Sweet Valley Twins: Friendship is Magic (Chapter 6)
Title: Sweet Valley Twins: Friendship is Magic
Summary: All the trouble started right after Lila saw the purple Unicorn in her backyard.
Dedication: For Raven and @buffywatcher23
Timeline: Factory reset, just like almost any book.
Notes: This won’t be as aggressively meta as my last NaNo, so if you were anticipating me leaning so hard on the fourth wall that it falls over, I’m sorry. This still will be a bit sassy, but honestly, I peaked with the Hunger Games crossover. Wait. No, I lied. I couldn’t get past the first page without doing my usual thing.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.
11,323 / 50,000 words. 23% done!
Six
Elizabeth was halfway home by the time she realized she had left her jacket on Tammy’s bed. Although Tammy might not be initially happy to see her back, it might be the opening she needed for them to talk. Maybe she needed to explode with anger before she realized that Elizabeth could help her.
She turned and headed back to Tammy’s house. The journey passed quickly as she imagined all the ways that she and Tammy would have a breakthrough. The specific wording changed each time she replayed it, but it always ended with Tammy weeping on her shoulder—having an emotional breakthrough that only Elizabeth could guide her through—and saying…
“Please help me, Elizabeth, you’re the only one who can.”
Or maybe, “I need your help, Elizabeth, I can’t do this alone.”
No, without you would be better.
“I need your help, Elizabeth. I can’t do this without you.”
Elizabeth smiled happily as she knocked on the front door, and as she waited for someone to answer, she made sure her hair was pushed off her shoulders, so that when Tammy cried her face wouldn’t get stuck to Elizabeth’s hair.
“Oh, hi, Elizabeth,” Rita said. “Did you forget something?”
“Yes, my jacket, it’s in Tammy’s room. Can I go up and see her?” Elizabeth said. She was in such a good mood because of the impending breakthrough, she even managed to smile at Rita. I’m going to save Tammy from you, she thought.
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, she went for a walk after you left, but by all means, run up and grab your jacket.” Rita said with a smile.
The smile fell from her face as she thanked Rita and headed up the stairs. How could she and Tammy have their big emotional scene if Tammy wasn’t there? She found her jacket easily, and as she picked it up, she noticed a large thick book bound in beige leather with metal corners on the floor, just peeking out from under the bed.
It looked like a baby book. Maybe this would give insight into Tammy’s situation! Elizabeth set her jacket back down, sat on the bed, and started leafing through the book.
The first page contained a letter in beautiful looping handwriting.
To my darling daughter, Tammy
As I write this, you are barely a day old, and your newness reminds me so much of all the baby ponies I have known. You are exactly the kind of baby that a unicorn like Majesty or Glory would visit and bestow gifts on.
I can’t wait to get to know you, and take you on wild adventures—we’ll fly on pegasi, and find the end of the rainbow, and have Wooliecakes with the Bushwoolies.
You are the way back to magic, my darling.
With all the love I have,
Megan
Elizabeth placed her hand on her heart. What a beautiful letter to write to a newborn. No wonder Tammy was so upset to be apart from such a loving mother. She flipped the page and was instantly struck by how much care Tammy’s mom—Megan—had put into the book. Each slot had a photo, like a normal baby book, but for each photo, Megan had drawn a brightly-colored pastel pony and pasted them on to the photos, so Tammy and Megan would be surrounded by them.
There was a particularly beautiful shot of who Elizabeth could only assume was Megan holding Tammy, and pictures of ponies had been added—a white unicorn with purple hair, a blue pegasus with pink hair, a pink pegasus with blue hair. The artwork was very good, though it had slipped down and obscured Tammy, leaving the ponies to stare adoringly at Megan.
For a moment she wondered if the ponies Megan drew were anything to do with the ponies in Sweet Valley, but they looked very different. The ponies Megan drew were heavier, blockier lines, bigger heads, and wider limbs than the lithe ponies like Twilight and Applejack.
Megan herself was a very pretty blonde with blue eyes and what looked to be, in the small snippets of photos, a trim size six figure. On reflection, if Tammy lost the extra weight and grew her hair, she would look much like Megan. Oh, this explained everything! She had made herself heavier and shaved her head because she couldn’t bear to see the face of the mother she loved so much when she couldn’t be with her.
As she leafed through the pages, she saw that a lot of the pony pictures had shifted and hidden Tammy, probably through her excessive handling and—Elizabeth couldn’t help but imagine—from the tears Tammy would shed over her estrangement from her mother.
She couldn’t help but read each entry.
Dear Tammy
Today you started teething. It reminds me of the time that Baby Lickety-Split got her first tooth. Golly, she was noisy with it! But with a little love and patience, I was able to settle her down. She was so adorable when she was calm, with her pink skin and hair, and a single tooth that she was so proud of when it didn’t hurt!
Love
Megan
She found it beautiful that Megan had taken the time to weave a wonderful fairy tale specific to her own child. She even felt a little envious. While she wouldn’t trade her perfect size six mother, who worked part time as a successful interior designer and maintained a beautiful house on Calico Drive, she thought it would be wonderful to have someone like Megan to make up magical stories for her to grow up with.
Dear Tammy
It was your birthday today. By coincidence, it fell on Sun Tuesday, so we had a Summer Sun Celebration instead! It wasn’t the same without the Wooliecakes and the ponies there, but one day they will come back to me, and I’ll take you on a great adventure!
Love
Megan
Elizabeth continued to flip through the pages, which catalogued the first few years of Tammy’s life. As she aged through the pictures, it was clear to see that she looked more and more like her mother.
Towards the end, there was a picture of Tammy in a bathtub, covered in bubbles with a gleeful smile on her face. Megan had added pictures of what looked like sea horses, but with the same style head as the ponies from the rest of her artwork, but much more solid bodies to support the head. They were just as brightly colored as the rest.
Dear Tammy
Today you got the hang of the sea pony song! Every time you have a bath, we sing “Shoo-be-doo! Shoo-shoo-be-doo!” and then you giggle. If only the sea ponies would come, I’m sure you would giggle more.
Oh, the magic of being safe under the ocean in a bubble of air, being shown a whole underwater world!
One day.
Love
Megan
Tucked into the final page was a letter, written in the same looping handwriting and—Elizabeth’s eyes widened—dated only a few months ago!
Dear Tammy
I wish you would get in contact. I just know that if we were together, we could make it work. I need you to come back home where you belong, and where all that love you can easily find you.
I know we had problems before, but you just don’t understand what you mean to me. You’re so important. One day everything will change, and I need you beside me when that happens. They will come back, I promise.
I know you think you’re happy where you are, but you can’t imagine the world I want to show you. I know I’ve told you over and over, but when you see it, you’ll know that everything we’ve been through was counting down to this moment.
Please, please come back home.
Love
Megan
And at the top of the letter was Megan’s address and phone number. Elizabeth quickly pocketed the letter and set the book back under the bed where Tammy would inevitably look for it when she got home. Elizabeth picked up her jacket and left the room.
She had a wonderful idea, and she just couldn’t wait to get started!
