It was the dead of night when I appeared on my daughter’s doorstep. Perhaps not the most traditional time to visit family, but I’d long since developed a strong sense of caution and secrecy thanks to a long life of remaining hidden from pony society. It was likely unneeded given that my daughter lived on a farm far away from any town, but when you’re as old as I am you find these kind of habits are the toughest to break.

I started to knock on the door, but it swung open before I was given the opportunity. An irritated grey mare glared up at me. “Go away, mother.”

Her customary greeting hadn’t grown any easier to hear over the years. Still, I was hopeful that her age-old enmity wouldn’t be enough to deny me such a simple request.

“You’re looking well, Fortune.” I smiled, both for emphasis and as an attempt to disarm her.

“It’s Cloudy, mother,” Fortune spat. “Cloudy Quartz. I’ve abandoned your culture and ways long ago. And I certainly don’t appreciate you showing up as a reminder of who I used to be. So leave me be!”

My smile dropped. This was going to be difficult. “I simply wish to see my new granddaughter.”

“Absolutely not!” Fortune’s glare intensified at the notion. “I will not have you corrupting her with your unnaturalness. Now leave and never come back!” She made to slam the door.

“Let her in.” A gruff voice asked from further in the house.

“Igneous!” My daughter shifted her glare to focus on the new source of defiance. “You know what she’s up to. It’s the same as last time with Maud. She’s only here because she wants to-”

“I figure it’s perfectly normal for a grandmother to see her grandchildren after they’re born. So let her in.”

My daughter’s opened her mouth to argue but said nothing, pondering her husband’s words. “Fine,” she eventually conceded. “You may see her.”

I sighed, relieved that Igneous’s words had managed to sway her. “Thank you, daughter.”

“But only so long as you don’t do anything to her. You even look at her funny and I’m throwing you out, mother or no.”

“That is fair,” I agreed as I stepped towards the house.

A grey hoof reached across the entrance, barring me from entering. “You are not coming into my house looking like that,” she snarled, gesturing in my general direction.

I looked down at my limbs. No, of course she wouldn’t let me in as I was. To her, my appearance was as unnatural as the sun rising under its own power. And with as much as my daughter craved normalcy, I shouldn’t have expected any other result.

So if that’s what it took to see my granddaughter, I was only to happy to conform to Fortune’s rules for the time being. “If that is what you wish, daughter,” I acquiesced, willing myself into a form more suitable to her desires.

A mere instant later, the mismatched appendages that signified those of our race were gone. In their place I had grown a complete set of four hooves, a monochrome grey coat to match my daughter’s, a brown mane and tail, and even a cutie mark of a clock. As far as outward appearances went, I looked just as my daughter did: an ordinary, unassuming earth pony. The most normal a pony could get.

My transformation complete, Fortune gave me a thorough look over. When she was finally satisfied that I would pass for a pony to all but the most discerning of magic users, she dropped her hoof and allowed me into her home.

An orange stallion sitting across the room glanced up from a book as I entered. “Evenin’, Change” was all he said before returning to his book.

“Good evening, Igneous,” I returned the greeting. “And thank you for help.”

Igneous shrugged. “Didn’t do nothing worth thanking me for.”

“How is Maud?”

“Healthy.”

“Yes, she is certainly growing up to be a perfectly normal young girl, isn’t she?” Fortune chimed in, walking past me. “And Pinkamena Diane will too, you can rest assured of that, mother. Now come on and see her so you can hurry up and get out of my life.”

I wordlessly followed her through the small house to a room adorned with nothing but a crib housing a small pink foal. I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her sleeping there, oblivious to our entrance. Appreciating the hue, I shifted the colour of my coat to match hers. Fortune rose an eyebrow at this, but she otherwise said nothing.

“You said her name was Pinkamena?” I asked.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie, yes.”

“And how old is she now?”

“Sixteen days.”

“And Maud?”

“About a year.”

“That’s wonderful,” I smiled. “Two beautiful daughters. You and Igneous must be very happy.”

To my amazement, Fortune smiled at me for the first time in far, far too long. “We are.”

We stood there in silence after that, mother and grandmother watching with pride as their newest family member’s tiny chest expanded and shrank as she silently breathed. Neither wanting to disturb the precious moment.

I broke the silence first, remembering that I was there for a reason. “May I hold her?” I couldn’t be sure of my suspicions just by looking at her.

Fortune looked as if she wanted to protest, but instead she carefully picked her daughter up, and handed her to me. I graciously accepted.

The moment Pinkamena was in my hooves, I could feel it. Coursing throughout her entire being was the unmistakable trace of boundless power and energy. Not the type of power that the descendants of Order typically had, but that of my kind. Of my daughter’s kind.

Pinkamena Diane Pie had the soul of a Draconequus.

It was everything I had ever hoped for, confirmation that the continuation of our race was still possible. When Fortune had finally succeeded in finding a way to fully embrace the mundanity she sought, I feared that perhaps we would never get another chance. And my worry only compounded when Maud showed no signs whatsoever of being anything other than an ordinary earth pony.

But there in my forelegs I held clear evidence that those fears were misplaced. While Pinkamena possessed the outward appearance of a pony, she was no less draconequus than I. All that was left was determining who she was.

Pinkamena’s soul stirred just then, as if sensing my thoughts. It reached out to my own and in an answer provided me with the answer to my question.

“Random,” I cooed aloud without realizing.

Fortune’s eyes narrowed at the word. “What did you say?”

I turned to face my daughter, dumbstruck at my error. “I-”

Fortune snatched Random from my hooves before returning her to her crib. “Get out, mother,” she hissed, slowly turning to face me “I will not allow you to corrupt my daughter!”

“But she is one of us!”

“No! She is a perfectly normal young girl, not a monster like you.”

“She needs to be taught our ways or she’ll grow up never knowing-”

“She doesn’t need to know anything about you fiends. Not after what he.” Her eyes glistened with an ancient rage as she descended into our age old argument.

“Just because one of your uncles abused his powers is no reason to blame the rest of us.”

“You’re all monsters. Every last one of you. And neither Pinkamena nor I will ever be like you.”

“Fortune, please-”

The fury in her eyes magnified at my latest mistake. “Do not call me that!” she screamed, waking Random and causing her to cry. “I am not one of you, not any more. I am a pony! Now get out, mother!” She shoved me out of Random’s room. “You are no longer welcome in this house!” The door slam that followed left me no room for argument.

Dejected and defeated, I had no options available to me but to concede to my daughter’s demands.

---

“Go away mother.”

I materialized next to Fortune, who was busy cooking. Despite having embraced her pony life full on, she still always seemed able to notice when I was nearby, even when I wasn’t entirely visible. The bonds of family were harder to break than those of race, afterall.

“I’m just here to observe my granddaughter,” I replied, gesturing out the window where a young pink Filly could be seen tending to the rock farm.

Fortune scowled. “You’re breaking the deal. You’re only allowed to visit on her birthday.”

I couldn’t thank Igneous enough for accomplishing that little detail. Despite having never seen my daughter as angry as she was the night I first met Random, somehow he had managed to convince her that it would be best if my granddaughters at least got to see their grandmother every once in a while. So every year on her birthday, I paid Random and her sisters a visit to tell them stories and legends of our kind. Her sisters never seemed to care too much, but Random loved them, and always begged for more from her “Nana Pinkie.”

“I won’t be seen,” I promised, returning to my invisible state. “She’ll never know I was here.”

Fortune grunted dismissively, but said nothing else as she returned to the meal she was working on, allowing me to watch Random in peace.

I never fully understood exactly what it was Igneous did with his rock farm, or what purpose a rock farm had to begin with. As far as I could tell the job consisted of nothing but moving rocks from one location to another, with no method to the madness that I could discern. At times, I almost thought it was a prank one of my siblings had played on the farmer pony. But he insisted it was valuable to Equestria somehow.

But regardless of its purpose, it was an undertaking that required quite a lot of work. Everypony living on the farm had to provide their fair share of tending to the rocks, including all four of my granddaughters. Maud, Limestone, and Marble all seemed to take to it well enough, taking after their father. But Random always seemed to struggle and lag behind. Much as she was doing now.

“She’s miserable, you know,” I mused aloud as Random accidentally knocked over the small pile rocks she’d been stacking. It was the third time this had happened since I started watching her. With a sigh, she set to recreating the structure yet again.

“She has absolutely nothing to be miserable about,” Fortune insisted from the stove, stirring whatever it was she was making. “She’s healthy, has three sisters who love her, and a great future as a rock farmer ahead of her, providing a great service to all of Equestria” She paused to sample the contents of her pot. “I couldn’t ask for a better life for any of my daughters.”

“Mm,” I wondered as the pile toppled for the fourth time. “Do you truly think she will be a rock farmer? She doesn’t quite seem to have a knack for it.”

Fortune stopped stirring to glower at me. “Perhaps not. But whatever her cutie mark dictates she’ll do, you can rest assured it won’t have anything to do with terrorizing innocent ponies or disrupting their way of life.” Back to the pot again. “She’ll be a productive member of society working together with other ponies to help benefit all of ponykind. As any normal pony would.”

I sighed. “Our kind isn’t as terrible as you make us out to be, Cloudy.” Over the past years I had finally succumbed to my daughter’s demands to call her by the name she had adopted for herself. “You should know this by now. Have you ever known any of us still around to do any of the wild things you accuse us of?”

“Biding your time, no doubt,” she scoffed. “Or perhaps simply afraid you’ll all be turned to stone too. I can’t and won’t trust any of you. Especially you, mother.” She stopped stirring and walked to the door. “Igneous, call the girls inside. Dinner’s ready.” She turned back to me. “You should leave now.”

“Just a second longer, I promise.” She scowled in response, but walked out the room anyway, no doubt to prepare for her family’s meal.

I returned my gaze outdoors. Igneous had already rung the dinner bell, calling Limestone and Marble inside, while Random was busy gazing at her unimpressive pile of stones. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as I turned to leave.

Just then a brilliant flash of multicoloured light filled the sky, an immense gust of wind following shortly after causing Random’s normally straight and flat mane and tail to poof up into a tangled pink mess. Bewildered at the strange occurrence, she looked up at the sky in the direction the light had come from.

The smile that slowly grew across her face told me that, for the first time in her life, she had experienced true joy from something other than my stories.

Smiling myself, I dematerialized from the farm.

---

Several days later, Fortune called me out to a small diner near her farm for a talk. The fact that she was coming into contact with me under her own free was a pretty clear sign that I was in for some bad news, but I tried to ignore that feeling as I donned my Nana Pinkie form and headed over promptly at the time she indicated. Whatever it was she had to say, I would face it head on.

But despite fearing the worst, nothing could have prepared me for what she had to say.

“What?” I asked dumbly when she finished.

“I told the girls you passed away in your sleep a few days ago.” Fortune summarized, calmly sipping her tea. Igneous nodded by her side. “You are not allowed to see Pinkamena Diane any longer.”

“But we had an agreement!” I protested.

Fortune rose an eyebrow. “We did, didn’t we? But as you broke it first, I see no reason for it to continue.”

“I broke it first?” I repeated, confused as to what exactly was going on. “All I did was watch from the window.”

“Oh, so it’s just a coincidence that Pinkamena Diane’s personality became drastically different immediately after you left? Or that she’s trying to throw parties at every opportunity she has? Or that she simply refuses to work the fields now that she has her cutie mark?” Fortune leaned across the table to look me square in the eye. “This has your pawprints all over it, mother. She’s changed far too drastically for you not to have been involved.”

“She has her cutie mark?” I repeated, beaming at the news. I knew it was likely to happen eventually as she was a pony as well as a draconequus, but the prospect was still very exciting. “That’s wonderful news!”


“Yup,” Igneous agreed. “Three balloons. Says it means she’s a party pony.” He shrugged. “Not what I was hoping for, but it makes her happy.”

“Focus on the matter at hand, dear,” Fortune scolded.

“I see no harm in discussing our daughter’s cutie mark with her grandmother.”

“She is ruining Pinkamena Diane’s life!”

Igneous shrugged again. “Maybe, maybe not.”

Fortune gave an angry snort before refocusing her attention on me. “Well? Why did you do it, mother?”

My smile gave way to a more solemn expression as I remembered just what it was my daughter was mad at me for. “What makes you think I had anything to do with her new disposition? Isn’t it normal for a pony to embrace her new cutie mark once she gets it? I obviously can’t speak from experience, but it’s a rather life changing event, is it not?”

“You rigged the odds!” Fortune slammed her hooves on the table. “You couldn’t stand to see her grow up to be a normal, everyday pony so you changed her destiny to something more suitable to your wishes.” She sat there fuming for a minute before sitting back down, her anger replaced with sorrow. “I just wanted her to have a regular life, and you took it from her.” Igneous wrapped a comforting foreleg around his wife. She accepted it and sobbed silently into his chest.

“I-” I stammered, uncertain how to even begin to respond. What Fortune had just accused of me wasn’t just unthinkable, but quite impossible. Draconequi were a powerful race to be sure, but to directly defy Fate? Were there truly individuals who possessed that kind of power? “Even if I could do such a thing, I never would. Overwriting someone’s destiny? I couldn’t imagine a crueler fate for anyone, pony or not.”

“I don’t believe you,” Fortune managed between sobs. “You had to have done it. You had to…”

“You’d best leave, Change,” Igneous suggested. “I’m sorry you won’t be able to see Pinkamena anymore, but Cloudy’s mind is made up.”

“I understand.” It was all I could say, though I didn’t mean it at all. I had been forced out of my granddaughter’s life a second time. And it was for a crime that I hadn’t even committed. There was so much more I had to tell her, so many more lessons I could teach her. She could have grown up to be something fantastic. But now that part of her heritage may as well have not even existed.

With no options left to me, I hurried out of the diner before Fortune could find another precious item to remove from my life.

---

I made sure that the next time I visited my daughter it would be during the day. It was against my very nature to be so transparent in my actions, but I was there to make peace, and I didn’t want to do anything that might make Fortune turn me away before I had the chance to share my news.

Once again the door opened before I could knock, and I was once again greeted by an annoyed gray mare. Only this time, she looked slightly older. I knew it would have to happen but it was still quite a shock to see signs of mortality in my daughter.

“Pinkamena Diane isn’t here, mother.” She peered down her glasses at me. “Not that I’d let you see here if she were.”

“I’m not here to see her, Cloudy. I’m here to see you.” I materialized a photo album and offered it to her. “I thought perhaps you’d like to see what Random was up to nowadays.”

Fortune rose an acquising eyebrow at the unprompted gift. “You’ve been spying on her?” Still, she took the book from me and began leafing through it.

“I’ve been watching her, yes,” I admitted with a smile. “She can get up to some seriously entertaining antics when she puts her mind to it.”

“Mm, yes. She does send me letters, you know.”

I stood there in silent anticipation as Fortune continued perusing the photo album, wondering just how much she would enjoy my gift. I had been working on the album for this very purpose ever since Random had left her home to live in Ponyville, but hadn’t been able to work up the courage to finally give it to her, afraid of how she might react considering our history.

Finally, Fortune reached the last page and, upon discovering there was nothing more to look at, looked up at me. Not as the single individual she hated more than anyone else in Equestria, but as her mother and her daughter’s grandmother. “Come inside. I’ll make us some tea.”

I released the breath I had apparently been holding and smiled. “Thank you,” I said as I followed her into the living room where she offered me a chair before continuing into the kitchen to make the tea she’d promised.

“Where’s Igneous?” I asked noticing his absence.

“He’s taken Limestone and Marble to the fair. Should be back late, but I’ll want you gone before they come back.”

“Of course.”

We were silent for a while after that. Though I had remained hopeful, I hadn’t actually expected Fortune accept my peace offering. And now that she had, I was too afraid that anything I did say might inadvertently break the truce she’d offered and I’d be cast out her life yet again. So I just sat there in silence until Fortune returned to the room with the tea.

“I suppose you’re here to gloat,” she sighed as she had handed me my cup. “About how I was wrong for keeping her cooped up on the farm and that you were right that what she needed was more exposure to the world at large.”

“You were simply doing what you thought was best as her mother.” I took a sip. Peppermint with a hint of lemon. Quite good.

“But I was still wrong, wasn’t I? She’s made countless friends in Ponyville, and even some in Canterlot if I’m reading her letters right.” She took a sip herself. “Every letter she sends, she’s telling me about how much fun she’s having, and how great her friends are.” She sighed. “She’s never talked that way about the farm.”

“Random wasn’t much for chores, no. She still hates them, in fact.” Another sip. The lemon was in the foreground this time, while the peppermint took a backseat. “Except for baking, of course. She’s an amazing baker, though perhaps a little too focused on pastries.”

Fortune smiled at that. “I have to admit, her cupcakes are delicious. Marble simply adores them, and practically begs Pinkamena to make them every time she comes over.”

“And how often is that?”

“At least once a month. Usually more.”

“See?” I asked, taking another sip. The lemon was gone this time, replaced with lime. “She still loves you as much as anypony could love her mother. Just because she’s left the farm hasn’t changed that one bit.”

“I know that!” Fortune put her tea down a tad too forcibly, spilling a little onto the tray. “She’s never been anything but the sweetest of daughters. But still...” She returned the cup to her lips. “I do miss her quite a bit. It would have been nice having her around the farm still.”

“She’d have left eventually anyway.” Peach this time, with the peppermint nowhere to be found. “As much as they may love their parents, children tend to have a habit of leaving the nest once they’ve found their calling.”

“I suppose so,” Fortune sighed. “Maud’s already well on her way to getting her rocktorate. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before she leaves as well.”

“Speaking of Maud, how is she? I haven’t seen her in quite some time.” Chamomile. One of my favourites.

“Busy. It takes a lot of hard work to get a degree like that. Still, she always manages to find time to help out around the farm from time to -” she paused, eyeing the contents of cup. “What in Equestria are you doing to my tea?”

Unable to control myself any longer now that I’d been found out, I burst out laughing. “Nothing, nothing, I swear,” I managed between giggles. “Just changing the flavour a little bit at a time.” I smiled. “You looked like you could use a little cheering up.

“This was supposed to be a simple lilac tea, you know,” she scolded. But apparently she couldn’t keep the sternness in her face for long as a smile broke through. “But thanks. I suppose I could have used a little silliness.” She took another sip. “Ugh! Cinnamon’s never been my favourite. Why would anypony want to waste good tea with such a horrible tasting spice?”

“Don’t worry, it’ll change soon enough,” I chuckled. “Though I could just make it lilac again if you’d prefer. I know how much you prefer things not be quite so chaotic.”

“No!” she protested, perhaps a little louder than she intended as her face reddened a little. “No, this is nice. I’m having a good time, mother.” How long had it been since I’ve heard her call me that without the bitter venom that normally accompanied it? The warmth I felt at that moment exceeded my wildest dreams.

“Well then,” I said, smiling into my cup of tea. “Let’s talk.”

---

"And she led them out of town blaring music all the way, much to the puzzlement of everypony else. Even Princess Celestia had no idea what was going on."

Fortune laughed. "That must have been quite the sight."

"It really was," I agreed, chuckling behind my cup. "When I told her that old story about Silver Pipes and the parasprites, I had no idea she'd go to such lengths if she ever encountered them herself. A simple flute would have done the trick, but to assemble an entire band and wear it herself?" I pointed to the picture of Random and the rather ridiculous assortment of instruments attached to various parts of her body. "She really does live up to her name sometimes."

"Mm." Fortune's smile vanished. "I wish you'd call her by her proper name. 'Random' is just not a very fitting name for a pony."

"But it is a fitting name for a Draconequus," I countered. "Besides. Even her new friends call her that sometimes."

Fortune choked a little in surprise. "They do? How did they even find out about-"

"It's not like that." I waved my paw, dismissing my daughter's concern. "It's just how they describe her antics, especially Rainbow Dash. But still," I gave Fortune my best playful smile. "It's quite the coincidence, don't you think?"

Fortune gave hit me with her best glower, though it didn't last long and the pleasant smile I had grown accustomed to over the past couple years took its place, then continued poring over the latest pictures I’d added to the album.

Ever since giving it to her, I'd been meticulously maintaining the photo album of Random's exploits. It was fairly easy to acquire pictures without being seen with my powers, and I was able to place them directly in the book for Fortune to look over whenever she wanted, despite having not actually touched the thing since I'd given it to her. One of the perks of being a nearly all-powerful entity.

It had wound up being the perfect gift too. Ever since I’d given it to her, Igneous would find some excuse one day each month to take his daughters out of the house for a few hours so that I could use the opportunity to drop by and talk with Fortune about Random and everything she had been up to since last we met. Random did continue to send letters, and visited home quite frequently, but a mother couldn’t help but worry about her daughter once she’d left to live on her. And since Fortune no longer possessed the ability to be anywhere she wanted any time she wanted, I think it put her mind at ease knowing that I was there to keep an eye on her daughter. Once she had gotten used to the idea of me silently watching her, anyway. Her only condition was that I not interfere in her life in any way.

Not that I would, of course. At least not in any manner that Fortune would find out about.

Apparently done giving me funny looks, Fortune returned her gaze to one of her favourite new pictures in the album: A scene of Random and her new best friends floating and glowing before Nightmare Moon, Princess Luna's darker emotions made manifest, right before they took her down and returned her to the pony she had been before her rage and sadness consumed her.

"I still can't believe she's become the bearer of one of the Elements of Harmony," she sighed. "Laughter, even. How fitting.”

“Ha! You think you’re surprised? I’m impressed that anyone with a Draconequus’s soul could even come close to the position of element bearer.” The thought sent me into giggles. “One of Chaos’s descendants wearing one of Order’s sacred relics. The very thought is unprecedented.”

Fortune gave me an amused look. “Pinkamena Diane is pretty unprecedented herself.”

“I suppose she is.” I returned the look. “Although,” I dropped the smile, remembering something I’d been wanting to bring up for a while now. “I do still think that she should be aware of her heritage.”

“Mother, please.” She closed the book and looked me right in the eyes, her own pleading with me not to start a fight. “We’ve been having such a good time, and it’s been wonderful but…” She paused.

“But what?” I asked when it was obvious she wasn’t going to continue on her own.

“...I’m just not ready to make this kind of decision.” She stood up and walked out of the room, stopping at the doorway. “Thanks for the talk, mother. See you next month?”

“Of course.”

---

“Are you alone, Cloudy?”

Fortune jumped, dropping her spoon into the soup she was making. “Mother! Don’t do that! Wait…” her expression changed from surprised to alarmed. “Why are you even here? You just visited me a few days ago.”

“I’m sorry, Cloudy, it’s just…” I looked behind me to make sure nopony else was present. “Is it safe to talk here?”

“For a little bit. Igneous and the girls are still tending to the farm.” Alarm changed to concern. “What’s wrong, mother? You’re positively spooked.”

“Your uncle Discord has been freed.”

Fortune’s jaw dropped. “But how?”

“I’m… not sure. But somehow he got out and Ponyville became his playground, just as Equestria was as a thousand years ago.”

Fortune had no response, though I could see her old hatred flaring up in her eyes.

“Random and her friends stopped him, sealed him back in stone. But he was definitely loose for a couple days, and he...” I paused, fighting tears. “He hurt Random. Not physically, but he...” I couldn’t finish the thought. “I just wanted to tell you before Random did.”

“Mother…” if words were fire, the one Fortune had just said would have been hotter than the sun. “What did he do?”

I turned away, unable to see my daughter like that. “He made her angry. At everything. She was her own polar opposite. It was...” I paused, trying to think of the right word. Finally I settled on “dreadful.”

“And you did nothing to stop him,” she guessed. “You just let him do this to her.”

“There are rules!” I protested. “You know draconequi can’t affect each other’s magic! That’s just how it works.”

“And yet,” she growled, “he managed to twist Pinkamena Diane’s emotions with hardly any effort.”

“I-” I hadn’t even thought of that. Was her soul not enough to protect her from his powers? “I’m sorry.” It was all I could say.

Fortune turned her back to me and returned her attention to her soup. “Leave.”

“Cloudy, I-” I stopped when Fortune whipped her head around to face me.

“If I keep talking to you, mother, I’ll say something we both regret. And these past few years have been too nice for me to simply throw them away with a misplaced word of anger.” She turned back to her soup once again. “So leave. Please.”

I did.

---

I wasn’t sure if I was still welcome in Fortune’s home when the date of our next monthly chat came around, but I thought I would chance it anyway. Just in case, I materialized outdoors, and brought a peace offering of sorts: several bags of ever changing tea. She’d grown quite fond of my little prank from earlier, and it had become a part of our monthly routine. I thought she might appreciate the ability to make some herself from time to time.

But to my dismay, the door didn’t open as soon as I’d appeared, as it had so many times in the past. I waited a moment; perhaps she was preoccupied with something that required her attention, but it soon became apparent that she wasn’t going to come. So I did something I’d never had the opportunity to do before.

I knocked on the front door.

There was no response.

“Cloudy?” I called, knocking again. “Fortune? Are you alright?” I was genuinely worried. I could handle being shouted at or ordered to leave, but no response at all? What was going on?

After several minutes of knocking, pounding, and shouting, the door finally clicked open and a very distraught Fortune looked up at me before stepping aside to let me in. I wasted no time in doing so.

“Are you alright?” I asked again, my concern growing. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her like this.

Silence continued to be the only response I got as she walked across the room to sit down in her chair. Not knowing what else to do, I took my customary spot as well.

We sat there in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like an eternity. I unsure of what to say, and she seemingly unable to talk. Unable to bear it any longer, I finally worked up the courage to speak.

“Cloudy, I-”

“It was worse than you described, mother.” Her words were barely audible and yet crystal clear. “She… her letter described…” Tears welled up in her eyes. “She couldn’t handle it.”

“I’m sorry,” I said dumbly, echoing my daughter’s expression. “I had no idea, but,” I brightened up. “She’s over it now! She’s back to her usual self, laughing and baking up a storm and being the friend to everypony in town, just like she always was. Just last week she, was dressed as a chicken and helping the town’s foals collect their Nightmare Night candy.” I chuckled to myself at the thought.

“I know.” There was no change in tone. “Pinkamena always managed to get over things remarkably fast. But still... the things she wrote about… the things he did…” she paused to wipe the tears from her eyes. “This is why I became a pony in the first place.”

“Fortune...”

“When uncle did all those things all those years ago, and none of you tried to stop him, I couldn’t take it. It just wasn’t right!” Emotion had finally returned to her voice, though it wasn’t a happy one. “Millions were tortured and not one of you lifted a claw to stop him. If the princesses hadn’t intervened when they did...” She turned to face me, tears running down her face. “Why didn’t any of you stop him?”

“There are rules…” the answer sounded as weak to me then as it had the first time she’d asked me over a thousand years ago. “I know it doesn’t sound right, but… not even the descendants of chaos can break these rules. There was nothing we could have done besides alerting the princesses to what he was doing. And even that was difficult to do without breaking one rule or another.”

“I know.” That shocked me. Fortune had never accepted my answer before. “You did what you could. But I still can’t accept that it was enough.”

Silence again. Our countless arguments about the subject had never reached this point in the past. I struggled to find the right thing to say in this situation.

But Fortune found them first. “She needs to know.”

I blinked. “You mean…?”

She nodded.

Had she told me this under any other circumstance, I would have sung out in joy. But as it was, all I could do was reach out to my daughter and give her the hug she so clearly needed.

---

“Hi mom, I’m home! You won’t believe what just happened back in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash finally found a-” Random stopped in her tracks as she noticed I was in the room. “Pet?” she finished before her jaw dropped.

“Nana Pinkie?” An instant later she was beside me, poking me with a stick that wasn’t in her hooves mere moments before. “Mom said you were dead, but here you are so that means...” she gasped “You’re a ghost!”

“No, Pinkie, I’m not a ghost,” I chuckled. “I’m as alive as you or your mother.” I smiled at Fortune.

She looked away. “Erm, yes Pinkamena. I’m afraid that when I told you Nana Pinkie was dead, I was lying a little bit.”

Random’s jaw dropped again.

I waved the topic away. “Yes, well, that’s all behind us now, Pinkie. We actually have something a little more important to talk about. You see, that’s not the only lie we’ve been telling you.”

“There’s more?” Random gasped.

I dropped my disguise.

“Discord!” Random glared at me, preparing a battle stance. “How did you-” she stopped, tilting her head to one side. “You’re not Discord.”

I shook my head. “No. I’m Change. And even though I may not currently look the part, I am also and always will be your grandmother.” I took on the appearance of my alter ego once more. “Your Nana Pinkie.”

Random tilted her head even further.

Fortune stepped forward. “Your grandmother and I didn’t always see eye to eye when you were younger. She wanted to tell you who she really was right away, but I wanted you and your sisters to grow up as normal ponies. I just,” she sniffled. “I just wanted to protect you.”

“Protect me from what, mom?” Random asked, still unsure of what was going on.

“From your heritage as a Draconequus.”

“Whaaaaat?”

It was my turn to explain. “When your mother was younger, my brother, your grand uncle, did something terrible to Equestria. You got a small taste of that when you fought him last month.”

Random nodded solemnly.

I continued. “After the princesses stopped him, your mother decided she no longer wanted to be a draconequus, and did everything she could to stop being one. Several years ago, she finally succeeded, and swore that from that moment onward, she’d live as ordinary a life as possible. And that included never telling you or your sisters about her past or who I really was. So she lied to you. Trying to protect you from the horrors of her past. Horrors which you just experienced firsthoof.”

“It was awful,” Random agreed.

“I’m sure it was.” I placed a hoof on her shoulder. “But you need to know, Pinkie. We’re not all like that. But,” I turned away. “Considering what you just went through, I’ll understand if you’d rather never see me ag-”

Before I realized it was even happening, she had flung her hooves around me, gripping me tighter than I’d ever been hugged before. When I recovered from the surprise, I returned the embrace. I never wanted to let go of that moment.

But eventually it had to end, and I broke away from her, giving her my widest smile, and she gave me hers.

“Random.” She perked up at the name as I said it, the Draconequus half of her instantly recognizing it as her own. “We have so much to talk about.