Broken Ties
“What do you think YOU are doing here!?”
In the doorway of a tiny Canterlot apartment stood a ragged and beat-up mare. Gasping for breath, she leaned against the doorway, having raced through the streets of Canterlot to reach this apartment. Rushing inside, she found herself glared down by a young mare. Her daughter.
“Oh Honey Cake it is so good to see that you are o–“
“I said. What. Are. YOU. DOING. HERE?” Honey Cake yelled. She slammed a hoof into the floor, cracking the tile. “Do you have any idea what we have all been going through since those bugs attacked? I can’t believe you’ve dared to show you feathering ugly face here again.”
The mare, for the first time, looked past Honey into the apartment. Furniture was overturned and cracked. Knickknacks and toys were scattered everywhere as picture frames were torn from the walls, glass scattered across the floor from family photos cracked and broken.
It was as if a storm had passed through the apartment.
She bit her lip as she looked to her daughter. “W– were you attacked by those changelings? Is everypony alright? Where’s Thunder Storm? Where’s Dew Petal – is my little foal alright?” She paused to look over her daughter. “Are you alright Honey?” She reached forward to hug her, but was swatted away with a smack from Honey’s hoof.
“Dew and dad are fine mom. They’re recovering at granny Breeze’s house,” she replied. “As much as they can anyway. Not that you care.” She sneered “And no – nopony broke into here. We were lucky that none of those monsters broke in. Changelings, huh?”
Suddenly, Honey’s face broke into rage as she burst into green flame. Her coat gave way to black chitinous armor as she snarled up at her mother. “Changelings, is that what we are called!? How long were you planning to hide from us that we were monsters mom? Were you planning to just string us along forever, laughing to yourself as we were under the illusion that we were normal ponies?!”
“I never meant to–”
Honey slammed into her mother, knocking her back onto the floor. Tears streamed from her compounded eyes as she barely bit back the urge to slam her hooves into her mother’s face.
“Why–?” her voice cracked out. She hung limp, defeated. “Why did you never tell us that we were monsters! Why?”
Honey felt a warm embrace as her mother pulled her into a hug. She gave into the hug before abruptly cutting it off by slamming her hooves forward off. “Do you have any idea just how freaked out Dew was?” she screamed. “Any idea how freaked out I was?
“One moment dad and I were comforting Dew as she was shaking in absolute terror at the monsters laying waste to the city outside. She was utterly terrified that they would break in and tear us limb from limb!” She shuttered as she replayed the memory. “And the next thing we know we found ourselves slammed into the wall by some sort of spell! Dear Celestia, it felt like my insides were being squeezed out of my body. I thought I was going to die!
“And then the screaming started. Dew was utterly terrified of those bugs. Do you have any idea just how horrified she was to suddenly find herself become one? How long dad and I had to calm her down before she became anything more than just a tiny sputtering mess?”
“I– I never intended for this to happen,” the mare creaked. “I– the invasion. We were supposed to win. We were going to live happily after we took over Equestria. I was going to tell you two! I promise, I was! I just– it’s just that you were so happy. We were so happy. Thunder, me, Dew, and you. We were all so happy as a family. I just didn’t want to risk breaking that. I didn’t want to risk losing what family I had.” She broke down. Her tears splattered against the floor as she slumped back onto her haunches.
“A load of good that sentiment did.” Honey snapped. “If you really cared about us, you wouldn’t have kept this from us for our entire lives. You would have trusted in us. I thought we were family.” She clenched her jaw. Her new fangs felt alien in her mouth.
“We are family!”
“No, we were family!” she rebounded. “You should have trusted us! If we knew– if we knew that we were monsters. That we weren’t ponies. Then we may have been able to resolve this peacefully. We may have been able to salvage this. But now? Dew is a shell of her former self. She has been crying nonstop over her lost ponyhood. Dad – he’s absolutely furious! Not just that you hid this. That you hid this and betrayed Equestria!”
“Ponies hate changelings so much… that invasion was the only way we could have lived happily. Out in the open.”
“Do you honestly think dad would ever forgive you for stabbing Equestria in the back!? Do you think I would forgive you!? Dew!?” Honey stamped up to her mother and glared down at the sobbing mare.
“I just wanted us to all be happy. To be able to live together without fear of been ostracized. Of being feared as monsters. We could never have had that in Equestria.”
“Maybe not, but now we can never have it. Not after what you have done.” She sighed, dropping her head down. Clenching her eyes shut, she turned away. Green flames licked at her once again as she shifted back into her pony form. “Just– just go. You shouldn’t be here. I need to get back to cleaning up this broken mess that you’ve left behind.”
The mare looked up, tears streaking down her cheeks. With shaking legs, she trudged back to the door. She turned around, muttering a final “I love you Honey,” shutting the door closed behind her.