//------------------------------// // 57 // Story: Seven Lights // by Fresnor //------------------------------// Fluttershy whimpered as she looked around at her friends as they tried to convince her to go against her instincts and use her Stare on the vampire fruit bats. Slowly her gaze settled on Aegis Flare who was looking around the sky for something and she realized that her cousin hadn't said anything so far either way. “Um, Flare? What do you think should be done with the vampire fruit bats?” The other alicorns turned to look at their friend curiously as they couldn't remember her saying anything either, even during the song earlier. With a sigh the bat-winged mare turned her attention away from the sky before wrapping a barrier around the bottom of a newspaper before applying it to Twilight's head with extreme prejudice. “Bad Twilight! What have I said about recklessly using your magic without thinking of the consequences!? Do you want a swarm of starving creatures praying on ponies!?” Twilight tried to fend off the newspaper with horns and wings, but whenever her horn lit up it got hit, and her wings were little help due to how sensitive they were to blows. “Ow! Hey! Cut it out! Stop it!” Fluttershy sighed in relief at her cousin defending her, but she cringed back as the newspaper was pointed in her direction leaving the lavender mare to glare at the wielder. “And you!?” Aegis Flare frowns at her causing cringing away from her causing her to sigh and her expression to soften. “Well at least you are trying to stand up for yourself more, but something does need to be done about these creatures. Just look at them.” She pointed a hoof towards the hundreds of bats causing Fluttershy and the others to turn their heads towards them again. Looking more closely at them, Fluttershy took in how thin the bats were looking as well as the patches of missing fur on many of them. With a gasp she covered her muzzle with her hooves. “Oh my! They don't look so good. Do you think that they need help?” The buttery alicorn's friends rolled their eyes while her cousin rubbed at her temple with a hoof. “Fluttershy... You should know better than anyone that this isn't healthy for anything. Creatures like this don't swarm an area like a plague without a reason and certainly not in the state they are. This only happens when something allows them to over-breed out of control which brings up the question of; where are all the birds of prey that should be keeping their numbers down?” Fluttershy cringed back at the question before she started tapping her hooves together nervously. “Um... well... You see I ask my animal friends to not hunt each other around my home and for a good distance nearby which may have included Sweet Apple Acres...” With a sigh the dark orange mare brought a hoof up to her face before shaking her head in exasperation. “Really Fluttershy? I can understand them not targeting the critters that you are friends with but stopping them completely is just irresponsible. Because of that these vampire fruit bats are overrunning what is probably one of the few places where they aren't being culled back. I thought you learned about how important something like that is.” Her cousin opened her mouth to argue, but paused as her head turned to gaze at the dagger she kept strapped under her wing for a moment before she lowered her head in defeat. “I don't want to see my animal friends hurt, but you're right. Allowing them to live like this isn't a kindness like I thought before if it causes this much misery. Like with a rabid animal it sometimes is just kinder to... let them go. I'll go talk to my birdy friends and let them know that they are needed here, as well as warn away the others that like to come here about what is happening.” As her cousin took flight towards her cottage, Aegis Flare let out a sigh before looking at the rest of her friends. “As for the rest of you. Let's just say I'm disappointed with all of you that you thought that you had to pressure Fluttershy like that. I would have thought that you would have respected her a bit more that you wouldn't need to resort to what you did just to get your way with her.” The rest of the alicorns winced as the disappointed mare took off towards her own home. Looking at each other, Rainbow Dash sums up what they were all thinking. “We bucked up, didn't we?” <><><><><><><><><><> The alicorns separated to do their own things for the rest of the day, though it wasn't until the next morning that Aegis Flare left her home. When she left she was still annoyed with her friends and took to the air to work it off through exercise. She paid little attention to anything as she flew around Ponyville, just enjoying the burn of her exertions, so much so that she didn't realize the passage of time until she heard someone calling for her. “Hey, Flare! Wait up!” Hearing the call, the bat-winged alicorn slowed down to look behind her to see Rainbow Dash flying towards her. With a sigh she slowed down, allowing the mare to catch up to her. “Finally. It took all morning to find you just to find you up here. You've been holding out on me!” Aegis Flare stops to hover in place before looking at her friend in confusion. “What are you talking about? I'm just taking some time to cool off, especially after what happened yesterday.” The cyan mare winced before she brought a hoof around to scratch at the back of her head. “Yeeeah. About that. I probably should apologize to you about that. I mean, I already talked to Fluttershy about it, but she said I should apologize to you as well for putting you in the middle of all of us like that.” With a nod, Aegis Flare sighed. “And like I thought she easily forgives you, which is why I was only annoyed and not mad at you all. While she needs to be pulled out of her comfort zone once and a while, what happened was closer to bullying than that. And you still haven't told me what you meant by me holding out on you.” Rainbow Dash flinched at being told she was bullying Fluttershy, but recovered at being reminded of a previous topic. “I mean all this!” Rainbow Dash waved her hoof around at the sky and her friends wings before clarifying. “Before you couldn't go twenty minutes without being worn out yet you've been out here for hours according to your mother. Not only that but when you found out about your parents being found you broke the sound barrier and created a Corona Burst! You know how many ponies can actually do something like that and keep up with me in a race now!?” Aegis Flare blinked without comprehension for a moment before she looked over her shoulders at her flapping wings before realizing that what her friend was saying was correct. “Huh, I didn't even realize I was doing that well lately.” Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped as the orange mare closed her eyes and focused her attention on her wings. “In fact now that I'm paying attention to it I can actually feel something being drawn into my wings from the air around them. I've never been able to do that before.” As she opened her eyes to look at her wings curiously Rainbow Dash shook her head before looking at her friend in confusion. “Wait, you mean you never let your wings 'breathe in the air' to help you fly before? But that's the most basic thing that a pegasus learns as a foal! How could you have never known how to do that!?” Her questions were met with a deadpan look as the orange mare tapped her horn. “I was a unicorn, remember?” This response caused the other mare to facehoof at having to be reminded. “Oh yeah, right. It's hard to remember that with all of us being like this now. Funny since most of us are still having trouble with the new magic we gained; my unicorn side, Twilight with her pegasus side since she thinks too much, Fluttershy with her unicorn magic, and Applejack with both unicorn and pegasus magic. Rarity took to the new types easily after talking with Pinkie's sister, and Pinkie... yeah. That's three of us now that only need to figure out the alicorn magic.” Shaking her head at her, the orange mare turns to look at her wings once more. “I wonder... This feels a lot like how I've heard unicorns normally take in magic except that it is lacking the part where they change the mana they take in to match their own.” Rainbow Dash blinks at her explanation for a moment before she looks thoughtful. “Wait, you mean there is more to using your horn than to just pull the magic in and use it? Is that why I keep having problems with anything except levitation?” The two think back to the mare's previous attempts. vvvvvvvvvv “...and that's all there is to it, now you try.” Twilight gestured to Rainbow Dash who shook her head, clearing the glazed look in her eyes. Spreading her legs out a bit the cyan mare closed her eyes and concentrated on her horn causing it to light up with a rainbow glow. Things looked as if they were going well until sparks began to fly off of her horn causing Twilight's eyes to widen. Moments later an explosion erupted from Rainbow Dash's horn, covering the area in smoke. When it cleared the two alicorns were covered in soot and coughing from the smoke. ^^^^^^^^^^ “Most likely. Unicorn magic is more actively controlled so the energy needs to be attuned to yourself so that you can easily control it. From what I can tell Pegasus magic is also active, but since it is generally the same type it's just pulled in and immediately expelled. Earth Pony magic on the other hoof is rather passive as they always draw in magic to fuel their strength and stamina. I wonder if it's possible for an alicorn to use the mana from one type to fuel the other abilities though. Unicorns naturally can draw in mana faster so you could potentially fly even faster or become even stronger than normal.” As Aegis Flare started to ponder this, Rainbow Dash just shook her head in exasperation. “Ugh, eggheads. Can you maybe think about it some other time? I came to find you because I wanted to ask your help with something.” Her friend's eyebrow rose as she gestured with a hoof for her to continue. “You see I have to talk to the Wonderbolts and try to convince them to show up for a match between them and the Ponyville weather team. Now I know that they'd have an advantage if we just used the normal training courses so I need to come up with something to throw them off without making it look like a setup, but I can worry about that later. The problem is I need to find a way to convince them to actually show up without making it look like I'm doubting them.” Aegis Flare frowned at this, but she could see why it could be a problem and could guess what was coming next as she waved at her friend in understanding. “Well with you being considered one of the leaders of another branch of the military it would make perfect sense for you to try and goad them into going through with it. Sure the Black Guard is only now starting to send ponies, and other species too I guess, out and around, but it is still recognized as being full of the best because of your parents. I know you might say no after what happened yesterday, but Rarity is the only other one recognized as being in charge, and she's getting ready for some big thing out in Manehattan.” The orange mare thought for a moment and silently agreed that Rarity probably would have done better using more diplomatic means, but she herself knew how to rile up ponies if needed. Shaking her head she looked at her friend in exasperation. “I'll go, though I hope you aren't leaving the planning until the very end. In fact, I have some ideas that you could use for the real test, I just need to get in contact with a certain mare. I'm certain she'd be eager to agree to a 'royal performance' if we ask for one.” Rainbow Dash frowns in confusion for a moment before she shook her head and spread her wings. “Great! Come on then, we need to be there in a couple hours.” With that the mare took off in the direction of the flying city, leaving her friend to shake her head at her friend's lack of planning. Spreading her own wings she took off after her friend, mentally telling herself that she was lucky that she didn't have anything else to do for the day. It didn't take her long to catch up with Rainbow Dash, but only because the rainbow-maned mare held back so she could catch up. As soon as she did the competitive mare slowly sped up until the two were just short of breaking the sound barrier. With a smirk the cyan mare glanced back at her friend before angling her flight towards a town on the ground ahead of them. Once they were over it she slowed up before turning back towards her friend. “Wow, you really have come into your wings now. Even after all that way you still aren't breathing hard and you were out all morning.” While she did notice that flying seemed to have gotten easier, Aegis Flare could still feel a bit of strain from her wings since she hadn't used them for such long periods before. Looking around she frowned as she failed to see the cloud city that they were supposed to be heading towards. “Weren't we supposed to be heading to Cloudsdale? Not... wherever this is?” Rainbow Dash rubbed a hoof at the back of her head as she looked around sheepishly. “Yeah, well it was scheduled to be here today. It must have been called away for an emergency weather call somewhere but it should be back soon. In the meantime, welcome to Anchor, the town that Cloudsdale rests above when it isn't traveling across Equestria.” The rainbow-maned alicorn gestures to the collection of buildings below them. Most were homes, but a good number of warehouses and even a business or two were visible from the air to the two. “Huh, I've never heard of this place before. I'm guessing Cloudsdale takes all the credit for anything that happens here as well? So what are we going to do until the city returns?” Rainbow Dash nods to the first question but pauses to consider the second before chuckling oddly. “Um yeah, I may have somewhere we could go but... um... Just follow me.” Aegis Flare looked after the other alicorn in confusion as she flew off before shrugging and following after her. Soon she was led to a large home, built with a mixture of wood, clouds, and stone, that was situated on the outskirts of the town. Without preamble the cyan mare walked up and opened the door before proceeding inside, leaving the bemused alicorn to follow after her. “Hey! Anypony home! The awesomeness has arrived!” Aegis Flare looked at her friend curiously until a rumbling started up within the house. She stepped back it sounded as if it was approaching them until another sound rang out. “DASHIE!” Bounding out of the next room came a group of youngsters, three fillies, a young female hinny, and a colt. Rainbow Dash sat down and spread her forelegs wide as the group pounced at her, sending her falling onto her back as the group wrestled around with her. Aegis Flare just watched in shock until she heard a chuckling and turned to see a heavily fire-scarred, white unicorn mare walk in through the same doorway that the children had come through before she spoke in a gruff voice. “Huh, about time that little Dashie brings home another one of her friends. And judging by your stare you had no idea that she was bringing you her family's home.” The orange alicorn nodded, causing the unicorn to chuckle. “I thought so. She never tells anyone that she will be showing up here, so you won't see most of her parents here at the moment, just me and the old blowhard watching the little ones while the rest are out. Those six will be at it for a while, so you might as well join me for a little refreshment. Knowing her she wouldn't have given you time to get anything.” At her nod the unicorn rolls her eyes and waves her into the next room. As she sat down at the table while a cup of tea was prepared for her, Aegis Flare realized something that the older mare said and peered more closely at her. “Hey wait, you look familiar. You also said anyone instead of anypony, weren't you apart of the old Black Guard?” The unicorn raised an eyebrow before a faint smile crossed her muzzle. “Good guess. If you knew that then you must be on of the Captains' daughters. Never did meet you but those two never shut up about you. It's a shame what happened to them with their disappearance. I would have gone looking for them but at the time this happened which earned me a formal discharge and eventually met Dashie's father, that old blowhard.” The mare stiffly waved a hoof over her fire-scarred form while insulting the stallion of the house, though she said it with a fond smile. The alicorn tilted her had at the mare in confusion as she would have thought she would have heard by now. “Haven't you heard the news? My father has been confirmed dead, but my mother managed to survive and is back home in Ponyville now.” The unicorn froze on hearing the news as her eyes widened in shock. Her breathing slowly sped up before she jumped to her hooves and rushed to a door opposite where they came in. “Tack Dash Harness, you old blow hard. Get down here right now, you have some explaining to do!” Soon enough the sound off hooves could be heard tromping down a stairway, followed by some more yelling before a statuesque gray pegasus stallion with a silver mane appeared while being shoved towards the exit of the home by the unicorn. “Dashie, can you watch over your siblings until one of the others get back, we need to run and visit an old friend, thank you, goodbye.” With that the two disappeared from the building leaving the orange mare bewildered as she looked around the room. Her attention was soon drawn to a wall full of picture frames featuring what she assumed were many of Rainbow Dash's brothers and sisters. After examining one of a teal maned, purple earth pony stallion bench pressing a wagon her attention was grabbed by something she didn't expect from her friend as she walked into the room. “Hey Flare? What just happened with Momma Frost? She just took off out of here in the family chariot forcing my dad to fly at his top speed.” The younger ponies streamed by the alicorn and into another room, and upstairs if the sound of hooves going upwards were any indication. Aegis Flare said nothing for a moment as she read over the document before she tossed an answer over her shoulder. “I just mentioned how my mom had returned back to Ponyville. It turns out that she knew her from before she had disappeared.” She left out some of the more sensitive information, not knowing how much Rainbow Dash knew of her mother, which left the mare confused for a moment. After a moment her eyes lit up in realization before she shook her head. “Oh right, she mentioned that she was burned like that while in a special branch of the guard. She must have meant the Black Guard since she didn't say much about what she did. If she only know heard about it then that means dad must have messed up and not told her which would explain why she looked annoyed at him as she left. What are you looking at anyways? You haven't even turned to look at me since I came in here.” The rainbow-maned alicorn moved to stand next to her friend and looked over the wall but froze when her friend lifted a hoof to point. “I don't know, why don't you tell me, Dr. Dash.” The mare groaned as her attention was drawn to a copy of a doctorate in weather sciences with her name on it. “Oh, buck me, I can't believe I forgot that my parents put that up there. Well, go ahead and laugh now that you know I'm almost as big of an egghead as Twilight.” The orange mare lifted an eyebrow as she looked over at her friend. “Now why would I do that? Sure I never expected you to have something like this, though I should have expected something with you being the weather captain in Ponyville, but if anything I'm actually a bit envious of you.” Rainbow Dash frowned as her friend says this as she twitches her wings nervously. “Why would you be envious of me? I mean you've done so much on your own while you were younger while I was stuck in school trying to get this thing. Those years were just so boring.” Aegis Flare shook her head as she turned away from the wall and moved over to sit in a nearby chair. “I may have done a lot, but there are many times when things would have been easier to have something like that. In fact I never even could finish basic school since I had to take care of Scootaloo. Without that no college would even accept me, and even with it many unicorn schools would have turned me away due to my condition.” She sighed as she thought about the lost opportunities. “Not only that, if I had a degree like that ponies with one as well would actually listen to me as if I knew what I was talking about. But no, because I didn't even finish school they think they know more than me as I warn them not to wander off and they end up in the belly of some beast of the Everfree, or disregard anything I get into a book even if the research is sound and even more thorough than they would do. If it wasn't for Daring Do getting me into MEEL I wouldn't have done anywhere near as well as I did but even that wasn't enough to get respect from many so-called scholars.” Rainbow Dash blinked as her friend lightly panted after her little rant and the fear and tension left her body. “Wow, that's... Yeah, I don't know how to respond to that. I mean I could see Twilight going off like that, but you?” The orange mare sighed before she shrugged in response. “I've just had a lot of bad experiences with ponies pointing out how much smarter than me because they have some kind of degree and I don't. Then they proceed to do something stupid that nearly gets them killed leaving me to save them. Actually, it's usually the unicorns that are like that and, in fact, they even look down on pegasii and earth ponies who go to non-unicorn universities unless they need them for something.” With a frown she crossed her hooves in front of her barrel and looked down as Rainbow Dash looked thoughtful. “I only went through school for it because I knew it would help get into the Wonderbolts so I never saw any of that. But yeah, I could see that happening if they are like what we've been seeing during court in Canterlot. But can we maybe keep this just between us? I'd rather not the others know about me having this.” With a smirk, the bat-winged alicorn turns slightly away from her friend. “I'll have to think about it, I mean this is such a big secret to keep away from our friends. Who knows what they'll do if they find out that you are hiding it.” Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes at her the mare while frowning at the answer. “Come on, you aren't really going to tell them? Are you?” Her friend continued to be evasive until more of Rainbow Dash's parents showed up at the home, letting them know that Cloudsdale was back in the area. After greeting them and explaining just where the two of Rainbow Dash's parents they were had expected had gone, they bid them farewell and took off to the city in the sky. When they arrived the two quickly made their way to the Wonderbolt's training grounds where they found the active members of the group training, as well as a few support and retired members. The two watched them train for a few minutes in secret before they looked at each other and nodded before stepping forwards. “And here they are, the best flying team in all of Equestria. Impressive, right?” Ears of the nearby Wonderbolts perked up as they glanced in their direction and word soon spread of the attention of two of the newest princesses. Spitfire, having helped with the plan Rainbow Dash was using, slowly made her way towards the two as they conversed. Looking over the group of pegasii, Aegis Flare frowned at them before shrugging to her fellow princess. “They aren't bad, but I've seen better. Really though, I don't see what's so great about them. I've seen weather teams that were better than this bunch.” The nearby pegasii frowned at her words but she paid no attention to them as she continued. “I mean look at them, they may look impressive but their movements are too practiced. They may look pretty but when there's an emergency needing them to do something outside of their tricks they fail horribly. They were nowhere to be found when Nightmare Moon and Discord showed up, and when a filly falls from a crowded event they were present at not a single one of them even noticed. Let's also not forget the time when they showed up to deal with a greed driven dragon they were taken out of the fight in seconds. Not only that but a bunch of civilians did what they could not, and in the case of the last it was a bunch of fillies that beat the dragon!” The Wonderbolts began to mutter amongst themselves at her words angrily, but they couldn't argue her points which made them even angrier. Even Spitfire was frowning at her words as she was reminded of the incidents that she was personally part of and she was part of the plan. She shook her head to clear it and stepped forward for her part but before she could say anything she was pushed to the side as another figure brushed by her. “Well if it isn't Princess Rainbow Dash. Come to check on the best fliers in Equestria again? And I see that you brought along one of your fellow new princesses this time.” Rainbow Dash shivered slightly as the pegasus stallion approached the two. Aegis Flare's eyebrow rose in curiosity as she took in the older pony's cerulean blue coat and grayish green mane. The stallion moved confidently as he brushed at some imaginary dust on his jacket and scarf. “The name is Wind Rider, your highness. And I must say that it is a pleasure to finally meet with another of our newest princesses. But I couldn't help but hear what you were saying against the organization I was once a part of. Don't you think you may be exaggerating a bit?” While this wasn't part of the plan, the orange alicorn took it all in stride and kept up the act. “If only I was, but from what I've seen then I doubt they are much better than the eye-candy that just stands around Canterlot Palace. They may look pretty but when something important comes up they are either absent or fail horribly. I'd rather rely on some of the weather teams I've met since they at least have proven they can handle dangerous situations.” The stallion frowned before it morphed into a smirk as he looked around at the insulted ponies hanging about the area as a plan formed in his mind. “If you think that then how about we make a little bet? If you really think that some no-name weather team can even hold a candle to the Wonderbolts then choose one to face them. If your team wins then we'll allow one forfeit of your choice, but if the Wonderbolts win...” He looks up at the pegasii in the air around them who were glaring at the princess. “Well I'm pretty sure they can come up with something suitable by the time the competition starts.” The princess pretends to ponder for a moment before nodding which caused the stallion's smile to widen as he turns towards Spitfire. “Ah Captain, it seems we have come to an agreement. Would you care to do the honors of setting up the rest of the details?” The Wonderbolt Captain frowned slightly before she shook her head and waved a hoof towards the nearby offices. She led the two princesses into the building and as soon as the door closed she let out a giant sigh and rubbed a hoof at the side of her head. “Ugh, I am really starting to dislike that stallion.” While Aegis Flare looked confused, Rainbow Dash smirked at the leader of the Equestrian flying team. “Starting to finally think that I was right about trusting him? I can't believe that I used to look up to him.” While Spitfire nodded at her question, the other alicorn just grew more confused. “Um, explanations please? I still only know a small part of whatever this plan was and this Wind Rider was never part of it.” Rainbow Dash sheepishly rubbed at the back of her head as Spitfire gave her an exasperated look before turning to the other princess. “As your friend was supposed to tell you, this is all so that we can actually improve the training that the Wonderbolts go through. I've managed to add one or two things over the years, but usually anything outside of what is 'traditional' is met with scorn. Really, I'm only the captain of the Wonderbolts in name. You saw what happened out there, as soon as Wind Rider showed up the entire team looked to him. I never noticed it before until Princess Rainbow Dash said something and it started to stand out to me.” The orange alicorn frown in thought as Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Yeah, they even ignore me when I make suggestions and it's even worse when he is around. I used to look up to him, but when I first met him something just felt off about him. I just can't figure out why it's happening, but it feels kind of like how I did when I ignored Twilight's warnings during her brother's wedding.” Aegis Flare frowned at this before her expression turned thoughtful. “Weird, something felt odd to me as well when he walked up, but it was coming more from some of the active Wonderbolts members. I would swear that they were scared of him for some reason.” As her frown returned, the pegasus looked confused for a moment before she shook her head. “Well as interesting as that sounds, how about we get started on the rest of the plan. Just who are you planning on challenging my ponies, and what will you be having them do that the can hope to challenge them at?” Aegis Flare smirked as she rubbed a hoof at the end of her red braid as Rainbow Dash looked sheepish once again. “Well I haven't thought of anything yet, but I figure that we can set up an obstacle course with a whole bunch of different things that a pegasus may have to deal with. She had a few other ideas that she hasn't told me about yet.” As the rainbow-maned mare gestured towards the other alicorn she shook stepped forward. “Well I still have to find her, but I know a pony that can really help out. I'll have to work out the details with her when I find her, but I'm thinking a fake monster attack during the other tests will be the perfect test for who is better. What do you think about it, Doctor Dash?” She smirked at the mare as her jaw dropped before Rainbow Dash leveled a glare at her. Spitfire just looked at the two for a moment before she dug through a nearby drawer and pulled out a folder wrapped in a red ribbon before digging through it hastily. “Wait, are you saying that she actually had a doctorate? But there was nothing about that in her file, just a brief mention of having taken a few classes before moving to Ponyville as the head weather manager.” With a final glare at her smirking friend, Rainbow Dash sighed and hung her head. “Yeah, I do. I don't like talking much about it, but I completed my studies in the Weather Sciences to help out with my flying. Knowing how the weather works makes it so much easier to plan out new tricks.” Spitfire looked bemused as she slowly closed the fire and shook her head. “Seriously? It's too bad that you didn't mention that when you sent in your application. Do you know how many pegasii there are that are both good fliers AND have an education like that? With only one you would just be another common member, but with both you would have been thrown right into officer training and would have been accepted almost right away. It's a pity that you grew a horn, right now we have almost no officer quality members, though Soarin is working on that issue.” Spitfire gestured toward a picture frame on the wall which held a diploma of her own, one for Magical Theory. Hearing and seeing all this caused Rainbow Dash's jaw to drop open before she let out a shout. “MOTHERBU-!” <><><><><><><><><><> “Come on Rainbow Dash, cheer up. At least you know you have more in common with Spitfire than you thought and earned more of her respect.” The cyan mare just mumbled grumpily at her friend as they walked back into Ponyville. While she wouldn't admit anything, she actually felt relieved that her idol didn't reject her over having a diploma, and she especially wouldn't say anything about it to the mare next to her as she knew she would gloat about it. It was still odd how she kept feeling things from the Wonderbolts, but she felt relieved for some reason after the little talk with Spitfire after her secret was revealed. Before she could sink even deeper into her thoughts, the two ran into a familiar purple-maned filly. “Scootaloo? What are you doing out here? Weren't you going to spend time with mom today?” The filly looked up with a haunted look on her face before she shuddered. “Yeah, well that was until those two ponies showed up and started talking to her for a while. After a while they went upstairs and then the moaning a screams started. I really did not need to hear my mom banging a couple ponies like that.” Her sister's face froze up at that while Rainbow Dash looked down at the filly in shock. “Wait, how do you even know that was what they were doing? You're too young to know about something like that.” Scootaloo just cocked her head to the side questioningly before replying. “Why shouldn't I know? Sis took me to the Canterlot Fancy House a couple years back and let me ask one of the mares there all kinds of questions. Of course if I knew that I would be hearing my mom doing that stuff...” The filly cut off with a shudder leaving Rainbow Dash with her jaw wide open in shock. Looking over at the elder of the two sisters, the prismatic mare just pointed at her in shock over what she was told. Shaking her head to clear it of the previous shock, Aegis Flare sighed in exasperation. “What? It's what my dad did for me. Thestral culture actually places great importance on places like that for the health of the community. 'Better to know all the messy details than to hide it all and let horrible mistakes be made' was what he said to me. Of course the Canterlot nobles may complain about it, but it doesn't stop them from using their services. Most of the time they just hire them to stand next to them during their fancy parents just to brag. In fact most of the mares and stallions that work there have more education than the average pony, and some even work as teachers at times. It's not like sex is the only thing they do.” She paused as she looked off in the direction of her home before looking back at the still shocked mare. “You do realize who my sister was talking about right? You know, the two ponies that we met earlier today that were supposed to be visiting my mother?” Rainbow Dash's expression slowly shifted from shock to confusion, and from there back to mortified shock as she remembered earlier that day. “Oh, buck me!” As she took off towards the home of the two sisters, the two looked at each other before following after her at a slower pace. Reaching their home the found the other alicorn flying above two of her parents with her face buried in her hooves. Her father appeared to be groaning in pain as he was draped across the back of his wife who was also limping a bit. “I can't believe you two! I mean I would have expected this from dad, but you, too?! Ugh, why must you always embarrass me like this?! It was bad enough that he would flirt with my friends, but now to do... that... with one of my friend's moms? Come on!” The stallion could only groan as his daughter berated them while the older mare could only chuckle. She lit her horn up to remove an ice pack from between her husbands legs and replace it with a fresh one before replying. “Okay, so I still had some feelings for her after all these years, but you forgot to mention her little... issue before we came out here. You should have known how that would have set your father off, and she's the one that reciprocated his affections.” Rainbow Dash could only shake her head before sighing at the two. “I didn't even know where you were going until after you abandoned us back home.” She looked around to see nearby ponies starting to take interest in the conversation before frowning. “We'll talk more later. I assume that you two need some help getting back home since I doubt he'll be flying anytime soon.” Seeing her mother nod she rubbed a hoof at the side of her head before turning to the orange alicorn. “Flare, I'll talk to you later since these two won't be getting back by themselves without help. “The two sisters watch as the three depart before slowly entering their home. They soon find their mother humming happily as she cleaned up around the main room of the house. They sat their watching her with wide eyes as she danced around, as well as she could with her prosthetic legs at least, until she turned around and spotted them. Seeing the looks on their faces she just smiled sweetly at them. “What? You try being alone for over a decade with nobody to help scratch your itch. I still miss your father, but he wouldn't want me to torture myself by staying alone, and Frost was always a good friend. We were planning on inviting her to join us before the incident, too.” Aegis Flare and Scootaloo looked at each other before simultaneously facehoofing, much to their mother's amusement.