Funerals and weddings
“I wonder what they think of me?”
That’s the question you’ve been asking yourself recently. You’re not quite sure why or when but the thought started to linger around your mind out of nowhere.
Of course, sub-questions started to manifest as well. How do they feel about you? Have their lives become better since you came around? Do they enjoy your company?...Are they...better off without you?
You know you’re probably just overthinking this and they actually like it better with you here but...you can’t help but take it with a little grain of salt.
These questions keep running around your head as you prepare the ingredients for the day right before your diner opens.
The sound of knocking on a glass surface at this time fills you to the brim with curiosity.
“I’ll get it!” you shout out so Chrysalis can continue preparing for opening time.
You open the glass door to see Pinkie right outside wearing a sort of “Cake costume” with the largest round part on the bottom and the smallest round icing part on top like a cute little hat. She’s also got some saddlebags with her.
“You’re a little early. Is something different today or are you just that hungry? And what’s with the getup?” you immediately ask to sate your curiosity.
“Weeeeeell, it’s somepony’s special day today! Can you take a guess who? And I am a little hungry. Hihihi!” she enthusiastically tells you after giving your joke a little snicker.
“Hmmm… is it Applejack?” you answer her right after stroking your chin for a bit and handing her a paper bag of her usual breakfast.
“Huuuuuh!? How did you know!??? You used your powers, didn’t you?” she astonishedly asks and accuses after she gratefully accepts her breakfast and stuffs it in her saddlebags while she hands you the payment for it..
“It’s just a really wild and far fetched hunch, but maybe, just maybe it’s the apple symbols on those letters leaning out of your saddlebags.”
“Ohh! Hehehe, I guess I should’ve kept it more secret for the surprise. Well, here you go.” Pinkie giggles to herself as she hands you with her mouth a decorated letter.
You quickly open it up to give it a little skim, “Down by the farm, huh?”
“Yup, later afternoon at 4 PM so the party ends at sunset! Granny Smith said she wanted to bake for Applejack’s birthday so we decided to have it by their farm! Also, almost everypony from Ponyville will be there so you might as well close up shop later.”
“Alright Pinkie, I’ll try to go early.” you tell her as you ruffle her mane.
She takes pleasure in your affectionate gesture as she bids you goodbye, “Welp, I better give out the rest of these letters so I can help Granny Smith bake those pastries! See you later Anon!”
You wave her off as she disappears in a puff of smoke shaped just like her.
A chuckle escapes from your mouth as you turn back and shout, “Hey girls! We’re closing early today!”
“Hmmm? Why?” Chrysalis asks after she trots near to you.
“Applejack’s birthday, we gotta visit and there won’t be much people eating here anyway since they’ll all be at the party.” you explain.
“Oh, how perfect! Vinyl and I were just about to ask you if we could take an early leave since we’ll be performing there later!” Octavia exuberantly announces as she and Vinyl get down from their small stage.
“I would’ve let you go anyway. Heck, I might’ve even made you go if you weren’t invited to perform.” you quip around, which gains you faint laughter from your musical friends.
“I think I’ll just stay behind, it’s not like I was invited anyway.” Chrysalis gloomily suggests.
“Actually, it looks like you’re invited. See?” you point out as you show her in Pinkie’s letter that she’s actually invited to Applejack’s party.
Chrysalis feels warm and fuzzy inside from being remembered instead of being left out despite not standing out much. She smiles to herself and blushes a little until an obvious question arises in her mind, “Wait, why wasn’t I given my own letter?”
You quickly piece it all together in your head. Did they think that you and Chrysalis are a couple? Eh, not like it matters what they assume. You don’t see her that way and she probably doesn’t see you that way either, despite her perpetual embarrassed state around you. You don’t tell Chrysalis but from the flustered look on her face, it looks like she already figured it out.
An alarm suddenly rings signifying that it’s already 6:00 AM
“Alrighty, places ponies. We got food to cook and melodies to jam until 3:30 PM!”
They all heartily salute as they start making their way to their stations as do you.
You start to lock your doors minutes after 3:30 PM sharp so the four of you are as punctual as can be. The counters were wiped and the tables were organized with all the dishes cleaned already as you stand outside with your three friends.
“Welp, go time ladies.” you initiate as your friends follow suit with you striding towards Sweet Apple Acres.
It doesn’t take long for you all to get there. It looks the place isn’t packed yet, but you can see some familiar faces roaming around. The sweet and crisp smell of delicacies fill the air and your nostrils almost immediately. You even notice Chrysalis’ mouth watering quite a bit with delighted eyes of anticipation.
“Hey Nonny! Why don’t you try some?” Pinkie calls out as she throws you a slice of pie from the smorgasbord of pastries and delectable foods laid out on a large table right outdoors.
You precisely slice it with your hands and hand half of it to Chrysalis as you sample the other. Hey, it tastes pretty good.
“Perfection as always, Pinkie.” you truthfully comment while Chrysalis drowns in a sea of flavor, savoring the piece of pie and gushing over its taste. Come to think of it, this is probably her first time eating Apple pie, especially on this divine caliber of taste.
“Why don’t you go try some more?” you suggest.
“Y-you sure it’s okay?” Chrysalis meekly asks jolting upright from her little display.
You give her a nod as she bolts towards the table, your other two friends giggling at how Chrysalis is acting like a little filly.
Noticing their equipment, you give them a suggestion as well, “Why don’t you two start setting up your stuff? You can roam for quite a while without worrying about setting things up later if you do.”
“Yeah, let’s do just that. Why don’t we, Vinyl? C’mon. Bye Anon, see you later!” Octavia happily bids you goodbye as they both give you a wave with their hooves.
That leaves you to be alone. However, you notice Twilight and Spike right by the middle of the farm with Twilight wielding a clipboard with a checklist on it using her magic.
“Hey you two, busy busy busy huh?” you ask, reaching their range.
“Well it’s mostly just Twilight, but I’m her right hand dragon!” Spike answers you trying to look cool by striking a pose from his last remark. Twilight, on the other hand, is too focused on her task to have even noticed you.
“Well, where’s Applejack? I wanna see her whole family since I’m already here. Come to think of it, I’ve never seen her parents. Do they work someplace else? But they should be here right? It’s AJ’s birthday after all.” you cluelessly blurt out.
Your flurry of questions makes Twilight Do a thousand yard stare and drop her clipboard, “Anon, I…”
“Wait, don’t tell me…” you slowly piece things together as the somber realization sets in. What a way to dampen the mood.
Twilight looks down glumly as does Spike.
“Hold on.” you tell them as you notice Applejack coming out of the barn and slowly trotting towards you.
“Howdy Anon, how are ya?” she greets with a tip of her Stetson.
“Howdy yerself birthday girl, havin’ a fun day?”
“Huuuey, like a pig rollin’ in mud I’d say!” AJ returns humored by your imitation of her accent.
You smile for a bit at how things are but slowly start to have a thousand yard stare as though you’re heavily contemplating something important.
“Hey, AJ…”
“Yeah, Anon?” she asks with a tinge of concern in her voice.
“Wait, let me just…” you kneel down on her level and stare right into her emerald eyes.
She starts giving you a look of curiosity as you slowly place your hand on her forehead.
This is it, “Bloodline Recall”!
You scan through the memories of her late ancestors as you finally spot the ones you need.
Pear Butter and Bright Mac huh? Let’s see…
It looks like they had a few bumps along the way until quite a while after they got married. Pretty standard but you’re just thankful and relieved that their marriage was a happy and loving one.
They had three foals and lived a very happy life together, truly quite the perfect fantasy. Of course, perfect is beyond rare and is practically unheard, and so that day came…
They both died…
You skip ahead to find that AJ’s childhood right after had been a complete mess that tore their lives apart. Seeing that death outside natural means was extremely rare in Equestria, their hysteric reactions might’ve even been insufficient in their case. Luckily, at least, they seem happy now...but this still ain’t right.
You pull back from AJ’s forehead as you place your hand on your own, your head hurting quite a bit. It looks like all the depressing memories did quite a number on your mental state, but the pain will subside in a bit and you’ll be fine.
“You okay Anon?!” she loudly asks you worried, catching the attention of most ponies in the farm.
“I’m...I’m fine, but… ah, dear me…”
It looks like you’re gonna have to make a temporary sacrifice. Things will be somber for a bit but...it’ll make for one hell of a birthday gift.
With a snap of your fingers, you summon a knife and stab yourself by the gut.
“Anon!!!” Twilight shouts as she starts rapidly trotting toward you.
Applejack simply looks at you dazed from witnessing what just happened.
“D-don’t worry girls...I’m fine…,” you heavily pant in wheezing breaths, “But I’ll be gone for a bit, don’t worry...I’ll be back…”
“No no no Anon! You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine right?” Twilight continuously mutters as the rest of your friends and their friends have already galloped towards you, staring in dismayed shock.
“I can’t say much since it’ll ruin the surprise but...have her sing at my grave at my funeral in 3 days…”
“Grave? Funeral? No Anon, you gotta stay, you’ll still make it with your powers, c’mon just heal yourself right up.” Chrysalis practically demands at you.
“And who is ‘her’?” Pinkie concernedly follows up as Fluttershy futilely tends to your wound.
You rest your cold hand on Fluttershy’s hoof and slowly give her a nod as you tell everyone, “I can’t say much but you’ll all see. I think it’s time I take my leave…”
They all hurriedly form a glum group hug holding on to you as tight as they can almost as if they’ll lose you if they let you go. Cries and whimpers and pleads are heard from all directions as you’re clumped by ponies all around.
You bid one last goodbye to your favorite mystery, Pinkie Pie, who is almost crying profusely. “Goodbye, my snake eater.” you comfort her with a hug and a ruffle of her mane as you burst into dozens and dozens of emerald butterflies.
The butterflies slowly start to disperse in all directions as the cold realization starts to kick in. You’re gone…
Well, for now at least. Though surely they won’t take it very well even after you said you’ll be back. Uncertainty always brings out the worst of situations.
They start crying and bawling from your unexpected leave. Some still don’t believe it as they keep asking several queries forming their own multiple theories on your disappearance, but deep down they think you’re gone.
However, in the middle of the swarm of butterflies you left them an equivalent exchange that starts to show itself more as the butterflies slowly disperse by the second.
“M-mom?” Applejack asks in disbelief as she quickly wipes her tears for a double take.
It’s Pear Butter, but she’s asleep. She’s still the same age as she was when she died, and every bit as beautiful and lovely.
Applejack starts tearing up again as she runs to embrace her mother. The waterworks start to flood as she touches Pear Butter’s skin which confirms for her that she’s really real.
Hours have passed by and the party got cancelled due to Pear Butter’s appearance. Ponyville glooms today as everypony somberly returns to their own houses with a grim expression.
As for you, you’re happy to know now that they truly love you for who you are. Yet, you are also sad to see them depressed, but you’ll just have to make sure to make it up to them when you come back.
Why did you kill yourself again? Well, that’s simple. Equivalent exchange.
Proportional trading is essential to keep the harmony in check. An imbalance, such as a resurrection, will spawn chaos throughout the land unless a suitable sacrifice is made. In this case, it is you.
Maybe most of it is just for your own peace of mind about karma and harmony and balance, but you’ll be back in three days anyway once the dust has settled and you’ve died enough.
As a specter unseen by those of the physical realm, you spawn yourself in Sweet Apple Acres to check up on the Apple family.
It looks like they let Pear Butter rest by a bed since she hasn’t woken up yet. Next to her is a sleeping Applebloom who’s embracing her mother very warmly. Her eyes are a bit red, perhaps she cried herself to sleep from the sheer joy and nostalgia.
Big Mac is also in the room, patiently watching over his mother and sister awaiting their awakening.
You phase through a few more rooms to find the others, and soon enough you spot Applejack and Granny Smith with unreadable expressions plastered on their faces.
After a little silence, they continue their conversation. “Is...is she still there?” Applejack queries Granny Smith, still dazed in disbelief.
“Yesh Applejack, yer ol’ mama Pear Butter is still there.” Granny Smith casually answers.
“Oh thank Celestia...I really ain’t dreamin’.” she joyfully says as tears start flowing from her eyes.
Sounds of whimpering echo throughout the room as Granny Smith consoles her, “You know Applejack, ah was mighty sad when yer mama and papa, well…you know. I never thought I’d ever get to see em again, I jus’ took it as a fact and eventually ah...ah moved on. My baby boy Bright Mac might not be here, but havin’ even jus’ Pear Butter back is already a blessin’. Ah’m really, really happy that she’s back.”
Right after Granny Smith’s little speech, her blissful waterworks start to turn on as well as memories of the past start flooding her mind.
Applejack slightly winces from remembering the trade off that brought her mother back.
“Ah’m happy too that mom’s back...but, well...I can’t believe Anon’s gone. I can’t believe he sacrificed himself for…”
Her tears and wails were about to worsen until she put up a face of resolve and quickly wiped her tears away with a hoof. “No, A-anon’s fine. He said he’ll be back so he’ll be back.” Applejack firmly states despite actually being uncertain and uneasy.
“Ah sure hope so. He done a good thing for the Apples today.” Granny Smith interjects.
Silence befalls the room once more as they organize their clutter of thoughts and feelings.
Applejack rises from her seat after a little while, “Ah’m gonna go check up on Big Mac, Applebloom and…mom.”
Granny Smith gives her a confirming nod but speaks up right as Applejack is halfway out of the room, “Applejack.”
“Hmm?”
“Happy birthday.”
“Thanks, Granny Smith.”
She leaves the room as she plops down to the ground crying silently. Her firm disposition falters as she breaks down in a mixture of emotions of joy and sorrow.
Looks like you really meant something special to them. With this, you decide to leave them for now and venture off to somepony else. You’ll come back the next day, perhaps Pear Butter will be awake then.
Next stop, Rainbow Dash. Stepping into her humble domain, the sound of muffled wailing fills your ears. Exploring her house further, you expectedly find her huddled in her room toppled and stacked by everything on her bed. She probably tried to conceal her cries so nobody would see her like this.
Well jeez, you’ve only checked up on two of them and you feel pretty bad already. You decide to take a seat by her bed and observe her for a little while. She continues to cry for a little longer until her emotional demeanor starts to subside.
Limply, she crawls out of her sheets a depressed mess. Her mane is tangled all over, her eyes are reddening from her crying, and her fur is all meshed up into different directions. Must be her first time experiencing loss.
Her eyes wander over to a stack of paper on the drawer next to her bed. She slowly reaches for it and gives it a read. It’s the transcript you gave her a little while back, Daring Do’s latest book that you helped her make.
Tears start to stain the cover of the transcript like light rain pitter pattering outdoors. With her eyes closed, her waterworks come back on stronger than before. She starts to wheeze and hyperventilate as she returns to her little pillow fort.
Time to visit the most emotional one you’d expect from this whole situation, Rarity. As you enter Rarara’s boutique, sounds intervaled munching and sobbing fill your ears. Ice cream, right.
After locating the origin of the noise, you spot Rarity posed on a couch eating a tub of ice cream. Jeez, she’s looks even worse than Rainbow Dash. Seems she’s not handling things pretty well. Though by the sight of unfinished human suits next to her, it also looks like she’s coping by continuing to produce those clothes you order on occasion.
But despite her coping mechanism, she still sounds like a banshee.
Wait, no regular being or creature alive can stand noises that loud, so where’s Sweetie Belle?
You pull up a mental radar and find that she’s right outside. Oh, and she’s with someone else?
Phasing through the walls towards the outside, you find her glumly mourning with Scootaloo. It looks like they’re having their own little funeral already, and they probably left Applebloom to have her own kind of mourning because of her mother and all, she’s asleep right now anyway.
You make your way to them and you notice that they’re displaying a food wrapper from your diner.
“To Anon, he was one of the most special creatures I’d ever come to know. We didn’t know each other for very long, but I’ve known him long enough to know that he was a kind person.” Sweetie Belle announces like a funeral speech.
“I didn’t know him for as long as you did, but I’m sure too that he was a great guy. Even if this food wrapper is one of the few things we can remember him by, we will cherish it for as long as we live.”
They stare at the food wrapper for a little while until Sweetie Belle speaks up without breaking eye contact from the wrapper, “Hey, Scootaloo?”
“Yeah?”
“He...He’ll be back, right? We’ve seen what he can do so he’s still hanging around somewhere, so someday he’ll come back here, right?” Sweetie Belle starts, showing trembling signs of her turning on her waterworks.
“...I don’t know. I wish I did, but all we can do for now is wait and hope.”
Sweetie Belle’s tears have started to drop to the ground as she embraces Scootaloo in comfort to which Scootaloo reciprocates in sympathy.
“He’ll be back, he’ll be back…” Sweetie Belle continuously repeats between flooding tears in the hopes that it’ll come true like a wish if she believed hard enough.
All Scootaloo can manage to do is to stroke Sweetie Belle’s mane in response as she lightly cries into her friends neck.
Jeez, what an emotional mess everyone has become. Looking out, it seems to quite literally be everyone as there’s not a single soul roaming the streets of Ponyville.
Maybe it’s just because it’s night time, but you’ve got a feeling that’s not the case. You’ll call it a night already, perhaps things will be better tomorrow?
The crack of dawn arrives and the sun has barely graced the land of Equestria when Pear Butter awakens from her lengthy slumber. You took notice of this quickly and immediately appeared at the scene.
Her tired eyelids have started to shift a little as she covers her eyes from the blinding sunlight that had just encased the room. Exhaustedly, she opens her eyes and is greeted by the sight of her three children, two of which are still resting and one particular Applejack at the brink of collapse from being up all night waiting for her mother’s awakening.
A mixture of emotions decorate Pear Butter’s face as she examines the sight before her, though concurrently, Applejack musters just enough energy to realize her mother is finally awake.
“M-mom! You’re...you’re finally awake...” Applejack says as she remembers that this is all really happening, realizing that her mother is finally back after all these years.
She silently bolts towards Pear Butter and lands softly on her lap breaking down in tears of joy. She’s speechless and simply tearing up, as is Pear Butter. Though from her sheer willpower to stay awake throughout the entire night, Applejack comfortably falls asleep on her mother’s lap.
Pear Butter simply decides to stroke her eldest daughter’s mane as she tries to piece everything together until Granny Smith enters the room.
“G-granny Smith? Is that you? What’s...going on?”
“Oh, P-pear Butter,” Granny Smith says as she trots over to her daughter-in-law to give her a warm embrace, having a similar reaction as Applejack’s, “It’s...it’s a long story. Why don’t I tell ya over breakfast?”
Pear Butter gives her a slight nod, still dazed by everything she’s seeing, as they both silently head downstairs.
After quite a bit of reminiscing, Pear Butter is now up-to-date with everything relevant and major that’s happened while she was gone as Granny Smith told her of everything she could remember over the course of breakfast.
“So...there’s this foreigner from another world with reality-bending powers that raised me from the dead and sacrificed himself in the process?” Pear Butter curiously asks.
“That’s about the long and the short of it, dearie.”
“Why?”
“...We...we don’t really know.”
“Well, I’ll take this as my second chance. B-,” Pear Butter stutters a bit, silently grieving at the thought that her dear husband isn’t here, nevertheless she musters up some resolve and continues, “Bright Mac may not be here, but I’ll do it right this time, I’ll take care of our children.”
They both share a moment of silence and grief until Granny Smith speaks up, “Why don’t ya start now? Ah reckon there’s a few good people in Ponyville that’ll want’a see you after all this time.”
“What about the kids?” Pear Butter asks in concern.
“Don’tchu worry none about ‘em, I’ll whip up some breakfast fer ‘em while yer gone.”
“Thanks, Granny Smith.” Pear Butter thanks in gratitude with a smile as she starts trotting off into the city.
“Don’t take too long now, missy. Ah’m sure the children have a lot to talk about with you. And why don’t ya go visit Twilight Sparkle? Ah’m sure she might have summin’ ta say about all this, especially about you and yer current condition. She’s the purple alicorn by the large crystal castle. Ya can’t miss it.”
“Alright, Granny Smith.” Pear Butter responds like a teenager would to a parent as she rolls her eyes, trying to keep things on a more jolly note.
.
Pear Butter is at the entrance of ‘Sweet Apple Acres’ as she happily takes one look back at the home she hadn’t seen for the longest time. She makes a wide, blissful smile as she turns and starts heading off towards her first destination, the large tree by the edge of ‘Sweet Apple Acres’ where she got married. Though surely, she’ll make sure to visit Twilight later.
After a little trekking, she finally reaches her destination. The mere sight of the tree fills her mind with memories, the good. The bad, and everything in between.
She places a hoof at the bark of the tree and closes her eyes as she looks down, “Anon, was it? You brought me back to life, back to my family and my home. I don’t know if you’re listening or not or even where you are but...I just want you to know that I’m very grateful for what you did. I don’t know why you did it, but I do know that I have a second chance now, a second to do things right and pick up where I left off. I know it’s not much but, thank you…thank you, Anon…”
She holds her position for a little while until a swarm of emerald butterflies start to approach her. They slowly circle around her as some of them rest on her mane. She eyes them gracefully and examines them with joy.
Suddenly, the sound of heaving breaths and light whimpering seems to get louder and louder. Oh, it’s Fluttershy.
You were gonna check up on her later but she’s already here, and you might have a pretty good idea on why she’s here.
Fluttershy slows down to a stop and starts breathing heavily to catch her breath. During her recovery, she takes notice of Pear Butter, who is eyeing her curiously.
“Ummm, hi there. You alright?” Pear Butter asks in concern.
“Oh, h-hello there Mrs. Butter.” Fluttershy timidly responds.
“Oh, please, just Pear Butter will do.”
“Ummm, okay Mrs.Butter- eep!” Fluttershy replies in embarrassment, completely forgetting Pear Butter’s request.
Pear Butter merely stifles a giggle at the timid display of the mare in front of her. “Soooo, what brings you to the edge of ‘Sweet Apple Acres’? And come to think of it, how do you know my name? I figured word of my situation would spread quickly but I got a feeling I should know who you are.”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Fluttershy, one of Applejack’s friends.” Fluttershy introduces herself as she extends her hoof for a hoofshake.
“Pear Butter, I’m sure you already know who I am.” Pear Butter responds as she shakes Fluttershy’s hoof.
Fluttershy seems to zone out for a bit with a little sorrowful expression on her face.
Out of concern, Pear Butter carries on the conversation, “Oh, right. What brings you here this early in the morning again?”
Her question seems to have had an opposite effect as to what she’d expected since Fluttershy slowly starts to tear up. “O-oh, it’s just that...it’s just...when you got ressurected, our friend sacrificed himself.”
“S-so I’ve heard…. His name was Anon, right?” Pear Butter starts to have a similar expression as Fluttershy’s.
“Yes,” Fluttershy answers in between sniffles, “he was a kind man…. When you appeared, so did these emerald butterflies, there was a swarm of them.”
Pear Butter stays silent, simply looking at the ethereal sight of emerald butterflies that are still flying around her.
“It was just a hunch, but I thought that maybe they were a clue. Maybe if I followed them long enough, they’d lead me to Anon or something…. I’m sure he’s still out there somewhere...”
Fluttershy starts to turn on her waterworks as Pear Butter embraces her in comfort.
“Well, now they’ve stopped here...with you…. Maybe...maybe he really is gone...”
“I...I’m sorry, Fluttershy...”
Her bawls grow stronger and stronger yet still as silent as can be. “I...I’m sorry, I have to go...” Fluttershy apologizes as she gallops off towards her cottage without even waiting for a response.
Well that was left on a pretty somber note, sadly it seems to have taken a significant effect on Pear Butter’s mood. Hopefully her old friends will turn that around.
Pear Butter aimlessly trots around the streets of Ponyville, her mind filled with the thoughts of what it took for her to have been brought back to the world. All eyes are on her as they stare in disbelief of her resurrection. After a while, one of the ponies finally trot up to her, breaking her somber trance.
“P-Pear Butter, it...it really is you.” an adult mare with a gray mane says as she tightly hugs Pear Butter as if there’s no tomorrow.
“Mayor Mare? Is that you?”
Both begin to elate with joy with Mayor Mare starting to tear up joyfully.
“It’s been too long.”
“Long enough for your mane to turn gray.” Pear Butter quips.
“It’s actually just gray dye.” Mayor Mare whispers while she wipes her tears away with a hoof as they both start giggling.
“So, how have things been without me?”
“Well, I’m now the Mayor of Ponyville!” Mayor Mare excitedly announces in a sing-songy tone.
“Wow! That’s great news! But how’s that love life? Still single hmmm?” Pear Butter snickers which gets her a pout from Mayor Mare.
“Oh bugger off. I’ll settle eventually.”
“Well you better find one soon before your hair turns gray naturally.” Pear Butter laughs once more.
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“Well, I’ve still got political business to do. I suppose your next stop is over there.” Mayor Mare points towards ‘Sugarcube Corner’.
“Great, thanks Mayor Mare.” Pear Butter waves her goodbye and starts trotting off until she’s stopped by the call of her friend.
“Pear Butter!”
“Hmmm?” Pear Butter replies as she looks back.
“I’ll...I’ll see you soon, okay? We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
“Of course, we’ve got a lot of time to make up for lost time.” Pear Butter responds as they both smile and wave each other off.
Pear Butter quickly manages to reach ‘Sugarcube Corner’, unaware of why Mayor Mare suggested her next destination is here but having a slight hopeful idea of who she might meet.
“Hello?” Pear Butter curiously enters the bakery. The scent of freshly baked goods enters her nostrils as she takes pleasure whiffing the immaculate smell.
“Good morning, welcome to Sugarcube Cor-” Mrs. Cake greets but cuts herself off after seeing who her customer is, “Pear Butter? You...you’re finally back!”
As expected, Mrs. Cake rushes over to Pear Butter and gives her a very hearty embrace.
“Chiffon? Wow, you’ve really grown.”
“Well you haven’t changed one bit since the last time I saw you, hehehe. Oh, and it’s ‘Mrs. Cake’ now.”
Pear Butter’s eyes start sparkling in astonishment, “You mean you finally got married! To Carrot Cake too?!”
“And I have two lovely bundles of sunshine.” Mrs. Cake excitedly tells Pear Butter turns to look at Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake who just aimlessly crawled into the room giggling.
“Awwww, they’re adorable.”
The Cake twins begin to instinctively crawl towards Pear Butter, who’s giving a very maternal and loving aura.
A flattered Pear Butter picks them up and starts nuzzling them in response. “Reminds me of when Applejack and Big Mac were still little foals. Well, they’re not so little now hehehe.” Pear Butter puts on a slightly long face.
Mrs. Cake puts a hoof by Pear Butter’s withers and tells her inspirationally, “Hey, it’s okay. They’ve changed much over time but you’re still the lovely Pear Butter I knew way back when. A lot of time has passed but, well, I’m sure they’ll still love you very much. Just wait, you’ll see.”
“Thanks, Chiffon.” Pear Butter, in slight tears of joy, gives her good friend a hug.
What a sweet sight, but you should probably leave them to their own business. Besides, you got a feeling there’s someone you should really be seeing right now.
Floating through ‘Sugarcube Corner’, you reach into the kitchen where the baked goods are being made. The sight of Pinkie immediately enters your field of vision. Despite the reddening area under her eyes, she looks pretty normal. She’s working pretty diligently too, rolling the batter and mixing the ingredients.
She seems fine, humming a hopeful and catchy tune even. But something is definitely up. Looks like it’s time to use some of your powers, you can’t really affect the world right now but you can still use your powers that won’t tamper with the physical realm.
“HPATIPE!!!”
You suddenly get a recorded footage of the events that transpired a few minutes ago.
You see Pinkie in the kitchen, she’s still working diligently but something is off with her expression. She’s still a little depressed.
Quite expectedly, Mrs. Cake enters the scene and quickly takes notice of Pinkie’s mood.
“Hey sweetie, still a little under the weather about Anon?” Mrs. Cake concernedly asks.
“Mmmhmm...” Pinkie bluntly answers.
“Well you’re certainly looking better than last night, that’s a plus.” Mrs. Cake lightly jokes to diffuse the situation but to no avail as Pinkie doesn’t respond. Regardless, Mrs. Cake still approaches her.
Right after Mrs. Cake reaches within Pinkie’s reach, Pinkie wraps Mrs. Cake in an embrace to comfort herself. “I miss him already...” her tears welling up slightly in her eyes, she buries her face into Mrs. Cake’s chest.
“There there, sweetie.” Mrs. Cake starts stroking Pinkie’s mane.
After a bit, Pinkie retracts from Mrs. Cake and wipes her eyes with a hoof, “N-no, I...I should smile. Even when things aren’t looking so good, I should always find the best in things. That’s what Anon would tell me.”
Mrs. Cake takes notice of Pinkie’s optimistic turn and decides to further press on that, “That’s right, he brought back Pear Butter before he left. To be honest, I…I didn’t think I’d ever see her again. But thanks to him, things are made right again not just for me but moreover for the Apple family.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Still, I don’t know why but I feel like he’s still somewhere out there.”
“Well, we’ve got nothing to work on but faith. It’s not much, but I think it’s worth hoping in.”
“Thanks Mrs. Cake. It still feels depressing but he said he’ll be back and, well…that’s good enough for me.”
Things are looking up as Mrs. Cake and Pinkie hug in positivity with smiles.
As if by cue, the entrance bell signifying an entering customer rings.
“Oooh, I wonder who that is. I better go get it. And Pinkie, feel free to take the day off if you’d like.”
“Okey dokey lokey Mrs. Cake, but I think I’ll stay just here. Baking always made me feel better anyway.”
“Suit yourself.” Mrs. Cake leaves the kitchen with a shrug and that’s where things are now.
From the portion you’ve seen of how much you’ve affected everyone, your heart is already warmed to see how much they care about you despite being relatively new, not to mention that you’re pretty much an alien to them.
Things truly are better here than on Earth, you can say that with ten billion percent certainty. On a higher note, you’ll really have to make it up to them sometime in the future.
Looking back into the present, you notice Pinkie loading up her cake into the oven. After setting it in, her eyes grow a little watery as she silently cries. “Why’d you have to leave? There’s so much we still haven’t done together, you, me, and everypony else...but...I’m sure you have your reasons. I still believe you’ll be back soon, so please...come back as soon as you can.”
“I will, Pinkie...I will.” you say despite knowing no one can hear you.
Even though you can’t affect them, you come near her anyway and start stroking her mane, perhaps to comfort yourself more than Pinkie.
You leave the kitchen and notice Pear Butter with a couple bags of pastries on her back. She didn’t have any bits with her so it’s most probably on the house. You didn’t catch what they said but you could tell they’re bidding their goodbyes already.
“Off to Twily then.” you think to yourself as you follow Pear Butter out of ‘Sugarcube Corner’.
Pear Butter stares in awe at Twilight’s castle. “Don’t remember this being her before.” she tells herself.
She timidly enters the crystal castle and shouts, “Excuse me, is anypony here?”
No response, of course.
She enters and trots on for a bit hoping to find Twilight until she happens to reach the library.
You could hear Twilight muttering inside. You take a peek and see her flying all around looking at multiple different books. She doesn’t look like she slept at all.
Pear Butter notices her wings and horn and supposes that she’s the new Princess Twilight.
Right before she could call out to her, Starlight Glimmer comes into the scene which slightly startles Pear Butter..
“Excuse me, Mrs. Pear Butter, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Starlight Glimmer, Twilight’s apprentice.” Starlight politely greets.
“Starlight, right? Good to see you too.” Pear Butter returns as they both shake hoofs.
“Listen, umm...I’m sorry but if you’re here for Twilight then I’m not sure this is the best time. She’s been like that...since last night.” Starlight glumly announces.
“It’s because of your friend, Anon, right?” Pear Butter asks in concern.
“Yeah, we even had to suspend our school today since there wasn’t enough staff present.”
“He must’ve been a really great guy.”
“He was…” Starlight says as she stares off into the distance.
“Well, I guess there’s not much for me to do here. I better go back to my family then.”
“Alright, I’ll go see if I can talk some sense into Twilight. Have a good day, Mrs. Pear Butter.” Starlight bids with a wave of a hoof.
“You too.” Pear Butter follows suit.
You decide to stay for a bit to see how Twilight’s doing. Following Starlight towards Twilight, you can see her disheveled state in greater detail.
“Twilight, I think it’s time you stop. You haven’t even eaten dinner from last night.” Starlight requests.
“Not yet, Starlight. There must be some way to find out what happened to Anon. I’m sure it has to be in one of these books. Or maybe I should look into the Canterlot archives, or the Castle of the Two Sisters.”
“Twilight…”
“Just a little further, Starlight. I haven’t found anything yet but if I keep looking I’ll surely find something that’ll lead us to Anon.”
“Twilight…”
“M-m-maybe if I go find Starswirl, he’d be able to help. Maybe he’s just in suspended animation. Maybe if I just cross reference enough books then maybe, maybe...m-maybe…” Twilight starts stuttering as Starlight focuses Twilight’s gaze on her.
“Twilight…” Starlight says once more as Twilight slowly breaks down into tears. Comfortingly, Starlight hugs Twilight and lets her let it all out onto her wither.
Welp, you suppose you’ll let them take care of things. Time to visit a few of your own friends.
You head back to your diner and see that it’s pretty empty. Of course, it’s completely closed. Not a sign of life in sight, but you’re certain there’s one upstairs.
You head into the diner and make your way into your room to see Chrysalis in pretty much the same state as Rainbow Dash. Though she’s sleeping, probably cried herself to sleep from what you can tell. Oh, but it looks like she’s
“I’ll be back soon, love bug. Just a little longer...” you tell her despite knowing she can’t hear you.
Time to hit up your last stop, Octavia and Vinyl.
You enter their home after a little while of walking. The place is silent as a grave except for the melodies of a sorrowful piano and cello.
“He always did want us to learn this song...” you hear Octavia mutter sorrowfully.
“It was one of his favorites too...” Vinyl continues.
“I...I wish he could’ve heard us play this...” Octavia starts as her tears start to well up.
Vinyl gets off her piano and starts caressing Octavia despite her starting to cry as well.
The music stops and is replaced by their silent cries. They curl up into each other in an attempt to comfort each other and soon both fall asleep in each other’s embrace. No words could’ve suppressed how they felt.
Welp, you gotta get ready for the big day tomorrow. The day of your funeral.
You’ve got a surprise for everyone and you only hope that you can make it up to them someday.
The time comes, your grave is ready and everyone in Ponyville is crowded at your funeral. Well, everyone except Chrysalis, you sense that she’s still in your room. Even Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor are here, guess the news spread pretty fast. You noticed that they just buried your iconic suit in a coffin considering they can’t exactly find your body. It also seems that everyone’s wearing black. Well, tradition is tradition.
Mayor Mare takes the stage and starts up a speech, “In the past few months, we’ve all come to know Anon very well, not only as Ponyville’s best cook, but moreover a good friend. He’s done many thing for a lot of us here, and he’d often even go above and beyond the impossible to make miracles for us. Despite being unique to his own species here in Equestria, he didn’t let our differences barrier him from making friends. He didn’t shelter from society and embraced his uniqueness to make memorable experiences for us all. From his food all the way to his culture, he’s shared a lot with us, and he’s made a lot of things with us too. He was a great man, and a better friend. His final gift to us all was bringing back Pear Butter. No one still knows why he did it, but we do know that he’s made the Apple family a little more complete. As per one of his final requests, Pear Butter will sing to his grave.”
That was one hell of a speech, it even made you feel warm inside as some of the ponies started crying. That can only mean that her speech resonated well with them and what they perceive to be true.
Mayor Mare steps down as they lead Pear Butter towards your grave. She carries a guitar with her as everyone watches them get ready.
“I didn’t get to know you Anon, but from the great things you’ve done, this is the least I can do.”
The crowd is already silent as she starts strumming on her guitar. Soon after the melodic tune sounds, she starts to sing the song that holds dearly in her heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOsTRTMvpsk
Dead silence comes right after her angelic song. However, it’s your time to shine. It’s time to try and cheat the laws of death. The living mustn’t bring back the dead unless they make a sacrifice, but there are no laws about the dead bringing back the dead.
Your arm claws out of the ground like a zombie and struggles to pull yourself into the surface. The crowd of ponies all gasp in shock and terror as you slowly emerge from the surface.
With your left hand still buried underground, you wipe yourself off of the dirt on your suit with your right hand as you casually say, “Kept you waiting, huh?”
A sonic zoom of blue suddenly rams into your stomach, though you don’t flinch from your position. You do kneel from the sheer pain you felt though.
“Where the hell were you!? I...I missed you...so much...” Rainbow berates you through tears as the rest of your friends and several other ponies smother you in hugs and affection through tears of joy and relief.
“I...I was busy.” you explain as you manage through the pain.
“I was so worried, I wasn’t sure if you’d ever be back.” Fluttershy tells you.
“Darling, it was unbearable losing a good friend. Please, don’t do that again.” Rarara says in relief as her mascara starts to run.
Several others say similar messages until Pinkie cups your cheeks and forces you to look her way as she sternly tells you, “Anon. don’t ever do that again.”
You know she had faith in you but you’ll never know what’ll happen in the future, “No promises.”
She gives you a little pout as you ruffle her mane. She takes affection in it as Applejack interjects, “Thanks, Anon...you’ve given me the greatest birthday gift ah could ever get. Where were you anyway?”
“What do you mean? I was getting you your birthday present.” you explain.
“Huh?” she seems shocked at your revelation.
You break yourself off from the huddle as you make a bit of space. Your left hand finally raises from the ground to reveal that you were grasping onto a pale hoof.
You raise your left hand all the way to reveal a stallion, Bright Mac.
“B-Bright Mac!” Pear Butter shouts in a daze as she runs towards him.
“Pear Butter? What’s going on?” Bright Mac responds as Pear Butter starts nuzzling him affectionately.
“It’s...a long story dear.” she explains.
“Dad?” Applejack manages to muster as she approaches him.
“Applejack? Is that you? You look older. Wait, darling, did we…?” Bright Mac starts to realize as Pear Butter gives him an affirmative nod.
No more words are said as the entire Apple family huddles up in an endearing family hug.
“My sweet boy, you’re back...you’re finally back...” Granny Smith says in tears of joy.
Jeez, the scene’s heart warming but a little too sappy for you. You turn and face Twilight, “So why’s everypony wearing black? Didn’t I tell you all to wear white at my funeral?”
“Uhhh, no, you didn’t,” Twilight explains in slight confusion as she continues, “why would we wear white at a funeral?”
“Because my gift isn’t done yet. Well, not a problem Twily.” you tell her as you make your way to the podium.
“Excuse me, everyone. I’d like to invite you all to the rewedding of our handsome groom, Bright Mac, and our lovely bride, Pear Butter.” you announce and with the snap of your fingers, everyone’s clothes turn white, Bright Mac and Pear Butter are dressed in a tuxedo and a wedding gown, and the entire place is decorated accordingly.
You snap your fingers once again as Octavia and Vinyl are right on the stage with you.
“Anon! We were trying to get to you but the crowd was bustling.” Vinyl says through tears of joy as Octavia simply hugs you tightly by the waist.
“Don’t leave us again, we’ve still got lots of music to play together.” Octavia tells you as you ruffle her and Vinyl’s mane.
“Speaking of music, mind if you two play for this lovely couple over here?”
“Sure thing boss!” Vinyl says with a renewed face of determination.
“Thanks you two.” you snap your fingers once more as everyone is put in the right place
The music is playing, the ambience is set, now it’s time. You stand right by Mayor Mare, who you’ve designated to once more officiate the wedding.
“But Anon, we’re already married.” Pear Butter throws in right at you.
“Well, ‘until death do us part’ right? You both died so here we are.” you explain as she gives you a hearty chuckle.
“Alright Mayor Mare, it’s go time.”
She gives you a nod of determination as you give her a nod back. You disappear from the scene as the wedding continues without you. There’s someone important that needs to hear the news first.
You enter your room to find Chrysalis who is half asleep. She’s facing away from the door so you sneak in and lie down beside her. Your arm finds your way around her body and you hold her in a tight embrace, “Hello, my sunshine. I’m back.”
“Hmm? Anon? Am I still dreaming?” Chrysalis drowsily asks.
“Yeah, you still are.” you lie as you give her a kiss on the forehead.
“I miss you, Anon...at least you’re really affectionate in my dreams...” she somberly rants on.
Affectionate huh?
You pick her up with both hands princess style as she starts to become more and more aware of her environment. Before she can speak, you pull her in and start nuzzling her by the nose.
“A-Anon!? W-What!?”
“Uhhhh, you’re ummm...you’re going lucid...”
She starts to look skeptic as you simply snap both of you to the wedding, and of course, you’d made sure to transform her into her pony form.
“Alright, let’s have a good time.”
You both got there just in time to witness the couple kiss. Which means...it’s party time.
You signal Vinyl and Octavia to switch up the genre and they start playing some catchy music. Considering there’s only two of them, you drop Chrysalis off to Pinkie and join in on them for a jamming session.
For a little while, the lot of you play some really catchy instrumentals. You even played some of your favorite ones since you’ve already taught them to Vinyl and Octavia before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDgQdr8ZkTw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKLxc2NsNcg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ptk_1Dc2iPY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W720XaOPa5w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNd4apsr3WE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx042F7StZU
You took this opportunity to actually sing for the crowd, and so you sing a classic, the English version of Fighting Gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyOf7OD5Ujs
It was a blast as everyone got really hyped from the song. Some of them even started dancing wildly to the beat. Though as it ended, you decided to start simmering down the party by singing love songs that’ll get the crowd going.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCy19JV7t9o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gHoELwAas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzGuIKjSw5g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiIBKcd4m5Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQR0bXO_yI8
Right after, you signal Vinyl and Octavia to start playing slow dance music. Since they can manage on their own, you step down from the stage and decide to fulfill the dreams of a certain mare.
After bustling through the crowd, you soon find Chrysalis and take her by the hoof, leading the both of you to a more open space.
It’s the center of the party and there’s a group of ponies slow dancing. The group includes Pear Butter and Bright Mac, Pinkie and Maud, and several other pairs including you and Chrysalis.
“Anon, I know this is a dream but I can’t dance.”
“If this is a dream then none of it matters, just follow my lead.”
You take her right hoof with your left hand and place your right hand by her waist. She flinches a bit from your touch but soon places her left hoof on your right shoulder as the both of you rotate clockwise staring into each other’s eyes. Despite having to “tiptoe” to manage with your height, she’s getting the hang of it.
“A-Anon, this i-is embarrassing.” Chrysalis mutters through a pouty blush as you take advantage of your height and give her a peck on the forehead.
She blushes even harder as you pick her up off the ground and continue to dance except you’re just hugging her and spinning clockwise. Despite the silly demeanor of the sight, the both of you actually look pretty cute together.
The party goes on for a while in a similar enjoyable fashion. Food (prepared by you) is eaten, jokes are told, dances were danced, music was played, and most importantly, memories were made.
The party soon ends as the ponies start dispersing one by one.
“Nice singing earlier, Anon. I really liked ‘Fighting Gold’ was it?” Pinkie compliments you as you’re making your way towards your diner.
“Yeah, you should hear the Japanese version sometime.”
“Japa-what?” she curiously asks.
“Hehehe, you’ll see soon enough.”
“Okey Dokey Lokey.” she says as she starts bouncing off towards ‘Sugarcube Corner’.
“Hey, Anon?” you hear someone call out to you right after Pinkie leaves. You turn to see that it’s Applejack, with Pear Butter and Bright Mac.
“Yeah?”
“Ah jus’ wanted ta say…thanks, Anon. This birthday gift really will change everything from now on. You’ve done a lot fer the Apple family an’ we jus’ wanted you to know, if you ever need anythin’, we’re always here.” Applejack thanks you as she reaches out for a hug that you just returned.
Pear Butter and Bright Mac also reach in for a group hug as Pear Butter says, “Thanks, Anon.”
“Thanks fer everythin’, kind stranger. And, uhhhhh, what my daughter said.” Bright Mac fumbles as the three Apples laugh in unison.
“Well, my job is done. A good day to the lot of you. Until next time, Apple family.” you bid them goodbye as they do the same with you.
You and Chrysalis soon find yourselves back in the bedroom. With the sun having had set a few hours ago and your bellies stuffed with food and bodies tired from the activities, you stumble onto the bed immediately as does Chrysalis.
“Hey Chryssy, big spoon or small spoon?” you ask her.
“Ummmm, small spoon?” she answers as you quickly pull her in and hug her by her backside.
“A-Anon!” she attempts to protest, however, she melts into your embrace as you gently stroke her hair with your right hand.
She starts to feel drowsy as do you. She appears to think that she’s still lucidly dreaming so you give her a kiss on the cheek since she wouldn’t be able to remember if this moment was real or not. You can’t wait to see her reaction in the morning when she realizes you’re finally back, or her reaction to the events of today and see her confused expression debating whether it was all a dream or not. What a day tomorrow will be for you.
“Goodnight, Anon...” she says with a yawn.
“Goodnight, Chryssy...goodnight...” you whisper into her ear as the both of you finally fall into slumber.
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I swear the stars aligned or something with all this out of nowhere dying. Granted this Anon is OP 2.0, but still like this makes two stories this weekend with blindsiding deaths. Now all we need is for Anon to just snap himself into marrying Chrysalis.
Honestly this chapter is a mess, for one Anon comes of as a complete prick playing God, he almost literally just says he's gonna be gone for a few days then blows his head of with a shotgun, an exaggeration but a good one, all of the emotional turmoil could've been avoided if Anon handled it better by explaining himself a bit better and not offing himself in front of everyone.
Secondly why bring them back? What makes them special, I'm pretty sure there are plenty of free foals or parents who lost foals more deserving then the Apples.
As the old saying goes, the means don't justify the end and no one should play God.
Even though there is no romance tag on this story, I really want them to get together though as a couple!!!!! I want that!! And maybe eventually she'll reveal her true self to everypony once things work out.
9910433
It’s a fanfic. Just friggin enjoy it for what it is.
It's ya birthday! What did I get you?
A reunion, funeral, and wedding, all in one!
The more i think about it did crysalis turn into her pony form when anon brought her to dance or did anon change the pony's reaction making them think she is a pony and not changling?
9912715
"She starts to look skeptic as you simply snap both of you to the wedding, and of course, you’d made sure to transform her into her pony form."
Of course. Attention to detail is important.
OK...
The living can't bring someone back from the dead without a sacrifice or equivilent ? Sure. Brings Pear Butter back from the dead.
The dead have no such "restrictions" so let's just bring Bright Mac back from the dead too.
OK.. Anon is a literal God as far as powers go. Not godlike powers, not godly powers, not a god among mortals. Literal God (capital G) powers.
He could have temporarily resurrected Applejack's parents for her birthday with the understanding that they would go back to the afterlife after a set period of time, but he didn't. He fully resurrected them. They will continue until old age or unfortunate circumstances take them again.
He NEEDS to face some consequences from this. There is NO way word of this doesn't spread WORLD WIDE.
Anyone who did this, would in very short order, face a legion of people showing up at their door begging him to do the same for their loved ones.
Anon needs to face this and deal with the emotional turmoil from turning them away. Each person he says "No" to will go through all the stages of grief all over again. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and eventually Acceptance. The first 3 will be aimed squarely at Anon.
Unfortunately, since Anon is a literal God, he can just use his powers to make it so he faces zero consequences from this.
I love this keep making more plz.
9914028
Thanks for this heads up. This is the sort of plot contrivance that makes me rage at authors. I’ll just not start and not be disappointed.
That was sweet and all, BUT!
I think he doesn't comprehend what he has done.
Unless he can mess with the memories of everyone involved to make them think that AJ's parents were never dead in the first place, he is in some deep manure.
There is no need to be down on yourself on this chapter or acknowledge haters. This story is your world. If people want to pick it apart, that reflects more on them having issues with thinking too deeply on what is a story about an omnipotent Anon. (Anon can't exist in canon as a human in Equestria, so them being hung up on canon consistency speaks volumes on their lack of imagination and of the huge stick lodged permanently where the sun doesn't shine for them.)
I rather enjoyed the chapter and hope to see more in the future.
9914028
Someone is WAY too emotionally invested in picking apart a story that is ambiguous and involves Anon...
I have absolutely no problem with this chapter except for the FMA reference. Look, we all think it's a good show and brotherhood is better, but just referencing things is lazy. What are you? The family guy writers?
10227046
I think it was a good solution. He needed to stay within his promise that he made not to bring about nationwide chaos like Discord did. He could have snapped his fingers and instantly raised the dead but that wouldn't have been nearly as interesting as the chapter turned out. Also, if you could instantly bring the dead back to life without concequence, would you want everyone knowing about it and never giving you moments peace with endless sob stories to get you to do it for them?
Well dang, this chapter was topsy-turvy