Fluttershy
Sigh. It’s been too long since I’ve seen them.
Has it really though?
It has.
I thought you never wanted to go back. What’s with this sudden interest in them? Did we not leave them behind to try and move on?
No, I left because I was afraid of what you might do to them if we stayed. What we might do. I’d like to think we’re stable now, aren’t we?
Stable enough. Why so much interest in the pink one? It has been a very long time since I’ve seen your eye wander to another pony like this. What is it, six years now?
Maybe. Pinkie is more… extroverted than Scarlet ever was, but they do have a few similar traits between them. Thankfully, she isn’t suicidal, that being the biggest plus.
Ha! I’ll say! What a wonderful flurry of blows, with one hoof no less! Not very strong, but faster than anything before…
I still cannot believe you ripped off her foreleg!
Your only directive was not to kill, you never said anything about her legs.
For the love of- Just because I let you out to play, even if by accident, does not give you the right to just go off and dismember my friends!
And when you’re not in control, you have no power over me. Be glad I didn’t simply eat her.
Oh. So this is how you want to play, hmm?
No! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.
I see. That’s what I thought.
“Hey, you in there? This is our stop, we need to get off,” Pinkie said. I shook my head and glanced around to realize that the train had stopped moving. I pulled the head phones out of my ears and got up from my seat with her and Rainbow.
“W-wow. I-I never knew that the s-subway was so fast,” I stated. Of course, that’s a lie. A little more than a week ago I was still afraid of my powers being triggered by accident.
Do you even remember half the things we did back then?
Not in the slightest. I’ll never forget the taste though. Ah yes, that sweet, wonderful taste…
Stop that. Never again.
“Maybe. We’ll see if I believe that. I know you, you crazy, crazy mare,” Rainbow said as we stepped on to the platform. I changed my teeth and gave her a hug and a big smile.
“O-of course you do, m-my little Blue bug♥” I said with my wing wrapped around her. There’s nothing she hates more than the old nickname I gave her all the way back in daycare that stuck with her all the way through middle school. I wasn’t very nice back then, but that was in part because Fluffy and I were losing grip on who was who. If Firefly hadn’t come along, then who knows where we would be?
Dead probably.
Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. It’s almost like that’s what I meant or something.
Can I be Major Obvious? I want a title like the orange one, whom you seem to be so submissive toward.
I am not!
You are. Even protective of her. You seem to have taken a liking to all of these ponies, save maybe the young one you show no interest in.
Your point? Maybe I think of them as friends.
Friends? You? Preposterous! I remember a certain oath made about four years ago that denied that.
Things have changed. We’ve changed. I’ve changed. We’re… not lost anymore.
You say that as if you’re unsure.
“Hey, space cadet!” Rainbow pulled me out of my own head.
“I-I’m sorry, what?” She tilted her head and frowned.
“You alright? You’re not… usually this out there.” She was right of course. I’m nervous. I haven’t been nervous in years. I haven’t truly felt fear since the day Scarlet killed herself. In battle I get a sick joy just like Rainbow. It excites me, and I love it to my core. The blood, the violence, the rush, it’s all wonderful. But the thought of seeing my parents again… why am I so afraid of that?
“A-am I? I-I don’t feel any different than usual. Y-you of all ponies should know b-better than to worry about me.” Lies, all of it.
“Bullshit. I do know better,” She remarked as she raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, guys? Do we need to do this here? The five thirty rush hour is about to start and I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of it,” Pinkie said. I never lost contact with Rainbow’s eyes and eventually just rolled mine and started walking toward the staircase. The other two fell in behind just as quick and we were silent as we went through the busy streets of Manehattan. The south eastern side of town, not exactly it’s own district, but the transition from the poor side to the largest shopping area in the big city, was relatively filled with middle class apartments and had some of the newest buildings in the city… on account of half of them being destroyed three weeks ago. And a new substation at that. Up until last week, this side of town was getting power rerouted from every nearby station in the eastern and southern districts and was constantly getting mixed results. Blackouts happened every other day from either too much or too little power getting routed from one side of town or the other and the ponies managing it couldn’t get a moment’s rest.
What did dad do again? He was an artesian before we moved, but…
Didn’t we leave before he got a job? Mother was paying the bills for that first month.
Oh, that’s right! I wonder if he ever did find something? Will anypony even be home? If it’s just Zephyr, I doubt he’ll let us in… This wasn’t very well thought out now that I think about it…
You think so?
“So, the place we’re looking for is just around the corner right?” Pinkie asked. I looked around, and sure enough, there was the road we were looking for.
“2123, 382nd street, 10001 Manehattan Manehattan. It’s a four bedroom four bath building with kitchen and laundry, usually meant for rent from multiple ponies but it looks like they rent out the whole thing themselves. I can only wonder if they did that just in case you ever came back home?” Rainbow said. Yep, they would. Those ponies were always too nice for their own good. I nodded.
“P-probably. Y-you knew them about a-as well as I did,” I said. Rainbow made a half shrug and nodded. Before most of my world thought she died, there wasn’t a whole lot of time when we weren’t together. I loved games and she loved to win, so it was a constant back and forth of us migrating from one game to the next in the hopes that Rainbow could finally beat me at something… and then never did. At least in terms of video games and board games. She almost always could beat me at anything that required physical skill. I had little control over my body, so fine detail and use of my powers hadn’t come through yet, making it near impossible for me to be accurate at anything that needed more than my hooves.
“2115, 2117, 2119, 2121, annnnnd… 2123. Oh hey, there’s a light on! Maybe we’re in luck,” Pinkie said. I rolled my eyes.
“Y-you say that, but I’d s-say it’s the opposite if it’s just my b-brother home.” The buildings on this road were very ‘copy-paste’ kind of buildings with each one having a slight differentiation in colors along the windows and doors, but not much else to distinguish them from each other. This particular apartment had flower troughs on each window sill, and I’m sure that mom tends to those on a daily basis. She always wanted to do home décor, but in the end I think she wound up in jewelry sales before I left. We stood in front of the door, and I had a hoof raised ready to knock, but something was keeping me from doing it.
Well, you’re the one who said you wanted to see them.
True. But who thought I was going to be apprehensive about this? Almost five years since I’ve ever been this nervous about anything. It’s not like I’m about to go through some traumatizing death, I’m just here to see my parents. What do I have to be nervous about?
Here’s a thought, maybe you actually value our parents opinions about you after all this time?
What? No way. I’m not Fire, that was always her deal. My parents never expected anything from me, I never… really cared…
I put my hoof down and let my eyes drift to the little doormat under hoof with the word ‘WELCOME’ printed on it in all caps with butterflies and vines along the edges.
“D-damn it…” I cursed under my breath. I straightened up, brought my head up, and finally, after letting the others stare at me for five or so minutes, I knocked on the door. It only took a couple moments before I started to loose my nerve. I was just about to turn tail and run away as fast as possible when I felt hoofsteps coming from inside.
Too late now.
What if Zephyr opens the door? He’d call the police on me! And Fire is here, and she’s supposed to be dead, so how would he react to that? Mom might have a heart attack if she saw her… what am I even doing here? I’m a murderous cannibal who shouldn’t even be alive right now! I don’t need to talk to my parents, I should just run away and act like this never happened. I’ll go back to my cave in the castle and never come out and just hide away like I have been for the past year. It’ll be fine, I don’t need to do something as scary as talk to my parents, I can just go fight giant monsters and hope one of them kills me so I never have to do this kind of thing. Ha ha… ha ha ha…
My head was spinning and I was starting to feel dizzy as the hoof steps from inside came closer and closer. My eyes came back into focus when something tapped against the handle and it started to turn. I felt my whole body tense up as the door started to push outward and a pastel green hoof was on the handle. Please be dad, please be dad, please be dad… A wave of relief washed over me when I noticed the gold watch he always wore on his wrist, and then finally, the rest of my father appeared as the door swung open. Bags under his green-blue eyes, his pale pink mane combed back, his thick mustache in poor shape since it looked like he’d just woken up. He was wearing dark blue pajamas and a teal bath robe while yawning through a cup of coffee.
“Hello?” he asked lazily though a yawn without opening his eyes just yet.
Isn’t it like… five pm? He clearly just woke up.
Well, yes, but maybe he just works nights now or something. It’s not like we’ve been around to know what’s going on.
“U-um… h-hi… d-dad,” I managed, maybe even at a higher volume than a whisper. My stutter was even less controllable and all I wanted to do was run away. His ears twitched at ‘dad’ and the yawning stopped immediately.
“Dad? Flutter!?” He just about shouted… well, shouted ‘for him’ anyways, after his eyes locked on me. Then he noticed the rest of my group and his eyes fell on Rainbow. He blinked several times and rubbed at his eyes with his free wing and stared at us again. “And… Firefly?” Rainbow reached up a hoof to scratch at the back of her head and worked up a nervous smile.
“H-hi there, mister Cirrus. L-long time no see, huh?” She stuttered. Well, at least I’m not the only one. Dad rubbed at his eyes again and blinked a few more times. He took a deep breath, drained more of his coffee and then stepped off to the side of the doorway.
“Well, uh… why don’t you all come have a seat. I suppose… we have some things to discuss,” He said as calmly as possible. That was always his strong suit after all. He’s the kind of stallion who never yells and is almost always calm in every situation. I could easily count on my hooves the number of times I’ve seen him angry, but he’s never once yelled. At least in my life time.
“S-sure,” I responded before trotting in. The living room, while a different shape, was mostly set up the same way it’s always been. A couch on one side, two recliners in the back, a love seat on the other, the old glass coffee table in the center of it all. It looks like they’d upgraded a few times since I left because the home theater that this little section of seating faced was… almost impressive. A large flat screen in a big, rose wood entertainment console filled with rows and rows of movies in every open compartment that didn’t house an impressive sound system. In the bottom sections I found all my old game systems and their games lined up neatly like some kind of legacy display in a museum.
The couches and chairs were the same as they’d always been, cloth covered cloud of the highest grade possible since dad made them himself. As if by force of habit, I found myself taking up the farthest seat on the big couch from the TV, with Rainbow joining next to me like she always did, and finally Pinkie taking up the third seat.
“Do you girls want something to drink?” My dad asked from the kitchen, no doubt getting another cup of coffee.
I honestly have to wonder who he’s more surprised to see? Me, the one who ran away, or her, the one most of us thought was dead for the past seven years.
I would think the one that came back from the dead is a bit more of a shock here.
Me too, but do you really think he ever thought I would come back? I know I didn’t.
Yeah, but nopony thought you were dead. Dead to not dead, I would say dead gets priority here.
Yeah, that’s fair.
“Oh sure, what do ya have?” Rainbow asked. Dad took a breath and shook his head.
“Um, coffee, water, orange juice, milk, uh… you’re not old enough to drink as far as I remember, so that’s about it.” He said.
Openly admitting that there’s alcohol in the house? That’s a first.
Your mom wouldn’t do that.
Truer words were never spoken.
“Water is fine, thanks.” Rainbow said.
“I’ll take a coffee if you’re offering.” Pinkie followed.
“I-i’ll just have some juice daddy.” I finished. Pinkie made a face at me, but Rainbow didn’t bat an eye.
Oh… was that weird? It felt like the natural thing to say. It’s not like I didn’t call him that all the time back when I lived at home.
Maybe you’re still just an awkward teen at heart.
Well. Probably. We were taller than everypony around us until we turned eighteen, you know, last year. We’ve been taller than our parents since we were fourteen. It’s really hard to be not noticeable when we’re about a head above our peers.
But I never cared about that.
No, you just decided you wanted to get out at any possible opportunity, and that made me even more anxious and awkward for all that time.
“Sure kids,” He responded, then went to filling up cups. It took a few minutes before dad arrived with a tray full of familiar cups, a small carafe of, probably cream, and a little tray of sugar. He grabbed his cup and then moved his recliner close to the table to be nearer to us. I noticed a strange smell coming from his coffee and then it hit me.
Oh wow. He put vodka in there.
Ouch. Some kinda preparations to deal with us, that’s for sure.
Didn’t we just say ‘dead’ took priority over ‘probably never seen again?’
Yeah, but she’s not his kid. We’ve seen bad parents before, ours are not.
… You have had far too many good arguments today.
Oh come on, you know they’re not so idiotic to have no inkling of what had been going on before we left.
Don’t patronize me! Of course I know that. I barely know what to say to him myself, there’s no way he ever expected to see me out of the blue, much less with Fire in toe. Oh goddess, what am I doing here? My attention was drawn when dad leaned over and put his front hooves together.
“So…” he started then brought a hoof to his forehead and sighed. “I’m just a little at a loss here. I’m glad to see you’re well and home for a change sweetie, but, um… You’re here and I didn’t think that was possible, and… I don’t think I’ve met you before. Hi, I’m Cirrus Shy, Flutter’s father.” He said as he stretched a hoof out to Pinkie. She got up and shook his hoof about ten times in a second.
“I’m Pinkie Pie, I’m uh… a friend and a co-worker of theirs.” She said before she sat back down. Dad took his hoof back, looking at it a little confused, probably making connections as he did.
“I see… so… Well, how have you been, I suppose? I take it you have a job now, and you look like you’re in good shape these days too, not real thin like you used to be,” Dad asked, probably confused as to what to say to me.
Oh, we ate alright. We ate plenty…
A warm feeling and a memory of a taste flooded my mouth and I shivered.
I told you to stop!
But it’s been so long… Yesterday was simply a reminder, we could have it again!
No! No more, never again! Never again. Never again…
Ah, but does that mean you’re going to omit part of the story? Didn’t you want to ‘come clean’ about all this?
Coming clean is in shame for what we did, not pointing out reasons to do it again. This is exactly why we left in the first place! I can’t go through that again. I can’t…
“Flutter? Are you alright sugar?” Dad asked. I picked my head up, not even realizing that I’d nearly hunched myself over.
“O-oh, um… I-I’m fine… j-just… t-trying to think of what to say…” I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I’m sure he really wants to know how Rainbow is still alive, but I doubt he didn’t take notice of her stump already and he’s just being polite. Maybe we can start there and… work our way into us. She didn’t respond immediately, so I guess she had nothing else to say.
“W-well… I’ve been okay I guess. Um… I-I’m sure you probably w-want to know why I left and h-how Fire is still alive-” I started like I was apologizing, but he stopped me.
“You’re right, but… maybe we could wait on that till your mother gets home, hmm? We did move after all, so I wouldn’t think you found your way home just to talk to me. It’s been almost four years since I’ve seen you, so why don’t we just catch up for now? What do you do for a living? Where are you staying? How did you meet Pinkie? Uh… if it doesn’t go too far back, when did you find Firefly again? Do uh… do your parents know?” She let her ears drop and then shook her head. “Oh, I see… well, I guess I shouldn’t say anything to them about this then. But all that can wait for later, tell me how your lives have been.” He relaxed in his chair with his coffee… well, technically that’s a black Zvyrian unbeknownst to anypony else, in his hooves again.
“W-well that… is a bit of a d-difficult subject. Y-you see I uh… we work f-for the government and what exactly we do w-we can’t really talk about… what we do… or where we live… B-but, I met them both at work.” Dad squinted at me.
“You… work for the government… at nineteen and eighteen?” he asked. We nodded, and I guess Pinkie had prepared for this, because she pulled out her badge.
“I’m also eighteen, but I turned eighteen this year.” She said as she slid it across the coffee table. Dad studied the little silver bars and tilted his head. He picked it up and turned it to the other side, and sure enough there was the royal seal on the back. He then passed it back to Pinkie.
“Well… that is… surprising? I uh… never really thought you for the military type… and a captain at eighteen… What rank are you?” I never thought I would be in the military either.
“We’re all the same rank. Though, I’ve only had mine for about a few weeks, and she’s had hers for over a year now. You’re at like, what, six months now right Pinkie?” Rainbow asked
“A little more than that, but all the same.” Pinkie responded. Dad frowned.
“A year… and two weeks? How does… You know, I’ll just assume there’s some special condition to all this and you can’t really talk about that. Is that how long you’ve been in the military, or how long since you earned your rank?” He was always very perceptive of ponies, quiet and reserved, sometimes even too quiet.
“‘E-earned’ isn’t quite the right word… a-appointed is more like it, and that w-would be yes to both. It’s… complicated. B-but, what about you? H-how have you all been doing? I-I uh… had my reasons, b-but I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for all that time…” I apologized. Dad sighed and scratched at his face.
“Right… um, well, I hate to say it but had you been around all that time it would’ve been tough for a while. It took me about a year to get a job, and only this past year did I find something that I could take over supporting the family on again. These days I work for Manehattan Water and Electric as a station manager. I first managed to make it as an electrician thanks to my background in cloud construction and wiring, but that wasn’t enough so I worked very hard to get to the position I’m in now over the past few years. It’s been real hectic these days, what with that lunatic sending in all these monsters and destroying facilities that I have to manage. Our apartment is right in the middle of the zone the first monster showed up in, and the substation it ruined was one I managed. I spent the last couple weeks working around the clock just to make sure this entire zip code had power and now I’m in the middle of a well deserved vacation.”
Oh… so… you really had to deal with the aftermath of that. I’m sorry…
It’s not as if that was our fault.
But we were the ones prepared to deal with it, and because we couldn’t take care of it quickly, our parents suffered. I could’ve been here to help. I have all that money sitting away collecting dust and they could’ve used it…
“Well, I say vacation, I never really get time off. I’ll get called in every now and again to help with some odd problem or another with the new station that was built in record time thanks to the princess. You know, I got to meet her while she was here. Never seen anypony like her, she practically glows up close.”
“Eh, she doesn’t do that all the time. She can be annoying when she wants to.” Pinkie said. We both gave her a death stare, and dad tilted his head.
“I… I’m sorry?” He asked. Pinkie brought her hooves between her legs and let her eyes focus on her coffee.
“Uh…” She stammered.
“W-we have regular contact with her s-so most of us know her personally… b-but um, she shouldn’t have said that, so…” I explained as a dull searing started to burn in my mouth. Dad started to raise a hoof, but put it back down and swallowed whatever question he had.
“Okay then… uh, your brother is a sophomore now, so that’s been… something. As it turns out, he seems to be a fantastic writer and is making a name for himself with some short stories he writes. He’s always been so carefree and energetic, but the stories that come from him all seem to be like something of a nightmare. There’s nearly aways some hairy white wolf monster in them that terrorizes these poor young fillies and colts. The realism and… detail he writes with is what I think earned him his awards, but sometimes it makes me wonder just what goes through that boy’s head.” And that made me feel bad.
Those probably aren’t all too fictional…
And most definitely your fault.
Don’t you start this again, you know you were just as involved!
“But other than that, he’s just been going through school as usual, always around a crowd and finally some decent grades to show for himself. A little more of a charmer than he used to be, but not without making an ass of himself every now and again. But, that’s nothing new. Let’s see… as for your mother, she manages that Carcha now.” In a surreal turn of events, my family works for Goose. Huh. I don’t know how I feel about that.
“She still works their jewelery counter more often than not, but now she can have other ponies do the work from time to time. Ooh, you know she’s the reason we have this TV here. Apparently they were just going to get rid of the old one that was hung up in the store for a newer model, but they let her keep it instead. It was a real stroke of luck that we didn’t see very often a few years back. Hmm, it’s almost six actually, she should be here any minute now…” Just as he said that, I felt something click in the walls. Metal slid across metal, a handle rotated, and the hinges of the front door creaked. I felt myself freeze up.
Oh, come on! You already made it this far, what’s your deal?
But what if it’s Zephyr too?
So what about him? Little punk is probably going to turn tail and run the other direction.
That’s what I’m afraid of! What if he remembers? You know those stories are about us. What do I say if he calls me out on it?
You tell it like it is, because that’s what we came here to do, isn’t it? Don’t forget, we’re alive today because an act of a goddess you didn’t believe in. If that little shit walks through the door, then you make him listen to what you have to say. It’s not like our parents would have the heart to throw us out. We both know that.
Ugh, but that means I have to tell them what happened that night…
Did you not plan on doing that to begin with?
Not the fact that he saw it all. Oh goddess, he’ll probably find a weapon and try to protect them from me. What am I going to do?
“Cirrus honey, are you up yet? I brought home dinner. Zephyr said he’s going to-” Mom walked in and started talking after hanging up a coat at the front door, then nearly dropped whatever food she had in the bag on her back when she locked eyes on me. I tried my best to smile and wave, but I guarantee that came out as awkward as possible. She just about threw whatever she’d bought at dad, then galloped full speed to me and pulled me in for a death grip hug.
“Oh my goddess, you’re alive! I thought I’d never see you again, where did you go? Why did you leave? Oh, my baby girl…” then her eyes fell on the occupant of the seat next to me. “Oh. Is that Firefly? And missing a wing? And your pretty little face… what happened to you?” She took my face in her hooves and then poked at Rainbow’s cheek. She then looked to dad.
“This is real right? I’m not dreaming am I?” She asked.
“No, this is real alright. Stranger than fiction, but real all the same. We were just talking about you, actually. Why don’t you have a seat Daisy, I’m sure you have a few questions you want to ask yourself. I’ll go put this in the fridge.” The sunflower yellow pegasus mare released me from her grip and made her way to her own recliner now that her excitement had converted into confusion. As usual, her dark red mane was curled in a bun on top with the rest of her mane curled into a singular long roll along the back of her neck as she always liked to keep her mane short. She had her pearls on and her name appropriate flower shaped ear rings just under a new par of gold frame circular glasses she must’ve gotten recently. She was wearing black pleated slacks, a silky violet vest and a white blouse underneath that. Mother always knew how to dress herself, but I was always an edgy kid who liked dark colors. I was justified after Rainbow died on me, but I was like that before too, so there’s really no excuse.
“So… You’re back home and… you’re alive. You are Firefly, aren’t you?” Mother asked. Rainbow nodded.
“Uh… a lot happened, really. It’s uh… nice to see you again miss Shy.” Pinkie brought a hoof to her chin and squinted at me.
“So… is your name Fluttershy or is it Flutter underscore Shy, as like, two words and you just go by your full name?” She asked.
“Yes,” I responded with a smile. Pinkie rolled her eyes and huffed, and I let out a little chuckle.
“I’m sorry, I never introduced myself. I’m Daisy Shy, and you are?”
“Oh, right. Pinkie Pie, we’re all co-workers, we work for the military, we’re captains, et cetera, et cetera.” She then tossed her badge back on the coffee table. Dad came back from the kitchen and took his seat, and mom was at a loss for words as she examined Pinkie’s badge. She looked to him for help, but he just shook his head.
“Uh huh… B-but a captain just after enlistment age? How…? Or better yet, why? You were never the type to go into the military, and weren’t you training to be a Wonderbolt? Well, I suppose that would be hard to do for you now, but why would the military accept an amputee...? Oh goodness, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-” Mom rambled until Rainbow stopped her.
“Uh, no, don’t worry about it. I usually refer to myself as a cripple, amputee is a way nicer word than that even though it's not technically true.” Mom relaxed a bit, but then sat at the edge of her chair.
“So, I suppose I should get my questions straight. Have you asked them anything yet?” He shook his head.
“No, I just talked about what’s been going on around here since Flutter’s been gone. I figured she wanted to talk to both of us, so I had her wait on the explanations.” Dad said. Mom nodded slowly.
“I see… Should we wait for Zephyr? I’m sure-” Mom started
“No! I-I uh… I would rather just… e-explain myself before… before I h-have to deal with that,” I nearly shouted. They looked to each other and then back to me.
“So… what would you three rather explain first then? There’s: how did you survive, what happened to make you run away, and well, this might seem rude, but why did you come back? Of course we’re glad to see you two alive and well and all, but your… special circumstances combined with your occupation have me worried.” Dad said.
Oh, you know, just to explain that I’m a monster and might end up dying in a week or two, nothing big really.
You’re doing that thing again.
Of course I am! What are they going to say? How do you react when your daughter tells you that she ran away from home to become a murderer? How many ponies did we kill? How many did we eat? We’re the most wanted pony in Equestria for Goddess sake! Those posters said alive or dead, how do I tell them that was me and I deserved to have my face on it?
You stop freaking out and do it! Pull yourself together, this was your decision! I don’t care, I have never cared, and I will never care. This is all you. You’re the only one who feels responsible for any of this, so it’s your job to grow a pair and spit it out. Pull your head out of your ass.
She’s right of course. I just have to say it. That’s all I have to do. Tell the truth. Say what happened and let whatever fallout that comes next play like the irreversible change of a nuke to land. I was about to speak up when Rainbow beat me to it.
“Why don’t I go first? We’re going to go visit my parents tomorrow and I imagine Fluttershy is… maybe a little apprehensive about what she has to say, ya know? I mean, you guys were like parents to me, but you aren’t my parents all the same. Fair warning though, the things we have to say… they ain’t pretty. Like… at all. Horrible, horrible things happened to both of us and we reacted to those things in horrible, horrible ways. Not to say the we didn’t learn, and maybe even grew up from it all but… we’re only here because we never got caught, ya know?” Rainbow explained. Oh thank the goddess. My parents frowned.
“Never got caught? Firefly, what do you mean? Back when you two were around all the time, you wouldn’t have done anything bad, surely-” Mom started but Rainbow stopped her.
“Bad is an understatement. We were wanted by the state. Firefly isn’t even my name anymore. This scar on my face? It’s an old sword wound I got from somepony I killed. And that was almost six years ago now, that’s just the beginning. With that in mind, I’m willing to share the story, but only if you guys still want to hear it. Things went south, and things went there in a hurry back then, so if you don’t want to know all the gory details, now would be the time to speak up.” Rainbow said. Horror plastered on their faces, my parents looked to each other and then to me, but I could only hide my face.
“And all of this… is true? You… you killed somepony?” Dad asked, clearly shocked, even more so then when he opened the door about an hour ago. Rainbow shrugged.
“Not that I’m proud of it, but that was just the first time. And one of five on that day, really. I used to kill professionally. If you need any more proof, I’ll even show you the murder weapon.” Rainbow said as if it was the most casual thing she’s ever done. She let her blood start to fly out of her stump and form a tentacle-like spear. She pulled out a dead feather from her wing and tossed it in the air. A few swipes from the spear and the feather had been shredded as it slowly floated down to the top of the glass table. Mom fell back in her recliner covering her eyes and Dad couldn’t keep his off the red cone coming from Rainbow’s back.
“How did this happen? Is this our fault? Did we go wrong somewhere? Honey, do I have to be sober for this? I’m not sure how much more I can take.” She just about moaned in exasperation. Dad however was still transfixed by the blood floating in the air. He turned to mom, but his eyes never left the blood.
“Now hold on just a minute. Let’s just… hear what they have to say first. And absolutely not on that other thing. You know how you get when you drink.” Dad said, ever calm as always. Mom let out a groan and then slowly fluttered over into dad’s lap. After she’d wrapped herself around him, she sniffed and brought her wobbly eyes back to Rainbow.
“Okay, I’m ready. G-go ahead and punch auntie Shy in the guts a few times so I can justify feeling the need to cry right now.” Dad tightened his grip around her and rolled his eyes.
“Daisy, stop it. Can you imagine the courage they must’ve worked up just to come here and talk about this? I know this is hard, but we mustn’t run away from the truth.” I kind of wanted to cry too. With a heavy sigh and a huge sniff, mom pulled herself together a bit, but never let go of dad.
“Do you always have to be right?” she complained, even managing to work up a slight smile. They kissed and he nodded.
“Only when I need to be,” he said as he nuzzled her forehead. They both returned their focus to Rainbow and then he asked a new question. “So I take it you’re all power ponies, right?” We nodded.
“I would definitely say none of us would have survived to this point if we weren’t,” Pinkie said. I think a lot of things would be different if that weren’t the case.
“Then I guess that makes you a first generation… I wonder if… well, that can wait. Alright, Firefly, go ahead and tell us what happened. Oh, and a bit of advice; you might want to go ahead and give your folks a warning before you show up at their front door. I thought I was going to have a heart attack when I saw you, so they might really have one. It’s not every day your daughter comes back from the dead, you know?” Rainbow sighed and raised her head to the ceiling light.
“I know… It would be one thing if I wasn’t a freakin’ murderer for hire, and it’d be another if… bah, screw it. So here’s the story, and it all starts back on that day I fell from Cloudsdale…”