With all the commotion taken care of, Marble Magnanimity was able to get to the part of her plan she enjoyed the most. It involved tea, biscuits and some proper choice of words. Thankfully, Twilight Velvet and Night Light were a reasonable couple. Not only they didn't sue her for endangering the life of their firstborn, they thought it was appropriate to apologize for him beating up the hired help and offered compensation. She spent five minutes reassuring them that her 'bodyguards' knew the risk and that the insurance covered most of the bills. Those it did not, she made sure to take care of personally, without their knowledge.
Just a few hours ago, Shining Armor was beaten up, bleeding, unconscious and seriously injured; but here he was now, awake and functioning properly, other than being covered in bandages, band-aids and wearing a medical eye-patch. He didn't harbor any grudge towards anypony, just smiling and acting naturally as if nothing happened.
The same couldn't be said about the two fillies. Since this gathering started, both fillies sat quietly, looking away from each other. She made sure to put them close together, hoping they would reconcile on their own, which sadly wasn't happening. Moondancer's head was hanging low, she was avoiding eye contact with anypony. Once in a while her gaze went toward Shining Armor, but then went back to the table, and she covered herself in blush. Whether she had a crush on the colt, felt guilty, or both, was anypony's guess. Twilight Sparkle, however, was a different story. She spent the entire time crosshooved, adamantly glaring with contempt at anypony that wasn't a part of her family, her expression softening only when her eyes went for her brother. The few times she said anything, it was to chew on either Moondancer or Marble for hurting 'Shiny', but she stopped talking entirely after being shushed by her mother a few times.
She doubted she was able to calm little Twilight down by herself. Her bad mood wasn't doing her any favors.
"I'm sorry, girls must be getting really bored from all this 'adult talk'," she turned to her daughter "Moondancer, be a good filly and take Twilight Sparkle to your room."
"Yes, mothe--"
"I don't want to!" Twilight Sparkle yelled and turned away from everypony.
A loud 'thump' was heard, as a hoof smacked the table. Twilight Velvet raised her voice. "Twilight Sparkle!" This caught her daughter's attention, who looked at her with shock and fear. "I've had enough of this attitude of yours! We're guests at Mrs. Marble's house, show some manners!"
"B-but... Shiny..." She started, but her brother quickly interrupted her.
"I'm fine, Twily," he reassured her by flexing his front hooves, doing his best to ignore the sudden spike of pain that just hit him "it's just a flesh wound. You and Moondancer can go and play."
"B-but..." She stuttered, but looking deep into her brother's eyes was sapping all of her power to resist. She gave up and hung her shoulders. "Fine."
Marble nodded to her butler, and he took both fillies away from the room. As the door closed behind them, Twilight Velvet crossed her hooves and looked at her son with a pouty face.
"How come she always listens to him, but when I say something, she keeps on rebelling?" She asked nopony in general.
Her husband patted her on the back. "It's okay, honey. One day you'll have at least half as much authority." He said, earning himself an annoyed glare, as Marble and Shining Armor put their hooves to their mouths in a futile attempt to stifle their chuckles.
A normal walk from the dining room to Moondancer's room usually took less than a minute. But today, every step felt like forever. Mr Push kept looking back to the two fillies, but neither said a single word or even looked at the other, their heads turned as far in the opposite direction as possible without losing track of their lead. Both had their reasons to avoid the other and he could only sigh and hope for the best. Eventually they reached the room, which the butler opened for them and they reluctantly entered, Moondancer going straight towards her bed, while Twilight Sparkle stopped on her tracks, her eyes growing wide at the first sight that met her eyes.
"Wooooooooooow!" She exclaimed, amazed by the sight of a wall wide bookcase, filled to brim with hundreds, if not thousands, different hardcover tomes, bombarding her with titles and authors she only ever saw in the largest public libraries. She immediately rushed toward it and started checking one after the other, gasping and squealing all over, even trying to stand on her hind hooves just to have a better look at the higher shelves. She was just about to reach out to one of them, but a sudden thought hit her mind.
Wait, those books belong to...
She immediately retracted her hoof and looked behind her at the bed where Moondancer sat, turned away from her guest, ignoring her completely. Her eyes went back to the bookcase again. She hummed, wondering if it was okay to touch any of them. She was supposed to ask for permission to take somepony's belongings; but seeing as she'd rather die than talk to 'her', she sighed and walked away, facing the windows instead, trying not to think about the vast amounts of precious books at her hoof's reach.
She shook her head. I can get them in the library! Except the rare ones, like the first edition of 'The Prince and The Toad Queen', but I can live without it, even if I really want it! As she was trying her best to maintain her silent strike and not look at the treasure right next to her, she heard a silent, faint sound. She thought it was just her imagination, but it happened again, loud enough so she could identify it as... sobbing? She slowly turned to the only other pony in the room. Moondancer was still sitting the edge of her bed and Twilight could only see her back, as she was hunched over, her hooves at her face, trembling and trying to not make any of her sounds too loud.
Twilight's ears dropped.
The door to the dining room opened and a tall earth pony covered in bandages entered. Shining Armor's only healthy eye opened, as he recognized him. The bandage on his misshapen nose was a dead giveaway.
"Am I interruptin'?"
Marble muttered. "As a matter of fact, you are. Can this wait?"
"It'll only take a moment, ma'am. I'm just here to get our payment for today, then I'll be gone."
Marble was too tired to argue and just wanted to be over with it. "Fine. I'll go get my checkbook, don't go anywhere." She excused herself from the room, leaving the intimidating giant with the family. He waited a moment until he was sure Marble Magnanimity wasn't anywhere withing earshot, then walked toward Shining Armor. Their eyes met.
He cracked a smile "Don't worry kiddo, no ill feelings here." He laughed, as Shining and his parents sighed with relief. "I gotta give it to ya, that was some punch you threw there! I bet you can knock a princess out cold with one swing!"
Shining Armor scratched his head, smiling sheepishly. "N-no, it wasn’t anything special," he chuckled "And why would I punch the Princess?"
"Oh, my snout begs to differ," he pointed at the bandage around his face "many tried and failed. Yer a unicorn tough as earth pony, but with some sweet magic. Is there anything you're not good at?"
"Thinking!" Twilight Velvet and Night Light deadpanned simultaneously, making Shining Armor smile sheepishly.
The bodyguard laughed and waved a hoof. "Ha, not really useful in this line of work anyway. Speaking of which," he produced a small business card from his vest pocket "I'm always hiring. I could use a guy like you!"
"Huh?" Shining Armor raised his eyebrow, though not to an extent his parents did.
"You certainly have what it takes to keep a pony safe from danger... unlike few of my less than competent employees!" He paused to give him a time to process that information.
He was about to say something else, but stopped when he felt chills go down his spine, and cold sweat started pouring from his entire body. He swallowed and turned towards colt's parents, his mother in particular. If he was to describe her current expression, 'glaring daggers' would be an understatement. It was more like 'orbital sun cannon'.
"O-of course, when you're an adult, with your parents permission, a-according to legal terms of employment, with generous salary, paid vacations and insurance!" As Twilight Velvet's eyes went from 'apply slow and painful death' slowly towards 'kill him painlessly', he leaned to Shining Armor and muttered. "I'm starting to see where you got your tenacity from! Yeesh!" He turned towards the angry mother again, smiling more sheepishly than before. Night Light rolled his eyes, abstaining from making a 'week long couch' worth comment.
Shining Armor gave his answer after a while. "Thank you, but I'm afraid I can't take it. My dream is to become a Royal Guard, so..."
The big pony blinked, then burst into laughter again. "Haha, go figure, the best ones go and work for the big guys! Or mares. Oh well, Equestria can sleep easy with you patrolling the streets!" He laughed again, playfully smacking the colt in the back, making him squirm from pain. "Uh, sorry!"
Still gritting his teeth, Shining Armor waved his hoof. "N-no problem!"
"Just so you know, some of my men are academy dropouts, not that I imply you'll be one too, or ex-guards. Keep that in mind, kid. You never know."
"Umm... thanks, I guess?" He scratched his head, wondering what it would be to end up as a guard to a single pony. It sounded like the most boring job in the world. He took a note to keep doing his best, so it would never come to this.
It was at that time that Marble Magnanimity returned, levitating a signed piece of paper. "There you go. You know where the doors are?"
The pony rolled his eyes and bowed. "Love to make business with you too, ma'am," he turned one last time to Shining Armor "Well then, good luck, kiddo. Long and bumpy road ahead of ya." He extended his hoof to him, which the colt gladly accepted.
"Thanks, you too. And again, sorry for beating up your men."
"It's in the job description," he waved his hoof, then offered a courteous nod to his parents as he walked away "somepony had to teach us to never let our guard down."
After the pony (Shining forgot to ask his name) left, Shining Armor felt a shiver go down his spine. He turned to see his mother glaring at him. "What?"
Twilight Velvet groaned. "I swear, if you weren't wounded right now, I would’ve smacked you," She stopped, hummed, then shrugged "Oh, who am I kidding!" She smacked her son in the back of his head. "You can take it!"
"Owww! MOOOM!" Shining cried, massaging the back of his head, which pulsated with more pain than all of his other wounds combined. "What was that for?"
"You know EXACTLY what for!" She groaned at her son, but stopped when she felt her husband's hoof on her shoulder. He shook his head at her, as if saying 'He's had enough, honey'. She sighed deeply, responding with a 'Fine, geez!' expression.
Marble snickered at the trio. "Please don't be too harsh on him, Mrs Velvet. He only did what he thought was right. If, heavens forbid, anything were to happen to my daughter, I wish a pony like him was by her side." She sent a warm smile towards the colt. Shining covered himself in blush and turned away. "I wouldn't mind having somepony like you nearby, full time. I've been known to be quite generous to my staff."
While Shining Armor was getting redder by the second, Twilight Velvet coughed. "The only thing my son will be doing 'full time' for next few years, is finishing the school."
Marble rolled her eye. "I'm not saying right now."
Night Light put a hoof on his son's shoulder and smiled. "Not even in his senior year and you already have two job offers," a single tear ran on his cheek "you've done me proud, son!"
Twilight Sparkle was torn. Her brother was hurt badly, all because one filly decided to misbehave. It wasn't fair! She did something wrong, but he took all the beating! Joke's on them, nopony in Equestria (or even in the entire universe) was a match for Shining Armor! He was the strongest pony there was and he proved it many times. But even he had his limits, and despite just recently discovering her special talent in magic, she couldn't do anything to help him. All for a filly he didn't even know. A filly that lost their kite, no less!
She had all the reasons to hate Moondancer.
And yet she couldn't stop peeking at her, sitting on the edge of her bed, sobbing quietly. Whatever, it's not my fault! Twilight thought, concentrating on the view from the window, trying to find something to help her pass the time. If not for her, we would've been at home, reading, having fun and Shiny wouldn't be... She shook her head, trying to get that out of her head. Shiny will get better, like always! When our parents finish talking, we'll go back home and forget anything happened! Just a few minutes more...
Twilight waited. She glanced at Moondancer, but nothing changed. Then she looked at the door, wondering where the butler was. Wasn't that his job to take care of her? Should I go and look for him? She shifted nervously, as the faint noises did not stop. She looked at her once again, then sighed. She stood up and walked around the bed slowly, hoping she would stop before she got too close. Once there, her face paled. Moondancer quickly turned away, but not before Twilight noticed her face, full of both tears and snot, which she tried to quickly wipe and hide.
Twilight swallowed. "A-are you okay?" She asked, instantly wanting to slap herself for asking the stupidest question in the history of stupid questions.
Moondancer took her time with the answer. "Y-yeah..." she said, in the least convincing tone possible, stuttering over what was supposed to be a very simple sentence "... I-I-I'm f-f-fine, I'm, uh, I j-j-just, just... so-something g-g-got in m-my e-eye, t-tha... that..." She bit her lower lip, as more tears started gathering in her eyes. "N-no! No I'm not fine!"
The dam finally broke.
"I-I was mad at mother because she promised to take me to carnival if I got a perfect score but I didn't... so I yelled at her and I was so angry I ... so I ran away, b-but then I didn't know what to do and I was scared, because she would get mad at me and yell and then, then, then he talked to me and he was nice, and handsome and like a prince from fairy tales so I went with him and I had fun but... but... but then he got attacked because I didn't say anything! If I said something, he wouldn't be hurt and e-everything would be okay, but n-now... everypony hates me because I'm a bad filly!" She burst into a crying fit, before burying her face into a pillow.
Twilight looked at the crying filly and she couldn't help but tear up as well. She swallowed, then opened her mouth, then closed, unable to think of anything to say. She climbed up the bed, sat next to Moondancer and said the first thing that came to her head.
"Shiny doesn't hate you!"
The sobbing continued for a moment, but slowed down. Twilight coughed and continued.
"If he hated you, he would say so. And he wouldn't talk to you if he didn't like you!" She scratched her head, blushing a little. "And I don't hate you either," she paused, as Moondancer turned her head in her direction, lifting one eye from the tear soaked pillow "I'm still mad at you... but I don't hate you. I don't even know you." She swallowed again. "And I'm sure your mother doesn't hate you either. I-I mean, my mom sometimes yells at me when I do something bad, but... but she said that all mothers love their foals, no matter what. So, you know..."
For a moment, there was only silence. Moondancer returned to her pillow for a brief moment, before shaking her head and slowly sitting up. She turned toward Twilight, unaware that a single pillow, no matter how much expensive cashmere was woven into it, was not enough to clean her face of all the tears or snot, not to mention the messed up mane, with her ribbon gone and out of sight.
"Y-you don't?" She asked shyly. Twilight nodded. "But, Shining Armor..."
"He's been worse," she waved her hoof "today was not not even close to the worst."
After a sniff or two more, Moondancer found enough strength to smile. Twilight did so as well.
The conversation was going well. Her guests were enjoying themselves, happily sharing stories and anecdotes as if this was a reunion of some old friends. Marble had to admit, she was enjoying this little distraction more than she planned. Her viewpoint on ponies came mostly from interaction with her fellow nobles and she used to scoff at the idea of socializing with the middle class, if only because her own parents told her so. Then again, they were wrong way too often. She shook her head and fixed her glasses, remembering her original goal.
She waited for a moment when none of them were drinking anything, just in case. Then she struck. "I have a... confession to make," she said out of the blue "I did not invite you here just to apologize. I had a more... 'ulterior motive' in mind."
She withheld the desire to smile slyly, keeping a poker face on. The look on their faces was quite priceless. Their eyes widened in what was not quite terror yet, but a tense anticipation of one. She especially loved the reaction of Night Light, with a fork stuck in midair, afraid to take another bite of his cake. Step one, open with false sense of danger, check.
She feigned an exasperated sigh. "Ever since this whole mess started, I can't help but blame myself for it," she held her hoof up, stopping anypony from trying to interrupt her "Moondancer wouldn't try running away from home if I wasn't so strict and stubborn. I've been expecting nothing but perfection from her, even though she's only a little filly," she turned away and added with whisper like tone "I can't help but feel that I failed as a mother."
A longer moment of silence filled the room, as the uneasiness caused by terror has slowly turned into an uneasiness caused by pity. As much as she hated being pitied on, this one time she didn't mind. After all, that was her plan all along. Step two, gain their sympathy through self pity, check. She didn't even have to lie on this one, seeing as what she said wasn't far from the truth. Twilight Velvet and Night Light exchanged stares, before smiling warmly at Marble.
"Moondancer is your first foal, right?" Velvet asked, receiving a nod in response. "As a fellow mother believe me, saying such things proves that you are not quite as bad as you think you are. We all make mistakes..." she sent another glare to an already ashamed Shining Armor "...but no matter what, we love our children more than anything in the world. What's truly important, is that you're willing to learn from this incident. The fact that you invited us here to apologize is proof enough." She offered her another warm smile, which made even a stone cold mare like Marble Magnanimity blush. "We've met your daughter. I'd say you did your job pretty well."
If Marble was blushing before, now she was turning completely red. She anticipated them saying something like this and she was ready, but for some reason, she was still speechless.
Night Light nodded. "I agree. For all her faults, my wife is a very good judge of character and I trust her instincts."
"Faults?" Velvet shot him a glare. "Really? Do you have to ruin every moment with stupid remarks?"
"What do you mean ruin? I just complimented you!"
"By talking about all my faults?"
"I didn't talk about any of them... yet."
"Yet?"
"I could tell everypony about how you can find something wrong even when complimented."
"Go on then. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were enjoying our couch!"
"At least then I won't have to listen to your whining!"
"I'm not whining, I'm complaining! If you want whining..."
"Moooom! Daaaad!" Shining Armor jumped up from his seat, his face covered in deep red blush. "You're embarrassing me!"
"WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT FROM YOU!"
Marble Magnanimity. The stoicism personified. The cold blooded, no-nonsense businesswoman. Currently, covering her face, trying her hardest not to let the mad giggling out of her system.
Things were looking up regardless. Moondancer slowly composed herself, levitating a box of tissues to clean herself to the best of her abilities, while Twilight sat on her bed, scratching her head, looking around for anything to break the awkward silence in the air.
"So..." she started shyly "are those books yours?"
Moondancer took a second to answer. "Uh, yeah."
"Okay," she nodded, turning her head towards the shelf "I wish I had that many cool books. Then again, I wouldn't be able to put them in my room, it's too small."
Moondancer nodded, trying to imagine how small her house had to be, if even a small shelf like that wouldn't be able to fit in it. She wondered what Twilight's reaction would be if she saw their private library room, which was at least twice as big as her room, with nothing BUT tomes everywhere. She observed Twilight Sparkle, her eyes glued into the certain wall.
"Y-you can read them," she proposed shyly "if you want to."
As expected from anypony who knew her, the purple filly beamed at Moondancer, her eyes and smile growing in size at least twice fold, if not more. "R-really?" She asked, closing her face towards the now spooked and confused host.
"Uhm... yeah, sure. I don't even read them anymore, so, uh, you could take one home, I guess..." she stopped upon a sudden realization. Yes, ponies mouths CAN stretch that far when met with positive news. She certainly wasn't ready for the face full of happiness she was assaulted with right at that moment, as if she had just appointed somepony to become the Princess..
And then it happened. A moment she wasn't ready for. She could only squeak in shock as Twilight Sparkle lunged and hugged her.
"Ohthankyouthankyouthankyou!" With each word spoken, the embrace tightened, to the point Moondancer's limbs went numb and her bones felt like they would crack any second, not to mention the fact that with her crushed lungs she couldn't breathe. Thankfully, before she sustained any serious damage, the other filly let her go and rushed towards the bookcase, excitedly lifting a book after another with her magic, arranging them in neat, large stacks, using some kind of sorting method that only she knew how it worked.
Meanwhile, Moondancer gasped for air and massaged her aching limbs, as her head was recovering from dizziness. It was a horrible experience! Is this how dying feels like?, she thought. She reached her forehooves to embrace herself to massage her aching body, but...
It's so... warm?
She couldn't quite figure it out. It was an awful, yet familiar feeling. Painful, but gentle. Something she hadn't experienced in... well, she couldn't quite remember, but deep inside, she knew that sensation. And now that it was gone, she felt cold once again. The more she thought about it, she wanted more. She had always wanted it, she longed for it without ever realizing what that desire was. She glanced at Twilight, who at that point created a big wall of books that was still growing. She wondered if there was something special about that purple filly, but the more she thought about it, it wasn't about her. It was about what she did. And while she wasn't going to say it out loud, she wouldn't mind having a little more of that. Except maybe a little bit softer, if she was allowed.
Moondancer's face suddenly covered in blush, as she quickly turned around and grabbed her head. Stop it Moondancer! What are you even thinking!? Behave, or else... or else... Or else what? It's just a hug! It's not like those things they warned us on those pamphlets in school. But still...
Before she could argue with herself even more, she was interrupted by a loud gasp.
"OH. MY. GOSH!" Twilight almost exploded from happiness, barely holding another tome with her magic. A tome that Moondancer didn't recognize at all, yet it made Twilight Sparkle sequel in delight. "It's 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone'!" She then let out a sequel so high pitched, Moondancer had to cover her ears, while a flower pot nearby shattered. "I didn't even know it was out yet! It wasn't supposed to be in stores for two more months (my parents already pre-ordered it for me), so why do you...?" She opened the cover and found the answer to her question.
For Moondancer.
As I enjoyed writing it,
I hope you enjoy reading.For my newest fan,
A.K. Yearling
"Wow, you have a signed pre-release copy! I heard those cost a fortune!" Twilight swallowed, gently putting the book on a stable stack of tomes, making sure to treat it with respect only reserved to first editions, ancient tomes and Princess Celestia (not necessarily in that order).
Moondancer thought for a moment, slowly recognizing this book as her birthday present. She found it wrapped on the table after the fight. She had only ripped out bits of it to confirm that it was yet another book, before tossing it on the floor in frustration and escaping in a fit of tears. Only thing she ever spends with me, is money. But still, I probably shouldn't throw it. Maybe if I give it to Twilight she'd...
"Is it as good as they say?"
"W-what?"
"Daring Do! Is it as awesome as the reviews claim? It's not overrated or anything?"
Moondancer shrugged. "I didn't read it yet."
"Y-you didn't?" Twilight blinked, trying to comprehend this sentence, before shaking her head and accepting that some ponies think different. "Do you want to read it?"
"N-now?" Nod. "T-together?" Another nod.
Moondancer swallowed, but then slowly nodded as well. This made Twilight happy, as she climbed up the bed again, carefully levitating the book along with her, placing it in front of them, opened on page one. She tapped the spot right next to her, inviting Moondancer to join in.
"Let's switch after each page. That's how I always used to read with Shiny..." her smile weakened slightly "before he started playing hoofball. With his new friends."
Moondancer looked at the empty stare from Twilight Sparkle. Gone was the happy, smiling filly that almost crushed her bones from sheer excitement less than few minutes ago. She finally shrugged and joined her next to the book. Noticing her, Twilight immediately perked up and began reading.
Marble Magnanimity liked to think her subtle manipulations worked like a charm, just like every time she made a business deal for her company. At least she wanted to believe that, because otherwise it would mean that asking two parents to let her daughter become a friend with hers would be simple. It shouldn't be this easy to make friends with Twilight Sparkle, a smart, powerful, pupil of Celestia, with no useless friends around. That was almost a perfect image she could have for a filly her age (and she doubted there were any foal princesses around). If Moondancer wanted company, she was getting the best one there was, not like those snobby foals from her current school (maternal mistake #36, but who's counting?). The kind that would help her grow; push her towards greatness; fill with more ambition. In theory.
"Don't get us wrong, Mrs Magnanimity..."
"Just Marble will do, Mrs Velvet."
"Velvet will do. We're not opposed to seeing Moondancer more in the future, but we can't exactly force them to become friends. It has to happen on its own."
Marble rolled her eyes. Yeah, right, and I'm still married. "I understand your concern, Velvet, but our daughters are just foals. And as most foals, they don't know what's best for them yet. It's our job as parents to guide them. Even if we have to shove them in the right direction, once or twice."
"Not that I disagree completely, Marble, but I'm not sure what your definition of 'shove' is."
Night Light joined the conversation. "I think Marble has a point," he said, earning himself another half-irritated 'wanna couch tonight' glare from his wife. "I'm happy that my daughter has a strong drive to learn and discover new things, but at the same time, I'm worried she'll waste her childhood with no friends. Especially since Shiny started playing hoofball recently."
Shining Armor looked around, then shrugged. "I'm... sorry?"
"And Cadance can't foalsit her everyday."
Marble raised an eyebrow and asked. "Cadance?"
"Her foalsitter," Velvet answered with a smile "she's a lovely young lady, really smart and great with foals. If you ever need a foalsitter, I highly recommend her."
"Thank you, but I don't think it'll be necessary." Not when I have a mansion full of servants. Some random teenager won't do me any good. Other than the one right over here, at least. Idea! "Back to the matter at hoof, why won't you ask them?" She turned towards the unstoppable killing machine Shining Armor. "They both respect you a lot."
Shining Armor took a moment to smile, then answer. "No. That won't be needed. I'm sure they will get along just fine without us."
"What makes you think that?"
"Just a gut feeling."
"Why don't you see for yourselves?" A male voice suddenly said something, spooking everypony in the room, mostly Shining Armor and Night Light. They turned to see a pony they recognized by a name...
"Mr Push, please don't scare my guests."
"My apologies."
Shiny and his father looked at the family butler, standing in the middle of the room, appearing out of literally nowhere. "How did you do this?" Night Light asked.
"I am but a humble servant to my lady. I'm only around when needed, away when not. It is a butler's way of life."
Shining Armor and Night Light beamed. "Cool!"
Velvet and Marble rolled their eyes. "Boys!" Noticing they said so in unison, the mares giggled at each other.
Going by the butler's advice, they soon reached Moondancer's room, witnessing two fillies lying on the bed, side by side, excitedly reading a book together, gasping, laughing and getting excited together.
Well, he was right again. I guess I need to start trusting his instinct.
Marble wasn't the only one happy to see that. Velvet and Night Light nuzzled each other, watching happily as her daughter was playing with her newest friend. Meanwhile, Shining Armor allowed himself to smile smugly, fully justified in his confidence. It took the fillies at least several pages before they noticed the adults staring at them, at which point they both panicked.
"Oh no, is it already time?" Twilight said in a panicky voice. "B-but we're only halfway through!"
"One more chapter, please?" Moondancer jumped up and looked at the gathered adults. "We need to know what happened to Daring Do!"
"She's stuck in the temple..." Twilight added, joining the Moondancer by the side.
"...and there's snakes!"
"She hates snakes!"
"All she has is her hat..."
"...but her wings are broken..."
"...but even if they weren't, she's tied to an altar..."
"...and there's sand falling everywhere!"
At this moment, all the adults knew exactly what was going to happen and what to do to avoid it. The fact that they didn't was all their fault.
"Pleeeeaaaaaaaaseeeeeeee?"
One set of large, beady puppy eyes was enough to make an adult cringe and fall back. Two of them, side by side, had enough cuteness factor to bring back Discord from his petrification, only to then give him a heart attack, reform him good for two seconds before he collapses and dies from diabetes.
"HNGHHHH!" They all grabbed their chests and collapsed on the ground.
Moondancer's eyes went wide and she was about to panic, if Twilight Sparkle did not distract her with a loud facehoof. "Ugh, not again!" Earning herself a confused look from the other filly.
Some time later, after the adults recovered from their heart trauma, the pleading continued, though this time without any dangerous techniques or casualties. Marble, not used to such trickery, took some time off in the distance, as the rest tried to explain that they weren't leaving yet, though it was hard enough to say anything to the pair of, apparently, two new best friends in the world. She smiled, as all her worries went away and her goal was pretty much accomplished. Now all she needed was something to cement that relationship. Something that would forever connect the two. Something simple and innocent.
"Milady..." Mr Push leaned toward her and whispered a few words of wisdom. Her ears perked at the idea. She smiled and turned to her butler.
"Mr Push, you just earned yourself a raise."
"Your kindness knows no bounds."
Marble once again fixed her glasses and used her new found secret weapon.
"Why not let her stay overnight?"
That bit of news was met with several gasps, though some louder and cheerier than others.
"Mom, dad! Can I stay? Can I? Can I?" Twilight Sparkle was beaming, jumping on her new friend's bed before her parents.
"Can she? Please Mrs Twily's mother and Mr Twily's father! Can she? Please?" Moondancer wasn't far behind.
"Uh, I don't know..." Velvet scratched her head, unable (and unwilling) to say no to two fillies that almost accidentally killed her a minute ago "...it's a little sudden!" She turned to her husband, but he could only shrug, feeling just as helpless. "Alright, fine, you can stay! I can't say no to that face."
The look of joy on both fillies faces was more than enough of a reward for all that both families had to go through to get there. The two fillies beamed with excitement, jumping on the bed, planning which books and toys they would play with this evening, once they were done with Daring Do. While Velvet and Night Light were busy trying to get them under control and try and enforce the usual 'be good' rules mothers were known for, Marble sighed with relief and smiled, happy to see her daughter's smile. She hasn't seen her this happy and bright since... she couldn't tell, but it was a long time ago.
You're welcome, Moonie.
She approached the fillies for one more news. "And don't think I forgot about today's promise. It's a little too late now, but tomorrow I am taking you to the carnival!" She turned towards Shining Armor. "Of course, you're welcome too."
Shining Armor blushed slightly and turned away. "N-no thank you. I'll just stay home and, uh, rest."
Marble eyed the colt for a moment, them shrugged. "Suit yourself." He's cute. If only he was twenty years older.
Now it was Moondancer's turn to make the biggest grin on her face. "REALLY? Oh my gosh! I got a book, a new friend AND carnival?" She squealed, much like Twilight Sparkle did before. "This is the best birthday ever!"
All of a sudden, a cold silence fell into the room. Moondancer's fit of joy was cut short, as she noticed all the members of Twilight's family suddenly turn pale as their jaws drop.
"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY?!"
Moondancer and Marble raised their eyebrows and exchanged the same exact 'you didn't tell them/her?' look on their faces, before shrugging and letting out a chuckle.
I knew I forgot about something! Both mother and daughter thought.