“Ok, but why am I here?” you ask, standing in the shadow of Princess Twilight’s Castle.
“Because you’re family,” a soft voice answered from your waist, “Now come along sweetie, we don’t want to be late.”
You watch the grey unicorn walk towards the castle. Her tail swished left and right as she trots up the stairs. Twilight Velvet, mother of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Prince Shining Armour. Although you had only met her a few months ago, she quickly became a close friend. Maybe because she was older, or not as energetic as some of your other friends, but it was defiantly easier to relax in her company.
Scratching your head, you catch up to her and open the door.
“That sounds flimsy, Velvet,” you say as the two of you head down the corridors. “It’s supposed to be a Twilight Family Catch-up Dinner. Says so on the invitation.” You take out and wave the pink envelope in your hand, stray bits of coloured confetti flying from their paper prison.
“I get why Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were invited, they’re Cadances’ –“
“Princess Cadance.”
“-Right, right. Princess Cadances’ aunties. Makes them family. And to a lesser extent I get the other Elements of Harmony too. Pinkie gave her whole ‘Honorary family members’ speech already,” You sigh, still feeling out of sorts, “but me? I’ve been here what, six months? Not exactly done anything to be praised either, let alone be worth calling a family member.”
Velvet looks up at you with a soft smile, “Oh don’t be silly. We all think of you as family, and a family catch-up wouldn’t be the same without you. Besides,” her eyes narrow slightly, a playful grin appearing on her lips, “Cadance has been asking about you.”
Your eyes roll. The last time you saw her, she was obsessed with finding you a ‘special somepony’. She may be the Princess of Love, but finding someone special for you was entering serious obsession territory with her.
The two of you finally reach the dining hall, where you open the door for your companion. The sounds of chat and laughter enter your ears as you both walk in. Inside the hall stood a large donut-shaped table, the middle is large enough to house a statue or some sort of centrepiece, but today it lay bare. The table itself is adorned with several pieces of flowery décor along plates and cutlery laid out. Though the flowers may have actually been appetisers, as several seemed to have missing petals.
‘Guess someone couldn’t resist starting early,’ you chuckle to yourself.
“Ah there you two are,” a voice called out. A large white unicorn approaches the two of you, “We thought you had gotten lost.”
“Ah, sorry, Shining,” Velvet smiled, “SOMEpony was dragging their feet.” She looked up at you with a grin.
“Yeah, yeah. Blame me.” You fold your arms and put on a most exaggerated hurt face. “How are you doing, Shining? Still pulling all-nighters?”
Shining laughed, “Nah. Flurry is sleeping much better now. It means I can get some sleep too!”
He turns back to the table and the two of you follow him looking for your seats.
“Hmm, no Night Light?” You ponder, looking around the room.
“No, he got stuck at work,” Shining answered. “Sounded like somepony really dropped the ball and he stayed to help clean up the mess.”
“That’s a shame,” you muse. Night Light certainly has it hard sometimes.
Velvet smiles, “It’s ok. I’ll make it up to him later.”
You smile and wave at the other guests, greeting them in passing as you head towards the two empty seats. You head to pull out one of the seats, but are caught as a light glow surrounds them and they move on their own.
“Can’t have you doing everything now can we,” Velvet chirps at your side before hoping into her seat. You smile and sit yourself down next to her.
Getting comfortable in your seat, you finally have a chance to look around the table. To your left, you greet Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
“Hey! Who do you think can eat the most?” Rainbow piped up.
“Huh?”
“See, I reckon I can eat waaaay more than AJ here.”
“We are here to enjoy ourselves, Sugercube,” Applejack responded. “Not stuff ourselves senseless.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Rainbow said dejectedly. “I wouldn’t want to accept a challenge knowing I’d lose either.” Rainbow knew exactly what she was doing.
“Oh you are going DOWN!” Applejack took the bait and rose to the challenge.
You chuckle at their exchange as you continue to look around. From the words you manage to pick out, Rarity, Fluttershy and Princess Celestia were engrossed in a conversation about different fashions through the ages. Though it could also have been popular torture methods… You’re not sure which is worse.
Princess Luna and Pinkie Pie were laughing with each other, no doubt discussing past pranks and future ideas. Princess Luna has always favoured Pinkie, and it’s even more evident here. Laughter truly can cure anything.
Shining Armour is cooing into his lap where little Flurry Heart is giggling. He’s got this in the bag. Princess Cadance is chuckling along with Princess Twilight. They seem to be talking about anything and everything, like long lost sisters who finally managed to meet up. You catch her smiling in your direction, giving a quick wink before carrying on with Twilight.
‘Here’s hoping she hasn’t come up with another bright idea.’ You sigh.
Spike sits at his seat between both Twilights, reading one of his comics. Finally you look down at Velvet sitting next to you. She beams at you and you can’t help but smile back. Good friends, relaxed atmosphere. What more could you want?
Before you can strike up any meaningful conversations however, the food arrives. And it looks amazing! Despite there being no meat at the table, the selection is still catered to include you as well. A decent selection of fruit and vegetables, roasted, fried and raw. Different types of bread, a choice of sauces. There’s even a small selection of gems that looks like it belongs in a high end tapas restaurant. Spike rubs his claws together, drool escaping his lips.
You reach over and start to grab food onto your plate.
‘This part is defiantly made easier with hands,’ you smile, until you notice one of the bowls of veg float past you in a purple aura. “Magic would be nice though,” you mutter.
A sudden assault of food shifts your focus to your left, where Rainbow Dash and Applejack have commenced their little competition. At the rate the food is disappearing into their mouths, there won’t be anything left for anyone else. Maybe they should have been given buckets instead of plates… or troughs.
Turning your focus back to your plate, Velvet catches your attention. “Could you pass the parsnips dear?”
“Certainly,” you smile as you reach for the bowl of roasted parsnips and pass them to her. “Here you go.”
“Thank y-“
“Hold it!” A cry echoes around the chamber. Rainbow and Applejack slowly swallow the mouthful of food they had. Everyponys attention is caught in the moment.
“I sense something…” All eyes fall to Princess Cadance, who has risen from her seat. Her front hooves planted on the table. “Somepony is in love.”
“Well duuh,” Rainbow burst out with sarcasm. “Your here, Shining’s here.”
“Yeah! Yeah! And I’m sure we all love each other anyway,” agreed Pinkie from the other side of the table. “We are all family right? Right?... Don’t leave me hanging here.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Cadance restarted. “This is different. Stronger. Somepony is IN love.” Her voice giddy with anticipation, her eyes widen at the thought. She always did go a bit funny when love was concerned. It must have come with the title.
She starts scanning the room. The only sounds were from Shining and Flurry as they played together, ignoring the mare. Her head turns slowly, eyeing everyone in the room. Her eyes pass over you before stopping. She looks back at you and her eyes somehow get even larger. “Oh. My. Auntie!”
Without any warning, she leaps into the middle of the table and trots up to you. Her giddiness obvious in each step she took. “It’s you! It’s defiantly you. Ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy!” She proceeds to mutter in excitement, preforming a really weird swirly jig that would make a blind pony groan in discomfort. “Who is it? You gotta tell me! Who’s the lucky somepony?!”
“Err…” You murmur, backing into your chair as Cadance places her hooves on the table before you, getting ever closer.
“Come on, you can tell me,” she purrs.
A switch flips in your mind. If she wants to place this game, why not take her for a spin. You push your chair back, a grin crossing your face as you stand to meet her straight on. “Are you sure you want to know?” you utter back, a hint of seduction in your voice.
“Yes! Yes! Tell me!” As giddy as a filly, her excitement soars.
You place your hand on a small spoon. “Are you sure -“ you tap the back of the spoon on her long neck “- you want to know?” You stare into her eyes. “Here. In front of all your friends? Are you ready to face those -“ You slide the spoon slowly up her neck “- consequences?”
The princess releases a small ‘eep’. Silence holds over the room as your audience stare with bated breath.
“Yes,” she breathes.
“And what if,” you utter, slowly inching your face closer to hers. “What if it’s you?”
An audible gasp passes through the air. The only pony to not be staring at you is Shining Armour, who simply rolls his eyes as he continues to play with his daughter.
“What if,” you continue, moving the spoon gently up her neck. “The last time I saw you, my heart couldn’t take it anymore.”
“Coul... Couldn’t take it?” Cadance whispers a barely audible response. Her wings betraying her thoughts as they slowly start to spread.
“What if the last time you left, my heart burst with love? A love I had been keeping hidden. What would you do then?” The spoon you had been moving up her neck reaches the base of her muzzle. Applying a tiny amount of pressure, you start to bring the princess closer to you.
“Can you imagine it? The scandal that would follow?” Cadances’ eyes gloss over. You had her hanging onto your every word, like a fish on a hook. You inch her forward ever so slightly. Her wings spreading out even further.
“You. Princess of Love. Ruler of the Crystal Empire. Loving mother. Devoted wife.” Your spoon brings her even closer to you as it graces the underside of her muzzle. “And me. This unique. Exotic. Alien beast from beyond reality.” You can feel her breath on your lips. Your spoon approaching the end of her muzzle. Even Shining Armour has stopped playing and is watching you cautiously.
“What would the papers say?” You breathe. “What would the ponies think… If they... found out…” Your lips are so close together now, you can almost taste them. “That…”
“That..?” She softly repeats.
“That…- ” Boop! The back of your spoon taps her gently on the nose. Startled, she tumbles over backwards and collapses onto the cold floor, wings splayed out on the floor as she lands unceremoniously on her back before flopping to her side.
“- That you are such a dummy Cadance.” You grin. A full hearty laugh erupting and bouncing around the room. But it didn’t come from you. You glance around, looking for the laughs origin. And find that it comes from none other than Twilight Velvet herself. Her laughter fills the air and eases the room as other start to join in. Despite the circumstances, the laughter isn’t malicious; it’s not aimed at Princess Cadance or yourself. It just is, and it’s a good laughter.
“You’re such an ass.” The princess huffs as she gets up off the floor. Pouting, she flaps her wings and flutters back to her seat.
“Got you good there, huh sweetheart.” Shining grins, giving his wife a quick hug and peck on the cheek before return to a now giggling Flurry Heart. Cadance crosses her front legs over and furrows her eyebrows as Twilight giggles, consoling her sister-in-law.
You sit back in your seat as the conversations start up again around the room.
“That was fun to watch,” Velvet sighs, regaining her breath.
“I bet,” you reply with a cheery smile.
The rest of the dinner goes by smoothly. Laughter and conversation filling the room as everyone ate their fill. Spike falling asleep in his chair after gorging himself on gems. Rainbow and Applejack drew in their devouring contest; no doubt each will need a bucket soon. Princess Cadance trying, and failing, to give you the occasional evil eye. All in all, it was a fun dinner with a fun family. A family you were happy to be accepted into.
