Lost Years

Maira sat alone at the dining table in an empty house, the loss of Ice still raw even after a year. She ran a hoof over an indent in the table, made by Snow when she was still just a baby. She’d been gone for 19 years now, never got a chance to see her own baby grow. Maira’s eyes watered. Snow and Argyle used to bring little Sunny over to visit her and Ice often, but after she had died, Argyle moved over to Maretime Bay with Sunny.

A loud boom startled Maira from her thoughts. She jolted to her hooves, wincing when pain shot down her back legs. She trotted out the door, into the yard, staring at the rainbow shooting its way across the sky. It was something that shouldn’t be possible, something that almost certainly wasn’t occurring naturally. When the rainbow reached her, she felt something tingle in her body, unnaturally warm, and her hooves almost felt like they were burning. She stamped them up and down, a bit panicked, and a flower shot up out of the ground, a small orange lily, followed by two more larger ones. The burning in her hooves faded, and she stared at the flowers in disbelief. “No,” she said out loud. “Someone couldn’t have possibly brought it back. Not after so long.” But the evidence was in front of her.

She rushed back inside, looking around at the decades of memories inside. She knew if she left, she might not ever come back. But this was a mystery begging to be solved, and Ice wouldn’t want her to leave it alone. So she packed a saddlebag with some food, a map, and a few of Ice’s hoof made stuffed animals, shoved Ice’s old hat on her head, and left the house she’d lived in for 56 years.

Later, as she was trudging along an overgrown path on the way to Maretime Bay, she had some regrets. “Maybe, this was not… the best idea,” she huffed. But she did feel stronger now than she had before, and even though the occasional flowers and vines that popped up under her hooves were annoying, they reminded her of her mission.

A couple days later, she finally spotted Maretime Bay’s buildings ahead. She sighed in relief, tucking her map back into her saddlebag, and putting a little more spring in her step. She walked into the town, trying to ignore the stares of the ponies wondering who she was. She found the lighthouse that Argyle said he’d be living in at the edge of town, and she knocked on the door. She shifted on her hooves, suddenly very tired, feeling all her years, now that she’d reached her destination. But she wasn’t done yet. He steeled herself as the door opened.

A yellow earth pony who was definitely not Argyle or Sunny opened the door.

“Um, hi,” she said, and then wanted to kick herself. She hadn’t had to talk to anypony new in decades.

“Who are you?” the yellow pony asked.

“Uh, I’m Maira,” she said. “I’m looking for Argyle Starshine? He told me he lived here?”

The yellow pony looked shocked. “Oh, uh, Argyle’s been dead for about six years now. His daughter Sunny lives here, though.”

Maira’s heart squeezed. “Oh. Um, may I speak to Sunny, then, please?” she asked.

The yellow pony narrowed his eyes at her for a moment, before likely deciding that an old, slightly dirty and tired mare didn’t pose much of a threat. “Sure, uh, come in, I guess,” he ushered her inside. “My name’s Hitch, it’s, uh, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you as well,” she returned.

“Please sit down,” Hitch said, ushering her to a couch, and she did so gratefully. “I’ll get you some water and call down Sunny.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded and left her there, the door to the sitting room left open behind him. “Sunny!” she heard him yell up the stairs. “There’s somepony here to talk to you, get down here.” He came back after a minute with three glasses of water on a tray, held carefully with one hoof. “Sunny will be down in a moment,” he said, holding the tray out to her.

“Thanks,” Maira said again, feeling vaguely robotic as, almost in slow motion, she carefully lifted a glass off the tray and a fully grown up version of the four year old Sunny she’d last seen 18 years ago came through the doorway. She didn’t drop her glass, thank the sun and moon, but her whole body seemed to go numb. “You look so much like your mother,” she said, her eyes watery and her voice a whisper.

Everypony froze.

“What?” Sunny whispered.

“What?!” Hitch yelled.

Maira stared at the two in silence, not knowing what to say.

“I think we’d better have a talk,” Sunny said.

“Okay,” she exhaled. “I’m Maira, and I came to ask why and how magic is back after so long. I thought Argyle might have had something to do with it, but…”

Sunny shook her head. “Dad’s been gone for six years, but Hitch and I actually were a part of that. And I want to know how you knew my mother.”

Maira smiled. “Then I think we can help each other quite well.” She held out her hoof and Sunny shook it. “Now, where should we begin?”