Pandemic: Big Apple

by Lawra

Home Again - Epilogue

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As interesting as it was to travel to a new and completely unfamiliar place, I felt much better to be once again comfortably back at my home. My place wasn’t much, just the upper floor to a barn-style garage that had been unfinished before ETS. Afterwards, I had moved in with the two ponies who had become my best friends, Jasper and Misty Way. It also allowed me to be close to my family, who lived in the main house. Not something I would have expected to ever do or find important before.

There was plenty of space for three ponies and over the summer, we had even been able to get it mostly finished off minus a kitchen. It was just easier to go over to the main home and have shared meals with everypony else. But we did have a few things, like the small movie-theater style popcorn machine that I had just finished loading up so the three of us could snack on something.

Closing the door with a wing, the motor loudly stirring the kernels, I glanced towards the bed in the middle of the long room, pushed up against the wall where both of my friends were going through the photos on my phone.

“Would you two stop killing my phone’s battery?” I playfully snapped. With a light hop and a quick flap of my wings, I cleared the small distance. Landing heavily on my bed between Jasper and Misty, they bounced and then came together to jostle against my sides. “I told you I didn’t hide anything.”

“That doesn’t mean you shared all of your pics,” Misty giggled with a quick shuffle of her seagreen wings, and shifted the stylus in her mouth to stick out to the side. My phone had skittered across the covers and was now out of reach of their snooping.

“And purposely keeping them from your best friends would be dangerously close to lying,” Jasper nodded to herself as she crossed her red furred forelegs.

“Accusing me of lying? In my own bed?” I scoffed with a quick snort. Jerking my head to look out the big patio doors that led to a balcony outside overlooking the driveway. Technically it was all our bed, but it was big enough that we all had enough space to stretch out without interfering with the others.

Sitting in silence with them for a few seconds, I couldn’t keep a smirk from spreading across my muzzle before we all broke out into laughter.

“What are you even looking for?” I asked, not understanding why they were being so uncharacteristically nosey.

“You were at a stallions house that you’ve known for years for a whole week— alone,” Jasper answered.

“We’re just trying to see if you had some— ya know— steamy bedroom pics,” Misty added with a suggestive wink of her orange eyes and quick flick of her tail.

I spread my wings and lightly slapped both on the back of their heads. Replying testily, “I think you both have the wrong idea about him. He was a perfect gentlecolt.”

“And you didn’t try to seduce him?”

“I know it’s shocking, but a mare and a stallion can just be friends.”

“So you’re saying you didn’t lift your tail for him,” Jasper crudely summarized in disappointment.

“Not sorry to disappoint,” I replied haughtily as I could.

“Didn’t he make any pass at all? Well... is he even interested in mares?” Misty asked.

“Always seemed to be,” I answered, twisting so I could wedge myself between them pushing them farther apart. Misty rolled and playfully batted at my chest with her forehooves. “If he’s caught your eye, just call him up and ask him. Seems like the type who’d need a direct approach,” I added, right ear perking up as the popcorn began to pop, and begin to fill the room with it’s delicious aroma.

“He’s just too bland,” Jasper responded in her ironically bored way of talking.

“Eh, he’s a city boy, too hoity toity for me,” Misty added before taking a deep breath in through her nose. “Hmmm, popcorn.”

“Good, so if there’s no interest then you can quit badgering us then,” I said, righting myself to leap off the bed towards the popcorn machine. “And then come over here and help me with the popcorn and drinks.”

“Back for only a couple hours and you’re already bossing us around,” Jasper remarked teasingly, but eagerly came to help as the popcorn began pushing up the kettles lid, spilling out to start filling the bottom of the machine.

Misty had paused standing on the bed to look out the patio door. “Hey, were we expecting visitors?” she asked, flapping her wings to lift off, and go over by the glass.

“I wasn’t, still on vacation till tomorrow,” I answered, hitting the power switch and then the lever that dropped the kettle to release the popcorn so it wouldn’t begin to burn. Trotting over to take a look, there was an official looking black sedan with lightly tinted windows that had pulled in to park in front of the garage below. “I’ll go see what’s up,” I volunteered and slid the door open to fly out and land between the car and the main house.

Stepping out of the driver seat was a man in a black suit who immediately opened up the back door to allow a golden-furred, purple-maned unicorn to exit. The stallion stopped to breath in the scents before regarding me with a smile. The door on the far side opened and a human woman in a blue suit walked around to stand near the unicorn.

“Anything I can help you with?” I asked, glancing between the trio. ‘Ugh, I really don’t want to deal with government types right now.’

“We’re sorry to bother you on your day off, but I know from personal experience that it can be hard to track down a busy pegasus,” the stallion answered, his voice having the musical undercurrent that many Equestrians had. “My name is Gold Compass.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sapphire Sky, and I’m guessing this isn’t about the weather program,” I surmised, otherwise they would have just set up a normal meeting through the official channels.

“You could say it’s tangentially related,” the woman answered, pulling a badge out from her jacket pocket. “I’m Agent Renaldo with the Department of Rehumanization.”

“You’re not welcome here,” I bristled, taking a short step back, wings flaring defensively. I’ve had to put up with them pestering me to rehumanize since they first installed their awful offices and convinced my mother to go through with it.

“Please, I know how the transformed feel about my department but I am only here to accompany an Equestrian envoy as official oversight for the Government,” the woman quickly explained, but I didn’t relax my posture in the slightest.

“It’s true,” Gold Compass affirmed, and I turned to look at him with suspicion. “She’s here to be a witness and if need be to give the official warnings and disclaimers. Can we discuss the opportunity I have for you before you turn us away? A pegasus of your talents and— growth potential should find it very intriguing.”

I snorted loudly and relaxed my posture, but left my wings spread wide. “Fine, but if she suggests I rehumanize at all then this little talk is done,” I conceded, and spun around to the path that wrapped around to the back of the barn to head back up to my apartment. “Come on, I’ll hear you out.”

---

September

Riding in my mother’s car, I sat quietly watching the roadside as we headed to the airport to pick up Will. Other vehicles were few and far between; mostly buses transporting ponies back home from work. Normally I would have flown out to meet him, but he was bringing some supplies, and it was simply easier to travel by car. Especially with Will arriving on the late flight and we would have been flying in the dark.

“You’re being awfully quiet,” my mom broke the silence, drumming her fingers on the top of the steering wheel.

“I was just thinking,” I answered and tried to give her a big smile. “Sorry.”

“For what? Not having second thoughts about inviting your friend here, are you?”

“No— well— sort of but in a roundabout way.”

“Want to explain that?”

“There’s just a lot going on and he’s coming here to write a book on our program,” I paused as the car turned onto the road that circled the airport. “We won’t even really see each other.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. You’re not that busy, you’ve barely been working since you returned from your trip.”

“I’m busy! It’s just— Jasper and Misty really stepped up while I was away and found their niches. It’s taken a lot of work off of me.”

“See, you’ll have plenty of time. It was a good thing you took that vacation, you were trying to do far too much. But you’ve always been like that, trying to do everything alone and stressing yourself out.”

“I’m fine without the lecture, Mom,” I rolled my eyes.

“I know,” she laughed, turning into the mostly empty parking lot. “Have you decided what you want for your birthday? There’s not a lot of time left.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I answered, as the car came to a gentle stop. “I know nopony has a lot right now so if all I get is a nice meal with friends and family, that’ll be great.”

“If that’s what you want,” she shrugged, quickly turning the vehicle off so it didn’t idle and pollute the air longer than necessary.

Using my mouth to open the door, I hopped out, and absently gave it a light kick to close it behind me. “The airport crew did a great job today,” I commented, scanning the perfectly clear sky side to side as the sun was just starting to drop. Public flights had increased to two a day recently, but the airport had a long way to go before it recovered to how busy it was pre-ETS. But keeping the approach clear to avoid delays no matter the weather was a big enough job to warrant a dedicated team of pegasi contracted through my program.

Waiting for my mother to walk around the car, I was reminded of how slowly she moved after rehumanizing. She did her best to not let it hinder her, but she admitted a couple months ago that her short time spent as an earth pony in perfect health made every ache and pain feel fresh.

“So we got a few minutes, want to get something to drink?” I asked, looking up at her as we walked towards the entrance. With so few flights, the store was usually closed most of the day, except when passengers would be here.

“How about you go get us something, I need to visit the bathroom,” she answered.

“Alright,” I nodded, pausing momentarily to let the automatic doors slide open. My mother went to the left where the bathrooms were while I continued straight towards a small shop that had a few locally flavored souvenirs and some snacks for sale. Next to it was the line for security where a number of humans and a few ponies were passing through preparing for the last flight out.

It hadn’t been any bigger pre-ETS, but the selection of food was much better now with a range of fresh pony farmed produce. And from talking with an employee on my last trip through here, they were planning to put in their own smoothie bar. Thankfully along with fresh produce, their drinks were no longer big name brand soft drinks but mostly juices made by a local business. They may have been mass produced but were still very good.

While my order was being put together, I caught sight of the plane landing through the big windows facing the runway. My mom surprised me, returning from the bathroom to take the tray before I could. Since Will was going to be here sooner than expected I ordered a drink for him along with a serving of blueberries, strawberries, and various nuts.

Sitting at a table just outside the shop, the plane seemed to take its sweet time in getting to the terminal and letting its passengers out. I was nearly finished with my drink by the time Will finally exited the security area along with a mostly human group of passengers. He looked a little worn out from his trip and didn’t have much spring in his step.

“Looks like you survived,” I teased as soon as he noticed me. “If only there was a mean, petty, spiteful pony around to take a picture of you being miserable to share with the world.”

“Ha ha,” he laughed sarcastically, before adjusting his leather satchel, and coming to stand near the table. “Is this really an airport? I was shocked that the runway was paved.”

“You want to continue making bad jokes? Or do you want to have a seat and introduce yourself like a civilized pony?” I asked with a smile, gesturing towards the empty seat next to me.

“Sorry for being rude. Will Monte,” he apologized, extending a hoof to my mother.

“Betty Carrier,” she introduced, holding out the palm of her hand to his hoof. “It’s nice to meet you and please just call me Betty.”

“So how was the flight?” I asked, watching as he trotted around to take the seat next to me.

“Weird, wouldn’t want to make it a regular thing,” he answered as I casually pushed the tray over in front of him using a wing. “This smells good,” Will nostrils flared and his ears perked up.

“Bet it’s better than airline food.”

“Anything would be, all that little death trap had was peanuts and a cup of water,” he took a long drink with the straw, nearly emptying the cup. “Ooh that’s good,” he said under his breath.

“I know right. It’s so much safer to be carried by our own wings.”

“I was just making a joke about the tiny plane. As if I would want to fly halfway across the country myself.”

“Are you two going to keep being cute and bicker with each other much longer? We do need to get home some time tonight?” my mother asked, glancing at her watch.

“Hopefully not, she can be so tedious,” Will teased.

“So tedious that you’re going to write a book about me,” I shrugged.

“No, nuh uh,” he quickly shook his head. “I am here to write a book on the first human and pony weather control program. You just happen to be— tangentially related to that.”

“Put me on the cover or no one talks to you,” I patted him on the shoulder before jumping off the seat. “I’ll go get your bag from the carousel thingie, finish off that food so we can go.”

---

Two Days Later

“Mom, what’s he doing here?” I asked in annoyance, hovering in the air at human eye level behind the woman who was drizzling chocolate overtop my white, frosting-covered birthday cake.

“He’s here for your party,” my mother answered, finishing and putting the measuring cup she had been pouring the chocolate from into the sink. “Is that a problem?” she asked like it didn’t matter.

“It’s not a good thing,” I huffed, crossing my forelegs.

“Sapphire, he’s your brother. You can’t invite your nieces, his daughters, and tell him not to come.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what I did. I was specific.”

“You’re being rude. I don’t care if it’s your birthday, that’s no excuse. This is my house and he’s your brother, and I say you need to invite him,” she explained tersely. “A pony forgives, now come into the living room and be sociable,” she added, grabbing my front left hoof to drag me along after her.

I didn’t resist, too upset over her total lack of respect for my feelings on the man. This was supposed to be my day and she had just poured cold water all over it. But I put a smile on my face and landed to focus on the good things, like the friends that had shown up. While ignoring the human who was parked in a chair nursing a beer and looking dour. My nieces and their mother, the only three other humans in the home were sitting on the carpeted floor where the rest of my guests were as they chatted.

“Food is almost ready, so start moving to the table,” my mom announced. “Hope everyone is hungry,” she added, earning an enthusiastic response.

Purposely trying to ignore my brother’s presence, nothing good could come from engaging with him, I walked over to sit down next to Will and Emily who were off a bit to the side. “Thanks for coming Emily, I know it’s early for you.”

“It’s not too bad,” the pink night pony glanced at the patio door with a withering glare at the bright sunlight. “Not that I want to make it a normal occurrence.”

“So what are you two off here whispering about by yourselves?” I asked, trying to fill my voice with implication.

Emily gestured to the brown pegasus, “Mr. Monte was just asking me about what us night ponies do here.”

“Well, he shouldn’t be working on his book at my party,” I said favoring him with a glare.

“I’m not working, I was just curious,” he explained defensively. “And it’s just Will.”

“That’s good because it’s time for food, so grab a seat at the table,” I happily suggested, heading over to take a seat on the floor at the head of the long table. Cutting down the legs on the table had been one of the first modifications we had done in the home to make it more accessible for ponies. A smaller round table was left unmodified and it was just off to the side with chairs for the humans in my family to use if they wanted.

Jasper and Misty sat down at the spots on either side of me, and I felt better with them there for emotional support. Will found a spot next to Emily. Both of my human nieces ignored the human height table where their father and mother sat to find places sitting on the floor at the cut down table. Coming out from the kitchen with several plates of food held securely in her green magic was my sister, Tender Smiles followed by my step father, Golden Brew. He was a sizable earth pony easily carrying a large tray in his mouth with the rest of the food. Tender’s magic made quick work of distributing the meal as she was particularly adept as manipulating multiple objects at once.

“And for big sis, the birthday girl,” she added, setting down my plate which had an extra serving of steamed carrots.

“Thanks, Tender,” I answered, watching as she sat down with her two young fillies off to the side at a small table set low enough that my nieces would be able to reach their food easier.

Seeing that everypony was actually gathered in one place for the first time during my party, I realized that it was now or never to get the word out to them all equally. Giving the table a light tap with my hoof before giving it a much harder one to make sure I had drawn the attention of the room, I smiled nervously and I cleared my throat with a couple small coughs. “I have something important I need to announce,” I paused and took a deep shaky breath. “It means a lot to me that you’re all here for my birthday but there is something I’d like to say sooner than later cause I know you’re going to have a lot of questions and I’m not going to have much time to answer.”

Glancing at Jasper and Misty, both were giving me looks of reassurance. “A couple of you already know what I’m going to say and I can’t thank them enough for agreeing to take on a lot of responsibility so I could have this opportunity. I didn’t want to say anything too soon in case it all fell apart, but I can’t put it off now that the red tape is gone.”

“What is it Sapphire?” my mother nearly interrupted me to ask.

“Well—,” I paused to look down, a smile spreading across my muzzle before facing my family and friends. “I’m going to Equestria.”

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long delay for those of you waiting but life has been a bit hectic, and I got caught up helping Halira and Cosmic Eclipse, and also I was just overthinking the hell out of everything in this before realizing that I was being ridiculous. Nothing in this was halfway as important as I was trying to make it.

Cosmic Eclipse has some stuff coming up in New Horizons that has more of Sapphire's adventures a couple years down the line, one of which will be rather game changing, and I'll eventually get to another story covering her short trip to Equestria.

But as for this story which was always supposed to be a small intro to the character and hinting at the setting to jump off from, that's all for now folks. Thank you for reading.

Comments

[TikiBat]

Great ending! Excited to see what the future has in store.