The morning sun came in through our small window. Thankfully I had the foresight to know it was a poor decision to have a big window that faced the rising sun.
Lilac was already up and about. I guess she went up to the house to get breakfast. She had taken to do that, seeing as I was always the last to get up.
Some might wonder about moving into the hut. It was more of a personal thing. I wanted Lilac to have that same feel of being back in Equestria, with our own home with just the two of us. Plus, it hurt too much to be in that house for too long.
That was gonna be our house. Lilac, Darcy, and I. We were all gonna move in, and be a real family. My parents were gonna meet them and accept them with open arms, and after awhile they might even like Darcy. Darcy might eventually like then in return. How awesome would that be?
I know they love Lilac, they loved her the second she meet them. It just didn’t feel like a family without Darcy. It never did. Five years had passed for me since she died, and still hurt like it happened yesterday.
After her first death, I felt like I saw her everywhere. I thought I saw her at school, but realized it was just my reflection. She was at the bookstore, the mall, restaurants, everywhere. She was there at the Dalek Crucible, promising to destroy me.
Then this time it got worse. She died in the Real World. In the movie, she could bring herself back, not here. Reality doesn’t play by those rules. The grave at the Centre was the only place I was willing to bury her. I could never visit her in a graveyard, it would remind me of all the times she died. At the Centre, all I would have to look out my window.
So, I made this hut to try and make peace with her death. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and my pride refused to let me say this was a bad idea.
I yawned, stretching my arms out. Once my bones finally adjusted to their natural position, I got up out of bed. My hand reached out for my phone, checking the time. I had plenty of time before school started.
It took maybe ten minutes to get all of my stuff together. I opened the door to the hut, but it was jammed.
“Huh.” It wasn’t that odd. The door would occasionally get stuck by weird stuff like a rock, or my little brother’s toys.
Usually, a quick jerk would fix it. I tried this repeatedly, but the door was stuck. I might have to call Dad over to pry it open. That was always fun, bringing Dad to the hut his teenage daughter lived in. I tried prying the door opened again, but it wouldn’t budge.
Well, actually, it did. It finally opened, and I face planted on the dirt ground below. I brushed off the dirt on my clothes, and looked to see what jammed my door. Strangely, nothing was there.
That was strange. I shrugged, thinking maybe the door just needed to be repaired. It was foggy out today, which was nice. That meant it might rain. Rain was always good, gave me an excuse not to clean my car or the hut. Then I noticed some leaves stuck onto my shirt. The ground didn’t have leaves, and my hut was at least ten feet from a tree.
I brushed off the leaves, picked up my backpack, and kept on.
Then, something walked across my foot. I squealed, jumping up in my shock. It was normal(ish) to have bugs come around the hut. I was a big enough slob to leave pizza crusts around. It was probably just another leaf.
“Okay. That’s weird.” I commented, noticing my new vantage point.
I was standing on the fog.
I screamed, falling off and landing on the ground with a thud. I looked between my feet and the fog, wondering how in the hell I did that.
“Mom?” Lilac’s voice came out from the house. She walked out from the back door, a worried look on her face. My mom followed behind her, putting herself in front of Lilac in a protective stance.
“Morgan?” Mom called out.
I stood up, holding out my hands. “Stand back!” Whatever was going on, I knew it wasn’t safe. The last thing I needed was for either of them to get hurt by this thing.
Mom looked confused, but then she gasped. She was looking behind me, and clinched away. “Lilac, honey, go back inside!”
I tilted my head. Was she seeing whatever was doing this? Turning in the direction she was looking, I saw the problem.
Remember that tree that was ten feet away? More like ten inches away now. One of the branches had grown out, stretching out to where I was standing.
The tree wasn’t a very strong tree. It was a weak, little tree that was more like a weeping willow then any other sort of tree. The leaves looked a lot like the ones that had been stuck to my shirt.
I couldn’t help but grin. Weird trees, me standing on clouds, me jumping up high enough to land on fog, and a door that wouldn’t open. Oh, this was just what a needed.
“Mom!” Lilac cried out worriedly.
“Get inside!” I advised, keeping my eyes on the tree. I started back up, slowly making my way to the house. “Woah!”
Out of nowhere, I felt something grab my foot. It dragged me to the ground, which hurt a lot more than people think.
“Mom, are you okay?” Lilac cried out.
“Go inside!” I advised a bit more forcefully. I pushed myself up off the ground, holding a hand out towards the tree, and one towards Lilac. I looked and saw a strand of ivy wrapped around my ankle. “I can handle it!”
The Storyline was less than merciful. It started moving towards me in a rapid pace. The ivy only my leg tightened. I yelped, trying to kick at the plant. It only made it worse!
In a brief moment of childishness, I stomped my foot to try and get it off. Surprisingly, this got rid of the ivy.
Unfortunately, that did something go the fog overhead. The clouds converged, forming a far more normal looking cloud. The cloud launched itself at the tree.
The cloud vanished in a puff. The tree shrunk back to it’s normal state.
I looked over to my mom and Lilac, hopping I hadn’t finally gone insane and the last five minutes were all my psyche collapsing.
From Mom’s dropped jaw, and Lilac’s wide eyes, I knew that I was in for a very fun day.
Through some kind of hellish miracle, it got less fun. Tracy, the boring person she was, managed to ruin what would be a fun investigation.
She ordered (and I do mean ordered) I bring in expert help. Okay. First she ruined my day, and then she implied I can’t this on my own. I am making an effort to not be insulted!
Tracy had the Ponies brought in.
I had restyled my office again, mostly to stave off boredom. It was set up to look like a log cabin. Dark brown couches, wooden wallpaper, and a dark green carpet to look like grass. I even had a fake fireplace with some dragon fire.
The door burst open.
I glanced to the door, boredly. I was lying on the couch facing the door. It was a nice soft couch, relaxing me. It kept me from wanting to choke Tracy to death.
Their appearances had changed since they were here last.
Twilight was wearing a tight t-shirt the same color as her coat. It had some room, of course, for her wings. A pair of light purple shorts went barely to her mid upper thighs. A belt that matched her mane was wrapped around the shorts. Some white socks went under her purple sneakers. Her mane was different too. Not so much in color, but design. It was more…elegant. Her horn jutted out between her bangs. The rest of the mane fell towards her mid-back and curled outwards.
Applejack’s mane stayed the same. She now has a dark red neckerchief around her neck, a pale yellow tank top and orange farm-style cardigan. A pair of bright orange shorts took place of her jeans, worker boots were still on her feet though.
Rainbow Dash was way happier with this outfit. A black wrap around her chest that made it easier for her wings to get out, long cyan blue jeans, red and black sneakers, and black fingerless-gloves on her hands. Her rainbow hair was the same, though slightly more wind blown.
Pinkie Pie had a fun outfit. A white shirt that reached belly button with very thin spaghetti straps, cotton candy pink shorts that went just over her rear, upper thigh high socks, and sky blue slippers. Her mane was the same amount of crazy it always had been.
Fluttershy kept saying her’s was nice. A white shirt tied at the front ends and room for her wings, long butter yellow jeans with a rose pink silk belt, and teal blue Egyptian shoes.
Rarity was a glorious fashionista. A pure white t-shirt with long sleeves, a plaid black skirt with dark gray stripes and a string of three diamonds hanging off the white belt. There was a pair of black high heels on Rarity’s feet. Her white horn jutted out just before her even more glorious mane.
Spike, he looked the same. It was actually a little funny. Purple hoodie and Capri shorts, green shirt and sneakers.
“Raspberry!” They all cheered.
I, on the other hand, scowled. “Guys.”
Pinkie ran up to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “I feel like I haven’t seen you forever!”
“It’s been a month for me.” I said in a monotone voice. “Let’s get started. Sparkle of Twilight, Applejack, come see.”
Getting up from the couch, I marched over to the flower we put in the room for when they showed up.
My arm reached out, hovering over it. I watched the ponies’ expressions as I felt the flower do what I had been doing all day. They gasped.
Twilight walked up to the flower pot, Applejack at her side. I crossed my arms over my chest, angry again. Applejack looked up at me. “Ya just...ya just grew that flower like it was nothing!”
“And I’ve been doing that all day.” I growled, marching over to my couch. I fell onto it, face in a scowl. “That’s not even the worst part.”
“Worst part?” Twilight repeated. “This wasn’t some new trick?”
I glared. “Sparkle of Twilight, I grew a flower from a seed in five seconds! How is that good?”
Twilight blinked, confusedly looking between the plant and me. “I thought it was another trick from the Reality Watch.”
The Reality Watch was one of the tools I had picked up over the years. Some were little things, like Jimmy Neutron’s storage cube, or my old Kimunicator. The Reality Watch was a big thing, that I made into a small thing.
It used to be known as the Reality Gauntlet. Now it was a plastic purple watch with four glowing gems as buttons. It came from the show Danny Phantom. Danny was about to blow the gauntlet to bits and pieces, but I grabbed it as the last second and wiped his mind. As far as he knew, it was bits and pieces.
It was a stupid, reckless idea. I did it anyway, and I use it for horrible reasons: to stay lazy. That and remodel my office when I was in the mood. It saved on money.
Because of it’s now unassuming form, no one really noticed. It was a strictly kept secret, known only to the Mane Six, Lilac, and Lila. They all knew not to tell anyone who I hadn’t spoken to.
“Seriously?” I half snapped. “I used that thing to make those stupid honey oat muffins Tracy gave me into scrambled eggs. Do you really think I would use it to grow a stupid flower?” The last part came out as a growl.
The girls all flinched back. I did too once I heard how angry I sounded.
“Sorry.” I apologized to them. Sighing, I rubbed the vein on my forehead that Darcy loved pointing out. “This thing with Seth’s driving me up the wall.”
Rainbow came up beside me. “Did you really declare war on him?”
I nodded. “I know, I know. I was thinking impulsively!”
“Morgan, Rainbow, the flower.” Twilight reminded us.
“It’s a pretty flower!” Pinkie cheered, holding up the potted plant. “A Lilac, right?” I nodded.
“You said this wasn’t the worst part.” Twilight reminded me.
“Tracy thinks you six were the best to call, so I brought you here.” I explained. “Can you think of what’s causing this?”
Applejack shrugged. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Do ya know if know if other people on Earth do this?”
“I’ve only heard of fairies and wood nymphs growing plants at that rate.” I explained.
“Could it be the plant itself?” Twilight theorized. “We’ve been around her more and more lately. Our Equestrian Magic could be rubbing off on the plant life.”
I shook my head. “We’re pretty certain it’s coming from me.” I shrugged, getting annoyed. “And Tracy says if we don’t fix it, she’ll have to report it.”
Rarity scoffed. “I don’t know why you keep her around. That Katelynn mare is far better company.”
“Mom and Dad hired her.” I explained to Rarity for what felt like the billionth time. “I do anything she doesn’t like, she tells them.”
“You have a babysitter.” Rainbow chuckled at my expense.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I have a glorified babysitter.”
“Morgan.” Twilight recaptured my attention. “Flower. Magic. Bigger problem?”
That brought me back to my current problems. “Right.” I got up from my seat, motioning to the flower. Applejack joined me. “So, it started this morning...”
The next ten minutes were spent explaining the events of the morning to the ponies. They seemed to understand the predicament.
“Wait, so you sat on a cloud too?” Rainbow seemed far more interested than before.
I nodded. “Now you see why Tracy wanted to bring you in.”
“But that’s pegasi Magic.” Rainbow pointed out. “Only Fluttershy, me, and Twilight have pegasi Magic here.”
There was a flicker of something in Twilight’s eyes. “And the earth ponies focus their magic towards the earth.”
“So, Morgan has earth pony magic and pegasi magic?” Fluttershy asked. “How?”
“I’m just lucky mores fix related things haven’t happened.” I said. “Like a magic outburst. That could be disastrous in more ways than one.”
Rarity nodded. “Quite true. Humans have a rather negative affect toward magic.”
“And Tracy wants this all fixed by my six o’clock.” I said. “Yay.”
Twilight’s hand glowed with her magic, hovering over the flower. The flower started to glow as well.
“She wants us to figure this thing out in under three hours?” Applejack asked. I nodded. “Why?”
“Search me.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I don’t want to profile her. I’m scared of what I would find.”
“What’s more to know?” Rainbow asked. “She works too much, she hates having fun, and she hates you.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scolded.
“Well, she isn’t very nice...” Fluttershy commented.
Pinkie joined on the Tracy hating. “I tried to throw Lilac a double birthday party because of the ones I missed, and she said no!”
“Pinkie Pie, you were trying to set off a cannon in the break room.” I explained. I shook my head. “People here don’t like cannons being shot in their face.”
Pinkie only smiled at me, sinking down behind the couch. “You’ll see. I’ll win her over, just you see. I’ll make Tracy have fun.”
I snorted. Tracy having fun would be a sight.
“What about Anna, Caroline’s sister?” Rarity suddenly asked. She had her ‘idea’ face on.
“What about her?” I asked, a bit snappy.
Rarity was still smiling. “She could be your assistant! Your parents love her, she had good organizational skills and she’s-”
“Living as a missionary in Haiti.” I said, feeling my heart ache at when she said goodbye. “Care moved away too.”
You could feel it in the air, the sudden sadness. “Oh.” Everyone sighed.
“Morgan, we’re sorry.” Twilight apologized.
I shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m fine. She was really excited about it.” They others looked sympathetic. “I said it was fine that she go. Care had been talking about it for months. She’s going to India after, building houses. Anna’s gonna be in France. And Maddie got an early scholarship to her dream vet school. She’s happy. They’re all happy.”
Anna and Caroline were asked to sign up for a missionary program that went with their church. It was easy for Anna to join, it was what she was going to do for college. She talked about it nonstop the month before graduation. Care had worked out some deal with my parents, since she skipped a grade. She was a senior now, which left me the only junior. She had brought her math book, and would do her math, that made Dad happy. Foreign language was given the okay from the get go, and the rest my parents said she could do when she got back. Senior year, my school was a little more lax with school work.
Maddie had always wanted to be a veterinarian. One had sent her a letter of early acceptance. She had already sent me a hundred photos of some of the cute animals she’s worked with, and given me some insights on her roommates. She was having fun.
They were all having fun, far away from me.
Pinkie put her hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” I said, shrugging off her hand. “I’m fine. Grace is still in town, same for Becca and Lauren. Plus Katelynn with a K’s a good friend. Same for Lila, and you guys.”
There was a long pause, and you could feel it in the air. Their eyes were starting to tear up. They knew how much I loved hanging out with Care, Anna, and Maddie. It was sad to watch them go, but I expected them to go. I knew they would leave when I met them, that they would leave me. I had friends that I could lean on, ones I knew would last longer than the Bellingham’s and Maddie.
The ponies would last another ten or twenty years, if I’m being optimistic. Lila would last til she moved away for college, so three years on Earth. Katelynn with a K might stay past her internship, I hope. Then came Lilac, my Lilac. She might stay until she wants to start her own adventures, maybe even until she started her own family.
Oh. Calm down, Morgue. She’s ten. Let’s not worry about grandkids just yet. Plus, she might not even stay around long enough for that.
Twilight’s voice broke that, thankfully. “I can run some tests at the Library.”
I nodded, still somewhat stuck in my depressingly optimistic thoughts. Well, in that I was thinking that bad things would take a really long time.
The ponies walked to the door, apparently saddened to hear my friends had left. It was normal for me now, to have friends for a blink. The blinks get farther and farther apart the older I get, especially lately. That’s heartbreaking, when I think about it. It seems in the past decade I have lost more friends than ever before.
To add, weird things are going on with me.
Coincidence, I think not.