Following Through
By Alaborn
Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein.
Chapter 2
“Twilight Sparkle, how many people know about what happened the last time I was here?” I kept my voice down, just loud enough for Twilight Sparkle to hear, as we walked around Ponyville.
The unicorn paused and considered my question. “Not many. Everypony that was there, of course; the researchers; and Princess Celestia probably informed high ranking members of the government. I know she ordered everypony involved not to speak about Discord’s plot.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I suspect she wants Discord to be reformed and freed.”
“WHAT?” I screamed. That got a lot of ponies to look our way. I looked away, and then stared at my hooves.
“Let’s talk,” Twilight Sparkle said as we walked down a dirt road.
“Harmony and discord are two of the eternal forces in Equestria,” Twilight Sparkle explained. “The first is represented through the princesses, and the second through the draconequus Discord. Both forces must be present in order to make the choice of harmony a meaningful one.
“Foals are taught to think of harmony and discord as two sides of the same coin, and one chooses one of the sides. It’s a simple to understand statement, but as you grow older, you see that it’s an incomplete representation of the world. There is a place for discord, in balance with harmony. When Rainbow Dash does one of her pranks, or Pinkie Pie surprises somepony with a party, they’re incorporating a hint of discord in their actions.
“I think a better way to understand it is to picture a balance, with separate coins representing harmony and discord. In the course of your life, you toss the coins of harmony into one pan, and the coins of discord into the other. There are two reasons to be wary of embracing discord. One, you do not weigh the coins of Discord; it is the pony affected by your actions that decides its weight. Two, Discord’s coins are weightier in general, so only a few can disrupt the balance, spilling all the coins.
“It’s only when you look closer at these coins that you see they still have two sides. The reverse of harmony is tyranny, and the reverse of discord is malice. You do not want to flip any of your coins, and that is a reason to shy away from discord, as disrupting the balance is the fastest route to disaster.
“So that brings us to Discord, the draconequus. When he freed himself and brought you humans here, he was dominated by malice. We, meaning the Elements of Harmony, thought there was something strange about this reappearance of Discord. Princess Celestia, on the other hoof, knew immediately that this Discord was corrupted. She knew he had to be permanently banished, and when I suggested sending him to a place without magic, she agreed.”
“Where is that? Somewhere in my world, right?” I said.
Twilight Sparkle nodded. “But discord is a fundamental force in Equestria. And as disharmony incarnate, Discord reformed, trapped once again in his original statue. But he’s now freed of malice. Princess Celestia is letting him stew, but she has dropped hints about how the time is coming for Discord’s power to be used for good.”
“You can’t be serious,” I said.
“I wish I were lying,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I learned long ago to place my trust in Princess Celestia, but if this is her plan, it worries me. It really does.”
“Do you think he’s responsible for bringing humans here this time?” I asked.
“As an act of malice, I believe the answer is no. If nothing else, you no longer have a negative effect on me. As an act of discord, possibly. I’m sure Discord will appreciate the effect you have on the world, but if he did do this, I don’t think Princess Celestia would hesitate to add a few decades to his imprisonment.”
“So, do you have any idea who else could be responsible?”
“Sorry, John. I don’t know.”
I looked up. We had arrived at a building, one I remembered. Its resemblance to a gingerbread house, and the heavenly aromas, were hard to forget. “Are we getting lunch?” I asked.
“We can if you want. But my primary reason for coming here is to talk to Pinkie Pie. She’s the mare you want to talk to if you want to find somepony, especially a new arrival to Ponyville!”
“Good idea,” I said. I remembered the party she threw for me, and that delicious cupcake I had later.
There was no party for me this time, however. The interior of the bakery resembled any other café or coffee shop, with tables and chairs arranged in the room, and baked goods in glass cases at the counter. I didn’t see the pink pony; rather, an older mare with a blue coat and pink mane was behind the counter.
“Oh, good morning, Twilight Sparkle! Would you and your friend like something to eat?” she asked.
Twilight Sparkle must have seen me drooling over the case, so she responded affirmatively. “I’ll take a blueberry muffin,” she said.
“And you?”
“Um, chocolate chip?” I said. I reached for my wallet, patting my hoof on my rump. That reminded me of two things. One, I wasn’t wearing pants; two, the money I brought was in the saddlebags I left at the library. I don’t even know if the money I brought changed to the gold coins they use here.
“Don’t worry, I got this,” Twilight Sparkle said, levitating three gold coins to the mare.
“Here you go, dearie,” the blue mare said, pushing two plates with muffins to Twilight Sparkle.
“Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie Pie here?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“She is, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to talk to her,” the blue mare replied.
Just then, a pink blur rushed out of the kitchen, a score of boxes balanced on her back. Somehow, none of them fell as she skidded across the floor. “Hey, Twilight! Can’t talk. Party! Gotta go!” And with that, Pinkie Pie was out the door.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Normally I’d say that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie, but....” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Oh, the poor dear got so upset when she couldn’t throw her parties,” the other mare said. “I think she’s just catching up.”
“Okay, Mrs. Cake,” Twilight Sparkle said. She calmly carried the muffins to a table in her magical aura.
I stared at her, dumbfounded, before taking a seat. “What was that all about?” I said.
“Now, I’m not sure what you saw in your vision, but for several days, Pinkie Pie was unable to exercise her special talent,” Twilight Sparkle said. “Given that, I’m inclined to let her go.”
“Couldn’t she spare a few minutes to talk to us?” I said.
“You’re not a pony, John. You don’t know what it’s like to be separated from your special talent. It’s one of the worst feelings a pony can experience,” she said.
“Okay,” I said quietly.
“Besides, we have lots of other friends we can talk to!”
“No, I haven’t seen anything unusual,” Rainbow Dash said.
“Are you sure?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Yes, I’m sure! Now, I’ve got a sky to clear.”
“I’m sorry I can’t help you, Twilight, dear,” Rarity said.
“Nothing’s happened? Really?” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Not at all. I’ve been swept up in inspiration ever since... that mare left.”
“Did she do anything when I was... indisposed?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Nothing beyond being an affront to good taste and common decency,” Rarity said. “But if something strange happened, you might consider talking to my sister. She and her little friends are very good at finding trouble. And tree sap.”
“Sorry, can’t help you there, sugarcube,” Applejack said.
“Are you sure?”
“Nothing’s been going around the farm,” she replied. “Not since we drove away that Trixie mare,” Applejack replied.
“Is there a reason we’re ignoring most of the ponies in town?” I asked.
“I thought it would be best to start with the ponies who were involved in your first trip here,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “There’s less to explain that way.”
“Then where are we headed now?” I asked. The apple orchard faded to grassland, bordered by a surprisingly creepy forest. I noticed Twilight Sparkle was keeping us a good distance from the forest.
“Fluttershy’s cottage. She’s the last of my friends who was involved in your past journey. She was also instrumental in helping me defeat Trixie’s plot.”
“Trixie? Is that the unicorn I saw?” I said, feigning ignorance.
“Yeah,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Would you mind telling me exactly what happened? I suspect my vision didn’t have all the details. In particular, how much time actually elapsed?”
“Trixie arrived in Ponyville on Thursday, and after telling everypony her tale, immediately challenged me to a magic duel. What I didn’t know is that she was in possession of a legendary artifact called the Alicorn Amulet. With its power, she easily bested me. She banished me, and placed a magical dome over Ponyville, sealing it off from the world. Even in that short encounter, I could see something wrong with her.
“I knew I needed to best her, and so I focused on learning a particular form of magic Trixie demonstrated, age magic. I knew the theory, but I had always thought that magic beyond even my talent. And it was true. I couldn’t create a permanent age change on a flower, let alone another pony.
“I sought shelter for the night with Zecora, a zebra who lives in the Everfree Forest, and she said she would train me. On Friday, I began my training, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Trixie did. Meanwhile, the ponies of Ponyville hunkered down, but my friends did some research, learning about the Alicorn Amulet, and how it would corrupt its user. And the only way to remove it was for its user to voluntarily remove it. Fluttershy was very brave, and her animal friends helped her sneak out, to inform me of what she learned.
“Once Saturday arrived, I was no closer to mastering the age spell, but something Zecora said reminded me that I had something more powerful than my magic. I had my friends. And I realized that with my friends’ help, and a few tricks borrowed from stage magic, I could fool Trixie.
“Fluttershy snuck back into Ponyville that morning, carrying the plan we worked out. And that afternoon, I returned to Ponyville, boldly proclaiming to Trixie that I possessed a magical amulet more powerful than her own, with magic from beyond the Everfree Forest. It worked. We had ourselves another duel.
“With the power of my amulet, I demonstrated mastery of age magic. I also duplicated a pony and changed a pony’s sex. Once Trixie saw that, she had to steal my amulet, and that meant taking off the Alicorn Amulet. Rainbow Dash snatched it up, it was secreted away, and Equestria is safe again.”
“How long ago was that?” I asked.
“Two days ago. Today is Monday,” Twilight Sparkle replied.
“Looking around town, I didn’t see any sign of all that,” I said. “So what happened afterward?”
“Everypony came out of hiding, and the town celebrated. And then we got to work. We worked late into the night, and through the next day, repairing any damages caused by Trixie, so that Ponyville would be ready for the arrival of Princess Celestia and the delegates from Saddle Arabia.” She sighed. “That was a lot of work.”
“Seriously? Everyone just worked? They were all back to normal after... after that happened?” I said.
“A lot of strange things happen in Ponyville. Granted, this was one of the worst; ponies don’t often see malice at work firsthoof. But from the ponies I talked to, they all took solace that, even if we couldn’t stop Trixie, Princess Celestia would. And in coming together to rebuild the town, everypony felt the magic of harmony, which is the best cure for something like this.”
“I just can’t understand that. There’s a lot in this world that seems familiar, but then you talk about this magic of harmony, and I’m reminded just out of place I am,” I said.
“If there’s one lesson I learned from your past visit, it’s that you humans feel harmony in a different way than ponies,” Twilight Sparkle stated.
Twilight Sparkle let us closer to the forest. I spotted a cottage up ahead, which I remembered from my past visit. There was a chicken coop and multiple bird feeders, and plenty of paw prints to suggest that this was a haven for all sorts of animals. But for now, the cottage was quiet.
Twilight Sparkle knocked on the door. “Fluttershy? Are you there?”
We heard some shuffling before the door opened. The door was a split door, something I think I’ve only seen in old cartoons. And Fluttershy opened only the top half. “Oh, hi, Twilight,” she said quietly.
“Hi, Fluttershy,” she replied. “Can we come in?”
“Of course. You’re always welcome,” Fluttershy said, opening the other half of the door. Then she noticed me. “Oh!” she said, stepping back.
“You remember John? One of our... visitors from earlier this year?” Twilight Sparkle said.
“Hi,” I uttered quickly. I probably could have handled that more smoothly.
Fluttershy extended her hoof, in what I hoped was their equivalent of a handshake. She looked nervous, and I recalled how the magic that brought me here prevented her from feeling kindness in my presence. But Twilight Sparkle was unaffected, so hopefully, that extended to Fluttershy.
My hoof touched her, and we shook. Fluttershy beamed, and flew forward, grabbing me in a hug. “Oh, I’m so sorry that I was not nice to you before.”
I stepped out of the embrace as soon as possible, knowing nothing about propriety here. “There’s no need to apologize,” I said. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes. It was the fault of that meanie Discord.” She pouted cutely.
“While I’d be happy to reminisce, Fluttershy, we’re here because we may have a problem. There’s another incidence of portals dragging ponies from John’s world, and we need to find them.”
“I suspect a friend of mine came through the same portal as me, but earlier. The problem is, I don’t know what he looks like,” I explained. “Have you seen anyone new, around my age?”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t. I have been, you know, a little distracted recently.”
“John also thinks that another pony from his world came here, one of the ones we met in spring,” Twilight Sparkle added.
“A red pegasus, with tricolored hair? Have you seen her?”
I heard a thump from upstairs. My eyes went to the stairs.
“Do you have a guest visiting? Did we interrupt you?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“Um, not really. It’s not that.” Fluttershy paused, and spoke again, louder. “It’s safe to come down. These are friends.”
Another pegasus came down the stairs, stepping cautiously, as if not used to navigating stairs on four legs. I certainly recognized her; that punk mane was distinctive.
“Bobbie!” I called.
She looked at me curiously. “Wait, I’ve seen you before,” Bobbie said. She pressed her hoof to her forehead. “Sorry, I can’t remember your name,” she added.
“John Lockhart, human from Indianapolis. We met for the first time at a party. It was in a barn,” I said.
“I think I remember that. Sorry, but when you spend thirty years desperately trying to forget something, details like names tend to be forgotten,” Bobbie explained. “Oh, what’s the date where you came from? It was December 2012 when I left.”
“Same here. I was hoping to find you when I returned here,” I said.
“Wait, how did you know I came back?” Bobbie asked.
“I recognized you from the cartoon,” I admitted.
“Cartoon? You couldn’t possibly mean the one my granddaughter was watching, right?”
“Wait, what cartoon?” Twilight Sparkle interjected. “I thought you said you had a vision.”
“Hold on. Bobbie, the answer to your question is yes,” I said. “And Twilight Sparkle, it was a vision, in a way. It will be a lot easier to explain once we find my friend Jason.” I can only assume he has the whole series on his phone.
“No! We have to find Amber!” Bobbie said.
“We’ll find her,” Fluttershy said. “Don’t worry; I know she’s safe.”
“How?”
“Nopony in Equestria would let a foal come to harm,” Twilight Sparkle said. “But we’re dealing with magic of an unknown sort. Before we go dashing off, we need a plan.”
“I think it would be helpful to talk about how you got here,” I suggested. I motioned to the couch in Fluttershy’s cozy living room.
“All right,” Bobbie said. She sat down, trying to find a comfortable position.
“I’ll make tea,” Fluttershy volunteered.
I noticed Twilight Sparkle was seated and ready, with a scroll and quill in her aura. I copied her posture, and despite sitting like a dog would, it felt right.
“Okay,” Bobbie began. “It was a normal Saturday morning. I was doing chores while Amber watched cartoons. I left the room to make lunch when that cartoon came on, so I didn’t see what happened. It was early, maybe around the first commercial break. All the lights in the apartment dimmed, and I heard this strange buzzing noise. I went to see what it was, and there was this huge green buzzing light surrounding my television. And Amber was missing! I looked around, but she was nowhere to be found.”
“Was it a spherical portal? And how big?” Twilight Sparkle interrupted.
“Yes, and this big,” Bobbie said, stretching her forelegs. Twilight Sparkle looked at me, and I nodded; it sounded like the one I saw.
“And when I tried to look closer at the light, it pulled me in, and I was back here. Even worse, I was trapped in a city in a bottle! My worst fear was for this to happen again,” Bobbie said, waving her forelegs. “And somehow, it got worse!”
“Bobbie found my cottage not long afterward, and I begged her to come inside,” Fluttershy said. “I didn’t recognize her at first. While she looked familiar, she also looked like somepony from outside of town, and I didn’t want Trixie to hear about somepony finding her way into Ponyville after she put up her barrier.
“She also told me about Amber. I understood her fears, but I had to put my hoof down. Going out to look for her, while mad Trixie was around, was not a good idea. I asked my animal friends to look for a lost filly, because I knew Trixie wouldn’t notice them.”
“I take it they found no sign of her?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “And when I went to find you, Twilight Sparkle, I begged Bobbie to stay in my home, where my animal friends could protect her.” She looked at Bobbie. “Did you stay?”
“I did!” Bobbie said. But Fluttershy continued to stare, and Bobbie wilted. “I stayed until you came back. When you left to face Trixie, that was my chance to search for Amber.”
“And you didn’t find her either?” I said.
“No. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I thought I’d know,” Bobbie said.
“We did have all of yesterday to look for her, as we helped repair Ponyville. And this morning, I flew around town, looking for an unfamiliar filly. I first asked Pinkie Pie, but she was so busy with her parties. Then I looked on my own, but I didn’t find anypony.”
“We also tried asking Pinkie Pie,” Twilight Sparkle said.
“I don’t get it. What’s so special about Pinkie Pie?” asked Bobbie.
“She knows everypony in Ponyville,” Fluttershy said.
“And she always throws a party for every new arrival,” Twilight Sparkle added.
“What are we waiting for? We need to talk to her!” Bobbie said.
“That would be difficult, given how busy she is,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I don’t think we’ll be able to talk to her until she’s settled down.”
“My granddaughter is missing! What if she’s hurt?”
“I trust that somepony’s keeping her safe,” Fluttershy said.
“I’m willing to spend as much time as needed to find her,” I said. “I’m looking for someone else, too.”
“Or we could, you know, talk to Pinkie at the party,” Fluttershy said quietly.
I looked at the shy pegasus. In her hoof, she held a stack of multicolored envelopes, like the ones that come with greeting cards. Each of them had a stamp of three balloons on it.
“Of course!” Twilight Sparkle shouted. “Um, which party?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to open them. They must have just arrived.”
Fluttershy opened one of the invitations, a slow process using hooves and teeth. Twilight Sparkle handled it much faster with her magic, and went through the invitations, reading them quickly. She was probably a speed reader.
“A ‘sorry-I-missed-your-birthday’ party for Truffle Shuffle. A ‘sorry-I-missed-your-anniversary’ party for Blue Chip and Lavender Wisp. A ‘sorry-I-missed-your-welcome-to-Ponyville’ party for Stone Arch. A ‘sorry-your-bed-got-turned-into-Trixie’s-chariot’ party for Filthy Rich,” Twilight Sparkle recited.
“Is there one for Amber?” Bobbie asked.
Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Last time, the portals opened in several cities,” I reminded everyone. “I think we should act as if Amber is here, but there’s always the possibility....”
“Don’t say that,” Bobbie said.
“I find it curious that there’s nothing for you here,” Twilight Sparkle said. “No welcome back to Ponyville party? Why is that?”
“Actually, I hope we can get home before that,” I said.
“No wonder poor Pinkie is so busy,” Fluttershy said, looking at the pile of invitations. “She has three parties every evening for the rest of the week!”
“Which one is earliest?” I asked.
“The late birthday party for Primrose,” Twilight Sparkle said. “It’s today at 5:00 PM.”
I looked at the invitation. It listed the date, strangely enough, as December 3, which is tomorrow’s date, from my perspective, and a Monday, like Twilight Sparkle said. Is that more of the translation magic?
“That gives us four hours to search,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I’m convinced that if we put our minds to it, and put together a plan, we can find your granddaughter, Bobbie. But we need to do something more than walk around the town aimlessly.”
“What would happen, on a normal day, if someone in town found a child without her guardian?” I asked.
“First, I’d help her find her guardians. But if I couldn’t, I’d take her someplace safe. To the guard post, or maybe Town Hall,” Fluttershy said.
“That’s what I would expect,” I said. “But it wasn’t a normal day. Let’s make the assumption that Amber did come to Ponyville, and it was while Trixie was doing her crazy thing. What would you do then?”
“I wouldn’t want evil Trixie to see her,” Fluttershy said.
“I think hiding her, to keep her safe, would be a reasonable decision, even if it’s not the decision I necessarily would have made,” Twilight Sparkle said. “But once things were back to normal, yesterday morning at the latest, I would have looked for the authorities.”
“So what kind of pony would step in to help a child, and then not talk to the authorities?” I asked.
“That would seem to be a foolish thing to do,” Fluttershy said.
“But who would be both helpful and foolish?” Twilight Sparkle wondered.
The two ponies looked at each other. “The Crusaders,” they said simultaneously.
“Who?” Bobbie said.
“They’re a group of three fillies with big hearts and a propensity for causing mayhem,” Twilight Sparkle replied. “And I know just where we should start looking.”
Bobbie jumped to her hooves. “Then let’s go!”
Twilight Sparkle, Bobbie, and I left Fluttershy’s cottage. She said she had to see to her animals, but she did open her home to both Bobbie and her granddaughter, once she was found. Our route looked to be retracing our steps.
“So, uh, Bobbie, how have you been?” I asked.
“I’ve been living a quiet life, or at least I was, until three days ago. It’s nothing like my life was back, what is it, thirty-two years ago?”
“Yeah, hearing you talk about your granddaughter was a bit of a shock,” I said.
“It’s been so long since I’ve thought about those days,” Bobbie said. “Back then, the scene was dying. I just hadn’t noticed. Some bands went pop. Many of the fans moved to following new wave music. I couldn’t stand either. I started to drift away. I was twenty-one, and I felt like a geezer. But looking back, I wonder if it was just me growing up, realizing that I couldn’t keep crashing on floors for the rest of my life.
“I stopped dying my hair and let it grow out. I did secretarial work, and later became a paralegal. I actually did those correspondence courses you saw advertised on TV,” she said with a chuckle.
I just stared at her blankly.
“Right. Before your time,” Bobbie quickly noted. “I was married, briefly, but for most of the time, it was just me and my daughter, in a little apartment in Brooklyn. Amber came along six years ago, and I helped Jennifer raise her. They moved out two years ago, and I thought she turned her life around but....”
“What is it?” Twilight Sparkle asked.
“My daughter is... she has issues,” Bobbie finally answered. “I gained custody of Amber in October. And not more than a week later, we were forced out of our home by Superstorm Sandy. Her life was already disrupted, and then we had to move to one of my old coworkers’ home. We were fortunate, in that we were only gone for a week.”
Bobbie slowly inhaled and exhaled. “All I want is for Amber to be safe, and right now, I’m failing at that.”
“You’re not failing. We’re doing everything we can to help her,” Twilight Sparkle said.
I noticed we were heading back to the apple orchard. But we turned off the path, walking among the trees. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“If there’s one place where the Crusaders could hide a filly without an adult noticing, it’s their clubhouse,” Twilight Sparkle explained.
My ears twitched, moving of their own accord to track a strange sound. It was a high-pitched buzzing, which soon was joined by the crunching of branches and dead leaves. Someone was out here.
“Is it safe?” Bobbie asked.
“It should be,” Twilight Sparkle said.
Right after she said that, we almost got run over by an orange blur. “Coming through!” a girl’s voice said. I got the barest glimpse of a scooter, which the filly was propelling solely with her wings. She curved around us and accelerated, heading back, in the direction we were heading.
We picked up our pace, arriving just in time to see the young pegasus fly up a ramp. She kicked the scooter with a hoof, twisting it around like a freestyle motocross biker, before landing safely, kicking up a cloud of dust and leaves.
“That was awesome!” another girl said, accompanied by what I guessed was applause. It sounded like hooves clapping.
The filly on the scooter waved her forelegs. “Hide!” she hissed.
Twilight Sparkle smiled at the filly, a smile that was friendly but also said you’re busted. “I’d like to meet your new friend, Scootaloo,” she said.
All eyes went to the tree house nestled amongst the branches of a large apple tree. I remembered seeing this structure on my last trip here. But I also remembered seeing it yesterday, when I was watching... I mean doing research. It was just as bright and vivid in “real life” as in the cartoon, but there were many more details visible. For example, I could see where newer lumber had patched holes in the older, weathered planks.
This other girl leaned out the window of the tree house and waved. “Hi, Twilight!” she said enthusiastically. She was also a pegasus, looking a few years younger than Scootaloo, with a golden coat and orange mane. In fact, her coat color looked a lot like the color of....
“Amber?” Bobbie said.
The filly looked at Bobbie with a confused expression. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers,” she said.
“Amber, this is your grandma.”
The little filly looked perplexed, and adorably so. “Gramma?”
“Amber Marie Parker, you come down here right this minute!”
Amber came down the ramp, answering, as all children do, to the power of the almighty middle name. As soon as she reached the ground, Bobbie scooped her up and hugged her tightly. “I’ve been worried sick about you,” she said.
“It’s okay. I played with the Crusaders, and we had a sleepover, and they kept me safe from the mean mare!”
“No, it’s not okay. I have to get you home safely.”
“But I don’t want this to end!” Amber said.
“End?”
“This is my best dream ever!”
Twilight Sparkle stepped up. “It’s not going to end yet, Amber. You still get to meet Fluttershy!”
The filly jumped in the air. “Yay!”
“Bobbie?” Twilight Sparkle said, motioning her closer.
“Yes?”
“Do you know the way back?” she said quietly.
“Walk with the dark forest to my left, but don’t go in it,” Bobbie replied.
“Right. Now, I’ve already sent a message to Canterlot, and our top unicorns are already working on the way to send you home. I hope it will be quicker than last time, because we’ve done it before. We’ll contact you when we know something,” Twilight Sparkle said. “And could you talk to your granddaughter? See if she can tell you anything more about the portal that appeared in your apartment. We still don’t know why this all happened.”
“Okay. I’d like to know what happened, because I don’t want it to come here ever again,” Bobbie said. “No offense.”
“I can understand. I shudder to think what would happen if I went to your world,” Twilight Sparkle said.
Bobbie rejoined her granddaughter. Amber said something I couldn’t hear, and then Bobbie kneeled down, and Amber climbed onto her back. I waved as they departed.
“Ugh. Finally!” Scootaloo said, throwing her forelegs in the air.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Twilight Sparkle asked her. “How did you meet little Amber?”
“It was the first day when Trixie showed up, right? We were crusading out here, and we saw that weird dome appear overhead. Applejack came back, and told us what happened,” Scootaloo said. “We kind of decided we wanted to stick together, and Applejack said yes, but said no leaving Sweet Apple Acres, and stay away from Trixie. So she went and told Rarity and my parents, and we were stuck here, bored.
“Then, around evening, we heard somepony approach. We hid in the clubhouse, worried it was Trixie, but when we peeked out, we saw that little filly. And she walked right up to the tree house! She was, like, really happy to see us, bouncing up and down like Pinkie Pie after twenty cupcakes. It was kind of hard to figure out what she was saying, but we gathered that she was here on her own, and appeared after the dome! Both of which said we didn’t want Trixie to find out. And so we decided to be Cutie Mark Crusader foal protectors.” She glanced back at her flank. “Didn’t work.”
She shuffled her hooves. “So, for part of the time, it was like having a little sister tagging along, but she was way more annoying than even my little brothers. And when Fluttershy came and got Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom for your plan, she got worse! She wanted to see all my tricks, and ride my scooter with me, and then she wanted to learn to ride it like me, and use her wings like me! I mean, I like showing off, but not that much!”
“So you’ve learned what it’s like to have a little fan? One who wants to be like you? One who always wants to be around you?” Twilight Sparkle observed.
“Yeah! It was a pain!” Scootaloo looked down. “Am I like that to Rainbow Dash?”
“The best way to learn that is to talk to her. It’s good to be a fan, but don’t overdo it,” Twilight Sparkle said. “I think somepony’s learned a valuable lesson about friendship.”
“Aww. Do I have to write a letter?”
“I think Princess Celestia would love to hear from you, Scootaloo,” she replied. “Now, I think it’s time you headed home. And I’m going to talk to your parents. You did good to keep Amber safe, but this was a situation where you should have talked to an adult, as soon as Trixie was gone.”
“Okay, Twilight,” Scootaloo said. She took off on her scooter, looking a lot less enthusiastic after being chided by Twilight Sparkle.
Once the sound of Scootaloo’s wings faded, I spoke. “You didn’t want to tell her the truth about Amber?”
“Until we know what’s going on, I’d like to keep the knowledge about other worlds hidden,” Twilight Sparkle said. “If Princess Celestia wants to reveal you to the world, she will. But it’s her call.”
“Okay.” I reached for my pocket, again remembering I wasn’t wearing clothes. “What time is it?”
Twilight Sparkle glanced at the sky. “A bit after two o’clock,” she replied.
“Great. That gives us some time to look for Jason.” I started walking, hoping that I remembered the direction back to town.
“Wait.” Twilight Sparkle’s voice was firm and full of authority. I stopped, mid-step.
“Yes?”
“Before we leave, I want you to tell me something. How was it that Amber didn’t recognize her own grandmother, yet she recognized me?”
Oh, this is just wonderful.