Even after all the pain and struggle of the past, life had once again returned to normal for Lightning and Confetti’s family. Slowly but surely, Confetti adjusted to life without her hind legs and right wing to the point where she hardly even noticed any hindrance. Even after losing a close friend, she carried on as cheerfully as ever. The kids returned to their usual lives and matured into fine young ponies as they should. Cherry Fizz had even moved out for an apprenticeship and Cotton Tuft was well on her way to finding her own job. And Lightning, of course, was glad to have the natural order of his family back and all the suffering behind him.

Indeed, life was good. Nothing could possibly disturb the peace now.

”Pass the oats, dear?”

”Of course, Connie,” Lightning smiled and passed her the bowl, like he did every night. This was just another normal dinner in their house.

“Mom, do you know when Cotton will be done with jury duty?” Chocolate Bomb asked.

”Yeah!” Angel Cake added. “She’s been in Canterlot for days! It’s not the same without her!”

Marzipan nodded in agreement.

”She should be home any time now, actually,” Confetti remarked. “She was supposed to be done today-“

BANG!

”MOM! DAD! HOLY FUCK!”

”Cotton, language-“

”Yeah, Dad.”

”How was jury duty, honey?” Confetti asked eagerly as the whole family turned their gaze towards Cotton.

”Fucking AMAZING!” Cotton slammed a hoof on the table for emphasis and sat down. “BEST day of my life!”

Lightning and Confetti exchanged a bemused glance as their younger children giggled. “And why is that?”

“WELL-“ Cotton began, “The case itself was super boring, BUT there was this totally badass lawyer who totally owned everyone in the room! She was on fire, guys. I never knew lawyer stuff could be this awesome.”

Lightning smirked. “What did this lawyer do that was so awesome?”

”Sweet Luna, where to start. Well, she was super smart. I didn’t even get half of what she was saying, but she knew exactly what she was talking about and everyone knew it. Even the judge looked scared of her! Especially after that belt trick. Oh yeah, her name’s Wind Flash, by the way.”

Lightning couldn’t believe what he was hearing at first. That name. That all too familiar name.

”W…Wind Flash?”

”Yeah! She actually kind of looks like you, Dad. So anyway, I met her after the trial and got her autograph…”

But Lightning stopped listening as the name replayed in his head. Wind Flash. Primrose’s child. His child. His child who he never even properly met, that he’d believed he’d never hear about or see again Yet there she had been, face-to-face with his second-born daughter. Her sister.

She seemed to be doing well. She was a lawyer, and an apparently successful one at that. Maybe she didn’t know about him, or if she’d heard about him he was nothing but a name shrouded in mystery. Maybe it wasn’t too late to try to be part of her life, maybe they’d build a relationship and he’d finally be able to make amends for what he did so long ago. But if not…

”Dad? You okay?”

“O-oh, of course,” Lightning snapped out of his thoughts and cleared his throat awkwardly. “Just…finish your dinner. Your mother and I need to talk about something.”