Star gave me one last hug and then Ah went out ta group up with the rest of the girls at the car. We didn’t spend a whole lot of time at Star Apparel, but it had been at least two hours since we arrived.
“Well, I’m starving. Lunch anypony?” Rarity asked after we’d all gotten in the car. Ah didn’t realize how late it was, but now that she mentioned food, my stomach told me the truth.
“Yes. Yeah. U-uh-huh,” came from the rest of the passengers.
“Okay, where do we want to go?” We spent about half an hour tryin’ ta decide where ta eat, then eventually gave up and went ta the nearest restaurant. We spent about half an hour there, and then Rarity decided she wanted somethin’ sweet, so somehow, we ended up in a bakery smack dab in the middle of eastern Manehattan. The air was filled with all kinds of sugary smells, every scent in high volume from chocolate ta vanilla and back again, and none of it was anywhere near unappetizin’. We’d already eaten full meals, but the moment we walked in, Ah felt that Ah had room fer more.
The exterior of the store was mostly glass with pictures of confections painted on the inside with the sign ‘Sugar Cube Corner’ in some kinda vinyl sticker in all kinds of colors. The interior was black and white with metallic red seats and linoleum tables ta make it look like a diner from an age long past. It wasn’t huge and there were maybe two booths and four tables made ta seat four on either side of the not so small buildin’. There wasn’t anypony at the counter, but the smell of bakin’ bread and goodies told us it was open. Well, that and the neon ‘open’ sign that was lit in the glass door. The bell dinged as we all filed in and somepony came runnin’ ta the counter.
“Oh, hello and good after noon. How can I help you dears?” She was a true-blue coated mare, a little on the hefty side. She had a two-tone red and pink mane all swirled up like whip cream and she was wearin’ a pink apron covered in flour and tiny hoofprints.
“I was in need of something sweet and a good friend of ours recommended this place to me the other day. What kind of cupcakes do you have right now?” Rarity asked. Ah guess that confirms my suspicion that this is the place Pinkie stayed before comin’ ta Harmony. Those must be the hooves of her replacements. The blue mare moved across the counter ta the part of the case with all her cupcakes. They were swirled and decorated in all manner of color, shape, and size. There were even a couple decorated like us in costumes, which was strange ta see in person.
“Of course. Lately the popular sale has been the apple cinnamon Marevelous cupcakes. We also have your standard chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla flavors, but we have more specialty flavors like carrot and pumpkin spice as the season demands. On hoof I have all the flavors I mentioned, confetti, red velvet, yellow, lemon, raspberry, cinnamon swirl, marble, key lime, blueberry, and orange zest. I can never tell if anypony is part carnivore these days, so just to cover my bases, we also offer what I like to call the breakfast cupcake, which is bacon flavored and has bits of bacon in a grape jelly spread.”
“C-can I get one of those?” Fluttershy asked, pushin’ past everypony. She was practically droolin’, so Ah can only imagine that her bein’ ‘stuffed’ earlier was just in an effort ta get away from the restaurant. It started ta get busy just after we got our food, and she started ta get antsy right then and there.
Chiffon, as the name read on her nametag, let a real quick nervous look takeover her face before she smiled and nodded.
“S-sure. Um, that takes a little time to heat up. Are um… are you all on the same tab, or…?” We all looked ta each other and Fluttershy shrugged.
“Y-yes, I can get it. G-get whatever you want, I don’t really c-care about the cost. U-um, I’ll also take a carrot one too, p-please.” Chiffon nodded and input some somethin’ inta a device she pulled out of her apron pocket.
“Okay, and what can I get the rest of you?”
As it turns out, if ya get a group of mares together in a sweets shop, then ya should expect a high tab. We were also hungrier than anypony expected either because even as cheap as the cupcakes were, save Fluttershy’s special one, she spent about thirty bits at a little under three per. She had a few decorated like us in our costumes, so we had ta get at least one of each of those and take a picture of ‘em. In the end, we had: bacon, carrot, apple cinnamon, strawberry, lemon, chocolate, vanilla, pumpkin spice (and Ah most definitely gave Rarity shit fer that one), red velvet, key lime, blueberry, and raspberry. It was cheaper ta get a dozen, so we figured we could bring one home fer everypony else as a kinda surprise.
“So, how are the kids?” Rarity asked Chiffon, since we happened ta be the only customers in the shop. She looked confused, so Rarity added, “I noticed the little hooves on your apron.” The older mare looked down and smiled at the marks.
“Oh, right. Well, they’re a hoof full, that’s for certain. My husband and I are both earth ponies you see, but when they came out, they were both half breeds, and neither were earth pony dominant. It was a bit of a shock for us since even though we are half breeds ourselves, nopony in either of our families ever came out as anything but earth ponies with light signs of other racial traits. Nopony is ever truly prepared for their kids when they come, but we thought we were. Well, we were surprised none the less.” Ah furrowed my brow.
“How does that happen? Ah thought we figured out that Earth ponies were the dominant trait?” Based on what Ah’ve read fer biology on genetics, ponies are less likely ta develop horns or wings if either parent comes from earth pony stock, half breed or otherwise. It’s not atypical fer ponies with unicorns and pegasai in their lineage ta see generations of earth ponies if they enter the line at any point because the blood is just that strong. Fer two half earth ponies ta have non-earth pony foals is almost more anomalous than a pony born with the virus these days. Naturally, Twilight came with the explanation.
“A statistical anomaly to be sure, but not impossible. When it comes to genetics, think of it like dealing a deck of cards. The sperm cell and the egg both pull twenty three different cards from a deck of forty six. So from there, you already have over a thousand variations of just one possible cell from either parent, and then multiplying that together gives you literally millions of combinations just from two partners. You could be rainbow and be dealt an awful starting hoof, or you could be yourself and dealt a fantastic hoof, and nopony would ever be the wiser to which you were dealt until well after you got it.
From there, you can narrow down the possibilities based on the number of traits that are allotted to each gene. Since the earth pony gene is the most common between the three, being the dominant of them, it is much more likely that it surfaces once all the letters rise to the top of the soup if you will. It is however, possible that neither parent passed the earth gene when the zygote was formed, and it just so happened that the rare case was what ended up winning the race.
Because ponies are so easily subject to their environment, these genes are also malleable to a degree and can sometimes have co-dominant race traits show up as ponies age, like in Scootaloo or Pinkie’s case where they have one dominant trait, Pegasai and Earth pony, but also have trace of the other race, earth pony and pegasai in this case, surface to help them survive. Of course, in their cases, these genes are almost always to the detriment of the pony’s longevity because certain aspects of the main race clashes with the subrace, causing health issues along the way.” Now it was Fluttershy’s turn ta furrow her brows.
“P-pinkie is part pegasus? I-I didn’t even realize she was a h-half breed. H-her parents both looked like s-solid earth ponies if I’ve ever seen it.” Twilight nodded, took a bite of her raspberry cupcake, and continued,
“I took everypony’s blood Saturday and ran all your genetics. We all know what I am, but my unicorn blood is also of not quite the same variety as what’s found here thanks to where it came from. Very similar, but a few things added to it that enhance the already insane magical ability that I was destined to have. Not to brag or anything, but I couldn’t have asked for better parents, genetics wise.
You’re one of the most purebred pegasai I have ever seen. Your height comes from a more ancient line of ancestors that were linked back to the B.C. era of pegasai aristocracy. Er, Before Celestia since some of us might not know. The unicorns were the ones with that um… ill informed inbreeding history, the original pegasai aristocracy were in essence five different families that interbred for centuries before the unification. It wasn’t until after the unification that pegasai became as short as they typically are thanks to the slow integration of traits of the other races. Your typical earth pony usually has a larger torso and stronger muscles than the other two, but shorter, bulkier legs. Pegasai are the opposite of that, and unicorns lean toward the middle. Were it an even split, the unicorn body type would be the norm, but it isn’t, so ponies as a whole have gotten shorter over the centuries.
Rarity also comes from a long line of unicorns, but thankfully not from that aristocracy. Because the unicorns are the most recessive trait, a long line of unicorns is actually rather rare, but not unexpected since racial distinction and discrimination was still a problem in this country up until the twentieth century. Even today, we struggle with trying to be a meritocracy thanks to old history and bad blood.” Rarity frowned and raised an eyebrow.
“So what does that mean, I’m just another, ‘run of the mill’ unicorn?” Twilight avoided that and focused on me instead.
“Uh… anyways, you also seem to have hit the genetic jackpot since your body was just perfectly comprised to do what you do, virus withstanding. You have the stocky, shorter legs, wide hips, long torso, and a tall neck combination that is essentially the perfect um… well, makes childbirth easy, and your muscular structure is unusually built to strengthen itself with minimal effort. Your hind legs in particular build muscle in an above average manner, but considering your family line, that isn’t all so surprising.” Ah shrugged.
“Supposedly mom and granny were both this way too. Applebloom got the tall gene, but she still has the hips and the musculature like mine, and Mac is just… well, ya know, Mac. The guy has ta beat mares off him in public half the time.” Rarity licked her lips.
“Oh yes, he can beat me off anytime he desires. Ladies, that is a stallion to behold, and ponies literally pay money to do it.” Ah tried ta put my hooves over my ears, but there was no way ta not hear any of that.
“Oh my goddess, can ya not?” Rarity shook her head.
“Absolutely not. I’m just a run of the mill unicorn, completely generic and average across the board, so I can only fantasize about breeding with a genetic winner.” She gave me one of them sultry looks and Ah could feel bile buildin’ up in the back of my throat.
“U-um… so what did your kids end up coming out as M-mrs. Cake?” Thank the goddess. Ugh. There ain’t enough brain bleach in the world ta get this image outta my head. They can never be in the same room together. They both have loose morals on this subject, and then Ah’d have ta hear about it from both parties afterward. Twilight moved a chair over ta our table and offered fer her ta come sit with us, and because we were the only patrons, she decided ta join the conversation.
“Well, there’s a funny story on that. You seem to know quite a bit for somepony so young, I only wish we were as smart as you mares are when I was your age. My husband and I met in trade school where we were both looking to have valuable connections and a little help starting up bakeries, and naturally with our common interests, we were fast friends. One thing led to another, and you know how kids just out of their teens are, so we decided very quickly that it would be in our best interest to get married, provided my father didn’t kill him before that could happen.
I was really excited at first, all those years ago. You’re always going to be a little scared when you know you have a bun in the oven, but the prospect of… bringing your own into the world is something special. You get to share the goddess’ green earth with somepony who hasn’t experienced anything yet. Show them the wonders of magic and the miracle of the world and the ponies that come with it. But almost half way though, there were complications and she didn’t make it.
Because of our true hybrid natures, me having semi-active magic vessels, and him having hollow bones, our baby had a complicated mix of all three traits and just couldn’t survive. Like most of history, the traits of races just never want to work together to create something stronger like the princesses, but tear each other apart to be the dominant figure instead.
Our marriage was founded on that poor girl, and I wasn’t really sure that we would last when she died, but I suppose it really was love after all. When things had settled a few years later and this store was doing well, we tried again, but ended with the same results. It’s one thing to lose a baby when you’re young and dumb and think your invincible, but to have it happen when you’re older and you really know the pony you’re with will be your partner for the rest of your life is just devastating.”
Oh, don’t Ah know it. Uncle Blood was married fer what, ten years when aunt Dew died? He literally went crazy. The real miracle is that he even recovered in the first place. Ah can only wonder if Pinkie really knew about the first one. From the way she put it, Ah don’t think she knew that Mrs. Cake here got knocked up and ended up in a shotgun weddin’.
“After that, we closed the store for a while and decided to see the country. If we were cursed to be unable to have children of our own, then we might as well take advantage of the situation and do all the things married couples with kids lament that they can’t do because of them. Um, do any of you happen to believe miracles?” The question was sudden and caught us off guard, but after the other day, there was really no reason fer any of us ta say no. After experiencin’ one, Ah can honestly say yes.
“Well good. These days it feels like faith is fading in the world, and it just makes me sad to see all those stories of suicides because ponies just don’t believe life is worth living anymore. Our miracle happened on a train one day.
We were traveling to… Oh goodness, this wasn’t more than a few years ago, where were we going? Oh, right, we were going to Bloomer to visit the Mall of Equestria. Since it was cheaper than taking a plane, we rode the Trans Equestria line before it had closed down to get there, and it was on the train that we met her. I had a dream when I was pregnant for the first time all those years ago where I’d met my daughter. She was bright pink and poofy, not too dissimilar from my father, but had the hybrid nature that my husband does. Such a happy little filly, so brimming with life.
And on that train was a filly in her early teens, who looked almost identical to my baby in that dream. She was with some older stallion attending ponies, and when she checked our tickets, I didn’t even have the words to speak to her, I was just so shocked. It was like looking at a ghost that had lived a life of her own and grown up without me. She even had the little feathers on her shoulders like my husband does, the resemblance was just uncanny.” Pinkie has feathers?
“But the ride came and went, and we only saw her the once since it seemed like she switched shifts with the older stallion that was taking care of her. We finished our trip, we saw the mall, it was a fun time, but all the while, I couldn’t get that filly out of my head. Was she real? Did we really see her? Where did she come from? Was that old stallion her grandfather? I wouldn’t know because the ride back had different attendants.
Of course, things like that always happen for a reason because two years later, we found her in our dumpster. Now, mares won’t typically share their age, but I’m almost forty. When you girls are my age, my twins will be your age. I’ll be out of service as a mare, and I’m certain my knees will be in such poor shape that I won’t be able to do any of the fun things my husband and I did with our kids. When we found her out there, near starved to death, dirty, and dying, I panicked. Here, as if the goddess had given her back, was the filly that looked just like my baby, and she was on her death bed, and I could bring her back.
As it turned out, she was… well, a little more than a mess herself. A runaway for almost a decade, an escapee from a dangerous drug cartel, with nowhere else to go after that old stallion we met on the train died the year after we first saw her. We offered to take her in, and I couldn’t tell you how happy the year that followed was. She really was like the daughter we never had. She was good in the bakery, she loved ponies, she loved her work, and she was just a joy to be around once she found her place here.
Having her in our lives gave us hope that we might still have a chance at our own kids. In a sort of twisted sense, we wanted to give her siblings as if the girl we found was six instead of sixteen. We were… unusually vigorous with our attempts this time around, almost like time had rewound fifteen years for us. Somehow, we ended up with fraternal twins, and we couldn’t have been happier. A spark that had been lost just… reignited into a big burning flame and life was beautiful again.
I was nervous around the second trimester since that was always the point that gave me problems, but everything went fine. For the first time in my life, I had a normal pregnancy, and nothing about my internal magic vessels caused any problems. The whole experience was a little like a dream. Carrot and I were so excited for everything to finally be going right, and even Pinkie seemed happy for a time there but… it really was like a dream.
We were a little shocked when they came out, as any parent would be when neither of your children shares your race. Twins mind you, and we’re uninfected as far as I know, but one a unicorn, and the other a pegasus, both of whom share colors with my husband. They have our family traits, and our daughter looks just like him, but she’s a unicorn. It’s been almost four generations since there was a unicorn in my family, and three for a pegasus in his. We came home after the doctor had released me the next day… and Pinkie was gone. The goddess was kind enough to finally give us foals, but she took away the one that made the miracle possible…” She shook her head and sighed.
“Somedays, I still wonder what ever became of her. She never really spent the money we paid her for her work, so I can only hope she had enough when she left. I would have loved for her to meet my kids.” Rarity patted the older mare on the back and Ah couldn’t help but frown.
“Should we tell her?” Ah asked over the brand.
“N-no, but I think Pinkie should come visit,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m sure she’s out there doing fine. Based on everything you’ve told us, I imagine she’s made some friends of her own,” Rarity speculated. Mrs. Cake nodded and started ta draw circles on the table with her hooves.
“I suppose you’re right. Well, how were they? I see eight wrappers, which ones did you eat?” She seemed ta cheer up a little, so at least she’s not focused on it. Damn it, Pinkie. Ya can’t treat ponies like this.
“Hmm. We all shared a little bit of each, but I saved four for some of our other friends we’ll see later. We saved the standard flavors for them and decide to try all the interesting ones. Because it seems as if I am run-of-the-mill unicorn and a basic twenty-somethings upper class filly, I was a fan of the pumpkin spice cupcake.” Ah chuckled. Yeah, that’s what Ah thought. Mrs. Cake made an awkward smile.
“W-well, that one does tend to sell to… a particular demographic after all. Any other favorites?” Dodgin’ bullets like Fluttershy in slow motion.
“I really enjoyed the lemon and the raspberry. I don’t think I could pick between the two, but I think I just lean toward the sour foods,” Twilight said.
“It has always been a challenge to get berries to not just collapse into the sugar when we start trying to incorporate them into batter, but I’ve found that making jam and concentrating that before adding it to the batter will do the trick.” Well, that’s one way ta do it. Ah never woulda thought of that. Ah might try that next time Ah have a chance.
“B-bacon, hooves down. B-but for the normal cupcakes, I really enjoyed the apple c-cinnamon. I-I might come back for a d-dozen of those bacon ones later though…” She offered ta let us try that one, and since Ah’d already eaten meat once before with Goose, Ah figured why not. It was… weird. Fried and savory and sweet with a kinda crunchy feel ta it, but all Ah could think about when my teeth crushed it were bones. Took all the enjoyment out of it fer me and Ah couldn’t eat any more.
“I-I see. Feel free, I suppose. They don’t sell often, but usually in large numbers when they do. The bat ponies are typically omnivores, but carnivorous ponies have been on the rise since the turn of the century, so it’s become more common to have ponies order those than non-ponies. And what about you? Did you have a favorite?” Well… Ah turned my head and looked the other direction.
“Ah uh. Ah like the apple cinnamon and the uh… other one.” Ah should probably find the time ta file my hooves one of these days.
“Other one? Which one?” Ah swallowed.
“The uh… the pumpkin one…” Rarity stood outta her chair and slammed her hooves on the table, leanin’ over it til Ah could feel her breathin’ on my neck.
“You bitch! You’ve been giving me all kinds of shit about this, but you’re no less basic than I am!” Ah felt my ears fall.
“Yeah…” She growled in irritation at me and then sat back down and found something else ta look at.
“The things I do for you…” Mrs. Cake looked very concerned, so she got up from the table.
“Well then! That sounds like um… satisfied customers. You didn’t have a favorite between those two did you?” No, don’t do this ta me!
“The uh… the other one.” Their floor is real well maintained. It’s all nice and polished, almost like ya could eat off it. Ah heard a hoof meet a horn in indignation and felt the need ta hunch over more.
“I see. Thanks for the information, I suppose I should promote that cupcake more. I figured it would be fun to have a more nightmare night themed cake for the season, I never really expected ponies to like it so much. Hmm. Maybe it was never really a fad at all…”
“I think, we should leave,” Rarity said with disdain in her voice as she stood from her chair.
“So uh… still friends?” She gave me a look as she passed and then exited the store.
“N-not to tell you things you a-already know, b-but I think that would have b-been the time to lie.”
“Yeah…”
Fluttershy decided that she wanted ta go find a new album by a band she likes after we left Sugar Cube Corner, so off ta the music store we went. Fluttershy went straight ta the metal aisle, and even further ta the subsection of death metal, so the rest of us very quickly went elsewhere in the store while she searched fer whatever.
“I don’t know why I’m even surprised. Of course our timid, sweet and snarky butter cream colored pegasus listens death metal. It only makes sense,” Rarity said as she started diggin’ through classical CDs. These days, shops like this were pretty rare. Ponies don’t tend ta buy physical disks anymore since digital albums are what sell. Every phone and every device or tech wear object can be a music player, so everypony either downloads or streams music, and Ah’m no exception. Fluttershy seems ta be a collector of thin’s, so she has most of her music on disks.
“I’m surprised you’ve never heard it just in the castle. Sometimes I’ll catch her drawing and she’ll have that blasting in her face. It’s not like her hearing was great in the first place, but I imagine it’s easier for her to hear it,” Twilight said.
“All thin’s considered, Ah’m not sure her taste in music is weird. Considerin’ who she is, anyways. Speakin’ of taste in music, why’d ya bring me over here? The country section is on the other side of the store.” Ah’ll admit, Ah’m a stereotype. Ah was born in Palomino, Ah prefer the heat ta the cold, Ah eat all the spicy food in the world, and Ah love me some country music. Back when Ah was real little, mom and granny taught me how ta play a ukulele, and Ah learned how ta play guitar when Ah went back ta the farm. Ah don’t think Ah’m a bad singer, but Ah can definitely work an acoustic pretty well. Ah’m not great at it anymore myself, but Ah still like ta listen ta that kinda music since it reminds me of them.
“I brought you over here because I think you need to be educated on what real music is. You used to spend time with the Swan Song for the goddess’ sake. You should at least know a little about the operas she sang for and the classical she liked. I bet you don’t even know who composed the piece I played for you the other day.” Ah clammed up. The truth of the matter is that Ah really like the classical stuff, and Ah do know a bit, but Ah don’t know anythin’ about Goose’s mother other than she was yer typical mom and saved our lives.
“Well uh… Ah know Ah’ve heard it more than once…” Rarity rolled her eyes and grabbed a pair of headphones off a console and threw ‘em on my ears.
“Mmhmm, here. Ballade number one in G minor, Opus twenty-three, by Sixteenth Chorus. He only wrote four of these before he died, and that one in particular was Swan Song’s favorite. She was also a fan of waltzes and loved ballroom dance. Surely you remember her dancing when you were around her, don’t you?” Ah thought about it fer a minute while the piece she played the other day started up in my head. The piece itself reminded me of her dancin’, and how she would sometimes pull Catchy away from whatever the three of us were doin’ and make him spin with her till the song was over. She was really good at it, and even in the mare’s position, she led him around like a doll. Didn’t Ah…?
“Ya know, Ah think Ah made him teach me how ta do it back when we were kids.” Rarity lowered her brows.
“Did you? Let’s see what you remember.” She pulled the headphones off my ears and walked me over ta an emptier part of the store. It wasn’t a huge space, but they definitely had a lot of room for a lot of stuff. They had speakers on display over here, which were also hooked up ta consoles with screens fer music selection. She entered a search and pulled up a piece. She rose ta her hind legs and waited fer me in the stallion’s pose.
Ah suddenly got a flash of a memory. We were at the park by the house. Mac was climbin’ overtop of the swing set, and Goose… Catchy and Ah were at the basketball court. He had a boombox. ‘First, I stand like this, and then you…’ Ah rose ta my back hooves and assumed the mare’s position, takin’ her right hoof in mine and and puttin’ my left on her shoulder above her foreleg. ‘And you gotta remember to suck in really hard to make your back arc like this…’
The music started and now all Ah could see was the playground whirl around behind me as Catchy and Ah danced.
‘One, two, three, one, two, ow! Don’t step on my hooves! The mare follows and the stallion leads, okay? Move with me, not against me.’
‘Oh, just give up on her Catchy. She’s got four left hooves and she can’t even do somethin’ as simple as a dragon punch in Marevel. There ain’t no way she’s better with her back hooves than her front hooves!’
‘Shut up Mac! You don’t know nothin’! Ah’ll learn this, and y’all can go shove apples where the sun don’t shine!’
We were at the park that day practicin’ till it got dark, and we did that every day after we got home from school until Ah learned how ta do it. Rarity spun me out, and then the piece ended.
“I’d say you remember quite a bit actually. Though, we really don’t have the room here to cut loose… Twilight darling, how long do you think it would take you to fix the training room?” My head was still spinnin’ through memories, and Ah didn’t even notice Twilight watchin’ us.
“Oh, gosh, I don’t know. A few minutes maybe? The melted crystal is a lot harder to manipulate than the broken crystal as I learned testing my own power the other day, but it shouldn’t be too bad. I repaired mohter’s hoof prints this morning, and that wasn’t all that hard. Can um… can you teach me how to do that?” Rarity smiled and took a bow while offering a hoof ta Twilight.
“Ah, but of course my liege. It would be an honor to take the position of royal dance instructor~” Another piece started ta play and Ah started drivin’ back down memory lane again. Ah remember bein’ in that little livin’ room playin’ Marevel with Catchy and my brother when Swan Song started ta sing this… but this is most definitely in some other language.
“Rarity, what language is she singin’ in?” Ah asked. It was so weird. Ah felt like Ah could almost repeat the words Ah was hearin’, but Ah didn’t know what any of ‘em meant. She stopped instructin’ Twilight on how ta stand and then listened fer a moment.
“Let’s see… this is Frühlingsstimmen, or The Voices of Spring, by Zweiter Walzer. It’s in Rossian, but Zweiter himself was actually from Reiterei. Different countries, same spoken language. Let’s see, the singer is-”
“Swan Song. Ah know this. Ah’ve heard it a thousand times. That’s her voice. She would always sing whenever she was makin’ somethin’ fer us. Ah can just see us sittin’ in front of the ponystation takin’ turns fightin’ each other, and she would just sing along with whatever backtrack she had on her disk player. Is there a cd with this on it?” Ah need this. Ah need ta take it ta the apartment and play it fer Mac. Ah wonder if Goose has a copy somewhere at the house, Ah’m sure… Ah’m sure he has every memory of his mother he can get a hold of, but just in case he doesn’t… Ah need this. Ah swallowed. So many summer afternoons, so many days after school, all ta be forgotten in the haze of applebuckin’ season. How could Ah have lost so much?
“Hello? Ground control to Applejack, can you hear me?” Rarity clapped her hooves in front of my face and brought me back ta earth. Floatin’ in her magic was sure enough, a disk titled ‘The best of Swan Song.’ “I’m honestly surprised they have a copy. After she died, her music was sold in extreme volume until they stopped printing it a few years later. This is still in shrink wrap, so you may just be so lucky.” Ah took the case out from her and stared at the picture fer a moment. He has her eyes, and her mane too.
“…Y-yeah, I can do that. O-okay, I’ll see you later. B-bye.” Fluttershy dropped the phone in her wing and let it swing back around her neck. “S-so, I’ve got a favor to ask you…”
Along with the One-Hoof Death Punch album she wanted, Fluttershy also decided ta buy concert grade speakers. Why she needed somethin’ so loud it would fill the volume of the trainin’ room, Ah’ll never know, but what Ah do know is that Rarity’s car didn’t have the room ta take ‘em back ta the castle. Because Ah happened ta be the only one capable of carryin’ this shit, Ah ended up gettin’ sent ta the castle ta wait fer everypony else ta arrive. Ah never thought much about it, but if Fluttershy is makin’ anywhere close ta the money Ah’m makin’, she’s been doin’ so fer almost a year now, and only spendin’ it on games. Ah bet months have gone by where she didn’t even touch the money, and now she’s got hundreds of gold bits just sittin’ away in the bank. She must because she spent damn near five thousand on these speakers.
When Ah arrived in it, the trainin’ room looked as if a bomb had gone off in the center. A glazed, dome shape dent in the ceilin’, in the floor, in the left and right walls. Goddess damn, Twi’s gonna have a hell of a time fixin’ this. Ah hope Celestia is okay. Ah think Ah read somethin’ about her takin’ a few days off ta help the recovery of the three towns Persona hit, but Ah imagine that was just a cover ta get over this thin’ with Luna. She’s probably puttin’ all her attention inta helpin’ her ponies, but Ah can only wonder how much of that is ta avoid her sister rather than out of empathy…
“Damn. She did a number on this place.” As per usual, when Ah say somethin’ out loud thinkin’ Ah’m alone, Ah am once again not alone.
“I-I’ll say. I-I don’t know about you, b-but I thought she was going to k-kill Rainbow yesterday.” Ah used everythin’ in my will ta keep from lashin’ out at Fluttershy right beside me. Ever since she lost the Beast or whatever happened yesterday, her presence is even harder ta detect than it was before. Rarity can sneak up on me with her powers. Everypony else Ah can usually catch. Fluttershy is the only pony who can move like normal and still catch me off guard.
“Can ya please announce yerself before ya make me jump? Damn. How did ya get here so fast? Where are the other two?” She tilted her head.
“O-oh, Rarity said it would be quicker i-if it was just the two of them. L-less strain on her powers driving the w-way she likes to, but isn’t so legal and all. D-did you see what happened to the chairs yesterday?” Ah furrowed my brows.
“The… chairs?”
“Y-you know, the ones we sit at. T-the ones around the table.” Oh right. Them crystal chairs around the tables with the weird gems.
“Oh. No, Ah guess Ah didn’t.” Fluttershy frowned.
“Hmm. I-I have to wonder what that was all about. W-when Celestia went berserk or w-whatever, the gems on all the chairs t-turned black and started to feel… i-icky. K-kinda like the way Celestia’s m-magic made Rainbow puke black fog, b-but… with malicious intent, I guess.” Now Ah frowned. The gems did that? Why would the gems do that? Ah thought they only reacted ta us. Or… somethin’. Really, Ah don’t know anythin’ about those thin’s.
“That’s… weird. Are they still like that?” She shook her head, wobbled on her third leg, flapped ta regain balance, and cursed.
“F-fucking… I-I need a prosthetic. T-this is just annoying. M-maybe I can get one like Mister Flare has…” She sighed and centered herself on her front leg. “N-no, they’re back to normal as far as I could tell. I-I suspect Celestia was the cause, b-but even in the y-year I’ve been here, t-they’ve only ever reacted to a-anything a few times. T-the day they first showed up, t-the day Pinkie was going to kill herself, a-and the day you destroyed that w-whole cargo ship with your hooves. U-usually, they just flash on and off a-and feel kinda p-panicked, but this… t-this was different. T-they’ve never all done something together.” Ah scratched at my cheek.
“Ah remember that. It was almost like my whole body was on fire, but it didn’t hurt, it felt more like Ah was energized. Ah just had all this extra power suddenly and Ah knew Ah could stop the ship if Ah just… attacked it. It felt kinda like trump card does, but on a whole other level. Ah think the backlash just about broke my foreleg then too. Ah know it hurt like a bitch, that’s fer sure.” Fluttershy attempted ta put her hoof ta her chin, nearly fell over, and then sat down.
“Ugh. E-even simple things are going to suck now. I-I can’t even touch my face without sitting down. A-at least Rainbow still has all her hooves. S-some ponies don’t have wings to begin with. Everypony s-starts with four hooves. I-I just…” She let out a breath and… bit inta her lip and sniffed real hard. Is she about ta cry? “G-goddess damn it! C-can you set up the speakers for me? I-I need to… I-I need to go to the bathroom!” She took ta the air and clumsily flew away, cursin’ under her breath, little drops of water fell ta the floor as she went.
Poor filly. That hurts more than she wants ponies ta think it does and Ah bet she don’t even know how bad it’s gonna be from now on. Well, provided we all see the other side of this. If a losin’ a leg is as bad as it gets, then Ah guess Ah should just be thankful fer that. Might as well set these thin’s up. Goddess knows she can’t.
The speakers she bought were well bigger than a few of us stacked on top of each other. Probably at least three meters tall and one wide and long, ponies would typically need a real strong unicorn, or a few strong earth ponies ta move ‘em around. Ah just so happen ta be stronger than most ponies combined, so Ah didn’t need that kinda help. Doesn’t change the fact that they were big and Ah could barely get my hooves around ‘em though. Ah checked the walls, and surprisin’ly enough, there were a few electrical outlets all around the trainin’ room… fer whatever reason.
Why? Ah couldn’t say. Ah’m pretty sure that these were a snap decision, so unless Twilight just expected us ta need appliances down here, Ah wouldn’t think it was planned ahead of time. By the time Ah got the second one moved and powered on, Fluttershy had returned with a laptop that Ah’d never seen before, and Rarity and Twilight.
“Oh, wow, you really did do it on your own. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. You did single hoofedly shatter one of the Israfel’s mirrors,” Twilight said. Ah raised an eyebrow.
“Really? Ya thought Ah was gonna have trouble with a couple thousand pound speakers? Twi sugar cube, yer barriers are harder ta break than these are ta lift. But Ah gotta say, yer mom did a damn number on this room. It’s like what? 60 by 120 by 60 meters in total? She would’ve taken out a city block had she done this anywhere else.” Twilight sighed.
“I know. I’ve never seen her get so angry. Of course, the unprecedented nature of yesterday may have triggered some old powers she keeps locked away and this just happened to be a crack in her psyche, or maybe this was the same kind of thing that caused the Caballo Crater. In all honesty, I don’t know what that was. Even the descriptions of Celestia in war tell of her flames, but she’s always fighting with other ponies nearby and in her armor. Her armor was still dormant last night when she went up and she was letting off heat indiscriminately. There are no records of that ever happening, even in the files most ponies don’t have access to. It’s made me wonder if I really have access to everything and whether or not she’s done this before.”
It was a question ta be certain. Ah’m sure she didn’t mean ta, but if Twilight hadn’t put shields up, Ah woulda called time and had everypony evacuate. Ah know Celestia would never do anythin’ ta hurt us intentionally, so… maybe it was just like when Ah fought Synchro Noise… She just… couldn’t think straight. Maybe. She didn’t kill Luna, so either she had enough sense ta not just let go, or Twilight really did save her aunt’s life. Probably that second thin’. There ain’t nothin’ in the world Celestia cares about more than that filly.
“Well? You wanted to learn, and we need the space, so get to fixing this,” Rarity said, makin’ a ‘shoo’ motion with her hooves. Twi rolled her eyes and got ta work, and Ah went ta sit with Rartity and Fluttershy by the speakers.
“S-so, you wanted um… h-how do you say this?” Fluttershy had coordinated her wing and her hoof ta work her laptop, and she pointed at a name with her feathers.
“Zwitter Walzer. Think of it like saying zit, but add a ‘V’ sound after the Z. In Rossian, the letter isn’t ‘double U’ but ‘double V.’ As such, you pronounce it like ‘Zvitter Valzer,’ but the V sound is drawn out longer than you would in Equestrian.” Fluttershy looked like she was concentratin’ real hard, but slowly nodded.
“O-okay. Uh. Z-zwit-ter W-wal-zer. Z-zwitter. W-walzer. Z-zvvvvvvitter. V-vvvvvvalzer. Z-zwitter Walzer. T-that’s kinda fun to say. W-where did you learn this? Y-you seem to know a lot about languages.” Rarity looked away.
“Oh, you know. Things I picked up here and there. How did you feel about that song I played you earlier, Applejack?” Ah scrunched up my face. How did Ah feel? It was my childhood, all nostalgia, Ah’m not sure Ah even really listened ta what Ah heard.
“Ah don’t know. Swan Song has a voice like no other, but… Ah don’t know, it was all memories fer me. Ah’d have ta hear it again.”
“Of course. Twilight darling, are you ready yet?” Ah turned ta look at the violet alicorn. She was still floatin’, covered in her own magic, that sorta sparkly, violet, transparent field of almost fog, but most of the domes had been removed and put back ta their solid slate crystal forms. She sank ta the ground and all her magic flowed back inta her mismatched horn.
“I am now.” Rarity got up and Fluttershy plugged in her speakers. She did a volume check and nearly blew out my ear drums and very quickly turned down the sound. These kinda speakers would blow yer ass over like a semi on a windy day. She played the song and then the two went ta doin’ the basic motions. One, two, three. One, two, three. Turn, two three. Ah suppose Rarity was either a real good leader or they were pretty well in sync because Twilight kept up pretty good fer just learnin’ the box. Ah wonder if he still remembers how many times Ah stepped on his hooves back then? Must’ve been a few hundred at least.
“Okay, that should be good for that. Your form sucks, but that’s to be expected. All we really want is the motion at first. Applejack will you come here darling? You know the other basic moves in the waltz and it would be easier to teach if I could show her with a partner.” Ah got up and stretched myself out.
“Yeah sure. Don’t know if Ah’ll be much help since Ah haven’t done this in over a decade.”
When Ah returned ta the shark house that night, Ah was all kinds of sore. We practiced basic moves, advanced moves, and moves Ah didn’t know, but Rarity taught anyways. Even managed ta get Fluttershy ta do it after we coaxed her inta it. We were there fer hours, and it wasn’t until Ah got a text from Goose sayin’ he was home that Ah realized it was almost 10 pm. Ah haven’t been out this late since Ah joined Harmony, and that was more than a month ago.
Ah arrived at the home in the old suburbs of the southern district and parked my bike in the little awning that jutted from the side of the house by the porch. As Ah got off the bike and pulled my helmet off, he stepped out the door on his hind legs, wearin’ his bathrobe and leanin’ on the frame with his mane slicked back. Freshly cleaned, his coat groomed and shiny, still a little wet so his muscles were readily visible and a little swollen, and he was wearin’ that scent.
“Hello there♥” Ah had ta stop and catch my breath. Ah was already so sore, and this mornin’ hadn’t even caught up with me yet, but he was just so goddess damn attractive. Ah got another waft of that scent from here and Ah wanted nothin’ more than ta grab him and run ta break the bed again… but it was hard ta stand right now and if Ah got a hold of him then he’d have ta carry me everywhere tomorrow for our date. My backlegs slid out from under me and Ah fell ta a sittin’ position.
“Sugarcube, Ah would love nothin’ more than ta go break yer hips right now, but Ah’m just too damn tired. Can we just watch a movie or somethin’?” Goose fell back ta standin’ like a normal pony and laughed.
“Has anypony ever told you you’re too honest? Yeah, sure. Just remember that we’re going to see a movie tomorrow too, so you can’t complain, alright?” At first it looked like he’d come over ta help me up, but instead, he picked me up and carried me in ta the couch. He set me down and Ah started ta shed my ridin’ suit while he got up and turned on the TV. For as old as it was, the picture was still real good, and Goose had hooked up one of them streamin’ devices ta it so that it was basically a new TV.
“So, what did ya do today?” Ah asked. He came and sat down next ta me and wrapped his hoof around me.
“I spent all day missing you.” He leaned in fer a kiss. Ah don’t know how long we held it, but Ah had ta breathe by the time he pulled away.
“Ah love you, but a real answer would be nice.” Goose threw his hooves up.
“I don’t know what you want, that was the truth.” Ah rolled my eyes.
“Uh-huh. Well if y’all won’t talk Ah will. Ah ended up ridin’ ta Tin with Twilight this mornin’, spent the afternoon shoppin’ with her Fluttershy and Rarity, and spent all of the evenin’ rememberin’ how ta dance with them. Rarity is… really talented. Like, she can play, she can sew, she can dance, and Ah get the feelin’ she speaks a few languages. She said some Rossian word earlier, ant it was like she’d been speakin’ the language her whole life.” Goose nodded.
“I see. Where all did you go?” Ah shrugged.
“Let’s see. We went ta Star’s place ta get Fluttershy a new suit. He was workin’ on this crazy elaborate weddin’ dress fer some mare with a fat ass that he made me model fer. The old bastard. Who does he think he is callin’, me a fat ass? Ah’m not fat. Ah was malnourished half my life!” Goose tried to hold back a smile.
“I mean, he didn’t lie miss apple bottom.” He gave my cutiemark a good swat and Ah lunged at him. If Ah wasn’t so sore…
“Y’all keep doin’ stuff like that and you’re gonna have ta replace this couch♥” We kissed again and then he put his hooves behind his head.
“A small sacrifice for the greater good, I’m afraid. You will be missed, mom’s couch. So, what happened next?” Ah sat up on him and went back over what Ah did today.
“Let’s see… he finished that, Rarity got him up ta speed with what Harmony has been doin’ for the last couple months, and Fluttershy paid ta have a new suit made. We got lunch and then… Oh! Did you know that the family Pinkie stayed with is together because of a shotgun weddin’?” Goose sat up and held me by the hips.
“I did not. I suppose that means you went to Sugar Cube Corner?” Ah nodded.
“We did. Everypony ordered a cupcake, and apparently they sell this bacon cupcake that Fluttershy had which wasn’t bad but kinda weird. Ah made fun of her fer it, but Rarity ordered a pumpkin spice one that was just delicious.” Goose nodded thoughtfully.
“Ah yes, the basic white mare dilemma. At least she wasn’t wearing the fuzzy boots and the yoga pants too. I think I caught her spreading avocado on her toast one morning while I was still ‘prisoner’ in the castle.” Ah laughed and gave him a playful punch ta the shoulder.
“Don’t say that, ya know she probably owns the outfit. Anyways, we did get ya one by the way. It’s sittin’ in a box in the castle fridge, but they had these cupcakes frosted with pictures of us in our suits on ‘em, so we got a few extra ones for everypony. It was kinda weird though, we were at the castle for the end of the day, but Ah never saw Rainbow, Pinkie, or Scootaloo. Ah guess they must’ve been out.”
“Yeah, I talked to them. I think there was some game tournament going on today that they were going to.” Ah lowered my brows.
“Weird. Ya’d think that Fluttershy would be all about that kinda thin’. Ah wonder why she didn’t go with them?” Goose shrugged.
“That mare is a complicated one. Never know what’s going on in that head of hers. What’d you do after the bakery?”
“Said mare decided that she wanted ta buy a new album while we were nearby, so we went ta a music store. Oh, by the way, is Swan Song originally from Equestria?” Goose took his eyes off me fer a minute.
“Uh, maybe? I don’t actually know. I’m sure that information is somewhere in dad’s records here, but I never met my grandparents on either side, so I’m probably the only one left, provided I don’t have cousins somewhere. Never really thought it was important, so I never looked into it. She did speak Rossian and Cavallian though, for work at least. Opera was her main source of income, so she kinda had too.”
“Huh. Well, Rarity got me listenin’ ta some of that today, and Ah remembered when we used ta dance in the park.” Goose laughed.
“Oh goddess, we did do that, didn’t we? You were awful at it.” Ah frowned.
“That is not true and y’all know it.” Goose shook his head.
“Yeah, maybe after the first year. But when we started, you were bad. Super bad. Mac was better than you were, and that dude would trip on a shadow. That isn’t to say that you couldn’t keep up with me later on, but you probably stepped on my hooves twice for every day we practiced.”
“Fuck you.”
“With pleasure♥”
“No.” Ah spun around and pushed his head inta the arm of the couch and balanced my back on top of him. Ah crossed my back legs and put one of those hooves right on his special spot.
“Alright, I get the picture.”
“Ah don’t think ya do. Especially when ya do that.”
“It has a mind of its own. I can’t control it.”
“Uh-huh. Speakin’ of yer mother, Ah bought a cd of her greatest hits while Ah was there. Brand new, still in the plastic.” And down goes the sail.
“Really? I’m surprised you found one. Nopony sells any of mom’s stuff anymore.”
“Yeah, Ah was told that. Ah figured ya probably already had one, but Ah wanted ta get it fer Mac and myself. Ah suppressed a lot in the years after my father died, so Ah bet Mac’s lost some memories of our childhood too.”
“Nice of you to think of him.”
“Bah, don’t say that. He’s my brother, it’s not like Ah’m about ta forget him. Anyways, Shy wanted ta buy some huge speakers, so Ah ended up gettin’ saddled with those and sent back ta the castle ta set ‘em up. Twi saw Rarity spinnin’ me around ta the Voices of Spring or whatever it’s called in Rossian,”
“Frühlingsstimmen”
“Yeah, that, and she wanted ta learn how ta do it, so we now have big ass speakers in the trainin’ room.”
“Don’t you mean, apple bottom speakers?” His hooves started ta creep down my belly and Ah turned my head ta eye him.
“You’re pushin’ yer luck cowboy.” He keeps this up and Ah’m just gonna be bowlegged tomorrow. He smiled one of them devious smirks. Aaaaand, that’s game.
“Ah, but is my luck pushing the right way though?” Ah rolled around and put my forelegs around his chest. Ah leaned in and kissed him, this time with a little more effort.
“Why don’t you tell me♥?” He smiled even bigger and kissed me back.
“I think I may have just broken the couch.”
“Oh, you’ll be lucky if the walls are still standin’ by the time Ah’m done with you♥”
"Good goddess, I love you."