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// 53 - Twilight's Origin 
// Story: Sunburst to the Rescue 
// by David Silver 
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The door opened with a faint glow around the doorknob.  "Hel--" The mare's voice cut off as she saw who was at her door. "Twilie! And... Hon! Twilight's here!" She was grinning with joy and already charging Twilight with fire in her eyes.

Twilight put up her hooves, trying to explain quickly as the oncoming train of motherdom steamed towards her. "I'm here with an announce--"

"--can wait until after hellos." She threw her arms around Twilight and hugged her daughter tightly. "Ohhh, so good to see you! You didn't tell us you were coming; we weren't ready at all! Did you just happen to be in the neighborhood?"

Sunburst watched the two quietly, just keeping quiet. Speaking up at that moment felt awkward at best.

"Did you say Twilight?" Night Light peeked out the door. "Oh, hello there." He had spotted Sunburst. "Dear, it looks like she brought a friend."

Twilight wriggled free of the fierce hug. "That is exactly what I wanted to talk about. Mom, dad, may I present a very special somepony?"

Velvet inclined her head faintly. "Wait, let me guess..." She squinted as she looked back and forth between Sunburst and Twilight. "Is... he a new teacher at your school?"

"Not technically wrong," allowed Sunburst with an off-smile.

Twilight moved beside Sunburst and threw an arm around him. "He is, but that's not why I brought him here. May I present Sunburst, my boyfriend."

Night Light flopped bonelessly to the ground. Velvet waved off his dramatics. "He'll be fine." After that was said, it was her turn and she squealed with unadulterated child-like glee. "My Twily's come with a boyfriend! Aw! You two look precious together." Her horn glowed as she yanked a camera out of the house and began snapping pictures of the both of them. "I need to know everything! How did you meet?"

"Why am I on the ground?" He pushed up from where he had fallen. "Oh, hello Twil... oh..." It seemed to be coming back to him. "And you are..."

"Sunburst, Sir." He dipped his head towards what could maybe become his father in law. "Nice to meet you."

"You've ruined my schedule." With a glowing horn, he started to pull a large sheet from inside the house, but Velvet's magic joined the glow as she pushed back on it. 

"You will not ruin this moment with your strange notions. Twilight's life isn't for us to control and it never was." She had an iron gaze locked on Night Light, teeth set.

"But..." The paper sagged before it was whisked away under his wife's power. "I was sure she wouldn't get involved for at least ten more moons."

"The best parts of life are the parts you don't see coming." Velvet nodded with satisfaction at her own wisdom. "Now, Sunburst? Welcome!" She threw her fore hooves wide. "You're my son now, get used to that. I am going to spoil the Celestia-loving heck out of you."

She advanced on the scared-looking stallion and began fussing at his mane and beard without a hint of reservation, smoothing some of his frazzles. "I have a conditioner that could do wonders for that, you should try it. Now get to spilling it. I want to hear every single thing."

"O-oh, well, yes, we... first met in the Crystal Empire."

Night Light smiled at that. "My daughter met her special pony right next to where our son lives with his? That's destiny is what that is."

"Now you're getting it." Velvet nodded firmly, seemingly pleased with Night's recovery. "Was it love at first sight?"

"Not exactly." He rubbed behind his head.

"We barely noticed each other, that first time," added Twilight. "But we met, and that set the pieces in place to fall just right later."

Velvet began to clap excitedly, only to stop just as quickly. "Come inside! Why are we gabbing on the stoop like this?" She led the way into the house, giggling along the way. "This is just too exciting! Keep going while I get everyone some snacks."

Night Light was suddenly at her side, kissing her cheek. "You stay and listen. I'll get the snacks."

"You're the best."

"Only when you're not in the room."

They shared a fond nuzzle with matured love, still alive and strong. Night trotted off towards the kitchen to fetch refreshments. That left Velvet watching the new couple with a big grin, ready to hear more.

Twilight cleared her throat softly. "To make a long story short--"

"--Every single thing," casually reminded Velvet. "I want every tawdry detail."

Twilight began to darken quickly. "You are not getting that, Mother."

Sunburst's eyes wandered over the decor of the room. "Did you... ask Shining Armor for that?"

"He said no too, but that doesn't stop me from asking." Velvet rolled her eyes. "You'd think being someone's mother would entitle you to hearing the entire story."

"Yes, as I was saying..." Twilight gestured at Sunburst. "I called him to help crack the code on an especially thick tome that was driving me nuts!"

"She was a mess," agreed Sunburst. "But the book really was a challenge, but one we dove into, together, and have been making progress on ever since. It's been quite the project."

"Ooo!" She drove  her hooves together in a loud clop. "Study buddies turned steamy? I've read stories with that plot before... Hon! How's it going?"

"Right here." Night Light wandered into the room, a platter of snacks floating next to him. He set it down on the coffee table in easy reach of most of the ponies there. "Pardon me for asking, Sunburst, but how are you at keeping to a schedule?"

"Dad!"

"No, it's, uh, alright." Sunburst smiled nervously. "I'm not late to personal appointments," he declared proudly.

"Good good, but... scheduling?"

"Uh... Not... the best? I don't usually keep schedules, but I can follow one just fine."

"We'll have to work on that." He took a cracker with his magic and popped it into Sunburst's snout. "No stallion's going to get involved with my Twili without knowing how to create a properly annotated schedule."

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Tell me about your adventures. You've done something exciting, I hope, not just studying all day every day?"

"Well..." Twilight trailed a hoof over the floor. "We did take a weekend trip to a convention for antiquarians."

Sunburst perked at that, detecting opportunity. "We competed in a scavenger hunt that had us running and solving puzzles, oh, and we did an escape room."

Velvet smiled brightly. "Now that's more like it! Did you win?"

Twilight bobbed her head. "We sure did. Have you ever done an escape room?"

Night Light buffed a hoof on his chest. "We set a record in one."

Velvet rolled her eyes at that. "We were the first ones in there."

"That still counts," defended Night Light with a stricken expression.

"Still, it was fun and such a team-building experience. We had to put our heads together." She leaned over and Night Light bumped his head against hers in a literal display of the event.

Twilight nodded in soft agreement. "I've done two of them now, one with my girlfriends, and now one with my boyfriend. Hm, this is becoming a habit..."

"A generational habit," added Night Light with a smile. "Some of the best kinds. Maybe you should tell your foals to try escape rooms with ponies to find who their special friends are."

Velvet prodded him in the side. "Or how about we don't do that, dear. Really..."

"You two must be so proud." He was still looking at the decorations. There were so many trinkets from Shining Armor and Twilight's life to see, mixed in with the happy moments of Twilight's parents. "Your children, uh, have done so much."

Night Light followed his gaze. "They've given us a lot to be proud about. To think, one's a princess, and the other's married to one. It's probably for the best we don't have another foal. That'd be a hard act to follow up."

Velvet hopped up to her hooves. "I'm done being a mommy. I mean, no, that came out so wrong." She raised a hoof to her chin. "I'm done being a mom to little foals. I did that, I'm done. I'm perfectly happy being a mother to grown ponies." She suddenly threw an arm over Sunburst. "Like you!" She popped a cracker into his mouth much as Night Light had. "Now tell me what gets your engine running."

"I..."

"She wants to know what you like doing," helpfully noted Twilight, a hoof over her face.

"Oh! I love studying magic. I play Ogres and Oubliettes. I... enjoy teaching, I've found." He stroked his beard as he thought about it. "Any day I spend with Twilight is a day well spent."

A bright flash filled the room as Velvet took another picture. "You are just too sweet! You need to get out there and try a few more exciting things. You and Twilight, I swear, though she does get her excitement fill from saving the world on a semi-regular basis, so I'll give her a pass." She leaned forward dangerously. "I don't think you have that excuse."

"Oh! You play O&O? Now there's a fascinating exercise in accounting." Night Light bobbed his head in eager agreement. "Tell me, what edition are they up to at this point? Gosh, I played back in the 2nd edition days."

"I've played that one!" Sunburst perked up. "There was a book of that in my parents' house, and I couldn't help reading it... so I played once or twice with Starlight."

"What did you play as?"

"I was the storyteller." He pointed at himself. "I made stories for Starlight and she had a lot of fun. It was a good time. They're up to third edition now, but I keep hearing they're planning on a fourth, but that's been a rumor for basically ever."

"They really should just set a release date." The scheduled stallion shook his head in dismay at the rest of the unorganized world. "Good on you, though. Being a storyteller is a true test of organizational skills to keep things moving properly."

Twilight cleared her throat. "Before you grill him too much, I will note that he has saved the Crystal Empire."

Velvet threw a hoof across her front as if snapping fingers she didn't have. "Oh that's right! You helped when little Flurry caused a bit of trouble. She's such a little dear... but that was a mess."

Night Light nodded softly. "Quite an unexpected turn of events. Now, we really should make a new timeline." A fresh blank sheet floated into the room. "You've made of mess of my old ones, but that's alright, making new ones is half the fun."

Twilight suddenly stood. "Don't let me get in the way of that. I just wanted to be sure you two were in on what was going on. I'd feel terrible if my own parents had no idea until the last moment."

Velvet snapped a shot of Twilight's evasive expression. "Don't you worry, I'll help your father decide what should happen when." She leaned in, whispering softly, "and proceed to not follow it.  You two trot along now, congratulations!" She kissed Twilight's cheek then quickly moved to give Sunburst's burning cheeks equal treatment. 

Night Light suddenly thrust out a hoof. "Wait! I mean, you're not just going to visit us for an hour, I hope? You're always welcome here, Twili. Why don't you at least stay the night?"

Velvet canted her head. "That sounds lovely. Twilight, dear?"

Twilight tapped a hoof on the ground. "Hm, well... Alright. We'll stay here tonight."

Night Light pumped a hoof in victory.

"However, right now, I want to take Sunburst around the city to see some things, and other ponies, if that's alright?"

Velvet made a shooing motion. "Go on then. We'll have dinner waiting for you both when you get back."