Trembling, Apple Bloom clung to Rumble, her eyes closed and her face pressed against his cheek. The pegasus colt had one foreleg wrapped around Apple Bloom, the other was over Sweetie Belle’s neck. Beside Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo sat, forming the circle, and Scootaloo had her foreleg over Apple Bloom’s withers. The four sat, side to side, heads all pressed together, trying to help Apple Bloom get through her anxiety.
“Rumble, you’ll catch all kinds of trouble if you don’t get home,” Scootaloo said in a soft whisper, her snoot almost touching Rumble’s as they spoke.
“I ain’t going,” Rumble replied, giving both Apple Bloom and Sweetie a squeeze. “Trouble can come looking for me.”
“It’s gonna be dark soon… I’ll be in trouble myself.” Sweetie Belle pressed her muzzle against Apple Bloom’s, offering a reassuring and tender snoot-bump. “We gotta stick together. Apple Bloom needs us. She’s almost sick with worry and to leave her now would be cruel.”
“Gonna be a long night. We’ll see ya through it,” Scootaloo said, giving Apple Bloom a muzzle nuzzle.
A long night was predicted by the guards. Princess Celestia prepared herself; one could feel the tension in the air. The trials in the Shetlands had started and some of the full grisly details had hit the paper. Tensions were still running high as the Stable of Representatives meetings continued. The riots from about a week ago were still fresh in everyone’s minds.
Taking wing, Celestia flew from the public address balcony, soared over the courtyard, and landed on top of the gatehouse. She stood beside several solar and lunar guards, her sharp eyes peering off into the distance, fearful of seeing a worrisome orange glow.
“A group marches towards the castle!” a guard reported as he flew overhead.
Closing her eyes for a moment, Princess Celestia felt sadness and she wondered if she was going to have to make a public display of force. In the distance, she could hear the marching hooves. She opened her eyes and saw an orange glow in the distance.
“Begin securing the city,” Princess Celestia commanded.
“Your Majesty, wait,” a lunar pegasus cried as he landed upon the gatehouse. “Wait, look!” He pointed with his hoof, making a wild gesture towards the coming disturbance.
Peering ahead into the darkness, Princess Celestia saw the mob marching towards the castle. They were carrying… candles. There were unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, a few griffons, some minotaurs, a few zebras, and she even spotted one diamond dog.
“That has to be at least two thousand… or more... if a mob like that goes bad… Majesty, we should make them disperse,” a solar pegasus said to Princess Celestia.
Saying nothing, Princess Celestia unfurled her wings, lept from the gatehouse, and then touched down with a soft impact upon the street below. She could see the earth ponies and pegasi with candle holders in their mouths. Clearing her throat, Princess Celestia addressed the crowd.
“What are your intentions?” she asked in a booming voice that carried over the sounds of the murmuring throng of Canterlot residents.
A lone unicorn stepped forward. “Some of us were angry… really angry… others were sad… One of us, an earth pony mare, suggested that we all grieve together and she suggested that we come to you, so that we might find comfort.”
Turning her head, Princess Celestia looked back at the gatehouse. “Open the gates. Light fires for warmth. Bring out casks of cider and begin serving mulled wine. Do it, now!” She watched as several of the guard took wing to follow through with her commands and then she turned back to the crowd of ponies. “The trial in the Shetlands is going to be tragic. Before everything is said and done, you will hear many upsetting things. This is the right thing to do, coming together and consoling one another in your time of grief and sorrow. Please, stay here as my guests, and be good to one another.”
Looking out upon the crowd, Princess Celestia felt an immense amount of pride for her little ponies. She could see the anger in some faces, the sorrow in others, and the confusion that could be found on many.
“Bucky?” Bon Bon’s voice was as soft as moth wings fluttering in the dark. Stretching out her neck, she nosed Bucky’s ear and let out a tiny snort to get his attention.
Bucky, who was cuddled against Derpy at the moment, turned his head and then rolled over to look at Bon Bon. “What is it Bonnie?”
Stretching out her neck once more, Bon Bon kissed Bucky on the corner of the mouth. Overcome with emotion, she had trouble making a reply, and lay there in the bed, her eyelashes batting as she looked into Bucky’s eyes.
“Bon Bon?” Derpy asked.
“After I closed up shop early today, I stopped by the hospital and visited with Doctor Latigo… I took an ELISA test,” Bon Bon replied.
“What’s that?” Derpy asked as she rolled herself over and propped her head up on Bucky. “ELISA?”
“Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.” Bon Bon’s soft smile grew a little wider.
“Bon Bon…” Bucky’s eyes narrowed for a moment and then grew wide. “Are you trying to tell me…”
The earth pony mare nodded, closed her eyes, and then leaned forward for one more kiss with Bucky. She nibbled his lip for a moment, pulled away, and opened her eyes. “Lyra already knows and I’m amazed that she kept it a secret.”
“I told you I could keep a secret!” Lyra’s voice drifted in from the nursery and it was filled with laughter.
Bucky felt Derpy crawling over him, he was almost crushed by her bulk and he grunted. As he watched, Derpy and Bon Bon shared a kiss. It started out as a simple peck on the lips, but then Derpy came back for seconds. There was a nibble, which served as an invitation, and then as Bucky watched with growing interest, the two mares got into the kiss. Bucky’s ears perked as he heard wet, sloppy, slurping sounds and he watched a dribble of what he knew had to be pegasus drool dribble down.
After several scorching moments, the two mares pulled away from one another, but continued to look each other in the eye.
“That sounded hot…”
Bucky found himself in agreement with Lyra, who was still in the nursery. With Derpy crushing his ribs, it was impossible to engage in heavy breathing. The two mares were still staring into each other’s eyes with searing intensity.
“Bon Bon, Berry Punch is my oldest best friend, but in our herd, you are my second. If something ever happens to me, I leave everyone in your care. Out of all of us, you are the least crazy and I know that you’ll always have our better interests in mind,” Derpy said in a breathy voice to Bon Bon, her body still draped over Bucky.
There was another slobbery exchange that Bucky couldn’t peel his eyes away from.
“I’m going to give the fillies a bath and then it is time for little fillies to go to bed.” After Lyra spoke, groans could be heard in the nursery. “No! Running away won’t help!”
“I love all of you so much… I love all of our craziness so much… and you Bucky… I love you even though you licked my hoof and made me feel all weird,” Bon Bon said in a soft whisper that held lurking giggles. She pressed her lips, still covered in Derpy’s waxy drool, against Bucky’s for another long, lingering kiss.
After a moment, Derpy pushed her muzzle in and the kiss became a three way free for all of nibbling, licking, and muzzle nuzzling.
Looking up at his mother, Flitter, Rumble found that he could not read her expression, but she did look a bit angry. “Look, mother, I told you, I’m sorry, but I can’t come home. I made a promise to be here.” Rumble’s ears pinned back when he heard his mother, the mare that had birthed him, whinny.
When Flitter took a step forward, Rumble saw a flash of white and a flash of orange. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo now stood between him and his mother. Things had gone from uncomfortable to awkward. He watched as Flitter, his mother, continued to advance.
“Please, don’t punish him,” Sweetie Belle said in a pleading voice.
“Apple Bloom needs him, honest,” Scootaloo said as Flitter advanced.
The pegasus pushed aside the two fillies with her wings, a gentle shove, and stepped between them. She stood over Rumble, looking down at her colt, and then her hard expression became a soft, sad smile. She lowered her head and kissed Rumble on top of his head, right between the ears, right in the spot that every pony that existed loved to be kissed, the spot that causes shivers to run up and down the equine spine.
“Mom?” Rumble looked up, confused.
“If you are going to defy me, I’d rather have it happen for the right reasons,” Flitter said in a soft voice. “You did right, standing by those you care about. You’re not in trouble. Is Apple Bloom working right now?”
Rumble nodded.
“Come here, girls,” Flitter said to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo, shrugged, and then the pair of them approached Flitter together. When Flitter nudged them with her wings, herding them into place, both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sat down on either side of Rumble and all three of them looked up at the motherly pegasus.
“All of you have been involved with each other now for a very long time… at least, for foals your age, I’m sure it feels like a very long time.” Flitter watched as three little heads bobbed. She sat down, settled onto her haunches, and her expression became serious. “Thunderlane was about Rumble’s age when he made up his mind that he was going to have both me and my sister, because we were both too pretty for him to make a decision. He courted both of us. It was like a game for all of us, and we never expected for it to be serious. But we knew that we loved each other, even then.” Turning her head away, Flitter stared at the wall, blinked, and her ears drooped down against her face.
“Are we about to get some kind of talk?” Rumble asked.
Flitter nodded.
“Oh… I see.” Rumble glanced at Sweetie Belle and then Scootaloo.
Turning her head, Flitter looked at the trio once more. “A pony can be your age and just know. It’s funny how it works. But like I said, Thunderlane, Cloudchaser, and myself, we had just passed our decade marks when things started to become serious between us. And then, things got hard for us. It’s hard to keep love a secret. And the three of us, we had chosen a love that wasn’t popular. When our parents found out, we were forbidden from seeing each other. Ponies were scandalised, sickened. One of my uncles got several of our family members together and they beat poor Thunderlane, they broke one of his wings, one of his legs, and fractured his skull with a kick. The Cloudsdale police, they did nothing. There was no witnesses and they were determined to look the other way.” Looking down, Flitter could see the trio pressed together, and Rumble had his wings around both fillies,
“Not everypony was against us though. Once Thunderlane had healed up a bit, a few nice ponies gave us a fair bit of money, some supplies, and they helped us. We took Thunderlane and we got out of Cloudsdale. He couldn’t fly yet, and he was still pretty busted up, but my sister and I, we took turns carrying him. And we began the long journey of trying to fit in. Everywhere we went, the accusation started, ponies would get suspicious, and then the trouble would start.”
“Why?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because ponies don’t much care for things that are different,” Flitter replied, her mouth contorting into a grimace of pain. “But we kept moving. We took whatever work we could get, and we’d survive, and we kept going from place to pace. Eventually, as these things happen, you came along Rumble. It caused us all kinds of trouble, but I loved you so much. It made all the trouble worth it. I had a little piece of your daddy that I could hold against me, and I was so in love with you… but you caused so much trouble. Ponies knew. Ponies talked. And they shamed us. So we kept moving around from place to place, trying to find a spot where we fit in.”
Reaching up, Sweetie Belle wiped tears away from her eyes.
“We lost Cloudstreaker along the way. She was stolen from us, but thanks to Twilight Sparkle, we got her back. We had to say that Rumble was Thunderlane’s little brother. We had to lie, we had to be dishonest, and we had to get forged documents to help us get by. But we held it together. We knew that we loved each other and our love was special. We made everything work. And now, we have the acceptance we’ve always wanted.”
“Why are you telling us all of this?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because, more than anything, I want the four of you to make this work. It will be hard, there will be a lot of crying, there will be moments when it seems impossible, and you’ll probably face some trouble from narrow minded dimwits that don’t understand that love only grows when you add more ponies to your family. Some loves can’t be contained between two ponies… it takes three or four. It took lot of guts for you two to stand between me and my colt, that shows a lot of love. I want my son to have mares that will stand by his side, just like my sister Cloudchaser and I stood by Thunderlane’s side.”
Extending her wings, Flitter wrapped them around Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Rumble. She pulled them all in close, squeezing them, and kissed each one of them on the head, right between the ears. Lifting her head, she looked down. “Never, ever, ever let anypony tell you that you can’t make this work. You can. Never let anypony tell you that you are too young to know your own minds, cause that’s a load of horseapples. And don’t you ever, under any circumstances, feel ashamed of what you are together, because what you have is special, sacred, and meaningful. Don’t you ever let anypony take it away from you. You all fight to keep each other. Times are different now, and there is a lot more acceptance, but the world is still a far from perfect place.”
“Thanks, mama,” Rumble said as he buried his face against his mother’s chest and rubbed his cheek.