Tumor awakes as his body collides with the floor with an audible thud. His instincts kick in as he lands, his body quickly levitating into the air, taking on a crude karate pose and becoming surrounded by his own aura as he did so. Eyes scanning the room, he notes that nothing seems out of place and relaxes.

His aura dissipates and his form is lowered to the ground. A yawn escapes him and he stretches his limbs, glancing at his bed. Carrot Top was still sleeping peacefully in her respective place. However, her outstretched hooves became a clear indication that his little tumble was not of his own doing.

Eyelids lowering, he shoots her an annoyed glare. The thought of tossing her out of a closed window became more tempting than ever, but all that would do was earn him an ass-kicking and some time in the dog house. So, with a light growl, he brushed off his pants and exited the room, making sure to flip her the bird as he departed.

Closing the door behind him, he paused, a thought coming to mind. He raises a hand and snaps his fingers. A loud pop came from the room behind him, followed by a girly shriek. Just the sound was enough to put a smile on his face. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he marches to the bathroom.

Tumor notices that the light is on through the closed door, but pays it no mind as he enters. He then spots his daughter sitting on the sink, a toothbrush held in her magical grasp as she ran the bristles over her palate. She offers her father a glance and a tired wave.

He nods to her before walking up behind the filly and looking over himself in the mirror. He was still dressed in the clothes he had worn yesterday, having fallen asleep in them for...reasons. Reaching around Leach's small body, he turned on the tap and soaked his hands before running them through his hair and over his face.

Leach spit into the sink once her father's hands are out of the way and rinses off her toothbrush, placing it into the holder on the side next to a large fruit that's been there for as long as she could remember. She eyes it for a moment curiously, wondering why it was even there. For as long as she could remember, it had simply been there and that was that.

"Dad..." She began with an odd look, "Why is there always a pineapple on the sink?"

"Because-" His brain came to an abrupt halt, sounding like a record scratching in his head as his gaze lowered to the large yellow fruit. "What the fuck...That's still here!?"

Leach flinched as his suddenly raised tone, soon hearing a groan coming from down the hall as well.

"What is with the yelling?" Carrot Top called out from her bedroom.

"Oi!" Tumor shot back, facing the hall, "Remember the soup bath?"

There was a brief silence before she responded. "Not fondly..."

"We never got rid of the pineapple!"

"Wait, it's still here!?"

"Apparently!" Tumor turned back to the fruit, gazing at it as if it were a gift from the heavens.

"Well, get rid of it!" Carrot shouted, "That's probably poisonous by now!"

"Fuck no!" He yelled, "This pineapple was given to us for a reason, and here it stands on its pedestal-"

"Dad..." Leach cut in, "It's sitting on our sink."

"On it's pedestal! And here it shall remain!" Tumor dropped to his knees, arms raised as he bowed to the mighty power before him. "All hail the pineapple! The ruler of all! I am not worthy!"

Leach was immensely confused by her father's behavior, but came to a conclusion that may just answer about 90% of her questions. "How much did you have to drink last night?"

"A lot!"

"Figures..." Leach hops off of the sink, landing with a soft thud before leaving to make herself breakfast.

Tumor chuckles to himself as he pulls himself off of the floor, looking over the pointed fruit one last time with genuine confusion. "Why the hell didn't we throw you out?" He asked no one in particular, eventually shrugging it off and turning to leave the room. He was stopped just a few short steps of the exit by a disheveled and annoyed looking Carrot Top. "Hey, sweetie~"

"Don't play innocent with me, Mister." Carrot Top began, her voice as cold and as stern as a mare woken up by some bullshit could be. "Do you mind explaining why my vase exploded?"

"Oh, honey..." Tumor said cutely, lowering himself to a knee and cupping her cheek lovingly as he rubbed his nose against hers. "That's what happens when you, quite literally, kick your lovable, sexy, short-tempered boyfriend out of the bed."

Carrot Top puffed her cheeks out in anger, but held her tongue as Tumor stood back to his full height and walked over her. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have something to take care of." He announced, stopping at the top of the stairs to look back at his marefriend. "You don't mind taking Leach to school, do you?"

The mare regarded him with a raised brow. "And you can't do it because..."

"Because, as entertaining as it might be, I don't feel like watching our house burn down today." Tumor replied in an almost cocky tone.

Carrot Top's eyes went wide for a few seconds as she thought back on the night before. She suddenly appeared to be much more approachable and accepting of his decision to leave so early. "You know what, you go ahead and have fun." She said with an uncomfortable smile on her face. "I'll take Leach to school."

"Are you sure?" Tumor asked, teasingly. "I mean, if you can't do it I'd be more than happy-"

"Nononono! It's fine! I'll take care of it!" The mare insisted, her panicking tone only emphasized by her hoof motions as she waved him off. "Have fun, baby! I love you~"

"You're so good to me." Tumor finished, turning tail and jogging down the steps and out of the house.

This left Carrot Top alone at the top of the stairs, her smile falling as her head quickly became acquainted with the wall for support; A small groan escaped her throat as she barely held herself up. "Why is this my life?"

On any normal day, Twilight could often find herself caught up in a book. Their words could ensnare her like the beginnings of a dark incantation. She would become so sucked into a story that the world around her would simply cease to be. However, such a trance was difficult to achieve this time around. Partly do to noise, but mostly the small explosions going off a fair distance from her that shook the whole castle.

Letting out a sigh, Twilight tried to read her stresses away in a failed attempt to drown out the sounds of carnage likely ravaging the lower level. That was until she heard a knock at the front door. She hardly noticed it at first, but the knocks became persistent, earning a groan from her as she hopped out of her seat and walked to the entrance.

Upon opening the door, she was met with yet another face that only served to fill her with dread. "Hi, Tumor..." She greeted, sounding exhausted despite having done virtually nothing all day. "It's been a while."

Tumor nodded, but found himself glancing behind Twilight as his eyes attempted to seek our the source of the commotion. "Likewise- What the fuck is going in there?"

"That's just Jack..." Twilight sighed in a defeated tone. "He's just-" She was cut off by another small explosion, but didn't appear to be phased by it in the slightest. "letting off some steam."

"Who's at the door, Twi-" Tumor's eyes caught sight of another pretty, purple pony in the background, this one looking at him with a steaming pile of disdain in her eyes. "Oh...It's you..."

"Well don't look so fuckin' happy to see me." Tumor remarked out of spite, never caring much for Starlight. But, she was good to his daughter, so he couldn't really complain.

"Believe me, I'm not." She followed up, trotting over to the door and standing beside Twilight. "But, you might be just who we need right now."

"Good to know I'm so loved in these parts..." Tumor hissed at her, turning his attention back to Twilight with a more relaxed look coming across him. "But, yeah. I'm here to have a nice little chat with Jackie-Poo."

"Thank Celestia!" Starlight sighed in relief, ready to drag him into the basement to cool down the hot-head. "I can't take another minute of all his-"

"I actually don't think that's such a good idea." Twilight interrupted, worry taking over her features. The conduit shot her a sideways glance, to which she explained with, "Jack said, and I quote, 'If I see that bitch-lord again, there will be a three ring dark carnival taking residence in his chest cavity.' I don't know what any of that means, but how he said it, makes it sound pretty scary."

Although Tumor didn't seem all too bothered by the threat, Starlight couldn't help but feel an odd shiver down her spine. The conduit shrugged his shoulders, making a move to walk past the two ponies, only for Twilight to step in front of him.

"Um, Tumor!" Twilight sounded off, trying to keep him from going any further. "Did you not hear what I just said? Three rings, carnivals, chest cavity?"

"Did you really think I cared?" Tumor asked rhetorically.

Hearing Twilight rephrase that threat only made it sound less threatening, but way more confusing. "What does that even mean?" Starlight asked, "Where does he come up with this stuff?"

Tumor offered Starlight a glance as the simplest answer he could think of. "I don't know; I blame his weird, clown religion." Once again, he made a move. And once again, Twilight cut him off. "Okay, this is starting to get on my nerves. Move..."

"Tumor, I know you want to help, but I don't think thaaaaa..." Twilight's words trailed off as Tumor quickly placed a finger to her horn, sapping away any energy she had until she couldn't even stand. Her body gave in, collapsing to the ground. Luckily for her, Starlight caught the alicorn in her magic and kept her from colliding with the floor.

"You mind keeping an eye on her while I work shit out with dude?" Tumor asked, not even waiting for an answer as he walked into the castle and made his way to the entrance to his brothers man cave. The second he opened the door smoke came pouring out like a tidal wave. He closed his eyes and turned away, coughing a bit as he did so.

With the flick of his wrist Tumor was able to clear a path tough the smoke as ash before descending into the basement. The shaking stopped, as did the constant wave of small explosions as he got halfway down the stairs, searching blindly through the smoke. A quick adjustment was all it took and he could see where his brother's energy was, but not much else. Annoyance surfacing, he cut the sneaky entrance short by simply waving his hand and pushing the smoke to one side of the room.

Tumor found jack sitting in a melted bean bag chair, his hair fully consumed in flames while the fire conduit sat still and stared at the floor with trembling fists rubbing against his soot coated legs. Even knowing from the beginning that his brother was clearly pissed, the thought never really occurred until he had him in his sights.

Jack, noticing the lack of smoke around him, turned back to see his brother standing at the end of the stairs, looking back at him with the smallest hint of fear in his eyes. "Boy, you must have a death wish."

"In all fairness, I could kill you before you even got the chance to stand up straight." This wasn't what Tumor wanted to say, but it's what came out and it only proved to annoy his brother further.

Jack looked away from Tumor, the flames on his head growing larger. Stubborn as he was, the burning superhuman knew when it came to his abilities that he had no chance against his brother. "You've got ten seconds. Make them count or fuck off."

Tumor took a few cautious steps toward Jack, making sure to think before he spoke this time. "Look, I know that you think we're all drifting apart. But dude, you gotta realize that-"

"What? That you're suddenly to good to give me the time of day?" Jack snapped, keeping his eyes away from the other conduit out of fear that he might do something rash.

"Could you NOT put words in my mouth!" Tumor shot back, going on the defensive. "I have a fucking family to take of, to please, to protect-"

"Motherfucker!" Jack shouted, causing his brother to jump as he suddenly jumped to his feet and glared angrily at him. "I AM your fucking family!"

"Well so is Carrot Top and Leach!" Tumor replied in kind, surprising even himself at his sudden outburst. They've had plenty of fights in the past, but he never could work up the guts to take it this far. "And if you want to keep being a part of this family then you need to learn to accept the fact that I can't always be around! Especially when you act like the world is supposed to stop on your command!"

Tumor watched as his brother's whole body started to tremble, his knuckles cracking as he tightened his fists, smoke rising from his arms and shoulders. "You don't like not seeing me, I get it!" He explained, trying to calm the situation before this castle turns into a full-on war zone. "We've been through so much bullshit in the past. For the longest time I thought you and Sebastian were dead."

"But, here we are!" Tumor continued, silently praying to every god he knew that he could get through to his brother just this once. He even made a prayer to one of Jack's clown gods just to be safe. "I want you around, Jack. I want you to be a part of my daughters life, but I can't have you around if you're constantly read to set someone on fire at a moments notice!"

Although rage seemed to course down to his very soul, Jack found himself filled with a relatively new emotion. He couldn't identify it off of the bat, but found that he could no longer hold his offensive stance; The smoke died off and the flames on his head extinguished. His heart felt heavy and it hurt to even look at his brother.

Finding himself dead in the water with not even enough anger in his system to come up with a response, he turned away from Tumor. "Leave..." He simply said, retaking his seat on the roasted bean bag chair. "Just...Get the fuck out..."

Tumor, unknowing of what else to do, did as he was told and left without another word. There was nothing else to be said and he could only hope that the unstable fire conduit wouldn't come by at night to torch his home.

With his head stuck between a rock and a hard place, Jack sat in his chair and let his mind wander elsewhere. He thought back on how much everything had changed since the blast in Empire City and how things only got worse as time went by. There were fun times, of course; When the three of them would take off away from everyone else to practice their new abilities they always had a blast. Sometimes literally. But then there was that stupid war that yanked them apart, keeping them separated fro months and months with o way of communicating. Every day away from his brothers tore him apart as he had to cope with the idea that they might not even be alive anymore.

Then there was the time where Tumor DID die. When he was taken out on that boat and suddenly everything there was destroyed. As weird as it was at first, coming here was a blessing. He was so happy that at least one of his brothers had survived, then when Sebastian was pulled along for the ride, it almost made things feel like they used to be. And now, in the midst of everyone starting there own lives, he once again find himself alone with his thoughts. It hurt him deeply when he thought they were gone. But, now that he knows they're both alive and well, and neither of them seem to want him around, it hurts so much more.

Jack let out a heavy breath, rubbing his head with his hands as he leaned back in his seat. Pulling his hands from his face, he spotted an all too familiar purple muzzle right above him.

"Is everything alright, Jack?" Twilight asked, her concern for him on full display in both her body and tone.

There was a short pause before he finally spoke. "Am I a bad guy?"

Twilight actually wasn't sure how to answer this. Firstly, she found it odd that he even cared. Secondly, although he is technically a hero, he's not exactly the kind of person you'd want your kids to look up to. And finally, the way he asked threw her off completely. For as long as she's known this human-furnace, he's never once asked her a question that wasn't riddled with anger, or asked just out of spite. This time, he seemed genuinely bothered.

It took her nearly half a minute to find the words she could use. Not what she wanted, or would like to use, but it was all she had. "I wouldn't say bad, per say..." His unchanging expression only served to make her feel bad for him. "Jack, what's bothering you?"

"I don't know..." As much as he wanted to let it die there, the look on Twilight's face was telling him otherwise. "I guess...I just feel like no one wants me around anymore."

Twilight's gaze softened, as did her expression. "No, it's not like that at all." She explained, finally understanding why he's been more one edge these last few months. "You have to understand that, even though ponies aren't always around, that doesn't mean that they don't like you."

"What about Carrot Top, huh?" Jack pointed out, the beginnings of his usual anger-induced tone creeping up on him. "I'm not allowed to go see my niece cause that ginger bitch can't stand me! She seems to think I'm a bad guy."

"Well...Again, it's not that you're bad, but you- how do I say this?" Twilight placed a hoof to her chin, trying to think of a way to carefully explain this to him. "You're not bad...but you don't really come off as 'good' either."

A growl escaped Jack's throat as he went to push himself out of his seat, to which Twilight responded by jumping on top of him to keep him down and hold his attention. "Hold on! Just hear me out for a minute!"

Part of Jack wanted to rip the mare off of him and throw her into a wall, but another part was actually reprimanding him for having thought that in the first place. So with a few hints of venom in his words, he allowed her chance to explain herself. "You have one minute..."

Twilight took a breath, knowing that this day would come, but never being fully prepared for it. "Jack, we know that you care about us; Myself, Leach, Tumor and even Sebastian. We know you'd never let anything happen to us if you could help it, but the problem is, is that's not how you present yourself." The human merely raised a brow at her. "To the rest of the world, you're just this brutish, super powered being that gets a thrill out of hurting other creatures. And I get that you don't care what others think, but those thoughts are rubbing off on everypony that cares about you."

Jack was a little lost on that last part. The rest made sense, but her final statement was practically spoken in a foreign language. "What do you mean?"

This part was difficult for Twilight and it showed clear as day. "It's just that...Like I said, we know you'd never let anything happen to us, but because of the way you present yourself on a daily basis...It gets...It gets hard to remember that you actually do care about us...about your family...about me."

Jack felt a sharp pain in his chest as she spoke. It felt like someone had just jammed a knife into his gut and twisted it around. If he were being honest though, that hurt way less than what he was feeling now. "Why would you think I don't care about you?"

Twilight lowered her head, letting rest on the human's chest. "I love you, Jack. I really do; But, you're so angry all the time. It kind of feels like...you're not happy with me." Her eyes wandered in every direction but his, only making him feel that much worse. "And...I think that's how everpony else feels too. It's not that they don't love you, it's that they feel like you don't love them anymore."

"How...the fuck!?" Jack yelled, his anger returning to its usual state. "What kind of backward ass bullshit do these retards-!"

"Jack!" Much to her surprise, his ranting stopped long enough for her to silently point out exactly what she was referring to.

Jack's head fell back as he submitted to his mare's words. "Okay! I get it. I'm am asshole...A huge. Fuckin'. Asshole." This wasn't anything new to him, far from it in fact. It's never bothered him before, but now that it's pushing his family away from him... "What am I gonna do?"

Lifting her head from his chest, Twilight looked up at the conduits face. "It's not that hard to figure out. All you need to do is work on controlling your temper."

"You're asking a fish not to swim, book horse."

"I know, I know..." Twilight began nervously rubbing her hoof over his collar bone. "But with a little help...my help...Maybe we can work on it."

Jack angled his head so he could look at Twilight, locking eyes with the alicorn who's put up with him for all these years. The one who's loved him unconditionally despite his many fuck-ups. And all she seems to want is a little bit of his time...Not unlike him.

It took a lot of pride-swallowing to get this out, but Jack did it, for her. "I guess I could use some help..."

A smile graced Twilight's face, one she would bury into the Jack's neck as she nuzzled him affectionately. "We'll make you better, Jack. I promise." A chuckle escaped the human as he slowly wrapped his arms around her midsection. "I love you..."

"I...like you too..." Feeling her about to move, Jack placed a hand to her head to hold her in place. "Baby steps, Twilight." A sigh escaped the mare before she returned to her previous gesture and both fell into an interesting silence.

Tumor looked over the home he had come to know in love over the years, finding it hard to enter with all these confusing thoughts going through his head. He wanted Jack to be a prominent member of his family, to play a role almost as important as his, but he dreaded the possible outcomes of welcoming him in. He only seemed to be getting worse and worse as time went by and he couldn't risk his families safety.

It was with a heavy heart that he marched to the front door, staring down the handle as if it were some kind of bomb. He let out a sigh before opening the door and walking in. "Oi, bitch! Where's my 'Welcome Home' kiss?"

"Blow it out your ass!" Carrot Top called back, struggling to hold in the laugh that desperately wanted to follow.

"If that's what turns you on, baby!" Tumor smiled and closed the door behind him, charging after the mare. "I'm all for it! Let's go!"

"Wait-STOP! No! Ahahahaha! I'm ticklish!"

"That's the point!"

Author's Notes:

Cock sucking, motherfucking, shit ass nostalgia...I don't know why, but I went through and reread almost this whole damn thing and got the weirdest urge to work on it again...Even though it's shit, I couldn't help but want to do something...FUCK!
Bleh!
I was too lazy to edit, so just let me know if you see anything wrong and I'll fix it, I guess.