Promises: These are their stories

One early March morning in the outskirts of rural Southville, A certain bubble gum color skinned woman with puffy hair was pacing circles inside her room in a castle. Pinkie hummed, deep in concentration while rubbing the middle finger and thumb of her left hand together. An old copper penny was carefully pinched by Pinkie’s right hand’s pointer and thumb. After a few moments, she could feel a soft static of electricity engulf the coin, and it started to expand and change the texture. In its place was now a pink macaroon cookie.

She smiled and devoured the dessert.

****************

Applebloom was sleeping peacefully in her quarters before having a dream about being chased by zombies in the Everfree Forrest. For some reason, she was not able to trick them into hallucinations by using her powers, and she saw a lady that looked like a female slenderman. Then it was suddenly daytime, and her sister was screaming at some overgrown reptile with…arms and claws?

The preteen woke up to be greeted by the warm air and dust particles dancing by the light emitting from the window.

Hmmm..I haven’t dreamt about no Forrest in while. There’s nothing for me to do there other than…Well, Zecora lives there, but it’s Dusk Light who usually picks up remedies or medication. Just then her cell phone chimed and lit up on her dresser to inform Applebloom of a text message.

***********

Linka Loud woke up to the sound of Ron breathing beside her. The 14-year-old got off the bed to put clothes on and stretch in the emerging daylight. Before Linka headed to the bathroom, she admired the hand-drawn sketch she made of her children that was framed beside the left window. When the woman dashed in front of the mirror, she noticed some bags under her eyes that weren’t there before.

That’s odd

She had been staying up more recently due to events such as her recent birthday, anniversaries, trips, etc. It was so nice to go back to traditional activities and have more energy. The nanny that attended the twins while Linka and her husband dozed was a godsend. Linka remembered how she would lose sleep when her younger brothers were young infants. Lars was a quiet little boy who did not give her parents too much trouble, but when her twin brothers came almost nine years ago, it was a nightmare of constant off-pitch choruses. Lexx was even rowdier than Leif.

Linka then felt acid build up in her system, so she walked towards the toilet.

The chances are low, but I better not be pregnant again.

Linka discovered that she did not need to vomit after all. It was just her digestive system saying that she needed another kind of cleanse from the food she ate at 8:00 last night. Whew.

***************************

Sweetie Belle scrolled through YouTube while her friend ScooterFlame in the hallway, listening to his usual jam on his Bluetooth headphones.

Every day when you’re walking down the street

The adolescent frowned in annoyance and confusion before flinging off the headset.

“Belle! Did you just hijack my music again? I changed the password a week ago!”

The girl laughed.

“Yeah, I did because you’re late for breakfast”

The boy rolled his eyes, and Applebloom came running towards them.

“Mornin’ guys. Where’s Rainbow??”

“In the dining room. What happened?” Asked Belle.

“Dusk was in a motorcycle race accident”

“Oh no! I’ll have to visit him later on” Exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

“It looks like he wants to chat with you Scoot,” said Applebloom.

“I wonder why”

**********************************

Sweetie Belle fixed her hair into buns before entering the hospital with scones and a card for 16-year-old Dusk who broke an ankle and needed a cast. He was very grateful, and then motioned for Scooter.

“Hey man, I wanted to mention a delivery request I received recently over the phone. I asked for the caller's name, and it was your cousin”

“Wait, as in Noon Ray? He’s only four” replied ScooterFlame

“Well, the little guy probably got ahold of Holi’s phone, and when he called me, he immediately started asking me to tell Zecora to sell him a potion with his Christmas money.”

The heck? Thought Scooter dumbfounded.

“Yeah, I was just as confused as you until Ray went on to say that he would slip some drops in his parents' drinks. The kid thought this would help them solve some problem they’re having.”

Meanwhile in Eastside, 34-year-old Lofty was resting on her recliner, sipping her favorite tea. She had been under some intense stress lately due to someone recently reappearing in her life, and also due to the fact that some representatives that had previously worked under her in her job were quitting. It didn’t help that the tech company that she worked for was making hours less flexible for many rookies due to a minor stock crash in recent times. The teal-haired former male wanted to have more time nowadays to discuss all of this with her wife, including other subjects such as how their son was acting up in school and what could be done to help him, but…Holi was nowadays so busy taking tours to help boost her career as a fashion designer.

And she often seemed to be preoccupied with other things if they were trying to settle issues that were not of immediate importance. Like texting, even if they somehow found the time to, say watch a movie or play golf that sort of thing.
Lofty’s mind kept drifting back to Grey Ink. She was not sure how she was possibly going to explain to Holi who he was and why she never mentioned him before but…Lofty knew she had to hope for the best and sit down with her when she came home.

**********

Meanwhile, a certain orange-haired 28-year-old was trying to keep her composure as she sped down the highway. She couldn’t believe what she saw a few days ago when she went to Seaview to pick up some volcano rocks at a gift shop for her and Lofty’s anniversary. Her wife was tearfully hugging a sophisticated-looking, grey-skinned, light blue-haired man. Lofty told him that he never left her thoughts even after all these years and wouldn’t know how to cope without him. Holi felt that she did not need to stick around any longer to understand what was going on, and knew that Lofty would’ve told him about her if she didn’t have anything to hide.

**********************

“Hey Pinkpoint, do you have a few minutes?” Asked ScooterFlame as he stood outside the princess’s room.

The young monarch put her notebook down on her desk and looked up.

“Yeah, do you want me to help you with something?”

“Yes. Can you teleport me to Eastview? I wanted to give my aunts and cousin a visit to make sure they’re okay”

“Oh, of course!”

After being engulfed with light for a few moments, The young teens were now 70 miles away in the coastal that some of Scooter Flame’s relatives called home. Pinkpoint returned to Southville, and Scooterflame approached the familiar brick house surrounded by bird feeders and orange trees. When he was three years old, his mother decided to join Scooter’s father in his archeological discoveries in other countries. Snap Shutter’s baby sister Holi agreed to take her nephew in since she was a young 18-year-old woman who was not going to college and was still seeking her talents and purpose. By not dating, she had more time to enroll in marketing classes at age 20 while ScooterFlame went to kindergarten.

As she nearly reached her 24th birthday, Holi was still struggling to get officially recognized for her abilities. Just when things started to look up, some people leaked a certain part of her identity that she had wished to hide from the public, and she was no longer considered for an offer that seemed promising. That's when she met Lofty. A nearly 30-year-old biological man who was recently starting to transition to womanhood. Holi never expected Lofty to understand her in so many ways, and it didn't matter to the 24-year-old how Lofty looked like, or who she used to be. Their connection was undeniable from the very start.

Holi fell pregnant with her child before Scooter got the chance to be introduced to Lofty. Although in a difficult situation, the 30-year-old did not hesitate to propose to Holi, and the three ended up moving in with Lofty in order to become a household of four within months. The now 13-year-old boy approached the large window on the left side of the house. The couple inside was arguing intensely. ScooterFlame tried to get closer to hear their conversation more clearly but did not want to be spotted. Holi raised her voice, and the boy could hear her yell the word “Something..something...B*tch!” before grabbing Lofty’s beautiful hair.

The woman responded by shoving her to the ground, and tearfully announcing something. Holi’s face froze for a moment before she sniffled and got up to head out the door. A distraught Scooter ran in front of it and came face to face with his aunt.

“Hey kid” she muttered quietly.

“I hope you're okay. A friend of Noon Ray recommended that I see you guys”

“I am glad you did, but worry about us. I need a break from Lofty. We've been having issues for a while, but I hope to get things sorted out somehow. I'll call your grandfather to make sure that he checks up on your cousin in a day or two.”

“Alright” ScooterFlame headed inside the house to see his adopted aunt laying on the recliner. No one said anything for a moment until Lofty broke the silence.

“ I have a half-brother named Grey Ink” she muttered.

This was news to Scooter.

“Grey Ink?” As in the senator of cloud 51 who went missing almost ten years?”

“Yes. He had to go into hiding because there were rumors that people from his past were coming back to make his life a living h*ll. Grey wasn't too concerned about it until there was strong evidence that some people he trusted were working in his office to gather classified documents and other evidence to leak.”

“Oh no”

“Several days ago, Grey wrote me a letter telling me to meet him at a beach in Seaview. When I got there, he told me that he was recently diagnosed with kidney failure, and wondered if I or any of our other siblings would possibly be compatible and willing to donate”

“Kidney failure? Isn't he kind of-”

“He’s 53 years old and my father’s eldest child. Even when my dad disowned me many years ago, Grey and a sister of ours were there for me when nobody else was able or willing”

ScooterFlame swallowed, and the woman continued.

“I know. I should have mentioned him to Holi, but...I just didn't want her dragged into anything bad just in case...you know” Lofty sighed

Outside the window, the two-spotted school bus getting ready to halt beside a curb. A handful of small children rushed out, and the view of a certain little boy with yellow skin, blue eyes, and red hair became clearer. Noon Ray rushed towards the door and knocked. ScooterFlame opened it before Noon gasped and greeted him with a hug.”

“ Mommy! Scooter!”

“ Hey kid, long time no see”

“Hi, Buddy!” Do you want a snack?”

“ Yes please”

Five minutes later, the three were sitting at the kitchen table. Scooter filled his aunt and cousin in on important events that have happened recently while Noon munched on peanut butter crackers. Scooter had leftover chicken soup that was warmed up, and when he was done the three went to the living room to watch TV. After a few hours, Lofty informed her nephew that she had some work to do but to come by again in several weeks. Scooter texted Pinkpoint that he was ready to come back to Southville. She didn't respond right away, but that was alright.

He grabbed an old skateboard of his from one of the closets and used it to cruise down the sidewalk. He normally joined Ronaldo, but it was nice to be alone right now. It wasn't even very hot today, and he could hear birds chirping and dogs barking. Sometime later he returned it to the original location before seeing a familiar face outside the window. The princess came to retrieve him and they returned to Southville.