Chapter Nine
A Good Filly
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It was too late. She was doomed. She tried to fight the slimy creature, but all her efforts were in vain – it had caught her hoof and it wouldn’t let go. Soon it would swallow her whole leg, then it would be over. If only she had listened, but it was too late now… She could still hear their voices as she struggled with her foe, as if they were still there.
“On no!” Pinkie said as she looked at the mess Morning was in. “I thought it looked like you put too much water in the mix.”
“But Fluttershy said it didn’t have to be exact last night…” Morning said sadly as she looked at the goopy mess in front of her. “And it was getting hard to stir.”
“That was cooking,” Twilight said with a comforting smile. “Baking is more exact, and even a little difference can matter here.”
“It’s okay!” Pinkie added some more sugar and cocoa powder to the brownie batter. “If we add a little more of the rest of the ingredients, we can save it. Then we’ll just have more brownies!”
“More brownies are always good,” Pumpkin Cake said with a nod.
“How do you know how much of everything to add?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie shrugged. “You get used to estimating, even with baking. Besides, I know someone else who’s had this same problem.”
Pumpkin Cake looked at her hooves. “I didn’t do it that much…”
Pound Cake cocked his head to the side. “You used to do that all the time.”
Of the two Cake twins, Morning liked Pound a little more. He was quieter than his sister, who was overly energetic about everything she did. But even she was more reserved today than she had been when they first met. Thankfully, so was Pinkie Pie.
All in all, it was shaping up to be an okay day, even if Morning had to go over to Sugarcube Corner and bake with the twins. At least she was looking forward to eating it, although she liked cooking with Fluttershy and Spike more.
On that note, she kind of wished Fluttershy was with them. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Twilight, just that the alicorn princess was a little intimidating. But Fluttershy was busy with work, and Sunset apparently didn’t like baking, so Twilight was the one who brought Morning to Sugarcube Corner.
“How’s that cupcake batter coming along?” Pinkie asked the Cake twins.
“I think it’s ready,” Pound said. Pumpkin swiped her hoof in the batter and licked it off, then nodded her approval.
Morning frowned at her own batter, which was more like chocolate liquid with a pile of dry ingredients in it. She was nowhere near as good at this as the Cakes were, and it showed.
“Better get to stirring,” Pinkie reminded her, so Morning started stirring in the sugar and cocoa. While she did, Pound and Pumpkin poured their batter into a cupcake pan. Morning frowned as she looked over at them.
Apparently she didn’t do so subtly enough. “Don’t worry,” Pinkie told her. “The twins have just been baking a lot longer than you. You’ll get the hang of it.”
“And Pinkie’s still the best!” Pumpkin said, then narrowed her eyes at the pink pony. “For now…”
Little by little, Morning’s batter turned into, well, batter. Pinkie added a few ingredients here and there, and before too long, it was looking much better. By the time she got it into a usable shape, the cupcakes were already going into the oven, but at least she got it done.
“Those cookies Twilight made should be ready by now,” Pinkie said. “Let me check on those, and then we’ll put your brownies in.”
Pinkie opened the second oven and pulled out a tray of sugar cookies. Twilight said she didn’t usually bake, but they looked really good.
While Pinkie set them on the counter, the three foals gathered around them. Twilight chuckled. “They still need time to cool. Let’s get that brownie batter in a pan.”
So Twilight used her magic to hold up the bowl of brownie batter while Morning used a spatula to scrape it into a pan. Once they were done, Twilight put it in the oven and Pinkie set a timer.
“Who’s gonna try the first cookie?” Pinkie asked in a singsong voice.
“Me!” Morning and Pumpkin said at the same time.
“Twilight made them, so she should get to try the first one,” Pound Cake said more calmly.
“Good thinking, Poundy!” Pinkie held her hoof to her mouth and ‘whispered’ loud enough that the whole room could hear her. “That way if they’re too hot she’s the one who burns her mouth!”
Twilight laughed and took a bite of a cookie. “I think they came out pretty good, but I might need a second opinion. What do you think, Morning?”
Morning took a cookie and bit into it. It had just enough crunch around the edges while being nice and soft in the middle, and it was buttery and sweet. “It’s really good!”
The others all got themselves a cookie and everyone praised Twilight for her baking. “Thanks, everypony,” she said with a smile. “Now, I think we better do some cleaning up.”
Morning suppressed a groan; she was eager to show she could be a good filly, after all. The Cakes had no such concerns, and they both groaned openly.
Pinkie giggled. “I think Twilight and I can handle that. Why don’t you two show Morning your room? We’ll come and get you to ice the cupcakes when they’re ready.”
“Okay!” Pumpkin said. “Can we take some cookies with us?”
“Of course!” Pinkie looked at Twilight. “I mean, as long as Twilight’s okay with that.”
Twilight giggled. “It’d be pretty mean to bake all these treats and then say Morning can’t eat them. Go ahead and take a few cookies with you.”
“Yay!” Pumpkin used her magic to put a few cookies on a plate, but she seemed to struggle at actually lifting the plate.
“Maybe you shouldn’t carry it in your magic,” Pinkie said. “Remember what happened last time?”
Pumpkin blushed, and Pound Cake flew up and picked up the plate. The two unicorns walked to the room, Pumpkin leading the way, with Pound Cake flying behind them.
There were two doors in the kitchen. One was where they came in, which led to the public area of Sugarcube Corner where ponies could order and eat their treats. The other was the one they went through, which led them to a hallway with a few doors and a staircase at the end. They went through one of the doors, which led into a messy room with a bunk bed.
The twins’ room was a mismatch of interests, and she wasn’t sure which ones belonged to which foal. There was a small bookshelf with some books on it, and shelves on the walls with various other things – models, cool looking rocks, and a few awards. The walls had posters of ponies that Morning didn’t recognize, some of whom looked like musicians and others like athletes.
And there were a plethora of toys around the room, most of which were scattered around the floor. Pumpkin had to clear a place for them to sit down while Pound Cake landed and set the plate on the floor.
The two Cake twins sat next to the plate, so Morning did the same thing. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she wanted to be nice, so she said, “Uhm, your room is neat.”
“Thanks!” Pumpkin said through a mouthful of cookie.
Pound Cake swallowed his bite first, then said, “Thank you.”
“Is it weird sharing a room?” Morning asked as she picked up a cookie for herself. Although there were a lot of other foals at Small Steps, she’d always had her own room.
“I don’t think so.” Pumpkin swallowed, then shrugged. “Poundy can be a little annoying sometimes, but that’s what brothers are like.”
“I’m not annoying.” Pound Cake frowned. “You’re the one who’s always running around making noise when I’m working on my models.”
“Well, you’re the one who always plays your music all loud!” Pumpkin folded her forelegs. “Besides, you snore.”
“Do not.”
“Do so!”
“You’re the one who snores.”
“I am a lady.” Pumpkin brushed her mane back. “Ladies do not snore. Right, Morning?”
“Uhm, I don’t know.” Morning wondered if she snored. She didn’t think she did…
“Morning! You’re supposed to be on my side since we’re both girls!”
Morning frowned. Had she messed up? “Sorry…”
Pound Cake just shrugged. “I’ve heard you snore.”
“So, uhm…” Morning tried to think of some way to get them to forget about her taking sides, and changing the subject seemed like the best way. “What’s upstairs?”
“That’s Pinkie’s room.” Pumpkin used her magic to get another cookie.
“She’s not your mom, is she?”
Both the Cakes laughed, so Morning blushed. “No, she just lives with us,” Pound Cake said.
Morning nodded. A lot of ponies lived at the castle, and even a dragon. And of course, the orphanage had a lot of ponies living in it. It seemed normal that the Cakes would live with someone else too.
“What’s it like living in a castle?” Pumpkin asked. “I bet there’s a lot of cool stuff in there.”
“Not really.” Morning took a bite from her cookie before realizing they were expecting her to continue. She swallowed and shrugged. “Twilight said most of the rooms are empty.”
“Isn’t Twilight your mom now?” Pumpkin asked.
“I… guess so.”
“Then why don’t you call her ‘Mom’?”
“Oh…” Morning looked down at her hooved. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it, of course. But, well… “They never told me to.”
“It would get confusing with three moms,” Pound Cake said.
Pumpkin laughed. “You could just yell ‘Mom!’ and see which one came running!”
Morning laughed as well. She wasn’t sure how she felt about calling the princesses ‘Mom’ – she didn’t usually even think of them as her moms, exactly, they were just ‘the princesses’ or the ponies that were adopting her. Still, that was a pretty fun idea.
They ate the rest of the cookies quietly, then Morning got to looking around the room. Pound Cake noticed and asked, “Do you like models?”
“I dunno. I guess they’re cool.”
“She doesn’t care about your dumb models,” Pumpkin said. “I have a really cool rock collection! Pinkie’s sister takes me out to find new rocks sometimes. She’s really cool!”
“How are rocks cooler than models?” Pound Cake asked. He flew up to one of the models, a replica of a train, and carefully picked it up. “This was the last one I finished.”
“Finished?” Morning asked.
“Yeah, I build and paint them.”
“Whoa.” Morning had thought that it came from a store because it looked so perfect. Although that one was a train, he also had buildings, boats, airships, and other things. He didn’t seem to be picky.
Pumpkin levitated over a black rock that was plain on the outside, but which was split down the middle and was filled with crystals. “This one’s a geode. They take millions of years to form!”
“That’s so cool.” Morning loved how plain it looked on the outside only to be an amazing treasure on the inside.
Both of the twins’ interests seemed really cool to Morning. All she had were books… She wondered if she should try collecting something.
“What about the trophies?” Morning asked.
“Oh, those.” Pumpkin shrugged. “They’re both of ours from different junior baker competitions.”
“You must be really good.” Morning had never won an award for anything in her life.
“I guess,” Pound Cake said, then he smiled. “Do you like music? I have a bunch of records.”
“I dunno.” Morning had never really listened to music much, but she wanted to relate to Pound Cake. “We have a piano at Small Steps, and sometimes some of the adults will play us songs. I like that.”
“Here, you should listen to Sapphire Shores.”
Pumpkin rolled her eyes. “Countess Coloratura is way cooler.”
“She’s good too,” Pound Cake said.
Morning didn’t know who either of them were, so she didn’t say anything. It didn’t keep Pumpkin from bringing her back into the conversation. “I bet Morning likes daredevil ponies better than music anyway.”
“I… well, we went to see a race in Cloudsdale last week. Is it like that?”
“Kind of!” Pumpkin guided Morning over to a poster of three pegasi in black and green uniforms. “But they’re way cooler!”
Morning wanted the Cakes to like her so she could show the princesses that she could be a good filly, but she didn’t like how they were pulling her between them. She thought things both foals liked seemed neat – she just wished they could show her one thing at a time.
She made her body go stiff, imagining she was locking it up. She was worried that she might do something bad again, and she didn’t want to give herself the chance.
But before that could happen, Pinkie popped her head into the room. “Who’s ready to decorate some cupcakes?”
“Me!” Morning said, eager for an excuse to get out of the room before she could do anything bad in it. At least the twins would be as busy as she was if they were decorating cupcakes.
They left the room, and Morning breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she’d come too close to being bad, but she held it together. She just had to do that a little bit more, then they would be going home.
Home. Was that what the castle was for her now? It was only the second weekend, and she still spent most of the week at Small Steps.
All these thoughts and questions were too big for one little filly, so Morning put them aside. For now, she had cupcakes to decorate.
It was only a matter of time, really. Morning had the perfect team, which meant that they were practically guaranteed to find their secret treasure. It hadn’t all been easy; they’d had to sneak past the vicious dragon’s den, they’d bested the Great Owl’s riddles, and they’d fought off the vicious shadow monsters.
And all of it was for this. On the other side of this door was a treasure trove of priceless artifacts the likes of which Equestria had never seen. “Ready?” Morning asked her team.
“I’m ready,” the loyal engineer, Pound Cake, said.
“Let’s go!” the brave daredevil, Pumpkin Cake, answered.
Morning, the world’s greatest adventurer, nodded and opened the door.
Spread out before them were tomes of ancient knowledge – long forgotten spells, the secrets of ancient pony civilizations, anything they could ever want to know and more!
“Aww, I was hoping for rubies,” Pumpkin said.
“Books are nice too,” Pound Cake offered.
Morning wasn’t really sure if she was friends with the Cake twins, exactly. She had only known them for a week, and she didn’t really do friends. But she wanted them to think she was cool, and that meant that they needed to think this whole adventure game wasn’t just leading to a bunch of dusty old books.
“Well…” Morning looked over the books. “There are books about how to make rubies! With magic! We just have to find the right one!”
That seemed to do the trick, as Pumpkin gasped. “Then let’s go!”
They walked into the library, where Morning herself had only been briefly. There were many good things about going to Ponyville, and one of those was the castle itself. It wasn’t that Morning cared that it was a castle, exactly; no more than she cared that the ponies adopting her were princesses. Both facts were intimidating at first, but it turned out that Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset were just ponies, and the place they lived was pretty much just a really big house.
But, well, it was a really big house. There were plenty of places Morning could explore, plenty of rooms to check out. It was raining heavily in town, but things had gone well on their baking playdate, so the adults decided to have the Cakes over for dinner. The kids were off exploring the castle while the adults all talked.
And right now, that meant exploring the library. But as they walked further into it, something other than books caught Pumpkin’s attention. “What’s that?”
In front of them was a large mirror, but it was connected to some sort of machinery. That also caught Pound Cake’s attention, who let out an “Ooh” of appreciation.
Morning approached it. “Careful, it could be a booby trap.”
“What kind of mirror is a trap?” Pumpkin asked.
“Is that another owl riddle?” Pound Cake asked.
“It’s, uhm, it’s a cursed mirror!” Morning leaned in closer. “If you stare in it too long, you switch places with your reflection!”
“That can’t happen!” Pumpkin said.
“Oh yeah? Then go touch it.” Pound Cake pushed her a little closer to it.
Pumpkin didn’t move. “I… I don’t want to get in trouble…”
“Smart kid,” someone said from behind them. They all turned to see Sunset standing behind them. “I thought I heard you three in here.”
Sunset walked past them to the mirror, which she placed her hoof on. Her expression was hard to read, and no one said anything. Morning wasn’t sure if they did something wrong or not, but she got the feeling this wasn’t a normal mirror after all.
“It’s not cursed,” Sunset said after a while. She turned to face the three foals. “But I don’t want you kids playing around it. This is the most important thing in this whole castle.”
“Even more than Twilight’s crown?” Pumpkin asked.
“Way more than her crown,” Sunset said.
“What about the Cutie Map?” Pound Cake asked
That one caused Sunset to hesitate. “Well, it’s more important to me, but the map is also really important. But now that you mention it, I want you to be as careful around this mirror as you would be around the Cutie Map.”
“Uhm, I’m sorry.” Morning pawed at the ground. “Are we in trouble?”
“No.” Sunset finally smiled. “I just want you kids to understand. Someday I’ll show you exactly what’s so special about this mirror. There are… things I want you to see with it, Morning. Good things, I promise.” Sunset took a deep breath. “But that’s something for another time. For right now, I came to find you to say that Night Light made cocoa for everyone. Come on down and get some.”
“Okay!” Pumpkin ran off, then stopped. “Uhm, I forget how to get back…”
Truthfully, Morning wasn’t positive either. Thankfully they had Sunset with them. She just chucked and led the way out.
The four ponies made their way downstairs, and then Sunset led them to the room where Morning’s welcome party had been. It wasn’t quite as full this time, but it was pretty close. The princesses were all there, of course, and so was everyone else who lived in the castle – Spike, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet. In addition, all four Cakes were there, making for ten ponies and one dragon all gathered around in the same room.
That was a few too many ponies all gathered in one place for Morning. Even with the Cakes there, she was tempted to ask if she could leave. But she was supposed to be a good filly, so she just walked into the room and took one of the mugs of cocoa that were left out.
“It doesn’t get better than cocoa on a rainy day,” Mr. Cake said. “Have you kids been having fun?”
“Yeah!” Pumpkin said excitedly. “The castle is so cool!”
Mrs. Cake smiled nervously. “Remember to sit still when you’ve got a hot drink, Pumpkin dear.”
“Yes, Mom,” Pumpkin groaned. She took a seat next to her parents.
Pound Cake sat down near Spike, while Morning sat between Twilight and Sunset. Twilight smiled at her. “What do you say we do a bit of reading? If there’s one thing better than cocoa on a rainy day, it’s cocoa and a book on a rainy day.”
“Mmm, we need to get a fire going for maximum coziness,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Maybe get a few fuzzy blankets, really go all out.”
“It’s a little warm for all that,” Twilight said.
“It does sound nice though,” Twilight Velvet agreed. “But for now, maybe just the book. Did you have something in mind, Twily?”
“Actually, I was thinking about one of your books, Mom.” Twilight levitated over a book, which she held up for everyone to see. It showed a foal lost in a sea of faceless ponies. “The Filly Who Wasn’t, by Twilight Velvet.”
“Is Morning old enough for that one?” Night Light asked.
“It is written for kids a little older,” Twilight Velvet said. “Though I’ve heard from other parents who read it to younger kids. Do you like scary stories, Morning?”
“Yes,” Morning lied. She was a little afraid of stories that got too scary, but she wanted to be a brave filly so they’d all like her.
“We all talked about it,” Sunset said. “We’ve all read it, and aside from a few scary parts, I don’t think there’s anything in it that’s too bad for a younger filly. And we thought it’d be good for Morning to hear some of what you’ve written, Velvet.”
“It’s not too scary, is it?” Mrs. Cake asked. “It’s just that Pumpkin gets a little frightened sometimes…”
“I’ll be fine, Mom!” Pumpkin said with a blush.
“I wrote it when Twilight was Pound and Pumpkin’s age, actually,” Velvet said. “It’s a fantasy story, not a horror story, but it does have some darker parts in it. Every foal is different, of course, but I read it to Twilight when I first wrote it, and then to Spike when he was a little older. They both loved it.”
“Oh, I was scared,” Spike said with a grin. “I just wanted to know what happened, so I didn’t say anything.”
Twilight set the book down. “We can always do something else if you think it might be a bit much for Pound and Pumpkin, but I always remember it as an important part of my childhood. It’s a really good book.”
“Twilight says she always thought she was supposed to be the main character,” Fluttershy said with a giggle.
“Fluttershy!” Twilight blushed. “You weren’t supposed to tell them that…”
“Well, who else would she be?” Twilight Velvet asked with a smirk. “I mean, not exactly, of course. But writers are always stealing little bits and pieces from the ponies around them.”
“You want to hear the story, Pumpkin?” Mr. Cake asked.
“Yeah!” Pumpkin grinned. “I wanna know about the filly!”
Hearing a story about a young Twilight sounded like it’d be really interesting. “I want to hear it too,” Morning said, finding she genuinely did.
“Alright, then it’s settled.” Twilight lifted the book and started reading.
“There are places not meant for ponies. Places that you have never been, although maybe you think you have. You have never, in fact, been in an empty room. You may have been the only one in an otherwise empty room, but you have not been in an empty room.
“And you should be grateful for this fact. There are things in empty rooms.”
As Twilight read the story, Morning got more and more sucked into it. There was a filly who lived in a large city with lots of other ponies, but who didn’t really know any of them. The story said she felt like she was always lost in the crowd, and Morning thought about those words carefully.
She thought about the rest of the story too. It was a good story, and it was cool that Twilight’s mom had written it. She closed her eyes to listen better, just imaging the story in her head as Twilight read it.
When she imagined it, she was the main character. She was exploring a city where no one knew her, invisible in the crowd. She went places that she shouldn’t go, places that she shouldn’t have been able to go. She was very good at that.
There was a house. Morning wasn’t supposed to go in the house. No one lived there, and she thought, well, no one was a friend of hers. She spent a lot of time with no one, she knew no one very well. No one certainly wouldn’t have a problem with her going into their house. So she let herself in.
There was no one in the house. It was empty. Empty rooms were not a place she was supposed to be able to go, but she slipped in. She was special, she could do things like that. She walked into the room, and she heard a voice.
“What are you doing here?”
Morning looked to see Pumpkin Cake. “I’m just exploring,” she told her. “What’s your name?”
“I don’t have one,” Pumpkin told her. “I used to have one, but I forgot it.”
“You can’t forget your name,” Morning told her. “That’d be like forgetting what color your fur is.”
“I don’t have any fur,” Pumpkin told her.
“Sure you do, it’s…” Morning tried to tell Pumpkin what color she was, but she realized when she tried to focus on her, she was actually just kind of a shimmering of light. Maybe she wasn’t really there at all. “Are you no one?”
“I might be.” Pumpkin shrugged – or did whatever it was that shimmering bits of light do when they want to shrug.
“How long have you been here, No One?”
Pumpkin smiled. “A long time. Long enough that everyone forgot about me. Can I show you something?”
“Sure,” Morning said, because she wanted Pumpkin to like her.
Pumpkin led her to another room with a big mirror. “My brother’s in there, but he can only come out if you switch places with him. Will you do that?”
“I… I don’t know. I think they’ll miss me if I’m gone.”
“Who, your moms?”
It felt wrong to call them that. “I’m… I’m not sure.”
“Just for a little bit. You’ll be a very good filly if you do that.”
“Okay.” Morning wanted to be a good filly, so she stepped up to the mirror, but instead of her reflection, she saw Pound Cake.
“Are you going to let me out?” Pound Cake asked.
“Yes,” Morning said. She put her hoof against the glass, and Pound Cake did the same, and they switched places.
Morning looked around. She didn’t like being in the mirror. She put her hoof on it to try and get out, but the mirror broke. That was bad. That was really bad. She was going to get in a lot of trouble, and then she’d get sent back to Small Steps, and then no one would ever want her.
She tried to call for help, but no sound came out. She had become the filly who wasn’t, and Pound and Pumpkin were nowhere to be seen. There were pieces of Morning all over the floor, sharp shards that would cut anyone who tried to get close to her.
And there was no one. She was alone.
That was the last thing Morning knew for sure until Sunset shook her awake. “Hey, you fell asleep.”
Morning got up and rubbed her eyes. Everyone was looking at her, and she wanted to disappear. But thinking of that made her think of the dream, and about being broken into little pieces and sent back to the orphanage.
“I… I…” Morning wanted to stay strong. She was supposed to be a good filly, and good fillies didn’t cry over stupid dreams. She’d said she could handle the book, but then she’d fallen asleep and had a nightmare and now before she knew it, she was crying.
She hated it. Everyone was there watching her cry, and she couldn’t stop. She just kept thinking this was it, they wouldn’t want some stupid crybaby filly, she was going to go back to Small Steps and she’d never be back.
“Oh, sweetie…” Twilight covered her in a wing, and Morning buried herself right into where the soft fur turned to feathers. Twilight wrapped her wings and hooves around the filly. “Did the story give you bad dreams?”
“N-No,” Morning sobbed. She didn’t know how else to explain it, but she knew she couldn’t admit it was the story. “I… I dreamed about the m-mirror.”
“The mirror?” Twilight asked.
“Oh.” Sunset stroked Morning’s mane. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Nothing bad is going to happen to you with the mirror, I just wanted you to be careful around it.”
“Oh, that mirror,” Twilight said. “Sunset’s right, the mirror isn’t really dangerous or anything.”
“I dreamt I broke it…”
“Uhm, let’s get you some space,” Fluttershy said.
Without letting her go, Twilight stood up and walked out of the room. Morning caught a glimpse of the Cake twins watching her and thought of how stupid she must look to them.
Twilight brought them into the kitchen, where she set Morning down on a chair. Morning was done crying, which just made her feel more ridiculous.
Fluttershy had come into the kitchen with them, and she stroked Morning’s mane just like Sunset had. “Now, what got you so worked up about the mirror? Did Sunset tell you something scary?”
“No.” Morning looked down at her hooves. “She just said it was important, like the Cutie Map. She said to be really careful and not play around it.”
“That’s… pretty reasonable,” Twilight said. “But, Morning, you just have to not play around it. There are lots of places to play in the castle without going near the mirror.”
Morning nodded. “I know, I just…”
Fluttershy nodded. “I think someone let the story get to her a little more than she wants to admit.”
“But I like the story…” Morning protested, as if that somehow meant it didn’t scare her.
Twilight sighed. “It was my idea to read that story. My mom doesn’t usually write stories for kids, so she wrote that one for me so she could read one of her stories to me when I was a filly. I wanted you to be able to hear one of her stories too.”
“I want to hear it!” Morning looked up at Twilight. “I want to hear the rest!”
Fluttershy poked Morning’s nose. “We’ll see. For right now, how about dinner? Want to help me get it finished again? Or would you rather go play with your friends?”
The thought of what Pound and Pumpkin would say to her made that an easy answer. “I want to help make dinner.”
“Okay. Twily, will you go tell everyone?”
“Of course.” Twilight smiled, then she left the room.
Truth be told, Morning didn’t really want to cook. She wanted to go to her room and just get away from everyone for a little bit. But that wasn’t a good filly thing to do, so Morning had to keep pretending to be someone else.
It was hard. Harder than she thought. Pretending to be a good filly was a lot of work, and this was just one weekend. She didn’t know how she was going to keep it up. And one look at Fluttershy’s smiling face made her want to cry again when she thought of them finding out how she really was and sending her back.
Morning shook her head and hardened her resolve. She needed to be stronger than this. She wasn’t a good filly, she knew that. But she was good at pretending. She was going to make it.
She had to. If she slipped up, she’d go back to Small Steps and everyone would know she was the filly who the princesses didn’t want. Then no one would want her, and she would never be cared for. She’d never be adopted. She’d become the filly who wasn’t.
Morning plastered a smile on her face and got off the chair to help Fluttershy cook.
~ End Act I ~