I Once Told Her Where She Could Find Her Dream
"—and I assure you that the palace will take great care in making sure young Twilight is given everything she needs. You can rest easy knowing your daughter is in the best possible hooves," Princess Celestia said, flashing her best smile.
Twilight's parents smiled back. "Of course," Velvet replied. "She'll be in the care of a Princess, after all."
Night Light nodded. Princess Celestia nodded back, then turned her head down to look at the filly at her hooves. "Twilight? Would you like to say goodbye to your parents?"
Twilight was beaming, perhaps wider than Night Light had ever seen her beam before. At least since she'd gotten her cutie mark last week.
"Bye-bye Mom! Bye-bye Dad!" the tiny filly said.
"Goodbye, sweetie," Velvet said, still smiling. "Have fun at the palace!"
"Don't forget to write to us all about your adventures, okay Starshine?" Night Light added.
"I will!" little Twilight said, looking ever-so-small next to the Princess.
They stood in silence for a moment.
"Well, I'm afraid we must be off now," Princess Celestia said. "Shall we go, Twilight?"
"Sure!" Twilight replied. "Let's go!"
Velvet and Night Light waved to their daughter as she and her new mentor boarded their flying carriage. Twilight waved back as the gold-clad pegasi dragged it into the sky, veering towards the palace at a comfortable angle.
The two parents stared after their daughter until she could no longer be seen, then stood there staring at the sky for a minute more. Eventually, Night Light tapped his wife on the shoulder, and the two of them filed back into their home. He pulled the door closed behind them. It shut with a quiet click.
Velvet turned to her husband.
"We just made the worst mistake of our lives."
Night Light sighed. "It's for the best."
Velvet ignored him and began pacing around their living room. "We just gave our daughter away to a complete stranger. What kind of parents does that make us?"
"What we did was give our daughter the opportunity of a lifetime," Night Light said. "And Princess Celestia is hardly a stranger."
"She is to us!" Velvet snapped. "We'd never even spoken to her before a week ago! So what if she's the immortal ruler of Equestria—how do we know she'll do what's best for Twilight?"
"She will," Night Light said, his faith wavering just a little bit. "She's a good pony."
"I swear to... to... to myself that if I ever hear Twilight call her 'mom', I don't care who she is or how many guards I have to fight, I will hunt her down and—"
Night Light put a hoof on his wife's shoulder, stopping her in her tracks.
"Look at me," he said. Velvet looked up at his eyes, and he could see the conflict behind hers. "If that happens, I'll be right there with you. But it won't, and you know that."
Velvet bit her lip. "I know, I just... I don't want to lose her. I don't want to lose my daughter."
"Me neither," Night Light said. "But this was the right thing to do."
He sat down on the rug, and Velvet did the same. Reaching out, he put his hoof around her shoulders and pulled her close.
"Think of what she'll be able to accomplish with Princess Celestia's tutelage," he said. "Think of the opportunities she'll have as the Princess's personal student. She'll have a great life. A better one than we could have given her on our own."
Velvet nodded. "I know." Her eyes shone, but she wasn't crying.
"There. So don't worry about it. She may be living apart from us for now, but she'll always be our daughter."
Velvet buried her head in Night Light's shoulder. "Mmph mmm mmph."
Night Light reached over and stroked her mane. "What was that, Sweetpea?"
"We're terrible parents," Velvet said.
"We're the best parents Twilight's ever had," Night Light replied.
Velvet snorted. "You're horrible."
"That's why you fell in love with me."
She snorted again.
As Night Light held his wife, still caressing her mane, feeling her warmth on his skin, he looked back at the door.
He hadn't been a parent that long, in the grand scheme of things, he figured. But even he knew that sometimes it was hard. It was hard, today, despite what he'd said. This was for the best... wasn't it? He could feel the doubt in his withers. In his wife. In the empty room upstairs.
But, he reasoned, all fathers must one day say goodbye to their daughters, as they embarked out into the world. Nothing wrong with that. Their goodbye just happened to have been a little sooner than he'd expected.
A little sooner than he would have liked.
He sighed, a long, deep thing. "C'mon, Sweetpea, let's get up. Shining's going to be back soon, and we don't want to worry him."
She sniffed, but pulled away. Together, they got to their hooves. Velvet took one look at her husband's face and burst out laughing. Night Light looked at her in confusion.
"For—ha!—for all the strong face you put up, you're still crying," Velvet said, between barks. "You big softy!"
Night Light put a hoof to his eye. There was some wetness there. He hadn't even noticed.
"Like you're one to talk," he said, rubbing his face. He was laughing now, too. A little too hard, but that was okay.
Suddenly, the door swung open. The two of them froze, shooting bolt upright. A tiny filly stood in the doorway.
"Sorry! I forgot Smartypants, so I had to come back and—" Twilight looked at her parents. "Are you okay? Mom? Dad?"
The two parents looked at one another. They began to laugh again.
Little Twilight looked quite perturbed. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing, Starshine," Night Light said. He stepped towards her and put his hoof on her back, guiding her back into the house. "Come on, let's go see if we can find your doll, okay?"
"Sure!"