In Search Of A Family

by Bucking Nonsense

Mature, Yet Still A Child

The rest of the evening went by quietly, for the most part. Doomie and Creepy chatted a little bit, about nothing of real consequence. Just small talk, the kind that a small child and a young adult might make when they first met. Whinny, meanwhile, seemed content to remain quiet and observe the two as they spoke. After the tea was gone, and Creepy had finished her evening meal (Iron rations, rather than the various cakes and pies she'd been given in the Crystal Empire. In no way were the rations tasty, but they were filling. It was said that a pony could travel three days on a single pack of iron rations, mainly because, after eating them once, you would walk any distance to get something other than the hard, tasteless biscuits that comprised the meal). Looking at the almost ethereally beautiful pony, Creepy made a decision.

Pulling out a small package from her little red wagon, the filly said, "Alright, I'm about ready to go to bed, but before we do, we'll need to brush out your mane and tail."

Whinny, clearly confused, asked, "Why?" While the former windigo had yet to express much in the way of emotion, she was well on her way to mastering confusion.

Giggling, Creepy said, "If you don't take good care of your hair, it'll get all tangled and ratty looking. Tangles and snarls can hurt, so it's best to prevent that from happening." Pulling a brush out of the pack she was holding, the filly said, "Now, lower your head down: I'll need to climb on your back to do this."

After a moment's hesitation, Whinny complied, and Creepy climbed up. Humming to herself, the young filly began working on getting the former windigo's mane into order. While still a little peeved about the whole 'Pestering an innocent filly by whipping up a blizzard' thing, Creepy had to admit that Whinny had magnificent hair...

Doomie, her expression neutral, asked, "So, where do you fit in?"

Whinny, whose neutral expression would have made Doomie's look like a manic grin in comparison, asked, "What do you mean?"

The changeling allowed a small grin, then said, "I mentioned, just a few minutes ago, that I pride myself on my mental acumen. I'm fully capable of putting two and two together, thank you very much. Creepy didn't mention you at all in her little explanation, and I imagine that if you were present in the Crystal Empire, and had some means of gainful employment, you'd have purchased a pair of train tickets, rather than risk traipsing through the wilderness with her." Chuckling, she added, "And in spite of walking through a blizzard with no winter-wear, you seem mysteriously healthy and well composed. An ordinary pony would have gotten quite ill in such conditions."

Whinny, still perfectly serene in that distant way of hers, asked, "Your point being?"

Her head cocked slightly to one side, Doomie said, "Obviously, you're no ordinary pony, and from what I can conclude, based off of Creepy's story, you're not really from the Crystal Empire, either. There are only a few magical creatures that would willingly venture out into the ice and snow, and nearly all of them are not native to Equestria, so I can mark those off of the list. There's one I do know that would be here, and I happened to see it outside of this cave not too long ago." Looking over Whinny's shoulder and giving Creepy a smile, the changeling continued, "And Creepy mentioned that her teddy bear did a number on that windigo, and you looked a little uncomfortable then, too. Is your jaw still sore?" Looking back at Whinny with eyes filled with distaste, the changeling said, "So, I can only conclude that you're a windigo." That last sentence was said in the same tone that one might have used when talking about cockroaches, or venomous spiders: Something disgusting that one would rather have had nothing to do with. Something you'd squish the moment you saw it, if you could...

Perfectly deadpan, Whinny said, "Had you simply asked, I could have saved you the trouble. Unlike some creatures, I do not deny what I am." The surprising emphasis that the windigo put into the words 'Unlike some creatures' put a rather accusatory barb into her statement. It seemed that the windigo had not appreciated Doomie's tone...

Shocked, Doomie asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Whinny, the ghost of a smile on her face, said, "I do not hide behind illusions. I look this way right now because I am stuck like this. You, on the other hoof, did not hesitate to hide, even from your rescuers. If we had not made it clear we saw through your deceptions, I wonder, would you have ever willingly let us see the real you? Or would you have spent the entire time deceiving us into thinking that you were an ordinary pony?" While she couldn't see it, Creepy could hear a nasty little smile in Whinny's voice as she added mockingly, "Or was that illusion there so that you can fool yourself into thinking that you fit in?"

The changeling was visibly stung by that last comment. Growling, Doomie retorted, "Well, unlike some creatures I could name, I don't go around picking on defenseless little fillies just because I can." That accusation was spit out with a nasty barb of its own, dripping with venom...

Whinny stiffened at that retort. It was obvious that Doomie's remark had struck home. It seemed that the windigo had grown a conscience recently, and it was currently pestering her about the fact that it thought that her actions earlier today were wrong. Regardless, that was a low blow. This needed to be stopped before somepony (Or somebuggy?) said something they couldn't take back... if it wasn't already too late for that...

Creepy had learned a lot of things from both of her parents. She'd learned the secret to being brave, and to carrying on even when she didn't want to, from her father. From her mother, she'd learned two incredibly useful tricks...

Her voice radically different from before, Creepy said, "Both of you cut that out right this second."

Both Doomie and Whinny stiffened at that. Chuckling on the inside, the filly couldn't help but be amused, even if she was frowning on the outside. It seemed that, no matter what kind of creature it was, no one could resist the power of the Mommy Voice.

It was a very difficult trick to accomplish, especially for a filly so young, but Creepy had, after feeling its power firsthoof, spent weeks perfecting the same tone that her mother had used when she was angry with either Creepy or her father. When mommy had used it, she could make even daddy, who was head and neck above her in height, and nearly twice her weight, cower. Its power was second only to Creepy's ultimate weapon...

The Mommy Stare.

Peeking past Whinny's shoulder, Creepy bestowed that stare upon Doomie, who visibly flinched upon making eye contact, and promptly looked at the ground, automatically ashamed, even if she was not sure why.

"That was not a very nice thing to say," Creepy said, still in full-on Mommy mode. "Whinny couldn't help what she was doing out there, it was just who she was then. I forgave her for that, so you had no right to talk to her that way, even if you're angry on my behalf. Now, say you're sorry."

Doomie, abashed, muttered, "Sorry..."

Now staring hard enough into the back of Whinny's head that the windigo shuddered, almost as though she could feel it, Creepy said, "Whinny, just because you didn't like how she was talking does not give you the right to start throwing insults. Changelings change how they look, and they're not welcome in a lot of places. If she didn't feel comfortable greeting us au naturale, I find nothing wrong with putting on something she thought would be more acceptable. Now, say you're sorry."

Whinny said, after a moment's hesitation, "Sorry."

Creepy, a smile crossing her face, said, "Now, compliment each other." When both of them hesitated, the filly frowned, then said with even more Mommy than before, "Do it. Right now."

After a couple of seconds, Doomie said, "I really like your... mane."

Confusion coloring her tone, Whinny asked, "What do you like about it?"

Doomie took a deep breath, then sighed and said, "It's very lovely. It looks so perfectly silky and fine that... I'm envious. If I was able to have a mane, I'd wrestle a bear to have one that looked half as good as yours."

Whinny picked up a little bit of her mane, and seemed to examine it, as though noticing it for the first time. After a moment's pause, she said, "Thank you. And... I really like your wings."

Fluttering the wings in question, Doomie asked, "Really?"

Giving a small nod, Whinny said, "Yes. They're a very pleasant shade of blue. They go well with your eyes."

Blushing slightly, Doomie smiled, then said, "Thank you."

Giggling, Creepy said, "There. Now, let's try and get along a little better from now on, alright?"

"Yes, Creepy," the two said in unison.

Smiling at a job well done, both in getting the two of them to get along and in getting the windigo's mane and tail straightened out, Creepy said, "There we go, all done, mommy..."

...

Oh no, why did she have to go and let that slip out.

She must have let something show on her face, because Doomie's expression became gravely concerned. "Creepy, is something wrong?"

Creepy began to feel moisture on her cheeks as her self-control started breaking down. Sniffling, the emotions that she tried her hardest not to let herself feel began to come flooding back...

One thousand years. To just about anypony else, it's just a number, a length of time between two points in history. Even to the majority of the Crystal Empire, that was simply an arrangement of words describing the distance between when Sombra had sent their city away and when it came back. They never had to feel the real weight of it, every second of it...

But for Creepy, one thousand years was an impassable barrier, one that separated her from her family. A vast, impossible gulf that words could not fully express or describe... and that nothing could ever hope to bridge.

...She never even had the chance to say goodbye.

Tears were streaming down her face now, her lips quivered, and Creepy knew, without a doubt, that she had lost all control of herself.

She tried so hard to keep it bottled it. After all, as the only orphan in the Crystal Empire, she had to be strong. She had to be brave. And she had to do it all on her own because her parents were gone... and they were never coming back.

Never.

She'd never get tucked into bed again by a pair of tender, loving hooves. Never be sung to sleep with a sweet lullaby. Never be woken up by a soft kiss on her forehead...

"Creepy, calm down, talk to me, what's going on?"

Never hear her father tell one of his lame jokes. Never hear him reminisce about his service on foreign soil. Never hear him say how proud he was of his little girl...

"Creepy, please, I don't know what to do, I..."

Never brush out her mommy's mane, then have her own mane brushed in return...

"Whinny, what are you doing?"

Never get to laugh when her mommy stumbled over the third step on the staircase back at home, like she always did, because that one was just slightly taller than the others. Nevergettoseeherreflectioninherdaddy'sarmoraftershe'dhelpedhimpolishitallafternoon. Nevergettomakehermommyanddaddybreakfastinbedandsmilewhiletheyateiteventhoughsheknewitprobablytastedawful...

"This isn't the time to be playing with a teddy bear!"

Nevergettoneverfeelneverlaughneversmileneversaynevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevnevnevnevnevnevneneneneneneneneenenenennnnnnnnnnnnnn....

"I love you."

Creepy's head whipped up, and she stared at Whinny, holding Theodora as if she were the most important thing in the world and at the same time filled with poisonous scorpions. Steeling herself as if the bear might burst into flames, explode, or suddenly turn its head around and start spitting acid in her face, the windigo squeezed the bear again.

"I love you."

Extending her forelegs with a beckoning gesture, Creepy looked at Whinny imploringly.

Without hesitation, the windigo passed over the bear. Sniffling, Creepy buring her face into Theodora's soft fur, and squeezed the bear as tight as her forelegs could, sniffling and weeping the entire time.

And then... she felt a pair of forelegs pick her up, and set her in a lap. If the lap was hard, it made up for it by being warm. And then...

And then, impossibly, she heard her mommy's voice singing...

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head..."
--------------------------

"That poor little filly..."

It had taken a little doing, but Creepy had fallen fast asleep. If there was ever a time that Doomie had felt glad to be a changeling, it was right now: After all, how many other creatures can perfectly imitate the sound of somepony's voice, after hearing it only once?

Doomie looked down at the sleeping filly, sorrow written plain upon her face. Changelings could not cry, due to having eyes built differently than other creatures. There were times when Doomie wish that was not so. She'd not felt the desire to cry in all the time she was stranded here, even when she had feared that she might meet her end out here, cold, hungry and alone. But here, now, seeing a little filly all alone and trying her best to be strong and brave, in spite of having more sorrow inside than any little heart should be forced to hold, the changeling knew that if she could cry, she'd start now and likely never stop.

Whinny, her expression as infuriatingly blank as ever, simply said, "Indeed."

She couldn't help it, Doomie supposed. Whinny was a windigo. Even if she felt things the same way Doomie or Creepy did, Whinny did not show it. Maybe she didn't know how...

"Tell me something," Doomie said, looking at the windigo with an expression she tried very hard to keep blank. "What are your plans for her?"

Serenely, Whinny simply said, "I plan on following her until either I figure out a way to change back to the way I was, or I change back on my own."

Her head cocked to one side, the changeling asked, "And if you never change back?"

The slightest twitch of her lips implied a smile as the windigo said, simply, "Then she will never be alone, will she?"

"No," Doomie said, a definite smile crossing her face, "No, I guess she won't." The absence of an expression, she supposed, did not mean an absence of emotion...

Comments

[Bucking Nonsense]

NEW CHAPTER UP, BE WARNED, TACTICAL FEELS INCOMING!!!

[Bucking Nonsense]

You know you've done a sad chapter right if you cry a little while writing it.

[Mossy Mare]

Now I want my teddy and my mommy and my daddy...

[Solid Punch]

4832344
You... You bucking genius, I hate you! I cried my pillow wet!

[zaku666]

damn you. I was just minding my business reading chapter 8 when BOOM, suddenly out of where I'm getting all teary eyed. you should ashamed of yourself Bucking Nonsense.......again

[changeling khaos]

Update? That's Was a rhehsjaajsoooooo quick AAAAAAHHHHHHH

[Solid Punch]

4833356
Poor Sombra...

[Bucking Nonsense]

4834311
Well, I've had a lot of stuff interrupt me during the week, so I thought that I might do an extra update this weekend so that if anything happened, you'd still have plenty to read.

[changeling khaos]

4835269 cool. It's just nice because this is the first day off in over a week so it feels like I got lucky.

[PegaSeraph]

aaaahhw

[Lars]

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Edit: FiMFiction, stop doubleposting my posts.

[vyisbest]

the end feels: dawwwwwwwww

[DiscountDiscord]

You warned me about the feels. You warned me... but...
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