Lavender

Part 1: Family Tradition

“Where does somepony’s magic color come from?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Such an innocuous and seemingly random question, it caught Twilight and Rarity a mite off-guard. What your magic looks like isn’t something you think about, even when you’re actively using it to, say, sort out piles of fabrics. It’s like if someone asks you why you step first with your right foot over your left. You’ll need a moment to really grasp what they’re asking, even if the answer is something simple like 'I guess I just feel like it more often.'

Twilight and Rarity exchanged a look, then gave Sweetie Belle their combined attention, leaving the bolts in piles for the moment.

“Well, Sweetie Belle,” said Rarity. “It’s quite simple, really.”

Twilight picked up seamlessly: “It’s part of who somepony is. Like her cutie mark.”

“Exactly. Or perhaps the color of her coat, mane, or eyes.”

“In fact, somepony’s magic color usually matches the color of her eyes.”

“Or cutie mark,” Rarity pointed out.

“Or maybe sometimes a little of both,” Twilight finished matter-of-factly. For added emphasis, the two picked up the next pair of fabric bolts and held them by their respective sides, so Sweetie Belle might get a better look for comparison.

The curious filly sat gawking for a moment, oddly entranced by such a simple gesture.

“You’d think she’d never seen magic before,” Rarity whispered; Twilight held back a quiet snicker.

“Oh, oh!” Sweetie clamored over the pile of fabrics she had rested on, scattering a few here and there much to her sister’s dismay.

“Sweetie Belle! Be careful!” There wasn’t much of a point to trying to stop an excited filly; Rarity knew that. Still, it was probably better to try before she got hoofprints on half of Rarity’s future designs.

Sweetie halted a short bit before the two, looking them up and down. Honestly, Twilight was a tad creeped out. And she wasn’t the only one.

“W-well,” said Rarity. “If that’s all you had to ask, then I think me and Twilight had best—”

“Does it ever change colors?” Sweetie Belle blurted out. “Like, if something happens? Like a spell gone wrong or if somepony gets old?”

Twilight scoffed. “Of course not.”

“Sometimes, sure.”

Just from that one statement, for a moment, Twilight had looked as if she had good reason to believe Rarity was going to sprout another head. “Yeah, right. Good one, Rarity!”

Rarity simply returned the look, with a hint of concern added on for good measure. “Oh, please. Tell me you’re the one who’s joking.”

“What? Don’t tell me you actually know somepony that’s happened to!”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” said Rarity. The look of concern just grew more intense as she tapped Twilight on the shoulder. “You.”

“Wait, huh? What?!” Twilight backed away. By her face, Rarity and her sister could tell, Twilight was unsure whether or not to smile. “No, no, that can’t be true! I’d have noticed, right? I mean, I use my magic all the time.”

Rarity shrugged. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. When I first met you, your magic was purple like your eyes—” For demonstration purposes, and with Sweetie Belle still around, Rarity physically pointed at Twilight’s eyes as she spoke “—and now it’s pink, like your cutie mark.” Again, she pointed. “You’re still following the ‘rules’, but you’ve just sort of, if you’ll pardon the expression, ‘flip-flopped’ at some point.”

In sheer disbelief, Twilight sat down and stammered to herself. “Wh-wha... no, that...” Yet when she tried to test the claim, passively lighting the aura on her horn, she could only furrow her brow and frown at the sight. Yes, it’s pink. I’ve seen that, it looks familiar, but—I used to have purple. I remember that. But when in the world could it have switched?

Rarity shot a glare at Sweetie Belle. “Sweetie Belle! Look what you’ve done. Here we were having a nice conversation, then you—”

“Rarity, it’s fine,” said Twilight. “I just... wow, how did I miss that?”

“I’m sure it could happen to anypony.” Suddenly Rarity’s tone was back to pleasant and conversational, rather than conveying her wrath. “For all I know, it’s already happened to me, but, well...” With a little flourish, Rarity showed off both her eyes and cutie mark, the complementary blues seeming indistinguishable compared to the glow on her horn inbetween.

Sweetie Belle took the moment of distraction to get her “vengeance”: sticking her tongue out at Rarity while nopony was looking.

Twilight snickered as Rarity fluttered her eyelashes. “Okay, okay, I see that now,” she said. “Fine, I believe you. It’s normal. Nothing to worry about.” That last bit was perhaps the most blatant white lie Twilight could ever tell, and judging from her skeptical expression, Rarity sure knew it. The number of things that didn’t worry Twilight could be counted on a pony’s front hooves.

Still, as any filly, Sweetie Belle was quickly growing bored of sharing the spotlight. “Well what if it didn’t make sense? Like if you got blue magic? Or yellow? Green? White?”

“Sweetie Belle, that’s enough!” said Rarity. “Now you’re just making these up as you go along.”

“I am not!”

“Please, Sweetie Belle?” asked Twilight. She never had any younger siblings, but she remembered how her brother used to talk to her when it was important: soft, comforting, yet firm and confident at the same time. It was an art form, one that Twilight was glad she didn’t have to truly master to get a message across.

Sweetie half-sighed, half-groaned on her way out.. “Fine, I’ll just go do something else!”

“Have fun!’ Rarity called after her. “Be careful! And don’t forget to be back by supper!” It wasn’t until they heard the door shut behind Sweetie that she dared break her facade. But when she did, all the words pent-up and saved from the last five minutes came rushing out at once; Twilight had to recoil from her sudden excitement.

“Oh, Twilight, aren’t you excited? I know Iam. I spent the whole month working on your dress, and I know you’ll just love it. Pinkie Pie’s been hard at work setting up most of everything else of course, but everypony else has been hard at work helping get ready. Well, at least today., I—”

Oh, no... Twilight winced at each new word, each new promise of her friends’ hard work. “Rarity, I’m sorry, but this is—”

“Oh and Happy Birthday, darling!” Rarity reached out, offering a hug; Twilight sighed, yet accepted the offer out of courtesy despite the unease so visible on her face.

Just as Rarity pat her on the back and began to break off of the hug, Twilght couldn’t bear it anymore. “I’m not going to make it!”

Startled, Rarity took a step back. “What?”

“I-I—” Twilight took a deep breath to finish, “I can’t come to my party tonight.”

“I’ll say again: what?!” Rarity gasped. “Why in Equestria couldn’t you make it to your own birthday party?”

“I swear, I didn’t know.” Twilight began. “I just got the letter today, from my parents back in Canterlot.”

“Your parents? Did something happen?!”

“No no no, nothing like that!” A smile started to form on Twilight’s face; the realization was slowly dawning on her that, just this once, she might be making a bigger deal out of something than she needed to. “They’re just inviting me to a family party.”

Rarity frowned, puzzled. “Well, couldn’t you tell them that you already had plans? I know it’s Canterlot, and family, but we’ve been planning this party for you for a month. Is it really that urgent?”

Twilight shook her head. “Considering Mom and Dad sent me a letter for the first time in years, it probably is. Besides, it was regular mail, not through Spike. There’s no way I can say no.” Then she added, at a more hushed tone, “And ‘party’ might not have been the word they used.”

If out of nothing more than empathy or curiosity, Rarity, too, hushed her voice. “What do you mean?”

“Their words were ‘family tradition’. And I think it has something to do with a coming-of-age type thing. I’m pretty sure my brother had the same kind of party a few years ago when he was my age.”

“Well does it matter who comes?” Rarity’s eyes lit up. “I don’t care how often we’ve visited, I’d love to visit Canterlot again. Even for one night.”

“Sorry, but no,” said Twilight. “Family means family. That’s Daddy’s rule. Always has been.”

“Please?” Rarity asked in perhaps the most desperate and pathetic tone manageable by a grown mare. “I’ll be good! You won’t even know I’m there, I—”

Twilight snickered and shook her head. “Rarity, I know you girls are my best friends. And you’re like family. But let me put it this way: my brother’s wife isn’t allowed to come.”

“Oh.” Rarity hesitated a moment or two to think, and soon her excitement faded to several levels of disappointment at once. “I-I think I understand. Family tradition and all, I can respect that.” She sighed, turned away and hanging her head in defeat. “Have fun, I suppose. I’ll just tell the others to call of the party...”

“Wait!” said Twilight. She could barely bear to look at her friend’s heartbroken expression. “Could you ask them to just move it to tomorrow? This is family, but you’re my friends. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is abandon anypony.”

Rarity offered a smile, if a weak one. “It’s your birthday. And I’m sure everypony will understand.”

“Thank you,” said Twilight, glancing passively out the window behind herself. “I can’t thank you enough for—oh sweet Celestia is it dark out already?!” Caught between logical moves, Twilight settled for something inbetween as she dove for her saddlebags in the corner and started hovering out the contents, one-by-one, until she found the envelope she was looking for. A small slip peeked out, and after one look, Twilight’s heart sank. “I’m gonna be late for the train!”

Rarity, too, gasped and jumped to action; she rushed over and helped Twilight get her bags together and secure. “I’ll tell everypony else, just go!”

Twilight rushed for the door in far too much of a hurry to so much as look at Rarity, but she at least managed to say “Thank you! You’re the best!” before the door slammed shut behind her.

“Wait! Wait! I’m here, I have a ticket!” Twilight shouted at the conductor not moments before the train would’ve left the station. Her heart pounded in her chest as she gasped for breath, in stark contrast to the calm and collected pony who took her ticket, marked it, and escorted her to her seat.

Once inside, Twilight set her bags down on the empty seat facing hers. Finally, I can relax for a bit, she thought. I’m on my way home. I’m coming home, just for a night. Nothing fancy, nothing too exciting, just my parents wanting to see their little girl all grown-up.

Her eyes shot wide open. That’s not what it says though. What if something did happen? What if this isn’t about my birthday? Are my parents okay? Is my brother okay?! What if he—

Twilight shook her head. Let’s just calm down, take a deep breath, and re-read the letter, shall we?

And so she did just that; after sifting through her bags once more, albeit in a more calm and less throwing-everything-out manner, she produced the envelope from before. The ticket replaced the letter, and she set he envelope back down in between the two bags, pinching it in place in case of any bumps on the tracks.

Let’s just see here... ‘Dear Twilight,’ something something ‘family tradition’, ‘just you, your brother, and us... for your birthday.’ There, it says it.  ‘Birthday.’ There’s no need to freak out. Just relax. I’m going to my birthday party for crying out loud.

She shifted closer to the window, seeing no harm in it so long as nopony else had that seat. And it’s not that weird. Shining Armor had a birthday like this, and back then not even I was allowed to come. And... I guess I might have blamed that on him at the time. Wow, I can be such a bad sister sometimes. Note to self: make sure big brother knows I’m sorry.

Is that why I stopped talking to him? Now that I think about it—no, that was earlier. That was just rubbing it in, or I thought it was. But now? I need to visit more. I need to tell him I’m sorry, that I shouldn’t have mistrusted him so badly. Do I need to though? I mean, we were talking after his wedding and all of that ‘incident’.

I was so right about ‘Cadence’. Actually—well, now that I think about it, wouldn’t that have been obvious? Her magic isn’t green. Real Cadence, that is. How did nopony see that? Or maybe somepony did, but they didn’t think anything of it? I mean, my magic changed color, and nopony even told me until today.

Maybe that does happen more often than I thought.

Her thought process came to a screeching halt, literally, as the train’s brakes grinded against the rails. Her ears stung from the harsh cacophany, but even as she ducked down to shield them, she noticed nopony else onboard seemed to care. Out of curiosity, she looked outside her window, only for the surprise sight of the Canterlot train station. Wow, time flies when you’re daydreaming.

Carefully, she put the letter away and gathered her things, taking a break from gathering her thoughts. Rather, she took a look around herself as she exited the train at the wonderous night time skyline and lights of Canterlot. She felt a tug of sorts, harkening back to her youth. Not much had changed since then, short of a few patched-up roads and street lamps, though that was just from what she could see from the train station.

Suddenly, her problems just seemed so much more distant. I miss it here, sometimes. I know Rarity sees the glamor and the beauty, but to me, this is still a lot like home. It’s... safe. I feel welcome. Maybe even more than in Ponyville.

I don’t know what I was worried about. This is just going to be a nice evening, a nice birthday with my family. No danger, no bad news, just a trip back down memory lane.

Ironically, she thought this just as she turned down her parents’ street.

— — —

Twilight had no problems getting through the streets of the city at night, or even with finding the place. It wasn’t until she was about to knock on the door that her anxiety came back. Am I late? What if they forgot? What if there was a mistake? What if—

She wasn’t quite sure after the fact whether she was even the one who knocked on the door, as it immediately opened afterwards. Her brother stood there with a knowing smirk on his face.

“Good evening, Sis.”

Twilight practically tried to tackle him over in her sudden hug. “I’m so so so sorry!”

“Whoa, whoa,” he said with a chuckle. “It’s okay! It’s a little late, but at least you made it, right?”

“Huh?” Twilight blinked. “Wait—no no no, I meant—well I’m sorry if I’m a little late, but now I get it! I’m sorry I got mad at you when I couldn’t come to your birthday.”

“But you could’ve always come to—oh! You mean when I—” Shining Armor took a deep breath and looked around outside, behind Twilight. “Come on in, it’s kinda cold out tonight.”

“Oh, sure,” Twilight mumbled. A part of her wanted to take a look herself, but her brother nearly shoved her inside before slamming the door behind them. Of course, most of her curiosity stemmed from the fact that it was barely even chilly outside, but she dismissed the thought once she was inside: “Do we have a fire going in here or something?”

“Nah,” said Shining. “it’s just small house for four ponies.”

Body heat, thought Twilight. Duh. “So what’s this ‘tradition’ about anyway?”

“Look, don’t worry about it,” Shining snapped. He caught himself, and with a smile added, “Just enjoy yourself, okay? It’s your birthday, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? What about when you—”

“It’s not my birthday, Twilight,” Shining joked. “Come on, relax. Enjoy yourself. And most importantly—” He stopped her with a hoof pointed at her chest. “Stop. Worrying.”

Good luck with that. Twilight smiled uneasily. “Okay, okay, I will!”

“Happy Birthday!” exclaimed her parents, causing both Twilight and her brother to jump; they had reached the dining room, which, while smaller than Twilight remembered, housed just enough chairs and table space for the four of them, a small cake, and a stack of strangely similar-looking presents. Of course, each one being a perfect rectangular shape, Twilight had a good feeling she knew what she was in for.

“Oh, thank you!” said Twilight. She smiled and giggled to herself; it felt like she was five again. Of course, the decor certainly helped. “Uhh, streamers?”

Her father shrugged. “We thought it’d make it feel more like home.”

“I never said I mind,” Twilight said quickly. “Frankly, I’m used to it. Pinkie Pie—my friend back in Ponyville—I think she thinks every party is some foal’s birthday or something.” She snickered. “I think she tried bringing balloons to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

Her parents and brother shared a quick laugh.

“Sit down, dear,” said her mother. “You must be tired after your trip.”

Well she’s not wrong, but she could at least askrather than order it. “You’re probably right,” said Twilight. Her mother’s magic pulled out the nearest chair for her, and Twilight plopped herself down without hesitation.

“So,” said Shining, “shall we get started?”

“You still like sprinkles on your ice cream, right Twilight?” asked her mother.

Twilight nodded. “Wow, I can’t believe you remember after all this time.”

“We’re your parents,” said her father, fishing out a shaker of sprinkles from under the table. “Of course we remember!”

“Just like we remember the first time you tried ice cream.”

“Hah!” said Shining; he immediately clapped a hoof to his mouth as Twilight hung her head.

Please don’t get the family photos, please don’t get the family photos, please don’t get the family photos...

Her mother already had gone into the living room and back, just to retrieve the album. “I think we still have that picture here somewhere...”

“Please no!” Twilight blurted out. “I still don’t know if I got all of the ice cream out of my hair or not, and I really don’t want another reminder!”

Her parents froze, wide-eyed. “I’m... sorry,” said her mother.

Huh?

“He-here,” her dad stammered. “Let me just add the sprinkles and—”

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked. “I was just joking around, you know. It’s embarrassing, but I’m not really that upset over it or anything.”

Her parents sighed with collective relief. “Sorry, honey,” said her father. “We haven’t seen you in a while, and we just want to make sure you’re happy is all.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Twilight forced a huge grin. “It’s my birthday!”

Shining quickly took his seat between Twilight and their mother. “Hey! Hey! Birthday, right? Normal, happy, fun birthday. Come on, let’s get this show on the road!” His tone was less than convincing, and his eyes darted between Twilight and their parents.

Is he alright? Twilight knew him; this was uneasy, even for the Captain of the Guard. “What’d you have in mind, big brother?”

He groaned. “You mean besides a birthday party for my little sister without this awkwardness?”

Stop. Worrying. It all makes sense eventually.

After another quiet moment, Shining cleared his throat. “Cake. Candles. Come on!”

Their parents nodded, then set to work, sparking each candle on the cake with magic before hovering the whole thing over in front of Twilight. Their every movement seemed forced, almost jerky and most certainly clumsy, so much that Twilight was glad the cake made it to her side of the table in one piece.

She stared at the candles, then her parents and brother; they all smiled and stared at her, waiting for her to make a move.

“Oh, right!” said her father. “Happy Birthday to you...”

Everypony else picked up the song; Twilight sighed and turned back to the cake. Sprinkles, vanilla ice cream, and just enough striped candles, each sparked with magic yet burning a very real flame. Not everypony can cast spells like that, Twilight thought. I guess I know where I get it from, if my parents could—

“Happy Birthday to you!” the others finished.

Twilight took a deep breath and blew, extinguishing all of the candles in one pass. Her parents clapped their hooves, and Shining sighed with relief.

“What’d you wish for?” he whispered to her while their parents took the cake back for cutting.

“For everypony to just relax already.”

By way of somepony’s magic, Twilight’s stack of presents slammed down between the two on the table. “Go ahead, Twilight,” said her mother. “We can eat after your presents.”

“It’s no trouble, I can wait,” said Twilight.

“We insist.” Her parents’ unison would’ve been eerie if they weren’t a couple.

“Well in that case...” Twilight started at the top, hovering each present down and stripping the paper in one motion: five books, just as she expected. What she didn’t expect, however, were some of the titles. “‘Advanced Arithmetic’? ‘Bones and Biology’? You’re not sending me back to school, are you?”

“I’m going to level with you, dear,” said her father. “We sort of just went with whatever seemed ‘smartest’ at the bookstore.”

Twilight giggled to herself. “Well, thank you. I’ll be sure to give them all a good read.” She smiled, though that started to fade as she looked at the size of one of the books. These are like textbooks, aren’t they. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers, but really... who wants to read all those citations?

Oddly enough, the title on the cover of the books she was looking over started to drift out of focus. What—whoa, I’m getting... must be more tired than I thought.

She yawned and set the book down. “Sorry, everypony. That ride must’ve drained me or—”

Her parents and brother were staring at her again, with a similar, unnerving smile. And all of their horns were alight with their own pinkish-red magic.

“What are you doing?” Twilight half-slurred. Her vision blurred further, and she started to hear a ringing in her ears. “W-what... is this the family... tra...”

Her eyes failed her, narrowing her vision down to a single fuzzy point before shutting completely. The last sense she had left besides hearing let her know, just briefly, she had fallen off of her chair. What’s going on?! Why can’t I move? Why am I so tired? I’m not—the spell, it's a spell, I can fight it, I can—

“Relax, Twi,” said the distant voice of Shining Armor. “It’s going to be okay. Don’t worry.”

I am worrying! And with good reason! Why are you—why are my parentscasting a sleep spell on me?!

“I had to do it, and so do you. It’s just easier this way, I promise.”

Do what? What’s happening? Why won’t... anypony tell... me? Why am... I... fading...