/x/x/x/
“Dear, how is the food?”
“It tastes great, miss Whistles.”
“Oh, please, call me Windy.”
Rainbow Dash glanced at the exchange between her mother and her girlfriend, smirking as she chewed on pierogi. The potato and pasta mingled in her mouth, colored by onion and garlic. She made a mental note to brush her teeth before she and Spitfire went to bed.
“Or, heck,” Bow said from the other end of the table. “Why not just call her ‘mom’? You're here often enough.”
Spitfire let out a dry chuckle at this. “A few years ago I might have taken you up on the offer. But, uh, you'll probably have to fight mom for the title.”
Windy rolled her eyes. “I could take Stormy, but since she outranks me it might be best if I don't.”
“Ha!” Rainbow cried. “My mom can beat up your mom!”
Spitfire gently punched Rainbow’s shoulder. “Yeah, whatever. Anyway, mi- uh... Windy... I haven't had anything like this before. Where did you say your family was from?”
“I’m Konik,” she replied. “Across the ocean. Bow is Hanoverian.”
“And proud of it!” He said before taking a huge bite of sausage and pickled cabbage, and immediately following with a bite of sourdough bun.
Rainbow let out a small sigh. “Please don't let my parents scare you off.”
Spitfire shrugged. “Eh, I lived through my father. Compared to him, yours is cool. So how are the girls? Haven't seen them in a while.”
“Yes, how is Twilight?” Windy asked. “I haven't seen her much since, well... the hospital.”
A heavy moment of silence rang in the room as Rainbow chewed. After a bit she swallowed and took a drink of her vivid green Mountain Fizz.
“She’s doin’ way better, her meds are helping out a hella lot. She’s been hanging out with Pinkie and AJ a lot. I’ve been, uh...” she gave a sidelong glance to Spitfire. “Otherwise busy. And, uh, Sunset and Fluttershy are doing okay too. Rarity, though... I dunno. We haven't chatted in a while, but the squirt says things are fine.”
“Ah, that's good to hear.” Windy glanced out the living room window and furrowed her brow. “Huh.”
“What is it, dear?” Bow asked between a mouthful and a swig of beer. “Is someone here?”
Windy cocked her head to the side. “Rainbow, doesn't Rarity drive a black Mercedes?”
“Uh. Yeah?”
“Because one just pulled into the driveway.”
Rainbow got up and walked over to the window, looking down. Lo and behold, Rarity was there in the driver’s seat. If she squinted Rainbow could also make out Sweetie Belle in the front passenger side.
“The fuck?” She asked, before zipping out of the room and down the hall. She slipped into her bedroom and pulled her phone off the charger. Fourteen unread messages. She glanced through them all on her way back to the dining room.
Thirteen of them were from Rarity and Scootaloo. The other one was a meme from Pinkie Pie and inconsequential to the current situation. As she scrolled her eyes widened and her free hand clenched into a fist.
“Dash, what's up?” Spitfire asked, also rising. The adults in the room also abandoned their meal in concern.
Rainbow looked to them as she slipped her phone in her pocket.
“Hey, mom?” She asked. “Can Rarity come over?”
Windy’s brow furrowed. “Of course, dear. What's wrong? You look very angry.”
“I'm gonna beat the shit out of her fucking parents is what's wrong!” She yelled, before turning and taking the stairs two at a time, barreling through the front door.
The trio walked over to the window, looking out as confusion plastered across their faces.
Rainbow jogged over to the car and placed her hand on the roof. The window rolled down and they spoke for a minute before Rarity stepped out. She was profusely sobbing, and Rainbow pulled her into a tight embrace. Out of the passenger and rear seats climbed Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who both wore dark, shameful expressions.
Spitfire tore away from the display and followed down the stairs. She closed the screen door behind her and came over to the group. Both older girls were crying, and the glare on Rainbow’s face could melt glaciers.
“Spits,” she said, not looking up. “Can you tell mom and dad that they might need to stay for a couple days? Tell ‘em I’ll explain later.”
“What happened?” She asked.
Rainbow merely shook her head. “Not now. Also, can you text AJ and Fluttershy and tell them that we have a friendship emergency at my place?”
“Well, yeah,” Spitfire said, pulling out her own phone. “No problem. Is everything okay?”
Rarity’s sobs had quieted but she still clung onto Rainbow for dear life. Behind them, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo hugged as well, in quite a similar fashion to their older sister figures. But in a way, more intimate, connecting two wires in Spitfire’s brain.
“In short, no,” Rainbow said, gently rubbing at Rarity’s back. “Everything is not okay. Do you have Zap or Flare’s numbers?”
“The CP girls?” She asked, urgently typing away. “No, I don't talk to any of the Shadowbolts.”
“Just you girls,” Rarity choked out. “Please.”
“Alright, scratch that,” Rainbow said, pulling away and bringing her hands to Rarity’s face. “Let’s go inside, okay? I'll ask mom to make you some tea or something. Did he hurt any of you?”
Rarity nodded as Spitfire went back inside. “He only yelled... what are we going to do?”
“I dunno,” Rainbow sad, pulling her in again. “But we’ll figure something out. “Between me, AJ, Twi, and the apartment, you'll all have a place to stay. For now, I’m gonna see if you three can stay here.”
“Rarity, I’m sorry...” Scootaloo muttered.
“It isn't your fault,” she said, sniffling. “There was nothing different any of us could have done.”
Rainbow put her arm out and invited the kids over. They accepted, and though the contact spiked her anxiety, they needed it right now.
“You got anything in the car that might freeze?” She asked. “Or needs to go in right now? I can take it all in right now, actually. Ah shit, I gotta clean my room. No biggie, it only takes a couple seconds but-”
“It’s all fine,” Rarity whispered. “And this is a good neighborhood. Better than it was at home...”
Spitfire leaned out the front door and gave a thumbs up before slipping back inside.
“And right before Thanksgiving, too...”
“Rare, I know it sucks right now, but I can’t let you stress about this. Let's get inside, get your face washed. You need a drink or something, smoke something?”
“Water would be nice,” she said. “My body does want alcohol but my mind knows I shouldn't right now. And I shouldn't smoke anything... especially not around them.”
“Alright,” Rainbow said, pulling back and taking her hand. “Let's get in. Belle, squirt. Any of you guys hungry? Mom made lots of food.”
“Father took mother out to eat,” Rarity said, following Rainbow. “I didn't have the stomach to eat anything anyway.”
“Well, first things first,” Rainbow said, shepherding her flock into the house. “Let's get inside and get you some food, and then lets wait for the others to come over.”
“I'm sorry for all of this-”
“Don't apologize for this, Rares,” she said. “Especially not for this.”
Rarity opened and closed her mouth before nodding.
“Okay, darling... I won't.”
/x/x/x/
Fluttershy and Sunset sat opposite each other on the bed, legs crossed and palms on their knees. Their eyes were closed, incense was burning, and every light in the apartment was dimmed.
They’d been sitting in relative silence for around an hour, save the drone of the... “music”. It was quiet binaural beats, which can hardly be called music, but one would be hard pressed to argue that ‘noise’ was a better term.
All was calm. Peaceful. Tranquil.
Rudely interrupted by a loudly buzzing cell phone.
“...oops.”
Fluttershy couldn't help but feebly attempt to suppress a chortle. “It's okay,” she whispered. “If it's important it'll happen again.”
Almost on cue it went off again.
Sunset sighed. “Dammit...” she reached over and grabbed the device.
“What is it?” Fluttershy asked, eyes still closed.
Sunset snorted before bursting out laughing. This enticed Fluttershy to open her eyes to see a weird picture of a man pointing to a butterfly displayed on Sunset’s phone. There were a couple of badly-photoshopped text boxes over the man and the butterfly and both said words that Fluttershy could barely conceive to be english.
“...what's a... ‘yeet’?” Fluttershy asked, concerned.
Sunset nodded and tossed the phone back onto the bed, wiping a tear out of her eye. “Sorry, it's a... it's not important. I silenced it. I should've before but I forgot and-”
“It's okay,” she replied. “You're still new to meditation, so it'll take some getting used to before you remember to do everything.”
“I know,” Sunset deflected, waving it away. “But I wanna do this right, you know? Everything that happened back home, like...” she sighed. “This is important to me, and I need to be respectful of your instructions.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Okay. Shall we get back to it?”
“Yes, lets.”
They did so.
For a couple of minutes.
Then they were interrupted by a very loud and fast guitar solo coming from the other side of the bed.
Both girls’ eyes snapped open. Fluttershy blushed, embarrassed.
“I feel a little less bad now,” Sunset said, laughing in spite of herself. “Also I recognize this song.”
“Do you now?” Fluttershy asked, reaching over to mute the text tone.
“Yeah, it was one that Rainbow tried to teach me. But it was really hard. It was, um... through the flames and the fire?” She put her fingers to her lips. “No, that sounds wrong...”
Fluttershy gasped and turned her legs off of the bed. “Oh my...”
“What's up?” Sunset asked, crawling over. “Is that a bad ‘oh my’?”
“Friendship emergency at Rainbow Dash’s house.”
“From Rainbow?” Sunset asked. “Is she okay?”
“No, Spitfire,” Fluttershy said. “And I don't know. She didn't say anything else.”
Sunset blinked as a dozen melancholic memories flashed by in an instant. She bit her lip as she stood up next to her friend. “You wanna drive or should I?”
“Do you know the way?”
Sunset nodded.
“I'll get my helmet,” she said, rifling through the nearby dresser and putting clothes on. “Will you text Spitfire for me while I go feed Angel and tell her we’re on the way?”
Sunset pressed her forefingers against each other. “...yeah,” she eventually said. “Then I'll get dressed and meet you outside?”
Fluttershy nodded as she clasped her bra closed. “Thank you. I'm sure you know how I text by now but it doesn't matter if you say it's you. Dashie tells Spitfire everything about the rest of us. It's so cute honestly.”
“Yeah...” Sunset muttered, picking up the phone and sitting down as Fluttershy went down the stairs. “Cute.”
She clicked out a basic response and hit send without really thinking about it. She leaned back and sighed as memories of her own Spitfire from Equestria flooded her head.
She turned her head to the leatherbound book sitting ever faithfully on her bedside table.
“Please don't die, Spits...” she muttered. “And you either, Twilight. Spike. Fleur. Rain. Tempest. Lyra.” Sunset sighed. “Princess Luna.”
She stood up and walked to her own dresser and pulled out a random outfit that at least somewhat went together and was warm. Mindlessly she put the articles on as her thoughts went on into the rest of the mess in Equestria.
“Not now...” she muttered, bracing herself against the wood. But it was too late now, the floodgates opened up. Dawn, Frozen, and Cinch had done their damage. Her knuckles whitened. “Not right fucking now!”
Smoke and dust filled the air. The rubble crashed and settled, before falling into silence. Sunset looked around as blasts of magic crossed over her head against each other. Behind her the rock slid apart, revealing the assassin, who aimed her weapon and revealed her sick, sadistic grin.
“For the glory of Blackfire!” She cried, laughing as the broken bits of metal decorating her foreleg began to glow, a high pitched whine sounding.
Quickly, before a shot could be lead off, Sunset blasted her horn at Zap.
She was returned to the present by a single touch.
In front of her was Fluttershy, whose hand was on Sunset’s chest over her heart. She returned to her human form, gripping Fluttershy’s arm. Awareness of her body returned and she realized this wasn’t Equestria anymore, she wasn't a unicorn right now, and this was not an assassin.
And she was safe.
“Fluttershy, I-”
“It's okay, Sunset,” she gently cooed, wiping away the tears. “I don't know what happened, but I’m here for you. Do you need anything else?”
Sunset pursed her lips and nodded. “I had sex with the other Spitfire. In Equestria. Mentioning her just... reminded me of... everything.”
“Ah.” Fluttershy hugged Sunset. “Do you still want to drive?”
“Yeah, I... it helps ground me. We don't exactly have motorcycles in Equestria yet.”
Fluttershy giggled.
“What?”
“I just imagined a pony on a motorcycle.”
Sunset snorted and rolled her eyes. “Dork.”
Fluttershy took Sunset’s hands in her own. “Now come on, get dressed. Rainbow needs our help.”
Sunset nodded and complied.
The past was in the past and could be dealt with later. The present was now and needed her current attention.
“Oh, and by the way,” Fluttershy said, taking a step back. “It's ‘through the fire and the flames’.”
Sunset gasped. “I KNEW IT!”
/x/x/x/
The new arrivals sat together on the Hothoof residence couch. The sisters had hot tea and Scootaloo had a glass of soda, and all three had full plates.
“Thank you very much, Windy,” Rarity said, graciously. “I do enjoy traditional Konik dinners, and the Hanoverian flair adds a very nice depth of flavor.”
“Oh, stop it, you tease,” she replied with a wink. “I just followed my grandmother’s recipe and added a couple herbs.”
“Don't be so modest!” Bow bellowed, wrapping a bulky arm around his wife and planting a kiss on her cheek. “Your cooking is the main reason why I married you!” At her playfully intimidating glance he faltered. “And also because you’ve got an ass that just won't quit.”
THWACK!
“Da-ad!” Rainbow whined, hiding her face in her hands. “Why do you say things like that in front of your daughter!”
“To embarrass you in front of your girlfriend,” he said, grinning cheesily. “And to express my love for your mother. Who is a lovely woman who proudly serves her country and has a heart of pure gold.”
“Don't push your luck, buster,” she muttered, pushing his head back with her forehead.
“Well, your cooking is certainly beyond my current capabilities,” Rarity continued. “I aspire one day to be able to cook Prench cuisine for myself and my future husband.”
“I support that dream,” Sweetie Belle said. “Especially when we come over for dinner.”
Scootaloo discreetly put an arm around Sweetie Belle’s abdomen and squeezed before returning to the meal.
“I can't say I'm a big fan of Prench,” Windy replied, face contorting in disgust. “No offense, but I just don't find snails to be appetizing. Same with Andalusian food; I won't ever eat a hamster.”
“M’baya pig,” Rarity interjected. “Not hamsters. It's called cuy and it's an acquired taste but-”
“~Rarity ate a hamster, Rarity ate a hamste- ow!”
Rainbow rubbed at her forehead as Rarity gripped her geode, the sparkles of the small barrier fading and dissipating away.
“Hey, no fair!” She protested. “No using magic to hurt people! We agreed to only use it for good and necessity that one time we made Sunset hear everybody's thoughts.”
“Because you were abusing your speed for everything,” Rarity reminded.
“Okay fine but it still hurt.”
Spitfire rolled her eyes and leaned over to kiss her girlfriend’s forehead. “There, does it hurt anymore?”
Rainbow blushed in spite of herself. “Um... a little bit.”
Spitfire then proceeded to peck her on the lips. “How about how?”
Rainbow short circuited for a brief moment. “It's fine,” she squeaked. “Thanks babe.”
The sound of a motorcycle engine came from outside, sending Rainbow to her feet.
“Oh look at that Sunset and Fluttershy are here!” Said the rainbow blur before it phased out of existence.
“Awww...” Rarity cooed as Spitfire became instantly aware of the five pairs of eyes glued to her own.
“Gaaay!” Scootaloo called in a faux mocking tone.
“Well... yeah.” Spitfire volleyed. She shrugged. “And?”
“Must be nice to be so open with that...” Sweetie Belle muttered to herself, thus dampening the atmosphere.
Everybody fell quiet as an awkward silence descended.
Until Rainbow came back inside.
“Hey mom, hey dad, Fluttershy and Sunset are here, and AJ’s on her way with the others.” She looked around at the downcast expressions on everyone’s faces. “Uh... what’d I miss?”
“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that,” Sweetie Belle said as she started to cry again. “I just...”
Rarity pulled her little sister into her arms. “We know,” she said, consolingly. “Today was hard.”
Spitfire whispered to the trio the basic gist of what happened, which merely caused raised eyebrows on the new arrivals.
“Hello girls,” Rarity greeted, dejection giving way to content relief. “It's good to see you.”
Fluttershy and Sunset offered hellos to Rainbow’s parents before making their way over to the sisters and crouching by them. Rainbow sat down in the two-cushion couch next to her girlfriend.
“I have to make a phone call,” Bow said, leaving the room. Windy put an arm on the back of the couch, watching as he walked through the door into the kitchen and dialed on the landline.
“Hey, Spits?”
“Yeah, Dash?”
“I don't think we’re gonna have sex tonight.”
Spitfire shrugged. “No big deal, as long as I can still spend the night.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Sap.”
Spitfire grinned and kissed Rainbow’s temple. “Only for you.”
/x/x/x/
Applejack tossed the controller onto the ground and fell backwards in defeat, head lolling onto the seat of the couch. On the screen lay her dead avatar, which was being looted, danced on, and otherwise desecrated.
“Campers...” she muttered before turning to the side. “I see you two are havin’ a better time than me.”
Twilight and Pinkie hummed contentedly in each other’s embrace.
“Heh,” Applejack snatched up the controller again and left the lobby. “Guess y’all won't mind if I go again then, huh?”
“Stronghold Dawn’s for casuals,” Pinkie murmured, resting her head against the armrest. “Everyone knows that.”
“It's a quality game!” The farmer defended even though she knew she was wrong. “And besides, you know you're just bad at it.”
“I'm good at good games!”
AJ rolled her eyes as a new match started. “Yeah, whatever. Go play SD4.”
Twilight sniggered at this, before burying herself deeper into her makeshift pillow. Or, uh... pillows. “Someone’s salty.”
Applejack’s phone buzzed. “Shoot,” she said as the match started. “One o’ y'all wanna check that for me?”
“Or we could just wait the thirty seconds it would take for you to die,” Pinkie said, tauntingly. “We’re too comfy to move.”
Applejack sighed, gently laughing. “First of all, rude. Second of all, why don't y'all just go out already? You're practically all over each other every single time y'all come over.”
“You jelly?”
Applejack shrugged. “I don't really see the appeal of having someone’s heavy, sweaty body draped over my own for hours on end. Even if I did like him. Or her, in this case. So no.”
“Nice to know you think I’m heavy and sweaty,” Twilight playfully teased.
“Headshot!” Applejack cried, pumping her fist. “Y’all know what I meant, Twi. You two should get together, it’d be cute.”
Twilight shrugged. “If it ever gets to that point then maybe.”
“Cuddle buddies are better than girlfriends anyway,” Pinkie added, playing with Twilight’s hair. “No attachment, no commitment, no worries. Just snuggles!”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Applejack said with a noncommittal hand wave as she reloaded. She then tossed her phone up near their heads. “Here, can ya check that please? It could be important.”
“Or another meme...” Pinkie mumbled, beginning to doze off. “But then again that is pretty important.”
“I'll check,” Twilight muttered, lazily opening her eyes and palming the phone. “Looks like it's from... Spitfire?”
“Really?” Applejack asked, disbelieving. “What's she sayin’?”
Twilight opened the message and after a moment leaned up from Pinkie.
“Oh no...” she said, stopping Pinkie’s protest dead in its tracks.
“What oh no?” She asked, sitting up.
“‘Friendship emergency at Rainbow’s house.’”
Applejack whipped her head around, game completely forgotten. “Is she okay?”
“I don't know,” Twilight answered, handing over the device. “That’s all it says. Pinkie, did she say anything to you?”
Pinkie grabbed the other two phones on the end table and handed one to Twilight before sending something to Fluttershy and Rainbow. “No notifs.”
“Nothing on my end either.” Twilight said, tapping out messages to Sunset and Rarity. “I hope she is.”
“I'm gonna go warm up the car,” Applejack mumbled as she pulled her jacket on, and motioned at their shorts. “Y'all should put on some actual pants, my heater takes a bit to warm up.”
Within two minutes they’d done so, gathered up their necessities, and gone out the door.
Applejack’s character was stuck in an idle animation.
After several minutes, Granny Smith shuffled by, took the controller, and sat down on the couch.
“How do ya turn this newfangled technomachine off...”
After pressing several buttons she accidentally fired her gun, causing a wall to collapse and kill another player. The ‘You Win’ screen barely fazed her as she simply sighed and turned the television off before immediately going to sleep. The house went silent save for her snoring.
/x/x/x/