//------------------------------// // Family // Story: Thankfull // by Rose Quill //------------------------------// Mother was cutting the strip dumplings to drop into the boiling water when Mom got home. “Anyone loud in the next half hour will be banished to the moon,” she groused as she shucked her coat. “I just spent three hours in the company of Yak Ambassadors with no concept of indoor voices.” Everyone looked at Pinkie. “Whaaaat?” she said as she finished plaiting Rhapsody’s hair. I walked over and hugged Mom. She grinned as she fingered the leather of the jacket I was still wearing. “Still got this old thing, huh?” she asked. “Why would I get rid of it?” I responded. “Every good memory of yours helped build some good memories of my own in it.” She winked at me as I felt Lighty blush a bit behind me. This bond we had was still kind of nascent, but being able to feel emotions from him wasn’t as hard as it was for him to feel mine. He was an open book compared to me. “You’re not corrupting my daughter, are you?” Mom asked giving the poor man a narrowed stare. Rory burst out laughing. “Mom, please,” she said as she wiped a tear away, most of us giggling as well. “if anything, Middy is corrupting him.” Adagio sat back from feeding Tina and began to burp the infant. “Please,” she purred. “None of you know how to properly corrupt another.” Her sister copied her grin. “If you all are debating corruption,” Mother called from the kitchen. “Could you send my wife in here so us former demons can do a bit of commiserating?” “Is that what they call it now?” Sandalwood teased as my Mom made her way to the kitchen. A less than polite gesture was thrown his way before she disappeared. I plopped back down on one of the couches, slipping back into Lighty’s embrace. Aurora looked around, smiling at all the couples gathered here. “Oh, this is just too sweet,” she cooed. Rhapsody giggled. “Any chance you’re going to bring someone into this group?” the college freshman asked sweetly. Aurora screwed up her face in a faux look of dismay. “No, I don’t think I shall,” she dramatically wailed. “I fear that I am doomed to forever be alone, no white knight for me!” My sister then fell backwards into the easy chair she had monopolized. Mom and Mother chose that moment to enter the living room, a smirk blossoming on the fiery-headed woman. “Oh, look, honey,” she said, looping her arm across Mother’s waist. “Rarity decided to drop by. I though she was spending the holidays at Fluttershy’s folk’s place this year, though.” Rory sat up and gave her a suffering look. I had to give it to my sister. Ever since Lighty and I had managed to solve our little inter-dimensional issue, she had become much less fussy though still very fashion forward. Our favorite way of teasing her - by mussing her hair - no longer fazed her, her multi-hued hair very often in tails or braids over the last three years. “Ha, ha,” she deadpanned. “If I really were Aunt Rarity, I wouldn’t be struggling with Senior Year Juries and have the prospect of still working at CHS cafeteria while trying to get a spot in an orchestra.” “Tough performance pieces, sis?” I asked. “Like you wouldn’t believe,” she said. “One of the pieces my advisor chose has more chromatic arpeggiated runs than Flight of the Bumblebee and in a worse key. Another is so syncopated we actually sat down one lesson to make sure all the beats were included.” “I’m confident you’ll do fine, Rory,” Light said. “You know she’ll tease you mercilessly if you don’t.” I gave a wolfish grin. She rolled her eyes. “Your husband’s right,” she said. “You are more impish than ever.” “Why not go into teaching?” Aria asked. “You’ve got a pleasant enough personality.” She gave Mother a glance. “You want this one?” Mother sighed as she leaned back against the wall after a quick glance into the kitchen. “With a lot of the new legislature, teaching has become pretty political,” the college educator said. “Public school teachers without tenure often don’t even have the ties others have for advancement. And with school boards upping tenure thresholds again, you have to be more or less perfect for six years. No complaints from students, parents, or fellow faculty.” Aria nodded as comprehension dawned. “Say no more.” Lighty frowned, as did most of the cousins. Rhapsody breached the topic first. “I don’t get it,” she said. “Your cousin doesn’t deal well with, how did you put it to Fancy Pants?” I asked. “It was something like ‘stuffed shirt, self-absorbed, cloak-and-dagger populist idiot.’ Aunt Rarity was fit to die of embarrassment that day.” A tinge of red colored my sisters face. “He insulted my dress,” she whispered. Mother nodded. “She’d never make it to tenure, let alone retain a post in most public schools,” she said. “And even though she could get on rather easily at Crystal Prep because of Cadence, she’ll still face the politicking.” A hissing sound from the kitchen sent her into her domain of the holiday. “Have you talked to Octavia?” Pinkie asked excitedly. “I’m sure she could help you prep for auditions!” “Or Vinyl, for that matter,” Adagio said as she made a funny face at Concertina. “She might have session work for you at her studio. We’ve all done bit work from time to time.” She furrowed her brow in thought. “Maybe,” she murmured. Mother poked her head out and caught my eyes. “Plates,” she said simply. I patted Light on the knee. “Dinner is close to done,”I said, standing. “Care to help set the table?” “Sure,” he said, rising and following me into the dining room where Mom was dropping off a basket of biscuits on the table. “You all know the rules, right?” Mom asked. “Twilight cooked…” “Raffle for dishes,” came the assembled reply of most of the adults in the dining room. I held my hand like a gameshow hostess as the voices filtered in. “Oh, just set the table, Imp,” she said with a laugh. “How do you put up with her, Sunlight?” “One day at a time,” he said as he pulled some plates from the china cabinet. “With a lot of love and a lot of patience.”