Shifting in the bed, Ruby slowly opened her eyes and saw what appeared to be a master bedroom. Waking up fully alert, Ruby noticed the large bed she was lying on, enough for a human to lay on. Hearing a snore to her left, Ruby saw her mother lying beside her, still fully asleep. Relieved that her mother was safe, Ruby turned her attention back to the master bedroom and noticed many details about it.
To the middle-aged mare, it had a very personal touch to it. There was a dresser, a mirror, and a lamp on a small table, followed by a closet and two doors. On a wall was a hoof-stitched portrait of Konrad holding Ruby in a hug while standing inside a heart. Below the heart were the words,
"Always forever."
Tears of happiness formed in her eyes are Ruby continued to look at the portrait.
"Always forever...we...are married! I have children! I'm so happy! But...Why don't I have any memories?"
Without any warning, a massive migraine took hold of her making her suffer in excruciating pain. The mare fell back on the bed, writhing in agony as new memories surged through her mind. A portrait shown by her mother flashed before getting her daughter at a younger age running through the field giggling like she once had as a foal. Ruby was chasing her and calling out her name,
"I'm gonna get you, my precious sweetie!"
"Nope! Can't find me, momma! I'm gonna hide!"
"I'll always find you no matter what!"
Both giggled before the bright day changed into darkness, and the warm air from the sun turned cold like the winter chill. Thorn bushes spouted from the ground at freakishly fast speed, cutting off any chance of escape. Ruby watched in horror as the thorns formed a thick wall behind her, making the young girl no longer visible.
"What's going on! Where's my daughter!?"
"The mark...she has the mark."
Turning around, Ruby saw Blood Hooves with their eyes glowing dark red, looking menacingly at her.
"She must go...it must be done."
"NOO! This can't be real! This is supposed to be heaven! Konrad! Help me!"
As the wall of Blood Hooves advanced on her, a bright light appeared before her, blinding the blood hooves in the process.
"Follow me; I'll help you find a way out."
"That voice....it sounded like...me"
The light continued to shine bright as the Blood Hooves regained their senses, continuing to advance on Ruby. Not wasting any more time, Ruby touched the glowing ball of light. No longer was she surrounded by Blood Hooves or a wall of thorn bushes but instead was surrounded by a black void, unable to see anything around her.
"Where am I? Am I dreaming?"
"Who are you?" said a voice from the void.
Turning to the sound, an outline of a mare appeared before her continuing to walk towards her. The voice made Ruby's ears perk up as she tried to process who was hearing.
"Who is that? It sounds....kinda like me."
"I'm Ruby. Who are you?"
The mare stopped in her tracks and froze upon hearing Ruby's answer.
"What's wrong?"
The mare shook her head in disbelief before replying,
"No, you're not! That's not possible! You can't be!"
As the mare ran towards her, Ruby quickly backed up in fear.
"W-what are you doing? Stay back!"
The mare ignored her command and continued to run towards her as if she were charging at her.
"You can't be real! This isn't right! None of this is real!"
Ruby froze as an image of a middle-aged version of herself came into her view with a look of panic.
"WHAT ARE YOU?!" it cried.
"I can't believe it! It's me! What's going on here!"
The mare that was not an apparent copy of herself continued to run towards her with no sign of stopping. With fear taking over her, she turned around and ran as fast as possible.
"I've got to get out of here! That can't be me! None of this is real! What's going on!"
With no warning, the feeling of free falling took hold of her and made Ruby scream at the top of her lungs.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"Ruby, wake up!"
Opening her eyes, Ruby was greeted by her mother, who had a look of worry on her face.
"Mommy! I just had the worst nightmare!"
"Shhh! It's okay, my precious Ruby; we're safe now."
Hugging her mother and wiping her tears, Ruby made her way off the bed before wondering to herself.
"What was that dream about? What did it mean? And why did my head hurt so much?"
"I hope you're okay, Ruby; I too had a nightmare dream."
Looking around her now an apparent master bedroom, his eyes rested upon the hoof-stitched portrait. The feeling of love and happiness could be felt coming from the picture every time she laid her eyes upon it. The fact that she was married and with foals was more than she could ever have hoped for.
"I'm a wife and a mommy now...it's all I ever wanted, and I get to have it with him!"
While smiling at the picture, Ruby replied with a simple question, smiling happily at the sight.
"Oh really? What was it about?"
Getting off the bed herself after adjusting her mane, Mitta walked over to Ruby, curious about what she was seeing.
"I had a dream I saw myself, but it seemed very real. I accused myself of being an imposter."
Ruby froze at the revelation given to her by her mother, remembering her own nightmare.
"It's just like mine...what could this mean?"
"Mom, I had something like that too. I saw myself in the dream."
Mitta's eyes went wide upon hearing her daughter's answer, trying to make sense of it.
"I...I don't know what to say, Ruby. A coincidence, maybe?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Ruby replied,
"Umm...I don't know."
Shaking her head, Mitta hugged Ruby once more before saying in a soothing voice.
"Look, Ruby, we've been through a lot; I think we need to just relax. We're in our home safe and sound."
"And I'm married! Look, mom!"
Pointing a hoof at the portrait, Mitta took in the sight of love and shed a small tear before saying,
"Oh my....my little baby is all grown up! Oh, Ruby!"
Blushing with a smile, Ruby said,
"Mom!"
"Oh, hush! You're not embarrassed at all. Now give your mommy a hug!"
Ruby gave her mother a firm but gentle hug before both mares cried happily. What seemed like a silly dream was now a complete reality for Ruby, and the feeling of happiness was overwhelming. She was alive, had the husband of her dreams, and more importantly, she had the foals of her dreams. The mares continued to cry in a happy mother and daughter hug; Ruby snapped back to reality.
"Foals? I have foals?! Where are MY babies!?"
"Mom! I have foals! I have foals!"
Letting go of her daughter, Mitta's eyes widened, remembering the sight of her grand foals. A beaming smile formed across her face before she replied,
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go find them!"
Running to the door, Ruby opened it and was greeted by a hallway that she never remembered having. Her old home used to be a simple cabin much smaller.
"Must have expanded; makes sense considering I have a family now, and OH MY GOSH! Family Photos!"
"Mom, look!"
On both sides of the hallway were numerous photos adorned in decorative frames giving off a homely atmosphere. In one picture, they saw Ruby and Konrad surrounded by her old friends in what appeared to be a wedding photo. Both were smiling while looking at each other in a more youthful appearance. In the background, Ruby could see her mother crying while holding a tissue to her eyes. Ruby couldn't help but giggle as she thought about what that day must have been like.
"Oh, mom! No doubt you were crying about me growing up."
In another picture, her daughter is a human baby, smiling with innocence. This one she just had to point out to her mother.
"Mom! It's my daughter!"
Mitta turned her attention to the new picture, fully enraptured by the image of pure cuteness.
"So that's a human baby looks like...Ruby....she's beautiful. Reminds me of you when you were born. And she has Konrad's eyes! How is that possible?"
Shrugging with a smile, Ruby replied with glee,
"Don't know, don't care! I got what I wanted!"
"Oh, look, Ruby, your son!"
The following picture was of her son, smiling like his sister in the other picture. Like most foals, his pupils dominated most of his eye's color, with bright gold shining in the picture. Ruby's heart began to beat rapidly at the sight of the images of her foal, excited that she would get to see them soon.
"Mom...I'm a mother...I still can't believe it! I mean, this should be impossible! All of it, really."
"Well, impossible or not, it's right here before our eyes, and let's enjoy every minute of it...do you hear that?"
Both mares stopped and listened to a sound coming from what they thought was the living room. Both could make out the sounds of two foals arguing back and forth, but what the argument was about, they couldn't tell. Neither cared what it was about, even if they had heard it, for only one thing was on their minds.
"My babies!"
"My grandfoals!"
Both mares ran as quick as they could before coming into the living room and seeing both children sitting on the couch. Neither of them moved as they watched Ruby's daughter and son banter back and forth, taking their appearance and voices with glee. Neither could get over the similar appearance that Ruby's daughter had, even as a human. Even her son had a mane identical in color to Konrad's.
"They look like us! I had his babies! I'm so happy!"
"Please? I just want to."
"No! I did that earlier this morning! It's not easy!"
"Buuuuut dad does it all the time! Why can't you do it again?"
Rolling her eyes, Katja replied,
"Because dad is stronger and bigger than me, that's why! Plus, you move too much, so no."
In desperation, Blau Strifen gave his sister his most considerable effort at puppy eyes.
"Please-"
"No!"
"eeeeaaaa-"
"Noooooo-"
"aaassseee?!"
"ooooh-oh, thank goodness! Mom, can you tell Blau Strifen to stop begging?"
"Oh, mom! Can you tell Katja to give me a shoulder ride? Please?"
"What?! No! Please, mom, don't make me do it!"
Neither Ruby nor Mitta did anything except stare at the young siblings in awe. Both were adorable to the mares and couldn't get enough of the pretty sight of the children before them. The siblings looked confused as their mother and grandmother continued to stare with smiles plastered on their faces.
"Umm...mom? Nana? What is it?" asked Katja.
"You two," replied Mitta.
"Huh? What about us? We didn't hit each other; if we did, it would have been her fault!"
Katja turned to her brother and stuck his tongue out, who blew a raspberry at her.
"Yeah, you're the renegade in the house, not me!"
"And cool, I should say." replied the colt while puffing his chest out.
Squealing with glee, Ruby commented,
"My little colt...he's so handsome! Just like his father!"
"What? Mom, you're embarrassing me!" replied the young colt while blushing.
Katja snickered at her brother's embarrassment before receiving hers.
"And my little filly! Oh, you're so pretty! Just like me!"
"Mom!" blushed Katja, covering up her blushing face.
Ruby and Mitta looked at each other before turning back to the children with huge grins. Both Katja and Blau Strifen looked at each other nervously, not understanding the odd behavior coming from their mother and grandmother.
"Mom? What is it?" asked Katja.
"Um, sis...I got a bad feeling about this."
"Yeah, me too...so um, mom, we're gonna go help dad with the dinner-"
"Play outside!"
Both siblings looked at each other and gave each other a look of annoyance. Both attempted to get their story straight but failed to come up with an agreement.
"Draw art!"
"Play soccer!"
"Find gems!"
"Shoulder ride!"
"Gah! For the last time, I'm not doing that!"
"Please?"
"You're not going anywhere, young ones," said Mitta as she walked toward the children.
"We're not?" answered both in unison.
"Nope, we've got something planned for you two."
Both siblings look nervously at the advancing mother and grandmother, worried about potential punishment for unknown wrongdoing.
"Mom...you're scaring us," said Blau Strifen.
"We've got..."
"Oh boy!" said Blau Strifen.
"Here it comes, our punishment. Grounding?" asked Katja.
"Cleaning?" asked Blau Strifen.
"HUGS!"" cried shouted Mitta and Ruby.
"WHAT?!" cried both siblings.
Katja attempted to get away but was quickly stopped by Mitta and was effectively in a tight hug. The human girl never knew how strong her grandmother could be until now as she tried in vain to break free from the older mare. Even the advantage of arms and hands was no match for a Grandmother's love. Blau Strifen fared no better as his mother moved toward him fast, not even getting a chance to get off the couch like his sister had.
Both siblings struggled to break free as the mare began to nuzzle and hug the children tightly, firmly in their grasp.
"Mom! What are you doing?! Too tight!" cried Blau Strifen.
"Let go Nana! Gah!" cried Katja.
Both of their pleas fell on deaf ears as the mares continued to hug and nuzzle them.
"Give Nana a hug!" said a happy Mitta.
"My babies! My precious babies!"
With no other option left, both children cried out for the only other soul capable of saving them.
Their father.
"DAD! SAVE US!"
In record time, a middle-aged Konrad ran out from the kitchen and into the living room, worried that something was wrong with his kids. The man was still wearing the apron that Katja had made for him years ago in arts and craft class, a favorite he always wore when cooking.
"What's going...on?"
Looking at his kids, the man saw his wife and mother-in-law hugging and nuzzling his son and daughter as if they had never seen them before. The man raised an eyebrow at sight, chuckling,
"For a second, I thought you two were in trouble. Ehehehe."
"DAD! We ARE in trouble!" cried Katja.
"Get them off us!" cried Blau Strifen before receiving a flurry of pecks on the cheek from his mother.
"Honey?"
Looking at her husband, Ruby made eye contact with Konrad. Her heart began to beat with love as he smiled at her. There he was in a cute apron that was obviously made by one of her children.
"It's him! My husband and father of my babies! He's so handsome like my little colt!"
"Yes?"
The man smiled before saying,
"Give them a hug for me. Dinner will be ready soon."
"WHAT?!" cried both Katja and Blau Strifen.
"Sorry, kids, I know better than to get between a momma and her love for her children. You're on your own."
"Will do, honey!"
As the man walked back into the kitchen, both Mitta and Ruby continued to hug the children while they cried out,
"NOOOOOOOO!!"
Both siblings wished their suffering was at an end, but unfortunately for them, forced family hugs would not stop anytime soon.