Life in Equestria isn't all just peaches and cream. For some ponies, it can be hard and trying. This story follows the life of Ivory Blossom and his friends in their trials.
Life in Equestria isn't all just peaches and cream. For some ponies, it can be hard and trying. This story follows the life of Ivory Blossom and his friends in their trials.
"Oh no, here she comes... Sorry Ivory, I tried to warn you."
"..."
"What have we here? A sleeper? Get up you worthless orphan!" *crack!* "Yipe!"
"Good, good. Now! Thanks to this orphan's laziness, you all get burnt breakfast this morning!"
We all groaned, but stopped as Helga cracked her whip again and left the bedroom. "Why didn't you wake me up before she got here?" I asked Flash as we all started making our way towards what would be a worse breakfast than usual. "You know she's always this mean whenever one of us is sleeping in"
"I tried! But you wouldn't budge."
"Did you try poking me?"
"Yes."
"Biting me?"
"Gross, no."
I had to chuckle at this. "Kidding, how out was I?"
"Very. You didn't even twitch when I shook you."
"But I could be woke up with Helga's whip." I quipped. "Maybe I should get one for whenever you pull any more all nighters"
"Stow it! Eat!" Helga bellowed as she cracked her whip and pointed to the kitchen table. We each took the seats that we always took. Being a Pegasus I fluttered up to my seat and Flash climbed into his. "Euagh! This is gonna be rough Ive..." Flash whispered as he caught whiff of the breakfast laid out before us.
"I know, she isn't much of a cook anyways when she doesn't purposefully screw up our food" I whispered back, holding my hoof over my nose. "Eat!" Helga cried as she cracked her whip. On command, we all started forcing back the charcoal called breakfast.
~<(^)>~
After breakfast, most of us went back to our room while the rest stayed behind to clean the kitchen. "What chores do you have for today Ivory?" Flash asked me as we did the dishes. "I think that they're dusting, ironing, and..." I had to pause a minute to yawn. "...and sweeping. What about you?"
"Ironing, sweeping, and gardening. You gonna be able to stay awake long enough to finish them all?"
"Heheh, maybe. So long as someone is around to keep me awake"
"Oh I can wake you up right now." He said as he splashed dishwater in my face.
"Hey!" I cried as I splashed him back. Soon we were splashing each other back and forth until Helga came in and cracked us both with her whip. "No goofing off, Scrub!" She cried with another crack. Instantly, we cut the small talk and started working twice as fast as we had been.
I guess now is as good a time to introduce myself as any. My name is Ivory Blossom, and I am one of the "orphans" at Manehatten Orphanage. Though it should really be called Helga's slave house and we should be called slaves instead of orphans because that's pretty much what we are here. I'm a young Pegasus with a sea green coat and light blue mane and tail. Like my friend Flash has pointed out, I like to stay up all night. Mainly because lately, whenever I don't; I'll wake up with weird cuts and bruises on my wings and face and- Oh! hold that thought! Someone's here to visit us!
The bell on the door chimed as it swung open to reveal a nice looking unicorn couple. They were very well dressed, the stallion was wearing a brown trench-coat and fedora while the mare was wearing a slick black dress.
"Welcome to to Manehatten Orphanage! How can I help you?" Helga asked in her fake pleasantness that she only reserved for potential adopters. "Yes, my wife and I were looking to adopt a son seeing as how the doctors said that she is unable to bear foal."
"Oh of course! We have lots of strong, hard working colts here. Oh boys~" She called and me, Flash, and all the other colts within earshot came running. "As you can see, they are all very well behaved and will come when you call. Now, how many were you looking to adopt?" She asked, almost a little too high in spirits that they would take more than one of us.
"Oh, we were just looking for one thank you. And we also wanted a Unicorn so that we could pass on the magic knowledge of my family" The stallion said, causing everypony who wasn't a unicorn's heart to sink as they walked off to continue with their chores. "Sorry Ive, maybe next time." Flash said as I walked past him to continue with the days chores.
~<(^)>~
We had already finished the dishes so I moved on to dusting the big living room. After awhile, I heard a small voice from behind me. "H-hi Ivory." I turned to see a yellow unicorn with a limp orange mane and tail standing behind me.
"Oh, hey there Lemon Wedge. What's up?" I asked when I saw the shy filly.
"O-oh! Not mush.. I mean! Much, I was just wondering if you'd help me get the top shelf over there, I can get to it with my magic but I can't see what I'm doing that high up" She said as she pointed to the shelf over by the window. "You know I'm still a flutterer, Lemmy. I can't fly up that high."
"Oh! That's ok! I shouldn't have asked..." She said, backing away slowly. I sighed, I can't believe she hasn't broken down yet from Helga's shouting, the poor mare.
"How good have you gotten with your magic?" I asked. She seemed to perk up when I asked that.
"A lot better! I can open the refrigerator door with it now! don't tell Helga..." She whispered.
"Don't worry, I'm not quite ready to die," I chuckled. "Do you think you would be able to lift me?" Her cheeks started to glow a faint red when I asked that. "Oh, oh my! I don't know, I've never been very strong but I could give it a try..." She said as she started to to crawl up under me.
"Not like that! With your magic you silly filly!" I said as I jumped back. "Oh, of course, how silly of me..." She looked like she was about to cry, so I ruffled her mane with my hoof. "Don't worry about it Lemmy, we're all silly fillies every now and then" She giggled and started levitating me. She had done a really good job up here, I hardly had to dust at all.
"Thank you so much for introducing us!" I stopped dusting and listened in on the conversation coming from the hall, completely oblivious to the weakening magical influence on my body.
"Oh no, Thank you! I'm always happy whenever I can get these wonderful fillies into a home of their own!"
"Heh. or just out of your mane, you mean witch." I thought to myself as I read between the lines of Helga's words.
"Well anyways, We'll take good care of-" I didn't hear the name of the colt they had picked because the next thing I knew I had fallen on top of a yellow unicorn who was blushing incredibly at being tangled in the hooves of a colt.
"What do you two think you're doing!?" We both looked towards the fuming blood red unicorn that was Helga standing over us. "We may not treat each other like brothers and sisters here, but that does NOT mean that you can just get jiggy with it in the middle of a dusty living room!" She bellowed as she levitated both of us in her dark purple aura. I tried to explain to her that it wasn't what it looked like and that we were just trying to reach the top shelf but she would have none of it.
"Enough! Ten lashes for both of you and no supper! And since you two are so close.." She said with every drop of venom she could muster into it as she levitated a rope out of a nearby drawer and tied it around us as tightly as possible to where we could still breathe. We were begging her not to do it like that but it was a wasted effort as she brought the whip down on both our flanks at the same time.
We were both crying our eyes out by the 3rd lash but I was a small stream compared to Lemon Wedge, which is understandable seeing as how me and Flash would get into trouble almost every day and she hardly even gets a passing glance from Helga unless she's the first kid she sees whenever she has an extra chore to do. After she finished reddening our flanks, she turned away and walked off, probably to see that there weren't any other fillies or colts getting "jiggy with it"
"Owww...." I whined as we laid there on the floor.
"She didn't even bother to untie us..." Lemon Wedge whimpered beside me.
"Yeah, she leaves us tied up until we get out of it on our own.." I explained, hissing at the pain I was feeling in my flank. "I remember the first time she did this to me and Flash, we were stuck together for a whole week before somepony told us" I chuckled, remembering how crazy that week was.
"Really?! O-oh my, I don't want to be stuck to you for a whole week! I mean! I do.. I mean! I wouldn't mind.. I mean!" I cut off her rambling by putting my hoof in her mouth.
"Don't worry, lets just go ahead and find some scissors so we don't have to be like this any longer than we have to"
~<(^)>~
After we got the ropes off we went back to our chores, I went to go iron while Lemon Wedge went out to garden. I expected to find Flash already sweeping the main hallway but he wasn't there. I figured that we got out of sync with lining up our chores because I got in trouble without him, so I just went ahead and started sweeping the house.
After awhile, dinner was ready and everypony but me who was sweeping went ahead to the kitchen to eat. I put my broom up and walked over to the living room to wait until they were done. It looked like Helga had gone out and gotten food that was actually edible just to torture me and Lemon Wedge. Luckily for her I was the only one in the living room so she didn't have to be tormented like I- "H-hey Ivory.." My wings poofed out in surprise and I nearly learned to fly at the soft sound of her voice.
"Jeez Lemmy.. You nearly gave me a heart-attack!" I said, calming down a bit.
"O-oh, I- sorry... I'll just go.." She said, trying to hid the mistiness in her eyes by turning around. "Wait," I said with a sigh. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. You just startled me is all." I motioned for her to come sit by me on the couch. "Whats up?"
"Oh, nothing. I'm just a little sore still from earlier" She said as she rubbed her flank. "Yeah, I'm not sure about you, but I counted fifteen lashes instead of ten." I joked, trying to lighten the mood about that subject.
"How could you even count during all of that? I could hardly think of my own name when all that was happening."
"I'm more used to it than you are, not exactly something I pride myself in; so I could still think relatively clearly during it all." I explained.
"Oh, ok-What happened to your wing!?" She gasped when she saw that the cut on my wing had started bleeding again. "Huh? Oh, that. I'm not sure actually. I've been waking up with them lately on my face and wings, they're actually the reason I've- Whoa! What are you doing?!" I cried as she started doing something to my wing with her magic.
"Oh dear! I didn't hurt you did I?"
"No, but what were you doing?"
"Oh, I just thought that it looked really painful so I was going to see if I could fix it up, I've been doing it for a lot of the girls who had gotten a lot of lashings and-"
"Lemmy," I draped my wing over her causing her to squeak. "You're rambling again."
"O-oh" She said with a bit of a blush. I took my wing off of her and we just sat there awkwardly while we listened to the others eat, causing both our stomachs to growl. Man, she really wanted to torment us tonight.
"You wanna go get something to eat?" I finally asked after awhile.
"B-but we aren't aloud any supper tonight!" She said, no shortage of alarm in her voice.
"She just said no supper, meaning she wasn't going to fix us anything tonight. She didn't say we couldn't go out and about. And if we 'happen' to get something to eat, how is she going to find out? Besides, me and Flash always do this whenever we aren't allowed any supper"
"O-ok" She said with a smile as she got up, stomach growling as she did. "That's the spirit" I chuckled as I got up, my own stomach calling out as well. We both laughed at our stomachs agreement to our decision and went out to go get something to eat.
~<(^)>~
It was sunset when we went out so we took a walk in central park while it was still light, she seemed to be alot hungrier than I was because she could hardly walk without leaning on me; and then we headed over to Guy's Equestrian Kitchen and Bar for supper.
We walked into the dive and saw a tan unicorn with a spiked white mane and black handlebar mustache with rose-tinted sunglasses mixing a cocktail behind the bar. "Hey Guy!" He stopped shaking the drink and looked over towards the door and smiled.
"Ive! Get you're sorry flank up here!" I gladly trotted up to the bar while Lemmy was a little hesitant at first, but followed behind slowly. He finished serving the drink to the other pony at the bar then came up to me and messed up my mane with his hoof.
"How's my favorite trouble maker?" he asked.
"Hehe, I'm good. We got sentenced to no supper."
"Course ya did, otherwise you wouldn't be here" He quipped.
"You two want the usual?"
"I do, but Flash ain't with me this time."
"Heh, I find that hard to believe. He gets into more trouble than I did when I was your age."
"It's true, I haven't seen him since this morning actually. Anyways, I'm got Lemmy here in trouble with me earlier today"
"Aw c'mon Ive, leave the innocents out of your schemes." He chuckled. "Now where is the unlucky colt?"
"SHE, is actually sitting right next to me" I said, trying to hide a chuckle so her blush didn't grow any brighter.
"Oh, terribly sorry Miss. I guess Lemmy is just what this feather brain here calls ya." He said as he gave me another noggie.
"Oh no, it's fine. It's better than what some of the other kids at the orphanage call me."
"Why do they call you that anyways?" I asked.
"I don't know..."
"Well, my name is Guy Fieri." He said as he held out his hoof.
"I'm Lemon Wedge" She said with a smile as she met his hoof.
"Now what can I get for you two?"
"Oh, I'll just have an apple cider."
"Me too, and an order of garlic fries"
"Two ciders and a garlic fry, coming up!" He said as he grabbed a couple of mugs in his magic and quickly filled them with the sweet drink and put the order in at the kitchen. "Here ya go!" He said as he slammed them on the counter. "Thanks Guy." I said as I reached to pull out the bits I had to pay for the meal but he stopped me. "Don't even think about it Ive, it's on the house!"
"Thanks Guy!" I said as I took a big swig of cider. "So what'd you two do anyways to lose your supper privileges?" He asked as the garlic fries were brought out to us. Lemmy stopped drinking and started to get a slight blush.
"Ehehehe, you ever had someone walk in on you at a really bad time and think something is happening that is the exact opposite of whats actually happening?" He put down the glass he had been polishing and paid full attention to our story.
"Maybe, what did they think and what was actually happening?"
"Well y'see, me and Lemmy here were dusting and she couldn't see what she was dusting on the top shelf and I'm still a flutterer so I wouldn't have been able to fly up there for long. So Lemmy levitates me up there and looses her concentration and I fall on top of her and then Helga walks in and gives us the double lash, Y'know the one that me and Flash are always getting; and no supper and now here we are!" I said, taking a breath at the end and a swig of cider.
"Heheh, that's an interesting way to take a mare out on a first date" He quipped, causing me to do a spit-take and Lemmy to blush her brightest yet.
"Date?! No! It's not like that!" I tried to explain.
"Mhmm, what did you two do before you walked in here?" He asked. "We went for a walk in the park-Oh! While I'm thinking of it, can we get an extra order of garlic fries? I think she's really hungry cause she had to lean on me practically the whole walk." I asked, causing Guy to fall over laughing and Lemmy to blush even brighter and hide as much in her mane as she could. "Aha, Ah-ha.. ok, I'm done now. But you two should probably head on back, it's almost closing time."
"Alright, thanks for the ciders Guy. Cya later!"
"Bye Ive! Bye Lemon Wedge, good luck with that feather brain of yours!"
She waved bye and turned away before her face could turn any redder.
~<(^)>~
As we were walking back it started to rain so we started to run back.
"Hey, what did Guy mean when he said 'good luck with that feather brain of yours'? You're not a feather brain, you're really smart." I asked while we were running.
"I-I don't know." she said, I thought I saw a blush on her face but I couldn't tell through the rain. When we got to the orphanage, we saw a hooded pony walk up the steps with a basket in its mouth.
"Oh no.." I whispered as we dove into a nearby bush. "This is just terrible"
"What? What's going on?" Lemmy asked.
"That pony there is dropping off a foal on the doorstep, it's just terrible"
"Oh.." The pony knocked on the door and bolted off before it was answered, leaving the basket.
When the door was opened Helga looked around and saw the foal in the basket and gave a disgusted look and slammed the door.
"Um, Ivory. Are you ok?" Lemmy asked as she saw I was starting to get worked up. "No, I'm not... Helga, I knew she was mean, but I didn't know that she was heartless. To just leave a poor foal out in the rain like this... YOU JUST DON'T DO THAT!!!" I screamed, slamming my hoof into the brick wall beside us.
I was brought out of my rage by the faint sound of crying. I quickly snapped my head up and looked at Lemmy, who looked scared but wasn't crying. That's when I turned my attention to the basket and saw the blankets shifting around a bit. "Oops.." I quickly rushed up the stairs to the basket and started rocking the crying foal in my hooves.
"It says here her name is Scootaloo." Lemmy said, who was holding up a piece of paper beside me.
"Shh, Shhh, it's ok Scootaloo, I'm sorry I scared you.." I cooed, trying my best to calm her down.
"Let me try." Lemmy said as she took the balling Scootaloo in her magical aura and started singing in the most angelic of voices.
"Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, Quiet now it's time to go to bed.
Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, Quiet now it's time to go to bed.
Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, Quiet now it's time to go to bed.
Drifting, off to sleep, exciting day behind you.
Drifting, off to sleep, let the joy of dreamland find you.
Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, Quiet now it's time to go to bed.
Hush now, Quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now, Quiet now It's time to go to, bed
Drifting, off to sleep, exciting day behind you.
Drifting, off to sleep, let the joy of dreamland find you."
Scootaloo quickly fell back to sleep after Lemmy had finished singing.
"Wow, I didn't know you could sing Lemmy" She blushed at my complment.
"Oh, I'm not that good.." She said with a small smile.
"Are you kidding, you're amazing! Where did you hear that anyway?"
"I actually don't remember, I've just always known it. Maybe somepony would sing it for me, before I was..." She trailed off toward the end and I could see tears welling up in her eyes as she put Scootaloo back in the basket. I held out my hooves offering her a hug which she accepted.
"Thank you." She whispered with a smile as we released from the hug.
"Of course, what are friends for?" I said with a smile.
"Yeah, friends..." She said, her smile fadding a little before she sneezed. "Lets get outta this rain, don't wanna get sick"
About a week passed since me and Lemon Wedge brought Scootaloo in from the rain when Helga left her out there. She found out about it a few days afterwards but couldn't do really anything since Lemmy and all the other girls had been taking care of her the whole time. She still refused to take care of her though, even though it's her job.. Speaking of jobs, I got a part time one over at Guy's Equestrian Kitchen and Bar to help take care of the little filly's needs like formula, foal toys, and diapers. Sweet Celestia, the diapers... Luckily I wasn't the one who had to change them but I saw the after effects and it sure made me glad that I didn't. Anyways, life has been a little better lately. Definitely less-Oh! Customers!
"Welcome to Guy's Eques-Flash?! Is that you?!" I said as I saw my best friend walk in with the two ponies that adopted him.
"Ive! Long time no see!" He said as we brohoofed each other. "What're ya doin' here? Did Helga start punishing you with no breakfast?"
"Nah, Guy got me a job here so I could help take care of a foal that somepony left on the doorstep. Don't ask, it's a long story."
"Alright then, oh! These are my parents!" He said, gesturing to the two ponies behind him. I have to admit, I was a bit sad at first that Flash was the one they picked that day we found Scootaloo. But seeing how happy he is now that he's out of that prison camp of an orphanage makes me happy too. "Hello there, I'm Ivory Blossom. Me and Flash here were the best of friends back at the orphanage."
"Ah yes, I remember you. You came running up with Flash that day didn't you?" Flashes father said.
"Yep, me and Ive here were inseparable!" Flash said as he threw an arm around my neck. "Got into a lot of trouble too" I added. "I can imagine," Flashes mother said with a chuckle. "My name is Dewdrop Wintermist. And this is my husband, Arthur Wintermist."
"And I'm Flash Wintermist!" Flash added with a joyous leap that rivaled how high I could flutter. "So how's life? I bet you're bored out of your mind without me there."
"Not really, I've been hanging out with Lemon Wedge a lot lately and helping take care of Scootaloo."
"Oh? So she finally told you?"
"Told me what?"
"Never mind." He said with a chuckle that said he knew something I didn't. "C'mon bro, what is-"
"HEY! What's tha hold up?!" I looked back and saw that a decent sized line was forming with quite a few irritated ponies waiting in it. "Just a second! Guess we should catch up later, don't wanna lose my job on my first day." I said as I showed Flash and his parents to their table.
~<(^)>~
It took me awhile to tend to the other ponies that had accumulated in line while I was catching up with Flash. And right after I got the last one seated the lunch rush came in and I was busy for another 2 hours. Flash had stopped me to say they were leaving and that I was welcome to come visit anytime I wasn't busy.
"Whatdya think of your first day so far?" Guy asked when I took a seat at the bar once things had finally calmed down until supper time. "It's hard, but worth it since I got to see Flash again." I said as I propped my head against my hoof on the counter.
"How's that rascal doin'? I saw him earlier but was too busy at the bar to go say hi before they left."
"He's doing great! His parent's are super nice too, he's practically living in the royal palace compared to that crummy orphanage."
"I believe it," He chuckled. "I'd imagine a run-down shack's a step-up from that place."
"It probably would be!" I said, causing both of us to laugh. "Hey, looks like you got a customer over there" He said, pointing over to the entrance. "Aye, I'm on it." I said as I made my way over there. "Welcome to Guy's Equestrian Kitchen and Bar, right this way please."
After the Supper rush, I hung up my apron and said good night to Guy. When I walked outside, I saw Lemon Wedge waiting for me with Scootaloo in her saddle bag. "Hey Lemmy. Hi Scoots!" I said as Scootaloo giggled when I came out. Lemmy had one of the warmest smiles I had ever seen when she saw Scootaloo so happy to see me. "Shes been looking around for you all day, it was really adorable." Lemmy said as we were walking back to the orphanage.
"Hehe, wish I could've seen it."
"Abauafu! Hahaha!" Scootaloo cooed, as I nuzzled her mane. "I-it's a good thing we went out that night.. Who knows what would've happened to her if she had stayed out in the rain like that."
"I don't even want to think about what could've happened to her if we hadn't gotten back when we did!" I said as I looked over to the filly that was drifting off to sleep in her little pouch. "It feels good doesn't it, Lemmy?" I said, causing her to squeak. "W-what?"
"Knowing that you're an important pony in another ponys life and you play a special role in it." Her eyes seemed to sparkle when I said that.
"I-Ivory.. I feel the same way!" She said, almost lighting up her horn in joy. "Haha, I hope so! Cause I think Scoots here looks up to you as her mom."
"O-oh, yeah.. That..." She said with a sigh. I was about to ask her what was wrong when I felt a raindrop hit my snout, remembering what I had overheard one of the customers said about the weather tonight. "Uh oh, we better hurry. I think the Pegasi have a doosey planed for tonight." I said as we increased out pace to a fast trot.
By the time we got back the rain was coming down like crazy and most everypony else had already gone to bed. We got Scootaloo cleaned up and ready for bed and then we got ourselves clean. As we went towards our own bedrooms, scootaloo was whining about wanting to go with me instead of Lemon Wedge tonight. I said that it would be fine and placed her on my back. "'Night Lemmy."
"Goodnight Ivory, Goodnight Scootaloo."
"Aha, Ivowee!" She cooed, causing both of us to D'awww before we went into our own bedrooms. "Ah.. 'Night Scoots." I said as I draped my wing over her and drifted off to sleep.
~<(^)>~
The next morning I woke up to an orange foal nibbling on my ear. "Hehe, mornin' Scoots." She didn't answer me of course, just kept nibbling on my ear. Then she bit down particularly hard on it. "Ow!" Wait, that shouldn't have hurt. I sat up and opened her mouth to see a couple of teeth already coming in. "Wow Scoots, yer already getting teeth!" I said in amazement. "You're growing up so fast" I thought to myself as I got up.
It was still a few hours before Helga came around to wake everypony up for "Breakfast". She hadn't gotten any better at cooking, but at least she was more relaxed about getting us up in the mornings and didn't pull out the whip on anypony who overslept. I walked over to the girls bedroom to get Lemmy to help open the fridge so I could get Scootaloo a decent breakfast. When I walked up to her bunk, she was mumbling in her sleep. "..vory, there's somth.. I want to tell yo..."
"What is it Lemmy?" I asked, genuinely interested in what she was going tell me in her dream. She smiled at the sound of my voice in the real world. "I.." Then her eyes started to flutter open and she saw I was standing right next to her bunk with Scootaloo on my back. Instantly, her eyes became pin-pricks and she jumped up and hit her head on the bunk above her, causing Scootaloo to giggle. "Ivory!" She started in a panic. "H-how long have you been standing there??"
"Not long. I need your help to open the refrigerator before Helga wakes up, Scoots is hungry."
"Oh! Ok." She said as we walked downstairs to the kitchen. "D-did she wake you up by nibbling on your ear?"
"Yeah, why? Did it leave a mark?" I asked, trying to look at the ear she had been nibbling. "No, why would it? She doesn't have any teeth yet." She said as she opened the door of the refrigerator with her orange magic. "No but she will soon, look inside her mouth." I said as I fluttered up and grabbed her formula. I was getting better and better at flying by the day. "Wow! She's already getting her molars!" Lemmy said as she set Scoots on her back.
"Yeah, wait. If it didn't leave a mark, how did you know she woke me up by nibbling my ear?" I asked as we walked into the living room. "How do you think I've been waking up all week." She chuckled as she sat down on the couch and gave Scoots the bottle she was now holding in her aura.
I had the day off today so I spent it playing with Scootaloo while Lemmy did chores that had been assigned to her. About mid-afternoon, we heard the bell on the door chime as somepony came in. All the ponies that had finished their chores and were playing with me and Scoots got up and went to see who it was. I didn't pay it any mind though, ever since Scoots showed up I haven't really cared whether I got adopted or not. All I wanted was to do my best to make sure she was a happy and as safe as she could be in this- "Oh! She is, Precious!!"
"Huh?" I was snapped out of my dream world by a high pitched mares voice that was about 3 frequencies beyond tolerance. "I told you she was a doll!" I looked up and saw Helga standing behind a WAY too tan earth pony with an afro as big as the moon. Before I could do anything to stop her, she scooped up Scootaloo and started squeezing the life out of her. "Oh, my, GOODNESS! You are so cute I could just eat you up!" She said as she made fake nomming sounds on her neck.
"Eua?" Scootaloo cried as she looked at the pony like she was the craziest mare in Equestria, which she probably was if she thought she was gonna be getting Scootaloo.
"Awww, look at that. She likes you!" Helga said, obviously too happy about what was going on, though that wasn't saying much considering this other mare was WAY more ecstatic than her. "Ahhhh!" Scootaloo cried, reaching out for me. I was about to grab her out of the arms of this crazy mare and run all the way to Guy's, but a dagger filled glare from Helga stopped me in my tracks. "Oh! I'll be here first thing tomorrow to come pick her up!"
"Tomorrow?!" Me and Helga said at the same time, though for very different reasons. "Why tomorrow? Why don't you go ahead and take her now? The more time you spend together the better! WHY?!?"
"OH! BELIEVE ME, I want to just take her with me right now but I have to go get my apartment ready for her first. But believe me, I will be here first thing in the morning for her!" She said as she put Scootaloo down, who quickly ran behind my legs; and left. I was just left standing there, speechless as the final jingle of the bell sounded more ominous to me than it ever had. "Oh well, I was really hoping to get rid of the little brat today but first thing in the morning is fine too" Helga said as she walked off.
If it hadn't been for the cowering foal under my hooves I probably would have taken Helga's whip out of its secret spot right then and beat it across her flank until that stupid cutie mark of hers had worn away. But I had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment, like calming down the shaking Scootaloo at my hooves. I picked her up and started rocking her in my forehooves, causing her to bury her face in my shoulder.
"Shhh.. Shhhh.. It's ok, don't worry." I cooed, doing my best to calm her down. Lemmy was a lot better at this. "I'm not going to let them take you."
~<(^)>~
That night, after everypony had gone to sleep; I got up and started packing my saddle bags with all things that I would need, trying to fit it all into one side. There was a flashlight, a compass, a survival knife, about 10' of rope, and a map of Equestria with a small town circled on it. I had everything I thought I would need for the long journey I was about to take. Except..
I creeped down the hall into the girl's bedroom and walked up to Lemon Wedge's bunk, where I saw Scootaloo curled up inside her arms. Man, this is the one time I wish I was a Unicorn.. I gingerly lifted Lemmys arm up and grabbed Scootaloo by the scruff of the neck with my teeth, placing her in the saddle-bag I left empty, slipped them on, and left a note I had wrote earlier today for Lemmy in her hooves.
As I turned to leave, I heard a small rustling sound behind me. I turned to see Lemon Wedge sit up and glance at the note in her hooves, and then at me. "W-what are you doing..?" She asked, her eyes starting to tear up.
We stopped by Guy's for the night so that we could rest before setting out for the long trip that was ahead of us and to let Guy know that my first day in his employ was also my last. I grabbed the key out of the potted plant by the door and walked into the restaurant. I was glad that I had woken up Lemmy before when I got Scootaloo because she pointed out I had forgotten quite a few things like food and formula. "It's still not to late for you to turn around and head back." I told Lemmy as we sat down in a booth.
"I-I know."
"But you're still gonna come with us, aren't you?"
"Yes, s-somepony has to make sure you stay safe." She said. "A-and besides, I don't think I could handle living at that awful place without somepony with me."
"Ok then, we're in this together!" I said as I held out my hoof across the table. "Agreed." She said as she bumped my hoof with hers. "Auabu!!" Scootaloo cheered as she tried to bring her hoof up too ours above the table. Seeing that she couldn't, we giggled and brought our hooves down to her. "Alright, s-so what exactly is the plan?" Lemmy asked as she studied the map laid out on the table.
"We're here right now," I said, pointing to where Manehatten was on the map. "And we're trying to get here." I said as I pointed to the town I had circled on the map. "Now the fastest way to get there would be the 3 day train ride from Manehatten but I don't have enough bits for all of us so it looks like we're going to have to walk along the tracks which will take about a week or so.."
"Or," She said as she was studying the map while I explained our course. "We could hike over to Fillydelphia and then take the train over to... Where are we trying to get to again?"
"Ponyville."
"Right, we could take the train to Ponyville from Fillydelphia. I've heard that it's less expensive there.." She said, her voice trailing off towards the end. "Hmm.. Yes, yes! Then It will only take us 2 and a half days to get to Ponyville!" I said as I jumped up and flew above our booth, causing Scootaloo to laugh and try and join me in the air.
Unfortunately, I still wasn't a very strong flier and soon fell on top of Lemmy causing her to squeak. "Oof.." I looked down to see that when I landed on her she had been forced into a laying positon in the seat and I was sprawled out on top of her.
"Oops, sorry 'bout that." I said as I got out of the seat.
"I-i-it's fine, really!" She blurted out. "Aheu?" Scootaloo chirped, trying to figure out why Lemmys face had turned from yellow to red. "So! are we ready to head out?" I asked, eager to get going before sunrise. "Y-yes! Lets go!" She said as she got up.
~<(^)>~
I wrote a quick note to Guy and placed it in his apron so he'd find it in the morning and headed out. We had been walking for about two or three hours when we hit farm land and started smelling the fruits of the farm ponies labor. "S-should we stop for the night? I thought I heard some h-howling of in the distance." Lemmy said, trying her best to keep from shaking as we walked through the rows of fields. "Aeu.." Scootaloo whined as she was looking around across the fields from her pouch.
"Perhaps that would be a good idea, don't want to get too used to staying up all night." I said, starting to get a little freaked out by the emptiness of the field we were in also. "Let's set up camp at that tree over there!" I looked to where Lemmy was pointing and saw a tree standing against a dense forest. "Perfect!" I said as we ran over to it, trying to get away from the foreboding fields.
I sat my saddlebags down and stretched my wings out, they should really start making those things with Pegasi in mind. "Good night Lemmy." I said as I laid down. "Good night Ivory.." She said as she slipped her saddlebags off next to mine and laid down on the opposite side of them to me. "Ahu..." Scootaloo cooed as she snuggled up into my hooves. I nuzzled her mane and started to drift off.
Just as I was about to fall asleep when I heard the faint sounds of somepony sniffling. I peeked open an eye and saw that Lemmy was shaking all over. I got up, trying not to wake the sleeping Scootaloo as I grabbed her in my teeth and set her in Lemmys arms. I could tell it helped because she visibly started shaking less and wasn't sniffling as much. I smiled as I laid back down where I had been, wrapping my wings tighter to my body to fight back the cool air.
~<(^)>~
"Yaawn..."
"Good morning dear."
"Hmm?" I looked around. I woke up in a big bedroom with two ponies standing at the edge of the bed I was in. "Where am I?" I asked. The stallion chuckled at my question. "You're home son." Home.. thats right, this is nice. "What's for breakfast moma?"
"You're favorite, haybacon and blueberry muffins." She said with a smile.
"Oh boy!" I cried as I jumped out of bed. Just as I was about to run downstairs, I remembered somthing important. "Dad, where's Scootaloo and Lemon Wedge?" I asked. He gave me a puzzled look. "Who?"
"Scootaloo and Lemon Wedge." I said, starting to get worried.
"Sweetie, we've never heard those names before. Are you sure you aren't just confusing them with somepony you saw on T.v.?" Mom asked.
"No, they're some of my best friends from the-" Whatever words I was about to say next were caught in my throat when I saw what was hanging above the bed I was just in.
"Is somthing wrong son?" I didn't register what my dad had said as I kept staring at the two stuffed pony heads above my bed. "..no..." I whispered as I looked at the orange foals head. "..no.." I whispered again, gaining a little volume; as I shifted my gaze to the yellow coated fillys head to the left of the foals. Both of their eyes were shut but they had taxidermied grins to where it was like they had just taken a bite of the best ice cream in the world and it was making it harder and harder to think straight.
"NOOO!!!" I cried as I ran out of my room into the hall and started rocking back and forth like a little filly.
"Ivowy!" The world shouted at me, in an almost familiar voice. then it all got pulled up and away from me like a curtain, leaving nothing but white that soon faded into black.
~<(^)>~
I was kicking and thrashing about in my sleep, screaming as if somepony had placed a hot coal under my wing and was holding it there. "Ivory! Wake up! it's just a dream, WAKE UP!" Lemmy shouted at my thrashing form.
"Ivowy!" Scootaloo shouted, terrified to see me like this. My eyes snapped open, they were wet with tears from the nightmare I had just had. I looked around and saw a relieved Scootaloo and Lemon Wedge looking down at me. Without thinking, I jumped up and gave Lemmy the biggest hug I had ever given anypony. It startled her, but not enough to where she couldn't return the hug in full. I felt something tug at my tail and saw Scootaloo had it in her mouth and was looking up at me expectantly. I turned around and picked her up in my forehooves, holding her close. "W-what were you dreaming about?" Lemmy asked with a bit of a blush on her face.
"..I was dreaming I had a home..." I said, hopping she didn't ask any more questions.
"O-oh! Really?! What was it like?" She asked, eagerness to know written all over her face.
"I'd rather not talk about it just yet.." I said, looking off to the ground until Scootaloo nuzzled my neck and looked up at me.
"Oh, ok.. Well, um.... D-did you notice something strange?" Lemmy asked after a bit of an awkward silence. Now that I thought about it, I did.
"Shouldn't be daylight by now?" I asked.
"And didn't we set up camp at the edge of this forest?" She asked back, gesturing to all the trees that were all around us.
"That's right, what's going on here?" I asked to nopony in general.
"I don't know, but I don't like it.." She said, starting to shake. I put Scootaloo down and she crawled over to Lemon Wedge who picked her up in her hooves. "Where's the map?" She asked after she had calmed down and put Scootaloo on her back.
"I put it in my-" I stopped mid sentence and looked around the tree I had just woken up under. "Where's our saddlebags??" I asked, trying my best not to panic.
"I-I don't know! they were here when I woke up! Or at least I think they were..!" She said, starting to hyperventilate.
"No no! It's ok!" I said, placing my hooves on her shoulders, causing her to squeak and stop breathing altogether. "Breathe in..." I said, taking a deep breathe in as she copied me.
"Breathe out..." We released the breath we had taken in just now. I repeated the process until she had calmed down and started breathing normally again. "Now, let's look at what all our options are." I said, doing a much better job of keeping calm.
"W-well," She started out shakily. "W-we don't have a map, compass, food, water, formula or any other supplies. The tree-line is too thick to see the sky so we can't use that as a basis for navigation.. M-maybe you could fly up and get past the trees to see where we are and which way to go?" She asked hopefully. "No.. These branches are too thick for me to fly between even if I did have enough strength to fly that high." I said with a sigh.
"Oh, ok.." She said with a sigh of her own as she plopped her flank on the ground, causing Scootaloo to roll off; and hung her head in sorrow. "Hey, don't tell me you're giving up already. This is just a bump in the road, we'll get past it." I said as I sat down and draped a wing over her.
"H-how can you be so calm in a time like this?" She asked as she looked up at me with eyes that could let loose torrents of tears at any second.
"Because I have a great friend by my side," I said as I squeezed her a little tighter with my wing. "And a reason to keep going." We both looked back at Scootaloo who was poking at a mosey rock with her hoof. I felt Lemmy lean into me and whisper something but I couldn't quite make it out. I was about to ask her what she said but she seemed so happy with just sitting there I decided I'd ask her later.
~<(^)>~
After awhile, we decided that since we had no way of knowing which way we were going that we'd just choose a direction and hope for the best. I told Lemmy what had happened in my dream and how I would rather have her and Scootaloo instead of a family any day if it meant I had to lose either of them. When I told her that she had the warmest smile and gave me a big hug. After what felt like hours of walking, we came to a clearing with a wooden archway that led into what looked like was a less dense area of the forest.
Curious, we walked through and saw that it led into a small town. The population seemed to be mostly made up of bat ponies and earth ponies but every now and then you would see a unicorn. After awhile of walking, I decided we should probably find out where we were. "Excuse me," I said as I walked up to a bat pony. "Where are we?"
"You're in Hollow Shades man, nicest-Euagh!! What happened to your wings?!" He asked.
"What's wrong with my wings?!" I asked with no shortage of alarm.
"They're all...." He paused, trying to think of the right word. "..Fluffy."
"What? You mean my feathers? That's normal! Haven't you ever seen a Pegasus before?"
"Pega-wha?" He asked in confusion. Apparently not. "Um... We're lost and were wondering if you could help us find our way." Lemmy said.
"No you're not, I just told you you're in Hollow Shades. Nicest woods in all of Equestria!" He said as if it would explain anything.
"The name's Screech by the way, pleasure to meetcha."
"I'm Ivory Blossom, this is Lemon Wedge, and Scootaloo."
"Aie!" Scootaloo said as I introduced her. "When is the sun coming up?" I asked, thinking that it has been dark for far too long.
"That's the best part about this place," Screech said with growing joy. "It doesn't come up! there's an enchantment on this forest that makes it perpetually night time!" I was about to face hoof when I saw the building we were standing in front of. Yes! A train station! "Does the train here go to Ponyville?" I asked.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, but it only comes in every 2 days and it just left today." He said, causing me and Lemmy to groan. "I just got here today so I still have to find a house. But since you three aren't going to be staying for good like I am, I heard that the Apple family would be willing to provide lodgings for ponies like you, that is if you're willing to work."
"Do you know where we could find them?"
"No, I'm sorry I couldn't help you anymore than that."
"That's ok, good luck finding a house."
"Thank you! Good luck finding your Apples." We said our goodbyes to Screech and set out to find the Apple family.
After a bit of asking around we found out that The Apple family lived on a farm on the edge of town. We walked up to another wooden archway like the one we had come into town through, only this one had an apple carved into it that stood out even in the eternal darkness we were in. When we walked through it I thought we had left town and gone back into the forest we just came out of, but on closer inspection I saw that the trees here were carefully spaced apart so that each one could be accessed easily and that they were all apple trees.
Underneath one of them was a pink mare with a long green mane and three cupcakes of some kind on her flank bucking the tree and causing the apples to fall into buckets that were along its base. "Um.. Excuse me," Lemmy said when we walked up to her. "A-are you a member of the apple family?"
The mare stopped her bucking and turned to look at the three of us. "I should imagine so!" She said as she grabbed Lemmys hoof and shook it so hard that her whole body was shaking. "Th' name's Red Gala, and I help run this here orchard."
Lemmy was still shaking up and down from the hoof shake until Scootaloo had put her hooves on her shoulders to stable her. "I'm Ivory Blossom. And this is Lemon Wedge and Scootaloo." I said, gesturing to each of us as I introduced ourselves.
"Pleasure ta meetch' all, now what brings y'all here to Shaded Acres?"
"We need a place to stay until the train for Ponyville comes in and we heard that you might be able to help us."
"Well a'course y'all can stay here! But we're a'gona work ya fer those two days, y'up for it?"
"Of course! We'd be happy to help out while we stay here."
"Yeehaw!" She cried out. "Oh! And one more thing a fore we hit the hay, mostly just for my curiosity."
"Yes?"
"Ain't y'all two a might bit young to have a foal?" We looked at each other and then realized what she was talking about and instantly our faces flushed red and Lemmy tried to explain things. "O-o-oh no! I-it.. She's not ours.... Well, I g-guess she is.. But she's not OURS ours, she-" I stopped her rambling by putting a hoof in her mouth, causing Scootaloo to giggle.
"What Lemmy is trying to say here. Is that we watch her, but we didn't make her." I explained, causing Red Gala to chuckle at our little comedy act. "Aha, alright.." She said with a yawn. "Let's go ahead and start headin' back to the house, don't wanna be sleepy for your first day of workin' now."
She led us to a small two story farm house and showed us to our rooms. "I'll introduce y'all to the resta my family t'morow. For now sleep tight!" She said as we all went into our own room. The room I was in was very nice. It had green vertical striped wallpaper with apples on the stripes all over the room and a moderate sized oaken dresser with a mirror attached to it.
The bed was big and comfortable. It followed the same style that seemed to be the theme for the entire room. I must have been sleepier than I thought because as soon as I tucked myself up under the covers I fell asleep almost immediately.
~<(^)>~
It hardly seemed like anytime had passed when I saw Red Gala looking down on me and ringing a bell in my ear. "Rise 'n shine Ivey" She said as she rang the bell again, this time causing me to jump out of bed and flap my wings like mad. "'bout time ya got up, I let you an' yer marefriend sleep in cause y'all ain't used to us farm ponies hours but that don't mean y'all can sleep the day away." She said as she put the bell down on the dresser.
"Alright alright, I'm-" Wait, what was it she just said? Me and my- "Marefriend?! Oh no, we're just friends!" I explained. "Heheh, coulda fooled me," She chuckled, taking a step closer. "Does that mean yer available then?" She said, batting her eyes.
"I-" I stammered as I took a step back, causing her to laugh. "I'm just messin' with ya, I don't need a special somepony just yet. Too much of a distraction." She said as she walked out. "C'mon, the rest'a my family's been waitin' ta meetch' y'all."
I headed downstairs where I saw Lemmy sitting at the table with an old stallion in some sorta yodelers suit and a young colt a few years older than me and Lemmy. "Everypony, this 'er is Ivey Blossom!" Red Gala said as she followed up behind me.
"Actually, it's Iv-"
"Ivey, this 'er is my family! That there is my brother Ciderwash. And that's my Pappy Apple Strudel."
"Howdy do there Ivey! I was just tellin' yer friend here 'bout my days as a young apple bucker," Apple Strudel said with a sigh. "Those were the days.."
"Ah c'mon now pappy, this poor mare has already heard yer story once and me and Red Gala have heard it more times then I care to remember." Ciderwash said. "'asides, we gotta get to work. We already had to wait a good while fer this lazy feather brain to get up, I wouldn't be surprised if our spot in the market 'as already been taken."
"Now calm down there Washy, Tain't that late yet. We got plenty of time." Red Gala said, causing Ciderwash to sit back in his seat. "Now. Lemon Wedge, yer gonna be coming with me to the market."
"O-ok.." Lemmy squeaked at the mention of her name. "Ivey, yer gonna be helpin' Ciderwash harvest the western field that he didn't finish yesterday." Red Gala finished up. I was just about to walk out with Ciderwash when I remebered somthing that I can't believe I had forgotten. "Where's Scootaloo??" I asked, sounding a little more panicked than I meant to.
"Don't worry none sonny, she's still fast asleep in her room. I'll be keepin' an eye on her for ya while yer out and about." Apple Strudel said, calming my nerves immensely as I walked out to the fields to join Ciderwash. "So how many trees do we have left to harvest?" I asked when I joined Ciderwash out by a bunch of buckets.
"Not too many, about fifty or so." He said as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Fifty?!"
"Maybe seventy-five, nothing to bad." He said as he pushed some of the buckets over towards the west fields. I groaned as I followed him, pushing buckets of my own.
~<(^)>~
Hours passed as me and Ciderwash worked our tails off pushing buckets up to an apple tree, bucking them as hard as we could until they had all fallen out, pushing the full buckets back to the house, and repeating the process. "Are... We almost.. done?" I panted as I loosed another buck into the apple tree I was at.
"Just a few more trees." Ciderwash said as he was pushing some fresh buckets up to a tree.
"You said that an hour ago!"
"Yeah, but this time I mean it." He said as he bucked the tree he was at.
"Ugh!" I cried as I bucked my tree again, sending the rest of the apples it contained into the buckets. When I came back with fresh buckets I saw Ciderwash waiting under one of the trees that hadn't been emptied yet.
"This is the last tree," He said. "Why don't you go ahead and get it and we can head back for a break."
"Finally!" I cried as I pushed the buckets up to it and started bucking at the tree.
"I feel like we got off on the wrong hoof this morning. The names Ciderwash, but most ponies just call me Washy for short." He said, holding out his hoof. I stopped bucking long enough to shake his hoof.
"Ivory Blossom," I said as I released another buck into the tree, finishing the job. "But most ponies just call me Ivory or Ive."
"It's good to meet ya proper Ive." He said as we started pushing the buckets back to the house. "Likewise." I said. "Where're y'all from anyways?" He asked as we walked in the house and sat down at the kitchen table. "Manehatten." I said as I took a seat across from him. "Fancy, what brings you and you're marefriend down to a speck on the map town from a place like Manehatten?"
"Ok. One, she's not my marefriend. And two, the foal sleeping upstairs is why we left." I explained.
"Heh, coulda fooled me, 'specially with the looks I've seen her give ya. But how'd that little filly up there get you to come down here?" He asked.
"It's a long story."
"It's been a long day, what better way to end it than with a long story?" He said, genuinely wanting to know how a foal could've brought me and Lemmy out of a place like Manehatten.
I told him how we were orphans and about Guy and Helga and Flash and how me and Lemmy had never really hung out as much as we do before we had found Scootaloo and about the crazy mare who Helga was trying to pawn Scootaloo off on.
"And after a crazy night, or I guess it was a day cause of that enchantment; of wandering around the forest, we stumbled across this town and here we are!" I finished, leaving Washys mouth hanging agape.
"land sakes! That there is one heck of an adventure Y'all are on. Did any of the kids at the orphanage have their Cutie Marks or were you and Lemmy some of the only ones without em?" He asked.
"There were a few fillies and colts there with Cutie Marks but most of us were blank flanks."
"That makes sense, y'all didn't really have time to explore what yer special talent might be what with that horse of a caretaker always crackin' down on ya." I laughed at his description of Helga. "Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if Half the kids back there had their Cutie Marks worn off by her whip!" We both laughed for a bit at my terrible joke before he spoke up again.
"Hey! Ya wanna know how I got my Cutie Mark?" I calmed down and looked down at his flank. It bore an image of two criss-crossed clear bottles filled with some amber liquid. "Umm, is it for...." I was trying to guess what it was for, but Washy stopped me when he saw I wasn't going to get it anytime soon.
"Outta all the Apple family members all over Equestria, none a'them can brew Apple Cider like I can!"
"Really? It's been too long since I last had an Apple Cider."
"Come with me then." He said as he led me down to the basement. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! There were six giant cider barrels lining the walls, three to each side; each having a nozzle to drain its contents into a mug. And even more regular sized barrels stacked around them and behind a bar that was in the back.
"Have a seat at the bar, my good colt!" Washy called from behind the bar as he hefted a barrel with a nozzle attached to it on the counter and filled a mug with its contents. I took a seat on one of the wooden bar-stools and took a swig from the mug he had presented to me. Its rich flavors were amazing! This cider made Guy's taste like watered down apple juice! "Wow..." I said as I took another swig.
"It's good ain't it?" Washy said with a smile.
"It's the best cider I've ever tasted!" I said after I drained my mug.
"You should try some from that barrel there then." He said as he pointed to one of the big barrels behind me. Without hesitating I ran over and filled my mug to the brim with the amber liquid and proceeded to drain it. The cider in this barrel was different from what was in the other barrel. Where the other was sweet and savory, this one was fiery and burned going down my throat. I stopped drinking with a gasp and let out a few coughs, causing washy to run up and pat my back. "I recon y'all never had alcoholic cider before, have ya?" I shook my head and he chuckled as he downed what was left in my mug.
"Let's get you some nice cool lemonade, I imagine yer throats on fire right now!" He said as we walked back up to the kitchen.
~<(^)>~
Lemon Wedge and Red Gala had gotten to the market to find that Ciderwashes concerns about their spot being taken were misplaced as they set up shop and waited for some customers to come by. "I should probably tell you this now, b-but I'm not very good at talking to other ponies so I may not be of much use to you with selling your apples.." Lemmy said as she looked off towards the ground.
"I didn't figure ya fer a pony pony but seein' as how yer a Unicorn I figured that you'd at least be able to help assemble the stand and group together apples in a bag for the customers." Red Gala explained.
"Oh, ok.." Lemmy said. "Um.. Can I ask you something?"
"What's on yer mind?"
"How are you able to tell whether it's night or day here?"
"Y'see that contraption over there above the train station?" Red said, pointing a hoof to the half circle with an animatronic sun on it. "That there tells us what time of day it is outside the forest. Like right now, since the sun there is just barely above the left side of that doohicky; if you were to be outside the forest right now, it would just barely be above the horizon. We have a smaller one back at the house but that one there is for public."
"Oh! ok."
After awhile, more and more ponies came and set up their stands and more ponies started filling the market place. Red Gala would talk to the ponies and make a deal and Lemmy would bag the apples they had chosen and place them on their back. Around four according to the sun clock ponies started packing up their stalls and heading home, including Lemmy and Red.
"What do you think of Ivey?" Red asked as she was putting apples that were in the buckets into her saddlebags.
"Ivey?" Lemmy asked in confusion as she aided in packing up the apples.
"Y'know, that Pegasus friend of yours."
"Oh! Ivory! He's really nice, sweet, great with Scootaloo, kind of a feather brain sometimes though."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but he's a really great pony."
"Sounds like y'all are really good friends."
"Yeah... Friends...." Lemmy said with a sigh. Red stopped packing up apples and placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Somethin' wrong sugarcube?" Lemmy squeaked when she felt Red's hoof on her shoulder. "No! Everythings great!! I'm fine! Why would I not like being Ivory's friend? I'm happy that me and him are friends! I don't know why you would think I wanted to be more than friends!!" She said with a laugh that was way too forced to be believed.
Red blinked for a moment, trying to process all the information she had just gotten. "I think I see what's going on here, why don'tcha jus' tell him?"
"Tell him what? There's nothing to-" She cut herself off when she saw the stern look she was getting from Red and sighed in defeat. "I don't want to ruin our friendship though, especially since we're running all over together with a foal that isn't even ours."
"Sugarcube, what you just told me solidifies the fact that you two are already more than just friends. Even if he don' see it or you don' believe it." Red said, causing Lemmy to cheer up a bit.
"Y-you really think so?"
"'Course I do sugarcube, I wouldn'ta said it if it wern't the truth." Lemmy smiled and gave Red a hug as tears of joy streammed down her face.
"Thanks, Red." She said as she released from the hug. "Tain't nothing, just doin' my best to help. Now let's finish packin' up here, I'd imagine pappys got supper ready by now." Red said as she and Lemmy resumed packing up their merchandise.
~<(^)>~
"This looks delicious papy!" Washy said as Apple Strudel got the apple pie out of the oven.
"Well acourse it does! I made it didn't I?" He said as he took a big whiff of the pie.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" I asked.
"I think we got it all covered here Ivey, y'all just go ahead and have a seat and wait on Red Gala and that friend of yers."
"Ok." I said as I took a seat next to Scootaloo and Washy. We didn't have to wait long before Red Gala and Lemmy came in. For a second I thought I saw them wink at each other as they sat down.
"Dig in everypony!" Apple Strudel said as he sat the apple pie down on the table. We didn't have to be told twice, I grabbed a slice of pie and had it gone almost as soon as it was on my plate. While everypony was eating, I thought I heard somepony tapping their hoof repeatedly but I couldn't tell who.
"Oh yes! Ivey, while you and Washy there were out finishin' up yesterdays harvest, the radiator burst in your room so it looks like yer gonna have to share a room with yer friend there tonight." Apple Strudel said, causing Lemmy to drop the piece of pie she had been levitating for Scootaloo and Blush brightly. "A-are you sure?" She asked as she brought the piece of pie she dropped back to Scootaloos mouth.
"'fraid so, don't worry none. It'll just be for tonight. Right Red Gala?" He said, shooting a look over to Red like she had just drained an entire barrel of cider in one sitting.
"Huh? Oh! R-right pappy! I'll get to work on it tomorrow!" She said, jumping at the sound of her name. I looked over to Washy who looked like he was about to tell me something but then we heard another tapping of hooves and I guess it made him forget. "Well, I don' know 'bout you young whippersnappers, but I'm goin' to bed! Us old folks need a lot more sleep than y'all do." Apple Strudel said as he got up from the table and went to his room.
After we finished the last of the apple pie, we all did the dishes and went up for bed. I went into the room that Lemmy and Scootaloo had stayed in last night and saw that it was very similar to the one I was in except that it had two twin sized beds in it instead of one big bed like my room. We tucked Scootaloo in, who had fallen asleep while we were eating; and then went to bed ourselves. I was about to get into the same bed as Scootaloo when Lemmy said that she had let Scootaloo sleep by herself last night and wanted to make her feel like she didn't have to have one of us in the same bed as her when she slept. I agreed and crawled into the other bed with Lemmy.
It felt awkward for some reason. We had slept beside each other before but not in the same bed, though I guess technically we hadn't since our saddlebags had been- "Hey Ivory..." She asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"Yeah?" I asked, looking at her. She was blushing intensely, probably feeling just as awkward about this as I was. "I-I was just wondering..." She looked down and started playing with her hooves. "..W-w-w-wh-" She stammered, obviously trying to ask me something.
"What is it Lemmy?" I asked as I brought her face back up to look at me. "Whatdoyouthinkofme??" She asked, to fast for me to really hear the question then slapping her hooves over her mouth. "What?"
"I-I..." She sighed. "I was just wondering what are we going to do when we get to Ponyville...."
"Oh, well.." I chuckled nervously. "I hadn't really thought about that, Ciderwash said that there were Apple Family members all over Equestria so maybe there's a farm in Ponyville." I said, hopping it would ease her worries.
"True, but what if there isn't? What are we going to do then?" She asked, obviously still concerned about the matter. "Tell ya what," I said, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Tomorow we'll go down to the train station and see if they have a map of Ponyville. How's that sound?"
Her face started to flush red again as I told her this. "O-ok.." She said with a smile and drew in a little closer to me, shaking like a leaf on a tree. I wrapped a wing over her and we both fell to sleep.
Called the voice of Red Gala as she pushed me and Lemmy out of bed.
"Oof.." I said as Lemmy landed on top of me.
"Why didn't you just use the bell last time..?" I asked as I sat up, rubbing my head. "Didn't wanna wake the little one." She said, gesturing to Scootaloo. "Oh and Ivey, I think Washy wanted to show you something."
"Ok then." I said as I started heading downstairs. "So, did ya tell him?" I stopped in my tracks as I listened in on Red and Lemmy, wondering who was supposed to tell who what.
"No.. Well, yes.. er, kinda..You see-"
"Girl ya either told him or ya didn't so which is it?" Red said, trying to get a straight answer out of Lemmy.
"I did tell him, but I did it so fast that he didn't understand me.... So when he asked me what I said-"
"There ya are Ive!" I turned to see that Ciderwash had come upstairs to get me. "Hey Washy, what's up?" I asked, trying to hear the tail end of what they were talking about but they had stopped talking.
"Nothin' much, come with me." He said as he beckoned me with his hoof downstairs.
~<(^)>~
I followed him into the basement where we each took a seat at the bar. "So what did you want to show me?" I asked. "How to make cider!" He said enthusiastically. "We got a big order comein' up and Pappy wanted to be certain we had enough of the stuff. And who knows, this might actually getcha yer Cutie Mark!" He said, gesturing to my flank.
I hadn't ever given my Cutie Mark much thought before now, but when Washy said that I might get it in cider making it filled me with curiosity of what it could be. "I already went ahead and picked out the apples we're gonna be usin' and cut out the undesirables while y'all were sleepin'. Now we just gotta squish 'em down, add the yeast, get it all boiled up, and let it sit for a couple of weeks." He said, pointing to two large buckets behind me that were filled with apples. We both jumped into one of the buckets and started stomping them to a pulp. "Keep stompin' till they're all like applesauce!"
"Ok!" I said, already starting to feel some of my buckets contents reach that consistency. "Hey! How did you discover that you were a natural born cider maker?" I asked.
"Us Apples hold a competition every reunion to see who made the best cider that year, sometimes it would be the ones from Manehatten, other times it would be the ones from Sweet Apple Acres, and so on and so forth." He explained as the apples in both our buckets became more and more mushy. "Then one year, Pappy decided I was old enough to get in on it and started teachin' me the ins and outs of makein' the stuff.
"After quite a bit of trial and error, I finally got my recipe down pact! And every year since then when the reunion would come around, I would always have made the best cider! After I got my Cutie Mark fer it, they decided to make me a permanent judge of the contest. Partially because of my know how, but mostly to give the rest of the family a fightin' chance." He added with a chuckle.
After a few hours of stomping, the apples had reached applesauce consistency and we drained them out into buckets with special nozzles that only took the juice. We carried the buckets upstairs to the kitchen and poured them into a tall pot on the stove. "Go ahead and set that thing to a low heat while I get the yeast starter out of the fridge." He said as he walked over to the fridge. I set the stove to its lowest setting and Washy came back with what looked like a jar of apple cider.
"What's that?"
"That is the yeast starter I made last night, very important part of making hard cider." He said as he poured it into the pot. "Ah, so what now?" I asked. "Can you fly up there and get the brown sugar?" He asked, pointing up to a shelf above the stove. "Sure can!" I said as I flew up and grabbed the bag off the shelf. Oof, as soon as I get done helping Ciderwash; I need to go out and stretch my wings, they're starting to get stiff. "Thankya kindly." He said as I handed him the bag.
"Is it really ok to add that much?" I asked when he poured the whole bag in. "Of course, it's only a two pound bag and that's exactly the amount I need." Only two pounds?? Wow, I REALLY need to work out my wings. "Is there anything else we need to add to it?"
"Nope, just gotta let this simmer for a bit longer and then we'll get the rest of the bucket's down in the basement up here."
"Ok."
~<(^)>~
After a few more trips we made enough hard cider to fill five barrels and called it a day. "Not bad, Ive. This ain't nowhere near the amount I'll have to make to fill that order once y'all have gone down to Ponyville but I'll make sure to keep one of these here barrels off to the side to keep fer ya ifn ya ever head back fer a visit." He said as he sat down in at the table.
"Thanks Washy, maybe by then I'll be able to handle the hard stuff." I said, also taking a seat. "What time does the train station close?"
"'bout an hour, why?"
"I told Lemmy that we'd go by there today so we could figure out what we were going to do and where we were going to stay when we got to Ponyville."
"I'm sure the apples over at Sweet Apple Acres would let y'all stay with 'em. Even though they got a new foal."
"That would be nice, but I wouldn't want to impose on them when they're trying to raise a foal of their own by making them have to watch over two orphans and their foal." I said, causing him to smirk. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, but you threes whole scenario is just a little funny."
"Heheh, I suppose it is kinda funny when you think about it." I said, starting to chuckle a bit myself. "Eeyoww!" We heard Apple Strudel cry out from upstairs. "Pappy?" Washy called as we jumped up and ran upstairs. "You alright? What happened?" He asked as went into the room he and Scootaloo were playing in.
"I'm fine, the lil filly jus' got me alil too hard there."
"Ivowy!" She said as she ran up and hugged my leg. "Pway! Ivowy! Pway!" She said as she looked up at me. "I think somepony missed ya while you were out buckin' apples yesterday." Ciderwash said with chuckle.
"Heheh, I think you're right." I said as I scooped Scootaloo up in my arms. "Okie dokie then Scoots, what do you wanna play?"
"Pwincess wescue!!"
"Pwincess-bah! I mean, Princess Rescue? Ok then princess, what are we gonna be rescuing you from?"
"Not me, silwy! I'm da bwave knight dat wescues da pwincess!"
"You're the brave knight eh?" I asked, which she gave a nod to. "Then who's the princess?"
"Hehe, you awe!" She said, pointing at me.
"Me?! Alright then, what are you going to be saving me from?"
"Da evil dwagon!" She said, pointing at Apple Strudel.
"That's me!" He said with a roar.
"Ok then," I said as I went behind the other side of the bed that Apple Strudel was on. "Oh no! A dragon! Save me Brave Knight Scootaloo!!"
"No! No! No! You gotta put on da pwincess hat!" She said, looking cross at me.
"The princess hat?" I asked. She pointed to a paper crown that was sitting on the nightstand beside me.
"Am I a pretty princess now?" I asked as I put the crown on. "Yes!" She said, Ciderwash giggling the whole time. "Ok then! ahem, Oh no! A dragon! Save me Brave Knight Scootaloo!!" I cried out as Apple Strudel let out a roar. "I need my twusty steed!" She called out, looking over at Ciderwash. "Who? Me?" He asked to no pony in particular.
"C'mon now 'trusty steed' you want to save the pretty princess don't you?" I asked in a mocking tone. He groaned and then whinnied as he threw his fore hooves in the air and kneeled down for Scootaloo to get on his back. "To battle!" She cried as Ciderwash kicked his hooves up and charged at Apple Strudel who roared in response.
~<(^)>~
We played like this for another two hours when Red and Lemmy got back from the market. "Well what do we have here?" Red said as she walked in to see what all of the commotion was upstairs. We had all traded rolls multiple times before they got back. Right now, I was the dragon, Scootaloo was the Princess, Ciderwash was the brave knight, and Apple Strudel was the trusty steed. "Wemmy!" Scootaloo cried when she saw Lemmy come up behind Red. She jumped off the bed and hugged Lemmy's leg. "Come pway! You can be da pwincess next! It was gonna be Ivowys tuwn to be da bwave knight next also." She tried to whisper but ended up just talking at normal volume.
This caused Lemmy to blush and Red to fall out laughing. "Go ahead Lemmy, let your brave knight rescue you." She said after she recovered from her laughing fit. "I-A-actually, i-isn't it about time for supper?!" She asked quickly, her blush growing all the while. "Awwww.." Scootaloo whined.
"I'll go ahead and get supper started. Washy, you come down and help me. The rest of y'all can keep playin' till it's ready." Apple Strudel said, causing both Scootaloo and Ciderwash to brighten up. "Ok Pappy!"
"Yaaay!" Scootaloo cheered as she put the princess hat on Lemmy. "You can be da evil dwagon!" She said, pointing to Red Gala. "Alrighty then!" She said as she roared and scooped Lemmy up on her back and jumped up on the bed. "Y'all'll never see yer pretty princess again!" She said with another roar. "EEEP! HELP! SAVE ME IVORY BLOSSOM!!" She cried.
"Do not worry fair maiden! I shall save thee! Come trusty steed Scootaloo!!" I cried. Scootaloo whinnied and jumped on my back. "Have at thee foul beast!" I cried as I jumped up on the bed also. Red let out a roar as Scootaloo jumped off my back and tackled her to the bed. I grabbed Lemmy and jumped over to the other bed that we were using as the safe castle. "You're safe now, milady."
"T-thank you, n-noble knight." She said with a blush. "No! If the brave knight kisses her, then his dragon slaying powers will transfer over to her and I will never be able to capture another princess again!!" Red cried out, causing me and Lemmy to blush. "Yeah! You have to kiss her bwave knight! You must kiss you'we pwincess!!" Scootaloo chimmed in, causing our blushes to grow brighter.
"Y-you don't have to, if you don't want to...." Lemmy said, almost in a whisper. "Yes he does!~" Red and Scootaloo chirped. "C'mon Ivowy, you gotta kiss her!" Scootaloo said as she started pushing us closer together. "I don't think she's going to relent anytime soon, you wanna go ahead and do it?" I asked. "O-ok.." She said, a bit of a smile coming to her face.
I put my hooves around her and she squeaked and closed her eyes. I could swear her blush was growing brighter and brighter as I got closer to her face. Just when our lips were about to meet, and Scootaloo and Red were watching us like little school girls from the other bed; Ciderwash burst in.
"Soups on!" We all turned and looked at him as he went back downstairs. "Yay!!" Scootaloo cried as she ran off to the kitchen. "Wait Scootaloo, don't run!" I called as I let go of Lemmy and flew after her. But something stopped me mid flight and I landed right before the doorway. I looked back to see that Lemmy was hanging her head and looking away from the door. "You ok?" I asked, as I walked back to her and put my hoof on her shoulder.
She squeaked and looked back up at me. "Y-yeah, I'm just.." She sighed. "Exhausted.."
"Well ya can't go to bed yet, you have to eat something to keep your strength up." I said as I hefted her onto my back, causing her to squeak again. Y'know, it's really kinda cute when she does that. "I'll carry you down there if I have to."
"N-no! I'm fine!! Really!" She said as she scrambled off my back, face as red as an apple. I chuckled as she walked by. "Go on down, I still have to wash up." Red Gala said as she got off the bed. I jumped when she spoke up, had I really forgotten she was there? She had been so quiet.. "R-right.." I said as I headed downstairs.
~<(^)>~
"'bout time ya got down here! Take a seat." Ciderwash said as I came downstairs. We were having hay bacon and apple muffins for supper tonight. "Breakfast for dinner?" I asked as I sat down by Lemmy, who had already gotten Scootaloo a plateful. "What's wrong with that?" Red Gala said as she came downstairs behind me. "Nothing really, just a bit odd I guess." I said as I grabbed a hoof full of hay and put it on my plate. "Oh! Did you fix that radiator?" I asked.
"Sure did, that thing shouldn't be breakin' anytime soon." She said proudly. "Good, we wouldn't want it breakin' again while our guests are here now would we." Apple Strudel said, shooting a look at Red Gala that she responded to with a weak chuckle and scratching the back of her head. "Was the radiator really that important?" I asked myself as I dug into my bacon.
We all finished around the same time and went to bed after we finished the dishes. I buried myself in the sheets of my big bed and quickly fell to sleep. Sometime in the night I thought I heard hoofsteps in my room but I was too tired to open my eyes to see who it was before they were gone and I dozed off again.
"Wake up lazy wings!" Ciderwash yelled as he pushed me out of bed onto the hard floor. "Oww.." I said, not wanting to get up. "C'mon Ive, y'all don't want to miss the train now do ya?" He said, causing me to rocket up. "It's already here?!" I asked, waking up on the spot.
"Yeah! And it leaves at noon!"
"Ah crap!!" I said as I bolted downstairs to meet Lemmy and Scootaloo. Thanks to Washys wake up call and our rush we said our goodbyes to the Apple Family and got to the station just in time to get our tickets before they stopped selling them. "Your train will be leaving in five minutes so I wouldn't go anywhere if I were you."
"Thank you sir." I said to the blue conductor pony behind the ticket both. "No problem, you kids have a safe trip." He said with a wave as we walked off.
Within five minutes we were in our seats on the train that led to Ponyville. Scootaloo was still tired from the day before, and being woken up earlier than your used to doesn't help very much; so she fell asleep as soon as we took our seats. Lemmy was sitting across from me looking out the window as the darkened trees went by, waiting to see the sun that we had been deprived of for so long.
I took this opportunity of stillness to investigate a jabbing that had been in my wing ever since I woke up. I unfolded my wing and a note of some kind fell out onto the seat. I tried to read it but the lighting inside the train was very dim and there wouldn't be any natural light for a while. So I tucked it back up in my wing to read later. I could've asked Lemmy if she could use her magic to make a light but she seemed to be lost in thought as she gazed out the window and I didn't know if this note was supposed to be a secret or not since I found it in the fold of my wing.
I decided to do as Lemmy and watch out the window since there wasn't really anything interesting inside the train car to look at. We had picked up a lot of speed since we left. Where the trees had dragged by across the window of the car before, they now zipped by so fast you could hardly tell what they were. "What do you think it'll be like in Ponyville?" Lemmy asked, snapping me out of my tree watching daze.
"I'm not sure. I hope it's as nice as Hollow Shades though." I said, looking over to Scootaloo when she let out a loud snore. She shuffled about in her sleep until she snuggled up to Lemmy and sighed in contentment. "Yeah, I-I actually would have liked to stay there.. If the sun ever shown that is." She said as she nuzzled the sleeping Scootaloo. "That was kinda a deal breaker for me too." I quipped.
As if on cue to our conversation, we were out of the forest and the sun shown down on us from it's place high up in the sky. The brightness almost burned from having been in the dark for so long but we adjusted to it quickly. Scootaloo on the other hoof, did not. "Ungh..." She moaned as she sat up, blinking tired eyes at us. "Who tuwned on da wights?" Me and Lemmy chuckled as she sat up.
"Mornin' Scoots, enjoying the sunshine?" I asked. "Huh..?" She said as she took in her surroundings and let out a gasp. "Why didn't chu guys tell me we were on da twain?!" She cried as she sprung up. "You were awake when we bought the tickets and boarded!" I said with a laugh as a loud speaker came on.
"Attention passengers, we will be making a brief stop in Canterlot to refuel within the hour so please take this opportunity to stretch your legs, wings, and whatever else you may have. Thank you for choosing Equestrian Express!" The voice said as it clicked off.
"Canterlot? The capital city of Equestria, Canterlot? One of the few cities bigger than Manehatten, Canterlot?" Lemmy said, starting to hyperventilate. I jumped over and sat down next to her and placed the wing that didn't have the note tucked away over her, causing her to squeak. "Don't worry, we don't have to get out if you don't want to." I said, letting her out of my wing once she started to calm down.
"Awww... but I wanted to twy flying!" Scootaloo whined. "I-it's ok, you two can go look around if you want... I'll just stay on the train." Lemmy said, not wanting Scootaloo to be disappointed. "You sure?" I asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine."
"Yay!!! Thank you Wemmy!" Scootaloo cheered as she gave Lemmy a big hug.
~<(^)>~
After awhile the train pulled into Canterlot train station and most of the ponies got out. I deposited the note on the seat across from Lemmy so I wouldn't loose it while I was out flying with Scoots before we left the train.
The platform was filled with ponies boarding and leaving the train when we stepped onto it. We had to squeeze our way past a lot of them that were gathered at the train before we could finally breathe. "Alright then Scoots, show me what ya got!" I said once we made it off the platform.
She tried flapping her wings but she wasn't moving. She started flapping harder and harder until she was finally a few inches off the ground but it was short lived when her wings wore out and she fell on her face. She looked like she was about to cry when I picked her up so I patted her back. "There there, it's ok. Not everypony even makes it off the ground on their first attempt to fly." I said as she started to sob quietly into my neck.
She looked up at me with teary eyes and I saw that she had scraped her snout when she fell on her face. "Well would you look at that, you got yourself some proof that you managed to get off the ground!" I said. She looked at me with a confused look and a sniffle.
"That Victory Mark right there on your snout!" I said as I pointed to the scrape. She recoiled when I accidentally poked it with my hoof. "Oops, sorry bout that.. But yeah, you've got bragging rights now! You can say that 'I'm Scootaloo, and I managed to get off the ground on my first try!'" I said in a fake macho voice that caused her to giggle in spite of herself. I smiled when I saw that she was starting to forget about the pain of not flying and the pain in her snout.
I noticed a stray cloud that was floating about ten feet above our heads and an idea came to mind. "You wanna see the sky from above instead of below?" I asked. She nodded her head slowly as a weak smile started to come to her face. I held her tightly in my hooves and took off for that cloud and got there just in time to sprawl out on it, "I really need to work out my wings if I'm ever going to be doing that again." I thought to myself as I panted.
After I caught my breath I saw that Scootaloo was looking out over the train station and downtown section of the city in amazement. "Pretty cool right?" I asked. She nodded her head vigorously, not wanting to take her eyes off the view that she had. "You ain't seen nothing yet." I said as I hopped off the cloud and flew under it. "Hold on."
And with that, I pushed the cloud up to twenty feet above the ground. Now you could see the train station and a even more of downtown Canterlot. "You like?" I asked. She was all the more amazed at what all she could see from this height. She nodded even more excitedly with a mile wide smile at being up so high. "And this isn't even-" I was cut off when I heard the warning whistle from the train saying that they were almost ready to go. "Oh uh, we gotta go Scoots!" I said as I grabbed her off the cloud and stopped flapping my wings as we started to free fall. I flapped my wings every few feet to slow our decent so we didn't end up with anything worse than a scraped snout when we hit ground.
We landed a little harder than I would've liked but didn't get anything worse than some jelly-legs for a second as we rushed to the platform just as the conductor was about to make the call that everypony was on. The train had just started moving when we got back to our seats and Lemmy grabbed us both in a hug. "What took you so long??" She asked, concern woven deep in her eyes.
"We lost track of time when I was showing Scoots how fun it was to be up in the sky." I explained. "It was so..! So..!" Scootaloo said, trying to find the right word. "Awesome?" I offered. "Awesome!! I got off da gwound on my fiwst twy! As you aweady saw," She said as she puffed her chest out in pride.
I chuckled when Lemmy was confused by what Scoots was talking about. "Her 'Victory Mark.'" I whispered, pointing to my own snout as Scoots continued. "And then Ivowy flew me up on a cloud and showed me da whole city befoe da twain whistled and we jumped off da cloud and wan back here!"
"Th-that sounds like a lot of fun." Lemmy said after Scootaloo finished. "Now lets go get your Victory Mark all cleaned up."
"Ok Wemmy." She said as her and Lemmy walked off towards the bathroom. I chuckled and sat down on the seat and stretched my wings. "That cloud sure made it easier to fly with Scoots today." I thought as I sprawled out in the seat.
Figuring that now was as good a time as any to see what that note was, I decided to read it. Only something was missing... The note. I got up and looked around in my seat, it wasn't there. I looked over to where Lemmy and Scootaloo had been sitting and underneath both seats, no note. I flew up for a minute to look around the car before the conductor told me to sit down, still there was nothing. Lemmy and Scootaloo came back from the bathroom and I decided to forget the note for now and watch out the window as the sun began to set behind the Canterlot mountain.
~<(^)>~
It was late in the evening when we got to Ponyville and Scootaloo had fallen asleep again. When we stepped out on the platform to Ponyville we realized we had overlooked an important detail. "Where are we going to sleep tonight?" Lemmy asked, her eyelids already starting to drop from want of sleep.
We didn't have enough bits left to rent a hotel room and almost everywhere we looked, the lights in everyponies house were already out for the night. We finally came to a building where the lights were still on. It was an old oak tree that had been hollowed out into a home. There was a sign out front but it was to dark to tell what was on it. I walked up to the door and knocked, hoping that somepony would answer. I was relieved of my worries when an elderly grey unicorn answered the door. "Oh dear, what have we here?" She asked with a voice as gentle as a summers breeze when she saw the three of us.
"W-we're sorry to disturb you at your home.." Lemmy said. "B-b-but would it be ok for us to s-stay the night here..? We just got into town today and...."
"Oh! Of course it would be ok dearies, come in, come in!" She said, beckoning us inside without another word on the matter. "Thank you very much miss..."
"Oh, just call me Miss Pages. Have a seat anywhere you like." We sat down at a table in the middle of the main room. The room was filled with books and there was a set of stairs that led up somewhere. "Here you go dearies, I'm sure you're hungry from your trip." Miss Pages said as she came back, levitating a tray of daffodil sandwiches over to the table. She had no Idea how right she was, it had been a long day and we hadn't had anything to eat at all during it. "Thank you Miss Pages!" I said as I grabbed a sandwich off the tray.
"Of course Deary! Oh, I'm sure you'd rather me be calling you by your actual name instead of just Deary all the time, what are your names?" She asked.
"My name is Ivory Blossom, this is Lemon Wedge, and the sleeping foal here is Scootaloo." I said as I wrapped my wing around Scootaloo.
"It's very nice to meet you three, where are you from?" She asked, taking on of the sandwiches for herself.
"M-manehatten." Lemmy said as she bit into her sandwich.
"Goodness! You three have had a very long trip!" She said, almost dropping the sandwich she held in her navy aura.
"You have no idea.." I said as I finished up my sandwich.
"Well you can tell me all about it in the morning, I'm sure you two are just as tuckered out as your little one there."
We finished of the sandwiches Miss Pages brought out for us and she showed us where we would be sleeping. "I'm afraid that one of the drawbacks to living in a library means that you don't have many guest rooms, so we'll have to make do with the two mattresses that I have for whenever I have friends from out of town over." She said as she brought the two mattresses up from the basement and went off to go get some sheets and pillows. I picked Scootaloo up off the hard floor and put her on the mattress next to me. "We finally made it.." Lemmy said with a smile, barely able to keep her eyes open.
"Yeah, we sure did.." I said, having much of the same problem as her. When Miss Pages came back she saw that both me and Lemmy had already passed out on our own mattresses. "Oh, the poor Dears.." She said with a sigh as she levetated us up off the mattresses and put us back down on after she had sheeted them and covered us each up with a blanket.
"Good morning." I said back to Miss Pages as I walked into the kitchen where her, Lemmy, and Scootaloo were eating breakfast.
"Wow, these look good!" I said, eyeing the big plate of muffins in the center of the table. "They are good, Sunny Days' daughter brought them by earlier this morning as a thank you gift for helping her in school." Miss Pages said as she bit into a bran muffin. "Are there any blueberry ones?"
"Yes deary, here's one." She said as she levitated a muffin off the pile and in front of me. I thanked her and took a bite. It was amazing, I had only ever had good blueberry muffins when I would cook for the orphanage when Helga was sick. I knew I wasn't the next top chef but they were still decent. These muffins made the ones I cooked so long ago seem like manure in comparison. The blueberries were fresh, the texture was perfect, I couldn't find anything bad to say about them.
"Wow.~" I muttered as I finished it in a few more bites. "These are incredible!"
"Yes, the poor dear, her disability may make it hard for her to read and write but she sure knows her way around the kitchen." Miss Pages said as she took another bite of her muffin.
"Disability?"
"Yes, she has a bad case of wall eye that makes reading, writing and pretty much anything else visual a challenge for her. The poor thing is also clumsy as can be." She said with a sigh.
After we ate we told Miss Pages about how we had come all the way from Manehatten to get away from our cruel caregiver and to keep Scoots from having to go with the crazy mare that was about to adopt her. We were about to tell her about the Apple family in Hollow Shades when somepony knocked on the door. "Excuse me dearies." Miss Pages said as she got up.
We sat at the table quietly while she talked to whoever was at the door. "Hmmmm. I'm sorry sir, but I can't say that I've seen this filly before; Ok you take care now, good luck to you!" She said as she closed the door.
"Who was at the door?" Lemmy asked when she came back into the kitchen. "That was a private investigator all the way from Manehatten." She said, causing a shock to go through my spine when she said the city he was from. "Scoots, how about you go see if you can find a good book to read right quick."
"But I don't know how to wead.."
"I-I'll read it to you Scootaloo, I'm sure we can find something that you would like in this big library." Lemmy said as she led Scoots to the main part of the library. "What did the filly he was looking for look like?" I asked, afraid that I already knew the answer.
"The filly he was looking for is an orange pegasus mare with a light purple mane and tail." She said as my heart sunk to the bottom of my hooves. "I didn't tell him that his description of her matched Scootaloo to a T because I saw how happy and cheerful she was at breakfast before you got up." She said, raising my spirits a little. "That doesn't mean I'm ok with the idea of her being raised by two ponies who are still young enough to be going to school themselves."
"I understand.." I said as I hung my head in preparation for what was about to come next. "She's going to take all of us to the local orphanage, I just know she is." "Which is why first thing tomorrow, I'm going to take you and Lemon Wedge to Mrs. Karen's schoolhouse." My head shot up when she said that, she was going to take us to school tomorrow?
"Does that mean..?" I asked and she nodded in return. "I'm going to be looking after the three of you now."
I gave her a hug immediately when she said those words. "Lemmy!!" I cried as I flew into the main room and scooped her up in a hug. She tottered for a second when I set her back down and looked back at me with a huge blush on her face. "W-what?" She squeaked. "We're adopted!" I said excitedly. "Miss Pages is going to be looking after us, all three of us!"
"R-really?! T-that's..!" She said with growing charisma but then it started to fade quickly. "..great." I didn't have long to puzzle this when Miss Pages came up behind me. "And tomorrow you and Ivory are going to be going to school together while I watch Scootaloo." She said.
"Isn't it great Lemmy?!" I said as I grabbed her in another hug. She hugged back tighter this time, almost not wanting to let go when I pulled away. "You wanna go do some flying Scoots?" I asked, way too excited for my own good.
"Nope. I want Wemmy to keep weading dis stowy foe me!" She said, holding a book out for Lemmy. "And it may not be the best idea with, y'know.." Miss Pages said, twitching her head over to the door. "Right.." I said, remembering who had just paid us a visit and was likely still in town. "Is it ok if I go fly around town?" I asked, finally starting to calm down a bit. "Of course, it's a nice town with plenty of ponies to meet."
"Ok then, I'll be back later!" I said as I flew out the door.
"Alright deary, what's the matter?" Miss Pages asked Lemmy after I left. "N-nothing! I-"
"Wemmy has a cwush on Ivowy." Scootaloo cut in.
"Scootaloo!" She said with a gasp. "Is it true?" Miss Pages asked. Lemmy hung her head and nodded. "I don't know why I try to hide it anymore, apparently it's painfully obvious to everyone but him.." She said with a sigh. "And now it will be all the more awkward since we're brother and sister now..."
"Ah, so that's what the problem is," Miss Pages said as she walked over and put an arm on her shoulder. "Try and think of it this way deary. Since I never filled out any sort of adoption papers for you and Ivory, I'm still viewed as having no children and you, Ivory, and Scootaloo here are just three fillies that showed up on my doorstep that I decided to take care of." Lemmy looked back up with a small smile. "Thanks Miss Pages.."
"Oh just call me Margret deary." She said as they shared a warm hug. "Can we get back to weading now?" Scootaloo asked with a book at her hooves. They both laughed as they walked over to where Scootaloo had set up trying to read the story in the book. "Why don't you go look around town, I'll stay here and finish reading the story for little Scoots."
"Thanks Miss Pag- I mean! Margret." Lemmy said as she walked out the door.
~<(^)>~
"Wow, this is a really small town compared to Manehatten." I thought to myself as I landed in the middle of the market. there weren't that many stalls set up. Just a carrot vender, a honey vender, what looked like an asparagus stand and, an apple stand! Maybe they're the Apple family from Sweet Apple Acres that Ciderwash was telling me about!
I trotted over to the stand and there was a red colt with a big green apple on the side of his flank tending the stand with an orange filly with red hairbands in her mane and tail. "Hi there." I said as I walked up to the stand.
"Howdy." The red colt said.
"Care to buy some apples?" The filly asked.
"Not today, My name is Ivory and I'm new in town so I was just walking around to get to know everypony."
"Well I'm Big Macintosh and this is my lil sis AppleJack." He said as AppleJack waved at me with a smile. "So where y'all from?" She asked. "I'm from Manehatten." She seemed to glow when I said that and jumped up and down. "Manehatten?! I've always wanted to live there! What's it like?!" She asked, looking at me excitedly for a description. "How should I describe it? I never thought it was that great, but maybe there's another side to it if this filly wants to go there." "The food's good." I said, knowing that much to be true.
That seemed to be enough for her as she started to bounce around again cheering that she was going to Manehatten. "And where's a country filly like you gonna even find a place to stay in the big city." Big Mac said, causing AJ to stick her tongue out at him. "Aw hush! I'll stay with Auntie and Uncle Orange!"
"What did you think of Manehatten?" He asked me. "I thought it was nice enough, but I wanted to live in a smaller city for a change."
"You moved here on yer own?" He asked, looking a little dumbfounded. "No, I came with two of my closest friends." I said. "But Manehatten's a nice city if you like a fast paced life."
"I'm definitely gonna be movin' there someday!" AppleJack said enthusiastically. "Well it was nice meeting you ponies and I'll see you later." I said with a laugh as I saw a small line of ponies starting to form in front of their stand. "Y'all take care now, feel free to stop by the farm whenever ya want!" AppleJack said as I began to walk off. "I will!" I called back as I ran into a pale blue earth pony with a fancy looking hat.
"Oh, sorry sir." I said as I caught his hat with my wing before it hit the ground. "No worries young colt," He said as he placed his hat back on his head. "Say, do you think you could help me out? I'm new in town and am trying to find a certain pony."
"I'm sorry sir, but I don't think I'll be able to help you. I'm new in town also and the only ponies I know are Miss Pages at the Library and some of the Apple family."
"That's ok sport, but if you see an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail let me know." I swallowed hard when I heard the description of the filly he was looking for. "This is that P.I. Miss Pages told me about." "D-did you say purple mane?" I asked. "Yeah, have you seen her?"
"Nope! Just wanted to make sure I heard you right!" I said with a nervous laugh. I heard the town clock strike something but I didn't care what because it was the perfect excuse to get away. "Oh would you look at the time! I'm gonna be late!" I said as I took off towards anywhere but there or the Library. "That was WAY to close, the last thing I want is for that guy to be following me back to where Scootal-hey, what that?" I thought to myself as I flew towards a city that was made out of clouds.
~<(^)>~
I landed on a cloud that was part of the strange city. It was a little bigger than Ponyville and seemed to be made up of nothing but pegasi. "Wow.." I said as I was hit in the face by a rocketing rainbow filly. "Oof, sorry!" She called back as she took off again.
"Are you ok..?" I almost mistook the soft voice behind me for Lemon Wedge, but when I turned I saw a gangly butter-yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail standing behind me. She seemed to hide behind her mane when I turned around. "Yeah, I'm fine." I said as I rubbed my head where the filly from before had ran into me.
"Oh, good." She said, not coming out from behind her mane any. "I'm Ivory Blossom." I said, holding my hoof out.
"I'm Flutt....." She trailed off.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"I'm Fluttersh...."
"Still couldn't quite catch that." I said, causing her to squeak. I couldn't help but laugh at how much this mare reminded me of Lemmy when I first met her. "Well.. I'm gonna go now, I'll see ya later." I said as I flew off to look around the city some more and she dashed off as soon as I flew a short distance away.
"I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT YOU STUPID THUNDER-HEAD!!" Was all I heard before the same filly from before crashed into me again, causing both of us to hit the cloud ground hard. "Ugh.." I moaned as we both just laid there in a heap. "Ha ha! I guess you aren't a filly fooler after all if you ran into the same colt twice in a row Rainbow-Crash!" A brown colt with a his mane combed over his eyes called, causing the the mare next to me to spring up. "Are you kidding?! I don't even know this guy!" She called back.
"Oh, so you ARE a filly fooler then?" he said as him and some other colt landed next to us. "I AM NOT A FILLY FOOLER!" She cried as she tried to punch the one who said that. He dodged out of the way and she ended up swinging around and punching me just as I got up instead.
"Oops, sorry dude." She said as she helped me up. The two colts just laughed, causing her cyan face to turn crimson. "Will you two shut up? You're both annoying as Tartarus." I said as I got back up a second time.
"What was that weak wings?" The tan one asked. They had both stopped laughing at this point.
"I said you're both annoying and should shut up."
"Oh yeah? Y'know what we think about that?"
"I'm thinking it's not something very nice." I said, backing up a little.
"This is so not cool!"
"Shut it Rainbow Crash," He said as he took a step towards us. "Whatdaya say we show these two what we think of what this guy said to us, Lug Nut?"
"I think that's a great idea, Crash." They each brought their hoof back and punched me. I managed to catch both their hooves in mine but they pushed me back into a wall.
They were about to punch me again but Rainbow punched one of them and it distracted the other. Seeing an opportunity, I punched the other one and took on a fighting stance beside Rainbow. They charged us but we took to the air and when they charged at us again they were flying too fast and flew right past us when we dodged to the side.
"I'm Rainbow Dash by the way!" She said, dodging one of their hooves as it came at her.
"Ivory Blossom!" I said as I stopped flapping long enough to drop just below the tan ones head as he tried to head butt me.
"Nice to meetcha!" She said as we bumped hooves. She grabbed my hoof in both of hers and swung me around to hit the brown colt that was coming at her. My back hooves collided with his wings and he plummeted towards the cloud ground. I saw the tan colt fly above Rainbow Dash and try to dive-bomb her so I pulled on her hoof just in time for him to zip past and join his friend in a heap.
~<(^)>~
"That, was. Awesome! I didn't expect you to have so much fight in ya!" She said as we flew off.
"I mostly just dodged though, you were the one with hooves of steel! And I would have been out if you hadn't nailed that guy on the ground back there." I said as we landed in a park.
"No biggie, I would've been out too if you hadn't pulled me out of the way when Crash tried to dive-bomb me."
"What's up with those guys anyway?"
"Ugh, what isn't up with them? They're annoying, stuck-up jerks who are always picking on anypony they can just to get a laugh out of it! I'm just glad Fluttershy wasn't around, they pick on her the worst and she's so timid she doesn't do anything to stop them!" She said. As we trotted around the park for a bit longer I heard the Ponyville clock strike eight and I realized just how long I had been out and about. "I should probably head home now, see ya later Dash!" I said as I took off. "See ya Ivory."
I got home to the Library, just barely avoiding that P.I. from earlier; and fell in a heap as soon as I walked in the door. "You ok Ivowy?" Scootaloo asked as she walked up to me. "Yeah, just a big day." I said as I got up.
"Did you have fun on your first real day in town?" Miss Pages asked.
"Yeah. I met some of the Apple family from around here, Ran into that guy from this morning," I said as I rubbed the back of my neck. "Oh! And I taught some bullies a lesson in that cloud-city up there." Miss Pages let out a gasp when I got to the part about the bullies and Scootaloo looked at me in confusion.
"What's a bully?" She asked.
"They're ponies who do not nice things to other ponies."
"Ok! I won't be a bully then!" She said with a smile. "Good." Miss Pages said rather sternly. "Where's Lemmy?" I asked as I looked around the room. "She's still out and about, I actually expected to see her back before you."
"Ok then, are there any particularly good books here, Miss Pages?" I asked.
"This one is one of my favorites. And just call me Margret." She said with a smile as she levitated a book off a shelf over to me. "Daring Doo and the Saphire Stone, sounds good." I said as I walked to the kitchen table and started reading.
~<(^)>~
"The ponies here are so nice, I still don't know how to thank you for that make over." Lemmy said as she walked home with a white unicorn filly with a curled mane mane and tail. "Oh think nothing of it dear, anything for a mare on a mission!" She said with a sparkle in her eye and a wink. Lemmy blushed since she knew what 'mission' she was on and was determined to complete it.
"Now where was it you said you lived?" The white unicorn asked.
"Golden Oaks Library."
"Ooh, you live there with Miss Pages?"
"Yes, she's really nice and-oof." Lemmy cut herself off when she bumped into a pale blue earth pony with a fancy looking hat. "O-oh my, I-I'm so sorry sir!" She said as she levitated his hat back to his head.
"Not a problem, do either of you two fillies think you could help me? I'm looking for a certian somepony." He said as he adjusted his hat. "Who are you looking for sir?" The white pony asked.
"A young orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail a little lighter than yours. Have either of you seen her?" He asked. Lemmy had already tensed up when he was describing her.
"I-I'm sorry sir, b-but I haven't seen anypony with that description. What about you Rarity?" Lemmy asked, trying to keep calm. "No, I can't say that I have. We'll let you know if we see her though."
"Thank you ladies, have a safe night." he said as he walked off. "You too." Rarity said as her and Lemmy continued walking back to the Library. "Are you alright dear? You're starting to sweat your makeup off."
"O-oh yes, I'm fine. I guess I'm just nervous about the plan.."
"Do you want me to come in with you?"
"NO! I-I mean, no thank you, I'll be fine." Lemmy said as more makeup started to run down her face.
"At least let me give you a touch up then." Rarity said with a sigh as she pulled Lemmy over to a bench and took her makeup kit out of her saddlebag. "Try and relax dear, it will keep the makeup from running again."
"O-ok" Lemmy said as Rarity dabbed away the sweat with a rag and applied more blush to replace what the sweat had carried away. "Almost done, and... Vola!" Rarity exclaimed as she added the finishing touches to Lemmys make over. "Thank you again Rarity for doing this."
"Of course my dear, I'll see you at school tomorow. You're going to love Miss Karen, She is so nice!" Rarity said as the town clock struck nine and she headed for her home. Lemmy didn't have far to walk before she was at Golden Oaks Library and that much closer to telling Ivory what she had been wanting to tell him for a long time.
"Welcome back Lemon Wedge." Margret said when she walked in. "Hi Wemmy!" Scootaloo cheered as she ran up to her. "Hi Scoots." She said as she gave Scootaloo a hug. "Where's Ivory? I wanted to ask him something."
"He's in the kitchen reading right now."
"Thanks Margret." She said as she walked into the kitchen.
~<(^)>~
"Hi Ivory." I jumped when I heard her voice behind me. "Was I really that absorbed in this book?" I thought to myself as I turned around to face her. "Hi Lemmy, whats up?"
"Not much..." She said with a small blush. "Ummmm..." We both started. "You go first." I said.
"No no, you can go first."
"Ok then. This is just something that has been on my mind recently but, what was your first impression of me when we met?" I asked, turning her cheeks turned a shade of crimson.
Well, when I first met you I thought you were very nice and sweet and, well.. You know how things were before you came...
"Hey Wedgie! Come iron these clothes for me!"
"O-ok..!"
"Get back to work!" Helga said with a crack of her whip.
"O-ok!"
"You call these clean?! I thought Sharene said you were good at washing dishes!"
"I-I am.."
After a particularly rough day of teasing, I decided to go ahead and turn in for the night. "You ok Lemmy?"
"Y-yeah, just the usual day..." I said as I turned my back to the red pegasus behind me. "You wanna talk about it?" She asked as she hopped on my bunk. "It was the same as every other day, only a little worse.." I said, not turning around. "How worse?" She asked. "I-I don't know, it just felt worse today..." I said with a sniffle. "Ok then, just hang in there." She said as she patted my back with her wing and walked over to her own bunk beside mine. "Thanks Carol.." I said, then rolling over on my stomach to where I could see her in her bunk. "Why are you going to bed this early?"
"I had a few more chores than normal today."
"Oh.." We both laid there in our own bunks in silence for a while, a few other fillies had come to bed by now but they all fell asleep quickly. "Hey Carol,"
"Hmm..?"
"You still awake?"
"Yeah.. What is it Lemmy?"
"When do you think it will happen?"
"What do you mean by 'it'?"
"You know.." I said, looking off towards the ground. Carol let out a sigh as she responded. "I have no idea. It could be tomorrow, next week, or even another year. I have no way of knowing. And whenever I do get adopted, I just hope that the ponies are nice and not total flanks."
"Yeah...."
"Hey," She said, turning in her bunk to where she could look me in the eye. "It's nothing to worry yourself over. It'll happen when it happens."
"Right.."
"If you're that worried about it, you should practice your magic to give yourself an edge. I'm sure that would help a lot."
"Ok."
"Now, I'm tired. So I'm gonna go to sleep now, Good night Lemmy."
"Good night Carol." I said as we both drifted off to sleep.
~<(^)>~
"Carol, wake up! She's about to come through!" I didn't have to say anything else as Carol sprung up from her bunk and almost fell on the floor. "Thanks for the warning."
"No problem." I said with a smile. "Alright you lazy orphans, get your flanks downstairs for breakfast." She said with a crack of her whip and we all went down to our typically bad breakfast. I sat across from Carol and Sharlene and Rob sat on each side of me.
"You ready to do my chores today Wedgie?" Rob said as he tried to choke back the stale pancakes Helga had made. "I..."
"Of course she is! What a stupid question to ask. And she's going to be doing my chores today too, right Wedgie?"
"I...."
"See? She's too much of a doormat to NOT do our chores. Use your head next time you open your mouth Robert."
"Don't call me Robert!"
"I'll call you whatever I want, Robert!" I put my head down as they started to argue about the same petty stuff they did every morning. I felt a harsh gaze on me and when I looked up I saw Carol giving me a look that was telling me not to just take what those two had said lying down. "A-actually, I'm not...." I squeaked.
"What was that, Wedgie?" Sharlene said, giving me a harsh glare. I shrunk away from it and wouldn't have repeated myself if I hadn't felt a harsher glare on me still from across the table. "I-I-I said, I'm not going to be d-doing your chores...." I said, my voice growing smaller and smaller as I went on. "Says who?"
"Says me." Carol said from across the table. I looked over to her and she was shooting Sharlene one of the harshest glares I had ever seen. "Oh yeah? And whats a feather-weight like you going to do about it?" Sharlene said as she lit up her horn.
I had to do something, anything to keep Carol from getting hurt. Even though she may not like to admit it, Carol isn't the strongest flier around and has trouble even fluttering sometimes. If her and Sharlene get into in, Sharlene could seriously hurt her and I don't want that to happen. I focused hard on the pancakes in front of Sharlene, trying to make them do something, anything to distract her long enough for Carol to make a run for it.
I felt a sharp pain come from my horn and I lost focus on the pancakes, causing them to explode all over Sharlene. Carol and Rob started laughing at the sight but Rob stopped immediately when Sharlene gave him a death glare. Carol wasn't silenced so easily though and kept on laughing until Helga cracked her flank with her whip.
Sharlene was about to say something but whatever it was never made it out of her mouth when Helga shot her a look. "Breakfast is over. You three! Clean up this mess!" She said with another crack that caused everypony but me, Carol and Sharlene to hop up and go to their own chores.
The entire kitchen was a mess, not just from the exploding pancakes but from everyponies plates and the mess that Helga had made when preparing breakfast. I stuck close to Carol the whole time while we cleaned. "I'm sorry....." I said as I scrubbed a plate. "Sorry? For what?" Carol said as she took the plate I had been scrubbing and rinsed it in the water. "For getting you in trouble...."
"What? This? This is totally worth seeing the look on Sharlenes face when those pancakes exploded on her!" She said with a laugh. "If anypony needs to apologize, it's her for trying to force her chores on you like that."
"Yeah..." I said as I looked out of the corner of my eye to Sharlene. She was glaring at both me and Carol while she swept up the mess from before. Carol saw where I was looking and made a face at her, causing her to huff and continue sweeping while turning her head. "Stick close to me today, I don't think she's going to be too friendly for awhile." She said, as she put her hoof to her chin. "Actually, I don't think she's going to be too friendly ever." She continued, causing me to giggle. "Thanks Carol.."
"Hey, what're friends for?" She said as she draped a wing over me as I leaned into her. "Now c'mon, we had better finish these before Helga cracks both our flanks."
~<(^)>~
We were working in the garden when a couple of upper-class ponies came by the orphanage. I noticed that Carol had hid behind a bush when they walked by and let out a sigh when they went inside the orphanage. "What was that about?" I asked as we got back to work tending the garden. "I don't wanna risk them seeing me if they're looking for a daughter." She explained.
"Y-you mean, you don't want to get adopted?" I asked, shocked that she had avoided their sight for that reason. "No, I do. But not by them.. They reeked of snobbishness and superiority. I don't wanna turn out like that."
"Oh, ok.." I said as we went back to gardening. "Is it ok if we stay out here until they leave?" She asked me. "S-sure!" I said. We finished gardening and sat under the bushes while we waited to hear the bell on the door chime and those two ponies from before walk out. "So, what kind of ponies do you want to adopt you?" I asked after awhile.
"Somepony nice, and caring, and friendly to be around. Basically somepony who is everything Helga isn't." She joked. I laughed for a minute, thinking how nice it would be if somepony like that took Helgas place here. "What about you? What do you hope the ponies who adopt you are like?" She asked.
"I-I don't really know, I'd just be happy to get out of here.." I said with a sigh. I felt something on my shoulder and saw that Carol had wrapped her wing around me. "Maybe the same ponies will adopt both of us. It would be pretty awesome to have you as a sister." She said. I gave her a big hug when she said that, that she returned in full. "I hope so.." I said, tears of joy streaming down my face. "Ah, there she is." We heard Helga say as the door chimed.
I looked up to see her standing in front of the door with the two ponies from before. "You two, get out here." She barked at us. I hoped out immediately while Carol was a bit slower to come out. "Hmmm... Yes, we'll take the red pegasus. What do you think dear?" The stallion said in a voice that sounded like he had a head full of snot. "Yes, I concur. We'll take the pegasus." The mare said sounded just as stuffed up.
"What?!" Me and Carol said as the same time. "Very well, come with me and we'll get the paperwork taken care of. You too feather brain." Helga said as she picked Carol up in her magic. "NO!!!" She cried as she squirmed about trying to break out of something intangible. I reached out and grabbed her hooves but they were sweaty and I lost my grip as I fell backwards and got up with just enough time to see the fear on her face before the door closed behind the four ponies.
I just sat there in the garden, not paying any attention to the weather ponies gathering storm clouds in the sky. When the rain started coming down I rolled up underneath the bush me and Carol had been under when she was taken.
"Maybe the same ponies will adopt both of us. It would be pretty awesome to have you as a sister."
The phrase echoed in my head and my tears began to mix with the rain that had started coming down harder and the mud that it was making below me. I heard the bell on the door chime but it only caused me to crack my eyes open a little bit. "Come along now Carol dear, we don't want to get our manes messy." I heard the mare say as her and the stallion walked past my line of sight from under the bush. Carol tagged behind at a slower pace than them, I arched my head to where I could see her face through the leaves and wished that I hadn't.
Her face was dark, even through the rain and tears I could see the stains of her own tears on her face. After she passed I fell back into a fit of sobs and wallowed in the pit that was beginning to feel more and more like home with every second I laid in it. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
"No.. Please no..."
I looked up just in time to see a dark red blast push me out from under my bush and into the garden that me and Carol had been working on. "I bet you think you're pretty clever, Don'tcha? Pulling that stunt with the pancakes at breakfast this morning." Sharlene said as she came around to the side of the bush the garden was in. "N-no......" I whined, sobbing all the more as I laid there in the mud.
"What? Are you crying?!" She cried as she shot another magic blast at me. "You made me look like a fool at breakfast, get me in trouble to where I have to clean the kitchen AND do all the chores that you were supposed to be doing, AND YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO BE CRYING?!" She cried as she slammed her hoof into the side of my shoulder and pushed me deeper into the mud. I was sobbing much harder than I had been before. Partly from pain, partly from the loss of my best friend. My eyes burned as I was pushed deeper and deeper into the mud, the rain was coming down much harder now and it was getting harder to breathe with it slapping mud in my face every time I took a sob.
Just when I felt like letting go, I heard a sickening crack that was all too familiar. I looked up and saw Helga with her whip looming over both of us like an angry god in the rain. She brought her whip down on Sharlene again and grabbed her by the tail in her dark purple aura. "I will not have the reputation of this orphanage tarnished by some mare with her head so far up her own flank that she can hardly take a crap without swallowing it, killing the most spineless orphan we have here!!!" She bellowed as she cracked her whip right where Sharlenes flank met her tail and dropped her down in the mud. "Now both of you get your sorry excuses for flanks inside and clean yourselves up!!" She barked at us and we both ran inside.
After I had scrubbed most of the mud off my coat I went to the bedroom and plopped myself on my bunk. Even though I could have kept crying if I wanted to, I didn't have any more tears left to shed and Carol wouldn't want both of us feeling bad like this if she could help it. I had to force myself not to look at her old bunk so that my tears wouldn't replenish. I eventually fell managed to fall asleep, exhausted both physically and emotionally.
~<(^)>~
I woke up from what was the worst sleep of my life and almost walked over to Carols old bunk to wake her before I remembered that she wasn't there anymore. "Alright you spineless orphans, listen up!" Helga bellowed as she entered the room. I felt a tug on my tail and before I knew it I was being levitated by Helga in front of all the fillies in the room along with Sharlene. "Due to an incident yesterday, these two unicorns are not to come within five hooves of each other! Anyone who sees that they are within that distance of each other is to either push them apart or alert me to it! Understood?" All the fillies in the room nodded in agreement and Helga released her magical hold on us and we dropped to the floor.
The rule was upheld vigorously with a few ponies even starting to take sides. Most of them stook up for Sharlene because she would go out and get ponies to follow her by bending the story around to where the tables were turned. I didn't care about getting ponies on my side and even if I did I would have been to shy to even try. Eventually the truth of what happened got out and the ponies that had sided with Sharlene stopped talking to her all together and she became one of the loneliest ponies at the orphanage. Eventually she was adopted and so were most of the other ponies that were around when the whole incident had happened. The only pony I ever really talked to now was Flash and that was on rare occasion when we would have the same chores for the day.
There were still ponies that would call me "Wedgie" or try to force their chores on me, but none were ever as bad as Sharlene but I also never had the backbone to tell them no either, and without someone like Carol to get me to say no I would just let them walk all over me.
One day, I was working in the garden alone like I had been doing ever since Carol had left when a colt approached me. "Excuse me, is this the ManeHatten Orphanage?" He asked. I looked up and saw he was a pegasus with a sea green coat and light blue mane and tail. "Y-yes," I said as I got up. "I-I'm Lemon Wedge."
"Ivory Blossom." He said as he held out his hoof. I shakily shook it and went back to gardening. I still felt him looming over me and it caused me to freeze up. "Can I come in?" He asked. "O-oh! yes, but.. aren't you a little young to be wanting to adopt somepony?" I asked, seeing that he could only have been a few years older than me.
"Actually... I was wondering if you had room for me, I've been wandering around a lot and it's really starting to get me down.." He said as his wings drooped. "O-of course! Come with me." I said as I got up and led him inside. "Flash would probably be the better pony to show you around than me, I think he was dusting last time I saw him." I said as we walked into the living room where a brown unicorn colt with an orange mane was dusting the coffee table. "Hey Flash." I said, barely audible.
"Hey Lemon Wedge, I didn't expect to see you out of the garden so early." He said as he stopped dusting. "What's up?"
"Nothing really.. This is Ivory, he's new and needs somepony to show him around."
"Follow me then my good colt, and welcome to Tartarus." Flash said in the same jovial voice he took with all the new fillies and colts that were old enough to get the joke. "I-I'll be in the garden if you need me.." I said as I headed back outside. "I'll see ya later Lemmy." He called back to me. I don't know why, but it made me feel weird inside. "Hey Wedgie!" I heard an all to familiar voice call out. No pony had treated me as badly as Sharlene had but this colt was a close second.
"You're still going to do the laundry and ironing aren't you?" Rob said as he caught me just as I was about to go back out to the garden. "I..."
"That's what I thought, go ahead and get it done. I don't want Helga yelling at me!"
"Why don't you do it yourself?" I heard somepony from behind me say. I turned to see that Ivory was standing there staring at Rob. "Because she already agreed to do them!"
"Really?" He said with an incredulous look. "Yeah! Isn't that right Wedgie?" Rob said, shooting a quick glare at me that caused me to back down. "I think you're lying." Ivory said as bluntly as possible. "What proof do you have?" Rob accused.
Ivory calmly walked over to me and placed his wing on my shoulder. "Lemmy, did you say that you would do this flanks laundry?" He asked.
"Who're you callin' a flank, feather brain!" Rob cried.
"Be quiet, will you? Now did you?" He asked again. I shook my head no and he smiled and released his wing from me. "There we have it then, go do your own laundry."
"She's lying! She's a compulsive liar! I wouldn't expect you to know that since you're new here of though, you should thank me for-" He was cut-off when Flash smacked his hoof against the back of his head.
"Shut up Robert. If anyone around here is a compulsive liar it's you." He said. Right then we heard heavy hoof steps coming down the stairs. "Go ahead and get back to your garden Lemon Wedge, we'll take the heat here." Flash said as he kept the bell from chiming with his magic while I went back out front.
I just sat there on the front step for a moment or two, my heart pounding against my chest. Somepony had stepped in and stopped somepony else from forcing their work on me. Nopony had done that since Carol was still around. My train of thought was interrupted by a trio of screams from inside. I jumped up and ran into the garden and started working just in time for Helga to come out and glare at me before heading back in. I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding and returned to gardening in peace when she left.
~<(^)>~
I heard about what had happened later from Flash that he and Rob weren't going to be getting any supper but Ivory just got the lashings from earlier since he was new. I decided to sit next to Ivory at supper that night so I would have a chance to thank him for what he did. When we sat down I saw that Helga had ordered pizza just to make it sting all the worse for Flash and Rob while we ate. I felt kinda bad about it but I was glad that the food was actually edible for once. "Wow, this is good." Ivory said as he took a bite out of a slice of cheese and mushrooms.
"Y-yeah, don't get to used to it though.. She normally only does this to torture the the ponies who have been bad." I said as I bit into my slice of peppers and onions. "That's pretty cruel.." He said as he took another bite. "That's Helga.. Try and save a slice for Flash, pizza is his favorite."
"I was going to anyways, he's a nice pony."
"Y-yeah," I said, as we fell into the pace of eating. "Umm.. T-thank you for earlier..."
"Hmm?"
"T-thank you.."
"For what?"
"For talking Rob down like that.. That was really nice of you."
"Hey, what're friends for?" He said as wrapped his wing around me. I felt incredibly warm in his embrace, like he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. It felt familiar somehow but I couldn't quite place it, all I knew was that my heart felt like it could pound out of my chest at any moment.
"Eat!" Helga bellowed with a crack of her whip. When I came back to reality I saw that I was leaning into him and that most of the ponies had been staring at us. I quickly sat up and continued to eat. I just knew that there was a huge blush on my face.
After we finished eating we all went up to bed while Flash and Rob did the dishes. I felt a huge blush come to my face when I accidentally walked in on Ivory when he was about to take a bath.
"Sorry!" I shouted as I quickly ran to the girls bedroom and hid under my sheets to hide my blush. After he was out, I went in and took my bath. I don't know why but it felt weird for me to be bathing right after him. When I finished I walked back to the girls bedroom and fell asleep.
~<(^)>~
The next day was better than any other day had been since Carol left. I woke up to the same ritual that I always had, only with a better nights sleep than ever; Rob had avoided me all day, and I got to hang out with Flash and Ivory since we all had the same chores that day, except for gardening which I would always have to myself.
Flash and Ivory managed to get in trouble some how while I was out in the garden and didn't get any supper that night. I wasn't too surprised because Flash was notorious for getting into trouble whether it was his fault or not and Ivory was still getting used to the way things worked around here.
After supper I asked Flash what they did to get in trouble. "When me and Ivory were doing the laundry earlier we spilled bleach on one of Helgas favorite dresses." He said rather sheepishly. "I-it wasn't the blue and silver one was it??" I asked. "Yup, that's the one."
"O-oh my, I wouldn't be surprised if you don't get supper again tomorrow night.." I said, causing him to laugh. "Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me either! Think I should break it to Ive?" I felt my face get hot when he said his name. "Or should you?" He added.
"Wh-wh-what?? What are you talking about.. There's nothing there's nothing I want to tell Ivory!" I said, a little louder than I intended to. "What are you talking about?" He asked. I could feel the already brilliant blush on my face just growing brighter. "You like him don't you?~" He said in a singsong voice.
"Sh-shut up.." I said as I looked off to the side. "No need to get so defensive, Lemon Wedge. I was just teasing," He said as he started heading to the boys bedroom. "But you probably should tell him eventually."
It was right then that it hit me. I liked Ivory Blossom. But he never seemed to get any of the hints I would drop. I started to think that he might not like me back. But one day, the same day Flash had been adopted; Ivory did something that I never thought he would do.
"You wanna go get something to eat?" He asked as we sat in awkward silence on the couch.
"B-but we aren't aloud any supper tonight!" I said, shocked at the idea that he was practically asking me out on a date.
"She just said no supper, meaning she wasn't going to fix us anything tonight. She didn't say we couldn't go out and about. And if we 'happen' to get something to eat, how is she going to find out? Besides, me and Flash always do this whenever we aren't allowed any supper."
"O-ok." I said with a smile as I got up, my stomach growling as I did. "That's the spirit!" He chuckled as he got up, his own stomach growling also. We both laughed at our stomachs and went out on our date!
~<(^)>~
The sun was just starting to set and Ivory took me on a walk through Central Park. "A walk through the park at sunset, how romantic!" I cheered in my head as we walked side by side the whole time. After awhile, our stomachs got the better of us and Ivory took me to Guy's Equestrian Kitchen and Bar for supper.
When we walked in, there was a unicorn mixing a drink behind the bar. "Hey Guy!" Ivory called out. He stopped shaking the drink and smiled as he looked over at us. "Ive! Get your sorry flank up here!" He called out, I was about to maybe suggest a different restaurant but I saw Ivory was already trotting up to the bar, so I followed behind slowly.
As we got up to the bar he finished serving the drink to the other pony that was at the bar and messed up Ivory's mane with his hoof. "How's my favorite trouble maker?" he asked.
"Hehe, I'm good. We got sentenced to no supper." Ivory said.
"'course ya did, otherwise you wouldn't be here." He quipped. "You two want the usual?"
"I do, but Flash ain't with me this time."
"Heh, I find that hard to believe. He gets into more trouble than I did when I was your age."
"It's true, I haven't seen him since this morning actually. Anyways, I got Lemmy here in trouble with me earlier today."
"Aw c'mon Ive, leave the innocents out of your schemes." He said with a chuckle. "Now where is the unlucky colt?"
"SHE, is actually sitting right next to me." Ivory said, I could tell he was trying not to laugh so I didn't blush any brighter but it wasn't working to well. "Oh, terribly sorry miss. I guess Lemmy is just what this feather brain here calls ya." Guy said as he gave Ivory another noogie.
"Oh no, it's fine. It's better than what some of the other kids at the orphanage call me." I said, not wanting to embarrass him. "Why do they call you that anyways?" Ivory asked. "I don't know..."
"Well, my name is Guy Fieri." He said as he held out his hoof. "I'm Lemon Wedge." I said with a smile as I met his hoof. I was really glad I had gotten better at talking to other ponies now. "Now what can I get for you two?"
"Oh, I'll just have an apple cider." I said. "Me too, and an order of garlic fries."
"Two ciders and a garlic fry, coming up!" He said as he grabbed a couple of mugs in his magic and quickly filled them as he put the order in at the kitchen. "Here ya go!" He said as he slammed the drinks on the counter. "Thanks Guy." Ivory said as he reached for the bits to pay him but Guy stopped him. "Don't even think about it Ive, it's on the house."
"Thanks Guy!" He said as he took a big swig of cider. I was taking more moderated sips. "So what'd you two do anyways to lose your supper privileges?" He asked as the garlic fries were brought out. I stopped drinking as I felt a slight blush come on. "Ehehehe, you ever had someone walk in on you at a really bad time and think something is happening that is the exact opposite of what was actually happening?" Ivory asked. Guy put the glass he had been polishing down and paid full attention to our story.
"Maybe, what did they think and what was actually happening?" Ivory went into a rapid explanation of what all happened that he ended with a deep breath and a swig of cider.
"Heheh, that's an interesting way to take a mare out on a first date." Guy quipped which caused Ivory to do a spit-take. I blushed brighter than I had all night when he did that because he almost did it all over me! "Date?! No! It's not like that!" Ivory started out before he was interrupted by Guy. "Mhmm, what did you two do before you walked here?" He asked.
"We went for a walk in the park-oh! While I'm thinking of it, can we get another order of garlic fries? I think she's really hungry cause she had to lean on me practically the whole walk." He said, causing Guy to fall over laughing and me to blush even brighter than I had been.
~<(^)>~
"And that's how I feel about you. Since the moment I met you, I've always felt this way Ivory." I said.
"O-oh.." Ivory said.
"I-ivory.." I said, I could already feel tears starting to well up.
"Lemmy, I-I'm so sorry.. But I always thought of you as a sister, like Carol seemed to be to you." He said.
"Sister.."
The word rang in my mind like the bell on the orphanage door. That was it, that's what had felt so familiar that first night when he wraped his wing around me! It wasn't that I had a crush on him. It was because it felt just like it did when Carol would wrap her wing around me to comfort me! He was my brother! I have a big brother!!
"L-lemmy?" He said. Oh! Right, he's still here! And he's my brother!
"..B-br-br..." I stuttered. C'mon, you've shouted it in your mind multiple times now. Just say it! "Br-br-bro-brother... Big Brother!!!" I cried as I tackled him in a hug.
"What's going on in here?!" Margret cried as her and Scootaloo came running into the kitchen. "I've got a brother!" I cried as I held Ivory in my forehooves. "Can't...breathe..." He wheezed. "Oops.." I said as I let go of him. He gasped for air that I had apparently been depriving him of since I grabbed him in the hug.
"I wanna bwothah too!" Scootaloo cried. "C'mere Scoots," Ivory called, Scootaloo ran up to him immediately. "I'm your brother also." He said as he gave her a hug. "Yay!!" She cheered as she hugged him back. I saw him whisper something to her but I couldn't tell what it was, but it was something sneaky by the looks of those smiles on their faces.
"Lemmy in the middle!!" They cried at once as they tackled me from both sides in a hug. We just laughed as we rolled around in the floor for who knows how long. "..Did I, miss something in here?" Margret asked after awhile. "It's a long story Margret," I said as we all got up. "A really long story."
Margret woke us up the next morning to get ready for school. We were both ready to go and had everything we'd need, except...
"We don't have anything for school!"
Ok so I lied, we were totaly unprepared. Luckily for us, Margret had two saddle bags that she let us use and since we lived in the Library, books wouldn't be an issue. We said bye to Margret and Scoots, the latter wanting to come with us even though she was still too young to go; and headed out the door. "So, a-are you as excited as I am for our first day of school?" Lemmy asked as we walked. "Yeah, even though I didn't expect us to be going while we were here."
"Then again, I didn't expect us all to be adopted either!" I added with a smile. "Y-yeah!" She said with a small smile of our own. "I-it still feels kinda awkward viewing you as a brother, but I-I definitely don't have THOSE feelings for you anymore."
"You'll get used to the idea." I said as I messed up her mane, causing her to giggle. "Lemon Wedge!" An elegant, yet young voice called out. We turned to look and saw a white unicorn filly with a purple mane waving at us. Lemmy waved back as she walked up next to us. "Hi Rarity." She said. "How are you darling," Rarity said as she whispered something in her ear that caused Lemmy to giggle nervously. "Aheh, well.. Things took an unexpected turn and now he's my brother."
"Oh, does that mean he's available then?" I looked at them both in confusion as Lemmy lit up red and Rarity seemed to have something in her eyes by the way she was blinking.
~<(^)>~
Before we knew it we were at the schoolhouse where there were a few fillies and colts were playing outside waiting for class to start. Rarity and Lemmy went off somewhere, probably to talk about girl stuff; while I walked over to a familiar pony at the swing set. "Hey there Big Mac." I said as I walked up to him. "Howdy." He said as he motioned to the adjacent swing beside him.
I sat in it and began fluttering my wings to give me a bit of propulsion. "So what's it like here?" I asked. "It's nice," He said as we both swung. "Miss Karen is sweet, our classmates are all good ponies even though some of them have their quirks." I put a bit more thrust into my next swing and he seemed to notice as he matched it. "Think you can out-swing me?" I said with a chuckle as I began beating my wings faster and faster.
I didn't notice that I was going completely around the swing set and running out of chain before it was too late as I was pinned against the top bar by the wood plank under my flank. Down below, I saw Big Mac grinning like he had just one a bet. "Nope, but I can outsmart ya." He said as he bucked the set hard enough to make me fall on my face. He offered me a hoof to lift me up and I gladly took it with a sheepish grin on my face.
~<(^)>~
"S-so, I know I already asked you this yesterday but, w-what's it like here?" I squeaked, trying not to irritate Rarity. I recoiled as she put a tender hoof on my shoulder to calm me down. "It's ok darling, it's perfectly normal to be nervous on the first day." She said as we walked over to a tree and sat down underneath it. "As I said before, Miss Karen is really nice and so are our classmates. The only one you really want to be careful around is Ditzy."
"Why?"
"It's nothing against her personally, she's a very nice pony and a real go getter. The only thing is that she's really clumsy."
"Oh." The next thing I knew both me and Rarity were hit by a grey pegasus filly with a blonde mane when she tried to come in for a landing. "Oops, sorry Rarity." She said as she got off of us. "It's quite alright Ditzy.." Rarity said as she got up. Ditzy was examining me with one eye as the other looked off towards the schoolhouse in the distance. Even though it was only from one eye it still made me feel nervous and I shrank away from her gaze. She broke out into a smile and helped me up to my hooves. "You must be new here, I'm Ditzy Doo!" She said as she held out her hoof.
"I-I'm Lemon Wedge." I said as I shook her hoof. "Nice to meet you! Sorry for crashing into you just now.." She said as she rubbed the back of her head. "Oh no, it's fine!" I said, not wanting her to feel bad. "I'm no pegasus but I'm sure it's not very easy to fly." She visibly brightened up at that. "Thanks Lemmy!" She said with a smile.
"Alright my little ponies! It's time for class!" A nasally, yet still sweet voice voice called from the schoolhouse and Me, Ditzy, Rarity, and all the other ponies in the schoolyard came running to the schoolhouse to begin the day.
~<(^)>~
The class room wasn't very big, but it seemed to be enough to hold all the ponies here. I sat up front between a cream coated earth pony with a navy and pink curled mane and a mint green unicorn with a slightly lighter green mane with streaks of white in it. Lemmy was sitting a few seats over beside Rarity and behind a pony I assumed was the filly who made the muffins for Margret the other day. We were all idly chatting with each other while Miss Karen wrote the assignment on the board. "Alright class, settle down. Now before we begin with todays lesson I would like for you all to meet two new students that will be joining us today, why don't you two come up here and introduce yourselves."
Me and Lemmy stood up and walked to the front of the room when she said that. I could tell that Lemmy was nervous so I introduced both of us. "I'm Ivory Blossom, and this is my sister Lemon Wedge. We both recently moved here from Manehatten." I said. Just as we were about to take our seats, Miss Karen spoke up again. "Ooo, Manehatten! Why don't you tell the class what it was like up there?" She said.
I looked out to the class and they were all leaning in to hear what we had to say, especially AppleJack. "I-it was a nice city, though it was too fast paced for us. So we moved here." Lemmy said. "Are there any questions anypony would like to ask before we start the lesson?" Miss Karen asked the class. Somepony in the back put his hoof up. Miss Karen told him to go ahead and ask. "Um, did you ever go see the Statue of Equinity?"
"N-no, but we have been to Central Park." Lemmy said. He nodded and another ponies hoof went up, this time it was AppleJacks. "Do y'all wish you coulda stayed?"
"Sometimes, we had a lot of good friends there but the good was out-weighed by the bad for us so we moved here." I answered. She had a big grin on her face as another pony put their hoof up, this time it was a filly with a poofy orange mane. "How did you get to Ponyville?" She asked. "Isn't it obvious Carrot Top? They took the train of course!" A magenta earth pony with a purple mane called out. "A-actually, we didn't have enough money for the train all the way from Manehatten." Lemmy said, causing the small ruckus from before to quiet down as everypony became even more interested in what we had to say. "Then how did you get here all the way from Manehatten!"
"Well," I started out before Mrs. Karen interrupted me. "Ok class, I'm sure we're all interested in Ivory and Lemon Wedge's story but we still have to get to today's lesson. You may continue with your story after lunch."
"Ok then." I said as me and Lemmy took our seats. "Now, please turn in your Equestrian History Books to Chapter 3."
~<(^)>~
Mrs. Karen finished the lesson quickly and I ate my lunch with Ditzy and Rarity at our desks. Margret had packed my favorite today, a daffodil sandwich sprinkled with hayseeds; and I was ready to dig in immediately. "So, how did you get here from Manehatten if you didn't take the train Lemon Wedge?" Rarity asked as I was about to bite into my sandwich.
"Oo! Oo! I wanna know too!" Ditzy cried out as she fluttered out of her desk for a second. We had turned our desks towards each other so we would be able to talk while we ate. "W-well, it's a bit of a long story.. A-and Rarity, you remember that stallion we had bumped into last night when we were walking home?" I asked.
"Yes?"
"W-well, he's a-actually a private investigator from Manehatten."
"Of course he was darling, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Because.. The filly he was looking for is the one me and Ivory ran away with when we came down here." I said. Ditzy gasped in shock as she stared at me with her good eye and Rarity looked as though she was about to faint. I wasn't surprised by their reaction at all, how else could you react when somepony just told you that you were avoiding any kind of law enforcement? "So were you really planning on staying here, or was this just a one pit stop before you got back to living on the lam.." Ditzy said in a gravely voice as she did her best to glare at me from just above the desk which caused Rarity to face-hoof. "Y-y-yes! Of course! Me and Ivory had made a plan to come down here since the first night! I don't know why we wouldn't stay here! What if he finds her!"
"Lemon Wedge."
"Or if she runs into him whenever we go out!"
"Lemon Wedge.."
"Or..!"
"Lemon Wedge!" Rarity shouted, snapping me out of my rambling. "Huh?" I said as I shook my head clear. "Sorry for shouting darling, but you are worrying to much about this. As long as he doesn't have to check out a book while he's here you'll be fine."
"O-ok.."
"Now get back to your story!" Ditzy cried as she crawled back into her seat. "R-right, um... Oh! Well, w-what we were going to do was hike down to Fillydelphia and take the train from there to Ponyville during the night. But when we stopped on the edge of the woods that were there for the night to rest we woke up in the middle of the forest." I explained, causing them both to gasp. "Oh! Talk about dreadful!" Rarity cried, looking like she might faint again. "How do you think it happened?" Ditzy asked.
"I don't know.. B-but whatever it was, we didn't have our saddlebags with all our supplies when we woke up."
"Oh my...." Rarity said as she made a face that said she was imagining the idea. "How'd you get out?" Ditzy asked, eager for me to continue. "We a-actually came across a small town made up of mostly bat ponies called Hollow Shades that had some sort of spell on it that kept it in constant night."
"What's a bat pony?" Ditzy asked. "Think pegasus with bat wings darling." Rarity said. "Y-yes, anyway, we were lucky that it there was a train station there but the train to ponyville only came in every two days and it had just left that day we got there so we went to stay with the Apple Family."
"You mean the same Apple Family as AppleJack and Big Mac?" Ditzy asked, causing Rarity to sigh dreamily. "He's such a stallion.." She said as she looked off into space. The whole scene had made Ditzy roll her eyes, causing them to be in alignment for a split second. "Yeah, he's a nice pony. But I still have my heart set on one colt, and one colt only.." She said as she started to drift into space, causing Rarity to come out of her daydream almost as though only one pony could daydream at a time. "If you're talking about Turner, it's never going to happen unless you actually talk to him for once." She said as she started eating the salad she had brought.
"I talk to him!" Ditzy cried as a small blush came to her face. "Words such as, 'err..' and 'igottagobye!' don't count darling." Rarity retorted, causing Ditzys face to scrunch up.
"W-who's Turner?" I asked, glad that they had stopped paying attention to me right before the most embarrassing part of my story. "He made it a point that he prefers to go by his full name on the first day!" Ditzy shouted. "Then how come no one ever calls him by it, hmm?" Rarity asked.
"Because.. Because... Ugh!" Ditzy cried as she got up and started walking outside. "Ditzy! Where are you going?" Rarity called right before she got to the door. She looked back at us and blinked hard, bringing her eyes into alignment for the time. "To prove you wrong." She said as she went outside.
~<(^)>~
The lesson went by fast since we had taken up most of the class talking about how we got to Ponyville. I had forgotten my lunch at the Library so I sat on a bench outside and soaked up the sun and before long that I fell asleep. "Excuse me, but have you seen a pair of pink glasses lying around here?" I heard a voice say.
I opened my eyes and saw a unicorn colt standing in front of me. His coloration was definitely one of the odder ones seeing as how he was a very dark navy with a poofy sky blue mane and slicked back green tail with a magenta and white striped button-up and a watch on his left hoof. "You mean the ones above your horn?" I asked, gesturing to the pair that was hanging on his horn as I sat up.
"Huh? Oh! That's where I put them!" He said as he brought them down to where they would be of use. "Hey, I know you! You're the new colt from Manehatten!"
"Yeah, Ivory Blossom." I said as I held out my hoof. "Fruitcake."
"Nice to meet you, wanna sit down?" I asked, patting a spot on the bench. "Sure!"
We talked for a good while, I had told him about me and Lemmys trip down here and what it was like and we had struck up a nice conversation afterwards. "Really?! All of that happened just from trying a levitation spell?" I asked, stunned. "Yep, and it gets wilder! After the spoon bounced off the clock from the orange falling, it caused one of the knives hanging on the wall to fall on the counter, do a couple of flips, and slice off part of my ear!" He said as he gestured to a fair sized gash on his right ear.
We had been talking about the things that we had done to either injure or extremely embarrass ourselves for almost all of lunch time and that story definitely took the cake. "Oh, and I was wondering, why are your eyes so hazy?" I asked. "I was born half blind which is why I have to wear these super thick glasses."
"Really? Wow, I wouldn't ever take them off if my eyes were like that!"
"You would if wearing them made it gradually worse each day."
"They do?"
"In my case they do, that's why I have to take them off for a few hours each day to counter it."
"Sounds rough.."
"It's not that bad, it's just annoying when I forget where I put them."
"Like on top of your head?" I quipped, causing both of us to laugh our flanks off.
~<(^)>~
Me and Rarity were hiding behind a tree where we watched as Ditzy was trying to work up the courage to go talk to a brown colt with an hourglass cutie mark sitting with a crimson colt at a picnic table. "Oh, I do hope I got her mad enough.. She seems to be loosing her nerve." Rarity said, causing me to snap around and look at her.
"W-what??" I asked in shock.
"You see, Ditzy has been trying to get the confidence to even talk to Turner ever since the first day of school this year but has never been able to get more than incoherent nonsense out whenever they do get within conversation distance."
"O-oh, why is she so nervous?"
"I think it might be that he already had his Cutie Mark when he came here and she's one of the only ponies in class that still doesn't have her Cutie Mark."
"O-ok." I said, immediately getting a shush from Rarity as she pointed to Ditzy who had started walking towards the picnic table, albeit as slowly as possible. "H-hi there, T-t-time Turner...." She said, we were close enough to where we could just hear what they were saying. He looked over to the other colt that was sitting next to him and the colt gave a nod. "Well, I think Ah'm gonna go play in the sand over there. Ah'll See ya later Turner."
"Alright then, see you later Mac." Turner said as Mac started walking towards us. "Wait, why is he coming this way?" I thought to myself. "The sandbox is over there! No! Stop! You'll blow our cover!" I looked over to Rarity who had lost focus on Ditzy and Turner and was now paying full attention to the colt that was now coming towards us. "Oops, is this spot taken?" He asked when he got to the tree. "Y-yes, I'm afraid i-it-" I started before Rarity interrupted me.
"It can be shared!" She cried, almost blowing our cover. "Thank ya kindly." He said as he got down between us and looked on at the picnic table where Ditzy and Turner were now both sitting at, though they seemed rather awkward about it. "S-so Mac, why are you s-spying on Ditzy?" I asked. "Ah ain't spyin' on Ditzy, Ah'm observin' Turner. He's been trying to ask that mare over there out for weeks, but whenever he tries to talk to her she starts spouting a bunch of gibberish and bolts." He said, causing me and Rarity to exchange glances and giggle. We stopped when we heard somepony else giggling and saw that Turner must have said something funny since they were both laughing softly.
When they opened their eyes Ditzy immediately stopped laughing and hid her face for no reason. It puzzled him and when he brought her face up to his her eyes were shut tight. "What's wrong?" He asked. "Nothing!" She said with a fake laugh as she opened her eyes.
He obviously didn't believe her as he sat there looking back at her not saying anything. She sighed and closed her eyes, causing them to go back to their normal formation of looking ahead and examining something in the distance. He chuckled and she hid her face again. "Aw c'mon, I like your eyes. Even when they aren't looking at the same thing." He said, causing her to look back up at him.
"Really?" She asked. "Of course," He said as he nuzzled her cheek, causing her to blush. "They're part of who you are." At this, jumped up from the picnic table and tackled him in a hug, causing both of them to fall on the ground. As they sat there laughing and me and the other two ponies behind the tree looked on at the adorable scene, I saw something sparkle on her flank.
I looked closer to see that an image was coming into view. "Ditzy! Your Cutie Mark!" I shouted with volume that I hardly ever used. She looked up at me and seemed kind of mad before I realized that I had just blown our cover. Luckily Turner distracted her from her anger by pointing at her flank which now contained a column of bubbles on it. We all ran over to the two of them to look at it up close.
"Ditzy! What happened? How did you get your Cutie Mark just by talking to Turner! And, why is it a bunch of bubbles?" Rarity asked when we got up to them. "I dunno. At first I was super nervous but when we started talking I started to loosen up and when he said he actually liked my eyes I got all bubbly on the inside and gave him a big hug!" She said with a smile. "W-well, at least you have your Cutie Mark now! Congratulations!" I said.
"And maybe a new coltfriend?" Rarity added with a wink that caused Ditzy to blush. "Eeyup." Mac said from behind us, causing all of us to look at him. Ditzy turned back to look at Turner first and the rest of us turned when we heard her squeal and hug him. "Alright class! It's time to get back to the lesson!" Mrs. Karen called from the school house as we all went running.
~<(^)>~
"Ivowy!! Wemmy!! You'we back!" An energetic Scootaloo cried as me and Lemmy got back to the library. "How was your first day of school?" Margret asked as she came in from upstairs.
"It was great! Apparently somepony got their Cutie Mark during lunch today." I said. "Really! That's exciting, who was it?" She asked. "It was Ditzy!" Lemmy said, practically beaming.
"Ooo! Let me guess! Um, was it.. an oven?" Margret asked.
"Nope." Lemmy said.
"A muffin!"
"Nu-uh."
"A muffin pan?"
"You're never gonna get it."
"Then tell me!"
"Bubbles." Lemmy said, trying to hide the grin on her face.
"Bubbles?" Margret asked in confusion.
"I-it surprised me too." Lemmy said. "Ivowy! Why did you no take you'we wittle sista Scootawoo ta school wit chu?" Scoots said as she looked up at me. I chuckled and picked her up. "Tell ya what. In a few days, maybe me and Lemmy can take you up to the school house and we can play on the playground there. How's that sound?"
"Yay!" She cried as she hugged my neck. "Alright my little ponies, I just got supper ready a few minutes before you got back so why don't we go ahead and eat before it gets cold."
"From the guy who forgot his lunch here, that sounds like a great idea!" I said as my stomach growled while we went into the kitchen to eat.
"Hey Dash!" I called out as I flew towards Cloudsdales park. She was sleeping in one of the trees that had been formed out of cloudstuff in the park and my greeting hadn't changed that. When I got up next to her she was snoring like a walrus with a head cold so I decided to have a bit of fun.
I got right up underneath the branch she was sleeping on and bucked it apart from the rest of the tree. Being careful not to bust the branch into nothing, I raised it higher up above the ground. I scooped up some couldstuff and formed it into a megaphone.
"Good morning Rainbow Dash!" I shouted into the megaphone. She sprung awake, busting the rest of the branch and falling flat on her face. I could hardly contain my laughter to speak. AHAahah.. Gotcha!" I finally managed to get out.
"Ha. Ha." She deadpanned, throwing a hunk of cloud at me. It hit me right in the face and exploded with a blast of water, drenching me from head to hoof. Now it was her turn to laugh at me looking ridiculous.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, scooping up a small bit of cloud and giving it a static charge behind my back.
"Yeah! It looks like your plan to prank me was all washed up!" She said, going back into a fit of chuckles from her own joke.
"Hahaha, clever. Looks like you win!" I said, holding out a hoof. She bumped it and felt electrified as the sparks I put in the small cloud surged into her body, leaving her mane and tail in a frizz and few spots on her coat singed. She glared at me before we both fell into a fit of laughter and started rolling around on the ground. "So what's new Ive?" She asked after we were able to breathe again.
"Not a lot, just felt like coming up here after a long week." I sighed.
"How bad was it?"
"It wasn't really bad, I'm just not used to going to school yet. We were all home schooled back at the orphanage so it's a bit of a culture shock to me and Lemmy."
"Lemmy?"
"My sister." I said, causing her to snort.
"What?"
"Isn't that kinda a colts name?" She asked.
"It's not her real name, just what me and our sister calls her."
"Ok then." She said, trying to conceal her chuckles.
"Anyway," I said with an eye roll. "The oddest thing is that on the second day, one of our classmates actually decided she was moving to Manehatten on her own."
"Really?" She asked, now in control of her laughter.
"Yeah. And she's walking the whole way to boot!" I said.
"That's nuts!" She said, springing up from where she had been laying down.
"I know! But I expect to see her back next week." I said, also sitting up. "So what's been up with you?"
"Not too much, just promised FlutterShy I'd help her with flight training today at three."
"You had probably get going then."
"Why?" She asked and as if on cue, the town clock down in Ponyville struck Five.
"That's why." I said with a smirk.
"Ah crap, I'm late! See ya Ive!" She called back as she took off at top speed.
~<(^)>~
I flew around Cloudsdale for a bit before deciding that I should probably head back home and when I got back, I saw Margret sitting in the kitchen crying.
"What's wrong?!" I asked.
"H-he found her, that P.I. from Manehatten found her.." She said, trying to keep her voice steady. At that moment, I felt my heart fall from my chest all the way to my flank. I couldn't really think straight at all, I didn't even think I would have been able to speak then. "Where is she now?" I asked, surprising both myself and Margret.
"I-I think that they're heading to meet with the pony who hired him." She said.
I felt myself get up and start heading for the door. "Don't tell Lemon Wedge where I'm going, if she gets back before I do just tell her I took Scoots out for a flying lesson." I said.
"And where exactly are you going young colt?" She asked sternly as she stood up from the kitchen. I don't remember feeling much of anything during all of this, just this one drive that was pushing me forward.
"To get my sister back." I said as I walked out the door and took to the Skies.
~<(^)>~
The first place I checked was the train station. As I stepped onto the platform, I spotted a conductor and decided that he would know whether or not he had come by here. "Excuse me, has a pale blue earth pony with a fancy looking hat come by here and bought a ticket to Manehatten for today?" I asked him, earning a funny look.
"I don't think that's any of my bussiness to tell you." He said suspiciously.
"Oh it's ok, he's my uncle. I just wanted to make sure he gets home alright." I said, hopping he'd buy it.
"Nice try kid. Why don't you run along home, ok?" He said as he went over to the train to start taking ponies tickets. I grumbled incoherently to myself as I walked off the platform to head home before I saw just the pony I was looking for heading into the Drowsy Dragon Inn. I followed him until we were all alone in a hallway. "Hey!" I called out when he was about to go into his room.
"Yes?" He asked, looking over to me.
"Do you know who I am?" I asked, walking up to him.
"Umm...." He said, trying to figure it out. "Aren't you the colt who bumped into me the other day?" He asked.
"No, I'm the colt whose sister you STOLE!" I cried, punching out at his face. He dodged out of the way and jumped back. I took to the air and tried to dive-bomb him but he caught me and pinned me to the ground. "Let go of me!" I shouted, feeling tears well up as I struggled to get out from underneath him.
"Why!? Give me one good reason why I should!" He said.
"So I can kick your sorry flank all the way back to Manehatten!" I cried, tears flowing free now.
"That's not a very good reason." He joked. When he saw that I was still trying to struggle out of his grip he let out a sigh. "Look kid. I'm going to let you up, but you have to promise to calm down and tell me why you're so upset, ok?"
"Ok.." I said with a sniffle.
After a few minutes I calmed down and he let me up. I told him about everything me, Lemmy and Scootaloo had been through together and why we had left in the first place. "So that's it then, you just didn't want her ending up with somepony who would treat her like a toy instead of a filly." He said in an understanding tone.
"Yeah, and now you're going to hand her over to the crazy mare who me and Lemmy worked so hard to get her away from!" I cried, feeling tears begin to well up in my eyes again. I could feel my anger redoubling as I came back to the thought that Scoots was going to be with that crazy mare.
"I never said I was working for that mare." He said, snapping me out of my rage.
"What?" I asked, shocked by what he had just said.
"If somepony like that had come to me saying that the foal they were about to adopt had just up and disappeared, I would have told them to get the buck out of my office." He said, causing me to chuckle.
"But wait. If you weren't hired by that mare, who hired you?" I asked.
"The pony who hired me was a mare with a rose red coat, deep brown eyes and a mane to match."
"Oh.." I said, looking off towards the ground.
"She also said that she had made a terrible mistake and had to set things right."
I snapped my head up and looked straight at him. "What was that mistake?" I asked.
"She didn't say, but I think that both you and I know what she could have been talking about."
"Right.." I said, looking down at my hooves.
"Tell ya what. I told her to meet me downstairs in thirty minutes, why don't ya come down there with me so you can say goodbye. I'm sure it would make things easier for the tyke."
"Ok.." I said.
"You can hang out here until then if you want."
"Ok." I said as we went inside, where I was tackled by an orange foal.
"Hi Ivowy!" Scoots said as she hugged me.
"Hey there Scoots, you doin' ok?" I asked as I got up.
"Yeah! Mista Wintas is supah nice!" She said, waving at him as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room.
"Is there anything you two need?" He asked.
"I think we're good." I said.
"Ivowy! When awe we gunna go home?" Scoots asked, looking into my eyes. I looked over to Mr. Winters and saw the same sad look look I was giving him.
"Don't worry Scoots, we'll be home soon. Why don't we play a game until then!" I said, hoping that would keep my mind off of the fact that I would have to say good bye soon.
"Yeah!" She cheered.
"Alrighty then, what do you wanna play?" I asked.
"Pwincess Wescue!" She exclaimed joyously.
"Alright then princess, what am I gonna be rescuing you from this time?" I asked.
"Tha Spookey Sea Sepent!" She said in an eerie voice and pointing at Mr. Winters, who jumped up and started making hissing sounds as he picked Scootaloo up and jumped up on the bed.
"Eeek! Save me Bwave Knight!" She squealed.
"Have no fear Mi'lady, you're Brave Knight is here! Have at thee treacherous snake!" I cried as jumped up on the bed.
~<(^)>~
We played like that until we heard the town clock strike six, which was the time Mr. Winters told his client to meet him downstairs; and sat down on the couch in the lobby.
"So what was this mares name?" I asked after awhile.
"Her name's Claire and she should be here any- Ah there she is!" Mr. Winters exclaimed, waving a mare over to where we were sitting.
"Hey Claire." He said as she sat down on the couch.
"H-hi Nick." She said, then noticing that he and Scootaloo wern't the only ponies sitting on the couch. "H-hello there young colt, w-what's your name?" She asked me.
"I'm Ivory Blossom ma'am." I said.
"Ivory here is the colt who has been taking care of Scootaloo since she was dropped off in Manehatten." Mr. Winters said, causing her to shrink into herself a little bit.
"Claire, I just have to ask you one thing to make sure Scootaloo is going to be ok." I said, earning myself a look from Mr. Winters.
"Ivowy..?" Scootaloo said uncertainly.
"Why? Why did you leave her on the doorstep like that?" I asked.
"I-it was a hard time for me.. I was living in Manehatten at the time with my parents after my coltfriend dumped me because he got me pregnant, and I was fired because my mood swings became too out of control. I kept telling myself that once this foal comes that everything would be alright. And when it finally came time my parents paid for the procedure and we were still living with them. It had been a month and I still couldn't find work. I felt so guilty, like I was making my parents pay for me AND raise my foal. So at the end of the month, I...." I could tell she was trying to fight off tears as she got to the part where it happened.
"You left her on the doorstep." I finished for her. She nodded sadly in confirmation, burying her face in her hooves as she let the tears she was holding loose.
"Don't cwy nice lady.." Scootaloo said as she put her hoof on Claire's shoulder. Claire looked over at the little face that was looking up at her and wrapped Scootaloo up in a hug. Scootaloo returned the hug and looked back up into Claire's eyes.
"What's youwe name nice lady?" She asked her. Claire looked like she was about to respond but no words came out.
"Her name is Mommy, but there's a rule to her name. Only you're allowed to call her that, everypony else has to call her Claire." I told Scoots.
"Don't cwy Mommy. You'we a nice pony, just like Wemmy and Magwet!" She said to Claire, who gave her a big hug.
"Thank you Scootaloo." She said as tears of joy replaced the ones of sorrow.
"I think it's time we all went home now." Mr. Winters said, causing everypony to get up. I felt something on my wings when I got up and saw that Scoots had jumped on my back.
"No Scoots, you're going to go home with Claire." I said as I got her off my back.
"Ok Ivowy," She said as she walked over to Claire. "When awe we gunna go back to da libwaie?"
"I-" I started out, but couldn't finish.
"We can go anytime you want Scoots." Claire said as she walked up.
"Wha?" I asked, slightly confused.
"Claire lives here in Ponyville now, I just came down to help as an old friend." Mr. Winters said as he walked out of the Inn.
"W-wait, Nick!" Claire called out to him before he could make it too far. "H-have you already bought your ticket back to Manehatten?" She asked.
"I was actually on my way to do that now, why?" He asked.
"O-oh! Um.. No reason! Have a safe trip!" She said with an awkward chuckle, receiving a kick from Scootaloo.
"Go Mommy, go!" She whispered with a smile. Claire returned the smile and started again.
"Umm.... W-what if you, didn't go back to Manehatten?" She asked sheepishly. "E-even with Scootaloo living with me now, our house would still feel kind of empty."
"Y'know, you're right. I don't think there's a daddy in that house is there?" He stated.
"N-no, there isn't.. At least, not yet at least." She said with a small blush and smile as she looked up at him hopefully.
"And not for long either." He added with a smile of his own. Claire looked up at him with a face as bright as a candle in a cave and his face seemed to reflect the same light. Before their faces could get any brighter, Scootaloo pushed Claire, causing her to fall into Mr. Winters hooves.
"Ok, I'm gonna go now. I'll see you three later." I said.
"Bye Ivowy! I'we see you soon!" Scoots called back as I left.
~<(^)>~
It felt good to know that Scootaloo was with her mom now, but I still couldn't help but feel a bit down. I would have flown home but I didn't really feel like flying right now. I was considering stopping by Sweet Apple Acres to see-BOOM!!!
I felt the ground shake below me as a loud shock-wave overtook my hearing. I ran into the nearest building there was to take cover. Apparently it was over like that and I calmed down.
"Whoa! Look at that!" Somepony in the shop cried. I looked out the window and saw a multi-hued shock-wave spreading across the sky.
"What does it mean, what does it mean?!" Some filly in the shop exclaimed. I recognized the voice from school but couldn't place the name.
Come to think of it, where was I anyway? This place smells nice, almost like a spa. I look around and see that I actually did run into Ponyvilles Spa.
"'Ello there Darling, welcome to Ponyville's Day Spa! I'm Vera, what can we do for you today?" The mare behind the counter said with a hint of a British accent. I looked around the place, it seemed pretty nice. A very good environment to it. "Yes, are you hiring?"
I heard the whistle blow in the factory, signaling the start of the next shift and the end of my own.
"See ya later Ive." One of my co-workers called as I took off from the loading dock.
"Later Rainbowshine." I called back.
The work at the Cloudsdale Weather Corporation wasn't demeaning in any way. The pay was good, the managers are nice, and even us grunts don't have that much hard work to do. Even with all that said, it definitely wasn't the job I wanted to have for the rest of my life, even if I did get promoted to one of the higher paying jobs. It just wasn't who I was.
"I'll never forget that day at the day spa back in Ponyville, when a couple of my fellow interns, Aloe and Lotus were trying to reach that herbal bath mix on the top shelf in the store room by forming a triangle with me and Lotus on the bottom while Aloe tried to reach it. She got it down, along with the rest of shelf on top of us. We were quite the sight to see, one of the larger jars of seaweed wrap fell busted and covered us head to hoof with the stuff. I don't think I ever saw Vera so mad." I thought to myself with a chuckle.
I lived on the other side of Cloudsdale so it would always take awhile for me to get home. I'll admit it's not a dump by any means, but it's still a bit small for wanting to start your own business. What would be the living room is devoted to tending to the Pegasi who need to unwind. I mostly get ponies from the corporation but every now and then somepony will come to me on a recommendation. The kitchen is nice and has all the essentials to it. It's a good thing that me and Lilly Winds are the only two who live here, otherwise it would be incredibly cramped since there are only two bedrooms. I got back just when Ditzy came by on her rounds. "Good evening, Ditzy." I said to the wall-eyed mailmare.
"Hiya Ivory! I got some letters for ya!" She replied cheerfully, afterwards digging around in her mail pouch and pulling out a mouthful of mail.
"Thanks Ditzy, give Time Turner my best." I said as I took them in my hoof.
"Okie dokie!" She said, and flew off.
I went inside and checked the time, it would still be awhile before Lilly got home from school so I had some time to myself. I tossed out the junk mail and opened the first letter on the stack.
"Dear Ivory,
How are you doing? I know you moved to Cloudsdale last year to start your own spa. How's that going? Things are going well for me in Canterlot. The Royal Archives are so much bigger than the Golden Oaks Library back in Ponyville, but that just means more for me to read. As the main caretaker of the Archives I'm allowed to live in there like I did when I took over at Golden Oaks when Margret retired. How is everypony doing? I haven't heard from them in so long. I'll try to make time and come visit some time.
Love, ~Lemon Wedge"
I set the letter aside, thinking that it was good that Lemmy was doing well as I picked up another letter. I sat that letter down and picked up the next one on the stack. This one seemed to be an invitation of sorts.
"Howdy there, cousin! We'd love to have y'all down here at the farm this weekend for the Apple Family Reunion! We're gon' be havin' this 'er ho-down at Shaddy Acres over in Hollow Shades this year! If'n yer close by or jus' really wanna come, get yer tails on the train and come on down with you and yer possie!"
I looked over the invite again to make sure I had the date right and checking the little calender on table to confirm I had this weekend off before moving to the next letter.
"Dear Ivory,
How have you been? I heard from Miss Pages that you moved up to Cloudsdale. Nice place, from what I've heard that is. Lil' Scoots talks about you and Lemmy all the time, whenever she's not drooling over her idol or out with her friends trying to find their marks. She's a great kid, you and Lemon Wedge did a good job with her while you had her. She's got such an adventurous spirit to her, I think you and I both know where that comes from, eh? She's also not so little anymore. She's growing up fast Ivory, I wish you could see her. The only thing I'm worried about is that her wings aren't really growing all that much and she's still fluttering about. Since Claire and I are both Earth Ponies, we don't really know much about Pegasus physiology so we thought we'd ask you if you had anything like that when you were around her age. You should really come see her sometime before she grows up on all of us.
Sincerely, ~Nicholas Winters"
I thought back to when I was ten years old for a second, that was around the time that I was first starting to get off the ground. I'd have to tell them that she just needs to practice a lot and she'll get the hang of it.
"Hey Ive!
How ya been? I've been doing great! I finally got your mailing address (you wanderer you) and decided to send ya a letter! Oh, and another thing... WHY DIDN'T YA TELL ME YA WERE RUNNIN' OFF FROM THE ORPHANAGE?! And why didjya wait so long to do it? ;P But seriously though, not to sound like I got somthin' against ya or anything, but I kinda wish ya told me you were plannin' to get the hell outta dodge soon that day we stopped by Guy's place. Woulda been nice ta know it'd be awhile before I saw ya again. Anyways, hope to hear back from ya soon and maybe get together some time in the future.
Yer old pal, ~Flash"
It felt good to hear from Flash after all these years, I made a note to write him back as soon as possible before I went on to the next letter.
"Hey bro." I heard voice call as the door closed. I looked up and saw a green pegasus filly with a caramel mane and tail and light brown bow whipping her hooves on the mat.
"Hey Lilly, how was school?" I asked.
"Eh, it was school. But I can't complain too much, I got Elizabeth to hang out with when I can." She said with a smile.
"It's a good thing you two don't have any classes together, otherwise you wouldn't learn a thing in that place." I said as I ruffled her mane with my hoof.
"Hey! I learn stuff!" She retorted, putting her mane back in the style she always had it in.
"Nightmare Moon was imprisoned and redeemed by the Elements of..." I said, stretching out the last word to entice her to finish.
"Purity...?" She answered, almost like she was asking a question.
"Harmony. C'mon Lilly, the Elements themselves live right down in Ponyville." I said, causing her to turn her head to hide her embarrassment which caused me to sigh.
"Just promise me you'll try a little harder in school, ok?" I said as I wrapped my wing around her.
"Ok bro." She said as she leaned her head on my shoulder.
"Now how are you doing in gym? Have you gotten any higher off the ground?" I asked enthusiastically.
"You bet I have! I got three whole hooves higher than I did last week!" She exclaimed, jumping up in the air.
"Great! Keep it up, this is a very important time for developing your wings."
"I know, I know. You've only told me like a hundred times." She teased.
"Oh, and we've been invited to an Apple reunion this weekend." I said as I tucked the last letter away for later reading.
"That's cool, have fun without me." She said as she walked off to the room where I had my masseuse equipment set up.
"You don't wanna come?" I asked, following her to get things ready for an appointment later.
"I don't really know the Apples like you do, I'd just be a weird pony there."
"Until I tell them you're my sister, then they'd be as friendly as can be to ya. Why don't you see if Elizabeth would like to come?" I asked, thinking that was the real reason she didn't want to go. It's near impossible to separate those two sometimes.
"Actually, Elizabeth asked me if I wanted to sleep over this weekend." She said, grabbing the head-cushion for the massage table.
"What did ya tell her?" I asked as I lit an incense.
"I said I would ask if it was ok. So.. is it?" She asked hopefully.
"Sure, you two don't have a lot of chances to hang out anyway." I said with a smile.
"Yay!!" She cheered, almost dropping the head-cusion she was fluffing.
"Hello? I'm here for my appointment." A voice came at the door with a knock.
"Coominng!~" I called as I opened the door that led directly to my business room.
"Thanks for squeezing me in on such short notice." He said as he walked in and stood beside my table.
"No problem, we would've been stuck taking stock if you hadn't got a hold of me." I chuckled. "Now what's givin' ya trouble?"
~<(^)>~
The visit from Crescent Moon earlier was the only business I had today so me and Lilly decided to go ahead and take stock after he left anyway. She was inside doing homework now while I was on the roof looking up at the night sky.
Ever since Luna's return it had been so much prettier. It just seemed like more effort was put into making it, taking extra care to place each star in its place. It made even my little patch of cloud shine. I pulled out the last letter I got today and and opened it to read in the moonlight.
"Dear Ivory,
How have you been? Me and Aloe have been doing great running the day spa down here in Ponyville. I still can't believe that Vera trusted us with running this place after what happened with the seaweed wrap, but I guess if being wrapped up in seaweed for as long as we were gets you your Cutie Marks I guess that's kinda a sign."
I stopped reading for a moment and looked back at my flank to admire the image that had been there once we finally got the last of that stuff off of us, a pink lotus flower with golden stamens. Aloe and Lotus also got lotus flowers, but they were slightly different from mine. Mine had a few more petals than theirs and was also pink while theirs were both white.
"Sometimes I think that if you hadn't moved to Cloudsdale Vera would have picked you to take over the spa instead of Me and Aloe, you were always so good at running things whenever Vera would be sick or out of town. But you had plans of your own that you intended on seeing through to the end. Aloe and I have always wanted to come see how much progress you've made on that! If only we were Pegasi so we could fly up there and see how you're doing with your own spa. But oh well, I'm sure you're very busy trying to work your own business up. Just remember to take a rest every now and then, and come see me- errr.. I mean, us! Did I really just write that? Arghh!!
Love, ~Lotus Blossom."
I set the letter aside and looked up at the stars. I wasn't as oblivious as I had been when I was a colt, I could tell when a mare was interested in me now. I thought about all the good times me and Lotus had when we were both working back at the spa in Ponyville. I couldn't say I didn't feel the same way, maybe I could bring her with me to the reunion this weekend.
"Ivory!" I heard Lilly call from the window.
"Yeah!" I called back.
"Isn't it getting kinda late?"
"Heheh, I supose so." I said as I flew in the window.
"G'night Windy." I chuckled as I tucked her in.
"G'night flower-flank." She said as she laid back and fell asleep with a smirk.
I dimmed the lights, headed to my room across the hall and fell asleep as soon as I was under my covers.