//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: The Decision // Story: Mother Fluffer // by TheVClaw //------------------------------// The Carousel Boutique had a large Closed sign placed in front of its locked doors, despite the fact that it was far too early for the shop to be closed. Of course, considering what Rarity and her friends just witnessed at the train station, sacrificing a few hours of possible sales was necessary if it meant giving them a private space to talk. The five mares were situated around the dining table, hoping to talk about what they needed to do. However, the only pony not seated was Rainbow Dash, who was pacing around the table angrily. “I… I just can’t believe it!” shouted the Pegasus furiously. “I mean, how could this happen?! I know Gilda’s done some dumb stuff, but this is WAY too low! Even for her!” Applejack stared at her with a puzzled expression while in her seat. “THAT’S who yer upset at right now?!” asked the farm-pony with a hint of shock in her tone. “How about the mare who’s cheatin’ on Twi’s Dad?! Don’cha think that deserves a bit more attention?!” Rarity groaned while her head was rested against her hooves propped against the dining table. “I… I just don’t get it! Why would Twilight Velvet be having an affair?! It makes no sense!” Fluttershy nodded while sitting in her seat silently. The yellow Pegasus looked down to her lap as she spoke timidly. “They seemed like such a happy couple too…” While Rainbow continued to walk around the room, muttering random things under her breath, Pinkie Pie was humming cheerfully while drawing in a coloring book. By the time Rainbow finally settled down enough to sit in her chair, the table was eerily silent. Nopony was sure what to say, or even how to break the silence at all. Looking around the room, Rarity had her lip bit as she took a breath, and exhaled slowly before asking the big question: “How are we going to tell Twilight?” Rainbow’s whole body shot up like she was just hit by a lightning bolt. “WHAT?!” “How are we going to tell Twilight about this?” repeated the unicorn more insistently. “I mean, we can’t just ignore what happened! She needs to know what her Mother is doing!” Rainbow kept a befuddled stare on the fashionista. “Are… are you SERIOUS?! We can’t bring this up to her!” “And why in Equestria should we not?!” “Ummm… HELLO?!” asked the Pegasus as she threw her hooves up in emphasis. “Because this will totally break Twilight’s family apart!” Rarity made a painful sigh before responding with, “Honestly, I think there’s a good chance their family is already broken if this is going on.” Rainbow couldn’t make a response to that cold statement, but she was still in her chair wide-eyed as she looked around the room for backup. Her gaze went towards Applejack before shouting, “Applejack! You gotta agree with me here, right?!” While Applejack didn’t look nearly as disheveled or uneasy as most of the others, she was still able to give Rainbow a firm look while answering her question in an instant. “Ah’m with Rare here. Twi’s our friend, and the LAST thing she needs is to be lied to!” “I’m not talking about LYING! I’m talking about keeping our friend from getting hurt!” Rainbow groaned and leaned into the table, unsure how she could be able to find the right words to get to the two. “Do you really want Twi to deal with her parents getting divorced?! Because I don’t! And I don’t want her to deal with that right after her home got destroyed by that Tirek guy!” That statement was enough to make both Applejack and Rarity pause in contemplation. Fluttershy, whose eyes widened as she let Rainbow’s words sink in, didn’t realize she was speaking out loud for her friends to overhear, “This… this will break her heart…” Applejack winced at hearing that, and turned her head away for a moment. “Y… yeah...” she admitted in a more depressed tone. “This… this probably will be bad…” After taking a breath, Applejack shook her head clear before regaining her composure and looking back to the others. “But it don’t mean we should just keep her in the dark about it! Not tellin’ the truth to Twi would be just the same as lying!” “How?!” asked Dash with a look of annoyed confusion. “How the HAY would not saying anything be the same as just straight-up lying?!” While she knew that her friend wasn’t trying to irritate her, Applejack immediately turned upset enough to reply coldly, “You remember when I didn’t tell my Granny about how that ‘Tonic’ from the Flim-Flam brothers was a fake, and she planned to jump off that high-dive because of it?” Rainbow Dash quickly turned her head away and sucked some air through her teeth, not needing to say a word to show she got the mare’s point. “Exactly,” said Applejack bluntly. “Ah almost got her killed because Ah didn’t tell her the truth, so Ah do consider that to be just the same as lyin’.” Even though she chose not to say anything in response, Rainbow still gave a meager nod to indicate she understood her friend’s logic. Fluttershy, who also looked uneasy after Applejack’s retort, took a moment before looking towards the cyan Pegasus. “Ummm… I don’t want Twilight to be hurt either, but… I do think Applejack and Rarity are right.” Rainbow Dash looked over at the yellow Pegasus with a more disheartened expression. “What?!” “I know that you’re worried about Twilight,” said Fluttershy quick enough to keep Rainbow from saying much else. “And… I’m not sure how well this will turn out after letting her know, but…” Even though that admission was enough to sadden the mare, she only paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “... But Twilight is our friend, and she deserves to know what’s happening. And even if it goes bad, she… she needs to know that we’ll always be there to help her, no matter what.” The stunt-pony made a painful sigh and slumped down in her seat, knowing that Fluttershy was right. While looking down to the table, she shook her head before saying, “But… what if she blames us?” While the other three mares stared at Rainbow confusedly, she brought her head back up to ask more directly, “Seriously, we need to consider that! What if her parents split up, and she blames US because we revealed it to her?! She could be furious with us!” While Applejack and Fluttershy both bit their lips with worry, realizing Dash’s point, Rarity only made a quick sigh. “Alright, Rainbow,” began the unicorn in a more level tone, “let’s consider the option of not telling Twilight what we saw. How do you think she would react if she were to discover this on her own, and then found out that we all knew and never told her about it?” Rainbow opened her muzzle, but wasn’t able to say anything while her hoof was pointed towards Rarity. Instead, she stayed silent for a brief moment before slowly pulling her hoof back. After closing her muzzle weakly, Dash reluctantly shrugged before averting her eyes from her friend. “Well… alright, you have a point there.” Rarity nodded in acceptance, feeling glad that she was able to get to the mare with that statement. However, the blue Pegasus was only in a defeated state briefly before turning her head towards the only pony who hasn’t spoken yet. “Pinkie!” shouted Rainbow as she looked towards her. “Pinkie, you HAVE to have a problem with this, don’t you?!” While the other three groaned at Rainbow’s stubbornness, Pinkie quickly looked up from her coloring book and blinked a few times. “Huh?” After looking around, Pinkie realized she was out of the loop and said, “Oh, I wasn’t listening.” While Dash face-hoofed, the pink mare cheerfully brought up her coloring book to reveal what she was drawing inside of it. “I was too busy drawing out my plans for Velvet’s party!” She pulled the book back in so she could review her layout while adding, “I already have the streamers and banner planned out, but I’m having a little trouble knowing what kind of frosting would be best for the raspberry cupcakes she likes.” While scanning the pages, Pinkie didn’t realize that the other four mares were now all staring at her in baffled silence. After they all looked over at each other to clarify what they just heard, Fluttershy turned her attention back to Pinkie first, “Ummm… Pinkie? Are… are you really talking about throwing a party?” Pinkie looked up from her plans again, seeming slightly confused for a second as she finally noticed the stares on her. “Uhhh… yeah?” She brought up her hooves up while giving a smile, indicating that she found that to be an obvious question. “Why not?” “About THIS?!” asked Rainbow Dash in a more distressed tone while throwing her hooves around. “About what we saw her doing?!” Pinkie only responded with a chipper “I sure am!” While Dash’s and Fluttershy’s jaws dropped in disbelief, Applejack was at a loss of words long enough for Rarity to ask first. “Pinkie, Pinkie darling… I know that you like to throw parties, but… do you really feel that this is an appropriate occasion for one?” Pinkie tilted her head while looking at Rarity. “Well… why shouldn’t we?” “Are ya SERIOUS?!” shouted Applejack while staring at her wide-eyed. “Pink, do we REALLY have to explain why this is a bad idea?! Why the HAY would you wanna throw a party about Twi’s Mom having an affair?!” “Wait, WHAT?!” Pinkie’s eyes widened in shock, reacting like she just received word of what was going on. After seeing that everypony else was giving her the same look as Applejack, the pink mare responded in an offended tone of voice, “I can’t believe you guys! I wouldn’t throw a party about THAT! In fact, that wouldn’t be a party at all! That would be an intervention, which is the exact opposite of a party!” Rainbow was the first to ask, “Then what the buck are YOU talking about?” Pinkie blinked a few times again while looking around the table. “Is… is it not obvious?” All four mares shook their heads at the same time. Pinkie then rolled her eyes, growing a more relaxed smile. “What I’m talking about, you silly fillies, isn’t a party about Twi’s mom having an affair…” She then pushed her coloring book towards the middle of the table revealing her random arrangement of squiggles and sketches inside. “These are the plans to throw Twilight Velvet a…” Pinkie stood on top of her chair before shouting triumphantly, “Super-duper, extra-special, Coming Out of the Stable Party!!” All four of Pinkie’s friends sunk their heads into their hooves. “What?” asked Applejack while her voice was muffled. “Think about it!” Pinkie jumped on top of the dining table, and began to pace around while giving her explanation. “If Velvet is kissing girls in secret, then it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t want to admit her feelings to her family, right? She’s probably suuuuuper-duper scared that if she did come out to her husband and kids, then she would lose them over something that’s totally not her choice! She can’t help being attracted to girls, so we should throw a biiiiig party for her, and let her know that she’ll always have the support and love she needs to be open about her sexuality!” While Pinkie stood on top of the table with a proud smile on her muzzle, looking like she just said the smartest thing imaginable, it took a moment before Rainbow Dash looked over at the others. “Is somepony else going to hit her, or am I going to do it?” “Wait, wait, wait…” Rarity, who was slowly narrowing her eyes on Pinkie in thought, raised a hoof towards Dash to keep her still. “I… I think that Pinkie might be onto something here…” “What?” asked Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy at the same time. Meanwhile, Pinkie’s prideful smile only grew wider. “Well, I don’t mean throwing a party!” added Rarity to clarify her point (which caused a disappointed “Awww!” to come from Pinkie), and she took a breath before continuing. “However… I think that Pinkie brings up a very valid point. We’re all talking about what Velvet did, but we’re not placing much emphasis over who she was with. We all saw Twilight Velvet with another woman, which I think complicates the issue a little.” “How?” asked Applejack with obvious confusion. “I don’t know about you, but cheatin’s still cheatin’ in my book.” “And I agree with that sentiment,” responded the unicorn honestly, “but it doesn’t change the fact that maybe Pinkie is right. We have to consider the idea that Velvet really is dealing with some unseen issues or struggles in regards to her orientation. And if that’s the case, then maybe the idea of a secretive relationship could be seen as a feasible option in her mind. I mean, what if she were to admit to her husband that she was having homosexual feelings or tendencies? It would be a very delicate issue to address, and it could no doubt harm her marriage, or even her relationship with her children, would it not?” While Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked over at each other worriedly, clearly understanding Rarity’s point, Fluttershy turned to the unicorn to ask, “So… what should we do?” “Well,” began Rarity in a more serious tone, “if Pinkie’s theory is indeed correct, then it’s even more imperative that Twilight is told about this. If we’re able to explain this to her in an understandable way, then maybe she could be able to speak with her Mother about her feelings privately, and even possibly find a way to bring it out into the open without much trouble or heartache.” A long moment of silence passed, with all the mares letting what Rarity said sink in. While Pinkie hopped back into her seat, Fluttershy was the first to nod in agreement to Rarity’s plan. “I… I think that might be a good course of action.” “Ah agree,” said Applejack, albeit in a more apprehensive tone. “Ah mean, this is definitely not gonna be pretty, but… Ah suppose that would be the best way to do it.” Rainbow Dash just huffed before speaking skeptically. “Oh really? And how exactly are we going to do this, huh? What, are we gonna just go to the castle, go up to Twilight and say, ‘Hey, Twi! Your Mom’s a lesbian!’?” “I don’t think we need to be that brash about it,” answered the unicorn with a roll of her eyes, “but… basically yes.” Applejack was quick to add, “And ONLY after we remind Twi how much we care about her!” “Of course, of course…” Rarity looked down at her hooves for a moment, obviously planning the process in her head like she was thinking of the layout for a complicated dress pattern. After giving off a slow, deep exhale, she looked back up to her friends to give her plan. “Alright, I think it needs to go like this… We show up to the castle as a group, find Twilight in a private spot, and tell her how much we all love and care about her as our friend…” Applejack and Fluttershy nodded firmly to that detail. “And after that, “continued Rarity, “we very, very carefully try to break the ice, by telling her that we… suspect that her Mother might be a lesbian.” “Suspect?” asked Applejack with a skewed brow. “Might?” added Rainbow Dash with an even stronger hint of skepticism. “Rare, you did see how far her tongue was in Gilda’s beak, right?” “Yes, I did, and I’d rather not be reminded of that!” After that short bout of anger, the unicorn took a breath with her eyes closed before regaining her temper. “Okay… I understand that it might look certain, but we can’t say for sure. We don’t have any valid confirmation about her orientation, and we can’t be making any assumptions about Velvet from just one thing we witnessed. And… even though I hate to say something so biased or clichèd, we have to consider the idea that Velvet could just be going through a phase, or experimenting.” Fluttershy nodded again, and her ears perked up as she realized what she could add to Rarity’s statement. “Or… or maybe Velvet is bisexual.” “Exactly! Thank you, Fluttershy!” after looking over to the yellow Pegasus to show her appreciation, Rarity turned back to the others to finish her point. “What I’m trying to say is, unless we get confirmation from Velvet herself, we really don’t know. So for the time being, I do think that the words ‘suspect’ and ‘might’ will be necessary while telling Twilight about this.” Despite the uncomfortable sighs from both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the two still nodded in reluctant acceptance. “Thank you. Anyway, after we tell Twilight our suspicions, she’ll most likely ask us why on Earth we would think that. And… that will be when we tell her what we saw. After that, we’ll remind her again that we’ll be there for her, and suggest that she talk with her Mother privately.” After finishing, Rarity looked around the table in wait. “So… any questions?” Pinkie instantly raised a hoof to grab her attention. “Oooh! OOH!” “Yes, Pinkie?” Pinkie brought her foreleg back down, and tapped her hooves together while asking, “So… does that mean there’s no Coming Out Party?” “NO, Pinkie! There’s no party!” Pinkie’s mane deflated like a balloon while she slumped in her chair. Meanwhile, Applejack cleared her throat to speak up. “Well… if there’s any way to tell Twi about her Mom cheatin’, then that’ll probably be the least painful.” Even though Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both looked uncomfortable at the orange mare’s choice of words, Fluttershy was the first to softly nod her head. “I… I agree…” After biting her lip in nervousness, Rarity brought her hoof out to the middle of the table. “So, we’re all in agreement here? This is how we tell Twilight?” Pinkie was the first to bring her hoof out as well, putting it right on top of Rarity’s. “Yep!” Applejack put her hoof on top of Pinkie’s. “Ah suppose so.” Fluttershy didn’t say a word, but still nodded before placing her hoof on top of Applejack’s. The four mares then looked towards Rainbow Dash, whose hooves were crossed against her chest. She was looking down at the table as her voice came out feebly, “This… is a really bad idea…” “Ah know it is,” said Applejack, “but we hav--” “But…” Rainbow put her right hoof up to stop Applejack’s words, and breathed in before finishing her own thoughts. “But if… if we’re really going to do this, then… this might be the best bad idea we got.” And with that, the cyan Pegasus put her hoof on top of the others, confirming her choice. “Let’s do this.” Nopony said a word on their walk from the Carousel Boutique to the Castle of Friendship. Whether it was from growing tensions or crippling nervousness, the five mares were only accompanied by the sounds of their own hoofsteps when they walked down the massive crystal hallways of the castle. Fortunately, since nopony else was left in the palace, it was easy for the five to find Twilight, since her cheerful squees could be heard from the open doorway of the castle’s brand-new library. Walking inside, the group could easily see why Twilight was so excited, since there were dozens of giant boxes scattered across the floor, each one undoubtedly filled to the brim with books straight from Canterlot. “Oh my GOSH!” squealed Twilight as her magic picked up several books in her aura. “There are all first editions! I can’t believe this!” “I know!” said Spike in an equally chipper tone to the Princess’s. The drake was sitting on the floor next to a giant pile of comic books, and was holding the newest issue of Power Ponies in his claws. “Celestia really outdid herself on these shipments!” Seeing how happy both of them looked, the five mares all winced in dread, knowing all too well that their moods were going to change very quickly. Rarity took a second to recompose herself, and cleared her throat to catch Twilight’s attention. “Ummm… Twilight?” “Oh, there you girls are!” Twilight looked over at the five with a giant smile, acting like a filly who was eager to show off her new toys. “Can you believe this?! Celestia gave me all of these books from her personal library! Her personal books! And ALL of them are absolutely flawless!” “She also got me a bunch of comics from the Canterlot comic book store!” added Spike as he pointed a claw to the large stacks beside him. He looked over at the stacks before quickly adding in an insistent voice, “Not that enchanted one! I mean, none of these will suck us in again, but still!” “Y-yeah, Spike,” said Applejack with a shaky smile on her muzzle. “Ah… Ah’m really happy for you two.” Pinkie Pie’s attention went over to a small stack of books that were on one of the giant tables. “Ummm… what’s with all those burnt-looking books over there?” Twilight looked over to what Pinkie was talking about, and her ears slumped down at the sight of them. Due to the signed bindings, and some of them having pages that were partially burnt, the very sight of them was enough to dampen Twilight’s smile, even without the knowledge of where they came from. Spike sighed painfully as well, and stood up as he looked over to Pinkie. “Those… those were the only books we could salvage from…” All five mares immediately felt even worse, and slumped their heads in guilt as they realized those were the only remaining books from the destroyed Golden Oaks Library. Applejack took off her stetson to place over her chest. “We’re so sorry, Twi,” she said with pure sincerity. “It-it’s fine,” said the Princess with her back turned to them, even though it was clear she was trying not to tear up at the sight of those books. She made a deep sigh before continuing, “I mean, it… it was hard, to say the least, but I’m not going to let it get to me…” She walked over towards Spike, giving him a much-needed hug before looking back to the five mares. “I was able to save Owlicious, which was one of the biggest things I wouldn’t have been able to replace. And as for everything else, well… things are just things, and the fact that all of you are safe means so much more.” That was enough to make Twilight’s friends all smile gratefully with tears in their eyes. While Spike nestled Twilight from the side, the Princess kept her smile as she added, “Because to me, there’s nothing more important in my life than my friends. And my family.” The cringe that came from the five mares after that statement was unbelievably strong. While most of them sucked air through their teeth and rubbed the backs of their heads, Rarity was the first to try to say something while they were all in a private room. “T… Twilight? We… we need to talk.” Fluttershy, who was looking between Rarity and Twilight nervously, put her muzzle up to the unicorn’s ear before whispering, “Rarity! Do… do you really think this is a good idea?” “We already agreed to this!” hissed Rarity back to her. “All of us! We can’t turn back now.” “I know, but…” Fluttershy looked back at Twilight, whose head was tilted slightly in confusion. She turned back to Rarity to say, “Do you really think now is the right time?” Applejack stepped in to Rarity’s defense. “If we try to back down now, then we might never be able to tell her. It’s now or never.” Fluttershy squirmed a little in discomfort, clearly having second thoughts about this plan. Unfortunately, Twilight’s voice made that feeling even worse when the five heard her ask, “Ummm… what’s going on?” “Yeah,” added Spike with a raised brow. “You guys are acting kinda weird.” Pinkie, who looked the least uncomfortable, turned to to the two and said, “Oh, it’s nothing! We were just wondering how to tell you how--UMMMFFF!!!” Applejack’s hoof went straight into Pinkie’s open mouth to shut her up. Rarity took a quick breath before deciding to take action. “Twilight, we… we needed to tell you something…” Rainbow Dash looked away while biting her hoof. While Fluttershy looked down to the floor and Applejack bit her lip, Rarity continued to speak in a nervous tone of voice. “Just… before we say anything, just know that we’re all here for you, and we love you from the bottom of our hearts.” Pinkie nodded firmly to Rarity’s assurance, even with Applejack’s hoof still in her mouth. By now, Twilight and Spike were both looking nervous. “Ummm… alright,” said the Princess as she spoke more apprehensively. “I… I’m listening…” Applejack spoke next. “And because of that, we… we neded to tell ya something that might be… shocking, to say the least. But just know that we would never lie to you, especially about this.” Rainbow Dash groaned while still biting her hoof, not wanting to look at anyone. While Applejack tried to take a breath in preparation, she didn’t seem to realize that Pinkie pulled her hoof out of her mouth. Of course, the pink mare was still silent, not wanting to interrupt her friend. While Fluttershy looked up from the floor to see how Applejack was looking, the farm-pony looked away from Twilight as she found it harder to speak. “And… we just want you to know that we’re only telling you this because we care about you, and that Ah’d appreciate you doing this if it happened to me. So…” Applejack closed her eyes before turning her head back to Twilight, not wanting to see the nervous look on her face. “Ya see, Twi. We… we kinda saw…” Rarity looked over to the orange mare during her pause, and tried to speak up for her. “Twilight, we… we went to the train station, and…” The unicorn bit her lip as well, realizing that anything she said could undoubtedly hurt one of her closest friends. While the two struggled to speak, neither of them able to break the news, they were interrupted by Rainbow Dash when she finally threw her hoof down on the floor. “Twilight, your Mom is a lesbian!”