Five
* * Ω * *
Karen Fielding liked to think that she was a reasonable, responsible, and respectful woman. Despite everything that had happened in her life, she managed to maintain a calm, pleasant demeanor, and she tried to keep things as orderly as possible, despite the chaos that surrounded her.
Her greatest joy, however, was her daughter. If she could allow herself a bit of pride, she would say that it was her careful nurturing and dutiful diligence to her education that had gotten Penny to where she was now, and with that same level of care, Karen was determined to get Penny through her teenage years, through college, and off to a life filled with opportunities she had not experienced herself.
Any good parent would want their child to be more successful than they had been, after all.
The only thing that troubled her—and that threatened to undo all of her hard work—was her mother. On the surface, Grandma Megan was a kindly old lady who liked to call everyone she met ‘sweetheart,’ and who baked cookies for her neighbors on a regular basis. Karen had to admit that her mother was a generous soul who would do whatever she could for anyone who needed help, and when she passed on, the entire community would mourn with her family.
But then Megan would start to talk about Ponies.
The stories, in and of themselves, were harmless enough. Megan had a talent for weaving colorful tales about small talking horses in a magical place called Dream Valley, and as a child, Karen had hung on her every word. The stories always felt so real, and Megan always insisted that the tales that she told were true, taken from her own experiences.
The problem was Megan continued to insist that her words were true, from then down to the present day, and Penny fully believed her. Karen always made the extra effort to point out to her impressionable daughter that Grandma’s stories were nothing more than that, but it was now to the point that she needed to intervene. Grandma’s stories were like Santa Claus: sooner or later, the truth needed to be told.
As she trudged across the wide dirt field that separated her childhood home from the old familiar barn wearing nothing more than her nightgown and slippers with a glowing lantern in one hand and her father’s shotgun in the other, Karen wondered if she should have stepped in and intervened sooner. She had allowed Penny to go with her grandmother to the Nebraska state fair so she could take care of the final affairs and paperwork needed for the farm’s sale, and it had seemed harmless enough at the time.
But now it was well after midnight, and for whatever reason, the barn lights were on. Karen’s heart hammered hard in her chest as she contemplated the two possible scenarios she was marching into: either someone was stealing a bunch of obsolete, rusted farm equipment, or her mother was up to something crazy. The shotgun would easily take care of the former, but the latter would be far more difficult to deal with, especially after the unexpected late night visitors who had stopped by earlier.
“It’s not fair,” Karen grumbled through gritted teeth. “There was hell to pay if I was out even five minutes past curfew, but she can wander around all night long and have the cops from two states after her without a care in the world. This is the last time I let Mom stay out past dark, that’s for sure.”
Karen’s muttered complaints were cut off when she heard voices drifting out of the open doorway. For a moment, she couldn’t make out the words, but a few more steps clarified the conversation.
“How was that, Grandma?” she heard Penny ask.
“Not bad for your first time, but we’ll have to practice.” Megan chuckled. “Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of opportunities, and I'll teach you everything I know, you little cowgirl. You'll be a first-rate lassoist before you know it.”
“Mom?” There was a creaking at the barn door, and Karen slipped inside, with a brief pause to adjust to the bright interior light. “Mom, what are you doing in here? The police came by a few hours ago and had some crazy story about you stealing a pony from the fair—” She came to an abrupt stop and stared at the dark brown pony with wide eyes. “Ohmygod. You did.”
“Mom,” said Penny in a sincere voice worthy of a much older child. “Calm down. This isn’t what it looks like.”
“She won’t listen to you,” said Megan with a disappointed shake of her head while she coiled the lasso and hung it back on the wall. “She never listened to me either. I was just her crazy mother with pony stories.”
“You’re having that psychotic break we were afraid of,” continued the middle-aged woman at a rapid rate. She put the shotgun down on the nearby tack bench and ran a hand through her gray-flecked blonde hair in exasperation. “I always thought your stories were harmless, but I didn’t think you truly believed them! And you dragged Penny into it too! I never should have let you take her to the fair, filling her head with nonsense. It stops now, Mom! I’m going to call the police, and they’ll take that… that—”
“Pony,” supplied the horse.
“That pony to…” Karen stopped talking and took several steps backward, her mind refusing to accept what she had just seen and heard. Despite the best efforts of her sleep-deprived and slightly panicked mind, she could not come up with a better answer for what had just happened. “Ohgod. You’re contagious. Did that pony just…”
“Talk?” the pony asked. Karen slowed to a stop and stared, then her knees went out and she dropped down onto a nearby straw bale. “I’m sorry, Megan,” he added, looking up at the older woman. “I thought you said she knew about us.”
“I told her about Equestria when she was young,” said Megan. “I’m afraid she didn’t know about Equestria until right now. There's a difference,” she added rather defensively.
“This isn’t happening,” Karen muttered, her gaze firmly fixed on the pony before her who looked as confused as she felt. “Tell me this isn’t happening. It can’t be happening!”
“Mom, this is Lodestone.” Penny motioned for the impossibility to come closer. “He’s from Equestria. He was sent here to find Grandma Megan. Lodestone, this is my mom, Karen.”
Lodestone shrunk back, as if he thought Karen might throw something at him. “Um… it’s nice to meet you, Karen. I’m sorry I caused so much trouble.”
Karen reached out and touched Lodestone’s mane, despite him flinching slightly to the left. “If I'm not crazy, then you're real. You’re actually here, and…” Karen dropped her face into her hands. “Ohgod. If you’re really real, then Dream Valley is real, and all those stories—”
“Kinda,” Penny said, and Karen glanced up slightly to her daughter. “I mean, Equestria is real, of course. We just came back from there, actually, so Grandma could grab a few things. But the Ponies don’t live in Dream Valley anymore.”
“Grab a few things?” Karen asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Why don’t we head back to the house,” Megan offered with a grin. “I’ll explain everything to your mother, and you can go get my things for me.”
“Okay, Grandma. C’mon, Lodestone!” Penny gave his back a friendly pat. “I can show you the rest of the house, too. Maybe we can take a tour of the farm later, once the sun is up.”
* * Ω * *
“Here you go, dear.” Megan passed a fresh cup of coffee to her daughter, who took it in a trembling grip. “It’s been quite an eventful night, hasn’t it?”
“I still think I’m dreaming. Or hallucinating.” Karen took a sip of the ebon liquid as her mother sat next to her at the kitchen table, and for several long moments, she said nothing. “All this time I thought you were just making it up. The bushwoolies, the seaponies, Catrina and Tirek…”
“It’s all a bit much to take in, I know.” Megan took a sip from her own cup. “To be honest, I was in denial also. Well, until I met Lodestone. Then it all came back, like a hammer to the heart.” She took a striped colorful flask out of her pocket and carefully put three drops into the coffee before tucking it away again. “It’s changed so much, and yet it is just like it was all those years ago.”
“And now Penny has been there.” Karen shook her head and chuckled. “I’m surprised you got her to come back. She always believed you, and she told me more than once that she would live there, if she could.”
“I made her promise to stay here,” Megan replied. “She needs to be with you, and the Ponies don’t need our constant help, like they did before. So long as she keeps up with her schoolwork—and with your permission, of course—I told her she could come visit me on occasion.”
“Visit?” Karen blinked once and gave her mother a confused stare. “You’re going to move there?”
“It’s far more enticing than Shady Acres Retirement Community,” Megan said with a frown.
“Mom, look. I didn’t want to sell the farm either,” Karen said, trying to keep a defensive tone out of her voice.
“I know, sweetie. I know.” Megan gave her daughter a comforting smile and patted her on the wrist with one hand. The old lady’s tendons and blood vessels stood out just as much as normal, but Karen could see a fresh life under the parchment skin and the fingers had regained much of their strength without a single worrisome tremor. “I can’t keep up with this place anymore, and all of it is just stuff anyway. You and Penny are worth more than a thousand farms, so getting it out of the way is going to be a blessing. I wouldn’t have signed those power of attorney papers otherwise.
“But the thought of moving into an old folk’s home never sat right with me,” Megan went on. “Deep down, I wanted to stay here with my family, and now I have the next best thing.” The old woman turned to look out of the kitchen window with eyes that were obviously seeing a much different night sky. "I can't help but think that Equestria wanted me just as much as I wanted it. After all of our adventures there, I came to the realization that the magic of that place is far more powerful than I really could ever understand, so maybe…”
“You’re going to Equestria and living with the ponies,” Karen softly said, and Megan nodded.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle has offered me a room in her old castle, and her friend Starlight Glimmer promised to keep an eye on me. It’ll be just like being in the retirement home, sweetie. The only difference is the staff, and visiting hours.”
“Princess Twilight?” Karen chuckled softly. “I thought Majesty was in charge.”
“A few things changed while I was gone,” Megan said with a wry grin. “But at the core, the Ponies are still Ponies.”
“Of course. I just…” Karen trailed off, and her gaze went back to her half-empty cup. “I don’t know how I feel about you living in a different world.”
“It isn’t something most normal people have to consider.” Megan said in a matter-of-fact tone. “But I’ve given this a lot of thought while Penny and I were in Equestria. Really, the only thing left for me here is you and her. I can’t keep the farm, even if I wanted to. Most of my old friends have either passed on or moved away, and your Aunt Molly hasn’t spoken to me in years.”
“What about Dad and Uncle Danny?”
“The portal between worlds can be opened at any time, so I can still come for the remembrance services on Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day, just like before. The commute would even be shorter.” Megan hesitated for a brief moment, then cleared her throat. “Princess Twilight also mentioned something about a mirror, so you wouldn’t have to keep that old rope in your apartment.”
“Doesn’t exactly fit my decor,” Karen said with a nervous laugh.
“Sweetie, look. It’s late, you’re tired, and it’s been an emotional day. Why don’t you get some sleep, and in the morning, we’ll take you to Equestria. You can have a look around, meet the Ponies, and then you can decide how you feel about all this.”
“If Grandma moves to Equestria, you won’t have to spend all that money on a retirement home,” Penny added. The two older women turned at the sound of her voice, and she continued, “She’d be happy there, Mom.”
Karen motioned for her daughter to come closer, and she pulled Penny into a hug with a long, deep breath. “I’m sure she would be, sweetheart. I’m just grateful that you’re safe. I was worried about you.”
“Grandma would never let me get hurt,” Penny said with a return squeeze for her mother. “Just like you.”
“Does this mean I have to stay here for the night?” Lodestone asked from the entryway to the kitchen.
Karen evaluated the strange talking pony as she separated from her daughter, and she felt a twinge of sympathy when she saw the nervous anxiety on his face. Lodestone clearly did not want to be in this world for any longer than he needed to, and the way his ears folded back on his head broke her heart.
“No, Lodestone,” Karen said with a wink for her daughter. “I don’t think I could get any sleep now that I know all of my mother’s bedtime stories were true. Let’s get everything that Grandma wanted to take with her, and then I’d love to see Equestria for myself.”
Penny cheered, and she rushed over to wrap Lodestone up in her arms. “C’mon! Let’s hurry! There’s so much I want to show Mom!”
* * Ω * *
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Hm
It’s been a nice story, but I would have liked to see an epilogue showing poor Lodestone getting mental and medical treatment for his time on Earth.
10509271
I'm thinking that tale would require a full sequel to be properly told...
10509276
I would absolutely be okay with that. Maybe call it "Breaking the Circle" perhaps?
Well I'm glad Karen took that so well. Kinda wonder how many more chapters there are however.
This was a good'un. I felt like it glossed over why Lodestone needed to be there in the first place, but other than that I liked this.
Heartwarming story!
Now I have to wonder if there are any more stories planned around Princess Majesty?
Also, the Rainbow of Light is the quintessential McGuffin! Held in awe by all but never seen or described.
The most unabashed use of that plot device I've seen in some time.
10509276
I'm more interested in the aspect of the universe which openly HATES Magic, to the point of manipulating humans into aggression and containment of magical beings. Seems like something extracted from World of Darkness (like Changeling the Dreaming).
woot woot a totally awesome story.
this will be in my to read several times folder.
10509280
dam Breaking the Circle is a perfect name for a sequel.
10509276
I'm okay with this.
I would definitely like to see more of this.
Now the ol' police department are gonna storm in just as Penny is using that lasso to get to Equestria. Brilliant.
10509483
Changeling the dreaming and Mage the ascension are the two closest WoD games to the world being described.
She's literally a Karen.
Pfffffffffffttttt
I am really glad the story went the direction that it did.
Yay!
"All she did was sending me on a dangerous mission against an unknown foe. A foe powerful enough even someone strong enough to move both the sun and the moon couldn't overcome."
Good story!
I enjoyed reading it.
Hopefully
RockyLodestone eventually recovers from the circle.Also, how did they explain things to the police? Simply playing dump and pointing out there simply is no horse around?
Or did the absence of magic already resolved everything?
I guess he was the only pony sent? This was a wonderful story I do hope Megan’s siblings do get in touch with her and come back to Equestria. Wish we had more with Karen meeting the ponies too.
Maybe if the world saw these ponies and the governments step up to make laws that they are free ponies maybe things could get better over time.