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Friendship is Shining: Twiley's Return

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Chapter 3: Parental Proposal

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"So," Shining mother said as she looked around, "this is where you live?"

"Yes," Shining responded. He looked around too, trying to figure out what else to say about it.

"Do you like it here?" his father asked.

"Yeah." Shining turned to look at him. "I have friends here and while they may not have as many plays, I never really went out to them anyways." He took another bite of his waffles.

"Twilight mentioned you made some interesting friends," Mom responded. She looked at the door again. "That Pinkie Pie seems nice."

"Yes," Shining replied. He was going to say more, but his mother continued.

"A bit of an odd mare, but nice."

"Yes. Sh-"

"Seems to be a very optimistic mare."

"Yes. In-"

"Seems to be a talented cook as well."

"Yes.-"

"Works at a bakery if I understood correctly?"

"Yes. It-"

"Seems to be good with foals."

"Yes. Th-"

"And she was the first mare you met when you arrived?"

"..Yeah.. Al-"

"And she's been around ever since?"

"Yes. I me-"

"Have you two started dating?"

"Ye-NO!" Shining jumped slightly. He could feel his face heating up.

"Oh." The older mare narrowed her eyes. "So, when are you going to?"

"Now, sweetie," Shining's father interjected, "You remember what Twilight told us." He turned toward his son and grinned. "He's supposed to marry a pegasus name Fluttershy."

"What?!" Shining's voice cracked as he cried out. "No. That's-"

"Actually," Spike piped up, "Shining is kind of interested in a farm pony named Applejack."

Shining Armor's jaw dropped open as his mouth suddenly went dry. His eyes bugged out of his skull as he turned to stare at Spike. The stallions jaw started to move up and down, but no sound came out.

"Applejack?" Shining mother repeated. "I think I remember Twilight mentioning her. Very strong? Comes from a large family?"

"That's her," Spike answered.

"And you say she's a farmer?"

"Yep."

"Oh, wonderful." The mare turned to face her husband. "A farmer from a big family. Do you know what that means? She will want to have lots of foals."

"Foals?" Shining squeaked out.

"Soon we'll have more grandchildren than we could count!"

"Grandchildren?!"

"Alright," Shining's father said, "I think that's enough teasing of Shining, sweetie. He looks like he's about to burst." The older stallion took another bite of waffle. "Besides, I doubt all this teasing is going to make him want to do us any favors. Mmm." He turned back to his son. "Although with food like this, you could do worse."

Shining Armor stared at them, eyes wide with one of them twitching. The sound of stifled laughter slowly penetrated his brain, bringing him back to the moment. His eye stopped twitching as one of his ears did so to find the source. Turning toward the sound, he found it was his mom.

The mare had a hoof up in front of her mouth. Despite that, the edges of a wide smile could be seen around it. There was a twinkle in her eye as she looked at at Shining, still snickering. Her entire body seemed to rise and fall with the suppressed laughter.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "Your father and I just couldn't resist."

Spike and Shining's father joined in on the laughter for a moment as well.

"What?" Shining finally managed to blurt out. "You mean you don't want me to get married and have lots of foals?"

"I don't think we would go quite that far, son," his father said.

"Shining," his mother said, "your father and I love you very much." Reaching out she placed a hoof against his. "We want you to be happy." Letting go, she leaned back again. "But we hope that some day you will find a mare..." her eyes narrowed and lips quirked up "or stallion to love, settle down, and start a family."

"Neither of us are in a hurry though," Shining's father added. "Besides, that's not why we came to visit. We did want to see this Ponyville and everything, but we're also here to talk to you about your sister."

"Twiley?" Shining shifted, looking between the two older ponies. "Is there something wrong? Is she in trouble?"

"Shining Armor," the father said with a laugh, "always ready to run to the rescue. No. She's not in trouble."

"Actually," the mother interjected, "we're hoping to keep her out of trouble. You see, since Twilight came back, she's practically talked about nothing other than you and her visit to Ponyville."

"Either talking about you and your friends," the father picked up, "or about a friend she made her named Apple...Blossom?"

"Apple Bloom."

"Yes. Her."

"Mostly," the mother continued, "she talks about how much she can't wait to come back and visit Ponyville again."

"So you brought her back to see if I would watch her the rest of the summer?" Shining asked, looking between his parents.

"Actually?" His father shifted. "We were thinking longer."

"How much longer?"

"A year," his mother answered, "to start. If it works out, she can stay longer. If not, she can come back to Canterlot and come to visit you from time to time."

Shining Armor shifted and started to think. A large portion of him liked the idea. It would mean he would get to see his sister all the time. At the same time, he was worried. Doing so meant taking care of Twilight, and that was a big responsibility. Not just for a day or week either, but a full year. No parents, or guards, or princess, to help. He would have some friends, and several have experience with foals, even if not their own.

"You don't have to decide right away," his father said. "Take some time to think about it. We are aware it's a big responsibility."

"You two think it's a good idea though?" Shining asked.

"Ponyville does seem to be a smaller and more relaxed town than Canterlot," Shining's mother answered. "Plus she already has at least one friend here. I'm kind of worried that if she doesn't then... well.. she'll just withdraw into her books and never make any other friends."

"You don't think she'd make friends with ponies where you live?" Spike asked.

"Most of our neighbors don't have foals Twilight's age," the father replied. "The few that do seem to be trying to preparing them to enter Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. The poor fillies are under so much pressure I'm worried they're going to snap if they don't make it and have no idea how to have fun."

"That seems like an exaggeration," Spike said, narrowing his eyes.

"There is a lot of pressure in some families to get in," Shining Armor told the young dragon. "Even if a pony doesn't become a personal student to the princess, it's still seen as a very prestigious school. Some see it as proof of how powerful their magic is while others want it for the opportunities that it come with graduation." He turned toward his parents. "You don't want Twilight to go?"

"Twilight doesn't seem as interested in it as you," his father answered.

"Besides," his mother added, "she's a very bright filly. I'm sure she can learn much on her own when it comes to books. What Twilight needs is to develop better social skills."

"That makes sense," Shining said, "but what about you two? Aren't you going to be lonely with both of us moved out?"

"Actually," Shining's father gave him a big grin, "we were thinking that if Twilight stays here, you mother and I would go on a third honeymoon."

Shining Armor let out a groan and shuttered.

"Third honeymoon?" Spike asked. "Don't you mean second."

"Oh, we went on a second honeymoon when Shining got accepted into the academy," the mother responded. "In fact, that was when we-"

"I'M NOT LISTENING!" Shining shouted, covering his ears. He then started singing as loudly as he could, his eyes closed. The other three looked at him. Shining's father let out a chuckle, shaking his head. His mother rolled her eyes. Spike just stood there, blinking in confusion. The young dragon felt like he had missed the punchline of a joke somehow.

Next Chapter: Twiley and Two Cakes Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes
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