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The Sparkle Family Reunion

by sunnypack

Chapter 3: 3 - Casimir Effect

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Chapter 3: Casimir Effect

Shining Armor saw Night Light pacing restlessly in front of the station. Somehow he didn’t think their arrival was the source of his father’s agitation. Was it the upcoming gathering? His parents had seemed fine then, though his mother’s letter was worrying to some extent…


To my little colt,

We’re holding a gathering soon! The first one, I know! Listen, Shiny, I’d really like to see you there and Princess Cadance. Especially Cadance. We haven’t had much time to catch up with your sister, so we’re hosting the event at her castle. Everypony will be there, your grandma, your aunt and uncle on your father’s side, if I can track them down—heavens if I’ll know where they’ve been. So bring whoever you’d like, but don’t forget Cadance!

With love,

Your Mom

P.S. Mind your mother, remember what she was like before the wedding. — Dad


What really puzzled him was the repeated mentions to bring Cadance. Of course he was going to bring his wife. Why wouldn’t he?

“Do you think something’s wrong?” Shining confided to his partner. The alicorn smiled giving a half-hearted shrug.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said dreamily. “As long as you’re here.”

Shining smiled, it was hard to get worried when Cadance wasn’t. “You’re right. Maybe it’s nothing.”

Cadance tapped him on the nose. “Okay, you’ve piqued my curiosity, what is it? Let me guess. Your mother?”

Shining nodded. “You know me too well,” he admitted. “I mean I love my Mom and my sister to death, but sometimes…”

“They can get too excited?”

Shining’s nose scrunched up as his eyebrows drew down. “I was going to say crazy, but yeah, let’s go with that.”

“Oh Shiny, the world isn’t made of black and white. I love you too, but sometimes it’s hard for me to explain how we feel.”

“We?”

“Those of us who have feelings, dear.”

Shining sighed. How could he explain to his wife that he knew exactly what they were talking about, but he just didn’t think it was a big deal? He skirted around the potential trap. “Of course.”

Cadance raised an eyebrow. “I know from that tone that you’re not convinced.”

Shining shook his head. “No, you’re right, it’s probably nothing.”

“And when you say it’s nothing, it’s definitely something.” Cadance pursed her lips. “Come on, out with it.”

“I can’t help but feel that this is going to be a disaster.”

Cadance smiled. “Oh please, every family meeting’s a disaster.”

Shining scuffed a hoof. “Well, I don’t know about that.”

“I think I would know what qualifies as an unusual family, just think of my aunt.”

“Celestia is perfect. Why would that be a problem?”

Cadance rolled her eyes. “Ponies like you would say that. Ponies are never perfect, but that’s not the point, the point is I never felt like I could match up to her at all.”

Shining blinked. “But you’re always so great!” he said. “You haven’t got her legacy but you’ve definitely lived up to expectations!”

She rolled her eyes but also smiled. “Of course you would say that. Stop being so sweet; you’ll give me a toothache.” Cadance nudged him with her flank. “What I’m trying to say is that families are often not what you’d expect, and having a rocky extended family is just par for course.”

Shining let out his pent-up anxiety in one big breath. “Okay, yes. You’re right of course.”

There was an awkward silence between them both for a few moments.

“Should we go meet your father?”

“What? Oh yes!” he started forward, but drew back when Cadance caught him by the fore leg.

“Wait Shiny.” Cadance eyed the letter. “What’s it say, anyway?”

Shining shrugged. “Here,” he said with a reassured smile. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

Cadance took the letter. Her face began with an amused expression, but it soon rapidly progressed to caution, worry and finally, abject horror.

“Shiny?”

“Hmm?”

“I-I think we should go back to the Crystal Empire.”

Shining gave Cadance a beatific smile. “It’s too late for that, dear.”

“Why?”

“Because Mother’s found us. There’s no escape now.”

“Cadance!”

“Mrs. Sparkle.”

Velvet gave her a stern look. “Now, now, what did I say?”

Cadance amended herself hastily. “M-Mother.”

“Oh Cadance, you’re looking lovely as always,” Night Light said. He glanced meaningfully at his son. “We need to talk?”

“About what?” Velvet cocked her head with curiosity.

“Nothing, dear, just some catching up on the recent hoof-ball tournaments.”

“Oh, well, you two have fun, I’ll spend some quality time with my daughter in law.”

It was hard to miss the not-so-subtle gleam in Velvet’s eyes. ‘Help me,’ Cadance mouthed to her husband as she was dragged by her hoof. Shining couldn’t say much as he was dragged away by the shoulder in the opposite direction.

“I love you!” he shouted desperately.

——————

“Why did you drag me away?” Shining whispered irritably. He sported an annoyed frown. He had no real need to whisper, but his mother had the best ears for gossip. At least, the kind that concerned her family. The first time he shared a kiss with Cadance, his mother had known before their lips were dry. He shivered with the thought of her plans. Whatever they were, they were probably a bubble of fussing, overprotective advice, and a heavy dose of smothering affection.

“What’s going on, Dad?”

Night Light took a deep breath, looking around as if he would find his wife behind a barrel or a door frame. As it happened, they were in a rustic-looking bar, but there weren’t anything sold at this time of day. It was mainly a restaurant rather than a bar. Shining’s father lead his son to a booth and sat down heavily.

“It’s not looking good, son.”

Shining blinked. “I’ve seen Mom worked up before, we can handle it.”

Night Light waved a weary hoof. “Not this time, son.” He fixed him with a heavy look, laden with hidden meaning. “Your mother has it in her mind to, uhh, help your sister.”

“Twily? Why? She’s practically perfect!”

Night Light chuckled heartily. “I’m very proud of her too, but your mother worries, no matter how accomplished you’ve gotten.”

Shining knew the truth of that. Even after graduating the top of the class in the Military Academy, achieving the rank of Captain, marrying a Princess, becoming a Prince, and fending off a horde of changelings with the power of Love, Mom had insisted in coming along with him to the Crystal Empire for the first few days.

She would have come if Cadance hadn’t persuaded her that there would be a sensitive diplomatic situation with neighbouring countries that required certain delicacy. Due to diplomatic security reasons, she couldn’t come along. At least, that was what she told her. Even then, she’d kept sending letters that arrived at the strangest hours, often during the middle of meetings. Mail was forwarded to their rooms, but the backlog just kept getting higher and higher. Well, he had tried answering most of them, but there were other duties, a million other matters that clamoured for his attention.

He sighed. This week was a stroke of luck. Some time to themselves, a little escape from the burden of ruling for a while. The Crystal Empire was mostly stabilised, and there was time once again for family. The letter, though, had concerned him. His mother had sounded different.

“Anyway, you must be wondering why I’ve drawn you away from your wife. It must have looked like I’ve tossed her to the timberwolves, so to speak.”

Shining met his Dad’s sheepish expression with a raised eyebrow.

Night Light cleared his throat. “Son, it’s for your own good,” he said gravely. “Trust me, you don’t want to go to the house right now.”

Shining narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What’s so bad back there?”

Night Light closed his eyes momentarily, taking a deep breath. Shining knew that tic, his father often did that when he was breaking bad news and he needed a moment to ‘lay it all out’ as he would say.

“Remember that time during Hearth’s Warming when your mother and your wife were in the kitchen discussing Twilight?”

Shining frowned as he tried to recall the memory. “Yes… I got out of there as fast as I could, they were starting to match every bachelor and bachelorette out there for Twily.” Shining shrugged uncomfortably. “The thought of potential suitors for my sister was kind of disturbing, but they loved it.” A sudden thought occurred to him. “Wait, you don’t think—”

Night Light nodded, licking his lips. “This time, your mother’s got it in her head to do it again. This time for real. You shouldn’t go in there, it’s a war zone.”

Shining blinked. “Well it can’t be too ba—” He stopped himself and remembered stumbling across one of the spare guest rooms that Cadance had claimed was under renovations. Curious about a room that had been under renovations for years on end, Shining had taken a quick peek inside. He’d had to clamp a hoof around his own mouth to suppress the gasp of shock. The walls had been plastered ceiling to floor with every pony they had ever met or known for the past few years. Dots had been connected with strings in an intricate web that looked more like the den of a crazed rainbow-obsessed spider, than a guest room of a royal castle.

“Oh dear Celestia,” Shining whispered as it sunk in. “They’re going to destroy Equestria.”

Night Light glanced outside, his eyes shying away from the bright sunlight that contrasted his troubled mood. “Well, son, I doubt even she could help.”

—————

Twilight fumbled among the books, skimming some, delving briefly into others, before tossing them into a pile of books at the centre of the room. Spike was busy reshelving the books, one by one, but for every book he shelved, three more took their place as another casualty in the grand massacre of Twilight’s book crusade. Very soon, he threw up his arms in frustration and threw a book in her direction.

“Twilight, you’re acting crazy!” he yelled.

“I’m not crazy!” she belted back. “I’m absolutely, sane, composed, logical, reasoned, lucid, rational, coherent, stable, normal, and any other synonym you care to name that proves my absolute sanity!”

“Really?” he asked, unable to keep the frustration creeping into his tone. He gestured with a claw outside. “What do you call that?”

Outside the window, a faintly sparkling shield shimmered around the town. Ponies outside gazed up in concern, or perhaps at the blue pegasus that was slamming into the shield and yelling inaudible profanities.

“You do know Rainbow Dash’s house is outside the shield, right?” Spike saw Rainbow scream a few more things, then back up, preparing to dive at the barrier, presumably giving everything she got.

Twilight glanced outside started. “Oh!” she said. “Easily fixed!”

She turned back to Spike, concentrated briefly, and made a hole at the precise moment that Rainbow attempted a Sonic Rainboom. The pegasus went straight through the gap without any of the expected resistance, and ploughed through at lightning speed… all the way to Applejack’s newly-raised barn.

Even from the castle, Spike could hear Applejack.

“Dang nabbit, Twilight!”

“It’s fine!” Twilight replied to his shocked expression. “Perfectly fine! I’ve seen Applejack raise a barn in less than an hour! If that doesn’t work, magic fixes everything!”

“What about Rainbow Dash?”

Twilight flicked a hoof. “She’s fine, everything’s fine!”

“Ahhhh! It hurts! Everything hurts! Don’t get me wrong, I’m hardcore, but I think something’s broken!”

“Magic can fix bones!” Twilight said. “As long as there aren’t too many—”

“All of them hurt, I think I broke all my bones! Call a doctor!”

Twilight smiled sheepishly and shrugged. “Rainbow Dash sure knows how to exaggerate, am I right?”

“I’m not kidding this time, I think several of my bones are broken!”

Twilight strained in the ensuing silence, but when there were no further comments, her friend or otherwise, Twilight sunk to the ground with a moan. Spike tapped his foot and crossed his arms as he waited for Twilight to finally realise what a mess she’d made.

“I’m not…” she trailed off under his unimpressed, judgemental, unfair… concerned gaze.

“Oh Spike, what am I going to do?!”

The dragon sighed as he rubbed the back of his head and held out his paw, counting off points with each claw. “Well you’ve tried running away from it, hiding away from it, ignoring it, denying it, throwing magic at it, and talking to your friends about it.”

“Oh Spike, but that’s everything!”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “There’s one thing you haven’t tried.”

Twilight perked up hopefully. “What? What haven’t I tried.”

Spike crossed his arms. “Dealing with it.”

Twilight shrunk back.

“Oh,” she said. “Right.”

———————

Over Ponyville, Luna and Celestia arrived with a contingent of guards surrounding a carriage of gems. They stopped outside the faintly glowing bubble.

“It appears to be a shield,” Celestia remarked casually. She studied it, blinking with surprise at the creative combinations of cryptological calculations created comprehensively within the complete conjuration.

Luna poked it with a hoof. “A mighty one, sister. One only an alicorn with an extensive reserve of magic can cast, and even then only after extensive training in all forms of magic.”

They looked at each other.

“Twilight?” Luna said.

“Twilight.” Celestia sighed.

Author's Notes:

The Casimir Effect is the force observed at the quantum level when two conductors are placed very close to each other.

Next Chapter: It's... complicated, Mom.

As always, my thematically themed readers, thanks for reading!

Next Chapter: 4 - The Neighbour Exclusion Effect Estimated time remaining: 49 Minutes
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