Five Score – A Prench Tale Vol.1

by Alsey

26 – Heart and Blood

As usual the garage's doors have been left ajar for me. I can already hear the low hiss of the electric kettle.

Pushing my way inside, I'm surprised to see – well, to see, actually: the back of the garage is tinted orangey by that little tealight, sitting on the hood of the truck. I've grown used to make do with what light the moon provides, but this is a nice change. I glance towards the kitchen corner, and... And she's there, using her wings like big webbed hands to pour chocolate powder from the can directly into a couple of mugs, one large tufted ear still turned my way in spite of how intensely she's focusing on her task.

I try to not make too much noise or sudden movements as I stagger closer. We may be past the initial mistrust, Pippin's still very jumpy by nature... I stop at what has proven to be a good distance from her, about two body-lengths, watching her from the corner of my eye – she doesn't like being stared at either. We both wait in silence for the water to finish boiling, me sitting on a cushion and her standing while twiddling her wing-thumbs. It sure is a far better pastime than scratching at her shoulders to the point of drawing blood...

A puff of steam rises, the 'on' switch clicks back to 'off' – it's ready. Pippin hefts the kettle from its stand and fills the mugs. A little stirring, more than a little sugar added to hers, a straw for each, and with the mugs held carefully with her wing-thumbs she ambles towards the other side of the truck, where I usually spend my afternoons. I follow along.

My straw bed has been rearranged from an uneven pile to an almost perfect rectangle. She puts my mug on the ground just in front, taking extra care to center it properly it seems, then... uh, then she puts her own on top of a stack of cans as high as my chest, before climbing on a small tower of pillows and cushions, tucking her legs close to her barrel. The straw ends up just at the correct height for her to drink.

Yeah, she's weird, but it's kinda cute too.

Anyways, she's waiting for me now. It feels a little strange for my straw bed to have been evened out like this – a bit more like a regular mattress, without the clumps and holes from repeated use. A bit too even maybe, it needs to sag a little in places, but it's the thought that counts. I mean, she's clearly putting effort into making me comfy, and for once we're truly spending time sitting face to face, instead of lurking on our respective sides of the room.

“You didn't have to, you know...”, I tell her, feeling a bit spoiled by all she's doing for me tonight.

From the way her head tilts to the side, ears trained on me, and that slight furrow of her brow behind the strands of unkempt blond mane, I get that I need to be more specific:

“The tealight, the chocolate, or this, you didn't—”

“I– I'm sorry,”, she blurts out, wings twitching half-open and her large eyes darting around, “I thought—”

“No no,” I cut her off, “I mean, it's nice, it's real nice, thank you! What I wanted to say, I just meant that, well... Never mind, it's not important.” Dang it, I have to be more careful with her! Why can't I just not ruin things for once!?

But she won't let it go: “Please tell me, I don't want to make the mistake again!”

“There's no mistake, I swear! You... You did everything right, Pippin. It's perfect, really, it's just me – I wasn't expecting it, I was surprised, in a good way!”

“True..?”, she asks, almost pleading.

“Yeah,” I nod firmly, “true.”

She instantly relaxes, her wings folding back properly. “Ah, oh, all right, that's good then...” Her sigh shifts into a nervous titter. “I thought I didn't even get step one..!”

It's my turn to be confused. “Step one..?”

“Rustcrust briefed me!”, she smiles.

... Of course he did...

“And I took notes this time!” She adds proudly. “He said: 'make him feel comfortable'. Did it work?”

“Yes Pippin, it did.”, I answer, and I don't need to lie... even if she overdid it.

“Good good good! To the next item then!”

“That is..?”

“We talk!”

I roll my eyes. “I think we got that one too...”

Her own eyes grow wide at the realization. “Ooooh you're right! This is really efficient!”, she gushes. “Next: so, before I thought firmly between the lanes, but now my brain swerves left and right, or up and down, or even forward and backward sometimes.”, she explains, miming the directions with a wing finger. “And it's hard to string words, it always wants to get out all at once before I can open the good drawers! It's such a mess, I don't like it.”

“I, uh... Okay..?”

She looks at me, clearly expecting an answer.

“... Uh, I can understand how confusing this could be, Pippin. What was that item, exactly?”

“We talk issues and find common ground.”, she says like it's plain obvious.

I snort, glancing away. “'Common ground, huh..? Well I guess I am a real mess, sure. And can't stop myself from messing everything up along the way too...”

“You can.”

“'I can' what?”

“You can stop yourself.”

My first impulse is to deny, but she'd probably take it the wrong way. “Maybe... Facts don't really agree though.”

“You can.”, she repeats, sounding absolutely sure of herself. “It's just difficult. Sometimes too much, sometimes less so. But it can't work if you don't try to make it work first.”

“I see Rust briefed you alright...”, I grumble.

She shakes her head. “Not for that one. He only said you said yes to try.”

“It's not like I had much of a choice!”, I counter. “I just wanted to be with Crispy, and they all ganged up on me! Just because, what, I had a bad daydream? I can deal with this on my own! If they want another sobfest that badly they'll have to look elsewhere!!”

Ugh, why can't they just leave me alone!? Gosh I understand how Rafale felt now! It's the only time I can stop thinking about it and just relax, and now they're roping Pippin into their games too! We were having a good time just the two of us, we didn't even have to talk, and now it's all awkward and I've spooked her and– and... and...

*sigh*

“I'm sorry Pippin... I shouldn't have shouted.”

This time simple words aren't enough to calm her. She's wary, ready to jump away, and how could I blame her..? I'm not sure what to do, so instead I try to calm down and focus on my chocolate, peering into the brown drink and putting my lips to the straw. The still-too-hot liquid stings my tongue, but I don't care – it's not like I'm using it for anything good anyways.

I must've drank about half of it when my ears swivel to the sound of her voice:

“Are you sure it is what they want..?”, she ventures. “It's hard to be sure what's in the head of other ponies.”

I don't trust myself with answering right now. I keep staring at what's inside my mug.

Maybe that's the best I could do, because Pippin goes on, sounding more confident: “They're all your friends. They want to help. They care, they don't like seeing you hurt, they want you to be better. I... I want that now, too.”

Finally daring to look up, I find her gaze fixed on my own, her pupils slightly contracted from the soft glow of the tealight. She can't hold the eye contact very long, yet her expression doesn't change. It reminds me of the one Rust had, when I agreed to seek help – worry and determination. Worry for me, determination to make it better anyway they can, may I want it or not.

I... I can't go against that, not when it came from him, even less so when it comes from her. She's too innocent, too... Too her. She wouldn't understand. “Thanks, I guess...”, I mumble instead.

She doesn't let me go back to my chocolaty refuge just yet, though: “You promised, that's important. I promised, too. But don't worry, I can talk for two! It'll be like keeping the door open, yes?”

Eh. She's not wrong... I can hardly fuss over her trying to straighten the twisted thing that masquerades as my brain, if I'm okay with her assisting me for the other stuff. I'm still reluctant to go into all this, but... But I trust her, so I nod.

She smiles widely, and if only for that view, it was worth it.

“What was next...”, she wonders aloud, tilting her head again. “Ah, yes! I'm a mess, but I try. I want to try. It's the only appropriate course of action. That's why the angry mare asked me to practice looking at what's happening in my head, and not let it do what it wants without my knowing – introspection, self-reflection! I'm not very good yet, but I try, and it'll get better!”

“I hope it does, if that's what you want.” Well that definitely proves she's been talking with Rafale, at least. As long as the pegasus doesn't try to convince Pippin she'd be happier as a human...

She points at me now. “You do it too!”

“What,” I huff, “you want me to pay attention to every single little instant, each stray thought? Second-guessing whatever I think? That'd be awful, like... I mean, the people who spend their time brooding over everything, they aren't the happy ones, trust me.”

“No, no”, she shakes her head, “clarification: you already do it. You pay attention with me, I can tell.”

“Yeah, so..? That's because I don't want to hurt you, it's, like, basic stuff.”

“Now pay attention with you, it's the same! You don't want to hurt yourself.”

... Do I, really? It's not like I'd deserve any better for—

Wait, stop! Where is this going exactly? I... I've done a lot of mistakes, there's no question about it, but... For Celestia's sake, haven't I been hurt enough for them yet!?

“See? You can do it!”, Pippin exclaims, pulling me from that dark line of thought. “Go on!”

“Pippin, I don't... I don't want to think about this kind of stuff, that's—”

“It's not you who says that,” she interrupts, sounding more heated than usual, “not real-you, just brain-you! Brain-you that's doing things you don't like and don't want you to stop it, so it hides, it hides the whys and hows so it can go on, it doesn't care it's doing a mess! Avoid, avoid, avoid! Hiding the truth so you keep avoiding forever! Easier, so much easier for brain-you, because it doesn't care for the pain in the heart! It doesn't care..!”

I bite my lip, forcing myself to stay put as she clamps her mouth on her straw. Tears gather at the corners of her eyes and wing-thumbs get white from how tightly they cling to one another. I don't like seeing her so worked-up and not, I don't know, hugging her or something, but I'm not sure how she'd react to physical contact in this state. I can still ask though: “Can I do something, Pippin..?”

Eventually she's only slurping air, and with a sniff she lets go of the straw: “Yes... Don't let brain-you win.”

“Something for you, I mean.”

Her lips pull into a small smile. “Do it for me. I want you to get better.”

Darn it, would've preferred the hugs... But I guess I can still give it a try, for her.

So... What does she even want me to think about? I'm not good at this stuff, I'm a stallion of action!

Okay, just breathe then... That's how they always do, just breathe and I don't know what next I guess I'll find out oh gosh this is really boring but just breathe Chard like you're trying to sleep or something but just don't fall asleep even with how tired you are...

After a while and more than a couple yawns I can't help but start looking around. There's not much I haven't seen before in the garage, though the tealight recasts everything in a slightly new way. Drafts from the still open door disturb the little flame from time to time, giving the feeling that the room sways back and forth for a brief instant from how the shadows twist and stretch. Of course this is just a feeling; I'm motionless, isolated on my raft of straw even with Pippin so close, huddled on top of her island of pillows.

Just a lonely ship, lost at sea – and in the middle of a never-ending storm, if I'm being honest. Tossed around and taking on water, the once sturdy hull sliced open, though in reality the inner structure had already started to rot away a while ago, willingly ignored...

Crispy is like a lighthouse piercing through the storm, and I so want to reach her! A safe port, to drydock for a while and try to rebuild things, after the waves that pushed us apart... But like with Pippin, it's like I have neither the sails nor the paddles to truly get to her – and that's if I'm not just casting myself against a cliff by trying to follow her light. So I'm slowly sinking in place, a little deeper each day, drowned by the storm...

And then there's the others, the others who seem to cause even more waves just to speed up the job, and...

No...

No, Rust and Luisard and all the others, they... They aren't part of the storm. They're like a full fleet of ships, one I was once part of but pulled away from, and... And they're not creating waves against me, or just watching me sink, no they're throwing helpful ropes my way, to stop me from capsizing and maybe make it safely to port!

Instead of being grateful, I'm going all cannons blazing at them... Like all the water has ignited the powder, instead of drenching it. The more water, the closer they get, the harsher the fire that burns them and myself...

But I– I can't let them in, don't want them to ask, they can't understand, they only make it worse! It's like I'm carrying this awful thing, and they only get close to try to get a look at it, but if they do it'll just get out, and it'll only burn me again!

I can't let them in..!

...

Is that what she was telling me about..? The avoidance?

Brain-me doing his best to steer me away from them, at the risk they could make me sink even quicker..?

I know that's not what they want.

I know they only want to help.

They haven't asked me about the thing. They only asked how I was feeling. How I was managing.

But it just felt safer to avoid it all...

... And for what kind of result, huh?

This can't go on like this. I can't go on like this. Brain-me has been a shitty first mate taking all the decisions, and it's time I become the captain of my own ship. It's only on me now. I've been lashing out, and my friends don't deserve it, and I don't deserve to treat myself like that. Things are already hard enough without scuttling myself.

I can't sail forward without them, whatever the direction. Can't plug the hull with my own rotten wood. If I don't do something, if I don't accept their help, it's my own darn fault if I keep on sinking... I've let myself act like such a jerk, it's a miracle they haven't given up the ship yet.

And now I know what I need to do, like it or not.

“I know they want to help,” I begin, “and I know... I know I... I know I need their help, and pushing them away only made things worse...”

Pippin simply nods, like this was the answer, the very simple answer, that she'd been waiting for all along.

“But I don't want to talk about what happened, I– I don't think I can..!”, I add quickly.

“Then we don't.”, the mare shrugs with her wings, her smile widening a little. “We just talk about tomorrow, and what we do to feel better. Yes?”

It's my turn to nod, and I try to smile.

There's less than ten meters between the dingy old car and the front door of Maëlle's house, and there's no light coming from any of the surrounding habitations, but I still feel tense walking down the dark street after what just happened. Even Dusky clings close to my bare back.

We have to go slow under the drizzle to not cause a six-hoof racket or worse, as Élise is struggling to stay upright. Our enemies, if they managed to follow us, would be fools to waste such a golden opportunity...

... Yet we reach the house safely, not a sound around us to suggest we've been spotted. I guess Maëlle was right, we did lose them... I'd have preferred if we'd taken refuge at my parents', but if she's as devoted to Élise's safety as she seems to be, this place should serve just as good to hole up for a bit.

The turn of a key, and the four of us file into a narrow hallway. The front door doesn't lock properly as it closes behind me, though.

“Can you give it a push?”, Maëlle asks as she's already helping Élise up a wooden stairway.

I do so with a shove of the foot, and the lock gives a satisfying 'click'. I feel a little safer already.

Looking around, it seems that this is one of these old houses turned into duplexes, with a door further down the hallway for the ground floor apartment, and another one at the top of the stairs. My feeling of safety proves fleeting, knowing we have an unknown party living right under our new hideout... But beggars can't be choosers in our situation, so I follow after the two young women.

Another door later and we end up in a cramped living room, the air smelling of spices and worn paper. With just the light of the entrance I can see this is the kind of place my mother wouldn't approve of: paintings large and small overcrowding the walls not already occupied by bookcases, sculptures of various styles and potted plants in most corners, a round dinner table with gaudy tablecloth and mismatched chairs, old couch and even older armchair surrounding a coffee table made from bottle crates... I wouldn't want to live here, but I have to admit as a whole it still manages to give an impression of quirky warmth and coziness – I'm sure Séb would love it. There's also a kitchen corner opposite the door, with a French window opening on a terrace or balcony, and to our right that corridor must lead to the roo—

An older, bleary-eyed woman enters the living room from that very corridor, long black-and-pepper hair cascading over the top of her nightgown, the roundness of her face and her full lips a clear giveaway she must be related to Maëlle despite a less muscular build. “Honey, that's you..? Who's—” She blinks once, twice, then puts a hand against the wall as if she were about to fall, staring from Élise to me and back and definitely quite awake now. “Who're these... people, Maëlle?”

Her pink-haired daughter, even though still holding her friend's arm, looks like she's only now realizing that something isn't as it should be. “I... I'm not really sure, Mom..!”, she breathes, her whole body tensing. Admittedly, discussing the finer points of the situation wasn't exactly on our minds while driving here...

“Maëlle please, it's me!”, Élise cries out, clutching Maëlle's arm before she can pull away, and forcing her to look her in the face. “You know it's me!”

She didn't hesitate earlier, when we jumped into her car and urged her to get us the hell out of there, though with a little less adrenaline in her veins I can understand that she wouldn't be too sure of what kind of crazy quagmire she has stepped right into... Still, Élise's words seem to have the desired effect – Maëlle doesn't try to pull away anymore, and instead she brings her other, trembling hand to cup her friend's tear-stained cheek: “I... Yes, yes of course Lili, of course I do, but your eyes, your voice..!”

“I know, it's... I told you, it's... It's a lot and– and I'm so happy you came for me!” The two hug fiercely, but this also quite literally puts Élise's equine ears right in Maëlle's face, making her tense again.

Meanwhile, the mother has come closer to them, and it's her turn to take stock of the transformation's effects on the young woman. She appears to get over it more easily than her daughter, or at least hides it a lot better, even when she gently rubs Élise's back and must be able to feel the alien growths there. She then hugs Élise herself when Maëlle lets go...

... And after nervously running a hand through her short dyed hair – seriously, who in their right mind would get pink hair of their own free will? – Élise's friend turns toward me and Dusky, glaring: “What did you do to her!?”

“No, it's not her fault!”, Élise defends me before I can answer, pulling away from the woman's hug and reaching for Maëlle's hand. “Or at least I don't think so, but... I trust her, she's helping me.”

It doesn't seem to convince her completely. “... What the hell happened back there?”

“I told you, she was helping me! There were these men at the door, and we had to go, and... And...” Élise's ears slowly fold back as she recalls the events of the evening, tears pouring freely from her eyes, her attempts to explain further racked by sobs...

“Hey hey, it's gonna be okay, alright Lili? We're gonna find a way to make it okay, I promise!”, Maëlle tells her, lifting her chin with the tip of her fingers so their gazes can meet. After Élise's hesitant nod she gives her a tender kiss on the forehead, taking her hands in hers. “C'mon then, you're all cold...” She guides her crying friend to the couch, where they wrap themselves up in a big fluffy blanket and cuddle close.

“I... I'll make us some tea...”, the mother whispers, hurrying to the kitchen. As she pulls mugs from a cupboard, she glances back at me, unsure.

“Yes, please.”, I nod, before looking over my shoulder: “Want anything, Dusky?”

He shakes his head, eyelids drooping a little. “No thanks...”

Soon enough I'm sitting at the dinner table, with a steaming mug in front of me, Dusky dozing off on my lap, and Brigitte Padet, Maëlle's mother, pushing a little platter of mini-viennoiseries my way: “I'm... not sure if you can eat those, but that's all we have.”

“We do, thank you ma'am.” I'm not hungry, but I still take one mini-croissant as she opened the sealed bag just for us. It's good but a little stale, like day-old pastry.

Wriggling her hands around her own mug, Brigitte finally dares to voice her question: “She is becoming like you, isn't she..?”

“Unfortunately, yes. We can't prevent it, only try to make it easier on her...”

After crying her heart out poor Élise has fallen asleep, cradled in Maëlle's arms, her slowly developing muzzle nestled just under the young woman's jaw. Probably best to be asleep for the next stages of the transformation, I guess. The way they hold on tightly to each other, in some ways it reminds me of how Séb acted as my life preserver during the worst parts... Though while he's not into girls and I'm into no-one, here there's clearly more between these two than 'just' a close friendship.

“Did she contact you, or..?”, Brigitte asks me, bringing my focus back to her.

“No, my parents live close by, we were visiting and I saw, well, what she was going through. I had to help, especially knowing there's these people looking for us.”, I answer truthfully. I then use the opportunity to learn a little more about our hosts: “What is your relationship with Élise, exactly?”

“We were neighbors, back in the day, and Maëlle and Élise stayed friends even after we moved out. They've always been very close – she's almost family, really. I think...” She leans forward, voice hushed: “I think Maëlle may have a thing for her, but I'm not sure it's mutual... and her family wouldn't be too pleased if it were anyways...”

That pretty much confirms my impression then, and I'd wager it is mutual. With both the old hole in the hedge and the rope to get to the window, clearly the girls are used to seeing each other in secret... And a good thing too – otherwise Élise might not have mistaken me for her paramour and thrown the rope down, and we wouldn't have had someone ready to drive us away. It would've been a whole other story if we had been forced to make our escape on foot through thorny hedges and muddy gardens...

Ugh, speaking of, I hope we haven't made too much of a mess, the doormat could only do so much and Dusky and I are absolutely filthy..!

But before we take care of that, an important question: “May I use your phone to call home, tell my parents where we are?”

“Why yes, of course.”

“Thank you, and, uh, if that doesn't bother you ma'am, could we use your bathroom very quickly first? We wouldn't want to dirty your home any more than we already have...”

“Don't you worry about it, Laurence. The shower is yours, fresh towels are under the sink.”

After thanking her again and getting a tired Dusky on my back, I head for the corridor and the first door on the left. It's a small, no-toilet bathroom with a square, opaque glass window, and the shower stall should be wide enough for the both of us if I sit down in the corner. I've lost my socks so my eyepatch and my abused shorts are the only article of clothing I have to get out off. All things considered, Brigitte has been dealing remarkably well with what looks like a muddy, half-naked, non-human person in her living room...

“Do I really have to..?”, Dusky whines as I push him into the stall.

“Yes, you're even grimier than I am. Which wouldn't be the case if you'd stayed home!”

“You left me all alone!”, he protests while I follow after him and turn the water on.

“Not only you weren't, but you were also supposed to be asleep at this hour! What were you thinking, going outside by yourself!?”

He doesn't answer, just sulking on his side of the stall.

Well, whatever! I start scrubbing at my arms, my legs, and the rest of my body and hair, trying to get as much mud and detritus out, before turning the water off and grabbing an orange bottle of shower gel from a plastic holder. It's peach-scented, not my favorite, but it'll do. Once I've managed to press enough of the stuff into my fur I put the bottle Dusky's way then proceed to lather it all.

I'm already working on my left leg when I notice that he still hasn't moved.

“Come on, Dusky. We don't have all night.”

“Bottle's too big...”, he complains.

Tsss... I guess he has a point, it's slippery and his forelegs and wings are a little short to use it easily. “All right, get your butt over here then.”

I take the bottle and wait for him to stretch his hooves out, but instead he sits with his back to me, wings spread away from his body. Not sure how that's going to help, I still press a dollop of gel onto his withers, his feathers ruffling a little from the cold contact.

Then nothing. He seems to be waiting for something, his ears turned my way.

Oh for fuck's sake, can't you just give me a break!? It's already maddening enough to have to wash one stranger's body! “You don't seriously expect me to do it for you..?”

He glances back at me, pouting: “Pleeease..!”

“This is ridiculous, you don't have any issue doing it by yourself at the farm!”

“But I'm tired!”

“If you were so tired you wouldn't have gone out in the middle of the night in the first place! I'm tired too and drenched and full of soap and I didn't plan on ending up in someone else's bathroom tonight, we don't always get what we want!”

“Then you should've stayed home too!”, he dares to retort!

“And what, leave that poor girl to her fate? She nee—”

“She doesn't need you!”

“Will you stop acting so damn jealous already!?”, I snap. “Try to be a little more mature for a change!”

“I'm a foal..!”, he grumbles – as if it excused anything!

“Oh come on Dusky, we're the same age and you know it! You're not a child anymore at twenty-five!”

He turns to face me fully, wings outstretched in anger: “Do I look like an adult to you!?”

“You certainly don't act like it!”, I shoot back!

“That's the freakin' point!”

“Bu– wait, what!? Hey, you're not getting out of here like this!”

I grab him before he can run out of the stall, holding him against my chest. He struggles to break free, but even with my arms covered in suds he's not going anywhere.

Once he's done kicking and flapping, I set him back down on the tiles, and without a word I start spreading what's left of the gel over his coat. I'm too tired for any more senseless arguments with him, and I don't want to wake Élise with our shouts, if that's not already done.

“You're too rough...”

“Deal with it. I didn't choose to have these things instead of hands.”

I turn the water back on, trying to appreciate it before we inevitably switch to the pure hassle that is toweling off.

*sigh*

Almost makes me miss the calm of the farm... Of course things had to take a turn for the chaotic!

... And that's not even taking into account the scolding I'm about to get once I call home...

“You have quite the appetite this morning!”

Of course I can't answer with my mouth now full of oatmeal! Dang it, I thought I'd get it this time!

Mom goes back to her own breakfast, chatting with Antoine and Éclat, still oblivious to my inner struggle. How can she be so clueless!?

Okay, let's be fair, she did ask me if I was feeling all right last night, but it was useless! The only thing I could get out between two yawns was a 'yes just tired'!

If not yawns I'm plagued by sudden spells of sneezes and coughs, or I feel compelled to stuff myself full of whatever's lying around! It's leagues better than the vicious headaches I get if I persist when my words are failing me, that's for sure, yet it doesn't make it any easier to talk of the aven or the ghost with anypony! I don't know what to do, this is driving me insane!

Maybe I should just get back to working on the bridge, at least that would be a more productive use of my time. I feel myself smiling at the prospect.

Wh– what am I even thinking!? I know helping the ghost pony is important, no question, but I can't go on like this! Something happened yesterday, I don't know what, but it's far too convenient that it 'just so happens' to involve this big secret I'm already struggling to keep!

It probably really is just a coincidence though, as I couldn't ask for that blue cheese last night either – there must be another reason.

And to think that roquefort smelled soooo good..! It was so darn frustrating! But no, no, the aven is the only topic that's been consistently impacted by this strange curse, and I doubt my cheese of choice is to blame here.

Then maybe it is a curse, and if so, probably part of the magic imprisoning the ghost? That would make a lot of sense, and all the more reasons to free them posthaste!

... But then wouldn't it get even worse if I spend more time close to that magical barrier? If it can curse me just like that, without me noticing, and I'm already not able to fight off yawns and sneezes, what could it do to me if I did!?

Any effect would only last as long as the barrier itself, once the ghost is—

No! It's too risky! What if it makes me go blind next, or makes me forget, or worse!?

That's not—

That could happen, for all I know! I don't have the first idea how this kind of magic works! If this curse is anything like those in fantasy stories I—

I can't abandon the ghost!

And I won't! But this is getting completely out of hoof, I should've never undertaken this OTHER huge thing behind everypony's back when the first one is still not moving forward, and I'm even more stressed and unsure and now I'm freakin' cursed and RAAAAAAH!!

Okay Amber, calm down, deep breaths, deeeeep breaths, try to... I don't know, there has to be something I can do..!

The curse's the most problematic thing right now, I can't even ask for help for that or for the ghost... So let's review; there must be a loophole I can exploit, there's always one!

I know that it can definitely elicit unconscious stuff like yawns and sneezes, that's the base, but it can also bend or alter my very words as they leave my mouth, and that's on a wholly different level! It's like a compulsion, or a mental block – that curse is messing directly with my mind!

Oh holy heck what if it causes permanent brain damage!?

My mind is mine alone you stupid thing, out of my head!!

Ack calm down, you're going to pull on the ghost's gift at this rate! Calm down and– wait wouldn't that actually work in my favor? I know Clémence could see it in my eyes when I used it yesterday, ponies should be able to too!

No no no, this is a very bad idea! It will backfire horribly!

What!? Why would it backfire!? It's the perfect plan! They'll see it and then—

And then what!? Remember what happened to Luisard the other day, you could've hurt him badly! The gift is too wild, too dangerous, and I'm far from mastering it! I've never tried to use it just on its own, only as a supplement, and I could hurt somepony else or even myself if I lose control!

But, that's—

What would Rafale think of me, toying with powerful magics beyond my understanding!? If she didn't judge me ready for the horn blast until I had proper training, she would be appalled by me taking such risks for so little to gain!

...

What would 'Rafale' think, indeed...

...

Yes, after all, I've been using this gift regularly for the past few days, even tapped directly into it without issue, but who knows, it could 'backfire' while I'm trying to use it, especially with this curse playing with my brain, right?

Oh, this is so frustrating, I suppose I am back to square one...

I grab a stray apple in my magic, taking a small bite and closing my eyes, appreciating the texture of the skin as my lips brush against it and I clear my mind, the yield of the flesh under my teeth as I attempt to meditate and peer inside, the sweet juice titillating my tongue and making my whole mouth water because after all I can still think for myself, right? Let's have another bite, this apple is so delicious, I can hardly think of anything else!

The smell of apples, rich and powerful, and something dribbling, somewhere...

Skin squeaking as teeth clamp down, with a closed door and walls all around... Tip of my tongue caressing the morsel, and soothing, pulsating red light like my aura from the lamps on the walls...

I swallow, and see this familiar place, this place that takes after my old bedroom and so many other images dear to my heart, crossed by a rivulet of black from the closed door to the one leading down bellow, yes I recognize it, it's the place from my dreams—

It rattles– And what lousy dreams these are, really! So stressed all day long, can't I have some fun during the night? I wouldn't mind dreaming of Luisard and his well-toned flank..!

Warmth spreads on my face at the thought, but oh this apple's so good I need another bite! So exquisite, almost mind-numbing, an explosion of flavor in my mouth drowning everything else, just how the door rattled and the rivulet surged!

Got you!!

Just need to– Rattle– to let him do to me all these dirty things that I've been yearning for for so lon– apples apples apples APPLES and each time it rattles a little more of that dark tether slips underneath, infecting my mind, infecting me!

I need to hold that door, I need– Rattle!– I need him oh so much, I can't think of anyth—

I bite down so hard it hurts but I see the door, I just need to touch it, to press my hands against it like my life depends on it, like when that bastard tried to follow me in the bathroom, to dig my hooves into the ground like when battling Discord, and HOLD!

Ratt—

It hurts I ca— No, I'll hold!! With hands and hooves and the searing red light I WILL HOLD!!

Ra—

I will hold 'cause neither Ambre Pédurand nor Amber Spire go down without a fuckin' fight!!

I hold and my eyes shoot open and I force the words through my aching throat: “There's a ghost in the aven!”

“Uh, Amber? You alright..?”

Wait, what?

I turn towards Sassaflash, who's finishing doing the dishes on the other side of the garage... The empty garage, if not for us two.

Darn it, how long has it been!? They were just finishing with breakfast when I got my apple!

Said fruit has been reduced to a pulp in my magic's grip, my horn still ablaze and buzzing far more than necessary for simple levitation, buzzing and aching and oh gosh the vicious headache!!

I can't help a wince as I'm hit by the full blow of that awful migraine, my aura shorting out and letting what's left of the poor apple splosh down on the table. Gah it hurts..!

But I did it! I managed to say it! I...

Oh drat.

“Sassaflash, you heard me right..?”, I croak.

The American pegasus stares at me, frowning. “Yes, 'phantom' and I didn't get the rest, now clean the apple please...”, she answers in a mix of French and English. “You are okay, right?”

Just my luck..! But this I'm sure she'll understand: “I'm okay!”

Dang it, that wasn't what I wanted to say!! And now with my head hurting like this, I– I can't focus properly, I can't see the door..!

I can't hold, but that searing red light, and how I destroyed that apple... Could it be my magic..? I have to try!

No it hurts too much I could damage my ho— I don't listen and channel despite the pain, levitating the squashed apple towards the bin, barely managing to focus enough to do that and picture the door bathed in red and open my mouth again!

“N– no..!”

It's all I can get out of my mouth before I falter, apple in the bin and headache pounding like crazy..! Sassaflash doesn't get it, just muttering something in English, but I did it!

There's a way to beat the curse! I just have to get better at it!

... Though, er, right now I think I'm going to go lie down, be that my own idea or not..!

I plop my butt on the loose soil of the field, away from the others. My gosh man, what was the point of lazing around for a week if now you get winded in barely an hour..!

Not sleeping at night may not help, sure, but still!

“Hey Chard, you okay?”

I turn to Fenchone, waving a hoof: “Yeah, yeah, just taking a little break, that's all.”

“Don't overdo it, please.”, the elder mare cautions. “We're all happy to have you back with us, but you've got to be careful. You haven't recovered yet...”

“Got it, boss!”, I smirk to better hide my frustration. “Don't worry, I'm taking it slow.”

She nods, and gets back to working with the others. I wave a little more, just to reassure them too.

The way they treat me like I'm made of glass is pissing me off– buuuuuut I know it comes from a good place and I can hardly blame them for being concerned and making sure I haven't started to take on water again so let's drop that line of thought before it gets me all worked up for no good reason at all!

Here, now, that's better..!

Just breathe, slowly, enjoy the nice sunny weather, watch the ponies busying themselves around the fields like giant ants crawling all over– and quick think of something else that's terrifying I don't know what no not the ants like colors yes something with bright colors oh yes like colorful sails and hulls yes like little sailboats drifting this way and that maybe? Oh yes, yes that's a nice one, the boats are really doing it for me today!

So just breathe, slowly, watch them from the shore as they move from one spot to the next, leaving in their wake the little treasures that'll soon breach from under the surface, so that we may one day reap the fruits of this green sea...

Ah yes... Boats really are the good stuff..!

... But it all comes crashing down like waves against a cliff when I hear footsteps from behind me. A cold shiver runs down my spine and my breath catches in my throat, I can't look I can't—

“Sweetchard?”

My heart slows down a little, hearing Solange's voice, but that sudden hurricane of stress only starts to subside once she comes into view and I can be sure, hundred percent sure, that it's just her. “H– hey Solange, good morning!”

My faltering smile doesn't fool the sharp vet for a minute. “Are you sure you should be outside so soon..?”

“Well, why not?”, I answer, trying to shrug her worry off. “It's perfect weather for enjoying some fresh air, and besides you know better than most just how quick we can heal!”

“Physically maybe, yes...”, she mutters, kneeling down on the ground next to me. “To be honest, I had hoped ponies would prove a little more humane than most humans, so to speak. You seem to have formed a close-knit community, and yet they left you alone to deal with all this...”

I stare at her, dumbfounded. “... What?”

“The Vallières told me you were kept away from the others, after y—”

“Oh no, no! No, you've got it backward!” I laugh at the silly idea, though the nature of the subject is quick to drown the mood. “They tried, really. Staging little interventions to pull me out of the dregs, trying to make me talk and stuff and force me out of my shell, but...” I sigh. “Well it's not just their fault it didn't work out you know, I... Let's just say that sometimes it's hard to keep the cannons from firing, so it's just easier to steer away...”

“The what..?”

“But enough of that!”, I exclaim, eager to change subject. “How's Crispy?”

She and I didn't really have a chance to talk in private since the echography, she's been literally glued to Solange. Heck, they've even spent the night together in the house – with the sweet added consequence of forcing our uppity handler to sleep on the couch, hehe.

“She is... trying to cope.”, she answers carefully, though I can see how worried she truly is, and the pain it's causing her.

I shift a little to put my hoof on her knee while staying balanced, and bite my lip, forcing myself to stay still, as the pats me over the fetlock. Fortunately she's mindful enough to not try to get her fingers around it.

“What happened, between you two..? Last time I saw you you were all over each other, and now you're barely exchanging a word. I've tried to ask, but she always avoids the subject.”

Oh. That...

I pull back from her, getting my hoof back against the warm earth, and letting out a long sigh.

“We...” Gosh I don't want to think about that, but... But maybe, if Solange knows, she could find a way to help smooth things over? “We found out we weren't exactly what the other was expecting, I suppose... Did you hear about the dreams, and what they mean?”

She nods slowly. “I've been told, yes... Even if I still have a hard time believing it, in spite of the evidence.”

“I guess I convinced myself she was just the mare of my dreams, it was so easy to simply make us fit the slots the memories provided, live the role and everything would work out and we wouldn't have to bring up the past ever again, but... But that's not how it works. You can't just erase who you are, and we learned that the hard way...”

“He– I mean she could be very set in her ways even as a child, not caring if she's being hurtful, and I doubt it improved under her father's thumb, so... I can imagine what that must've been like.”

“You've known her for a long time, huh..?”

Her lips pull into a wistful smile. “All her life. She wasn't the nicest boy around people, but she liked taking care of the horses and animals, and that allowed us to spend time together even if her father disapproved. And then she grew up, and started parroting his views, and it wasn't possible anymore...”

“But you're still here for her.” Would my old family do the same..?

“It's the least I can do.”

... Yes, they probably would...

And I shouldn't be surprised by the moistness in my eyes...

We fall silent for a while. Just watching the others working, birds chirping from the woods, white clouds drifting in the blue sky... Until Solange sighs, and stands up with a groan.

Dusting her pants, she's about to leave, but seems to reconsider. Bending down next to me once more, I can see the conflict in her eyes, the hesitation in how she clenches her fist.

“I... I don't know what she's planning to do,” she begins, “and I'm not sure she even knows herself, but... Do you think you could try to be here for her, too? She's feeling lost, and afraid, and though I could understand if this is still too much for you, and... And I'm sorry, you already have a lot on your plate, forget I said a—”

“No, wait!”, I stop her as she's already getting back up. “I... If I can help her, I... Of course I'd be there, I want to be there, for her, and... and for the foal. I just got the feeling she... That she was the one not wanting to see me, so...”

She mulls over that bit, before smiling a little. “She's too prideful for her own good, often too much to confront her own mistakes, but with what's happening now, I think she's starting to realize what's truly important. Not that she'd admit it, obviously,” she adds, rolling her eyes, “but I'll try to nudge her in the right direction. I can't guarantee it'll be everything you're hoping for, but with luck, maybe it could help the both of you.”

“Yeah, with luck.”

She leaves me with myself, to think about all she shared, and about that last possibility.

Feeling well-rested enough, it's my turn to stand up, wobbling only a little. The beginning of a smile is hesitantly tugging at the corners of my mouth, and the day feels a bit more bright already.

Despite it all, the port may finally be in view..!

Dusky shifts a little against me, trying to snuggle ever closer in his sleep. Pushing him away only delays the issue, and there's not that much room on the armchair to begin with, so I let it be...

Before she headed out for the bakery she's working at, Brigitte was kind enough to switch the radio on – loud enough for me to hear, quiet enough to not wake the others. It's my only distraction while I let them have their rest, and I try to not bow to morbid curiosity by watching too closely as Élise's changes progress.

With limited success...

Even under the blanket I can see her wings twitching, restless. Through the night and the morning, the closer she's been to the end of the transformation the harder she's been clinging to Maëlle. I wouldn't be surprised if she were getting acquainted with the nightmares that'll plague her for weeks to come... I'm not eager to have to explain what those really are, but I'm sure she'll have questions, and if she follows me back to Coursac she'll learn the truth sooner or later anyway.

In the meantime, I'll stay vigilant. For the moment she hasn't woken up screaming. She hasn't tried to tear out her skin as it's overtaken by hair, nor has she tried to rip off as many feathers as she could, or to carve her own limbs away before she had to watch them change.

Maybe she's going to be all right. Maybe she won't have to be like m—

The front door opens, I lean to the side to see the entrance – but it's just Brigitte, back for her lunch break and with some groceries, just as planned. We exchange a nod, and she goes for the kitchen corner. Soon a stove is turned on.

The noise is enough to rouse Maëlle. At first the young woman stays mostly still, eyelids only partially open, but as her hands move under the blanket she's slapped in the face by full awareness. I'm unsure exactly what is going through her head, but I can't help but feel a certain sadness at seeing her carefully trying to untangle herself from Élise, and putting some distance between them.

The near-pony is still slumbering, yet she instinctively reaches for her companion, shedding the blanket away with the motion. Her shirt is stretched out by her wings in the back, and by her chest in the front as it's becoming the keel-shaped barrel of a pegasus, rippling with developing wing muscles. The sleeves are also limiting how much her altered arms can move, and her shoulder blades haven't finished migrating from her back to her sides. Unable to even grasp at Maëlle with her furred, tubular hands and stiff fingers, her pitiful whine sounds almost like a true nicker.

Deprived of the calming warmth of another body, there's nothing left to stop the nightmares from fully taking over her sleeping mind. We watch as her forming snout scrunches up, ears drawn back against her changing skull, her whole body shivering and curling up into a ball.

I can see Maëlle hesitating on what to do next, probably torn between comforting the woman she loves and staying away from the strange pony on her couch. Did Séb experience something similar, forced to watch me being slowly replaced by an alien creature, unable to be sure if his friend would ever be the same again, if it's even still her inside that body?

How horrible would it have been, to find myself rejected by the person I needed most..?

Maëlle has taken a decision though, her hand gingerly approaching Élise's head, and I dare to hope this is a good sign. She pats slowly the puffy mass of cream-and-cyan locks – but the slight contact's enough for Élise to wake up with a start!

“Wh– what, where am I!?”, she blurts out, scrambling over the couch, entangling her fully-formed hindlegs in the blanket and sending pillows to the floor. Breathing fast and her wings trying to extricate themselves from their fabric trap, she almost jumps when Maëlle touches her again.

“Hey Lili calm down, it's alright, you're home!”

Élise's too-large eyes are still staring blankly ahead, as if they were struggling to chase away whatever horrible vision Discord saw fit to leave her with, but then her widened nostrils flare at some scent she must recognize. Instantly she begins to calm down, enough to look for whose hand it is that's currently resting at the base of her elongating neck. Seeing Maëlle brings her back to the present, a relieved smile blossoming on her lips... Then she catches some movement from Dusky as he stirs awake, and an anxious frown overtakes her features at our sight – and thus at being reminded of her predicament, if I had to guess.

Her eyes turn to something behind me, alleviating the frown a little – probably Brigitte in the kitchen. That's confirmed when Maëlle's mother arrives to put a tray on the coffee table, revealing a salad bowl full of fusilli with slices of cherry tomatoes, bits of asparagus and sprinkled with some seasoning herbs. As an uninvited guest I should've helped at least a little... I'll ask if I can do the dishes or something.

Anyway, being served a bowl of hot tasty food proves to be a sure way of contenting everybody for the immediate future, unwieldy cutlery notwithstanding...

As we reach the end of the meal, a frustrated Élise finally lets go of her overstretched shirt, allowing her to spread her wings for the first time. They're still growing and already in need of a good preening, but they're also beautiful, feathers snow-white with the slightest teal shine, and look a lot sleeker in shape compared to those I'm saddled with. “Mrs. Ségaux, when do you think I'll be able to try these out?”, she asks me, barely-concealed wonder and excitement in her voice.

I let out a little sigh of relief inside. Yes, she won't have to be like me...

“Not until you're done changing – you may not have the magic yet, and certainly not all the muscles you need.”, I answer, dimming her enthusiasm a little. “Even then, I don't think it's a good idea to go flying around after what happened last night.” I'd really like to avoid another 'going out and be captured'-type situation, if possible...

“Oh...” Her wings fold back, new bone and flesh jerking a little in the process. “Yes, you're right...”

Yup... Definitely not like me.

Colt in tow, I leave Élise in Maëlle's care as she has to go familiarize herself with other aspects of pony anatomy. Brigitte has just brought the tray back to the kitchen, and I convince her to let us help while she rests for a bit, especially as she'll have to get back to work soon and she didn't exactly have the luxury of a full night of sleep thanks to us.

Dusky is keeping a lower cupboard open, so that I may put the washed and dried bowls inside, when he whispers to me:

“We should go back to your mom and dad's...”

Uh? Oh yes, he was still half-sulking, half-dozing off when we discussed this. “They're both working today Dusky, they can't come get us until this evening. And it's probably safer to stay away from Noirétable for the time being anyway...”

This time he doesn't contest, but he's clearly not happy with my answer either.

*sigh*

Just let it go, Laurence... He wants to act like a spoiled child? Well fine! I'm an adult, I don't have to be accountable to him!

...

Ugh, now I sound like my mom... Again.

Whatever..!

By the time we're done Brigitte has to leave for the bakery, and we rejoin the girls in the living room. Maëlle fidgets next to Élise, looking a little uneasily at her friend's wings... but hides it as soon as she sees I've noticed.

“Well, we can't just wait for your gov pals to show up!”, she tells me with a little more heat than seems warranted. “I say we should get some help on our own, have some muscle on our side if the assholes try anything else!”

“I'm all for it, but local law enforcement could be compromised – wouldn't be the first time.”

“And I'm not talking about that. You said these 'Brigade' guys are like a right-wing fascist sort of militia? Well I know some people from La Jeune Garde in Lyon who may know about them, I'm sure they'd be ready to help! Well, either by themselves, or they could at least hook us up with either the C.A.R.A or the G.A.L.E, they're a little closer to us I think.”

“I... don't know what all these things are. Gangs of some kind..?”

“No,” she answers, sounding almost offended, “they're anti-fascist collectives. They're like, the people we can count on in this situation!”

Aren't these people usually far-left, or anarchists, or maybe Yellow Jacket types? Mmh. I'm not sure that Antoine guy would be exactly thrilled to see me colluding with this ilk.

Not that I care, but he still did me a favor, and he's trying to help, so I guess we can meet half way: “Like I said I'm all for it, but for now it'd be safer if you didn't mention any of the pony business, they don't need these details.”

“Probably for the best, I doubt they'd believe me...”

Maëlle grabs her sling bag, left at the foot of the couch last night. As she goes through the content, probably for her phone, I catch the glint of something shiny – and Élise does too:

“What's that?”

“Uh? Oh, er, it's nothin'!”, claims Maëlle, blushing, but she's not quick enough to get her bag out of Élise's reach – the near-pony hooks her almost-hoof into the opening, pulls it wider, and a thin rectangular box wrapped in silvery paper falls out of the bag.

Élise snatches the box before her friend can reclaim it, clutching her prize tightly against her chest. “Is this for me..?”, she asks, trying to affect a sly smirk but very obviously blushing.

“W– well, you know, t'was your birthday this week, and, uh...”, Maëlle stammers in what could be just as much frustration as embarrassment, running a hand through her hair. “I know you didn't want anything, but I had this idea a while ago, and well, now you know, so you may as well open it!”

Giggling happily, Élise starts opening her present, proving that she's starting to regain some dexterity now that her forelegs have almost reached their finished state. The wrapping paper is soon discarded and the box opened, revealing what looks like a long dip pen and a selection of strangely shaped nips – for calligraphy, perhaps?

“Oh, you remembered..!”

She still needs Maëlle's help to untie the pen and lift it out of the box. Once it's in her hooves, she pays special attention to some sort of engraving on the handle. From her fond, warm smile, I'd guess it's a message for her.

And then the pen slips from her grip, falling on the couch. The smile is gone.

She stares at her hooves as they slowly reach their final proportions, barely a trace of her other fingers left. Her gaze follows along a white foreleg, to the rest of her slightly shorter, more compact body, ending on the long wavy tail.

“It– it's not me anymore,” she whispers, voice catching in her throat and tears gathering in her eyes, “I'm not me anymore..!”

Damn, that's not good! “Élise, you're still—”

“What am I going to do now..?”, she sobs, heedless to my words or Maëlle's. “How can I go to work looking like this..! Even if they didn't fire me on the spot how can I keep helping people if I can't even help myself..!”

“Calm down Lili, I know it's– that's not important right now! We're—”

“How is that not important!?”, Élise cries back, sounding almost betrayed and batting Maëlle's hand away. “Dad needs me, he's always so worried about me and my brother and if I fail at this too then– then I don't know what'll happen..! He'll never recognize me now and he'll think I've left him too and I know that if he– if he's alone, he... I can't let that happen! Oh goodness gracious why is this happening to us..!”

She's too spent now to protest as Maëlle pulls her into an embrace, the bereft pony held tightly against the human's chest.

Well, if anything, I guess this proves that the mental changes can't completely brainwash us... They may ease the transition from one species to the next, from a purely functional standpoint, but they can't erase how we feel about the consequences. Can make you appreciate being a pony, can't make you like that you had to become one...

... So why didn't it work on me?

Maybe I was just too broken already to be fixed...

“Actually, that's...”, Maëlle begins, pulling me out of my musings, “that's a question I'd like answered, too. Why?”, she asks me pointedly.

'Why' what? I wasn't thinking out loud, was I..?

“I– I just know it all began after I found these... these star things on my thighs, when I woke up Saturday.”, Élise answers, pawing at her ill-fitting pajama pants to let parts of an orange and yellow cutie mark show.

“Oh, that!”

Oh... that...

Oh damn.

My reluctance must be showing somehow, because both Élise and Maëlle are frowning at me. “The stars, my whole body, now the nightmares,” the former enounces, still staring, “there's more to this than randomly transforming into ponies, right..?”

I don't want to answer that question.

Dusky squirms between my arms – I've been holding him too tight without noticing.

All right, all right... Come on Laurence, you've said it yourself! She'd learn about it anyway, you can't protect her from that! You're here to help her, and if you withhold essential information you're only doing her a disservice, and definitely not living up to your pledge!

Come on, start small!

“It wasn't random.”, I manage to say.

“But who would target her of all people!?”, Maëlle exclaims, outraged.

I shake my head. “No, no, that's not what I meant. The change happened because she turned twenty-five. Those marks were the first change,” I add, pointing at Élise's thighs, “and appeared at the exact moment of her birth – twenty-five years removed.”

Maëlle doesn't seem to buy it, while Élise winces: “Oh... I didn't understand it had happened that long ago for you...”

What? “It's only been a little over a month.”, I correct her.

“Really..?” Now both are staring at me incredulously. “But how old are you, if that's not too personal?”

Oh god not that again!! “I'm twenty-five just like you, Élise...”, I answer through gritted teeth.

“But... you look...”

“Yes, I know! The change can make you look older or younger, that's all! How do you think he happened?”, I counter, pointing at the bored-looking colt on my lap.

“I thought he was your... Uh, never mind!”

Ugh no! Before that ridiculous misconception can give Dusky any more harebrained ideas I carry on with my explanation: “The 'pony' part isn't random either. There is another world, somewhere, populated by a civilization of intelligent equine-like creatures, the Equestrians. Prior to last month, the only overt contact we had with their world came through toys and cartoons based on actual Equestrian history. However, it—”

“Waaaait a minute,” Maëlle interrupts, “toys and cartoons? Are you talking about this stuff like, the same 'ponies' as in 'My Little Pony'? With, uh, Applejane, Rainbow Flash, and—”

“Rainbow Dash.”, I cut her in turn.

“And Applejack!”, Dusky pipes up.

“Yeah yeah, alright,” she dismisses, “so you want us to believe that—”

“That yes, there is a cartoon that is apparently an accurate depiction of what happened in another world, and even though I only have hypotheses to explain that fact I'm pretty sure the explanation is some variation on 'it's magic'. And before you contest that last point too, I'll remind you that you just saw your girlfriend turn into a little winged horse.”

Maëlle glares at me, and I affect my sternest look in return. As for Élise, she's blushing like crazy, unable to look at the woman.

“If you want independent proof,” I go on, “you may check information on the cartoon – the events they depict are set in that other world. Anyway, Equestria is a land of magic, and beyond ponies there's also all kinds of creatures, including one called Discord, the spirit of chaos.”

I do my best to not let my boiling rage show at the mere thought of the traitorous chimera. As for Élise, the name clearly has an effect on her too, though it feels more like dread than anger.

Maëlle is quick to hug and try to appease her, though she still has time to look daggers at me. “Can't you just spill the beans already?”, she asks me once Élise has calmed down.

If I could I would, damn it!! “I'm trying...”, I say a bit more diplomatically.

“Yeah, well I'm going to make some tea in the meantime...”

I'm certainly not about to prevent that pink-haired nuisance from giving us some space... Once she has left for the kitchen, I refocus solely on Élise: “I know this is something none of us like to think about, but the nightmares you've been having are important. How much do you remember, besides you-know-who?”

As expected the subject is clearly not one she's eager to revisit, but she seems to trust me enough to do so anyway: “Not much... I see ponies in the wilderness, halfway up a mountain I think, though the area is forested so I'm not completely sure – it just feels high. Just like I know it's supposed to be the middle of the afternoon, but the sky is shades of blue and purple with pink clouds. I'm sorry, some parts are hazy and fumbled...”

Strange... My own nightmare is crisp, and horribly life-like – headache included. Maybe she doesn't have the 'full' version yet?

“The ponies all look like they're refugees, tired, hungry, it's... It's like a camp really, and they're all afraid now, all moving up the mountain, they have to go, they have to go because they know it's not safe anymore! I'm here, and there's this cerulean stallion with the spiky, light sea-green mane, he's my friend and together we help the other ponies to pack and get on their way, we stay behind to make sure we've got everyone and we're ready to go, he's already in the air, but then I hear someone crying behind me! It sounds like a child, and I hesitate, my friend hasn't stopped, I know it's dangerous, but I can leave a foal here! So I look around, and I see her! A little filly, crying! I rush to get her, but just as I take her in my arms there's– it hurts in my neck, and I fall!”

Sensing she's reaching the end of the nightmare, I get off the armchair and walk up to her. The poor girl is staring into space, getting lost in the daydream.

“I try to get up, to just move, but I can't! My head's spinning, I don't see the filly anymore, only a pony who looks exactly like I do now, she flies away and I– I still can't move, and then... Then he arrives..!”

Before she can proceed with the worst part I force her to look me right in the eye, breaking her trance: “It's all right Élise, you're here, and he's not.”, I tell her firmly, loud enough to be heard over the sound of boiling water. “You're safe now.”

She's still wracked by a full-body shudder, but with a sniff she manages to nod. “This– this Discord,” she squeaks, “he– he's the one with the red and yellow eyes, right..?”

“Yes. He's the monster that attacked Equestria, and the one responsible for our curse.”

“So it's not just a dream, it really happened..!”, she breathes. “That place, these ponies, that stallion, what that monster said...”

We're getting closer... “There's more, Élise. You're right, what you're seeing, it's not just a dream – it's a memory.”

“It's, well... Of course it's a memory! I mean, I'd hope I'm still able to remember a dream I've had less than five hours ago!”, she laughs nervously. We both know she's grasping at straws. She's starting to connect the dots.

“That memory is far older... It's twenty-five years old.”, I state plainly.

“Yeah but, that's impossible, right? I mean, if I had that stored in my head since birth, it'd have had some kind of influence one way or the other!”, she claims, unable to face me. “It must be a coincidence that this stallion has these exact colors, or that I look the same as in that dream!”

Closer... “How good is your English, Élise?”

“Pr– pretty good, why d'you ask?”, she answers, feigning nonchalance – and badly so.

Almost there..! Come on Élise, we can do it! “Then you must have some idea what the curse is supposed to do... Right?”

She still avoids my gaze, ears pulling back and wings rustling – I know she's close, I can feel it! We can't avoid it anymore, it has to come out! Her eyes keep drifting away from me, so gently I force her to face me again – she doesn't have the strength or will to resist. It's just the two of us now, alone in the world, facing the ugly truth together.

“It's... I can't..! What does it all mean!?”, she pleads, eyes reddened and at the end of her strength.

*sigh*

I'm the one who has to do the final push, huh?

I guess that's fair... I'm the one supposed to help, even if now it's me who can't meet her face.

Come on Laurence, you did it once, you can do it again!

Focusing squarely on the fabric of the couch so my eye doesn't wander, pushing all distractions far from my mind, I will the words out of my mouth:

“That curse, Élise, it... That monster wanted to punish us, he wanted to– to banish his enemies, all of them, with no way of getting back at him – but not for all eternity, oh no, that'd be too easy. For five score, divided by four—”

The fabric jolts, probably Élise squirming just as I can't help a shudder at that soul-rending sentence. Little hooves tap insistently on my leg, and I fight against my sudden urge to grab the colt and hold him against my chest.

“For twenty-five years,” I go on, throat tightening, “down to the minute, imprisoned on another world, robbed of everything they had – name, memories, body – to be reborn, reborn here, reborn as– as us..!”

My insides twist and turn, heart clenching at the admission, but I must not stop! I'm stronger than that damn curse, it can pile up all the trauma and pain it wants I'll still fight it and I'll fucking win!!

“That curse took ponies from Equestria and made them into us, and from the moment of our birth we've been on this invisible countdown until parts of the curse began to lift, casting us back into the bodies of what we were in that previous life, cursing us a second time! That monster killed these ponies, killed us once then sentenced us to lose everything we had here, but I swear he won't get away with it! And I won't rest until I find a way to break that curse, a way to be back to being ourselves!”

I lift my head to meet her gaze, to promise her that god help me this won't be the end, that I'll never yield...

... But she's not even looking at me.

It's not a 'staring into space' kind of look either. She's looking, pointedly, at something behind me.

Dusky isn't patting my leg anymore, but he's still against me, I can feel it. I don't hear anything else than my own ragged breath. There's just this... thing in the air, familiar somehow, that reminds me of—

Oh fuck no.

Seized by sudden dread, I turn my head to look at what's behind me.

I see Maëlle first, still in the kitchen, staring from me to something else. Gazing further left there's Brigitte – shouldn't she be at work? And from the corner of my eye I can't miss the third shape next to the woman.

Before panic can make me avert my eye I turn fully and—

MOM!?

Dang it, I knew I shouldn't have let myself fall asleep! So much of my day wasted when I could've trained more!

And that darn headache that just won't quit!! I—

Okay Amber, we're calming down now! Moaning about it won't help us!

... Wait, is it me thinking that..?

Raaah, of course it is, you dummy! No rattling, and your magic is stable!

Just to be sure I check the orbits of the pebbles levitating around my head. They seem to be doing fine, my horn pretty much on autopilot by now; they only waver when I can't contain a wince from the headache. As long as they keep circling, as long as my magic flows, my defenses are up!

In theory, at least...

All right, enough preparations and double-checks! I don't care for headaches or being tired or anything else, we're doing this!

Fortunately finding Mom isn't difficult, like I hoped she's working in the garage with her friends and Antoine. I trot inside, and quickly every eye is on me, their discussion interrupted. Before I can get to them, Mom stands up:

“Please excuse me, this won't take too long.”, she tells them, then she walks towards me. “Come on Amber, let's take this outside.”

But it concerns them too! She doesn't wait for an answer though, already on her way out. Catching up to her, she leads us behind the house, next to the shed; there's nopony around.

Well, that's not exactly what I had planned, but that'll do! At least I won't look like an idiot in front of everypony if I can't keep my tongue to myself! “I—”

“That's a nice display of magical dexterity you have going here.”, she says neutrally, pointing at the orbiting pebbles.

“Uh? Oh no, no, it's not that, don't mind them!” Dang it, it's more complicated to keep doing that, visualizing the door, and talk! But I can manage, I know I can!

“Then could you stop with this, please? It's very distracting...”

I shake my head. “Just let me explain and you'll understand why I can't, I– I've got a big problem, Mom!”

She sighs sadly, sitting on her haunches. “Yes, I know...”

“Wait, you know!?”, I blurt out and– dangit, almost lost a pebble!

“It's obvious, and I hate to see the toll this is taking on you... After what we talked about the other week, I thought I should give you some space, let you sort things out on your own for a little while, but I should have reconsidered once I knew of the unfair burden the Princess had placed upon you.”

“That's—” Rattle!

I flinch at the sudden mental assault, and almost jump when something hits my shoulder, it's– oh goshdarnit, a pebble slipped!

“Trust me,” she goes on like she hasn't noticed my reaction, “I'm doing everything I can on my side to ease things, but it's just that there's so many problems we have to tackle all at once, and we have to prioritize! We have to continue on the legal issues, draft the proposals for new laws, help organize the relief fund, write all these letters and contact officials and key citizens all over the country... And I know it doesn't feel that way for you, that you wish we did something else, but this may be the only way we can move forward!”

“I don't care ab—” Wait wait wait, what!? She's trying to make it sound less bad than it is but I'm not that dumb yet! “But you said you'd still prepare all the stuff we need for getting to the US too, even if we had to wait!”, I remind her with a deepening frown. “Now you're not even trying anymore!?”

She rolls her eyes, frustrated. “Amber, you have to understand, we can't just shift our efforts into something that could hurt our chances at real change! We've already made the first step, and now we can't rush the next one, we can't risk to turn half the country against us! Taking care of these ponies is our responsibility, even when they don't know what they really need. Their Equestria is only a pipe dream, they keep projecting these unrealistic expectations of some sort of utopia, but in truth it's a nightmare waiting to happen! None of us are soldiers, we're lawyers, students, or retail workers, and what about our foals?”

Why does she always have to argue!? My headache is already awful enough as it is! “The Princess told us to go there, we can't let her down!”

“The Princess is like us, trying to do what she thinks is best, but we are living here, right now,” she counters, punctuating her words with the tip of a forehoof tapping against the ground, “this is our world! What do you expect a group of untrained civilians to do against whatever Discord is? Each of us already has to live with the trauma of facing him once, what do you think will happen if we try it a second time!?”

“We'd be with the Mane Six, they have the Elements of Harmony!”

“And I can only hope they truly are the heroes that TV show makes them out to be, Amber. But we are not heroes who go about fighting monsters. We're just ponies trying to survive, and we need the help of our friends to—”

“They could need our help!”

“What help!?”, she shoots back. “Do they need flower prints? Or counseling? Or a GPS? Ponies here need our help right now, and it's already hard enough to provide it with our limited resources!”

“And I need your help! It's my mission, I didn't get to choose but I still have to do it! You're my mom, you should be the first one to support me!”

“I'm not just your mother, I have my own responsibilities, we talked about that at length!”

My own sniffle surprises me; dang it, how long have I been crying? And I'm not the only one, Mom too has tears in her eyes despite how stern she's acting..!

Gosh this isn't what we should be talking about, I don't want to have any kind of argument with her! And that headache's killing me, and I don't even know why I keep wasting my breath with her it's so painfully obvious that she's just too selfish to hear what I have to say!

No, no, she's not selfish, she's doing it for our friends, it's just that she refuses to try to see past the tip of her own snout!

If only she listened to me, if she trusted the Princess! Why can't she just accept her ideas aren't necessarily the best ones!?

Probably because it's all a front, a convenient excuse! Right from the start, the only thing she's ever wanted is to spend time with that human of hers!

Yes! She's always taking his side against mine! She's only following his ideas! This time at least she said it herself, she's not 'just' my mother, she's his mare too!!

“So it's all it's ever been, right..?”, I hiss through my tears, the pain fueling my anger. “You don't care about them or about me, you only care about you and that guy!”

She jerks back, mouth agape and eyes wide, but it quickly morphs into wrath of her own: “And what if I did!?”, she taunts me, outraged. “I have my own life too! I was dying before the change, I never dreamed of a second chance like this, and I certainly plan to make the most of it – with whatever relationship I can have with him, and with everything else! But if you really want to know, you little ingrate, in spite of myself I care more about you than I'll ever care about him! Maybe you should ask yourself why you think that way! I shoot down your dangerous flights of fancy for your own darn good, so of course it must be because I can't think straight, that I must have ulterior motives, for not allowing you to risk your life and those of everyone crazy enough to follow you!”

Her scathing rant leaves me cowering, the heat of her sudden scorn like a dagger in my heart and a painful reminder of a parent's rejection, the bleeding scars I thought on the mend reopening all anew! I can't look anymore at these eyes that I know to be so full of contempt, gaze falling to my hooves and—

Oh no!

All my pebbles are on the ground, I– I don't even know when I've lost them!

I rush to grasp them once more in my magic but my shaky focus is ruined when I feel somepony pull me into a powerful hug! I can barely recognize Mom's scent through my runny nose, but my forelegs still close around her barrel instinctively, hugging her just as tight!

“Honey I'm so sorry I didn't mean it!”

I hear the words, but it's so hard to believe them, to truly trust her after the way she spoke to me, but...

“Please honey, I– I got carried away, I love you and I– I shouldn't have said those horrible things!”

... But she's Mom! And I was mean to her too, we both overreacted..!

“After all I did to you and now this, I– I'll never hurt you ever again, I swear!”

She's not like my father or my other mom, I have to remember that she's—

Raphaël

...

I... I think I forgot to breathe, for an instant.

She's still hugging me. I can feel her tears running down my back. She's still talking, but I don't really hear it.

No..!

No no no no no, that's– that has nothing to do with Raphaël, she has nothing to do with him!!

But they're the same person...

No, she's Violette now, she's my Mom, she's not Raphaël!!

But Raphaël has always been Violette...

It shouldn't change anything! Besides, now I know Raphaël didn't want to hurt me, she told me herself!

And she lied. She lied like he always lied, because she needed my help...

But WHY would she have to lie!? She doesn't know who I am, she had no reason to—

...

'After all I did to you'...

W– what was she talking about..?

She... She can't be talking about that, right!? She had to be talking about something else!!

But what else?

But if she... If she knows, if she knows who I am, who I was, then—

Then how can I trust her? How can I trust anything she ever told me?

But she..!

She...

...

... SHE LIED TO ME!!

She lied to me from the very beginning!!

It was so convenient that she'd start talking about how sorry she was I'd been kicked out, that in fact it wasn't his fault at all, putting the blame on his sister! All that, just as she needed me to get to her darn tribunal! She needed to be sure I'd help her, so she lied to get me on her side! She used me!

And I've let him!! I haven't tried to resist! It was just so easy to forget about my doubts, to forgive her, because she could give me the one thing I was sure I could never have again!

“Honey..?”

Even now he's using Violette to make me crack! She's been manipulating me all along!!

I feel her grip on me lessening, she's pulling out of the hug; my own forelegs slackened at some point during my sickening epiphany. She lifts my chin with a hoof, forcing me to see her face, eyes red, cheeks wet, lips trembling. “Honey please, say something..!”, she whispers, sounding hurt and desperate.

But I refuse to play her game ever again.

I push her hoof away. “Leave me alone.”

I get up on shaky legs, averting my eyes before I can see her reaction, and head straight for the nearby woods. I catch glimpses of ponies just behind the house's corner, drama-hungry eavesdroppers; well they got their money's worth this time!

My chest feels like it's been rent in two, so thoroughly my heart has been abused. My headache is starting to improve, but I couldn't care less now.

I just want to get away from there...

And away from her.

“So all these issues you've had, it was because you were one of these things all along..?”

“What!? Mom, no!”, I cry out. “That has nothing to do with this and– and what the hell are you doing here!?”

I glare furiously at Brigitte and her daughter, daring them to find a good explanation for why my mother is standing right here, in the middle of their apartment!

She was supposed to be at work this afternoon! Brigitte too, for that matter! What kind of fucking trap is this!?

Because now she knows, she fucking knows!!

Because now, now she has that look again, that same fucking look she had when I first went to a therapist, and that I'm sure she also sported when she first saw me with this body! That goddamned look that I can't even understand and yet can still feel like a red-hot lance of acrid shame and disgust piercing through my guts!

“I... With what happened I asked to leave early,” Mom finally answers, sounding almost sheepish, “I still had Mrs. Padet's phone number from last night, and... And you watch you tone, Laurence!!”

Ha! Back on form already I see, no surprise here! “I'll use the goddamn tone I want, Mom! What did you fucking expect!?”

“What I 'expected'!?”, she shoots back, fists clenched. “What I expected was to find my daughter, tell her how stupid she's been acting, and get her back home! But nooooo, it can never be that simple with you Laurence, you always have to find something new!”

“Because of course it's my fucking fault on top of that! Correct me if I'm wrong – I didn't ask you to barge in while I was pouring my heart out!”

Brigitte gets between us before Mom's next salvo: “Alright that's enough already.”, she orders, voice calm but firm. “This is going nowhere, and all the neighborhood is going to hear you at this rate. Maëlle, please pour us some tea.”

The owner of the place chastising us is enough to end the feud – for now. Even I can easily feel the tension lingering in the air as tea is served and the six of us sit together, Mom and Brigitte taking the dinner table's chairs, Dusky and I the armchair, and the two lovebirds the couch. This time I don't mind holding the colt tightly against me. I need the support.

She keeps staring at me... What is she thinking? She obviously heard most if not all of what I said to Élise, otherwise she wouldn't have spouted that inanity about my 'issues'. Hell, it doesn't even make any sense! I'm just as functional if not more while not taking my meds!

Wait...

That's not a good thing, you idiot!! Stupid mare and her slightly-less-fucked up brain!!

My ears jump at hearing Mom sigh, cutting my self-berating short. Now she's looking at her tea, shaking her head, shoulders slumped.

“Well, that was one hell of a Mother's Day weekend..!”, she mutters.

Wait, it was this weekend!? I glance at Brigitte, who confirms it with a discreet nod. Dammit, I should've put a reminder on my phone or something, I'm not that bad at remembering these things usually! Is living on a farm with barely any access to medias fucking with my sense of time!?

It's not like it was her birthday or something though, it's just an arbitrary celebration! I'll never understand how people can get so invested in that kind of thing, why's the date itself so important? We can do the same thing any other time of the year, and there wouldn't be any difference!

Maybe it's just because it's been planned that way in advance so it has to happen then and not later? That could make some measure of sense I guess, but...

But that wouldn't change the fact that it impacted her negatively...

“... Sorry.”, I mumble, looking at the floor.

“Are you, really..?”, she answers, though it doesn't sound like a reprimand – it sounds more... sad, than angry. “Sometimes I'm not even sure if you really do care or not...”

“Of course I care! I wouldn't have taken the risk of coming here if I didn't!”

“Then why did you do this? I asked you to stay home, and instead you jumped right into danger, again!”

“She needed me!”, I protest, pointing at Élise. “If I hadn't acted who knows where she'd be right now!”

“If she helped, then she did the right thing as far as I'm concerned!”, Maëlle states while hugging the anxious white mare, glaring at both Mom and me for some reason.

Brigitte gives her a warning glance, before turning to Mom: “I know how it is to have a daughter with, uh... let's say 'strong principles'. She thought she didn't have a choice, just as you didn't think twice about coming here to make sure she was alright.”

“If only it stopped at 'strong principles'..!”, Mom huffs.

Uuuuugh, I can never do anything right with her, I'm always wrong! I could invent a cure for cancer she'd still find something to bitch about!

Anyway... For now she's focusing on her tea, so I have a couple minutes to breathe before the onslaught resumes. I guess... I guess that it's always better to have her question my judgment rather than if I'm really her daughter...

She puts her mug back on the coffee table then pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “So you're... The three of you, you've always been these creatures? You were never truly human to begin with?”, she asks me, gesturing at Dusky and Élise.

Uh.

When am I going to stop jinxing myself..?

It hurts to admit, but what can I say now? “In a manner of speaking, yes – I definitely identify as human though, whatever I may look like! But... Well, that's why we couldn't stop the changes, they're basically reverting our bodies back to a previous version of ourselves, now that the time limit of the curse has expired.”

“'Cursed' to be human..!”, she scoffs, like she has a hard time believing that this part is supposed to be a bad thing. I would certainly share the sentiment... “But... You said it lasted for exactly twenty-five years, right from your birth, that's it?”

I nod, dreading what kind of point she's trying to make.

“So if it happened at birth, and not conception... What happened to the child I carried..?”

...

Eh. Even I didn't think she could go that low.

She seems to realize just how crass that sounded, alleviating somewhat the feeling that my insides have been switched for a lump of lead: “I'm sorry, it's not important! You're the one I took in my arms that day, the one we raised! I'm just... I'm trying to understand what's happening to my daughter!”

“So do I...”, comes a masculine voice.

As one we turn toward the front door, and the man who just came through. He looks a bit older than my dad, and though his stern face isn't familiar, I do recognize the voice.

“Oh sugarcubes!!”, Élise swears at seeing her father.

Maëlle is already on her feet, standing between him and her girlfriend. I leave Dusky on the armchair and jump to the middle of the room, allowing me a glimpse of the door behind the tall gray-haired man. He's alone from what I can see, and I don't hear anybody else, but I wouldn't trust my ears today... No way to say if they're not waiting down in the hallway or outside the building.

He doesn't act aggressively and doesn't seem to carry a weapon, in any case. I'm not sure about his exact expression, but some variation on 'sadness' would be my guess.

Brigitte is the first to confront him, pointing an accusing finger right under his nose: “You have some nerve showing your face here Christian – and definitely uninvited!”

He crosses his arms and stares her down, with no intention of backing off. “I saw you with the wife of the man who came to my house yesterday. The door was open, and I heard people arguing.”

Seriously, can anyone just waltz in this place as they please!? Talk about a hide-out!

He pushes Brigitte away to face me, and this time I can't miss the barely-restrained hatred in his eyes: “What did you do with my daughter?”

“Dad I'm here, I'm okay!”, Élise blurts out, trying to go around Maëlle.

He glances her way, expression hardening even more. “Stop trying to dupe me with your lies, whatever you are! It won't work anymore.”

The harsh words hurt like a blow, her frantic look shattered by the shock, to leave only acute pain at the vicious rejection. Still uncertain on her hooves, Élise loses her balance, wings splayed and eyes wide with tears. It's only thanks to Maëlle, crouching at her side, that she manages to sit on her rump rather than hit the floor.

Brigitte has had enough – she pushes the man back, with more force than he or I expected, making him almost trip: “Get the hell out of my house right now, or I call the police!”

He's quick to school his expression, trying to pass the anger for cold aloofness. “Really? If I were you I would worry about whom they'd side with. To think I expected you to be a little more discerning, but alas... If you're not willing to listen, I will be on my way then.”

“No!”, Élise cries out. “Please Dad, it's me! You've known me all my life! Heck, you're only here because you knew I'd go to Maëlle's! You've even seen me start to change, for goodness' sake!”

But he isn't moved, not the way she hoped – his answer is a wordless sneer, as he begins to turn for the door.

Damn it, he's going to—

Élise struggles out of Maëlle's arms, and staggers after him! “How can you do this to me!?”, she almost shrieks, her voice laced with both anguish and righteous indignation – making him stop in his tracks. “I've dropped med school and everything else to be with you and Mom! I've been with her all the way to the end, even when you couldn't! I stayed with you and took care of the house and made you breakfast and lunch and dinner every single day just to be sure you'd eat something! I gave EVERYTHING for you and this family, the least you could do is to recognize me!!”

We, uh... We all keep staring at the fuming pegasus, who's still breathing heavily, her feathers rustling. The man still hasn't moved, and—

“TALK TO ME!!”

... And damn she's got a voice, when she chooses to use it..!

He turns around, slowly, to face his daughter. No more anger in his eyes, but the sadness once more... Resignation, perhaps?

“It's me, Dad..!”, she repeats, her own fury crumbling back into grief, forehoof resting against her chest.

“That's not what they're saying...”, he sighs.

“What are they saying?”, I interject.

“You take people,” he recites, looking at Élise instead of me, “change to look like them, hide among us...”

“Ha! That's a new one!”, I scoff. “If only I could get my body back that easily!” Seeing that I got some sidelong glances for this, I try to act a bit more seriously: “That dramatic entry wasn't just good timing Mr. Sommer, you must've been listening for a while, you heard us talk. So either you do not care, and you're trying to stall for time until they arrive, or, more likely, you do care, and you have no intention of warning them... Correct?”

He looks from Élise to me and back again. “At first I thought they only wanted to help, that they knew what they were talking about,” he explains, sounding a little more tired with each breath, “some of them had been friends, some are men I've known since they were boys..! But the way they talked, what they were planning to do... Their hearts may be in the right place, but I... If somehow, somehow they were mistaken..!”

I'd argue with the 'in the right place' bit... But at least he seems to realize that they wouldn't back down, even if they were 'mistaken'. “You took the right decision this time, something that probably saved her life – even though you shouldn't have called these guys in the first place.”

“I didn't!”, the man protests. “They came to me, said someone told them I was hiding a monster under my roof!”

“Well, now you know the tru—”

“I don't care about the why or the how, I just want my daughter back..!”, he croaks. His rough façade is finally cracking, letting the pain and worry show through, his deeply-lined face crinkling to make him look years older. “I can't lose her, not her too..!”

Élise inches toward him, extending a hoof. “I'm still here, Dad..!”

In spite of his own words the man recoils from her, his back hitting the door. I tense, wary of a more violent reaction, but fortunately it doesn't come. He just looks... beaten. At least he's even less likely to sic the Brigade on us, even if it's still a sad sight....

The new mare isn't faring much better, it's obvious the only thing she wants is to hug her father or something similar, and yet... I wouldn't take the risk either. I walk up to her: “Élise, you—”

“You haven't lost her yet.”

We both look in surprise at my mother, who has joined us in the entrance and just addressed the distraught man.

“Your daughter is still here, she's just... She's just different, the same way she grew different, from little girl to young woman, and now to, well, young mare I guess. We didn't plan for this, and it's certainly more disruptive than who she wants to marry, but... If I got this right, our daughters were just... born that way, too. She's the same daughter you've always knew, only in a different package – with the same qualities, and flaws...”

I don't miss the glance she shoots me at that last bit... But her words touch me all the same.

Thank you, Mom...

The man is still despondent, refusing to look at his daughter now. “You truly expect me to believe that she– that any of this is real..?”

“Can't be much worse than whatever crackpottery these people already fed you, no?”, Mom shrugs. “You won't lose anything from hearing a little more.”

“My sanity, perhaps...”, he mutters, though he lets Mom guide him to her chair.

“This is a bad idea..!”, Brigitte grumbles, but an imploring look from Élise wins her over, if begrudgingly. “Alright, I'm going to get another mug...”, she says with a long, frustrated sigh.

For my part I make sure the front door is properly closed and locked this time – no more surprises for today. It's already going to be hard enough to maintain some semblance of order here... Maëlle clearly doesn't have any more sympathy for Élise's father than Brigitte does, and said man keeps acting as if his daughter wasn't sitting in front of him – except when she tries to approach him, then he immediately tenses... Well, Mom isn't screeching about something yet and Dusky is behaving, so there's always that I guess.

If only there was a way to clear all this tension in the air, but what? The guy shows no sign of wanting to talk anymore, and as for Élise, she—

“I know it's scary, these changes and all they entail,
But I'm your daughter, don't let them pull us apart!”

... Oh no, not that again!

“Come on you have to try, it'd at least be a start,
If only you could see beyond the hooves and tail..!
Please Dad, trust in your heart!”

The young mare stares hopefully at him, and though he clearly is touched in some way by her words, rather than answer his reaction is to shut down even more!

“So that's how it is...”, she sings on sadly. “What hope is there left for me,
If my own father, the one who taught me to walk,
Who held me in his arms, refuses to even talk..!
I never imagined you would deny my plea,
Blood's bond brittle like chalk..!”

She holds her forehooves against her chest, as if fearing it would break open from the heartache:

“All because you will not
Trust in your heart...”

Now she's holding those same hooves under her eyes, tears slowly falling on them...

“Sacrificed so much,
And now lost even more..!
Caught in that curse's clutch,
In this skin I once wore...”

Before she can goes on, Maëlle intervenes:

“But you're not alone,”, the human sings too, getting more confident with each beat, “feathers or fur I don't care,
You are still the same, my one and only dream girl!
So wipe away those tears, and let's go for a twirl!”

Taking the pony in her strong arms, Maëlle makes good on her word, getting a snorting giggle from Élise. They're both fully engrossed in their thing – I never expected humans to be affected too, but here she is, almost dancing and definitely singing to the silent music:

“Together you and me, we will come through I swear!
Trust in your heart, my love!”

And on that note, quite literally, the two share a long, loving kiss... It's like the anguish and misery have been sucked out of her, and barely back on her hooves Élise is already belting out her next lines:

“You're right, I'm still me! I'm still alive and kicking!”, she exclaims, bucking her pajama pants aw– hey! Why did they have to land in my face!?
“Ending on all four, it's sure not what I planned for,
But even through this loss, I'll hold on to my core!
With our love strong and true, I can go on living,
Trust in my heart once more!”

She rears up, Maëlle catching her:

“Together hand in hoof,
Trust in your heart..!”, they sing in unison.

Once Élise lets go, she resumes staring at her forehooves, but with an emotion quite different from earlier:

“So much left behind,
But maybe some gained too..?
With an open mind,
Just how much could I do?”

In a flash she has picked up the dip pen Maëlle offered her, trying to get a proper grip on it one way or the other:

“Hooves seem so clumsy, not the best dexterity,
How to hold a pen, to just write down my own name?
What about these feathers, though it's not the same–”

Her smile blossoms wider as she tries the feathers out like I'd shown her last night, managing to grasp the pen without issue.

“Yes! I could make it work, and with sincerity,
Accept what I became!”

She's rushing to the French window and the small terra– damn it, get back inside!!

“To take to the air, carried by these wings of mine,
The clouds my canvas, trailing colors through the sky!”, she gushes through the opened window, using her pen with flowing gestures as if she were writing.
“Vapor and rain my tools, as I keep soaring high!
A dream for a human, but not for an equine?
Fair price if it's to fly!”

She jumps away from the window rather than outside, fortunately, staying aloft just long enough to perform an aerial pirouette and narrowly missing the light fixture. However this puts her right in front of her father once again, her joy sapped on the spot.

“And yet...”, she breathes...

Even not singing, her pain is quite obvious, ears and wings sagging, the mood growing somber...

Maëlle kneels next to her, offering a much-needed hug. Brigitte comes closer, she's wriggling her hands together, and she hesitates only a moment more before taking the plunge:

“I know it's painful, this dilemma so unjust,
But don't fret honey, with us it won't be the case!”, she too starts chanting to the same phantom tune, a hand resting on Élise's shoulder.
“Daughter in all but name, here you will be embraced,
Even as a pony we'll find ways to adjust,
Here you'll still have your place!”

Élise extends a wing to include the older woman into the hug:

“Yes even like this, the bonds of birth in tatters,
I cannot forget those who've also been my kin!
A family built on love, holding through thick and thin,
'Cause beyond blood and name, it's what truly matters,
Come on keep on singin'!”

“True family's from the heart!”, she and Brigitte intone, then Maëlle joins them:

“Trust in your heart!”

Now they're turning to Mom and I!

“It's our paradigm,
So remember that part,
Truth of a lifetime!
You too, trust in your heart!”

Yeah, no – just no! Keep your mewling to yourselves! I turn to Mom and—

Dammit her foot's tapping in rhythm! She's crouching in front of me and oh god please just kill me already!

“So often I've thought, 'you're not easy to live with',
Feeling powerless, always doing wrong with you..!
I must admit my faults, accept what you go through,
Love you for who you are, trust how you want to live...
Can you accept me too..?”, she begs while trying not to cry, her hand cupping my cheek.

No I don't want to– damn I can hear the music! No way I'm singing, I'll resist that fucking urge! But I have to answer, to say 'of course I do', because despite it all, yes Mom I love you too! So I give a firm nod...

... And to my relief it's enough for her, she smiles and pulls me into a hug – a hug I can't help but return. We may always be screaming at each other, and have a hard time understanding one another... I know eventually we'll make it work.

Mom pulls back to look at Élise's father: “No what-ifs, love her truth!”

“Trust in your heart!”, three women and one mare chant together.

Ugh, I almost joined in..! But whatever hold the strange magic had on me is already lessening, the maddening melody quieting to barely a background noise, one I probably wouldn't notice if I hadn't been already exposed. Well that was already close enou– uh?

I turn away from Mom at feeling little hooves against my leg, and find Dusky there, eager and—

“Don't forget about me!”, he sings! “Yes it's not what you're used to,
And it's still so difficult, but on this we'll agree,
You and I we just mesh, it's like we were meant to be!
So please trust in your heart! Will you go all the way through,
And be a mother for me?”

Wh– what the hell!? Not this again!! He looks up with those big pleading eyes, and I can see the others are waiting for us, still swaying in rhythm, and– and fuck I know I don't want to hurt him, and I don't want anything to hurt him if I can help it, and I can't leave him alone, I want him to have a chance at being happy for once, and if for this I have to—

ARGH! No no and no!!

This isn't me!! That urge, it's something that fucking mare got in my brain, it comes from her, not from me! Like with everything else she's trying to erase my identity, to make me feel what she feels, but it won't work, I won't let her! That traitorous coward is using that poor colt against me, to erode my will and get even more of a foothold, BUT I WON'T LET HER!

I'm sorry Dusky, I– I can't trust a heart that isn't mine! It's not your fault, you're a victim here too, but for both our sake, I can't..!

He knows, without having to say it out loud – he knows, and he looks so betrayed and hurt, and... And I can't look anymore, I'm sorry..!

*sigh*

At least the magic song has no issue resuming without us, and Élise standing in front of her father once more is a distraction I sorely need:

“You see, it's easy,
For you we've drawn the chart!
Stop feeling queasy,
And just trust in your heart!”

This time the man can't remain impassive anymore:

“Oh I've heard you all, you make it sound so simple..!
I want to sweetheart, but I, I just can't – no, no!”, he cries out, jumping from his chair.
“Too much already lost, to squander love like so!
I'll make your mother proud, to hell foul principles!
You're my daughter, I know!”

He extends a trembling hand, and she nuzzles his palm, letting the fingers travel up her brow and through her mane, moving closer to better hug him. He embraces her too, trying and failing to hold back a sob.

“I was so unsure,” she sings softly, “was afraid our bonds were frail,
But you are all here, a family of blood and heart!
So blessed to have you here, for facing this new start,
Together hands in hoof I know we can prevail!
Nothing'll pull us apart!”

“And it's all thank to that:
Trust in our heart!”, they all echo, carrying on as if of one voice:

“We did what was right,
And neither fight nor flight,
All holding on tight,
To keep our future bright!”

“Trust in our heart!”

I had to make twists and turns, but my compass hasn't failed me: I've reached the sinkhole, the aven, without anypony catching up to me. The rain starts to fall, soon they'll have to give up their misguided attempts at getting me back to her.

“They can search and call, this is not being fickle!
My choice to depart, knowing full well where I go!
The last line has been crossed, to her pleas I say no!
'Mother' she claimed out loud, yet love just a trickle,
Not that much to forgo!”

To think I believed I had a chance at a family again! Ah, I was only fooling myself! For years I've lived on my own, I don't need a family – and one including that lying nag even less!

“I'm sure of it now, the only thing is to bail
'Cause she's no parent, a traitor to blood and heart!
Said she would support me, always shirked from her part,
Refusing my mission and dooming me to fail!
She perfected that art!”

“The one thing she's good at:
Breaking my heart!”

But I'll prove her, her and all of them! I don't need anypony else, I'll free the ghost by myself, I'm not afraid of that barrier anymore, I can fight against its curses! And once that's done, the ghost will help me complete my mission, one way or the other!

As for Violette and her fellow 'leaders', those ponies who thought they knew better, who betrayed us, they'll see how wrong, how foolish they were!

I let the eldritch fire of cyan and purple surge from my heart to my horn and blast a big tree off its roots, catching it in my magic as it falls and forcing it into a ramp to get down to the bottom of the sinkhole. It's larger than the previous ones, I'll have to slice it apart to get it through, but it'll be worth the effort! I face the dark, gaping maw of the tunnel, and stride forward.

“Only my own might
To get me through the night,
And a ghostly Light
To keep the end in sight!”

“Trust in the Light!”

I leave the others to their discussion in the living room – Mom and Élise know enough to answer any question her father might have for the moment. I don't know when Dusky scampered away, but it's not hard to understand why...

Dammit, I should've said at least something..! He may play up his childish tantrums at times, that doesn't mean it's all pretend!

Ah, that's his voice, coming from the bathroom! It's raspy, and a little strange, but it doesn't sound like he's crying...

... Who is he talking to?

I push the door open.

“... Oh yes, the two of them. Better hurry, if I were you.”

I stare at Maëlle's pink phone, held in his wing.

Then at his face.

At his right eye.

His blood-red eye with yellow sclera.

I know that eye.

Dusky stares back, his normal eye puffy from tears, and Discord's eye holding only pure malice.

Before I can react he throws the phone at me – I flinch instinctively, and that's all the time he needs to dash for the small bathroom window and squirm through!

No..!

No no no no no no NOOOO!!