of my stomach. I kept trying to deny it, thinking of any possible way to get home. “Oh, Twilight! Twilight has magic, she can make it open again, Maybe Luna can help and-” “How do vines master interdimensional portal travel when ponies have only ever theorized about it!” She doesn’t know how. None of them do. I doubled over on the bed, my options getting more and more limited, my head swimming with all my doubts about everything and trying to pull myself out was proving difficult. “It’ll be okay.” I told myself, pulling the sheet over my head and pulling further into myself to stop my body from shaking. “It’ll open, it’ll be okay. It’ll open, it’ll be okay. I’ll go home, it’ll open…it’ll be okay…” I sat with my thoughts for who knows how long. Nothing in my life had prepared me for this kind of situation. What are you supposed to do in this scenario? Possibly trapped in a world where no one else was like you? No way to contact home? No one who could help? I heard the door creak open, but I didn’t react. The doctor could just leave the stuff for all I cared. I couldn't bring myself to care about my hair or my stomach, or anything else for that matter. I heard hoofsteps in the room. They seemed undeterred at me not inviting them in. Hopefully the doc would take the hint and give me a little space. “Bluey?” The silence of the hospital room was suffocating. My heart was beating so fast that I felt ill. I brought my hands up to the sheet, unable to stop them from shaking. I could feel her eyes on me, and a strange feeling sat in the pit of my stomach. Stop. I scolded this wave of unpleasant feelings. You wanted this. In one movement, I pulled the sheet to my shoulders and opened an eye. She was at my bedside, smiling gently. “There you are.” She laughed. At her friendly, familiar face, all the bad feelings melted away and I couldn’t help but laugh back. It was quiet, and I would’ve thought she didn’t hear it if she hadn’t sprung up and hugged me around my neck. “I’m so so so happy! I’m happy you’re okay! I’m happy you woke up! I’m happy you didn’t forget about me!” she cheered, burying her face in my shoulder. This huggy pony… “Now, how could I do that?” I smiled, putting a hand on her big, poofy pink hair. “You’re pretty unforgettable.” She giggled, easing up and sitting on the bed with me. There wasn’t much room, but I don’t think it mattered to her. “I’m…sorry.” I told her, finally getting the words out. “I’m sorry I kicked you out. You didn’t deserve that after being so nice to me.” “It’s okay.” She patted my arm. “I know you were just scared. But look at you!” She put her hoofs on my cheeks, and I wondered if ponies made a habit of this. “You look so tall! And your browns are just as pretty as your blues! And you’ve got freckles!” she smooshed my cheeks, and I huffed at the silliness of it. “C’mon now.” I faked being annoyed, but I was too relieved to really sell it. The doctor and even Twilight had been their own reactions, curiosity and professionalism. But this was the one that could’ve been…make or break, as awful as that sounded. I couldn’t hope for this good of a reaction from every other pony, but if she was still okay with me, I could probably handle it. “You’re still the same ol’ “I’m a big grump but I just need a hug” Bluey!” she laughed, maybe trying to get a rise out of me. But I was too worked up over everything to play the part. I hugged her again, it was so different now that we weren’t both ponies but somehow just the same. She could still barely contain her giggles when I finally let my guard down and acted like a real friend. “Lottie.” “Huh?” she pulled back and I laughed, forgetting all my worries for one second and smiling for this pony, and for myself. “My name is Charlotte. But since we’re friends, call me Lottie.” She gasped, bouncing on the mattress as she sat, the biggest grin peeking out from behind her hooves. “Lottie! That’s so pretty!” she clapped her hooves, grinning. Then, she stopped suddenly. “Oh! We won’t match anymore. Can I still call you Bluey sometimes?” “Sure Pinkie.” I had gotten used to the name by now, no harm in hearing it some more if it made her happy. “Lottie. Lottie…” she tapped a hoof to her head. She bounced on the mattress some more, her eyes practically shining with what she had in mind. “Oooo! I can call you Lottie Dottie!” “Lottie’s already a nickname!” I laughed. She kept babbling on about names and new things she noticed about me, and I just listened to her go on and on. It was just like before. “I almost forgot!” She reached into her big pink hair and pulled out a little box. “I was gonna give this to you at your surprise party. But…well you know, you were there.” The box was wrapped in a blue ribbon, and I smiled. I was pretty sure I was gonna be associated with it forever in her mind. I pulled the ribbon, opening the box to find something I didn’t expect. “I saw this at the toy store.” She smiled, just a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I got it…so you’d remember me, even after you went back home.” It was a little pink pony toy, soft and stuffed, with matching pink hair and black button eyes. It was the size of my hand, and I laughed at the resemblance. “I know, my eyes aren’t black, or buttons.” She shrugged. “But still pretty close, right? And I don’t know if you like toys all that much just because you make them. I like cupcakes and I make those every day but-” “It’s perfect.” I told her. It really was a cute little toy, and it was a thoughtful gift. “Thanks Pinkie.” She smiled, hugging me again. I hugged back, even if it made my bruises ache a little. I kind of need it right now. Five ponies and a baby dragon stood outside the hospital room, the door cracked just enough to see inside. “Should we go in now?” Fluttershy asked, her voice even more hushed than usual. “Yeah, Spike woke me up saying there was “no time to waste”.” Rainbow huffed, still bleary-eyed. “They’re not going anywhere. Isn’t this important?” “Let’s…give them one more minute.” Twilight said, glad that the bond between two friends from different worlds had survived its first hardship. They deserved a little more time, just enjoying the other’s company.