//------------------------------// // Our Family // Story: TiM: What Defines Us // by Twidashforever //------------------------------// Celestia’s Palace “Hey Twi. Twi. Twi wake up!” Rainbow pushed her hoof against her wife’s shoulder one more time, trying to get the alicorn princess to wake up. “Five more minutes.” Twilight softly spoke. She was trying in vain to get her wife to let her sleep longer. Rainbow’s only reply was to redouble her efforts. “Trust me, you don’t want to sleep through this.” Twilight opened her eyes; the grogginess was easy to see on her face. She rubbed the sleep out of them and yawned. “What’s going on?” she asked her wife. Rainbow held a hoof to her mouth, a silent gesture that whatever was going to happen would happen soon, and they needed to be quiet to hear it. Using her other hoof, she began slowly moving it up and down, as if doing a small countdown. One time, two times, and the third time was the charm. “Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom!” There was no need to be quiet, that little voice carried throughout the palace, waking everyone nearby that was trying to sleep. Twilight smiled as she heard it, that little filly had a set of lungs on her that would rival Sweetie Belle’s. “What do you want, Vela!” Aurora yelled back to the little filly. Twilight did not hear the filly's reply to her mom’s question, but judging by Rainbow’s laughter, it could only have been one thing. “Can I have a cookie?” That laughter proved infectious as Twilight started to chuckle, then giggle. Soon both mares were in a full on laughing fit. It took a few minutes for them to calm down. Something they only achieved when exhaustion forced their bodies to settle down. “Thanks for that, Rainbow.” Rainbow smiled at her wife. “Anytime.” She had another reason that she woke her wife up early. However, it would not do either of them any favors to point that out. “Of course you know what this means, right?” “Yep.” Rainbow said with certainty in her voice. It went without saying as they both knew what was going to happen next. As if on cue, a night-black earth pony sporting a light blue and purple mane with magenta eyes ran into their room. He jumped up on the bed. “If Vela gets a cookie I want one too!” Taz shouted at the top of his own set of rather strong lungs. Rainbow rubbed a hoof against her ear, seeking to get the ringing to stop. Twilight swept up her son with a hoof and playfully rubbed his mane, making a bigger mess of it in the process. “Of course you can have a cookie.” “Oatmeal raisin!” “You’ll have to talk to your sister about that one.” Rainbow replied. She did not want to have this conversation, again. It was Aurora’s favorite cookie and she did not just let anyone have one of them. This rule applied to everyone, it did not matter if they were family or not. “Make her give me one!” Taz complained about it. Every single time Aurora would come for a visit it was the same thing. Most of the time, he did not even want a cookie. It was only when his oldest sister came for a visit that he got this way. “Taz, we’ve had this conversation before, if you want one of your sister’s cookies you gotta ask her for one, and NICELY.” Rainbow sighed to herself; she was tired of this fight already. It was always the same with him. Dash did not know why, but it seemed like Taz simply did not like Aurora. He got along with everyone else well… well enough anyway, but when it came to his oldest sister, there was something more there, something behind the scene that his parents just could not figure out. “No! Make her!” Taz began poking Twilight with a hoof. That was something that earned him no small amount of ire from Rainbow. Twilight just responded in good nature. “Taz, we don’t make ponies do things. Now be nice.” “No!” He shouted again all the while hitting his mom in the chest with a hoof. His volume carried over the whole castle, possibly the whole city of Canterlot. Rainbow had enough; she grabbed him by the tail and whisked him out of Twilight’s grasp. “That’s it young stallion, you’re going back to your room without any cookies at all!” She said with her mouth full of his tail. Despite his best efforts, Rainbow refused to drop him. She carried him by his tail across the hallway into his room. She entered his room and dumped him unceremoniously on the bed. “You can stay in here until breakfast.” Taz looked up at his mom with puppy dog eyes. He was doing his absolute best to try to win the sympathy of his parent. It did not work. “You can knock it off with the puppy dog eyes. You’re three foals too late for that to work on me.” Rainbow said coldly as she turned and walked out of the room. As she closed the door, she heard her son start to bawl in earnest as he threw a tantrum over his early grounding. Rainbow gestured to one the royal guards nearby. He came over and gave her a starch salute. “Princess.” “Make sure he stays in his room until breakfast is served, and watch out. He may not have magic but he’s very slippery. He takes after me on that one.” Rainbow said with a smile. It was true, on more than one occasion Taz managed to sneak away from everyone without them noticing it. Twilight had once said that Taz was a blank when it came to magic, something that magic simply could not exist with, that it could not touch. That description seemed to be true for a lot more than magic. It was almost as if Taz could simply be unnoticeable when he chose to be. He could redefine the old phrase, ‘hiding in plain sight'. Rainbow shook it off and walked back to her room. It came as no surprise that Twilight was still in bed. She was no doubt pretending to be asleep. Rainbow paused for a minute to look her wife over. Part of her, a rather large part still could not believe it. That someone as wonderful, beautiful, intelligent, smart, caring, nurturing, and powerful as Twilight would ever love her. That they would have a family, that they would have such great friends, or that they would spend their lives together. Rainbow supposed that she would always feel this way. It did not matter how long they were married, she would always wonder what Twilight even saw in her. Rainbow would always wonder why Twilight chose her and not one of the million ponies that were infinitely better. She silenced that part the same way she always did. Simply by reminding herself that even if it was true, she should simply appreciate the time Twilight picked her, the time she wanted to be with her over all the others she could have. Rainbow approached the bed and looked down at her wife. She was laying on her back, her eyes closed, and the cutest smile on her face. Rainbow proceeded to inch her face closer and closer to her wife, as she locked lips with her, Twilight found that she could no longer fake it. They both slightly opened their mouths and Rainbow allowed Twilight’s tongue full entry. When she finally pulled back Twilight’s eyes were wide open. She was smiling. “Now that’s a great way to wake up.” Twilight spoke softly. “Yeah.” Rainbow replied. “But you still gotta get up; it’s almost time to join Night in the throne room.” Twilight stretched her hooves and let out a huge yawn. “Okay, but first, coffee.” “I’m sure there’s coffee in the throne room.” Rainbow replied with a smile. “If you think I’m leaving this room without caffeine, you’re out of your mind.” Rainbow frowned. She knew that Twilight would make good on her threat but they had overslept. As much as she wanted coffee, Rainbow also knew that Twilight would hate starting the day off late. Her thoughts turned to one solution that might prove to be a laugh as well. “Coffee huh? Flash will be right back!” She took off, flying out the door and down the hall before Twilight had a chance to respond. Twilight was lost at that. She had expected Rainbow to try something else. It was not until after, after she left that Rainbow’s word choice struck a chord with her. ‘Didn’t she mean back in a flash?’ Twilight questioned. The noise that came to her from down the hallway told Twilight the truth. Rainbow meant it the exact way she said it. Two pegasi colts came crashing through the doorway. Twilight could only watch in horror as the two attempted to carry a pot of coffee and a cup between them. A task made infinitely harder by the fact that they refused to walk anywhere and were constantly bickering the entire time. Needless to say, there was not much coffee left in the pot. That alone brought a tear to Twilight’s eye. Flash and Blaze were the sons of Radiant Star and Firestar. They were two of the biggest troublemakers/sweethearts that Twilight had ever known, which was saying something considering the competition. The twins looked the exact same, each sported a white coat that was just like their father’s. Their mane, tails, and eyes they got from their mother. Their favorite game seemed to be to simply confuse whatever adult they were talking too. Each would pretend to be the other as to avoid any possible punishment that might occur. Needless to say, it quickly got old. Twilight put a stop to it by magically imprinting their names on their foreheads. With the wave of a hoof, their name will pop up and you will know instantly which brother you are talking too. Such was the trouble they like to cause that no one even complained about it. Radiant and Firestar were both actually quite happy with this new arrangement. The twins were not. They spent most of their time trying to figure out how to get back into Twilight’s good side in hopes that she would remove the mark. “Blaze, Flash, thank you both for the coffee.” Twilight said with an insincere smile on her face. ‘It’s the thought that counts,’ she reminded herself. “We got it.” “Just for you.” The twins replied, each finishing the other’s sentences. Twilight levitated the coffee pot up to the bed. She looked inside to see that only a teaspoon remained. Twilight had no doubt that there would be quite the mess to clean up outside, but first things first. She duplicated the small amount left many times over until she had a full cup worth right in front of her. Sipping it down, she sighed in contentment. “Nectar of the gods.” “Auntie Twilight, will you remove the marks now?” Blaze begged. “You see I would, but I’m afraid this is not a good day for me, I have to conserve my magic because it might run out and I won’t be able to get us all to Ponyville.” Twilight lied. “Ahh….” The twins said in union. “Tell you what, if you two clean up the mess you made getting the coffee here, I might be able to do it tomorrow.” They each took off into the air. They preceded to bump and push each other out of the way In a mad rush to get out the door and be the first to reach the cleaning supplies. Twilight smiled as she watched them go. It was always the same thing with those two. They were always so willing to please when there was something they wanted, but they took no regard for the consequences. To them, the ends always justified the means. Twilight sighed at the naivety. That and the fact that the twins forgot they would be back in the Crystal Empire tomorrow. “Time to get up.” Twilight said to herself as she threw one leg off the bed. The wet splash it made as it landed in a puddle of hot coffee reminded her that the day was well and truly on the wrong side of bad. Every year it was always the same. The tear stains she left on the pillow during her sleep were a horrible reminder of that fact as well, and of exactly what day it was. ……………………. The Crystal Empire “So, what are you doing here again?” Radiant turned his head to the unicorn behind him. Ataxia just smiled, she was doing her best just to get in the way and he had quite enough of it already. “What, I can’t come to see my… my… what are you to me again?” She asked the prince. “Well, you married Twilight’s daughter, who is the sister to my father. So that would make you my father, sister, daughter’s wife. So I guess that would make you my cousin-in-law.” “Yeah that, so I can’t just drop by to see my cousin-in-law?” “Yeah, not buying it. What did you do?” Radiant stared at her. “Me? What makes you think I did anything?” Ataxia tried to play it off. “Well, first there is the fact you’re here on today of all days. Second, Ana is not attached to your hip. Third, you would never go anywhere without Night. Not if you had a choice in the matter anyway. Therefore, that tells me a few things. First, that Night kicked you out. Second, that she was so disgusted with you that she made your daughter stay behind. So I’ll ask again, what did you do?” Radiant stopped walking around the outside of the palace and sat back on his flank. He waited patiently for Ataxia’s answer. “Okay, well you know what today is right?” Radiant nodded at that question. They all knew what today was. “Well, because of that Aurora and Icarus came up with little Vela from the Griffin Empire.” Again, Radiant knew that. Everyone was gathering in Canterlot today. It was only by bad luck that Radiant could not go. He had several official meetings today and would not be able to take the whole day off. However, even he was still going to go. “Well…” Ataxia trailed off, looking around for anything to get her out of this conversation. Sadly, she found nothing. “Last night I may have commented how even though Aurora is in her mid-forties, she still looks as good as she did in her late twenties.” “That’s it?” Radiant added. Ataxia shook her head. “Night agreed with me actually, she then went on some tangent on how Aurora and she might actually have longer lives because of the whole Gaia thing, and that I might too. I wasn’t really listening though.” “And?” “And well, well I kind of mentioned that Icarus was pretty lucky then, about having a wife that hot that would age slowly. You know, lucky like I am for having Night.” Radiant nodded, he had a feeling that the last part was not actually said to Shimmering Night. “Then I mentioned the fact that I’ve never gotten with a griffin before. Minotaurs, zebras, and ponies sure, but I’ve never been with a griffin.” “And well….” Ataxia did not want to say the last part. That alone was troubling to Radiant. ‘What could she have done that was so bad?’ he thought. “I kind of brought up the idea of a four way with Aurora, Icarus, Night, and myself.” Radiant’s jaw hit the floor at that. “You… you what?” “Then she kicked me out of the palace. Well, she ejected me from the palace. I was sitting there talking to her and all of a sudden I’m here.” Ataxia looked around sheepishly. "I’ve tried returning, but they won’t sell me a ticket for the train, something about the princess’s orders or something.” Radiant stopped himself from asking why she did not just fly back, Ataxia had not transformed for almost a decade now. He knew her well enough to know that she would not teleport either, not unless it was an extreme emergency. “If you ask me she’s just overreacting.” Ataxia said matter-of-factly. Radiant facehoofed. “Ataxia, you suggested that she have sex with her sister.” “C’mon, if you had a supermodel sister that hot, try and tell me you wouldn’t want to have sex with her.” “No, I wouldn’t,” Radiant lied. Ataxia saw through that statement as clear as day. “Yeah right. Well, you asked and that’s what happened. If you ask me she just made today harder for herself.” “Oh, why’s that?” Ataxia smiled as she looked at the sun’s position. “Because Ana will be up in three, two, one….” ………………………………………. Celestia’s Palace “Moooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!” Night shuddered as she heard the little one bawl, she knew this was coming, but that knowledge did not make it any easier to deal with. She had tricked Ana last night with a nighttime plushy of Ataxia. However, unlike the other times when they would use it to have a moment to themselves, Ataxia was not there to take its place in the morning. That meant Ana woke up without her birth mother to hold. Of course, her crying would wake Starlight. “Make her stop!” Starlight yelled over her sister’s loud cry. Why Ana clung to Ataxia the way she did was a mystery to Night. None of the others clung to their parents in quite the same way. It seemed as if simply being away from Ataxia was painful to the little unicorn. Night gave up on her duties, left the throne room, and then went to their foal's room. Even though there were more than enough rooms in the palace, Ataxia wanted them to share a room. Something about a sisterly bond that she never got when she grew up. Of course, that just meant when one of them was unhappy, they would both be unhappy. She picked up the little unicorn in her magic and brought her to her chest. Allowing her to bawl her eyes out into her coat. Ana was a dark blue unicorn with a purple mane and tail. Her eyes were red as fire. Night suspected that they might be that red because of how much crying she would do. “Why wasn’t mom in bed with her?” Starlight asked. “Ataxia had to go on a last minute trip to the Crystal Empire.” Night lied. What Ataxia had suggested still irked her, but time away from her did manage to calm Night down. “She didn’t take Ana with her?” Even the young filly knew better than to separate those two for any real amount of time. Night looked over to her unicorn daughter. Starlight was lying in bed, a blanket still pulled over most of her blue body. She had inherited her mother’s rainbow mane, yet the most telling feature was her eyes; piercing green eyes that, when she truly used her magic, would fade to be replaced with white spots that perfectly resembled starlight. Night would often lose herself in those eyes. “She thought she would be able to make it back before you two woke up.” “Yeah, well that was dumb.” “Yeah, it was.” Night agreed as Ana’s crying picked up yet again. She knew that the little unicorn could go on for hours, days even. Yet regardless how bad it was, the absolute worst thing to do would be to put her down, like it or not, Night was stuck with her. ‘Maybe Luna can help, again.’ Night thought. She took the crying unicorn out the room to find the night princess. “Breakfast in thirty minutes, okay?” “Okay.” Starlight yawned as she started crawling out of bed. Night sighed as she closed the door behind her. She was at least grateful that Starlight was dependable. Ana was too, but in her own way. She was a dependable pain in the flank. Ana seemed to notice that and wailed even louder. “Hush little one.” Night cooed softly as she held the unicorn to her chest, an action that only earned her chin several pokes from Ana's horn. “Taxi will be back today, you can be a big girl until then, no?” The answer was a resounding 'No'. Just not in actual words. “I gotta find Luna.” Night said as her hearing began buzzing. …………… Royal Gardens Cadance, Firestar, and Luna walked through the castle’s gardens together. It was rare for the three of them to have any time to themselves and despite the early hour, they all knew that the palace was already well awake. The separate cries coming from the foals could be heard all around the palace. “Where are the twins?” Cadance asked. “Rainbow came and got them. Something about making Twilight a pot of coffee.” “Oh, I’m sure that went over swimmingly.” Luna jested. “Knowing those two, I’m sure there will be more than enough coffee on the floor to swim in.” Firestar laughed. As the three round the bend, they each stared ahead of them. “Can you believe it’s been eight years?” Cadance asked. “No.” Luna said. “It’s going to be a rough day, isn’t it?” Firestar asked. “Yep.” The other two said in union. “…” There was not much to say at that point. The three princesses continued walking in silence together as the somber mood overtook them. One that was only interrupted by the sound of crying coming from above and the yelling of Princess Shimmering Night. They all looked up to see Princess Night flying down from off one of the outdoor spirals of a tower. “Princess Luna!” Night yelled as she finally found the mare she had sought after. “Down here.” Night landed with a little unicorn clutched to her chest. One that seemed to have no need for air as she kept crying over her missing mother. Luna nodded her understanding and encompassed the unicorn in her magic. She levitated the little filly to her and tapped Ana's horn lightly with her own. The effect was instantaneous and very welcome. Ana fell back asleep. “Oh thank you so much for that.” Night said, relieved to no end. “What happened?” Cadance asked as she wiped the tears from the little filly’s eyes. “She gets like this whenever Ataxia isn't around. I don’t know why.” “It’s just her love for her mother.” Luna said as she rocked the little filly back and forth in her magic. It was a temporary solution to the problem; after all, she could not keep her asleep and dreaming of her mom forever. “Where is Ataxia?” Firestar asked. “Oh, I sent her to the Crystal Empire last night. One way.” “Why?” Cadance asked. “Trust me; you don’t want to know what she said to me. I’ll pick her up when we head to Ponyville later today. After all, this time might give her pause to think about what she said.” Firestar, Cadance, and Luna all looked at each other at that comment. It amazed them all that Night believed Ataxia would ever pause to think about her actions. She might as well be asking the wind not to blow. ……… When Rainbow went to fetch her son for breakfast it did not surprise her to learn that he was not in his room. She merely dismissed the guard and went to find the twins. She found the two exactly where she thought they would be. Blaze and Flash were fighting with each other over who got to use the mop. Not that either of them would use it properly but the point was that one got to use it and the other had to scrub using a brush. Of course, how they were going to use a mop to get coffee stains out of a carpet, Rainbow could only guess at. She had no doubt that this was Twilight's doing. Simply a way to keep them out of her mane while she went about her day. Rainbow chuckled at that. Raising four kids had taught them both a lot about keeping someone busy with menial tasks. Even if she would have to come back later and fix it with her magic. In many ways, it was like dealing with the nobles at court. Of the two, Rainbow preferred the kids, at least they would listen to reason. Rainbow sat back and watched the two squirm about. It was always good for a laugh to watch them go at each other. That laughter died in her throat. Thoughts of her twins… her son came back to mind. ‘I should have known better… on today of all days.’ “Hey Blaze, Flash!” A voice chimed down from the other end of the hallway. “Hey Vela! We just mopped there!” Blaze complained upon seeing the little hippogriff walking down the hallway to go talk to them. She was leaving quite the trail of cookie crumbs behind her. The little one had yet to learn how to chew a cookie with her beak without getting it everywhere. Based on what Rainbow had seen of Icarus’s eating habits, she honestly did not think it was possible. Vela was a hippogriff. Half pony, half griffin. Her body was that of a pony, yet she had a griffin’s head and tail, and pegasus’s wings. She shared the coloring of her mom, a dark blue body with pearl white feathers, her eyes were the deepest green. “That’s dumb, why are you mopping a carpet anyway?” Vela asked the obvious question. “To get it clean, duh.” Flash responded. Vela just shook her head. “Whatever.” Some fights were not worth having. “Blaze, Flash, and Vela; breakfast is almost ready.” Rainbow called out to the three as she finally revealed herself. “Hey, grandma!” Vela yelled back as she took flight and flew over to the cyan pegasus, wrapping her up in a hug. Blaze and Flash soon followed and Rainbow found herself at the bottom of a dog pile before she knew what hit her. “What are we having?” Blaze asked. “You know what today is, Blaze.” Rainbow paused as she ran a hoof over his forehead to make sure she had called him the right name. “Today we’re having waffles.” “Oh, yeah, right.” Blaze sunk back as he remembered what day it was. His movement allowed the bigger mare to get back to her hooves. “I do need you three to do me a favor though. Can you go around and find Taz? He snuck out of his room, again.” “Where do you think he went this time?” Vela asked. “I don’t know; he was mad because I wouldn't give him one of your mom’s cookies.” “Oh no.” Vela said with a shocked look on her face. “Blaze, Flash, we gotta get to my mom’s room, now!” At that, all three of them took off. Heading directly for the room Aurora was staying in. Vela had a sinking feeling that Taz would not stop until he took all of her mom’s cookies. And she was right. When the three made it into Aurora’s room, Taz was stuffing his face with oatmeal raisin cookies. To make matters worse they were of the rainbow chocolate chip verity. He had found his oldest sister’s secret stash of her most valuable cookies. He did so by tearing apart her room from the ceiling to the floor. “So good.” Taz looked at the three with a grin on his face. “Taz!” Blaze shouted; he knew that Aurora would be mad about this. However, he suspected that was the point. Taz would do just about anything as long as it riled up Aurora. Not that Aurora was the only one who was mad, Vela was pissed. Blaze and Flash each looked at the other, then at Taz. Taz saw the look on Vela’s face. The pure anger that was there. ‘I’m bucked anyway', the young stallion thought. He reached into the box and devoured the last of the cookies there. What followed next was the most one sided, epic, flank-kicking Equestria had ever seen. One that was only stopped when Blaze and Flash could no longer stomach watching it. The twins raced off to find someone to pull Vela off Taz. Luckily for him, Icarus was right around the corner.