I stared at the hazy eyed pegasus filly across from me and the blue unicorn filly at my right and all I could say was, “It wasn’t real… They weren’t really my parents…”
Twinkle widens her eyes before saying, “Uh, I should probably load my pipe for this one? You keep talking, Little Snack! I’m listening!” before turning her body left to face her table, where she rises to her haunches and begins to use her forehooves to collect her greenish-blue color-changing glass spoon pipe… She takes a plate on the table, puts her joint-nub on it and begins to kneed it with her forehooves to grind it before taking the plate and holding it over the pipe in her clefts and then, using her left forehoof to sweep the ground up resin and herb into the pipe bowl, while carefully depositing the cardboard tip off to the side on her table… She then collects the pipe and begins to smash the weed into the top… She widens her eyes while putting the pipe in her mouth with her right forehoof and keeping her cleft at an angle while using her left forehoof to fire up a lighter over it… Her brown eyes then gaze directly ahead at the flame over the bowl and watches as the fire soon travels down into the weed-filled chamber to ignite it there…
I gaze on at this demented filly as her eyes begin to narrow and I think it might be kicking in for her? I’m not sure, but I open my mouth to speak, “The two unicorns who were taking care of me weren’t my real parents after all… The mare explained to me that I was adopted and that… That my real parents were dead…” I close my eyes. “And it really sucks too, because I never knew them!” I then think about how I strangely always felt out of place and now I know why...
I can hear Twinkle exhaling while Misty says, “Wow! Uh, I can actually relate!”
I open my eyes and turn my head right to the unicorn, “What?”
Misty blinks and stares at me carefully with her cerulean pupils, “Opaline adopted me and I never knew my parents… Well, now I don’t have anything!”
Twinkle turns her head left to Misty, “Not true! You got us now!” before turning her head back towards me, “Right Little Snack?” and smiling.
My eyes widen when I realize that’s my cue! “Uh, yeah! Of course Twinkle Shine!”
Misty smiles dimly at me, “Yeah, and so here we are! The three orphans!”
Twinkle’s eyes widen as her body vibrates, “I don’t really remember my parents! But you know, there’s four of us, if you count Jessi!”
Misty’s mouth normalizes, “But what does this have to do with Little being from two thousand years ago?”
Um, I never did explain myself? I begin to speak as the other two fillies look at me, “Oh! Well, the mare was talking to me about how they weren’t really my parents… I said I needed to step out for a walk and then, I left… Well, I was walking by the big field where I’d always kick my ball and then, a strange blue light just appeared and I was here in this room… I’m actually not even sure where I am?” I say before squinting my left eye in thought.
Twinkle replies, “You’re in Bridlewood Forest! Izzy’s cottage!”
My eyes go back to normal and I lower my head as I frantically explain, “Oh, okay, but why? Why am I here now, when I was in Ponyville fifteen minutes ago?”
Twinkle’s eyes widen, “I uh… I don’t know?” before she raises her glass pipe to her mouth with her right forehoof and fires her lighter over the bowl with her left and inhales to bring the flame into the bowl….
Suddenly the door behind me on my right opens up and I turn my head in that direction to see a blue unicorn with a poufy mane stare at Twinkle with her red eyes and say, “Hey Twinkle! I was gonna head to the market this morning! Do you need anything?”
Twinkle exhales smoke from her mouth and frowns before widening her eyes while pitifully asking, “Um, c-can I have a candy bar, please?”
Izzy smiles, “Sure! I’ll even get one for your two friends, Misty and that other filly I don’t know!” before the door shuts and we all hear hoofsteps growing fainter.
I turn my head back to Twinkle, who’s now taking another hit with her pipe and ask her, “Do you get a lot of strangers in your room?”
She smiles and I can already tell the herb is starting to affect her as she exhales smoke with her nostrils and says, “Well, lately, I’ve been getting more than usual!”
Suddenly the door swings open again and I turn my head back to it to see the same blue unicorn, now panicking, ask, “Okay, why is there now an earth filly in here? She wasn’t here earlier, either!”
Twinkle stares up to her and changes her smile to that of a doomed filly, “Okay, that actually wasn’t my fault! Honest! She randomly appeared while I was smoking for wake n bake!”
I widen my eyes in fear, “It’s true! I swear! My name is Little Snack and I won’t hurt you!”
She frowns at me, “So, if you just appeared here in Twinkle’s room, where did you come from!”
“Uh, Ponyville! Technically! Yes!” I smile in apprehension. “I am from Ponyville! That is the city where I was born! Yes! There! In Ponyville!”
Her red eyes widen, “Zipp told me about that town… Ponyville hasn’t existed for several hundred years!”
I widen my eyes again and I frown, “Uh, well uh, I guess, since I’m in the future now, or whatever, that could be true?”
She looks at Twinkle, “Why is there another filly from the past in here, now? Do you have anything to do with that?”
Twinkle exhales another cloud of smoke from her nose, “I already told you, I don’t know, mom! I was frozen in stone! But I don’t know how poor Little Snack got here! Honest!”
I frown in terror at this unicorn I don’t know, “Please don’t hurt me, Miss Great and Magical Unicorn!”
The blue unicorn frowns hard and gazes at us all sternly, “I want to see all three of you in the den, now!”
Twinkle widens her eyes, “Can I finish wake n bake, mom?”
She then smiles down at the pegasus, “Of course, sweetie! We aren’t savages!” she turns her head back to me while keeping her smile, “And don’t worry, mysterious filly! We’ll get everything sorted out and you’ll be taken care of!”
I smile nervously again, “Uh, th-thanx Miss Strange Unicorn!”
“Oh!” Her eyes widen and she mouths the words very carefully. “You should call me Izzy! My name is Izzy Moonbow!”
I kept my eyes wide and peeled at this pony, “Oh uh, hiya Izzy! I’m Little Snack!”
<*****>
I stand on my haunches at the sink to wash all of the ash and soot off my forehooves and I stare up at the mirror and can’t help but notice that the other pink filly has neatly arranged curls in her mane and is smiling at me as I focus at her in my stoned vision…
“Golly, now we have three friends! We’re gaining power faster than you or I could’ve anticipated!”
I stare at the filly in the mirror, “I keep telling you, that’s not why I make friends!”
“I’m still a part of you!”
I furrow my brow, “I wish that wasn’t so…”
She giggles, “Oh, believe me! If it were so easy!” her expression grows serious. “But seriously, what are we going to do now?”
“I uh, I don’t know, Cozy Glow?”
Her eyes widen, “So, we agreed to be there for Misty, right? What’s going on with this new filly? She’s probably disturbed because she just randomly appeared in your room! That much is obvious, but why is she here?”
My mouth widens in confusion, “I don’t know!”
“Right! We’re the same filly! Well, more or less!” she gazes off wistfully to the left.
My brow trenches again as I glower in obstinance, “I’m nothing like you!”
She gazes at me and giggles again as her eyes narrow, “Oh, you say that!” as she whimsically moves her head from side to side…
“Don’t you think I know what you’re doing?”
She sighs, “Well, yes! You probably do!” her gaze lowers. “But anyway, while I don’t know how useful Little Snack could be to us in the future, the rest of the crew seems to be sympathetic to her, ergo, it’s in our best interests to be sympathetic as well, to maintain our position…”
“Is that all you think about?”
She smiles and widens her eyes, “You would know!”
I smile back, “Oh, would I!”
Her smile lowers, “Still, I’m not really sure what to do with her?”
My mouth normalizes, “That makes two of us!”
She enlarges her eyes, “So, that’s all we got then? Very well! Stay with the group dynamic unless you get a better idea! If I come up with anything, I’ll let you know!”
I widen my eyes at this prospect, “So wait! We’re a team, now?”
She lowers her gaze and her expression grows critical, “Wasn’t that the agreement?”
“I don’t know?”
She sighs, “Okay, look! Being trapped within you is very boring!” her view shifts to the left, “And if you think about it, our goals are kinda the same!”
I frown in defiance, “How in Equestria are our goals the same?”
She smiles as she shifts her view to the right, “I want power and control! You want a better life for your friends! You know, it’s a lot easier to deliver that with power and control, right?”
My frown grows less severe as I imagine this prospect, “So, I get power and control for you and use that to make ponies’ lives better?”
Her smile grows wider, “Exactly!”
I raise my gaze at the mirror, “And if I refuse?”
Her mouth normalizes and she replies, “Oh, please, Twinkle Shine! You’ve already seen what happens when I’m not happy!”
“And you’re not happy now?”
“Didn’t I already say I was bored?” She squints her right eye at me. “Was sure I did?”
“So, that’s what you want?”
She smiles again and her eyes straighten, “Of course! After all! Who better to be your new best friendthan somepony who knows you as well as I do!”
My eyes widen, “Jessi is my best friend!”
“You can have us both!”
I breathe out of my snout slowly as her words begin to sink in, before I look at the mirror very carefully, “You really want to be my friend?”
“Didn’t I already say that?”
I sigh heavily, “Okay Cozy Glow… Okay… I’ll work with you…”
Her eyes widen as her shoulders visibly relax and her face glowers, “FINALLY! Golly! It’s like pulling alligator teeth!”
I smile at Cozy, “You’d know, right?”
Her view lowers and she frowns, “Oh, don’t start that again!”
<*****>
So, I sat there with the two fillies across the table from me, Misty on the left with her swept over mane-style and this strange new orange earth filly on the right… The earth filly smiles at me and lightly vibrates as I ask her, “So, what do you remember about what happened to you?”
Her eyes go up to me and she replies, “Oh! Well, I was out walking just south of my house! Yeah, I was walking out there by the big field, and then, poof! I saw a bright blue light and I was in Twinkle’s room! Uh, that is the room we just came from, right?” before looking at me expectantly with a nervous frown.
I smile at her to (hopefully) put her at ease, “Yes Little Snack! We came from Twinkle Shine’s room!”
“Oh, okay! Cool!” She says before nodding at me…
I adjust my gaze to both of them as they continue to smile up at me, “Fillies! We keep getting more and more fillies!”
Little anxiously stammers out, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don’t wanna be here either!” before frowning, “Then again, what else am I gonna do?” her eyes widen. “I have no family!”
I frown at this revelation, “What do you mean, no family, Little Snack?”
Her eyes are peeled on me, “Well, my parents are dead! I was adopted and while I truly do appreciate all the things that the unicorn couple did for me, I would kinda like to know where I’m from…”
“You’re from Ponyville, right?”
She nods, “Yes, ma’am! Born and raised!”
I’m not sure how to word my next sentence so I just say it, “And Ponyville no longer exists…”
A slow frown begins to form on the filly’s face and I think she realizes what that means, “Gosh! I’m probably NEVER gonna find out where I’m from!”
I say the only thing I can at that point, “I am so sorry, Little Snack!”
Her eyes begin to visibly water, “E-everything’s gone! Cozy! Starshine! Well, “she stares out towards Twinkle’s room down the hall behind me. “I still have Cozy! Well, sorta?”
I blink when I realize this filly will need a place to stay, “You can stay in Twinkle’s room! Well, until further notice…” before thinking that I should give Twinkle some hash has a consolation…
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door! “Who in Equestria could that be?” I exclaim.
<*****>
I stare up at the two adult ponies on the other side of the room… Izzy on the left with Sunny talking to her on the other side. Izzy asks Sunny, “What do you make of this? She says she just randomly appeared in a blue flash of light but has no idea how or why? She says she’s from Ponyville, but that town hasn’t existed for at least several centuries, maybe longer!”
Sunny frowns at the unicorn, “Well, wasn’t Twinkle Shine from that time period?”
Twinkle looks up from her position, opposite to Little Snack from me, “Uh, that’s true! But I never knew Little Snack!”
Sunny eyes Twinkle, “Still, why do I get the feeling you have something to do with this?”
Twinkle widens her eyes, “Golly gee, I’ve told you everything I know! Honest! She just appeared in my room!”
Sunny breaths out her nostrils, “And why do I think Discord has something to do with this?”
Little widens her green eyes, “Oh! Me, Cozy Glow, and Starshine all defeated Discord earlier! Yeah! We had a party and everything! Uh,“her eyes normalize. “That was about two days ago? Well,“she frowns. “two days and two thousand years ago!”
Sunny’s eyes widen, “Really? Tell me about that!”
Little blinks and lowers her head slightly, “Well, Discord made Cozy Glow face off all the villains she was with earlier, when she tried to take over Equestria!”
Twinkle turns her head left to Little, “I don’t remember any of this! I was frozen in stone for two thousand years!”
Little turns her head right to Twinkle, “Don’t you remember, Cozy?”
Twinkle lowers her gaze, “I already told you, I’m not Cozy Glow!”
Little frowns, “Oh uh, sorry Twinkle Shine! I uh, you just…” she blinks. “You look so much like her!”
Twinkle raises her view in curiosity, “This Cozy Glow you defeated Discord with! She looked like me?”
Little nods, “Well, right! EXACTLY like you! Uh, except your mane is different…”
Twinkle breaths slowly out of her nostrils, “I changed my mane because I’m not her… I’m different…”
Little leans closer and sniffs, “Well, you smell different? You must be using a different soap.”
Twinkle frowns and widens her eyes, “I’m not Cozy Glow…”
Little nods, “Okay uh, not Cozy Glow! I guess you want me to call you Twinkle Shine?”
Twinkle smiles and narrows her eyes, “Yes, please!”
Little nods again, “Okay! Twinkle Shine you shall be!”
Twinkle’s eyes widen again and she nods, “Thank you!”
Suddenly, a yellow stallion with a green mane and tail trots into the room while balancing a white cup of black coffee on his snout, from the fillies’ left and the adults’ right. He sets it down on the wooden coffee table between them and says, “Sorry I’m late, gang! I finished up Izzy’s coffee, so I was making more! Uh, “he eyes the four fillies on the right side of the room. “What’s going on?”
Sunny turns her head right to Hitch, “There’s a fourth filly, now!”
Little looks up at Hitch and grins, “I’m Little Snack!”
Hitch looks at Little, “Why is there a fourth filly?”
Sunny sighs, “Well, she says she’s from Twinkle’s time, two thousand years ago and lived in Ponyville! The weirder thing is, she has memories of Twinkle from back when she was Cozy, except Twinkle says she doesn’t remember doing any of that stuff!”
Hitch frowns at Sunny, “Almost like it was some crazy Dr. What alternate dimension!”
Little frowns, “Dr. What now?”
Hitch turns back to Little and adjusts his mouth, “It’s a TV show! Uh, what are we gonna do with her?”
Sunny widens her eyes, “I don’t know? I already got Jessi!”
And Izzy adds, “Don’t look at me! I already got two of them!”
Hitch turns his head back right towards Little Snack and lowers his gaze at the grinning and vibrating little orange filly as her green pigtails bounce slightly and says, “Hey Little Snack! How do you feel about helping out a sheriff?”
Little’s eyes widen as her mouth goes agape in interest, “Oh, that sounds neat!”
(To be continued...)