//------------------------------// // 1 – Playing Pretend // Story: Acts of Love // by Krickis //------------------------------// Act I Lost Filly ⠀ Chapter One Playing Pretend ⠀ ⠀ The only thing that Morning Glisten wanted to do was read her book. That was all. It was not an unreasonable goal. And yet, since nothing could ever go her way, some other foals were insistent on bothering her. “Come play with us!” a filly Morning’s age said. Her name was Spring Blossom, and she was one of the only ponies who was still nice to Morning. “We’re playin’ hide and seek!” “I don’t want to,” Morning said, a little irritation slipping into her voice. Didn’t they know better than to bother somepony reading a book? “But it’s more fun with more ponies…” Spring Blossom said, as if Morning should care. Spring Blossom may be too nice to hate Morning like the other kids, but they were not friends. She looked up from her book and frowned. “So get other ponies. I’m busy.” Patchouli Rest rolled his eyes. He was a year older than her and seemed to think that got to mean he could boss her around. “Yeah, well, Miss Ginger says we have to play with you.” Oh, so that’s what this was about. Normally other foals at Small Steps Home for Orphaned Ponies knew better than to try and get Morning to play with them. But if Miss Ginger was asking them to… No, it didn’t matter. She turned away from them. “But I don’t want to right now.” “It doesn’t matter!” Patchouli said with a frown. “Miss Ginger said!” Morning Glisten was tempted to wipe that frown off his face. It was bad enough he had a dumb name like ‘Patchouli’, but he was always a jerk too. “I’m not playing with you, so there.” She turned back to her book. Then Patchouli did the worst thing he could do – he snatched Morning’s book from her. Her mouth fell open as he grabbed it in his hooves and took a few steps away. “Give it back!” “Not unless you play with us.” Morning gritted her teeth and lunged for the book, but he pulled it away before she could grab it. “Patchouli!” Spring Blossom called after him, but he was already laughing and running away. Morning Glisten narrowed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel her magic building in her horn and pushed it to the book. It lit up blue and she tried pulling it towards her. Patchouli just laughed and held it tighter. “You know you’re no good at magic! And since you can’t catch me, you’ll just have to play with us!” Morning puffed out her cheeks and ran after him. She had no intention of playing with him, especially after a stunt like that. But she wasn’t chasing after him for her book, either. No, she was chasing him to teach him a lesson. “Get back here!” Morning called after him. “You’ve got to catch me first!” Patchouli flew into the air, which wasn’t fair. Morning Glisten was a unicorn, so she couldn’t follow him. “When I get my hooves on you, I’ll –” “Morning!” a mare’s voice cut through her threat. “Whatever you think you’re going to do, I think you’ll find you won’t be doing it!” Morning bowed her head. “Yes, Miss Ginger…” She lifted her head to scowl and point at Patchouli Rest. “But he took my book!” Miss Ginger frowned at the colt, who had landed and was looking sheepish. “Is that true, Patchouli?” Patchouli glared at Morning, as if it was her fault Miss Ginger was upset with him. “Only because she wouldn’t play with us like you said!” Miss Ginger sighed and gestured to Morning. “Give it back and say you’re sorry.” Patchouli flew over to Morning and held out the book. “Sorry I – hey!” Morning snatched the book as if Patchouli was going to pull it away if she gave him the chance. If Miss Ginger hadn’t been around, he might have done so, after all. “Morning!” Miss Ginger sighed again. She did that a lot when Morning Glisten was involved. “Honestly, you kids sometimes… Morning, we don’t snatch things from ponies. And Patchouli, I told you to try and get Morning to play with you, I didn’t say you had to make her. I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway…” Another mare chuckled and walked up to Miss Ginger. Morning didn’t recognize her, but she was a tall amber-colored unicorn, and she wore a crown on top of her red and yellow mane. “I guess that’s how kids are sometimes, huh?” Miss Ginger smiled at the other mare. “Most of the time they’re perfect darlings. But yes, sometimes these things happen.” “Trust me, I understand. I promise I behaved worse than any kid you’ve ever met when I was younger.” “Oh, I’m sure you weren’t that bad.” Miss Ginger cleared her throat and turned to address the kids. “Everypony come here! We have someone very special here to visit us today!” Ponies stopped their games to come over to Miss Ginger and the strange mare. Morning was pretty sure she’d seen her somewhere before, but she wasn’t sure. Once the other kids were all gathered around her, she got her answer. Before Miss Ginger could even speak, one of the older kids pointed at the mare and said, “You’re Sunset Shimmer!” “That’s right,” the mare said with a grin. “Princess Sunset is here to visit with you all!” Miss Ginger said. “So I want all of you to be on your best behavior for her!” Most of the kids chatted excitedly about the mare in front of them. A few of them even cheered, and almost all of them crammed in to get a closer look at her. And yet, Morning Glisten found herself walking away from Sunset Shimmer. Morning didn’t care about her, just like she didn’t have any reason to care about Morning. She wasn’t dumb like all the other kids, and besides, all she wanted to do was read her book. The backyard of the Small Steps orphanage had plenty of places for fillies and colts to play, many of which doubled as good places to hide herself away from the others when they were all busy in one spot like this. She found herself a nice hiding place in a plastic tunnel designed for foals to climb through, and she opened her book. Of course, she’d lost her place with everything that happened. She flipped through the book looking for it, all while being forced to listen to the kids outside her little tunnel having a blast with their special guest. They all seemed to be asking her questions. “What’s it like being a princess?” “How come you’re not an alicorn? “Do you know Princess Celestia?” “Is it true you invented the radio?” Morning groaned, wishing they’d at least be quiet about it. What did she care if Sunset Shimmer had come to visit them? She wasn’t even a real princess anyway. And if Morning talked to her, she was going to tell her that. She’d say it just like that too. ‘You’re not a real princess.’ That’d show her. Ah, there it was. Morning found the place where she’d left off in her book. She did her best to tune out Sunset and the others as she read. It was just too bad that her best wasn’t really enough. The others were just so loud, how was she supposed to focus? Morning popped her head out from the tunnel to get a better look at what everyone else was doing. Sunset was lying on the ground surrounded by fillies and colts, and they were still just asking her questions. Even if Morning cared about someone like Sunset Shimmer – which she didn’t – what was the fun of just asking a bunch of questions? Usually when ponies came to visit them, they played games, or read them stories, or sang songs with them, or… or something! It just went to show that Sunset Shimmer was a dumb pretend princess who didn’t even know what she was doing. Morning glared at them. She glared at the kids for being so loud, and she glared at Sunset for being dumb and causing it. She ducked back into her hiding place and just wished they’d all go away. She didn’t duck back in quick enough, however. Before she could get back to her book, a filly noticed her. Spring Blossom came running over and poked her head into the tunnel. “Whatcha doin’ in here?” “Reading,” Morning answered shortly. “Don’t you want to come meet Princess Sunset?” Morning’s ear twitched. “She’s not a princess.” Spring Blossom cocked her head to the side. “But Miss Ginger said she is.” Morning rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, she isn’t.” “Oh. Well, she’s still really nice! Come say hi!” “I don’t want to.” Morning Glisten propped her book up between her and the other filly. “Just leave me alone.” Instead of doing that, Spring Blossom crawled into the tunnel and sat beside Morning. “Whatcha reading ‘bout?” Morning groaned. “Just go back to the others!” Spring Blossom huffed, but she finally left. Morning Glisten just shook her head. Maybe now she could actually get some reading done. Her eyes scanned the pages and paragraphs of her book, but she couldn’t seem to focus on it. The heroine was doing… something. She was supposed to be fighting off changeling invaders, but all Morning could think about was Sunset. She turned her head sharply towards the entrance of her tunnel, where she could still hear Sunset’s voice. She propped her book up in between herself and the opening as if that would shut Sunset out for good. She never found out if it would help, as yet another voice interrupted her. This one was harder to ignore, as it was Miss Ginger. “Morning? What are you doing in here?” Great, Spring Blossom had told on her… “I just want to read my book…” Miss Ginger couldn’t easily get inside the tunnel with her, so she stayed outside with a frown placed on her face. “You know, it’s not every day you get to meet a princess. You’ll regret it if you don’t talk to her now.” ‘She’s not a princess,’ Morning Glisten thought, but she didn’t want to argue with Miss Ginger. She was nice, probably Morning’s favorite adult. Granted, that didn’t say much. Morning didn’t like adults at the best of times. Still, whether Miss Ginger was right or not, Morning couldn’t just ignore her. Morning groaned and set her book aside. “But I don’t care about that! Why do I always have to do stuff with other foals and stuff anyway?” “It’s good to do things with foals your age,” Miss Ginger said. That didn’t seem to be very good to Morning, but unfortunately, she was only six years old. That meant she had to listen when adults told her what to do whether she wanted to or not. “Fine…” That got Miss Ginger to smile, although Morning didn’t share any of her excitement. But she let herself be guided along to where Sunset was playing with the other kids. They seemed to have settled into a game of tag, with all the kids enjoying running away from the pretend princess. She stopped and smiled as Morning was marched up to meet her. “Hey there. Another filly joining in then?” “Yes. This is Morning Glisten and she’s a little, well… shy.” Sunset nodded and bowed her head to be more on Morning’s level. Morning just turned away from her. “Aww, I’m not that bad. It’s Fluttershy you’ve got to watch out for!” It was obvious that Sunset was trying to get a laugh out of Morning, who did not oblige her. Sunset didn’t seem to care as much as Morning wanted her to. “Princess! Come catch me!” one of the other fillies said. “Be right there!” Sunset called after her. She turned first to Miss Ginger. “I’ll make sure Morning enjoys herself, just wait and see.” Miss Ginger had to know that wasn’t going to happen, but she just nodded along. “Thank you, Princess.” She reached out a hoof and gently pried the book away from Morning. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to this while you’re playing with the other foals. Morning Glisten rolled her eyes. There wasn’t much she could do when Miss Ginger outright told her she had to play with the others. Sunset jumped to a playfully aggressive stance, as if she were a cat about to pounce. “Alright, Morning! I’ll give you to the count of three!” Morning frowned and ran away. Not because she wanted to play, but because she genuinely just didn’t want to get caught. She ran far away from Sunset, out where there were only a few kids. Once she was sure she was safe, she turned back to see Sunset run towards her. For a moment, Morning thought she was actually going to have to play just to not get caught, but Sunset was quickly distracted as a bold kid flew over and tapped on her shoulder. She turned and chased after him instead, leaving Morning alone. Of course, that was typical. Even if Morning did want to play – which she didn’t – Sunset had clearly forgotten her promise to make sure she had fun. Adults were always like that, though, always saying things that they didn’t wind up doing. But at least Morning was in a good place. She was around a few other kids, so no one could tell that she was avoiding the game, but she was out with the kids who were either uninterested in the game or too afraid of letting themselves get caught – they didn’t call Sunset over, and she focused on the kids who were more eager for her attention. All Morning had to do was keep moving. If she sat still too long, Miss Ginger would notice that she wasn’t playing. So she wandered around the edge, wishing this stupid game would just be over already. Of course, the game kept going. Minutes passed slowly as the dumb pretend princess played with the other foals, and Morning knew she should just be grateful that Sunset didn’t bother with her. Still, she kept trying to find some way out of the game. Then she got an opportunity. She wandered over to a tree while the others seemed to be too preoccupied to notice. After a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, Morning ducked behind the tree. It was a nice spot. Plenty of shade, and she was hidden from view of the others. The only problems were that she could still hear their annoying laughter and she didn’t have her book. She sighed as she got comfortable in between two large roots and watched the way the sun filtered through the leaves, making little patches of light that danced around as the breeze rustled the leaves. She let out a yawn and considered taking a nap. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do anyway. All she had wanted to do was read her book, but then stupid Sunset Shimmer came along and suddenly she was expected to play games with some adult who wouldn’t even remember her, let alone care about her. She huffed. Nothing good ever happened to Morning. And every time something that seemed like it would be a good thing came around, it always got ripped away. “You know,” a mare said from behind her, “if you’re going to hide, you should tuck your tail into your hiding spot too.” Morning whipped her head around to see Sunset Shimmer was standing behind her. She was grinning, and instead of trying to get Morning up, she lay down beside her. “Not a fan of these kinds of games, huh?” Morning turned away. “No.” “Yeah, neither was I when I was your age.” Sunset leaned in closer. “In fact, I don’t really believe you’re as shy as Ginger Snap says you are. You’re not shy, you just want to be left alone.” If she knew that, then what was she doing? “I just wanted to read my book.” “Geez, that takes me back.” Sunset brushed her mane out of her face. “Well, I won’t make you play if you don’t want to, but if you don’t want Ginger to notice you’re here, you should tuck your tail in.” Morning flicked her tail in, wrapping it around herself. She thought of what she had wanted to say to Sunset, but now that she was right in front of her… “Well, I’ll let you be then. If you change your mind, I’m sure you can find us.” “You’re, uhm…” Sunset smiled. “Something on your mind?” Morning stared down at Sunset’s hooves. “You’re not a real princess…” Although she had thought telling her that would hurt her feelings, Sunset just laughed. “Oh yeah? What makes you say that?” “That’s what Cinnamon Twirl told me.” “And who’s Cinnamon Twirl?” “She adopted me.” Morning Glisten frowned. That hadn’t lasted long. Sunset’s smile also fell away. “I see. Well then, if I’m not a princess…” She levitated her crown off her head and placed it on Morning’s. It didn’t fit very well, so she had to prop it up with her hoof. “Keep an eye on that thing for me, will you?” “What? But it’s…” Sunset shrugged, and her grin returned. “Well, if I’m not a princess, it’s just a piece of jewelry, right? Besides, it looks good on you.” Morning watched in a stupor as Sunset stood up and, with a wave, left her to go back to the others. She pulled off the crown and examined it. It was an interesting design. A reddish-gold color, with a red gemstone in the middle. All along the crown, there were irregular points, making it look like fire. Even if it wasn’t really a princess’s crown, it had to be very expensive. Morning was almost afraid to touch it. Is that what Sunset wanted? Morning said she wasn’t a princess, so Sunset left her with this thing to be responsible for? She set it off to the side and turned away. Sunset wasn’t a princess. Cinnamon Twirl had told her that. Just because someone says they’re a princess, that doesn’t make them one. And wearing a crown certainly didn’t mean anything. She turned her eyes back to the crown, and she noticed an ant was crawling up it. Morning picked it back up and brushed the ant off. Gingerly, she set it on top of her head once again. After a quick look around to make sure no one could see her, she grinned. “Hey you ants, listen up, I’m Princess Morning Glisten and you better listen to me!” The ants gave no sign that they noticed her words, but that didn’t stop Morning. “Keep on marching! Just like that!” Not one to give orders to her subjects and not follow them herself, Morning stood up and started marching in place. “There we go. Oh no! Look out for that changeling!” Morning willed her magic to her horn and cast it out. She managed to make a rock roll a little bit. “Take that, changeling! You’re no match for Princess Morning Glisten!” But wait… didn’t changelings always travel in packs? Morning turned around and gasped. A whole horde of changelings had snuck up behind her! She jumped into the air and flapped her wings – she was a princess, and proper princesses were alicorns – and flew to safety. But her subjects… they couldn’t escape! Morning lowered her head and charged, using her horn to stab the changeling drones in her way. “Take that! And this too!” She turned and bucked her hindlegs out, kicking the changelings behind her. That would show them. Morning kept fighting the changeling menace, and was so caught up in it that she didn’t realize she’d attracted an audience. It was only two ponies, at least, but it was two ponies Morning couldn’t just yell at to get rid of them. Miss Ginger and Sunset Shimmer were watching her with interest. Sunset in particular seemed to be enjoying the show. As soon as Morning noticed them, she froze in place, and the crown slipped from her head. Before it could hit the ground, Sunset caught it in her magic and levitated it back over to her own head. “Princess Morning Glisten, huh?” Morning blushed and turned away. Sunset just laughed. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself after all. See, I knew I could get you to have some fun.” That only made Morning blush more. She hadn’t wanted to have fun because of Sunset. “It’s time for me to get going, though.” Sunset walked over to Morning, who was still avoiding looking at her. “But between you and me, I’m coming back tomorrow. Maybe we can play then. I’ll let you pick a game you like.” Morning didn’t answer, but Sunset didn’t seem to take it personally. “See you later, Morning.” Morning wasn’t going to answer, but she caught the sight of Miss Ginger looking at her, so she folded. “Bye, Sunset.” Content with the goodbye, Sunset left. Miss Ginger hung around for a moment more to tell Morning to come in for lunch, then she followed after Sunset. Morning hung her head. She liked playing games like that, but she hated when other ponies saw her playing them. There was nothing she could do about it now though, so she shook her head and walked to the orphanage. It was raining when Sunset showed up again. Morning always hated the rain; it meant she had to play inside with all the other foals. She was in the orphanage’s crowded playroom, and for a filly that enjoyed her privacy, that was reason enough to be miserable. But things got worse, because they had another visit from Sunset Shimmer. And with the rain, that meant there was no real way to get away from her. Of course, all the other foals were excited for Sunset to show up. They all ran to her as she came in, and she lived it up. Morning noticed she wore more than a simple dress this time. Along with her crown, she was dressed in a blue military outfit with a skirt. It had two medals on it, as well as a yellow and purple sash. Sunset looked over the kids. “Hey, everyone. We’re gonna have fun today, I promise. But first, I have something to do.” Morning cocked her head to the side, wondering what else Sunset had to do. Wasn’t she here to see them? Sunset locked eyes with Morning and smiled, making her way over to the filly. “Hey there, Morning. How’re you doing today?” Morning frowned. What was Sunset talking to her for? “Uhm, I’m okay.” “Good. So got anything you want to do?” Morning didn’t say anything. She was too confused about why Sunset was singling her out. As if she knew exactly what Morning was thinking, Sunset laughed and answered. “I said we’d play a game you like today, didn’t I? So what do you want to do?” “Nothing,” Morning answered automatically. “Aww, come on. We could play a board game, or a pretend game like you were playing yesterday.” Sunset smiled hopefully, but Morning just blushed. “We could even go outside and play in the rain if you want.” “We can?” Morning asked before she could stop herself. Sunset smirked. “Sure. Just give me a minute to make sure it’s okay with Ginger Snap.” Morning frowned and bowed her head. There was no way Miss Ginger was going to say it was okay for them to go outside in the rain. But it seemed Sunset didn’t think it was a lost cause. She left the playroom to go find Miss Ginger, leaving Morning to wonder if she really could get her to agree. But… did it matter? Did Morning actually want to play in the rain with Sunset? It might be fun to play by herself in the rain, but she didn’t even like Sunset. Within a few minutes, Sunset came back wearing the grin that Morning had come to expect of her. “She said it’s okay. Let’s go have some fun!” To her surprise, Sunset led her to the back door and held it open for Morning. Choosing not to question it, she walked out into the rain. It was a bit cold, but not too bad. She turned back to see Sunset had done the same, and squinted in surprise. “You’re wearing your clothes out into the rain?” “Yeah, I always wear clothes,” Sunset said with a shrug. She levitated the sash and medals off and put them back inside. “I’ll keep these safe, though.” “But… why?” Sunset chuckled. “Because I’m a weird old lady. Now, what are we gonna play?” “Uhm, I don’t know.” Sunset levitated her crown onto Morning’s head again. “Do you know what this uniform I’m wearing is?” Morning adjusted the crown so it wasn’t hanging over her eyes. “No.” “Before I was a princess, I was the Captain of the Twilit Guard. I still am. This is my captain’s uniform.” “Oh.” Morning wasn’t really sure what the Twilit Guard was, but she could tell it was some sort of royal guard thing. “And that crown makes you Princess Morning Glisten. So as your Captain of the Guard, that means you’re in charge.” “In charge of what?” Morning cocked her head to the side, which caused the crown to slide a little. “Me, of course!” Sunset grinned, but then she quickly turned to a shocked expression. “Oh no! Those changelings from yesterday are back! They must have thought they could sneak up on us in the rain!” Morning turned around and looked at where Sunset was looking. Of course, there was nothing there, but if Morning was really in charge… “Then you better stop them, uhm, Captain Sunset.” Sunset nodded and her horn lit up. A ball of light appeared, which she lobbed outward. It made a flash when it hit the ground. “Got one! Watch out, Princess, they’re coming from behind you!” Morning turned around and lit up her horn like Sunset had. It sparked a little, but otherwise nothing happened. “Great shot, Princess!” Morning couldn’t help but smile. “Quick, we have to find their queen!” “I’m on it!” Sunset said, then charged, with Morning running after her. They approached the tree where Morning had been playing yesterday, and Sunset pointed at a nearby bush. “Look, what’s that over there! I think it might be the changeling queen!” Morning frowned. It was too soon to find the changeling queen right now. “No, that’s not her. It’s a… griffon mercenary!” “Griffon or changeling, no one is a match for Captain Shimmer!” Sunset lit her horn once more and lobbed an orb of light at the bush. “Oh no, he jumped out of the way! I’ll set him on fire!” Morning focused her magic into the bush, causing the branches to ruffle a little bit. To her surprise, a moment later, light erupted from the bush. For a second, Morning thought she really did set it on fire, but then she noticed it wasn’t actually burning. She looked over at Sunset and saw her horn was lit up as well. “You got him, Princess!” “Hmph.” Morning turned away. “I can do magic too, you know.” “Well yeah, you just set that griffon on fire.” “I don’t want to play anymore,” Morning said grumpily. She sat down on the ground, not caring that it was wet. “What? Because I used magic when you did?” Sunset frowned. “Maybe it was like… a combined attack!” “No.” Morning folded her forelegs. “You just think I’m bad at magic like everyone else!” “I don’t think that.” Sunset sat down beside Morning, getting her skirt even more wet than it already was. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I thought you’d like it if I made it a little more dazzling.” “Everypony always makes fun of me because I’m not very good with magic.” “Morning, you’re…” Sunset shook her head. “Like, what, five?” “I’m six!” Sunset smirked. “You’re six years old. You don’t have to be good at things yet, there’s lots of time to get better.” “But the other foals my age can do more…” “That’s okay.” Sunset nudged her. “You like to read, right? I bet you read better than they do.” Morning scrunched her face in confusion. “How can somepony read better? You just read…” “Well like, you can read faster or read harder words and stuff.” “I guess…” “And you come up with fun games like this, even if you don’t usually play them with other ponies.” Morning frowned again. It was a pretty good game, right up until Morning ruined it. “You know, you remind me of someone. A lot, actually.” Morning found a rock and rolled it around with her hoof. “Is it true that you’re not really a princess?” Sunset laughed. “Well, it’s complicated. Do you know why ponies say I’m not a princess?” “Uhm, Cinnamon Twirl said that calling yourself a princess doesn’t make you one.” Sunset nodded. “Well, that is true. So then, what does make you a princess?” “Uhm… becoming an alicorn?” “Yeah, that’s one way. The other is marrying a prince or a princess. Like Princess Fluttershy. She’s not an alicorn, but she’s a princess because she married Princess Twilight.” Morning knew that, but she wasn’t exactly sure where Sunset fit into things. “So did you marry a princess?” “That’s… why it’s complicated. I married Twilight and Fluttershy, but the law says that only two ponies can be married, not three.” “Well duh, everyone knows that. When two ponies love each other, they get married.” “So what happens when three ponies love each other?” Sunset asked. Morning didn’t know, and she was tired of Sunset asking all these questions. “You’re the adult, you’re supposed to know this!” Sunset laughed. “Well, that’s what I mean. It’s complicated. I love Twilight and Fluttershy, so we got married. But the law says we’re not married, because three ponies can’t get married. So we’re trying to change the law, and we think we will, but that takes time. And until we change the law, some ponies will say I’m not a princess. A lot of ponies say that, actually.” “So… what if…” Morning gestured with her hooves to invisible ponies as she talked. “What if you married Twilight, and she married Fluttershy. Then only two of you would be married at a time!” Sunset laughed, and Morning blushed. “It doesn’t work that way, kiddo. If I marry Twilight, she also has to marry me. So then she’s married to both me and Fluttershy.” “Marriage is dumb. I’m never gonna get married.” “I thought that too when I was younger.” Sunset shrugged. “But not everypony has to get married anyway. I did because I wanted to, even if other ponies don’t think I should have.” “Oh.” Morning wasn’t really sure what else to say, so she didn’t say anything else. “Now then, I told Ginger Snap that we wouldn’t stay out in the rain too long. Let’s head back inside with the others.” “Do we have to?” Morning frowned. “Afraid so.” Sunset stood up and held out a hoof to help Morning up. She ignored it and stood up on her own. “So,” Sunset said as they walked back, “I guess you don’t like the other kids much.” “No,” Morning admitted. Sunset nodded. “I didn’t like other kids much either when I was your age. I kinda preferred adults.” “I don’t like adults,” Morning said. “They always lie.” Rather than be offended, Sunset just grinned. “Geez, you really do remind me of a certain other filly.” Sunset held the door open for Morning, who walked into the playroom. Sunset followed after, but before either of them could get too far in, Miss Ginger saw them and stopped them. “Stay there! I’ll get towels.” Sunset looked sheepish, but Morning just seized the opportunity to shake off as much water as she could. “Hey, Morning!” Sunset frowned at her. Morning just laughed. “Well, she only said to stay put, and I didn’t go anywhere.” Sunset sighed. Miss Ginger came back with towels, which they used to dry off. “Maybe I could take your uniform and hang it up for you?” Sunset frowned. “My decision to go outside may have been poorly thought out. I… don’t like going without clothes.” “She’s a weird old lady,” Morning informed the caretaker. “Morning, you can’t just say something like that about somepony!” Miss Ginger said sharply, but Sunset laughed. “It’s okay,” Sunset said, breaking into a grin. “She’s completely right, you know.” Since Sunset wouldn’t take off her wet clothes and Miss Ginger didn’t want her getting everything in the playroom wet, they compromised by laying a towel down for Sunset to lay on as she read a story to the foals – levitating the book the whole time so she didn’t get that wet either. Morning hung around the edge while the other kids gathered around her, but Miss Ginger caught her. “You’re still wet too, young lady. Let’s get a towel for you.” “We can share, if you want,” Sunset said. “You’ll be able to hear better up here anyway.” Morning frowned, but she walked over to Sunset and sat beside her. Being confined to one towel – a shared towel at that – meant she couldn’t escape to be on her own this time. As a result, she had no choice but to actually listen to the story. It was about a colt who grew up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts. She was afraid it would be a scary story, but it was a nice one. The ghosts were mostly friendly to the boy, who got into all kinds of misadventures. Sunset read it very well, and Morning could imagine it all happening if she closed her eyes. Which she did, just to visualize the scene better. The fact that she let out a yawn was entirely coincidental. And of course she was going to curl up into the most comfortable position. The last thing she was aware of was something soft beside her as she gently fell asleep. Morning was alone. She was walking through an empty town. She lived there, but she couldn’t quite remember how to get to her house. She walked past places she knew. Places Cinnamon Twirl had brought her. She should have known where she was, should have known how to get home from there. But every time she turned down a street to somewhere she thought she knew, she found herself somewhere unexpected. Still, she kept walking. There were memories here, too. Memories of visiting places with Cinnamon Twirl, of finally feeling like she maybe was somewhere she belonged. Feeling like maybe there was someone who cared about her. Other memories too. This was where she got into a fight with that other filly. This was where she got so overwhelmed with all the other ponies around her that she threw a tantrum. This was where Cinnamon Twirl had decided she’d had enough. Morning kept walking. All alone, the only thing she could do was keep on walking. She had never meant to fall asleep, but all the same, Morning felt herself being shaken awake. When she came to, she was pressed against Sunset. She quickly got off of her. Sunset smiled at her. “Guess you got a little worn out today, huh?” Morning frowned. She really hadn’t meant to fall asleep. “I’m heading out now, and I think it’s time for you to get some lunch.” “Oh. Okay.” Morning stood up and stretched. She wasn’t sure how long she was asleep for, but her fur was much drier than it had been. “Will you finish reading to us when you come back tomorrow?” Sunset stood up as well, although she was lacking her usual grin. In place she wore a frown. “I’m, uh, not actually coming back tomorrow. I was just here for the weekend.” Morning frowned as well. “But… the story…” Sunset worked a smile onto her face. “Tell you what. You keep the book. I’ll get another one.” Morning didn’t particularly want to keep the book. She didn’t really want to read it herself. But all she could say was, “Oh. Okay.” Sunset levitated the book over to her, then levitated her crown off of Morning’s head. She hadn’t even realized she was still wearing it. “Real princess or not, I think I’ll need this.” Morning looked over to see Miss Ginger was waiting for her. All the other foals had already left for lunch. With her head bowed, she walked over to the caretaker. Sunset walked alongside her. “Well, enjoy your lunch. I had a lot of fun playing with you today.” “Yeah,” Morning said unenthusiastically. “Thanks for the book.” “You’re welcome. Bye, Morning.” “Bye, Sunset.” Morning walked through the door, and Miss Ginger followed through it and closed it behind her. “Did you have fun with Princess Sunset?” “I guess,” Morning said. Miss Ginger giggled. “You sure seemed to enjoy yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you comfortable enough with somepony to sleep next to them.” Morning blushed. She hadn’t meant to sleep… And because of that, she’d missed the story. Sure, she could read it herself now, but it wasn’t the same. Sunset was gone, and Morning wasn’t going to see her again. Just like Cinnamon Twirl. But that’s just how adults were – they didn’t care about foals, and there was no sense in pretending like they did. Morning didn’t care. So what if Sunset didn’t come back? So what if she never saw her again? So what? She was just another dumb adult, she’d never care about a filly like Morning. No one ever cared about a lost little filly like Morning… And why would they? She wasn’t particularly talented, she could barely do magic. She was just somepony who didn’t like anypony else and got into fights because of it. She was good at playing pretend, and that was about it. No, it was better this way. If Sunset kept coming around, then it would just hurt more when she realized Morning wasn’t anything special and left, like all adults left her eventually. She turned to Miss Ginger and held out her book. “Uhm, here.” Miss Ginger took the book. “Want me to hold onto it while you eat?” Morning shook her head. “You should keep it. Uhm, you can read it. To the other kids.” Miss Ginger frowned. “You know, I’m sure Princess Sunset would like to hear from you. Maybe we can write her a letter later?” “No,” Morning said. “I just didn’t really like the story.” Miss Ginger sighed and guided Morning down the hallway to the cafeteria. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.” Morning nodded, letting herself be guided along. Things were better this way. She would just not think of Sunset anymore, and things would go back to normal. Morning didn’t need anypony like Sunset Shimmer. She didn’t need anypony at all.