Rest and Reconcilation
After we finally got Statuette safely onto the carriage---and after somepony was able to pull that strange autograph-seeking pony away from the scene---we got on our way to the Police station. I noticed Maverick and Magnum were beginning to lag on account of how active they'd been that day, and while having them help me run one more small patrol crossed my mind, I decided it would be better if I took them back to jail so that they could get a good rest. They've done enough for now.
...'Back to jail so they could rest'... Is anypony out there keeping track of these things? I would not have said anything like that three years ago. This is turning out to be a lengthy list.
After dropping everypony off, I spent a bit of time patrolling in the area---during which nothing of note happened---and I met Gilbert and those griffons that he'd gathered at the bank on schedule. The Police arrived at the same time I did with Glintlock, sans that dragon scale suit of his (with his goggles replaced by sunglasses), and the exchange was made. The whole time, the captive was nervously muttering something about 'being kept in the same room as Grandpa Gruff', whoever that is. An elderly relation of his with an attitude?
I ended up handing off a sizable chunk of the money Alexandrite had given me, but I think the griffons were satisfied. More than satisfied, really, given the raised brows and the "I-told-you-so" look Gilbert was giving them. I escorted them to the train station and saw the train off, wanting to make absolutely certain that there was not going to be any mishaps. It wasn't until their transportation was long gone that I took off back to the Royal Police.
The debriefing that awaited me from Officer Coffee and Chief Grove lasted several hours. I described everything that I'd gone through today in as much detail as they wanted, from the harrowing (escaping the Diarchs facility) to the light-hearted (Celestia hugging me) and from the embarrassing (almost getting eaten by Metallium) to the entertaining (Statuette's ice show). Some of these details I would have preferred that they locked up and melted down the key, but I understand how important it is that they have it available.
In the midst of it all, I was informed that the Midnight Castle leaders and the other suspects had gone to ground. None of them made themselves known today, and there was no information as to their whereabouts. Re-examining the dossiers that the Police had obtained that morning did them no good, as there was no evidence of where they originated. There were a few mutters regarding the pony who had left the dossiers, wishing that the note they'd left had said where they had been found.
Privately, I was wondering more who had found the folders to begin with. They're obviously on our side, but it would have been nice to have confirmation.
Debris from Diarchs and Median Park have been collected, and the forensics department is planning to go over them with a fine-toothed comb. In addition, the Police have confiscated Trifecta, Glintlock, and Statuette's armor, alongside what little of their equipment is still intact. There is going to be a lot of analysis taking place in the coming days. Coffee and Grove were a bit annoyed when I told them that Metallium's gear was claimed by Celestia and her guards to be examined in Canterlot, but they decided that what was done was done.
Sometime, I'll have to ask somepony whether there's any bad blood between Manehattan and Canterlot, or if the Police here just really like proving that they don't need outside help. That attitude's going to come back and bite them in the tails someday if there isn't anything done about it.
Attempts at interrogating Glintlock and Trifecta while I was on my missions didn't pan out, unfortunately. Neither one of them shared any information, beneficial or otherwise. I strongly suspect that Statuette, despite her graciousness in turning herself in, will be much the same way.
One addendum to all of this is that after I'd left Diarchs, a small swarm of Magiflies did try to silence those who had surrendered to the local authorities. Thankfully the ponies had taken my advice on how to deal with them, so there was only minor injuries at worst. Good for the locals.
...
My internal clock is now telling me that it's nearly seven in the evening. The debriefing's just about wrapped up now, and Coffee's thanking me on the Police's behalf for helping them out. They're saying that they'll let me know if there's anything else for me to do in the next few days. They don't know yet what my paycheck's going to look like, but I tell them it can wait until the matter's fully settled.
I hadn't stopped to think about it until now, but I've just gone through the most one-on-one fights in one day that weren't sparring matches. As things stand I might not be physically tired, but mentally I think I could use a good night's rest. ...After Celestia is notified, of course.
In any event, that's that. Time to head back to the Pyre.
Despite his situation, Trifecta was feeling pleased with himself.
He was familiar with all of their tactics already, so the interrogators hadn't been able to get a single thing out of him. All of the secrets pertaining to Mocha and his plans were safe. Aside from being unable to destroy the robot, his end of things had been fulfilled. All that was left for him to do was to wait for his true boss's flunkies to spring him from his cell before the inevitable criminal case could be prosecuted.
Of course, it would mean needing to recover his armor from either forensics or the evidence lockers, but it wasn't anything he didn't know how to do already.
He had heard Glintlock being taken from his own cell earlier, and had seen Statuette---still trying to retain her dignity---being escorted to hers. There was a pair of mares in the distance whose voices he didn't recognize, sounding surprisingly nonchalant about going to jail. The hall was quiet now, aside from the occasional mumbling from the cops stationed outside the area.
...Well, that wasn't quite accurate: there were some unfamiliar hoofsteps approaching his cell. Angling himself against the bars, Trifecta witnessed the very definition of fresh vegetables walking down the hall. Young, wide-eyed and with barely restrained energy, this lilac-coated mare looked positively thrilled to be strolling around the station in the middle of one of Manehattan's biggest incidents.
Probably just a cadet being taken out of training early. It wouldn't surprise me if they decided to hasten their exercises in the wake of our attacks. Let's see how well she remembers her orientation. He cleared his throat. "Cadet?"
The mare stopped in her tracks, blinking in surprise at being addressed. "Huh? Me?"
"Yeah, you. I think they're supposed to be passing out dinner soon," Trifecta requested. "Any word on what it's supposed to be?"
"Can I answer that one? I guess I can answer that one," the cadet muttered before speaking aloud. "I was in the kitchens a few minutes ago, and I believe I saw them prepping some cheese omelettes with green peppers."
Trifecta groaned in disgust. That was one food he could never bring himself to like. "Ugh. Cheese? Seriously?"
"Yeah," answered the cadet, lowering a pair of sunglasses out from her cap and snapping something out of her shirt pocket. "Cheese."
What-the-nononononono---!
Taken off guard and with his forelegs still cuffed, Trifecta wasn't able to shield his eyes before they were enveloped by an all-consuming light.
"You have been asleep for quite some time, Springboard, and you are just now waking up. The Secret Monster Intelligence League of Equestria has never existed. It has simply been a fabrication brought about by a very long dream. All of your escapades, your secret missions, and the details thereof never took place in any fashion. If you are addressed as 'Trifecta', just smile and roll with it. After you have served the sentence bestowed on you by the court, you will find someplace quiet to retire and live your remaining years peacefully.
"Oh, and you like cheese."
Springboard blinked himself awake, his vision solidifying into the cement and iron of his jail cell. The hall outside was empty. That was quite the dream, he told himself. I can believe that monsters like that robot exist, but some sort of nebulous organization fighting them from the shadows? I've read better fiction on my off-days. I hope Mr. Mocha doesn't think I was lying to him when he finds out the truth.
The ex-Police officer slowly paced in a circle around the cell a few times, then settled into his bunk to wait for dinner. I wonder what they're serving tonight? I could do with a cheese omelette right about now.
...
...
Purple Prose, the brief missive had said, the triple threat has betrayed us. Code Ultimus.
The newly-minted officer---who was fresh from the academy, as Trifecta had guessed---didn't know which of her superiors had sent the message to her. She had barely finished her training in covert ops before Celestia's order to scatter the organization to the winds was passed down, so she didn't have time to meet everypony pertinent to her clandestine career. What she did know was that the message had been written in disappearing ink, and that was good enough for her.
Removing Springboard's knowledge of S.M.I.L.E. had taken only a few minutes. Any lingering traces of his past experiences would be chalked up to odd dreams at best. Knowledge of the organization would not be allowed to spread.
It crossed Prose's mind that if he had worked as a team, it was likely that he had shared information with the rest of his group. Metallium and Glintlock were out of her reach, but Statuette was on-site. A few moments to let her memory eraser recharge, and she would pay the ice dancer a visit and relieve her of any insight on S.M.I.L.E. that she had gained.
Really. What pony in their right mind doesn't like cheese?
Many miles away in Canterlot, an image of a quesadilla that positively oozed with cheese crossed Twilight Sparkle's mind. Shivering, she dismissed the thought with a vengeance and refocused on her studies. Just one more chapter before dinner...
A little while earlier...
After her perusal of Juniper Leaf's journal, she hadn't done much. Her ears had twitched when Babs Seed arrived at the apartment, but otherwise she spent much of her day asleep, waking up only to eat and take care of necessary business. Her dreams, if she had any, didn't bother her.
By the time Ocean Guard had finally returned from work, Gray was beginning to feel better. She was still sniffing, but otherwise her nose wasn't hosting a parade in her sinuses anymore. After some deliberation, Fiver decided that it was alright for her mother to take up shop in the living room. It was there that Gray felt an influx of nervousness over the meeting that she had called, shivering even with her blanket giving her warmth.
Throughout her marriage, she had always been confident in her family's ability to handle her quirks. Even now, she was sure that they wouldn't think any less of her for it. Still, it felt to her like she was about to divulge a decades-old secret that she had just now discovered about herself.
Because she had. No need to sugarcoat that fact.
Her entire family was now gathered around her: Ocean Guard next to her on the couch, the four children seated on the floor, and Echo on his favorite perch on the back of the furniture. Gray took a deep breath in what turned out to be a half-successful attempt at pulling herself together, decided it was good enough, and began to speak. "So. You all know of the difficulties I've had getting my mental condition classified..."
"It was rude of that one doctor to tell you not to come back unless you 'wanted to improve'," Ocean commented with a frown.
"Does this have anything to do with that journal that showed up this morning?" Ebony asked. "I asked Fiver what was in it, but she wasn't saying anything."
"That's normal, that's normal," Energy reminded her. Gray whickered softly at this.
"I wasn't talking about in general, Pure Energy," Ebony corrected him. "I... never mind. Go on, Mom."
"To answer your question, yes." Gray shoved the journal out from under the blanket. "Ocean, could you read this to them, please?"
One and all, the five ponies were unsure. Zig-Zag spoke the three words that the others were hesitant to say. "Invasion of privacy?"
"Explain that one to the Police," Gray muttered, sniffing. "From what I overheard this morning between Ebony and Officer Spindle, Leviathan discovered this while working with the Police down in Diarchs. I've read through it already. Yes, the journal was written by somepony else, but the information in it is about me personally. And it's dated the year I began kindergarten."
Fiver connected the dots first. Her expression was as unchanging as ever, but her little tail began lashing the air in what passed for her as anger. "...You weren't born thinking like a cat," she all but whispered, the words piercing through everypony's minds. "...And it wasn't a habit you picked up over time. Your condition is unnatural."
"H-how?" Ebony stammered, remembering to keep her voice down at the last moment. "Just... how?!"
Gray didn't answer, instead nodding to her husband. "Right," Ocean said, clearing his throat and turning to the first page. His tone made his displeasure with the revelation evident. "'The filly that we've asked for has been delivered...'"
By the time Ocean was done reading, Ebony was on the verge of distress. The same thought kept repeating itself every few seconds: What sort of creature would willingly experiment on another pony just to see if something would work? She tried to imagine would it would be like to experience being foalnapped and turned part-animal, but came up blank. Her eyes were lined with tears.
Pure Energy's hyperactive disposition was nowhere to be found, which by itself spoke volumes. The rest of the family knew that he only got like that when something was very, very wrong. He was about as attentive as the others had ever seen him get, but otherwise his face was blank.
Ocean Guard placed one of his hooves over Gray's, then leaned over and touched his forehead to hers. She didn't resist, grateful for the support and happy that he still didn't think any differently of her after learning that she really was part-cat. That alone meant the world to her.
Unknown to all of them, Echo was inwardly considering what this meant. He'd been adopted when he was a four-month-old kitten, and he'd felt an immediate attachment towards Gray on account of the pony's scent reminding him of his mother's. While he didn't understand most of what was in the journal, his caregiver's identity was making plenty of sense with that attachment in mind.
Fiver's eyes were closed. After a bit of time passed, she nodded and opened them again as if deciding on something important. Of the foals, she was always the type to think carefully before making her decisions. To her, hearing what her mother truly was didn't change anything.
The apartment door's knob rattled, and all heads turned towards it. Zig-Zag had abruptly walked away as soon as the journal's final sentence had been read, and was trying to unlock the door in order to leave. "Zeke?" Gray called, her moment with Ocean broken. "Where are you going?"
"Finding Juniper Leaf," Zig-Zag announced, dropping to the floor. "Needs a hug."
Gray jerked at this. Zeke, you're...!
Ocean Guard climbed down off the couch and trotted over to their youngest child, pulling him away from the door. "Listen. It's a little late to be heading out anywhere now. We still need to have dinner. We can go out and find her tomorrow. What do you say?"
"Never too late," Zig-Zag insisted. "Not for hugs."
Ebony wiped away her tears. "We just cleared up this family's biggest mystery, and Juniper Leaf's the one you're hung up on?"
Zig-Zag adopted that look of pure stubbornness that children take on when they want something right now. "Cats are cool. Being sad's not."
"...You don't even know where to find her," Fiver protested. "There's more than one pony in the city with that name. She could be anywhere."
"Juniper's Treehouse Daycare!" Zig-zag declared proudly, beaming.
Everypony, including Echo, was surprised at this announcement. The flabbergasted Ebony let her jaw drop halfway to the floor. "How... how do you even know that?"
Gray's wondering eyes met Ocean's for a moment. "Dear?"
"Remember some years back, when we went out for our anniversary but couldn't take them with us?" Ocean explained, getting over his own surprise and wondering how Zeke remembered the name of a place he'd only been to once in his life---and when he should've been too young to remember the experience clearly, at that. "You trusted me to find someplace where they could be looked after and be able to enjoy themselves. That was the name of the place I picked."
"What about the owner?" Gray asked of everypony present. "Do any of you remember what they were like?"
Ebony's hoof went to her chin as she tried to recall that day. It wasn't so early in her life that the memories didn't solidify, but it had been a while ago. "She was nice. She had plenty of games and toys we could play with, and we were allowed to run around and have fun. I seem to remember that she was almost always in the same room as us."
"She made these little flower sandwiches when we were hungry," Pure Energy continued, beginning to perk back up. "Delicious, delicious."
"... ...She spent time with me," Fiver brought up, needing a bit longer to remember her experiences there. "...I didn't want to run around with Energy or play board games, so she gave me a book to read and helped me with words I didn't understand." ...'Mellow Sleight on Cards', if memory serves, she kept to herself. The book that got me interested in card games in the first place.
"She was sad," Zig-Zag finished. "Faked her smiles. Didn't understand why. I know now."
Gray chuckled weakly. "All of that's nice to know, but I should have been more specific. Do any of you remember what she looked like?"
"She was middle-aged, easily," Ocean affirmed. "At least twenty years older than either of us. What really stood out to me was her mane. It looked like a mess of tiny little needles."
"...Her coat and mane were both green," Fiver further elaborated. "Like her namesake."
"And her cutie mark?"
"A couple of ovals with leaves in them," Energy said. "One of those iso-things."
Ebony's nose crinkled as she tried to figure out what he was talking about. "Um... isotopes? Like those stickers they put on science fiction books at the library?"
A rapid nod from the equally rapid colt. "Exactly. Iso-things."
Gray squeezed her eyes shut, thinking carefully about what this meant. After about half a minute, she opened them again and nodded decisively. Between the journal and her family's statements, her memories of those weeks away from her parents were much clearer. She knew what needed to be done. "That's her. That's Junie. I agree with Zeke, Ocean. She needs to be visited immediately."
Zig-Zag's face lit up like all the lights in the city's main square. Ocean wasn't quite so sure. "What do you want to do for dinner, though?"
"We'll just make some sandwiches," Ebony cut in, pushing herself to her hooves. "This is too important, Dad."
"Hey, now. I never said anything about you coming along," Gray chastised her, getting off the couch and leaving the blanket behind. "It's just going to be me and Zeke, understand?"
Energy pranced in place, his mother's words going in one ear and out the other. "Gonna go gonna go gonna go right now, gonna go gonna go gonna go!"
Gray shook her head firmly. "Energy, stop. You're not coming with us, and that's that."
"...We're going with you," Fiver uttered, her monotone words having a note of finality. She shuffled over to join Zig-Zag at the door, nodding back at them as if to say 'what are you waiting for?'.
"Five-of-a-Kind---!" Gray tried to protest indignantly.
"We're. Going. With you," the little filly repeated, foregoing her natural hesitance to make it clear that yes, she was completely serious. Pure Energy trotted up to her, his enthusiasm barely contained.
"The two of you get back here and stay home," Gray stated, trying to exert her parental authority while at the same time hiding just how touched she was at their desire to help. Seriously, these kittens of mine... "Neither of you have any stake in this."
"Neither does Zeke," Ebony pointed out. "But you're still letting him come along."
"If you want to go, we might as well all go together," Ocean suggested, cutting off Gray's rebuttal before it could begin. "I don't know if I'm entirely on board with this, but I feel that we should all at least give you our support."
"...And saying we don't have a stake in this isn't correct," Fiver corrected her mother. "...What Juniper Leaf did was wrong, but judging from her journal she was a positive influence in your life all the same. We want to thank her for helping make you the pony you are now: our quirky and mischievous mother who has tried her hardest to raise us despite her limitations."
Ebony joined her siblings at the door, Juniper's journal encased in her magic. "We also want to show her that we know what she did. And that we forgive her for it."
Gray's lips quivered as she listened to their statements, and her mind reeled as she was overcome by their hearts. She tried to think of something to say, tried to make one last effort at getting them all to stay home---
"Mrrrow."
---but was interrupted by the last individual she expected. The normally laidback Echo had put himself within reach of Gray, lightly cuffing her on the back of the head and getting her attention. Having gained it, he jumped to the floor and strolled up to the gathered ponies, tail in the air. "Mrrraow?" he called back to her, clearly expecting her to follow.
Energy doubled over laughing. "Even the cat, Mom! Even the cat!"
This was the last straw for Gray, but in a good way. She leaned against the couch, trying and failing to keep her giggles toned down. One by one, the rest of the ponies sans Fiver joined her in laughing, and even she had a lighter expression than normal (not much, but a little). Echo wasn't laughing either, but if anypony had been able to look at him, his regular feline smile would have seemed more pronounced.
...
In the end, they all left as a family. Six ponies and a cat were a bit much for one taxi, so they split into two groups and reconvened outside of Juniper's Treehouse Daycare. As with plenty of other businesses in the city, there was an apartment above the Daycare accessible through an entrance next to the front door. The decision was made to let Gray go in first, and she would signal the rest of the family when it was alright to enter.
Of course, Gray being Gray, an odd impulse crossed her mind before she made it all the way up the steps.
Juniper Leaf sighed to herself as she finished the last bit of housework, tossing the dust rag into a laundry hamper and resolving to have its contents cleaned after her business closed tomorrow. These bones are getting more tired every day, she thought bitterly, slowly walking to her preferred chair for a bit of rest and reading before going to bed.
As she passed a window, she stopped to look outside. She wasn't blind to what was going on in the city: she had heard the explosions yesterday, seen the smoke and fires. And this morning, when she had gazed out the window, she had witnessed such a pillar rising from the direction of Diarchs. The place where she had thrown away decades of her life as a direct result of her selfishness.
She closed her eyes, forcing back those memories like she had a hundred times before. Do not think about the life you've lost, she recalled a guard at the prison telling her the day she'd been released. Think about the life ahead of you. Think about what you can do in the time you have left, and then do it. You still have time to benefit both yourself and others by your actions. Do not waste it.
Juniper was past the point where she could have a child of her own, but she could still help other families with theirs. She sold her old home, using her earnings to open the Daycare and what funds she had left from her prior career to rent her current residence. She earned her living one day at a time by helping foals have fun, along with teaching them the basics of math and reading where it was needed. While there were a few tough spots financially, she was still hanging in there.
Privately, she wondered whatever became of Gray after that fateful day. She had contemplated trying to track her down after being released, but decided that those old wounds were better left alone. Very rarely she had heard rumors of a "Gray Ghost" who had once worked for the Royal Police, but she didn't make the connection between the two. There were doubtless multiple ponies named "Gray" living in the city, anyway... as diverse as pony names were, and with Manehattan's population as high as it was, you still had to double up eventually.
At the very least, I hope that whatever life she led or continues to lead, it was a happy one.
Juniper picked up her book off the end table and settled into her chair. The Debate of Science and Magic, Fourth Revision, it said on the cover. Despite her current life, she continued to keep one hoof in that particular aspect of her past, keeping herself up to date on both scientific and magical developments. The arrival of the free-thinking robot these past few weeks had proven to her that she was right to do so, and she continued to follow the news and editorials about it with great interest.
She flipped to the page that she had left off at and started to read...
A ruckus from the stairwell leading up to her apartment almost made her drop the book. There were several loud noises that reminded Juniper of angry mice, alongside the scrambling of hooves up and down the stairs. Cautiously she set the book aside and walked to the door, taking a decorative candle holder in her magic in case of the worst.
She paused when the noises stopped. A moment later, there was an odd sound at the door like someone was trying to scratch their way through. Carefully, she unlocked the door and opened it a crack to greet whoever was trying to get in. "Is there something I can help you with?"
"I thnk u hv a rdnt problm," the pony on the other side said. Oddly, it sounded as if their mouth was full.
This seemed strange enough to Juniper that she opened the door fully... and was greeted with the strangest thing she'd seen in her life, bar none. Standing at the door was a gray coated, black-maned pegasus... with a live rat in her mouth. The sight of it was so bizarre that her candle holder slipped free from her magic and fell to the floor.
The rat twisted in the pony's mouth and slapped her muzzle, making her drop it. It took off down the stairs, stopping only to glare at the visitor before disappearing from sight. "Sorry," the strange pony stated sheepishly, rubbing her nose. "I said 'I think you have a rodent problem'."
It took a few seconds for Juniper to recover her wits. "Oh. Um... thank you for notifying me." Mentally she went over the possible costs of a good pest control service. "May I have your name?"
The other pony didn't say anything, instead turning so that her side was visible. Now that Juniper was not being distracted by the sight of a rat in the pony's mouth, she took note of her Cutie Mark. It almost looks like a pair of cat's eyes---
Her heart skipped a beat. Cat's eyes. Pegasus wings. Monochromatic coat and mane. Slightly curled manestyle. And the rat in her mouth, entirely reminiscent of a---! "Gray...?" Juniper whispered, not daring to hope---
A content smile that was oh-so-familiar on account of the fangs that poked past her lip. "Hi, Junie," Gray greeted her. "Nice to see you again."
Two forms in her mind's eye: a sleeping filly in a box, and the adult mare in front of her now---
A disbelieving laugh pulled itself out of Juniper's lungs at the nickname. It's her! After all these years, it's really her! "Gray!" she blurted out, rushing forward and embracing her former charge. "What are you doing standing out there? My, look at you now! Please, come in! Come in!"
As Gray gave the basics regarding what she'd been up to all these years---her time with the Police, her retirement and marriage, and the joys and trials of parenthood---Juniper found that she felt a certain degree of pride. Despite her addled mind, Gray had indeed been able to live a normal and happy life. This was the best she had hoped for, as it had put some---but not all---of her fears to rest.
Juniper was pleasantly surprised to hear that Gray had an up close and personal encounter with Leviathan, and she pressed the pegasus for details. While Gray talked about her meeting in the alley, she internally noted that the "Gray Ghost" mentioned in the Minutes interview and the pony before her were one and the same. Oh, hindsight, you silly thing. I should've put it together sooner.
"...And after I thanked her for being considerate of Eebon's feelings, that was pretty much it," Gray said, finishing her story. "I'm on friendly terms with her nowadays. And it actually leads me to why I'm here today."
Juniper set aside the teacup she'd been sipping from, curious as to what the robot had to do with her. "Indeed?"
A nod, following which Gray's disposition subtly changed. "I don't have the full story yet, but Leviathan was in Diarchs today on business for the Police. She was able to find a journal in where I can only assume was the old Zoo Institute." As an aside, she muttered: "It's the only 'Institute' I know of down there, so it had better be the same one..."
...A spike of terror pierced Juniper's heart. She tried to hide it, but her constant trembling gave it away. Oh, dear Celestia... "And... what was in that journal?"
"Everything," Gray emphasized. "Your past as a scientist. Your role in keeping me hidden from the authorities. And more importantly, the fact that thanks to you and that Zoolinef drug, I've been behaving like a common housecat for almost all of my life."
She knows... She knows! Juniper staggered forward out of her chair, almost falling to the ground before a hoof reached out to steady her. Words began pouring out unbidden. "Gray... Gray, I've been waiting to say this for the longest time... I'm sorry that this happened to you. I'm sorry. I know, I know that you're probably angry at me for what I did, but---"
That same hoof placed itself over her mouth, quieting her. "What's done is done. I forgive you."
...
...! "You're... forgiving me?" Juniper uttered, stunned. She couldn't have heard right; her hearing was getting progressively worse as she got older, so maybe it was just a figment of her imagination---
Gray smiled and lowered her hoof. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them. "Junie, I have literally no reason to be upset at you. I forgave you for it less than an hour ago." Another slow blink.
"But... why? Why?" Juniper exclaimed. "You know what I had a hoof in doing to you! Are you serious? Are you completely serious?"
"I've had time to think about it," Gray said, laying down on the floor and rolling onto her back. "When you get right down to it, forgiveness is a funny thing. Does the other pony genuinely want to change? Does he or she feel any sort of remorse for morally wrong actions? Do they want to choose the better way available to them? Will they stop doing whatever it was that gave them the short end of the stick? And will they put everything they have towards improving themselves when they regress or otherwise make mistakes?"
Juniper paid close attention to every word Gray said, wanting to hope but not daring to. Her former charge's awkward position didn't detract from her speech.
"If the answer to any of those questions was 'no', then I'd still have reason for concern," Gray continued. "But I've always chosen to rely on my gut instinct for these things. Journals as an unwritten rule are private, and if they weren't, you wouldn't have written anything sensitive. And considering how long it took for somepony to find the journal, you must have had it well hidden...”
Juniper wracked her memory for the location, finding it within fifteen seconds. “It was beneath the mattress of your old box bed. I had my door secured before I was arrested.”
“That feels like enough proof to me that your regrets were genuine... I like this rug, by the way. It's very nice. And judging by your last entry,” Gray remarked, “I can only assume you were sentenced later?”
“Twenty-seven years,” Juniper said, wondering about the direction this conversation was taking. “Minus two for good behavior.”
“And when you got out, how long did it take you to get that business down there started? What was your rationale for it?”
Juniper's eyes settled on the ground, and her words became remorseful as she spoke from her heart. Sentences that she had never uttered to anypony in the years since her release took form. “Gray, the more I thought about it over the years, the more I realized that I had enjoyed teaching you and being around you during those few weeks. Becoming gainfully employed, praised for my accomplishments, possibly even becoming rich... at some point, they just stopped mattering to me.”
She paused to clear her throat. “Pardon me... the day they let me leave, one of the guards told me to consider what I should do with the rest of my life. All it took was remembering what was done to you for me to make that decision. I had the Daycare open within the span of a moon. ...Though it did take a trial period before ponies decided that my business was legitimate. I've been running it ever since.”
“From amoral scientist to a sweet old babysitter, spurred by the memory of a child...” Gray smiled. “And that right there is ultimately why I'm forgiving you. I spoke with some foals earlier whom you had once looked after. One of them said that you seemed constantly sad for reasons he didn't understand.” She idly swatted a tiny dust particle that was hanging in the air, lit through the window by the lingering sunlight. “I was already wanting to forgive you when I first read the journal. Hearing the foals confirm your identity and state of mind? That sealed it.”
She's... Juniper struggled to understand what she was hearing. Is she seriously willing to forgive me this easily? Separating her from her parents, tampering with her biology, giving her what's basically a mental disorder, changing her life forever... Is there a catch? There has to be a catch. This feels too good to be true!
But Gray wasn't done. "And in the long run..." She whistled, and a group of ponies walked in through the door: a nice-looking stallion followed closely by four children, with a black Mane Coon not far away. The unicorn of the bunch was carrying a book that Juniper dimly recognized as her old journal, and all of them had faces of affability instead of condemnation. "I ended up with five of the greatest ponies in the world because of what you did. How could I possibly be angry about that?"
Juniper eyed the ponies in surprise. Vague memories of four foals, just like these but smaller and younger, began trickling back. It was hard to mistake the unicorn's color scheme, or her brother's hyperactivity even when standing still. "They're..."
"My family. My clowder, even." Gray rolled onto her hooves and stood up, beaming proudly. "They understand my habits better than anypony. I had to share the contents of the journal with them, so they already know why I act the way I do. I went into it expecting a negative reaction towards me of some kind, but they were hyper-focused on making you feel better instead."
"G-Gray..." Juniper stammered, looking each pony (plus one cat) in the eyes. A fine mist slowly gathered on her eyes. "All of you... Why? Why? I don't deserve any of this! Why are you acting like I need to be... need to be..."
"...Because it isn't an act," the card-Marked child denied.
"I'll admit to having trouble comprehending some of this," the husband admitted. "But I trust my wife. If she wants to let you off the hook, that's good enough for me."
"Mrrrr," the housecat agreed, strangely.
"Do you think she'd make more of those flower sandwiches if we asked nicely?" the elder of the two colts asked the younger, who shrugged in response.
"We came here to tell you we forgive you," said the unicorn, setting aside the journal. "But it... kind of feels like you're past due for forgiving yourself."
...
The dam finally burst. The older pony whimpered, whined, then full on wailed as the tears of more than thirty years flowed free. Zig-Zag was the first to charge in and give her the hug he felt she needed, with Gray following suit. The rest of those present gave them some space, but voluntarily remained to serve as eyewitnesses to this outpouring of emotion.
Dearest me, it's been an entire age since I last wrote on these pages. I don't even know where to begin. Is this seriously my writing?
Gray visited me here at home. For emphasis: Gray. Visited. Me. She goes by Gray Ghost nowadays, and... words can't express just how grateful I am towards her.
I can barely even see what I'm saying here. I'll write some more later when I'm not delirious with joy. Meanwhile, I'll be able to sleep easier tonight.
Juniper Leaf
Owner of the Treehouse Daycare
Thank you.
The ex-scientist's self-inflicted guilt and pain had finally fallen silent, never to trouble her again.
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The last few scenes (along with the music choice) made me shed a tear.
oof my heart at the end
Oh great. Smile has nuerslizers
Is it weird that I find it kinda sad that Wily never got that chance?
A chance to honestly apologize, I mean.
D'awww!
The fact that S.M.I.L.E. has and regularly used neuralizer spells is slightly concerning. But then who would tell?
It's quite lovely Gray gets closure. Sadly that's not so very common...
A thought occurs to me. Now that Fairy has aided a member of the Apple family, theres no way in heck the rest of the clan wont find out. Thus I can see Fairy as far as some of the family are concerned, considering her as an honorary Apple. This could have amusing results shold Twilight and friends ever go to Manehatten for some reason and AJ run into Fairy. lol
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Note how there's still the Unicorn print on the moon. This takes place before the Return of NMM. My guess is either the ending is going to be her interrupting NMM's return, or we simply aren't going to see it happen. That's my theory anyways
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But still i feel the odds of the rest of the Apple family not finding out about one of their own bein saved by Fairy to be very very low, espescally given how large the Apple family is. 
By what i said i was hypthosizing future events, appologies for being unclear about that
Daaww this was sweet. I needed this.
ough... good chapter. very good chapter. i could feel the tears welling up at the end, the full melody came in right as i read past the ellipsis, and for the second time i can't help but think about how perfectly timed it all seems to be.
i always enjoy it when the works i read lead me to feel something powerful. and in spite of your professed lack of talent for emotional scenes, you've done very well. maybe it's not perfect, but it comes from the heart, and that's what matters.
thank you for sharing your writing with us.
stop chopping onions.
Forgiveness is good and all, but it feels to easy, so to speak. Even for MLP standarts. Some ponies should have more difficulty letting go, especially with some of the other sides. Yes, Gray got nice kids, but she actually LOST her NORMAL state. She adapted, but she was still cheated out of her life.
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Gray's not the type to hold a grudge. And even if she was inclined to, she trusts her family as much as they trust her. If they (and especially the empathetic Zig-Zag) felt Juniper was deserving of a second chance, she would be willing to give it a go.
Does it fall under "easily forgiven"? Sure, but it's entirely in character for her. And in any case, her rationale for it was fully explained in the chapter, so it's not like it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.
right, I keep forgetting that pet animals in Equestria have a sort of borderline sapience going on