The Night Pt. 2
Twilight came to, flashing back to her own time and reality. Her friends surrounded her once again and she felt a sense of relief. But once she saw the looks on their faces, she felt a sense of unease.
“What…what happened?” She asked. Rainbow Dash was nursing a long scratch on her leg, and one of Big Mac’s eyes was swollen shut like he’d been hit. Rarity seemed tired, the tip of her horn smoking a little. Applejack had it the roughest, Zecora putting something on her barrel. Pinkie Pie sat facing the trees, and Twilight could hear her crying.
“They came out swingin’ Twi.” Applejack hissed as Zecora treated her. “They had big ol’ thorns this time, they were playin’ to win. They done picked me up and swung me around before it all stopped.”
“That's..." she started to say, before realizing something. "Where’s…Lottie?”
“She went in.” Rainbow told her, sucking through her teeth with a pained hiss, holding her leg close to her.
“She what!?” Twilight looked around, as if hoping her friends were lying to her.
“She said she didn’t know what she saw in her vision.” Applejack grumbled under her breath. “But then she went in, like it was no big thing. She said…she was gonna go get her…no matter what.”
Her friend seemed like she wanted to be angry, to shout about their friend going in alone, but the hope of seeing her sister again was too overwhelming to be angry. Big Mac looked at the ground out of his one good eye, his back half hitting the ground with a tired, sad thump.
“Vines got us good.” He said, shaking in his exhaustion. “Wasn’t…strong enough.”
“That is just not so!” Rarity sounded every bit as sympathetic as they all felt. “When Twilight faced them before, it took everything she had just to take down one of those horrid things. We were surrounded by dozens, and they only retreated when dear Charlotte was inside.”
The vines seemed to make a conscious decision…Twilight was trying hard to figure out what all of it meant. They seem to be set on capturing Lottie, but why? All the other targets have been young children, why go after her?
“What did you see in there Twilight?” Applejack asked, seeming to say what everyone was thinking. She had been so caught up in the state of her friends that it almost slipped her mind.
She told them what she saw…the first vision she had.
When Twilight came to, she was alone. She seemed to be inside the woods now, not out by the tree line like they had been in reality. The trees around her were different than they had been, shorter with thinner trunks. How far had she gone back?
And more importantly…
“Lottie?” She called out into the woods. There was no response, and it left her feeling anxious and worried. But…she tried to keep Zecora’s words in her mind, “Remember, you are in control.” She repeated it like a mantra, careful to not lose herself.
She looked around, for some kind of clue or sign, anything to point her in the direction of where she was supposed to be looking.
“Lottie!?” She tried again, but there was no sign of her.
Maybe we’re seeing different things? She wondered to herself. There was a chance they’d be pulled into different visions, and it would give them twice the chance that they’d see something useful. At least, she hoped that was the case.
Twilight could hear something. Farther out from where she currently stood, there was a sharp rustling in the underbrush. She had the distinct feeling it wasn’t her friend.
In the dark, she could barely make out the silhouettes of two small ponies, and for a moment, it felt like her heart stopped. She wondered if she was seeing the Maple twins, what had happened to them. But as she kept looking, the theory quickly proved itself wrong.
“Beetle!” a voice cried out. It sounded barely older than a toddler. Twilight’s eyes adjusted to the dark to see the two in more detail.
The smaller if the two was a little unicorn filly, younger than the Crusaders, but older than the Cake twins. She had a white coat that was marred with dirt, and a green mane with purple streaks in it. Her hair was choppy and mussed, same as the other pony. He was a colt, bigger than her, and he was alarmingly skinny. His also choppy green mane lacked the little filly’s streaks, but their coats were the same dirtied white. Going by looks alone, they were probably siblings.
“Hang on, Tulip.” The colt whispered. “I gotcha.” He hoisted the filly onto his back and they kept moving. She had no choice really but to follow after the two, who very obviously couldn’t see her.
They went farther and farther into the woods, and with the way the colt walked, Twilight noticed he was favoring one hind leg. Upon looking closer, it seemed…like it had broken at one point and healed the wrong way. But he was still plenty fast and when he did put weight on it, it didn’t seem to hurt him enough to really slow him down.
“What happened to the two of you…” She wondered aloud, but of course, they didn’t hear her.
They finally came to a stop under a large tree and sat leaning against the trunk. She sat with them too, if only to hear them talk more clearly. Her being here was of no comfort to them, as much as she wished she could be.
“Beetle…” the filly sniffled, and the older colt pulled her in close.
“It’s okay.” He shushed her. “Everything’s gonna be fine. We made it.”
“Who are you two…” She said to herself. They didn’t look like any of the lost foals that Twilight had found out about. “Maybe I’m watching for a different reason?”
“Beetle, I’m hungry.” The filly told him, her voice a little whiny like a toddler’s would be. Understandable. She thought, looking around at both their surroundings and their conditions.
“Me too.” He sighed. They were both skinny for their ages, but the older colt especially so. Twilight could spy ribs, even in the dark, and his legs were all lacking any usual muscle to them he would have at his age, especially the malformed one. “I gotta rest for a minute, then we’ll keep going. We can get somethin’ to eat in town. What are the rules?”
The filly sniffled again, looking thoughtful. As thoughtful as a kid her age could, at least.
“One. Don’t let nopony see you.”
“Right.” He replied, leaning his head back to rest.
“Two. Stay off the trail.”
“Good.”
“Uh…Three! Listen to Beetle!”
He laughed, ruffling her mane with his hoof. The two of them sat for a while, and by extension, so did Twilight. She could hear the familiar sound of those woods like she had before: no animals, no insects, just wind rustling through leaves.
“Beetle?” the filly asked, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, Tulip?” he asked back, voice a bit weary.
“Is she gonna find us?” her voice was small and scared.
The older colt, Beetle, slipped out of his discomfort long enough to respond. “Not if I can help it.” He muttered, his eyes angry.
This seemed to satisfy her, and not a moment later, she had dozed off against his side. He hummed thoughtfully, looking like he was debating stopping for longer than he’d planned. In the end, he gave in and started to drift off too.
Twilight could only sit and watch over them, even though she knew this was all taking place sometime in the past. Between this whole strange situation and their tired, malnourished appearances, it felt like the right thing to do. She sat, keeping an eye out for any sign of hostile plant life.
But something else caught her attention first.
It was eerily quiet, and the lack of any sound at all made the fur along her spine stand up.
“No!” She scrambled to stand up. “Leave them alone!”
It was a sign that something was coming, like when the vines had tried to take Lottie. Twilight knew there was a possibility this was why she was here seeing this vision, from the moment she drank that potion, she was ready to see something terrible. But she still wasn’t prepared for how it made her feel.
From off in the woods, Twilight heard another sound. It caught her completely off guard, because to her…it sounded like Tulip’s laugh. Tulip’s eyes fluttered open with a yawn, sleepily glancing around her. Her ears perked at the sound, and she seemed like she was interested in what was going on. As Twilight watched her stomach was in knots, hoping against everything Tulip would just stay put.
“Hello?” she called out in a soft voice. She got up, starting to walk off before looking back to her brother. She looked between him and off into the woods a few times, but her curiosity won out in the end. Twilight was torn between following her and staying with Beetle, but before Tulip was out of sight she finally decided to follow after her. She was just too little…
She followed the sound of her own laughter for a little bit, not seeming to notice how strange the fact of that was. It wasn’t until she reached a clearing in the trees that she stopped to take a look around. A very familiar clearing…
“Oh wow…” she said, her eyes shining. A similar orb to the one in Twilight’s study danced lazily in the air, as they were want to do. It should have been a comforting sight, but knowing what happened to kids out here put her on edge.
“Just…get out of here …” Twilight’s voice was shaky and low. The fear was hitting her again…but she shook it off, standing tall, trying to push it all away.
“You're okay, Twilight.” She told herself. “You have to see this, no matter what.”
“Hello?” the filly called out, her voice brimming with curiosity. The same voice giggled back, and prancing into the clearing came another Tulip, chasing after the orbs and making them scatter. When the newest Tulip spotted the one Twilight had been following, they both saw something…strange.
Her eyes were endless pits, like a darkness that didn’t seem to have an end.
She remembered when Lottie had described the vision when she had been sick in bed with a fever. How Silver Maple’s eyes had been similarly empty, floating in the void Discord had later called the In-Between. But this was still in their own world, as far as she could tell.
Was there some kind of slipping between realms here? Or was something projecting this illusion, to lure foals and take them to the In-Between? Discord had said something lured them…but why a vision of themselves? Twilight couldn’t figure it out just yet, there weren’t enough pieces to put together.
“Who’re you?” Tulip asked, tilting her head at the false version of herself. The Other Tulip just smiled, slipping behind a tree and suddenly reappearing behind both Twilight and the real Tulip. Her eyes were more disturbing up close, but Tulip didn’t seem to notice. She looked at this other version of herself as if nothing was wrong.
“Are you lost?” she asked, like this was perfectly normal.
not lost
And Twilight felt another chill run up her spine, because the Other Tulip’s mouth didn’t move when she spoke, but her words were crisp and clear, like she was speaking directly into Twilight’s mind. Another thing Tulip didn’t notice.
“You’re not lost?” Tulip asked, sitting down to chat. “This place is…scary.”
scary
dark
cold
but it’s better than back there…
Tulip’s eyes widened, and Twilight could only wonder what they were talking about.
that mean old mare
with her long, black cane
Tulip did a whole-body flinch at the thing’s words, her ears pinned down flat to her skull.
“She hurt Beetle…” she sniffed, her backside hitting the forest floor. “He couldn’t walk no more…she tossed him out in the mud…”
she said it’s where mud ponies should sleep
told the neighbors he ran away
“Why did she hate Beetle?” the little filly sounded confused. “Ain’t she our grammy?” The Other Tulip morphed into somepony else, an elderly white unicorn mare with a long, black cane, her wrinkled face pinched with disgust. Tulip reared back in fear.
That no-good, whore mother of yours seduced my son…Generations of powerful unicorn ancestry tossed aside for one mud pony slut! He’s better off dead, the both of them are!
Twilight didn’t want such a young pony to hear this sort of thing, but she didn’t know how to protect her from this…she couldn’t, it wasn’t really happening, presently. Tulip seemed scared and confused by what the old mare was saying, no surprise for a toddler, but she was afraid, nonetheless.
You have a future, little flower. I can make you into a beautiful young lady…you can bring greatness back to our family name. But that mongrel brother of yours is too willful…he won’t break, no matter how many times I remind him of his place.
“NOO!!!” Tulip cried out, tucking into a little ball and shivering. The old mare morphed back into Other Tulip, watching her original shake in fear. Twilight couldn’t tell what she was thinking, or if she was thinking anything at all. She didn’t seem…all there. Somehow...incomplete.
Beetle
he tries
tries to be strong
but he won’t stay with us forever
“Nuh-uh…” Tulip tried to retort, but her voice was too quiet “What do you mean…Beetle won’t be here?”
brothers
sisters
they never stay together
not forever
he’ll go away
like Momma and Papa
they all go away
“I WON’T!!!”
Beetle was in the clearing now too, panting, still favoring his good leg. But when the both of them looked back to the figure holding Tulip, it had shifted again.
Now, the Other Beetle was holding onto his sister, staring right into the real Beetle’s eyes.
you think you saved her?
you took her away from a warm home
food
safety
all because you weren’t happy
selfish
SELFISH
“She didn’t love Tulip!” he shouted back, the filly still tucked away in the false Beetle’s embrace. “She should be with me! We’re all we have!”
cold
scared
hungry
you think you’re a protector?
just a broken little colt
a failure
“No…” he shook his head, sounding unsure. “I mean…I’m. I’m trying…”
stay here
His head shot up, looking into the double’s cavernous eyes. Then, his gaze drifted down to his beloved younger sister.
stay here
you’ll be together
no matter what
“We’ll be…together?” he asked, latching on to the hope this Other him was offering.
together
forever
with her
with us
with me
“I saw…other foals…” she said, her ears drooping and her wings falling at her sides. “The visions…they came one after the other…I saw the foals from my research but…”
She had seen so many of them. All their stories, all their pain and suffering. Why they had run away and how the forest lured them to stay. Every hollow-eyed version would sit with her for a long time.
“So many others…” she whispered, wanting to forget.
“It wasn’t just…five?” Rainbow Dash asked, feeling a creeping horror just like everypony else present.
“There were…more, almost a dozen…”
The implications hit everypony all at once.
“But…they’re safe, right?” Applejack asked her, getting close to her friend’s face, almost confrontational. “They went through Lottie’s portal, safe and sound?”
Twilight didn’t want to hurt her friend, but her previous hypothesis had been…disproven.
“We know Sugar Maple went to Lottie’s world…I still don’t know how or why…” she couldn’t look her friend in the eye. She couldn’t bare the heartbreak…the disappointment she would cause with her words. “But I saw so many little foals…and they…”
She didn’t know how to put it. What exactly had she even seen?
“The…the vines…they…” she swallowed, her mouth suddenly very dry. “They took them. They put them…someplace else. Their bodies are…in the In-Between.”
The word hit hard.
“B-…bodies?” Applejack’s eyes went so wide, her pupils shrunk to pinpricks. There was a similar effect on all of their friends. Rainbow flew up, looking sorely irritated.
“NO!” she snorted, sounding like a wild mustang. “We can’t just-!! I’m-!!”
“I…” Applejack seemed…drained.
“They’re not…they’re not dead.” Twilight was fairly sure, she had to be. “But their…their physical bodies are stuck someplace else…I don’t know how to get them back.”
The silence hanging around them was suffocating. Twilight wished she had more answers, more reassurances that things would turn out alright...that they would come out on top like they always did. But Twilight could only focus on the dead, empty night that seemed to strangle every last bit of air from her lungs.
“Lottie…”
Pinkie Pie spoke up for the first time since Twilight came around. Everypony turned to her, their attention thoroughly grabbed.
“She saw something…” she reminded everyone, maybe even herself too. “She said she was going to get her back…She’ll come back to me… she has to.”
It hurt her heart, seeing all of her friends in such a state. But seeing Pinkie like this was especially unsettling. It was like all the light and joy she usually radiated was nowhere to be found, her mane was limp and hung low like the rest of her.
But she might be right. Twilight thought.
“She could be onto something…” Twilight paced a little. “She might have seen something that could help…She wouldn’t go in there if she could get hurt…right? She wouldn’t purposefully put herself in danger or…hurt herself…”
Rarity and Applejack flinched, and Twilight saw something in their eyes.
‘Right?” she asked them, and the looks on their faces didn’t reassure her.
“Charlotte…” Rarity tried to say something, but her voice died in her throat. Applejack just shook her head, her bangs hiding her eyes as her head hung low. She didn’t know what had put them in such a state, but it put everypony on edge.
Pinkie especially. She held her head in her hooves, weeping. Rarity went to her, but Pinkie spun on her, surprising everypony.
“It’s not fair!!” she shouted, sobbing. “I d-didn’t get to…I w-wanted to…”
She collapsed onto Rarity, who stroked her friend’s mane, trying to comfort her but she only sobbed louder.
“You don’t think…” Applejack looked fearful, seeming to look past the vines and into the woods where their friend was. Where her sister was.
“It keeps trying to get Lottie…” she remembered her earlier line of thinking. If the forest, for whatever reason, wanted to possess Lottie, like it seemed to…
Would she try to placate it…by offering herself in Apple Bloom’s place?
Would it even work? Would it just take them both? Or did Lottie see something on an entirely different line of thinking? Could she stop this? Why did she decide to do it alone? Was there no other way?
She looked out into the woods, Pinkie’s crying the only sound for miles.
“Please be safe…” it was all she could do.
Hope.
I made my way into the forest, watching every step. If this was going to work, I had to get where I was going with no distractions, no cheap tricks from this shitty forest. I had to be sharp, smart, hyperaware of everything around me.
If only I wasn’t so goddamn terrified.
I put up a good front when I said my showy farewell, but I was so scared. My hands were shaking so hard I had to grab onto my arms to keep them still. All I could think about was the sensation of the vines on my neck, the claustrophobic feeling of being surrounded by earth and dragged into the ground. But I pushed it away and made the youngest Apple the only thing on my mind, over and over again.
I heard them before I saw them. The lights, floating idly around me as I walked. The forest was so dark, all sealed up from intruders, and they were the only light I could see. They were with me, even if they wanted to protect me and send me away like usual, that wasn’t an option this time. So they did what they could and stayed with me, at least it seemed that way. I could be putting way too much thought into it.
“Thanks.” I smiled at them. If they noticed or felt anything, it was impossible to tell.
But in no time, with nothing trying to stop me, I made it to that familiar clearing. That empty ring of trees with lights idly floating like fireflies, no direction in mind at all.
“I’m here!” I shouted, trying to say it with any magic I could muster, to make sure I was listened to and not just heard. I could hear the shifting of vines behind the trees, but they stayed out of sight for now. But I didn’t let down my guard.
“I know what you want!” I looked around, wondering what I would see.
I knew why the forest wanted me so bad, but I didn’t want to play my hand too early. I needed to know that I was right before I tried to get her back.
“Come out, you must be tired after taking an innocent little filly and putting up all those vines out there, but we need to talk!” I called out, putting more magic in my voice. Enough for it to take from me. If it could.
I felt cold, like something was looking at me. I spun around, coming nose to nose with that Other me.
I let my guard down!
This fake me, even dressed in what remained of my costume like I was, stared deep into my eyes.
you
you came
back to me
we can be together
My head felt foggy, my legs weak. I clenched my fist hard, the stab of my nails in my hand to ground me, so it wouldn’t take me too. Not yet. Maybe it really was weak after taking Apple Bloom, but it wasn’t as strong as it had been in my dream.
But it was still trying.
“I’m here.” I told it again. “And I know why you want to keep me here.”
It said nothing, this Other me. I just kept on talking.
“You want Sugar, don’t you?” I asked it, and it didn’t react at first. “The one that got away, huh? I feel you. But she’s long gone. You can’t get her where she is. Someone made sure of that.”
It seemed angry, though it’s expression didn’t change. I could feel the strong emotion rolling off of it, but I pressed on.
“You can’t get Sugar, but you can have me.” I told it. “You know who I am, don’t you? I’m the next best thing.”
she’s so close
but I can’t find her
where did she go?
“Sugar is far away, and you’ve been taking foals for a long time, haven’t you?” I asked this fake me. “You’ve been trying so hard to fill the void she left behind.”
It was lonely, empty and hungry. And before I saw what I saw, I would’ve wondered why Sugar was so special. Did it really just want what it could never have, or was there more to it?
But I knew now, and I had two options.
I could give myself up in her place, and get Apple Bloom back. If that would even work.
Or.
I could talk to her.
“It’s not right…” I whispered to the fake me. I fought the way my head was swimming, needing to say this...If I could just reach out...let her see what was right in front of her...
“It’s not right..." I mumbled, gathering my quickly diminishing strength to push through the fog in my head. "It's not right what you’ve been doing here."
For a moment, nothing happened at all. The Other me just stared, but...I stared back. If it was a battle of wills I was quickly losing, but I glared for all I was worth, letting her know I wasn't going down just yet.
I blinked, and the Other me vanished, And for a long while it was just the lights and I.
you
I whipped around, the sound of her voice was too close. But no one was there. I stumbled back, too drained to focus on my footing. But I stayed upright, even if it was all I could do.
you came to me
It was a voice I'd only heard once before. In the vision...now I'd never be able to forget it.
I
was so
alone
I shut my eyes tight, like that would somehow make this stop. But I focused on my breathing like Granny Smith had taught me, feeling the magic in my breath.
"...Come on out, Silver Maple." I told her, hoping she would listen to me like she had before.
And when I opened my eyes, she was there. Just like the vision I had seen so long ago, with her hollow eyes and her long, flowing silver mane and tail. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen that vision for myself.
Her floating form seemed to distort the light around her, making it so much darker. But I could still see her...clear as day.
you
you're finally here
we're together again
Sugar
I felt dizzy, but I stayed on my feet, pressing my nails into my hand so hard I could feel the white hot burn of breaking the skin. It cleared my head, I couldn’t let her take me.
Not yet at least.
so
alone
where did you go?
my sister
gone
gone
all
alone
“I know you miss her…” I tried to get through to her, trying desperately to shake off the muddled feeling that I knew to be her trying to take my mind. “But she’s safe…”
I looked into her empty eyes, even if it would draw me in further.
“You made sure of that.”
--
When I drank Zecora’s potion, I’d found myself in that familiar clearing, seeing the same scene from one of my dreams. It really had been a vision, like Twilight had thought. Silver Maple, little and alone, walked into the clearing like I’d seen once before. They’d been on their own in the forest for days now, waiting for the chance to make their way to Canterlot to get emancipated. She looked tired, her mane disheveled and dark rings under her eyes. She looked up at the trees with a sad, listless look in her eyes.
“I’m so mad at Momma…” she spoke to the forest like it was a person, and I remembered what Sugar’s diary had said, that she talked to plants. “She pushed me away…I thought she loved me…but she was gonna leave me…”
The leaves in the trees rustled, and she listened intently.
“No...you don’t understand…” she whispered back, her eyes getting teary. “I can’t stay with you…I have to look out for Sugar. I don’t…I don’t know if I can get us to Canterlot…”
She broke down, sobbing on the forest floor, mumbling to herself.
“It’s not fair…” she sobbed, her anger growing with every word. “I just wanted my life! I wanted to go to school and play with Sugar, and she took that all away!”
It was quiet, save for her heaving sobs.
“Silver…”
She whipped her head up to look at Sugar, who had come to the clearing to find her. To comfort her, but it seemed like seeing Silver this worn down made her rethink her approach.
“Silver…” Sugar pleaded, her ears down. “Let’s…let’s go back.”
“…What?” Silver’s voice was quiet, but you could hear in her voice that she was still angry. Sugar doubled down, trying to talk to her sister.
“I can’t stand to see you like this!” Sugar cried out, trying to get through to her. “You’re tired all the time, and you’re so sad and angry over everything that's happened…It's...it's all too much for us! I’m sorry but, you’re not all that healthy to begin with, and we’ve barely made it out of Ponyville…I just want things to go back to normal…”
“What do you think all this is for!?” Silver shouted back at her, making her sister flinch. “The trees, they helped us! I’m doing my best…If we go back, we’ll be separated!!”
“I know…” Sugar whimpered, trying to get through to her sister. “But it’s better than you getting messed up or hurt…We’re just a couple of little city fillies in way over our heads…I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you…”
“You’re a liar!!” Silver shouted, getting up and advancing on her sister. “I’m doing all this because I don’t want to lose you!! But you’d rather go back!?”
“I…” Sugar tried to speak, but her voice died in her throat. She was just a scared kid.
“I’m not going back!” Silver shouted. “I’m never going back!! You’re trying to leave me too! You don’t love me!! Just like Momma!!”
Silver’s horn lit up, a great green spark lighting up the night before striking down and seeping into the forest floor. The familiar sight of vines slipping out from the trees still hit hard. They creeped along the ground towards the fillies, who hadn’t noticed them just yet.
“The trees and plants… they understand…they love me, they listen to me…” Silver said in a warning tone. “They want me to stay with them! But…I said I wanted stay with you, to protect you!”
The vines were so close, and all I could do was watch.
“If you don’t need me…then I don’t need you!!”
The vines grabbed Silver, and she didn’t react. She accepted them as they crawled up her, ready to take her. She stared angrily at Sugar, ready to be part of the forest.
It was for the best…she never really fit in with ponies, they didn’t understand her.
Nature was the friend she’d had when nopony else understood, who didn’t make fun of her weird ideas or the way she thought or talked. Who listened to her when she got all gloomy for no reason? Who kept her company when she was all alone? The plants and trees didn’t think like ponies did, or talk in quite the same way, but that was okay, because neither did she.
She was ready to just…let go. Leave everything behind and stop suffering and caring about anything at all.
But something snapped her out of it.
The vines grabbed Sugar too. She shrieked at the top of her lungs, trying to twist and buck out of their hold on her, but it did nothing.
“What? No!!” Silver shouted, almost completely covered in vines now. “She doesn’t want to be with us! She made her choice, don’t take her!!”
Did the forest think she wanted to keep Sugar here, even with her angry words? Or was her magic going out of control? It’d all happened so suddenly, she couldn’t stop it. She didn’t know how.
She was angry, still clinging to the idea that nopony understood. Not her mother, and certainly not her sister. But the sight of Sugar getting dragged by those vines, pulled into the split-open ground, it made her remember.
How precious her sister was, how she didn’t want anything bad to happen to her. How she’d done all this so they could always be by each other’s sides.
“No! No no no nonononono!!” she shouted, but the vines crept up and covered her mouth.
They were going to take Silver, she’d submitted to her fate. She couldn’t go back home now. Not after she’d yelled at her mother…and now her sister.
But they wouldn’t take Sugar.
She channeled all her magic into her horn, ready to get Sugar out of here. She had read about the barest bones of how to perform a teleportation spell, but she’d never had a magic teacher. She could only hope she could get Sugar just far enough away to get out of the forest on her own and back home. Even a few inches away from the vines would give her a head start…
She couldn’t breathe. It had almost reached her eyes, and she was so afraid. Sugar was hyperventilating, struggling for her life.
It was too hot. Her magic pushed all the way up into her horn, too much all at once. Everything was bright and blinding, and all at once her magic went wild. She hadn’t had a magic surge since she was a foal. But this one ripped through her body so forcefully the pain was indescribable.
She’d just wanted to get Sugar someplace safe.
Somehow I knew all this, even just as a spectator. I watched on, seeing this part of the vision for the first time, but I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.
Silver’s magic shot into the trees nearby and somehow…tore open the air. Swirling light and sound flashed in the trees, the sound almost deafening in the previously quiet night. The sight of it was unlike anything the sisters had ever seen.
Silver’s talent had always been something…different. Her mother had called it a green hoof when she’d healed those sick plants. But it was something much more than that. Her cutie mark appeared that day; Two comets chasing each other. Some ponies thought that a comet was a symbol of rebirth, the beginning of new things.
Drawing her power from nature, borrowing its strength, she dipped down into the raw essence of magic and changed one thing into another, a feat that most unicorns didn’t have the magic reserves for.
She could change things. A sick plant into a healthy one. Or in this case, nothing into something. Her magic had surged and she had taken more than she ever had from the forest, changing the empty space into just the opposite. In her wish to get her sister someplace safe, that empty space had gone from the beginnings of a teleportation spell to a portal made from a rip in existence itself.
Where it went, Silver would never know.
The vines around Sugar lost their strength, Silver had taken too much from them, and the little earth pony filly was off her hooves. She screamed, reaching for Silver, but she was almost completely submerged now, the vines the only thing keeping her from getting sucked into the portal. She wanted to reach and grab onto her, never let her go again…but it was too late.
Her saddlebag she’d hastily packed before they ran from home went through the portal before she did, being sucked in by an invisible force, along with loose branches and rocks that were too light to stay down. Anything the force of the portal could take, it did. When Sugar lost her grip on the single vine she’d managed to hold on to, wrapped around her dear sister, she was launched into the slipstream. The portal sparked and flared in the thick trees, and with a thunderous, screeching wail, it collapsed in on itself. It was gone.
And so was she.
Silver cried for her sister as the ground closed around her. She was buried, her body losing its form and moving someplace else…going to a strange place where everything was dark and limitless. Where once only magic existed, now there was something new. She floated on in that endless existence, her body felt like it was barely there. And for so many years, all she could do was cry.
Until her eyes couldn’t cry anymore. They went numb, like the rest of her. She was empty, her existence unending in this new place. She never slept, never moved, even the solitary comfort of the sound of her own breathing was taken from her...
All she could do was think.
And all she thought about was how much she wanted was her sister back.
How could she send her away?
How could she yell at her like she did?
Now she was so…
alone
all she wanted to do
was to go
home
--
“You wanted to find her again so bad…” I told her, watching her every move. “You heard other foals like you…ones who were scared, alone and vulnerable, and you took them. You reached out with your magic and used the forest to bring them to you.”
helped them
kept them safe
nopony loved them
I love them
“…I know you do.” I tried to reason with her, still feeling her pull. “But I know how much you want Sugar. Do you know who I am?”
She looked at me with those eyes, they bore into me with such an intensity that I lost the feeling in my legs. I fell to the ground, biting the inside of my cheek to keep my head. It wasn’t working as well as before. She was getting stronger.
Sugar
but
not Sugar
I miss her
so much
“I’ll…stay here.” I told her. My body was so heavy...“If you let Apple Bloom go, I’ll stay here with you…forever.”
Apple Bloom
“Yeah, Apple Bloom.” Did she not know their names? “She’s a sweet kid, and her family is waiting for her. She needs to go back.”
she’s here
with us
with me
The lights around us grew restless, and one of them flew above my head. With that soft sound they made, it flew in front of my eyes, and…
“…No.”
I looked around at all of them. How many were there? How many of them got lured into this awful place and trapped, reduced to…
The lights just floated along. What could they do? Where could they go? All they could do was exist, endlessly. In this place.
Just like her.
I wanted to hold the one that came to me. I held out my hand to it but it was weightless. I couldn’t believe it, but it would explain things…
“Apple Bloom…” I whispered to her. She didn’t respond, how could she? But something in me knew it was her. What they all were.
I came here to play her game. To get Apple Bloom back and safe with her family. But The sight of all of them...overwhelmed me. Everything was muddled in my head...but I could still feel the anger bubbling to the surface. The moment I looked Silver in the eye...everything overflowed.
“Give her back!” I shouted at Silver. “She deserves to live! Give her back!!”
no
“What do you mean, no!?” I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.
no
won’t
can’t
don’t know how
I couldn't hold back the choked, angry sob that rushed out of me, and I fell to one knee.
Everything was too much.
She was winning.
she stays
you stay
forever
My body hit the ground before I even knew what was happening. Suddenly I could barely breathe, and my eyesight was going dark, even when my eyes were wide open.
I won’t ever be alone
ever
again
It was all for nothing. In the darkness, all I could see were those eyes. I looked deep into the endless voids, swallowing every part of me, body and soul. The deeper I looked, the more I could see.
I can’t snap out of it. I thought, feeling myself slip away.
She has me.
I suddenly shot up, out of breath for some reason. My heart was racing but I couldn’t really think…I…
Was I having a nightmare? I remember being pretty scared...and angry, but aside from that…nothing. I was in Grandpa’s house, and…I guess I had fallen asleep on the couch.
There was a knock. I stretched real quick and went to the door.
“Hi there, honey.” Mom came in, hanging up her coat. Was it that cold out yet? She hugged me and for some reason it felt…like…
“Did you get everything set up?” She asked, letting me go and coming inside. “Your brother has been saying he’s hungry since four-thirty.”
Mason and Dad came in, the latter carrying some baking dishes. Mason was playing on his phone and barely paid any attention to where he was going. Same old, same old.
“Your mom made cheesy potatoes.” Dad headed for the kitchen to drop everything off. “And meatloaf.”
Mom had learned to cook from her mom and, to be completely honest, neither of them had been very good cooks. Her meatloaf was a tiny bit plain, and she burnt it sometimes, but it was still my favorite. I was excited for this week’s Sunday dinner.
“Wait…” Had we been having dinner on Sundays? For some reason it didn’t seem familiar. But…we do it once a week. Mom, Dad, Mason…
Everyone was getting settled into the house when there was another knock at the door. I couldn’t think straight for a second. Who else would…?
Cautiously, I opened the door. And…
“My goodness!” She came in, carrying a pie tin. I could smell it, still warm. “It’s so cold out there, I think we’re in for snow before too long.”
Mrs. Russo was in my doorway, and I was so happy to see her. Something was different about her, I couldn’t place it, but for some reason I felt so much when I looked at her.
Wait, why did I call her Mrs. Russo?
“Hi Grandma.” I smiled. I just kept looking at her, the sight of her with me feeling so…surreal for some reason…why couldn’t I remember..?
“Charlotte.”
I whipped around, Dad was looming over the two of us. He always kicked up such a huge fuss whenever she came up. And he always seemed to strike a nerve with her too. They hadn’t gotten along since before I was born.
“Are you going to let her in?” he said with a joking smile. The sight was so…out of character for him. He stepped around me with a funny look and went right up to her.
“Hi, Mom.” He smiled, leaning down to meet the short, old woman and kissing her on her cheek. “Great to see you.”
“Adair!” she smiled right back, returning the kiss. “How are things at the hospital?”
“I don’t bring my work home with me, you know that.” He sighed, but smiled again. “But, busy as usual.”
No, that’s not right…Dad’s always had a good relationship with Grandma Russo. I remembered. She’s his mom, for crying out loud.
I feel all jumbled today…
“I’ll bet!” she laughed, handing him the pie. She took off her coat to, turning back to me. “Charles hitched a ride with me today. His car’s still in the shop, so I picked him up from the hardware store. I think he’s sneaking one of my brownies…”
She stuck her head out the door with a laugh.
“Charlie!” she shouted. “If you’re pilferin’ somethin’ that ain’t yours, I’ll kick your ass!”
“Give it a rest, you old bat!” a familiar voice shouted. He stepped into the house…his house. Grandpa was here…and I…
I don’t know why I felt so sad…and so happy at the same time.
“Hey there, puffball.” He smiled, and the sight made my heart stop. “Your Uncle Teddy says hi.”
I smiled, wiping at my eyes quickly and rushing him for a hug.
“Whoa!” he held the brownies above my head to keep me from crushing them. “You miss me or somethin’? Ha!”
“Hi Grandpa…” I don’t know why, but hugging him felt like…like I didn’t know when I’d get another chance. It was a somewhat morbid thought, but it was how I felt. “Yeah, I did.”
I let him go finally and hugged Grandma too.
“Well, I don’t think Lottie’s ever been so huggy!” She laughed, giving one back. “She and Mason always put up such a fuss about it.”
They started talking to each other, making their way to the kitchen. And I could only stand there. Everything was…so normal. Everything felt so right. My family was together, I was…happy. But…I don’t know why that felt so…odd.
I went with them to meet everyone in the kitchen. They were setting things up for dinner.
“Lottie, didn’t you set the table?” Mom huffed, and I felt bad.
“Sorry, I think I…fell asleep on the couch.” I admitted. “I don’t know why I…”
What was I doing before I took a nap? I wondered. I didn’t even remember falling asleep. Weird…
“Well…” Mom seemed to consider. “All the excitement must’ve finally caught up with you. Just help out now, ‘kay?”
“I’ll get the plates, sorry, sorry!” I fussed, weaving past my Grandpa to the cabinets, wondering what Mom meant by excitement. I reached for the plates, only to find coffee mugs in their place. And I didn’t even see any of the ones I’d brought when I’d…
I’d moved the plates to a lower cabinet before, so that I could reach them better. But they were still on the higher shelf…why?
“Sorry, short stuff.” Grandpa laughed, reaching up over me and grabbing a stack. “I moved the stepladder upstairs to dust in my office.”
His office…
Of course…this is his house still.
Still? I kept thinking that things were…different than they were, than I knew them to be. Little things were throwing me off. I tried not to think about it. There was too much to do! I couldn’t keep thinking about every little thing. My head was starting to hurt.
I took the plates from Grandpa and grabbed the silverware where I knew it would be to start setting the table. Grandma was putting out the spread, and like always, her desserts looked amazing.
“You brought chocolate cream pie?” I asked, much more excited for after dinner now. Not that I’d say no to whatever she brought.
“Your favorite! To celebrate your new gig.” she grinned, playfully bumping my shoulder with hers. “When I heard from your dad about it, I was just thrilled. I’m so happy for you!”
“I…used to work at the hardware store.” I thought out loud. What gig could she be talking about?
“You worked your hardest and put in the time, and put yourself through school. And this internship is gonna open a lot of doors for you. My Lottie, doing toy design for some big company in the big city!”
It all hit me at once, the past few years. Working to support myself, going to classes at the local college. It was a small campus, not a lot of advanced courses to it, I couldn’t even afford to live in the dorms. But I took lots of art and technical design classes and got my degree, put together a portfolio and submitted it to a big toy chain’s design department for the paid internship they offered. It was a gateway to bigger things, something I’d been working towards for a long time.
It’s what I thought about doing before…before…?
“I had good enough grades for all that?” I laughed.
“Oh, you’re hard on yourself, but you really pulled it all up senior year.”
Senior year…
The phrase hit hard for some reason. Why did that bring up such bad feelings? Wasn’t that the year I-
I could hear another knock at the door, stopping my thoughts in my tracks and I poked my head out the kitchen doorway. Grandpa looked to me, smiling expectantly.
“Well? Go on, Dandelion.” He laughed. “That’s your guest knocking, after all.”
I was confused. Who would I have invited over to my family’s Sunday dinner? Maybe Stacy? It wouldn’t be out of the question, bringing my roommate for a free, hot meal. I shrugged, going for the door.
It…wasn’t Stacy. And when my eyes met hers, my blood ran cold.
“Lottie!” she came in, like nothing was wrong. Like nothing had ever happened… “I didn’t miss anything, did I? I don’t want to make a bad impression on your folks!”
“…Claire.”
She smiled at me, and I couldn’t figure out what I was feeling. Too many emotions hit me all at once, and I could only freeze when she came close and kissed me.
It was so…familiar, like the years were rushing back to me. She was older now, her long blonde hair cut to just above her shoulders, and there were other little things that I could see had changed. But to me, she was exactly the same.
“Hi…” I finally said when she pulled away, a dopey smile on my face. “I missed you.”
“I know…I missed you too.” She gave a sad smile, and something sad rolled over me. How long were we apart? Where did she go? “This long-distance thing is killing me, but I know you’ll love the city.”
“The city…” It was fuzzy, but…
“It’ll be a big change from your hometown, but I’ll be there with you.” She hung up her coat. “Your company’s headquarters is only like…twenty minutes from campus, so we can commute and get lunch together. And our apartment’s only a fifteen minute bus ride from both!”
That’s right…I was going to the city. We were moving in together. She’d been in the city on a track scholarship at a much nicer college than I’d gone to. And…we’d been dating the whole time. It felt so serious now, from the days of us as stupid kids in high school. And the time apart had been hard, even with video calls and spending holidays together, but we’d made it work.
But soon, we’d be together all the time.
She went to the kitchen and Mom hugged her, like they’d known each other forever. Even Mason looked up from his phone to say hi. She greeted Dad with a handshake, but he waved it off and hugged her. It was so unlike him-
No it’s not. He’s a nice guy.
Grandpa jokingly knocked her arm with his, teasing her about something, making her blush. Grandma scolded him, handing Claire a plate with a roll she’d baked for tonight’s dinner.
They were all so good to her. It made me happy to know that all the most important people in my life got along so well. But…something wasn’t right.
None of them had ever even met Claire, and-
No…she was a big part of my life. Of course they would have met her. I shook off the intrusive thoughts, not wanting my stupid insecurities to ruin this good time.
I sat down next to Claire at the table, and our plates all loaded up from the spread everyone brought. We all sat together and talked, laughed. Even Mason cracked a smile every now and again.
Mom was talking about how proud she was of the two of us, taking this big next step in our lives, embarrassing me in that way only a mom could. Claire smiled, leaning over and kissing my cheek, making my face burn. But the big, dopey smile I was sporting didn’t go away.
I was moving on with my life, and I’d made all the right choices. My family was all together, and the girl I loved was by my side. We were starting our lives together.
Everything was perfect.
So…why did it feel so…empty?
All their smiling faces didn’t make me feel anything. I felt like it should make me feel something, but it just…didn’t. Everyone here…they all seemed hollow, but I couldn’t really figure out why. Something was nagging me, some feeling that something just…wasn’t right.
This…this isn’t how things turned out. I thought. I’m…I’m sure of it.
I turned to my mom and brother, their smiles making my guts twist around in discomfort.
Mom…You think it’s weird that Dad’s so happy, right? Mason, you’ve gotta know this isn’t right. You know how Dad is! He never makes it to these kinds of things, he’s always busy with work and misses everything!
I tried to ask them, but no sound was coming out. My heart was thumping hard in my chest, and I turned to my dad with my silent pleas.
Dad! You hated when Grandpa let me spend time with Mrs. Russo…you never even told me she was your mom! You, sitting here with her like nothing ever happened…It doesn’t make any sense.
He just sat there, smiling like I’d never seen him smile. Warm eyes looking around at his family, at his mother…When he looked at me, it made my blood run cold.
It’s not like my dad hated me or anything, but he was always very reserved with his affection. He was an emotionally stunted workaholic and didn’t know how to have fun. He’d never sit and laugh with all of us like this…let along with my grandparents.
Mrs. Russo…Sugar Maple, my grandmother. Whenever I’d spent any time with her as a kid, it was always just with Grandpa. My Dad didn’t like me spending time around her, and he and Grandpa fought about it whenever they were in the same room. Seeing her in the room with the rest of our family was so surreal, but she was eating and laughing like it was the most normal thing in the world.
This strange version of my life…was she still even Sugar Maple? Was she ever a lost little filly taken in by a loving family in a strange new world? Or was she just a human?
Grandma…I wish I’d been able to call you that. I wish I could see you and let you know how much I love you…not just as Grandpa’s old friend, but as my family. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to tell you how much you mean to me…
And Grandpa…
My heart hurt looking at him. For a few precious moments in this odd place, I’d forgotten that he’d died. I would never get that back. I would never have another moment where he was still in my life, and that hurt more than I could describe. I wish I could just sit here at this dinner table, in this fake place…and just…
Look at him. Just for a little while longer. I wanted to burn the image of him here with me into my mind…But it hurt too much.
Grandpa’s gone… I let out a shaky sigh. I wish he was still with me but…He’s not. And nothing can change that.
You could stay.
A voice, calm and placating, whispered to me.
Everything is just the way you want it. It told me, the voice lulling me into that same muddled feeling Silver had made me feel. Don’t you want to be happy?
No…it’s wrong! I pushed back against it. It’s all wrong!
What could be wrong? How could this life be anything but everything you’ve ever wanted?
But it’s not real!! I shouted. None of it’s real!
Everything around me pulsed with loud ringing, trying to reject these thoughts. It rang in my ears as everything faded into a lifeless greyscale. I couldn’t feel anything, my breathing had stopped, but even though I felt suffocated, I was still alive. It was so cold.
I can’t be here. I don’t wanna be here.
I’d never felt more scared of anything in my entire life. Everything was wrong, and I couldn’t get out…I had to get out! I had to get…out…
no...
I...I can't...
somebody...
anybody...
please
...
help
Everything went quiet. Silver wasn't trying to control me anymore.
Because I stopped fighting.
I sat in that silence, my body unresponsive.
There was nothing I could do anymore.
I found myself on the outside looking in, the other, that blissfully unaware me sitting with her reunited family and former love, not a care in the world. The silence was deafening, a loud high-pitched whine was the only thing I could hear. I could only watch as the lie continued, pressed against some kind of barrier, my heart beating so fast I thought it might just stop.
...
I wondered to myself...
If I was quiet
If I played along again...
Would Silver let me go back?
no
no
that's
that's...not
not
Not what I want
I didn't want this fake world, this dream of something that could never really be.
This isn’t right! I tried to shout, my voice mine again. But I just sat there, smiling. With this fake happiness that didn’t mean anything…with these people who would never…could never all be in one place.
Claire…I looked at her. Her bright smile, her lively, captivating laugh. Seeing her again made my heart hurt. Everything about her just…
Some part of me…did still wondered what life would be like if we’d never broken up. If Claire’s parents hadn’t sent her away. I wouldn’t have spiraled so hard…I never would have lost it and tried to end my life, at least I hoped...I wouldn’t have almost flunked out of school and gotten my ass kicked most of senior year. I might have…done the normal life stuff, a relationship and a career, and just…lived.
Happy, with her.
Maybe it wouldn’t have worked out. Maybe we didn’t work as a “real” couple and drifted apart. Maybe I’d be exactly where I am now but with a healthy relationship to look back on fondly.
But what-if’s didn’t matter.
My life isn’t my regrets! I shouted. I am the person I am because of the things I’ve done! The shit I’ve been through…The people I’ve met! The people I’ve loved!!
I closed my eyes and thought about my real life. The dead-end job, the endless worrying from my family, the crippling loneliness…And everything I’d been through recently. Losing my body against my will, the scorn and fear from the creatures around me…everything that made my life what it had been. But there were good things too.
The rhythm I would get into when I would sew. Mrs. Russo’s…Grandma’s pies, and her hugs too. The new friends I had made lately, and the hospitality and warmth of the Apples.
And I had loved once, even if it turned out badly. That’s how I knew I could love again.
I could, I knew it was possible. I cleared my mind and focused solely on something…something new. My closest pony friend. Hell, if I was being honest, probably my best friend, human or pony.
Whether or not what I felt for her was really love or the beginnings of a stupid crush…or if I’d ever see her again…I didn’t want to forget her just because it hurt sometimes, not knowing where things would end up. Knowing her…knowing her was a part of me, and I would never let go of that.
I may be a coward! But I’m a stubborn jackass too!
My memories are my own!
My life is mine!
And no one’s gonna take that away from me!!
I hit my fist against the invisible barrier, letting out a loud, echoing slam that reverberated painfully in my ears. Again and again, I threw myself against it, trying to break free. With every hit, the scene of that fake happiness rippled and distorted, but still remained.
I Won’t! Stop! Fighting!! I screamed, hitting it with everything I had. I just need…!
A breaking point. A tiny slip in the illusion to tear open with whatever I can muster…
But Silver…she’d been keeping all these kids under her spell literally for decades. What could I do to get out that would actually make a difference?
My legs started to buckle, the barrier was slowly encircling me, pressing my body tightly into itself. Trying to immobilize me…I felt groggy and my body was becoming unresponsive. She was getting back control. Soon I’d be back in that illusion without the strength to fight back.
How long until she pulled my body into the ground and put me in that place? Was it already happening?
I just need!!
A way!!
OUT!!!
Suddenly, everything turned into a blinding, all-encompassing white. I saw my chance, something was disturbing the illusion and before it could fade back into existence, something had grounded me back in reality.
--
“AHH!!”
I gasped, greedily sucking in air as I got my mind back. Something had hurt me, and the pain made me remember what was real and what wasn’t. I looked around, everything was the same. Silver was shifting, slowly. Her form was more unstable than before, and by the look on her face, she was not happy about me breaking free.
My hand was throbbing. I looked down, and sure enough…
“Good…boy.” I gasped, I felt so lightheaded…but I was getting back my senses with every breath. That little ankle biter had followed me once again. He’d bitten my hand so hard, all I could feel was a white-hot pain that seemed to crawl up my whole body until I could somehow feel it in my eyes. It was bleeding pretty bad, but I’d never been happier to see him.
Silver, her form looking unstable and erratic, watched me. How much power had she needed to put me in that fake vision? She was mad, it was easy to see that she’s never expected me to get out of it. And maybe…scared? Of me? Of what I would do now that I was free?
...
It wasn't right.
None of this was right.
It was all just...wrong. Silver was just a little girl. Even if she missed her sister, even if her magic was out of her control, why would she do all this? Even though I knew she was changed, not the same filly she was before, that part of her couldn’t just be…gone. She had to be in there…
All the visions I’d had, all the versions of the sisters I’d seen, what did it all mean? Why did I see them, even when I was nowhere near the forest? It all led me here, but for what? Why would she show me those things if they would lead me here, when it wasn’t even me she really wanted?
That fake me I saw when I came in here…
Everything clicked.
Like it had been a fake me, this was a fake Silver.
The real Silver was somewhere in there, deep down, like the me who was fighting to get out. And if I could reach her, I could stop all of this.
I hope…
“You!” I shouted at the empty-eyed illusion. “You’re not her!!”
It shrunk back under my words, going partly see-through and blipping in and out of my sight. I put some pressure on my hand, but I didn’t look away from the thing across from me.
I
I am Silver
all she is
all she ever was
all she’ll ever be
“Bullshit!” I’d feel bad for swearing at a kid if this was what it seemed like. “She’s more than her magic…what you made her into! You’re just what’s left of her body, stuck in that place! Her soul…that’s what’s left of the real her! The good part of her!”
It didn’t want to hear my words, but I pressed on.
“She’s been reaching out to me!” I shouted, shaking off the remaining wooziness. “When I’ve been sick, or unconscious, or…unstable…she found a way to get through to me! She told me how to open Sugar’s diary, she tried to show me how the two of them disappeared, more than once! She showed me things that led me right to you, so I could make things right! So I could put a stop to all this!”
Everything made a little more sense, as much as something like this could. Just as my body and mind had been separated in that magical coma, just as all the foals lured here had been split into body and soul, Silver was two separate entities now. Silver had been torn, both angry and wanting to get Sugar back, and another part of her desperately trying to protect her sister. Part of her used the forest’s magic to take foals, trying to fill the void her sister had left behind, while the other half sat helplessly, waiting for some opportunity to reach out to someone, to fix everything. Body and mind, but ultimately the same lonely little filly.
This thing…it had caused me so many problems, and I couldn’t help but hate her just a little…but at the end of the day, she was a scared kid trying to do the right thing.
If I could just set everything right…
“I know the real Silver is in there!” I shouted, trying to stand. The ankle biter shoved his head against my side, futilely trying to help despite his tiny body. When I got a leg under me and found some purchase, he scrambled up onto my shoulder. I stood tall, my full height imposing over the illusion of the filly. “You’re a part of her too! But you’ve turned into something selfish and cruel!”
quiet
be quiet
I’m
Silver Maple
I'm
i’M hEr
i hAvE To bE
Angry tears welled up in those big empty eyes, her form more unstable than before.
“Silver wouldn’t hurt anybody like you did!”
hUrt
dIDn’T hUrT
sAvED ThEM
“Some of them might’ve needed you, I can admit that…but the dangers they faced are long gone by now!” I shouted back. “Others were just helpless little foals! You tore families apart! They never came home! Just like you never did!”
Her form seemed to skitter across reality at that thought. I was getting close.
hOmE
mOmMA
“Your Momma died never knowing what happened to you…” I told her the harsh truth. How long had it been since she thought of her mother as anything other than the mean adult who tried to break up her family? “She was sick, Silver. She was dying, and she wanted you two to be happy and safe.”
Her tears were of helpless spite now; How long had she thought she was in the right? That everything she did was justified because she had been hurt once a long time ago?
I
I
She was getting weaker, the hate and anger fueling her losing its power.
I could see that my words word having an effect on her. But…that much rage and sadness that had been brewing for over fifty years wouldn’t just poof out of existence with some sympathy and harsh truths.
I needed a plan. Something to stop her from going back to what she was and just attacking me again…putting me back in that illusion.
I can’t go back there…I might not make it out next time.
I heard something. That familiar…plinking sound. One of the orbs flew from somewhere behind me, and landed just above my open hand. The ankle biter sniffed at it, and he didn’t seem to take any offense to it.
“I hope you’re who I think you are…” I told it, whispering and hoping the Other Silver couldn’t hear. “Because if you’re not, I’m in a whole lotta trouble.”
It floated up right between my eyes. I went temporarily cross-eyed as I tried to look at it when it touched my head directly.
“Okay, if you’re sure…” I put my faith in a glowing ball, hoping I just wasn’t reading too much into it.
But hey, I’d done stupider things.
It was a crazy, last-ditch effort, but I was going with it. I didn’t have much other choice…The orb landed back in my hands and I got ready to go through with this crazy plan. I really was winging it at this point, and I didn’t know how much longer the Other Silver would keep spazzing out.
I carefully approached her, summoning all the magic I could muster. The wisp of magic in my core swirling up into my breath, my words becoming something new, something powerful. It felt like I was breathing fire, like everything I was slipped out of me in a churning mass of power. I’d never felt so strong, but also never so vulnerable…
Here goes everything…
“Silver…”
Still glitching out, trying desperately to cling to existence, her hollow eyes met mine. For just a split second, I could see the filly she had been, and it made my heart hurt.
I didn’t know what this would do to her…but I had to do the right thing.
“It’s time for everyone to go home.”
I pushed the light, Silver’s disembodied soul back to the remains of her body. They both screamed, trying stubbornly, desperately to stay separate, but in another sense…seemed ready to be complete again. I remembered the sensation, Luna had described it when I left that dream realm and went back to my waking self.
Let this new sensation consume you and follow the call that your body will send. It…well it misses you. She’d encouraged me.
They merged into one in a blinding light, it seemed to consume everything. And this time, with no magic in my words, I smiled.
“Let’s go home.”
The group of worried ponies sat outside the trees, waiting for some sign that everything would be okay. That their friend hadn’t run into danger for nothing.
Twilight was weighing her options. If this went badly, what should she do? The other princesses could be here in hopefully no time once she went to get Spike from Fluttershy’s. But how long would it take the three of them to weaken those vines? The last thing she wanted was for three alicorns to get trapped by this forest. But was it better than the ponies they had already lost?
Her friends were in no shape to keep fighting this, if there even was a way to fight it. What if there wasn’t any way to beat this? What if Lottie and Apple Bloom were lost forever? What if the Applejack and Big McIntosh would never see their younger sister again, or Granny Smith her granddaughter? Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would be an incomplete trio, and they’d always feel that sense of emptiness.
And Lottie. Twilight knew it might take years, but she would still look for a way to enter her home dimension, so she could tell her family what became of her. Thinking of that possible future made her feel physically ill. Her own vision still hadn’t yielded any results on that getting the portal back open, and the next potion could be a long time coming. How could she tell them? What could she tell them? She still didn’t know how Lottie ended up here, what if it happened to another human like her…or another little foal?
If she took more drastic measures to keep anypony else from being taken, would it mean they would lose any hope of ever seeing the human and the filly ever again? But the risk was too great…she’d never come across a foe like this. Seemingly indestructible, spanning years in the damage it had caused, preying on the most innocent creatures it could…
She could hope and pray for Lottie to come back safely with Apple Bloom.
She turned her attention to the limp-maned Pinkie still staring at the forest, waiting for her. When she was looking for a way to send Lottie back, she’d wondered about how it would affect her friend. No matter the nature of their relationship, could Pinkie say goodbye to a friend forever?
Is this what she would’ve been like? Staring out, waiting for her to come back?
How long had it been now? Should she really start forming a back-up plan? In case Lottie-
No. She thought to herself. I believe in her. Maybe it’s foalish, maybe it’s hoping against all hope, but I can’t think the worst now…
She looked up into Luna’s night sky, hoping for her friend to come back safely.
They sat in silence for what seemed like an agonizingly long time, all they could do was wait…
It filled up everything so suddenly. A blinding light shone out from any crack and crevice it could from deep in the forest. It lit up the night sky for what seemed like an eternity before steadily winding down into the soft, dark night. They all got to their hooves and all seemed to hold their breath at the same time watching the strange scene, wondering what it could all mean…
With a creeping slowness, the vines all seemed to wither away, their long, sharp thorns shriveling into harmless, brittle protrusions. They all wasted no time bucking and sweeping them away now that they couldn’t regrow or fight back, and Twilight’s heart skipped a beat when she saw what they’d been hoping for.
Apple Bloom came creeping out of the woods, rubbing at her eyes and yawning. Before she even broke the tree line, her siblings leapt at her, sobbing with joy.
“Hey…” the youngest Apple yawned. “Are y’all alright?
“Yeah…” Applejack sniffled, squeezing her sister to her barrel as their brother swept them both up in a crushing hug. “You alright too, Sugarcube?”
“I think so…” she rubbed at her eyes. “I just had a weird dream…I saw Momma and Daddy.”
There was unmistakable sense of relief from everypony, seeing the filly safe and sound. Before they could ask her anything about what had happened in the forest, they heard small voices from deep in the trees.
Like they were all but expected, so many more little colts and fillies shuffled out of the woods. One by one, Twilight recognized them from her vision, every lost soul she’d cried over and then some poured out, stunning the ponies they met outside the forest.
“That’s…” Rarity held a hoof to her mouth, shocked, her eyes darting over them all.
“Eleven colts and fillies I count, I must admit…it’s a great amount…” Zecora held out her hooves to one, a little white earth pony colt with grey spots decorating his body. He bumped his head sleepily against her foreleg and Twilight remembered her vision.
“Pine Nut…” she recognized him, she recognized all of them! She knew their stories, their pain and fear, what the forest had used to lure them in…
She saw a filly stumbling with bleary eyes towards her friends. She had a soft yellow coat with a red and yellow striped mane, and recalling her specific vision, pointed the filly out to them.
“That one!” she alerted them as they let her lean against them. “I think…I think she might be an Apple!”
They looked shocked at the news, but the Apples’ eyes were filled with equal parts love and hopeful apprehension.
“What’s your name, darlin’?” Applejack asked her, tearing up again. She had the same fillyhood freckles that Applejack herself used to sport.
“Uh…Sugar Bee, ma’am…” the filly yawned, and Applejack looked at her brother, their eyebrows raised. They’d heard that name before, a distant cousin who’d run off years ago? It didn’t even occur to them she might’ve been one of these foals, it’d been such a long time since they heard that story…but here she was, all well and good.
“That’s a fine name.” Applejack sniffled, wiping at her eyes. “An Apple name.”
Twilight noticed that Sugar Bee’s mane was in sore need of a trim, much longer than what she remembered. Most of the foals looked like their manes had been growing while they hadn’t.
“They’re all…the same ages as when they disappeared.” Twilight realized what the shock had kept her from putting together. Every one of them hadn’t aged a day. They’d been suspended in the In-Between, she theorized. They all helped to comfort one foal or another, some took two or three into their waiting hooves. Twilight stopped a familiar pair of siblings, letting them rest in her embrace.
Tulip let out a tired yawn, smacking her lips like she’d just went down for an afternoon nap. Beetle looked up at Twilight with bleary eyes, but hugged his sister to him, ever the protector.
“Welcome back.” She told them, her eyes getting wet before wiping away at them subtly. Beetle shook off his tiredness, and Twilight couldn’t help but notice that his lame leg was healed, like it had never been broken.
“Is…is this, are we safe?” Beetle asked her, and she nodded her head with almost too much enthusiasm.
“Your grandmare is long gone by now.” She told him. She couldn’t be sure how long it’d been since they disappeared, not exactly, but even if that abusive old mare hadn’t passed on yet, Twilight would make sure she never got her hooves on these two ever again.
“…Good.” was all Beetle could say.
Twilight was overjoyed at all the familiar faces, safe and sound. She looked around at them, all shuffled into the embraces of her friends. All except for one.
Pinkie Pie was on her own, still looking into the woods. In all the commotion, Twilight realized that somepony was still missing. She told the siblings they’d be safe with her friend Rarity before she made her way to the lonesome pink pony.
Her mane had regained a few of its curls, but her eyes still shimmered with tears.
“Pinkie…” she didn’t know what she wanted to say, what would be true or untrue, but Pinkie just sighed shakily, showing Twilight a wobbly smile.
“I’m glad…” she choked back a sob. “I’m glad all the little foals are safe, really I am, Twilight. I just…”
Twilight moved quickly and held her, and Pinkie couldn’t help but burst into tears. Twilight let her cry, knowing it might not make her friend feel better, but it certainly would help in one way or another. The pink pony shook in her forelegs, tucking her head into the crook of Twilight’s neck.
“M-maybe…” Pinkie sniffled, muffled against her friend’s fur. “Maybe she found her way home?”
“Maybe…” Twilight couldn’t help but cry with her friend. Her own friendship with Lottie had been new and brief, but it was still something she cherished, like how she treasured all of her friends. But Pinkie…
She wish she knew what to say. But even if she knew the right words, she suspected that they wouldn’t make Pinkie feel any better. To lose somepony you held that dearly…even if it wasn’t romantic like some had believed, Pinkie obviously held Lottie close to her heart. This was something Twilight didn’t know how to fix. She didn’t even know how to start.
All she could do was hold her friend close and cry with her.
Pinkie’s sobbing melded into another, similar sound; somepony else was crying and the sound made Pinkie’s ears stand up, her own sobs quieting to pinpoint it. It was high-pitched and young…another foal? Through the trees came a strange but familiar figure, shrouded in the dark. When it all came into view, it was quite the sight.
A lone human, carrying a foal close to her chest, with a young pine marten riding on her shoulder. Her hand was covered in blood, and the filly was crying so hard it drowned out all other sound. Everypony present saw the stragglers shuffling out of the woods and couldn’t contain their relief and joy.
Pinkie, for one, bounded over and slammed into her friend, knocking them all over. At least the pine marten had the sense to abandon ship before they all came crashing down.
“Ah, Pinkie! Easy!” Lottie laughed with a hiss of pain. “I’m carrying precious cargo!”
“You big dummy!” Pinkie sobbed, with the biggest smile on her face. “You didn’t say goodbye!!”
“Really?” she asked. “I thought my mysterious exit just about covered it.”
Pinkie did something very out of character and gave Lottie a solid headbutt, the conking sound ringing out and everypony present winced when they heard it.
“Ah! Geez, okay, I get it!!” Lottie grimaced, fading into a smile. Pinkie nuzzled her face after, wrapping her forelegs around Lottie’s neck, squeezing her for all she was worth. Her forehead was turning red from the blow but it seemed to be a pain she could live with, closing her eyes and good-naturedly receiving her affection. When Pinkie finally broke away, Lottie sighed, tired but overall contented by the sound of it. She sat upright, cradling the filly against her body, looking up at Twilight from where she sat.
“Is that…” Twilight knew who it was, but it didn’t feel real until somepony said it out loud.
“Yup. This was our big, bad villain: Silver Maple.” Lottie joked, hoofing over the sobbing filly. “She’s not entirely to blame, and I plan on keeping her around so, go easy on her. Okay?”
“I’m sorry!” The filly sobbed, over and over. She was just as much of a mess as the other foals, maybe more so, and her mane was so long it seemed to go on forever; Fifty years would do that, Twilight supposed. She had dark circles under her eyes and Twilight could spot the barest hint of ribs under her coat. She’d been exhausting her magic for a long time, it seemed. A later scan showed Twilight that both Lottie and the filly were both near-depleted.
Twilight was stunned. With all the foals she saw in her vision, she thought that maybe there were foals before Silver and Sugar. But Silver Maple, this tiny crying filly, was the cause behind the forest’s abductions? She held the nine-year old close to her and couldn’t help but fret at the sight of her…everypony was crying today for many different reasons and it was pretty exhausting.
“I’ll…I’ll keep her safe.” She promised.
“Good.” Lottie smiled. “’Cause I think I used aaalllll my magic in there to put Silver back together and I’ve been bleeding for a while now…I need to lie down...”
She fell back to the ground with a hard thud onto the grass, the pine marten soon taking advantage to curl up on her stomach. Pinkie let out a little yelp of surprise, apologizing for not being quick enough to catch her.
“S’okay. I just…need a minute...”
Twilight looked around at everything; all the heartache and joy, all the happy faces and tears of relief, all the broken families and the ones who would soon be reunited…
“Lottie…” Twilight hugged the filly closer. “Thank you.”
The human-pony hybrid just smiled from the ground, looking more content than Twilight had ever seen her.
“No prob.”
I woke up in a familiar hospital room with a bandage on my hand, feeling a lot better but still pretty drained.
“Note to self: Don’t use that much magic ever again…you big, stupid idiot.” I wondered how long I’d been out, my bleary eyes looking around for some context. My forehead was still tender from Pinkie’s headbutt, and I grimaced when I touched it, more than once like an idiot.
There were quite a few flower arrangements on any surface there could be, and I’d been changed out of the remnants of my Nightmare Night costume at some point and into the pajamas Rarity had made me. The privacy curtain was drawn, separating the room in half, and I could hear light snoring. I was sharing a room this time, it seemed. No longer being a big secret had its usual downsides, it seemed. My hand was wrapped in bandages and it was sore whenever I tightened my grip, but I would live.
Most importantly, there was a familiar face I was very happy to see.
She’d fallen asleep in the chair this time. I could imagine her fretting about accidentally bumping my hand or waking me up and taking the less comfortable option and sleeping in the chair.
I looked at the clock, it was half past seven, though I couldn’t tell a.m. or p.m. But I figured she’d either be waking up for the day or we could talk and get back to sleep before too long.
“Pinkie.” I whispered, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. She snapped awake with a snort, blinking wearily and looking around until she finally spotted me.
She sprang from the chair, jumping into my arms. My wounded hand got jammed between us and I hissed in pain. Pinkie backed off suddenly and I flashed her a pained half-smile before she could apologize.
“I’m fine.” I whispered. The pain was already fading, and Pinkie looked up at me with worried eyes. “Really, I’m okay.”
“I’m so soooo sorry…” she whispered back, her ears down. “You were asleep for so long and I just…I’m just so happy you’re okay!”
“How long was I out?” I asked, worried about the answer.
“Just about a day and a half…” she rubbed at her foreleg sheepishly. “But it felt like forever.”
She was pouting, and the sight made me smile. I reached with my good hand and scratched behind her ear, and it perked up right away. She smiled up at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.
“I’m sorry for going off on my own like that.” I told her, getting it off my chest. The look she’d given me when I left her behind was stuck in my brain.
“It was pretty mean…” she mumbled. “And I told you not to move a muscle…”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“And you coulda gotten really hurt…” she was pouting again. Pinkie was so smiley all the time that seeing her like this was kind of funny. I couldn’t stop the snort of laughter from slipping out, making Pinkie gasp in disbelief.
“You…!” she wanted to get mad at me, I could tell, but I cut her off with a hand on her cheek. I brushed it softly with my thumb, unable to stop smiling.
“I promise…” I told her, hoping my words sounded sincere. “I promise I’ll never leave you behind again.”
The look on her face was muddled, pulled in two different directions. Sad and resigned, but with the tiniest ember of hope burning away behind her eyes.
“You…you don’t have to say that.” She whispered, pulling away a little. “I know you can’t stay here, and I…I don’t want you to stay here just so I won’t be sad…”
“I’d be sad too.” I assured her, grazing her cheek with my thumb again. “I can’t imagine my life without a certain smiley pink pony in it anymore.”
She looked at me, her eyes seeming to search for something in my face.
“I won’t go home until I know I can see you again.” I told her, my mind made up. “I don’t want to live in a world without you in it.”
Her eyes went wide, and her already pink face turned a bright shade of red. She was unusually quiet, and it was another side of her that I couldn’t help but find so damn cute. I took her face in both of my hands, ignoring the pain, squishing her cheeks like she’d done to me from time to time.
“How can I not admit I love you at this point, ya know?”
And what happened next was…quite the sight. Pinkie’s red face spread to the rest of her body, her eyes fluttered and her ears went crazy on her head, while her whole body seemed to vibrate and her tail whirled around like a plane propeller. It seemed to come to a head as she sprang into the air, everything stopping and she seemed to float back down onto the bed.
“OoooOOOoooo!” she whooped, giggling. “That was a new one! Fluttery eyelashes, wiggly ears, shimmy shakes and a swirly tail means “I found my special somepony”! Wow!”
I laughed; I wouldn’t have expected any other reaction from her at this point.
“You mean it?” she asked, her eyes so bright and sparkling that it almost hurt to look at.
“I do.” I chuckled, touching my forehead to hers. She giggled sweetly, and I could feel her eyelashes just barely touch my cheeks. They were starting to hurt from smiling, but I couldn’t care less.
“I love you too, Lottie Dottie.” She whispered, looking into my eyes.
And before I could beat her to it, she kissed me.
It was soft, and sweet, and couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds, but I was so far gone I barely noticed. My heart was going crazy, and as cliché as it sounds, the rest of the world just seemed to melt away. When it ended, she giggled again, booping my nose with hers.
“I think about this feeling sometimes, when I'm with you." she smiled, nuzzling my cheek. "This is a different kind of happy, I think. But I like it!”
That got a laugh from me. I felt so tired all of the sudden, and I leaned back against the raised head of the bead, falling into the soft pillow. Pinkie gently turned around so she was sitting against my chest, and I tucked my chin on top of her head, nestled in her wild mane.
“I’ve never been anypony’s marefriend before…” she seemed to be thinking. “What if I don’t do a good job?”
“You’ll be fine.” I sighed, still in the clouds. I put my hands palms up on both sides of her, and she put her hooves in them with no hesitation. “After all, we’re in this together.”
She squealed, wiggling about and tilting her head up, planting a little smooch on my cheek.
Dear lord… I half-heartedly lamented. I’ve turned a huggy pony into a smoochy one. This will either be the best thing, or the worst…
Though judging by the cheek kisses she’d planted on me when I gave her Little Bluey and Gummy 2, it was only lying dormant, waiting patiently for the right moment to strike. It was just something I’d have to live with if this was going to be a long-term thing.
I looked at this special person, pony, “special somepony”, “marefriend”, “girlfriend” …whatever I called her, I meant what I’d said before. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. It just took almost getting dissipated into magical energy and my soul getting separated from my body and trapped forever in a hopeless illusion to realize what I really wanted.
Hopefully, that wouldn’t be a “thing” with me.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Pinkie was still excited, but went back to whispering. And suddenly I remembered my roommate just behind the curtain. Hopefully, we hadn’t woken them up. “I was gonna tell you when you woke up but then…”
She went a little red and tongue-tied again, and the sight made me want to tease her a little. She shook it off and gestured for me to follow her. I got up from the bed, feeling surprisingly steady for passing out for a day and a half. She started to peel back the dividing curtain when I freaked, trying to stop her.
“W-wait!” I whispered, but she paid me no mind, grabbing me by the sides of my head and making me look.
Silver Maple was curled up in the bed next to mine, looking incredibly small and weak. She had an I.V. in her foreleg and she was snoring softly, all our absentminded shouting having gone right over her sleeping head.
“She’s here!” I whispered to Pinkie, holding her hooves on my cheeks. “She’s okay?”
“Uh-huh! Dr. Horse gave her a check-up and said she mostly just needed some fluids and a real nap, not a magic one.” Pinkie smiled, letting the curtain fall closed. “She cried when they tried take her to another room, so they brought in another bed. I made sure everypony here was nice to her until you woke up.”
“That’s good.” I felt much better hearing that. “Thanks.”
“No problem! She cried for a while, but I helped her fall asleep.” Pinkie couldn’t help but let her eyes wander back to the curtain, letting go of my head. “It took a long time, but she’s been asleep almost as long as you.”
Silver had been through a lot, and even with all the damage she’d caused, she was just a sad kid. I didn’t know if I’d get back home, or if Celestia and Luna would ever locate any living relatives of mine…or if they would want anything to do with me, being a hybrid monster from another world and all. So there was a very real possibility that Silver and I were the only family the other had.
Granted, she was my nine-year-old great aunt. But no matter the circumstances, I would look out for her.
“Thank you Pinkie.” I told her, putting a hand on her cheek. “For keeping an eye on her for me.”
“Aww…” she blushed a little, looking embarrassed. “It was no big deal…”
I sat back down on the bed, feeling a lot better now that I knew where she was. I laid back and stared up at the ceiling, wondering what would happen from here.
“She’s a good filly.” Pinkie said, climbing back onto the bed. She laid back against me, her head leaning on my stomach as she tapped her front hooves together, looking up at the same ceiling.
“I think so too.” I sighed, feeling very tired. I wondered what time it was. And it was true.
Silver had gone through some stuff that had changed so many lives forever, including her own. As much as I wanted to, it wasn’t really my place to forgive her. Sure, she’d done plenty to me, turning me into a pony and trapping me in another world, but my problems weren’t anywhere near as complicated as the ones of the foals and their families. I could forgive what she’d done to me, but not to anyone else.
She was sure to go through a lot in the coming days. And I would be there for her.
But this was a serious responsibility. And I knew who I wanted to share it with.
“Pinkie?”
“Hm?” she looked up at me upside-down, her head cushioned by her mane.
“If something happens to me…” I started, hoping she’d say yes. “Would you look after Silver Maple?”
“Nothing’s gonna happen to you!” flipped over, putting her chin on my chest, looking sullen and a little pouty. “Don’t even say that!”
“Just…hypothetically.” I stroked her mane, unable to keep a smile off my face, even with the dire subject matter. “I could get sick or…I don’t know. Anything’s possible. If something keeps me from taking care of her, I want somepony I trust to make sure she’s alright. And there’s no one I trust more than you, Pinkie.”
She still pouted, puffing her cheeks out, but she couldn’t hide how happy what I’d said had made her.
“I still think you’ll be fine but…okay.” She shot me an exaggerated frown, trying not to let it turn into a smile. “Since I like you so much…I gueeesssss I can do that.”
I snorted, trying to keep quiet and not wake Silver up. I leaned my head down a little and kissed her on the end of her nose. She sighed all dreamily, and I swear I could see hearts in her eyes.
“Thanks, Pinkie.” My eyes felt tired and heavy, and I wondered how late (or maybe early) it really was. I felt Pinkie nuzzle up on my chest, and I hugged her close to me as we both drifted off.
I didn’t know how long this could last. Whether a dimension would end up separating us, or maybe just the normal path a relationship might take. Either way…I wanted to stay with her for as long as I could. And as much as I wanted to go home, to tell the people I loved that I was okay, I was going to keep my word. That I wouldn’t go home until I knew I would see her again; that I didn’t want a life without her in it.
How could I even think of a life without Pinkie Pie in it? I hugged her closer to me and heard her giggle in her sleep. Like most everything she did, it made me smile, and I wouldn’t trade a life with her for anything.
I had barely gotten any sleep that night. When the sun rapidly rose into the sky at the Sun Princess’ command, I let out a weary sigh.
Today would either be a very good day, or a very bad one. Either way, I wasn’t ready. But regardless, it was time to get up.
The Apple family’s guest room was much more my own now. Little gifts I’d gotten, the get well card the Crusaders gave me so long ago, the little pink pony toy Pinkie had given me after I’d gotten my body back and Rarity’s clothes that she’d made me; so many little trinkets I’d gotten over the past few months too. A lot of the foals liked to give me little things they thought were neat; the room was littered with shiny rocks and interesting-looking leaves and so many drawings that one wall was nearly covered. And I loved any little thing they gave me.
It gave me a little courage, looking at all of it. Today was going to be an ordeal. But this made it a little easier.
The little Pine Marten was sound asleep in his little bed on his tree. Big Mac had made him a fake climbing tree for the room with little nest-like beds in it so he could climb it and leave the apple trees alone. He was a little bit bigger now, less the size of a newborn kitten and more the size of a small cat. If I woke him up, there was a chance he’d try to follow me around all day. I left him some fishy treats Rarity recommended for when he woke up, and his little nose twitched in his sleep. He, unlike his smaller weasel cousins, wouldn’t turn white in the winter, so I was going to be getting him meat to eat this season when his hunts might fail. Fluttershy wasn’t kidding that ponies wouldn’t be up to all this extra work when taking in a predator. But even if I thought fishing was kind of gross, I was more than willing to provide for the little guy who saved my life.
I had a pet now, like it or not. And it wasn’t so bad. I did have a gnarly bite scar on my hand from Nightmare Night, but it was a nice reminder of how he’d helped me when I needed it most.
“Be a good boy, Nibbler.” I whispered, heading downstairs.
I had taken to making breakfasts some mornings, and the Apples were a little more at ease about letting me without any fuss, but today it was a no go. Applejack had insisted on making everyone’s food that morning.
“You need a big heaping helping today for what you’re up against.” She smiled, her argument made. “And ya need to relax your mind. You get all worked up when you try to serve everypony meals.”
She was right, cooking was fun, but not a relaxing activity for me. And my brain was already muddled enough this morning. But I was suspicious, waiting for the same thing she’d been telling me for two whole months now.
“…Plus…” Applejack started.
“Plus?” I asked, already knowing what was coming next.
“It’s the least I can do for you savin’ my baby sis-”
I kicked up a fuss with a loud, exaggerated sigh, cutting her off as she smiled at me good-naturedly.
“Now, I know you don’t like me bringin’ it up all the time.” She admitted. “But how can I not? I never feel like I’m doin’ enough for ya after Nightmare Night.”
“Stop!” I groaned, putting my head on the table. “I don’t want credit for this! It’s bad enough what Luna’s calling me now, I don’t need you making a fuss all the time. Even Apple Bloom is being more chill about this than you!”
The filly, as if on cue, wandered into the kitchen and sat at the table, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“Mornin’ Lottie. Mornin’ Sis.” She yawned, biting an apple right out of the fruit bowl on the table. “Ah’m hungry.”
“I’m makin’ a whole mess of fritters for Lottie’s big day!” Her sister smiled, getting the ingredients ready. “The sooner she eats, the sooner she can get going.”
“Oh, I forgot that’s goin’ on today.” The filly blinked up at me. “You ready for everythin’?”
“I don’t really have much of a choice, right?” I smiled, trying to be good-natured about it. “It’s happening whether or not I’m ready.”
“Now, hang on.” Applejack frowned. “I get you bein’ nervous, but nopony’s makin’ you do this today. If you need more time, nopony’s gonna say nothin’.”
“No, I just…gotta go for it. If I don’t do it now, I’m gonna keep putting it off. And I…I am excited, ya know.” I smiled. “I can’t help but feel happy too, I just…I’m more nervous than anything and it’s overpowering everything else.”
“It’s gonna be okay, Lottie.” Apple Bloom encouraged me, patting me on the arm. “You got me outta that forest and saved all the foals. Compared to that, this is practically nothin’!”
“Don’t you start mentioning that all the time too…” I sighed. “I barely even did anything. I just talked a bunch and barely made it out.”
“Don’t talk like that!” Applejack shivered, still cooking breakfast. “Gives me the willies just thinkin’ about how bad it coulda gone.”
“And you gotta promise not to bring it up in front of Silver.” I reminded the sisters. She “She’s still a mess over it and everybody talking about it all the time is really getting to her. It’s bad enough with Breezy…”
We all shrunk down at the name. All the foals had had different reactions to finding out that one filly was responsible for their ordeal, but a lot of them had been nice enough (or at least not openly hostile) to Silver when they saw her, surprisingly.
However, the pegasus filly Breezy was a whole different story.
At least Breezy was back in Cloudsdale and out of Ponyville. It was one less thing to worry about for now. I shook off the thought for the moment, having bigger things to worry about today.
“Cloudsdale brought in the snow last night on schedule.” Applejack told me, plating some fritters for us before going back to make more. I guess she was thinking the same things about Breezy as I was to bring up the subject. “So make sure to dress warm before we head out.”
“I will.” I sighed. I wasn’t sure how pony age and maturity translated to human years, but regardless, Applejack had been acting like an older sibling towards me as of late. Maybe that’s how she’d always been acting, but now she just wasn’t being subtle about it anymore.
Big Mac came in from outside towards the end of breakfast, lightly dusted in snow that he shook off in the kitchen entryway.
“S’cold out.” He told me, mussing his mane to get the last of the snow off. “Dress warm.”
“I know.” Big Mac was joining in on the sibling act lately too. And having a furless sibling to look out for as it got colder and colder made them fret more than anything. Granny had never knitted so much stuff since I came to stay here. Living with them for as long as I had let them see a lot of sides of me, and it made them a bit protective.
I still felt awful for my “Bad Day” a couple of weeks ago, when being unmedicated hit me much harder than usual and I spent the day in bed in a depressive episode. No one could get me to do much of anything, and I apologized so much when I came back up later the next day. It freaked everybody out, apparently being something ponies never did, and they treated me a bit differently after. But when I told them about my hang-ups about my family doing the same thing, they lightened up a little. It was just another part of me they had to figure out how to live with.
Hopefully, I’d have a solution for that soon.
Given the cold, Rarity had really outdone herself making me a winter wardrobe. Even before today, she refused to have me stuck inside or shivering in my fall clothes, stubbornly telling her it was enough. Now, everything I wore was made by her. She even figured out boots finally and made me a pair, which were lined with wool graciously donated by some sheep friends of Fluttershy’s. She’d made me a black wool beanie from the same sheep too, which I pulled down a little to cover my ears. Granny Smith and her knitting circle had really come through on some tall, warm socks too. Some gloves were a little harder to figure out, and even thought I said I would be fine with some mittens (given their easier shape) Rarity had insisted on making a pair that fit just right. I made a promise to myself to take good care of them so they’d last me a long time, it was very possible that I’d never find a better fit.
Everything was warm and comforting to me, just what I needed to face this.
Ready to head out, the Apple sisters were waiting by the front door, wearing just a couple of scarves. I guessed to make me feel less overdressed by comparison.
“You be safe now, ya hear?” Granny was up now, wrapped in a thicker shawl than usual. “If anythin’ goes screwy, you come on home right quick, understand?”
“I will.” I didn’t argue with the old mare calling this my home. She and Big Mac saw us off and gave me their well wishes for today.
“Alright, let’s head out.” Applejack led everyone out the door, and I braced myself, stepping out into the Ponyville winter.
There was a nice, soft snow falling all around us, slowly building up for a few inches of snow over the orchard. The apples had all long since been harvested towards the end of autumn, and the trees had been stripped bare with an odd pony tradition where they ran all around the town knocking them all down.
Winter, just like all the other weather, was made by pegasi. So it was nice and calm and manageable. They said that the occasional wild storm would blow down from the mountain range, but if it was too big, pegasi would do their best to break it up before it reached any populated areas. It was still a strange thought, “feral” weather not being the norm.
In any case, it was cold, but not bitterly freezing, and the snow was just high enough to start playing in, which Apple Bloom was excited for after she saw me off.
“Sweetie Belle and Scoots and me are gonna make a snowpony out by the lake. Then we’re gonna go ice-skatin’…” she smiled, but it didn’t stick around for long. “I wish you could come with us today, but I know you got important stuff to do.”
“I’ll be back.” I shot the filly a smile. “If told you, if I couldn’t come back, I said I wasn’t gonna go.”
“But…” she couldn’t seem to shake her uneasiness. “Twilight’s only been testin’ the portal for a couple of days… What if it doesn’t work on humans? What if-”
“I trust her, and Luna.” I told her, not wanting her to get as nervous as I was feeling. “And Silver too. They wouldn’t even try this if they thought anything could go wrong.”
Apple Bloom didn’t say anything else, and Applejack was conspicuously silent too. They didn’t want to talk me out of this, but I know they couldn’t help but worry.
Hell, I was worried too. But it was something I had to do.
It was really early in the morning, but there were still some ponies out and about. But I suspected that some of them were here to see me off. Ditzy Doo, making her mail delivery rounds, gave me a wave from the air as Lyra and Bon Bon trotted on up beside us.
“Lottie!” Lyra smiled. The two of them were wearing matching scarves. “You come back safe, alright?”
“Uh-huh. How do you two even know about this?” I asked them, but I already had a pretty good idea.
“Pinkie came over to visit the foals the other day, and she…I think she needed somepony to talk to about today.” Bon Bon explained, confirming my suspicions.
“You think she told anypony else?” I asked, almost as a rhetorical question, motioning my head to the mailmare.
“…Pretty sure she was making the rounds.” Lyra shrugged. There were lots of foals still here in Ponyville, under the care of various ponies. Loopty Loop was staying with her cousin Ditzy Doo and her daughter Dinky, and it had only been two weeks ago that Sugar Bee had gone back to her family out in Fillydelphia, after settling some family drama. She’d stayed with us at Sweet Apple Acres for a long time, and I already missed her. I knew the Apples missed the filly like crazy too.
Lyra and Bon Bon had taken in Beetle and Tulip. The siblings were not far away, playing in the snow. I’d heard they had some issues with internalized tribalism from how their grandmother had abused the both of them, so living in a home with a unicorn/earth pony couple like their parents had been did wonders for them.
And yes, they were admitting to being a couple now. When the two mares came to the social worker from Canterlot to volunteer to foster a foal, the mare saw the potential to help Beetle and Tulip. But she said that since Bon Bon was the only one of the two who lived in Ponyville, Lyra couldn’t officially have anything to do with it. Lyra got super serious, pulled the earth pony to her side, and told everyone in earshot that she and Bon Bon were a couple. And Bon Bon, apparently unable to hold it in any longer, asked her girlfriend to move in with her. It was a sweet sight, although no one was surprised in the slightest, not even the social worker who’d just met them.
That Green Bean was a smart mare, from the few times I’d met her. The princesses did a great job picking her to help handle all of this.
And nothing at all had changed, save for Lyra being in town full time. And as often as I saw her around, I didn’t even know she lived in Canterlot in the first place until someone told me.
“Pinkie was just nervous about today, you know?” Bon Bon tried to defend her, maybe thinking I was upset about her talking to everyone about today.
“I get it.” I sighed. “I just wish she’d realize she’s not gonna hurt me if she brings this stuff up. Ponies think I’m made of glass or something. I’m not going anywhere without talking to her today, don’t worry.”
They smiled at that, maybe assured that our relationship wasn’t crashing down due to a few comments here or there.
We said our goodbyes, and I waved hi to the kids too. Beetle gave a small smile and nodded our way, while Tulip giggled loudly and jumped into a snow bank, making him sigh.
“Oops!” Lyra’s eyes went wide. “Gotta keep an eye on her, she’s a little wild one today. Tulip! Be careful, sweetie!”
They raced back on over to the kids, making me smile a little. The two made for very loving and supportive foster mothers to Beetle and Tulip, and I couldn’t imagine anyone better for the job.
We kept on towards the woods, and I kept an eye on Apple Bloom all the while, and I could see Applejack doing the same. We knew nothing bad could happen to her now, but how was she feeling about coming back to the place where she almost hadn’t returned from?
Her not being an idiot, the kid could tell why we suddenly couldn’t keep our eyes off her.
“I’m fine!” she announced, trotting through the still light snow. “I can barely even remember what happened outside of fallin’ asleep! And I’m not scared now that there’s no danger no more! I promise! Quit kickin’ up a fuss, you two!”
Applejack smiled, with a look that said “Okay, okay, I get it” while I was amazed by her courage. Granted the first time the woods had tried to take me was much more violent than the second, even with the danger gone I still felt breathless when I got past the trees. Apple Bloom was a strong little filly, no doubt.
We were just on the edge of town when Applejack turned to her sister and they both shared a nuzzle.
“Now, go inside when you start to feel a chill, ya hear?” she told her. “And don’t spend the whole day worryin’ about Lottie. She’s gonna be fine.”
“Okay.” She grinned. She looked up at me expectantly, and I rolled my eyes with a smile. I picked her up and held her close in a hug, the filly wrapping her forelegs around my neck.
“Say hi to your folks for me, okay?” Apple Bloom butted her head against mine, making me laugh.
“I will.” I told her. I put her back down to see some more familiar faces coming towards us.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were waiting not too far away, dressed in some assorted winter wear, They waved Apple Bloom over, and shouted their well wishes my way.
“Lottie! Good luck today!” Sweetie Belle shouted with a wave to me as well.
“Bring me back a souvenir!” Scootaloo joked, getting a nudge in the side from her friend.
Not too far away from the trio were two more fillies, not as excitable as the others, but I was glad to see them for another reason.
“I’ll be right back.” I told Applejack. “I gotta do that thing I mentioned.”
“Hm?” She looked past me, spotting who I’d spotted. “Oh, yeah. You hurry up tho, can’t keep those two waiting forever.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been around a lot more over the last few weeks. Silver Spoon had become the bolder of the two, protecting her friend against those who treated her unfairly, even if she knew Diamond thought she deserved it.
Diamond Tiara herself had been through a lot the past couple months. Apple Bloom mainly filled me in on it and I heard the rest from Applejack, who heard it from Filthy Rich. Apparently when everything was going down on Nightmare Night, there was some heavy family drama going down across town. Diamond came clean about how her mother treated her and it caused quite a stir. At first, Filthy Rich couldn’t believe it, no mother could treat their child like they were nothing, to fill their head with such foul ideas about other ponies and such stinging insecurities. And of course the mare had denied it at first to save face. But when it became clear that Spoiled Rich had really done all of it, and showed not a shred of remorse either, he didn’t have much choice.
Filthy Rich did his best to change his wife’s way of thinking, to work things out, he really had. But when it came down to it, their differing definitions of what it meant to love their child were too much to overcome. And when he had finally made it clear he wanted a separation, she didn’t even fight for the right to see Diamond. She just took half his money and ran off, without so much as a goodbye to her daughter. As petty and cruel as the filly had been to half the children in town (and me too, of course), knowing that her own mother had only seen her as a way up the social ladder made everyone more willing to help.
Every once in a while, Diamond would slip up and repeat something Spoiled Rich had taught her, and the ponies around her had to tell her why it was wrong to say or to think that way.
She hadn’t been entirely forgiven by all her schoolmates or even Apple Bloom, but it was a start. They cut her some slack. Not too much, mind you. But enough to let Diamond Tiara figure out who she was without her mother filling her head.
I was no exception. I had something in mind for the little filly, that was for sure.
“How are you, Diamond Tiara?” I asked, trying to seem neutral. She ducked her head down, still ashamed at the sight of me or Apple Bloom.
“I’m okay, Ms. Petrou.” She gave a weak smile, her ears down. “Daddy has been home a lot more to spend time with me, and Randolph has been doing so much for me when Daddy has to go to work. It…makes me feel bad for how I’ve treated him before…But I-I’m trying to do better.”
“That’s good to hear.” I smiled back, my hand in my coat pocket. “I wanted to give you something, if that’s okay with you.”
I could see it on her face already. The self-loathing, the backsliding into belittling her own self-worth. Before she could say no, I pulled something out of my pocket I’d been making for a few days now.
She stared at it for a few seconds before her face screwed up in pent up emotions.
“She’s a new friend for you.” I told her, crouching down to the filly. “I figured you could use one.”
“Why would you give me this?” She mumbled, trying to hold back her tears. It wasn’t working. Silver Spoon was with her quickly, pressing up against her side, trying to calm her friend down. It seemed to help at least a little.
“See, the good thing about the friends I make…is that if you love them, they’ll love you back.” I brushed some of the falling snow off the gift. “She’ll always be there, even if you have a bad day, or slip up, or just need to be by yourself.”
She looked up at me, tears dampening the fur on her face. I wiped it away with my gloves, hoping it wasn’t weird for an adult she didn’t really know personally to do so. But ponies seemed less concerned with stuff like that, it was a herd thing I think. All adults were concerned about all kids all the time and watched over them, and helped them if they needed help.
I handed the toy to Diamond, and watched as she looked it over. It was a little lamb stuffy, with the softest pink wool and purple ribbon around her neck. And just for her, it was also wearing a little golden crown. I made it with her in mind, for a kid who was suffering.
Even if she did me wrong once or twice, she was just a kid. And learning to forgive Silver for her mistakes had made me more open to helping this little filly too.
“Kid, you lost someone you love.” I told her, hoping I wasn’t going to upset her. “Even if you think you shouldn’t care because it’s the “correct” thing to feel…It’s, you know, okay to miss your mom.”
That was what broke her resolve, whatever was left of it anyway. She squeezed the toy to her chest and Silver hugged her friend close as she sobbed. And not too far away, I could see the scene had gotten someone else’s attention.
Apple Bloom was a smart, compassionate kid. And even though she and Diamond Tiara might never be the best of friends, she wasn’t the type to stand by while someone else was in pain. She joined the hug too, followed shorty by Sweetie and Scoots, even if it took a couple extra seconds to make up their minds.
When Diamond’s sniffling died down, they all pulled away to a little surprise. Diamond’s eyes were wide as she saw her newest friend come to life in her hooves.
“Oh, yup.” I laughed. “That’s a lot of love. Little gal got charged up real quick.”
I stood up as Apple Bloom started chatting away with a mostly quiet Diamond about what it was like having a living toy in your life. I gave them one last wave before rejoining Applejack by the town’s edge.
“That was a mighty nice thing ya did for the filly, Lottie.” She smiled, watching her sister try to be kind to her former tormenter. “Don’t know if I’m quite there yet myself, to be honest.”
“Everyone has the power to do good and bad stuff.” I shrugged. “She needs some opportunities to be good, even if it’s just towards a tiny little toy.”
“S’pose you’re right.” She shrugged back as we walked on to the outskirts. “Can’t hurt to teach that filly some compassion…”
Applejack needed some time too. Which was okay. Everyone has their own pace for these kinds of things.
I just didn’t want to leave today without saying something to the filly. Just in case.
“Pinkie, everything’s gonna be fine.”
The three of them were waiting in the woods, just like we’d talked about the night before. Pinkie Pie wasn’t going to stay back at Sugarcube Corner this morning, nor would I ask her too. By the look in her eyes, it seemed like she’d been up all night.
“I know…” she smiled, but her ears hung low, betraying how she was really feeling.
“Pinkie.” Twilight put her foreleg on her friend’s back, trying to comfort her as best she could. “We’ve tested and retested the portal for weeks now. It’s perfectly stable now.”
“I myself have made the journey.” Luna reminded her. “We would not move forward unless we were certain no harm would befall Lottie.”
Yesterday had been very stressful, to stay the least. The princesses had run every test under the sun to get the portal working again and to make sure it would go where it was meant to go. Not to mention that it would stay open long enough to let someone pass through. They had tested Silver’s original method and Twilight had flexed her transformation magic to achieve the same effects, and with some trial and error, they were almost one hundred percent sure it would go where it had gone before. But it had yet to be tested in the most important way: with a living subject. I wanted to go, if it would put any of them in danger of getting stuck back home alone. But I was determined to take my promise about not leaving without a sure way back to Pinkie seriously. Luna, against Twilight’s shock and resistance, said on no uncertain terms that she would be the one to go.
She stayed on the other side, just outside the portal, for an hour while all of us waited back in Equestria. We were unsure the whole time if she had made it to the other side, or if she was even alive, but when she came back completely unharmed, I’m not ashamed to admit I cried.
She came back with drawings she’d done of the stars she’d seen, and noted how the moon behaved on the other side of the portal, and when she described the trees in the woods on the other side, I knew what it all meant:
It was home.
I was torn. I was finally going to get back home! But there was the slim chance that something could go wrong and I’d be stuck on the other side of the portal. I didn’t think it would happen, I had faith in two of the most powerful magic users in this universe. But not everyone was of the same opinion.
“…What if it works different for humans?” Pinkie mumbled. ‘What if she doesn’t have enough magic to go through? What…what if-?”
“Pinkie.”
I crouched down to her, not caring about the cold of the snow. I brushed the pink curls from her face, putting my forehead to hers.
“There’s gonna be some things that make you think “what if?”. But…” I let out a shaky breath. “If Twilight and Luna are sure about this, I…I gotta try.”
She whimpered, and the sound tore my heart in two. But I couldn’t give in. I had to steel myself, and help reassure her. And maybe myself too.
“I meant it when I said I wouldn’t leave without a way back to you.” I was trying not to tear up. “I will come back, no matter what. So…”
I hugged her close, feeling her warmth close to me, burning it into my memory. She sighed, I could hear how choked up she was getting.
“Wait for me…okay?”
She nodded, letting out a sad laugh.
“I will. I promise!” she smiled, tears soaking her fuzzy cheeks. I wiped them away and kissed her, unable to stop the thought from creeping in my head that it might be the last time. I pushed it away, just living in the moment, this moment, for as long as I could.
“It’s only a day.” I tried for a smile when I finally pulled away. It just...wouldn't happen. “Don’t miss me too much.”
“I’ll miss you as much as I want!” she pouted, finally getting a real smile from the both of us.
Luna just watched over our goodbyes with a warm look, while Twilight turned her head with pink cheeks. She had been the first of our friends to learn about Pinkie and I, and while she was really happy for us, she seemed pretty embarrassed whenever there was a moment of PDA. She chalked it up to being unused to her friends dating, let alone each other, and admitted to as much in long and rambling sort of way. It was kind of funny, and it was obvious that she really didn’t have a problem with her old friend dating her newer friend. Twilight was just being Twilight.
“Be safe...” Pinkie told me as she gave me one last squeeze. I gave her one back, feeling so empty when I couldn’t feel her body heat anymore. I knew it was just going to be one day (any massive problems aside), but it still felt awful knowing we’d be apart.
“You too.” I smiled, trying to keep my emotions under control. “I’m trusting you with Silver tomorrow, alright? It’s gonna be a big day, and she needs someone to make her smile. And I know if anyone can do it, it’s you.”
“No problem!” she laughed, and I could hear the beginnings of a good cry in her voice. “That’s what I’m best at!” She kept the big, convincing smile on her face and I gave her one of my own. Despite how worried I was.
Would I make it back to her? Would my family take all this as well as I had? Would they even be able to look past my disappearance at all?
Had they already given up any hope that I was alive and safe? It had been two months of no contact and no sign of where I’d been.
There was only one way to find out.
“I’ll be back.” I promised again, hoping nothing would make me break it. I squeezed Pinkie’s hoof in my hand, dreading the moment when I’d have to let go.
When I finally did, I had to tear my eyes away from hers. I gave Luna and Twilight a look. I really was grateful for them getting me home, even if it was painful at the moment. They smiled back at me, and I hoped it all got across.
I turned away to face the portal, or where I’d been told it was. I could still see the trail where I’d been dragged come to a complete stop where it went from here to there.
“I’m ready.”
I could hear Twilight’s magic thrumming to life, and when I closed my eyes, I could feel…something in front of me. I knew if I opened them back up, I wouldn’t see anything. But I knew something was there.
I breathed in slowly, feeling the magic swirl inside me and pass over my lips as I spoke.
“Take me home.”
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It's probably a horrible fact but those quickest to know you're gone are the bill collectors. Two months could have the dogs [collection agencies] set out after you...
That said, two months for an isolationist or loner could go by (without all the pony shenanigans) and no one would notice. I still wonder how this will work out for Lottie since she can't exactly commute between worlds on a daily basis. With Pinkie in her life it's almost a forgone conclusion that she'll wrap up her affairs on Earth and move to Equestria.
Well now, Lottie is credit to team it seems, and as a bonus, everypony lived!
I want to know what title Luna gave her.
Did I miss it or was it not said?
10996695
not said yet, it will be revealed in last chapter
10996589
she went in to save one foal, and they were having a special! Lottie's a very lucky duck c:
10996569
Realitisically, im sure some bill people were looking for her before long. Tho, she could've set up some automatic payments and her house was completely paid for, but im sure something probably slipped through the cracks.
as for Lottie's living situation, all will be revealed. (next time on dragonball z) *guitar riff* :P
👏👏👏
Just, wow. I'm blown away by how flawlessly you executed this emotionally resonant ending, and really kinda speechless over exactly how good. (Well, it's not totally over, but you get it. Can't wait for the side stories!)
You know what? I haven't updated it in a while, but I honestly think Family Tree deserves the spot on my userpage. Like, for real.
As a side note, it would be interesting to see one of the returned foals in Once Upon a Harvest Moon, assuming you plan on getting back to that eventually, either as one of Harvest's already-introduced friends or a new one.
Yeah, definitely teared up while reading this. I like the idea of Silver being the big bad, it’s a very MLP thing to do (see: Stygian) and helps the story feel more “real”. And you definitely got me invested in Pinkie/Lottie.
Well done. Looking forward to more from this world, but well done.
10997129
im touched by your comment c: i will check out your user page in a bit (im still at work) :o
i could see doing a little crossover, Green Bean already is a therapist type from Canterlot, and maybe she brings a few of the goals up for a session, i’ll definitely consider it c:
10997131
your comment means so much to me, it’s amazing to think i could make someone feel anything with something i made c:
and yeah, MLP does like itself some redeemable, sympathetic villains. Silver’s got a lot of work to do, but she’ll get there. and im glad the ship stuck with you, more fluff to come (if Lottie makes it back :o)
more to come 💙
Well congrats on making me tear up. Just one more main chapter to go, seeing how her grandma reacts to learning her sister still lives. Honestlly I thought Silver Maple might have had something to do with it but her own spell taking her threw me off.
10997373
i’m glad this story was able to make you feel something, one more chapter to go! yeah,
Sugar’s in for a doozy, no question. imagine all that happening to her at 9 years old and then 50 years later everything comes right back. if her belongings didn’t travel with her, do you think she’d even believe it happened at that point? she didn’t even know about her mom bein sick ☹️
and yeah, magic’s a heck of a thing. you think you’re in control until you aren’t. then you’re spiriting away the local kids and your soul’s stick in magic limbo. ain’t that just the way...
Excellent chapter. I do feel a bit let down that Pinkie and/or Silver didn’t go back with Lottie.
Though there’s always the chance Pinkie does a Pinkie and crashes the portal right after this...
Don’t make us wait too long, please?
10997586
you won't wait too long, tho i need to do a bit more writing on this one, not as much pre-written material as ive had for the last couple of chapters.
as for Pinkie, if there was any chance of the portal closing forever once Lottie crossed over, Lottie wouldn't asked her to abandon her friends and family. Plus, somebody's gotta watch Silver, and Pinkie's just the mare for the job.
I’m not ready for this to be over, but I’m so happy that I’ve been able to experience this story and its journey to completion. I can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store next!
basically, chysalis's style brainwashing magic.
how about life imprisonment in the gulag!i.ytimg.com/vi/dCPehAASrus/maxresdefault.jpg
well, it's hurt to see that my most anticipating drama point got thrown out.
yep, a child kidnapper got off pretty much scorched free while abused kid got fucked by society.
this equestria is truly a magical replication of america.