Morning had arrived in Ponyville and like they do every morning, Twilight and Spike sat down to breakfast. It was shaping up to be a rather normal day but that would change quickly when there was a knock on the door. Twilight answered it and before her stood her mom, "Uh, hi mom. What brings you by?"

*Velvet replied, "You and I need to talk" she looked over at Spike and continued, "alone."

Twilight asked, "Before we begin this talk would you want to join us for breakfast."

Velvet had yet to eat so she enthusiastically joined them. When she arrived at the table she noticed that Spike had a bowl of fire rubies next to his plate. She asked, "What's up with the rubies?"

Twilight replied, "Oh, Spike likes rubies with his meals."

Velvet knew next to nothing about dragons so she asked, "How does he eat gems, much less digest them?"

Spike interrupted, "You don't know much about dragons do you?"

Velvet replied, "No, I don't." She looked at Twilight and continued, "Does he always eat gems like this? Feeding him can't be cheap."

Twilight replied, "My friend Rarity has a special talent in finding gems so she usually goes out into the hills and finds him gems to eat."

Spike added, "And sometimes I get to join her."

Velvet sighed, "I see." She was quickly becoming bored with this small talk. She asked, "Twilight, once we finish breakfast can you send Spike off somewhere for a while, well a long while so we can talk?"

Twilight asked, "What, a long while? Why a long while?"

Velvet replied, "Because besides talking, I want us to go on a trip together, just you and me."

Twilight was really wondering about what her mother had planned and wondered why she would have to send Spike somewhere for a long while, "Mom, where is it you are wanting to go and why can't Spike come?"

Velvet replied, "Where we are going is a surprise and Spike can't come because this I want us to have some much needed mother/daughter bonding time or should I say our first true mother/daughter bonding time."

Twilight asked, "What about my royal duties? What about my friends? What about dad?"

Velvet knew that unlike the other princesses, Twilight didn't exactly have any life or death royal duties she had to fulfill, "Twilight, things will be ok. It's not like you have to raise the sun, raise the moon or oversee an entire empire." Hearing the word dad made Velvet cringe as they were having problems. She continued, "Regarding your father, he is out of town for a few weeks and I didn't feel like spending a whole month alone."

Twilight sighed, "True and I can understand you not wanting to be alone for that long." They had finished their breakfast and Twilight continued, "Come on Spike, let's see if any of my friends will watch over you for a...."

Velvet interrupted, "Two weeks. That is how long our trip will be."

Spike was not overly thrilled about the idea of simply being pawned off on somepony. He asked, "Velvet, I don't get why I have to be somepony else's burden for a couple weeks. Why is it that I can't be there?"

Velvet replied, "I can't go into details, I just can't."

This brought out suspicions in Twilight. She knew that her mom tended to be secretive when it came to some things but she wondered what, especially given that she is no filly anymore, that her mom would be hiding but knew not to question her and go with the flow. She sighed, "Come on Spike. Maybe Applejack will need you on the farm for a while."

Spike remembered how things went last time he helped out on the farm. He asked, "Are you sure Applejack would want me helping out on the farm? You remember what happened last time."

Twilight sighed, "Spike, nopony ever said you had to try to help out. If she doesn't want you to stay there, maybe Fluttershy can take care of you. Twilight headed towards the door and continued, "Come on. I'm sure mom doesn't want to wait."

It was not long until they arrived at Sweet Apple Acres and fortunately Applejack was easy to find, apple bucking in the south field. The three headed to her and were warmly greeted, "Howdy Twilight, Howdy Spike.....I mean no disrespect ma'am but I can't remember your name."

Velvet replied, "I am Twilight Velvet, Twilight's mom but you can just call me Velvet."

Applejack asked, "So Twilight, what brings you three by?"

Twilight replied, "Well mom and I are going on a trip and we are wondering if Spike could stay with you for a couple of weeks."

Applejack remembered how much trouble Spike caused when he tried to help out on the farm. She asked, "I don't know Twilight. You know what happened when he tried to help me out here last time."

Twilight replied, "I didn't say anything about him helping you out. I was just wondering if he could stay here on the farm."

Applejack sighed, "Oh alright. I figure him staying here would be a lot easier than having him stay with one of our other friends."

Before Twilight could say anything Velvet interrupted, "That's great! Come on Twilight, let's go catch the train. I want us to get going as soon as possible."

As they headed away to the farm Applejack asked, "Spike, what is all this about? Why is Twilight wanting you to stay here for two weeks and why is her mom in such a rush to get going?"

Spike replied, "I'm not sure. Whatever it is, I don't think even Twilight knows what her mom is up to. She usually writes before she comes but she just showed up."

Applejack sighed, "That's odd oh and Spike, do you promise that you're not going to try to help out with any of the chores? I remember how that turned out last time."

Spike replied, "I promise!"

When Velvet mentioned them going on a trip, Twilight thought that they would be headed to the train station, she was in shock as they headed back to the castle. She asked, "Mom, I thought we were going on a trip?"

Velvet replied, "We are, I just want to talk to you about a couple of things alone before we head out."

Twilight sighed, "Alright mom, but I do hope we can get going soon."

Twilight was suddenly a bit confused. At first she felt as though her mom was in a hell-fire hurry to get out of town but now here she was wanting to talk to her back in the castle. Eventually she was able to put her fears at ease and realized that perhaps it was just something that she did not want to discuss around other ponies.

Author's Note

* Throughout this story, mentions of Twilight Velvet will simply be labeled as Velvet to avoid any confusions between Twilights.