Rainbow Rocks (feat. The Cavalry)

by Authora97

Chorus

The party was not a happy party. Everyone had the grumpiest face.

Raspberry stood at the punch bowl. Killjoy stood beside her, sipping at a drink that never even touched the punch.

Raspberry gave her sister a curious look. Killjoy sipped her drink.

“None of these people have even noticed you or Twilight yet.” Killjoy remarked. “They’re angry.”

“And it’s Mean Girl anger.” Raspberry said. “Not Hulk-Smash anger.” Killjoy nodded. “We worried?”

Killjoy shook her head. “I could fight them off with my pinky.”

“Me?!” Pinkie popped up behind Killjoy.

To her credit, Killjoy did not jump. “No. This.” Killjoy held up her pinky.

Pinkie gave her a thumbs up. She sank back down, rising up at Rainbow Dash’s side.

Killjoy turned to her sister, wide eyed. “Why are they your friends?”

Raspberry shrugged. “They’re funny.”

Killjoy conceded that.

Thorax walked back to the punch bowl. Raspberry eyed him.

“You did it?”

“Nobody saw me.” Thorax promised.

Raspberry smiled at him. She went to his side, meaning to pull him in for a hug. Thorax stepped away from her. He reached for another cup of punch. Raspberry wilted. She quickly put on a straight face for the approaching Twilight.

Killjoy watched it all happen- her and Fluttershy exchanging a look.

“I don’t see the Dazzlings.” Twilight told Raspberry.

“They show up soon.” Raspberry promised. “We cannot engage.”

Twilight made a face.

“Sparkle of Twilight.” Raspberry stressed. “We cannot engage.”

“We need to keep our friends safe.” Twilight argued. “They have magic! It can work.”

“No. It won’t.” Raspberry stressed. “I watched it. Y’all stood there for a good minute. No magic. Not even a spark. The Dazzlings make us as Equestrians, and life goes downhill fast.”

Twilight frowned. She didn’t like the picture Raspberry painted. After the Tirek incident, Raspberry promised to be more open with details about things. Twilight in turn promised to take her warnings seriously.

It’s just...Raspberry made it sound so bad. Their magic had to work- it had to. Maybe Raspberry misunderstood the scene.

“Their magic works differently than yours.” Raspberry added. “Like how Changeling magic is different, or even Discord’s magic.”

“So how do we use the magic?” Twilight asked.

“We work that out. Later.” Raspberry promised.

Twilight sighed. “Morgan-”

“I won’t steal their spotlight.” Raspberry told Twilight. “Someone in our group figures it out. It can’t be me telling it to you.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked. “We could stop them now if you said anything.”

Raspberry opened her mouth to say something. She wanted to argue that point. About the point of letting things happen naturally, of figuring things out yourself. She wanted to say that Sunset needed a chance to stand too.

But then Flash Sentry bumped into Twilight.

Raspberry backed away from that mess. She stood back at the punch bowl.

Killjoy snorted. “Canterlot’s into jocks. I hate it.”

“She’s happy.”

“Stop pretending to be a ship whore.” Killjoy gulped down more of her non-punch. “If you were, you’d ship-”

“He is a thousand feet tall and Bilbo is three.” Raspberry stressed. “We’re not arguing about this again.”

“We’ve been arguing it for, what? Twenty years? Just admit I’m right.”

“Raspberry never admits anyone else beside her is right.” Thorax grumbled.

The twins stared at him. Killjoy looked like he just swore in front of kindergarteners. Raspberry gawked before correcting it to a strict blankness.

“You good?” Killjoy asked him.

Thorax grumbled under his breath. He stuck his hands in his jeans, walking away from them both.

The doors to the gym opened. Raspberry turned to them, ready. She was prepared to hide from the Dazzlings. The Rainbooms (the name of the Canterlot high girls band) would need anonymity during the battle.

But the Dazzlings did not walk through the door.

Bumblebee did. Dressed in the same black jacket, white shirt, and jeans as last time.

He had a girl at his side. Her skin was a dark gray, almost but not quite black. She was decked out in a red and black thigh high dress, a large pink belt around the waist, thigh high black stockings, and pink shoes. Her black hair was cut like Bumblebee’s, barely reaching her neck. Bright blue eyes scanned the gym, thin pink lips stretched in a giddy smile.

Raspberry wanted to believe it was this world’s version of Thorne. She knew better.

Cicada.

Thorax’s sister.

The one Garfield stole.

Bumblebee and Cicada walked in. Raspberry’s mind scrambled. Is his real name Thorax? Why is he still in the Bumblebee disguise? Do they all look like normal changelings or advanced changelings? If so, which disguise is the real disguise?

How my Thorax noticed them yet?

Killjoy followed her gaze. Her jaw dropped, offended. How dare her sister get two versions of the same hot guy. Like Thorax wasn’t ever Killjoy’s type, but like damn it.

The Dazzlings came in after them.

Killjoy elbowed her sister. “Targets in sight.”

Raspberry shook her head, trying to shake off the thoughts.

Rainbow Dash was faster. She picked up Killjoy’s cup, tossing it at Twilight.

“I hadn’t finished.” Killjoy hissed.

The cup bonked on Twilight’s head. She whirled around, glaring at Killjoy. Raspberry nodded her head at the Dazzlings. Twilight turned. Her eyes went wide.

“Can you excuse me for just a minute?” Twilight asked Flash.

He nodded. Twilight scurried away. She met Raspberry’s side. The humans leaned closer to them.

People were bickering again. The whole room seemed to be in the middle of an argument. The noise was enough to give anyone a headache.

The Dazzlings looked unaffected. They shone above all the strife and anger. They smiled with victory, smug and haughty.

Raspberry hated it.

“Remember. Do not engage.” Raspberry tone the girls.

Dash frowned, crossing her arms. “I still think we can hit them with friendship.”

“You would fail.” Raspberry stated.

“Go do it.” Killjoy grinned. Raspberry glared. Killjoy shrugged. “Hey, it ain’t gonna be me getting embarrassed. Let her do it.”

Dash grinned, then realized what Killjoy wanted. “Hey!”

“Just listen to them?” Sunset asked. “Maybe we’ll stop them soon.”

The Rainbooms grumbled, suspiciously eyeing the Dazzlings. Raspberry and Twilight watched too. Killjoy looked at Bumblebee and the human Cicada.

Then Thorax noticed them.

“I think we could take them on!” Dash argued. “They can’t be that tough.”

“Raspberry ain’t saying they are.” Applejack told Dash. “Just that we ain’t ready for a fight.”

“Not ready? How much ready do we need?” Dash asked. “I get my wings back all the time!”

“You are. We don’t.” Fluttershy pointed out. “It’s always you getting wings.”

“And the ears!” Pinkie held her hands up to her hair, mimicking the horse ears.

Dash frowned at her friends, annoyed. “Well I’m awesome. So maybe I’m ready, and you guys aren’t.”

Her friends glared at her.

Twilight was starting to understand what Raspberry meant. Sunset too.

“That’s how! We’re gonna fight them in the Battle of the Bands and beat them!” Dash boasted. “It won’t even be a battle. They have no chance of fighting me at my best!”

Applejack rolled her eyes.

A voice laughed. The Rainbooms and Equestrians turned to it. Adagio Dazzle, leader of the Dazzlings, laughed loud enough to get the attention of everyone in the room.

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!” She said. Seeing she definitely had her audience, she looked around at all the other bands. “This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren’t they? Claiming there won’t really be a battle. Seems they think they’ve already got this thing all locked up.”

That got the normal student’s hackles raised.

Raspberry hated her friends at this moment. Killjoy was right. Why were they friends?

“Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!”

“Whatever, Trixie! We’re the best band at CHS!”

“No! The Crusaders are gonna win!”

More and more students shouted and argued. Raspberry ran her hand over her face. Killjoy snickered, watching all the fighting. Thorax hadn’t looked away from his counterpart. Twilight watched it all, looking overwhelmed and scared.

Raspberry grabbed Twilight’s hand. She dragged her fellow princess out of the gym. The rest of their friends followed.

The Dazzlings never gave them a second glance.

But Bumblebee and his sister did.

==RRFTC==

Raspberry closed the app on her phone. She raised her eyebrow to the group. They’d grouped up around the entrance of Canterlot High. “See? It was bad.”

Rarity shuddered. “The humiliation...it was disgusting!”

Killjoy giggled. “Play it again.”

Raspberry pointed a warning finger at her. “Hey. Stop it.” Killjoy stuck out her tongue.

“It doesn’t make any sense.” Twilight shook her head. She started pacing. “I should have been able to create the spark that would help us break their spell. That’s how it worked before.”

“I think, maybe I have an idea?” Sunset leaned up from her seat. “To defeat me, you drew magic from the crown I was wearing. The sirens’ magic comes from their music. So maybe you have to use the same kind of magic to defeat them. Or... maybe not.”

Twilight looked at Sunset. “No. I think you’re onto something.”

Sunset lit up. “Really?”

Twilight turned to the group. “It’s when you play music that you transform now, right?”

“Yup. Ears, tails, the whole shebang.” Applejack replied.

“So maybe the way to use that magic to defeat the sirens is by playing a musical counter-spell!” Twilight realized.

“You mean like...a song?” Fluttershy asked, brushing her hair aside. Raspberry and Killjoy could see her beaming smile.

“Uh-huh. And in order to free everyone who’s been exposed to the sirens’ spell, we’ll need them all to hear it.” Twilight explained.

“So I was right! We are beating them in the battle of the bands!” Rainbow Dash cheered, fist pumping.

“It is the only time we can be certain everyone will be in the same place at the same time.” Rarity added.

Raspberry and her sister rolled their eyes. Thorax sat, silent.

“Guess the Rainbooms are the band to beat.” Applejack bumped Rainbow Dash’s side.

“And I believe you, Twilight and Raspberry, just became the Rainbooms’ newest member.” Rarity cheered.

The girls all cheered. They rushed over to Twilight and Raspberry to pull them in for a hug. Sunset and Thorax were left on the stairs, alone. Killjoy reached in the hug. She pulled Raspberry out of the hug.

“Nope.” Raspberry shook her head.

The Rainbooms all sighed in disappointment.

“As fun as it would be, I don’t wanna be in your band.” Raspberry replied.

Killjoy wrapped her arm around Raspberry. “She’s got a contract with me.”

“I’m not allowed to break it.” Raspberry nodded. “But Twilight can totally join.”

“What can she play?!” Pinkie started pulling instruments from her hair. “Triangle? Sousaphone? Theremin? Soooo magical.”

Twilight scratched the back of her head. “Though I’ve gotten more used to them, I might take a little too long to learn how to play something with these.” Twilight held up her hands. “I’ll just sing.”

“Like, as in, lead singer?” Dash asked. She leaned on Twilight’s shoulder. “Cuz that’s usually my gig. This being my band and all.”

“It’s our band!” Applejack reminded Dash. The jock rolled her eyes at them. “And, of course, as lead singer. She’s the one with the magical know-how to help us pull this thing off.”

“Okay, yeah, that’s cool.” Dash started playing air guitar. “I’ll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills.”

“It’s only temporary.” Twilight assured Rainbow Dash. “And we don’t have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform during the first round of the competition.”

“Let’s get to learning that musical counter-spell!” Dash said.

Twilight flushed. “Well, that’s just it. I don’t know any.” Her friends frowned. “But I’m sure I could figure out how to write one!”

“Totally! Twilight can write a spell like it’s nobody’s business.” Spike explained. “That’s pretty much how she got to become a princess in Equestria.”

“Hey! My sister can do spells too!” Killjoy snapped at the dog. “Twilight’s not the only one that can do it!”

“Yeah but Twilight did most of the work.” Spike replied.

Killjoy’s eyes sharpened. She reached for her back pocket. Raspberry grabbed her wrist.

“Twilight finished the spell.” Raspberry reminded her. She squeezed tighter to Killjoy’s wrist. “I stood too close to the magic backlash. She’s used my spell once, though, to travel between realities to my world.” She glared at Twilight. “I’ve...forgiven you for that.”

Twilight did not feel very forgiven.

“We’ve got this.” Twilight breathed. She nodded to the Equestrians. “C’mon, guys.”

“Where’re you goin’?” Applejack asked her.

“Well, last time we were here, Spike and I spent the night in the library.” Twilight explained.

“Yeah. Where’re you goin?” Raspberry repeated. “We can stay at a motel. That’s what I did last time.”

“How did you pay for that?” Rarity asked.

Raspberry narrowed her eyes. “Do you really wanna know?

“I can always find the best motel in any place.” Killjoy offered. “Like, it’s a gift. We’d need three rooms. Twilight would refuse to sleep in my room, and I refuse to sleep in the same room as the dog.”

Spike barked.

“Are you crazy?!” Pinkie cried out. She pulled Raspberry and Killjoy in for a hug. “We’re besties now! Slumber party at my house!”

==RRFTC==

Bumblebee leaned away from the door.

Cicada smiled at him. “She’s nice.”

Bumblebee grinned. He scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah. I mean...yeah.”

“Why don’t you go talk to her?”

“With Raspberry? You don’t do that, Cic.” Thorax clicked his tongue. “You wait for her to come to you. Like a gentleman.”

“Like a bee catching honey.”

Usually, Bumblebee got mad at her jokes. But if they were about Raspberry, he wouldn’t mind.

“Who are the other two?” Cicada asked. “Like that’s Twilight Sparkle, and the talking dog is Spike...who are they?”

Bumblebee shrugged. “I don’t know. They- they look weird.” His eyes narrowed on the green guy. He thought about who that could be, maybe Equestria’s version of him, but he doubted it. His skin wasn’t green underneath the yellow. Maybe Raspberry broke up with her Bumblebee. He would have to wait and see. “Let’s keep an eye on them before we engage.”

Cicada nodded. While neither of them were happy with how they grew up, it gave them a great amount in training on stalking their prey.

==RRFTC==

The Pie house was very used to having a lot of people inside of it. With four daughters, you were not expected to have an empty house. Maud and Marble was often quiet. Limestone was at home, working with her parents on the farm. Pinkie brought the friends all the time. Loud, partying friends. Girl friends.

Thorax was decidedly not a boy.

All the Rainbooms thought so. Thorax shifted his form- his orange hair growing to a pixie cut. His- her clothes became a dark green leafy dress, her legs became lean, her face rounder.

Thorax was Thorax.

The Rainbooms freaked out when Thorax first did it.

Sunset tried punching him.

Twilight explained that as a Changeling, Thorax could shapeshift. Raspberry and Killjoy were totally cool with it.

Still. The girls all agreed Thorax would sleep downstairs.

They were all in Pinkie’s room. Applejack, Dash, and Killjoy played videogames. Pinkie worked on her social media timeline. Rarity, Sunset, and Fluttershy took selfies that Spike kept photobombing.

Nobody saw Raspberry or Thorax until the pizza arrived. According to Raspberry, they called their kids to wish them goodnight.

Twilight struggled with the counter spell. Fluttershy graciously gifted her song journal. Twilight filled pages with unintelligible scribbles.

She could do it.

She didn’t need to ask Raspberry for help.

She could do it alone. Everyone believed in her, that she could save them. They said they would be lost without her and Raspberry to save them.

Twilight could write a song.

She needed to write a song.

==RRFTC==

Twilight stumbled into the kitchen. She tried to sleep. The humans were deeply sleeping, curling up with each other in a friendship pile. Twilight couldn’t sleep. The spell needed to be completed before the competition tomorrow.

She went downstairs, hoping not to disturb anybody.

“-I just don’t understand what I did.” Raspberry’s hushed voice snuck by Twilight.

Curious, Twilight leaned towards it. Raspberry and Thorax slept downstairs in the Pie family living room. Mr and Mrs Pie thought nothing of it.

“You understand so much all the time. What, your super powers of what others are thinking don’t work when you use them on me?” Thorax argued. Their voice was still deep like a stallion’s in the female form. She barely sounded different.

“No. It’s- no. That’s not what I do. I just-”

“Go on. Read my mind.”

“I’m not telepath-”

“But you know everything. So why can’t you see why I’m angry?”

“I know you’re angry! You’re just not telling me why!”

“Why should I even have to tell you anything?”

“Because I don’t know what I did!”

“Right. We’ll just focus on the competition, like I said-”

“No. No, you’re upset. We focus on that!”

Something tapped her shoulder. Twilight almost screamed. A hand clamped on her mouth. Twilight looked back. Killjoy knelt behind her, Sunset there too. Both of them looked concerned and worried.

All three knelt by the wall. They kept quiet to listen to the fight.

“I’m not upset!” Thorax insisted. “It’s nothing. We have other thing to think about. You wanted me to start winning, right? So let’s-”

“Winning the Equestria Games! Not this battle.” Raspberry replied. Twilight heard Raspberry hurt before. This voice like she was holding back the urge to cry, or to keep herself to not attract attention from others. It made Twilight’s heart hurt to hear it.

“If we lose the battle, we lose Equestria.”

“Yeah-”

“So isn’t that more important? Isn’t that the plan?”

“I don’t know why you’re doing this!” Raspberry pleaded. “Please tell me. You keep saying I should know. I don’t! I really, really don’t.”

Thorax scoffed. Raspberry inhaled, sharply.

Killjoy’s nails dug into Twilight’s cheeks.

“Why don’t you believe me?” Raspberry asked, words wavering.

“Because I know you know. You’re lying to me, to avoid a fight.” Thorax stated. Raspberry spluttered. “You are! I know you are.”

“I’m not! I really, genuinely, do not know! All I know is I tried to kiss you and you recoiled from me like you hate me-”

“I don’t hate you-”

“I tried to hold your hand, and you pulled it away! You read to our kids-”

“You didn’t want to-”

“-without doing the voices-”

“-read it before, so why now-”

“-and Cookie loves the voices-”

“-are you getting so upset-”

“-so when you don’t do it she notices-”

“-for the first time about it?”

“-and if Cookie notices something is wrong, then it’s gotten bad! And I didn’t notice!” Raspberry explained.

Killjoy pulled Twilight’s head back. Twilight went along with the grip. Killjoy brought Twilight back into the kitchen. The kitchen smelled of pizzas and cookies. The empty pizza boxes were tossed into the trash- not a signal crumb left behind. The cookies were gone too. If Pinkie didn’t get to them, the many girls did.

Twilight liked the smells earlier. Now they made her stomach roll.

Killjoy stopped at the small island countertop. She removed her hand. Twilight rubbed her cheeks, feeling marks from Killjoy. Killjoy looked up at the group- glaring in a very specific way.

“Are we sure they’re not affected by the sirens?” Twilight asked, in a rushed whisper.

Killjoy’s nostrils flared.

Twilight squeaked. “I just mean-”

“They’ve been fighting for days. Morgue’s just in denial.” Killjoy replied.

“Fighting about what?” Sunset whispered. She leaned on the countertop. “Morgan always said things were good between her and Thorax.”

“That’s just it. I don’t even know.” Killjoy admitted. Twilight stared. “Yeah, I have no clue. I can’t tell if Morgue knows either. It’s weird.”

“Thorax doesn’t seem like the angry type.” Sunset added.

“He’s not-” Twilight agreed.

A loud door slam cut them all off.

They waited for a sound. Any sound. Nothing. Did Thorax leave, or did Raspberry? Did they both leave together? Twilight couldn’t tell.

“What are we going to do?” Twilight asked.

“The sirens aren’t making them fight. Could they be making it worse?” Sunset asked. “They don’t just need their magic to make people act strange.”

“I have a guess.” Killjoy pulled herself up, taking a seat on the island. “But I don’t think it’s exactly right.” Sunset and Twilight shrugged. Anything was better than not knowing anything. “Bumblebee.”

Sunset gasped. “He’s been asking about Raspberry again. Does he even know about-?”

“He showed up at that party earlier.” Killjoy went on. “So he saw Thorax, and Thorax definitely saw him. And the girl he stood with.”

“Thorne?” Twilight guessed. “What does she have to do with-?”

“That wasn’t Thorne. Definitely not. That was Thorax’s missing sister, Cicada.” Killjoy revealed. “The one Garfield Logan stole.”

Her heart dropped like a stone in Twilight’s chest.

“But...if that was it, wouldn’t Morgan have said?” Sunset asked. “Instead of pretending she doesn’t? And weren’t they fighting for days anyway?”

“Yeah, and those two made it worse.” Killjoy told them. “Whatever they were fighting about, it’s worse because of that.” Killjoy looked at Twilight. “So, Canterlot, tell me. Do you have something for that counterspell?”

“No.” Twilight held up Fluttershy’s song journal. “We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect.”

“Yeah. So ask Raspberry to help you.” Killjoy stated.

Twilight shook her head. “If her and Thorax are fighting, the last thing they need to do is worry about this.”

They all still spoke in whispers, careful and afraid to break the heavy silence coming from the living room. If Killjoy whispered, it was because she still thought someone was around. That was enough to convince Twilight and Sunset to lower their voices.

Sunset walked over to the fridge, probably intending to grab a late night snack. “We really are lucky you’re both here.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.” Twilight replied.

“We’re the best in the biz.” Killjoy snarked. “Honestly. And my sister wonders why I packed so much to drink.”

“Well all they have here is whipped cream.” Sunset showed off the fridge, packed to the gills with cans of whipped creams. “If you wanna share.”

“Not exactly a child friendly drink.” Killjoy replied.

“I’m an adult, back in Equestria.” Sunset reminded her. Killjoy grinned. Sunset felt a shiver up her spine. “What’s it like, having Morgan for a sister?”

“About the same as having her for a mom.” Killjoy answered. “She likes fixing problems. I have a lot of problems to fix. It’s great.”

“Yeah, sounds great for her.” Sunset pulled out a can of whipped cream. “Having everyone always look to you for answers to their problems... instead of waiting for you to cause a problem.”

“Just because everyone expects something from you doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to happen.” Twilight added.

“Especially if you’re dealing with your own stuff, and are expected to be perfect anyway.” Killjoy nodded.

“Well, that doesn’t stop them from expecting it.” Sunset told Killjoy.

Twilight sighed, lowering the journal. “Which only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is-”

“-let everybody down.” All three girls whispered.

Sunset and Twilight smiled at each other. Killjoy hopped off the island. She meant to grab the can off Sunset. Instead she bumped into Maud Pie.

Sunset and Twilight screamed when they saw her.

Killjoy rolled her eyes. She glared at them, disgusted.

Maud blinked, expression blank as always. She walked to the cupboard. “Boulder was hungry.”

A sniffle. “Yeah sorry. Took the crackers.”

The four girls turned to the archway. Raspberry stood there, dressed in dark blue star patterned pajamas. Her eyes were bloodshot, but her lips were clamped tight.

Twilight wanted to cry with her.

Raspberry held out the box of crackers. “Sorry.”

Maud took the offered box. She held up Boulder. “Boulder says it’s fine.”

“But do you-” Raspberry cut herself off. “Nevermind. Enjoy the snack, Boulder.”

Maud walked out. She started pouring crackers on the rock in her hand. They fell to the floor, shattering as they did.

The five girls watched them go. Only after Maud retreated into the darkness did they set their sights on the fifth.

Raspberry kept her lips pressed tight. Water welled in her eyes. She took a deep breath, her hands visibly shaking. She realized this too. She reached up, threading her fingers in her hair. “So. Maud and Pinkie. They’re related. That freak anybody else out?” Her voice came out gravely and wet, as if she’d already been crying awhile.

Twilight couldn’t speak. Words were caught in her throat. She wanted to say something, anything. Should she apologize? She watched a private moment between Morgan and Thorax, she should apologize. She violated her friend’s privacy. Twilight knew how important that was to Morgan. Then again, Killjoy was doing it too. Did that make it better, or worse?

“Yeah. Aren’t you friends with the other one?” Killjoy asked.

Raspberry nodded.

“It’s just as unbelievable over here.” Killjoy agreed.

“Morgan.” Twilight began. “I’m-”

“Thorax ducked out.” Raspberry interrupted. “She wanted to jog. She loves jogging. Cold air sh-sould h-help.” Raspberry rubbed her cheek, before the tears even fell. “She- she just. Space. I’m- you know what-”

“Hey. Did you want my drinks now?” Killjoy asked.

Raspberry nodded.

“It’s what I thought.” Killjoy walked over to her sister. She looped her arm with Raspberry. “We got a counter spell to write, yeah?”

Raspberry nodded again.

“And I don’t need to-”

“Follow her and I pull out every single one of your teeth and stuff them in your ears.” Raspberry promised. Tears ran down her face.

Killjoy held up her hands. Her arm was still tangled up on her sister’s. “No murder. Got it. Just good hard liquor. Have fun with the counter spell.”

“But Twilight-”

“-is about to go to bed.” Killjoy reminded Raspberry. She narrowed her eyes at Twilight. “Cause it’s late. We should all go to bed.”

“Right.” Sunset yawned. “Sleep sounds good. Come on, Twilight.”

Twilight looked over at her friend. Raspberry wouldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m-” Killjoy glared. “Nevermind. It’s not important.”

Raspberry shook her head. “I-It- it-”

“Drink time.” Killjoy pulled Raspberry away, off towards the backyard. “Drinking and crying. Sister bonding time. Can’t do murder but can drink anybody under the table. Like that choice.”

The door clicked closed behind her.

Twilight watched, tears filling her eyes.

Sunset sighed.

“What do we do?” Twilight asked. “We need to help.”

“We can.” Sunset said. “By putting less on her plate. Right? If someone is stressed, completing tasks for them helps. It lightens their workload.”

Twilight looked at the journal, at the useless scribbles inside. Songwriting wasn’t her thing. Fluttershy’s songs were beautiful and heartfelt, coming from a place of deep heart and connection. Twilight couldn’t put a rhyme together.

She needed Morgan.

(-to help)

(-so Twilight could apologize)

(-to be okay)

(-to help Twilight be okay)

Author's Note:

’m gonna try to update this over the next week. No way is this fic taking a few months to finish. We’re ⅓ of the way there.

And oh yeah, we’re going there. I’m doing this to them. This is happening.