Candle Light didn’t notice her new cutie mark until Misty Rose pointed it out to her at the clothing shop when she returned. She casted the teleportation spell again to get back to her and Soft Step, and while she took a moment to breathe from having expended so much energy, the mare congratulated her.
"My cutie mark is supposed to mean something about having a special talent, right?" the unicorn asked. "I did the spell and I got it, but I'm not sure what a candle has to do with that."
"It's probably because your name is Candle Light," Misty told her. "I got a rose on my flank, but my special talent is wedding planning, if you can believe it. I figure I got mine because of my name, and you must have got yours because of yours."
Candle Light accepted the explanation without issue, and turned to give her thanks to Soft Step. “It would have taken me forever to get that if you didn’t show me,” she told her. “I don’t exactly know how it helped, but it did.”
“Ah, it was nothing,” Soft Step replied politely. “That was all you.” Then she told her, “I have to go now though. Meeting up with some of my other friends. But it was nice seeing you. I guess I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah, see you,” Candle Light smiled. Soft Step gave a little wave before she lit up her horn and teleported away to somewhere else. Candle Light smiled happily to herself at the thought about the fact that it was a skill she was now able to do.
“I guess since you got your cutie mark, this calls for a celebration,” Misty Rose told her, touching the mare’s shoulder with a hoof as she held up the dress from before in another. “You’re a little too old for a cute-ceañera, but this dress could be a good present. I got the bits for it for you, and I bet your wife would like it if she has the same one.”
Candle Light blushed again, but this time, said, “I guess since I’ve earned it.” She didn’t know how big of a deal it was meant to be, but if Celestia mentioned finding her cutie mark to her before, it must have been a somewhat big thing. She couldn’t say no under those circumstances, could she?
She had dinner with Misty Rose and her family that night, this time inviting them to her home, and in the morning, she opted to teleport to the beach rather than walk. Now that she knew how to do it, she wanted to practice it like she did telekinesis, and did the same spell every morning for the next week. Just like with telekinesis, her stamina built up, and by the end of the week, she cast the spell three or four times in succession before she got tired.
That other unicorn, Soft Step, might have said it was the only spell she used, but Candle Light certainly wasn’t going to stop after learning just one spell. She kept right on reading through her spellbook each day to try and learn new things. It was a slow process; spell casting was still much more difficult than using telekinesis. But within a few weeks, she was looking at a small arsenal of five or six useful spells.
She made sure to pay more careful attention to her time though meanwhile. Rather than staying cooped up inside reading about magic all day like before, she went out and talked to ponies now. Mostly it was with Misty Rose, but she slowly branched off to make some more friends. She talked to Soft Step once or twice more, and found some other friends as she tried some of the restaurants around town and went shopping. They were polite and friendly, and with some of them, she had some interesting conversations about everything from magic to some mare named Renown Composition who apparently ran this town, to even about how one pony was tired of being a pegasus and wanted to try being an earth pony.
Candle Light remembered what Celestia said about thinking about what she wanted to be, and she could still say she had no idea. Definitely a unicorn though, and the glasses would stay, but beyond that, nothing. Maybe she’d just stay the same if she couldn’t think of anything good until she met up with her wife eventually. She could let her pick out.
She still hadn’t met up with her wife yet, and it made her a little sad, but finally seeing her children again after several weeks made her happy. She almost asked them what took them so long before she remembered what the princess– an alicorn, she learned– had told her.
“It’s been almost two months since I’ve seen you kids,” she told them. “I know it only feel like a few hours for you though. Celestia was telling me about how time would be faster for me here. But how have you guys been? Are you being good for your mother?”
“Yeah, we’re fine,” Steven said through Silver Light, “but it’s only been a day, Dad. Has it really been that long for you? Because that sounds awesome.”
“That’s really cool,” Liana agreed as Sweeping Skies smiled and stretched her wings. “You could probably do a lot of stuff if it really is that long. The doctor didn’t tell us it’d be like that in there.”
“Yeah, it’s really neat,” Candle Light continued. “I’ve been learning how to do magic in that time. I can do this now. Watch.” She lit up her horn just as she practiced, and a moment later, teleported to the other side of the beach to call and wave at them from. She teleported back in front of them a second later, and didn’t even feel too terribly tired doing it twice in succession as she smiled proudly at them.
"I can do more than just that though. I'm learning a lot about magic and science here. I feel like I'm twenty years old again."
"That means we can have a magic fight!" Warm Spell proclaimed. "We can battle and fight monsters and save ponies and go to castles!"
"Maybe we can, sweetie," Candle Light grinned as she booped her nose with a hoof. "We'll have to see if we can do that together one day if you want to."
"Yes!"
"I bet there's shards you can do that kind of stuff in if you really want to," Silver Light told her. "But also, when the heck are you gonna change into a stallion, Dad? Unless you're just gonna be a mare forever. Which would honestly be kind of weird."
"It wouldn't be that weird," Sky broke in. "I bet Mom would like it actually."
"No she wouldn't! There's no way Mom likes girls.
"That's not what I mean, idiot."
"Let's settle down now, kids," Candle Light told them gently with a little smirk on her face. "But no, I don't think I'm gonna be staying as a girl forever. Celestia said she'll let me change one time for now, but doesn't like to change ponies a lot, so that's why I haven't changed yet. I just wanna be sure."
It was funny how she didn't really feel embarrassed about it anymore. Although that probably had something to do with how long she'd been in Equestria up to that point. She didn't know if she could say she really cared either way about being a mare or a stallion, except for making her family happy, and the thoughts she had about the differences when she first got here. Maybe being a mare was better? She certainly thought she looked pretty as a mare. Was this part of the self growth Celestia was talking about?
A small pause came as she thought of something, and Candle Light continued, "Maybe your mother could help me decide on what I should be right now. Where is she? And speaking of which, where's Daphne?"
"Mom's doing more school stuff today," Liana. "And, uh, Daffie's watching our screens while we play because she doesn't wanna talk to you, I think."
That got her attention. "Why the heck wouldn't your sister want to talk to me?" she asked.
"I dunno," Sweeping Skies shrugged. "She said something yesterday about how she didn't think it was you, and then didn't play all day yesterday because of it."
"What?" Candle Light tilted her head and had an almost shocked look on her face. "I definitely am me, as far as I can tell. At least, I think so. This isn't about me being a mare, is it?"
"No, I think she thinks you're not real. Like you're a copy of yourself or something."
That was a strange thing to hear. Was something like that even possible? Candle Light had no idea. She didn't feel like a copy, but how the heck would she know if she was? It was something she would have to ask the princess about, or find a book with information on the subject. Just the thought of such a thing made her shift around on her hooves uncomfortably.
"She's just being stupid for no reason," Silver Light said with finality. "I wanna get out of here now and show you my shard, Dad. I've been working on it for a month and a half."
"Well I'd definitely love to see it if you put all that work into it, son," Candle Light said. "How do we get to it?"
Silver Light led her to the train station that would take them to his shard, the mare now filled with all sorts of concerns about both herself and her daughter. It seemed like she would have to talk to Celesita again soon.
She kept the thought in her mind as she visited her son’s shard, a place that made her laugh softly at the sight of it. She walked on streets that floated in the clouds as she passed by other winged ponies, most of whom seemed to portray a sort of ‘coolness’ the friends she remembered him hanging out with on Earth had. She thought it was adorable, and embarrassed him a bit by saying such as they made their way past fancy white buildings and to an ornate mansion that he lived in.
It was basically as she expected on the inside, and just the kind of thing any fifteen year old kid would want. An indoor pool sat in the center of a large opening room with a basketball court opposite it, not that she knew how ponies were supposed to play basketball. There were several rooms upstairs for guests and a kitchen on the main floor that was largely absent of anything besides salty snacks and sugary drinks that even she, while in Equestria, might have still drank too often. In the basement was what looked to be an arcade, one with many game systems, couches, a pool table, and a theater. She couldn’t say she really expected anything else from her son, and while this place certainly looked fun, she would take her home by the beach and near the mountains over this mansion. She did make another little note in her head to study clouds to see how they were able to hold up so much construction.
They moved on to her daughter's shard, a place that wasn't really what Candle Light expected. The last she remembered, Liana was into vampires and Arvil Lavigne, but this place had a much more different feel than that. This place looked more corporate than Silver Light’s shard. Sweeping Skies led her past skyscrapers and coffee shops and through a place that reminded Candle Light of New York City. There were certainly none of the palm trees that could be found in places around Arizona where the rest of her family still lived.
She was clearly proud of this place because her daughter walked with a little more pep in her step. The pegasus grinned as she showed off some of her friends and her favorite restaurant before giving a tour of the NYC style apartment she lived in. Candle Light almost forgot for a second that Liana wasn’t actually a pony as she politely let her children talk her ear off. If she or her other kids were in Equestria, they’d be in Summer’s Edge with her.
Warm Spell declared that she wasn’t going to be showing off the shard she shared with Daphne because Silver Light was with them and Silver Light wasn’t a girl. Candle Light herself was well beyond embarrassment about that feature about herself now, and only laughed as she suggested they head back to Summer’s Edge with her for the rest of the day. They agreed, and there they found a little bowling alley in the town to play a few games at until her children got tired. Silver Light left first, and then Warm Spell followed behind him, leaving Candle Light alone with Sweeping Skies.
“Is your older sister okay?” she had to ask. “Can you tell her I want to talk to her soon, please?”
“She’s still watching my screen,” the pegasus explained, “but she hasn’t played Equestria Online in a long time except for yesterday. She mostly just watches us and breathes over our shoulders.”
“Can you ask her why she thinks I’m not me?”
Her daughter blinked and stared flatly at her for a good fifteen or twenty second, completely silent. Candle Light glanced away and shifted around uncomfortably on her hooves before Sweeping Skies finally told her, “She said she doesn’t wanna talk about it.”
“Oh. Well, can you tell her I love her?”
Another long pause came before she got back, “She said ‘okay’.”
That stung a bit, enough to make the unicorn grimace, but Candle Light didn’t comment on it. Instead, she hugged her daughter in a quick, tight hug. “Tell her to be safe and well, okay? And you be good to your sisters and your older brother. I don’t like it when you guys fight. I love you, Liana.”
“Okay. I love you, Dad,” was the immediate reply. “Bye.”
A wave of her wing came, and then she flew out the door, leaving the unicorn to let out a long, sad breath. There was a lot for her to think about and look into, wasn’t there? She put her hooves in her hands and closed her eyes to breathe. She hoped everything would be alright with her daughter.
Then she lifted her head back up just as Soft Step was calling to her in surprise and asking for a few games against her and a mare named Careful Calling since she was here. The unicorn agreed, and chatted up the two ponies about life and magic and spellcasting while they bowled, taking her mind off the concerns she had. There would be many days to think about it all before her kids returned tomorrow. It might have been weeks in between appearances of her family, but going time seemed like such a good thing right now.