"Twily, get back!" Twilight Velvet did her best to break free of her daughter's grasp.
Twilight Sparkle pleaded, "Mom, wait, you don't understand! She's not evil anymore!"
"That's a matter for some debate..." Echo, still disguised, mused quietly.
"Twily," Mrs. Velvet relaxed a little, "she replaced your sister-in-law at your brother's wedding. She tried to enslave all of Equestria. Why are you protecting her?"
"Mom, really, it's not what you think. The changelings are --"
"The changelings are dangerous, Twily. That one in particular."
"Wait," Echo winced, "You didn't tell her?"
"I didn't think I'd need to, Echo."
"Tell me what? Twily, you shouldn't keep secrets from your mother. What didn't you tell me?"
"Well... about this little problem. I didn't lie when I said Echo is an inexperienced mother. Technically I didn't lie at all!"
"What aren't you telling me, Twilight Sparkle?"
Twilight's face contorted for a moment into fear. Her mother only called her by her full name when she was ticked. "Well... um... Mom... Echo and Ricochet are... um..."
"We're changelings, Ma'am." Ricochet stepped forward, bowing his head a little in respect to the mare of the house. "Reformed changelings, I guess you could say."
Mrs. Velvet regarded her guests with a newfound horror. "Twily, you brought changelings into my house?"
"Mom, please. They really aren't dangerous. Echo really needs your help."
"Why did you bring Chrysalis and the other changeling, then?" She wasn't yelling anymore, which was a good sign, but she was still visibly on-edge.
"Ricochet is ... I guess you could say he's Echo's student. He's recently decided to change his ways, and she's acting as his mentor. Chrysalis... is a stowaway. I told her to stay back in Ponyville, but... well, you can see how that worked out."
"My mother doesn't like following orders." Echo nodded.
"Your mother." Mrs. Velvet looked over at Echo with a mixture of incredulity and worry. "You're telling me you're... what, Princess Echo?"
"No, I'm not a p--"
"Oh, I am totally calling you Princess Echo from now on." Chrysalis had started to regain consciousness, but was cradling the side of her head that had been assaulted. "That is a mean punch for a pony, I have to admit."
"So, let me get this straight, Twily. Echo, Ricochet, and ... Chrysalis ... are to stay in my home in Canterlot, the city which was only a few years ago attacked by a force led by the aforementioned Queen... while I teach Echo the ins and outs of motherhood to a teenage filly?"
"Well, Mom, I mean, I just really needed some help from somepony who --"
"You know, dear, hold that thought. A minute ago, Chrysalis, you said you were sure you could help find my husband. Exactly what did you mean by that?"
When the Queen stood to her full height, her horn very nearly scraped the ceiling. "I meant I was sure that I could assist you in locating him." She raised an eyebrow. "What did you think I was implying?"
"Perhaps that you kidnapped him like you had done to my daughter-in-law?"
"Oh, are you still hung up on that? Let it go, Velvet, dear. That's ages in the past."
"Oh. Is it?" Mrs. Velvet's teeth began to grind audibly on each other as she attempted a smile. "You see, to my recollection, it was less than four years ago. I assure you, it is quite fresh in my mind."
"Mom, Chrysalis notwithstanding, Echo really does need your help."
"Ah, right. Well, Twily, given the circumstances and of course the past, you'll understand if I ask you, just ever so quickly, to tell me something only the two of us would know?"
Twilight hesitated for a moment. "I... I don't want to embarrass myself..."
"If they're your friends, then you shouldn't worry about it." Mrs. Velvet smiled gently.
Chrysalis leaned over Twilight's shoulder, smiling mischievously, and spoke sweetly. "Of course, little miss Sparkle, your friends would never ... say ... blackmail you with a particularly embarrassing story."
"Naturally not." Twilight deadpanned, rolling her eyes. "All right... it was my fourth birthday. I remember the last present I got that day. You and dad were both looking at me... you seemed almost nervous. I guess you wondered if I'd like it. I opened the box, and I found Smarty Pants, and the first thing I did was hug her as tightly as I could. Then I walked over to you and Dad, and I said 'Mommy, Daddy, thank you so much. I'll love her forever --"
"Just like I'll love you." Mrs. Velvet finished the sentence for her as tears welled up in her eyes. "Okay. I believe it's you Twily." She enveloped her daughter in a tight hug.
"Oh! That's tasty!" Ricochet leaned over and whispered into Echo's ear.
"Shh, not appropriate..." She paused. "... but you're right."
"All right, if you're done with this saccharine display," the ever-insensitive Queen interrupted, "can we address the issue at hoof?"
"You..." Mrs. Velvet pointed a hoof in Chrysalis' direction, "I still don't like you, but because my Twily is vouching for you, I'll let you go. I'm afraid I don't have room for you here, though, so Twily might have to see if the Princesses can offer you accommodations for the weekend."
"Thanks, Mom." Twilight smiled brightly.
"Thanks, Mom." Chrysalis mocked under her breath.
"Now, the next thing. I don't like knowing that those two are changelings if I can't see it, so," she turned to Echo and Ricochet, "dispense with the disguises, if you'd be so kind?"
Ricochet looked to Echo for reassurance, and she nodded. The two of them simultaneously dropped their facades, revealing their true forms.
"Here we are," Echo shrugged with a gentle smile, "we come in peace." She chuckled nervously.
Mrs. Velvet sighed heavily, but didn't smile. She trotted over and stood just a few inches from Echo's face. "Listen, Echo. I'm still not totally comfortable with this, but ... I'll do what I can to help you, and I'll try to give you a chance, okay?" She held out a hoof. "I can't say we're friends yet, but I won't punch you, okay?"
Echo chuckled a little. "Understandable, and thank you." She accepted the gesture.
"Same goes for you, Ricochet." She extended her hoof to him.
"Thank you, Ma'am." He smiled and also accepted the gesture.
"Twilight Velvet or Mrs. Velvet is fine, my mother was 'ma'am'." She smiled weakly. "Now, then, let me show you to your rooms. Twilight, if you could make... her presentable and tend to her accommodations at the castle, that would be lovely."
"I'm on it, Mom."
Once Twilight Velvet and Twilight Sparkle had both turned their backs to the Queen, she gave them each a couple of very unflattering faces.
"Come on now you two." Mrs. Velvet motioned to Echo and Ricochet again. "Follow me." She started up a nearby spiral staircase while the changelings grabbed their bags. On the second level was a long hallway. She pointed down one direction. "Over there is Twily's room, and mine and Night Light's as well. On the other end of the hall we have the spare bedroom." She led them down the hall and opened the door. It was a nice room, large enough to hold a single king sized bed with enough space to allow for a desk, typewriter, several chairs, and a well-stocked bookshelf. "I think you'll like it." Mrs. Velvet finished, holding the door open.
Echo and Ricochet both paused before the former spoke. "Um, which one of us gets this room, Mrs. Velvet?"
"Both of you." She smiled.
"Oh." Echo hesitated, blinking a few times. Her ears twitched. "I see." She looked over at Ricochet, who was now swallowing the frog in his throat and looking at his hooves nervously. "That might be kind of awkward."
Twilight Velvet looked at Echo with confusion for a moment before her eyes widened. "Oh, you mean... you two aren't...?"
"No, not at all. Just friends." Echo nodded.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume. Still, I'm sorry to say this is all that we have to spare, since Scootaloo is taking Twily's old room. You two are getting Shiny's. We really don't have any more." She seemed genuinely apologetic for not having the right arrangements. "Would you like me to see if we can get a room at a local inn for one of you?"
Echo considered the offer, but she reconsidered it when she realized that asking Mrs. Velvet to do that would be very rude. "N... No, it's fine. We can make due." She smiled gently. "Thank you, Mrs. Velvet. I appreciate your time."
"Of course. I'm really sorry. Now... I think I need to go out and find out where my husband's run off to. We can talk more when I get back, okay? It shouldn't take me too long." She inhaled sharply in hesitation, winced a little, and then offered a hug.
Echo smiled and gave a very quick, gentle hug in response. Once they had separated, she watched Mrs. Velvet offer Ricochet another hoofshake, which he also accepted gracefully. Just like that, Mrs. Velvet was gone, down the stairs and out the door.
"Echo, we have to ... to share a bed?" He asked hesitantly once their host had departed.
"It's not that big a deal. It's a king sized bed, there's plenty of room to keep our distance. Is it too awkward for you being in the same bed as a friend?" She asked him innocently.
"N-- no, that's not it, it's just that... well, I..."
"Oh! I get it. Don't worry about it, Ricochet. I'm a grown mare, I can handle seeing what happens to a stallion when he wakes up. Besides, I get it: you can't help it, it's not your fault." She trotted in and started to set down her bags to unpack.
"That... that is not what I meant!!!" He protested, nervousness plain to hear in his voice.
"Then what did you mean?" She tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow as she set some of her things down on the bed.
"I just... I don't know."
"Well, when you figure it out, let me know, okay buddy?" She smiled again and zipped up her bag. "Now... would you mind helping me decide on a new disguise?"
"What was wrong with your last one?" He tried his best to just roll with it and move on from his previous awkwardness.
"Well, for one, the fact that it was based on a mare who used to live in this city... until I kinda possibly maybe blasted her in the chest with a bolt of magic a little over three years ago?"
He nodded, a little surprised. "Yeah, that would ... that would explain some of the looks we got coming in to town."
"Obviously I don't want, much less need to have to explain that to anypony, so, I need a new disguise. I'd just like to have an opinion about how some of my ideas look." She smiled brightly and erupted into flames. When they disappated, the mare in Echo's place was a mint-green pegasus with a blue mane and a trio of feathers for a cutie mark. Her voice was soft and high, very gentle. "How's this one?"
Ricochet shrugged. "Eh. It would pass, but I don't think it suits you."
The mare's face scrunched up, and she again erupted in flame. This time she was a pink-ish unicorn with a violet mane and a cutie mark of three princess-cut diamonds. Her voice was now mid-range, and just a little rough. "How about now?"
"Eh, better than the last one, but I don't think pink is very 'you' either."
She gave a muted groan of displeasure and sat down with her forelegs crossed. Another tower of flame revealed a faded lavender colored mare with a blonde mane and yellow flower for a cutie mark. She looked at Ricochet with an impatient, almost pouting expression.
"That... actually looks really good." He smiled.
"Now you're just saying that because I'm pissed." Her voice was medium-high, about a mezzo-soprano. It was pure and smooth.
"N-- No, no I'm not. I actually think that looks good. The voice is nice too." He smiled.
"Really?" She smiled weakly and stood.
"Yeah. I like it."
"Okay... so... what should my name be?"
"Maybe... um... Blossom... Delight?"
"Blossom Delight..." She tapped a hoof. "Well, I can't really think of anything better. All right, Blossom Delight it is."
"Blossom Delight and Key Stone." He smiled at her, changing back into his own disguise.
"Blossom Delight and Key Stone, best of friends." She nodded with a smile.
"Yep... best friends!" He did his best to smile back.
As if on cue, Mrs. Velvet came back around the corner into the room. "Ah! I... assume that's you, Echo and Ricochet?"
"Yep, it's us." Ricochet turned, eager for a distraction.
"Well... this is my husband, Night Light." She reached around and pulled him into view from the other side of the door.
He smiled kindly. "Hey, nice to meet you." He extended his hoof first to Ricochet and then to Echo. "Like she said, my name is Night Light. I'm also known as 'Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Shining Armor's dad', but I really prefer Night Light... much shorter." He laughed.
"Now, honey..." Mrs. Velvet said hesitantly. "There is something else about our guests here... I need you to be calm for me, okay? Twily already promised me everything was okay, and I checked to make sure it was really her..."
"Why... would it not be her?" He raised an eyebrow.
"... Echo, Ricochet?"
Fwoosh. The air in the room moved in a quick warm breeze as both changelings dropped their disguises. They spoke, accidentally, in unison. "Hello, again."
A little curl from Night Light's mane now sat in front of his left eye as he stared at the changelings. "Sweetheart, honey... love of my life... can you please explain this for me?"
"I'll do my best." She smiled sweetly.
* * *
"So, what you're telling me then is that all this time, Twily has been in Ponyville, living with the changeling Queen who ... impersonated our daughter-in-law and attempted to elope with our son."
"Yep." Echo was trying to answer the questions that Mrs. Velvet had not yet been informed about.
"She's been doing this willingly?"
"For the most part."
"... and she hasn't been telling us because...?"
"I'm sorry," Echo winced, "I don't really know that one. I think she probably just forgot. Most of the time when I talk with her, she's pretty busy trying to get me to submit to experiments. She seems to really find me fascinating."
"Well, that does sound like our Twily. She always did have a bit of a one-track-mind. Okay. Now, then, the reason you're here..."
"I can answer that one." Mrs. Velvet kissed Night Light's cheek gently. "Twily wrote to me about Scootaloo and her mom. Remember that?"
"I do."
"Well... Echo is Scootaloo's new mom."
"That... clears up a few questions. I guess it makes sense you wouldn't know how to deal with a pubescent pegasus filly." He laughed, putting a hoof behind his head. "Heck, I had trouble with a pubescent unicorn colt, and that's a lot closer to what I've gone through in my life than it probably is for you and Scootaloo."
"That's precisely why Twilight suggested I get some expert advice from your wife, Mr. Night Light." Echo nodded.
"Oh, please. Just Night Light." He waved a hoof. "Well, I'll always encourage Twily to make more friends. She has quite a few now, but the more the merrier. If she trusts you, then so do I!"
"Oh, one more thing, dear, and I think you probably won't like it..." Mrs. Velvet cooed gently. "She's... um... well, she's Chrysalis' daughter."
"Oh, well, as long as Twily gave us her -- wait, what?"
"Also, Chrysalis is back in Canterlot for the weekend while they're all visiting."
His face became expressionless. He blinked a few times before throwing his hooves up into the air helplessly. "Okay. Sure. Yeah. No big deal." He stood. "It was a pleasure meeting both of you. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go for a little walk to clear my head."
"I... totally get it." Echo said gently.
Echo, Ricochet, and Mrs. Velvet all wordlessly watched him walk out of the house. Once the front door had closed, Mrs. Velvet spoke up again.
"Honestly, that went much better than I expected."
