“Come on, Sweetie Belle!” Scootaloo cries excitedly as she literally leaps out of the schoolhouse at the conclusion of our school day. “Let's finally return to what we Crusader's do best . . . Crusading!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agrees. “Ah mean, we haven’t done it in a . . .” the yellow filly trails off as she looks back at me while I continue to stand at the exit of the school building. “Sweetie Belle?”

I frown with a thoughtful look while staring straight ahead at nothing for a moment before I reach a decision then subsequently look at my friends.

“I, ah . . . Actually . . .” I began. “I need to do something else right now. Really, it's something I consider overdue.”

Both of the other fillies turn to face me fully as Apple Bloom asks me, “Why? What's up?”

“I'm sorry!” I say with a bit of a cringe. “Please forgive me, but I think I need to see my parents right now. As Applejack told me the other day, they are worried about me and now I feel anxious about them.” I look off to my side as I suddenly recall, “And that reminds me, I Pinkie promised Applejack that I'd get together with my parents the next day.” I frown as I look down. “But I gone through so much since then, I forgot that promise yesterday.”

“Oh,” both fillies say simultaneously as they look at each other then back at me. After that, Scootaloo reminds me, “But last time you spoke of this, you said you weren't ready to face your parents again. Are you saying you now are?”

A fond look creeps onto my face as I express, “I can't help it. I love them and I don't want them to suffer anymore.” My expression firms with determination. “So it's high time I face them again.”

Apple Bloom takes a single step towards me as she tells me, “Ya don't have to do this alone, Sweetie Belle. We'll be rat by ya side the whole way.”

“Yeah!” Scootaloo strongly agrees then points at Apple Bloom to her right with her left forehoof while still regarding me. “What she said.”

Again, a fond twinkle for my two friends creeps into my eyes, and yet I tell them, “Not this time. I think I'm strong enough now that I can face them on my own. Besides, this is a very personal issue.”

Scootaloo looks taken aback as she points out, “But that's not what you said last time. When we visited your parents' place with you before, you said you appreciated the fact we were there to support you.”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agrees. “Ya don't haffta face this ah'lone, Sweetie Belle.”

“Thanks, girls,” I express to them very gratefully. “I mean it.” I shake my head. “But I'm afraid this time I must insist. I can, and will, face my parents on my own.” I lift my head up straight as I add, “Besides, Ocellus told me that Starlight spoke with my parents and explained what happened to me very clearly so there's no confusion anymore. All we have to do now is work through our emotional pain, and trust me . . . that would be better accomplished if I was alone with them.”

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo glance at each other with a bit of a worried expression still on their faces. They look back at me with thin confidence as Apple Bloom says, “Well . . . if yer sure.”

I frown slightly as I gaze forward with determination while privately also hoping that I made the best decision.

There it is. My parents’ place. Technically my place too.

I swallow hard. I am nervous but also resolved.

After gulping nervously, I proceed to knock on the door. I wait there for about half a minute before I hear my mother calling out to me from beyond the door, “Yes? Who is it?”

I grin slightly as I realize she can't see me through the small door hole. I am standing too low and too close to the door for that. I raise a hoof and open my mouth to answer the question but panic assails me. For a moment I am caught by indecision as I realize this is the first time I've spoken to my parents in several days after a whole bunch of other stuff happened. What should I say after all of that?

I wish I had Mayor Mare's talent for public speaking right now, but something tells me that that mare also takes her time to prepare her public speeches before she goes out in public. I'm not that prepared right now.

“Hello?” my mother prompts after a moment of silence.

Again, I open my mouth but nothing except a small squeak comes up.

“Sweetie Belle?!” my mother asks in shock. “Is that you?”

Wow! Great hearing, Mom! Apparently that small little squeak of mine is all I needed to say to alert you.

I see and hear magic envelope the door. Moments later, it pulls open. Once that is out of the way, I behold my mother gazing at me in astonishment. She gasps and unknowingly applies a hoof near her chest.

“Uh . . . huh . . . Hi Mom,” I greet her a bit shyly as I wave hi to her.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” my mother cries out then immediately launches forward until she embraces me in a tight hug.

“What did you say, Honey?” I hear my father calling from further within the dwelling. “Did you say Sweetie Belle?!” he asks with sharply rising, almost frantic excitement. The next thing I hear is my father stumbling to the entrance and probably knocking away any furniture in his way.

After the reception I received last time, part of me is a bit stunned at their reaction now. But I feel my mother shivering as she embraces me tightly. I feel the warmth of her breath on my neck. I both hear and feel her sobbing along the back of my neck.

As she releases her flood of emotions, I find I cannot hold back my own. This whole time, while I was trotting here, I tried to prepare a speech for my arrival. I vaguely recall that some of them even sounded good, but I was never consistent. When I tried to repeat the speech again in my head, it always ended up different. That's what happens when I don't put my thoughts on paper right away.

But now all reason and plans are just washed away by a tidal wave of emotions. I recently found it difficult to talk when I arrived in front of the door, but now I feel like speech is impossible. All I am really capable of doing anymore is stand here and be in this moment. No other action seems required or possible.

Before I know it, my father has surrounded his forehooves over both of us.

I am finally home!

I don't think any of us know how long we've been standing there at the front entrance just crying and hugging each other. I don't even recall when we later moved into the living room and simply resumed doing the same thing.

All I do know is we needed this. We needed to embrace each other. We needed to heal together. The only way we could do that is in each other's forelegs. Every drop of tears we shed is like releasing the pressure full of pain.

I guess I didn't really know what to expect from a moment like this. All my plans were apparently in vain since they got swept away anyway. We did the only thing we could do since none of us are ruled by reason or logic anymore. It's impossible when emotions become that dominant.

At least for a while. When we later recover some, we regain our ability to talk and make cohesive speech. It is very slurry at first but our comprehension and linguistic skills continue to improve over time.

Starlight Glimmer already made a lot of things clear to them but they wanted to hear how I was and am doing from my perspective. As soon as they ask, I realize I do not want to lie to them, but I can't tell them the whole truth either. As a result, I end up telling them an edited version of the truth. Nothing I say is dishonest, but it largely cuts out the parts about the evil changeling.

Basically I end up saying the same thing I said in school except this is a much less condensed version. I'm especially thorough with them when it came to my actions and feelings unless it pertains to the hidden evil changeling.

Apologies eventually pass back and forth between us but it feels like a halfhearted attempt compared to what we already went through. None of us really enjoy revisiting pain and passing blame. We love each other too much for that. Instead of that, we are all instinctually drawn to getting our lives back to normal however we can and as fast as possible.

Later on I forget how this got started, but one of the subjects my parents bring up in order to bring back some semblance of normalcy is to talk about a club that my parents started a few years back called the PPC, or the Proud Parent Consortium. That started during a Heart's Warming Evening that also happened to be Starlight's first attempt to join us in such festivities. During that time, my parents met and started to associate more with the parents of the other legendary heroines of Equestria, the Elements of Harmony. Once they started mingling, my parents came up with the brilliant idea that they should do this more often, and so they did.

Of all of the other parents of the other Elements, my parents got along with Twilight's parents the most. That is because Velvet Sparkle and Night Light were just as willing to discuss how proud they were of their daughter. However, unlike the others, they didn't just stop there. Velvet and Night also liked to brag about their own hobbies. When they did, my parents were surprised and delighted to find out how much they had in common and thus they could join each other. Examples of that are golfing and bingo.

It took some time to meet Fluttershy's parents. That meeting occurred as a result of Fluttershy's direct introduction. What the Consortium found out about them is Mr. and Mrs. Shy were willing to join the Consortium but mainly on their own terms. In their case, it primarily meant doing it in a place they felt both comfortable and secure with. They are a quiet and very peaceful couple that much prefers a simple life. They were absolutely willing to regale the group about their pride for their daughter, but they mainly liked to do it in their own home and over a nice cup of tea.

Strangely enough, most of their early tales about their daughter were not of pride but rather concern for a very sheltered and socially awkward filly who was too shy to make new friends. That was why it downright shocked them when Fluttershy got her cutie mark and suddenly wanted to live near the ground in order to associate more with the animals there.

In response, they granted her request through frequent visits to have a picnic there. Over time they had a new home built for Fluttershy there and only then did she move in all by herself. Fluttershy's parents thought that was shockingly brave of their daughter to do this and she was finally reaching out to others, even if it was mainly animals.

Pinkie Pie's parents didn't join the Consortium and they only visited once. They came because they thought it was polite to visit at least once but they had no interest to get together on a regular basis because they considered themselves too busy managing their rock farm. Upon meeting Igneous Rock Pie and Cloudy Quartz, everypony, except the Apple family, were shocked to realize how stiff they were compared to their own party-addicted daughter.

After the meeting, the group concluded that Pinkie's parents most likely did experience some pain that one of their daughters moved away because of her cutie mark but they never admitted that. Instead of that, they acted like Pinkie's action ever since getting her cutie mark was divine providence. They had an almost religious perspective of the situation and seemed to accept it with a simple shrug, but there was a hidden tightness, shortness, and curtness to their voice as if to suggest they'd rather touch on this subject only briefly then quickly move on.

However, it was also discovered that Pinkie's sisters did not take the news well either but, unlike their parents, they were too young to hoofle this with social grace when they were foals. Instead of that, their displeasure was deeply felt and known, especially in the case of the eldest sister, Limestone.

Of all the Pie sisters, Maud was the quickest to forgive Pinkie. It took only two moons for Maud to be the first of the Pie sisters to respond to one of Pinkie's many letters. From that day on, letters were passed back and forth so frequently that it almost felt like Pinkie never moved away, at least in this specific case.

Marble was next to forgive her pink sister but it required a personal visit to pull that off. At first Marble was distant and painfully shy around her sister as if afraid to associate with somepony who might “abandon” her again. It took physical contact, a hug in this case, to finally break down that emotional barrier. After they cried on each other's shoulders, their relationship looked up ever since.

But Limestone was, by far, the most stubborn of the Pie sisters to forgive Pinkie. She was even outright hostile to her sister for several years after moving away. She made her displeasure at Pinkie's visit clearly known and she proclaimed, more than once, that she no longer considered Pinkie a sister at all, nor a member of the Pie family entirely. As a result, she felt Pinkie had no right to set a hoof on their property ever again.

This problem was never solved until Pinkie finally learned that she had to be extremely persistent to crack this nut. To that end, Pinkie downright hounded her eldest sister with repeated requests to forgive her. Limestone kept yelling, “NO!” then galloped away as fast as she could only to discover, to her horror, that her pink sister had somehow already arrived at Limestone's destination and, once again, begged her sister to forgive her.

Eventually, out of both sheer exhaustion and frustration, Limestone hollered, “ALRIGHT! Fine! I forgive you! Just leave me alone.”

Young Pinkie replied, “Only if I see you smile!” She gave a great big smile as if to demonstrate, then narrowed her eyes at her eldest sister as she warned, “And it's going to have to be a genuine smile. I can tell the difference.”

Limestone flared with anger towards her sister as she practically gurgled with raw hatred, “Don't . . . push your luck! I'm not ready to accept you that strongly yet.”

In a rare moment of wise insight for Pinkie, probably because this was a pony she knew so well, Pinkie did back off on that day but under one condition; Limestone had to respond to at least one out of ten of Pinkie's letters or she'd return and hound her sister again. With a growl of annoyance, Limestone reluctantly agreed.

From then on, their relationship gradually repaired. This was evident in the responses Limestone's letters gave which gained more and more enthusiasm for her wayward pink sister. As they got older, their relationship further evolved when the Pie sisters agreed to spend at least one day a year rotating between each of the Pie sisters somewhere together. It's a tradition that Rarity assured our parents that the Pie sisters continue to this very day. When Limestone's turn came up, Pinkie discovered, to her growing delight, that she was met with warmer reception each time.

Mr. and Mrs. Shy expressed some sympathy to the Pie family for the distance they gained from one of their daughters as a result of that particular daughter's cutie mark destiny. It actually matches a statistic that happens to about twenty percent of all parents with their foals. Fully one out of five foals has to move away somewhere because their parents know they cannot properly nurture their foals cutie mark potential because it's too unlike their own. It's something most parents of the pony race secretly fear and yet it's too common not to get used to at least the mere idea that it might happen to them, too.

They know they have to do it, too, because they also realize that any attempt to deny that foal's destiny squashes that foal’s potential and chance for happiness. That, in turn, has profound psychological consequences down the road. That is also why, in many towns and cities across Equestria, it is downright illegal to deliberately keep their foals from pursuing their cutie mark destiny once it's discovered. The reason for those laws is because, in extreme cases, it leads to a foal's discoloration and eventually death if the case is left untreated.

Since they were seen as pseudo-adopted parents for Pinkie Pie when she moved into Ponyville, the Cakes were also invited to the Consortium. When that happened, at first they refused because they didn't want to be seen as Pinkie's replacement parents but the group strongly insisted they come. Pinkie insisted most of all. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were eventually persuaded to join the group and, unlike the senior Pie parents, the Cakes continued to come more consistently. The Consortium considered this a great blessing ever since because the Cakes often came with some delicious pastries to offer the group. In fact, it was the Cakes that really started the tradition of the potluck gatherings unless the group had other special plans for their meals.

During the meetings, the group learned that Pinkie was the primary reason the Cakes delayed becoming birth parents themselves. They always insisted that they didn't feel ready until Pinkie became a more mature mare. Until then, they wanted to dedicate all of their effort to fulfilling Pinkie's needs.

Pinkie, herself, laments the lost opportunity of growing up with pseudo-siblings. She thought it would have been fun to play with the yearlings when she was still a foal herself.

But, on the flip side, those extra years of practice apparently paid off when the Cakes finally did get foals of their own. All that they had learned helped them to perfect their parental technique with Pound and Pumpkin Cake. Pinkie proudly proclaims, to this very day, that the net positive results are very clear. She thinks that the young yearling twins couldn't possibly be more emotionally stable and fulfilled because of their parents' extra years of practice.

For very sad reasons, Applejack's parents simply couldn't attend the Consortium so Granny Smith and Grand Pear did so in their place, although they did so somewhat sparingly due to the strain it would put on them because of their senior age. It was actually Applejack herself who imposed that rule. This rule bothered her grandmother somewhat until she later forgot about it.

At the Consortium meetings, Granny Smith more than proved she had quite a number of long tales to tell about her pride in her foals and grandfoals. In that, she fulfilled her purpose in the Consortium very well except for the fact she tended to ramble on to many topics because she forgot her original topic in the mid-telling of her story. Sometimes she bored her audience because of that and sometimes it was really exciting and engaging. Either way, she tended to be halfway oblivious to her audience’s reaction.

But one thing Granny Smith did offer that dramatically improved the mood of the Consortium meetings is her social connections; The Golden Horseshoe in particular. Thanks to that group, the Consortium gained not only very helpful information about fun places to go but also discounts once there.

Of all of the Elements of Harmony, the parents of Rainbow Dash were dead last to join, primarily because the Consortium didn't know where they were and Rainbow was deliberately hiding that information for some reason. It was not until Scootaloo revealed their location that an invitation was finally extended. Before it was sent, though, Rainbow practically begged the Consortium not to invite her parents. She promised them, under no uncertain terms, that the PPC would come to regret this decision.

Despite Rainbow's strong objections, the PPC went ahead and invited Rainbow's parents anyway which thusly completed their social circle for this particular group. When Rainbow's parents showed up, at first it looked like a match made in heaven. Being proud of their daughter, Rainbow, seemed to be Windy Whistle and Bow Hothoof's primary hobby so the fact that there was a group dedicated to the pride for these particular mares attracted these two like a magnet. They were more than willing to proudly brag about their daughter's accomplishments.

But there were several problems with this. For one thing, they did it so often that hardly anypony else had a chance to talk. Even if they did give the others a brief moment to talk, it seemed to go in one ear with these parents and out the other. It's not that they didn't hear what the others said, it's the fact they barely cared. Every time one of the other parents talked about why they were proud of their daughter, Rainbow's parents seemed compelled to one-up that story. Their replies often started something like, “Well if you think that's cool, check this out!” then they proceeded to brag about yet another story of Rainbow as if it was the only one in the room that could possibly matter.

The second problem with them was they brought up trivial and often downright embarrassing facts about their daughter and yet they talked about it as if it was equivalent to Equestria's greatest honor, the Pink Heart of Courage. These were often extremely cringy tales that no pony wanted to hear, Rainbow least of all.

It became abundantly clear rather quickly why Rainbow warned the PPC to avoid her parents. Within just a few meetings, the Consortium reluctantly agreed that they had indeed made a terrible mistake in inviting these two.

Mr. and Mrs. Shy were especially traumatized by the meetings that involved these two troublesome ponies. The quiet and very timid lifestyle of the Shys meshed extremely poorly with the loud and obnoxiously bragging couple. It was difficult to tell how these two groups of parents could possibly be more opposite in every bad way.

After just two meetings with the loud and overbearing parents, the PPC already decided to change the date of their meeting and location just to avoid Rainbow's parents.

At first that worked until Rainbow's parents came to the homes of the other members of the PPC uninvited. They'd do it without any warning, too. They just showed up and practically screamed their pride of their only daughter.

Poor Mr. and Mrs. Shy especially didn't stand a chance against the intruding couple. They were much too Shy to request Rainbow's parents to leave. In fact, they did the opposite. They felt compelled to invite Windy and Bow into their home even though they clearly didn't want to. Windy and Bow, in turn, were totally oblivious to the discomfort they caused to their hosts. They took the invitation at face value and truly didn't expect anything else.

I, myself, clearly remember what my parents did when Windy and Bow did the same thing at our home. It was actually in the middle of the night when Windy and Bow lifted a huge megaphone to their lips then shouted at the top of their lungs so hard that the sonic boom it caused shattered a lot of glass across the entire neighborhood and they woke up many ponies for miles all around us. As usual, they did all of this just to sing praises about their only beloved daughter.

By then, my father had enough of this. He was so furious at them that he called the police for this harassment. They did eventually show up but the police force proved very reluctant to arrest the parents of one of Equestria's greatest heroines because it would be severely demoralizing to the nation if this became public knowledge.

Fortunately for all of us, Rainbow Dash herself bravely, painfully, loyally, and selflessly took one for the team that night by finally confronting her parents and listed off their crimes in the public eye of everypony around us.

Scootaloo showed up at my house that night, too, and explained to me that Rainbow's approach in confronting her parents this time was actually much calmer and more mature than the last time she blew up at her parents. Instead of simply yelling at them in frustration, Rainbow was being very clear to her parents on that night that she still loved them very dearly but they were also guilty of the following list of crimes. With each crime she listed, Rainbow lifted another feather on one of her sky-blue wings.

Truth be told, it seemed to me that Rainbow's parents were legitimately unaware that they were being that obnoxious but, once they were informed of that, they profusely apologized not only to every pony there but also promised to make it up to every pony they had wronged. They also promised that, if they were allowed to continue with the PPC meetings, they would severely tone down their overbearing and embarrassing attitude. They also promised to give others a more fair chance to speak and honestly listen when they do. They absolutely agreed that the parents of the other Elements had every reason to be almost as proud of their daughters and they definitely wanted to listen to why that is so. In their eyes, the PPC existed to be a cheering squad for the best mares in the world. They wanted to remain a part of that so badly that they'd be willing to make big adjustments to their attitude just to secure that right.

Since their apology seemed so sincere and every pony there was willing to forgive this blunder within this remarkably forgiving town, the police were willing to waive the crime this time with a firm warning. As long as they didn't do it again, everything was cool.

As my parents regaled this tale purely for the sake of helping us all feel normal again, I take turns settling on the laps of each of my parents. I press my back against their chest as they hug me and hold me close to their chest. I love the warm feeling of their chest on my back. I love to feel their heartbeat through that connection. I feel beloved and one of the most special ponies in their life.

They remind me, more than once, that I am among those they proudly brag about within the PPC. Both of their daughters ended up very independent and early risers to a professional career. They love that about us.

I, in turn, value the fact that they have always given me the freedom to explore whatever I wanted. When they asked me at every fair we attended, “What do you want to do, Sweetie-kins?” they honestly take my reply seriously. They valued my opinion enough to give me that option.

Usually I was prepared with an instant answer, too, but it was rarely the same one twice in a row. Exploring new things seems to be a theme in my life and now I know why. Sampling every trot of life is necessary to help me understand and assist such a broad base of clients and their individual needs.

It is very likely that my parents will always consider yelling at me and chasing me out of this home during our last encounter their greatest failure as parents within our lives, but the only reason that crime feels so severe is because it is measured against otherwise very high standards. Having only one moment of extreme failure compared to mostly consistent success is a big win in my book.

I still consider myself very lucky to have been born in this family. No matter what we've gone through, I will never regret being their beloved daughter.

And I will always love them too.

Author's Note

I actually have two major things to say about this chapter.

Issue Number One; I know it feels weird that a chapter focusing on mending the relationship between Sweetie and her parents, thus the name of the chapter, quickly shifts to a subject about the past history of a social group that Sweetie's parents helped to form, but here's the thing about that; I think it's in character for them given this situation. I think they would barely be able to talk at all at first because they are all so overwhelmed with emotion, but their second instinctual response is to quickly sweep this whole unpleasant business under the rug and subsequently do or talk about something that returns that feeling of being a normal family. Discussing the history of this social group was simply a means to an end for them. It's a psychological coping mechanism.

Also what they discussed might be quite interesting to the reader to get the backstory of the other parents of the mane 6 and their relationship with each other.

I'll be honest and admit that the part of the history between Sweetie's parents and their relationship with the others doesn't really further the main plot of the overall story arc much at all except for the fact that their tactic works in this case. It repaired their relationship together which is the main point of this chapter aside from entertaining the reader. When Sweetie Belle wakes up in her own bedroom in later chapters, there'll no longer be any confusion how and why she got back to her home.

Issue Number two: I actually deleted an entire chapter prior to this about Sweetie going to school with Button Mash, the CMC, Diamond, and Silver. It was mostly in recap mode and something felt dry about it. On further readings and edits of that chapter, it dawned on me how unessential it was, so I decided to cut the fat.