Luna didn’t know why she went through the mist again. The last experience was more than a little unnerving, seeing as though TD’s bloodline was directly linked to a being that could perform Fluttershy’s infamous ‘Stare’. Yet somehow, this only intrigued her even more. Just what other secrets was TD keeping? Not telling a single pony about this had to be a sign that he was hiding something from Equestrian royalty. At least, that’s what Luna told herself.
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in TD’s body again. Only this time he was slightly older, about a year or a half maybe. Though, she wasn’t paying attention to this as her gaze was fixed on TD’s father who was tied to a chair. She would have been concerned if not for the annoyed look on the man’s face under the seemingly thicker layer of facial hair. They were in what appeared to be a living room complete with matching sofas, a glass table.
“So,” he said in a nonchalant voice, “Did your mother put you up to this?”
TD nodded. The giant continued, “She bribed you didn’t she?”
TD nodded, “You’re not going to untie me by any chance are you?”
TD shook his head. The giant man sighed and lowered his head, “Somehow, I can’t blame you.”
The door to what appeared to be the front lawn opened, and TD’s mother entered along with two other humans. One was slightly taller than her, carrying a black plastic box wrapped around one arm. The other human, who Luna presumed was her daughter, was taller than the body Luna was in. All three were wearing thick clothes telling Luna it was a cold season.
“Man of the hour I presume?” The woman said sarcastically, placing the box on a nearby table.
“And who are you supposed to be?” the large human asked, eyeing the box.
TD’s mother stepped in to answer, “Tobias, this is Elise. She’s a friend from the café.”
“And she’s here because…”
“Your problem”
The man, ‘No, Tobias’ Luna corrected, narrowed his eyebrows, “What problem? I don’t have a problem.”
TD’s mother, ‘Margaret was it?’ Luna recalled, took out a hoof mirror ‘hand mirror?’ from her purse and pointed it towards his face. “Tell me, what do you see?”
Tobias looked at himself and Margaret, “My face.”
“No!” Margaret face palmed with her free hand, “hair, nothing but hair! How many times have I told you to shave?”
“Every time we’re about to cuddle?” Tobias said not realizing the meaning of what he just said before it was too late. “Nonono, wait! I take that back!”
This caused Margaret’s face to blush profusely as Elise did her level best not to break out in laughter.
Margaret poked her husband’s chest, “N-not the point! I haven’t seen your face once in my life, and I’m married to you! What kind of wife doesn’t know what her husband’s face looks like?”
Tobias groaned as if he had heard this argument a hundred times, “Did you seriously tie me to a chair and have TD guard me just for an intervention with your friend?”
This made Margaret smile maniacally, “No you lovable big lug of mine, that would imply you actually have some say in this relationship.”
Tobias tilted his head inquisitively, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Elise opened the box and took out an electric razor, the sight of which made the gentle giant’s eyes widen a lot more than Luna thought was physically possible. He began struggling to get out of the ropes that were expertly tied.
Margaret turned towards Luna with her ‘eyes’ and knelt down to talk with him, “Alright Kiddo, mommy and daddy are in the middle of some very important grown-up business right now, so why don’t you go outside and play with Kristy. Kay?”
TD turned to Elise’s daughter (assuming she was Kristy), nodded to his mother, and turned towards the door. He walked out of the room with the girl following behind. The door closed the moment both children stepped out. The only sound that could be heard was Tobias’s muffled scream, and an electric razor satiating its unquenchable thirst for facial hair.
Kristy stared at TD, and TD stared back, giving Luna more time to get the description at the small human (whom she just realized was female). She had brown eyes, very pale skin tone, and long brown wavy hair under a newsboy’s cap.
“So,” she began, “What’s your name?”
“TD,” he answered looking away from the girls face. ‘So, he was the shy type,’ Luna noted.
“What does it stand for?” she inquired.
Luna felt him shrug, “dunno,”
The little girl raised an eyebrow, “You don’t know what your name means?”
They were interrupted by the ruckus going on in the room they were in moments ago.
“I almost cut his ear off!” Elise yelled, “Can’t you do that thing with your eyes to make him stay friggin still?”
“If it worked on him, he would have shaved years ago!” Margaret answered.
“Five billion people on the planet and you mean to tell me you married the only guy who doesn’t flinch at your glare?”
“That’s why he’s the only guy I ever dated! That and he gives killer backrubs.”
Not wanting to listen in on his parents’ usual ‘bonding’ activities, TD continued from where Kristy left off, “Mom’s mom and dad’s mom argued over what my name should be, so they joined the name and called me by the first letters of the first names.”
“I see,” Kristy answered
They were interrupted yet again, “Seriously Margaret,” Elise complained, “I can barely put a dent on it! What’s this hair made of, barbed wire?!”
“This isn’t working,” Margaret answered, “Plan B! Plan B!”
Luna heard the buzzing stop only to be replaced by what she swore was the sound of a furious chainsaw. Tobias’s screams of distress got louder.
“Does this happen often around here?” Kristy asked, somewhat concerned for the giant who was taken out of his comfort zone.
“Kinda,” TD answered sitting down on the left side of the door, “mom likes to bug dad when he’s home.”
Kristy sat down on the right side, “Does it always get so intense?”
“Sometimes.”
The conversation between the children was interrupted once more by the hell that was breaking loose behind the door as the sound of the (hopefully not) chainsaw ended abruptly.
“We’re out of juice!” Margaret exclaimed frantically, “I can’t do this anymore, it’s too much! This was a mistake! I have to-”
“No!” Elise countered, “We’ve come too far, and we’re almost done! No time for doubt!”
“I can’t stand this! I have to get out of here! I need to see TD’s face again!”
Tobias who had stopped screaming for a moment chimed in, “You two are making this sound a lot more serious than it is.”
“Stay out of this!” Both women yelled in unison.
Elise continued, “We can do this. Margaret, are you with me?”
“I… I’m with you, but… how do we get through what’s left?”
“Improvise! Improvise!”
The sound of what was hopefully not a blowtorch made Tobias start screaming again. The kids however, were not the slightest bit phased. They were either used to this kind of occurrence, or did not know how to react. Either way, it unsettled Luna.
Kristy chuckled, “Grownups are weird,”
TD joined in the laughter, although still avoiding eye contact, “Tell me about it.”
“Why is that when they’re being loud, it’s fine. But when we’re being loud, it’s annoying!”
“I know right?” TD managed to make eye contact with the girl, “And why do they have to send us out of the room and say its important business. They’re shaving my dad’s face, not doing politics!”
“So true!” Kristy answered, “And don’t get me started on the ‘we do it for your own good’ speech they give you every single time you do something they do all the time.”
“That’s nothing,” TD exclaimed “compared to ‘we do it because we love you.’ How gullible do they think we are?”
Luna couldn’t help but want to chuckle at the children’s rather acute observations. Kristy was about to make another point when the door slammed open and Tobias raced out of the room with his hand covering his lower face.
The children looked inside the living room to find Margaret and Elise who were staring at the door from where Tobias left, blushing profusely.
“Margaret?” Elise began.
“Yes, Elise?” Margaret answered.
"Your husband's hot,"
“Thank you, Elise”
"Margaret?"
“Yes, Elise?”
“Congratulations”
“Thank you, Elise”
From the upper floor, everyone could hear Tobias’s frantic screams as he searched desperately for a mirror.
“My face! It looks horrible! It feels like rubber! It’s- not half bad actually.” He must have found a mirror somewhere.
Luna’s gaze went back to Kristy who stared right back at TD. There was a moment of silence before they both broke out into laughter.
That was when everything went white and Luna found herself in the elevator shortly afterwards.
“How was the memory?” elevator TD inquired once again.
“Thou hast a very colourful childhood,” Luna smiled at him and was surprised as he smiled as well.
“Best years of my life.”