Sleep did not come easy for Sweetie Belle that night, not that she expected any different. As tired as she was her brain would just not turn off. She kept thinking about the other ponies that would eventually come to know she had returned to Ponyville. It was impossible not to imagine how those reunions would play out, impossible not to hope for the best but know deep down it would never be that easy.
For a few hours that night it felt as though everything was right in the world. She enjoyed having dinner with Twilight, Clover and Lucky Star. They were a precious family, the little colt quite the mixture of his parents. Her offer to help clean up afterward was quickly declined, so Sweetie Belle spent some time getting to know Lucky. He was an energetic little thing with a quick wit and such a hunger for knowledge. Just before they decided to pull out a game to all play together there was a knock on the door and a little filly on the other side of it.
"Hi there!" she said with energy, bouncing into the room and onto Sweetie Belle's back as she lay on the floor. In the next instant she was on her head, clinging to Sweetie Belle's horn as she hung her peach colored face down to say, "Hi again!" pink and blonde curls frizzy and all over the place. Sweetie Belle just blinked, not sure what to do.
"Um...hi?"
"Jubilee, Sweetie Belle is not a jungle gym," Clover scolded with a laugh.
"I know that, silly! But she's a new pony and I wanted to introduce myself because Lucky said that there was a new pony staying at his house and her name was Sweetie Belle and she was an ooooolllllllld friend of yours and I really hope this is Sweetie Belle because if not that would really be embarrassing and I would feel silly for calling you somepony's else's name when your name could be something so different like Chocolate Chip Sandwich!"
Sweetie Belle blinked and looked at Twilight and Clover, then back to the filly. "You must be Pinkie Pie's daughter."
"How did you guess?" She jumped off of Sweetie Belle's head, tucked herself into a somersault, then sprang up on all four hooves.
"Just a hunch. Yes, I'm Sweetie Belle." She side-eyed Twilight with obvious question in her gaze.
Twilight gave her a wry smile in return. "Did you ever meet Applejack's cousin, Braeburn?"
"That's my daddy!" Jubilee exclaimed. "And Lucky Star is my best friend! Well, one of my best friends. But when all three of us are together we are..." Lucky was on his hooves instantly and they bellowed together, "The Cutie Mark Crusaders!"
"Two point oh," added Jubilee.
Sweetie Belle felt tug on her heart. Cutie Mark Crusaders 2.0 It was impossibly cute but at the same time, she wasn't sure how she felt about another group of crusaders. That had been her special thing with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. Still, looking at the two standing so proudly together it was hard to begrudge them their titles. She'd always loved being a part of the CMC and the relationships she had with the other Crusaders. They'd been the most important things to her once upon a time.
"So who is your third? One of Fluttershy's, I presume?" Lucky Star and Jubilee shared a look that suggested Sweetie Belle was crazy. She raised an eyebrow. "If you tell me Rainbow Dash and Applejack..."
"Oh no," Twilight laughed. "No magical baby conception there. After you three left the nest, that was it for them."
"Who, then?"
"Dark Cloud," Lucky provided.
"But don't call him a prince," added Jubilee quickly.
"Why would I call him a prince?"
Clover cleared his throat. "Kids, why don't you two go play in Lucky's room for awhile so we can talk to Sweetie Belle."
"Awwww," they both whined. But Lucky Star shrugged. "Come on, Jubilee. I got an awesome idea on how to get our cutie marks while I was at the train station today..."
They trotted off together and Twilight and Clover looked at one another. "I'll be right back," she said before following the children into the other room. "What are you planning on doing at the train station?"
Sweetie Belle looked up at Clover from her spot on the floor. "Okay, so apparently I have missed a lot more than I imagined I did. Just lay it all on me now so I can get over the shock. Who is Dark Cloud? Does everyone have children now? Do Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?" That last question was hard to ask. The thought of her one-time best friends having families and her not even knowing about it was a painful slap in the face. She'd ignored their existence for all these years, what gave her the right to care now? Still she found herself dreading the answer.
"Dark Cloud is Luna's son. Don't ask who the father is, we don't know and, frankly, it's not really any of our business. She wants to be treated like any other citizen of Ponyville and wants the same for her son. Who are we to deny her that?"
She nodded slowly. "I never got the chance to know Luna very well, though I know she and Pinkie Pie were quite close."
"They still are, and I'm pretty sure Pinkie's the only pony who knows who Dark Cloud's father is."
"Not even the princess?"
Clover shook his head. "Twilight doesn't seem to think so. But, like I said, it's none of our business. As for everypony else, there are no other foals to mention. Not from the core group, anyway. Dash and AJ are still in their own house on the farm. Apple Bloom moved back to the main house after Fluttershy had the twins. She wanted to help out and let Applejack and Rainbow Dash finally have their own space. Scootaloo has been a Cloudsdale resident since...well, since a few weeks after you left."
Sweetie Belle looked down and sighed. "When I got here this morning it felt like I had only been here yesterday. Now I feel like it's been a lifetime."
"In a way it has been." Twilight came back into the room, floating three mugs of tea with her. She gave Sweetie Belle hers and smiled kindly at her. "You're not that naive little filly anymore, Sweetie Belle. And that's a good thing. Everypony has to grow up."
"But I left..."
"Hey." She looked up at Clover to see the stern expression on his face. In every memory she had of the gray stallion, she'd never seen him look so serious. "No one blames you for leaving, Sweetie Belle. If it had happened to me I would have had just as hard a time staying here."
"Any of us would," Twilight added softly. "But that's the beauty of family. We forgive easier than most and we move on and grow from it."
Sweetie Belle shook her head and looked down at her tea. "Maybe you two, but Apple Bloom and Scootaloo? Dash and AJ?"
Now Twilight gave her a look. "Oh, come on. You know Applejack and Rainbow Dash couldn't have loved you more if you were their own. All three of you girls! You were theirs in every sense. They will be nothing but overjoyed to see you. Besides, Dash doesn't hold a grudge as long as she used to. Did you know they went to see one of your shows a couple of years ago?"
The gray unicorn looked up sharply. "Really?"
"When you were in A Pony Line. Dash said Applejack cried when you sang, 'What I Did For Love'."
"W...why didn't they write to tell me? Why didn't they wait to see me?"
"They tried to see you," said Clover. "But they were repeatedly turned away. Especially after Dash said she and Applejack were your parents."
She chuckled softly. "Right, I'm sure that went over well with security. A blue pegasus and an orange earth pony being the parents of a gray unicorn. No wonder they were turned away." Sweetie Belle sighed. "I wish I had known."
"Are you going to go see them tomorrow?"
She nodded to Twilight's question. "I have to."
Clover took a sip of his tea. "When are you going to go see your sister?"
To this, Sweetie Belle had no easy answer. She knew seeing Rarity would be the hardest part of this trip. It was something she didn't want to do at all if she was being honest with herself. If she could get out of it, she knew she would. So her answer was a shrug. "I don't know. I think I have to work up to that."
She tossed and turned in her bed that night. What was she supposed to say to Rarity? That she'd been too busy to come back and visit? On the surface that may have been true but she could have made time. She'd never felt so guilty before in her entire life and that said a lot. Along with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, she did a good number of things in their quest for cutie marks that left her feeling like a terrible pony. But this neglect definitely took the cake.
Whispers just outside made Sweetie Belle climb out of bed and walk to the window on tip-hooves. Jubilee and Lucky were outside and trying to quietly sneak away. Now that brought back memories. "Hey," she whispered. The two froze and Sweetie Belle grinned. "Where do you think you two are going?"
"Um..." Lucky looked at Jubilee for help but she just shrugged. "We're going...uh...fishing?"
"Wow, you lie about as well as your mother. Did you know I was part of the original Cutie Mark Crusaders? Trust me, you couldn't give me a fib we didn't hide behind."
Jubilee bounced. "Did you get your cutie mark while you were crusading?"
"No." Sweetie Belle gave them a small smile. "I got it when I realized there was something I was already talented at. I just couldn't see it until it was the right time."
Lucky huffed and hung his head. "If you're going to tell us we have to have patience..."
She giggled quietly. "I wouldn't dream of it. Just be careful out there, you two."
"Three."
All of them looked up as a black colt circled slowly overhead, then landed to stand with Lucky Star and Jubilee. His mane was thick and dark like the sky and his eyes were a beautiful coppery gold. Standing between the two others, he was taller by a head. "Are you guys ready? I got everything together already."
"Yeah," Lucky enthused. "See you later, Sweetie Belle!"
She waved and watched the three of them head off together, an earth pony, a unicorn, and a pegasus. Though it did make her wonder briefly about Dark Cloud's father, Sweetie Belle was quickly lost in memories of nights long ago when she and Scootaloo could be found doing the same thing the new Crusaders were doing, then heading over to Sweet Apple Acres to get Apple Bloom as well. With a nostalgic sigh she went back to bed. Rest was important is she was going to make it through tomorrow.
When she finally started to drift off she dreamed of the Ponyville of her childhood, her two best friends, and the sister she was dreading going to see.