//------------------------------// // Christmas With Family // Story: Shattered Holidays // by FourShadow //------------------------------// Aria Blaze stepped out of the taxi cab, with the only items at her hand being her handbag, and the cellphone she recently purchased. Trying to learn these advanced technologies was still a bit of a struggle, but she was slowly learning. Granted she preferred to just use landlines or talk to someone face to face, but she was willing to change. Well, willing to change for her new boyfriend; Flash Sentry. She walked up to the front steps of his house which was out in the suburbs. It looked relatively nice, it seemed big enough and homey enough as well. At least, she hoped it'd be homey. Tonight she was planning on making a step, at the very least, try to do something nice for her boyfriend. Flash wanted to introduce her to his parents, and while she was hesitant, she wanted to make him happy, so she agreed. And since it was Christmastime, she decided to wear something festive as well! She ringed the doorbell on the front of the house, and stood in silence, waiting patiently. Soon enough the door opened, and on the other side was Flash with a holiday themed short-sleeved shirt; in red and green. "Aria, hey! Glad you made it." Aria smiled. "It's no problem." The guitarist smiled. "Ooh, nice sweater." Indeed it was. For the day, she chose to wear a sleeveless sweater in green and white, with graphics of Christmas trees all around. Aria couldn't help but blush a bit. "Thanks. Adagio kinda thought I should wear this." "You look really nice," Flash said. "Hey Flash, is that her?" "Yeah, it's her," Flash called back. "That your dad?" Aria asked. "Yep." An older man came to the door with a gentle smile. This was Steadfast, Aria assumed it was Flash's father. "Um, hi," Aria began. "Dad, this is my girlfriend, Aria." "Nice to meet you, young lady," Steadfast greeted, shaking her hand. "Please, come in." Aria walked inside and looked around; the house certainly looked cozy enough. Sand orange tiling on the floor, some tan decor, and overall nice design. She swore it looked like the interior of a house somewhere in California. Additionally, there were a few family pictures hung on the walls, a few cases with some glass displays (a select few showing some actual awards). And before making a turn into the left down a hall, she stopped to look at a few photos hung on the walls. One was showing a picture of an adult male and adult female in a hospital environment, with a baby wrapped up in a blanket, both smiling with pride and joy. Aria had to admit, that was kind of cute. And in another photo, there was a picture of a six-year-old Flash, hiked sitting on his dad's shoulders while the two were walking down a street on what looked like a 4th of July celebration, with fireworks off in the distance. "I see you're eying the younger photos of Flash when he was just a kid," Steadfast said. Aria finally heard his voice. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I am. Sorry, just wanted to see." "Hey, it's no problem." "Oh come on, can we just skip over that?" "Flash, come on... when you bring a new girl over, it's the parent's job to embarrass the boyfriend," he teased. Aria snickered a bit. "Flash, come on, you look, what's the word... oh yeah. You look adorable." Flash blushed harshly with a soft glare. "Aria..." She giggled. "I'm not lying, seriously, you look cute. I mean have you seen me, I was an ugly baby...", she looked for a second, making sure Steadfast was out of hearing range and whispered, "okay, not a baby, I was a fry, small correction, Equestrian, you know." "Well, if you don't mind, can we just... can we just... okay," Flash said, giving up on speaking and just yanked Aria by the wrist, taking her into the next room. The two walked into the living room. The living room itself was connected over to the dining room, as well as the kitchen, split into three separate rooms with the kitchen and living room being close by. Whoever worked in the kitchen would get a clear view of the TV, and still be able to cook at the same time. It looked like a perfect setup of a house interior! "Whoa... dang, you got a nice place. I swear it's nicer than the penthouse," Aria said, looking around. "Are you guys wealthy or something?" "That would be his mother's handiwork. She earns a lot of money in her current position, and well, adding onto the money I've been saving a lot of, and doing some jobs on the side, we both chipped in and bought this place. Thought it was perfect enough to raise our kids." Aria was still in awe. "Seriously, it's nice." And over on the couch, she could see a cute little girl, curled up with a teddy bear. She couldn't believe she almost missed her. "Oh. Hi. Sorry, I didn't see you there." "That's my little sister. She's pretty quiet," Flash said, patting her shoulder. Aria was about to speak up, but for right now, she thought maybe keeping quiet would be best for now. She had to make good first impressions. "So Flash, how did you two become a couple?" "Oh, well... it's a little complicated," Flash shrugged his head side to side. All the while they talked, Steadfast was stirring some food in a steaming pot. The smell made Aria's mouth water with hunger, it smelled so good right now. "Long story short, this guy here found me when I was feeling down, and invited me out to bowling with him and his friends. And after beating an uncomfortable match against the jerk who stood me up that night, Flash and I chatted up each other some more, went on a few dates, and, well... here we are," Aria said. "Well, long story short." Steadfast nodded. "I see..." "Oh, where's Mom?" Flash asked. "She just finished her shift, she should be on her way home," Steadfast replied. "Oh, can you give me a hand?" "Um, sure, yeah," Flash said. "You want me to help?" Aria asked. "No, it's okay." "Oh. Well... alright, I'll just uhh... I'm just gonna sit here, chill out," Aria said, trying to find the right words. And she just parked herself on the couch, on the left side. Her head was still in view from Flash and Steadfast, since the entire place was so close together. While Flash helped out in the kitchen, Aria turned her head over to the little girl cuddled up with a teddy bear, watching the Christmas movie with her. "So... what's your name?" The little girl slowly looked back at Aria, still looking a bit shy. But she gave a quiet reply. "Starry." Aria tilted her head. "I'm sorry?" "S-Starry. My name is Starry." Aria smiled. "Nice to meet you kid." Starry just slowly nodded. "Cute teddy bear." "T-Thanks." The kid was still a bit shy, but eventually she worked up the courage to talk some more. "Do you... do you have stuffed animals?" Aria thought for a second, and shrugged her head a bit, nodding. "I do. I've got a stuffed animal of a husky dog I sit near my nightstand. But if you ask my younger sister, she's got the biggest collection of stuffed animals, I swear." "Do you have a name for the husky?" She asked. "I... can't say that I do. Why? Does, uh... does your teddy bear have a name?" She looked down at the stuffed bear's face, and hugged it. "Jeff." "Ahh..." Aria said, unsure of how to respond. But after another moment of silence, she found something else to say. "You been a good girl this year?" Starry looked back at the older girl and slowly nodded. "That's good," Aria said, looking back at the television. "That's good." "... Is Santa Claus real?" she asked. Aria blinked and looked back. "I'm sorry?" "Is Santa real?" Aria admittedly wasn't sure how to answer that. She was just a little kid after all, and if she said one wrong thing... well she'd probably be booted out of the house in an instant. But after a few seconds, she did conjure up something in her brain and softly smiled. "You bet he is." "Really?" "Mmmhmm. Why do you ask?" The girl squeezed her teddy bear some more, looking to the side with some sadness. "Some of the big kids at school says he's not real. They said mean things..." "Like what?" The kid whimpered. "They said he died in an accident." Aria scoffed. "Kid, hey, now that's not true. I'm sure some of his journeys around the world can get bumpy, but I know he's not dead." "Why?" Aria turned herself around on the couch cushion to give her undivided attention. "Because I believe in Santa Claus. Always have, ever since I was a little girl." The girl perked up. "Really?" "Mmmhmm. In fact, I remember this one Christmas, I had fallen asleep, I swore I saw a glimpse of Santa while I was just about to fall asleep. Made his delivery that night." "Did he?" "Mmmhmm," Aria smiled. "And I bet maybe you might get a look at him too." Some uncomfortable silence followed, neither one knew how to continue the conversation. "... Do you like my brother?" "Hmm? Well, yeah, of course. Why?" Starry was still a bit nervous. "The last girl Flash dated was mean." Aria blanked, but it eventually clicked in her head. "Oh you mean... Sunset? Sunset Shimmer? Fiery hair, black jacket, sounds like a b--... twitch?" Starry nodded. "She was mean to me. I just wanted to say hi. And she tried to hurt Jeff." She moved her hand a bit, showing some of the hand-done stitches on one of the teddy bear's arms. Aria's lips lowered, seeing her a little sad. "Kid, I'm really sorry. Believe me, I don't like her either." "She's a big meanie..." "You can say that again," Aria said, laying back against the couch some more. But when she looked back to the girl, she could sense some fear from her face, as well her tone. "But... that doesn't mean I'm going to be like her. I don't want to, I really love Flash. He's a great guy." "Sometimes we don't get along," she said, sadly. "I know I can annoy him sometimes, but I don't mean to. I just want to have someone to talk to. And I want him to be happy." That made Aria smile even more. "You're a good kid, Starry. You know that?" She slowly nodded. "You're not gonna hurt my brother like Sunset, are you?" Aria shook her head. "Kid, the last thing I want to do is hurt him. I just want to make him happy. He's the best boyfriend I've ever had." And little Starry for the first time, smiled at one of Flash's partners. Flash and Steadfast could see/hear everything from where they were standing; and the two of them smiled. "Flash, I think you might have found the one..." Steadfast said quietly. "Dad..." Steadfast chuckled, stirring up the food some more. Just then, they heard the front door's locks become unlock, and then open. "Hon, I'm home!" "Mommy's home!" Starry instantly jumped from the couch in a complete 180. One minute she was shy as a wallflower, and here she was running eagerly with joy like Pinkie Pie. An adult woman, Aria rightfully assumed being the mother, walked into the open room and was greeted with a big hug from her daughter. The woman went by the name of Magenta Marshal, who removed her coat. "Oh sweetheart, hey," she softly said, smiling and picking her up with a hug. "Oh, I missed you so much..." She rubbed her back, and Starry softly hugged her, overjoyed. "Hey Mom," Flash said, giving her a brief hug. "Hey kiddo," she smiled. Magenta set her daughter back down and walked into the kitchen, receiving a hug and peck on the cheek from her husband. "Hey hon," he said, holding her close. "How was your day?" "Fine. Just long as per usual. Apparently the evidence provided was enough to put the accused in jail... and he tackled the judge," she said, shaking her head. "Not the weirdest thing that happened in that courtroom." "That sounds awesome, I wish I could have seen that," Aria chuckled. Flash's mother turned, looking at the new girl who was in the house. Her eyes looked at her pigtails, her light and warm Christmas sweater, her dark heeled boots, dark jeans, and the soft dark eyeliner that was lightly visible near her eyes. "Well, hello. I take it you are Flash's new girlfriend?" "Yeah, she is. Mom, this is Aria, Aria, this is my mom." Aria opened up her hand, to properly greet her. Flash's mom was a little unsure, but she eventually shook hands with her. "Nice to meet you, Aria." "Nice to meet you too," Aria replied. "Sooo... are you a lawyer?" "Yeah, why?" "I just... I don't know, I think I might have seen you before," Aria said, rubbing her chin. "Wait, were you in the courthouse near the end of September?" "I usually am, I work there. Why?" Aria paused for a moment. "You were there for the Sunset Shimmer case, weren't you?" Magenta stopped for a second, her eyes moving around to think. Her face lit up, remembering, "Oh yes, I was. I remember that brat," she said, clearly disdainful at the memory. "You and me both," Aria nodded. "Dinner's ready!" "Ooh, sweet!" Soon everyone grabbed a plate and parked themselves at the family table. Cups were filled with personal choices of drinks, and soon everyone grabbed a plateful of food. Everyone pulled themselves at their seats, and dug in. "Thanks again for cooking, hon," Magenta said. "Hey, anything for my working wife," Steadfast smiled, kissing her again. Aria took a bite of the spaghetti, and her face lit up. "Oh my gosh, this is good. You cooked this?" Steadfast nodded. "That's great, Mr Sentry. Seriously, this is awesome," Aria smiled, taking another bite. As she did, she turned her head back, hearing a song play over the little radio. It softly played jukebox tunes on a local station which the family always tuned to, mostly to fill silence in the room. "Oh I know this song," Aria smiled, admittedly bobbing her head to the beat. "Oh do you? I didn't think a girl of your type liked oldies," Steadfast observed. "Eh, you can thank my older sister for that. She's a big fan of older music; swing, jazz, blues, jukebox classics, those kinds," Aria explained. "Listened to them all the time back in..." she stopped herself. She didn't stop to think that maybe Flash's family knew she was, well, immortal. Trying to explain the time-line would make things complicated. "In what?" Flash's mom asked. Aria, however, was able to correct herself. "Back in the outskirts in uh... Las Pegasus, Nevada." "Wait, when you say outskirts, what do you mean?" "Well, uh..." Aria was now stuck. "Well, it's not really, um... long story short, for a period of time we had to live in a dump out in a poor town to save money." "But you got out of there, hence why you're here now, right?" Magenta asked again, looking at her suspiciously. "Yeah," Aria nodded. "We earned some money, we got out, and bounced from town to town until we found a home here in Canterlot." "I see..." she said, intrigued, taking another bite of her food. "So, do you have any family? Any siblings?" "Just me and my sisters. I'm the middle one, unfortunately," Aria rolled her eyes. "Any parents?" Aria stopped chewing her food, setting her fork down. Gulping down her food, she shook her head, sadly. "I don't have any. I was just... left at an orphanage. I don't know my mom, I don't know my dad, I don't even know if I even had any. I was just dumped on a doorstep because no one wanted me," she hissed. "And the orphanage was no better. I swear it was like 1984 in there..." She took another bite, but still remained calm. "The only people who cared about me were my roommates; Adagio, and Sonata. And even though it took some time, all three of us became sisters. We looked out for each other, took care of each other. And when we had our chance, we ran, and didn't look back. We bounced around from place to place, looking for a home. And, well... we found one here; in Canterlot." Steadfast smiled at her. "That's nice. That's really nice." Aria and Flash looked at each other, grinning. So far, so good, parents seemed to approve. "Soooo... Flash told me you met his ex, Sunset Shimmer once, correct?" Aria froze. Only her eyes moved as they darted all over the place, looking at Flash, and back to his parents. Slowly, she finished the food in her mouth and wiped her mouth with the napkin. "I did. She was... the worst," Aria deadpanned. "She bully you too?" "Yep," Aria said, still sounding deadpan. "Believe me, if I was allowed to kick her a-ah-butt, I would. You have no idea how much I would have loved to get my hands on that little... mmm! But I'm classier than that." "You and me both," Flash's mother said. "You too?" "Are you kidding me? I've heard all the stories from Flash, his friends, his friends' parents, almost everyone at CHS about her. She made everyone's lives miserable, and I'm happy she's no longer in school." "Hopefully she stays locked up, but I swear Adagio jinxed it," Aria complained. "Anyways..." Flash interrupted. "Mom, Aria's into music just like I am." "Oh are you?" Aria nodded, taking a sip of her drink. "How, exactly? You play any musical instruments, or..." "I'm a singer. But I did play some guitar once before. Of course, last time I used it I ended up slamming it against a dude's head..." Magenta and Steadfast stared at her awkwardly. Aria's eyes moved back up and she shrunk. "Oh. Well, he uh... I found out he was cheating on me, and well, I wasn't thinking, and so... I swung a guitar at the back of his head. That wasn't enough to hurt him, but I smashed the guitar into pieces though," Aria blushed. "... I should stop talking now." "Hey don't beat yourself up. You would not believe the dumb stuff I did when I was a teenager," Steadfast said, pointing at her with with an guilty but snickering grin. "Can't be as bad as I did," Aria failed to suppress a grin. "How about tackling a guy before he got into the restaurant to meet the girl he asked on a date because the girl he asked out was a girl you loved and didn't want seeing him?" "Did that a year ago," Aria said nonchalantly before taking another sip. "... Well how about this; the person you dated was a wild person and invited you on doing some wild things, like..." he stopped himself, trying to recall the memory. "Like going in a joyride in her parents' hotrod." "Did that twice, one was because I'm bored, the other was purely for revenge," Aria blushed. She looked at Magenta and Steadfast awkwardly. "... I didn't say I made the best decisions." "Hey, we all make dumb decisions," Steadfast said, warmly. "Every one of us has done something we're not proud of, and any human who says they've never made a dumb choice or move is a liar." "No argument here," Flash said, nodding. Magenta was a little bit lost. On one hand, she was happy Aria wasn't doing anything wildly inappropriate and getting along with her husband and her kids, at least, to what she saw. But on the other hand, she just felt something off about her. Maybe it was Aria's voice, maybe it was how she spoke, or maybe it was the little hints of punk on her body despite wearing something full of life and color. Dinner passed comfortably enough. Aria answered a few more questions, and also talked with Flash about music, bands that they liked. Or well, what they could talk about with Flash’s little sister at the table, anyway. After everyone had eaten their fill, Steadfast and Magenta took the dishes out into the kitchen to wash up. Since her husband had cooked dinner, Magenta did most of the cleanup afterward. As she stood at the sink and rinsed off plates to go into the dishwasher, Mrs. Sentry and Steadfast got to talking. “So?” “What is it?” Magenta asked. “What do you think about Aria?” Steadfast asked, in a low voice, so as not to be overheard by the teenagers, who’d gone back to the living room. Magenta was silent for a moment, as she searched for an answer. “She seems all right.” Steadfast noted her tone. “Seems?” Mrs. Sentry shrugged, focusing on a stubborn bit of leftover sauce that needed to be washed out. “I don’t know… she’s miles better than Sunset ever was, but there’s something about her… I think there’s something she’s not telling us.” “Lawyer’s instinct?” Magenta gave her husband a flat stare. “Very funny.” “Sorry…” Steadfast apologized, giving her an apologetic squeeze on the shoulder. “Look, I know that Flash hasn’t made the best choices before with girls. But Aria… I think she really does care about him. I overheard her talking to Starry. She said that Flash is the best boyfriend she’s ever had, and that the last thing she wants to do is hurt him, and I believe she meant every word of it.” Magenta paused in scrubbing down another dish, as she took this one. She remembered Sunset Shimmer, and the utter disaster that was the only time she had come to the house; her attitude, the rudeness she had to her husband and her daughter, and just her overall in general. Then she remembered Aria at dinner; how she had lit up at trying Steadfast’s cooking, how she’d managed to avoid swearing in front of Starry… the girl looked like a punk, and had confessed to breaking a guitar over someone’s head, but she knew well enough when to behave properly. She sighed, as she began to load the rinsed dishes into the washer for full proper cleaning. “I just worry about Flash, you know that,” she said. “I know you do,” Steadfast answered, and he gave her a quick kiss. “But I think that this time he’s finally found someone special.” “We’ll see,” Magenta responded, though it was without heat, as she finished closing the dishwasher and turning it on. “Now let’s go see how they’re all doing. It’s quiet out there—” The Sentry parents paused on their way out from the kitchen, as they took in the sight before them. For Flash, Aria and Starry were all seated on the sofa – Flash at the far left, Aria in the middle, and Starry on the right. Aria was leaning slightly against Flash, one arm comfortably draped around him. Aria stiffened in surprise, as Starry suddenly, tentatively, moved closer to lean up against her. Then, after a moment, she relaxed and let the little girl snuggle up. Steadfast put a hand to his mouth to suppress the loud “d’aww!” that would have come out otherwise. Magenta for her part just found herself smiling. Maybe there really was nothing to worry about. Maybe her son finally had found the right girl. And just in time for Christmas too. Perhaps there was such a thing as miracles after all.