You tried.

You really did try.

That was just all too much.

Still, you couldn’t help but hope you hadn’t come off as rude. Surely not, right? Like, if anything, that’s the proper reaction to… All of that. Just leaving? That whole interaction was already going to be keeping you up tonight; and of course here you are now worrying about your own decorum during said interaction on top of it all.

Perhaps it’s poetic justice: Go around inquiring about other pony’s sex lives, you’re gonna end up seeing some sex. Or something. The wind had definitely been taken out of your sails, sure, but the Sparkle household wasn’t too far from Canterlot’s stadium. Er, the Velvet household, you suppose. The sun was falling to the horizon now anyway, and you’d prefer be on your way toward the Rock Farm after speaking with Twilight’s parents, rather than catching a train back to Ponyville for the night.

You’d rather avoid thinking about Ponyville at all for the moment, in fact.

The walk through late-afternoon Canterlot had been a good palate cleanser thus far, what with how the unicorns avoided undressed and winged-ponies alike. You were doubly free to collect your thoughts and reflect, taking your time to meander along the marbled streets of Equestria’s capital. Twilight had told you once a while ago where she’d grown up. Down to the address. She had a tendency to overshare, though perhaps unaware she was even doing so. A quirk of being a pony so consistently precise, as one who so loved to learn facts and factoids was often equally keen on sharing them too.

Addedly, you were a good listener.

Navigating through Canterlot’s high-class garden parks and neighborhood side streets, the unassuming, although no less easy on the eyes Velvet household came into view. You slow your pace some, taking in the sight, as well as double and triple checking the numbers on the houses that had lay closer to you to ensure you were going to be knocking on the right door. It struck you as odd that the parents of the Princess of Friendship would be living so equally among their peers. Never had it crossed your mind that royalty wouldn’t scale retroactively up the family tree. Perhaps this just reflected the kind of ponies Twilight’s parents were– you’d never met, after all. If your intuition is correct though, they should be your kind of ponies.

A few final moments of quiet contemplation are cherished, before you knock your hoof against the door of Sparkle’s fillyhood home. A muffled “oh!” vibrates through the weathered oak, and an approaching shuffling proceeds. So what if Rarity’s parents were more or less a bust? One-for-two so far is… Almost a passing grade.

You’re not out of this race yet!

Night Light answers the door, his face carrying about as much shock as it does joy. ”Well now! Velvet dear! You’ll never guess who’s at the door!”

You’d met him and Velvet both at Shining Armor’s wedding, and again at Twilight’s Coronation. A motherly voice echoes from deeper inside “oh? Surely not Twilight? Unless she’s made a surprise visit!?”

Your mouth can only begin to open, before another familiar voice shuts up your throat.

”Velvet, you know Twilight would’ve sent letters in advance long before making a visit… Heheh, unless of course Equestria were to be at stake. Again…”

A silence fills the air, Night Light and you silently agreeing through a shared look and restrained giggles to keep the two in suspense. It doesn’t take long for two– no, three heads to poke out from a hallway beyond the stallion. Twilight Velvet, flanked alongside Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, stare nervously from their defenses, surely dreading the worst.

“Hehe, no ‘fate of Equestria’ here today…”

Their fears die out in relieved sighs, and those are in turn swept away with delighted gasps.

”Fluttershy!? Oh, now this is a surprise! First my son and daughter-in-law, now a family friend! Tell me, are your friends with you? I can’t imagine you’ve come all this way on your own just for us?”

Night Light steps aside, allowing you entrance.

“F-funnily enough, that’s exactly what I’ve done.”

Cadence can hold herself back no longer. With a giddy “eee~!” you find yourself wrapped up in a great hug. ”Fluttershy! It’s been too long!”

Shiny bows his head politely, “I mean, what are the odds that you of all ponies swing by, by yourself no less?”

You return the Princess’ hug, and attempt to hold back your blush. All this attention, you’d never have expected. Though, you equally hadn’t expected Cadence and Shining to be here either. Another act of fate, you hope. “O-oh, I was just in the neighborhood…”

Alight (no pun intended) at the display before him, Night Light is nearly skipping back into the kitchen. ”Popcorn’s just about done, everypony! Fluttershy, please make yourself at home: We were just about to begin Scrabble!”

“Oh, joy!”

This was a much, much needed palate cleanser after earlier. The semi-reunited family was huddled together in the lofty living room, enjoying one another’s company as the sun began to set in clear view of the Velvet residence’s grand window. And here you were, immediately welcomed as not just a plus-one or third wheel, but truly one of their own.

”So, Flutters-” Shining began, tossing down another clump of magically-bonded popcorn kernels, “what brought you all the way to Canterlot? I’d imagine those animals of yours would keep your hooves full all the time. Some special birdseed around here or something?”

You cradle a drink Night Light made for you with both hooves as you survey your letter tiles; something purple and fruity, very easy on the tongue, though the presence of alcohol is obvious. “Well, I’m actually on a bit of a, hmm, quest at the moment.” You lean closer, digging your rump into the couch cushion under you to squint at your letters. “... Is ‘E-R-A-P’ a word? Erap? E-rap?”

”Sounds like a funky Zebrican genre” Velvet jokes, bumping her elbow against Night Light– the stallion himself lightly scoffing at his wife's unabashed buzz.

”A quest?” Cadence shakes her head and lightly laughs, “Fluttershy, you’ve really changed since last we spoke.”

“Oh, this is something personal; more like… A pilgrimage?”

”That sounds even more important!” Shining mockingly throws his hooves up, sending a coy glance to the unsuspecting Cadence before swinging them back down around her, rousing an 'eep~!’ from the alicorn. You stare for perhaps longer than you should, before averting your eyes back down idly spinning the melting ice in your drink, unable to hide your longing smile any other way.

“Well… Something like that.”

Far be it from you to be truly jealous, no ma’am, but you couldn’t deny being a little envious at the sight. The thought of Anon doing such a thing to you just sent your heart into a flurry. Just let that fantasy ride for only a few seconds more…

”Well? You can’t just leave us guessing, Fluttershy! What is it!?” Velvet, for her outward prim demeanor, seemed to be quite the little daredevil; if the many action shots of her and Night Light about in nature were context enough. Perhaps it was the warm setting, or the alcohol already getting the better of you, but your plea feels easier to speak aloud.

“I feel… like I’m at a sort of crossroads. I have somepony who I want to be closer with -who I’ve tried to get closer to- but it all feels in vain. I’ve just never felt this way about another pony before, so… Bah.”

Or maybe you were just getting better at this.

You take another sip from your glass, wetting your throat. “I’ve been at a loss for a while now, admittedly. I figured persistence and patience both were the answer… and I suppose I still do. I guess I’m just soul searching right now. Hoping to find the ‘how’ before I… crack, and need to face the ‘why,’ if that makes any sense.”

There it is, the shameful admittance. A lingering fear of yours, one which only dawned on you after so many rejections, and has only continued to build since. Still, in this state, so trusting of those around you, and somewhat sure even in your addled mind that this information wouldn’t leave this room: It rolls off your tongue easily enough. The words do well to thoroughly somber the mood though. They hang heavy for a few moments, silently echoing in the minds of your friends. So you give them time to ruminate, and hold back the gnawing thoughts that damn you for having ruined a good thing in the meantime.

All try to speak at once, but the others are quick to let Cadence lead the charge.

”Maybe facing the ‘why’ is what you should be doing instead, Fluttershy. If I’m understanding this right, and I believe that I am: You’re afraid that coming up empty-hoofed after so many failures would make all the effort for nothing?”

Velvet opens her mouth, about to soften the blow of Cadence’s bluntness, but she’s stopped with a gentle hoof to her thigh by the alicorn.

”A feeling of desperation, stemming from insecurity? You started late with love and now are unable to find it at all? ‘It has to be him, otherwise it will be nopony?’ Am I on the right track? Please, stop me if not.”

The sunk cost fallacy.

You speak quickly, punctuating yourself with a quick, deep sip.

“Yes exactly.”

As if the utterance aloud would surely damn it to be so– speak fast and quiet, so that fate may not hear you.

Cadence’s face falls in pity; the look one would give to a beggar when they themselves had no money to spare. Cadence, however, was one rich with both wisdom and love. ”Anonymous’ heart is one with many defensive delusions, much like your own. It’s a tough sell, to bring down your own walls and go on the attack, as it were. All you’ve ever known was isolation, guiding your desire of motherhood into raising pets, rather than foals. But that is what you want, isn’t it? You found somepony who might understand, somepony on equal grounds with you, but those equal grounds are impossible to meet when both parties are islands unto themselves.”

Wide eyed, you drink in the alicorn before you, her gentle words not piercing your mind painfully, but instead seamlessly misting through your many mental coping mechanisms. They have the same effect, though.

Reality check.

“Y-you know Anon?”

Cadence shakes her head. ”Not personally, but my heart can offer me a glimpse of him through your own. I’m not asking you to ask yourself if you’re really in love– I can see too that you are. I’m asking if you’ve ever really introduced him to Fluttershy; and why haven’t you?”

The glass quietly quakes in your hooves now.

”Not the Fluttershy you think would most appeal to him, or the Fluttershy you wish to be, or even– the Fluttershy you were prior to meeting him,”

”but the Fluttershy you are now. With your failures in hoof, and all your fears and doubts. The Fluttershy with so much love to shower him in. That’s your attack.”

This must be what separates mares from Princesses.

The ability to so gracefully destroy somepony and rebuild them on the same breath, with a tempered tone and a motherly face. Angelic efficiency. You aren’t sure what to do in the silent moments that follow. The others aren’t either, at least. Cadence had done her part though, and you knew nothing would move in here until you did first.

So you took initiative.

Nearly spilling your drink, you replace it in your hooves with your diary, and quickly begin recounting all that you could remember of the Princess’ words. Velvet leans to Cadence’s side, whispering “J-jeez Cadence, did you have to say it all like that? This 'Anon' colt is probably just a virgin…”

Cadence nods sagely.

”He is.”

The night would continue on, despite your fears after writing that the mood had been irredeemably killed. Seemingly, just as a Princess could reform a foe, she too could reform a buzzkill.

And reform Cadence had.

Velvet now sips on her own bottle of wine, no longer even bothering with a glass. The others had long since found their voices to add to the conversation. ”... And I mean, that’s the same thing I always tell Twilight: ‘Momma’s gettin’ older, and those books can only tell you how a foal is made, it’s not gonna give me any grandfillies!’ She’s just got no interest in stallions. I’d think she was a lesbian, and gosh, fine if she is, we already got Flurry Heart right?“ Velvet gigglesnorts at her own joke, “but one just isn’t enough! I mean, Cadence can’t do ALL the work!”

Shining casts a smug, sidelong smirk at his wife. ”You sure?”

Velvet waves off in her son’s direction, leaning in toward you. ”Have you tried singing to him? Colts go GAGA when you sing for them! I once sang for Night-Night here and oh! Eating out of the frog of my hoof, I tell you!”

Night Light rolls his eyes, talking into his whiskey. ”That’s not how I remember it going down…”

Magic envelopes Night’s ear as Velvet playfully pulls on it. ”Shh! Quiet, you~”

“S-singing? I think that was… um… my 490’th attempt? Maybe low 500’s?”

”And he still didn’t bite? Colt’s picky, picky-picky-picky.”

Flushed, you sigh into your glass. “Gah, you don’t know the half of it…”

Not wanting to stall the game any longer, you divert your woes. “I-I still don’t know what to make with these letters. ‘Pare?’ Is pare a word?”

Shining Armor flits through a dictionary with telekinetic muscle memory. "Pare- Verb. ‘To reduce in size, extent, quantity, or number, usually in a number of small successive stages.’ It works!”

The rest of the party clops their hooves together as you (carefully) lay out your letters on the board. Night Light, well into his drinks alongside the rest of you, nudges his wife. ”You’ll be, hic, parin’ me tonight in the bedroom. Haha c’mon Shiny, up top!”

Shining seeks instead to plant his hoof in his face, rather than meet his father’s. ”Gross, dad…” Still, you can see his embarrassed smile underneath, as well as Velvet’s tail begin to wag, slapping against her husband despite her growing blush.

”My, dear, we have guests~...”

For all her thrill-seeking pursuits, it seems Twilight is not the one in charge when it comes to adventures more carnal. Trying (and failing) to hold back your giggles, you can’t help but wonder if her daughter is the same way. Cadence laughs too, pressing herself into Shining’s side. You make eye contact with her once again, and this time, she must notice the longing in your eyes. Shining leans back into her, still shaking his head at his father’s antics. It’s unspoken, but you understand the meaning behind her look.

You don’t have all the answers yet...

But you do have a start.

One day, you’ll be where Cadence is, and Anon will be at your side.

Author's Note

Double feature, Velvet AND Cadence! There are more mommas than just the Mane Six, after all!
As before, next update should be out tomorrow– and not to spoil, but there's a reason Drama is one of the tags on this story!
Hope you're enjoying! I've been told by readers since my first story, Twiastasia, that it's a good idea to break up the uploads of completed multi-chapter fics– so I'm giving that a try here now. This one in particular is complete though, and lucky the conversion process from greentext into prose is coming along easy, so I should be able to upload a new chapter daily. Funnily enough, you can kinda gauge how far along we are by the amount of mommas Shy's visited– so I'll keep you guessing as to how many days we'll need before it's fully uploaded.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying!