Twilight Velvet was not happy.
It was her son's wedding day, a supposed happy occasion, but it ended up being one of the most frightening (and confusing) days of her life. First, she and her husband arrive to the news that Twilight had fallen ill, too sick to attend the ceremony. When she had pushed to see her, Celestia had assured her that she was in good hooves and to just enjoy her son's special day.
Then, suddenly, Twilight showed up, looking disheveled but in very good health. Then another version of her daughter-in-law. Then she nearly died in the ensuing invasion.
Then, in the clean-up, nopony would answer her questions about what happened. Twilight only told her not to worry, she'd explain everything after the wedding. Shining Armor seemed to get sick to his stomach just thinking about what had happened, and requested the same. Celestia couldn't even be reached, she was being waited on by her personal medical team after her defeat, and only came out for the ceremony.
Then, at the reception, both children continued to remain tight lipped. Every press or prod resulted in nervous, "Let's not talk about it now," and "After Shiny and Cadance leave, okay?"
Then Celestia flew off. Then, hours later, Luna followed. She returned, just missing her son leaving, but in plenty of time to snatch her daughter away before they had a chance to speak.
She was done.
Normally, her husband would have advised against this, but he was fed up as well. And that's how the pair ended up entering the throne room uninvited.
"Miss, you can't come..."
"Don't tell me what I can and can't do!" she yelled at the guard. "The Princess owes me an explanation!"
"But you can't..."
"Let her through."
Luna was sitting at her throne, which currently had a fold-out desk in front of it, and was looking through an old law book. "I'm combing through some of old protocols for war. It looks like we might have one soon. Please, sit down."
Luna was silent as the pair made their way down the long rug. "Now then, what troubles..."
"Where's your sister?"
"She's in bed." Luna responded to Velvet's fury with an unnatural calm.
"Then where's my daughter?"
"In bed with her... N-not like that!" Luna actually stuttered. "Twilight is by her side, comforting her."
"Comforting her? Comforting her? What about us?! Both of my children nearly died today and I still have no clue what happened. I think we have the right to know!"
"...Nopony told you. I can't say I'm surprised." She marked her book and put it down.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Velvet was so close to yelling that two guards stepped forward, but Luna waved them down.
"It's... a shameful event for all involved."
"What?"
Luna took a deep breath. "I was... not present when it happened," Luna said. "But... your daughter happened upon the Changeling Queen when she was performing her spell. When she tried to tell everypony, they... they assumed she was being jealous and..."
Velvet's response nearly shattered every window in the room. "WHAT? Do you mean to tell me that both my foals were in danger because your sister was too stupid?"
"...No. Your daughter didn't help her case by..."
"Don't pin this on her! You were on high alert and you let all this happen?"
"I think I need to remind you that it was your son that was responsible for guarding our kingdom. Perhaps..."
"Listen, you, I'm not going to sit here and listen to some lunatic tell me my children messed up. I want to see my daughter n-"
Both Velvet and Night found themselves lifted up by Luna's magic. Through clenched teeth, the Princess of the Night spoke. "I will not be insulted over something I had nothing to do with. If you are upset, I suggest you talk with Twilight Sparkle. Now both of you, out. I have work to do."
Before they knew it, both of them were outside the throne room, the large double doors slamming shut.
In a flash Twilight Velvet was pounding on the entrance. "Open up, I'm not..."
Her husband's hoof on her shoulder stopped her. "I want answers, too, but we're not going to get them from her. Maybe we should just wait until morning."
"Wha... buh..." And then Velvet started crying. "Why? Why is Twilight spending time with the pony that nearly got her killed and not us?!"
For a few moments, Velvet sobbed, while her husband patted her back, getting a little misty-eyed himself. "Let's just go to bed. We can find Twily and get things straightened out in the morning."
Velvet hiccuped and nodded. Getting to her hooves, she began wobbling to the bedroom reserved for them.
They had just gotten to the guest hallways when they saw her.
Applejack was pushing a large chest of bits into her bedroom. It was only halfway through when she noticed them. “Ah, hey there, you two. We didn’t get a chance ‘ta talk much, but...”
Applejack would piece it together later, but at that moment it was like time itself decided to skip a few seconds. One moment she was greeting Twilight's parents, and the next she was knocked over the chest on the floor of her bedroom, her head splitting from a hoof to the side of the head.
"You bitch!" Velvet said, a bit higher than she meant. Night Light's anger was completely overcome by his surprise, and he began backing away.
"...I take it you heard about what happened," the cowpony said, trying to keep her voice level.
"Yeah, I heard. My daughter came to you with a problem, and you were too busy spreading your hind legs for that fake to listen."
All civility left Applejack at that moment. "Get out."
"Um, dear..."
"No, I want answers! Why didn't you listen to her! Were you just that excited to pretend that you were good for something other than playing in the dirt?”
“Get out.”
“I’m not leaving until I get an explanat...”
The next thing Velvet knew, she was quite a few feet down the hall, thanks to Applejack’s strong hind legs. As she skidded along the rug, her husband ran to help her. By the time they got their bearings together, Applejack has gotten her trunk into her room, and locked the door.
“You come back...” Velvet began, but a duo of guards stopped her.
“Miss Velvet... Mr. Light... I’m afraid I must escort you back to your room.”
“What? Why?”
“You’re causing a scene.” The guard that spoke looked at them sternly, but there was some sympathy showing on his face. “Princess Luna asked us to keep an eye on you and confine you to your room if you proved problematic.”
“Me, problematic? That pony just bucked me down a hallway.”
“You hit her first, if you don’t mind me getting foalish.” The stallion lit up his horn, and Velvet was in the air. A moment later and Night Light was as well.
“I want to see my daughter!” Velvet demanded, but that’s all she got out before the guard in question silenced her with a spell.
“I understand. But Miss Sparkle made her decision. She informed me she would talk to you in the morning.”
The pair still struggled, but the guards paid them no mind. “If it means anything to the two of you, I’m really sorry for not believing her. I was just a rookie when she came to live here, I saw her grow up... she was the sweetest thing.”
As they placed them in their room, Night Light swore he saw a small tear from the veterans eye. The door closed, being locked by a magic spell.
Velvet banged on it for an hour before giving up, breaking down crying in her husband’s forelegs. He cried just as hard.
Sleep eventually came, though it was the kind that left them both feeling tired in the morning. A servant came in to take an order for their breakfast, but they still weren’t allowed to leave. It was nearly noon before a door unlocked and the pony they had wanted to see came in.
“Twilight!”
Both ponies rushed in and hugged her. She hugged back, deeply and warmly, but after a few seconds she parted from them.
“You heard what happened.”
“Yes we did!” Velvet exploded, before her husband could get a word in. “Everypony abandoned you. Everypony! And you didn’t tell us anything! Why’d you go off with Celestia instead of telling us?”
Twilight looked at the floor. “Maybe I didn’t handle this exactly right,” she said, in a tone so small her parents had to strain to hear her. Then, resolve started to enter her voice as she went on. “Listen... what happened between me and the others was painful, and I’m sorry this has to be your first impression of them. But they’ve all practically begged me to forgive them, and I had as much to blame for them not believing me...”
“Twilight, do you really want them back? After what they did to you?”
Twilight was silent for a moment. “Yes. I do. Because what they did recently can’t break what they’ve done for me before."
"And what have they done for you?"
"They've... changed me," Twilight said. It was clear that she was stumbling over the words. "Two years ago I thought having friends was a waste of time. Now I don't think I'd last without them. These last two years, they've been the happiest of my life. And even after this, I think it's only going to get better. I..." she trailed off a bit to think. "I think they might have saved my life."
"Saved your life! They nearly got you killed yesterday!"
"I told you, the whole mess was my fault too... but never mind that. The point is that they helped me when I was hurting, and I thought it was appropriate to do the same. Maybe I should have come and talked to you... no, I certainly should have, but it had been a hard day, and I just wanted to put it behind me."
Velvet was silent, but tears were in her eyes. Her husband, normally a quiet stallion, decided to step up and speak. "Twilight... we were so worried about you. And you seemed to be avoiding us all evening. Have we really drifted apart that much?"
"Well... Shining Armor isn't the only one who never comes by for a visit."
Her parents both winced at that. "I guess we haven't been as attentive as we should," Night Light admitted. "Hearth's Warming is the only time we see each other."
Twilight nodded. “We’ve been drifting apart these last few years. I don’t know when it started, but somehow it did. You got so caught up in your work. Mom, I’m happy your books are selling, and Dad, I know any judge in the courts is going to be busy, but it doesn’t really make for good together time. I guess... I’m to blame too. My studies are so important to me, and I do so much...”
The three formed a hug for a little while. After it broke apart, Twilight went on.
"You've never met any of my friends before yesterday. They're good ponies, really, and I wanted to be there for them."
“They weren’t there for you!”
“Maybe... but me doing the same to them won’t solve anything. Look at what happened with you.”
Twilight Velvet blushed at this and looked at her hooves. Night Light rubbed the back of his neck. Twilight went on.
“Part of me wanted to yell and scream at them, but it wouldn’t have accomplished anything. It would have just widened the gap between us. I... I can’t do that. Even though they hurt me, I still care about them so much. I can’t do that to them.”
“Maybe we didn’t handle this the best,” Velvet admitted.
“Maybe?” Twilight said. This time there was actual anger in her voice. “I’ll say. You’re going to apologize to Applejack and Luna, believe me. I’m a little mad at them too, but it’s my issue.”
“Twilight... I don’t like that you were treated that way...”
“I’ll deal with it, Mom. I know what I’m doing.”
Velvet cried. But she smiled a bit. “I missed you grow up... I’m sorry.”
“I think there’s blame to share. Our family’s been falling apart.”
“Then let’s get it back together. Why don’t we come visit Ponyville for a week?”
At that, Twilight put up a hoof. “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. There’s still one little thing about this whole thing I haven’t wrapped up. Poor Spike...”
“Our grandson?”
At her mother’s words, Twilight’s face pinked. “Wh-what? No, no, it’s not like that...”
Velvet gave a knowing smile. “Of course dear.”
“He doesn’t care about me that way, and it wouldn’t be fair of me to ask him to when he might have a real dragon mother waiting for him.” Twilight’s tone made it clear that last possibility actually worried her a bit.
“I’m sure she wouldn’t have done half as good a job as you have.”
Twilight blushed, but kept powering through. “Well, he hasn’t said a word to me. I think he’s afraid to talk to me. Just give me some time to get through to him.”
Night Light brightened up. “So we’ll visit next week then.”
“Yeah, but... look, when’s the last time you two took any time off? Really?”
The couple looked at each other. “I guess it has been a while...” Night Light admitted.
“Then why don’t you take a vacation. Leave Canterlot a while and go do something. Take some alone time.”
Night Light rubbed his chin. “That does sound pretty good.”
“Twilight, are you sure?”
The lavender unicorn waved her hoof. “Please, after what happened it’s all going to be clean up around here anyway. I doubt you’ll miss much.”
“Well... if you say so...” Night Light smiled. “We’ll get packed.”
“After you tell Luna and Applejack you’re sorry.”
“Of course.”
“Yes,” Velvet said. “And I hope there’s a nice stallion in Ponyville you’re going to introduce us to.”
Twilight’s eye twitched. “Mom...”
“Spike shouldn’t have to grow up without a father, you know.”
Twilight moaned. “Mom.”
“I mean, if Shiny can find a mare almost a great as you, certainly you can...”
“MOM!”
Night Light just laughed.
Author's Note
Okay... here it is.
I was wondering what to do with Twilight's parents in the Nuptialverse. Among some ideas was revealing that Twilight's parents were actually afraid of her after they were turned into plants at her entrance exam and had been deliberately distancing themselves from her. But in between Pinkie, Scootaloo, and what I'm planning for Rarity's parents, I thought another set of bad parents was too much. So I made them loving parents, albiet not perfect ones.
This is also kind of my response to any fics where Twilight's still mad after A Canterlot Wedding. I considered writing one, but I couldn't think of anyway to not make Twilight insanely unlikable. So if Velvet seems like kind of a... hard to get along with pony, that's why.