//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - The Strange Filly // Story: A Child of Kindness and Laughter // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 2 The Strange Filly ___________________________________________________________ “Pinkie!” Twilight grumbled as her friend pushed her through the brush leading to the Castle of the two Pony Sisters. She was still trying to figure out how she’d been lying in her bed one moment, then walking through the Everfree with Pinkie shoving her and Fluttershy staying close to them both. If this was a dream, she’d be having words with Luna. “Just what in Equestria makes you think pulling me from my bed this late at night to go into the Everfree is such a good idea?! And quit shoving, I’m walking, alright?” Pinkie nodded, pulling back and began bouncing alongside the Alicorn. “Fluttershy and I were looking around in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters after I got a Doozy. We didn’t stay long, because she mentioned that if a big monster or something was the Doozy, then having you and the other girls around would be a smarter idea than going at it alone. But then this weird scuttling sound started and Fluttershy went “AH!” and grabbed me and flew us back to Ponyville. But I noticed clouds forming around the Everfree near where the castle is and knew there hadn’t been any before and even the Everfree isn't that random with its weather, so I went to your castle, grabbed you out of bed and then we came here so you can figure out what might’ve happened.” Despite everything she knew about how much Pinkie was an insult to scientific reason, she still questioned how in Celestia’s name Pinkie said all that in one breath? It did not make sense and her brain demanded she find a logical explanation, despite her knowing searching for one would be a fruitless endeavour on her part. Then one particular part of what Pinkie said registered with the Alicorn, causing her eyes to widen. “A Doozy? You had a Doozy?!” Pinkie gave a few rapid nods. “Yeperioni. I was just about to go to bed, but first I decided to get a glass of warm chocolate milk. As I was drinking it, I started shuddering, only a little less this time than when I first got a Doozy for you believing in the Pinkie Sense.” “Somehow that doesn’t make me feel any better,” Twilight muttered uncertainly as they entered the entrance hall of the castle. At once Twilight winced. There was a resonance of recently activated powerful magic around the castle, making her horn itch. She strode in, her mind focused on finding the source of the magic. Her search led her to the throne room, where the impact of the magic was strongest. What confused her was it felt a bit like Luna’s magic... only different somehow. Frowning, she used another scrying spell, this time trying to find where whatever had caused this magical disturbance to occur. At once the spell started pulling her in a direction that caused her to raise an eyebrow. They’d repaired that particular area of the castle only a bit a few days ago. It was the chambers where Celestia, Luna and several nobles used to sleep. “Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy whispered as she and Pinkie followed their friend up the stairs, Pinkie bouncing all the way. “Should... should we be worried?” “I don’t know,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “Something’s weird about the magic I’m sensing. I can’t quite put my hoof on why though.” “Maybe a creature from another dimension came using the magic laying dormant in the castle and, when it saw it was night time, decided to go to sleep, but wanted to sleep in a real bed instead of on the cold, hard rocky floor?” Pinkie said, giving an extra large bounce as she finished her sentence. Twilight was about to disagree, but, knowing the magic of the forest and what remained in the castle after Celestia banished Nightmare Moon and then again after they defeated her, not to mention the magical residue from when the Tree of Harmony was given the Elements back and when the magic that grew her castle had been released, she decided against it. Pinkie might not be too far off. After several minutes of walking through the castle’s many hallways, they came to a stop outside of a bedroom. It wasn’t Celestia or Luna’s but one for the princes and princess under them. Just who, Twilight couldn’t tell, seeing as the symbol of their family crest had worn away with time. “Okay, girls,” she said, looking back at the two ponies. “Get ready. We don’t know what’s in there, but we’ll face it together.” Fluttershy give a squeak, while Pinkie gave a vicious nod, before shouting, “CHARGE!” and rushed forward, pulling the two of them with her as she bashed down the door. As the door came down a loud, young scream rang out and a creature leapt from the nearest bed, standing against the wall the head of the bed was against. Twilight, after pushing herself up from the floor and the light of her horn was cast upon the creature, stared with wide eyes and an open jaw. The creature seemed bipedal, it was standing on two legs. As she looked, she couldn't help noticing it almost looked like the humans from Sunset Shimmer’s world... only they also looked like a pony, and not in the way she and her human friends did when their magic in that world activated. This creature’s body was covered in fur the same colour as Fluttershy. She noted that it had wings that she could just make out, shivering behind the creature’s back and that, while also the same colour as Fluttershy’s, had the lower feathers coloured pink, more akin to the colour of Pinkie’s fur. She had what appeared to be a pony snout, identifying her as a pony and, while she had hands like humans did, instead of feet, she had hooves. Twilight was quite shocked to see there was a horn at the top of the creature’s head, which, if it was a pony, since it had wings as well, it meant it was an Alicorn. However, what truly rooted Twilight to the spot were the creature’s eyes as they stared back at her with pure, unadulterated fear. They were not shaped like a normal pony’s. The turquoise irises, which should have had round pupils, like all other ponies, save the Theastrals, instead were dagger-shaped. Instead of whites in her eyes around the irises, they were more of a light-blue. Not only that, they were eyes Twilight had seen very closely several times, both on her first day in Ponyville and also when she had seen into the past the night Celestia used the Elements of Harmony against her younger sister. They were the eyes of Nightmare Moon. However, though Twilight’s mind latched onto this possibly being Nightmare Moon, the strangely shaped pony’s next reaction caused her to falter. Whereas, if this were indeed Nightmare Moon she would likely have cursed out loud before trying to make an escape, the being standing on the bed dropped to her knees, then to her behind, putting her head in her hands and began... sobbing? While Twilight was stunned into another stillness by this, Fluttershy, being the kind mare she always is, hurried forward to comfort the oddly shaped creature. ___________________________________________________________ 1 HOUR AGO I sigh as I make me way through the castle, confused at first as to why some parts don’t seem as ruined as they used to be, before I remember the Power Ponies episode back in Season 4. “The Mane Six must still work on fixing this place up every now and then,” I think out loud. Being the only one who can talk nearby right now, hearing my new voice, as unsettling as it is to hear it coming from my own mouth, is better than the silence of the night. Well, silence is a relative term. Ever since I started searching the castle the sounds of the forest have me on edge. I can swear I heard the distant sound of howling at one point, my brain locking onto Timberwolves and hoping against all there is that I don’t run into any either tonight or when I go out tomorrow to try and find Ponyville. Sure, I’ve turned into an Alicorn. But I’m just filly and have only been an Alicorn for less than half an hour, so using magic to defend myself or my new wings to fly away weren’t options I could rely on if the worst happened. Not to mention I feel more scared than I know I should, even considering the circumstances. My only theory being that, since I’m now in the body of a five to six-year-old, maybe my mind is starting to slightly think like one. A bit more searching and I finally find a bedroom I can use that doesn’t look like I might catch something if I slept in the bed. I crawl onto it and getting under the covers. They’re a bit thin, but will do for now. I close my eyes and lie there, waiting for sleep to take me and trying to ignore the sounds of the forest outside. NOW I yelp as I’m jerked awake and by the sound someone shouting “CHARGE!” followed loud crashing sound and leap up out of the covers, pressing my back against the wall the head of the bed’s against, staring with wide eyes. Three figures are standing before me at the entrance to room, the door to which has literally been knocked down. Well, one of them is standing. The other two are in the process of getting up from where they’d fallen after the door came down. All three seem to be on four legs. My mind jumps to the Timberwolves I heard before going to bed as one of them leans it’s head up to look at me. I don’t keep my eyes open, shutting them quickly and slumping down on the bed until I’m in a sitting position and start to cry as I put my head in my hands. Really? This is how I go out, as an anthropometric Alicorn lunch for a pile of living wood? I’m suddenly feeling something I hadn’t expected. A warm body holding my own. As I try to control my sobs to understand this, I hear a voice talking to me. “Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay. Don’t worry. We’re not here to hurt youm” the voice is soft and soothing... and one I’ve heard before. I fall into the embrace, holding onto the one holding me tightly. After what feels like a long time, I managed to stop crying, only a few tears trickling down my muzzle. The room is now lit by torches positioned around the walls that I hadn’t seen when I came in to sleep. The ones who had busted the door down turned out to be Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy, the latter of which is sitting next to me as I sit on the bed, leaning over to nuzzle me every few moments. It's comforting, for reason, feeling her do so. Twilight is pacing back and forth on the floor, her face a frown as she thinks. I’d managed to tell them everything I could, though I’d noticed her giving me sceptical looks from time to time as I spoke. Though, I chocked that up to that, for some reason, whenever I tried to talk about where I really came from beyond saying "another world" or my age, I'd for some unknown reason get tongue-tied and just trail off, probably sounding like a little child making things up as they go along and running out of things to say. It was only when Pinkie said, and I quote “She’s just not sure to believe you because you’ve got Black Snooty’s eyes” that I understood the main reason why the Princess of Friendship was treating me like a suspect in a crime as well as learning what my eyes looked like. Though, personally, I think I would’ve chosen to not have Nightmare Moon’s eyes if I could have. I can only see that causing problems for me later on. “So, you really have no idea why you’re in our world, or why you look like you do and have Nightmare Moon’s eyes?” the Alicorn asked once she’d finally stopped pacing and turned to look at me. I look down, nodding. Not only is it confusing that I’ve turned into an anthro pony, but the colour of my mane and fur didn’t make sense when I had the infamous Mare in the Moon’s eyes. The only thing that told me was that, since I’d found myself in the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters’ throne room, where Twilight and her friends had defeated Nightmare back in episode two, maybe some of Nightmare’s lingering magic that was left behind had merged with me when I arrived here. The how and why, though, I don’t understand and my brain threatened to go on strike if I even tried. Twilight frowns, rubbing her head with a hoof. The fact that I’m anthro, while they’re quadrupeds hasn’t missed my attention, though that will only makes things more complicated as far as I’m concerned. “So, where will she stay?” all three of us turn in surprise at Fluttershy’s words. She hides behind her mane for a moment, before coming back out and looking to me. “You can’t stay here by yourself. You’re just a filly.” She looks to Twilight again. “Should she stay with you, Twilight? You are an Alicorn, so you’d be able to understand her better than either of us.” Twilight frowns again, before looking to me, her horn lighting with her magic. I winced as I feel her magic envelop me but notice I only feel an odd tingling. When it fades, Twilight’s eyes are wide as saucepans and her mouth is hanging wide open. “Careful, Princess,” I begin saying without realizing it, “you might catch flies like that.” The lavender mare startles, before Pinkie bursts out laughing and rolls around on the floor, holding her sides. “Catch flies! That’s hilarious.” “It... wasn’t that funny,” I mutter, wondering why I’d just blurted out something like that. Twilight seems to recover, giving her head a quick shake. She closes her eyes and does the breathing technique Cadance taunt her. The Brony inside me squees at seeing it in person, but I try to maintain a normal expression. Twilight then blushes, looking anywhere but at the other two ponies. “Um, girls? This is a little... strange to say the least.” I cock my head. What’s she talking about? Fluttershy mirrors my movements. “What’s so strange, Twilight?” Twilight sighs, then begins pawing at the ground. “I cast a spell to test her magic and, while I detected only the smallest traces of Nightmare Moon’s magic, confirming the theory that this filly isn’t her, but was create using the remnants of her magic... it also told me something... I honestly hadn’t expected.” I smirk. “What, Twilight? Are you gonna say that Fluttershy and Pinkie are my parents because of my mane and coat colours?” There is a dead silence, broken only by the sounds outside the castle. My breath catches in my throat, before I deadpan. “You’re kidding? You’re kidding, right?” Twilight slowly shakes her head. “I... don’t understand how and, seeing as Pinkie’s involved, I’m not even sure I wanna know—” “Hey!” Pinkie said in an annoyed tone, though her wide smile didn’t make if very believable. “—but, somehow, you share both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie’s DNA as well as a combination of their inner magics, like children do their parents.” I just stare at her, my turquoise eyes wide. “But... how?” She shook her head. “I may be the pony who bore of the Element of Magic, but that doesn’t mean I know everything there is to know about magic. Whatever caused you to come to our world, it also fused you with Fluttershy and Pinkie’s DNA, the how, where and why their DNA was present when you arrived I have no idea. Now, while some might speculate that this merely makes you some kind of clone or that you now just share their genetics with them, the spell identified you as their offspring. Also, it specified your age at a little more than five years.” I am about to say “Well, maybe you’re spell is wrong” but stop myself. I know from the show that it wouldn’t end well with, at least, my getting a day long lecture on the workings on the spell or, at worst, Twilight going as crazy, if not more so, than in Lesson Zero. Neither options appeals to me. So, instead, I merely nod to show my lack of resistance. Fluttershy and Pinkie are, understandably, just staring at me, dumbfounded. “D-d-daughter?” Fluttershy stutters, her eyes holding something I’d seen in her eyes whenever she spoke about the Breezies in the show. “I have a d-d-d-daughter?” While Fluttershy’s reaction is one thing, Pinkie’s is making me nervous. She had frozen in the air, mid-bounce, thus defying the laws of gravity for the umpteenth time, her face a blank expression. For the usually overly active mare I know from the show, and since meeting her, this is really unnerving. I don’t get much of a chance to think further on that train of thought, though, as Fluttershy pulls me into a tight, yet warm hug and nuzzles my cheek affectionately. “I have a daughter!” she cheers, which is more like the “Yays” she gave during the episode Sonic Rainboom. This somehow snaps Pinkie out... whatever it was she was stuck in and the sound of one of her party cannons goes off, the room filling with confetti, before she hugs me from the other side, sandwhiching me between the two of them. “Can oi breaf, peash?” I say from between them. They pull back a little, but keep holding me. Well, this is certainly going to be an interesting experience. When I get back to Earth, it’ll sure make an interesting story.