To Love a Hybrid

Chapters

Dare You Tell the Truth?
A Nocturnal Visitor
Past Memories
Dreams of Memories
Mending Broken Hearts
A New Start
To Love a Hybrid

Dare You Tell the Truth?

"And that's why you don't swim in rainbow juice," concluded a cyan pegasus pony with a rainbow mane. She then took a sip from her bottle of apple juice to hydrate her dry throat.

The six friends sat in a circle in the Golden Oaks Library. On Pinkie's request and pleading, Twilight Sparkle relented to take an evening off of her studies for a sleepover at her place. She wouldn't say it to her books, but she had to admit that tonight has been more interesting and funnier than she expected. How things could become ridiculous and hilarious so quickly, she never knew, but she relished in the moment nonetheless.

"Goodness! So that's why you missed two weeks at school," exclaimed a frantic canary mare as she covered her mouth with both hooves upon hearing the other pony's story.

"Meh, don't worry about it, Flutters. Sure, it was uncool being stuck in a hospital bed for that long, but at least, it gave me a break from those three losers and that dumb building they call a school." Rainbow Dash shuddered slightly as she recalled all those years spent sat on a stool and listening to the teachers' endless boring speeches.

"But I recovered, and that's all that matters," the weather mare continued. "I'm tough stuff, after all!" She lifted a hoof to her chest and adorned a boastful smile on her face as she did so.

Twilight, Rarity and Applejack only rolled their eyes at that, while Pinkie Pie giggled and imagined what Rainbow must have looked like when she got out of the rainbow juice. She was so lost in thought, she didn't notice said mare talking to her until the farm pony next to her nudged her with an elbow and brought her back to reality.

"Oops, sorry Dashie. What was it?" asked the pink pony as she looked at the weather mare, her goofy smile still plastered on her face.

"I said : truth or dare?"

Pinkie let herself think it over for a few seconds, tongue sticking out of her mouth. She'd go for dare again, but everypony else have chosen truth at least once already, and she thought it wouldn't be fair if she didn't do so too. Also, she knew that Rainbow knew that she could accomplish any dare the rainbow-maned pegasus would throw at her, so she put back her trademark smirk and confidently answered :

"Truth!"

The five other mares were surprised at her choice, but Rainbow quickly shook hers aside as she took advantage of the occasion and made her move.

"Have you ever kissed somepony before moving her to Ponyville, let's say, at school or something?" She smiled devilishly as she prepared herself for what would be a fun story if Pinkie had, or if not, she'd save it for another target.

What the five friends received wasn't what they were expecting at all. Pinkie's smile was quickly removed from her face, and they swore her mane deflated a bit at hearing the question. She even started shaking slightly, and neither of them knew why their pink friend was reacting this way.

Applejack didn't waste a second as she put one of her forelegs on the shaking pony in an attempt to comfort her.

"Hey, Pinkie, yer' okay, Sugarcube?" she asked, worry on her face. She had never seen her friend in that kind of state.

"Y-y-yes..." she mumbled just loud enough for her friends to hear.

"You do not look alright at all, darling!" exclaimed Rarity as she, too, joined her friend's otherside. "Why, you just look awful right now, dear."

"Was it Rainbow Dash's question that affected you this way?" inquired the purple alicorn as she eyed the brash pegasus out of the corner of her eyes.

"Hey, I didn't do anything, okay!" the accused mare shouted back.

"Eeep!" was all Fluttershy let out at Rainbow's outburst before hiding behind her mane, not really wanting to get involved in the situation until things have quieted down a bit.

"Girls, it's okay," Pinkie softly said, though it could have been a whisper, since she had lowered her head and was staring at the floor.

"How can it be okay, Pinkie?" asked Twilight. "I've never seen you act like that, and neither have they. How can you say it's okay when there's clearly something wrong?!"

Pinkie's ears flattened against her skull as she pleaded, "It's nothing, really..."

"Pinkie, what's the matter with-"

"Please," she said as she finally looked into Twilight's lavender eyes. The alicorn could see that her friend was on the verge of tears, but what struck her the most was the look that she saw into Pinkie's blue eyes, a mixture of worry, sadness, uncertainty, and she swore she saw a hint of fear, although quite small. It was clear that she didn't want to talk about it, at least, not yet.

"Alright," sighed Twilight. She then approached Pinkie and wrapped her in her front hooves, giving her a comforting hug. "I'm sorry we pushed the issue. We just wanted to help you, Pinkie."

The pink mare's mood seemed to lighten up a bit, though not completely. Nonetheless, she immediately returned the alicorn's hug and whispered, "It's okay, Twi. It's okay. I just-"

"Hush Pinkie." Twilight said.

Pinkie conceded. She let herself be hugged by her friend, and soon felt the others join in too. After a good minute, they separated, each of them saying a quick 'sorry' of their own, soon joined by a yawn, and they started chuckling in unison.

"Sounds like we might be a might tired here, I reckon," pointed Applejack.

"Quite so, darling," declared the fashionista. "I wouldn't mind having my beauty sleep now. I believe we could all use it, what do you girls say?"

"Aww, come on," whined Pinkie Pie. "The night's not over yet! We still..." she started before being cut by a yawn of her own as well.

Twilight put a hoof to her mouth to stifle a chuckle.

"You were saying?" she asked teasingly.

The party mare smiled sheepishly as she looked back in her purple friend's direction and shook her head in defeat. She and each of her friends proceded to lie down on the extra beds the alicorn had summoned for the occasion, Twilight having brought hers to the main floor so as to not be left out. Once tuckered in their warm blankets, they bade each other goodnight before putting the lights off.

It only took a few minutes for the living room of the library to be empty of any noise except for the breathing and occasional snoring of the ponies sleeping in it. All were now roaming in dreamland. They all slumbered, all wearing relaxed smiles on their face as if there wasn't anything wrong in the world.

* * *

Luna's glorious moon was hovering above the land, giving the land underneath a mesmerizing glow. The stars that accompanied it shone brightly, adding to the beauty of the night sky. But all this didn't matter for the figure standing just outside the large treehouse in the center of the town. Its gaze was instead focused on the first floor window. Once all the lights in the building went off, and no sound other than the night breeze could be heard, the silhouetted slithered closer to the huge tree and quietly hid in one of the bushes, and waited.

Author's Note

Hello to anyone who's gonna stumble upon this fanfic. It's my first fanfic, so any constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated (things I could improve, typos if any, changes I could make, etc.) Only condition : if it's about typos, I'd appreciate it more if you PM'ed instead, otherwise, feel free to use the comments for any other kind of feedback. Enjoy!

A Nocturnal Visitor

"No, please! Don't do it!" pleaded a first voice.

"Oh, come on, you'll like it, I promise," reassured a second.

"I'm not ready for this! Please, stop!" begged the first voice.

"I jussst want to show you how much you mean to me, sssweetie, how grateful I am to all you've done for me. I'll make it quick then, how doesss that sssound?"

"No. No! NO! I DON'T WANT THIS! HELP!!!"

"You stay away from my daughter, you filthy beast!" yelled a stallion's voice as the sound of a hunting gun was heard, echoing on the walls around them.

* * *

Pinkie woke up abruptly from her slumber and sat on her bed. She was sweating a lot, she could feel a few tears rolling down her cheeks, and her breathing had accelerated. She could swear her mane had lost a bit of its usual curly look. It had been an awful long time since she last had that dream, and she thought she had managed to patch that wound, but since the truth or dare game with the girls, she found out that it was still there, just as deep as it had been since she started having it not too long after that incident five years ago.

It took her a little while to calm her breathing. Trying to go back to sleep in her actual state wouldn't be the best idea, she thought, so she opted for the traditional short walk outside to take some fresh air and calm her nerves. She quietly got out of her bed, making sure to cushion the clopping sound her hooves made against the wooden floor as best she could as to not wake any of her still snoozing friends. She discreetly headed into the kitchen and poured herself a small glass of water, which she gulped down in one go, before going outside, softly closing the door behind her.

Pinkie Pie inhaled slowly, taking as much of the fresh air as she could in her lungs, before exhaling it out. She repeated the process a few more times, feeling more relaxed as she did so, and then sat her rump on the library's porch. She lifted her head towards the sky, her eyes locking on the multiple shiny stars that decorated it. Luna sure did a great job with her night once again, she admitted.

However, the Night Princess' work was not what preoccupied the pink mare at the moment. Her mind was filled with memories she'd rather forget, memories of a time that lost all its meaning because of a huge mistake. The more she dwelved into these hurtful memories, the more the sadness in her heart grew, along with a touch of anger towards the one who caused it all.

It's all her fault, she thought to herself. I told her to stop, and she still kept going. She saw that I didn't like it, so why?

"Why?" Pinkie asked no one in particular, her eyes still fixed on the starry sky above.

"Why can't I just forget about it?" Her head dropped as she let out these words.

"Forget about what?" asked a feminine, sultry voice nearby.

Instantly, Pinkie's body froze. Her mane and tail both deflated completely, now laying flat on her head and on the ground respectively. She'd recognize that voice anywhere for having spent so long hearing it before. Normally, she would have been happy to greet and welcome the mare who called her, if it wasn't for the fact that this individual did something unforgivable, even by Pinkie Pie's standards, and nopony had seen the party pony not forgive someone.

"What are you doing here?" Pinkie asked the other pony with a hint of agressiveness in her tone that indicated that she would have preferred not to have this meeting at all.

"I sssimply decided to come and visit," replied the other as she got out of the bush she was hiding in.

Any other pony who saw what came out would have run away in utter terror, but Pinkie Pie wasn't any other pony. She eyed the figure from the corners of her eyes as it revealed itself completely under the full moon's glow. The new pony's coat was of a light beige. Her brown mane flowed down to the middle of her back, with her hair combed so that most of her forehead was clear of any locks. Her sapphire blue eyes tried in vain to make contact with Pinkie's, who still avoided her gaze.

What made this strange mare different was that she didn't have hind legs. Instead, a scaly tail, much like a snake's, stretched out, starting from her waist and going on for about twenty feet before ending at the tip.

The lamia pony hadn't even moved an inch before being ordered by an unhappy Pinkie Pie to stay where she was. The anger she felt in the pink mare's heart made her ears droop as she recoiled a bit, but not wanting to add oil to the fire, she complied, coiling her tail and sitting on it.

"To visit, huh?" the party planner continued, venom clear in her voice, which didn't go unnoticed by her guest.

"You don't ssseem happy to sssee me," the hybrid stated matter-of-factly.

That was the last straw, as Pinkie's anger boiled to a point that could probably make Princess Celestia herself run for her life. She turned completely to face the lamia, and she could feel herself wither under the fierce gaze the pink pony was throwing her way.

"Happy to see you?!" Pinkie exclaimed, her voice slowly gaining in volume as she kept going. "How in the world would I be happy to see you after what you almost did to me, Sapphire Heart? Or did you forget all about it?"

Sapphire Heart could only lower her head in shame as she recalled that day. Pinkie Pie didn't seem to have forgotten about it.

"I didn't forget, Pinkie but ssstill-"

"But still what?" she asked, practically yelling.

"...I don't know," was all Sapphire found to answer.

"You don't know?" Pinkie now was nose to nose with the lamia, and the latter could only drop lower as the earth pony's fury bore into her soul.

"YOU DON'T KNOW?" she repeated, now definitely yelling uncontrollably. "What you did back then was bad, Sapphire, really bad! And even when I begged for you," she prodded the lamia in the chest with a hoof, "to stop, what did you do?"

"...I-I..." was all she could muster before being cut again.

"You just kept going!" Pinkie lashed out, tears now dripping down her face. "I don't know what you were thinking back then, but if my dad hadn't stopped you, I don't know what would have!"

"I don't know either," Sapphire mumbled as she lowered her head once again. She was shedding tears of her own, and the amount doubled after the smack the pony in front of her gave her on her left cheek.

"How can you not know?! I was confused and scared, yet you didn't take notice of it! Instead, you took advantage of it! Do you understand what that means?!"

Pinkie was literally fuming now. The hybrid could only nod as she hid and sobbed like a little filly into the coils of her tail. The library's front door, which had been swung open a few seconds before the end of Pinkie's outburst, now revealed five mares, all of them standing still with their jaw on the floor and eyes as wide as saucers at what they saw in front of them and what they managed to hear.

Their next reaction, however, differed from one another. Fluttershy quickly barricaded herself in Twilight's bedroom. Rarity fainted. Rainbow Dash, who had been hovering in the door frame, lost her focus and fell face first on the hard floor beneath. Applejack's brain was temporarily out of commission. Twilight Sparkle could only let her gaze wander left and right from her pink boiling friend to the bawling snake-tailed pony. She couldn't make sense of the situation in front of her, adding to her existing confusion and surprise.

"What in the wide wild world of Equestria is going on, here? What's with all the yelling, Pinkie Pie? And more importantly: what's a lamia pony doing here in Ponyville?" the alicorn frantically asked aloud, still trying to understand what was happening. She had never seen Pinkie that angry before, even less a lamia pony, since they were said to be myths. Still, myths can be true sometimes. Take Nightmare Moon for example, she quickly mused mentally.

"What is happening is that I don't wanna talk to or see her," Pinkie put emphasis on the last word as she pointed a hoof towards the still weeping hybrid, who seemed oblivious to the gazes directed her way. She didn't care about anything but the sorrow in her heart. She could be thrown in a dungeon or die right where she was, it wouldn't change anything at all.

"But Pinkie, I don't understand," Twilight persisted. "What's your relation with her? And more importantly, how did you meet her? I always thought lamia ponies were myths from Saddle Arabia."

"It doesn't matter anymore," the grumpy mare said as she turned back and started walking away. "Night's over, goodnight girls."

Twilight was too dumbstruck to even go after her friend and stop her. Sure, she wanted more answers, but she also knew that dealing with Pinkie Pie while she was in that state wouldn't get her very far, so she just looked at her as she walked further away. She turned left around a corner, and Twilight then found staring at empty space.

Twilight didn't know how long she would have stared in the direction her friend left, but the sobbing sounds from the creature in front of her home snapped her back to reality as she turned her gaze towards her. Getting answers from her would be fruitless as well, and even so, she wasn't even sure if she'd cooperate.

The alicorn still found it hard to believe what was standing before her. All she knew about lamia ponies came from old stories of the Saddle Arabian folklore, and they weren't really good ones, if what they said about those hybrids were true. Yet, myths and reality were two different things, since the specimen in front of her didn't match the description the story books gave them. She never read anything once about a lamia pony being heartbroken, and that made her even more worried about the hybrid's wellbeing.

Something's not right here. Obviously she and Pinkie Pie know each other, or rather, have known each other, but something really grave happened, if Pinkie's outburst is any indication. It was the farthest she could go in her analysis. Although she did want to figure everything out tonight, she knew that her answers wouldn't come as long as Pinkie was still mad, so she settled to go back to bed and wait until tomorrow before questioning her.

As she turned back towards her door, she saw that Rainbow Dash had recovered from her little fall and Applejack had regained her senses. Rarity, on the other hoof, still laid on the floor where she fainted, and she couldn't see Fluttershy anywhere. She probably hid herself somewhere, she thought.

"Sorry girls, but I think we'll have to cancel the sleepover tonight," she said as she approached her friends in the doorway.

"It's alright, sugarcube, but what about Pinkie Pie?" asked the farm pony.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow. Right now, I think it's best to leave her alone, and for us to have some sleep. I can't really think straight when I'm tired."

"It's good and all, but what about her?" queried Rainbow Dash.

"Well, we can't leave her here on the streets, that's for sure." She lowered her voice as she continued. "Should anypony see her, panic is bound to take hold in town, and having her being captured by the Royal Guards, should anypony alert them, is the last thing she needs right now, so I thought of letting her stay with me in the library for the time being, with Spike being away on royal business again and all, so she wouldn't have to worry about curious eyes."

"What?" shouted Applejack, only to pushed inside the tree house with Rainbow, Twilight closing the door behind them. She didn't want Sapphire Heart to overhear their conversation. Her two friends' mouth could have a tendency to speak before their brain, and even though they were technically dealing with a monster spoken in legends, something inside the alicorn told her there was more than meet the eyes to the individual.

"Are you serious, sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

"Of course I am, AJ. We can't leave her outside alone, now can we?"

"And leave YOU alone with that beast? Who knows what that thing might do to you?"

"Applejack, I know how to take care of myself. I'll be fine."

"Nuh-huh, no way I'm letting one of my friends in some monster's company, Twi. We don't even know what it is!"

"Applejack," Twilight shook her head in exasperation, "I thought you were better than that."

The farm pony was taken aback by her friend's statement. "What?" was all she found to reply to that. The cyan pegasus next to her didn't dare say anything, and even if she wanted, she didn't know what to say or think of the situation. She instead opted to check on Fluttershy, who was still hiding upstairs, and left her two friends finish their talk alone.

"Listen, Applejack," Twilight continued, "I appreciate your concern, but you can really be stubborn sometimes."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything," she answered simply. She then approached the window and quickly peeked through it, and then turned back to look her friend in the eye.

"Now, I need you to look outside and honestly tell me what you see." Twilight's patience had all but remained now, and Applejack knew better than to push her magical friend above her limits. The results tended to be very ugly, so she quickly complied and did as she was asked.

As she looked outside, she saw it : a monster that came straight out from a horror book. However, if she was honest with herself, she had to admit that it wasn't how she envisioned it. She saw the creature stroke her tail with its hooves in a comforting manner. She saw it all curled on itself like a scared animal. But what struck her the most was the look in its eyes. From her point of view, Applejack could have a glimpse of its face, and what she saw sent a pang of guilt and remorse to her heart.

Dejection and sorry. The words hung in her mind for a while, and as she processed the implications they brought, she couldn't help but feel sorry for the suffering lamia pony.

"Now, AJ," Twilight said from behind her, "do you see now? Is this what a monster looks like to you?"

"No," the farm pony admitted as she lowered her head in shame. "I just wanted to make sure she won't cause any trouble."

"Oh, Applejack," Twilight said as she put a foreleg around the orange pony's shoulder. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust ya, sugarcube, but-"

"But nothing. Now, it's very late, we're all tired, and there's a guest shivering outside, so let's just put everything aside for now and decide what to do of the situation tomorrow after a good night's sleep."

"Okay," Applejack sighed.

"I promise I'll be fine. Although, can you do me a small favor and take Rarity home?" Twilight asked as she pointed at the still unconscious fashionista, who still hadn't woken up.

Applejack followed Twilight's hoof, and upon seeing her unicorn friend still lying on the floor, she rolled her eyes and let out a chuckle and the sight before agreeing to the task. With the alicorn's help, Rarity was soon secured on Applejack's back, and both of them proceeded for the entrance door, Twilight following close behind.

As they stepped outside, they saw Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying away, who must have left by the second story window. As Applejack started to leave, she gave a sidelong look to the mass of scales that still hadn't moved and began her walk back home, leaving Twilight with the lamia pony.

The alicorn waited until all her friends disappeared from sight before slowly approaching the hybrid. She stopped a good two feet away, not wanting to invade her personal space without her consent.

"You're gonna get cold if you stay outside. Nights in Ponyville can get chilly sometimes," Twilight told Sapphire Heart.

"What does it matter?" she replied, pain and sadness still evident in her voice.

"What it matters is that I don't want to find a corpse on my doorstep because you suffered from hypothermia."

"Why would you care, anyway? You and your friends witnessssed it yourssselves tonight. I'm jussst a pitiful monssster that is not worthy of anypony's attention. It would be best if you just left me alone, please," she choked on the last word.

Twilight took a step back as Sapphire said that. It was worse than she thought. Not only was she broken, but she was alone as well. That only doubled Twilight's resolve to lend her a helping hoof. Regaining the bit of composure she lost, she got around the lamia pony and crouched down in order to make eye contact, though it proved difficult with her keeping her head hung low.

"Sapphire Heart," she began, and as the lamia looked up on instinct at hearing her full name, finally connecting her sapphire eyes with Twilight's amethyst ones.

"I'll tell you why I care," the princess went on, breathing deeply as she briefly looked back to the time she was still living in Canterlot, before moving on. "About two years ago, a showmare arrived in town. She was an arrogant braggart, and soon left Ponyville when the townsfolk realized that all her stories were lies to make her look better. Needless to say, she intrigued me since then."

"What does that have to do with me?" asked Sapphire Heart, confused.

"I am getting to that. As I was saying, she piqued my curiosity. Then, a few months ago, she came back in town, seeking revenge for being humiliated and wreaked havoc in Ponyville. After we managed to put everything back to normal, she left again, though I had decided to follow her to the edge of the town to have a talk with her.

"I was curious as to why she boasted so much during her shows. I wanted to know what she was trying to prove by doing that. However, the answer I got wasn't the one I was expecting. She told me she just wanted to be remembered, and if ponies could remember her name, then she wouldn't feel alone.

"So that's why I want to help you, Sapphire Heart. I've seen what years of loneliness can do to a pony, heck, even I have been through it when I was a filly, though it wasn't that much of a problem in my case, I'll admit. But the point is that I want to help you fix what's broken as best I can, just like I did with that showmare."

The lamia was shell-shocked at what she heard. Still, despite this, she still wasn't a hundred percent sure. There was still a troubling question lingering in her mind, and it was with great difficulty that she let it out :

"I don't underssstand. Why would you want to help a creep like me?"

"You're not a creep." Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

"What? How can you sssay I'm not a monssster? Look at me! I'm not even a pony. I'm an abomination of the world used in tales to ssscare little foals. And besides, what makesss you think you can help me? Tell me."

"I don't know how, for now at least," Twilight admitted. "However, Pinkie Pie is my friend, and you are somehow related to her, if I'm guessing correctly, so these are all the reasons I need to try to help you both as best I can. I can't stand seeing Pinkie in that state, nor you either. Pretending that nothing is wrong when something clearly is and letting it pass like it was unimportant; that would make me a monster."

It was then that Sapphire Heart's remaining defenses crumbled down. This pony was truly sincere. She didn't mind her appearance. She considered her like any normal pony, someone worth to be cared for, and for the first time since that day five years ago, she was happy, though it wasn't enough to get rid of the sadness in her heart, she embraced the feeling nonetheless. There was still a dim light of hope for her, and that lit a fire inside her heart that she thought would never burn again.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I am beat, so I'm gonna bid you goodnight, Sapphire," Twilight said as she turned around and started heading back inside. She heard movement from behind as she reached the door frame, and couldn't help but smile as she looked back and saw the lamia following her, seemingly having made her decision. The alicorn stood aside to let her in first before closing and locking the door, hopefully for the last time that night.

"Feel free to make yourself at home. I'm going to hit the hay now. You can use any of these beds if you want. Sleep well, Sapphire." Twilight wished her as she closed the lights and jumped into her bed, which was still in the living room along with five others, which were now unoccupied. She then laid down on it, tucking her wings down so they wouldn't annoy her, and brought her blankets to her neck with her telekinesis.

Sapphire Heart didn't need to be asked twice. Tonight's events had drained her of her energy, so she climbed in the bed farthest from Twilight's, not wanting to invade her personal space. She was immediately overwhelmed with an incredible sense of comfort. As she coiled up her tail around herself to make herself as small as possible and put the blankets over her, she felt something she had never felt before.

Warmth. She felt warm and cozy as she laid on the soft mattress, and she cherished every second she spent it in. She felt safe, and she couldn't remember the last time she felt that way. She felt like she could stay in it forever and never wake up. Just as she was about to fall asleep, she turned to her host one last time before she spoke.

"Excuse me, missss..."

"The name's Twilight Sparkle, and no need for formalities please," the alicorn couldn't help but smack herself for having forgotten to introduce herself before.

"Twilight, thank you," was all the hybrid said before closing her eyes and letting sleep claim her.

The princess allowed a smile to form on her lips before shutting her eyes tight and murmuring a quiet you're welcome before falling asleep as well.

She was going to need it for the next day.

Author's Note

Hey guys, just leaving a quick note here. As you may have noticed, I described the lamia pony as someone misplaced, misunderstood and lonely. Tell me what you guys think about this chapter, please.

Past Memories

It must have been near noon when the owner of the Golden Oaks Library woke up from a gratefully uneventful night's sleep. On any normal day, she would have caused a scene for having overslept, but today she couldn't care, since she didn't have any princess duties or important tasks to do, so she took all her time to get out of bed and stretch every limb of her body, wings included, which were still ignoring her brain's order to wake up.

After a series of popping and cracking sounds, a sigh of relief escaped her lips. Despite not having any big chore to do today, she still had her pink friend's problem to deal with. Speaking of which, she turned around in order to rise her guest from her slumber, however, upon seeing the peaceful look that spread on her sleeping features, she couldn't bring herself to force her out of sleep. Instead, she couldn't help but stifle a small chuckle at how adorable she looked with her hooves tightly hugging the pillow, the blanket half fallen on the floor and her snake tail wrapped all around the bed as if she didn't want to be separated from it.

Her decision made, she let her be for now and headed for the kitchen to start a small breakfast. She didn't know what lamia ponies' diet was; the stories she read never even spoke about it. She opted to make cinnamon and apple pancakes in hopes that it would please Sapphire Heart.

After a good fifteen minutes of cooking, a strong and delectable aroma could be smelled in the library's kitchen, which quickly spread into the living room next door, to finally reach the drowsy lamia's nostrils, which quickly caught up with it and made her rise from her sleep. As she woke, she breathed in deeply, taking as much of the sweet smell as she could, eliciting a growl from her empty stomach. With a goofy smile on her face, her tongue limping out of her mouth and practically drooling, she followed the smell to its source.

As Twilight finished preparing the pancakes, her ears caught on the sound Sapphire's tail made against the wooden floor, but when she turned around to greet her, she almost burst out laughing at how silly her guest looked with her tongue sticking out of her open mouth and the tip of her tail wiggling left and right like a dog's would. She couldn't help but think of the sight as being funny and adorable at the same time. I guess she's liking the smell of the pancakes.

"You're going to catch flies in your mouth if you keep this up," the alicorn said, failing to hide a smirk as she turned back to the stove, put it off and levitated their breakfast onto two porcelain plates and withdrew two forks and knives from a drawer.

The lamia quickly closed her mouth and flushed sheepishly before replying, "Sssorry, it's jussst that I've never sssmelled anything that good before."

"Oh?" Twilight exclaimed as she deposited the dishes on the table and turned to fetch butter and some maple syrup from the fridge, along with a carton of fresh apple juice.

"I wasn't really sure if you were going to like this. Having never met a lamia before, so I didn't know what you ate, so..." she continued, her voice becoming slightly nervous as she finished her sentence, which Sapphire Heart immediately noticed.

"No need to worry about that, Twilight. Lamias eat the sssame things you ponies do. Even if we are half sssnake, we don't share the sssame diet as they do, I can assure you," she confirmed to the alicorn.

"That's good," replied Twilight as she picked up the two items from the fridge and closed it. "It's just that nopony knows anything about your kind, so I didn't want to make a fool of myself or make you upset, so I was slightly worried," she continued as she put the condiments on the table and grabbed two glasses from a cupboard to pour juice in.

"Very underssstandable," Sapphire declared before the delectable aroma caught her nostrils again. "What's that sssmell, anyway? I can dissstinguish apple, but I have no idea what that other part is."

"I made cinnamon and apple pancakes for breakfast," Twilight answered as she put the glasses down and filled them as she sat at the table, raising an eyebrow at Sapphire's statement all the while. "You've never had cinnamon before?"

The lamia shook her head. "Can't sssay I had."

"Then now's a good time to start. Come and sit before it gets cold."

Sapphire complied and settled in the chair in front of Twilight's, minding her snake tail as she did to avoid knocking anything over. Once she was comfortably seated, her tail coiled under the table, she picked up her utensils and began eating her meal, though to Twilight's eyes, it looked more like devouring. The princess let out a chuckle at that and poured some syrup on her pancakes before taking a bite off of them, followed by a sip of her juice.

"Hehe, you look like you've never eaten pancakes before," Twilight commented before taking a second bite, closing her eyes in satisfaction as she swallowed it. When she reopened them, she saw that Sapphire Heart had suddenly stopped eating, and she noticed the look of sadness in her blue eyes.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Sapphire!" Twilight frantically apologized, starting to panic at the thought that she may have hurt her guest. "I didn't mean to upset you!"

"It's okay..." the lamia softly said, not looking up from her plate.

"But-"

"It's fine, really," Sapphire Heart assured, though her tone wasn't very convincing. "You couldn't know."

"What?" Twilight exclaimed, confusion quickly replacing her panic.

The hybrid took a deep breath before continuing. "Twilight Sssparkle, you are one of Pinkie Pie's close friends, ssso I believe it would be fair to you to know why I am here. This tale is gonna be long, ssso I'd be grateful if you would take sssome of your time to listen to it. Alssso," her tone had now become pleading at this point, "I'd asssk that you wait until the end before judging me, please."

"Judge you? What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight asked, shocked at the strange request.

"Please," Sapphire Heart insisted, her hooves held up in a begging manner. The look of resignation in her eyes made Twilight's heart clench, and the alicorn swore she saw a tear roll down the hybrid's cheek. Whatever it was that weighed on Sapphire's heart, she was willing to open up, and to somepony she had only met the day before nonetheless. Although Twilight did want answers, she never thought of getting them this way. It was then that she realized just how desperate the lamia was.

"Forget it," Sapphire said after a while, the awkward silence becoming too uncomfortable for her. "I'll jussst get out of your mane and-"

"Alright," Twilight finally agreed with a sigh.

"What did you sssay?" Sapphire stared at the alicorn, dumbstruck at what she had just heard.

"Alright, I promise," Twilight asserted as she approached the hybrid. "Although, that's not how I was expecting to get answers, but apparently," she put a hoof on Sapphire's shoulder, "this means a lot to you, and I'd only feel bad to leave you in this condition. I know that you and Pinkie Pie used to know each other for a while, that I am certain, but whatever happened between you two is certainly weighing on you both, and I can't bear to leave things as is without lending a hoof to mend the situation."

Sapphire Heart was stunned by Twilight's declaration. After so many years, she had finally found somepony who was willing to listen to her broken heart, and so she did the first thing that came to her mind to express her gratitude.

She held Twilight in her hooves and hugged her tight, shedding a few tears all the while. Instinctively, the alicorn hugged her back. She had never realized how alone the hybrid was, and that made her more eager to hear the other mare's tale. Right now, she needed a shoulder to lean on and an ear to listen, and Twilight was willing to offer her both.

After a good minute, they pulled apart, and Twilight summoned a handkerchief and hoofed it to her guest, which she accepted with a quiet "Thanks". She then blew her nose hard on it and threw it in the nearby trash when she was done.

"Feeling better?" asked Twilight.

"Yesss," she nodded, sniffing a bit as she answered. "It's jussst that I had forgotten what it felt like to hug sssomepony, and I jussst-"

"Hush," Twilight cut her. "How about we take a seat and start from the beginning, hmm?" she proposed.

The lamia agreed, and the two mares headed for the living room, forgetting their nearly untouched breakfast on the kitchen table. Twilight sat herself on the couch and then gently patted the spot next to her invitingly. The snakepony didn't need to be asked twice and soon joined Twilight, coiling her tail as usual so it wasn't in the way.

"Comfortable?" the alicorn queried, receiving a nod from her guest. "Good. So, how about you tell me some about yourself for a start?

Sapphire Heart nodded again as a slight frown formed on her face before she spoke: "Well, there isn't much to tell about me, to be honessst. I pretty much grew up alone for nearly half of my life. I lossst my parents when I was little, ssso I had to take care of myssself on my own to sssurvive. I managed to find shelter in an abandoned cave not too far from a pony village.

"And who sssays 'village' sssays 'food', and having nothing under hoof to sssustain myssself, I had no other choice but to sneak inside the village at night ssso that nopony would sssee me and sssteal what I needed from food ssstalls, and sssometimes, I even had to look in the trash."

"That's horrible!" Twilight exclaimed with a gasp. That explained why Sapphire was eating like a glutton earlier; she was malnourished. Now that she thought about it, she did notice that the lamia looked slimmer than any other pony she had seen before. She took mental note to feed her a proper meal after they were done with all the questioning.

"I know," Sapphire Heart continued, "and I hated it. Not jussst fishing in the trash, but alssso the whole sssneak and theft part. Although it was necessssary, I disliked every moment of it, and even today, I ssstill do. However, I knew it was better than being caught and being chased down by an angry mob of ponies who wouldn't be kind to my presence. After all, I do have the body of a monssster.

"Ssso I repeated the processss whenever I was running out of sssupplies. However, it ssseems that the village sssomehow took notice of the disappearing food and ssset ponies to keep watch at night, because one day, when I came back to renew my reserve, sssomepony sssounded the alarm, and I was quickly given chase afterwards."

She shivered as she recalled that memory, and it didn't go unnoticed to Twilight, as she draped a comforting wing over the trembling mare, who settled against the soft feathers, which seemed to have a soothing effect on her. The librarian waited until Sapphire Heart's shaking stopped before she nodded for her to continue.

"I've never felt ssso ssscared in my life. I thought losing my parents was terrible, but this... this was jussst ten times worssse. They were brandishing torches and forks at me as they hunted me down. I managed to essscape back my cave and hid deep in it, however, one of the chasing ponies threw his fork at me and hit me in the tail.

"Only when I was sure they wouldn't come inssside did I take notice of the pain it created. That pony didn't missss his shot, because the ssspikes of the fork were planted deep into my ssscales. I didn't even dare remove it. Inssstead, I jussst curled into a ball and weeped, wishing for it all to end, for the never ending pain to go away, and even for somepony to find me and finish me off.

"I wished I could have jussst died back there..." she said, falling silent afterwards. Tears were now soaking the fur of her cheeks, and Twilight completely wrapped the broken mare within her wing, stroking her back with a hoof at the same time, slowly swinging back and forth, offering as much comfort as she could. The hybrid gladly accepted the kind gesture, leaning on the alicorn's shoulder and weeping on it. Twilight could feel tears of her own flowing down her purple cheeks. She couldn't help but feel for the lamia in her embrace as she imagined what she'd been through.

Twilight didn't know how much time she had passed trying to comfort the sobbing mare, but eventually, her calming strokes on her back finally achieved their intended goal. The librarian summoned another handkerchief for Sapphire, which she discarded thereafter. Once her tears had dried out, she returned to her sitting position and offered Twilight an honest smile of gratitude.

"I take it that those events still haunt you sometimes?" Twilight dared to ask.

"Often, actually," the lamia responded. "Although, I don't think they'll be as bad anymore. I kind of feel a little lighter deep inssside."

"Yeah, that's what happens when you open your heart to someone else, and trust me, I've been through there as well one too many times in the past, so I know how that feels like."

"Yeah. Honessstly Twilight, thank you very much. I really mean it."

"Don't mention it, Sapphire. Besides, that's what friends do, right?"

Sapphire Heart froze at that last statement and looked the alicorn dead in the eyes. Did she just... call me her friend?

"Do... do you really mean it?" she asked the alicorn, still shell-shocked.

"What about?" Twilight asked back, raising an eyebrow at the odd question.

"About me being your... friend?" That last word still felt foreign on the lamia's tongue. She had always thought that she'd never find anypony else who would be willing to accept her, and yet, Twilight Sparkle just called a friend, and that made the dim light in her heart from the previous evening to shine even brighter.

"Yes, I do," Twilight nodded with an honest smile. "No one deserves to be alone, and forever more, I saw that there is more to you than meets the eyes, so you qualify as a friend in my books."

As she finished saying those words, Twilight found herself trapped in a bear hug from Sapphire's part, who was spewing out a series of "Thank you" in quick succession. When the lamia felt her target struggling in her grip, she let go and chuckled sheepishly, rubbing a hoof behind her head.

"Sssorry, I jussst reacted on impulssse, I guessss."

"It's fine, I just didn't expect that much of a reaction," Twilight assured. "Anyway, back on track. What happened next? Obviously, something happened afterwards, right?"

Although Sapphire's smile faded as they went back to their original topic, it didn't turn back into a frown like before. In fact, she felt much more comfortable talking to the librarian, her friend.

"What makes you think that?" Sapphire challenged teasingly.

"You standing in front of me alive kinda gave it away," Twilight answered matter-of-factly.

"Point taken. And yessss, sssomething did happen, sssomething I'll always be grateful about for the ressst of my life.

"When morning came that day, I ssstill hadn't moved from my position. I couldn't even sssleep that night, my thoughts being filled with death wishes and whatnot. Then, I heard hoofsssteps approaching. Thinking it was somepony from the village coming back to finish me off, I closed my eyes, ready to accept my fate.

"However, the blow I was waiting for never came."

* * *

"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Are you okay?" asked a high pitched voice, panic evident in her tone.

I opened my eyes. The voice wasn't an adult's. It was a young filly's voice, probably as old as me if I was to compare it to mine. I then dared to turn my gaze towards its source, but when I did, there was nothing at the entrance of the hole I had crawled into.

"That's a big looking fork right there! Don't worry, auntie Pinkie Pie will fix this up!" the voice said, now seemingly to had come from behind me.

Auntie Pinkie Pie? What was happening? I felt something nudging at my tail, or to be more accurate, the fork planted in it, and just that small movement made me wince in pain.

"Hmmm... we're gonna need extreme measures," I heard the voice say.

I turned my head to the left, and what I saw made me gape. A pink filly with a slightly darker toned curly mane and tail with three colored round things on her flank was pulling at the fork, seemingly intending to remove it.

And that she did, quickly. I screamed so loudly from the sudden pain I swore it could have caused a cave in. Tears cascaded down my face, and I blacked out in seconds.

* * *

I didn't know how long I had been unconscious, but when I woke up, most of the pain was gone. Not understanding what was going on, I looked at my tail, and I was surprised to see it tightly wrapped in a thick white cloth. I could see some red stains where the remaining pain came from, which I could only guess as blood, and that made me shiver.

However, one question remained: who in the world had bandaged me? Luckily, I didn't have to look for an answer, since a voice, the same from before, called out to me.

"Good, you're awake!" it said, and it was coming from my right this time, so I turned to look in that direction, and saw that same filly, which I had only managed to get a quick glimpse of before blacking out.

"These were nasty big holes you had there in your tail," she continued. "It's a good thing I always have an emergency first aid kit for emergencies." She put a hoof into her mane and pulled out a white box adorned with a red cross out of it.

Wait, what? How did she do that? The box was bigger than her head! How did she...?

"Hey! Equestria to Miss Snakepony!" The pink filly was now standing right in front of my face, her smile still plastered on her lips. How she got there so quickly without me noticing was beyond my understanding.

"W-what?" was all I could muster. I was confused. I didn't understand. Who was she? Why was she here? Why did she help me? And more importantly, why wasn't she afraid of me? Anypony would have run away by now, yet she still stood there with no apparent signs of fear whatsoever.

"I said, what's your name, silly."

"Sssapphire Heart," I responded, my mouth talking on its own while my brain was still processing what was going on.

The filly giggled. "You have a funny way to pronounce your 's'," she simply stated. "I'm Pinkie Pie! You may not remember me mentioning it while I bandaged you because you were suffering and screaming and crying and then you lost consciousness," she said that last sentence without needing to catch her breath. How she did that, I didn't know, but I decided it best not to delve on it.

"So, why were you crying all alone in an abandoned cave with a giant fork planted in your tail?" she asked as if the answer wasn't obvious. However, when I looked her in the eye, even though that smile of hers hadn't left her face, I could see that she was dead serious all the same.

"Because nopony wants to be around a monssster like me," I told her, hoping that answer would make her realize what she was currently dealing with.

"You're not a monster, silly! Monsters are terrifying and wild creatures that eat ponies and live in the Everfree Forest, like manticores, hydras and timberwolves," she said as if it was that simple.

"Then what about this?" I asked as I pointed at my tail. "How can a pony with a sssnake tail not be terrifying? Surely you can't call that normal!"

The pink filly put a hoof under her chin as she seemed to think it over, though it only lasted a few seconds before she answered, her smile quickly returning on her face.

"I know it's not normal, but that doesn't make you a monster. Monsters are evil and mean and don't cry and eat ponies, yet you were crying when I found you here."

She seemed sincere, yet there was still a hint of doubt in me, which brought up my next question.

"Why would you care about me, when everypony elssse would jussst be glad to kill me upon ssseeing me?"

I saw her shiver a bit and lose her smile as I spoke the word 'kill'. Although I felt a bit bad for causing her that reaction, I had to say it to make her understand.

"Why would anypony want to do that?" she asked, and that was the final straw. I stood tall on my tail, looking above her as anger took hold of me.

"Because I'm different! Because ponies are ssscared of what is different! That's why!"

Pinkie Pie shrunk a bit under my gaze and her ears had drooped. I let out a few angry breaths before I felt the pain in my tail again, this time even worse, and I fell down to the floor. Yet, my head didn't land on the rocky surface, instead, it was met with a pair of hooves that caught me before I hit the ground.

With my rage gone, I did the only thing a suffering pony would do: I cried. I didn't fight the tears anymore; I knew it wasn't worth the effort.

However, what came next surprised me. The hooves that had caught me wrapped around my torso, and I felt somepony's head resting atop mine. I didn't resist, instead hugging back the one holding me. I let the tears flow like a fountain and clung to the other pony.

After minutes that felt like hours, I rose my head with dried out eyes and met Pinkie Pie's visage. She was smiling kindly and honestly at me, and her hooves were still wrapped around my midsection. I still couldn't believe that she was still there, however, that fact created something in my heart I never felt before.

For the first time in ages, somepony cared about me. She wasn't afraid of my appearance. She looked at me as if I was anypony else, and she wasn't judging me. Held in her comforting embrace, I finally felt happy for once, and that lit a spark of hope in my heart.

But then it had to end. Pinkie pulled me away, though she still held my shoulders at hooves' length, her smile never leaving her face. That smile grew wider as I smiled back at her.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"Much, thank you."

"No need to thank me, silly. That's what friends do. They help and comfort each other when others feel alone."

"F-friends?" that word was foreign to me. I've always been living on my own. I know what it meant, but the fact of being called that by somepony else felt... great. No, more than that, it felt refreshing.

"Yep!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I... I think I'd like that..."

"Woohoo!" the filly yelled as she jumped high in the air; a jump I know no normal pony should be able to do. "This is so great! Oh, wait til' I tell my sisters and my parents that I made a new friend! We're gonna have so much fun to-"

"NO!" I cut her abruptly. I started panicking at the thought of her telling others about me, who would probably not be kind to my looks.

"What?" she asked me, confused. "But-"

"No!" I repeated firmly. "Please, jussst... don't tell anypony about me," I pleaded her. Silence hung in the air for a while as I stared at the floor.

"Okay," I heard Pinkie say.

"Huh?" I asked as I looked back up.

"I'll keep our friendship a secret. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," she exclaimed as she drew a cross on her chest, waved her hooves in what looked like an attempt at flight before poking her eye with a hoof.

"What was that?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Just something I came up with. I call it a Pinkie Promise. Breaking one is the best way to lose a friend," she explained in a professional manner. "So, your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you very much," I said with a smile of my own. Goodness, it felt good to be able to smile genuinely. I had found a friend, and I didn't want that friendship to end.

* * *

"That's... wow. That is something," Twilight said when the mare sitting next to her finally took a pause. What she had just been told was a lot to digest, but she managed to make a short summary with all the details she had been provided.

Firstly, Sapphire lost her parents when she had just entered her teens, and had lived a solitary life ever since. Secondly, she had to resort to thievery to feed herself. Thirdly, she was caught stealing food one night and was then being hunted down, but she luckily escaped, but not without a serious injury. Lastly, she had been found by Pinkie Pie, who healed her and befriended her, not caring at all that she was a lamia pony.

"That's one way to put it," Sapphire Heart agreed after a short while. "Sssince that day, Pinkie would jussst come to my cave to visit whenever she could, and each time, she brought sssome food from her rock farm, which happens to have been nearby all along, ssso I didn't have to worry about ssstealing from the townsponies anymore thanks to her."

"Still, there's one question that's plaguing me," Twilight cut in. "What was she doing in your cave when she found you?"

The snakepony chuckled lightly at that. "I asssked her the sssame question back then, and she told me that she was jussst walking by during an errant her father gave her and she sssimply got curious."

"I should have guessed it would have been something along those lines," the alicorn rolled her eyes.

"I take it you've experienced her... one-of-a-kind behavior before?"

"One too many times, I'm afraid. That pony is so curious about anything that comes out of the ordinary that it becomes infuriating sometimes. I've known Pinkie for a little more than two years and I still can't figure how her brain works, nor do I believe I will manage to, no matter the amount of effort I put into it, so I just leave it as Pinkie being Pinkie Pie.

"However, this doesn't apply when she's acting like she did last night," Twilight added afterwards.

"Yeah, about that..." Sapphire started, now feeling nervous, her blue eyes fixed on the floor and toying with a strand of brown hair from her mane unconsciously.

The shift in her tone didn't go unnoticed by the librarian. "Are you alright?" she asked.

The lamia quickly glanced Twilight's way before closing her eyes. She breathed deeply in an attempt to steel her resolve, and she only reopened them a minute later. She still felt anxious, however, she knew she had to tell Twilight at some point anyway. She knew the conversation would take an unpleasant turn from now on, but the alicorn had the right to know about it. She feared what her new friend would think afterwards, but it had to be done regardless.

Besides, she was tired of running away.

"Twilight Sssparkle, I'm not gonna lie to you. As you may remember from lassst night, Pinkie was... I guessss enraged would be the bessst word to dessscribe her reaction."

"I do recall, yes. I'm also guessing that something bad happened?"

"It was worssse than bad. What happened, or rather, what I did, was, and ssstill is, unforgivable." She paused for a few seconds before moving on. "Twilight, out of curiosity, do you have any idea what happens when a lamia enters puberty?"

The alicorn was taken by surprise by the odd question, but shook her head nonetheless.

"Then allow me to tell you a little sssomething about our ssspecies. Lamias can be very lussstful when they want to, however they are able to control themssselves. However, when one enters puberty, she loses that body control for approximately two years. Now can you sssee where I am going?"

Twilight barely managed to stifle a gasp, which the hybrid took as a yes.

"You...?"

"It was about a year later sssince the day we met. She came to visit like she did the other times. During that year, we got to know each other more until we became bessst friends, and I ssstarted feeling butterflies in my chessst whenever I sssaw her. Then we both entered our teens. At firssst, it was easy to ignore my lamia inssstincts, but one day, it became too much and I lossst control of myssself.

"And I ssstarted taking advantage of her, as you ponies would call it. I couldn't think. I didn't care about anything elssse. I know she told me to ssstop many times, but I was out of control, my body acting on itsss own to sssatisssfy itsss needs.

"And then it ssstopped. I didn't like how it happened, but for Pinkie's sssake, I was more than happy it did. A ssstallion, which I can only guessss was her father, followed her all the way to the cave. I don't remember much of what happened, having been in a trance of sssome sssort, but I do recall hearing the sssound of a hunting gun resssounding in the cave, which sssnapped me out of what I was doing.

"Before I fled deeper in the cave, I caught a glimpssse of Pinkie's visage, and I'll never forget the looks of confusion and fear dancing on it. When I was sssure I was alone, I cried as shame and realization of what I was about to do took hold of me.

"It was alssso the lassst time I sssaw Pinkie Pie," she finished. She had lost some of her resolve along the way, as she had turned her back to Twilight and didn't dare take a look at her reaction to what she had just revealed.

The librarian, on her part, didn't dare say anything. She never expected that what happened between Pinkie Pie and Sapphire Heart was that big. She was so lost in her thoughts, her mind processing everything, that she didn't notice the lamia had stood to leave until she was about to reach the front door.

Twilight quickly cast her teleportation spell and rematerialized between the library entrance and the broken hybrid.

"Where are you going?" she asked her.

"Back to where a monssster like me belong: alone in an abandoned cave. I don't deserve to be anyone's friend with what I did back then."

"That's not true," Twilight said firmly, taking the lamia by surprise, and continued before she could reply. "Shut up and let me finish. Sure, what you did was bad, and it's true that you'll never be able to forget that event. However, forgiveness is still not out of your reach," she asserted.

"How can you sssay that? I almossst outright raped her, Twilight! How can a crime as big as this be forgivable?" Sapphire Heart practically yelled back.

"Because I know there's still more to the story," the alicorn answered. "Would that have happened on any other circumstances, I would have put you under arrest for such a crime. What stops me is that I can see that you are hurting from it all and are trying to make amends for it. Am I right?"

The hybrid lowered her head as she said, "You really are a very sssmart mare, Twilight Sssparkle."

"I get that a lot."

"Yet, that doesn't change the fact that you are right once more. I did come here for a few reasons."

"And those would be...?"

"In fact, there were two main reasons that drove me here. The firssst was that I wanted to try and asssk Pinkie Pie for forgivenessss, and we both know how that worked out. But more importantly, I wanted closure. I wasn't expecting her to forgive me; even I can't forgive myssself. When I decided to come here, all I wished to do was to at leassst tell her how I felt sssince that incident, that I never meant for it to happen, and how much she meant to me all along. Alas, it is cryssstal clear she doesn't want to hear any of it, and I don't blame her, either."

"That's so unlike Pinkie Pie to not accept an apology," Twilight chimed in. "Usually, she always finds it in her heart to forgive anything. Something's off here."

"What do you mean?" Sapphire asked, not quite following where the librarian was going with this.

"I'm not certain, but I might have a hypothesis."

The hybrid's ears perked up a bit, a cue for Twilight to continue.

"You said earlier that it was Pinkie's father who caught you in the act, right?" the alicorn asked, receiving a nod from Sapphire Heart. "And I can only guess he was mad back there, right?"

"Mad is putting it lightly. I think furious is a more accurate term. I think I heard him yell at Pinkie Pie as I got away from him, though it was hard to tell, sssince I was focusing on getting out of sssight ssso as to not be shot by his hunting gun. Although, I can't sssee where you're..."

She stopped, her eyes widening as a wave of realization hit her, and apparently, the conclusion she came up with was spot on, because Twilight said out loud what her mind was thinking:

"I think that she got in trouble with her father after he scared you off, though how much, I couldn't know. Like I said, it's just my own logical theory. The only way to know for sure would be to ask Pinkie Pie herself."

"And that would be a lossst cause, Twilight. I could barely insert a full sentence the lassst time I tried talking to her, and she'll never want to ssspeak to me again, I know it. It would be bessst to-"

The hybrid was cut off by a purple hoof into her mouth, and her gaze moved up on its own accord to meet Twilight's.

"I don't wanna hear any of that nonsense, Sapphire," the alicorn said sternly. "Listen, you messed up big time, I agree, but is that what you wanted?" Sapphire shook her head, unable to give a verbal answer with Twilight's hoof keeping her mouth shut. "Did you ever intend to do what you did?" Another shake of the head. "Is this really the kind of closure you want?" she finished, earning another shake from the lamia's part.

"Then you're going to have that talk with her," Twilight said, taking her hoof off of her guest's mouth, who stared at her with unbelieving eyes.

"B-but-"

"No 'buts'. I'll even come with you as a moral support, and because I need to disguise you until we reach Sugarcube Corner. I don't think ponies in town are ready to see a lamia pony roaming about, so we're gonna have to hide you until we get to a private place. And besides, it is my duty to help my friends as best I can, remember?"

"You really ssstill think of me as your friend?" Sapphire Heart asked, stunned. "Even after everything I told you?"

Twilight slowly nodded her head. "Right now, you need friends more than anything if you want to at least settle things with Pinkie Pie. I'm not saying that she'll be forgiving you at the end, but we'll at the very least make her listen to you. That'll be the best we'll be able to do. What will comes after depends on how the conversation goes.

"Now, where is that book on illusions and enchantments?" the librarian asked herself. "SPIKE!" she shouted, and the hybrid had to cover her ears with her hooves to avoid becoming deaf.

Author's Note

Just to quickly make things clearer, chapter 3 and 4 happen simultaneously, with the third focusing on Sapphire's point of view and the emotions she felt as she told Twilight about the incident, while the fourth will go about the same way, though for Pinkie Pie.

As usual, any feedback is appreciated, and sorry to have kept any of you waiting if I did. Work and other proofreading works in the way, I try to do my best. And also, thanks for sticking with me throughout the whole story folks. Stay awesome ^^

Dreams of Memories

Pinkie Pie unceremoniously slammed the front door of Sugarcube Corner shut as she entered the facility, paying no mind to the inhabitants sound asleep in her infuriated mood. She quickly made her way to her room upstairs, not noticing the mare standing in front of her own bedroom, which she shared with her husband.

"Pinkie, what in-?" was all Mrs. Cake could muster before she managed to take a glimpse at Pinkie's facial expression, and recoiled slightly at the sight.

Needless to say, the pink pony paid the master baker no mind as she stomped all the way to her room, closing the door shut with a bang. Mrs. Cake cringed at that. Never since she had known Pinkie Pie had she seen her acting like this. The usually bubbly, cheerful and happy-go-lucky pony was in a state she never thought she'd see her in. Sure, there were times where Pinkie was feeling down, but she never imagined Pinkie could show anger of this magnitude.

She slowly approached her employee's room, knocking quietly on the door. "Pinkie? Is everything alright?" she asked.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" yelled Pinkie Pie, angrily, and that made Cup Cake back away worriedly.

It was a good thing Mr. Cake was a heavy sleeper and the toddlers' room had been soundproofed; they hadn't woken up from the slamming of the doors and Pinkie's outburst. That made Mrs. Cake sigh in relief as she listened carefully and saw that nopony in the household had been forced out from sleep.

However, even though she wanted to find out why Pinkie Pie was like this, she thought it best to not push the subject until the pink mare wanted to talk about it. Her mind set, she headed back to her own bed, throwing a brief, worried glance at her employee's room before entering hers.

Inside her room, Pinkie had flopped on her bed. She had hid under her covers and was blocking her ears with her pillow as best she could. She felt slightly bad for yelling at Mrs. Cake, but right now, she just didn't want to talk to anypony and just sleep so she could forget everything that happened tonight.

After a little while, she emerged from her covers and saw her pet alligator, Gummy, in his cage on her nightstand.

"How dare she come back after all she's done?" she asked him. He only blinked at that.

"I know, Gummy. I know. She thinks that she can just come here and apologize as if everything will be normal again. Well, I got news for you, it won't!"

The alligator merely stared at her with his glassy eyes, before blinking once more, and Pinkie took it as her cue to continue her monologue.

"I know right!" She then imitated the lamia's voice as she went on. "Hey Pinkie, I'm sorry I nearly raped you in front of your father. Let's be friends again!" She went back to her original voice. "Pfft, yeah, that's not gonna fix anything. She has no idea what I've had to go through afterwards."

She rolled herself in her covers, turning her back to her pet in the process as she wished him goodnight. Gummy only blinked once more.

However, sleep didn't take her until about an hour later. Having so much on her mind, she found it difficult to drift off to dreamland, but eventually, she fell asleep, yet her subconscious had other plans for her.

* * *

"Pinkamena Diane Pie!" called an authoritative voice.

"Coming!" answered an excited one.

The pony to whom the second voice belonged to, a pink filly with a puffy mane that resembled cotton candy, giddily hopped out of her room with a big smile on her face. She stopped in front of the stallion who had called her from the living room of the farmhouse and looked up at him.

Celestia's sun had begun rising on the horizon for nearly half an hour, slowly covering the landscape in its warm rays of light. A few clouds floated in the sky, but there was no scheduling for a downpour, so it would remain relatively sunny for the whole day.

"Now, Pinkamena, calm down a little," her father said. "I know you are excited to head to town, but this time, you won't have time to play around," he warned her. The filly stopped hopping in place, though her smile remained on her face as he continued. "Your mother or I would do it ourselves, but we are very busy on the farm at the moment, and your sisters are already assigned their chores, so this is why I'm entrusting you with this one."

"Sure thing, dad. What do you need?"

"Two gallons of milk will be enough for now. Here," he hoofed her a small pouch filled with a few bits, which she safely tucked in her mane, "that'll be enough bits for that. And remember, these bits are for the milk only, understood?" he finished as he stared her daughter down.

"Yes, dad," she replied, some of her earlier enthusiasm disappearing as her father bore his strict gaze on her. She then turned for the door and opened it, and was halted by her father before she stepped outside.

"One more thing: no sidetracking. I want you back here for eight, which gives you two hours."

"Yes, dad," Pinkie said as she closed the door behind her and let out a heavy sigh before starting her trip to the nearby town.

The pink little filly didn't really like the life of a rock farmer. It was tough, repetitive, and sometimes, depressive. Even though she found out that her special talent was to make other ponies happy and smile, it was difficult to keep her family in a good mood with all the amount of work that had to be done. That, and the fact that her parents always acted seriously and her siblings didn't share her hyperactivity or her sense of humor made that even harder.

As she trotted down the road, she thought about how much she'd love living in a town where everypony could enjoy a good party. She never could throw one in Rockville, the ponies there preferring to keep for themselves. She found it all boring, so that was why she wanted to move away when she was older. Before she could do that, she had to finish elementary school first, which made it three years of waiting, much to her chagrin.

Yet, a smile slowly crept onto her lips as she imagined all the fun things she could do in a town where ponies would be eager to participate in her parties. That smile grew wider as her brain made a mental list of all the activities she could include in them. That would be the best thing ever! she thought as she came up with more and more ideas for when that day would come.

Pinkie was so lost in her thoughts that she never noticed that she had left the road leading to the village until she collided with a huge boulder. The impact dazed her for a while, and she shook her head to clear the dizziness and rubbed her sore muzzle to take the small pain away.

"Owie! Who put a mean rocky boulder on the path?" she asked no one in particular as she finally looked up at the huge rock.

But as she took a better look at it, he realized that it wasn't a boulder. To the side, she could see what appeared to be a hole, and as she got around the rocky formation to stand in front of it, Pinkie could see that it went underground. A quick glance around told her that she had absentmindedly left the path, though if she squinted a bit at the horizon, she could spot the outskirts of the town.

The temptation to explore the cave was too great. However, she remembered she had an errand to do, and she didn't want to get in trouble with her father should she come back home late, so she turned her back to the cave and steeled her resolve.

Only to lose it all as she looked back at it. The nagging feeling in the back of her mind that there was something to be found inside prevailed, and if there was something Pinkie Pie was known for, it was being curious.

Putting aside her task, she poked her head inside and yelled "Hello!" A goofy smile appeared on her face as the echo answered her, and continued calling out other things just to listen to her reverberated voice.

She kept doing that for a few minutes, delving deeper all the while, and eventually stopped when her ears caught on a peculiar sound. She raised her ears attentively, hoping to hear it again. It didn't take long for the sound to reach her again, and this time, she managed to identify it: crying. Somepony was crying up ahead, and being Pinkie Pie, the filly couldn't allow somepony to remain sad.

Pulling out a flashlight from her mane and putting it on, she followed the sound to its source. She was lucky that the cave was one-way, otherwise she might have lost her way. Still, as she kept walking with her flashlight held tightly in her teeth, she wondered what was a pony doing all alone deep inside a cave.

"Oh, me, that's who," she said out loud as she realized how silly her question was, though she quickly dismissed it and refocused on the task at hoof.

The cries of sorrow were now becoming louder and louder, and soon enough, she managed to discern sniffing noises mixed with the crying very clearly, meaning she had reached her target. She spat her flashlight and grabbed it with a hoof. She then turned the corner of the tunnel, aiming her light ahead of her, her mouth open in preparation for a cheering quote.

However, no words found their way out of her throat. Instead, Pinkie's pupils shrank to the size of peas as she stared at the figure her flashlight was shining on.

The pony lying there on the ground had something other ponies didn't. Instead of a pair of hind legs, a snake tail that started from the hips of the figure stretched on the rocky floor for about a good ten feet minimum, if Pinkie was to quickly guess. Yet, that wasn't what had paralyzed her. What did was the object planted in the tail of the figure, and from where the pink filly stood, it looked like it was buried deep into the scales.

Pinkie quickly recovered from her stupor and rushed to the distressed pony's side as she called: "Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Are you okay?"

The object in question revealed itself to be a big sized pitchfork. Upon closer inspection, Pinkie could see fresh as well as dry blood where the three spikes were planted.

That must really hurt, she mused. Who would be so mean as to something like this? she asked herself as she positioned herself in front of the invading hay fork, not noticing her patient attempting to turn her head to look at her.

"That's a big looking fork right there! Don't worry, auntie Pinkie Pie will fix this up!" she told the suffering pony, thinking about how she was going to do that. The only solution that came to mind made her shiver, but seeing no other options, she chose to go with it. Besides, the longer she waited, the worse the lamia's condition would be.

"Hmmm... we're gonna need extreme measures," she said as she grabbed the handle of the pitchfork with both hooves. Good thing I always have an emergency first aid kit with me.

Closing her eyes to avoid seeing the operation, she mentally counted to three before pulling at the fork, cringing as she did so. The yell of pain that followed suit caused bile to rise up her throat, but she shook the feeling aside as she tossed it away and plucked a first aid kit from her mane and shuffled through it.

A few seconds later, she withdrew a roll of bandage cloth from it. She then turned back to her patient, who now laid unconscious, and proceeded to wrap it tightly around her tail, covering the big holes the farm tool had created. She figured the cloth would stain quickly, so she did over a good dozen of loops so it'd last a while before she had to change the bandage.

Once she was done, she put the cloth back in the case and looked at her work, allowing herself a small smirk of satisfaction. She then fetched back her flashlight and approached the fallen pony.

As she sat in front of it, Pinkie took the opportunity to examine its features. Judging by its size and the shape of its visage, it was clear that the snakepony was a young filly, probably about the same age as Pinkie Pie. It was also apparent the hybrid had seen better days. Her long brown mane was a mess, with locks going about every direction, and the pink filly could even manage to see her ribs, meaning she hadn't eaten as much as she should have.

Seeing the hybrid in that kind of state made Pinkie even more sympathetic and increased her resolve to help her. But first, she needed to wait for her to wake up, so she decided to lie down against the wall for the time being, and kept watch over the snakepony.

"You poor little thing, alone in this dark cave," Pinkie murmured to herself. "Don't worry, Auntie Pinkie Pie will make sure you'll never be alone from now on."

She crossed her fore hooves and rested her head on them. She then recalled her task her father had assigned too, realizing she'd be in trouble once she got back home. She quickly dismissed the thought as she gazed back at the blacked out filly.

I couldn't just leave her there like that. He'll understand that, I'm sure, Pinkie convinced herself. Besides, you gotta share, you gotta care, right?

* * *

It must have been almost an hour for the hybrid to wake up from her unconscious state. Pinkie had dozed off in the meantime, and rose back up on her four hooves when her ears perceived the sounds of movement. She quickly rubbed her eyes to chase away the remnants of sleep and then looked in her patient's direction. Pinkie saw that she was staring confusingly at her bandaged tail, probably not understanding what was going on.

Pinkie stretched a bit before standing up. Seeing the other filly awake with no signs of pain made her smile in joy; she did a wonderful job in nursing the wound. At least I took Mom's first aid lessons seriously.

"Good, you're awake!" she said, catching the other pony's attention as she turned her head her way. "These were nasty big holes you had there in your tail. It's a good thing I always have an emergency first aid kit for emergencies." She withdrew the kit from her mane and showed it to her, before tucking it back safely in it.

However, that only served to make the lamia even more confused, and even made her zone out, if the blank stare she sent Pinkie's way was any indication.

"So, what's your name?" she asked. Receiving no response but an empty look, the hyperactive filly approached the hybrid and waved a hoof in front of her face in an attempt to snap her back to reality.

"Hey! Equestria to Miss Snakepony!" she called out loud, and that managed to do the trick, as the lamia blinked a few time before blabbering a confused "What?"

"I said, what's your name, silly," Pinkie repeated, unfazed by the hybrid's short lack of attention.

"Sssapphire Heart," she answered back.

Pinkie Pie couldn't help but giggle a bit at the way the lamia pronouced her consonant.

"You have a funny way to pronounce your 's'," the pink filly said after her giggling quieted down. "I'm Pinkie Pie! You may not remember me mentioning it while I bandaged you because you were suffering and screaming and crying and then you lost consciousness," she added, catching her breath upon finishing her sentence.

"So, why were you crying all alone in an abandoned cave with a giant fork planted in your tail?" she then asked innocently and seriously at the same time. Sapphire Heart met her gaze, and Pinkie could discern pain, doubt and sadness in the hybrid's vivid blue eyes.

"Because nopony wants to be around a monssster like me," she said, causing Pinkie Pie to reel back slightly, not expecting this kind of response. However, she didn't have to think much to form her reply.

"You're not a monster, silly! Monsters are terrifying and wild creatures that eat ponies and live in the Everfree Forest, like manticores, hydras and timberwolves," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Then what about this?" the hybrid asked in a slightly more agressive tone as she pointed at her tail. "How can a pony with a sssnake tail not be terrifying? Surely you can't call that normal!"

Pinkie's gaze drifted towards the unusual appendage, putting a hoof under her chin as she thought about it all. Sure, it wasn't every day that you saw a snakepony. In fact, she never knew such a thing existed. It was as if a creature from a fictive tale had become reality.

What put the pink filly off-balance was that Sapphire Heart described herself as a monster. Pinkie had to agree that what laid in front of her wasn't normal per se, yet, no matter how she tried to look at the hybrid, she found that description unfit by a league. Her mind having made its decision, she smiled as she met the lamia's eyes with her own once more.

"I know it's not normal, but that doesn't make you a monster. Monsters are evil and mean and don't cry and eat ponies, yet you were crying when I found you here," she said sincerely.

"Why would you care about me, when everypony elssse would jussst be glad to kill me upon ssseeing me?"

Pinkie shivered at that, her ears drooping and her smile dropping from her face as she processed the implication of what Sapphire just said. K-kill? Who would be so mean as to do such a horrible thing?

"Why would anypony want to do that?" her mouth asked on its own, even though her brain knew the answer. Upon hearing the question, the brown-maned lamia rose on her tail above the pink filly, who shrunk under the angry stare she was receiving.

"Because I'm different! Becau se ponies are ssscared of what is different! That's why!"

Pinkie Pie didn't dare say anything as Sapphire's gaze continued to bore into her soul and exhaled angry breaths at a quick pace. Although, that look of anger quickly vanished as the beige-coated lamia cringed in pain, which Pinkie assumed came from the strained effort of standing on her wounded tail, and she starting falling down, unable to support herself on her snake tail.

Pinkie Pie reacted on reflex and caught her by the head before she hit the ground, avoiding what could possibly have been a severe collision. The next thing she knew, the lamia in her hooves started sobbing, to then grow into outright crying, and the pink filly did the only thing she could think of: she lowered her hooves and wrapped them around Sapphire Heart's torso and rested her head atop hers, hugging her comfortingly. The hybrid didn't resist at all, instead reciprocating the gesture, albeit a bit more tightly, and clung to Pinkie Pie.

They remained like that for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything; words weren't needed at the moment. All that mattered were the broken lamia crying away all her tears and the pink filly who gave her a long overdue shoulder to cry on.

It was then that Pinkie really realized how alone Sapphire Heart was. And it was then that she swore to herself that she wouldn't leave her alone anymore. If nopony wanted to be the friend she desperately needed, then she sure as hay was going to be for her sake.

Finally, Sapphire Heart's sobs quieted down, and she rose her head and met Pinkie's eyes again. She smiled reassuringly at the lamia as she pulled her away, but still held her at hooves' length. She practically beamed in joy when Sapphire returned that smile. Pinkie: one, Sad Frown: zero.

"Feeling better?" Pinkie asked.

"Much, thank you."

"No need to thank me, silly. That's what friends do. They help and comfort each other when others feel alone."

"F-friends?" Sapphire repeated mostly to herself.

"Yep!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"I... I think I'd like that..."

"Woohoo!" the filly yelled as she jumped high in the air; a jump no normal pony should be able to do. "This is so great! Oh, wait til' I tell my sisters and my parents that I made a new friend! We're gonna have so much fun to-"

"NO!" Sapphire cut her abruptly.

"What?" Pinkie asked, confused and oblivious to the panicked look the hybrid was giving her. "But-"

"No!" she repeated firmly. "Please, jussst... don't tell anypony about me," she pleaded. Silence hung in the air for a while as she stared at the floor, while Pinkie analyzed the expression on the other filly's face. Even though she wanted to show her family her new friend, she remembered the state in which she found her in.

Marble and Limestone would probably be fine if I explained everything to them. However, Dad's very superstitious, so on second thought maybe presenting her to the others isn't such a good idea. Her eyes suddenly shrunk slightly. Besides, I'm already in trouble as it is... Her mind set, she breathed deeply before nodding her head at Sapphire.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Huh?" the lamia asked as she looked back up.

"What was that?" Sapphire questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Just something I came up with. I call it a Pinkie Promise. Breaking one is the best way to lose a friend," she explained in a professional manner, as if everypony should know that. "So, your secret is safe with me."

"Thank you very much."

* * *

Pinkie stirred in her sleep, mumbling a bit as her unconscious mind continued to replay events that happened long ago. Should anyone be nearby, he or she could hear her speak incoherently in her sleep as the memories defiled in her head.

* * *

Pinkie had been grounded for being two hours and a half late from her errand, so she had been assigned the most boring chores back on the farm for the rest of the day. When her father asked her what took so long, she lied by saying that she stumbled on a classmate in town with her best imitation of a sheepish smile. She was even sent to bed early, but she had managed to pack a few pieces of food without anypony noticing in her saddlebags back in her room.

The next day, she returned to Sapphire Heart's cave, carrying her saddlebags on her back and having a hop with each of her steps. She had simply told her parents that she was going in town to see a friend. She even stored her bits pouch in her bags, planning buy a few things for her new friend with the spare money she was given every week. Even though it wasn't much, it would do. That way, Sapphire wouldn't have to sneak at nights and steal again at the risk of getting caught and attacked.

After a few minutes of walking, she left the path, making sure no one saw her, and ventured off towards the cave. Good thing my subconscious has a good memory, she thought as she bounced along.

It only took a few more minutes to reach her goal. She halted at the cave's entrance and fetched her flashlight from her saddlebags before going in. As she walked, she wondered what Sapphire Heart did to pass the time.

She got her answer soon enough. When she stepped in the area where her friend lived, she found her sound asleep, her snake tail coiled around her while her head rested on it as if it was a pillow. Looks like she's sleeping well, she mentally commented as she approached her and listened to her steady and calm breathing.

Pinkie smiled as she watched the scene. She removed her saddlebags from her back and deposited them on the ground. She then sat in front of the hybrid and lightly tapped her on the snout with a hoof stir her out of her slumber.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," she said after her third tap. The pink pony waited a little while, and eventually, Sapphire slowly began to twitch as she woke up. She opened her eyes, only for them to meet a pink wall.

"My head's up here, silly," Pinkie giggled, which prompted the lamia to look up and meet her eyes.

"Sleeping all day long isn't good for your health you know?" she continued. "You have to get out more if you wanna stay in shape."

"I know that, Pinkie Pie, but you ssseem to forget this," Sapphire said as she pointed at her tail.

"Oh, yeah. Right," Pinkie admitted. There was a brief pause before she added: "So, did you sleep well?"

"Better than I ever did in a long time, thanksss for asssking. It feels-" she was interrupted by a growl from her stomach, "-like I should get sssomething to eat."

Pinkie's ears perked up at that. "Great! Cause I planned something for the occasion." She opened her bags and rummaged through them before withdrawing three apples, a little carton of apple juice, and a couple of muffins she had baked back home, and handed them over to Sapphire Heart.

The lamia raised a hoof to her mouth to stifle a gasp at the kind gesture. Even though it wasn't much, the intention behind the gift was all it took to make it the best gift she had ever received.

"I know there's not a lot in there. I picked the food back home and had to be careful as to not make it obvious that some of it suddenly went missing. Although, I intend to get some more for you at the town's market before coming to visit starting tomorrow after school."

"Pinkie, t-that wasn't necessssary," the hybrid said. This was too much. The pink filly's kindness was already overwhelming her again, and she did all she could to hold back tears of happiness.

"Of course it was necessary! This way, you won't have to steal anymore and I can't allow you risking your safety for food again. Besides, I'm more than happy to do this for you, since I know you'll benefit more than I will from it."

That did it. Slowly, tears started rolling down the beige filly's cheeks as she tackled Pinkie into a hug, causing her to drop the items she was holding. The pink pony, not understanding why she was crying right now, returned the embrace in kind.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked the hybrid. "I thought this would make you happy."

"I-it does," Sapphire replied, sobbing in Pinkie's curly mane. "It's j-jussst that no one's been k-kind to me like that sssince..." she paused, not sure if she should finish that sentence.

"Since what?" Pinkie asked in a concerned tone. Sapphire pulled away from her life-sized crying pillow and made eye contact with it. The longer she stared at those big blue orbs, the more she felt certain that whatever happened, Pinkie would always be by her side.

"Sssince I lost my parents," she murmured loud enough for Pinkie to hear.

Pinkie's ears quickly flattened on her head. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she said, lightly tightening her grip on the poor pony.

"Don't be. It's not like it's your fault. I'm jussst glad that I remember what they were like."

"And what were they like?"

"Kind, hardworking, generous, a bit of a mother hen sometimes, but she always made sure that I had everything I needed to be happy," she smiled as she said that last part.

Pinkie nodded as she listened. "Sounds like they were great."

"They were..."

Silence hung in the air for a while, but it was soon disrupted by another growl of Sapphire Heart's empty stomach, louder this time. Hearing this, Pinkie giggled as she grabbed one of the apples and handed it to her friend, who smiled sheepishly as she took it and thanking her as she did, before taking a huge bite of the sweet fruit.

As the lamia ate her meal, Pinkie noticed her snake tail wiggle back and forth like a happy puppy, and try as hard as she could, she only managed to hold back her laughter for a few seconds before she burst out laughing, much to Sapphire's confusion.

"May I asssk what's ssso funny?" she asked the pink filly, who was wriggling helplessly on the floor.

"Y-your tail shaking like... like..." she started to say through her snorting. "Take another bite!"

"Pinkie, what the hay is going on?"

"Just do it!"

Figuring she wouldn't get a straight answer, she bit on her apple with a confused expression on her face as she eyed her friend all the while, only for that confusion to be slightly replaced with bliss as she savored the sweet taste of the fruit and the tip of her tail to swish back and forth again.

And once more, Pinkie lost it. "T-that! T-this is..." she managed to say, pointing a hoof at the appendage that seemed to have a mind of its own as her laughter redoubled.

Sapphire Heart, on her part, followed with her gaze the direction Pinkie's hoof was pointing at, and found herself looking at her wiggling tail, apparently still in the blissful moment.

"Oh..." was all the lamia could muster before the scaly limb finally calmed itself, allowing her to regain full control over it. However, her attention was quickly drawn back to the laughing filly nearby, and a hint of red appeared on her cheeks.

"Cut it out, Pinkie!" she miserably admonished, feeling totally embarassed.

The hyperactive pony's raucous laughter had mostly quieted down to little chuckles now. "Oh, come on, Sapphy! It WAS a funny sight, admit it."

"No, it wasn't," she pouted, turning her back to her friend.

"Of course it was."

"Nope."

"Admit it, Sapphy," Pinkie said as she rounded her friend and placed herself nose to nose with her with a smile the lamia swore would just fall off if it got any wider. Soon, she ended up smiling herself, the pink pony's smile seemingly infectious.

"Okay, it was a bit of a funny sssight," she relented, "though it was ssstill embarassssing." She took another bite of her apple, mostly in an attempt to erase the redness on her beige cheeks than to quell her hunger.

"I thought it looked cute," Pinkie simply stated, causing the hybrid to choke on her bite. She quickly rushed to her side and patted her back to help her swallow and handed her the box of juice, which Sapphire gladly took and gulped down to help the pieces of apple go down the hole.

"You okay?" Pinkie asked as she kept rubbing the snakepony's back.

"Yeah," Sapphire answered after she had managed to swallow everything. "I jussst didn't expect you to sssay sssomething like that."

"What are you talking about?"

The lamia stared at her with her best "are you kidding me?" expression. "Are you serious?"

"What?" Pinkie asked innocently.

"But, you sssaid that... Gah, never mind!" she exclaimed as she returned to her pouting once more.

"Hey, come on," Pinkie said as she put a hoof on the lamia's shoulder, "I'm just teasing. Lighten up, Sapphy."

"And what's with the nickname all of a sssudden?"

"I dunno, I just came up with it. Everypony needs a cute nickname, don't they?"

"Eh, I guess?" Sapphire Heart said, not really wanting to argue on something like that. Her cheeks regained a fraction of their earlier redness, though she masked with another bite of her apple.

"So then, what is your nickname?" the hybrid asked after a while.

"You're already using it. My real name is Pinkamena Diane Pie," the pink filly slightly lowered her head, "though I don't like to be called by it."

"Why is that?"

"I..." Pinkie bit her lip, "I don't wanna talk about it."

Even though Sapphire wanted to push the subject further, seeing how uncomfortable Pinkie incited her to drop it for the time being. Instead, she put down her apple and wrapped a foreleg around the pink filly's torso, pulling her in a small embrace.

"Alright, I won't question you about it if you're not at ease. Although, should you ever want to talk about it, I'll listen. It's the leassst I can do to repay the kindessss you've shown me ssso far."

Pinkie nodded against the lamia's neck. Sapphire Heart released her grip on her friend and genuinely smiled back at her.

"Thanks," the young rock farmer said. "You're a great friend you know?"

"Can't sssay I do, sssince it's the firssst time I've got sssuch a compliment. What I do know is that I do not want our friendship to end. You're the firssst pony in a long time who doesn't fear my appearance and accepted me for what I am, and that means more than you can imagine to me."

Pinkie smiled back at her, and a millisecond later, that smile turned into a smirk.

"You're such as silly filly if you think our friendship can end."

"I jussst don't want to do anything foolish. You're the only friend I've ever had, and I don't wanna drive you away because I messssed up," Sapphire said.

"That won't happen, silly," Pinkie assured as she bumped the lamia's nose with a hoof. "Also, you're the best friend I've had the chance to meet."

Sapphire stared at her with eyes as wide as saucers. "What? But what about other foals in town? You've known them longer than you've known me." She found Pinkie's claim very hard to believe.

"It's true, but..." She let out a heavy sigh.

"Come on, Pinkie! At leassst tell me what's the matter this time!" Sapphire exclaimed, slightly exasperated.

The pink filly closed her eyes for a short moment, putting her thoughts into place before she agreed to her friend's demand.

"Would you believe me if I said that I don't really get along with most foals back there?" she asked the hybrid.

"Honessstly, I've only known you for a day, ssso I can't really give you an anssswer for that," she said as she shook her head. "Sssorry."

"It's okay. Truth is, most ponies in town think I'm overexcited for no apparent reason, or so I hear them say. Some of them even say that I annoy them with my 'antics', when all I do is trying to cheer them all up."

"Hey," Sapphire cut in as she put a comforting hoof on Pinkie's shoulder, "don't ssstressss yourssself over it. If they don't want to be cheered up, that's their businessss. There's nothing you can do about it."

"But why? Why would they want to be sad and mopey when they could be happy and cheerful? Since I got my cutie mark, I found out that it was the best remedy to get through a rough day, so I don't understand why some ponies don't want to be happy."

"I'm afraid I can't give you an anssswer to that, Pinkie. The only thing I can sssay is to leave them be. You can't force them either."

"I guess you're right," Pinkie sighed, though her head quickly perked up as a thought crossed her mind. "Say, you seem to know quite a bit about that sort of things."

"Not really," Sapphire replied. "I sssimply used to be told tales of jussstice and moral stories by my father when I was younger, ssso I guessss I picked that up from him."

"Awesome!" Pinkie exclaimed. By the way the snakepony talked about her father, he sounded like a great pony, and the pink-coated filly couldn't help but feel envious.

She wished she had a father like that.

* * *

Pinkie flopped on her belly in her bed, unconscicously holding her pillow tighter and burying her face deeper in it. She grunted as her memories continued invading her dreams, but she was powerless to stop it in her sleep. As she fought for dreams filled with candies and cakes, another important event took their place instead and began its show.

* * *

In the same dark cave on the outskirt of Rockville, illuminated by the same flashlight, two little fillies, an earth pony and a snake-tailed one, talked and laughed together as they played a board game the pink one had brought.

"I ssstill cannot believe I agreed to play this game, even though I don't have any hindlegs," whined Sapphire Heart. "Even though you bended the rules ssso I could play it as well, this is quite uncomfortable."

The hybrid was literally tangled up. At some point in their game of Twister, as Pinkie called it, she had managed to knot herself in her tail, and to say her current position was beginning to hurt was an understatement. On her part, the pink filly was in as much of a predicament as her companion, with a foreleg twisted around a hind leg and the other two limbs stretched out wider than she should be capable of, much to the lamia's confusion.

"How do you do it, Pinkie?" she asked, sweat starting to dampen her face. Second after second her comfort was reducing.

"Um, I'm very flexible?" Pinkie suggested as she leaned down and spun the arrow on the wheel with her muzzle. "Left hind leg on red. In your case, tip of tail on red," she said as it stopped.

"Oh for the sake of- Whoa!" she was interrupted as her hooves slipped on the plastic mat as she tried moving her tail to the desired space, causing her to fall in a knot on the floor. "Ow..."

Untwisting and untangling herself, Pinkie rushed to her friend's side, giggling as she approached her. "You okay, Sapphy?"

"I feel as tight as a knot," the lamia replied. "Mind helping me out, please?"

Pinkie chuckled as she began working on getting Sapphire out of her predicament. No more Twister games for her, she thought as she slowly but surely freed her friend from her own tail, finally succeeding after a good three minutes.

"Does your tail cause you similar trouble sometimes?" the pink filly asked.

"No. Lamias usually manage to get full control of their tail at a young age, kind of how you four-legged ponies ssstart to learn how to walk," Sapphire explained as she gently rubbed her sore scaly limb.

Pinkie raised an eyebrow. "Is this what snake-tailed ponies are called?" she questioned, curious.

"Yeah. 'Lamia' is the correct word for my ssspecies."

"I've never heard that word before," Pinkie commented.

"Of course you didn't. Lamias aren't from Equessstria to begin with, and nowadays, we pretty much are considered to be a myth by mossst of the populace."

"Then where are they from?"

There was a brief pause as Sapphire Heart hesitated about answering. After a few seconds of awkward silence, she lightly shook her head and gave Pinkie what she sought.

"Have you ever heard of the Badlands?" she asked the pink filly, receiving a shake of her head from her part. "Then I wish for you to never know about that horrid place. Life out there is miserable."

"Then why did they reside there?"

"They've been shooed away by ponies, who feared our kind, ssso they had to hide sssomewhere. That sssomewhere ended up being the Badlands."

"Why would they fear you? You're not scary at all."

"Remember what I told you the day you found me? Ponies, or I guessss the biggessst majority, are afraid of what's different from them. Ssso what do you do when they ssstart telling rumors about you and you have nothing to prove them wrong?"

"I don't know," Pinkie simply said.

"That's exactly what lamias thought when they were facing them, ssso they did the only thing that came to mind: flee."

The hybrid sighed as she finished, her head turned to the side, staring at nothing in particular. She didn't expect a set of hooves to wrap themselves around her, nor the statement that came with them:

"I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Sapphire Heart asked confusedly as she pushed Pinkie away a bit and looked her in the eyes.

"For making you upset. I never intended to make you mad."

The lamia sighed as she returned the hug. "Pinkie, I'm not mad, you dork."

"But-" she started, only to be abruptly cut as the snakepony continued.

"Sure, talking about that kind of things hurts, but I'm not mad. If anything, I'm thankful that I can share it with a friend like you. Makes the pain lessss of a burden."

"I'm glad then," Pinkie said.

"Besides," the lamia pulled away from the embrace, "I don't think you could make me mad. Now," she looked at the Twister mat still draped over the rocky floor, "how about we pack that infernal game?"

That statement brought a smile off of Pinkie's face. She let go of Sapphire and, together, they proceeded to put everything back in Pinkie's saddlebags. As the pink filly rolled the mat, Sapphire grabbed the wheel and tucked it in one of the bags' pockets, along with two empty boxes of juice they had drunk earlier. What surprised the hyperactive filly was that she was using her snake tail to pick the items up.

"You're quite skilled with your tail," Pinkie commented.

"Thanks, though grabbing things with my tail is jussst a basic ability all lamias have. It's quite useful, if you asssk me."

Pinkie nodded as she finished rolling up the mat, tying it with a rubber band. As she stood up, she noticed that there wasn't any trace of sunlight inside the cave anymore, not that there was much to begin with, though there was still a bit of light that managed to get down to where they were during daytime, so Pinkie could see that it was getting late.

"Gotta get back home if I don't wanna get in trouble, and have Marble's birthday party to set up for tomorrow."

"B-birthday party?" Sapphire mostly repeated than asked.

"Yupie dopie! She is so gonna love it," Pinkie claimed. "I can already picture the look on her face. This is gonna be so great!"

"That's... nice," the hybrid softly said, and the hint of sadness didn't go unnoticed by her pink friend.

"Hey, why the mopey face?" she asked, only to gasp as she briefly thought about it and her brain put two and two together. "Have you ever had a birthday party before?"

Her fear was confirmed when the lamia sadly shook her head.

"Oh no. Oh no no no no no! Never had a party?! This won't do!"

"Pinkie?" Sapphire started, only to be interrupted by the puffy-maned filly.

"I know!" she exclaimed as she stopped moving around. "I'll organize a special 'It's your first party ever' party for you next weekend! Oh Pinkie, you are a genius!"

"Pinkie, this isn't necessssary, really," the lamia chimed in, only to have Pinkie's face mere inches from hers.

"Not necessary? Not having a birthday party is like skipping a meal. Believe me, you're gonna need it."

"Pinkie, I-"

"We're gonna have to bring in the big guns for this one. Better start working on it now!" She swooped her bags and the Twister mat and dashed out of the cave, yelling a quick 'goodbye' as she disappeared, leaving a confused lamia in her wake.

* * *

When Saturday finally arrived, Pinkie showed up at the lamia's grotto earlier than she usually did whenever she visited. She carried a huge white bag, and it was so full Sapphire thought it might explode at any moment when she saw it. She tried asking the pink filly what was inside, but instead of an answer, she got pushed in a narrow tunnel that was at the back of the room - she was slim enough to fit in it - and was forbidden by her friend to come out until she finished preparing her 'surprise', whatever that meant.

As she remained confined inside the crevice, she wondered what Pinkie was up to. The last time they saw each other had been the previous Saturday, and the overexcited filly left hastily as the lamia watched her go. She had been too dumbstruck to do anything else, and now she wished she could have managed to regain her senses back then to pry on her friend's intentions.

The longer she waited, the more she wanted to know what was happening behind her. She didn't know how long she had been waiting, but it was quickly starting to annoy her. Yet, she didn't want to disappoint Pinkie Pie, so she cooled her temper and waited for whatever was to come.

It must have been about three hours when the commotion behind her ceased; her growling stomach kind of hinted to how long it had been. The hybrid barely had the time to raise her head from the ground it had been resting on while she waited, as she found herself being pulled back into the much larger area of the cave.

"Alright, can you tell me what this was all about?" she asked annoyingly when Pinkie let go of her, slowly standing up at the pink pony's height, still facing the wall she had been forced in.

"Nopie-dopie," said Pinkie, shaking her head energetically, a huge smile plastered the lamia couldn't see plastered on her face.

"For Pete's sssake!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "You shoved me for three hours into that hole over there without telling me anything about that plan of yours, and I'm ssstarting to get..." she had fully turned around as she reached the end of her sentence, and the sight that beheld her made her jaw drop to the floor, "...hungry?"

"Because showing has a much stronger effect than telling, d'uh! And it's also more surprising." Pinkie stated, though Sapphire Heart barely registered her words as she stared at the huge cake sitting in the middle of the cave on a small makeshift table. It was coated in chocolate frosting on the top and vanilla on the sides. Sprinkles covered the whole dessert, and some birthday candles laid atop it, glowing as they burned and waited to be extinguished by the lucky pony.

Sapphire then turned her gaze away from the cake and took in her decorated surroundings. Although Pinkie's flashlight didn't clearly illuminate everything brightly, she still could see that there were streamers and balloons all around the place.

Her words stopped in their tracks. In fact, she didn't even know what to say to that. It was so unreal, so magical, so beautiful...

"The candles won't blow themselves out, you know?" Pinkie interrupted, snapping the lamia out of her thoughts. She simply nodded her head and approached the cake, but when she got near it, she had to raise both hooves to her mouth to block a gasp of surprise.

On the cake, written in red frosting, was a little message, yet despite its simplicity, it meant more than anything to the hybrid.

"A happy late eleventh birthday to a wonderful friend..." she read out loud, tears slowly starting to leak from her eyes. "How did you know?"

"Just a hunch," Pinkie said. "Come on, make a wish and blow the candles, Sapphy!" she hurried her excitedly.

"A wish?" she repeated, and Pinkie happily nodded. She continued staring at the cake as she thought about it. Truthfully, she had wished for something since that fateful day a year ago. Her mind set, she took a deep breath, leaned down and blew out the candles, the only source of light remaining coming from the flashlight.

"Woohoo! Way to go!" yelled Pinkie as she hugged the hybrid tightly. "So, what did you wish for? Huh? Huh?"

"Nothing, in fact," she answered, receiving a surprised look - and she swore it was reprimanding too - from her friend, but she continued before she could say anything. "I didn't make a wish because..." the words caught in her throat for a second, but she brought out the courage to say them out loud.

"Since my parents were gone, I've always been living on my own, having to take care of myssself. I felt alone, rejected, hated, feared, and... abandoned even. Every night, before falling asssleep, I always used to go outssside this cave and looked at the ssstars, and I wished. Wished for sssomepony or sssomething to end my misery. Every day I fought to sssurvive inssstinctually, but deep inssside, I had given up..."

Tears were dripping down her cheeks, and the same could be said for Pinkie Pie as she listened to Sapphire's every word.

"But five months ago, sssomething happened, sssomething in the shape of a pink, puffy-maned, giggly and carefree filly, who's only goal is to make everypony sssmile. Yet, that filly gave me more than jussst that. She gave me hope I believed was long gone. She eased the pain weighing down my shoulders. She showed me that I could ssstill be cared for.

"Ssso, in the end, she made my wish come true, though the outcoming results are ten times better than I ever wished, ssso this is why I can sssay that I didn't need to make a wish," she finished, never having broken eye contact with Pinkie Pie once.

By now, Pinkie's tears flowed out like a fountain, literally, and Sapphire Heart was just as close. The pink filly grabbed the hybrid in a calming embrace, delicately stroking her mane as they both cried mutually.

"I have something to say too," Pinkie blurted out after a while. "It's not as big as your speech, but I'm glad I've met you as well. Living on a rock farm gets tedious and boring, and nearly everyone in town is grumpy. That's why I wish to move out when I get older. I've heard of a town not too far away called Ponyville that looked nice, so I'll try my hoof there.

"Waiting to be of age is no fun, but since I met you, the wait isn't as boring as it was." She slightly tightened her hold on her friend. "You're a very special friend, you know that?"

"I can sssay the sssame about you," Sapphire said, and it was then that the two youngsters finally broke apart.

"But for now, let's store our sad faces away, shan't we? There's partying to do, and this cake won't be eating itself anytime soon. So, LET'S PARTY!"

* * *

It was such a wonderful sunny day outside. Spring had begun. Birds happily chirped as they flew above the desolate dirt trail, carrying their sweet melodies with them wherever they went. Some bits of grass and plants only found in mountainous or rocky regions had grown, with a few of them beginning to bloom.

However, despite the great weather outside, one pony found herself unable to enjoy it. She was crying helplessly in the arms of her companion who, upon seeing the saddened filly arrive, had no clue as to what led to her current state.

And that was how Sapphire Heart gently held her pink friend in a hug, slowly rubbing her back and mane, which had lost all its usual puffiness, rocking back and forth, a movement Pinkie found soothing, but not enough to make the pain she was going through go away.

The lamia didn't say a word as Pinkie cried her eyes out on her shoulder. To think that she thought today would be a wonderful day. She had managed to wake earlier than usual - at Pinkie's request, saying that it would do her good in the long run - and she even did a little cleaning around the cave, throwing trash that had been accumulated in one of the cave's alcoves in a garbage bag Pinkie had given her the day before. Although she found the task arduous, the hybrid had to admit that the results really paid off, the most noticeable one being the cleaner air that flowed inside the grotto.

When she finally heard her friend arrive, she had been ready to greet her and show her the work she had done, but she couldn't. Right when the pink filly saw her, she had dashed towards her and jumped in her hooves, bawling like she had never seen.

Now, after a while, Pinkie's crying had become no more than choked sobs. The flow of her tears had diminished; only a few drops escaped her shut eyes. Yet, the lamia's grip on her was as tight and comforting, and soon enough, she found herself slowly starting to relax.

"Feeling better, Pinkie?" Sapphire asked.

"Mhm, thank you..." she whispered in return.

"Good." The hybrid let the silence hang in the air for a while before she continued. "What happened? Unlessss this is another one of your pranks, which I highly doubt, I'm betting sssomething occurred to cause you to be in this kind of ssstate. Am I right?"

Pinkie only nodded, though she said nothing.

"Wanna talk about it?" the lamia queried.

"I..." Did she really want to talk about it? Whenever someone breached the subject before, she dismissed the question or quickly changed the subject. It wasn't something she liked to talk about, even less proud of.

But as she looked into her best friend's sapphire eyes, she realized that she trusted her with all her heart, that no matter what happened, she wouldn't think any less of her. On the contrary, she knew she would do anything to cheer her up, just like she did the first day.

Her decision made, she nodded her head, and began. "Sapphire, have I told you about my family before?"

"You told me that you live on the rock farm on the outssskirts of town with your parents and two sssisters," the hybrid said matter-of-factly, not sure where Pinkie was going with this.

"I know, but I don't think I've ever told you the relationship I share with them, haven't I?"

"Nope. Is there something wrong with them?"

"Yes and no," Pinkie admitted. "I get along with my little sisters, and my mom is fine too, but..."

"But what?" Sapphire pressed.

"I never managed to have as good of a relation with my dad as I do with the rest of my family," Pinkie sighed.

"How come?" the lamia asked. It was the first time she would be talking about her father specifically, and with the pink filly in her current desperate state, she was eager and worried about what she was about to learn.

"I don't know... He's a very strict stallion, and he doesn't like it when things don't go his way on the farm. He's often stressed with all the work that needs to be done, so everypony does their part to help.

"Although, for some reason, which I never bothered to ask, he's always been more severe with me. I guess it might be because I always think about having fun instead of the required labor, but rock farming is boring, hence why I try to think of anything to keep me motivated as much as possible. Whenever I did though, he always scolded me for not being serious, saying that it slows the farm's productivity."

"Gosh, I'm ssso sssorry to hear that, Pinkie," the hybrid said sympathetically.

"Don't be, Sapphy. It's not your fault. I kind of ask for it too, now that I think of it..."

"What do you mean?"

"I always get in trouble at school," Pinkie said as she slightly hung down her head. "I often misbehave in class, my teacher calling me an indomitable freak, and my marks aren't so great either. And when that reach my parents' ears, things get worse. I often got home from school to find them waiting for me with disapproving stares because they received a letter from my teacher about what I've been doing wrong, and that earned me an uncountable amount of punishments."

"Is this why you came here crying earlier?" Sapphire Heart queried.

"Mostly. I had a test at school last week, and... I didn't pass. He was already mad with all my previous failures, and I guess this one being added to the pile brought him to the boiling point."

"What happened?"

"He... he..." Pinkie sniffed, feeling tears about to stroll down her face again, but the lamia prevented them from escaping as she hugged her again.

"Shhh! Don't cry. I'm here," Sapphire said reassuringly, inciting the pink filly to continue.

"He spanked me... hard. He was so mad and disappointed at me. It hurts when I picture the glare he had thrown at me when he got my teacher's letter."

The hybrid stifled a gasp. "That's horrible!"

"I saw it coming a while ago, so it's not as bad as it looks. He also gave me most of the boring or arduous tasks, such as fetching groceries from town, which was what I was supposed to do this morning."

"Sssupposed?" Sapphire repeated curiously, only for the light bulb in her head to light up as she understood what Pinkie meant. "Then why are you here inssstead of doing your chose? Not that I don't like the company, but I don't want you to get into more trouble for my sssake!"

Pinkie snuggled a little bit deeper into the hug. "I know, but... I felt down and couldn't concentrate on my task even if I wanted to, so I sought comfort from the one pony who's always been open to and for me."

The lamia slightly blushed at the compliment. "Gosh, I don't know what to sssay. Thank you."

Pinkie unceremoniously yawned, the sound reverberating on the walls of the cave. That drove a light chuckle from Sapphire Heart as she looked down at her charge.

"Tired already?"

"Couldn't sleep last night..." Pinkie acquiesced.

"Because of..." she trailed off, not wanting to remind Pinkie about it, but she seemed to understand, because she nodded her head affirmatively.

After a short while, somepony began to sing. Perking her ears up slightly, Pinkie looked up and saw that it was coming from her friend, who had her eyes closed, concentrated on singing her lullaby. The language it was in was foreign to her, though it mattered none to her. What she took in was the soft tone and harmony in it that soothed her tormented soul.

As Sapphire Heart reached her second verse, Pinkie found herself slowly rocking back and forth with the sweet melody, and melted back in her friend's embrace, though she did not fall asleep. She wanted to listen to all of it, to take all of its beauty, and so she remained snuggled in the lamia's caring embrace until the end.

"That was awesome," Pinkie murmured once Sapphire was finished.

"Thank you. My mother used to sssing me this lullaby when I was little."

"I don't know what it meant, but it was beautiful."

"I don't really know the language myssself. I jussst memorized the lyrics, to be honessst. Although, knowing how caring and kind my mother was, I didn't have to to know the messssage behind it."

Pinkie nodded, feeling the same way. "Thank you, Sapphire. For sharing this with me, and everything, too."

"No problem. Besssides, as sssomepony I know would sssay: that's what friends do."

* * *

Under the covers of her bed, Pinkie trashed and flailed her limbs unconsciously in every direction, her sleep disturbed by the memories playing in her head, from which she could not manage to free herself. As peace failed to reach her troubled dreams, another memory began to take shape, plunging her deeper into her torments.

* * *

"Sapphy? What are you doing?" asked a high-pitched voice. For any other pony, it would have been clear that the tone she had used was one of uncertainty.

"Don't sssay anything, dear," answered the other voice seductively.

"This is too tight. Why are you doing this?"

Pinkie Pie was starting to panic. Since the beginning of the week, when she came to visit Sapphire Heart, her friend had told her to leave, the hybrid supposedly having supposedly gotten sick. Although she had wanted to help, Pinkie had to relent to her friend's insistence.

Every day since then, whenever she got home from school, she lagged behind her classmates in order to check on the hybrid unnoticed, only to be sent away each time. She didn't know what Sapphire had, but her voice shook, and with the brief glance she could manage to get of her before she was being told to back off, she noticed that her body shook uncontrollably, and it got worse day after day.

Today, when she entered the cave, she had practically been pounced on, quickly finding herself wrapped tightly by a long and scaly limb, which could only belong to one pony. There had been some sensual purring noises, much to the victim's discomfort. She had tried to convince herself that this was all a setup, that Sapphire Heart was just playing a prank on her.

Though, the more time passed, the tighter Pinkie was being held, the weirder the hybrid's behavior became, and the more she realized that it wasn't a joke. She had attempted to make her snap out of whatever it was she was doing, yielding no apparent sings of success. Yet, she kept trying, hoping that something would work.

"Why am I doing this?" Sapphire repeated. "Why, isn't it obvious, darling? I'm sssimply showing my gratitude for everything you've done for me," she said as she sweetly stroked Pinkie's puffy mane.

"Sapphire, please stop..." the earth pony pleaded. "What's wrong with you?"

"There is nothing wrong with me, dear. On the contrary, I feel better than I have ever felt before. Now, jussst relax." Sapphire leaned forward, closing her eyes, and pursed her lips before pressing them a second later against Pinkie's, much to her shock and fear.

She tried to pull away from the kiss, but wasn't strong enough. Soon, the lamia's forked tongue sought entrance, but when it found the access denied by the resisting filly, Sapphire forced it inside, cutting the air out of her prey. She then used the appendage to explore and taste as much of the pink filly's mouth, much to the latter's discomfort, but she was oblivious to it.

After a good minute that felt like an eternity to the helpless filly, Sapphire retreated herself from Pinkie's mouth, licking her lips as she slowly gazed down her pink body. She put a hoof on her chest, which was breathing heavily due to her prey's panic, and began tracing it down.

"Sapphire, stop! We're only twelve! I don't want this! We're too young for that sort of things!" Pinkie screamed as she struggled in the lamia's grip in order to escape, even if she knew it was a futile attempt.

"Nonsssenssse," Sapphire Heart replied, her hoof nearly reaching her intended goal, much to Pinkie's disarray. She stopped an inch away, looking back into Pinkie's scared blue eyes, though she couldn't discern the fear in them. She was blinded by a sudden surge of lust, and all that mattered was her own needs and desires.

"No, please! Don't do it!" Pinkie pleaded again..

"Oh, come on, you'll like it, I promise," reassured the snakepony in vain..

"I'm not ready for this! Please, stop!"

"I jussst want to show you how much you mean to me, sssweetie, how grateful I am to all you've done for me. I'll make it quick then, how doesss that sssound?"

"No. No! NO! I DON'T WANT THIS! HELP!!!"

And then, everything stopped. The deafening sound of a hunting gun being shot echoed through the cave, startling the two ponies inside. Much to Pinkie's ultimate relief, it caused Sapphire Heart to unwrap her as fear replaced her previous behavior and headed for one of the narrow tunnels as a masculine and authoritative voice spoke.

"You stay away from my daughter, you filthy beast!" yelled the voice as he showed up around the corner, aiming his weapon at the hybrid at the other side of the cave. Sapphire quickly slithered inside the tunnel, though before she did teary eyes, she and Pinkie had shared a glance at each other, though she had to tear herself away from it if she didn't want to be killed by the angry stallion who had barged in.

As she watched Sapphire run away, emotions began to stir in her heart. She was confused about the lamia's behavior, she was scared about what her father would do to her now that he found out about her secret. There was no doubt that she was going to be severely punished.

But all that was secondary to what she really felt at the moment. She didn't even register her father's commands nor did she take notice of him biting her ear to drag her back home. It hurt, but she didn't care. All her heart cared about was the betrayal she felt in all the fibers of her being. As she was dragged along the cavernous path and the rocky road outside leading to the farm. she closed her eyes and silently cried.

* * *

It was still dark when Pinkie Pie awoke in her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs, sweat covering her whole face and deflated mane. She then wept, hiding her face in her forehooves as she did.

She believed she had stopped having those dreams, but since the sleepover, they hard started resurfacing again and still as painful as they had been in the past. Her encounter with the lamia tonight had caused more of them to show up. It always began with the happiest moments she had shared with her, only to end with the one that had put an end to everything they had shared.

The door to her room slammed open as Mr. and Mrs. Cake barged in, wearing panicking expressions on their face.

"Pinkie?" started Mrs. Cake. "What's wrong? We heard screaming and..." their panic turned to worried as the two bakers looked on the distressed mare crying her eyes out. Wasting no time, she rushed to her side, and stopped halfway when Pinkie jumped into her arms and gripped her tightly, her body trembling like a leaf.

Quickly putting aside her surprise from the action, Mrs. Cake hugged back the broken mare, whispering comforting words, which did little to calm her.

"I'll, uh... check on the kids, honey," Carrot Cake said to his wife. "Besides, you've always been better than me for that sort of things."

Cup Cake nodded, and he left the room, gently closing the door behind him. Mrs. Cake continued to hold Pinkie firmly in her hooves, and after a few minutes, when the sobs became no more than sniffing noises, she pulled Pinkie away at hooves' length, a concerned and worried from on her face.

"Are you alright, Pinkie?" she asked, receiving an unconvinced nod from the pink mare. "Last time you had a nightmare was years ago. Are you sure you are okay?"

This time, there was a pause before Pinkie slowly shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the baker queried.

"No..." Pinkie said, shutting her eyes tight.

"Pinkie, you barged into the shop at three o'clock in the middle of the night, stomped your way to your room and slammed your door shut, nearly waking the toddlers, so please, tell me what's wrong," Mrs. Cake demanded.

"I... I don't want to..."

"Pinkamena Diane Pie," Cup Cake said, causing Pinkie to snap her head in her direction, "please. I'm worried about you. Carrot is as well. We want to know what's going on to help you, but we can't unless you tell us what's going on. Clearly you are in pain, but you can't keep it all stored in there." She put a hoof on Pinkie's chest, where her heart was.

After a few minutes of staring, Pinkie closed her eyes with a sigh. "I never had nightmares," she said, taking Cup by surprise.

"What do you mean, dear?"

"I never had, though I wanted to believe they were nightmares. All these nights since you took me in and offered me shelter, I lied to you so you and Mr. Cake wouldn't worry any more than you already were. Truth is, all these times, I wasn't haunted by nightmares, but painful memories."

"What kind of memories?"

"Remember what I told you the first time I stood at your doorstep?"

Mrs. Cake nodded. "You told me your father chased you away for being a disgrace, right?"

"Well," Pinkie gulped, "I lied that time too. I left on my own, trying to run away from what caused the pain."

"Pinkie! How could you? After all we did for you, you lied to us all along?"

"I didn't mean to... I was young, lonely, and hurt. I didn't want to put my burden on your shoulders."

"We could have helped if you had told us!"

"No, you couldn't. There's nothing you could have done. Even I don't understand why it all happened."

"What are you talking about?"

"I..." Pinkie hesitated. She didn't want to go into details with what had happened. She wasn't proud of that moment, though she knew that Mrs. Cake was right; she couldn't keep all the pain to herself. As her mind reeled, she found a way to avoid telling her foster mother about that event.

"Mrs. Cake, can I ask you something?"

"Anything, dear," she answered, finding the request a bit odd.

"What would you do if someone you trusted with your heart, someone you shared everything with, would do a huge mistake that would break that trust?"

Mrs. Cake wasn't expecting that kind of question, especially not from Pinkie Pie.

"Does that have something to do with the reason you're so upset?" she asked the party pony, receiving a silent nod on her part. "Well, I'm afraid I can't give you a direct answer, Pinkie," she said, and interrupted her before she could protest. "But! I can suggest one thing to do for that kind of situation."

"What is it?"

"Have you tried talking to this pony about it?"

"No, I haven't."

"Has he or she tried to talk to you about it?"

Pinkie was about to shake her head again, but she remembered her earlier encounter with Sapphire. Looking down at her hooves, she nodded.

"What did you do about it?" Mrs. Cake asked, sensing where this was heading.

"I..." she shamefully dropped her head. "I turned my back to her, refusing her apologies. I couldn't forgive her for what she had done."

"Why couldn't you?"

This time, when Pinkie went to answer, she found out that she had nothing to say to that. That didn't go unnoticed by Cup Cake, who shook her head disapprovingly.

"Pinkie, you, of all ponies, should know about the importance of forgiving others' sins."

"I know, Mrs. Cake, but this is different."

"I never said it wasn't, and that's why I want you to promise me to talk to that pony tomorrow."

"How did you know she's in town at the moment?" Pinkie asked, surprised.

"You entering the shop with an angry look on your face, followed by memories regarding this after about five years of uneventful nights. And I doubt this is all a coincidence, dear."

"Touché," Pinkie admitted, her gaze still fixed on the floor.

"So that's why I want you to Pinkie Promise me that," she said as she used a hoof to raise the pink mare's head in order to look her in the eyes. "Please, for your sake as well as hers. I'm sure she's just as hurt, if not more, than you are, and you refusing to even talk to her must not have helped her. Believe me, I speak from experience."

Silence settled in the room as Pinkie stared at Mrs. Cake. It was broken a moment later with an inaudible "Okay" from the pink mare.

"What was that?" asked Mrs. Cake.

"I promise," she said, stepping back and starting to perform the gestures to her sacred oath. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."

Cup smiled approvingly. "Thank you, Pinkie."

"No, thank YOU, Mrs. Cake, for making me realize how much of a stuck-up, unforgiving and withdrawn meanie pants I was."

"In that case, I'm glad to be the pony who did," said Mrs. Cake. "Now, I'll join Carrot and see how the twins are doing before heading back to bed. Do you need anything else?"

"Pinkie shook her head negatively. "Nope, I'm good now. Thanks."

"Alright. Just know we're always here for you if you want to talk to us," Mrs. Cake added before leaving the room. "Goodnight, Pinkie," she said as she closed the bedroom door.

Once the door was completely shut, Pinkie remained sat where she was for a little while longer, thinking over what her foster mother had told her. She's right. I didn't do anything other than vainly hide the pain away. I still hurts, but... Pinkie sighed, I was so blinded by my own pain and anger that I didn't even wonder how she could be feeling.

She stood up and slowly made her way to her bed, reminiscing on all the facts with a much clearer mind. She tried to apologize, but I drove her away instead of taking the time to listen and see her side of the story. She flopped on her bed and draped the covers above her. I guess we both messed up, though in different ways, didn't we? She closed her eyes, sleep soon taking hold of her at last.

This time, no dreams or memories perturbed her. She slept a dreamless night, and for once in her life, she was grateful for the emptiness in her mind.

Mending Broken Hearts

“Your yells could kill an Ursssa, you know that?” asked Sapphire Heart, who was rubbing her temples in an attempt to stop the ringing sensation in her ears.

“I said I was sorry!” Twilight apologized for the umpteenth time as she searched the book held in her magic. Despite being well organized, it had taken her a good five minutes to find what she was looking for. Now, she had to find the invisibility spell to sneak the lamia up to Pinkie’s room inside Sugarcube Corner for a private talking.

“Finally!” Sapphire exclaimed as she let go of her head, the ringing gone at last. She then turned to the alicorn. “How is the sssearch going ssso far?”

“Just a minute…” Twilight flipped a few more pages and stopped a dozen later. “Ha ha! Here it is!” She began reading it, the hybrid leaning over her shoulder to take at peak as well, though it was short-lived as the librarian closed the book, having memorized the spell already.

“Ssso, what’s next?” Sapphire queried.

“Not much. The spell is quite simple, actually. Once I cast it on you, it is going to nullify the reflection of the light on you. Because of that, others won’t be able to see the reflected colors of the light spectrum the sun sends, since it won’t have anything to reflect on its rays on because of the spell.”

Sapphire was staring blankly at the alicorn like she had grown a second pair of wings. “W-what?”

“It means you’ll become invisible,” Twilight pouted as another pony couldn’t understand her scientific speech.

Sapphire finally nodded in understanding at the simpler version, much to the magician’s dismay. She was then directed to stand still as her friend’s horn lit up, charging up the spell, only to be interrupted by soft knocks on the front door.

“Who could that be?” wondered Twilight as she stopped the magical operation.

“Well, unlessss my eyes deceive me, you do live in a library, don’t you?” Sapphire said matter-of-factly as she waved a hoof around the place.

The alicorn slightly blushed at the obviousness of it all. “Yeah. It kind of slips my mind sometimes.” She approached the door, turning to the lamia before opening it. “You should hide upstairs until whoever it is leaves."

The lamia nodded and did as instructed, climbing up the stairs, disappearing from sight, though she stayed nearby out of curiosity.

Back in the living room, the knocking resounded again, a bit more forcefully this time, much to Twilight's annoyance.

"I'm coming!" she shouted, opening the door with her telekinesis. "Sorry for the delay. Had something important to..." She stopped as she noticed who was standing in front of her. "Pinkie Pie?"

"Hey Twilight. Um..." she sheepishly clopped her fore hooves together. "Do you know where Sapphire Heart is?"

The question took the alicorn by surprise, having not expected the party mare to have come to her herself, but she quickly recovered from it. "Yeah, she's here. We were about to come over to your place and have a talk."

"That's good," Pinkie said simply, earning a raised eyebrow and a confused "Huh?" from Twilight.

“Can I… can I come in?” Pinkie asked.

Without saying a word, Twilight stepped aside, allowing her friend to enter the library, and closed the door behind her. She then turned back and looked at her friend, who was rubbing a fore hoof against the other. She also noticed that her mane had gotten back some of its usual puffiness, which was a sign that she must be faring a bit better than the previous night.

“Is everything alright, Pinkie?” Twilight questioned worriedly.

“Not really,” Pinkie admitted, “so that’s why I’d like to talk to her. In private, please.”

“With the way you treated her last night, you expect me to leave you alone with her?”

“Please, Twilight. I know I let my anger get the best of me, but trust me, it won’t happen again.”

“That doesn’t help ease my fear that it might.”

“I know, but I have to talk to her. I Pinkie Promised I would…”

“You did…?”

“Yeah, though I can’t say to whom. It would be against the Pinkie Promise rule. But I want to talk to her.” She shook her head. “No, I have to.”

Twilight’s gaze continued to bore into the pink mare’s, and it wasn’t after a long awkward and interminable silence that she turned and made her way to the stairs.

“Follow me,” the librarian said flatly, not even looking back once as she ascended to the upper floor. Pinkie didn’t need to be asked twice, as she quickly caught up with her, remaining silent the entire time.

Upstairs, Sapphire Heart, who had recognized Pinkie’s voice from the beginning, was currently overwhelmed with a wave of confusion. Even though she hadn’t managed to understand what the two ponies had said from where she was, she still picked on the neutral tone the pink pony had used throughout her talk with Twilight, and that made her more confused. Last night, she had been enraged. What could have caused the shift in her mood?

She was soon snapped out of her thoughts as she heard hoofsteps coming her way, joined by a distant “Follow me” from the librarian. As she listened carefully, she could tell that two ponies were coming up, and her whole body tensed as she could only guessed who the other one could be. That tension rose to an extreme level as her guess proved to be correct; behind Twilight Sparkle followed Pinkie Pie, a neutral mark on her face veiling any emotions she might be feeling.

Sapphire and Pinkie shared a quick emotionless stare before Twilight ushered the earth pony in her bedroom, beckoning her to wait there. She closed the door and faced the hybrid, who didn’t dare say anything. Even if she wanted, she didn’t know what to think of the situation anyway.

Twilight approached the lamia and put a hoof on her shoulder, though the lack of a smile or any other encouraging gestures didn’t ease her nervousness.

“Whatever happens in there, good luck,” she simply said.

“W-what?” Sapphire Heart stuttered. “You’re not sssticking with me?”

“Not directly, no. But I’ll stay nearby in case things go out of control, so I won’t be far away.”

The lamia gulped nervously, not sure what to expect on the other side of the door. She didn’t think she could take another outlash. Her moral was already low as it was; it would totally wreck her.

“I know it’s not going to be easy, Sapphire, but whatever she has to say must be important, and it seems you’re the one she’s willing to get the answers. Even if I insisted, she Pinkie Promised that she speaks with you alone, so there’s nothing I can do about it. Sorry.”

Twilight used her magic to open the door to her room. Albeit being reluctant about it, the lamia slowly made her way inside, looking at the alicorn one more time before the door was gently closed shut again.

Silence then filled the room for what felt like eternity to the two mares, neither of them saying a word. Pinkie was sitting on her rump and was currently finding the ceiling to be interesting, despite it being devoid of decorations and whatnot. Sapphire, on her part, had grabbed her snake tail with her hooves and was absentmindedly caressing it, a sign of her obvious discomfort.

“It’s really been a while, hasn’t it?” Pinkie stated when the silence was about to drive them nuts.

“Yeah, it has…” Sapphire replied, not sure how else to respond to that. The fact that she couldn’t read Pinkie’s facial expression caused her to worry to no end.

“It’s hard to imagine that it’s been six years since we first met. Time sure flies, doesn’t it?”

The hybrid said nothing. She watched Pinkie intently, and the more she did, the more she just wanted to vanish from existence.

“And then you showed up last night, reopening the doors to a past I wanted to forget, or so I thought I could, but for some reasons, I never managed to.”

“Pinkie…?”

“But after a talk with somepony close to me and some thinking, I think I finally found out why I couldn’t get rid of those memories, of the pain, of everything tied to them.”

“Pinkie, wha-”

“I’m sorry.”

Sapphire’s body froze instantly, and she found herself stuttering, trying to no avail to form a coherent response. The only coherent word that managed to leave her lips was a confused “What?”

“I’m sorry,” Pinkie repeated, “for the way I acted last night.”

“Why are you apologizing?” the snakepony asked once she regained the ability to speak properly. “I should be the one to apologize to you. After what I’ve done, you have the right to me mad at me.”

“No, I don’t,” she said, lowering her head to look at the lamia.

Sapphire was taken aback by that statement. “What do you mean?” No matter how hard she tried to make sense of the current situation, her mind went blank.

Pinkie sighed and braced herself for the longest conversation she ever had. “Like I said, I’ve done some thinking this morning when I woke up. I still had the talk I had with somepony last night when I got back home in mind, and she made me realize some things.”

The hybrid coiled her tail and sad on the makeshift cushion, making herself comfortable to listen to Pinkie's story.

"The day when you almost... raped me, when my dad took me home, I've been severely punished. He wouldn't let me leave the farm without him or my mom keeping watch on me. I also received the biggest spank of my life that day. It hurt, but not as much as what I felt inside."

"Pinkie, I'm ssso sssorr-"

"Don't interrupt, please," Pinkie half demanded, half pleaded, and the lamia complied. "That day, the emotions I've felt were overwhelming. I was worried about your odd behavior. That worry turned to fear when I realized there was nothing I could do to stop you." Sapphire Heart's ears flattened against her skull as she was reminded of her mistake.

"And once it ended, when my father came in and brought me back home, I felt betrayed. Betrayed by my best friend, and that made me mad since then.

"My life on the farm, already not as joyful, even after I earned my cutie mark, became a living nightmare when my whole family has been told about what I had been doing all these times I left home. When they learned what I spent my days with, they all looked at me with disapproving glares. My sisters barely looked at or talked to me, my mother was horrified, and my father... I guess the most accurate word would be disgusted.

“Eventually, one night, I ran away and ended up here in Ponyville, wanting to leave everything behind. However, that proved to be harder than I thought, as the torrent of emotions followed me. Of course, being so young and confused at the time, I put the blame on the one who caused my pain, or so was what I thought back then.

“But this morning, when I reminisced everything, I wondered: was I mad for the right reasons? Why was I in the first place?”

“Pinkie,” Sapphire cut in, “after the way I acted, it’s sssimply normal to be mad at me. Even I couldn’t forgive myssself for what I have done when I regained control of my sssenssses.”

“It’s true that you broke my heart and trust that day, Sapphire, but truth be told, I found out that I wasn’t directing my anger to the right target.”

“What do you mean?” the lamia asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“As I said, I was mad at what you did, not at you…” Pinkie sighed. “It doesn’t look like it, but these are two different things, and it took me a kick in the flank last night, as small as it may have been, to realize all that.

"I'll never forgive what happened that day, Sapphire, that's for sure." The hybrid deflated quite a bit at that statement. "But in the end, I can forgive you."

"What?" Sapphire gasped, words suddenly failing her as her mind processed what Pinkie had just said. "Why?" she asked, opting for the simplest word to show her confusion.

"Because," Pinkie Pie began as she stood up on her four hooves, "we've learned to know each other in a little bit more than a year. We played together. We laughed together. We cried together. We shared our pain with each other. We used to be very special friends before we were torn apart by that incident."

Pinkie slowly made her way towards the stoned beige-coated mare, who didn't dare move at all. "As we spent more and more time together, I started feeling like we were becoming closer than friends. I felt as if I had gotten a third sister.

"As the first year passed, another feeling started to form inside me, yet it was foreign to me back then, and now that I am old enough to analyze it with an adult's mind, I think I may have discovered why I hurt so much, why I kept dreaming about you and our time spent together when I ran away from home, and why I couldn't take it all out of my head.

"I..." Pinkie gulped, "I think I had a crush on you."

Instantly, the snakepony's pupils widened to the size of a saucer. She felt the same way as I did too? A little wave of joy built up in her chest, only to vanish as she realized what Pinkie's admission implied.

I messed up more than I thought I did... No wonder she was that mad and miserable. She sighed heavily. I shouldn't have come back here. I don't even deserve somepony like her.

She stood up from her scaly cushion and turned her back to the pink mare, her head hung low. “Pinkie, I never realized your pain was that deep, and there’s nothing I can do to take it all back. Ssso I’ll jussst go. Sssomewhere far away where I won’t be able to hurt you more than I already have.

“I had, and sssometimes ssstill do, trouble sssleeping at night as that incident replayed in my mind. I already messssed up badly once. I couldn’t live it down if I did a sssecond time, ssso…”

She started heading for the door. Despite Pinkie’s claims that she forgave her, she couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t do so herself. If she couldn’t make amends with Pinkie Pie, then she’d make sure that she wouldn’t be able to cause her any more pain.

When she was about to reach the door, however, Pinkie quickly dashed around the lamia and blocked its access, stopping her in her tracks.

“Where are you going?” she asked Sapphire Heart.

“Sssome place where I won’t be able to hurt you anymore. I don’t deserve you after everything that has happened, ssso it would be bessst if I jussst vanished.”

“What if I don’t want you to?”

Sapphire blinked once, then twice, then another time before her brain managed to process what Pinkie had just said.

“I said that I forgave you, didn’t I?” Pinkie continued.

“How can you?” the hybrid half snapped, half choked. “I nearly committed one of the worssst pony crimes there are, ssso how can you forgive sssomething like that?”

Pinkie didn’t answer immediately. She stared deep into the lamia’s sapphire eyes, which were still moist. Then, much to the latter’s astonishment, she smiled. It may be small, but it was still a smile nonetheless.

“Because…” she began, “I can see past those feelings that kept me bound all these years. I now know that the Sapphire Heart I knew back then wouldn’t have done something like that in her right mind. I knew something was wrong with you that day, but I didn’t know what it was, and that was what scared me the most.”

“Pinkie, if only you knew all the misery I’ve been through sssince that day. I ssswore to myssself that if I ever wanted to talk to you again sssomeday, then I had to fight what got us both in this predicament.” The lamia sighed heavily.

“I believe you, Sapphy,” Pinkie said, catching the hybrid off-guard with the use of her old nickname. “And truth be told, I really miss this time when we used to spend our days together.”

“Me too…” Sapphire nodded. Neither of them said anything for a while, which caused the pink mare to grow impatient. When she had enough, she looked at Sapphire and spread her arms wide, at which the lamia raised an eyebrow.

“Come here, silly,” Pinkie Pie invited.

“You sure?” Sapphire asked, still unsure of herself and how they stood now.

“If you don’t, I’ll just go with the hard way,” the party pony teasingly threatened, although for the snakepony, it looked as if it was the biggest threat she ever received, because she complied right away, throwing herself in Pinkie’s arms, which quickly closed around her.

Tears of joy formed at the corners of her eyes, as well as her friend’s, and they remained like that for a little while.

“I should have seen sooner that all of this affected you as much as it did for me,” Pinkie stated.

“It’s all right, Pinkie. In all honesssty, I shouldn’t have waited ssso long before coming to sssee you, because I was afraid of your reaction, but eventually, I had to. I couldn’t hide forever.”

“And it took a good kick in the flank to realize that,” they said in unison, causing them to stare at each other for a second and then fall to the floor, laughing.

It took them a good minute to calm down, their laughter being reduced to barely restrained chuckles. They had to fight the urge to flop back onto the floor in another fit of laughs as they stood back up.

"Ssso," Sapphire began once her breathing had returned to normal, "where do we go from here?"

"Where do you wanna go?"

The lamia slapped her head with a hoof at Pinkie's innocent question. "Not that kind of 'where'. I meant: what happens between us now?"

"Well," Pinkie started, approaching her friend, rubbing the top of her head against the brown-maned mare, "we could start over from where we last stood before the incident." She sniffed at Sapphire's hair, much to the latter's embarrassment, though she didn't do anything to stop her antics, so she must be fine with it.

"Your mane still feels like silk, and you still have that cavern-y smell," Pinkie commented.

"Uh, thanks?" the hybrid sheepishly offered for an answer, not sure what else to say to that.

That moment, however, was short-lived as Pinkie stepped back and looked her friend deep in the eyes with a serious look in her own, much to the snakepony's worry, who never liked to be on the receiving end of it.

"There's one more thing I wanna know, though," Pinkie began. "What happened to you after that day? Did you eat well?" She gasped. "You didn't go back to thievery for food, did you?"

Sapphire Heart was quick to answer, as she shook her head negatively and waved her hooves in front of her as a sign of denial. "No, I didn't, and even if I had wanted, I couldn't have anyway.

"The night of the day your father took you back with him, I figured it would have been a matter of time before ponies in town were made aware of my presence here, ssso I had to get away from here. Even if I felt like I didn't have any reason to continue with my life, sssomehow, sssomething inssside me, which I jussst recently identified as the hope to sssee you again sssomeday, kept me going.

"Ssso I packed the leftover food you had given me, along with the cover you gifted me with, and left the cave. Even if I thought I might never sssee you or hear of you again, dessspite what I did and feeling like I didn't deserve you, whenever I wrapped myssself in that cover, it felt like you were ssstill by my ssside. No matter what I tried to put everything behind me, I couldn't ssstop thinking about you."

“Me neither,” Pinkie added. “Where did you move to?”

“I…” Sapphire fidgeted slightly. “Don’t be mad at me please. I know I shouldn’t have, but at the time, it felt like the mossst inviting place in the world for me, or ssso I consssidered.”

“Sapphy, tell me,” Pinkie demanded, a hint of firmness in her voice.

“I exiled myssself in the Everfree Foressst.” She closed her eyes tightly, waiting to be reprimanded by her friend for her reckless decision.

“How…?” Pinkie said, though her tone was so low it almost sounded like a whisper. “How did you manage to survive in there?” The hybrid didn’t miss the trace of worry that the pink pony carried in her voice as she continued.

“Everypony knows it’s dangerous out there. Even I am scared of that place sometimes. Most ponies who enter never come out.”

“You and your friends did jussst fine in there,” Sapphire commented.

“That was different! We went in to stop Night-” Pinkie stopped herself suddenly as a light bulb lit up in her head. “Wait a second. How do you know about that?”

“Newspapers. You were depicted in it for saving Equessstria from night eternal. Ssseeing you in them was alssso an important factor that made me want to sssee you face to face in the firssst place.”

Pinkie slightly raised an eyebrow. “How did you get your hooves on newspapers IN the Everfree?” she pushed.

“The zebra who took me in brought some back with her whenever she came back from her errands.”

Zebra? Could it be…? “It wasn’t a zebra mare named Zecora, was it?” Pinkie asked. Zecora was the only zebra she knew - literally - that lived in the cursed forest. Unless it’s just a coincidence…

“I figured you would guessss that right,” the lamia said.

“Huh?”

“She found me one day in the foressst. I wasn’t faring well, and she took me in her home without quessstions, and as weak as I was, even if I had wanted, I couldn’t resissst.

“Long ssstory short, I didn’t trussst her at firssst, jussst like anyone elssse. Eventually, the kindnessss she showed me payed off and I was back in good health again. Well, physically at leassst…”

“But,” Pinkie interjected, “we’ve known Zecora for two years. You mean that all this time, you were at her place?” The lamia merely nodded.

“As time passssed, little by little, I warmed up to her. Although I was nursssed back to health, my mind was ssstill in turmoil, and I don’t know what tipped her off, but one night, she came to me and opened her heart to me.

“I told her everything. About my miserable and lonely life, about you and the time we ssspent together, about what I felt towards you all this time, and my missstake.

“I-” she was interrupted by a pink hoof on her lips, blocking any more words to come out. The hybrid rose an eyebrow questioningly at her friend, who only gave a simple smile in return.

“I’m just happy that you were safe all this time,” Pinkie said. “Though, if Zecora knew about us, why didn’t she tell me that you were there all along?”

Sapphire Heart stared at her with a deadpan look. “Ssseriously, Pinkie, you really have to asssk that?

“Sssuppose she had, how would you have reacted?” Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but when nothing came out, she closed it and flattened her ears against her skull shamefully. “That’s what I thought. You don’t know because you probably wouldn’t have been ready, right?” Though she said nothing, Pinkie nodded her head.

“I was the sssame as well. I ssstill had things to put back in place in my mind before I could find the courage to talk to you face to face. And truth be told, I never found it.”

“What do you mean?” Pinkie asked, confused.

“Zecora and I agreed that the bessst option to get closure to all of this was to ssspeak with you. However, I kept pushing further the moment of truth. I feared your reception regarding my return, ssso I didn’t dare make the move, until…”

“Until what?” Pinkie asked, cocking her head to the left slightly.

The hybrid chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “Well, would you believe me if I sssaid that she kicked me out after a while?”

Pinkie’s eyes widened to the point where one would think they would fall off. “What?!”

“Yeah, I know it may sssound unlike her, but she did it on the pretenssse that it was for the bessst. She even forbade me to enter until I had ssspoken to you. I thought she was bluffing, but I ssstupidly waited three days on her doorssstep, and not once did she open her door for me.

“Ssso, yeah. That’s the kind of kick I got to actually act,” Sapphire finished. She anxiously looked up at Pinkie Pie, patiently awaiting a response on her part.

“I guess we should be thankful then, shouldn’t we?” the earth pony stated.

“Huh?” Sapphire blurted out.

“If it weren’t for Zecora, you might not have dared come here at all. And if it were not for Mrs. Cake’s convincing, I might not have dared show up at Twilight’s door this morning. We would probably have wallowed in our pain for who knows how long.”

“I sssee what you mean, and I’m afraid to sssay that you’re probably right with that,” the snakepony admitted when Pinkie was done with her explanation.

“So, are we good?” Pinkie asked, offering a hoof and a smile on her face.

“It’s more than I could have hoped for,” Sapphire said as she bumped it with her own, replicating her friend’s smile.

“Great! Cuz now I have a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party to plan!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.

Sapphire’s colors practically drained from her body at the idea of a party for her, not really keen on it.

“Pinkie, I don’t think this is a good idea…”

“Oh no, you are not ssskipping this one, Sapphy.”

“But…”

“No buts, missy! Besides, you’re in Ponyville, now. Ponies here are used to weird stuff happening around town. We’ve had Nightmare Moon, an invasion of parasprites, a cranky Ursa, Discord’s madness when he was a bad guy, and all other kinds of crazy things. Seeing a lamia wandering around town won’t bother anypony compared to all of these.

“Besides, most ponies in Ponyville are very receptive of others, especially my best friends.” She leaned her head to the side and looked at the bedroom door behind the snakepony. “Isn’t that right, Twilight?”

Sapphire turned around as the alicorn walked in her room, the most sheepish smile plastered on her face and a shameful blush on her cheeks that proved her culpability.

“How did you know I was eavesdropping?” she asked the party mare.

“Just a hunch. I never knew you were capable of that,” she subtly teased her friend.

“I didn’t do it in a bad way,” the librarian defended. “I was just worried about you two, and how things might turn out, so I just wanted to stay nearby in case things went out of control.”

“Well, you can sssee that everything is fine now,” Sapphire chimed in.

“So, you heard everything?” Pinkie asked the lavender mare.

“I sure did,” she said as she approached the two ponies in the room and grabbed them both in a little group hug. “And I’m happy to say that I am proud of you, girls.

“It’s easy to hold a grudge, and I know it’s hard to get rid of the pain and negative emotions that were created by an incident like that or other similar events. But it’s not as hard as trying to find closure, no matter how it might end. Sometimes, a closure doesn’t necessarily mean a happy ending, but at least it puts your mind at ease on the matter, because it gives you the answers you were looking for.

“But sometimes, a closure can open a door. A chance to mend the broken pieces together and start over again. I’m happy that the latter happened to you both. None of you deserved what happened, and even less what the incident brought and caused afterwards.

“You created a strong and special bond together all these years ago. Even during all this time you were separated, it seems to me that even though it grew weak since that day, it never completely broke. If it had, I don’t think any of you would be in this room right now, what do you think?”

Her audience stared at her with unblinking eyes for the entirety of her speech and remained frozen like statues for a little bit longer. It was Pinkie who snapped out of it first, adorning a wide smile on her face as she addressed the alicorn again.

“How many romance novels did you read?” she teased playfully.

“Um, why do you ask?” she questioned as she lightly blushed and dragged a hoof on the floor in an avoiding manner. It was clear she didn’t want to answer, but with Pinkie, she didn’t have to; the enlarging smile on her face told her that she could make a good estimate of the answer.

“Aw, come on Twi, I’m kidding!” Pinkie said as she got the Twilight’s side and nudged her with an elbow. “No need to be embarrassed about that kind of stuff.”

“I am not embarrassed!” the librarian exclaimed, only to realize a few seconds later what she did. “I fell for it again, didn’t I?”

“Yupie-dopie! Not my fault if you’re an easy target, silly!” Pinkie said as she quickly hugged her. “Although I’m sorry for making you uncomfortable.”

“Hey, no harm, no foul. Don’t worry about it,” Twilight said as she put a hoof around Pinkie’s back and returned the hug.

“Um, is there anything here I should underssstand?” Sapphire asked as she looked at the two mares in front of her.

“Pinkie’s usual antics, don’t ask,” was all Twilight told her, which was enough of a reason for her. The alicorn then let go of the earth pony, who hurriedly headed for the door the moment she was released.

“I’m sorry girls, but I gotta go! Got a party to prepare for tonight,” she said as she exited the room, closing the door behind her. Twilight could see the lamia sweating nervously in the corner of her eye. Before she could walk to her and reassure her, the door opened again, revealing the cheerful mare once more. “Oh, and everypony in town is invited, just so you know! Ciao!” she added before leaving again. Sapphire was now biting her bottom lip, unsure about the whole thing.

“You have nothing to be worried about, Sapphire,” Twilight encouraged.

“Easy for you to sssay. I’ll remind you that my firssst encounter with ponies wasn’t pleasant, ssso excuse me if I’m not that enthusiassstic about the idea of mingling with other ponies.”

“How about I present you to my close friends, then? They’ll be coming at the party too. That way, you’d feel more comfortable tonight.”

“Are you certain? They pretty much were shocked last night when I showed up at your door.”

“And so was I. You can’t blame us for that, can you? It’s not every day you see a lamia wandering about, so it’s just normal to be surprised.” She stood next to the hybrid and wrapped a wing around her torso. “They are good ponies, trust me.”

Sapphire looked down as she thought about it. On one hoof, she was afraid of receiving a bad reception because of what she was. On the other, if Twilight and Pinkie said was true, there was a chance that she could finally feel accepted by others, and the idea was very appealing. She wouldn’t need to hide anymore. She’d be able to live a normal life like anypony.

Her decision made, she breathed deeply before giving her answer: “Okay.”

The response made Twilight smile approvingly. “I’m sure you’ll like them.” She then headed for the door as well. “Do you mind staying here while I bring them here?”

The lamia shook her head. “Alright, then,” the librarian continued. “I won’t be long, so expect us back in two hours top.” She used her magic to open her door, though before she exited, she turned back to her guest. “I don’t know what interests you, but feel free to read any book you want. This is a library, after all.” With that, she left, closing the door and leaving Sapphire Heart alone.

Although the snakepony’s nervosity hadn’t dissipated completely, it wasn’t as worse as it first was. Now that she was all by herself with her own thoughts, she took the opportunity to look around the room.

Books. That was pretty much what the walls and shelves were adorned with. She really loves to read that much, doesn’t she? she mused as she slithered around the room, stopping at Twilight’s bedside table, where a pile of thick volumes rested on.

Not knowing what else to do as she awaited the young princess’ return, she grabbed the book on top of the pile and settled in the bed. I doubt she’ll mind, she thought as she looked at the cover.

“Daring Do and the Quessst for the Sssapphire Ssstone,” she read aloud. “I never had the chance to read anything before.” She made herself comfortable on the bed, coiling her tail around her. “Well, here goes nothing, I guessss.” She then opened the volume to the first page and began to read.

A New Start

As promised, Twilight Sparkle came back to the library in less than two hours with her friends in tow, all except Pinkie of course, since she was getting everything ready for tonight’s big event. Though her friends were all uncertain at first about meeting the hybrid, Twilight reassured them by telling them about what she heard from Sapphire last night and what she witnessed this morning.

When she reached her bedroom and opened the door, much to the alicorn’s glee, Sapphire Heart was deeply concentrated in the book she held in her hooves, and she smiled as she spotted the cover.

“I see you’ve found a liking for Daring Do,” Twilight said, taking the lamia by surprise. She closed the book, remembering the page she was at, and looked up at her host.

To say that she felt small under the gaze of five ponies would be an understatement. Even though she believed Twilight’s claim about them being nice, she couldn’t help but feel a bit shy.

To her astonishment and her utmost joy, once the initial shock wore out, each pony presented herself to the stoned lamia, who didn’t dare make the first move.

Rarity broke the ice as she approached the beige mare, and to the latter’s confusion, she apologized for her dramatized reaction the previous night. However, what came next caught the snakepony totally off-guard as the white unicorn levitated a measuring tape and other tools and began taking the hybrid’s measurements. Feeling uneasy, she caught Twilight’s gaze with her own, beckoning her to help her out of this, but the alicorn merely shrugged sheepishly, leaving the poor soul with her predicament.

When Rarity stepped back with her data in hoof, it was Rainbow Dash’s turn to present herself. The cocky and competitive chromatic mare, much the everypony else’s exasperation, after she finished telling Sapphire about her, challenged her to a hoof wrestle match. What surprised everypony was that she accepted, and even asked the rainbow-maned pony if she could use her tail instead. To the hybrid’s credit, she did, thinking of herself as unbeatable. However, she didn’t expect to be literally kissing the floor no more than two seconds later after the beginning of the round, causing everyone, especially Applejack, to laugh, much to Rainbow’s annoyance.

Sapphire, believing she had hurt her, quickly rushed to her side and offered a hoof to help her up. Groaning, the cyan mare accepted, and assured the lamia that she was fine and there were no hard feelings before she could bombard her with apologies.

Sapphire Heart then directed her gaze towards the yellow-coated pegasus, who was quick to hide behind her mane, avoiding eye contact. All she managed to get out of her was her name, and that was thanks to her fine hearing, because the shy mare said it so quietly she doubted anypony else could have heard her.

When it became clear that none of them was willing to break the awkward silence that had settled, Twilight stepped up. She apologized for Fluttershy’s shyness in her stead, stipulating that she was always like that with new acquaintances and it would take a while before she got used to Sapphire. The lamia nodded in understanding; what were the odds that such a being would stay in town, anyway?

Resolving herself to have a conversation with Fluttershy later, she then looked at the farm pony. To her surprise, and everyone else’s once they looked her way as well, she was staring at the floor, not daring to meet the hybrid’s eyes. When her friends asked her what was wrong, only then she look up, apologizing to Sapphire as she did so.

Confused, the lamia asked what she was talking about, and Applejack repeated herself with more details this time. She was sorry about the way she had talked about her last night, and Sapphire’s ears folded on her head as she remembered. Despite Twilight’s effort to hush the orange mare, even amid her bawling, she had managed to catch on Applejack’s spiteful words towards her.

What everypony didn’t expect, however, was Sapphire to approach the remorseful earth pony and hug her tenderly, assuring her that it was fine. The latter protested, saying that she didn’t have any rights to treat her that way in the first place, and even less after Twilight told everyone about what she had been through.

It was thanks to Sapphire’s persistence that she eventually got Applejack to quell her stream of apologies. The lamia acknowledged that the farm pony’s words had hurt, but she told her that if anything, she was the one to be sorry, since she was the one that made the worst mistake among the both of them. She also explained that it wasn’t her place to judge others by their faults, for she had had the biggest sin to carry on her shoulders all these years.

Replacing the cowpony’s hat correctly on her head, Sapphire wiped the few tears that Applejack had shed with a hoof. She patted her shoulder before moving back. She gave her an honest little smile, assuring her that there were no hard feelings between them, and Applejack returned it in kind, getting the silent message.

With a series of cough, Twilight got everypony’s attention to her. She reminded her friends that the party would start in a little more than an hour and offered them to kill the time with dinner until then. The idea immediately made Sapphire drool and her stomach to growl loudly, causing everyone around her to chuckle at her expense, making her blush.

Once they calmed themselves, they all agreed with the alicorn’s proposal. Being the generous mare she was, Rarity proposed she cooked dinner, heading back to her boutique for a short time to fetch the ingredients Twilight was missing in her fridge, coming back to the library no more than twenty minutes later, and got to work.

When the alabaster unicorn finally deposited everypony’s plate before them, a symphony of thundering stomachs could be heard in the library’s kitchen as they looked at the delicious-looking meal, which was composed of fried mushrooms, asparagus cooked au gratin and green beans cooked in butter. Once they got over the delectable smell, they grabbed their utensils Rarity had set prior to preparing dinner, and ate.

Everypony really was enjoying the fashionista’s meal. Sapphire Heart, still feeling empty, having not eaten much since she woke up today since she and Twilight had forgotten their breakfast, asked the unicorn for a second serving. Rarity happily did so, stating that she and her friends actually loves her cooking, unlike Sweetie Belle, who always complained about not liking vegetables.

Once all the plates were empty, everypony thanked Rarity for her delicious meal, and the praise caused her white cheeks to take a tint of red, which earned her a round of mockery from the rainbow-maned pegasus sitting next to her. Aside from that, they stayed in their seats, talking about whatever subject came up, and headed off for the lamia’s party when seven o’clock drew near.

* * *

The six mares trotted down the streets - slithered in Sapphire Heart’s case - towards Town Hall, where the party would be taking place. The twilight sky was devoid of any cloud thanks to Rainbow Dash and her weather team, and a few birds could still be heard as they flew above them, probably heading for their nests for the forthcoming night.

“Is it jussst me, or do the ssstreets feel empty?” asked the lamia as she glanced all around her, still anxious about meeting other ponies.

“We ran into her on our way back to the library earlier,” Twilight said. “She already has everypony confined in Town Hall already.”

“All that’s missin’ is the guest of honor,” Applejack continued.

“Guessst of h-honor?” Sapphire repeated, her anxiety increasing at the thought of an entire town seeing her. She even began to doubt herself, as sweat began to form on her forehead as she imagined every possible scenario should things go wrong, a signal that didn’t go unnoticed by the alicorn on her right, who wrapped a wings around the hybrid as they walked.

“Take deep and long breaths, Sapphire,” she commanded. “You’re worked up over nothing.”

“Twilight’s right, darling,” Rarity chimed in. “Would it be anywhere else, such as Canterlot for example, I, too, would be worried in your place. But ponies here in Ponyville are very acceptive of what is different.”

“Yeah, what she said!” Rainbow said as she swooped above her friends. “Besides, you seem to be forgetting that Pinkie’s the host of the party, so there’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Ah’ve never seen one of her parties go wrong,” Applejack added. “Well, it did once in fact, but that was because some griffon was being too possessive of Rainbow and didn’t care about anypony else.”

“And also, if you don’t mind me saying, Pinkie may act childish sometimes, but she knows what she’s doing. She wouldn’t throw a party if she knew something could turn out badly. N-not that it could! I mean… um…”

“What Fluttershy is trying to say is that you have no reasons to worry,” Twilight finished for her friend, receiving a thankful smile from the shy pegasus.

“Pinkie is probably the most kind-hearted pony I know along with Fluttershy, so I doubt she’d do anything intentionally to make you uncomfortable.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Sapphire said. “It’s interacting with others. I’m ssscared that they won’t react well to my… condition.”

“Believe us when we say that you have no reasons to be scared, Sapphire,” Twilight continued. “I don’t know you as much as Pinkie does, but I do know Pinkie Pie. She’ll do anything to make her friends as much at ease as possible, so my biggest bet would be that she probably talked about you to everypony already.”

“You think ssso?”

“Ah don’t mean to speak badly of her, but Pinkie can be quite the blabbermouth sometimes, and a surprise party is a surprise only for the guest of honor most of the time. She usually tells everypony in attendee every little detail about the party beforehoof.”

“See? No need to worry at all,” Twilight assured. “And besides, you’ve got us to back you up, isn’t that right, girls?” she asked her friends, earning a series of nods from them, and that helped calm the tensed lamia a lot.

“Alright, I’ll trussst your words,” Sapphire said as they stopped in front of the large building, and the sight of it only made the hybrid feel even smaller. Wow, it’s huge… she commented internally.

“Everything is gonna be just fine, I promise,” the librarian added as she opened the imposing door.

Darkness fell upon the six mares as they slowly entered the threshold. Even though she felt more reassured, the remaining worried part of her caused her to rub her forelegs together anxiously as she carefully went deeper into the building.

And then, quite too soon for her tastes, the big door behind her closed, but at the same time, the lights inside Town Hall opened as a huge crowd of ponies yelled “Surprise!” in unison, catching the snakepony off guard, who fell backwards with a yelp on her butt, the muscles in her snake tail having failed her for that short lapse of time.

Soon after, she was presented with a pink hoof that could only belong to one pony, and grabbed it to rise herself back up, standing three feet tall from floor to head again. Before she could take a glimpse around the place, she found her personal space invaded by the party hostess.

“So, were you surprised? Were you? Huh? Huh? Huh?”

“If being ssstartled by a hundred ponies in the middle of a large dark room is a sssurprise, then I guessss ssso?”

“Great! Now come on and meet everypony!”

“Pinkie, hold on a sssecond!” Sapphire called, causing Pinkie to go back on her tracks and stand in front of her.

“Yes, Sapphy?”

“How did you convince everypony to attend my party? I never thought anyone would greet sssomeone like me…”

“I didn’t convince anypony, silly. Nopony can say no to a Pinkie party, especially when I told them how sweet, caring, joyful and funny the guest is.”

Sapphire blushed at the compliments. “W-what are you talking about? I’m none of those things…”

“Yes you are, silly! Now come and show everypony how awesome of a friend you are!” Pinkie said as she dragged the lamia with her among the crowd, leaving Twilight and her friends at the entrance, who quickly went their own way across the room, keeping an eye on their two friends every now and then to make sure everything would go smoothly.

* * *

To Sapphire’s good fortune, the party went fairly well. Pinkie did warn everypony about her condition, though it seemed she did so in her own way. While almost everyone was nice and receptive of her, a trio of mares she couldn’t remember the names of but decided to nickname them the flower ponies didn’t dare approach or talk to her. Twilight, who was having a casual conversation nearby, saw that and assured her that they were always paranoiac about anything that was new or unusual and they’d eventually come around it.

Other than that, she was really enjoying the party. The music the DJ played on the stage resonated loudly, and although she never danced, to some’s request, she swung her body along with the beat, earning herself a mix of cheers and snickers from the crowd.

She was actually surprised at how many ponies were willing to talk to her. There was the mayor who approached her and welcomed her personally in town. She also talked with a mint-green unicorn, Lyra, and she was accompanied by her earth pony friend - marefriend, she specified proudly - and as short as the conversation may be, Sapphire still enjoyed their company, and they agreed to meet some other day at the café.

However, her longest and most enjoyable conversation was when a grey, wall-eyed pegasus mare accidentally bumped into her. Ditzy Doo, as she called herself, or Derpy for her close friends, to Sapphire Heart’s surprise, said that even though her childhood probably wasn’t as rough as it had been for the lamia, she still found herself able to relate to her.

“Everypony in Cloudsdale weren’t too keen of my handicap,” she began to explain. “I crashed many times and had lots of trouble coordinating myself because of it, and that got me many nicknames from the other foals, each just as unpleasant as the other.

“And because of that, nopony wanted me around, so was always left to my lonesome because I was different.”

“And now you’re here in Ponyville,” Sapphire commented, and Ditzy nodded.

“I tried a few places before settling here. I tried Manehatten and Canterlot, but ponies were always too snobbish or self-centered there. Ponyville eventually showed up in my attempt list, and I was more than happy to have installed here. Whereas Cloudsdale is only composed of pegasi and Canterlot and Manehatten of mostly snob and stubborn unicorns, Ponyville is a mix of all three tribes, making ponies more welcoming of differences.

“Now, I’m having a wonderful life here with my two daughters.”

“What about your husssband?” Sapphire asked bluntly, but quickly regretted it when the pegasus became melancholic. “Oh my… I’m sssorry! I didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. I got over it a long time ago… For what it’s worth, I enjoyed the time I spent with him before he passed away due to a grave illness after my youngest’s birth, and I’m glad to have met him, since he gave me two wonderful daughters.”

“I can underssstand a bit how you feel,” Sapphire confessed. “I lossst my parents when I was jussst a child, but the time I did ssspend with them was the bessst of my life.”

The pegasus smiled apologetically at the hybrid, before she turned back and called her daughters to her. “I wish we could talk more, but a mailmare must wake up early, and the girls have school tomorrow in the morning, so we got to get going,” she explained. Her girls soon found their way to her, and gave Sapphire a quick salute before they all headed for the exit.

“It was nice talking with you, Sapphire! Have a good night!”

“You too, Ditzy!” the lamia called back just as the mare bumped into the door frame, and she cringed at the sight. The pegasus quickly recovered and seemed to be fine; besides, she had to wonderful-looking daughters to look up for her.

* * *

It was about ten when the party began to die down. Most ponies who worked the next morning made their way out of Town Hall, intend on having a good night’s sleep after such an eventful evening.

Rarity carried her snoozing sister on her back as she strolled out of the building, excusing herself, for she had orders to make in the morning. Fluttershy had her animals to check on. Rainbow Dash, despite wanting to stay longer, had the Wonderbolts Academy to attend, so she headed back to her cloud home on the outskirts of town. Applejack had farm work to do, and Twilight had magically received a letter during the party from Princess Celestia, requesting her presence in Canterlot tomorrow morning.

Eventually, all the other guests left the party area, all except Sapphire, who waved goodbye to everypony as they passed by before leaving, and Pinkie Pie, who was putting all the decorations away at breakneck speed, much to the lamia’s astonishment as she occasionally looked her way and watched her go as if she had done that all her life.

When the last pony had left Town Hall, there was no trace of the party left in the large building. When the hybrid turned around to see what Pinkie was now doing, she saw her attempting to close a box, which was probably where she stored her party supplies.

“Need help?” she asked the pink mare as she approached her.

“Nah, I’m… good. Come on…” With a snap, she finally managed to close the latch on the box’s lock. “There!”

“So, how did you like your welcome party, Sapphy?” Pinkie asked as she stood up on four hooves.

“You want the short versssion or the long one?”

“I’d go for the long one if I hadn’t one teeny little more thing planned for you tonight.”

“Huh? What would that be?” Sapphire asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

“It’s a surprise!” Pinkie singsonged.

“It’s always sssurprises with you,” the lamia pouted.

“Don’t worry, silly, you’ll find out soon enough. I just need to bring this back to my room and we’re off,” the party pony said as she picked the box with her teeth and exited the scene, the snakepony following close behind.

* * *

“Shh!” Pinkie hushed as they entered the sweets shop. “The babies are asleep upstairs.”

Sapphire nodded in understanding, and they both made their way to Pinkie Pie’s room at the back of the hallway on the second floor. In fact, the only sound was the earth pony’s hooves clopping against the ground, which Pinkie had to muffle as best she could. The hybrid, for her part, didn’t have to worry about that. Slithering around and about was way more discreet. It had helped her many times when she used to steal her food in Rockville all these years ago.

They soon reached Pinkie’s loft, carefully closing the door behind them, cringing at the occasional creaks it gave. The earth pony then silently stored her party box under her bed, where it will remain until the next party, whenever that would be.

“Hey Pinkie, thanks for the party,” Sapphire said as her friend got out from under the bed. “I guessss I really needed it and…”

“And what?” Pinkie pressed.

“And… I had a wonderful time. I think I alssso made a few friends there.”

“Well d’uh, that’s the whole point, silly. A party serves to have fun and make friends, and when it comes to setting parties and making friends, I am just the pony for the job!” Pinkie declared.

“It’s nice to be able to show myssself without needing to hide.”

“I told you everypony would like you. Everypony likes each other here in Ponyville, after all.”

“And I assssume you had sssomething to do with it?” Sapphire asked as she playfully nudged her friend with an elbow.

“I have no idea! It’s just fun to throw parties and have fun with others.”

I guess that’s typical of her, Sapphire thought. It’s good to see that she still has that carefree and playful attitude of hers even after all these years.

She then saw Pinkie opening the window in the back of the room, the pink pony signaling her to follow. Before the hybrid could ask what she had planned in mind, Pinkie went outside and started making her way upwards to the top of Sugarcube Corner.

She approached the open window and pulled her head outside, looking up at the direction her friend headed, and saw her waving at her. Curious about Pinkie’s intentions, she carefully made her way to join her, making sure the muscles in her tail had a solid grip on the roof’s surface. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, and although it was the first time she found herself that high from the ground, she was sure she had vertigo.

Sapphire soon joined her friend, who was sitting on her haunches. She sat next to her, bringing her thirty foot-long snake tail in a coil behind her. When she was comfortably settled, she looked to the side at her partner, and followed her gaze to the stars and Luna’s moon above, all of them shining brightly in the dark sky, a display of the skillful princess who worked wonderfully on it.

“What are we doing here, Pinkie?” Sapphire asked after a moment of silence. “Do we even have the right to be up here?”

Her friend didn’t answer right away. After a short while, she inhaled deeply, and as she exhaled, so did her response.

“No, we don’t. But this here was some sort of sanctuary when I was still a filly, and has been for mostly the first year the Cakes took me in.”

“Took you in?” Sapphire repeated, and Pinkie nodded.

“Yeah. After I ran away from the farm one night, I ended here in Ponyville. I didn’t have anywhere to stay, so I tried asking for shelter. I don’t think I need to say why Sugarcube Corner was my first attempt?”

“Nope,” Sapphire said as she shook her head with a smile. “You and sugary treats always matched together as far as I can remember, ssso I can only imagine your reaction at ssseeing a building shaped like a gingerbread house.”

“Mhm. And lucky me, the ponies residing here accepted to shelter me for a while. But eventually, days turned into weeks, and then to months. I began doing my part in the shop, and after a while, the Cakes officially decided to hire me here. Along with an official salary, I could keep the room they had lent me at the time as residence.”

“I sssee, but what does that have to do with us being on the roof?”

“Sorry, got a little sidetracked…” Pinkie breathed deeply before continuing. “Whenever I was scared, angry, or sad, I always used to climb up here so I could be left alone. And every time it happened, it was after waking up from a bad dream.”

“You were dreaming about me and…” the lamia guessed, and Pinkie nodded.

“No more sad faces from you, Sapphy,” she warned the hybrid. “I already forgave you.

“So, like I was saying, I often found myself hiding here. One night, Mrs. Cake found me here crying. When I noticed she had found me, I thought I was gonna be in trouble. Instead, she joined me and hugged me, calming me down after a while.”

“You didn’t tell her what was troubling you?” Sapphire pointed out.

“I was young and confused. Even if I had wanted to, I wouldn’t have known what to say, so I lied and told her I was just having nightmares continuously. But I appreciated the comfort Mrs. Cake gave me that night, as it helped put my negative emotions aside for the rest of the night, and…”

The lamia looked at her friend, her curiosity piked as Pinkie left her sentence hanging there. “And what?”

“I stayed a bit longer up here after Mrs. Cake had left. Feeling lighter, I looked up at the sky and thought about you. As I stared at the stars and moon littering the sky, I wondered if you were alright, and if so, were we looking at the same sky at the same time?”

“Pinkie…” Sapphire didn’t know what to say, nor how to react. However, she didn’t expect to hear Pinkie’s next sentences.

“And also, as I thought about all of that, somehow, I felt like I could hear a voice; a soothing and unique singing voice that used to do wonders to calm me down. It was with that feeling that I slept peacefully that night, and now I know it wasn’t fully thanks to Mrs. Cake comfort.

“It was a sign from my Pinkie Sense - I’ll explain it all later. A simple lip twitch that meant I was the most important pony to someone. I didn’t know why I had this odd sensation back then, but now, I can conclude that it was a sign from my Pinkie Sense all along, that the singing I believed was only in my head, wasn’t my imagination.”

Pinkie turned to face the hybrid, blue meeting sapphire. “You were actually singing that night, and the wind must have carried your caring voice to me. Despite what happened, we still cared about each other, even when separated, and what it took was someone to make us realize how dumb we’ve been.”

“Yeah…” Sapphire whispered. A long pause followed. Neither ponies dared break the silence. The pink mare was still staring into her friend’s eyes. On her part, Sapphire found herself at a lack of words. Both her mind and body were stunned.

“That song,” Pinkie began, “you put all your thoughts and emotions in it, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know how you managed to guessss that, but yeah.”

“What did you express in it? When it caught my ears through the night’s breeze, it was only a whispered melody, though I could still feel the melancholy in it.”

“Uh… well…” Despite knowing that Pinkie had a crush on her back then, Sapphire didn’t know if she still had it today. She, on her part, still loved the pink mare more than anything, but she was worried that it wouldn’t be reciprocated if she admitted it.

“You have a crush on me too, don’t you?” Pinkie said bluntly.

How…? Oh, horseapples, you know what? I don’t wanna know how she found out. Taking a deep breath, Sapphire nodded.

“We both had a crush on each other and never knew,” Pinkie stated.

“Can you blame usss? We were jussst fillies back then. Sssuppose I had told you five years ago, there were three possssible outcomes. Either you felt the sssame, either you didn’t but we’d remain friends or either you’d be repulsed and would never want to sssee me again. I know you wouldn’t, but the thought was there, and there was no way I could know if you were a fillyfooler too; even I didn’t know I was until not long ago.”

“You have a point there, Sapphy.” There was another short pause as the both of them sat still, now staring straight ahead. Sapphire’s gaze soon began to go downhill, and Pinkie knew all too well that her friend still had their previous topic in mind.

Determined to make her feel better, as well as herself for that matter, the party pony turned her head towards the lamia and put a hoof under her chin, gently raising her head so she could look into her beautiful sapphire eyes. Her name matches with her eyes perfectly, she thought.

“There’s another reason why I brought you up here, Sapphy,” Pinkie declared, causing the lamia to raise an eyebrow. “We’ve slightly brushed past the subject a few times, but now I think it’s a good time I say it out loud.”

With no warnings, Pinkie quickly leaned forward and pressed her lips against the hybrid’s, whose face now resembled a tomato at this point. Sapphire Heart, her mind blurred and her body frozen from the impulsive act, merely kept looking at her friend. Their lips remained locked together for a very short time before Pinkie pulled away.

“I love you, Sapphire Heart,” she said, receiving no immediate response from her partner, who’s was staring ahead with a blank stare. “Sapphy?”

What she didn’t know was that the lamia’s brain was currently analyzing every single detail from the act. She always cared about me, she thought. I was kissed… on the lips… She unconsciously raised a hoof to her lips and touched them with its sole. Kissed by a mare… by my best friend… She then lowered her hoof and, her senses slowly coming back to her, looked at Pinkie. And she loves me back too…

“You sure make weird faces when you’re lost in thoughts,” the lamia heard Pinkie comment, which didn’t help her red cheeks regain their original color.

“W-what’s that sssupposed to mean?” Sapphire defended.

“You were all like…” Pinkie frowned as she attempted to imitate what her friend looked like seconds ago. “And like this…” She then hung her tongue slightly out of her mouth, mimicking the lamia’s pensive facial expression. However, judging by the annoyed glare the pink pony was receiving, the snakepony didn’t look amused at all.

“I was not!” she pouted.

“Yes, you were,” Pinkie giggled.

“Was not!”

“Were too!”

“Was not!”

“Were too!”

“I’m not gonna win this, am I?”

“Win what?” Pinkie asked innocently.

“I… but… Gah! Never mind!” Sapphire turned her back to Pinkie and made her most convincing pouting expression, her hooves crossed against her chest as she did.

“Nice acting, but I know you’re not mad for real.”

“I don’t care. I’m sssticking to it.”

“Sapphy, turn back, please?”

“Not until you ssstop teasing me.”

“Aw, but it’s all in good fun!”

“Not gonna move.”

“Don’t force me to do it,” Pinkie singsonged.

“You’re bluffing,” Sapphire defied, still decided on keeping that pose.

Only to find herself tackled to the ground, belly face down. With her only means of defense still coiled up, her pony half was powerless against Pinkie Pie, who was now sitting on her back. She could even feel her mischievous gaze on her.

“Last chance,” the earth pony singsonged once again.

“You wouldn’t dare do sssomething as childish as that, would you?”

And dared Pinkie did. She jumped into action, putting her forehooves on the hybrid’s sides, and began tickling her, causing her to laugh in hysterics. They kept at it for a long while without a care in the world. Right now, they were the two happiest souls in Equestria.

* * *

In her own room, accompanied by her husband, having left their window open to let the night breeze inside, Mr. and Mrs. Cake witnessed the whole exchange of the two ponies on the roof.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let them stay on the roof, hun?” asked Carrot to his wife. “It’s due for some renovations, and I don’t want to be held responsible if something happens.”

“I know, dear, but we can’t do that to them. They’ve suffered long enough. It wouldn’t be right to break their fun tonight. Remember when we first started to date?”

“How could I not?”

“Good, because Pinkie and Sapphire are experiencing the same thing. If it can reassure you, I’ll warn them about the roof tomorrow.”

Mr. Cake sighed. “You’re right, hun.”

Cup closed the window and soon joined her husband in bed, both of them intend on getting a good night’s sleep. However, Mr. Cake had one last thing to say first.

“What do you think about her?”

“You mean Sapphire?” Cup asked, receiving a nod from Carrot. “Well, I’ll be honest, she’s not what anypony expected, but who I am to judge Pinkie’s choices? Besides, I talked to her a bit at the party while you were hanging with the other stallions there, and she seemed like a charming pony. They’ll be fine.”

Mr. Cake nodded in acknowledgement. “If you say so.” He then lifted the covers and brought them over the both of them.

“I know what you’re thinking, dear, I can see it in your eyes,” Mrs. Cake pointed out.

“I just don’t want Pinkie to be hurt again.”

“Then you worry for nothing. Trust me when I say they’ll be fine. They just got through what may be the toughest challenge in their lives together, strengthening the bond they share.

“We’ve been through similar problems when we first started dating, remember? Sure, it never got as serious as Pinkie and Sapphire faced, but how many times have we fought, or had disagreements? How many times did we break up and come back together because we were just being stupid?”

Carrot Cake unwinded as his wife reminded him of their youth’s love and hardships, and had to agree with her. “You’re right, Cup. We were just like them back then. Thank you.”

“I’m glad to have eased your worries,” she said, kissing him lovingly on the muzzle.

“I guess time will decide where things will go.” He then took hold of the covers and brought them up over him and Cup, and looked her in the eyes. “Good night hun.”

“Goodnight, Carrot,” she wished him, and he shut his eyes. Before she followed him, she turned to her window and looked outside at the starry sky. Pinkie is growing up. She may not be our child, but we took care of her as if she was our own, and I couldn’t be more proud of what she has become, even when it’s sometimes hard to understand what’s going on in that creative head of hers. And with that, she closed her eyes and let sleep take her too.

To Love a Hybrid

“Sapphy, stop,” grunted the energetic party planner.

“Come on, we’ve almossst got it, dear,” replied her partner.

“It’s too… tight…”

“You’re the one who wanted this, remember?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Hush now and let me jussst…” With one swift swing, Sapphire Heart pulled downward the tunic Pinkie was trying to put on with difficulty, finally managing to free the earth pony’s head from the narrow collar in which she got stuck. “There!”

The lamia looked at her friend, who was dressed in a full jester outfit, though it was obvious it was too small for her. She bought it for the Cake twins’ birthday, planning to give them a little funny show later today.

“I should have gotten a larger sized costume,” Pinkie commented.

“Don’t sssay I didn’t tell you ssso, sssweetie. I’m sssurprised you haven’t thought of that on your own. All the sugar you eat does add to your weight, you know?” Sapphire said, sticking her tongue out at Pinkie, poking fun at her.

“Says the lamia who emptied a full tray of freshly baked cupcakes while my back was turned,” she countered, sticking her own tongue out.

“Hey, it’s not my fault if they sssmell ssso good,” Sapphire defended to no avail. Pinkie had this one in the bag.

“Honestly, the extra weight will do you good, Sapphy. You were a bit skinny anyway. Don’t abuse with the cupcakes, though.”

“Says the one who puts six sugars in her coffee in the morning,” teased the lamia.

“Not my fault if sugar tastes so good!” Pinkie defended, and the two mares giggled at their silliness.

“Even after five months, we still get into playful little fights,” she added as the both of them exited her room.

“Time sure flies, huh? It feels like it was yesssterday that we reconciled with each other,” Sapphire stated.

“Tell me about it,” Pinkie said, leaning in to drop a kiss on her marefriend’s lips, who gladly returned it.

“It feels good to have you back, Pinkie. I really love ssspending time with you. More, I alssso love spending time with your friends, too. I finally am sssomewhere I belong when I’m with all of you.”

“I get that. That’s exactly how I felt when I first moved here.”

They shared another kiss as they descended the stairs, a bit longer this time.

“Love you, Sapphy.”

“Love you too, Pinkie.”

“So, ready for the kids’ party?”

“Actually, I’m afraid I’m not staying for it,” Sapphire announced.

“Why?” Pinkie queried with a raised eyebrow. “Why would you miss a party you’re invited to?”

“I jussst have things to do in town today, and they can’t wait any longer.”

“What kind of things?” the pink mare pushed.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you, but I promise to tell you tomorrow afternoon. Crossss my heart and hope to fly, ssstick a cupcake in my eye.”

Pinkie eyed her suspiciously, making Sapphire sweat a bit, as she feared she would press further. She had to keep her plan a secret for another twenty-four hours and didn’t want to make it harder than it should be. Her one and biggest obstacle was in front of her, since she was the one she wanted to surprise.

After an uncomfortable minute for the hybrid, Pinkie’s smile widened tenfold, and she began hopping forward into the shop’s lobby.

“Okie dokie lokie!” she said as they reached the party zone, which was already filled with streamers and balloons, along with a banner with “Happy birthday Pound and Pumpkin” written on it hanging from the ceiling.

While Pinkie roamed the room until the Cakes finished their own preparations, Sapphire headed for the entrance door, grasping the handle with her tail.

“I’ll be back in a few hours, sssweetie. Have fun with the twins.”

“Have a nice day, Sapphy,” Pinkie called back, and with that, the hybrid left. Though she promised to tell her what she had in mind tomorrow, a single question kept nagging at her mind.

What are you planning, Sapphy?

* * *

Sapphire Heart slithered down the path toward Carousel Boutique. The air was clean, and at her request, Rainbow Dash had accepted to keep the sky clear of any cloud when the lamia told her about her plans.

She was still nervous about what she was doing. Never in her life did she imagine she would live something like this. Yet, as she thought about all the good things it would bring if it did work, she felt her nervousness vanish almost completely.

She passed by a few ponies on the way, now used to her form, and merrily waved at them, even exchanging a few “Hi!” and “Hello!” when they were in close range. It had taken a while to roam around town without feeling awkward, but with the help of her friends, she soon became comfortable wandering around on her own.

She finally reached her destination and knocked on the door three times, receiving a faint and familiar “Coming!” from the other side. A few seconds later, the door opened, revealing Rarity behind it, who had her working glasses on, a measuring tape around her neck and pieces of cloth, needles and thread wrapped in her magical aura.

“Why, hello there, darling!” she cheered as she recognized her guest.

“Good afternoon, Rarity. Um, mind if I come back later? You look busy.”

“Now now, I couldn’t possibly drive you away when I know why you’re here, hm?”

“But-”

“Don’t worry about me, dear. Come inside.” Rarity retreated in her boutique, the hybrid following her, and with a swing of her snake tail, she gently closed the door behind her.

“Are you sure, Rarity?” Sapphire asked. “I wouldn’t want to bother you if you’re too busy with your orders.”

“Nonsense, darling, though I admit I wasn’t expecting that much labor today, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” she assured, depositing her levitated tools on a table.

“Alright, if you sssay ssso.”

“Of course I say so. Now, I know why you’re here, but first, I have something else I want to give you. Wait here for a moment, would you?”

With that, the fashionista headed in her backstore, leaving a slightly confused lamia behind. That confusion soon turned to surprise when Rarity returned with a belt bag floating in her magic.

“I figured saddlebags wouldn’t be convenient for you, so I made this to compensate,” Rarity said, presenting the bag to the lamia.

“Oh Rarity, I can’t accept that,” Sapphire retorted, though the unicorn sharply shook her head.

“I don’t want any of that, dear. I am more than happy to gift you with this.”

Relenting, the snakepony grabbed the bag from Rarity’s aura and attached it around her waist. She then turned to a nearby mirror and looked at herself, noticing that its light brown color fit with her beige coat.

“You’re way too generous, Rarity. I’m gonna owe you a big one.”

“You owe me nothing, darling,” Rarity said, hugging the mare. “Just promise me that whatever you do, you’ll keep Pinkie happy.

“Trust me, I don’t plan on failing that,” the lamia declared with a small smile.

“Now,” the unicorn began, breaking out of the hug, “I’ve got what you came for in my room. I’ll be back in a jiffy. And before you start again, you don’t owe me anything for that either. Besides, let’s just say that this was a favor somepony owed me.”

With that, she went upstairs, coming back down two minutes later with a small sealed box in her telekinesis. She handed it to Sapphire, who took it and tucked it in her new bag safely.

“Thank you ssso very much, Rarity,” The hybrid said, hugging her friend one more time before she headed for the door.

“It is my pleasure, darling. Whatever happens, good luck!”

“Thanksss!”

Sapphire opened the door, and found herself face to face with Rarity’s younger sister, who was looking at her with a beaming smile on her face.

“Hi there, Sapphire!” Sweetie Belle chirped.

“Hey,” she replied with a hint of hesitation in her voice. She had witnessed twice what happened when the unicorn filly bothered her sister when she was overloaded with work, and both times it hadn’t been pretty. She then turned her head and addressed the elder as she bypassed Sweetie Belle on her way out of the boutique.. “Rarity, I think you’re gonna need more luck than me.”

“What do you mea-” The words stopped in the fashionista’s throat when she noticed her little sister had replaced the hybrid’s spot at the entrance, who closed the door after the lamia’s tail had completely left through it. Celestia help me… she prayed.

* * *

Instead of going back to Sugarcube Corner immediately, Sapphire decided to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around town. She browsed the stands in the market area, buying herself a rose from Roseluck as a small snack in the process, savoring the petals as she munched on them.

She also took the opportunity to visit Ditzy, who she now considered a good friend. With Dinky being at school and Sparkler studying in Canterlot to be a fashion designer, the wall-eyed pegasus’ house wasn’t as lively. The lamia still found it admirable that she could manage to raise her daughters on her own, and she could see she was doing a very good job at making sure she had everything she needed.

They talked for most of the afternoon. After a while, their conversation breached upon the romance topic when Ditzy admitted that she might have a crush on a stallion in town, but made the hybrid promise not to spill a word about it, to which Sapphire gladly complied.

While they were on the topic, the lamia decided to share her plans for this evening to the pegasus, who couldn’t stop a loud gasp and a squeal of excitement from escaping as the meaning of what the snakepony just said sank into her brain.

When they noticed that it was starting to get late, Sapphire Heart excused herself and made her way to the front door. Ditzy accompanied her to her porch, and before the lamia left, hugged her and wished her all the luck in the world. Breaking the hug, the hybrid thanked her friend, and headed towards Sugarcube Corner to face her possibly biggest challenge.

* * *

Pinkie laid in her bed, facing the ceiling. She had removed her jester outfit and had thrown it in the corner of her room, along with all her unusable stuff. Next time, I’m getting a bigger size, she thought as she quickly took a peek at the pile of junk, and I should probably clean that up soon, shouldn’t I?

Partying for the Cake twins had taken a lot of her, surprisingly. Never once had she stopped dancing, joking, telling funny tales and etc. Or maybe she just overdid it? Nah, you can never put too much in a party, she reasoned to herself.

The shop was currently relatively calm. The babies were napping in their room, and save for the faint sounds - they weren’t loud from where she was - of the cash register downstairs, nothing was breaking the silence. Boy, maybe the girls were actually right. A bit of calm can really be refreshing.

She decided to remain like she was for a while, relishing in the serene atmosphere. Even party ponies need a break sometimes, don’t they? So relaxed she was, she didn’t even spring up from her bed when Sapphire knocked on her door before entering the room.

The lamia found it odd to see her friend with a lack of energy. It wasn’t an everyday sight, that was for sure.

“Hey there, Sapphy!” the earth pony greeted from her vantage point. Then she noticed the accessory around her waist. “Nice bag!”

“Thanksss,” she returned before closing the door behind her tail. “Rarity gave it to me. Makes a nice sssubssstitute to sssaddlebags.”

“Neat!” Pinkie commented before returning her gaze to the ceiling with a sigh.

“Partied hard with the little guys?” Sapphire guessed.

“You have no idea. Did I ever tell you that they are an amazing audience?”

“Um… no?” the hybrid responded sheepishly. Then a thought came to her mind and she smirked. “Ssso… that jessster cossstume…” Her smirk grew wider. “How long did it take you to remove it?”

“Don’t talk to me about it,” Pinkie retorted.

The lamia’s smirk turned into a toothy grin, clearly showing her two snake-like fangs on the upper gum of her maw. “Don’t tell me that I never told you ssso!”

“I know! I know! I should have listened to you! It’s just… I don’t know…”

“Admit it, you like it when it’s tight,” Sapphire said, finding hard by now to hold her laughter inside.

“Well, it needed to be tight so it didn’t fall off because it would have been too…” Pinkie paused and slowly turned her head to look at the lamia, who was now biting her lip. “loose?” And at last, she finally understood what Sapphire had meant, and a blush formed on her pink cheeks.

And of course, the hybrid totally lost it, falling to the floor in hysterics and pounding the floor with a hoof.

“O-oh Celessstia-a! The -pfft! - the look on your face, Pinkie! It’s jussst… Bwahahaha!”

“Hey!” the party mare interjected. “Laughing at somepony else’s expense is not funny!”

“Oh come on! How many times did YOU laugh at mine in the passst?” Sapphire asked as she slowly but surely managed to subdue her laughing, rising from the ground.

It’s true, isn’t it? Pinkie thought. Looking back at her friend, who was now back up at normal height, she gave her a smile of her own.

“Okay, you win this one, silly.”

They took a moment to calm down, especially Sapphire, who had to take numerous deep breaths to let the adrenaline wind down. When she was sufficiently placid, she took another breather to steel herself for what she wanted to do in the first place.

“Pinkie, you know that ssspot of yours on the roof?” She received a nod and raised eyebrow in response. “Do you mind if we go up there for a while?”

“Why on the roof when here is fine?” the earth pony asked.

“Please. It’s very important to me,” she begged, and Pinkie didn’t miss the hint, as she got up from the bed and opened her window, hopping out of it and making her way to the top, the lamia following behind.

I wonder that’s going on, she mused. But if talking up here will make her happier, then Auntie Pinkie Pie will be more than happy to accept.

Once they were sat on the rooftop, the pink mare didn’t waste a second bombarding her friend with questions.

“So, why are we alone up here? Oh, is it because you have a super duper, top secret secret you wanna tell me?” she asked, and continued before Sapphire could reply. “Or maybe is it a super fun prank idea? Oh, what is it? Who are we gonna prank?” For each little question, the closer her face was from the lamia’s, who was now unable to keep up with Pinkie and was being driven crazy by her antics.

“PINKIE!” she yelled loud enough the whole town could have heard her. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Unfortunately, a couple walking around did and glanced their way, and the hybrid waved dismissively at them. Luckily for her, they got the message and returned to whatever they were doing.

Pinkie, on her side, had stepped back a few steps as Sapphire snapped, and was currently watching her with an unblinking stare. Her ears were ringing from the sheer intensity of the yell. Even Dad doesn’t yell that loudly, she thought.

When Sapphire returned her focus on her friend, a small pang of guilt hit her as she noticed the stare Pinkie was giving her, and slightly lowered her head apologetically.

“Sssorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, I’m sorry,” Pinkie cut her as she recovered from the shock. “I guess I let my imagination get the best of me… again.”

“Don’t you dare take the blame,” Sapphire commanded.

“But it was my fault that you yelled at me,” Pinkie retorted.

“No, it’s not.”

“But-”

“Pinkie.” She didn’t yell, but her tone was stern, and Pinkie thought it best to stop talking and listen. “I’m sssorry I sssnapped at you, but I promise, it’s not your fault. If anything, it’s mine. Would it have been any other day, I wouldn’t have minded your… antics, if we can call them that way.

“But today is different.” She breathed deeply once more to retrieve her courage and self control. “I asked you to come here because I have sssomething very important to asssk you, and it would mean a lot to me if you could jussst let me ssspeak without any interruptions.”

Pinkie nodded. She put a hoof to her mouth and zipped it shut, then nodded for Sapphire to continue.

“Thanks,” the lamia said with a smile. “Here goes nothing, then.

“Pinkie Pie, when we firssst met almossst ssseven years ago, I felt like you were the sssavior to my miserable life. When I thought I couldn’t find any way to be happy after I lossst my parents, you showed me the light in my darknessss. During that firssst year, you made me feel emotions I thought I could never feel again, and made me realize that my life ssstill had hope in it.

“As the months passssed, the light you shed on my sssaddened heart grew into a beaming beacon. However, as that light grew, ssso did my admiration and appreciation for you and the kindnessss you’ve shown me, and before I knew it, I began having a crush on you, which ssscared me and warmed my heart at the sssame time back then.

“And then everything shattered. I messssed up, and everything went downhill. Everyday I moped about what I had done and thrown away because I was too weak to control myssself, and I felt I was back to square one.

“Everyday the weight of my sssin hurt, and it was thanks to Zecora, who helped me put my thoughts in order, that I was able to figure that I had more than a crush on you and that wherever you were, I ssstill cared deeply about your well-being.

“Now it’s been over five months that we’re back together, and to be honessst with myssself, those were the best five months of my life. To mossst ponies, it may not be long, but to me, it felt like forever.”

As Pinkie listened, her heart pumped faster. No matter how much she wanted to jump high into the air at the fact that she and Sapphire shared the same feeling and similar thoughts towards each other, she remained still and quiet, respecting the hybrid’s request.

“And ssso, it is with great courage that I want to asssk you one important quessstion,” Sapphire added.

She looked down at her belt bag and opened the latch, carefully withdrawing the small box that was stored in it. Closing the bag, she looked up into Pinkie’s sky blue eyes, and somehow, the pink mare could feel that what was about to come next was serious business.

“We’re ssstill young, meaning there’s ssstill plenty of time ahead of us,” the hybrid said. “However, it would bring me infinite joy if we could ssspend that time together, ssso that’s why I want to asssk you this…” She leaned down so that she was level with Pinkie’s neck, her sapphire eyes never leaving Pinkie’s, and opened the box, revealing its content.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, would you make me the happiessst sssoul in Equessstria and give me your hoof in marriage?”

Silence settled between the two mares, and Sapphire’s nerves tensed with each passing minute without any sort of reply, to the point where she was slowly beginning to sweat.

Pinkie, on her part, now had her gaze fixed on the gold necklace that laid in the open box in the snakepony’s hoof, more specifically on the aquamarine embedded in the pendant that was attached to the chain. Although she was no connoisseur in jewelry, she could easily guess why Sapphire had chosen this particular gem. Same color as my eyes…

Then her mind went back to the question that came with the accessory, and looked back at her friend. Her caring, honest and lovely friend, she corrected. And the longer she stared at the hybrid, the more she felt that should she spend the rest of her life with anypony, she wouldn’t want that somepony to be anyone else that her.

Without any sort of warning, she sprung into the lamia’s arms, causing her to drop the box, but she managed to catch it with her tail before it hit the floor.

“Of course I do, silly,” Pinkie answered, and Sapphire could feel tears dripping on the fur on her back. Her hooves now free, she embraced the pink mare and returned the hug, shedding happy tears of her own.

After two minutes, even though neither of them wanted the moment to end, Sapphire pulled away. With her scaly limb, she lifted the box between them, and with her hooves, grabbed it and put it around her fiancé’s neck. Retreating a few inches, she admired how well it matched Pinkie’s eyes, and smiled approvingly.

They said nothing for a while, content of just gazing into each other’s glassy orbs. With a hoof, the lamia wiped away Pinkie’s tears, then her own, before leaning over and kissing her tenderly on the lips.

“I love you ssso much, Pinkie Pie.”

“I love you too, Sapphy.”

They remained embraced in each other’s arms and sharing kisses for most of the evening, not wanting the moment to end. When Luna’s moon eventually rose into the sky, they swore they could feel the lunar monarch’s blessing as the moonlight shed on them.