Time Traveling Kids of the Mane Six! Ch. 16

Chapter 16: I know whose tears would come down to me (First draft. Final version in the works)

Rain poured mercilessly in the deafening wind while three young foals slept inside the small chicken coop. The storm's might was ferocious, its malice unforgiving as even the rising sun itself seemed to hide out of fear of the great power of nature and shone only scarcely through the dismal blanket of the intimidating clouds. The heavy gales rattled the miniature house violently while the great boom of thunder shook the sleeping children to the bone. Inside their rickety shelter, Orion and Bucky slept side-by-side, huddled together to keep warm, their crusader capes shielding them from the cold. Their minds were blank, deep within the sleep they needed so badly. Time travel seemed to affect the very life force of all three of the Crusaders as they each found themselves too exhausted to even notice the rampage of the storm. None of them slept in peace but all remained unconscious. Outside, a pony approached the coop to investigate a suspicious noise emanating from within. Despite the roaring barrage of raindrops and thunder, the sound of crying could still be heard inside.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” the voice yelled in sorrow.  

One the side of the damp interior of the wooden pen, alone and curled in a ball, Peach Cobbler lay, sobbing and thrashing in her sleep. Her cape was gone, leaving her small body exposed to the unforgiving cold of the bitter rain and wind. Her coat and hair were soaked throughout, leaving a foal wet and shivering as she confronted the cruel isolation of her deepest nightmare. Her eyes remained shut tight as she thrashed against the invisible foe of her dreams.

“I didn’t mean to!” she yelled. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to!”

A shadow stood over the small pegasus, flickering from the laminating lightning behind. Growing closer, it stopped beside her and placed a blanket onto her trembling body. Peach’s twitching eyebrows lightened slightly with the new embrace of the cover. The warmth of the wool was comforting, but the nightmares still plagued her, and with a forceful kick, she threw off the soft veil and continued to endure the anguish of her mind.

“Shhhh,” the shadow whispered in a soft voice, soothing her violent tossing and turning, “it’s okay. I’m here now.”

Words of comfort fell upon deaf ears as Peach continued to cry.

“Forgive me! Please forgive me! I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry! I’m so sorry!”

Without waking up, she grabbed at the stranger and wrapped her arms around with great vigor. Long hair of the mysterious savior covered Peach’s ears and forehead like a soft curtain, soothing her with its smooth touch. The shadow picked her up slowly and held her close to its chest, shielding her from the piercing cold. The slow sounds of breathing against her ear calmed her down until she finally returned to total exhaustion and returned to unconsciousness once more. Shining eyes of compassion looked down upon her with great empathy.

“You poor thing,” the shadow said quietly. “I need to get you out of here.”

Lifting her up, the stranger took her outside of the coop and into a nearby house. Peach’s bluish-green eyes flickered open slightly as she was carried, but the world was blurry and she was too weary to pay attention. Soon enough, her eyes drooped shut once more and returned to the darkness of sleep. Though not aware of where she was and who was helping her, the deepest recesses of her mind could feel the comfort of a mattress and the peaceful voice of her unknown savior. Once the pink filly had been placed onto a bed and tucked into its covers, the shadow rubbed Peach’s cheeks softly and wiped away her tears. Its hooves were soft and warm, just like its voice. Feeling the new tranquility of the mattress, Peach began to struggle less until she finally remained motionless and fully returned to deep slumber. With a smile, the stranger tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead.

“Good night, little one. Sweet dreams.”

With the closing door, the pony left the filly alone, safe inside. The horrors of nightmares and storms were finally over. Hours passed in her sleep and only when the clock on the fireplace shelf struck eleven did she awaken. Slowly, she arose, her head heavy and neck still stiff from the previously rough sleep. Her eyes squinted as the late morning sun kissed her face with cordial welcoming. Though sore, her body was rested and healthy, but something felt wrong. She didn’t know why or how, but whatever it was, she felt like her heart had been torn apart. Everything in her wanted to stay asleep until the next day and forget everything that she was feeling right now. As she slowly began to remember where she was, a sudden realization struck her, followed by panic when she sat up from her resting place. This wasn’t the chicken coop.

“Oh no!” she said to herself as she looked around in fear. “No, no, no!”

Eyes darting around the room, Peach saw Orion and Bucky sleeping in the bed beside her, both in a deep comatose. Bird nests and vines sat on large wooden beams high above her and pictures of flowers and sunshine surrounded her. There was only one mare in all of Ponyville who placed so much decorative effort into nature thematic and Peach knew her more than anypony else in the world. Even the blankets she lay in had lovely pictures of butterflies on them. Hearing the ticking of the clock, she turned to see a very familiar fireplace. She knew exactly where she was.

“No, no, no, no, no!” Peach whispered aloud, jumping out of bed. “This wasn’t supposed to happen! This isn’t good!”

Peeking her head around the corner, she could hear the sound of cooking and singing downstairs. For the first time in her life, her mother’s voice was the most terrifying thing she could have possibly heard. Peach crept slowly down the stairs, praying that the boards would not creak too loudly and give her movement away. Approaching the kitchen, her head wandered from side to side, scanning her surroundings. This was her home and she felt at home, but she knew it wasn’t really. Everything felt like a dream. Once she had reached the kitchen, she peered inside to see her mother making breakfast. Had she known better, she would have thought this was any normal morning. Fluttershy turned around and spotted her hiding guest. Peach hid, hoping she ducked out of the way in time, but she knew she had been caught. Without a word, Fluttershy smiled with a motherly look as soft as a cloud and returned to cooking.

“I’m so glad you’re awake,” she said happily. “I was worried about you and your friends when I found you in my chicken coop this morning. I’m surprised you could sleep at all in that horrible storm.”

The second half of what she said blurred in Peach’s mind. All she heard was the first.

“My friends?” she asked, not knowing what to say.

“Why, yes, the blue and yellow colts. They were passed out right next to you,” Fluttershy explained. “The poor dears. They looked so cold and I couldn’t just let them shiver in the rain like that, so I took you all in.”

Walking into the kitchen, Peach Cobbler forced a smile, hoping it didn’t look incredibly nervous. When she had suggested taking shelter in the chicken coop, she had no idea that they would have slept for so long. Now the very thing she was hoping to avoid was happening. She was talking to her mom’s younger self.

“Thank you,” she replied, both worried about the situation and proud of Fluttershy’s selfless compassion.

“You’re very welcome. Now come sit down and I’ll get you something to eat. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Peach looked around the kitchen, trying to distract her beating heart. All around her, her house had barely changed over the years. The kitchen still had the homely and nature-like atmosphere that had always defined her mother and outside the window, she could see the various animals Fluttershy had told her so much about. As she looked outside, a familiar face made its way to her and jumped onto the table. It was a white rabbit with large black eyes that shimmered like dark gems.

‘Is that,’ Peach thought to herself, ‘Angel?’

His eyes stared at her like giant saucers of unpredictability and curiosity as he inspected her with twitching ears. Peach held her breath when he approached her. Something about her was fascinating him. Fluttershy always talked about animals’ innate ability to detect the undetectable and even supernatural, but Peach never saw it. Now Angel bunny sniffed at her, inspecting her every feature, as if trying to recognize a long forgotten face. After ten unending seconds of scrutiny, the rabbit finally inched closer and happily nuzzled against her head. Peach exhaled a sigh of relief as she looked back at her mother. The act had caught the attention of Fluttershy, who looked at the affectionate sign in awe.

“Oh, wow!” Fluttershy exclaimed excitedly, hurrying towards the two of them with wide eyes. “I’ve never seen Angel bunny act that way with anypony but me before! You must be very good with animals.”

“Oh, yeah,” Peach chuckled nervously as she secretly tried to shoo the white rabbit away when Fluttershy wasn’t looking. “I guess I am.”

Angel looked at her with another odd expression of vague identification and continued to sniff at her and stare while Peach grinned widely and tried to pretend he didn’t make her uncomfortable.

“Shoo,” she whispered, “shoo.”

Angel crossed his arms and hopped off the table while Fluttershy returned to singing while she worked. Her voice was as beautiful as ever and in a rare instant of tenderness, Peach’s resolve to remain quiet began to sink inside of her with each passing note. She knew she was risking everything by talking to her own mother over a decade before being born, but now she could see why Bucky had almost broken down when he met his uncle and great-grandmother at the Field Day. It was as if the love of family surpassed all restrictions of time and space and lived within her. Even the very sight of her young mother made butterflies in her stomach. Fluttershy’s long pink hair was still long and flowing as she had always known it to be, but this was a more quiet and gentler version of Ponyville’s shyest mare. How she could have such a rowdy daughter like Peach was often considered a mysterious irony. As Peach watched her mother’s every move, Fluttershy turned and smiled at her.

“So where are you from?” she asked as she finished making breakfast. “Are your parents around?”

‘Uh oh.’ Peach thought. ‘What do I say?’

Peach was known to be a brutally honest filly and disliked sugarcoating anything. For the first time now, she realized that she would need to learn to truly lie. Now time was up and she needed to come up with something.

“Yeah,” she said quickly, hoping it would suffice as an answer.

“Where are they? Surely they didn’t just leave you out in the cold!”

Peach took a drink from her cup, hoping to think of something quick. As she set the cup down and opened her mouth to speak, she could see Fluttershy’s gaze move away from her and towards the kitchen entrance.

“Peach!” a voice whispered loudly from another room.

Peach spun around to see her friends behind her. Bucky and Orion creeped up to the doorway and stopped dead in their tracks, frozen like stage-frightened colts at the sight of a familiar yellow pegasus.

“Good morning, children,” Fluttershy said pleasantly. “I’ve made breakfast for all of you. Are you two hungry?”

Orion and Bucky looked at each other blankly and then back towards her, nodding their heads stupidly with mouths agape. No words left their lips as their heads bobbled. Fluttershy smiled anyway.

“Then you’re just in time. The food is ready now."

The two colts thanked her politely and joined Peach at the table, sitting awkwardly as Fluttershy served them. None of them remembered how they had ended up in the house but now was not the time to talk about what was going on. Sensing their silence, Fluttershy broke the ice.

“Good gracious,” she said, “where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself. My name is Fluttershy and this cute bunny right beside you is my friend, Angel.”

Orion and Bucky turned their attention to the small rabbit on the ground. Angel stared Orion down with a dark glare and hopped away, leaving the lavender colt both confused and frightened.

“I’m so sorry about his rudeness,” Fluttershy apologized while she took their plates and served the food. “He gets a little cranky in the morning and doesn’t like unexpected guests very much. But don’t worry. He’ll begin to like you the more he gets to know you.”

Orion smiled. He had no intention of staying to get to know Angel, but for the moment, it didn’t matter. All three foals were famished and watched each plate with fixated eyes. As soon as the food had been served, they dug in with ravenous hunger, leaving nothing edible in their paths.

“Oh my,” Fluttershy said in surprise at the sight of the feeding frenzy, “you really are hungry. I’ll get you all some more to eat.”

As she prepared more food, she began to wonder about the state of the children.

‘Why would they hide away in my little chicken coop and not ask to stay the night in my home? Why not sleep in a public building?’

Fluttershy sensed that some questions would need to be asked later. After a storm like last night, she didn’t want to pry into their motives, so she tried a more subtle approach.

“So what are your names?” she asked, hoping to get some answers.

Bucky looked up from his plate and grinned, muffin crumbs dotting his white teeth.

“MahnumisBucky,” he said through his full mouth.

Peach smacked him in the arm.

“Ow! What’d ah do?”

“My name is Peach Cobbler,” she added, “and in case you didn’t understand my friend here, his name is Bucky.”

“And I’m Orion.”

“It’s very nice to meet you children,” Fluttershy said happily.

The crusaders nodded and returned to their breakfast. As they ate, Fluttershy watched her visitors quietly, studying them in secret. She had never seen them in Ponyville before and though she was not a social butterfly like her friend Pinkie Pie, she was quite good with faces. Something about Peach’s silence bothered her, making her more curious of the situation. Perhaps there was something going on that they were not talking about.

“I heard you crying last night,” Fluttershy said softly, looking at the filly with a sad look. “I had to calm you down when I brought you inside.”

Peach stared down at her food and tried to remember, but all she could recall was panic and pain. What she saw or felt was lost inside, but she knew whatever it was, it was distressing.

“Are you okay?"

“I…don’t know,” Peach said with a raspy voice. “I don’t remember anything.”

Peach saw the worried look on her mother’s face and it scared her. It was a look of when something went wrong or when she was hiding something. Worry blanketed Peach’s thoughts.

“I…I didn’t do anything in my sleep, did I?”

Fluttershy brought the new food to the table and began to serve more breakfast.

“You kicked a hole in the chicken coop last night,” she replied. “I was afraid you had hurt yourself.”

Orion and Bucky’s mouths flew open once again as their attention focused on Peach, who sank in her chair. Her peach-colored cheeks grew red from embarrassment and shock.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please forgive me! I’m so, so sorry!"

Fluttershy’s mind flashed back to when she found the children in the coop.

‘I’m sorry,’ she thought to herself. ‘That was the same thing she was yelling in her sleep. She’s repeating her dream word-for-word!’

Seeing Peach’s distressed face, she quickly calmed the pegasus filly down.

“It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay! I’ve had my house turned upside-down by Discord himself before. A little hole in an old chicken house is nothing.”

Peach nodded silently and looked back down at her food. Suddenly she had lost her appetite and just then, it hit her again. She felt wrong inside, as if this was the nightmare instead.

‘Why in Equestria did I ever suggest to take shelter here? This should have been the last place to go!’ she yelled to herself in her head.

Fluttershy continued to drink her tea a bit. Until now, she hadn’t paid much attention to their appearances. All three were foals of different species and when she found them in the coop, two of them were wearing red capes that looked just like the ones she saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders wearing when she babysat them for Rarity. They even reminded her of them.

“By the way, children,” she said, remembering Rarity, “I have some guests coming over. We’re having lunch today. I hope you don’t mind. If I would have found you yesterday, I would have canceled it.”

“What?” the three foals cried. “Guests? Who?”

“Oh, you know, just some close friends of mine. In fact, they should be here any minute now.”  

A knocking sound sounded from the other room.

“Oh my, that must be them! Is it time already? Oh dear, I sure hope they understand why lunch isn’t prepared yet. I’ll be back, children. Go ahead and finish your breakfast. I’ll be back in a bit.”

As Fluttershy walked towards the door, the Crusaders called a small meeting.

“We can’t let ourselves be seen by even more of our moms!” Orion whispered. “I don’t know if we’re changing time or not. If we are, Andromeda’s going to strangle me!”

“Wait,” Bucky said, “you don’t know exactly what would happen if we blew our cover? Ah thought Twilight told you this!”

“I never said that. I just said it was a possibility. I have no idea what could happen! I’m no genius like my mom or sister. It’s all just wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey gibberish to me.”

“Come on in, girls!” Fluttershy exclaimed from the other room. “It’s so good to have you drop by.”

“I’d never miss a get-together, dahling. You make some of the most amazing tea I’ve ever had!”

Orion, Peach, and Bucky’s ears twitched from the sound. Without saying anything to each other, they knew exactly who that was.

“Not Rarity!” Orion moaned.

“I also brought some cupcakes!” another voice said. “Lookie! They’re still fresh!”

“And Pinkie Pie?” Peach groaned. “Great. This day just keeps getting worse.”

The three Crusaders peered around the corner to see the three mares talking to each other. Though stuck in a bad situation, the idea of Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie all standing in front of them at the same age as Radiance, Flora, and the Pie twins was a sight indeed. Seeing them occupied, Orion devised a plan and pulled the other two into a nearby closet and shut the door behind them. Bucky kept an eye in the keyhole to make sure they could speak in private.

“Okay,” Orion said, motioning towards the direction of the backdoor, “I say we take off now while they’re preoccupied. We can’t stay here.”

“Ah agree,” Bucky added.

“We can’t just leave, guys,” Peach said. “Not yet.”

Bucky and Orion stared at her in awe.

“Ha! Yer funny,” Bucky replied. “Fer a second there, ah thought you said that we should stay.”

Peach shook her head. She didn’t know why she felt like she needed to stay, but something inside her was telling her that they couldn’t take off just yet.

“My mom would be heartbroken if we just left without a word. I know we need to stay low, but I don’t want to do that to her.”

“Wait,” Orion said with a raised eyebrow, “you’re serious? Since when were you so sentimental, Peach? You know we can’t stay here. We’ll get discovered for sure!”

“You don’t know that! I’m nothing like my mom. The only thing we share is eye color.”

“Um,” Bucky said quietly, motioning towards the keyhole, “guys?”

“Can’t risk it,” Orion continued. “I say we need to get out of here.”

“And I say that we’d attract more suspicion if we took off. Knowing my mom, she’d just go looking for us.”

“Guys?” Bucky repeated.

“What’s up with you, Peach? Are you sick? Did you hit your head? We need to find Andromeda and the gang so we can go home! Don’t you remember the plan?”

“Guys!” Bucky whispered loudly.  

“What?” the other two nearly shouted back.

“They’re standing right outside!”

The closet door swung open and illuminated the dark interior with sudden light. All three pairs of eyes looked up to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy standing over them, looking at them with curious looks.

“What are you doing in the closet?” Fluttershy asked.

“Umm,” Peach said, “playing?”  

“Are these the foals you were talking about, Fluttershy?” Pinkie squeed. “They’re so cuuuute!”

“Peach, Orion, Bucky,” Fluttershy said, introducing the children to her best friends, “this is Pinkie Pie and Rarity. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, these are my new guests.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Rarity said. “Fluttershy just told us all about this morning. You poor dahlings! Cold and all alone in a filthy chicken coop! During a storm, no less! Why, I couldn’t imagine how terrified you must have been.”

“Ah can’t remember,” Bucky replied sheepishly. “Ah was asleep.”

“But now you’re hear and you’re safe and now I can make new friends!” Pinkie added with bouncy delight. “Where are you from? What brings you to Ponyville? How old are you? Do you…”

“Pinkie!” Rarity interrupted. “These foals have been through a lot. They can answer your questions later.”

Pinkie’s bouncing ceased, replaced by an apologetic frown.

“Sorry.”

“I do have one question, though,” Fluttershy added softly. “You never told me where your parents are. Why did I find you all alone this morning?”

The moment had arrived. This was the second time they were asked the question and now there was no other choice but to come up with something. Before Peach could think about it, an idea sprang from her lips.

“We have no parents,” she replied, praying it would work. “We’re orphans.”

‘Orphans?’ Orion thought to himself. ‘What are you doing, Peach?’

The Crusaders watched as the three mares’ eyes grew wide in pity. Now that the decision was made, they would have to stick with it.

“Orphans?” Fluttershy responded sadly. “You said you had parents.”

Peach said nothing and acted quiet as she looked down at the ground. She knew her mother well enough to start counting down the sympathetic response in her mind.

‘Three, two, one…’

“Oh, you poor things!” Fluttershy cried, catching Bucky off-guard with a big hug, pressing his yellow cheek hard against her neck. “I had no idea you were orphans! No wonder you were all alone in the cold.”

Letting go of Bucky, she then grabbed Orion, who also found himself smothered by her empathy.

“But don’t you worry! You can stay with me. I have plenty of room for all of you.”

“We’d love to,” Orion said, faking another smile, “but we can’t. We appreciate the offer, but we really need to get goi…”

Fluttershy squeezed harder, cutting off his words with the pressure of love.

“Nonsense! I won’t let you just wander around without food and shelter. That would be so irresponsible of me.”

Peach walked up to Orion and winked when the others weren’t looking.

“Maybe we can stay for a night or two,” she said aloud for everypony to hear, “until we feel better. If that’s okay with Fluttershy.”

“Of course!” Fluttershy replied. “I’d be delighted.”

Orion’s red eyes glared at her, smoldering at what she had just done.

“Fine,” he said with a sigh. “You win. We’ll stay.”

“Hooray!” Pinkie exclaimed. “New ponies to get to know! I have so many questions!”

Grabbing a wide-eyed Bucky who was still recovering from Fluttershy’s bear hug, she threw him onto her back and trotted towards the living room to ask more questions. Rarity and Fluttershy giggled at the sight and followed, leaving Orion and Peach alone. As soon as they were out of sight, Orion looked like he was going to scream.

“What are you doing?” he whispered angrily, trying not to be heard in the other room. “We can’t stay here. I thought we talked about this.”

Peach glared right back and crossed her arms.

“What would you have said? Our parents are in Canterlot?”

“Yes! I would have.”

“That’s such a good plan,” Peach said sarcastically, “until my mom decides to take us to Canterlot to look for our imaginary parents when we should be looking for Andromeda. If we stay here, we can find her quicker.”

Orion began to argue until her reasoning sank in, interrupting him. Taking a moment to think about it, he sighed again.

“Fine,” he grumbled, “you have a point. So now what?”

The two thought a moment and tried to come up with a plan. So many things had happened that were unexpected and now they needed to find a way out of this whole new mess they were in. If anything else went wrong, who knew what would happen. They needed to find a way to use their new temporary home to their advantage as they searched for their friends and family. As they brainstormed, a sudden thought hit Orion. Looking up at Peach, he could tell in her eyes that she was thinking the same thing. A bolt of fear rushed through them both as they looked at each other’s uncovered necks.

“The capes!”