MLD: Through Time

by Nerdz

A Filly's Crush

The sweet smell of blooming apple trees washed over the Changeling teen as Sweet Apple Acres: Home for Wayward Souls came into view ahead of her. Lady Bug would be spending her Spring break with her coltfriend, Scifresh Doubloon, his family, and her sisters, as she had done her Fall and Winter breaks. Unlike the previous times, she made the journey to the farm alone. Sci had to stay behind at their school, Canterlot High, another day as he had volunteered to give a tour to a group of middle-schoolers who were interested in attending the boarding school starting in their freshman year. The Changeling offered to stay behind with him, but the colt insisted that she go on and see her sisters, promising that he’d turn up the next day.

So Saturday evening found the teen making her way up the path to the large farmhouse, saddlebags laden with a week's worth of necessities. Her raven mane was pulled up into a messy ponytail, done hastily before the train pulled into Ponyville Station. To combat the slight chill still lingering in the air, she wore a light red plaid flannel she’d pilfered from her coltfriend. Approaching the house, she opened the front door and stepped into the warm, homey living room.

“Larva, is that you, sugarcube?” a voice called from the kitchen.

“No, ma’am!” the filly called back, making her way toward the voice, “It’s Lady!”

“Ah! Glad yer here! Mind givin’ me a hoof with dinner?”

“Mhm!” Lady entered the kitchen and set her saddlebags by the door, then moved to the sink and washed her hooves. She turned to the orange mare leaning over and stirring a pot simmering on the stove. “Where’s Pupa?”

“Upstairs, takin’ a nap. Best not wake her up just yet, she can get a mite cranky if she ain’t had enough sleep.”

The filly chuckled. “Oh yes, I’ve experienced that a few times!”

“Know how to make biscuits?” the mare asked, earning a negative head shake, “‘S’alright, Ah’ll talk ya through it. Never bothered to write it down,” she laughed, tapping at her head, “‘s’all up here!”

Lady set to work as the mare instructed her in measuring out and mixing the dry ingredients. As she mixed and rolled the dough, she talked about her rather uneventful train ride into Ponyville, and how school had been going since the last time she’d visited. The filly always enjoyed talking with Applejack; it was nice to have a motherly figure take an interest in her life.

“Have you given any thought to what you wanna do after school?” the mare asked.

The Changeling hesitated, cutting out pieces of dough and placing them on a baking sheet. “Yes,” she began, “yeah, teachers have been wanting us to look into studying for the E.C.T., and looking into colleges and stuff.”

“Well that sounds interestin’.”

Lady shrugged. “I suppose.” she said nonchalantly.

“Any idea where you wanna go?”

“I’d like to see more of thing kingdom, so somewhere far off I think. Trottingham sounds nice.”

From the living room came the sound of the door opening. “Applejack! I’m home!”

Lady’s ears perked up at the sound of her sister’s voice. “In here!” she called back.

“Lady!” the younger Changeling burst through the door and enveloped her sister in a bone crushing hug.

The teen laughed and returned the hug with the same enthusiasm. “How was school?”

“Good! We didn’t do much today, but Ms. Cheerilee still gave us homework.” Larva made a face.

Applejack gave the girls a motherly smile. “Ye’ll have to do it in the livin’ room. Pupa’s asleep upstairs, an’ Ah need the table. Think you can get it done before dinner?”

“No ma’am, most of it’s math.”

“Well, Ah still wanna see some good progress on it, okay?”

The filly nodded and turned to the other Changeling. “Can you help me, Lady?”

“Sure.” the girl replied, “Go on and get started, I just need to get the biscuits in the oven.”

“Okay!” the filly responded, skipping back into the living room.

Lady chuckled, a grin forming at how much happier the little girl seemed, before turning to the oven. She let out a sigh, realizing she forgot to preheat it. She flared her magic to twist the knob to the right temperature and leaned back against the table, patiently waiting for the oven to heat.

The older mare glanced at the door to the front room before speaking in a lowered voice. “Care fer a bit ‘a gossip?”

“Always.”

“Ah’ve noticed Larva actin’ a bit,” she paused, searching for the right word, “odd, let’s say.”

Lady tilted her head curiously. “How so?” she asked.

“Oh, skippin’ ‘round, rather than walk-in’ or runnin’. Hummin’ along to some tune only she seems to know.” Applejack grinned slyly, “Not to mention what’s left of what she doodles on her homework and tries to erase before Ah check it: L plus P, in a little heart.”

A massive grin broke across Lady’s face. Her little sister’s first crush. “Any idea who it is?”

“She mentioned a few school friends, but never by name.”

The teen’s smile faded. “That’d be Mother’s doing. The Island is a small place; everypony knows everypony by name, and she was very particular about who we associated with. Larva grew up watching Mother interrogate me left and right about who I’d talked to and what we talked about. She kept to herself mostly, but it’s no wonder she won’t talk about her friends.”

The dull thunk of Applejack kicking a cabinet startled the girl. “Ah got half a mind to march down there and wring that witch’s neck, treating foals that way, her own foals!” the mare growled viscously, before promptly turning on her heel, walking over to Lady and wrapping her in a hug. Despite her visible anger, her touch was warm and welcoming. Her voice softened to a motherly tone, though the filly could still hear the hardness she tried to conceal behind it. “Sugarcube, Ah promise you, ‘slong as Ah’m around, ain’t nopony gonna hurt you, any of you, ever again.”

Lady allowed herself a small smile. She returned the hug. Her head laid upon the older mare’s chest, she felt vulnerable, yet protected and loved.

After a few moments, Applejack pulled away, rubbing at her eyes. “Alright, Ah’ve taken up enough of your time. Git on and help your sister.”

The teen nodded and slipped from the room. Her eyes landed on the filly sat on the floor in between the couch and the coffee table, saddlebags slumped next to her, with several papers and pencils spread out upon the table’s wooden surface. Her face was screwed up in concentration as she tried to spark her horn to life and pick up one of the pencils. The pencil twitched a bit and rose about an inch in the air before dropping. The filly scowled and swore under her breath.

Lady raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?” she said sternly.

Larva jumped, startled, and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry!” she squeaked out.

The teen made her way over and plopped down on the couch behind her sister. “You want to concentrate, but not too hard. Don’t just want it to lift, picture in your head what you want it to do. Try again.”

The filly licked her lips and looked back at the pencil. This time, the pencil lifted into the air and she was able

to write her name before her magic fizzled again.

Lady frowned. Had not using her magic growing up stunted Larva’s growth? She herself had gone longer without it and she was fine. She shook the thought away, resolving to bring it up with Applejack after dinner. Maybe she could make an appointment with the Changeling doctor she’s found for Pupa.

“Good job!” she praised enthusiastically, hiding her worries, “Rest your magic for a bit, you don’t want a headache.” she earned a nod and leaned over her sister’s shoulder, “So what’s first?”

Larva stuck her tongue out at the paper. “Double digit multiplication.”

“Do you know how to do that?”

The filly puffed up indignantly. “Of course I know how to do that!”

Both girls read over the first problem: Thirty-five times thirty-two. The filly picked up her pencil with her teeth and copied the problem on her a separate piece of paper, then worked through the steps she’d been taught.

“One thousand, one hundred twenty!” she glanced up, “right?”

Lady hummed an affirmation and her sister moved onto the next problem. This went on for a few minutes, quiet apart from the pencil scratchings and Lady correcting and explaining how to do other problems every now and then.

The teen had moved down on the floor next to the filly to guide her through a few example problems when she realized she was having trouble multiplying fractions. She was halfway through explaining a third example problem when she realized the filly wasn’t paying attention. The younger Changeling was staring at her paper, but her eyes were unfocused blank, her pencil idly scribbling on her paper. Lady leaned over. The girl had doodled the same thing Applejack had described: ‘L + P’ in a little heart. She grinned mischievously.

“Who’s ‘P’?” she teased.

Larva jumped and dropped the pencil, hastily trying to cover up the sketch. “No one!” she squeaked.

Lady raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile playing on her lips.

The filly shifted under her gaze. She hesitated before saying, “You wouldn’t like it if I told you…”

The teen’s smile dropped. “Honey, your first crush is nothing to be ashamed of.”

“It’s not a crush!” her sister squealed, a hint of panic in her voice, “I don’t like… It’s not like…”

Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over. “Oh, Lady, mom would be so angry if she found out!” she wailed, throwing herself against her sister.

Lady tucked her sister’s head under her chin. She lifted them both onto the couch and levitated a blanket over them both, gently rocking the filly. “Shh, honey, Mother can’t hurt us anymore.”

The kitchen door opened quietly and Applejack poked her head out, giving them a questioning look. Lady gestured back to the kitchen. She could handle this. The mare nodded and backed away.

“What happened, baby?” she asked several minutes later when the girl had calmed down.

Larva sat up and tugged the blanket tighter around her. Lady was struck briefly at how young the girl looked.

“Promise you won’t get mad?” she whispered. Lady nodded. The filly took a deep breath. “It’s...it’s a-a...filly.” she stuttered.

The teen’s eyes widened for a moment before she laughed in relief. “Oh, baby, is that all?” she hugged her sister, “Honey, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

The filly returned the hug. “You’re not disappointed?”

“Of course not! It doesn’t matter if you like fillies, or colts, or both, or neither.”

“But mom…”

“Is old fashioned, stubborn, and bigoted.” Lady stated firmly, “And has no say over you anymore.”

Larva bit her lip and stared at her hooves. A smile began creeping on her face. “Her name’s Peony.” she whispered, her smile growing, “She’s my best friend.”

Lady smiled warmly. She gestured toward the papers on the table, indicating for them to get back to work. “Tell me about her.”

The Changelings spent the rest of their time before dinner doing math problems, Larva describing the pink-coated peach-color-curly-haired earth pony that captured her heart.

Author's Note:

I hurt my characters too much, so I decided to pursue this fluffy idea I had before I started on the next parody (which is coming soon, I promise!) Hope you enjoyed some sweet sister bonding!

Comments

[EverfreePony]

Short and sweet chapter, nice! Also, the idea of Sweet Apple Acres functioning as orphanage is a great idea, especially given how family-based the Apples are

[EverfreePony]

8654357
You are welcome And nice!