Mother Fluffer

Chapters

Chapter One: The Reveal
Chapter Three: The Explanation
Chapter Four: The Misconception
Chapter Five: Clearing the Air (Part 1)
Chapter Six: Clearing the Air (Part 2)
Chapter Seven: The Resolution
Chapter Two: The Decision

Chapter One: The Reveal

When it came to the land of Equestria, there were several cities that most outsiders could list off the top of their heads with no problem. Whether it be the bustling metropolis of Manehattan, the entertaining hotspot of Las Pegasus, or even the uniquely peculiar cityscape of Baltimare, there were more than a few cities and townships other than Canterlot that were almost universal knowledge. Of course, after the defeat of Equestria’s most recent threat, the incalculably malicious Lord Tirek, it seemed like the quaint town of Ponyville was soon to reach that same status among Equestrian cities. After all, even if the epic fight between Lord Tirek and Princess Twilight Sparkle wasn’t enough to boost Ponyville’s visibility, the crystal castle that was created shortly afterward was more than enough to do it.

Less than a day after Tirek’s defeat (and a much deserved moment of rest), the Elements of Harmony were quick to erect the castle for Twilight Sparkle, and to throw a massive celebration in honor of their most recent achievement. And despite how shaken most of the citizens of Ponyville were in regards to the battle that occurred not too far from their homes, there wasn’t a single frown during the festivities of Pinkie Pie’s Super Special Castle Warming Party. Of course, that may have been because all of Ponyville was beyond grateful that the Elements were able to warn everypony before the fight and have them stay inside for safety; and aside from some singed rooftops and window covers (as well as one certain structure being destroyed), there wasn’t a single casualty or reason bad enough to dampen the mood of the celebration.

Even Twilight Sparkle, the Princess who probably suffered the biggest loss of the Golden Oaks Library, had a gracious smile on her face during the entirety of Pinkie’s party. Even though the massive feast -- as well as all the thanks from citizens and her mentors -- was enough to make the Alicorn feel ecstatic about her triumph, it was the sight of her parents at the castle that made the Princess completely overjoyed. In fact, throughout most of the party, Twilight was practically inseparable from her parents Night Light and Twilight Velvet. And because of that, Applejack made sure to make a quick stop back to Sweet Apple Acres before getting back to the castle by the time the party started to die down.

After checking that Rainbow Dash was away from the castle for her afternoon nap, the orange mare trotted into the main ballroom of the Palace of Friendship with two large, covered boxes on her back. Due to most of the party guests having already left, the ballroom was empty enough for Applejack to easily spot Twilight Sparkle and Spike by the refreshment table. While the farmpony went towards them, the Princess and her drake were giving hugs to the two older unicorns.

“Oh, Mom,” said Twilight in a grateful and slightly tired tone of voice, “I’m so happy you guys were able to make it here!”

“Are you kidding me?” said Twilight Velvet after letting go of her elated daughter. The off-white mare ruffled Twilight’s mane playfully while keeping a smile on her muzzle. “Night Light and I wouldn’t have missed this for the world!”

“That’s right,” added Night Light as he put Spike back down. The blue stallion went over to hug his daughter and said, “How could we miss you getting your own castle? We couldn’t be prouder of you if we tried!”

“Awww, thanks, Dad!” Twilight was nearly at tears as she hugged Night Light back. Applejack, who decided to let them finish, began to lug her boxes off of her back while waiting.

By the time the farm-pony finally got the weight off of her back and wiped her sweating brow, it was Spike who was the first to notice her. “Oh, hey Applejack. What are those?”

The drake pointed to the two crates, which prompted Applejack to shrug with a more relaxed smile. “Well,” began the mare in an upbeat tone, “Ah reckoned that since your folks came by ta congratulate ya, then it’d be good to give some party favors before the two left.”

“Oooohhhh…” Catching sight of one of the corners of the crates underneath the burlap covering them, Night Light’s amber eyes began to widen alongside his growing smile. “Is… that what I think it is?”

Applejack chuckled as she grabbed one of the ends of the cover with her hoof. “Well, I sure as sugar hope so!” With a quick pull, the mare happily revealed the two large crates of premium grade Sweet Apple Acres’ Hard Cider, each one large enough to carry 36 glass bottles. While both the unicorns beamed at the sight (although Night Light’s excitement was much more apparent), Applejack threw the burlap aside as she spoke towards Twilight. “After seein’ how empty yer fancy new kitchen was, Ah wanted to put somethin’ special in your fridge as a castle-warmin’ gift.”She then turned her gaze to Night Light. “Of course, Ah also remember how much yer Pa liked the samples of cider Ah gave him back at that Coronation, so it seemed right to get a case for them as well.

“Oh, my goodness!” Seeing how many bottles were in just one of the cases, Velvet was slightly overwhelmed. Of course, she still had a thankful smile when she looked back towards Applejack. “You really didn’t have to go that far for us, Applejack. You and your friends have already done more than enough to last a lifetime!”

“Aw, shoot! It was nuthin’.” Seeing how Night Light was already illuminating his horn to pick out a bottle with his blue aura, Applejack chuckled a bit before continuing. “Seriously, this was no trouble at all. Twi is just as much family to me as any Apple, and that goes for her family as well.”

“Well,” began Night Light as he got a bottle of cider from the crate for an early drink, “I think I can safely say that we’re very thankful for this, Miss Applejack.” After giving the mare a grateful smile, Night Light easily flicked off the cap with the wall of his hoof and took a hearty swig. “Aaaahhhhh… Man I love apple ale! It really speaks to me, you know?”

“Oh, yeah it does,” said Velvet in a more condescending tone, despite her chipper smirk towards him. “It speaks things to you like, ‘Go ahead and beat-box at your son’s wedding! He won’t mind!’”

While all the mares and Spike cracked up loudly, Night Light groaned with a deadpan stare back to his wife. “Oh, ha ha ha. Are you ever going to let that go?” He then pointed a hoof at her before adding, “And in my defense… that wasn’t apple ale. That was bourbon.”

“Wait, that was beat-boxin’?” Asked Applejack in a more surprised tone of voice. “Ah thought you were havin’ a stroke or somethin’!”

That made the rest of the group go into another round of hysterics while Night Light’s pout became stronger. Twilight was the first to stop giggling long enough to focus her magic on Spike and lift him up to her back. “Well, speaking of good stories, Spike and I were supposed to get a big shipment of books from Canterlot for our library today. I’m not sure how many books it is, but Celestia assured me it was a lot!”

“Oh, of course.” Velvet nuzzled her daughter sweetly before planting a kiss on the Princess’s blushing cheek. “Your Father and I have plans back in Canterlot as well, so we’ll let you get back to your Royal Duties...”

Twilight’s muzzle scrunched inward a tad from that last statement -- obviously still getting used to those kinds of terms -- but that changed when her Dad nuzzled her as well. “Just let us know if you need anything, alright kiddo?”

“Of course, Dad,” said the Alicorn with a smile after nuzzling him back. “You two have a safe trip back.”

“We always do.”

After giving the Princess and her drake another round of hugs, Night Light and Velvet gave the two their goodbyes before leaving with their smiles and a case of Applejack’s cider. Even though Twilight and Spike were obviously saddened to see the couple leave so soon, Applejack couldn’t help tearing up either. Of course, neither Twilight or Spike dared question why, and just hugged her in response after their parents were out of sight. “Are you okay, A.J.?” asked Spike in a sympathetic tone.

“Yeah, yeah,” said the orange mare in a sincere tone after wiping her eyes dry. “Ah just... “ Not wanting to get too personal with the two at that moment, Applejack just shrugged before readjusting the Stetson on her head and heading off. “Just a little nostalgia, that’s all. Ah’m gonna find Rainbow Dash.”

Spike brought up a claw and stated, “Oh, I think I saw her not too long ago. She said something about going to Sugar Cube Corner.”

“Thanks, Spike,” said Applejack before pushing the remaining crate over to Twilight. “Ya need any help puttin’ this in the fridge?”

“No, I think I’ll be fine.” To prove her point, Twilight lit her horn to lift the large crate like it was nothing at all. “Thank you for the gift, though. I don’t know how much I’m actually going to get through, but this was still really nice of you.”

“Ah, it was nuthin’,” assured the mare sincerely. Applejack then gave the two a tip of her hat before heading off with a heart, “Y’all take care now.”

Fortunately enough, there didn’t seem to be much else in the castle to distract Applejack on her way to the front door; most of the other ponies who attended were already gone, and there was barely even any big messes worthy of getting herself involved with. So, without much hesitation, the orange mare happily trotted into Ponyville to see where her cyan friend may have been. However, while her quest was solved fairly quickly when she heard Rainbow Dash’s brash and raspy voice, Applejack immediately grew worried when she realized she was hearing her friend yelling from the distance. As she galloped closer to the source, Applejack could clearly hear Rainbow shouting from above:

“So THAT’S how you’re gonna act the first time you come back here?!”

Luckily, when Applejack reached the clearing just outside of town where the yelling was happening, she was slightly relieved when she didn’t see any large crowds of ponies looking up at the spectacle in the skies. But still, that didn’t help ease the orange mare’s nerves too much when she saw just who Rainbow Dash was fighting with. While the cyan Pegasus was propped up on a small cloud, her cheeks were clearly reddened from shouting as she bickered with a familiar-looking Gryphon hovering in front of her.

“You know what?!” yelled the white-feathered Gryphon maliciously, “I don’t need this kind of treatment from YOU! I just came here to talk with a friend, so CLEARLY you’re not it!”

“Oh, really, Gilda?!” Rainbow Dash grew a nasty sneer back towards the Gryphon, neither of whom seeming to notice Applejack staring at them from below in stunned silence. “You came here to meet a friend?! Because after how you acted back at that party, I’m a little skeptical that you made friends with anyone around here!”

Gilda just rolled her golden eyes in annoyance. “Oh, what? I can’t have any friends besides you? I might not be some namby-pamby Harmony-thing or whatever, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a life outside of YOU, Dash!”

“Urgh!” Gritting her teeth like she was about to snap at any moment, Rainbow just looked away from Gilda like she was sick of even looking at her. “Just… shut up, alright?! It’s clear you don’t have anything nice to say, so maybe you should just go before you say anything you might regret!”

Gilda merely huffed and turned away as well. “Funny. I was just about to say that about you…”

Rainbow turned around to try and face the Gryphon again. However, Gilda was already off, flying away from the irritated mare like she was just a second thought. Rainbow Dash, looking like she had a lot of pent-up anger still residing inside of her, made an enraged groan that sounded more like a lazy roar before shaking her head and looking down. Unfortunately, that action only made the mare notice Applejack staring up at her wide-eyed.

“Uhhh…” Applejack looked like she was temporarily out of the moment as she tried to speak up towards Rainbow. “Are… you alright, Dash?”

Rainbow sighed and slowly lowered her descent so she could land on the ground in front of her friend. “Yeah, yeah…” Despite her answer, it was clear that the Pegasus looked less than okay when she finally landed and shook her head in a mix of defeat and disappointment. “Sorry about that. I just wasn’t expecting to see Gilda around here today.”

“Well, you’re certainly not the only one,” replied Applejack in an honest tone. Her head turned around as she tried to catch a glimpse of the Gryphon, but didn’t catch sight of her in the skies. “So… what was that Gilda doin’ here?”

“Beats me,” answered Rainbow with a shrug. “I caught her flying by right as I was waking up from my nap, but she got totally defensive when I tried to talk with her.”

“What’ya expect?” asked the orange mare bluntly. “Ah might not know much about that gal, but I’d figure that she’d be crankier than a cat thrown in a lake.”

“Well, maybe, but…” Even though it was clear Rainbow had more to say than that, her words died off quick enough for her finish with a weak sigh and look away from her friend. “Eh… it’s nothing.”

“What’s nothin’?” asked Applejack in a more curious tone.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“Now don’t give me that!” Not wanting to see her friend act this way, especially after a nasty fight, Applejack became more insistent as she asked, “What was it you were about ta say? You know Ah ain’t gonna mess with ya for it, right?”

“I do, I do. It’s…” Taking a moment to pause her words, mostly to see if Applejack was going to back off, Rainbow Dash let off a more defeated sigh before giving an honest answer. “It’s just that… I thought she’d be different when I saw her or something.”

Applejack tilted her head a little. “Different?”

“You know. Like… nicer or… wanting to apologize, you know?” When she looked back at her friend to see her response, Rainbow huffed before shaking her head. “I dunno. It’s just… when I saw her, part of me thought that she was wanting to act better than last time. I mean, if Discord can be good, then why can’t Gilda?”

While Applejack could certainly see Rainbow Dash’s point, and could totally understand the Pegasus wanting her old friend back on better terms, she made a shrug before giving her input. “Well, Ah think we need a little more time to see if Discord really CAN be good, so let’s put that on the back-burner for now. And as for Gilda, it ain’t like she’s gonna just turn nice if she don’t wanna change. Unless she’s able ta see she acted wrong, then hopin’ for change might just be wishful thinkin’. Y’know what Ah’m saying?”

Despite the bluntness of Applejack’s words, Rainbow still nodded with a more disappointed pout. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess…”

Seeing her saddened state, Applejack sighed before adding in a more optimistic tone. “Ah mean, ya never know, though. Maybe she can be less rotten in the future, but Ah doubt it’s gonna happen if you two keep gettin’ in squabbles like a couple’a fillies after naptime.”

Fortunately, that comment was enough to make Rainbow Dash crack a small smirk on her face as she nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, that’s true…” Wanting to stay upbeat, she looked back at Applejack with a smile. “Thanks, A.J.”

Applejack gave a caring smile back at her. “Oh, it ain’t nuthin’. Just be glad that y’all didn’t cause a scene today because of it.”

A distinctively posh voice called out towards the two, “Cause a scene because of what?”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned over to see Rarity walking towards them with a curious expression, as well as with a scarf draped across her back. The white unicorn also had Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie following in tow. Realizing that the three just caught the last part of their discussion, Rainbow Dash sighed before rubbing the back of her head. “Oh, ummm… I kinda got into an argument with Gilda just now.”

“G-Gilda?!” Fluttershy quickly looked around, her stance lowering like she was trying to make herself look smaller while out in the clearing with the other four mares. Her voice came out nervously as she asked, “Is... is she still around?”

“Don’t worry,” assured Applejack. “She just flew off somewhere else.”

“Yeah,” grumbled Dash in addition to Applejack’s answer. “Apparently she came to see a friend or something.”

“Ooh, really?!” asked Pinkie Pie excitedly. Looking quite pleased with Rainbow’s response, the pink mare pulled out the large box of cupcakes that were sitting on her back. “If that’s the case, then maybe I can see where they are and give them some of these cupcakes! I mean, I was planning to give these to Twilight’s parents before they left, but--”

“Pinkie, Pinkie darling,” interrupted Rarity as she tried to grab Pinkie Pie’s focus. “Do you really think it would be a good idea to confront that Gryphon after the last time you tried to socialize with her?”

While the four looked over at Pinkie, hoping that she was able to get the hint, the baker paused for only a moment before shrugging her shoulders. “Why not?”

“Ugh!” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Whatever! I’d rather not think about her right now, if you guys don’t mind.”

“Well, I can certainly understand that,” said Rarity in a sympathetic tone. “Today is supposed to be a celebration, so I’d rather not let that mood get soured by any past altercations.”

Applejack gave a hearty nod to the unicorn. “Agreed.”

Pinkie Pie, who was looking up in the sky to see if she could spot the Gryphon anywhere, merely shrugged again when she didn’t see her, and returned her attention towards Rarity and Fluttershy. “So, what do you say, girls? Are we still going to the train station?”

“Oh, of course!” Rarity lit her horn to float the scarf off of her back in her blue aura. “I don’t want Velvet to forget her scarf after leaving it at my boutique, after all.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack looked back towards each other, both giving a clear expression that they had the same idea to join them. “So…” Rainbow was the first to turn back to Rarity and ask, “you want us to come along? I mean, it’s not like have much else to do today.”

“Sure!” piped Pinkie cheerfully. She pointed a hoof to Fluttershy and added, “That’s why Fluttershy was coming along anyway! The more the merrier!”

So with that, the group of five went back into Ponyville’s limits, all choosing to walk towards the train station to give Velvet and Night Light their scarf and cupcakes. During the peaceful trot through town, the five were able to lighten the mood quite nicely with some pleasant conversation, which helped to make Rainbow forget about her fight with Gilda. By the time they reached the train station, it wasn’t until they walked past the alleyway between the station and the post office that Applejack stopped momentarily. “What the…”

The orange mare turned around and peeked inside of the alley, having swore she saw something move out of the corner of her eye. Looking inside the darkened space, Applejack’s eyes narrowed as she tried to spot anything through the darkened space. Despite the alley being near pitch black, with garbage cans and a dumpster obscuring most of the view of the other end, a ray of sunlight peeking in was enough to make Applejack see the moving figure again. As her eyes widened at the sight of white feathers and brown fur, Applejack’s brows raised in surprise while the other four looked back at her. “Ummm… A.J?” asked Rainbow Dash as she walked towards her first. “What is it?”

Applejack’s head tilted, seeing more of the large moving figure near the other end of the alley. Her voice came out in almost a mutter as she replied. “Is… is that Gilda over there?”

“What?” asked the Pegasus in a hiss before looking in the alleyway as well. Since Applejack’s eyes adjusted to the darkness first, it took the Pegasus a moment before realizing her friend was right. Of course, her focus went back towards the orange mare when she overheard her cover her muzzle with a hoof to conceal a snicker

“No way!” whispered Applejack loud enough for her friends to hear. “Ah think she’s kissin’ someone!”

“Really?!” shouted Pinkie less than subtly before hopping on top of Applejack for a good look. Of course, it didn’t seem to affect Gilda, who was still at the other end of the alleyway with her back turned to the five peering in. Slowly, a pair of smooth white hooves could be seen wrapping tighter around the Gryphon’s back.

“What the!” whispered Rainbow Dash, who was now looking more befuddled than anyone else. “Is… is that a mare?!”

“Ah think so,” said Applejack before looking over at the Pegasus with a smirk. “Well, shoot, Dash. You never mentioned that ‘bout her before!”

Dash shook her head faintly, looking like she was at a temporary loss for words due to her growing surprise. “Well… I didn’t know about that!”

“Well,” added Pinkie as she put her hooves on top of Applejack’s head and leaned in, not realizing she was nearly throwing her friend off-balance, “it doesn’t look like her filly friend is complaining one bit!”

Fluttershy and Rarity, who were standing beside Applejack, both carried more apprehensive stares as they tried to get a good look at the Gryphon during her makeout session. “Ummm…” Fluttershy was the first to ask in a growingly worried tone of voice, “G-girls? Who… who is that?”

Rarity, who was peering in nearly as closely as Pinkie Pie, widened her eyes slowly when she noticed the tone of white on the pair of hooves wrapped around Gilda. “Oh… oh my gosh!” Her voice quickly turned grave as she covered her own mouth with a hoof. “Is… is that--”

Before the fashionista could finish, the five watched Gilda be thrown back against the wall of the alley, revealing the mare who was passionately making out with her. Gilda’s claws went down and grabbed at Twilight Velvet’s flank, squeezing it tightly while the mare’s cutie mark of three stars were still shown clear as day to her daughter’s gaping friends. Meanwhile, Velvet obviously had no idea she was being watched, and continued to tongue the Gryphon’s beak deeper than a prisoner during a conjugal visit. While the two kept making out sloppily in the alleyway, none of the five mares watching could say a word while their jaws were dropped in utter shock and dread.

When Twilight Velvet’s muzzle finally broke apart from Gilda’s beak, a thick line of saliva connected the two briefly while both were panting and smiling at one another. “Oh, Gilda…” Velvet had an especially randy grin on her face as she eyed the Gryphon with obvious lust. “I can’t wait to play with you back home!”

The five mares watching dropped their mouths even lower, not believing what they were hearing. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop Gilda from chuckling and grabbing Velvet’s flank even tighter. “Well,” replied the Gryphon in a sultry tone, “if you let me, I could fly you back to Canterlot WAY faster than that stupid train can!”

Velvet rolled her eyes, trying not to giggle from Gilda’s talons squeezing her. “I-I know, but… hehehe… but Night Light already paid for the tickets... “ She gave the Gryphon another deep kiss, letting it linger for a long moment before pulling back to finish. “A-and… I don’t want to leave him hanging…”

Gilda groaned with a shake of her head and a smirk. “Oh, please… Why do you have to go back with him?”

“Because he’s my husband, remember?” Even though Velvet said that in a more condescending tone, her enticing grin up to the Gryphon made her look less than disappointed. “Besides, you really shouldn’t have to worry about him…”

The five watched in horror as Velvet moved in closer to Gilda. The Gryphon shuddered as the unicorn pressed her muzzle hard against her feathered neck, no doubt trying to give her a hickey. While Gilda struggled in her grasp and tried not to squirm too badly, Velvet pulled back with an audible pop before moving up to her ear. “You just wait for me back home, you dirty bird,” she whispered naughtily. “As soon as we get back, I’ll shoo Night Light away for a few hours, and meanwhile, you and I can…”

Her muzzle went in closer to Gilda’s ear, and she began to whisper things that none of the peeping mares could overhear. However, with the way Gilda’s hind legs shuddered, it was clear that whatever Velvet said was enough to keep the Gryphon from opposing any longer. Velvet pulled back to ask sweetly, “So… will you be a good little chickie and wait for me?”

Gilda nodded firmly while panting deeply, looking like she was just barely able to play it cool. “Y-yeah, whatever. I… I can handle that...”

After giving the Gryphon a wide grin of approval, Velvet rewarded her with another especially deep kiss. When she pulled back, the mare slowly looked around the alleyway the two were in, which prompted Twilight’s friends to quickly dart out of sight. “Geeze, Gilda,” said Velvet in a huff. “I kinda wish we weren’t somewhere so dirty.”

“Hey, you were the one who pulled me in here,” replied Gilda in a snarkier tone. Her eyes narrowed on Velvet as she added, “Besides… you can’t say you don’t like it dirty…”

Velvet let off a guilty giggle from the Gryphon’s comment, but any statement that could follow was quickly cut off with the sound of a loudspeaker from the train station next door. “All aboard! All aboard for the 4:15 train to Canterlot!”

“Oh shoot!” Velvet gave Gilda another quick kiss on the beak before running out of the alleyway. “I have to catch my train! I’ll see you tonight, alright?”

Even though Gilda was a tad bit thrown off from how sudden the mare’s exit was, she merely shrugged before waving goodbye. “Ummm… alright then! See you back home!”

After giving off another light shudder, letting her feathers ruffle out momentarily, the Gryphon brushed them back down smoothly with a claw before soaring upward into the skies. Meanwhile, still outside the alleyway, all five of the mares who were watching were absolutely frozen in shock. By the time any of them were able to bring their jaws back up from the floor, Velvet and Night Light’s train was already leaving the station. Rainbow Dash, who was the first to move fast enough to notice the train leaving Ponyville, only stayed silent for another moment before blurting out:

“WHAT THE BUCK WAS THAT?!”

Chapter Three: The Explanation

“RAINBOW!!!”

While the other four mares stared at Rainbow Dash with mixed looks of shock and anger, the cyan Pegasus had her muzzle covered with both hooves, her eyes wide-open at the realization of what she just blurted out. “I’m sorry!” said Rainbow sincerely when she pulled her hooves back down to the ground. “I… I panicked, alright?!”

“You panicked?!” shouted Rarity as she looked at Rainbow distastefully. “Rainbow Dash, how could you even THINK of doing that?! We agreed to tell her slowly!”

“Yeah!” added Applejack with a nasty glare towards the stunt-pony. “So much for subtlety there, Dash!”

“Hey!” Rainbow pointed a hoof at the two mares as she tried to speak defensively. “It’s not like either of you were saying anything!”

“That’s because we were tryin’ ta get the right words out, you gat-dang nincompoop!”

“Ummm… girls?”

In an instant, the five mares remembered that they weren’t the only ones in that library. As the group slowly turned their attention back to the lavender Alicorn and her drake, Twilight carried a confused stare back at them, which was accompanied by a small disbelieving smirk on her muzzle. Spike looked the same way, like he was trying to be polite and smile after hearing a weird joke. “What… what are you talking about?” asked the Princess as she gave off a small chuckle.

Applejack groaned painfully with her face in one of her hooves, knowing that this explanation wasn’t going to be pretty. “Twi, we… we went to the train station ‘cause your Mom left a scarf at Rare’s place, and…”

Rarity sighed before taking the reins of Applejack’s statement. “And we… saw your Mother outside of the train station… kissing someone else. And… it wasn’t your Father.”

Twilight and Spike’s eyes both widened a little, quickly realizing what their friends were saying.

“Twi, we’re so sorry,” said Applejack in as caring of a tone as she could muster. “Ah know this is a big thing to tell ya, but just know tha--”

Before she could finish, Applejack was interrupted by the Princess and the drake. Of course, what threw Applejack off-guard, as well as the other four mares, was how Twilight and Spike broke the awkward silence:

Laughter.

While Twilight had one of her hooves over her forehead while cracking up, Spike was leaned against her and cackling wildly as well. Twilight’s friends all looked at each other worriedly, assuming that the two were just thinking that this was some big joke. Fluttershy turned her attention back to Twilight first. “Twilight, we… we’re not lying! We really saw Velvet kissing a girl!”

Twilight finally came down from her laughter long enough to catch her breath, and she stared at her friends with an amused smile. “Is that all?”

That statement threw the five mares way off. While they stared at Twilight and Spike with very puzzled expressions, the Princess just rolled her eyes before going back to her books. “Jeeze, girls! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Yeah, really!” added Spike as he wiped his eyes and shook his head, redirecting his attention to one of the open boxes of books. “You were acting like something big happened!”

The confused looks from the group only became stronger while standing in silence. Meanwhile, Twilight was looking inside of one of the boxes, getting back to her work like she wasn’t told anything at all. “Hmmm… Spike, did you see where the History of Gryphon Culture catalogue was placed?”

“Oh, yeah.” Spike casually walked over to a different box. “I think I saw that in the box by my comics.”

Looking like she was about to burst again, Rainbow Dash was blinking repeatedly with her muzzle wide-open. “Ummm… HELLO?!”

“Hm?” Twilight looked up at Dash, seeming unsure why the cyan pony looked so bewildered. “Ummm… hello.”

“Twi! Did…” Applejack had a hoof raised like she was holding some invisible object, and her head was shaking slowly while trying to figure out why her friend was acting this way. “... Did you NOT hear what we just told you?!”

“Umm… yes?” Twilight looked back to Spike for clarification with a smile. “Mom has a new girlfriend. Good for her.”

“Yeah,” replied the dragon in an equally happy tone. “I’m glad she’s getting back out there.”

While their friends only grew more confused by the second, Twilight tapped her chin with a hoof in throught. “Although… I have to wonder why she didn’t tell us about it.”

“Eh, don’t worry about that,” assured Spike with a wave of his claw. “She probably didn’t want to steal your thunder or anything.”

“Spike, I have my own castle! How could she think having a new girlfriend would be stealing any of my thunder?”

“W-WHAT?!” Realizing what Twilight was saying, Pinkie Pie finally spoke up in a shocked tone. “You… you said she has a NEW girlfriend?! Like… there were others?!”

Twilight and Spike both looked back towards Pinkie in bafflement. “Well… yes,” answered Twilight while looking at the pink mare strangely. “She has. I mean, not recently, but she’s had several girlfriends before.”

Pinkie could only blink in stunned silence, much like the other four mares beside her. After a few seconds, Rarity raised a hoof to clarify, “So… your Mother is a lesbian?”

Twilight’s head reeled back as she gave a look like she was just asked if two plus two really equaled four. “Yes, Rarity! Yes she is. Why is that so weird?”

The unicorn could only rub the top of her head like she was tending to a headache. Rainbow Dash shook her head violently before saying, “Wait, wait, WAIT! You mean… your Mom is gay?! And… your Dad has no problem with that?!”

Twilight looked even more perplexed, only able to blink a couple times to let that question process in her mind. “Umm… why would he?”

“Yeah,” added Spike in an equally confused tone. “He’s gay too.”

THAT statement left all five mares completely silent. Instead of saying anything else, Twilight’s friends just looked at them with eyes as wide as frisbees, seemingly in shock from what Spike just said. The only statement that could be said was from Fluttershy. “What?”

Twilight got herself back up from her books, and stared back at the five in bewilderment. “Why… why are you all looking at me like that?”

Applejack blinked several times rapidly as she struggled to speak coherently. “B… b-both of them?”

Twilight stared at her friend for a moment before looking back to Spike, who had the same unsure look that the Princess had. She then turned back to the five to answer them. “Yes, Applejack. Both of my parents are homosexual.”

For almost a full minute, not a single one of Twilight’s friends moved an inch, and only stared at her in shocked silence. Spike’s eyes widened as he realized what was going on before Twilight could. “W… wait a minute…” He pointed a claw at them and asked, “Did none of you know that?!”

“NO!!!”

With the way all five mares shouted that at the same time, Spike and Twilight both jolted back in surprise. However, despite how shocked all of their friends still looked, Spike still turned his direction to Twilight in an irritated tone. “Twilight! I thought that you told them!”

“I thought that they knew!!” Shouted the Princess back to Spike. She then looked back at the five mares. “Didn’t you all talk with my parents before?!”

“Yeah!” shouted Applejack back at her. “They said they were married!”

Twilight and Spike responded at the same time, “They are!”

Another brief moment of silence passed, with all of Twilight’s friends looking even more baffled than before. Rainbow Dash blurted out without thinking, “HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?!”

Twilight Sparkle face-hoofed as she let off a low, lingering groan. Realizing how much has been left unexplained, the Princess muttered under her breath angrily, “I swear, Mom told me...”

After making a quick sigh and putting her hoof down, she turned to the drake beside her and asked, “Spike, can you get some tea made, please? This might take a while.”

“Already on it,” said Spike as he walked past the mares and left the room, already putting on his pink apron.

After taking a deep breath, Twilight looked back at her still confused friends. “Well… I’m honestly not sure where to begin…”

By the time Spike finished making the second kettle of tea, along with a small plate of Macaroons, he rolled his dainty serving cart to the two opposing lounging couches of the library by the time Twilight finished her brief summary.

“... So, since Mom wasn’t able to find anypony either, she followed through with their agreement and married my Dad as soon as she turned thirty. They had Shining less than a year later, and they’ve been happily married ever since.”

Even though Twilight had a soft smile on her muzzle, feeling happy that she was able to explain her parents’ backstories as simply as she could, it didn’t change the fact that all of the other mares were seated across from her with looks ranging from uneasiness to still-lingering confusion. Seeing that none of them looked like they were getting the full grasp of what she said, Twilight sighed as her smile dropped. “I’m sorry, girls. I’m really trying here.”

“Oh no, it’s alright, Twilight,” assured Rarity in a sympathetic one. “I think we all understand what you’re saying. It’s just… odd.”

The other four mares nodded in agreement to Rarity’s description, which just made Twilight groan with a roll of her eyes. “Ugh! I seriously don’t see why it’s odd!”

“Yeah,” added Spike as he refilled the mares’ cups and placed the plate of Macaroons on the coffee table. “I mean, a lot of friends have those marriage agreements, don’t they?”

Rarity made a reluctant shrug before nodding. “Well, I suppose so,” admitted the unicorn meekly. “In fact, I think I made an agreement like that with a Pokey Pierce back in high school.”

“Wait, what?” asked Rainbow Dash in surprise towards her.

“I mean, he was a nice guy,” continued Rarity while looking around, realizing everyone was looking towards her. “We got along really well, and neither of us were able to find anypony special, so we made an agreement to marry if both of us were single by the time we turned thirty five…” Remembering what else occurred, the mare exhaled disappointedly before including, “But… he came out of the stable and started dating Ace shortly thereafter, so the deal was sorta over.”

After blinking a few times, Rarity’s eyes widened before looking back to Twilight, “Wait, that does mean the deal is off, right?”

Twilight gave a small nod. “I’m pretty sure it does,” said the Princess in an attempt to settle the unicorn’s nerves. “It’s not like my Mom and Dad didn’t know about each other before they made their pact. They both knew about the other’s orientation since they were foalhood friends.”

“And they still wanted ta marry each other?” asked Applejack with narrowed eyes on Twilight. “Ah mean, Ah suppose it makes sense if they both want kids and didn’t wanna adopt, but it’s just weird to think a gay guy and a lesbian would do that.”

Twilight shrugged in understanding. “Well, I can see your point,” said the Alicorn with a more relaxed tone, “but my parents are closer to one another than anypony else. They trust each other, care for one another deeply, and both of them had the same dreams of raising a loving family. And despite both of them being homosexual, the two really do care about each other more than they have any of their previous partners.”

“Yeah, totally,” said Spike as he hopped up on the couch next to Twilight. “Just because they’re not physically attracted to one another, doesn’t mean they’re not in love.”

Fluttershy seemed uneasy as she tried to ask bashfully, “But… if they’re in love with each other, then why do they still have girlfriends and boyfriends?”

Despite the Pegasus’s question not being particularly brash or incorrect, the rest of Twilight’s friends still felt uncomfortable as they waited for her answer. Fortunately, Twilight didn’t look offended in the least, and just rolled her eyes like the answer was obvious. “Well, like I said, they both always knew about each other’s orientation. It’s not like they wouldn’t understand wanting a more physical relationship at times. And since they can’t really do that for each other, they agreed even before marrying that they can do whatever they want, as long as it was consensual and talked about beforehoof. Physical satisfaction is one of the most important aspects of any relationship, after all.”

Fluttershy couldn’t help making a small nod in agreement. “Well, I guess I can’t say that you’re wrong about that…”

Pinkie quickly pulled her hoof up like she was a schoolfilly in class. “Ooh! OOH!!”

Twilight looked to Pinkie and nodded at her. “Yes, Pinkie?”

The pink mare brought her hoof back down and looked at the Princess with her head tilted to the side. “So, if your Mom and Dad are married to each other, but sleep with other ponies because it makes them happy, does that mean your parents are swingers?”

Everyone else stared at Pinkie in surprise from her out-of-the-blue question, but all Twilight did was pull her head back a little with a baffled expression. “What?! I…”

Twilight’s mouth stayed open for a while, which was enough to keep Pinkie from clarifying her question any more. Slowly catching on to what her friend was meaning, Twilight looked down and brought her hoof to her chin in obvious thought. “Hmmm…”

While the other mares (as well as Spike) just kept their eyes on Pinkie, Twilight took a moment before making a shrug of her shoulders. “Well, I… I never personally thought of it in that way, but… I suppose that if it makes you understand it better, then sure. They are sort of like that.”

Pinkie nodded with a smile, happy with her friend’s answer, but her focus changed when Applejack asked, “Pinkie, how the HAY do ya know what swingers are?!”

Pinkie stared back at Applejack like she asked a stupid question, and scoffed before bringing her hooves up. “Ummm… swinger parties? Hello?”

“Wait, you go to those?!” asked Rainbow Dash in shock. Meanwhile, Twilight pulled Spike in and covered his ears with both hooves.

“Well of course I do!” responded Pinkie Pie cheerfully. “Well, I might not go to them that often, but I’ve gone to a couple with Mister and Missus Cake. They go to swinger parties ALL the time!”

She then grabbed a hoof full of Macaroons from the table, seemingly oblivious to the dropped jaws all of her friends had. She dipped a couple of the cookies into her tea before adding. “They always try to go to those parties when offered, since they usually get the best tips when they cater for them.”

A very heavy sigh of relief came from everyone else, which just made Pinkie pull her head up confusedly. “What?”

“Nothing, nothing,” said Twilight quickly after pulling her hooves from Spike’s head. “Let’s just… try to go back to topic, alright?”

A small bout of silence passed, with most of Twilight’s friends unsure what to ask next. Rainbow Dash brought the conversation back to track when she asked, “So, have you and Shining Armor always known about this?”

“Well, of course,” answered Twilight casually. “They explained it to both of us when we were young, so it was never really weird when either of them had partners in the house. In fact, Celestia was really impressed when I was able to explain alternative lifestyles and relationships in my first year of lessons!” Twilight grew a more prideful smile after saying that, feeling like she just brought up a good reference on her resumè.

Applejack decided to ask next, “So, how did Cadance take this?”

Hearing her question, Twilight and Spike both snickered a little. “W-well,” began Spike while sitting next to the giggling Alicorn, “apparently, Cadance kinda found out similar to you guys.”

“Seriously?” asked Rainbow Dash wide-eyed. “How?!”

Twilight had to cover her hoof for a couple seconds before she could stop giggling long enough to answer. “Well, after foalsitting me one night, she came back to the house to get her purse, and she caught our Dad with the tennis instructor.”

Twilight’s friends all began to laugh as well, mostly from that mental image alone. Spike’s chortling only grew when he added, “Yeah! She almost blasted him because she thought there was an affair, too!”

“B-but…” Twilight put up a hoof to grab their attention, waiting until the laughter subsided a bit to continue. “After Shining explained the situation to her, and she talked with both our parents about it, she was able to see that there was nothing wrong. She even used her magic to see how much love they had, and was able to verify quite easily that they had just as much love as any heterosexual married couple.”

Rarity looked almost touched by that statement, and just grew a larger smile while going. “Awwww…” While Applejack and Rainbow Dash both rolled their eyes at the unicorn’s reaction, Fluttershy looked down to the floor as a new question came to her mind.

“Ummm… Twilight?”

When Twilight looked towards the yellow Pegasus, she noticed that the mare had a bit lip when she finally looked up at her. “Umm… yes, Fluttershy?”

“I, ummm… I’m not sure if I should ask, but…” Keeping a hesitant look on her face, the timid mare took a breath and asked, “Are… are you and Shining Armor adopted?”

“What?!” shouted Twilight and Spike at the same time.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Fluttershy covered her face with her hooves and shrunk herself against her spot on the couch. “I shouldn’t have said that, I’m sorry!”

“Wha… why…” Twilight blinked repeatedly as she tried to determine why Fluttershy would ask that kind of question. “Why would think that we were adopted?!”

“W-well…” Fluttershy’s head turned to the side so she could look at the arm of the couch instead of her friend. “I-I mean… if… if your parents aren’t physical with each other, then…”

Twilight sighed deeply and rubbed her temple with a hoof, realizing what the Pegasus was trying to ask. “Well, I can understand what you mean, I guess, but Shining and I are not adopted. Our Mom and Dad are our biological parents.”

Understanding Fluttershy’s point too, Rarity decided to clarify a detail by asking, “So, did they do artificial insemination?”

Twilight cringed a little, and nudged at the baby dragon beside her. “Hey, Spike, you mind getting some of these dirty dishes back to the kitchen please?”

Spike just rolled his eyes and got off the couch without question. “Yeah, sure…” Even though he knew she just wanted him out of the room as the topic got more uncomfortable, the drake still complied and put some of the empty cups and plates back on his serving cart.

After he rolled the cart out of the library, Twilight made sure he was out of sight before turning back to Rarity. “And to answer your question, no, they didn’t. My Mom and Dad never really trusted those sorts of things.” She then shrugged before saying in a slightly uncomfortable tone, "They just… did it the old-fashioned way.”

While all five of the mares looked surprised by that answer, Rainbow Dash’s eyes were the most narrowed before speaking. “Ummm… how?”

Twilight grew a more deadpan stare back to the cyan Pegasus. “Rainbow Dash. I think you know enough about Equestrian biology to answer that question yourself.”

“What? I--N-no!” Quickly getting what Twilight was assuming, Rainbow shook her head and threw her hooves out to stop her friend’s accusation. “No, I don’t mean THAT! I just… I meant, like…” Realizing she wasn’t sure how to ask, she turned to her friends for backup. “Guys, help me out here!”

Fortunately, Applejack the first to take the reins for her. “Ah think what Dash is tryin’ ta ask is... “ Her expression grew slightly uneasy when she asked Twilight, “If yer folks aren’t attracted to each other, then how are they able ta… you know… get the motor runnin’?”

While the other four mares were able to understand the analogy rather quickly, it took Twilight a moment before her eyes slowly widened. “Well, I… Oh… Oh…”

All of her friends nodded at the same time, clearly wanting to know that answer as well. Twilight bit her lip and looked down at her hooves, obviously not wanting to talk about such a delicate detail in regards to her own parents. “Well, I… I guess I can see what you mean, since that is an important aspect of successful inter…that....” Not wanting to say that specific word, Twilight’s composure lessened for a moment before continuing. “B-but I… I suppose if you want to know, then… in simplest terms, they, ummm…” The Princess tried to tap her hooves together absent-mindedly to focus, but she quickly stopped when she realized what that may have been implying.

While Twilight grew more uneasy by the second, making Applejack and Dash begin to have second thoughts about even asking, Spike’s voice called out from the hallway.

“How do you think most ponies do it?! They got drunk!”

Twilight yelled towards the doorway, “SPIKE!!!”

“What?” asked the drake when his head popped into the room from the open doorway, “isn’t that what Mom said?”

When Twilight looked back at her friends, all of them were staring at her wide-eyed. While the sound of Spike’s cart could be heard rolling away after he left the room, Twilight groaned with her hoof over her face. “Ugh… y-yes. There… there are several confirmed studies which have shown that alcohol not only helps relieve tension in activities like coitus, but can also lower judgement. So… a bottle or two of wine may have been involved when Shining and I were conceived.”

After a short moment of silence, Rainbow Dash almost fell off the couch due to laughing so hard. Because of that, Applejack and Rarity couldn’t help giggling either. While Twilight pouted with a glare pointed right at them, Pinkie tried to lighten mood with a cheerful, “Oh, don’t worry about it, Twilight! A lot of straight couples make kids that way too!”

Twilight only rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah…” After shaking her head and waiting for her friends to stop laughing, Twilight finished her cup of tea as she tried to summarize what needed to be said to them. “Well, all that needs to be known is that despite what my parents might do outside of their marriage, the basic fact is they’re both caring, dependable ponies who have done nothing but the best for me and my brother. They’re still in a committed and loving marriage, have raised Shining and me to be upstanding Equestrian citizens, and their orientations haven’t affected us in any negative way. And even if they pursue physical relationships apart from each other, they’re still my parents, and they’ll always be important to me.”

After the Princess made that firm and concise explanation, she was fairly pleased to see that none of her friends looked upset or opposing of what she just said. In fact, all of them nodded in understanding to Twilight’s words, clearly not needing much more context. “Well,” began Rainbow Dash as she kept a bemused smirk on the Alicorn, “I can’t say I was EVER expecting to hear anything like this today. But I gotta admit, it does explain a lot.”

“Wait, really?” asked Twilight with a hint of surprise.

“Well, yeah! Only the most logical mare in Equestria would look at this in a totally normal way! I mean, I’m not judging,” added Dash more insistently, “but I’m just saying, it kinda makes sense, you know?”

“And it doesn’t change our perceptions of them, or you,” added Rarity with a smile on her muzzle. “Everything that you told us has proven that they’re perfectly outstanding parents.”

Applejack chimed in. “Darn tootin’. Ah mean, I wish I knew about this sooner, but Ah’m just glad yer Mom ain’t in an affair or nuthin’!”

Twilight chuckled in agreement, rubbing the back of her head as she looked away with an embarrassed blush. “Yeah, I suppose. I really wish I told you girls, too. I just figured that they explained this to you!”

Fluttershy looked slightly apprehensive before admitting, “Well… I’m not sure if any of us have really talked with your parents too much.”

“Well, why not?” asked Twilight as she looked at the five mares, noticing that none of her friends were disagreeing with Fluttershy’s claim. “I mean, I thought you talked with them at the Coronation.”

“Well, a little,” said Pinkie Pie with a shrug, “but that was honestly about it.”

“But… how about at Shining Armor’s wedding?”

Twilight’s question made all five mares wince at the same time. It was Rainbow Dash who was the first to make a weak answer. “Well, they kinda… ignored us during the reception. Not that we blame them or anything.”

Twilight opened her muzzle to ask why, but stopped when she realized why her parents would’ve acted that way. The Princess slumped in her couch with an uncomfortable look on her face. “Oh... Well, at least they didn’t try to confront any of you about what happened. It’s bad enough that Mom went as far as she did.”

Rarity tilted her head. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“N-nothing!” Realizing what she almost said, Twilight quickly shook her head to change the subject. “Never mind, I just… I guess I can understand why they would be less than hesitant to talk to any of you back then…” She then sighed before shaking her head in irritation. “I just wish I knew they didn’t mention that! I mean, I remember Mom saying that she was caught up with you girls after the Coronation Dinner!”

“It’s okay,” said Rainbow Dash with a wave of her hoof. “She probably just thought that YOU told us first.”

“But it don’t mean nuthin’ now,” chimed in Applejack before Twilight could look guilty about Dash’s statement. “It’s just a big misunderstandin’, and there ain’t no big reason to fret about it now, right?”

Twilight sighed and nodded with a reluctant smile, knowing that the farm-pony was right. “I… yeah, I do. Thanks, Applejack.”

“No problem, Sugarcube,” responded the orange mare with a smile.

Meanwhile, Rarity chuckled to herself in recollection and admitted, “I must say, though! After what we saw with your Mother and Gilda, I am beyond relieved that this isn’t an affair!”

That made everyone laugh, including Spike who just came back into the room. However, by the time the drake got back on the couch, Twilight was the first to stop laughing long enough to think about that Rarity said. “Wait… who?”

It took a moment before any of them caught what Twilight meant by that statement, but Rainbow Dash was the first to give a nonchalant reply. “Oh, yeah. It was Gilda we saw with your Mom. Pretty nuts, huh?”

Despite that chuckle from the Pegasus, Twilight didn’t laugh back. Instead, her purple eyes just narrowed as she let that new snippet of information sink in. “... Gilda?”

Applejack was starting to notice how her friend was looking, and began to grow slightly unsure when she clarified. “Umm, yeah. You know, that Gryphon gal who Pinkie threw a party for.”

“Mmm-Hmmm!” added Pinkie with a chipper nod.

Twilight stayed frozen in her seat, staring at them with a growing look of concern. “You mean… that Gryphon who yelled at everyone and almost murdered Pinkie?”

By now, all of them could see that Twilight was beginning to look upset. Even Spike pulled himself back from a little. “Ummm…” Rarity looked between Twilight and the others before nodding. “Y-yes, Twilight. I… I’m pretty sure that’s her.”

“... The one who made Fluttershy cry?”

The infliction Twilight used at that last word was enough to warrant some legitimate worry from the others. Nevertheless, Fluttershy was still able to nod meagerly in confirmation. After several heavy blinks, the Princess’s lips pulled back, revealing a small snarl that was growing on her muzzle.

“And you all saw Gilda… that same Gryphon… back at the train station MAKING OUT WITH MY MOM?!”

Everyone jolted back from the outburst their friend made, but it was Rainbow Dash who put up a hoof to reply, “You know, this was kinda the reaction we expected you to have.”

Twilight looked down and put a hoof to her chest, making a quick exhale like she was either about to gasp or barf. With a look of shock and disgust growing on her face, the Alicorn stayed in her seat for another few seconds before shouting out, “SPIKE!”

The baby dragon flinched while Twilight got out of her seat and stormed out of the room. Before he could ask what she wanted, Twilight continued to yell angrily, “I need you to get my travel bag ready! We’re going to Canterlot!”

“Uhhh…” While looking between Twilight and the five stunned mares on the other couch, Spike was looking legitimately scared when he finally got off himself and replied, “S-sure thing, Twi!”

The drake ran out of the room after Twilight, leaving their friends alone in the library. Even though a few brief glances were exchanged, not a word was said before Applejack shot out of the couch first. “Now, wait a minute! We’re comin’ too!”

Luckily, none of the other four Elements of Harmony seemed to disagree with Applejack’s statement, mostly since they didn't want Twilight to go on a murderous rampage towards the Gryphon sleeping with her Mother. When they got off the couch without hesitation to join with Applejack, Pinkie Pie did a cartwheel as she shouted with glee, “Woo-hoo! We’re going on a road trip!”

Author's Note

Please, PLEASE do not put spoilers about this chapter in the comments! I want new readers to be just as surprised about the twist as you probably are.

Chapter Four: The Misconception

In less than twenty minutes, Princess Twilight Sparkle was able to secure a private car for the next train to Canterlot, which was spacious enough for all of her friends to join her. Even though she considered flying, Twilight’s memory of how Spike reacted to her flights before prompted her to act more reasonably this time around. So, instead of shooting straight to Canterlot with a screaming baby dragon on her back, the Alicorn settled with just waiting patiently alongside her friends. Or more accurately, the other five mares (and Spike) sat patiently while Twilight paced around the luxury car in an irritated state.

“Urrrrrgh!” The Princess had her teeth gritted as she walked around angrily, still looking upset about finding out who her Mom was dating. “I… I just can’t believe that she would do this! I mean, Gilda?! Really?! Mom goes and chooses someone like Gilda?!?”

Even though Spike was surprised by this information as well, he had the same look of worry about Twilight’s state that the others had. Aside from Rainbow Dash, who was strangely looking out of one of the train windows in thought, the others were keeping their attention on Twilight as she kept walking around the train car. The drake tried to grab her attention by saying, “Well, if you think about it, Gilda does kinda fit Mom’s type.”

“Wait, what?” Applejack, who was sitting on one of the lounge couches by the windows, looked at Spike quizzically. “Wha’cha mean, Spike? Does Velvet have a thing for Gryphons or somethin’?”

Before Spike could answer, Twilight turned to the farm-pony with a confused tone of her own. “Well, no… At least, I didn’t think so....”

Rarity put down her newspaper, which she mostly just had as a distraction from her friend’s ranting, as she looked up at Twilight to ask. “So, what is your Mother’s type? If you don’t mind me asking, of course.”

Twilight bit her lip and looked away from the unicorn in discomfort. “Well, ummm… How do I put this…”

Seeing her reaction, Spike just chuckled before picking up Rarity’s paper to browse the comics section. He didn’t even look up from the printing as he replied casually, “Mom likes them butch.”

“SPIKE!”

Despite how angry Twilight looked when she shouted at him, Spike just glanced up at her for a moment like it was nothing. “Oh, come on, Twi! Do you remember when she dated that furniture-moving pony who you thought was a stallion for over a month?”

The five mares all whipped their heads to stare at Twilight for confirmation. Feeling their wide-eyed glances on her, Twilight winced uncomfortably and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. “W-well… I was kinda young then…”

Spike giggled while reading his paper, which prompted Twilight to pout with a huff towards him. “And it wasn’t like U-Haul was obvious or anything! She constantly had a five-o-clock shadow, and hooves bigger than Dad’s! Even Shining thought she was a stallion, so how was I supposed to know?!”

Applejack just shook her head and looked away while trying not to laugh. While Fluttershy and Rarity looked over at each other with weirded-out expression of their own, Pinkie kept her eyes on Twilight with a smile. “You know, I think we’ve learned more about your parents today than we EVER have!”

Despite Pinkie trying to lighten the mood, all it did was make the Princess groan and walk away from them. “Yeah, I suppose you girls have…”

Twilight then continued to pace around silently, not even muttering to herself as she stayed with her thoughts. Fluttershy’s attention changed as she looked back at Rainbow Dash, who was still seated at the corner of the train car. Of course, given that she was the only one on her end of the lounging couch, it could be argued that the cyan Pegasus had the most comfortable seat while one of her hooves was propped on the window ledge. Knowing that Rainbow has been strangely silent since they left Ponyville, Fluttershy got off of her seat to talk towards her.

“Ummm… Rainbow?” she asked timidly when she approached her. However, the only response Fluttershy received was a small flick from Dash’s raised ears. When the blue mare finally turned her head towards her, Fluttershy bit her lip before asking, “Is… there something wrong?”

“No, I’m fine,” assured Rainbow before looking over at the rest of the train car. She sighed softly when she saw nopony was paying attention to them. “It’s just…”

After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy decided to take the reins after Rainbow’s statement trailed off. “It’s just what?”

Rainbow shook her head and looked back out the window. “Nothing. It’s nothing, really…” However, after another bout of silence, Rainbow huffed before turning back around to ask the yellow Pegasus. “Do you remember when Gilda and I were friends back at Flight Camp?”

“Ummm…” Even though she was unsure where Dash was going with this, Fluttershy answered with a shrug. “Well… barely. I mean, she was more your friend than anypony else’s.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Letting that answer sink in, Rainbow looked down at her hooves briefly until she decided to ask. “So… did you get any vibes from her back then?”

Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion. “Ummm… vibes?”

“Yeah, you know. Like… gay vibes?”

Quickly realizing what her friend was referring to, Fluttershy’s eyes widened while Rainbow stared up at her. “Oh… W-well…” After blinking a few times, she stared at Rainbow in confusion. “Is… is that what you were thinking about?”

“I-I don’t know!” Dash sighed in a quickly pant and looked back out the window. “I just… I wasn’t expecting her to be a lesbian now, and... “ She looked out at the passing mountainside as she paused, obviously unsure what to say to justify her question. “... I dunno, I… I just wasn’t sure how long she’s been like that, that’s all.”

Pinkie popped her head in, seemingly out of nowhere. “How long who’s been like what?”

Both of the ponied jolted from the pink mare’s sudden intrusion into their conversation. Before Rainbow could try and shoo Pinkie Away, Fluttershy turned towards her and answered, “I think Rainbow meant that she wasn’t sure if Gilda had a crush on her back in Flight Camp.”

“WHAT?!” Rainbow stared at Fluttershy with a dropped jaw. “Fluttershy, I never said anything even CLOSE to that!”

Even with an embarrassed blush on her face, Fluttershy was able to respond in a casual tone, “Well… it seemed like that was what you were trying to say.”

Dash gritted her teeth and turned her sights away from Fluttershy, not wanting to confirm or deny that statement. Of course, Pinkie was quick to add her input. “Well, it probably would make a lot of sense.”

“What?!” Rainbow grew a more quizzical stare towards Pinkie. “What do you mean?!”

“Well…” Pinkie had her shoulders shrugged when she looked up at the ceiling. After a moment in deep thought, she sat beside Rainbow as she gave her analysis. “Back when Gilda first showed up to Ponyville, she seemed reeeeallllly insistent on being alone with you. I mean, whenever I tried to tag along and be a good friend, she kept pushing me away! And she seemed way more interested in you than anything else, especially when she was left alone in town.”

Dash’s nose wrinkled when she looked away from Pinkie. However, the party-mare either didn’t notice her friend’s reaction, or did and decided that it wasn’t enough to stop talking. “And since you mentioned how close the two of you were back in Flight Camp, it seems like maybe Gilda saw you as a reeeeealllllly close friend. I mean, it would totally explain why she was more willing to hang out with you alone than with any of us! Heck, she even tried to pull you away from us all to herself!”

Even though she really didn’t want to give in to Pinkie’s assumptions, Rainbow had to admit that her friend wasn’t completely wrong. She remembered that Gilda did try to spend a lot of time with her, mostly for one-on-one flying duels like back in camp. And when she heard about how Gilda acted after she left, most of the ponies that the Gryphon interacted with agreed that she acted apathetic or hostile, like she was waiting for something and growing thin with patience. While the Pegasus didn’t want to come to a conclusion like that, she couldn’t deny that Pinkie might’ve had a point.

Pinkie’s head tilted when she added, “Orrrrr, maybe she was just super shy, and wasn’t comfortable with being around more than one pony.”

With that, Rainbow just sighed and shook her head. “I… I dunno…” After a brief moment, she turned her head back to Pinkie and Fluttershy. “I... think I just need to think things over a bit more. Like… alone, I mean.”

Fluttershy nodded and walked away from her first. “I understand, Rainbow…”

“Me too!” piped Pinkie with a salute. Of course, as she hopped off of the couch and walked away from Dash, she still shouted out in a carefree tone, “But just know that we’re gonna be in Canterlot soon, so I wouldn’t think about Gilda’s possible lesbian crush on you for too long!”

“PINKIE!” shouted the cyan pony before looking around with a hint of worry. Fortunately though, since Twilight was still looking angry enough to throw a random punch out of nowhere, most of the attention from the others was focused on her instead of Pinkie’s statement. Nevertheless, Rainbow still groaned before settling back in her seat, just in time to see Canterlot Castle make an appearance over the horizon.

Even with Twilight Sparkle’s notoriety and fame, along with the shared success of her older brother’s, that didn’t keep Twilight Velvet or Night Light from moving from the quaint suburban neighborhood just at the outskirts of Canterlot. As Twilight and Spike walked alongside their friends down the near-empty streets, the only other ponies out at the moment were a mailpony making his rounds, an ice-cream vendor heading towards the park, and a small group of fillies playing hopscotch on the sidewalk. Aside from that, nothing much stood out from the rows of identical houses behind manicured lawns, and only the numbers on the doors indicated the greatest difference between them. In a way, this neighborhood’s monotony and boredom gave a fairly good background to how Twilight’s foalhood must’ve been around here.

Of course, Twilight still had an irritated scowl on her muzzle as she walked in the lead. And due to her silence since leaving the train, none of her friends tried to say anything in risk of setting off the powder-keg that might blow at any moment. By the time they reached the surprisingly nice-looking house at the end of the cul-de-sac, Spike and the other five elements kept a respectable distance when they followed the Alicorn walking to the door.

After a couple of knocks, Twilight took a breath to calm herself when she heard her Mother’s hoofsteps from the other side. “Okay, okay,” said the Princess to herself in an attempt to stay tranquil, “just keep a level head, Twilight. You’re not here to make a scene, you’re just here to make sure your Mom is informed. Nothing weird about that.”

“Ummm… Twilight?” asked Spike worriedly. “You’re talking to yourself again.”

Twilight groaned, and was just about to turn her head when she heard the doorknob turn. When Velvet opened the door, she seemed rather surprised to see her daughter, along with Spike and their friends. “Twilight?!” Of course, after a brief moment of shock, the off-white mare smiled and hugged the Alicorn sweetly. “Honey, what on Earth are you doing here?! This is such a surprise, even for you!”

Twilight was able to smile long enough to hug her Mother back, but her expression turned firmer after pulling away. “Well, Mom....” Her lips pursed together for a second as her eyes narrowed on Velvet. “I was told by my friends that they saw you with a… new girlfriend?”

Velvet’s eyes shot wide open before making a guilty sigh. “Oh, honey…” Her shoulders slumped down a little when her tone turned more apologetic. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about her, but I couldn’t really find the right time to do so. Plus, I didn’t want to tell you on your big day and… steal your thunder, you know?”

“Told ya,” said Spike from a distance with a smirk.

Twilight glared back at him before returning her focus on Velvet. “Well, I’m not upset about that, Mom. However, I wanted to talk with you about her, because we actually--”

Before Twilight could finish her rehearsed statement, she was interrupted from Gilda’s voice calling out from inside the house. “Yo, Vel! We’re out of cream cheese frosting!”

“What the!” Velvet turned back into the house with a look of shock. “Again?! I just bought that yesterday! What are you doing, eating out of it like a pudding cup?!”

A small bout of silence passed before Gilda replied with, “Uhhhh… Should I not?”

Velvet just groaned and rubbed her forehead with a hoof. “Ughhhh… I swear,” she muttered under her breath, “What is it with her and that stuff…”

Twilight Sparkle was just about to try and catch her Mom’s attention when Gilda walked up to the doorway as well. “I don’t see why you’re complaining about it. It’s not like I’m bringing it in the bedroom anymo--OH!” Upon seeing the Princess at the door, the Gryphon dropped her empty can of frosting as her posture tightened. “Er, ummm… P-Princess Twilight, I…”

Gilda’s sight turned past the Alicorn when she noticed Rainbow Dash behind her. “What the!” She pointed a talon towards the Pegasus angrily. “What the hay are YOU doing he--”

Her statement was immediately stopped when she saw Pinkie as well, which just made her angrier. “And YOU!!”

While the pink mare flinched back a little out of fear, Gilda blinked repeatedly when she recognized more of the group. The Gryphon paused as she scanned everypony from the doorway, the gears in her head clearly turning. “What the… why are you…”

When she looked back towards Twilight, it was Gilda’s turn to flinch she noticed the Alicorn’s obviously strong stare on her. Staying frozen in position, it took several seconds before the realization began to set in. As her eyebrows raised slowly, Gilda could only say one thing when she came to the conclusion of why Twilight was here. “Oh… crap.”

Even though the home of Twilight Velvet and Night Light was fairly spacious, there was barely enough room for the seven mares in the living room, not to mention the Gryphon and the baby dragon. But still, while Velvet and Gilda were together in the loveseat, Twilight and Spike were seated across from them in each of the two armchairs, while the remaining five mares were crammed on the couch that was perpendicular to them. Of course, despite the lack of comfort, both from lack of space and from growing tension, the semi-circle that was arranged in the living room made it so everyone could see Gilda’s uneasy expression by the time Twilight finished her story.

Gilda, who was easily a foot taller than her marefriend, was still hunched low enough to match Velvet’s height while carrying a textbook-level cringe on her face. Velvet, on the other hoof, took a long moment to let her daughter’s recollection sink in, and then turned to the Gryphon with a less-than-savory expression of her own. “Well… I don’t believe you mentioned that little story to me.”

Even though she looked uncomfortable, Gilda still gave off a small scoff pointed away from the older mare. “Hey, it wasn’t like I thought it was relevant or anything.”

“Oh really?” asked Velvet with both brows raised. “You didn’t think an interaction like that involving my own daughter wasn’t relevant?”

Gilda quickly turned back to Velvet in defense. “Well, it wasn’t like I KNEW that was your daughter! I didn’t even think it was the same mare back then!”

Everyone looked at the Gryphon with confused stares like she just spoke fluent Zebrican. While Twilight could only blink with her mouth slightly open, Spike was able to speak on her behalf. “Ummm… no offense, but how the heck could you not remember meeting Twilight Sparkle?”

Gilda growled in annoyance and pointed talon towards the drake. “Okay, listen, little dragon-guy! It was a long time ago, and she didn’t even have her wings back then! It’s not like I could instantly remember every pony I saw that day! Besides, a lot of you mares look alike.”

“Excuse me?!” shouted Rarity from the middle of the couch.

Velvet leaned forward in her seat to address the other unicorn. “It’s not like that, Miss Rarity! Gilda is from a different culture. Ponies aren’t as easy to recognize for her.”

Before Gilda could give a slight smile in appreciation, the option was vanished as soon as Velvet set her focus back towards the Gryphon. “But even with that in mind, it doesn’t excuse how you acted that day!”

Gilda sighed and rolled her eyes. “So, they caught me on a rough day, so what? Does that really make ME the bad guy here?!”

Rainbow Dash finally spoke up while seated at one end of the couch. “How are you NOT?! You acted like a complete jerk at that party!”

“Yeah, after all of YOU pulled pranks on me and humiliated me in front of the entire town!” With the way Gilda leaned forward in her seat while glaring at the group on the couch, all of them flinched in fear that she was going to lunge at them with talons drawn. “You really expect me to be all chipper and smiling after being treated like that?!”

“Now, wait a minute!” Pinkie Pie decided to respond to the Gryphon by reminding her, “All those pranks were placed around the party randomly! You just happened to get them before anypony else could!”

Gilda rolled her eyes with obvious skepticism. “Oh, yeah. Sure they were...”

Velvet’s eyes narrowed on her when she said in a warning tone, “Gilda…”

“Okay, okay,” said Dash as she tried to get the discussion back on track. She pointed a hoof towards Fluttershy who was next to her. “Even IF those dumb pranks triggered you or something, that doesn’t justify making a scene about them, and then trying to make me choose between you or the rest of my friends! Or for yelling at Fluttershy BEFORE that party and making her cry!”

Gilda stared at Dash like she just said something completely pointless. “Oh, you're going to bring THAT up?! So she walks down the middle of the main street backwards like a dingus, and I’M the jerk for pointing it out?!”

“Pointing it out?! You ROARED at her, and made her leave the street sobbing!”

“Yeah!” added Applejack as her tone tuned the angriest. “And that also don’t excuse nearly givin’ my Granny a heart attack back at that apple stand! Or for stealin’ one of our apples without paying!”

“Wait, what?!” Gilda blinked several times, looking fairly confused at that detail added to the discussion. “How would you know about THAT?! Were you all spying on me that day or something?!”

Pinkie made a meager shrug and raised her hoof. “Well… I kinda was…”

The Gryphon’s jaw dropped, and her expression grew much more offended than before. She made a huff before turning her head away and saying sarcastically, “Oh! Well let me apologize, then!”

Pinkie immediately perked up with a smile. “Apology accepted!”

“I DIDN’T MEAN IT YOU PINK STALKING WEIRDO!”

While Pinkie pulled back into her seat with a shocked look, Twilight leaned in towards Gilda with a nasty glare. “Gilda, you are already getting on my bad side, so you should not make it any worse.”

“Twilight, honey,” interrupted Velvet with a raised hoof towards her daughter. “Please don’t make this any worse.”

Twilight took a moment to look back at her Mother, and let her statement sink in before sighing and pulling back with a nod. Velvet took a breath and looked around the room. “Alright then. I think it’s clear that tensions are high because of some unresolved conflicts that arose a while back. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t act civil about it now.”

Looking around, Velvet was happy to see that despite some unsavory expressions, all of the mares, as well as Spike, were able to acknowledge her statement and nod in agreement. Pleased that she could have a less hostile environment in her living room, Velvet settled in her seat before continuing. “Now, I think the best thing to do is to discuss what happened, and then come to an agreement how things went. So, let’s give Gilda the chance to speak first, without any interruption.”

After a few seconds passed, Gilda made sure that nopony had anything else to say before clearing her throat. “Umm… thanks Vel,” she began awkwardly. She then turned her attention back to the rest of the group as her expression became more annoyed. “Well… honestly, I feel like I’m being ganged-up right now! Because when I think back to what happened that day, all I can think of is how I pretty much got bombarded with crap the instant I got into Ponyville! All I wanted to do was spend some time with Dash, and that weirdo stalker next to her couldn’t take the friggin hint that she wasn’t needed around! I don't think I did anything wrong!”

“What?!” shouted Pinkie, seemingly forgetting about her agreement to not interrupt earlier. “What are you talking about?! Rainbow wasn’t complaining about me hanging out at all!”

“Yeah!” added Rainbow Dash, her eyes narrowing on Gilda in slight suspicion. “YOU were the only one who complained about anything! And even when I tried to introduce you to my other friends, all you did was shut them down! All that YOU wanted to do was spend time with me alone. Of course, now I’m starting to wonder why that is…”

Catching the Pegasus’s tone from that last sentence, Gilda narrowed her eyes as well. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Fluttershy quickly turned towards Rainbow Dash in worry. “Ummm… Rainbow? Are you sure this is something you want to bring up?”

“No, I’m curious,” continued Dash as her focused stayed solely on the Gryphon. “Why is it that you wanted to spend time with only ME, huh? Pinkie and I both tried to welcome you into town, and all you did was try to stick with me and nopony else! Is there a certain reason why you wanted me alone?”

Gilda instantly caught on to Rainbow’s intentions, and her eyes shot wide-open in fury. “What?”

Despite the fact that it looked like Gilda was about to slash her throat open, the cyan mare continued in a more insistent tone. “No, really. I wanna know, Gilda. Why was it that you wanted to have me to yourself, huh? Is it the same reason you made sure the doors were closed when you showed up to my house?”

Velvet intervened before Gilda could go ballistic, “Okay, Rainbow Dash! I think you’re stepping way out of bounds with these--”

“OH, SO THAT’S WHAT YOU THINK?!” roared the Gryphon as she shot out of her chair, making everyone else jump back in a panic.

Before Rainbow could get out of her couch, Gilda got right up to her face with a snarl that could make milk curdle. “You REALLY think that I decided to travel all the way from Gryphonstone to visit you for THAT?! Are you really so bucking dense, that you couldn’t actually consider the idea that I wanted to see you because you were my friend?! That you were the first real friend I made back in Cloudsdale?! That maybe I wanted to hang with you because you were the only pony that didn’t see me like I was some gigantic freak!?!”

While Rainbow laid hunched on her corner of the couch, her wide-eyed silence was enough to point out that she immediately regretted her decision. “U-uhhhh… I…”

Gilda rolled her eyes in disgust and turned away, still shouting in a more sarcastic tone, “Oh, I guess not! Apparently, since I have a marefriend NOW, that means that I NEVER wanted to just be friends with a girl in the first place, right?! It’s not like I wanted to be your friend because you treated me like I was normal! Oh, NO… Apparently, according to you, finding out who I’m dating means that I ONLY wanted to be with you to munch on your friggin--”

“HEY!” stopped Twilight in an instant, not wanting Gilda to finish that statement in front of the baby dragon. “Gilda, you made your point! That wasn’t an appropriate assumption, that that doesn’t mean--”

“No! You know that?! I’m done here!” Gilda then stormed out of the living room, leaving everyone in the dust as she stomped up the stairs. “If that’s how I’m going to be treated, than I’d rather keep to myself! AGAIN!!!”

The sound of the attic door being opened and slammed shut was all that followed, leaving a pregnant bout of silence to linger in the living room. Velvet, who was looking down at the carpet with a heavy frown, made a small huff before getting out of her seat and walking to the kitchen. “Twilight, I really want to talk with you alone.”

After Velvet disappeared, Twilight cringed hard, not seeing her Mother that upset since the aftermath of the Changeling Invasion. But before she could follow her Mother’s order and go into the kitchen, the Alicorn got out of her seat and turned to Rainbow Dash with a firm stare. “Rainbow, you need to up upstairs and talk with Gilda.”

“WHAT?!” asked the Pegasus in a shocked tone. “After what just happened?!”

“Especially after what just happened! You made a REALLY dumb assumption about her, and you need to apologize to her for that!”

Rainbow wanted to say something in defense, but she honestly knew that she couldn’t. With her shoulders slumped in guilt, Dash sighed softly with a pained expression. “I… really doubt that she’s gonna talk to me.”

Even though Twilight shrugged in agreement, she still stood her ground by replying, “Well, you have a better chance than any of us.”

Dash took a moment to contemplate before nodding, knowing that Twilight was ultimately right. “I… yeah, I probably do…”

After taking a deep breath, the Pegasus pulled herself out of the couch and slowly went towards the stairs. Twilight looked to the rest of the group and said, “Just… just stay here for the time being, alright? I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

Everyone nodded silently, not wanting to argue with the Princess as she headed back to the kitchen where Velvet was. While the four remaining mares stayed on the couch, and Spike sat in the armchair next to them, the uncomfortable silence lasted for a while until Fluttershy finally spoke.

“So, ummm… this was a little awkward…”

Chapter Five: Clearing the Air (Part 1)

By the time Twilight Sparkle made her way into the kitchen, Rainbow Dash was already up the stairs to the second floor of Velvet and Night Light’s house. The Pegasus was planning to just check which of the rooms Gilda may have stormed off to, but her attention quickly went towards the large rope that hung in the middle of the hallway first. Looking up to the ceiling, Dash was able to see that the rope was connected to the attic door, which prompted her to huff and speak upwards. “Hey, Gilda! Are you up there?”

The Gryphon shouted from the closed attic door,“Get lost!”

Since she couldn’t blame Gilda for responding like that, Rainbow sighed in slight guilt before saying, “Listen, I…” Her head turned away as she paused and bit her lip in contemplation. Despite knowing that she needed to say it, the Pegasus hated that she needed to apologize towards Gilda for something first. Nevertheless, she merely sighed before biting the bullet. “I’m sorry about what I said, alright? That was a dumb thing to assume, and I didn’t mean it.”

Only silence came from the ceiling. After waiting a long moment a anything, Dash huffed and added, “Gilda, come on! I’m being honest here!”

Keeping her eyes on the attic door, the Pegasus sat herself on the floor so she could wait more comfortably. That was when the door finally opened a little, and Gilda’s pissed-off glare could be seen peeking through the gap. Rainbow kept a sincere expression on her face as she looked up at the Gryphon. “Seriously, I really am sorry. That was a stupid thing to say, and I’d be just as mad as you if it was the other way around. I just… I was surprised to find out you had a girlfriend, that’s all.”

Gilda’s golden eyes narrowed on the mare for a moment, obviously looking for any signs of dishonesty from her. Fortunately, the Gryphon sighed before responding, “Well, I suppose I can accept that. Now if you don’t mind buzzing off--”

She then began to close the attic door, which prompted Dash to shoot up from the floor to try and keep the gap open with her hooves. “Hey, wait a minute!”

The Gryphon struggled to close the door, and groaned in frustration when Rainbow refused to be shut out. “Urgh, what do you want?! You already said you’re sorry, and right now I just want to be by myself!”

Rainbow struggled with the door, not wanting to let this go despite understanding the Gryphon’s point. “Well, can’t we at least talk about this a bit?”

“Talk about what a bit?!” asked Gilda more angrily. “Seriously, what’s there to talk about?”

With her hooves still holding the door open, Dash rolled her eyes and said sarcastically, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you’re banging my best friend’s Mom?!”

Gilda’s eyes shot open in stronger disdain, and she tried to pull up the attic door with one hard thrust. Luckily, Dash was able to counteract the Gryphon’s pull by putting all of her weight on the door before adding, “Okay, okay, that wasn’t a good way to say it. But I do want to talk with you about this!”

Another irritated growl escaped Gilda’s beak. “Well, I think you overstayed your welcome the LAST time you tried to talk to me! Why are you so friggin’ insistent on talking with me about this anyway?!”

“Because despite what happened before, you still used to be a really good friend to me! And maybe I want to try to understand, so maybe you and I can be on good terms again!”

Gilda paused as she looked down at Dash in silence. Her brows were raised in legitimate surprise at the mare’s answer. After a quick moment, Rainbow made sure that Gilda wasn’t going to interrupt her before adding, “Besides, when Twilight found out that her Mom was dating you, she got legitimately upset JUST because she remembered how you were back at that party! And I don’t want her to keep acting that way, so maybe learning about this can help me get her on better terms with you.”

The Gryphon didn’t say anything, but the way that her closed beak was skewing was enough evidence that she was at least thinking about Dash’s claim. Even though she still seemed upset, Gilda took a moment before making a tired sigh. “Oh, fine…”

Gilda grumbled as she walked away from the entrance to the attic, leaving the door open for Rainbow Dash to follow. After going up into the space and closing the door behind her, Dash’s eyes widened when she looked around the attic for the first time. “Whoa…”

Since she expected the place to just be a standard attic, with bare wood or fiberglass along the ceiling and old boxes everywhere, Rainbow was fairly surprised to see that it was basically a nice apartment above the house. Along with the ceiling being fully insulated and finished, there was a stylish purple carpet along the floor, and all the amenities needed for the Gryphon to stay up here independently. A large bed was at the corner of the space, along with a couch, a large refrigerator, a record player with an impressive music collection beside it, several posters of metal bands on the walls (and a large Gryphon Kingdom flag hanging from the slanted ceiling above her bed), and even a separate room at the other end of the attic which Dash assumed was the bathroom. Of course, what surprised the Pegasus even more was how clean the room was, with the only sign of trash being from the several empty cans of cream cheese frosting sticking out from the small wastebin.

“Man,” uttered the mare in an impressed tone as she looked around, barely noticing Gilda grabbing something from the fridge “Twilight’s parents know how to treat a guest.”

“Well, I’m more of a tenant than a guest,” responded Gilda while using a talon to swipe the cap off the beer bottle in her claw. “I’ve been living here for a few months now. I still pay rent and stuff, but it’s way cheaper than any other place in Canterlot.”

“Wait, really?” asked Dash in surprise. Even though she figured the Gryphon might be sleeping here from time to time due to her relationship with Velvet, she didn’t think she was a legitimate houseguest.

“Yeah. When I first met Vel, some guys were messing with her after she left some bar I was vending nearby.” Gilda took a swig from her bottle before continuing. “I didn’t want that crap near my business, so I tried to make them buzz off. I ended up having to get my claws dirty after they tried to pester me, and she offered a room for rent after taking me out to lunch.”

Rainbow made a small huff with a smirk. “Heh heh… Just like Flight Camp, huh?”

Gilda was able to make a small snicker in response before finishing her bottle. “Yeah, I suppose...“ Of course, after tossing her bottle into the wastebasket with ease, the Gryphon grew a more irritated scowl which pointed towards Dash. “Of course, I didn’t do it to sleep with her or anything. Just like I didn’t do that for you.”

Rainbow’s ears slumped down as she sighed in guilt. “Y-yeah… I really am sorry.”

Gilda rolled her eyes as she slumped onto her bed. “Whatever. I’m just saying that I didn’t really expect any of this to happen either. It just sorta… did.”

Catching the shrug that Gilda made during that last part, one of Rainbow’s brows raised in confusion. “Ummm… how?”

“I don’t know!” blurted the Gryphon as she looked up at her with her claws raised. “It’s not like I ever thought I’d be with a mare or anything! I mean, one day we were hanging out a lot, and the next day we were...” Thinking it over, Gilda seemed even more bewildered as she looked down at the floor with a huff. “Man… Granda Gruff would flip if he knew about this.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her technicolor mane with a hoof as she nodded with a smirk. “Yeah, I guess so…” After a few seconds, the mare bit her lip before adding with a sigh, “But… yeah, I shouldn’t have thought what I did.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” stated Gilda with a stronger tone of anger in her voice. Before Rainbow could say anything else, the Gryphon leaned forward on her bed and asked her, “Like, was seeing me with Vel the ONLY reason why you thought that?! Because I figured we were good enough friends before that to make any idea like that seem stupid!”

“I know, I know,” said Dash sincerely as she shook her head with a wince, “and that was a stupid thing to think. I just didn’t expect you with someone like Velvet.” After thinking about it for another brief moment, the mare made a stronger frown before adding, “Just like I didn’t expect you to act the way you did at Pinkie’s party.”

“Oh, COME ON!” shouted Gilda with another roll of her eyes. “Are you SERIOUSLY still getting at me about that!? I already told you why I was upset!”

“But that doesn’t excuse how you acted!” retorted Dash with an angry tone of her own. “Seriously, you can’t act like you were the victim after pulling all that stuff during AND before that party!”

“So what?! I can’t say that someone was annoying the crap out of me when I just wanted to spend time with you!?” Gilda got off of her bed so she could be standing at a height taller than Rainbow’s. “All I wanted to do was catch up with you, and she couldn’t take the friggin’ hint!”

“Then why didn’t you just SAY something about it?!” asked Dash, her eyes pointing up at the Gryphon with an irritated glare. “It wasn’t like you said to me ‘Hey Dash, could you ask Pinkie to leave?’ or something! You just kept pushing her away when I was out of sight! You even messed with her flying machine thing when she was using it! How far up in the air was she when you did that, huh?!”

Gilda’s beak stayed shut, despite how upset she was getting. She took a few seconds before looking away with a low growl. “Okay, so I overreacted a bit, but--”

“A BIT?!” yelled Dash with her brows raised. “Did you even think that doing that could’ve killed her?!?”

“Alright!” shouted Gilda back at her. “Alright, I get it! That was a dumb thing to do while I was angry!” But before Dash could say anything else, the Gryphon pointed a talon at her and added nastily. “But that still doesn’t mean I should’ve gotten humiliated during that party!”

“It was all coincidence! We weren’t trying to humiliate you!”

Gilda narrowed her eyes and replied in a colder tone, “No, but making me leave alone still hurt, Dash.”

Even though she knew that Gilda was trying to make her feel bad, Rainbow merely paused for a second with her upset expression unchanged. “You were the one who left, Gilda. You weren’t able to take a joke, and you tried to use me as an ultimatum. It doesn’t matter how upset you were, doing that sort of thing isn’t cool!”

“Well, neither is being the town’s punching bag! I never asked to have any big party or celebration! All I wanted to do was hang out with you! Is that too damn much to ask?!”

“And you thought that making me ditch my friends was a good solution!?”

With the way that the Gryphon’s face soured up, Rainbow was secretly grateful that the attic might have been more soundproof due to the insulation installed. But before Gilda could raise her voice and get even angrier at her, the Pegasus pointed a hoof at her to say, “The reason I threw that party for you was because you were my friend, Gilda! You were always there for me, so I wanted to help Pinkie with that party so I could show that to you! And I put all those pranks around the place because that was what you and I did all the time back at Flight Camp! We always pranked other ponies, so I thought that would be a fun thing to add!”

The pony’s tone then got angrier when she added, “But even after all the trouble you caused with my friends and ponies around town, the biggest problem I had was that you were willing to just ditch me after all I did for you! I tried to be a good friend, and you threw away every chance I gave you when you decided to just flake out! Even if you just wanted to spend time with me, you could’ve done it without treating my friends like garbage! Because unlike you, I don’t ditch my friends for my own selfish needs!”

With the way Gilda was glaring at her, Dash almost expected a clenched claw to be barreling straight towards her face. Nevertheless, instead of Gilda going into a furious tirade, or even raising a claw against the Pegasus, she merely took a second before her brows raised a little. Like something just clicked to make her glare at Dash strongly.

“Oh.” The Gryphon narrowed her eyes on Rainbow, but surprisingly didn’t raise her voice when she asked quizzically, “So you’re telling me that you never ditched a friend, huh?”

Even though she was slightly confused at Gilda’s uncharacteristic response, Rainbow kept her voice firm with her answer. “Yeah, I’m telling you that! Just because I didn’t leave with you at Sugar Cube Corner doesn’t mean that I ditched you, Gild--”

“Oh, no, no, no,” When she interrupted Dash, Gilda shook her head with her eyes giving the most condescending stare towards the Pegasus. “I wasn’t going to talk about that, Dash…”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes back at Gilda, now growing more puzzled. The Gryphon then asked with a small tilt of her head, “But I was just wanting to clarify that little statement. So you never ditched any of your pony friends?” Her brows raised as she added, “You sure about that?”

Now looking at Gilda with a mix of confusion and slight concern, Rainbow didn’t hesitate to answer sternly, “Yes. I’m sure. And I don’t know what you’re implying with that tone, but this doesn’t change how you acted!”

“Oh, no. Of course not...” Gilda then walked away from the pony to head back to her fridge, still speaking in a sarcastically callus tone. “If you say that you never acted as bad as I did, then why should I deny that? After all, you never did anything as bad as me.”

As Gilda got out another beer, Rainbow’s patience was starting to grow thin. “Okay, what are you getting at? YOU were the one who left!”

“Yeah, and you said that you never did that yourself.” After turning back around to face Dash, Gilda’s tail swooped up to close the fridge door shut. With her eyes pinned on Rainbow like a lion tracking its prey, Gilda swiped the cap off her bottle without even looking. “I have a quick question, though…”

Gilda then took a hearty swig from her drink, her eyes never looking away from the Pegasus when she finally pulled the bottle from her beak. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t you one of the bridesmaids at Shining Armor’s wedding?”

Rainbow Dash pulled her head back a little with a baffled look on her face, not understanding why the Gryphon asked that. “Ummm… yeah. I was. But I don’t see why--”

Her magenta eyes instantly shot wide open, realizing in a millisecond why Gilda was staring at her with such a dark smirk on her beak. While Rainbow stood in a frozen state, Gilda replied with her brows fully raised.

“Oh, really? Huh. That’s interesting, Dash. Because I’ve talked a LOT with Velvet in the past few months, and she told quite a story about something that happened before that wedding!”

The mare took a step back from her, her expression beginning to grow a hint of worry from the way she kept her muzzle pinned shut. Unable to say anything to stop her, Dash could only listen as the Gryphon continued condescendingly. “Because apparently, a lot of ponies were told about an invasion coming from her daughter, but no one seemed to listen. You happen to know anything about that, Dash? Because I think a few of the bridesmaids were told about it before they left her."

Rainbow Dash averted her eyes from the Gryphon as her muzzle scrunched in, only able to say in a bitter mumble, “Sh-shut up…”

“Oh, but nooooo…” Gilda moved in closer, her voice becoming more sarcastic and bitter as she kept egging her on. “You said that you never ditched a friend, right? So obviously you weren’t there, were you? Oh, of course not, because that would imply that you did something bad, like abandoning someone after they got disowned by their brother!”

With the way she clenched her teeth and looked up at Gilda with a menacing snarl, Rainbow almost looked like she was going to kill her at the spot. “Shut… up…”

“Oh, of course, of course.” Gilda turned away for a moment to pace around the room slowly, but continued to keep going without looking back at the furious mare. “Because according to you, I’M the bad one here! Because, yeah, leaving a party and hurting a few feelings is FAR WORSE than leaving your best friend alone with a Changeling Queen, am I right?”

“Shut up!” shouted Rainbow, as her tone of tone of voice became more raw than before.

“I mean, Twilight could’ve easily been killed the instant she was left alone, and all those bridesmaids wouldn’t have even known if she had. No, they would’ve just gone on with her brother’s wedding, like she didn’t even matter to them--”

“SHUT UP!!”

“Oh, but why?” asked Gilda with a disdainful tone as she looked back at her. “Because you just said that you never ditched a friend, right? So obviously you weren’t one of the mares who left Velvet’s daughter to DIE, were you?!”

Dash turned away from the Gryphon, leaving Gilda to keep going while yelling at Dash’s back. “Of course, even if you WERE one of the bridesmaids who left her like a total BITCH, I would STILL be the bad guy here, right?! Because it doesn’t matter that you abandoned your ‘best friend’ to rot in a dungeon so you could wear a dress, I’M apparently WAY worse because I walked out of a party!!”

Rainbow Dash screamed with her back turned to Gilda, “SHUT!! UP!!”

“But no, keep going, Dash! Tell me how I’M the bad one for leaving you!! Because apparently, the Element of Loyalty knows more about how to be a good friend than I do!!”

In a flash of blinding fury, Rainbow couldn’t take anymore as she turned around to lunge at the Gryphon, getting in her face as she screamed at the top of her lungs,

“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”

For the first time, Gilda reeled back a little in surprise from how the Pegasus reacted. Of course, it wasn’t from how loud the mare got, or even how furious she looked while doing it.

It was because of the tears that were trailing down Rainbow Dash’s cheeks.

The Gryphon only saw them for a moment before Dash turned back around, quickly wiping her face with a hoof so Gilda couldn’t see how she looked. But after a pregnant bout of silence, the only sound that came from Rainbow were a couple of light sniffs before she stated faintly. “You… you made your point, okay? Just… just shut up…”

After blinking a few times, Gilda looked down at the floor with a small slump of her shoulders. Even though she knew exactly what she was doing, the Gryphon wasn’t expecting a reaction like that from her former friend. Despite what Velvet mentioned to her, Gilda didn’t realize how much a moment like that could’ve hurt the ponies involved with that Changeling Invasion occurring.

Meanwhile, Rainbow desperately tried to keep herself from tearing up any more than she already had. While she couldn’t blame Twilight’s parents for being upset at her or the others for that Wedding Rehearsal, she couldn’t believe that Gilda was told about that moment. Not wanting to even look at the Gryphon, Dash just kept her eyes shut as she took several deep breaths, hoping to Celestia that Gilda wasn’t going to continue berating her for the worst decision she ever made in her life.

As the seconds passed, Gilda’s shame began to grow when she saw just how hurt Rainbow looked. Thinking back to how close the two were back in Flight Camp, the last thing that Gilda ever thought she would do was make one of her few friends actually cry. Of course, even though she knew she went too far, Gilda also couldn’t just let what she said slide without a reason. So, after a deep sigh, the Gryphon spoke towards Rainbow in a less intense, but still firm tone. “I’m just saying, Dash. You can’t act like I’m the only one who ever made a mistake! I may have messed up once or twice, but don’t be acting like you’re Little Miss Perfect!”

The only response that Gilda got was a venomous glare when Dash looked back at her, which only emphasized the slightly matted fur underneath her eyes.

Gilda looked away from the sight as she groaned in realization, “Okay, this… this isn’t going well.”

Dash replied in a nasty tone “Oh, you think?!”

“But! But…” After rubbing her temple with her talons, Gilda exhaled as she tried to rectify the conversation. “I… I will admit that I… may have messed up back in Ponyville…”

“May?”

“You know what I mean!” snapped the Gryphon before pausing. After taking another breath, Gilda regained her composure enough to continue. “But yeah, I made some mistakes, alright? And even though I don’t feel like I was completely in the wrong, I… I can kinda understand if I did more stuff wrong than anyone else that day.”

Rainbow Dash just gave her a deadpan stare. “Are you seriously that bucking stubborn?”

“Hey, I’m trying here!” While she didn’t want to start yelling at the Pegasus again, Gilda knew she had to stand her ground as best as she could. “Even though I didn’t act my best, I still feel like the circumstances were a little against me back then! I don’t know about you, but I don’t know that many ponies who would take being humiliated in front of the entire friggin’ town!”

Before Dash could roll her eyes, Gilda added with a talon pointed at her, “And before you bring up that Pinkie again, I just wanna point out that she was pretty damn annoying!”

The cyan mare only gave Gilda a stronger glare with her lips pursed shut. In response, the Gryphon put up her claw as she added, “Oh, come on! Are you seriously going to tell me that when you first met her, that you didn’t find her to be at least a little bit annoying?”

Rainbow put out her hoof to make a statement, but turned silent when she opened her mouth. Even though she wanted to point out how Gilda was wrong, any statement that she could muster was paused when she actually tried to think it over. In actuality, she couldn’t deny that despite the Gryphon’s attitude, she wasn’t necessarily wrong; in fact, it wasn’t until just shortly before Gilda arrived at her house that Rainbow thought that Pinkie was pretty annoying as well. Of course, after another moment of thought, the mare shook her head as she finally answered, “Well… okay, she might be a bit tricky to get used to, but that does NOT excuse nearly killing her the way you did!”

Fortunately, Gilda was able to put her claws up in acceptance. “Alright, alright. I agree with you there.” After putting her claws back down, Gilda made a reluctant sigh and she looked down to the carpet in guilt. “It’s just that… when things don’t really go your way, then… it can be kinda hard to accept when you mess up. I mean… it can be hard to accept you failed a test if it’s in a subject you didn’t study for, right?”

Dash’s brows raised as she blinked a couple times, not expecting the Gryphon to say something like that in such a subdued tone. Meanwhile. Gilda sighed again as she kept speaking with her gaze pointed away from the pony. “I just… I just felt like I had a lot put against me, and… and that may have been a big part in how I felt about the whole thing. But… I do know that things could’ve gone a lot better on my part. I just… I had a hard time accepting that…”

Even with her beak being skewed in unease, the Gryphon looked back at Dash as she tried to speak from her heart. “Listen, I… I know I mess up a lot, and… I still have a lot do when it comes to being more acquainted with ponies other than you, but…”

With a slight blush appearing on her face, Gilda looked down at her claws as her tone turned more timid. “But I have to admit that… despite how weird it is to be with someone like Velvet, she really is a nice mare. I mean, she’s smart, and clever and stuff. Plus, she knows where to get sushi, which is really cool. And…”

Gilda’s beak grew a meager smile as her blush deepened, and she looked back up at the surprised Dash to finish her statement. “And… I kinda like her. Like, I don’t know if it’s gonna be serious or anything, but… she is a good friend to me. And… and I don’t want that to be messed up because I’m too damn arrogant to know when I made a mistake or two.”

When her smile dropped a little, Gilda closed her eyes to take a breath. “What I’m saying is…” She then reopened her golden eyes, looking at Dash with pure honesty. “I’ll admit it, alright? I screwed up, and I acted worse than anyone else. And… even though I don’t expect you to take me back as a friend, I just want to say… I’m sorry.”

Rainbow Dash only blinked in stunned silence, looking at Gilda like she just got replaced by a Changeling. After another long moment, Gilda huffed and added sympathetically, “Seriously, I… I don’t expect you to take me back or anything. But… I’m not lying about what I said.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Dash nodded weakly in understanding clearly knowing that the Gryphon was being honest despite her own shock. “I get that, it’s just… it’s kinda jarring to hear that, you know?”

“Yeah, I get it.” With her beak clenched shut in discomfort, Gilda looked back to the attic door as she realized what had to be done. “But, how about this?” She turned back to the Pegasus and asked, “If I’m willing to go down and apologize for what happened, do you… think things will be better?”

Rainbow looked down to her own hooves in thought, and waited a few seconds before answering honestly, “Well, I think they’ll be a little skeptical, but…” She then made a small exhale, and shrugged her shoulders when she looked back up at Gilda. “But to be fair, we kinda took Discord back, so I doubt believing you would be that hard.”

Gilda made a small chuckle (which was more like a hiccuped sigh) in agreement, and nodded in acceptance. “Yeah, that… probably does make sense. But… thanks.”

Dash nodded in return, despite her expression being fairly neutral in comparison. “Yeah… no problem…”

With that, the mare began to head back to the attic door, wanting to get back to her friends with Gilda in tow. However, before she could open the door, Gilda put out a claw to rest on her shoulder. “Wait, ummmm…”

When she looked back up to the Gryphon, Rainbow saw that she carried a fairly guilty look on her face. With her eyes pointed away from the mare, Gilda rubbed the feathers on the back of her head before opening her beak. “Before we go down, I… I just want to say that I’m… really sorry about that wedding stuff I said. I mean, I know I was trying to make you mad, but I didn’t mean to--”

Dash pressed her hoof against Gilda’s beak to shut her up. When the Gryphon looked back towards her, Rainbow had an especially strong glare on her when she said firmly, “All you did was make me mad, Gilda. That was it. Nothing else happened. Got it?”

Hearing the intensity in the Pegasus’s tone, Gilda was quick to nod in understanding. “Y-yeah. Exactly…”

After nodding back to her, Rainbow turned away to go towards the door again. But before she could reach for it, the mare sighed painfully with a shake of her head as she muttered under her breath, “Ugh… I should’ve known Velvet still hated us for that…”

“What?” asked Gilda in slight surprise, and quickly shook her head and tried to grab Dash’s attention. “Oh, come on! No she doesn’t!”

When the mare gave a skeptical stare back at her Gilda, she huffed before adding, “What, you think I wouldn’t know that? She told me a lot about that day, but she also mentioned how Twilight already forgave you guys, so she and Night Light have as well.”

Dash blinked a few times in disbelief with her brows raised. “Wait, really?”

Gilda shrugged her shoulders. “Well, yeah. I mean, they used to be pissed, and I don’t blame them, but they also know you all had her back ever since then. It’s kinda hard to be mad at someone after they redeemed themselves several times over.”

Seeing the sincerity in Gilda’s face, Rainbow smiled with a shrug before going back to the door. “Well, thanks for telling me about that. It’s good to know they still don’t want to hit me or anything.”

With that choice of words, Gilda couldn’t help giggling with a smirk by the time Dash opened the attic door. “Well, it also helps that their daughter mentioned how you all tried to apologize to her.”

Before she could go down the stairs, Dash whipped her head back at Gilda while wide-eyed. “What?”

“What? Vel was drunk when she told me!” Even with her blush deepening, Dash quickly went back down the attic steps while Gilda spoke up. “So, is it true that you begged Twilight to punch you in the face?”

“WHAT?! N… no!” By the time Gilda went down the steps, she gave a waiting glance towards Rainbow while she waited by the stairs. With a shameful blush on her face to compliment her pout, the mare kept her head pointed away when she went down first. Of course, that wasn’t before muttering under her breath, “I didn’t beg for it.”

Nevertheless, the Gryphon still chuckled as she followed her, saying just loud enough for her to hear, “That means you totally did…”

“GILDA!”

Chapter Six: Clearing the Air (Part 2)

While Rainbow Dash was headed up the stairs, Twilight took a heavy breath while standing outside of the kitchen door. Even though the Princess had encountered dragons, hydras, shape-shifting armies, evil beings from Tartarus, and even the Embodiment of Chaos himself, she was still more worried now about having to talk with her own Mother. Nevertheless, after making a deep exhale, Twilight pushed the door open to walk inside. Unfortunately, the Alicorn also turned nervous when she saw her Mom seated at the kitchen table with an upset look on her face.

After her daughter put a noise-blocking spell around the kitchen and seated herself in the chair opposite to hers, Velvet sighed and asked, “Twilight, what were you trying to do here?”

Velvet’s daughter couldn’t help wincing when she heard how stern her Mom’s tone was. “Umm… W-well, I…” After a few seconds of awkward silence, Twilight sighed in defeat when she realized she couldn’t necessarily defend herself. “I don’t know. I just heard about you and Gilda, and I… thought I should talk with you about her.”

Seeing the look of shame on Twilight’s face, Velvet sighed as her firm expression softened a little. “Well, it doesn’t seem like you had much a plan before coming out here.”

Despite her Mother’s blunt tone, Twilight couldn’t deny the statement itself as she made a meager shrug. “Y-yeah… I can’t really say that I did.”

Noticing how guilty Twilight looked after that admission, Velvet’s expression softened a little. She waited a second before asking, “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what were you expecting would happen?”

Even though she knew that her Mother wasn’t trying to be mean with that question, it was still enough to make the Alicorn’s ears slump downward. In actuality, Twilight realized that she really didn’t have a good idea how this encounter should’ve ended. She was honestly so upset about Gilda being with her Mom, that all of the Princess’s thoughts were focused on the Gryphon as opposed to the relationship she had with Velvet. So, with her lips pursed shut, her gaze turned downward to the table before answering her Mother’s question. “I… I'm not sure I had a good conclusion.”

Velvet only nodded before saying, “Well, that’s kind of obvious, honey.” Of course, before her daughter could look even more morose about what has transpired, the older mare sighed and admitted while looking away, “But still… I suppose I can’t necessarily say I couldn’t understand your intentions. I mean, if I had a negative encounter with someone who turned out to be your partner, I doubt I would’ve acted too differently.”

Twilight brought her sights back up to her Mom with a slightly surprised expression. “Wait, really?”

“Well, yeah,” said Velvet, but her tone turned more judgmental when she added, “but I also wouldn’t have bought all of my friends to cause more drama than what was needed.”

Twilight sighed and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, of course. And to be honest, I think they just came along to make sure I didn’t act too out-of-line.”

One of Velvet’s brows arched up in surprise. “You? As opposed to what your friend Rainbow Dash said?”

Twilight quickly interjected, “Okay, I had NO idea she was going to say anything like that! And if I had known, I would’ve tried to talk her out of it, or at least put a sound bubble around her. I also told Rainbow Dash to go up and apologize to Gilda, so hopefully that will be settled.”

The unicorn nodded as she gave an appreciative smile, glad that her daughter added that last detail. She then sighed as she looked upward. “Well, I wish I knew how that’s going to go. I can’t necessarily blame Gilda for being peeved at her about what she said.”

“Me neither…” While she didn’t want to leave an awkward pause between them, Twilight couldn’t stop thinking more about what her Mother saw in someone like Gilda. Heck, even with some of the odd mares that her Mother had been with, Gilda would’ve still been a wildcard if she was a pony. So, with her head still flooding with thoughts and questions, the Princess decided to take initiative and move the conversation to where she wanted it to go. “But I have to ask, Mom. How in Equestria did this happen?! I mean, where did you two even meet?!”

Velvet sighed, seeing from her daughter’s insistence that she wasn’t going to let this go. So, the mare only responded with an understanding nod before making sure she was comfortable in her seat. “Well… To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a relationship I would’ve expected myself to be in.”

Twilight replied blankly, “Well, yeah. I sorta figured out that.”

“But…” With the way Velvet emphasized that word, she made sure that Twilight got the hint to keep silent before continuing. “Anyway… A few months back, I just finished proofreading the latest Daring Do novel for A.K. Yearling, so I decided to celebrate it with a few drinks at that Mare Bar I go to. You know the one, right?”

Twilight nodded and answered, “You mean the Johnson Bar?”

“That’s the one. Anyway, I left on my own when it got a little late, and on my way home, a couple of stallions who were much more intoxicated than I was started to say some things to me. I chose to ignore them, but that only made them angrier, and they came towards me and..” The mare shuffled in her seat a bit as her expression turned more upset. “... well, let’s just say some vulgar names were used.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as she instantly got angrier. If Velvet was implying what Twilight thought she was, she wasn’t afraid to make her tone apparent. “What?”

“However,” added Velvet with a raised hoof in an attempt to settle down her daughter, “Gilda happened to be nearby her vending cart, and came by to pull them away from me before it got physical. Of course, when one of them decided to push her, she reacted a little bit stronger than I would’ve.”

Twilight, now looking curious instead of angry, raised a brow as she asked, “So… how much stronger?”

Velvet looked away as she answered with a shrug of her shoulders. “Well… let’s just say the two ended up in the hospital for a while. I mean, they did call her some things as well, but still.”

Now both of the Alicorn’s brows were raised, looking legitimately surprised. Even though memories of that party were still in her mind, she had to admit that learning of Gilda protecting Velvet like that was fairly impressive. “Ummm… wow.”

“I agree,” said Velvet with a more relaxed smile. “Anyway, since she helped me out, I came to her cart the next day while she was making Gryphon Scones, and offered to take her out to lunch as a thank-you gift. Night Light and I treated her to that sushi restaurant by the post office, which she was really happy about since she didn’t even know about it. Well, during a little discussion and story-swapping, she mentioned that she was having issues with her landlord due to her old apartment having a roach issue. So, since Night Light and I just finished renovating the attic to be a space for rent…”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the realization of what her Mother was saying. “Wait… you mean Gilda is living here?”

“Well, yeah,” answered the unicorn casually. “I mean, your Father and I wanted to have it up for rent, and Gilda’s vending business was certainly profitable enough to ensure she was good for it. And to be perfectly honest, she’s been a great guest! She pays on time, helps out around the house, and hasn’t caused any issues in the months she’s been here.”

Looking at her Mother in stunned silence, Twilight could only blink a couple times as she let this new info sink in. Even though she and Shining both knew that their Dad was renovating the attic, she would’ve never expected that their first tenant would be Gilda. After looking down to her hooves for a moment, she finally decided to respond after some deep thought. “Well, alright. So... “ She looked back up at Velvet and asked, “When did Gilda become… more than a guest?”

Velvet bit her lip as she shrugged meagerly. “Ummm… about a month ago? Honestly, I’m surprised it happened the way it did.”

“How did it happen?” asked Twilight curiously.

“Ohhhhh no,” said Velvet dismissively as she quickly put her hooves up to stop Twilight’s question. “I already know that if I start to tell you, then you’ll stop me halfway through and say you don’t want to know.”

Twilight just made an annoyed sigh with a roll of her eyes. “Oh, come on, Mom! I’m not a little filly anymore.”

“That might be, but I still don’t think you want to know.”

“Well,” responded the Alicorn more insistently, “considering that Gilda acted totally rude and irresponsible the last time I met her, I’d like to have as much context as I can about your relationship with her.”

Even though Velvet didn’t seem pleased with that point, she still breathed out reluctantly and complied. “Oh, alright…”

The mare settled against the back of her chair for a moment before stating, “Well, it sort of happened out of boredom, to be honest. I didn’t have any stories to look through, and it was raining outside, so Gilda couldn’t use her vending cart for work. So, she was lying on the couch while I did some dusting around the living room. She was watching me for a while, and decided to joke about how I should be wearing a Prench Maid outfit. I brought up that I actually did have one in my closet, and she didn’t believe me. So, I took it out and--”

“GAAAHHH!!!” Twilight immediately cut her Mother off before covering her ears with her hooves. “Never mind! Never mind! I don’t want to hear any more!”

Despite not wanting to traumatize her daughter, Velvet still gave a small chuckle with a smirk as she said with crossed hooves, “I tried to tell you.”

Seeing her Mom’s response, Twilight pouted while slumped in her seat. She put her hooves back down before saying, “You know, you could’ve just told me the story was sexual.”

To that, Velvet replied in a snarky tone, “True, but you said yourself that you weren’t a filly anymore.”

Seeing how Twilight was giving her a bitter glare with an accompanying growl, Velvet decided to drop her smirk as she sighed. “I’m just trying to say, honey. What happened between me and Gilda wasn’t exactly planned or anything. It just sort of… happened. But even with that, the two of us really seem to click in a weird way.”

In all the years she knew her Mother, Twilight could honestly say that she never heard her say that she “clicked” with someone she was in a relationship with. So while her brows were raised in surprise, the Princess couldn’t really say anything while her Mom continued. “I mean, I know there might be some issues here and there, and I certainly want things between Gilda and your friends to be settled, but she really is a nice Gryphon once you get to know her. And…” Velvet took a quick moment before making a small shrug of her shoulders. “And… it’s really nice being with someone so different for a change. I don’t know if I can call it serious, but… who knows?”

Understanding Velvet’s point, her daughter could only nod in thoughtful silence. After looking down at the table between them briefly, Twilight pondered what was going on before turning her attention back towards her Mom. “So… what does Dad think about you with Gilda?”

“Oh, are you kidding?” asked Velvet as her tone turned more upbeat. “He loves her! She’s helped him a lot with renovation work around the house, and she’s one of the only ponies--er… Gryphons I can think of who can outdo him when it comes to dirty limericks! He loves her sense of humor, and he keeps comparing the two of us to some cheesy romance novel series he’s been obsessed with.”

Twilight looked at her Mom with a befuddled expression, despite the small smile on her muzzle from hearing what she said. Even though she knew that her Dad had a few jokes that could even make Rainbow Dash blush, the Alicorn would’ve never thought he would be someone that could be friends with Gilda. Of course, since she hardly knew the Gryphon that well, Twilight figured that there was probably more beneath the surface.

After taking Velvet’s response in, Twilight asked curiously, “Wait, which romance series?”

“Oh, I haven’t the slightest idea,” said Velvet apologetically. “All I know is that it’s ridiculously long, and took almost forty chapters until getting to a first kiss. I mean, know that your Father loves it to death, but I couldn’t see myself reading through it.”

Twilight raised a brow at her with a smirk. “Ummm… isn’t reading your job?”

“No, proofreading is my job,” stated the unicorn in correction. “Just like your Father judges ponies at his job in court. But even with that, he still sees Gilda as a perfectly acceptable guest in this home. And as a good partner for me.”

Twilight nodded her head in understanding, knowing that her Mom wasn’t going to budge from that point. However, after a brief pause, Velvet looked away from her daughter before adding in a more honest tone. “But… I am sure that he’d just as surprised as I am about what Gilda did.”

Twilight nodded again, and replied in a more polished tone of voice. “And that was ultimately why I came here in the first place. I wasn’t sure if you knew.”

“I know, honey,” said Velvet understandably, “and I don’t blame you for that. I just wish you showed up with a more level head. “

Twilight pursed her lips shut with an uncomfortable look on her face, and looked down at her lap with a guilty voice. “Yeah… I’ve heard that before…”

Catching her daughter’s tone, Velvet looked more uneasy for a brief moment. But before she could say anything else, the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice could be heard screaming from upstairs, “I SAID SHUT UP!!!”

Since the Alicorn forgot to put the sound cancelling spell on the ceiling, Twilight and Velvet both looked up at the ceiling in worry. But fortunately, no other noises followed that outburst. The two waited for a while, but then looked back at each other before Velvet said, “Well… that was a bit sudden...” After clearing her throat, Velvet caught her daughter's attention as she tried to break the silence. “Of course… even with what you told me about Gilda, which is a bit of a surprise, I really have to ask…”

When Twilight looked back up at her Mom, she noticed that the unicorn had a fairly skewed expression on her face. Velvet then finished her question while her shoulders were raised upward. “Do you really think that… what Gilda did was really that bad?”

The Princess’s eyes widened in an instant, and stared at her Mother in befuddlement. “Wait, seriously?”

“Well, really think about it,” said Velvet more insistently. “It’s clear that Gilda was already in an upset mood before that party. And you have to admit that your friend Pinkie can be a bit…” She paused briefly to think of a fitting adjective for her daughter’s friend. “... exuberant at times.”

Twilight shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “Well, that might be the case sometimes, but I don’t think that means Gilda should be excused for what happened!”

“And I don’t think that either,” added Velvet sternly. “However, if Gilda is able to give a fair apology for her actions, then I really don’t see any reason to make this any more dramatic than it’s already been. The past in the past, after all.”

Deep down, Twilight knew that nothing that her Mom said was wrong in the slightest. Nevertheless, the Alicorn still felt apprehensive enough to huff in refusal. “But… but it wasn’t like you were there, Mom! You didn’t see how she acted.”

Velvet made a small shrug, but still kept her sights on Twilight patiently. “That might be true, but I have seen how Gilda acted in the past few months. She might have a short fuse at times, but she’s also a very caring and protective Gryphon if her boundaries aren’t overstepped too often. And just like I didn’t see how she was at that party, you haven’t seen how she is since then.”

Twilight only blinked, not able to make a suitable reply while the silence between them grew. Meanwhile, Velvet looked away briefly as she bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something else that might not be savory to bring up. But after a long moment, she sighed before turning her sights back to her daughter. “Let me ask you something, honey. Are you upset with Gilda solely because of what she did? Because it feels like the only reason you came here to confront her about it is because she’s my girlfriend. And if she wasn’t, then how she acted at that party wouldn’t have made you that upset.”

The Princess stayed silent after her Mom’s insights, and averted her eyes from her momentarily. “Well, I… I don’t know…”

“Well, let me ask something else,” continued Velvet with both brows raised. “Can you honestly say that the Gilda acting like a jerk and leaving a friend alone is unworthy of forgiveness?”

After a long moment, Twilight turned back to Velvet in slight confusion. “Wait... what do you mean by that?”

Velvet waited a second as her expression turned a little more cautious. “Well… I don’t want to bring up old wounds, but it wouldn’t be like you haven’t forgiven certain others for that very thing happening before.”

Twilight’s eyes quickly widened, immediately realizing what her Mom was referring to. She made a painful sigh as she dropped her face into her hooves. “Oh, Mom! Please don’t bring that up!”

“I’m sorry, honey,” said Velvet sympathetically. She then added in an insistent and sincere tone, “I know I shouldn’t go there, and believe me, both your Father and I have forgiven your friends too. But you have to admit that how they left was a little more severe than--”

“They’re my FRIENDS, Mom!” shouted Twilight as she brought her gaze back to her Mom angrily. “And it wasn’t like Gilda was manipulated by a Changeling Queen!”

“No, but she didn’t leave her best friend alone with one either, did she?”

Twilight opened her muzzle to make a retort, but froze while her hoof was pointed at her Mother. While Velvet stood with a firm expression on her face, waiting for a response to her question, a few seconds passed before Twilight slowly pulled her hoof back. Her muzzle eventually closed without saying a word, replacing any answer with only a reluctant pout.

Velvet sighed and spoke in a less brash tone, “Look, I know this isn’t my place to judge, but I do feel that what happened between Gilda and your friends can be resolved a lot easier than… that. I mean, it’s clear that Gilda had her reasons to be upset that day, so it’s not like she did it for no reason. And I really do feel like she has it in her to make a sincere apology. You just have to give her that chance.”

Twilight took a deep breath as she looked back down at the table, only letting her Mom see her blink a couple times in response. Velvet’s horn illuminated, letting a pale blue aura of her magic lift up her daughter’s chin softly. She waited until Twilight was looking at her again before saying in a warm tone of voice, “Twilight, you’re one of the most caring and forgiving ponies I ever had the pleasure to know, and I know that’s one of the biggest reasons that Celestia made you a Princess. You were able to see the good in so many ponies before, and even beings like Discord! So… do you really think that it’s fair to dismiss Gilda for one little spat?”

Looking at the care and devotion in her Mom’s eyes, Twilight couldn’t help giving a slightly trembled smile before Velvet let her go. Settling back into her seat after Velvet’s magic dissipated, Twilight took a moment to contemplate, and sighed while shaking her head in understanding. “No. I… I guess that wouldn’t be fair, would it?”

Velvet smiled gratefully back at her. “That’s my girl.”

Giving an appreciative smile back at her Mother, Twilight thought about it for a while before opening her muzzle. “You… you really do like her, don’t you?”

While Velvet was surprised that she asked that, she was happy to respond in a chipper tone. “Well… yeah, I do. She’s really thoughtful, she cleans up after herself, and she’s obviously protective. Plus…” Thinking about it, Velvet let out a little giggle before adding with a blush, “She actually thinks that I’m ‘cool’, Twilight! She even once called me a… ‘Bad-Ass’.”

While the older mare giggled nautily at using that kind of term out-loud, her daughter only stared at her with a more confused look while blinking repeatedly. “Ummm… why would she call you that?”

Velvet, immediately remembering what happened to make Gilda say that about her, quickly closed her muzzle and looked away sheepishly. “Oh, nothing…”

Twilight began to grow suspicious. Her eyes narrowed in the unicorn as her head tilted slightly. “Mom…”

Despite it being her child, Velvet still felt a little uneasy at having an Alicorn staring her down. She kept her eyes pointed away from Twilight and spoke meekly, “W-well, I... may have been swapping some stories with her one night…”

Twilight’s eyes shot wide open in worry. “Mom… what did you tell her?”

Velvet’s face turned more guilty as she started to blush a little out of shame. Twilight didn’t want to ask, but she felt like it needed to be said. “Please don’t tell me you actually told Gilda about the Celestia incident!”

With her muzzle wrinkled in, Velvet slowly looked back at Twilight before admitting shamefully, “I was drunk.”

“MOM!” shouted the Princess in shock. “You seriously told her about the wedding?! You know that talking about that counts as High Treason, right?!”

“I know, I know!” said Velvet with her head in her hooves. “And believe me, I don’t feel proud about it. Even Night Light was upset I said anything about it…” After a small huff, she brought her head back up to add with a hoof pointed at Twilight, “And in my defense, I’m pretty sure that Celestia ignoring a potential warning during a time of high alert counts as Treason too!”

“It doesn’t mean you should tell everyone how you reacted to it!!”

“I did NOT tell everyone! It was only her that one time, and she knows better than to talk about it to anyone else!” Velvet then sighed and slumped back in her chair, looking away from her visibly upset daughter. “I really am sorry, Twilight. I know that I shouldn’t have done that, regardless of how much wine I had that night.” She then made a small exhale through her snout before looking back towards Twilight more optimistically. “Besides… it’s not like many ponies can actually say that they did that sort of thing and lived.”

Twilight groaned with a hoof against her temple. “Mom, slapping Celestia in the face is NOT something to brag about!”

While Velvet sat in silence, knowing that her daughter was right, Twilight could only practice breathing deeply to get rid of her growing tensions. Despite the fact that she completely understood how upset her parents were after that wedding (especially after finding out that Celestia actually lied to them before the wedding, and said that Twilight was ill and needed rest in her room), she was still unsure which fact she should’ve been more shocked by; that her Mom actually slapped a Demigoddess across the face before she could give the two a formal apology, or that Celestia herself wasn’t even fazed by it. She apparently just finished her apology to the two and let them leave unharmed (admittedly to the surprise of both the couple and the guards), and told Twilight later that she couldn’t blame Velvet in the slightest for her actions.

But as Twilight did her breathing exercises, Velvet waited momentarily before saying, “I… I was just saying that you’re not wrong, Twilight. I really do like Gilda. And yeah, I don’t know how serious it’s going to be. But for right now, I want to see how it goes, because she really is special.”

After making a deep sigh, Twilight was finally calm enough to look her Mom in the eyes again. Even though she didn’t feel like making a joke, the Princess still asked with a small smirk, “Oh? More special than Dad?”

“Oh, come on!” said Velvet with a giggle, clearly catching her daughter’s teasing tone. “You know just as well as Shining does that no matter what…”

Twilight was able to finish her Mom’s statement with hesitation, “Yeah, I know. That ‘no matter what, no one will ever match Dad’.”

“That’s right,” said Velvet with a smile. “Just like none of your Dad’s boyfriends have ever matched me.”

While Twilight and Velvet smiled and giggled more peacefully, the two overheard the attic door opening from upstairs, and the sounds of both Rainbow Dash and Gilda talking in seemingly calmer tones. When Twilight looked back to her Mother, she saw that she had an optimistic expression as she asked, “So… you think you’re able to take Gilda back?”

Twilight shrugged before replying, “Well, as long as she apologizes first.”

“Well, of course,” responded Velvet with a nod, “but believe me, honey, that Gryphon might look scary, but she’s a big softy behind that beak.” Thinking it over, her brows raised as she thought about that statement. “Speaking of which…”

Before Twilight could get out of her seat, she paused after hearing her Mom say that. “Umm… what?”

A small chuckle escaped the unicorn as a more randy smirk grew on her beak, and she looked back at Twilight to add, “Just between you and me, you should know that if you ever go to the Gryphon Kingdom, do not be shy. Gryphons can be quite a bit of fun, if you know what I mean.”

It took a couple seconds, but Twilight was able to read between the lines quickly enough to quickly shudder and jump out of her chair in revulsion. “UGH, Mom!”

“I’m serious, Twilight,” piped the cheeky mare as she got out of her seat as well. “I know I shouldn’t be saying this to you as your Mother, but from one mare to another, you REALLY should consider finding a Gryphon sometime! They will Rock. Your. World!”

“Ewww!” Twilight walked away with her horn lit. “I changed my mind! Gilda clearly IS a bad influence on you!”

Despite seeing how uncomfortable Twilight looked, Velvet couldn’t help giggling to herself. She was quick to add before Twilight brought down the noise-blocking spell in the kitchen, “Just saying, beak rhymes with freak for a reason.”

“GAH!!” Twilight took down the forcefield and stormed out of the kitchen. “Stop it!”

With that, Velvet made one last guilty laugh while alone in the kitchen, and took a breath of her own to calm herself down. “He he he… She certainly isn’t as open about that stuff as her Father is.”

Chapter Seven: The Resolution

Since Rainbow Dash was busy apologizing to Gilda, and Twilight Sparkle was occupied in the kitchen with her Mother, that left the other four mares (and Spike) completely alone in the living room with nothing to do. And aside from hearing a huge outburst from Rainbow Dash from upstairs, it was clear that the five would’ve been sitting awkwardly in silence if they didn’t find something to pass the time. Fortunately, while discussions were being made in the other parts of the house, Pinkie Pie knew the perfect way to lighten the mood for her and her friends. After all, when it came to making impromptu trips of any kind, what kind of party-pony wouldn’t have an emergency stock of games for unexpected bouts of boredom?

And as luck would have it, the pink mare had the perfect new game stocked in her mane: Good Bean or Bad Bean. Even though it was set to come out at stores next month, Pinkie was somehow able to snag one earlier than most other retailers, and figured her friends would be the best test subjects. So, while a large bowl sat at the middle of the coffee table filled with jelly beans, and a small roulette wheel was set beside it to determine which color was picked, Rarity kept score as the rest went into the final rounds.

“And it is…” Rarity’s magic spun the wheel, and she reviewed her tallies as the arrow moved quickly. Judging by the scores, it seemed that Spike and Applejack had the best chance of winning. Even though the unicorn wasn’t ecstatic about only keeping score (or trying to detract from what was going on elsewhere in the house), she preferred it over sitting in silence, or dealing with the possibility of eating a booger-flavored jelly bean again. So because of that, Rarity was slightly relieved for her own sake when she saw where the arrow landed. “Ugh… brown.”

Pinkie seemed excited, but the other three looked less than willing to get a brown jelly bean from the bowl. According to the box, brown meant one of two flavors, with one being unanimously seen as the grossest idea. But still after a moment’s hesitation, the four picked up the brown jelly beans before Pinkie piped cheerfully, “Down the hatch!”

Pinkie and Spike chewed on their jelly beans first, and the pink mare was the first to widen her eyes with a cheery smile. “Mmmm! I got pudding!”

“Me too!” said Spike with a hint of relief in his tone.

“Blech!” Applejack spat out hers into the conveniently-placed bucket nearby. Her disgusted face would’ve been good of an answer enough without her saying, “Ah got the dog-food flavor!”

Pinkie and Spike both giggled with their mouths covered , and even Rarity had to conceal a snicker despite Applejack’s irritated pout. “Alright then,” said the unicorn as she floated up her scorecard, “that’s a point each for Pinkie Pie and Spike. And since Applejack spat out the bad flavor, she does not get two points.”

“Ah don’t care,” said the farm-pony with a strong shudder. She reached for her water bottle and added, “That jelly bean was straight-up rotten.”

“No it’s not,” corrected Pinkie in a chipper tone as she picked up the list of flavors on the back of the box. “The Rotten Egg flavor is the rotten-tasting one. See?”

Applejack and Rarity both nearly heaved at the mention of that flavor, remembering that only Spike was able to swallow that flavor down. Meanwhile, the drake used a claw to pick at a small mound of chewed jelly bean stuck between his teeth. “You know,” said Spike in a more inquisitive tone, “you gotta admit that whoever made this game really knew how to get those flavors accurate!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me of that,” replied Rarity in a more distasteful tone as she looked away from him. “I would rather not imagine what kind of pony would have to endure making sure a jelly bean tasted like a… booger!”

“Or dog food,” added Applejack after washing her mouth of that taste.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was still chewing her jellybean as she raised a hoof to speak. “Although…” She finally swallowed her bean before adding her input. “Spike isn’t wrong. They really do taste like the flavors they claim to be. In fact, the dog food flavor tastes just like Chipper Puppy Mix!”

When Fluttershy looked around, all she saw were dropped jaws and aghast stares from the other four towards her. While Rarity looked at the Pegasus in pure horror, not even attempting to add her two points to the scorecard, Spike was the first to ask in a slightly worried tone. “Uhhh… Fluttershy? How do you know that?”

Fluttershy grew slightly confused at their reactions, and asked nonchalantly, “Well… why shouldn’t I?”

Applejack covered her hoof to keep from throwing up, already keeping her head close to the bucket. “Flutters, please don’t tell me you don’t actually eat dog food!”

“Well, of course not!” said Fluttershy in a slightly offended tone towards her. She then looked back at the others to clarify. “All I do is taste-test it. I always make sure that whatever I feed my pets is edible for them.”

Even Spike looked grossed-out by that statement, and cringed in his seat along with the others as an involuntary “Eeeewwwww!!” came from all four of the other players. While Fluttershy’s ears pulled downward, revealing a more morose look from the yellow mare, she was was slumped low in her spot on the couch when she overheard Gilda’s voice. “Dude…”

The five all turned their attention to the stairway, seeing the Gryphon standing at the bottom with an equally disgusted look towards Fluttershy. “You seriously eat dog food?”

Before Fluttershy could look even worse from what she admitted, Rainbow Dash came up from behind Gilda to give her a warning nudge at her side. “Gilda, come on! Don’t mess with her about it!”

“But she just said that she did it!” shouted the Gryphon back towards her. “Don’t you think that’s a little gross?”

Rainbow just grew a sly smirk before replying, “Well, it’s not like she’s the only one I know who did that.”

Everyone else looked at the Gryphon with wide-eyed stares, which ended up making Gilda look like the flustered one at that moment. “D-Dash!” she shouted as her feathers ruffled out in aggravation, giving the Pegasus a bitter (and slightly blushed) glare. “I never ate dog food, you liar!”

“Oh?” asked Rainbow with a raised brow. “So you didn’t eat a bag of dog treats back at Flight Camp?”

Gilda’s fuming stare on Dash only grew stronger, which wasn’t helped with Twilight and Velvet staring at the Gryphon from the kitchen doorway as well. As her left eye began to twitch violently, it took everything in Gilda to only speak in a nasty growl through her teeth. “I thought that it was beef jerky, and you know that.”

“Okay, okay,” chimed in Velvet when she decided to intervene. The older mare stepped in between Dash and Gilda and spoke in a calming tone. “I think it’s clear that we’re going off topic here, right?”

Despite knowing that Velvet was ultimately right, Gilda still groaned to herself in apprehension, knowing what she was supposed to do. Of course, when the Gryphon looked towards her marefriend, she only saw a warm smile on that muzzle pointed back towards her. And while looking into Velvet’s light blue eyes, Gilda still blushed a tiny bit when her feathers settled back down. While she didn’t want to admit it out loud, the Gryphon could safely admit to herself that the older pony was really growing on her.

So, since she already knew exactly what she needed to say, Gilda waited until Twilight and Dash went back towards their friends before opening her beak. “Listen, I…” Her expression turned more uncomfortable as she looked away from the group momentarily, her words fading before they could be spoken audibly. Fortunately, the Gryphon felt the soft hoof of Velvet’s rest on her shoulder, and turned to see the mare looking up at her approvingly.

The older mare didn’t need to say a word, and just looked up at Gilda with a smile as she waited for her to make the right decision. So, with a meager smile and an even smaller nod of her head, Gilda took a breath to regain her composure, and then turned back to the others. “I…”

After another brief pause, the Gryphon sighed before just saying guiltily, “I’m… sorry about what happened back at that party you guys tried to throw for me…”

Aside from Twilight and Rainbow Dash, a lot of raised brows and widened eyes were pointed at Gilda after that statement. In fact, the only one who didn’t look completely surprised was Velvet, who just widened her smile up at the Gryphon. Meanwhile Gilda rubbed the feathers on the back of her head with a claw as she tried to continue awkwardly. “I mean, I… I know that things didn’t exactly go so great when you were all trying to welcome me. And… even though I was in a bad mood, I… I am aware that I did a lot of things that I shouldn’t have.”

Gilda waited a moment after saying that to scan their reactions, hoping that they were able to see that she wasn’t being dishonest. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like any of the ponies were skeptical, although a couple of them looked at each other for clarification at what she just said. Nevertheless, when she saw Applejack give a firm nod to her last statement, Gilda figured she knew who to personally address first. “And, ummm…” The Gryphon felt more uncomfortable with talking about more specific things she did, but she only paused for a couple seconds before admitting, “I’m… sorry about scaring your Grandma like that.”

Applejack nodded again, her expression staying stern for a brief moment before it relaxed. “Well… thank ya for sayin’ that. Ah mean, Granny likes pranks every now and then, but snakes are one of her big fears.”

Gilda shrugged her shoulders and replied, “Well, it wasn’t like I knew that when I did it. But… yeah, I’m still sorry.”

When she was able to see that Applejack looked fairly accepting of her apology, the Gryphon’s sights went towards the yellow Pegasus that was beside her on the couch. “And… I’m sorry for yelling at you while you were walking through town.”

Fluttershy gave a more faint nod than Applejack, but still looked up at Gilda to give a meager, “Thank you” before looking back down at her hooves. Gilda wasn’t sure if that apology really stuck with her, but one glance at Rainbow Dash was enough of a confirmation when she saw her nod with a smile.

So with that, Gilda finally looked back towards Pinkie Pie, who was seated upright with a smile pointed right at the Gryphon. Even though she still found that smile to be kinda creepy, Gilda exhaled before saying towards her, “And Pinkie Pie, I’ll admit that I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did. I know you just wanted to hang out, and… I should’ve just said something instead of trying to make you go away.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” said Pinkie in a genuine tone as she kept her smile. “I know that not everyone wants to be around huge crowds and parties and stuff, so I understand. All you had to do was ask, silly!”

A small groan escaped the Gryphon as she struggled to smile, despite being called “Silly” by someone who was still fairly irritating to her. Unfortunately, that smile instantly went away after Pinkie hopped out of her seat and put her hooves up for Gilda. “Apology hug!”

“If you do that, I’ll flake out and take back everything I said,” warned the Gryphon with a threatening glare towards the mare. After a couple blinks, Pinkie understood Gilda’s statement enough to take her word for it, and sat back down in her seat cautiously.

The Gryphon then sighed and rubbed her temples with her talons, hoping that doing that didn’t immediately undo everything she just said. Of course, when she turned her head, Gilda’s mood relaxed when she looked back down at her marefriend beside her. Velvet still had her caring smile on the Gryphon, looking like she was proud of her for doing what she did. Seeing the genuine appreciation in her eyes, Gilda’s smile turned more natural as she made one last statement, “Also, I… I’m sorry that things went so nuts, Vel.”

Velvet only made a small giggle before moving her head in to nuzzle the Gryphon’s neck. “Oh, it’s alright, Gilda,” said the mare sweetly, “I’m just happy that you actually apologized to my daughter and her friends.”

Hearing the sincerity in that statement, Gilda’s worried alleviated a bit as she gave a light nuzzle back to the mare. After pulling back, Gilda asked with a hint of caution in her voice, “So… are we good?”

Velvet gave a smirk up to Gilda, and responded with an honest, “Yeah, I think we’ll be good. Although…” She then looked back towards Twilight and her friends and asked, “What do you think, guys? Are there any complaints about us now?”

The five mares and Spike looked at each other, but none of them seemed to have anything to say in opposition at that moment. So, with a reluctant shrug of her shoulders, Twilight was the first to look back at her Mom and respond. “Well… As long as you two are happy, then I suppose I can’t really say anything against it.”

Velvet shuckled in delight, and turned back to Gilda with a smile. “See?”

Gilda couldn’t help smiling back at her, mostly feeling happy that nothing was screwed up because of the past. “O-okay… I guess that’s good.”

“Great.” And with that, Velvet pulled herself upward, and leaned in to give the Gryphon a small peck on the beak. While Twilight and Spike both looked away from that display of affection with looks of uncertainty, Rarity and Pinkie both gave small “Awww”s in admiration. Even though it was still weird to all of them, it didn’t mean that the mares couldn’t appreciate a relationship staying together.

Applejack leaned back in her spot on the couch as she spoke up. “Welp, Ah guess it’s clear that nuthin’ else need to be done around here.”

“I agree,” added Twilight as she lit her horn, picking up her saddlebag which she left by one of the chairs she and Spike were sitting by earlier. “Honestly, I was needing to get back to the castle anyway. Spike needs to get his bedroom set up, and Celestia said there were more books set to arrive today! I don’t what she’s sending, but I have no doubt that there’s gotta be something good!”

Velvet giggled while covering her mouth with a hoof. “Why am I not surprised that you would be excited for that?”

That made the rest of the group laugh in agreement, except for Gilda who just stood with a more relaxed smile on her beak. Of course, before Twilight and her friends could make their goodbyes, the front door opened as a familiar blue stallion entered the living room.

“Vel, I’m hom--What the?!” Seeing his daughter and her friends in the living room, Night Light’s eyes widened in surprise as he tried to figure out what was going on. “T-Twilight? I... “

Even though he was surprised, the stallion still went up to Twilight to give her a strong hug. “What are you doing here, kiddo?! I was expecting you to stay bundled up in that castle for the next week on book organizing alone!”

Twilight blushed as her Dad hugged her, mostly from the fact that he wasn’t necessarily wrong. Of course after hugging him back, Twilight pulled back to explain. “Umm, sorry about this, Dad. There was a small misunderstanding which happened back at the train station when you and Mom were leaving.”

“A misunderstanding?” he asked in slight confusion as he looked towards Twilight’s friends. “What do you mean?”

Velvet stepped away from Gilda, and took the reins to explain what happened to her husband. “Well… apparently, somepony forgot to mention to her friends the details of our marriage, so they were a little surprised when they saw me with Gilda.”

While Twilight widened her eyes towards her Mother in slight offense, Night Light’s brows rose in understanding back at his wife. “Aaaahhhh… So, it was like that Cadance incident again?”

Velvet nodded her head, but the focus went back to Twilight when she decided to retort with, “Well, Mom… I would have told my friends about you two, if somepony didn’t say that she already told them first!”

Velvet was able to catch those inflections quite easily while her daughter eyed her, and sighed bluntly to respond. “Twilight, honey. I never said that I told them about that. Besides, I’m surprised that you decided to never mention it to them yourself.”

“Yeah, because you said that YOU did it!”

“Okay, when on Earth did I say that I talked with your friends about my marriage?”

“Back at the coronation dinner, when you told me that you were caught up with them!”

During this growing debacle, Spike and the other mares began to feel more awkward as they sat in worried silence. Since none of them felt like it was right to intervene, things just grew more intense when Velvet responded to her daughter.

“Well, I said that I was caught up with them, but I didn’t say they were caught up with me!”

“Well, why didn’t you?!”

“Because I thought that you already did it!”

“Ladies, ladies, LADIES!!” shouted Night Light as he quickly stepped in to break up the argument between his wife and daughter. After both mares stopped shouting, he took a breath while looking between them. “Let’s all just settle down for second, alright? This isn’t how family talks!”

Gilda made a shrug of her shoulders and stated, “I dunno. It kinda feels like mine.”

After the stallion shot Gilda a flat glare, he turned back towards Twilight and Velvet with a calmer tone after sighing. “Alright, let’s just see what the issue is…” He looked at both of them as he asked, “So, if I’m hearing this right, Twilight’s friends didn’t know about me and Velvet, and both of you thought that the other one told them first?”

Velvet looked over at her daughter, and they both reluctantly nodded in silence.

“Okay then,” responded Night Light in a more understanding tone. He then looked over at the other five mares who were seated in awkward silence. “And you guys didn’t know about any of this until today?”

Twilight’s friends all nodded in agreement. “Y-yeah,” stated Applejack meekly. “Ah mean, this wasn’t exactly somethin’ we expected to find out neither.”

Night Light shrugged with an understanding chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose so.” Nevertheless, he kept a more positive expression his face as he asked the group, “So… do you girls have any questions about me and Velvet? Or any comments? Concerns?”

Rarity put up a hoof to state with a sincere smile, “Rest assured, Night Light, I think I can safely say on behalf of all of us that we have absolutely no concerns on the matter. And while discovering all of this was… rather shocking, to say the least, it doesn’t say anything negative about you or Velvet.”

“Mmmmhmmm,” nodded Pinkie happily. “It’s clear that you two are super awesome parents, so there isn’t any reason to judge either of you! We were mostly just worried that there was an affair, but it’s clear that you two are fine!”

“Yeah!” added Rainbow Dash while leaned against one of the chairs. “I mean, you two managed to raise a Prince AND a Princess! I think that puts you two up for, like, Parents of the Century or something!”

Even though Twilight’s parents were already happy with Rarity’s and Pinkie’s statements, Rainbow Dash’s was enough to make Night Light beam like a Hearth’s Warming Tree. “Wow!” He turned to his wife to say, “I gotta admit, that’s a heck of a compliment to hear today!”

Velvet giggled in agreement as she walked up to stand beside her husband, and addressed Twilight’s friends, “Well, as long as you girls are understanding about us, and caring for our daughter, then there’s nothing else that we could possibly ask for.”

That was enough to make all five mares widen their smiles in gratitude towards the happy couple. Twilight, who looked rather pleased as well, cleared her throat before saying, “Well, we were actually planning to head out anyway, but I’m glad that things are settled out.”

“Absolutely, kiddo,” said Night Light, before going over to kiss his daughter on the forehead. After ruffling her mane a little (something which always made her squirm with a giggling blush), the stallion began to make his way towards the stairs. “Well, that’s probably for the best, anyway. I was just about to grab my jacket for my date!”

Twilight and Velvet both gave surprised “Ooooohhhh”s as he trotted up the stairs, and his wife asked from the bottom, “Who is it, honey? I didn’t even know you had a date tonight!”

“Well, it was sorta sudden, I guess,” admitted Night Light from upstairs, “but he was available tonight, so I figured ‘Why Not?’”

Gilda peered her head towards the stairs and shouted, “Is it that bag-colt at the grocery whose butt you were checking out?”

“No!” shouted the stallion defensively. After a short moment of silence, his voice could be heard adding in a mutter. “I… I checked. He’s straight.”

“Oh, please!” said Velvet with a roll of her eyes, “like that has ever stopped you before!”

Night Light replied with, “I tried, honey. But he wouldn’t budge. He said he wasn’t curious.”

“Again, like that ever stopped you before.”

Meanwhile, all of Twilight’s friends were trying not to giggle at the banter they were hearing. Even Spike was covering his mouth with his claws while his face grew redder. Twilight covered her face with a hoof in embarrassment, starting to realize how unusual this kind of conversation from her parents must have sounded to her friends. Of course, before the Princess could feel any more awkward about her Dad’s boyfriend discussion, the stallion trotted back down the stairs with a smile on his muzzle, and a tasteful purple suit jacket over his dark blue coat.

“Oh, my heavens!” said Rarity in an impressed tone at seeing him in his outfit. “That suits you dazzlingly well, Mister Night Light!”

“Well, thank you, Miss Rarity,” said Night Light back at Rarity, and then he gave Twilight a peck on the cheek. “Love you, Princess.”

“Love you too, Dad,” said Twilight with a nuzzle. When her Dad went up to Velvet, the mare lit her horn to readjust the matching purple tie he had around his neck.

“So,” asked Velvet with a smirk up at her husband, “would you mind asking who you are going out with tonight?”

Night Light just shrugged and answered with, “Well… let’s just say that I took a page out of your book for this one.”

While Velvet had her brow raised in curiosity, her husband bent in and kissed her on the lips. “Love you, honey.”

Velvet was quick enough to return the kiss before that statement, and smiled as she replied. “I love you too. But be safe, alright?”

“I always am!” After giving a wave to everyone else, the stallion happily trotted back to the front door and left the house with a spring in his step. Of course, before the door could close, they could all hear his voice call out excitedly, “You ready, Gustave?”

“Oui!”

While everyone else in the living room stood in stunned silence, realizing who Twilight’s Dad was dating, Velvet just grew an impressed grin on her muzzle. “Ooh… lucky colt…”

She then looked back at her surprised daughter, and whispered in a knowing tone. “Seriously, Twilight. Get. A. Gryphon.”

While Twilight groaned with an unwanted shudder, Gilda noticed her reaction enough to grow a surly grin of her own. Chuckling under her breath, she leaned in and added towards the Princess, “Listen to your Mother.”

The End

Author's Note

I want to give a huge thanks to my boyfriend Storm Butt for proofreading this, and to everyone who decided to give this idea of mine a chance. You guys are awesome!

Chapter Two: The Decision

The Carousel Boutique had a large Closed sign placed in front of its locked doors, despite the fact that it was far too early for the shop to be closed. Of course, considering what Rarity and her friends just witnessed at the train station, sacrificing a few hours of possible sales was necessary if it meant giving them a private space to talk. The five mares were situated around the dining table, hoping to talk about what they needed to do. However, the only pony not seated was Rainbow Dash, who was pacing around the table angrily.

“I… I just can’t believe it!” shouted the Pegasus furiously. “I mean, how could this happen?! I know Gilda’s done some dumb stuff, but this is WAY too low! Even for her!”

Applejack stared at her with a puzzled expression while in her seat. “THAT’S who yer upset at right now?!” asked the farm-pony with a hint of shock in her tone. “How about the mare who’s cheatin’ on Twi’s Dad?! Don’cha think that deserves a bit more attention?!”

Rarity groaned while her head was rested against her hooves propped against the dining table. “I… I just don’t get it! Why would Twilight Velvet be having an affair?! It makes no sense!”

Fluttershy nodded while sitting in her seat silently. The yellow Pegasus looked down to her lap as she spoke timidly. “They seemed like such a happy couple too…”

While Rainbow continued to walk around the room, muttering random things under her breath, Pinkie Pie was humming cheerfully while drawing in a coloring book. By the time Rainbow finally settled down enough to sit in her chair, the table was eerily silent. Nopony was sure what to say, or even how to break the silence at all. Looking around the room, Rarity had her lip bit as she took a breath, and exhaled slowly before asking the big question:

“How are we going to tell Twilight?”

Rainbow’s whole body shot up like she was just hit by a lightning bolt. “WHAT?!”

“How are we going to tell Twilight about this?” repeated the unicorn more insistently. “I mean, we can’t just ignore what happened! She needs to know what her Mother is doing!”

Rainbow kept a befuddled stare on the fashionista. “Are… are you SERIOUS?! We can’t bring this up to her!”

“And why in Equestria should we not?!”

“Ummm… HELLO?!” asked the Pegasus as she threw her hooves up in emphasis. “Because this will totally break Twilight’s family apart!”

Rarity made a painful sigh before responding with, “Honestly, I think there’s a good chance their family is already broken if this is going on.”

Rainbow couldn’t make a response to that cold statement, but she was still in her chair wide-eyed as she looked around the room for backup. Her gaze went towards Applejack before shouting, “Applejack! You gotta agree with me here, right?!”

While Applejack didn’t look nearly as disheveled or uneasy as most of the others, she was still able to give Rainbow a firm look while answering her question in an instant. “Ah’m with Rare here. Twi’s our friend, and the LAST thing she needs is to be lied to!”

“I’m not talking about LYING! I’m talking about keeping our friend from getting hurt!” Rainbow groaned and leaned into the table, unsure how she could be able to find the right words to get to the two. “Do you really want Twi to deal with her parents getting divorced?! Because I don’t! And I don’t want her to deal with that right after her home got destroyed by that Tirek guy!”

That statement was enough to make both Applejack and Rarity pause in contemplation. Fluttershy, whose eyes widened as she let Rainbow’s words sink in, didn’t realize she was speaking out loud for her friends to overhear, “This… this will break her heart…”

Applejack winced at hearing that, and turned her head away for a moment. “Y… yeah...” she admitted in a more depressed tone. “This… this probably will be bad…” After taking a breath, Applejack shook her head clear before regaining her composure and looking back to the others. “But it don’t mean we should just keep her in the dark about it! Not tellin’ the truth to Twi would be just the same as lying!”

“How?!” asked Dash with a look of annoyed confusion. “How the HAY would not saying anything be the same as just straight-up lying?!”

While she knew that her friend wasn’t trying to irritate her, Applejack immediately turned upset enough to reply coldly, “You remember when I didn’t tell my Granny about how that ‘Tonic’ from the Flim-Flam brothers was a fake, and she planned to jump off that high-dive because of it?”

Rainbow Dash quickly turned her head away and sucked some air through her teeth, not needing to say a word to show she got the mare’s point. “Exactly,” said Applejack bluntly. “Ah almost got her killed because Ah didn’t tell her the truth, so Ah do consider that to be just the same as lyin’.”

Even though she chose not to say anything in response, Rainbow still gave a meager nod to indicate she understood her friend’s logic. Fluttershy, who also looked uneasy after Applejack’s retort, took a moment before looking towards the cyan Pegasus. “Ummm… I don’t want Twilight to be hurt either, but… I do think Applejack and Rarity are right.”

Rainbow Dash looked over at the yellow Pegasus with a more disheartened expression. “What?!”

“I know that you’re worried about Twilight,” said Fluttershy quick enough to keep Rainbow from saying much else. “And… I’m not sure how well this will turn out after letting her know, but…” Even though that admission was enough to sadden the mare, she only paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “... But Twilight is our friend, and she deserves to know what’s happening. And even if it goes bad, she… she needs to know that we’ll always be there to help her, no matter what.”

The stunt-pony made a painful sigh and slumped down in her seat, knowing that Fluttershy was right. While looking down to the table, she shook her head before saying, “But… what if she blames us?” While the other three mares stared at Rainbow confusedly, she brought her head back up to ask more directly, “Seriously, we need to consider that! What if her parents split up, and she blames US because we revealed it to her?! She could be furious with us!”

While Applejack and Fluttershy both bit their lips with worry, realizing Dash’s point, Rarity only made a quick sigh. “Alright, Rainbow,” began the unicorn in a more level tone, “let’s consider the option of not telling Twilight what we saw. How do you think she would react if she were to discover this on her own, and then found out that we all knew and never told her about it?”

Rainbow opened her muzzle, but wasn’t able to say anything while her hoof was pointed towards Rarity. Instead, she stayed silent for a brief moment before slowly pulling her hoof back. After closing her muzzle weakly, Dash reluctantly shrugged before averting her eyes from her friend. “Well… alright, you have a point there.”

Rarity nodded in acceptance, feeling glad that she was able to get to the mare with that statement. However, the blue Pegasus was only in a defeated state briefly before turning her head towards the only pony who hasn’t spoken yet. “Pinkie!” shouted Rainbow as she looked towards her. “Pinkie, you HAVE to have a problem with this, don’t you?!”

While the other three groaned at Rainbow’s stubbornness, Pinkie quickly looked up from her coloring book and blinked a few times. “Huh?” After looking around, Pinkie realized she was out of the loop and said, “Oh, I wasn’t listening.”

While Dash face-hoofed, the pink mare cheerfully brought up her coloring book to reveal what she was drawing inside of it. “I was too busy drawing out my plans for Velvet’s party!” She pulled the book back in so she could review her layout while adding, “I already have the streamers and banner planned out, but I’m having a little trouble knowing what kind of frosting would be best for the raspberry cupcakes she likes.”

While scanning the pages, Pinkie didn’t realize that the other four mares were now all staring at her in baffled silence. After they all looked over at each other to clarify what they just heard, Fluttershy turned her attention back to Pinkie first, “Ummm… Pinkie? Are… are you really talking about throwing a party?”

Pinkie looked up from her plans again, seeming slightly confused for a second as she finally noticed the stares on her. “Uhhh… yeah?” She brought up her hooves up while giving a smile, indicating that she found that to be an obvious question. “Why not?”

“About THIS?!” asked Rainbow Dash in a more distressed tone while throwing her hooves around. “About what we saw her doing?!”

Pinkie only responded with a chipper “I sure am!”

While Dash’s and Fluttershy’s jaws dropped in disbelief, Applejack was at a loss of words long enough for Rarity to ask first. “Pinkie, Pinkie darling… I know that you like to throw parties, but… do you really feel that this is an appropriate occasion for one?”

Pinkie tilted her head while looking at Rarity. “Well… why shouldn’t we?”

“Are ya SERIOUS?!” shouted Applejack while staring at her wide-eyed. “Pink, do we REALLY have to explain why this is a bad idea?! Why the HAY would you wanna throw a party about Twi’s Mom having an affair?!”

“Wait, WHAT?!” Pinkie’s eyes widened in shock, reacting like she just received word of what was going on. After seeing that everypony else was giving her the same look as Applejack, the pink mare responded in an offended tone of voice, “I can’t believe you guys! I wouldn’t throw a party about THAT! In fact, that wouldn’t be a party at all! That would be an intervention, which is the exact opposite of a party!”

Rainbow was the first to ask, “Then what the buck are YOU talking about?”

Pinkie blinked a few times again while looking around the table. “Is… is it not obvious?”

All four mares shook their heads at the same time.

Pinkie then rolled her eyes, growing a more relaxed smile. “What I’m talking about, you silly fillies, isn’t a party about Twi’s mom having an affair…” She then pushed her coloring book towards the middle of the table revealing her random arrangement of squiggles and sketches inside. “These are the plans to throw Twilight Velvet a…”

Pinkie stood on top of her chair before shouting triumphantly, “Super-duper, extra-special, Coming Out of the Stable Party!!”

All four of Pinkie’s friends sunk their heads into their hooves. “What?” asked Applejack while her voice was muffled.

“Think about it!” Pinkie jumped on top of the dining table, and began to pace around while giving her explanation. “If Velvet is kissing girls in secret, then it’s pretty clear that she doesn’t want to admit her feelings to her family, right? She’s probably suuuuuper-duper scared that if she did come out to her husband and kids, then she would lose them over something that’s totally not her choice! She can’t help being attracted to girls, so we should throw a biiiiig party for her, and let her know that she’ll always have the support and love she needs to be open about her sexuality!”

While Pinkie stood on top of the table with a proud smile on her muzzle, looking like she just said the smartest thing imaginable, it took a moment before Rainbow Dash looked over at the others. “Is somepony else going to hit her, or am I going to do it?”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Rarity, who was slowly narrowing her eyes on Pinkie in thought, raised a hoof towards Dash to keep her still. “I… I think that Pinkie might be onto something here…”

“What?” asked Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy at the same time. Meanwhile, Pinkie’s prideful smile only grew wider.

“Well, I don’t mean throwing a party!” added Rarity to clarify her point (which caused a disappointed “Awww!” to come from Pinkie), and she took a breath before continuing. “However… I think that Pinkie brings up a very valid point. We’re all talking about what Velvet did, but we’re not placing much emphasis over who she was with. We all saw Twilight Velvet with another woman, which I think complicates the issue a little.”

“How?” asked Applejack with obvious confusion. “I don’t know about you, but cheatin’s still cheatin’ in my book.”

“And I agree with that sentiment,” responded the unicorn honestly, “but it doesn’t change the fact that maybe Pinkie is right. We have to consider the idea that Velvet really is dealing with some unseen issues or struggles in regards to her orientation. And if that’s the case, then maybe the idea of a secretive relationship could be seen as a feasible option in her mind. I mean, what if she were to admit to her husband that she was having homosexual feelings or tendencies? It would be a very delicate issue to address, and it could no doubt harm her marriage, or even her relationship with her children, would it not?”

While Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked over at each other worriedly, clearly understanding Rarity’s point, Fluttershy turned to the unicorn to ask, “So… what should we do?”

“Well,” began Rarity in a more serious tone, “if Pinkie’s theory is indeed correct, then it’s even more imperative that Twilight is told about this. If we’re able to explain this to her in an understandable way, then maybe she could be able to speak with her Mother about her feelings privately, and even possibly find a way to bring it out into the open without much trouble or heartache.”

A long moment of silence passed, with all the mares letting what Rarity said sink in. While Pinkie hopped back into her seat, Fluttershy was the first to nod in agreement to Rarity’s plan. “I… I think that might be a good course of action.”

“Ah agree,” said Applejack, albeit in a more apprehensive tone. “Ah mean, this is definitely not gonna be pretty, but… Ah suppose that would be the best way to do it.”

Rainbow Dash just huffed before speaking skeptically. “Oh really? And how exactly are we going to do this, huh? What, are we gonna just go to the castle, go up to Twilight and say, ‘Hey, Twi! Your Mom’s a lesbian!’?”

“I don’t think we need to be that brash about it,” answered the unicorn with a roll of her eyes, “but… basically yes.”

Applejack was quick to add, “And ONLY after we remind Twi how much we care about her!”

“Of course, of course…” Rarity looked down at her hooves for a moment, obviously planning the process in her head like she was thinking of the layout for a complicated dress pattern. After giving off a slow, deep exhale, she looked back up to her friends to give her plan. “Alright, I think it needs to go like this… We show up to the castle as a group, find Twilight in a private spot, and tell her how much we all love and care about her as our friend…”

Applejack and Fluttershy nodded firmly to that detail.

“And after that, “continued Rarity, “we very, very carefully try to break the ice, by telling her that we… suspect that her Mother might be a lesbian.”

“Suspect?” asked Applejack with a skewed brow.

“Might?” added Rainbow Dash with an even stronger hint of skepticism. “Rare, you did see how far her tongue was in Gilda’s beak, right?”

“Yes, I did, and I’d rather not be reminded of that!” After that short bout of anger, the unicorn took a breath with her eyes closed before regaining her temper. “Okay… I understand that it might look certain, but we can’t say for sure. We don’t have any valid confirmation about her orientation, and we can’t be making any assumptions about Velvet from just one thing we witnessed. And… even though I hate to say something so biased or clichèd, we have to consider the idea that Velvet could just be going through a phase, or experimenting.”

Fluttershy nodded again, and her ears perked up as she realized what she could add to Rarity’s statement. “Or… or maybe Velvet is bisexual.”

“Exactly! Thank you, Fluttershy!” after looking over to the yellow Pegasus to show her appreciation, Rarity turned back to the others to finish her point. “What I’m trying to say is, unless we get confirmation from Velvet herself, we really don’t know. So for the time being, I do think that the words ‘suspect’ and ‘might’ will be necessary while telling Twilight about this.”

Despite the uncomfortable sighs from both Applejack and Rainbow Dash, the two still nodded in reluctant acceptance.

“Thank you. Anyway, after we tell Twilight our suspicions, she’ll most likely ask us why on Earth we would think that. And… that will be when we tell her what we saw. After that, we’ll remind her again that we’ll be there for her, and suggest that she talk with her Mother privately.” After finishing, Rarity looked around the table in wait. “So… any questions?”

Pinkie instantly raised a hoof to grab her attention. “Oooh! OOH!”

“Yes, Pinkie?”

Pinkie brought her foreleg back down, and tapped her hooves together while asking, “So… does that mean there’s no Coming Out Party?”

“NO, Pinkie! There’s no party!”

Pinkie’s mane deflated like a balloon while she slumped in her chair. Meanwhile, Applejack cleared her throat to speak up. “Well… if there’s any way to tell Twi about her Mom cheatin’, then that’ll probably be the least painful.”

Even though Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both looked uncomfortable at the orange mare’s choice of words, Fluttershy was the first to softly nod her head. “I… I agree…”

After biting her lip in nervousness, Rarity brought her hoof out to the middle of the table. “So, we’re all in agreement here? This is how we tell Twilight?”

Pinkie was the first to bring her hoof out as well, putting it right on top of Rarity’s. “Yep!”

Applejack put her hoof on top of Pinkie’s. “Ah suppose so.”

Fluttershy didn’t say a word, but still nodded before placing her hoof on top of Applejack’s. The four mares then looked towards Rainbow Dash, whose hooves were crossed against her chest. She was looking down at the table as her voice came out feebly, “This… is a really bad idea…”

“Ah know it is,” said Applejack, “but we hav--”

“But…” Rainbow put her right hoof up to stop Applejack’s words, and breathed in before finishing her own thoughts. “But if… if we’re really going to do this, then… this might be the best bad idea we got.”

And with that, the cyan Pegasus put her hoof on top of the others, confirming her choice. “Let’s do this.”

Nopony said a word on their walk from the Carousel Boutique to the Castle of Friendship. Whether it was from growing tensions or crippling nervousness, the five mares were only accompanied by the sounds of their own hoofsteps when they walked down the massive crystal hallways of the castle. Fortunately, since nopony else was left in the palace, it was easy for the five to find Twilight, since her cheerful squees could be heard from the open doorway of the castle’s brand-new library.

Walking inside, the group could easily see why Twilight was so excited, since there were dozens of giant boxes scattered across the floor, each one undoubtedly filled to the brim with books straight from Canterlot. “Oh my GOSH!” squealed Twilight as her magic picked up several books in her aura. “There are all first editions! I can’t believe this!”

“I know!” said Spike in an equally chipper tone to the Princess’s. The drake was sitting on the floor next to a giant pile of comic books, and was holding the newest issue of Power Ponies in his claws. “Celestia really outdid herself on these shipments!”

Seeing how happy both of them looked, the five mares all winced in dread, knowing all too well that their moods were going to change very quickly. Rarity took a second to recompose herself, and cleared her throat to catch Twilight’s attention. “Ummm… Twilight?”

“Oh, there you girls are!” Twilight looked over at the five with a giant smile, acting like a filly who was eager to show off her new toys. “Can you believe this?! Celestia gave me all of these books from her personal library! Her personal books! And ALL of them are absolutely flawless!”

“She also got me a bunch of comics from the Canterlot comic book store!” added Spike as he pointed a claw to the large stacks beside him. He looked over at the stacks before quickly adding in an insistent voice, “Not that enchanted one! I mean, none of these will suck us in again, but still!”

“Y-yeah, Spike,” said Applejack with a shaky smile on her muzzle. “Ah… Ah’m really happy for you two.”

Pinkie Pie’s attention went over to a small stack of books that were on one of the giant tables. “Ummm… what’s with all those burnt-looking books over there?”

Twilight looked over to what Pinkie was talking about, and her ears slumped down at the sight of them. Due to the signed bindings, and some of them having pages that were partially burnt, the very sight of them was enough to dampen Twilight’s smile, even without the knowledge of where they came from.

Spike sighed painfully as well, and stood up as he looked over to Pinkie. “Those… those were the only books we could salvage from…”

All five mares immediately felt even worse, and slumped their heads in guilt as they realized those were the only remaining books from the destroyed Golden Oaks Library. Applejack took off her stetson to place over her chest. “We’re so sorry, Twi,” she said with pure sincerity.

“It-it’s fine,” said the Princess with her back turned to them, even though it was clear she was trying not to tear up at the sight of those books. She made a deep sigh before continuing, “I mean, it… it was hard, to say the least, but I’m not going to let it get to me…”

She walked over towards Spike, giving him a much-needed hug before looking back to the five mares. “I was able to save Owlicious, which was one of the biggest things I wouldn’t have been able to replace. And as for everything else, well… things are just things, and the fact that all of you are safe means so much more.”

That was enough to make Twilight’s friends all smile gratefully with tears in their eyes. While Spike nestled Twilight from the side, the Princess kept her smile as she added, “Because to me, there’s nothing more important in my life than my friends. And my family.”

The cringe that came from the five mares after that statement was unbelievably strong. While most of them sucked air through their teeth and rubbed the backs of their heads, Rarity was the first to try to say something while they were all in a private room. “T… Twilight? We… we need to talk.”

Fluttershy, who was looking between Rarity and Twilight nervously, put her muzzle up to the unicorn’s ear before whispering, “Rarity! Do… do you really think this is a good idea?”

“We already agreed to this!” hissed Rarity back to her. “All of us! We can’t turn back now.”

“I know, but…” Fluttershy looked back at Twilight, whose head was tilted slightly in confusion. She turned back to Rarity to say, “Do you really think now is the right time?”

Applejack stepped in to Rarity’s defense. “If we try to back down now, then we might never be able to tell her. It’s now or never.”

Fluttershy squirmed a little in discomfort, clearly having second thoughts about this plan. Unfortunately, Twilight’s voice made that feeling even worse when the five heard her ask, “Ummm… what’s going on?”

“Yeah,” added Spike with a raised brow. “You guys are acting kinda weird.”

Pinkie, who looked the least uncomfortable, turned to to the two and said, “Oh, it’s nothing! We were just wondering how to tell you how--UMMMFFF!!!”

Applejack’s hoof went straight into Pinkie’s open mouth to shut her up. Rarity took a quick breath before deciding to take action. “Twilight, we… we needed to tell you something…”

Rainbow Dash looked away while biting her hoof. While Fluttershy looked down to the floor and Applejack bit her lip, Rarity continued to speak in a nervous tone of voice. “Just… before we say anything, just know that we’re all here for you, and we love you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Pinkie nodded firmly to Rarity’s assurance, even with Applejack’s hoof still in her mouth. By now, Twilight and Spike were both looking nervous. “Ummm… alright,” said the Princess as she spoke more apprehensively. “I… I’m listening…”

Applejack spoke next. “And because of that, we… we neded to tell ya something that might be… shocking, to say the least. But just know that we would never lie to you, especially about this.”

Rainbow Dash groaned while still biting her hoof, not wanting to look at anyone. While Applejack tried to take a breath in preparation, she didn’t seem to realize that Pinkie pulled her hoof out of her mouth. Of course, the pink mare was still silent, not wanting to interrupt her friend. While Fluttershy looked up from the floor to see how Applejack was looking, the farm-pony looked away from Twilight as she found it harder to speak.

“And… we just want you to know that we’re only telling you this because we care about you, and that Ah’d appreciate you doing this if it happened to me. So…”

Applejack closed her eyes before turning her head back to Twilight, not wanting to see the nervous look on her face. “Ya see, Twi. We… we kinda saw…”

Rarity looked over to the orange mare during her pause, and tried to speak up for her. “Twilight, we… we went to the train station, and…”

The unicorn bit her lip as well, realizing that anything she said could undoubtedly hurt one of her closest friends. While the two struggled to speak, neither of them able to break the news, they were interrupted by Rainbow Dash when she finally threw her hoof down on the floor.

“Twilight, your Mom is a lesbian!”