//------------------------------// // Relieving The Tension // Story: The Fears of Yesterday // by SolidFire //------------------------------// Relieving the Tension Aerial walked slowly to her room in the Dash home. After the events of the previous few days, they were more than happy to welcome her into their care. She offered to help with cooking, but Spitfire would have none of it. It seemed that after close to eight years of being the cook in the house she wasn't willing to give her position to a newcomer. Aerial was more than happy to stay out of the kitchen. It would be a nice change of pace after cooking for Jade every night since the two married. She chuckled at the thought of Jade trying to cook for himself. Aerial was overwhelmed by the compassion of the Dash family. Her daughter couldn't have asked for better parents. As the middle aged mare rounded the corner to her room, she was stopped by her daughter. "Mom?" Scootaloo had become more comfortable using that title for Aerial. "Yes Scootaloo?" Aerial had a feeling she knew what her daughter was going to ask. She was right. "We got you away from Jade. But what about Steel? I want my little brother away from him." Aerial sighed. "I want your brother away from Jade as well. Sadly though, I think it's better that he stay with Jade for the time being." Scootaloo looked at her mother in shock at what she had just said. She maintained her composure. Well, she kept her voice down. "Are you insane? We both know-" "Scootaloo, Steel is safe with Jade. He also looks up to Jade with a reverence I have never seen from anypony before. If we were to take him away from his father now, he would jump off the porch of this house and try to force himself to be able to fly in order to get back to him." Scootaloo wanted to argue, but knew she couldn't win this argument. So instead she opted to give her mother a nuzzle and say goodnight. As Aerial watched her daughter walk into her room, she smiled. She was about to turn and go into her bedroom when she heard the faint sound of an acoustic guitar playing from her daughter's room. It was incredible. Aerial opened the door to Scootaloo's room. Scootaloo, as usual, didn't notice. Spitfire walked over and sat next to Aerial. "First time hearing her play, huh?" Aerial nodded. It was the only reaction she could give. She was entranced by the soft, beautiful melody coming from her daughter's instrument. Her talons gracefully danced up and down the strings. "When she's playing, she never notices anything around her that isn't a part of the song she's playing. According to her, when she plays on stage she forgets that there's even an audience until the breaks between songs." Aerial couldn't believe what she was hearing. It wasn't long before Rainbow came and sat behind Spitfire. She rested her head on her wife's shoulder. After about ten minutes, Scootaloo ended her song and looked up. When she saw she had an audience, she smiled. "What did you guys think? I've been working on that for a couple days." Aerial finally found the means to speak. "That was... beautiful. I've never heard an instrumental so filled with passion. Not even when I watched Octavia Philharmonica." Scootaloo blushed. She always did when she received praise. And what she just heard was very high praise. "Thanks Mom." "It was as incredible as always. Although I don't usually hear you playing so softly. What inspired this one?" Spitfire asked. Scootaloo didn't need to answer. The massive blush on her face told it all. Rainbow chuckled. "Lightning really has you going doesn't he?" Scootaloo looked away. She didn't want her parents to see that her blush had just grown deeper. "Umm, well, kinda..." Scootaloo didn't think her face could heat up anymore. Until the next comment from Spitfire. "Young love at its finest. I remember when I first fell head over hooves for somepony." "Same here," Rainbow said. "Then he raped me. And now I'm married to a mare. I wonder if there's a correlation..." Spitfire leaned against her wife. Despite it being such a painful memory, Rainbow had worked through it well enough that she was able to make light of it. Spitfire still felt the need to comfort Rainbow. "The only pony I've ever been in love with is Jade. And we all know how that turned out," Aerial added. Both Rainbow and Spitfire offered a comforting smile. Scootaloo hugged her birth mother, although she didn't look up at any point in time during the walk to her and the hug. She was still trying to get her blush under control. It wasn't working. Her parents took advantage of the opportunity. "Lightning has some huge wings," Rainbow said. "And you know what they say about pegasi with large wings..." Scootaloo's face reddened farther. She thought the heat in her cheeks was going to set her coat on fire. "Big wings, big-" Spitfire didn't get to finish her sentence. "STOP!" Scootaloo screamed. "You guys are being REALLY WEIRD." "Well, is it true what they say?" Rainbow challenged. Aerial was mortified that two ponies in their position in Scootaloo's life would ask her something like that. "I don't know! I haven't been looking down there!" Scootaloo hid her head under her pillow. She did NOT want her parents to see her face at the moment. "Good answer," Spitfire said. "Alright, somepony has school in the morning. I think it's time we let her get some sleep." "Yeah, and I'm getting a little tired myself," Rainbow said while faking a yawn. As she headed to her bedroom, she seductively whipped Spitfire with her tail. Spitfire's wings fluttered. "You coming?" Rainbow asked. Spitfire looked at Aerial. She knew how much noise she and her wife made and didn't want to disturb their guest. "Go ahead, we'll get our rest. You two are still young and full of energy. Enjoy each other while you still can." Aerial knew what was going on. Spitfire immediately bounded after Rainbow, her wings now fully erect. "Believe me Mom, they enjoy each other A LOT. And they're not exactly quiet about it." Scootaloo finally had her blush mostly under control. That would only last for another four seconds. "Lightning is your coltfriend's name then?" Aerial stated more than asked. Scootaloo's face flushed again. "Yeah." Scootaloo began to hide her face, but decided there was no need. Unlike her adoptive parents (who were already beginning to make plenty of noise), her birth mother was incredibly reserved and wouldn't make things awkward for her. "We've liked each other for years, we just didn't have the courage to do anything about it until a couple days ago." Aerial was surprised by this. She always viewed her daughter as the bravest pony she knew. To think of her being afraid to talk to a colt seemed odd for her. "How many coltfriends have you had before him?" Aerial asked. She wanted to know everything there was to know about her daughter. "Eight. Although the two wild ones up there scared off four of them." That extracted a laugh from Aerial. "Have they tried to scare Lightning yet?" "No. They haven't really had a chance. We've basically been together for years, but given the timing that we actually started dating they've had more important things to do than make my coltfriend run off." Aerial smiled. She couldn't have been more happy than she was at that moment. She wanted to stay and talk to her daughter more, but she was feeling ready to pass out right where she was standing. "I need some sleep. Can we talk tomorrow Scootaloo? I want to know everything I missed out on in your life during the last seven years." Scootaloo smiled. "I'd love that Mom. But we'll need more than just tomorrow to have that conversation." Aerial laughed and hugged her daughter. "Goodnight Scootaloo." "Goodnight Mom." Aerial left Scootaloo's room and went across the hall to her own. This would be her first night in twenty years that she slept in a bed (outside of a hospital) that she wasn't sharing with Jade. Scootaloo woke to the smell of Spitfire's cooking. What drove her to get up so early to make breakfast for her family when they were all fully capable of preparing something for themselves (especially after how late Rainbow had kept her up the night before) was something Scootaloo would never understand, but would always appreciate. She rolled out of bed and fell to the floor. She then continued with her normal morning routine as she picked herself up off the floor and groggily walked to the shower down the hall. She stepped into the shower and turned the nozzle. With a burst of ice cold water, she immediately woke up and shut the shower off. She then made a deliberate effort to turn the hot water nozzle, and was relieved when the warm water poured down her coat. After she was clean, she stepped out of the shower and brushed her mane. She never bothered to style it, the wind did that for her as she flew to school. Scootaloo stepped out of the bathroom to find her birth mother headed toward the kitchen in a semi-conscious state of nasal ecstasy. Scootaloo laughed. "Not used to waking up to that are you?" "What is that wonderful smell? I need it." "That would be my mom's cooking. Don't worry, it'll wake you up every morning you're here." "I think I can handle that." Scootaloo and Aerial entered the kitchen together to see Rainbow sleeping with her head on the counter. Spitfire was working over the stove. "Good morning you two!" Spitfire said. "Morning Mom. I smell hash browns." "Yes you do. And some potato soup." Scootaloo's mouth watered. Potato soup was her favorite. Which is why the next few sentences that came from Spitfire's mouth nearly broke her heart. "It's for Fluttershy and Soarin. I'd really appreciate it if you flew it to them on your way to school this morning. We all know Fluttershy isn't in any position to cook right now, and Soarin-" "If it isn't the eggplant bar and grille you're bucked," Scootaloo finished Spitfire's sentence. Soarin could grille an eggplant brilliantly, but one can only have that so many times in a row. "Exactly. Don't worry Scoot, I'll make some for dinner tonight too." Scootaloo's face lit up and she saluted Spitfire. "I'll have this to her right away!" Scootaloo wolfed down her hash browns and put the now jarred soup in her saddlebags. As she stepped out the door, she found Lightning waiting for her. "Hey Lightning, what's up?" Scootaloo hugged her coltfriend. "Nothing much, just figured I'd-" Scootaloo saw a cyan colored foreleg wrap around his neck and pull him inside. She then turned just in time to see a golden one push her out the door. Scootaloo heard the door lock. "Oh no..." There was nothing else she could say. About five minutes later, Lightning opened the door and stepped outside. The look of horror on his face looked similar to what Scootaloo remembered on Twilight's while she was turned to stone by the cockatrice Fluttershy had stared down. "What was the threat?" Scootaloo asked. "Removal of genitalia by force," Lightning replied quickly. "By what means?" "I don't want to talk about it." Scootaloo laughed. "Come on, we have a delivery to make before school." During the flight to Fluttershy's, Scootaloo attempted to get Lightning to relax. She failed. When Scootaloo knocked at the door to the cottage, Soarin answered. "Hello Scootaloo, what brings you out here?" Soarin asked. He then looked at Lightning. "What the hay is up with you Spark?" Scootaloo answered for her mentally incapacitated coltfriend. "We're dating now. My parents had some alone time with him this morning." Soarin immediately showed sympathy to the young colt. "Oh dear. You alright?" "I don't want to talk about it." "I need to get lessons from your parents if I have a daughter. Every time I see one of your coltfriends after they get to him he looks just like that." "You know, I like it when my colt can think straight. This is just irritating. Anyway, I'm here because Spitfire made you and Fluttershy something." Scootaloo reached into her saddle bags and pulled out a jar of soup. Relief washed over Soarin's face. "Thank Celestia. I'm even starting to get sick of my grilling. Tell your mom I say thanks." Scootaloo set all the jars of soup down in front of Soarin. "Will do. Lightning, time to go." Lightning didn't hear her. He was too focused on his recent discussion with his marefriend's parents. "Uggh, I hate this," Scootaloo said. "Hey, dumbflank, look over here." Lightning snapped out of his train of thought as Scootaloo planted a kiss on his lips. "There. You done being a vegetable?" "Yeah, I think I can manage. Thanks Scoot." "Had to snap you out of that somehow." Scootaloo took to the sky. "Come on idiot, we don't want to be late for school."