//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: In My Future Life // by flutterJackdash //------------------------------// A large leather-bound book lay splayed across a desk, over which a purple unicorn leaned as she scanned the pages and flipped through them in quick succession. Nearby a quill in the grip of a purple aura scribbled furiously on parchment as she muttered things under her breath. She’d lost track of time, but it couldn’t have been that long since she started this quest for information. Twilight’s gaze hesitantly left the book and found the candlestick which Tempest had earlier embraced in his magic, and once again examined the as yet unexplained side effects. She scratched her chin with a hoof and sighed, then turned back to the book and continued to read. Only one more paragraph was read before she called out for her dragon assistant. “Spike!” The unicorn’s eyes hadn’t left the book as she cried out, and no attention was paid to the door of her study as she scanned more paragraphs and found this section of magical effects tied to emotions fascinating and relevant both. “Sp-” “Agh! I’m here, Twilight. What’s up?” he cringed as she had begun shouting again while he stood at her desk. “Oh, Spike, I’m sorry,” she looked up from the book to meet his green eyes, “Will you take a letter for me, please?” Spike nodded and collected a quill and parchment from her desk, and prepared to write. “Dear Princess Celestia, I have come into contact today with a unicorn stallion who seems uncertain of how to use his own magic. In fact, he seems to have little memory at all of himself and I believe the name he provided me was something out of a foal’s story book. While these things cause me concern, it is the effects of his magic that I am most curious and worried about. I instructed him in the basics of object manipulation using magical telekinesis, and while he was able to embrace the object, a candlestick, without difficulty, an unintended and frightening side effect occurred. Princess, the candlestick appeared to have eroded and decayed into almost nothing, it is only a fraction of what it was before he picked it up. I could see no malice or hate in him, nor any intention towards this particular effect. Please write back to me if you have any ideas what this might be. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike added the final touch and set the parchment down for Twilight to sign. The quill in his claw was wrapped in a purple aura and found its way to the parchment, she signed it hastily then magically rolled up the parchment and sealed it. She held it aloft and Spike smirked at her, he could tell already that she was curious and worried at the same time. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath, washing the scroll away into nothingness. ******** The round blue mare with the pink mane directed Applejack to a small living room. A couch and a chair were set around a table that sat on an ovular rug in front of a fireplace, on the adjacent wall there stood a window that looked out over Ponyville. Applejack admired the coziness of the arrangement and smiled in a brief bit of comfort as she took a seat on the couch and waited for Mrs. Cake to sit down beside her. “Tea?” asked Mrs. Cake coming from another room. Applejack hadn’t noticed her leave. “Uh, sure,” she answered. After a few minutes of waiting, Mrs. Cake returned holding a tray with a kettle, two cups, and a bowl of sugar which she set onto the table before she took her seat beside Applejack. “Alright, dear, tell me what happened between you and Pinkie,” she said with infinite patience. Applejack did not detect any anger from the older mare, instead, it was curiosity and concern. Buoyed by this observation, she spoke a bit more comfortably. “We had a lil’ spat… Ain’t long ‘til the day mama passed on, and Pinkie was wantin’ to throw a party fer me ‘n Applebloom ‘n Big Mac… It weren’t a bad idea, and I know she didn’t mean no harm… but I yelled at her jus’ the same, told her she was a dern foal if’n she thought a party was right for that sort of occasion. Told her she didn’t understand nothin’ about loss, and to just leave me be,” said Applejack. Mrs. Cake nodded, pouring hot water into each cup as she listened to Applejack. Steam rose in curls above each cup, the water turning a rich dark brown before their eyes. “How many lumps, dear?” “Huh? Oh, two please,” Applejack nodded her appreciation. Mrs. Cake nodded and placed two lumps of sugar into Applejack’s tea, and a single lump into her own. “Right, so why do you say that Pinkie Pie doesn’t understand loss?” Applejack blinked and tilted her head. She could not begin to answer that question, because thinking back on it there was never any rationale behind the outburst and no reason for the assumption into Pinkie’s past. “Um… I dunno…,” she said quietly, suddenly very fascinated by her cup of tea. Cup Cake smiled sadly at Applejack and took a sip of her tea. “Tell me, has she ever spoken about her parents or her sisters much to you or your friends?” “Uh… Reckon the only time she ever did was when she was talkin’ to my lil’ sister and her friends about how she got her cutie mark.” Cup Cake nodded and took another sip of her tea, seeming to think about her next words carefully. Deciding best how to say what she wanted to say, and what exactly was okay for her to say. “For what it’s worth, as far as I am concerned… Mr. Cake and I are her parents and have been since we took her in. She’s special to us, and I hope that she knows that. We never met her parents or sisters, it was too late by the time we’d met her.” Applejack blinked, the information didn’t process immediately and she had to take a moment to think about exactly what the older mare had just said. She swallowed, and stared at her tea again, she had yet to actually take a sip of it. “Housefires aren’t uncommon in the farm life, but you know that better than most…,” Mrs. Cake said quietly, Applejack cringed at these words, and a tear sprang into her eye and refused to budge past that. “I know I haven’t forgotten that terrible night… Well, Pinkie lost more than her father in the fire that took her home… She lost her whole family…” Applejack felt a knot in her throat, a stubborn thick ball of regret and sadness that wedged itself there and threatened to strangle her with sorrow. She closed her eyes, and a tear fell into her cup of tea. She took a deep, shuddering breath and tried to speak. “Ah had no idea… She never said…” Mrs. Cake shook her head in a small way, closing her eyes and taking another sip of tea. “She’s upstairs if you’d like to talk to her yourself, I know she wants to talk to you,” said Mrs. Cake, interrupting Applejack’s train of thought and causing her to brighten just a little. Applejack nodded, and thanked Cup Cake for the tea she never touched, and made her way to the stairs that would lead up to the loft apartment that Pinkie Pie resided in. ******** “So, what do you recommend?” I asked the lanky yellow stallion. He came to as though he’d just woken from a dream, and stared at me for a moment before registering the question. It seemed to me that he’d been far away in his head, and only realized where he was when spoken to. I waited for a response. “Oh, um, the Blueberrynana Muffins are especially good today. Would you like one?” “Yes, please,” I said as I began to fish some coins from the pouch about my neck. I could hear him rustling about behind the counter, carefully wrapped the treat in paper and twine for me to carry out. I set the coins on the counter and nodded my appreciation. He simply took what he was owed, and left the rest. I returned the remaining coins to my pouch and added the treat to it as well. “You must be new around here, I’m Carrot Cake, part-owner of Sugarcube Corner. You saw my wife, she’s the other owner. Welcome to Ponyville, sir!” I nodded and cleared my throat. I felt lost, what was I supposed to say? Perhaps an introduction was in order. “Thank you, I am called Tempest. Yes, I am new here, I appreciate the warmth and compassion I have received from everyone I’ve met since I arrived here. It is… refreshing,” I concluded, not at all hesitant to use that particular word but feeling a little embarrassed at the admission just the same. “Oh? Where are you from then?” he asked. “I would rather not think on it too much, but where I am from there is no one so nice as any of the residents of this fair town,” I replied. “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad that you’re enjoying your stay here, heh, perhaps you’ll consider staying longer?” I stared past him, at the door behind him. My mind wandered to the orange mare that had gone through that door with Mrs. Cake, and I wondered how she was doing. My ears heard a muffled sound that I was certain must have been Mr. Cake speaking to me, but I had no idea what he said. ******** Applejack gently knocked on the simple wooden door that was set in the wall between the outer corridor and the room where Pinkie Pie waited. “Come on in!” came a squealing voice full of mirth, and Applejack smiled to herself as she opened the door. The pink pony was sat facing away from the door, looking out the window with a baby alligator at rest atop her head. A frizzy pink tail swayed from side to side behind her, evidence of her enormous pool of energy and her restless nature. She was humming tunelessly and seemed to be observing something. Applejack stepped into the room and closed the door, then sat on her haunches and stared at Pinkie Pie for a moment before speaking. “Ah’m so-” “Applejack!” she chirped as she spun around, the alligator gripped her mane to avoid being thrown out the window, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to make you mad or hurt you! Can you forgive me?” Applejack sat stunned, she took a moment to gather her thoughts and a deep breath before replying. “Only if’n ya can forgive me fer bein’ a hothead ‘n sayin’ some hurtful things to you. Ah’m right sorry about that, you deserved none of it,” she said at length. Pinkie Pie bounced over to the orange mare and wrapped her forelegs around the farm mare’s neck and squeezed her in a hug. Applejack closed her eyes and nuzzled Pinkie’s neck fur before wrapping her own forelegs around the pink mare’s neck and squeezing back. A sigh of relief escaped her as she felt the tension melt away from her body. “Let’s not ever fight again, okey-dokey? It’s not fun and nopony gets to be happy from it, just mopey and sad and mad, right?” “Right you are, sugar cube,” Applejack replied quietly. Pinkie Pie pulled back, staring at Applejack for a moment before breaking into a huge toothy grin and vibrating on the spot. “Oooh! There’s a new pony here! I get to make a new friend!” she said before bouncing past Applejack and out the door, moving down the stairs as speeds Applejack felt certain were terribly unsafe. ******** As I stared at the door behind Mr. Cake it exploded outward and admitted a vibrant pink pony that was in my face in the time it would have taken me to blink in response. I stared at her, and she at me. This was made more awkward by the fact that she was standing on my back and looking down at me by bending her head and neck down while I looked up at her. “...Um,” I began. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie! Welcome to Ponyville! You’re new here! Oh I just have to throw you a party to welcome you to town but you have to forget I said that so it can be a surprise party for you! We’re going to be bestest friends, I know it! I can feel it!” she spoke at such speeds it was miraculous I could follow her speech at all. “Would you mind please getting off of me?” I asked, although in truth I hadn’t felt the weight of her at all while she stood here. She nodded and was suddenly standing in front of me instead, she stared at me intensely for what began to feel like an eternity after the first second. “Er… I something the matter?” “You aren’t smiling… Why aren’t you smiling?” she asked, though it sounded more like an accusation and she sounded just a little unhinged. “I’m sorry?” I replied in confusion. She eyed me up and down, sizing me up I felt. I stared blankly at the mare as she did this, not sure what was going on. After a moment she nodded to herself and darted past me and out the door to the Sugarcube Corner. Mr. Cake seemed unsurprised at this, even a little amused. I looked at him and asked the first question to come to mind. “Is she okay?” He nodded and chuckled, “I’d say so, she seems to be in a better mood now. But I think you’re about to find out how determined she is to make ponies smile.” I shuddered, although I did not know why, and nodded at him. “Thank you,” I said as I stepped back from the counter. Applejack returned, and together we left the building.