//------------------------------// // Family Matters // Story: Twily's Back // by Rough_Draft //------------------------------// Fifteen – Family Matters When the royal chariot pulled up outside her childhood home the next morning, Twilight didn’t wait for it to stop. She jumped and glided to a swift landing right at the front door. There wasn’t time to knock. Even as Twilight raised her hoof, the door swung open and Nightlight pulled her into a hug. “There’s my girl!” Her father pulled back and regarded Twilight with a delirious grin. “You’ve really grown up, Twily. I’m so proud.” Twilight blushed, but it only got worse when her mother stepped into view. Velvet lifted a hoof to her mouth. Tears sparkled in the corner of her eyes as she looked her daughter up and down. Then she squealed and rushed to embrace Twilight. “Gah!” Twilight forgot how strong her mother could be and squirmed in her iron grip. “Love… you, too… Mom…” Velvet kissed her daughter on the forehead and sighed. “Oh, my little princess. And here I was hoping that you might stay a filly for just a little longer.” “We all have to grow up, Mom. Twice, in my case.” “I know, dear.” Velvet turned and shared a devious smile with Nightlight. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until you get a little older… so that I can be a grandmother!” Twilight groaned and walked past her into the living room. “Do I have to?” “I guess I can make do with waiting on Shining Armor and Cadance. But the more, the merrier!” Nightlight entered the living room with his horn glowing and a scroll floating by his shoulder. “Speaking of which, I just got a letter from them. They’ll be arriving later tonight from the Crystal Empire.” Twilight gasped. “They will?” “By seven o’clock at the latest—” Nightlight stopped when Twilight took the letter from him and read it voraciously on the middle of the carpet. She looked up at her parents with a giant grin. “That’s the best news I’ve had all week!” said Twilight. But when her wings fluttered in excitement, the movement gave Twilight pause. Her thoughts suddenly turned to a certain pegasus back at the royal apartments. Somepony who needed her attention more than her parents did. Spike came out wearing an apron as he offered Fluttershy a fresh cup of tea. “Here, this’ll make you feel better.” “Oh, it smells lovely.” Fluttershy took a sip of the brew and smiled. “What is it?” The dragon smiled proudly. “Sapphire tea! Made from real sapphires!” “Bleah!” Fluttershy gagged and blushed simultaneously. Then she tried for an embarrassed smile when she saw Spike’s disappointment. “Um, it’s an… interesting blend.” Spike shrugged and took a sip from his own teacup. “Whatever. It’s an acquired taste.” “Well, of course it is!” Pinkie Pie danced into the den, balancing two small cakes on her front hooves. “You acquire taste with your tongue! Like this!” She demonstrated by taking a sharp bite out of each cake, then sat down at the table. “Mmm, frosting!” As heartwarming as her display was, nothing seemed to shake Fluttershy out of her sad mood. Spike had tried everything from juggling tricks to picking flowers, but nothing seemed to help. She’d been like this ever since the near-fiasco with Prince Gregory on the previous night. Hardly ate, hardly spoke, and slept in late. She was clearly depressed about what had happened. “So, I know you don’t want to talk about it,” Spike said hesitantly, “but maybe we should… talk about it.” He coughed into his fist and added, “About the royal feast. That we crashed. Where you told everypony that you were in love.” He coughed again. “With Twilight…” Fluttershy closed her eyes. “I-I’m sorry, Spike. I know it all turned out all right, but this wasn’t what I’d planned. I-I was going to tell Twilight in private. I was going to wait for her and—” “Um, I don’t know if you’ve realized this, but when it comes to Twilight, you might be waiting a long time.” Spike tapped the side of his head. “She’s book-smart, not street-smart like me.” Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, had completely finished one cake and was halfway through the other. She glanced up with a beard made of frosting hanging from her bottom lip. “Mm, I know what… I would do?” After pausing to swallow, she added, “I’d bake her a promise cake! Then you can serve Twilight the cake at a promise party and she’ll have to say yes!” “I don’t think you can solve every problem with cake, Pinkie Pie.” As he spoke, Pinkie Pie’s mane went flat and long. She whirled on him with a furious glare and hissed, “You take that back. Right now.” “Uh, I take it back, I take it back!” Spike raised his hands defensively. “Y-you can solve everything with cake. Everything!” “You’re darn right!” Suddenly her mane was bright and bubbly again, and she smiled as though nothing had happened. “I think I’m gonna go and make Twilight a Happy-Cured-From-Age-Spell cake! Ooh, or maybe even a pudding!” The pink pony chomped down on the last of the cake and bounced back into the kitchen. Again, Fluttershy sighed and dropped her head onto the table. “I don’t know what to do, Spike. I do love her, but I’m afraid.” “Afraid of what?” “Afraid that she’ll… that she’ll…” When the pegasus looked up at him, her bottom lip was quivering. “That she’ll say no and then won’t be friends with me anymore.” “She’d never stop being your friend.” Spike patted her shoulder, feeling like her little brother just like he felt around Twilight during her own anxious moments. “Even you guys weren’t keepers of the Elements of Harmony, she’d always see you as family. I know I do.” “Really?” “You bet!” Spike glanced over his shoulder—afraid that Pinkie Pie would ambush them with a song and dance routine—and quickly hugged Fluttershy. She giggled and returned the hug. “Thanks, Spike. You’re the best dragon in the whole world.” “And don’t you forget it.”