The Family Cygnet

The evening came quietly. Shining had spent the first half of the day collecting his thoughts at the house, and the second half of the day wandering Canterlot and reminiscing about his youth. He saw the streets he grew up on, similar but different.

An old shop had moved to a new location. Another was gone entirely. A small, busy corner now looked abandoned. Another had turned into a strangely busy shopping center. The worst were the things that hadn’t changed.

Little islands of nostalgia surrounded by bizarre and alien buildings, roads and ponies. It was still Canterlot, but it wasn’t his Canterlot. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t good. It was just… different. And not how he remembered it.

The sights didn’t comfort him like he’d hoped. Instead they made him uneasy. Nervous.

The only moment of refuge was old Donut Joe’s. When he went inside, it was like being transported back in time. Everything was the same except Old Joe, who just had a few more wrinkles. And some new flavors.

Instead of the Celestia themed Royal donuts with white icing and sun designs, there were Twilight themed donuts. A Royal Canterlot special, apparently. Shining had tried one, simply for the novelty. The donut was good, but the experience was surreal.

He wondered if he should have been uncomfortable about eating an effigy to his sister. Donut Joe had proudly announced that they were the best seller; and not just for tourists. Shining had laughed, thanked him for the treat, and been on his way back into the strange world.

It was odd; he’d been to Canterlot plenty over the last few years. But always on business or to visit the family. Never to visit the city.

He felt like he’d abandoned an old friend, and it had moved on without him. Now he was rediscovering it again, and wasn’t sure if he liked the changes or not.

Still, he was willing to try, and he decided that was the important thing.

The sun set and he returned to his parents’ house to find Twilight and them sitting around a coffee table, with a series of paper diagrams between the three of them and talking quietly.

She looked up, noticing him first. Her smile was bright, but somehow nervous, and she shuffled the paperwork when she saw him. “Shining! I am so happy to see you. We were just going over the plans for the kitchen fixes, and I was wondering what you thought about… green?”

Night and Velvet looked at each other in confusion.

Shining frowned. “Well, it’s a color? Are you asking about making the kitchen green?”

Twilight looked to Velvet, who bit her lip and then sighed. “Yes, green. I was considering a green trim. Night was considering a red trim. Isn’t that right, honey?”

Night Light frowned, glancing at Twilight, then at Shining. “No, I don’t actually want red trim. I just used that as an example, just so everybody knows their options. But she isn’t letting it go.”

Twilight timidly slid a small card of paper to her father, looking strangely hopeful. “If you don’t want red, does that mean you’re on board with green?”

He looked nervously between the two of them, and then with a defeated glance at Shining. “I don’t necessarily think green is the right choice for a family kitchen, but if you two want it then I’m definitely on board.”

Shining looked at what was left of the trim. He’d seen enough unnecessary changes today, and didn’t need to be part of one more. “Green… is an odd choice for a kitchen. What if you just keep it the same shade of crème white you had it before?”

All three of them seemingly relaxed. Twilight smiled. “Good idea, Shining!”

Velvet nodded. “I always did like that color.”

Night seemed excited. “It’s perfect.”

Twilight beamed. “Now that that’s settled, I think we should celebrate!”

Shining frowned, feeling slightly lost. “What are we celebrating, exactly? Picking a color for the trim?”

Velvet sighed, frustrated. “It’s been a point of contention all day.”

Night growled. “I told you both that I wasn’t against it! I just wanted to make completely sure we all are really okay with this color. It’s a big change.”

Velvet glared angrily at him. “And we are. We have been. You’ve just been difficult.”

Twilight noticed Shining’s obvious confusion and frowned. “Guys, we’re going with Mom’s coat color for the kitchen again, remember?”

Night sighed. “Yes, I know. I just wanted to make sure that your mother fully understood my position.”

Velvet took a deep breath, glared at her husband, and sighed. “Okay, now that we’ve decided the trim color, what appliances will we be purchasing?”

Twilight piped up, suddenly excited as she reshuffled the stack of papers. “I made a chart for that! A few actually. There were thirty nine options just to optimize placement of devices for maximal kitchen use, depending on a variety of factors. They map potential hoof patterns along with energy use and how often you’d be utilizing each appliance.”

Velvet and Night glanced at each other and both weakly smiled. Velvet shot a tired glare at Shining. He could see the pain in her face. “More charts… again. How nice.”

A spell warned him that a missive was incoming from Cadance. Shining silently thanked his wife.

“I’m glad you all are making progress on this. But Cadance is about to send me a letter that I really have to check in on. You three have fun! I shouldn’t be too long.” He muttered to himself, “at least thirty nine charts’ worth.”