“Yes!” I stammer out while staring at the teal green unicorn blankly, “I took the final slice of pizza this morning at breakfast and wanted to lie to you about it being missing!”
Jessi frowns, “Uh, why are you telling me this?”
I blink, “Because I cannot tell a lie!”
Jessi leans closer to me, “Why?”
I sigh, “Well, you remember how you hugged me and I disappeared?
“Yes?”
I nod, “Oh golly! Well, I met Discord again and he placed a curse on me that makes me unable to lie! Um,” I blink, “and then I woke up on my bed, with you holding me…” I lean forward and widen my eyes, “So yeah! I always speak truthfully right now!”
Jessi pauses for a moment… “Really?”
I nod again, “Yeah!”
Jessi smiles and asks, “How do you really feel about me, Twinkle?”
I can only reply in my timid squeaky voice, “You’re my best friend in the whole world and just being with you this past week has been amazing! You know, it’s almost like you compliment or complete me, but I avoided thinking that way for a long time because I know that will only lead to sentimentality and make me vulnerable around you…” before blinking, straightening my mouth, and wondering exactly what did I just say?
She smiles and takes two paces towards me…
I step back…
She smiles wider and takes two more paces towards me even faster and quickly grabs me in her forehooves for a tight warm hug!
I let out a quick, “EEP!”, before adjusting my gaze to the other filly and reciprocating and as I try to hold her, I say, “This isn’t fair!”
“I love you too, Twinkle Shine!” She replies as I get a grip on her with my hooves.
Suddenly, the door behind Jessi at her right opens to reveal a fluffy maned blue unicorn there, with red eyes, who looks at us and says, “AWW! That’s so sweet when you two hug and cuddle!”
“No, it’s not!” I quickly yell out!
She smiles and chuckles, “Well fillies, I’ll make lunch in about two more hours! You two enjoy playing and snuggling together!”
I retort, “Okay, thanks mom!” before my eyes widen at what I just said…
Izzy stares at me blankly as the unicorn filly disengages and turns her body towards the other unicorn, “D-did you just call me mom, Twinkle Shine?”
I nod my head, “Yes I did!” while keeping my eyes wide at what I’m admitting! I can’t help but scrunch my mouth as irritation wells within my stomach when I realize that that’s not what I really wanted to say!
Izzy eyes me very carefully, “Well, I mean, I never really thought of you as my foal, because you’re just so intelligent and capable!”
I nod again, “Right! But I lost my original mother long ago and now, you’re fulfilling a lot of those roles for me! And because of that, I truly love you as a motherly figure, Izzy...” before blinking because I honestly didn’t know that!
She tilts her head slightly right and frowns, “Does this mean you’re gonna call me mom, from here on out?”
“Oh golly, I secretly hope not, but I have this sneaking suspicion it’s gonna turn out like that...”
Izzy straightens her neck and blinks, “Well, whatever you’re comfortable with Twinkle!” she raises her gaze to both of us, “I’ll be back with lunch in about two hours! You two have fun!” before the doorknob glows azure blue and shuts silently to hide her blue body once more…
Jessi turns her teal body back towards me and widens her orange eyes before saying, “So, you think of Izzy as your mother, now?”
I adjust my gaze to the other filly, “I secretly do, but I really don’t want anypony to know that!”
Jessi snickers at me.
I grimace and shout, “It’s not funny!”
“I wonder what else you’re hiding?”
I stare back at the unicorn and try to say, Nothing! I try to say that, but I can’t really speak because it occurs to me that that’s not exactly true… All I can do is shout, “Shut up!” back at the unicorn.
She continues smiling and snickering at me before adjusting her eyes, “So uh, what do you want to do now, Twinkle?”
Eager to change the subject, I stare back at her and reply, “Well, we can always walk to the milkshake bar for a creamy treat?”
She widens her eyes at me, “It’s nine-thirty in the morning!”
I nod, “That is correct!”
She frowns as her eyes slowly revert to normal… She finally grins and giggles slightly before saying, “You know what? Sure Twinkle Shine! Lets go get milkshakes!”
I sigh, “Well, I know I’m not supposed to take her money without asking, and so, I’ll get some bits from Izzy before we head out!”
She eyes me carefully at this point…
<*****>
As I trot to the left of the pink pegasus foal down the darkened forest road deep in Bridlewood through a row of motley shacks, I stare at her carefully wondering just how this new inability to lie is affecting her? I noticed that she doesn’t steal from her caregiver anymore and I contemplate exactly what other changes I can expect in the future? I gaze her way, “So uh, how you holding up, Twinkle?”
She sighs as the locks from her mane fall down with her head, “Well, this sucks! I mean, I’m usually a tad less than honest, but now I don’t have a choice!”
I giggle, “Yeah, I think it’s good though, because now I know how you really feel about me…”
She raises her gaze and turns her neck my way, “Golly! Um, does it make you feel good to know that I think of you like that, Jessi?”
I frown, “Why wouldn’t it? You’re my best friend, remember?”
She stops trotting suddenly…
I reciprocate… “Uh, you okay Twinkle?”
She turns her head forward and frowns, “I feel like I really shouldn’t get close to anypony, and yet, that’s precisely what I did…” her eyes widen. “Oh. Golly!”
I raise my neck, “Did you not want to?”
She turns her head back to me, “Uh, well the truth is, I’m not really sure what I want anymore?”
I smile, “Let me guess! You’re afraid that if you get too close to us, that we’ll just hurt you, right?”
She adjusts her eyes downward in the morning light as shops come open further up the road from where we both stand, “Well, until this point, I always felt that other ponies were only scum and that they’re there to be used and discarded and for the longest time, I tried my best to believe that about you two. I really did, but…”
I narrow my eyes, “But what, Twinkle?”
She sighs and glances off to the right before back at me, “But you’re both just so good to me! I now can’t honestly say that I would get rid of either of you anymore… And I never wanted to admit that to myself…”
I reply, “Well, you’re not a heartless manipulator…”
She widens her eyes and glowers more, “N-no… No I’m not…”
She stands there in silence before I finally ask her, “Uh, are you okay Twinkle Shine?”
She starts and blinks before staring back at me, “I uh, think so, but I can’t say for certain now that I’m having all of these realizations about myself?”
I smile, “Well, come on buddy! Let’s go get some milkshakes! Izzy didn’t seem to care what time it was?”
She blinks, “Why would she?”
I blink, “Well, it’s just that uh…” I shake my head slightly, “You know what? Never mind! We’re having milkshakes at ten in the morning!”
<*****>
I trot out of my workroom towards the kitchen table towards Twinkle’s room on the left, when I see a teal green unicorn filly already standing there and knocking on the red door frantically with her right forehoof…
“Come on Twinkle! It’s not that bad!” I see Jessi yell at the door…
I hear an annoyed squeaky voice from the other side of the door yell back, “Go away! I don’t want to see anypony right now!”
I trot to Jessi and stop about 7 feet shy of her, look down at her, and ask, “What’s going on?”
Jessi turns her head left towards me and says, “Twinkle Shine can’t tell a lie right now because of some weird curse, and she admitted to me how much I mean to her and at the milkshake bar earlier, she finally admitted that she really does care about me and you and well… This is what happened! She says she’s weak and vulnerable and no longer wishes to see anypony…”
I raise my gaze at the door and frown as I hear the same squeaky voice from inside yell, “I’m not supposed to get this attached to anypony! Now, I’m gonna lose you both and it’s gonna hurt! It’s better if you both just leave me alone forever now! Because that’s how this is gonna end up anyway!”
I frown when I suddenly think that this is probably the sort of problem Sunny should solve, when I suddenly smirk again because I have an idea…
<*****>
I sit on my pillow on the floor laying on my belly as I color the strange rainbow maned pony in my coloring book, when I suddenly realize that I have a plushie that looks just like her on my bed!
I hear a knocking on my door, “Hey, it’s me, Izzy! Uh, I brought a blunt! You wanna talk?”
I frown when I remember that I didn’t wake n bake this morning, and say back to the door, “Um, a blunt?”
“Yes, Twinkle! A fresh blueberry blunt! We can just smoke and talk it out, okay?” I hear her sigh. “I don’t know how much you trust me, Twinkle, but I swear here and now that I won’t lie to you… It’ll just be us on an even playing field… You and me, being truthful and honest, okay?”
Another disturbing thought comes to mind, “Uh, just you and me? Jessi will stay outside? I don’t like this, mom!” before widening my eyes at what I just said!
“No, Twinkle! This is just me and you, like old times, okay?”
<*****>
I stare down at the filly while she sits on the floor on her haunches and raises the burning blunt to her mouth with her right forehoof to take a drag, “Okay, so you feel weak and exposed now because you can no longer hide behind lies, is that right Twinkle Sama?”
Her eyes widen before she removes the blunt from her snout and she then exhales a big cloud of smoke just to my right before staring at me with wide-open eyes and nodding, “Um, yes! That’s my problem! I just keep admitting to all of these things that I don’t like to tell anypony! Not even myself! And now it’s just, ugh!” she shuts her eyes, “Oh, golly dammit!” and gets noticeably flustered before bringing the blunt to her mouth again for another drag and purses her lips in inhales causing the cherry to glow around the ashes of what had already been smoked.
I smile, “Twinkle Sama, do you trust me?”
Her eyes dart left and then right as she slowly exhales smoke from her nostrils and gulps, “Um, yes Izzy! I trust you!” before she holds her right forehoof up with the blunt.
I smile, “Then you need to know that whatever you may say to me, I’m going to take it in the best way possible then, silly! I’m not your enemy!” and then use my horn to force the blunt to glow and then, float over to my awaiting lips after turning around in mid-air.
I clamp down on the blunt with my lips and inhale to make the cherry glow as I feel the warm smoke traveling down my throat and taste the earthy undertones of the burning weed. She soon exhales smoke with her nose, before frowning and staring up at me, “So uh, you don’t mind if I kinda um, think about you as my mother, now?”
I can’t help but giggle as I exhale smoke between me and the filly before replying, “You know, as far as kids go, you’re pretty low maintenance and you’re just so much fun! I don’t care how you think about me!” and wave my right forehoof in the air at my side.
She suddenly blurts out, “I don’t think I want to call you mom, after all? It’s just that well, “ she blinks, “after everything, I don’t know if I’m comfortable giving anypony else that title, if it makes any sense? Oh golly!” before closing her eyes and narrowing her now straight mouth.
“Then don’t! I did just kinda tell you that I didn’t care how you thought about me! Well, as long as it’s positive anyway!” I look up, “Should probably mention that? Wouldn’t want the dope-smoking pegasus filly living in my cottage to hate me!” before adjusting my eyes back to her as I mentally cause the blunt in my mouth to glow and it floats in the air before me before turning around and flying towards Twinkle who catches it with her mouth.
She widens her eyes and stammers out, “Oh, no Miss Izzy! You’re wonderful! Just the best!” around the stogie in her mouth before pursing her lips for a drag and forcing the embers at the end to glow.
I smile again, “Great! So now, since you trust me and you know that I truly have your best interests at heart, you know there’s really no harm in being honest with me!”
She smiles and exhales smoke out of her nose before saying out the right side, “Yeah, I guess I should just trust you, huh? So it’s kinda silly of me not to be truthful anyway!”
I nod, “Right! Now, do you trust Jessi?” while she inhales from the blunt again.
I pause for a moment while she holds the smoke in her lungs and she soon exhales it from her nose as a cloud forms before both of us and stares up at me before saying out the right side of her mouth, “Well, I trust her not to interfere with our time together!”
I giggle, “Oh yes! Heaven forbid you ever don’t smoke with your new mommy!”
She giggles, “Stop it!” before trying to regain composure.
“You’re new mommy who loves you!”
“Knock it off!” she says while continuing to giggle slightly as it becomes apparent to me that there’s something unusual floating around my head!
Nopony says a word as she purses her lips around the blunt for her second drag and I finally calmly and expressionlessly say, “And who’s always going to be there for you… Her wonderful, cute, and smart little filly…”
Her cheeks begin to glow red along with the stogie in her mouth as she inhales, before coughing and sputtering slightly and then finally, exhaling the smoke out of her nostrils and stares up at me with her two enormous brown eyes, and saying out the right side of her mouth, “Oh, golly, Miss Izzy! Do you really mean that?”
I smile, “I said I was gonna be honest with you and I meant every word, goofus! I’m your mom-friend! Or maybe like a buddy-mother? Matriarch-associate, perhaps?” before giggling as I try my best to come up with a name for my relationship with this strange filly! She finally exhales smoke out of her nostrils again and I ask her, “So Twinkle! Ready to face Jessi now?”
She looks at me and quickly replies, “Four more drags!”
I giggle, “Okay, my wonderful little filly! Whatever you need to do!”
Suddenly, I see a strange creature materialize on my right as I sit there on the floor before the blunt-smoking foal! I glance at him and behold his mixed form as he has two eyes of different sizes, two completely different horns on his head, and a lion’s paw on one side and eagle talon on the other side of his brown serpentine body. He stares at Twinkle on his right and says, “Congratulations young Cozy Shine! You passed! The lesson was that you can always be honest with your friends! Although I must add little Twinkle Glow, that the new development between you and Izzy was a nice bonus!”
Twinkle has her head turned left at the creature with the burning blunt still in her mouth and mostly intact as she stares up at the creature with a dazed look in her eyes and blankly asks out the right corner of her mouth, “Say what now?” as a glop of ashes falls from the end, but nopony seems to care at this point.
The creature smiles his snaggle-tooth grin and says, “The lesson I was teaching you! Honesty, to always be truthful and to only lie when absolutely necessary! Speaking of which, since you proved now that you can be responsible with it, I’m restoring your ability to lie! Have fun with your new mommy!” before snapping the eagle talon on his left side in the air and I see Twinkle glow bluish-white for a moment before stopping as he suddenly becomes clear and fades from my view as easily and strangely as he first appeared…
I blink my eyes while I and the filly continue to stare at the air where the creature was, before I finally turn my head left towards the pegasus and ask her, “Uh, can you lie again, now?”
She turns her head to me and says out the right side of her mouth, still holding the blunt, “I don’t love Izzy or Jessi at all!”
I smile, “I love you too, Twinkle Shine!”
(To be continued...)