The Adventures of Chaos and Nightmares

About a week later, Twinkle was happily humming as she walked from the train station to the Party Palace. She noted the green of the grass and the beauty of the hills and trees of Ponyville. She couldn’t help noting the grass looked greener than usual. Then again, she had been thinking brighter all day long. Today was the long awaited day, the day she’d been waiting for for so long, the day she would finally tell her mother and father what her cutie mark meant. Of course, she couldn’t tell everypony. Luna had made that clear. But she was finally able to tell her parents. So what if she couldn’t tell anypony else yet. She could tell her parents! And she was sure she could tell Zany and Applespike. They were her best friends after all. And she really, really hoped Zany could be something more than just a friend. She wanted him to date her, and she absolutely didn’t want to have to keep it a secret like she was doing now. Zany was too, for lack of better term, he was too good to be kept a secret. But she’d worry about that later. For now, she’d just relish in the fact that she didn’t have to hide her talent from her parents anymore.

Speaking of, she was approaching the Party Palace. When she walked through the doors, the first thing she did was drop her present for the Tri-Pies on the table, and run over to give her parents a big hug. She immediately said, “I have something important I need to tell you, but it can wait until after the party. It’s kind of private.”

Her parents looked concerned, but nevertheless nodded and agreed to wait until after the party to broach the subject of whatever she needed to tell them.

Seeing the looks on their faces, Twinkle quickly reassured them, “Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad. In fact, it’s amazing. But it needs to wait till afterwards, okay?”

Her parents nodded, and she smiled and went off to find her friends. She was ready to par-taaaaay!

Seeing Jewel over by the snack table, Twinkle went up and greeted her. “Hey Jewel. Seen Zany or Applespike anywhere?”

Jewel quickly turned at the sound of Twinkle’s voice. “Oh hi Twinkle! Yeah, Applespike and Zany are over there.” She motioned over toward the stairs.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll come back, don’t worry. I just have to say hi.”

Jewel giggled. “Take as long as you like.”

Twinkle headed over toward the stairs. “Hey guys.”

The two of them turned. “Oh hi, Twinkle,” Zany said.

“Hey,” Twinkle answered. The two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment before realizing that Applespike had walked away to talk to Jewel. Finally Twinkle spoke. “Did your Dad find out?”

“Nope. I don’t think he did. Well, he didn’t flip out on me yet, so I’m going to assume he hasn’t.”

Twinkle nodded. “That’s reasonable.” After thinking for a moment about her other secret, she said, “Come on; I have to tell you something.” She led him into a corner. “You have to Pinkie Promise not to tell anypony, okay? I have another secret I need to tell you.”

Zany went through the motions of a Pinkie Promise. “Okay then. What is it?”

In answer, Twinkle asked, “Have you ever thought about what my cutie mark meant?”

Zany blinked. “No, not really. What does it mean?”

Twinkle sighed. "That’s my secret. Nopony knows what my cutie mark really means. Nopony except Princesses Celestia and Luna, and Jewel and Screwy know. You see, I’m a dreamwalker like Princess Luna. That’s why I’m her student instead of Celestia’s.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Zany exclaimed. “Back up. You’re a dreamwalker?” He looked at her suspiciously. Have you ever come into my dreams?”

Twinkle looked at him guiltily. “Maybe a couple of times. And I may have sabotaged them a few times.”

Zany nodded. “I knew there was something wrong with those dreams. Thank goodness Princess Luna isn’t out to get me or something!”

Twinkle looked up, surprised. “So you’re not mad?”

“Are you kidding? You didn’t even tell your parents! How could I be mad?” Then, after glancing around quickly to make sure they were really alone, he leaned over and kissed Twinkle.

Surprised but happy, she kissed back, savoring every moment.

“Ahh!” Upon hearing the voice, the two snapped their heads back as quick as lightning. Then, their jaws dropped to the floor as they recognized the pony who had caught them.

“D...d…d...dad?” Twinkle squeaked out, her voice so high you could barely hear it.

Flash Sentry looked around, then pulled the two over to the door and dragged them outside. “Okay, you two are going to explain to me what in Equestria you were doing and why.” Seeing the terrified looks on their faces, he quickly softened his tone and reassured them, “Don’t worry, I’m not mad. I’m just...surprised. All I want is for you to tell me what you were doing.”

The two looked at each other and silently came to an agreement. There was nothing left to do but tell the truth. Besides, it had to come out eventually, and they both felt that Flash would not judge them as badly as Twilight or Discord would. Nodding, they turned to him. “So,” Twinkle began. “It all started when…”

“What?!” Flash exclaimed, staring at the two of them after hearing their story. He turned to Zany. “Hold on a minute. You put a spell on Twilight and Discord?” he asked, shocked.

Zany winced, looking guilty. “Yeah,” he replied.

Flash took a deep breath, then looked at Zany and Twinkle sternly. “You do realize you can’t keep this a secret forever, right?”

The two shared a glance.

“Yeah,” Twinkle said. I was actually going to tell you and Mom tonight when I told you my other secret, if Zany agreed that is.” She turned to face Zany. “I never did get a chance to ask you.”

Zany shrugged. “Well I guess we definitely should now. We could tell my parents too if you want.”

“Okay,” Twinkle promised. “We’ll tell everyone at the same time. But maybe I should tell them my other secret first, so we don’t have to deal with any flip outs before I get the chance. I’ve been waiting moons to be able to do this.”

Zany nodded. “I understand. But are you sure you want to tell my family you’re secret too?”

Twinkle nodded firmly. “I’m sure. Screwy already knows anyway, and Jewel found out last month. And we’ll tell Applespike too, of course.”

“Excuse me,” Flash butted in. “But what secret. Are you saying you’ve been keeping two big secrets from your parents?” Flash sighed. “Twinkle, you should know better.”

“Dad, listen to me, okay? Just hear me out.”

Flash simply nodded.

“Okay,” Twinkle said. Now I don’t have a good reason for keeping this-” she gestured at herself, then Zany, “-from you, other than Mom and Discord would freak out, but I do have a good reason for keeping my other secret from you. You see, I was told not to tell anyone about my secret until today by the Princesses themselves. Now, they say I can. So I will tell everyone later, after the party.”

“Well,” said Flash. “I don’t have a good argument for that,” he admitted. “But he obviously knows,” he said, pointing at Zany. “And I heard you say that Screwball and Jewel know. So if you told them, why not your own parents?” Flash looked hurt.

“I can explain that too.” Twinkle said calmly. “I only told Zany today, after the Princesses said I could tell ponies. Screwy knew the whole time, what with her lie-detecting skills, and I told Jewel last month to help her get away from those fashion ponies. I had to.”

Flash nodded slowly. “I guess that makes sense. But you are going to tell us later right?”

“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” She smiled at her father. “I’ll tell you later, when I can tell everyone a the same time.”

Twinkle had gone around to all the ponies she needed to tell her secret to and told them to meet her in the Whitetail Woods after the party.

Now that everyone was there, she took a deep breath, looked to Zany for support, who nodded his encouragement, and addressed the group.

“Okay everyone. I bet you’re all wondering why I’ve called you here today.”

Twilight rolled her eyes at that.

Then Twinkle sighed. “I’ve called you here so I can tell you two very important secrets about me. Some of you know them already, but most of you don’t.”

Everyone was paying close attention now.

“Okay, for my first secret, Mom and Dad don’t be mad; the Princesses gave me strict instructions not to tell anypony until today. Anyway, I lied to you all about what my cutie mark means. What it really means is-” she took another deep breath “-I am a dreamwalker like Princess Luna.” She turned to her mother. “That’s why I’m her student and not Celestia’s,” she explained. “I know that bothered you a little.”

“Wow.” Twilight was shocked. “I’m… I’m sorry Twinkle,” she apologized.

“No, it’s okay,” Twinkle reassured her mother. “You didn’t know.”

A couple minutes later, some of the ponies were still getting over the shock, but most of them were getting impatient, wanting to know what the second secret was.

As if on cue, they heard Discord ask, “So what’s your other secret already?!”

Twinkle gulped. “Well…” she glanced around at all the familiar faces, most of them waiting restlessly, Screwy smirking, all her friends and her father waiting more calmly, knowing what was to come, and Zany giving her an encouraging smile under the sarcastic mask he always wore.

Twinkle smiled at that. She had learned to read his face, and found that he had a sweet side, and that the snarky smile he always wore was usually just for show.

Once again, Twinkle faced the group, took a deep breath, and said, “This is my secret.”

She motioned for Zany to come forward. They had planned this beforehand, so Zany did not look surprised.

Once Zany was by her side, she repeated, “This is my secret,” and pulled Zany in and kissed him.

When they pulled apart, they faced a flaming Discord, two open-mouthed speechless mothers, and VERY shocked expressions from everypony else who didn’t know their secret.

However, their immediate concern was the flaming Discord.

“WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO MY SON???”

“Discord!” Fluttershy said in a warning voice.

“WHAT?” Discord was in a rage. He was just as upset as when he found out Screwball was dating a changeling, maybe more.

“Honey, you need to control yourself,” Fluttershy said.

“CONTROL MYSELF? WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT KID HAS BEEN DOING TO MY SON? SHE COULD BE BRAINWASHING HIM FOR ALL WE KNOW!”

‘’I highly doubt Twinkle’s brainwashing Zany,” Fluttershy said. Then she looked at the rest of the group and said, “Excuse us for a moment,” and she took Discord over to the edge of the wood to talk to him, leaving Zany and Twinkle to deal with the rest of them.

“I have just one question,” Applejack said. “Are the two of you happy?”

They both nodded.

“Good,” she answered. “That’s all I needed to know. Applespike, you ready to go?” He nodded, and the two of them left.

Jewel wasn’t there because she already knew both secrets, so that left only Twilight to deal with. The two turned toward her, and were very surprised at what they saw.

Twilight had a very calm look on her face, almost too calm, considering how she had acted the first time.

Twinkle spoke up. “Mom?” she asked tentatively.

Twilight answered, “Yes?”

“Are you okay? You don’t seem mad or sad or scared or even surprised!”

Twilight calmly answered, “Well, it’s like Applejack said, if you two are happy, then that’s all that matters. Besides, your dad seems fine with it.” She nodded her head towards Flash.

The two looked surprised, happy, and scared all at the same time. They had just remembered they still had to deal with Discord, and that scared them more than anything.

Just then, as if he knew they were thinking about him, Discord floated back over toward them, still with a cross expression, but he wasn’t on fire anymore.

He stared down at them and said angrily, “I still don’t like this, but I suppose I can tolerate it.” Then he turned to look right at Twinkle. “But that’s as far as you’re going to get right now, got it?”

She gulped and responded, “Y...yes, sir.”

“Good.” Discord floated back to Fluttershy, and they left.

Zany and Twinkle were left alone. They looked at each other and smiled. They had finally done it. They had told their parents, and they were okay with it! Zany suddenly let out a cry of victory, and he swept up Twinkle and kissed her full on the mouth. She kissed him back, and silently cried victory to herself. She had never been so happy, and neither had Zany. And it was right then and there that they realized they never wanted to leave each other again.

“I love you,” Zany whispered.

“I love you, too,” Twinkle responded, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.