Esquestria: The House of the Sun - A pony cultist experience

You have not met anypony (or any group) in particular. But thanks to your uncle you were able to "clear your name" from your family's bad reputation.
You also asked for no boons from Celestia. She will certainly remember this.
Finally, you located Princess Luna by becoming a linchpin on the Histories. That did not go unnoticed.

You stare back at her, looking deep into her eyes the same way she is looking into yours. You stare back at that awesome avatar of streng-… no, at the extremely tired and mortal mare before you.

She has just asked you a question, but for some reason you can't bring yourself to answer it. You almost can't even remember what the question is at all. She is asking what she can give you for your services? Even now, at the state she is currently in, she is asking on how she can give?

You look into her eyes, but as much as you want to, you can't find it in you to do anything else. You can't find the strength inside of you to answer her back, you can't find the will in you to ask anything of her, not like this.

And she notices it.

"Nothing at all…?" she asks, her head tilting slightly, "or is it that you…"

Suddenly, her eyes seem a lot more focused.

Focused on you, that is.

There is no real change to them, or rather, something about them is changing that you can't exactly place a hoof on. You can't explain what it is. But the way she is looking at you is completely different now.

As if this whole time she had merely been looking "through" you, facing your direction out of politeness while talking to you. But now… she seems to be looking "into" you.

Nothing changed, not the position of her eyes, not her posture, nothing apart from the slight tilt of her head.

Nothing changed, except for everything.

She is not just looking at you, she is not just analyzing you, she is not merely scrutinizing you. She is reading you. And you immediately feel like a fool, or a foal, for having thought that the bags under her eyes or the tiredness in her body might have done anything to cloud her judgement, let alone her millennia-spanning wisdom.

But still, you keep staring back at her, this time out of unwillingness to… To what? To be found lacking? To be found wanting?

To have your part in all of this exposed?

Your thoughts start to race, wondering if perhaps this is being a mistake. Wondering if perhaps, thanks to accumulated experience or some obscenely powerful magic she might wield without a smote of effort, she might be doing something like reading your mind. For an unbearably long moment you think that, maybe, being here with her is a huge mistake. Although you know you have no choice on the matter, not anymore at least.

"Ah, I see…"

Until she nods. A curiously satisfied nod, as if she had just appraised a work of art and concluded it to be of her liking.

"I'm sorry that I took so long to realize," she says, blinking and shaking her head a little, "and I am sorry if my question made you uncomfortable."

You feel something inside of you sag, slightly, as the Princess' attention on you becomes a lot less detailed, and a lot more friendly. Well, as friendly as you can dare to assume she is being, that is.

"Uncomfortable, my Princess?" you ask, hesitantly, "not at all, it's just that I…"

That you didn't know how to answer her question…? No, that's not it. The fact remains that you found her question absurd to begin with, and there is no hiding it in your eyes.

Not from her.

And as soon as you think that, the Princess nods as if agreeing with you, and you can't help but feel a slight shiver at the thought that, perhaps, she can indeed read thoughts.

"It would not be fair for me to say that other ponies have not been kind to me," she says, her words filling in the gap left by your own hesitation, turning her gaze towards Shining Armor as well, "not when considering how hard everypony is working, or how many are lending their hoofs. But…"

She looks down towards you, and once again you feel like you are being read like an open book. You can see her eyes taking in the deep, and maybe senseless, worries that you feel for her. You can tell that she is doing it with less difficulty than you would have to notice the dirty spots on her coat.

"Well, I think you get what I mean."

And she gives you a wink.

Before you can even react, you feel a small surge of magic coming from her, the reverse effect of what had happened minutes ago taking place before your very eyes. Her grimy fur is quickly becoming spotless and white, almost with a shine about it. Her posture is becoming more regal and royal, different in a way that you can't name, but that you cannot deny.

A halo of incorporeal power seems to slowly appear around her, coming into existence like a rising sun, covering her in a mantle of something that you can only describe as perfection.

Gone is the worried and tired mare that is looking for her sister, the very notion that such a pony existed becoming ridiculous to even think of, when you stare at the creature before you.

Now, you see only Princess Celestia, regent of Equestria, ruler of the Sun and immortal leader of ponykind.

Moments later, that same energy around her becomes more physical, her aura transforming into an expanding sphere of golden light. You can feel the telltale signs of a teleportation magic being prepared, although of a scale and strength that you know to be impossible for anypony other than her.

"And don't worry," she says, with an honest smile, weaving the incredibly potent spell almost as an afterthought while she speaks to you, "I promise I will take care of myself."

And you believe her, out of some instinct that you can't rightly name, as if it was in your very nature to trust her completely.

The next moment, she is gone, the inward puff of a vacuum being filled by air announcing her departure, leaving you and Shining Armor in the silent hall.

It would only be hours later, when you were back on your bed, that you would realize that you are not sure, in all honesty, if…

If Princess Celestia was telling you the truth, in her promise.

Or if she was merely comforting you, speaking a lie to make you feel better as a parent might do to comfort their foals.

But regardless of which option is the truth, you now know that, at the very least, that moment of clarity amidst her exhaustion has allowed her to truly commit your name into her memory.

You wonder if that is a good thing.

The last two weeks have been long. Way too long for your liking.

But they are not over yet, as much as it pains you.

You try to let out a sigh of relief, as your carriage (Cadance's carriage, that is) takes you to the train station, or as the last piece of your luggage is loaded into the train, or as Ponpon closes the door of your cabin behind you, or even as the train starts moving.

But you can't. You know that you will only feel true relief when you are back at home. Your proper home, that is, with your husband and your daughter.

Really, it has been so long since the last time that you were away for any relevant period of time that you had forgotten what it felt like… you honestly consider asking Stormchaser to come with you, if you ever have to do something like this again. Although not having to repeat this experience at all sounds like a far better option.

"Velvet, are you alright?" Rarity, sitting opposite to you, snaps you out of your reverie, "your expression looks dreadful, darling. From the moment you woke up, mind you," she says.

You look at her, and then up at the ceiling, watching the chandelier of the cabin sway slightly as the train starts to move.

"No offence about your looks, of course," she says, partly as an afterthought and partly due to some ingrained habit of hers.

"I'm just…" you try to articulate what you are feeling, but in the end you find yourself fumbling for words.

"Restless?" she offers, causing you to hit your hoofs together with a clop sound.

"Yes, that!" you let out an exasperated tone, "heavens, these past two weeks were tiring…"

You look out through the window, seeing the capital slowly become more and more distant, until the whole scenery is suddenly overtaken by the darkness of the tunnels that cross the mountain.

You look back towards Rarity, the light of the chandelier being the only illumination in the room, and as much as it is more than sufficient to allow you to see clearly, it surely is also accentuating her slightly puzzled expression. Her slightly worried expression, that is.

Right… you have been keeping certain things from her, after all.

You sag on your seat, allowing the exhaustion from this whole experience to wash over you. The mental exhaustion, the emotional exhaustion, the kind of exhaustion that no amount of sleep can cure, and that nothing but peace and time can truly wash away. You see your friend's expression raise to a crescendo of worry at that, as she realizes just how drained you actually feel.

You open your mouth, and you almost start talking.

Almost.

You nearly tell her about the visit you made to your family's mansion, and the minute-long conversation you had with your father, the one that might as well have lasted for hours from the way you felt afterwards. All of that before the two of you even began working on the search itself.

You nearly tell her about how you dislike the whole high-society thing. Sure, you might be skilled at it, and it might be satisfying at times, but after years in Ponyville living a happy life you can't help but feel like you are slowly being smothered when you are in a place where your every word is being measured and weighted. About how being in charge of such a large operation slowly, but surely, took a toll on you, especially during the few days where Shining Armor was in his… particularly sour mood.

You almost, almost, tell her about how conflicted you feel, to be aiding in the search for a mare, a Princess no less, that you were partly responsible for the disappearance of.

Especially after Princess Celestia said you were kind. You fell anything but kind.

But again, you almost tell her all of that. Almost.

You close your mouth at the last moment.

For a moment you think that this is being stupid of you, hypocritical maybe. Rarity is your friend, a great friend, and you honestly trust her. You trust her to the point that you know without a doubt that even if you were to tell her all of that, her reaction would be to honestly worry about you, and maybe try to comfort you or calm you down, or even try to help you with a few of your problems.

So why don't you just tell her? Why not just be honest? She is a grown mare, there is no need to shield her from anything. Granted, maybe omitting a thing or two to ease her into the noble life, but…

Why keep this secret from her?

Why?

Why not?

You shrug, maybe it's just the way you are, after all. And it makes a bit of sense when you stop to think about it. There's not really anything that Rarity can do or help you with, except make you feel better.

So why even bother the effort? You can shoulder your weight just fine, and asking for her help will not make it any lighter, it will just transfer some of that weight to her. The source of your problems would still exist. So thinking like this is fine, right? You're not giving her unwanted protection, you are just saving her a bit of trouble, and perhaps a bit of suffering as well.

Its fine! You will be fine. You will just choose to keep this little secret.

"Oh, forget I said anything," you say, recomposing yourself, straightening up and dancing around your own words to calm her down, "just homesick and all… can't wait to be home."

And you give her a smile.

One that is so honest that she… believes in you.

"I understand completely," she agrees, nodding to herself, "Canterlot is simply dazzling, but it can be a bit tiring if we don't pace ourselves."

She can say that again, you think idly.

"But… well," she says, looking out through the window, the train having left the interior of one of the tunnels a few seconds ago, arching around the mountain in an angle that keeps the capital in view, "I can't say that it wasn't everything I've ever dreamed of, either… It was far more than that, in fact, and different in many ways I would have never imagined, but still…"

She stares out through he window of the cabin, her chin on a hoof as she looks longingly towards the receding city. Her eyes exactly like the ones of a mare in love, gazing at somepony whom she loves, but that for some reason is out of her reach.

Which reminds you that you haven't had the time to talk to her about a certain something…

"Well, now is a good time as any," you say to yourself, shaking Rarity out of her lovestruck gaze.

"Pardon, Velvet? What was that?"

"Nothing, really," you say, floating your saddle purse towards you and taking out a few scrolls. A contract that the Needles had sent you a few days after your meeting, as well as some other things. "But speaking of something else entirely…"

You unseal one of the smaller scrolls with a flick of magic, and float it towards your friend.

"Rarity, have you ever heard of the Needle family?"

Those were two long and exhausting weeks, each day slowly chipping at your energy reserves. And your own (and rather insane, somepony might add) working schedule didn't help you in the slightest. But although some moments made you feel conflicted, and others were outright unpleasant, you can't say that it was a poor investment of your time now that you reach the end of it.

You are still dreading the mountain of paperwork that is waiting for you back at home, thought.

Well, at least you are also bringing back with you the good sort of papers. They are tucked somewhere inside your luggage, or at least the ones you purchased are.

[Book Hunting – Servant Action]

[Roll: 55 + 12 (Learning) + 20 (Royal Favor) = 87]

-KNOCK Level 2 – "An absolutely boring encyclopedia about how the tunnels, on the mountain in which Canterlot is perched, were dug. Reading this will be a challenge…", costs 15 bits.

-GRAIL Level 2 – "It's a book. About food. It has food on the cover, so that's what it is. If your daughter ever finds it, that's what you'll tell her. If your husband finds it, however…", costs 15 bits.

-SECRET HISTORIES Level 3 – "A curious scroll, a copy from the original of course, detailing the appearance of King Sombra, centuries ago.", costs 30 bits.

You have introduced a pony to the RED secret. But, in some ways, you know so little about it that even by teaching you have learned something as well. Gain one scrap of GRAIL Lore.

You have talked to the right ponies, at the right moment, with the right company. Gain the "The good Velvet" status, which will cause you to no longer suffer from your family's… complicated reputation. Most of the time, that is.

You have mediated a deal with the Needle family, in which you will patron Rarity. 300 bits have been deducted from your personal coffers. And now you wait, and trust your friend…

You have seen something, or you have done something. Whatever it was, you know that it was not true, here, or that it was not real, in this world. But it happened regardless, and now you know where Princess Luna is thanks to it. Gain one scrap of SECRET HISTORIES Lore.

You have met Princess Celestia, the immortal ruler of ponykind. But perhaps, more importantly, she has seen something in you, giving you more attention than she usually would to the countless nobles she otherwise meets every day. You hope that she has seen something good in you… you hope that this means something good. Princess Celestia has been added to your Contacts list.

Your carriage comes to a complete stop, with you and Ponpon disembarking shortly after.

The differences between this carriage and the ones you had at your disposal in Canterlot are as stark as night is from day. This little carriage is smaller than the one of your family's main house, and trying to compare it with Cadance's own carriage is simply a bad joke.

But it is your carriage, the one that your family has, at your home. In Ponyville. And that makes it special.

By the heavens, considering how much you always disliked using it, with your husband's insistence and whatnot, you never thought you would miss this carriage. But here you are…

And also, "Just two weeks?", one might ask with a raised eyebrow? It was two entire weeks, thank you very much, and you are a mare of priorities. How would you feel about going two weeks without breathing?

As much as you dubiously missed the carriage, that thought is immediately forgotten as you take in the scene before you. A relieved sigh finally escapes your lips, long enough for you to think you see Ponpon looking towards you from your peripheral vision, but you don't really care.

This, right now, is a sight for sore eyes.

Your estate stands before you, the pathway flanked by trees and flowerbeds surrounded by leg-high fences. You practically stroll towards the front door, feeling the familiar scent of the grass and the particular way that the wind blows your mane after passing through the partial coverage of the greenery around you.

Of course, you can feel your pace getting faster and faster as you approach the door. A part of you even thinks that you would have run that last stretch if you were any younger, and if you didn't have a stark, and physical, reminder of why running is a bad idea in general.

But any last stain of restlessness you have in your heart is completely gone by the time you reach the front door.

You know what comes next.

Your horn glows with the familiar flow of magical energy, and the doorknob glows with the same light in return. You make sure to put some extra flare into it, so that the entirety of the thing, including the doorknob inside the house, glows as well.

And you hear the excited clamoring coming in the form of muffled squealing from the large wooden door, the one-filly storm that has surely been brewing up the entire morning in anticipation for this moment reaching its peak.

A smile crosses your face as you open the unlocked do-

"WELCOME HOME MOMMY!"

The brown blur hits you before you can even react, squeezing through the gap of the still-opening door as soon as it is physically possible, and zipping towards you right after, going straight for your neck.

"Silk-! By Celestia, didn't we agree we would do this together?!" your husband finishes opening the door right after, but his complaints about whatever agreement he had with his daughter immediately dies in his throat as his eyes finally meet yours.

You have your daughter tackling you from the neck, and you are all but tackling her back, rubbing your cheek against her small face, but as soon as you see your husband you immediately find room for one more pony in your embrace.

Of course, nearly immobilized as you currently are, he is the one that comes to you.

He looks at you with his honest and earnest eyes, and you immediately know that he missed you just as much as you missed him. His face is against yours moments later, in that familiar nuzzling that you love so much, and soon enough you and your daughter are surrounded by his wings, followed right after by the gentle and strong hug of his forelegs.

By the heavens, this is what you have been missing. The calm and warm sensation of your husband's fur, the nonstop movement of your daughter as she hugs you… you can practically feel your energy returning, slowly but surely, just by being here.

"Welcome home, sweetheart," he whispers in your ear, the quiet happiness in his voice being the perfect balance for your daughter's own excited squeeing.

And all of that, before you even step a hoof inside your home proper. The three of you staying like that for as long as you need.

This. This moment right now. This is peace. This is the sensation that makes you feel that you don't need anything else, that nothing at all is missing.

This is the one thing what you wouldn't trade for anything in the world. In this world, or any other.

"Sweetheart, are you sure about…" you hear your husband whispering next to you as you walk, subtly waving a wing in the direction of the two ponies he is referring to, "about all of this?"

"Of course I am," you answer matter-of-factly, "and just look at the two of them. They are as happy as can be! I'm sure that nopony would even be able to tell that they aren't actually sisters."

You are referring, of course, to the two fillies prancing in front of you, excitedly chatting and giggling as the four of you make your way to the Sweet Apple Acre.

Well, truth be told only one of them is a filly, and only one of them is prancing excitedly and giggling. The other pony is a grown mare, although she still has quite the young looks about her, but she is…

"Happy as can be? Look at poor Soft Sweeps, her wings look like they are glued to her sides!" your husband whispers back to you.

He has a point.

"Well, it's not my fault she is taking this so seriously."

And you mean it. From what you have heard from Ponpon, a few days after you returned home, you gathered that the mare has been going as far as to train in preparation for this day. You have to admit that it took a few moments for the idea to sink in once you heard it. She has been training. For a social gathering with a contest where ponies are supposed to have fun.

It doesn't help that your husband shoots a dubious glance at you, after your words.

"Well… maybe it is just a little bit my fault…?" you say hesitantly.

After all, you have been hyping your daughter up about this whole "sister" deal with Soft Sweeps. You should have known that, in turn, your daughter would respond to it with ten times the excitement she usually has about everything.

"But at least Soft is dedicating herself to it…? In her own way, that is?" you say with an awkward smile, seeing Stormchaser's unimpressed expression at that.

Well, whatever the result might turn out to be, there is no stopping it anymore. The arched entrance of the Apple Clan property appears at the end of the long dirt road, and you can feel your pace slowly hastening as you work to keep up with the increasingly more excited hoofsteps of your daughter.

By the heavens, you are practically trotting when you finally pass through the arched entrance and into the property itself.

The whole farm appears before you, and you can see that it has been painstakingly prepared for the event. Several stands with all sorts of foodstuffs are distributed along the place, all of them covered in banners and flags, both of Ponyville and of the event. You see several rather impressive obstacle courses further ahead, all of them organized so they are in view of the many wooden bleachers fixed to the ground.

And a whole crowd of ponies is here. Most of them are the expected pairings of mares followed by, or following, the younger versions of themselves. However, you also spy a good amount of parents, you must add, noticing the familiar figures of couples, or sometimes of a single mare or stallion, following their own offsprings from a comfortable distance, wearing satisfied smiles and postures not unlike the ones you and Stormchaser have yourselves right now.

Almost without a conscious prompt, you turn your experienced gaze towards the belongings of the Apples, gazing over the many hills around their property, filled to the brim with apple trees, and analyzing the quality of their produce. Moments later you are calculating the expected yield they might have, mentally scribbling what their estimated income and expenses might b-

You shake your head, forcefully ejecting your train of thought from the direction it was heading. Not today, Velvet Covers, today you are a happy wife and mother.

Today you are taking your daughter, your two daughters, to have some much-needed bonding experiences, while you rest and enjoy the day with your husband.

Speaking of which, where in the heavens are they? You look around, realizing that those few moments of distraction were more than enough for those two to disappear in the crowd. You are not immediately worried, of course, but still…

"There, by the participant's booth," your husband points with a hoof, and you are soon treated to the sight of your daughter dragging poor Soft Sweeps by the throat.

It is at the same time worrying and endearing to see how one of them is clearly hesitating, while the other is utterly oblivious to that fact.

"And by the looks of it," Stormchaser continues, with a short laugh, "I don't think there is anything else for us to do about them."

"Don't say something like that, there's still plenty for us to do about Silky," you chide him, which just makes him laugh a little more at your usual daughter-related antics.

"Well, I mean that there is nothing else for us to do right now, dear," he corrects himself, although the two of you know this is just idle banter, "now give me a few seconds, I'll go check for available spots on the bleachers."

He jumps skyward with a short flap of his wings, and you see him give the entire place a once-over before he lands by your side again.

And soon after, the two of you are heading towards one of the stands, having a pleasant conversation while idly keeping an eye out for your young ones.

[Sisterhooves Social!]

[Rolls]

[Team Apple: 97 + 20 (Familiarity) = 117]

[Team Dash: 89 + 20 (Competitive) = 109]

[Team Diamond: 58 + 0 (Having fun) = 58]

[Your team!: 65 - 10 (Half of the team is nervous to death) = 55]

[Several others: 38 -5 (This is the average performance of the others) = 33]

This is certainly being an interesting affair. Truth be told, you thought you would be excited just because this is something related to your daughter, but you have to admit you are getting invested into the event as a whole.

The preparations continued for the better part of half an hour, until a few calls for the start of the race were made and everypony headed either to the starting line or for the stands and bleachers, some pegasi even bringing a few clouds over to make more space on the ground for the earth ponies and unicorns present.

Then the aging matriarch of the Apple Clan said some words about what sisterhood means, her voice surprisingly strong and clear despite her age. In fact, she didn't just speak about sisterhood, she talked about the love between siblings, and of family, as a whole.

But nothing too deep, at least nothing that the younger competitors might notice to be deep. She soon led her words to the more competitive part of things, and in no time the dozens of pairs in the race were riled up and ready to begin.

And then a large red stallion kicked an even larger bell, and the race was on.

"Go Silky! Pump those legs! Squash those grapes!"

"Jump! Its easier if you jump!"

"Don't listen to your father!"

You and your husband aren't just shouting.

The two of you are clamoring.

And you know that neither of them can hear you, because you are sitting on a place that is a bit far from them of course, but mostly because the entire farm is a cacophony of shouting parents and cheering ponies.

This is not what you were expecting. You thought you would just spectate a game of sorts, from what you had read on the brochure of the event. Maybe cheering whenever a particularly difficult trial or obstacle was finished, at most.

But instead, you and your husband are being a literal part of the vibrant crown around the event, the extremely social nature of ponies all but infecting the two of you, heightened by the already friendly nature that the citizens of Ponyville possess.

"No! Don't drop the egg, don-!" your husband practically skips, his wings involuntarily flapping as the distant Soft Sweeps once again loses her balance, the egg falling from the spoon she is holding with her mouth.

You, for your part, can't stop laughing. And neither can your daughter, apparently, as she watches the older mare hurry back towards the box on the other side of the obstacle course, spoon on her mouth as she goes for her third attempt at it. This is one of the few obstacles that don't involve teamwork, so there is nothing the filly, or any of you, can do but cheer her on.

And you aren't cheering just for your girls, of course. The whole crowd is watching the event as a whole.

A veritable wave of encouragement sweeps through the crowd, you and Stormchaser included, as the leading pair finishes climbing an extremely complicated tangle of ropes, kicking the two bells at the top of the wooden edifice in tandem to mark their passing, and quickly make their way towards the next course. The second pair, a blue pegasus followed by her orange coated sister, is hot on their heels, and less than a minute later they do the same thing.

Another half hour passes before the first two pairs cross the finishing line, the pair of earth ponies winning first place by a mere full minute, and it takes another while for your own team to cross the finish line as well.

Losing to Rarity and her own sister by just a few hoofsteps, you must add.

You follow Stormchaser to the finishing line, where the four ponies are dutifully cleaning themselves from all the accumulated mud of the race, fillies giggling and talking between smiles as their older counterparts dutifully make sure they are getting cleaned.

By the heavens, you already feel a bit tired just from all the cheering, how can your daughter be prancing after all the exercise she has just been through?

"Really darling, you shouldn't push yourself too hard over it," and you arrive in time to hear what must be the ending of a conversation the older mares are having, "it is supposed to be a fun event after all. And it's just a game!"

"But still… we didn't win," you hear Soft Sweeps replying to Rarity, while the two of them practically hose down the younger fillies with a pair of water pumps provided by the farm, "we have been waiting for this day for so long, and…"

You and Stormchaser look at each other, and you see that he has a raised eyebrow himself. Well, that explains the mare's nervousness, although the two of you were already almost sure that this had been the cause of her plight during the day.

That said, she still has a lot to learn about loosening up and-

"I don't care if we didn't win, I loved it!" but your daughter is three steps ahead of you as she, either by innocence or design, interrupts the two older mares, "you're the best older sister I could have ever asked for!"

And before Soft Sweeps can react, the filly is already tackling her into a hug. A wet and mud-filled hug, but an honest one regardless. You smile at that, seeing the mare melt a little bit as well as she hugs your daughter back.

"Me and Rarity still beat the two of you though!" Sweetie Belle chimes in, jumping at her own sister and causing the four of them to start laughing.

You see Stormchaser stopping, and you stop right after, the two of you looking at the scene from the small distance you are at.

You face him with a curious expression, and you immediately recognize the look he has on his face.

And you don't even need to ask to know what is going on in his mind right now.

"Mhmm," you say, nodding to his unspoken suggestion, turning your back to the group and walking away, "let's give them this moment."

"Yeah," he agrees, following behind you, "this one will be a particularly precious memory."

You don't doubt him, not even for a moment.

You see, Stormchaser has always had a knack for noticing things. Not for noticing everything, of course, most of the times he is as dense as any other stallion can be. But he has confided in you that, sometimes, he can simply tell when something is important.

It was how he got his cutie mark, that image of a tornado seen from the top, that "eye" of the storm. It wasn't because he had been able to discern and predict changes in the weather from a young age, as most ponies thought had happened. No, it was because one day he looked up to the sky and noticed a single, particularly important cloud, that would start a hurricane if left unchecked.

He kicked it away, and never spoke of it to anypony, ever... except for you, years later.

And you believe him.

You believed him then, and you have already been reminded about this gift of him several times. Every now and then he simply stops, looks at something, and knows that the thing he is looking at is something of the utmost relevance. A doll lost on the streets, which was the heirloom of an aged mare who lived nearby, that had fallen from her window and been swept by a passing crowd. A key forgotten in a flowerbed, accidentally dropped by a travelling stallion who had not been home for so long.

And not just physical objects, but also moments. He once looked at a couple, two ponies sitting under the shade of a tree, and simply sighed with a smile on his face. Moments later, the stallion took out a ring from his saddle bag and proposed to the mare.

Why, he has already told you countless times that he had that same feeling, that particular knowing, the first time you met. You know that he says that more often than not just to be charming, but you still know he is being honest.

So when your husband says that something is important, you believe him.

And if he is saying that you should give your daughter some space, that you should allow her and Soft Sweeps that moment, that is exactly what you are going to do.

They will find you once they are done. And, in a good way, they will be a little different than they were before.

"I hate it here! I wish we could just go home."

You stop on your heels, having heard something quite out of place in an event like this.

"Something the matter sweetheart?" you husband asks at your sudden abruptness.

You look around, trying to find the answer yourself.

"I'm not sure dear, I think I just heard..."

"Why are we even here? We aren't even sisters to begin with and…"

Your eyes center on the source of the unusual conversation, and you see two foals, covered from snout to tail in mud, miserably walking towards nowhere in particular.

Wait, don't you recognize those voices…?

"Aren't those Silky's little friends?" you ask, feeling Stormchaser look in their direction more attentively.

"I think they are?" he asks as dubiously as you did.

By the heavens, the pair looks distraught. You quickly wonder where their parents might be, since two foals being sad in an event like this is the very opposite of what should be happening.

"Why don't you go ahead, Storm?" you wave him towards the food stands that you were previously heading to, "meet me after you get a few things for the girls? I'll go check out… whatever that is."

He eyes the two fillies for a few more seconds, still trying to piece together exactly who they might be, before he gives you a short nod and trots away.

And you head towards the two little muddied ponies, paying a little more attention to their conversation this time.

"For the same reason she has been going on and on about how we should do anything for a while now," you finally recognize Diamond Tiara's voice, as you slowly trot towards them from behind the two fillies, "and the same reason she also flipped when we told her about this even just yesterday. Well, when we told her who was coming, that is."

"What? So she's here because she's looking for her?"

"Yeah," the two fillies stop for a few moments, trying to shake away the caked dirt from their bodies with little success, Diamond Tiara's voice reaching a peak of annoyance "I bet right now she is all up and about fawning over and kissing the flank of-"

"Are you two girls alright?" you ask, interrupting Diamond Tiara.

"-Silky Stream's mom?!" she practically yelps as soon as she hears you.

The two girls turn to face you with a jump, the white of their wide eyes a stark contrast to the color covering their bodies.

Although you only find their behavior more confusing, and you are honestly worried about Diamond's tone of voice from just now.

"Yes, it's me. I'm surprised Silky didn't tell me that the two of you were coming," you think back to the past few days, trying to remember if your daughter mentioned anything of the like, "and where are your parents?"

You are also unsure if you have seen Filthy Rich today.

"Oh, she, they…" Diamond seems, for some reason, extremely uncomfortable. It is probably all the mud, you think, considering the upbringing she had, "mom is… she's around!"

"Yeah, Diamond's mom is uh… looking for a friend?" the other filly offers as well, also looking suddenly nervous, "and we didn't tell Silky because coming here was also a… last minute decision?"

You tilt your head at that. If you didn't know any better you would have thought that somepony had just up and decided that they would attend this event, by force, somewhere around yesterday in the afternoon, upon hearing a detail of particular importance that had previously gone unmentioned.

But of course, you know Filthy Rich, a little bit, and he doesn't strike you as that particular sort of unreasonable stallion. He surely doesn't look like the sort of father that would allow his daughter to be forced into any such situation, at least.

But more importantly, you think, waving that idea away, these two fillies are… well, this just won't do!

"Be that as it may, girls, I'll be taking the two of you for a while," you say, floating the two fillies with a flick of magic, "I'm sure Rich won't mind."

The two girls yelp at the sudden movement, but there is little they can do as you escort them towards the water pumps near the finishing line.

Only to find a familiar face when you arrive there.

"Oh, I'm surprised you're still here Sweetie. Where is your sister?"

You see Sweetie Belle, together with the yellow filly who was part of the winning team on the race.

"Hi again Mrs. Velvet! This is Silky's mom by the way," she says to the filly by her side after greeting you, "and Rarity went off with Pinkie, one of her other friends. She was on a cotton-candy spree, I think it's called, so Rarity went running after her to get us some."

"Hi there misses, I'm Apple Bloom. And those two… are those Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?" the yellow filly introduces herself, eyeing your two floating charges right after.

"Lovely to meet you, Apple Bloom, and yes," you put the two fillies on the ground.

And completely ignore their protests as you set two of the water pumps on them, giving them a good magical scrubbing while you are at it. "Yes, those two are your little friends."

The whole process goes about as well as you could expect it to go, and the cold water eventually has the two fillies acceptably cleaned up.

You can't, however, tell if Diamond Tiara's mood got a lot more sour during the whole thing, or if she was like that the whole time and you can just see her better now. Silver Spoon, however, took it in good sport, and you can tell that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are doing their very best not to laugh.

Well, nothing you can do about their moods, and her current situation is a lot better than how it was a few minutes ago.

"Well, not something I ever though I'd see," you hear Apple Bloom say to Sweetie, which also causes Silver to giggle a bit, although it makes Diamond Tiara answer the three of them with a glare.

"Excuse me, then, if I don't live in a farm for you to see me covered in mud every day!"

"Hey, there aint nothing wrong with livin' in a farm!" Apple Bloom glares back.

The situation, however, suddenly takes a turn for the worse, as the two fillies start practically shouting at each other in a way that makes it clear that there is some older rivalry taking part in all of this. But before you can think on how to settle the situation down-

"Hey, the two of you, stop acting like that!" Silver Spoon jumps in between the two fillies, the movement almost looking like it had been practiced somehow, or at least repeated several times before.

"Yeah, you two fight like that almost every day, at least quit it during the holidays," Sweetie Belle adds, moving to block Apple Bloom just like Silver Spoon is blocking Diamond Tiara, "why don't we just enjoy the event? Besides, we are bound to meet up with Scoots and Silky if we do," she adds, hoping the two would settle down at that.

You can see the options flashing through the eyes of the pink filly, part of her wanting to groan loudly and simply walk away, while another part… well, another part seems to be thinking more deeply about it. Perhaps even recalling something else while she thinks.

"Yeah… and Silky always goes on and on about how we should all hang out together, when its just the three of us…" Silver Spoon says, adding her voice to Sweetie Belle and clearly trying to prod her friend towards a particular decision.

"Ahh… fine!" she says, still electing to let out a reasonable groan at that, "let's go, at least so this day won't be a total loss in the end."

And with that, you watch the four fillies walk away. There is still an air of tension about two of them, as the yellow and pink fillies make a point of standing at the opposite ends of the quartet. But you sigh in relief when you realize both that this was just foals enmity, as well as the fact that the situation practically took care of itself.

However, you still eye the pink filly curiously. On second thought, didn't she mention something about her mother? Could it be that she has… familial problems, of some sort?

You make a mental note to keep a closer eye on your daughter's friends. But something tells you that this situation right now will have a positive effect, as much as it might not have been by your intentional design.

The four fillies practically forget about you as they walk away, not that you mind, so you simple look around you and start searching for your husband.

You have become an acquaintance with Apple Bloom, the youngest member of the Apple Clan in Ponyville. She is your daughter's friend, and you can tell that there is some sort of rivalry between her and Diamond Tiara.

Although, in all honesty, you think you detect something worrying about the pink filly herself. Perhaps you should keep an eye out for that in the future... heaven knows you understand what sorts of problems being at odds with your mother can bring about...