Nineteen years ago, my sister and her friends freed Princess Luna from her thousand-year curse and returned a long-lost sister to us ponies. Three years’ worth of crazy adventures and happenings afterwards, we got another new princess in the form of Twilight Sparkle. The world I grew up in and the world I live in now are two very different ones, so different that I often find myself lost within this strange, new, familiar place.
One year after her coronation, Twilight brought technology that was like something outta science fiction to our world; didn’t take long for that stuff to spread like wildfire. Analog techniques and practices fell by the wayside faster than a puppy chases a toy in the air, and I can’t say I was happy about it. The old world crumbled before my eyes in more ways than one, and I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet.
With a mare I could give up my life for and a son on the way, I abandoned this strange new Ponyville and found a nice secluded place to start a new life. With freedom in hoof, I thought I’d done it. I’d escaped the strange new world with everything I wanted and it looked like things would stay the way they were, the way I knew them, for as long as I could manage it. Unfortunately for me, that just wasn’t the case.
As some things change, other things stay the same. The world might be new, the technology might have changed, but the problems in the hearts of ponies are always the same. After thirty-seven years on this Earth trying to run from it, it seems like change has finally found me.
“Hey, Pa?”
My ears twitched at the sound of my summons. I took my readers off and looked up from my spreadsheets. “What’s up, Ox?”
My oldest stepped into my office. “Well, Ah was wonderin’ if ya had that free time ya said ya would. Ya know. We were supposed ta play a game tonight, remember?”
Damn it! I knew I forgot something. Well, forgot is a strong word. I didn’t forget. I just didn’t want to do this. I resigned myself for what was about to transpire and gave my sheets one last look-over. It’d been dry this July, so there’d be a spike in the water bill next month, but not something that would go too far out of the usual budget. I wrote that little detail down, then stood up from my desk.
“Sure, Ox. Let’s go… play this game or whatever.”
The twelve-year-old bounced in place. “Yes! Ah’ve already got it set up on the TV Pa, you’re gonna like this one, Ah promise!” He bolted for the living room and I could swear he left a mulberry-colored trail in his place.
“Goddess help me.”
“Come on Pa, all ya have ta do is turn the wheel just like ya would on the tractor! Ya only need three buttons this time!”
I clicked my tongue. “Ya say it like it’s that simple. There ain’t no resistance on this thing. It’s like Ah’m tryin’ ta drive some invisible car that handles every surface like ice.” I was at least on the course for most of the game this time, but that didn’t make it any easier than the others. Less buttons, more buttons, simpler instructions, more complicated instructions: I’m just never any good at these things.
A warning symbol popped up above my little guy in the go-kart. All of a sudden, a big blue explosion caught the poor driver. “What in the—” He flew off the rainbow track and fell into space for the eighth time this race, and then got fished up and thrown back on as another racer passed him. A big 12th in the saddest yellow I’ve ever seen popped up in the corner of the screen. They sure do make you feel bad for not being good at these things.
A sigh escaped me. “Can’t we just be done with this, Ox?”
Oxford crossed his forelegs and pouted. “Come on Pa, it ain’t that hard. The finish line is just ahead, at least finish the race.”
Another sigh. I tried again. Don’t go fast enough, you slide off the track. Don’t go slow enough, you can’t turn in time to not slide off the track. Apparently there’s another button that makes turning easier, but I have enough trouble as it is trying to remember what items do what, what to hit, what not to hit, what makes me go faster or slower: just all too much to take in at once. Luckily, he really meant it this time. The finish was at the end of a straightaway, and I was the last racer left.
“Are we good?” I asked. “Is that it? There’s not a whole other track after this one, right?”
Oxford groaned and shook his head. “No, there ain’t.”
Relief exited my breath. “Oh, thank the Goddess.”
He glared at me. “Really?”
I threw a hoof up in defeat. “Ah’m sorry Ox, these just ain’t my thing. Can’t we… can’t we just do somethin’ simple like a board game next time?”
“We always play board games, Pa! Why can’t ya just learn one of my games fer once? This has less rules than Monopoly! We’ve played at least three other versions of it before, and the controller actually fits in yer hooves this time!”
I brought a hoof to my mouth and started to chew on it. “Alright, alright, fine, Ox, run me through it again.”
I leaned back in my recliner and waited for the incoming assault of explanation after explanation on just how easy this game was, and why I shouldn’t have any trouble learning. Oxford loves these things, and no matter how hard I try, they just never stick. But, that doesn’t excuse me from trying either. If I’d had mine around when I was his age, I probably would’ve bugged my Pa about all the new things I like that he didn’t know anything about just to share something with him.
If only things were that simple, maybe I wouldn’t be having these problems.
The boy’s eyes lit up and he got up off the floor and ran over to my chair to show me how everything worked. Again. “Look, it’s real simple, alright? Ya press this one ta go, that one ta stop, this one ta drift, that one ta use an item, and ya turn the wheel ta turn. Four buttons. It ain’t that hard right? All these surfaces are slick, so ya gotta watch out and be careful on them, and if ya drive on this…”
“So… Ah’ve been thinkin’, Pa.”
Pulled out of my trance bucking my apple trees, Liberty had stopped working and had her eyes on the ground. What she’d said finally processed, and I was almost afraid to ask. If it’s not one thing, it’s always another with her. “About what, Sugarcube?”
My youngest turned away from her tree and took a seat on the half-full basket underneath it. “Have ya ever thought about gettin’ some power tools fer this place?”
I blinked. “Power… tools?”
The filly’s face brightened. “Yeah! Ya know, like a drill, or a weed eater, or a tiller, or a lawn mower, or a backhoe! Those big ol’ machines that make all the groundwork easier on ya!”
So it’s power tools this week. Got it. I wouldn’t even begin to know why she was interested in this particular subject on this particular day, but that was Liberty. If I didn’t watch her come out ten years ago, I’d have to wonder if she was Applebloom’s and not mine.
“And… why exactly do we need power tools? Ah know the ax needs ta be replaced, and my chisel’s startin’ ta get dull, but the plow is fine and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with the reel mower. What even is a ‘backhoe?’ Is that some kinda… double-sided hoe or somethin’?”
Up and about now, Liberty waved a hoof at me. “Naw, nothin’ like that. Ya see, it’s a big ol’ tractor kinda thing with the big wheels in the back, and it’s got a huge scoop on the front, and it has a powered arm on the back with a giant shovel attached ta that end. Ah know how ya always complain about that big hill in the back with the rock on it. If ya had one of these things, ya could move it!”
I scratched at my beard. A second tractor would be nice, but it sure as hell ain’t something we can afford right now. I wouldn’t be mad about getting rid of that damn boulder either… But, I have to wonder… “Well, that sounds nice and all, but uh… why bring this up, Liberty?”
Liberty mirrored me and scratched at her chin. “Ah see ya work so hard all the time, and ya complain about yer back hurtin’, and Ah figured it’d be easier on ya if we could do more ‘round here, ya know? Ah’m not strong enough to pull the plow, and neither is Ox, but if we had one of them fancy gas-powered ones, we could do it together and it wouldn’t be so hard on ya, ya know? Ox doesn’t think he wants ta stay on the farm forever, so—”
“Wait, stop. Ox doesn’t want what now?”
Liberty gasped and put a hoof over her mouth. “Ah mean! Ah uh… Ah mean…”
A wave of exhaustion washed over me all at once. I had to sit down. “When did he tell ya that?”
Her little blue eyes fell to the ground. “Well… it was about a week ago, but he uh… he told me not ta say anythin’ about that.”
Great. That’s just perfect. This is karma, ain’t it? I ran away from the Acres, so now the orchard I built from scratch is gonna die with me, ain’t it? Ox’s apple don’t even look like a real one; it looks more like one of those computer graphics he always talks about. What if he ends up doing that with his life? Diving into the world of video games and computers, a world so far removed from me, I won’t be able to hold a conversation with him when he’s older and more into it. Oh Goddess, this is karma, ain’t it?
I rubbed at my temples. “And… what about you? Do ya… would ya wanna keep the orchard fer yer self if it ever ended up that way?” You know, provided she doesn’t get scooped up and whisked away by some stallion and settles down to do whatever like Applebloom did. She never really had any interest in teaching, but at the same time, she never expected to get the Acres, so why wouldn’t she go off with somepony she loved?
Liberty drew a circle in the dirt. “W-well…”
Oh, not you too!
“Pa, Ah have a confession ta make.”
I took a sharp breath. “And… what would that be, Liberty?”
She took a couple steps closer to me and sat down. She looked me in the eyes, clear and blue as the noon day sky, just like her grandmother’s. At that very moment, I knew I wasn’t going to like what I was about to hear.
“Ya know how Ah don’t have my cutiemark yet?”
I nodded. “Eeyup.”
“And… ya know how Ah’ve been hangin’ out with Ace after school?”
That’s uh… Scootaloo’s boy, ain’t it? I nodded. “Eeyup.”
“Well, the truth is…”
Oh, Goddess, this ain’t another Applejack situation, is it!? No, no, calm down Mac, she ain’t old enough for that yet. I don’t think. Unless there’s something Sugarbelle hasn’t told me. Applebloom was… early in that department, and even she didn’t start ovulating till she was eleven. No, can’t be that.
“We go visit the shootin’ range after school once a week.”
I blinked. “You… do what?”
“The uh… the shootin’ range. Ya know. Targets and guns and bullets. Mrs. Loo takes us and uh… that’s what we do. Ace’s cutiemark is a target and all, and he’s really, really good at it, but Ah uh… Ah ain’t half bad either. Ah hit a bull’s eye last week! They say Ah’ve got real good eyes, and Ah can hit targets at a range only adult ponies can get, so Ah thought that… maybe that’s where my talents are.”
Ah swear ta the Goddess here and now, next time Ah see Scootaloo… I struggled for words for a moment. I finally settled on, “Does yer mother know about this?”
“Uh… she knows that Ah hang out with Ace and Mrs. Loo after school. M-maybe not the specifics about what we do, but uh…”
I let out a breath and forced my eyes not to roll back into my head. “Well, don’t tell her. Good Goddess. Ya’d better get yer cutiemark quick. She doesn’t even like the one Ah have fer timberwolves.”
Liberty nodded. “My lips are sealed.” Then she drew a hoof across ‘em. “But, speakin’ of, did ya know that that particular gun is the standard fer skeet shootin’? The twelve-gauge Swift and West 13 has such a great reputation fer accuracy that all the pros use it. Ah was thinkin’ that if we got a backhoe, we could build up a dirt mound somewhere and we could set up a range here! The one that Mrs. Loo takes us ta always has a ton of ponies in it because it’s the only one on this side of Ponyville, and the other one is almost an hour away on the other side of the city! Ah mean, if we had our own range here, then maybe Ah’d consider…”
And so the truth comes out. Where Oxford is usually quiet, Liberty was not. If she got the chance, she could and would talk your ear off about whatever it is she’s interested in that week, but for once, this sounds like something that lasted for more than a week, which is possibly even worse. If she really had a talent for this and she ended up making a career out of shooting, then not only would Sugarbelle have a fit about it, I would end up with a backhoe sooner or later, and there’d be a range on this land just ta make sure it doesn’t die with me.
I suppose Granny was right again, but when wasn’t she? When it rains, it pours.
“Hey, Mac? Can I talk to ya?”
Immediately, alarm bells were going off. First it was ‘hey Pa,’ at the beginning of the week. Then it was ‘I’ve been thinking, Pa,’ in the middle of the week. Now, it’s, ‘can I talk to ya?’ Nothing can be good about this. Let alone the fact that she came to get me while I was smoking, a thing I do that she hates, but she puts up with it because she loves me.
I put out my cigar and clipped off the end. “Sure, Sugar, what’s up?”
It’d been a mostly normal week as far as the farm goes, and Sugarbelle’s bakery is doing well right now too, but it’d been a week full of disappointments, and the week wasn’t over yet. I still haven’t confronted Ox about the farm, I ended up going with Liberty to see her shoot and it really does look like she’s got a future in it, and now I’m wondering just what will become of this place. Twenty years and I’ll be gettin’ close to where Granny was when her mind started to go. What happens when I can’t do it anymore? If nopony takes over, will it really just… all fade away?
To my surprise, Sugarbelle didn’t ask me to come in to get away from the smoke. She came and sat next to me, purse in hooves. I swallowed. “Uh… somethin’ wrong?”
I could see that she was trying her hardest not to sneeze, and after a quick flash of her horn, most of the smoke was blown away. She’s usually not too quick to use magic since neither of the kids are unicorns, but on special occasions, she would. I wasn’t sure what that meant.
“Well, I was gettin’ groceries on my way home today, and… I saw somepony. I about had a heart attack because I thought Ox was with some random mare I’d never seen before who was three-times his age, but very quickly I realized this boy was a bit older than him. Do um… Do you know a mare by the name of ‘Cheerilee?’”
This cannot be happening. There’s no way. There is absolutely no way. Suddenly, my mouth felt very dry, and much more so than what a cigar would cause me. “W-well, Ah did somethin’ like fifteen years ago.” Paused to find the words. “What uh… what did this mare look like?”
That was not the answer Sugarbelle was hoping for. She was trying her best to keep herself from frowning, her wheels turning in that head of hers, thinking things that definitely didn’t happen because I know they didn’t, but things she couldn’t help but think.
Her lips wavered for a moment. “W-well, I… know I probably should’ve asked first, but I took a picture when I saw them because it was just so… uncanny how much that boy looks like Ox, and I just… um, here.”
She passed me her expensive little smart device and when I saw the screen, I had to rub at my eyes. That was most definitely the Cheerilee I dated just before my life felt like it was falling apart. As for the kid, he was… almost the spitting image of Pa and Applejack’s oldest, probably even the same age as Whiskey at that, and his coat and mane colors were nearly identical to Ox, if just a shade or two darker.
That don’t make any damn sense! Cheeri and I never made it that far along! We only… it was just the one time, and we broke up right after that! She never told me about it if she really… This can’t be happening, can it? He’s not… I don’t…
“Mac?”
Slowly, I turned to look at my wife. She was fraught with concern, her brow was furrowed. A number of emotions fought for control of her face; she couldn’t settle on one until she got some kind of reaction out of me.
I swallowed. “Ah’m alright. So, Ah know what ya might be thinkin’, and whatever it is exactly, Ah want ya ta know that Ah haven’t seen Cheerilee in fifteen years, alright? Ah ain’t never been with another mare since Ah met ya, and that’s the truth, alright?”
Relief washed out of Sugarbelle and she sank into the other patio chair. “Oh, thank the Goddess.” She shook her head. “I won’t lie to ya Mac, I thought—”
I slapped the arm of my chair and shook my head. “It ain’t true! Ah don’t know who that kid is. Or why he looks just like…
“Pa.”
“Ox.”
Sugarbelle went to finish my sentence in unison with me, but the words we said weren’t the same. Ears up, alarm on both our faces, she asked, “Like… your father? Not… not your son?”
I swallowed. “Well, he’s clearly older than Ox by at least a year or two, it was just… the first thing that came ta mind.”
Sugrabelle’s throat tightened. “Why would you say that? I…” She let her head fall into her hooves. “Mac, you’re making this harder than it needs to be.”
I got out of my chair and kneeled in front of her. “Look, Ah’m sorry, alright? I swear ta the Goddess, Ah have never nor will ever cheat on ya, alright?”
I tried to take her hoof in mine, but instead she pushed it away. “I’m sorry! I can’t do this right now! I need to think, okay?” She pushed herself out of the patio chair and stood up.
“Sugar, Ah—”
“Don’t! Just, don’t.” She took a deep breath and wiped at her eyes. “I need to breathe. Just… stay out here and finish your death stick and… and wait till I’m asleep to come to bed, okay? Please?”
I chewed into my cheek. When I was young, Pa always said it was easier to deal with the pain on your skin than the pain in your heart. I rubbed at my snout, looked away and nodded. “Sure, Sugar. Ah’ll… Ah’ll see ya in the mornin’.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
She turned to go back inside, and just before she closed the door, I said, “Ah love you.”
She looked back but didn’t respond.
The door closed.