TCB: The Jig Of Life

Chapters

Hello, Old Lady
I Know Your Face Well
Looking In The Mirror
Now Is The Place
Lost Chapter: Never Say Goodbye
Let Me Live!
Where The Crossroads Meet
Epilogue: Will You Look Into The Future?

Hello, Old Lady

She trudged down the cracked and lumpen excuse for a sidewalk, a battered haversack slung across her bent and narrow back. The elderly Asian was tiny, and drew several curious glances because of her strange, outdated attire. Rather than a functional jumpsuit that was the most common fashion among the gainfully employed, or the rags and bits and bobs worn by the common favela dwellers, this tiny creature with the stern face and narrow eyes wore a high-waisted jacket with long sleeves and a flaring skirt that barely cleared the filthy street beneath her plodding feet.

Her clothing was clean and crisp, and marked her as someone of some means. This attracted the attention of a few opportunists who thought to relieve the poor granny of her heavy burden, and possibly of those cumbersome clothes as well. Any who approached within a couple of meters received a sudden look from those black pearl eyes that made them reconsider their intentions and suddenly remember urgent business elsewhere.

The tiny old woman looked frail, but she was not.

She had trained as a fighter from the age of three, the last in a long line of bodyguards, enforcers, and mercenaries. Her oma had often claimed direct matrilineal descent from the famous female palace guards of the Joseon dynasty, years before Confucianism swept down from China to force women into social subservience.

Whether that was true or not, Eun-sook had certainly lived up to the legacy of those ephemeral ancestors. She was fitter than most women (or men, come to that) a third of her age.

Not that she looked her age. She could pass for forty on a good day. Today was not a good day, but even with her stern scowl and forbidding glare she looked nearer fifty than sixty. In fact, she had seen seven decades and change.

She had four grandchildren she had never seen, and her daughters had been absent from her life for a quarter of a century. Her son–

Slam! Close the door on that train of thought and lock it.

She reached her destination and walked into the big building promptly at 07:26. She joined the small crowd of applicants, filling out the questionnaire with quick and decisive ticks.

After waiting an infuriatingly long time–almost three hours–in an uncomfortable molded chair, Eun-sook found herself herded into a group of fellow newcomers and dragged along on a tour of the facility. As if she cared about the dormitories, the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the classrooms. She cared only about the place featured last.

The door was made of reinforced plasteel. Or proper steel, perhaps, with better shielding capability. It bore prominent signs, one bearing an equine silhouette, another showing the warning symbol for thaumic radiation.

This is the room where it happens," the young woman who was their tour guide announced. She waved her hand in a grandiose gesture better suited to showing off a fine painting than a bolted door. She continued her well-practiced spiel, to which Eun-sook only gave part of her attention. Fourteen days was the average stay for an applicant prior to Conversion. She glanced around in consternation. She would have to put up with this merry cast of miscreants for two weeks?

"Does it hurt?" A chubby youth with dark skin asked this question, which Eun-sook thought was rather silly. With magic-fueled nanites reconstructing your entire body, including your nervous system, why the hell wouldn't it hurt?

The tour guide scowled, displeased at the interruption to her practiced script. "We administer an anesthetic adapted to your body chemistry right before giving you the potion. So no, it doesn't hurt a bit."

"I don't want to be knocked out." Eun-sook folded her arms and stood as tall as her 146 centimeters would allow. She glared at the steel-bound door.

"That's something you can go over with the doctor during your evaluation. Anyway, that's it for the tour." The guide clapped her hands together briskly. "Who's hungry? I know I am! This way to the cafeteria, folks!"

Eun-sook trailed behind the rest of the group, in the wake of a tall woman in a green jumpsuit. A Green level twoper, electing for Conversion? This early? It would be at least a year before the Barrier reached the coast. What was this girl's hurry? And she was a girl, Eun-sook realized as the tall Green cast a look back at the Conversion Room door. Certainly no more than twenty, or she'd eat her left slipper.

Eun-sook decided to skip the cafeteria. She wasn't hungry anyway. She wanted to talk to this mysterious doctor who thought anesthesia was not merely a suggestion, but some sort of requirement.

Eun-sook had every intention of teaching the good doctor otherwise.

***

Author's Note

When I began writing The Heart Of Everything, it was my intention to introduce a semi-antagonist for the story, someone to give my heroine Tib a hard time and generally be a nuisance.

Instead I got a strong, complex, deeply fascinating character who became a strong deuteragonist, as important to the original story as Tib herself.

I'm attached to all the features characters I have created, but Eun-sook is particularly near and dear to me. In this story all her secrets (well, most of them) will be laid bare, her mysterious past will be revealed, and thee cycle of my Conversion Bureau into stories will come full circle.

But I'm not done. Norco's TCB done with me, I think. There are stories yet to be told.

I Know Your Face Well

The doctor was a white woman with flaming red hair, black framed spectacles, and an oversized datapad that she either consulted or finger typed on with such consistency that almost anyone else would believe she was paying only minimal attention to the patient in front of her.

Eun-sook knew better. This medical professional, Pastern by name (and any woman named after a horse's ankle would inevitably be in charge of conversion to a pony; it would be her myeong), was as observant and perceptive as any Intelligence broker she'd ever encountered. With each glance Pastern gave over the heavy black rims, Eun-sook knew she was being assessed. Far from being offended, Eun-sook respected the woman's thoroughness.

That thoroughness showed plainly in the subsequent physical examination. Pastern was no more intrusive than the evaluation required her to be, but nevertheless, if Eun-sook had possessed any undeclared implants or physical abnormalities, Pastern would have spotted them.

"You're in remarkably good shape. I'm a bit jealous." Pastern grinned affably. "I hope I'm doing as well when I'm seventy-three."

"You won't be here that long." Eun-sook did not smile back. She had no patience for small talk. "None of us will. We'll either be in Equestria, or dead."

Pastern's expression sobered, and her brows hitched upwards briefly. "True." She adjusted her glasses and looked at her typepad again, obviously recollecting herself and rethinking her discussion strategy. When she set her pad down, she looked directly at Eun-sook. Her tone was still pleasant, but she offered no more banter. "I'm curious as to why you answered each essay question with Because I want to. Would you care to elaborate?"

"If I did, I would have done so on the application." As a token of respect for Pastern's directness, Eun-sook added, "My reasons for choosing Conversion are many. I don't think the application had room for me to list them all. In any case, my motivations are…personal."

"Fair enough." Pastern set the typepad on the table beside her chair. "Did you have any questions for me?"

"Not a question, exactly." Eun-sook folded her arms. "The tour guide suggested that anesthesia is included in the potion formula."

"Tour…? Oh, that's Lynn, my PA. And you were informed correctly. The Conversion process is…uncomfortable, to say the least. The anesthetic will be precisely formulated to your body chemistry in order to minimize any risk to your health."

"I don't want to be knocked out."

Pastern blinked. "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

The doctor had understood her perfectly. She was making another request for elucidation. Eun-sook elected to humor her…to a point. "I will not be sedated. I choose to remain fully conscious during Conversion."

Pastern shook her head. "That won't be possible. The anesthetic is a requirement of the process."

"In what way? The physical transformation is as basic as a combination of state of the art nanites and alien magic can make it."

The doctor looked rather impressed. "You've done your homework."

"My oma–my mother–always cautioned me against going into anything blind. I know there will be pain, and I have a very high tolerance for that."

Pastern frowned in consternation. "We're not talking pain here, Ms. Park. Pain is a root canal or appendicitis. Pain is natural childbirth. This is beyond anything you could have experienced. If you were lucky, you'd black out during the process. If not…well, let's say you'd be begging for sedation, and by then it would be too late to administer any."

"No drugs." Eun-sook's tone held a note of finality. "If you refuse to honor my wishes, there are ninety-nine other clinics here. I'm sure I can find someone to accommodate me."

The good doctor was keeping up an admirable front of detached professionalism, but just under the surface Eun-sook could see the woman struggling to suppress a complicated mix of reactions. Frustration; yes, that was to be expected. Distress; that too, was no surprise–a patient was refusing what was obviously considered an essential part of the Conversion process. But there were other reactions as well, less easily interpreted. Why would Pastern be experiencing…remorse? Or guilt? Or shame?

"Well, it's nothing we have to confront today." The cracks in her facade sealed up tight as Pastern rose to her feet, all brisk professionalism. "If you go see Beth, she'll have your room assignment. Then you really ought to stop by the caff. . I know you intended to skip lunch, but I heard they have a shipment of Equestrian apples in–trust me, they're amazing." The doctor smiled briskly.

Eun-sook balked at the summary dismissal. "I won't be sedated," she said firmly. She stood and stared stonily at Pastern, who returned her glare with complacent neutrality.

Eun-sook wanted to punch her in the face hard enough to break those ugly glasses, but she couldn't reach that high.

Forced into retreat, she spun on her heel and marched out of the examination room. She'd had to concede the first skirmish, but this war had a long course to run. Two weeks, and that was plenty of time to devise a strategy.

She would not let them dope her up.

***

Author's Note

Eun-sook has a long-standing habit of analyzing everything and everyone around her, looking for weaknesses she can exploit and situations she can turn to her advantage.

She has no desire to be put under sedation. Eun-sook hates drugs, doesn't trust anesthesia, and is unwilling to be put in a vulnerable position. Her reasoning will be made more clear later on.

Looking In The Mirror

The cubicle calling itself applicant quarters was narrow and bare, save for two cots and a stack of four plastwood drawer units trying to pass themselves off as a dresser. Eun-sook started by shoving the cots against opposite walls and dividing the storage drawers into two separate stacks. She wouldn't really need more than one of the units for the few clothes she'd brought with her, but if she was going to be forced to share accommodations, she was going to establish firm boundaries at the start without conceding any ground. If she'd had a can of spray paint, she would have marked the center of the room with a red line.

There was only one water closet, and that would have to be shared. Worse, the actual bathing room was communal, and consisted only of shower stalls. No way to take a decent bath! The mere thought of fourteen days without a long hot soak made her skin itch. This did not improve her mood. Nor did it deter her resolution to leave this miserable, dying, killing planet at the earliest opportunity.

She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the plastic mirror mounted on the WC wall. As it was mounted, she could only see herself from the chin up unless she went to fetch a footstool. The thought came to her unbidden, as it always did when she saw her own face looking back at her:

When did I get so old?

She brushed the thought away impatiently and went to put away her things.

She was folding and storing her undergarments when she heard a voice outside, echoing in the corridor. Someone was singing, and the sound was getting closer.

New world's calling and it's calling my name
Time for all of us to make a change
Why do I feel this way?
It's the promise of a new day

The singer's voice was bright with cheer, optimistic. It made Eun-sook feel sick to her stomach. She tucked her slips and pantaloons away, waiting for the offending noise to pass by and fade.

Then the door burst open, revealing the very Green she'd taken note of during the tour. So not only was she abandoning what must have been a comfortable life for the uncertainty of an alien world, she was happy about it! She was singing about it!

There's another world that's waiting for me
In Equestria, where life is sweet
Love ha–

Abruptly the singer stopped dead, the door swinging shut behind her. She stared moon-eyed at Eun-sook, the cheery smile on her long face dropping off like an overripe peach from a branch. Good!

Eun-sook slammed the drawer shut and faced this too-tall, gangly, kinky-haired upstart. She was spoiling for a good healthy confrontation after losing so ignominiously to the Good Doctor.

She pointed imperiously at the drawer stack beside her cot. "You keep your stuff away from mine.I check my stuff all the time. Every day. If anything goes missing or even gets messed with, you'll be sorry."

The girl seemed about to retort, which would have given Eun-sook tacit permission to launch a tirade about disrespectful, ungrateful youth…but instead she held herself back, and kept respectfully silent. She merely nodded, once.

Infuriating!

Eun-sook launched a fresh volley of provocation. "You stay on your side. Some people try to claim everything for themselves. I hate people like that."

"Me too." Provokingly unprovoked, the girl headed to her bunk, the linens stacked neatly on top, and began making her bed. Or trying to. "I'm Delphine Thibodeaux, but I go by Tib. What's your name, ma'am?"

"What you need my name for?" Eun-sook was startled out of her clipped, carefully accent-neutral English. Next she'd actually be speaking Korean.

The roommate–Tib–looked over her shoulder with a gentle smile. "Well, it would be an improvement over 'Hey, you', wouldn't it?"

Eun-sook shot back her most forbidding glare. Tib simply turned back to her work. She tried to smooth the sheet, tugging and patting and smoothing and adjusting and making an absolute mess of the carefully-pressed synthcotton. Obviously the girl had never made up a bed in her short, pampered life, but she obviously was game to make the attempt. So she wasn't afraid of work.

Eun-sook found herself holding back a wry chuckle at the futile antics. She watched until she could no longer tolerate the child's enthusiastic yet incompetent efforts.

"Are you crazy, or just stupid?!" Eun-sook was so caught between amusement, impatience and frustration that she didn't realize she had actually spoken in her ethnic Korean, therefore her words did not have the desired effect. She took three brisk steps forward and shoved Tib firmly back. Whipping off the sheet, she shook out the wrinkles as best she could and spread it out properly, tucking in the corners with neat box folds. The top sheet and blanket followed suit, falling in place under the guidance of long-practiced hands. She scooped up the flat pillow and pummelled it into submission. She tossed it backhand and it landed exactly at the head of the bed.

She hadn't lost her aim.

Tib stared at the freshly-made bed, suitably awed. She offered a hesitant "...Thank you?"

In that soft, strangely childish voice Eun-sook heard a distinct respect for elders, a quality she had thought long gone in the sullen youth culture. She also detected a suppressed yearning for something (or someone) precious that had been lost. The veneer of cheer was gone, and underneath was a lonely, quietly frightened girl forced to grow up entirely too soon.

Intending to exploit her opponent's vulnerability, Eun-sook marched over to confront her, purposely invading her personal space, facing her square-on to establish dominance. Generally people preferred to keep at least a meter's distance, and even close friends would stand at a forty.-degree angle from each other. Eun-sook's face-on stance should make Tib shift unconsciously to one side or the other, backing a step away and angling her body to a more comfortable position. Eun-sook had often used this tactic to literally back her targets into a corner. They wouldn't realize they'd moved until they bumped into the wall, and Eun-sook would take advantage of their confusion to gain social supremacy.

Only this time it failed. Tib looked mildly disconcerted, but she didn't step back or move aside. Nor was she defiant or defensive. She looked down at Eun-sook with cautious respect in her huge hazel eyes. She refused to be intimidated, not out of obstinance, but…a desire to be accepted?

She was so young. So-young was the name of her eldest granddaughter. She would be about this girl's age. And probably much less respectful of the grandmother she'd never met.

Instead of the harsh directives she'd intended, what came from her lips was just one word: "Halmeonee." She pronounced it distinctly, so there would be no mistakes.

Tib offered a small, desperate smile. "I'm sorry, I don't underst–"

"That what you call me. Halmeonee."

It was the Korean word for "grandmother".

She felt the unfamiliar prickle of tears in her eyes and she turned hastily away, towards her side of the room. You come help and next time you do bed yourself."

Part of her expected, no, wanted the girl to balk, to complain, to dispel the spark of affection flaring to unwelcome life. Instead she heard footsteps approaching behind her, and an eager "Yes, ma'am!"

With those two words, a part of her heart Eun-sook thought dead woke up and fell in love.

***

Author's Note

Because she has been so abused by modern society, Eun-sook takes refuge in traditional Korean dress. She wears a modified hanbok, often trading the cumbersome skirt for pantaloons which allow more mobility.

Tib can be obnoxious on occasion, but she has a deep respect for her elders, a respect Eun-sook never received from her own children.

Despite her gruffness and determination to distance herself from forming attachments, Eun-sook has a lot of love to give, and she's desperate for someone to give that love to.

She's going to the best place for her.

Now Is The Place

When Eun-sook arrived at the Bureau, she had resolved to make no acquaintances, to form no bonds, to keep herself to herself and reject all overtures of friendship.

It was her desperate intent not to form any more attachments. She'd lost too many.

And it was, of course, laughably futile. Her budding friendship with Tib inevitably led to frequent encounters with Tib's first friend at the Bureau, a lavender pony who called herself Lilac and was a recent convert. Lilac was not merely bubbly, she was effervescent, and she elevated everyone around her with lifted spirits and a positive outlook.

Eun-sook wasn't immune, and on her third day of her residence at the Bureau she found herself sitting at a breakfast table with Tib, Lilac and a sour-faced black girl in a wheelchaircwho was Lilac's roommate. They were served an undeniably delicious breakfast by a handsome young man of East Asian descent, possibly Indian or Pakistani, who was a marvel in the kitchen.

During her first week, both kitchen wizard Trev and wheelchair-bound Ana went behind the steel-bound door and walked back out on hooves. Trev became a sunshine-yellow Earth pony who promptly christened himself Chocolate Chip Muffin. (Lilac, famed shortener of names, immediately dubbed him "Chip", and it stuck.) Ana was now a slim pegasus the color of pink champagne with a pearlescent mane and tail. She was breathtakingly lovely and graceful beyond comprehension, with none of the habitual awkwardness of a freshly-minted newfoal. She was called Featherfall Dancer, a name which echoed her delicate steps.

On Friday the new pegasus trainees were taken to the roof to be put through their paces. Lilac dragged the others up there to witness Featherfall's first flight.

Featherfall was as graceful in the air as on the ground, flitting among the winged ponies struggling to navigate the errant breezes with delicate finesse. She presented herself before her friends and did a perfect midair pirouette, followed by a graceful bow. Tib clapped, Chip stomped and whooped, and Lilac pranced with delight.

Eun-sook smiled and nodded approval. She didn't clap her hands; her left arm had been bothering her all day. She must have slept on it wrong. Also, she was terribly winded from the climb up the stairs. Her chest ached miserably.

After practice, the girls and Chip chattered and praised Featherfall's first flight all the way downstairs. It was only when they reached their landing that Tib noticed how much Eun-sook was struggling to breathe. Instead of pointing it out, Tib pleaded a headache brought about by the smog, and suggested bringing trays for herself and Eun-sook back from the caff and making an early night of it. She promised they'd all meet at breakfast to discuss the day's activities.

Tib was as good as her word, but Eun-sook had no real appetite. In truth, the smell of the portobello stew was making her feel nauseated. She managed a couple of spoonfuls, then pleaded exhaustion and retired to her bed. Considerately, Tib doused the light and turned in as well.

It took a long time for Eun-sook to fall asleep.

She didn't realize she wouldn't be waking up.

Not as a human, anyway.

***

Eun-sook became aware again in an endless ocean of blackness. She was awake, but she couldn't see anything. She couldn't hear, couldn't feel. She was afloat, weightless, in a vast sensory deprivation chamber.

She tried to draw breath to scream, but she had no breath. She wasn't breathing. She had no lungs, no throat, no mouth, no eyes, no ears, no limbs. She was nothing but bare naked consciousness, adrift in a seamless void.

The nothingness around her promised peace, an end to fear and pain and loneliness. All she had to do was surrender to it, become part of it, and she would peacefully, painlessly cease to exist.

No! Fiercely Eun-sook raged against the encroaching darkness, resisting the lure of oblivion with all her fighting spirit. She felt herself solidifying, regaining physical form, and then she fell on her back to a cold hard surface, hard enough to knock her newly reclaimed breath out of her.

"I will not go!" she shouted at the dark canopy above her. "I refuse to fade into the dark. No matter the pain or hardship, whatever changes may befall me, I want to live!"

"Well said."

Eun-sook sat up, instantly alert. She was on a marble dias, in the center of a cultivated glade of willows. Their long slim branches dipped into a pool which encircled the platform onto which she had fallen. There were clusters of gardenias and moonflowers and night-blooming jasmine growing among the trees, filling the air with their fragrance. Eun-sook cast about for the one who'd spoken. "Who's there?"

A form the color of midnight stepped from the shadows. A pony, yes, but so much more. Her mane and tail held all the night's colored and moved and flickered like an aurora, stars glimmering within the folds. Her eyes were a brilliant azure. A black-pearl horn rested on her brow, and feathered wings adorned her withers. Above her horn she wore an ebon-black crown adorned with a shining crescent moon. Her hooves were shod in ornate filigrees of silver. She stood tall, regal, with the bearing of a world ruler...as she was.

Eun-sook took in the totality of the fabled Princess of the Night. A vision of impossible beauty, a fairy tale made flesh. Diarch of all Equestria, subordinate only to her elder sister. "Luna."

The princess nodded her head. "I bid thee welcome. As the day is my dear sister's domain, so is mine the darkness of deepest night." She settled down beside Eun-sook, at her ease. "It was my thought we should speak, thee and I."

***

When Eun-sook woke up, she found herself not in bed, but lying on a blanket. It was hard underneath; she must be on the floor. She wasn't in the room she shared with her adopted granddaughter, either. It felt…different. Smelled different.

Her eyes seemed stuck shut for a moment, but she managed to coax them open. The first thing she saw was Tib's face, bending over her. The child's eyes were red and swollen--she'd been crying--but she wore an eager smile. She was kneeling on the floor, and Eun-sook realized her head was in her granddaughter's lap.

"Hwnh…" Eun-sook's mouth felt strange. She tried to work out how to speak with it–had she had a stroke? That thought should have worried her, but somehow it didn't. She felt too good. She felt wonderful.

She tried moving her legs, then her arms. Everything seemed to be working, but it felt kind of strange. Good, strong, with no pain for the first time in years…but strange.

Again she tried to speak, and this time it worked better. "Where are we? What happened?"

"You're a pony now, Halmeonee." Tib looked happier than Eun-sook had ever seen her. Joy made her look almost pretty. "You've been Converted."

"I've been what?" Eun-sook moved her arms, only they weren't arms anymore, they were forelegs. She stared at her polished hooves in astonishment. "When did this happen?"

"Almost an hour ago." Tib was stroking her neck. It felt really nice. Comforting. "You're so beautiful."

Eun-sook squirmed, trying to get her new legs under her. "Why did nobody ask me first? I go to sleep in bed, and boom! I wake up as a pony?"

Tib bit her lip. "Don't you like it?"

"Of course I like it! I came all the way out here to be a pony!" She twisted and managed to push herself upright, resting on folded legs, trying to bring her face level with Tib's. "I just didn't expect it to be like this. Surprise, pony!"

"Umm…"Tib looked away, behind Eun-sook. "Little help here?"

Eun-sook turned her head. To her surprise, she found that she could look directly behind her without turning her body. That nice doctor, the one with red hair, was smiling at her.

"You had a bit of a medical emergency last night," the doctor explained. "I didn't have time to examine you, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was a heart attack. We had to ponify you right away."

There was something Pastern wasn't telling her…something that she could see in the hazel depths of Tib's eyes…but she felt oddly disinclined to pursue it.

For the moment, at least.

All exclaimed over her appearance–her blue-green coat, her flame-colored mane and tail, her golden hooves and horn…yes, she was a unicorn. She could still feel a soft tingling on her brow, from…

From what?

"I'm going to have to kick you two out, "Pastern said, interrupting Eun-sook's thoughts as she pushed open the door. . "I have a little boy coming in about half an hour."

"I'll try," Eun-sook said, shifting her legs underneath her. "I'm not sure yet how to work these things."

"I'll help." Tib stood up, wrapped her long arms around Eun-sook's barrel, and lifted her to her hooves.

Somehow the feeling of her granddaughter's embrace warmed her heart greatly. She walked out of the room to be greeted by their friends, and although Eun-sook grumbled at the attention, she was happy to see them. As though she'd believed she'd never see them again…but that was a silly notion.

Wasn't it?

***

Author's Note

Eun-sook, with her customary obstinacy, refused to acknowledge the obvious symptoms of an impending heart attack.

The most obvious warning sign is a feeling of pressure or crushing pain in the chest, especially when accompanied by shortness of breath. Eun-sook should have gone to Doc Pastern at once!

Whether it was obstinacy, pride or flat-out denial ("My heart wouldn't dare attack me!"), the end result was the same.

She died.

Fortunately, as Ros discovered to her delight (and how I wish I could read her report!), the potion saved her.

Eun-sook also got her wish to not be sedated during Conversion.

Win-win!

Some questions yet remain, one most prominent: Could Eun-sook's unfinished Conversion dream be a consequence of essentially waking up dead that morning? Was her dream cut off, or did Eun-sook's impaired brain lose a substantial part of the memory?

Or does Luna do things just a bit...differently than her esteemed and beloved sister?

In later chapters, these questions will be answered. And the answers may well be questioned.

Lost Chapter: Never Say Goodbye

Completely unannounced, a tiny unicorn dodged Beth's best efforts to block her progress and burst into Pastern's office (which might have once been a broom closet). "We have to stop her," the unicorn once known as Park Eun-sook declared.

Pastern looked up, her expression carefully neutral. "Hello, Eun-sook. Come right in, won't you?"

"Name Harmony now, but no mind that. No time for protocol. Tib try get herself killed out there!"

"Out wh–wait a minute, please tell me that ragin' Cajun did not go outside and confront those picketers!"

Eun-sook–Harmony stared stonily at the doctor. "Yes All by herself."

"Shit!" Pastern slammed her desk drawer shut. "Well, I'll be damned if I let someone get slaughtered on our doorstep, no matter how stupid she's acting. I'll get security to bring her back in–"

"Send out guard, it cause big ruckus," Harmony cautioned. "It take more than one to make Tib back down–"

"And armed rent-a-soldiers coming out in force is asking for a riot. And sending ponies would be even worse. They couldn't fight, and the protesters would tear them apart." Pastern whipped off her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose to forestall a burgeoning headache. "Let me think…"

"I have idea," Harmony said. "If she turn into pony, that solve everything."

"Turn int–you mean Convert her? Today? Now?" Pastern replaced her glasses and checked her pocket minipad. "That's not possible. The day's schedule is already set–"

"You change schedule for me, to save my life. No can do less for my granddaughter. I go tell Intercom Boy call her now." Harmony spun and galloped back through the door.

"Wait–Eun-S–dammit, Harmony–his name is Alexi!" Pastern yelled after the clatter of hooves as it faded down the corridor. With a sigh, she triggered her intercom. "Lynn? Get the Pony Room ready. Yes, now. We've got somebody else trying to die on us, again, and that ain't happening on my watch."

And that was how Harmony engineered Tib's Conversion into the pegasus known as Madrigal Baroque.

***

"...so there I was, sitting in a parlor that could have been in a Garden District maison, having tea with the Princesses. It was surreal." Madrigal stretched her left wing out, watching the spread of crimson feathers. She seemed almost unable to believe they were real, part of her. She folded it back down and seemed about to say something else, then she shook her head and smiled. "It was really nice."

"I had tea with Celestia too!" Lilac said. "I didn't see Luna, but it was Celestia's idea for me to send my father a letter. Only…he never answered me." Her ears shifted to half-mast. I looked for him for ages, but…oh!" She touched a hoof to her lips and looked at Chip with eyes like bright blue saucers. "Me and my big mouth. I'm so sorry, Chip, I didn't even think–"

"It's okay. Really." Chip gave Lilac a sweet kiss. "I've come to terms with my parents' choice. They're together, and that's what I hold on to. Actually, Celestia and I talked about it. She helped me get a lot of things straightened out in my head."

"About time somepony did." Featherfall's tone was mildly mocking, but she was looking at the young stallion with warm affection.

"What about you, Feather?" Lilac asked her. "Did you dream of Celestia too? What did she say to you?"

"I dreamt of both Princesses," Featherfall said in a soft, respectful tone. "Neither one spoke a word. We danced together, a beautiful pas de trois…it was phenomenal. The loveliest dance I've ever experienced…" Her pale eyes slid shut as she reminisced, with a gently blissful expression

"Oh, haycakes!" Chip laid his chin on his extended fetlocks and sulked. "You and Maddie got both Celestia and Luna? No fair."

"Must be a pegasus thing." Lilac sounded just a bit jealous.

"Not at all." Madrigal draped a wing over Lilac's withers. "No one really knows why we see one Princess, or the other, or both. It may have something to do with what brought us to the clinic, or a way to prepare us for the transformation…or something nopony really understands. Except the Princesses themselves, of course."

"It was just a dream," Featherfall protested.

"Maybe…" Chip wondered aloud

"Maybe not," Lilac finished. She turned to Harmony, who was sitting quietly on her cushion, listening to the others talk. "What was your Conversion dream like, Harmony? Did you get both Princesses, or just Celestia?"

"It's very late, you three." Harmony yawned theatrically and stretched out her legs. "This unicorn needs her beauty sleep. Trot off to bed so I can get some rest."

The trio mildly protested, but Madrigal rose and shooed them all gently out. She touched the dimswitch and joined Harmony on the pallet they both slept on.

In the soft semi-darkness Tib spoke in a near whisper. "Everypony has a Conversion Dream. But it's okay if you don't want to share it. Not everypony does. It can be a very personal thing." She kissed her grandmare's cheek and settled down. "Sleep well."

Long after her granddaughter's breath became slow and heavy in slumber. Harmony lay wide awake beside her, struggling to remember what she didn't know she'd forgotten.

She remembered almost nothing of her Conversion dream. She knew she spoke with one of the Princesses…she believed it was the dark one, Luna…and there was a grove of willows and night-blooming flowers…and a pool…and that was where the memory faded.

It bothered her, but she tried to shrug it off. It was just a dream, anyway. Every newfoal had them.

With a quiet snort she snuggled up to Madrigal's back and resolutely shut her eyes.

It was my thought we should speak, thee and I.

But that was all Luna had said. Wasn't it?

Sleep was a long time in coming.

***

Author's Note

I could have sworn I uploaded this chapter with the others. So either it disappeared mysteriously or my memory is faulty.

Let Me Live!

Two weeks later, they were on their way to the Barrier. Goodbyes were said, with promises to find each other in the new world, once they'd all reached the other side. (Most of those promises, sadly, would never be kept. They were made with the most sincere intentions...but no one had yet realized how the Earth territory claimed by Equestria was expanding tenfold, a hundredfold, to unimaginable distances.)

At the dockside, boarding the ship that was to take them away, their group was attacked before they even set hoof on the deck of the ship. Bottles wicked with flaming rags shattered on either side of the gangplank. One broke near Lilac, and she ran screaming up to the deck, tail blazing.

As Harmony rushed up the plank after her, a harsh scent assailed her quivering nostrils. It was an odor she hadn't encountered since her Squad days, and it brought back memories of an assault on a Family estate by displaced ex-tenants, The miscreants had been summarily dealt with, but the flames had resisted almost every effort to douse them, and the estate had burned to the ground. Half her team had been terminated before the flames finally died out, and after the few remains were analyzed the white coats determined the lethal accelerant to be a mixture of ethanol, calcium oxide and ascetic acid. Some wit in the lab dubbed it High Luminescence Gelatin with Lingering Incendiary Hazard. The knowledge of the specific mixture was highly suppressed, which meant it was wildly popular for a few years until one too many would-be arsonists set themselves on fire with no way to stop it. Only a sodium chloride suspension was effective against HLGLIH, and that was far from common knowledge.

What was widely known was the nickname given to the mixture.

Thick bluish-black smoke was everywhere. Somewhere Lilac was whimpering, and Chip was with her, cursing every baked good in his repertoire. The crew was trying to quell the spreading fire with extinguishers, with wet blankets, with canvas sacks…all futile, as well she knew. Nothing would put out the blaze except…

Sodium chloride suspension.

Salt water.

They were afloat in a bay. They were sitting in salt water. If they could dredge up enough with buckets–no, that would take too long. The ship would burn to the waterline unless they could pull up enough at one time to flood the deck…

Through the crowd she saw a flash of a crimson coat. Was it her granddaughter? Yes, there was her cutie mark, unmistakable even in the chaos. Three musical notes born up by a tornado–

Which in the bay would be a waterspout.

Harmony dodged through the legs of panicked ponies and around the humans who strove uselessly to combat the inferno and finally reached Madrigal. "Hell Jelly!" she shouted at her granddaughter's confused face. "Those…those gaejasigdeul are using Hell Jelly!"

Madrigal stamped in frustrated rage. "Hell Jelly? What the buck is that?"

Of course she wouldn't know. "Soak packing foam in synthohol. Add vinegar and limecrete dust, let sit overnight until it firms up. Smother so it can't get air, it die, but if get air again it burn back up. Got to scrape it all off and wash away with salt water."

She expected Madrigal to understand at once what needed to be done. But Madrigal was frightened, confused, and obviously out of her depth. She was intelligent, yes, and brave, but she was no military strategist.

Harmony, fortunately, was. Or had been .

After a brief, frantic attempt to alert Madrigal to the obvious solution, she lost all patience with the filly. There was no time to coddle her. Harmony whistled for the one pony in their group who would be able to keep her wits about her. Featherfall came at once. Tersely, Harmony ordered the ship's captain to get all the others below decks. She had to summon some of her Blackmesh authority to make him comply.

With that same drill-sergeant efficiency, she gave the two pegasi clear instructions on how to draw the air away from the deck to smother the flames, pull bay water up into a huge waterspout, and then flood the deck with it to get rid of the accelerant. Madrigal balked at leaving her grandmother alone on the burning deck, but Harmony was stern. "You fix fire," she yelled in her granddaughter's agitated face, "I fix me! Now do what I say before everypony die!!"

Madrigal launched herself into the air without another word of protest. Featherfall followed her.

It gave Harmony a glimmer of pride to know that even after decades out of the field, three children and ponification, she still had it

As the pair began circling the ship, stirring up wind and pulling drops of bay water into a gathering mist, Harmony found a patch of deck that wasn't on fire. She crouched down, ignoring the scorching heat as best she could. With fierce concentration she covered herself in the thickest hornfield she could generate. The heat eased off, cooling the breathable air trapped inside with her. And there was air. A little. Probably not enough.

Slowly the surrounding flames flickered out, the smoke dissipating with nothing to bear up the particles. Soot drifted down to cover the ravaged deck. Harmony tried to breathe slowly, doing her best to conserve her tiny air supply. Already the air tasted stale and thin. She began to feel lightheaded. Soon she would pass out, her hornfield would collapse…and she would either suffocate in the stifling near-vacuum outside or be drowned in the deluge to come.

Hurry, Maddie. Be quick like the wind you sing up.

The deck darkened as the last flickers died out. The cyclone surrounding the boat thickened, drawing up bay water. It was getting dark, too dark to see. Harmony squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on keeping her field intact, on staying awake, on not dying.

Her head throbbed in time with her pounding heart. Her ears were roaring. She was sucking in useless breaths, her lungs scrubbing the last dregs of oxygen from the stolen air. She could feel herself slipping, slipping back into the blackness that waited.

If she died on this side of the Barrier, would she lose Equestria forever?

She couldn't die. She couldn't do that, not after everything she'd faced. She couldn't do that to her new family.

The words rang out from her very soul, her declaration from her half-remembered Conversion dream: I will not go! I refuse to fade into the dark. No matter the pain or hardship, whatever changes may befall me, I want to live!

Immediately she heard the response, a voice that came not from a fragment of memory but from somewhere other, somewhere now:

Well said.

Her hornfield collapsed just as the deck flooded.

The darkness opened up and swallowed her whole.

***

Author's Note

Yes, Harmony is dying.

Again.

Read on, and learn how things play out.

Where The Crossroads Meet

And Harmony remembered.

A total wave of long-suppressedmemories overwhelmed her dimming senses, with far more force and fury than the rush of engulfing bay water.

She remembered the moonlit willow grove–Luna's grove–under an impossibly starry sky, where she'd found herself after escaping from an oblivion of nothingness by the sheer force of her own will.

The Princess was standing before her, bathed in starlight, cloaked in her own soft luminance.

And Harmony relived the memory, as though it were happening now.

"It was my thought we should speak, thee and I."

"Where am I? What is happening?" Eun-sook swallowed hard and asked the question she scarcely dared to voice. "Am I dead?"

Luna smiled gently. "As I said before, thou'rt in my domain. The realm of night, and of dreams. Thou hast a choice to make, though it seems thou hast already chosen, and well."

She sobered. "As to thy last question…at this moment, whilst in my realm, thou'rt in a state of grace that cannot linger long. To thy old life, thy human existence, thou'rt most assuredly dead. Park Eun-sook hath departed the mortal realm, and cannot return to it."

Horrified, Eun-sook stared at Luna in stark realization. "That's why I'm here with you…isn't it?...I…you're the Pale Mare, the psychopomp, who comes to collect...I really am dead." She cursed in a fluid magma-hot stream of Korean, never mind that she was in the presence of an otherworldly princess with godlike powers. "I had one week more," she finished, her voice shaking with anger. She felt cheated. "Six days and I would have gotten a new, young body."

"So thy desire to become one of our little ponies hath not abated?"

"What do you think I went to the Bureau for?" Eun-sook pounded at the marble surface beneath her. "My daughters abandoned me. My grandchildren probably don't know I exist. My son became a drug lord, my husband…" She trailed off, choking back sudden tears, tears she refused to shed. Even in a dream.

Luna's eyes shine with compassion. "He was what is called a Blackmesh operative, was he not?"

"So was I. That's how we met. Against all the rules, we fell in love, and when I got pregnant I was allowed to retire, in exchange for Tae-yang pledging a lifetime of service."

"And it ended not well for either of them, thy son and thy husband."

"Il-nam earned his death. He went against the West Coast hierarchy in a bid to become a tin pot dictator of his own little exclave…and the Families sent the Blackmesh to sort them out." Eun-sook swiped at the persistent wetness in her eyes. "I don't think he even knew that his father was one of the squad, and when he raised his gun…Tae-yang's instincts took over. Kill or be killed." She looked up into the velvet darkness above. "Tae-yang came home, told me what had happened, then walked outside and blew his brains out." She lost the battle with her angry grief and let the tears fall, but she didn't sob. She would not. Her son had been a fool, her husband a coward. Her daughters had abandoned her, and she was alone.

"Alone thou art not," Luna reminded her. "There are those who care most deeply for thee, and who would sore mourn thy loss." On delicate ebon hooves Luna walked to the edge of the dias, bending her lovely head to look down at the surrounding pool. "Come and see."

Hesitantly Eun-sook rose and moved to the Moon Princess's side. The water below was black and smooth, with no ripples or waves to disturb the surface. Suddenly it began to glow, like a vidscreen switched on, and Eun-sook saw a long corridor whose walls and features were at once familiar. People and ponies were moving back and forth, mostly in one direction. "That's the clinic," she remarked.

"Just so." Luna nodded. "Now, attend."

There was some kind of commotion at the far end of the corridor. Suddenly a familiar figure broke through the crowd, pelting down the corridor, shoving others aside. It was Tib, and she was crying, nearly hysterical.

"Tib!" Eun-sook leaned down close to the water's glassy surface. "What's wrong with her? What's happening?"

The view moved into the reception area, and Tib rushed to the desk, slamming her hands on the desktop hard enough to make Beth jump in her seat. In her face Tib howled "She daid!"

"Who's what?" Eun-sook had trouble at times deciphering Tib's accent, which always thickened when she was agitated. "She did…who did what?" She swallowed hard. "Is she talking about…me?"

Then she heard a word that Tib's Cajun parle didn't obscure. Her own name.

"Eun-sook, she be layin' back dere in her bunk stone col' daid! She passed in de night an' I never knew not'in', me!"

" She found me? She found me dead in bed–oh, Tib!" Eun-sook shook her head. "Please, don't cry! I'm right here!"

"She cannot hear us," Luna said quietly. "There are others to look after her, as we cannot."

Eun-sook looked down at the image of a wailing Tib being led away by the receptionist. "Tib! Oh, Tib, grandchild, I love you! I love you so much!" She began to sob. "Please…please don't forget me…"

"None shall forget thee, dear one. Look sharp now, there be yet more to see."

"I…I can't…I don't want to–"

"MOVE!!"

That was not Luna. Nor was it Tib. Startled, Eun-sook looked to see a wild-eyed, frantic Roslyn Pastern shoving a gurney into the already agitated cluster of onlookers who parted to let her pass. It was that, or be run over. The doctor's assistant was hurrying after her, carrying a gray satchel.

The point of view followed the pair into the room Eun-sook shared with Tib. A small, somehow diminished figure lay in the bed–lying very, very still.

Grim-faced, Pastern leaned over her. She went through the motions of checking for a pulse, for pupil reaction, but the outcome was never really in doubt.

"What a damn shame," Lynn muttered, shaking her head. "I'm so sorry, Ros."

Pastern straightened up, draping her stethoscope around her shoulders. Her brow created as she stood staring at Eun-sook's body.

Eun-sook tore her attention away from the visions in the water and glared furiously at the starlit goddess beside her. "Why are you showing me this?" She completely forgot she was speaking to a being who could destroy her utterly with one thought. That, or in her grief and fury she was simply past caring. "I already know I'm dead. Why did you show me my granddaughter's pain? Why are you making me look at my own dead body? Does it give you some kind of sick pleasure to torment me?"

Luna seemed completely unruffled by the verbal assault. "Thou hast a choice to make, Park Eun-sook. Watch a bit longer. See it well, and gain understanding."

"Not a chance. I don't want to see any more."

From the water came Lynn's voice. "Doctor? Ros?"

Eun-sook refused to look. She didn't want to look. She looked.

She saw Pastern jerk to life. "Help me get her on the gurney."1

Nonplussed, Lynn did as she was told. "Are we taking her to the morgue? Shouldn't we wait for the morning detail to clear the hallway and–"

"We're taking her to Conversion," Pastern snapped. "There might still be a chance."

"How? She's dead, probably for hours!"

"No time to explain. Let's get her to the Pony Room. Stat!"

The gurney trundled out of the room, and the scene faded into the water's black stillness.

Eun-sook kept watching, but there was nothing more to see. The feed had been terminated.

"Now is the place where the crossroads meet," Luna stated. "Now is the time for thee to choose which path to take."

Eun-sook looked at her. "You mean I can go back if I want?"

"Not as thou wert. Howsomever…"

And at last Eun-sook understood. "So I can die as a human…or live as a pony."

"Those are thy choices."

Eun-sook met the Princess's glowing eyes. Her anger had faded. What remained was the steely resolve that had brought her to the Conversion Bureau in the first place. "I made my choice the day I packed my bag and walked away from my husband's cooling corpse." With absolute conviction, she repeated the words her essence had shouted at the dark. "I want to live."

"Then thou shalt live." Luna bent down to her. "To spare thee a troubled mind, of this encounter thou shalt remember but little…till thou dost gain the needed perspective."

"Don't worry about troubling my mind," Eun-sook snapped. "And it's like I could forget you showing me my death if I wanted to!"

Luna smiled and kissed Eun-sook's brow, just above and between her eyes. "Fare well, Park Eun-sook, till again we meet."

***

With that fleeting kiss, Eun-sook had forgotten all but the bare beginnings of her dream. The recovered memory, fresh now in her mind, gave her needed strength, renewed determination. Once more, she fought her way back from the darkness. She felt warm breath against her wet muzzle. Someone, somepony, was talking in low, frantic tones. "She never went below–she–oh, Sacre Luna, I don't think she's breathing–"

Harmony inhaled deeply–or tried to; something was blocking her windpipe. She forced it out and spewed salt water into her granddaughter's face.

Harmony sat up, coughing and spluttering. Madrigal was wearing the same agonized expression she'd had on her human face, running down the hallway screaming "She daid!"

To prove herself very much alive, Harmony cleared her throat and went into full-on Scolding Korean Grandmother Mode™. "Took you long enough!" she rasped. "What you do, go sightseeing? Visit Alcatraz?"

Madrigal burst into tears and flung her long forelegs around Harmony's tiny body. Over her shoulder, Harmony instructed Featherfall to alert those below that the danger had passed. Suddenly she remembered Lilac's blazing tail. Other ponies had been hurt as well–she'd seen Chip limping with a scorched flank. And all the crew members who'd gotten burned, who'd choked on the noxious fumes from the smoke…they would need help. There were two other unicorns on board, but with so many injured they'd all have their hooves full. Suddenly she remembered the herbs she was transporting to grow in Equestria–those awould certainly help. "Then fetch me my saddlebags. I'm going to have a lot of work to do."

When Feather was gone, Harmony wrapped her own forelegs around as much of her granddaughter as she could manage. Softly, she whispered in one half-drooping ear. "Ije modeun geos-i gwaenchanhseubnida. Jalhaess-eo, sonnyeoya."

She had no idea she was speaking Korean, so Madrigal didn't hear how proud Harmony was of her granddaughter.

It didn't matter; everyone, and everypony, was safe.

And just over the horizon, Equestria was waiting.

***

Author's Note

And now at long last the story is complete.

Only...not quite.

Epilogue: Will You Look Into The Future?

"Grandmare!"

The clattering of tiny hooves sounded in her entry hall. Harmony looked up from her scrolls in time to see a tiny silver-gray pegasus colt with an icy blue mane and tail appear in the doorway. Excited or not, Silver Virtue had the good sense to stop at the threshold and wait to be invited into the inner sanctum of Harmony's sacred study.

The same could not be said for his sister. Ginger Snap plowed into her sibling and tumbled them both to the woven matting inside the room. At once the cream-colored filly regained her hooves, shaking her unruly orange mane out of her purple eyes. "Nana! Guess what?"

Silver stood, settling his ruffled feathers. "I get to tell her. I got here first."

"You cheated! We were supposed to start on three!"

"I did start on three. I even stopped to wipe my hooves." Silver cast a significant glance down at the muddy tracks behind Ginger.

"You jumped the count. I was trying to catch up!"

"Listen, little sister–"

Ginger stomped her hoof. A few more drops of mud spattered the matting. "I am not your little sister! I am bigger than you!"

Silver drew himself up in a credible emulation of his mother's quiet dignity. "And I," he proclaimed, "am older than you."

Ginger snorted in derision. "By two whole hours. Big bucking deal!"

"Language."

Both foals looked at her with wide eyes. They'd forgotten where they were, and into whose presence they'd barged. Silver bowed his graceful head, and Ginger scuffed at one of the hoofprints she'd left on the mat.

"Apologies, Grandmare."

"M'sorry, Nana."

Harmony sighed and lowered her crimson quill to the desk, releasing it from her hornfield. There would be no peace for her until she'd heard the silly foals out. Her research would have to wait.

She sat up straight and looked sternly from colt to filly, summoning her most imperious offended-grandmother scowl. "This must be a matter of great import, to have the pair of you forget your manners. Did Featherfall flood Lilac's garden with too much rain again? Did your father crash his muffin cart?"

"No, Grandmare. Papa's fine, and so are both our mamas." Silver's blue-gray eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "This is a good thing, it's–"

"Guess what we saw!" Ginger cut in excitedly. "Come on, Nana, take a guess!"

"What I see," Harmony said, raising one eye ridge, "is a filly who is going to clean up the mess she made on her great-grandmother's nice clean floor."

Ginger's ears drooped. Appropriately abashed, she murmured, "Yes'm, Nana." Then she brightened again. "But first, you have to guess! Please? Just one little guess?"

"Those big boo-boo eyes are no influence on me, little Ginger. It does not work when your mother uses them, and it will not work for a rambunctious little upstart who forgets to wipe her hooves." Harmony turned her smoldering gaze on Featherfall's colt. "And while I am appreciative of your respect for my floor, Silver Virtue, it is customary to announce your arrival from the outer hall and then wait to be greeted. I know your mother taught you better manners."

Silver bit his lip. "I'm sorry, Grandmare. We were both just so excited."

Appeased by their conciliation, Harmony nodded and softened her tone. Slightly. "I do not like guessing games, Ginger, any more than I like being barged in on. Once you have both cleaned up the mess you tracked in–"

Silver was indignant. "I didn't track in anything!"

Another fiery look from the deep turquoise unicorn made him fall silent.

"Once you have both cleaned up my floor," Harmony said, enunciating each syllable, "then I will hear what you have to–"

"Halmeonee?" Another voice from the hallway, a voice not heard in months, a voice most welcome

Harmony's heart skipped a beat. She rose from her cushion and walked smartly to the doorway. The foals parted respectfully for her, their flagging spirits refreshed.

"That's what we were trying to tell you, Grandmare–"

"Tante Maddie's home, Nana! We saw her cloud cottage and came to tell you!"

Harmony scarcely heard them. "In the study, granddaughter. Just follow the hoofprints."

In moments she was enfolded in warm crimson wings. As always, Madrigal smelt of storm winds and sunlight. Harmony permitted herself to give the dark reddish coat a quick nuzzle before ducking out of the feathery embrace. "Typical," she scolded, in a feeble imitation of her stern tone. "Five months, and not so much as a letter."

"It's been pretty crazy, Halmeonee. I wasn't just touring; I actually scoped out some of the Exponential settlements, the ones close to the old Equestrian border. Just last week I was trying to find a dragon to post a letter, and I found something so amazing I had to come back and talk to you right away."

"It's good to see you again, Tante Madrigal," Silver said as he touched his muzzle to Madrigal's.

"I think you've both grown at least a hoof taller since I left this summer." Madrigal grinned as Ginger snuggled against her, and she nibbled affectionately at the orange forelock. "I think you grew three hooves, ma fille. You're going to outgrow me some day."

"Where's Corey?" Ginger asked. "He did come back with you, right?"

Madrigal gave her a solemn look. "Well, you know, he is a griffon, Ginge. If he wants to go visit the aerie to spend time with the tribe…"

Ginger's ears drooped. "You mean he's not with you? He didn't come back?"

Even Silver looked stricken. Madrigal glanced at Harmony, winked, and at her grandmother's conciliatory nod she looked over her shoulder and gave a short, sharp whistle. At once a green griffon soared in, landing on the threshold. "Hi, kids!"

"Corey!" The foals jumped up to greet their favorite foalsitter, and Corey obligingly let himself be tackled to the floor, giggling and grooming each in turn.

Harmony cleared her throat significantly. She was all for joyous reunions, but her floor was still a mess.

As always, Corey understood at once. He jumped up, standing on his hind paws as he brushed at himself with his foreclaws. "Hey, there's a lot of mud tracked in here and we've been rolling in it. Who wants to help me clean it up while Maddie tells Harmony her news?"

After a quick scrub of the study floor matting, Corey and the foals started work on the hall. Harmony magicked her door shut, then drew out a cushion for Madrigal while settling back on her own. "It's good to see you, sonnyeoya. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about us."

"You know better than that." Madrigal's green eyes glimmered. "I really didn't mean to be gone so long, but when you asked me to look for somewhere to move to…"

"Waystation is a nice place," Harmony murmured, "and it was the first village we ever saw…but it has never felt like home. The ponies here are very nice, but even after five years we're treated like guests. And since the newfoals don't come through anymore…"

"They're populating the Exponentials now. I visited a couple of the new settlements, but the Lands are massive, and getting bigger every moment. Even riding a tornado there's no way I could reach the newest settlements, not in one pony's lifetime. I'm glad we were early adopters."

"We were newfoals when being newfoals wasn't cool," Harmony agreed.

"Right. Anyway, I decided to swing back across the southern reaches, and I found a place that would be perfect for us!"

Harmony frowned, puzzled, and glanced at the map of Classical Equestria on her wall–a gift from a grateful traveling cartographer who she'd treated for a severely strained tendon. "You went through the Badlands?"

"I didn't go that far south. I might have been looking for a dragon to mail a letter, but even I'm not brave enough to cross into their territory uninvited. But I did find this little place…" Madrigal stood and went to the map. She pointed a hoof at the lower left area, well northeast of the area marked Never the buck go here. "It's amazing. Can you believe it? The Barrier reached the Mississippi a while back, and a bunch of newfoals from my old stomping grounds settled right here!" She tapped a hoof at a place where the river flowed into the eastern sea. "Swear to Luna, I was just drifting with the air currents, and I heard zydeco music. I thought I was hallucinating, but then I saw the town. It's been there for ages and we never even knew it!"

Harmony rose and walked over, squinting at the map. "Next to Hayseed Swamp?"

"Yes! It's got newfoals who came from my neck of the woods, back on Earth. Mobileans, Gulloxi Shores, Pass Coden, Magnoula, Dauphin Springs…the mayor has been trying to gather up as many from the area as he could. And he's someone I actually knew, back then!"

Harmony gave her a skeptical glance. "You said you had no friends but Corey before you got to San Francisco."

Madrigal waved her hoof dismissively. "Everypony in Mobileans knew Nonc Beau and Tante Lisette. Now they're Bontemps Roulez and Laissez Faire, and together they founded New Foaleans!"

"For Cajuns only? So you gonna move there and leave us not-Cajun ponies?"

"Don't be silly. Everyone's welcome. It's not just for newfoals, even. Some Equestrian natives are settling there, too. It's an amazing place, just like the old French Quarter was supposed to be. It would be perfect for us, Halmeonee! Chip could open a proper bakery instead of borrowing Puff's kitchen and hauling a cart. And remember Lilac wanting to start up Blossom Bites? She hasn't been able to manage it here because she can't produce enough product. There's tons of room in New Foaleans; she could have a garden as big as she wants. No more flower pots and window boxes. And all kinds of performers are there, too, musicians and artists and acrobats and–"

"Dancers?"

"Especially dancers. You know Feather has her heart set on founding a ballet company. Nopony in Waystation seems interested, but here…" Madrigal tapped the spot again.

"Well, that suits the four of you, I suppose. But what about the foals? They were born here."

"Yes, and they're always complaining that there are no foals their age in town. There are plenty in New Foaleans, and the twins are just about ready to start school."

Harmony sighed, looking around her study. She was lucky to have a little hut to herself, a courtesy from the local guild chapter…but she yearned for a proper house, one where she could have a place for her grandchildren to visit. "I don't suppose they have any use for a healer…?"

"You're an incredible healer, Halmeonee, but you're more than that. Nopony knows more about the medicinal uses of plants than you do." Madrigal draped a wing across Harmony's flank. "You know, an herbalist unicorn is somepony they'd welcome with open hooves. They're all about rootwork over there. The blending of magic and herbalism? You could teach them a lot…and learn a few things, too, maybe."

Harmony pondered the benefits and drawbacks of pulling up stakes and moving to an unknown place. It wasn't a hard decision, really. "So…are you going to help me pack?"

Madrigal grinned. "I knew you'd love the idea. Come on, let's go tell Chip an' them we're all going to a new home."

THE END

Author's Note

Meet the next generation!

Silver Virtue, the firstborn, was named after the translation of Harmony's human name. Ginger Snap got her name because of her coration and because she tried to bite her Papa shortly after being born, in a bod to protect her Mama.

Thank you for reading.