During the night in Manehattan, the city never ever sleeps whatsoever. Tons of places are open twenty four seven with so many games for stallions to keep themselves occupied. But at the same time, ponies who came to Manehattan for a vacation, stays in one of the hotels to save their energy for tomorrow.
Eight grown ponies usually do this once per year to spend time with each other, outside of their families. Not that they need to get away from all the work they did, but mainly to spend time on their own. After helping their wives with the hardest times, they accept the fact they want some time alone, especially when they did the same with them.
Four of the eight ponies enter the entrance to one of the hotels. They’ve been in part of the casino in the last two hours, placing bets. They’re pros to not even lose any of the bets they made, they may not be like their daughters, but they’re still fearless.
“Best, casino night, ever!” Night Light cheered.
“Tell me about, I haven’t felt this proud myself in a long time.” Bright Mac added.
Then Bow Hothoof came between them with his hooves wrapping around their necks in excitement. “And I haven’t felt so alive!”
Meanwhile Rarity’s father, Hondo Flanks is carrying the money he and his friends earn back at the casino. “And I haven’t felt this tired. My football games never made me this exhausted.” He yawns while trying to keep himself awake.
“Don’t worry Hondo, we can go out without you. You deserve the rest you need.” Night Light smiled while padding on Hondo’s head which he smiled too. After they all went upstairs, they all walk in the hallway, which leads to their apartment.
The hotel they checked in is one of the most expensive buildings in the city. With all eight ponies spending their time off, they all agreed to split the bill of their apartment and services. Their apartment has four bedrooms, one for two ponies to sleep in, making it easier for more ponies in the group to stay.
When Night Light and his friends finally arrive to their apartment door, he uses his key to unlock the door. Once they all come in, they all see most of their friends return after the schedule they did today. Pinkie’s father, Igneous Rock who’s done with his time in the rock museum is reading one of his books her brought along. Fluttershy, and Starlight’s father, Mr. Shy and Firelight went shopping during the day. While Mr Shy brought antiques for his home, Firelight brought several types of lavender for his society back in Sire’s Hollow. They made themselves scrabble eyes for supper by the time they came back fifteen minutes ago. There is however one pony, part of the group who’s going to be late for the night, but this is the first time he’s hanging out with his friends who wanted him to come along. They see him as an old friend even if they meet him weeks ago. They want to know about his life with his family judging he’s much farther away from where they live.
“You’re back.” Mr. Shy getting off his chair.
“So how was the casino?” Firelight asked.
“Amazing, one of the best activities of this trip so far.” Night Light said. As him and the others took off their hats and coats, placing them on the hangers, they all took their seats on the sofa, after the day they had.
“You know, I can’t not believe I’m saying this, but this has to be one of the best weeks I’ve had in a long time.” Igneous Rock closing his book.
“It took you six years to came to the conclusion that now you’re finally enjoying our plans?” Bright Mac retorted.
“I spend my time at a rock farm, you probably feel the same way if you’re in my place.”
While Bright Mac isn’t on complete terms with Igneous, he sometimes agrees with him with the life he has.
“So I have a question?” Bow Hothoof asked. “Since we have twenty minutes until we go to sleep, can we express our feelings about our families?”
“Yeah, we never did any of that over the last several years.” Hondo commented.
Night Light never had that in mind when it comes to his schedule but since he did everything for today, he’s alright with Bow’s idea. “Okay, so who wants to start first?”
“I’ll go first.” Hondo raised his hoof. With all of the ponies putting their attention on the football player, he begins speaking his mind. “Whenever I see my two daughters face to face, I always think of them as unpredictable.”
“Is it because they’re not related to your football hobby?” Mr. Shy asked.
“Yeah, but I’m not disappointed. My wife Cookie told me when they grew up, they could go in their own direction of success. Rarity, being a talented fashion designer, while Sweetie Belle made friends, which lead her to earn her cutie mark.”
Hondo had nothing else to say. He wanted to explain more of his past, but he barely comes across his two daughters. Out of all the fathers, he’s most likely have the least knowledge of Rarity and Sweetie Belle’s present life in Ponyville. Luckily for him, his friends found his feelings pretty nice.
“I find your daughters to be the definition of success.” Firelight commented.
“I agree with him.” Night Light added.
Rarity’s father smiled as the next pony begins to speak his feelings. Mr. Shy decide to step in since his feelings are mostly personal between his family.
“When Fluttershy was getting older, I tried to show her that Cloudsdale is a fun place, but she was always scared.” His ears lowered down as he takes a deep breath to continue his story. “When Mrs. Shy told me that she loves animals so much because of our daughter’s cutie mark, we decided to have her move into a cottage that’s by Ponyville. It may have taken more time, since she was still a filly but it was worth it.”
“Has she gotten over her fears?” Hondo asked.
However Mr. Shy shook his head since he didn’t finished with his turn. “Our daughter has had this issue for a long time and she still hasn’t overcome it. While we love the fact she’s taking care of innocent animals, it’s still a shame she isn’t going to fix her problem.”
Fluttershy’s father sighed as his turn is finished. Most of his friends, even Pinkie’s father found Mr. Shy’s feelings hard, when it comes to his daughter. Bright Mac got up and walked up to Mr. Shy to show his feelings to teach him something new about parenting.
“Mr. Shy, when I was taking care of my daughter, I taught her something about facing the world outside of our home. Yes, we can agree both are daughters aren’t related to each other, but I showed Applejack that our environment is a safe place.”
Mr. Shy is starting to get into Bright’s past while the others are as well. “Does she have a disability?”
“Not really since she makes deliveries to villages. Pear told her to be brave when she gets older. Just like me. And if you find something in Fluttershy that will succeed her problem, she might do the same to show her courage.”
After Bright gave his advice, Mr. Shy found the truth with his situation, so much so that he might need to talk to Fluttershy about it. He gives the cowboy a hug with his ears perked back up. “Thanks Bright Mac.”
“No problem buddy.”
As Bright Mac returns to his seat and his friends giving him applause, Firelight steps in for his feelings about Starlight Glimmer. He looks at everyone to make sure they have their attention on him.
“My daughter is always my one and only sweet little pony angel, especially with how much I took care of her.” He smirked.
“Here we go again.” Hondo thought.
“I miss those days when she was a filly who loved playing with Sunburst. When I see her as a grown pony, I couldn’t help myself but treat her like a filly. After all that time when she was away, I still had to face the fact I have to move on like my daughter.”
Night Light and the others didn’t actually expect the true past of Firelight. From what they heard from Starlight when she was staying with Twilight in her castle, she avoided Sire’s Hollow until she had a friendship quest there. They didn’t blame her for doing so, but after hearing her father’s feelings, they would think otherwise.
“Do you think we should help you like talking to Starlight about this?” Night Light asked.
“Maybe during a time when she feels like it. And I need it too since she was furious about it.” Firelight sighed. He then sets back as another pony steps in. Just when Bow or Night decided to express their feelings, Pinkie’s father took his opportunity.
“I spend most of my life raising my daughters at a rock farm and when Pinkie Pie made her first ever surprise party…” He tried to continue his speech but during those times when she was away from the farm, he’s stuck in a moment. The others took notice after ten seconds of silence until one of them spoke up.
“What happened? Did you enjoy it?” Bow asked.
Igneous Rock didn’t respond, he closed his eyes as he tries again to speak more about her daughter. “Yes, but when she moved into the Cake’s restaurant, I stayed the same in my family. Even if she can spread laughter wherever she goes, my wife and daughters still need me.”
He placed both of his hooves on his face after everything that came out of his mouth. The other ponies found his feelings really mesmerizing. While they still need time off with their daughters, Igneous is the only pony who never saw Pinkie during the times she was on her own.
“Igneous, I don’t know what to say. Even I felt this way similar to you when I was gone.” Bright Mac commented.
“Yeah, now you understand how it feels to run a farm involving rocks.” He sighed while he’s done with his turn. When it comes to the other ponies, they want to cheer him up, but with the way his life is different from there’s, it’s going to take awhile to work this out.
With five ponies done expressing their feelings, there are two ponies left. Bow Hothoof steps in, usually he would worship the daughter he supports the most, however after the misunderstanding, his feelings have mostly changed since then.
“Rainbow Dash was the one and only pony I want to feel better about herself.” He spoke in a normal tone. “But when she told me she was sick of the supportive treatment, me and Windy had to make tons of changes. One of them is to let go of the past and...give Rainbow Dash the space she needs.”
Bow Hothoof then came into tears when he was finished. He had to let it out eventually, but not in front of his friends since he and Windy Whistles kept this in for a long time. As for his friends, they can feel the struggle of what Bow is dealing with. Even if it was his responsibility, Rainbow Dash was the only daughter he ever had in his family.
Night Light got out of his seat and walk up to his best friend in the group. He gave him a hug much to Bow’s surprise. “If you want your daughter to be happy with your, you need to tone down your actions.”
“But what am I supposed to do?”
Night Light broke the hug to answer Bow’s question. “Show her how much you changed, it may take a lot of explaining but she will accept it since your her father. She will always respect that no matter what.”
After that, Bow smiled from the advice Night Light have him. For after all the years of missing her one of a kind daughter, he can see the solution to put the differences aside.
“Thanks so much!” He came into tears of joy.
“No problem, now if you excuse me, it’s my turn now.” He smiled. With Bow returning to his seat, all that’s left is Twilight’s father. Although there’s still one more pony who’s late at the moment.
“When my daughter Twilight was growing up in Canterlot, I never had the idea of her being a princess. I always thought she had everything she needed. Making friends during her filly age, while also being Princess Celestia’s student.”
His friends found his speech really good since he’s right about Twilight’s past, but he’s not done yet.
“If me and my wife can see more of what Twilight does as a princess, we can see how far she went. And it’s not because we love her, it’s because we love the fact our daughter is a princess, that makes me more proud than anything in my whole life.”
His friend’s clap after the speech he made, it goes to show they know full well who Twilight Sparkle is and who her parents are. Night Light couldn’t get anymore lucky of her daughter’s accomplishments.
Just when they’re about to end their feelings, they heard their apartment door being unlocked, revealing the final pony in the group. His cutie mark has a camera with a map behind it, his hat has dinosaur bones around it while his outfit makes him an expert on dinosaurs. He’s also the father of Scootaloo, after all this time of them being apart.
“I am so sorry, after I was done at the fossil museum, there was a lot of traffic.” He panted in stress.
“It’s okay Snap Shutter, we’ve been in that situation before.” Bow replied.
“I need to eat something, I missed supper.” Just when he was about to head to the kitchen, Night Light got an idea. He did know Snap was Scootaloo’s father but he never told his feelings about it.
“Wait, before you eat something, can you do something for us?” He offered.
“What do you want?” Snap asked.
“We just expressed our feelings about our daughters and since you came back on time...can you tell us what you feel?”
Snap didn’t know what to expect from his friends. During the whole week, he may have went out with them for lunch and sightseeing on the tallest buildings, but when he was by himself, his friends go out to do games and such. Considering he still trust his friends for being completely nice, while also paying the apartment bill.
He nodded to Night’s offer as Twilight’s father went back to his seat. With all eight ponies in their apartment with seven of them putting their attention on the one who finally returned, Snap Shutter begins his speech.
“You all know that I sent Scootaloo to Ponyville with two aunts taking care of her.”
“Yeah until you almost made the decision to take her with you.” Igneous Rock retorted.
“Igneous!” Hondo reacted.
“No, that needed to be let out in front of you, because my daughter told me about her time with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in Ponyville. I almost broke apart the Cutie Mark Crusaders, something she loves the most.”
Just when he was about to continue on, Firelight interrupted. “When I heard about that, you didn’t even have second thoughts of how it affects your daughter.”
“I know!” Snap shouted while taking a deep breath. “The whole reason why I didn’t think this through is how much I miss Scootaloo.” With all of his friends took notice of this discovery, Snap tries to express his feelings. “She was so young when she left, to the point we barely had so much quality time together. While some of you kept your daughters until they’re ready to go on their own, you had so much time with them than me.”
Everypony agreed with Snap’s statement since it’s really the saddest truth about him. Bright Mac who made the decision to leave Sweet Apple Acres with his wife, played with his daughter with the time he had left. Just when things couldn’t get anymore interesting, Snap wraps up his speech.
“With the time I had with her,it was the fact that she was upset because her wings are too small. I tried to show her to never feel bad about herself because of that. I understand she wanted to be like Rainbow Dash since she ran a fanclub, but no one ever bullied her because of it. I want to make her feel good about what she had, even if my wife does have wings.”
Snap took another deep breath in order to keep himself relaxed. His tone was way more serious, since this is the first time he ever told this to anyone.
“When I wanted her to come with us back where we live, I not only wanted to play with her like the old times, but also make her feel happy in my own way to show how much I love her. I never meant to hurt her.”
When he’s finally done with every single word he needed to say, there is nothing but silence. Igneous Rock thought her daughter had a motivation for her friendships but after what Snap said, a filly has a bigger motivation than his daughter.
As for the rest of the ponies, their heartstrings couldn’t get pulled anymore harder. They may have their personal lives that are most important and they always care about their families. But after hearing everything from Snap Shutter, they can see him wanting to be a father more when Scootaloo was born.
The silence soon dies as every father, especially Igneous Rock give Snap Shutter applause. Hondo Flanks and Bright Mac being the fathers of Sweetie Belle and Applejack separately, both walk up to Snap and gave him a hug.
“It’s great that you let Scootaloo to stay in Ponyville but at the same time, you deserve one week with her.” Hondo commented.
“With that amazing history you had with her, I’m sure luck will make you feel better.” Bright Mac added.
“Thanks, I’m still proud your daughters have Scootaloo as their crusader.” Snap smiled.
“Anyway, I think we’ve been talking about this longer than I thought.” Night Light said.
“Your’re right, I need to go to bed.” Firelight added. When almost all the ponies went into their bedrooms, the only ones who are still in the living room are Night Light and Snap Shutter who’s still hungry.
“That was a really great speech.” Twilight’s father smiled.
“Thanks, I really need to let that out. You have no idea how I felt when Scootaloo was in Ponyville that whole time.” Snap replied.
“Yeah, I bet you might get the chance to know what she has been through. Anyway do you want me to make something for you?”
“So much, thank you.” The two fathers make their way to the kitchen to have Snap eat supper before they go to sleep.