//------------------------------// // The First Night. (part 2) // Story: The Misadventures of Filly Twilight // by Thisisalongname //------------------------------// Twilight Velvet takes pride in her home. She holds total dominance in her kingdom, and the rules absolute. Toys and books are to be replaced when not being used, furniture is not to be jumped on, cookies are only to be had after alfalfa has been eaten. As keeper of the castle, she takes great satisfaction in keeping it clean and welcoming. Despite her strictness, her reign is still filled with kindness and love. When her citizens have falls, nightmares or “accidents”, she is quick to offer healing kisses, warm sheets and loving embraces. She insures her citizens are well fed and protected from cold and rain, and when one of her subjects falls ill, she offers caring smiles and filling soup. She also holds another title: Huntress. When invaders seek to spread terror and chaos inside her kingdom, she takes up arms and defends it to her last breath. For she is queen of this kingdom, and she will not allow evil to overtake it. Twilight Velvet is on the hunt. The white unicorn slowly creeps toward the edge of the kitchen counter. She brushes her white and purple striped hair from her face, eyes sharply scanning for the intruder. Her glare could petrify a cocatrice and halt a raging manticore. Her weapon, held tightly in her magic’s grip, ever ready to strike the enemy before it has a chance to flee. Her heart beat begins to quicken, for she knows it is hiding here, waiting for its moment to strike back. THERE! It shows itself, larger than any of its kind Velvet had ever seen. Like an evil shadow, its black armor covers its entire form. Long tendrils reach ominously in every direction, feeling for its next victim. Its thin, hairy appendages held its body at a constant distance from the surface of the counter, giving it the illusion of hovering when in motion. It was one of the most grotesque creatures Velvet could think of, and she was an author who prided herself on her imagination. No, very few things could compare to this evil incarnate, and right now it currently inhabited her kitchen. Velvet inched closer, hoping to catch it by surprise before it had a chance to slink away to whatever dark corner of existence it had emerged from. She calmed her breathing, preparing herself to pounce and strike. "Mom..." Silently she inched closer. "Mom..." Bending her knees, she steadied herself and.... "MOM!" "GAgh..." Velvet leaped into the air from the sudden shout, turning around to see her son, Shining Armor, standing in the kitchen doorway. "Shining!? What is i...wait." Velvet quickly turned away from her son. She swung the rolled up newspaper she had in her telekinetic grip, but wasn't quick enough to catch the cockroach she had been stalking for the past five minutes. "No!" She cried quickly moving her weapon to try again but the beast had already escaped to the area behind the fridge. "Horse-apples," Velvet muttered angrily under her breath. She turned back to her eldest, who was doing his best to look about innocently, trying to pretend he hadn't heard his mother curse. His white coat was spotted with dirt, and his blue hair was disheveled. 'Probably stopped at the park on the way home from school again.' thought Velvet, ' As long as he didn't break anything...or anypony this time'. "What have I told you about sneaking up on me Shiny? You nearly gave me heart attack." "I called you three times," Shining deadpanned. “Well...what is so important that you needed to interupt me while I'm cooking?" 'And slaying a monstrous beast’ she added mentally. "I can't find my hoofball cleats. I need them for the game tomorrow," he said as he trotted over to the table trying to see if his mom had set out anything early and he could grab a snack. "They’re in the laundry room. You left them covered in mud after your practice and I wasn't going to have that tracking all over my clean floor. How many times do i have to tell you to clean your cleats after practice?" Velvet put the newspaper back on the table, its royal duty postponed for now. She picked up an oven mitt in her magic and opened the oven to check on dinner. Unicorns didn’t really need oven mitts, but she had bought it for the cute design and the practical side of her refused to let it go to waste. "I was too tired," shining stated, like that was a legitimate reason for not doing it. He spotted the treasure from his hunt, a cookie jar left on the edge of the counter, just within reach if he stretched. Now he just had to sneak over there while her back was turned. "I'll give you something to be tired about if you leave them like that again. We already can't have carpet because of your father's tendency to knock over drinks, I dont need you adding muddy hoof prints to the mess." Velvet poked the lasagna, 'Maybe eight more minutes'. Shining’s hoof hovered over the jar, mere inches from the treasure. He took a quick glance at his mother to make sure she wasn't looking. Seeing her still facing the oven, shining moved his hoof the lid to quickly snatch his prize. "And keep your hooves out of that cookie jar, don't need you spoiling your dinner." 'How does she do that?' he thought, backing away from the chocolate temptations with a frown. Heading towards the laundry room, shining passed his father, Crescent Moon, on his way out. "Hey honey," Crescent gave his wife a peck on the cheek, "What smells so good?” Placing his shoulder bag and newspaper on the table, Crescent crossed over to the sink to wash his hooves after walking home. Most ponies wore saddlebags to carry their belongings, finding it more convenient and comfortable, but Crescent was not most ponies. He was one to get sucked into whatever fad happened to be “hip” that year and failed to see how ridiculous they made him look. So when some sophomores in his astronomy class at the university showed him theirs and mentioned that he should get one, he went straight to the store and did just that. Now he has strap burn on his left side from carrying the heavy thing for too long and a bruise on his front knee from where it was hitting while he walked. Velvet asked him to get a regular saddlebag but he refused, as it made him a hit with his students. She decided to let the issue go, partly to not fight over such a silly issue, and partly because it was the way he managed be so adorably dorky trying to get his students to like him. It was that cute way of looking so happy and content while also looking so absolutely ridiculous that made her fall in love with him in the first place. “Its spinach lasagna. I thought we should have Twilights favorite since she has her big night with the Princess tomorrow,” Velvet said over her shoulder, mixing the salad she was making as a side dish. “Ah, thats right,” Crescent swayed his hips playfully as he moved over to his wife, pulling her into his hooves. “Twilight will be at the castle, Shining will be staying the night at a friends. A whole night to ourselves,” he gave her a seductive grin and wiggled his eyebrows, “I wonder what we should do.” Velvet giggled lightly, having a big smile on her face. “I don’t know.” she leaned in, rubbing her nose along his muzzle, and whispered in his ear, “I’m sure we’ll think of something.” Crescents’ eyes widened and a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. He twisted sideways looked down as he held his wife suspended above the floor, balancing on her back hooves and his front ones like he had seen on the covers of those dime romance novels Velvet keeps. “Oh, mi amore.” he purred and began kissing on her neck. Velvet let out a playful scream and giggled at his touch. Just as he began to make another pass to her lips, a door in the other room squeaked open and there youngest could be heard entering the house. “Mom, Dad, I’m home.” Twilights’ high pitched voice rang out, as hoofsteps could be heard heading across the living room. Both Crescent and Velvet let rolled their eyes and let a sigh. “Tomorrow can’t come quick enough.” he added as he put her back on four hooves. She smiled gave him one more peck on the lips before calling out, “In here.” Twilights steps switched directions from the stairs and headed towards the kitchen. She entered the kitchen to her father taking a seat at the table and pulling up his newspaper to finish his crossword puzzles and her mother returning to mixing. “How was school dear?” Velvet asked, putting the bowl aside and turning to give her daughter a hug. “It was ok.” Twilight moved from her mom to give her dad a hug. “Just ok? Are you feeling sick?” Crescent picked up his daughter and held his hoof to her head as if checking her temperature. “Since when did you come home not excited about something you learned, huh. Maybe we need to do something to make it better than ‘ok’,” he started tickling her in his lap and she let out squeals of laughter. “STOP...HAHAHA....STOP!!!” Twilight tried to push her dad away but only managed to wiggle around in his lap. After a few seconds of teasing, Crescent gave her a kiss on the head and set her down. “Thats more like it munchkin. Now go put your bag away and wash your hooves, your mother is almost done with dinner. She made your favorite, spinach lasagna,” he gave her a quick pat on the backside with his paper, ushering her out the kitchen. Her shouts of “Yes” could be heard heading back towards the stairs and up to her room. “Make sure you put it next to your dresser and not in the middle of the floor. Don’t want to be tripping over them when I clean your room tomorrow,” Velvet called after her, not quite sure if that last yes was a response or still excitement. Both parents let out tired but contented sighs. It defies logic how much work one could do around the house and still be no closer to finishing. But still worth it. ~ * ~ * ~ Twilight hurried up the stairs and into the first door on the right. Her room was typical of most fillies her age with its array of stuffed animals in the corner and variety of cloths and toys scattered on the floor. While she did go with pink bedsheets, she went with the Blossom covered ones rather than the more popular Bubbles or Buttercup ones, relating to that character more. She skipped her way to her dresser and laid her bag down beside it. Pulling out her homework (which she could have easily done in class but felt that it couldn't be called homework if she didn’t do it at home) and her pencil case, she set them on her desk to do after dinner. Twilight then hurried back towards the door, giving one last look to make sure Smartypants was still in her toy desk, and headed towards the bathroom. Getting near, she could hear growls and grunts coming from the bathroom. Peeking inside, she watched as Shining stood in front of the mirror flexing his “muscles”. “Looking good Shining, looking real good. OH YEAH!” Shining struck another pose, and then quickly dropped it as he saw his sisters reflection giggling at him from the doorway. “Uh..I..well...,” Shing sputtered, trying to make an excuse but couldn’t think straight due to the embarrassment of being caught. “Don’t you know how to knock!” Putting on a frown, he glared at her. Twilight stopped giggling and just smiled back at shining, “I’m supposed to wash my hooves, maybe you should shut the door next time.” She then trotted over to the sink, “Mr. Good Looking,” she added with a grin as she passed him. “HA! Make fun of me all you want, I’m not ashamed. I do look good,” he then put his hoof to his jaw and grinned while raising his eyebrow. Why her brother looked at himself in the mirror all the time, she would never know. “Ok,” said Twilight as she finished drying her hooves and started to leave. “I’ll tell Cadence next time she stays over, since you don’t care and all.” “Wait, what!?” Shining quickly turned and hurried out of the bathroom after his sister. “You won’t really tell her, right?” he put his hoof up and scratched the back of his head. “I mean she doesn’t need to know about this.” “Well, that depends. Smartypants has been lonely being the only student, and could really use a study buddy,” she replied innocently. “Oh come on Twi, I played student last week. Do I rea...” “I wonder if Cadance will visit me in the palace tomorrow?” Twilight looked up and to the side as if in thought. Shining just grumbled. “Ok, fine. You win, I’ll play student when you come back on Sunday. I really need to stop letting you push me around like this, I’m pretty sure its bullying.” he said while pouting. “Wha..but I didn’t wa..” Twilight sputtered, afraid she had hurt her brothers feelings. Shining just smiled and put his hoof on her head giving her a playful noogie. “I’m just teasing. I don’t mind playing with Smartypants...Professor Sparkle,” he gave a grin and winked. Twilight put on a big smile and gave her brother a hug before turning the corner back into the kitchen. The smell of lasagna saturated the air and both siblings immediately hurried to their seats at the table. Velvet had just finished placing the last side dish and was putting the spoon in. Shining reached his hoof to get the first spoonful but was promptly swatted by his mother. “Tut tut, you know we say grace first. Since you're so eager, how about you do the honors,” she sat down and took her husbands hoof in her left and Twilights in her right. Shining did the same with their other hooves and they all bowed their heads. “We give thanks for this food we are about to receive and the hooves that provided it. We give thanks for the time we can spend together and for the blessings and good health of our family and friends. We also give thanks for the sunny weather that I practiced under...” “...and the good grade I got on my test...” added Twilight. “...and the birth of my editors son...” “...and the safety of my students, Amen,” finished Crescent after his wife. They opened their eyes and started reaching for the nearest dish. Velvet looked across the table, “That was very good Shining, maybe you should do grace more often.” He simply gave her the ‘I don’t wanna but will if you ask me’ smile and went back to scooping lasagna. Twilight waited patiently for Velvet to scoop some for her and once her plate was full began to dig in. “So munchkin, you excited about tomorrow?” Crescent asked across the table. It took Twilight a moment to remember what happens tomorrow and promptly nodded her head with cheeses still dangling from her lips. Velvet sighed and levitated a napkin over to wipe her face. Twilight rubbed her lips against her forearm to get rid of the tingling, “Yeah, I can’t wait to meet the Princess again. I hope she lets Smartypants stay with me. She likes it when we study together.” “Oh, I’m sure the Princess will be delighted to have two students for the price of one,” Crescent gave a toothy grin. “Did you pack everything you will need? Don’t want you having to send a letter asking for something you forgot.” “Yeah, I got my pencils, my pillow, some extra scrolls, oh and my favorite books,” Twilight tapped her hoof with each mental check mark for the items she packed. Velvet made a mental note to check and make sure that “favorite books” didn’t mean ‘all the books I own’. “Did you remember to pack your spare nightlight? I know you get embarrassed when we mention it, but I already talked to the Princess about it..." Twilight turned towards her mom with a pout about to protest. Velvet held up her hoof to cut her off, "...and she understands completely, so don’t worry that she will think less of you. I know how you get around new ponies,” she added. Twilight looked down with a slight blush on her face, “Yes, I packed it.” She really didn’t like it when others found out about her using a nightlight, mainly since of those outside her family, only the bullies at school knew and they would tease her about it. But if her mom said the Princess wouldn’t mind then she wouldn’t let it bother her...or at least try not to. Thinking about her nightlight caused her to remember the things Cerebral told her at school. She looked back up at her mother, “Mom, is tomorrow a type of test?” Twilight knew her mom would tell her it was alright, that it was not a test, but she needed to hear her say it anyways. “Well, yeah in a way it is.” Velvet replied in between bites. Twilight's eyes opened wider as she looked back at her mom. “Its to see if you are able to stay at the castle without any trouble or if they need to make arrangements.” Twilights imagination went wild with that. So it was a test, and it was to see if she was able to be the Princesses’ student. Well, mom said “stay at the castle” but that was the same thing, wasn’t it? And what about arrangements? Was that when they fed her to the monster for failing? She didn’t want to be eaten by anything, much less a monster from the dark. Twilight's face was scrunched up with worry. It was good that she had almost finished her plate because she didn’t really feel like eating anymore. “You look worried gumdrop,” said Crescent. “Don’t you fret none, the Princess will have an eye on you the whole time so don’t worry about getting lost or needing to find somepony. I’m sure its going to be much less scary than you think it is and you will laugh at how silly you were being.” THIS WAS THE WORST THING EVER! So she would be watching the whole time!? She would know immediately if I fail to go to the clock and show her I can be a brave student. Oh no oh no oh no, what do I do? Twilight was in the middle of a mild panic attack, which strangely enough was not uncommon for her despite her age. Had her panicked mind thought of it, she might have started crying, but it just settled for shaking hooves and racing breath and called it a day. “Now dear, there is no need to be nervous. Me and your father will be right here, just a few blocks away, and you can just send a magic letter if you want to come home. The Princess has said she would escort you home herself if you asked,” said Velvet as she reached over and brushed her daughters’ mane. Twilight nodded and gave a weak smile. Thats right, she could just come home if she wanted to. Its not like she would be giving up being the Princesses’ personal student and protege (she had looked it up when she first heard it). Yeah, I’m sure that this isn't just a once in a lifetime opportunity to get to learn magic from the most powerful magic user in Equestria, maybe even the world. Nope, nothing to miss out on there. Sometimes understanding what adults were talking about was a curse. Twilight responded with a weak nod and smile, and then poked at her food while the conversation turned Shinings’ Hoofball game and then to Crescent wanting to get a fedora (Velvet said no). After dinner Twilight went to her room and finished her homework, taught Smartypants her daily lesson, and brushed her teeth for bed. She was crawling under the covers when her mom came up to tuck her in. “Homework done? Dolls put away? Teeth brushed?” each question was followed with a nod from Twilight. Velvet then tucked her in and gave a kiss on the forehead. She pushed herself up and was turning to leave when Twilight stopped her. “Do you think I will be ready for tomorrow? I don’t know if I am,” she fiddled with blankets and looked away. Velvet just gave a smile and pulled her daughter into a hug. “I know that I have the smartest and bravest filly in the whole world as a daughter. I think you can accomplish everything you set your mind to, and much more after that. So I know you are going to impress the Princess so much tomorrow that she might just want to keep you all to herself,” she tickled her as she said the last part and giggling filled the room. Velvet the tucked a yawning Twilight back in and gave her another kiss. She headed towards the door and looked back at the bed as she turned off the lights. Twilight's eyes started to shut as the nightlights star shaped shadows filled the room. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I love you.” “G'Night, mom. I love you too.”