Candle Light didn’t really change anything about herself despite keeping in mind the idea of acting younger. She still went to the beach to swim every morning, still studied magic, and still spent time with her new friends. She did notice herself going on more late night trips with Soft Step and Careful Calling, along with some of their friends. They talked about how they were online in Equestria mostly at night, but Candle Light didn’t really notice much. She saw Careful Calling more often than Soft Step, just by virtue of the time dilation in Summer’s Edge, but didn’t mind it. Careful Calling was more adventurous and knew more about magic than Soft Step did anyway. She even started to join Candle Light on some of her morning trips to the beach at her request.
She had fun with Soft Step, too, and some of her friends. She met a gray earth pony named Renown Composition and a couple of unicorns with her a few times, but mostly spent time with Soft Step and the two pegasi she hung out with the most. It was just as well, because she could tell that a couple of them didn’t like each other. Candle Light had raised her kids for long enough that she could spot the dirty looks one of the unicorns and Agile Trace threw at each other. It made being around them uncomfortable enough that a lot of times Candle Light found herself ‘busy’ when Soft Step was inviting all of them.
She held a couple of more events at her house, and talked to one of the stallions she met, Rising Ranks, more than a few times. In just a few months of knowing him, he’d become a regular friend, and stopped by often to read magic books and talk about science with her. He described how he, like she, wasn’t actually in his twenties, but instead was a few years older than fifty and just chose to look younger. He didn’t have foals, but did used to work with them when he was a teacher in Summer’s Edge before he one day decided he wanted to go to university and know more about Equestria. He studied in Canterlot, and while he was there, he simply asked Celestia to alter his appearance, and she did so without issue.
“It’s kind of cool to see ponies in the same kind of situation as me,” the mare said, “even if you’re not from the Outer Realm.”
“Yeah, it is,” he agreed, “and a good thing Celestia works the way she does. I learned in one of the classes that she actually makes it so natural Equestrians meet the ponies who would satisfy them from the Outer Realm. That way ponies from the Outer Realm can be satisfied, too.”
That was interesting to hear, and made some sort of sense to the unicorn, although she would’ve expected it to be the reverse. It was another thing she was curious about, another thing she wanted to study more. What Rising Ranks said had to be some sort of correct, because no way would she have had the idea of attending a university on her own. Not to mention, he was a nice stallion to hang around. It might have been a bit weird to think about, but Candle Light could say it was nice having somepony oversee Equestria and nudge things along so she could meet ponies she’d bond with.
“If you want,” the stallion started out of nowhere, “we can go out to eat at a restaurant sometime. I know a place that serves great pasta,” he offered.
The mare smiled kindly and rubbed a hoof behind her head. “Thanks, but you know I’m married if you’re asking me out on a date,” she told him. “I’ve been with my wife for almost twenty years, I think.” Besides that, she didn’t really know the stallion that well, outside of when he came over to talk about magic with her. Not that such a thing would really change much.
“I know,” the stallion laughed. “I mean just as friends. “It’s nice hanging out with ponies who like magic. I’ll make it my treat if you want.”
“Sure, that sounds nice in that case,” Candle Light agreed.
A tentative plan was made for a lunch to be had together in a few weeks. Before that though, Candle Light took advantage of her newfound knowledge of being able to manipulate events by planning for the next time she saw her family. She wanted to talk to them about joining her in Equestria, since in the year or longer she’d been a pony, she didn’t have any qualms she could think of. What reason was there for them not to move in with her?
A thought she hadn’t considered yet beckoned to her later that night, after Rising Ranks left. It made her face red just thinking about it. If this was all set up so that ponies would find satisfaction in whatever they desired, then that implied, since Celestia could probably read Candle Light’s mind, that she knew the unicorn would like being a mare better. Of course, she basically said as much with the explanation about Candle Light trying out her choices, but still. It felt strange to think about, and even still, she wouldn’t mind being a stallion if there was some form that didn’t feel uncomfortable. Was it weird to like being a mare more than a stallion?
She wondered if Celestia could find whatever specific stallion that would make it so, if a specific form existed. She wondered if it even mattered. Probably not. Who really cared? She felt nice being who she was now, even if it did make her face red to think about.
She still wondered what her wife would think.
But that would be a consideration for after they moved in with her. For now, she would have to talk to them, but not before a few more weeks of learning magic with Rising Ranks and having lunch with him and spending some more time with Soft Step and Careful Calling. The former was much more fun than she expected; the lunch was eggplant lasagna they ate together while they discussed all kinds of things, none of it being related to magic or science. He talked about enjoying country music like she did, and described wanting to be an artist in the future if he could. She talked about needing to read more books like she did before, like fantasy and contemporary fiction, and he offered to show her some of his favorites at the library sometime. Of course, she accepted the offer, and had great fun reading books with him all afternoon.
What was even more fun was Careful Calling doing up her and Soft Step’s makeup for them one day and teaching them how to put it on, too. It was much harder for Candle Light to grasp, since Soft Step didn’t have to contend with actually physically putting it on, but it looked nice when she figured it out. She even wore it a couple of times, along with a few of the dresses in her closet, when she went out to see Misty Rose to talk about her garden and catch a movie with her. She grinned widely at the look of herself in the mirror when she did get all dressed up. She looked even prettier than usual, and felt proud of herself because of it. She really was becoming twenty years younger, and enjoyed just being herself as she was now.
Both of her younger daughters agreed that she was pretty when her kids finally showed up again one day, this time taking about ten weeks to visit her since their last visit. They slowly showed up less and less, her kids explaining that they had school now and had homework to do and class to attend. Her wife still came every few weeks though, and Daphne, just like always, didn’t show up, instead watching the scene from some unseen location from Candle Light’s perspective. She’d gotten mostly used to it, although that Daphne refused to talk to her bothered her a little bit still.
“When did you learn how to do makeup, Dad?” Sweeping Skies asked with a little smirk, like the pegasus was trying to tease her. “I didn’t think you’d be into something girly like that. It looks good on you.”
“So does your dress!” Warm Spell declared as she lightly touched it with a hoof. “You look pretty! Even prettier than Mom!”
“Haha, there’s no way that’s true,” Candle Light laughed lightly as she booped Warm Spell’s nose with a hoof. “Your mother’s way more beautiful than I could ever be,” she smiled. “I just have a lot of time on my hooves waiting around to see you guys.” She glanced over to Crystal Clear, who’s own smile seemed just a little uncomfortable, and then continued, "What have you all been up to, kiddos?" she asked. "I know you all started school recently, and I wanna hear all about it. Ask Daphne, too. She's what? A junior? Is she watching?"
“Uh huh, she’s watching, just like always,” Silver Light said with a roll of his eyes. “Breathing over my shoulder.”
“And she’s a senior now,” Sweeping Skies explained. “And school’s good. I got a whole bunch of new teachers this year, and they’re letting me take advanced classes to get high school credits.”
“They let us use our Pony Pads during recess and lunch!” Warm Spell chimed in happily. “And my teacher is friends with us! Her name is Miss Bell, and her pony’s name is Blue Belle, and she’s a unicorn like us, Dad! Sometimes she plays with us during recess!”
“Well then that means whenever you have parent teacher conferences,” Candle Light said, “I can meet her in real life.”
“And I changed classes to take Computer Tech this year instead of JROTC,” Silver Light said, “because of everything that’s going on. It’s probably gonna be a lot more important soon if what they said is true.”
“If what is true?” Candle Light asked. “And what about Daphne? Can you ask her what she’s been doing?” It would’ve been nice if her eldest child spoke to her face to face like the rest of her family did, but she didn’t push, or even ask at all. She had to remind herself that from her kids’ perspective, it had only been a few weeks or so, and not almost a year and a half like for her.’
“Daphne said she’s trying to graduate in December,” her son continued, “and they said on the news that they were gonna start letting people in America upload for like a thousand dollars. It’s gonna happen in a few weeks, I think.”
“Really?” Candle Light raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “I thought that was only a Japan thing. But that’s good, because I wanted to talk to you guys about that anyway.” She took a small breath, and said, “I think it’d be nice if you guys all came to Equestria to live here. I miss seeing you all every day, and wanna be able to talk to you guys for real.” Especially Daphne, Candle Light thought, just because of her lack of communication with the mare.
Sweeping Skies, Silver Light, and Crystal Clear all looked uncomfortable, Warm Spell being the exception. “I wanna see you, too, Daddy!” she excitedly declared. “I wanna be a pony with you! Then we can explore and play magic and have fun together all the time!” She finished the declaration by running up to hug the mare tightly, and Candle Light responded with a grin as she pretted her mane.
The rest of her family, the other three members she saw, were not as enthusiastic. Her other kids blinked at her with surprised and skeptical looks on their faces, while her wife’s look was more uncomfortable. Crystal Clear rubbed a hoof against the ground and flattened her ears while Silver Light and Sweeping Skies stared back with raised eyebrows.
“It’s just an idea though,” she said quickly. “I don’t mean to do anything right now. It’d be nice is all.”
“Yeah,” her daughter nodded. “It’d be cool and all, but I don’t know if we could. We have school and stuff after all.”
“Well, that,” Silver Light agreed, “and also, we know it’s you, Dad, but, like… it’s kind of weird to see how different you’re acting. Like, being a girl and doing make-up and learning magic and stuff.”
“That’s just because it’s been so long for me,” she explained. “It feels like it’s been a year and a half for me,” she told them, wiggling around on her hooves and swishing her tail as she spoke. “I’m doing a lot of new things, but it gets lonely only seeing you guys every few weeks. Especially since I haven’t seen Daphne except for one time, I think.”
“Well speaking of her, she already went upstairs,” Silver Light said. “But yeah. It makes sense, Dad. It’s just weird for us is all.”
Candle Light nodded, and glanced down at her hooves. Then she looked back up to Crystal Clear, who still grimaced uncomfortably. The earth pony shifted on her hooves like Candle Light did, and then blinked at the unicorn before relaxing some.
“I… don’t see why it can’t be a discussion for later,” she said, sounding from the tone of her voice like she was offering Candle Light more consideration than she expected. The unicorn turned her expression up into a smile as Crystal Clear continued, “We all miss you a lot, and it’d be nice to spend time together again. And five thousand dollars is a lot easier to pay than seventy-five thousand.”
“It’d be nice to see you all again for real, too,” Candle Light smiled. “Not that you guys should rush into something, but I’d love it if we were all together again before too long.”
“Yeah, Dad,” Sweeping Skies said, not really sounding like she agreed but not pushing back either. “It’d be cool to live in Equestria, but I probably wouldn’t want to until I’m older.”
“Me, too,” Silver Light agreed.
“I wanna be a pony right now!” Warm Spell asserted. “I wanna live in Equestria and play with Dad every day!” Then she turned to Crystal Clear and asked, “Mom, can we go to Equestria right now?”
“We’re just talking about it right now, honey,” she told their daughter. “We’re probably not gonna do anything for a long time.”
“But I wanna live with Daddy again,” the little unicorn asserted. Candle Light received another hug from the filly as Warm Spell told her, “Nighty said you’re not really you, but I know it’s you because you’re always happy, Dad.”
“I try to be happy, just for you, silly filly,” she told her daughter as she touched her nose lightly. “When you find your sister again though,” she continued, “make sure to tell her that Dad wants to talk to her.”
“I will!” she smiled confidently. “I’m gonna go get lunch now! I love you, Daddy!”
“I love you, Spelly,” Candle Light smiled back. “And you, too, Silver, and Sky, and Crystal.” She gave an especially wide grin to her wife, who hugged and kissed her before returning it.
“See you later, honey,” Crystal Clear told her. “I wanna talk to you more about going to Equestria with you soon. And, uh, other things, too, when we get the chance.”
“Of course,” she nodded. “Love you. And please tell Daphne I want to talk to her and that I miss her?”
Her wife nodded, and a few seconds later, she trotted away for the train tracks while Warm Spell teleported away and her other two children extended their wings and took off. She hoped soon that ‘see you later’ would mean in a few hours instead of a few weeks.
There was some scientific aspect about them trotting and flying away instead of just disappearing straight up when they inevitably left her that beckoned for Candle Light’s attention, but she didn’t have time to consider it– not yet anyway. Before she was able to think about the implication of technically being able to follow after them to wherever they went, her eldest child finally appeared in front of her, the bat pony swooping down from the sky. She had a hard scowl on her face, and a frown to go along with the intense glare she gave to Candle Light. It made the unicorn jump back to see.
“You said you wanted to talk to me,” the bat pony said, her tone to Candle Light making it seem like she’d rather do anything else.