Nighttime had fallen upon the city. The only light remaining came from the buildings and the lampposts. I moseyed down the dim street, not fearing anything the night had to offer. After about 20 minutes, I reached my house. All the lights were on. I took a deep breath, mustered my bravado, and knocked on the door. I heard my father scream something in response, although I could not make it out. My mother responded in a similar volume but then opened the door. Her tone returned to its usual melodious self as she greeted me.

"Oh, hello Twilight." she said softly. "Did you have fun staying with your friends?"

I responded shyly,

"Oh, you know. It was very, er, fun. Heheh."

"Is something wrong, Twily dear?"

"Well, actually… I need to talk to you and dad about something. It's important."

"...Oh, okay." My mother clearly did not know what to make of the situation. "Come on in."

Mom waved her hand out in front of me as I walked through the door. I went into the kitchen where my dad was, angrily mumbling about all the bills that had to be paid. I took a seat on one of the chairs at the dining table and waited for my father to finish his rants. He didn't stop, not even when I took a seat. After a few minutes, my mother tapped him on the shoulder.

"Dear, your daughter is here. She wants to talk with us."

With that, Dad calmed himself, sat his papers on the table, and gave me the best smile he could, although his eyes were shadowed by restless bags.

"Oh, hello sweets," he spoke to me in a stressed voice, although he tried hard to pretend to be calm and collected. "How is my little daughter doing? I'm sure you got all your homework finished, right?"

"Yeah, I finished my homework while I was Sugarcube Corner." I replied, looking away from my father and nervously twiddling my fingers.

My father looked at me. He seemed almost angry, but more confused and concerned.

"Twily, what's wrong? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine, dad. It's just… *ahem* I have something I need to tell you both." I rubbed the back of my head as I spoke.

"What is it dear?" My mother joined us at the table.

If only Pinkie or RD was sitting with us, I would felt much more comforted. I remained silent for several minutes, trying to predict how my parents would respond to my revelation. I took a deep breath and calmed myself before speaking, preparing for the worst.

"Mom, Dad, I was talking with Pinkie, Rainbow, and Maud at Sugarcube when I realized something important." I coughed.

"Twilight," my father began, "whatever you want to tell us, know that we are here for you. We want to make sure you are healthy and happy."

My father tried as best he could to put on a happy look. I calmed myself upon hearing these words. Maybe the others were right: maybe my parents wouldn't kill me for this.

"Mom, Dad, I, er, I don't want to attend university just yet. The truth is that I just want to go to school with my friends. I spent all of my childhood alone, and now I finally have allies. I want to enjoy it..." I was trying desperately to sound joyous and appealing, but I was struggling.

Their eyes lit shock over my words. They were speechless. My mother raised her hand over her mouth as she gasped, and my father stared down upon me in silence. I opened my mouth to speak again, but I didn't know what to say. I just grinded my teeth in fear. My mother was first to speak.

"Twilight, I… I-I don't understand. Why don't you want to go ahead to college?" she asked as she lowered her hand from her mouth.

My father immediately followed.

“Twilight! What on earth has gotten you to think something like this?! Have you been doing something behind our back?!" He screamed at me.

If I wasn't terrified before I spoke, I was certainly frightened now. I closed my eyes and turned away from my father as he shouted at me, but I knew I couldn't quit. I turned back in the direction of my parents to explain what I said.

"Dad," I said, directing most of my attention towards him now. "I told my friends back at Sugarcube about when I was younger in school and taking all those advanced tests. I told them about how you guys were so happy about my intelligence and how, well..." I paused as I catched my breath. "I never wanted to advance to middle or high school. I always felt like an alien there, and I was. I never had any friends, and everyone bullied me. I only went through with everything because… b-because I thought it was what you two expected from me. I just wanted to make you happy!" I was tearing at this point.

My parents looked at each other, surprised by my words. My father broke the silence, speaking more softly now.

"Twilight. You... Y-You thought we wanted you to do this?"

I closed my eyes. I couldn't bear to see the disappointment surely painting my parents' faces.

"You guys were just so happy and so proud of me. I was afraid that telling you 'no' would have made you upset..." Yeah, I was definitely tearing up now. My voice was terribly hopeless. I must have sounded like the tears of 16 years came crashing down in one night. "I didn't *sniffle* ah-I could not have stood myself if I made you two... If I… d-diss-a-point-ed you... I was scared of souring your dreams and hopes and–"

I laid my face in my lap and hid my eyes from the world. I was openly crying now, the first time my parents have ever seen me in such a broken state… A mask that I have built to suppress my sadness had finally broken.

I heard footsteps before suddenly a hand rested on my left shoulder. I opened one eye to see that it was my mom, sniffling and looking at me with regret in her eyes. I hated myself when I saw those mournful eyes, but then my mother opened her mouth:

"Twilight, why would you ever think we would be disappointed in you? You're our daughter and you mean everything to your father and I. We were so proud of how brilliant you were, but we never knew you felt this way."

My mother squeezed me as my father rose to join the hug also. He began to speak as well.

"Twilight, If you never wanted all this, you should have told us." he piled on in a more sincere, fatherly tone. He was more than likely regretting the raising of his voice from just earlier. "Your mother and I are very proud of you, but we would never have put you through what you went through if we knew it went against your wishes. We love you. We love you to the darkest valley and back. We love you no matter what." I looked up at my father. I was absolutely bawling by this point.

"Whether you are smart or not, a college professor or kindergarten student, teacher or maid, farmhand or queen, ...we will support you no matter what. We just want you to be happy. If you don't think college is a good idea at this point in life, we will continue to support you at home.”

Dad wiped away the tears on my face. He brushed my hair back and hugged me again in an attempt to calm me down. I rose my face to look at him.

"So… you guys *sniff* you wouldn't be mad if… I just *cough* I wanted to stay in high school with my friends?"

My parents looked at each other to confirm their facial expressions at each other. They were both grinning at each other, with beady eyes locked in contact together. They turned back towards me and my father, putting his index finger under my chin so that I would look up towards him through all the tears in my eyes.

"Of course. If that is what you want, your mother and I are more than ok with that."

My mother intervened and told me, who faced me as she started speaking,

"We are so sorry for ever putting so much pressure on you, Dear. We only want what is best for you."

I could not help but smile. Though my eyes were still filled with tears,. I felt lighter than I had ever felt before, like an anchor has been lifted off of my chest. I stood to ring my arms around both of my parents' necks.

"Thank you, Mom and Dad."

They pulled themselves out from under my arms to grab hold of me and hug back as my father said,

"We love you, Twily. We hope you can forgive us for making you feel this way."

My mother followed with,

"and we're sorry for all the years you missed. We will do support you in whatever you choose to do from this point on."

My head rested between my parents' shoulders. As the last of my tears came falling from my eyes, I smiled. I truly felt like my parents loved me, and I was so thankful to Pinkie, Maud, and Dash for giving me the courage to tell them how I felt.

Joy was overwhelming me, but the moment quickly ended when my father, who pulled me away from my mother, still holding me, and injected,

"So then Buttercup, do you think you can finish the rest of your classes this year? So that way you'll have several credits if and when you decide you do want to attend college."

I looked at my father, frowning a little, but I quickly understood the logic in his question. I smiled and closed my eyes as my cheeks lit up.

"Of course, Dad! I promise."

"Ah-haha! There's our happy little girl now!" My father cried out as he tightened the hug. "We can finish this conversation and head down to the university first thing tomorrow morning to tell them the news. But right now it's bedtime. We can't have our little angel all sleep-deprived and cranky now, can we?" he said as he smiled at me.

"Daaad, please!" I squealed in embarrassment, but I was happy to feel anything but sad after the day I had.

"Your father is right." My mother said from behind. "It's time for you to get some sleep. We will pray for you though, Twis. Come talk to us again if anything comes up, okay?"

"I'll be okay, Mom. Thank you for hearing me out."

I cried out as I walked out of the kitchen to head up stairs and get ready to brush her teeth and head to bed. I waved at them while still facing them in the kitchen

"Goodnight Mom. Goodnight Dad."

They both cried out at the same time,

"Goodnight Twilight."

I walked up the stairs, pulling out my cell phone as I continued going up. I opened the text menu to text Rainbow Dash.

"I just told my parents the news. You girls were right. They totally understood. Thank you so much."

A few seconds later, she responded a text back saying,

"Hey, what are friends for? Pinkie wants to know though: Does this mean we won't see you for awhile?"

I wasn't sure in my response, but I assumed I would just be gone for a few months at best. I texted back, still a little unsure in my mind,

"Of course you will see me again! I'll still be here in town, and you girls aren't going anywhere soon now, are you? Don't worry, it's all fine."

The last text I got just as I reached the top of the stairs was:

'That's a relief. We would have been devastated if so. I'm about crash for the night. TTY in the morning! Glad to know everything worked out'

I responded back:

'Sleep tight! Thanks once again for being there for me!'

There was no response, but I turned my phone off, waiting to go to sleep, but even after doing my routines and getting into bed, I couldn't help but wonder. What if I never do see them again? What if things didn't play out? I had no idea, and only morning would hold the answers from my parents. I slowly closed my eyes, unsure about what to expect from their response to be tomorrow morning. Only time would tell but... I can only hope for the best.

Author's Note

When we are young, we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind. There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable desires. Speak up for yourself and make yourself heard. Sometimes, speaking up is the best thing instead of staying silent.