Shining Armor's New Marefriend
Twilight Velvet scurried around her house excitedly, picking up the tiniest little crumbs and pieces of lint from the floor as she ran a final inspection; in her years as a mother, she had learned the art of making a perfectly clean home in less than an hour, right down to the last speck of dirt. Sure, some ponies called her OCD, but all she was doing was preparing her household for guests, and she preferred to do it by individually picking up every single trace of a dirty home. As Velvet dumped her newly-found crumbs into the trash, Night Light, her loving husband, stared at her with the queerest gaze. "You know, dear, the house looks fine..."
Velvet turned around to give Night her traditional mommy-death-stare, patented for her use only. "Perfectly fine for you, maybe," The gray mare scoffed. "But when my Shiny brings home his marefriend for the first time, I don't want to see a single dust bunny land on her coat!" With a stomp of her hoof to signify the end of the short-lived discussion, Velvet spun around to promptly select a cleaning wipe in order to wipe down her kitchen counters one more time... In doing so, she couldv'e sworn she heard NIght mutter something under his breath - It sounded like, "No wonder Twi's so attentive to detail." Having learned a long time ago to not accuse unless you were 110% sure of the situation, Velvet bit her lip and settled for an insult within the mind.
Butthead.
There. Done. No need to be angry now.
Finishing up with her counters, the unicorn let her sharp blue eyes inspect her home for any signs of imperfection; the carpet had been vaccumed three times, the floor swept and mopped, her couches, pillows, and blankets beaten... Good. Everything was just fine. Allowing herself a swift glance at the clock, Velvet couldn't help but wince. Only ten minutes to spare... next time, let's make it fifteen, Velvet. Just because you're in your fifties doesn't mean you can't-
CRASH!
"Night Light!" The mare groaned, eyeballing both her husband and his spilled coffee in distaste. "Shining and his marefriend will be here soon, and we'll be greeting them by asking for more paper towels to mop up the table!" Velvet huffed, levitating a cleaning cloth over to the table whilst Night used his own magic to pick up the coffee cup pieces. "Sorry, dear." He apologized, stopping for a quick second to kiss her cheek before continuing to the trash can. "It slipped from my hooves, is all." Velvet gave off a small and affectionate Hmph before answering. "Oh, it's alright, Nighty; I'm just tense, is all."
As the stallion dropped his broken cup pieces into the trash, he couldn't resist giving his wife the Dad-Knows-Everything look, patented for his use only. "Is it because Shining's letter didn't really describe her too well?" The blue unicorn questioned llightly. Twilight Velvet merely disposed of her dishrag, instead using her magic to get her son's letter off of the table. "Well, of course... I mean, look at it! He never even mentioned her name, for Celestia's sake!" She cried, beckoning for Night Light to come over. After quietly closing the lid, Night walked up to her in order to reread the letter over his wife's shoulder.
Dear Mom and Dad,
I'm writing to you from the Royal Guard Break Room here in Canterlot; not too far away, actually. EIther way, I wanted to tell you something amazing that happened today, in the Royal Gardens.
Today, I met a mare. No, wait, I met the mare.
She's the prettiest thing I've ever seen, and I can't wait for you to meet her; in fact, I was hoping for next Sunday? We always get together for lunch anyway, so I'm really just bringing her with me, if you wouldn't mind. Don't worry about trying to over-impress, because I've told her about our Sundays together, and she thinks it sounds amazing.
Please let me know if I can take her with me next Sunday - it would mean so much to the both of us.
Also, if she does end up going, please don't judge her; when she's relaxed, she's a bit different, and she may be hard to get used to. However, please refrain from bombarding her with questions, curiosity, or fears... it will all come up over time, I assume.
Well, anyway, see you guys Sunday!
-Shining Armor
Velvet finished reading the letter for at least the hundreth time, placing it back where she had left it. "It just makes me worried... It seems like he's plunging head-over-hooves for her, and it's only been a week!" The mare protested, making her way to go and sit on the couch in a sulking position. "Honestly, I just wish that Shining wouldn't do things like that! So... ignorant!" She was about to use the word that had been banned from her house - stupid - but managed to stop herself just in time, replacing it with a more dignified adjective.
With an exasperated look, her husband took a seat next to her, trying to offer comfort by patting her back. "Velvet, honey, Shining's got more sense than that, hopefully - but he's bringing the mare home, and that's that! There's nothing we can do to-" Night was cut off by the glowing of his horn; after a quick second of glowing a bright gold, his horn produced a glossy magazine from thin air. The magazine, titled "Sports Illustrated," began fluttering to the ground at once, until Night Light grasped it with his magic and pressed it to his muzzle with an excited squeal.
"Ohhh! The latest issue!" As if his life depended on it, the stallion instantly began flipping through pages, seemingly searching for one thing in particular. "Come on, come on..." He muttered under his breath as he turned page after page - even after the doorbell rang, he continued on until his wife tugged it away with her blue magical aura, easily making it disappear into thin air. Velvet met Night Light's pleading gaze with her own narrowed baby blues, her sternness unwavering. "You're grounded." The mare insisted before heading to answer the door.
"But Velvet! WHY?!" Night Light sobbed, burying his face into the carpet.
The unicorn shot him a stern glare over her shoulder. "Because." Leaving the conversation, she turned back around, plastered a smile on her face, and pulled the door open. There, on the Sparkle Family front porch, stood Shining Armor. Twilight Velvet beamed, stepping forward to hug her son's neck. "Shining! Goodness, it feels like it's been so long!" She exclaimed, releasing him after a few seconds.
It was only now that Velvet noticed the pony next to her son. And, to be honest, she didn't really like the look of them.
Standing next to Shining Armor was a tall, black mare, whose height could only be matched by Celestia herself. On her head, the mare sported a long and misshapen horn, with far too many dips, twists, and ridges to logically create magic; it was obviously capeable, however, because the strange mare carried flowers in her magical grip. Her long, coarse mane and tail was riddled with holes near the ends, just as her legs were. On her back rested a holy pair of small, buzzing, translucent wings, similar to a bee or fly. (These too had holes near the end.) The mare's flank and lower back seemed to be covered with some sort of blueish-green shell... It was banded across her stomach. Finally, her eyes; the pupils were in snake-like slits, with the dim blue-green haze over them.
Velvet's ears went back almost instantly at the sight before her. "I... Um... Hello, a-and welc-come to our..." The pretty mare trailed off, staring with wide eyes at the sight before her. The tall pony before her sighed a bit, leaning over to Shining and whispering something into his ear. He nodded, and a second later, the pony was engulfed in green flames right before Velvet's eyes. The mother of two gaped, stuttering as she watched the spectacle. The tall pony had simply... disappeared into flames. Shining Armor, noticing his mother's clamor, placed a comforting hoof onto her shoulder.
"It's alright, Mom; just wait."
And wait she did - Velvet couldn't move, for Celestia's sake! How in Equestria could she, with a flaming pony right on her porch!
All of a sudden, the flames went out and the body of a much smaller pony stepped forth; her flawless white coat glistened in the afternoon sun, and her cascade of purple curls complemented her blue eye-shadow well. Velvet couldn't help but glance towards the cutie mark on this seemingly new mare's flank - a trio of diamonds. Shining's eyes widened a bit at her new form, but continued nonetheless. "Mom, I'd like you to meet my new marefriend, Chrysalis."
Somehow, this mare had transformed from a cold-blooded beast to her daughter's best friend.
At this point, Twilight Velvet was wondering if she had remembered to take her medication.
Author's Note
The first part to a possibly three-part story... hope you enjoyed!
