Twilight's eyes lit up in excitement, and her hooves rapidly clicked against the crystalline floor beneath her hooves as she danced in place, letting out an adorable squeal. "Cadance!"
Standing just outside of the door stood Princess Cadance, Twilight's sister-in-law, and Princess of Love, who held Flurry Heart, Twilight's niece, against her chest with a forehoof. Standing beside her stood Shining Armor, Twilight's brother and Cadance's husband. He smiled at the sight of his sister, then peered into the castle and looked at Rainbow Dash. He just spaced out while Cadance let out a good-natured, yet tired chuckle. "Hello, Twilight," she greeted.
Flurry Heart cooed and giggled, then in a flash of Flurry's pink magic, she teleported out of Cadance's grip, much to her mother's bewilderment. But of course, Flurry Heart was okay. She appeared in a pop right in front of Twilight, who had been expecting her appearance. Twilight cradled Flurry in her magic and pulled her into her chest, then leaned down, cooing and cuddling her niece. The two of them giggled and nuzzled each other affectionately.
Rainbow felt a wave of jealously washing over her. How dare Flurry Heart steal her wife's affection!
Flurry Heart, of course, ignored her indignation and continued to coo and cuddle and nuzzle Twilight.
"Thanks for watching Flurry Heart for us today, Twilight," Cadance said.
Twilight mostly ignored her and continued giggling and nuzzling Flurry. "Yeah, you're welcome," was her reply.
Cadance and Shining shared a glance, then in sync, they levitated an assortment of items on inside- diapers, wipes, towels, milk, foal food, more diapers, and, of course, Whammy. "Well... this should be everything you need! Haha...ha..." Shining chuckled nervously.
Rainbow caught Cadance giving him a predatory look. It sent shivers down her spine since she knew exactly what that look meant- Twilight had looked at her that way before. Her tail twitched at the memory.
She felt sorry for him.
"Of course! No problem," Twilight replied without looking away from Flurry. Flurry hugged her muzzle and held onto her as she lifted her head up, and both of them giggled.
Cadance and Shining turned and went on their way, Cadance brushing up against Shining's body in a way that Rainbow knew was purposefully marking her mate. The door closed, leaving her and Twilight, and of course, the youngest alicorn.
Flurry Heart looked at her and cooed. After a moment, she leaped from Twilight's muzzle and grabbed a hold of Rainbow's neck, then started nuzzling her chest affectionately.
Rainbow grinned awkwardly, smiling far too widely. After all, she knew exactly what this... this thing was capable of! The memory of the shattered Crystal Heart played through her mind, and she gulped. Hesitantly, she reached a forehoof up and cradled the young filly against her chest.
Flurry murmured softly and nestled up against her.
"Aww..." Twilight cooed, her head tilting to the side as she smiled sweetly. Ignoring Rainbow, she leaned in, closed her eyes, and rubbed her nose against Flurry's body.
Rainbow silently fumed. It was the same every time- Twilight would ignore her and focus all of her love and attention on Flurry Heart.
Cadance truly was sadistic.
Hesitantly, she tilted her head down and gave Flurry a nuzzle, eliciting a soft, cute coo from her and making her nestle deeper into her fluffy chest. For some reason, Flurry Heart really liked her. And Twilight, too. She loved her aunts, and the rest of the girls, too.
Though Flurry annoyed her at times- stealing Twilight's love wasn't okay in her book- Rainbow still found Flurry Heart precious. Most of the time. She was cute and sweet and loving. Which was good, because when she wasn't cute and sweet and loving, well, Flurry Heart was a baby alicorn. Her magic was still mostly uncontrolled. How Cadance and Shining managed to keep her from ushering in the apocalypse on a daily basis eluded her.
But it seemed this wasn't going to be one of those days where there was going to be immense collateral damage- Flurry's chest calmly rose and fell with her gentle breathing.
"She's so precious when she's sleeping," Twilight cooed, still tenderly nuzzling her. With a great deal of reluctance and a heavy-hearted sigh, she pulled her head back. Longingly, she stared at Flurry.
Rainbow lifted her head back up and nodded in agreement. "Yeah..." she said tentatively.
Flurry screamed. Rainbow clutched her ears with her hooves, but it didn't help at all. The sound was just too piercing. If Flurry kept this tantrum up, the entire castle would shatter.
Looking back at the shattered remains of the Cutie Map was proof enough of that.
Twilight just stood there, her chest inflating much larger than she thought possible as she hyperventilated.
Twilight wasn't going to be able to help her. She needed to figure out how to solve this calamity before Flurry Heart brought the castle down around them.
A pause in Flurry's scream. She bolted at the alicorn.
Flurry's face was red, and green mashed peas were splattered against the walls and floor absolutely everywhere. Even Whammy was a casualty of the war that had raged on.
Before she came anywhere near close to reaching Flurry, the alicorn disappeared in a crack of magic.
Rainbow's eyes widened in fear as the filly teleported away. How the baby was able to do that made her want to scream in frustration. Even if she was an alicorn, it made no sense! Teleportation was supposed to be such a complex spell! Of course she never really understood Twilight's explanations.
Flurry landed on her withers. Rainbow squeaked, then felt Flurry grab her mane with her magic and pull hard. Her head was jerked up toward the ceiling, and with that, her flight path changed, looping upward.
Another swift tug that made her wince in pain, and she found herself careening towards the right, turning until she faced Twilight. And then Flurry stopped pulling on her mane. But by this time, there wasn't enough time for her to correct. Flurry teleported again, but there was nothing she could do.
'At least Twilight will break my fall,' she mused. A moment later, she outstretched her legs and spread them just so. When she inevitable collided with her wife, she pushed her over and landed on top of her with a grunt coming from both of them, and immediately hugged her.
Their muzzles came within an inch from each other, and the impact broke Twilight from her stupor. For a moment, neither of them said anything as Rainbow laid on top of her. Slowly and silently, Twilight cocked her head to the side questioningly.
Flurry broke out into happy giggles.
Both of them turned to look at her.
Flurry really was such a sweet, innocent filly. At least until she wasn't.
Rainbow was eternally thankful they had agreed never to have foals. That didn't stop Pinkie Pie from teasing them about it, though.
Twilight took a deep breath, then sighed. She looked back up at Rainbow, then grabbed her head in her magic and forced their lips together. Rainbow's wings shot out in surprise and she moaned into the kiss.
Flurry made a gagging sound, followed by a "Bleh!"
Rainbow felt Twilight smile at that, then Twilight broke the kiss. Twilight's forehoof came up and stroked her face. "I think... once Flurry's gone- and the map is fixed- we need a vacation."
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "Yeah, we do. Hey, our anniversary is coming up soon..." she trailed off, smiling.
Twilight hummed softly. "I think that sounds... wonderful."
Rainbow shivered at the promise in her voice.
Flurry huffed indignantly and threw one of the few remaining glass bottles of peas at the crystal wall, where it shattered.