Description:
Originally posted on: October 20, 2019 at 3:38 AM UTC
> Reunion [w/ story]
> NightSwift and I pulled up in a place I thought I would never set foot on again: my family's old farm, long abandoned by the SS. Our discussion with Tay was still fresh on my mind…
> "Your family's farm was abandoned by the SS not long after you were forced out. For what reason was unknown, but I did some digging and it was due to some strange events. Workers went missing, they reported mysterious black substances appearing in various places, and there were even sightings of a tall, pale figure near and in the area. That caused the SS to pull the plug on operating the farm and they just left it."
> "Doesn't sound like any Guardian magic I've experienced."
> "That's because it isn't, NightSwift. They would've known if that was the case."
> "Then what was it? If it's not any kind of magic, then what's causing all that?"
> "I'm afraid I don't have the answer for that, Mel, but I believe it lies in the ruins of your old home."
> The farm was engulfed in tall grass and plants that had taken over the buildings. The fields were indistinguishable from the sea of green, the barn was almost completely torn down by nature with the roof long gone, and the outer walls of the house were coated in green vines. It was a grave image of what was once a cute little farm run by a loving family. I didn't have a lot of memories because I was so young, but it was still sad to see what had been my home utterly destroyed. I felt NightSwift put a hand on my shoulder as a small gesture of comfort, and soon we went into the house.
> Inside the little house was left untouched since my family and I moved out, which surprised me because I thought the SS would've repurposed it for something. The living room was still furnished with a couch, a small table on each side of it, and a coffee table in front of the couch with a TV on top. All on top of an old rug and caked in dust. We were in a rush to get out, so a lot of furniture and other shit got left behind. But outside of that, we didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
> The tiny kitchen to the right still had its appliances that were also covered in dust, the sunlight from the small window illuminated the small room. The cabinets, sink, and even the dishwasher were filled with unused plates, bowls, pans, and dinnerware. The refrigerator and pantry were thankfully empty, otherwise the place would've been filled with the smell of rotting food. I noticed a few mice crawling here and there, but other than that, there was nothing else noteworthy.
> To the left of the living room down the hall were three rooms, two on the left and one on the far right. The first room on the left was a small bathroom with the basic sink, tub, and toilet, the countertop glowed under the light that poured in through the window. There was when we spotted something off. The tap was dripping at a slow pace, but what was dripping out of it wasn't water, instead it was something black that felt slightly thicker than water… I checked under the sink, but found nothing.
> "Что за черт (What the hell)?" NightSwift muttered under her breath.
> I looked over at her. "What is it?"
> "The sink."
> I looked at the sink and… it was completely clean. No trace of that black substance anywhere and the faucet stopped dripping. "Where did that shit go?"
> "Hell if I know. I blinked and it was gone." Weird. I skipped over the other room on the left side because I remembered it was my and my brother's room, and I wanted to save that for last. So that left the room on the far right, which was my dad's bedroom.
> Inside was untouched like the rest of the place, the curtains were pulled back and the window basked the room in sunlight. There wasn't much inside other than a king-sized bed with a nightstand table on each side. There was also a desk with an opened book and a lamp. On one of the nightstands was another lamp and a clock that had long since died out, and on the other was a single photo frame with a photograph inside…
> The photograph was taken outside in front of the farm, and the people standing in front of it with smiling faces were my father on the left, my brother front and center, and a pregnant tanuki mare on the right.
> My father's dark brown mane had yet to go gray, his golden brown and blonde fur was well cleaned and groomed underneath his white collared shirt and boot cut jeans, and his light brown eyes didn't look tired or sad. I never saw him that happy in my life… My brother was six when the picture was taken, his overalls, caramel and cream fur, and chocolate brown mane were covered in mud. Behind the mess were a pair of gleaming, golden yellow eyes of a colt clearly excited to see his new baby sister.
> And then there was the mare that wanted nothing more than to be a proud mother of a loving family. Her dark brown mane and light brown and white fur were a little matted underneath her bright pink dress and sun hat. Her emerald green eyes were exhausted, but full of joy and hope. What was weird was, I couldn't really tell from the photo, but I could've sworn her right hand was black. But, it was irrelevant…
> NightSwift wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close as I teared up a little. "We can come back another time if this is too much."
> "It's fine, babe. Ich kann damit umgehen (I can handle it)." I wiped the tears off my face and we went into the last room.
> It was almost exactly as I remembered it: a small bunk bed on one side and a crib on the other side. The light was dimmed by the blinds covering the window and there were toys, incomplete drawings, and all sorts of art supplies scattered across the carpet floor. On the walls were the drawings my brother and I were able to finish and show to our dad, who hung them up for us. The drawings were pretty standard stuff that you would expect from kids: crudely drawn self-portraits of people we knew, mainly of us and our dad. Some of them I couldn't recognize due to both lack of memory and how poorly done the doodles were, but there was one that caught my attention.
> It was done more crudely than some of the rest, which meant it was drawn by me, but it was the people little me drew that confused me. Of course there was me on the left, but on the right was a tall white figure with very long arms and big black eyes… Then I noticed a drop of black on the corner of the page. I rubbed a thumb over it and it smeared on the paper, it was still wet…
> "Um, Love?" NightSwift pointed out a trail of the same black liquid that led out of the room and down the hallway.
> There was no doubt about it: we were not alone.
> NightSwift went ahead of me with her pistol drawn while I watched her back with my knife pulled out of its holster. We followed the trail back to the front door where it continued outside, but before I could follow her out, I heard a thump behind me. I looked back and saw nothing, but then…
> SLAM!
> I shot back around and found the door slammed shut. I heard NightSwift on the other side struggling to open it, followed by gunshots against the hinges and the knob. When that didn't work, she started to pound what sounded like her whole body against the door to try and force it open. I tried pulling at it with all my might, but it wouldn't budge. The pounding grew more and more frantic as she started calling out to me in a voice that tried so desperately not to sound panicked, but it suddenly got cut off by very loud static.
> I covered my ears and looked at the TV. Even though electricity hasn't flowed through the house since my family and I left, it was on and it displayed static that illuminated the side of the room it was facing, though I couldn't see the screen from where I was standing. The light from the screen slowly morphed into what shaped like eyes and then the TV shut off.
> There was silence for a few minutes. Then a giant, clawed hand emerged from the TV and grabbed onto the couch, and then another hand followed suit. Inch by inch, the creature the hands belonged it pulled itself out of the TV until it was completely out and stood before me.
> The creature looked like a very tall mare, hunched over with its back almost pressed against the ceiling. Its arms were long enough for the palms of its hands to rest on the floor and it was dangerously thin, its skeleton visible underneath its pale, white skin. It had no trace of fur on its body, and its large, black, bug-like eyes just stared down at me.
> I was completely frozen, I couldn't move or call out to NightSwift. Then, a memory started to resurface…
> I was crying alone in a forest close by our farm. I got lost while Bubba and I were playing hide-and-seek, and I had tripped over a rock and cut my foot. I was scared, and I was calling out for Daddy and Bubba, but they never came. But then, someone stood in front of me. It was a tall, skinny lady with black eyes. I didn't know how to feel about her being there, Daddy warned me not to talk to strangers. But, she didn't talk, so I guess it was okay. She picked me up and took me back to the edge of the forest, where I could see my house along with Daddy and Bubba looking for me. The strange lady set me down and was about to walk away, but I asked her something.
> "Hey lady, what's your name?"
> She stopped and turned around to look at me. Then, she used her finger to write her name on the dirt, which was…
> "Bailey." The creature's ears perked up when I uttered her name, but said nothing. I couldn't believe it. I thought she was just a figment of my imagination due to how vivid the memories were, but there she was, right there in front of me. Bailey was the only friend I had at the farm, she would let me talk about the stuff I wanted to talk about and she would play games with me. Of course, she was way better at the games we played than I was, but I still had fun.
> The silence hung in the air around Bailey and I like heavy smoke. I wasn't sure where to even start, it had been years since we last met. Before I could say anything, NightSwift bursted through the door and fell onto the ground. Bailey looked at NightSwift, and then shrieked as her jaw opened wide enough to fit a whole head in her mouth, black saliva oozed from her mouth and onto the floor. NightSwift quickly climbed onto her feet and aimed her pistol at Bailey, but I stood between them and faced Bailey before she and NightSwift could tear each other apart.
> "Whoa, hey, calm down. NightSwift is a friend, she won't hurt you." Bailey at least closed her mouth, but she was still growling at NightSwift. I couldn't figure out why she was quick to be hostile towards her, until it hit me…
> "I know she's an agent, but she's not dangerous. I mean, if you don't get on her bad side then she's not. Trust me, if you don't give her a reason to shoot you, she won't." That seemed to calm her down, but only just. I didn't know how I was able to figure out that Bailey could sense auras so precisely that she could recognize me via my aura signature and tell if someone's an agent, which was important because anomalies hated Guardian magic. It was weird, it was like she was… talking with me without actually talking with me, you know?
> "Mel, what exactly is that thing?" NightSwift asked as she tucked her pistol into its holster.
> "This is Bailey. She was… a friend I had when I lived here."
> "I see… Guess we both keep ghostly company."
> "Heh, yeah." I turned back to Bailey. "I take it you want to know what I've been up to?"
> She plopped down onto the couch in response, though she was still hunched over, and she glared at NightSwift. I had forgotten that she was capable of emoting like a normal pony, despite her normally blank face and lack of pupils.
> "You're not gonna lock her out again, are you?" She shook her head no.
> "Babe, it's fine. If you and Bailey need time alone, I can give ya that." NightSwift gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
> I smiled. "Alright, we'll meet with you outside when we're done."
> "Mmhm." With that, she went back outside and left Bailey and I alone.
> I sat down next to her and told her everything that happened ever since I left the farm. From my dad's struggle to provide for my brother and I all the way up to when NightSwift and I arrived at the farm. I occasionally paused to answer any questions she had whenever she gave me a confused look. I got a lot of that from her when I talked about my relationship with NightSwift. When it was her turn to tell what she has been up to, I was surprised by how short her answer was. Turned out, even when the SS left, she stayed at the farm to protect it from any outsiders. When I asked about her actual home, she only ‘said' she couldn't go back. I didn't press her on the subject any further.
> "Well, if you don't really have a home, you're more than welcome to come back with us." She looked at me with genuine surprise. "I'm just not sure how we're gonna fit you in the car, or get you around public without turning heads or having the police called after you."
> She looked disappointed, then her face beamed as she came up with an idea. She got up and stood in front of me. I wasn't sure what she was doing, until I saw her limbs, neck, and torso shrink in height. Even her hands shrank to proportionate size. It was a weird thing to see, especially with the bone popping and cracking sounds that came with her transformation. When it was complete, she was about Percy's height, which was slightly shorter than me.
> "When were you able to do that?" She only shrugged, which I assumed meant she didn't remember, but it was at least before she met me. Once I got her into one of my dad's old cloaks that completely covered her, we left the house and found NightSwift sat on a tree stump smoking a cigarette.
> She looked at us. "So she's coming along?"
> "Yeah, might as well."
> "Alright."
> When we arrived back, Bailey got to be introduced to Danny and Percy. Danny took a liking to her almost instantly, despite how big and kinda scary she looked. Yet again, I wasn't scared of her when I first met her. As for Percy, well, let's just say we had to calm her down before Bailey could be properly introduced.
> \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\~
> And here we get to meet Bailey, Mel's old friend from her early childhood.
> Huge thanks icon [billy2345](https://www.deviantart.com/billy2345) for proofreading the story ^ ^
> Reunion [w/ story]
> NightSwift and I pulled up in a place I thought I would never set foot on again: my family's old farm, long abandoned by the SS. Our discussion with Tay was still fresh on my mind…
> "Your family's farm was abandoned by the SS not long after you were forced out. For what reason was unknown, but I did some digging and it was due to some strange events. Workers went missing, they reported mysterious black substances appearing in various places, and there were even sightings of a tall, pale figure near and in the area. That caused the SS to pull the plug on operating the farm and they just left it."
> "Doesn't sound like any Guardian magic I've experienced."
> "That's because it isn't, NightSwift. They would've known if that was the case."
> "Then what was it? If it's not any kind of magic, then what's causing all that?"
> "I'm afraid I don't have the answer for that, Mel, but I believe it lies in the ruins of your old home."
> The farm was engulfed in tall grass and plants that had taken over the buildings. The fields were indistinguishable from the sea of green, the barn was almost completely torn down by nature with the roof long gone, and the outer walls of the house were coated in green vines. It was a grave image of what was once a cute little farm run by a loving family. I didn't have a lot of memories because I was so young, but it was still sad to see what had been my home utterly destroyed. I felt NightSwift put a hand on my shoulder as a small gesture of comfort, and soon we went into the house.
> Inside the little house was left untouched since my family and I moved out, which surprised me because I thought the SS would've repurposed it for something. The living room was still furnished with a couch, a small table on each side of it, and a coffee table in front of the couch with a TV on top. All on top of an old rug and caked in dust. We were in a rush to get out, so a lot of furniture and other shit got left behind. But outside of that, we didn't find anything out of the ordinary.
> The tiny kitchen to the right still had its appliances that were also covered in dust, the sunlight from the small window illuminated the small room. The cabinets, sink, and even the dishwasher were filled with unused plates, bowls, pans, and dinnerware. The refrigerator and pantry were thankfully empty, otherwise the place would've been filled with the smell of rotting food. I noticed a few mice crawling here and there, but other than that, there was nothing else noteworthy.
> To the left of the living room down the hall were three rooms, two on the left and one on the far right. The first room on the left was a small bathroom with the basic sink, tub, and toilet, the countertop glowed under the light that poured in through the window. There was when we spotted something off. The tap was dripping at a slow pace, but what was dripping out of it wasn't water, instead it was something black that felt slightly thicker than water… I checked under the sink, but found nothing.
> "Что за черт (What the hell)?" NightSwift muttered under her breath.
> I looked over at her. "What is it?"
> "The sink."
> I looked at the sink and… it was completely clean. No trace of that black substance anywhere and the faucet stopped dripping. "Where did that shit go?"
> "Hell if I know. I blinked and it was gone." Weird. I skipped over the other room on the left side because I remembered it was my and my brother's room, and I wanted to save that for last. So that left the room on the far right, which was my dad's bedroom.
> Inside was untouched like the rest of the place, the curtains were pulled back and the window basked the room in sunlight. There wasn't much inside other than a king-sized bed with a nightstand table on each side. There was also a desk with an opened book and a lamp. On one of the nightstands was another lamp and a clock that had long since died out, and on the other was a single photo frame with a photograph inside…
> The photograph was taken outside in front of the farm, and the people standing in front of it with smiling faces were my father on the left, my brother front and center, and a pregnant tanuki mare on the right.
> My father's dark brown mane had yet to go gray, his golden brown and blonde fur was well cleaned and groomed underneath his white collared shirt and boot cut jeans, and his light brown eyes didn't look tired or sad. I never saw him that happy in my life… My brother was six when the picture was taken, his overalls, caramel and cream fur, and chocolate brown mane were covered in mud. Behind the mess were a pair of gleaming, golden yellow eyes of a colt clearly excited to see his new baby sister.
> And then there was the mare that wanted nothing more than to be a proud mother of a loving family. Her dark brown mane and light brown and white fur were a little matted underneath her bright pink dress and sun hat. Her emerald green eyes were exhausted, but full of joy and hope. What was weird was, I couldn't really tell from the photo, but I could've sworn her right hand was black. But, it was irrelevant…
> NightSwift wrapped an arm around me and pulled me close as I teared up a little. "We can come back another time if this is too much."
> "It's fine, babe. Ich kann damit umgehen (I can handle it)." I wiped the tears off my face and we went into the last room.
> It was almost exactly as I remembered it: a small bunk bed on one side and a crib on the other side. The light was dimmed by the blinds covering the window and there were toys, incomplete drawings, and all sorts of art supplies scattered across the carpet floor. On the walls were the drawings my brother and I were able to finish and show to our dad, who hung them up for us. The drawings were pretty standard stuff that you would expect from kids: crudely drawn self-portraits of people we knew, mainly of us and our dad. Some of them I couldn't recognize due to both lack of memory and how poorly done the doodles were, but there was one that caught my attention.
> It was done more crudely than some of the rest, which meant it was drawn by me, but it was the people little me drew that confused me. Of course there was me on the left, but on the right was a tall white figure with very long arms and big black eyes… Then I noticed a drop of black on the corner of the page. I rubbed a thumb over it and it smeared on the paper, it was still wet…
> "Um, Love?" NightSwift pointed out a trail of the same black liquid that led out of the room and down the hallway.
> There was no doubt about it: we were not alone.
> NightSwift went ahead of me with her pistol drawn while I watched her back with my knife pulled out of its holster. We followed the trail back to the front door where it continued outside, but before I could follow her out, I heard a thump behind me. I looked back and saw nothing, but then…
> SLAM!
> I shot back around and found the door slammed shut. I heard NightSwift on the other side struggling to open it, followed by gunshots against the hinges and the knob. When that didn't work, she started to pound what sounded like her whole body against the door to try and force it open. I tried pulling at it with all my might, but it wouldn't budge. The pounding grew more and more frantic as she started calling out to me in a voice that tried so desperately not to sound panicked, but it suddenly got cut off by very loud static.
> I covered my ears and looked at the TV. Even though electricity hasn't flowed through the house since my family and I left, it was on and it displayed static that illuminated the side of the room it was facing, though I couldn't see the screen from where I was standing. The light from the screen slowly morphed into what shaped like eyes and then the TV shut off.
> There was silence for a few minutes. Then a giant, clawed hand emerged from the TV and grabbed onto the couch, and then another hand followed suit. Inch by inch, the creature the hands belonged it pulled itself out of the TV until it was completely out and stood before me.
> The creature looked like a very tall mare, hunched over with its back almost pressed against the ceiling. Its arms were long enough for the palms of its hands to rest on the floor and it was dangerously thin, its skeleton visible underneath its pale, white skin. It had no trace of fur on its body, and its large, black, bug-like eyes just stared down at me.
> I was completely frozen, I couldn't move or call out to NightSwift. Then, a memory started to resurface…
> I was crying alone in a forest close by our farm. I got lost while Bubba and I were playing hide-and-seek, and I had tripped over a rock and cut my foot. I was scared, and I was calling out for Daddy and Bubba, but they never came. But then, someone stood in front of me. It was a tall, skinny lady with black eyes. I didn't know how to feel about her being there, Daddy warned me not to talk to strangers. But, she didn't talk, so I guess it was okay. She picked me up and took me back to the edge of the forest, where I could see my house along with Daddy and Bubba looking for me. The strange lady set me down and was about to walk away, but I asked her something.
> "Hey lady, what's your name?"
> She stopped and turned around to look at me. Then, she used her finger to write her name on the dirt, which was…
> "Bailey." The creature's ears perked up when I uttered her name, but said nothing. I couldn't believe it. I thought she was just a figment of my imagination due to how vivid the memories were, but there she was, right there in front of me. Bailey was the only friend I had at the farm, she would let me talk about the stuff I wanted to talk about and she would play games with me. Of course, she was way better at the games we played than I was, but I still had fun.
> The silence hung in the air around Bailey and I like heavy smoke. I wasn't sure where to even start, it had been years since we last met. Before I could say anything, NightSwift bursted through the door and fell onto the ground. Bailey looked at NightSwift, and then shrieked as her jaw opened wide enough to fit a whole head in her mouth, black saliva oozed from her mouth and onto the floor. NightSwift quickly climbed onto her feet and aimed her pistol at Bailey, but I stood between them and faced Bailey before she and NightSwift could tear each other apart.
> "Whoa, hey, calm down. NightSwift is a friend, she won't hurt you." Bailey at least closed her mouth, but she was still growling at NightSwift. I couldn't figure out why she was quick to be hostile towards her, until it hit me…
> "I know she's an agent, but she's not dangerous. I mean, if you don't get on her bad side then she's not. Trust me, if you don't give her a reason to shoot you, she won't." That seemed to calm her down, but only just. I didn't know how I was able to figure out that Bailey could sense auras so precisely that she could recognize me via my aura signature and tell if someone's an agent, which was important because anomalies hated Guardian magic. It was weird, it was like she was… talking with me without actually talking with me, you know?
> "Mel, what exactly is that thing?" NightSwift asked as she tucked her pistol into its holster.
> "This is Bailey. She was… a friend I had when I lived here."
> "I see… Guess we both keep ghostly company."
> "Heh, yeah." I turned back to Bailey. "I take it you want to know what I've been up to?"
> She plopped down onto the couch in response, though she was still hunched over, and she glared at NightSwift. I had forgotten that she was capable of emoting like a normal pony, despite her normally blank face and lack of pupils.
> "You're not gonna lock her out again, are you?" She shook her head no.
> "Babe, it's fine. If you and Bailey need time alone, I can give ya that." NightSwift gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.
> I smiled. "Alright, we'll meet with you outside when we're done."
> "Mmhm." With that, she went back outside and left Bailey and I alone.
> I sat down next to her and told her everything that happened ever since I left the farm. From my dad's struggle to provide for my brother and I all the way up to when NightSwift and I arrived at the farm. I occasionally paused to answer any questions she had whenever she gave me a confused look. I got a lot of that from her when I talked about my relationship with NightSwift. When it was her turn to tell what she has been up to, I was surprised by how short her answer was. Turned out, even when the SS left, she stayed at the farm to protect it from any outsiders. When I asked about her actual home, she only ‘said' she couldn't go back. I didn't press her on the subject any further.
> "Well, if you don't really have a home, you're more than welcome to come back with us." She looked at me with genuine surprise. "I'm just not sure how we're gonna fit you in the car, or get you around public without turning heads or having the police called after you."
> She looked disappointed, then her face beamed as she came up with an idea. She got up and stood in front of me. I wasn't sure what she was doing, until I saw her limbs, neck, and torso shrink in height. Even her hands shrank to proportionate size. It was a weird thing to see, especially with the bone popping and cracking sounds that came with her transformation. When it was complete, she was about Percy's height, which was slightly shorter than me.
> "When were you able to do that?" She only shrugged, which I assumed meant she didn't remember, but it was at least before she met me. Once I got her into one of my dad's old cloaks that completely covered her, we left the house and found NightSwift sat on a tree stump smoking a cigarette.
> She looked at us. "So she's coming along?"
> "Yeah, might as well."
> "Alright."
> When we arrived back, Bailey got to be introduced to Danny and Percy. Danny took a liking to her almost instantly, despite how big and kinda scary she looked. Yet again, I wasn't scared of her when I first met her. As for Percy, well, let's just say we had to calm her down before Bailey could be properly introduced.
> \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\~
> And here we get to meet Bailey, Mel's old friend from her early childhood.
> Huge thanks icon [billy2345](https://www.deviantart.com/billy2345) for proofreading the story ^ ^
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