01 - The Beginning
Night Light had developed a little bit of a reputation in his own few circles.
To be perfectly clear, and so the crowd in the back hears it, too, he wasn’t always late to everything. He got up at the right time, showed up to work on time, did his work on time, and left on time. Nine times out of ten, he was always on time, and no pony would bat an eye.
The problem being, of course, was the one time out of ten. And for some reason, that one times out of ten was always the worst possible time to be late.
Take, for instance, picking up his young colt from school. That is probably something he shouldn’t be late for, and something he also didn’t want to deal with when he finally arrived to pick him up. A crying colt, a peeved off teacher, and a recommendation home to the wife to have somepony else pick up little Shining Armor.
As he burst through the front doors of the Canterlot General Hospital, the nurse maring the front desk spit the coffee she was drinking right back into the cup in surprise. This time, it wasn’t his fault. Genuinely, honestly, truly not his fault for being late for his newborn’s delivery. There was a quick exchange of words between him and the nurse, and a moment later he was shuttling down the hospital halls at neck-breaking pace. If his wife’s co-worker had immediately told him she had gone into labor, he would’ve been right besides her the entire time. One fiery shouting match later, a stallion galloping across two miles of streets, three flights of stairs, and twenty-four hospital doors later, he burst into the operating room.
Or, what he thought was the operating room.
“Daddy!”
He was stopped dead in his tracks by a white-coated Unicorn colt who jumped down from the bed, wrapping his hooves around his dad’s. Night Light bent down, still panting heavily from running for so long, and wrapped him in a hug, too.
“Hey, buddy!” He panted. He looked up at the room. There were no doctors, there were no nurses, and there was no crying. Instead, just his wife in a hospital bed. The delivery was already done. And he had missed it.
His wife, Twilight Velvet, gave him a glare from her position on the bed, adjusting a bundle of blankets in her hooves. His heart rate picked even quicker than it already was as the realization dawned on him that the bundle of blankets held his new foal.
“It was sooo scary!” Shining Armor said, breaking from the hug and bouncing on the spot. “The princ-uh-pal called me to the office, and then he said my sib-il-ling was on the way! I was so excited that I ran straight here! And then the nurses wouldn’t let me see Mommy, so this one really nice nurse let me play with toys in the play room, and then I got to see Twilight!”
There was a moment of silence as Night Light chewed through what he said, eventually letting out a quiet whinny.
“Twilight, huh?” He asked. Shining nodded. “And I don’t assume you mean Mom, right?” Shining nodded again, bouncing with excitement. Night Light smiled softly, looking at the fatigued Velvet on the bed. “Twilight was what we were gonna name her if the foal… was… a filly.” His smile grew wider. “A… filly? Our foal is a filly?”
“Shiny, could you wait out in the hall for a moment?” Velvet asked, her eyes deep with fatigue and her voice laced with sleep.
“Sure!” Shining said, completely unaware of the situation unfolding around him. “I’m gonna go play with the building blocks!” He bounced out of the room, latching the door shut behind him.
And then there were two. Or- rather, two adults and a sleeping filly. Night Light had managed to get his breathing back down to a normal level, but still felt his heart rate stay at an all time high. Especially as his wife was giving him the stare-down of a century no less than six feet away from him. But all she had to ask was a simple question, and the whole thing would be cleared up in absolutely no time at all.
“Where were you?” She croaked out. Night Light smiled fakely, trotting to the edge of the bed and sitting down in a visitor’s chair. Velvet made sure he couldn’t see Twilight by adjusting the bundle in such a way that obstructed his vision.
“Well…” Night Light said as he got comfortable in his chair. “Would you believe me if I said it wasn’t my fault?”
“No.” She responded back without hesitation.
“I promise you, it really wasn’t my fault this time!”
“You were late to your daughter’s birth!” She scoffed angrily. “Imagine telling little Twilight that at her birthday’s! ‘Oh, you’d never believe it, but your father was late! To your birth!’”
“Do you remember the mare you asked to… alert me that you were going into labor?” He asked. Velvet put on a side-long suspicious glance, but didn’t say anything other than a small nod of acknowledgment. “Well… after you left, she was supposed to come to my work and tell me. But she went out for a snack, instead.” Velvet let out a gasp, letting the bundle of blankets momentarily relax for half a second. In that half second, Night Light saw a small glimpse of the filly. Not enough to make out detail, but enough to see her fur was the color purple.
“She didn’t!” Velvet’s jaw dropped, and quite quickly, she wiped it clean with a bemused smile. “I’m going to kill her.”
“I’m not done yet.” Night Light held up a hoof. “Once she actually got to the castle, she didn’t just come tell me- No ma’am! She went and flirted with the guard!”
“Oh my-”
“Until she got kicked out!” Night Light chuckled, fighting the urge to laugh loudly in fear of waking the small filly. “The two were so lovey-dovey over each other, they talked for two hours straight!”
“She didn’t tell you for two more hours?” Velvet’s jaw re-opened, this time wider than before and even closer to the ground. “I am… going to kill her. Actually. I am actually going to kill her.” She sighed. “Alright. I guess it wasn’t technically your fault. But you’re still late, and that makes me… more sad than mad, really.” She pouted.
“Oh, come on, Twily!” He begged. “Or- wait- are you still Twily, or is… Twilight now Twily?”
“I knew naming her after me and my mom was a bad idea.” She said.
“Well- can I see Twily, now?” He begged again, this time leaning forwards and pouting even more aggressively than before.
“I don’t know… have you earned my forgiveness, mister Light?” She said wistfully, like an actress, despite looking disheveled, smelling sweaty, and sounding incredibly fatigued.
“I’ll make you peanut butter and watermelon soup again?”
“Meh…” Velvet waved her free hoof dismissively. “I think that was just a craving. It… doesn’t sound very good anymore.”
“What about the green beans and ranch?”
“Yuck. Definitely not.” She shivered. “I can’t believe I ate that!”
“Err- something simple! I’ll make daffodil soup for a whole week- no, month!” Velvet seemed to actually contemplate it for a moment, rolling it over in her head as she studied the ceiling tiles above her.
“I’ll get sick of daffodil soup after the first week.” She said, looking back to Night Light. “How about daffodil soup for the first week, and then daisy-rose the next.”
“Daisy-rose?” He cocked his head to the side. “You drive a hard bargain, Missy. Alright, I’ll do it! Now show me Twilight, Twilight!”
“Alright, alright…” Velvet looked down at Twilight, a small smile gracing her lips as she did so. But, almost as quickly as she did, the smile instantly faded away, replaced with a creased brow and a face full of anxiety. An expression Night Light knew well.
“What’s wrong?” He asked quickly. “Is she breathing?”
“Of course she’s breathing, Nighty.” She snapped quickly. “It’s just that… she’s…” She sighed. Night Light felt his breathing quicken quickly, his hooves suddenly filling with needles and his legs tapping nervously.
“What’s wrong with her?” He asked steadily.
“Nothing’s…wrong?” She said slowly. Night Light kept breathing quickly, but kept a still and stoic expression apparent on the outside, as if trying to convince his wife that he was completely ignorant. Whether it worked or not, he wasn’t entirely sure. “The- The doctor’s tried to explain it to me. I was out of it when they explained it, and I didn’t really understand it, but… she’s… a little bit of a genetic glitch.”
Night Light whinnied out of his nostrils, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.
Then, like the smooth stallion he was, he leaned forwards, taking Velvet off-guard as he pecked her on the lips.
“Night-”
“I don’t care if she’s different.” Night Light said, now inches away from her face and staring at her directly in the eyes. “She will still be my daughter.” He moved his hooves forwards, and without looking, slowly rotated the bundle of blankets. “And I will always love her.”
Finally, he looked down.
There was a moment of shock as he saw her face. His daughter’s face. His daughter’s face. A moment of swelling pride, a moment of realization, and a small smile. He reached forwards with his hoof and lightly glided it through Twilight’s mane.
She looked very similar to Night Light’s brother. She had a purple coat, and a dark violet mane. Right in the center of her mane, mixed together and messy, were two shades of purple streaks. Although some of her features were different, Night Light felt a dose of nostalgia. Almost like looking at a baby photo of him and his brother.
He took his hoof through her mane once more. It glided right over the spot where her horn was supposed to be.
“She doesn’t have a horn.” He said, looking up at Velvet with a smile. “Is that the defect? Is she… a Unicorn without a horn?”
“No, honey.” Velvet looked down. “I never said anything about a defect. She’s perfect in every way.” Velvet held the blankets closer, smiling widely.
“Then…” Night Light looked back at the filly. “She’s an Earth-pony.” He let out a small chuckle. “My bro couldn’t leave us be, even in the afterlife, huh?” He chuckled again, this time a little louder.
“Well… that’s not the whole story…”
“Genetic glitch my hiney.” He carefully scooped Twilight in her hooves, Velvet willfully giving her up. “Huh. She’s quite a bit lighter than I thought she would be.” He observed, bouncing her slightly to gauge her weight.
“She’s actually average weight… for a Peg-”
“My brother, your aunt. Earth-pony blood is rare, but it’s in both our families. Looks like our little filly rolled the dice and won. Big.” He let out yet another chuckle. “At least she wasn’t born a Pegasus.” Velvet stiffened in her bed, turning to look at Night Light harshly.
“And what is wrong with being a Pegasus, Nighty?”
“Nothing’s wrong with being a Pegasus.” He corrected quickly. The small filly’s ears twitched in reaction to the talking, and quietly, yawned, but didn’t wake up. “It’s just that… Pegasi are the most high maintenance out of all the tribes.” He said bluntly. Velvet raised an eyebrow, so he continued. “They have to sleep on clouds, need their wings preened, I mean, almost every Pegasus I know was born with claustrophobia. Their magic spurts are crazy, and have you ever even seen a Pegasus go through puberty before?” Both Velvet and Night Light visibly shuddered, although Velvet did it for a different reason. One more physical than simply just imagining the possibilities.
Night Light’s shuddering, however, managed to shake the filly awake by accident. She yawned again, and this time, opened her eyes. Night Light gasped, leaning forwards and smiling broadly.
“Hello!” He greeted, like he was greeting a co-worker. The foal barely managed to reach her eyes to rub them with her stubby hooves, blinking blearily and looking up at the towering stallion. “I’m dah-dah! Can you say dah-dah?” He said babily.
“You know she can’t.”
“Worth a try.” He shrugged. The foal babbled something incomprehensible, smiling, and hugging the nearest available hoof, which happened to be Night Light’s. He squeed as she did so, tapping his hooves excitedly. However, Velvet didn’t share the same excitement, rolled over to face Night Light in her bed and chewing the side of her cheek.
“If… Twilight was born a Pegasus… would you still love her?”
“Of course I would!” He laughed, unobstructed by the fear of waking a sleeping foal. “We’d just have to… try a little harder, I suppose.” The filly yawned yet again. “It would be expensive. I mean- where would we even buy cloud beds from? Is there some kind of cloud bed manufacturer? Or do I ask my Pegasus friends to go grab me a cloud?” The filly began stretching, one hoof, and then two popping out of the blanket. “Enough about Pegasus. We have a filly! We have an actual, real-” She wiggled and wormed at the apex of her stretch, and by accident, two little wings popped out from her back, stretching in a similar manner to the way her hooves did. Then, like nothing happened, she settled back into her blanket, smiling as she closed her eyes.
There was a tense moment of silence.
Another one.
Maybe more than a hoof full moments of silence in the hospital room.
Night Light’s jaw was nearing the floor at this point, staring in shock at the filly who now had two wings exposed on her back. Velvet tiredly sighed, inching her way back into the hospital sheets and laying her head on the pillow, watching Night Light for even the smallest of movements that would give away what he was thinking. Slowly, like an android, Night Light turned to Velvet.
“Bwah?” Was the best he could come up with.
“Like I said, honey.” Velvet, enjoying her husband’s confusion, smiled lightly. “A genetic glitch.”
“B-Bwa-” He panted, holding the Pegasus tighter to his chest. “S-She’s- A- A- She’s a Pegasus, Velvet!” He said loudly. Velvet hushed him, but if he heard her, he didn’t make any indication. “S-She’s a Pegasus, and- w- we’ve not had a Pegasus in our family for generations!H-How did- H-”
“The doctors were confused, too.” Velvet said, rolling her eyes. “Something about dominant and non-dominant pants. I didn’t understand it, but it’s apparently possible for two Unicorn parents to give birth to a Pegasus. Our situation is a little strange, because we have family history to back up the fact we’ve not had a Pegasus in a good while.”
“The- The last Pegasus was…” Night Light trailed off, looking up at the ceiling. “Oh my stars- the last Pegasus in our families was the second Twilight! Back before surnames existed!” He studied the wings for half a second, gasping loudly. “V-Velvet! S-She has a- a feather’s- it’s sticking out!”
“It’s okay!” Velvet said, sitting back up in her bed. “Give her here.” She held her hooves out. Like the most fragile thing in the world, Night Light very delicately transferred the bundle over. Velvet laid back, and carefully, grabbed the loose feather in her teeth.
Night Light was expecting a rip sound as Velvet plucked the feather. Twilight would wake up, she would begin crying, and it would be a complete disaster.
Instead, Velvet simply just pushed the feather back into place.
There wasn’t a pluck. There was no screaming and crying. And the hospital room stayed quiet.
“One of the nurses is a Pegasus.” She explained, a slight blush coming to her cheeks, embarrassed for preening. “Preening isn’t instinctual. It’s like… a family technique passed down to the young. She taught me the basics. Like how we shouldn’t just pluck any old feather. Just the broken ones. And not the primaries unless absolutely necessary. And to make sure to not pluck a blood feather.”
“What the hay is a blood feather?” Night Light fretted, biting the edge of his hoof nervously. “Oh- we’re gonna have to change the nursery so much! There’s only one window in there! She’s gonna get claustrophobic!”
“We are not adding more windows.” Velvet said, relaxing back into her pillow. “Your study has a glass dome roof. It would be perfect for-”
“Nope! Nope! Absolutely not! We are not taking over my study! We already agreed to not do that!”
“Before we knew we were having a Pegasus!” She argued. Night Light shut his mouth, frowning deeply. He shook slightly, looking down at the floor. Velvet sighed. “What’s wrong, dear?”
“I… am…” He shivered. “Scared. I am… actually scared. For once.” He laughed manically, rubbing a hoof through his mane. “Wow. That’s a new feeling. I am… scared. Well- I’ve been scared before, of course, but…” He let out a shaky sigh. “What about magic spurts? How-”
“We’ll deal with it when it comes to it.”
“Pegasi are bull-headed by blood! What if she-”
“We’ll deal with it.”
“And the cloud-bed!”
“We’ll figure it out.” Velvet pulled the blanket over her chest, hugging Twilight closely. She smiled at Night Light. “I’m tired. I’m tired and messy, and I want to sleep.” She nodded towards the door. “Get the light, dear?”
Night Light nodded, his horn igniting and flicking the elek-trik lights off. The room was doused in darkness, the only sounds coming from trotting hooves in the halls and the only light coming from the door.
“Mind if I..?” He asked.
“Of course.”
Wordlessly, Night Light stood up from the chair and trotted around to the other side of the bed. Carefully, he slinked in and under the blankets. Velvet adjusted herself so she was facing him, Twilight directly in the middle, and both Unicorn’s horns crossing as they got comfy in the surprisingly large bed.
Night Light smirked as they both made eye contact.
“Shining, I can see your shadow through the door!” Night Light said, loud enough for any eavesdroppers to hear, but not loud enough to disturb the sleeping filly.
“Aw, what?” A young voice said, the room being momentarily doused in hall light as the door opened and closed. “I was so shneaky!”
“Yes, you were.” Velvet said. “Unfortunately, Mom and Dad are always one step ahead!”
“Get in here, you rascal.” Without looking, Night Light’s horn ignited, plucking Shining from the ground.
“H-Hey! No!” He squirmed in his dad’s magical grip. Unfortunately, he wasn’t strong enough, and against his will, he was plopped directly in the middle of the two ponies, and a small Twilight placed on top of him. “I’m too old for this!”
“Sure you are.” Night said.
“You’re never too old for us, right?”
“Whatever.” He pouted.
As the two adults closed their eyes, Shining looked down at Twilight. How she slept, with her eyes closed and her wings exposed. Those… two little wings that had caused such a fuss. It didn’t make sense to the young colt- at least, not entirely.
But he had a sister, and to that, he was happy.
“D-Dad?” Shining asked.
“Hm?”
“Are you… actually scared?” He asked.
“Oh, terrified.” He responded, eyes still closed.
“Huh.” Shining said, looking up at the ceiling. “That’s… weird.” There was another moment of silence. “Will I ever have to preen Twily?”
“You’re on baby-sitter duty, young colt.” Velvet responded.
“Ah.” He smiled. “I’m okay with that.”
And the whole family drifted off to sleep.
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i really like this so far!!
I like the idea of Twilight being a pegasus, it's something new to try out.
She for whatever reason looks adorable without her horn and with the wings.
HMM. Looks like a pretty intriguing AU thus far. Definitely liked the in-universe reason for Twilight to be born a Pegasus as well as the reactions to that birth.
While I have no doubts that Twilight could still do well as an academic (probably knowing more about Pegasus magic than other Pegasus two decades older and more experienced), it IS going to be interesting to see how she ends up gaining Celestia's attention. Perhaps using research, gadgets and potions to compensate for the lack of unicorn magic (such as building a portable high-powered lamp to hatch Spike's egg). Of course, to be fair, she could ALSO be the main assistant to whoever happens to become Celestia's personal student (be it Sunset Shimmer [if this is a universe where Celestia managed to get through to Sunset BEFORE she left Equestria], Moondancer, Trixie or Starlight Glimmer [the last one if this is a universe where Starlight ALSO got her Cutie Mark at the exact same time as Sunburst]).
Anyway, really looking forward to more of this.
It's good so far! Maybe Twilight's pegasus magic will be so strong she becomes the first one in Celestia's school?
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Maybe. Plus, of course, being smart enough to figure out potions quite well to allow her to compensate even better. And an even better researcher than any of the Unicorn students except for maybe Sunset and Moondancer.
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Very true! She's read more books and written more papers about everything than practically anypony alive.
Looks interesting. And it's good that there are no stories about how a poor family of unicorns suffer because they had a not-unicorn foal.
I hope the second chapter comes out soon.
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Most likely, she will not even be able to get into this school. After all, this is Celestia's School for Gifted UNICORNS, the nobility of unicorns will devour her there with guts, despite the possible patronage of the princess. And, personally, it seems to me that it will be much more interesting if Twilight's life is not connected with CSfGU.
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Twilight always adorable.
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For what it's worth, the 2021 IDW comic showed a diamond dog doing unicorn-style magic with a magic staff, which had me wondering if something similar might work for other creatures. Though even if Twilight could obtain something similar (if it's physically possible, there's no doubt she could find a way if she put her mind to it), that doesn't mean she'd have an easy time fitting in with the unicorns.
more please!
I love these kind of ideas I hope Twilight ends up attending to the Summer flight camp, this way she could meet Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy earlier than in canon.
I don't think Twilght will end up becoming Celestia's student, maybe in this universe Sunset is still her student or maybe Celestia found Starlight Glimmer when she was a filly and she became her student.
It would be funny if Twilight were to develop some kind of rivalry with Rainbow Dash, I imagine Twilight not becoming as fast as Rainbow but maybe getting to fly in a very calculating way, she would save her energy at first by flying relatively fast and when she is getting closer to the finish line Twilight would increase her punching speed to win the race (something similar to what she did in the Fall Weather Friends episode) she could beat Rainbow Dash in some races xD
Really nice start! Interested to see where it goes from here.
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Yeah. I could definitely see all of that. Of course, I could ALSO see Twilight developing a hero worship of Cadance after she finds out Cadance was, herself, a Pegasus before she became an Alicorn. Cadance having even more of an influence on Twilight, combined with getting to know Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash (and possibly Gilda as well), could lead her to embrace Friendship much sooner.
Rainbow and Gilda remaining close friends with both Twilight and Fluttershy could have a positive development on all of their characters. Rainbow, Gilda and Twilight together could all help Fluttershy learn to become more assertive WITHOUT being a jerk about it for example. Plus, Twilight acting as a tutor for Rainbow and Gilda could help them learn to combine brains with their brawn a lot sooner for another example.
But I've gotten off on a tangent and I'm sorry.
Off to a wholesome start!
Cool, I would like to see more and see how this goes. Things will probably change, maybe Twilight will prove herself another way. She could still be studious and have a love for books but can't do any magic. Maybe if she puts on the crown for the first time it will fascinate her all the more and she won't want to take it off!
this is so nice, it makes me want to have a family
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Yeah you know the famous classic fic "Rainbooms and Royalty" where it was Rainbow Dash who got the chance to be Princess Celestia's personal student and Element of Magic because of her first Sonic Rainboom? Something like that for this perhaps? Or whatever, another path. Just saying this reminded me of that, and a Pegasus could become Element of Magic.
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Stop it, you're too wholesome!
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I feel like celestia is very um unicorn superiority which is so annoying she has a unicorn school and only known unicorn students and she moved the capitol to the unicorn mountain and surrounded herself with unicorn nobles
Any pony could become the element of magic honestly i feel like if anyone should of acended under friendship ir should of been pinky she is bursting with magic and def more attuned then twilight to friendship but no celestia had to stick her chess master hooves in it so she could have a successor and retire.
I love playing crusaders kings 3 the best part however is breeding good lines for your kings vassles and courtiers and im pretty convinced celestias done that to alot of familys while waiting for a pony with enough potential to be born within reach. also then outsourcing the breeding program to cadence and her "love magic"
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I think it would be a challenge to NOT have Twilight look adorable/adorkable
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That was a good story
Hmm. My first thought was that Night was going to accuse Velvet of cheating. I would have never considered that taking care of a foal from a different tribe would require so many changes of lifestyle. This is well done from a head canon point of view.
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Same thought. She had sex with other pony.