Chapter 3: A Melting of Hearts
Chapter 3: A Melting of Hearts
The chariot raced across the clouds as the siblings headed toward their prospective new home in Ponyville, along with Felicity, who was nearly bursting with excitement about flying for the first time. To make room for the filly, Airy had elected to fly on her own. It was obvious that, by the time the two escort ponies were nearing the town, that the poor pegasus girl was worn out from so much constant flight. The trip had been long with not many stops to rest, but after a great many hours, they had finally arrived. The two ponies pulling the cart touched down just on the edge of the road and bid them all a good day before turning right around and heading back the way they came.
“So....hardcore!” Airy gasped, landing shortly after. “They fly....forever....”
“Yes, they’re quite hardy,” Warden remarked. “It took quite some time for them to take a rest long enough for me to grab some food. Speaking of which, you guys hungry?”
“Starving,” Felicity cut in.
“Well, we have no money, so don’t get your hopes up,” Tinder sneered.
“No need to be spiteful, Tinder. Here, Felicity, I have some bread left over from the trip.” Warden gave the filly a half of a loaf of white bread, which Felicity started munching on immediately. “Now, which way to the Mayor’s house?”
“I’d start with his office, I think.” Tinder pointed out a slightly tall, round building near the center of town. “It’s still bright out, and I doubt highly he’d lock up for the night so early in the afternoon.”
“How do you know that’s it?”
“I don’t. It’s just the only one that isn’t some quaint little hut or country-style general store.”
“Just because the buildings aren’t all three or more stories high doesn’t mean their quaint, Tinder. Ponyville is a simpler place to live than Yearlingdale, for sure, but ponies are still ponies no matter where they live. I’m sure everything will be perfectly normal.”
When the group arrived at the town gate, a pink mare with a bubbly magenta mane was standing nearby, looking the other direction. Airy took a few bounding steps ahead and extended a hoof to the pony.
“Hello, I’m-”
The pink mare rapidly turned around and jumped into the air, gasping loudly. Before anyone could try to understand what was happening, she vanished in a cloud of smoke, running full gallop back into the center of town. Tinder sauntered up next to his sister and smirked. “We’ve been in town for five seconds and you’ve already scared off the locals. Good work, Airy.”
“No, no, she’s just being Pinkie Pie,” said a voice from nearby. The group looked to see a lavender alicorn trotting up to them from the other direction. “She doesn’t know who you are, and is probably planning a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for you as we speak.”
“I’m sorry,” Tinder said quickly, bowing his head reverently. “We didn’t mean to-”
“Oh, no, don’t apologize. I’m not very good at explaining Pinkie Pie. I’m Twilight Sparkle. I live here in the Ponyville library.”
“I’m Tinder Lightheart,” he replied. “This is my sister Airy and my brother Warden, and the filly is Felicity Gardens.”
“Gardens?” Twilight repeated. “Are you by chance related to the royal chef in Canterlot?”
“I dunno,” replied Felicity. “My daddy lives in Canterlot, but I’m an orphan.”
“We’re all orphans,” Tinder added. “We used to work at the orphanage in Yearlingdale.”
“Yearlingdale?” Twilight repeated. “That’s quite a distance away. I’ve never been there, but I’ve heard it’s very busy. Probably quite a change for you city ponies to be here in quiet old Ponyville.”
“You have no idea,” whispered Tinder. “Oh, Princess-”
“Just Twilight is fine. No need to be so formal.”
“Right. Twilight, where is the mayor?”
“She’s probably in the pavilion, over by town square,” Twilight replied, pointing a hoof toward the large round building Tinder had identified earlier. “If that’s all you need, I had best get going. I probably need to go check on Pinkie, but if you need anything else, anypony here would be willing to answer your questions.”
“Oh, the mayor is a mare? I didn’t... well, thank you, Prin... err, Twilight.” Tinder nudged Felicity on with his snout, and together the four proceeded on, leaving Twilight behind them. When they were out of earshot, Tinder leaned in close to Airy and smirked. “She was nice.”
“I guess. We didn’t get to talk for very long, so I can’t make an accurate judgment.”
“Don’t act so serious, Airy,” Tinder whispered harshly. “She was being friendly.”
“I’m trying to learn how everyone acts in this town. So far, I’ve gotten mixed signals.”
“Just be yourself. It’s not hard.”
“And risk doing something wrong and labeling myself as an imbecile?” Airy said, shocked. “Not happening.”
“Airy, you care more for your personal image than anything else.”
“We can’t all be Tinder Lighteheart, more practically minded than waterproof boots.“
“You need to lighten up.”
“Let’s just go meet the Mayor so we can get home,” Airy replied flatly. “I think my mane is starting to frazzle.”
Warden snickered at his sibling’s pointless bickering and opened the door of the pavillion. The Mayor was supervising a remodeling project, watching ponies fix some loose rails on the upper balcony. A few pegasus ponies were raising a beam when she noticed her visitors and trotted over to greet them.
“Good day, everypony,” said the Mayor cheerfully. “How may I assist you?”
“Ms. Mayor,” Warden began, “we are Warden, Airy and Tinder Lightheart, as well as our young friend Felicity Gardens. We were the supervisors of the Yearlingdale orphanage before we were, due to an unfortunate accident, evicted.” Tinder turned away, unable to make eye contact with Warden as he spoke. “A letter we received from our deceased parents told us we could find you here, and that you would be able to help us.”
“Lightheart? I knew your mother and father, alright. Wonderful ponies, excellent with kids. When they were still young, they worked for me as assistants around town. I told them if they ever needed my help, they could ask me. They never did redeem that favor. I suppose this was it, then. So, Warden, may I assume you’re the legal guardian of these three?”
Warden nearly blurted out that Felicity wasn’t technically their legal responsibility, but thought better of it. “Yes ma’am.”
“As repayment of the favor I owe your parents, I can give you all a permanent residence here in Ponyville. It’s a house that was built not too long ago, near the front gate of town. Very beautiful, built for a family of five or six. It was....your parent’s home, actually. We put it up for sale a few years back, but no one ever bought it.”
“Wait,” Airy blurted. “Mom and dad used to live here in Ponyville?”
“Yes, my dear. I already said they worked for me for many years.”
“How did they get to Yearlingdale, then?” she persisted. “Why’d they leave?”
“That, I can explain,” the Mayor replied. “They left right after Warden was born. It had something to do with their lack of income. If one of them had to stop working to take care of a foal, and they needed more money to support themselves, naturally they’d move to somewhere they could find better wages.”
“Well, thank you so much, Ms. Mayor,” Warden interjected, trying to stop them there. Tinder looked at him quizzically, but the older brother ignored his gaze. “We best be going on our way-”
“Not so fast, Mr. Lightheart. We need to arrange employment for you three.”
“You’ve done so much for us, though. We couldn’t ask-”
“Nonsense. You must work to earn your new home, and I have the perfect jobs for each of you. Airy, my dear, are you a skilled flier?”
“I....am.”
“Then you are now a member of the weather patrol. You can report to Rainbow Dash sometime tomorrow for training. I don’t recommend the early mornings, though, because she tends to sleep in.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Warden, what are you talented at?” the Mayor asked abruptly, turning to him.
“Well, let’s see....I was a grocer back in Yearlingdale, so I have sales experience. I cooked meals for my family, and I-”
“You can cook?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“How good of a chef are you?”
“I’m experienced. My mom taught me how to bake.”
“I’ll assign you to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow. They need another good pastry chef to work while Mr. and Ms. Cake are away on business this week.”
“I’ll be there bright and early, ma’am.”
“And Tinder....Oh....Where shall I assign you? What did you do in Yearlingdale?”
“I singlehoofedly supervised the orphans back home.”
“So I can assume you love kids. That you know how to handle them, I mean.”
“Yes, Ms. Mayor.”
“Then you may go to the schoolhouse tomorrow and ask Cheerilee about seeking employment as an assistant. I have a feeling you’d be very good at that.”
“I‘ll do it. Sounds a lot better than anything I could have asked for.”
“Then it’s settled. Welcome to Ponyville, Lightheart family.”
Felicity cleared her throat unnecessarily loudly.
“Oh, and of course, Felicity Gardens. By the way, you will accompany Tinder to school tomorrow. You’re just old enough to attend, now, and school starts tomorrow, so there’s no reason not to.”
The filly’s eyes began to glow again: for the first time in her life, she was going to make friends. Better yet, if everything went well, she was going to be there with Tinder, her only real friend. Hope—something she thought had abandoned her in the orphanage that morning—was restored to her life once more.
-~-~-~-~-~
The Lightheart’s new home was an average looking house, if not a bit cozy, with very large windows and a second floor balcony. The roof was a dull ruby color and comprised of newly installed shingles. One could not see it clearly in the bad lighting this late in the evening, but the chimney on top was also in pristine condition despite the age of the house itself. Everything, from the layered wood structure to the recently reapplied daisy yellow paint job, was beautiful and new. When the Mayor had said they’d tried to sell it, Tinder couldn't imagine why they hadn’t, and the fact that they had refurbished it only drove his curiosity further.
But it wasn’t so much the house itself that caught his attention. The lights were on in the door window, and it unnerved Tinder just a bit. “Airy? Warden? The lights are on.”
“Thanks, captain obvious, I hadn’t noticed,” replied Airy.
“Perhaps the Mayor sent someone to show us inside?” Warden offered.
“We would have beaten them here,” Tinder noted. “Unless we took the long way, that is. Burglars, maybe?"
Airy charged up to the front door, taking flight from the rest of the group. Felicity, Warden and Tinder watched as she stepped inside and froze halfway through. “No one’s here!” she called.
The other three caught up to her and peered inside. The house was very spacious, as the mayor had mentioned, but judging from the humble exterior one would not have guessed as much. The only lights on in the house were those in the doorway. All of the rooms in view were darkened. Although they had expected silence, there were many creaking and random snorting sounds in the darkness around them. Tinder put a hoof on Felicity and pushed past Airy, taking his young friend with him as they slowly edged into the living room ahead. The door across from them was shut, but the strange noises were issuing from behind it. The Lighthearts, along with Felicity, eventually had made it there and slowly opened the door, expecting to find someone trying to jump them.
They had not been wrong. The lights flipped on as the door swung open and a pink mare sprang from the illumination onto him, knocking Tinder flat to the ground. A very loud “SURPRISE!” rang out through the house as confetti and streamers flew from the door, leaving a very confused Warden and Airy, an amused Felicity, and a bewildered Tinder covered in party supplies.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!” the mare said into Tinder’s face. Her eyes were enormous—and slowly adjusting to the new lighting—and she was smiling ear to ear. She looked up at the other siblings and gave them the same toothy grin. “We threw this party just for you, to help you get acquainted with Ponyville! It’s your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”
“Oh, my!” Airy exclaimed. “But....we’ve been here less than half an hour. How did you manage to put this together so quickly?”
Warden peered into the next room, extending his neck over the fallen Tinder. It was full of ponies he didn’t know. “And how did you get so many ponies here?”
“She had some help,” came a familiar voice from inside as Twilight Sparkle trotted through the crowd. “When I found Pinkie, she was baking a huge cake. She asked for my help organizing a party, so I rounded up every available pony in town. Isn’t this exciting? I’ve never thrown a surprise party before.”
“Yeah, and we got almost every pony in Ponyville to come!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.
Tinder finally recovered, brushing off his legs as he spoke. “As thoughtful as this is, we-”
Warden shoved a hoof in his mouth. “-are very grateful for it. Thank you so much, Pinkie. And to you as well, Twilight.”
“Oh, silly! We had to throw you a party.” explained Pinkie Pie. “I know every pony in town, so when I saw you, I was all, like, They’re new! They need a party! Because if you’re new, you must not have any friends.”
“This is....a tradition,” Twilight clarified further. “Pinkie throws a party for everyone.”
“Well, it was very thoughtful, regardless.” Warden pushed past Pinkie Pie and Twilight, disappearing into the crowd of ponies behind them. Airy simply nodded before following after him. Felicity, when Tinder looked back to check on her, was unsurprisingly missing.
“I’m gonna go mingle,” Pinkie said. And then she, too, retreated into the next room.
Twilight, however, stayed. “You look a bit unhappy,” she noted to Tinder.
“I’m tired. I don’t see the point in a party when our whole lives are shifting uncertainly, and right now, I just wanna sleep it away. I do have work in the morning, after all.”
“I was like you when I first arrived in Ponyville,” Twilight said. “Pinkie had thrown me a party the day I arrived, and I went to bed instead of enjoying myself. I learned that following day what a foal I had been, thinking that friendship wasn’t important. If I had listened to Spike, I would have had a good time instead of just lying awake all night by myself.”
“Who’s Spike?” asked Tinder.
“My assistant at the library. And a good friend.”
“Well, no offense, Twilight, but I’m not exactly in the same boat as you. I’ve just been cleared out of my lifelong home, forced out of my favorite job, and sent to a whole new place against my will. I just don’t feel up to a party right now.”
“Your situation is only as hopeless as you make it, Tinder.” It startled him that she remembered his name, but it never occurred to him that he’d see her ever again. “I was a student under Princess Celestia in Canterlot before I was sent here. The princess had asked me to make some friends, and all I wanted to do was study. I loved Canterlot, and I loved my time as a student. But if I had to do it over again, I would only change how I reacted to it. Instead of resisting, I would just make friends like the Princess had instructed. That would have saved us a lot of grief, too, with the Nightmare Moon incident.”
“Oh, that was you?” Tinder asked. “I heard a rumor that the banished Princess had been reinstalled up in Canterlot. How were you involved in that?”
“Me and my ‘new friends’ harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony to defeat Nightmare Moon. Princess Luna reemerged when we broke her free from that evil form.”
“So you did make friends,” Tinder confirmed, suddenly interested.
“That’s what I said,” Twilight replied. “But that’s my point. If you fight it, it’ll only be that much worse for you.”
“Maybe you’re right....” Tinder reluctantly said. “Thank you....Twilight.”
“You’re quite welcome. Why don’t I introduce you to my friends?” Together the two ponies walked into the next room, where loud music, colorful streamers and assorted balloons filled the air, and the party was in full swing.
-~-~-~-~-~
A few hours later, long after the party had ended and everypony else had gone home, the Lighthearts were still learning their way around their new home. Tinder found the inside of the cozy house to be exactly how he'd pictured it, despite having no idea what it could have been. It was similar to their apartment back in Yearlingdale: both had been decorated by their mother, so that came as no surprise. The same wallpaper in the tiny kitchen back in the apartment ran throughout the posh kitchen, and the same was true for the dining room and living room.
Tinder's room – he could tell it was his because of the crib in the corner, which had not been moved with the rest of their furniture – had a window facing the town. Through it he could see the town lights shining dimly, blurring together when his eyes started closing. Ponies were all in their homes at this time, probably talking about the party and enjoying each other’s company. Tinder couldn't help but feel jealous that they had so much happiness to spare and he had only enough to stay alive. Warden, Airy and Felicity were all that was left of his former life, and were the only source of hope he had for any sort of positive future.
Some of the comforts of home had been provided for the Lightheart family plus Felicity – no, Tinder considered her part of their family – and that had included a few beds. His was in the corner under the window, and as he climbed into it, he couldn't help but keep staring outside. It wasn't terribly late, but he had a lot on his mind, and the lights were calming. His eyes were locked on the slowly darkening sky until they finally nodded off to sleep on their own.
-~-~-~-~-~
Herb Gardens paced anxiously around his vast study. Orchid was late getting back from her errands, and he expected some form of reply from the city council about news of his daughter. It was getting darker as the sun was starting to vanish from view, and every passing minute only ate away at his normally rock-solid resolve. His years in service to the Princess had taught him a great many things, and one of them was that eating was not a way to deal with nervousness. But he did that, too.
The plate of chocolate almonds was nearly clean, and his thoughts were racing like mad. Had something happened to Felicity? Was he going to get her back after all this time? Or was she long gone? He plopped another almond into his mouth and continued doing laps around his desk, trying to think of something to stay sane. All he could see was the face of a small, crying filly with the cutest black mane and beautiful amber eyes, that were then shut and shedding tears of hunger. The first time he’d met his daughter.
It had been far too long. When Rose Gardens died, Herb’s job had been put at risk. He could not take care of a child and keep working as a chef in the castle. The Princess had done everything she could for him, but the decision had been made to send Felicity into the adoption program when he had failed to take proper care of her. They had sent two guards to take her away from him, and Herb had fought the legal system as hard as he could to get her back. But he knew, deep down, it was in her best interest, even if it would kill him to see his only daughter taken from him this way.
But now he had money. He had a beautiful, luxurious home in Canterlot with a wonderful maid who could watch Felicity when he was working. His job situation had become more fortuitous: instead of a lowly chef in the kitchen working thirty hours a week, he was now the head baker and able to come and go as he pleased. He had developed a personal relationship with the Princess, who supported his endeavor to find his daughter. Everything had seemed opportune.
Up until three days ago, when he’d learned of the incident in Yearlingdale.
Orchid busted through the door, shocking Mr. Gardens rather badly.
“Ah!” he cried. It didn’t take long for him to regain his composure. “Orchid, welcome back. Any mail for me?”
“There is, sir.” She snatched a letter from her saddlebag and held it out for him. He levitated it to his side and opened it, reading carefully every word on the page. “Sorry I’m late, by the way. I was held up at the grocer.”
Herb wasn’t paying attention, as Orchid had expected. He was lost in the letter.
Dear Mr. Gardens,
We regret to inform you that the Yearlingdale orphanage offices are closed until further notice. Please redirect any further inquiries to the Head of Public Services. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Regards, City Council
“The orphanage is....closed?” Herb echoed. “How is this possible? Surely they didn’t evict the Lighthearts over this....”
“It’s very possible, actually,” Orchid offered. “There may be more to this incident than you think.”
“Pack my suitcases, Orchid. I will meet with the Princess tomorrow morning, and then I depart for Yearlingdale. One way or another, I will sort this out.”
“What would you have me do in your absence, sir?”
“Just....” Herb stopped. It occurred to him how short he’d been with his servant since this quandary had arisen. “....watch the house. Do as you please, but don’t make a mess.”
“Yes, sir.” She turned to leave the room, to begin her chores.
“Orchid?”
“Yes sir?”
“I’m sorry.”
She stopped, turning again to face him. “For what?”
“I’ve been very impatient with you this last week. I feel I need to apologize.”
“It’s quite alright, sir. You’ve been under a lot of stress with this problem.”
“You’ll be expecting a bonus in your check this coming payday, Orchid.”
“Thank you kindly, sir. Please excuse me.” Then she left the room, leaving Herb Gardens alone with his thoughts once more. He would not be able to sleep that night.
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do I say first? naaa
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2 out of 2? great!
“I’d start with his office, I think.” Tinder pointed out a slightly tall, round building near the center of town. “It’s still bright out, and I doubt highly he’d lock up for the night so early in the afternoon.”
-Ok, I wondered if this might not be in the pre-Diarchy or early Diarchy period, given how messed up the laws seem to be, but this is the first indication that it, at least, isn't during the time of the show, or it would be HER office etc.
It’s just the only one that isn’t some quaint little hut or country-style general store.”
-Ok, so definitely very early. Although, unless Ponyville was destroyed and then re-founded, this has to be during Granny Smith's lifetime, which means it it during Celestia's rule... which leaves me feeling like the legal stuff was an a plot-pull, in the Brony-talk definition of "plot".
Just because the buildings aren’t all three or more stories high doesn’t mean their quaint, Tinder.
-OK, so the architecture could be as INTERESTING as we know (tree-library, Carolsel Boutique, joke shop, Sugar Cube Corner, as examples of the style).
Before anyone could try to understand what was happening, she vanished in a cloud of smoke, running full gallop back into the center of town
-Ok, you BETTER have them be surprised about the gender of the Mayor, or have this explicitly set before or after her terms of office.
The group looked to see a lavender alicorn trotting up to them from the other direction.
-Oh, right, I forgot I found this story while looking for Twilicorn fics. Well, that means that the Mayor Mare COULD have been voted out of office over two years ago (when the main trio of character's for this story's parents died).
I’m Twilight Sparkle.
-She must be new to the whole Princess thing, or she wouldn't bother introducing herself since everyone would already know her name from the news.
“Are you by chance related to the royal chef in Canterlot?”
-Well, that would explain it... is somepony trying to kidnap Felicity for real for leverage to get him to poison someone important (I don't know if the princesses could be harmed by poison in your fanon, but it is plausible). Or maybe revenge for something he did years ago?
“Oh, the mayor is a mare? I didn’t... well, thank you, Prin... err, Twilight.”
-Different mayor? Or just an unclear letter?
“Let’s just go meet the Mayor so we can get home,”
-Consider "get to our new home". Also, I wonder if Twilight has enough power to overrule any misconduct charges they might get for bringing Felicity with them herself, or if that would require her to write Celestia? Not that Twilight ever seems to appeal to Celestia to solve problems... well, maybe for Tanks "torticopter".
Lightheart? I knew your mother and father, alright.
-Ok, same mayor, and I am guessing that the job is a lifelong one if there parents knew she would still be doing it.
“You’ve done so much for us, though. We couldn’t ask-”
-Wasn't that half the reason they came to Ponyville? The house being the first? Also, the house is a singular item, no matter how significant, so you might want to rephrase the first sentence.
You must work to earn your new home,
-Ok, so the JOBS are the only things she is really doing for them?
near the front gate of town.
-Speaking of which, I'm jumping back to this to comment that I don't know when Ponyville would have added gates. I guess this is a few years after Twilight accended and the size of the town (growth due to having a Princess living there) indicated some improvements? I mean goodness knows if I lived within walking distance of a place like the Everfree Forest, I'd want a wall around my town, just to be on the safe side (well, it wouldn't help against parasprites, cockatrices, or manticores, but still... every little bit helps).
It was....your parent’s home, actually.
-This doesn't jive with it being a recent construction to me.
I’ll assign you to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow.
-Equestria is now a communism economically? The Cake's don't own Sugarcube Corner and thus get to decide who gets to work there, rather than having workers assigned by the Mayor?
They need another good pastry chef to work while Mr. and Ms. Cake are away on business this week.
-Ok, that works. "assign" seems like it was a bad word choice.
“We can’t all be Tinder Lighteheart,
-And from much earlier we have this, which I only just now realized was a misspelling.
for the first time in her life, she was going to make friends.
-And not have to move away? They didn't tell her about the letter then? Her dad is going to track her down pretty quick I would think, especially if they aren't total idiots and send him a letter explaining matters.
“Unless we took the long way, that is. Burglars, maybe?
-Missing closing quotes.
I’ve never thrown a surprise party before.
-She helped with Pinkie Pie's party in "Party of One".
I’ve just been cleared out of my lifelong home, forced out of my favorite job, and sent to a whole new place against my will.
-Well, she probably lived in her library tower with Spike for a while... or maybe she didn't live there? And she certain WAS sent against her will, and given responsibilities that she MIGHT not have been used to, and CERTAINLY didn't appreciate. Of course, she thought at the time that the move was just for a few days.
That would have saved us a lot of grief, too, with the Nightmare Moon incident.
-Not really... the only thing that would have been different would have been that SHE would have had a better day leading up to the SSC, and that she might have managed to activate the Elements before Nightmare Moon teleported them a few hundred feet.
“I heard a rumor that the banished Princess had been reinstalled up in Canterlot. How were you involved in that?”
-What. The. Buck?! So all of the three seasons we currently have happened in less time that it took for the news of the return of Celestia's beloved sister to spread in a country that canonically has newspapers? I would have thought that Celestia would have had the joyous news declared in every town immediately (and if she was thinking ahead one tenth as much as many people think she was, she already had the announcements secretly printed, since either her sister would be back, or everypony would be freezing to death in eternal night... I guess the Elements COULD have banished Luna for another thousand years instead of purifying her, or even a de-powered Luna could have still hated everponies guts, but still... that would just delay things a little).
plus Felicity – no, Tinder considered her part of their family –
-Yeah, MAJOR plot-hole (NOT in the euphemistic sense of "plot") that they aren't sending Mr Garden's a letter, and thus still consider Felicity part of the family, rather than emotionally getting ready to let her go.
But he knew, deep down, it was in her best interest, even if it would kill him to see his only daughter taken from him this way.
-He has a mansion, but couldn't afford a nanny?
But now he had money. He had a beautiful, luxurious home in Canterlot with a wonderful maid who could watch Felicity when he was working.
-Guess he got promoted a lot in the mean time?
I will meet with the Princess tomorrow morning, and then I depart for Yearlingdale.
-Which would explain why he might miss THEIR LETTER?
2535596
You seem quite convinced you know how this story ends
To address a few of your concerns: Ponyville and Yearlingdale are basically opposite ends of the world. Yearlingdale is actually incredibly close to Equestria's border with the ocean, whereas Canterlot and Ponyville are much farther inland. Celestia and Luna's rule over Yearingdale is loose, hence the city council and the more judicially run market sector. News of Princess Luna's reinstatement is common knowledge, but the Lighthearts are not entirely savvy to the goings-on in Equestria; they busied themselves with the maintenance of the Orphanage and not much else. Rumors, but nothing confirmed.
The story itself is, for the most part, complete to a certain point. I am currently finishing the 6th chapter, and thus, I know what happens regarding Felicity and Herb Gardens, and how the Lighthearts approach the issue. I myself am adopted, and have a brother brought out of foster care, so I am... not quite intimately acquainted with the rules, but close. What Tinder and his siblings have is temporary joint custody of a foster child, or the equivalent thereof. Don't worry, from a legal standpoint, what they're doing is allowed. They're basically holding onto an orphan while the Yearlingdale City Council finds another facility to watch her.
The Lighthearts are also, for the most part, ignoring Herb Garden's imminent approach. There is tension there, and I plan to break it soon.
Thank you for the grammar/spelling fixes. No matter how many times something gets preread something gets through every time.
If by "how it ends" you are referring to my frequent mentions of a letter, that was more in the way of a plot hole I felt I saw than a prediction.
2548833
There will be no letter, and it is not a plot hole. The judge notified the orphanage staff that Felicity was not ready to be received at another location, and that she needed a place to stay. The alternative was to surrender her to the government to be put into foster care. After that, it's out of the hooves of the city council. The Lighthearts had every right to take her with them simply because she was their responsibility after the orphanage closed. Rather than putting her up for foster care, they took her with them.
In a future chapter, they will tie up the legal end of that, so rest assured, a letter will not be necessary
I don't care if their plots are covered legally. I may have phrased some of that in a way that made it seem like that was the core issue, but even without that, they are taking a personal responsibility, in part, because the father asked them to look after his little girl until he could pick her up. Thus making the pick-up possible is just common decency.
2550184
Why would they want Mr. Gardens to find her? He's more or less the antagonist
2551638
I NEVER got that impression. I thought that she was in genuine danger from some third party (not the initial kidnappers of course), and Mr Gardens was anxious to get her to a protected location before things went bad.
2553135 [SPOILERS]
It really hasn't been set up yet. Chapters 4 and 5 explore Felicity's relationship with the Lighthearts a little more, and then right around Chapter 6 I drop a bombshell.
The tension exists in the fact that Felicity and the Lighthearts are growing closer. Something threatening to destroy their family, and that may or may not be the imminent, ever-looming approach of Herb Gardens.
As far as I'm aware, there's not danger or some strange entity that wants to cause harm to anyone. This is very much an E-rated story. The conflict hasn't really picked up quite yet, but it makes itself evident very soon.