Everywhere they walked they drew attention to themselves. Twilight always hated it, now more than ever. In Ponyville she didn't have to worry so much. Everypony knew her, and not just as a princess. In Canterlot friendly waves and casual greetings were replaced with open stares and awkward bows. Even when ponies did greet her they were overly formal, calling her 'your highness' and talking about how it was 'an honor to meet her.' When they first departed the train she was nervous about seeing her parents, now she could hardly wait. Her mood wasn't improved by the fact that even with sleeping on the train she was still exhausted. This was exactly why she hated waiting for the last minute to prepare.
She looked at Fluttershy, who smiled. Even in the snow that smile warmed her heart. Spike was riding on her back. He had decided that if he attempted to hitch a ride with Twilight in her current mood he'd just wind up face first in the snow. He was probably right. Of the three of them he was the only one in the holiday spirit, even waving at the slack jawed onlookers. He chattered most of the trip, telling Fluttershy all about their family. While Twilight tuned most of it out she did find it cute how excited he was. For him this was just a holiday family reunion. Hopefully his excitement would help put Fluttershy's mind at rest. Twilight knew she was more nervous than she let on.
"...and wait until you try dad's peach cobbler! He makes it every year and it's the best!"
"Well, this is the street." Twilight announced as they rounded the last corner. She was amazed at how familiar everything felt. "That's the house right over there."
"Oh." Fluttershy stopped, her eyes going wide at what Twilight had called a house, but was really more of a manor. "It's so, uhm… big."
After glancing around to make sure the coast was clear of nosey neighbors Twilight pulled her marefriend into a hug. "It'll be fine Shy."
"It's just, uhm. They must be very important." Fluttershy said.
"You mean snobby." Twilight smiled. "Trust me, they're not. Yes, they're a little on the fancy side, but they're regular ponies."
"They're not regular ponies." Spike said, jumping down to properly talk to Fluttershy. "They're the best ponies. And seriously, they're gonna love you. They'd be happy just because you make Twilight happy, but besides that you're, well, you. What kind of parent doesn't want somepony like you dating their daughter?"
Fluttershy picked up the little dragon and hugged him. "Oh thank you, Spike. You're right, both of you." Setting him down she looked back at the house. "And it is a lovely house, really."
Twilight couldn't believe Spike was growing so mature. When did this happen? "Keep talking like that and pretty soon Rarity won't be able to resist you."
"Really?" Spike said. "I mean, yeah, but who could blame her?" He slicked back his spines and did his best to look suave, causing both mares to giggle.
They continued to walk up to the house but were stopped before they could reach it. "I knew I heard voices out here." A moss green unicorn approached them from the house next door. "Why if it isn't little Twilight Sparkle. Well, you're not so little anymore, but I'll always remember the adorable little filly. And Spike, oh it's been ages, how are you?"
"Hello Ms. Ivy Jewel." Twilight answered. She smiled and glanced at Spike who raised an eyebrow skeptically. "We're doing well, thank you. How are you doing these days?" 'You old bat' she added in her head. Ivy Jewel had been nothing but trouble for her growing up, and had been known on occasion to voice her opinion against a dragon being raised by ponies. She was not fond of foals, and it seemed that always included Twilight no matter how old she was. That is, until Twilight was crowned and she changed her tone completely.
"Oh you know dear, I'm not getting any younger and this weather doesn't agree with me." Even as she said it she flipped her orange mane back, accentuating her beauty, which Twilight always assumed was more than a little magically augmented. "But enough about me, I don't believe I've met your friend here."
Fluttershy covered one eye with her mane and Twilight chose her words carefully. "This is Fluttershy, she's a friend of mine from Ponyville." Hopefully that would keep her off her rant about Twilight moving back to a proper city fit for her title, like say Canterlot, and settle down, and oh did she mention her son was single? "Fluttershy, this is Ivy Jewel, she was my neighbor back when I lived here." If Ivy caught the subtle jab that that was the extent of their relationship she didn't show it.
"Uhm, pleased to meet you." Fluttershy said.
"Oh, yes, likewise." Twilight noticed something in her look that wasn't entirely friendly. "Well, I won't keep you, I'm sure you're anxious to get out of this dreadful weather. But Twilight, do stop by and catch up while you're in town. I just know Silver Spark would love to see you too."
Twilight couldn't help but notice the invitation was only extended to her. "That sounds lovely." she lied. "I'll try and make some time, unfortunately this isn't purely a social visit. Princess Celestia requested my presence as well concerning a sensitive matter." She had no idea what Celestia wanted, and would not be at all surprised to find it was for nothing more than to catch up over tea, but she hoped leaving Ivy out of the loop would get under her skin. "Work never stops, you know how it is." She didn't. Ivy had been born into money and married into more of it. She had never actually worked a day in her life, as far as Twilight knew.
"Oh I certainly do." Ivy placed a hoof on her brow dramatically. "Enjoy yourselves while you can then. Say hello to your parents for me."
As they walked away Fluttershy gave Twilight a sideways glance. While she would have loved to explain her disdain for her former neighbor, the hag was still within earshot so Twilight just rolled her eyes.
When they reached the door they paused for a moment and Twilight smiled at Fluttershy, which she nervously returned. Twilight knocked on the door.
To Twilight's surprise it was Shining Armor who answered, wearing a blue Hearth's Warming sweater. "Twily! Spike!" He said, hugging them each in turn. "Hey Fluttershy." He added, extending a hoof to bump hers.
"Shining? It's good to see you, but I thought you wouldn't be here until Hearth's Warming." Twilight said.
"Well that was the plan, but we managed to clear up enough time to come a few days early. Cadance has been working so hard to get this vacation together." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Truth is there was kind of an incident. Everypony's okay, but she's kind of rattled. It involved a changeling."
"What!?" Twilight exclaimed before throwing a hoof over her mouth.
Shining Armor glanced inside before stepping out and shutting the door. "Like I said, everypony's fine. It was just one, no sign of Chrysalis or the hive, and the pony it was impersonating was found unharmed. We don't know what it was doing, but we doubt they'd try a full scale assault on the Crystal Empire, not after how the wedding worked out for them. All the same, Cadance has been on edge since it was discovered. I think being here will be a big help though."
Twilight nodded. "You know if there's anything at all we can do, please let us know."
"Thanks Twily. Right now we're still investigating, but I'll keep you updated. Oh, and there's one more thing I should warn you about." He smirked. "Somehow mom got it in her head that your mysterious guest was gonna be a coltfriend. Be prepared for an interrogation."
Spike snickered and Fluttershy blushed. "Trust me, I am." Twilight said. Shining didn't even notice everypony's reactions.
"Well, let's quit standing in the snow then." He opened the door and led the way inside.
As they entered the room Twilight felt herself thaw out. Foalhood memories washed over her as she took in the sites, everything just as she remembered. The normally classy decor was broken up with strands of colorful lights, tinsel, and wreaths. The fireplace crackled as Cadance and Twilight's parents sat around it, talking cheerfully. Everypony was wearing sweaters similar to Shining Armor's.
Cadance was the first to notice they had finally come inside. "Twilight, Spike! And Fluttershy, so good to see you again." As everypony came over for greetings and hugs Night Light looked visibly relieved that Cadance had reminded them Fluttershy's name. They hadn't seen her since Twilight's coronation, after all.
Once greetings were done everypony returned to the fire. Night Light pulled up three more chairs while Twilight Velvet offered cider. Fluttershy tried to politely decline but Twilight rolled her eyes and insisted they would both like some.
"Fluttershy, it's a pleasure to have you here." Twilight Velvet said once all the guests were taken care of. "We never get to see enough of Twilight's friends."
"You know she never did get along with fillies her own age." Night Light said. "She'd only ever play with her brothers or Shining's friends, playing that, what was it? Dungeons something?"
"Oubliettes and Ogres." Shining and Twilight answered together, him with a grin and her with an eyeroll.
"Yeah, that. Well, I'm just glad she finally opened up to other ponies."
"Although, you could bring a stallion home sometime." Twilight Velvet said, broaching the topic in record time. "A beautiful mare like you must have tons of suitors."
"Told you." Shining shrugged.
"Uhm, well…" Twilight began.
"Oh, I know." Twilight Velvet waved a hoof. "In your own time, dear. I'm sure you're far too busy these days to even think about love."
Twilight looked at Fluttershy who nodded encouragingly, but before she could fortify her will Cadance spoke up. "Oh, I don't know. Something tells me it's been on her mind a lot lately."
Twilight blushed furiously as all eyes fell on her. "Really?" Twilight Velvet asked, leaning forward in her chair.
Taking a deep breath Twilight addressed the room. "Mom, dad, everypony." She took Fluttershy's hoof in her own. Twilight couldn't believe she wasn't hiding in her mane when that's exactly what Twilight wished she herself was doing. "The reason I asked Fluttershy to come here with me is because, well, she's my marefriend."
Cadance reacted first, clapping her hooves. Shining Armor looked confused, seemingly slow to realize she meant marefriend romantically and not a mare who was her friend. Twilight Velvet's mouth fell open but she only took a moment to collect herself and join in with the clapping. Night Light looked surprised, but was smiling nonetheless. When they first came in he had elected to just give Fluttershy a friendly hoof bump, now he walked over give her a hug instead. "Welcome to the family."
Twilight and Fluttershy beamed as everypony offered their congratulations.
"Ooh! I'll go get the camera! We need pictures." Night Light said, running up stairs.
"That reminds me, I have something for you two." Twilight Velvet followed after him.
Shining Armor approached the young couple. "You know, normally as B.B.B.F.F. it's my duty to warn you not to break my little sister's heart, but I think we can trust the Element of Kindness on this one." He gave Fluttershy a hug and checked that their parents were out of earshot. "So something tells me that somepony here has known for a while now." He looked at Cadance who didn't even try to deny it.
"Twilight wanted advice and I am sort of an expert." she said. "What gave me away?"
"All the letters you two were writing, not to mention the squeals of joy."
"I do not squeal." Cadance crossed her forelegs.
Shining grinned at Twilight. "After every letter. Just don't let mom know you told Cadance before her or she'll freak out."
"Do you think I'm crazy?" Twilight asked. "We'd never hear the end of it."
Cadance came over and pulled the two of them into a group hug. "I'm so happy for both of you. But remember relationships are never easy. If either of you ever need advice please let me know. That goes for you too, Fluttershy." Fluttershy nodded.
"Actually, there is something." Twilight said. "Fluttershy doesn't believe me about the cuddles."
"What?" Cadance's face fell. "Fluttershy, cuddles are the most important part of being a princess."
Fluttershy looked between the two princesses, who both looked deathly serious. Turning to Shining Armor didn't help either. "Consider yourself lucky." he said. "Friendship probably isn't as needy as love."
"I'm not needy." Cadance insisted.
"You're cuddling me right now!" Shining Armor gestured to her forelegs which were wrapped around him.
Fluttershy shook her head and gave up on trying to figure out if they were serious. She leaned her head on Twilight's shoulder. "Everypony's so nice, I can't believe how nervous I was. Your family's the best, Twi."
Twilight kissed her on the head while Cadance failed to contain her squeal of joy. As Twilight and Fluttershy blushed a flash went off near them. Twilight was surprised to see Night Light wasn't pointing the camera at her and Fluttershy, but at Cadance.
"How long have you been waiting to take that picture?" Cadance asked.
"Pff years." Night Light said. "You always gush over ponies in love and now you can't deny it."
"Hmmph." Cadance crossed her forelegs. "It's not my fault they're so adorable." she grumbled. Shining put a foreleg around her to comfort her, but Cadance was having none of it. Fluttershy giggled.
"Seriously though. Don't tell your mother Cadance already knew." Night Light said, winding the camera. "Now, smile."
By the time Twilight Velvet returned everypony was blinking away spots from their vision. "Fluttershy, I have something to show you."
'Oh no.' Twilight thought. 'Please don't be the photo album...'
"The family photo album!"
Twilight, Shining, and Spike exchanged miserable looks while Cadance, Fluttershy, and Night Light crowded around Twilight Velvet and the book.
"Aww, Twi, you were so adorable!" Fluttershy exclaimed. Twilight threw her hooves over her face as she tried not to imagine which embarrassing photo she was looking at.
"And Shiny, you were… kinda a dork." Cadance teased.
"Hey!"
"Fine. You were a cute dork."
Spike was the first of the siblings to give up on the protest. "Check out that good looking guy." he said, after he had climbed atop Twilight Velvet's shoulders. "Looking good even as a hatchling."
Somewhat reluctantly Twilight made her way over to the book, soon followed by Shining. Before too long they forgot they were supposed to be miserable and everypony was enjoying reliving and sharing old memories, laughing at their siblings and occasionally themselves.
"Oh I remember that!"
"Woah, look at those braces, yikes."
"Oh, is that when Cadance was your foal sitter?"
"Aww that one's so cute!"
"Burn it. Burn it now."
"I think this one's my favorite. Or maybe that one."
It seemed almost too soon that the pictures came to a stop, with plenty of pages still to go. "Time for a new group photo?" Night Light asked.
"Not quite" Twilight Velvet said. She pulled out three boxes she had set aside and handed one each to Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy.
Spike tore into his immediately. "Already? But Hearth's Warming isn't for two more days." Fluttershy said.
"Oh, this is just a little something. Family tradition." Twilight Velvet said.
Twilight, already knowing what was inside, opened her box. Sure enough, inside her box was a red Hearth's Warming sweater. She pulled it on and saw Spike was already wearing his, a blue one, which looked similar to Shining Armor's.
"Looking good there Spike." Shining said, pointing his hooves at the dragon.
"You know it!" Spike said, pointing back to Shining.
Fluttershy, finally convinced it was okay to open her present, pulled out a green sweater. "Oh my, it's lovely, thank you."
"You're welcome, dear. I may need to make some adjustments though, I did make it with a stallion in mind after all." Twilight Velvet sat next to Fluttershy and levitated over her knitting supplies. "Hmm, it doesn't actually look too bad. Thankfully Spike was a big help."
"Ah, it was nothing." Spike said. "All I really did was ask Rarity about the size."
"Well, Twilight certainly wasn't giving me anything to go on." Twilight Velvet said.
Twilight looked at the ground guiltily. She felt silly now for how long it had taken her to work up the courage to tell her parents about Fluttershy.
Glancing at the clock Night Light said "I think I'll go start on dinner."
"I'll help!" Spike ran after Night Light. "Can we make some of new dishes I've been working on?"
"Of course we can!" Night Light said as they disappeared into the kitchen.
"Did you make all these yourself?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yup. I never really did like knitting, but I've gotten used to it over the years."
"Oh, I hope I'm not being a bother. You really don't have to worry about adjusting it." Fluttershy said. "I usually wear Twilight's and those are a little big for me anyway."
Twilight Velvet chuckled. "I'm glad somepony does." she said. "I'm lucky if I can get Twilight to wear hers all through Hearth's Warming."
"Hey, I do too wear them." Twilight crossed her forelegs. "Alicorns just don't get as cold as unicorns."
"Cadance wears hers" Twilight Velvet pointed out.
"Twi, even aunt Celestia still wears hers." Cadance said.
"Spike's been wearing them for weeks, and he's a dragon." Fluttershy added.
Twilight looked around the room eyes falling on the one pony who hadn't sided against her. "Hey don't look at me." Shining said. "I'm wearing mine. Besides, you never wore them when you were a unicorn."
Twilight let her eyes fall to the floor again. "...but it's itchy."
"Oh it's not that bad." Twilight Velvet insisted. "Besides, it's only once a year, and it's a tradition. One I hope you'll continue on as well."
There were a number of things wrong with that. One was that Twilight hated knitting. Two was that she was bad at it. Three was that without a stallion it was pretty unlikely she'd ever have foals. Four was that she really hated knitting. Still, she knew that pointing this out would only make her mom sad, not to mention she would never force Twilight into keeping the tradition if she didn't want to, so Twilight kept her mouth closed.
"Oh, I love knitting!" Fluttershy said, noticing Twilight's reluctance. "I'd be happy to keep up the tradition." Catching what she had implied Fluttershy began stammering. "Oh, I mean if, well.. not that we'll definitely be, uhm…" she trailed off as Twilight Velvet wrapped a foreleg around her shoulder.
"That would be lovely." she said. "Such a sweet mare, it's no wonder Twilight fell for you." Fluttershy and Twilight both turned red. "Now, I want to hear the whole story. How did you two get together?"
Twilight told the story with occasional input from Fluttershy. She omitted the parts where she wrote to Cadance for advice and argued with Rainbow Dash, as well as downplaying Applejack's reaction, but otherwise told the full story. When she was done she was surprised to find her mom giving her a dirty look.
"Seven months? You waited seven months to tell me about this? all those letters, and not so much as 'hey mom, I have a marefriend now?'"
"I'm sorry, it's just… hard to talk about."
"Twilight, how could you even think we'd have a problem with it? We always taught you to never judge other ponies, especially for something like whom they decide to love. And all those years of letting me prattle on about finding a coltfriend."
"But that's why I was scared to tell you!" Twilight retorted more forcefully than she had intended. Fluttershy looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in between the two of them, while Twilight Velvet just frowned and waited for Twilight to explain. Cadance mimed her deep breath technique, which Twilight mimicked before continuing in a calmer tone. "Of course I know that you don't have any problem with gay ponies, but it felt like it was different for me because I'm your daughter. All those years in every letter and conversation of how I should find a coltfriend, settle down, and raise foals. I felt like you had this whole life planned for me and I was terrified I'd be letting you down."
"Oh Twily." While Twilight had been confessing her fears to the floor her mom had moved to stand next to her. "Don't ever think I could be anything but proud of you. And I'm sorry, I never meant to put so much pressure on you. I just want you to be happy."
As the mother and daughter embraced there was another flash. Shining Armor held up the camera. "Well, dad can't be here to get all the cheesy family moments." Both Twilights threw pillows at him as he ducked behind the couch.
Twilight Velvet returned to Fluttershy's sweater. "You're so much like me you know. I was afraid if I didn't push you to look for somepony you'd never do it yourself. We can't always count on somepony like Night Light to stick around like a lovestruck foal."
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, Twilight wasn't the only one to have difficulty with other ponies. When I was younger all I wanted to do was write. I thought I couldn't worry about silly things like love, I wanted to see my name in print. Then when I did get published it was on to the next book." Twilight Velvet said. Cadance levitated over a picture of a much younger Twilight Velvet triumphantly holding a book with her name on it.
"So while I was writing my fourth novel I found I needed to know more about how the stars effect magic. Of course I went to the library, but it's a very complicated field and I never did have Twilight's enthusiasm for non-fiction. So I decided to get the answers from somepony directly. I arranged a meeting with the most renowned astronomer of the day. Then he cancelled at the last minute and I got stuck with his assistant instead." Cadance replaced the picture with one of Night Light standing in front of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. He was in a jacket and tie which set him aside from the students, though he hardly seemed much older than them.
"Night Light was, of course, the perfect gentlecolt. He was very helpful and patient with every question I had. As I wrote my way through the book we met up several times and he'd occasionally make house calls just to see if he could help in anyway. Young and naive as I was I honestly thought he was just overly helpful. Eventually I finished the book, thanked him for his help, and promised him a place in the acknowledgements. I thought that would be the end of our relationship but on the day I handed the final draft in to the publisher he asked me out on a date."
"Aww, that's so sweet." Fluttershy said.
"Yup." Night Light said, entering the room with Spike. They were in matching flower aprons. "And she said, 'well I thank you for everything you've done the only romance I have time for is in between the pages of a book.'"
Fluttershy was surprised. "You turned him down?"
"Yes, but he was persistent. Once the book came out I was doing a signing and he showed up early. He said he just wanted to help set up and make sure everything went smoothly, but as everypony left he stuck around. He waited there at the bookstore with me until the sun was going down, then he pulled out his own copy. At first I thought he had just felt awkward to ask a pony he already knew for an autograph, but when he handed it to me I noticed there was a letter in it as a bookmark. When I opened the page, sure enough, it was a love letter and he had highlighted one of the passages."
Cadance replaced the picture with a book. "It's on page eighty-six."
Flipping to the page Fluttershy read outloud. "'I only have one chance to do this, he thought to himself. He couldn't imagine what would happen if he failed. But as the sun faded and the first stars appeared, his gaze turned to the sky. As he watched the twilight sparkle he knew this was meant to be, and everything would work out.'"
Twilight Velvet and Night Light looked into each other's eyes. "And it certainly did." he said.
"That's the sweetest story I've ever heard." Fluttershy said. As she reached for Twilight's hooves Twilight instead threw them around her, pulling the surprised pegasus into a tight hug.
Twilight had kind of always thought the story was silly. The stallion in the book wasn't even talking about love, he was trying to save Baltimare, and her dad had only chosen it because it used the word 'twilight'. But for the first time she understood how her dad must have had felt chasing after the mare of his dreams, even when it felt like a long shot. "I love you, Shy."
"I love you too, Twi." Fluttershy said, blushing.
Spike looked at Shining Armor and Cadance. "Don't you two start." he said.
"Nah, I was just thinking those stories lacked action." Shining Armor said. "I had to stand up to an obnoxious bully to win over Cadance."
Twilight laughed, which turned into a yawn. "Hey, I know you already heard the story, but that's a bit much." Shining protested.
"Sorry." Twilight said. "It's just that we didn't really sleep much last night."
"Dinner won't be ready for a few more hours. Why don't you two take a nap and I'll wake you up in a bit." Night Light suggested.
"That sounds nice." Fluttershy said. Twilight just yawned again.
"Before you go, try this on." Twilight Velvet handed Fluttershy her sweater.
Slipping it on Fluttershy smiled. "It's perfect, thank you so much!"
"I'm glad you like it. Now go get some rest."
Twilight led the way to their room. "Is this your old bedroom?" Fluttershy asked.
"What gave it away?" Twilight asked jokingly. There were still posters of Starswirl the Bearded, Clover the Clever, and other great magic pioneers, as well as a few smaller ones of Daring Do and a framed picture of A. K. Yearling signed 'To my #1 fan, Twilight Sparkle.'
"Just a hunch." Fluttershy giggled.
They turned off the lights and layed down on the bed. "Sorry my family's a little crazy." Twilight said. "Hope it's not too much."
"Please don't apologize." Fluttershy said. "They're perfect. I wish I had a family like yours. Everypony loves each other so much, even when they disagree."
Fluttershy didn't like to talk about her family. All Twilight knew was that her parents died before she came to Ponyville and Rainbow Dash was all that she had left. "You heard my dad." Twilight said, hoping she wasn't crossing a line. "You're part of the family now."
In the dark it was hard to tell what Fluttershy's reaction was, but when she latched on to Twilight as she shimmied under the blankets, Twilight thought she had a pretty good idea. "Thank you so much Twily. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Twilight smirked "Well, you wouldn't be stuck sharing a bed meant for one pony in an itchy sweater."
"That just means that we'll have to snuggle extra close. And I love the sweater. She still makes them even though she doesn't like knitting, it just shows how much love is in them."
"Yeah. You're right." Twilight murmured, already half asleep. The last thing she was aware of was Fluttershy stroking her mane as she drifted into sleep.