Macinplums 2: Mac Again

by Iggypots

Window Love

Sugarplum looked over the pages of letters arranged on her desk. Most were covered in her mother's chicken-scratch, while the others had her father's simple, straight handwriting Every week, Twilight had sent letters back and forth between her and her parents. The desk was almost covered by several months of correspondence She picked up one at random, and read about how her brother was doing in school. She picked up another, and read her mother saying how happy she was to know she was alive. She ran her finger along a few spots where the page had been damaged by drops of liquid. She looked at, but didn't touch, one that was half-burned three months ago when Twilight made a slight miscalculation in her spell. Twilight had been so upset at her error that Sugarplum hugged her tightly and whispered reassurances to her.

She heard the front door open and Mac's voice greeting Twilight in the living room. His heavy hoofsteps were muffled by her carpet as he walked into her study.

“Almost time, eh?” he asked, before giving her a quick kiss.

She nodded. “Thanks for coming, Mac. I really need someone there with me.” She returned to looking over the letters. “It'll be our first time seeing each other. I mean, seeing my parents after so long...” She took a deep breath. “I need someone there to hold me up.”

“I reckon it'll be hard, not being able to touch them.” Mac's tone was gentle. He nuzzled her shoulder.

She reached up to stroke his cheek. “Yeah. But Twilight has gotten this far; I'm sure she'll figure out a way.”

A softer set of hoofsteps walked up to the doorway, and Twilight poked her head in.

Sugarplum smiled. “Speak of the Devil.”

“Well, I've double-checked my calculations, and I've double-checked the doublechedoublecheck,” said Twilight. “Then I triple-checked. I think we're as ready as we'll ever be.”

Sugarplum nodded. “We'll be there in a moment, Twilight.” After her friend went back into the living room, she looked her coltfriend in the eye. “Hey Mac? I got to tell you something.”

“Eh?”

“I uh, haven't told my folks about you. I mean, I've told them about you, just not about us...”

“Ah,” was all he said.

“I just couldn't figure out the best way to tell them.” She smiled sheepishly. “I will eventually, though. I think today wouldn't be very good, though. I mean, we'll all be taking in a lot as it is. I can't just say 'By the way, Mac is my boyfriend.' Can I?”

He kissed her cheek. “Do what ya think best. But ya will have to tell them one day.”

“Yeah.” She stood up. “Well, let's do it.”

They followed Twilight into the living room, where a gold-framed mirror was set up in front of the couch. It was shaped like an oval set on its side, and wide enough that two humans could stand comfortably side-by-side in front of it. Crystals of various size and color were embedded in the frame. Mac and Sugarplum sat on the couch that faced the mirror.

Twilight took her place off to their left. “Remember, I'll only be able to keep this open about an hour. Ready when you are.”

Sugarplum gave Mac's fetlock a squeeze before folding her hands in her lap. A quick look at the clock showed the time to be quarter after one. She looked to Twilight and nodded.

“Here goes.” Twilight's horn started to glow brightly, its normal purple tint fading into white. Her eyes squinted in concentration as sparks snapped from the tip. Finally, she reared her head back and slung it forward, shooting her spell into the glass.

The mirror's surface took on a flame-like glow, obscuring the reflection. The yellow haze retreated to the frame, where it held steady. The mirror now showed a scene that was somewhat similar. Two figures were seated on a couch in a living room, but the new room's décor was wood paneling and the couch was a red floral design, as opposed to Sugarplum's yellow walls and orange couch. The first figure was a slim, fit man with thinning brown hair, and the other a sandy-blond, worn-looking woman.

Tears blurred Sugarplum's vision as she finally laid eyes on her parents. Despite Twilight having told them they'd be unable to breach the mirror, both she and her parents rushed up from their seats to press hands and faces against it, in some hope of contact. The next several minutes were a bit fuzzy for them, as they poured out their love and relief to each other. When finally they were spent, they simply looked at each other, hands pressed together against the glass.

Mac came forward and gently nudged her back to the couch. She was surprised by how drained she was, and leaned on his neck for support as she sat heavily on the couch. She looked up and saw that her father had lead her mother back to their couch.

After they collected themselves, her mother spoke first. “Its so good to see you, honey.”

Sugarplum could say nothing; that she felt the same way went without saying. She simply nodded and wiped her eye.

Her father nodded at her. “You definitely look like you've been doing farm work.”

She smiled. “Yeah, its tiring, but strangely satisfying.” She told them about the chores she did yesterday: helping Applejack gather up apples, peeling them for baking with Granny, washing the cows' bedding. This lead to her talking about her life at the farm, and her mother would break in at times to talk about what the rest of the family was doing. Her father added that they both hoped to one day be able to tell the whole family that Carrie-Ann was alive and well. Even though they had all covered most of what was said in their letters, hearing it said in each other's voices, seeing their expressions and mannerisms, made it all fresh and new.

Soon Sugarplum found herself caught up in their conversation, laughing, talking as though it were any normal get-together. “...And poor Mac stumbles out of the barn, make-up all sloppily drawn on his face. I didn't let the Crusaders near him for like a week!”

“Eeyup. They didn't even get the right color for my eyes.” Mac added this with a grin.

Sugarplum laughed, then gave him a quick kiss and put her arm around him. She looked over at her parents to see them sharing in the humor, only to find their mouths open in surprise. She realized what she had done, and gently cleared her throat.

“By the way, Mac is my boyfriend.”

“Oh,” said her mother.

After a pause, Sugarplum spoke again. “So Chris has a new job at the airport?”

“Yes. Yes, that's right.” The change of subject shifted them back to normal conversation, and they went back to talking and enjoying each other. But Sugarplum's admission hung in the background like the fading gong of a church bell.

In a pause that came after her father told her about Great Aunt Norma moving to Kentucky, Twilight spoke up. “I'm really sorry, but we're almost out of time.”

Sugarplum looked over at her; she had completely forgotten about Twilight standing off to the side. The mare's eyes were squinted in strain. Drops of sweat were running down her face. The glow of her horn was flickering and pale.

Sugarplum got up and walked to the mirror, while her parents did the same. “I'm so glad we got to do this.”

Her mother pressed a hand to the glass. “Hope we can do it again, dear. And I'll keep writing.”

Sugarplum put her hand up to her mother's. “And I hope you can tell the family soon. Its got to be hard keeping this from them.”

They said their goodbyes, and Twilight released the spell. The image in the mirror faded and returned to normal. Gasping in relief, the mare sat heavily on the floor.

Sugarplum looked at her, and noticed the clock showing that it was almost three. “Oh, Twilight!” She knelt by her and squeezed her into a hug.

“You looked so happy,” Twilight explained. “I just couldn't bring myself to make you stop.”

Sugarplum kissed the side of her head and hugged her even tighter. “Thank you, Twilight. Please never do that to yourself again.”

Back on Earth, Sugarplum's parents sat on the couch and looked at the wall where the image of their daughter had been. He took her hand and squeezed it.

“She's alive. Its all real, all true.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“She looks good. Healthy.”

“Farm living can do that. That and a good diet.”

There was a long pause. Finally, she addressed the elephant in the room. “She even has a boyfriend over there.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“He um, seems polite.”

“Yeah.”

“From Carrie's letters, I get that he's a quiet, decent type.”

“Yeah.”

“Probably has good, solid, old-fashioned values.”

“Yeah.”

There was another long pause. “He's a horse, isn't he.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She opened the drawer of the end table and pulled out a metal flask. She opened it and poured some into her almost-empty glass of tea.

Her husband held out his own glass. “Pour some for me too, will you dear?”

Comments

[Killerokie]

I like the story quite a lot.

[Bryan Luna]

He's a pony actually, but their reaction was priceless.

[FTR2017]

The last exchange was hilarious - thumbs' up for that!