> A Life Lived in Hundreds
>  by Botched Lobotomy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1358
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

ba dum, heart beat, thump thump, warm safe, life dark, our world, shape feel, touch fed, low warm, love here, convulse, shift turn, all right, un steady, stay safe, good pleased, and knot, colour, strange and, settled why, leave here, red pulse pulse, throb safe? leave stay, love me, always, always, always, time to, far grow, live welling, moving air cold a, crawl back, can not help, safety move climb love please ah ah name tell what, blink blink eyes smile fur this way and that and safe? but white and light and lots of noise and
crying
crying
crying
> 1359
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

warm smell of home and soon to be and tired earlier is bouncing now and Sister chasing Ma pinches her cheek love her and quiet now but doesn't really mean that part and world rushing through her head and everypony bursting with smiles as they have been all day and she doesn't quite know why but it seems to make happy when she tries so she'll keep on going one hoof and then another and then a laugh and then Grampa and Gramma who's always smelly of wrinkle-nose smoke hugging her close and Pa who looks so proud and then
> 1360
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She'd been Dancing she'd been Prancing, it had all been Fun and Games till she'd tripped, and fell, and now her leg was hurted. Silly Old Root. Pearly had ran away, shrieking like Discord Himself was in her, and why, because she was All Right Really. The ground was warm and comfy so she'd lie there more looking at the branches and the clouds. The tree was tall and smiley, she called him Woody. After Ma picked her up she was talking scary to Pearly, and Pearly looked all sad so Smith hugged her. Then it was time for dinner.
> 1361
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well they said that soon they were to be a-moving, and she understood enough to nod along, but not till all started being packed away did she figure really what they meant. That it was leaving, she’d heard the word and seen the faces, Pearly's scowl at the sound of it, and now Smith saw it actual was she didn't think she liked it neither. Well enough the cart when carrying to market-day, but here it smelled old and ugly like a woodwork skeleton, and she didn’t want to follow birds that bad no matter how her father said it.
> 1362
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Cmere,’ said Pearly, breathlessly, ‘cmon,’ and they were off, leaving Pa and all his shouting red behind. Smith felt a little sorry for the broken wheel, but still she didn’t think that they deserved the row for it. ‘It isn’t fair,’ she said, when they were tired out. ‘No,’ said Pearly, quiet-like, ‘It ain’t,’ and Smith said that they should stay out here a while longer. ‘Alright,’ said Pearly, since they were getting trouble later anyway, so they played beneath the trees till Ma came and called them back, and Pearly took her hoof and smiled and said ‘Race you!’
> 1363
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘O he called out to the maiden so fair...’
Everything was cozy and warm and the fire was flickering bright. Tea Kettle and all the rest were dozing sleepy, but right now Smith had eyes for only Pearly, whose song was soft as feather-fur...
‘I’ll climb on up there
and make you a mare!’
Pa chuckled and Ma was frowning, but Pearly looked so pleased with herself that Smith decided to give it a go, sang out⁠—
‘and make you a mare!’
And Pearly went white, that got everypony going properly, and Pa cuffed her but they were laughing really.
> 1364
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t right, it wasn’t fair.
She felt all hollow and empty inside, like her tummy after being sick, only this wasn’t going away, this was sticking, and she didn’t think she’d ever be able to eat again.
I’m sorry.
Even though it hurt she didn’t dare close her eyes, so she just lay there and stared and didn’t see anything, not even night.
I’m sorry.
It wasn’t fair, and she waited for Pearly to snuggle up next to her and tell her that no, it wasn’t, it ain’t, but no matter how long she stayed awake she never came.
> 1365
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Cmon!’ called Apple Rose, ‘come try it!’
Smith was hesitant. Lakes she liked, but this was strange and cold and big as sky. And tasted salty. Bleh.
‘Awww...pretty please?’
Gazing out at the white-dotted horizon, Smith worried the blue would swallow her up, like if she stopped sticking to the ground and just fell away... Apple Rose scrambled out the spray and up the sand, shaking her mane all over the place like a wet dog. Her hoof reached out to tap Smith’s nose. ‘Race ya!’
She shrugged when Smith said no, and ran back down to the water, shrieking.
> 1366
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was no good at sewing. It was terrible and awful and she hated the fiddly threads and she kept stabbing herself with the needle and ‘Maaaaaa...’
‘Hush now.’
Smith ground her teeth, and stuck the needle through the cloth straight into her leg.
‘Look at you,’ said her mother. ‘You’ll be getting blood everywhere, go clean up. And you can wipe that smirk off your face, filly! You’ll be back here soon as to keep at it.’
Pearly had been good at sewing. Ma made a sort of choking sound, and Smith winced. Did I say that out loud?
> 1367
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a naughty trick, and she was a naughty filly.
‘What do you say.’ Pa looked sternly down his nose at her.
She said nothing.
‘Smith.’
She said nothing.
‘Smith.’
A burst of pain across her face, like a rip of scalding water. For a moment, blackness. She felt tears threaten at the corners of her eyes, and turned back to him slowly. ‘Sorry,’ she muttered.
‘Sorry what.’
‘Sorry, Apple Rose.’
Apple Rose looked stricken. ‘I, uh...’
They exchanged a small hug, and after dinner, Pa kissed them both and, quietly, hoped she always knew he loved her.
> 1368
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Plant a little tree. Just every now and then, not often, maybe every month or three. Dig a little hole with her hooves and drop the seed in pretty as you like. Come back to water it, if she remembered, if she could find the spot again. An acorn or a plum or an apple or a hazel. Her secret something all her own. Sometimes she’d think about the other seeds, in other places, and wonder how they were doing for themselves.
Mostly, she never saw their leaves. But sometimes...sometimes they’d stay one place long enough to watch them grow.
> 1369
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘What about Copper Cure?’
Smith pulled a face, and Apple Rose giggled beside her.
‘Alright, fair enough,’ she conceded, ‘he is a bit...tall.’
‘Lanky,’ nodded Smith. ‘Like one of those whaddayercallits.’
‘Giraffes!’ Apple Rose exclaimed. ‘Like—like—’
‘Mooooooooo-oooo!’ said Smith, ‘Like—’ she strained her neck as far as it would go, ‘Moooooooooooooo-oooooo!’
They fell about laughing till Ma’s hoofsteps sounded outside, shutting them up quick.
‘Come on, your turn,’ said Apple Rose. Smith frowned and ran through in her head every colt she knew. She didn’t really know why they were talking about this, but it was actually kind of fun.
> 1370
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And he’d touched her, hmm, her leg, and that had been what made her make a scene. The words she’d heard before, filed them away to figure out later, the look too, but the hoof... She’d told Pa, and he’d just grumbled, so she’d told Ma, and she’d explained a bit, but Smith knew pretty well when she was being lied to (‘even by omission’—her hypocrite mother), so she’d asked her friend Tea Spout about it, and eventually got an answer. Now here she was, and it was night, and Apple Rose asleep, and the carrot looked suddenly quite intimidating.
> 1371
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Old Steampot was something of a storyteller, and sometimes at fire-nights he used to sit and wind them up some wild tale or other. His hooves shook as Gramma helped him off the chair, and remembered when she had been a filly how she’d never even thought about his trembling. Nopony else felt ready for bed just yet, and Cherry Leaf by popular demand took up his place and began her story. In the commotion, while Apple Rose was well distracted, Smith leaned over to her mother and whispered, ‘Sorry for shouting, earlier.’ Ma smiled, squeezed her shoulder, and released.
> 1372
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘How was it for you?’
‘Yeah,’ said Smith vaguely, ‘it was...’
Cobalt grinned. ‘Yeah. Hey, if y’ever wanna do this again, sometime...’
‘Not really,’ said Smith. ‘Thanks, though.’
‘Yeah.’
She wondered if it would be awkward, seeing him tomorrow. Probably not, as he was being fine about it now. That’s why she’d chosen him. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Hmph. Something to tell Apple Rose about, at least. A memory rose up, of planting seeds beneath the shade, and she smiled to herself.
Was there something wrong with her? Maybe. Ah, well, that was that. It had been worth a shot.
> 1373
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The cart had broken down (again), so Pa had gotten mad (again), so here they were up on the bank (again), watching the rest of the caravan go by (again). Pa was sweating, swearing, muffled under the cart, and she and Tea Kettle and Minty were sitting playing cards aroadside.
‘Okay,’ said Tea Kettle, when Pa had finally stormed off, ‘help me up here,’ and Minty had tried to hold the cart while Tea Kettle wormed beneath it. She looked nice, from this angle, thought Smith suddenly (her hair was all atangle).
‘Quit staring, filly, and come help us out!’
> 1374
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Running around, all commotion. Upsetting old and young alike. Annoying squalling little things. She said as much to Ma, when they were making dinner, and Ma chuckled. ‘Just like you, when you got your cutie mark,’ she said, and Smith blushed and stammered, ‘Not likely,’ and changed the subject.
Well the rain was miserable too, so no firelight, no music, only straight to bed and lying there in darkness, waiting, as the rain drummed down upon the canvas. The sort of thing she used to find comforting, when she was young and stupid.
And Apple Rose was out tonight. Again.
> 1375
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

So this was it, then. Princess Celestia (who was definitely the prettiest mare she’d ever laid eyes on), had said that this was theirs, their land, their own. It didn’t look like much. A couple fields, a tree or two, a run-down hut toward the forest. The weather was weird, a fine grain drizzle that seemed to soak her instantly, right to the bone, and made the whole world look sort of like a washed-out painting. Nothing special, really. But it was land! And it was Home! And it wasn’t going anywhere!
She dropped the seed into the ground triumphantly.
> 1376
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It would be nice to write a letter. Pa was out for market day and staying the night, and Ma was around but neither of them were really company to talk to. The air smelled of lightning and green things, and Smith wanted somepony to share it with. She wanted to run around and show Apple Rose the trees, the fences, the barn they’d thrown up last year, explain the proper way of harvesting Zapp Apples, all the secret places she liked and wanted to know what other ponies thought of, too.
She knew that Pearly would have loved it.
> 1377
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘It sounds like you’re makin a business offer,’ said Smith.
‘Would you prefer me more romantic? Oh Smith, my heart aches for you my darling, etcetera, etcetera.’
‘Mm, let’s keep it businesslike, please.’
At that he’d flashed a smile and said he thought so, and what her answer was in that case, and she’d said she needed time to think it over, as were only proper in financial matters. He understood—Filthy Rich was alright, really. She didn’t particularly want him there, but if she had to go with any stallion, she could do worse.
She thought she’d probably say yes.
> 1378
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Minty said it was lovely and they should make a tradition of it and Bampot agreed and Tea Kettle thought the barn was swell, next time they should build another, and Gramma looked sad when Grandpa was mentioned but it was all cleared up by reminiscences and though her flan got rather more cries of ‘well-done’ than she’d have liked, the apple pie went down a treat, and the girls took her aside to start on some sewing thing or other, and finally Apple Rose came up to say hello and the two of them talked long into the night.
> 1379
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She’d fallen out of the bush just in front of her. The look in her eyes had been wild and confused. Her fur was all snarled with brambles and fluffed up in fright, and when she’d seen Smith she’d gone white as a ghost.
‘Can I help you, sugarcube?’
‘Twilight Sparkle. What?’ Eyes wide, she’d leaned in, examining Smith’s features so closely that if she’d been a stallion Smith would have swatted her away.
‘You alright?’
The mare had shaken her head, and bolted for town.
Yes, that had been a strange one, thought Smith, and flipped the pancake over.
> 1380
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘It’s not a good thing,’ said Apple Rose with a burp, ‘for a mare to go too long without marriage.’
‘Uh huh.’
‘Iss true! You get all...’ she gestured vaguely. ‘Forget how it works.’ She peered at Smith like noticing something for the first time. ‘Not you, Smith! I didn’t mean...’
‘Uh huh.’
‘You know any good stallions round about...round about here?’
‘Nope,’ said Smith. ‘Look, why don’t we get you upstairs?’
Apple Rose squinted. ‘You never liked no stallion, huh?’
Smith sighed, accepted the fact she wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon. ‘Alright, who was it this time, Rosey?’
> 1381
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘You need a name,’ said Smith, peering critically up into its branches. ‘Can’t call ya sapling forever.’
Trees were good conversationalists. They knew when to stay quiet.
‘Hmm. What do you think of Hazel? Bit basic, I agree.’ She tapped her chin, settling comfortably against the roots. ‘Sunny! Thoughts on Sunny?’
Nothing from the tree.
‘You’re right, not enough sun round these parts for that. Leaverton? Nah, too fancy.’ She smiled. ‘Hmm... Woody doesn’t suit. Sides, that one’s taken.’
Wind blew mournful round the trunk.
‘Alright, fine. Moody. How about that?’
The leaves rustled indignantly, and she cracked a smile.
> 1382
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘You’re a time traveller.’
Twilight Sparkle let out a breath. ‘...Yes.’
Smith scratched her head. ‘Huh.’
‘Huh?’
‘Yeah. Huh.’
‘Fair enough.’ Twilight smiled. ‘I take it you don’t believe me.’
Smith considered this. ‘Nope.’
‘Ah! But I can prove it! You see, next week...’ and she started going on about some newspaper from the future or othersuch nonsense, and Smith nodded and said ‘hmm,’ and eventually Twilight said that if she really wanted, she’d show her.
Smith mulled this over for a moment. ‘Alright.’
Twilight Sparkle may have been mad, but it was, at least, a refreshing sort of madness.
> 1383
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight would like it, Smith thought. She enjoyed that sort of thing. Ma and Pa were on ahead, and Apple Rose was wittering beside her, and none of them had seen the nest inside the tree trunk. Of course, Twilight would say how interesting it was to see them in action, pronounce their name in Pony Latin, and supply some fascinatingly obscure fact she’d read somewhere in a book⁠—but everypony else walked on.
Apple Rose made some comment, and Smith gave her a smile, but inside the smile was for Twilight, warm like owl chicks cozy in a secret nest.
> 1384
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Can I ask why?’
Twilight sighed, sweet breath against her cheek. ‘There are many reasons.’
‘For sure,’ said Smith, ‘but give me one.’
She frowned, purple brow wrinkled in delightful concentration. ‘You...believed me,’ she said, simply.
‘Not right away.’
‘No,’ Twilight agreed, ‘but you heard me out.’ And...
‘Hey,’ she said, a moment later, her voice oddly strained, ‘can I...try something?’
And Smith thought about saying no, because why would they, they were both mares, after all, but Twilight was right there in front of her and beautiful and so she whispered ‘Yes,’ and Twilight leaned in and kissed her.
> 1385
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There was, in truth, only so much ‘She’s teaching me my letters,’ could excuse. Smith was amazed it had lasted this long. It had gone off like a firecracker and Pa had swung to hit her but she’d stepped aside and maybe he’d seen the look in her eyes because then he’d just walked right out, her mother after him, with one last awful look over her shoulder. So. She was officially a disappointment. She wanted to laugh, she wanted Twilight, and most of all she wanted home, but that was all too difficult, so she started to cry instead.
> 1386
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She wasn’t sure if she was invited, but she’d be damned if she wasn’t going anyway. She hadn’t missed a family reunion yet, and she sure as hay wasn’t going to start missing them now. And here: familiar faces, everypony milling, talking, chatting, having a grand old time. ‘Come help in the kitchen, dear!’ and suddenly she was transported back to cooking, baking, frying, laughing⁠—through all of it, nopony said a word. Did they not care? Did they not understand? She smiled, asked around, and in the end she realised that it was worse than that: nopony knew at all.
> 1387
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Gay was Twilight’s word. It sounded strange to Smith’s ears, like a horseshoe that almost fit, but didn’t quite squeeze on. She’d been a gay child: happy, frivolous, excited. The same didn’t seem quite so certain now: her happiness came with an asterisk, like one of Twilight’s old books, a but... on the end of the sentence. She didn’t feel like a gay mare. The word for mares like her when she was young was different, it wasn’t even homosexual, it wasn’t even talked about. But... here she was now, and what was an asterisk but little star, really. Gay.
> 1388
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘This is wrong,’ said Twilight, after a moment, ‘I shouldn’t be here.’
Smith swallowed, looked down at her hooves. ‘Yes, you should. Now tell me what you really mean.’
‘I know the future,’ said Twilight. ‘I didn’t hear about any of this.’
Smith pursed her lips. ‘And that surprises you.’
‘Well...no. But...’ She took a breath, gathered her thoughts. ‘You have foals. Grandfoals. I’m friends with one of them! And none of this is...’
‘Not seein grandfoals in our future, Twilight?’
She gave a Look. Deflated. ‘I just...I don’t want to mess up the future.’
Smith turned away. ‘So leave.’
> 1389
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Tea Kettle helped us write it.’
‘Oh.’
‘She’s struggling with...well, just like you are.’
Smith kept her voice carefully neutral. ‘That so.’
‘Smith.’ Pa’s voice was soft. He had more grey in him than she remembered.
‘What.’
‘Come to dinner, Sunday night.’
‘No thank you.’
They stared at each other. He looked away. ‘Please.’
‘It would mean ever so much,’ her mother put in.
‘You can bring your...friend,’ Pa said. ‘If you must.’
She imagined it: sitting at the table again, the smell of pasty and apple and coal from the fire. Twilight sitting next to her.
Home. Properly home.
> 1390
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘It’s alright.’
She wished she could remember the things that Ma had said to her, those years back. Here she was left with only empty words, sounds that held no meaning, didn’t help at all. She lit a candle, placed in on the table, and in the light Ma’s face was glistening.
‘It isn’t fair,’ Smith said suddenly. Isn’t, ain’t. Ma didn’t seem to notice, so Smith reached out and pulled her close, covering her shaking shoulder with a hoof. It wasn’t alright. She wished that there was something she could say, could do, but really, there was only this.
> 1391
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘You’re sure it’s not too much to ask,’ Smith said. ‘We can always go find an inn, or something.’ She turned to Twilight, who shook her head. Oops.
‘No, no, of course not!’ Apple Rose waved the idea away. ‘It’s just, I only have one room spare! So I’m afraid you’ll have to share.’
As it happened, the other reason Apple Rose was so jumpy woke them in the middle of the night with crying.
‘You can’t⁠—you mustn’t tell⁠—he’s just a neighbour’s foal...’ Apple Rose, unmarried, looked utterly defeated.
New life, Bright Mac: Twilight examined him with something approaching awe.
> 1392
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Here it is,’ said Twilight, opening the book. ‘Yep! Told you.’
Smith leaned over, cheek pressed up against her mare’s. ‘You did, at that.’
‘I knew there was something familiar about that hut.’
Smith’s ‘Mmhmm’ rumbled all the way through Twilight’s body. ‘Shame Pa tore it down.’
‘The ground’s still there. We could put down a plaque.’ She tried to ignore the way Smith was nibbling at her ear.
‘On good farmland!’
‘Mmyep. Their good farmland.’
‘Princess Celestia herself gave us that land.’
Twilight turned, and Smith could see the moment was over. ‘But she got it from the buffalo...’
> 1393
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘So here’s an interesting thing,’ said Twilight, one day.
‘Hmm?’
‘Gay marriage is getting legalised next year.’
Smith didn’t look up from her rolling pin. ‘That’s nice.’
‘We could get married. You know, legally. Make things official.’
Smith dusted down the dough. ‘Interesting.’
‘Yep.’ Twilight narrowed her eyes. ‘And the year after that’s when the aliens come.’
‘Is that a fact.’
‘Are you listening to a single thing I’m saying right now?’
Smith looked up from the table, dusted her hooves on her apron. ‘Gay marriage, aliens.’
‘Uh huh. And any thoughts on that...?’
Smith grinned. ‘Depends if you’re proposing.’
> 1394
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The quilt was getting on in years, and not terrifically much longer. Apple Rose spent her time half sitting and sewing, half minding the creche with other mothers⁠—Bright Mac was too big to keep bouncing on her lap as past. They were talking on about Minty’s new place in Fillydelphia, when Ma appeared and sat down quietly and asked if she could join. Twilight and Smith exchanged glances; everypony moved over to make more room, and suddenly the quilt was dancing in their hooves.
‘Tch, your hoof’s at all the wrong angle,’ she said, and Smith smiled.
‘Alright, show me.’
> 1395
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Maybe I’ll move,’ she said, quietly, and Twilight shrugged.
‘No, probably not.’
‘I could. Moved around all the time as a filly. Always on the march.’ She sighed. ‘Don’t you ever want to just...I mean, there’s nothing tying us here, now. We could go up to Canterlot, or Manehattan, or Seaddle, if you want. We could go anywhere!’
‘We could,’ Twilight agreed. ‘But we have a nice house here.’
Smith nodded. ‘It is a nice house. We built it well.’ Outside, dawn breaking, light seeping through the curtains to illuminate the empty rooms. ‘It just doesn’t feel like home, anymore.’
> 1396
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘I wouldn’t worry too much,’ said Twilight, ‘I don’t remember any Pears in Ponyville when I come from.’
‘So we beat them somehow,’ Smith said. ‘Drove em all away. Just need to figure out how.’
‘I do have a copy of General Tacticus’s Letters lying around somewhere.’
‘We could throw it at them,’ Smith agreed. ‘Bound to cause concussion, that one.’
Twilight gasped, pulling away. ‘You monster! It’s a library loan!’
‘Foiled. We’ll just need to get them the old-fashioned way...’
‘Your plan, captain?’
‘Hit em where it hurts!’ cried Captain Smith, much-decorated, undefeated, and tackled Twilight to the bed.
> 1397
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘And here it is,’ said Twilight, opening the door. They’d done as much to make the room warm and cozy as they could, strung up paper-chains and stuffed toys and filled the shelves with books. Smith had tried her damnedest to make it feel as much like home as possible, full of all the little things and smells that made the word, everything a kid could hope for, everything that she had hoped for, all those years ago.
And still, little Bright Mac looked up at them with trembling eyes and asked if he could sleep in their room, tonight.
> 1398
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘How is it?’
‘Tiring.’
‘Least it’s an extra hoof around the farm, right?’
‘That’s right.’
‘You’re so kind. I don’t think I could have⁠—I mean, I don’t think I’d have been able⁠—’
‘Thank you.’
‘Not an easy task.’
‘Nope.’
‘And you and Twilight...you...?’
‘Uh huh.’
‘You should come and visit! Ponyville’s lovely this time of year, but nothing on a Filly summer⁠—’
‘Sorry, no.’
‘How’s he doing in that school? It doesn’t seem particularly well funded, if you’ll pardon my saying so.’
‘Twilight fills in where she can.’
‘We’re so unbelievably proud!’
‘Thanks, y’all.’
‘I love you.’
‘Twilight. Hold me.’
> 1399
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Can I stay up and hear the bells?’
Smith frowned down her nose at Bright Mac. ‘I don’t know. Do you remember what Twilight said?’
‘But Maaaa...’
‘Mmhmm. And did you end up actually doing all your chores?’
‘I, um...’
‘Bright Mac.’
‘...No.’
‘Mmhmm. What do you think, Twilight?’
They exchanged grins. ‘He did do most of his chores.’
‘I don’t know...’ Smith mused. ‘That room looked pretty messy last time I looked.’
His face fell, and Smith couldn’t help but smile. ‘Oh, alright, then,’ she said. ‘But only if you really do clean your room tomorrow. Promise?’
‘Pinkie Promise!’
> 1400
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Sweet Celestia, I’m exhausted.’
‘Ow...’
Twilight rolled over on the bed to peer at her. ‘Is your leg sore? Should I kiss it better?’
Smith cracked open one eye. ‘Ow...?’
Twilight laughed, and kissed the joint, and started to kiss higher before pausing on her hip. ‘Actually, sorry, can we do this another day?’
‘Ow...’
‘All that dancing took it out of me. Haven’t been this tired since, like, school.’ She yawned, kissed Smith’s hip again. ‘Tomorrow, promise.’
‘Ow...’
‘Oh, quit your whining and cuddle up.’
And Smith wrapped her legs around the purple mare and kissed her wife goodnight.
> 1401
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Eight years.’
‘Yes. I mean...yes.’
Smith swallowed. ‘Do we know for certain? Isn’t there anything we can do to...?’
‘Not certain, no. There’s always possibility. But...I’ve done the maths.’
She closed her eyes. ‘So it’s pretty certain, then.’
Twilight swallowed. ‘Maybe I--’
‘Twilight Sparkle. You are many beautiful, wonderful things. Don’t make me remember you a liar.’
She hung her head. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered.
‘Well I’m not.’
‘If I hadn’t come here...’
‘None of that, now. I love you. Yeah, it’s gonna hurt, but that don’t mean I’m gonna stop loving you. Not for one second.’
Twilight Sparkle: 1409-???
> 1402
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘I swear, one day that Pear is gonna find himself a nasty accident.’
Twilight sighed. ‘I bet he’s over there saying the exact same thing about you right now.’
‘You think?’ Smith smiled slyly. ‘That’s Intent, that is. That’s illegal.’
‘Quite.’
‘If anything happens to me, be sure and sue him, alright? Next time I stub my hoof, thats five thousand bits.’
‘There’s a sofa leg just there. Anypony could...trip...and fall onto...like that...oops.’ She batted her eyes. ‘Save me?’
The door flew open with a crack! ‘Ma, I’m home!’
Smith grinned and helped her up. ‘Alright, sugarcube! How was school?’
> 1403
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Does it get better?’ she asked, one night.
‘We’re not that far away from my future now, you know,’ Twilight said, and winced. ‘I mean...’
‘You wanna try that one again?’
Twilight coughed. ‘Please.’
‘Mmhmm. But like, for us. For the ponies on the outside, as it were.’
‘Better?’ Twilight asked. ‘Maybe. I don’t know. For us, yes. For others, less so. Mostly, it’s just different. Different and...’
‘The same. Yeah. The world is the world is the world.’
‘It’s the ponies that make it count,’ said Twilight. ‘You have it alright.’
‘Right now,’ said Smith, ‘I got it great.’
> 1404
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a strong old tree now, roots as wide as half the field and branches thick with green. Twilight sat beneath it, reading. Her glasses caught the sun just so, sending it scattering across the bark. She liked to read inside, usually, but today...the sun ducked in and out behind the clouds, and when it shrank, it set a rather different mood. Smith wondered how much of it was reading, and how much was simply sitting, being, existing near the tree and farm and life around her. Dinner was ready, but Smith let her sit out a while longer.
> 1405
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘I had a very serious thought, just then,’ said Twilight.
‘Oh?’ said Smith. ‘Let’s hear.’
‘But I’ve forgotten it.’ And she looked so distressed that Smith couldn’t help but chuckle.
‘I’m sure it was a very good thought.’
‘It was! And now it’s gone! Poof, vanished!’
‘I’m sorry to hear it,’ said Smith. ‘What were you thinking about before you lost it?’
‘The tensile surface strength of magical plasmids,’ said Twilight, ‘but it was unrelated. One of those spontaneous moments of inspiration, you know?’
‘Mmhmm.’
There was long silence, before⁠— ‘Aha!’
‘Oh? What was it?’
‘...I have absolutely no idea.’
> 1406
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight was practically bouncing. ‘B! That’s so good, a B, I’m so proud!’
Trees scrolled by on either side. They were getting ripe; time to harvest, soon.
‘Thanks, Mam,’ said Bright Mac, pink with pride.
‘It’s excellent, sugarcube. I’m just worried you’re makin your mind up too soon.’ Twilight gave her a Look, but she forged on. ‘I just think there’s more to the world than one single farm, and he should get to knowing that before he decides.’
‘If he knows what he wants to do,’ said Twilight, ‘he knows what he wants to do, isn’t that right?’
‘Eyup.’
> 1407
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t a wedding at all like she’d expected, but after the poor dear had been thrown away by her father like that...really, what else could she do.
‘I’m proud of you,’ said Twilight softly.
‘Yeah, well, turns out you were right. Again.’
‘What can I say? It’s a talent.’
‘Being from the future shouldn’t be allowed, it’s cheatin.’
Twilight nosed up under her chin. ‘Hey, it worked out pretty well for some.’
Smith nuzzled her back, enjoying the warmth and the smell of her fur. ‘Still regret falling through that portal?’
Twilight kissed her, and that was answer enough.
> 1408
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Granny Smith.’
She scowled. ‘I don’t like it.’
‘I dunno,’ said Bright Mac, ‘it had a ring to it.’
Twilight was smiling so hard she could burst.
‘And you can be quiet, and all.’
But of course Twilight was right, and Granny Smith she became, and when the bundle of red fur began to squeal in her hooves, she found she didn’t mind it too terribly much.
‘Just don’t you start,’ she warned Twilight, in bed. ‘I ain’t having you calling me that.’
Twilight kissed her, and turned out the light.
‘I love you.’
‘I love you.’
‘I love you.’
> 1409
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


> 1410
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun was shining, the sky was clear, and the trees were a-rustling with apples. Wind whispered sweet nothings through branches above, singing songs to their fellows in breeze. Granny Smith wandered through them with care, talking back to the trees--gently when she found a target, sternly when they gave her lip--telling them all the things she remembered. These days would soon be a thing of the past, she knew, could feel inside her bones--ten years, maybe less, maybe more. Ah, well. For now, life was good. It was a bright and a beautiful day.
Granny Smith burst into tears.
> 1434
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Life was good. Was good, was good, was once, was great. So many things done, undone, the effort to count them all up. A life lived in pieces, in parts and in graces, a life loved alive and loved yet aliven't. What a funny old world. Yes, there had been others this way, she wondered to see them all soon, but if they were late she knew she'd be fine. She used to not believe in purple mares. She used to... Going where the one had gone. Except there wasn't one, but many. Family, and Love, and Two...and now One