Breakfast. The usual. Die cooked. Spike cleaned. Kids played. Girls chattered. ABS had slept very well last night for once. So many things had been taken off her chest now. Of course waking up wasn’t much better, but it was getting better. She felt sick at first and never threw-up; as such she expected to feel horrible for the next few hours. But it passed in minutes. Her sisters knew, her friends knew and most of all, her friends where alive. And engaged to boot!
Over their meal they finally had some piece from the kids they’d been minding as all four of them, even the eldest had finished the food well before any of the adults had. Each of them told the other their stories. Their full stories. “I don’t like Sil.” blurted out Die as Spike told her about his conclusion about her and Sil. “I mean I like her but… you know what I mean.”
“You know I wouldn’t’ve brought it up if I hadn’t seen you coming out of Sil’s room this morning.” Spike replied. Die had offered ABS her room again to sleep in saying she’d take the couch. Belle and Spike had taken their ‘own’ room, even if neither of them actually lived there anymore, it was still theirs. The spare room had been given to Baritone and Lucy and the nursery of course went to Ace and Ven.
Spike had just thought her being nice and offering her bed to somepony who needed it more. And while what she had done was still generous, it was slightly less so seems she still had a bed to share with another pony. “I just changed my mind about sleeping on the couch is all.” she said defending herself but not sounding defensive. At least not yet. Belle had to stop this before she did though.
But Sil beat her to it. “Oh just admit it Die.” she said and looked into the betrayed face of her friend and the surprised face of Belle, Spike and ABS before she started just laughing at her own joke. “I’m kidding. ..” she laughed as a thought crossed her mind ‘what if she does?... nah. But what if…’
“Sil…” ABS sigh disappointingly. She had the ‘what if…’ thought cross her mind too, but honestly if anypony, she though Die would have the hots for her. “I’ma jus’ put this out there but… it ain’t nothen ta be ashamed of if ya are. Y’all know my sister is aft’all.”
“Yeah," added Belle. "and I’m not ashamed to say I’ve been with another filly before.” Die knew, Spike and ABS knew. This was completely new to Sil however.
“Really? Who?”
“Me…” Die admitted. Again, completely new to Sil. “Years ago. It meant nothing… well, meant very little at least. I’m not lesbian ok.”
“I believe you. Doesn’t mean I’m not though.” Sil lied but was willing to give it a shot if her friend truly did have a thing for her.
“Well in that case, wanna go out sometime?” what Sil hadn’t expected though was ABS to ask her that. “I’ll take that as a no.” ABS added as Sil’s bewildered face just kept looking at her. Sil had learnt much about her friends today… perhaps too much. “And before ya ask: answer’s yes. I guess. Stallions just seems ta cause all these problems. I loved Jade an’ all but I can’t help but think things woulda been better off.”
“Even my mum thought I was…” Die sighed. This had been EXACTLY what Belle had been hoping to avoid.
“See, I told you she wasn’t Spike.” Belle quipped. “I know she’s not and you should too. She doesn’t like it. Neither do I”
“I don’t like it? How is saying I’m not a lesbian but saying I AM a homophobe any better than saying I’m gay to begin with? You’re still just guessing and talking for me! And how is you saying I’m straight any better than you saying I’m not if you don’t even know!?” Die huffed in moderate anger. She knew they didn’t mean anything by it but again something had just seeped into her head and it wouldn’t go away. Turning sadness to anger wasn’t a hard thing to redirect.
“I didn’t mean you’re a homophobe, I meant…”
“I don’t care what you meant. I don’t like it but that doesn’t make me a homophobe! I just prefer the normal way of it. Or… maybe I am a little homophobic! But so what? Who isn’t prejudice against something? You know what I don’t even have to defend myself. I’m against gayness and like the normal way of things and that’s how I’ll do things myself.”
Everypony fell silent for a moment after that. Nopony had any idea what anypony else was thinking. Belle was shell-shocked that she’d been flattened for trying to defend her friend. ABS wondered if Die disliked her for what she had just announced and Sil thought of going off to mind the kids and get away from this scene. Unfortunately at that though, she looked over and saw Baritone had been standing in the door to the kitchen “Um… how long have you been standing there?”
“You like other fillies? That’s kinda gross.” he replied looking towards ABS. Not helping in the least. Though he was just a kid still. Not much older than Applebloom had been when she found out about her sister and Fluttershy. The way she’d reacted to that… he diffidently took it better than she did back then.
“Trust me kid,” Spike stepped in “one day you’ll find it kinda hot instead.” which got him a rather strong hoof in the side from ABS and when he looked to Belle to take his side, or at least defend him, he just received one from her as well. He knew he deserved it for that joke. Worth it. “Faites-moi une faveur, faire un rire faux, voir comment ils réagissent.” (Do me a favour, do a fake laugh, see how they respond.) Baritone let out a small chuckle, Spike let out a small grunt as Belle tapped his side again.
“You probably shouldn’t be hearing this.” Sil finally spoke up, walking towards him and putting a hoof over his side, pulling him out of the kitchen. “You’re a little too young to understand. But I bet you’re old enough to help me take care of the others.” she said in a way that both annoyed Baritone but instantly made him feel better, giving him some elderly responsibilities. Dealing with children was her special talent after all.
“You know he’s just saying that because he’s too young to know better right?” Die said, defending ABS. ABS didn’t really need it though, unlike Die she hadn’t been offended. She was however a little confused.
“I thought you said you were against it too?”
“Well… I…”
“She doesn’t have to explain herself." Belle added, now defending Die in turn. “Like she said, we don’t know how she thinks about it and we shouldn’t try and guess. Whatever she thinks about whatever is hers, not ours.”
“Um, yeah. Exactly what Belle said.” Die followed, not really understanding what Belle had said. Not really understanding herself why she’d attacked ABS then defended her on the exact same point. “I don’t have to defend what I say, it’s just what I say. I do have to defend my friends though. Even if it’s from me.” it almost sounded profound. Or it would if any of it made sense. This whole thing was just confusing now.
Again silence fell over them. Partly out of comfort of what they’d just settled and partly out of just trying to figure out what any of that meant. Seriously, it DID make sense but it was way too complicated. Die was about to get up from the table, they’d finished their breakfast long ago by this point when Belle broke the silent. “So Die, you saw your mother? How is she?”
“She’s… doing well actually. I was going to go see her today. Also yesterday.” there was clear guilt in her last words. “But I did see her two days ago. How I got there though, it’s actually kinda funny. You want to tell her where you thought she was ABS?”
“I hardly see how it’s funny. I though’chu where dead.”
“Pfft… what? W-why?...” laughed Spike.
“Well, I guess, death where on ma mind of late.” her words caused a third long silence from the four of them as Belle and Spike looked at their friend, the slightest bit of fear on their faces was all that betrayed the huge amount of fear in either’s mind. Those weren’t light words after all. And while it was different, Twilight’s incident was still rather fresh on rather minds. “I hadn’t seen ya at yur sista’s weddin’. You hadn’t wrote us in months. And the house hadn’t been lived in for just as long. I assumed the worst I guess.”
“Oh, I’d forgotten you came back for the wedding. You’ve missed a lot. I don’t even know where to start. My sister isn’t married. She’s seeing Elusive again. Not sure if you know what happened to Rainbow Dash or Twilight and, well, everypony.”
“I know mosta it. I knew she didn’t get married and I know what happened to Twilight and Big Mac. I saw RD when she woke up and I heard her memory came back not to long after I left.”
“Her memory? Like amnesia?” Spike asked and ABS nodded. Huh… there was something neither of them had known.
“I saw Twilight.” Die chimed in “And I saw Big Mac too. That’s actually how I met my mother. ABS told me what she thought about you. Being dead,” that wasn’t exactly how it happened but that wasn’t important. “and I kinda lost it. I ran off and went looking for you. I saw you coming out of the Carousel Boutique. I had… well, ABS wasn’t the only one thinking of death… my…”
“I know.” Belle said. She knew about her father. He was big name around Ponyville and his passing didn’t go unnoticed. “I’m sorry for your loss. I can only imag… I remember when my fath… actually… um, please, go on.” she had some news about her own father now. But this might but be the best time to bring that up.
“Thank you.” Die said solemnly, it hurt. Still. But it wasn’t like she was the only pony here whose father was passed. ABS long ago, same with Belle’s. Spike never even knew his father and only had Twilight. “I think about him a lot. I miss him… obviously. And I thought of my mother. So I went to see her. I ran into Big mac heading there. And, maybe you could come see her with me ABS. Big Mac seemed to visit Twilight there every day. And you need to talk with your family.”
“Yeah, Scootaloo said you were moving back in here. What happened?” Spike asked. “Last I heard you were moving in with some JD guy you met on the circuit.”
“I where gonna… but… he ain’t just some guy. He is… he was, the father of ma foal.” they both caught the ‘was’ part of that. How couldn’t they? “You understand right? I ain’t having this child no more. An’ ‘fore you say nothing, I’ve already gotten a head fulla ‘what ya did where wrong’. Please, please don’t do that too.” she sounded pleading but wasn’t really. Like Die defending her from herself, ABS needed to do that now. She judged herself harder than any of her friends would.
Belle, again, could only imagine her pain. “I wouldn’t say something like that. I don’t know anypony who would.”
“Yes you do… you know her. I didn’t wanna face ‘em so I hid as long as I could.” ABS needed to talk with her family, had moved out, had avoided them. It fit and made sense and was confirmed by what ABS said next. Only Belle had thought it AJ. “Fluttershy flew off after I told her. I’d never seen her so mad in all ma years. I guess, she felt like she lost her child in losing mine.” ABS looked up from staring at the ground while talking. “Fluttershy, ma sister too I guess, want a child, but they ain’t able have one.”
“Well why not just get a stud, I mean, that’s kinda obvious isn’t it?” Spike stated. “Why not even get Big Mac to sire for Fluttershy? I’m sure Twilight would understand.”
“Um…” Belle just sighed. She knew most of the issues that had occurred between AJ and Fluttershy from Rarity, who until certain instances, was told… EVERYTHING about everypony’s love lives. “That’s half the problem. Remember when Fluttershy moved in with Pinkie Pie for a while?”
“No, I’ve completely forgotten those three months.” Spike retorted.
“AJ kicked out Fluttershy because she thought she’d cheated on her with Big Mac and he’d gotten her pregnant. She hadn’t, and she couldn’t. She can’t have a child. She physically can’t.”
“I where ganna give them ma child. But if I had it… you seen what happened to Rainbow Dash. This one and Ace. I’d be ruined if that happened ta ma body. I ha…”
“You don’t have to explain.” Die said as she put a hoof on ABS’ side.
“Thank ya Die. I wish I could repay ya. It really musta been hard… did Sil know about him?”
“Yes. She knew.”
“Knew what?” questioned Spike. “’Him’? You have a coltfriend too back in Las Pegasus?”
“No… despite what ABS thought.” Die chuckled, surprisingly calm talking about her father. What ABS had taken as 'creep' back so long ago had really been the same sort of depression that Die had now. And back then too. “Tell them what you thought.”
“Y-you really want me ta say it?” ABS couldn’t help but be surprised considering how much Die had reacted to it the other day.
“You said you’d thought it for ages… I know you talked about me sometimes. Not in a bad way but, can you really say you’ve never brought it up to Sil or Belle before?”
“Ta them? Yeah, I can say that I never did. But I did with Scootaloo. ‘Fact, she where the one who suggested it ta me. Fairness it where back when she hated ya and she said it outta spite, but I couldn’t help but see it from then on.” ABS said to Die, expecting some kind of response. Instead she just turned to Belle and Spike. ABS followed her gaze and found the response she expected. There was no way she could stop telling this story now even if she tried. They’d beg to know and by the sound of it Die would just tell them. “Ya sure?... alright. I thought that Filthy Rich was molesting Die back when she where younger.”
Belle froze. Eyes widened, staring blankly at ABS.
“I was wrong. And I feel like a complete idjit for sayin’ it. I guess thought that wi…”
“You shouldn’t even joke about something like that!” Spike said as he slammed his clenched claw onto the table. “A father doing that with their daughter is NOT funny. Somepony may have had that happen to them.”
“I didn’t know you knew about that Spike.” Sil said as she walked back into the kitchen. He hadn’t said Belle specifically but apparently Sil knew about it too. Belle still hadn’t said a word and luckily all eyes were on Sil now, because if anypony had looked at Belle, they’d know something was horribly wrong. All eyes that was expect her own; Belle was still staring blankly at ABS.
“Yeah… I know about it.”
“Don’t sound so down about it. And it’s not as bad as you make it sound. I came onto him.”
“What?” Belle final spoke. “Are you saying…”
“Yeah… and he wasn’t called ‘Silver-Tongue’ for nothing.” she giggled. Good times…
“Hold on jus’ one second there!” ABS roared this time, as she also slammed her hoof onto the table. “You used ta tease me ‘bout being an inbreed and here you are sayin’ you were doing ya father? What they hell!?”
“It was years after that. He was just so sad when mom left us… I wanted to cheer him up. And I did. I don’t regret it. I loved him. I still do.” Sil said with a smile. They honestly where good times. “But… don’t any of you dare say a single word about this to anypony!... Actually… how did you know Spike if Belle didn’t? I only ever told Die.”
“I uh, heard fr…”
“I have a confession.” ABS interrupted. “On a similar note, y’all where right. Applejack is ma mother. BUT!!! Big Mac is not my father. So I stand by kickin’ all ya flanks fur sayin’ so.”
“You already told us. Did you really forget?” smirked Sil in response to this ‘confession’.
“I told yous, but I didn’t tell Belle.”
“Not that I don’t believe you…” Belle said somewhat quietly. “but who’s your father then?”
“He where some colt AJ met before she even got her Cutie Mark. She didn’t know no better and I guess it musta been her first time. I don’t know his name. Don’t think AJ even remembers it either. She may be ma mom. But she’s my big sister in ma heart. Always has been, always will be.”
“I have a confession too.” stated Belle, more assertively but still quieter than usual. “Well, not a 'confession', but a… a um… well…” she looked to Spike who didn’t know what this was she was admitting. At least at first. He noticed and put his arm around her and tried to reassure her. “My… father is actually alive.”
“Really?!” all three of the mares said in unison. ABS being the only one who’d ever met anypony besides Rarity in Belle’s family spoke up. “But I though both yur parents died on their way to Prance? Where’s he been? Don’t… don’t say Prance.”
“Prance…”
“Whi-what?! He they just up and abandoned you on ya sis? What kind of dead beat woul…”
“No. He didn’t abandon us… we abandoned him. Or, something like that. I only found out not long ago. He’s alive, but, he’s never allowed to see us. He didn’t dump me with her, she took me in, and away from him.” Belle leaned into Spike more than before. “He used hurt all of us, I’ve told you that much. He only ever touched me twice before he… but, I don’t know how many times he did to my mom other the years.”
“Ya never told me that?” ABS question.
“That’s because you’d met him. And you liked him. I didn’t want to ruin him in your mind. You said so many nice things about him when he died… or didn’t die but… you know what I mean. I didn’t want to tell you that.” she stopped looking at ABS and turned to Sil and Die. “Thank you for not telling her… I knew you wouldn’t but, thank you still.” she’d told them a few years ago for some reason or another. She couldn’t quite remember why.
“But he a’ways seemed so nice when I where around him.” ABS questioned again. She’d met him on a few occasions before Rarity had become Belle’s guardian. Aside from being a bit strict he never came across as violent in anyway. Joyful, laughing, loving; they seemed to be what ABS remembered of him. That’s he’d been assaulting his wife and daughters was dumbfounding to her. How ponies seemed and how they really are… you just never know sometimes.
“He was. For the most part. I didn’t know about it until he hurt me. And I could tell he regretted it but… Mom said he didn’t mean it. And…” Belle was on the verge of tears. She hadn’t thought about it much since she’d sent him the letter. He’d been on her mind but never out loud and only the thoughts of him where that he was alive. Never the darker, real side of why he’d left. But what hurt most right now was “and I don’t know why Mom went with him…”
“Your mom’s alive too?”
“N-no… but she was. She, she died a few years ago, I think. I don’t even know. I know why he had to go. But she didn’t… she chose to leave us! She chose to go with him instead of stay with me! After everything he did… I can’t understand it. Everything he did her, to my sister, to, me…”
‘Oh no…’ Sil figured it out. Why Spike had been worried about the implication of incest, that somepony might take it poorly. He hadn’t known about herself and her father. He was worried about Belle. ‘What he’d done to her’ and he’d been forced to leave. “Belle… did your father… did he molest you?”
Belle couldn’t hold back crying anymore. Face first onto the table. Spike tried to comfort her but it was beyond that now. He turned from looking down at Belle to face Sil. His expression told her she was right. Sil turned to Die and ABS who looked as mortified as Sil did herself. How could the same thing be so different between two pairs?
“I was saved by my sister. She stopped him, before he could do much. But he’d already…” she pulled her head off the table and looked around. She wanted to make sure none of the kids where hearing this. None where. She finally looked at Spike for a brief moment as a smile forced itself onto her face. Whatever her father had taken, she had freely given to Spike now. “He disappeared for about a month after that. He came home… looking like he’d been sleeping on the street every day since then. He probably had been. I, I get that he felt bad about it but… two weeks later he left. They left. And Rarity knew. She knew… for more than half my life she knew our parents were still alive and she told me they were dead!...”
“I… I never knew…” ABS whispered. She assumed this sort of thing had happened to Die and that it had been traumatic, perhaps the cause of her issues, but not Belle. About a month before Belle’s parents had ‘died’ all those years ago, she didn’t even notice a difference in her friend. Of course they were all so young back then, ABS doubted that Belle had even known what had been done to her at the time. “I’m sorry Belle, had I known I woulda…” she didn’t know what she would’ve done differently.
“It, it’s not what he did. It’s that he left. With her.” Belle said as she placed her face back on the table top. It was slightly muffled but she went on “Mom left too. I don’t know why. He had to leave, sure… but she didn’t. Rarity thinks what I lost was so important… and she’s right. But I lost my Mom, not my virtue.”
“Uh, sorry ta ask but…” ABS whispered towards Sil. “what’s ‘virtue’ mean?”
“Her virginity.” Sil whispered in response.
“Oh…” ABS said loud enough for Belle to hear. She lifted her head back up, she’d slowly stopped crying since placing it there. Spike took his claws away, as much as putting an arm over somepony may’ve seemed to do in theory, in practice it doesn’t actually do much. She looked up at ABS who continued “So he didn’t pop yur cherry then…” she could’ve used more tactful words but she thought Belle had meant that her father actually never raped her. She had said that her sister had stopped him after all.
ABS got a look of pure ice from Sil and Die and a look of pure fire from Spike. As well as a small gout of actual fire. More for show than anything else but it conveyed his message well. “No, he did.” Spike replied hesitantly. Such crude phrasing even made him, the one who was sleeping with Belle and constantly making tactless sex jokes, uneasy.
“Oh. I-I’m sorry… again… had I known I woulda… you know my first time wasn’t so great neither but, I guess it don’t compare neither too…” that she’d been ‘popped’ accidently by a set of dung bells while training didn’t really seem as bad as she had thought it was a few minutes ago.
“How bad was it?” Belle asked. Which lead to a long and rather in-depth, in all possible meanings of the word, explanations of how it had happened. Die had then brought up hers which had seemed fine at the time. She had been with Featherweight, and he was nice. Only problem was… he has cameras. LOTS of them… ABS, Belle and Sil remember that event very well, and the following beat down ABS had laid on him for being a jerk. Of course seems ABS had a year later taken that picture of Die and Belle… she didn’t exactly have the high ground anymore as Belle pointed out.
Naturally they asked Sil about her first time next. She answered without any hesitation “My father. I told you I loved him. I can’t say it was bad in any way. It never was, and I was sad to see it end but we had to. He wanted me to have somepony to be with. Truly be with.” she tried to sound sympathetic to Belle but couldn’t. “He taught me about love in more than one way. I know he didn’t want it to end but it was what was best for me. It’s weird, I know. Belle, maybe your father did what was best for you when he left.”
“That’s what Rarity said too…”
“I’ve heard you speak of your parents.” Die spoke up. “You’ve always sounded like you missed them. Until now I’ve rarely heard you say a single ill word about your father. Even now it doesn’t sound like you hate him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending him, what he did was wrong! But you still miss him don’t you?”
“Yeah, she does.” Spike answered for her. “She sent him a lett…”
“No.” Belle interrupted. “I don’t. Not anymore. No matter how much I miss him, I can’t forgive him and I don’t wanna have to face him… I couldn’t.”
“C’mon Sweetie Belle.” Spike reaffirmed. “You’re saying it as if you have to. Honestly, what are the odds that you’ll ever see him again? He’s of somewhere in the world… Prance I think. But if you ever wanted to see him, I’d be there for you, right by your side. And so would Rarity.” he thought for a moment ‘Prance?... Two white unicorns who speak the language?... Nah…’
“It’s your turn Spike.” she said, wanting to get away from this. There was no reason to stay on it. Spike was right, she’d never see him if she didn’t want to, and it had happened so long ago.
“My turn what?” Spike questioned.
“Your turn to tell them who you lost your virginity to. I bet they’ll love this story.” Belle said, indicating to the others. She still sniffled a little but otherwise was putting on a good mood.
“Uh…”
“Yeah Spike,” Die said, getting why Belle wanted to change the subject. “You’re the only stallion here… or whatever-dragon, so it’d be cool to hear it from the other side of it.”
“Do I have to tell you guys?”
“It where probably at a good age, weren’t it?” ABS added teasingly. “I mean we loved ya an’ all back then but y’all’s still a dragon. Sil and Die where scared of ya fer who knows long. Can’t imaging ya got th’attention of to many fillies.”
“Well you’re half right… we were the only fillies he knew” Belle said with a smirk.
“You weren’t his first where you Belle?”
“Scootaloo.” Spike replied flatly. Sil and Die didn’t really think too much of it, but ABS couldn’t figure out when. She’d only come back every so often from Cloudsdale and had spent all those times with her and Belle. They’d seen Spike in that time sure, but the two had never been alone. And it wasn’t since she moved back, he was with Belle then and he’d diffidently been with her in that time. Which only left back before she left so long ago.
“So yur what turned her gay then?” ABS replied smugly.
“We just went over this…” Die snapped. “Don’t say stuff like that about ponies. Even if you are, it’s still rude.”
“Huh? Uh no, she told me she is. ‘Fore she left, me and her got in a huge fight over it.”
“That’s what that fight was about?” Belle said, shocked. It had been a HUGE fight. They hadn’t spoken in nearly a month and only just made up before Scootaloo moved to Cloudsdale. LITERALLY right before, as she was about to leave in her father’s chariot. “I only just found out she was… and I kinda told her that I called it so… not much better here. And Rarity scolded me for doing so as well.”
“She’s one ta talk… ain’t she the one who started that whooooie thing with my sister though? AppleDash? Uh, no offence Belle.”
“None taken. I said that to her too. But if she told you back then, why didn’t she tell me?”
“Cause she had a crush on you.” this caught Sil and Die’s attention. They didn’t want to say it but they too had assumed, or rather out right accused Scootaloo of being a filly-fooler back in the day.
“Quick question.” Die interjected. “Do I have to apologise if I was right? Because… called it!”
“Yeah, laugh it up Die. She thought you were cute too. Whole reason I took them pictures of you and Belle was ganna be a joke… and sorta apology, that I’d send ta her.”
“You were going to send those!?” Die yelled as she jumped over the table and grabbed ABS by the scruff. She regained her composure and let go before clearing her throat and stating “Well good job with what that did to Elusive…” oh no she didn’t…
“…” ABS had no response to that. She was wrong on all fronts here really and she knew it. crap… “ma bad?”
Spike chuckled before saying “You wanna hear something else about Rarity?” he then thought twice. “Um, you think I should tell them Belle?”
“Tell them what?” she asked before he leaned down and whispered in her ear. “No. No I don’t think you should. But now that you’ve mentioned it… we pretty much have to. I pretty much have to because you’ll just flat out say it. Completely out of context and make it sound all shady.”
“You’re right, I will. Rarity slept with Applejack.”
“I can’t believe I’m engaged to you…” Belle sighed and face-hoofed. “Like half a year ago, when Elusive came back into her life and Fluttershy had moved in with Pinkie Pie.”
“That jus’… that just makes me feel bad fer Fluttershy. I mean, sure she and Pinkie, but still. Come ta think about it, how come ma sis’ is fine with Pinkie fer doing that? And… I hope they ain’t still fightin’ causa me. Hope they’re a’right right now.”
“Why don’t you go home then? “ Spike asked.
“Because this is my home now. I live here. Sweet Apple Acres is…”
“Is still your home. Even if you don’t live there. Just, go see them. Even if it’s just Applejack, or even if it’s just Fluttershy. Or even if it’s both they’ll be glad to see you.”
“But Fluttershy…”
“Can’t possibly be as mad as you think. She’s physically incapable of being that mad at somepony.”
“I just wanna know if their alright. But, I ain’t gonna face ‘em. Ma sis says she’ll be prouda me no matter what but I know that’s a lie. She may not be ashamed, but I know fer sure she ain’t proud. And I know full-well Fluttershy is ‘shamed. We both want AJ on our side but if she chooses one'a us she hurts the other… I can’t make ma sis have ta do that. It’s like if Belle had ta choose between Rarity or Spike.”
“Rarity.” Belle replied instantly.
“Thanks a lot…” Spike said disregarding her joke. Hopefully a joke…
“It ain’t funny. I just, I wanna know if their alright or if they're still fighting or what… but if they are fine, I don’t want ta come between ‘em an' start it up again.”
“Well you know who I’m sure would know?” Die asked rhetorically. “Big Mac. And I know exactly where he’ll be in about an hour.”
“Where? An’ how would you know?”
“Visiting Twilight.” Spike said. “He’s been seeing her almost every day. Possibly even every day.”
“Exactly. And I gotta go there anyway, why not come with?”
ABS thought about it for a moment. She was pretty sure Big Mac knew already but she should at least have the decency to tell him herself. Not that he’d even heard about her having a child from her directly, he’d heard that news second-hoof too. But still, maybe he didn’t know. Either way she needed to speak with her brother, irregardless of her child.
She’d left over half a year ago and hadn’t seen him since. If none of this had happened they’d have reunited already. Well, that wasn’t entirely true with the one night back for Rarity’s wedding and seeing him for a minute or so yesterday but that wasn’t really the point now. “When do we leave?” ABS asked quite cheerfully.
“As soon as we wash up. Belle, seems you’re the guest in our house, would do the honours of clearing the table?” Die quipped.
“I don’t think… sure.” she sighed. No point arguing, she might as well just clean up after the long ago eaten breakfast. Belle stood up and lit her horn, picking up a few plates. The ones Spike hadn’t grabbed already. He was helping like the whipped coltfriend he was… uh, 'loving' coltfriend he was.
The two took the bowls over to the basin and placed them down before running some water to wash them in. She had moved out on them without letting them know so this was the least she could do to make up for it. Well, that and help Sil take care of the four kids she was minding. Speaking of which; she didn’t know who these kid’s parents where. She didn’t know anypony who spoke Prench. At least not as fluent as these two. They obviously came from Prance.
By the time Belle and Spike where finished washing the plates ABS and Die had already left and Sil had ‘relieved Baritone of his charge’ that she’d given him to watch over his brother, Ace and Ven. The three where alright under his watched and nothing was broken. Well, nothing that wouldn’t’ve been broken by Ace and Ven even under Sil’s watch any way. Baritone was now sitting beside his brother as Ven performed some flying tricks for them. Even if Lucy couldn’t see what the filly was doing, he still looked happy in the moment.
Baritone however didn’t. He kept glancing at Belle, who in turn was looking directly at them. She took her eyes off of him and went to sit down beside Spike and join in on watching Ven’s show. Even while not looking directly at him anymore, Belle could see out of the corner of her eye Baritone was still staring at her. She didn’t look at him knowing that he’d just turn away. There was something up, but she had no idea what.
Had he heard some of what they’d been talking about? Mostly sex. He was at that age where a colt would start to… no he wasn’t sitting in a way that would hide anything going on down there so that wasn’t it. Maybe he was looking at Spike, the monsterous dragon, and not her. Again no, that wasn’t it. She could tell when a stallion was looking at her. Not to sound conceded but she had years of practice. This was of course different than a lusty look but he was diffidently staring at HER and Nopony else.
She’d checked earlier anyway, looking over to the main room to check if he, or any of the others were listening in to what they said, just before she’d started talking about her father. He hadn’t heard any of that. Right?
Wrong. Though he hadn’t heard the main part of what she’d spoken about, he’d heard one crucial detail. Belle had called Rarity her sister. And that meant that Belle was Sweetie Belle. His sister. The one that had sent the letter. The letter that had arrived in a gout of fire. Fire that would’ve came from a dragon. It all made sense. He’d met his sister. And she didn’t even know it. Neither did Lucy. Neither did Rarity. And most importantly, and most heart-breaking…
Neither did his father.