Two weeks had passed since the incident with the wild dragon. Aurora still wasn’t allowed to leave the cottage's boundaries, not that she attempted to do so anyway. As always, she would practice magic with Twilight everyday. She'd made so much progress that it even impressed her mothers. Not only had she learned how to change the size of a branch, but she could also do it with various things and even switch the place of two objects, but it left her exhausted. Aurora could also receive visits from her friends to make sure she was doing fine.
Even though she wasn’t allowed to play with them for another week, Twilight and Fluttershy did let them talk. Her friends' visits made the blue filly very happy; she hadn’t lost her friends after all. She commented about her worry to them once.
“Lose us? What are you talkin’ about? We wouldn’t stop bein’ your friends just because you've made a mistake!” Apple Bloom exclaimed in surprise.
“But… If it wasn’t for Auntie Trixie…”
“Maybe… But we still wouldn’t hate you. Sometimes curiosity takes over and you can’t help following it…” Scootaloo said.
“Just listen to us next time, okay?!” Flying Feather interrupted impatiently.
“Sorry about that…” Aurora apologized as she looked away, sad.
“Feather, don’t be so rude! It’s okay, Aurora, we forgive you. At least you learned a lesson and you won’t do it again” Sweetie Belle said.
“Whatever…!” Flying Feather snorted as she turned away, glaring at nothing in particular
“We're glad that you’re okay. We all are, and that’s what matters, A-Aurora…” Cutie said in a low voice.
“Thanks, girls… I really appreciate it!” Aurora said as she hugged her friends. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hugged her back right away, but Flying Feather tried to resist. In the end, she was forced to hug them too. Cutie hesitated, but she finally gave in to the group hug.
...That happened during their first visit the day after the incident. The crusaders came day after day, and they would talk for a while before Aurora was called back inside. One of the nights during her last week of punishment, Aurora was called from her room while she was reading a spells' book.
“Listen, dear. Your mom and I are going out tonight. Your godmother is going to take care of you since Spike still needs to sleep all night. Your friend Sweetie Belle is coming as well.” Fluttershy said to her daughter as she was getting ready by the mirror. She was wearing a dress.
“Sweetie Belle and Auntie Rarity are coming? Great!” Aurora jumped out of happiness. “Am I allowed to have a slumber party?” She asked with a smile.
“Just for tonight.” Twilight said as she came from the bathroom. She was also wearing a dress, and ready for her date. “You have our permission to do whatever you want tonight, but go to sleep early and listen to auntie Rarity. Understood?” The lavender unicorn said in a serious tone.
“Yes, mom!” Aurora replied, looking down.
Twilight kissed her forehead. “Try not to make too much noise, though. Don’t wake Spike up.” The bookworm pony smiled warmly.
“We’ll have our slumber party down here then!”
“Good idea!” Fluttershy said. Moments later, somepony knocked on the door. Twilight opened it to find Rarity and Sweetie Belle on the other side.
“Good evening, darlings! I hope I’m not too late… You look wonderful!” Rarity said with a grin.
“Thanks. We are going to a fancy place, after all!” Twilight said as she let them in. Sweetie Belle instantly went with Aurora. Fluttershy and Twilight gave their daughter one last hug before leaving.
“Have fun on your double date with Applejack and Rainbow Dash!” The fancy Unicorn yelled from the door.
“Thanks, Rarity!” The lavender Unicorn shouted back as she left.
Rarity turned to face the two fillies. “I’ll prepare your dinner. You two have fun!” The fancy pony said as she headed to the kitchen.
“Okay!” Both fillies responded in unison. Sweetie Belle turned to see her friend. “So, what are we going to do?”
"Well, I can go to my room and get a couple of sleeping bags and then we can tell stories!” Aurora suggested.
“I would love that! I’ll wait here.”
Aurora trotted upstairs and headed to her bedroom. She stopped by the door and quietly opened it, when suddenly something white jumped on her and made her fall. Though she was scared to death, she'd been able to keep herself from screaming. “Oh, Angel! How long you been there?” The bunny ignored her and hopped downstairs. Aurora got back up and entered her room. Spike was snoring. She slowly went to her closet and took two sleeping bags and a blanket with her magic, leaving the room without making a noise. She turned and whispered just before she closed the door, “Good night, Spike…”
***
“Thank you for your orders; we will bring them to you as soon as they are ready.”
“Thank you.” Twilight thanked the waiter and turned to see Rainbow Dash. “So, how’s parenting going, Rainbow Dash?”
“I’m not going to lie, egghead. It’s hard, but it's totally worth it. I have to admit that I was scared at first, but AJ helped me get through!” Rainbow Dash finished by looking at her wife.
“Ah couldn’t just leave you hangin’, Dashie.” Applejack nuzzled her neck. Rainbow Dash accepted it and continued speaking.
“How about your parenting life, girls…? How’s Aurora?”
“Well, she’s doing okay. She only cried when we got back from the incident with the wild dragon, but she’s not mad at us… She understands that what she did was wrong.” Fluttershy sadly said.
“She wouldn’t hate you, sugarcube. Yer just doin’ your job as parents. Ah’m glad to hear that learnt from her mistake.” Applejack said.
“Oh, yes she did! She acts like nothing happened and she never tries to leave home. Trixie came to visit us a couple of weeks ago and gave her a framed photo which Aurora insisted on nailing on the wall beside her bed.” Twilight smiled.
“Trixie stopped by our farm too and she also brought gifts for everypony! That pony sure holds us high esteem” Applejack laughed light-heartedly.
“Of course she does! And arriving just in time to save our fillies… We owe her a lot!” The lavender Unicorn commented. “I was thinking that we should do something for her, what do you think?”
“Ah think that’s a great idea, sugarcube. How about we take her to the park and have a picnic?" The farmer pony questioned.
“Yes! Oh, that sounds great! I’ll tell her tomorrow, and we can have it the day after tomorrow!” Twilight excitedly chattered.
“We're in, Twilight!” The cyan Pegasus smirked.
“You know that I’m in too, love.” Fluttershy nuzzled her head on Twilight's neck. “And I’m sure that Rarity and Pinkie Pie will too.”
“They sure will! Speaking of Rarity… I wonder how she's doing with Aurora and Sweetie Belle?” Twilight put a hoof on her chin.
“We can trust Rarity, love. Don’t worry, they're fine.” The timid pony rested a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, who in turn sighed and closed her eyes.
“You’re right, honey… Rarity didn’t take work with her, so everything is going to be fine.” The bookworm pony opened her eyes and turned to see the cyan eyes of her wife, who was smiling warmly. She was about to lean in to kiss her, but she heard the sound of plates being put on the table.
“Here are your orders, ladies. Bon apetit!” The waiter bowed and left.
“This looks delicious. Time to eat!” Rainbow Dash grabbed the fork and began eating.
“Dashie, we're in a fancy restaurant; chew with your mouth closed!” Applejack scolded, softly hitting the back of Rainbow Dash’s head.
“Buf yfou eat like thiff too!”
“Yes, but at home, not outside!” The farmer pony said, trying to sound angry, but her smile betrayed her. Twilight and Fluttershy noticed that she was trying not to laugh. Rainbow Dash swallowed her food.
“Alright. Sorry, 'honey'… How am I supposed to take you seriously if you laugh?” Applejack had her hoof on her mouth to suppress her laughter; it wasn’t the right place to do so.
“Sorry, Dashie, but yer funny when you talk with your mouth full!”
“Oh really?” The cyan Pegasus remarked, shoving more food into her mouth.
"But, seriously, do it at home. This ain’t the right place.”
“Alff…” Rainbow Dash stopped chewing and nodded.
Twilight looked at Fluttershy. “Shall we begin?” Fluttershy nodded and both mares joined their friends.
***
“He heard something. He didn’t want to turn around and see, but he couldn’t resist the temptation. When he turned… Slenderpony was a few inches away from him!” Sweetie Belle stood up with her forehooves in the air. “Nopony ever found that stallion again. Not a trace…”
Aurora was shaking. It was her idea to tell horror stories, but she never thought that Sweetie Belle would know such a frightening story.
“Do… Do you think S-Slenderpony is… Real?” The blue filly asked with a shaky voice.
“Nopony knows for sure… Those who dared to go into the forest never came back…” Aurora was covering her face with her hooves, so Sweetie Belle magically took a pillow from behind her friend and threw it at her, causing Aurora to jump and scream before racing into the kitchen at a high speed. Sweetie Belle burst into fits of laughter. Rarity came from the kitchen with Aurora holding onto one of her hooves.
“I think that’s enough ghost stories, girls… It's bedtime.”
“Y-Yes, that’s a good idea, Auntie Rarity!”
“Aww, but we were having so much fun, sis!” Sweetie Belle protested.
“I'm sorry, but it's getting late. Twilight and Fluttershy will be home soon, and I promised that you would be sleeping by the time they got back.”
“You don’t want to get your sister in trouble, do you?” Aurora asked, now calmed down.
Sweetie Belle sighed. “Fine, we’ll go to sleep now…” She said as she went to her sleeping bag and crawled inside it. Aurora did the same. Rarity moved toward her sister and kissed her forehead.
“Good night, darling.”
“Good night, sis!”
“Hey, no kiss for me, Auntie?”
“Of course there’s one for you too.” The fancy pony said as she went to where Aurora was laying and kissed her forehead too. “Good night.”
“Good night, Auntie Rarity!” Both fillies yawned and closed their eyes, falling asleep instantly.
I knew they were tired! Rarity thought as she sat on the couch and took the fashion magazine she brought out. She heard something and turned to find Angel hopping toward the fillies. He'd just finished eating the food Fluttershy left him. He started to sniff Aurora’s nose, and softly touched it with his own. The blue filly barely opened her eyes and put a hoof on Angel, hugging him. The bunny closed his eyes and fell asleep. But, wha...?! I wonder how Aurora managed to do that! Fluttershy told me that he never sleeps with anypony… She got back to her magazine after the thought. She finished it and was about to fall asleep when she heard the front door open and Twilight’s head appeared. She used her hoof to call Rarity outside, who didn’t hesitate on going. She closed the door once outside.
“Good night, girls! How was your date?” Rarity whispered.
“It was wonderful! We'll do it again when we can! How are the fillies?” Twilight said, also whispering.
“It wasn’t hard. Looking after them during the night is better than during the day when I’m working. Any time you need me, I'm willing to fillysit for you!” Rarity said.
“We would love to call you if you’re free, Rarity…” Fluttershy began, but the fancy pony yawned. ”Oh, I see that you are tired. You should go to sleep…”
“Yes, I need to rest… A lady needs her beauty sleep… Will you send Sweetie Belle back to my boutique tomorrow?”
“Sure! As long as you don’t mind if she stays for breakfast.” Twilight said.
“I don’t mind at all…” Rarity yawned again. “I’m better get going now. Good night, darlings.” She said, hugging her friends.
“Good night, Rarity! We’ll see you tomorrow.” Fluttershy said. They broke the hug and Rarity started to leave. The couple quietly entered their home and closed the door behind them. They followed the soft breathing that came from in front of the fireplace, and found the two filly unicorns and Angel sleeping peacefully. They didn’t dare to do something that might wake them up, so they headed straight to their bedroom. They put their dresses back in the closet and crawled onto the bed. They covered themselves with the blanket, and Fluttershy embraced Twilight like every night. She let her head rest on her wife’s chest, listening to her heartbeats.
“Good night, 'Shy…”
“Good night, Twi…” Both mares quickly fell asleep after that.