Sweet Child of Mine

Chapters

Let's Get it Started
Meetings and Misunderstandings
Finding A Place in the World

Let's Get it Started

Sweet Child of Mine

Chapter 1 ‘Let’s get it started’

(Ponyville – Gold Oaks Library)

“Twilight!” Spike shouted as a blinding white light flashed through the library.

Slowly Spike sat up to see something odd. The spell Twilight was working on seemed to be working. He walked toward her and touched her. She groaned and started to fall. He reached to catch her when something slithered through the portal. It stood, on two hind legs. It looked to be half pony and half something else. He noticed that it’s mane and tail looked very similar to Twilights.

The creature carried her over to a bed and gently laid her down.

“Spike… Damn Spike did mom give you youth potion or something?” the creature asked.

“Mom?” he asked.

“Yeah, mom, this mare… Oh for the love of Luna this isn’t right,” the creature said shaking its head.

“What in the hay are you going on about?” Spike asked.

The spell faltered before the creature could go back to it. The creature stood in the middle of the library, looking at the place where the spell had created a sort of gate, and then shook its head.

“Son of a BITCH!” it shouted.

“What or who, actually what and who are you?” Spike asked.

“Someone that doesn’t exist yet, or doesn’t exist at all in this world,” the creature said.

“Come again?” Spike asked.

The creature walked over, dug around in its pocket and pulled out a crystal. Spike drooled as it offered it to him. He walked over, snatched it out the creature’s hand and began eating it with gusto. He felt the creature gently rub the place right beside his highest spine and let out a soft smoke laced purr.

“I’m usually called a lot of things, but my friends call me Trip. As for what I am… I’m a Halfling. Half Pony, half… human,” the creature said.

Spike noticed how feminine the creature sounded. If it was a girl she looked weird, and she was wearing clothes. There wasn’t a ball anywhere, so it wasn’t like she was dressing up for a special occasion. He studied it, decided that since it sounded like a she then it must be a she, and touched ‘her’ hand.

“Why do they call you Trip?” he asked.

“Because my father thought it was good fun to name me Triplana Sparkle,” she said.

Spike snorted at the name.

“I know,” she replied.

“You called Twilight mom, why?” Spike asked.

Trip sighed, looked at the sleeping unicorn and then out a window into the night sky.

“Because where I come from she is my mom, well our mom. She’s taken care of you since you were a hatchling, so you were kind of my older brother… Mom was really busy working on a project, and I really wanted to see her. So I thought that I could try to work out a spell…” she said moving a bang of hair to reveal a tiny horn, “I thought it connected, and it did… but not at the right place, or something.”

“Okay, but you said that your dad’s a human… What’s that?” Spike asked.

She smiled, stood up, and looked down at him. He could see that her legs looked almost furless. She had hooves, and her legs did resemble Twilight’s back legs, but there was no real amount of fur on her legs. Instead of hooves on her forelegs she had weird claws, or maybe paws. Studying her for a moment he shook his head.

“Okay, so, what’s a human?” he asked.

She dug around in her pocket again and pulled out a photo. She handed it to him and he looked at a picture of a weird, mostly hairless, ape thing with a slightly older Twilight, leaning against it kissing its cheek. Next to him on the other side was a larger version of himself, and on his back was weird little foal. He studied the foal and then creature standing there.

“That guy in the middle is my dad, and he’s a human. His name is Jerrad Farmer, and he’s from Earth. He was working with the idea of there being small interdimensional gateways between universes, and was trying to open one. I remember him telling mom it had taken him years to find out the frequency to open a gate. When he did… it… It pulled him, and some other stuff, through,” she said.

“What other stuff?” Spike asked.

She rubbed the back of her head and then looked at the floor.

“A computer program that fused with the magic in the air to become a new form of life… The program should have just not existed outside of a computer. I mean it was just raw data, at least that’s what dad said. He had developed it to inform other universes about us. To tell them that he was peaceful. There was nothing here that could have downloaded it so, it should have just bounced around until the signal got too weak,” she said.

“What happened?” Spike asked.

“Oh I like this part of the story! Tell me again! Tell me again!” a voice said.

“For the love of Luna… HAL!” she shouted.

“I wanted to join you Trip! I wanted to see what you were doing! This is a brand new world… Ooooooo…. Books! DATA!!!!!” the voice screamed before a strange bright light formed into a blue looking pony.

It didn’t exactly look real. Instead it looked like a ghost, but the pony ran over to a book, touched it, and Spike watched as the book became blue, turned into a weird group of numbers and then disappeared into the weird little thing.

“Friend SPIKE!” it happily said running to him.

Spike felt it wrap it’s hooves around him and hug tightly. He felt an electrical shock for a moment before the creature let him go.

“I am so HAPPY to see friend SPIKE!” it shouted.

“Yeah… Hal, that’s your name right?” Spike asked.

“Yes, I am Hal, Human/Alien/Learningaide! Friend Trip I have over sixty-five Terabytes of information stored from the books… Is friend Celestia still mad about her cupcake recipes?” Hal asked.

“Cupcake recipes?” Spike asked.

“Hal got into Celestia’s recipe vault at Canterlot castle… He downloaded everything. She lost over twenty-five thousand cake and cupcake recipes in the span of about two seconds. I recall her talking about banishment to the moon,” Trip said.

“Wait… What?” he asked.

“Trip to the moon was fun! Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!” Hal shouted as ‘he’ jumped around simulating low gravity.

“It got very boring… and the only thing in the building up there was pictures of stallions…” Hal said making a gaging gesture.

“Spike… What was that?” Twilight asked.

“Mom?” Trip said.

Twilight looked at the creature standing there, scooted back, with her eyes wide.

“What are you?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Mom… I… I’m your daughter. I’m Trip… you know Triplana Sparkle,” she said.

“Nonononononononono, I don’t have a filly… and you don’t look like a pony… although you have my mane… What are you?” she asked.

“She’s a Halfling,” Spike said.

“Friend Trip is a Halfling!” Hal shouted.

“What is that?” Twilight asked.

“Ooooooooo…. Starswirl’s book of advanced magic… Friend Twilight… You got it back… Hal will download it for you!” Hal said as he touched the large tome.

All throughout Ponyville everyone heard the sound of a mare screaming ‘NOOOO STOP THAT!’

Hal looked at the library and his lighter solid blue eyes widened.

“All of the DATA IS BACK! YAY!!!!” ‘he’ yelled happily before he started running to each book.

“Hal, stop it!” Trip shouted.

Hal stopped after downloading the sixth book and looked at Trip.

“But, Hal has to download all Data… Creator Jerrad said to download all Data,” Hal said.

“Hal, you’re making mom go into one of her fits. Do you remember what she did last time?” Trip asked.

Hal shuttered and sat down.

“Hal will be good. Hal doesn’t like the jar,” Hal said.

“What in the name of Celestia is going on?!” Twilight shouted.

“Mom… I think we need to talk,” Trip said.

Trip began explaining everything to Twilight, who had spike taking notes, about how she got here, what happened, who Hal was, who her father was, what her father was, and then she even told her about the recipe incident. Twilight giggled a little at that, but pressed for her to go on. When she finished Twilight sat there. She looked at the picture and studied the ‘human’ this version of her was leaning against.

“What’s he like?” she asked.

“Dad’s always been cool. He’s smart, I mean he’s a little out there at times, but really smart. You know… He figured out how interdimensional gateways work. He actually ended up here because of one,” Trip answered.

“Why didn’t he go home?” Twilight asked.

“Dad figured out how they worked, but he didn’t map them. He couldn’t find the gateway home again. He said that you helped him for nearly two years before the both of you realized that it was going to be impossible to find the correct gateway, or if you did he would be too old to use it,” she said.

“How did we…” Twilight asked.

“The both of you liked each other, but… Ummm… I don’t know everything. I mean you guys didn’t exactly tell me how he proposed. I kind of figured that it must have been something… weird. Don’t get me wrong, I mean I like seeing a cute stallion and everything, but I don’t like talking about what mares and stallions do you know,” she said flicking her tail.

Twilight nodded and blushed. She stretched a hoof out and touched the creature, no touched her.

“Do you know how to get back home?” Twilight asked.

Trip shook her head.

“No…” she said.

For the first time since coming here her eyes began to tear up. Twilight looked at her, and all thoughts about this being an alien creature left her mind. She pulled the crying Halfling into a hug and gently stroked her mane.

“It’s all right,” she said.

She felt the girl shaking and continued to comfort her. For several minutes she cried until finally she pulled back. Twilight noticed part of her mane moving a little. She pushed it back a little to reveal a pair of ears on top of her head. The ears had a very soft coat of lavender fur on them, but that seemed to be the only real place she had any fur.

“You… The other you would kill me for trying that spell alone,” Trip sniffed.

“Spell? What spell?” Twilight asked.

“Hal, project the spell I was working on,” Trip said.

Hal looked, from where he was sitting, toward the ceiling and a bright blue light shined through his eyes and illuminated the room. He focused the light and suddenly it began to look like a floating piece of paper. Suddenly it began turning with enough speed that it would have put Rainbow Dash to shame before it stopped. Twilight looked at the spell, back at the girl, and then back at the spell. She shook her head, got up and paced the floor before finally turning back to Trip.

“What in the Hay were you doing trying to combine a teleportation spell with a tracking spell?! Do you know how dangerous that is? You could have gotten killed! This other me wouldn’t be upset, she’d be furious at you!” Twilight berated her.

“Mom…” she started before Twilight shook her head.

“I’m going to think that this other me loves you very much, and I’m going to believe that if she is anything like me then she would be disappointed, furious, and would wear your flank out until you couldn’t sit straight. What were you trying to do?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Friend Trip missed Friend Twilight. Friend Twilight was helping Friend Celestia in Canterlot! Friend Celestia had found Creator Jerrad!” Hal said.

“What is he going on about?” Twilight asked.

She looked at the girl who was looking at the floor with her ears laid back.

“Trip, what is he talking about?” she asked.

“Dad… Went to help uncle Shining. He… He was helping them learn how to store information into the crystals… Uncle Shining said that Dad was just outside of the city for a second. Just a second, and then something got him. He went looking for him… Mom he said that something Dark had taken Dad and was using him. It was using him to open gateways, lots of them. I… I just wanted to help Mom! I thought that I could maybe talk to him!” she cried.

Twilight felt her heart go out to the girl. She pulled her into another hug and held her. She had wanted to help her mother with her father. The both of them had lost… This other version of her had lost her husband and this girl had lost her father. She went back to comforting her.

“We’ll do everything we can to help. Spike, take a letter,” she said.

Spike put down the piece of parchment he was working on and picked up another one.

“Dear Princess Celestia,

I have news to report on a strange occurrence. I was practicing a spell earlier which would allow me to view into nearby universes, but a surge knocked me back and out. It appeared that the surge that did this was caused by a young… let’s say filly… named Triplana who came from one of these universes. She, and a strange friend of hers, have arrived here by accident, and it is impartive that we assist them in getting home. From my understanding of what she said the universe she comes from is very much like our own, but a terrible thing has happened there. I would like to request an audience with you for her.

Your fateful student,

Twilight Sparkle,” she said.

Spike rolled it up, but before he began she looked at him.

“Spike, go ahead and send the notes we took as well. I want Princess Celestia to know what is going on,” she said.

He nodded, grabbed the notes, the letter, kept them rolled up, and then breathed fire on them. They turned into a sort of sparkly mist and floated out the window. They waited for about thirty minutes when Spike let out a huge belch of flame and a very tight scroll formed. He handed it to Twilight who opened it.

“Dear Twilight and Triplana,

I quite understand her plight and extend an invitation to see me at once. I am also interested in this Hal creature, but rest assured he will not be allowed near the royal recipe vault. I will do all that I can to help. Because of the hour, I have asked Luna to send one of her carriages to pick you both up. It should be arriving shortly.

Your Mentor and Friend,

Princess Celestia,” Twilight read.

Meetings and Misunderstandings

Sweet Child of Mine

Chapter 2 ‘Meetings and Misunderstandings’

(Golden Oaks Library – Ponyville – Present time)

“TRIP!!!!” Twilight screamed as she pulled on her mane. She had come home as soon as she heard from Spike.

He had come into the room when Trip was trying out her spell, and he didn’t get the chance to stop her. Instead she had disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. Hal was also gone so there was no telling what she had cast. She looked around for something, anything to help her find her daughter, but instead it was an empty library. Hal had ingested all of the books in the library, and even a good deal of the letters from the princess.

“Twi, she’s a smart girl,” Spike said.

“I should have been here Spike. I should have made sure that she didn’t try something!” Twilight cried.

“She was looking for you, so maybe she found you. I mean found a different you,” he said trying to sooth her.

“What good would that do? Even if she found another me what if it’s a me that isn’t out of magic kindergarten yet, or what if it’s a me that just arrived in Ponyville?! That version of me isn’t going to know what to do!” she cried.

He walked over to her and pulled her into a tight hug. He felt her return it.

“Trip is a smart filly, and she’s resourceful. We’ve got to trust that if she found another you then the two of you will know how to take care of this,” he said.

She sniffed and nodded.

“What am I going to do Spike? I lost Jacob, and now…” she started before he shushed her.

“You’re going to go back and help Celestai come up with a way to save Jacob. I’m going to talk to Luna and see anything I tell her makes enough sense to help us figure out what Trip might have been working on,” he said as he held her, “Twilight, Trip is my little sister, and I’m going to do everything that I can to help get her back, but right now you’ve got to focus on getting Jacob back.”

She nodded as he led her to her bed.

“Go ahead and try to get some sleep. I’m going to go ahead and write a letter to Luna, and see what she’ll say,” he said.

(Golden Oaks Library – Ponyville – Alternate time line)

Twilight heard the sound of wings flapping and looked out the window to see Luna’s personal carriage arriving. She took a breath and then looked back at Trip. The ‘girl’ seemed to be genuinely worried. It made sense that she would be though. Her father was missing, her mother was helping the Celestia of her world try to track him down, and she was alone at the library. She walked toward her, and offered her a hoof.

“Princess Celestia will know what to do,” she said.

The girl straightened her white tank-top and red skirt. She started to follow Twilight and then she stopped. Twilight looked at her and the girl was tearing up.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“What if I end up like Dad? What if I never get to see him again?” she asked.

Twilight looked at her and smiled gently.

“I will never stop helping you find a way back home,” she replied.

She felt the girl hug her and she returned it. She was still trying to come to grips with the fact that this girl was her daughter. Perhaps it was in the future, or a different universe, but her daughter all the same. She walked with her out to the carriage and the both of them waited for Spike who came out after he locked the door.

“Is FRIEND Celestia still mad at Hal?” a disembodied voice asked.

“Hal, it’s fine, this is a different Celestia, and you haven’t ate her recipes,” Trip said wiping her eyes.

“FRIEND Trip is leaking around eyes. FRIEND Trip sad?” Hal asked.

“I just miss Mom, Spike, and Dad,” she said.

“FRIEND Spike and FRIEND Twilight are present,” he replied.

It was so hard to explain it to him. He didn’t understand because he wasn’t meant to. She knew how innocent he truly was.

“I know, thank you Hal,” she said.

“Hal is helping FRIEND Trip!” he chirped happily.

They lifted into the air and Twilight looked at her.

“Princess Celestia is going to want to know everything,” she said.

“I’ll tell her everything I know,” Trip said.

They rode quietly until they reached Canterlot. Once there they stepped off and instead of going straight inside Trip walked forward to the Batponies who were getting ready to take off.

“Thank you,” she said.

The one on the left smiled slightly.

“You are very welcomed,” he said in a gruff voice before they took off.

She walked with this version of Twilight until they reached the throne room. In it sat a tired looking Princess Celestia and a fresh Princess Luna.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, this is Triplana Sparkle,” Twilight said.

“Triplana, from what Twilight has said in her letter you and your friend,” she said indicating the glowing blue foal like pony beside her, “Are needing help finding a way back to your world. I would ask that you please tell me in your words what has happened up to the point of you arriving here so that I may see what it is that we can do to aid you,” Celestia said.

“I will be glad to,” Trip said, “It started about three weeks ago.”

(Golden Oaks Library – Ponyville – two weeks earlier)

“Trip! Triplana Sparkle get out of bed! You’re going to be late!” Twilight shouted from downstairs.

A few moments later the door to Trip’s room came open and a purple unicorn mare walked over to her. She shook the girl for a moment before shaking her head and pulling the covers off of her daughter.

“Five more minutes?” Trip asked.

“You don’t have five minutes to spare. As it is I doubt you’ll have enough time to take a shower. Trip, do you really want to be late for your first day of apprenticeship?” Twilight asked.

“But mom I’m still so tired…” she complained.

Twilight rolled her eyes and started to walk out of the room.

“Get up. I’m making some breakfast, and if your father has to come up here you know what he’ll do to wake you up,” Twilight said.

Trip’s eyes shot open and she sat up.

“Okay, okay! I’m up! We don’t need to send dad up here okay,” she said softly.

Twilight smiled and looked at the girl sitting up.

“Good, and go ahead and take a shower. I’ll tell your father that the bucket of ice water isn’t needed this morning,” Twilight said with a smile.

Trip watched her mom walk out of the room and slowly stood. She looked at the body standing in the mirror that was looking back at her. A body that didn’t know if it wanted to be a human or a pony, one that was sometimes difficult to stay balanced in, and then there was the fact that she knew she looked weird. Her muzzle was shorter than other ponies, but slightly bigger than her father’s. She didn’t have a beautiful coat of fur like her mom. Instead she had a full mane, a tail, and a growth of hair that had started coming in when she was thirteen. She wasn’t sure what she thought of that. It wasn’t like it was really protecting anything. A soft yawn escaped her and she walked toward her closet.

Rarity had been kind enough to make her a wardrobe. Tank tops, skirts, formal wear, and underwear. Her dad had said that it was important to have them. Recently Rarity had created a device that helped support her teats. She didn’t know why they had to be so far up on her chest. It was so different from her mom.

“Face it, you’re weird,” she said to herself.

She pulled out the supporter, her dad called it a bra, her underwear, a pair of jeans, and a tank top. She opened her door, looked around, and made sure that the coast was clear. She didn’t have a problem walking around naked, but her dad had made it a point to tell her that since she was built more like he was she needed to wear the clothes for protection, and for modesty. She didn’t really get the modesty part. After all mom, all of her friends, and even her brother Spike walked around naked all day long.

Seeing the coast was clear she walked out of the room toward the bathroom. She nearly made it when another bipedial creature moved past her and into the bathroom.

“Spike!!!!” She shouted.

“Sorry Sis, but I’ve got to go help Scoots, and I want to look presentable doing it!” he shouted.

“Nuhuh! I got to take a shower! I’m supposed to start my apprenticeship today!” she shouted.

“Oh… Oh! You’re going to working with Rarity today right? Wow, yeah, you need to get a shower and quick. She’ll say something if you aren’t clean,” he said.

“Thanks BBBFF,” she said hugging him.

He hugged her back and smiled.

“It’s fine, besides, I know that Scoots won’t mind for me to be a little late,” he said.

She walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

“So when are you going to make an honest mare out of her?!” Trip shouted.

“I will when we’re both ready to take that next step! Besides, she’s been pretty busy training with Dash for the Wonderbolts tryouts!” he shouted back through the door, “Hey, Twilight wants me downstairs for a minute! Let me know when you get out!”

“Okay!” she shouted back.

She felt the hot water striking her and she loved every second of it. She moaned as she relaxed and then she heard a faint beep.

“FRIEND Trip has lost two ounces! It appears that FRIEND Trip has confused the use of the Bathing area for the Toilet area!” a high pitched voice squealed.

“Hal get out!” she shouted.

“FRIEND Trip is currently going through cleaning ritual!” he chirped happily.

“GET OUT NOW!” she shouted.

“Hal Wishes to help FRIEND Trip!” he chirped.

“MOM!” Trip yelled.

Twilight opened the door to see a glowing blue foal for lack of a better word. She narrowed her eyes at small creature before she walked over to the sink, reached under it and pulled out a jar.

“Hal, out or it’s back into the jar,” Twilight said.

Hal’s glowing blue eyes widened in fear and he blinked out of existence. Twilight shook her head and then walked over to the shower.

“He’s gone sweetie, although you could have done the same thing,” she said.

“He doesn’t believe me when I do it,” Trip said as she stood there.

Twilight started to turn around.

“Mom… thank you,” she said.

“It’s fine. Did you remember to grab a towel before you hopped in?” she asked.

“Heheh… Sorry,” Trip replied.

A moment later a towel floated out of the linen closet and sat down on the edge of the sink. Twilight looked at the tub and memories came flooding back to her of how she had bathed Trip when she still such a little filly.

“Do you want me to wash your back for you?” Twilight asked.

“Do you mind?” Trip asked.

Twilight smiled and a wash rag floated over toward the stream of hot water. She let it drift under the hot water for a moment and then she let it float over to her. She soaped it up and then moved the curtain a little and reached in to wash Trip’s back. She scrubbed lightly and took a moment to relive a few old memories. She pulled her hoof back and placed the wash rag over a pan she had placed on the floor to let the wet rags drip into.

“Okay, hurry up and get dressed. Rarity is going to be ready to start in a little bit,” Twilight said.

“Mom...” Trip said.

Twilight turned toward her.

“Do… Do you really think that I can do this? I mean, I don’t know how good I really am at this,” Trip said.

Twilight stood on her hind legs and put her forelegs on her daughter’s shoulders.

“Sweetie, you’re growing up to be an amazing mare. Without any training you’ve already shown an amazing ability to repair almost anything, and while I’ve taught you everything I know about repair magic you really need Rarity to show you how to be precise with it. She’s had a lot of experience using repair magic on her clothes, and it is very precise work,” she said.

“I know, but I just don’t want to screw up,” she said.

Twilight smiled and nuzzled her cheek softly.

“You’re going to be fine. Now finish up, and get down stairs,” she said before she stepped back and dropped down.

Trip watched her mom and slowly got out of the shower. She walked to her room and quickly pulled on her clothes. She walked down stairs to find her Dad hugging her Mom. She liked to tease them about it, but she did like that they played around with each other. She heard her Mom squeak a little in surprise before turning around and catching her father in a kiss.

“You’re going to be back soon right?” Twilight asked.

“I should be. The type of record storage they’re wanting to use shouldn’t be that hard to replicate. It’s just printing the data into the crystal, and with the spell that you sent Shining, for Candace to study, I’m fairly certain we should be able to finish in less than a week,” he said.

“I hate that you’re going to be gone for an entire week. I know it needs to be done, but I wish they could do it here and transport the crystals back,” she said.

“You know better than that. There’s too much of a chance the crystal might crack or break,” he said.

She nodded, felt him hug her again, and then she felt his hand drift down right above her tail. She giggled like a school filly as he held her.

“Ewwww… Get a room you two,” Trip said deciding to make her presence known.

“Uhhuh, Just know little lady that if your mom and me weren’t like this you wouldn’t be here,” her Dad said.

“Really guys? I walk outside to check the mail, and I come back in to see the two of you fooling around?” Spike asked.

“The shower is all your’s BBBFF,” Trip said.

“Cool, thanks Trip,” he said.

He walked up the steps and they heard the bathroom door close.

“Dad, do you really gotta go?” Trip asked.

“I’m afraid that I do, but I’ll be back in a week, maybe sooner,” he said.

They sat down together to eat. After she was finished Trip checked the time, quickly hugged her Dad and Mom and then ran out of the house toward the Carousel Boutique. She knew that Rarity didn’t like to be kept waiting, and she didn’t want the fashionista to be too upset at her for being late. She ran up to the door of the Boutique and quickly checked the watch her father had given her. She wasn’t late, but she wasn’t early either. She knocked on the door and waited.

“Come in!” a refined voice said.

She opened the door and walked into the building. She could smell the faint aroma of mint tea, dark chocolate, and some kind of expensive perfume that always made her sneeze when she was around it for very long.

“Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! I’ll be with you in just a minute!” the same voice called out.

“Ummm.. Rarity it’s me,” Trip said.

She heard the clatter of a couple of boxes, and then a moment later Rarity walked out to see one of her best friend’s daughter standing there looking nervous.

“Triplana! I’m glad that you made it on time this morning! I’m afraid that Sweetie Belle won’t be in today. She and Button are at the hospital,” Rarity said.

“Is it serious?” Trip asked.

“Nothing serious at all darling, just a routine checkup to make sure that their foal is doing all right,” Rarity said.

“Oh, okay. So, what are we going to work on today?” Trip asked.

“Well, Twilight said that you need to learn precision, and the best thing I can think of to help you focus on that is sewing. I have twelve dresses that all need a massive amount of repair. Since Sweetie Belle won’t be in, and since I have you here to train that’s where we are going to start,” Rarity said as she lead Trip into the next room.

Trip walked in to see several dresses hanging on the mannequins. She walked toward them and studied them before looking at Rarity.

“Where’s the damage?” she asked.

A soft chuckle came from the white unicorn mare. She walked toward the emerald green dress with rubies sewn into it on the far left and gently tugged its collar with her magic. Trip watched as this happened and a ruby nearly fell off.

“The thread has begun to come loose here. The next one has a seam that is trying to bust open, the third needs a slight alteration so that wings can be moved far easier, the forth needs to be rethreaded completely, along with an alteration so it will fit a fuller, plumper frame, and the last one is the tricky one. I want you to study it, but not with your eyes. Reach out and feel it with magic,” Rarity said.

Trip closed her eyes, and a light purple glow covered the fabric of the material. For a moment nothing happened, and then the glow began to intensify when it found the laces of the dress. She followed the laces down and her eyes flashed open.

“The lace straps for the back of the dress are wrong,” she said.

“Very good! Yes, I’m afraid that they are wrong. This wasn’t one of mine, but instead it was something bought in Las Pegasus. It’s not bad work, but you can tell a few places where the dress maker skipped over a few details. Because of that the dress doesn’t fit right,” she said.

“So, are we going to completely redo the dress?” Trip asked.

Rarity nodded as she made the dress lift up, and float over into Trip’s arms.

“Yes, we are. I had thought about simply repairing the lacing problem, but that would be masking the other faults with the dress. I couldn’t stand for anypony to wear something that wasn’t perfect, even if I didn’t original make it,” she replied.

Trip walked over to a work station and waited for Rarity to come over. She looked up to see her floating a pair of scissors over to her. She started to grab them when Rarity cleared her throat.

“Your mother wants you to practice your magic, so use your magic,” Rarity said.

Trip focused on the scissors and then looked up at Rarity.

“How do I do this?” she asked.

“What did you see when you felt it through your magic?” Rarity asked.

“I saw the pieces it was supposed to be in. Like it was pulled apart very carefully,” she replied.

“Good, and that’s what you need to do. Start with the laces, and work your way back,” Rarity said.

Trip made the first cut with the magic and split a thread holding the lacing loops. Once the thread was split she began using her magic to carefully pull the thread out. She focused on her task, making only small cuts when needed, until finally the dress was spread out into pieces forming the pattern it originally had been before the original dress maker had put it together.

“Wonderful darling! Now, since we’ve got it apart you already know about the laces. So, find another set that will suit this dress better,” Rarity said.

Trip got up and looked over at the materials. She quickly found the laces and the loops for them. She studied them, and instead of getting the simple in fabric loops, which had been on the dress originally, she grabbed a set of silver loops. She brought it over and looked at the dress. Rarity had said there was other problems with it besides the loops. She felt it again through her magic and noticed how overly tight the dress seemed to be around the barrel. She allowed the fabric a little more room and began sewing it back together. Rarity came back over to check on her and smiled brightly.

“Good, you caught how constricting it was, and I see that you decided add a bit of flare to it as well. Now, what was the other problem with it?” she asked.

Trip studied it, really studied it before she shrugged and looked at Rarity.

“I don’t know, it seems like the dress should be fine,” she said.

“It could be worn as it is, but it’s missing a little signature flare. The silver loops are a good beginning, but we need something to help it stand out. I was thinking that it doesn’t need gems, but it could use gold embroidery around the bottom of the skirt, and near the neck line. It could also use a necklace. Something simple since the dress itself isn’t meant to be overly showy,” Rarity said.

“What about an onyx broach necklace?” Trip asked.

“That is perfect! Inspiration!” Rarity nearly sang as she ran over toward a large crate. She pulled out a piece of swirled onyx and then brought it over to Trip.

Trip watched as she began chipping away at it, slowly shaping it until it formed a beautiful set of chocolate and vanilla swirled wings. Trip watched as she floated a small delicate silver chain over. A metal loop attached to the top of the set of wings and then she threaded the silver chain through it. It seemed to fit perfectly.

“Ah, wonderful!” Rarity said happy with her accomplishment.

“So, what else should we practice on?” Trip asked.

“Well darling you did so well with that dress I would love to see what you can do with another one. This time however I’m going to be busy working as well, so try to see what can come up with,” Rarity said.

Trip began working on another dress, and by the end of the day she had helped clear Rarity’s schedule. The white unicorn mare smiled at her and walked her toward the door.

“You did so well darling, and your precision is getting far better. I’ll keep working with you, and in a few weeks you should have enough practice that you could fix a dress on a living being with absolutely no fear,” Rarity said.

“Thank you,” Trip said.

“Think nothing of it, besides, it’s such a joy to have the help. Oh, if you get a chance to talk to Spike would you be a dear and ask if he has time to go gem hunting with me this weekend? I fear that I am going to run out by next week,” she said.

“I’ll ask him, but I don’t know if he has plans. He said something about helping Scootaloo train,” Trip said.

A sort of sad look crossed Rarity’s face for a moment before she shook it off.

“I have to keep in mind that he does have a life of his own now, but if he would be willing I would be so grateful,” Rarity said.

“I’ll let him know… And aunt Rarity thank you so much again,” Trip said before giving the older mare a hug.

Rarity returned it.

“It’s perfectly fine dear,” she said before she looked up, “Oh, it looks like your father is getting ready to leave. I had better let you go, so that you can see him off.”

Trip nodded and ran over to where her father was standing. Her Mom noticed her and touched his arm. He stopped and then turned when he heard the familiar sound of his daughter. He caught her in a hug as she jumped for him.

“Done for the day?” he asked.

“Uhhuh, Dad… Do you mind if I walk with you to the train station?” she asked.

“No, in fact I want you to walk with me,” he replied.

She walked with him, listened as he flirted with her Mom, laughed at his jokes, and when they reached the station she hugged him again.

“I love you Daddy,” she whispered.

He hugged her back tightly.

“I love you too babygirl. I’ll be back within a week, and during that time you can get Spike to send me letters through dragon mail. I’m sure that Shining will find a way for me to write back to you as well,” he said.

She stepped back and watched as he hugged her mom, kissed her, and told her that he loved her. The stood together watching as he climbed aboard the train.

Finding A Place in the World

Sweet Child of Mine

Chapter 3 ‘Finding a Place in the World’

(Golden Oaks Library – Ponyville – a week and a half ago)

Scootaloo grinned sheepishly at Twilight from the couch she was sitting on with Spike. The sound of a belch and flame had woken the older unicorn mare up and she had run downstairs to find the dragon she had raised from a hatchling in the middle of a makeout session with the orange Pegasus. Trip had ran down behind her mom and looked at the guilty party.

“Oh Ewwww, really? That’s the reading couch!” Trip exclaimed.

“Trust me it’s no worse than what I’ve walked in on…” Spike started before Twilight glared at him.

“I just trust that the two of you are being safe,” she said before she looked at Spike, “Did you get a letter?”

Spike picked up a scroll and handed it to her. Unlike Princess Celestia’s letters this one was written on a crystalized piece of paper. She looked at it and smiled.

“What did Dad say?” Trip asked.

“There’s some stuff in this that I’m not going to read you, but your father said to tell you that he’s doing well, and there should be a letter especially for you coming…” she was saying as Spike belched again and this time another letter formed, “Now I suppose.”

Trip walked over to Spike and grabbed the rolled up scroll. She unrolled it and let her eyes take it in. She noticed that she was being looked at, and she grinned before she walked over to a chair. She took a seat and cleared her throat. In truth she considered sitting there and making them wait for a few minutes just for the fun of it.

“What did he say trip?” Scootaloo asked.

She looked at the mare that was dating her brother and smiled, and she began to read the letter word for word.

Dear Trip,

I miss you and your mom too. It’s been lonely here in the empire, but I’m doing okay. The work is going along as planned, and Shining told me that he and Candace are expecting. I guess that means that soon you’re going to have a niece or nephew before too long. It’s about time if you ask me. The crystal ponies have been watching me intently for the last few days. I guess that I forgot what it is like to be an outsider. After all, how often do you get to see a shaved monkey looking thing? One of the guards here is named Sure Shot. Sure seems to be about the friendliest stallion I’ve ever met. I got to meet his wife, their foals, and we’ve become close friends. I’ve invited him to visit us once I’m back home. I’m sure that your mom won’t mind, and I think that you’ll get along with his son Big Shot. And no, I’m not trying to find you a date. You’re still not allowed to date until your thirty, and then it needs to be a stallion that will treat you like a lady and not like a conquest.

Sweetheart I’m going to cut the letter a little short. I’m very tired from helping with the data transfer today, and I could use a few extra hours of sleep. Uncle Shining and Aunt Candace did ask if you would be interested in visiting them after the baby is born. I think it was Shining’s way of asking if you would be interested in babysitting. We’ll just have to see about that. Tell your brother and mother that I love them very much, and give them both a kiss goodnight for me.

I love you babygirl,

Your Daddy

She looked up at them and saw her mom smiling. She then looked at Scootaloo who was cuddling closer to Spike.

“So, your aunt and uncle are finally having foals huh?” she asked.

“Yeah…” Spike replied.

“You know, I was thinking that later on, after I’m in the Wonderbolts, we might think about a family,” she said nuzzling Spike.

Trip looked to see her brother sitting there, looking uncertain.

“Don’t you think that would be a good idea?” Scootaloo asked.

“Ummmm… yeah, that would be great. I mean we want to wait a while though before we do. I mean because you want to be in the Wonderbolts, and right now I know we’re not…” he started before he noticed her expressing changing.

It didn’t look like the excited dreamy look she had a moment ago. Instead she looked a little confused and maybe a little hurt.

“Oh, you don’t really want a family huh?” she asked.

He sighed, pulled her into a hug and shook his head.

“It’s not that Scoots. We’re both adults, but I’m still living with Twilight. I really want to have a house of my own before I start a family. I’ve got some money saved up, and what jewels and gems I haven’t eaten I’ve saved back as well. I… Well, I just want to make sure that we have a place that’s going to be big enough for a family,” he said.

She smiled and nuzzled against him.

“Good, because I would have hated to tell Dash that you were didn’t want to start a family with me,” she joked.

Trip smiled as she watched Spike fidget in his seat a little. She couldn’t blame him. Dash had become Scoot’s parent after an accident took her mom and dad from her, and Dash was fairly protective over her.

“Yeah, we don’t want to do that,” Spike said.

“Well, I think that we should all turn in. Scootaloo, you’re welcome to spend the night, but regardless over the fact that your both adults I ask that you both show a little restraint, self-control, and keep this kind of thing to Spike’s room,” Twilight said as she got up.

“I will Twilight, and thank you,” Scootaloo said as she got up.

Trip watched as the orange mare walked toward a large storage room that had been converted into a bedroom and walked inside. Before Spike could follow her Trip walked over to him and hugged him.

“What was that for squirt?” Spike asked.

“It was just for being the best big brother ever. Thanks for letting me read Dad’s letter,” she said.

“It’s fine, and besides I miss him too. Now, you better go ahead and get back to sleep. I know that you have a long day ahead of you,” he said.

“I know… Oh, did you think about what Rarity asked me to ask you?” she asked.

“Yeah I did. Tell her I’ll try to help her on Saturday if I can. I know that Scoots really wants me to come over to her house part of this weekend and see if I can help her train, but I think that Saturday she’s going to be getting a physical as part of the entrance application to the Wonderbolts. If she is, then I don’t mind to come with Rarity and help her out,” Spike said.

Trip nodded, hugged him again, and made the trip back upstairs to her bedroom. She walked into the room, closed the door, slipped out of the robe she had thrown on to run downstairs in, although she wasn’t sure why she was bothering since her dad gone, and crawled into bed. She stretched out, grabbed a pillow and hugged it close before using her magic to make sure the light was out.

“Maybe having a colt friend wouldn’t be a bad thing,” she wondered aloud.

“FRIEND Trip is considering sleeping ritual FRIEND Twilight and MASTER Jacob engage in!” Hal chirped.

“Hal! No, out of my room!” she exclaimed.

“It is dark downstairs FRIEND Trip. Hal does not like the dark,” he whined.

Trip rolled her eyes, lifted her blanket, and offered him a place near her back.

“Not a word, and let me get to sleep,” she said.

“Hal will let FRIEND Trip sleep, and will stand guard over her. Hal likes to help FRIEND Trip. FRIEND Trip is good to Hal,” Hal chirped happily again.

Trip could feel the heat radiating off of the little blue colt. Somehow she knew that Hal was a colt, and to be honest she was certain that he was always going to be a colt. It was hard to explain, but even when she grew he didn’t. Oh, he learned everything there was to learn. If it was written down he devoured it and added it to his expanding database of knowledge, but it was just facts and figures. He didn’t seem to let anything he devoured bother him. It didn’t matter what it was. Instead every day he wanted to help all of them. He was so childlike that it was hard to stay mad at him for any real amount of time.

“FRIEND Trip?” Hal asked almost muffled under the blanket.

“Yeah Hal?” she asked back.

“FRIEND Trip, do you like Hal? Is Hal like FRIEND Spike?” he asked.

“Yes, you’re like Spike. You’re like a bother to me. A very annoying little brother at times, but a brother,” she said.

“Good, Hal is glad FRIEND Trip,” he said contently.

“Why are you asking Hal?” Trip asked.

“Hal found data in FRIEND Trip’s desk drawer,” Hal said.

“Oh for the love of Luna, Hal you didn’t eat my Diary did you?” she asked.

“Hal did not think before Hal touched the Data FRIEND Trip. Hal will not tell anypony what Hal knows,” he replied in almost a whisper.

“Hal, one of these days you’re going to get into so much trouble,” she said.

She felt him shutter under the blanket, but instead of letting him worry she moved a hand behind her and gently scratched behind his ears, once she found them. She felt him lean into her hand and a soft sigh of contentment came from him.

“Hal like that FRIEND Trip,” he said.

“Goodnight Hal,” she said.

“Goodnight FRIEND Trip. Enjoy sleep ritual,” he replied.

She soon found herself asleep. The warmth Hal emitted felt surprisingly good as she slept. It was comforting to feel him so close. It was like having a little brother needing to be comforted, and she was willing and happy to do so. The next morning she woke up to the sounds of muffled singing. She lifted the cover to hear a song her father had sung to her as a filly. Normally Hal’s voice had a slight odd distortion to it, but as he sang it was actually quite beautiful. She turned over and looked at him to see that his eye lids were closed.

“Hal?” she asked.

“Hal is not sleeping FRIEND Trip. Hal does not sleep, but Hal heard you ask MASTER Jacob to sing his song for you. Hal remembered the song, and Hal wanted to sing the song for FRIEND Trip,” he replied.

She smiled at the little colt. The song had actually made her feel better, and although her Dad sung it different than Hal it was still reminded her of him. She pulled him into a hug which caused the little blue glowing colt to squeak with surprise.

“FRIEND Trip is engaging in full tactile contact with Hal! Tactile contact is called hugging! FRIEND Trip is happy with Hal!” he chirped happily as he returned the hug.

“You are such a sweet little colt,” she said.

“FRIEND Trip, do you wish to engage in sleep cycle again? There is still one quarter hour before FRIEND Trip is to be awake and dressed,” Hal said.

“No, I’m going to go ahead and get up. Thanks for singing to me,” she said.

She crawled out of bed and began going through the clothes in her closet and dresser. She quickly found a black skirt, a blue tank top, a ‘bra’, and a pair of underwear. Yawning she stretched and walked out into the hall. She heard a soft moan downstairs. The sound was more than enough to make her not want to ask if anyone was fixing any breakfast. Instead she walked into the bathroom, turned on the shower, grabbed a towel and washcloth this time, and then climbed under the hot water.

She let the pleasure of the hot water rush over her before she turned it off, stepped out, and toweled off. She stopped at the sink and brushed her teeth. Once again she looked at the reflection staring back at her.

“Why do you have to be so weird?” she asked the reflection.

Of course she didn’t expect an answer. Instead the reflection just dumbly looked back at her as she finished brushing her teeth. She walked out, went into her room, and got dressed. A few minutes later there was the sound of someone running up the stairs and pounding on her Mom’s bedroom door.

“TWILIGHT OPEN THE DOOR!” Spike shouted.

She ran out of the room and saw Spike holding a scroll. Her mom took it and quickly read over it before she stumbled back.

“No… nononononononono Jacob you promised me!” she cried.

Trip walked toward her and looked at her mom as she shook back and forth.

“Twi, what do you want to do?” Spike asked.

“The princess! Spike, write Princess Celestia and tell her that I’m heading up there today, right now, and that I desperately need her help! Explain what’s going on, and that I will be there as soon as I can!” Twilight shouted as she ran down the steps.

“BBBFF… What’s going on?” Trip asked.

He looked at her, swallowed a little and then handed the letter to her.

Spike,

Take this letter to Twilight immediately and let her know what’s going on. This morning we were attempting to code more data onto the crystals, and Jacob thought of the fact that we could enhance the border spell around the empire if we encoded a written enchantment in them. It seemed like a good idea, but it had to be done from the outside. There hasn’t been any trouble in so long that none of us really worried about anypony going out there.

Unfortunately it appeared that somepony had been waiting for Jacob to step outside of the gates without protection. A black fog covered him, and before I, or any of my guards, could make it out of the city he was gone. Candace and I are doing all we can to find him, but I know that Twily will want to help as well. Let her, and please Twily when you read this understand that we didn’t intend for this to happen. None of us knew it would, and that includes Jacob. We’re going to get him back. I promise you that we will get him back.

I love you little sis,

Shining Armor

Trip felt tears welling up in her eyes and she fell to the ground. She pounded the ground with her fists as she cried. It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right. Somepony had just come along and took her dad, her DAD, away from her. She got up and started to head down the steps when she felt a pair of powerful arms around her waist. She struggled against the her brother as he carried her to the couch and made her sit down.

“No, you’re not going anywhere Trip. Without Twi… Without mom here I’ve got to look out for you, and I know how much this sucks. Jacob is my dad too. He accepted me as his son, and that means so much to me. But we can’t take off beating our chests and expect to get anything done. Mom has went to Princess Celestia for help. If anypony can help it’s her,” he said.

“But it’s our dad! It’s dad and whatever that thing was… It took him from us! I don’t want to just sit here and do nothing!” she screamed.

“We’re not just doing nothing. Look, I know that Hal has a huge volume of spells in him, and he has every encyclopedia that this library, and the private one in Princess Luna’s room, had. He might have something on what happened to your dad. If you want to help find him then research what happened. I’ll help,” he said.

She nodded and then she felt a head gently nuzzling the top of her own.

“I already told Dash that I would be staying here while we get this figured out,” Scootaloo said as she walked in through the front door.

“Thanks sweetheart,” Spike said, “That was fast. Where was she?”

“She was over at Sugarcube Corner getting some breakfast. But Spike, it’s not a problem, besides, I want to help if I can,” she said.

“Maybe there is a way you can… Scoots, does anypony know about what’s around the Crystal Empire?” Trip asked.

“Well, I know that Rarity, Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, your mom, and Pinkie Pie all went there a while back. They would have some idea of what was there, or at least what was there when they were there,” she said.

“Do you think that Dash would mind talking to us about it?” she asked.

Scootaloo rubbed her chin with her hoof for a moment and then nodded.

“I’m sure that she wouldn’t mind especially if it was helping out in some way. I can go over and ask her before she leaves,” Scootaloo said.

“If you don’t mind that would be great. I’d ask if you could get Pinkie Pie too but…” Trip said.

Scootaloo nodded.

“I know, it would take a while to get the full story after she took a bunch of detours,” Scootaloo said.

Trip nodded. She turned around and watched as Scoots headed out of the library. She felt Spike pull her into another hug, and she just relaxed into it.

“It’s going to be okay Trip,” he said.

“I know… I… I just feel so useless,” she replied.

(Canterlot Castle – Canterlot – Alternate Timeline)

“Rainbow Dash came over and told us about King Sombra. She told us what she had seen, and then she and Scoots went to get Rarity. Rarity told us about him too, and what they said seemed to match up with the black fog. Hal, well Hall brought up everything he had collected in order to help,” she said before she turned to the little glowing blue colt, “Hal, show the Princesses what you showed me when I first asked you about information.”

The little blue glowing colt’s eyes lit up and a bright light shot out of them. The light stayed in the midair for a moment before he focused it into a screen of text and pictures.

“What kind of magic is this?!” Luna excited asked before catching herself and returning to a more regal stature.

“FRIEND Luna this is not magic. This is Hal projecting the Data FRIEND Trip asked for Hal to project!” he chirped happily.

Celestia studied the page for a moment and then looked down at the small colt.

“Can you turn the page please?” she asked.

He nodded and the page turned easily in the air. She read it a little more and then let out a sigh.

“So, while there are an infinite number of things it could have been, but knowing what it looked like dwindled it down to three possibilities. It could have been Sombra, another unicorn practicing Dark Magic, or the Terror,” Celestia said.

“Princess, I’ve read a little on the last one, on ‘the Terror’ but there’s not a whole lot of information about it,” Twilight said.

“Indeed there is not Twilight Sparkle. The Terror attacked a village under our…my protection while I was banished. It is a force of pure horror. The nightmares I produced while under the influence of my jealously and anger were nothing compared to the darkness it brought with it,” Luna replied.

“How did it get stop?” Trip asked as she looked at Celestia, “Did you stop it?”

“My precious little one I am afraid that I did not. Powerful as I am I had to attend to matters here. The village it attacked, the village of Marehoof was a colony outside of my protection. At the time I had a very uneasy alliance with the Griffins, but they were also unable to help. The ones that stopped the Terror were the villagers, a prophet, an advisor, and an inventor. Those three laid down their lives to ensure that the Terror was trapped inside of a mountain for all time,” Celestia said.

“Could someone have released it?” Trip asked.

“No, it is still trapped, for it was released I would see it in the dreams of the ponies who live near the mountain,” Luna said.

“I thought that Sombra was dispelled though. I thought the magic of the Crystal Heart completely dispelled him,” Twilight said.

“My faithful student… No, I’m afraid that all it did was weaken him. Sombra was extremely powerful, but it is very likely that he regained enough strength to take this little one’s father,” Celestia said as she motioned toward Trip.

“I know… and I found something in the encyclopedias of Princess Luna’s that Hal had ingested. There was a spell that would help find Dad because it could track a being not of this world down to his precise location, no matter where it was,” Trip said.

“And if Hal has that inside of him then they can’t use it there,” Twilight said.

Trip nodded.

“I’m starting to see why this other me gets so infuriated at you,” Twilight said looking at the little blue glowing colt.

“Hal is sorry FRIEND Twilight. Hal cannot help eating Data. It is what Hal was created for. Hal is to learn all there is to learn about everything and then share all Hal has learned,” He replied.

The floating page disappeared as Hal closed his eyes and looked at the floor. A moment later a gentle wing pulled him close and he looked up to see Celestia holding him.

“It is okay my little pony. It is in your nature to do what you do, and no one should fault you for obeying your nature; however, you should learn restraint,” she said.

“Okay FRIEND Celestia,” he said.

Trip noticed that Hal still seemed sad. She walked toward him and gently scratched behind his ears. He grinned and moved his head toward the sensation.

“Hal, do you want to help me?” she asked.

“Hal wishes to help FRIEND Trip!” he excited squeaked.

“How about you sing dad’s song for us? Would you mind to do that?” she asked.

He smiled and nodded. He opened his mouth and a moment later a beautiful set of voices began to escape from him.

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Celestia, Luna, and Twilight looked stunned as the little colt sung a song with perfect precision and ability. When he finished he looked up at Trip and smiled.

“Hal helped FRIEND Trip,” he said.

“Yes, you did Hal. Thank you,” she said.

Celestia quickly regained her composure and smiled down at him.

“You sing beautifully my little Pony,” she said.

“Thank you FRIEND Celestia,” he replied.

“Twilight, it is far too late for all of you to return to Ponyville. I will have the servants prepare you a room, and not your old one. I fear that our little colt may not be able to resist the temptation of your old library,” she said.

Twilight nodded and looked at the little blue glowing colt.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna… Thank you,” Trip said.

“It is fine,”Celestia said.

“We shall do all that we can to help,” Luna said.

Trip smiled and felt a wave of relief wash over her. The princesses were going to help her, and she was going to be able to take Hal back with her and let her mom see the spell he had inside of him that would help them.