Secret of the Pies

by Player 4

Chapter 8

The next day was indeed a different story. Fire Jewel and Golden Arrow, Pinkie's original parents, took them on a trip outside into the draconeqqus world, for them to explore.

"I hatched it in my mind to transform you two back to your hybrid appearance, but then I remembered you never had one in the first place, heh.", Fire Jewel says.

Pinkie giggles back. "Yeah, it's still strange that we're all pony on the outside, aren't we? 35% of our DNA sounds like more than enough."

"Randomness at its work.", Golden Arrow says.

The family's first destination in their first outing together was an upside-down coffee shop. Upside-down in terms of everything. Floor on the top, ceiling on the bottom; when you walk in, you get immediately transported up top as the gravity is reversed.

Fire Jewel's powers were able to detect that Pinkie and Maud had enough draconeqqus in them to withstand the reverse gravity, so the coffee shop trip turned out to be nothing more than a nice, warm, tasty experience.

At the stools, Pinkie and Fire began to reveal details about each other, some of those reveals leading to giggling fits. Even Maud was on that train, and she mostly talked careers with Golden Arrow, her dad.

Pinkie and Maud didn't have as many strong, swirling emotions towards this experience as they thought. They could feel a instant connection to their biological parents, despite having never met them before to the extent of their memory. Maybe they didn't feel like their parents, per say; after all, they didn't raise them, but they sure seemed like good friends.

The strongest emotion they did feel was that of things finally making sense. Now that the origin of their randomness was known, and they were face-to-face with the creatures that brought them into this world... the disconnect has been connected. The severed rope and puddle of tears from Day 1 was now a distant memory.

For her part, Pinkie felt incredible satisfaction from that. It was like a gaping hole in her heart had been filled, and that she had reached the end of a long project. Whenever she took in this result of working through all of that adversity, her face locked into a smile.

The family's next stop was to a carnival, where the attraction they dedicated over half of their allotted time to was a game of who can disappear and reappear the most times in 10 seconds.

Pinkie and Maud can't teleport, but they did have their ways of playing the game. Both of them relied on zooming way out of sight, where nopony in the vicinity can find them, then showing up back in the ring like nothing had happened.

They then entered a fun house in the carnival, where the gimmick was that all gravity ceases only within the manually set boundaries. You could be walking normally, then suddenly float up, then be brought back down to walk again. A very logic-less world indeed.

Pretty good first day for the gang! They're having fun together, they're starting to feel a family bond; looks like this meetup of long-lost family members is one of the lucky ones!

At the end of the day, the family having finally returned to their house, Pinkie, while climbing into bed, had her mind gravitate to plans of introduce Fire and Golden to her friends. Bringing them to Ponyville for a meet-up.

It's only been one day, though. Will they be ready for that?, Pinkie thought.

Well, only one way to find out.

Pinkie, laying backside on her guest bed, was fond of her bedroom in this house. It wasn't as festive as her Sugarcube Corner crib, being surrounded by brown walls like the rest of the house, but Pinkie found the dark color of the room to be optimal for relaxation. Her party-colored room was sometimes difficult to fall asleep in.

---

The next day, Pinkie awoke to breakfast, and, in un-Pinkie-like fashion, didn't start chomping away right from the get-go. She engaged her parents in a sit-down conversation where she asked if they'd be ready to meet her friends.

"Uh... maybe not right now.", Fire Jewel responded. "I'd like to give it one more day to be with you two, at least."

Pinkie was disappointed, but she respected the decision.

"Okay. What do you have in store for us today, then?", she said, regaining her Pinkie-like excitement.

Answer: They basically continued with the pattern of yesterday, roaming around Fire and Golden's home city in the draconeqqus world, stopping at various attractions.

Pinkie's emotions continued twofold, with a new kind of downside. She liked Fire and Golden, was developing a satisfactory bond with them, and had been calling them "mom" and "dad" off-hoof, but, when she tries to imagine Fire cradling her in the newborn wrapping, it sounds odd. Pinkie couldn't let go of the association between her birth and Cloudy and Igneous; the configuration she believed was true for her entire life.

She took to asking Maud how she was feeling in that regard, to Maud's response "I'm just trying to grow a bond with Fire and Golden and not really think about the adoption part." Pinkie nodded in approval of this outlook.

As they traveled around the town, even when doing fun, Pinkie-suited things like going to the carnival (them doing so for the second time), she couldn't take her mind off the prospect of introducing her parents to the girls. That was what she wanted to be doing right there and then.

While on a ride featuring airborne seats flying around in circles, Pinkie gave herself a scare by letting herself know about a possibility of her parents' buffer delay in being comfortable with that meeting lasting for weeks or even months.

What about Sugarcube Corner? Are Mr. and Mrs. Cake getting overwhelmed with the tasks when I'm not there to help them? Goodness; I didn't even go to them before I left and suggest hiring a substitute!

And what about my friends? I'm sure they miss me, and I miss them too.

What about Ponyville, even? How well can that city thrive without the pony of happiness?

Thinking about Ponyville brought Pinkie to a state of looking around the brown landscape and feeling out of place. She was happy she got to meet her biological parents and is spending time with them. But this is not her home.

And she had no timeline for when she could return to Ponyville.

I don't even have a way of knowing, because I don't want to ask my parents when I can leave. That sounds disrespectful and ungrateful.

Pinkie, about to shed a tear, looks at the red plastic chair flying in front of her, where she gets reminded of the trusting pony she can talk to about anything.

Yep, you guessed it. Maud was riding this thing. Which turned Pinkie's mind over to another topic. A big one.

Y'know, Maud seems to be... changing. Like, I would never see her on an amusement park ride. I remember all those times I looked down at her spectating my experience.

And earlier on in this adventure, she cuddled with me.

And hinted at something changing for her.

Pinkie's eyes and brain had become locked on her sister to the point that she didn't even notice the ride slowing down and the chairs lowering.

I wonder... what's going on with her.

---

After the quartet returned to Fire and Jewel's house, and Pinkie was getting ready for bed, she stepped into the livingroom, where Maud was reading a book, to call her sister in for a talk.

"Hey Maud, can we meet in my bedroom for a bit? There's something I need your help with."

Maud nodded and set down the book, hopping upstairs (yes, hopping, not walking), and closing the door to Pinkie's bedroom.

"You'll always have my help. What's up, sis?"

Pinkie sighed. "It's pretty heavy. I realized today that as fun as this trip has been, I can't stay here forever. Ponyville is where I belong and I'm starting to want back. Not right now, but it's progressing."

"But I don't want to tell my parents that. It just sounds... not right. Like I'm not being grateful for what they've given to me."

Maud walked up and placed a hoof on Pinkie's shoulder. "No creature will expect you to be on vacation forever, sis." Pinkie says. "Mom and Dad know this is not our home; they will let us go back."

Pinkie gets convinced here, but then remembers the other problem.

"But then... I really want them to meet my friends. And it might take a really long time for them to feel comfortable with that."

"If I want to go back home before they're ready, then that creates a confusing timeline of events. Like... my head spins."

Maud kept her hoof on Pinkie's shoulder.

"Our mom is a draconeqqus. It wouldn't be hard for her to travel between universes, and she could bring Golden along too."

"Say, we go home, they come and meet our friends, then they go back home and we stay."

"But what if we want to go back with them?"

"Then we do. We can go back again."

"It's not worth it to stress over the future, sis. When it comes to that point, it will all look much more straightforward."

Pinkie did register Maud's words and gave her a hug. "You're the best, sis.", she says.

"Always happy to help."

The hug eased off, and Pinkie wanted to ask Maud if there was something changing about her, but she felt that question would be better suited for later. She wanted to wait for more signs of change to show.

"Well, I guess it's off to bed now. See you tomorrow, sis.", Pinkie says.

"See you then.", Maud responded, walking out the door.

Interesting day here.