• Published 23rd Aug 2014
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A Three Foal Wish - Seeking Dusk



Thrust into Equestria in the form of foals, three friends find they have a lot to deal with when a wish goes wrong.

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Revealed

~Pure Rain~

The night had been bad enough. One of the greatest horror tales proved to be real when she descended on their little town in the flesh and unleashed a curse of Eternal Night on the world. As if that wasn’t enough, a mere twelve or so hours after that a pack of timberwolves emerged from the Everfree Forest in attempts to hunt among the populace.

Pure Rain hadn’t been there for the scuffle that turned the pack back. Not because of a lack of skill, she had done well in the physical portion of her training, and she kept up her hoof to hoof and even a bit of spearsmareship with weekly and biweekly sessions. No, it was because her captain agreed to assign her to patrol the section of the town near her home, in respect to the three foals now in her care.

The foals she discovered missing when her patrol finally swung by her home. The foals a neighbour reported snuck out of the house less than an hour after she left. The foals she later heard got involved in a fight with a pair of timberwolves that slipped past the initial watch and into the town.

Her first reaction had been shock and terror. Her nephews being attacked by timberwolves? There was anger there as well, that they disobeyed her and put themselves in danger as well. Even the follow up to it that they were all fine didn’t calm her fully. If it wasn’t for the procedures, the fact that she was still on duty, and the insistence of Morning Mist that they were fine in the evacuation centre, she would have gone and… retrieved them.

“I’m telling you Rain, there’s no need to worry about them,” Mist said, trying to keep her comrade’s spirit up. “From what I hear, there are about nine other families in that centre that didn’t have someone else to stay with when the Bell’s tolled. Not to mention the two militia members there for protection.”

Rain kept her trot up as the day brightened. The sun had returned. It was the only good thing so far. She didn’t want to get her hopes up too much, but there was no denying the fact that it raised her spirits, a little thrill that their princess had somehow broke free of the clutches of that Nightmare Moon. She shook her head with a snort. Soon they would call of the patrols and she would be able to see for herself that her nephews were safe, then she could punish so they would never think of doing that again.

----------

Celestia sent back a message to the squad leader of her Royal Guard, the good news that Twilight Sparkle and her group of friends had managed to defeat the ancient foe. She didn’t expand on the topic any further than that, letting them know that they were expected to be back in town in a few hours as they traversed the forest.

Pinkie Pie somehow managed to get a message sent as well, though the guard leader was unsure how. Either way, the rumours of yet another party were floating about. Rain didn’t have any interest in it. The militia captain called off the alert, praised them for a job well done and released them from active action again. Rain didn’t waste any time.

She could hardly restrain herself to a fast trot. Being cool and calm was her trademark, like a deep flowing river, the surface not reflecting the true conditions. Cool like a tall glass of water. A glass that would sweat in the sun. Of water that could reach a boiling point.

She forced herself to slow down again, lest she break into a full gallop and scare the ponies, considering she was still in her militia gear.

Several of families were still staying in the evacuation points, letting the panic wear down, waiting it out for when the magic of the Everfree was waning. The center was really one of the larger buildings used bingo and table games. Rain pushed the doors open with hesitation and trotted straight towards the main chamber. A familiar voice reached her as she approached. Proud; apparently living up to his name as he regaled whoever was in hearing range with the tale.

“- and Silver did this thing with his horn. CRACK! It hit a barrel and distracted the timberwolves, but that only made them turn on my brothers!” There was Proud, practically bouncing as he shared his story. “So I said ‘No way!’ And I bucked the barrels. The whole thing shook! Then it collapsed on them like BAM!” He jumped as high as he could, legs flailing before falling to the ground again.

His audience was only a handful of mare and a stallion, a few smiling at his antics. Rain’s eyes roved. She spotted Silver on a cushion on the other side of the room, rubbing his head with his hooves and looking like flustered. She locked eyes with him from across the room. He stiffened, iris shrinking to pinpricks as his eyes widened in fear.

‘You should be scared,’ Rain thought as she pointed a hoof at him and jabbed it at the ground, mouthing the word ‘now.’ His scramble to get moving almost ended with him faceplanting but he managed to leave the cushion without hurting himself, only stopping to collect Flare. Soon enough two recalcitrant colts were at her ankles doing their best to look meek. Now, for the last one…

“Just then, the sun came up like it was a sign!” Proud continued is grand retelling. “And that’s how I got-”

“Grounded,” Rain coolly interjected.

Proud yelped, whirling and reacting similarly to Silver when he spotted her. “W-what?”

“Grounded,” Rain repeated, a slight frown her only expression as she regarded Proud. “All three of you. For a month. Starting today.”

It was slightly satisfying to hear a few sympathetic and understanding sounds coming from the ponies that had been listening to Proud’s story and noticing a few winces at the edge of her field of vision. Not in a sadistic sense, but in the sense that they were also adults and could understand the need for punishment.

“Gu-grounded?” Silver said, his voice high pitched.

“But…” Flare started.

“You did leave the house and go exploring, didn’t you?” Rain said, narrowing her eyes and cutting Flare’s protest at the root.

Silver responded, though hesitantly. “Yes…”

“And you did this even after I said not to,” Rain continued. The ponies around slowly started edging away, giving her the impression of privacy as she scolded her wards.

“Um…” Flare sighed, looking dejected. “Yeah…”

“And you put yourself in danger, following a militia member on patrol, ending with you being attacked by timberwolves,” Rain finished.

“But… Awesome!” Proud said, hooves waving as he presented a most inarticulate argument. “And… And… Cutie Mark..! And Sunrise! Signs!”

“Regards of that, you, all three of you, disobeyed me, got yourselves in a dangerous situation, put other ponies in danger since Break Heavy had to try and protect you directly instead of being able to focus on the threat, and almost got hurt.” Died was more like it, as most ponies who crossed timberwolves ended up as a meal, much less foals that did the same, but Rain was reluctant to expose the colts to that.

What was the proper level of sheltering? Would Dew Glimmer be perfectly honest with the level of danger they had put themselves in? Once again Rain found herself somewhat out of her depth in the parenting issues. Looking down at the trio of remorseful faces, ears folded down, lips quivering and eyes watering only made her more concerned.

“For now, let’s just get home. It’s been a long night,” Rain said with resignation. It was something of an understatement. Rain thanked the ponies that watched over her colts and hustled them out, none of them willing to cause more of a fuss with punishment already looming over them.

----------

“What about the celebration?” Silver asked, breaking the silence that had lingered for over half the journey so far.

“I’m sorry?” Rain asked.

“Does being grounded me we can’t go to the celebration and go and see the princess?” Silver asked again.

She thought about it. It would be a bit too cruel to keep them from that one. “No, it doesn’t.” Grins instantly spread across their faces. They fell when she added; “but it doesn’t mean you have free reign either.”

“It doesn’t?” Flare asked tentatively, fishing for an explanation.

“No more than two hours there, then it’s back home. I might get you to start reading up on you school work.” Rain contemplated it. She really didn’t want to be the reason they missed the celebration of the defeat of Nightmare Moon. It was the sort of thing that ponies would tell their children about for years. Making them miss it would be cruel. But she didn’t want them to slip out of being punished either.

She shot a sudden bewildered look at Silver. The celebration hadn’t been announced yet. It wasn’t likely that news of it reached the safe house any faster than she had, considering she had been present when the report and request came in. In fact, the news that Princess Celestia had been freed hadn’t been publically announced either.

“Aunty, are you okay?” Proud asked.

“Something wrong?” Flare said from the other side.

“No… no,” Rain said, shaking her head, her blue hair tossing slightly. She would ask it when they got home. “I was just thinking about some things. I’ll make us something to eat when I get home.”

The colts looked at each other and shrugged, not sure what to make of their aunt’s actions but going with it.

----------

“We’re going to have to tell her,” Proud said. They had been sent away to wash the alley smell out their coats after their night’s adventure while their aunt worked on a meal and were making the best of the time they had. With the shower going, it afforded them some privacy.

“What? Are you crazy or did one of those barrels hit you after all?” Silver asked Proud, scowling from underneath the towel he was using on his mane.

“I’m serious!” Proud countered with a little snort. “We won’t get a better chance to talk to the princess than this one, and we can’t really do that with Aunt Rain hanging over us for the whole thing.”

“Proud has a point,” Flare mumbled, occupied with preening, something he’d neglected for a while, partially because he found it half weird now. He spat the latest removed feather into the small pile. “It’s not like we could get to The Princess Celestia on our own. Foals.”

"Thank you," Proud said to Flare.

“Pegasus have it rough, don’t they?” Silver commented as he observed Flare’s actions. Between his wings, mane and tail, Flare spent a lot of time on appearance, more than both Proud and Silver. “And we can just sneak off.”

“You know it’s not that easy. Especially since we’re already grounded,” Proud said as he pulled a towel from the drying rack before glaring at Silver.

“Why are you glaring at me? It wasn’t my fault. Or idea.” Silver said with a lazy grin, tipping his head in Flare’s direction. “He came up with it. I just expressed support.”

“What? Since when was it my idea?” Flare yelped, his wings bristling, partially undoing some of the preening he had done, though they did admittedly look better. “I just figured you were going to say go!”

“Still ended up with you voice it,” Silver said, tossing his towel on Proud’s head. “Besides; it’s Proud’s job to keep his younger brothers out of trouble.”

Proud snagged the edge of the towel in his teeth and tried to snap it at Silver, but the unicorn nimbly dodged. “Don’t think you can just change the subject like that,” Proud said as he put the towel away. “We can’t keep not telling her.”

“We can,” Silver muttered.

“We shouldn’t though,” Flare commented, joining Proud’s side of the battle by giving Silver a dope slap with his tail.

“We could,” Silver scowled.

“I won’t,” Proud said firmly. “I’m not lying to her. She’s family.”

“Can… can we at least wait?” Silver pleaded. He even tried using the colt version of the cute pleading face. Judging from the roll of Proud’s eyes, he needed to work on it.

“Boys, do you plan to spend the entire day in there?” Rain’s frustrated cry came up.

“Coming Auntie!” all three hollered.

----------

She bided her time, fixing the meal and making light conversation, despite the building concerns as the more she thought about it. Ever since the party, her nephews had seemed a bit different. She couldn’t quite put her hoof on it, but there were moments when they seemed out of character. The most glaring one was the conversation they had with Dinky Doo.

There were other small things as well. Little moments she noticed with Silver; his face making tea, the conversation when he couldn’t, well; claimed he couldn’t sleep. Proud’s interactions with some of the adults and fillies at the party the few days before seemed more mature. Even Flare seemed a bit more confident in himself. She had dismissed it as him simply growing up since the last time she saw him, but now…

So she waited until she had all three of them on the table eating wheat cakes, eggs and hay fries. Even with her intentions, she couldn’t help but marvel on how in only a few days she had changed from the single mare content with her relative isolation to one who enjoyed eating with her nephews. Her reflection was cut short when Silver almost knocked a glass off the table as he tried to get the eggs with his magic.

“Sorry,” Silver said, deciding to use more reliable hooves to get the bowl as Rain pushed the glass away from the edge.

Silver, Proud and Flare. Honestly, the strangest set of brothers in the family. Also; the largest. Dew and Just apparently laughed at the national averages that said having three male offspring, especially one from each tribe, no matter how well mingled their greater family was, was akin to winning the lottery. Of course, Dew was the best poker player in her generation. Never did she leave a family reunion without her bit purse heavier than when she got there.

Rain chastised herself for letting her thoughts ramble on like an old mare. “Boys, we need to talk.”

“About what, Auntie?” Flare asked.

“About whatever secret it is you are keeping from me,” Rain thought about her wording for a moment as Silver choked on his mouthful. The other two reacted as well, Flare’s wings puffing out and Proud almost falling out of his chair. Rain slid a glass of water towards Silver. “Or should I say trying to keep from me.”

“Why would you think we have something to hide from you?” Silver asked once he was able to get his coughing under control, the glass more than two thirds empty.

“The argument you three where having in the bathroom not that long ago,” Rain responded. “You were having it rather loudly. Now, I might not be your mother, but I am you guardian and your aunt. You can tell me.”

They were silent, swapping glances between each other. It was Proud that finally spoke. “Well… We aren’t really your nephews, and I’m not really Proud. I mean I am, but I’m actually a human guy named Patrick and Silver is Daine and that’s James. We woke up as your nephews but we’re stuck yeah and really need to talk to the Princesses to see if they can help us!”

Well, of all the probable things, that was nowhere on her list. Flare looked nervous but was nodding his agreement, whereas Silver was just lightly beating the base of his horn with a hoof, looking down at the table. “Well, that’s quite the story…”

“No! It’s true!” Proud insisted, waving his hooves passionately. “I can remember being both Proud and Patrick, and I remember the night me and Fl- James and Daine were last human and made a wish.”

“It’s true Aunt Rain,” Flare said, speaking up meekly. He sighed, contemplative. When he spoke again, it was clear he choose his words carefully, speaking slowly and in a measured manner. “Daine didn’t want to say anything because he wanted to try and sort it out on our own without anyone aside from the Princesses knowing, but since we got grounded we can’t exactly sneak out to see them again.”

Rain wanted to dismiss it, it seemed like something from one of those odd stories Just liked to read, about unicorn warlocks trying to overthrow the Princess using mind altering spells and magic. But here was Flare, speaking up like a colt half again his age. She decided to play along with them for now, picking on something they said. “Princesses?”

“Right! The two Princesses! They are pretty much the most powerful and knowledgeable people- ponies around!” Proud said, nodding. Rain was beginning to get concerned with their word choices, and by now Silver had graduated to rhythmically hitting his head on the table. Flare was shuffling his wings and chewing his lip as Proud continued talking.

“Aside from them, no one else could do it, not yet anyway. Bah! Daine!, help out here!” Proud bit Silver’s horn, then recoiled when it sparked reflexively. "Blegh! Bad! Very bad idea! Blagh. Tastes like a battery..."

Silver swore and pushed Proud even further away. Rain capitalized on him. “You haven’t said anything, Silver. Are you just going to let your brothers talk, or do you have lines in this as well?”

“Lines? You think we..?” Silver laughed. “Oh that’s rich. I told them no one would believe it but they still insisted.”

Rain raised an eyebrow at his tone. Silver noticed it and waved a hoof in an off-hoofish fashion. “Rude, I know. But Silver is a bit of a problem child, colt, and I was, am kind of a jerk too, so the two memories and personalities mix a bit too well. Not to mention that a developing mind is more impulsive and doesn’t have the same filters a matured one does.”

Rain looked at him, momentarily struck speechless. “I’m… sorry?”

“Like Proud said, we aren’t your nephews, or at least we aren’t just your nephews anymore,” Flare said slowly. “I haven’t talked to either one of them about it much, but I don’t think we erased them or actually replaced them, we just… became them.

“I can remember things from both my human life and my pony life,” Flare continued. He closed his eyes and cringed slightly. “It gives us headaches when we try to remember both, so we’ve been letting the pony ones dominate. I was twenty three, Proud was twenty six and Silver was twenty four.”

“Please don’t think we are crazy, Aunt Rain,” Proud said softly. “I know it might… seem that way, but we aren’t.”

Her nephews had memories of humans? Memories of ponies many years older than themselves. She wanted to dismiss it as crazy talk right away, ferreting out whether they really were going mad or just making up stories. Considering Nightmare Moon, the former option was quite possible. But that was just one part of her.

The logical and analytical side of her, the side that got her through the years of Royal Guard training that earned her tuition to university, the side that helped her understand her talent in inherent magic, that got her to her current position at the hydroelectric plant; that part had other things to say.

Too much of what they said fell into place, explained what had been nagging at her feelings for the past three days. She let her logic take charge. “Assuming I believe you, not that I am saying I am, but assuming so; I can take it that you have some sort of foreknowledge of events?”

“How… how did you know?” Proud asked, looking shocked.

“Silver, mostly,” Rain said, letting her thoughts arrive at new conclusions. “A few comments he made. And the conversation you had to calm Dinky Doo down.”

“Wow… you really are clever like mom said,” Flare whispered.

“Well then, aside from your brief moments of oddly mature manners and bearing, which I assume is times when you let those ‘human’ memories surface, what evidence is there for your claim?” Rain realized she was becoming indifferent, distance and cold towards them, but it was hard not to. She couldn’t depend on her emotional responses at the moment, not with them claiming to both be and not be her nephews.

“Well…” Flare looked pensive. Or would that be… James, was it? No, to think about them that way would be further confusing the issue. Flare it was.

“We could tell you about humans?” Proud offered.

“I don’t know anything about these ‘humans’, so nothing you tell me will be of much use,” Rain said blandly.

“Princess Luna,” Silver supplied.

“Princess Luna?” Rain had never heard of a Princess Luna. There was a Princess Cadence, and a Prince Blueblood, the niece and nephew of Princess Celestia, perhaps this was another relative. “Is she Princess Celestia’s niece?”

“Sister,” Flare corrected. “Remember Nightmare Moon saying it was a thousand years? Princess Luna was corrupted a long time ago and Princess Celestia was forced to banish her. None of us remember her except from our human memories, so I’m betting no one knows about her.”

“No, I never heard of her,” Rain admitted. Princess Celestia had a sibling? Why? How? What did she do? Luna… as in moon? Was she connected to the moon? And how did these ‘human’ memories know about her? She asked as much.

Silver blanched and Proud opened his mouth. “Well, back in our world we- OW! Silver, what was that for?” Silver had wacked Proud on the shoulder as he spoke.

“It’s a long story that we probably shouldn’t tell, not without the Princess’ consent,” Silver said, glaring at Proud. Rain was still confused. “Just know that we know things that will happen, though I’m not so sure about the timing anymore. I was certain Twilight and her friends would have dealt with Nightmare Moon in a few hours. I never thought it would take them almost a full twenty four hours.

“But anyway, they will be coming back with Princess Celestia and Luna sometime before the day is out and Pinkie is going to throw them a party and a parade. That should prove we are at least somewhat honest about all this,” Silver said.

Rain’s expression was thin-lipped. The guards and militia had been informed that Twilight Sparkle and five locals had gone into the forest to search for an ancient relic of great magical power despite the insistence that they leave it to trained officers. But that hadn’t been revealed outside that circle. “And her friends?” Let’s see if they knew that one…

“Miss Rarity the designer, Miss Applejack the farmer, Miss Rainbow Dash from the weather teams, Miss Fluttershy the… animal care specialist and Miss Pinkie Pie, of course,” Proud said promptly. “They’ll probably be called the Bearers of the Elements after today.”

Rains entire demeanour slipped. Logic couldn’t find any reason to doubt them anymore, not with them casually predicting future events and reeling off confidential information like that. Logic surrendered and emotion stepped up again. Her nephews had been possessed, taken over by beings from elsewhere. “Are… are my nephews… okay?”

Silver, no, not Silver, Daine, was it? He paused. He opened his mouth, her nephew’s mouth and spoke with her nephew’s voice. “I… I’m going to be honest. I don’t know, but I think so. I’m still Silver just as much as I’m Daine. I still think like him, which is why I keep bucking things up.”

“Just like that,” Proud added, rolling his eyes. “But yeah, it’s why it’s confusing. You’re still our Aunt, and we still love you and all. But it’s confusing because I remember stuff from being a human too and miss it. I’m both Patrick and Proud, and I want the Princess to help sort this out before anything bad happens.”

“Like getting a cutie mark,” Silver muttered.

Rain was still unconvinced, and the attempts to explain it didn’t clarify anything. “How can you be both? It seems to be more of a mutually exclusive situation.”

“Not really,” Silver sighed. “I’ve thought about it, it’s why I couldn’t sleep. Sometimes I remember being Silver before waking up with Daine’s memories, a human twice my age. Other times I remember falling asleep as Daine and waking up as a unicorn colt less half as old as I was supposed to be. I’m pretty sure we are both.”

Silver slumped, resting his chin on the table and staring listlessly at the food that had been laying untouched since this conversation started. “Existential Crisis gives me a headache.”

“I don’t pretend to get it, but in my heart I know it’s true,” Proud started, chords filling the air.

Flare’s eyes widened, one of them even twitching. “No… please tell me he’s not…”

“I don’t know how it happened, and the fact is clear as blue,” Proud said, standing in his chair, forelegs on the table.

Silver hit his forehead on the table, covering his head with his legs. His muffled voice could still be made out as he complained. “I just said Existential Crisis gives me a headache. It’s bad enough without you singing about it, Proud!”

Proud kept on singing, ignoring the protests.

“I’m me! I’m me! And it’s all I’ll ever be!
No matter what surrounds me, no matter where I am,
No matter where I go or end up, no matter what I do or say,
I know my heart and soul and spirit, and all three have to sa-AY!
I’m me! I’m me! And it’s all I’ll ever be!”

By this point, Proud had climbed on the table and danced around the plates and bowls knocking a few on the ground, and wrapped out his stanza standing before Rain.

For her part; Rain looked like she was gagging a little and had pressed a hoof over her mouth, but a spellsong wasn’t something you resisted, especially when you were central to its sparking. Still, she held out for a whole twelve seconds. The Magic of Music simply worked it in as a transition. With one last strained sigh, she lowered her hoof and started singing.

“It’s not a matter of if you’re changed, it’s instead a question of the one you’ve replaced,
My mind may have accepted the fact, but my heart still pines,
Are you the one I watched grow up, the one who stumbled out the door?
The same goes for you and you, who sits right there, family or a fake?”

Silver got dragged in next, hopping off his chair somewhat reluctantly, but singing clearly and strongly.

“There’s more to life than substance, there’s more than we understand,
And all I can say is that despite the pain, my life remains the same.
I got friends and family, loved ones abound, right here and now, three are around.
I don’t know what else to say, than what my heart proclaims,

By this point, Silver had made a full circuit and a half of the table, and rested a hoof on his confused Aunt’s flank, singing the next words with less enthusiasm than Proud, but more meaning.

“I’m me, I’m me, and it’s all I’ll ever be.”

“These wings are mine, these hooves are mine too,” Flare joined in the song, his words soft and reflective as he slowly walked over to stand by Rain’s opposite side, the Magic of the spellsong making the short walk longer than it should have been, resting his head against her.
“And even if my memory’s less than true,
Family sticks together, no matter what the weather,
And my heart sings with you;
I’m me, I’m me, and it’s all I’ll ever be…”

“My heart accepts it,” Rain sang, almost reluctantly, “My mind regrets it.”

“You’re you,” she sang, touching Silver’s hoof with her own.
“I’m me,” Silver replied, nodding.
“You’re you,” she sang at Flare, ruffling his mane slightly with a hoof.
“I’m me,” Flare sang, faint protest at the treatment in his voice.
“You’re you,” she said finally to Proud, lowering her head.
“I’m me,” Proud confirmed, grinning.

“And it’s all~” they all sang, gathered into a group hug, holding out the note before their lines diverged slightly, though they still sang together.

“We’ll/You’ll ever be!” the colt’s belted out in time with Rain’s alto voice.

The last bits of spellsong magic faded away and they awkwardly broke apart, Silver and Flare because they were unsure of how their Aunt felt about the revelations, Proud because he realized he made a mess, Rain because she was a reserved person and hated the fact that spellsongs forced feelings to the surface and bared them.

“I…” Rain started and all three colts held their breaths, knowing a lot depended on this, “am inclined to believe you.”

“Really?” Proud squeaked, partially from relief, partially from shortness of breath.

“Yes, on both counts, that you have the memories and mind of these ‘humans’ in your heads, and that you are still my nephews,” She said slowly. Silver shook his head in disbelieve while Proud trotted happily in place, Flare sagging a little from relieved tensions. Rain was not finished though. “However, I have a condition before I try to get you to the Princess.”

“A… condition?” Silver swallowed nervously.

“Yes. No one, no one, hears about this spellsong, and we never speak of it again,” Rain said firmly. If anyone in the family got wind of the fact that Pure ‘Cold Hearted’ Rain almost cried in a spellsong because she thought somethings might have erased her nephews, she would never hear the end of it.

“Deal.” Silver shuddered.

Proud snickered and tried to cover it with a cough. "Deal!"

"Definitely a deal," Flare said, glaring at Proud.