I lay on the plush red couch and stare up at the ceiling as the draconequus asks me, “Misty, your psychology is confusing here, I’ll admit! Opaline hurt you and made you suffer for years! Are you not angry at her? Do you not want retribution?”

I turn my head right towards the serpent, as he sits prepared to scribble on a notepad with his talon, “That’s the thing! That Opaline never abused me! The other Opaline was the cruel one!”

He smiles, “And I guess you’re happy about her untimely end, isn’t that right?”

I breathe in and out while staring up at the ceiling fan, as it whirs overhead, “Well, I kinda have mixed feelings about that, if I’m being honest?”

I hear scribbling, “And why don’t you tell me more about that, then?”

I frown, “Well, on one hoof, I can’t help but feel glad that she’s dead! She’s gone now and will never hurt anypony ever again!”

His misshapen eyes widen in my periphery, “But?”

“But I mean, it’s just so sad! She never really had a friend, and never knew love or companionship! All she ever had was her evil! All she ever had was her lust for power and hatred of other ponies! “ I take a long, slow breath in my snout, before out of it… “I can’t help but wonder what happened to her? I mean, what made her that way? What made her bad?”*

He grins, “Well, you were there when she spoke with her sisters! You know now they just locked her away and ignored her! Tell me, what affect do you believe that would have on her?”

I cough, “W-well I know that! What I mean is, how do you go from, my sisters don’t love me, to I hate everypony and want to take their power, exactly?” **

“Well, obviously there were some malevolent tendencies already within her, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to do that!”

“Are you saying she was a bad pony?”

“Well, sure, this is a brand new start for little Opaline, and sure, it won’t be the same! But how long do you honestly think you can keep her from being evil? I mean, it’s in her nature and she has eternal life! Logically speaking, this means she will be evil at some point!”

“Not if I can help it!”

“Oh, ho ho ho!” The draconequus chuckles, “It’s just so adorable!” and lowers his view, “But I promise you one thing, Misty! Opaline is evil and she will one day show her true colors!” and then his body glows blue, before disappearing from view.

I hear Opaline’s voice screaming from the other room!

I get off the couch to begin galloping towards the kitchen, where I heard the scream come from!

<*****>

I stare at the grinning serpent as he floats off the ground, amidst the pots and pans on the other side, “What do you want from me?”

His oddly shaped eyes widen, “Oh, this isn’t really about me, my dear sweet Opaline! I need to make sure Misty does her job!”

I frown, “What?”

“I need to make sure you’re the pony you were meant to be!”

Suddenly, the door swings open, and I see a greenish blue unicorn there on the left, yelling at the draconequus, “Discord, stop!”

He turns to her, “Stop? Oh, but my dear Misty, we were just getting started!”

Her voice grows slow and fierce, “Just what are you doing, Discord?”

He stares at her, “Making sure you don’t screw up the timeline! Opaline is meant to be evil and she’s meant to be imprisoned indefinitely inside a tree!” and motions towards me with his lion paw, “Not whatever this is!”

“I’m not evil! Look here, you stupid, dumb draconequus! I don’t know what this other Opaline ever did, and I really don’t care! I’m not her! I’m a different Opaline!”

This incites the serpent to chuckle as he crosses his upper appendages, “Oh, we’ll just see about that, won’t we? Yes, soon we’ll all see!” before slowly fading out of reality…

Misty stares at me, “Are you alright, Opaline?”

I look at her and take a deep breath, in and out of my snout and feel the wind pass through my body, “Y-yeah? I think so?”

Misty frowns, “What happened? Why did you scream?”

Do I tell her the truth? “Well, he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, for one!” okay, we’re that far now, “And then he started taunting me! The weird serpent pointed at me and started jeering and telling me that I’m evil, and well… “ I didn’t expect to be this honest… “It made me feel bad… “ I widen my eyes as I avert my gaze towards the floor… “I didn’t like it… “

“That sounds really rough, Opaline," she says in a soft and soothing voice, while enlarging her eyes as I raise my gaze to her and see her mane bobbing up and down softly… "I can see that it upset you, but it’s gonna be okay…” and she half-grins, “Discord's words don't define who you are or what you're capable of becoming; you're not that other Opaline - you're your own pony with your own strengths and talents."

I frown, “Strengths and talents?”

She nods, “Well, right! Regardless of where that other Opaline is, you’re not her, and your timeline is different! You’re going to develop in a totally different and unique way!”

“Almost like I was in another dimension?”

“Yeah, like a Dr. What universe, or something?”

“Is there a problem?” I hear a voice similar to Misty’s say from behind her.

She gazes behind her, “No Starbeam! It’s all under control now!”

“I’m going to end up blowing Discord away, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, probably!” Before she stares back at me and smiles, “Don’t worry, Opaline! You’re gonna be safe!”

<*****>

SMILE ENGAGED!

“Well, it’s not nearly as creepy as the first time I saw you, so we’re definitely getting somewhere!” Opaline comments on the left side of the table.

Misty stares at her, “Listen Opaline, this is a brand-new start for all three of us, alright? You’re here and young now, I’m here after all the pain the uh, other Opaline caused me, and Starbeam over there is an exploration model!”

Opaline glares back at Misty and says in her squeaky filly voice, “Tell me Misty, what did I uh, the other me do to you?”

Misty’s eyes widen, “What?”

“If I am to be different from this other Opaline, it would make sense for me to understand what not to do, yes? So tell me Misty,” and Opaline leans closer, “what was I like?”

SMILE DISENGAGED!

Misty leaned in and carefully described her ordeal... She talked about how Opaline would sometimes withhold food, and how her punishments went... She talked about how Opaline used to confine her to her own room, sometimes for days at a time, and how often she was sent away, or just plain ignored... She talked about all of these things as the filly cringed or exclaimed, and it became apparent to me that whatever this other Opaline that I eliminated did, this pony is not like her…

I decide to point that out to Misty, “Misty, it’s important to realize that this Opaline is not like that! She’s still a filly and therefore innocent!”

Misty turns her head left to me and smiles, while the foal looks on in dejected silence, “I know that, Starbeam!” and Misty stares back at the filly, “The thing is, I survived! I’m still alive! And now, I’m going to make sure that never happens again!”

The filly visibly gulps, “And just what do you intend to do, Misty?”

I speak up, “May I make a suggestion, Misty?”

Misty turns to me, “Go ahead, Starbeam?”

SMILE ENGAGED!

“The other Opaline was the way she was because she was isolated and solitary. She does not know or understand what it is to be with other ponies, and socialize with them in a friendly environment. So in theory, if she does have interactions with others, she will begin to understand that other ponies exist and that she doesn’t have to always be alone. This should also make her less inclined to greed, which I believe was a primary issue with the original configuration…”

Misty frowns, “That actually makes sense!”

The foal sighs, “I get it! I need to be around other ponies! So tell me Misty, what do you intend to do?”

Misty turns to the filly, “How would I know? I’ve never raised a filly before!”

“Great! Now all we can do is just sit here and be stupid!”

Misty smiles, “At least you’re not being stupid while alone this time?”

Opaline’s eyes narrow, “Implying that I have been stupid while alone?”

Misty’s mouth straightens, “I don’t know? Probably?”

I sense the tension, “Opaline, this is new for everypony! Why don’t we do something together?”

Opaline turns to me, “Fine! I guess I’ll be stupid with other ponies now!”

<*****>

I stared down at the Syndicate board as I magically moved my turtle piece three spaces ahead…

Starbeam stares at me from across the table, “I have two hotels on the property. You owe me twelve hundred bits.”

I look at her from across the table, “I can’t pay that!”

“Then by the rules of the game, you lose. With Misty’s loss earlier, that means that I win again!”

“You’ve won the past three games! You seem to be both, good at this, despite the fact that you’ve openly stated you’ve never played it before, and to have unnaturally good luck!”

“It took me eighty-seven seconds to absorb the data contained within the instruction booklet, and another forty-three to determine the best course of action.”

I stare at Misty to the left of Starbeam, “Can we do something other than a board game! Uh, the machine is really good at those!”

The robot smiles at me, while Misty frowns, “Well, there’s always hide and seek?”

What is that game? “Misty, what pray tell is hide and seek?”

<*****>

I sit in the stinky clothing pile for what seems like an eternity!

What the hay did Hitch get into? This is disgusting!

I wonder what Starbeam and Opaline are doing right now?

And why can’t Starbeam find me yet?

Suddenly, I hear the android’s voice from the foyer, “Misty, come out! Opaline is gone!”

My eyes widen as I wonder where she could’ve gone and hurriedly open the closet door, to stare at the robot on the other side of the green couch, “What do you men, Opaline’s gone?”

She turns to me, “That is precisely what I mean! She exited out the bathroom window. She must’ve, because we’re the only three ponies here… “

“Well, do you know where she would go?”

“I do not know!”

I turn my neck left towards the front door, “Well, there’s not a moment to lose! We’ll search Maretime Bay, top to bottom if we have to!”

<*****>

I’ll admit that I considered hiding in the foyer closet, until I remembered that’s where they keep that stinky, nasty laundry…

And so, I stood there behind the clothing rack in Pipp’s closet upstairs, instead.

You’d think an android would be good at finding other ponies? I can’t help but comment to myself in my mind, as I continued to stand there, counting seconds to myself as my mind began to wonder again…

My mind begins to drift, thinking about where we've been and where we could go… and yet, somehow, I keep coming back to a single recurring theme, the topic of forgiveness…

Surely it’s not my fault, right? I’m not the other Opaline! She’s dead and I’m me!

(To be continued… )

Author's Note

*By this point, they’re all dead and gone, and only I remain…

**Keep in mind most of my abuse happened before I started taking synthetic estrogen and this new part of me woke up. The truth is, the new section does not understand pain as well.