Spellbound Fireflies (30 page)

“My li’l sis had a thing with one of the colts for a few months a while back.  Sorta fell apart after a while, like most of them foal crushes tend ta do.  I know I had my share as a filly.  Still, though.  My momma and my daddy started out right about their age, did’ja know that?”  Twilight shook her head.  “Eeyup.  Barely had their cutie marks when they started goin’ steady.  They lasted through the rest of their days, too.”

Smiling, Twilight murmured, “I just want them both to be happy.”

Applejack’s gaze drifted back to Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash, their flight slowing to a lazier circling and weaving, a warm sense of familial affection radiating from them across the whole park.  Applejack’s smile grew reminiscent and her eyes went out of focus.  “Back when my momma was still here, she used to tell me all these stories.  Lotta ol’ earth pony legends and different sayin’s, you know.  Well, one of the things she used to tell me about were these different names earth ponies had for relationships between ponies from different tribes.”

Twilight nodded appreciatively.  “That’s interesting, I haven’t read about that cultural tradition.”

Applejack shrugged.  “To be honest, a lot of ‘em were kinda nasty.  We’re talkin’ some old stuff from back before the first Hearth’s Warmin’ and folks weren’t quite so keen on each other.  Momma told ‘em to show me how silly hatin’ others for bein’ different could be, an’ they were supposed to make me laugh.  Most of the time they did.  But…”  Her eyes refocused on the two in the air and her smile grew.  “One of ‘em I always kinda liked.  I didn’t think it was silly at all; I thought it was pretty an’ romantic soundin’.  The name they had for a pegasus that had fallen for a unicorn.  I guess it makes sense, since it was an earth pony sayin’ and it didn’t have any earth ponies in it, might as well make it pretty.”

Twilight looked up at the two pegasi in the air; the two most important ponies in her life.  “…What did they call them, Applejack?”

“They called ‘em ‘spellbound fireflies.’”

Another lull fell over the two mares as they sat and watched the flight, mother and daughter slowing further, their night dance gradually coming to an end.

“…Thank you for telling me that, Applejack.  It is very pretty.”

Applejack nodded and stood up.  “Looks like they’re about done.  I’m gonna go fetch RD a mug, you want a second?”

“Sure.  Thank you.”

“You’re quite welcome, Twilight.”  She leaned in close.  “Looks like ya got yourself a pair of them lightnin’ bugs.”

Twilight smiled.  “I guess I have.”

Applejack cantered away, leaving Twilight to watch her family.  She and her wife planned to sign the papers to officially adopt Scootaloo in the morning, but as far as she was concerned, they had been two mothers and a daughter for months.  Watching her family fly, reading with them, spending time together, making meals, laughing and talking, it all blended together into a fuzzy whirlwind of days.  Days following weeks of major changes as Scootaloo settled into their lives, weeks following months of intense training getting the filly up in the air, months following years of dating that grew with a misleading slowness from casual to something so much more without either pony noticing how it happened.

In a little over three years, Twilight’s life had changed irrevocably.  The lives that had changed her had been changed as well.  Three ponies, so different yet so similar, thrown together by fate to forge a new one together.  And as she lived that new life, she watched with cautious optimism as her adopted daughter started to tentatively seek one with somepony else.  She had seen her family brought low by pain and high by triumph.  Happiness, sadness, boredom, intrigue, laughter, tears, suffering, joy, and everything in between.  Twilight had been in the center of a storm with two little fireflies lighting up her world, bright and mesmerizing.

Twilight knew the day was neither the beginning nor the end of anything.  Just a marker they had placed in their lives in commemoration.

It was still the best day of her life.

Pinkie Pie bounded tirelessly through the park, scooping up fallen streamers in her mouth, folding and stacking chairs with effortless kicks, and collecting fallen plates and napkins on her back.  The few party guests left were in the slow and directionless conversations of incredibly drunk ponies, preparing to leave but unsure exactly how to get their hooves to work just yet.  Applejack had already left for the night after cleaning up the catering, and Fluttershy had to be told to go home after falling asleep on Pinkie’s shoulder.  Rarity followed behind Pinkie, floating everything together in neat piles.

Twilight and Rainbow attempted to help, but found themselves slightly too stumbly to actually get anything done.  Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle accomplished more, half-heartedly picking up the stray bit of garbage.

Rarity shoved a large, lumpy ball of plates and cups into a bin, sighing in satisfaction.  She trotted up to the couple, both lost in some unfollowable train of drunken giggles.  “I think we’re almost done with the clean-up, you two.  I think it’s safe for you to head home.”

Rainbow shook her head to clear her vision.  “You sure, Rares?  We said we’d help…”

“You have been a wonderful help already, I assure you,” Rarity said, eyeing the single chair they had been struggling to fold up for several minutes, “But Pinkie and I have everything covered.  Go home!  This is your party anyway, you shouldn’t have to clean it up.”  Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle threw away their small loads of trash and turned to the three mares, unsure whether to continue cleaning or get ready to leave.  Rarity frowned thoughtfully and dropped her voice.  “Are you sure you want to take Sweetie for the night?  You both have been drinking a bit heavily this evening.”

Rainbow scoffed, batting a hoof dismissively.  “She’ll be fine.  Those two never get into trouble.  An’ I’m soberin’ up, anyway.”

Rarity looked unconvinced, but nodded gently.  She darted her eyes around and leaned in, whispering, “They aren’t behaving because they’re
misbehaving
, if you catch my meaning, are they?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as Rainbow snorted loudly, covering her mouth to contain her laughter.  Twilight cleared her throat and briskly answered, “Absolutely not.  They’re still in that puppy love stage.  I, uh…” her face grew red, “I don’t think they’d know what to do, even if the thought had crossed their minds.”

“Yeah, Rarity,” Rainbow giggled, “What kinda house do you think we’re runnin’ here?”

Clearing her throat and straightening her mane, Rarity muttered, “Yes, well, they are both rather responsible, aren’t they?  If Sweetie Belle won’t be any trouble…”

Scootaloo approached, raising an eyebrow.  “What’re you guys talkin’ about?”

“Nothing!” Rarity chimed, turning back towards the remaining clean-up job.  “Have a pleasant even—err, night, girls.  I’ll see you in the morning, Sweetie, dear.”

“Night, sis!” Sweetie Belle called, falling in next to Scootaloo as they headed for the path back to town.  Rainbow and Twilight took a stumbling lead, leaning against each other and giggling.  Rainbow’s wing spread across Twilight’s back, rumpling her dress as they cantered.

“So, Scoots,” Rainbow called, slightly louder than necessary, “Didn’t get too bored, right?”

“Nah, it was fun,” she smirked, “It was cool to see everypony…”  As they walked, Scootaloo’s smile fell and her eyes grew introspective.  “…I didn’t see the Takers, though,” she murmured quietly.

Rainbow and Twilight straightened in their walk, some of the haze of alcohol tearing away from their minds.  Twilight spoke evenly and controlled.  “Well, they both sent a card and a gift ahead of time.”

Scootaloo grunted noncommittally.

Rainbow tentatively asked, “Would…did you want to see them?”

Shrugging, Scootaloo sighed.  “I don’t know.”

Rainbow turned to Twilight in their close walk and a silent conversation passed across their eyes.  They both nodded in tandem.  Twilight turned back and smiled wanly at the fillies.  “Let’s get home.  How does some hot chocolate and another chapter of
Daring Do and the Spear of the Windigos
sound?”

Scootaloo nodded vigorously, before catching her fillyfriend’s blank expression.  She smiled and murmured, “Mom’s been reading it out loud to me and mom sometimes.”  Sweetie Belle smirked in amusement, rolling her eyes at Scootaloo’s sentence that somehow made perfect sense and no sense at all at the same time.  Scootaloo leaned in and dropped her voice further.  “Don’t laugh, she’s funny about it enough.  She’s really good, though.  You feel like you’re
there
.”

Sweetie Belle bit her lip and shook her head, but said nothing.  They passed Town Square in silence, the soft clack of eight sets of hooves their only background noise.  As they closed in on the library, Twilight opened the door in front of them and stepped forward, but Rainbow’s wing tightened and halted her progress.  She turned to Rainbow with a confused expression.  She grew more bewildered at her wife’s playful smile.

In a flash, Twilight was swept off the ground and onto her back, held effortlessly in Rainbow’s forelegs, flying a foot in the air.  Rainbow smirked wickedly.  “Gotta carry you over the threshold; it’s the rule.”

Twilight giggled and wrapped her hooves around her wife’s neck, nuzzling into the mare’s cheek.  Rainbow floated gently through the door and set down noiselessly on her back legs, holding Twilight close.  Twilight pulled back slowly and their eyes met.

Rainbow kissed her wife for all she was worth.

Sweetie Belle leaned close to Scootaloo and teasingly whispered, “Still wanna copy your mom?”

Scootaloo turned crimson.

Setting Twilight back on her hooves, Rainbow nuzzled her wife again.  “Welcome home,
Mrs.
Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight chuckled.  “I’ll make some coffee,
Mrs.
Rainbow Dash.”  She stepped back and muttered, “First I’m getting this dress off.”

As Twilight cantered to the kitchen, magic lifting and unzipping the garment as she moved, Rainbow eyed the desk and cleared her throat.  “Hey, Scoots…”  As her daughter approached, she opened her drawer, pushing her journals aside.  She turned to the filly, her eyes set serious and tentative.  “Let’s go up to your room for a minute…”  Rainbow pulled the envelope from the drawer and tucked it under her wing.  “…I got somethin’ to give ya.”

Scootaloo frowned in puzzlement and looked back at her fillyfriend.  “Can Sweetie come?”

Shrugging, Rainbow headed slowly to the stairs.  “It’s nothin’ bad, but it might be somethin’ you wanna keep private.  Up to you.”

Sweetie Belle shrugged silently, offering Scootaloo to go on without her with a wave of her leg.  Scootaloo shook her head and turned towards the stairs, beckoning the little unicorn with a flick of her tail.

Rainbow sat on the edge of Scootaloo’s rumpled bed, patting for her daughter to join her.  When she spoke, her voice was low.  “…When me and Twi’ took you home for the first time…” she opened her wing, dropping the letter into her hooves, “…Mrs. Taker asked us to give you this when you were ready.  I haven’t read it…I think you’re old enough, you deserve to read it all on your own if you want to.  And I think you’re ready for it now.”  She reverently placed it in Scootaloo’s hooves and stood.  “I’ll be downstairs if you wanna talk about it.  But…that’s yours, an’ you can do whatever you want with it now.”

Rainbow bent low and kissed Scootaloo on the brow.  She whispered, “I know you were really angry at her for a long time, an’ you had every right to be.  But she’s just a pony, and ponies make mistakes.  If you’re still angry, don’t do anythin’ with that that you can’t take back, okay?”

Scootaloo nodded slowly, her eyes glued on the letter in her hooves.  “…I’m still a little angry.”

Rainbow hugged her daughter gently and kissed her brow again.  “Me too.”  She stood back and smiled sadly.  “I’ll see ya downstairs.”  She turned and left the room, shutting the door with a gentle click.

Sweetie Belle glanced around Scootaloo’s messy room, from the overstuffed bookshelves, to the clothes and sport equipment all over the floor, to the overflowing desk, trying to find something to focus on.  Frowning, she cleared her throat.  “Do you, uhh…d’you want me to go downstairs?”

Scootaloo shook her head resolutely and pulled her fillyfriend close, resting her head in Sweetie’s mane.  She took a deep breath and pulled open the back of the envelope, sliding the letter out and laying it flat in her lap.

Dear Scootaloo,

I’m sorry.

I’m sorry I didn’t see that you were growing up.  I’m sorry I got so wrapped up in what I normally see, the types of fillies and colts I normally take care of, to notice.  When a pony gets old enough, they start falling into patterns, and I fell into one a long time ago.

You’re a smart filly, so I won’t talk down to you in this letter, like I did for so long.  You deserve to know this, even if it can’t change anything now.  I’m sure you remember some of the other foals that lived in my house with us over the years.  Sometimes they were older than you, most of the time they were younger, but all of them came into your life and left quickly.  I doubt you ever thought of them as your brothers or sisters, they were just other fillies and colts that lived in the same house.

At some point, that’s what they were to me, too.

It’s hard to be asked to open your heart up to a filly when you know a new
mom and dad
family is waiting for them, waiting to take them home and give them a new life.  I took care of all of you, knowing someday you’d leave and find a home.

But as time went on, your home never came.  You’re such a smart and happy filly, I don’t know why it took as long as it did.  Maybe the fates saw Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle and knew you belonged with them, and made life take a little longer than normal, just so you ended up where you were supposed to end up.  I like that idea, and even if it isn’t true, I’m going to choose to believe it.  Because a filly as wonderful as you deserves that to be true.