>You’re feeling pretty good about yourself, it was nice to do something guard-like for once
>Currently you’re flying towards your little home at the top of a tower-like building
>It is a bit small, but fairly cheap, and since you do not have many belongings or furniture to begin with it was perfect for you
>You look down at the streets while flying, surveying a few ponies doing this or that
>It’s going to be the morning soon so most bat ponies are heading our or already have headed to home for bed
>But then you notice something out of the ordinary, a little filly looking through a dumpster
>you stop and look down at the filly as it abandons the trash can and moves onto the next one with a sigh
>She must have been doing this for some time now since her mane seems dirty, shaggy and unkempt
>Maybe she does not know what time it is and should have been at home a while ago?
>This is good practice for being a guard, you swoop down and land down before the bat pony filly
>She seems spooked by you and tries to scamper away, but ends up slipping and falling onto her back
“Are you ok?”
>You walk closer to the little filly whose hooves flail around in the air almost like she was still trying to scramble backwards while keeping her eyes closed shut
>You take a closer look at her and find that she lacks a cutie mark, and also notice other things about the filly
>She shares your coat color and wing colors, except they seem to be inversed compared to yours
>Her long unkempt, shaggy and very dirty mane and tail, now that you look at them more closer they really are dirty, are light steel blue
>She stops scampering and opens up her eyes, and then looks at you with her mint colored eyes, eyeing you carefully
>She keeps her eyes on you while getting back on her hooves and then giving a few flaps to her wings, dusting them off
>she must be a shy little pony, you better tell her that you are not doing anything weird to her
“I just wanted to make sure you know it’s soon going to be the morning and you should hurry back home”
>The filly seems a bit weirded out by this but nods slowly
>”Um...ok...”
>Satisfied that you did the good deed you open up your wings and take flight
>”...but I don’t have one...”
>And miss a flap and almost fall back to the ground
“You...don’t have a home?”
>The filly sits down onto the ground with her head hanging down in a depressed manner, coupled with a lower lip tremble
>”N-no...sorry...”
>You land back down
“No that’s fine, is there an orphanage or-“
>Suddenly the filly hits the ground and pleads at you with her eyes
>”Please not the orphanage!”
>You reach out a hoof to the filly, but decide not to touch her when she stares at it with worry
“Calm down, I’m not taking you to the orphanage”
>The filly sits back up, looking just a hint less alarmed
>”Y-you wont?”
>You shake your head
“What were you doing out here, looking through these trash cans?”
>The filly looks ashamed and averts her eyes from yours
>”I was looking to see if anypony had thrown out any leftover fruits that haven’t gone that bad...”
>Now you feel a bit confused, no matter what state Hollow Shades would be in you would not think that any kind of a homeless pony would need to go through any trash cans for things to eat, and as far as you know the local orphanage is very good and friendly over all
“Should I take you to a...guard outpost?”
>The filly looks worried and pleading again
>”Please don’t...”
>You’re left pondering how you should proceed
>Leaving the filly to be would not be very guard-like, and if anypony ever found out you did something like that you’d be kicked out of the guard for sure, or loose all respect ponies might have for you
>Well depending if you become a guard in the first place but still, it would not be right, it would not be just
>But what does that leave you with?
“Do you...want to come to my house?”
>The filly is still wary but now also looks at you with obvious confusion on her face
>”Why? I’m dirty and filthy and no good and homeless and unwanted and...”
>Oh no, she sounds like she is about to cry so you interrupt her
“I can’t leave you out here either by yourself, it would not be right”
>The filly opens up her mouth as if to say something but then closes it and just stares at you while making unsure sounds like she was having an internal struggle while thinking about it
“You can wash up and it’s warm”
>The filly keeps looking unsure and nervous
“I’ve got fresh fruits?”
>The filly’s stomach growls loudly, making her ears droop and gulps as her mouth waters visibly
>”O-ok, I’ll come with you”
>You spread your wings open and the filly does the same
“Ok, follow me”
>You take flight and the filly does so too, and now you are heading home with a little filly behind you, looking around cautiously as the two of you fly
“My name’s Daylily, what’s yours?”
>The filly turns her attention to you and shouts out something that you don’t hear over the sound of the wind
“I’m sorry I didn’t catch that”
>The filly inhales before cautiously yelling out her name with a bit more volume this time
>”Tulip!”
>You give Tulip an awkward and nervous smile and a nod as you answer her, before turning your attention back to where you are flying
“Ok”
>Don’t want to fly into something like you did back in the cave when you were flying away from the timber wolves
>A filly...to come to your house...what on Equestria are you getting yourself into?
>You close the door to your front porch/perch and then look at the little filly named Tulip standing in the middle of your living room/house
>It is a small house with only a few rooms, a big living room that is practically the whole house, and then a few smaller rooms like a bedroom with a small bathroom, and then a small one pony kitchen
>She isn’t shivering anymore, but still seems very cautious
>But she also seems a bit defeated? The way she hangs her head and how her ears are remind you of yourself after finding out you failed the test to become a guard pony in the past
>She keeps glancing at you and then back at the floor, and you keep glancing at her and then up at the ceiling
“Do you want to get washed?”
>The filly looks at herself and touches her mane
>”I guess...”
>Her stomach lets out a loud growl
>”B-but food...”
“You can eat first if you want to”
>Her head lifts up a bit almost like that made her a bit happier
>”Ok”
>She stares at you...is she waiting for you to show the way?
>You walk to the kitchen and Tulip follows you there, and sits at the table as you pull out a few cans
“Is there anything you’d like in particular?”
>”Mango”
>You grab the can of mango pieces with your left wing and dive your right wing claw down on the top of it, piercing the lid
>You work your claw like a can opener and open up the can while Tulip stares at the scene with wide eyes and an open mouth, her timidness forgotten by you poking a hole in the lid like it was made from tin foil
>You dump down all of the things in the can into a small bowl and set it down in front of Tulip, and as you do so you suddenly have a flashback of yourself when you were younger
>Sitting at a table in excitement as your mom served you some kiwi for breakfast
>You suddenly feel an odd knot in your tummy as you realize how mother-like this thing you are doing is, it is a whole new kind of a feeling, and an uncomfortable one at that
>Tulip instantly dives down and starts to eat with hurry, getting her snout messy from the mango juice
>it does not take her long to finish all of it and let out a burp before wiping her mouth on her mane
>She sees you staring at her and quickly apologizes
>”Sorry for burping, it just happened...”
>You’re shaken out of that weird feeling you were feeling the whole time she ate
“No that’s not what I...it’s alright, do you want to wash up now?”
>The filly shrugs
>”I guess?”
>The two of you stare at one another in awkward silence for a moment before you tell her to follow you
>You are unsure if it is normal to let a homeless filly use your shower, you have never ever met an actual homeless filly before
>Or even a homeless pony for that matter, it makes you really wonder why she was out on the streets in the first place
>You leave Tulip to wash up by herself and crack open a can of pineapple for yourself 
>Just as you finish eating it Tulip returns, now considerably more clean
>Her mane still looks the same though, minus the dirt, maybe that’s how it is naturally?
>”Umm...I have washed now...”
>You scratch your head
“Yes, you have...”
>The two of you stare at one another before both of you look away
>This is...weird, you have never really dealt with young ponies before
>You were an only foal so you didn’t have any siblings, and in your travels you only met and dealt with adult ponies so you find yourself a bit more reserved than you normally would be
>Not to mention the overall confusion as to what exactly is happening here in the end
>Maybe you should just take this slow, focus on this evening only for now, you have offered her a bath and food and a place to stay for the night
>You can worry about her situation and what to do next tomorrow, though you know that just letting her return back to the streets is not an option
>You must do something, that is a given, if not out of your strong need to uphold some rightness due to wanting to be a guard then just out of common sense
“Do you want to go to sleep now?”
>Tulip shrugs again and lowers her head a little
>”Do you?”
>You swish your tail
>She flicks her ear
>You shake your wings around a little so they can rest more comfily against your body
>She glances at her hoof she is rubbing against the floor awkwardly and then back at you again
>You scrunch your mouth and briefly glance at the clock on the wall
“I guess?”
>”...ok?”
>...yes sleep is for the best, good nice interaction-free sleep
“You should go to the sofa while I grab some pillows and such”
>You point at your tiny 2-seating sofa and Tulip walks to it and hops on it while you quickly grab a few pillows and a blanket from your bedroom
>You lay them down for the bat pony filly and she lays down on her back and pulls her hooves close to her body while looking at you like she was expecting something
>Does she want you to tuck her in?
>You place the blanket on her
>Are you supposed to tuck it in or wrap it around and encase her in a little burrito? Or just leave it on her like that?
>”So...I’m going to sleep now I guess”
“Yeah, me too. Let’s...you can wake me up at any point if you need to I guess”
>Tulip nods and wiggles around a little bit to get more comfortable
“I’m going to go now, to my bedroom, so good day”
>Tulip seems worried as she nods and you quickly make your way into your bed
>This is harder than you expected, helping out a homeless little filly
>And then you simply lay there. but sleep does not come to you
>After tossing and turning around in your bed and almost feeling a bit feverish like you were coming down with a cold your ears pick up sounds coming from Tulip
>You silently get up and sneak to her
>She’s whimpering a little and moving around in her sleep, and her blanket seems to have fallen off
>You pick it up and place it back but as you do so she suddenly grabs a hold of your hoof in her sleep and pulls it close to her
>You freeze up completely with your eyes wide in shock as the filly snuggles her head against it
>Her mane feels soft and you can feel her body heat against your hoof
>It is a whole new kind of a feeling, it feel nothing like touching ponies has felt like, a hoofshake, high five, punch, kick, bite or an accidental bump
>This feels...strange, it is made out of things one would consider good, softness, warmth, but for some reason it feels bad? Overwhelming in a way
>You quickly pull your hoof away and return to your bed with your mind racing about various thoughts about the nature of motherhood, coupled how embarrassing even thinking about such things is!
>You’ve never really thought about it, or even acknowledged that it could be something that might happen to you someday in the far future
>You’ve never ever thought of children this way, and all of these new thoughts and feelings about various matters so grown up are scaring you
>Not in a way a timber wolf or a manticore would be, but a whole different kind of scary you didn’t really know even existed
>You force yourself to stop thinking about it and about becoming a guard instead, and eventually you manage to fall asleep
>”Umm...”
>Zzzzzz-huh what where? Your bed...
>Groggily you let the corner of the pillow go from your mouth and lift your head up to look at the little filly next to your bed
>Or somewhere around it, you’re sprawled all over the bed in a random manner with one pillow on the floor and most of the blanket either on the ground or covering very random parts of your body
>Why is your head at the bottom of the bed and not at the top?
>”I’ve slept so I’ll go away now, right?”
>You stare at the filly in confusion as your mind tries to catch up
>You shake your head to get some of your bed mane out of your field of vision, wait she’s leaving now?
“You can’t!”
>The filly seems spooked now and her tail goes right between her hooves
>”I c-can’t?”
“I mean...breakfast! You haven’t had breakfast yet!”
>She does not think you’re some strange mare does she? That would not be good
>Tulip’s tail lefts back up from between her hooves and she tilts her head to the side
>”I guess I should have breakfast...”
>You quickly try to climb out of the bed and end up falling face first to the floor in a cocoon consisting of blanket because your hooves got tangled
>”Are-“
>You wave towards the doorway to the bedroom with your free wing without lifting your head up
“I’m fine, just go to the kitchen”
>After you manage to collect yourself up you too join Tulip in the kitchen where she is resting her head against the table in a bored manner
>She seems a little surprised of you as you walk into the kitchen, your bed mane and tail can’t be that bad can it?
“What would you want for breakfast?”
>”Banana”
>Banana...do you have any banana in a can? Do banana’s even come in a can?
>You start going through your various cans of fruits
>You really should stop buying canned fruits and eat fresh, but it’s so much more cheaper not to mention more universal as a ration
>But to your surprise you do find a can labeled “Banana’s in syrup”
>You crack it open and pour out a few small, sloppy discolored soggy bananas onto a plate
>It’s very...unappealing
>You set the bowl down on the table and join Tulip who now eyes the bananas cautiously
>”A-are you sure these things are bananas?”
>You pick one up and shudder how soft and soggy it feels like
“I’m sure they’re fine”
>Tulip picks one up too and then carefully gives the tip of it a lick
>Seems like the syrup tastes good at least because she seems positively surprised and starts to lick the syrup off of the banana in little bat filly licks
>You stare at the filly licking the banana here and there while lapping up the syrup and suddenly you get the feeling something is wrong with this picture, but you have no idea what it is
>So instead you bring your little banana to your mouth and take a careful bite out of it
>Wow this is actually pretty good! It’s like a soft squishy banana that is covered in banana flavored soda pop and oozes out melted banana flavored candy
>You take a bigger bite out of it while Tulip stares at you, frozen in mid-lick
>You swallow and lick your lips
“Eeeeee~”
>And stop making your happy bat sound when you notice Tulip staring at you
>As a bit of a blush forms on your face Tulip too takes a cautious bite out of her floppy banana and she too seems to like it greatly as she wolfs it down pretty fast
>Now with a much more happier mood in the kitchen both you and Tulip enjoy the canned bananas until there are none left
>And then breakfast is soon over with and you’re left to wonder what to do next about Tulip
>She’s still sitting at the table but she most likely will attempt to leave soon
>You are going to take her to the orphanage. That’s a final, even if she would not want it
>You did think about it a little bit last night and it is the best option you can think of, taking her to the guards might spook her and letting her return to the streets is not an option
>But the hardest part is telling it to her since she was so much against it yesterday
>If push comes to shove you’ll just drag her there against her will
>It might be a bit cruel but if there is a place that specializes in these things that is where she should be.
“I’m going to take you to the orphanage”
>You prepare for the resistance she will put up
>”I know...”
>But instead she just hangs her head in a depressed manner and submits to her fate?
“You...know?”
>Tulip nods and now you stare at her with surprise and confusion
“But you were so much against it yesterday...why are you not against it anymore?”
>But Tulip just sighs and stays silent, confusing you even further
>But she’s willing to go there with you so maybe you should not question it?
>You decide to not think about it too much further and to take a shower instead, leaving Tulip to slurp on the leftover syrup
>And after a little bit of washing you’re stuck in that shower-trance where you just stand under the warm water and completely loose track of time
>it just feels so much more better than washing yourself in a cold river or not washing yourself at all for long periods of time, or having to take painstaking amounts of work to get some warm water to bathe yourself in when on the road
>And soon enough you will have brought this random filly to the right place where she should be and you can focus back into doing the things you were supposed to do before this unforeseen event took place
>The Hollow Shades orphanage, a medium, even a bit small sized building for its intended purpose
>You are standing before said structure with Tulip, after you both freshened up you came straight here
>Tulip was oddly quiet and had that weird air of defeat hanging over her head the whole flight there, maybe finally you can get to know what’s what
>you walk in and Tulip follows you, and you’re greeted by a mare somewhat older than you, wearing her mane in a bun and with eyeglasses on her snout
>She takes a look at you and her eyes go wide as she practically jumps out from behind her desk
>”Tulip! You’re back!”
>And then she turns to shake your hoof in excitement
>”And that must mean you are her new mother, so lovely to meet you”
>You shake up and down from the overly exited hoofshake
“Her what now?”
>Tulip suddenly walks next to you with the worst possible poker face you have ever seen on any pony plastered on her face
>She gives you a forced nuzzle and a stiff hug which just makes you pull away from her sudden affection
>”Yes...you’re my...mother...right?”
>She offers you an awkward smile while sweat starts to flow down her face
>This does not escape the orphanage mare
>”Tulip...what is this?”
>Her tone of voice suddenly sounds ten times stricter and she now turns to look at you
>Suddenly you feel just like you did back when you were trying out to join the guard and the scary drill instructor pony was eyeing all of you fresh candidates up
>”I believe we need to have a proper chat, Miss...”
“Daylily”
>”Daylily, please do join me for a cup of tea and you can tell me what is going on. Tulip, you’re coming in as well”
>Tulip hangs her head in what appears to be shame and nods in a depressed manner
>You and Tulip follow the mare, you in the hopes for answers and Tulip because of some reason, as she leads both of you to a cozy looking room with a few seats and a table
>You take a seat and so does Tulip, on a decorative sofa, and soon enough you two are served some fruit tea
>You explain the situation to the bat mare and after hearing out your story she lets out a sigh
>”So that’s how it is...Tulip, what have you been doing this whole week? We were all worried”
>Tulip seems somewhat guilty and looks away
>”Well I could not come back here...”
>You look at the both of them and tilt your head in confusion
“Why does she say she could not come back?”
>For some reason Tulip blushes and her mouth turns into an upset scrunch
>The mare puts her cup of tea down
>”I believe it might have something to do with announcing how superior she was to any other little pony and how she could find herself a family just like that because she was so much more superior to all the other orphans, or perhaps how she’d return as a part of a noble family and so loaded she could make all of the other fillies and colts her servants?”
>The mare looks at Tulip and so do you, she’s now as red faced as she can be and trembling in shame
>”But here I hear that you have been most likely hiding from all possible ponies and living on the streets, just because you were too prideful to come back? Tulip, that’s silly even for you”
“Hiding?”
>The mare now faces you again
>”Yes, she’s annoyingly good at staying hidden, one time when she did not want to get her shot she managed to hide for 4 nights and 3 days in this very house, from all the other orphans and employees”
>That’s...not good but at the same time very impressive
>Tulip just lets out a sad whimper and hangs her head
>”Now go and join the others Tulip, and be sure to apologize to everypone”
>Tulip nods and slowly drags herself out of the room
>After the door closes the mare pours herself some more tea
>”Would you like a refill?”
>You shake your head
“No thank you, I’ve still got plenty”
>The mare sets the teapot down and then her expression softens
>”I can’t thank you enough for bringing her back”
“I’m still a little confused about all of this, she’s been living in the streets and avoiding ponies?”
>The mare nods
>”Yes, I’m afraid she must have been too prideful to come back on her own until she got caught by you, we were already hoping that what she said would have become true because we could not find a trace of her anywhere”
>You sip the last of your tea and refuse a refill, it’s good but you were never much of a tea drinker
“She doesn’t strike me as someone that prideful, or like a pony who would say those things”
>The mare finishes her second cup before replying to you
>”Yes, she does appear almost like a different pony, back then she was a...”
“Hoof-full?”
>”A bitch”
“Oh...”
>”Living without a home for a short while must have been a learning experience for her, she’s been gone for a whole week after all”
>The mare gets down from her chair
>”But now she’s back with us, and I do believe she will not pull a stunt like that again, with good enough luck she might even have learned a life lesson. Thank you for feeding and washing her...are you sure you wouldn’t want to concide-”
>You quickly shake your head
“N-no I’m fine, I mean not right now...I haven’t even found a job yet and I have so many things that need to be taken care of and...”
>Your eyes dart around as you feel a few beads of sweat forming on your forehead
>But the mare chuckles and waves her hoof from side to side
>”Oh relax, I’m just playing a joke”
>You scrunch your mouth which makes the mare giggle
>”Becoming a mother can be a scary thought but maybe someday in the future you might think differently about the whole thing. Or perhaps you felt something when looking after this little filly, hmm?”
“E-excuse me I must get going to...I need to...to...to look for a job now!”
>You quickly hurry out of the orphanage while feeling uncomfortable about the whole ordeal as the orphanage mare waves you goodbye

---

>”Und next you will put ze disches in here und let zem dry out ja”
>You nod as the stallion who owns the restaurant explains to you what you need to do
>You are Daylily, and you are currently being tested as a dish washer at a local restaurant
>Yesterday after taking the filly known as Tulip back to the orphanage you eventually found an add in the local newspaper and it led you here
>”Und zat explains all you need to know ja? I’ll be looking forward to how you handle zis Ms. Daylillie”
>You push your chest out proudly
“You can count on me to eradicate every last leftover and stain I see”
>The owner pony eyes you up once again
>”We’ll see about zat, good luck mein little pony”
>The owner leaves and the other workers get to doing their jobs as you pick out the first plate from the sink and get to scrubbing
>Easy enough, you set it aside and pick up another one
>This one has a bit more food stuck to it, maybe if you-
>The plate shatters as you apply too much force on it
>None of the workers seem to mind though as you glance around and pick up another dirty plate
>Ok, maybe not that much force
>You manage to wash another plate, and then another, and a third and-
>As you’re setting the plate to the side it slips from your hoof due to being so slippery, and the plate falls to the floor with a loud crash
>Now a few workers glance at you but most of them seem unaffected
>Careful...make sure to grip them properl-
>Now you grip one too hard and a piece breaks off of it
>Now all the workers in the kitchen cast a curious glance in your direction as you quickly collect the fragments while feeling a bit of warmth on your cheeks
>But then you start to get the hang of it and before you know it you are washing dishes like a pro
>Which gives you time to sink deep into thought about the latest events
>you have a hard time to think of Tulip as how the mare at the orphanage told her to be, did she really go through such a big change in character during her week of living in the streets?
>And you find that hard to believe no matter how good the filly would have been at hiding
>But then again she seemed starving and she was very dirty so it can also make sense...
>She didn’t appear bitchy at all, in fact she was kind of cute
>Maybe you should have tried to fix her mane up a little from how wild it was, maybe even try to put it in pig tails or braid her tail or...
>You remember how happy she seemed from the canned bananas, you wonder how she’d have reacted to other canned fruits...
>Suddenly the words of the orphanage mare break your train of thought and falter a little in panic
>And accidently bump your hoof against the mountain of washed plates that has formed next to the sink
>You let out a panicked screeee as the pile comes crashing down, making loud noises and alarming every other pony in the kitchen
>”Wat was zat?”
>You peak out from under the pile of broken plates with your mouth in a scrunch and your ears floppy as he looks at you with distain
>”You are ze fired!”
>...And that is how you spend most of this night, currently you’re heading home from your failure with a big bag in your mouth containing a few actual fresh fruits instead of canned ones
>You need some comfort food for this failure...even if it was just for a placeholder job before you could try to apply to be a guard again...
>But still failing at something so simple makes you feel a bit defeated...
>Suddenly a familiar looking bat pony stallion with one of his hooves in a plaster appears from somewhere and starts to fly next to you while waving around a familiar looking butter knife in his unharmed hoof
>”Oi, remember me lass? You’ve put my partner in coma and now yer going to-“
>He’s interrupted by you smashing him on the head with your hoof, sending him rocketing towards the ground right outside the guard outpost
>The guard pony lets out a yelp as the pony crash lands in front of him in a tangled mess of hooves and wings pointing in directions they should not be
>Where were you...yeah, it was your loss...good thing that guard duty does not involve washing dishes as far as you know it
>You land on your front porch / tower perch and then you freeze
>There’s somepony familiar sitting on it
>”Hi!”
>It’s Tulip
>You stare at the filly for a few seconds
“Aren’t you supposed to be in the orphanage?”
>Tulip suddenly looks smug
>”I escaped again, it was super easy!”
>...once again this filly seems like a completely different character
>Suddenly she points at you with her hoof
>”I have decided that you’re worthy of becoming my mom”
>...excuse you what?
“What?”
>Tulip flicks hear ears a few times and shrugs
>”You were the only pony capable of finding me when I was avoiding to be found, so that makes you worthy”
>You give the filly an unimpressed stare
“You mean you had become desperate enough to look through dumpsters for food and forgot to stay out of sight and I accidentally found you?”
>Tulip’s smug grin falters for a moment
>”No! And it’s not because all the other orphans were being mean...”
>So that’s what’s going on
“They were being mean?”
>Tulip scratches her mane and then fiddles with her wind to avoid looking at you
>”Kind of...but they’re just jealous that they are not awesome like me and how I refused to kiss up to them after coming back, just because I told them how inferior they are compared to me”
>Might what the orphanage mare have told you be true and she be kind of a bitch?
“You’re very different from how you were when I first met you...”
>”That was...don’t tell anypony about that...please...I was just a bit...”
>Tulip can’t seem to find the word she is looking for as she falls silent
>You walk past her and open up your door
“Maybe you should just go to the orphanage for now?”
>Tulip walks past your hooves and into your house and then flies to the sofa and lands on it
>”No, I’m going to stay here.”
>You feel a little bit irritated now
“You can’t stay here, and I’m not going to become your mom”
>”I’ll tell ponies that you touched me in indecent places”
“They won’t believe you”
>”Want to take the risk?”
>You fly to the sofa and pick up the filly, and then carry her to your front porch
“Go home”
>”This will be my home!”
“You know what I mean”
>You are about to close the door but now she suddenly grabs onto your hoof and her eyes start to water up
>”Please let me stay here...just for the night?”
>You do feel a small tug in your chest but you stay adamant
“No”
>Now her lower lip starts to tremble
>”Please...I d-don’t want to go back there...”
>You place your other hoof on her mane and give it a pet
“Is it really that horrible there?”
>Tulip hangs her head and lets you pet her
>”No...it’s ok but...I’m above that place and all those other orpha-“
>You push her off of your hoof and close the door
“Goodbye”
>You can hear her knocking on the door as you walk and shout things
>”Do you really want it to be your fault that a little filly sleeps outside and lives in a cardboard box?”
>...that’s not a good thing to have in your name
>You walk back to the door and open it up and the filly rushes in
>You quickly look around to see if there are any curious bat ponies paying any attention to what is happening at your house but thankfully you find none
>As you close the door you find Tulip back on the couch and eating one of the fresh fruits you bought for yourself
>What are you going to do about this?
>You look at the filly opposite of you happily munching on the big fat mango you bought for yourself
>well...not that this pineapple is bad but you wanted to eat that...
>Tulip pauses her nomming and looks at you again
>”So you ready to be my mom now?”
“No”
>”Your loss...you’d be privileged to have somepony like me as your daughter”
>You make a tired face
“Is it a mom you’re looking or just a house other than the orphanage to sleep in and free food?”
>Tulip almost drops the mango from her hooves
>”N-no! It’s not like that...even though it kind of is but not like...”
>She makes a troubled face and blushes a little
>”Anyways that’s not it! It’s a privilege for you and it has to be you!”
“Why does it have to be me?”
>Tulip blushes redder and focuses on looking at her mango while muttering something you don’t quite catch
“I didn’t catch that”
>Now she seems almost angry and fumes at you in a very embarrassed manner
>”F-for reasons!”
>She then mutters how you should be feeling happy when a filly like her wants you to become her mom under her breath before returning to chomping down the rest of the mango 
>You decide to get up and head to the kitchen and put the rest of your pineapple into the fridge for later consumption
>Then you notice a pile of fresh dishes that you didn’t put back into their cupboard at the evening when you woke up
>Dishes...you feel kind of annoyed at them because of what happened at the restaurant
>”Let me help...”
>you’re taken by surprise by Tulip who has flown next to you and grabs one of the drinking glasses
>”Does this go here?”
>She flies to one of the cupboards above the sink
“Yeah, I always put the glasses there and the plates over here”
>”I’ll take care of the glasses”
>You keep looking at the filly as she gets to work, is she trying to suck up to you?
>But it does make putting the dishes back go by much faster than it normally would and now you’re left with nothing to do as Tulip lands back down and looks around the small kitchen area
>You had some plans but they’re not really ones that you could do in the company of this little filly...
>your mind goes briefly back to the cave and to what you were up to when Anon the human was sleeping, you might have gotten a bit too used to privacy during your earlier life on the roads and in the mountains, there were a considerable increase of windows of time to do a certain thing
>But you are a grown mare and grown mares can have certain needs every now and then
>Not to mention now that you’re living a different kind of a life you need to readjust yourself to not doing it as much as you have been doing, to avoid any kind of possible embarrassing accidents that might occur
>You push those thoughts away and think a little
>You glance at Tulip and her ever as shaggy and voluptuous mane and tail
“Do you want me to lend you a brush?”
>Tulip looks at you with confusion
>”For what?”
>You point at her mane
“Does that not bother you at all?”
>Tulip suddenly looks a bit smug again and runs her hoof through her mane before shaking her head so her mane waves around
>”My mane does not need a brush, even if you brush it it’ll stay the same, but such natural beauty does not need fixing in the first place”
>She takes a few steps towards you and offers her head to you
>”You can touch it again if you want, you must have noticed how soft it is when you patted my head”
>You turn around
“I don’t really-“
>Tulip quickly runs around you and presses her head up against your hoof
>”There’s no need to hold back you know...”
>She then starts to rub her mane against you
>”You know you want to...isn’t it soft and luscious? You want to ruffle it right?”
>You pick up a hint of desperation in her voice and her eyes seem a bit sadder than normally...is she implying she actually really wants you to do it?
>You give her mane a good ruffle and then a few pats while she closes her eyes and lets out a delighted eeeee~
>This is kind of nice...
>You quickly stop patting her head as you catch yourself thinking like that
>You decide to head onto the couch and lie down on it and Tulip suddenly joins you by landing on top of you and lying on your belly
>You go stiff, no not like that, at this sudden full body contact and blush a little as Tulip nuzzles her face against your chest tuft
“W-what are you doing?”
>She rests her chin on your chest and stares at you while you stare at her
>”I’m appealing to you and trying to awaken your motherly instincts so I can live here”
“Well don’t, the only instincts I have is the instinct to justice”
>”The instinct to what now?”
“To be a very good guard pony and FIGHT FOR JUSTICE”
>”You want to be a guard pony?”
“Yes...I am pretty sure I do...”
>”Pretty sure?”
”Well...how about you, what do you want to be?”
>Tulip lets out a sigh
>”I’m just waiting for this to appear before I start thinking about it”
>She squishes her hoof against the area on her butt where ponies have their cutie marks
“You have never thought about it?”
>Tulip goes silent and you’re left feeling that same uncomfortable feeling you felt a few days ago when letting Tulip sleep in your house and she grabbed your hoof
>Uncomfortable yet warm, but somehow it still makes you shudder a little
>”Not really...”
>You don’t reply anything to her and keep staring at the ceiling
>When was it that you started to want to be a guard so hard? You’ve never really thought that much about being anything else
>Well when you were a little filly yourself, mane still long and in that braid your mom used to always make you had very big dreams about joining the royal guard and doing all sorts of cool things
>Back then your idea of a royal guard pony was more closer to a fictional super secret agent action hero
>You did get stronger in the mountains and you’re still very sure about being a guard, but you’re no longer that sure about being a royal night guard
>Though meeting princess Luna could be interesting
>...you should send a letter to your parents soon and let them know you’ve settled down in Hollow Shades again
>...even though you can already guess the contents of the reply mostly doing with questions on if you’ve met any nice stallions to settle down with and when are you going to push out grandchildren
>Wouldn’t that be a shock to them if you actually did adopt this filly...well more of a pleasant surprise and maybe they would even stop asking about grandchildren all the time
>Your mom had you when she was very young after all and managed to bounce around a promising career and a foal like it was nothing at all
>You on the other hoof just want to...
>...you don’t know what you want anymore...the more you think about it the more confusing it gets
>If you could be anything maybe even some secret agent pony, you could be on a mission after mission with a clear set goal every time, no need to think and second guess constantly
>Kind of like a guard, every day is a new mission of upholding law and order through your working hours
>Your ears suddenly pick up the sounds of Tulip breathing softly as she now sleeps on top of you
>...you’re stuck on the couch now
>Maybe taking a nap is what you need...if only this filly would be sleeping on something else than you, you’re used to sleeping alone and you’d have thought you’d first be getting used to sleeping with a stallion before getting familiar with sleeping with a child
>But thinking about this is making you feel uncomfortable, you shouldn’t be thinking about this until much later in life
>This filly needs to go, besides you probably would not even make a good mom like what this filly thinks of you
>But soon enough you do fall asleep

---

>You wake up from your nap and find tulip gone from on top of you
>you sit up and look around, and find her on the floor, fiddling with a stick you used for spear training, or mostly pretending to be a guard while you were up in the mountains
>”How does this thing work?”
>She attempts to do something with it while holding it in her wing, and ends up hitting herself on the head with it and making you snort
>Tulip gives you a sour look
>”Like you could do any better”
>With a smug look on your face you make your way to Tulip and grab the spear, before spinning it around with your wings and striking various cool looking poses with it
>Tulip stares in amazement until you stop, and then looks away with a sour look on her face
>”Show off...not like it’s an actual spear...”
>You grab the stick with both wing claws now and bend it a little to show how strong it is
“It’s actually made from the same wood some spears are made so it’s actually as strong as a spe-“
>You manage to break it in half just like that and now you’re left staring at two pieces of wood instead of one
>Tulip grabs the other one from you
>”It must be faulty if it can break this easy”
>She tries to do the same but no matter how hard she tries she is not able to break it
>So she wedges the other end of it under your couch and tries to bend it enough to break it
>First by trying to push it upwards, then by trying to move it with all of her body, then by holding onto it and trying to fly up and eventually by sitting on the couch and trying to pull it upwards as hard as she can but she’s unable to break it
>”...You’re really strong aren’t you?”
>You try to break the second half of the wooden spear and it snaps broken just like that
“I guess...I’m probably just as strong as every guard pony is, I have only been doing a bit of training up in the mountains and nothing special”
>”Training in the mountains? What did you do there?”
>You shrug your wings
“Push up, sit ups, wing ups, pull ups, wing-pull ups, rock bucking, rock punching, rock throwing, rock lifting, rock pushing, rock dragging, bear wrestling...”
>Tulip raises an eyebrow
>”Bear wrestling?”
>You nod
“There was a family of bears living in the mountains that turned out to be friendly, I used to wrestle with them every now and then but for some reason they didn’t want to do it anymore during the latter half of my stay in the mountains”
>You scratch your head while muttering out “I wonder why” while Tulip lets out a nervous laugh
>”I see...Um, when you’re punishing a cute little filly for maybe being just a little bit naughty do you believe in spanking or a time out?”
>You look at the worried looking filly
“Are you saying you want to get spanked?”
>Tulip looks at you weirdly
>”No, why would anypony want to be spanked?”
>You blush and scratch the back of your head with your hoof
“No reason, that’d be silly r-right?”
>But Tulip already seems to be deep in thought while muttering this and that about spanking as she tries to solve this equation
>And then it dawns to you that she was probably asking about spanking because she for some reason wants to be your daughter, maybe, and thinks that you’re strong so she must be worried about if getting spanked would hurt a lot when done by you
>And not asking it because she was one of those ponies who enjoy getting their bottom spanked...better distract her with something, it’d not look good on your resume if you accidentally opened up a little filly’s eyes to the world of erotic enjoyment from spanking
“Do you use a conditioner?”
>Tulip pauses and looks at you funny
>”A conditioner? Yeah the orphanage has some but why? Are you implying this beautiful mane and tail of mine look like they haven’t gotten much attention?”
>Tulip shakes her head and tail so that they get even more disheveled and bushy
“I was thinking it I should start to use some”
>Another weirded out look from the filly
>”You don’t use any conditioner?”
>You shake your head and grab your tail into your hooves and look it over
“My mane’s short so I figured its ok, and my tail has never seemed to need any”
>Tulip seems shocked
>”But you’re grown up, aren’t you supposed to have a bunch of beauty care products and things you use daily to make yourself most presentable?”
>You shrug
“I used to travel a lot and live outdoors so I didn’t really see a point in buying any, besides they don’t look that messy do they?”
>”Your tail looks a bit unruly but I thought you’d just have been out playing a lot of sports all day or doing some kind of a grown up thing...and you could make your mane look better...”
>Beauty care products...you can’t say you’re not even a little bit interested but so far you have not needed any
>”Do you use any accessories?”
“Like gripping tape on a spear shaft or climbing spikes you can attach on your guard boots? I have a few galoshes you can slip on your hooves to keep them and any possible horseshoes or boots dry”
>Tulip’s eye twitches
>”But you have clothes and stuff in your bedroom in that one box”
“My mom gave me some, I haven’t really took a look at them since I haven’t needed any of them”
>Suddenly Tulip grabs your hoof and starts flapping her wings and dragging you towards the bedroom
>”We’re taking a look at them right now”
>You follow her and soon enough all the contents of the cardboard box are spread on your bed and Tulip is making you try them out
>You decide to play along with her since you’re still worried she might go back to thinking about enjoyable spanking if you don’t so you proceed to be a dress-up doll
>But as it turns out your mom had also included some not-for-public-use types of clothing probably meant more for you to wear if you had a stallion to show them off to, but for some reason these were the ones Tulip became very interested in, so you ended up wearing various bedroom attires, all lewd in one way or the other
>But you decided to break it up when Tulip became convinced you should head out in that “pretty dress and accessories” she had discovered, that in fact were a skimpy babydoll and matching socks, garter belt and panties which had a very suspiciously placed heart shaped opening on the butt
>Not to mention those lacy ear tuft covers, just wearing them made you feel all new shades of indecent while Tulip was wondering if they were for the winter to keep your tufts warm
>And then proceeded to try some on herself...
>And soon enough all the stuff were packed away in the box once again, minus a scarlet beret you decided to give to Tulip since it was filly sized to begin with
>You never did want to dress up even when you were young so there were a bit of stuff you hadn’t thrown away or sold yet
>and afterwards you told Tulip you were heading out for a bit and now the two of you are flying towards a certain place
>”Is it a fun place?”
“Yes, you’ll love it”
>”Does this mean you have decided to take me in?”
“Well...”
>You appear like you’re thinking about it and Tulip stares at you intensely as you two land, and it is enough to draw her attention from where you two have arrived
“We’re here!”
>Tulip quickly looks at the building with excitement and then it all disappears from her face
>“Wait the orphanage?”
>You grab Tulip by the neck with your teeth and dangle her as you carry her to the door
>”N-no let me go!”
>You knock on the door and the mare you met in there opens it up and stares at the filly who submits to her fate and stops struggling
>”I see, I think somepony needs to be punished for running away again and making all of us worry and work overtime trying to find her”
>You place Tulip on the floor and she gives you big sad puppy dog eyes
>”B-but I trusted you mommy...”
>You shake your head
“I’m not your mother and have no intention of being it, you are a good kid but I’m not in any place near to becoming a mother yet”
>Tulip throws her hooves into the air in frustration
>”Oh come on, I even did all that appealing to you!”
>The mare grabs Tulip
>”I’m very sorry for the inconvenience Miss Daylily”
>You turn around and walk away while Tulip angrily yells at you to get back here and adopt her
>Now that she’s been dealt with you can focus on carrying on normally
>Maybe you’ll eat the rest of the pineapple now before relaxing and going to bed

---

>You’re sitting here at the smoothie bar and you suddenly realized something
>You haven’t attempted even once to make any friends yet
>You’ve just been focusing on looking for a job and Tulip
>Speaking of, after you dropped her off into the orphanage a few days ago you haven’t seen her at all, maybe she finally gave up on you
>You sip your midnight magic tm smoothie, consisting of various blue or black berries and what not and look around again, feeling a bit envious of the ponies having fun with their groups of friends
>Maybe it is not wise to wait for yourself to get guard friends once you become a guard, who with you can discuss guard things with and do guard stuff together
>Besides who knows if other guard ponies share your interests, you used to think that all guard ponies liked a few certain things but after traveling around you learned that all kinds of ponies can like all kinds of things, just because a pony is a guard he or she might not enjoy camping outdoors and playing survival games in the woods and might even like crocheting or painting
>You blow bubbles into your smoothie and watch them rise up and fill the half empty glass
>But then your ears pick up a conversation between two mares at one of the tables involving timber wolves
>...you had a recent experience with them, you could try and join in on the conversation
> You slurp up the last of your blue smoothie and hop off the seat you’re sitting on
>But as you walk past a table with a group of ponies sitting at it, on your way towards the table with the two mares something happens
>The stallion who is talking loudly and explaining something while waving hid hooves around accidentally ends up slapping your rear with quite a bit of force
>*Smack!*
“Ahn!~”
>And you let out an embarrassing sound
>Suddenly the inside of the smoothie bar goes quiet and all eyes are on you with varying degree of surprise, some looking weirded out and some stallions starting to blush a bit and some mares giving you a stinky eye, including the ones you were thinking of talking to
>You blush and quickly hide your plot devices behind your tail and quickly make your way out of the smoothie bar while feeling embarrassed, at your reaction and the fact that the tingles on your now slightly red behind feel somewhat pleasant
>You’ll put the plan to make friends on hold mentally until further notice
>With your behind still tingling and your tail covering yourself just in case you quickly fly to your home and land down in front of your door
>But there’s something strange on it, a note attached to your door with a couple of nails and what appears to be a broken off blade from a little fruit knife stuck next to the note
>And there’s a box of nails, a hammer and the handle of said fruit knife on the floor of your front porch
>You grab the note and read it over
>Something something, some nonsense about refusing to be simple gag characters, words words words words words, We’ve taken your filly hostage?
>You look around and wonder if this was attached to the right door
>Suddenly you remember that fruit knife, it was held by one of the stallions that you brought to justice for trying to rob you and you totally dominated before delivering them to the proper authorities!
>Then by your filly they must mean...Tulip?
>Do you really look so old it is plausible for you to have a little filly of her age!?
>But never mind that, it is time to FIGHT FOR JUSTICE and apprehend these villains while securing the safety of a civilian!
>You quickly read on and find where they are waiting for you and quickly take off
>After bit of flying and stopping by the guard station to ask for directions, without telling them what is happening because you’re sure you can handle this, you arrive at an abandoned property with a run down house on it at the outskirts of Hollow Shades
>You walk in and find Tulip sitting on a chair while the two stallions ferry her candy and treats
>”Come on you should look after me much better since you went and kidnapped me, what would you do if I accidentally got umm...anemic from not eating enough candy? Then you’d loose your hostage and this plan of yours would fail!”
>Tulip then takes notice of you and waves at you with one hoof while stuffing a bunch of random candy in her mouth with the other and greeting you, though it comes out as a muffled something with a few bits of candy flying out of her mouth and all over the floor
>The two stallions who seem to have a few band-aids here and there quickly hop into action and one of them grabs Tulip and muffles her with his other hoof while the other one pulls out a little knife thing
>”Yer here lass, you gave us quite a beating, and him two beatings”
>The other one nods
>”Yeah and it really hurt mate...I mean lass”
>You flex your wings and crack your neck
“Release the filly”
>The other one points the knife at the filly
>”Or what?”
>You bear your teeth’s and let out a growl while preparing to pounce these stallions before answering
>...not pounce like in...never mind
“And I’ll drag you back to the guard in a condition that can still be medically fixed”
>The one holding Tulip seems to panic a little and pulls his other hoof away from her mouth
>”Oi mate if we get arrested now we’ll be put away for a long time”
>”P-please help me mommy!”
“I’m not your mom!”
>Tulip rolls her eyes as the two stallions panic together
>”Daylily then!”
>The two turn to look at you again but they find, much to their horror, that you are now directly in front of the two and ready to attack
>The one with the knife jerks backwards in surprise and at the same time pulls the knife away from Tulip, giving you enough time to pry the other one’s hoof that is folding Tulip off of her with your wing
>Well, pry or bend while it lets out a cracking sound
>You quickly pull Tulip free with your other wing and throw her away as you spin around on your front hooves and prepare to buck the stallion in his chest
>And you knock the air straight out of the stallion, sending him gasping for breath on the floor with some broken ribs an possible collapsed lung, you were aiming for speed instead of power control in this buck so you might have given it a bit too much of a push
>But as you glance back at where you threw Tulip towards you find her being held by the other stallion that has the knife
>”Whoa easy there lass, don’t want this little...wait is she even related to you at all?”
>You shake your head while Tulip nods hers
>The stallion looks back and forth between you and Tulip before shaking his head
>”Anyways we’re going to take this real slow and easy now...”
>You look at Tulip and find her looking a bit more frightened than before while staring back at you as the stallion talks about something unimportant
>Can you be fast enough? Can you take the chance when Tulip is held hostage?
>Maybe you should not have been so trusty of your own strength and just told the guard what is happening instead of wanting to be the mare in shining armor...
>No, not the pony who’s shagging up a pink Alicorn in the crystal empire but as a figure of speech
>You’ve been so determined to make a good impression on the guards but if it causes something to happen to this filly...
>You feel frustrated with yourself
>The stallion now has his knife away from Tulip and he’s pointing it at you
>”...and that is why I went to the length of doing this!”
>He is staring at you like he is waiting for you to say something but you didn’t pay any attention to his reasons, that’s how crappy they were
>But Tulip also seems to notice that the stallion is staring at you and paying her no attention
>What is she doing, she’s lifting up her hind hoof and-
>*CRACK!*
>Suddenly the stallions eyes go as wide as they can while a cracking sound echoes in the air
>The stallion seems frozen in place, letting out a high pitched hiss from between his puckered lips while his head trembles
>Tulip struggles and breaks free from the hold of the stallion and quickly flies to you
>The knife falls from his hoof as well which still stays pointed at you, but now his whole body is trembling
>Tulip delivered a kick to his groin.
>The stallion falls to the ground like a statue and just lies there, twitching as his hiss has now turned into a very high pitched yet silent screee
>”Daylily I was so scared!”
>You embrace the filly as she snuggles against your coat, but suddenly there’s a flash of light at her butt
>And now, on both of her flanks, there is a cutie mark of a nutcracker
>Tulip stares at her flank and fresh tears start to well up in her eyes
>”A...a...n-nutcracker? A dumb nutcracker!?”
>Tulip breaks into crying loudly against your coat as you awkwardly pat her head to console her
>Suddenly a bunch of guards rush in into the house
>”Is everything all ri...”
>Most of them flinch and cross their hind hooves the moment they notice the stallion on the ground and the state of his nether region
>And there you stand, consoling a cracking little filly with a few busted nuts on the floor and the law covering their crotch area
>What is going on with your life?

---

>You are Daylily the bat pony, and you feel bloated
>You just finished eating a full tub of ice cream and you’re thinking of breaking out another one
>You got chewed out by the city guard from what happened with Tulip yesterday and how you refused to tell the guards what was happening
>What do they mean with excessive use for force anyway...you didn’t hit those two kidnapping ponies that hard...
>And ever since then you’ve felt like your dream of being a part of the guard has gone down the drain
>You were expecting praise and an invitation to becoming a guard for your good work but instead that happened
>And today you have been lying around your house in a depressed manner while binge eating enough ice cream to feed a small family of bats
>And now you’re going to get fat...
>you could feel all the hard work from working out and training being washed over by calories with every spoonful but you just kept on eating, and instead of making you feel better it just made you feel worse and now even a bit sick
>At least you no longer need to worry if you want to be a guard after all since you can’t become one anymore, they must all hate you now and never want you in the force
>The sound of a knock on your door makes you get up and drag yourself to open it for whomever is behind it
>And it turns out to be Tulip, looking at you and tilting her head to the side
>”Are you ok?”
>You wipe your mouth and remember you haven’t even showered this night
“I’m ok, just spending this day by relaxing”
>You don’t feel like admitting you’ve been painting devils on the walls, sobbing and gobbling ice cream like a teenage girl gobbles on cock like it shot out her father’s acceptance
>Tulip fiddles with her hoof
>”Can I come in?”
>You let the filly in and she takes a seat
>”Matron told me to come over and thank you properly again for saving me...”
>You take a seat next to her on the couch and pat her back
“It’s nothing, I just did what was right”
>Tulip gives you a little smile and you scratch her behind her ear with your wing, making her eee~ gently
>”So I was thinking and you know how you don’t want me to call you my mom?”
“Yes?”
>”But I still like you and this place, but you don’t want to adopt me, so I was thinking and wondering if...”
>Tulip blushes a little bit
>”If I could call you big sis instead?”
>You stare at the filly with the sparkly eyes that are aimed at you
“You...want me to be your big sister?”
>Tulip nods
>”Yeah. I like you”
>Now it’s you who blushes
“Well I...what exactly would that even mean?”
>Tulip snuggles against you before answering
>”Well I get to call you my sister and come over to play, and we can do fun sister things together, and you get a cute little sister like me”
>So she basically wants to be a close friend with you...you don’t have anything against that
“Sure I’ll be your big sister”
>Tulip suddenly hugs you and now nuzzles more lovingly against you
>But this time it does not feel as icky like when she always wanted you to be her mom
“Why did you want me to be your mom so bad anyway?”
>Tulip answers while still rubbing her face against your side and tickling you a bit as she does so
>”Well you were the first pony to find me...and instead of doing what everypony else would have done and taken me straight to the orphanage you took pity on how sad I was and first made sure I was ok, clean and fed before making me somepony else’s problem”
“Yeah...I just couldn’t leave a filly out on the streets could I?”
>...better not mention you were just thinking about boosting your reputation and just so surprised by the sudden strange situation you simply did not think about it until later on
“You seem more cheerful than you did yesterday”
>Tulip’s ears flop down and she lets go of you
>”Yeah...I was a bit bummed about my cutie mark but it’s still a cutie mark. Besides maybe it just means I’m good at handling nuts”
>Your pause as Tulip smiles and her ears perk back up
“You a what now?”
>”Maybe I will start a nut plantation and grow the best peanuts in Equestria or something, or become a nut expert!”
“N-nut exp...Oh like that”
>”Because my talent can’t just be busting nuts, I even borrowed a fellow orphan colt’s nuts because I don’t have any of my own and wanted to see if I could do anything else than just crack them open”
“You are talking about walnuts right?”
>”Yeah, are there other kinds of nuts you can crack open?”
>Well those nuts on the stallion holding you hostage sure got cracked open...
“I’m not sure, I don’t really know much about nuts”
>Tulip sighs
>”Figures, many bat ponies don’t know much about nuts, you can’t suck on them and lick them like fruits so they’re not that fun to eat...”
>Sucking and licking...
>You blush heavily as a certain kind of a mental image appears in your head
>”Are you still feeling bad from being yelled at by those scary guard ponies?”
>You hang your head
“A little bit...they must not want me to join the guard at all if I tried to”
>”But wasn’t being a guard what you wanted to do?”
>You let out a sigh
“Yeah...but now I have to really think about doing something else...”
>”...wanna work at the orphanage?”
>You look at Tulip
“Work...at the orphanage?”
>Tulip nods
>”I heard Matron Midnight talking how she could use some hired help”
“I’ll keep it in mind”
>This is a good tip, but still...work at the orphanage with all those young ponies...you probably could land the job right away but you are not really feeling it
>”Then I could get the appreciation I deserve again by bringing in a cool new adult into the orphanage, and being her practically official little sister, then they’d have to think I’m cool again”
“Are the other orphans still angry at you?”
>Tulip shrugs
>”A little”
“You do know why they are angry?”
>Tulip sighs
>”Yeah...because I got too full of myself and said some nasty things...”
>Good she is aware...maybe not, you catch her muttering “even if they are true” under her breath
>Well she seems to feel bad? You...you’re not sure if Tulip is a good girl or a bad girl, maybe she’s just bad with ponies of her own age?
>You’d have to worry about stuff like this if you worked at the orphanage...it’d be a bother and you probably could not do a good job either, you wouldn’t probably be motherly enough or something
>You wish some random mercenary would have seen your skills and offered you some kind of cool mercenary work
>You’d fight a pack of Timber Wolves or an angry hydra any day of the week over most other kind of “normal” work
>”I’ve got to go back to the orphanage, they are serving something really good for dinner today so bye bye”
>Tulip flies to the door and you wave her goodbye, but suddenly she stops and points at the floor
>”What’s this letter?”
>You glance at what she’s pointing at and find a letter on the floor
“Must have slipped from the pile of mail when I carried it over to the table”
>Tulip brings you the letter and takes her leave
>As she shuts the door and you read form who it is from your eyes go wide and you suddenly feel anxious to read what is inside, it is from Anon
>You quickly read the letter over and let out a squee
>Anon is asking you to come over and visit him finally, yes maybe a trip is just what you need to get your mind off of things
>It says you’re welcome to come check out his new place at any time, so instead of a reply maybe you’ll just go over to meet him without further notice
>Maybe with all that has been going on you need a little vacation

---

>Here you are, sitting aboard an early train for Manehattan
>Well, early for you and late for every pony that’s not a bat pony
>You’re on your way to see Anon at long last and you’ve been having butterflies in your stomach for the whole ride now
>You’re very excited to tell him all about what’s been happening, and to hear what he’s been up to
>”Daylily look there’s sheep out there! And look at that tree it’s really weird! Hey look they have newspapers in here and there’s a cart selling cupcakes and candy!”
>Tulip’s all over the walls and ceiling from being excited about taking a train ride for the first time in her life
>You’re unsure how she managed to finally talk you into letting her come along, it was probably between begging for it for the umpteenth time while you were dead beat tired
>”What is Anon like?”
>Tulip has returned back to sitting next to you and is looking at you with curious little bat eyes
“He’s a nice guy”
>Tulip makes a face
“I don’t mean it like that Tulip”
>Tulip does not undo her face
“We had a fun adventure together like you know, want to hear how it went?”
>Tulip nods excitedly and you tell her all about your and Anon’s funventure where you escaped the timber wolves together
>As you’re finished telling the story the two of you are very near Manehattan and Tulip has her eyes wide in wonder
>”Wow...”
>And you have come up with something you are itching to try, you’ve never had friends but now that you do you want to pull what they call a prank
“Tulip, want to help me a little?”
>You explain your scheme to Tulip and she grins and nods
>You can’t help but to laugh a little as you imagine how much fun this could be
“Kekekekekeke”
>After arriving to Manehattan you and Tulip got off the train and walked out of the station, and now the two of you are standing around where you’re supposed to meet Anon
>”Daylily!”
>And there’s a familiar excited voice from behind you so you turn around and come face to face with Anon
“Anonymous!”
>He has his hands open so you quickly dive in to give him a hug, which makes Anon freeze and not hug back
>You find it a bit odd and pull away
>”I wasn’t going for a hug”
>Now you blush and Tulip snickers
>”Kekekekeke...”
>But then Anon spreads his arms even wider
>”But if that’s what you want come here!”
“Anon wait I-“
>And suddenly you’re grabbed into a hug by Anon who nuzzles his face against yours, ruffles your mane and then holds you in his hands and spins around a few times before setting you on the ground where you sit down with your mouth in a scrunch and trying to look crossed while blushing a little
>”And who is this?”
>Anon now looks at Tulip who does a little bow
>”I’m Tulip, Daylily is my mom!”
>Anon looks very surprised and you feel a slight feeling of thrill and excitement that your first ever prank is a huge success
>”She’s your daughter?”
>You nod and pull Tulip close for a loving nuzzle
“Yes, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her sooner, it must be quite a surprise”
>Anon crosses his arms and looks at the two of you
>”Yeah, tell me about it, I didn’t know you were a milf-I mean mom!
>You tilt your head in confusion
“Milf?”
>Anon blushes for some reason
>”It’s not important, here let me grab your luggage and we can head over to my place”
>Anon grabs your luggage and Tulips teeny tiny luggage that’s a copy of yours and leads you two to a taxi cart, and after a quick ride you have arrived at Anon’s place
>A nice little apartment...it’s bigger than yours
>”Well, here we are, I know it’s not much but welcome! Though I need to prepare another bed unless your daughter wants to sleep on the same guest bed as you”
“If you cou-“
>Tulip interrupts you
>”Nah that’s fine, I always sleep with you don’t I mommy?”
>Tulip gives you a smug look and Anon chuckles
>”She’s a momma’s girl isn’t she?”
>Now Tulip looks embarrassed and crossed while you let out a chuckle yourself
“Yes, I don’t know what to do with her, she’s always so clingy aren’t you sweetie pie?”
>You give Tulip a “loving” pinch on her cheek
“But you want to show off what a big girl you are to Mr. Anon don’t you so you want to sleep on your own bed, right?”
>Tulip smiles with a bad poker face
>”Yes, I really want to do that”
>Anon gets to preparing the bed and Tulip comes close to you so the two of you can whisper
>”It’s your loss, I’m soft and warm and smell good”
“Being to nervous to sleep by yourself in an unfamiliar place is not very grown up for a filly who just yesterday so proudly exclaimed how she was more mature than the other orphans”
>Tulip puffs her cheeks up and gives you a grumpy pout and you give her mane a ruffle
>”All done, I set her bed right next to yours, since you two need to sleep a bit during the next day before heading back to Hollow Shades”
“Thanks Anon. It can be a bit tricky to be of species that live at different times of the day”
>Anon shrugs
>”De nada, so some of the sights are open all night long and even look better at night so if you two want to head out early enough we can go and see them, since I have to go to sleep at some point, but we could also eat something first if-”
>Tulip’s stomach decides to let out a growl right there and then
>”I’ve built an appetite the size of a big wall, especially since those fruits they had on the train were not that good...”
>Anon grins
>”Well I’ve got stuff that will make the contents of your stomach great again”
>You join Anon and Tulip as they make their way to the kitchen and Anon sets down various things and then you all get to eating
>After a while you and Anon get to talking about what you two have been up to, you tell him about not being able to find a job and how your “daughter” got kidnapped and you ruined your reputation with the guards with your excessive use of justice
>You decide to keep the lie about Tulip being your daughter running for now, just for a little while, and Anon now tells what he’s been up to
>Apparently he got employed by the Jolly gay Woodcutters Company
>You asked if he was having a gay time with those buff stallions and he told you most of them were not actually gay and happily married to a mare
>Even Pansy Poof and Oklahomo
>Anon then tells this and that about his various work exploits
>”...and I really could not stump that trump”
“Trump?”
>”Oh silly me, I meant trunk, that was some hard wood”
>The corner of your mouth twitches as you suddenly imagine some hard wood...
>”So...if you won’t mind me asking, what kind of a stallion was Tulip’s father?”
>You stare at Anon for a few seconds, you haven’t come up with any back story
>But Tulip decides to join in on the conversation now
>”It was a tragic tale of love and passion, she was a noble pony and he was a mere farm hand”
>Anon looks confused
>”Noble? Are you from some kind of a wealthy family Daylily?”
“No”
>”Yes, and her parents were so strict with her that she had to take solace in the hooves of that stallion with his long, flowing mane and buffed up pecks, why my mother and I used to do something called frolicking in the hay shack all night long until he peed in my mom’s butt and I was born?”
>She’s been reading your naughty novel! You were sure you hid that so nopony could find it!
>Anon looks at Tulip with worry
>”That’s not how it works, you know that right, she knows it right? Wait was I not supposed to tell her that?”
>You sigh and Tulip starts to laugh by herself before replying back
>”No worries, I know about lewd things~ Kekekekeke!”
>Somehow the sing-song voice she uses to pronounce that annoys you
“I’m sorry Anon, I’ve been lying to you. We’re not related with Tulip, she’s an orphan I sort of saved and we became like sisters or something I guess? I’m sorry for pulling a prank on you...”
>Anon stares at you and you continue while Tulip now sings some kind of a childish song by saying the word lewd things while using different pitches to sing it out
“It’s just that I’ve always heard fun stories of friends pulling pranks on one another and wanted to try it”
>Anon clears his throat and Tulip stops singing
>”Then I need to tell you something as well, I didn’t actually get a job at the homo woodcutters incorporated, but I got into a committed same-sex relationship with Gym Queen”
>The glass containing some fruit nectar you were grabbing shatters as you grab it with too much force, making Anon and Tulip stare at you with wide eyes as you fumble for a napkin to suck up some of the spilled nectar all over the table
“I-I see that’s good, it’s good that you have found love, e-even if it’s the same kind, I mean I can understand wanting to get your backdoor rammed-I mean I don’t mean I think that you’re the kind who gets his rammed-wow this napkin doesn’t absorb anything”
>Anon bursts into laughter
>”I’m joking Daylily-wait did you say you understand wanting to get your ba-“
“Let’s go look at those sights!”
>Anon lets out a laugh and Tulip seems confused again
>”But really, I do have something big to tell you, I actually have found love!”
>Tulip lets out a delighted squee and starts to bombard Anon with questions while you stare at Anon as he tries to answer all of them
“Wait, really? You have a special somepony?”
>Anon nods
>”Yes, she would have loved to meet you but she’s way too busy with work, they have a big project being finished this night so she sends her regards”
“And she’s fine with you letting a mare she does not know coming over like this?”
>”Why not, we’re friends right?”
“Yes...but if it was me in her horsehoes I’d be a bit worried”
>Anon grins
>”Daylily, are you the type who gets jealous easily?”
>You blush
“N-no!”
>Anon grins
>”That’s kind of cute”
>You blush even redder
“Anon shut up or I’ll tell your marefriend you’ve been flirting with another mare!”
>Anon just roars into laughter and you sit there while blushing and feeling embarrassed
>After the commotion died down Anon took you and Tulip to see the sighs, and not much happened during it, you saw some sights, Tulip was excited and Anon felt tired
>And you had time to think about this new revelation and how you felt about Anon
>He is a friend, and he seems to think of you as a friend too, and you have no desire to change that into something uncomfortable, even if he was not with a mare
>You were just a bit too hyped to meet your friend at long last and feeling a bit...possessive of your only friend
>could you be one of those mares who gets jealous easy? You’d like to say no but it does appear like that might be the way
>The three of you decided to head back to Anon’s home and after Anon showed a picture of her marefriend, who turned out to look pretty stunning he suggested a few games before he had to go to bed for his work tomorrow
>And after a quick game of UNO with Anon getting Tulip angry at him for making her pick up a load of cards and a few other activities Anon had gone to bed and Tulip had decided to take a nap, and you were left with nothing to do
>And that’s when emotions of a certain kind rouse up and after coming terms with not being able to just ignore them this time you are now currently in Anon’s bathroom, trying to be as discreet as possible as you pleasure yourself
>But not to Anon, not emotions like that
>you...had...had a thought or two, but that was before you knew he was a taken man, and you’re not a mare who goes after taken stallions
>And as it turns out Anon has a few objects that are phallic enough for you to...enjoy them in your “other batgina” with the aid of some moisturizing lotion
>But mid-way through the door suddenly gets pushed open by none other than Tulip who appears to be uncomfortable
>You on the other hand gasp and quickly pull off Anon’s shower curtain to cover up yourself, object still inside your anus
>”D-daylily help, it hurts...”
>You pull out the thing as stealthy as you can, and hope to Luna Tulip does not wonder what that wet pop was
“W-what is it Tulip, are you ok?”
>Tulip blushes and avoids looking at you, staring at the floor instead
>”W-well I saw you doing...that...in there and I wanted to see if it felt good to put something in my butt”
>Oh no...
>”And it kind of did but then it slipped in all the way and I can’t get it out and now it hurts”
>Oh no, there’s so many things that can go wrong with doing butt stuff, you need to get it out
“Ok Tulip, I need you to turn around and trust me”
>Tulip does as she’s told and turns around, her tail held high and her...parts moist
>...wait, your hooves are bigger than anything she stuffed inside herself
>”Sis please it hurts...”
>Tulip looks at you with tears in her eyes
“Ok can you push it out?”
>”I-I’ll try...”
>You stare at...Tulips that as it...tries to push....but nothing comes out, but you do spot something peeking at you from within her...hole...
>Tulip starts to sob and you feel like panicking, but then you remember something
>Hands!
>Quickly you grab Tulip and fly to Anon to wake him up
>”Huh what? Daylily?”
>You present Tulip’s butt to Anon
“I need you to put your fingers in her butt.”
>Anon stares at you and then at the butt of the very embarrassed sobbing filly
>”...what this is a dream right? I’m dreaming right? Please tell me I’m dreaming”
>You stare at Anon intensely
“This is no dream and there’s no funny business happening here”
>”No putting my fingers in-“
“She stuck something in her butt and it slipped in and won’t come out. I can see it when she tries to push it out but I can’t fish it out with these hooves”
>”Why would she even do that?”
>Tulip decides to join the convo now
>”B-because Daylily looked like she was enjoying it a lot when she was d-doing it...”
>Anon stares at you again and now you blush
“S-shut up ok! And dive in already, look she’s pushing!”
>You spread Tulip’s cheeks as apart as they can
>”I’m not going to look at that what if the FBI is wa-“
“MAN UP AND PUT YOUR FINGERS INSIDE THIS FI-“
>You shot shouting as you find yourself staring at the ceiling of Anon’s place
>You hear someone murmuring something sleepily next to you and find Tulip asleep on her bed
>...You fall back to lie on your bed while feeling extremely conflicted about the fact that you just dreamed that kind of a thing up
>Yeeeesh...that’s not normal...must be all the stress, this sudden surprise, meeting Anon after such a long while, new city, odd sleeping hours...
>After Tulip decided to take a nap you decided to take one too and then Anon headed off to bed as well
>Ugh, back to sleep, this time hopefully you’ll dream of something more normal...
>The rest of the sleep was thankfully dream-free and the time you and Tulip woke up to head out you found a note left to you by Anon thanking for a great time
>And with that you and Tulip began your journey back home to Hollow Shades, your little vacation over and you making a mental note to find out what the word milf that Anon used means
>But during the ride home you could not help but to feel a bit blue, the two of you might be friends but not that close friends, especially since the two of you seem to have your own distinctive lives in your towns
>So after all you’ll need to make friends that live with you in Hollow Shades
>But if escaping those timber wolves with Anon was a beginning, you could call this visit an end to the story between the two of you, even if you two will probably meet again sometime in the future and keep in touch, but it still does make you feel a bit sad
>But at the same time you feel even more determined than ever to properly root yourself into Hollow Shades
>Maybe you should ask Tulip about that job at the orphanage after all and definitely not give up on your dream of being a guard pony