Broken Family, Healed Family

by Amos Anon

The Lost Girl

Ch. 12

A little girl held her mother’s hand, her other hand holding a stuffed animal close as she tottered along behind, her wide eyes beholding the blinking lights, the striped tents, and the twisted, rotating movements of the various rides available.

“Come on, Rosy, we need to meet up with your father at the bingo tent soon.”

Rose nodded, and moved her little legs faster, struggling keep up with Mother’s long gait. Her red wavy hair bounced along behind her, and she nearly tripped on her bib overalls. As the two passed by a tent filled with the sound of lottery numbers being read off, Rose found herself spellbound by the man at the entrance to the tent wearing a full military uniform. She caught the man’s eye, and quickly hid her eyes away from him. Soldiers were scary, and she desperately hoped that Father wouldn’t have to go away to fight like some of her friends’ fathers had.

Rose and her mother quickly made their way to the bingo tent, and there at the entrance awaited Father.

“Daddy!” Rose pulled away from Mother, and ran to Father, giggling as he picked her up and hugged her close.

“And how is my little girl?” Father kissed Rose’s cheek, and she beamed widely.

“I got a teddy bear from a nice man. All I had to do was throw a ball to knock a bottle over to get it.”

Father grinned. “And of course you did it with no problem at all.” He laughed. “That’ll teach that stall owner to underestimate you.” He looked over to Mother with a questioning, if slightly worried look. Mother’s smile dropped, and she slowly dipped her head in confirmation. Her smile came back on, though, as Rose looked her way again. Father couldn’t keep the worried look from his eyes, though he continued to force a smile for Rose’s sake.

“Hey, Mommy, can we get some food? I’m hungry.”

Mother smirked, and poked Rose’s tummy. “Well I don’t know. Do you think we can fill this endless pit called a stomach?”

Rose giggled and pulled away from her mother’s touch. “Hey! That tickles!”

Father put Rose down. “I think we can get some food. Besides, I’m hungry, too. I know! why don’t you choose the next food place, Rosy?”

The little girl gasped, and looked at Mother, who nodded her assent. Rose squealed in happiness, and immediately took off running to the nearest funnelcake booth, her parents walking along behind at a slower pace.

“That’s the third meal we’ve had since she woke up, and it isn’t even noon yet.”

“She did it again?”

Mother sighed. “Yes. And every time she does, she gets hungry. She’s been sleeping for 16 hours a day, and she hasn’t gained any weight in over a month now.” A tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t know how long we can keep going like this. I’m afraid of losing her.”

“Why don’t we take her to a doctor?”

“We’ve discussed this, honey. You know why we can’t do that.”

“I know, but at this rate...”

“No.” Mother shook her head determinedly. “If they found out what she can do, we’d never see her again. At least, not until the Vietnam War is over.”

Father covered his eyes with a hand, the stress showing through. “About the war...” Mother looked at him sharply.

“They didn’t...”

He looked at his wife sorrowfully. “I’ve been selected. I leave next month.” He bit his lower lip, and cast his eyes away from Mother.

“Isn’t there a way to get out of it? Like...” She glanced around, desperately searching for inspiration. “Can’t you claim sickness or something?”

“They already did my physical. According to the slip of paper they gave me, I’m in perfect health.”

“... Mental disability?”

“Already checked out for that, too.”

“What about homosexuality? They ask that, right?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “They’d know I was lying when they find out I have a wife and daughter, anyways.”

“Honey... we need you here.”

“I know.” He pounded a fist into his hand. “I know, but I don’t have a choice.” He pulled his wife into an embrace. “I can’t leave you, but I can’t stay here, either. Alternative arrangements will have to be made. What about... what about your homeland?”

Mother’s eyes went hard. “I told you that there’s no going back to that place. Even if I wanted to go back... I can’t. That way closed the moment I came here.”

“I...”

A sudden explosion rocked the fair, and screams filled the air as dust rose from the ground, causing Mother and Father to cough violently. They looked at each other, only one thought passing though their minds.

“ROSY!!!”

The two parents wasted no time, rushing toward where they’d seen their daughter last, desperately trying to catch sight of her through the dust-laden air.

“ROSE, WHERE AREYOU?”

No answer... but then...

“Mommy, Daddy!”

“HOLD ON, WE’RE COMING!”

“DADDY!”

“JUST HOLD ON, ROSY!”

“NO! NO!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo....”

“ROSE!!!” Mother and Father ran as hard as they could, only stopping when they realized that the dust had settled. The two looked toward the funnel cake booth, and their jaws dropped when they saw that it had been sliced cleanly in half, as if a giant creature had taken a bite out of it.

Their daughter was gone.

Rose had disappeared.

---

Rose groaned, and opened her eyes when she felt raindrops pelting her eyelids. The cold liquid caused her to shiver, and she attempted to sit up, only realizing that she couldn’t. Something about her body felt wrong, like it didn’t belong to her.

“Mommy?” The small figure turned her head, trying to see where she was. “Daddy? Are you here?” She turned her head to the other side, and frowned at what she saw. A fur covered leg with a blunt end filled her sight. She froze, though, when she realized that it might be dangerous. If an animal was nearby, it might hurt her. She whimpered, and shivered in the cold, but froze again when the appendage in her sight shivered, too. Not wanting to anger whatever animal was near her, Rose kept very still, staring at the leg beside her. The rain began to fall more heavily, though, and Rose was freezing cold. She could feel her lips going numb, and she was starting to feel sleepy. She involuntarily shivered again, and once again the leg shivered along with her. It began to dawn on her that maybe the leg was touching her, and she cautiously turned her head to take in her surroundings a little better.

She screamed.

Without even understanding how she did it, she pulled herself up to her rump, scrambling to get away from the curious faces surrounding her. She whimpered as she felt something hard against her back, preventing her from backing away any further.

“Please don’t hurt me...”

Murmuring filled the air as the faces conversed amongst themselves. They all looked... concerned? Although with the way their bodies and faces were shaped, she wasn’t too sure about that.

“Alright, all of you, back off! Can’t you see you’re scaring the poor thing?” A single figure pushed her way through the crowd, a frown on her face. “All of you go home unless you’re here to help!” The crowd dispersed, leaving Rose alone with the creature, who knelt down on her forlegs, and gently nuzzled her face. “It’s okay now, little filly. I’m here to help. My name is Charity Kindheart. What’s yours?”

Rose stuttered. “Mommy always told me to not speak with strangers.”

Although taken aback, Charity quickly regained her composure and chuckled.

“Your mother sounds like a very smart pony. Do you know where your mommy is now?”

Rose screwed up her face in confusion. “Mommy’s not a pony. Mommy’s a girl.”

It was Charity’s turn for confusion. “Your mommy’s a...” She shook off her confusion, and decided to humor Rose. “I’m sorry. Yes, your mother is a... gurl. Do you know where your mommy is?”

Rose looked around. She was surrounded by tall buildings with a street in front of her. The scene was made eerie by the falling rain obscuring the night sky.

“I... I don’t know. We were at the fair, and I was getting some funnelcake because I was hungry, and then... and then...” She began to cry, and lunged forward, burying her face in Charity’s chest. She wrapped her forlegs around Charity’s shoulders, and cryed into her shoulder. “Mommy. Daddy.”

“Shhh... It’s okay. Wherever your parents are, I’m sure we can find them.” Charity patted Rose’s back, and allowed the little filly to weep. She would need a good shower to get the tears and mucus out of her coat later, but she didn’t mind. The filly was trembling, and not just from her emotions. It was a cold night, and Charity couldn’t help but wonder how a filly ended up on the streets on a cold rainy night like this. “Tell you what. Why don’t you stay at my place overnight, and in the morning we can go to the police station.”

Rose sniffed. “Okay.”

Charity stood, and reached out a hoof to Rose. “My house is this way. Why don’t we hold hooves?”

Rose attempted to stand, but only fell flat on her rear. She looked at her own forhooves, and blinked. “What are these?” She turned them about, inspecting them. “Where did my hands go? Were they chopped off???”

Confused at Rose’s panic, Charity attempted to placate her. “Of course not, silly! You’re a pony just like the rest of us.” She didn’t have a clue what ‘hands’ were, but chalked it up to an overactive filly’s imagination.

“I’m a pony? But... I’m a girl! Just like Mommy.”

This is worse than I thought. Maybe she hit her head on something? Charity frowned. “No, you’re a filly. Look at yourself. See? You have four cute little hooves, a snout, a mane and a tail. Just like me, see?” Charity pointed at herself, and then at Rose, identifying each part that she named; First on herself, then on Rose.

The filly tilted her head, seeming to want to say something else, but was interrupted by a violent sneeze. She wiggled her nose.

“Oh dear!” Charity laid down, and gestured for Rose to get on her back. “I hope you don’t get a cold! Come, I’ll give you a ride to my house, and then I’ll get you a nice warm bubble bath. How does that sound?” Rose struggled her way onto Charity’s back, and the older mare stood. She began to trot to her house, and smiled tenderly when she heard soft snoring.

We’ll find your parents soon, young one. Mark my words, I’ll do the best I can for you.

---

“The Vietnam war.” I furrowed my brow. “My history on the Vietnam draft lottery is lacking at best, but if that was happening when you were on Earth, then that means that you would have been born sometime between the1960s and 1970s. But... How old did you say you were again?”

Rose smirked. “You know it’s considered impolite to ask a mare’s age, right?”

I waved her off. “Come on, this is important!”

She sighed. “I turned 24 a few months ago. I was somewhere around four years old when I left Earth.”

“But... That’s impossible! That would make you one year younger than me, but you were born at least 20 years before me! When my family left Earth, it was the year 2018.”

Rose looked up from her cup of coffee, her eyes conflicted. “You know, I gave up on trying to get back to Earth years ago. I... Nobody believed me, so I finally just decided to keep it quiet, and make a life for myself here.” She rubbed a hoof over her mug, her eyes glued to mine. “But now... with you and your family... I might have a chance to go back.” She laughed bitterly. “I don’t remember my parents’ names anymore. Even their faces are a little blurry after all this time.”

I closed my eyes, and sighed guiltily. “I’m afraid that there’s no going back to Earth, Rose. There’s nothing there anymore.”

“But... how do you know that for sure? Maybe the portal still works...”

“Oh, it works alright. Twilight Sparkle made sure of that.” I hesitated, unsure of how Rose would take my next words. “Look, Rose. Before we came to Equestria, there was a war on Earth. A big war. It... it killed everyone. We were lucky enough to stumble on the portal that Twilight and Starswirl had accidentally opened, but for everyone else on the planet...” I swallowed. “...there’s no way they could have survived. The radiation alone would kill anything left living after the bombs went off.”

Rose stared at the table in front of her, her face ashen. “So... After all this time. My second chance is wiped out just like that.”

I raised a hoof. “Rose...”

She pushed me away. “No... No, I... I think I need...”

I grabbed her with my forehooves, pressing my head into her shoulder. “No. I won’t leave you alone, Rose. You were kind enough to show me compassion when I needed it. Now it’s my turn to return the favour.”

Tears ran down her face. “I’d given up, Moto. I’d finally accepted my life here in Equestria.” I said nothing, allowing the light blue mare to vent. “I had resigned myself to never seeing my parents again. I’d finally accepted that there was no going back. Nobody believed me when I was a filly. They all thought I was just making up stories. I got scolded in school!” She pulled me closer, surprising me. “And now, I thought maybe I could finally rekindle that dream, only to have it ripped away before I had the chance to act on it!”

“I’m sorry, Rose. I’m so sorry.”

She chuckled through her tears. “Why are you apologizing? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know... but I’m sorry anyways.”

Rose pulled out of our hug, and wiped her nose, still chuckling. “You’re so weird.”

“Um... Thanks?” I rubbed the back of my head in confusion. Mares. “So, anyways...” I started, changing the subject. “... Um. I’m thinking maybe we should tell Twilight about this. She might be interested in someone else from Earth.”

Rose shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore. It seems I’m stuck here, so it doesn’t make sense to keep harping on it. I’d rather not bother the Princess about something like this, anyways.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh trust me. You wouldn’t be bothering Twilight at all. If anything, she’s thorough in her research.”

Rose shrugged. “I have a life here in Equestria, Moto, and based on your assignment with Songbird Serenade, so do you. I’d actually prefer to keep my origins a secret for now, if that’s okay with you. I just don’t want anypony to make a fuss over me.”

That I can understand. I nodded. “Okay. But you know, I’m going to have to tell someone sometime. We can’t keep this a secret forever. Especially from Coloratura.”

“How did you two meet, anyways?”

I smiled. “She and Applejack are good friends. My family happened to be working for the Apple family when she came to visit, and I sang with her a few times. She liked what she heard, and now here we are.”

“Huh. So are you two, like, an item or...?”

I blushed, and nearly fell over backwards off my chair. “What? How did you... I mean I never even considered... Daugch!”

Rose giggled. “Sorry, you two just seemed so comfortable around each other, I just assumed...”

I raised a hoof in self-defense. “There’s nothing between us. Besides, do you know how scandalous it would be if I got this job just because we had a relationship like that? No. We’re just friends, nothing more.”

“Well. Okay... So does that mean you’re single?”

“Uhhhhh, yes?”

“Oh. Okay.”

“...”

“What?”

“Nothing. Nevermind. Anyways, about preening my wings...”

“Right... that’s why you came here in the first place. Okay, so what you want to do is...”

---

I stepped through the Hotel’s front door, and greeted the receptionist, who I recognized from last night.

Heheh, maybe I can mess with him again. I puffed out my freshly preened wings, now sleek with all the feathers in place. To my utter disappointment, the stallion remained unperturbed.

“Good evening, sir. I hope you are enjoying your stay?”

“Ummm.” Suddenly I had an idea. I snickered, and in my best impression of Applejack, began to speak. “Ya betchya. Why, this fancy place is prob’ly worth double tha farm!”

“Ah. Quite.”

Ooh, he’s goooooood! I decided to let him win this round, and stepped into the elevator. I pressed the required number for my floor, and waited until just before the door closed to take one last peek at the receptionist. I was rewarded with an amused smile from the posh stallion. I chuckled. Next time, my friend. Next time. Arriving at my floor, the doors to the elevator opened, and I made my way down to Coloratura’s room. I knocked, unsure if she would be back yet. The door opened slowly, and the singer popped her head out.

“Oh! Moto, you’re back.”

I nodded. “Hey, um... can we talk about something?”

She studied my face, and then stepped out from behind the door into the hallway. “Okay. Go ahead.”

I glanced around. “Can we talk somewhere more private?”

Coloratura blushed. “Well, okay... I didn’t know you wanted...”

I’m pretty sure I blushed right down to my hooves. “NO! I didn’t mean it like that! I just meant that something happened today that I think you should know about.”

“Oh.” Coloratura’s blush deepened, and awkward silence filled the hallway.

“Aaaaaanyways... Um, maybe after dinner?”

“After dinner.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“See you at dinner.”

“Yup.”

---

I stared at my veggie soup. What I wouldn’t give for some meat right now. Although my body probably wouldn’t be able to digest it... wait a second. The EQG world has meat, right? I smiled. Next time I visit Mom and Dad, I’m gonna make sure I have my fill. Lucky Percy.

“So... Something happened today?”

I glanced up at Coloratura. “I thought we were going to wait until after dinner.”

“Well, we’re pretty isolated here, so I don’t think anyone will overhear us.”

I glanced around. Sure enough, we’d chosen a booth that was a ways away from the only other patrons of the restaurant, and they seemed to be engaged in a rather intense conversation from the look of things.

“Alright, I’ll bite. So where do I start?”

“How about at the beginning?”

“Okay. When a mare and a stallion love each other very much...” I started laughing at Coloratura’s unamused look. “I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist.”

“Moto...”

“Alright, alright, I’ll behave.” I picked up my spoon and dipped it into the bowl of soup. I brought it to my mouth, and swallowed the substance. Not bad. Could use some salt, though. As I reached out for the salt shaker, I began. “So, you know Rose, my stylist?”

“Yeah. As I recall, she started here recently.”

I nodded as I began to shake salt into my soup. “Well, we got talking...”

“Yes?”

“...and we found out a few things about each other...”

“...Yes?”

“... and it turns out we have more in common than we thought...”

“...Moto, If you say that you’re going out on a date with your stylist, I’ll beat the snot out of you right here and now.”

“Nonononono!!! I mean that she’s also from Earth.”

Coloratura spat out her soup. “WHAT?!?”

Author's Note:

So yeah, an inspired chapter. I wanted to get Rose’s backstory in right away rather than revealing bits and pieces over time because ultimately her story is important to the overall plot. Also, if you haven’t noticed, here’s where the romance tag starts to come into play. Who romances who will remain to be seen, and I won’t give any more away than that. You’ll just have to wait until the story gets there.

Anyways, I am Motodrop, and uniqueness can involve stupidity. Trust me, I would know.

Comments

[SportsCall]

HOLY INFORMATION DROP!!!!! That was a plot twist and development I did not see coming!

[Amos Anon]

9091796
Bwahaha. All part of my master plan.

[KvAT]

9091822
All according to keikaku