//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Words and Actions // Story: The Party Girl // by Godslittleprincess //------------------------------// Three days later, First Base sat with Cadance and Twilight at their dining table with a slate, a slate pencil, and a reader while Flash went out to look for a job. Base had wanted to go find work with his older brother, but Flash had insisted that the younger boy improve his education. Cadance, seeing an opportunity to do her actual job, was more than happy to oblige. Cadance had just finished giving Base a writing lesson and was about to start his arithmetic lesson when Flash walked into the room with an utterly defeated look on his face. “You and Timber were right,” Flash said to Twilight. “I wasn’t going to be able to find a job without getting mixed up in the feud.” “Didn’t you say last night that the Apple family was going to hire you to guard their apples?” First Base asked. “They fired me for trying to reason with the kids stealing their apples instead of spraying them with pepper spray like how Applejack told me to,” Flash explained. First Base grimaced, imagining the pained screams of the children unfortunate enough to have such a fate befall them. “But if you can’t make any money, we won’t be able to get off the island. How are we going to find out what happened to everyone else on the ship if we can’t leave the island?” “That’s what worries you the most about being stuck here?” Twilight sneered. “Really?” “Why wouldn’t it be?” Flash answered back. “The men on that ship were the closest thing we had to family.” Flash’s remark made Twilight shrink back a little. She shared a concerned look with Cadance before they both turned to the boys. “If you don’t mind us asking,” Cadance began, “what happened to your actual family?” The brothers shared a sad look with each other before Flash replied, “Our father left us flat a long time ago, and we lost our mother and grandparents to an illness. We were supposed to go live with our maiden aunt who was in the navy, but then, we got word that her ship had been attacked by pirates with no survivors.” “And now, the only family you two have left is either at the bottom of the ocean or scattered by the waves,” Twilight concluded. “Maybe there’s a way for us to find out what happened to them without leaving the island,” Base suggested hopefully. “Isn’t Mr. Night Light a postman? We could try sending a letter.” “How?” Flash remarked, “The two of us can barely read and write our own names, let alone a whole letter asking for word about our shipmates.” “We can help you write it,” Cadance offered. “Really?” First Base cried excitedly. Flash couldn’t help but brighten as well. “Of course. We’ll just need the address to the merchant company you used to work for.” “Uh, address?” Flash repeated, his face dropping. “You know, how postmen figure out where the mail they deliver is supposed to go?” Twilight clarified. Flash groaned and slammed his face on the table. “You don’t know the company’s address, don’t you?” Twilight deadpanned. “No,” Flash confirmed. “All I know about where to find it is that it’s somewhere in Paardenstad.” “Oh my, that’s a problem,” Velvet exclaimed as she walked in from the kitchen, having heard the whole conversation. “I’m afraid you really can’t send a letter without an address.” “So, we’re basically cut off from anyone who isn’t on this island with us?” Base asked with just a hint of panic in his voice. “It sure looks that way,” Twilight retorted. First Base pushed the slate away and slammed his face on the table next to his brother, letting loose a muffled growl of frustration. Cadance and Velvet looked at the boys in pity before locking eyes with each other and sharing a nod. “You know, boys, Night and Shining could use some help their work,” Cadance suggested. “We won’t be able to pay you much, but we could hire Flash to help out.” “What?!” Twilight cried in protest. “Or if you want to go and find your friends as soon as possible, we could always—,” Velvet began before being interrupted by her daughter. “Uh, Mother, Cadance, may I please speak with you in my bedroom, please?” Twilight practically dragged her mother and sister-in-law into one of the bedrooms before slamming the door behind her and yelling, “Have the two of you gone crazy?!” “What’s wrong, dear?” Velvet asked her daughter. “We can’t give Flash a job because then we’d have to pay him,” Twilight explained, “which means less money will go towards our savings.” She glared at her mother and emphasized, “And we definitely can’t give him and his brother money out of our savings.” “Twily,” Velvet protested. “It took us a year and a half to save up enough for one of us to leave this miserable place and start over somewhere else, and there’s five of us,” Twilight argued. “As things are, we’ll need to save up for another two and a half years before we can get out of here. If we use our money to help those boys, we’ll have to stay here longer, and do you want that? I don’t think so.” “Twilight,” Cadance pointed out, “all they want is to find their friends, and if we don’t help them do that, nobody in this town will.” “How are they even so sure anybody else survived?” Twilight snapped. “If you ask me, they’re just setting themselves up for disappointment. They’re better off thinking that everyone they cared about is dead.” Cadance and her mother-in-law shared a knowing yet tired look with each other. They have both known Twilight long enough to know that she hadn’t always been this cynical and uncaring, but they have also seen so little of the girl Twilight used to be in the past five years that they were starting to lose hope that they’ll ever see her again. A part of them had hoped that being around other outsiders would remind her that human decency still existed in the world, but boys’ presence seemed to only make her want to turn them as bitter and spiteful as herself. “Fine then,” Velvet conceded, “we won’t give those boys money out of our savings, but we are still giving Flash a job, and you are not getting another word in otherwise.” Twilight looked as if she wanted to further protest but the intense glare her mother shot her way made her think better of it. She simply humphed and nodded before storming back out into the dining room. Flash and First Base were still sitting at the table, their faces as blank as the slate Base was fidgeting with. Velvet and Cadance followed Twilight, forcing themselves to smile as pleasantly as possible. “After talking it over a bit,” Cadance began, returning to her seat at the dining table, “we have decided that the best course of action would be to give Flash a job. Doesn’t that sound nice?” “You don’t have to do that,” Flash uttered hesitantly. “Oh, we know,” Velvet replied, “but we can’t just leave you boys to fend for yourselves, now, can we?” “Uh, thank you, ma’am.” Oddly formal and reserved way Flash was speaking with them caused Twilight and her family to suspect that he and First Base had overheard them talking in the other room. What First Base said next confirmed those suspicions. “What are we supposed to do if no one else survived?” the younger boy said, his voice shaking. “We mourn and then we move on, just like we always have,” Flash replied. “Not that it gets any easier the more we go through it,” he thought to himself, pressing his lips together into a hard line. Flash’s face must have betrayed his thoughts because First Base reached out and put his hand over his older brother’s shaking fist, giving it a comforting squeeze. Flash hadn’t even realized he’d been making a fist. Flash turned and looked into his brother’s eyes which were glistening with the tears the younger boy was fighting. Flash’s face softened, and his hand relaxed. He gave his little brother a sad smile and returned Base’s squeeze. At that moment, watching the brothers’ wordless conversation, Twilight Sparkle quickly learned the meaning of regret. “Uh, well,” Cadance uttered, trying to chase away the awkward melancholy that had fallen over the room, “we still have to talk to Night and Shining about what you could do for your job, and they won’t be back for a while. Since you have nothing to do right now, maybe you’d like to sit in with us for a few lessons, Flash. Twilight, could you go look for another slate and another reader? I’m sure I have extras lying around somewhere.” Wanting to think about something other than how horrible of a person she had been, Twilight hurriedly got up to comply with her sister-in-law's request. “Thank you, Ms. Cadance. You’re too kind,” Flash replied. Twilight returned with the slate and reader and handed them to Flash. For a split second, their hands touched, but they quickly pulled away from each other, Flash because he was still angry and disgusted with Twilight for worrying his brother and Twilight because she was still ashamed of the careless words she had said about Flash and Base’s missing friends. As a result, they dropped the slate and the reader to the floor. As they both bent down to pick up the fallen articles, Flash noticed a drop of water had fallen on the slate, leaving barely noticeable splotch. Flash looked up and saw Twilight rubbing her eyes. Flash felt his face change into an expression of concern as he reached out and touched Twilight’s arm. Twilight looked up at him with a start, and their eyes met. Flash gasped inaudibly when he saw Twilight’s eyes. They were wet and shining. Whether the shine came from empathy or shame, Flash did not know. Maybe it came from both. Flash gave her what he hoped was an understanding and forgiving smile, but Twilight only bit her lip and turned away, the guilt inside of her intensifying. She shoved the slate and the reader towards Flash before scrambling to her feet and running into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. “Gee, what’s she upset about?” First Base remarked. Flash picked up the slate and the reader and slowly got up, staring at Twilight’s door. He turned away, sat down, and joined Base for Cadance’s lesson, but in the back of his mind, he couldn’t stop staring at Twilight’s teary, shame-filled eyes.