//------------------------------// // Canterlot Bambi // Story: Star Overhead // by KorenCZ11 //------------------------------// Rarity Another uneventful day. You would think with all the crazy things I’ve heard about lately, today would have something happen, but yet again, nothing happens. Oh well. At least she bothered to pick me up from school today. I opened the black imported sports car’s passenger door and mother shifted into first gear. “How did your day go, honey?” Chipper as usual. “It’s whatever. Just another day at school, I suppose.” “Oh, I see…” Somewhere in her mid-thirties, Pearl Treasure, formerly Pearl Belle, was a very busy mare. As far as I knew, anyways. Supposedly, we get our manes from her, but other than that, Sweetie and I mostly resemble our father. We turned on to the main road and, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a violet flash come from behind us. I turned to get a better look, but we’d moved too far to have a clear view of the school anymore, against the window. Something did happen! I always miss the interesting things. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy with work lately, honey, I’ve just been pulling my mane out over this new assignment. I swear, I’ve talked to half the ponies in town trying to gather information, but nopony seems to know anything useful.” She shifted into fourth, now that we were a little past the commercial area. On hoof, it takes me maybe a half hour to get home. In the car, it takes minutes. “It’s whatever, though. I know your job is important.” To somepony I guess. She patted my mane while I texted Twilight. I swear, if she musses it up again…! “Goodness, you are just so mature for your age. If only your father was as understanding as you are.” Yeah, if only. “It’s whatever. Not everypony can understand a mare.” Especially me. She pulled into our driveway after the wrought iron gate slid by at the press of a button. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two inhabitants. One, really. “Ah, that’s my little girl! I can always count on you. Well, I’m afraid I still have some work to attend to, so I’ve hired somepony to take you to the airport. I promise I’ll be there to pick you up, though.” I sighed and picked my backpack off the floor boards. I don’t even know why I bother bringing it, these days. All I ever need is my phone and a pencil, it’s not as if I’ve had a lunch to bring for a few years now. “It’s whatever. Technology is so convenient these days…” Of course you would push me off onto somepony else. “What was that?” “Nothing.” I never ended up getting a response from Twilight. The hours ticked away at home and none of my contacts ever told me what happened. Applejack didn’t know anything, Trixie never replied, and Twilight was out, so that was it. I almost wish I’d cared enough to get Pinkie’s number, I bet she’d respond. Maybe. I don’t even know if she likes me. Or anypony aside from Twilight, for that matter. It would certainly help if Rainbow had a phone but, apparently, her father is just as good at keeping promises as my mother is. Another uneventful day. Maybe tomorrow will be different. I’ll have Father and Sweetie to talk to, and we’re going to be in Canterlot! The Equestrian capital city, the home of high society, site of the Queen’s castle! Ooh, I can’t wait to go back! Two days, free of… this. The mundane. The unsocial. The… I shook my head and restarted work on my half-sewn tie. The hollow sound of the TV droned on in the background, giving some life to this large, empty home for one. The silence was almost noisier than the noise. Stitch, loop, pull, stitch, loop, pull, stitch, loop, pull. Another hoofball to the pattern. Normally, a cutiemark like his leads to a successful career as a hoofball star, but no, he’s just a college coach. Oh well, it could be worse. He could be just as well off as she is and I could be taking care of Sweetie… though, maybe it would’ve been better that way. If that were the case, then I wouldn’t be… The doorbell rang through the house. Must be my ride. I put the needle through my next stitch and shuffled the tie into my bag. The nearest civilian airport is all the way in Stampede City, almost two hours away from here. I’ll have plenty of time to finish this on the way there, or maybe on the four hour plane ride, if it takes me that long. I wonder what he’ll say when he sees it? I opened the door and nearly had a heart attack. There she was, the giant white mare with the bass on her back, her biker outfit, and her mass of fabulous mane spilling out of that half helmet of hers. I suppose Twilight being all riled up the other day made me panic, but now that I was standing in front of her, I’m not entirely sure why I was afraid in the first place. She’s never really hurt anypony. Probably. And she is quite a sight to look at. In an odd way, looking at her face reminded me of Twilight, but I couldn’t think of why. She’s far prettier than Twilight to be sure, but there was something there all the same… “Oh… it’s you,” found its way out of my mouth after we stared at each other for a long time. Her clothes looked hoofmade, which only made this mare even more of a mystery. Leather like that is very difficult to sew, and it usually takes talent to do it. Where did she get them? The stitching is unlike anything in my fashion magazines, yet these look almost decades old. “Gotta make some extra cash somehow, huh, kid? Turns out that the big boss isn’t quite so great at handling money. Everything I had stored away isn’t worth as much as it was twenty years ago. You ready to go?” The Motor Mare passed me a helmet in her gold magic and I simply resigned myself to it. “It’s whatever. Everypony has to make money somehow.” She ruffled my mane with her massive hoof. “Attagirl. If you have one, you might want to put a jacket on. Mine’s an old bike, it doesn’t really have much in the way of a heater or anything like that. It’s gonna get cold after the sun goes down.” We didn’t speak much. We’d left at just about sundown, and she was right, it was cold. Luckily, I had a windbreaker, and she gave me her scarf after she felt me shivering. I wasn’t sure what to make of this mare. She actually dropped out of nowhere and hit me in the face with that guitar of hers only a few weeks ago, but I suppose she never really harmed me. There wasn’t even a bruise when I checked, so sometimes I wonder if it really happened or not. Of course, Rainbow would’ve drowned after she got hit had we not ran to save her. Why did she do it? I never found an answer. All around us were flat lands covered in waves of gold that expanded on endlessly in the twilight darkness. The moon beginning to shine above us was reflected just enough to see color in the black. When there wasn’t wheat, there was corn, and when there wasn’t corn, there was a patch of oil derricks. Almost like plants themselves, spinning in their slow, methodical way, like waving grass, pumping quietly at the earth. Cell towers and power lines formed W-shapes along the solitary double-lane interstate highway that gave Underhoof its raison d’être. Were we traveling the other way, we’d make it to Canterlot in a few days if we just kept going straight. It’s only on drives like this that really show a pony how vast Equestria really is. In the fog-ringed town of Underhoof, it’s easy to forget that there’s a whole wide world outside. “All this land, and she wants to move into space. You don’t have an overpopulation problem, you have a ‘ponies flocking to jobs’ problem. Get your media to promote the farm life instead of training everypony for white collar jobs. That is what will fix your problem, dear sister.” This wasn’t the first time she’d mumbled something like that during our trip. Politics seemed to be the most common topic, though who it was directed at I couldn’t say. Usually these criticisms are about her ‘sister,’ who is somepony in the higher ups of the government, as far as I can tell. She also once mentioned something about finishing ‘the chord’ and gathering the ‘sounds’ from her ‘notes.’ You would think she would be in a band or something with that bass she beats ponies with and from the way she talks, but somehow, I just can’t think any of this relates to music. Overall, it was a boring ride, but it was also… relaxing. Even at eighty miles per hour, this bike was so large that I never really got hit too hard by the cold October winds, and the Motor Mare sat in such a relaxed position that I didn’t have too much trouble seeing all around us. The night was beautiful. The violet sky, the bright stars, the glowing clouds of pink, blue, and red, the bright moon offsetting it all. It was usually clear in Underhoof, but it wasn’t often that I spent my nights outside. The fog is always so ever-present around home that I never thought to look up. “Sometimes, I just… wish they would do this with me.” Absentmindedly, I must’ve spoken out loud, because the Motor Mare took a hoof off the bike and rested it on my shoulder. “See, not every parent is going to know what to do when they have their first foal. Or the second. Even the third. By four, they’ve usually got it figured out, but popping those things out hurts like hell and not everypony wants to go through that more than once. It’s a scary thought, before they come. You’re suddenly assaulted by every possible worry in the world, and it gets overwhelming. Attacked by, ‘Can I do this?’ in every way to phrase it imaginable. Even after they come, the question doesn’t leave your mind. Some get too scared, others can’t handle the pressure at all. “Things happen. You see them grow, then some new scary situation arises, and that question comes back. You’re plagued by it, dreaming of all the things that can go wrong, getting glimpses into situations that can’t happen. It’s terrifying. Taxing on the mind. You lose sight of why you made the kid in the first place, and even after having it, it might not be the most important thing in the world to you, though it should be. “And forget about it if you’re not in harmony with your partner. A little discord in the everyday life adds up over time. One day, you’ll be trying to play a major and you don’t even know what went wrong when the tritone comes out. Everypony has to deal with pain somehow. It’s just up to who can hide it the best. When you can’t, that’s when things fall apart.” More music talk. I’m not even sure what she’s saying anymore. “I’m sorry?” The Motor Mare patted my head and shook hers. “You’ll get it later. Just think about it for a little while.” I finally learned Celestia’s name when she gave me her card in the event I needed a ride after she saw me to my gate. I suppose she got a job driving ponies wherever with that Carriage service that picked up traction in the last few years. So much for ‘don’t talk to strangers’ I guess. I wonder if thirteen is the minimum age for that? Or is there a minimum age? She could’ve kidnapped me and nopony would ever know until father called asking where I was. Oh well. Celestia doesn’t seem like a bad pony, even if she is a strange, cryptic mare. Thanks to time zones, I left South Dartmoor at eight PM and arrived in Canterlot, the capital city of Canterlot state, at about three AM. Father was half asleep, and Sweetie was asleep, but at least they were there to see me when I landed. He drove us home and then promptly crashed, just after making contact with his bed, and I followed suit. I’d managed to finish the tie, but only after I ruined one of the earlier stitches, when I wasn’t paying attention, and had to redo almost half of it. So much for sleeping on the plane, I guess. It doesn’t help that I never could unravel Celestia’s advice. Foals and harmony and discord. Cracking up and falling apart. Fear. What was she talking about? I’ve been thinking about it for hours now, and I just never understood what she meant. Ugh, and Twilight has to live with that mare. From the stories I hear about her, it makes me wonder if she’s even sane, maybe those were just the ramblings of a mad mare on a motorcycle. I think I dreamed that night, but of what, I couldn’t say. Music and hoofballs, and pearls and shadows. There was a hazy quality to it all, like an opaque crystal, or a foggy mirror. When I woke up from the mist, I smelled breakfast in the air and nearly had a heart attack. Is mother making breakfast!? Is she home? I checked my surroundings to make sure I wasn’t dreaming still, but then I remembered. No… she’s not even here. I wiped at my eyes and gave the room I landed in another glance over. I think this is my room. Or maybe a guest room. It was unspecifically decorated in a fashion not too dissimilar to how I like my things, but that could simply be a family trait. Father was never as classy as Mother was, but he always tried. I don’t remember how long ago he’d moved to the capital for his new job, and I’ve only visited a hoofful of times. Possibly three, four months, since I was here last? I stumbled around the unfamiliar home following the smell until I found the dining room. Sweetie had collapsed on the table, the TV had some sports game on, and Father was half watching, half cooking with whatever he was making. He always was the better cook. “Oh, you’re awake, I was just about to come get you. Hash-browns, and a cheese omelette. There’s jelly in the fridge, along with the milk and juices. Would you rather have your bread fried or toasted?” I had to stop and collect my head. It had been a long time since I was waited on. “Um… fried, I think. What time is it?” There were windows around, so I could guess it was closer to noon, but I really had no idea. I didn’t think I slept very long, but three hours ahead is three hours ahead. The white unicorn scraped some butter on the slice and threw it in his pan. The sizzle of crisping toast was almost enough to make my mouth water. “Ten, the park opens at noon, so I wanted to get a head start. How are you feeling?” I’m not sure I heard all of that, the potatoes had called to me. It was my turn to speak while I had a mouthful. “Oh, I’m fine, I suppose.” He nodded and smiled. “Good,” he then moved to flick Sweetie’s horn. “Get up and eat. I am not spending money on amusement park food, again.” The filly retracted from the attack and massaged her head. “Oww… fine…” she groaned. With an unexpected voracity, the little white unicorn attacked her plate, and I suddenly wasn’t so hungry anymore. “How was the flight? I would’ve asked earlier, but I think we were all lucky to make it home this morning.” I’ll say. I’m more surprised you didn’t get pulled over, driving like that. “I think it was fine, from what I remember. I spent all night working on… Oh, that’s right!” I got up to go get the tie from my bag. When I returned and presented it to him, I couldn’t help but get that warm, fuzzy feeling, when I saw his face light up. “I made this for you.” He took me in his hooves and rustled my mane. “What did I do to deserve that? Thank you, Rarity.” If anypony could see me smiling like an idiot, I might die of embarrassment. But because it’s him, I don’t mind. “I just don’t understand it. Why can’t she be like that all the time?” A little bubble popped up at the corner of my phone. “Well, first of all, she’s not him. Second, would ya really be okay with yer mother doin’ somethin’ like that?” In truth, she always typed and wrote correctly, but reading things in Applejack’s voice created a strange dissonance in my head. I’d gained a sort of ability to morph her text into that southern flavor she has in her speech. “Of course not, my mother is a mare of high society. On the rare occasion she does take me out with her, we go to dinner parties and fancy gatherings at upscale hotels in the city. You know, Celestia did that to me, too, and I wasn’t mad at her, either.” I couldn’t believe it. I had so much fun today. We rode everything the park had to offer. He couldn’t keep his promise, and we tried some of the park food, and, though it wasn’t anything special, it was still great for whatever reason. And we played all the games. I even managed to win something in one of those horrid, rigged contests... All the while, I simply couldn’t think of a time I’d been so happy in years. How long has it been since I had a day like that with my father? It’s been years since we were a happy family, if there was ever a time that was true. What happened? “Then why complain about it? Ya always get mad when Ah mess with yer mane.” I rolled my eyes. “That’s because you’re a brute.” If I had to guess, she probably reacted in a similar way on the other end. “Well, fuck you, too. Also, who is Celestia? Is he datin’ somepony or somethin’?” Ah, yes, her name is probably a little known fact. “Not that I know of. Celestia is the Motor Mare. Mother dumped me on her because she had something more important to do than take me to the airport.” I couldn’t help but puff air out my snout. The little sting of indignation was the least I could do. She’s been more distant in the last few weeks than ever, and it’s starting to get on my nerves. She’s hardly ever home in the first place, the least she could do is drive me herself. “That crazy unicorn broad?” “The very one. I suppose she’s hit everypony she wanted to and now works as a taxi service. Talk about a turn of trade.” “… My bruise still ain’t gone and it’s been a few weeks now. Ah’m surprised ya actually got on that thing with her.” Why did I get on that motorcycle? I suppose it was the only way here. “She doesn’t actually seem like a bad pony. As far as I can tell, anyways. Strange, definitely. Not bad though.” I giggled to myself out loud. “In two hours she played a better mother than mine does.” “Must be nice ta know what that’s like.” I felt my face deadpan. “Oh, goodness, maybe you’ll know if you go jump off a cliff.” “Kek. Yeah, maybe. Course, suicide is considered a damnable offense, so probably not. Yer mom can’t be that bad. It’s gotta be better than not havin’ one at all.” I rolled my eyes. I can’t talk to any of my friends about this, I swear. How is it that, of the three ponies I know, two of them don’t have mothers? Oh well, at least Applejack understands empathy. Trying to talk to Twilight about my problems is about as good as speaking to a brick wall. “You say that, but it’s almost like I don’t, sometimes. More so lately, than before, but it’s been like this for a long time. Longer than I care to remember. Today was the first time in months that I think I’ve actually enjoyed an adult’s company. He’s so sweet, and he’s even patient with my darling idiot sister. What did he do to deserve my mother? Who cursed him like that?” She sent over a little frown emoji. “Hmm. Ya think that *maybe* you’re makin’ a self-fulfillin’ prophecy, here?” I lowered my brows at the screen. Self-fulfilling prophecy? “Alright, miss studious, speak Equestrian, please.” “Yeah, and they tell me unicorns get higher marks. Some kinda prejudice bullshit against earth ponies, Ah swear. Anyway, look, Ah’m thinkin’ that ya might idolize yer dad and maybe even hate yer mom a little. Everythin’ he does right is more right in yer eyes than anythin’ she does, and anythin’ she does wrong is worse than anythin’ he does. Maybe she deserves it, but don’t ya think you’re bein’ a little biased here?” I think I felt my eye twitch. “Excuse me, who are you, and what have you done with my country bumpkin?” “Goddess, Ah wish Ah could reach through the screen and slap ya.” I stuck my tongue out and sent an according emoji. “Fine, maybe I have a bias, but so what? Sweetie is clearly happier than I ever am.” “Yer sister is also half yer age. There could be problems ya don’t see in the little time you’re there.” “Doubtful. Besides, she’s eight. Not half, five years younger. Your sister is the same age, right?” Applejack visits me more often than I visit her. Any time I go over there, I get drafted into farm work. Her grandfather is a slave driver, I swear. “She is. Hard ta forget her age, honestly. My point though; do ya really know yer parents?” The phone fell out of my magic for a moment while I contemplated that. Do I really know my parents? They’re my parents, how could I not know them? … Right? “What do you mean?” That bubble popped up and it sat on the screen for longer than I’d like. Here comes a lecture on the values of family. Funny, coming from the pony without parents. “What Ah’m sayin’ is, ya might not really know who you’re talkin’ ta, when ya talk ta ‘em. Yeah, that’s yer mom or dad, but who are they outside of that? Hearin’ all those ponies talk about him at the funeral last year opened my eyes a little bit. Ah never knew my Pa was a bit of a drunk. Ah never knew he was in the military. Ah never knew he had a gamblin’ habit. Ah didn’t know he smoked. Ah never knew he was part of a biker gang, back when he was my brother’s age. He was my Pa, but Ah didn’t know anythin’ about the stallion underneath the surface. “When we went ta the service, Ah thought it was just gonna be a little gatherin’ fer the Apples, but no, there were hundreds of ponies at that funeral. Ah’d never met half of ‘em, but they all, sure as hell, knew him. Ma’s funeral wasn’t near that size, from what little Ah remember of it. Seein’ all those ponies got me thinkin’, my parents were ponies too. They’d lived lives three times as long as I’ve been around, and Ah really didn’t know anythin’ about ‘em. They were just Ma and Pa before. Ah’m sure if Granny woulda been around at the time, she woulda taught me somethin’ about him too, but Pappy was all we had left. Ah never got the chance ta learn about ‘em from the source, so maybe y’all should try and talk ta yer parents. At least ya still can.” I raised an eyebrow. “Feeling introspective today, aren’t we? What did you do?” “Ah might be hidin’ from Pappy at the moment. Applebloom may have had a pear launched at her face, and it may not have been an accident.” Ah, I see. “Well, even if you did it because you’re in a barrel right now, I still hate you. How dare you make me consider the possibility that there is more to this. Truly, you are the worst kind of pony.” “Damn it, he’s usin’ Winona ta sniff me out! Look, Ah’ll text ya later, but Ah’ve gotta go. Bye.” I nodded to myself. “Alright then. Good luck I suppose.” I set my phone on the end table and laid back on the giant Luna plushie I’d won at the park. It was cheaply made as they all are, but a souvenir I’ll keep to remember today with. More that I don’t know, huh? What do I know about them? They never fought around us. The divorce felt so sudden that I’m not even sure I ever processed what happened. What did happen? Father is a hoofball coach, but… what does mother even do? She clearly makes a hefty bit, but how does she do it? Was that part of the reason? I never see her with another stallion, so… why did they separate? For that matter, how did they meet? I… really don’t know anything about them. This time, I woke up with a purpose. Today, I was going to get the truth out of him. I’m thirteen, I understand enough, so now to figure out what happened. Where did it go wrong? When did it go wrong? Why did it go wrong? Mostly the last one. The day went by in a similar fashion to yesterday, but we stayed home instead of going out because there was a sudden turn of rain. He had planned on showing me the castle gardens, but with it raining as hard as it was with no end in sight, we instead spent a comfortable afternoon watching movies. Old animated ones from his childhood, ones that Sweetie liked. He even had my favorite movie that I’d never admit I still like to anypony with ears. It’s a wonder that he remembered all of that. Even that I liked that stupid kids movie in the first place. Was it ever like this before? I could swear I remember watching that with both of them, so how long ago was it? Five years, maybe more? It was during dinner that I finally asked, so he said he would tell me after Sweetie went to bed. He took me into the back of this foreign house and led me to his office. Filed with trophies and pictures of teams and ponies he’d lead over the years. I want to say he’s in his late thirties, but I’m not entirely sure. A little older than mother, but not by much. The desk was varnished redwood, he had pages of files in folders next to his computer, and smaller medals and trophies in little nooks and crannies where he could fit them. I never realized this, but he must’ve had a lot of success in what he did. You can’t be just anypony and lead Canterlot University’s hoofball team. He pulled open his desk drawer and took out a picture frame. Inside was a picture of the four of us, probably from several years ago judging by how Sweetie was still in swaddling clothes. Even I was tiny. And I’m not very big in the first place. “Honey… do you… know what your mother’s occupation is?” Oh, damn it all, another word I don’t know. I make top marks in class, why don’t I know that word? Rather than expose my limited knowledge, I simply shook my head. “Um… no sir.” He sighed and stroked at his mustache. “Well, let me try this then. Have you ever seen her cutiemark?” I had to think very hard on that one. I shouldn’t have to think hard on this, but I do. It’s not as if we wear clothes all the time, ponies in general don’t typically wear clothes unless it’s part of a uniform or for a special occasion. In theory, I should have seen her flank a million times by now, but why…? Well, her name is Pearl Treasure, surely it has to do with pearls doesn’t it? Isn’t that the rule? Marks typically correspond to names? Father’s name is… Bronze Belle. That has absolutely nothing to do with hoofball. Damn it. “F-for some reason, I can’t think of it at the moment.” Which is true, if only half way. I’m not sure I know what it is in the first place. He scratched at his thin beard and then put his hooves together on the desk. “It’s cookies. Three of them, one half eaten. She’s an amazing baker and a wonderful pâtissier. It’s a family thing, she comes from a long line of them on her mother’s side back in Cheval.” Well there’s the first new thing today. I had no idea we were Chevallian. Should I have been trying to learn how to bake instead of sew all this time? It would certainly explain why I still don’t have my own mark yet, but I’ve never had any interest in that. I thought ponies were typically drawn to what they want to do. I’ve always been interested in fashion and making clothes, so… “As for what she does… well, even I don’t know to be sure. Back almost… geez, two decades ago, I got into a Vine league school based solely on my performance in Hoofball on my high school team. I was really good at it. I played for Canterlot U for two years before I broke my hind leg. I was running for a touchdown, but the guy behind me clipped my hoof and tripped on me. Landed right there with his elbow, snapping my metatarsus down the middle.” He pulled his hind leg up to where I could see it and pushed some of his white coat away. Sure enough, there was a large scar running up the long bone that looked very old. “My career was essentially over. The break was so bad that it required a plate and seven screws to hold together and my parents didn’t have the money to have it repaired magically. I would never play again regardless, and I was lucky to still be able to walk on this leg. I had to change my trajectory for life, and now that my dream job was off the table, I decided I might try to be a sportscaster instead. It was during one of my business classes the next semester that I met her.” Well, that explains that. No wonder I never see him at full gallop. It was never that he simply wouldn’t, he couldn’t. I want to say that this word means direction, but again, a word I don’t know. I need to find a dictionary, this is getting out of hoof. “To say that your mother was… attractive, when she was younger would be an understatement. I can’t speak for her, but when I saw her that day, I knew she was the one. I had my physique still going for me back then, and I wouldn’t say I wasn’t popular with the mares, but I also came from what ponies would call ‘common stock’ as it were. My family was initially from Detrot before the market crash happened back when I was just a colt and we moved to Canterlot in search of a better life. My father was a factory worker you see, so it was either move to the job site, or try to make it out on his own, and we just didn’t have the money for that. “Anyways, I tried my da- er, hardest to get her attention, and after enough attempts, I learned that she had a boyfriend. But that didn’t last too long, and once they broke up, I came and swept her off her hooves. Third year of college, I finally got the mare, and I’d sorted out what I wanted to do with my life and made the decision to start coaching. It wasn’t well paying work and there wasn’t much acclaim to be had for teaching foals how to play a sport, but this way, I could still participate in the game I loved, even if I couldn’t play anymore. “I got my teaching degree the next year and married your mother shortly after I found a job. Her father was… somepony I feared, if I’m being honest, because I could never get a read on the stallion. To this day, I will never know if he trusted me, or even liked me, but I suppose he liked me enough to give me his blessing, but I saw him maybe three times before he died. But that was the thing about her family, I hardly knew anything about them. “I never met a mother. The only thing she knew about her was her family history. As far as I know, she never had one. Spent her whole life with her father moving from place to place and eventually settled down in Canterlot when she was in her teens. We lived a few blocks from each other in high school and never knew it because she was a few grades under me. “So, two years after I graduated and we’ve been married, I started to notice something strange about her. As much as she’s the life of the party in public, she was always… reserved at home. Based on… certain factors, I can say she loved me at least for a while there, but as time went on, I was never sure it stayed that way. One day she told me she found a job that was going to bring us up in the world, and she was ecstatic. Last time I saw her that happy was on our wedding day. When I asked her what she was going to start doing, she said she couldn’t say. “‘Oh, I’m afraid I’ll have to keep that one a secret,’ she would say. Time went on, the money started coming in like a free-flowing river, and I didn’t question much. However, I would come home to an empty house a lot. She would either get home late, or not at all some days. Of course, she always made up for it in her special way, but I began to have my suspicions. You uh… you know how babies are born right? It’s been a long time since I was in school and Sweetie hasn’t asked me yet, so…” I scratched at my face and looked away. Well, it seems as if neither of us knows each other that well. “Um, yes, we typically go over that in fifth grade. I have known for a while now.” It looked as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He leaned back and let out a breath of relief. “Oh, thank the goddess. I teach history when I have to, I always get so awkward going over biology with kids. I had to sub for a class during that module once and I immediately withdrew from the position afterward. Never again. Anyways, she told me she was pregnant and I was… less happy than I should’ve been. She always came home late or not at all, she wouldn’t talk to me about her job, and she always complained about being sore when she was home, so… I thought she might’ve been cheating on me. “I was conflicted, but I decided to wait and see. Whoever came out of her belly would tell me the truth, and when it turned out to be you, I was sure that wasn’t the case. Anypony could look at us and know that you’re mine. You have my eyes and my coat, and you have your mother’s mane and face. I couldn’t be happier. She took a few months off, and for a while there, we were the happy little family I always wanted. “Of course, it didn’t last, and once her time off was up, she went right back to it and a decision had to be made. Either we hire somepony to basically raise you for us, or one of us quits our jobs. She would not budge. I made plenty of money for the three of us to live on, but she wouldn’t even consider becoming a stay at home mom. She’d finally made it to where she always wanted to be just like her father… for whatever they did, and she wasn’t about to put that on hold. In the end, I let it be and quit to play stay at home dad. A few years go by, and it wasn’t that bad. I only saw her every other day, and she had trips to other places as often as she had time off, but it wasn’t too bad. I had you to worry about, so she wasn’t the only thing on my mind then. “When you needed less supervision though, my suspicions came back and I started to wonder what the pony I should know best was doing. I’d been with her for almost six years, but it felt like I barely knew the mare anymore. She’d changed after she got her job, and even when she was home on the rare occasion, I just never understood what it was. She was always smiling and full of life, she loved to spend time and play with you, but there was this… aloofness about her. She was here, but her focus was somewhere else. “We had our first fight around then. I wanted to know what exactly she did and she wouldn't say a word on the subject. Finally I threatened her, and she told me that I did not have clearance to know. It was eye opening, to be sure. Clearance to know. So she works for the government in a position that her own husband couldn’t know about. It was half an answer but it explained so much. She was pregnant again not long after, and toward the end of those eleven months, we spent her maternity leave together. “It was refreshing to have my wife back. I loved her, I still loved her, and it was good to be reminded of that. But as things do, it just didn’t last. She went back to work in force this time, and the separation started to take its toll. Not only was I raising you by myself, now I was taking care of Sweetie too. I needed help more than ever, and she was home even less than before. “A marriage is a partnership, and while yes, she was making all the money, I couldn’t do this alone. She helped move my parents over here since us moving closer to them was out of the question, but… I started to get fed up with it. Waiting all the time, wondering if she’ll come home today, or sometime this week. The calls became less frequent, and there were weeks that would go by and I wouldn’t know if she was going to come home at all. “After my mother succumbed to her cancer, I couldn’t take it anymore. I was tired of wondering and waiting on her, and the fact that she wouldn’t tell me what was going on was driving me crazy. Sweetie was five already. I waited for her to come back to me for almost twelve years and she just became more and more distant. “I left you two with your grandpa one day and followed her after she left for work. She met up with some stallion from the castle. First thing she does is kiss him. I uh…” He swallowed and sniffed. “I was heartbroken. I confronted her about it when I saw her next, and she didn’t even try to rebuke me. She only asked, ‘what all did you see?’ Not, ‘no, I’m not cheating,’ or a plea for forgiveness or anything like that. Just ‘What do you know?’ I filed for divorce the next day. “She didn’t even attempt to stop me. When I gave her the papers she just shook her head and asked for a pen. ‘He was right about you. I should’ve listened,’ she said. Like she was disappointed in me. I… can you believe that? She went off and… and…” He sighed. “When I told her I was taking you both, that is when the mare I used to know came back to life. It was like dealing with a wild dog, she was ready to get into legal battle after legal battle over it, and I hadn’t had a job in over a decade. I couldn’t afford that and still take care of you, so I gave in. I still regret it. I shouldn’t have let her keep you. I know she still has the same job, it’s the world to her. Is she… neglecting you? You always seem so lonely when you come home.” I didn’t know what to say. Cheating on him? But… I’ve never seen her with a stallion either. Of course, I don’t know what she does, but she’s never gone from home for days at a time, and she always calls me when she can’t pick me up from school. I’ve never known her to be cold, but… I have always felt that she’s been… out of reach. Distant. Too far away to touch. But… she tries hard to be around me. I… don’t think I hate her, but… I wish she were home more. Is that it? Do I feel lonely? “I… don’t know…” I let my eyes fall to my lap. I don’t know. Applejack was right, I don’t know anything about them. I never knew he was a hoofball star in his prime, I didn’t know she grew up motherless, I never even knew how long they’d been married. He took my hoof and had me look him in the eyes. They were crystal blue, clear and sincere, just like mine. “Rarity, I… want you to be happy. I want you to grow up to be better than your mother, and if she’s… if she’s not treating you right, you don’t have to go back. You can stay here with your sister and me, if you want to. I’m sure your grandfather would love to see you again, and Canterlot has plenty of good schools around, you could make all kinds of friends here.” L-leave Underhoof? Forever? I… I… I swallowed and pulled my hoof away. “I… need to think about this… I still… I need to know her side of this. I… can’t just leave her alone, and… and my friends are all still-” He patted my head and ruffled my mane. “It’s okay. You don’t have to make a decision now, just… think about it, okay? You’re a good girl, Rarity. It’s our fault that things didn’t work out and we shouldn’t have done this to you.” He looked at the wooden clock on his desk and let out a breath. “Your flight leaves at five thirty, so you should get to bed too. You have an early morning and you still have school tomorrow.” He got up from his desk and picked me up and hugged me. “I love you.” I didn’t know what I was feeling at the moment, but more than anything, I was confused. “I love you too daddy.” “Oh. You’re here… again.” The large white mare levitated a helmet to me while continuing to sip on her latte. “Something came up, so I got a call. Can you believe that old mare works her this early in the morning? I didn’t even used to get up that early and the morning was like, my job.” I sighed. Maybe I should’ve just stayed with dad. Well, even if not for me, at least for him, I need to know the truth. He said he saw her kissing another stallion, but she’s Chevallian isn’t she? Even if her job is a secret, what if that was just a bise? That’s their greeting as far as class has taught me. I… I can’t imagine she would do that to him. I know I don’t know her all that well, but I just can’t believe… “Don’t you have school to go to? Come on, we’re gonna be late.” Celestia snapped me out of my trance, and I put my helmet on, not even noticing her taking my bag from me. Thank the goddess this isn’t Canterlot airport, it could’ve been stolen and I wouldn’t know. It was warmer in Underhoof than it was in Canterlot. The east coast tends to be fairly cold as, even though we’re further north here, the elevation is lower. Geography is one of those things I never had much interest in, but apparently father teaches it sometimes when he subs. So much I never knew about his life, and I know next to nothing about hers other than what he told me. She’s still here, I can ask. I must know the truth. After about an hour, I couldn’t keep it to myself anymore so I opened up to the mare whose legs I was betwixt. I also found a dictionary application last night. Betwixt was one of my words of the day. Equestrian is such a strange mixture of languages. “And now I need to learn the truth. Of course, not actually keeping her promise and picking me up like she said she would certainly garners points against her, but it’s not as if I didn’t expect this. She called me a little before I went to bed to make sure she heard me. She has to care about me if she does that, doesn’t she? Surely she’ll tell her own daughter the truth right?” Celestia unzipped her jacket a bit. It says Top ★ Corn on the back, I noticed when she helped me on the motorcycle. A dated phrase, but some ponies still find it funny. Why she would have that printed on her jacket, I could never understand though. “Oh, geez. Come on kid, do I have to answer that?” I crossed my hooves and pouted. “Don’t you want to get paid? My mother has the money, I can tell her you did a fantastic job and have you recommended elsewhere. From what little I do know, I know she talks to a lot of ponies around town♪” I sang. The white unicorn groaned and sighed. “Alright, but don’t get your hopes up because I don’t know that you’ll like what I say. You’ll still pass my card around as long as I tell you what I think, right?” I rolled my eyes. “Come now, I’ll keep my word. I’ll get a lecture if I don’t. I don’t know how she does it, but Applejack will find out in some way or another. It’s like she can smell lies, I swear. Please, tell me.” She shook her head. “Alright, but you asked for this. If it were me, and I’m not saying it ever could be, but let’s just pretend for a moment here. If my hypothetical kid ever asked me for the truth about what I do, I might find that my bike still has some astral fluid left and be on another planet for a few years just to get out of it. It’s not that I would never tell her, but she- you are still young. You just… aren’t developed enough to get some of the stuff that we go through. “I’ve spent several lifetimes seeing ponies go through relationships, and with all my experience, even I don’t get it sometimes. It’s complicated. Really complicated. Even though you know it’s what you should do, you can’t always be open about your feelings to somepony else. Especially when you know they can’t understand what you’re going through. You gotta… have it in you to step up and swing the bat, ya know? And not everypony does. It takes practice to develop your swing, and it’s hard to get there if you never swing for the first time. “So like, they got divorced over her job right? And you said your dad thinks she cheated on him, but you don’t believe it. Well, what if that’s just the ugly truth? Or worse, what if that isn’t the truth, and she never cheated on him? What will you do if you find out that your parents split over a misunderstanding?” I… really didn’t plan this very well. Even if I get the truth out of her, what happens afterward? Would they get back together? I would love to have my family back, but her job is the bigger part of the issue here. Even if they still loved each other, could he deal with the strain of raising us and wondering about her? She doesn’t seem as busy as she used to be based on what he said. She’s never been gone more than a day since we moved out here. But… what if she did cheat on him? Where is that stallion? I’ve never seen the things that usually go along with a mare in a relationship hidden anywhere in the house. As a matter of fact, that thing I found in her drawer would suggest she hasn’t been in a relationship in a very long time. And there’s that jar… why would she have those? Where did she get them? If she works for the government and can’t talk about it, then… what exactly does she do? “I… will figure that out when I get there. First, I need to know her side of the story, and the root of all of this, specifically what her job is. I have an idea on how to corner her about it, and I can make her feel guilty about this morning so she picks me up later. Yes… and I know just who can help me track her…” I rubbed my hooves together. Oh yes, the plan is all coming together. The giant mare leaned her neck down and eyed me with that giant, violet eye of hers. Seeing it up close like this finally had me figure out what it was about her that reminded me of Twilight. It’s those eyes. Their eyes are the same color. “Are you… sure you’re thirteen? You are… very manipulative for somepony your age. You remind me of my sister, and I don’t know that that’s a good thing. Look, kid, maybe you shouldn’t force her into talking about this. Working for my sister can’t possibly be easy. She’s gotta have a tough job, ya know?” I barely heard her. My plan was almost complete, and the next step was to put it into action. Yes… I will have the truth out of you yet, dear mother. Pearl Treasure! If that is your real name! “How in the loving hell did I get roped into this?” I rolled my eyes. “Twilight, please, you’re integral here.” The violet filly tilted her head and scowled at me. “How often does this happen?” she asked across from me. The orange filly with the long blonde pig tails put a hoof to her face and thought for a moment. “A couple times a week Ah guess. Ah’m more surprised that she managed ta pull y’all inta her scheme. Uh… what’d ya say yer name was?” Applejack scratched at the back of her head. She was always awful with names. “Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. I never even realized we were in the same class.” Applejack stuck her hoof out and they shook. “Jacklyn Apple, but most ponies call me Applejack. AJ works too. How did ya rope Twi here inta yer scheme?” she asked. I raised my snout and smirked. “Oh, you know. I have a way with words.” Applejack huffed and Twilight rolled her eyes. “She threatened to tell my irritating house guest something that was supposed to be a secret between friends! Stupid slut.” I brought my hoof to my chest and continued to enjoy the pear Applejack had brought from home. “Yes, I do enjoy my many titles. I don’t know why you dislike Celestia so much. She seems like a nice enough mare.” Twilight shook her head and groaned. “Ugh. You only spent four hours with her. I have to live with that. Two weeks! I was eaten!” Applejack frowned. “Ah’m sorry?” Twilight put her hooves on her head and brought them quickly down. “Yes! It happened! I was conscious! Bramos swallowed me whole, and then I had all these powers, and I threw Celestia at a shadow beast, and I kept Rainbow from dying of her wounds, and then I was shit out. Like, literally. It was gross. I had to take no less than three showers to be clean again. My uniform still smells weird. This was on Friday. Also Trixie was kind of suspended, so that may be why you couldn’t contact her. She literally tried to kill Dash. Like, intent and everything. Had the cameras not malfunctioned when the shadow showed up, that whole fight would’ve been recorded. Thankfully, Trixie beating the shit out of Dash however, was recorded, and I’m told Rainbow’s dad has received a hefty sum to keep quiet about it. She has a phone now by the way, so if you want that number, I can give it to you.” Through her rambling, Twilight eventually came back down to earth and I nodded appropriately after throwing the pear core in the trash can. The lunch room in the girl’s school was almost never quiet, but today was a special day since so many were home sick. “I'll take that. Do you have Pinkie’s number too? I tried to contact you over the weekend, but I suppose you were still cleaning yourself. I figured I could’ve gotten the story out of her, but I don’t have her number.” Applejack frowned. “Wait, y’all are just gonna take that whole story at face value? Come on, that ain’t believable.” Ignoring her, Twilight answered me, “Yeah, I’ll send it to you too. Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t respond though. I don’t think she’s allowed to use it during certain hours of the day and definitely not when she’s working.” I thought on that for a bit. “Her parents are miners right?” “Don’t ignore me! Come on, seriously?” I rolled my eyes and we stared at Applejack together with disapproving looks. I flipped her mane up and pointed at the unnatural necrosis-like bruise she’s had on her forehead for a while. “Come now. You were hit by a mare carrying an electric bass guitar riding on a flying motorcycle. I was also hit by the very same mare in a similar fashion. So was Twilight. Look, I even have a picture of a matte white pony that looks like a mannequin, but moves as if it’s alive. Surely you’ve adjusted to the weird by now.” She pulled back and covered her bruise. “No, Ah haven’t! Don’t touch it! … It makes me feel funny.” She was squirming and put a hoof on her skirt and pressed her knees together. Twilight made a noise and got up on two hooves while she pointed at her. “She has one too! I thought I was the only one!” Applejack stopped and looked up, as Twilight showed off her own bruise. She stood and put her hooves up against Twilight’s and I could swear this was a scene from one of those dirty romantic comic books. Applejack appears in the frame at the top of the page, her mane comes undone and flies in the nonexistent wind that’s passing in a localized area around her head in the cafeteria, sparkles and light effects in the back of the panel, the words ‘doki doki’ pulsing in the background. “Oh Twi-chan, you completely understand me! You feel just like I do on the inside!” A dramatic frame cut littered with flowers and pantone bubbles in the background, Twilight’s eyes become inordinately detailed as opposed to the rest of her. “Absolutely Apple-sama. I understand you the same way. Together we can understand each other unlike anypony else.” The two young fillies then look deep in each other’s eyes, their cheeks turning rosy, their lips slowly coming together… and then they both stare at me wondering what I’m looking at. “Y’all okay there, Rarity?” I shook my head and sighed. I really need to stop shipping ponies in my head. This is getting out of hoof. Maybe my head injury is getting to me. Twilight curled one hoof up and slapped it against the other. “Oh, maybe she’s having one of her fantasies again.” She paused a moment and then narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you shipping me again? I told you to stop that.” I turned and found the clock and realized the bell was about to ring. “Goodness, would you look at the time. We should get back to class, ha ha.” I threw my styrofoam tray away and headed toward the classroom hoping what came next didn’t. “Shippin’? What’s that mean?” “Well… one time Rarity gave me her phone to read something, and then I went to open another tab on the browser and I saw something weird in her browser history. I click on this link and it takes me to this page just filled with-” Riiiiiiing “Alright, you remember the plan?” The immediate response was an animated eye roll emoji. “Yes, we know the plan. You sent it like, five minutes ago. You know texts don’t disappear, right?” Smart ass. “Ah mean, Ah guess, but Ah still don’t understand why we’re puttin’ a tracker on yer mom. More important than that though, where in the hell did she get somethin’ like that? Ya said she just has a jar filled with ‘em?” Yes, where indeed… “Oh, who are you talking to honey? Did you… have a good time in Canterlot?” Mother asked. I put my phone down and stared out at the road. I’d already slid the tracker in her pocket when I hugged her earlier, so now all I had to do was wait. Applejack is going home to get her mini truck, which I suppose is like an ATV mixed with a golf cart, but with a bed in the back and Twilight is helping me trace the signal since I can’t do long distances with my own magic. Neither of us are higher tier unicorns so I was hoping to use Trixie’s abilities to my advantage, but apparently her temper finally got the better of her. I suppose she’s just lucky she’s not in prison right now. Or juvie, I guess. “It was a good time. I enjoyed myself. We um… talked a lot. I know this might be out of the blue, but um… why did you separate?” I think we were doing somewhere around thirty and we’d reached the intersection to the highway. In a quick, fluid motion, mother shifted down to first, slammed the gas pedal, and let off the clutch like it was hot to the touch. The car jerked forward, started to slide sideways, then shot straight down the road. She wove through what little traffic Underhoof had at the moment, and in seconds we were already home. “Wow, I uh… suddenly have somewhere else I need to be right now and you can’t come with me, I’ll see you tonight, bye!” In a whirlwind of pale green magic, my things were collected and I was shuffled out of the car. She smiled at me like she was in pain, shifted into reverse, and then stepped on the gas so hard that the tires squealed as she J-turned out the driveway and back the way she came. “Well, so much for doing this the easy way.” I figured Celestia knew what she was talking about when she said she would run away from the question, but I thought she meant it figuratively. Oh well. I pulled up my phone and tried to turn on the tracker before she got too far away for my magic to reach it, but I was too late. Damn. I suppose I need Twilight after all. Time to call in the cavalry. After half an hour of waiting, Applejack arrived with Twilight in her mini-truck thing, and once we were together, we put our magic to work and turned on the tracker. As the instructions and my previous tests said it would, it did in fact turn on from this far away, showing it was all the way across town. Not a large distance considering one can look down the highway and see from end to end of Underhoof, but all the same. “Huh. I’m surprised we managed that. I know I don’t have the power to flip a switch from down stairs.” I nodded. “As far as I can tell, this only takes a very light stimulation from some kind of magical energy to turn on. As long as you can do that, the tracker goes live. With any luck she hasn’t registered it to her phone and she doesn’t know it’s active right now. I may be in trouble if she finds it, but who cares. I need to know, and now we can follow her movements.” Applejack took my phone and checked the map. “Hmm… this far out nopony will care, but if Ah’m just drivin’ around town in this thin’ somepony might tell Pappy about it. Ah’m still nursin’ the wound from hittin’ Applebloom the other day…” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be such a wet blanket, this is for my parents! I could fix my family if I could just learn the truth!” She frowned and raised an eyebrow in that trademark fashion of hers. “Yeah, Ah get the feelin’ this won’t be so easy. But whatever, Ah’ll drive ya around. Just be glad Mac covered fer me. Also, Ah have ta return home with some groceries, so if we pass it, Ah need ta run inta the store.” I lowered my brows. “What exactly did you tell them you were doing?” She pointed to the sacks of pears in the bed of the ATV. “Makin’ a few deliveries. Which we are. Ah’m not about ta lie ta Pappy about what Ah’m doin’. Ah’m just… doin’ some extra stuff too.” I pulled my mouth to the side. “Oh-kay then. Onward!” Surprisingly, Mother visited every store we needed to go to to make Applejack’s deliveries. The post office, the grocery store, the drug store, the flower shop, the singular little clothing store in Underhoof. She dropped off a package and Applejack gave some pears to the postmaster. She bought some chocolate and Applejack gave some pears to the store owner. She bought some bright red roses and Applejack gave some pears to the florist. She bought some lacy black thing and Applejack gave some pears to the seamstress. “Is it just me, or does it look like she’s about ta go on a date with a ‘happy endin’?’” Applejack asked. I blinked a few times. “Ponies actually put that kind of thing on? How?” Twilight interrupted. Applejack frowned. “Ah thought ya said ya looked at that website? Don’t ya know what that was?” Twilight blinked. “Oh. Oooooh. Got it. I have become aware of a great many things in the past few weeks. Geez, I never realized they were so small. Yeah, I’d say so. I wonder who she’s doing all this for, though?” I finally stopped chewing on my hoof long enough to speak my thoughts. “Okay, so maybe it does look like that. But that doesn’t mean that she’s been doing this the whole time, does it? This wouldn’t prove she was doing it while they were married, maybe she just found somepony else?” They looked at each other and then frowned at me. “In this little town? We’ve got what, a population of six, maybe seven hundred in the county? Ah don’t imagine there’s much of a datin’ scene. Especially fer single mothers.” I eyed the orange earth pony. “What are you suggesting?” She rolled her eyes. “Ah’m sayin’ maybe nopony ever really knew what she did, and she’s actually a red light gal or somethin’. From what Mac says, that particular line of work does have a market here, and some of the older ponies around tend ta have a lot of money ta spend and nopony ta share it with. Were it not fer us, Pappy would be one of them older ponies.” I shook my head, slowly at first, but then ever more rapidly. “N-no, no, no, no, No, NO! Absolutely not! My mother is… she would never…” Twilight frowned. “Well, it sort of correlates with what you’ve told us so far. A job she’s not willing to tell anypony about, something she won’t give up because the money is too good. I mean, who’s to say it isn’t true? We really can’t know unless she tells us or we see it happen.” I scratched at my head, but it was getting harder and harder to think otherwise. I know she’s never been the greatest mother in the world, but she wouldn’t do that, would she? It would certainly explain why all those old stallions were friendly with her, but… but… and the dinner parties, we were always among the youngest there weren’t we? But… she’s always told me to guard my treasures, she wouldn’t be… selling hers behind my back would she? My mother is better than that. I believe she’s better than that. She can’t be. She wouldn’t be. She is not. I will prove it! “Let’s just get back in the truck and find out. Where did she go Applejack?” The orange mare opened my phone and pulled up the tracker application. “Uh… she’s kinda out toward the river on the south east side. Ah didn’t think there was much of anythin’ back that way.” Twilight tilted her head. “Oh, well I live out there.” Immediately I took the phone from Applejack and stared at the tracker. From the looks of it, she was headed toward Twilight’s house. Her father is close to my mother’s age, and more importantly, divorced, like she was. “Applejack, drive.” “I can’t believe it. She really did come to my house! And here I thought Celestia was the one to be worried about. Ugh, I hope this is all some kind of misunderstanding. My dad’s pay grade is way below your mom’s. Complaining about never having money and then blowing what we do have on this. Come on.” I gave Twilight a swift pop to the back of the head. “It is a misunderstanding! Who in their right mind would actually do that for your pathetic father?” Twilight raised a hoof like she was about to argue against that, but then brought it to her chin. “Rude, but you make a fair point. He has been taking better care of himself since Celestia moved in though. I mean, my brother and I exist, so he had to be attractive at some point in the past. He’s kind of a pushover, so I really doubt he forced himself on anypony…” Applejack frowned. “Y’all are mean. Ya shouldn’t treat yer parents like that.” We rolled our eyes. “Yes, you don’t have any, congratulations. Can you get with the program and stop lecturing me for a moment?” Applejack sighed and shook her head. “Whatever. She’s stopped movin’. Looks like she’s sittin’ in the middle of the buildin’, closer ta the right wall.” “That probably means they’re in the dining room. There’s a big sliding glass door on that side to the back yard, so we can go watch.” Applejack raised an eyebrow at her. “Backyard? Twi, Sugarcube, there ain’t no fences around yer house. Ya don’t have a ‘yard’ it’s just land.” Twilight eyed her back. “No, a yard is the area near a building or a house. A yard is anything.” Applejack shook her head. “No, it’s ground surrounded by buildin’s, or walls. Ya ain’t got walls, ya ain’t got a yard!” Twilight threw her hooves up. “It doesn’t need walls, a yard is a yard! The word has like six definitions and they all refer to a specific area! Fences do not make yards!” I let out my irritation and hit them both. “I don’t care if it has fences or not, it’s unimportant! We need to see what our parents are doing! You can argue all you want over stupid crap when we’re done!” After rubbing at her head, Applejack picked my phone back up and checked the map again. “Oh, looks like they moved. Elevation increased and they’re on the back left side of the buildin’.” I growled at them in frustration. “Gah! Come on, we have to see this!” Twilight frowned. “That… sounds like they’re in dad’s room.” With quick looks to each other, we darted for the back of the house. The window on the second floor was open and we could hear them as we got closer. “I really shouldn’t be doing this…” Well, that was Nightlight. But what are they doing that he shouldn’t be? “Hey, help me up! There’s a ledge under the windowsill, if I can reach it, I can see inside!” I whispered. Applejack made herself a base and Twilight climbed up on her back. “Oh, but that won’t stop you, now will it?” M-mother? What was that tone? What was that voice? She… she sounds like… “Celestia could come home any minute…” What about her? Why does that matter? I took a step on Applejack and then started to climb Twilight. “It’s not like you’re married anymore, she’ll understand…” Married? To whom? Celestia? One hoof on the building, another at the ledge. I climbed a little higher and I could touch the windowsill. “Pearl, I-” “Shh… I know how lonely it can be as a single parent, and we both know that she could never love you while she’s still chasing after him… just tell me what you do know and we could make this a routine♥” I used everything I had to pull myself up to the window, and when I looked inside, I screamed. My grip came loose, my back hoof slid out from under me and I started to fall. Twilight and Applejack tried to catch me, but instead of doing that, my head hit Twilight’s and I crashed on top of both of them. I managed to get off my friends, but then suddenly, I was hit by a wave of nausea. My whole body was on fire and my knees locked. My head hurt. It hurt a lot. I staggered to the left, it felt like something had struck me from the inside of my ear like a hammer and a nail. I staggered to the right, that same sensation pulsing in my head. The feeling traveled down and toward my horn, and then… and then…! “It’s going to overflow!” Sweet relief came as my knees gave in and a high pressure blast of something spilled out of my horn. The dark liquid flew in a stream and pooled in midair, swirling like gas until it finally took form. A giant horse like creature with massive hips and something like a blade attached to its head appeared before us. The almost skeletal figure was thin in some places and thick in others, like a model suffering from severe dysmorphia and bad surgery. Its twisted tail looked to be covered in metal plates, the glowing white eyes had no pupils but were focused on me. The mostly formed mouth was missing skin and muscle in some places, with black bones jutting out where there wasn’t enough to go around. The dark creature roared and suddenly, my knees being unavailable was a very bad thing. I tried to get up and run, but nothing would move when I told it to. The monster stepped toward me and opened its massive jaws, the swirling dark mist inside pouring out like water at either side, beckoning to me. “H-HELP!” Before I even knew what happened, somepony had grabbed all three of us and ran away from the monster. “Well, that clears that up. No wonder I didn’t get anywhere sooner, I never suspected a child had the gate,” Mother said, absentmindedly. The three of us were floating in her pale green magic when the monster charged after her. With speed I never knew she was capable of, she darted toward her car and set us behind it. “Don’t move.” I had just enough time to blink before she was on the move again. The monster had chased after her, but instead of running, she went after it. She pulled on a belt on the lacy thing she was wearing to shake it off and then took A hoof gun from the car in her magic and charged at the beast. She took the black metal and aimed the barrel at the monster’s face and fired. The bullet zoomed through the air, but passed through the monster as if it were made of fog. Completely unaffected, the beast continued its charge without so much as flinching. “What the-!?” The monster’s front left hoof kicked right into her stomach and Mother went flying across the road. She started to get back up, but was all cut up and her snout was bleeding. No, no, this can’t be happening! The beast roared at her again and took a step closer. Mother staggered, but managed to keep herself up. No, get back down! It’s after you! She took the gun back in her magic and took a shaky step forward. The shadow reared at her challenge and then charged at her. “NO!” I ran after her with a speed I never knew I had and managed to reach her before the beast. She didn’t notice me, and the shadow didn’t seem to care. I kicked mother out of the way, leaving me in her place, in line with the open jaws of the shadow, the black void inside calling to me as if we were meant to be together. The last thing I saw was the horror in her eyes. Twilight “Ho-LEE shit! What in the world just happened!?” I believe Applejack was speaking for everypony involved. The shadow came out of Rarity’s head this time, and it was gross. If the first one was a skeleton, and the second was a horse with muscles, this one was closer to fully formed in more places, but missing the skin and meat elsewhere. Rarity’s mom jumped out to fight the damn thing with a hoof gun like some kind of revenge movie, but her shot just kinda… passed through, like nothing happened. Strange to consider because Celestia and I have hit those things with her bass, so what’s different? Of course, I didn’t have the time to think about that, it just swallowed Rarity. This one didn’t look to have the teeth like the last one, so what did just happen? The monster stopped in its tracks and reared its head up as something traveled down its throat. The missing pieces started to fill with a white-violet gas that glowed next to the dark, swirling shadows that made up the rest of the monster. The blade on its head doubled in size, and now the mouth gained the teeth the last one had. Rows and rows of even sharper blades. Its eyes swirled and changed colors, the white traded for violet and two white ovals surfaced and focused on Rarity’s mom. The monster, which now looked a lot like a bigger, more muscular, gangly Rarity, opened its mouth and roared in her mother’s face. “Huh. She got eaten by her feelings. That kinda sucks.” I blinked and turned my head to find Celestia and Bramos had returned from whatever it was she was doing and parked right next to Applejack’s ATV… silently. In the last few seconds. Without anypony noticing. “Excuse me, how long have you been here!? Why didn’t you intervene?!” She rolled her eyes and took her bass out of its case. “I warped here less than a second ago. I only just noticed the thing. Give me some credit will you? I still need her, so I can’t have this. Besides, that thing came out of the wrong gate. It’s all mixed up and missing pieces, so it used the host to fill the holes. We shouldn’t leave her there for too long though, otherwise she’ll be assimilated and it’ll be just like she contracted the virus herself.” She wiped the bass down with a spray and tuned a few of the strings until she was happy with the way they sounded, then threw the instrument at me. “Huh?” “That’s your friend, you save her!” She picked me up by the scruff of my neck and threw me at Bramos. “Oh, not again.” The matte white pony opened the mouth he didn’t have, and after I entered the void it was like I was falling through space. The wind rushed past me as the world danced in mismatched colors like a kaleidoscope. Getting sick just looking at the mess of vibrant hues, I turned toward the only inoffensive spot I could see, and then suddenly, I was standing on the bike. I looked at Applejack, still on the ground, and suddenly I could see that bruise of hers beneath her mane, like the hair wasn’t there. The closer I looked, the more I could see, like it was a window into the vastness of space. Stars, clouds of gas, planets, there were all kinds of celestial things in that little spot, and just before I went further, Celestia put a hoof on my shoulder. “Better not. Your friend is gonna kill her mother if you don’t do something, like, now.” The monster opened her mouth and it looked like Rarity’s mom had hurt one of her legs. I wrapped my hoof around the neck of the bass and used the wings I knew were there to flap hard and fly. In some weird burst of uncontrollable power, my whole being shot across the road and before I even knew what I was doing, I spun and slammed the bass into the beast’s head. TWANG! The chord rang out, and the monster went spiraling away from the older mare. The beast crashed into the road with flailing legs until it caught traction and started to stand again. The white pupils focused on the pink mare and it roared again. “YoU bEtRaYeD hIm! yOu BeTrAyEd Me!” it screeched in a mixture of voices. At the root of all that sound, I could hear Rarity’s voice mixed in. Ink was dripping from her head where the bass made contact, and the wound spurted while she was yelling. “Hey, good shot. You’ve got a real nice swing. But, and don’t get me wrong here I think you’re doing great, you could’ve killed your friend had you actually hit any closer to the face. I can get her out, but I need you to create an opening for me without killing her, alright? Avoid the vitals, in other words. Ooh, I gotta take this, you should uh… dodge.” I didn’t have time to respond, I could only look at the growing bright light coming from Shadow Rarity’s horn. Celestia grabbed Rarity’s mom and then bolted while I tried to cast a barrier to stop the laser. The beam fired and the sudden wave of intense light and heat had me struggling to keep the shield active. Good goddess, what in the world is going on!? The laser stopped just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, then the monster reared back and roared another deafening screech. Somehow, I could tell that the tones in its voice were at odds with each other and moving from one unnatural pitch to another, like some kind of malfunctioning machine. “GiVe It BaCk!” she screeched. The blade charged after me, but in my stupidity, I stood my ground and blocked her with the guitar. Somehow, that seemed to work. She wasn’t as strong as I thought she was, so I pushed back and knocked her away. Huh. Am I strong? This is so weird. “Hey, chill! What did I just say, geez? You’re gonna break her!” Celestia returned, and I finally realized the damage I’d done. There was now a big, black gash leaking more ink over half of her face. She looked like she was melting now, and the trail of smoke running to the ground off her face was almost sickly to look at. “ShE lIeD tO mE!” I still wasn’t sure what all was happening here, but Celestia stepped forward and shook her head. “Throw me at her the moment she looks unstable,” I heard in my head. It was her voice, but… telepathy? How many unicorns in the world can do that? Just what is she? “And you never saw the whole story! You don’t know anything about her, and you still haven’t learned anything! Is what you saw really the truth!?” The monster hesitated and looked away for a split second. “Now!” I wound back the bass and she hopped in the air. I swung as fast and hard as I could and once it made contact with Celestia’s hooves mid arc, she shot forward like a bullet. TWANG! The chord rang out and the monster staggered back, her hooves on her head, half screeching, half crying. Celestia landed on its head and kicked the giant blade off the monster’s face. It snapped in two and melted in black smoke, while Celestia reached down into the new leaking black hole. The monster stamped and stomped wildly, the colors on its coat fading in and out. “Hold still, damn it! Almost there! Gotcha!” Celestia pulled her hoof out of the monster’s head, and with it came Rarity and a new guitar. The neck was polished white, being made with some kind of pearl finish and the body shaped like a diamond. It was clear and angular like a crystal, and the fretboard was a stark shiny black. She tilted it from side to side, inspecting the instrument like some kind of connoisseur, and then was promptly tossed off of the reverted monster. She twisted in midair and pulled Rarity close to her chest, landing right on her back and sliding next to me. She set the filly down and wiped the dirt off her face, then scowled at me. “You could’ve caught me, ya know. You’re all amped up like this, but acting like some dumb kid and standing there isn’t very useful to anypony. In the future, I expect you to use the power you have.” I tried to say ‘sorry,’ but nothing came out. It was like my mouth was covered with tape or something. Celestia rolled her eyes and swung the new crystal guitar over her shoulder. “Useless. Be less of that and do that thing again.” Ashamed of myself, I got in position to swing once more and Celestia sighed. “This is what happens when I try to work with amateurs.” She hopped off the ground and I swung again. TWANG! She held the guitar in front of her and spun herself like a drill, the crystal’s point facing the monster. It didn’t have time to do much of anything before she bored through the beast and landed on the other side. She took a pair of W shaped red sunglasses out of her jacket and slid them over her face as she struck a pose. The monster fell and exploded in a black cloud behind her. “And that is how a pro does it.” Three sets of hooves started to clap, and I turned to see dad, Applejack, and Rarity’s mom applauding her. “So… what is it? Bullets didn’t work, so it’s got to be something more…” the mother asked. Celestia tilted her head to one side and popped her neck. “Come on, you don’t know what this thing is? Get a clue. And she calls you her best. What a joke. And by the way, take better care of that thing.” Celestia said as she pointed at the white filly with her new guitar. “I cannot believe she let you ruin your family over this stupid job. Talk about a shitty boss. You know what? I give you clearance to talk to them about it. They are more important, and you should know better. Fix it. Call that an order.” Rarity’s mom sighed and shook her head. “The damage is already done, there’s no way-” Celestia took a very heavy step toward the much smaller mare and picked her up by the neck with one massive hoof. “Did I stutter?” Struggling under the grip of the gold magic, Rarity’s mom squeaked out a, “N-no ma’am!” and then was promptly dropped to the ground. Satisfied with that, Celestia took her bass from me and the new guitar and threw them both in her case. “Good. You tell her that if she wants to talk to me, then she better come do it herself. Not only am I appalled that she didn’t just contact me in the first place, I’m absolutely floored that she would try to sneak around behind my back. “Did she contract a hard case of stupid in the last decade, or what? She should know better. This kind of shit is exactly why I didn’t want to come home in the first place. I’m going to take a bath. Keep that in good condition. I still need it later, alright?” And then Celestia slammed the front door. Suddenly, I felt very nauseous, and turned to the back of Applejack’s ATV and hurled. I closed my eyes for one second, then the next, I was looking at Bramos from the back of the ATV. This smell was significantly less awful than the last one, but it was still horrid. “Aww, what the hell? Why would ya do that there? Now Ah have ta clean this thin’ before Ah go home. Thanks a lot, Twi.” I wiped some of the ick off my face and scowled at her. “Sure, whatever, take the hose and wash it here. I don’t even have any control over that. Besides… I think I need a wash too.” Applejack plugged up her snout and waved a hoof in front of her eyes. “Ah’ll say. Ya know, hearin’ ‘em second hoof is definitely harder ta believe than seein’ it. Ah thought Fluttershy was full of shit the other day, but sure enough, Ah watched it happen myself.” Huh. So Applejack knows the yellow kid. Interesting. “Well… I’m sorry, for today.” Rarity’s mom said to dad. Oh, right, they’re still here. He must’ve helped her back to her hooves while I was experiencing what it feels like to throw yourself up. “Oh, don’t worry about it. This is just the way things are when Celestia comes around. You never know what’s going to happen next with her.” Dad laughed, but she shook her head and took his hoof. “No, I mean it. I… should’ve just been upfront with you instead of trying to take advantage of you like that. I’ve been… living in my father’s world for too long now and I think… Celestia is right. It’s time to get away and sort out my life. I haven’t even seen my youngest in half a year and I did… something horrible to that poor stallion. I’m sorry.” Dad shook his head again and pulled his hoof back. “It’s okay. Once she accomplishes whatever it is she set out to do here, then she’ll probably take off again and things… will go back to the way they were. I… will be fine.” Slowly, dad turned away and headed back inside. The pink unicorn turned to me and said, “Thank you for protecting my daughter. I should be the one doing that and I’ve been neglecting my most important job for far too long.” She bowed, then collected Rarity and drove off. “Ya know… Ah don’t think Ah’ll miss this side of havin’ parents. Let’s uh… get y’all cleaned up.