Now… how do I handle this?
Now… how do I handle this?
Twilight understood the implications of meddling with the timeline. She knew that making excessive changes to history would not only yield to irreversable results, but also bring the small possibility of being unable to return back to her own time. This was the only reason Twilight sought to return as fast as possible (Of course, not without leaving the fillies to a much more capable guardian) while not giving in to the sweet temptation of meeting with famous ponies in history to sate her own curiosity.
Or that was how it played out in her head until now. Meet Cookie Cake, or more known as the Smart Cookie. Anypony who has read a book or two about Equestrian History must've heard that name. She was Chancellor Puddinghead's most trusted advisor, leading the earth ponies to stand equally against the pegasi who could fly freely among the clouds and the unicorns with their magic.
That Smart Cookie, right before Twilight's very eyes. Well, there was also the possibility that this was a different pony. Looking at things from a different angle, having the name "Cookie" doesn't necessarily mean being THAT Smart Cookie. Yes, thinking about it, you don't just meet history-bending ponies by chance.
“So, you ponies are new here, right? Bet the travel from Trote was tough.” Cookie secured the stall and sweets on a cart. She gave the wooden wheels a knock to confirm that everything was in place. "And I would be happy to give you a tour around here."
Cookie's words brought Twilight back to reality. "Huh? Oh, not really. In fact, I think it was fun in its own way." As there wasn't much point in thinking too much about every single thing, she pushed the issue aside to deal with it on a later time.
Selene’s excitement became apparent as she happily hopped inside the cart in a beat. "Yay! This is fun! Onwards, brave steed!” the disguised filly with a deep green coat proclaimed, along with a hearty laugh.
“Sele—I mean… Luna! Get down the cart, you're just dead weight!” Celeste scolded her. But if it wasn't for Selene, she would've jumped on the cart too. Celeste took this chance to show her pride as an older sister, and behaved accordingly.
“But sis, I'm not heavy.” Selene answered, refusing to budge. “Unlike you, heavy as a hundred apples.” Selene stuck her tongue out to deal the final blow.
“I don't weight that much!” Irritation began to well inside the pink filly. “You're the one who weights like a hundred apples!”
“Says you who eats like a horse.”
"No, you!"
Twilight sighed, wondering why it was always arguing when it came to these two. She gave them a stern glance, reminding them of their promise not to make such a scene in public. "Sorry," both of them apologized in unison, finally ending the feud. Selene still refused to get off from the cart, though.
“No problem, Twilight! A pony or two isn't a problem for me,” Cookie exclaimed, placing a hoof on her chest. “So hop on too, Celestia!”
Celeste's smile beamed at Cookie’s offer. The pink filly jumped besides her younger sister without any intention of hiding her excitement. "Thanks, Cookie!"
“No problem.” The awfully kind Cookie smiled in return. “What could possibly go wrong?”
Nothing much, just that us being unicorns could be revealed, Twilight thought with a wry smile. There were a lot of things to worry about, a lot of problems they were sure to face in the future, but just seeing the figures of Celeste and Selene merrily eating sweets on top of the wagon gave Twilight the resolve to face them all.
Merrily eating sweets?
"Celestia, Luna! Stop randomly eating everything edible!"
A couple of minutes passed, and they finally arrived at their destination: an unassuming two-storey building, one among the many other buildings lined up in a row. The only thing that separated it from the rest was a cupcake-shaped signboard that hung above its door. Oh, there was also this young filly — maybe even younger than Selene — standing besides the door. With a butter-colored coat and a frizzy coffee mane that has never seen a brush, she stood there while glancing from side to side, as if embodying the word "waiting". After catching the sight of Cookie pulling a cart, she dashed forth to greet her sister.
“Cookie. Pretty early?"
“Yep. Guess what, I made a killing today!” Cookie replied enthusiastically, accompanied with a grin. "For the first time in my whole career, I have sold every single thing in the stall! Applause!"
The young filly's eyes glistened in wonder, and watched her older sister with admiration. Applauses and confetti filled the air! Praises hurled from every corner! Fireworks burst forth! Rainbows painted the sky! Flowers bloomed! All these from the butter pony's eyes.
“That isn't all.” The elated Cookie pulled out a red gem and raised it high in the sky. "Behold, our winter funds!"
“Great! Cookie is great!"
"Right? Don't hold back and praise me more!"
"Awesome! Cool! Super!"
And watching this weird exchange between siblings were Twilight, Celeste and Selene who couldn't find the right moment to intervene.
A couple of compliments later, Cookie finally remembered the presence of the discarded trio. "Sorry, got a little ahead of myself. So to start us off, this here is my adorable sister, Butter Cake." She gently ruffled her sister's frizzy coffee mane and pushed her to introduce herself.
"Butter! I like cookies!" Butter presented herself with a light hop and a blinding smile. This, of course, became a hit to Selene who already stood besides the unsuspecting filly before anypony else could notice.
"I'm Selen… a? Lena? No, Luna! Yep, I'm Luna! If asked, I like mushrooms the best."
"Lena? I'm Butter! Happy to meet you!" Without any warnings, Butter took Selene's hoof and vigorously shook it.
"No, not Lena, Luna."
"Lena!"
And it seems that Lena's small slip brought forth her nickname that shall be used by generations to come… or not.
Celeste, after enjoying the small show between the younger sisters, stepped down from the wagon and took her turn at introducing herself. Despite her best efforts at acting graceful, Celeste's clumsy actions made it somewhat comical.
"I'm Celestia! Just so you know, tomatoes are extremely superior."
"Lesti! I'm Butter! Happy to meet you!" Celeste, of course, was given the same rough hoofshake course as Selene.
"Lesti?"
Before Celeste could complain about her absurd nickname, Twilight stepped in and gave her own introduction. "And I'm Twilight, the mother of these two."
Silence. In contrast to Celeste and Selene's lively greeting, Butter did nothing but stare at Twilight's eyes. Staring, as if looking past her eyes to read the very depths of her soul. There was once a saying, that the eyes are a window to the soul. At this very moment, Twilight understood what it really meant. Various troubling thoughts came into Twilight's mind. Was the disguise compromised? Maybe this little filly can read minds? She couldn't possibly know I came from the future. But what if—
"Favorite food?"
"Huh?"
"Food!"
Oh, it was that. Twilight sighed in relief, realizing that she was simply thinking too much. The stress of the travel must have caught up to her. She gave her head a shake to cast out her worries.
"My favorite food? I'd choose sandwiches."
Although not as rough as the previous two, Twilight is still given the obligatory hoofshake. But after that intense stare down, she couldn't help but consider the food-obsessed filly as "eerie".
"Okay then! Now that we're all done with introductions, why don't we go in and make ourselves home?" Cookie concluded the matter for everyone with a smile. "I bet you ponies are dead tired. It's best if you spend the day resting."
"Today sure is tiring," Twilight voiced out, not without a weary sigh. She was currently seated on a wooden chair, taking her time to collect her thoughts. After entering the Cake's residence, the three exchanged short greetings with Mr. and Mrs. Cake(Not the ones she knew back at Ponyville), who without asking for any details agreed to shelter them for as long as they liked. "If our Cookie says you're welcome, then by all means, consider this your home as well," were the only words they left before heading back to attending the shop.
Twilight stole a glance at the bed where both Celeste and Selene huddled together, that smile plastered on their faces probably thanks to reaching a comfortable bed after all those hardships together. A chuckle escapes the lavander pony as she recalled how those two went straight to bed without raising a fuss for the first time. They must've been tired, so very tired.
How pitiful were these two young fillies, burdened with a cruel fate they never deserved? Hated by their own kind, they held no choice but to rely on a total stranger out of nowhere, even going as far as asking her to become their mother. Those two young fillies who—despite all the adversities they faced—could still give out a smile so pure. They were strong, much unlike Twilight who could only worry about every single thing.
A light knock on the wooden door broke Twilight's train of thought. "Come in," Twilight beckoned to whomever was on the other side of the door.
"Then, don't mind if I do." From the outside emerged the young orange filly named Cookie Cake, complete with a night cap on her head. After confirming that nopony loitered outside the room, she carefully shut the door as to not leak a single sound.
The confused Twilight couldn't guess Cookie's intention for visiting them at a time this late. "Er, do you need something where I could be of assistance?"
A wry smile. What answered her was a wry smile, one that would make all her previous friendly smiles seem like an illusion. Compared to Butter's stare, this smile was creepy on a whole new level, devoid of any innocence a normal smile should have. A wry smile that oversaw everything.
"So, who are you ponies?"
Calm down, Twilight. Maybe her warm milk went down the wrong pipe? There's nothing wrong, and there's nothing to hide. Yes, none at all. "Wh—what do you mean by that?"
Cookie leaned on the wooden door, making herself comfortable. "You look like a smart pony, so what's up with all these obvious mistakes?"
Okay, the warm milk definitely went down the wrong pipe. "Wh—what mistakes?"
"There's a lot to talk about, but here is the biggest mistake you made." The filly pulled out the red ruby under her nightcap. "What the hay is this? As if any normal pony would generously give this huge of a gem just to stop a small filly fight. At first I believed that this gem had some strings attached, but seeing how you didn't even give it a second thought, things naturally fell in place."
"I didn't mean to…"
"You're pretty ignorant of the earth pony ways, aren't you? Gems aren't always the answer to everything, you know. That way of solving things, only a unicorn would resort to. But clearly I don't see the horns above your heads. Well, it doesn't really mean that there's nothing up there, right?"
At this point, Twilight understood just how careless she was when dealing with this strange world. Time and time again she was reminded that this wasn't Equestria, and she couldn't deal with everypony here the same as her own peaceful world. Trudging through this world carelessly, what was she even thinking? Was the whole situation so surreal that she stopped taking things seriously? If she starts making small blunders here, then what kind of cruel future was in store for them?
"I'll ask again: Who are you ponies?"