Canterlot High Chronicles

by Shadowsnake89

Four Things, One Thing

Sunset sat on the couch of her modest apartment, having just spent a rather interesting day with her friends. She'd originally planned to spend it with her boyfriend, Microchips but he'd requested a rain check on their date on the claim that something important had come up. It wasn't a hard concept to understand since unexpected occurrences are a common thing. What struck her as suspicious was the fact that she'd spotted him during the day talking and joking at length with fellow classmate Paisley. Out of sight, she messaged him to ask where he was. He'd replied he was at a friends house helping them install a new computer.

While she contemplated how to handle the situation, her note book began to glow and vibrate on the table ahead of her. “Huh?” She roused herself from her thoughts and opened the book to read the message from Princess Twilight. The summarized letter explained how Ponyville had once again been the sight of some freak accident and they were trying to gather money for a long list of necessary repairs. To that end Twilight had hoped it would be possible to, despite the short notice, get some of the many bands from the school to spare a little time to help out with some performances.

“I'll get the word out and see who I can scrounge up.” Sunset wrote back before receiving a thanks from Twilight. “Time to make some calls.”

Later That Week

“So, concert thing in Equestria? Are you gonna be there?” Aria asked as she snuggled up next to Crimson Napalm on is living room couch as the two watched a movie.

“For sure,” Crimson said as he snacked on some popcorn. “And the best part is Cherry's been giving me guitar lessons so I'll actually be in the show instead of just doing the pyrotechnics.”

“Extra cool. Me, Adagio and Sonata are performing with the Rainbooms so if I were you I wouldn't get my hopes up about outperforming us.”

“I thought it was a charity event, not a competition.”

“It is. Still, when we perform we always blow them away.” The two shared a light laugh as they continued their movie. A few minutes later the doorbell sounded.

“I got it,” Napalm got up and headed toward the door. “Hey, pause it will you? It's almost at the best part.” He opened the door to see a familiar girl with blonde hair and a dark pink complexion with freckles on either cheek. “Taffy?”

“Hey Nap,” She said sheepishly, a slight blush in her cheeks. “It's been a while.”

“Ye-Yeah it has.” The rocker was so surprised to see the girl he could barely find words. “What-What are you doing here?”

She reached down to her side where Napalm noticed something on her left side, resting on the ground and covered with a blanket. “Well someone,” Taffy reached down and folded back the covering which revealed a gray skinned infant girl laying in a handled car seat. The girl unfastened the straps securing the baby and picked her up. “wanted their daddy to know she just turned a year old in person.”

“Is that...?” Once again, Napalm found himself speechless as he beheld the small being in front of him.

“Yep, little Therma Night .” She extended her arms and offered the baby to hold which the rocker quickly accepted. He cradled her in his arms as she attempted to reach back to her mother. “She doesn't know you yet but I'm hoping this weekend will change that.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, most of his attention focused on Therma.

“Well, my parents are out of town until Monday. I told them I'd spending the weekend with my girlfriends. Since I'm not a liar, that's what I'll be doing, but I never said Therma would.” The last sentence she said with a sly smile as Crimson responded with one of his own.

“I really did rub off on you didn't I?”

Taffy waved her hand in denial. “Oh please, I was sneaky and underhanded way before I met you.”

Napalm paused for a moment, realizing his earlier commitment. “Oh wait, I forgot I have this charity thing coming up this weekend and I'll be out of town.”

Taffy lowered her head slightly in disappointment. “I just thought you'd make some time for our little girl and all. I mean, it's not like you get to see her everyday or anything.”

“You know I didn't...wait a minute. You're trying to guilt trip me.”

Taffy looked up and gave a mischievous smirk. “Well yeah. Is it working?” Before he had a chance to answer, Aria walked up behind him.

“Hey babe, what's taking so long?” The siren froze in place as she spotted the other girl in the doorway and the baby in Napalm's arms. Her relaxed expression changed into an intense stare as she put two and two together. “What is this?”

Napalm began to look nervously between the two girls before he finally decided to speak. “Aria this is Taffy Shade. Taffy, Aria Blaze.”

Taffy made the first move and offered a friendly hand in order to diffuse what she knew was a tense situation. “It's a pleasure to meet you.”

Aria looked down at the outstretched hand in seeming disgust before pushing passed the two. “Aria, wait.” Crimson reached out and grabbed her by the wrist. She instinctively tensed up and would have whirled around and punched him any other time. The only thing preventing her from doing so was the baby in his other arm.

“Let. Go.” she said coldly as he realized his mistake and released her, letting her go on her way.

“I'm sorry,” Taffy apologized. “Maybe I shouldn't have dropped by like this.”

“It-It'll be fine. I just need to give her some space. Go and have yourself a good time. We'll be alright.”

“You're sure?” Napalm gave a confirming nod as his answer as she kissed Therma on the cheek which caused her to giggle. “You be good for daddy, okay?” She looked up at Napalm and leaned into him, stopping herself just short of his lips. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

Napalm watched as she got into her car and left, taking the baby and her bags for the weekend inside. Not long after, Therma began to cry in his arms. “Shh, shh,” He attempted to calm her as he rocked her back and forth before sitting down on the couch. “It's okay. It's okay. We're gonna be okay, right?”

Elsewhere

“On Air to Sweetie Drops. On Air to Sweetie Drops, do you copy?” Lemon Zest whispered over her walkie talkie.

“First off, I told you to never use my code name in public,” Bon Bon answered in an annoyed voice over the device. “And second, I'm right behind you!” Zest turned to see the other girl standing right where she said as the two sat on the Canterlot High field.

“Oh hey Bon. Since I'm guessing this isn't a social call, what did you call me here for exactly?”

“We've got ourselves a mission. Turns out Princess Twilight has invited a bunch of the students over to Equestria to take part in a charity performance. That guarantees us a good way to get some reckon done without drawing too much suspicion.”

“Oh right, so we can check out those strange anomalous signals.” Bon Bon blinked with a stunned silence. “Hey just because your briefings are boring as watching grass grow doesn't mean I don't listen.”

“Well it's nice that you got all that, because now we need to incorporate you into the act with Lyra and I.”

“Awesome, I just heard this really cra-cra-crazy song by Coloratura and I've been dying to sing it.” Lemon surprised grabbing her hands in hers. “Say it with me: We're gonna own this mission, but before that our performance is gonna blow them away.”

Caught up in the moment and surprisingly happy that Lemon Zest was taking a mission seriously for once, Bon Bon excitedly took part in her partner's chant. The two stopped as they heard someone clear their throat and they turned to see Lyra with an amused smirk. “Oh uh we were just getting ready.”

“We?” Lyra asked a bit puzzled.

“Oh yeah, Lemon Zest is gonna perform with us at the concert tomorrow.”

Lyra's smile seemed to fade a bit before she answered. “Oh...great. Hey Bon Bon, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

“If you'll excuse us,” the blue skinned girl said to Lemon Zest as she moved Bon Bon a distance away. “What's going on?”

“What are you talking about Lyra?”

“I know you and Lemon are friends, but why is she coming along?”

Bon Bon instantly grew defensive. “Why do you have a problem with it? You're the one who told me to branch out, meet new people.”

“Yeah, I did,” Lyra remained quiet for a moment. “Look, never mind. Sorry I brought it up.” The girl walked away a bit downtrodden.

“Lyra, come on. Don't be like that. It's just complicated, that's all.”

“How can it be complicated? I get that you work together at...wherever it is you work, but now you spend even more time outside of it with her. Just be honest with me.”

Bon Bon opened her mouth several times, wanting to give her an answer but each time no words seemed to form. She finally just lowered her head in defeat as Lyra rolled her eyes. “You'll still be at the concert, right?”

“Of course. I made a promise. Besides, Twilight's not the one I have a problem with.”

Meanwhile

At Sugarcube Corner, the group of eco-kids prepared for the big show in Equestria. “So what do you think we should open with?” Sweet Leaf asked as they sat at one of the corner tables.

“What about the song you were working on?” Paisley asked across from her.

“Oh, I don't know if everyone would like it.” the green haired girl said as she blushed out of nervousness.

“You're song is awesome.” Starlight declared.

“Yeah, everybody will love it.” said Sandalwood.

“You shouldn't doubt yourself.” A voice came from a nearby table as the group turned to see Captain Planet in a trench coat with a fake beard and sunglasses.

The others traded glances before they came to an agreement and Starlight decided to speak up. “Dude, you realize you can't just hide from Blueberry Cake, right?”

“I know. It's just that she's kind of suffocating me. I love her, I really do, but she's into all this fancy stuff. Going to art galleries and fancy restaurants, dressing me up in these expensive clothes. It's just not my thing.”

“Why don't you tell her instead of, you know, hiding?”

“It's a little hard to get in a word edgewise when I...”

“There you are.” Blueberry said as she walked into the shop and walked over to Cap. She looked over his failed disguise. “You're not going to wear that to dinner are you?”

“Dinner?”

“Remember, the dinner with my parents and all their friends tomorrow night?”

“Oh man, that was this week? I totally forgot. We got this thing to go to for Princess Twilight tomorrow too and...” He was quickly cut off as Blueberry responded.

“So you're going to blow off the dinner that I've planned for weeks to go galavanting around horse land with your friends? Uh-uh. I've put too much work into this for you to mess things up. You'd better show up tomorrow night with that suit I bought you and you'd better be on time.” She turned and began to walk to the door.

“Um, nnn...no.” Caps response caused Blueberry to freeze in place before turning her head to glare at him.

“What did you just say?”

“No?” The young man shrunk back in his seat as he repeated his refusal to comply.

“You...you can't say that to me. I'm your girlfriend!”

“I know, but...the thing is...you're...” He turned slightly to his friends who gave him encouraging nods to finish his sentence. “a little bossy.” The statement caused her to gasp in shock as he continued. “And I don't really feel comfortable with all these expensive clothes and fancy dinners. I'm a simple guy who enjoys the simple things in life. I'm sorry that I forgot the dinner, but what we're doing is for a good cause. I'm sure you can understand.”

Cap lifted himself from his seat and approached her to offer an apologetic hug. Blueberry turned away, her arms folded across her chest. He gradually moved back before quietly leaving the restaurant. His friends slowly skirted around her before swiftly darting to the exit as well. Starlight came back a second later and guzzled down the rest of her drink. “Hot, hot, hot.” she muttered as she ran back out, frantically fanning her tongue.

Equestria (The Next Day)

“Welcome everypony, and thank you all for taking time to help us raise money for this worthy cause.” Princess Twilight addressed the large group of student musicians in their pony forms as they stood in front of the alicorn's castle. She soon directed the groups to an area where they could prepare themselves for the show later that evening.

The Dazzlings, in their pony forms, prepared with some vocal warm ups per usual. All the while, Aria Blaze's eyes drifted toward Crimson Napalm's group, who had brought his infant daughter along in her car seat. “You should just talk to him.” Adagio stated simply as Aria turned to face her.

“There's nothing to talk about.” she said dismissively as they got back to practicing.

“Get'cha, get'cha, get'cha, got'cha.” the pegasus Cherry Crash said happily as she amused the now unicorn Therma by tickling the baby's tummy. She decided to address Napalm as she watched him shoot a short glance over to where Aria and her sisters were warming up. “I told you she was going to leave you if she ever found this out on her own.”

“Wait,” the unicorn Mystery Mint interrupted. “so this is why Taffy left CHS? You told me she just decided to trade up to better friends.”

“Hey, she made me promise not to tell anyone else.” Cherry defended.

“I gave her the stink eye the entire Friendship Games! Now I just look like a jerk.”

“As opposed to what? Boom!” Thunderbass joked as he and Valhallen hoof bumped.

“Uh-huh,” Cherry continued. “And who is this by the way?” She pointed to a cream colored unicorn with a red and purple mane and tail.

“You remember my cousin Moondancer.” Napalm responded. “She's gonna watch Therma while we perform.”

“And the reason she couldn't do that in our world?”

“I told Taffy I'd spend some time with the baby.”

“And as if I was going to miss out on traveling to another dimension.” Moondancer answered as she sat writing in a notebook. “That and it's good fuel for my latest story. A world inhabited by talking ponies that use magic. You can't make this stuff up.”

Meanwhile Sunset was helping the other Rainbooms set up their instruments. Finishing up, she noticed Microchips conversing with Flash Sentry a short distance away. “Sunset, hey Sunset!” She snapped herself out of her thoughts as she turned to Rainbow Dash. “I said are you ready to start?”

“Why don't you girls start without me. I've got something I want to check on.” The unicorn made sure to be quiet as she stealthily approached the two. As she got closer she was able to listen in on their conversation whilst remaining hidden in a nearby bush.

“...so Sunset can't know anything about this, alright?” Sunset heard Microchips utter just as she came into range.

“Got it.” Flash said as Micro hurried off.

“Hey Flash.” Sunset spoke as she came into sight, surprising the pegasus.

“Oh Sunset, didn't see you coming,” he said with a bit of nervousness. “I thought you and the others would be getting ready.”

“Their setting up as we speak. I just wanted to talk for a bit.”

“Sure.” The two stood in silence for a few moments before Sunset cleared her throat and got to the point.

“Sooo, what were you and Micro talking about?” Her question solicited an even more nervous reaction from Flash. “Come on Flash, spill it. I want to know what's going on and I know you know.”

“Listen Sunset, I promised I wouldn't say anything.” Flash began to cautiously back up as Sunset attempted to close the distance between them.

“You know I could find out everything just by touching you, right?” Her horned glowed as she levitated him in the air.

“But you wouldn't do that.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you've changed and you'd never intrude on someone's privacy like the old you.” Flash gave a cunning smile as Sunset conceded defeat.

“Well played Flash.” The two parted ways as Sunset continued to look for answers to this mystery.

Across the field Bon Bon was getting her act in order with Lyra and the now earth pony Lemon Zest. “Hey, could you pass me those music sheets, Lyra?”

The cerulean unicorn turned her nose up to her friend. “Why don't you ask your new best friend?” she said as she walked off in a huff.

“Did I mess things up with you girls?” Lemon asked. “Because I can stay out of the performance. I don't want to ruin your friendship.”

“No, it'll be fine. I just hope she doesn't get the idea that I'm ditching her to hang out with you. I'll have to explain to her somehow without saying 'Guess what? I'm a secret agent'. For now let's just get things set up and then we can get to work searching for those anomalies.”

“You got it captain.”

Canterlot (Human World)

At Blueberry Cakes home her guests had all arrived some time ago and the dinner was well underway. “I must say this meal is exquisite.” One of the guests complimented.

“Thank you, Blueberry here deserves all the credit,” the girl's mother said. “She's a culinary genius.”

“Mother, please. You're embarrassing me.” The girl stopped to take notice of the empty chair that was reserved for Cap.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about young lady. You have a remarkable talent.”

“Thank you Fancypants, sir.”

“I do wish we could have met this delightful young chap we've all heard so much about.”

“Yes...well, he had an important commitment to a friend he just couldn't put aside. No matter what.” the last portion she said under her breath.

“Loyalty, a very admirable quality if I do say so myself. And if I may, you are a very lucky young woman to come across such a fellow as this Mr. Planet.”

Blueberry found herself speechless for a moment before regaining her composure. “I suppose I am. Thank you.” She looked down at her plate then over to her parents. “Father, mother. Could I see you in the kitchen?”

“Of course.” her father said as the three excused themselves and went behind the closed doors of the kitchen.

“I-I'm...The thing is...I need to...” The girl seemed to struggle to find her words before her parents spoke up.

“Go on sweetie, go find him.” her mother said.

“Really?” Her parents both gave a gentle nod as she dove in and gave them a tight hug. “Thank you. I love you so much. I'll be back before...”

“Take all the time you need. You can't rush love you know.” Her father said as he wrapped an arm around her mother.

As Blueberry raced toward Canterlot High, Cap himself was a bit down in the dumps himself, the members of his band and of Thunderstruck attempted to cheer him up. “We have to apologize,” Paisley said as she sat on his right side. “We should have just minded our own business.”

Cap shook his head in refusal. “Nah, you guys were right. Love's a two way street but the way me and Blue had it, just couldn't go on like that.”

“I hear you man,” Napalm said as he sat on the other side of him. “Guess today's not the day for successful relationships.”

As the group continued to console Cap, Moondancer raced toward them, stammering out incoherent babble. “Slow down.” Napalm said as he looked around her. “Where's Therma?” She chuckled nervously at his question before she cleared her throat to explain. “My baby!” Napalm's scream alerted all around and soon Princess Twilight had formed a large search party from the bands as well as the town's residents.

“Alright, so tell us exactly what happened.” Twilight inquired of the human turned unicorn as Moondancer collected herself.

“I sitting on a bench with her and she spotted this little blue lizard thing by the edge of the forest. She kept trying to go for it so I had to hold her back then there was this bright flash of light and she was gone.”

“Did you hear that?” Microchips whispered to Paisley who gave a nod as Sunset overheard them before turning her attention back to the Princess.

“Right, baby unicorn.” Twilight frowned, knowing full well how uncontrollable and unpredictable dealing with a baby unicorn could be. Before she could give further instructions, Lemon Zest took center stage.

“Okay everypony, that's the Everfree Forest. We'll need to form groups and spread out. Every group needs a unicorn or pegasus that can help report their location if they find the baby or get too far in. Everypony else will wait here in case further assistance is needed or the baby turns up outside the forest. Now, let's move out.”

“I have to say, I didn't know you had it in you.” Bon Bon complimented the Crystal Prep student's skills.

“Eh, I was in the ROTC program.” The groups split up and ventured into the forest to search for the child.

Therma herself had made it into the thick of the wooded area, waddling right behind the small, blue scaled, white winged dragon as it stayed just out of her reach. Her horn glowed slightly as she teleported again and landed on it's back. It didn't seem to mind as it carried her for a short time. A short distance away, the bushes rustled as a large manticore leapt out and roared at it's potential prey. It charged toward the two before it was tackled away by Aria Blaze in her siren form.

“Get her out of here!” the purple siren ordered Moondancer who snatched the baby up, tossing her on her back as the dragon hopped on as well. The manticore rushed forward and tackled Aria as the two disappeared into the brush, the loud sound of there encounter echoing through the forest.

“This way! Come on!” Paisley shouted as she hovered in the air and led her group in the direction of what was happening. They reached Aria who at this point was being tossed around by her opponent.

“Hey dude, over here!” Starlight shouted as she pelted the creature with stones she kicked in his direction. The other eco kids did the same as they got his attention off the siren as it rushed toward them. “Was there a plan after this?”

“Honestly, I was hoping you had something.” Sandalwood said as the creature charged them only to be kicked away by a blue blur and sent crashing into a row of trees. The group was surprised as the figure stood still in the center of the clearing.

“Cake?” Cap said in shock and confusion as his thought ex-girlfriend rushed over to him and wrapped him in a hug. “What are you doing here?”

“And how did you manage that?” Sweet Leaf asked as she looked at her handy work.

“You were right,” Blueberry opened. “I was being a little...okay very pushy and overly controlling and that was wrong of me. I shouldn't have went off like that. There are always dinner parties and things like that and more importantly it doesn't matter what you decide to wear. Just as long as we're together.”

“Uh, great,” Cap said as he paused to take in all. “And maybe I should try harder to remember when you plan something important.”

“You were helping a friend. It's what you do.”

“Guys, that thing's getting back up!” Paisley pointed out as the manticore got it's bearings. It was stopped yet again by a cloud of smoke as Bon Bon and Lemon Zest showed up.

“Nice use of smoke bombs.” Zest applauded.

“Got them from Trixie. Girl knows her smoke bombs.” Bon Bon stated as she wielded a rope with a grappling hook at the end. She hurled the grapple at the beast that ensnared it by the tail. The already angered creature charged forward as she sidestepped it and ran in the opposite direction. Unknown to the manticore, the rope had also wrapped it's hind legs as the pony ran passed it which caused him to fall to the ground.

“Clumsy fella isn't he?” Lemon laughed before the creature stretched out it's bat-like wings and took to the air, pulling Bon Bon off the ground as Lemon and the eco team rushed to help her. They all tugged on the rope to keep their friend grounded but found it a bit pointless as the hulking creature lifted them all into the air and flew frantically before slamming them all into a tree. He circled back around and prepared to attack again only to be hit in the head by a blast of yellow energy as Lyra rushed into the clearing with Twilight and a large group of others.

“Leave my friends alone!” she shouted as the creature halted the attack, finding himself outnumbered by the arrival of more ponies. With the added fact that Aria had gotten back to her hooves, the manticore turned tail and fled the area. “Are you alright?” Lyra ran over and helped both Bon Bon and Lemon Zest up as the others were aided as well.

“I'll live.” Bon Bon said as she shook herself off.

“Aria, are you okay?” Sonata cried as Adagio followed behind her.

“I'm fine.” the purple siren said nonchalantly as she addressed some of her bruises.

“I told you not to go off on your own.” scolded Adagio as she crossed her forelimbs.

“Yeah, yeah.”

Aria turned to see Napalm with Therma seated on his back. “Aria, listen. I wanted to thank you for saving my little girl and...”

“Don't worry about it.” Aria cut him off before leaving, her sisters hesitant though they eventually followed. Napalm stood crestfallen as his cousin placed a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.

The large group headed back to Ponyville and the evening's performance went off without another hitch. Afterward everyone congregated for refreshments and some socializing. “Hey, Micro,” Sunset called as the techie talked with Paisley. The orange haired unicorn had a despondent look on her face as she looked at the two. “I...I just wanted to say I'm sorry if things didn't work out between us. But I really hope you two will be happy.”

Micro and Paisley merely looked at each other before bursting out into laughter. “Oh boy, that was a good one Sunset.” Paisley said as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Do you want to tell her?”

“I think I'll let her do the honors.” Micro took Sunsets hoof and placed it on her chest as her newly acquired mind reading powers activated. A few seconds later she took a step back and Micro gestured to Paisley to open large bag at her side, revealing the small blue dragon that Therma had pursued earlier.

“So that's...” Sunset said as she stared down at the creature.

“This is Dim Sum. Sorry I had to lie, but I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Micro asked me to help him pick out the perfect pup for you. Unfortunately things got a little complicated.” Paisley explained.

“I was going to surprise you at the show but I guess I should have figured if Spike is a dog in our world, Dim Sum is a dragon here. She got away from us for a bit till we found her with the baby. So, what I guess I'm saying is, happy birthday Sunset.”

The unicorn was almost speechless as she held up the small creature and rubbed it against her face. “Thanks Micro, and sorry for suspecting something like that from you.” Dim Sum accidentally burped releasing a small torrent of flame as the three ducked beneath it. “Okay, maybe we should hold off on the cuddling till we get home.”

After all the festivities had concluded the bands gathered their equipment, said their goodbyes and headed through the portal. “Okay, so I'll make sure to save the date for the dinner party on the twenty-third.” Captain Planet said as he and Blueberry walked side by side.

“And I'll be sure to make myself available for adoption day at the shelter. You know I think this communication thing is really going to do wonders for us.”

“Well that was certainly an eventful evening.” Zest said a short distance away as she helped Bon Bon move their gear into her car.

“Yeah, I just wish we could have found out what was causing those fluctuations.”

“Actually I have a pretty good guess as to what.” Zest pointed toward the statue where the two Pinkie Pies were jumping back and forth from either side.

The two-tone haired girl turned to Rarity as she passed them. “Does she do that a lot?”

“You have no idea, darling.”

“Maybe we'll leave that out of the report.”

“Hey,” Lyra called as she approached them, turning to address Lemon Zest. “I uh...I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. There's no excuse for it and I'm sorry. It's just that me and Bon Bon have been best friends for so long I guess I can get a little jealous sometimes.”

“Hey, it's all cool dude.” Zest held out her fist as the two bumped knuckles.

“I just wish Bon Bon had explained things to me earlier. Would have made things a lot less awkward.” Lemon was surprised as the girl placed a hand on her shoulder. “So...Bonnie means a lot to me and I hope you'll take good care of her. Make her happy, or I will find you.” She said the last sentence with a large smile before she embraced the two in a hug before walking off.

Lemon stood in silence for a moment before turning to Bon Bon. “What did you tell her?!”

“I had to come up with something. I couldn't blow our cover.” the other girl defended, a nervous smile on her face.

“And you had to tell her...that?!”

“I'll think of something else, just give me some time.”

Lemon pouted as she finished loading the car. “Fine, but if anyone asks, I wear the pants in the relationship.”

“Ugh, fine.”

The Next Day

It was midday at Sweet Apple Acres when a knock sounded on the farmhouse's front door. Applebloom popped her head out of the window, a water balloon in hand. “Aria said she didn't...” She stopped as she saw a young woman with blonde hair and freckles holding a baby in her arms.

“My name's Taffy Shade and I come in peace,” she said with a warm smile. “You wouldn't hit a lady with a baby, would you?”

“Oh, sorry. Thought you were someone else.”

“Yeah, well that someone apparently needs me to mediate a certain situation before it spirals any further.” Applebloom slumped her head to the side in an attempt to piece together what Taffy meant. “Soooo...is Ms. Blaze at home?”

“Yeah, she's in the barn, hittin' the heavy bag.”

“She boxes. Great.” Taffy sarcastically said as a bead of sweat rolled down her face. She proceeded around to the barn where the sounds of a the pounded bag grew louder as she approached. She peered in through a slight crack in the barn as she spotted Aria wailing on the sand filled object hanging from the ceiling. Taffy closed her eyes, as if giving a silent prayer before opening the door wider and knocking to get the other girl's attention.

“May I come in?”

“It's a free country.” Aria answered as she decided to take a break and removed her gloves before taking a swig from her water bottle.

“I just wanted to thank you and see if we could talk all of this out.”

“Not sure there's anything to talk about.”

“I know how you must feel, but believe me. Napalm didn't cheat on you.”

“Oh, I know that. I may not know how a lot of things work but I know the time frame for a baby and me and Napalm have only been dating a few months.”

“Then what?”

“Thing is, I have some issues with abandonment. My point is: How can he have a baby with you and still want to be with someone else?”

Taffy chuckled and took a seat on a nearby crate before answering. “You think that's what this is? It's so much more...complicated. Have a seat, this may take a minute.” The blonde girl took in a deep breath before she proceeded. “Napalm and I met in our freshmen year at Canterlot High. At the time I wasn't really looking for anyone special, just focused on my studies. Cherry introduced us and we hit it off to say the least. I'd never met anyone like him. He tried to be cool and standoffish but I could see right through him.”

“At first we both thought it was just a temporary fling but the more time we spent together the more we couldn't imagine being apart. One thing led to another and before you know it, I find out there's this little thing living inside me.” Taffy lowered her head and kissed Therma on the cheek which caused her to release a light giggle. “That's when I thought it was over because when you tell most guys they're going to be a father, their family moves in the middle of the night to some town in the middle of nowhere that you didn't even know existed.”

“But he didn't.” Aria commented.

“I thought he would freak out. But you know what he said?” Aria sat as she waited for the answer. “He just smiled at me and said, 'We're going to be parents!'. We were both excited, that is until I had to tell my parents. They weren't too happy that I decided to go to Canterlot High instead of Crystal Prep in the first place and me having a baby didn't win me any points either. They took some time and decided they wanted to meet this guy who, to quote them, 'ruined our daughter's future'.”

“So we had a little dinner and they had a private conversation with him and I thought things went well.” Taffy's expression and tone changed to a more somber mood. “Wasn't until after that they suggested that I break things off with him. They didn't think someone like Napalm could provide for me or their grandchild, so they made me a deal. I drop him like a bad habit and go to Crystal Prep like they wanted and they'd help me support the baby, or I don't and it'd just be me, him, the baby and a laundry list of expenses.”

Aria was at a loss for words as Taffy continued. “I told Napalm the next day and I swear, we just sat down and cried for who knows how long. With me going to Crystal Prep there weren't going to be many chances for us to see each other, and I couldn't ask him to wait for me. What if we met someone else? He did anyway.”

“But you still love him?” Aria managed to muster.

“Of course. I never stopped loving him. But he's got you now and I won't get in the way of what you two have. I do think he deserves to see his daughter and for Therma to get to know who her real father is, not whoever my parents try to stick me with at their next garden party.”

Aria sat back and gave a humorous grin. “Got a thing for musicians, a bit of a mischief maker and flips the bird at authority figures. I think you and me are going to get along just fine.”

A while later and Napalm entered the barn, soaking wet from Applebloom's water balloon welcome. The scene inside was far from what he'd expected as the two girls sat side by side, the baby between them, laughing like old friends. “And there he was on the roof of the house, in the middle of the night, crooning!” Aria said as Taffy fought back tears in her eyes.

“That sounds like him alright. Hey, does he still eat chicken the same way?”

“Cuts it up and puts barbeque sauce on the side of the plate? Yeah. I mean what is he, six?”

“Well nice to know you haven't killed each other.” Napalm said as he walked over.

“Hey.” Aria said simply as she got up and kissed him. “We're just getting to know each other a little better.”

“I think we've made some progress from our rocky start, right Therma?” Taffy said as the infant reached for Napalm as she tried to balance herself to walk. Crimson picked her as she laughed. The two girls stood on either side of him, each placing an arm on his shoulder.

“Just to be sure this isn't gonna get weird is it? Like a two wives type deal?”

“Heck no!” Aria said.

“I should hope not.” Taffy joined in Aria's earlier sentiment.

“Okay, as long as we're on the same page.”