Sunny Gardens: Going Home

“Of course I'm not going to let her have them.”

You're in Sarah's office at the fluffy shop, along with Whitney.  The three of you are strategizing about what to do with Lightning and Berry and their little family.  The four alicorns in question are back at your shelter – with the door tightly locked, of course.

“I can't take them, they'll scare mine,” Whitney sighs, adjusting her glasses.  “Do you really think she'd break in and steal them?”

“I don't know what she'll do.  She's not exactly the most stable person.”

You doff your watch cap to scratch the top of your head.  “Maybe I could convince the apartment manager that they're better than regular fluffies when it comes to training and take them home...”

Sarah grumbles, tapping her purple fingernails on the glass top of her desk.  “This wouldn't be a fucking problem if someone would take the package deal...besides Tiffany.”

It's been a couple of days since Tiffany paid you a visit, and interest in the foals has been high.  Or, rather, it used to be high, because Sarah attached the parents to the offer.  No amount of convincing by her has so far been able to get someone to take all four ponies, despite the lure of a breeding pair.  She even tried throwing in the parents for free, with no luck.

“People tend to look at fluffy ponies with some disdain,” Whitney says.  “For them, one's enough.  I'm the only one crazy enough to actually own as many as I do.”

“And they're dealing with an unknown quantity, because alicorns are so rare,” Sarah adds, standing up.  “Well, I have to go deal with my own stock.  I'll call you if anything comes up,” she says, looking at you.  You fold your arms.

“What?”

“I think you're being a little bit of a hypocrite here...”

That provokes a chilly stare.  “I am not having this argument with you again.”

“Fine,” you reply, more than a little grumpy.  Whitney excuses herself, and you follow her out to the front.  A pile of foals occupies the playpen, where Slate and Cherry are directing traffic.

“Nice hooman,” the former says, waddling over.  “Hewd big.  Haf babehs aww time.”

“I see that,” you giggle, reaching down to pet him.  Honestly, you're surprised he even remembers you.  For a moment, you listen to the cacophony of foal babble and realize that forty foals are all saying the same six or seven things.  The starkness of the lack of variety in their speech sort of stuns you.  After shaking it off, you head out and back up the street towards the shelter.

Even all the way down here, you can see it, parked out front.  You skitter up the sidewalk, heart leaping into your throat.  Your sandals don't give very good grip, and you slide a little upon arrival, waving your arms to keep your balance.

“It...it's you!” you blurt out between breaths, looking at the woman as she leans on her car.  Her yellow car.

Her yellow Aventador.

“It's me, all right.” she says, waving nervously and standing up.  “Um...hello?”

You don't really know what to feel, so you just wave lightly as you catch your breath.  After a second or so, your emotions begin drifting toward disgust, but you maintain your politeness.  “What are you doing here?”

She looks just as awkward as she did during your last encounter, rubbing the back of her neck.  “I heard you had some alicorns for sale.”

Oh hell no.  “...are you going to eat them too?” you try to snarl, although it just comes out as rather timid.  She actually manages to smile at you as she shakes her head.

“About that...can we go in?  I have a confession to make.”

You unlock the door and lead her inside.  Lightning immediately alerts you about the 'scawy woud' – undoubtedly the snarling V12 of that yellow rocket – then greets your new friend.  You sit down at your desk while the tall woman looks at the family.

“How cute!” she says, holding a wiggling Blue in her hands.

“Wan' pway!” he demands, trying to nudge her fingers around like a ball.

“Nuuu, Bwue be nice to new fwiend!” Berry calls, hugging a nervously chattering Yellow to her fluff.

You watch quietly, still a bit unsure.  The woman sees this, and turns to you after giving Blue back to his father.

“I didn't actually eat them.”

You blink.  “You...you didn't?”

“I couldn't make myself do it.  We got home and they all called me mommy...I...I couldn't go through with it.  I kept them all.”

You hunch over slightly, exhaling a long and deep breath. “Oh thank god...”

“Are you all right?”

“I dreamed about them being turned into sandwiches...”

The woman smiles apologetically.  “I'm sorry.  I would have told you, but I didn't think you wanted to see me ever again.  Oh...um, by the way, my name is Angelina.”

“I'm Lucy!” you say, waving a bit more happily.  So...you're interested about the...you know...”

“Yes.  How much were you asking?”

You explain the prices and the origins of the parents, as you have so many times already.  She picks up Yellow as you talk.

“Fwiend?” she asks meekly, wings spread with fear.  “W-wan' pway?”

Angelina pets her gently on the head.  “Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you.”

“Fw-fwiend,” Yellow replies nervously, trying to hug the fingers grasping her.

“They're big,” she says, looking over at you.

“Oh, yes.  Alicorns are bigger.  And smarter!  Berry, what's your new friend's name?”

“Angahweena!” she chirps happily, waving her legs.

Angelina busts out laughing at the fluffization of her name, setting Yellow back down with her mother.  “Oh my god, that's incredible.  $2,300 for the pair, you said?”

“That's right, but...uh...there's a stipulation.”

She looks at you, an eyebrow raised.  “Which is...?”

“You have to take the parents too.”

She tilts her head, walking over to you.  “Why's that?”

You sigh a little.  “They're breeders,” you whisper.  “They've spent their whole lives having babies taken away.  My sister and I don't want them to go through that again.  We want to retire them so they can live as a family.  I have to warn you, regular fluffies will be scared of them.  They'll have to be separated.  But...I can't make Berry give her babies away again.  I just can't.”

Angelina looks thoughtful for a moment, turning back to the alicorns.  Berry waves at her happily as Yellow suckles.

“I'll take them all.”

After the second it takes for that to sink in, you find you cannot contain yourself, and rush over to the pen.  “She said yes!”

Four alicorns all blink up at you, confused.  You blink back, then look over at a smirking Angelina.  “I mean...this is your new mommy!”

“Mommy?” Berry says, looking over and frowning.  “Mommy...fo' babehs?”

“No, mommy for all of you.  You can all come with me.”

“...go...go wif babehs?” she stutters, starting to cry.  “New mommy take Bewwy and Wightnin' too?  Haf babehs?  Wuv babehs?”  Even Lightning is beginning to sniffle, walking over to hug his mate.

“Yep.  I'm not taking your babies without you coming too.”

“Huuuu...huuu...”

“Berry, why are you crying?” you ask, reaching down to pick her up and hug her.  She conforms to your chest, her body shaking with each gasp.

“So happy...neva go wif babehs, babehs a'ways go 'way, neva come back...” she wheezes.  You squeeze her tight before giving her back to her crying daughter.

“Wuv new fwiend Angahweena,” Lightning says, trying to hug her through the mesh.  “Make fwiend Bewwy so happy.  Make Wightnin' happy!”

“Happy pway!”  Blue shouts at random, trying his damnedest to get Yellow to play ball with him.

Angelina says she has some things to complete in town before she can take them, so she leaves to get those done.  After calming down the alicorns, frightened by her noisy car, you go back to the storage closet.  Inside are the two small suitcases Berry and Lightning brought with them the day they arrived.  You take them back to the pen.

“Goo'bye baggies!” Lightning says, grabbing the blue one as you give it to him.

You beam at him.  “Time to pack!  Your mommy will be here soon!”

“Babehs no haf goo'bye baggie!” Berry gasps.  “Bewwy gif dem Bewwy goo'bye baggie.”

Lightning packs their toys into the two bags, leaving you the task of zipping them up.  Berry urges her foals to make poopies before they leave.  Blue wants to know where his ball went.  While their dad deals with the foals, Berry makes the 'pick me up' motion.  You oblige.

“Fank you, Wucy.  Goo' fwiend to Bewwy an' Wightin' and babehs,” she says, clinging to you.  You pat her on the back, smiling.

“I'll miss you.”

“Miss too.  Wucy funny fwiend!  Gif goo' huggies an' wuv babehs.  Wucy is bes' fwiend,” Berry adds, flapping her wings happily.  “Go down pwease, Bwue bein' meanie babeh.”

You set her down; just as her hooves hit the floor, you detect that noise growing louder.  Angelina is coming.

“Okay kids...mommy is almost here!  Everything packed up?”

Berry, her foals now on her back, whispers something to Lightning.  In unison, they turn to you and say.  “Weady!  Wuv Wucy fwiend!  Babehs an' mumma an' daddeh say goo'bye!”

Fucking hell, where are the tissues...you find them just as Angelina comes in.  She lays an envelope on the desk in front of you.  To distract yourself from the sadness, you peek in.  There are twenty-three $100 bills.

“Ready to go, everyone?” she asks, picking up Lightning first, and setting him outside the pen.

“Weady!  Go wif new mommy!” he replies.

“Babehs weady!” Berry says, as she's lifted out.

“All right...don't be scared of the noise, okay?  It's not going to hurt you.”

“Gif noisie munsta owwies!” Lightning says, puffing his cheeks.  You both laugh.  After one more goodbye, you watch as Angelina leads them out, helps them into her car, and drives away.

And then the silence falls on you like an asteroid.  You look around slowly, taking it all in.

“...damn it.”

First thing's first; you call Sarah with the good news.  She seems pleased, but you can't help feeling a little nervous about what Tiffany's reaction might be.  You talk with your sister for a while, mostly about your mother's reaction to the building being empty again.  After that conversation ends and she hangs up, you sit quietly for a moment to think.  The silence bothers you too much, so you turn on the TV.  Your thoughts turn to happier things.  Angelina wasn't a monster after all, and your alicorns – wait, when did they become yours? – will finally see their babies reach adulthood.  If it weren't for Sarah's business principles, you wouldn't have even accepted the money.  Your phone rings again.

Ugh, mom.  Go away.  You ignore her, fiddling with your laptop.

That's when some words from the TV catch your ears.  You'd turned it to one of the local channels, and the five o'clock news had come on at some point.  You swivel your chair to look at the picture.  It's a helicopter view of the interstate that goes north away from town.  You turn up the volume, but as the seconds pass and the camera pans, you don't even need to hear the words.  A tractor-trailer is on fire.  Two minivans lay smashed against the concrete divider.

And shattered across the desert freeway, lies the carbon fiber carcass of a yellow Aventador.