Reversed

xl. forty

Sophie blanched. The memory of eavesdropping in on Keefe, Elwin, and Linh in the Healing Center during her expedition to Foxfire suddenly resurfaced—he'd been hurt, and wanted to keep it a secret. But Sophie knew.

Also. . . he didn't smile anymore. She wondered how he would react when he saw her again. For real this time, with all her memories intact. Well. . . partly for real. Since her emotions were still messed up.

Grady and Edaline were carefully studying her, looking for a reaction. She controlled her face to disguise everything she was thinking, making it hard for them to read her. Another thing that had changed about her since the Neverseen.

Sophie nodded, acting cool. "Sure. That works."

Grady and Edaline shared a look. "Are you okay with doing it today?"

"Today?" This time, Sophie couldn't hide her surprise. She quickly recovered. "Okay."

"Livvy agreed to come and pick you up in a few hours," Edaline told her.

Sophie nodded her assent, trying not to think about the fact that she would have to meet with Keefe and most likely a whole lot of her old. . . actually, not old friends later today.

She was really going to have to get used to thinking of them as her friends again.

She snuck a glance out the window, hesitating before asking her next question. "Can I . . . can I see Wynn and Luna?" She asked.

Edaline smiled. "Sure. They should be outside, most likely getting themselves into some sort of trouble."

"I bet Silveny will be excited to see you," Grady added.

Sophie gave her parents a small smile before pushing her chair in and standing up to go outside.

It didn't take long for her to spot the two notorious young alicorns. Wynn whinnied when he saw her, and Luna came trotting over behind her brother.

"Hi, guys!" Sophie laughed, attempting to dodge Wynn's muzzle as he nipped at her hair. The young alicorns pranced around her, bouncing on the tips of their hooves, their little wings fluttering. Sophie marveled at how they had so much energy.

Tears glistened in Sophie's eyes when she realized how much the twins had grown since she'd last seen them. Seven months. It had been seven months since she'd seen them.

"You guys have gotten so big," Sophie told them, choking on a laugh. How ridiculous. She was getting caught up on two aging horses like she was Wynn and Luna's mother.

Speaking of their mother. . . "Where's your mom?" Sophie asked the twins, looking around but not spotting Silveny anywhere. Or Greyfell, for that matter.

Either the two alicorn parents had run off together or Silveny had gotten a lot less protective of her two babies since the last time Sophie'd checked in.

Either way, Sophie wanted to make sure. She reached out for the momma alicorn with her mind, stretching out her consciousness further and further, feeling it expand like a rubber band being pulled tighter and tighter. . .

SOPHIE! FRIEND! SAFE!

Sophie never thought she would ever smile at the onslaught of giddy transmissions filling her head, but there was a first time for everything.

Silveny! Where are you? Sophie transmitted, trying to read the alicorn's mind to see her location.

SAFE, Silveny promised Sophie, avoiding her question.

Yeah, but—

SOPHIE DIFFERENT, the alicorn interrupted.

Sophie recoiled, wondering what in her mind had led to Silveny reacting that way. Was what the Neverseen had done with her and her time spent with them so apparent?

I. . . Sophie started to explain, but Silveny was already ahead of her.

IT'S OKAY, she promised, sending soft, calming breezes to Sophie, along with the feeling of. . .

Understanding.

Even though the words "it's okay" or "it's going to be okay" had been repeated to Sophie many times and by different people since her memories had been reset, for some reason, they'd never had had the same impact as they did hearing them from Silveny. Her eyes glistened, and she wished Silveny was there so she could hug her.

Almost as if the magical wish faeries had voted in favour of Sophie today, a thundering CRACK split the sky above Sophie, and she looked up to see two shimmering horses swooping down from the sky.

Sophie rushed to her feet, running over to meet Silveny and Greyfell as they gracefully landed on the lush grass under Calla's Panakes tree. Wynn and Luna nickered, trotting over to their parents.

Silveny locked eyes with Sophie, and suddenly, Sophie got an even more intense feeling that the alicorn did understand her. The emotion she'd sent Sophie when they were transmitting earlier wasn't just a pretense.

She didn't need to explain herself to Silveny, didn't need to talk about her emotions, how she'd changed, or how hard everything was going to be from now on. Silveny just got it.

Sophie didn't know how, or why. Maybe it was because of the strong telepathic connection Sophie and Silveny had always had. Maybe it was because of Sophie's wacked-up DNA. Either way, Sophie couldn't help but finally feel at peace when she sank down onto the soft petals under Calla's Panakes tree, smiling as she watched the happy alicorn family play together.

It also helped that Silveny sent nice bursts of crystal streams, flying through a clear sky, summer breezes, and happy feelings swirling through her mind every now and then.

For the first time, Sophie felt that maybe everything was going to be okay, just like Silveny said.

{AN} Hey guys!! A quick PSA. So, from this chapter on, I will be working in plot details from BOOK 8: LEGACY to make my fanfiction more alike to the actual series. Which is to say—REVERSED will contain LEGACY spoilers from this point on! Not small ones, either—huge plot spoilers. I know some of you may be bummed about having to miss the next few updates as you finish LEGACY, but look at it this way—when are about to read the spoilers, there'll be so much more updates for you to read!! It'll be like Christmas ;)

Anyways, PLEASE: do not spoil yourself by reading my fanfiction until you finish LEGACY!!! I promise that you will regret it! I am begging you, if you have not read LEGACY, do not check out my next updates until you do!