I'm in Applejack's as we speak right now. I can't go back home tonight. I couldn't.
Today, I woke up to a brick flying through my bedroom window and slamming into an antique clock my mother had given me, which had been, in fact, a priceless family heirloom. On the brick was a note that read 'Die Abomination'. I looked outside to find a lot of ponies milling about, several looking my way, but no obvious sign of who the culprit was, or if they were even among the crowd. I needed somewhere to go, somewhere to hide, and I knew the only place I could go to where they might not follow was Applejack's. I took Spike, and teleported us there.
When I explained the whole situation to Applejack, she did not hold off on offering me a place to stay for a few nights, promising that we'd find the ponies responsible and bring them to justice. Her theory is the same as mine; these Earth Alliance ponies are getting bolder and more violent... or, at least, some of them are. While we've managed to clean and fix Fluttershy's home, she's too scared to go back just yet... not that I can blame her.
Pinkie Pie revealed that there was even a fight that broke out at Sugarcube Corner; somepony was trying to convince Carrot to join their cause, to which he flat out refused - by now, everypony is aware what these ponies are about. I guess the pony in question was upset (or a terrible persuader) because he told him that he would 'do better with them than working in a dead-end town with his whore wife and the children of somepony she probably met at a bar' - Pinkie said she had never known that Mr. Cake had such a mean right hoof, and that pony made a quick retreat.
Rainbow Dash says she's been patrolling the town, and has her entire weather team keeping watch while they work - a sort of unofficial town protection squad. According to her, new ponies keep coming in by train, carriage, etc., and some of them are wearing the same bands as the others depicting their flag. Some of them came with large boxes in tow. The more we wait, the more nervous I get. Celestia isn't even responding to my letters anymore; I don't know if I should be worried or not, but I'm half tempted to find the Tree of Harmony and see if it won't return the Elements to us.
The Apples have been very kind, though. They cooked a delicious meal and made sure that I knew I was welcome, and Granny Smith even told me that she personally would like to find the ponies involved and "give them a spanking they won't soon forget." It was rather endearing, really. But there was one thing amiss; Big McIntosh. Every once in a while, I'd notice him looking at me with eyes that seemed... torn. He would look away anytime he realized I noticed him, but every once in a while, I'd see him staring at me with the eyes of somepony so sad. Does he know something? Should I ask? Would it sound too accusatory?
They set me up in their guest room, which is admittedly not very spacious, but I don't mind; I have the latest Daring Doo book ready to read, so I'll be entertained until this blows over... assuming it blows over.
From the journal of former princess, Twilight Sparkle
Three weeks, two days before Ponyville incident
***
"... And we'll get cotton candy, and then we'll visit the candy factory, where we'll buy more cotton candy, and then we'll go see a movie, and then we'll leave that movie and talk about how terrible it was, and then we'll throw a party, because I haven't thrown a party there yet, and then we'll-"
"Pinkie!"
Everypony stopped talking as Rainbow Dash stared at Pinkie Pie, who simply stared back in her usual 'mid-motion freezing' fashion. "Pinkie. This is not a pleasure cruise. If Twilight is going to join our organization, she needs to know from the get-go how the world is. She needs to see a place that shows Equestria as it has become... not go shopping." Rainbow turned to face me, shaking her head and sighing. "Twilight, where we're sending you is perhaps one of the few places in Equestria where the Empire has left it's mark most obvious." She closed her eyes. "This was intentional. They wanted a landmark; a place to say 'this is where it began' and a place to say 'If you doubt our strength, look here and despair." She looked me straight in the eyes. "We're sending you to New Ponyville."
"New Ponyville?"
Rainbow turned and began to pace back and forth. "The Ponyville Massacre was the first attack by the Empire; while they were more powerful than they should have been at the time, their numbers were hardly great enough to attack every city and town in the country at once." She stopped and kept looking forward, at nothing in particular. "For weeks they kept Celestia and Luna tangled in political bullshit while they moved in secret, focusing their attack on Ponyville; home of Equestria's newest Princess." She looked towards me. "Intel tells us they had considered attacking the Crystal Empire first, but they decided against it when they realized they had the Crystal Heart, and had no idea what it could do. They did know, however, that the Elements of Harmony were out of the picture."
She sat down as she took a flask from her pocket, uncorked it, and drank. After getting her fill, she closed it back, and put it away. "... When they attacked Ponyville, most of them were told to run wild - kill any pegasus or unicorn they could find, burn down homes, etc. Leave Earth Ponies alone unless they had none-earth pony relatives. Only one particular target was chosen, and it was to be focused on by a select group." She looked me dead in the eyes; I felt my spine shiver as I knew what was coming. "Literally, they came to Ponyville to make an example by killing you."
I guess that was logical. A few years ago, that would have mortified me. Heck, I still felt bad that I was the entire reason the ponies there suffered as they did, but... in the end, it would have been similar. Just with less burning-down-of-houses, and more 'seeing it coming.'
"Once Ponyville was obliterated, they sent a message; give in, give us control, or more will suffer. We are in every town. We are in every city. We're in every family not polluted by unicorn witchcraft or pegasus interference. We are the Earthen Alliance, and Equestria was always meant to be ours." I could see the anger in her eyes; Rainbow Dash seemed to hate these ponies a lot. It still bothered me that this seemed to be the only emotion she expressed, but I guess I'm growing used to it already. "Naturally, ponies gave in."
"But certainly Celestia and Luna wouldn't-" I was interrupted by Rainbow laughing.
"Don't get me started on them." Rainbow turned away. I was about to say something, but Pinkie put a hoof on my shoulder, and when I turned to face her, she shook her head. I would have to leave that for later.
"Just remember" said Rainbow as we followed her down the hall, "New Ponyville claims to be the 'spirit' of Old Ponyville, but it's the Empire's twisted perception of what that old spirit was. As such, do not expect to return to a town even remotely similar to what we lost that day."
"What does that mean?"
"I'll have Pinkie explain it on the way."
Why do ponies not just explain these things up front? Is it so much to ask for a little time to prepare myself? Do we try to make a point of surprising one another?
"Pinks will be able to get you guys last-minute train tickets easily. While you're with her, you'll need a new alias and a new disguise; in the off chance the 'Dawn' alias you took proves necessary, it's wise to have a backup."
"Well... I don't have any other disguises." Seriously, did she think I became a spy in my time away?
"No need for it. Trixie?"
It was then that Trixie seemed to approach use from the shadows. She smiled and held her nose up. "Hello, Twilight Sparkle. Now, Trixie knows you're probably more used to magic that defies physics and boggles the mind, so Trixie believes it is time you learned a spell that is a bit more subtle in it's workings!" She cleared her throat, and held her horn high. I watched as magic focused around it. Suddenly, I noticed trails of energy flow around her hooves, and then shoot upwards, enveloping her. When it faded...
She looked exactly like Pinkie Pie, who giggled and clapped her hooves.
"Wha- how!?"
"Simple illusion spell." Trixie yawned into her hoof. "My form is not changed at all; while I believe such magic exists, I've yet to find anything detailing it. Fortunately, this works, so long as you remember you're not really changing anything." Of course, that would mean if I turned into, say, Rainbow Dash, I couldn't fly again. Or give myself my wings back.
"So, you want me to learn this illusion spell to hide my horn?"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "It would be preferable if you could disguise yourself entirely. A lot of the ponies running New Ponyville at least had a hoof in the Ponyville Massacre, so you're more at risk of being noticed there than you are anywhere else." I guess that made sense. "Once you arrive, you are to meet one of our contacts in the Mayor's office." She turned her back to us again and trotted away. "Tell her I told you to tell her to give you the grand tour." I watched her vanish around a corner, and found myself contemplating if I could turn back. Probably not; I knew where this place was now. Rainbow might have me killed.
Would she kill me?
Better not to think of it.
"First thing's first!" Trixie stepped in front of me, her disguise dissolving. "The text that Trixie learned this spell from is no longer within her possession - you can thank Prince Blueblood for that - so now, Trixie is going to have to tutor you on how to conjure an illusionary transformation." When she noticed that I hadn't batted an eyelash or offered any witty reply, I guess she was surprised, but she hid it and cleared her throat. "Now, in order to conjure the illusion, you must know every aspect of what you're recreating..."
"Does that mean you know every aspect of me?" shouted Pinkie.
"Yes."
"So you've been checking me out?"
Trixie balked. "Wh-I-NO!" Pinkie unmercifully burst into a fit of giggles and rolled about on the floor; I had to admit, I might have laughed too. I'm sorry, Trixie, but that was funny. "Twilight, if we are to learn this spell, we must learn it... in TOTAL. SILENCE. Shall we away?"
Pinkie deflated a bit as we trotted away. Oh well, I guess she and I couldn't hang around each other the whole time, right? A new spell to cast an illusion eh? If nothing else, I might be able to use that if for whatever reason this whole ordeal goes belly up.
No. I'd rather die than spend the rest of my life hiding.
***
"Try harder! If you can't get this spell right by the time we reach the New Ponyville Train Station, you will be figured out!"
I have to be honest, I know I said I'd rather die than spend the rest of my life hiding, but I don't think I was wanting to push my luck this hard. And what was that about total silence? I'll give these trains were stable and blocked out a lot of noise, but still! When I had asked how long Rainbow Dash expected me to train before we got there, she informed me that that depended on how long the train ride itself took. Naturally, I was a bit horrified. They took my disguise and threw it out a window along the way! I needed that! And so, here I was, the only thing hiding my body the sweater vest that hid my scars (they let me keep that out of sympathy) trying to find a way to magically cast an illusion to hide my identity. Now I knew Rainbow Dash was insane; in fact, so was Trixie. Or cruel. Maybe she was only sad to learn of my supposed death because she didn't have a hoof in it?
"You must visualize the effect! Imagine it! Focus the ambient energy to-"
"I know how to cast spells, Trixie!"
"Clearly not, because your last attempt to create an illusion simply made you look even more magical!"
I'm going to be honest; for the past few years, I have not had access to many spell books, and in my previous attempt, I may have made my mane look like it was flowing in ethereal wind. The only magic I've been able to work with was spells I've already known and whatever I could cobble together from long forgotten huts and trade caravans. I was years out of practice, and I felt like I was learning for the first time. "Is this all you can muster up? Did all that potential you had just go down the drain when they sawed your wings off?"
It fell quiet.
I looked up to stare at Trixie. Pinkie had both of her hooves over her mouth, glaring daggers at the stage pony, clearly utterly horrified at her. Trixie's own bravado vanished when she realized what she had said, and the intimidating teacher act fell to pieces. "O-oh... I... I'm so, so sorry, I got... I...."
"No..." I said. I was offended. Deeply so. What she said hurt. But I didn't want it to. I wouldn't let it. I would try my best to ignore it. "It's okay..." I lied. I said it mostly for myself...
But... I think her little outburst may have been what I needed.
"And no. No it did not!"
My horn glowed with mystical power; tapping into the energies within and around me. I felt the magic take hold. I envisioned it in my head. I envisioned a scene of Trixie with a mustache, a beard, and a bad case of acne. It was immature, but it was all the revenge I had short of actually doing her harm. Once I felt the spell had been molded perfectly, I released my grasp and allowed the spell to activate...
Pinkie and Trixie looked at me a moment. Then, they both snickered a bit, trying to pretend they weren't laughing.
"What?"
Trixie held up a mirror. I looked into it; to my surprise, I noticed I still looked like me... but with a bad case of acne and a mustache/beard combo. Well, that worked out halfway.
"... ow..."
"It's okay, that was a good try, Sparkle." Trixie nodded. "Nopony expects you to do perfect on your first try."
"Then why did you girls send me here with this as a goal and no disguise?" As nice as it was, it's not the sort of thing I wanted to hear when they had tossed previously mentioned disguise out the window halfway here.
"Because learning under pressure gets it done quicker!" said Pinkie, without missing a beat. "That's how I learned how to... ya know..." She raised her hoof and started moving it around in a rather suggestive gesture. I felt my face turn three shades of red.
"Pinkie Pie!?"
"What?" She blinked. "I've got a gambling addiction, alright? But I'll have you know, I am a beast with dice!" She crossed her forelegs, looking utterly upset for a moment, but then she squinted at me. "What did you think-Oh!" She giggled and jumped up and down. "Twilight has a dirty mind! Twilight has a dirty mind!" Touché, Pinkie Pie.
"Now..." Trixie turned to me and sighed. "Dispel the illusion. Now that you can at least conjure a false image, Trixie thinks it time we teach you how to focus it into something more complex." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out. "Your whole life, you've focused on substantial magic; magic that has a very real effect. Illusion magic is different; more subtle. I think your problem is you're trying too hard to push it, because your whole life you've worked to alter what things are, rather than make them simply seem altered." I had to be honest; I always felt illusion magic to be a bit... low. Parlor tricks for ponies who couldn't do real magic. I didn't think there was a possibility it would be so easy it'd be difficult. I guess I owed Trixie a bit of an apology, even if I never actively berated her skill.
"While I've no doubt you could conjure a spell to hide your identity, such as growing a mustache and changing your mane color, your horn will be a problem if you're ever without a hat." She paced around a bit. "A wig and a hat will fool the lackeys that wander the less important cities and towns, but there are ponies out there more alert, more keen to these sorts of things, who would pick you out fairly quick."
She turned to me. "I'm going to make this goal easy for you. Simply cast an illusion that removes your horn."
The very idea horrified me. Maybe it was the trauma of losing my wings, but the mere thought of losing my horn - even in an illusion - made all sorts of emotions well inside me. Still, I didn't have forever to not do as she said, so, reluctantly, I tried. Closing my eyes, I pictures myself without a horn; everything else the same. I needed only focus the energies to produce a light transformation. I've done something similar before... but...
"Whoa! You're tensing up! Easy... If you put that much into it, you'll just overcharge the spell and burn a hole in the ceiling! Subtle! Be subtle... Let it flow, as if it were always so." Okay, this was just insane. I've turned apples (and various other things) into oranges, why couldn't I conjure a simple illusion? I closed my eyes and I took a deep breath, trying my best to calm myself, and released. I tried to forget a lot of spell-casting habit, tried to focus less on focusing and more on envisioning myself without a horn. As I released my anxiety, I tried my best to just imagine myself as an earth pony. Imagined myself living on a farm, bucking trees for a living. I felt a tingle as the magic took hold.... and then... I opened my eyes.
Pinkie quirked a brow. "Well, your horn is gone but you have Applejack's mane and tail!" I looked back to see my tail was indeed Applejack's tail. I lifted a hoof to feel my mane; it eflt normal, and I could feel my horn. "What? It's still there! All I changed was my tail!"
"What part of 'illusion' don't you understand?" Trixie huffed. "You haven't changed at all! You've merely altered the energy around you to refract light differently! This isn't Changeling magic!" She sighed. "I've heard it works on similar principals, but can be very messy if you mess up."
It was then I had a thought. "Wait. Why didn't we just use magic to transform one another into earth ponies? I mean, if we used a spell I once knew and figured out the specifics, it would only last for a few hours before we were back to normal..." I looked to Trixie, the question now burning in my mind. "I mean, I turned mice into horses once. Surely a pony-to-pony change would be possible."
Trixie stared at me for the longest time. She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. Then, she gave me a flat look and groaned. "You know, I'd like to think I could have thought of that sooner!" Trixie can turn ponies manes different colors! You can grow mustaches and change.... why!?"
Well, this was a big waste of time.
"Don't forget" chirped Pinkie. "While you girls use those illusiony things, you can still use magic! Could you if you were changed into not-unicorns?" Trixie and I exchanged glances; Trixie didn't know, but I did. Without our horns (or a similar focusing appendage) we would not likely be able to use our magic. Indeed, it would still be part of us, but water in a jar won't go anywhere without a hole to flow from.
"Oh well, no time to question it, we're almost there!" Pinkie pointed out the window and hopped up and down. I made my own way towards it to glance outside, making sure to check a mirror first to be sure my horn was hidden; it was. Then, Trixie hands me a sunhat; okay, so they weren't going to condemn me to capture if I didn't figure out. Good to know. As I stared out the window, I could hardly believe my eyes; considering the name 'New Ponyville', I expected to see thatched roof houses, buildings shaped like sweets, things like that. What I saw instead was cobblestone roads, buildings constructed in the same manner, houses that were huddled in close proximity to each other... and in the horizon, I could see several towering spires, belching smoke into the air. This was nothing like the Ponyville I knew; indeed, all it shared was the name. The town itself was completely different; a tribute to growing industrialization. It was more of a small city than anything else.
I was torn between utter fascination and complete loss.
"Welcome to New Ponyville..." Trixie looked out the window next to me, sighing as she shook her head at the sight. "Built from what was left of Old Ponyville and expanded upon... you could hardly call it the same town." I couldn't believe it myself; how had they done this in just three short years? Surely a town like this should have taken decades to build without unicorn magic? They probably blew the entire national budget just getting this done!
"It's... amazing..."
Pinkie nodded. "I do like it myself. I even bought a house here (which is where we'll be staying by the way), but it's nothing like Old Ponyville." I gulped, unable to tear my eyes away from what I was seeing. So this was Earth Pony industry at work? They could really do this much in so short a time? Maybe they were right? I mean, not about the revolution, but maybe somehow the focus on magic that Equestria had had stifled progress? What if this was only possible because Equestria stopped worrying about improving life with magic?
"Well, this is our stop" said Trixie, focusing on herself, and in a bright glow, her coat was tan and her mane was red. Her cutie mark was the same, but she covered that up by putting on a fancy saddle that covered it up. "Let us go meet who we came here to meet."
***
We had wandered around town for fifteen minutes before Trixie whispered to me. "Alright, here's the deal. Dash underplayed it a bit, but we actually have a purpose here other than bringing you on a grand tour..."
Pinkie Pie nodded. "Yeah. We're here to get whatever little bit of data from our Ponyville contacts we can. Make sure nothing has changed and that everything is okie-dokie-loki."
"Also, moral booster." Trixie smirked. "You've no idea how much it's going to improve our situation when ponies realize you're amongst us."
I don't know. I felt very objectified right now; sure it was nice to feel important, but why did I feel more like a doll being shown around to everypony than I did like a freedom fighter? I would just have to ignore these thoughts for now though. I had other things to consider, and I didn't want to focus on reasons why this wasn't a good idea right at the moment. So, I decided to distract myself with the sights.
I couldn't get over how much everything had changed. I mean, sure, according to the girls this was just a cannibalized portion of the edge of Old Ponyville with bits and pieces added on, but I wouldn't even know if they hadn't told me. I made sure to take in the sights I could; a 'Salt-Lick Pub', much like the tavern in Appleloosa. A marketplace filled with ponies purchasing and selling wares. Several homes. I think I even noticed some shady looking ponies hawking what was likely less-than-legal goods. Not my problem at the moment. I turned to see that we had been taken to a rather large looking building, with two guards standing out front.
"Where are we?"
"Town Hall" said Trixie. "We've got an important connection here. Let's get to it then..." We stepped forward, and she pushed the doors open. As i followed, I noticed that suddenly Trixie gave way to let Pinkie take the lead. We approached a desk in the lobby where a familiar mare sat, wearing a pair of reading glasses as she filled out some forms.
"Hi Cheerilee!"
The purple mare looked up to Pinkie, then smiled. How had I not recognized her before? She came to the library so often looking for books for new lessons for Pete's sake! "Pinkie Pie! How are you!" She turned to us and squinted a bit, as if trying to figure out what we were. "And your friends..."
"Oh! This is... uh..." Pinkie rolled her hoof around a bit, trying to think up names. "Oh! Yeah, Cherry Topping" she pointed to Trixie. "And Sherbert!" she gestured towards me. Cheerilee seemed to stare at us a few minutes, before smiling and nodding. "Right, well, follow me, I'll ask the Mayor if she can see you." Mayor? I have a feeling Cheerilee didn't buy the names Pinkie gave us...
But we have a mayor on our side? It couldn't be Mayor Mare could it? No, not after what happened before the massacre. As we trotted the hallway, I looked around to notice paintings on the walls; all of them were earth ponies in general's outfits and guards' ceremonial attire. There were even old Canterlot guard suits of armor on ponyquins along the way. We approached the door, and Cheerilee gently pushed it open, turning to face us. "This will be just a second, okay?" We all gave a little nod, and she stepped inside, shutting the door. I could hear muffled voices, but couldn't make any words out. Just how deep was Rainbow's rebellion? What if... was it too much to hope that she was already on the brink of victory? That with just the right push, this whole thing can be fixed? Probably, but a mare can hope, can't she? The door opened up, and Cheerilee stepped out, smiling, and making way for us, gesturing inside. "The Mayor will see you now."
Inside was a rather spacious office; a flag hanging from the wall depicting the Empire's emblem; an emblem that had once served as the Earthen Alliance's symbol. There were a few book shelves around the office, likely lined with tomes of governmental importance, a small table nearby with cusions for guests and making friendly I imagine, and of course, a large desk with a chair at the end, turned to face outside the window.
"Heya Mayor! What's the happihap?"
"Pinkie, let's just cut to the chase, alright? I ain't got the time nor the patience to play games with you right now with the big wigs breathin' down my neck."
Wait.... that voice.... it can't be.
"Oh! Our mutual benefactor just figured you'd like to know we got a new clown for the party, and she makes balloon animals!"
"Pinkie, for the last time, you can't just spout nonsense and think it counts as code-speak. It's gotta be pre-established!" The chair whirled around, and two suspicions of mine were confirmed.
First: everypony important will either be behind me or have their back turned to me when I meet them. Did I do that to ponies a lot I wondered?
Second, it was Applejack who sat in the mayoral seat of New Ponyville. A little... different from how I remembered her. Her mane was up in a bun in a very formal fashion, she was wearing a mayoral collar (much like Mayor Mare's, except the bow was red), and wearing a pair of reading glasses the likes I'd have figured I'd never see her wear. She was also frighteningly bereft of her trademark hat, which was nowhere in sight. She stood there a bit, then rounded about her desk as she looked Trixie and myself over. "I'm just gonna make a guess. One is Trixie"
Trixie (or should I say Cherry Topping?) raised her hoof. "Hello." Applejack nodded and looked to me. I noticed a grimace on her face. "An' I imagine this is the clown."
"Yessirree!"
Applejack snorted. "Trixie, you know how poor taste it is to make her look... disturbingly like Twilight Sparkle?"
Trixie balked, offended by the mere thought she could be so careless. "But Trixie didn't make her look like anything! She just taught her the spell! Besides--"
Before Trixie could continue, Applejack approached me. "Oh, so you came up with the idea eh? So, what's yer angle? Tryin' to say somethin'? Say yer as good as she was? Cause I can already tell ya right now you ain't half the pony she was."
"Applejack-" I spoke, but she pointed a hoof at my face.
"It's Miss Mayor to you until you stop playing around." Applejack growled. "Dispel the illusion."
I looked towards Pinkie Pie and Trixie, who both nodded to me. Slowly, I turned to face my old friend and hoped that she would take this revelation well. I could see that like Rainbow Dash, her eyes were different; but whereas Rainbow had the eyes of a cold-blooded killer, Applejack.... she just... seemed tired. Worn down. I closed my eyes, and focused on the magic that still surrounded me. Slowly, it dissolved, and I felt a tingle wash away.
Applejack just stared a few minutes, looking up at my horn, then back down to me.
"Oh that is it, wise-ass, yer gonna get it."
It was then that Applejack grabbed hold of me with her forelegs.
"Wait! Applejack! Stop!"
"I told ya!"
She got behind me.
"To you, I ain't Applejack...!"
She wrapped her forelegs underneath mine.
"It's..."
She lifted my hooves off the ground.
"MISS MAYOR!"
I saw the world fly before me as I felt the top of my head slam into the ground just behind Applejack. As soon as she released me, my body rolled free and tumbled uselessly as my brain tried to recollect itself, and I lay there in a heap as she got off her back and on her hooves. Okay, so, I was still conscious; either I was getting used to this, or my brain was now damaged enough that silly things such as being knocked unconscious were behind me. That being said, I was in horrible pain, and I could not see straight anymore.
"Uunngh...."
What I really said was 'Are you mad?'
"Alright, listen here you bitch" said my old friend in a harsh tone, "You take that lil' illusion down before this gets ugly. I'll have you know I was a wrestlin' champ before I was a mayor!" Wait... Applejack wrestled? How did I not know this? I struggled to get to my hooves.
"Applejack!" shouted Pinkie. "It's really her!"
Applejack turned to Trixie, sighing. "Is she off her meds again? This is like that time she brought us the stuffed toy and said it was Twilight in toy form!"
"A-actually..." said Trixie.
Applejack turned to look at me. I stared back at her... well, best I could as my rattled brain tried to re-establish it's dominance over... over... I couldn't even figure out where I was going with that. I really needed a doctor, didn't I?
"It's really her..." said Pinkie once more.
Applejack's expression shifted. At first to confusion, then to disbelief. At least she wasn't angry with me. I smiled to her. "It's really me..."
She stared at me for a few minutes, studying me, tilting her head as she looked me over. Her eyes widened a bit as she looked at my body, then turned to look back at the wall. I turned my gaze to where her eyes were and saw what she was looking at.
Mounted on the wall just above the door was a pair of lavender, feathered wings.
I had to shove a hoof in my mouth; I thought I was going to scream. I think I may have.
TO BE CONTINUED...