//------------------------------// // A slow morning // Story: We're...Twins...yes...twins... // by Questionable Brony //------------------------------// Velvet and Nightlight just sat there on the table and watched me with concerned looks, while I kept myself busy eating the salad Velvet made me on a whim. If I’m honest, I was still a little traumatized, but the fact that those laser beams were just stun spells helped me cope with things. At least I now knew that the guards didn’t try to kill me. It still didn’t explain why they decided to use violence this quickly. But I was too tired to properly think about this kind of thing. As a result, I didn’t even finish my salad. I took my head out of the bowl, because that’s how ponies without magic eat out of one and ungracefully let it fall on the table. “Are you alright, dear?” I heard Velvet asking. “Tired.” was my very simple reply. The next thing I knew, I was floating through the air, Velvet carefully putting me on her back with her magic. The moment I touched her cuddly back, I instinctively snuggled deeper into her fur. I almost fell asleep by the small rhythm Velvet’s body was making, as she moved slowly around the house. Despite what one might think, I didn’t feel like I might fall off at any moment. In the bathroom, Velvet gently brushed my teeth. I had trouble keeping my head in position the whole time. Afterwards, I was gently levitated out of the room and to my and Twilight’s room. Once there, we found Shining Armor gently rocketing Twilight back and forth. If I hadn’t been so tired myself, I would have d’awwed at the scene and grabbed myself some popcorn. Instead I just tried to climb into the bed in order to snuggle with the plushie sized Twilight. Shining Armor noticed me and was so nice to levitate me into bed. I fell asleep before I could even properly thank him. The next morning I woke up, feeling Twilight’s hooves around my neck and my face pressed against her chest. I felt so comfortable I fell back asleep five minutes later and didn’t wake up again, until I felt Twilight moving. Opening my eyes, I found her looking at me with a relieved, yet sleepy expression. Seeing her like this, I couldn’t help myself. I rubbed my nuzzle against her cheek and tried to wrap my own legs around her body. But I was too tired to move them at all. Silently Twilight returned the nuzzle and so we stayed like this, nuzzling each other’s cheek and forgetting the world around us. Too bad the world didn’t seem to have forgotten us. We were startled, when the door to Twilight’s room was opened. I needed to let go of Twilight, which I only did reluctantly, to turn around in the bed. Entering our room was Twilight Velvet, who smiled down at us. However, everyone could see that the smile was a little forced. “Good morning, dears. How about you come down and have breakfast with us?” Me and Twilight both groaned, not really feeling up to it. Nevertheless, Twilight got onto her four hooves and jumped off the bed. I followed her example and landed flat on my face. It hurt. A lot. “Sis!” Seemingly fully awake, Twilight ran over to me. Velvet scooped me up and looked worried. “Are you alright? Does it hurt.” “Yes and yes.” I said emotionless, more embarrassed about the whole thing, than anything really. “Oh, you poor dear.” Velvet gently kissed my forehead. “I’m fine, really.” I insisted, now blushing because of the kiss. Velvet was kind enough to let me down next to Twilight. “Do you need a plaster? Analgesics? Antibiotics?” I blinked. I blinked again. I never even heard the word “analgesics”. “Why would I need antibiotics for hitting my face?” I asked. “Because you might have cut yourself on the wooden floor, which might have left a splinter in a tiny wound on your face and if it gets infected-” “Twilight.” Velvet thankfully interrupted her daughter. It sounded like she was about to turn into “Lesson Zero” Twilight. While fun, the episode had been disturbing enough. “How about you go downstairs, while I check if there are any splinters in Twivine’s face?” That cheered up the filly immediately. “Okay mom.” She nuzzled her mom’s leg, before trotting out of the room. I looked with a deadpan expression to Velvet. “Is this going to be a thing now? Argh!” “-and then you might hate yourself over failing, which causes you to get drunk in a bar, then lose consciousness, then get robbed, the next day you’ll wake up in a dirty alley, mom and dad will disown you-” “Urgh…” “Twivine?!” Velvets voice brought me back to reality. I shook my head clear of what just played in front of my inner eye, so to speak. “Twivine, talk to me!” Velvet practically pressed her nuzzle against my own, to which I tried to shove her away, but was too weak to do so. The mare at least got the drift and pulled back a little. “I’m...okay. More or less.” “Does your head hurt?” I took in a few more breaths, getting my thoughts back in order. These flashbacks are not as interesting as movies make them out to be. They’re just confusing as hell and sometimes even hurt. “I just...saw...Twilight’s memories. Well, one of them.” I rubbed my temple with my hoof. It wasn’t as comfortable as it would have been with a hand. “You saw…? Oh dear me. This is confusing.” “Tell me about it.” I muttered. Before I knew it, Velvet scooped me up into hug and I found myself snuggling into her fur. The moment lasted about three seconds, until my stomach made it quite clear that I was out of fuel, so to speak. Velvet giggled, ruffling my mane. “How about we go downstairs for some breakfast? I know I always feel better, when my stomach is full.” “Mhm.” With that we went downstairs or in my case stumbled. Funny, am I right? I ran a marathon just the other day and the next one I once again found it troubling to walk on four legs. I needed once again help with the stairs and Twilight Velvet was so nice to provide it. In the kitchen, the mood was pretty dimmed. Twilight was the only one who had a smile on her face, as she was happily munching on her pancakes. Her mouth was covered in strawberry marmelade. She happily waved at us, as we entered, but didn’t say anything else. Shining Armor ate his bread slowly. I felt my ears folding back, upon seeing him so down. Nightlight looked at us shortly, before sipping on his coffee. It wasn’t hard to guess why everyone was so down. I was pretty surprised that Twilight of all ponies was in a good mood again. After helping me up to a chair, Velvet asked me whether I wanted pancakes or something else. I told her that pancakes were fine and immediately got some on my plate. “Do you want something with them?” Velvet asked. “I’ll take the same as Twilight. And a hot chocolate, please” For the record, I love anything strawberry related. Since I couldn’t use any magic, like the day before I threw dignity away and dug face first in. The taste of strawberries was well worth the sticky muzzle I was getting from this. Velvet was right, the food did improve my mood somewhat, but still, it was hard ignoring what happened as of recently. The gloomy atmosphere wasn’t exactly helping. Velvet seemed to share my opinion in that matter and started a conversation. “So Nightlight, is Clip Board back at work?” It took a while for the stallion to take the hint. And I almost choked on the name “Clip Board”. This was more than just ridiculous. “Yes, he’s back from his vacation.” The blue pony nodded. “He said he’d recommend Fillydelphia anytime.” Must...resist...laughing! “He also said, he and his wife filled four rolls of film from taking pictures.” he rolled his eyes. “I swear that stallion never changes. Always overdoing things and such.” “Hmm, maybe we should invite them over for coffee.” “Now honey, let’s give them some time to actually settle down.” Nightlight stated. “They just got back after all.” “Hmm, I guess you’re right.” Velvet nodded. She then turned to Shining Armor, who hadn’t been really listening to the conversation. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and who could blame him, really? Yesterday was traumatizing for all of us. “Shining Armor.” Velvet addressed her son. “Hmm?” he looked up, his bread flying a little lower in his pink magic grasp. I never liked the color. It didn’t fit him. “Is there a news around your friend circle?” “...Not really.” The stallion shrugged. He looked down on his bread and then decided to down it in one go. I tilted my head, still chewing on my own breakfast. Out of nowhere I had a napkin on my face, cleaning it of the sticky marmalade. I looked over and found Nightlight smiling at me. “I think I’m gonna-” “AHHHHHHHHHH!” The loud wailing caught us all of guard. I was then remembered that one family member had been missing this entire time. “Oh dear, looks like little Spike is finally awake. I’ll be right back.” Her hooves clip clopped on the ground, as she made her way out of the kitchen and upstairs. I looked after her, until she was out of my sight. I then looked over to Twilight, who was grinning at me excitedly. “Isn’t that great? We’re going to be able to teach Spike how to read very soon!” “Very soon?” I tilted my head again. While speaking, I noticed how dry my throat felt dry, so I moved the cup near, so I could safely take a sip without spilling anything. “Don’t you think it’s a little early to think about this?” “Of course, not! Preparation is half the work!” she said proudly. “Sure…” I trailed off. “But I think he should learn to talk first.” The crying stopped all of the sudden, meaning Velvet must have been taken care of Spike. “Anyways” Shining announced “I think I’ll be out for a bit.” He said, levitating his dishes over to the sink. With a loud clank, they dropped inside without much grace. “All right? Have fun.” Nightlight called after him. I frowned after seeing this, but didn’t comment on it. Twilight appeared to be unhappy as well, but her mood brightened once again, when Velvet came back into the kitchen with Spike sitting on her back. Little gem pieces were sticking around his lips. “Good morning, Spike!” Twilight waved with her forelegs happily. The dragon in response let out some baby sounds and stretched his tiny arms towards the purple unicorn. Nightlight pulled up a baby chair with his magic, in which Velvet placed the baby dragon. Twilight then leaned over to him, nuzzling the little drake, who used the opportunity to lick her face clean of the marmelade. I giggled at the sheer adorableness of the sight. That is until I noticed Spike hungrily gazing upon my tail. Breakfast afterwards was pretty much uneventful. Nightlight and Velvet were discussing adult stuff (something about taxes) and me and Twilight were more worried about filling our stomachs, rather than talking. I ate so much at the end, I thought I had transformed into a round ball of evil adorableness. Velvet, Nightlight and Twilight cleaned up the table, leaving me and Spike out. Since I couldn’t really use magic, at least not without destroying the house, I sat this one out. Later, when everything was done, Velvet asked us: “So girls, what do you want to do today?” “Read books!” Twilight cheered, clapping her hooves. Spike tried to mimic her action, emphasizing on trying. Velvet almost rolled her eyes, but looked over to me. I just smiled and nodded in agreement. After all, I had a lot to learn. “Okay.” she sighed. “If you need anything, your father and me will be downstairs.” “Okay mommy! Come on, sis!” “Hey, wait up! I got a dragon on my tail!” Again! With baby Spike biting my tail, I tried as quickly as possible to head upstairs. With the little guy as extra weight, it turned out to be a real workout. I had to catch my breath, once I was upstairs, until I could move on. Of course I tried to get Spike to let go of my tail, gently, but the baby didn’t seem to get the hint and just chewed on. When we finally made it inside, Twilight was already prancing around, impatiently waiting for us with an admittedly cute frown on her face. “What took you so long?” In response, I moved my body around, in order for her to see Spike. Her face immediately brightened and she even dared to giggle at the sight. She walked over to the dragon and wrapped her hooves around him. Immediately, IMMEDIATELY, he let go of my tail and let Twilight settled him to the ground. The dragon then proceeded to chew on his tail. “So, what book should we read?” Twilight asked me, bouncing right in front of me. I couldn’t help but giggle. “How about...A magical Guide for beginners?” I blinked. The words just came out on their own. Twilight got a thoughtful expression on her face, which turned into a smile once again. “Good idea! We still need to work on your magic after all.” You know, I never mentioned the potted plant in Twilight’s room. That’s because she doesn’t have one anymore. The word “magic” SOMEHOW triggered a little thought process in my head, which made me summon a vine out of the pot. The plant got not only kicked out, but was also shredded by the thorns. I looked over to Twilight worried. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Twilight. I-I-” “Uh...it’s fine…” “Huh?” Twilight shrugged, her horn lightening up. “I didn’t like that plant anyway.” A small shovel and broom flew into the room, cleaned the mess up and flew away. Twilight then jumped onto the bed, carrying Spike with her, using magic. “Come on.” she patted on the spot next to her. “We have a lot of reading to do.” Well that happened. I have never ever seen anyone being so passionate about reading. I have a feeling I’m gonna miss the internet very soon.