It was a long, mercifully uneventful day of walking east. We occasionally still hit farmland. When it was soybeans instead of cornstalks we’d walk parallel until we found groves or corn again. I wasn’t dirty enough to feel safe crossing open fields and I really didn’t want to roll in the mud before we met Rainbow Dash and her friends.

“Green Day?” I suggested after swallowing the weeds I was chewing. I already saw my next snack on our path.

“Green Hay,” my daughter answered. Okay, I liked that one. “Try again, that one was too easy.”

I thought for a moment. What I needed to do was not give her enough to work with. I tried Ramones earlier and got ‘Mareones’. My mistake was giving her those kinds of vowels and consonants.

“The Smiths,” I tried. She thought for a little longer on this one.

“The Pegasmiths.”

I snorted in reply first.

“You’re scary good at this,” I added.

“It’s my turn,” Pinchy announced. “Julie Bryne.”

I had to give that some thought while I chewed on a dandelion.

‘What if I changed the ‘lie’ part? Juneigh’? Could I work off the ‘Bryne’? I didn’t know enough pony words.

“Do you give up?” Ruby asked after giving me about a minute.

“... ...Jul-hay? Julhay Bryne,” I stammered out.

“That’s awful!” Ruby said between giggles. “Okay, okay no more human names: Neutral Milk Hotel.”

“You hipster...” I muttered while I thought. “ ...Neutral Mare Hotel.”

“You can’t just swap out a whole word unless it rhymes,” Ruby explained the implied rules to our little game. “That’s… lazy.”

“It works though, right?”

“I guess?” she relented slightly.

After we found a clean-looking stream we drank for quite a while: eating grasses made a pony really thirsty and water was an easy way to fill up. I also had a short dip in it to cool the sweat that was growing on me. Ruby didn’t seem to be having the same issue with overheating. It wasn’t that hot outside, I was just starting to get deeper into withdrawal.

Afterwards I let her ride on my back for a while to let her rest. Surprisingly, because my stride was a little different from her weight, it shifted the strain on my muscles and helped curve the wear I was feeling from all the walking.

What didn’t help me was when the late morning sun shined at just the right angle. It bore into my eyes and exacerbated my headache. For that, all I could do was keep my head down as I walked. The space between my neck and shoulders still hurt some anyway.

My withdrawal symptoms weren’t as bad as they were when I first started changing back. Despite all the drinking I had been doing I had been cutting back overall. Thanks mostly to Carrot Top and then getting captured. Maybe Princess Luna did something too.

I spotted another patch of tasty-looking flowers and detoured slightly to eat a few. Looking for something to eat was a nice distraction from the walk.

Early afternoon Ruby was off my back again. I think she got hungry from watching all the snacking I was getting in without her. She trotted and grazed alongside me. We found a slightly richer grove where there were more tasty, leafy plants. Those were way better than the regular grasses. We kept an eye out but we didn’t see any more of the wild onion. At the very least, we were keeping the hunger at bay and I was getting a slow trickle of energy to burn.

Some time after the sun went behind me, Ruby wanted up on my back again. First though, she swapped out the shirt we used to cushion the makeshift saddlebag: I had sweat right through it.

“You’re really warm,” my daughter commented, lying down on me. She was probably getting tired. I certainly was.

“Just, you know, withdrawal probably,” I suggested as casually as if it were from caffeine.

“You sure you’re okay?” she asked as she draped her forelegs more around me, sort of hugging me from my back.

“I’m doing pretty good,” I admitted. I was, really. The headache wasn’t getting any worse and with the sun to my back I was hoping it’d get better. I kept my head low and that shifted more of the weight off my hind legs that were stiff. My forelegs were only shaking when I stood still: something about the motion of walking helped distract and spread the strain across all four of my legs. It seemed to work out. My four legs were a lot stronger than my two ever were.

“You go ahead and get a nap. I’ll be okay,” I promised.

“...okay. Thanks. Love you, Mom,” she said before she relaxed a bit more on my back.

“Love you too, Pinchy. Enjoy your nap,” I told her as I glanced carefully back at her before turning back towards the field ahead of me.

I walked for what felt like a long time in silence: just moving forward. The distance felt impassible so I broke it down. I’d find a tree or rock in the distance and when I reached it, I’d find another. The wilderness wasn’t so bad like that. I just had to watch for humans. The corn fields were the worst for any sense of progress: they were hypnotic and never ending like a green daydream.

The long walk was incredibly humbling. No step was free: I was tired, sore, aching and sweaty. There was no glory, no great challenge, I just had to get there. Just one hoof in front of the other. Sometimes I went faster or slower. I had all my deeply reflective thoughts that morning already. I even joked with Ruby about changing my name to ‘Berryshine’ after telling her about my dream with Princess Luna. Now my mind was clear and every muscle worked towards one slow, grinding goal. I felt alive in the best and worst ways possible.

I had seen the letters and numbers on the country roads slowly change for over a day now and thought I had the system figured out. The blocks were big though, around the size of a county. So even when that part of the address matched, it didn’t feel like we were close. I didn’t even bother checking if I was near the road.

I was so caught up with just moving forward that I almost missed the sound of talking.

“...I think that will have to do. If we make it any more obvious it will draw attention,” said a distinctly feminine voice from down the road. I recognized that voice.

My ears turned towards them first and then my head followed. This road was familiar to me: I saw it in a dream. It felt like a dream now. I wondered if I fell asleep while walking. Or maybe I was just so road hypnotized I was daydreaming. Or just maybe, the withdrawal was getting to me and it was time to hallucinate. After all, there was no way what I was seeing was real.

“Agreed,” said another voice that was deeper but still feminine. I recognized that voice too. Finally I registered who I was seeing: there was a white unicorn with beautiful purple hair and with blue diamonds for her cutie mark. She was standing next to an orange earth pony with a stetson and her blonde mane and tail tied in red bands. There was no mistaking the three apples on her flank. These two ponies were looking at a sign next to a worn dirt road.

I stopped and stared. I couldn’t believe it was actually them. I knew they had to exist, but I couldn’t imagine just suddenly meeting them or that they would look exactly like I imagined. It was like I was watching a dream or a very real clip from an episode.

“Alright, let’s head back in,” Rarity said to Applejack as she turned and headed for the dirt road near them. Applejack turned to follow. They were leaving! I had stood there watching them in a daze, dumbfounded and starstruck, and now I had to say something or else these two were going to go back to being imaginary. I followed after them.

“H-hello?” I called out. I saw them freeze and I stopped too. They didn’t immediately turn around. For a second I was worried somehow it wasn’t them. Maybe this was all just a dream and I was going to wake up because I couldn’t imagine their faces.

“This, uh, this isn’t what it looks like!” said Applejack without turning to face me. She sounded scared. I was worried I was intruding now. I wondered if Princess Luna somehow misunderstood. Or I did. Or they didn’t know ponies were coming.

“Neigh?” Rarity said the word instead of actually neighing. Now I was really confused.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to… “ I started stumbling over my words. My throat was completely parched and standing still, my exhaustion was catching up to me. “Can you… help me?”

They both turned to look at me. I was taken aback by Rarity. She was a unicorn of storybook grace wrapped up in elegant femininity. And Applejack! She had those strange white freckles and was a contender for the second prettiest green eyes I had ever seen. They were both such a beautiful, surreal sight.

I was standing before legends and I had their full attention.

“Is this the Apple Farm? I... I saw the Rainboom and then Luna told me your address in a dream,” I tried to explain myself and smile.

Rarity’s horn lit up and I felt the literal weight on me lifted, everything but the shirt off my back. I panicked just for a second when I saw she picked up my still sleeping daughter too. Then Applejack stepped forward and gave me a strong, but reassuring, earth pony hug.

“Berry Punch!” Applejack cheered my name as she hugged me. I saw Rarity place my daughter on her own back and all of the panic and metaphorical weight was lifted too. I was suddenly out of the wilderness.

This was really happening. They were real and I was here with them.

I hugged Applejack back, feeling my forelegs shake around her. She tightened her grip to stabilize me. She was so strong, warm and beautiful and I wasn’t sure if I just wanted to believe it but at the time I could swear she actually smelled like apples. I thought I was going to start crying.

“There now, no more worries,” Applejack said sweetly into my ear. She slowly pulled away and let me slide back to standing on my own. She gave me a reassuring smile. “I’m sorry you had to walk all the way here. How about we go get you something to eat and drink? We got plenty to share. The hard times are behind you!”

Okay, that got the tears sliding down my face. Not an outright sob but exhaustion getting washed out in relief.

Safe.

We were finally safe.

No more walking.

No more danger.

I couldn’t put my relief into words but I tried.

“Oh thank Celestia,” I cried out. “You have no idea what we’ve been through.” I tried to contemplate it all and figure out how I would explain it to them. Getting kicked out of home, hurting my friend, the raid on the homestead, the ponynapping, Discord, the timberwolves, Princess Luna’s rescue, the Sonic Rainboom... and now, I was actually here. We were finally safe. “We actually made it here. I actually found you and you want to help me!” I finally said just overwhelmed with it all.

“Who is this little one, I don’t recognize her from the show,” Rarity contemplated the still sleeping foal on her back before her eyes lit up in realization and she turned to me. “Berry, is this your daughter??”

I approached Rarity and smiled at my little ruby on her back. I felt… proud.

“She is!” I said then realized that might not be what she meant. “Well, she is but she used to be my sister when we were human.”

“Wait, what?” Applejack said as she approached us. “Man, Discord sure has a weird way of doing things.”

‘Man’? I finally noticed her lack of accent. I should have known better, but somehow just looking at them I had forgotten they must have been human for twenty-five years too. From Rarity’s perfect make-up and hair to Applejack’s hat and hair ties they looked like they had stepped right out of the cartoon. I had to remind myself that these were still strangers welcoming me, another stranger, into their home.

“You must tell us all about it over tea, darling,” Rarity insisted. I wasn’t even a fan of the show until this month and I just about giggled when she called me ‘darling’.

“We’ll get some food in you too!” Applejack added. I was torn now: at the very least, these strangers were familiar.

“Oh, I… you really don’t have to do all that. I-I couldn’t even pay you back,” I explained. Applejack waved a hoof.

“Us ponies are all one big family, and food and shelter is free for family here. Come on now, let’s get off the road.”

I laughed in shock and joy at their hospitality. The Rarity and Applejack are taking us in. They were so beautiful and kind. I felt tears in my eyes as we passed a sign they were looking at:
“Mac & Applejack’s pony farm: Hooves welcome! Any persons caught trespassing will be fined on sight.”

Everything had led to this. All the pain and suffering, all my effort and spent energy: none of it was in vain.

“It’s like I died on the way here and ended up in pony heaven...” I wondered aloud as I followed them.

“Well, hold off on calling this place heaven until you taste Rainbow Dash’s poor excuse for what she calls cooking,” Rarity joked. I perked up at Rainbow Dash’s name.

“Rainbow Dash? Can… can I meet her?” I asked. Somehow I was so excited to meet these two I forgot whose Sonic Rainboom I had been following for days.

“Oh I'm sure you will in time,” Rarity assured me. I saw my little Pinchy stirring from all the talking.

“Mom, I had a dream we met- " Ruby started before she opened her eyes and looked up at whose back she was on. "You're not my…" she trailed off when her ride looked back at her. My filly’s little mouth dropped open. "...Rarity??"

“Pinchy, we found them!” I announced. Pinchy looked over at me then over at Applejack in shock. She rubbed her wide eyes and that shock quickly turned up into an amazed smile.

“How long have we been here? Why didn’t you wake me up??” Ruby asked as she started to sit up on Rarity’s back.

“You just arrived, dear,” Rarity assured her. “We’ve just met your mother. This is Applejack, or Jack for short, and you seem to already know my name but I’m sorry, I don’t know yours.”

“Ruby Pinch. You can just call me Ruby if you want. It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am!”

“My, aren’t you a gem! It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Rarity told her with a good-natured grin. “I think you and the little ‘Crusaders’ will get along wonderfully. Don’t mind them if they act a little funny: they’re just having a little fight right now.”

Ruby seemed to light up at the mention of the Crusaders.

“The Crusaders are here?” Ruby asked. “Is Fluttershy here too?”

“She is! All of us ‘mane six’ are here and so are the ‘Crusaders’. As well as Sweetie Belle’s human sister and Big Mac and Shining Armor,” Rarity explained. I didn’t know who Shining Armor was but I think I read the name in Sunset’s composition book.

Big Mac though, Big Mac I definitely knew.

Ruby stood up for just a moment to hop off Rarity’s back and looked around.

“Where is she? Where’s Fluttershy?”

“Once we’re at the homestead you’ll probably find her back by the treeline. She’s been renovating a little cottage there.”

“Hey yeah, why is she doing that anyway?” Applejack asked her friend.

“I take it she’s quite fond of the local fauna but doesn’t want to worry anypony by bringing them near the house,” Rarity explained. She glanced down at my daughter. “However you have nothing to fear: they are all quite well-behaved. Fluttershy and I had tea with some lovely chipmunks the other day.”

The closest equivalent to the sound Ruby made after she heard that was like the sound a squeaky toy makes after all the air gets sucked back into it. Ruby ran to my side.

“Mom! Mom, can we go meet Fluttershy??” Ruby begged. A tea party with Fluttershy and some squirrels or bunnies or something did sound like a good time.

“You’ll have plenty of time to meet everypony,” Rarity promised. “How about we get you both something to eat first? You must be famished.”

We came around a bend in the long driveway and the farm came into view. Open fields stretched for acres and acres towards a tree line on all sides. On the property was a large two-story house, a weathered barn and half a dozen sheds. While Carrot Top’s place was modest, this place was sprawling.

I spotted someone unmistakable.

“There’s somepony,” Jack said before she turned and hollered to the big red stallion carrying large bags towards the main house. “Heeey, Mac! We got two more!”

Big Mac stopped and turned to look at his sister. Then he quietly turned around and started walking down the long driveway to meet us halfway. The two large white bags stacked onto him didn’t seem to faze him in the slightest.

As we got closer to him, he seemed to keep getting bigger. We finally stopped just a few feet from him and I looked up at the stallion: he had a strong jaw but his more horse-like muzzle was incredibly cute. The way his large muscles rippled under his red coat as he walked caught my eye. His coat, the way it was thicker on his broad chest and shaggy around his fetlocks, made him look like he was made of raw untamed power. Yet with all that raw strength, his green eyes looked gentle and thoughtful. Okay, Big Mac had the second prettiest green eyes.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the little fantasy of him mounting me that I had at Nathan’s.

“Big Mac, this is Berry Punch and Ruby Pinch,” Jack introduced us.

“A pleasure meeting you both,” Mac said in his deep, confident voice as he gave us a nod.

“Woah. Me too,” I said almost inappropriately as I gawked at him. He had been working all day and I could smell the sweat on him from a few feet away. I felt the blush on my face absolutely burning; I must have been almost as red as his coat. I’m pretty sure I kept my tail down, but not before I caught it perking up in interest. I couldn’t help but think he could probably read my body language and that just made everything worse. Big Mac either didn’t notice or was letting me save face because all he did was give me a conservative smile for my frustrations.

“Anyway, sorry to interrupt you, Mac,” her sister dismissed him, probably sensing my awkwardness and the conversation not going anywhere. Mac nodded and turned to leave and I couldn’t help but notice his backside. Applejack saw I was still looking in his direction and noted something else instead. “Hey, have you two tried alfalfa pellets yet? Dash can’t get enough of them.”

Applejack was right, alfalfa pellets were really good, but Rarity insisted we get fed something ‘better’ than just bowls of horse feed. So, while we munched on the alfalfa and after some discussion on what to serve for ‘tea’ our wonderful hosts started making toast, scrambled eggs and Applejack’s ‘famous pancakes’. They gave Ruby some books to sit on and a set of eating utensils. Rarity took my shirt wherever she took our bags to wash. That was when she saw the claw marks and started asking questions.

For their hospitality, the least we could do was tell them our story. I figured I’d try starting from the beginning: trying to drink myself to death at my birthday party. Then I quickly realized starting there meant I had to explain I was an alcoholic and was trying to taper off. Applejack stopped mixing her pancakes to look me over. After some questioning and me admitting the shaking was from withdrawal, she tried to offer me some 25 year old Scotch she had in her cupboard. I refused because it looked way too expensive. I did eventually accept a multivitamin and a beer though.

With Rarity and Applejack back to cooking I tried to remember where I was in the story. Ruby got me back on track by explaining who all was in our group before we got separated. Then I added in how Nathan got involved because they needed to know about how Carrot Top’s place got raided while some of us were gone and also who rescued me with Ruby.

That was about when Rarity brought the toast and scrambled eggs over. Eating so much real, hot food again was shocking. Grains, carbs, fats and sugars were wonderful and dense. I was genuinely light-headed for a bit after I started eating. I had to insist I was fine, just tired. In response, Applejack started the coffee maker and made me the most appreciated cup of coffee I ever had. Ruby accepted one too, although hers turned into mostly milk.

Ruby wasn’t shy to eat either. When the pancakes came she put a little bit of maple syrup on everything, eggs and toast included. I was going to tease her until I tried it myself. I sat up after a bite of maple syruped-eggs and licked my muzzle.

“You guys have to try it with ice cream and sprinkles next! And cherries on top! Everything is better with cherries on top!” came a high-pitched, cheerful voice next to me at the table. Ruby and I jumped back startled.

Pinkie Pie was suddenly sitting there at the table with us. She had an oversized napkin bib around her neck, her own plate with a pancake and the biggest smile I had ever seen on her face.

“Pinkie Pie?!” I said as I clutched my racing heart.

“That’s me!” She cheered as she spread her forehooves out high. I looked around the kitchen with my mouth agape. Everyone else seemed surprised but only my daughter was as startled as me. There was a sense of awe and wonder in my filly’s eyes as well. I turned back to the suddenly appearing pony.

“Where did you come from?!” I asked the positively pink pony. She giggled at my question before answering it.

“Equestria, silly. We all did,” Pinkie answered as she rolled up the pancake on her plate. She then took a comically large bite out of it.

“Pinkie, manners,” Rarity casually chided her as she went back to flipping the pancake in the skillet, as if Pinkie suddenly appearing out of nowhere wasn’t almost supernatural.

“Oh, of course!” Pinkie acknowledged before she daintly dabbed her muzzle with her bib and turned back to me. “Berry, you were just about to tell us about how you got your stars and stripes!”

I stared at this living cartoon for a moment, unsure if she was real.

“Uh... oh,” I said as I finally took in what she meant and felt the bare spots on my chest. I was near that part in the story. I must have slipped and called them ‘stars’ already. “So, yeah, I read the notebook with all the names in it before I burned it. Princess Luna promised to keep the nerves in Ruby’s horn alive until morning and… I think maybe all the mud stopped my bleeding. I’m surprised I didn’t get an infection or something.”

“Maybe the wine acted as a disinfectant! Oh! Oh! Or maybe dirt is just good for earth ponies!” Pinkie guessed after emptying her plate. She picked it up and started to lick it clean of grease and syrup.

“Huh. Maybe?” I admitted and looked at Ruby who just shrugged. I licked up the last of my eggs and chewed and swallowed before continuing.

“So, yeah, in the morning a hunter and his son found us. They were going to shoot me to ‘put me out of my misery’ and take Ruby but then the Sonic Rainboom happened. It felt like it was right on top of us. My whole body was buzzing. Then I think Princess Luna used the magic radiation or whatever in the area from the Sonic Rainboom to heal us. It fixed Ruby’s horn and stitched me back together. I felt it go through me, like I was bridging an electrical current. Or like I was a tunnel and a huge river was running through me.”

“Interesting,” came a new voice. This time, it came from the kitchen entrance. We all turned to look up at her. I recognized this pony immediately. Anyone with a passing familiarity to Friendship is Magic would: she was a lavender alicorn with a blue mane and tail and a purple and pink streak in her straight cut bangs. Ruby did a fantastic job capturing her likeness in her gift for Minuette.

“I smelled the coffee,” Princess Twilight Sparkle explained casually as she navigated around the cooks to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup into a floating coffee mug. Once she had her coffee she started an unnecessary introduction.

“My name is Twilight Sparkle and don’t tell me... ” she said as she looked between me and my daughter. A spark of recognition hit her and she smiled before pointing to me. “Berryshine Punch and…” she pointed at my daughter “...Ruby Shine Pinch?”

I was dumbfounded: I didn’t even get to explaining the name thing yet. And combining the two like that…

“...Oh,” I realized. “Fan of the show?”

“Nope! The show’s based on me. Or rather, memories I held onto and reenacted with my pony toys when I was little,” Twilight explained.

“Wait, does that mean… you’re Lauren Faust??” my daughter blurted out while eyeing the princess. I recognized that name, it appeared at the end of the show’s intro.

“Lauren was a family friend,” Twilight corrected before sipping her coffee. She seemed dissatisfied with it and telekinetically fetched a spoon from a drawer before continuing. “I kept acting out these stories I thought I had seen from somewhere before. I even fixed the toys’ colors and explained everything about them to anyone who would listen. And Lauren did. She loved watching me play.”

“So every episode was based on your memories? Is Equestria just like the show?” my little Pinchy asked.

“More or less. Hasbro might have changed some things. I didn’t watch much. It all seemed really unoriginal and cliche to me: all of the events and characters, the places and names. It was because they were from me. I didn’t make the connection at first.”

Twilight turned to the sugar bowl and put two spoonfuls of sugar into her coffee before stirring it.

“Officially Lauren told everyone she was the one who used to play with My Little Pony toys as a child, but at least in the show bible she admitted that was actually me.”

At the mention of her reading the show bible I made the connection: I hadn’t heard that term before the news article.

“You were the one who blew up that comic book store in Seattle!” I realized.

“Guilty,” Twilight admitted before sighing. “...I hope I don’t have to explain all of this to everypony that shows up,” Twilight muttered before taking a sip of her coffee. Seemingly satisfied with it, she stepped towards us at the table.

“Anyway! Ruby, hold still,” she said before leaning right into my daughter’s face. Ruby’s eyes grew wide as she stared up in awe at the purple princess. Twilight meanwhile studied her horn without any sense of personal space. “It’s actually true… the grain is more rough after this point,” she said before she started to reach out and touch it then stopped. “Does it still work?”

“I-It does. But it feels different now. And it’s still weak,” my daughter tried to explain with the princess so close to her face. Compared to how happy I was to see Rarity and Applejack, I couldn’t imagine what a long-time fan would feel being so close to a mythic celebrity.

“Twilight, stop harassing the poor dear,” Rarity scolded her. Twilight’s wings rustled in annoyance before turning around.

“Rarity, Princess Luna remotely cast an advanced healing spell using an earth pony, a broken horn and a Sonic Rainboom," she stressed before she turned back to my daughter. “Did she tell you how she did it?”

Ruby thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, Princess. I felt it but I didn't really understand it. I can tell you I wasn’t supposed to try actually building or releasing anything: the magic was going to come from Mom,” Ruby explained as best as she could. Twilight looked over at me to reconsider my part in it.

"Twilight..." Rarity tried again. Twilight Sparkle showed less resistance this time and stepped away from the table with the information she had gathered. I watched her make a slow pace back towards the coffee maker.

"A two pony cast maybe?" Twilight brainstormed to herself. "I guess she wouldn’t need a way to build up magic if she could just pull it from the Rainboom but…" she said before she stopped to sip her coffee. "Maybe I should test an earth pony’s conductivity?”

As Twilight Sparkle’s thoughts slowly drew inward, Pinkie Pie walked by her to take her spotless plate to the sink for washing. Twilight gave the perky party pony a sideways glance and visibly perked up. She took another sip of her coffee before speaking.

“Hey, Pinkie Pie! Do you want to be my magic assistant?”

“Oh boy, do I!” Pinkie cheered as she hopped in place. “Should I go get the ice cream sandwiches?”

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing for a moment to try and understand the connection. I heard a tiny muffled snicker next to me.

“...What? No. Just... come with me,” Twilight insisted as she headed out the entrance she came in, now with her coffee mug refilled. Pinkie bounced after her.

“Oh! What about Shining Armor’s birthday present?” Pinkie suggested.

“What?! Absolutely not!” I heard Twilight Sparkle shout as they walked away.

Ruby started giggling beside me in wonder and I couldn’t help but smile at the sound.

“They’re just like on the show!” Ruby gushed. Her fanaticism with these ponies brought the foal out of her in full-force. It was adorable to see. Rarity brought over a few more pancakes and slid them onto our plates. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to eat another but damned if I wasn’t going to try.

“From my experience with them while they were turning back, they weren’t much different as humans either. They’re just more like themselves now,” Rarity told my little filly.

“Do you think all of us are like that? Just ‘more like ourselves’ again?” my daughter asked. Rarity thought for a moment, before she gave Applejack a knowing look, who didn’t seem to understand it. She then turned back to my daughter and me.

“I think so. Some of us just had more to learn about ourselves in the process,” she said before giving me a thoughtful smile. I returned it.

Just then a series of hoof steps clattered onto the porch outside.

“Probably Mac,” Applejack muttered. Being free, she headed for the door, presumably to help him with whatever he was carrying. Through the door I heard a voice that was definitely not Big Mac though.

“We almost didn’t! You won’t believe what happened when we first changed into ponies,” said an unfamiliar mare. The front door opened.

“Oh?” came a now clearer and more familiar second voice. It was a good thing I wasn’t drinking anything at the moment, because in walked the pony I had been chasing for the past two days since I saw her Sonic Rainboom: the most colorful, coolest and ‘awesomest’ pony; Rainbow Dash.

She was quickly followed by what sounded like two others.

“Yeah, we were actually trapped in a gover-” a white pegasus with a straight pink and green mane came into view just as she was cut off.

“Dash?” Applejack said as she approached them. She smiled from the white pegasus to someone else standing behind the open door that I couldn’t see from here. “Dash, where did those pegasi come from?”

“They just flew in a minute ago!” Dash said to her before glancing past her friend to me and my daughter at the kitchen table. I couldn’t help but grin like an idiot when we made eye contact. She gave me a cocky grin back the way only someone incredibly charismatic could pull off. She turned to AJ and motioned towards me. “Where’d you find Berry Punch?”

She knew my name!

Wait, that’s not surprising.

“She was just walking down the road,” Applejack shrugged. I heard a few more voices walk in behind the pegasi.

“'scuse us, sorry,” a dark orange filly said as she tried to walk past. At least I think it was a filly and not a colt. The friend she was with was definitely Scootaloo. Dash and the other pegasi had to step out of the way for the two foals to pass, the hallway and the kitchen suddenly becoming very crowded. I finally saw the other pegasus and recognized her. From the flirtatious smile she gave me she recognized me too.

"AJ, I think we might need to start making a bigger house," Dash commented as the foals passed.

“Berry Punch!” cheered the light purple pegasus as she approached the kitchen table. She immediately gave me a hug and a nuzzle before she looked me over. One of her wings casually slipped over my back in a display of care. “You look like you got dragged all the way here, mare. You alright?” she asked bluntly but with concern clear in her voice.

“Cloud Kicker! You made it here too?” my daughter said to the two pegasi in front of us. I looked over at the white pegasus who came in with her. She was cute. I liked her freckles. We politely exchanged smiles before Cloud spoke up again.

“Hey Pinch!” she ruffled Ruby’s mane and looked over the food on the table. “Looks like we’re interrupting... breakfast?”

“Oh not at all! Please sit down. You must be tired from your long flight,” our unicorn host said to the two new guests. “My name is Rarity. You all know each other?”

“Oh thank you, ma’am! And yes, ma’am!” Cloud Kicker said as she slipped in beside me. The white pegasus took the seat across from her. “I’m so hungry I could eat a horse,” Cloud Kicker said before leaning into my ear and whispering. “...or eat out a horse.”

I vividly remembered the tongue kiss she gave me days ago after I rescued her. Combined with running into the literal stallion of my fantasy earlier I was glad I was sitting down. I couldn’t do anything about the blush though.

Cloud’s friend awkwardly cleared her throat, seeing what was going on.

“Thanks, Rarity. We kind of do know each other actually. I’m Blossomforth and this horny pegasus is Cloud Kicker.”

“I was just reminding Punch we owe her,” Cloud defended with a raised foreleg to imitate a shrug. She then gestured to my daughter and me. “These two broke me out of a cage in a truck barreling down the highway after I got captured trying to grab some notebook.”

“Oooh, that was you?” Rarity said, connecting the dots to the story I just told. She brought over the remainders of the pancakes on two plates and set them in front of the two pegasi.

“Eeyup,” Cloud Kicker did an exaggerated Big Mac impression. I felt my tail twitch. “When we were busting out of that government lab, Blossom put too much trust into the wrong people and got captured again. Princess Luna found me somehow, told me the safest way I could find where they took her and… I still managed to get caught,” Cloud said, then picked up a pancake with both hooves. “I underestimated those hillbillies.”

“You underestimated Carl too. He was a kind person,” her friend reminded her. Cloud bit into her pancake and mashed it vigorously before swallowing.

“Yeah, well, kindness wasn’t enough. He had no guts,” Cloud stated matter-of-factly. Blossomforth wilted slightly at that. Cloud Kicker evidently read her expression and how her words came out and sighed. “I’m sorry,” she apologized sincerely. “I’m just frustrated with that guy. I went through a lot to get you back.” She reached across the table for the white pegasus’s hoof. It wouldn’t quite reach until Blossomforth slid hers so that they touched.

“...I know,” she acknowledged reluctantly. The room was rather silent despite being full of ponies. Applejack was quick to fix both of those problems.

“Alright, ponies: if you aren’t eating or cleaning get out of the kitchen,” Applejack commanded towards the foals and Rainbow Dash.

“Applejack, can we borrow some lumber?” Scootaloo asked the mare shooing her out of the room.

“And your power tools?” added the darker orange foal.

“Uh… only if Dash supervises,” Applejack told them. Dash’s expression dropped into a mix of reluctance and fear. The two foals both turned to Dash just in time to see her take off out the front door.

“Gotta-go-patrol-more-bye!” she called out behind her.

“Aww, Dash!” Scootaloo whined after her. Scootaloo and her friend looked back into the kitchen and seemed to spot Ruby for the first time.

“New filly!” Scootaloo cheered excitedly.

After promising not to play with power tools, Ruby was practically carried away by her peers to go meet Apple Bloom. I felt incomplete being separated from her after so long but meeting other foals would probably be good for her. Meanwhile, Applejack took me and the pegasi out to a barn to settle in. She figured since we knew each other and expected other friends to show up, this would give us some of our own space to be together but also spread out without feeling like we were taking over rooms in the house.

I was reluctant to sleep in a barn again but then I saw the inside. This was nothing like that shed. There was a neat stack of blankets, pillows and cots waiting for us. The barn had a wide center aisle with rows upon rows of tall empty horse stalls on either side. Their previous residents were now out in the pasture.

“Feel free to use the stalls for any privacy. The floor is a little softer in there and Dash and I cleaned them out really well. You could practically eat off the floors now!” Applejack assured us before stopping and looking at us. “Just, uh... don’t actually do that.”

We all nodded, understanding the concept of germs. To her credit, the barn floor did look smooth and swept and at worst it smelled like aging wood and hay. The loft door on the other side was open so if we left the door we came in open we could keep fresh air flowing through.

“Can we take some hay?” Cloud Kicker asked as she gestured towards the haylofts. “I always wanted to have a roll in the hay with a cute girl.” Cloud Kicker smirked at her friend who looked embarrassed. Applejack rolled her eyes but for her part rolled with it.

“Hay is for eating. If you want some material for bedding, use the drier stuff stacked by itself up there; the straw,” Applejack explained.

“Awesome. Come on, let’s go grab some!” the randy pegasus said to Blossomforth before smacking at her flank and flapping her wings to ascend up towards the second story.

Blossomforth fumbled a bit, looked up after her friend, then gave us a humored eyeroll and flew up after her. Applejack and I both watched them go.

“Must be nice,” my fellow earth pony said. I nodded. We heard soft rustling above and the two pegasi laughing about something.

“Are you jealous of Rainbow Dash?” I asked the farmer.

“Hm? Nah. I’m happy for her. No hard feelings,” she assured me. “I thought we had something for a while but it didn’t work out. After I met Shining Armor I think I understood a little better.”

“Because… of his horn?” I guessed. I tried to process those statements but couldn’t.

“What? No. Well not that horn,” Applejack said then chuckled. She stopped when she met my look of confusion. “Wait… are we talking about the same thing?”

“Flying?” I asked.

“Oh. I meant being in a relationship. I thought you were asking me about Dash and Big Mac,” Jack explained.

“Dash and Big Mac are a ‘thing’?”

“Eeyup,” she imitated him. I wondered if he got tired of that.

“Wow. That lucky mare,” I said in wonder. Dash was beautiful, awesome and dating the hunkiest stallion I’ve ever met. Granted I only remembered meeting two. Shining Armor was around here somewhere. Applejack chuckled.

“As for flying, I was jealous for a while but I got over it. This is just... who I am,” Applejack gestured to herself. “Besides, I think earth ponies have their own kind of magic. It’s just with our hooves. You know what I mean?”

I nodded because I did. When there was a lot of magic in the area I could feel it in them. Not to mention how much damage I could do with a buck.

We looked up from the sound of flapping and saw the two pegasi coming back with large hooffuls of straw. They flew right over one stall door and dumped it onto the ground.

“Anyway, I’m going to go check on the foals,” Applejack said as she started off. She spoke a little louder to make sure the two others heard. “You all feel free to look around the farm and make yourself at home. We’ll come find you for supper.”

There were cheers of ‘sounds good!’ and ‘thanks’ and we waved our host off.

“I think we need one more stack,” Cloud said as she began ascending again with large flaps back upstairs.

I walked over to the stall my two barn mates were setting up in and after a moment of deciding what to do, I knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Blossomforth called from inside.

I slid the stall door open. One end of the stall was bare and I could see the softer mat material on the ground. The other side was covered in straw with a blanket and some pillows piled on top. Blossomforth was bunching the straw together under the blankets, making space for one more bundle probably. Blossomforth turned her head to look up at me.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“I thought it was straw?” I joked.

“It’s straw,” she admitted with a smirk at her work before looking back up at me. “You and Ruby want to join our little nest? Ponies like to sleep together.”

I knew first-hoof how true that was. Pegasus wings looked great for cuddling too. I was a little wary though.

“Depends, am I going to get molested in my sleep?”

“Only if you want me to,” Cloud answered from above. I looked up in time to see her drop her straw onto the bare spot her friend created. She slowly flapped downwards until her coat was brushing up against mine. I looked over at the lavender mare only to feel something drape itself over my back. I looked to my other side to see her wing gently curled over my withers.

“You’re welcome to my bed, Punch. I’d love to see what sleeping with an earth pony is like,” Cloud formally invited me. Her breath on one ear made them both feel warm.

“I… don’t know, guys,” I muttered. As I slowly slipped away from Cloud’s wing, the way the feathers brushed my back felt wonderful. Like a large delicate hand caressing it.

“No guys here, only mares,” Cloud unhelpfully corrected. “If you’re only into guys though that’s okay. Nothing wrong with that.”

Even though she sounded non-judgmental, the fact that she went out of her way to point that out made me feel weird.

“I mean… I wasn’t. I’m not. I was straight -I’m still straight!” I rationalized to her. She nodded as she listened.

“Is it because Blossom’s here? Because she’s not going to watch: she’s going to join us. You should see how flexible she is. She can lick her own dock.”

“I can not!” she denied as a blush was forming under her freckles. It was finally someone else’s turn to be flustered.

“Oh you’ve just never tried. I’m sure you can,” Cloud teased further.

“...what is a ‘dock’? I think I said that as a swear before but I’m not sure where that actually is,” I realized.

“It’s the hairless underside of your tail,” the apparently very flexible pony explained.

“You should show her,” Cloud suggested. Blossomforth started to turn around to do so then stopped. She gave her grinning friend the stink eye.

“Has she always been like this?” I asked Blossomforth.

“Only since we turned back.”

“Hey! I was always like this,” Cloud huffed. Blossomforth shook her head.

“No she wasn’t. I was her roommate. She was Mr. Stoic Military Man. She didn’t become a sex-crazed mare talking about ‘banging’ until we started changing back.”

To that Cloud slipped away from me and towards her. Blossom wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of looking at her until Cloud brought a wing up to gently direct her chin towards her own eyes. Her friend blushed at the delicate act. “I was always like this. Just with women. No offense, Joe, but you got cuter.”

I watched Blossomforth’s demeanor shift with her ears. She went from embarrassed to confused and when I saw her muzzle scrunch I interpreted that as frustration.

“Wow, that felt weird. Don’t call me that,” she responded as she backed away with her ears pinned.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to kill the mood.”

I looked between them and realized I hadn’t been putting two and two together.

“Wait, you were roommates?” I asked Blossomforth before she nodded. “My friend Comet Tail was a teacher’s aide at your university. He looked for people in the school system born around May 1st and found your address. We came to your apartment but you weren’t there.”

“No kidding?” Blossomforth said, surprised. “I bet you just missed us. This is great: and now we’re here together! What a happy coincidence.”

“You’re telling me instead of my dad kidnapping us we almost had an orgy instead? Damn.”

That put a mental image into my head that I tried to shake loose: These two, Minuette, Comet Tail and me…

“So...” Cloud said to get my attention. She walked in front of me and brushed her tail across my chest. As I watched her pass she was clearly showing off everything under her tail. Embarrassingly, she caught me looking. She seemed pleased by that. She circled back around and planted a chaste kiss right on my cheek. “What do you say?”

I looked into Cloud Kicker’s confident, sultry gaze then looked over to cute Blossomforth who didn’t seem to think this was awkward at all. Human me would be kicking myself for passing up an opportunity like this.

“I think… I’m too tired. I’ve been walking for days and just ate a lot of food,” I excused myself. Before I could turn and leave Cloud Kicker rubbed a fetlock against my chest. Getting my attention, she kissed me on the cheek again.

“We can do all the work. I just want to thank you,” she offered plainly. “If I didn’t try getting the CIA involved you and your friends would have helped us. And then you and your daughter saved me. You gave me a second chance to save my friend.”

Cloud saw my hesitance to leave as a sign and she kissed me again. This time though her lips met mine. I felt her hot breath intermingle with mine as she pulled away.

I felt another hoof tilting my chin away from Cloud and saw it was Blossomforth. She leaned in and instead of kissing me affectionately rubbed her muzzle against mine.

Hesitantly, I sat down on my haunches. I quickly found Cloud Kicker nuzzling up against my other side. She draped one wing around my back and she brushed the edge of the other against my chest.

“Just relax,” Cloud Kicker whispered seductively. She kissed near my ear then gently started to push me over. “On your back,” she guided me downward. More limbs were helping and I realized Blossom was easing me onto the straw. I looked up at her upside down and she smiled at me before softly kissing my forehead.

Cloud started to climb on top of me and I did my best not to kick her with any of my legs. She brushed her fuzzy barrel against mine and kissed me on the muzzle. I submitted to the pressing tongue that slid into my mouth and found mine.

Two mares: one incredibly confident and assertive and the other was adorably sweet. I could let them have their way with me and if it wasn’t all talk I had a feeling it would be amazing.

Cloud Kicker continued lapping at my tongue and pulling at my lips with hers before she stopped to check on me.

I hadn’t been reciprocating.

The truth was I wasn’t feeling anything from this other than a little embarrassed and Cloud Kicker was starting to tell.

“...sorry,” I muttered before meeting her gaze.

“Nothing, huh?” she asked. I shook my head and looked away. “It’s okay! Nopony’s perfect,” she assured me. She climbed off of me and they both gave me some space to sit back up. “Maybe you’re just tired and nervous. Raincheck?” she offered eagerly. It sounded like a graceful way out of this.

“Yeah… maybe?” I agreed half-heartedly. I didn’t think my feelings were going to change. I started making my way to the stable door. “I’m… going to go check on my daughter. You two go ahead and have fun without me.”

“Oh we will. Later, Punch,” Cloud Kicker told me with a wink. She turned back to her friend… partner? “Come on, let’s see if you can actually lick your dock.” I left and gave them some privacy. I couldn’t help but overhear more as I walked away.

“I don’t think I can actually do that.”

“Oh? Then I’ll just have to lick it for you.”

I shook my head as I left the barn. I wasn’t sure if I was shaking it at Cloud Kicker or myself.

After finding Ruby with Rarity, a very handsome Shining Armor and most of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, there was only one more pony on both of our lists to meet. The sun was setting but we were making our way towards the treeline.

Ruby was riding on top of me and our now more proper saddlebags. Rarity hadn’t just cleaned them, she had partially disassembled them and stitched them together by their straps into something more balanced and easier to wear.

The famous Rarity had spared so much time and attention on us today despite us being background ponies. The Element of Generosity waved off any comments about not needing to do it. I would have felt undeserving, because I didn’t deserve this kind of care, but I knew from an important friend that ‘deserving’ wasn’t relevant. Of course I couldn’t deserve it: it was a gift. And it was a beautiful one, because those were the only kinds of gifts Rarity gave.

“Did you notice Apple Bloom’s accent?” my daughter asked from my back.

“Yeah, she sounds just like on the show.”

“Applejack doesn’t though,” my daughter pointed out. I had noticed that.

“They didn’t grow up together as humans, right? Maybe Apple Bloom came from wherever that accent is from? Like… what, Mississippi?”

“Maybe but The Crusaders said they grew up together. The others don’t sound like her. Babs Seed even sounds like she’s from Manhattan.”

I suppose she did.

“I wasn’t sure if it was okay to point it out,” my daughter continued.

“You think they’re doing it on purpose?”

“Maybe? Or maybe turning back is affecting the way we talk? Comet’s accent slips a lot more than I remember. Maybe Applejack’s just hiding hers on purpose?” That would be the simplest answer but also the weirdest.

“The Element of Honesty hiding her accent?”

“That’s why I’m confu- there! What’s that?” Ruby interrupted herself. I looked up at her then tried to figure out where her hoof was pointing. Then I saw it: the turned over treehouse just past the treeline. We approached quietly, listening for her.

I heard birds chirping and as we got closer I realized most of them were perched on or near the treehouse. Overwhelmed with caution, I didn’t knock on the door. Instead I peeked in through the window. I didn’t see any ponies but it was clear somebody was making it home. There was a nest of straw, bedding, and a few stuffed animals. Everything ranging from grass clippings, reused bottles and books were organized along the walls and on what little shelf space there was. As I looked closer I realized some of the stuffed animals weren’t so stuffed: there was a fox curled up on a pillow sleeping. This was definitely her place but it seemed like she was out.

“Hello,” a gentle voice said from behind us. My ears swiveled around and my head followed shortly after.

A pony had snuck up on us. Her coat was the color of a baby chick and her wings looked as soft as one. Her mane was one long pink waterfall down the side of her softly smiling face. Her large eyes reminded me of Comet Tail’s: calm but deep. But where Comet’s were a more brilliant blue hers had a tinge of green to them. Both great oceans, but different.

“Uh, hello,” I echoed her greeting. I felt Ruby shifting around on my back and I lowered myself. She got off me and took a few steps towards the yellow pegasus.

“Hello Fluttershy. I hope we’re not bothering you. We heard you were living out here and just wanted to say hello,” my daughter awkwardly explained herself. Of all the ponies we met today, this was probably the most important one to her.

“Oh you’re not bothering me at all: I was expecting you. I was actually out gathering some things for your visit,” Fluttershy explained. She turned slightly to the side to show off a basket on her back.

“Y-you were?” Ruby responded in wonder.

“Oh yes: a blue bird told me you were coming by later. You’re Ruby Pinch and Berry Punch, right?” Fluttershy asked.

“We are!” my daughter confessed eagerly. The fact I wasn’t sure if it was a literal blue bird or that was a coy way of referring to Rainbow Dash just endeared her to me more.

“You’re just in time then. Would you like to have tea with me and some friends?”

Of course, like anyone would, we said yes. We followed Fluttershy around the back of her ‘cottage’ and into the trees. After a short walk we entered a small clearing. In the middle a campfire was already going and a tripod was hanging a small pot so the fire could tickle the bottom. I stopped short when I spotted the pack of raccoons going through the tools and supplies scattered around the camping site. Fluttershy didn’t. She walked right up to them.

“Thank you, Bandit,” Fluttershy greeted the one near the fire. It looked at her and chittered. The raccoons gathered around her while Fluttershy peered into the hanging pot and nodded. “Good. Plenty of water still.”

Fluttershy began petting one of the raccoons that approached her and it began purring into her touch. She looked up at us and motioned towards a tree stump near her with a small tablecloth draped over it. “Please, have a seat.”

Ruby and I stepped closer and sat down around the ‘table’ on our haunches. Fluttershy stopped petting the raccoon and came over to the table to set the basket on her back down. She started pulling out saucers, tea cups and some containers. Her raccoon friends soon followed her cue and started grabbing the items out of the basket and climbing up onto the table in front of us, haphazardly stacking the tea set anywhere it would go.

“Rascal, did you wash your hands?” Fluttershy singled one of them out. It started chattering at her and Fluttershy shook her head. “Go wash up.” She shooed the raccoon off the table. I watched it go for a moment, wondering if it was actually going to go wash its hands but then I got distracted by our yellow host.

“I don’t suppose you had daisies before?” Fluttershy asked us as she pulled her little teapot open.

“Actually, yeah!” Ruby piped up proudly. “We were eating a lot of different flowers on the way here,” Ruby told her.

“Oh? You’ll love this tea then. It’s very light. Almost lemony,” Fluttershy gushed as she took out a small pressed envelope of various dried flowers and roots. I watched her pour some of its contents into the basket inside her teapot.

Fluttershy walked her teapot over to the fire and picked up a ladle in her mouth.

“Do you need any help?” Ruby offered. Fluttershy shook her head and expertly ladled some of the boiling water into the teapot before recapping it. As Fluttershy carefully walked her teapot back, using her teeth and one hoof to steady it, I looked down at one of the raccoons that was sniffing at me and carefully tried petting it. Its quiet chittering turned into purring as it leaned into my leg.

They weren’t afraid of us at all. I wondered if they weren’t afraid of ponies now thanks to Fluttershy or if there was some kind of magic Fluttershy gave off that even she didn’t understand.

“So, I assume you did a lot of walking then?” Fluttershy asked. She started to casually arrange the saucers and cups along the table. “I hope it wasn’t too dangerous.”

I looked at my daughter for how to answer that. She seemed to give me the floor.

I looked down at the stars on my chest and the constellations along my hind legs. I smiled before I answered.

“It... left its mark,” I said simply.

“Oh,” Fluttershy answered, nodding while she quietly finished setting up the tea set. We were set for eight guests. Sitting next to the still steaming teapot was a little jar of honey. It was a little crowded but if the raccoons were actually drinking with us I didn’t think they were going to take up much space.

“I hope your birthdays were nice at least. You both turned on your twenty-fifth birthday?” Fluttershy commented. I still didn’t remember most of my birthday actually. I blacked out.

“It was wonderful,” Ruby told her. I looked over at my daughter who was smiling at me. “I got to see some of my best friends from high school again and Mom gave me a beautiful plushie of you.”

That was all true. It just took a while to get there.

“Oh? Of me?” Fluttershy asked, amused.

There was no reason not to show her. I turned to open one side of the fixed up saddlebags and unzipped it. I gently pulled the plushie out, the plushie that started it all.

This stuffed animal was going to be the best birthday present I ever gave Ruby. She was one of the things keeping me going before my birthday, until I gave up. She was the reason Minuette wanted to take me home, to see Ruby’s face when she saw her for the first time. She was what led Comet Tail and me into deciding to go back to our hometown. This silly plushie set my course. When Ruby set off in the dark alone to find Nathan and rescue me, she took her. Then after rescuing me, she was squashed, soaked and matted with mud as she was dragged through the same dark nightmare that I went through.

Yet holding her now, and showing her to the real Fluttershy, her mud stains were gone, her mane and tail were soft again and her stuffing was molded back into place. Maybe the stitching was a little more visible now, or that was just my imagination. She was just a little damp still and smelled like rubbing alcohol and soap: just a ‘little TLC’ from the same generous friend that also fixed up my saddlebags. The plushie was as good as new now. Or maybe even better for having gone through what she did.

I sat ‘Fluttershy’ down in between Ruby and me. Ruby was beaming at the plushie then up at me with those beautiful yellow-green eyes. I heard soft giggling from across the stump. We both turned to look up at the real Fluttershy.

“Aw. She’s perfect!” Fluttershy said, amused at her tiny doppelganger across from her. Fluttershy gingerly moved one of the many saucers set up around the table in front of the plushie and then a teacup on top of that. I looked at the plushie and then at my daughter.

“Yeah, she is,” I said.

“You know, I got okay at making plushies, if I do say so myself. I made Jack a Vinyl Scratch one and Dash a Rainbow Dash one. Those are their favorite ponies.”

I nodded. Rainbow Dash being Dash’s favorite pony made too much sense. Applejack’s favorite pony surprised me a little though.

“Yeah, Fluttercry is my daughter’s favorite pony,” I told our host. Her ears seemed to swivel slightly more alert and then I realized what I had said. “Sorry! I... didn’t mean anything badly about that.… that’s just a little joke we have. Mom could never get your name right, our mom, so we never called you the right name. You’re also Butterfly, and Shuttersty- and Stutterguy!”

One of the little raccoons started barking and Fluttershy started making a strange chittering noise like them at it until it stopped. Then she started to pet it gently until it started to purr again.

“Oh. I see,” Fluttershy said in the silence that followed. Then she gave a melodic little chuckle. “That’s very silly.”

“No offense, Fluttershy, but you’re not actually my favorite pony,” my daughter said. I turned to look at my daughter.

“Wait. She’s not?” I asked. For a moment I thought I managed to somehow mess up something so fundamental and my daughter was just too gracious to correct my several hundred dollar mistake all this time.

“Not anymore,” My little daughter said, staring directly at me. Then I saw that tiny grin on her face.

“Oh, you little dork!” I said as I grabbed her with the plushie and pulled them both into a hug. “You had me worried for a second there. Do you know how bad I would have felt getting your favorite pony wrong??” I mockingly scolded her and ruffled her mane. She laughed.

“Sorry! sorry,” she told me and nuzzled me. I nuzzled her back before pulling away and letting her sit again. We looked up to see Fluttershy smiling at us.

“I feel kind of narcissistic now: I was my favorite pony: I was a bit of a hippy,” Fluttershy explained bashfully. She turned at me. “Were you a fan of the show? Who was your favorite pony?”

“Oh it’s still Rainbow Dash: she’s amazing.”

“Mom!” Ruby said in mocked disbelief. Fluttershy giggled when she saw the face-splitting grin on my face.

“I’m just kidding, Pinchy,” I said as I smiled at her.

My favorite little pony smiled up at me with those big, beautiful eyes: those eyes that I’d die for; those eyes that I’d live for.

Welcome to the final part of the story and the chapter that initially sparked this entire fanfic. In the first concept for this story, this was where it ended. But we have much more ambitious plans now: Equestria or bust!

You can read parts of this chapter from another perspective in Chapter 30 of the original story. Minor edits to the original dialogue were done to make it feel more natural to me.

Curious about the Crusaders? Their story is here.

P.S.: the other two raccoons were named Honey and Tramp.