They were about to knock on the door, when it opened to reveal Night Light. “Come in, both of you.”

“Thanks, Dad” said Twilight as she and Artemis walked into the house. “Sorry, we are a little late. Celestia wanted us to eat lunch with her before we left the castle.”

“No problem, Twilight” Her father replied “Velvet, they’re here!”

“Just a moment!” came the reply from further into the house. A few moments later, the door opened and Twilight Velvet entered the living room carrying four glasses and a pitcher of lemonade. “Hi, Twilight and welcome, Prince Artemis”

“Just Artemis, please. There is no need for titles here. And thank you” replied Artemis as he and Twilight sat down together on the couch.

Twilight Velvet and Night Light nodded, sat on a love-seat opposite of them and looked at each other.

“Just get it over with” complained Twilight

Artemis looked at her in confusion

Twilight Velvet and Night Light laughed “Never could put one past you, Twily.” She looked at Artemis “Normally, we would ask the usual “What are your intentions with our daughter?” question but I think we can skip that one. However, I have a different question that I want to ask you.”

“Yes, Mrs. Sparkle?” asked Artemis

“First of all, if we are allowed to be informal with you, then the same applies to you addressing us. Please call me Velvet and my husband Night or Night Light.”

“Very well, Velvet. What is your question?” responded Artemis

Velvet nodded “There are hundreds, make that thousands, of eligible mares in Equestria. What made you chose our daughter?”

Artemis paused, glancing at Twilight “For me, it started almost four years ago, the night I returned.”

Twilight looked at him “What do you mean?”

Artemis turned to her “What do you remember about the first time you used the Elements of Harmony?”

Twilight tilted her head thoughtfully “In all honesty, at first, it was just a huge amount of magic and I had to struggle not to be overwhelmed. Then, something strange happened.”

Velvet looked confused “What was that?”

“Well, the girls told me that my eyes shone with a bright white light, but that’s not what I saw.” Twilight began “To me, I suddenly saw things in different colors. At first, everything was pitch black but then, I saw something else.”

Artemis had a very small smile on his face “What was it that you saw?”

Twilight looked off into the distance “This may sound weird, but I saw a deep, almost midnight, blue. It was almost swallowed up by the black around it. I could tell that the black part was pure evil, but the blue part seemed pure and innocent. Somehow, I knew it had to be protected. I didn’t have much time, so I surrounded it with a barrier as quickly as I could. I think I managed it just before the Elements hit because the next thing I saw was a rainbow.” She paused “Why do you ask?”

Artemis faced her completely “The black you described was the evil soul of Night-Terror Knight, before the Elements purified him.”

Twilight sucked in a breath “And the blue?”

Artemis’ smile grew “That was my soul. You could have destroyed both of us or sent us back to the moon but you didn’t do either.” Tears came to his eyes. “The Elements of Harmony saved my life. But you, Twilight, were responsible for saving my soul.”

He turned back to Twilight’s parents “Things moved rather fast right after my return and cleansing by the Elements. Almost immediately, Celestia appeared and I was distracted by seeing my sister for the first time in a thousand years. It wasn’t until Nightmare Night that I was able to go back to Ponyville. At that time, Twilight was the only one that was not afraid of me and didn’t call me Night-Terror Knight. She helped me connect with the ponies of Ponyville and became my first and only close friend in all of Equestria.”

“If somepony did all of that for you, not to mention what happened two days ago, wouldn’t you love them?” He asked as he looked Velvet in the eye, with tears still in his own. “Nopony else, including my sister, has even come close to what Twilight has done for me, all without asking for anything in return. That, Velvet, is why I chose your daughter.”

“O-oh my, I had no idea” was all that Velvet could say.

“Wow” said a wide-eyed Night Light.

They looked on as Twilight snuggled closer to Artemis and nuzzled into his neck, using her magic to dry his eyes.

He smiled, wrapped a wing around her and returned her nuzzle.

Night Light cleared his throat, catching the attention of Artemis and Twilight “Artemis, I will not challenge you or your decision to court our daughter. Especially since she clearly cares for you as well.” He stood and faced Artemis directly. “However, there is one thing I must make clear. If you hurt our daughter . . . “

Much to the surprise of both Twilight Velvet and Night Light, Artemis laughed. “If that were to ever happen, and I’ll do my best to see that it doesn’t, we shall see if there is anything left once Twilight, Celestia, Cadance, and Shining Armor get done with me. If there is, you are welcome to take out your anger on whatever is left.”

That was not the answer that he had been expecting so Night Light just stared.

Velvet smiled “In that case, I’ll make it official. Artemis, welcome to the family and take care of our little girl.

Artemis stared at her for a moment before he smiled “Thank you, I plan on it.”

All four of the ponies in the room blinked as a sound startled them. They all looked to Twilight, who was looking at her stomach.

Velvet smiled “That conversation took much longer than I expected. I’ll go put the vegetable casserole in the oven.”

Twilight started to get up “Do you want help, Mom?”

Velvet smiled “No, sweetie, you stay there and relax. If the story going around about the events of two nights ago is true, you both need and deserve a break.”

“Actually, Mom, Artemis and I are going to Ponyville in the morning. He will be staying with me for a week-long vacation.” Twilight replied

The answer to that came from both Velvet and Night Light.

“Good”

Night Light suddenly smiled, making Twilight rather nervous. He lit his horn and floated a book from a nearby bookcase towards him. Twilight saw which book it was and immediately turned bright red. “Dad, do you have to?"

Artemis looked at her in confusion but before he could ask, Night Light laughed.

“Yes, Twilight” he said “It’s a parents job to embarrass their children. We didn’t get a chance to do this with your brother before he married Cadance. We are going to make up for that by embarrassing you twice as much.”

“Fine” Twilight sighed “But I’m going to kill Shiny for putting me through this.”

Night Light opened his mouth, but the response came from Velvet. “Come on, Sweetie. It won’t be that bad.”

They were interrupted by laughter. The three of them turned to find that Artemis had pulled the book towards him and opened it. It turned out to be a photo album of Twilight’s foalhood. The picture that he was looking at was one from when she was very young, still in diapers. She was also covered in mud and smiling up at the camera.

Over the next couple of hours that it took for the vegetable casserole to cook, Velvet and Night Light showed Artemis the pictures and took great joy in telling him the stories attached to each one, in the most embarrassing way possible. Twilight spent that time laying on the couch, her face bright red and buried in her hooves.

When the timer went off, it was Twilight who stood and went into the kitchen. Once there, she took the casserole out of the over and put it on the dining table. Then, she got a pitcher out of the cabinet and made iced tea. After that, she got out the plates, glasses and silverware needed to set the table. She was just finishing when the laughter from the living room stopped.

She looked up as Artemis and her parents entered the room.

“Twily, I told you that I would take care of dinner.” Velvet told her “You should be relaxing.”

Twilight said nothing. Instead, she cut and served four servings of the casserole. Then she poured four glasses of iced tea as she sat down. Artemis sat next to her and her parents sat across from them.

Throughout the meal, Twilight said very little. When she did speak, it was to Artemis.

After the meal was over, Twilight nudged Artemis towards the living room. “Go finish the book and stories. I’ve got this.”

“Are you sure?” he asked her

Twilight nodded and carried the dishes to the sink.

Artemis gave her one last look over his shoulder as he headed back to the living room, followed by her parents. A few minutes later, she heard the laughter start up again.

After washing the dishes and laying them out on the drying mat, Twilight decided she wanted a few minutes of fresh air. She headed out to the backyard. There, she noticed that the plants had not been watered yet. Smiling slightly, she set about completing her foalhood chore. Once finished, she headed back inside.

She followed the laughter into the living room. Once there, she stopped in the doorway. Velvet paused to catch her breath before finishing the story. The three of them paused when they heard a loud gasp.

Artemis, Velvet and Night Light turned to the doorway to find Twilight standing there with tears in her eyes. She didn’t say anything and went upstairs.

Artemis was thoroughly confused so he looked at Twilight’s parents.

For a moment, they were just as confused. Then Velvet gasped “Oh, no”

Night Light looked at her “What is it, dear?”

Velvet looked at him “This is that story. The one that Twilight and Shining Armor made us compromise on. They agreed to let us keep the picture as long as we promised that we would never mention it or tell the story to anypony.”

Night Light grew pale and echoed his wife “Oh, no” He stood and went upstairs. After a few minutes, he came back down looking troubled. “She’s in her room.”

Velvet looked up “How is she?”

Night Light shook his head “I don’t know. She sealed the room, so I can’t enter and won’t answer me. I used to be able to break her seal and get in anyway. Now that she’s an alicorn, her magic too powerful for me to break through.”

A sudden movement made them both turn. They saw Artemis stand, a determined look on his face. He didn’t say anything but went upstairs himself. Curious, they both followed. Once upstairs, he looked around and saw a door sealed with Twilight’s magenta magic. He went over and touched his horn to the door to analyze the magic. As he did, he heard her voice.

“What is it?”

“Twilight, can I come in?”

There was a pause “As long as it’s only you. Just walk right through and don’t worry about the door.”

He pulled his horn from her magic and turned to her parents. “She’s letting me in. I will try to calm her.” Without waiting for a response, he turned back to the door and walked straight through it and her magic. As soon as he was through, he lit his horn.

Outside Twilight’s room, her parents jumped as a sphere of dark blue magic appeared right in front of them. As they looked at it, they noticed that they could see something inside of it. They quickly realized that Artemis was allowing them to see and hear what was going on inside Twilight’s room.

His spell complete, Artemis turned his attention to Twilight. He found her laying on a small bed that was positioned against the wall on one side with the head right under a window. She was looking at him with tears running down her face.

“I thought you were downstairs with my parents. Did something happen?”

He stared at her “Your parents realized that you are upset. Your father tried to come in but couldn’t get past your magic. They are both outside the door. Can they come in as well?”

Twilight shook her head “Not right now.”

Artemis used his magic to create a violet cushion on the floor in the center of the room that was the size of an area rug. Then he lifted her in his magic as he laid down on the cushion. He gently placed her next to him and put a wing over her. “Twilight, talk to me. Why are you so upset? The story wasn’t that bad.”

Twilight shook her head again “It’s not about the story. That story was from when we were small. I wasn’t even Celestia’s student yet. It was really important to both of us back then, but I doubt either of us cares about it now. I’m sure we would have allowed them to share it, as long as they asked both of us first. Hay, it’s possible that I might have been the one to tell you myself one day.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 15 Estimated time remaining: 35 Hours, 30 Minutes