• Published 15th May 2015
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The Sparkle Family Reunion - sunnypack



An honorary sister. An adoptive family dragon. Two princesses. A prince. The two most overbearing parents in the world. A loony grandma. The Sparkles are coming to visit.

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5 - The Family’s Familiar Familial Familia Familiar

Chapter 5: The Family’s Familiar Familial Familia Familiar

When Twilight read the contents of the letter, Rainbow could see her face lose its colour, even through her coat. Twilight looked ready to have a nervous breakdown, so Rainbow decided to lend a helping hoof.

“It’ll be alright, Twi’. What’s this about, anyway?”

When Twilight merely groaned and sank back onto the table as Satin regarded the gesture with amusement, Spike filled everypony in instead.

“I… uhh… kind of forgot to tell Twilight that the Princesses would be dropping off some gems at the castle.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“Just how many gems?”

—————————

When the barrier was dismissed, Celestia let go of a breath she didn’t even know she held onto.

“Well, that is a relief,” Luna said, echoing her own thoughts.

“Yes, now to—” The rest of her sentence was choked back.

“Satin?!”

The pony tilted her head, then her eyes bulged wildly as she recognised the pair.

“Hmm… oh! Erk! Hide me!”

Satin dove behind Twilight, then peeked over her head. Twilight flipped around, confused, but then had to shield her eyes from the flash as Satin winked out of existence, teleporting away.

“What? Why did she teleport away?”

Celestia, head still reared in shock from the fleeting appearance of Satin, shook her head to clear the confusion.

Luna swallowed. “Sister… was that—?”

Celestia nodded. “Satin Splash, the Grand Archmage of the West.”

Twilight frowned. “The what now?”

Celestia seemed to finally notice the presence of her former student.

“Oh, Twilight, I’m glad you’re here.” Her gaze skimmed across the ground where the barrier used to be. “I was worried something might have happened. Is there something wrong? Is that why the barrier was up? You took it down because you’ve handled it, right?”

Twilight bit her lip, looking like she was about to rip a bandaid off.

“Well Princess… I didn’t exactly take it down…” she trailed off, groping for words.

Celestia knew that look. Twilight often wore the same expression when something had gone horribly, horribly wrong, and that it had been, at least in part, her fault. From the way her shoulders sagged, the weight of guilt looked as if it was going to crush her.

“Twilight,” Celestia said gently, “why don’t we head to your castle? You can explain what is going on, while my sister stays with this convoy—where is Spike by the way.”

Twilight twisted around. “Oh he was helping out with a few things before—oh there he is!”

————————

“Spike!” Luna called out, seeing the dragon running along.

“Sorry—” huff “— I had to set out the table!” He bent down, claws on his knees as he caught his breath. “Just a sec. Phew.”

Luna gestured to the guards towing the gems. They inclined their heads, bringing forward the cartload of gems.

“We apologise for the short notice, but these gems only recently arrived. They’re supposed to be for diplomatic meetings, but I’m afraid we’ve not the space nor the personnel to keep track of these gems. At least for a few days.”

Spike nervously chewed a claw. “A-And you’re trusting me to guard them?”

Luna tilted her head. “Why yes, of course, Spike. You’ve proven yourself trustworthy for situations more dire than this.” She smiled warmly. “After this is over, we’ll even let you keep a few.”

“Oh! Thanks!” With the prospect of a reward already making his mouth salivate, Spike renewed his determination and put his misgivings to the side. Peering at the trailer of carts, Spike could see that it held all manner of precious jewellery, not only gemstones. Rings, necklaces, some ancient-looking gold coins and other gem-encrusted accessories were heaped into dazzling piles. Unlike the ones he usually mined with Rarity, the gems in the carts had a deep pure lustre and brilliance that showed its quality.

Spike’s cheeks billowed in consternation. “These are very expensive, aren’t they?”

Luna laughed, contrasting his wary look. “Indeed! I’m sure they’ll be safe inside the castle. Let us move forth.”

———————

Twilight swallowed back her reservation and told the Princess everything. Celestia, for her part, seemed neither angry or disappointed for her part. If anything she looked sympathetic.

“You aren’t mad?”

“Why would I be mad, Twilight?” The answer carried a hint of stern reproach, but it was far from the reprisal that Twilight expected. In some ways, the agony of expecting more made it worse.

“I-I mean—”

Celestia touched her on the shoulder with a wing. “Twilight, perhaps the spell was a little over the top, but I could not fault you for what you’re feeling about your family.” She smiled, somewhat painfully. “If anything I understand what it is like to have a rough time with family.”

Twilight stared at the ground, watching the grass sway in the gentle breeze. The day was amazing, the perfect weather, but her roiling thoughts and feelings pooled deep inside, blotting out the otherwise picturesque scenery around her with painful strokes. Despite that, the Princess’ words brought her a measure of sanity back, an assurance that perhaps… perhaps she wasn’t alone in having a family that was just a tad strange.

“Thank you, Princess.”

Celestia nodded. A wry gesture sprung to her face. “Now onto other matters. That was Satin, was it not?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, my grandmother.”

“Your grand—” Celestia’s eyes widened and Twilight could almost swear she heard Celestia choke back some words, but she must have misheard, because the Princess would never do something that ungraceful “—well… talent does run in your family.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Though she hadn’t the faintest idea why she thanked her.

“But Satin as your grandmother? Well, that does explain a lot.”

“About what, Princess? Who exactly is my grandmother? My mother used to say that she was just a slightly eccentric traveller. When I asked her, she winked and told me the same.”

Celestia shook her head. “Your grandmother is the Grand Archmage of the West.” Celestia’s eyebrow raised a couple of notches. “She’s a powerful unicorn with immense abilities in the arcane that I fear may have surpassed the legendary Star Swirl the Bearded himself.”

Twilight swallowed, ears twitching with nervous excitement. “How come I’ve never heard of her? Surely such a unicorn would be mentioned once or twice in literature?”

Celestia sighed. “Satin is a very private pony. I’ve tried to persuade her to stay as the Court-appointed mage, but she dislikes titles and rules. Instead she travelled the world, after talking me into removing her existence from Equestrian records. She was instrumental in beating Discord back then. I think even Discord is a little afraid of her.”

“Discord?!” Twilight spluttered. “Really?”

Twilight’s scoff died in her throat when Celestia’s expression remained grave. Then, like the sun bursting out of the clouds, Celestia grinned heartily.

“Well, today we try again! Now that we know Satin is your grandmother, perhaps you and I could convince her to become a Court-appointed mage.”

“I…” The last time Twilight had seen Satin was on her fifth birthday, having been accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She remembered the fact that she was a traveller and was identical in appearance back then as she was now. Her memories back then were tinged with warmth as Satin held her up with sparkling eyes, telling her of a new story…

Celestia sighed contentedly. “Think of all the good we could do with Satin at the helm! Such an experienced and powerful mage, we could get a lot done.” Celestia’s eyes locked with Twilight’s own. “Would you help me convince her?”

Never in her life had Twilight told the Princess no, and this time was no different. Though something was niggling her from the back of her mind, Twilight’s mouth opened and she responded—

“Yes.”

———————

Velvet was beside herself with excitement. Her husband, for some reason, lacked the energy to stay awake on the train, only Celestia knew why. To her left sat Cadance with a demure smile on her face and Shining, her little colt, was seated opposite to her and was looking wide-eye and excited for the family gathering! The fact that he kept sending his shy looks to his wife and her was proof that he was so sweetly looking forward to the family reunion.

To her right, the scenery of the verdant countryside whizzed by, showing a wondrous panorama to anypony that cared to look.

Velvet was too preoccupied with the scroll in her hooves to notice.

In her hooves was the conversation list she had created. To be sure she checked it twice, and for safety, had written another list to check for that list. In her saddlebags, another list of her discarded conversation topics were hidden, in case she ran out of all twelve thousand or so things to talk about in her master list. She always told herself to be organised and be prepared! There was nothing worse than doing something spontaneously. At least Twilight had taken her teachings to heart with that.

Shining cleared his throat.

“Uhm, mom?”

Velvet, who was humming a pleasant tune at the time, stopped and smiled at her sweet little son.

“Yes, Shiny?”

Shining looked more excited by the second. Maybe he was as excited to see Twilight as she was? Those two siblings were awfully close most of the time. In fact, she was pretty sure they saw each other more than they saw her—she quashed the flash of jealousy before it could burn through her thoughts. That wouldn’t do, it wasn’t their fault. She would fix this. It was fine. Everything was going to be fine.

She smiled extra wide to convey this to her nervous colt. For some strange reason he looked more apprehensive. Well the boy was a sensitive little thing, that’s what made him so sweet.

Shining gulped audibly and settled back into his seat.

“Never mind.”

———————

Much could be gleaned from the shoulder of the Grand Archmage of the West. From the perch of Satin’s shoulder, the diminutive mouse had seen empires rise and fall, oceans sweeping from horizon to horizon, and the lands both bountiful and desolate in the many adventures she’d been a part of since accidentally falling asleep in her saddlebags after eating almost all of her cheese. Her grey coat, now silver, stood in stark contrast to Satin’s plain dark robes. Having slept most of the way, Minnie had elected to wake when a primeval urge had filtered through her senses.

“Who!”

“Eek!”

Wide, predatory eyes pinned the quivering mouse to her spot. Seeing now that she was still in the saddlebags of her facetious mistress, Minnie saw that there was no escape. She elected for negotiation instead.

“Don’t eat me! I’m bony and chewy! I’d probably give you indigestion.” In case the owl decided to eat her anyway, she didn’t want to have her last image before passing on to be wicked talons and an outstretched beak. She covered her eyes with her little paws.

“Who?”

“You!”

“Who?”

“You—why do you keep asking? Just end the torment!”

Minnie peeked out from behind her paws. The owl was perched on the bow of the saddle, seemingly smug with its playful nettling.

“You’re… not going to eat me?”

“Who?”

“…I’m not going to fall for that. Aren’t you going to say anything other than ‘who’?”

The owl fluffed its chest and tilted its head almost ninety degrees.

“Don’t do that, it’s creepy.”

The owl hopped into the saddlebag and snuggled up next to her.

“Woah—hey, what are you doing?”

“Who?”

“…You, who else?” Her voice was tinged with annoyance, but she didn’t push him away.

———————

Velvet stood outside the shimmering barrier, mouth agape.

Night Light glanced between the barrier and Shining. Shining shook his head and prompted him with the frantic flick of his hooves for him to do something about it. He shifted his gaze to Cadance, who looked apprehensive, but merely shrugged.

“I’m sure… there’s an explanation for this.”

Velvet took it entirely the wrong way.

“She’s… locking me outside of her life now?!”

Night Light took a deep breath.

“Now I’m sure she didn’t—”

“Unacceptable! I will tear down this shield myself if I have to. Shining, Cadance, Night Light, help me!”

Shining shared a look with his father, Night Light could only shrug.

With three unicorns and an alicorn, surely they could take down the shield?

———————

Satin appeared back in the castle.

“You two!”

“AH! What?” Rainbow and Pinkie froze mid-step, being halfway to the kitchen to bake something. Actually, Pinkie had wanted to bake something and she was in the process of roping Rainbow Dash into baking something with her.

“Don’t tell Celestia or Luna I was here,” Satin said quickly. “I was never here.”

“What? Wait!”

Satin ignored Rainbow’s calls and headed to her saddlebags.

“Minnie—woah, what happened?”

Rainbow followed, but stopped in surprise when the saddlebags spoke back to her.

“Don’t ask me. There’s an owl that is sleeping next to me, I don’t know why.”

Satin looked confused. “I didn’t cast a spell did I?”

The bag answered back. “No, you didn’t.”

Rainbow approached cautiously. “Uhh, why is your bag speaking?”

Satin glanced back at Rainbow, a picture of confusion that cleared in a few moments.

“Oh, wait, I haven’t shown you Minnie, this is Minnie.” Satin reached inside the saddlebag and pulled out a small rodent.

The mouse waved a small paw. “Hello.”

Rainbow’s jaw dropped.

“What? Mouse got your tongue?” Minnie cocked her head. “No, that was bad.”

“Sure was. Now we gotta get rid of the owl and leg it—”

“Who!”

“Oh!” Rainbow recognised the bird. “That’s Owlowiscious.”

Satin blinked. “Owl—what now?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Don’t ask me, that’s what Twilight named him.”

The owl fluttered out the bag and landed on Satin’s outstretched hoof. He began preening Minnie’s fur, all the while as she squirmed and called for help.

“No, not there! Oh sweet Mus in heaven why?!”

Satin grinned in amusement. “Enjoying yourself?”

“Get this bird of prey off me! Or do you not realise I’m actually prey! Stop it! I don’t know if you’re just toying with your food or being nice!”

With a flash, another pony entered the room.

“Gah!” Rainbow yelled. “Doesn’t anypony use the door?”

“Nope!” Pinkie called back cheerfully from the window. “I heard Applejack, I’m going to step out!”

Rainbow blinked, as a positively livid mare stood huffing in the centre of the room.

“Where’s Twilight?!”

Satin tilted her head in mild curiosity.

“Oh hello, daughter, fancy seeing you use a teleportation spell.”

“Mother? Twilight—where is she?”

Satin glanced back at her saddlebags and sighed. “Ah well, best deal with this first. Rainbow? Will you be a dear and fetch Twilight for me?”

Rainbow glanced between Satin and Twilight’s mother. She looked ready to break down a brick wall with her bare hooves.

Seeing Rainbow’s hesitation, Satin gave her a smile of reassurance. “I’ll make sure things don’t get too crazy. Please fetch her.”

“Alright…” Rainbow left the room, but before the door could fully close she winced at the explosive yelling that leaked out.

“Yeesh, now I get it.”

——————

Tired and exhausted, Shining Armor, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Night Light, collapsed at the base of the now-dissipated barrier. Night Light tried mightily to choke out a few strangled words, but could not muster a comprehensible sentence before Velvet disappeared in a flash of light, signalling her teleportation to what he could only surmise was Twilight’s castle.

“She—” cough “—was furious!” Shining gasped. The others settled for silent agreement. They lay there puffing for a few more moments, trying to recover the spent energy from blasting an nigh-impenetrable shield.

“Twilight is getting really good at these.” Cadance pursed her lips. “I thought we were the experts in the shield business.”

“Sometimes—” huff “—I wish my sister wasn’t quite so talented in magic.”

Night Light agreed, but didn’t say anything, catching himself feeling mildly guilty about being overly proud of his daughter. Then again, if Twilight kept in contact and didn’t focus so much on being a career mare, maybe this problem wouldn’t have existed in the first place.

“…We better get going. The thought of leaving Velvet alone with Twilight is not sitting right with me.”

Shining and Cadance started getting up immediately.

Cadance touched her horn, and quickly took her hoof away. It was still smoking hot after the plethora of energy expended. “I hope this is the last bit of drama before the day is up, I don’t think I can take much more of this.”

———————

“Mother.”

“Velvet, honey.”

The frosty silence between them was almost unbearable. Despite that, her mother seemed not to mind, merely smiling as usual. Velvet found, as always, a feeling of irksome exasperation at her mother’s blatant gall. She sat there, pleased as punch, as she fumed with the fire of motherly care. She was passionate about her family. Not like her mother who went gallivanting off on an adventure at every opportunity she got, even when Daddy had passed— No! This wasn’t about mother, this was about her family.

“I only invited you as a courtesy you know.” It was true, she half expected her not to show up. Fanciful thoughts had swirled through her head when she had invited her, but now… she wasn’t so sure. Especially since she was blocking her way between her little Twilight’s reunion.

Mother had always been nice, though…

Velvet shook her head. She was nice, but she was never there. She took a deep breath, forcing the anger to go. She must set a proper example to her daughter. And show her mother that she was in control.

Her mother’s lips twitched upwards, settling into a satisfied smugness that jerked at her reins of control.

“Good,” she said, with a tone that hinted praise. “Now we talk about Twilight.”

“Twilight?” Velvet let drop a dramatic scoff. “You’ll do no such thing. She’s my child, if you haven’t realised. One I’ve put a lot of time and effort into loving and caring for. Much more, I might add, than you.” Velvet allowed herself to lean back in the chair, sporting a smug grin on her face to match.

Her mother’s eyes boggled, much to her pleasure, but she fought the surprise with a narrowing of her eyes and a slight tightening of her jaw.

“Nonsense, Twilight has so much potential! She should go on a journey with me. There’s so much of the world to experience, she wouldn’t want to be stuck in one place.”

Velvet raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I disagree, you do not know Twilight a single bit! She would love to settle down and have a family, I believe she’s already thought about it once or twice.”

“Hah!” Her mother tossed her head in disbelief. “You would know! Twilight hasn’t sent you a letter in half a year!”

“That’s more than zero! Which is what you’ve gotten!”

The atmosphere seemed charged, like ponderous clouds brewing above a plain, waiting for the moment that lightning would strike. Velvet was savagely gratified to see that her mother was no longer aloof from the fray and that she had successfully gotten under her coat.

“I would know what’s best for Twilight,” she finally said, through gritted teeth.

Velvet flicked a dismissive hoof. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course I do!” Her mother slammed a hoof into the table. “How about we ask her friends then? They’re right outside listening to the conversation now!”

Velvet was surprised to hear the scramble of hooves knocking against a hard floor from behind the door. Her mother’s magic was quicker though, and the door was flung open, showing six shocked faces. Though their hooves skidded against the crystal in an effort to resist the magic, her mother’s magic was strong enough to drag the whole group to the table.

“Twilight’s friends? Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity and…” Velvet stared at the foal. “Ah yes, Apple Bloom.” She was a little confused as to how Apple Bloom fitted in, but didn’t say anything. “While it is lovely to meet you all, I think—”

“Were you all listening in?” Her mother cut in. After a slight hesitation, there was a collection of ashamed nods and murmurs of agreement.

“Sorry,” Apple Bloom said, eyes wide with remiss.

Velvet’s heart melted. “Oh you, run along now, sorry but we need to… talk to your sister and her friends.”

After a brief hesitation, Apple Bloom nodded, leaning in to listen to something Applejack said and then dashing out the door.

“Now,” Velvet stated, staring at each pony with a measured gaze. “Who’s right?”

——————

After a brief hint of silence, Applejack spoke up.

“Now though Ah’m keen on the idea that Twilight should have a family, Ah do think she has some time to think about it. Twilight’s keen on magic, and Ah think she’d like to go around the world explorin’. Goodness, she’s not shy about doing that, though Ah’m all for roots.”

“See?” Satin grinned triumphantly at Velvet.

Rarity flicked her hair. “Of course you’d be against any idea of romance, Applejack.”

Applejack’s eyebrows drew down slowly. “Now what’s that supposed to mean?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “It’s clear that Twilight needs a special somepony in her life. Didn’t you see her looking enviously at couples during Hearts and Hooves Day?”

“Ah ain’t seen nothin’ like that, Rarity.”

“Of course you haven’t, don’t tell me you haven’t caught Twilight staring at your brother?”

“My b-brother?! What the hay are you on about?”

“Goodness me, Applejack, I thought you were rough around the edges, but you can’t be that oblivious. Your brother has caught the eye of many a mare.”

“Now hold on just a minute—”

Rarity raised her hoof. “Alright, alright, Applejack, if not your brother, there are certainly many other candidates. Maybe even better.”

“Exactly!” Velvet cried. “We need to consider them all! One has to be a match for Twilight.”

“Hang on just a dang moment, are you two implying my brother isn’t good enough for Twilight?”

Rarity pursed her lips, looking both offended and imperious at the same time. “I never said a word about that.”

“Now look here, my brother is every bit just as good for Twilight, and you know it!”

“Really?” Rarity replied mildly. “Are you willing to test that?”

“You’re dang right Ah am!”

Satin slammed her hoof on the table, startling everypony. “Stop right there! My little Twilight is going places. She will not be tied down by some pony I don’t even know.”

Applejack glared at Satin. “You too?”

Satin glared back. “I thought you were for Twilight making her own way.”

“Ah changed my mind,” Applejack shot back. “Twilight would be happy with a family of her own. I guarantee it!”

“Haybales.” Satin rolled her eyes. “Well, what about Rainbow, Pinkie or Fluttershy? I want to hear their opinions.”

Rainbow jumped forward. “Twilight’s gotta follow her dreams.” She shrugged at Rarity’s expression. “Sorry Rarity, but Twilight loves magic, she’d probably love to go with Satin.”

“Yes!” Satin crowed. “That’s what I want to hear.” She turned to Fluttershy. “And you, little one, what are your thoughts?”

“Uhm, well, if it’s not too much trouble, I agree with Rainbow. I can see how family’s important, but taking care of somepony or being with somepony seems like a lot of uhm… responsibility and pressure. I’m not sure I’d be up to that. Twilight has a lot on her plate, so…” She trailed off as half the room started glaring at her, whilst the other half grinned.

“Two for, and two against,” Velvet muttered. “So Pinkie, you decide! Who’s more important?”

Pinkie jumped forward. “I agree with Applejack. Family is important, but home is where your heart is!”

Satin and Velvet shared a look and then looked back at Pinkie.

“So who are you with?” they both pressed simultaneously.

“Neither!” Pinkie replied in a sing-song fashion. Then she cocked her head. “We should ask the Princesses! Oooh, look at the time!” Pinkie gestured to the door, diverting everypony’s attention to it.

When Satin glanced back, Pinkie was gone. “Where’d she go?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rainbow said, “you’ll burn yourself out trying to figure it out.” She paused, recalling Twilight. “Literally.”

The door opened, admitting Celestia and Luna.

“Sister, we’ve secured the gems above this floor. I am certain that nothing will go wrong. I am looking forward to meeting—oof—why did you stop?”

It was then that Luna realised that both of them were the centre of attention.

“Sister,” she whispered. “We should leave.”

“Too late,” Celestia replied from the corner of her mouth. “They can see us.”

Velvet strode forward. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, we were having a discussion as to whether Twilight would benefit from following in Satin’s hoof steps, or if she should settle down for a family.”

Luna shared a look with her sister.

“We wouldn’t want to get in between,” Celestia said quickly.

“Not at all!” Satin replied. “There’s no hard feelings either way, right everypony?”

“Of course not!” Velvet said smoothly. “We simply want the perspective of the Royal Sisters. They are, after all, a big part of Twilight’s life right now.”

“I don’t know…” Luna started, but Satin interrupted.

“I was going to offer Twilight a chance to go on a journey with me. If she completes her training she can be an Archmage easy! Then I could don my hat and cloak… who knows? I might take a cushy job somewhere, in some Royal Court.”

Celestia sprung forward. “I recommend Twilight go with Satin Splash. I think this would greatly benefit Equestr—I mean her.”

“Sister!” Luna was taken aback. “I would think family would be important! Thinking about a special somepony, gazing at the stars and future… not to mention the delightful foals!”

“Foals!” Velvet squealed.

“Foals!” Rarity joined in.

“Luna,” Celestia pleaded. “Twilight would love to study more magic, she would be a great Archmage!”

“She’s already accomplished a lot,” Luna shot back, “she can rest on her laurels for a long while yet!”

“Still a tie?” Satin rolled her eyes.

Velvet huffed. “This would be over if Shining and Cadance were here!”

“Where are they?” Satin asked. “Weren’t they with you and your husband? Where is your husband anyway?”

“Or why don’t we ask don’t we ask Twilight herself?” Celestia posed. “She should be here any moment—”

As the door opened once more, a hush fell over the room.

Twilight stood in the doorway of her dining room and froze as eleven ponies turned as one to stare at her. She took an involuntary step back.

“W-What? Why are you all staring at me like that?”

Author's Note:

Well there's only one chapter left.

I've been writing until 6 AM in the morning, so forgive the messiness.

Next Chapter: Breaking Point

As always, my undulating readers, thanks for reading!

P.S. Thanks for the edits, I was pretty out of it.