Bookends 2 or Making Dreams Come True

CHAPTER FIVE

A Loving Family

Twilight and Cheerilee decided to have a little fun and went to Mac Donkey’s for a fast food snack.

Cheerilee laughed when Twilight insisted that aside from her regular snack she wanted a foal meal so she could get the toy.  It took some convincing to get Cheerilee to believe that that the toy was for Spike.   Cheerilee so loved Twilight, but she also found joy in having somepony that she could tease.

When they finished, Twilight took Cheerilee to some of her favorite places in the capitol city.  As the afternoon wore on, they found themselves in a comfortable suburb,  Cheerilee realized that they must be near Twilight’s parent’s home.  Twilight noticed that her lover was getting apprehensive.

“What’s bothering you, Sweetheart?” asked Twilight.

“What if your parents don’t like me?” she asked, “are you sure that they’ll be alright with you being with a mare?  I don’t want to be the reason for a fallout with your parents.”

“You’re worried because of how your parents reacted to you?” asked Twilight.

“It feels as if we’ve loved each other all our lives, but we’ve only been together for a short time.  I don’t want to storm in and destroy your relationship with your family when we’ve not been together that long!”

“Relax Darling,” said Twilight, giving Cheerilee a kiss, “You’ve nothing to worry about.  And you don’t have long, we’re here.”

There stood a modest home, not too big, but big enough to have raised two foals in comfort.

Cheerilee followed Twilight to the door.  Twilight opened the door and called out;

“Hello!  Anypony home?”

Cheerilee smiled as Twilight’s mother trotted into the room, except for the coloration, she was an exact copy of Twilight, or the other way around.

The mare saw Twilight and her companion and smiled and called out;

“Night Light! Get your flanks in here!  Twilight’s home!”

Twilight hugged her mother as a blue stallion came in the room.  A large white stallion and a beautiful pink alicorn mare followed.  Cheerilee noticed the tiara, this must be Shining Armor and Princess Cadence.

“Twilie!” said the white stallion.

There were more hugs all around along with an amusing ritual between Cadence and Twilight which involved a rhyme, clapping hooves and shaking their rumps.  It was all Cheerilee could do to not crack up.

“Who’s the knock-out?” asked Twilight’s father.

“Everypony,” said Twilight, putting her foreleg around Cheerilee and pulling her close, “I want you to meet Cheerilee, my marefriend and partner!  She’s the love of my life!”

The four ponies looked shocked.  They looked back and forth between each other.

Cheerilee was about to cry, she was certain that she had just ruined Twilight’s relationship with her family.

“There’s no way that this pony is your marefriend Twilight!” said Night Light.

Cheerilee felt the tears starting.  She couldn’t stand to think of Twilight being treated as her father had treated herself.

“Yes,” said Twilight’s mother, Twilight Velvet. “I don’t believe you could catch such a beautiful mare!”

“Twilight!” said Cadence, “she’s obviously too good for you!”

All of Twilight’s family burst out in laughter along with Twilight.  Cheerilee looked lost.  Should couldn’t believe her ears.  She had just been to see the rulers of Equestria and now to visit her beloved Twilight’s family.  And everypony had accepted her as if there was nothing wrong with being with and loving a mare.

The evidence was there, she was not some freak, she was not fated to die alone.  She could be happy, she could be accepted and she could be loved!

Then the four ponies rushed Twilight and Cheerilee and gave hugs and welcomed Cheerilee warmly.  Cheerilee was ready to cry again, she couldn’t believe that a family could be this warm and accepting.  The teasing was all an attempt to complement Twilight and herself.

Loving families DID exist!  And she was being accepted into one.

“Let’s not just stand here,” said Twilight Velvet, “I’m sure you’ll want to tidy up.  We put your bags in your room, Twilight.  Show Cheerilee where the bathroom is and come out when you’re ready.  Dinner won’t be ready for a while but I can get some tea started.”

“Thanks, mom,” said Twilight.  She led Cheerilee down a hall to her room.

Cheerilee was lost.  Twilight’s bedroom was larger than her studio apartment.  There were bookshelves everywhere along with some carefully preserved toys and other personal items.

The bed was a little smaller than Twilight’s bed back in the library, but it was larger than her ‘pull out’.  They would have to sleep close, but Cheerilee had no problem with that.

Twilight and Cheerilee took the opportunity, being alone, to get in some well needed kissing.

Suddenly Twilight’s bedroom door burst open,

“Hoof check!” said Shining, laughing,

“I’ll tell Cadence on you if you do that again!” said Twilight. Suddenly, with a glow of her horn, Twilight launching a pillow from her bed in Shining’s direction.

The two siblings laughed.

“Mom asked if you might hurry up,” said the big brother, “the tea is ready and everypony is eager to get to know your marefriend.”

“We’ll be right there,” said Twilight.

“And I’ll tell Cadence what I caught you doing!” said Shining, who launched the pillow back at Twilight.

All three ponies laughed.

Twilight showed Cheerilee to the bathroom where she did a quick touch up of her mane and brushed her teeth.  Then she led her to a comfortable living room where Twilight Velvet insisted that the couple sit on the sofa while the others sat in different seats around them.

The tea was served by Cadence, Cheerilee couldn’t believe that she was being served by a princess.  She was even provided with a tea cup the was designed to be manipulated by a pony who couldn’t do levitation.

Twilight felt that she should proactively tell them of the last couple of days and how their relationship began.  How that through their talks they discovered that they appeared to have had each other in mind whenever they had ever considered a relationship.

“Oh my!” said Twilight Velvet, “third day together and you act as if you’re an old married couple.  I guess there’s such a thing as kismet.”

“I think it’s sweet,” said Cadence, “I always knew that Twilight would be destined to find the perfect pony.  I can see that I underestimated in my prediction.”

“Thank you, princess,” said Cheerilee blushing.

“Okay! Stop right there!” said Cadence holding up a hoof and trying to sound stern but a pony could tell that she was not very serious, “to my family, I’m Cadence!  And I think that you can be now considered family.  I’ll tell you what I told Twilight some time back.  You call me princess again and I’ll shove my tiara up your muzzle!  It’s bad enough that I have to wear this thing!”

Everypony laughed as Cadence got up and hugged Cheerilee to prove that she was only kidding.

“So what’s your family think of your good news?” asked Night Light.

Twilight and Cheerilee got quiet, the rest of the family saw the change.

“Dad,” said Twilight, “It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Cheeri’s father is violently opposed to her or I should say our lifestyle.  She was shamed into having to live a lie and hide who she is.  She’s been so afraid that you’ll not accept us being mare-lovers”

“I didn’t know that accepting families really did exist,” continued Cheerilee, “I was made to believe that I was some kind of sick and demented pony.  That I’d have to hide my true self  from everypony.

Your daughter has freed me and I couldn’t be more grateful for the love and acceptance that she’s shown me.  And the acceptance you’re showing me now.”

“Sweetheart,” said Cadence, “there’s nothing wrong with you, aside from Twilight bringing so beautiful a mare here to show us up!

You’re accepted, you’re welcome and you’re loved.”

Cheerilee blushed brighter.

“‘Mare-lover’ doesn’t mean anything to intelligent ponies.” Said Twilight Velvet, “I would rather have my daughter being in love with a mare that loves and cares for her.  Instead of being in an unsatisfying relationship for the sake of trying to appear normal.  Or worse, alone for life because she was afraid of what somepony might say or think.”

“I think you’ll find that you’ve lived the exception, not the rule.  We’d be thrilled if you consider us your family,” said Night Light, then with a wicked grin, “even if you come to your senses and dump that looser marefriend of yours!”

“Daddy!” exclaimed Twilight.

Cheerilee laughed, it felt so nice to be treated so well.

“I thank you,” said Cheerilee, taking Twilight’s hoof, “but I think I’ll hang on to Twilight for a while.  Living with her will make it a lot easier to return library books!”

Everypony laughed, Cheerilee continued;

“But seriously, in so little time, I’ve found that I love your daughter so much and would do anything to keep her!”

There were smiles all around.  As Twilight and Cheerilee exchanged a little kiss and hug.

The talk turned to more mundane topics.  The fact that Cheerilee was a teacher appeared to be a point of great pride to the family.

After a time Twilight Velvet went back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches on dinner.  It wasn’t long before they were gathered around the dinning room table enjoying a scrumptious meal.  Cheerilee saw where Twilight got her cooking skills from.

The rest of the evening went great.  There was kidding between the siblings and Cadence.  The parents told embarrassing stories on Shining and Twilight, even the time that Shining was caught making out with Twilight’s foal sitter (Cadence) while Twilight was taking a nap!

Cheerilee had learned so much about princesses today that she would’ve never guessed.

As the evening wore on, the yawns became infectious.

As everypony started to get ready to turn in, there was a lot of kidding of Twilight and Cheerilee not to be making a lot of noise while ‘respectable’ ponies tried to sleep!

After sharing a quick shower, to save time was the excuse, Twilight and Cheerilee retired to Twilight’s room.  As she had noticed prior, Twilight’s bed was cozy with having to sleep very close to Twilight.

They just laid there, holding each other for a while.  The feeling was to die for.

“Twi Darling?” said Cheerilee.

“Yes sweetheart,” responded Twilight.

“I want to thank you for bringing me to Canterlot,” said Cheerilee, “I’ve learned so much.”

“I told you that everything would workout.” Said Twilight, pulling Cheerilee closer.  “But if you feel you need to thank me properly, I can think of a couple ways.”

Suddenly, Twilight felt a hoof at her marehood.

“That’s one of the ways I was thinking of!” said Twilight, as she started kissing Cheerilee hungrily.

Cadence’s voice was heard at the door;

“Hoof check!”

“BITE ME PRINCESS!” shouted Twilight who continued her love making with Cheerilee.

There was a giggle from outside the room, that they could hear going away.

Half a city away, it their hotel room, Applejack and Rarity were laying in their bed, enjoying the afterglow of their love making.

Being that they had been hiding their relationship, opportunities to express their love were few and far between.  When they did have the chance, they took every opportunity to express their love.

The cobwebs were about to close in on Applejack when Rarity interrupted;

“Darling, are you asleep?”

“Yes I am, Sugar Cube,” said Applejack, then pretending to snore.

Applejack received a love tap, Rarity was really good at expressing herself.

“Darling, I know we can trust Twilight and Cheerilee’s discretion,” said the white unicorn, “but do you think that it’s time for us to come out of hiding?  I’m glad that Twilight made us admit our feelings, and I do love you!  So if we do love each other, don’t you think that it would be nice to public with it?”

“Sugar Cube,” said Applejack, “I’d love to be able to go places with you and hold your hoof in public.  Most of all, I’d love to have our families share our joy.”

“Plus you wouldn’t mind having sex when ever you wanted instead of sneaking around!” said Rarity with a giggle.

“You know it!” said Applejack pulling Rarity close and kissing her deeply.

The next morning found Cheerilee warm and happy, she opened her eyes to find that Twilight was holding and looking at her.

“Don’t you ever sleep, Darling?”  asked Cheerilee, giving Twilight a little kiss.

“I do,” said Twilight with a smile, “but I don’t want to miss a single moment being with you!  I love you so much.  I still can’t believe I’m so lucky to have found the pony for me and it’s a pony as special as you!”

“I feel the same, my love,” said Cheerilee.

The two kissed passionately for a few minutes before there was a knock at the door.

“If this is Shining Armor or Cadence pulling a hoof check,’ said Twilight a little irked, “then it’s no longer funny!  You don’t want to know where my hooves are right now!”

Cheerilee just giggled.

“It’s your mother,” said Twilight Velvet, “and no, I don’t want to know where your hooves are as long as they’re at the end or your legs.”

Twilight got up and went to the door and opened it.  Her mother was standing there smiling.

“Sorry mom,” said Twilight.

Twilight Velvet kissed her daughter on the cheek.

“I understand sweetie,” said the older Twilight, “Shining can be a pain in the flanks sometimes and I’m afraid that he is rubbing off on Cadence!  But he’s Cadence’s problem.”

The two mares laughed.  At that moment Cheerilee walked up to join them.

“I’m glad to see that you two are up.  Breakfast will be ready soon, if you want.”

“Thanks Mrs. Sparkle,” said Cheerilee.

“Mom, please!” said Twilight Velvet, “and you’re welcome, anytime.”

Twilight and Cheerilee went to the bathroom and shared a shower (and finished up what they had started in the bed) then went in to join the family.  Cheerilee had never been so relaxed in a family setting.  She envied Twilight’s childhood, she was sure if her lover had declared herself a mare-lover back then, her childhood would’ve been no different.

They stayed with the Sparkles until lunch.  When they were done, Twilight informed her family that they had to get to the station for their return to Ponyville.  Cheerilee was so sad to leave, she had more fun in this family setting than she could remember her own.  But Twilight’s parents, brother and sister-in-law reiterated that Cheerilee was to always consider them as family and would be nothing less than insulted if she didn’t treat them as such.

They took their time going to the station, seeing some of the sights they had missed the prior day.

At the station, they found that they were about an hour early so they checked their bags then went to the café in the station to wait.  There they found Rarity and Applejack already at a table.  Rarity saw Twilight and Cheerilee and motioned for them to join them.

“You girls look relaxed,” said Applejack, “I take it that y’all had a good visit.”

“I’ve had a wonderful time.” Said Cheerilee happily, “I was introduced to Princesses Celesta and Luna, shown parts of Canterlot Castle that I never knew existed.

But best of all, I had an evening with a happy family that was warm and accepting.  I’m so grateful to Twi, I know now just how wonderful of a pony I’m in love with!”

“Yes Darling, Twilight can be quite the pony.  But if she gets too high on herself, just ask her about the time that she missed sending the princess a letter for the week!” said Rarity.

Twilight blushed brightly being reminded of the time she ‘went off the deep end’ worrying about being tardy.

But all four ponies laughed.

They sat and enjoyed tea or coffee and some light snacks.

When the train arrived, Twilight asked to see Applejack and Rarity’s tickets.  She walked off and was back in just a few minutes.

“What was that about?” asked Rarity.

“I thought it might be nice if we shared a cabin and talked.” Said Twilight, “I want Cheeri to feel part of our group.  I don’t plan on letting her go anytime soon, so I thought that she might like to get to know my closest friends better.  So I hope you don’t mind, but I upgraded your tickets to first class.”

“That’s so sweet of you Darling,” said Rarity, always happy to get the first class treatment.  “We’ll pay you back.”

“Don’t say that!” said Cheerilee, giggling, “last time I told Twi that I got her tongue down my throat.”

“Well, now that we know the way that Twilight swings,” said Applejack with a chuckle, “maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.”

Applejack started to make a fake kissy face to Twilight.  Rarity quickly gave Applejack a love tap.

“For a pony who has only recently come out and admitted to loving a mare,” said Rarity, “you sure are acting like you want to sleep by yourself, for life!”

All the ponies laughed.

‘Now boarding for Ponyville on track 1,’said an announcement.

“Now why in the hay do ya think that say it that way?” asked Applejack

“What do you mean?” replied Rarity.

“They only have one track here!” Said the farm pony.

“Maybe it makes them feel more important,” said Cheerilee.

“That’s about as good of an explanation as I would’ve thought, Darling,” said Rarity.

The four friends laughed as they left the café.