Standing United

Chapter 4

Twilight Sparkle was in her element. Although come to think of it, that statement probably stood to be clarified somewhat, given she was the Element of Magic. Twilight Sparkle was in her organizational element. With the hoards of the Multiverse clamoring at Equuis’ collective doorstep obviously things needed to be set up to handle the incoming influx of otherworldly visitors.

Thus Twilight was filling out permits in triplicate, writing reports for the best place to build new facilities, and balancing budgets for these endeavors. It was heavenly. It was especially nice to get back in the swing of things after being out of the game so long! Why, between being stuck with Tom and not existing, it had been months since she had gotten to just relax with a good bit of bureaucracy!

What was that? Avoiding her family? Why, what a ridiculous notion! She definitely hadn’t found anything about a very touching funeral that would make it infinitely awkward to go say ‘hi’ to her Mom and Dad in Duskfall’s memories! Not at all! The sheer audacity anyone would have to say such a thing!

Twilight simply enjoyed doing paperwork in a locked room in the depths of Duskfall’s crystal castle! That may or may not be another point of contention. Duskfall insisted it was her castle when she hadn’t even existed when the Tree had made it and Duskfall had been living here for…at least a portion of her life. Twilight tried not to think about Duskfall’s ‘lost years’ if she could help it. She was eternally grateful that those memories hadn’t been passed on to her.

“Twilight Sparkle, we know you’re in there! Come out with your hooves up and the fountain pen on the desk!” There was a pounding on the door and a voice that sounded uncannily like her own demanding her unconditional surrender. Twilight’s ears pinned against her head.

“You can’t make me!” Was her childish retort as she clutched her fountain pen to her breast.

“All evidence points to the contrary,” Was Duskfall’s dry response, “But I’d rather not unleash all the powers of Insanity upon you and Mom and Dad may or may not be upstairs so…”

“WHAT?!” Twilight squawked, her shock causing her to fumble her pen, “W-What are they doing here?!”

“You’ve been total hermit mode for a week Twi. Tom and I both know you well enough to know you need some tough love,” Duskfall replied patiently. Twilight could practically see the little hellion’s self-satisfied smirk through the door. She was enjoying this, Twilight just knew it!

“Tell them I’m sick with dragon pox or something!” All pretext of not avoiding her parents was out the window as Twilight tried to hide under her desk.

“The fact that’s your response tells me that Tom and I were absolutely right. Now, you can either come out on your own, I can force you to come out, or I can go bring Mom and Dad here and you can try to lie to them directly. I think we both know how that would turn out,” Duskfall laid out her options in such an infuriatingly matter-of-fact tone.

Twilight was tempted to try teleporting away, but as soon as that thought entered her head she felt anti-teleportation wards go up around the room. Twilight ground her teeth. Damnable treasonous foliage!

“Fine! I know when I’m beaten!” Twilight reluctantly slunk out of the room. Purple eyes met purple eyes, “You’re evil, you know that?”

“Evil’s just my side hustle,” Duskfall replied with a cheeky grin, “Now come on, the folks and time wait for nopony!”

Despite admitting defeat, Twilight still dragged her hooves as much as was possible. This turned out to be not that much when Duskfall was using one of her wings to bodily shove Twilight along. When had she gotten so strong?! Or maybe Twilight was just weak. Whatever the case, all too soon Twilight could hear the voice of her Mom and Dad.

Anxiety made her heart thunder and she broke out in a cold sweat. She was trembling from horn tip to tail. Yet no matter how much she squirmed, Duskfall’s wing made sure she continued her steady march onward. Just as Twilight was working up the nerve to bolt…

“Mom, Dad, she’s here!” Duskfall called into the next room and Twilight suddenly found herself in warm parental embrace.

“Oh my sweet baby girl, it’s really you!” Her Dad’s voice thick with emotion. His embrace was as warm as she remembered.

“Twilight! Twilight!” Her Mom cried into her shoulder, her forelegs wrapped around her barrel in a vice grip, as if afraid that letting go for just a moment would cause her to vanish like morning fog.

“Mom…Dad…” Twilight tried to speak, but her own voice was hoarse as she felt herself tearing up. Words failed her as she started sobbing, holding her parents tight. What had she been so afraid of? These were her parents! She had missed them so much! The three of them held each other and cried until they couldn’t cry any more.

“Twilight Sparkle, don’t you dare do anything like that again!” Her Mom was finally able to say when she could speak through the tears.

“Yes Mom,” Twilight said obediently. They both knew it wasn’t truly an option, but right now empty platitudes were all that mattered.

“And no more avoiding us either,” Her Dad chimed in, to which her Mom nodded vigorously.

“Yes Dad,” Twilight replied. That one was much more doable, “I should probably see Cadence and Shiny too…”

“And Flurry,” Mom added. That’s right; Twilight had a niece now, didn’t she? It was still hard sometimes to believe her dork of a brother was married! And now he had a kid! What a world it was, huh?

“Flurry too,” Twilight agreed. She was intensely curious as to what her niece was like. She had been born a few weeks premature and so had come into this world just before Duskfall had made her pact with Death.

“Make sure Tom and Dusk go with you when you do. I’m sure Flurry wants to meet all her aunts and uncles,” Velvet said. Any idea that Tom and Duskfall weren’t family had been abolished long ago.

“Will do Mom,” Twilight promised.

“Actually dear, Flurry’s Crystaling is in a couple of weeks. Why don’t we all go as a family?” Night Light suggested.

“That’s a wonderful idea!” Velvet exclaimed, pulling back slightly to look Twilight in the eyes, “Twilight, you three will come with us, right?”

“I sincerely doubt it will just be the three of us coming,” Twilight said dryly, her face in a half lidded smile.

“That’s fine dear. I might get the chance to finally be properly introduced to your friends!” Velvet waved her off. Twilight decided to not mention they would also be bringing Starlight. Duskfall was not about to let the mare out of her sight, a notion Twilight fully supported. Starlight had proven far too troublesome to be left unattended until she proved she had turned over a new leaf.

“Then I better start making preparations,” Twilight said and untangled herself from her parent’s hugs. Fluffing her wings to check for any bent feathers she smiled at her mom and dad, “There are a lot of things that need to be taken care of between now and then, not the least of which is inviting my friends to the event.”

Twilight Velvet looked a little put out that she wouldn’t be able to hug her baby some more, but was able to swallow it, “We’ll see you then sweetheart.”

“Try not to get into too much trouble in the mean time,” Night Light said in a mix of genuine fatherly concern and sarcasm.

“I make no promises,” Twilight said honestly. Both her parents just sighed. They knew trouble followed their children wherever they went and that they could usually handle themselves, but that knowledge brought them no comfort. Especially because of that usually part.

“Then at least don’t get into trouble you can’t handle,” Velvet begged.

“I think I can manage that much,” Twilight gave her mom another hug, “And worse come to worse, we do have Death’s right hand to help.”

“Somehow that isn’t particularly comforting,” Night Light deadpanned, looking distinctly uncomfortable at the mention of someone so closely associated with Death of all things.

“He’s really not scary at all. He’s just a big goofball worse than Shiny. You’ll understand when you meet him,” Twilight tried to assure them as she pulled back from her hug.

“If you say so honey,” Velvet said, sharing her husband’s apprehensions. Twilight gave them both a look.

“You weren’t nearly this nervous about Discord and David did bring me and Tom back,” She pointed out. Her parents visibly deflated at this.

“I suppose you’re right Twi Pie,” Velvet relented. Twilight cringed at the sound of her childhood nickname. Bad enough Daring Doo of all ponies knew and had ‘accidentally’ leaked it to Rainbow.

“We’ll give him a chance. It’s the least we can do for him bringing our kids back to us,” Night Light said, “Now we should be going.”

One more hug and Twilight’s parents departed and with them a weight Twilight hadn’t even realized she’d been carrying. She really was so silly sometimes, getting so wrapped up in her own head. Now she just had to do the same thing with Shiny and Cadence with what amounted to a family vacation.

Well, it would probably be fine. After all, Flurry was only a couple of weeks old. How much trouble could she possibly be?

Author's Note

That little date next to the chapter upload of chapter 3 has to be lying right? Surely it means to say Oct 2023, not 2022...right?

Insomnia once again proves to be the bane of my existence and the salvation of my writing. I was farting around doing nothing in particular when I decided to read some fimfic for the first time in a while and ended up clicking on "The Crazy Adventures of Two Siblings Who Hate Each Other in Equestria". For some reason this sparked my drive to write and I got this done finally.