Time Makes Foals of Us All

“Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.” – Benjamin Disraeli

~~~

Twilight held onto Cadance as if her life depended on it as she cried after letting out her secret. The young lavender mare was being comforted and lectured at the same time. For her part, Cadance had never been more concerned about her sister-in-law.

“Twilight you have to tell him. Tonight.”

“What if it’s too late Cadance, what if he leaves me, what if—”

Cadance gripped Twilight’s forehooves painfully tight. “Twilight stop this.” The words were clear but whispered in a quick and stern manner.

“Twily, your family loves you and we all support you, I know for a fact that Horizon loves you and that if you believe in him he will support you as well. But you can’t let this decision break your confidence or your determination. Do not give up on Horizon and most importantly do not give up on yourself.”

Twilight nuzzled into the tri-colored mane of her sister-in-law and foalsitter. Cadance’s pink coat was soft and absorbed the tears on the smaller mare’s cheeks as they slowed.

“I’ve made a mistake Cadance... I wouldn’t forgive me...”

“Shh... Twilight you have to tell him. Nothing is more important right now. We will all be here for you.”

Cadance hoped with all her heart that it would work out. Too many ponies depended on Twilight, losing her will alone could spell disaster for Equestria. The Element of Magic could never lose hope.

~~~

The pale grey mare watched through a partially cracked door into the den. Crystal had been handed to Shining and he was singing her a lullaby upstairs. But when Twilight returned downstairs to speak with her daughters she was witness to hushed whispers and tears. While she couldn’t hear the conversation from the beginning, her position allowed her to hear the end, she didn’t dare to intervene.

Twilight Velvet knew her daughter didn’t trust her with everything. Some would blame it on how ‘controlling’ she was. Twilight knew her daughter would be intelligent, but she also knew she would be fragile, like her mother. Twilight Velvet was eternally afraid that her daughter would end up like her. She would not allow her daughter to make the same mistakes she did when she was young. She had her heart broken by too many stallions and her back stabbed by too many ‘friends’. It made her bitter and cynical, traits she was ashamed of and behaviors that could only be curbed by one stallion. Her light in the dark, her Night Light.

For a clumsy and insufferably messy stallion he sure knew how to make her feel loved. He never gave up on her, no matter how loud she yelled or how hard she cried. She could trust her stallion implicitly.

As the mother watched her daughter crying because of something her future husband did, it set her off. She should be able to trust her husband. And if that stallion did anything to ruin her daughter’s trust then she would find out and she would fix it.

~~~

Horizon walked to the bar and poured himself another drink of expensive scotch while Night Light continued to fuss about in his study. He felt that he had already reached his limit, his judgement was already a bit clouded and speech would follow soon.

Horizon downed the glass in one swift motion. Nothing was wrong with celebrating a little. He was on the cusp of greatness, he could feel it in his bones. An amazing new job, a beautiful wife and a successful personal research project that would make him the wealthiest stallion in Equestria and secure his legacy. He could just imagine the look on Twilight’s face when he told her about how great it all was going to be.

Maybe he wouldn’t have to use the machine for tonight after all.

“I hope you aren’t developing a drinking problem.”

Horizon stopped himself as he realized he had poured himself a second drink.

“Um... no it was just. I was pouring it for the Night, your husband I mean.”

The sky blue eyes of the mare in front of him were piercing. She saw through his paper thin lie like it was glass.

“Drink up, that’s a 200 bit bottle of Scotch, don’t want to waste it.”

Horizon was beginning to feel nervous like he always did around Twilight Velvet. His fillyfriend’s mother was aloof and didn’t visit Ponyville much during his stay there, and his Twilight never spoke of her. But the few times she did were primarily in embarrassment at how frustrating it was to have a mother who taught at the same school she went to and who would constantly shield her from the colts who would get near her.

Horizon drank the second glass in one swift gulp as well.

“Good boy.”

Night Light emerged from the study and noticed his wife standing in front of Horizon. Her body language indicated she was preventing him from moving away from the corner where the bar was located. Horizon himself looked like he was searching for any means of escape.

“Ah Twilight dear, I was just about to have a drink with Horizon here, he has decided to take me up on that offer. I am certain that her highness will be pleased with my choice and see fit to grant me—”

“Nighty, dear, don’t you think you should wait until after dinner for that sort of thing?” Twilight Velvet smiled at her husband as he sputtered at the interruption. “I would hate to see you falling asleep so early, we do have such a long night ahead of us.” She added a flirtatious wink at her husband to punctuate the sentence.

Night seemed to be surprised at her change in attitude but was willing to bend to her will. She had a way of making him change his mind. “Ah, yes dear that seems wise I should—”

“And do close the door to your study when you leave, you know I don’t want that hurricane of paperwork spilling into the house.”

Night Light seemed a bit taken aback by his mares attitude. He walked to pull her aside as he used his magic to close the door. He whispered to her softly. “Twi, is everything alright? You seem upset about something.”

Twilight Velvet let out a short breath and shifted her hooves. She lowered her voice so that Horizon wouldn’t hear her. “It’s your daughter Nighty, she was crying and I don’t know why. I just” Twilight paused and looked to Horizon briefly, “I think that stallion did something and—”

“Shh, shh, you’re jumping to conclusions again Twi. I’ll go talk to her OK? I’m sure you’ll see it’s nothing. And she’s our daughter, not just mine, do try to remember that.”

Twilight could only nod as her husband calmed her down as he had a million times before.

“I hope you’re right.”

Night Light raised his voice and made to walk from the room to the den. “I better go check on dinner and our daughter. Food should be ready in 30. As for Twilight I should make sure she’s not having any panic attacks from spending more than 15 minutes away from her stallion eh?”

Horizon and Twilight Velvet both shared a short laugh, but for different reasons.

“And Twi, honey, please go easy on the colt. He’s preparing for a major announcement tonight.” Night Light winked conspiratorially as he left the room and headed down the hallway to the den. The warm glow of the hearth followed him as his silhouette was cast through the opening doorway onto the walls. It eventually disappeared as the door closed again.

Twilight Velvet raised her eyebrows at that, whatever it could mean. But she still had questions for this colt, the well-being of her daughter came first.

“Why don’t we go somewhere a bit more private to speak.”

~~~

Twilight Velvet’s greenhouse was astonishing.

Pure white crystals hung from woven hemp ropes stretched across the ceiling in a beautiful dreamcatcher weave. The octagonal building was separated from the house by a short hall with two doors to control the moisture and temperature within the greenhouse. The hallway itself doubled as a storage shed for the seeds and other materials a grower would need.

The glass that made up the walls appeared to glow with a faint blue color like the midday sky. They were magically enchanted to reflect light inwards at the night hours. The neighbors wouldn’t complain about a bright glowing building next door and the plants would get the full benefit of the spectral crystals.

The center of the garden contained an octagonal fish pond full of beautiful Koi. A waterfall was gently flowing across algae and moss covered volcanic rocks. There were bamboo pipes running all around the floors delivering gentle trickles of water to each and every plant potted in the soil substitutes around it. Magivascual plants from every corner of the earth were present. From Mars Fly Traps to Poison Joke. An unbelievably rare and eclectic variety of impossibly different plants were present. Each demanding a different nutrient blend and climate to flourish but all blooming in the cold of winter. All of them protected in a house of glass.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thank you, I’m glad somepony appreciates my work here.” Twilight reached up to inspect a blooming Dragon’s Tongue with a hoof while she levitated a spray bottle of nutrient water. “High in potassium to help it bloom and aid with photosynthesis. The Dragon’s Tongue is a very hungry plant, it would normally only bloom once as it would soak up all the nutrients in the soil and turn it to sand. It naturally occurs near volcanic mountains since the soil there is the most rich. But even there it will only bloom up to three times at most. A majority simply get burned by the lava that provides their nutrients before that. Such is the nature of reality, that which gives life, most often, also takes it away.”

The spray bottle was applicated along the petals of the vivid orange and red bloom. The pistil reaching out of its own volition to lap at the liquids beading on the beautiful petals greedily. The few drops that it could not reach quickly evaporated as the heat of the petals burned them away.

When the blooms were sated and turned upwards to the growth crystals they let out a mighty burp of flame, a gorgeous blue burn that swirled and dissipated in a fiery blast that felt like a blast of warm air and smelled of cherries.

“It seems a bit dangerous.” Horizon added as his eyes lit up in wonder.

“Most naturally beautiful things are. They are blessed with defense mechanisms to prevent them from being destroyed by predators drawn to their allure.” With that she tossed a koi from the center pond with her magic into the jaws of a giant Lily pad that folded to cover the fish and begin devouring it whole.

Horizon felt himself becoming sick at the site, the alcohol and hunger wasn’t helping.

“Every rose has its thorn, Mr. Horizon. The Liar’s Lily is no exception. For a fish out of water is certainly living a lie, and it has to pay for it.”

Horizon was still transfixed as he watched the lump of what was once a flopping happy fish get absorbed into the undulating veiny underside of a carnivorous lily.

He hardly noticed the vines twisting about his hooves.

“Horizon, let’s play a game. I will tell you a truth and you will tell me a truth. I’ll go first. I have been misleading you, I brought you here to ask you about why my daughter would be crying on Hearth’s Warming Day.”

Horizon was surprised by this outcome, but not as surprised as he was about the revelation that Twilight, his fillyfriend, would be crying. “I-I am not sure what you mean Mrs. Velvet. I have been having a great time with her and I don’t know what could poss—”

The vines around the stallions hooves constricted and lifted him up bodily. His belly was exposed and his limbs splayed out as the plant pulled him into the air and his deep brown tail brushed futilely against the beechwood panels covering the floor of the greenhouse.

“The Virtuous Vines seem to find fault with your words Horizon, best start speaking the truth before something bad happens.” Twilight Velvet regarded the stallion calmly as he tugged on the vines and tried to summon magic to pull them off.

“I swear I don’t know what you are talking about! We just had a little argument that’s it, it was nothing!” Horizon’s horn sparked as his aura grew stronger, The vines shrugged off every attempt to grasp them.

The vines grew tighter around his hooves and legs, one wrapped around his barrel and began to squeeze. Horizon briefly had the thought that Spike and Twilight’s mother may have been sharing notes.

“You know Horizon, stallions all have one thing in common. They only see the beauty of a flower in its petals. But the Virtuous Vines are the most beautiful plant in the world to me, and yet their blossoms are so common that they are mistaken in the wild for common wildgrass. You see the only way to stop them from killing is to tell the truth. So tell the truth.”

The rules of the game were long forgotten at this point. Horizon felt the tendrils reaching to his neck and swirling around his neck like a scarf. He braced himself against the desire to scream for help and used his air instead to tell the truth.

“OK! It was an argument about my research, I didn’t tell her about it. I was working on a secret project and I didn’t want her to know about it. I showed it to her and she was upset and then I apologized and we made up. That’s all it was I swear!”

The vines continued to spread across the stallion, they did not grasp harder but they did not give up an inch, a few began to wrap around his mane and pull his head back until he had to strain his eyes to look down at the mare.

“Tell the WHOLE truth! Do not omit any details or you will be most uncomfortable in a few moments.”

Twilight Velvet watched the stallion as the vines lifted him ever higher, almost to the dreamcatcher pattern of glow crystals and ropes.

“She made me promise not to work on the project anymore and I did.” Horizon gasped as his vision was blocked by a vine wrapping around his eyes, holding them shut as they crossed over his muzzle gingerly, threatening him gently. “But then I worked on it anyway, without her permission. I lied to her and I know I messed up, I know I messed up!”

The vines halted their advances along his body, only his ears and muzzle were protruding from the living cocoon surrounding him. The web of lies he had wrapped himself up in.

“This still does not explain why my daughter is crying. What is the secret announcement you are making tonight that my husband referred to?” Twilight Velvet knew the vines were dangerously close to causing permanent harm, but the question was asked by the tender and the question would be answered by the victim.

Horizon felt the vines coiling tighter. Every hair on his pelt sending panic messages through his spine to his brain as he struggled to focus on the question.

“The announcement. The... Twilight! I am going to propose tonight! I want her to marry me! That’s all it was, she doesn’t know. It’s a surprise! But the crying, it’s... I don’t know... I don’t...”

The vines halted their advance once more. Twilight Velvet was blinking in awe. The stallion was suspended in the air and breathing rapidly as the vines restricted his airflow and chest expansions. But he was telling the truth.

“Do you love her?”

“Y-Yes.”

The vines loosened, his eyesight was returned and his ears swiveled to catch the sound of the mares voice.

“Do you love my daughter, Twilight Sparkle?”

“Yes.”

The Virtuous Vines relinquished their hold of his neck and head. The thick cords across his barrel began to weaken their grasp and Horizon sucked in air as he looked down at the mare with his bloodshot eyes.

“Do you promise to do everything in your power to protect her and support her? Through thick and thin, sickness and health?”

“Yes. Yes.”

The vines fell away from his barrel and lowered him gently, but his limbs were still splayed as they clung to his legs, pulling them apart. His tail brushed against the floor once more as he felt blood returning to his flanks and thighs.

“And will you always be honest with her? Will you let no secrets stand between you and promise to honor her for the rest of your life?”

“Yes, I will try. I promise to love her and honor her, forever.”

Twilight Velvet sighed and shook her head in relief. It was more than she had expected from this stallion. Her soon-to-be son-in-law.

The vines slowly dropped the stallion to the ground and they coiled back into the trellis behind him. The thick green vines coiling once again around the wooden structure and sprouting leaves to once again catch the light. Its duty fulfilled it return to its task of photosynthesis. To continue generating life.

Twilight Velvet helped the stallion to his hooves. “I am sorry for having doubted you Horizon, and for subjecting you to this draconian torment.” Horizon continued to gasp and stare at the vines as they settled back into place in the trellis. The leaves sprouting from the vines covering the thick and menacing organic tendrils that threatened his life moments before.

“Would it... Would it really have killed me?” Horizon asked as Twilight Velvet moved to his side to look at the vines with him.

“No. It merely would have bound you indefinitely. All lies serve no purpose but to limit the speakers. Constricting them and twisting them in uncomfortable and unnatural ways. The solution to surviving them is simple,” Twilight said as she nuzzled slowly against the stallion that held the love of her daughter. “The truth will set you free.”

Horizon was a bit surprised by the intimate gesture. He had never shared more than a brief nuzzle on the cheek with his fillyfriend’s mother but now she was rubbing up against him with her whole body it seemed.

“Thank you for being honest Horizon, and thank you for loving my daughter. I know it seems like I hate you at times, but I can only say that I wish my own mother had put my coltfriends through the same treatment. I always had a hard time judging stallions. And it always lead to heartache. I was so fortunate to find Nighty.”

Twilight Velvet moved towards the vines and got to her knees, she nuzzled through the leaves and bit down on a vine and pulled free a pair of small blooms. A simple white flower with a golden set of petals surrounded by large white ones.

“I think that you will find that honesty reaps a sweeter reward than deception.” Twilight ate half of one of the blooms as she held it in her magical aura. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the flavor as it sang across her palate like a choir. She levitated the other half to the stallion.

Horizon looked at the half eaten blossom with skepticism, but gave in and ate it in one delicate bite. The stem was dropped to the floor and as he chewed thoughtfully. He was caressed by a delicious combination of salty and crunchy texture. After that a sour and granular texture met his mouth as he chewed through the sticky petals. This relinquished into a sweet and oily texture. Like buttery cream, wrapped in caramel, chocolate, and something ineffable.

Twilight Velvet knew that look on a stallion’s face. She had seen it on her husband’s many a time before as they shared the blossoms of the Virtuous Vines. The vows of true love always produced the sweetest nectars.

“Magivascular plants are truly wondrous things Horizon. Some draw nourishment from blood, others from laughter, some from fire, and some from love. But this one draws it from the spoken truth.”

Horizon looked at the pale grey mare in front of him. She had risen to her hooves and locked her sky blue eyes with his amber ones.

“You find out why my daughter is crying, Horizon. I will not have my family sad on Hearth’s Warming Day. And you propose to her tonight and make her the happiest mare in Equestria. Celestia knows she deserves it.” Twilight Velvet levitated the second blossom to her future son-in-law. “This one is for you and Twilight, your Twilight now. May she love you more than she loves me.”

Horizon made to speak as he accepted the blossom into his magical aura. His horn glowing softly to hold the delicate blossom by the stem. But Twilight stopped him with a hoof to his muzzle.

“I will finish tending my garden here. You go to her. And just let Nighty know to fetch me when dinner is prepared.

As Horizon walked out the door with the bloom in his grip he looked back briefly at the pale grey mare as she leaned down to the koi pond. Twilight Velvet looked back at him and smiled faintly as she levitated more bottles of nutrients and began to tend to all of the plants in her sanctuary with practiced precision.

~~~

The door shut and Twilight Velvet let the tears flow. The droplets falling directly from her eyes into the koi pond leaving rippling waves across the delicately Ph balanced water.

She saw his changing expression as he tasted the bloom. She tasted it herself as well. The salty and brittle petals would always dissolve rapidly into the sweet blooms of a virtuous nectar; When the whole and untarnished truth was spoken.

But this bloom had a hint of sourness, the granular bits stinging the tongue with their acidity before dissolving into the pure honey of truth and honesty. She knew he was telling a half-truth somewhere. But she did not know where. It was so fleeting it could have been any small thing, he may not even have truly realized that his heart was not being completely oriented with his words. Only the Virtuous Vines could know.

But she was sure of one thing. He loved her daughter, her little Twilight. And maybe that was enough.

~~~

Horizon left the greenhouse silently, swiftly and sorrowfully. He knew he should have been distraught, afraid, or angry about how he was treated. But in a sense he knew that he deserved it. That moment was just a wake-up call for him. He knew it was a long time coming.

As Horizon looked at the flower once again he was reminded of what he shared with his love, his Twilight.

But it still didn’t change the feeling he had now, more than ever.

He needed a drink.