The sky was bright orange as Lauren and Spike were in the garden; there were a few guards around to keep an eye on them. They scanned the garden and back to the two who were drawing away, all the while talking to each other.
“Have you ever had an imaginary friend?” Lauren asked.
Spike stopped drawing the third picture of Rarity to put a claw to his chin. “I think I have once, during the time when I learned how to organize Twilight’s huge book collection. For the life of me, I can’t remember what I called him but I do remember how I saw him.”
Lauren looked up, “What did he look like?”
“Well…” Spike thought for a moment after he put down his pencil. “He was really tall and red. I think I imagine him something like a pony and a gryphon. A Hippogriff, was it? It’s been a very long time so I don’t remember too much. Why'd you ask?”
“I was just thinking, where do imaginary friends go when they’re no longer wanted by the kids who made them?” she asked, returning her attention to her drawing for a moment.
“Beats me, where do you think?”
“Hmm…” Lauren stops drawing herself to think about this question. She looked up back to Spike, “Do you think that I don’t know, there’s like a… Heaven? No, that's not it... What’s another word for orphanage?”
“Foals home, an institute for unwanted kids, a foster home-”
“Yeah, that’s it! Is there a foster home for imaginary friends to go to?”
Spike gave her a confused look, “That’s a rather odd question. I don’t know really if one even exists.”
Lauren looked back up to a particular row of windows where the throne room is. Every now and then, she would catch a glimpse of a shadow or a face that would be looking down at them.
“What do you think they’re talking about?” Lauren asked.
“Probably something important,” Spike shrugged. “It’s kinda taking them longer than usual though, you’d think they might be out by now.”
“You’re telling me. Say, can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“What’s this place called again?”
“What you do ya mean?”
“This land, kingdom, place, what is it called?”
“Equestria,” Spike deadpanned.
“Huh,” Lauren tilted her head to the side. “That’s odd.”
“What?”
“You know, ever since I came here, I was wondering something... guess I might be wrong here.”
“What about?”
“This place, it somewhat reminds me of the show ‘My Little Pony’, except the longer I’m here, the less related to the show it is. Like in the show, the place where all the ponies live is called Ponyland.”
“Ponyland? Really?” Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah I know, it’s a stupid name I agree, but that’s what it was called in the show. It had Bright Valley with all the ponies, and Flutter Valley that’s home to those little ponies with butterfly wings.”
“It kinda sounds like the Breezies to me.”
“The what?”
“Uh, never mind. You know, your drawings aren't that bad,” he commented, pointing at her drawing.
“Eh, they’re okay I guess.”
There was a silence for a moment until Spike asks, “So… What do you want to do when you grow up?”
“Well… I want to make movies. The cartoon kind. I want to make movies that are kinda like what Disney used to do; I want to make movies for everyone to enjoy.”
Spike tilted his head, “What’s a cartoon?”
Lauren was taken aback at this, “You don’t know what a cartoon is?!”
“Never heard of it, what is it?” Spike said, shaking his head.
“Are you serious? A cartoon is like a drawing but it moves and talks and it tells a story. And they show it to you in movies or on T.V.”
Spike was giving her a weird look, “Okay then.” Just then, Spike’s stomach rumbled. “I’m a little hungry. Hey, I got an idea! You like donuts?”
“Yeah?”
“I know a good twenty-four seven donuts shop that’s not too far from here. I've got some bits on me, so how about we swing by over there real quick?”
“I don’t know. What if they come out asking for us?”
“I promise, we’ll be there and back in no time. It won’t take long at all.”
“Well…” Lauren thought for a moment; she was in the mood for a little snack. “Just real quick?”
“Yeah,” Spike said while getting up, “Let me grab some bits first then we'll go.”
_*_
Inside the throne room, the sounds of surprise, shock, panic, anger, agitation, confusion, and more panic rang inside the great room like the voice box of a badly played instrument. The noise continued until Luna silence them with a powerful, “BE STILL!!!”
The six ponies stopped, at least, for a moment. “She’s your mother and neither of you told me?!” Twilight shouted.
“Twilight, neither of us could have predicted, nor given a notice that she was to come back,” Celestia told her student.
“But ain't she a bit too young to be 'yer Ma?” Applejack asked.
“I confess,” Luna answered, “I didn't expect her to come here as young as she is. In fact, the last time we saw her, she was at a reasonable age. But somehow, she came here as a child. Even before she was at the age where she created this world.”
“But isn't there some sort of law of paradox or something to prevent such a thing from happening?” Rarity asked Twilight.
“I don’t know. To my knowledge, this has never happened before. At least, I don’t think it has.” Twilight’s mane sprang up a few cowlicks.
“Uh, question.” Rainbow raised a hoof in the air, “Does Lauren know that she made all of this or that you two are really her daughters?”
Celestia shook her head, “We ended up deciding against it. She’s too young and we fear it might send her into a panic.”
“I think I understood why Discord ran off,” Fluttershy said. “If this is her past self, and Discord might have given her the wrong impression, maybe…” She squeaked. “Oh no! W-What if we've given her the wrong impression? What if she doesn't like us at all so she might change us, or… or…” Fluttershy looked out the window that overlooked to the garden. “Um… Where’s Lauren and Spike?”
“WHAT?!” Both of the alicorn sisters screamed out in shock. Everypony within the castle no matter what they were doing had dropped to the floor to cover their ears. In the throne room, the six mares did the same while the stained glass windows vibrated. Quickly the sisters looked out the window to find that their mother and the baby dragon have vanished.
“WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE DID THEY GO!?” they both shouted in unison, adding several cracks to the windows.