Author's Note

Ah, you've made to chapter eleven of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature one no less on the grounds that a previous chapter has recently dealt with subject matters proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this was by far a strong note for many readers all and therefore you were all given an option to skip ahead to this chapter: whether or not you have taken this offer, it was only up to you to do so nothing more.

Aside from disclaimers long ago, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out too early since we're now in the second half of the story's progress; somehow, the new year had provided us with a new hope to have and hold with tender loving care rather than yet a totally lost cause and the strength to continue onward in staying tuned for the future that is coming on: I believe at this rate, everything will make sense soon enough.

One last thing before I sign off, I hope you can be surprised about this chapter now even more than the others before it because some special guests are going to be joining one of our fateful protagonists in this chapter below; but, it will not be the end until otherwise so please stay tuned and enjoy, okay?

Light

Daylight was now being burned into the minds and bodies of every possible lifeform that had dwelled upon the soil of the turning world, already rotating on its own axis at a set speed while revolving as well on a different one to say the very least; as a result, half of it was already bathed in it. As such, the big blue sky had already become clear enough to see the golden sun shining about over the scope with a flock of birds from various sizes and shades soaring across so serenely that not even gravity alone could ever pull any of them down to earth itself, free from both fear and worry. Within a large dream drop distance was but a small civilization being defined in such various materials used to build them from the ground up, most of them all being the ones suitably fit for the likes of even three little pigs with a not a care in the world for the dangers posed towards them. The calm gentle breeze was now surfing across every one of the grassy knolls, the brilliant green surrounding it all on a solid lower plane of existence even as the dirt road guided its way over from a nearby forest, a curvilinear line worth holding as much as it is and was worth crossing as well. Out amongst the very backgrounds had rested a valley and ridge of smoky mountains already carving themselves a significant piece of the landscape alone, many of which were raging with growth and erosion in the very process of their trying times as the golden sun was hovering over them. With the hustle and bustle about now deep into the flow, the small town was instantaneously filled to the brim with an utter abundance of many people from various demographics: age, gender, finances, and social standing being rather nothing short from the standardized metallurgy of life.

One particular place within that town stood out and about in the process: while it wasn’t home in the very least unlike the other residences that were built nearby but nonetheless treated with respect. Standing up from the brilliant green were numerous monochromatic stones carved into various shapes, each of them bearing a name and line of text beneath as clues to who the bearers once were. All that was occupying nearby them were but an arrangement of many flowers made up of various colors and species already planted upon the otherwise fertile soil that was their new home. Many of them that were being observed by some wayward pedestrians remained aware of their purpose within that very space as there were at least some people, either by themselves or in a crowd. Uniting them under one common goal was but a feeling of solidarity and reflection of their lives as they’d stared upon the formations that were sticking out of the very ground they were standing upon.

Of the many who’d appeared in attendance, there were at least two people that had stood out and about, standing in front of one particular stone of the finite others. Defined amongst themselves were likenesses in fair dignity, possessing common traits between one another: bright complexions, somber emotions, and an achieved goal. Even so, they still had some significant differences between each other that many observers around themselves would be very quick to notice in a heartbeat no less.

Speaking of which, these particular individuals in question had a sense of fashion that was more loud and lively than almost the rest of the common folk themselves whom were also in attendance within the very environment thereof. For starters, one of them had a spiky brown hairstyle matching the masculine ensemble of a trenchcoat that had overlaid the shirt and slacks whereas the other was a simple blonde whose long tresses had matched both eyes of melancholy. Secondly, while the tall man had on a white undershirt beneath the suit and green tie around his very neck, a frilly white dress was found adorned upon the smaller female’s body with a lone black ribbon wrapped around her very abdomen. Third of all, he had but a single timepiece in the tight grip of his left hand made only of metal and glass while she had a bouquet of flowers held in both hands, each of them in various colors wrapped in only a silky monochromatic textile. In addition, even the very footwear that they had on were different, just like themselves as well: the male wore only some solid black bluchers upon himself while the female herself had some light green sandals that were very open instead.

“It’s been seven years since you’ve been gone, dear sister; I wish that we could’ve spend more time together as a family…” the young individual sighed sadly as she’d soon planted the nosegay upon flowering ground nearby the stone.

The tall man went up to her and placed a hand upon the right shoulder saying, “there was nothing you could’ve done to stop it: you were just a child after all; Sparkler wanted you to live just as much as Derpy did.”

“But it’s not fair; why did my sister had to suffer such an indignity…?” she cried, returning the gesture with a hug, “she loved us both, she never even hurt fly, and they couldn’t even see that; all they saw was some toy to be defiled…!”

“There, there, Dinky… it’s over now: you’re safe with me now…” he whispered to the eponymous female as he stared at the stone with a tear leaking from out the corner of his right eye.

The light winds lapped at their backs as they held tight, her tears soaking into the fabric of the man’s clothing as a leaf surfed on, passing them by. The atmosphere was crisp and warm, a grave contrast to the situation that the two very visitors in question were out amongst as they’d remained firm. The golden rays of sunlight kept them company even though that they were ignored, no doubt caught up in reminiscing of innocent days from the past.

Soon, Dinky broke away from his embrace and turned back to location of the floral arrangement with a sob, “goodbye, Sparkler…”

“So, what do you want to do next…?” the man asked the blonde female, “we still have some daylight to ourselves; no use in wasting it, my dear niece…”

“Well, I would like to see mom again; can we go visit her, uncle…” she had answered only hesitantly.

He started to look around and spoke to his niece, “are you really sure about this; do you really want to see her…?”

“Yes, uncle…” Dinky replied, “more than ever…”

“If you say so…” the man said.

The blonde stood upright to stare at the scenery that was provided for the likes of her as a pair of golden eyes had begun to scan in the details all around herself and her uncle. She was already aware of the fact that there were buildings nearby the area that were loaded with people whom were in a much better mood than the likes of her at that moment. A quick glance beyond the sea of rocks and green being traversed by other individuals had already informed Dinky of some houses in every shape and size. Reeling in the melancholy that brought him and the blonde to this place, they had started to set foot away from the ground where the latter had planted the flora above the soil.

As they were now in the process of perambulating, she started to break the silence again, “mommy and daddy used to take all us on a picnic nearby the forest every year in the spring, before the whole war; I can even remember the multitude of muffins we had helped her made here and there.”

“I know… your father had used to be so happy he’d started to wonder if you were to follow in her footsteps…” the man said as he looked up into the cloud that were passing throughout the firmament above them, “kind of makes me feel sorry for them even more than before, especially my sister…”

“But what about father, Uncle; he should be getting out soon, right…?” Dinky asked as she held tightly onto the aforementioned individual.

He turned his attention back to his niece and answered, “I wouldn’t count on it: even if he gets pardoned by the Princesses, it won’t change what had become of us; besides, the new prime minister is still angry with what had happened since the war. After all, nobody had considered the possibility that there was a slavery ring going on underneath our noses, let alone Ponet being involved no less.”

“Then why won’t we just write him a letter to set him free…?” the young blonde had responded, gripping her uncle’s right hand in a cling, “besides, daddy’s nothing like the monsters they’ve made him out to be, especially considering that–––”

“Now, now… let’s not go back to the past and dwell on these things too much; after all, you have so much to live for and so do your sisters…” the man interrupted, bringing her into another embrace once again.

Dinky could do nothing but weep, “I understand…”

“Now, let’s go; time is of the essence: your mother can’t wait any longer…” he’d said, quickly guiding his niece away from the place they were both at earlier, “no use in wasting it all anyway…”

“Okay…” she said.

At that very moment, the two kept on moving forward and were surrounded by a series of house, proof alone that they’d entered the town at once. The number of people increased in density as Dinky and her uncle walked about, surrounded by those with a louder sense of fashion than them. Even though that they were within the line of eyesight which had belonged to the numerous passersby, the duo was left alone to their devices. More often than not, the blonde couldn’t help but see a few faces belonging to some shiny happy people they’d came across on their way through.

At long last, the two pedestrians came across a large building that was already residing on the outskirts of the town that had remained in the distance. It’d stood up tall and proud, reaching high as at least three stories with a pair of stone chimneys stretched upward but spread far apart in terms of length. The roofing possessed the style similar to the likes of many residences within the adjacent town, albeit composed of ligneous uniformity rather than hay. Standing out above from the very entrance was a red circle with several pink hearts, all of which were separated by a white cross in the very middle of it. Adorned all throughout the structure were but countless windows far and wide, each made of the same material and shape but in different sizes thereof. All that had remained out there in front of them were a pair of olive doors resting underneath an awning, up in front of an earthly trail they stood upon.

The man took a glance at her once more and asked, “are you ready, Dinky…?”

“Why wouldn’t I…?” the titular companion answered back before moving forward, “let’s go inside now…”

It wasn’t long until they traverse through the partition in front of them, greeted by the sight that was cuts above that than the stones within the field. The ceilings were in a brownish shading style, many separated into intersecting but otherwise equal lines with some domed lanterns in the mixture. All the walls within the room the two had entered with a lighter hue than the grass that was left behind in the outside world far and beyond thereof. The beige flooring was interspersed with a set of teal carpeting that looked like it was purchased at a rather fair bargain before being steam cleaned. Every geometric corner nearby the entrance was occupied by a potted plant with an abundance of leaves as spacious to cover the bottom of her shoes. The blonde visitor could also see that many other individuals sitting on olive colored chairs either being the well–adjusted or under the weather.

As he’d looked around, there had come the sight of but a single woman from the corner of his left eyeball. She was tall, thin, and dressed in white, just like Dinky was except such attire had been extended. Underneath the white hat, this woman had locks of a pale green, colder than the very scenery itself alone. Her very eyes were but a pair of magenta orbs, already clouded by the drabness of the reality they were in.

“Excuse me, miss…” the man had said almost immediately, catching the lone woman’s attention at once.

Sure enough, the listener went over to him and replied, “how can I be of assistance for you today…?”

“It’s my niece, Dinky: she wants to see her mother today…” the man had answered calmly, “is it possible to do so…?”

“And how is she…?” the nurse leveled herself to reach the eponymous youth at once with a small smile.

The blonde backed away from the older female with a gasp, “eep…!”

“It’s okay there; she’s one of the good guys…” he sighed, calmly comforting his niece, “sorry about that, nurse–––”

“Tenderheart, dear sir; what’s your name…?” the woman interjected, introducing herself almost instantly.

The man answered, “Turner… Doc Turner…”

“I see then…” the nurse said to him all at once, “do you also work here at the hospital as well…?”

“Trust me, I’m not that kind of doctor; I’m a scientist…” Turner replied as he’d wiped away the beads of sweat off of his brow.

Tenderheart chuckled and then spoke, “I’ll go and lead you both to her; besides, Redheart’s gonna be wondering where I am unless I return…”

“Do you know where my mom is…?” Dinky had whimpered at once, “can we see her now, please…?”

“I don’t see why not…” the nurse had replied.

It wasn’t long until the young blonde had just started to follow after her older counterpart with little warning whatsoever. The tall man couldn’t help but to go on and chase after Dinky the minute that both females had left the lobby all at once. Only then, the volume of people started to become lower than the rest of the town than either of the observers had noticed. Here on out, the young blonde quickly took note of the closed but otherwise benign atmosphere around Tenderheart herself.

Within only seconds, the otherwise slow beeline had now met its end, already overtaken by a vastly new area that the three had just walked in. Filling the widened space was many sets of round tables all strewn across from their position, each of which occupied by at least one individual. Above the very occupants were a few wooden fans that spun about from beneath the ceiling in the same speed but lacking all the synchronicity. The walls had but a set of windows providing both light and scenery from the outside world already beyond the very premises to say the least. There was also another hallway in the vicinity where people were also coming from, albeit a bit less numerous than the arrival of the very trio. Even the very flooring possessed less color than the entrance where both visitors arrived at, overwhelmed by a uniformity of such whiteness.

As soon as Turner caught up with Dinky, the former had said to the latter, “alright then, let’s stay and wait for your mom…”

“Okay, now that it’s out of the way, I’ll go fetch her…” Tenderheart said as she’d started to depart from the patient visitors in question, “hey, Snowheart… tell Derpy that she has some visitors…!”

“In a minute…” a lone voice far away from the twosome shouted back in reply, no doubt belonging to the aforementioned listener.

With the nurse now out of their eyesight, the tall man talked to his niece, “so here we are now; do you still feel nervous…?”

“Mm–hmm… but it doesn’t stop me from loving her anyway; after all, she still misses Sparkler too…” she’d sighed, “don’t you miss her as well…?”

“Indeed… there’s not a day that goes by where I stop thinking about her…” he’d answered back while looking around their surroundings only briefly.

Dinky started to rest her head upon the plastic surface, yawning about, “I feel so sleepy, uncle… I hope we can see her soon…”

“I know… I want to see Derpy too…” Turner had responded, watching the young blonde carefully, “Dinky, stay alert…”

“I’ll try…” she’d struggled to speak up at once.

As the man looked around once more, he was almost caught off–guard by the sight of two feminine individuals whom were alike in fair dignity at first glance. The only trait that was being possessed amongst them was a bright complexion upon their skin and even that alone wasn’t enough of a difference in the very least. As such, they had more various between one another than he or Dinky even bothered to notice thereof, aside from who was notable in their eyes, especially the latter.

Even their own sense of fashion was something that the two visitors here had just used to identify them all at once as of this moment in time. For starters, one of them was a blonde with matching eyes like the young one accompanying Turner whereas the other had some light blue hair. Secondly, the fact a white hat with a red cross was donned upon the icy tresses was irrefutable proof that she was also a nurse, like Tenderheart. While the tall blonde wore a simple white gown, the blue haired individual had a pale yellow ensemble consisting of a blouse, skirt, and slippers.

Of the two that had come in visual contact with Dinky and her uncle, only the tall blonde started to speak slowly but softly, “muffin…?”

“Mommy…!” the young blonde cried aloud, jumping out of her seat to hug her newfound parent, “I’m so glad to see you again…!”

“Oh, Dinky…!” the titular visitor’s mother wept as she’d returned the gesture almost immediately.

Soon, the nurse in attendance remained silent and went away, leaving the small party of three alone to their devices as the man had spoken up, “I can see that you’re being treated well, dear sister…”

“Mm–hmm… the doctor said that we’ve been able to move past the nightmares…” the tall blonde answered him at once.

Turner barely found the strength to place a hand upon Derpy and said, “I wish I could say the same for the others: Chirpy’s still taking their father’s imprisonment very hard; it’s not so much now that everything had changed. I bet that he would’ve been so happy to see those kids growing up, especially Spar–––”

“Don’t mention that name around me, please…!” the angry tall blonde interrupted almost instantaneously, “besides, they need to be stronger than me, especially with the war already over…”

“Understood…” he’d said, looking towards her daughter with apprehension as she started to look away.

Derpy’s lips started to quiver and wept into Turner’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, it’s just that I still can’t of what kind of person my husband was, working alongside with that vile bastard of a commander; and to think that let him raise the others…!”

“Ponet’s not as bad as Agar is making him out to be; in fact, it’s not even his fault completely…” the man replied as he held the tall blonde as tightly as possible, “besides, Dinky was talking about writing a letter to set him free earlier today…”

“Easier said than done: it took Applejack a few years for her to leave this place and even then she wasn’t allowed to see her sister again…” Derpy sniffled as she’d quickly broken away from his embrace.

Turner backed away from the tall blonde and said, “I know but the fact that she’d survived was a miracle; of course, I can’t help but think about her sister as well. The first time that I had met them, I could recall them trying to sell some apples before the war broke out, or rather the young one doing it. She came on a bit strong but I had never expected that something like this would happen to her, losing her eyesight and whatnot; I feel sorry for what she has to go through ever since.”

“I’ll say… Dinky would’ve made a great friend with her around if it weren’t for the fighting…” Derpy sighed, looking upon the eponymous young blonde with a solemn look, “I still wish that I could’ve been around to see you grow more often…”

“I know, mommy…” the tall blonde’s timid daughter said with some trepidation before hugging her.

The tall man looked on once more and had asked Derpy, “so, are you still going to fine all by yourself…?”

“Obviously…” the tall blonde instantaneously answered, “Sweetheart even been more open with helping me get past what happened with you–know–who’s you–know–what here and there, and some meds…”

“I see then…” he had said almost slowly.

It wasn’t long until Derpy had yawned, “goodness, is it almost time for bed…? But it’s the afternoon…”

“At least some things don’t change…” Turner had chuckled as Dinky also did the same thing as well, albeit less spontaneously, “DJ is going to need my help back at the house soon, especially with the others.”

“I know; wish that I could be there to see them again…” the tall blonde had sighed sadly with newfound tiredness.

Grabbing onto the nearby hand of Derpy’s daughter, the tall man had spoke, “don’t worry, you will…”

“Dinky, would you kindly please come closer…?” the tall blonde requested, causing the aforementioned counterpart to walk on over to the former’s side at once, “promise me that you’ll stay out of trouble…”

“Yes, mommy…” the young blonde had complied, earning a hug in the very process as he had smiled brightly.

Sure enough, Turner had started to grab onto Dinky’s hand and said to Derpy, “alright then, I hope that we’ll be able to see you again; of course, I also had something else for you: Dipsy was going to mail this letter earlier this week but I was able to convince to let me do it to save her some time and effort.”

“Really, what does it say…?” the tall blonde asked as the tall man pulled out a piece of paper from his brown jacket and gave it to the former, “it’s kind of hard to say something about it without flashing back to the past…”

“Perhaps reading it could answer that question; ‘til then, have a nice day…” he’d said as the young blonde was being pulled away from her mother gently.

As Dinky started following Turner, all she could do for Derpy was use the free hand to wave and said, “bye, mommy…”

“Goodbye, my little muffin…” the tall blonde had responded, standing almost helplessly as her daughter and brother started retreating back to the hallway where the nurse with the teal tresses led the two through, “make us proud, Dinky…!”

“I will…!” the titular visitor had shouted back.

A small stream of water had started to escape from Derpy’s eyes as she began to hide them right underneath her hand, the letter given to her by none other than himself left unscathed while the handler struggled to stifle a wail at once. Even though that there were others in attendance that were left to their own devices, a few of which with a least a visitor anyway, the tall blonde couldn’t help but feel so alone in this otherwise rather confined space she was in. In what had seemed to be some sort of a great expectation, her silent cries of melancholy were nevertheless left ignored anyway as everyone else meandered onward with their lives, regardless of their overall quality by comparison. Only the piece of paper that Turner talked about was there to keep Derpy company and even that alone wasn’t enough; after all, it was serving as a simple reminder of the very encounter she had with himself and her dearest daughter. Underneath the rather otherwise cleanly sanitized physique that the tall blonde had possessed upon herself, she’d felt as if some tacky compound was dumped onto her very tresses that even the visually impaired would’ve noticed.

At long last, Derpy found the strength to whimper, “Sparkler...”