Twilight

An hour had passed in near silence, Anon unwilling to push me to speak and Midnight too busy drinking to care. That was very typical of my godstallion though… he had affectionally earned the title of Uncle, but he loved me as much as a special somepony and I loved him just as much. If only I could confess that to him…

I stared at my cup of apple ale, unsure where exactly to start. Neither Anon nor Luna had tried to talk me out of joining the herd but Midnight had the final say. He broke my thoughts with a question.

“So, kid… are you ready to be a mother?”

I looked at him in shock… “Umm. I’m not sure… Why would you ask that, Uncle Midnight?”

He smiled warmly. “If you keep nursing that cup of ale, it’s going to start calling you mama. Drink it and get whatever is bothering you off your chest.”

Facehooving at the obvious dad joke, I took a long sip, hoping to find my courage at the bottom of the glass. I searched for the right words and gave up. He had always liked direct conversation without beating around the bush or plotting.

I blurted out with no tack. “I want to join the herd. Anon and Luna are both okay with it… I just need your permission.”

He nodded as he finished his current shot of moonshine. “No.”

My jaw dropped. Such a direct response was expected but his rejection still hurt. My ears folded back, and I decided not to fight it. It would be difficult to change his mind on a good day and days after a battle were never good. I should have remembered that…

Anon spoke up. She seemed to be outraged on my behalf. “That’s it! No? Why not? She deserves a real answer. She clearly loves you so why not?”

I was grateful that Anon was willing to stand up for me but I didn’t want to push Midnight further away by fighting with him about this. There had to be a better time to revisit it… To my shock, he answered her.

“I have several reasons to say no. First… Twilight’s mother was one of my lovers before she married her husband and as a rule, I do not date the daughters of former lovers. Second, I helped raise Twilight and I love to treat her as a daughter, much the same as I’ve done for Moon Watcher. Third… and perhaps the most important, I am still very close with Velvet, and I promised her that Twilight would be safe under my care. Dating her… rutting her, marrying her? I can’t break my promises. My honor is all I have. There are other reasons, but I think these few are enough. My answer is no.”

Anon bit her lip, biting back a retort. She sipped on some plain apple juice and considered a loophole. I didn’t dare speak, as Anon seemed to know how to push his buttons.

Finally, she spoke up again. “Why not just ask Velvet if it’s okay? Surely, she would give her blessing if you’re as close as you say you are…”

That seemed to take Midnight aback and I held my breath. He clearly seemed to be considering it…

He put his shot glass down. “Okay… let’s play a little joke on Velvet. Her response will dictate if I change my mind and say yes or if it stays no. Twilight? I’ll need you to write the letter… Velvet needs to see it in your horn writing, so she doesn’t suspect that it’s a joke.”

I jumped at the chance, teleporting to the library to grab my quill and parchment, and then teleporting back. I only belatedly realized that Midnight must have lowered the barrier for me to do so given that most ponies couldn’t teleport in and out of his estate.

I stood at the ready. “I’ll write whatever you to tell me to with no deviations.”

Midnight took another sip of moonshine. He started to speak, and I wrote down every word.

‘Dear Best Mom,

I know I haven’t written to you in a while, but I wanted to tell you that I’m fine. I never expected that I’d end up being the Element of Magic and saving Equestria, but Uncle Midnight taught me well. I’ve become good friends with Princess Luna, and I’ve made some new friends in Ponyville.

Better yet… I’ve gotten closer to Uncle Midnight and his wife, Anon. We had quite the party to celebrate the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the return of Princess Luna and I’m afraid that I drank more than I ever would normally allow myself to and things got a little… heated.

Mom… I think I love him and well, he expressed some love for me as well. I’d like your blessings to court Midnight formally since we… well… how do you feel about grandfoals?

Love,

Best Daughter.’

With a deadpan look, he said. “Send it with magic.”

With a pop of magic, the letter was sent. “What now?”

Midnight’s horn flashed twice. “I put a sound barrier on Silver Tears room, so the fight won’t wake her up, and I’ve teleported more apple ale and moonshine for another guest. It’ll take Velvet about 30 seconds to read the letter. 10 seconds of staring at it. 30 seconds to read it again. 10 seconds to decide to kill me. And 20 seconds to get here.”

I snorted. “My mom doesn’t have the magical power to teleport here from Canterlot.”

Midnight smiled. “She doesn’t have to. I have an emergency teleport rune in the basement of your families Canterlot tower home that sends ponies to the basement of my estate. All she has to do is run to the basement and she’ll be here.”

Anon pursed her lips. “But will she?”

Without time for a reply, an angry mare could be heard from the basement. “Midnight Stalker!!! I’m going to kill you! Face me like a stallion! Where the buck are you?”

Midnight called out casually. “I’m in the living room, Velvet! Bring up some more Ale. I feel like we both need a drink!”

Velvet snarled as her hoofsteps could be heard on the basement stairs. “A drink! You need a sword up your ass! Maybe I’ll just cut off your cock!”

I covered my mouth with my hooves. I had never, in my entire life, heard my mother say anything anywhere close to that.

Midnight smiled. “Ahh. What’s wrong Velvet? You act like I fucked your daughter or something!”

I winced. Listening to Midnight egg my mother on didn’t sit well, joke or not. I didn’t understand what he hoped to gain from pissing her off even more than she already was.

Velvet’s voice got louder as she got closer. “My daughter! You fucked your daughter! I guess it’s my fault for never telling you, but Twilight Sparkle is your daughter! You promised me that you wouldn’t touch her! How dare…”

Velvet rounded the corner to enter the living room and as she looked around the room… she stopped short. “…buck me.”

My ears were folded back, and Midnight seemed shocked silent.

I looked at Midnight with wide eyes… “You’re my father?”

Anon piped up. “Sit down Velvet and have a drink. We have Apple Pie Moonshine and Apple Ale. I think we all have a lot to talk about.”

Velvet nodded dumbly and sat down, opening a fresh jar of moonshine and drinking it straight from the mason jar without bothering to pour a shot.

I spoke first… “Mom… Shining is older than me… there is no way that Midnight is my father unless you cheated on your husband. What happened?”

Velvet gulped a huge amount of moonshine and then burped. “I cheated on my husband… Midnight is your father. That’s why I named him your godstallion. I wanted him to have the chance to spend time with you without telling him the truth. I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

I took a long swig of ale. “You’re apologizing to the wrong pony. Your husband deserves an apology for being cheated on and my father deserves an apology for not knowing he was a dad so he could do the right thing. How dare you keep this lie from all of us for over 20 years?”

The room’s silence stretched on. Mom seemed conflicted but she knew what I said was true.

Anon broke the silence. “Tell us what happened, Velvet. It’ll help.”

* * *

Velvet

I sighed. “It’s a long story…”

Midnight snorted. “That will make it the second long story today. We have all night… although this wasn’t the Twilight confession I was expecting.”

I drank another swig of moonshine. “Well… about 3 years after Shining Armor was born, me and Night Light had an epic fight. It was a borderline divorce level argument, and I didn’t feel safe in our tower home, so… I used the teleport rune that Midnight had made for me and came here. He gave me moonshine and ale… the same thing that we’re drinking now and offered me a shoulder to cry on. We talked about everything… stayed up half the night… and at some point, in my drunken misery, I pushed him onto his back and rode his cock until he came in me. It was all my fault. The only thing that Midnight is guilty of is not trying to stop me. I accept all the blame.

In the morning, I realized my mistake and I was distraught. Midnight escorted me back to Canterlot and helped me apologize to my husband and Night Light thanked Midnight for taking such good care of me while I was upset. I made love to Night Light that night and 3 weeks later, I discovered I was pregnant. There was always a 50/50 chance that Twilight could have the daughter of either of them. Over time, as Twilight’s magical prowess revealed itself, I knew the truth. Midnight was the only one who could have fathered such a powerful unicorn.”

Midnight sighed. “That’s hardly proof. Your family line has had several very powerful mages in it. Night Light might not be the best mage but that doesn’t mean he’s not the father.”

I shook my head. “Shining has a white coat and blue mane. A good mix of me and Night Light. Twilight is Lavender. Lavender! She shares almost no qualities with me or my husband. You think your coat is black, but I disagree. It’s a royal purple so dark that it looks black unless the sunlight hits it just right. And what do you get when you mix a pure white coat with a purple coat so dark that it looks black?”

Twilight answered softly. “Lavender…”

I teared up. “I trusted you! You fucked your own daughter…”

Midnight winced… “Actually…”

I gasped. “Oh, buck me sideways… this was a joke, wasn’t it?”

Twilight sighed. “Kinda? I wanted your consent to join Midnight’s herd. He’s married to Anon and will eventually marry Princess Luna. He told me no but once Anon begged him to reconsider he decided to test the waters by playing a prank to see if he could gain permission to court me. Neither of us expected this…”

I started to cry, and I was surprised when Midnight held me gently. He should have hated me for keeping all this from him and I just couldn’t understand his forgiveness.

I barked a laugh through my tears. “This feels just like that one night. We were drunk, I was crying, you tried to comfort me, and I fucked you! You want another foal?”

Midnight snorted. “I don’t know… your kinda old now. My daughter is much more appealing…”

I gasped before I burst into laughter, finally no longer crying. Midnight’s rebuke was a long time in coming. It allowed me to release tension that I badly needed to let go. After a moment of laughter, I felt empty, and I sighed loudly.

“I need to confess all of this to Night Light, but I don’t know how. This secret has been eating me for years… I love my husband… you know? I love him so much and I betrayed him in the worst possible way. I don’t deserve him, and I don’t want to lose him, but I bucked up so badly and I just don’t know how to live with myself anymore… How do you confess that you ruined everything? How can you be sorry for a mistake this big and for a lie held for this long?”

Another stallion’s voice spoke into the living room. “Just tell me, Velvet…”

Twilight and Anon lumped in their seats but Midnight just softly cleared his throat.

“You want a drink, Night Light?”

Night Light entered the living room and nodded. “Just ale, please. That moonshine apparently makes you do stupid shit.”

I winced as if slapped. “Nighty… I…”

Night Light held up a hoof to stop me from speaking and then took a swig of ale. “I heard the whole confession. It sounded both heartfelt and honest given that there was no way you could have known I was here to eavesdrop… And… I’ve known for years anyways…”

The whole room was stunned silent.

Anon finally asked the question everypony needed an answer to. “How did you know?”

Night Light looked at her. “I had a test done. There’s a paternity spell for this. She’s not mine. I’ve known since she was 3.”

Midnight leaned forward, sounding very sober considering how much he had drunk.

“And yet you never said anything. Why?”

Night Light took another swig of ale. “I love my wife as much as she loves me. We had a fight. It was a stupid fight, and it was my fault. I chased her away to where she felt safe… right back into your hooves. You could have kept her… you have titles and land and wealth and everything that the Canterlot gentry would kill for… but you brought her back to me. I would have never even met her if not for you… you introduced us for Celestia’s sake! I knew that you were a former lover of hers and I suspected that I would never be able to match your prowess in bed any more than I could have on a battlefield… and yet, she came back to me, and she stayed. We’ve barely fought since. I can’t hate you for taking care of her in her time of need and I can’t hate the foal that was the result. I kinda suspected that Velvet forced herself onto you because you’ve always been too honorable to fuck a married mare… not on purpose, anyways. I wanted to tell you that Twilight was yours… but I couldn’t. It would have broken Velvet to know that I knew. So, I did the next best thing. I encouraged you to spend more time with Twilight. All those fatherly lessons you gave her… you treated her like your own without even knowing it. I’m convinced that Twilight made it into Princess Celestia’s School for gifted Unicorns because of what you taught her. I wouldn’t take it back. I wouldn’t change it. I love what we have, and I must thank you for it. I do have one selfish request… if you will allow it.”

Midnight took in a deep breath of air and exhaled slowly. “Given what you’ve put up with… you are due one request. I know that look though. I’m not going to like this… am I?”

Night Light shook his head. “It’ll likely be the hardest thing you’ve ever done.”

I hedged. “If you are truly in a forgiving mood, Nighty… I would request that your request isn’t too harsh for Midnight. He’s done the best he could and it’s not his fault… it’s mine…”

Night Light nodded. “Velvet’s family has a lineage that goes all the way back to the Old Kingdom. This type of betrayal would cause generational shaming that Canterlot unicorns would never forget and would likely never let go. My entire family could be ruined. Shining and Twilight’s futures shattered. Therefore… I would request that you marry Twilight Sparkle.”

Anon raised an eyebrow. “You endorse him marrying his own daughter?”

Night Light shook his head. “No. I endorse him marrying my daughter. Velvet’s infidelity can never be known. If he marries my daughter… the secret will never even be questioned. Whether or not you have foals or not is your business, but the secret must be kept. On your honor, take responsibility. Protect Velvet’s good name by marrying her daughter.”

I hung my head in shame. Night Light’s argument made sense, but it was wrong to force Midnight to do this, even for my honor. Or his own…

Midnight sighed. “I’ll do it. If I’m being honest with myself… I’ve stayed close to many families that I had lovers in the past, and even going by the ‘Don’t date daughters of mares I’ve fucked’ rule, it’s hard to keep tract after the 3rd generation… so if any of them were my descendants from mares that wouldn’t admit that I was father, technically I’ve already fucked my granddaughters and great-granddaughters from former lovers. I’ve just been lying to myself these last several hundred years. I’ve never had a true actual admitted daughter before so that makes it awkward… but if Twilight can bring herself to fuck her dad… I guess I can marry her.”

Twilight whispered. “Can I think about this for a while?”

I nodded. “Of course, sweetheart. Don’t let Night Light’s request or Midnight’s acceptance force you to say yes.”

Twilight finished her glass of ale. “I’m going back to the library. I have a lot to think about.”

* * *

Midnight

Once Twilight left, I sighed. “She seemed so eager to marry me before she knew I was her dad but it’s reasonable for her to want to change her mind. I would still do it to protect Velvet but all jokes aside, I’m not sure I could consummate the marriage knowing for sure who she is.”

Anon raised her eyebrows. “You’ve said over and over again that you’ve never had foals and now foals are falling out of the sky. What’s up with that?”

I chuckled. “I’ve always suspected I had a few foals but the mares never said anything so I can’t claim them without proof. By Celestia, I had sex with Granny Smith about 60 years ago. She got pregnant but never told me if the colt was mine. Bright Mac was her only offspring, and I don’t believe that she ever got married. He was very beefy for an Earth Pony so there might have been some alicorn influence there… For all I know, Applejack is my granddaughter… It is a very real possibility. I should have stopped you from trying to hire her to be a surrogate mare to bear a foal for us before you knew you were pregnant. But despite knowing all that I know… I almost did it, knowing the possibility existed. I’m not turned on by incest, but I’ve never turned down a pretty, single, mare. Maybe that’s my one weakness in life. Every stallion has a failing.”

Night Light smiled. “At least we have that in common. I could never turn down a pretty mare either.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh? Is Twilight a virgin or did you get there first? Knowing that you’re not the father should have made it easier and even if it wasn’t… unicorns seem to be more into that than the other tribes.”

Night Light blushed. “I might have been left with the responsibility of giving her the talk and a physical demonstration seemed easier… she’s just as good as her mother… though… I’ve only had her once.”

I snorted. “I guess that makes you even with Velvet… unless you had her permission…”

Velvet shook her head. “I never knew he did that, and I wouldn’t have approved of it if he asked me first. But yes… it does make us even… kinda.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Kinda? Kinda even doesn’t sound like even to me…”

Velvet took another gulp of moonshine and explained herself. “I don’t think I would have minded if he cheated on me with another mare to even the score… but fucking my daughter in my own home is a bridge too far… he went too far…”

Night Light seemed a little subdued by her critique and I backed it up with another question.

“At least Velvet was a mare when she cheated. How old was Twilight when you had the talk? 12?”

Night Light looked shocked. “Oh, goodness no. Twilight was a very late bloomer and the only reason I ended up having to give her the talk was because she never even tried to bring home colts and Velvet was worried that she didn’t know what she was missing. When it comes to something like sex, you can’t really show a pony what they are missing without a physical demonstration, although I’ll admit that I used the loophole to my advantage. This was only a few years back… shortly after she turned 17. I don’t think about it much… I don’t like thinking about it at all, in fact, and I probably wouldn't have done it if she was my biological daughter.”

My expression shifted. “She was still underaged though. So… should I kill you for fucking my daughter while she was still only 17?”

Velvet gulped. “I think we should leave…”

I nodded. “Maybe that would be best…

They left quickly; the pop of the teleport rune in the basement almost inaudible.

Anon sighed. “What are you going to do?”

I sighed. “I don’t know.”

* * *

Author's Note

So... What should Midnight do? Should he marry Twilight Sparkle to honor Night Light's request or treat her like a daughter.

All comments are welcome.