Family Calls
"Put it in with the rest?! Just how many complaints does this town have for that mare?" The light grey unicorn huffed as she walked away from Mayor Mare's office. She had sent her complaint personally to the grey-maned mare, but instead of taking her complaint seriously, she had put her request in a nearby drawer that was labeled 'Rainbow Dash'. The very same drawer had already been filled to the brim with papers of similar origin.
"This is simply ludicrous. Does that mare not have her own mailbox? How is anypony supposed to contact her?" Rarity complained out loud. Of all the times she needed to talk to the blue pegasus, she was always either on the scene or just a few meters up in the air to easily get her attention. Now, however, she was nowhere in sight. It hadn't occurred to her how any other ponies managed to contact her up to this point.
With an exasperated sigh, Rarity held her hoof to the bridge of her nuzzle. The unicorn had already visited the post office, yet when she asked to have her mail delivered to the troublesome pegasus, all the staff members collectively cringed at the mention of her name. Not only had they refused service, but they also haven't bothered giving a reason why she can't just send her letter. Just what was going on with that mare's mailbox? Rarity thought to herself.
She then immediately froze in her place. "The mailmare! Of course!" She face-hoofed in exclamation. This was of course the grey pegasus that had delivered her the mail every few days. Although she got the addresses confused for the first couple of deliveries, she had gotten better at it over time. Sorta. Sometimes there were mishaps with her, but she quickly took back her deliveries and fixed her mistakes whenever there were any. "Oh what was her name?" Rarity brought her foreleg up to her chin in thought. "Was it... Derpy? No Ditzy! Ditzy Doo!"
The unicorn immediately jumped into gear and surveyed the cottages around Ponyville for the familiar pegasus. She darted around the marketplace, Café Hay, and the town hall. "Ahah!" Her eyes immediately spotted the mare right by Sugarcube Corner, holding a brown bag filled with pastries no doubt. She galloped towards Ditzy, startling the mare. "Miss Doo! Your name is Ditzy Doo right?" Rarity before after catching her breath.
The mare before her was a light sapphire bluish-gray mare, sporting a pale yellowish mane. She was most definitely a pegasus and she was currently staring at Rarity with one eye while the other was crossed in another direction. "Um, yes?" Ditzy answered, before slowly recognizing the unicorn from one of her mistake mail runs. "Rarity? Is there something I can help you with?" The mare asked while still holding her bag in her mouth.
"Why yes! Yes, you can!" Rarity pulled an envelope out of her satchel with her mouth. "Could you please deliver this letter to Rainbow Dash?" She asked hopefully, "That is if you aren't too preoccupied. I wouldn't want to impose."
"Oh, muffins. I'm sorry Miss Rarity. I'm not on my shift right now," Ditzy Doo apologized. "and I need to pick up my little Dinky from magic practice."
"Magic practice? Oh that reminds me, I need to get my little sister to move her magic practice here in Ponyville." Rarity said, mostly to herself. "Well then, that's a shame. Taking care of your sister is your first priority, I understand."
"Sister?" Ditzy tilted her head quizzically.
"Oh she isn't your sister?" Rarity asked.
"Oh no, my little Dinky is my daughter." Ditzy clarified with a small chuckle.
"D-Daughter!? But you look so young!" Rarity touched her cheek, suddenly feeling inferior about her youth.
"Eheh," The grey pegasus laughed reluctantly and blushed while scratching the back of her head, "yes I have a daughter."
"What year is she going to?" Rarity asked, her addiction to gossip already fueling her interest.
"She's in the first year." Ditzy answered.
"That's the same year Sweetie Belle is going to..." Rarity thought out loud. "Um, if I may ask a personal question, do you have a foalsitter?"
"A foalsitter?" Ditzy's expression widened a bit, not expecting that line of question at all. "Well actually my cousin, once-removed, currently watches over my daughter while I go off for work."
"Oh... I see..." Rarity said, a tad disappointed by the revaluation.
Despite Ditzy's vision, she could clearly see the less enthused mare. "Were you... going to offer to be my foalsitter?"
"What?! No, of course not- well if you are looking for one then I wouldn't mind helping." Rarity abashedly offered.
Ditzy pondered at this for a couple of seconds. She was slowly registering Rarity's words as her right eye slowly turned upwards, causing the unicorn to grow slightly nervous as time went on. "Hmm... I don't know. My little Dinky isn't really good with new ponies..."
"But this could be a good opportunity! Sweetie Belle and your daughter will be going to magic practice anyways and the both of them could learn something from interacting with other fillies their age. Who knows, they might even be friends." Rarity edged on with convincing words and a smile.
"Hmm... Well Amethyst Star could use a break from Dinky. I know she's trying to find a job in the office..." Ditzy reasoned to herself. "Will this cost anything?" The pegasus asked.
"Oh no, of course not. I'll take care of her free of charge!" Rarity boldly offered.
Surprised by the light grey unicorn's generosity, Ditzy reluctantly agreed. "Alright Miss Rarity, you've convinced me."
"Oh no, please call me Rarity. We've met each other far too many times to continue calling each other that." The unicorn smiled and extended her hoof.
"Alright, Rarity. Well if that's the case then you can call my Ditzy then." The pegasus shared her smile and shook hooves. "Oh, but uh, could you perhaps schedule this another time? I really need to get going-"
"Oh no no, please don't let me take you for any longer. I'll be seeing you!" Rarity started to walk away while waving goodbye.
"Goodbye Rarity." Ditzy waved back as she extended her wings out and flew away.
Rarity walked for a couple of minutes out of Sugarcube Corner before coming to a halt. "Oh dear Celestia I forgot the letter!" She shouted to herself before craning her neck around to see Ditzy nowhere in sight. The unicorn panicked momentarily before she forced herself to breathe slowly. "Okay okay, calm down Rarity. No problem. You just befriended the mailmare and offered to foalsit her daughter. The letter can wait. Ditzy will no doubt send your letter for you in exchange for this little favor you're doing. Everything is completely fine." The mare took a deep breath in before exhaling. "I'm in no rush."
"And this is the snack place!" Dia informed me as we slowly walked across the cobblestone street.
"The snack place?" I repeated deadpanned. We both had decided to have Dia take me around town to introduce me to all the places that she liked. It was a good opportunity to see the places I haven't yet and familiarize myself with the town I live in. However, for the past few places, she gave me a few odd names for a couple of establishments, which is understandable since the grade we're in is in the process of learning how to read properly.
"Well, yeah! There's Sugarcube Corner, Flowers and Snacks, that one place where they make and sell candy, the milkshake bar, that's my favorite by the way." The pink filly whispered that last part.
"That's a lot of sweets I'll say." I remarked, taking the view around me. There were buildings surrounding the plaza, all of them surrounding the giant pink fountain with a statue of a pony I don't recognize. The closest buildings were an array of different confectionery shops, each specializing in a certain type of candy. It's actually quite astounding to see the excessive amount of stores dedicated solely to supplying the pony populace with sugar. "Sheesh, there's so many."
"Right? And guess what I have?" Dia turned towards me before smirking.
"What?" I tilted my head.
"My allowance!" Dia pulled out a sack of coins in her hoof. "Daddy just started giving me a bonus for the both of us so we can hang out more!" She smiled at me.
"Oh, that's nice." I simply said, not particularly impressed at this either.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Dia noticed my apathy.
"Eh, I never get allowances. It was a pain to convince my father that I could go outside. I even had to convince him not to have staff follow me around." I said exasperatedly.
"Isn't that normal though?" The rich filly furrowed her brows.
"Hmm? How so?" I raised a brow in return.
"I have staff following me around everywhere. Mr. Garrison is over there looking over me." She pointed behind me.
Turning around I could see a frail old stallion wearing glasses and a red bowtie several meters away, waving towards us the moment he noticed our gazes turning towards him. "Wa- was he there the entire time?" I asked while taken aback.
"Yeah! He also carries stuff I ask him to whenever I go shopping!" Dia informed with a smile.
"That's... a little creepy." I say, a little weary from noticing the much-too-old-to-be-working butler.
"It is?" Dia asked.
"Eh, whatever." I dismissed the thought. "So where are we going to next?"
"Well, I was hoping for you to decide."
"Huh?" I replied.
"I've already been to all these places, but you haven't yet. So I want you to have your first pick!" Dia chirped.
"Oh, well let's see..." I brought a foreleg to my chin. Well I could go to Sugarcube Corner and see Pinkie Pie. Although that could be a problem in itself. I never had a birthday of my own, father always said it was pointless to celebrate something that was inevitable in the first place. That, and I know that Pinkie gets really crazy when meeting new ponies she has never seen before. Going there now will probably start a series of events that causes a huge party to make up for the birthdays I've missed. And considering it's been six whole years since I've been reborn, yeah I'm not going to deal with that right now. That entire ordeal sounds like a pain in the ass.
"Eh," I shifted my gaze towards another confectionary, "how about there?" I pointed there.
"There?" Dia asked, showing mild disappointment.
"What? Is there something wrong with that shop?" I questioned.
"No, there's nothing wrong. The candy there is okay, just not my favorite that's all." Dia oddly remarked.
"Huh, well I'll see to that myself." I proceeded to walk in that direction.
The door swung open as it hit a bell hanging above, the chime letting the owners know that a potential customer has arrived. A light aquamarine unicorn with a stripped light cyan and white mane walked towards the main room. From the moment she revealed herself instantly recognized her, and in my blunder, I spoke. "Lyra?"
"Huh?" The aquamarine unicorn eyed me skeptically. "Have we met before?"
Oh fuck. Why did you say her name out loud you dumbass?! "Oh! No no, not personally. I just heard mention of you at one of my father's gatherings. His name is Silversmith."
"S-Silversmith!? The Silversmith? You're his kid?" The mare seemed bewildered by this fact.
"Y-Yeah." I stuttered. Diamond Tiara was too busy staring at me to help.
"And he mentioned me?! Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh, Bon Bon!" The lyrist shouted towards the back. "The kid of Silversmith is here and my name was mentioned at one of his gatherings!" She galloped in place in her excitement.
"Sorry, what is going on out there?" A light apple gray mare with a stripped dark-blue and pink mane walked out of the back and towards the front counter. She had an apron on her while carrying a bowl of mixed ingredients. "Lyra what in Equestria are you shouting about?"
"I said, the kid of Silversmith is here and said that my name was mentioned-" Lyra started to repeat before having her lips shut closed by the apple grey mare.
"Alright, calm down and stir this for me." Bon Bon nonchalantly pushed her bowl into Lyra's hooves before manning the counter. "Alright kid, what is it that you wanted to order." She peered down at the both of us, getting straight to business.
"Oh... I-I want..." I quickly scanned the room for some kind of sign, then I realized there weren't any.
"Can I have one bag of candy drops? Oh yeah and one bag for my friend too!" Dia answered for me before stepping up and sliding a couple of gold coins on the counter.
"Alright, two bags drops coming right up." Bon Bon answered as she slid the coins into her hooves and started to rummage through a glass drawer.
Lyra obviously wanted to ask more questions as her eyes glanced at me a couple of times, but was currently using her magic to stir the bowl that was handed to her.
"Alright, here you go." Bon Bon reached over the counter to hand us our bags of candy. The bag itself appeared to be a knitted bag filled with colorfully wrapped hard candy.
"Oh hey! I saw you two earlier today!" A chirp came from a set of stairs beside the counter. Our eyes glanced upwards to see the familiar sight of Twist. "I didn't get eithser of your names."
The violating sound of her accent stabbed my ears as I flattened them in response. Oh god, not her again. Of course I had nothing personal against the filly, but the sound of her accent had violated my sense of social etiquette that was drilled into me at an early age. Each lisp that was uttered was no short of being physically painful to hear. At least Applebloom's accent was funny to hear, but Twist's accent had a unique vex that went against the grain of being around nobles and aristocrats.
"Oh, hi there. My name is Diamond Tiara!" The pink filly smiled.
NO! Dia don't introduce yourself!
"My name's Twist! I'm glad you came to my sister's shop! I helped make thsose sweets you're holding." The amberish gray filly informed cheerfully while pointing at our bags.
"Oh cool! I remember you said something in school about helping your sister with making candy." Dia said.
"Yeah, I did. Thsis is her shop!" Twist chirped.
"Oh, so you all know each other from school then?" Bon Bon remarked from her counter.
"Hey, when can I stop stirring?" Lyra asked, before getting stared down by daggers from Bon Bon.
I turned my attention to Bon Bon in hopes that I'd avoid a conversation with the troubled filly. "We're classmates, we just had a lesson on the sun and sugar. That's when the subject of your shop came up."
"Ah, that makes sense." Bon Bon replied, quickly losing interest afterward.
Hmm, now if I recall, wasn't Bon Bon a secret agent or something? I walked beside the counter to peek at her cutie mark. It definitely matched my memory of a trio of wrapped sweets. She also did own a confectionary and made sweets. Taking one of the sweets in my bag, I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth. Hard, but sweet and chewy on the inside. How was she a secret agent? Especially in a backwater town like this? I sighed. This made no sense.
My gaze went up to Lyra, who still happened to be stirring while occasionally eyeing me. She still has no idea either. I mused. If my memory is correct, Lyra should just be a normal pony who has a talent for playing the lyre. All those ideas that Lyra knew about humans and was obsessed with hands were purely fan-canon. She shouldn't know about humans if things are canon here. Then my trail of thought started to go down a darker path. But what if she does?
I quickly made a skeptical look at the aquamarine unicorn with intense doubt. I couldn't just ask her if she knew anything about humans. If she does know then that immediately puts suspicion on me. If she doesn't then that would just make me look weird, if she didn't see me as weird already. I shook my head. This is stupid. If I really want to confirm this, then I just need to make a subtle off-handed reference to humans and see how she reacts. It's this simple.
"So Twist," I joined the ongoing conversation between Diamond Tiara and the dorky filly, "you give your sister a helping hand from time to time?"
Suddenly the sound of a crash resounded throughout the main room. "Lyra! You ruined the whole batch!" Bon Bon shouted at the unicorn.
"U-Uh oh, I'm so sorry Bon Bon. My bad." Lyra apologized, before picking up globs of sticky candy and shattered ceramic mixed in with her magic.
"Urgh, now I need to get a new bowl and make a new batch." The confectioner mare grunted in annoyance.
"I said I was sorry Bon Bon. Look, I'll help you buy a new bowl." The lyrist offered.
Bon Bon simply huffed at this. "Hmph, fine. But you're going to help me make the new batch." She entered the back.
"What? But I don't know anything about making candy!" Lyra objected.
"Well you'll learn now!" Bon Bon stepped out to bite Lyra on the tail before dragging her into the kitchen.
"Ow ow ow, okay okay!" The aquamarine lyrist said defeatedly before taking one last look at me before disappearing behind the curtains.
"I should probably start cleaning the rest of thsat mess up." Twist said, climbing down the stairs.
"Why? Can't you get somepony else to do that?" Dia asked.
"Okay Dia, we've been here long enough." I tapped my friend on the shoulder.
"Oh, okay! Bye Twist!" Dia waved before leaving with me through the front door.
"Okay, bye!" The dorky filly waved goodbye as the sound of the bell's chimed echoed throughout the shop. "I hope you come back soon!"
Have a 3k word chapter on me.
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Heh, the Lyra part made me chuckle
Man, here I'm kinda hopping Lyra's antic isn't just a oneshot gag. A lot of potential can be dig out of her.
It's part so cool! I had read it twice XD
11214051
seeing how lyra didnt just jump at silver then i guess she is gonna be watching her now
Nice
Did you change the title of this story or am I experiencing a Mandela effect moment? Because I've been following this story since the day after it was first published, I've commented a bunch of times...but that title is a little different than I remember it being. And I don't -- didn't know what "metempsychosis" meant until I looked it up just now. I look up words when I don't know what they mean. It's difficult to imagine that I would be following this story for an entire year while somehow not even noticing that I didn't know what the title meant.
Did you change the title at some point?
Somehow I feel like saying hand offhandedly is alot more suspicious that if she just straight up asked Lyra about humans.
11214116
Yeah, I had the same reaction as you. I remember it just being labeled 'That Particular Instance'.
Welp that confirms it, you better hide from Lyra now Silvy. Loool.Still, bad first impression among two bearers might be a problem.
I'm afraid you're looking for "canon", rather than "cannon". No artillery here, though Lyra I suspect is going to be a real blast from the past.
lyra just got trigger'd xD
my answer to that picture "yes,yes you are!" *headpat*
11214148
If it were that, I could easily justify the misunderstanding. The whole title doesn't fit on the home page, and how many words of the title fit depends on your screen size. But I remember the word being reincarnated, as in a parody of "that time I was reincarnated as a slime." But the current title contains a word that means recincarnated but isn't 'reincarnated.'
So what's the scenario where I saw the full title, for a year of following and commenting and interacting with the author on several occassions, correctly understood the meaning of that word in the title I'd seen for a year, but somehow didn't notice that the word wasn't actually the word I thought it was even though it happens to mean exactly the same thing as the word I remember being there? If all along I'd known what metempsychosis meant, it's plausible that I might have seen the play on words with recincarnated as a slime, and remembered the meaning rather than the exact phrasing. But I had to look it up today because I had no idea what it meant. How could I have not noticed this for a year? And it's not like this was some sort of gradual noticing. The image is the same as it's been for ages, I saw the picture and immediately rejoiced at getting to see the next chapter of a story I like, clicked the link and then..."what, what?" suddenly this word I don't know jumps out at me.
Simple answer would be that the author changed the title at some point.
If not...we appear to have a Berenstein bears incident.
Silver might've avoided Pinkie for today, but she unintentionally brought Twist into her list of friendship now. Diamond is so much nicer in this story. She will make sure everyone (minus Scoots) is friends with her and Silver, but will she be able to snatch AB before Scoots can?
If Rarity is able yo succeed in getting Dinky and Sweetie as friends, what will Scoots think? This Rainbow business looks like it won't be dealt until later. Really curious that RD is acknowledged as a problem, but the other ponies seem to see dealing with her as a lost cause because of that inflated mailbox.
So I guess Lyra has an interest in minotaures and their hands? Or griffons with their talons and dragons with their claws?
Kinda weird how Twilight in Equestria Girls had no idea what her hooves could have turned into, am I right?
Thank Celestia Sil didn't drop any names containing words Sweetie and Drops in one sentence
I think the ponies use 'foal sitter' instead of babysitter.
Sweetie Dropser.. Bon Bon is totally not a secret agent, or at least is completely retired and not secretly sent to Ponyville to monitor it in preparation for any particular personal student of Princess Celestia.And Lyra, actually being a powerful unicorn as she's a classmate of Twilight Sparkle during her time at gifted unicorn magic school, is perfectly able to protect Sweeti.. er. Bon Bon from any magical threats.
While this may be why Bon Bon originally chose to room with her, they shortly became 'best friends' (and eventually got married).
And Lyra has to sit like a human to play her instrument; something that is most likely not very comfortable for ponies at first, so she needs to keep doing to to stretch. She may not even have an infatuation with humans, and just ruined the candy batch because she was confused as to why a pony would use the word 'hand'. On the other hand... hah, she could have found out about them in the massive Canterlot library where she went to school.
11214116
Nope. It was always the same title.
11214166
Fixed! Thank you!
11214176
Funnily enough, I had explained the meaning of that word in the very first chapter.
11214234
Did she ever actually voice such a question? All I recall is that she was feeling and pulling and whatnot on one with the other, which to me implies she was running initial, improvised, highly limited tests on them.
11214333
Ah Foalsitter, facepalm.
You're right, it's been fixed now.
Thank you!
Also yes and yes to those last two statements.
Oh and Rarity knows Ditzy.. or at least knew her growing up.
Ever since the Applewood Cart Derby where Ditzy won with her... unconventional cart.
mlpfanatic.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/derpy-has-most-creative-cart.png
Also this from the young flyer thingy that Rainbow talked about:
derpicdn.net/img/2017/5/7/1431228/large.gif
Not regarding Rarity, but just that Ditzy is a contemporary of all those ponies we know.
11214335
They were always fun kids.
Just maybe not as fun when Dia and Scoot's rivalry drag everypony else into conflict.
11214148
Nope it was always that one really large title!
11214354
I actually only ever watched the show up until season 5. So this is all news to me. News that really fits in what I have planned next...
11214193
RD really needs to set up her PO Box. But if she does then the Pony IRS might finally catch wind and find her.
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11214176
11214357
I figured it out. For me, it's because I have the story in a folder on my browser where only 'Family Calls - That Particular Instance' is visible before the rest of the title goes off screen. I used to not have an account, so I would just Bookmark everything and come back to it. This story is one of the ones I was used to checking in on using the Bookmark folder and this is just the first instance of me catching back up on this story using the Fimfiction Library function.
I still don't remember Metempsychosis as a stand-out word to me though. Yuri also changed their profile pic, something I hadn't noticed till this update, so maybe my mind instantly began looking for and then discovering things I had missed before.
11214375
I appreciate that you consider my fic to be one of the best out there on this site! I still have a lot of things planned, just not a lot of free time to write it all down. This fic will continue however.
11214388
Tell that to the candy lobby in Canterlot trying to make gingerbread houses and candy trains. Oh wait!
I think it should be Dinky, unless Ditzy is channeling her inner Trixie.
Ditzy being like "this mare suddenly wants to babysit my foal... Nah nothing strange here!"
Name dropping is dangerous, Sil needs to get a handle on that. Especially since she's now put herself on Sweetie's watchlist...
11214403
Fixed! Thank you!
11214421
Ponies are way more trusting of their own kind and are more often than not equally as gullible. It's why ponies like Flim and Flam get to thrive here.
11214420
Thank you! I try my best!
11214375
Metampsychosis? Always has been.
I remember thinking the author misspelled metamorphosis and Googling it.
That's why I remember this fic as the Silver Spoon story with fancy words.
11214614
If the title is memorable and grabs the attention of readers, then it has served its purpose.
11214615
I find the unnecessary use of scientific terminology during casual conversation quite endearing.
Smart words are funny
11214191
Disappointed?!
This chapter was adorable, can't wait to see more of the twisty accent to get Silver riled up
11214403
Eso seria gracioso
11214614
Ah, so that's why that word looks so weird! The 'y' has got me all sorts of fucked up.
Also, I think Ditzy is like a thunderstorm. Fun to see from a distance, but much less so up close.
My head canon is that she's a pegasus-earth pony mix, meaning she has the toughness and strength of an earth pony in exchange for the some of the dexterity and instinct that a pegasus has; pretty much turning her into a very fast flying wrecking ball.
Plus, she is a postal worker whose special talent seems to be inflicting exasperation.
Exhibit the following:
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Really binging mah fic ain't you?
I'm calling it now: Lyra is a reincarnated human too.
11214432
The second instance of cannon wasn't changed, and there's also this:
-- populace
11215300
Fixed! Thank you!
Maximum trollage
11215064
Omfg that would be so cool, take my like and be proud
11216191
I haven't actually thought of just using "Sweets".
I might use that.