Forgotten Legacy

I put the rest of the food into the box, closing the lid and setting it off to the side. I couldn't speak for my sisters, but it felt odd to have four legs, personally. I had walked on two legs for decades and swam around in the seas of Equestria for decades prior to that. Pinkie…Diane, rather, came up to me and nuzzled against my neck in a way that made no attempt to hide what was on her mind.

“Worried, lady?” I asked, turning and resting my head along her neck.

She nodded. “I don’t like thinking about all the nasties roaming about,” she said. “I can’t get anyone here to smile! Neither of us can!” Her mane deflated a bit. I stood, seeing the pony Pinkie slowly moving back to the kitchens after dropping another load of simple baked goods for us to package up. Adagio and Sonata were already loading a cart with the lunches we had packed.

I sighed and gave my Pinkie a nip on the neck before moving over to start packing this current load. “It’ll be ok, Pinks,” I said, picking up an empty box. “With all of you and the princesses working on this, I’m sure it’ll be over quick. I mean, look how fast you all dealt with us!”

She giggled a little.

“That's the party girl I love,” I said, pulling her close and resting my forehead against hers. She slid hers along and down until her chin was on my shoulder, her hot breath ruffling the wing-like fins on my back.

I looked down as she cuddled into me, seeing the light blue iridescent coat I now wore. None of us had expected to ever see this place again, and now that we were here, it felt…

Wrong. The air, the feel of hooves, all of it. It wasn’t home anymore.

I glanced at Pinkie….Diane. Blazes, that was going to take some getting used to. I looked at my girlfriend…marefriend? Her. I looked at her and smiled, leaning forward to give her a quick kiss.

“Go help your twin clean up,” I said. “We’ll pack these up and get them to the depot, then you and I can go find something to do.”

She smiled, her mane perking up a bit as she trotted to the kitchen. Of all the girls, she had adjusted to being a pony remarkably quickly. Almost like she had done this before.

I shook my head, my short mane swirling around my neck. That was ridiculous.

Later that evening, after Diane had gone to our room, I sat with my sisters, all of us lounging by a courtyard fountain. The blowing mist still felt good, reminding us of better times, before we got ambitious. Even after our banishment, we had tended to congregate towards bodies of water, though we never roamed far from the portal for some reason.

We understood it now, after the fight with Acerak. Adagio still had a faint scar on her belly, just below the navel and Sunset had a nasty welt running along her side. In her pony form, it was hidden under her wings, something that still took getting used to from my end.

“This isn’t right,” Adagio said suddenly.

“Of course it isn’t,” I said, a trace of my old grumpiness showing. “Ponies being raised from the dead and attacking a kingdom vanished for decades?”

“Not that,” Sonata said. “I feel it too.” She looked at me, a sad look in her eyes. “It’s not home anymore.”

I sighed. “I thought it was just me,” I said.

Adagio shifted in her position, her mane drifting over her shoulder. “I don’t know if it’s the body or the length of time away,” she said. “But ever since we’ve come through, it’s felt like we're trespassing.”

“I don’t think we’re the same ones that were banished. Not exactly, anyway,” Sonata said.

I nodded. “We’ve changed,” I said. “And not just our powers. We’re…” I struggled with the words.

“Different,” Adagio said. “You, the coldest of all of us, have a girlfriend. We all have friends, and Sonata is managing a business.” She smiled a soft smile that I had never seen on my sister until after the defeat at the Battle of the Bands. “We all have things that are special to us all now. Not just ambitions.”

I eyed her suddenly. “Wait a minute,” I said. “All of us, you said.”

She ducked her head as she realized what she had said, her cheeks blushing rose under her golden coat.

Sonata sat up too as she realized what was implied. “Dagi,” she said, a sly tone to her voice. “Do you have a crush?”

“No,” she said quickly. Almost too quickly.

“You do!” my sister cooed.

“Spill, Adagio,” I said.

“Well,” she hedged.

“Out with it,” I said, smiling.

“I’ve kinda been seeing someone,” she said. “He’s sweet, in that earnest kind of way. It’s not serious, though.”

I grinned. Saying that might as well thrown meat before a manticore as far as Sonata was concerned.

“WHO!” she cried out, exploding forward in an excited way that I had seen Pinkie do when the possibility of throwing a party surfaced. She wrapped Adagio up in a tight hug. “Who’s the lucky guy, Dagi? Oh, I have got to throw you a great dinner party when we get back!”

“Air, Sonata,” I said as she continued to hug our eldest sister. “You don’t want to smother her.”

Adagio was laughing softly as Sonata backed away abashedly. “Sandalwood,” she said.

“Sandalwood,” I parroted.

She nodded. “We ran into each other at the fountain in the park,” she said. “And after apologizing for the incident, we got to talking, and then dinner.”

I smiled. “It’s nice, isn’t it?” I said.

She nodded, smiling.

We sat there for a moment, enjoying the quiet when Sonata spoke up.

“I’m so jealous of you two, you know,” she pouted.

We all laughed.

I looked over at my twin, both of us grinning madly.

“I told you they’d smile,” I said, turning and holding out my hoof to Diane.

She couldn’t help but smile as she handed over a cupcake.

“That'll teach me to bet against myself,” she giggled.

The cupcake was delicious.