//------------------------------//
// All According to Plan 
// Story: If You Hear Me, Let Me Know 
// by SolidFire 
//------------------------------//


All According to Plan...





The previous night...

Spitfire rolled over in bed. She groaned as she looked at the clock. It was 1:30 in the morning. She looked to the empty half of the bed. For whatever reason, she instinctively slept on her side of the bed back home. 

"Dammit Rainbow... I'd already be asleep if you were next to me... or we'd be screwing, but not in another family's home. Even you wouldn't sink that low." Wow, we're only apart for a day and I'm already back to talking to myself. That can't be good.

"You're not talking to yourself, you're talking to your absent wife."

"Now I'm talking to myself."

"Oh yeah, I guess you are. Well, if you don't want the conversation, try to get lost in thought. It always helped you sleep before you had Rainbow."

"Sounds like a good idea."

Spitfire sighed. Why did she miss her wife so much after only a day?





Rainbow flopped onto her bed. She was incredibly stressed from dealing with Steel. The dull cracks of his attacks on the mannequin permeated the quiet of the night.

"At least I don't have to deal with Spitty's snoring."

Rainbow looked over at Spitfire's half of the bed and sighed. "I miss her snoring."

It was true. Her wife's gentle snoring had lulled Rainbow to sleep on many occasions where she couldn't fall asleep on her own. Not to mention the warmth of Spitfire's body.

"Dammit, when did I get all sappy?"

"Probably when you fell in love with her."

"Ugh, I remember when I promised myself I'd never settle down."

"You were a foal back then. It's been worthwhile, hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it really has." Rainbow smiled as she thought of all the wonderful times she had with her family. Then it hit her. "Wait, when did I start talking to myself?"

"The moment you watched Spitfire leave for Canterlot."

"Oh yeah."





Spitfire woke around eight in the morning. She rolled out of bed and made her way to the small bathroom in the Ember family home. She thanked whatever powers she could that she managed to get four hours of sleep that night. Well, technically she got four hours of sleep that morning. She smelled something coming from downstairs. Was that... coffee? Oh, after she got done in the bathroom she was going to enjoy that. 

She stepped out of the restroom and groggily made her way downstairs. Her jaw dropped. Not only was a steaming pot of coffee prepared, but an entire breakfast was already laid out. Summer's husband stood behind the stove, frying up some carrots for breakfast.

"Morning Coal. What are you doing making breakfast?"

"I always get up to make sure my family has a hot breakfast ready when they get up."

"So, you get up early in the morning, make your family and your guest breakfast, and then you go to work for a day?" Spitfire asked.

"Yep! I'm the head chef of Crem de la Crem, so it's nice to get some practice in the mornings. And the smiles on my family's faces make it all worthwhile."

"Seriously?! That place is amazing!"

"Thanks." Coal gave her an ear to ear grin. 

"I'm the cook back at our place. Rainbow can't cook to save her soul, and try as I might I can't teach her anything about the subject. Well, it's actually hard to keep her attention with any conversation that isn't about flying, her job, or sex."

"Sounds like most pegasus stallions I know."

"She's a stallion trapped in a mare's body," Spitfire quipped. 

"Ahh. I'd love to meet her. She sounds like quite the character."

Spitfire blushed and looked away. "She really is." Her love for her wife was evident in her tone of voice.

"What's it like, being married to another mare? Not that I see any problem with it, I'm just curious about the challenges I'm sure you face." 

"It can be difficult at times. Fortunately Ponyville is, for the most part, a haven away from bigots. Most of the ponies there are very accepting of everypony else's way of life. I really couldn't think of a better place to call home. It's when Rainbow and I travel to places like Manehatten or here in Canterlot that we encounter the most trouble with bigotry."

"How often do you travel?" Coal asked.

"Not terribly often. If Scootaloo has a show in Manehatten, Canterlot, or Cloudsdale we're usually willing to go. Well, we only go to Cloudsdale when it's close to Ponyville. That can be a long flight, depending on where it's at in its drift."

"Shows? What's your daughter do for a living?" Coal's curiosity was piqued.

"She's the lead guitarist for Iron Pony."

Coal raised an eyebrow. "Never heard of them."

"Really? Huh. I guess I'm not used to being around ponies that aren't a fan or from Ponyville." Spitfire was genuinely surprised.

"You two seem to be getting along nicely." Summer smiled as she poked her head into the kitchen. "So let me get this straight. You're an ex-Wonderbolt, your wife is the only pony to ever pull off a Sonic Rainboom, and your daughter is the lead guitarist of a popular rock band. What is it with your family and being famous?"

"You know, it really just kinda happened. That's another thing I love about Ponyville. Despite everypony in the town being open and friendly, they know how to respect one's privacy, even if that pony is famous. Well, after they get used to said famous pony's presence in their town."

"What do you mean by 'getting used to their presence'?"

"I mean it was about a month before I could walk around Ponyville and avoid getting mobbed by strangers. That was back when I was Spitfire the Wonderbolt though. Now I'm Spitfire the friendly neighborhood weather pony. So now I just get a lot of crap when the townsponies don't like the weather. My wife is the weather captain, but nopony wants to complain directly to her face about it."

"I see. So, Ponyville isn't that far. Want to check out Canterlot while you're here?" Summer asked.

"No, I'd like to get back home to Rainbow. It's weird being away from her for any length of time."

"I see. You have trouble sleeping last night?"

"Yeah..." Spitfire failed to fight back a blush. She gave the floor a sheepish grin.

"Well then, I'll finish breakfast and get our daughter to school, and you two can head to Ponyville. I'll stay here and look after our little filly while you're gone, okay Summer?" Coal said.

"Sounds like a plan, Coal." Summer kissed her husband. She turned to Spitfire. "Spitfire, I want to thank you for everything you've done for Steel. I'm happy he has a parent like you to look after him. And as much as I would like to have him back, I think he should stay with you. I just want him to know who I am."

Spitfire smiled. She knew that couldn't have been an easy decision to come to, but she also knew it was the right one. Steel had a life in Ponyville and Spitfire didn't want that to be taken away from him. But she also knew it would tear Summer apart to know where her son is and only be able to see him once.

"You're welcome to visit anytime you like, Summer."

Summer smiled. "You say that as if there is any power that can keep me away."





Spitfire and Summer landed softly on the front porch of the Dash home. Before they could reach the door it flew open and Rainbow tackled Spitfire. The two mares laughed as they rolled around on the porch. In the end they drew each other in for a kiss.

"I missed you, Rainbow."

"And I missed you, Spitfire."

Summer watched with a warm smile. Granted, it seemed rather rude to her, but she understood completely.

"Rainbow, I'd like you to meet Summer Ember. She's Steel's mother."

Rainbow froze. She had just let herself get sappy in front of a stranger. One that was going to be spending at least a day in her home. That was NOT good. She flapped her wings and shot off of Spitfire. Spitfire rolled her eyes as Rainbow tried to collect herself. Rainbow had begun to grow out of her need to be cool all the time, but it was still a slow growth.

"Hey. Name's Rainbow Dash. What's up?"

Summer was taken aback. That was rather... immature behavior for a mare of Rainbow's age. She shook it off. If she had learned anything from her conversations with Spitfire, it's that nothing she was about to encounter was normal for most ponies.

"Hello. It's nice to finally meet you, Rainbow Dash. I've heard a lot about you."

"You have? I mean, of course you have! I—"

"Rainbow, remember what we talked about."

"Psh, growing up is so boring. I can handle the responsibility crap. Let me have a little fun, will ya?"

Spitfire dragged her hoof down her face.

"Of all the mares..."





Scootaloo landed on the front porch of her parent's home. She had been singing one of Iron Pony's older songs the whole flight. 

"Nothing hurts my world, just affects the ones around me..."

"When sin's deep in my blood, you'll be the one to fall!" 

Scootaloo laughed as Rainbow picked up where she left off. She continued the chorus.

"I wish I could be the one..."

"The one who won't care at all..."

"Ahh, Unholy Confessions. That's an old one. Your music has definitely changed for the better," Spitfire said with a smile.

"Yeah, Sweets never liked screaming anyway. But damn is she good at it. Have I showed you guys the new one we were working on before we sent Kat to Canterlot?"

"No, but I'm sure you'll show us when it's done."

"You'll be the first. You must be Summer Breeze." Scootaloo smiled at Summer.

"And you must be Scootaloo. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Indeed." Scootaloo frowned and turned to Spitfire. "You know Steel isn't going to take well to this. How should we break it to him?"

"If you can think of a way to do it in a way that won't get him to lose his shit and run off, I'm all ears," Rainbow said.

"I think we should just be straightforward. It's not like there is a good way to tell it to him easy. My suggestion is that we just say it and hope for the best," Scootaloo suggested. 

Spitfire raised an eyebrow. "I don't like that idea..."

"Mom, if you have a better one, I'm all ears."

Spitfire sighed. She didn't. "Alright, we'll go with Scootaloo's suggestion. I don't like this, but I guess we really don't have any other options."

"We don't have to tell him now. We could wait for a while and let him get to know her before breaking it to him," Rainbow suggested with a shrug of her shoulders.

"So he can lose his shit and run off after he finds out we've been lying to him for even longer?" Scootaloo stated more than asked. "No, we should be straightforward. He deserves to know this."

"I hope you're right..." Summer said with a nervous glance at the door.





Lightning landed powerfully on the front porch of his in-law's home in the sky. He pushed the door open and was met with an empty room.

"Son of a-OOF!" An orange blur slammed into him and tackled him to the floor. The rest of the ponies in the house entered the foyer laughing. Scootaloo had devised the plan as a way to ease the tension. Scootaloo and Lightning got to their hooves. Scootaloo laughed as Lightning flexed his wing.

"Oh, don't be a baby. I didn't hit you that hard."

"Love you too, Scoot."

"Umm... is this usual?" Summer was clearly confused by the competitive relationship Scootaloo and Lightning shared. Spitfire and Rainbow laughed.

"They've been like that ever since they met eleven years ago. Took him long enough to ask her to marry him," Spitfire explained.

"It took him long enough to ask me out," Scootaloo added. Lightning gave the floor a sheepish grin. Scootaloo leaned into him. "It was worth the wait," she said with a smile.

"I'll bet it was." Summer smiled as she noted the two young ponies’ age. "You two are about the same age as Coal and I were when we got married."

"That so?" Spitfire asked. 

"It looks like Spitty and I got hitched a little early," Rainbow said with a grin. Spitfire brought her hoof to her face. Everypony in the room laughed.

"So, now that we have that out of the way, I think it's time for a proper introduction. My name is Lightning Spark. I'm-"

"The racepony?!"

"Not anymore." Lightning fought back the urge to let his facial features betray his irritation at the question.

"My husband LOVES you! Why did you quit?!"

Lightning sighed. "I didn't quit, I got fired." Lightning stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "Basically, my boss was spending more money on me than I was bringing in. Turns out there's no place for racers that don't sell their souls for money." Lightning extended a hoof to Summer. "And now back to the introductions. My name is Lightning Spark. I'm Scootaloo's fiance. You must be Summer Breeze."

Summer extended her own hoof and shook. "Ember, actually. It's nice to meet you, Lightning. My husband will be jealous."

"I hope not."

"You're famous! Seriously, what's with this family and being famous?"

"It just kinda happens."





Summer looked at the clock. It was 3:30. According to Spitfire, Steel would be home any minute. She had mixed feelings about meeting her son. She was excited beyond what words could describe, but she was also terrified. What if he didn't accept her? What if he knew about her and hated her? What if he refused to believe she really was related to him in any way? She heard the door open. And there he was. All grown up. Summer's jaw dropped. She was speechless.

Even with his unkempt mane and tail he, had grown from the foal she had held in her forelegs thirteen years prior into a handsome young pony. He even had his cutie mark already. She saw the burning wings on his flank and knew right away he had found his talent in flying. She knew that because her father's cutie mark was extraordinarily similar, almost as if it were passed down in the bloodline. It was then that he looked her in the eye. His brilliant blue eyes stood in sharp contrast to his dull gray coat and jet black mane. 

She then heard Spitfire's voice. "Steel, I'd like you to meet Summer Ember. She's your birth mother." 





Steel laughed. 

"Nice one, Spitfire. So, your name is Summer. Nice to meet you. I'm Steel." 

Spitfire looked at Summer. Summer hadn't taken her eyes off Steel.

"Uhh, Summer? You're staring. It's kinda rude."

"Watch your mouth, Steel!" Rainbow did not like it when Steel was rude to guests.

"Sorry Rainbow. I guess I just don't find your pranks as funny as Scootaloo does."

"Steel, Mom and Ma aren't lying. That mare gave birth to you," Scootaloo said. She was really hoping this would go well. In the back of her mind she knew it wouldn't.

"No, the mare who gave birth to me was named Aerial. Aerial Crestfall. Not Summer Ember."

"Steel, Jade—"

Steel kicked the door closed with his hind hoof and stepped inside. He began weaving between the ponies in the room.

"Let me guess. Now you're going to tell me some horror story about how my father was some wretched stallion that only desired to make the world a horrible place for everypony in it." Steel's anger was clear in his voice. "And then I'm supposed to fall in line and believe you. Let me tell you the facts as I see them. My father moves my family to Ponyville when I was six so he could find a job to support us. You know, like any good father would do. One day, I'm waiting for him to pick me up and take me to our house because I can't fly yet, and Scootaloo comes out of nowhere and offers to fly me up." 

Steel paused next to Scootaloo and forcefully placed a hoof on her back. "Like a good father, he doesn't trust his son with a mare who seemed to make every effort she could to tear his family apart when she was eleven years old. Then, a few days later, my mom goes and lives with you guys." Steel moved Between Spitfire and Rainbow and gave a smile that dripped with hatred. "A few days after that, my mom is dead. My father tells me she killed herself, but according to my good friend Rainbow Dash, he killed her after breaking into the house with a purpose known only to him." 

Steel left their sides and made his way back towards the middle of the room. "My dad moves me again because he can't bear to live in the town where his wife died, and we live happily for about three months. Then my dad takes me back here while he takes care of some leftover business in Ponyville, and I watch as that mare over there in the corner brutally murders him." He pointed an aggressive hoof at Scootaloo. "Does that sum it up nicely?"

"Steel, you need to know—" 

"The truth? You're right Scootaloo, I really do need to know the truth. But seeing as it's your word against my father's, I don't have many results to compare with, do I?"

"Steel, we have your birth certificate here. Just take a look. You'll see that we aren't lying." Rainbow held Steel's birth certificate out for him. Steel snatched it and looked.

"Who the buck is Steel Breeze? And... Summer Breeze... Jade... Dad..." Steel began to shake as he read the information on the page. It was fake, it HAD to be fake. There was no way it was true. It couldn't be.

"No. No, this is a lie. No, this isn't the truth, no, no no NO!" Steel threw the document onto the floor and galloped out the front door. Scootaloo tried to fly after him, but it was too late. Summer was crying, and Spitfire was trying to console her. Scootaloo felt a wing on her back.

"He'll come back, Scootaloo. He'll come to terms with this." Lightning's voice sounded confident, but Scootaloo could tell that he was saying those words to himself as much as to her.

"Will he?"