"Did you know Olivia talked to Dad yesterday?" Liana asked Daphne the next morning as she came down from her room to eat breakfast with her and her little brother. "Apparently he's a girl now from what she said. He was in some city by the beach.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said flatly, placing a hand on her chin. “I saw when Olivia was playing.” She still felt tired from the previous evening despite a full night’s rest. She had to avoid calling the copy she saw yesterday what it was.
“I haven’t talked to him yet though,” the girl continued. “I haven’t played at all in a long time. Where are Mom and Livvy anyway?”
“I think they went shopping today, I don’t know,” Liana shrugged. “She was telling me we needed food this morning before they left. I wanted to wait for you to get up before I played though.”
“I didn’t,” Steven said without looking up from his device as he ignored the toasted waffles on his plate. “I can’t find him anywhere in this town. I’ve been walking up and down this beach for the last thirty minutes and I don’t see him. Celestia and Olivia both said he was here though. I can’t even remember the town’s name though.”
“I think it was something like ‘Summer’s Court’, but I don’t remember.” Daphne brushed a strand of dark, curly hair from in front of her eyes as she glanced between the table and the wall. She was certainly curious, but she didn’t know if she felt as interested as her siblings probably were. There were no words she could use to describe the exact combination of emotions she felt about what happened. Or maybe there were too many.
“He had a pink coat and a light purple mane though, I think,” Daphne continued. “His pony looked like it weighed a little more than the other ponies, too.”
“I have not seen a single pony that looked like that,” her brother replied as he squinted down at the screen. “Like, at all. I almost think I got the wrong shard.”
The girl let out a long, annoyed breath. “If you get my PonyPad from my room, I’ll try and help find him for you.”
Daphne didn’t look away from the wall as Steven quickly left to grab it, but did catch a weird glance coming from Liana. She almost thought she was gonna ask if she was okay, but a second later, looked back down at her plate and took a bite of her waffles. Seemingly just as quickly, Steven was back with her PonyPad. Much too quickly, in Daphne’s opinion.
Only a few seconds after that, she was staring at her PonyPad at her avatar, a mostly androgynous looking bat pony named Night Watcher. It had brown eyes that were so dark as to appear almost black, and a black coat to go along with its very dark blue mane. It was slenderly built, its body constructed in a way that made flying through the skies exceptionally easy. Daphne didn’t do much of that, since she didn’t play Equestria Online all that much to begin with.
She watched her pony do so now, gliding carefully down to land on the beach she saw Olivia talking to her father on yesterday, standing next to her brother. His pony also had wings, but instead of a bat pony, he was a silver coated pegasus aptly named Silver Light. He came complete with a golden mane and bright blue eyes, and stood just a hair shorter than Night Watcher.
She looked around for a moment, and then pushed her avatar forward for a short walk to the clubhouse Olivia was building the night before. It was only another minute when Liana’s purple coated, purple maned pegasus, Sweeping Skies, joined the two of them to stand there. The little clubhouse looked a little more touched up than yesterday before she left. The thing was fully assembled, although it was only about the size of a bedroom, and it had a little sign on the door that read ‘Warm Spell and Dad’s Clubhouse’. It was definitely a creation of her little sister’s.
"I think they're inside," Sweeping Skies said as the mare rounded to the entrance of the tiny building. At least, the pony's mouth moved. She didn't hear anything from either her or Steven's PonyPad, probably because of the proximity to Liana. She did still hear the sound of waves crashing against the sand and soft wind blowing, as well as what sounded like the voices Olivia and the mare that was meant to be her father coming from inside the small building.
“Is that you, Liana?” she asked before Daphne or her siblings could speak. A second later, she poked her head out the door to the small clubhouse, and grinned widely at the sight of the three of them. Daphne glanced up from her screen for a moment to see both Liana and Steven wearing smirks at the sight of her, but she kept her own expression flat. Olivia’s filly, Warm Spell, followed after the mare a second later.
"Hey, kids!" she waved happily, speaking with the same bright tone Daphne heard her whole life. Except not at all like anything she ever heard. This was the first time the mare that was intended to be her father spoke to her like this.
"I can tell that you're Stevie," she said as she pointed to Silver Light, "but which one of you is Daffie and which one is Liana?"
"The blue and black one is Daffie," Warm Spell said. "She was watching me play with you last night."
"And my pony's name is Sweeping Skies," Liana explained. "That's Night Watcher and Silver Light."
"Hmmm, I guess that means I should call you 'Sky' then for short," the unicorn nodded thoughtfully. "And Daffie and Stevie would be 'Silver' and 'Nighty', right? Celestia said my name would be Candle Light."
"I'm okay with that," Steven shrugged as Daphne remained silent. "I just wanna know about what it's like for you being a horse now."
"And also, why the heck are you a girl now, Dad?" Liana asked. "Or, uh, should I call you 'mom' or something?"
Daphne didn't feel any annoyance or anger like she expected to, unable to even roll her eyes. She didn't feel much of anything as she thought about how ridiculous it was to call a copy of their dead father any sort of familial term. Was this making her feel anxious? She couldn't tell.
Candle Light looked anxious though. Daphne watched her glance away for a second with a red face as she rubbed a hoof in the sand. Both Olivia and Steven laughed at the look on her face, and the mare was able to muster up a little smile again. Daphne couldn't see what was particularly funny.
"You can just call me 'dad' if you want," she said quickly, a little bit more quietly than before. "I'm only being a mare for a little while because that's what Celestia chose while I think about what kind of stallion I want to be."
This time it was Liana who laughed with Steven as Olivia's pony loudly declared, "I think you're a pretty mare, Dad." Daphne had to admit, it got a smirk out of her. Just as quickly though, she put her smile back down.
Somehow though, Candle Light wasn't embarrassed by that. She touched Warm Spell's nose with a careful hoof, pausing for a second to put on a larger smile. Then she said, "I think you look very pretty too, sweetie."
Maybe it’s not even a copy of him at all, Daphne thought. It was a useless one though. Just like yesterday, this mare still acted like him, in both the big and the small mannerisms. The way she kind of flashed her teeth when she was flustered and how she collectively referred to them as ‘kids’ and had an excited sort of energy even if she didn’t display it was just like him.
It felt like she was staring at the alien version of her father. It was deeply unsettling.
“I’ve only been here for a day, but I’ve been fine,” she said as she turned to face the three of their ponies. “I got a big house for free, and I met the neighbors and went shopping here yesterday. And everything seems real, I think. It’s just weird being a horse is all. But I’m fine.” A pause came, and she asked, “Are you all okay though? They gave you the life insurance money, right? Is your mother doing okay?”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Steven answered for the group after Daphne stayed silent. “I think Mom said she got the check a couple of days ago, but I can’t ask because she’s doing school registrations and shopping right now.”
“I’m with her!” Warm Spell announced excitedly. “We’re doing it today cause I’m gonna meet my new teacher! I’m gonna be in first grade!”
“Hehe, I know you are sweetie,” Candle Light laughed, touching the unicorn’s mane with a hoof. “And I’m sure you’re gonna get good grades and tell your mother I love her for me, right?”
“Right!”
Yes, this whole scene was making Daphne anxious. She could feel her breathing starting to pick up and sweat start to drip down her forehead, something that reflected itself into her avatar. She hoped no one would notice, and then wondered why she hoped that. This wasn't her father.
"I'm gonna go now," she decided, speaking in the same flat time she had for months now. "I have stuff to do today. I'll see you later." She made well sure not to call the character in front of her 'dad'.
"Well I expect a hug from all three of you before any of you leave," the mare decided as she stepped forward to wrap her hooves around Sweeping Skies first. "I haven't been able to for months, and I know it's been days since I've seen any of you."
Just like her father would, Candle Light hugged the mares tightly and gave a friendlier hoof wrapped around the shoulder to her brother's stallion. Whatever code or tech they used to get all of this stuff into this copy was certainly impressive, Daphne could say that much. It didn't make her feel any better about it existing in her father's place.
"I miss you all so much already," she finished, smiling sadly their way, but without tears in her eyes. "I hope there's a way for them to make a new body for me as a human or something in the future."
"If they can do all this, why not?" Liana smiled. "And I didn't say I was leaving yet. I don't have anything to do all day."
"Me, neither," Steven said, his pony shrugging as he did. "I wanna hear all about it."
The mare's look on her face brightened hearing that. "I love you kids." She turned Night Watcher, almost looking up at Daphne through the real world as she finished, "I guess I'll see you later then, Daffie? Err, Nighty?"
"Yeah, see you later," she agreed before quickly powering off her device and letting out a breath she'd been subconsciously holding in. That was unnerving. Like it could see her through the screen. It made Daphne's skin crawl, and she finally let out a shiver she'd been forcing back.
“What’s up with you?” Steven asked with a raised eyebrow. “You look like a bug just crawled on you.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out immediately. She debated between answering with ‘nothing’ or giving the truthful answer. She almost went with the former.
“You already know,” was all she said. She realized she was glaring at him, but didn’t turn away or let down her expression. Neither of those things would change any of what she felt, would they? Not that he was the only one, of course.
“Whatever,” she heard Steven say, watching him shake his head in annoyance as Liana shot a confused look her way. “You’re just being stupid.”
She felt goosebumps forming on her skin and crawling up her arms as they laughed and chatted with the alien copy of their father.