//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: Clearing the Air (Part 2) // Story: Mother Fluffer // by TheVClaw //------------------------------// While Rainbow Dash was headed up the stairs, Twilight took a heavy breath while standing outside of the kitchen door. Even though the Princess had encountered dragons, hydras, shape-shifting armies, evil beings from Tartarus, and even the Embodiment of Chaos himself, she was still more worried now about having to talk with her own Mother. Nevertheless, after making a deep exhale, Twilight pushed the door open to walk inside. Unfortunately, the Alicorn also turned nervous when she saw her Mom seated at the kitchen table with an upset look on her face. After her daughter put a noise-blocking spell around the kitchen and seated herself in the chair opposite to hers, Velvet sighed and asked, “Twilight, what were you trying to do here?” Velvet’s daughter couldn’t help wincing when she heard how stern her Mom’s tone was. “Umm… W-well, I…” After a few seconds of awkward silence, Twilight sighed in defeat when she realized she couldn’t necessarily defend herself. “I don’t know. I just heard about you and Gilda, and I… thought I should talk with you about her.” Seeing the look of shame on Twilight’s face, Velvet sighed as her firm expression softened a little. “Well, it doesn’t seem like you had much a plan before coming out here.” Despite her Mother’s blunt tone, Twilight couldn’t deny the statement itself as she made a meager shrug. “Y-yeah… I can’t really say that I did.” Noticing how guilty Twilight looked after that admission, Velvet’s expression softened a little. She waited a second before asking, “So, if you don’t mind me asking, what were you expecting would happen?” Even though she knew that her Mother wasn’t trying to be mean with that question, it was still enough to make the Alicorn’s ears slump downward. In actuality, Twilight realized that she really didn’t have a good idea how this encounter should’ve ended. She was honestly so upset about Gilda being with her Mom, that all of the Princess’s thoughts were focused on the Gryphon as opposed to the relationship she had with Velvet. So, with her lips pursed shut, her gaze turned downward to the table before answering her Mother’s question. “I… I'm not sure I had a good conclusion.” Velvet only nodded before saying, “Well, that’s kind of obvious, honey.” Of course, before her daughter could look even more morose about what has transpired, the older mare sighed and admitted while looking away, “But still… I suppose I can’t necessarily say I couldn’t understand your intentions. I mean, if I had a negative encounter with someone who turned out to be your partner, I doubt I would’ve acted too differently.” Twilight brought her sights back up to her Mom with a slightly surprised expression. “Wait, really?” “Well, yeah,” said Velvet, but her tone turned more judgmental when she added, “but I also wouldn’t have bought all of my friends to cause more drama than what was needed.” Twilight sighed and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, of course. And to be honest, I think they just came along to make sure I didn’t act too out-of-line.” One of Velvet’s brows arched up in surprise. “You? As opposed to what your friend Rainbow Dash said?” Twilight quickly interjected, “Okay, I had NO idea she was going to say anything like that! And if I had known, I would’ve tried to talk her out of it, or at least put a sound bubble around her. I also told Rainbow Dash to go up and apologize to Gilda, so hopefully that will be settled.” The unicorn nodded as she gave an appreciative smile, glad that her daughter added that last detail. She then sighed as she looked upward. “Well, I wish I knew how that’s going to go. I can’t necessarily blame Gilda for being peeved at her about what she said.” “Me neither…” While she didn’t want to leave an awkward pause between them, Twilight couldn’t stop thinking more about what her Mother saw in someone like Gilda. Heck, even with some of the odd mares that her Mother had been with, Gilda would’ve still been a wildcard if she was a pony. So, with her head still flooding with thoughts and questions, the Princess decided to take initiative and move the conversation to where she wanted it to go. “But I have to ask, Mom. How in Equestria did this happen?! I mean, where did you two even meet?!” Velvet sighed, seeing from her daughter’s insistence that she wasn’t going to let this go. So, the mare only responded with an understanding nod before making sure she was comfortable in her seat. “Well… To be fair, it wasn’t exactly a relationship I would’ve expected myself to be in.” Twilight replied blankly, “Well, yeah. I sorta figured out that.” “But…” With the way Velvet emphasized that word, she made sure that Twilight got the hint to keep silent before continuing. “Anyway… A few months back, I just finished proofreading the latest Daring Do novel for A.K. Yearling, so I decided to celebrate it with a few drinks at that Mare Bar I go to. You know the one, right?” Twilight nodded and answered, “You mean the Johnson Bar?” “That’s the one. Anyway, I left on my own when it got a little late, and on my way home, a couple of stallions who were much more intoxicated than I was started to say some things to me. I chose to ignore them, but that only made them angrier, and they came towards me and..” The mare shuffled in her seat a bit as her expression turned more upset. “... well, let’s just say some vulgar names were used.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she instantly got angrier. If Velvet was implying what Twilight thought she was, she wasn’t afraid to make her tone apparent. “What?” “However,” added Velvet with a raised hoof in an attempt to settle down her daughter, “Gilda happened to be nearby her vending cart, and came by to pull them away from me before it got physical. Of course, when one of them decided to push her, she reacted a little bit stronger than I would’ve.” Twilight, now looking curious instead of angry, raised a brow as she asked, “So… how much stronger?” Velvet looked away as she answered with a shrug of her shoulders. “Well… let’s just say the two ended up in the hospital for a while. I mean, they did call her some things as well, but still.” Now both of the Alicorn’s brows were raised, looking legitimately surprised. Even though memories of that party were still in her mind, she had to admit that learning of Gilda protecting Velvet like that was fairly impressive. “Ummm… wow.” “I agree,” said Velvet with a more relaxed smile. “Anyway, since she helped me out, I came to her cart the next day while she was making Gryphon Scones, and offered to take her out to lunch as a thank-you gift. Night Light and I treated her to that sushi restaurant by the post office, which she was really happy about since she didn’t even know about it. Well, during a little discussion and story-swapping, she mentioned that she was having issues with her landlord due to her old apartment having a roach issue. So, since Night Light and I just finished renovating the attic to be a space for rent…” Twilight’s eyes widened at the realization of what her Mother was saying. “Wait… you mean Gilda is living here?” “Well, yeah,” answered the unicorn casually. “I mean, your Father and I wanted to have it up for rent, and Gilda’s vending business was certainly profitable enough to ensure she was good for it. And to be perfectly honest, she’s been a great guest! She pays on time, helps out around the house, and hasn’t caused any issues in the months she’s been here.” Looking at her Mother in stunned silence, Twilight could only blink a couple times as she let this new info sink in. Even though she and Shining both knew that their Dad was renovating the attic, she would’ve never expected that their first tenant would be Gilda. After looking down to her hooves for a moment, she finally decided to respond after some deep thought. “Well, alright. So... “ She looked back up at Velvet and asked, “When did Gilda become… more than a guest?” Velvet bit her lip as she shrugged meagerly. “Ummm… about a month ago? Honestly, I’m surprised it happened the way it did.” “How did it happen?” asked Twilight curiously. “Ohhhhh no,” said Velvet dismissively as she quickly put her hooves up to stop Twilight’s question. “I already know that if I start to tell you, then you’ll stop me halfway through and say you don’t want to know.” Twilight just made an annoyed sigh with a roll of her eyes. “Oh, come on, Mom! I’m not a little filly anymore.” “That might be, but I still don’t think you want to know.” “Well,” responded the Alicorn more insistently, “considering that Gilda acted totally rude and irresponsible the last time I met her, I’d like to have as much context as I can about your relationship with her.” Even though Velvet didn’t seem pleased with that point, she still breathed out reluctantly and complied. “Oh, alright…” The mare settled against the back of her chair for a moment before stating, “Well, it sort of happened out of boredom, to be honest. I didn’t have any stories to look through, and it was raining outside, so Gilda couldn’t use her vending cart for work. So, she was lying on the couch while I did some dusting around the living room. She was watching me for a while, and decided to joke about how I should be wearing a Prench Maid outfit. I brought up that I actually did have one in my closet, and she didn’t believe me. So, I took it out and--” “GAAAHHH!!!” Twilight immediately cut her Mother off before covering her ears with her hooves. “Never mind! Never mind! I don’t want to hear any more!” Despite not wanting to traumatize her daughter, Velvet still gave a small chuckle with a smirk as she said with crossed hooves, “I tried to tell you.” Seeing her Mom’s response, Twilight pouted while slumped in her seat. She put her hooves back down before saying, “You know, you could’ve just told me the story was sexual.” To that, Velvet replied in a snarky tone, “True, but you said yourself that you weren’t a filly anymore.” Seeing how Twilight was giving her a bitter glare with an accompanying growl, Velvet decided to drop her smirk as she sighed. “I’m just trying to say, honey. What happened between me and Gilda wasn’t exactly planned or anything. It just sort of… happened. But even with that, the two of us really seem to click in a weird way.” In all the years she knew her Mother, Twilight could honestly say that she never heard her say that she “clicked” with someone she was in a relationship with. So while her brows were raised in surprise, the Princess couldn’t really say anything while her Mom continued. “I mean, I know there might be some issues here and there, and I certainly want things between Gilda and your friends to be settled, but she really is a nice Gryphon once you get to know her. And…” Velvet took a quick moment before making a small shrug of her shoulders. “And… it’s really nice being with someone so different for a change. I don’t know if I can call it serious, but… who knows?” Understanding Velvet’s point, her daughter could only nod in thoughtful silence. After looking down at the table between them briefly, Twilight pondered what was going on before turning her attention back towards her Mom. “So… what does Dad think about you with Gilda?” “Oh, are you kidding?” asked Velvet as her tone turned more upbeat. “He loves her! She’s helped him a lot with renovation work around the house, and she’s one of the only ponies--er… Gryphons I can think of who can outdo him when it comes to dirty limericks! He loves her sense of humor, and he keeps comparing the two of us to some cheesy romance novel series he’s been obsessed with.” Twilight looked at her Mom with a befuddled expression, despite the small smile on her muzzle from hearing what she said. Even though she knew that her Dad had a few jokes that could even make Rainbow Dash blush, the Alicorn would’ve never thought he would be someone that could be friends with Gilda. Of course, since she hardly knew the Gryphon that well, Twilight figured that there was probably more beneath the surface. After taking Velvet’s response in, Twilight asked curiously, “Wait, which romance series?” “Oh, I haven’t the slightest idea,” said Velvet apologetically. “All I know is that it’s ridiculously long, and took almost forty chapters until getting to a first kiss. I mean, know that your Father loves it to death, but I couldn’t see myself reading through it.” Twilight raised a brow at her with a smirk. “Ummm… isn’t reading your job?” “No, proofreading is my job,” stated the unicorn in correction. “Just like your Father judges ponies at his job in court. But even with that, he still sees Gilda as a perfectly acceptable guest in this home. And as a good partner for me.” Twilight nodded her head in understanding, knowing that her Mom wasn’t going to budge from that point. However, after a brief pause, Velvet looked away from her daughter before adding in a more honest tone. “But… I am sure that he’d just as surprised as I am about what Gilda did.” Twilight nodded again, and replied in a more polished tone of voice. “And that was ultimately why I came here in the first place. I wasn’t sure if you knew.” “I know, honey,” said Velvet understandably, “and I don’t blame you for that. I just wish you showed up with a more level head. “ Twilight pursed her lips shut with an uncomfortable look on her face, and looked down at her lap with a guilty voice. “Yeah… I’ve heard that before…” Catching her daughter’s tone, Velvet looked more uneasy for a brief moment. But before she could say anything else, the sound of Rainbow Dash’s voice could be heard screaming from upstairs, “I SAID SHUT UP!!!” Since the Alicorn forgot to put the sound cancelling spell on the ceiling, Twilight and Velvet both looked up at the ceiling in worry. But fortunately, no other noises followed that outburst. The two waited for a while, but then looked back at each other before Velvet said, “Well… that was a bit sudden...” After clearing her throat, Velvet caught her daughter's attention as she tried to break the silence. “Of course… even with what you told me about Gilda, which is a bit of a surprise, I really have to ask…” When Twilight looked back up at her Mom, she noticed that the unicorn had a fairly skewed expression on her face. Velvet then finished her question while her shoulders were raised upward. “Do you really think that… what Gilda did was really that bad?” The Princess’s eyes widened in an instant, and stared at her Mother in befuddlement. “Wait, seriously?” “Well, really think about it,” said Velvet more insistently. “It’s clear that Gilda was already in an upset mood before that party. And you have to admit that your friend Pinkie can be a bit…” She paused briefly to think of a fitting adjective for her daughter’s friend. “... exuberant at times.” Twilight shook her head with a roll of her eyes. “Well, that might be the case sometimes, but I don’t think that means Gilda should be excused for what happened!” “And I don’t think that either,” added Velvet sternly. “However, if Gilda is able to give a fair apology for her actions, then I really don’t see any reason to make this any more dramatic than it’s already been. The past in the past, after all.” Deep down, Twilight knew that nothing that her Mom said was wrong in the slightest. Nevertheless, the Alicorn still felt apprehensive enough to huff in refusal. “But… but it wasn’t like you were there, Mom! You didn’t see how she acted.” Velvet made a small shrug, but still kept her sights on Twilight patiently. “That might be true, but I have seen how Gilda acted in the past few months. She might have a short fuse at times, but she’s also a very caring and protective Gryphon if her boundaries aren’t overstepped too often. And just like I didn’t see how she was at that party, you haven’t seen how she is since then.” Twilight only blinked, not able to make a suitable reply while the silence between them grew. Meanwhile, Velvet looked away briefly as she bit her lip, as if she wanted to say something else that might not be savory to bring up. But after a long moment, she sighed before turning her sights back to her daughter. “Let me ask you something, honey. Are you upset with Gilda solely because of what she did? Because it feels like the only reason you came here to confront her about it is because she’s my girlfriend. And if she wasn’t, then how she acted at that party wouldn’t have made you that upset.” The Princess stayed silent after her Mom’s insights, and averted her eyes from her momentarily. “Well, I… I don’t know…” “Well, let me ask something else,” continued Velvet with both brows raised. “Can you honestly say that the Gilda acting like a jerk and leaving a friend alone is unworthy of forgiveness?” After a long moment, Twilight turned back to Velvet in slight confusion. “Wait... what do you mean by that?” Velvet waited a second as her expression turned a little more cautious. “Well… I don’t want to bring up old wounds, but it wouldn’t be like you haven’t forgiven certain others for that very thing happening before.” Twilight’s eyes quickly widened, immediately realizing what her Mom was referring to. She made a painful sigh as she dropped her face into her hooves. “Oh, Mom! Please don’t bring that up!” “I’m sorry, honey,” said Velvet sympathetically. She then added in an insistent and sincere tone, “I know I shouldn’t go there, and believe me, both your Father and I have forgiven your friends too. But you have to admit that how they left was a little more severe than--” “They’re my FRIENDS, Mom!” shouted Twilight as she brought her gaze back to her Mom angrily. “And it wasn’t like Gilda was manipulated by a Changeling Queen!” “No, but she didn’t leave her best friend alone with one either, did she?” Twilight opened her muzzle to make a retort, but froze while her hoof was pointed at her Mother. While Velvet stood with a firm expression on her face, waiting for a response to her question, a few seconds passed before Twilight slowly pulled her hoof back. Her muzzle eventually closed without saying a word, replacing any answer with only a reluctant pout. Velvet sighed and spoke in a less brash tone, “Look, I know this isn’t my place to judge, but I do feel that what happened between Gilda and your friends can be resolved a lot easier than… that. I mean, it’s clear that Gilda had her reasons to be upset that day, so it’s not like she did it for no reason. And I really do feel like she has it in her to make a sincere apology. You just have to give her that chance.” Twilight took a deep breath as she looked back down at the table, only letting her Mom see her blink a couple times in response. Velvet’s horn illuminated, letting a pale blue aura of her magic lift up her daughter’s chin softly. She waited until Twilight was looking at her again before saying in a warm tone of voice, “Twilight, you’re one of the most caring and forgiving ponies I ever had the pleasure to know, and I know that’s one of the biggest reasons that Celestia made you a Princess. You were able to see the good in so many ponies before, and even beings like Discord! So… do you really think that it’s fair to dismiss Gilda for one little spat?” Looking at the care and devotion in her Mom’s eyes, Twilight couldn’t help giving a slightly trembled smile before Velvet let her go. Settling back into her seat after Velvet’s magic dissipated, Twilight took a moment to contemplate, and sighed while shaking her head in understanding. “No. I… I guess that wouldn’t be fair, would it?” Velvet smiled gratefully back at her. “That’s my girl.” Giving an appreciative smile back at her Mother, Twilight thought about it for a while before opening her muzzle. “You… you really do like her, don’t you?” While Velvet was surprised that she asked that, she was happy to respond in a chipper tone. “Well… yeah, I do. She’s really thoughtful, she cleans up after herself, and she’s obviously protective. Plus…” Thinking about it, Velvet let out a little giggle before adding with a blush, “She actually thinks that I’m ‘cool’, Twilight! She even once called me a… ‘Bad-Ass’.” While the older mare giggled nautily at using that kind of term out-loud, her daughter only stared at her with a more confused look while blinking repeatedly. “Ummm… why would she call you that?” Velvet, immediately remembering what happened to make Gilda say that about her, quickly closed her muzzle and looked away sheepishly. “Oh, nothing…” Twilight began to grow suspicious. Her eyes narrowed in the unicorn as her head tilted slightly. “Mom…” Despite it being her child, Velvet still felt a little uneasy at having an Alicorn staring her down. She kept her eyes pointed away from Twilight and spoke meekly, “W-well, I... may have been swapping some stories with her one night…” Twilight’s eyes shot wide open in worry. “Mom… what did you tell her?” Velvet’s face turned more guilty as she started to blush a little out of shame. Twilight didn’t want to ask, but she felt like it needed to be said. “Please don’t tell me you actually told Gilda about the Celestia incident!” With her muzzle wrinkled in, Velvet slowly looked back at Twilight before admitting shamefully, “I was drunk.” “MOM!” shouted the Princess in shock. “You seriously told her about the wedding?! You know that talking about that counts as High Treason, right?!” “I know, I know!” said Velvet with her head in her hooves. “And believe me, I don’t feel proud about it. Even Night Light was upset I said anything about it…” After a small huff, she brought her head back up to add with a hoof pointed at Twilight, “And in my defense, I’m pretty sure that Celestia ignoring a potential warning during a time of high alert counts as Treason too!” “It doesn’t mean you should tell everyone how you reacted to it!!” “I did NOT tell everyone! It was only her that one time, and she knows better than to talk about it to anyone else!” Velvet then sighed and slumped back in her chair, looking away from her visibly upset daughter. “I really am sorry, Twilight. I know that I shouldn’t have done that, regardless of how much wine I had that night.” She then made a small exhale through her snout before looking back towards Twilight more optimistically. “Besides… it’s not like many ponies can actually say that they did that sort of thing and lived.” Twilight groaned with a hoof against her temple. “Mom, slapping Celestia in the face is NOT something to brag about!” While Velvet sat in silence, knowing that her daughter was right, Twilight could only practice breathing deeply to get rid of her growing tensions. Despite the fact that she completely understood how upset her parents were after that wedding (especially after finding out that Celestia actually lied to them before the wedding, and said that Twilight was ill and needed rest in her room), she was still unsure which fact she should’ve been more shocked by; that her Mom actually slapped a Demigoddess across the face before she could give the two a formal apology, or that Celestia herself wasn’t even fazed by it. She apparently just finished her apology to the two and let them leave unharmed (admittedly to the surprise of both the couple and the guards), and told Twilight later that she couldn’t blame Velvet in the slightest for her actions. But as Twilight did her breathing exercises, Velvet waited momentarily before saying, “I… I was just saying that you’re not wrong, Twilight. I really do like Gilda. And yeah, I don’t know how serious it’s going to be. But for right now, I want to see how it goes, because she really is special.” After making a deep sigh, Twilight was finally calm enough to look her Mom in the eyes again. Even though she didn’t feel like making a joke, the Princess still asked with a small smirk, “Oh? More special than Dad?” “Oh, come on!” said Velvet with a giggle, clearly catching her daughter’s teasing tone. “You know just as well as Shining does that no matter what…” Twilight was able to finish her Mom’s statement with hesitation, “Yeah, I know. That ‘no matter what, no one will ever match Dad’.” “That’s right,” said Velvet with a smile. “Just like none of your Dad’s boyfriends have ever matched me.” While Twilight and Velvet smiled and giggled more peacefully, the two overheard the attic door opening from upstairs, and the sounds of both Rainbow Dash and Gilda talking in seemingly calmer tones. When Twilight looked back to her Mother, she saw that she had an optimistic expression as she asked, “So… you think you’re able to take Gilda back?” Twilight shrugged before replying, “Well, as long as she apologizes first.” “Well, of course,” responded Velvet with a nod, “but believe me, honey, that Gryphon might look scary, but she’s a big softy behind that beak.” Thinking it over, her brows raised as she thought about that statement. “Speaking of which…” Before Twilight could get out of her seat, she paused after hearing her Mom say that. “Umm… what?” A small chuckle escaped the unicorn as a more randy smirk grew on her beak, and she looked back at Twilight to add, “Just between you and me, you should know that if you ever go to the Gryphon Kingdom, do not be shy. Gryphons can be quite a bit of fun, if you know what I mean.” It took a couple seconds, but Twilight was able to read between the lines quickly enough to quickly shudder and jump out of her chair in revulsion. “UGH, Mom!” “I’m serious, Twilight,” piped the cheeky mare as she got out of her seat as well. “I know I shouldn’t be saying this to you as your Mother, but from one mare to another, you REALLY should consider finding a Gryphon sometime! They will Rock. Your. World!” “Ewww!” Twilight walked away with her horn lit. “I changed my mind! Gilda clearly IS a bad influence on you!” Despite seeing how uncomfortable Twilight looked, Velvet couldn’t help giggling to herself. She was quick to add before Twilight brought down the noise-blocking spell in the kitchen, “Just saying, beak rhymes with freak for a reason.” “GAH!!” Twilight took down the forcefield and stormed out of the kitchen. “Stop it!” With that, Velvet made one last guilty laugh while alone in the kitchen, and took a breath of her own to calm herself down. “He he he… She certainly isn’t as open about that stuff as her Father is.”