//------------------------------// // Meeting the fam // Story: Cheer You On // by Artistkun //------------------------------// "And then what happened?" "When I came back at the cabin, I saw Adagio in a unicorn costume!" "NO WAY?!" "She keeps saying stuff like unicorns are so immature and then I saw her pulling that stuff when she's alone!" Aria and Velvet laughed when they were sharing some stories and Twilight smiled when she saw how happy the two were. She may not know much about how these two's friendship began but she decided to no to question it because she remembered how Aria was uncomfortable about her past. It had been a few minutes since the girls left the school and Twilight keeps apologizing profusely to Aria for hugging her too tightly. In the car ride home was filled with nothing but laughter and joy as Aria told short story after story about her old EU friends and the friends she was now. Twilight would jump into Aria and her mother's conversation, but mostly remain quiet as she was more amused listening to Aria's stories and to see her mother laugh uncontrollably. Aria and mom are having a great time laughing like no time has passed. I wonder if mom's other patients have this strength of bond like she has with Aria? Twilight thought to herself as the car had a quick right onto her new neighborhood. "Oh, oh! This is my home right here, Mrs. V! Awww man, but Starlight isn't home. I really wanted you two to see each other again." Aria said with a pout as she pointed to the house as the car was passing by. "Oh, what a lovely home, you and Star have moved into." Velvet said as she began to slow the car. "And don't you worry, Ariana, as long as you didn't tell her yet then I'll make a surprise visit tomorrow after breakfast." "Awesome, I can't wait for her reaction!" Aria said with excitement. The mother and daughter duo let out a chuckle at their guest of honor as the car stopped moving and the three got off the car. Aria stared at Twilight's new home with an uneasy look as she felt her left leg shake a bit. Since she moved to this street, Aria felt the aura around the house and this made her really scared and worried for some reason. I'm glad Twilight and Mrs. Velvet moved here, but I hate they couldn't find a different house or closer street. This house has been giving me a bad vibe, I'm sick of it. Aria thought to herself as her uneasy look caught the attention of Twilight. "Are you okay, Aria? You seem nervous." Twilight said quietly in order not to alert and worry her mother. "What? Me, nervous? Uh, no! I just remembered Fluttershy! Yeah! We only saw Fleur after the library incident, but not her, right? Think she's okay?" Aria panicked with a nervous laugh, causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow and worry even more. She has never seen this level of panic from Aria before. "Aria. You know you can talk to me about this, right?" Twilight asked before putting her hand on Aria's shoulder for comfort and her best friend started to calm down. "Ye-Yeah, I know. I just don't think this is the right time since your mom is here. I don't want her to worry about me, maybe when we're alone, we can talk about it." Aria and Twilight smiled at each other before they headed towards Twilight Velvet's direction. The front door was already open and they both inside. Aria looks around in awe while Twilight closed the door so that no one would try to steal any valuables. As Aria began to relax about being inside Twilight's home, while both Twilight and her mother went into the kitchen, she noticed a decent-sized family portrait just a few feet above a couch big enough for four. The portrait featured Mrs. Velvet in a pretty dark yellow dress with her hair down and standing next to her, a man with bluish hair wearing a cliche business suit. I guess that's Twilight's dad. It's still unbelievable that Mrs. Velvet never had a photo of him or Twilight in her office, during my time with her. Aria briefly thought to herself as she continued to look at the portrait. On Velvet's right side was a slightly younger looking Twilight, who was wearing a white dress with a braided ponytail to show, and on the other side of the portrait, was a tall gentleman wearing a dark red suit with blue eyes and slightly darkish blue hair and a goatee. So that must be Twilight's cop brother. I better keep my distance from him. I may have changed, but I still don't want to be on any cops' radar... Although... Aria briefly paused as she slowly squinted at the older brother's face. He kind of looks familiar... Where have I seen him before? She thought to herself for a minute or two, before finally giving up. "Oh well, probably nowhere important. Everyone looks great here, but Twilight looks so cute with that dress and that Elsa style haircut. I bet she has a copy of Frozen in her room." Aria let out a quick laugh as she said her thoughts out loud. "She does and she also has the sequel as well." "나는 등을 훔치지 않았다, 맹세한다!" (naneun deung-eul humchiji anh-assda, maengsehanda) Aria yelled out in her native tongue after being startled by the unexpected voice as she turned to see the man from the portrait walking out of the kitchen towards her. "Whoa! Easy there, kiddo. I assume that you are half Asian." The man chuckled and Aria started to blush with embarrassment. "So--Sorry, Mr.... uhhhhh." "Night Light. I'm Twilight's dad." "Sorry for shouting, Mr. Light. I tend to get scared easily." Aria apologized and Night Light gave her a pat on the back which hurt her back. She could actually hear a crack on her backbone but kept her emotions inside. "You're not the first kid that I have accidentally scared, trust me!" Night Light started to laugh while continuing to pat Aria's back. Aria Blaze could feel some tears starting to flow but uses her will power to put back those tears inside her eyes. Her eyes perked up when she heard a bark that was coming from the stairs. The dog ran towards her direction and both of them had a staring contest for a while. Night Light took a step back and pulled out his camera to record it. Twilight came back and was about to call her friend but stopped when she saw that Aria was having a staring contest with her dog. "Uhhh Aria? You all right?" Twilight asked with concern, but received no response as Aria continued to stare at the little pup with neither one of them blinking or taking their eyes off each other. After a few more seconds, the little pup let out another bark, causing Aria to jump on to the family couch and let out a hostile hiss in response. Twilight was in disbelief at what she was just witnessing as her father struggled not to laugh as the camera kept rolling. I knew something hilarious was going to happen. Night Light thought of himself as Velvet returning from the kitchen as well. "What's the commotion going on her- Oh, I didn't think I ever saw this actually happen." Velvet said in a concerned tone, but unsurprised tone as she approached the hissing girl and the barking puppy. "Uhhh mom, what do you mean by that? And what's wrong with Aria?" A concerned Twilight asked as her mother yanked the little dog off the floor. "Oh, I think it's best if you hear from Ariana, sweetie." Velvet responded as she grabbed the phone out of her husband's hands and replaced it with the puppy. After giving her husband a quick death glare, he gave her a sheepish grin, knowing he was in trouble. Velvet turned her attention back to Aria, who was still in her cat-like state. "Ariana? Honey, you're all right. That's Spike, he's not going to hurt you. So take a nice, long deep breath and relax. There's no need to be hostile, okay?" Velvet said in a soothing tone as she rubbed Aria's back. Velvet's instructions seemed to work as Aria slowly snapped out her hypnotic cat phase. She noticed that all eyes were on her and felt extremely embarrassed and awkward. "I-I-I'm so sorry everyone," Aria said in a scared tone as she covered her own red face with her jacket with shame. I can't believe I did that in front of Twilight and her family! I'm such a freak!" "Shhhhh, it's alright Ariana. You couldn't control yourself and besides, it is all my fault. I completely forgot about your mental state around dogs and I should have told you about Spike. Please forgive me and my forgetfulness." Velvet said in a soothing tone as she continued to rub Aria's back. Aria removes her jacket from her face as she stares into Velvet's motherly eyes for ease and comfort. "Y--You don't have to apologize. I was the one that let me lose control and act like a complete freak." Aria said with pleading eyes as Twilight approached her with concern in her eyes. "Aria, none of us think of you like that. You just caught us off-guard with your behavior towards Spike at all." Twilight reassures her as she, too, rubs Aria's back. Aria felt relieved as the shame and embarrassment slowly faded away as she gave Twilight and Velvet a genuine smile. "I appreciate your kind words to you two, and sorry again for my behavior to... Spike, is it?" She gave the pup a quick stare as Twilight let out her chuckle. "You're welcome, Aria, and no need to apologize.... But, with your permission, you don't have to, but do you mind telling us why you act like a cat? Mom mentioned something about "ever seeing this" but I'm kind of lost in what she meant by that." "Twilight! We just got her calm down! She doesn't need to explain herself so soon!" Velvet scolded her daughter, only for Arias to clear her throat and took a seat on the couch. "It's alright, Mrs. V... You're the only one, not counting Starlight, to know about the story of how I behave around certain dogs. After my little stunt, I think it's fair that I tell Twilight and your husband what happened." Aria responded in a reassuring tone. "You sure, honey?" Aria nodded at Velvet's question as she took a deep breath. "Soooo... A long time ago, when I was a little kid, I was at a birthday party for one of the neighbor kids in my old neighborhood and the party was an animal theme, meaning it was optional and encouraging for the kids to be dressed up as any animal." Aria paused to take another deep breath before continuing. "I was so excited to dress up at a party that wasn't Halloween, that I decided to dress up as a cat... Not a black cat, mind you." The Sparkle family had a quick laugh, briefly interrupting Aria's story. "Funny, I know... But it turns out, I was the only one to dress up as a cat, which would turn out to be a grave mistake. As Time moved on, and every other kid was dressed up and having fun like me, suddenly from out of nowhere a huge Saint Bernard dog from another house, barged into the party and saw me... You kind of can tell where this is going." Aria said as Twilight and her father slowly nodded their heads. "I-It attacked you, didn't it?" Night Light as he immediately felt regret for recording Aria acting like a cat. "Yup, that big doofus of a dog couldn't tell the difference between a real cat and a little girl dressed as one, made a Mad dash for me and tackled me to the ground." Aria shivered in fear as she continued again "As the grown-ups and my dad tried to get the big dog off of me, it still tackled me and pushed me onto the ground with its feet... Thankfully, it never bit me, but it was still a terrifying experience... Then things took an unusual turn for me." Aria paused to let the Sparkle family absorb the information, before continuing one last time. "Instead of gaining a fear of dogs, I should have developed a mechanism for myself around dogs, because I was wearing a cat costume and was kind of acting like a cat with all the other kids dressed up as animals. Whenever certain dogs give me an unusual stare, or if I stare at them for too long, I sort of behave like a cat towards them, and to let them know I'm ready to fight back." Aria said with a sheepish grin. Velvet embraced Aria off the couch into a loving and warm hug as he began to rub her cheek against hers. "You were very brave, Ariana. You didn't have to tell that story again, nor should you have to relive that painful experience, but you did it with such bravery and confidence, which makes me proud of you." Velvet said in a happy tone as she ended the hug. "Thanks, Mrs. Velvet, but it was nothing really. It just felt right to explain my strange behavior towards dogs." Aria said as she looked towards Night Light, but noticed Spike was no longer in his arms. "Nonsense, Ms. Blaze, not many people are willing to open up about their traumatic experience or unusual behavior about themselves, and since this was your second time telling it, no doubt be able to tell that story over and over with a smile and laugh.... Also, please forgive me for your behavior towards dogs funny and recording you without permission." Night Light said as a slight bow at Aria. Aria softly laughed at what she was seeing. I slightly bowed to him as well. "I don't blame you for thinking it was funny of me acting like a cat, and I forgive you." Night Light smiled as Aria turned her attention to Twilight. "So Twilight, did my story fill you in on det- oh geez." Aria failed to finish her sentence as Twilight's eyes were lit up, because she suddenly imagined Aria wearing cat ears. She immediately thought if Fluttershy wanted to know this information that she had discovered but decided to keep this information to herself. "That's so cute!" Twilight said that Aria looked away bashfully when her best friend had complimented her. "I would prefer to be called cool, but thanks anyway." Aria said with a smile as the Sparkle shared a good laugh. Suddenly they heard the front door open and Aria's eyes winded shocked to see that a cop walked into the house. Oh, geez, that's no doubt, Twilly's older brother she mentioned earlier... But does he look familiar?Aria thought to herself as she noticed the older brother doesn't have facial hair anymore. Twilight's eyes sparkled in happiness and immediately ran towards her brother to hug him, but she stopped when she noticed that he was glaring towards the direction of Aria. Twilight was so confused and looked at the two of them. "You...." Oh sugar honey ice tea, we met before, haven't we...