//------------------------------// // The Feeling // Story: Family Tree // by miss-cyan //------------------------------// I had me a bad case of stupid brain. That pink pony, that little pastel gremlin, actually…actually planted a smooch on my cheek. No, scratch that! Two smooches! Why… it felt like my heart was going to jump up into my throat it was beating so hard. Why in the world would she do that? “Dear?” Mrs. Cake tried to get my attention again, grinning. “Are you gonna make it?” “I…” everything felt out of focus, my face felt so hot and I was sweating, my nerves were shot. “I’m supposed to…Sweet Apple Acres. Lunch.” “Oh, well you best be on your way!” she smiled, turning me around and giving me a gentle nudge toward the door. My knees wobbled as I caught myself from stumbling. “I’ll tell Pinkie you said goodbye.” “I…uh.” I turned my head back, suddenly hyperaware of the other ponies in the room. So many eyes on me, different looks on their faces. Bemusement, smirking, knowing. What did they know? “Th…thanksIgottagookaybye.” My steps were hurried and nervous. Ponies generally moved out of my way but I couldn’t focus on them at that moment. My heart was still too loud. Calm down… I tried to reason with myself. You know Pinkie Pie, she’s just a silly pony. She didn’t mean anything by it. Just a…thank you, yeah! She was just showing you how much she liked Little Bluey. Don’t think things are different than they are. Nothing’s changed. But it had. I gave both cheeks a strong slap with the palms of my hands, startling some ponies as I passed. Get out of your head, Lottie. She’s just...Pinkie. She…she doesn’t like you like that. I slowed my pace, just a little. The thoughts in my head were too fast, too loud. My ears were still burning from the thought of her. She doesn’t like you like that. Something else hit, deep in my chest. The same thought echoed over and over again. Why…why did the thought of that…of her not feeling that way… Hurt? I kept walking, my thoughts too jumbled to sort them out and move at the same time. It was still my day off, I could get back to the farm and have the rest of it to myself to brood over this. Or I could just take a load off, lay in the guest bed and stare into the abyss, thinking about nothing at all. Both sounded like better options than what I was currently feeling. The closer I got to the farmhouse, the louder the barking got. It was Winona, that much I could tell, but I could hear voices calling out too. By the time I got to the side kitchen door, it was almost deafening. Granny Smith was at the stove, putting a tray of biscuits in with a practiced ease. “Well, nice to see you today!” she half-shouted over the noise. “Heard you got into some kind of magic-hoosits! Did the princess sort everything out!?” “Uh…Yeah!” I had to shout back. “What’s going on?” “Winona was chasin’ some critter away from the chicken coop this mornin’ and it ran into the house!” she went to the table, setting out napkins. “The youngins are tryin’ to help her chase it out, but I think they’re havin’ some trouble!” “Huh…” I could hear all the commotion from upstairs. If I was going to do that relaxing, this couldn’t keep up. “I better go see about that.” “I’m rootin’ for ya!” she called after me as I went to the stairs. “Lunch’ll be ready soon!” It was mostly barking now, but I could hear the siblings talking to each other too. “Big Mac, get me my lasso, I’m gonna try to rope it if’n the little thing scurries across the room again.” “Eeyup.” He was out in the hall in a hurry, and he nodded as he passed me by. Of course this was going down in the guest room. I got to the door and went in. “Lottie!” Applejack shouted over Winona. “Close the door, if it gets back to the hallway, it might get in the walls again!” I shut the door behind me, my ears assaulted by the barking. Apple Bloom was trying to coax her away from the bed with a squeaky toy in one hoof and a treat in the other. “She won’t budge.” The filly sighed. “Lottie!” She tossed the toy and treat, neither getting the family dog’s attention, and came to me. “How did it go? She asked, close enough that she didn’t have to shout. “Did Pinkie love Little Bluey?” “Yep.” I answered quickly, trying not to think anymore. “Granny said there was an animal?” “A rat, maybe? I didn’t get a good look.” she shrugged. “Winona loves all the chickens and chasin’ little varmints out in the barn, so this critter is all she can think about.” I knew that this thing was never gonna come out with a dog in the room. And I was never gonna get some time to myself with all of them in here either. With little patience at the moment, I sighed, making my move. I grabbed Winona around the middle and she let out a startled yelp, and hoisted the pooch up and towards the door. “Lottie?” Applejack asked, no longer having to shout. Winona seemed a little too stunned to keep barking. “Out.” I hefted the dog to my chest and used a free hand to open the door, a surprised Big Mac on the other side. I put the dog in his hooves, the dog whining and licking the side of the stallion’s face. I turned to the sisters, who looked at me confused. “Out!” I repeated myself, and they scrambled for the door. I paused for a moment before I shut it on them. “And thank you.” I nodded at the closed door, satisfied with myself. I turned back to the room with my own plan of attack. I picked up the treat that Apple Bloom had tossed and sat next to the bed. I was ready to relax already, and this was just kind of annoying me. “C’mon out, ya little ankle biter. I know it’s you.” In reality, it was just a hunch. But the hunch paid off when I saw the same little pine marten poke it’s head out from under the bed, it’s little nose twitching in the direction of the treat I was holding. “Yeah, I thought you might want this.” I sighed. “I know Fluttershy said not to eat her animals, but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t want you eating other pony’s animals either, or their eggs.” He didn’t seem to hear my words. He was just staring at the treat, and I could swear I saw a little drool. “Tell you what, you can have this-” I held up a hand to stop him from grabbing for it with his little paws. “-If! If you keep out of henhouses. Deal?” He just grabbed at the air, smacking his chops, his little pointy teeth gleaming. “Don’t think you’re listening.” I shrugged. But I tossed it to him anyway. He snapped his jaws and snatched it out of the air, smacking away as he gnawed on the too large treat meant for an animal several times his size. “Now. I’m gonna go eat.” At the mention of a meal he perked up, Fluttershy did say that he needed to eat a lot. I imagine he got into trouble like this a lot, if he kept coming around ponies. “You can come and see if anything looks good, but you’re gonna kiss and make up with the pup first. Then you gotta go back to Fluttershy’s.” He scurried around, seeming excited. This was just another thing I had to deal with. I reached down and scooped him up, holding him close to my chest. He wasn’t much bigger than a kitten, and his tail was almost as long as he was. He put his paws on my chest, looking up at me. “It’ll be fine.” I said to him, but in a small way I was saying it to myself too. My head was still a million miles away. “I promise.” Winona was whining at me, wanting to get a piece of the tiny weasel in my arms. The Apple family was getting a gander at him too. “He’s one of Fluttershy’s.” I told them. I leaned down to the dog, letting her get close but not too close. She sniffed at him and I could see the fur along his spine bristle a bit. I gave him a little pet to reassure him and he leaned over to sniff her too. “I told him to stay out of the chicken coop.” I told the ponies, and Winona if she could understand. “He was just hungry. You guys mind if I give him something?” “Of course not.” Applejack sighed. “But fair warnin’, if Winona catches him out there again, I can’t promise I can protect him in time. She’s pretty good at catchin’ rats out in the barn before they get into the chicken feed. Or get the animals sick.” “I think it’ll be okay.” I hoped, at least. Maybe the little guy would get lucky and find a pony to take him in, one who’ll feed the little gremlin. We sat down for lunch, the ankle biter staying put on my lap while I passed pieces of things he could eat down to him. “So, Apple Bloom told us about all the magic stuff that went down at the library.” Applejack said between bites. “You seem to be doin’ okay. Did everything go alright?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” I assured them. “I never expected to be able to do any of that. So I’m glad for Twilight figuring it out. And she taught me to start trying to know when I’m using it so I don’t do it on accident again.” “And you made one of them little doodads for Apple Bloom.” Granny said, passing the butter to Big Mac. “It ain’t movin’ like they were sayin’ the one you made yesterday did. Cute though, you did good work.” “Thanks.” I couldn’t help a smile, I was proud of it, magic or not. “It might start moving after a little bit, maybe by morning. Twilight said I definitely did something to it.” Granny Smith just shrugged with a non-committal noise. For some reason it made me feel a little self-conscious. “I’ve been meaning to ask you guys some things about…earth ponies.” I told them. “What it means to be one. Someone in town named Matilda made me think about how I don’t know anything about them and that side of my family. My grandma is an earth pony, and so was her mother. Do…they have something against magic?” “Not necessarily.” Applejack asked with a raised eyebrow. “What makes you say that?” “Well, I’m not too crazy about it sometimes, getting changed and yanked around against my will and all.” I admitted. “And Granny Smith seems to feel the same way when I talk to her about it. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t…doing anything wrong by doing magic in your house, even by accident.” “Oh!” Granny Smith seemed actually surprised by my words. “Don’t you worry about that none, deary. I’m…I’m just an old pony, set in my ways. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with magic. I just don’t much care for ponies who think that we earth ponies don’t have any just ‘cause it looks different from flashy spells. They’re always goin’ on with “Well, why don’t you get some unicorns to help out on the farm?” or “Poor earth ponies, havin’ to do everything with no magic.” It just gets my goat sometimes, it does.” “Twilight’s mentioned something like that a couple of times now.” I told her. “Something about active and passive magic.” “It’s all magic.” She argued. “Just ‘cause you don’t see me shootin’ beams from anywhere doesn’t mean magic is so different from pony to pony.” It was interesting, hearing this from her. It was a different opinion from Twilight’s, but it came from a pretty different experience from hers, if I had to guess. “Some earth ponies never really learned the lessons from the older generations about workin’ together with the other tribes.” She said with a sour face. “They see all magic as goin’ against the earth pony way. Even here in town when winter comes to an end we don’t have unicorns use their horns for anythin’. It’s a way that we earth pony settlers originally got the unicorns in this here town to be more mindful of their neighbors and the struggles we go through. They only have to go without magic for one day in the whole year, and every time there’s tons of unicorns in town sayin’ how they just plum couldn’t live like that every day. It’s well meanin’ enough, but it gets mighty old hearin’ it, year after year, when you’ve been around long as I have.” “I’ve learned to take help when I need it, magic or no.” Applejack said. “But I never understood the earth ponies that think magic is somethin’ bad.” “Like I said, some earth ponies never learned the other side of that lesson, either.” She took a sip from her drink in-between her hooves, looking mindful of her words. “Sure, there’s no shame in doing things the earth pony way, but some of them are thinkin’ of magic, even the kind that some earth ponies can do, as evil and filthy. They think that you need pegasi to work with the weather, but relyin’ on unicorns is shameful. That’s the kind of thinkin’ that made my family migrate to this part of Equestria and start up a town for all kinds of ponies to live in, together. It took a little while for unicorns to move in, like your great aunt Silver Maple, but the town was better off with them than without.” “I never thought of it like that.” I admitted. I’d had my occasional thought about earth ponies just “not having anything”, but in reality that was apparently an antiquated way of thinking here. And the mention of Silver Maple got me a little down, but I tried not to let it show. I gave the little guy in my lap a scratch between the ears as I kept listening. “My Pa.” she started to launch into a story, and you could see the younger ponies settling in, listening to an elder’s wisdom. “He had the magic to take any seed and make sure it sprouted no matter the conditions. Ma could make all sorts of things on her sewing machine, and they made ponies shine their brightest with hers. And they didn’t just zap and make it happen. They had to hone it, make it their own. They study and try hard, as hard as any unicorn. I’m guessin’ that you’ve been makin’ those toys for a long time to get so good.” I nodded. It had taken years of practice to get my toys to turn out how I saw them in my head. And all my work and practice had led me to being as good as I was now. “And from what Apple Bloom told us, your magic ain’t that much different from some earth ponies.” she smiled. “Hay, it kind of sounds a little like mine.” “What do you mean Granny?” Apple Bloom asked. “You do magic by talkin’?” “A’course I do.” She scoffed. “You hear me chattin’ when I bake pies. That’s’ me tellin’ ‘em to be extra delicious. And you think I’m talkin’ to jars and singin’ to the water every zap apple season for kicks? I can’t bring nothin’ to life like Lottie does, but that might be just what her own magic can do.” Apple Bloom looked thoughtful at that. I didn’t know what zap apples were, but the other stuff was something to think about. “There's a lot more to Earth pony magic than ponies might think.” Granny Smith shrugged, taking a bite of a biscuit. “Sure we can do a lot with our hooves, bein’ connected to the land and all, but it’s subtle. It can do more in little ways, ways that aren’t real noticeable when ponies are lookin’. Some earth ponies can sniff out things with magic, or seein’ or talkin’ or anythin’ really. We’re a lot trickier than ponies give us credit for.” “Is that why...why Pinkie can do the things that she can do?” I asked, and a look spread over the faces at the table. “We…try not to think about how she does what she does.” Applejack shook her head. “Her kind of magic just...is.” “Fair enough.” I smiled, remembering my old mantra of “Don’t think about it”. Pinkie certainly had that effect, even now. “You said she liked Little Bluey? Tell me everything!” Apple Bloom once again piped up in that way she did. Everything flooded back and I could feel my face get warm again. “Uh…maybe later kiddo.” I sighed, trying not to show anything on my face. “I’m really tired after today and I need a nap. Maybe in the morning, okay?” “Okay. Sounds good!” She smiled, going back to her meal. But I could feel eyes on me. I had no time or energy to deal with that right now though. I finished up, grabbing a few more things for the little guy and putting my plate in the sink. I went to the front door, putting him down and giving him the last of the food. “Any other day, little guy, I’d walk you back to Fluttershy’s.” I told him. He looked up at me, a nondescript look on his weasel-y face. “But not today. You go on back now, and no more causing any trouble.” He sniffed up at me before turning sharply and sprinting into some tall grass just off the front entryway. He sure was fast for such a tiny thing. I shut the door behind me, finally ready to just turn my brain off and not think about anything. Of course, certain ponies had other plans for me. Just as I had sat down on the bed, there was a knock at the door. I sighed before deciding to tell them to come in. It was Applejack with a worried look on her face. I guess this was to be expected. Ponies could be awfully nosey sorts. But, talking out my problems was also on my “be sure not to fuck this up” list, even if I didn’t feel like talking about this…particular problem. “Lottie? Is everythin’ alright?” she asked. I wrapped one of the spare blankets around my shoulders, trying to shield myself from everything, deep down. “…I don’t know.” I told her, settling into something unfamiliar. How could I even get into this? What even was this? She came to the edge of the bed, looking at me with wide, thoughtful eyes. “Something happened.” “Did ponies give you trouble today?” and I laughed softly, actually feeling better. Twilight had asked me that too when I’d shown up this morning. It was nice, knowing they cared so much. “No. I don’t really care if ponies aren’t that thrilled about me anymore.” And I meant it. “I’ve got friends here.” “…Did somethin’ happen with Pinkie?” she cut right to the chase. I wondered if the she and the other Apple adults had noticed and put her up to this. Or...maybe she was just trying to be a good friend. “Yeah…” I started, pulling the blanket around me tighter, my face hot and feeling overall just kind of crummy. “But…I don’t know if I can talk about it.” “I get it.” She told me, hopping up and sitting on the edge of the bed with me. I guess we were talking about this after all. “But this…well, you gotta understand that this ain’t usually how you react when she gets brought up. I thought…things were pretty good between the two of ya. So seein’ you like this is a bit…unsettlin’.” I looked at the pony in the room with me, and suddenly the strangeness of this entire experience hit me all at once. Not last month the thought of me, sitting in the guest room of a farmhouse of a pony family with a talking pony would be ridiculous. Now it was all too commonplace. I was part pony myself, I had pony friends and… And a pony who meant something to me. I didn’t know how to put it. If I put it into words, that would make it real. It would mean opening myself up to the same thing I felt before. “I already told Rarity about it.” I let the words fall out of me, before I lost my nerve. “About the last time I…” I couldn’t say it. I couldn’t hurt like that again. “I got my heart broken.” I managed to squeak out, my voice hoarse. I was trying not to cry. “I got my heart broken and it hurt so bad. I loved her so much and I ended up hurting her.” “Oh…Lottie.” She looked at me with such sympathy. It hurt, deep down in my chest. “It hurt so much…that I wanted to...to die.” I let it out, and a hoof flew to her mouth with a startled gasp. “I tried, so that she would forgive me for hurting her. I hurt her so bad…” She pulled me suddenly into a bone-crushing hug, she buried her face in my chest while I fought for air. “That...that's just awful!” she cried out. “Lottie, I can’t even…Don’t you ever, ever think-!” “Applejack.” I wheezed out; it was really starting to hurt. She did let me go after a few more seconds, and when she pulled away she was breathing funny herself. “I don’t think about that anymore, I promise.” “You better not!” she shouted at me, socking my arm with her hoof. That was gonna bruise, guaranteed. I don’t think she knew her own strength, judging by her hug. But I’d been prepared for her reaction when I’d first opened my mouth, I wouldn’t hold it against her. “I just…” I tread more carefully now, my body already hurting from a combo of death hugs and a bop to the arm. “I can’t ever hurt anyone like that, ever again. I don’t think I could take it.” She looked fiercely up at me again, and I held up my hands preemptively, the blanket sliding down my shoulders. “I don’t plan on doing what I did ever again, I promise!” My thoughts were ringing in my head, trying to drown out my rational thinking, and pushing themselves to the forefront were the words the dream entity had said to me in my lowest moment. I had stood in front of a familiar pink pony, wanting to be good, because she believed that I was. “Are you going to ruin this one too?” It still hurt; I didn’t know if it ever wouldn’t. “I went to Pinkie’s, to give her Little Bluey.” I still didn’t know if I was ready to talk, but it was happening regardless. “She loved her, of course. But then she-” It was just as bad as before. I could feel the blush on my face spreading all the way to my ears and down to my neck and chest. Applejack waited for me to continue, that usual odd look ponies gave me nowhere to be seen. “She…she kissed me.” Applejack let out a startled, happy gasp but I cut her off. “On the cheek! Well, cheeks, but that’s not…” I took a deep breath, trying to will away the warmth on my face. “And I couldn’t even move.” Applejack looked like she was torn between wanting to tease me a little and listening to me with patience like I needed her to at the moment. And I appreciated her for it. “Pinkie…she’s…” I was trying, I honestly was. “Look, I like Pinkie, she’s a special person, pony, whatever to me. I can admit that. She’s my…best friend. And…if I’m being completely honest…maybe. Maybe!” I stressed the word to the pony next to me. “I could see us…being something else. Once I found out I was part pony, we weren’t too different for me to see that we could be…something else…maybe.” It was overwhelming to say all of this out loud. But I continued. “But I don’t know if I could…” I pushed through the lump in my throat. “…do that again. I can’t help but think that…I’d just end up hurting her.” “Lottie…” her tone was caring, not dismissive at all. I pressed on. “Think about it.” I told her. “I’m trying to get home. As much as I like it here sometimes, especially with Pinkie, I have to go home. And there’s no telling if it’s anything more than a one-way trip back once I do. But if Twilight never gets me home…” It hurt to think about, but I pushed through it. “And I’m stuck here for the rest of my life, I could see myself having a life here.” “You know Twilight’s never gonna stop trying.” She assured me. “And if you do end up stayin’, you know all of us are gonna do everything we can to make you nice and comfy here.” “But I would never stop waiting for a chance to get back home. To my family.” I admitted. “How can I make a life for myself here…with…with her, if there’s a chance that one day, I’d leave and…” “And break her heart?” she finished my thought. I nodded, and she let out a very sagely sounding sigh. “Lottie, this a mite more complicated than anypony thought it might be. I have ideas on how you could handle this, but the fact is: I’m not you.” She pulled me in for a much gentler hug, but it was still pretty strong. I couldn’t stop a smile and a return hug. “This sounds like somethin’ you two need to talk about, like adults.” She told me, looking rather stern. “I know Pinkie acts a little flighty and a…tiny bit childish sometimes, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s a grown mare who deserves a say in her relationships. We can’t just go decidin’ things for her.” “I know.” I sighed. “It’s just hard to get a read on her sometimes, in that way. One minute she’s all sunshine and fluff and the next she’s kissing me! I know that, in any other context, that’d be a clear sign of…romantic intent, if you wanna call it that! But for her, it could be just be…” “Pinkie bein’ Pinkie.” She nodded. “Well, you know my opinion on the situation. Rarity’s too, and Rainbow, and the Cakes from what I hear. Oh, and Twilight too, maybe.” I groaned at the long list of names, but sat up straight and rubbed at my eyes, trying to will away the rising tension. “All that matters is what you think.” She smiled, putting a hoof on my shoulder. “Lottie, If you don’t wanna answer, that’s fine by me but…” She gave me a steady look straight in the eye, and I feared the worst. “How do you actually feel about her?” she leaned in, an eyebrow raised. “If you didn’t hafta worry about getting’ home and all that other, heavy stuff?” It was just this sort of thinking that made me just want to stare off into nothing, as previously planned. I dug deep, thinking of her. The pony who helped me when I was essentially helpless. The pony who’d stuck by me when I’d lied to her. The pony who tried her best to understand me, even when I had trouble understanding myself. I’d called her my best friend. And until I came to Equestria I was rather short on any friends at all. She made me happy, which was a difficult task even on a good day. She liked me, even though I was far from perfect. Pinkie Pie had gone out of her way to make me have fun. She’d made me feel like I was worth liking, and in return, I wanted to be the person she believed I was. When I’d loved before, it had been young, and clumsy, and intense. When it ended, I became a different person, one who never wanted to fall in love again, who never wanted to hurt anyone again. I was broken. Pinkie was trying her hardest to put the pieces back together, even if she didn’t know it. It wasn’t all just how happy she made me; it wasn’t a one-way street. She made the part of me that closed myself off from others to avoid pain actually want to connect to people. No one else had made me feel that way. In my darkest moments here, she’d cried for me. If there was anything I wanted more than to get back home to my family, it was to make sure I never made her cry again. She wanted to make me happy, and I wanted the same thing for her. “I think…” I couldn’t look at Applejack. No turning back now. “I think I might…” I sighed, throwing myself back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I covered my eyes with my arms, everything hitting me all at once. I was never the best with emotions, even positive ones. “…Shit.” Night had settled over Ponyville, and all was quiet. Most of the citizens were fast asleep, but not it’s resident princess. Twilight had decided to pull an all-nighter to make up for lost time. That morning’s events were informative, to say the least, but it didn’t change the fact that five foals were gone. If they really were in another world (which she very much believed they were), grown and integrated into a new society, there was a chance that they might want to stay. But at least their families could know for sure what had happened to them. And poor Lottie, she could get back to her own family, let them know she was alive and well. She’d been driven by her new friend’s struggles, as well as the foals, but she couldn’t even imagine what it was like. Being separated from the ones you love, them not knowing if you were alive or dead. If it were her, separated from her family…Spike, her mother and father, Shining Armor and Cadence, not to mention all of her friends…she didn’t want to think about it. “Owlowiscious.” She called for her night assistant and beloved pet. He hooted at attention, ready to help. “Bring me the next book from the express order from Canterlot.” He flew to the box the order had come in as she wrote down her findings from the ones she’d read so far. The express order had arrived just after dinner, straight from the Canterlot Royal Archives. She had a hunch that somewhere in this order was just the information she was looking for. She’d be searching though several dozen books in the next few days, but it had to be worth it even to try. “I still can’t believe that Discord thought of this approach before I did.” She muttered. She’d never admit it to his face, but sometimes his wildly skewed perspective of the world made for some clever original thinking. He could be outside the box when she didn’t even know there was a box at all. “His thinking on there being a space that unicorns go in-between teleporting, it wasn’t even a theory on my radar and he can just pop in there when he feels like it. If I could organize some of these thoughts into a magical, metaphysical theories book, the magical community could learn so much. But I have the distinct feeling that telling Discord I want to organize anything he says or does in any way would earn me more than a few chaotic magic mishaps…” But his thinking on how to get the portal to open again was just the lead she’d needed. "Perhaps it's not the method itself you should be searching for." That’s what he’d said. And he was absolutely right. She looked through the order list that had come with the books, scanning the titles she’d yet to get to for the dozenth time. “Magical Insights, Refractive Rituals, The Eastern Unicorn’s Approach to Magical Theory and Application, Location Imprinting: A Guide, The Impossible Sight, True Knowledge, The Wandering Eye, A History of Time Theory, A Technological Approach to Theoretical Matter Displacement, Tried and True Time Function and You, Zebra Shamanistic Potions and Incantations: An Equestrian’s Journey, Observational Incantations and their Moral Implications in Modern Equestria…It just goes on.” Owlowiscious brought her Magical Insights, which from its catalogue summary, was supposed to hold information on using magic to see hidden things that had long since happened. But how effective were the theories inside, and were they precise and powerful enough to see back fifty-odd years? “Thank you.” She took the book in her magic, prepping a new scroll for research notes. Discord had indeed been right. She could continue to waste her time and research looking into something like opening and using interdimensional portals, which was thought to be next to impossible until she’d met Lottie. Or, she could do the similarly theoretical but much more possible task of researching a way to see into the past and observe for herself just how the original portal had opened. After that it was just a matter of recreating the magic she would see, or at least knowing how it was done and going from there. And to see exactly what had happened to the Maple sisters. Did Silver go through the portal unbeknownst to her twin sister? Or did something happen to her in those woods? She wanted to know for sure, about all of the foals. This was Lottie’s family too, it was in trying to get her home that she would help find out what happened to her great aunt. Maybe when she reunited with her grandmother they would have answers for her. “Okay Magical Insights, show me what you’ve got.” She straightened her back, pulling the candle on her desk a bit closer. Hopefully she’d be through this book by morning. And if it didn’t have the information she needed, she’d go to the next book, and then the next. She had a feeling that one of these books held the answer, deep in her gut. “Now, Diamond, I don’t want to hear another word about it out of you.” Filthy Rich seemed like he’d been having the same conversation with his daughter for the last two days. He was usually so patient with his only child, but tonight his patience was wearing unusually thin. “Daddy! I just tried to do the right thing, telling ponies about that monster!” she followed her father as he was putting his important papers in order before the day was officially done. “We went to the same meeting, didn't we?” he was trying this best to be stern, but it was fair to say he was running out of steam on the matter, his nerves on edge. “The princesses told the whole town, ourselves included, that that poor creature never hurt anyone and never plans to. It’s perfectly fine to admit you were wrong, sweetheart.” “I don’t…I don’t buy it!” she shouted, stomping a hoof. “What happens when that…that thing goes feral and hurts somepony!?” “Diamond, for the umpteenth time, that creature is part pony.” He said again to her. “Ponies don’t eat ponies.” “Have you ever seen a pony that looks like…like that!?” Diamond Tiara followed her father, trying her best to prove she was right. “That…that hideous thing, a pony? The princesses are just trying to fool everypony!” “And just why would they do something like that?” He sighed, shutting his filing cabinet for the day, his business papers tucked safely away inside. “I…” the filly paused, still puffed up and unsettled by her father’s behavior. He always believed her over anypony else, why couldn’t he just see that she was right? “I’ll bet they’ve got it doing something for them, like…like trying to find those lost foals! The second they do, they’ll change their tune and show everypony what it’s really like!” “Now, Diamond. I don’t know where you got ideas like this, but Applejack assured everypony that that Lottie isn’t any danger to anypony.” And that’s what it came down to, in the end. Her father had always had a soft spot for that family, and it never occurred to him that they were just out for themselves, like everypony else. It made her blood boil seeing her beloved father getting taken advantage of like that. “I…” her tiny frame was trembling, her ears pinned to the sides of her head with rage. “Those know-nothing farm ponies are just out to see you make a complete fool out of yourself! How can you trust those brainless, simpleton hicks over your own daughter!?” “Now, that is ENOUGH.” His hoof struck the floor, glaring down at her. She shrunk down, he never raised his voice at her. “I’ll not have you speaking ill of that family, or anypony else, for that matter!” He advanced on her, but she was too shocked to move. He grabbed her, spun her around to face the door of his study and stomped the floor again. “If you’ve got nothing better to do than to badmouth ponies that I trust, then you can just go straight to bed, young filly! No dessert, no story, nothin’!” “But-” “Keep this behavior of yours up, little missy, and there will be no Nightmare Night celebrations for you! You’ll stay in your room the entire night, and don’t you test me, I mean it!” he shouted, making her shrink down some more. “I’ll go straight to Silver Spoon, her parents, and all your little classmates and tell them that you couldn’t come out because you were too busy being a hate-filled, disrespectful little foal who needed a time-out!” She looked back at him in terror, her jaw hanging open. “No, please!” she couldn’t stomach the thought of the embarrassment that would bring. “I’ll be good, I promise!” “Then prove it!” he stared down at his filly, giving her a chance, but his anger not subsiding. “You have one week to prove that you can behave. Randolph will be picking you up from school every day this week and getting a report from Ms. Cheerilee on your behavior. If I hear even a peep of you causin’ problems with your classmates or with her, you’ll be grounded until the day after Nightmare Night, and maybe then some!” “Yes, sir.” Her ears drooped, her tail tucked between her legs. “Now, get to bed.” He was winding down now, but her words were still ringing in his ears. He was going to break her of this streak of rude, rotten behavior, even if it hurt to see her so down. She walked off, slow and miserable, but he knew in the long run that it was for the best. “Honestly…where does she get those ideas of hers?” he shook his head, wondering where he went wrong. Diamond Tiara was angry, humiliated, upset…It was all coursing through her and settling into a tight ball in her stomach. She slammed the door to her room behind her, shut off all the lights, jumping up on her bed and pulling the plush comforter around herself tight. She grabbed her overstuffed, goose down pillow and screamed into it, the sound muffled to the rest of the house outside her door. How could her Daddy not see what was going on? The Apples weren’t anypony special, why should their word mean anything more than hers? The things in her room alone were worth more than their whole house! She thought of Apple Bloom, the thought of that little nopony making her sick to her stomach with anger. The way she and her friends always thought they were better than her, even though they were just blank-flank little noponies. They way that the little hayseed hick had ignored her when she was just trying to state the obvious back in school the other day. How dare that filly brush her aside like Diamond was nothing! She was the nothing one! “Who does she think she is?” she was shaking now. She’d thought that getting some revenge by outing the monster that Apple Bloom seemed to like so much would make her feel better, but it seemed the whole town was getting duped. Now that filly was running around town like nothing was even wrong, and it just…rubbed her the wrong way. “I have everything she could only dream of having!” she’d started to cry. “That little nopony has nothing! No bits, no new, top of the line toys, no nice, big house, not even…not even any parents! I have all those things and more…so…” She was openly weeping into her pillow now, squeezing it tight. “So why is she so happy…when I’m not?” Sure, the other two members of that ridiculous little club they had got on her nerves too, they were all nopony losers, but for some reason, Apple Bloom made her the angriest. Her daddy was always so nice to them, and took them at their word for everything. And Apple Bloom… “Maybe…maybe Daddy is right.” She reasoned with herself. “Maybe I’m…wrong. Sure it would mean that Apple Bloom was…right…But that creature might just be what the princesses said. It has nothing to do with me. I want to spend Nightmare Night with Silver Spoon, get some candy and show off my costume, I have better things to do than to obsess over one filly and that creature, especially if it’s going to cost me all that.” She calmed herself down a little, settling into bed. The faster she got to sleep, the faster she could wake up and start trying to do better by her father. Maybe she’d even feel a little better. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep. ... She suddenly awakened, what must’ve been not too long after, to her bedroom door opening. From the light coming in from the hallway, she could see the familiar silhouette of her mother. Maybe she’d felt bad for her daughter come to say goodnight? Spoiled Rich closed the door behind her, coming towards the bed. It was hard to see her in the dark room, but the light from the moon outside her window was just bright enough to make out her mother standing next to her. “Mother?” she croaked out, her voice tired. “Oh dear, Diamond. Your eyes are all puffy.” Her mother cooed. “It’s not becoming of a young lady to carry on like you were.” “No, it’s not.” She tried to blink away her tiredness. It had taken her a long time to remember what the correct thing was to say to her mother when they talked like this. She didn’t like Diamond apologizing, or giving excuses. She was trying to raise her to be a high-society lady, and ladies mustn’t say “sorry” all the time or try to explain their behavior like common mares. Ladies simply did. “Your father told me about your little talk.” She said, and Diamond couldn’t tell by her mother’s tone if she was upset with her. “If you ask me, he’s entirely too attached to that family.” “But-” her mother cut her off, she’d wanted to share what she’d thought about before bed. “No buts, Diamond.” She warned, her voice even. “Remember your lessons on proper diction.” “I will, mother.” It slipped out of her mouth. “Good girl.” She could almost hear the smile in her mother’s tone. It made her feel warm, knowing her mother might be smiling at her. “We must remember, my Diamond. We are above other ponies, that’s what it means to be an upper class family. You can’t be upper class without lower class ponies underneath you.” “I know.” She replied. “I’m going to have Randolph walk you to school in the morning.” She sighed, and it was still hard for Diamond Tiara to make out her face in the dark. “With that monster running loose in this backwater town, I want you to be safe.” “Daddy said that-” “Oh, my Diamond.” Her mother chuckled. “Your father is a brilliant business pony, but he’s sentimental. If it were up to me, we’d have opened a branch of Barnyard Bargains in Canterlot or Manehattan by now and gotten you into a top private school. But it’s not a mare’s place to tell her husband what he should do, even if she’s right.” “No, of course not.” Diamond shook her head. She remembered he mother's numerous talks about a mare's place, that one had stuck pretty early on. “Your father wants to believe in the best in ponies.” Her voiced was laced with pity and disgust. “Even the lowest-class, inbred noponies. But we must do better. That’s how the ponies on top stay there. By knowing better and being better.” “Yes.” Diamond, in the deepest part of her insecurities, felt validated. She could always count on her mother to make sense when the rest of the world had seemingly gone crazy. “If we don’t tell the ponies below us that they need to know their place, they start thinking that they matter. You give a low-bred pony a chance and they’d eat you alive. That’s the way the world works, my Diamond. Better to keep them underhoof.” “I know, mother.” “Good girl.” Her mother cooed. And to her surprise, her mother planted a kiss on her forehead. She was over the moon. These were her favorite moments, when they were alone together. Her mother had to maintain appearances when they were in public, and you just don’t show affection in public, it’s uncouth. Makes you look sentimental and weak. But when they were alone, and her mother told her about how the world was, it always came with affection. It made her wish her mother would talk with her about these things more often. “We mustn’t let lesser ponies get the better of us, dear.” She told her daughter, her voice stern. “Now, of course you should mind your father for the next week. But remember, my Diamond.” Her mother leaned in, giving her a kiss goodnight on her cheek. “We are better than them.” “Yes.” Diamond whispered back, feeling tired. “I love you, mother.” “Good night, my Diamond.” Her mother called back, closing her bedroom door behind her. Diamond Tiara looked up to her ceiling, her eyes feeling heavy. “Someday…” she assured herself, drifting off. “Someday she’ll say it back.” Pinkie Pie was down the road a ways in her room in Sugarcube Corner. She and Gummy were all getting ready for bed, along with the newest member of the family. “Okay, Little Bluey!” she smiled. “I made up a little bed, just for you!” The little pony came towards her, leaving Gummy to his little pet bed. They had become fast friends, those two, she was sure that Gummy was happy to have some creature closer to his own size to hang out with, even if hanging out just meant chasing each other around and having silent conversations that Pinkie couldn’t hear. Must be some deep topics those two went on and on about. She’d made Little Bluey a bed from a cake box with a fluffy throw pillow for a mattress. For a blanket, she’d gotten a quilting square from Mrs. Cake with a bunny embroidered on it. She’d told the tiny pony that they’d go to the toy store in the morning and get her a doll bed, but this would have to do for now. The toy pony didn’t seem to mind the accommodations, but she wanted the gift from her friend to be as comfy as possible. “You sleep tight, new friend!” she cooed, kissing the stuffed pony on the top of her head. She put the cake box on the shelf of her bedside table, low enough to the ground that the pony could get up in the night on her own if she wanted to, and closed off enough to feel like her own little room. Pinkie herself wasn’t too tired yet, so she kept the light on just a little bit longer. It was just about that time again, so she pulled a box out from under her bed. It had all her favorite stationary in it, and a few spare pens. She put a sheet of paper on her standing clipboard, pulled up the covers to her chest and got to work. She started writing, letting her thoughts flow onto the page. Dear Maud, How are your classes going? I’m so, so proud of you for working so hard at school! I have so much to tell you this time! A whole lot of stuff has happened since I wrote you last time. First things first, I have to tell you my big news! I made a new friend! Now, I know what you’re thinking, dear sister of mine. That’s something I write a lot in our letters, as I make new friends pretty much all the time. But this friend is a super-duper special friend! I should start by saying, or writing, you know what I mean, silly: My friend is from another dimension! She came through some kind of portal out in the woods and everything’s been pretty exciting since then! Her name sounds like Lot-Tea, I don’t know how to write it. I call her Bluey sometimes, it’s like her pony name Cornflower Blue. She’s a creature that nopony has seen before (but she’s got a little pony in her too, on her grandma’s side. She doesn’t look like a pony (except when she does, it’s a long story), but she’s a really special friend to me. Bluey’s stuck here in Equestria until my friend Twilight (I’ve written about her before, you remember her, right?) can figure out how to get her home. If it takes a long time, I offered to let her spend Hearth’s Warming up on the rock farm with us! (I haven’t asked Mom and Dad yet, so shh!) She’s really special to me. When I first met her, she was almost a totally different pony. (Pony, not pony, hybrid, you get the idea, silly) It was kind of like she’d forgotten what being happy felt like. She gets really sad sometimes, but I’ve made her smile for real a lot since I’ve met her. She gives great hugs, and compliments! She likes to make toys, and she loves my baking. Every time we’re together, it feels like I could smile forever. I can’t imagine not having her around. Pinkie paused in her writing, a pen dangling from her mouth. I want her to be able to go home to her family, more than anything, honest! But it doesn’t stop me from getting all frowny when I think about her being gone. Today, she gave me a special gift she made herself, and I felt all kinds of crazy! I don’t know what it means. You’re smart! Maybe you can help me figure it out? My stomach was all like “Woo!”, and my heart was all “Bada Bada Bada Bada!” and even though I wanted to thank her, and laugh and talk and smile, it was all stuck inside! All I could do was give her a big ol’ smooch on the cheek, then the other! Have you ever felt so happy, like super-duper happy, that you just feel like you’re going crazy? Even now, it’s like all I can think about! I can't stop smiling! Does that sound like anything to you? Anyway, let me know how you and Boulder are doing out at college! I miss you every day! Love love love!, Pinkie Pie A few days into the future, in a dorm room at the Equestrian Institute of Rockology... Maud Pie had gotten a letter from her younger sister Pinkie, like she did every two weeks or so. She read through the entire thing in her usual comfortable but unwavering silence. Once she’d finished the letter, she gently set it down at her desk, letting the stillness of the room settle around her. “…Huh.” Applejack had talked with me for a bit longer before leaving, agreeing that I could use some time to myself. I’d watched the sun make its odd descent, the sky shifting through a sunset much more quickly than I’d ever seen before coming here. Then, the moon came up over the horizon, and it made me think of the princesses. I’d still never seen or met Celestia. I wondered if she and Luna were having any more luck finding out about my living pony relatives? I sighed, pulling the covers up some more. Even now, laying alone in the dark, my brain was still going a million miles an hour. I was so tired but my thoughts were racing. I’d managed to drift off a couple of times but got woken up by random noises in the house. I let my thoughts wander. “I wonder what the family’s doing right now?” I asked myself. “Mom’s probably reading those trashy mystery novels she likes before bed. Mason’s most likely playing a game under the covers, I wonder if anything new came out since I’ve been gone…Dad’s definitely still at work, or possibly going over some files at the kitchen table. I don’t even know what Grandma would be getting up to at this time of night. I never asked…” This all could be wildly inaccurate if they’d noticed that I was gone by then. They could be going out of their minds. They think you did it again. That part of my brain was shouting. Or maybe they just don’t care. I shut my eyes tight and sighed, trying to push the thought out of my head. “Stop being such a mopey idiot…” I yawned, feeling drowsy again. “You won’t know until you get home. Thinking about it’s just going to drive you crazy…” The next time I woke up, it wasn’t to a creak on the stairs or any snoring from a nearby room, but to a tiny weight on my stomach. I was too out of it to panic, so I just looked down my body to see, who else, the ankle biter. He was curled into a ball right smack in the middle of me, snoozing away as his tiny body rose and fell with his breathing. I was too damn tired to take him back outside. I closed my eyes again, telling myself I’d deal with it in the morning. Meanwhile, the tiny weight and warmth was comforting somehow. I drifted off again, my dreams a little bit more peaceful.