Night Light's daughter is going off to study with Princess Celestia at the palace. That's a good thing... right?
Written for the A Thousand Words Contest II in the drama category. Find the other entries here!
Inspired by a lyric from the Horslips song Faster Than the Hound. That lyric is the chapter title.
How sweet and heartwarming. Every parent goes through something like this eventually.
Why isn’t Twilight Velvet mentioned in the synopsis?
Gotcha
Very cozy lil' read, thank you
11615826
A good question.
just realized that dark blue shape is Night Light's mane
I love how Nightlight calls his wife Sweetpea.
...Five minutes later
"Forgot my favorite quill."
..Twenty minutes after that.
"Can't be a studious student without my thesaurus with all my notes in the margins."
...One hour more
"Just need my bunny-hoofy slippers. The floors in the castle are cold."
...And yet another hour later
"Just need to pick up my compass and my drawing pencils and that should be it. Thanks, Mom."
"Uh, what about Spike?" Twilight Velvet looked at the closed door where her daughter had been moments ago.
"Don't worry, Sweeetpea. I give her about two more visits before she remembers he was napping when Princess Celestia visited." Night Light boosted the baby dragon up on his shoulder and patted him on the back. "Besides, it may be a decade or more before we have grandfoals of our own. Might as well spoil him while we have him. Does ums want another emerald? Yes, you do. Here you go."
11615922
Dangit, thought I caught all of those. Ah well, fixed now.
11615826
11615979
Mainly because the story is meant to be from Night Light's point of view, so he gets top billing. It's not meant to be a slight at Velvet or anything.
11616239
"Wow, the palace sure is big, isn't it Spike?"
...
"...Spike?"
11616239
11616329
oof, hope she never reads all the stories that treat Celestia as Twilight’s surrogate mom
and as hard as having your daughter move out so soon, what a thing to weigh
aww, lovely little slice of their relationship
augh, perfect reason for Twilight to come back right after. and nice reminder that her parents will always be Mom and Dad to her in a time when they need it!
and this was just adorable, thank you so much for writing!
Ooh. Intriguing use of negative space in the cover image.
Just how much time Twilight Sparkle spent at the palace during her tutelage with Celestia is one of the more interesting dials one can adjust in ponyfic, especially in the impact it can have on her parents. Great character work with both of them and in how, in true Sparkle family fashion, it’s probably not as bad as they think it is. In all, a wonderfully heartfelt bit of empty nest syndrome hitting these poor ponies like a truck.
Also, Twilight Velvet leading an insurrection is one of the more fascinating yet terrifying mental images I’ve run into lately.
Nah, you have two completely different children and it’s not everyday your child becomes a pupil to a princess so you get a parent pass. This was a really good story and makes me appreciate Velvet more.