The farmhouse was filled with the sounds of hoopsteps as Ollie, his cousin Balletomane, and his little uncle Bel Canto scattered, looking for the perfect hiding place before Hydie finished counting. Hide-and-seek was one of their favorite games, and it was always fun for them to see what hidden nooks and crannies would make the best hiding spots. Even if it did sometimes make their mothers worry.
Ollie had figured out the perfect hiding place just a couple days ago that he was eager to try out. In his parents’ room was a huge dresser with drawers big enough to fit a growing colt like him, if he squeezed in tightly enough. Plus, they were so high up that Hydie and Bel wouldn’t even think to look for him there! It was foalproof!
The colt flew up to the highest drawer, pulling it open as quietly as he could. It was filled with a bunch of clothes and other stuff that his moms saved for special occasions, stuff that he’d have to move around if he wanted to fit.
But as he shuffled around in the drawer, his eye caught something buried at the bottom. A photograph. Why would his moms keep photos in drawers instead of in Grandma’s albums? He took it out and was almost shocked by what he found.
He recognized three of the faces in the picture. There was his Nana, with his Mommy and Aunt Lulu when they were fillies. But next to them was a pink pegasus he’d never seen before!
Could it be? Ollie inspected the picture closely. She looked like she could be. Her mane looked a lot like Mommy’s, and her coat was kind of similar to Aunt Lulu’s. They were Nana’s kids, but they also looked like this other mare’s kids too. Which meant…
“Found ya!”
“Hey! You aren’t even hiding!”
Ollie had completely forgotten about hide-and seek. “Guys, I found something.”
Hydie and Ballie trotted into the room and peered over his shoulder. “Who’s that with Nana?”
“I don’t know, I…I think it’s Mommy and Aunt Lulu’s other mom.”
“No way!” Ballie gasped. “She is real!”
“This was in Mommy and Ma’s room this whole time? And they didn’t tell us?” Hydie asked. “Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know. This mare looks pretty nice,” Ollie pondered. “Maybe she’s dead and it makes them sad to think about her?”
“Grandma still talks about Great-Granddad a lot even though he’s dead,” Hydie pointed out. “They haven’t told us ANYTHING about this mare. It’s super weird.”
“Guys! You forgot about me!” Bel Canto interrupted, trotting in with a hint of indignation. “Aren’t we still playing hide-and-seek?”
“Sorry Bel. But we found something important,” Ollie waved him over.
“It’s our other Grandma!” Ballie piped up.
“Whoa! Cool!”
“Not cool!” Hydie scolded. “Mommy has been hiding this from us! You have to get her and Nana in here so we can ask them why!”
With encouraging looks from Ollie and Ballie, Bel trotted out to the top of the stairs and called out:
“Auntie Candy! Miss Firefly! Ollie has something to show you!”