> What you asked for > by HeartShieldFiM > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Fluttershy > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The little pink pony sat down on the chair her friend had pointed at. She looked up and smiled a sad smile, trying to cheer herself up by looking at the grin of the giant dragon-like being. He smiled back and stroke her fluffy mane. 'You don't have to tell me if you don't want to,' he said, as he saw the sad look on his friend's face. The pink pony shook her head. 'You asked for this,' she said. 'I'm fine with telling you.' 'Pinkie!' a voice suddenly said. The two ponies turned around to see a third, yellow pony standing in the doorway of Sugarcube Corner. The yellow pony immediately bow down her head and blushed. 'I-I'm sorry,' she muttered. 'I didn't mean to interrupt you...' 'No, no,' Pinkie said. 'We're... it's no problem.' Fluttershy was still surprised how Pinkie's giant friend fitted into the tiny pastry-cook-shop. Of course, he had to bow if he stepped through the door, and he didn't even could go up the stairs without breaking anything, but still. Discord wasn't a great fan of body-bending. Well, not with his own body. He totally enjoyed bending other ponies, and Pinkie Pie was the only pony enjoying it as well. Once, he painted her white and yellow and gave her wings. It took about five minutes for Pinkie to find out how to use them and by then, she was a more skilled flyer than Rainbow Dash. Sadly, the effect wore off after a day. 'Were you talking about something I shouldn't know?' Fluttershy asked. Discord shook his head. 'No, not at all,' he said. 'Shall I pour you some tea?' 'Yes please,' the yellow pony said, and smiled shyly. Discord snapped his fingers and a cute tea pot appeared. It walked over the small wooden table, and started leaking tea. 'No, no...' the draconequus muttered. 'Over hére.' Three tea cups spawned next to the tea pot. The tea pot seemed to look up, noticed the cups and, without spilling a single drop, served everypony some tea. Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves in surprise. 'I thought you didn't use magic anymore?' she asked. Discord sighed. 'Princess Celestia told me not to use my magic for BAD, remember? How could a cup of tea be bad?' Fluttershy sniffed at the tea. 'Hmm, what kind of tea is this, Discord?' 'My own... brew...' the draconequus said. 'I uh...' Pinkie took a sip of her tea. 'Oh, this is... wow.' 'Delicious?' Discord asked. 'More than delicious!' Fluttershy said, way louder than she meant. She immediately covered her mouth with a napkin. 'Thought so,' the draconequus muttered, and smiled sadly. Pinkie looked at him. 'What's up, Discord?' she asked, concerned about her oversized best friend. Discord shook his head. 'It's... well, nopony ever liked the things I did,' he said. 'Except for Pinkie with the chocolate rain,' Fluttershy said softly. 'Except for Pinkie, indeed,' the draconequus repeated. 'But... now I conjured some delicious tea and here, actually TWO ponies are enjoying it!' Pinkie grabbed her friend's lion claw and held it. 'It's alright,' she said. 'The other ponies will start liking your magic too, I'm sure!' 'Really?' Discord asked. 'Really,' Pinkie said, and even Fluttershy nodded. 'You are just too kind,' the giant dragon-like pony muttered. For a while, the three ponies sat around the pink table, sipping their tea and wandering in their own thoughts. Then Fluttershy said, 'I don't want to sound impolite, but may I ask what you were talking about when I stormed in?' 'That's not impolite, Fluttershy,' Discord said, stretching his wings. 'Maybe a bit discourteous, but not impolite.' 'Isn't that the same?' Pinkie asked, but then shrugged. 'Discord asked me how I ended up on the rock farm, and why I didn't look like my sisters at all. I thought it was about time to tell him the truth.' Fluttershy tilted her head. 'The truth? You mean, the... thing... with the Rainboom?' The pink mare shook her head. 'No. The truth I have kept for myself all these years.' 'There's another story?' her friend Fluttershy asked surprised. Pinkie finally let go of Discord's hand and nodded. 'You'll find out,' she said. 'I'll tell you both. I promise.' Fluttershy looked at Pinkie and felt a bit worried. The last time she saw her friend like this, she had to work at the Apple farm with no memories of partying or fun at all. 'If uh... if it'd make you feel better, I can tell you a story of my past... if you want...' the Pegasus offered, in hope that it would make it easier for Pinkie Pie to tell about her life on the Pie rock farm. The cotton candy pony shrugged again and said, 'Sure, if you want to... go 'head.' Fluttershy smiled, happy that she could do something for her friend, and started. 'Y'know, when I was a filly, I was very shy,' she said. Pinkie rolled her eyes. 'Lemmeguess, and a very weak flyer?' Fluttershy clapped her hooves. 'Hooray, you remembered!' she said. 'Yeah, I was horrible at flying. This isn't my cutie mark story, by the way. I guess you already know that one. This is about my high school experiences. When I was a filly, Rainbow Dash accidentally pushed me over the egde of a cloud while defending my honour. And she did, because she did an amazing Sonic Rainboom and she won the race, but that's not the story I'm telling you...' 'Is this a sad story?' Discord asked, interrupting Fluttershy. 'Because I'm not really the one for sad stories, you know.' 'Well, too bad for you,' Pinkie Pie replied. 'My story sucks.' Fluttershy blushed. 'Maybe... a little bit... Y'know... after I learned about the ground, I didn't want to go back to Cloudsdale. My parents then decided to send me to live with my aunt and my cousin, Cloud Breaker, who lived on the ground. They both were very nice to me, especially Cloud. But sadly, she didn't go to the same school as me. Since I couldn't really... fly, you know, I had to go to another school. Not one in Cloudsdale, one in Canterlot...' '...You were raised in Canterlot?' Pinkie asked surprised. Fluttershy smiled and nodded. 'I indeed am from Canterlot,' she said, in a way too fancy tone. Discord frowned and said, 'I remember a Pegasus with pink hair walking through the Royal Statue Garden about twice a week. Could've been you.' 'Oh, I'm sure it was me,' Fluttershy replied. 'Accompanied by my niece, I have strolled through that garden for hours and hours. It was so... quiet and peaceful. No racing, no shouting, just statues and nature.' 'Why, yes. The peace and harmony was sickening, wasn't it?' Discord jokingly said. Fluttershy and Pinkie giggled. 'Please, continue,' the pink pony said, and so did Fluttershy. 'With Cloud Breaker at my side, I was a lot more outgoing. Sometimes, I even enjoyed having conversations in groups!' Fluttershy said, glowing with pride. 'But then, after a while of getting usedto my surroundings, I had to go to school. So aunt Thunder Cloud sent me to Canterlot's Magic School.' 'Magic school?' Pinkie asked. 'But you're a Pegasus!' Her friend smiled. 'Yeah, about half of the ponies at school were not a unicorn,' she said. 'It was fine. Unicorns got extra classes, and this meant I had a lot less school than I used to have up in Cloudsdale.' 'Is that good or bad?' Discord asked. Fluttershy sighed. 'It was good. I... I mean... I kinda got bullied at school. Well, no. Not kinda. They were chasing me all the time, casting spells on me so I'd grow an extra pair of wings or made my coat turn blue... it was horrible...' Pinkie wrapped an arm around her friend. 'Hay, it's okay...' she said. Fluttershy shook her head. 'No, it was... it wasn't, okay? I dunno why I was the laughing stock. Maybe because I am so shy...' '...Or because you're kind?' Discord said. Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. 'Yeah, the kindest ponies are mostly the ones who are getting picked on.' Her yellow friend looked up. 'Really?' she said. 'Oh, yes,' the draconequus replied. 'The nicer you are, the easier you are to bully. According to your stories, you were veeeery nice back then. You still are, by the way.' 'Thanks,' Fluttershy whispered, and smiled again. 'Well, about then, I met Angel.' 'How?' Pinkie Pie asked. Discord curled a strand of Pinkie's hair around his finger and pulled a little bit to hard. Pinkie frowned and Discord quickly let go of her hair. Fluttershy didn't seem to notice it and told the ponies about her meeting with Angel. 'I was wandering around the Statue Garden again, but without Cloud Breaker this time. She was at school at that moment, if I remember correctly...' Fluttershy squinted and thought for a moment. Pinkie used that moment for pulling at one of Discord's ears as a revenge. Then, the pale yellow pony resumed her story. 'Yeah, and then I saw this giant hawk flying over. I was stunned, because nature is such a wonderful thing. I couldn't keep my eyes off this huge bird and then... it dove down, into the bushes. I kept looking at those bushes in case he'd come out again, but then I saw this very tiny white bunny hopping out of the green. He looked very... scared, I think. The hawk got out of the bushes and was holding a larger bunny in his claws. It was a horrible sight. The bunny, of course, was dead, and the hawk would probably feed its babies with it.' What Fluttershy didn't tell, was how sick she felt when she saw the poor, brown rabbit looking down for the last time, its eyes half opened, probably knowing what would happen. She felt sorry for the rabbit, but it's just the way Mother Nature works. 'That wasn't Angel, right?' Pinkie Pie asked. 'Oh, no,' Fluttershy quickly said. 'It was his mother.' Pinkie's eyes widened and even Discord looked a bit stunned. 'Woah, what happened then?' the pink pony asked, eager to hear the end of the story. Fluttershy looked at her tea cup, which still was half full. 'Well, the tiny bunny looked at his mother, hanging dead in the claws of a giant monstrous... oh, it must've been traumatizing for him!' 'So that's why he is such a plothole all the time,' Discord said, more to himself than to the other ponies. 'Oh, he's actually really nice, if you get to know him,' the Pegasus quickly replied. 'I decided he should live with me, since his mother had died. Poor Angel, his family was killed right before his eyes...' Pinkie was astonished. 'I... I didn't even know that...' she said. 'Poor Angel indeed, how did he like living with you in the beginning?' 'He was mad at me about everything,' Fluttershy said. 'I think he kind of blamed me for staring at the bird, instead of scaring it away.' Discord snapped his fingers and a nice, orange-iced cupcake appeared. It had a marzipan carrot on top. 'Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and I have been baking carrot cakes today. Would you please take one home for your Angel-bunny?' Fluttershy smiled. 'I sure will,' she said. 'That is so kind of you, to think about poor little Angel!' Discord rolled his eyes. 'Erm, thanks,' he said. Suddenly, Fluttershy jumped up from her chair. 'Oh, dear Celestia!' she said. 'Look at the time! I have to go home and feed Angel, how could I forget?' Before Pinkie and Discord could say goodbye, Fluttershy had fluttered out of the store, with a wonderful and delicious carrot cupcake. Pinkie patted Discord's lion hand. 'You're really starting to blend in here,' she said. 'Sorta. I think we should... make the ceiling a bit higher. Just for you.' 'Nah,' the draconequus replied, and snapped his fingers. He immediately shrunk to half his size and smiled. 'I think I'm fine this way.' 'Come on, silly,' Pinkie said. 'We need to clean up the kitchen before the Cakes get back home.' As they walked to the kitchen, Discord asked, 'So when are you gonna tell me your life story?' His friend shrugged. 'When I think the time is right, Discord. Soon enough.' > Rarity > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Again, Pinkie Pie and Discord were alone. 'Let me do this,' the draconequus said, as he looked at the mess in the kitchen and the shop. He snapped his fingers and the cuterly started dancing around the room. Pinkie wasn't surprised to see that they cleaned up the mess themselves, and clapped her hooves in enthusiasm. 'Oh, Discord! This is amazing!' Discord nodded and felt a little bit proud. 'Hm, I guess using my powers for good isn't that horrible after all.' 'I am glad to hear that,' his pink pony friend replied, carefully avoiding the dancing spoons and knives. 'Please make sure they don't ruin this kitchen...' Discord snapped his fingers again and the tools all dropped on the floor. He then lifted them up with magic and carefully put them in the kitchen drawers. 'Done,' he said. The kitchen was all sparkly clean, Pinkie never could have done this on her own. 'Did you know... that story about Angel?' the draconequus asked after a moment of silence. Pinkie Pie shook her head. 'I thought Angel was just one of the many animals who live in Fluttershy's house,' she replied. 'I had no idea Angel was an orphan...' She looked at her hooves. 'What's up?' Discord asked, and stroke her fluffy mane. 'C'mon, I don't like to see you sad.' His friend shook her head. 'Nah, I'm fine,' she said. 'Watcha wanna do?' At that moment, the bell above the door rang. Pinkie turned around and put on a smile. 'Hello and welcome at Sugarcube Corner!' she said. 'How can I be of... oh, hey Rarity!' The white unicorn took a bow and said, 'Well, hello there, Pinkie Pie, Discord.' Pinkie hopped from behind the counter. 'What brings you here?' she asked. 'I thought, why won't I pay a visit to my two favourite pastry-cooks?' Discord smiled. 'Well, have a seat, Mrs. Rarity,' he said, and poofed a chair. Rarity sat down on the chair, which immediately started to move. 'What's happening?' she shouted, panicking. 'Relax, he just walks over to a table,' Discord replied. It was true, as soon as the wooden chair had reached one of the bright pink tables, it stopped walking. The unicorn sighed and said, 'Please, never scare me again.' 'Sorry,' Discord said. 'Want some tea?' Without waiting for an answer, he poured Rarity some tea. The pony hesitated but then took a sip of the black liquid. 'Hm,' she then said. 'What's this?' 'It's my own, favourite blend,' Discord replied. 'Everypony likes it.' Rarity smacked her lips. 'It kinda tastes like... cinnamon, I believe,' she said. The draconequus pony shrugged. 'Could be,' he said. A short while later, Rarity was busy telling hér own story. Neither Pinkie or Discord was surprised, since Rarity liked talking about herself. 'Well, I haven't told this to many ponies, but my parents aren't that wealthy at all,' she started. 'In fact, they were, like, the poorest ponies Baltimare knew. Really.' 'And you're telling us because..?' Discord asked, but Pinkie covered his mouth with her hoof. 'Shh!' she said. 'I wanna hear this!' Discord rolled his eyes in silence, but then payed attention to Rarity again. 'Well, that was until I was born. Even as a filly, I had a great sense of style,' she said. 'Before I could walk or talk, I already refused wearing anything that was not fashionable.' Discord chuckled. 'Oh my, how is that even possible?' 'How are you even possible?' Rarity quickly responded. The draconequus thought for a moment, wiggled his ears, wagged his tail, flapped his wings, and then shrugged. 'Dunno.' Rarity gave him a "told-you"-look, and then continued talking. '...And when I was four years old, Sweetie was born,' Rarity said, about an hour later. Discord got more bored with every word the unicorn said, but Pinkie had a hard time to control her enthusiasm. 'Ooh, was she cute?' 'She was the cutest and most annoying thing ever. At the same time.' Rarity grinned. 'I loved her immediately. And hay, I had somepony to test my clothes on!' 'Yay, fashion,' Discord sighed. Rarity's face got a dark expression. 'Then, mum and dad suddenly were panicking. I was surprised, for my father always had been the calmth himself. And my mother... well, she was always in for a good laugh. But all of sudden, they both were dead serious. They told me to pack a bag with stuff I couldn't miss - as little as possible -, and to wait downstairs. Of course, I couldn't choose what to take with me. I loved all my clothes, fabric, buttons and thread, and the thought of leaving even one of them was... horrible.' Before Discord could make another annoyed remark, Pinkie said, 'Oh, I totally understand. I mean, I couldn't live without my kitchen tools!' 'Exactly,' the unicorn replied. 'Well, I managed to pack my bag without crying TOO much, not knowing what was going to happen, and I sat on the stairs for about three hours before my parents finally got down. They told me they had some problems with the bank in Baltimare. The bank didn't want to lend them any more bits, because they couldn't pay it back. So we had to leave town and flee to another place, where we could start over again. First, we went to Appleloosa, but that was no place for us. Too much dust, and the ponies were not our types.' In thirty minutes, Rarity told her two friends about the places that she'd been. She had lived in so many towns, that she almost lost count. But no town felt like a home for the unicorn. It was hard for her to make any friends, she told. Nopony accepted her because she acted like she was from a higher class. Not that she minded, she was fine on her own, she said, with a trembling voice. 'Finally, we ended up in Ponyville. We had traveled across the country for nearly two and a half years then. It was scary, another new place, but less scary than the other times. Ponyville was smaller and everypony seemed to know each other. It was such a difference.' Discord interrupted the unicorn, asking if anypony wanted some more tea. Rarity, who had finished three cups of the liquid already, said she had enough and resumed her story. 'I was placed in a class with fillies who were a bit older than me,' Rarity said. 'It was the only class which still had a free spot for me. I quickly became friends with a nice earth pony my sister now knows as her teacher!' 'You have been in the same class as Mrs. Cheerilee?' Pinkie Pie asked surprised. Rarity nodded. 'Yes, and after a short period of time, the teacher asked me, mé, to make the costumes for the school's play. Well, you can imagine how proud I was. Of course, I let Cheerilee design her own suit. She wanted to be a sunflower, so I let her BE a sunflower. And it was the prettiest costume I made for the play...' Rarity sighed and smiled. 'And then the rock and my horn and the Rainboom and my cutiemark, blah blah blah. Everypony loved the costumes I made. So I decided that if they wanted more, they'd get more. I started doing requests for ponies. I made dresses, hats, shoes, everything! It was a well-paid job, especially for a filly like me. After lots of hard work, I finally had gathered enough bits to generously pay off my parents' debt.' Rarity took a bow. 'So now you know how I ended up in this abandoned place.' She immediately covered her mouth with her hoof and said, 'Oh, I'm sorry. Not that there's anything wrong with Ponyville...' Discord shrugged. 'Nah, doesn't matter.' He didn't say that he was terribly happy that the story seemed to be finished. 'You wanna stay for some cake?' Pinkie asked Rarity. The unicorn shook her head. 'Nah, I promised Sweetie to spend the afternoon with her. Since the whole Sisterhooves Social thing, she and I are a lot closer.' 'Good to hear,' Pinkie said and smiled. 'Well, I guess I see you 'round then. I should feed Gummy, by the way...' 'Why does Gummy keep munching your tail?' Discord asked. He lived with the Cakes for about a year now and he still had not found out. Neither had Pinkie, because she shrugged and looked at the babygator hanging on her cotton candy mane. 'Maybe he likes pink?' she said. 'Who doesn't?' Discord replied, and stroke Pinkie's mane. 'C'mon, the Cakes can be here anytime now, and this place could use a broom.' > Rainbow Dash > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bell above the door rang again. Discord cringed, biting his lower lip and wrapping his left claw tighter around the broom stick. 'For Celestia's sake,' he muttered, 'can't we ever clean up?' 'No!' Pinkie Pie said, and jumped towards the door. It was already half-open, but she was kind enough to open the other half as well. 'Oh hey Dashie!' she squealed upon seeing her flying friend kinda levitating in the doorway. 'Oy!' the Pegasus replied. 'Am I interrupting? Oh... hey, Discord.' As a reply, the draconequus growled a greeting under his breath and continued to sweep the floor. He eventually sighed and snapped his finger, giving up on the hand work and letting the broom do its own work. Dash sat down at one of the tiny tables in Sugarcube Corner. 'So... hey. 'Sup?' 'Nothing, just keeping the Corner clean while the Cakes are away,' Pinkie Pie replied. 'Let me get a menu for you.' 'No thanks, Pinks. I'm not hungry, I just wanted to chat.' Discord let out a low sigh. 'Rainbow Dash, not to be unfriendly, but we were actually-' '-having no fun at all without you here!' Pinkie said, finishing his sentence as usual. 'We're sooooo glad you're here! For realzies! Right, Discord?' 'Right,' Discord answered, and turned to the kitchen. 'I'll go... make some stuff. You know.' 'The stuff! That's cool.' Pinkie sat down next to Dash and leaned back, only to find out that it was a stool she was sitting on, not a chair. Luckily, Dash was fast enough to catch her friend with her wing. 'Sorry,' Pinkie Pie said, and brushed a pluck of pink curls out of her eyes. 'You know me, always fighting with chairs!' 'That's... not a chair,'Rainbow muttered, but her friend didn't hear her over her own talking. 'Hey, Rarity and Fluttershy just left, they told us the sickest stories, really!' The Pegasus grinned. 'Sick, as in, super-extremely-epic?' Pinkie nodded eagerly. 'Oh yeah, did you know Rarity used to be super duper poor? And Fluttershy lived in Canterlot!' 'I knew those things, Pinkie. Flutters and I were best friends, even back at school.' Pinkie squinted. 'Oh, yeah. Well... since we're at it, do you have any juicy stories for me? Y'know, something traumatic or so?' Rainbow Dash reacted surprised. 'You're into trauma stuff? Wow, I certainly didn't expect that from you.' 'Hey,' Pinkie started, 'I need something to balance out that happiness, dontchathink?' '...no?' the Pegasus replied, still a little stunned. She scratched the back of her head with her hoof, trying to get herself out of this odd situation. What could she possibly think of? 'Ehm... I might have something to tell..?' At that moment, Discord came back from the kitchen. In his claws, he held a large pot. 'Here's the stuff, Pinkie.' 'Thanks! That didn't take very long, did it?' the pony replied. Rainbow Dash squinted, her rainbow eyebrows forming a frown. She had no idea what "the stuff" was, and she honestly didn't give a damn, she just had to get out of here immediately. Pinkie sat back down, pulling the draconequus on a stool with her. 'Well?' she asked. The Pegasus sighed uncomfortably. 'Well... I don't know... eh... when I was a filly, my mum would always get pissed at my dad and stuff. That's about it.' 'That's it!?' Pinkie squealed. 'Are you kidding me? That's your traumatizing life story?' 'Calm down, Pinkie Pie,' Discord muttered, wrapping an arm around the pony's shoulders. 'Not everyone's had an... interesting life, so to say.' He turned to Rainbow Dash. 'I sure thought a pony like you would have had the most dashing life one can possibly imagine... but for the first time in centuries, I'm wrong I guess.' 'Are you saying that my life isn't interesting?' Dash said, a little louder than she intended to. Discord shrugged. 'Apparently it was quite boring, I mean, you really don't have anything to tell, do you?' He stood up. 'C'mon, Pinkie. Let's get back to cleaning the bakery.' A little disappointed, Pinkie looked up to the draconequus. As she opened her mouth to say something, Dash said, 'Get me a cupcake. This story is gonna take ages to tell.' Discord could've sworn Pinkie's hair got a little more bouncy by hearing that, and he quickly slit to the kitchen to get the Pegasus a cupcake. Long stories never interested him, but maybe he could do some cleaning while Pinkie was enjoying her daily dose of drama. 'I was born on a Wednesday...' Rainbow Dash started. 'I was born on a Tuesday!' Pinkie chirped, totally unaware of the fact that she just rudely interrupted her friend. 'Isn't that great? Maybe I'm exactly one whole day older than you are! Wait... how old are you again?' 'Pinkie, you were at my twenty-first birthday this weekend. You know, the one with the dude named Cheese Sandwich?' Rainbow Dash sighed. 'I'm a year and a day younger than you, smartass.' Pinkie squinted. 'Wait... oh, yeah. Yeah, that's right, sorry Dashie. What were you saying?' 'I was born on a sunny Wednesday in January. I was not planned, but nonetheless quite a gift to my mum and dad. I mean, hey, look at where I'm now, right?' Rainbow grinned. 'Anyways, for four years I had the life every filly would've wanted. I was incredibly close with my dad. Of course my mum was nice, but dad and I had something special. Maybe it was the rainbow mane, maybe it was just because I was like a son to him.' The pony grinned again. 'Your mother, by the way... what was her name?' Pinkie asked. 'Firefly,' Dash replied. 'Her name is Firefly. Dad's name is Spectrum Dash, so later ma took his last name.' Discord came back from the kitchen, leaving it clean and shiny. Shiny, as in, everything was coated with a layer of silver. 'Oh Pinkie, I'm done cleaning! And here's a cupcake. I hope you don't mind it's a carrot cake.' 'Nice, sit down with us!' Pinkie squealed. 'Dash! Daaash! Continue with your story! Discord, did you know Rainbow's mum was Firefly Dash? She was the accountant of the Wonderbolts!' 'She was,' Rainbow said. 'Not really an exciting job, but hay, she got to work with Spitfire's older sister, Fireblast. And she pretty much got me every piece of Wonderbolt merchandise you can think of.' 'Wonderbolt... merchandise...' Discord muttered. 'You mean like plushies and such?' Rainbow Dash nodded. 'Yeah, I ended up with a freaking Fireblast plush once, it was creepy. I mean, why'd you wanna have a plush made of yourself!?' 'I can think of somepony,' Discord said. 'But hey, it's your story. Proceed.' He had a feeling that this story was gonna take ages, so the sooner Dash continued, the sooner it was over. 'Dad always took me to Wonderbolt races. Races, shows, derbies, whatever. Every Wonderbolt-related thing, dad and I were the first to get tickets. Front row, every time. He would let me stand on his shoulders and wave flags, he knew how much I loved the amazing Cloudsdale flight team.' Dash's face suddenly turned from bright to gloomy. 'That didn't last too long. 'One night, I heard my parents arguing. I was in bed, under my Wonderbolt bedsheets with my Fireblast plushie in my hooves. I don't think they knew that I was listening. I was shocked, something like that never happened to them. They were... the perfect couple.' Dash took a bite from her carrot cake. 'How old is this?' 'Freshly baked... last week,' Discord replied. A little grumpy, Rainbow Dash swallowed the small bite of cake and put the rest back on her plate. 'Gross. Anyways, they were so cute together. Firefly and Spectrum. And their filly, Rainbow Dash. It was their first fight, but certainly not their last. Every night from then on they were shouting at each other, a little louder every time. It was frightening, I had never heard them being so mad at each other. 'One night, after weeks of listening to my parents fighting, I was done with it. With my Fireblast plush wrapped under my wing, I went to the living room. At first, they didn't even know I was there, but the moment they saw me standing there it became dead silent. They had no idea where to look, it was a little funny really.' Rainbow let out another grin, a painful one this time. 'Anyways. I'm not gonna, you know, get into detail with this, but basically dad had been cheating on Firefly. For ages. And she didn't even know.' Pinkie gasped. 'Wait, for real? Spectrum... wow.' 'Even I did not see that coming,' Discord said, looking a little puzzled. He had been drawing a portrait of Pinkie on the table, with something that appeared to be the carrot cupcake Rainbow Dash didn't eat. The Pegasus rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, I know. Spectrum Dash, professional cheater. Not only did it break my mother's heart, it broke mine as well. I mean, I loved my father so much, how could he even do something like this?' 'If I may be so rude to ask, who was your father cheating with?' Discord asked. He had become a little more interested in the story, since cheating came from a chaotic disturbance between two ponies. Rainbow Dash sighed, looking at her front hooves. 'I don't know if I should tell you that, guys.' Her eyes met Pinkie's. 'Especially not to you, I'm not sure you can take it.' 'Are you kidding me?' Pinkie replied. 'I can take everything, I mean, I have befriended a draconequus. There's nothing the Pinks can't handle.' The Pegasus pony sighed again. 'It was a Wonderbolt. That's basically why dad - I mean, Spectrum, went to the shows all the time. He took me with him just as a cover-up. And Pinkie... you know... it was your cousin.' 'My cousin!?' Pinkie yelped. 'Wait...' 'Yeah, it was a huge surprise to me as well...'