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// Welcome Home 
// Story: Sweet Nothings 
// by Golden Tassel 
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My little brother was in trouble, and I was the only one who could save him.

Starry had to hold me back as I struggled to rush out to save my little brother. Between her and Chrys, they managed to convince me to calm down long enough to realize that I couldn't go unprepared. Once she was sure that I wouldn't bolt, Starry went upstairs to get my saddlebag for me.

I sat back down at the table and put my hoof on the radio; it had been turned off, but I could still hear my little brother's voice; it was burned into my ears, crying for my help.

Chrys put her hoof on top of mine. "The message said you were being pardoned. Does that mean . . . you won't be coming back?"

"I . . . I don't know. I wasn't really thinking about that part." I closed my eyes and nuzzled her with a heavy sigh. "I guess so. I mean, it's safer in there. And I'll be with Sweets again." I opened my eyes to look at Chrys, and suddenly I realized . . . "I won't see you again, will I?"

She nodded solemnly. "I guess not; I can't go with you on this. My home is here, and I wouldn't know what to do in the stable anyway." Chrys rubbed my shoulder gently. "Do you regret knowing me?"

"I . . . I don't know," I told her. "Last night was . . . I mean . . . I kind of hoped we could do that again. But . . ."

"But your little brother is more important. Don't worry; I understand. I can tell how much you care about him. I imagine you'd move mountains if you had to for him, and nothing—not even wild raiders—could hold you back."

I ran my hoof along the radio some more. "You're right. I would do anything for him." Chrys put her hoof on top of mine again, and I lay my head on her shoulder. "I'll miss you," I said.

She kissed my forehead. "I'll miss you too. I'm glad that I got to know you, even as brief as it's been. You stood up for me when I needed you, and you gave me the strength to protect you when you needed it. I have a feeling that whatever you're about to face will be hard for you—as facing my past was hard for me, but I'm happy for you. You have a home you can finally go back to, and somepony who loves you waiting for you there."

"If it's not too late already." I grimaced; that message could have been playing for days before I had heard it. It might have been all that was left of my little brother—just a lonely cry for help echoing across the radio waves.

"Try not to think that way, honey," Chrys said. "If it's too late, then getting yourself all worked up about it won't help. But I want you to know that you've got a home here in case . . . in case things don't work out."

I shuddered to think what could go wrong, but I tried not to dwell on it as Chrys suggested. "Thank you," I told her.

She smiled and kissed me while she ran a hoof along my back. I closed my eyes and returned her kiss, and for that brief moment, I felt calmed. Our lips parted and I gazed into her eyes. Despite how hurt I had felt when she had fed off of me, despite having to leave her behind, I still cherished the comfort she had brought me in the end.

"Alright, Day, let's get moving," said Starry from behind us. I turned to see her wearing her saddlebags and rifle harness while she held out my bags to me.

"You're coming with me?" I asked as I took my saddlebag from her and slipped it on.

"Of course." Starry smiled. "After everything you've followed me through, I can't just let you go it alone from here. I'll help you, your brother, and your stable however I can. I owe you my life. It's the least I can do."

My heart was racing. What I would find back at the stable? Would my little brother be in danger? Everything that had been done to me since I had first been born into the wasteland paled in comparison to what I could only imagine was to come. But I was no longer the helpless newborn that I had been then, and I had friends to support me now. I would protect my little brother.


***


Starry was able to identify some landmarks on one of her maps that matched places I had wandered during my first few days out of the stable. Based on that, she was able to identify which mountains I had come from, and I was sure that once we got close I would be able to find my way back to the stable entrance, back to that dark cave I had emerged from.

I flew as hard as I could push myself. My wings began to ache before we were halfway there, but I ignored the pain. I had too much on my mind to let sore muscles distract me. Foremost in my thoughts was always my little brother. I would do anything to protect him.

The whole time we were flying, I kept glancing at Starry as she kept pace alongside me. I knew I should tell her about what had happened in the stable—explain to her why I had been exiled. But I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud. I was afraid of what she would think of me, of what she might try to say. What could she say? Every time I tried to imagine telling her, I saw the feeding dream that the changeling queen had given me. I knew that it hadn't been Starry in that dream, but the image had been so real that even now I couldn't help but see her looming over me, sneering at me for what I had done.

When we reached the mountain and landed just outside the cave, she stopped me. "Are you sure you want me here for this?" she asked.

Both my wings were burning from exhaustion. I had a cramp in my side, and I could hardly breathe after the flight. But without a moment's hesitation, I answered, "I wouldn't be here without you. Whatever's in there, I'm sure I'll need your help."

She smiled at me and nodded. And together, we stepped into the darkness where I had first emerged from, helpless as a newborn foal.

We didn't have to go far before I could tell that something was very wrong; the stable door was wide open. Inside, only the emergency lighting was on.

"Hello?" I called out as I stepped across the threshold and back into the stable which had once been my whole world.

"Hold it right there!" a voice called back from the doorway across the room. A shadowy figure rose up behind a makeshift barricade. A faint orange glow shone around his horn and around the grip of a baton that floated next to him. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm Lucky Day," I answered. "I heard the distress call. What happened here?"

"Who's that with you?"

"She's my friend, Starry Night. What's going on? Why is the door open? Is my brother okay?"

"I said stay put!" the guard barked as I started to move toward him. After a moment, when he was satisfied that I wasn't coming any closer, his magic aura picked up a small two-way radio. "Sir? The exile's here."

There was a brief silence, and then the radio answered, "Hold him there. I'm on my way."

"Please, can you tell us what's happening?" I asked again.

"Sit down and shut up, exile. I was told not to talk to you, so let's all get along here, alright? Unless you want me to come over there and help you remember where your place is."

"Don't you talk to him like that," Starry said. "He's here to—"

"Starry, it's fine. We'll just wait." I sighed and sat down.

Starry came over next to me. "Day, aren't you worried about your brother? I could barely hold you back earlier. Now you're just going to take this?"

I looked up at her; the shield pinned to her uniform glinted in the dim light. "Don't argue with Security. We all have to get along," I said. Something felt strange as I said those words. It had been a reflex. I felt as though my mind had been wrapped up in a warm blanket, equal parts comforting and constricting. I shook my head to loosen it. "I—I am worried, Starry. But . . ." I looked around at the emergency lights, the open door, the security pony behind his overturned table. "I think I know what's wrong here, and I think he's safe—for now, at least."

My ears perked up at the sound of hooves running down the corridor. "Hey, kid! Stop! You can't—" the guard yelled, but was cut short when a young unicorn colt ran into him, knocked him over, and bounded over the barricade.

"Day!" The colt came scrambling toward me. "I'm so sorry!" he wailed as he reared up and threw his forelegs around my shoulders.

I hugged him back tightly, wrapping him up in my wings. "Shh. It's okay. It's not your fault."

"I missed you so much, big brother!" He buried his face in my neck.

"I missed you too," I whispered softly as I nuzzled his mane. "Everything's going to be alright. I'm sorry I had to leave you, but I'm here now."

Sweets leaned back to look up at me, his eyes wet. He smiled and let out a small laugh. "I knew you'd come back."

"Sweetie Pie," called a voice. His tone was strong and authoritative, but not forceful; it was the kind of voice that was accustomed to being heard and obeyed—to getting what he wanted without having to ask twice. "Get away from that monster. Come here at once."

I felt Sweets tighten his embrace as I looked up to see the overseer standing in the doorway. The guard beside him was just getting to his hooves and brushing himself off.

"He's not a monster! He's my big brother!" Sweets yelled back at him.

"Sweets! You can't . . . argue with the overseer," I reminded him, gently trying to push him away so he wouldn't get in trouble, but he only held me tighter.

"Oh, come on, can't you let the boy spend some time with his big brother?" Starry stepped up toward the overseer. "They clearly missed each other."

The overseer tilted his head forward and furrowed his brow as he looked at Starry over the top of his glasses. "And who are you? I didn't authorize anypony else to enter the stable."

Starry stood up proudly. "Starry Night. I've been—" She paused as she glanced over her shoulder at me briefly. "Day and I have been helping each other."

Lifting his gaze, the overseer adjusted his glasses and harrumphed. "Well, Miss Starry, I don't know about you, but I'm of the opinion that children shouldn't be in the arms of murderers."

Starry pursed her lips and then glanced over at me briefly. "Day told me he killed somepony, but I'm sure it was—"

"It was murder," said the overseer. "And murder is murder. We don't tolerate that kind of behavior in here."

"He's not a murderer!"

"Sweets. Shh," I hushed him and nuzzled his cheek. "It's okay. I did it to protect you."

The overseer noisily cleared his throat. "If you're quite finished, I didn't allow you to come back here out of the goodness of my heart so you two could have a teary-eyed reunion." His horn lit up with a pale white aura as he moved the overturned table out of the doorway and motioned for us to follow him. He stopped us, though, as Starry approached. "I'm taking enough of a risk letting him back in here. What makes you think I'm about to allow a complete stranger into my stable?"

"She's my friend," I said. "She can help." My personal assurance didn't seem to carry much weight with the overseer as he silently glared at me over the top of his glasses. "It's the primary spark reactor, isn't it?" I guessed. "That's why you called me back—you need help fixing it."

"How could you possibly know that?" The overseer narrowed his eyes at me.

"The emergency lights, the open door . . . the stable is running on battery power, and when it runs out, you'll have to abandon the stable." I surmised. "How long do we have?"

He pursed his lips and harrumphed. "The reactor malfunctioned a day and a half ago. From what I've been told, we have enough power to last through the end of tomorrow. Sweetie Pie was very insistent that only you would be able to fix it in time."

"Day knows the reactor better than anypony in the whole stable!" Sweets said proudly. "I remember you showed it to me once, Day! You could name every part I pointed to! Nopony else ever even goes down there. They're all just scratching their heads looking at it now. C'mon! Let's go see it, and then everypony can see how smart you are!" He bounced up and down at my side, and I put a hoof on his shoulder to calm him down.

The overseer rolled his eyes. "Given the lack of progress so far, I'm inclined to believe him if for no other reason than you couldn't possibly make things worse. Provided"—he added hastily—"that you don't go and turn the rest of my stable into an abattoir."

"I'm not here to murder anypony," I said to the overseer with a wince. I took a deep breath. "Let's not waste time. If you want to save the stable, don't turn down extra help," I said, indicating Starry.

He shifted his gaze to Starry and looked her up and down. His expression softened a little and he gave a slight shrug. "Fine. But you must relinquish your weapons," he said to Starry. "Security will return them to you when you leave. And you will leave as soon as power is restored."

Starry glanced at me, and I gave a slight nod. She agreed, and handed over her harness to the guard stationed at the door.

"Come along now," said the overseer as he led the way into the stable, and we followed.

As we came out through the security checkpoint around the stable entrance, we passed along one of the balconies that overlooked the central atrium. Starry gasped as she looked out over it. Even in the dimness of the emergency lights, we could see nearly the entire core of the stable from where we were on the top floor. Roughly one square kilometer in size, the atrium ran the height of the stable, with the orchard at the bottom and open air all the way to the ceiling six floors above it. The residential quarters ringed around the atrium, enough living space for as many as five thousand ponies, though the stable was deathly quiet; emergency procedure was to keep all the residents in their quarters.

I had never seen the stable look so empty before. Even late at night, there was always somepony around, usually others like me who worked late shifts, but sometimes a couple out for a romantic evening in the atrium, or a mother taking her newborn foal for a walk to put him to sleep. But it was all so empty now. And yet it somehow seemed smaller than I remembered it; the safety railings along the balconies looked like prison bars, casting long, dark shadows in the harsh contrast of the emergency lights.

The overseer, having noticed Starry's amazement at the scale of the stable, started telling her all about how marvelous the stable's design was, and how much of a privilege it was to oversee it as his father had before him.

I might have paid more attention to their conversation as he escorted us down the stairs toward maintenance and the reactor room, but I was too busy listening to my brother tell me about his cutie mark.

"I got it just a couple days ago!" he said as he stopped for a moment under one of the emergency lights to show it off: a black chess pawn set in stark contrast against his pure white coat. "Isn't it amazing?"

"It sure is," I said, smiling. "I'm so proud of you, Sweets. I wish I could have been there to see you get it. I guess you needed to find someone more challenging than me to play against, huh?"

His eyes sank suddenly. "I'm sorry, Day. I didn't want you to miss it. It just kind of happened."

"Sweets . . ." I knelt down next to him and nuzzled his cheek. "It's okay. I'm still proud of you. And I'm here now, so after we fix the reactor, we can celebrate it together. How's that sound?"

He looked up at me and smiled. "Really? You mean it?"

I smiled back at him and nodded. "Of course. Now come on," I said as I lifted him up onto my back; he hugged his forelegs around my neck. "Let's go fix the reactor so we can have that celebration already."