Stolen Away

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Strawberry Frosting

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You know that feeling, when you’re about to have an oral presentation in school, or any meeting where you’re the center of attention? You get butterflies in your stomach and you want to throw up. That was my reaction when I stood before the entrance of what Peachy called ‘Manehattan’. I was going to be put under deep scrutiny, trying to fit in with an unknown species. Well, unknown for me. I thought, staring at the little filly on my back.

I wanted to ask my filly mentor lying on my back if I was ready, but I saw that her eyes were closed, leading me to guess that she was asleep. It surprised me how much sleep a little filly needs. Instead of staring at her sleeping body, I’ve decided to look at my surrounding before entering the imposing city.

First thing, when I raised my head to look at the sky, I saw something that shattered my scientific mind, which was trying to recover from my sister’s description of the location we were in. What was so impressing, however, was the sky going against what we call on earth ‘hydrologic circle’.

By this logic, water gets evaporated into clouds and comes back as rain. Yet, I was seeing pegasi, like Peachy, moving clouds using their hooves. If clouds are really made of water, the equine would only pass through without contact, but there was obvious contact and movement. What are those clouds made of, Mercury? Nah, too heavy.

I lowered my eyes and stared at one of the unicorns. He, or she, was walking with a purse in a street in front of me. Must be a girl, if purses are the same here. Then, her horn glowed and… her purse floated in front of her, allowing her to grab something in it. Wait… is she doing telekinesis? THEY’RE REALLY DOING MAGIC!? I stared dumbfounded, trying to find a scientific reasoning behind what I saw.

As I was listening to sounds all around me, I felt a small movement on my back. “We finally reached the city?” I turned my head to see that she still had her eyes closed. Looks like she was only resting her eyes. She is as good as a real filly at faking stuff. Hehehe…

“Yup…” I said, emotionless. She opened her eyes and stared into the distance. I followed her eyes, and saw another unicorn, her coat a shade of orange and mane a gray-blue color, floating some gold coins in the air.

Hey eyes grew wide and her mouth curled up into a smile. Her mouth approached my ear and tried to whisper so only I could hear. ”Wow, I never thought that magic would be so cool to see in… pony.” She said with some sparks in her eyes.

I sighed, shaking my head. “Yeah, but it’s going against hundreds of laws that make up physics. It’s melting my brain.” I took my head between my legs and closed my eyes.

She looked at me, amused. ”Just like becoming a mare or a filly. Come on pony up. Let’s visit the outskirt of Manehattan.” She said with a giggle. I opened my eyes and seeing her giggling made me giggle too.

“Yeah, I guess you’re ri-” I said before realizing that we were busted. A light blue and straight yellow maned pegasus mare started trotting near us. I just realized that staying still is a better attention grabber than walking with the flow. I mentally punched myself. Stupid, stupid, stupid…

“Hello there! I saw you standing there staring at the distance. Is there something wrong?” I looked behind me and tried to motion at my sister for her help, but she went back to faking sleeping. Pfft, talk about helpful. I thought.

“Uhh, we just arrived and I was impressed by the height of the city. It’s far bigger than we are used to.” I lied, but she hadn't caught it. She smiled in a genuine way, something that I was not used to back on Earth. She seems nice, I wish I could know her more, but I hate social interactions.

“I know, right! I remember when I moved from Canterlot. We had tall castles, but no tall buildings like those.” She looked over me to see the filly ‘sleeping’ on my back beside my bag. “I can see that you are… tourists? What are you and your cute daughter doing here?” She asked. My mind reanalyzed what she said. Do we really look alike that much. And does our age difference make it fine?

At the mention of the word ‘daughter’, Peachy’s ear twitched, but we received no other reaction. I looked over and grinned evilly. It’s payback time! “Yes, me and my little sweetie here are visiting… Manehattan here. We would like to find a good place to stay.” I answered.

Peachy’s eyes shot up when I confirmed that we were mother and daughter. “Pfft, I’m not little.” She stated, pouting. Take that, grandpa. You will see why people fear teenagers. I thought. I rubbed her mane, receiving a small disapproving sound.

“Oh, you will see, it’s a great… city…” She stared at my eyes. “Wait, is that a black eye? What happened to you? Did you come here by hoof!? Why didn’t you take the train?” She bombarded me with questions.

I looked behind me for some help, but my new daughter looked as confused as me. “Uhh… it’s a… long story.” I answered simply. “I really don’t want to talk about it.” I’ve decided to conjure my acting classes and tried to look sad. It must have worked because she looked genuinely sad. On Peachy’s side, she hid her face into my mane, looking sadden by speech.

“I will not push it further then. If you want somepony to talk to, you can find me in the pastry shop house near the town’s fountain. It’s called ‘Chocolate’s Bread and Pastries’. I might find you a place to live too.” She said in a mix of sad and happy. Then, she stared at me again. “Anyway, it’s… hot outside today, isn’t it?” She asked. I looked at her with confusion, but decided to answer her question anyway.

“Uhh… yeah, it’s really hot. Almost like a sauna.” I said while waving a hoof, like a fan, near my face. I could swear the pegasus flinched. I felt like I was missing something, but I never was good at finding stuff between lines.

The little filly on my back looked at me with confusion, but her face showed the sign of realization, followed by an evil grin.I think she knows about what the pegasus is talking about. I guess that I’m gonna ask her later. After realizing this, she went back to her filly self. ”Miss pegasus, what is your name?” She said in a shy voice.

The mare giggled and slowly petted her. “My name is Sweet Breeze,” She looked at both of us. “And what are your names?” She asked. Okay, this is the time to forget my last life. My first steps toward pony life… and all of it is fake. I thought.

“I’m Strawberry Frosting. Nice to meet you, Miss. Breeze.” I said to her, my reflex of calling adults ‘miss’ and ‘mister’ coming back, even though we were both adults.

She smiled to me again. “No need for such formalities, we are both normal ponies here.” She looked at Peachy. “And what about you, little one?” She asked, petting her again.

This time, my ‘daughter’ really looked shy. Wow, she spruced up her act in the last 10 seconds. ”Peachy… Frosting…” She said, barely over a whisper, but enough for Sweet to understand. Sweet looked at her with a motherly look.

“Don’t be afraid, Peachy. How old are you, Little One?” She winked while saying this. I giggled at her pun and waited for an answer from the other side. Then, I stared at her. She looked back at me and I shared her stress. How does aging work with equines? How old would she be considered? I wondered.

“Well, let’s make a game out of this. How old do you think she is?” I asked the pegasus mare. She placed her hoof on her chin, tapping it lightly. Then, she raised it up when she found an answer.

“Let’s make it… 7 years old?” She tried. So, she looks like seven, eh? Let’s make it her new age then! I looked at Peachy and we both smiled. Another problem down! We both thought. I looked back at Sweet, the smile still on my face.

“You got it on the spot! Congratulation.” I exclaimed with a wink. She laughed and, like a contagious yawn, we laughed too for a good minute. After getting our breath back, she came back into a normal position.

“Anyway, you should really find me at the pastry shop. We could take a small coffee and I could show you around town. By the way, it may sound weird, but refuse any invitation any stallions would ask you. Don’t ask question, just refuse politely.” She repeated. When coffee was mentioned, Peachy’s ear perked up. I guess she liked coffee in her last life. Naturally, she became saddened when she realized that she was a kid.

“Uhh… okay. Anyway, why don’t we go there now? We have a… slight money problem and we don’t really have anywhere else to go yet,” I said, a bit embarrassed. She looked at me with a lot of confusion.

“You say you are visiting, even planned living here, yet you have no money? How does this make sense?” She asked with fear in her voice. I looked at my mentor and we shrugged. Tell her or not tell her, that is the question. Whether ‘tis truth in the words shall conquer her heart or shall dig our graves. No more lies, and by half-truth I say we continue. Heh, Hamlet. I said, turning my mind into a stage with Shakespeare holding the play.

“Well… it’s a long story.” I started, hoping that she had something else to do and would push it later. Instead, she sat her flank on the dirt and stared at us, ready.

“Ready when you are, sister.” She said in determination. Well, I shalt be damned. She actually wants to hear it. Why doth thy moon of bad luck shine upon me. I started to scratch my arm by reflex, trying to find a way to run away. When she called me sister, Peachy giggled. When I looked at her, she motioned me to continue talking… with her wing. I can do it… for her.

“Okay, let’s start… We were kidnapped by changelings…” I started to explain, but was cut already. Her eyes grew wide and she moved back, her flank still on the floor. When I said changeling, however, Peachy hid herself in my mane. When Sweet saw her doing that, her motherly instinct kicked in and felt the fear radiating from the little one. I looked behind at the little filly, wanting to look at her acting, but was met with, surprising enough, true fear.

It was my turn to act like a real mother. I turned my new flexible neck and nuzzled her, which surprised both of us. While I was thinking that it was weird, but okay, Peachy actually liked it, feeling better when I did that.

“What happened for her to be so scared?” She asked, actually wanting to know what happened. I’ve decided to continue my story.

“Anyway, like I said, we were kidnapped by changelings. They got us on our way here, but we’ve managed to get out. Sadly, before running away, they punched me on my eye. They stole our money and our stuff. All we could keep is this bag.” I told her. She listened without saying anything. I could see that she was starting to feel bad for doubting me, both about money or being a changeling.

“The m- stallion who hurt mommy is regretting it now.” Peachy said with her little voice. It’s been a good time since she said something, surprising me. Still, this comment made Sweet giggle. I giggled too, petting my filly.

“I wouldn’t want to be in that changeling’s body during at the moment. With your earth pony strength, I’m sure he wouldn’t feel anything for days.” She said, laughing. I remembered when Peachy explained that earth ponies were powerful.

“Anyway, weren’t you doing something before talking to me?” I asked the pegasus. She stood up in a swift movement, realizing what I just said.

“Oh my, I need to go buy some ingredients for my brother. Look, find me at the city’s fountain in 10 minutes.” She quickly said. When she started flying away, which still surprised me, I stopped her.

“Uhh, isn’t there more than one fountain in this city? Which one?” I asked her. She tapped her chin again and pointed in front of us.

“Go this way and you’ll find the Bethesda Fountain. You’ll recognize it, by the cow statue on it.” She explained. I nodded at her, signaling her escape. She jumped, using her wings to spring up into the air. I looked at her, analyzing her movements, trying to understand how it was possible for such a heavy creature to soar using wings.

I turned my head to look at Peachy, who was looking in the air with amazement and a hint of jealousy. It’s obvious; she’s a pegasus who can’t fly yet. I wish that she could defy the laws of physics one day. I thought. When she was far enough to be out of hearing range, I’ve decided to walk slowly toward the city.

“Hey, Sweetheart, what do you think of that winged mare?” I asked my partner in crime. She stared at me with her eye twitching. I don’t think that she likes the nickname ‘Sweetheart’. Another reason to use it.

She stomped her hoof on my back, hurting me a bit. ”What the he-hay were you thinking? I thought we agreed to be sisters! Neither of us liked the mother-daughter idea…” She shouted loud enough so only me could hear it. Still, even when she shouted, she looked cute.

I pet her head again and explained “When she asked about you being my daughter, I made the link that our age difference is a bit too much for sisterhood, so, to make it more… realistic, you know what happened.” I shrugged. “What is the worst that could happen?”

“I could strangle you.” She warned me casually. I looked at her and laughed.

“Awwww, you are so cute. Don’t worry, if you strangle me, I could force you to wear a dress. Being your mother now, you’re mine.” I stared with a smile that could make Lucifer piss his pants. When she realized whom she was dealing with, she lowered her head in defeat.

”Why me…?” She asked to nopony. I moved my head near her and nuzzled her.

“Hey, that’s my line.” I smiled warmly, making her smile. “I’m sure you don’t want me to give you hugs and kisses until you stop seeing the light of day.” She shivered at the thought, but I swear I saw a glimpse of desire, like if she wanted me to touch her like a mother would.

“I’m sure that I can find a way to return you the favor. Actually, I already have an idea.” She grinned like a demon, which could be scary enough to make me piss my metaphorical pants and make Lucifer kill himself.

“Pfft, the worst you can do is sing Beer Beer Beer entering the city, and I can shut you up by grabbing your muzzle. It’s like those things are made to be shut.” I told her, grabbing her muzzle with a hoof as an example. She shook her head and blew a raspberry.

”The last ponies that underestimated my annoyance were the changelings. You could be surprised.” It was my turn to shiver. If I remember correctly from past experience, never underestimate kids and younglings. They are more than unpredictable.

“Let me list what I can do if you do anything evil. I can confiscate your cell phone; I can make you wear a dress… I can send you back to school.” I stared at her, hoping that my teeth could turn pointy, but I knew that such coincidence wouldn’t happen. Even if they didn’t change, I could see her face turn white.

“Sch-sch-school? Anything, but that…” She stuttered, looking at me like if I was a living monster. I kept my smile up, indeed calming her.

“Oh really? I mean, look at you. If they have the same school system from the holy land of maple syrup, you would be in…” I took my hoof up by reflex, expecting fingers for me to count with, but was met by the appendage I was supposed to be used to. “... Uhh… second grade. So, do you dare humiliate me?” I menaced her, but was met by a grin that only bad fillies would make.

”Of course! I’m supposed to be your little filly after all. Humiliating you is my job.” Why do I think she’s going to be a nuisance later… how dare I think that of my ‘daughter’!

I sighed, pointing around somewhere where Sweet flew away. “Anyway, what do you think of the señorita we talked to?”

She tapped her chin. ”Well, she seems to be a fine pony. I didn’t expect her to offer to help us that easily.” She paused for a second. ”Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if their society principal values are the same as the Elements of Harmony.”

I tilted my head in confusion. “The thing of doohickey what?” I joked, but with truth behind it.

She facehoofed and recoiled from the contact. I guess she forgot that she now has hooves. ”I forgot to mention them to you? Basically, they are Equestria strongest magic, even stronger than the Princesses I mentioned. Each element represents a value. There is Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, my favorite Laughter and the last one is… Magic I think.”

“So there is magic thingies stronger than beings considered gods that are cast through catalysts that holds the name of good emotions and actions? Or are you gonna tell me that the magic is really just physical representations of these emotions?” I tried to paraphrase, but left her comprehension in the dust.

She decided to take what she understood and leave the rest. “To be honest, I don’t know how they work. But they were used to seal Princess Luna on the Moon when she went crazy.” I stared at her, trying to understand. Magic, duh… I don’t know why, but this sentence kind of answers any questions.

I’ve decided to link this new information with what I knew. “Wait, somepony sealed the moon goddess on… her moon? I don’t think the Celestia one really liked it. Must’ve been a bloodbath.” I said, overdoing my accent.

“The cartoon doesn’t mention what happened when Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon, but it was her sister that sealed her in the end.” She explained. Maaaaaagic~~! Wait, sister drama, me likey.

“You’re telling me that sisters here used to be angry at each other? Glad you are my daughter. Anyway, ponies’ lives are based on those 6 characteristics. Glad you told me that, because we are totally not lying our asses… flanks right now.” I whispered the lying part in case somepony wanted to eavesdrop on our conversation. Like that cute blue stall- wait, what am I thinking?

“The show said that Princess Luna got jealous of her sister because everypony shunned her nights. If you want to know my opinion, there must be much more to the story. Beside, Princess Celestia didn’t seal her because she hated her sister, but because she had no choice to protect her ponies.” She paused. “We should still be as honest as possible. Should anypony learn the truth, I’m certain they would understand why we had to lie.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I pet her, receiving an angry sound back “I’ll do my best to bend truth in a way that it doesn’t go overboard.” I told her, trying to explain how I’ll handle the situation.

She shook her head after I pet her. ”What is it with you adults and petting me…” She stared at me while making that statement. Did she just call herself a child? She is really going all in with that acting.

“I don’t know, it just feels… right.” I shrugged. “Anyway, there is something that I want to ask you. Why were you so shy or scared during our last conversation with Sweet? It’s not like you were shy when we met or scared when we faced the changeling.”

“Oh that…” She looked around, trying to find an escape. ”Well… Normally I need time to learn more about other persons, or ponies in this case before feeling at ease with them. When we met, you could say I was in crisis management mode so I was busy trying to find a way out than thinking about that… As for now, well...” She took a glimpse at me, her face blushing like never before. ”I feel safer with you nearby…”

“Safer… with me nearby? What is that supposed to mean? Are you getting into your role? And what about fear? I should be more scared than you, I… was younger and less action prepared.” I bombarded her with questions without thinking. She grabbed my neck and hugged it.

“No!” She said in a little bit loud voice.” I mean; I’m not playing any role at the moment… I don’t know, maybe it is an instinctual response and I kind of latched unto you because you were the first pony I saw. All I know is that your contact seem to have a positive effect on me...” She shrugged and frowned. ”As for changelings… First, tell me what you think of them.”

“Uhh… that’s a weird question. They were scary, really scary. And they broke so much scientific laws that Einstein and Newton would piss their pants. What does it have to do with your current fear? Also… did you said… I had a positive effect on you? When there are nopony around you can stop doing what you’re doing, ya’ know?” I told her, trying to sound polite. Her actions were starting to rub my nerves.

She shouted, but tried to keep a bit of control. “I am not acting!” She looked around and cleared her throat, trying to change the subject. “I actually tried to punch one. James too.” She explained, shaking her front hoof in the air.

“Don’t try to change subject on me, lil’ one. Explain to me what you mean by not acting. You actually mean that I inspire your trust, have a positive effect on you, and you consider me your protector. Don’t tell me you actually think of me as your mother?” I asked her, already knowing the answer. The body and the mind are always connected. If one changes...

She rolled her eyes when I mentioned me as her mother. Yet, she scratched her arm, which I realized meant that she was thinking to tell the truth.” I guess it is the protector one.” She started to relax. ”For now at least…”

“So, you say that you actually think of me as your mother?” I asked her, wanting to see if she was ready to face the truth. By her actions, she was obviously doing more than acting.

Her eyes widened when I continued the subject she tried to evade. ”Hopefully we will be long gone before I start to lose myself that much in my role… Can’t we just go back to punching the changelings?”

I sighed. I guess that the truth don’t actually come from the foal’s mouth. “Okay, so you said that you punched one? Wow… wait, they didn’t look even injured. Do they have the same body structure as other earthly insects with the sturdy exoskeleton and stuff?” I asked, trying to find any creature to compare them to.

“Probably… James even kicked one but all he managed was to dent his steel reinforced boots…” My eyes grew wide. Looks like my hypothesis was correct.

“Ouch, that’s impressive and surprising. If you punched, does that mean that you broke your wrist or something?” I asked while looking at the hoof she shook in the air.

“Na, my ha-leg is fine…” She frowned again, looking even more down. ”We are lucky that we managed to get away, even if we are stuck as female ponies. We were completely at their mercy…Powerless...” She shivered. She really looked scared.

“Not that powerless. You and the two others seemed to have the situation… okay, not under controlled, but in a state of ‘can’t go worst’. I was only there to be a dead weight. I should be the one scared shitless of this ordeal.” I admitted to her. She blushed while frowning.

“At least you aren’t the one who tripped…” Her mood became even worst, almost to the point to crying. “If we encounter them again, at least you’ll be able to hurt them this time. Me? I’m just a weak little filly…” She lowered her head in shame.

I added all of what I heard and managed to make out the problem. “So THAT’S why you’re scared. If they are still searching for us, you will not be able to protect us due to your new… “ I cleared my throat. “...body.”

She kept her head low, which told me that I just hit the sore spot. I knew how she felt, being the small one in a group of adult under attack by horse bugs. I grabbed her head from the back and made her look at me.

“Look, I understand how you feel. I mean, between you and me, I was at your place beforehoof. Still, it’s my turn to protect you, even though I have no idea how.” I turned my head away and whispered to myself. “Wow, this encouragement speech sucked so bad.”

She looked up and I looked at her. ”You don’t have much choice on the matter, mommy.” She smiled a bit after saying this, making me smile too. She doesn’t seem to be bothered to call me mommy… and I actually like it… Wow, I guess that I must get used to this.

“I know, but don’t think that I can do this alone. It’s a team effort and you are my partner in crime, Captain Picard.” I grinned, coming back on an old joke, yet she groaned at me mentioning her real name.

”At least we know that the ponies are already wary of changelings. That should play in our favor while we are in a big city like Manehattan. And who know, Miss Breeze seemed like a great pony to have as a friend.” Wow, she called her ‘miss’. At least I’m not miss Berry, I’m not that old… wait, yes I am now.

“Maybe… speaking of her, I think we’re lost.” I stated, looking around trying to find any waypoint, but failed. She sighed, pointing a random pony in the opposite of our general direction.

“Eh, I guess you should backtrack and ask somepony? I wouldn’t be much of help to you, even with a map of the place… Just avoid talking to stallions.” She warned me, repeating what Sweet Breeze told me earlier. Yet, I was as confused as the first time.

“Uhh… why? Does it have to do with what Sweet said? I understood nothing of her warning.” I tried to explain to her. She looked at me, trying to find a way to explain a teenager the rudiment of animal sexual tendencies.

“What the difference between a male and female cat?” She asked me as an example. I tried to analyze both sex and came to the most logical conclusion.

“What’s between their legs?"

Without realizing it, she raised her wing and scratched her head. ”Let put it differently. What is the difference between a woman and a female cat? Other than the specie.” This was a tricky question. Every difference is linked to the specie, both physically and mentally.

“Good question. If it’s nothing related to their specie, I guess that it’s related to their sex, yet they are both female.” I shook my head. “Stop horseing’ around and give me the answer.” I shouted impatiently, a bit too loud for our taste.

“I think you are having too much fun with puns…” She hesitated for few seconds, only adding more impatience on the plate. ”Miss Breeze meant that you were currently in estrus.”

“Estrus? If I follow your lead, it’s related to being female, but what is it?” I asked, oblivious. I am not dumb because I didn’t know that, I was oblivious because my biology classes didn’t talk about animal sex.

“You are in heat! Thankfully I’m too young for it to happen to me.” In heat? Is that a new way to say that it’s over 20 degrees Celsius? I shook my hoof in front of my face like I used to do as a human to make some air. Sadly, it’s not as effective with a keratin appendage.

“In heat, like… hot outside… Okay, that’s not it, obviously, but I’m lost anyway. What does being in this ‘estrus’ have to do with me trying to stay away from males?” I was starting to feel dumb. I never was good in animal biology, but was a champion in the human one. Now, I need to learn the first in a crash course and forget the second one.

“Oh, come on it couldn’t be more obvious! You are fertile, emitting pheromones telling every stallions that your body is ready to mate!” She said a bit too loud, but attracted no attention. What she just said made her face go red.

An awkward silence settled between us. “God…. daaaaaamn.” It was my turn to blush deeply. “Uhh… sorry? We didn’t learn that at school.” I looked around for stallions, making sure that there was none nearby. Okay, now I hate males. If I understand, they’ll try to rape me due to my pheromones if we approach one. I scratched the itch under me. And this heat thing is really annoying. Okay, let’s find something else to think. “What do you think about going to that fountain, Metal Gear style?”

“It won’t work, Snake, as it wouldn’t cover up your pheromones. Actually, I’m surprised that it didn’t affect your thoughts.” Maybe pheromones work in the cartoon logic department. Or maybe I actually didn’t bother looking at stallions on my way here.

“Cartoon rule #37: Obvious stuff happens only when the main character realize that it doesn’t work. Example is gravity, another example being pheromones.” I explained, trying to imitate one of my teacher’s voices, but remembered that imitating a man while being a female is bound to fail.

She rolled her eyes at my pitiful attempt at humor. “Right. Could you help me down mommy? Some exercise wouldn’t hurt me.” She looked at her belly and saw that it was like Jell-O. Wow, cartoon physics can’t stop to impress me. If this would be a dream, I would be high.

“What, don’t like the service of Mama Taxi incorporated? Okay then…” I dropped my head in a way that she could use it as stairs.

“It isn’t that I don’t like the service, but I’m going to fall asleep again if I stay on your comfortable back.” She started to walk down, but slipped and fell on the side. ”Eep!” I managed to grab her with my hoof at the last second, stopped right over the floor.

“Watch out, sweetie.” I dropped her slowly on the floor, petting her a bit to remove dust. “We wouldn’t want to visit the hospital early.” I scolded her. She rolled her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure my body can handle crashes from an higher height.” She sighed while stretching herself. ”I do feel less and less human though… Say, how come I haven’t seen you face plant too? There is a rather big difference in our walk pattern…” She wondered out loud.

“I think I woke up before you and I’ve used my memories of quadrupeds walk cycles to imitate them.” I explained, trying to remember earlier in the day, which was difficult for my bad memory. “Also, what do you mean by less and less human? Don’t you get corrupted, young man.” I joked, but with a hidden truth.

“Well, for one we have no hands. Also, “ She flapped her wings once and moved her tail to emphasize her point. “ the extra appendages don’t help on the matter. Or the missing one…” She looked between her legs.

I looked at her. “The wh-, oh, never mind. I understand. Yet, the mind is the important thing now. We need to stay human in mind, but pony in body.” I explained. Wow, I must sound like a philosopher.

She looked at me annoyed. ”We’ll need to talk later about what being human in mind mean…Still, I wouldn't mind to keep the fur and maybe even the tail. Anyway, we were talking about habits here. Unless…” She trailed of, placing her hoof on her chin, thinking deeply.

“Habits, you mean that I got used too… quickly? And unless what?” I tried to make sense out of what she said. I’ve decided to shrug what she said before breaking my head.

That was the moment when she came out of her train of thought. ”For some animals, knowing how to walk is actual instinctual so the babies can already do so only a few minutes after birth. Especially in prey species. Like ponies...” I think I forget to mention her that I didn’t have any animal biology class… so all of this is a mind buck for me.

“What is this explication leading to?” I asked bluntly, tired of being dumb about everything a seven-year-old filly was explaining me. So that’s how my parents feel when I explained to them the basics of Pokemon.

“Well… The reason why we can walk so easily on all four is because the knowledge have been engraved in our brain.” She looked around and noticed a random mare standing near us who was looking at some papers. ”You should ask that mare for directions. If you are wondering, mares have rounded muzzles while stallion have squared ones.” She pointed the mare with her wing, but noticed the movement this time. ”Say, did I use a lot my wings for gestures?”

“You point, you think and you pet with your wing.” I giggled. “Did you just realize that?” I touched her wing, receiving a small reaction.

“Yes… I guess my subconscious have been rewritten too…” She started thinking out loud again. “So wingboners could be true too…” She wondered out loud. If this is portmanteau of wing and… oh damn.

“You know, I’m not gonna ask about… those. Still, let’s ask that mare over there.” When I realized what I said, I reduced my voice volume. “Heh, mare, there, rhymes.” I walked toward what looked like a buisnessmare.

When she realized that I heard her wingboner comment, her face’s color could have been compared to a tomato. When I started to walk, she followed close to my leg, but not as close as when we were in the forest.

I looked at the mare, summoning the courage to ask her our way. I hate talking to strangers, even before the kidnapping happened. “Hello miss, do you know where we could find the Bethside Fountain?” I asked, accidentally mispronouncing the name.

“Oh, you mean the Bethesda Fountain?” She pointed at our right. When we turned around, a fountain with a giant cow statue met us. I facehoofed, wondering how I missed something so big.

“Oh… uhh… sorry, we kind of missed it.” I apologized, smiling awkwardly. The mare nodded and went back to her paper reading. We trotted toward our destination. At the end, I wasn’t that lost. Hah, I should have never doubted you, my mental GPS.

I looked around, impressed on how awesome this place looked. The statue, made out of copper and gold, was looking quite impressive near the humongous fountain. The light mist around the splashing water was quite a calming touch after all of this happened.

“Now, we are in public, so don’t do anything too… childish.” I warned my little filly. She looked at me with a smile.

“Foalish you mean? I can’t promise anything.” Peachy corrected me. She looked at the statue and started humming asmall tune. I listened to it for a few seconds, but I haven’t managed to find out what it was.

“What… are you humming?” She continued humming, obviously trying to end what she started.

“Cow with an umbrella.” I stared at her, trying to understand what she said. An awkward pause ensued. ”Ever heard the Holly Dolly Song?” I shook my head.

“Yeaaa…..no.” I shrugged. “Not really. What is it about?” I was curious about the theme of such a weird named song.

“A cow ‘singing’.” She quoted with her wings. This time, both of us realized it. Peachy quickly placed her wings back on her body.

“Interestingly weird.” I simply stated. “Now, can you look around to see if Miss Breeze is here?” I placed my hoof over my eyes and looked around.

“Hopefully you’ll get used to weird. Anyway, you would most likely see her first considering your height…” She stopped and thought about something. Then, she grinned maniacally. ”I know how to get her attention easily.” My eyes grew wide.

“Wait, OH NO, do not do ANYTHING to lure attenti-” I was cut off by the annoying singing voice as an evil filly gathered attention.

“Make way for Princess Berry!” Shesang while walking away from me. This song that I know from the movie Aladdin is made to gather attention.

That’s the moment when my fear of attention kicks in. Some people find it ironic that I hate attention, yet I’m good at customer support. “Eek!” I started to slowly walk away, trying to hide from the hundreds of eyes staring at me.

Like a cue, the pheromones produced by my body started flying in the air, attracting the nose of interested stallions. Some of them, who were already with the mare of their dreams, used all of their strength to stop their crazy minds. Sadly, not all of them were like that.

One of them started walking toward me. He was a beige unicorn with a cherry red mane, with sleek muscles. He approached me, grabbed my hoof and kissed it. Urg… this… is not as disgusting as I thought. I blushed and he smiled, seeing that I’ve reacted.

“Hello Madam. I’ve never seen such a beautiful mare in my life. Would you like to go to my house and get some tea?” The stallion asked, obviously trying to hit on me. In my mind, I knew that saying no was obvious, but my brain wanted to accept their offer. Am I… really wanting to that? Before I could say something, however, another stallion wearing a beret pushed him away.

“Bonjours Madame, je suis sur que vous aimez les etalons qui parlent prancais.” [Hello miss, I know you like stallions who speaks prench.] He bowed. “Toutes les belles princesses comme vous aime le prancais.” [Every beautiful princesses like you likes prench.] He thought he could win me with some cheesy french lines, yet it impressed me. I wanted to know more about him, but knew that he was only doing this for sex..

I cleared my throat. “Pardon, mais votre tentative de m'interesser s’est planter.” [Sorry, but your attempt to impress me failed.] He gasped, surprised that I could speak french. Before I could answer the other one, a hoof grabbed me and my nose was touching a pegasus’ nose. The sudden change surprised me and the fact that he was invading my bubble annoyed me. “Uhh… can I help you?”

“You are so beautiful that I must ask you out. I know a good restaurant where we can know each other more.” He took a deep breath, grabbing the most pheromones possible. Okay, this creep is creepy, yet I want to… ARG, DAMN YOU, FEMININE HORNY MIND. Then, on both my side appeared the two ponies from before and the three started bickering, trying to win me.

As if it wasn’t enough yet, two other stallions joined them, trying to prove which of them was the best stallion for me. At first, for a few milliseconds, I thought it was touching, but now, it was scarier than anything.

“I’m better because I graduated from Canterlot Academy.”

“I’m better because I can speak three languages.”

“I’m better because I can sing.”

They all started to stare at me, waiting for me to choose one of them. I was about to cry before I heard another voice that actually sounded controlled. “Sweetheart, there you are!” He pushed the stallions out of his path and placed his hoof around my neck. “I’m sent by your daughter and Sweet Breeze. Play with me.” He whispered right beside my ear. I nodded, surprised that my ‘daughter’ sent me such a cute stallion....

“Oh, my love. You are finally back!” I nuzzled him, making us blush. Okay, I may be pushing the acting a bit too much… or is it because I like it. He sure looks sexier than the others. Why do I think of this? The five stallions all looked at us, mouth agape.

“What were you doing to her, sirs?” My new friend asked the group of horny ponies. They all blushed and looked around. Two of them ran away and the rest just acted like nothing happened. Him and I walked away, leaving the troublemakers behind.

We met with Sweet Breeze and the little demon itself. I stared at the filly who looked like guilt stabbed her multiple times in the last few minutes. “What did I told you about attention gathering.  I HATE attention almost enough to be a phobia… AND YOU… arg, why? Why?” I shouted.

She started crying and sobbing, seeing that she really did wrong. ”I’m sorry…” She whispered, looking so cute that any female looking at her would try to help.

I stared at her and sighed as my motherly instinct kicked in. “You’d better be. Don’t think you’ll get out of this one with your hooves clean.” I sat down, grabbed and hugged her, trying to stop her crying and sobbing. While I nuzzled her, I looked at my savior. “Thank you for helping me… uhh… what is your name?” I asked him.

“I’m Chocolate Sprinkles, nice to meet you.” He pointed Sweet Breeze with a smile. ”And you must have met my sister, Sweet Breeze.” He said.

V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V

Peachy Frosting

V^V^V^V^V^V^V^V

Oh no! What have I done!

I had started to sing a modified version of Prince Ali song from Aladdin to embarrass Mathias as my revenge for his sudden change on our status from sisters to mother and daughter, but the situation went south quickly. I succeed in attracting attention all right, especially that of all the stallions present in the cow statue’s square. And they lost no time to pinpoint the ex-man currently in estrus and quickly surrounded him. My ‘mother’ will be so right to be angry at my action.

I had lost sight of Mathias much too fast to make any supposition about if he would be able to deal with the situation alone, but considering that he was currently affected by a powerful mix of sexual hormones that his mind had no resistance build up and surrounded by Technicolor stallions, he was most likely in hell at the moment and it was unlikely he would manage to defuse the situation alone.

That left either the timely intervention of some kind soul or me. Unfortunately, nopony nearby seemed to willing to move to help him, probably thinking that he is used to deal with situation like this one… So that left me to find a way to help him. From my earlier experiences with Mathias, I knew that I couldn’t sound menacing even if my life depended on it. At best, I could probably give them diabetes. If only my body wasn’t so young.

My only hope was to find someone (hey, there isn’t only ponies in Equestria) that would help me. Maybe a cop? Back home, that would surely be classified as sexual harassment. The problem was that I had no idea how to identify one. Most of the ponies not in the testosterone circle were mostly naked with either a tie or some kind of hat on. A few mares were wearing a simple dress, an article that I’ll most likely meet up close soon enough. Nopony seemed to be cop.

My eyes fell on a familiar light blue pegasus slowly trotting toward the fountain, the reason of our trip to this mare’s trap. I lost no time galloping towards Miss Sweet Breeze, my only hope to help Mathias out. As I approached her at high speed, she recognized me and waved at me. Once I reached her, I tried to stop my course, but my inexperience with my body combined with my panic made me stumble and I rolled on ground, learning at the same time that my wings were actually quite sensitive.

Miss Breeze looked down at me worried, but I had no time to lose thinking about myself, ”MissBreezeyouneedtogohelpMa-mymotherIstartedtosingandalotofstallionsurroundedheryouhavetohurry!” It was unlikely that she managed to understand what I just said because, while I was no Pinkie Pie, I could surely speak really fast while panicking.

The one to react wasn’t the mare I talked to, “Uhh, she sure looks energetic… quite the opposite of what you told me, sis.” I was surprised to hear a male voice that came next to me and I noticed a brown unicorn stallion when I turned my head to look at him. It was most likely the brother that Miss Breeze mentioned earlier. It wasn’t awkward that I didn’t notice him before he spoke at all.

“Well, she was really shy last time.” Once she was done addressing herself to her brother, Miss Breeze crouched near me to talk to me, “What are you telling me, lil’ one?”

She had to talk to me like I was a child… Ignoring my frustration about my treatment, I took a deep breath because of my earlier word barrage and barely managed to share my message while pointing one of my forehoof toward the group of stallions that had formed, ”Help… mommy!”

My statement surprised her, “Wait, she’s the one who caused such a mess?” She shook her head before going on, “I told her to keep off the male side.”

Being so clearly reminded that I was the one who unleashed the stallions on Berry, I looked down at the floor before whimpering while I felt my ears drop down, ”It’s my fault…” I don’t know how strongly my new body affected me, but I could tell that I was much easily influenced by my emotions.

Surprised, Miss Breeze stared at me blankly for a few seconds before managing to speak again, “I would gladly listen to this story, but…” she moved her head to looked at her brother to talk to him, “...we need to save her… and by we, I mean you.” Normally seeing Miss Breeze being pushy with her brother would have brought a smile to my… snout but I was too down because of the current situation.

The brother in question stared back at the pegasus, not too happy about her solution, “Well, you could help too, you know?”

Of course, his sister left him no choice in the matter, “No time to lose, we need a plan, and quick!”

The two siblings looked toward the crowd I created, their ears twitching as we overheard a few lines coming from the stallions that probably killed Mathias considering how embarrassing they were, even if she had been born a filly.

The awkward silence was broken by the brother clearing his throat, “You know what, let me take care of this.” He lost no time to gallop toward the crowd like a knight in shining armor.

I could finally relax now that the cavalry was heading toward my ‘mother’. I slowly stood up, slightly in pain because of the bruises I collected during my barrel roll. I never thought that I would have done one outside of a game. A look at myself also revealed that I had managed to gather quite a lot of dirt during my maneuver so I shook myself like a dog to remove a good portion of it. If things continue to go on like this, I’m not sure that there will be anything left of my dignity before the end of the week...

The mare nearby seemed to be amused by my antics before returning to Berry’s problem, “Well, that reaction was a bit surprising, but…” She simply shrugged it as if it was normal, “Stallions are stallions, am I right?” Hey you are talking to one of those so-called stallions! Not that the pink is very convincing, or the lack of the most important part… I suppose that I no longer count in that category at the moment… But...

After a moment to mourn my masculinity, I noticed that she was gazing intensely at me like I had just reacted strangely before finally deciding to ask me, “Anyway, how did she gathered so much attention?” She whispered something to herself that I wasn’t supposed to catch considering the content, “I wouldn’t think that being in heat is that powerful.” Eh… I hope for Berry mental health that it isn’t case. Viva being a foal and not being affected by hormones yet!

Even if the question wasn’t specifically addressed to me, I decided to answer it. I was directly responsible for her situation after all… “Eh… I might have started... to sing…”

My sudden answer to her question surprised Miss Breeze. Unfortunately she proved to be curious about one subject I couldn’t answer honestly, “Singing what?”

Oh, only a song from Disney. You know, they make movies in the same style as the show My Little Pony. Oh, MLP? It’s only the show that we currently live in. I have the feeling she wouldn’t believe me. I guess the best thing to do is to be as vague as possible, ”Just a little song I slightly adapted by adding Ma- mother’s name…” Ouf, that was a quick safe. She didn’t seem to notice my minor slip.

I risked a look toward my ‘mother’ to see that Miss Breeze’s brother had managed to reach Berry. Thankfully, it seemed that she hadn’t noticed me yet… Still I couldn’t escape the weight of my actions… I felt the weird sensation of my ears dropping along my head. I sighed; I didn’t need my body to reflect how I felt so easily… I mumbled before lowering my head, ”I’m in trouble…”

I soon heard a confirmation to my statement, “From what I see… yeah.” I refocused my gaze on the mare next to me, only to notice she was looking at something on my side. I soon learned what she was looking at, “I know it might be a bit personal, but when was the last time you or your mother preened your wings?”

Preen? Why did that word sounded so familiar to me… Or even better, how could Berry be involved with it?

In my panic, it seem that I had voiced a question out loud, “Well yes. You know, taking care of your wings.” Miss Breeze sounded confused about my ignorance.

How could I have forgotten something that would be so essential to pegasi? I had read about it in so many fics, heck I had several birds… This was major blunder on my part and I had to correct it quickly. How could I salvage the situation? Oh! That’s right, I could probably use Berry previous idea about our family, ”Oh that…” I invoked my saddest memories in my mind to set the proper mood for my plan, ”Daddy used to…”

The mare completed my sentence for me, “Your daddy used to preen you? But where… is…” She looked at my face only to notice my sadness just like I wanted. What I hadn’t planned was to be overwhelmed by the emotion and genuinely start to sob... “Oh my, I’m so sorry… I-I shouldn’t have said anything.”

I sniffed, managing to recover my emotional control little by little. It seems that I’ll need to be careful with my feelings. At least, Miss Breeze came to conclusion I wanted. Killing off my ‘father’ wasn’t such a bad idea after all. A few second later, I finally managed to speak again, ”It’s okay…” My trembling voice actually spoke of the contrary, but the mare watching over me thankfully didn’t say anything about it.

As I finally got my voice back under control, I noticed a disturbance in the group around Berry. I wonder what the help I managed to get had just done. I was in no hurry to see her back so soon, but I knew it was also useless to try to avoid the inevitable, ”I guess we should go see mommy…”

Miss Breeze seemed to be in no hurry to approach the group either, “Maybe we can wait here and see if they come to us.” She gave me a small smile, obviously still feeling guilty that she brought up what she thought to be a delicate subject. Knowing that only made me feel even worse about deceiving such a gentle mare.

Her reluctance to approach the group of stallions was fine with me. Berry seemed to be serious when she said I was under her control and she could force me to do anything. My ‘mother’ could really be scary when she wanted to.

In an attempt to clear my mind and possibly distract Miss Breeze too, I decided to ask her about her reluctance, ”Why? It’s just a big group of grown ups.”

Trying to sound like a foal wasn’t always as easy as I thought. What truly scared me was when I did so and only notice it afterward. It seemed to happen more frequently when I was in close contact with Berry… Hopefully she wasn’t correct in her earlier assumption...

After thinking about it some more, I came to a conclusion. It was very possible that she was in heat too. Actually, now that I think about it, how did she know about Berry’s condition? Maybe ponies can actually smell the hormones? Oh well, it isn’t like I can ask that question out loud considering my perceived age. On the other ha-hoof, I could formulate an appropriated question to know more, ”Do you have the same thing mommy have?”

The question made Miss Breeze feel even more uneasy, “Uhh… yeah, you can say that. Still, we should leave this mess to my brother. He’s the best at dealing with those situations.” That wasn’t very helpful...

The mare didn’t leave me time to inquire further into that delicate subject, “...hey, can you tell me what you and your mother are doing in Manehattan?”

While that was a rather normal question considering the help we will receive from both the mare and her brother, answering the question proved to be anything but easy. At the smallest thought of the beings responsible for our current situation, my body started to shake and my ears fell down again and I could barely pronounce the name of the culprits, ”Changeling…”

The mare was surprised by my reaction to her simple question by giving her my simple answer, “Yeah, I kind of understood that, but… I guess that it was a horrible day, a bit too much to remember?” She patted my head, helping me to snap out of it. I wonder if most ponies are as nice as her.

In my fear-induced shock, I had missed the crowd clearing away from Berry. On the other hoof, I could notice that the two ponies left were still slightly blushing… I guess it is time to face the music after all. ”The evil stallions are gone, I suppose we should go see mommy now…”

“Yeah, that may be a good idea.” With Miss Breeze wise words said, we both started to slowly wal-trot toward our respective family member. On the way, I felt a constant tickling on my side that eventually made me let out another giggle. A quick glance at the side quickly showed the culprits; it was my wings. It is no wonder that Miss Breeze asked me about preening…

Once we finally reached the pair, the mare accompanying me lost no time to talk to her brother, “Would ya look'a that? My brother has a marefriend. That’s sweet.”

The statement simply stunned me, ”Marefriend?!” Did Berry truly lose it? He was only supposed to help her, not seduce her… This day was just getting worse and worse...

Thankfully, the brown stallion clarified the situation in a whisper, “It was only to get rid of those ho- pesky stallions.” He censured his sentence, as I am positive that he meant to say horny...

I let an “Oh!” of understanding. I can’t believe I misinterpreted it that badly… I should have known that Berry wouldn’t have agreed with the idea otherwise.

A glance toward my ‘mother’ unfortunately showed that she had notice my presence and that she was furious about my implication in her misfortune. Any pieces of mirth I had left vanished under her commanding gaze, my guilt only amplified by her tirade, “What did I told you about attention gathering. I HATE attention almost enough to be a phobia… AND YOU… arg, why? Why?”

It was too much for me. My emotions went haywire and I started to sob once again, barely able to apologize before lowering my gaze to the ground, ”I’m sorry…”

Her stare quickly faltered in front of my distress, “You’d better be. Don’t think you’ll get out of this one with your hooves clean.” I soon felt myself grabbed by a pair of pink hooves and forced into a hug. At first I felt undignified that she would do this to me, especially in public, but I abandoned myself to her warm embrace as she started to nuzzle me. It was oddly soothing.

Between two nuzzle, my mother finally thanked her savior, “Thank you for helping me… uhh… what is your name?” Personally, at the moment the only thing I wanted to do was stay in her warm embrace. Wait! What am I thinking about?! Oh no… She was right… My body must have adopted her as my mother… This means that my only hope is that my mind will counteract the effect long enough for us to get back home. Who am I kidding, I’ll be truly thinking of her as my mother before long if she continues like this.

The brown stallion finally introduced himself, “I’m Chocolate Sprinkles, nice to meet you.” Afterward, he brought up a hoof toward Miss Breeze, ”And you must have met my sister, Sweet Breeze.”

Berry answered for the two of us, “Well yeah, she tried to prevent all of this, buuuut…” she stared at me for a moment, just enough to let some guilt resurface, “...you know what happened.”

I was still feeling miserable for making her the center of attention of all the stallions in area. I barely managed to whimper, ”I didn’t mean to…”

The mare looked back at me, this time more comforting, “I know, still… I warned you.” Seeing that I was finally feeling better, she let me go. Wait, how did she grab me and stay still at the same time? You know what? I won’t question it. Pink earth ponies and making sense... I think that she even ruffled my feathers even more. In any case, she sighed once I moved away to keep a safe distance from her and asked our new friends a rather important question, “Now, the question is ‘where we should sleep’?”

Mr. Chocolate decided to answer her, “Well, the motels here are kind of overpriced and… we have a guest room at the shop,” he looked at Berry’s cutie mark before adding, “and maybe you could work for us in exchange.”

The pink mare in question seemed to be uneasy about something, “What… kind of job?” Oh, come on! I explained you what cutie marks meant, you should have been able to think about it when he looked at your flank… Oh course, I didn’t voice that out. I had already caused enough troubles for a day.

The brown stallion was exactly what I expected, “Well, your cutie mark is a cake, so you must be a good pastry chef.”

“Uhh… yeah! Totally! I’m really good at this.” Berry answer was followed by an awkward laugh. I do not want to know what she had thought about… Her hormones must have had a part in it if her blush was of any indication.

With that decided, our small group seemed to be ready to move out so I decided to ask my ‘mother’ a ride again because I didn’t want to feel the tickling until we reached the shop where we were going to and I was tired anyway. Who am I kidding, I want a ride because I am too lazy and Berry’s back is really comfortable.

I poked her nearest leg to get her attention. I quickly found myself face to face to big interrogating blue eyes, “What is it?”

I felt increasingly uneasy under her gaze, especially considering what I wanted to ask her, “Could you… give me another... ride?”

Her eyes suddenly widened, like she just noticed something. It was weird to see a cartoon effect from so close. As she finally broke out of her stupor she began to address me, “Wow, I don’t know what happened…” Oh, she hadn’t yet noticed how dirty I was. She proceeded to grab me from under with her right hoof again. Being constantly pony handled was really humiliating, but it comes with being a foal I guess. Her next words did help to brighten my mood though, “...but you can relax now. I’m no longer mad.” I learned my lesson. Do not attract stallion’s attention when there is a mare in heat nearby.

”I had a braking problem…” My explication confused the two real ponies of our group, but they didn’t question it, most likely placing it on the fact that I am only a filly in their eyes.

Berry most likely didn’t notice their reaction, “Heh, I can see that.” Once done with me, the pink mare turned her head toward the only stallion of the group, “So, we’re going to your house?”

The chocolate colored stallion blushed as my ‘mother’ asked her question. Ok… Now I want to know what happened over there. The concerned stallion got his blush under control before finally answering her, “Yes, it’s located right over the pastry shop. It’s like working at home.” An awkward silence followed only to be broken by the one who created it in the first place, “Yeah, at least my cutie mark is not in joke-making.”

Both his sister and me giggled at his bad attempt at humor. Mine was as good as his. Miss Breeze decided it was her turn to speak, “Yeah, we would have a bad relationship.” I suddenly became the target of her gaze, to which I reacted by trying to ineffectively hide in Berry’s mane. “Anyway, when we arrive, I’m gonna show you how to preen yourself once your have cleaned up. You’re gonna need it later on in life.” Her earlier guilt about my ‘father’ resurfaced as she mentioned the preening. Bath and preening, I am soooooooo looking forward to that...

As our group finally set up toward the shop, I quickly found myself face to face to my ride. It seem that somepony have gotten quickly used to her neck new found flexibility. Said pony decided to whisper to me, “What’s preening?”

Oh, right. It would be a good thing for her to know about that, so I whispered back, “It’s taking care of my wings… I told her that my father used to do it for me.”

She was surprised when I mentioned my other fictitious parent, “Wait, father? I knew we forgot a back-story. We’ll need to talk about that later.”

Seriously? She was the one who insisted not to work too much on it… I gave her a taste of my mind, ”I wanted to do that, but you said that you’ll improvise…”

She started to blush, obliviously embarrassed that she forgot about it, “Oh…” her cute blush finally faded away when a question materialized in her mind, “... so you made one?”

“I thought you were still going with the dead father, so that’s why I mentioned him trying to act sad.” I remembered my earlier emotional breakdown that my acting caused me. ”It worked a little too well…”

My ‘mother’s’ observation hit too close to home, “Let me guess, you guilt tripped Sweet. That face she made when she mentioned preening was a little overwhelming.”

I lowered my head in shame at being reminded how I manipulated the kind mare, “Yeah…”