Friday, November 27, 2015 / Daytime
Today's Horoscope (Virgo): You may learn something unexpected about somebody close to you today.

Cadance made breakfast again. After that, she and Shining Armor left to do some shopping.

I have no intention of getting caught up in today's nonsense. I'm doing all my Christmas shopping online...

Twilight and I are watching television while I do a little online browsing. "Heh, look at some of these lightning deals," I say. "Who'd even want this crap?"

"Oh, I don't know," Twilight says. "I'm sure somebody out there would want a watering can shaped like a lawn gnome holding a mushroom."

"That's not a mushroom, Twi."

"It's not? Then wha—oh my God...that's gross!"

"Hmm. Modular rabbit hutch...think Fluttershy would like that?"

"I don't know..." Twilight frowns. "Speaking of Fluttershy..." She looks at me. "Did you get a text from her yesterday at all?"

"I'm sure I did," I say. I open Canterbook and check all my messages from yesterday. "I know I texted her..."

Going through the list of messages I received yesterday, I realize something I didn't even notice before: Fluttershy is the only one who didn't text me to wish me a happy Thanksgiving. "Huh."

"She didn't text me either," Twilight says. She frowns. "It could be she can't get service at home, or..."

I can see the wheels turning in her head. She's right...there could be a lot of reasons Fluttershy didn't text either of us yesterday.

"Maybe she just didn't think about it." I rub Twilight's hand. "She's not exactly the most social person...I mean, she's not even really close to any of the rest of us, is she?" Off the top of my head, I can't remember having a conversation with Fluttershy that lasted more than five minutes.

"True..." Twilight sighs. "It's just...have you noticed how she's been...really weird since the Fall Formal?"

I grimace. "Something happened to her that night," I say. "Something that probably involved Sunset Shimmer, I'll bet. And...then, well...Rainbow Dash didn't exactly help matters."

"Fluttershy didn't get Rainbow Dash anything for her birthday," Twilight says.

"She left before the party," I remind her.

"Yes, but...wouldn't she have told Rarity or Pinkie Pie that she had something for Rainbow Dash, and it was in her room?" Twilight's brow crinkles. "It isn't like her to just...I mean, she's usually very nice, even if she's shy and...doesn't talk much." She frowns. "Now that I think about it...she's been really hostile towards Rainbow Dash ever since the Fall Formal."

"Can you blame her?"

"Well, no, but..." Twilight sighs. "It just bothers me...something's not right with Fluttershy."

I wrap my arm around Twilight. "How about this? When we go back home, we'll figure out a way to get her alone and talk to her."

"Maybe..." Twilight sighs. She looks at me, raising an eyebrow. "Back 'home', huh?"

I laugh. "Well...you know what I mean."

A little while later, I get a video call from my parents.

"Hey, Flash," Dad says. "Sorry we missed you yesterday...that derecho we had here took out pretty much everything. We didn't get Internet service back until...must've been around two in the morning over there?"

"Happy Thanksgiving, Flash!" Mom says.

"Hey, happy Thanksgiving," I say. "You had a derecho, huh?" I look at Twilight. "What's a derecho?" I whisper.

"Big windstorm," she replies. "Does lots of damage."

"Oh hey, who's that there with you?" Mom asks. "Is that your girlfriend?"

"Yeah Mom. This is Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight leans in closer and waves. "Hi! Nice to meet you!"

"So, hope you had a good Thanksgiving...did you do anything at the dorm?"

"Actually, we're in Baltimare," I say. "I'm staying with Twilight's family until Sunday. I told you that last week, remember?"

"Oh, I see...that's good," Dad says. "So, you're having a good time?"

"Yep."

"That's good...wish we could see you at Christmas, but..."

Mom smiles. "Will you be spending Christmas with your girlfriend and her family too?"

"Probably," Twilight says. "We're not really sure what our Christmas plans are yet."

"Well...you kids have a good time. We gotta go, the Internet's not very stable right now here. We'll call you again next week!"

"Okay. Bye Mom, bye Dad."

The call ends.

"Well, they seem nice," Twilight says.

"Yeah, they're always nice," I say. "Like, Christmas card nice."

Twilight grimaces. "Your dad did seem a little...distant? Distracted?"

"Indifferent," I grumble. "Trust me, apart from making sure I have money and presents, I'm very much an afterthought for them."

I hear a cough from behind me. We turn around to see Velvet standing there, a sad expression on her face.

"Mom!" Twilight says. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," she says. She swoops in and hugs me.

Friday, November 27, 2015 / Evening

Velvet and Cadance dress up some of the leftovers so that we can have a nice little family dinner together.

"Never seen anything like that," Velvet says furiously.

"Mom," Twilight says tiredly, "cut it out..."

"How could they not remember where you said you'd be spending Thanksgiving?" Velvet rants. For about the fifth time. "You said it, right? That you told them you'd be here?"

"Yeah, I told them I'd be here," I say. "They get distracted and forget I tell them stuff all the time."

"That's inexcusable," Velvet says. "Just...inexcusable."

"Now, dear," Night Light says. "Calm down..."

I sigh. "Like I said...we're just not close. Never have been."

Cadance frowns. "That's terrible," she says. "Your parents are the people you're supposed to be closer to than anybody else..."

"Not everybody's cut out to be parents," Night Light says. "Remember Firefly?"

Velvet pulls a face. "Yeah," she says. "How could any woman run out on her own child like that?"

"Wait, who's Firefly?" Cadance asks.

"We went to college together," Velvet says. "She liked jocks...hooked up with at least one guy from every team."

"She got knocked up by a soccer player she was dating," Night Light says. "Friend of mine, Blaze." He takes a sip of his beer. "He wanted to get married...start a family. Good man. Tried to do the right thing."

"Firefly didn't want that," Velvet says. "Cramped her style. Thought being pregnant was lame, but...at least we managed to talk her out of getting an abortion."

"Soon as she had the baby, she skipped town," Night Light says with a frown. "Left a note saying the kid was Blaze's problem, not hers."

Cadance gasps. "That's terrible!"

"What happened then?" Twilight asks.

Velvet shakes her head. "Well, Blaze raised his daughter, of course. He couldn't put his career on hold, so they moved around a lot...where was he last, dear?"

"Cloudsdale or Fillydelphia, I think," Night Light says. "I know he's on the national team and they're playing abroad right now, so I imagine he found someone to take care of her while he's away." He frowns. "Or maybe boarding school. He can afford it..." He looks at Twilight. "She'd be about your age, actually. Wouldn't she, hon?"

"Yeah, Twilight was only a couple months old when Firefly had her baby," Velvet says. "That poor child never even knew her mother...that's terrible for a girl. How could anybody abandon a cute little baby girl like Rainbow Dash?"

Wait...WHAT?!

Twilight spits stuffing all over the table. "Rainbow Dash?!"

"You're kidding!" Cadance cries.

Velvet blinks. "What?"

I clear my throat and take a sip of ginger ale. "Umm...Rainbow Dash...goes to CHS," I say. "And lives in our dorm. We're her friends."

Velvet's hands fly to her mouth and her eyes widen. "Really?!"

"Wow, small world, huh?" Night Light says.

"I could've sworn I mentioned her to you at some point," Twilight says, brow furrowed. "I didn't say anything about any of my friends other than Flash?"

"Only friend I remember you talking about is Pinkie Pie," Velvet says.

"So Rainbow's mom just...ran out on her and left her with her dad?" I ask.

Velvet sighs. "Yes, she did."

"Whoa." Suddenly, my parents don't seem all that bad...

Friday, November 27, 2015 / Late Night

Twilight comes into the guest room in her pajamas and snuggles into the bed next to me.

"I can't believe something like that happened to Rainbow Dash and we never knew," Twilight says.

"Yeah..."

"Your parents...they're not much better than that, are they?" Twilight asks. "I mean, obviously they take responsibility for you and make sure you have everything you need, but..."

"Can we not talk about this anymore?" I ask.

"Sorry," Twilight says.

I pull her close. "No, I'm sorry. I just..."

"I understand."

I sigh. "I'm...not looking forward to going back to Seaddle," I say. "I'm happier now than I've been in my entire life. Even with all the Zodiac stuff and the rumors and crap..."

Twilight frowns. "Do...do you have to go back?" she asks.

"I'm pretty sure they'll want me to come back to Seaddle when they get back," I say.

"When...when are they...?"

"August."

Twilight lets out a sigh of relief. "Good. Then we still have plenty of time to be together." She puts her head on my shoulder. "I don't want to think about you going away..."

"I don't either," I say.

"But if you do have to go back to Seaddle..." Twilight pulls away and looks at me imploringly. "You'll...you'll come back, right?"

"Of course I will," I say.

"Good," Twilight says. She kisses me, then snuggles up close.

Down the hall, we hear Cadance giggling. Then we hear her let out a squeal.

Twilight groans. "Oh, come on! Not again!"

Cadance and Shining Armor are definitely at it again...

"UGH! I do NOT need to hear my brother doing that!" Twilight complains.

"I know how to take your mind off it," I say.

"How?" Twilight asks.

I kiss her and start unbuttoning her pajama top.

"Oh..." Twilight giggles and turns off the light.

Author's Notes:

Social Link Status:

0. FOOL (Zodiac Investigation Team): rank 4
I. MAGICIAN (Twilight Sparkle): rank 9 (Rank UP!)
IV. EMPEROR (Coach Shining Armor): rank 6
V. HIEROPHANT (Vice-Principal Luna): rank 3
VI. LOVERS (Nurse Cadance): rank 6
VII. CHARIOT (Rainbow Dash): rank 5
VIII. JUSTICE (Principal Celestia): rank 4
IX. HERMIT (Coco Pommel): MAX!
XII. HANGED MAN (Octavia Melody): rank 1
XV. DEVIL (Juan the Janitor): rank 4
XVI. TOWER (Chrysalis): rank 1
XVII. STAR (Pinkie Pie): rank 7
XVIII. MOON (Trixie Lulamoon): rank 8
XIX. SUN (Vinyl Scratch): rank 5

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Persona EG LTE has an alternate version of this chapter with unrated content. For the moment, this alternate version can be accessed by following the method described in the chapter "11/13 (Fr)". The chapter number for this chapter is 92.