//------------------------------// // July 2: Venus and Mars/Rock Show // Story: Seven Days in Sunny June, Book III // by Shinzakura //------------------------------// Watching the dawn, a drained Discord strummed on a guitar, half-speaking, half-singing as he let songs run though his head: “Sitting in the stands of the sports arena, Waiting for the show to begin Red lights, green lights, strawberry wine, A good friend of mine follows the stars – Venus and Mars are alright tonig—OW!” Posey gently rubbed Neosporin into the area around her husband’s left eye. “You’re such a baby. This is designed to make it feel better, not make it worse.” The man sighed, looking at his reflection in the window: he had a nasty black eye and no matter how much his wife’s ministrations attempted to heal it, it wasn’t going to heal in time for his performance on the 4th. “Well, at least it enhances my ‘wild man’ image,” he said with a wince. “Yes, because it’s sooo wild to get decked by a waifish seventeen-year-old girl,” Posey said, rolling her eyes. “How is she?” Discord asked. “Well, given that Fluttershy has never hit anyone in her life? I’d say her hand is bruised or worse,” Posey guessed. “As to how she’s doing? I…I let the girls deal with it. I’m not happy with her at the moment, and you can bet I’ll ground her for at lea—” “Let it go, love,” he told her. “Okay, I guess I need to check you for a concussion as well,” Posey snarked. “No, I deserved it,” Discord told her. “I haven’t been the father I should have been—” “And you’re not being one now,” the chiffon-haired doctor replied. “You have to be a parent, not just a friend.” She sat down next to him and looked him straight in the eyes. “If she’d hit me, I’d have grounded her for a month. She is almost a legal adult, Discord, and you know that is not the behavior of an adult. That is the lifelong job of a parent: to be there for them, no matter what, even in ways they aren’t expecting or don’t necessarily like.” His head lolled back as he stared at the ceiling. “Yeah, something you’ve had the whole of their lives to do and me not a single minute since I left to do so.” “Well, you’re starting – you’ve done marvelously with Angel,” she said as she kissed him on the cheek. “And all we have to do is just bring Fluttershy around.” “Good.” “And once that’s done,” Posey replied off-handedly, “I’m going to ground her until she’s thirty.” “Check your hand now, Flutters,” Sunset told her as Fluttershy flexed her hand. When it seemed as though everything was fine, the flame-haired girl grinned and said, “Okay, your hand is fine. However, you did crack your wrist, but I fixed that up with a little magic. Just…no punching your father in his face again, got that?” “What were you thinking?” Rainbow gasped. “Now he’s gotta go on stage with a black eye!” “Rainbow, dear, you’re not helping,” Rarity said tartly. After Fluttershy’s unexpected “incident”, the rest of the girls decided to divide the whole thing: Twilight, Octavia, Applejack and Pinkie opted to get some sleep so they could “escort” Fluttershy for the day, while Rarity, Sunset, and Rainbow offered to stay up with the distraught teen and calm her down. “Thanks, Sunny,” Fluttershy said as she collapsed on her bed. “I’m glad I have such good friends as you all to help me through this.” “Yeah, y’know, because giving your old man a shiner is a great way for you to reconcile with him, right?” Rainbow snarked. Sunset and Rarity glared at her, and the athlete muttered, “Well, I thought it was funny.” “Dear, as much as Rainbow’s sense of humor is…lacking, shall we say, she does have a point.” Rarity focused her deep-blue eyes onto Fluttershy’s own. “Whatever compelled you to commit such an act? That’s highly unusual of you to say the least. Normally I’d expect that kind of reaction to come from Rainbow, Sunset or Applejack.” Sunset rolled her eyes and Rarity giggled, covering her mouth in a half-hearted attempt to hide it. “Well, you can’t say that you three aren’t the more…aggressive of our octet, can you?” “Point,” Sunset conceded. Rarity turned her attention back to Fluttershy. “Now, I’m not going to say that it was a good idea to apply fisticuffs to your paternal issue, but…well, you broke your wrist trying to cave your father’s head in, Fluttershy. That is not the compunction of a proper lady.” “I really don’t care,” Fluttershy said, garnering side-eyes from her friends. “He…he didn’t even notice I was there until he was in ‘Discord’ mode. That wasn’t my father that you all saw, that was Discord, almighty rock star and you know it! He tried to sign autographs, he tried to charm everyone, he—” “Was kissing your mother when the elevator doors opened,” Rainbow interjected, “and it looked like the kind of kiss my parents share, not the kind that—” “You and Soarin’ do when you’re debating whether to do boy and girl stuff?” Sunset joked. “You know, normally I’d just hit you for that, Sunny, but now I’m going to repeat what Rares says: This is not the time for this,” Rainbow replied. A second later, an epiphany hit her. “Oh, my God, I’m being serious! I’m too young for this growing up shit.” Ignoring the banter of the other two, Rarity focused on her friend. “Do you truly wish to make up with your father? To make your family whole?” “I don’t know if I can,” Fluttershy told her. “I…I know he’s not to blame for any of this. I know what Uncle Tirek told me, that he’s always been there for us even though I didn’t know it. But I can’t reconcile any of that with my anger, or the fact that he abandoned us – or the fact that he could have done something for my brother’s hearing problems!” Rarity looked at Fluttershy. “How do you know he hasn’t?” “Mom would have said something!” “Or maybe she spared you,” Sunset offered. Fluttershy looked at her friend and Sunset continued. “Your mother’s a doctor. She would have access to medical information, or colleagues that specialize in that stuff, right? Think about how old you were when they found out that Angel is deaf. With your father’s money and your mother’s expertise, they would know if something could have been done. But how would you, as a child, have reacted to the news that your little brother would never be able to hear a thing? You saw how I reacted when I found out about what happened to Twily, and we’re both almost adults. As a kid, you wouldn’t have been able to handle it. “Plus, Angel is old enough to comprehend now what that means. Do you think that your parents – either of them – would dangle something like that in front of him if it’s not true?” Sunset folded her arms and looked right at Fluttershy. “Either you have to believe that your Mom and Dad both have an agenda against Angel…or that they’re doing what’s best for him. There’s no shades of gray, Flutters.” The look on Fluttershy’s face was haunted. “Hope you guys weren’t up all night,” Octavia said to the trio as they came down. “How’s she doing?” “She’s decided to skip the first day,” Sunset told her cousin. “From what I remember anyway, it’s mostly heavy metal groups today, with Trickyfingers being the headline act tonight, right?” “Yeah. In fact, if I recall correctly, Screwball’s still filling in for them until they get a permanent guitarist,” Rose said as she looked at the updated schedule on her phone. “Well, once Sweet Pea gets here, we can all file into the van and hit the Hippo. After that, we should make it to Candlestick in time for the opening act.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Look, nobody cares about Metallica – they’re has-beens. So if we take our time at the Hippo, we can catch Hammer of Doom afterwards – now those guys can rock!” “I…have no idea what you’re talking about, Rainbow, dear,” Rarity replied. “I’m merely going to breakfast for the company, after which Twilight, Octavia and I had planned to do some shopping on the Embarcadero. Perhaps we can get Fluttershy to come with us.” “Hey, no worries, Ah’m goin’ with, Rainbow,” Applejack told her friend. “That way ya don’t feel lonely.” The rainbow-haired girl rolled her eyes, which got a laugh out of her friend. “Hey, I’ll go as well!” Pinkie replied, looking at Rose, who was obliged to go; and Sweet Pea, who thought it would be fun regardless. Sunset and Octavia were about to give their respective choices – Sunset planned to go, while Octavia had planned to go shopping with Rarity and Twilight – when both were tapped on the shoulder. Both girls turned to find a hotel bellhop standing there. “Ms. Sunset Shimmer and Ms. Octavia Melody?” he asked. “That would be us,” Octavia replied. “Can we help you?” “Yes, ma’am,” the young man replied. “Your presence has been requested by Ms. Summer Violet. She asks if you would both be willing to have breakfast with her in the Bayside.” “Oh, how marvelous!” Rarity squealed. “The Bayside is one of the most posh restaurants in all of San Francisco! It has three Michelin stars! I’m actually envious.” “Uh, who’s Summer Violet?” Twilight asked. “That’s Screwball’s real name. Remember that I met her when Tavi and I went to LA,” Sunset answered as she and Octavia briefly shared a look. “She probably wants to know what happened last night.” “Took her long enough,” Octavia muttered. “Usually she’d just bang on my door at six in the morning.” “Probably both of us,” Sunset agreed before turning to the bellhop and responding with, “Yes, we’d both be happy to join her. Give us just a moment to wrap this up, if you please.” Turning back to her friends, she said, “We’ll get this squared away, check on Flutters if she opts not to go with Rares and Twily, then meet you at the venue. Shouldn’t be too hard.” Octavia rolled her eyes and muttered, “Shouldn’t be too hard, she says. Yes, just like the Titanic was a ‘minor engineering issue’.” “Trust me, Tavi,” Sunset replied. “I’ve got this all under control.” “That’s what I’m afraid of.” A few minutes later and a private chauffeur trip to the Presidio, the two stepped into the ornate elegance of the Bayside. Octavia, long used to rather baroque and rococo settings, was impressed with the grand simplicity of the place. Though Sunset would never admit it, it reminded her a lot of Princess Celestia’s personal apartments: quiet, unassuming, ornate where it had to be – or just as much against her desires. The unicorn-in-disguise knew her mentor and mother figure to be a simple, unadorned mare when the world wasn’t looking, and that would always be the Celestia she remembered – more now especially in light of the stories she kept hearing about this world’s one. The two had no sooner walked up to the maître d’s lectern than the man himself, a reedy, pale man with an aquiline nose, pencil-mustache and slicked-back iron-gray hair said, “Ah, yes – the groupies. I should have expected as much.” “Excuse me,” Sunset said, ignoring the man’s slight, “but we—” “Whatever Valley Girl tripe you plan to spew out of your mouth, young lady, save it,” the man said as he curtly escorted the pair towards their destination. “Personally, I weep for the future of humanity if it comes to charming half-dressed ladies such as yourself.” Octavia gave him a nasty look, but turned back to Sunset. “Ignore him. You see his type at restaurants all over the place. Usually they don’t get hired by the elite restaurants like the French Laundry, so they pretend as though they’re important. Don’t let it get you down, okay?” “I’m quite amazed,” the man said breezily. “Did you learn to say that before or after watching your soap opera of choice? Or is television too advanced for kids today?” Octavia was about to say something when Sunset looked at him and said, “Have a nice trip.” As Octavia looked at her weirdly, Sunset gave her a soft smile and suggested they move on when they saw Screwball. “We’ll take it from here – you can crawl back to your hole now.” “Why, I never!” The maître d’ glared at Sunset while Octavia snickered. “And that’s why you’re single, I’m sure.” As the man huffed and stormed off, Octavia turned slightly and in the empty restaurant, that was more than enough time for Sunset to get busy. Channeling small sparks of magic in her fingers, she enchanted the man’s shoes, and then snapped her fingers. His next step ended up with him slipping, and Sunset had intended him to just fall and embarrass himself. Instead, his attempt to regain his balance, with his arms pinwheeling around like his life depended on it, were all for naught as he crashed into a nearby table, sending the glass and wooden construct shattering to the ground. The farthest chair was knocked backwards, colliding with a single pedestal upon which sat a priceless antique vase – which soon came to a halt. As he picked himself off the ground, he was treated to both girls turning to look at him and trying not to giggle. “You did that on purpose!” the man accused, not sure if it was possible given the distance between him and them before so, but he was not getting into trouble for the damaged caused without a way to blame clearly troublemaking kids. Sunset, in turn looked at him, her eyes aflame with cyan power. Reaching into his mind, she said, And I’ll do worse if you ever talk down to anyone ever again, got that? He looked at her with shock, and that was enough to get the point across. She turned away, quickly blinking her eyes to remove the illusion spell, then walked on towards Screwball. Octavia looked at Sunset. “What did you do?” Sunset laughed. “Used magic, of course.” A second later, she said, “Yeah, as if. Guy was so busy insulting us, he wasn’t watching where he was going and tripped himself up. Not my fault.” Octavia looked at the restaurant’s cleaning staff, which had just arrived to pick up the pieces. Behind them was a woman with curly purple hair and wearing a chef’s outfit, the look on her face exasperated. Clearly she was the head chef or higher, and whatever the case was, the glare she gave the maître d’ made it clear he was going to have a lot of explaining to do. The raven-haired girl shrugged. “Hey, as long as you’re okay….” “I am. Now, let’s go see what your cousin wants.” A few seconds later, they were sitting with Screwball, who was dressed fairly elegantly – for her, anyway – with a simple white polo and jeans that weren’t strategically ripped. “Hey, it’s my restaurant,” she laughed. “Even I have to follow the rules.” “You own this place?” Octavia said. “Kinda. Friend of mine in college was trying to make it on her own as a chef after spending a lot of time in some places. Since she’s a good friend, we went halfsies on this place. Yeah, admittedly I paid for it all, but she has daily running and such, so me being silent partner and all that works out. Oh, and speaking of which, I see you ran into Pristine. Don’t worry about him; he’s an asshole and he knows it. Since Sugar Belle’s already reading him the riot act, I’ll just hint to her that if he wants to keep the job he has to stop treating people like shit.” Octavia looked on the menu. “So, I’m guessing you didn’t invite us just to talk about your side projects, Violet?” “Got it in one, Tavi. So…how bad is it?” As the waiter came up to take their orders, Screwball silently pointed towards what she wanted on the menu while she looked at Octavia and said, “The D-man’s a hurting unit right now. I’ve…I’ve never seen him like this. He wants his family back to the point that he’s losing it. I really hope your friend is worth it.” Sunset sighed. “Fluttershy hates him. Well, not really: she hates Discord, as in his stage persona, which from what little I could tell last night, he seems to almost always exist in. She wants her father back, and when he was being his persona last night when they connected—” Octavia facepalmed. “That’s not all that connected.” At this point the waiter arrived with her French press coffee and the teen gratefully accepted, if only so she wouldn’t have to say anything further. “Do I want an explanation for that?” Screwball asked. Sunset smiled awkwardly as her regular coffee was placed in front of her. “No, trust me – you really don’t.” As the girls watched the band walk off the stage, giving the audience thirty minutes of intermission before the next act started up, the group talked amongst themselves. “Ah have to admit, this ain’t mah usual cup of tea,” Applejack said with a grin, “but Ah do have to admit Ah’m enjoying myself.” A satisfied smile came onto Rose’s face. “Glad to hear that, AJ. What about the rest of you?” In turn, the others in attendance nodded their heads, all of them having grooved along to the music so far this day. But the smile quickly fell from Rainbow’s face. “Flutters is just staying in the hotel room,” she replied as she pocketed her phone. “She doesn’t plan on coming at all. I….” The look on Rainbow’s face said it all: she was having the time of her life, but so long as her childhood friend needed her, she couldn’t really relax. “Maybe I should head back and check on her?” Sunset saw that and took initiative. “No, Rainbow. Let the others deal with that.” “You sure about that? I know we’re all taking this seriously,” the athlete told her friend, “but it should be my responsibility.” “Ain’t a thing,” Applejack interjected. “T’morrow, we’ll figure it out. Ah shan’t think it’d be a problem.” “Shan’t?” Sweet Pea repeated. “People actually use that word?” Pinkie grinned widely. “It’s a Rarity kind of word, dontcha know!” Turning to Applejack, she wryly added, “She must be rubbing off on you.” The blonde groaned. “Ah think Ah could’ve lived without hearing you tellin’ me that, sugarcube.” There was another knock on the door. Fluttershy didn’t bother to get out of bed, even though she could hear her mother’s muffled voice on the other side of the wooden barrier: “Fluttershy, we need to talk. I know you’re in there, so please, open up the door.” A second later, her cellphone rang. She already knew who was calling; she saw the number once and decided to ignore it. Hopefully her mother would think that she’d decided to take a trip elsewhere and simply forgot her cellphone. Granted, Fluttershy, being a teen, was almost never without it, but there had been rare occasions where she hadn’t bothered to take her phone, mainly because the charge was drained. Hopefully, her mother would think that. “Flutters, please – your father…he doesn’t blame you for what happened last night. But you need to….” There was a sigh on the other side, followed by the footfalls of Posey walking away as she “realized” that her daughter wasn’t present. Or maybe she finally gave up. In any case, it would leave Fluttershy solitaire for the moment, which is what she needed more than anything - anything to save her from the pain, humiliation and rage of what she felt at the moment. There was the chime of the keycard, along with the ka-thunk of the automatic lock disengaging, along with three girls coming into the room. “Oh, Fluttershy!” Rarity said, her voice full of worry. “You haven’t even left your bed!” Fluttershy looked up from the bed to gaze at her friends. Her eyes were red and her hair was more than just the usual bedhead mess; it was clear that she’d been crying while no one was around. Whether that was unintended or so that her friends wouldn’t worry about her was immaterial, as they were clearly worried about her now. Twilight was at her side immediately. “I wish I knew what to say, Flutters. I mean…my life, familywise, has been an absolute paradise, especially since my sister came into my life. And with Tavi, I’ve never felt alone. So I can’t even pretend like I understand, Flutters.” She reached over and hugged her friend, adding, “But I promise you – just as we all have – that we’re here for you.” Fluttershy looked up at all of them and asked honestly: “But none of you have ever had to deal with divorced parents, have you? Yes, I know my parents aren’t really divorced, but Mom made me think they were – and Dad didn’t seem to care about having us in our lives.” Octavia shook her head. “Flutters, I think that had more to do with the fact that your Dad didn’t want you to have to deal with living constantly in the limelight. Look at my cousin – she’s used to the limelight, but that’s not because she works for your father. She’s like that because she has parents that are always trying to capture the fame of their youth and generally make idiots out of themselves as a result. Violet’s always talking about trying to protect Midge, and that’s always a mess. Maybe your Dad wanted you as far away from that as possible, and just didn’t do it correctly.” “For my whole life, Tavi? I don’t give a damn about Discord, I wanted my father! Why is that so hard for everyone to see?” “Maybe because we just can’t see it the same way you do, dear. Sunset’s past aside, perhaps only Applejack, whose parents went through a rough spell, as I understand it, could help you on this. But the truth is, I think that would bring up uncomfortable memories for her. So you’ll have to do with us.” A thought came over Rarity’s mind. “Shall we go see the Aquarium? I hear it’s lovely.” “Thanks, Rarity,” Fluttershy said with an appreciative smile. The look on Discord’s face was one of heartbreak. “She didn’t even show up,” Discord said, lying in the bed and staring at the ceiling. “Rarity told me that they took her to the Aquarium at Pier 39,” Posey told him while administering a massage. “I sent her a text asking her to give me a call, but she didn’t.” “Maybe we should get security to unlock the room for us?” Posey gave Discord a lidded look. “I am not going to be the one to explain to Firefly why we walked in on her daughter while she’s asleep.” “That’s a thing?” Posey smirked. “Take your typical mama bear, give her weightlifting muscles and firefighter training, then piss her off and get out of her way. Trust me, I’ve seen her reduce other women to tears just by glaring at them.” Discord brightened at that. “Sounds like my kind of gal.” “Sorry, you’re taken,” she said, punching his back as she started the higher-pressure portion of the massage. From the yelp she elicited from him, it was clearly effective. “Oh, by the way, Red says hi.” He turned over at that. “Red? How’s she doing?” “Snarky and happily married. She says that you and her husband should get together sometime. He hates your music.” “I hate my music. The record label only let me do the Explosive Chocolate series because I threatened to leave for Sony when my contract was up.” He groaned. “I envy guys like Beck, or Real World – they get to be experimental. But I wrote myself into a box some time ago and I can’t get out of it now. That’s why Violet’s thinking about releasing her solo album under her real name – so it doesn’t bomb because ‘That’s not what Screwball does!’” he said, air quoting that last part. “Yeah. So, sleep with her yet?” Posey joked. “Heh – Finnish gossip rag claimed me, her and Skylark got caught in a ménage à trois backstage. They had to retract it when it was proven that we were all on a flight to Paris at the time.” His features twisted into a frown. “You should’ve seen the look on Sound Stage’s face; he wanted to fly back just to punch the writer’s face off, and you know he’s not a violent kind of guy.” “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like him. Okay, done.” As she sat down on the bed and he turned over onto his back, she looked and appreciated her husband’s well defined chest and muscles. Even in his mid-fifties, he was still a looker. “So, do you want to try again tomorrow with Flutters? She probably just needed the day to calm down.” He sat up, and his countenance took on an unusually serious expression. “Poe?” She looked at him, knowing he was about to say something drastic. “I’m not going to like this, am I?” He told her, the look in his eyes as fragile as the day they’d met. She reached over to hold him, just as she did then, being his strength, as she swore she always would. The following morning, Posey knocked on the door again. She wasn’t too surprised when she found Rainbow there. “Good morning, Rainbow.” “She’s not here, Doc,” Rainbow replied. “Rose, Twily, Rares and Tavi decided to spend the day in Chinatown. That means me, AJ, Pinkie, SP, and Sunny will have to catch a ride with you after breakfast, if that’s cool.” “That’s not a problem, Rainbow,” the older woman told her. “In fact….” “Oh, heya, Dr. Posey!” From behind, Sunset let out a happy chirp. “Looks like it’s you and me for breakfast this morning, Rainbow. AJ and Pinkie want to sleep in and Sweet Pea has to swing by the bank before she gets here; she offered to pick up McBreakfast for the lazyasses.” “Good timing then, Sunset. I was just about to invite Rainbow to breakfast, and I think you should come as well. I think that my husband and I need to talk to both of you about what’s going on. Frankly…we need help. Fluttershy’s extremely angry, and she won’t get over that soon, and Discord…well, he just wants her back.” Rainbow suddenly yelped “Discord?” and a huge, Pinkie-esque grin came onto her face before she said, “Oh, fuck yes!” and started nodding her head – or maybe headbanging – to the point where it was a huge rainbow blur. Sunset, suddenly having memories from a little over a month ago and a two-by-four to the back of her head before running into a flaky pony version of one her – well, just as flaky – friends. What pony Lyra had done back then clearly was reminiscent in what Sunset was seeing now from Rainbow and she didn’t care for that. Deciding to be the bigger girl – in a manner of speaking – she told the other teen, “Rainbow, we’re not meeting Discord Discord. Think of it as if we’re meeting my parents.” “Okay, you got a point.” Turning back to Posey, Rainbow added, “Whenever you’re ready, Doc.” “We’re having breakfast in our suite, so right this way.” The way that Discord presented himself, dressed in a simple polo and chinos, made him almost look more like a guy who hadn’t grown up rather than one of the world’s premier rock stars. And that was more than enough to put both Sunset and Rainbow in more serious moods. Given their loyalty to Fluttershy, Posey wondered if this had been a good idea after all. Right now, in a sober, serious way that had actually made the doctor proud of her husband, he was explaining how they’d got to that point. “And when the gossip rags threatened to expose Angel’s pictures to the world, I developed the plan. We managed to hide Flutters from them, but you can’t hide forever from the press.” A light seemed to turn on his face. “You know, I could turn that into a rather scathing song….” “Focus, love,” Posey gently admonished. “Right. So, anyway, Poe and I talked and we came up with the plan. She moved north to Canterlot, I bought a mansion in Malibu, and I got Starlight Glimmer to shack up with me.” Sunset knew Starlight Glimmer all too well – by reputation, that is; she’d been a former member of Bananarama back in the 80s and like Madonna had remained a timeless icon of music. The fact that she portrayed herself as a slut in public and had come out of the closet before it was considered publicly acceptable didn’t bother the woman in the slightest. Pinkie, the electronica fan amongst them, had more than a few of Starlight’s albums from her nu-disco and rocktronica days. Rainbow and Sunset had both agreed not to laugh at their friend’s taste in music, and that had remained so since. It was Rainbow that popped the question: “Isn’t she…y’know, a carpet muncher?” “You’re rude as balls; I like that in a kid,” Discord said with a wolfish grin, slipping into his public persona for just a second. He then returned to seriousness and clarified with, “No, this was back before she started dating Coloursfly and was still pretending to be as straight as possible. I knew her secret – we have the same agent, and really, she’s nothing like her stage persona; in fact, she’s more of a soccer mom to her kids in private – and she agreed to move in with me for about a year and a half since it would keep the press on both of us and our secrets hidden in plain sight.” He laughed. “Fortunately, the mansion has three master bedrooms, because I really don’t know what would have happened if we were really a thing. She likes gingham! There’s not a single person on this planet who really thinks gingham is a thing!” “Red likes gingham,” Posey pointed out. “My point is made.” “So, Mr. Discord,” Sunset asked, “If this was all a ruse to keep them off your family, surely it had to die down sooner or later, right?” He shook his head. “I’m afraid that only works in the movies. In real life, kiddo, they’re always after you – always wanting that scoop so they can get one on their fellow paparazzi. Some of them don’t stop for things such as ethics and morals; how do you think they got pictures of my son from the hospital? It wouldn’t have surprised me if there were a couple of them trying to catch a picture of me and Star in bed. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.” “Oh, I’m sure it wasn’t,” Posey said in a mock-dangerous tone. “Trust me, hon, it wasn’t: we probably would’ve pissed off Tuxedo Sweetie, the girl Star was dating at the time, if we had.” Turning back to Sunset, he said, “So given that I’m a very busy rock star, they were always following me. I’d hoped it would have died down after a year or so, but the next thing I knew, my little girl was a very angry teenager and I’d been away for the majority of her life. I’d never meant that.” To the surprise of everyone at the table, his eyes started to gleam with unshed tears. “I love my children – I’d have to be a monster not to. And while I’m glad that I made up with my son,” he said, gesturing to the kid who had left the table a bit ago and had now firmly ensconced himself in front of the PS4, “every day I spend apart from Fluttershy hurts me more than the shiner she gave me.” Rainbow sighed. “You know, you’re an absolute asshole. I love your music, but…Discord, you’re a fucking dick.” “Rainbow!” Sunset snarled, only to be silenced by the athlete holding a single hand up. “That’s…what I had planned to say. I might be your number one fan an’ all, but…Flutters and I have been brazos since we were kids. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her and vice versa. And I honestly came here with the intent of squeeing over your music, and kicking your ass – metaphically, of course. “But…you love her. You love her just as much as my parents love me, and there’s no way that I can blame you for that. I’m not going to say that what you did was right, but you thought you were doing the right thing, so that has to count for something, right?” A thoughtful look came over Rainbow’s face and a second later she blurted, “I don’t know if I can do anything to help than I already have, but the girls and I have promised that we’d do what we can and we will, right Sunset?” Sunset nodded simply. “Doc, you know my history, or what my mother and Dr. Zecora have told you. I wasn’t a nice person when Fluttershy and I first met. But more than anything else, it’s the parents that I have now that changed me for the better.” She looked at Discord, then back to Posey. “I don’t know how much you see it, Doc, but Fluttershy hurts. She’s always been sensitive, but this whole ordeal has made her far more fragile than I’ve ever known her to be. And I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that.” Out of the corner of Sunset’s eyes, she could see Rainbow mouthing a question: Did you read her mind or something, Sunny? Sunset sent back a telepathic reply: No, Rainbow – that would be rude. Before Rainbow could say anything further, she turned back to Posey. “I feel like I’ve been repeating the same thing over and over again, but Flutters’ one of us – and we stick together. The girls went through the wringer just to set me on the path I am, and I would do no less for any of them.” An appreciative smile came onto Posey’s lips. “You’re a good woman, Sunset Shimmer.” A wry smile came onto Sunset’s face. “Not really, but I try – both the human and the good parts.” Sitting in the House of Nanking, Fluttershy and the others shared lunch and relaxed. Well, Fluttershy was relaxed; the others were attempting to formulate how they were going to bring up the subject to her. Picking up a sizeable bao in her hands, the chiffon-haired girl looked at the others and said, “Thanks for coming with me, girls. I’m…not really comfortable at concerts. Puppytails tried to take me to go see Calculator Blues in concert, but the crowds kinda unnerved me. I guess I’m not used to the college crowds just yet.” “I’m surprised you’re still seeing him, dear,” Rarity replied, “especially after that incident where you lost your job because of him.” “Oh, he didn’t have a choice,” Fluttershy explained in a soft voice. “And I was in the wrong, girls – I could have been in serious trouble. Besides, this way, working at the zoo, I get to take care of my little Wolfgang.” She smiled. “You should see Wolfy now! She’s gotten so big, and she’s an absolute sweetheart.” Twilight ignored the factoid she’d read a few months back on the Canterlot Zoo & Wild Animal Park’s website, about their star wolf and the fact that even though she wasn’t a year old yet, she was clearly destined for alpha status, being far larger than most she-wolves and would likely be larger than a lot of the males. “Flutters, we—” The crash of an industrially-made faux-porcelain teacup crashed against the floor, scattering green tea to the four winds. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said to the waitress. “Let me clean that up.” “Flutters, you’re ignoring the problem – and don’t do that again; that’s being rude to Twilight,” Rose commented in a sweet tone. The other girls looked at her and Rose explained. “Fluttershy’s had that cup on the edge of the table since it was filled. Furthermore, her eyes continually darted over to it in order to make sure that she didn’t knock it over in the case of a genuine accident.” When Fluttershy had a surprised look on her face, Rose said, “That’s the benefit of having a lawyer for a mother; she’s taught me little things like that. Unfortunately, it means that family poker nights are hell.” “Rose, please,” Octavia interjected. “Flutters, do you love your family?” “Of course I do! More than my father,” she accused. “He didn’t care to stay with us! And don’t tell me that ‘he did it for our sakes’ – I grew up without a father! So did my brother! My mother has been alone all this time!” “Fluttershy, dear, your brother has never wanted for anything, nor have you. And from what I saw the other night, your parents are still very much in love,” Rarity pointed out. “It’s clear that your father’s heart has never been in any other place than with you all – and you know this. We shouldn’t be arguing about it.” “Look, Fluttershy, I’m coming into this late,” Rose admitted, “but I can tell you that I’ve had the pleasure of knowing your father for a while. While I was expecting that I would have to take care of your family, it’s the fact that Discord has been a good friend to my family, and I wanted to do the same in return.” As her food arrived, she picked up the chopsticks, deciding to make a visual display. Holding the twinned sticks together, she said, “This is how your father wants your family to be, Fluttershy. Intact, together and happy. But this—” Rose commented, as she pulled them apart, “—is how you’ve been acting. You’re tearing your family apart, Fluttershy. Maybe you’re not doing it intentionally, but you sure as hell are doing it.” Fluttershy had hit her saturation point. “But he didn’t take care of my brother! My brother is deaf because my da—” “Are you so sure of that?” Rose asked in an annoyed tone. “Do you have any proof whatsoever?” When Fluttershy shook her head, Rose commented, “Because I bet your mother does. And if your dad did, and your mom knew about it? To me, that’s not the sign of a loving parent. And your mom, from what little I know about her, wouldn’t stand for that. But they’re still together. So maybe the problem isn’t your father. “It’s you.” Evening drew to a close, and the concertgoers all stumbled into the hotel, happy as a clam, Pinkie especially. “That was sweet!” the cotton-candy haired girl squealed, still with some energy left, no matter how minute. “Dancing on stage with Screwball and Daft Punk was the highlight of my life!” Applejack brushed the locks of her damp hair out of her face; they’d been soaked from all the sweat due to the dancing. “Ah’m glad you enjoyed yourself, sugarcube. Tomorrow’s gonna be the cream de la cream.” Sweet Pea grinned. “It’s ‘crème de la crème’, AJ. You know Rares would never let you hear the end of it if you said it in front of her.” Applejack grinned. “Why’d ya think Ah said it now, when Ah’m safe?” The other girls got a chuckle out of that, just in time to see the remainder of their group walk in, shopping bags in hand. “An’ speaking of Ms. Offended herself, here she comes.” The look on Rarity’s face was one of a very fried girl. “Please…not now, Applejack. If I have to break up one more fight, I just….” She groaned. “I swear on my femininity, I don’t know what I’d do next.” “Oh, fighting’s no fun!” Pinkie said. “We should all be friends!” “Tell that to Rose and Fluttershy,” Rarity insisted. “Ever since Rose confronted Fluttershy on the whole thing regarding her father, the two have been fighting left and right. Apparently Discord is a friend of Rose’s father, and Rose is somewhat defensive of hi—” “Wait – Fluttershy is Discord’s daughter?” Sweet Pea asked, completely floored. “Yeah, I forgot you didn’t know about that,” Sunset said by way of apology. “Part of the reason she’s here is because Discord hasn’t seen her in years, and he wants to make up with his family. Fluttershy’s mother – Discord’s wife – and their son have, but not Fluttershy. She’s too angry about the whole thing.” Sunset gave a quick explanation to the girl, along with a request not to say anything about it. “I promise I won’t,” Sweet Pea replied, “but that’s sad. I would do anything to have my parents back – at the very least I wouldn’t have had to live with my uncle. But then again, if that hadn’t occurred, then the rest of my life, warts and all, wouldn’t be the way it was.” It was at that point that the rest of them came in, with Fluttershy and Rose verbally sniping at each other, Twilight and Octavia fruitlessly trying to be peacemakers. It was clear that neither girl was going to succeed when Fluttershy, with a huff that Rarity would have been proud of under any other circumstances, stormed away, saying, “I’m going to bed. I’ll see you all tomorrow – maybe.” “Wow, what a fucking cunt,” Rose said to the others. “Goddamn histrionic bitch – I can see why she’s the way she is.” Rose suddenly realized that she’d just insulted Fluttershy in front of her best friends, which wasn’t the smartest thing to do. “I mean—” “Yeah, we know what you mean, Rose,” Rainbow interjected. “Don’t worry about it. She’s normally not like this, but this whole thing is cracking her up. I can’t apologize enough for all of this.” “Not your fault, Rainbow. It’s just….” The blue-haired businessgirl ran her fingers through said tresses. “She really doesn’t know, does she?” “Know what?” “Mom told me about it before we got here earlier in the week: that I wasn’t supposed to mention Angel’s deafness, because it was a sore point for the family. I asked her why, and she said that Discord and Posey had tried everything in their power to see about getting aural implants, or something of the sort, but the doctors don’t want to do it until he’s reached puberty and his growth spurt, or else they’d have to operate directly on his skull. Even still, they said there’s little chance of it.” “And how do you know this?” Twilight asked. Rose smiled softly. “Mom is Discord’s lawyer. When I said he’s a friend of the family, I meant both my parents.” “I see,” Sunset commented. “And tomorrow’s the last day of the concert, too. After that…it’s going to be that much harder to get them to talk to her. And I’d hate to see what Flutters’ parents have in mind.” “What?” Screw Loose said, looking at her boss and friend as though he’d gone insane. “You’re not serious about this, are you?” Discord sighed. “Skylark…I envy you so damn much, you know that? You and Sound Stage…you didn’t care about your image, you just had a family. Even when members of the fanclub were begging you to pose in Playboy—” “They still do,” she said with an impish grin. “One guy says I’ve perfected the MILF look, whatever that is.” Discord laughed, but then turned serious again. “I need to do this. For my family. For my children.” Tirek looked at him with disappointment. “You know, I never thought I’d see the day when you gave up, Dee. Even when we were just starting out and we had doors slammed repeatedly in our faces, you never gave up.” He waved his arms and said in an affected voice, “‘You kids ain’t ever gonna make it in this industry!’ or ‘You don’ got chops, boys,’ or my favorite….” “‘Nobody’s gonna take a girl in the band seriously!’” Screw Loose laughed. “Yeah, those were the times. And I’d hate to see them end.” “All good things, so the saying goes,” Discord replied. “And maybe it’s time. I mean, none of us want to be like Blues Boy and the rest of the Rolling Stones, right? I personally don’t want to be on stage pushing around my rocker and hoping that my dentures fall out. So it has to be this way.” “Sorry, I can’t accept this, Dee,” the female drummer said softly as she rose from her chair. “I know things are hard for you right now, but…please, think about this. I’m not taking this well; you know that Free and Violet won’t.” “She’s right, you know,” Tirek added. “Fuck, if I tell Scorpan? He’ll probably come up here and kick your ass.” Posey, silent throughout this whole conversation, finally spoke up. “Where is your brother, anyway?” “Praying for the concert tomorrow,” he told her. “He got Born Again; even said he’s thought about taking some time off and joining a seminary. But even still, he’d have to hide it – the rock style does not go well with being devout unless you’re into Christian Rock.” He took a swig from the bottle of herbal tea in his hand and said, “Maybe we shouldn’t be hiding any of this…but unless you plan to take on the label, what can we do?” “Think on it, Dee,” Screw Loose commented. “You guys are like my brothers, and I’d hate to have to schedule family reunions at the park near my place. It would suck,” she said with a laugh. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, I’m headed off to bed,” Tirek said. “We’ll talk in the morning, you two.” “Yeah, we will,” Screw Loose agreed. With that, both left. Alone, Discord looked at his wife. “You’ve been way too quiet tonight, hon. What do you think?” “I think you’re making a big mistake myself,” Posey said, “but I’ll back your play. You’re doing this for us – or so you think.” “So I know,” he said with a melancholy smile. “No, so you think. But Skylark’s right – you need to think about this more.” “No,” he said, as he got off the couch, “my mind’s already made up. Don’t confuse me with the facts.” Finally, the girls all bade each other goodnight, and one by one, they all went upstairs. Sunset was one of the last to go, with a somber look on her face as she apologized to both Rose and Sweet Pea for Fluttershy's issues. “It’s okay, Sunny,” Rose replied. “Sadly, this is the sort of thing that I’ll have to deal with if I’m going into the family business.” “I’m…getting over those sorts of things, Sunny,” Sweet Pea said in turn. “I’m a big girl – I can deal with it.” “Okay, then,” the flame-haired girl said, yawning. “Well, I’m gonna catch some shuteye. We’re meeting down here at eight, right?” Rose nodded, and Sunset blearily grinned. “Perfect. Okay, night, girls.” Waving to both of them, she headed off to the elevators and the suite she shared with Rarity, who had been the first to go up after Fluttershy, complaining that “a girl needs her beauty sleep if she’s going to be at her best on the most important day of the festival.” Rose turned to Sweet Pea and said, “Okay, don’t forget to meet here at eight in the morning, and we’ll hit Pierside. I haven’t been there before, and they’re supposed to have a really great breakfast. That work for you?” “Yeah, I’ve eaten there before,” Sweet Pea replied. “It’s tops.” “Okay, then that works. Night!” Sweet Pea paused for a second, before speaking out, “Hey, Rose? Are you…okay with all this? Seeing Discord and Fluttershy going all to hell?” “Not really,” Rose replied sadly. “My mom is technically my stepmother; I don’t have a relationship with my birth mother, so it hurts me to see families shattered like that. I’m guessing that you’re the same way?” “Yeah. My mom died in childbirth, and my dad committed suicide. I lived with my uncle for years – and that was a nightmare no girl should live through,” Sweet Pea told her. “I’m happy now, but…I look at Fluttershy and I see how I felt all that time ago. Mad at the world….” Without thinking, Rose finished the statement for her: “…and with no one to trust, even though you know there are folks there for you.” “Yeah,” Sweet Pea admitted. Rose looked at the elevators, and the sleep-addled gears in her mind turned. “Hey, I have an idea. Do you have a few minutes to spare?” “Sure, why?” Rose explained. A vicious grin came onto Sweet Pea’s face. “Well, I thought I’d never say this again, but…if you need me, I’m yo’ ho.”