Chapter Ten:  
Chakra hadn’t done much exploring inside of the town of Gallup, but she had spent some time gazing at the quaint collection of buildings. She was, however, a bit surprised when Falcon lead her to the large, three-story rustic house on the town’s western edge. Chakra had occassionally gazed over at it, wondering idly if some well-off, high-class ponies of elite social status happened to call this town home.  
Those thoughts were soon forgotten, when a ramshackle, wiry stallion sprinted headlong at her across the yard. He skidded to a clumsy stop only hoofsteps from the startled Chakra Gem. Falcon wasn’t the least bit shaken, and in fact, simply continued walking over to the long row of conjoined buildings at the edge of the property.  
“Hey little brother” she casually muttered as she trotted by.  
“Hi! You’re that psychic, right?” He didn’t wait to hear Chakra’s reply before half-shouting at his sister, “Wow, how in Celestia’s name did you get /her/ to come home with you?”  
“I… we~~..” Chakra’s stammering went unnoticed.  
“It’s been what, almost a year since you actually brought one of your marefriends to meet the family?”  
“I’m not~~”  
“Zephyr, don’t embarrass her. Chakra’s just a friend.” Here she turned to the unicorn, and quickly mentioned, “Chakra, this is my little brother, Zephyr. He talks too much.”  
Chakra quickly arranged her face in her practiced showmare smile. “Pleasure to meet you.” Before any of them could say another word, all three were distracted by someone suddenly calling, “Yoohoo!”  
They all turned to see a red-headed earth pony addressing them from the large farmhouse’s front door. “Glad you finally got here. Are you coming in or what?” She didn’t wait to hear their reply, but retreated inside the house.  
“Oh yeah, supper just started when I saw you walking up. Come on Chakra, I’m sure everypony would /love/ to meet you.” Falcon glanced towards the one large window that showed the dining room. Seven ponies could be seen passing around dishes.  
“Seven,” she thought, “Iris’s husband, and Zephyr’s marefriend must be over again tonight. No wonder he’s in such a chipper mood.”  
Falcon politely released the harness of the old wooden cart, saying, “Go ahead. I’ll park this in the shed and be right behind you.” Then Zephyr lead Chakra to the house, while Falcon carefully backed the old wooden cart between some plows and other pieces of machinery in the old farm shed. Just before closing the doors, Falcon noticed that the cart wasn’t completely closed. A bit of grey fabric was peeking out and after looking at it for a few moments, she realized it was Chakra’s cloak.  
“Hmm… maybe I should bring this with,” Falcon thought to herself, “She seems kinda uncomfortable being without it sometimes.” So, she quickly grabbed the cloak in her teeth, shut the shed doors, and trotted over to the house.  
Just as Falcon was about to open the door, Chakra pushed it open from the inside. The mare was glancing over her shoulder, and didn’t notice Falcon until she bumped into her.  
“Oh! S-sorry!” Chakra whispered, nearly tripping over the grey fabric in front of her. “Oh… you’ve got my cloak.” She took it, with her magic, and quickly threw it over herself. “Th-thanks.”  
“No problem…. Why are we whispering?”  
“Uuum…” Chakra looked embarrassed as her eyes rolled side to side, searching for words.  
“Is Zephyr running his mouth?” Falcon started to step around the unicorn, into the house, with a stony look on her face. One of Chakra’s slim forelegs reached out and gently stopped her.  
“No, no, he’s fine. They’re all very nice, and… curious. I just uuh…” Chakra locked eyes with Falcon briefly, then looked down. Her expression was almost… ashamed. Falcon was confused. She sat on the ground next to the unicorn, and placed a broad, brown hoof gently against her shoulder. She thought that she felt a tremble coming from her thin frame.  
“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked quietly, lowering her head, and trying to get Chakra to look at her. Chakra looked her in the eye for a few moments. She grew more still, blinked, then looked down at the ground again. She still looked embarrased, but less nervous.  
“I… it’s something that’s kind of hard to explain to other ponies. Especially ones who come from big families.” Falcon thought she saw a blush, but silently waited for her to continue. “I just don’t like being around crowds. Especially families, or other groups who know each other well. I feel like the outsider, and the only one who’s uncomfortable. I mean, no one else even questions why I’m uncomfortable at all, and that just makes me feel… even weirder.”  
“But, you’re a travelling psychic. You must work with lots of ponies all the time.”  
“That’s different. That’s always one-on-one. Plus, I’m always in my tent. It’s a small little space that I set up, that I sleep in, that I’m in control of.”  
“Oh…” Falcon was starting to put it together, as she heard the familiar things that she had told herself so many times. “I think I understand how you feel.”  
Chakra’s ears flicked in annoyance at that, and she gave Falcon a very doubtful look.  
“Your tent is your safe place. Mine used to be the attic, up there,” she said, pointing up at the house. Chakra looked up and saw an intricate window. It was the kind that was made up of specially arranged panes of glass that made it look like a rising sun. “I used to sit up there, looking at the fields, the town, whatever, and feeling sorry for myself.”  
Chakra looked back down at her, “Why? You’re from this town, every pony I’ve met loves you.” Then the memory of Raceway’s accusations flashed across her mind, and she thought to herself, “Well, all except for one, maybe.”  
“Well, I think you know by now that I… like mares.” Chakra stiffened a little, but kept listening, so she pressed on, “I didn’t ‘figure it out’ like most other fillies and colts do. I’ve just…always been like this. So, when I was younger, I… I felt really strange, like I was an outsider. I didn’t want to tell anypony the truth, because I’ve seen how others got mocked for… much smaller things.”  
Chakra looked at Falcon with new eyes. When this mare had first walked into her tent - to get a psychic reading that she didn’t even believe in - Chakra had felt that she was an athlete, a realist, and nothing like Chakra herself. Now however, she started to realize that she had only been seeing the assumptions she had made of Falcon. For the first time, she realized how alike she was to the mare sitting in front of her.  
At that moment they both heard someone clear their throat. They turned to look at the front door of the house. The red-headed mare from before stood there. She was also spotted, though slightly darker than Falcon, and had a face full of freckles. She smiled at the pair, and walked forward, clutching a covered stoneware dish in one foreleg.  
“Mom thinks that the two of you might enjoy this dinner more in your kitchen Fal.” She handed over the dish, then gave Chakra a comforting look. “By the way, we’re sorry about the twins and all of their questions. They do that to all of Falcon’s friends.”  
“Oh, it’s… it’s okay,” Chakra muttered, seeming at a loss for words.  
“Thanks Iris, and tell Mom thanks too.” She nodded and returned to the house. When the pair of mares were once again alone on the front lawn, Falcon spoke again. “Well, I suppose we should go eat before this gets cold.”