//------------------------------//
// SA1-C6: Homesick Boos 
// Story: A Deer Named John - Teapot Tales 
// by Tael_Spinner 
//------------------------------//

Boo

I stepped from the train carriage and onto the platform, the weight of my saddlebags doing their best to force me into the ground. That trip hadn’t been too long, only a few days, but it was definitely draining. Other ponies moved on past me, all happily going about their business, now they had arrived at their destination.
Ponyville.
I sighed. “Well, better get started.”
Shaking off a bit of melancholy which threatened to sink its claws into me, I stiffened my stance then moved forward. Making my way through the town toward the marketplace. I yawned broadly and felt my stomach grumble. Catching the early-bird train left me without a proper breakfast and now it was closing in on lunchtime.
After a steady late morning trudge, I arrived on the edge of the marketplace. Even being as tired as I was, my wings twitched nervously, ready for me to take to the air the instant something went wrong. Then, I shook my head. This was Ponyville. Other than what I could remember from the show, nothing really went wrong here. To prove the point to my instincts, I paused to survey the marketplace.
A number of stalls with food or goods were set up around the open-air market. Ponies wandered between them, buying things or simply enjoying the morning sun in pairs or small groups. Even one pony I recognised was surprisingly out and about. I glimpsed a butter-yellow pegasus mare with strawberry blonde mane and tail who was making her way among the stalls. A white rabbit sat perched atop her head, seemingly directing the pegasus’ path. Strapped to the sides of the pegasus were two wicker baskets which sagged and jostled under some load within.
The pegasus mare suddenly flinched as a shadow passed overhead; two tiny bunny heads peeked out from beneath the lid of one of her baskets. I watched as the familiar emerald green dragon glided in before landing with what appeared to be a picnic basket clasped in both hands. I smiled to myself, watching as Cremator hurried to one of the stalls. It was such a relief seeing her so active.
I had observed her closely while on the trip to the Dragonlands. Old habits and such. Having been struck by Shining Armor’s magic only days before, I had worried it would affect her in any number of ways; diminished stamina, struggle with flight, apprehension being around magic casters.
Instead, my concerns were all for nothing. Cremator had just brushed it off and went about enjoying her new life here in Equestria. Wish I could say the same.
I breathed in then let out a regretful sigh as I looked around the marketplace before me. Happy smiling ponies going about their daily lives. And, here I was, in the middle of a town where friendship was supposed to be the order of the day. A soldier who had followed orders, completed difficult reconnaissance missions. One who had done her best to help bring back everyone alive and in as close to perfect health as possible. All of that was now stripped away because a magical teapot decided it would be funny to turn me into one of the most despised creatures in this entire world.
I sighed and let my head droop as I moved away, walking further into the marketplace. I needed to restock some food after all, at least to look the part. Thing is, the locals weren’t much of a problem. Neither were my fellow former humans. To most, I was just another pegasus. A couple of earth pony mares looked my way, their faces bright with smiles as they greeted me. I did my best to smile back, returning the pleasantries even if my smile was only on the surface, much like it always was.
No. The locals held no grudges with me. I was just another face in the crowd. The one group of ponies who appeared truly uneasy about my very presence were my former comrades in the Guard. Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for word of my changeling status to sweep through the ranks. Not that my role as a specialist infiltrator had afforded me much in the way of friends, this just drove away those few I had considered myself being even slightly close to.
I caught a glimpse of one of the guards sent to help observe the intermingling of the former humans. He didn’t appear interested in much as his gaze swept slowly across the marketplace. When it landed on me, however, his eyes hardened as he fixed me with a stare of barely restrained loathing. I guess it was a step up. Others had shown me such disdain, they barely even acknowledged my passing, especially when I had retrieved my few belongings from the barracks yesterday.
So, I moved forward and placed some bits on a counter, as any normal pony would. In return, a half-dozen apples were squeezed into my already bulging saddlebags. I thanked the seller and turned away, adjusting my stance to the new weight I carried. I spotted the basket-carrying pegasus again as she approached an earth pony, dressed in green, who was trying to sell cabbages from the back of a cart.
I watched as the pegasus visibly shrank when I heard the rather angry voice of Cremator fill my ears from across the marketplace.
“I don’t want a cabbage, I’m a dragon. Dragon!” Cremator shouted.
My attention snapped to her. She was standing in front of the cabbage cart, stomping a foot irritably as the cabbage seller pressed further.
“You can use it to make so many dishes–”
The moment I noticed Cremator’s arms trembling as she gripped the handle of her basket, I dashed across the marketplace toward her. Arriving just in time to catch her mid angry rebuttal, I turned my back on the seller, wrapped a wing around Cremator’s midsection and did my best to lead her away.
“I never said I wanted cabbages!” Cremator snapped, twin smoky trails beginning to rise from the corners of her mouth. Seeing that, I doubled my efforts, adding a hoof to help drag Cremator away before she could do something she would quickly regret.
“Hey!” the cabbage seller protested. “Where are you taking my customer?”
I felt Cremator push against me as if she was trying to break free and charge the cabbage seller, but I drove my shoulder into her stomach. She let out a wince as I forced her further away.
“She isn’t your customer,” I called back. “And I need a word with her.”
When I glimpsed the seller trying to catch the attention of a guard, I did my best to hurry Cremator around a corner. When I felt we were far enough away, I pushed Cremator in front of me and spread my wings to block as much of the view behind me as possible.
“All I needed was some meat and some rice,” Cremator grumbled, huffily folding her arms together across her chest. “He didn’t listen. Kept going on and on about his cabbages.”
I looked her up and down, taking a moment to admire the glossy sheen on her scales, before asking, “Are you all right?”
Cremator simply turned her back to me.
With a roll of my eyes and a shake of my head, I folded away my wings, stepped up beside Cremator and asked in the smoothest voice I could muster, “Hey. You keeping that fire inside, not out?”
Cremator shot a glare back over her shoulder at where she assumed the cabbage seller would be and snorted in annoyance, before kicking a pebble back toward the marketplace. “Trying my best.”
My ear twitched at the sound of the pebble ricocheting off a fence post, then a metal bucket. Doing my best to ignore the chain of sounds, including a yelp of surprise, I stepped between Cremator and her view of the marketplace again, then rose up on my hind legs to place a hoof on her shoulder.
She was snorting out short breaths through her nose, her chest heaving as she fought against her instincts to run back and hurl herself into a fight.
“Look, you’re a dragon,” I said. “You’re hot blooded. Comes with the territory, remember?”
Cremator sucked in her lips, her eyelids narrowing in thought. After a few long seconds, she gave a hard, yet short nod.
“Maybe I can help you find the other things you need?” I suggested, doing my best to keep her distracted while fear and confusion seeped into me from the ponies in the marketplace. I leaned to my left and peered into her basket which was now on the ground. “You have a bag of beans. What else do you need?”
Turning her attention back to me, she freed one hand and extended a claw for each item she began to list. “Rice, meat, and a bunch of cakes.”
I blinked. “All of that, just for you?”
“Not for me,” she huffed then shot me a mischievous smirk. Good, she hadn’t gone too deep into dragon mode.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, the meat is, but it’s Shield Breaker who needs them. He’s making us all lunch today.”
“Ah,” I said, nodding. My ears kept twitching toward the growing commotion in the marketplace. There was a crash, then a strangely soft scream of alarm.
“No, no, no, bunnies! Oooh, dear. Angel, please help me catch the others. Oh, dear. I’ll buy you a treat if you do.”
“Well,” I said, grinning as I did my best to ignore the sounds of several stampeding little feet. “Morning won’t be around for long.”
Grabbing Cremator’s shoulders with my front hooves, I spun her to face the other direction, dropped to my hooves, spread a wing and draped it against her back as I started to lead her away. “I’m sure Shield Breaker needs those things soon.”
“Yeah?” Cremator sounded oddly unconvinced about what was happening, but I did my best to keep her walking, even as the fur on my spine stood on end at a wail of despair behind us.
“My cabbages!”
“Yep,” I said with far more energy than I currently felt.
Cremator blinked at me a few times, then smiled as she started to freely walk beside me. “Yeah. He does.”


*  * *


When we stepped out of Barnyard Bargains, our first stop after the marketplace, Cremator was still somewhat irritated. Whether it was from the confrontation with the cabbage merchant or the fact we still hadn’t found a meat supplier, was a little hard to tell.
“Is a steak so much to ask for?” Cremator grumbled, her tail lashing about in irritation.
I rolled my eyes. Scratch that. The reason was very clear. I stepped up beside her, carefully sidestepping her tail, and said, “You’ve got your beans and your rice.”
Cremator gave a snort then grumbled, “Still no meat.”
“Yeah, well, I’m doubting many, if any, places here will sell it,” I said. “Ponies aren’t known for carnivorous acts.”
Trying to keep her on task and from sinking too far back into her peevish attitude, I leaned in next to her and asked, “What was the other thing you needed? Some cakes?”
Cremator scuffed the soul of a foot on the dirt of the street as she kicked at nothing in particular in frustration. Her annoyed outburst over, she let out a long breath then said, “Yeah.”
“Well,” I said, trying to sound a bit more perky than I actually felt. “This is Ponyville, so, the best place for cakes would be Sugarcube Corner.”
A shudder ran down my spine as a thought occurred to me. I darted in front of my dragon companion and hurriedly blurted out, “Just don’t eat the Cakes!”
She gave me an oddly comical, yet twisted expression of incomprehension. I rushed on with a better explanation. “The ponies who own the shop. Their family name is Cake. And I know you want some meat but…”
I trailed off as understanding dawned in Cremator’s eyes. She smiled and, stepping to pass me, put an arm around the back of my neck and pulled me in for a one-armed hug. She giggled to herself before whispering into my ear, “Your thoughts always this strange?”
Before I could reply, she ended the embrace and started forward again. I quickly caught up with her, before pointing back toward our destination. With a nod of thanks, she said, “Haven’t seen you much this week.”
I nodded. “I had to visit Canterlot. Finalise being discharged from the Guard.”
I lifted my head and puffed out my chest. “As of last night, I am officially just a civilian.”
Under my breath, I added, “One with a military pension.”
When I noticed Cremator looking at me with her deep eyes of warm jade, I cleared my throat, glanced over my shoulder and raised my wings to show off my saddlebags. “Picked up my only belongings in this world while I was there.”
Cremator eyed the two saddlebags I carried. “Not much, huh?”
I nodded. “Seems that way but, when you live in the barracks, you’re only allowed to keep so many personal items.”
Cremator nodded her understanding as we passed by a fountain. My attention, however, was pulled elsewhere. I spotted a stocky white stallion in armour who, having been observing the fountain area, fixed me with a hard glare as we passed. I did my best smile it off but I could feel the tips of my wings twitching with nervous energy.
“Guards don’t look too fond of you.”
I blinked at the comment for a moment. Then my gaze shot to Cremator. She was still walking a little ahead of me, her back facing me. How did she know what I was thinking about?
“Seen enough stink eyes to know when a person is pissed at someone,” Cremator said.
Thinking about it, I felt my head droop as I let out a sigh. “Yeah, can’t say the Guards are happy knowing what I am.”
I glanced across at her, and asked, “So, if you’re all having lunch, where are the others?”
“Comet Streak is helping Shield Breaker carry things to the picnic spot,” Cremator replied. “I haven’t seen Jackie yet, and I think John is at one of those ‘Welcome to Equestria now behave’ counselling sessions we’ve all had to take lately.”
I frowned at that. I certainly hadn’t been to any counselling session like that.
“So, Miss Sacramento.” Cremator’s slightly rasping voice brought me back from my short mental musing. “What did you get up to before all of this craziness with magic portals and transmogrifying teapots?”
I shot her a smirk and said, “You remembered what I said. I’m impressed.”
“Yeah,” Cremator said, clasping her claws behind her head. The handle of the basket slipped down to her shoulder as she stretched her back and gave her wings a flap. “I know. I’m awesome at that.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled as I shook my head. “Well, as you know, my human name was Huo and I’m from Sacramento, California. I was twenty-one years old and lived with my parents while studying at college.”
“Bet they miss you,” Cremator murmured.
It was such a simple comment, yet it felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. I did my best to try and remember my parents’ faces, yet the memories which came were oddly blurred. I sucked in a short breath as I realised I could barely remember what they looked like. Was it because I had been apart from them for so long? My wings and shoulders drooped a little at the thought. “Yeah.”
I heard Cremator mutter something as she looked away from me. Something about not knowing what some kind of feeling was like. Whatever it was about, all I knew was I could feel a coldness emanating from Cremator for a couple of heartbeats. I was about to question it, when she suddenly shot out one of her own.
“What were you studying?”
“Hmm?” I murmured, blinking as I forced my mind back onto the conversation itself. “Oh, um, Cinematography, with a minor in Dramatic Arts.”
She cocked an eyebrow at me.
“What?” I asked, feeling a spot of concern begin to build in my chest.
“Acting or film making?”
“A little of both,” I replied.
Her eyelids lowered even further as if studying me closely. “Maybe that’s why you’re a changeling?”
I frowned, scrunching my nose. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Cremator said, striking a pose even as she held her picnic basket. With a skip to her step and a flap of her wings, she continued on beside me striking pose after pose. “With such a base in acting, maybe the teapot turned you into a changeling so you could take on any role?”
And that brought me to a complete halt, both physically and mentally. Huh. That actually made a strange amount of sense. When I came out of it, I found Cremator gazing at me with a smile on her face and a slightly dreamy look in her eyes. The moment and her look reminded me of something. Maybe someone? I blinked and quickly shook my head, warmth filling my cheeks.
“W-What about you?” I stammered, rushing past Cremator to regain even a second of the time I had lost while in thought. “Why do you think you ended up as a dragon?”
I caught the sound of wings flapping. Then Cremator glided past me and quickly landed once she was ahead of me again. She then spun on the spot and continued to walk backwards as she waggled a finger at me. “Uh uh uh! We’re still on you.”
I let out an exaggerated breath of annoyance then asked, “Come on, can you at least tell me one thing?”
After a nod from Cremator, I pressed on. “How are you and John friends? You seem nothing alike… Ignoring the whole you became a dragon and she became a deer part.”
Cremator chuckled and glanced my way. “Easy one. His and Jackie’s parents and my parents were friends long before we were born.”
I arched an eyebrow in question. “So, you became friends out of convenience?”
Cremator shrugged. “Not denying it, though we do share some interests. But, what two friends have ever been exactly alike in what they enjoy or how they act? That would be boring.”
I smirked at that as we reached the entrance to Sugarcube Corner, a building which looked like it was lifted straight out of a fairy-tale. “Got me there.”
Realising this was our destination, Cremator rushed ahead of me to hold the door open. When I thanked her in passing, I could taste the welling of joy inside her heart.
Once inside, we found ourselves at the end of a short queue of ponies who were being served by a rather tired looking pink pony. While we waited for our turn, I noticed Cremator fidgeting with her claws.
“Sorry.” Her apology seemed oddly weak for her, even as she took a better grip on the handle of her basket. After the next two customers were seen to, I noticed that Cremator’s tail was twitching just a little. She glanced at me from the corner of her eye while I could feel a bubble of anxiety growing within her. I was about to ask her about it, when she cleared her throat before speaking.
“You know, seeing as you’re helping,” Cremator said, her tone hesitant as we stood in line for the counter. “Why don’t you join us?”
I blinked at that a few times. “But, I don’t really know anyone.”
Cremator shrugged. “I could tell you a bit about them and we can have some good food.”
“Mmm,” I hummed. I narrowed my gaze on her. Despite the calm and cool façade she presented, I could taste something very different behind it all. It was a flavour I usually encountered when working with new guards on their first mission. The worry inside of them was almost overbearing, it was so palpable. “Are you sure I wouldn’t be intruding? They’re your friends after all.”
“Well, you could consider it a sort of thank you party for helping rescue the others from Sombra,” she said. “Doubt any of them would object to that.”
Wait. I arched an eyebrow, noticing a tiny twitch of Cremator’s cheek. Was she… nervous? What did she have to be nervous about? I would have asked about it, if the most perfect distraction didn’t happen almost instantly.
The pink pony behind the counter, her poofy mane and eyes sagging from a weary morning’s work, suddenly burst to life. The bags under her eyes vanished. Her mane became even poofier, which I swear made a ‘sproing’ sound, as all traces of exhaustion were stripped away with a gasp and a beaming smile. I arched an eyebrow as she ducked behind the counter, only to pop back up half a second later, a notepad in hoof and a pencil dangling from the front curl of her mane.
I leaned closer to Cremator, as I realised we were face to face with the one and only Pinkie Pie, and whispered, “I think you said a magic word.”
Before Cremator could respond, Pinkie slotted herself into the conversation.
“Now, former humans, what kind of party are we talking here?” she asked, though the intensity of her eyes implied a lot more force behind her question.
“Well,” Cremator began, instantly gaining Pinkie’s attention. As she continued on, Pinkie made notes on her pad while nodding and making ‘mmhmm’ noises as she followed what Cremator said. “It’s not so much a party…”
Pinkie frowned at that.
Cremator hesitated at the apparent disappointment she had caused in Pinkie Pie. “…More of a picnic lunch in the park, behind Carousel Boutique, for me and my five friends.”
Quickly trying to move things along, Cremator turned to point something out in the display cabinet. “I was thinking something like–”
Pinkie leaned over the counter and slapped her claw away.
“No, no, no!” Pinkie stated, emphatically shaking her head. “These, while scrumdiddlyumptious and so very delicious, are more of an everyday treat. What you need is something so fresh, so perfect, that they deserve to be eaten by all of your friends and guests.”
Holding up her notepad again, she asked, “So, let’s start again. Number of ponies?”
“Not all ponies, but, uh, six, I guess?” Cremator mumbled, clearly flustered by the sudden rapid fire of questions the pink pony threw her way.
“All former humans?”
“Um, ye–” Cremator cut herself off, her brow pinching together in thought. “No. Maybe se– er, eight , if Spears and Ochre are there. I’m not quite sure.”
“Preferences. Chocolate? Jam? Cream? Nuts? Glaze? Frosting?”
“Er, I guess so?”
“Any allergies?”
Cremator blinked at the sudden direction change. “Not… not that I know of.”
All the while, Pinkie scribbled down more and more notes. When she neared the end of the page, she looked at me and Cremator with a studious eye.
“Hmm, maybe I should add a few more?” Pinkie mused before shooting us a wide smile and a wink. “You never know when more guests will arrive.”
I nodded in agreement. “Sounds fair.”
“Well, of course it is,” Pinkie smiled. “No one should be left without cake at a party.”
With a flick of her mane, the pencil and notepad disappeared back into the pink floofiness from whence they probably came. Pinkie then popped up on our side of the counter, a foreleg around the back of both mine and Cremator’s necks as she led us to the exit.
“Now, if you want them by lunch, I better get baking. So, out, out, out!” Pinkie declared as she shooed us out of the store. She even used her head to push Cremator through the door to start the dragon walking.
And, with a slam of a door, I was left on the doorstep with Cremator who looked incredibly bewildered.
“Hey,” I said, leaning toward Cremator, to try and coax her back to reality. “You okay?”
Cremator turned to face me and blinked blankly several times before shaking her head. As a little of her normal aloof nature began to seep back in, she said, “Yeah, I guess.”
She looked back at Sugarcube Corner and asked, “Do… Do you think that’s normal?”
All I could do was shrug. Sure, it was my first real encounter with the Element of Laughter, but I can definitely say the show didn’t leave anything out. Her presence alone demanded attention, especially when she was on a roll.
“Probably,” I replied. I placed a hoof on her arm, smiled at her and said, “We should get moving. You still need to get those ingredients to Shield Breaker.”
Cremator locked eyes with me for a moment, a moment in which I felt my breath hitch. Her eyes were swirling with confusion, not an unsurprising effect from encountering Pinkie Pie; even on the show. But, the warmth which washed into them as she stared at me shook memories loose. Memories I had long thought forgotten.
I did my best to follow as Cemator weaved us through the town toward our next destination. I noticed little of our passing as I thought back to my later high school years. Back when I had seen such eyes before. Oh, Kaska. You were such a beautiful girl and far more open than I could ever be. Maybe if I didn’t have such traditional parents… I bit down on the memory and forced myself to keep striding forward.
On the way, we encountered a group of ponies and gryphons. Among them was Cremator’s deer friend, John. They were all standing around, focused on the attempts of a blue unicorn mare as she tried to drag a Prussian blue bat pony away from the front door of a genuine tree house.
The occupants of the tree house were a lavender unicorn mare and a purple and green dragon, who appeared to be much younger than Cremator, both of whom I recognised. They were joined by a sapphire blue unicorn mare as they watched on with bemusement from the doorstep.
It didn’t take long for the struggling unicorn to declare the group’s excursion over while she continued to deal with the bat pony mare. As such Cremator and I were soon joined by John and a plain looking earth pony by the name of Richard. Richard looked as withdrawn as I currently felt and he said very little as we continued along the path. At least seeing John and Cremator interacting brought a smile to my face.
Arriving at the picnic grounds, Cremator quickly handed over her basket and its contents to Shield Breaker, who was busy tearing up some freshly fried tortillas into pieces with his magic. Those pieces quickly found themselves being plopped into a pot Shield Breaker already had bubbling away on a small park barbeque hotplate.
As I watched, Shield Breaker plucked the beans and rice from the picnic basket before setting to work with them in two smaller pots. The look of concentration on his face as he worked the three pots simultaneously with his magic was truly a sight to behold.
That and I could taste the passion for the task Shield Breaker was radiating as he worked. Although, there was a small tinge to it which felt like his heart wasn’t entirely focused on the task, but rather on someone. I frowned momentarily, but did my best to set the thought aside. If the aromas he was crafting were anything like the love he was putting into the meal, we were clearly in for a treat.
That was when I realised something. I pulled myself away from the spectacle of Shield Breaker cooking, to focus on Cremator again. Doing my best to not be overheard, I broached a subject I felt was becoming more important by the minute.
“Maybe you should tell me more about Shield Breaker,” I suggested, leaning toward Cremator. “After all, he is cooking for all of us. It is only polite to know a little more about him.”
I watched as Cremator physically cringed her whole body at my suggestion.
“That’s a bit of a touchy one,” she said, clearly hoping I would be deterred. Instead, I simply watched and waited, sampling the quickly changing emotions she rolled through before reaching an uneasy resignation. She looked away. It didn’t matter if she tried to lie, I would be able to tell. Huh. Maybe Shining Armor shouldn’t have tossed me out of the Guard so quickly. I’d make a good lie detector.
In my little mental musing, I almost missed part of what Cremator was saying and doubled down on focusing on her.
“Shield Breaker, or Jacob as he was called as a human,” she said. “Born in El Centro, he… he hasn’t had an easy childhood. And, I don’t know everything that happened to him.”
I held my head high but kept an eye trained on my dragon companion. “You’re avoiding the question.”
Cremator nodded but her eyes remained focused inward, as if she was mentally debating about what she should and should not say.
“Look,” she eventually said. “I’m not a fan of bringing up those kinds of personal wounds. When I first met him, I could see he was hurt so I didn’t bug him about it.”
She snorted to herself. “Dragon Lord knows how many social workers, teachers, doctors and psychologists had already done that to him. He didn’t need to be interrogated by yet another stranger. Instead, I left it up to him if he wanted to tell me about it.”
“That’s actually a very mature way of looking at it,” I praised.
Cremator just snorted at me for it. “How old do you think I am, er, was?”
I genuinely shrugged. “I dunno. Fifteen?”
She shot me another look. Much like her emotions in that moment, it was pointed with tinges of nervousness, hurt and a dripping of fear. Seriously. She was an emotional smorgasbord! And I was starting to get a little overwhelmed.
Pushing on, she turned her head away and said, “I’m nearly eighteen.”
I cringed at that. “Sorry.”
Cremator shrugged. “Not your fault. Teapot did a number on us. Jacob and Jackie were both fourteen, now their adults of their new species.”
She snapped her claws. “Happened in an instant. Still think they aren’t used to it yet.”
Thinking about it, I had to agree. That must have been strange, getting the respect and responsibility which comes with adulthood, without growing into it. No wonder those two tended to act so childish.
“Thing about Jacob is,” Cremator continued. “I picked up a few things, listening to John and Jackie’s parents talking about him. That’s why I know he has had a hard life. I also know that he has been in the foster system since he was six and a half years old, after his grandmother passed away.”
“Oh,” I said, my shoulders dropping. “What about his parents?”
Cremator cringed and sucked in a breath between her teeth. “Yeah. He definitely doesn’t talk about them. But, what I heard from John is they basically didn’t want him. Was why he was living with his grandmother.”
She turned her head away and I followed her gaze to observe the unicorn in question as he busied himself with the contents of his cooking pots.
“He got tossed around from family to family before landing with John and Jackie’s parents only a few months ago. We’ve been doing our best to support him ever since.”
“Poor kid,” I said.
Cremator nodded. “Jackie was the first to befriend him. From what I heard, she was watching My Little Pony and Jacob was in the room. Not sure exactly what happened, but they ended up watching a bunch of episodes together and they bonded over it.”
She waved her hand at our surroundings. “Thing is, since being here, he has really come alive. Just hope he realises that this is some kind of reality and not just the cartoon he came to love.”
One of the things which caught my eye as Cremator gestured to our surroundings was a familiar pink pony with poofy pink mane and tail who was trotting along a path in the park toward us.
Pinkie Pie approached with a spring in her step and a picnic basket of her own balanced perfectly on her back. She was even humming a tune to herself.
“Hi!” Pinkie waved to me and Cremator as we stepped near. “I have a very special delivery for you!”
“That didn’t take very long,” Cremator said.
Pinkie simply smiled and said, “I made it a rush order.”
Doing my best to not lick my lips in anticipation of actually getting to taste Pinkie Pie’s cooking, I asked, “Can we see them?”
“Oh, nonono!” Pinkie quickly declared while shaking her head. “We can’t let the cakes out yet. We wouldn’t want to spoil things by attracting bees with their sugary goodness.”
She then reached into her picnic basket, whipped out a red and white checker blanket, and swiftly laid it on the ground in perfect placement from minimal effort. She then went about setting up some other decorations, none of which we asked for, but it definitely made her happy. When she was done, she headed cheerfully toward Cremator but her nose clearly caught a whiff of something and she suddenly stopped to sniff the air.
Following the scent quickly brought her to where Shield Breaker was busy stirring the pot of beans. It wasn’t long before Pinkie was doing her best to take a peek at what he was cooking.
“Please,” Shield Breaker grumbled as he tried to focus on his tasks. “I’m busy right now.”
Pinkie gave a snort. “I only wanted to know what you were making. I’ve never seen food like that before."
Doing his best to shoo Pinkie Pie away yet keep on cooking, Shield Breaker snipped back, "Something my Grandmother used to make, now back off!"
"That's sweet," Pinkie smiled. The corners of her mouth fell as she put a little distance between them both. "But, you don’t need to be such a grumpy grump about it, like my sister.”
“You’d know her best,” Shield Breaker muttered. “Limestone wasn’t very happy the whole time I was at the farm.”
“Limestone? I was talking about Marble.” Pinkie then cocked her head and tapped her chin with a hoof in thought. “No, Marble’s a sweetie pie.”
She suddenly shook her head. “Wait, you met them?”
Before Shield Breaker could respond, Pinkie shot forward and leaned over the hotplate and pots on the barbeque, doing her best to press her forehead against Shield Breaker’s forehead while rambling off a series of quickfire questions. “When did you meet them? How are they doing? Did they give you a tour of the farm? Aren’t they just the best?”
All through it, Jacob tried to push Pinkie Pie back with a magical hand he conjured with his horn. Even with it, he struggled to budge the excited pink pony back even the tiniest step. In his frustration, and while clearly worried Pinkie might accidentally knock over one of the pots, Shield Breaker shouted, “Comet! Come here!”
“Ja?” Comet Streak asked when he trotted up to the barbeque.
As he continued to try and fight off Pinkie and her questions, Shield Breaker gritted his teeth and growled, “Tell Pinkie about our rock farm visit. I’m a little busy!”
Comet Streak arched an eyebrow, looking a little dumbstruck. “What should I–?”
He didn’t even finish his sentence before Pinkie Pie confronted him, peppering him with the same questions she had been rapidly asking Shield Breaker.
Watching Comet Streak flatten his ears and cringe away from the eager onslaught of Pinkie Pie, I couldn’t help but notice how much of her quirks truly had made it into the show. Shaking the novelty of the situation off a little, I decided to return to asking Cremator some questions of my own.
“You said ‘she’ when talking about Jackie,” I said. “Guessing he wasn’t a male before the teapot.”
Cremator shook her head, pulling her attention away from the barrage of questions flying at her friend. “Er, yep. Her actual name is Jacqueline, but only her mother calls her that. Before Jacob landed with them, she spent a lot of her time following in John’s footsteps. Was why she took up basketball. Sometimes, I think she’s better at it than her brother.”
Cremator giggled to herself as her mouth broke into a sly grin. “Don’t tell John I said that. Wanted him to realise it for himself one day. But now…”
I couldn’t help but finish her sentence. “Bit hard to now with hooves instead of hands, I’m guessing.”
Cremator snapped her claws before pointing at me and giving a wink. “You got it.”
“And I’m assuming John was a male human, with a name like that.”
“Of course,” Cremator stated proudly. “I have a bit of fun poking her about it, but she takes it well. She was always the protective big brother. Made sure we were all safe, even if me and Comet Streak were older than her.”
I eyed her hesitantly. “Were you two together… you know, a couple before you got here?”
“What me and John?”
I nodded.
“Nah, just friends for life,” Cremator declared. “Even while I was up in Seattle and them down in San Fran. We’ve always stayed in touch.”
“Okay,” I said as my gaze drifted across the others gathered for the picnic. “What about Comet Streak?”
“Original name Johan Schmidt,” Cremator explained. “We already have a John among us, so he chose to go by Schmidt to make things less confusing. He’s an exchange student. Having a year seeing what America is like before heading back for university. Comes from Heidelberg in Germany. We speak each other’s languages decently, so we use it to chat without anyone but John knowing what we’re saying.”
“Anything else I should know?” I pressed.
Cremator shrugged. “He used to like exploring caves with his family. Hasn’t done that since well before he arrived to stay with me.”
I was about to press her a little further when Shield Breaker called out to everyone, “Chilaquiles, rice and refried beans are ready. Come get a bowl!”
Once everyone had a bowl and taken a place to sit around the blanket Pinkie had set up (and Jackie had taken a moment to stare at Pinkie up close while breathing heavily), I finally had a chance to taste what Shield Breaker had created. Sadly, as usual for my changeling tastebuds, the subtleties were lost on me. Although I did pick up the traces of love he had unwittingly mixed into it.
When asked about it by Pinkie Pie, Shield Breaker explained how it was something he had watched and tried to help his grandmother make when he was younger. It was something of a comfort food to him and that brought a pang of understanding from my heart at what Cremator had shared with me earlier.
While we all ate, Richard sat next to John, grumbling to himself as he struggled to grip his spoon with his hooves. “So much easier if I still had hands.”
“It takes some practice, but you get it eventually,” John said, showing how competent she had become with the normally simple skill for most humans.
“We shouldn’t have to adapt. Most of us just want to get back home,” Richard muttered. “Go back to being normal. Once I find Yori, that’s exactly what I want to do. That’s why some people are struggling.”
I frowned hearing that. I wasn’t the only one. Many of the others looked just as concerned as I was feeling.
“You hadn’t heard?” Richard asked, noticing the looks on everyone’s faces.
“About what?” asked John.
“Some of us haven’t been adapting well to life here,” Richard explained. “Some have even taken their own lives.”
Pinkie Pie gasped. Others looked stricken at what he had said. I simply hung my head. Maybe I wasn’t the only person turned into changeling?
I felt a claw land on my shoulder. Looking to my right, I found Cremator watching me. Once she was certain she had my attention, she gripped my shoulder a little firmer, then smiled at me. I nodded my silent understanding of her message and smiled back.
“But… But why would anypony do that?” Pinkie stammered. “Is it really so bad living in Equestria?”
“I wouldn’t say it’s bad,” said John, trying to sound as understanding and gentle as possible. “But, we have lives and families back home. And they’re probably worried about us.”
“Not to mention the ones still under Sombra’s control,” Richard muttered.
“Hey,” John said, doing her best to keep her eyes locked with Richard. “The right people are working on it. They’ll rescue Yori and everyone else. Then we’ll find a way back.”
Richard fixed John with a hard stare. “I know Calm Mind put you up to this. You don’t need to try and placate me.”
“Think what you want,” said John. “Doesn’t mean we won’t do what we can for you.”
“That’s very kind of you,” said Pinkie, her eyes still filled with concern. “But what about the ponies who don’t like living here so much… they…”
Her eyes were brimming with tears now at the very thought of the suicides Richard had touched upon.
“It is not that we do not like this world,” Comet Streak said, leaning closer to Pinkie. “Far from it. It is incredibly beautiful. We simply want to return to our families or, at the very least, let them know that we are safe and they need not worry about us so much.”
“Not everyone came here with friends,” Jackie added. “Some people will need a little more help than others to get through this.”
“Then I will do my best to cheer all of them up,” Pinkie stated emphatically. There was such determination in her eyes as well as her voice, for in that very moment, everyone believed she truly would do as she said. Her tone snapped back to its inquisitive state when she looked off into the distance and said, “Oh, who is that?”
With instincts honed while travelling alone through the forests, my attention shot to where Pinkie was looking. There I spotted a purple maned, brown coated bat pony walking along the edge of the park with a large box on her back.
“Hello there!” Pinkie shouted. She waved a hoof to try and make herself even more noticeable.
The bat pony mare suddenly shrank at the attention. She then, using her wings to hold the box on her back steady, darted away in the direction of the temporary houses for all the former humans in Ponyville.
“Oh,” Pinkie said, a tinge of sadness in her voice. “I was hoping she’d come join us.”
Watching the bat pony disappear into the distance, I caught a glimpse of a long, lithe-bodied creature, its sapphire scales shimmering in the sunlight, as it darted after the bat pony.
Once we were finished eating and Pinkie had coaxed some of the others into playing some games, I ushered Cremator aside to continue our earlier discussion.
I smiled at her as we settled on the grassy top of a nearby hill. “There’s still one you haven’t told me about.”
Cremator blinked at me then quickly counted off on her claws. “No, I covered everyone. Who do you think I missed?”
I grinned and tapped her on the nose with a hoof. “You, of course.”
Cremator grinned and leaned back casually. “What would you like to know? Just be careful where you tread, I might not answer.”
With that laid-back warning in mind, I started down a list of things I really wanted to know about.
“Okay,” I said, shifting my body to lay more comfortably on my stomach. “So, how did you end up here? I mean, you don’t act like the typical My Little Pony fans I’ve seen among the other former humans.”
Cremator simply shrugged. “Jackie wanted to go to a convention with Jacob. Show him a bit of fun. John had to go with them as chaperone by order of their parents. Though he probably would’ve done it anyway, just to keep them safe.
“Schmidt and I teased him a little about it. Nothing malicious. He said we should go too, misery loves company after all. Then he set a challenge. If one of us could beat him, one-on-one in basketball, he’d suck it up and go alone. Jackie overheard it and wanted in. Then it was two-on-two…”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as a smirk cracked my face. “Guessing they won?”
“Pfft, of course.” Cremator raised a finger and shook it rhythmically, seemingly punctuating each word she next spoke. “Never accept a basketball challenge from those two.”
She hugged her knees to her chest and turned her head away. “Never did learn to hold my tongue around them.”
“Family?” I asked. The moment the word reached her ears, Cremator visibly bristled. Her eyelids narrowed and she stared straight forward into the distance.
Even with the physical change, I pressed on, although a little more cautiously. “Sorry, your parents treat you like Shield Breaker’s did to him?”
Cremator let a heavy breath escape her nostrils.
“No,” she said with a bitterness to her voice. All right, I wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction. She seemed so calm and happy talking about her friends, even if she was a bit guarded about Shield Breaker.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Cremator muttered. “My parents are pretty well off. High flying, well paid jobs and such. Went to all the best schools. Meet with all the right people.”
I frowned when I saw her claws tighten against her arms.
“There’s the negligence of people like Jacob’s parents. Is why I like helping out people like Jacob. Give him a chance to be something more than them. Then there’s the negligence of those who have kids just for the obligation of it. The ones who shove their kids into boarding schools and do as little as possible to see them as they grow up, just so long as the schools turn their kids into exact copies of them.”
Cremator’s upper lip curled back, baring some of her teeth as she clenched her jaw. Okay, that was definitely not something I expected to come from such an easy-going person.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Cremator shrugged her shoulders stiffly. “Not your fault. Was why I did all I could to get out of there. Oh, sure, they still paid for things when I moved to San Fran, but at least I got to live around people who genuinely enjoyed having me around.”
I blinked at that. “You… lived on your own? Isn’t that illegal?”
Another shrug. “Money talks when the right people know each other. Not that I was really alone. John and Jackie’s family were right next door. And I’ve had Schmidt living with me for a couple of months now, so it wasn’t that boring.”
She jutted her head at everything before us, adding, “Not that I could ever call what we’re dealing with here and now boring.”
And, with all of that, I simply had to ask a similar question to one from earlier. “You and Schmidt, you lived together?”
A single nod. “Yep.”
I swallowed heavily, doing my best to force a lump of concern down my throat. “Were you two…”
I trailed off when Cremator’s eye rolled toward me. She turned her head and gave me a wry smile. “No, we weren’t a couple. Never saw him that way.”
And the lump quickly dissolved.
“What is it with you and wanting to know things like that?”
I froze again. Goodbye lump, hello suddenly huge, twisting knot of anxiety in my chest. All I could do was stare at her. With my continued silence, I watched as the amusement faded from her eyes. She turned her head away and sat silently watching the others for what felt like several long minutes to me.
“William.”
I turned my gaze to Cremator, a question I really didn’t need to ask poised on my lips.
“That’s my name, too.”
Wow. The teapot really did a number on so many people. And here I was thinking Cremator had always been a girl. All I could do was stare at her in thought. Cremator’s eyes flickered my way a few times and she shifted nervously.
She cleared her throat, breaking the lengthening silence between us. “I’d rather just be Cremator, though. She has a lot more freedom than William.”
“I like Cremator,” I said. “She’s kind and fun. I don’t doubt William is too.”
“You’re fun too,” Cremator said. “Was part of why I invited you to this lunch. Get to know you a little. Hang out for a while.”
I smiled. “It’s been nice learning more about all of you. I don’t feel quite so much like a stranger now. At least with you. I should probably spend some time with the others as well. See what they’re really like.”
Cremator shrugged. “If you feel you need to. They already think of you as their friend. You saved all of them, including me, at one point. If you need help from us, just ask.”
I shot her another smile, one which went deep into my core. “Thank you.”
Even with the genuine gratitude I was projecting toward her, what I felt in return was a churning mixture of nervousness and lingering dread, with the faintest hint of… hope? I frowned at what I was sensing from Cremator, reached out and gently placed a hoof on her shoulder. She stiffened a little at my touch.
“You okay?” I asked.
Cremator sucked in a breath then let it out in a shudder. When she spoke, it was the meekest I had ever heard her before. “You– Do you want to do this again some time?”
I arched my eyebrows and smiled widely. With a shrug of my shoulders, I said, “Hang out with everypony? Sure.”
Cremator cleared her throat and the roiling feelings I could sense in her only grew in strength.
“Was meaning more like having something to eat together.” Cremator shifted uncomfortably, but did her best to keep facing me. “But, you know, just us two?”
“You mean, like an actual date?” My tongue tripped over the words as my concentration wavered. Was she seriously asking me out?
Cremator nodded, keeping her gaze on me.
“Oh.” I froze. I was so stunned, I could have sworn my disguise magic had faltered along with my heart. All of a sudden, I was reliving that day with Kaska. She had asked me in similar words. And, just like with Kaska, Cremator watched me, the initial hope she had bundled into such a brave question began to fade just a little further the longer I took to respond.
I felt my hoof fall from her shoulder. “C-Can I think about it?”
“R-Right,” Cremator stammered. Her shoulders fell and she let out a choked breath as she turned to watch her friends in silence.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t try being friends in the meantime,” I said, trying my best to minimise the fallout. And, for the second time in my life, I felt so awful. I hadn’t said no, not like with Kaska. That said, Kaska had asked for something a bit more than to spend time getting to know each other. But, in her defence, we had known each other much longer than I had been around Cremator. It still raised the same question I had back then. What would my parents think?
Even if it felt rather awkward sitting beside each other after my non-committal response, I remained by Cremator’s side and looked out over the park as she did. Watching these people, now ponies and other creatures, still together after what they had been through.
John enjoying a bowl of Jacob’s cooking while Jackie tried to beg more food from his now unicorn friend. And there was Schmidt, stretched out and smiling as he gazed off to the horizon. I couldn’t help but smile. Then, something Cremator had said tickled my brain. Not in a bad way. In fact, it brought a smile to my face as the whole idea dawned on me.
I closed my eyes and hummed a few short bars before repeating Cremator’s words. “That’s my name too.”
“Pardon?” Cremator asked.
When I opened my eyes, I found her looking at me with confused, slightly worried eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I said, smiling a little as I dared to unleash my thought into the world. “Just all of your names.”
I brought the tune back into my voice as I repeated the names I had learned about today even as I pointed a hoof at each of them in turn. “John. Jacob. Jackie, William, Schmidt. That’s my name too. Dah dee dah…”
Cremator only stared at me, blinking at my weirdness. Then I saw the mischievous glint spark in her eyes. A grin cracked her lips as she sang out, “Whenever we go out, people always shout…”
We finished together. “There goes John, Jacob, Jackie, William, Schmidt!”
As we leaned against each other, giggling, we could hear the others in the park as they picked up the song. Pinkie joined in and even Richard grumpily muttered out the ‘dah dee dah’ moments. It wasn’t the first time I had seen a group of ponies break out in song, but it was definitely the first time I had been the cause of it. Even if it was unintentional.
Best of all, something about the song took the edge off the emotions swirling within Cremator and we were able to slip past our moment of awkwardness for the rest of the day. I smiled to myself as I looked out over the park. If I had to start again, I guess Ponyville wasn’t a bad place to do so. Especially with the people I was beginning to see as my friends…