//------------------------------// // 11.1 Truth revieled (rewrite) // Story: Crushed: The Beginnings // by Silent Wing //------------------------------// A few hours had past since Princess Luna and that Pegasusmare, which I think was none other than her sister in disguise, had left. Now I am sitting in the backyard again, watching the stars, while waiting for the two most important Ponies in my life. I may not like it, but Princess Luna was correct, when she said that telling them the truth could help me with my Nightmare problem. I thought about this for a while longer after she left and came to the conclusion, that it is better for them to learn now about it, in a way I can control, then let them find out by accident. No matter how hard it will be for me, they deserve to know the truth. "Wingy where are you?" I hear mommy shouting, probably wondering to where I vanished. "In the backyard." I reply with the same loudness. There is no sound in the night, while I sit there watching the stars in silence. I don't hear the hoof steps of the approaching ponies, which are so dear to my heart, that I almost jump in shock, when I feel somepony nuzzling my neck. "Coming out here often?" Mommy wants to know from me, sitting down to my left and mama D sits on my other side. "Everytime after I wake up from a Nightmare. Sometimes I am alone, but more often, I am not." I tell her honestly, not wanting to hold anything back anymore. She looks surprised, when I tell her this, but she doesn't ask who I could possible met out here. "You know Wingy, if you want, you can always sleep with us." She reminds me, but forgets the one reason, I often avoid their room. "I am not sure, if I want to walk into your room, when you two are rutting each other senseless. Don't worry, I didn't see anything, but the voices I heard through the door were very clear." I add hastily, when both mares gasp in shock and I hear at least one hoof, hitting the face of the pony it belongs to. A look to my left confirmed this, where I see mama D rubbing her right eye. But all of this is nothing, compared to the laughter coming out of the tree, directly above us. The voice is so familiar to me, that I don't even need to look up, to know who finally decides to visit again. It may have only been a few days without him, but for me it felt much longer, since I always enjoy his company. Recovering from a nightmare is so much easier, if you have somepony to help you with those. It may not be much he does, but a shoulder just to lean against can make a huge difference, instead of just being alone. I wonder where he has been those last few days, but for now I am just glad that he is back and I don't have to tell him separately. "Glad you are back Mango, mind coming down to us?" "Sure kid." He replies after he finally manages to stop laughing, he glides down to us and after a sharp turn, lands directly in front of me. I quickly get up and nuzzle his cheek, to the surprise of the two mares who are with us, before I can't resist to ask him. "Where have you been Mango? I was so worried about you." "Sorry kid, but I can't tell you this, order from Princess Luna."  He answers me, not sounding very happy about it, but I get a feeling that this isn't the whole truth. I decide to ignore this for now and instead focus on the important task at hoof. "Funny that you mentioned her, she was here earlier." "Wait Wingy, when was Princess Luna here? I didn't see her." Mama D interrupts me, with a look of disbelief on her face. "Wingy, the only ponies that visited us today, were those mares from FPS earlier and none of them looked like her. " Now mommy backs up mama Ds argument, not even giving me the chance to explain further. I decide that my story can wait a few more minutes, which I use to answer this question, since I don't see any reason to withhold the truth from them. "Exactly, she was disguised as that Batpony and I wouldn't be surprised if that Pegasus was no one else then her sister." Mommy and mama D just sit there, dumbfounded, not expecting this answer from me while Mango looks at me with a knowing grin on his face and before any  of them can even ask how I knew this, I add. "She admitted it herself, after I asked her." "Well that explains at least, why nopony noticed Princess Celestia arrival, shortly before she visited the library." Mama D explains to us and I only can imagine Twilights panic attack above the unannounced visit from her mentor, before she asks. "But I don't understand what Princess Luna has to do with this." Gesturing at all of us with one hoof, before she wents silent again. "Well she asked me to tell you something and after a bit of convincing from her, I agreed to it." All three of them look confused and I doubt that any of them has an idea, what is about to come now. I sigh, knowing that if I do this now, there is no going back for me anymore. "She asked me to tell you from where I am from, you know, from before I woke up in the old Castle." I see Mangos eyes lighten up in understanding and I am curious just about how much he already knows. "Wingy, you don't have to do this, if you don't want to." Mommy speaks up and I realize, how badly I must have hidden the fact, that this whole situation is something I am not really comfortable with. "No, I have to, you deserve to know the truth after all you have done for me." I tell them while trying to sound brave, but everypony present knows that in truth, I am scared beyond belief. They may not know the reason for my fear, but they can tell that it is there. I think for a moment if I should just drop the act and admit how scared I truly am, but I decide against it. "I know it will sound ridiculous to you, but please believe me when I say, that everything I will tell you now, is nothing other then the honest truth." I hesitate for a moment, unsure, if it is really the best idea to just drop the bombshell or if maybe I should choose a different approach. I choose the second option. "A few weeks ago, three days before you found me mommy, the Princesses detected a magical surge from unknown power in there old Castle. " "Oh yeah, I remember that one, Twilight had a total freak out when she got the letter." Mama D interrupts me, earning an angry glare from me, which immediately shuts her up. "I don't know what caused this, or what exactly happened there, but I can tell you what effects it had." There is silence for a few moments, but when no one speaks up, I continue without hesitation. "And I know this only, because I had been there." I look around at all three ponies and while Mango still is as calm as if I hadn't said anything out of the ordinary till now, mommy and mama D look on one side very surprised, but they are also a bit shocked. I can understand that, since this old Castle isn't the safest place for a filly my age and I can only wonder how they will take the next part. "I don't know how much time really had passed since I died at the place where I am originally from, but for me it felt like the bat of an eye, before I opened my eyes as a Pony for the first time." "Oh yeah? And how come that Twilight didn't find you, when she went into the Castle. After she teleported there, directly after she got the letter from Princess Celestia." Mamma D wants to know from me and if she wouldn't have been hold down from Mango and Flitter, she would have leaped directly into my face. "Rainbow." Flitter shouts at her, sounding as upset as I am, that this is her biggest concern at the moment.  I am almost willing to ignore her question, but that wouldn't achieve anything, so I just play along for now. "I don't know how much time passed till I heard somepony coming, but by then I already could walk good enough, to hide in a small cupboard." At least this is enough of an answer for her to relax, so that mommy and Mango decide to let go of her. "Wingy." I hear mommy say in her soft voice, which always works wonders to calm me down and only now I realize how bad mama Ds reaction has shaken me up. I shiver in fear, cold sweat running down my back and I almost stop. I almost let my fear about how they will react get the better of me, when I realize just how aggressive mama D had become since I said, that I hadn't always been a Pony. I close my eyes for a moment, trying to get myself back under control and only manage to calm down, when I feel somepony pressing against my side and placing a soft feathery wing protective over me. "I don't care what you have been before Wingy, for me only counts what is right now." She stops for a moment, before she says in the same soft voice. "And right now there is a very special filly under my wWing, which I love to no ends." "Thank you mommy." More I am not able to say, before I break out into tears, glad that Princess Luna was right and that at least all of my worries about how mommy would take it, get robbed of their foundation. I bury my face in her coat and let my tears flow freely, not giving a flying feather about what will happen next, because I know as long as I am with her, everything will turn out fine.  A unmeasurable amount of time passes till my tears stop flowing and I feel good enough again, to explain things further and answer upcoming questions along the line. I give mommy a soft nudge with one of my hooves, asking her silently if there is anything she wants to know. " Wingy, If you ever could go back, would you still stay with us?" "Of course I do mommy." I reply without hesitation. "I would never abandon those who I love." "Wingy, earlier before Dashie interrupted you, what exactly did you mean when you said, that you died at the place you had been before?" "Exactly what it means." I pause for a moment, just thinking about how much I should tell them, but come to the conclusion that this decision is nothing I want to make on my own. "How much do you want to know?"  "Just enough, that we understand what happened." Mommy replies, before the two others can say anything. I wait for Mango and mama D to add something, but when neither of them says something, I take that as a sign, that this would be enough for all of them. "It was the evening of a cold winterday, I and many others were standing in front of a Arena, waiting eagerly for the Gates to open. I bought something to eat and drink, before I begun searching for a place, which would protect me at least a bit from this freezing wind. Halfway to a spot that should be satisfying, I heard something that scared me and I turned around, trying to warn the others. I heard a loud explosion and then saw flames rushing towards me, consuming my body in less then a second. The next thing I remember is waking up as a Pony, in the old Castle." "What about your family?" "They should be fine, since I went alone to the concert. We don't really have the same taste in music." I reply, giggling at the last part. "WHAT?" Mommy screams in my ear, to my surprise totally shocked about this revelation. "How irresponsible do you have to be, to let a six year old Foal go on a event like that on her own?" Only now I remember that I forgot to mention a little detail. "Actually, I was in my early thirties when that happened and I used to go to concerts and festivals on a regular basis, so this was nothing new to me." I don't know what reaction I had expected, but certainly not mama D changing into a laughing mess of Pony for a few minutes. "What is so funny?" I ask her, after she finally calmed down again, not even bothering to hide how upset I am about this outburst. Otherwise, her reaction could have been way worse. If I could choose, I would always prefer to deal with her like this, then with her when she is upset. "Really, you went from a full grown mare back to be a little filly?" Mama D asks, finding this situation very amusing, which annoys me to no end. "Not exactly, but it could have been worse." Is all I am willing to reply, but this changes, when she asks me her next question. "How in Tartarus could it possible turned out worse?" This earns her a angry glare from mommy, which obviously doesn't approve on her choice of words. "I could have ended up so young, that I would be forced to wear diapers again."  "Have there been any major changes, you haven't told us yet?" "Except the fact that I used to be male?" I reply, before I add. "I don't think so." "Wingy, how can you stay so calm, after all the changes you went through?"  "I am not sure mommy, maybe it's because I see that as a second chance. I only hope that this time, life turns out to be better for me." I answer her question, now totally relaxed, since all the important stuff is out of the way and everypony took it way better than I ever could hope for. "Okay three more questions and then it's time for you to go to bed Wingy." "But I am not even tired yet, mommy."  "No buts young miss, it's already way past your bedtime."  I sigh in defeat, knowing that there is no use in arguing, when she is like that. "Yes mommy." "Good, this may sound now not so important, but can you tell me when's your birthday?" "Who cares? I stoped celebrayting it years ago." "Fine, then we just use the day I took you in instead." She replies clearly not appealed with my answer. "You said that your life wasn't so good, just how bad has it been."   "I just don't want to end up as living punching bag again." Cold shivers run down my body, when I remember thoes beatings I got, back at my late years of school. "Don't worry Wingy, I'll make sure that this won't happen to you." Mango replies with a cocky grin on his face and I understand immediately what he means, but I highly doubt that mommy would approve of his methodes. "Last question Wingy, if you had the chance to forget everything from before we met, would you accept it?" This is a hard one for me and I take my time to think about it.  It sounds really tempting, being able to forget all the pain, the misery and worst of all the loneliness. But on the other side, do I really want to forget the few good things that happened to me or all the fun times I had when I was on a concert or festival. It's too much for me and a few tears come back, before I give a honest answer. "I - I don't know mommy." "It's alright Wingy, I don't think that any of us would ever be able to answer this question on such short notice."  "Mommy, can I sleep with you tonight?"  "Of course Wingy, why don't you go ahead, I will be there within a minute okay?" "Okay mommy, Bye Mango." I reply finally before I head off to bed, not waiting for an answer. Now that everything is said, my tiredness hits me like a train and I barely make it into mommys bed, before I am out like a light.