Carina and Jon: A Fairly Odd Occurrence

by Josh Crapo

Rating: teen
Tags: Changelings, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Queen Chrysalis, Slice of Life, Human
Length: 10259

After Jon plans a three day weekend of fun before the last week of spring, everything is halted when Carina is overflown with pain. Both Jon and Carina find out for themselves what caused this pain in the first place.

Jon has planned a three day weekend before the last week of Spring. It was going to be fun. It was going to be exciting. How well does it end? Well, it ends in pain. Lots and lots of condensed pain in Carina. But during a visit to the vet, Jon learns what's causing Carina so much pain. There's just one thing. It has to come out.

Published 2017-01-11 01:10:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-01-11 01:10:01 UTC

Carina and Jon: A Fairly Odd Occurrence

As I ride home with Jon, I start thinking of what happened in court today. I may not look at my hive as somewhere I was before I crashed, but I can imagine what it was like to live in the hive.

As for when I first met Chrysalis, I remember her saying that there was an “invasion of Equestria”. Does that mean that this ‘Equestria’ she mentioned was invading her hive? Or was that just relief to see me getting in the way of her wording? Well, it doesn’t matter now. Chrysalis, is permanently gone. So I won’t be likely to see what’s outside her hive.

Today, I’ve been given a home I can stay at until our times are done. I have no idea how long one of my kind can live or even what its life expectancy is. Until we find something that tells us what I am, my species is considered unnamed. Until there are infants of my kind in Wisconsin or Minnesota, there’s no way for me or any human to gain any more knowledge beyond my abilities and past experiences, and even that is limited.

Suddenly, I hear something that interrupts my thoughts.

“Carina, you okay there? You’ve been kind of quiet there.”

“Wha-?”

“Oh. Okay, good. You’re awake. We’re home.”

“We’re home already?!? I guess that was some deep thinking I did there. Didn’t even notice.”

I hover out of Jon’s car through his door, and land on the ground. Then suddenly, as I land, I start to feel weird in the abdomen, so I sit. I can’t be feeling hungry because my wings are whole. Maybe I had a little too much love. Wait a minute. Too much love. Did I get carsick and not realize it?

“Carina, are you feeling alright?”

I decide to bear the feeling and stand back up.

“Yeah. I’m fine. I’ll meet you inside. I think I might’ve gotten car sick and didn’t realize it.”

“Okay. See you inside.”

As Jon leaves, I start to feel something come up into my throat. I try to re-swallow, but I can’t, so I decide to spit it out into the grass. As I do, it turns out to be what looks like nothing but water.

Afterwards, suddenly, the feeling I had in my torso is gone. However, when I examine where I spit, there’s no emotion to sense emitting from the area. This is extremely confusing, but I don’t have to worry about it now. I feel like how I felt in court.

When I come into the house, Jon pats me in the mane.

“What were you doing?”

“There must’ve been something in my mouth, but it’s out now. So, it’s nothing to worry about.”

“Are you sure you feel better? I wouldn’t want to have this weekend ruined by you falling ill again.”

“Jon, I’ll be fine. The only times I got sick was from negative emotion. I never sensed anything remotely negative out in the front yard.”

“Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure you were fine.”

Throughout the rest of the day, Carina starts going to the bathroom to spit. Each time, she gets more tired. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but something is quite off. Carina’s never had to repeatedly spit before, let alone at all. Tomorrow, I’ll have to take her to the local vet.

Then, near sunset, the spitting stops. So, Carina decides to go to bed. However, when I find her on her way, I notice the floor slightly vibrating next to her and not anywhere else.

“What’s going on, Carina? Why’re you shivering? It’s almost summer.”

“I don’t know. But I also feel very tired after all that spit.”

“I understand. Why don’t you turn in early tonight? I’ll meet up with you in a couple of hours.”

“Okay.”

Carina walks upstairs as I get into the kitchen to eat supper.

After a little bit, I decide to cook up some grilled cheese for myself using a new loaf of Giant White bread.

Once I turn on the stove, I put half a stick of butter in a clean pan so that the bread will get brown after putting it in and not get stuck. After a tedious two minutes each of flipping the sandwiches, I am ready to eat. I turn off the stove, get a plate, and put the grilled cheese on it.

Finally, I get onto the computer and check out few new videos. As I watch, I eat supper. Suddenly, something strikes me as odd when thinking. Carina didn’t realize it, but she wasn’t carsick. She’d quickly get over having to spit when we got inside if she was. But I guess she knows what she’s doing. She’s done spitting, so I won’t really have to worry about losing our weekend together.

After taking care of my plate, I turn off my computer, and all the lights, and turn in for the night.

When I get into my bedroom, Carina’s eyes are still slightly open as I can still see the room just fine without any house lights on after dark.

“Jon?”

“Hey, Carina.”

“I can’t get to sleep.”

“Hm. I’ve had that feeling before.”

“Wait. You couldn’t get to sleep before because you were cold?”

“Cold? I’m not sure. But I do remember accidentally staying up until dawn.”

“Wasn’t that last night?”

I giggle.

“Yes.”

I come into bed to hug Carina. However, when I do, I notice that her body feels a lot colder than usual.

“Whoa. You need warmth. Here. I’ll change into tank tops in the bathroom. Then, I’ll turn on the heater up here so you can warm up.”

So, getting to my dresser, I open my shirt drawer in the dresser and quickly find a tank top shirt to change into. Going into the bathroom, I take off my t-shirt, placing it into the half filled hamper in front of the door frame, putting the tank top in the t-shirt’s previous place.

Coming back up, I turn the heater on so that Carina can keep warm.

“There. That’ll get you warm.”

“Thanks.”

Then, I cover Carina over with a few blankets to get her even warmer. However, she looks a little confused.

“What?”

“Don’t you need a blanket?”

“Nah. I’ll be fine for tonight. It’s almost summer anyway.”

“Okay.”

Finally, I get into bed and hug Carina goodnight before I get to sleep. I hope Carina will be well enough to spend our first weekend after court like Hakuna Matata.

On the first day of the three day weekend, Friday, things get a little weird. Yeah, I wake up sweating bullets, but it’s a given since I wanted Carina to warm up last night. I guess it’s a good thing that we sleep upstairs.

But when I do wake up, I notice that the blankets are missing from Carina, as I see all but her body, wings spread out and eyes closed. Feeling her body, she feels hotter than banana bread that was just taken out of an oven. I get out of bed and turn off the heater. Then, I go down to quickly bring a fan up and cool her off, turning the fan on high.

“Never realized that would happen.”

Carina just groans.

I check the time. It’s 8:46. It’s long after sunrise. Carina would normally have been up hours ago. I know what a doctor might think, possibly saying that temperature fluctuation may’ve played a part in her lack of activity. Her temperature doesn’t have anything to do with waking up. Last time I had a fever, last winter, I woke up at the same time as I normally do.

After going downstairs for an hour to watch a little bit of Rocko’s Modern Life, I come back up to see that Carina’s still in bed. This is extremely unusual. She’s never been in bed this far into the morning. It’s almost ten. I sit in bed to gently talk with her.

“Carina, what’s going on? You’re never in bed at this time.”

Carina just groans, moves to a sitting position, and hugs me. I hug her back.

“Oh, Carina. Are you in pain?”

“Pain...”

I moan for Carina, and rub her back.

“I’m sorry you don’t feel good. I’ll tell you what. I’ll take you to the vet soon. Where do you feel pain?”

Carina lets go of me and rubs her abdomen with her left hoof.

“Oh. That’s not good.”

I decide to get my cell phone downstairs and call the local vet.

After calling, I have an appointment set up for Saturday at noon. At the moment, we’ll have put up with Carina’s abdominal pain.

Throughout the rest of the day, I’m on my computer as Carina sits beside me, feeling like she’d been kicked in the torso. After about twenty minutes of Carina moaning in pain, I decide to do something about it.

“Hey, want an ice pack? Perhaps that’ll help you.”

“Okay.”

Going to the fridge, I open the freezer and find a bag containing ice with blue food coloring. I wrap it under a paper towel and return to Carina, giving her the pack.

“Thank you.”

Carina floats it out of my hand and puts it below her abdomen. After a while, it seems like the ice pack is effective at making the pain go away. But whenever Carina removes it, she starts to hiss in pain and replaces the ice pack.

“Hey Carina. I could probably call Roman and tell him to come over here and help you out. Do you like that idea?”

Carina just hugs me.

“Okay. I’ll call him.”

When I try to call, I get an automated voice.

“Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. Roman Bagley is not availa-”

I hang up in slight frustration that is far enough from surfaced so that Carina doesn’t feel worse than she already does.

“I guess he’s not available.”

“What else can we do?”

“I don’t know. All we can do is wait for the appointment tomorrow.”

Suddenly, something catches my eye. As I search for anything going on in Northeast Wisconsin, I find an article titled “A Farewell to Nick Handy: Bagley Family Mourns the Loss of Final Grandfather.”

What’s weird about the title is that Roman’s last name is Bagley. So, is Nick Roman’s father-in-law? Or was?

“Odd.”

“What’s going on?”

I click the link to the article and read it. As I do, Carina puts her hoof on my back. Apparently, Timothy Bagley, the youngest of the family, was the second strongest to pulling the his family through, first being Roman.

I try to call Roman again. Once I get the automated voice, I hang up. This time, I expected the automated voice, so I’m not as frustrated as I was previously.

“Roman’s probably on his way home.”

“Was this Timothy the one that comforted me on my way here when you called me missing? Because I remember that child’s name as Tim.”

“How old did he look?”

“Half your age about?”

“Hm. That’s kind of close. This article says that Tim Bagley is 11, so it’s a slightly less than half my age.”

“If the Tim I met is a relative of Roman, it makes sense. That playground isn’t that far from your old house. At first, I never saw any relation to Roman, but now that I think about it, there’s some similarity. We should be with Roman.”

“We have nothing better to do. Want a car ride? Over to Roman’s?”

“Maybe, if we spend the night.”

“Oh. You’re right. We’d be back at two at earliest if we just visited instead of spent the night. Actually, even if we spent the night, we’d have to wake up at latest around seven to leave for the vet.”

“Wait a minute. I could just teleport us over to your old house, seriously cutting down travel time. That way we could just walk over to Roman’s house, which doesn’t even take half an hour to do.”

I gasp.

“Carina, you’re a genius! Thanks for the idea. And you can just teleport us back home, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then we should be all set in just visiting Roman.”

I stand up and pick up Carina as she teleports herself and me over to my old house. I let my eyes recover from the flash.

“I’m never going to get used to that.”

“Well, it’s still the fastest way over here.”

I continue to carry Carina over my shoulder, who still has her ice pack, as we walk over to Roman’s house. Arriving after about twenty minutes of walking, I knock on the door. Afterwards, I hear a severely muffled conversation that’s still intelligible.

“Could someone get that?”

“I got it.”

The first voice I recognize, which is Roman. When Carina hears the second one, her eyes shoot open as she shoots straight up on my shoulder.

After five seconds, we get an answer.

“Carina?!? Jon?!?”

“Tim!”

Carina glides out of my shoulder and hugs Tim. So, is this Roman’s relative, Tim? Roman comes behind the little kid.

“Jon! What’s up?”

“Not much, Roman.”

“I’m so glad you’re here, man.”

“I’m just glad to come here. Things are getting quite hectic around here.”

“How come?”

Carina removes the ice pack from her torso, which causes her to let go of Tim and start hissing in pain.

“Ow! Ow!”

Then, she drops the ice pack onto my foot. I barely feel it as it’s not as cold as it was when I first got it out and that I’m wearing my sneakers. Tim grabs the ice pack. Briefly looking back at the ice pack, Carina floats it back under her abdomen. After that, Carina finally calms down.

“Tim, why don’t you go upstairs for a bit?”

“Okay.”

Tim just heads back inside.

“Is Carina going to be okay?”

“To be honest, Roman, I’m not sure. I scheduled a visit to the vet tomorrow at noon, so we have no idea until then.”

“What do you think is wrong with her?”

“I don’t know. Yesterday, she was repeatedly spitting, which somehow made her increasingly cold and tired. Now, she’s in quite a bit of abdominal pain. She’s using an ice pack to ease it. That ice pack isn’t going to stay cold for long, though. Carina and I don’t mean to bother you at a time like this either.”

“Actually, it’s honestly quite alright. It’s a good way to keep my mind off of the media for a while.”

“Yeah, we- wait, WHAT?!?”

I interrupt myself, correcting what I interpreted out of what Roman said.

“Yellow journalists are being jerk-heads about my family, as per many other families.”

“Okay, that’s just flown up! What about Nick Handy? How is he right now?”

“There’s never been a Nick Handy. My mother-in-law has been single her whole life so far.”

Carina drops her jaw.

“So, that story Jon read was nothing but a lie?!?”

“That’s freedom of the press for you, home to blogs and yellow journalists alike. People could write pretty much whatever they want in the news. It’s just entertainment.”

“So, people would rather get others’ attention than to tell the truth? I agree with Jon. To make up a person and say that they died?!? That’s horrible!!”

“Well, it’s the vast majority of the news. But you could always read about what’s really going on through blog sites.”

My turn for questions.

“What about ‘Food Court Takes Over Forgotten Mall’? What about anything like that? It seemed to have the truth in there.”

“Only because people want to be entertained. And let’s be honest. Carina was the most interesting topic in your area upon debut.”

“Really?”

“Well, I’ve never seen anything like what Carina could do in real life until she came here. I very much agree with everyone.”

“So, that must’ve been the reason no one did anything about Carina, because they were too busy reading articles about her.”

“So, are you staying here? I’m sure Tim would like that.”

“Yeah. Carina and I have nothing better to do. Why not?”

So, as we get in, the three of us get settled. Overtime of my conversation with Roman, it’s evident that the ice pack Carina brought with her is really losing efficiency. Even with levitating it on her abdomen, she begins feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Finally, Carina starts hissing in pain again.

“Roman, Carina’s going to have to get home. Her ice pack’s warm now.”

“No, go ahead. I’m fine with that. Tasks need to be done.”

I pick up Carina as she teleports back home into the living room. I arrive at the freezer to get another ice pack. Floating it, Carina teleports exactly where we were within the past two minutes.

“Whoa. That was quick.”

“I know, Roman. Carina’s gotten so good at her abilities.”

“Mostly because I used to teleport every single day from home to Headrest Centre and back again.”

Suddenly, Tim comes running down the stairs.

“Uncle Roman, did you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

“There was some wind like a fan was on.”

“Only when Carina and Jon came back.”

“They left? Where?”

I shrug.

“Home. It was very brief.”

“Wow. I never noticed you were gone. You must live nearby.”

“Actually, Jon and I are five hours away from here.”

“Yeah. We have some very easy access to almost any place thanks to Carina here.”

“So, are you saying...”

I nod.

Suddenly, Carina’s horn starts to spark. And just like that, I start getting a short headache all the while literally hearing every thought going through my head. As the migraine stops, my thoughts feel so silent as if they were taken away. Recovering, it turns out that I wasn’t the only one. Tim and Roman’s hands are leaving their foreheads as I glance at them. Then I look at Carina, whose wings aren’t just whole, but a very bright white. Her horn has started glowing a slight red as light steam comes from the back of the horn. As I look around, it seems that all of us are in confusion.

“What WAS that?!?”

“I don’t know, Tim. I just felt something crawl inside my back, into my mane and up to my horn. After that, I don’t know what it was but my horn just let it all go.”

“Wait a minute. Roman, I think I’m noticing a pattern. Tim, can we leave you with Carina for a bit as Roman and I go outside?”

“Okay.”

So, Roman and I head outside and close the main entrance so that Tim doesn’t hear further of what’s going on.

“Roman, remember how I told you that Carina had to repeatedly spit yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

“I noticed, when it all started, that she had sat down as she landed when we arrived home from court. Then, today, she’s been having abdominal pain. Than, she’d had a burst of energy go up her spine, and let it out using her horn. Something must be up with her abdomen.”

“Whoa. That’s weird.”

“I know, but you’ll have to trust me on this one. Why don’t you come with me and Carina to her appointment?”

“Okay.”

Suddenly, a white sedan pulls into the closest driveway to my left as I turn around. As the engine turns off, the headlights stay on.

Roman starts chuckling.

“That’s definitely Tim’s ride. She always leaves her lights on.”

“What inspired ‘her’ to do that? Rocko?”

Suddenly, the sedan honks. A few seconds later, “she” comes out.

“Hey, Sophie.”

“Yo, Uncle Roman! Where’s Tim?”

Roman thumbs behind himself, pointing the house.

“You’ll see him as you walk in.”

Before Sophie can get into the house, Roman points to her car.

“You’re wasting battery.”

Sophie sighs in annoyance.

“Okay, Patrick. I’ll turn off my car lights.”

After turning off the lights, Sophie joins us in entering the house. However, as the three of us come in, Sophie gets shocked to see Carina.

“Whoa! Is that like some breed of cat or something?!?”

I start to chuckle at the triggering of the memory of first thinking Carina was a black cat when I found her.

“Wait, that’s not a cat. No whiskers.”

Let’s not forget about the wings and the horn, Sophie.

“So, Tim. Ready?”

“Yeah. I’m ready. See you, Carina.”

Carina waves her hoof to Tim as he walks to the front door. Suddenly, Sophie looks stumped.

“Carina? Tim, you gave it a girl’s name? How do you know it’s a girl? Could its name have been a more neutral one like Devin, or Alex, or Chris?”

“Simple answer? I came up with the name, even before I knew for certain. She was on the newspaper. Funny thing that you came up with Chris as well. I came across the queen of Carina’s kind, Queen Chrysalis, twice.”

“So, what’s her species called, Jon?”

“I actually don’t know. Prior to my first exploration of the long abandoned Headrest Centre, no one had ever heard about her kind in the slightest. Wait, how do you know my name?”

“Uncle Roman recommended that I watch your videos back last winter, and they weren’t half bad. I also noticed she was waving to Tim when he said goodbye. Can she understand us?”

“Sure she can. She used her entire body to communicate in the first twelve hours of contact with me.”

“Oh. Well, I have to go. Bye, Jon. Bye Carina.”

Carina and I wave goodbye to Sophie.

“Bye.”

Sophie stops in her tracks and turns around to me and Carina.

“Did Carina just TALK?!?”

“I know. Amazing right?”

“Holy crow! I have to tell Tim.”

“He already knows.”

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter then. But still!”

So, Carina and I listen to Sophie cheering in the front lawn. Carina just smiles, probably because Sophie is emitting positive emotions, while I start chuckling at her over the top reaction.

After Tim and Sophie leave, nothing of interest really happens. Carina and I just hang with Roman. Carina’s ice pack loses its cold, so Carina teleports me and herself back home and get another fresh one.

After getting back, I have a question on my mind.

“Hey Roman, want to stay the night at our house?”

“Sure.”

So, once again, Carina teleports home, but takes both me and Roman along with her instead of just me. When I check the time, it’s already 6:30.

Over the next hour, Carina’s abdominal pain becomes no longer suppressed by the ice packs I keep replacing as her wings lose their glow. So, all three of us decide to call it a night early. Roman and I’ve gotten tired from the short migraines we had.

“There’s just one problem, Jon. Where am I gonna sleep?”

“That’s easy, Roman. You could just use my couch.”

“Oh. Okay. I’m not going to bed this minute, but I’ll do that after a few episodes of Dex.”

So, once I put away the ice packs into the freezer, I get back upstairs. Carina may be in bed, but she has tears in her eyes from the abdominal pain, so I cuddle up with her to help her a little.

“Don’t worry Carina. After tomorrow, we can spend our Sunday with Hakuna Matata. I know there’ll be a way to suppress your abdominal pain. Heck, there may even be a straight up solution. But can’t find that out until we arrive the vet.”

Suddenly, my ears burst with my thoughts again as I gain another short migraine. After the migraine stops, I can’t think for a little bit, but the after effects wear off a little quicker than last time this happened. Finally, I see her wings glow the same white as they did earlier.

Now, I’m noticing a pattern of the third symptom that Carina’s experiencing. It seems to go off when the surrounding environment is shrouded in positivity, which I guess makes s-

Wait a minute. Could Carina be… No. No, no, no-no-no-no. She can’t be. She just can’t. Why would those three symptoms that Carina’s experienced in the last two days ever point to that of all diagnoses?

So, with my thoughts taken out of me, it’s no trouble to get to sleep. And not too long after, Carina joins in on a dream I will have very soon.

I find myself at the vet now, pacing about the waiting room. I’m not sure exactly what I’m anxious about, but it has something to do with Carina.

When Roman comes into the waiting room from the main entrance, I take notice right away.

“So Jon.”

“Yeah?”

“How’s Carina?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re still denying it?”

“Denying what?”

“Being able to know more about Carina’s kind.”

“How would Carina being in pain remotely give us knowledge we never had access to before?!?”

“You said it yourself, Jon. There’s a pattern with her symptoms, all of which start under the abdomen.”

“No! This can’t be happening to her! She’d only gotten in this bad of condition with negative emotion!”

“Well, you can’t scramble it now.”

“No! No! No. No. No. No. No. No.”

“Tim would really love one of those.”

Roman fades away as I decide to trash half of the waiting room. Upon knocking over a vase, instead of just breaking, it falls onto the floor, and cracks open to reveal Queen Chrysalis as she breaks free.

“Well, I guess that reassures me that this isn’t going to happen.”

“Hello, Jon.”

“Hi, Queen Chrysalis. What’re you doing here?”

“I was pulled out of my dream and into yours. And judging by the condition of where we are, it seems you’ve lashed out at this room.”

“Yeah. Carina’s been in pain for the past day, and ever since we visited Roman’s house, she’d pulled my thoughts right out of me twice.”

“Hm. Have you conclu-”

“I know what you’re going to say. Yes. I concluded that. But I instantly denied it.”

“You denied your own conclusion? Well, I can see that happening from what I could tell if you lashed out in the dream realm. Remember this past week?”

“How could I forget?”

“You helped me face the fact that Ar- Carina had amnesia. Now, it’s my turn to help you.”

“So, what do I do?”

“Do as you would do at any time you feel down unless said thing is positively destructive.”

“But I reserve multi hour walks for extreme events, and I only had to do it three times out of the six years I’ve been urbanly exploring.”

“And what were these events for?”

“First, the heftiest fine I ever got. Second, suspension of my account where I put my videos. Last, when Carina went missing.”

Queen Chrysalis puts her right forehoof under my chin and smiles at me.

“The way you handle your circumstances needs no revision. Individuals have their own way of grieving. And yours seems to be the tamest, and possibly the most symbolic, as after walking, I assume that you’ve finally moved on. Perhaps your ‘account’ is what makes you well known? I noticed at court when we met Thelma as she supposedly knew you.”

“Well, I do have a lot of fans I don’t really know much about. The only exceptions I can think of is Roman and Judge Thelma.”

“I encourage you to walk for however long you think you need. Do you have this Roman friend of yours with you?”

“Yeah. He’s spending the night at my place. But when I do wake up, I only have a few hours to walk before I go to the vet.”

“Jon, like I said, however long you think you need. Time shouldn’t really be any matter if you walk to help accept a tough fact. Roman should be able to take care of Carina for the time that your walk lasts.”

“Okay. I’ll take your advice.”

“Good. Now, I must depart. I may wake up soon, so I want to end up in the area I sleep when I awake.”

Then, Queen Chrysalis performs a sort of flame out where the flame is lime.

As I wake up, I don’t hear any of my thoughts as it was when I got to sleep in the first place. When I look at Carina, sound asleep, her wings glow the same bright white as it did before getting to sleep.

Going downstairs, I see that Roman’s also asleep, which actually kind of makes sense. Looking at the time, I see 7:16. So, I decide to nudge Roman to wake him up. After some indistinct speech, Roman sees me.

“Oh. ‘morning, bud. What’s up?”

“I’m going to go for a walk. I’ll make sure to be back in time for breakfast.”

“But what about Carina? Doesn’t she need you?”

“I’m taking Queen Chrysalis’ word and leaving her with you until I get back. And maybe we could watch some Rocko after that.”

“Eh, how about some Malcolm in the Middle instead? Haven’t watched that in a- wait, you saw Queen Chrysalis AGAIN? When was that?”

“Just before I woke up, when I was dreaming.”

“Ah.”

“Well, I have to get walking. I’ll be back around 9:30.”

“Okay. Bye.”

I overhear the conversation that Jon and Roman have. I start getting confused about what they’re talking about after Jon mentions “watching” this Rocko. And what’s “Malcolm in the Middle”?

I try to get up. However, I feel like my abdomen is going to burst when I stand on the bed. So, I decide to sit. But now, I still have that feeling, so I try laying down. Which kind of works.

Wait. Did Jon just say he’s going for a walk?!?

“Jon!”

Good grin, my voice sounds horrible.

“Jon!!”

Ow! My ears!

Suddenly, I hear footsteps as Jon comes up.

“I’m here, Carina. What do you need?”

“Can I-”

Jon briefly covers his ears.

“Whoa. I know what you need right now. I’ll go get you a glass of water.”

After a little while, Jon comes back up with a “glass” of water.

“Here, this always makes my throat feel better.”

So, when I drink the water, my throat seems to clear up a little.

“Thanks, J-”

Ow. My ears... again. I decide to try and hug Jon. My abdomen feels ready to burst again, so I make the hug short.

“You’re welcome. Now, what were you going to ask me?”

Instead of talking, I extend my forehooves to be picked up.

“Okay. What’s going on? Are you lonely?”

“Can I... come?”

“Where? With me on my walk?

“Mhm.”

“Well, I guess I could take you. She never mentioned whether or not I could take you with me.”

“She?”

“Ow.”

“Uh, who are you talking... about?”

“Queen Chrysalis.”

The way I repeat Queen Chrysalis in the questioning response pretty much shoots out my voice. Just after I notice though, I plop onto the tile floor as Jon has been knocked back by my squealing voice. As I land, I try to hiss in reaction to feeling like someone hit me in the gut with their hand. Sadly, nothing comes out.

“Good grief, Carina! What the heck happened to your voice?!?”

The pain’s too much. Tears rapidly flow into my cheeks and down onto the floor, which Jon notices right away. So, he picks me up and takes me downstairs.

“Roman, we have to get to the vet right now.”

“Yeah. It sounded like Carina had lost her voice when she called for you.”

So, after getting in Jon’s car, we ride very quickly for a good five minutes before the car turns off again.

When Jon picks me up, he walks up to a lone door in the bulge of the structure.

And we’re in.

“Roman, it’s open!”

“This early?!?”

“Yeah.”

“Awesome! Let’s head in!”

As Roman and I arrive at the main desk, the man behind the desk turns around looking like he’s seen me previously before gaining his composure.

“Welcome to North Colonial Veterinarian Offices. How may we be of assistance?”

“Yes. I’m here about Carina’s noon appointment.”

“Oh! Jon Vibe! I thought you looked familiar. Dr. Fitzgerald will be right with you.”

“Alright.”

A few minutes after getting seated, a lab coated man peeks into the waiting room.

“Jonathan...”

Still carrying Carina, I follow the man into room “100” as it says next to the door frame.

Finally, I gently set Carina down on the bed in front of the two chairs that are next to a desk that is part of the room’s structure.

“So, what’s seems to be the cause of your early arrival, Jon? I know that over the phone you said that Carina was experiencing abdominal pain at the time. Did something happen?”

“Yeah. Carina’s got new symptoms.”

“Like what?”

“It seems Carina isn’t controlling her horn as well as she used to. I think it’s been three times in the twelve hours that it’s affected me.”

“What else have you noticed?”

“Well, just as she woke up, her voice was shot. It wasn’t easy on the ears at all. And now, she can’t even use it.”

“Okay. Back to what her horn was doing. What exactly happened in the times that it affected you?”

“It’s like she’d pull my thoughts right out of me. At those times, I’d get a short migraine. It also happens when the environment seems to be shrouded in positivity. When Carina explained that she felt what she cast came up her spine, and up to her horn, I noticed a pattern.”

“A pattern?”

“All of the symptoms so far stemmed from the abdomen.”

“So, what happened to her after the incidents?”

“Her wings would glow a bright white. It’s not blinding but it’s definitely noticeable. During that time, it seems she lacks the abdominal pain until her wings stop glowing.”

“Well, her main source of food is positive emotion. Hm. All symptoms start from the abdomen. This sounds incredibly familiar. Has the abdominal pain gotten worse since your call?”

“It seems so. It was so bad earlier this morning, she had tears streaming down her cheeks.”

“Well then, I can conclude that there’s something inside Carina. I’m not entirely sure, but I have a pretty good idea of what it is.”

“A bit of stretch, but what might it be?”

“I think it’s an egg.”

“An egg?!? Quite a leap, don’t you think? I haven’t cooked any eggs in years! Besides, she seems more interested in produce than meat.”

“Not that kind of egg. I was talking about the other kind of egg.”

“Wait. How do you know she has that? Nobody knows how Carina’s kind reproduces. What about a tumor?”

“If that was the case, she wouldn’t have bursts of energy going up her spine and into her horn.”

“Does she have a kidney stone?”

“Less likely than a tumor. Not only would she not have the bursts of energy you mentioned, but the pain she has would be at her hips, not her abdomen.”

“Ulcers?”

“That’s holes in the stomach lining, not a physical object. For now, an egg would be the most likely cause for the symptoms. However, just to make sure, we could give her an x-ray if you want.”

“No, I’ll take your word for it. Wait a minute. What about a parasite?”

“A parasite? It depends on what parasite it is. But it’s possible if what it does is ideal for causing what’s happening to Carina. Are you sure you don’t want an x-ray done?”

“I’m pretty sure. Come on, Carina. Let’s get back home.”

I pick up Carina in my arms.

“One more thing Jon.”

“Yeah?”

“If nothing happens, or her symptoms let up, in the next two and a half days, come back on Tuesday. I’ll be free in the morning. But make sure to come back as soon as possible if the symptoms worsen.”

“Got it.”

As Roman and I head home, there’s still time for breakfast. I never bother really giving Carina our food because she feeds on positive emotion. She’s okay with that though.

Throughout the rest of the day, Carina lays in bed, riving in abdominal agony, so Roman decides to stay at my place for the rest of the day in case I have to take Carina back to the vet.

So, Roman and I take turns comforting Carina in case one of us needs to cook up a meal or go to the bathroom.

A couple of times, we get hit with the same thing from last night. But now, I’m actually starting to get used to it. Yeah. Kind of funny how I can grow accustomed to losing my thoughts when I haven’t not felt weird getting teleported with Carina.

Before Roman gets to sleep, he and I talk about the vet downstairs while Carina sits in bed.

“So, what did the vet say? Is Carina going to be alright?”

“I’m not sure, but we’ll have to wait it out unless the symptoms worsen.”

“So, what’s wrong with her?”

“There’s apparently something inside her abdomen. I suggested a parasite, but an egg as apparently a possibility as well.”

“Neither of them sound very likely, but it sounds a little more like a parasite. One, the agony has overall had a noticeable incline ever since you were at my house. Two, a parasite could be anything as long as it has foreign DNA. And three, parasites can mess with the nerves if they want. That sounds quite a bit like what could be causing Carina’s symptoms.”

“Any way to suppress the symptoms?”

“Not too much. All we can do is provide ice packs for her. Either it’s that or nothing.”

“I guess we’ll stick with the ice packs.”

“Okay.”

“But I don’t know; they don’t seem to be any more help.”

“Try not to worry so much, Jon. Carina will feel better sooner or later. It’s kind of like playing a game. It’s inevitable. Just like how it doesn’t matter if people start playing games as early as three or twenty, and that it’s a way to have fun, it doesn’t matter how long it takes for Carina to heal. It’s just a part of life. Carina’s going to feel better.”

I think about what Roman said. He’s right. Carina hasn’t spit since the other night. So, soon, Carina will be over her abdominal pain and that spell that she’s been uncontrollably casting. She’s also likely to gain her voice back. Now, I smile in thought of the hopeful future. This may not be the weekend we were hoping for, but we’ll get that weekend in the future.

“Thanks Roman. I never realized she was over having to spit until you told me she was going to get better no matter what. To be honest, she doesn’t look that different now from Wednesday.”

“Not a problem. Happy to be here for you.”

Roman offers me a fist pump, which I accept. Afterwards, I get upstairs and get to bed.

I slept considerably well before waking up today. I feel like I could stay up for next twenty four hours.

However, my good day changes when I try to wake Carina up. Somehow, she’s already been awake.

“Good morning, Carina.”

The catch is that she won’t say anything. Judging by the lighting at the corner of the room staying constant, she’s not blinking.

“Carina?”

I wave my hand in front of her eyes.

Nothing.

She’s in so much pain, she’s become unresponsive.

I have to get her back to the vet.

I put Carina into the car and drive off to the vet. When I arrive, I take Carina over my shoulder before entering.

While I check in, Carina starts to purr in a way that I’ve never heard before. It’s almost as if she’s trying to moan in pain instead of gratefulness. Well, she is in paint after all.

“Welcome back, Jon.”

“Can I see Dr. Fitzgerald right away? It’s an emergency.”

“Okay. Dr. Fitzgerald, Jonathan Vibe needs you.”

”Okay. I’ll be right there.”

So, I wait for thirty seconds when Dr. Fitzgerald comes into the waiting room.

“Good morning, Jon. If you follow me, we’ll look at what’s going on.”

So, in the same room as before, I set Carina on the bed.

“So, what’s going on with Carina, Jon?”

“The abdominal pain escalated when Carina was sleeping last night to the point where she became unresponsive.”

“Jon, Carina has to have an x-ray. It’s the only way we’re going to get any answers on the situation.”

“Okay.”

Dr. Fitzgerald picks up Carina and takes her to a new pathway of the vet that I’ve never seen before as I follow suit.

Of course, this being an x-ray room, I can’t enter as I have to let the vet do his work.

After about five minutes, Dr. Fitzgerald comes back with Carina. However, he’s completely silent. I might want to ask.

“So, what’s going on with Carina?”

“Come look.”

Dr. Fitzgerald leads me to the computer in the mini room of the x-ray facility. As I look, I see something so surprising, I stagger somewhat at the sight. There’s a small egg that looks jammed inside where Carina’s been getting most of her symptoms.

That explains every symptom she’s had. Having to spit, the abdominal pain, even the uncontrollable energy in her horn, even losing her voice, all of those were linked to this. At first I’m really taken aback by the image. But then I smile without knowledge of why. Carina’s practically in a coma with an egg inside her. Heck, we lost our fun filled three day weekend to this.

“So, what does this mean for the future?”

“One thing is certain; we’ll slowly gain more knowledge about Carina’s kind. That egg’s of her own kind. It looks likely that the egg will come out tomorrow at latest. So, keep an eye on Carina until the egg comes out.”

After getting home, I see that Roman isn’t here anymore.

So, I decide to put Carina into bed and try to catch some z’s on the couch after all the surprise that the egg has brought me. However, I end up looking at the ceiling for twenty minutes.

Suddenly, my cell phone rings, so I get up, take the phone out of my pocket and pick up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jon. Guess what?”

“What is it?”

”Come look at what’s going on at Headrest Centre.”

“Not now, Roman. I’m busy trying catch some z’s.”

”At this hour?!? Really?!? Come on, Jonny. Live a little!”

“Fine. What’s going on with Headrest Centre?”

”The gate’s getting removed.”

“Wow. Quite the timing isn’t it?”

”I know. I saw it just half an hour ago. The gate was completely intact yesterday. And now, not only is it Flag Day, but the workers are tearing down the guard wall starting today.”

“No. I’m talking about what I found out today.”

”What’d you find out?”

“There’s an egg in Carina’s abdomen.”

”Whoa. Didn’t see that coming.”

“That’s what I thought when I saw the egg in the x-ray.”

”So, what now? When is it going to come out?”

“It looked ready when I saw it in the x-ray, so it should be very soon.”

I hear a thud out of nowhere, and it sounds like it’s coming from upstairs.

”Whoa. I never realized you had a SEGA Genesis. Are you playing Bubsy by any chance?”

“No, I don’t have a SEGA Genesis. Why would ask if I were playing one?”

“Because I thought I heard some sort of FM thump.”

“I don’t know what it was, but I did hear a thump upstairs.”

”Do you think it’s Carina?”

“Probably. Stay on okay?”

”Alright.”

I head upstairs to see that Carina has rolled to the left off of the bed. Currently, she’s laying on her back.

“Yep. It was Carina.”

”What’s going on?”

I feel her forehead, and it’s extremely hot.

“She’s burning up. Her eyes are squinting, and she’s moaning louder than she was this morning when I took her to the vet.”

Suddenly, Carina hisses in what I assume is strain. For a while after, Carina starts to alternate between hissing and moaning. Then, as the sound of cracking knuckles starts slightly to the left of where I face, I turn my head to look to the stairs, away from Carina. To top it all, I hear the sound of rapidly oozing liquid being squeezed out, which almost gives me a run for the bathroom.

“Ugh! Wow! That sound is gross!”

”What’s going on?!?”

“I don’t know! But it sounds so gross!”

”You don’t have to go into detail if you don’t want to.”

Finally, the sounds stop. Only to a catch, that catch being that it smells horrible in the bedroom, like vinegar and oil together.

“Oh my... gull! It’s like someone’s recovering from a sunburn!”

”Want me to come over there? I’m near Headrest Centre right now.”

“No, unless you wanna heave from the stench.”

”That’s it. I’m coming over.”

“No wait! Don’t... Darn it!”

Roman hangs up before I can finish.

Five minutes after, I get a knock on the door. It’s Roman. I know it based on the knock alone. So, I decide to open the door as Roman appears.

“Alright, where’s Carina? Upstairs? Hey wait. Jon, have you taken a shower lately? It smells like you could use one.”

“I swear, it’s not me. You’ll have hard time getting upstairs, though. That’s where it’s coming from.”

When Roman gets halfway up the stairs, he instantly turns back.

“Wow! Did you even bother to open the window?!? Sheesh!”

“Um. No.”

“Holy crow! That is one foul stench!”

“How about you open that window that Carina’s under then?”

“Okay.”

Roman gets back upstairs.

“Oh, and I’ll go get the fan.”

“What the heck?!?”

“What is it, Roman?”

“Why’re there so many stains on the floor?!? And what’s this egg doing here?!?”

“Egg?!? Carina got her egg out?!?”

“I guess so!”

I come upstairs to see that Carina is now completely unconscious. In front of her is an egg about the size of a ping pong ball. Between Carina and her egg is nothing but a wet carpet floor. When I feel the floor, the dryer portion is much cooler than the wet portion. That means only one thing. Carina was bleeding.

I open the window to rid the room of the current vinegar scent.

“Okay. I should really get a fan up here.”

“Definitely.”

I go down again, grab a fan and bring it up to blow the scent out of the room. When I go down yet again, I get an entire roll of paper towels and some Pet and Drink and come back up to clean the mess around the egg.

“Hey, Jon.”

“Yes?”

“What does Carina prefer?”

“In terms of...”

“Food and drink.”

“Water, apples, carrots.”

“So, nothing hot?”

“Hm. We never tried that before. We could probably do green tea.”

“Yeah, Jon. Now would be a good time to do it. When Carina wakes up, she’s probably going to be very cold and drowsy.”

“Okay, it’s almost 1. Let’s hope she wakes up tonight. She’ll need it.”

“But what about the egg? Should we keep it someplace warm?”

“Well, it’s pretty much summer, and since it’s been hot quite lately, we could leave it as is. Hey, Roman, how does it smell in here now?”

“It smells a lot better than it did. Thanks for cleaning the floor.”

“Well, it’s me and Carina’s home. And Carina’s just staying here. So I might as well clean up as the mess goes.”

So, Roman and I manage to get some lunch, and supper, and watch a few episodes each of Dex, Rocko, and Malcolm in the Middle. By the time we finish the fifth episode we planned on watching of Malcolm, I start getting tired. So, I decide to go upstairs and get to bed while Roman goes home by using my car. When I do get upstairs, I find the familiar blue lights as they briefly turn off and back on. To the left of the bed on the floor is Carina herself.

“Jon.”

“Hi, Carina. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Why didn’t you tell me I was having an egg? This is the best thing I can ever think of. We’ll get to know more about my kind than we ever have before!”

“I know. I just wish I would’ve known, myself. Otherwise, I would’ve planned out something we could do together.”

“Jon, we’ll always have time to do something together. We could even do it for next weekend.”

After a little thinking, I decide to hug Carina, who headbutts my cheek.

“Thanks, Carina.”

So, I finally get into bed and pat on the right part of the bed.

“Aren’t you going to sleep with me?”

“No, I got my egg to keep an eye on.”

“Oh, right.”

Right now, I feel like the best I’ve felt since Thursday. While my abdomen feels so much better now, I still feel a little drowsy and cold from the egg coming out yesterday. I even forgot I ever shot out my voice.

Today, Jon is letting me attend to my egg and recover while he goes to a forgotten “bowling alley” as he calls it. Having to stay with a stationary egg before it hatches is kind of boring. But hey, at least I’m keeping it warm. Well, the near summer heat helps too.

Finally, just before Jon gets home, I hear the egg crack. After about a minute, the egg’s top comes off, revealing a very larva-like infant. The shape of it looks almost the same as mine, only with a bigger head. To top it off, its eyes are as bright as my kind’s could ever be.

I start to purr at the sight of my infant, who purrs back to me.

Then, I hear Jon open the door.

“Hello?!?”

I levitate the purring infant downstairs to meet Jon.

“Aw! What’s that you have?”

Suddenly, the purring stops.

“Hey, it’s okay. This is my best friend, Jon.”

Jon gasps.

“Your egg hatched?”

I nod.

“Wow. That was... quick.”

“Compared to humans, probably.”

“But oh, is he so adorable.”

“He?”

“The purr he’s making sounds so much different from the one you make.”

“Hm. Thorax’s voice was about as deep as yours.”

“Hm. I’ll have to take some notes on this.”

Jon comes over and hugs me. I set the infant on Jon’s right shoulder.

Suddenly, I see the infant’s horn glow, which spells bad news.

“Jon, let go!”

I levitate the infant again while Jon quickly gets up. Finally, my thoughts amplify then leave. Although I can’t think right now, I don’t feel anything sore, unlike poor Jon. I fly to his shoulders and feel his forehead.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“Oh, whew. For a second, I thought my little one hurt you.”

“I’m sure he didn’t mean to.”

“Hey, Jon.”

“Yeah, Carina?”

“What’s Areola mean?”

“Areola means a small ring of color. Why?”

“While you were gone today, I was thinking of why Queen Chrysalis called me that. Maybe if I’d not crashed here, I would’ve been just like any of Chrysalis’ ‘drones’. Thorax was the one that took me home. Maybe Queen Chrysalis thought we’d turn out the opposite of how we actually did.”

“Good thinking, Carina. Thorax means the middle part of a body, which is why it’s very similar to torso.”

“So, what should we name our newcomer?”

“Hm. He’s the first of your kind born in human territory that we know of. And humans don’t really know much about your kind. I’m willing to bet he’ll open up our knowledge of your kind. Open... how about Aita?”

“Aita? Doesn’t that sound a little-”

“It’s a gender neutral name. Sophie suggested a gender neutral name, so I gave him just that. It’s kind of like Chris, Devin, and Alex. You’d think that they’re boy’s names, but girls are named as those too. Aita is perfect because it means ‘open’ in Japanese. Little Aita here has opened up many chances to expand human knowledge of your kind.”

“Aita... Hm... Wow. I never thought of that.”

Little Aita starts yawning, so I put him on the back of my neck.

“Looks like Aita’s tired. I’m going to get some sleep with him.”

“Okay. See you in a couple of hours.”

This is incredible. Carina’s a mother for the first time. For now, I’m going to leave her with Aita.

“I’m just going to sleep on the couch tonight. I’ll let you spend some quality time with Aita.”

“Hey, Jon. You can sleep up here. I don’t mind, and I’m sure Aita doesn’t either.”

“Oh. Thanks.”

So, I decide to gently get to bed so that I don’t scare Aita, who continues to purr in my presence as he tries to nap.

Then, I find myself in the front yard at Roman’s all by myself.

I knock on the door, which somehow doesn’t make a sound when I knock. Still, the door opens. However, it reveals someone to be very familiar.

“Oh. Queen Chrysalis. What’re you doing here?”

“I came to check on how things are with Carina.”

“Carina’s doing great now. She’s feeling her very best since court. There’s been non-stop purring at my house.”

“From Carina due to her recovery?”

“Well that’s just part of it. I know you probably won’t meet Aita for very long while, but he’s been purring up a storm since Carina introduced him to me.”

“Aita? Who’s Aita?”

“Carina’s son.”

“Carina has a son? I give her my congratulations. But what kind of name is Aita for a male?”

“It’s actually a gender neutral name.”

“Oh. That makes sense. Hm. The more I think about it, the more it sounds appropriate. Yes. I like it.”

Queen Chrysalis pulls me with her right hoof into her chest.

“I really wish you could meet Aita. I can’t help but smile when I see him.”

“No worries; I have my hive to attend to. It’s had a sharp incline of grubs. My work here is far into the past. Good luck with Aita, Jon.”

And just like that, Chrysalis teleports out. When I look at my surroundings again, it appears I’m home. Finally, I see a bright flash of white before I open my eyes.

It’s about noon when I’m on my computer, just looking for someone to make some music for the beginning and end of my videos. It’s Father’s Eve, so I’m staying with Carina and Aita. Suddenly, my phone rings.

“Hello?”

”Hey Jon!”

“Uh, hey Soph. What’s up?”

”Packing.”

“Packing? Why? Are you moving out?”

”Yeah!”

“Why are you moving?”

”Tim’s getting ready for his very first Father’s Day. He wants to live near Headrest Centre anyway.”

“What about all those other years? Don’t they count?”

”Well, those times, he was honoring. This year, we’re getting him ready to be honored.”

“Kinda early don’t you think?”

”Actually, it’s metaphorically. It’s about Carina’s new family.”

“How do you know?”

”Roman told us about the egg. So, where is it?”

“It? Oh! Do you mean Aita? Are you asking about him?”

”Aita? Doesn’t that sound-”

“I know, I know. ‘Doesn’t that name sound a little girly?’ Actually, it’s a gender neutral name.”

”So, do you think Tim can take care of Aita?”

“Uh. I don’t know. I mean, I know Carina will be able to just see you and Tim anytime. But, right now, Aita is still bonding a lot with Carina. He sure likes to purr though.”

“Alright. Let me know how Aita is next week then. Tim and I will be over tonight, okay?”

“Okay.”

Once I hang up the phone, I set the phone down. However, when I do, the phone rings again.

“Hello?”

”Hey, Jon!”

“Yeah, Roman?”

”I drove home with your car in case you’re wondering.”

“Not to worry. Carina’s upstairs, so I can get her to teleport me and Aita to your place and I can drive back home. Plenty of time. It’s only noon.”

”Okay. Then, all you have to do is drive home?”

“Yep.”

I hang up the phone and get upstairs for Carina.

“Hey Carina. I have to get to Roman’s.”

“Say no more, Jon. Hang on Aita.”

So, in a flash of light, all three of us are in front of Roman’s house. And just as I look to the driveway, my car pulls into the driveway.

“Awesome work, Carina! Jon, here’s your car.”

“Thanks, man.”

I give Roman a thumbs up as an offer to a fist bump. Roman accepts.

“Ready, Carina?”

“Ready.”

Carina and I get into the car, Carina carrying Aita, who is still purring. Suddenly, Aita’s purr intensifies until he snorts. Suddenly, I see a flash of light. After a few seconds, we appear to be in a different location, meaning that Aita learned to teleport. And his teleportation is even better than Carina’s ever was. He just managed to teleport an entire car with all of its contents and passengers in the same spot afterwards.

The only catch is that the car’s on the front lawn instead of the driveway.

“Great. What now?”

“I got this.”

As we all get out, Carina levitates the car onto the driveway, which, I admit, is just as amazing as teleporting the car.

“There. That’s better.”

I pat Carina on the mane.

“Thanks.”

“Hey, Jon. Anything going on in Headrest Centre?”

“Oh. The wall’s been removed so that the mall can be repaired. Best bet is that it’ll be finished by next week. But I thought you found it as no use anymore.”

“Eh. I was only curious.”

“Hey, Carina. Sophie and Tim are coming here to see Aita. Sure hope that’s okay with you.”

“Are you kidding? Of course it is. Sophie and Tim are nice people. I’m sure Aita will like them just fine.”

When Jon hears a knock on the door, he rushes over to get it. It catches Aita and I by surprise, so I decide to see if it’s Sophie and Tim. Luckily, it is.

“Hello! We’re here!”

Aita falls silent, and even gets scared.

“SHH! Sophie, not so loud!”

“Oh, right. Sorry, Carina. I was just here to see your new baby. EEE!!!”

“O-okay.”

I place Aita into Sophie’s arms.

“Aw! Aren’t you so cute!”

Aita gets back to his purring spree.

“Aw! He purrs?”

“Our kind usually purrs when we’re content. But smiling is another way to show happiness. It’s good to smile around my kind because our main source of food is positive emotion.”

“Can animals do that?”

“Well, me and Aita’s kind does.”

“So, does that mean we don’t have to feed it like a human baby?”

“Pretty much. All you have to do is have positive emotion. It doesn’t really matter what positive emotion it is, it just has to be positive. Our kind soaks it all up, for better... aaaand for worse.”

“So Sophie.”

“Yeah, Jon?”

“Is Tim actually up to this?”

“Yeah, I’m up to it. I did just finish my first year of middle school.”

Suddenly, Aita purrs even louder.

“Aw, you want to see Tim? Here.”

Sophie gives Aita to Tim.

“So, what’s going to happen between you and Aita, Carina?”

“I’ll come over the whole day and spend time with Aita, and I’ll be home for Jon as well, so, nothing too important. Wait. Sophie, I heard you and Tim were moving here. Is it because of Headrest Centre?”

“Yeah, Tim wanted to see Headrest Centre for himself. And now, he’ll be able to see it next week at least.”

“Hm. I used to go there until Queen Chrysalis destroyed the entrance and the parking lot.”

Walk up to Tim.

“Do you mind if I go with you, Tim?”

“Of course you can come, Carina! You know the place better than I do, so maybe you can give a sort of tour of what it was like in the mall. Mind if I bring Aita along?”

“Not at all. You can bring him. It’s actually kind of a necessity until Aita can take care of himself.”

“Thanks, Carina.”

“No problem, Tim.”

I get up on my hind legs and wrap my forehooves around Tim, who hugs me back.

“So, what now?”

“Tim, I think it’s time we settle in our new home.”

“Okay, Sophie. Wanna come, Carina?”

“Sure, I-I’ll catch with you guys.”

When Tim, and Sophie leave with Aita in Tim’s arms, I look at Jon.

“Hey, Jon. What’s going on?”

“Just to think that a month and a half ago, I found you lying in an empty field, it’s crazy. And now, you’re finally a mother. I can’t wait to see how everything turns out with Aita.”

“Me either, Jon. And don’t worry, I’ll still be here every night. Nothing’s going to change. You still explore forgotten places, and I still live with you. In fact, we could even go to Roman’s any night you want.”

“Thanks, Carina.”

“Happy to help. I’ll see you tonight.”

And with that, I hover out of Jon’s house, catching up to Tim and Sophie with my little Aita.