September 19, 2046
San Caballo
“Please! Stop! I’m your mother!” Ditzy lay there, bloodied and bruised, one eye too swollen to see through correctly – the irony wasn’t lost there. A good number of her feathers were torn out; they were going to take a while to grow back. But none of that compared to the injured, betrayed look that was in the maternal pegasus’ eyes.
“YOU’RE NOT MY MOTHER!” Gray hooves, the same color as Ditzy’s, rained down on her violently, each one speckled with blood. Eyes in the hue of dawn looked fit to kill, madness in their murderous visage. “MY MOTHER WOULD HAVE LOVED ME! BUT YOU GOT IN THE WAY AND NOW YOU NEED TO DIE!”
“Please,” Ditzy gasped, looking up at her would-be murderer, her foal. “Please, forgive me. I never meant to hurt you. Please!”
“DIE, YOU TAIL-LIFTING HARRIDELLE!” Another vicious hoof slammed down, crunching something. And in the back of the murderous mare’s mind, a voice began shouting: “What are you doing?”
She couldn’t stop. There was too much righteous fury to dispense.
“Stop it, sis!”
It was almost…pleasurable…in its way. For a brief second, the murderess wondered if that was how her mo…no, this harridelle before her felt when she was letting herself be pleasured by so many of her lovers.
“Are you crazy? You’re going to—”
A light, bright as Celestia’s sun, suddenly filled the air. This was a sign from the goddess herself, surely. Ditziduella Hooves needed to die for her sins, and die at the hands of one of those she was most wronged. It was the natural way of thi—
BOOM
The smell of singed feathers and fur filled Orange’s nostrils as she suddenly woke up from her reverie. The kitchen was filled with the black of carbon scoring and smoke of something having ignited. She looked at herself: her feathers and fur were slightly scorched from the flour explosion.
“Ahem.” Orange turned around and looked, in utter mortification, at the pony standing behind her, with the equally singed mane, wings and now-damaged glasses, was Orange’s younger sister, Hazy Jane. The younger pony’s cracked glasses were shielding her eyes, but she knew that look well. “So…when I was expecting you to welcome me to your place, sis, I wasn’t expecting this. Glad Danny and the band don’t get here until tomorrow.”
“I, uh….” Orange wanted to find an intact bag of flour so she could hide under it. “Um…hi, sis?” It was that point that Hazy’s fractured glasses couldn’t hold together and split, each broken lens falling to each side of her muzzle. “Um…I’ll replace those. Promise.”
Hazy just stood there, staring at her older sister with those eyes of hers that were usually taken care of by the glasses she wore. Eyes that were filled with worry, but eyes that reminded Orange so much of the mother she should have had, the mother that had been Hazy’s right to claim…their aunt, Derpy Hooves. An aunt now gone nearly thirty-five years ago, as well as Derpy’s daughters, Sparkler and Dinky. A whole family that should have been hers.
“Is something wrong, Orange? I mean, if being here’s a problem, Danny and I can just check into the hotel with the rest of the band. It’s no big deal.”
“I….” Orange sighed. “Look, it’s just…frustration. I had a…bad business day. I’m actually glad to see you. Is Fluttsy coming?”
Hazy shook her head. “No, she wanted to plan for the wedding, and so that meant she couldn’t come, though she made me promise that I’d keep Eric safe from groupies.” The pink-topped pegasus grinned. “I think ever since Fluttsy saw that groupie mob in Auckland two years ago, she’s been overly worried about groupies, but Eric’s not that kind of guy.” She finally walked forward and hugged her sister. “So, want to tell me what’s wrong while we clean up the place?”
An hour of cleaning, showers, and coffee later, both sisters were in the upstairs residential part of Orange’s home. “So,” Hazy said, wearing her spare pair of glasses, “Want to explain what got you so riled up?”
“Well….” A pause. “I just got some shipments of orange jelly from our suppliers in Griphonica and it’s really substandard. You know that I test-bake new recipes in the kitchen downstairs before we make it in the kitchens at the store, right? Well, this has got to be the worst orange jelly I’ve ever worked with! If I give this to my customers, I may as well point them in the direction of Pony Joe’s or Sugarcube Corner, and you know how much I’ve put into my company!”
Hazy looked at her sister for a few seconds, then said calmly, “Okay, do you really want to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Orange leaned back, surprised. “W-what do you mean?”
“I mean that the big sister who I’ve always known to be able to come up with just about anything is complaining about something stopping her?” Hazy held an éclair in her hoof, taking a bite. “I remember when you first made these: you got a shipment of hazelnuts from Spain by accident, and nopony here in Equestria had ever had them before. You mixed them in with chocolate and now your éclairs are the talk of the town! That’s the kind of thing you do, not giving up.” The younger mare shook her head. “Look, if you don’t want to talk about it, I can understand, but if there’s a problem, Orange, I want to help.”
The two sat in silence for a few minutes again before Orange spoke. “I got a letter from her. She wants to come next week to visit.”
Hazy grinned. “That’s great, sis! I’ll finally give you an—”
“No.” The hissed response was so severe, Hazy wondered if Orange was turning into a snake. “I want nothing to do with her! And if you had any sense, you wouldn’t either!”
Hazy looked at Orange and the anger in her eyes. “Sis….”
“That’s just the thing – doesn’t it bother you? We’re not sisters, not really. She’s not your mother. Aunt Derpy was your real mother, and Sparkler and Dinky were your real sisters! And up until ten years ago, you had to suffer like the rest of us with that tail-lifter for a mother!”
Hazy sighed. “Orange, we’ve been through this. Mom is Mom; trust me, I’ve had years to think about it. Yes, I know that Aunt Derpy was the one who foaled me and that she probably struggled with not telling me the truth, but…Mom has tried to be there for us since Aunt Derpy died. You saw how she was at the funeral – how she still is! There’s not a single day since that goes by since Mom found out about Aunt Derpy’s death that she hasn’t felt anything less than guilty about everything!”
“She hasn’t felt guilty enough, if you ask me,” she said. “And frankly, Dad should have left her flank and married Aunt Derpy.”
“But that didn’t happen. And Mom and Dad’s marriage has finally gelled since that day. Hell, when Fire reached his dream and joined the Wonderbolts, he thanked Mom for being there every moment of his life. He got that love in ways we didn’t – and that should be the clue of how much Mom’s changed!” She leaned forward. “And think about how much Splashie and Dewie have benefited from that as well – are you going to keep punishing Mom because she made some mistrots when she was younger?”
“YES!” Orange shouted. “I hate her. She never loved us! It was all about spreading her thighs for some stallion or getting down and dirty with some mare! How can you even defend somepony like that?”
Hazy was quiet and sad as she said, “Because she’s our mother. And because she misses you more than you know.”
“Hah! Yeah, right.”
Hazy pulled out her phone. “Fine, don’t want to believe me? Then call Danny – he should be practicing for tonight’s concert but he can probably break away long enough to tell you about when we took her and Dad to LA for their anniversary last year…and when she saw the orange groves in Anaheim, how she couldn’t stop crying because you haven’t spoken to her in ten years!” She held the phone out to Orange and said, “Or maybe you can call Splashie and ask her why the other day Mom was holding a picture of you, just sitting by the window and silent as a grave. Or maybe….”
“Fine, fine, fine, I get the point. You don’t have to keep belaboring it.”
“Or maybe you can talk to my friend Rarity and let her tell you all about how much separation between mother and da—”
Orange turned back on her younger sister and there was anger in her eyes. “Your friend is just as much part of the problem as the tail-lifter is.”
“What?”
“Yes – both the Knight of Generosity and that humanized brat of hers, the Lost Foal.” Orange banged on the table. “You know, if Silver hadn’t chickened out and had married Aunt Derpy, you might have had a normal life? Did you ever think of that?”
“For one, Aunt Derpy broke off the engagement – it wasn’t Silver’s fault. And two, that is incredibly callous of you to say that! I’m sure neither Rarity nor her daughter ever asked for any of it to happen. And I know Rarity hurts, though she hates to admit it, and I’m sure if I ever met Sandalwood I’d guess she probably feels the same way.”
“Doesn’t matter: Aunt Derpy is dead and it’s their fault!”
“And yet somehow you don’t blame Silver for that, I note. Plus, Aunt Derpy volunteered to foalsit Sandalwood – there was no way to know what was going to happen!” Hazy sighed. “Look…if there’s anypony that should be angered about it, it’s me. But I’m not. I miss our aunt and our cousins, but it was an accident, nopony’s fault – and to blame anypony for it is unfair, Orange, and that’s not you. What’s gotten into you?”
Orange was silent before she admitted, “Riverstream and I are falling apart. He says I’m angry a lot, that I’m not the mare he knew. And then I found some other mare’s manehairs in our bed. He says his sister came over to stay while I was on a business trip to Whinnypeg and crashed on our bed instead of the guest room, but I don’t recall his sister having a blue mane.” Orange began crying and Hazy went over to hug her sister. “And all I can keep thinking of is all this hate and anger that’s building up in me lately.” She leaned against her sister’s neck and the two mares held each other for who knows how long, the older one just crying silently.
After a few minutes, Hazy kissed her sister on the cheek. “Look, you’ve had a lot of stress lately, it sounds like. It sounds like you need a vacation.”
Orange shook her head. “Can’t afford to; it was hard enough finding time in my schedule to squeeze in taking off the two days you and Danny are here.”
“Why so?”
“Talking to my financial advisors; the Shake-Shake-Sugarbake Corporation is trying to force me to sell but I have no interest in doing so.” The older gray mare waved her forelegs around as if to encompass the place as she said, “I’ve spent decades getting my business the way I want it and I have no intent to sell to some soulless megacorp from Empire City. I mean, I’ve just been tearing my mane out trying t—”
“Ssssh,” Hazy said, still holding her sister. “I want you to go upstairs and get some sleep – you need a break, Orange, and if River couldn’t see that, then it’s my job to. I’ll make us dinner tonight – how does cream of rice and mushroom soup and a baguette sound?”
Orange smiled softly; whenever she was down it was a tried-and-true batch of comfort food that Derpy had always made for her. “That’d be great, sis.”
“Then go,” Hazy said, playfully swatting her sister with her tail. “I’ll get started and you need some sleep.”
“And that’s the thing that doesn’t make sense,” Hazy said on the phone to Danny when he called her during his break. He wasn’t due in the dressing room for another hour, and so he spent that time on the phone with her. “She and River have been the perfect couple since they met. He would rather wrestle a manticore than cheat on her. It doesn’t sound like anything he would do.”
“No arguments there,” her husband said. “He’s a pretty good bloke and never struck me as a skirt chaser. Think she might have misunderstood something?”
“Possibly. I think I’m going to call him and try to find out.”
“Love, if you need me for anything before I get there, just let me know, okay? Maybe she’s spitting the dummy over nothing, but better to know now than later.”
“I hope so, hon, I hope so.” There was a knock at the door, and Hazy said, “There’s someone at the door, so I gotta go. I’ll talk to you tomorrow when you get into town, okay? Love you. Bye.” She hung up her phone and went to the door, finding a very sultry looking blue-maned unicorn sitting there. “Yes, can I help you?”
“Uh, I hope I’ve got the right address,” the mare said, nervously. “Is River in?”
Blue hair? Oh, River, please no…. “He’s not here at the moment, can I help you?”
The mare relaxed. “Thank Celestia. I swear, if my husband knew I was here with another stallion….”
“Your husband?”
She nodded. “He’s a very jealous type, but I love him more than anything. Anyway, the boss left something at the office and I thought I’d drop it off. Admittedly probably a little forward of me, but I thought he might need it here more than at home.” The mare handed Hazy a wrapped package. “And, if I may say, your husband is a wonderful mare, Miss Orange. I…say, I thought he said you had an orange mane?”
Hazy laughed. “Oh, I’m not River’s wife – that’d be my sister. I’m staying with them for a couple of days, and my husband should be here tomorrow.”
“I see. Well, in that case I’ll leave that with you and hope that things work out for them. Ta-ta!” And with that, the mare disappeared.
Holding it in her teeth, Hazy went upright to carry the package over to the table before setting it down. “Well, in that case I’ll leave that with you and hope that things work out for them,” Hazy thought. What was that all about? Hazy didn’t think much more about it; deciding to start on dinner for her sister.
Orange, I really hope that this is just an overreaction. I can’t see River being like this, I just can’t.
“Dinner was great, sis,” Orange said, nuzzling her sister. “I can’t thank you enough.”
She grinned. “I seem to recall a big sister who used to do the same for me whenever I caught the feather flu,” she said with a smile. “Oh, and I talked to Danny while you were asleep; Eric’s coming over as well. He said he can deal with sleeping on the couch, but he’d rather be around family than the hotel.”
“Sure,” Orange said. “But ugh, I hate wearing clothing.”
Hazy grinned. “And that’s why I always wear baggy stuff. I mean, yeah, Peter teases me about not looking like a proper Sheila – whatever that means – but it’s not as constricting as human clothing seems to be. And besides, the guys are used to pony norms now if you don’t feel like wearing anything at all.”
“No, I think I probably should,” Orange answered. “In any case, I’m going to go downstairs and burn off that extra energy making a bunch of chocolate chip cookies for your hubby – I know he likes them. You get some sleep, okay?”
Hazy nodded. “Will do.”
“Oh, and Hazy?”
“Yes?”
Orange leaned over and nuzzled her sister. “Thanks for looking out for me.”
“Always.” And with that, the younger gray mare walked upstairs towards the bedrooms. As soon as she did, with a plastic smile on her face, Orange walked over to the ovens. The thing should be done by now. Opening the oven, she grabbed a mouth mitt and pulled out the tray. On it, was a crisped and baked book, burned almost beyond recognition.
I knew it, you gelding, Orange thought, her eyes burning with hatred. You’re trying to steal my husband, aren’t you, mother? You Celestia-damned harridelle! Orange had opened up the package and found the kind of book that she would never have around the house: a recent copy of the Karmare Sutra, a sex book. And on the book was a sticky note in all-too-familiar writing:
I want you in every way like this!
–D
Mother doesn’t have blue hair, but her so-called ‘best friend’ Blue Ocean does, Hazy mused. And I know that Dad once said that mother and Blue Ocean knew each other very well. But why would…? No, it didn’t matter, Orange decided. All she knew was that her mother was playing her father false once again and this time not even her family was immune to her ‘charms.’
Letting the book sit on the tray, burning, she placed it under an intake fan so the stench could carry away – no need for that kind of smell twice in one day, she thought. With that, she decided to make an extra-large batch of cookies for Danny, Eric, Peter, Nigel and Duncan – three of the members of the band were happily married to their wives and Eric was soon to marry into the family.
At least some members of this family know what loyalty is, Orange mused darkly.
That night, Orange dreamed.
She stood on a corroded, blasted plain overlooking a dead valley. The sky was deep black and the clouds a burning red. The moon loomed unnaturally large and the world was lifeless except for her lone self.
Yes, my handiwork. This is the culmination of Eternal Night, a voice said behind her. But I no longer desire that. Now, I desire more. Revenge. Orange turned around and saw the most horrific thing in her life: Nightmare Moon, standing before her.
Orange didn’t try to run – where could she run to? This was a barren wasteland, a bleak world devoid of anything save for her and the demonic alicorn. Even if by some miracle she were to get away, there was no place to call for hope or succor.
I see you are wiser than most who come across me in their dreams, the Nightmare said. Most have tried to escape me, you know. They never do. They never wake up, either. Ever. The mistress of nightmares began to walk around the smaller pony, a wry smile on her face. And yet you do not run. Is that because you are foolish? Or brave? Some would call you the former. I, however, choose to believe the latter.
“I-I’m not afraid of you,” Orange finally spoke.
Indeed, you have nothing to be afraid of, Nightmare replied. At least, not now. Normally, I would counsel you to be very afraid – terrified, even. But not today. And do you know why? Because I have something to offer you.
“You do?”
How about all of my power? All of it to use against those have wronged you. All that have spurned you. All that would hurt you. The Nightmare pointed a hoof in a direction and Orange knew she shouldn’t look, that it would tear her heart, and yet she did, and suffered for it: in the near distance, going at it as if the population of Equestria depended on it, was River…and her mother, Ditzy. They rocked and sighed, moaned and sweated together, the two rhythmically moving as one in a way that strongly suggested that this was by no means the first time they’d done this. Or the second. Or the third. Or….
“No!” Orange screamed, trying to run towards them, but finding herself rooted in spot. But Ditzy heard them. She gave a sultry, knowing smile to her daughter and then breathed to River, “Harder and more, my love.” He did as instructed, and as the two came to la petite mort together, Orange screamed in pain and betrayal, falling to the ground, “No, no, no….”
A pity. And you thought his heart was pure. Makes you wonder who your youngest brother’s real father is, doesn’t it? Nightmare cooed. And speaking of which, I believe your father was once desired to marry your beloved aunt. But that can never happen now, because of this, I presume.
If the horror that Orange had seen before had jarred her, the next was worse. The gryphons breaking into Derpy’s home. Sparkler and Dinky putting up valiant struggles against the bandits as Derpy escaped with the foal, only to be captured. And then…. Orange’s eyes went wide and she screamed as she saw her cousins’ tails being pulled up forcefully, the looks of horror on their faces as the gryphons started to….
Everything mercifully blurred and she suddenly found herself watching as a bloodied and battered pegasus tried to take to the air once more, a crying bundle in her forelegs. One of the gryphons produced a crossbow, firing it with all-too-precise accuracy; the quarrel hit Derpy straight in the back of the head. The pegasus fell to the ground, stilled as the rain and wind came and the gryphon picked up the package in her arms, leaving the gray mare to die.
“MAKE IT STOP!” Orange roared, tears streaming from her eyes. She closed them, hoping this nightmare would end…
…and just like that she found herself standing on that shattered ridge once more, looking at the Nightmare. I offer you the chance to change history, to make things better and punish those who have wronged you. I offer it all to you. And all I ask for is a mere trifle, the tiniest of things.
“And what would that be?”
Something where your interests and mine dovetail, the Nightmare answered. She looked far less frightening now, more like a larger version of Princess Luna than a demon. Years ago, I was falsely accused by the Knights Elemental of absconding with Princess Luna. My side of the story was never presented, and I have been made into a monster unfairly. I desire a chance to avenge myself for that wrong, to show the world what Celestia’s lies are and what Luna’s cowardice stated. I want what should be my just due. But to do so, I need an ally in the world to assist me. A partner, if you will.
“And why would I have anything against the Bearers?”
Because, my dear Orange, if Silversteel had not married Rarity, he would have married your aunt. And an Uncle Silversteel would never have let his family down. Instead? It was his foal – his and Rarity’s, a foal that would never have been born otherwise – that was the catalyst of your aunt’s murder and your cousins’ rape and murder. Think on that for a moment: your aunt was supposedly a close friend to Rarity and Twilight and yet when she was in trouble, where were they? They only came when Rarity’s foal was in danger, too late to save your aunt. And do you know why? Because I believe Silversteel planned to leave his false mare of a wife and return to the mare who loved him most.
Yes, see it in your heart and know that it is true: Rarity and Twilight allowed her to die. But, the Nightmare said, placing a soft, understanding wing around the smaller pegasus, with my power, you could stop that. Save your aunt and even change time and space so that she is with either of the stallions that she loved. After all, having an uncle such as Silversteel would ensure your suffering wouldn’t happen. Or, perhaps, even having your beloved aunt as your stepmother would ensure an entirely new life for you, would it not?
The Nightmare looked at the gray mare and there was concern and understanding in her eyes – eyes that seemed so inequine a second ago yet now radiated care. You do not have to make this decision yet; it is a large one, I understand. Take time to think about it and I will discuss this with you later.
And with that, Nightmare Moon passed her sable wing gently across Orange’s face….
“Morning, sleepy!” Hazy said to her sister as she came down the steps into her kitchen. “Feel any better?”
“A little,” Orange yawned as she reached for the coffeepot. “Danny and Eric getting here soon?”
“The train arrives at the station in the afternoon. Oh, and Fluttsy couldn’t bear to be away from Eric forever, so it looks like it’s going to be a crowded home tonight. She’s on another train but arriving thirty minutes after the guys.” As Orange plopped down on the table, Hazy pushed over a basket of muffins. “Just like Aunt Derpy used to make. I admit, I’m nowhere near as good as you, but….”
“Oh, please – with you, it’s genetic, Hazy.”
“Uh, Mom and Aunt Derpy were twins, so…same genes,” Hazy reminded her sister.
Orange was about to respond when there was the fumbling of keys in the lock, followed by the door opening and a persian-green pegasus stallion with a midnight-green mane came in, holding a suitcase under one wing. “Orange….” he said softly. Riverstream then gave his sister-in-law a quick “Hi, Hazy,” before turning back to focus on his wife.
The look on the older mare’s face was one of near-heartbreak. “Why?”
“Why what?” Riverstream said, a confused look on his face.
Orange’s heartbreak was suddenly replaced with anger. “You left me! And what about the blue hair?”
He sighed. “Orange…I had a two-day conference to attend in Port Ferrier and you know how long it takes to fly there. And as for the blue hair…I told you it was Swifty! Why can’t you believe me? You know I would never play you wrong, Orange!”
Hazy decided at this point to intervene. “River, who’s Swifty?”
“My kid sister, Riverswift. She’s got an eton-blue coat, but always complained about her fuschia-colored mane and tail. She went to a local stylist to have it dyed dark blue and I have to admit it looks much better on her.” River turned back to his wife. “Look, if you want proof, here.” River opened his bag, reached in and pulled out a picture; the image had River and a younger pegasus mare next to him with deep blue hair and a family resemblance. “I asked Swifty to mail it to me at the hotel because I figured you weren’t going to believe me otherwise.”
Orange looked at the photograph, the look on her face one of embarrassment, but that didn’t last long as she then accused, “But you said we were splitting!”
“No, I said I had to split if I was going to fly to the conference in time.” He went over to his wife, and with his wing, lifted her face so she would look into his. “I know this whole thing with the hostile takeover has fried you, Orange, but you’re starting to lose it, hon. Think about it: after nearly thirty years of marriage, why would I give up on you?”
She looked at him, her face unreadable. She then looked at her sister, who was busy focusing on her phone (or pretending to do so out of politeness). She then went for her last straw: marching over to the trash can, she pulled out the burnt book, saying, “Then explain this!”
River took the book, looking at it weirdly. “Uh, this is the Karmare Sutra.”
“Yes.”
“Why in Celestia’s name would I even need that, hon? I mean….” He trailed off, seeing the crisped note on the cover. “Oh, that explains it. Who gave you this book?”
“Actually, she gave it to me,” Hazy said. “I answered the door. Unicorn mare.”
The look on his face was one of sudden irritation. “That crazy…. Did she mention she was married?” When Hazy nodded, River sighed, then continued. “Heart’s Desire is my secretary. She’s been trying to offer ‘special incentives’ to me as of late, but I’m not interested. And she uses that ‘I have a husband’ excuse any time she runs into another mare who might be a problem for her. I’m thinking about firing her, to be honest, but I haven’t found a suitable replacement yet.” Pointing at the book, he said, “This is probably another one of her not-so-subtle hints.” He looked back at Orange and said, “And there you go. I’m not going anywhere, Orange. I’d be crazy to, and it never entered my mind. But you’ve got to start relaxing, okay?”
She looked at him and her eyes started to water as she realized how much she’d hurt him. She then leaned into him, crying and pleading for forgiveness. “It’s okay, hon,” he said, “it’s okay. I know that your foalhood brought in some extra concerns, but our life is different. Oh, and speaking of which….” He reached into his bag and pulled out a chocolate bar and said, “Here – try this.”
Orange unwrapped it, gave a piece to her husband and then one to Hazy before taking a nibble. “This is good!” She read the label. “MildBon Chocolates. I’ve heard of them.”
“Well, get this: I was talking to one of the other pegasi, Bon Voyage, at the conference and she said her cousin, Bon-Bon, owns MildBon and is always looking for strategic partnerships. I know that you can never find that perfect chocolate mix you’re looking for in your recipes, so BV suggested putting you in touch with Bon-Bon about using their chocolate.”
Orange grinned. “And with the sales, I could send Sugarbake packing!” She hugged her husband tight. “River, you’re a genius!”
“I know,” he grinned.
“Well, that’s my cue,” Hazy said, looking at her phone. “I’m going to go upstairs and get dressed. Always hard to pick out something to wear for the hubby’s sake.”
As the younger mare went upstairs, River looked at his wife. “Sweetheart, I know we’ve had some rough patches lately, but I want things to be better. We’ll beat these guys and things can get back to normal, okay?”
She leaned into him, feeling his strength. “Okay.”
“But there’s just one more thing that I need you to do. Can you do that for me?”
She nuzzled him, feeling his love. “Okay.” He then rapped a single hoof on the ground, the sound echoing on the sparkling clean tiles in the room, and the door to the house opened once more, and as it did, Orange’s smile fell.
“Hello, Orange.” Both Ditzy Doo and Autumn stood there, looking at their daughter.
“Hello, Dad,” Orange said, craning her neck slightly in a way to acknowledge her father while ignoring the mare in front of him. “You can come in. She can go to Tartarus,” Orange said in a sickly-sweet voice that hid the venom.
“Orange,” Autumn began, but was hushed by his wife.
“Orange…why can’t you forgive me? Your brothers and sisters have. And I know I hurt you, hurt everypony so many times. But I never stopped loving you, any of you.” The older gray mare walked towards the younger, hurt in her eyes. “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, Orange. But your father forgave me, and Fluttsy, and Hazy.”
Orange turned to look at her husband with anger. “So is this what you were doing at the conference? Or should I say ‘who you were doing’?”
“Orange,” River began.
“Orange, if you want to blame someone, blame me,” Autumn said. “I want our family to be the way we should be, and you are the last link. Since I was at the weather conference as well, I met with River and we discussed how to do this. It’s not his fault, it’s mine.”
“Dad, I could never blame you,” Orange said. “You were always there for us, even when you didn’t need to be. You weren’t the one sleeping with anything that moved.”
Ditzy turned her head down in shame. “I just…I just want you back in my life, Orange.”
“Yeah, well too bucking bad. You know the way out, the sooner the better. Dad, you’re welcome to stay, though with all the family being here, that might make things difficult.”
“No it won’t,” a voice said from the stairs as Hazy descended them; she was bipedal now, wearing a t-shirt, jeans and ponyshoes and had her bag slung around her shoulder. “Just checked into the hotel, both us and Eric and Fluttsy. Mom and Dad should be here with you; I’ll explain everything to the others when I see them at the hotel.” She then went up to her parents and hugged them. “Hi guys. You staying for dinner and the concert?”
“Of course,” Autumn said, embracing his only biological child.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Ditzy added, as she nuzzled the daughter of her heart.
Hazy then went over and hugged River quickly, then last went up to Orange. “Give Mom a chance, Orange. She came here to make things right, and it would make Dad happy if you did,” the younger whispered to the older.
“I don’t want to,” Orange hissed.
“I know you will,” Hazy insisted. “It’s what Aunt Derpy would want.” Orange felt chastened by that and wordlessly nodded to her sister as the dawn-maned pegasus waved her goodbyes and then left, taking to the air and leaving a baker in a particularly sticky situation.
Orange settled into an uncomfortable sleep. Dinner and the concert did not go very well. Dinner was mostly Fluttsy and Hazy trying to convince her to make up with Ditzy, while Ditzy sat there, pleading her own case with Orange. The stallionfolk – both pony and otherwise – were chatting about non-descript things at the bar with the occasional time for Danny and Eric to sign autographs.
The concert went okay, but Orange’s mind was a stew of anger and bile. Her mother wanted everypony to forgive, just like that! Orange couldn’t fathom how her siblings could do so, with the exception of Firewire; he had been the only one who was young enough to have been raised by both parents. But as for the others, Fluttsy said, they had grown tired of the fighting between mother and daughter and wanted Orange to forgive Ditzy, because it was foalish that Orange couldn’t.
The resulting fight – the first one Orange had ever had with her older sister – did not end well. Fluttsy would have a black eye for a couple of days from Orange’s buck and the two sisters would be at odds for a while. Hazy felt guilty and spent most of the time backstage, attending to Fluttsy’s injuries; after the pair went backstage, Orange didn’t see either of her sisters again for the rest of the night. Once the concert was over, Autumn and Ditzy decided to check into the hotel as well, feeling that Orange had sent a clear message – a message that Orange had definitely intended for Ditzy but not for her father. As for River, he was so livid over Orange’s behavior that he ended up being the one sleeping in the guest bed that night, not wanting to speak to his wife after her tirade.
And that left Orange lying in the bed, wondering how everything went wrong, and how things could be fixed.
You know how they can be fixed, Nightmare said as she looked into the eyes of the heartbroken pegasus. The offer is still open.
“How much can I change?” Orange said, seriously contemplating the demonic alicorn’s offer. Once, it had been unthinkable. But she’d found out today that there were worse things, and if those worse things resided in reality, then how much of the story regarding Nightmare Moon was a lie?
Whatever your heart desires, Nightmare replied. All I need is for you to answer this: do you accept me as your liege lady?
Orange thought about it for a second, knowing that her answer would be irrevocable. “My answer is….”