“You ready to hit the hay, bug?” Twilight asked sweetly, patting her son’s back as the two sat on the porch of the inn they were staying at, which was built to look like a very cozy neighbor’s house.
“Heck no, I’m ready to party!” Spike cheered, throwing his hands in the air and making Twilight laugh.
“I’m sure Pinkie will be glad to hear that,” Twilight giggled.
“How about you, Fluttershy?” Twilight groaned as she stood up, feeling the weight of her trauma physically pressing on her bones, but she ignored it as best she could. “Are you excited to party with Pinkie and Spike tonight?”
“Yes, very,” Fluttershy grinned brightly, and it made Twilight feel a little better.
She was worried that Fluttershy and Pinkie, and even Spike, would feel like Twilight was just trying to pass Spike off to them like he was a burden. Nothing could’ve been further from the truth, but Twilight did need some time to get some rest and relaxation that she had trouble getting while in Mom mode.
“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Twilight laughed and grabbed Fluttershy’s hands. “You’re the best.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Fluttershy said bashfully.
“I would,” Twilight giggled and leaned in, kissing Fluttershy on the lips… and then remembered they were not dating. “Uh, I’m sorry, that was—”
“That was what?” Fluttershy said, completely unfazed.
“That was totally inappropriate!” Twilight shrieked, letting go of Fluttershy’s hands and jumping back. “We don’t have that kind of relationship, so I—”
“We don’t?!” Fluttershy’s eyes widened and her face turned red. “Oh! After that morning with Rarity I—”
Fluttershy and Twilight both turned to Spike, who looked at them confusedly for a second and then sighed.
“I’ll go check how Applejack and Pinkie Pie are doing,” Spike said drolly and then scurried off.
“After that morning with Rarity, I—” Fluttershy brushed some hair out of her mane, her face blushing profusely but probably not as hard as Twilight. “I just sort of assumed—”
“I had no idea,” Twilight blurted out. “I-I-I-I’m really into the idea though!” Twilight awkwardly shouted for the whole city to hear.
“R-really?!” Fluttershy fidgeted awkwardly with her hands before biting down on a thumbnail. “I-I would love that too.”
“Do you, um, want me to kiss you again?” Twilight fretted with her bangs, her heart racing out of her chest or something like that, she was just really excited okay!?
“Twilight,” Fluttershy whispered, a gleam in her eye, “I would love that.”
Twilight grabbed Fluttershy’s hands in hers, and they felt so soft and good and wonderful and squeezable… so Twilight did, indeed, give them a little squeeze as she stood on the tips of her hooves to plant a gentle kiss on Fluttershy’s soft as hell lips.
Fluttershy kissed her back, gently, tentatively. It was tender and intimate, like sharing a single marshmallow cuz it was the last in the bag and you both wanted it. Maybe that didn’t make sense, but the point was that there were butterflies in Twilight’s stomach and as she stared into Fluttershy’s beautiful teal eyes, she kinda hoped they would never leave.
“Howdy, y’all!” Applejack chimed in as she walked up the steps to the porch, Pinkie and Spike in tow. Applejack took Twilight in her big strong arms and kissed Twilight softly, the dragon melting into Applejack’s comforting embrace.
It was wild to think how Twilight was blessed with so many amazing women in her life.
Pinkie Pie, for her part, had somehow gotten Fluttershy pinned to the ground, the yellow dragon giggling as Pinkie covered her face in kisses. It was hard not to love them both.
“Spike!” Pinkie clamored and stood on her hooves. “Are you ready to have some fun with auntie Pinkie Pie and auntie Fluttershy?!”
“I sure am!” Spike beamed, and it never failed to warm Twilight’s heart to see a smile on his face. “Though let’s be honest, at this point you’re both basically second moms.”
Fluttershy and Pinkie both blushed and giggled at that statement, and Twilight just knew if her heart was assaulted by any more warm and fuzzy feelings it would probably explode. So of course in came Pinkie Pie with the group hug, gathering all four girls and Spike into one big family hug.
Cuz that really was what they were; they were family. Twilight knew that already, and yet it still felt like it was just starting to dawn on her.
Twilight said her goodnights to everyone one last time as the party split up in the inn hallway to head to their separate rooms, and Applejack picked Twilight up off the ground and carried her to their room.
“How ya feelin’, hon?” Applejack asked, carrying Twilight bridal style as they crossed the threshold into their room.
“Not great,” Twilight admitted. She knew how much Applejack valued honesty, and she wasn’t going to disrespect that by trying to pretend she was fine. “I’m doing my best to be okay, but I’m… I’m not doing great. Dating Fluttershy now though, so that’s pretty cool.”
“You weren’t datin’ her already?” Applejack laid Twilight gently on the bed before sitting on the edge of it herself.
“Apparently I was,” Twilight laughed softly.
“She’s a sweet gal, I know she’ll treatcha right,” Applejack nodded with a confident smile. “And good on ya for collectin’ so many great girlfriends!” Applejack laughed from her belly, and it was the cutest thing she’d seen all night. Well, it was in the top five at least. Her friends and Spike were tough competition for each other in the cuteness race.
“It feels good,” Twilight sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I’m tired.”
“That’s okay, sugarcube,” Applejack lied on the bed next to Twilight and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll carry ya as much as I can, and I don’t just mean physically.”
“I—”
It was funny; there was a time not so long ago where Twilight would have balked at that, told Applejack off and said Twilight needed to take care of her own problems. Those thoughts entered her head as nothing more than a distant memory, and Twilight figured she could be proud of that progress.
“Thank you, Applejack,” Twilight sighed and put her hand in Applejack’s. “I appreciate that a lot.”
“My pleasure, Twi,” Applejack sighed, and then yawned. “Gettin’ sleepy. How ‘bout you?”
“Not quite,” Twilight chuckled and hopped out of bed, but she decided she could at least get out of her robes, and give Applejack a little bit of a show in the process. “I want to write a letter to an old friend back home. It might take me a minute, so don’t wait up for me to go to sleep, okay?”
“Way ahead of you, Twi,” Applejack said through a yawn. Twilight smiled and leaned over to kiss her sleepy girlfriend on the forehead.
Twilight sat over on the small lounge chair in the corner of the room, collecting a quill and notepad from her bags and tapping the pen against her lips.
There was so much she wanted to say. But she felt that maybe it was better to keep it to the important parts; there would be time for catching up and apologizing for lost time later, but for now what Twilight needed was advice about what to do next, especially regarding this dragon prison nestled under the Crystal Empire.
And so, with her hands trembling and her heart racing, she put ink to paper.
Dear Lord Tirek…