Chance

by NotRamjet97

Rating: everyone
Tags: Night Light, Other, Romance, Twilight Velvet, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 5216

It seems simple, one pony saves another from a mugger, but it later produces one of the greatest heroines of Equestria... (also published on fanfiction.net)

This is the story of how Nightlight met his future-wife Twilight Velvet, the couple which later had two very important ponies in Equestria.

Published 2013-05-10 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-25 00:41:52 UTC

Main story

I should point out, i did this story on '750 words' and so the chapters may not align that well.

"G'night Nightlight!" Nightlight's friend Comet Tail called. "Good night!" Nightlight called back.

The light blue, twenty-something unicorn stallion was sitting in the Canterlot royal library, the very one that Princess Celestia visited herself! But since Nightlight was Celestia's prize student, she allowed him to visit. 'Now, where is that book on time travel?' He thought to himself. He was normally a very diligent student, always trying to do his best. He didn't have a lot of friends, mainly because he was too engrossed in his studies to make friends with anypony. Another reason could be that he didn't feel he needed friends. Starswirl the Bearded didn't, why should he? After about five more hours of study (which totaled eighteen total, for the day.), he finally decided he had better head home. He flipped the light off, made sure everything was as he left it, and set off for home...

In the streets of Canterlot... Nightlight soon came to the door of his apartment building, it was a nice place, partially funded by the Princess so that Nightlight could focus more on his studies (even though Celestia thought he spent WAY too much time studying). He opened the flap on his saddlebags and, after shuffling though some books, finally found the key. He was just about to open the door when he heard somepony scream, really close, causing a shiver to go through his spine. 'That's odd.' He thought, he hadn't heard anypony in Canterlot scream like that before. Curiosity getting the better of him, he let his saddlebags slide off him, he then trotted down the steps and looked down the alley right of his apartment: Just the trash can. Maybe he was- suddenly there was a large CRASH! He whirled around: Still the trash can. He crept slowly over to the left of his apartment, and what he saw horrified him: There, standing on his hind legs was a large stallion pressing against another pony. The other pony, no more than a filly, was gasping for air from the pressure the stallion exerted on her. "Give it up if you don't want some serious pain!"

"N-no!" The filly screamed. The stallion pulled his right foreleg back, about to punch the stuffing out of the filly. Nightlight stared in horror, and realized he had to do something. For some stupid reason, he rushed at the stallion at full force and somehow managed to knock him down, releasing his grip on the filly. The filly scampered off to the front of the apartment building and watched the scene unfold. The stallion quickly got to his hooves and lunged at Nightlight, but unfortunately for him, Nightlight was superb at magic. He instantly used a teleportation spell and disappeared then reappeared behind the stallion. Before the stallion could react to the disappearance, Nightlight used his magic and and launched the stallion into next week, also known as the trash can across the street. Nightlight saw the young mare and rushed to her, "Upstairs! I'm not sure how long he'll stay there!" The filly paused, then nodded her head. Nightlight grabbed the keys from his fallen saddlebag and shoved it in the- what the?! Why didn't it go in?! Nightlight soon discovered it was the wrong key and frantically flipped through and finally found the correct key. he shoved it in the lock with his magic and this time it went in! He turned it and bolted up the stairs with the filly in tow.

"I'll kill you!" The stallion shouted.

The sudden shout nearly made Nightlight stumble on one of the stairs. He regained his balance and continued going up, hearing the hoofsteps of the filly close by. Soon he reached his apartment and realized: "The key!" Nightlight frantically looked around, he couldn't go downstairs, that stallion would kill him, suddenly he remembered the teleportation spell. His horn glowed a red hue and instantly the two ponies were teleported in to the apartment. "Come out, come out, where ever you are!" The mugger shouted, "I know you're here somewhere!"

Nightlight kept the light off, so that the mugger couldn't see where they were. Soon the stallion began kicking the doors, an occasional shout erupting afterward. Sweat began to pour down Nightlight's forehead, his breathing heavy. He could hear the filly occasionally give out a small whimper, her breath heavy as well, but she was farther back in the room so the mugger couldn't hear. Soon the loudest door kicking came, and it sounded like it came from next door!

"What's the meaning of this?!" A male voice boomed. Nightlight smiled, 'Oh boy, that dude's in trouble.' The male's voice was Nightlight's landlord, who was a retired guard for Celestia, he was even her personal guard at one point! "Where's that little punk?!" The mugger asked.

"Punk? The only punk I see is you, go take a hike." The landlord sternly commanded.

"Outta my way old timer, I've got a score to settle."

"Alright, you leave me no choice..." After a few hard sounding hit there was finally a loud THUD! but Nightlight wasn't sure who had one! Had the mugger won? Or- "You alright Nightlight?" Nightlight and the filly breathed a sigh of relief, and soon Nightlight opened the door. "Thanks, Mr. Roadblock."

"Sure, man, though, you don't seem the type to be gettin' involved in something like that."

"Well... I saw a filly gettin' beat up and I guess I sorta saved her."

"Oh,"

The young mare walked over to Nightlight and weakly told him, "Thank you, so much."

"Aw..." Nightlight blushed, "It was nothing."

"No, it wasn't, you risked your life to save me, I really appreciate it."

"Well, you're welcome."

"Do you need somepony to take ya home?" Roadblock asked. The mare turned her head away from the stallions,

"I-I don't have a home, I left my parents to come here."

"Oh," Nightlight understood, "I- didn't realize."

"I-it's Okay, it was just a stupid foal mistake." Tears began to fill her eyes.

"Well, I'd better leave you two alone." Roadblock told the young ponies. Nightlight flipped the light (he he) on and closed the door. He then turned his attention to his guest. She was a unicorn, and appeared to be about seventeen or eighteen, she had a white coat, and a pink mane.

"T-thank you for your help," The unicorn told Nightlight, "I guess I had better get going."

"Oh, alright, but, do you think I could ask you your name?"

"I'm Twilight Velvet."

"Oh, that's a pretty name."

Twilight Velvet blushed, "Thank you, and your name is Nightlight?"

Said stallion smiled, "Yeah, my great-grandfather was called 'Nightlight' and my parents thought it was a good idea."

"Well, I think it's nice. 'Twilight' is an old family name, my grandma was named 'Twilight' and my mother was 'Twilight Star'."

"Oh, I see." In reality Nightlight was trying to stall Twilight from leaving as long as possible, mainly because he wasn't sure if somepony else might come after her. Then he noticed something, "That's a beautiful necklace." He said. And indeed it was; it was made of silver, and in the center was a purple diamond in the shape of six-pointed star, with the top and bottom points extended farther then the rest.

"Thank you, my grandma gave it to my mom, and my mom gave it to me," Twilight sighed before continuing, "Before she died."

"Oh," Nightlight dug his hoof into the ground, "I'm so sorry."

"I miss her," A tear began to streak down Twilight's cheek. "I-I'm sorry," Nightlight told the mare, though mentally kicking himself for bringing up something that seemed to affect the pony deeply. "It's Okay, that's one reason I came to Canterlot, I was hoping to get away from all the bad memories Ponyville had."

"Really? So, what was the other reason?"

"W-well... Promise me you won't laugh?"

"I promise."

"Well, ever since I was a little filly I wanted to be a singer, and I thought 'if I can make it in Canterlot, I can make it anywhere'. Though let me tell you it ain't easy, I've been trying to see somepony to audition me but I can't find anypony. I meet with another pony tomorrow, I just hope I didn't wear my voice out doing all that screaming."

"I see, do you think, maybe I could hear some?" Nightlight asked hopefully.

"Do you really want to?"

"Yes, though I need to warn you that I'm not the best pony when it comes to judging songs."

"Okay, well..." Twilight cleared her throat, and began to sing. The song is very hard to describe by human standards, someponies couldn't even tell you what it meant, but Nightlight did. It was an ancient unicorn song that was sung during the Fall Festivals. Only one unicorn would be chosen each year to sing it. It was considered to be a song of thanksgiving, for what had been received and what was to come. Nightlight had never heard a unicorn who could sing the song as well as this young mare had. After what felt like only moments to Nightlight, the song ended. "That was beautiful." He told her.

"Thank you, my mom taught it to me when I was little, and she used to sing to me before I went to sleep." Twilight looked over at the clock and saw that it was past two o'clock in the morning, "I had better get going, can't be falling half asleep while singing tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right, would you like me to take you?"

"Nah, it's close by."

"So where do you live?"

"I live near the park." Nightlight gave her a puzzled look.

"Well, it's more like I live in the park." Nightlight was alarmed, he couldn't let her sleep in the park! Much less live there, he had to think of something, then an idea came! It was a bit risky, but he was sure Princess Celestia wouldn't mind, not to mention that he had heard a rumor... "Twilight, would you mind sleeping here for the night? I think I have somepony that might be willing to help you."

"Nah, that's real nice of you but I couldn't, you've done so much for me and-"

"I insist, what kind of gentlemen would I be if I turned away my guest?"

Twilight smiled and caved, "Alright, I'll sleep on the couch."

"And sneak away while I'm asleep in my room? Not a chance, you sleep in my room and I'll sleep on the couch."

"But-"

"The bathroom's down the hall on the left, goodnight." Nightlight told Twilight before teleporting a blanket and pillows on the couch. "But, I don't mind the couch, really, this is your place and-" "You're my guest, which means you sleep in my room." "Ugh! Fine, but- Uh-oh."

"What's wrong?" Nightlight asked Twilight.

"I think I left my stuff in the park, darn it!"

"Look," Nightlight began, "I'll get it, I don't want you leaving here and who-knows-what happening to you,"

"But-"

"No buts," Nightlight walked over to the door and opened it, "Now, what does it look like?"

"Oh, it's lavender and, heavy." Twilight nervously giggled.

Nightlight was about to leave when the mare's words made him curious, "Lavender?"

"Yyeeahh..."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to say purple?"

"No, because lavender is not purple, purple is much darker. Lavender is more pinkish, and my favorite color."

"Whatever, I'll be back shortly, just please don't leave?"

"Okay," Twilight smiled, "Ya know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on me."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I doubt it. But, if it makes you feel any better, I doubt I'd fall in love with anypony."

"Suuurre." Twilight winked at him and walked off towards the bathroom, Nightlight then closed the door and headed out for the park. Nightlight chuckled, him? In love? not gonna happen, he was to busy with his studies to be in love.

The park... Nightlight wasn't normally one to get scared easily, but he had to admit, the park definitely looked creepier in the night. He looked around for the bench, soon he found one and rushed towards it. Nothing. He looked off behind him and saw that the farthest one away from him had something underneath it, could it be? Nightlight rushed towards the bench and pulled the bag out. It was purple, or lavender, never mind. It was the right bag and Nightlight happily threw it on his back. "Oaf!" And was nearly crushed under it's weight. 'This is going to be a long walk.' Nightlight thought to himself.

Back at his apartment... Nightlight stumbled into the living room, out of breath. He slipped the bag off his back and stumbled onto the couch. He looked around for Twilight but didn't hear her, he soon heard the sound of water rushing through pipes and deduced that she was taking a shower.

After a few minutes the bathroom door opened with a slightly damp Twilight emerging. "Hay, I hope you don't mind that I took a shower, figured I musta stunk after sleeping in the park."

"I don't mind, and yes, you did stink."

Twilight playfully punched Nightlight.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"Never, EVER, tell a lady she stinks."

"But you just admited that you stank."

"I know, but you still should never tell that to a lady." Twilight sat down next to Nightlight and put her foreleg on the back of the couch, "So... what does I pony like you do for fun?"

"Well, I enjoy learning magic from Princess Celestia, and I-"

"Wait, you're a student of Princess Celestia?"

"Yes..."

"W-wow," Twilight began to scratch the back of her head, "I-I'm sorry for making fun of you, I-"

"I appreciate the apology, but it's alright, I forgive you."

"Oh," Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, "Whew! I was worried you'd have me hung or something."

"Oh, no, just made my slave." Nightlight teased, to which Twilight answered with another light punch. "So, tell me more about yourself Nightlight, besides being Celestia's student."

"Well..." Nightlight began telling her about his studies, some of the highlights of his life (the highest being an moment he had when he was looking out the window in the tallest room in the castle, last Tuesday) and his parents and how he became Celestia's star student.

"Neat," Twilight yawned "A bit boring-"

"Boring?!"

"Well, yeah, seriously, you've never done anything exciting?"

"I just told you I was in the tallest room in the castle-"

"Well, yeah, and you did save my life,, but seriously, that's pretty much it. You need to live a little, man."

"Maybe..." Nightlight thought about that for a few moments, then looked at the clock, "You had better get on to bed, it's late."

"Late?" Twilight looked at the clock, "Oh my gosh! You're right, Oh well. So where do you keep the sheets for the couch?"

"I thought I went over this, you're sleeping in my bed."

"No, it's fine I can-"

"No buts, you're sleeping in my bed and that's final, goodnight Twilight Velvet." Twilight gave him a half-smile, and nodded, "Good night Nightlight, and, thanks."

"Sure," Twilight gave him a full smile, and then walked to his/ tonight her room. Nightlight sat on the couch a few more moments after Twilight had turned out her light, something was eating at him. When he had first rescued Twilight he hadn't thought to much about her, but after spending a few hours together he felt odd, something he had never felt before. He had actually ENJOYED talking with her. He had never really enjoyed talking with anypony other than Twilight Sky, 'Hmm, I wonder if they're related...' Shrugging all of his thoughts off, he went to the hall closet and put a sheet on the couch with his magic. He then lay on the sheet and put a blanket over him, soon drifting off to sleep...

The next morning when he awoke, he glanced at the clock, it read 8:45. 8:45?! He was late 15 minutes late! Nightlight bolted out of bed and rushed into the bathroom, he grabbed his toothbrush, squeezed out as much toothpaste as he could (which was insanely difficult because it was low), put it on the toothbrush, and brushed his teeth. He then grabbed his brush and attempted to get rid of his bed head, more like a FAILED attempt. He finally gave up and bolted out the door to get to the castle.

At the castle... Nightlight swung open the doors, seeing his mentor instantly struck fear into him, she then turned to him! "Good morning, Nightlight, how are you?" "I-I'm sorry I'm late Princess, I was helping a young mare who was being beaten up by a mugger next to my apartment last night and I let her stay at my house and I slept late and I'm really really sorry." "Oh," Celestia smiled, "It's fine, and it sounds like it was for a worthwhile cause." "P-Princess?" "You put another pony's safety ahead of you're own, that's worthwhile cause, don't you think?" "W-well..." "Besides, I think you've been deserving a day off." "Really?" "Of course."

"Then, thank you." Nightlight was about to leave when he remembered something important, "Princess? May I discuss something with you?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"Well, the mare I assisted is homeless, and she has an aspiration to sing. And since I heard you were looking for another singer in the coir, I figured."
"Let her tryout?"
"Yes,"
"I'll see what I can do." She winked at him.
"Thank you Princess,"

Later...
"I-I don't know, Nightlight, w-what if they don't like me?" Twilight asked.

Nightlight had told Twilight about the tryouts for Celestia's choir, which both excited Twilight, and also scared her to death. "I'm sure you'll do fine," Nightlight smiled as they stood outside the doorway, "You have a beautiful voice."

"Thanks, that helps."

"You're welcome. You're one of the few ponies I've ever wanted to be around, besides, that beautiful voice of yours needs to be heard."

"Stop." Twilight managed to tell him through giggles and her cheeks turning red.

"Don't mention it." Nightlight exhaled, and then asked, "Are you ready?"

"I think so, I'm just a bit nervous."

"You'll do fine, I know you will. Now, be sure to come back to my apartment when you've won, okay?"

"O-okay," Twilight turned to the door, exhaled, and muttered, "Okay, here goes..." Twilight pushed on the door and slowly entered the room. "Good luck, Twilight Velvet." Nightlight wished under his breath, before then leaving for home.

At Nightlight's apartment... The wait was excruciating. When he came back it was a little bit past ten, and now it was almost time for supper. Now, that might sound like a long wait to you, but when you're waiting on something that you have no control over, it takes makes it even worse. Nightlight sighed and got off his couch, he could go to the library, but then, what if Twilight came and he wasn't here. Darn. Nightlight then made his way to the fridge to see if he had anything to eat. He then came upon a package of burritos, 'That's weird,' Nightlight thought, 'I don't even like burritos.' Suddenly Nightlight heard a knock at the door, 'Could it be?' Nightlight rushed over to the door and opened it, and was instantly wrapped in a hug, courtesy of Twilight Velvet, "Oh-oh-Nightlight, y-you, I, she-"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down Twilight," Nightlight put his forelegs on her shoulders, ending the hug (though secretly, he wished he hadn't) "Did you get the part in the choir?"

"Yes! Yes! I did! And Princess Celestia is letting me live in the castle and-" Out of breath, Twilight collapsed on the floor, "Thank you, so much, Nightlight."

"Oh," Nightlight blushed, "You're welcome." Nightlight looked over at the clock and smiled, "I believe this is worthy of celebration, How 'bout we go to that restaurant a few blocks from here, did you see it?"

"You mean that big one? With the funny writing on the sign?"

Nightlight chuckled, "Exactly, I haven't eaten yet and, I assumed you hadn't so..." "

I haven't either, but I don't want you to spend a lot of money just on me, I'd enjoy just regular ol' pizza."

"They have pizza there, they have a bunch of stuff you might like."

"Like?"

"Um, I dunno, but I'm sure there's something."

"Yeah, but it's probably real expensive and-"

"Don't worry, my parents own it and I get a large discount. So," Nightlight smiled "Would you go to dinner with me, Twilight Velvet?" Twilight smiled, "I would love to, Nightlight."

The two unicorns went to the restaurant and had a very nice time. Nightlight's parents were quite astonished that their son had gone to to a restaurant with a beautiful mare, though, Twilight had to explain to Nightlight's parents over lunch how their son had saved her from the mugger, gotten her the job, and let her stay at his house the previous night. Nightlight's cheeks remained red almost the whole time. His parents kept praising him, as did Twilight, (though he had to admit, the praises Twilight gave he liked a bit better, okay, a lot better.) almost the whole time. After they had finished it was time for Nightlight's parents to lock the place up, which made Nightlight and Twilight realize how late it was, and said they had to get back.

"It's nice." Nightlight said. After they had left, Twilight had offered to have Nightlight over for a bit to see her new place in the castle.

"Thanks, but I couldn't have done it without you," Twilight smiled, "Thank you, so much."

"Sure, but you don't have to keep saying 'thank you',"

"I know, but I feel like I should do something..."

"It's fine, seeing you so happy is good enough. But, um,"

"What?"

"Could I come to your first event?" "Oh, Nightlight," Twilight giggled and then, without warning, gave Nightlight a large kiss on the cheek, "Of course you can."

"Thank you,"

"Oh, stop." Twilight smiled, playfully punching Nightlight.

Epilogue

12 years later...

"...And that's how your Mom and I met." Nightlight concluded, sitting in his large chair next to the fireplace.

"Wow!" Nightlight's ten year old son's, a well built colt, a white coat, and a blue mane, mouth agape, "You mean you beat somepony up just to save somepony you didn't even know?"

"Well, I didn't 'beat him up', but I did rescue her, I suppose."

"Well, I'm not sure I want to fall in love, sounds bad for your health."

Nightlight chuckled, "I don't know about that. If your mom and I hadn't met that night we wouldn't have had you, or your baby sister," Nightlight glanced at a clock, "Speaking of which, I think we'd better get going to the hospital, your mom's probably waiting for us."

"Yeah, I guess. Dad? What's it going to be like being a big brother?"

"Oh, I think you'll enjoy it," Nightlight got up from the chair, stretching, "Who knows, you maybe come best friends forever."

"With a girl?" the colt asked, disgusted, "No way!"

"Don't be so sure Shining Armor, I have this feeling that you and Twilight Sparkle will get along just fine."

26 years later... Twilight Velvet stood outside the door to a dressing room in the castle, wondering if she should knock. Anticipation eating at her, she knocked softly. "Come in." The voice of her daughter's voice answered. Twilight Velvet opened the door and saw her daughter looking in the mirror, constantly putting herself in different positions, and rearranging her newly acquired wings. "Hi, sweetheart." Twilight Velvet smiled.

"Hay, Mom," Twilight Sparkle turned and smiled, "Thanks for being here, you don't know how much I appreciate it."

"What kind of mother would I be if I missed my own daughter's coronation?" Tears streaming down her cheeks, the younger Twilight embraced her mother in a hug,

"Mom, I don't know if I can do this, be a princess, what if I mess up? What if I put the whole country in poverty? What if-" The Alicorn paused and turned away, pressing her forehead to the mirror.

"Twily," The elder Twilight put a hoof on her daughter's back, stroking it softly, "I know you can do this, I KNOW you can do this, so does you're dad, Shining, Cadence, and your friends do too. You are going to do so well." Twilight Velvet paused, then reached for something in her saddlebag. She pulled out the necklace, not a necklace, but THE necklace, the one that the mugger had been after that night so long, long ago. "Twily, I want you to have this." The mother used her magic to put it around her daughter's neck. Sniffing, Twilight Sparkle asked, "Is this the necklace that you wore when-?"

"I met your father? Yes, and now it's yours."

"But, Mom, this-"

"Is yours, my great grandma gave it to my grandma, she gave it to your grandma, and she gave it to me, and now I'm giving it to you." The daughter smiled at her mother's gift, "Thank you," She looked in the mirror again, admiring it's beauty...

Later that day... "So you gave Twilight the necklace?" Nightlight asked, whispering, the couple and their daughter riding in there carriage, on the way home.

"Uh-huh, I figured if I was going to give it to her, today would be the day." Twilight Velvet smiled and glanced at their daughter, who was on the bench seat across from them, sleeping like a foal. "I found out something today," Twilight Velvet said, a hint of playfulness in her voice.

"What?"

"Well, I was talking to Cadence earlier, and I noticed that she seemed a bit, sick, sort of slow."

"Is she alright?"

"Well, when I asked her about it, she laughed and told me..." Velvet leaned in and whispered something in Nightlight's ear that made him break out a huge smile, "Really? Does Twilight know?"

"No, but I'm sure they'll tell her over lunch tomorrow." Velvet chuckled and nuzzled Nightlight's neck, "How do you think she'll react?"

"Well, I think she'll take it well, I mean its not every day that you become an aunt."

"Or a grandparent."

"Ugh! Don't say that! We're not that old! Only-"

"-Old." The elderly couple burst into quiet laughter, trying not to wake their daughter. "I love you, Twilight Velvet."

"And I love you too, Nightlight." Nightlight smiled and gave his wife a small kiss at the base of her horn, remembering that night, when they first met...

Will I do a story on Twilight's reaction to being an aunt?

Probably.

Author's Note

Okay, that's my first genuine attempt at romance, (even though there's not much). Hope you liked it!
NRJ97

Epilogue

The recently crowned-Princess, Twilight Sparkle, eyes fluttered open from slumber. She looked around and, at first couldn't figure out where she was, this wasn't her tree home back in Ponyville (which also doubled as a library). After a few minutes it all came back to her: This was her old room, from when she lived with her parents. She saw the shelf which was jam packed full with books from top to bottom. She also saw the dresser which had a few of her possessions on top of it.

Twilight crept out of bed and quickly realized something was different: her wings. She noticed that her feathers were ruffled. 'Now,' She thought to herself, 'What was it Rainbow told me?' She thought for a moment, then remembered: "Give 'em one good flap and that'll do it." 'Okay, boy I hope she wasn't messing with me.' Twilight gave her new pair of wings a good flap and, sure enough, the feathers went back to their original position. 'Whew! Thank you, Rainbow Dash!' The next order of business was to brush her mane, teeth, and get some breakfast.

After she had completed brushing her teeth and mane, Twilight headed downstairs for some breakfast. She saw her parents, older brother Shining, and sister-in-law/former foal sitter Cadence, all either working on breakfast, drinking coffee, or reading the newspaper. "Good morning, Twily!" her big brother greeted. "Good morning, Shining." She embraced her brother in a large hug before sitting in her old place at the table, which was now quite a bit smaller.

"Um, Twily?" Shining asked.

"Yes?" Twilight responded, cheerily.

"You, um, you're sorta, um..."

"What? Do you know what he's talking about dad?"

"W-well, you see, erm."

Seeing her husband and father-in-law struggle, Cadence went over to Twilight and whispered something in her ear, which immediately made the younger Alicorn blush. "Oh, um, whoops! I'll be right back." Twilight slid out of her seat and rushed upstairs.

You see, Twilight had forgotten her royal apparel (shoes, crown, chest-plate etc.), while that wasn't so bad when she was a unicorn, as an Alicorn she was expected to wear her royal garments at all times except for sleep.

When she had returned with her clothing on this time, she saw her family all waiting with food on their plates and waiting on her. "Oh, I'm sorry everypony, I didn't mean to make you all wait, and then when Cadence told me I was, um, well, you know- I didn't think I would-"

"Twily, it's okay, we know it's going to be a huge adjustment for you honey." Twilight's mom told her.

"I know but I'm just holding everypony up and-"

"Twilight, its okay, it's going to be a time of adjustment like your mom said," Cadence assured her sister-in-law, "We understand."

Twilight sighed, and then answered, "Okay, thank you all for being so kind. Without you I probably wouldn't even be a Princess."

"Its okay Twily." Her father grinned, then turning to Shining, "So, are you gonna tell her?"

"I was going to let Cadence do it." Shining said, turning to Cadence.

"Shining, I thought you were gonna tell her."

"But you were her foal sitter."

"You're her brother."

"Can you guys just tell me whatever you're gonna tell me?" Twilight asked, impatiently.

"Well, Cadence and I are..." Shining began.

"-Expecting a little one."

Twilight's jaw dropped, "A-foal? You and-?"

"Yup." Shining confirmed.

"So that makes me an-?"

"Aunt." Cadence smiled.

"Wow! Really? You're not just messing with me?"

"No. We thought you'd be excited."

"Oh! I am! I really, really am! Oh, is it a boy or a girl? A pegasus? Unicorn?"

"We don't know yet, we're sort of wanting it to be a surprise." Shining told her.

"Oh! I don't blame you! If I was going to have my first foal I wouldn't want to know either! I'm not sure I want to know if your foal is, either."

"So this makes us grandparents, now, huh?" Twilight's dad asked.

"Yeah, guess so." Twilight's mom answered. She then stole a look from Nightlight and gave him a smile, he returned the gesture with a little wink.

Who would have thought all this came from a simple act of bravery?