June 12: Heartbreaks + Setbacks
“Mom.” Fluttershy suddenly looked angry, angrier than Sunset had ever seen her before…and given that Sunset had turned into a literal demon nearly a year ago, she dreaded what Fluttershy was going to do.
Pointing an angry finger at her mother, Fluttershy shouted, “YOU’RE GOING TO TELL ME THE TRUTH!”
A suddenly indignant look came onto Posey’s face. “Fluttershy, I am your mother. Don’t you dare raise your voice to me.”
“YOU’RE GOING TO TELL ME THE TRUTH!” Fluttershy screamed again, tears streaking down her cheeks. “YOU LIED TO ME! WHY? WHY DID YOU LIE ABOUT MY FATHER?”
“BECAUSE YOU WOULDN’T UNDERSTAND!” Posey, having finally lost her composure after a bad day, railed at her daughter. “I HAVE TRIED TO RAISE YOU RIGHT, BUT YOU WANTED TO BE SO BLIND ABOUT YOUR FATHER THA—” Suddenly and without warning, Posey collapsed to the ground.
“MOM!” Fluttershy shouted in a sudden panic before she, too, passed out.
Redheart and Sunset looked at each other, just as footsteps sounded, heralding the arrival of hospital security guards, and behind them, Rarity, Octavia and Twilight.
“Don’t worry, boys, I got this one,” Redheart told the guards, holding up a hypodermic spray. “A little dose of Diprivan always comes in handy, and frankly, maybe now I can get the chief to force Poe to take some days off,” she told the others as the guards left. “But I’m curious as to how you managed to knock Fluttershy out.”
Sunset grinned awkwardly. “Uh, martial arts pinch?”
“Doesn’t exist – trust me, I read up on this stuff.” Redheart looked at the teen. “Try again.”
The others looked awkwardly at Sunset, and so the flamehaired girl decided to punt. “Okay, if you must know, it was a sedative spell using Sweet Slumber’s Special Superlative Sleepiness, a little doctrine that I read about during my time at the School for Gifted Unicorns. I then masked the aura outside of the visible light spectrum, because a cyan-colored burst of magic might make people wonder.” Sunset folded her arms. “So you were saying?”
Rarity, Twilight and Octavia then shifted their looks from Sunset back to the doctor.
Redheart facepalmed. “Kid, if you know acupressure points, you could have just said so; I could do without all that Spellbound crap.” Motioning to Rarity to help her pick up Posey, she said, “C’mon, let’s get these two to the room next door. It’s vacant, and they can talk when they both wake up.”
It was a close to an hour later by the time they both stirred. Both mother and daughter were placed in beds adjacent to each other, with Posey stirring first. “That was a low blow, Red,” she commented woozily.
“Yeah, well, consider it payback for the time you got me stupid-drunk the time we went partying in Seattle when we were still in med school and we’ll call it even.” She leaned forward, checking Posey’s vitals. “By the way, the chief says you’re taking the rest of the week off, no arguments. And frankly, I wholeheartedly agree.” She sat down in the chair next to her friend. “Poe, you have something that I’ve always wanted: two loving children who need you. Wintry Mix…she’s lead a full life, the kind of life that you should, and nothing’s going to change that, whether or not she ever leaves this hospital. But you have a son and daughter who need you. I don’t have that chance.”
“Red, I—”
She shook her head. “Tests came back negative. Sure, Sturdy Post and I can adopt, but….” She sighed. “You were there from the very beginning, Poe. And your children need to know the truth. I’ve known you from the very start of all this, Poe, but…your children need to know, not just me – Fluttershy needs to know. She’s hurting, and only you can fix that.”
Posey hung her head in shame. “You’re right.”
Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, the girls sat with Fluttershy as she came to. “How are you feeling, Fluttershy, dear?” Rarity asked.
She looked at her four friends and said, “I’ve been better, though thankfully I’m okay. What happened?”
“You, uh, fainted,” Sunset said uncomfortably, though her eyes told a different story. Fortunately, the chiffon-haired teen was more than able to pick up on what Sunset didn’t say.
“I see,” Fluttershy replied uncomfortably. “Girls, I’m…sorry. I’ve been acting horrible lately because of all the news and I’ve ruined the party we had for you, Twily. Can you ever forgive me?”
“Only if you can forgive me for my own dumb stunt, Flutters,” Octavia replied. “I didn’t mean to hurt you…I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I already forgave you, Tavi, and besides, I could never be mad at a friend. Truthfully, I think we’ve all done a lot of things lately that we really can’t explain to others,” Fluttershy replied, “but if we really trust our friends, we know it’s going to turn out right in the end.” For the merest flicker of a second, Fluttershy and Sunset made eye contact, and more than enough was said in that glance.
Seeing that, Sunset smiled inwardly; once upon a time, she figured that Fluttershy didn’t give herself enough credit, and that the animal-loving teen had a sneakier and more mature heart than others had suspected. But now Sunset knew the reason why and admittedly, it made a lot more sense this way.
Now, it was just a matter of getting her to acknowledge where that part of her came from.
“Fluttershy?” The teens looked up to see Posey approaching, the look on her face sad. “We need to talk.”
The teen nodded. “Yes, we do. And…if it’s okay, I’d like to have my friends there. I think…I think they need to hear as well.”
“Sure, sweetie,” Posey said, kissing her daughter on the forehead. “Let’s get so—”
“No.” Redheart crossed her arms and glared at Posey. “Boss said leave, so leave. Don’t come back until next week. Or do I need to go get him to tell you in person?”
Posey gave a wan smile. “I get the hint, Red. As for me, I think I could use something to eat.”
“Uh, that would be…all of us,” Fluttershy said with some embarrassment. “I, um, kinda ran out of the restaurant in anger after I…well…” The teen flushed again, too mortified to continue.
“My compliments to the chef,” Suri said as she finished her last bit of lobster Thermador. She took a quick swig of her wine – a delightful little cabernet sauvignon – and looked alluringly at the individual she addressed.
Seated on the other side of the table, Blueblood smiled. “Why thank you. I do take pride on my hobbies.” A subtle pause. “Well, the ones people would consider mundane, that is.” He glanced towards the kitchen in their bungalow and said, “Wait until you try the tiramisu. It’s my mother’s recipe.” His countenance darkened as he added, “My real mother, that is, not that trophy my father’s married to.”
“I never had any doubt, dearest,” Suri said with a serpentine smile. In the months since the whole debacle with the drug, while she made it clear who had the reins in the relationship, she allowed Blueblood a little more freedom. She did, after all, genuinely love him and not just his money and connections; those were icing on an already pleasant cake. “Oh and before I forget: I have a little present for you.”
Blueblood set down his wine and looked at her curiously. “No doubt with strings attached.”
“No, my dearest, no strings attached at the least. You see, there is this girl of…uncertain class that befriended my sister, and while Crackle doesn’t live the same type of lifestyle we do, I do love my little sister. This girl, however, I’ve no knowledge about, but I’m sure that it can’t be good. Friendships and relationships should be about power after all – love and affection can come later, of course.”
“So I’ve noticed.”
Suri giggled. “Oh, Blue, you know I love you…even if I don’t entirely trust you. But that’s beside the point. Do you still have any of that vile drug you used on me?”
“I happen to have a cache hidden in the family lodge on Mt. Shasta. It was for…future plans, shall we say. Why?”
“Oh, I thought you’d like it if I gave you a little gift wrapped in satin lingerie,” Suri said off-handedly. “Coco Pommel is just the kind of young thing you like, and I assume not broken in, either.”
“And the price is?”
“She stays away from Crackle – permanently. I have plans for my sister, plans I don’t want ruined because I want her to move beyond the life of just being the child of my father’s mistress. Is it so wrong that a sister cares about her own kin?”
“What was that you said about relationships should be power, first, hmmm?” Blueblood replied as he lifted the wineglass to his lips.
“Yes, call me a hypocrite, but I love my little sister and want what’s best for her, even if she doesn’t know herself.”
“And you want me to use the remainder of the vibrasnopam on this girl?”
“Not just that – I want you to break her. Make sure she can never show her face anywhere ever again. Do that and I’ll reward you handsomely.”
“You do that already,” he replied, drinking the remainder of his wine. In turn, she stood up, slipped out of her dress, and approached him, kissing him deeply.
“Come claim me,” she said in a breathy voice as Blueblood led her to their bed.
Deep Dish’s Pizza Parlor was across the street from the hospital and at the moment, the largest booth was taken up by an extra large supreme, a pitcher of Coke, five teenage girls and one woman. As each of them grabbed a slice, Posey took a drink from her beer and asked, “Where do you want me to start, sweetie?”
“The truth, Mom,” Fluttershy said simply. “And start from the beginning.”
“Okay, you know that Redheart and I have been friends since medical school, right?” Fluttershy nodded. “Well, your father and I met when Red and I went to a concert at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater. We won backstage passes that night and went. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect – was I going to be treated like some groupie, ending up stoned, drunk and with my pants off in his bed? Or was I going to be given the kid gloves treatment? The truth was? Neither.”
“Neither?” Sunset asked.
Posey shook her head. “The concert itself? It was great. Watching him and the band on-stage – this was the classic line-up, with him, Tirek, Screw Loose and Steel Strings. They rocked hard, and even before everything, I was a fan. So it was just a shock to see the wild, deliriously silly and happy Discord walk off stage…and turn into probably the saddest man I’ve ever met. Don’t get me wrong: he was polite, shook our hands, signed some autographs and then walked to his dressing room. Screw Loose was there with her fiancé, so I didn’t get to meet her then; and this was just before Steel Strings was kicked out of the band for excessive drug use, so he was already high as a kite.
“But it was Tirek who had the most impact.”
“Wait – aren’t Discord and Tirek rivals ever since he quit to form ECI?” Sunset asked.
Posey laughed. “Nothing but record company posturing. They wanted to give Tirek an edge, so that’s why. In truth, he and Discord have been best friends since they first met. In any case, Tirek pulled us aside and took us to the staff cafeteria, where we sat down for some coffee. He told us that happy, crazy Discord, a man who even then was considered one of the new gods of rock, was completely and utterly dialing it in. That he was tired and lonely and though he loved performing, he was still, after all these years, nursing a broken heart after one that got away.”
“Celestia,” Twilight spoke as if on cue.
“PRINCIPAL CELESTIA?” Fluttershy, Sunset, and Rarity said at the same time.
“Yeah. She talked about it once with my mom at our place, and I accidentally overheard. Apparently Mom had something to do with it, though I didn’t hear what that was.”
“I…guess that explains the awkward meeting she and I had your freshman year, sweetie,” Posey told Fluttershy. “I just thought that it was just one of those natural dislike issues people have from time to time, but I guess she must’ve found out and put two and two together. I suppose that also explains why she’s tended to keep tabs on you more than the average student, unless she’s that involved in all her students’ lives like that. But again, I’m digressing.
“Anyway, Tirek apologized for Discord, but pointed out that it had been the anniversary of the day he’d broken up with her – well, now I know it’s Celestia – and that he forced himself to go onstage. He offered to give us tickets for the next venue along with others to make up for it, and Red took him up on that. But I couldn’t.
“So, ignoring what probably was my better judgment, I rushed upstairs and stormed into Discord’s dressing room, where he was playing with a silver pistol and tears streaming down his cheeks. Fearing the worst – this was the month after Flaming Burrito committed suicide with a gun in his hotel room in Vegas – I knocked it out of his hand and hugged him as hard as I could, saying that he wasn’t alone, that it wasn’t the way to end it, that I wouldn’t let him end himself like that.
“I could feel his tears soaking my shirt. That night, he let everything go – all his pain, all his heartbreak, all his loss – for a crazy medical student who knocked a pistol-shaped lighter out of his hands.”
“A lighter?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yes, a lighter. When he realized how it looked, he couldn’t apologize enough,” Posey answered. “That night, I slept with him – and no, don’t get any wrong ideas; we had a late dinner that night, then went to his hotel room and talked into the wee hours – he apparently really needed to talk. By the time he was done airing everything out, we both crashed on the emperor-sized bed in his penthouse suite. The following morning, we had breakfast in bed, and I skipped classes talking to him all day. We then snuck out of the hotel – it was his last day in town before he was scheduled to play in Phoenix – and went to the movies. After that, he had the limo drop me off at the apartment me and Red lived at and saw me off.
“For the rest of that year, we kept in touch via email or he would call me – you’d laugh if you thought how many others thought I was dating a guy named Disco Red. By the time he came back, I’d already started my internship at UC Irvine Medical. He strode on in, making a big show in the emergency room then parked right in front of the desk with the biggest bouquet I’d ever seen. And, because Discord was being Discord, the bouquet was nothing but dandelions…common flowers that are often considered nothing more than weeds.” The smile on her face was wide as she added, “A bouquet about the diameter of a telephone pole, made up of nothing but florist-grade dandelions. To this day I have no idea how he pulled it off. But as I came in, he formally asked me for a date and of course I said yes – the year of constant talking to each other had tied us together enough to set a spark, but it was then that it became a fire.”
Rarity sighed. “That’s very romantic, Doctor.”
“The next few years, were great. We lived in his mansion in Corona Del Mar, and I commuted to and fro while he recorded more music. Eventually Six String was bounced out of the band, and was replaced by Smooth Strummer. Eventually on the European leg of another tour, I joined him in Monaco, where he proposed to me. We then married a year later, and…that’s when everything went wrong.”
“Went wrong?”
Posey nodded. “You were everything he always wanted, Fluttershy,” her mother told her. “He loved you from the moment he found out I was pregnant and never let go. He didn’t want to. To him, you, and later Angel, were his life. You remember those moments, don’t you?”
Fluttershy said nothing, but instead recalled everything: the father who would, out of the blue, decide to make a cake for his precious daughter at four in the morning, the dad who used to take her for long walks in the fields, pointing out the various kinds of butterflies, the parent that would, despite his wife’s profession, insist on taking care of Fluttershy’s cuts and scrapes, kissing them to make them feel better. Everything that Fluttershy remembered about her father in the past was nothing but pleasant memories. But that was the problem: it was in the past.
“Forgive me for asking,” Twilight spoke, “but…what happened?”
Posey was about to continue, when Fluttershy rose from her chair. “Everyone…I…I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” the teen said, a distraught look on her face.
“Sweetheart, you can’t keep hiding from your father,” Posey told her daughter. “You may want to deny it, but he still loves you. He still loves all of us.”
“And you never told me that you’re still married to him,” Fluttershy accused. “You never told me anything!”
“It was to protect your father,” Posey answered, looking down at the table. “You don’t remember, do you? Your father had neglected his career, and the record company was about to drop him. Furthermore, we were being hounded by paparazzi who wanted to prove that your father had turned his back on his fans – they weren’t doing it just for the money, they were actually out to hurt him and us!” Posey looked away. “So, he and I made an agreement.”
“An agreement?” Twilight asked.
Posey nodded. “We would live separately. We moved from Orange County up here to Canterlot, where I was from, and he bought the house we live in. At the same time, he sold the place we were all living in and bought a higher-profile one in Malibu so that he could throw meaningless parties and keep up his image, just to keep the press hounds off us.”
“Mom, what do you mean ‘move up here’? I was born here! Lived my whole life here!” Fluttershy countered.
But the doctor shook her head. “Sweetheart, have you actually looked at your birth certificate? You were born at the UCI Medical Center in Irvine, sweetie. We lived in Corona Del Mar until you were nine.”
“But I attended Mrs. Cuddlebunny’s kindergarten class! And we’ve lived in the same house practically since I first learned to walk!”
“Fluttershy, you attended Mrs. Fluffykitten’s kindergarten class at the private school we sent you to – and the fact that those two teachers were identical twins was one of the weirdest things that I found about since we’ve lived here! Hell, your father and I made sure that our current house looked a lot like the old one. We even kept the recliner that you used to sit in with your father – you used to fall asleep in his lap all the time,” she said, tears of joy starting to well in her eyes.
“Fluttershy, I love your father – he has been the only man in my life. And despite what you’ve read in the news, he only loves me. But it’s hurt him to be away from you two. He wants you back in his life, Fluttershy! He wants us to be a family again, and he doesn’t care if it costs him!”
The chiffon-haired teen folded her arms. “I wish I could believe that. And he’s had years to do so…but he never did.” She then looked at Rarity, a look of pleading in her eyes. “Do you mind if I stay over your place tonight? I…I need some time to think.”
“Not at all; of course you’re welcome over, Fluttershy, dear,” Rarity replied, though she sounded nervous. She felt that she was stepping into a situation that she shouldn’t be involved in, but she couldn’t turn down a friend in need.
“Fine; let’s go.” Without waiting for anything else, or even saying goodbye to her mother, she picked up her purse and walked out of the pizza place.
Posey took the hint immediately. “Rarity, please take care of her. This…this isn’t ea….” Posey broke down into tears and Octavia moved to her side immediately.
“We’ll take care of this,” the raven-haired girl told her friend. “You deal with Flutters.”
“I’ll go with her,” Twilight offered. “You two take care of Dr. Posey and we’ll see to Fluttershy.” With that both purple-haired girls departed the pizza place, chasing after their frustrated friend.
Meanwhile, Octavia looked at Posey and asked, “What can we do, Doctor? I know I’m to blame for all of this coming out, and I want to make amends, both to Flutters and you. She told me it wasn’t necessary, but….”
Posey looked up at the two girls with tear-stained eyes. “Just…please…help my daughter. She doesn’t understand what’s going on. And while she has the right to her feelings – neither my husband or I have handled this well, in hindsight – we just want what’s the best for our children. Fluttershy will be an adult soon, and on her own, and I want her and her father to make up before she heads off to college. If not, they may never do so.” She took Octavia’s hands in hers and pled, “Please. For my family’s sake, I need your help. Fluttershy needs your help.”
“We’ll do everything we can, Doctor, I promised you and I mean to keep that vow,” Sunset said from behind Octavia. “Fluttershy’s our friend; we won’t leave her hanging. Will you be okay?”
The doctor nodded. “I’m a big girl, Sunset. I’ve been through much worse. But I appreciate the concern. Go ahead and get going; I’ll take care of everything here.”
“Will do.” Sunset looked to Octavia. “Let’s get going, Tavi. We gotta get home. I only have enough hours in the night left to look up what I need to look up and I’m going to need your help.”
“Look up? What’re you going to look up?”
“Playing a hunch,” Sunset thought. She turned back to Posey and asked, “Do you know anyone by the name Chain, Doctor?”
Posey smiled, realizing what Sunset was thinking about. “That’s me, you know.”
Sunset grinned. “I thought so. I just need to do some extra digging. Don’t worry, Doc, we got this.”
“We do?” Octavia asked as the two departed the pizza shop.
“Always on the run,” was Sunset’s reply.
“Always on the Run” turned out to be Always on the Run, a lyrics website that Octavia had never heard of before. That surprised her, as she thought she followed just about all of them out there…or at least all the significant ones.
“Cloud Kicker told me about this place the last time I talked to her,” Sunset explained. “By the way, both she and Vinyl are doing great, though they’ve had a rocky time settling in over in Detroit.”
“I couldn’t care less; frankly, I’m still somewhat hurt that you’re friends with them,” Octavia huffed as she looked through the website.
“Tavi, it’s not meant to hurt you,” Sunset said by way of apology. “Vinyl made a mistake, and she’s paid for it. But Kicks didn’t, and she’s trying to help Vinyl recover.”
“Let’s…just forget about that right now. What are we looking for, anyway?”
Sunset pointed to the screen. “Look at the lyrics for ‘Chain Says’. It’s a song by Discord that he says was always about a girl that says stuff she wanted to do but never did. I always wondered about that, but then it hit me when I found out he’s Fluttershy’s father.”
“And?”
“‘Chain Says’ is about Posey – specifically her, Fluttershy and Angel. Read the lyrics and see for yourself. Since the songs are categorized by album, it’s the ninth track on the album Scaramouche’s Funniest Joke.”
Flipping over to the Discord lyrics, Octavia found the lyrics in question and began reading. Even though she didn’t like rock too much, she felt somewhat obliged to pull her earbuds out of her purse and plug them in, starting up the song. To her surprise, it was a ballad – well, a ballad by Discord’s standards, she guessed – and a somewhat restrained song:
CHAIN SAYS
From the album Scaramouche’s Funniest Joke
Writers: Discord/Screw Loose/Peripheral
Copyright: Q Continuum Music/Barking Mad Publishing/I’ll Hit You Back Music“Chain says, ‘I’m done with them you know -
They treat us like a sideshow’
Shouting at th’ television
Says we don’t owe them nothin’
But if they come back again
Tell them they can just pack sand
Or go play on the freeway“I’m hopin’ for tomorrow,
Hopin’ for a to-mor-row…“Chain says, ‘Have you seen the rats around?
I feel empty without them’
She knows she don’t want them to know
But that’s okay, hey, they’re part of us anyway
Chain says, ‘Let’s go away to Spain
Or get real far away
Let’s get gone on the morrow’“I’m hopin’ for tomorrow,
Hopin’ for a to-mor-row…“They get mad and they make her cry,
But she’s strong, man – takes a hit!
But they mean us harm
And they’ll make her go
(Just go, just go!)
As far as she’ll get from it“Chain goes up towards Sodagate
Headin’ up th’ Northbound,
She waits, grows the flowers there
She grows them, keeps ‘em in her pocket
Chain warns, ‘Don’t ever fall for lies,
Don’t let it keep you down’
She only knows what keeps her reined in“I know what keeps her reined in
I know what keeps me reined in~“They get mad and they make her cry,
But she’s strong, man – takes a hit!
But they mean us harm
And they’ll make her go
(Just go, just go!)
As far as she’ll get from it“Chain says…
Chain says….”
Octavia looked away from the lyrics. “I’m at a loss. How are these lyrics about Dr. Posey, Flutters and Angel, much less a love letter to them?”
Sunset grinned. “Think about it, Tavi: ‘Chain’, in this case, is short for ‘ball and chain’, a term for your spouse – plus Posey confirmed it! And once you figure that out, you know the rest!” She pointed towards each line. “The first stanza is about them being hounded by the press. The second one? Rats – that’s a reference to ‘rug rats’, or a term for kids.”
Octavia was starting to see the lines drawn. Focusing back on the screen, she said, “So, ‘She knows she don’t want them to know’, I’m guessing, is a reference to not wanting Fluttershy or Angel to be hounded by the press either?” When Sunset nodded, the raven-haired musician added, “And I suppose the rest is about Chain, AKA Dr. Posey, wanting to get away for the kids’ sake.” Sunset nodded and Octavia continued. “So then the third stanza is about how proud he must be that she was able to endure all of that?”
“Yeah, but it’s the last one that’s the gut punch. She heads up to Sodagate…not sure what that means.”
“Easy – there’s a soda company in town named Shasta Soda; their offices moved down south to the San Francisco area, but they still make the soda in Sunnytown. From what I remember, the name of the street the manufacturing plant is on is called Sodagate Road.” Octavia looked at the rest of the lyrics and deciphered. “Heading up the Northbound probably refers to the 5, and the flowers are Fluttershy and Angel. But I’m at a loss for the rest.”
“‘Don’t fall for the lies’ probably means to not forget their wedding vows. He’s been tempted by everyone from models to centerfolds, given his reputation,” Sunset clarified. “Look – we have enough for this song, but we need to look deeper. I’m willing to bet that there’s more than one song that’s about them.”
“Wait, the name of the album is Scaramouche’s Funniest Joke, right? You know about Scaramouche, don’t you?”
“Weren’t there a lot of them?” Sunset asked. Truth was, just like here on Earth, there were various stories of Scaramouche in Equestria, the main difference being while the human one was a stock trickster character, the pony one had been one of Celestia’s grand mages a few centuries back, known for his sense of humor and a preference to solving issues through guile instead of magic. He had become as successful a grand mage as Star Swirl, Celestia had told Sunset back when she was the princess’ student, but Scaramouche had been done in while imprisoning a monstrous horror that was still to this day locked up in the depths of Tartarus.
“Well, the one I’m thinking of is from the French opera La Grande Escroquerie. It’s the story about a brave young soldier named Valentament, forced to send his family away while he spies on the country that invaded his homeland. To do so, he pretended to be the great clown Scaramouche and kept tabs on the enemy for years, and eventually the nation’s military drove away the occupying army due to his intelligence gathering. But the price he paid was that when he finally returned to his wife and children, they’d thought him dead, so his wife remarried and his children were raised by the other man…and they wanted nothing to do with him. Valentament in the end died a broken man.”
Sunset thought about that for a moment. “Yeah, that would sound like a personal fear someone would have if he’d lost the family he loved so much.”
“So what are we going to do about it?” Octavia asked. “This is a mess I made, and I want to make it right.”
“This isn’t a mess you made. This is a mess that Discord made, and Fluttershy exacerbated, though apparently Dr. Posey didn’t help matters.” Sunset pointed a thumb at herself. “Trust me on this: coming from someone who hasn’t had a family until now, I certainly understand how the emptiness feels.” She brought up her email to text client on her laptop and started typing. “We’re going to have to pass this to Twily. She’s over there and she can handle this.”
“I don’t know if Twily’s the best person to do so. Rarity’s got a better head on her shoulders when it comes to that.”
Sunset looked away from her computer and at her cousin. “Twily’s the better person, trust me. Yeah, Rares has known Fluttershy longer, sure. But if there’s someone who has flawless debating skills, that’s Twily. Besides…I don’t think there’s a single person who knows me better than her.”
“Awfully big statement to make given that we’ve known you less than a year and the others have known you longer,” Octavia said in a smirking tone.
“Family knows each other,” Sunset replied, a warm smile coming onto her face. She then asked, “Tavi? What am I to you?”
“Well…I….” Octavia looked at the girl she considered her cousin, and a person who was a dear friend. She ignored the voice in the back of her head that was telling her to punch Sunset’s lights out. There were also other voices, saying things that were weird and bizarre, but all would have the same result: it would hurt Sunset and hurt her hard. Octavia cared too much about her to let that happen. As she saw a flicker of concern in Sunset’s eyes, it made her push back everything in her mind, though she made a mental note to see if she needed counseling; maybe her uncle’s comment about everything getting away from her was stressing her out enough to imagine things in her mind.
“You’re my cousin,” Octavia told Sunset with a smile. “I don’t care if you’re officially part of the family or not; you’re family to me. And Twily wouldn’t be the person she is without you – you brought her out of her shell in a way I never could. Plus, you’ve given us friends, and my aunt, uncle and other cousins love you just as much as Twily and I do. You are family, Sunny. No matter what, we love you and we’ll always be there for you.”
Sunset smiled, and Octavia thought she saw something in the other girl’s eyes, as if lifting a weight from the chest, removing something that seemed to be dragging her down. She must’ve taken the trip harder than I thought, Octavia mused. I should’ve done more to comfort her.
“Thanks, Tavi,” Sunset said.
“What brought that up?”
“Just…something I’ve been going through lately,” Sunset replied in a way that made Octavia wonder if her pseudo-cousin – no, cousin, and only that – was dodging an issue. “It’s nothing bad, mind, else I would talk to others about it. But it’s something that I feel I need to work through for myself, and I wanted….” She sighed. “I just wanted to know if I’m walking solo on this tree branch or not.”
“After what we’re doing for Fluttershy? After what you did for Twily? For Rarity? For Blossom? For me? And who knows how many others?” Octavia went and hugged Sunset. “I don’t know about anyone else, but we’re not going to let you go on this alone. I don’t know what you’re talking about, and you don’t have to tell me or anyone else until you’re ready to, but I’m always going to be here for you, and so will Twily and the rest of our family.”
“Thanks for having me over at such short notice,” Fluttershy told Rarity.
“Thanks for putting up with me as well. I hope I won’t be much of a bother either,” Twilight added, a blush of embarrassment coming onto her face.
“Nonsense, girls; you two are my friends! I hardly see that as a bother,” Rarity, replied to her friends, though she looked more at Twilight. The fashionista reflected on the alien princess that had appeared nearly a year ago and had apparently taken the name of Sunset’s eventual foster sister and how markedly different this Twilight was to that one. Granted, she considered both her friends, but the truth of it was that in the half-year that she’d come to know this one, she found the contrasts striking, to say the least. The alien princess was outgoing, brave and charismatically charming, with a hint that she’d been a battle-hardy warrior as well as diplomat. On the other hand, the girl in front of her was shy, bookishly quiet and as socially inept as Fluttershy tended to be at times. Still, both Twilights were undeniably sweet, and where the princess had an understandable coltish awkwardness about her, there was something about the human’s sweet innocence that made Rarity smile.
Different Twilights for different needs, I guess, and no disrespect to my friend here, but I have a funny feeling that we could use that warrior princess right now. Still, one must do with the Twilight one has instead of what one wishes for, to turn a phrase, I suppose.
Then again, Rarity suddenly remembered, this was the Twilight that Sunset loved and was willing to challenge practically her entire home dimension to save her. The Flame of the Moon only managed to launch a thousand Laconian ships to wage war against Troy. Twilight managed to unintentionally raise a single, incredibly powerful unicorn grand mage to wage war against the ultimate powers of her homeworld.
And we thought our friendship would be enough for her. Though she cherishes that, you gave her far more than that, Twilight. And for that alone, you’ve earned every iota of her love.
“Rarity?” She heard Fluttershy call out to her.
“Oh, sorry, darling, I was in a bit of a reverie there. What can I help you with?”
Fluttershy plopped down on the floor and said, “I was wondering if you and Twily think I’m being as stupid as my mother says I am. I mean…I love Mom. She’s been there for me every moment, and I love her for that – but it hurts, knowing that she’s lied to me all this time. All I’ve ever wanted for her was to be happy and find someone of her own…but it turns out she already has someone…and that someone is my father, the man I thought who’d left us years ago.” She looked up at Rarity with the look of someone who had been pushed to the limit, and then dangled over. “I…I don’t know what to believe in anymore.”
Twilight went over to sit down next to her. “You know, I had a similar problem, too, in a sense. When I was being affected by that drug, I didn’t know who to turn to or who to trust. My parents didn’t seem like they cared, and Tavi seemed like didn’t want me around.” A distant look then came onto her face as she added, “You guys are two of my closest friends and I didn’t even think I could turn to you. In the end, it was Sunny that saved me. It was Sunny that loved me enough to care when no one else did.”
“Twilight, dear,” Rarity began, but she was stopped when the plum-haired girl raised her hand.
“I know, Rarity. I know you and Fluttershy were both worried about me, as were the others. But everyone else had various things going on in their lives, or really couldn’t help me. I’m not blaming anyone for that. If anything, it shows me how lucky I was to have a sister that loves me enough to look out for me.
“But as to what I’m saying, Flutters, is that your mom did it all for you and your brother. Sure, it wasn’t the smartest way to handle it. And yes, she should’ve been upfront about your father all this time. But she thought she was doing it to protect you. And sometimes, when people we love are protecting us, we can’t second-guess their actions. I can’t yell at Sunny for risking her life to throw herself in front of the truck, because she did it to save me. And by that same token, you really can’t question your mother’s motives, even if her actions were questionable.
“At least, that’s how I feel. I’m sorry if you disagree, but that’s how I feel. But no matter what, Fluttershy, I’m your friend and I want to help you however I can. You can count on that.”
Rarity didn’t know what to say after that. In many ways, it seemed almost exactly like something the princess would have said had she been here herself. But at the same time, it was laced with something that a human would say. If anything, it felt like a hybrid of the two concepts, or if the princess had been around on Earth as long as Sunset had been. And that was something else to consider, Rarity thought. “Twilight, dear, you’ve expressed what I had to say as well; far more eloquently than I would have,” the fashionista replied. That last part had been a teensy bit of a little white lie, but the crux of it was central – Twilight’s statement had been awkwardly phrased, but very forward, given her nature.
“Thanks, Rarity,” Twilight replied, blushing once more. “I…I feel as though it would have been something that Sunny would’ve said had she been here.”
“Like sisters, I suppose,” Rarity added with a smile, to which Twilight agreed, nodding.
Watching the pair, Fluttershy sighed. In the half-year that she’d known Twilight, the girl had made far more strides in coming out of her shell than Fluttershy did. Maybe that was because she had more exposure to a sister that would do anything for her sibling; Fluttershy knew that well, as she would always do so for Angel when he’d needed it. In a sense, she felt somewhat envious for her friend, given that Twilight was starting to go places that a year ago she hadn’t even imagined, but with Sunset’s help had not only run up against the barricades of her issues but was breaking through them to the path beyond.
Too bad none of this is helping me to get past my current problems; all I’m doing is just pushing them aside for the moment, she sadly realized. And she knew that was a barrier that she wasn’t going to be able to bypass easily. No matter what her relationship was with her father, her relationship with her mother had been much better. And even if somehow that hadn’t been the case, she had a younger brother to protect – Angel was only eight and not completely prepared for the mess that would come about once he was involved in all of this. No matter what, she had to protect him. Plus, she didn’t want to risk what closeness she and her mother had.
“I think that…in the morning, I’m going to go home and talk to Mom. I think we need to have a serious talk about all this,” she announced.
“That’s good, dear,” Rarity agreed. “But what made you decide to do it?”
“Angel,” Fluttershy said definitively. “If nothing else, someone has to protect my little brother.”
“I dunno, Angel seems like he’s more than capable of looking out for himself,” Twilight replied in a joking manner. “But seriously, though, I know how that is. Despite the fact that Spike and I bicker, I try to look out for him, and I bet if you were to ask Tavi or Sunny, they’d probably say the same thing.”
“All the moreso for myself, given that Sweetie’s thirteen,” Rarity added. “Besides, I agree with Twilight: Your parents are trying to do what’s best for you, even if they don’t do so in the best manner. My father and my mother try as well, but they are human after all; they make mistakes just like we do, and I do believe you’re seeing that now. But you’re also seeing a side of both your parents that you haven’t really considered, Fluttershy, dear.”
“And what’s that?”
“That they went to these ridiculous lengths for you and your brother. Think about it: your parents supposedly separated and you moved here to Canterlot in order to have a normal life. Then your father goes out of the way to cultivate a ‘wild man’ image so no one would possibly consider that he was happily married, while his wife raised their children without the glare of the spotlight. All along, while the woman has crippling student debt – as I understand it, medical school is quite expensive, and your grandparents are hardly wealthy, yet as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never wanted for a thing in your life.”
Fluttershy realized what her friend was saying, though she’d never considered that before. She had a pair of the world’s most expensive headphones that there was no way that her mother could have realistically afforded while she had college loans that large. And they lived in a fairly expensive house; not as pricey as the one Twilight and Sunset’s family lived in, but still in one of the more tony neighborhoods in town. And she had a car – a new one, to boot – and all those things that she should realistically not have if her mother was running solo.
Not even alimony and child support could cover all that, she realized with a chilling reality. And if Mom had to go to court to fight for any of it…she would’ve told us. There could be no other answer: her father, Discord, the “Chaos Master of Rock”, as Spin magazine had once labeled him, had been a faithful – and suffering – father all this time. He had reached out to his wife and children so many times, and Posey had been there when she could, and Angel was really too young to remember their father…
…but Fluttershy had metaphorically slapped her father away each time he’d tried to reach out to her. All of her hurt and pain were real, yes, but she wasn’t the only one who felt them – the knife had cut both ways.
Tears came and she felt two pairs of arms encircle her. She could hear the well-wishes of her friends, telling her it would be better in the morning, that she could talk to her mother then and all would be well. But she didn’t know if it would.
She didn’t know what to believe anymore.
Though it was normally quiet this early in the morning in the Piazza San Marco, today was a different story. The basilica was lit up, and a dozen Cabinieri police cars roared through the square, only to be passed by three women wearing darkened clothing, carrying bags, rushing in three different directions on motorcycles. The first made it to the bridge spanning the Rio de Palazzo de Canonica, hopping into a speedboat and taking off, with the Italian police officers immediately opening fire. That response was met a second later by the explosives on the bike detonating, taking out a good portion of the Riva della Schiavoni overpass.
The second one rushed down the Merceria Orologio, hoping that the winding, claustrophobic streets of Venice would protect her until she could make her getaway, or die fighting for the cause. Quickly making a hairpin right onto the Calle Fiubera, she climbed onto the handlebars, the leapt up as high as she could, grabbing onto a fire escape and pulling herself up. As the cops went by, she snuck into the darkened flat, sighing in relief. Two hours later, she would find herself having an entirely different adventure due to the cute and single guy whose flat it was, but that would be a different story.
But it was the third rider, weighted down by the actual loot taken from the basilica, who was the focus of the chase. At the moment, she was rushing down the square on a custom-built Kawasaki ZX-14R that had been brought to Venice specifically for this operation, with two Caribinieri Fiat patrol cars, the bullhorns squawking with demands from the officers that she immediately surrender before further measures were taken. The rider instead groaned inwardly; originally the plan had been to do the heist while during Venice’s infamous Acqua Alta season, where half the city was flooded and thus making it hard for cop cars to operate, but an unseasonably arid year prior had somehow prevented the watery phenomenon. Regardless, there was still a mission to be performed and so thus they went.
With a slight huff of breath in her helmet, the runner keyed her headset. “Theta, this is Omicron. Headed westbound towards the Bacino Oresolo. Will need assistance, over.”
“Omicron, Theta. Scratch the Bacino; cops are inspecting your jet ski. We can keep them busy there, but you won’t be able to escape that way. Swing south and head towards Salita San Moise.”
“Are you crazy? They’re going to catch me long before I get there, Theta!”
“Koppa’s in position. She’ll cover you.”
Omicron laughed. “Yeah, right. I may as well give up now; there’s no way the kid can make the shot.”
“You’re just going to have to trust us, Omicron. Theta, out.”
With that, the die was cast and the move made. Gunning the engine, Omicron tore out of the square, making such a hard left onto the Calle Larga Acensione that she almost lost control of her bike, followed by another hard right to get onto the Salita. But even as she rushed on, she could hear the blare of sirens, as well as the roar of motorcycles coming into play. Furthermore, there were Caribinieri cars ahead, boxing her in.
“New girl better do her job right, or I’m toast,” Omicron grumbled to herself.
Over one hundred meters away, perched atop the Campanile di San Marco, a young girl lay, a sniper rifle in her hands. She looked ready to fire it, merely waiting for the signal. Behind her, Theta, who was acting as spotter, gave the order: “She’s in position – fire when ready.”
“Roger that,” the girl said, placing a violet-colored eye towards the sniper rifle’s scope. “Taking the shot.” Calmly, she pulled the trigger and a blast of fire spewed out both sides and the barrel of the muzzle, sending the bullet on its flight.
On the road below, Omicron was treated to the sudden sight of the leftmost of the police cars skidding out of control and crashing into a Prada shot. Kid can shoot, the woman thought to herself, a hint of a smile coming onto her lips. Will wonders ever cease?
“Firing again,” the girl said, sounding like she was getting into this. “Scratch a second cop car.” The trigger was pulled once more, and the second cop car crashed into the Cartier shop just as Omicron was passing.
“She’s still got a tail,” Theta told Koppa. “You going to do something about it?”
A cocky grin on her face, the younger girl looked up from her scope. “It’s done,” she said, and without even looking in the scope, pulled the trigger. The bullet rocketed away from the rifle, hitting a wire strung from one building to another as Omicron passed by. The wire fell, and though it wasn’t particularly heavy, it was just enough so with the added force of gravity to smack one of the motorcycle cops. Dazed, he lost control and crashed into the other, downing them, with Omicron pulling a pistol out and taking care of the cop that had just started to take aim by the ruins of the Prada store.
A second later, a new voice came over the line. “This is Lambda. We’ve got Omicron, and we’re getting out of here. Good job; everyone meet at the safehouse in Vicenza in two days. Lambda, out.” In the distance, there was an explosion as the plastique on Omicron’s bike went off, while beneath the bridge another speedboat rocketed away, carrying both Omicron, her rescuers and their prize.
Meanwhile, Theta looked at Koppa. “Explosives rigged?”
Koppa nodded. “Going to be a shame seeing this place explode.”
“Going to be a bigger shame if we get caught,” the elder reminded the younger. A second later, a whistle sounded, and lights were being flashed on their location. “See? Now let’s get out of here ourselves.”
It was hours later, during the stark noontime summer sun, when television crews from around the world were on-scene at the “terrorist attack” on San Marco Square in beautiful historic Venice. The crime scene had been obvious: the century-old, one hundred meter-tall San Marco Campanile had been reduced to ruins. Granted, while it was a replica of the original that had collapsed in 1902, it was still considered an icon of the city and its destruction was considered nothing less than a complete shock. Furthermore, the damage had been done to cover up the theft of something important from the basilica’s archives. While the church was not reporting what was stolen, it had matched up with a similar break-in the month before at the nearby Chiesa di San Basso. What was stolen there was also not disclosed, but it was clear that given the two burglaries, the perpetrators had planned this well in advance.
Meanwhile, from across the street, two women watched from their lunch table at the Ristorante Quadri. The older one was in her thirties, while the younger one was clearly a teenager.
“My apologies, ladies,” the waiter said in thickly-accented but clear English, “but as you can see, the city is besieged by terrorists. We almost hadn’t opened today had the mayor insisted that we do so.”
“Is that so?” the younger girl said.
“Forgive my sister,” the elder one replied. “She’s somewhat brusque and doesn’t realize the damage that’s been done.”
The waiter looked sharply at the teen. “Young lady, the destruction of the tower is as great as the destruction of your towers in New York back then. We Venetians will not recover anytime soon, I can tell you that.”
She looked at the table. “My apologies, sir. I hadn’t meant to offend.”
The man smiled. “It is forgotten. This is still Italy after all, and we have your orders to attend to; to show Italian hospitality is to show the world that Venice is not afraid, if you ask me. Now, what would you like?”
After their orders had been placed and the waiter wandered off, the younger one looked at the older. “Okay, I did my act just to make you look good,” she snarled.
The older one rolled her eyes, then took a drag from a cigarette she lit. “Look, you did good, kid. We got what we needed as a result of the op, and I don’t look like a Philipine—”
“Philistine is the word you’re looking for,” the younger one sighed. “Look, Vesper, I get that classical stuff isn’t your thing, but it helps to be prepared for anything. Honestly, I didn’t know what the hell to expect either, so I researched as much as I could about Venice before we got here.”
At that point, the drinks arrived, and both became silent, save for thank yous to their waiter. Once he was gone, Vesper Midnight then looked at her apprentice, took a drink of her beer, then said, “Then you’d best start studying for our next mission, which will be your final test before we fully clear you for operations.”
The younger girl blinked. “You’re kidding. They really think that we’re ready?”
“Not really; you know how Cantata is. But me, Maddie and Mezzo think you are, and that’s what counts. As it is, Maddie and your study buddy already got there, and once Mezzo’s team is done with their mission, we’re headed to the test location.”
“Which is?”
Vesper reached into her purse, pulling out a tablet, then handing it over to the girl. “Canterlot, California. I want you to memorize what’s on there before we arrive Stateside, because I want to make sure that you’re safe. No going south like Clarinet’s group did.” At that, both sighed. To Vesper, Clarinet was an older sister, and one she loved. But to the younger ones, there were members of the now-dead Team Six that they’d idolized.
Meanwhile, the younger one’s face turned into a sneer. “I swear, if I ever find the SCARS that did it, I’m going to fucking slash their throats myself.”
“Save the energy for the next mission, girl – and watch your tongue; we don’t need people to think that we had anything to do with the whole thing, after all. In any case, we don’t have to report to Vicenza until Friday. Tell you what: tomorrow, let’s take a car and go sightseeing. I hear Milan’s a great place to shop.”
“Yeah, I guess. I could stand to take my mind off the crap. And here comes our waiter,” she said, watching as the man walked towards them.
As the waiter arrived, he asked, “Your food should be here in a few minutes, ladies. Is there anything more I could get you?”
Vesper looked at her nearly empty beer glass. “Another one of these would be nice,” she told him. She then looked to her younger sister. “What about you?”
The girl brushed purple and aquamarine hair out of her eyes. “Another Coke, if you don’t mind,” she told him with a smile.
Always on the Run does exist. Not as extensive as in the story, but I've been following it for at least a decade now.
The song itself is a pastiche of "Jane Says" by Jane's Addiction. Lyrics here.
Next week: You'll finally get to find out part of how the major subplot fits. 
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FIRST COMMENT!
PLEASE UPDATE MORE OFTEN!
THE FEELS JUST KEEP ON COMING!
I DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHY, BUT THIS IS HONESTLY ONE OF THE BEST STORIES I'VE READ!
WHY ARE WE SHOU... ting? Ahem.
And again with the terrorists, Shin! If I didn't know better, I'd think you had a fetish or something.
5588618
Things may not be what you think they are....
I pretty much figured Discord was giving money to Posey to help care for Fluttershy and Angel. I couldn't see Posey supporting them on her own after knowing they were still seeing each other. Now I'm just waiting for the moment Flutters runs into her daddy's arms... that Crowning Moment of Heartwarming...
The only thing I'm picking up on is Tavi possibly going crazy :D ...wait D:
Lol, can't wait for more!
hmmm could say it was worth the wait. I have a few ideas on the subplot, but I'm going to hold it in for now. Can't wait to see just how far off base I am on my guesses.
5588734
Feel free to PM me. I may not say whether you're right or wrong, but I am curious.
Mezzo(-soprano), Clarinet and Vesper(s) are all related to music, the theft of artifacts and Octavia is still having odd urges. Coincidence, or something more? Personally, I think the whole thing has to do with Sombra's mirror, La Musica and Baldassare di Cavalcanti.
Well, either that or I'm entirely on the wrong track.
Fluffybunny and Cuddlekitten? Those are the cutest names I've ever heard. On another note, the world's gonna regret going against Sunset Shimmer-Sparkle, former apprentice of Princess Celestia, former demoness and a badass older sister.
5588763 I'll probably put something up when I get a chance. Going out of town tomorrow so might be a day or so. Got a nice 6 hour drive tomorrow.
Why do I feel that stuff from Protection is going to end up playing a role in this?
Edit: Not to mention that more drama will be because of false assumptions, unknown unknowns, and unknown knowns?
5589457
Oh oh, is it badass title time? How about "Sunset Shimmer, Herald of the New Dawn". its symbolic aqnd means stuff becuase as she started a new life, she symbolicly hd a new day dawn in her life, and she was the one who worked at it to make it happen.
Also, Celestia kinda sent her back to Earth to kinda watch it so she kinda is Celestia's Herald as well. that is also symbolic and means stuff.
A chapter taking place on my birthday! Yay!
And it involves an international terrorist attack that caused dozens of deaths! Yay!
Oh man, next chapter is when the thing happens isn't it? Can't wait to see how folks react to that little revelation!
Apparently BlueBastard can tell the future.
5595969
[Don LaFontaine voice] In a world...where one ex-unicorn tries have a normal life...there will be...challenges.[/Don LaFontaine voice]
5595969
In a world where Sunset could turn into a corrupted demon, nuke the front of a school, and then nobody questions the "official" disclosed reason for the crater being nothing more than cruddy construction from a couple decades ago because magic?
Statham shows up driving a transforming Taxi in chapter 12 like he always does
5597335
Actually, I'll take partial blame on that: it's a reuse of a scene for an Utena fic I wrote over a decade ago; I never used it but kept it in my snippits folder just in case.
And having known more than a few SEALs during my time in the Navy, I know that ops of this nature tend to be quiet; it's only when they go wrong-sided that they get "exciting". So count this as me deliberately using the Hollywood Special Operations concept. And there's a reason for that. It won't be shown immediately, but you will see it. I'm just having fun with this part for a change; I'll keep the serious serious stuff in AAG.
And if you think this was over the top....
Hurray for updates!
5597146
I just Googled Statham, and I can safely say that I have never seen a single movie that he was in.
But still, that bit with the Taxi had to be better than the live action Transformers movies. ...it was better than the "useless human sidekick"-centric "Baysplosion-fest" that was the Transformers movies, right? RIGHT?!?
5597531
...then again, would it have been better if all this mess had been a "smoke screen", and the one actually carrying the "package" was shown simply blending in with the crowd?
It's Aria, isn't it? The "younger girl", Koppa, is Aria Blaze.
You did well Posey.
Oh, the irony!