LOVE'S BEEN A LITTLE BIT HARD ON ME

Chapter 3: One

“Are you sure about leaving your store unattended all weekend, Dad?” Twilight asked as she trotted alongside her father as their entourage made its way through the street. Such a large group of them would have drawn attention all by itself, especially with the baby dragon, but escorted by no less than ten royal guardsponies turned their leisurely walk into a spectacle. “I remember that you never liked Pageturner too much when I was living here. Still worried he'd give his friends unauthorized discounts?”

Night Light looked to his daughter and smiled. “He and I had a little talk , and let's just say that I put the fear of Celestia in him.” He dodged around some foals running through the street that almost got underhoof.

Velvet came up on the other side of Twilight, saying, “Don't you mean you threatened to audit the receipts and compare with our stock, all in front of him?” She cocked her head to the side and looked up as if trying to remember the scene clearly. “As I recall, you had him in your office where you prominently display the weapons you've captured while working for the Princess, didn't you?”

“Interrogation technique number twelve: always show that you have something over them,” Night Light replied with a smile.

Velvet shook her head sadly. “Dear, you're no longer Her Highness's agent, and he was hardly a hostile dissident.”

The stallion waved off her comment blithely. “Use it or lose it, my Velveteen. Besides, now we know we can leave the store in semi-competent hooves for a few days so we can take time off now and again.”

“If I may ask,” Spitfire said behind them, “what did you do for the Princess? I'd never seen either of you there at the palace before.”

Both older ponies got a faraway look in their eyes as if their minds were a million kilotrots away.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

As the last of the cultists fell, Night Light staggered against the wall, his many injuries finally catching up with him. Twilight Velvet walked up to him and slumped against the wall next him, their shoulders touching.

“I hope this will teach you to not run off after just any 'mare in misfortune' without your partner,” Velvet said.

Night Light shook his head. “She really had me fooled, Velveteen. Her story was so convincing, and it felt like there was no time to call you.” He bent over to pick up the black spellbook emblazoned with a silver crescent moon. “Well, this is one cult that won't be summoning the Mare in the Moon.”

They helped each other to stand on their hooves again and kissed, heedless of the splatters of slime on their coats. “Let's call the guards before they wake up and escape,” Velvet said. She stopped suddenly and held her hoof to her mouth, her cheeks puffing out.

“You okay?” Night Light asked. “Did one of their spells hit you?”

Velvet shook her head. “No, it's just morning sickness.”

Night Light froze in place. “Do what?”

Smirking, she bumped rumps with him. “What do you think happens when two ponies have that much wild, unrestricted sex, sweetheart?”

“This changes everything,” the stallion said in a stunned voice.

Velvet kissed his cheek. “I sure hope so.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

“Diplomatic corps,” they said in well trained, automatic unison.

“She retired shortly after Shining was born,” Night Light said with a nod towards his wife, “And I retired after our little Sparkle was born. Traveling like that isn't exactly the best way to raise foals, you know.”

They arrived at their house, and Twilight was overwhelmed by a feeling of nostalgia as soon as she stepped through the door. The cozy little home filled her with memories and the scents of her youth. The first thing she noticed was the smell of honeysuckle wafting in on the breeze through the open window leading to the backyard, which transported her to her past.

“Welcome home, Sparkle,” Night Light said as he nuzzled his beaming daughter.

Twilight looked back at her fillyfriends. “Come on. Let me show you my old roo-” She froze in suddenly realized horror mid-sentence. Without an explanation, she ran up the stairs.

Night Light winked at the mares. “You better hurry up there before she hides whatever it is she doesn't want you to see.” He stood aside, letting them pass.

“That wasn't very nice, dear,” Velvet said.

“But it was funny,” he replied.

Spitfire was first up the stairs, taking the winged shortcut. Fast on her hooves was Cheerilee, followed by Trixie. They burst into the small bedroom, and saw Twilight quickly hide a long roll of paper behind her back. So flustered was she, that she was using her hooves instead of her magic. “H- hi, girls! Well, this is my room! Yup, nothing suspicious here!” She backed up against the bed, causing the roll to make an audible crinkling sound as it was caught between her and the furniture.

Cheerilee sauntered up to her, using her most seductive hip wiggle. She batted her eyes at the now sweating mare and said in a husky voice, “Twilight... Love...”

Twilight gulped, saying, “Y- y- y- yes, Cheery?”

The teacher leaned in close to Twilight's ear and gently breathed into it. “Light of my life... You wouldn't hide anything from us, now would you?” She didn't wait for an answer and nibbled on the mare's ear, causing a squeak and a gasp to escape her lips.

Trixie grabbed the roll in her magic while their alpha was suitably distracted and pulled it free of her grasp. “Trixie has it!” she exclaimed. Carefully unrolling it, she revealed for all to see, a poster of Spitfire in her Wonderbolt uniform. It was signed, “To my biggest fan, Spitfire” with large, showy hoofwriting. The Spitfire in the poster was hovering, and giving the camera a roguish grin.

Head hung low, Twilight said, “I'm sorry, girls. I know this is difficult to explain, but-”

She was silenced by a gentle kiss on the lips by Cheerilee. “Twi, we understand. You hadn't even met us when you got this poster,” she said.

“Indeed,” Trixie added. “We already knew that you've known Spitfire for longer than the two of us put together.” The showmare walked up and nuzzled her cheek and was rewarded with a similar gesture. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed against the mare and took in her scent of ink and old paper; wondering how she still smelled like a library even when she hadn't set hoof in one for days.

Spitfire examined the poster which now lay on the floor. “I'm flattered, Twi, but where did you get it signed? I think I'd remember meeting you at one of my signings,” she asked with a smirk.

“Um, actually, I was sorta undercover at the time,” Twilight replied.

“Undercover?” Cheerilee and Trixie asked.

Twilight hunched down as if waiting for a blow to land on her. “I.. I was going through a phase at the time that I didn't like to show my face in public, so that I wouldn't bring attention to the Princess. I disguised myself with a spell to alter my looks as well as a hoodie and sunglasses. Layers of protection, you see.” She looked up to Spitfire nervously. “You probably don't remember me, you did a lot of signings that day.”

The Wonderbolt thought for a moment. “Sorry, Twi. I have so many signings, that they all tend to blur together, and more often than not, a few ponies afraid of being seen or recognized show up every time, so your disguise was fairly effective.”

“That would actually be kind of a relief to the old me,” Twilight replied. She looked to the others and gestured towards the poster. “So you're really not mad at me for this?”

Cheerilee shook her head. “Dear Heart, of course we're not upset. Like we said, it was long before we came into your life. That would be like being upset at my mother for being involved with your mother when they attended college.”

“Trixie concurs. It would be foalish, especially considering our... relationship now,” the showmare added. To emphasize her point, she leaned in and kissed the nervous mare, letting her tongue work its way past their lips. Leaning into it, she kept pushing until Twilight fell backwards onto the bed with Trixie standing over her.

Spitfire nudged Cheerilee and indicated with a nod towards the empty portion of the bed. Grinning, Cheerilee hopped up to lay down next to the necking couple. The pegasus flew up and gently landed above her, straddling the mare. She eased down until she was practically mounting her and wrapped her forelegs around Cheerilee's neck.

Trixie had moved on to nibbling Twilight's neck, eliciting moans of pleasure from her lover. She eased herself down until she was laying atop the librarian, all four of Twilight's legs wrapped around her.

The scene before them had a predictable effect on Spitfire and Cheerilee. The earth pony's tail began to lift, but couldn't go very far due to the weight of the mare atop her. The end result was her dock poking into Spitfire's marehood, spreading the labia and roughly rubbing against her clit. Spitfire responded by grinding her hips into it, causing a flush to appear on their cheeks, and little gasps of pleasure to escape their mouths.

A quick knock was all the warning they had before Spike walked in saying, “Twi, your Mom wants to know if grilled chee hee hee hooooh boy!” He turned around quickly, the blush nearly overtaking his whole body.

All four mares practically teleported to a standing position on the floor not touching each other, despite only one of them being able to cast that particular spell. “S- S- Spike! What have I told you about entering before getting permission! Knocking by itself isn't permission!”

“Sorry, Twilight, but the door was a little open so I thought it was okay!” he said without turning around.

Twilight facehoofed. “Well, I suppose it's partly my fault, then. Why did you come up here?”

“Your Mom wants to know if grilled cheese and vegetable soup would be okay for lunch,” he replied, still facing out the room.

“Homemade?” She asked more than a little eagerly. Spike nodded, and she clenched a hoof in victory. “Yes!” She quickly calmed herself down and said in a more sedate manner, “Please tell her we'll be down in a few minutes, Spike.” The little dragon nodded and left, all without turning back to face them. Twilight shook her head. “Well, there's another awkward conversation we're going to have later.”

The mares trooped downstairs and sat down at the table. “Just wait 'till you taste this soup,” Twilight told them. “I'm not sure what she puts in it, but is out of this world!”

Velvet set six plates of sandwiches and six bowls of soup- one glittering with crushed gemstones- and kissed the crown of Twilight's head. “I keep telling you it's spinach, but you never believe me.”

“Because spinach is the worst vegetable ever grown, that's why,” Twilight retorted. “I'll find out your secret some day, Mom.” She looked at the place settings in confusion. “Isn't Dad joining us?”

Velvet sat down and placed a napkin on her lap. “Afraid not, sweetie. He got called away to work. He should be home in time for dinner though.” Further discussion was limited to moans of pleasure from the delicious home cooking.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

As he finished calculating the totals for yesterday, Night Light sighed and sat back in his chair. He scrubbed his eyes with his hooves and groaned. Looking around his little office, his eyes settled on a bookshelf that jutted out into the room, blocking his view of that corner. “You going to hide there all day, or are you going to talk?”

A familiar gray mare casually walked out and grinned at him. “How's it going, Teach?”

“It would be going a lot better if you didn't waste my time waiting for me to call you out,” he groused at her. “I see little enough of my daughter as is without dashing off whenever you crook your hoof.”

Plain Sight sat on the corner of his desk in a blatant display of familiarity. “Aw c'mon, Teach. What was it you taught us in Intelligence school? Always treat each call as if Equestria's safety were on the line?” She arched an eyebrow at him. “So it's true, then? She's really in town today?”

Night Light smirked up at her. “As if you didn't already know. You keep closer tabs on her than we do. Now, what is it you wanted?”

Plain Sight looked away, her eyes downcast. “I... I need your advice.”

“And you thought the father of the mare you're too scared to pursue was the right place to go?” he asked without an ounce of sympathy.

“No,” the mare replied with a flinch, “I thought my old teacher would be a good pony to ask.”

Night Light said nothing for a long moment, trying to read the younger mare's body language. Breathing out an exasperated sigh, he said, “Go on. Ask.”

Licking her dry lips, Plain Sight began with, “You know about me and... Limnear, right?” He nodded in reply. “Well, she's shown up in town and...” The mare swallowed a few times, trying to formulate her words. “She... expressed a desire to come back- to me, that is, not the organization.”

“And you want to ask me if you should accept or not?”

Plain Sight shook her head. “That's... there was... she...”

Night Light's eyes lit up in recognition. “She wants you to put her above... your job.”

The gray mare could only nod dumbly in reply. There was a quiet sound that from anypony else, Night Light would have sworn was a stifled sob, but coming from her... “How did you do it?”

“How did I walk away from a life and job that I loved, How did I adjust, How did I know that I would want to spend the rest of my life doing this instead of that; what? You're going to have to do a little better to identify just what 'it' is.” Night Light answered.

Plain Sight threw her hooves up in a helpless gesture. “All of it!” She hopped off his desk and paced in front of it. “I've been doing this for so long, training practically my whole life for it, that I can't imagine doing anything else! Worse, when I imagine anypony else... watching her, I feel sick to my stomach.” She stopped pacing only long enough to rub her belly as she felt the acids churn, before returning to it. “I know that any pony they assign to her won't feel half as invested in her as I do, and will do the job with a tenth of my dedication!” She whirled and slammed her hooves on his desk. “How can I just abandon her when I'm at my most vulnerable!”

Night Light calmly placed his elbows on the desk blotter and steepled his hooves in front of his face. “That. That right there is what you should be asking.”

This seemed to bring her up short. “What do you mean?”

“You said 'How can I abandon her when I'm at my most vulnerable,” the stallion replied.

Plain Sight recoiled. “No I didn't. I said 'she'. 'She's at her most vulnerable'.”

“Think back, Plain. Your mind knows it deep down.” He could see her mind working backwards in the conversation, and her poorly hidden surprise. “It's not a question of abandonment,” He said, laying a hoof on hers, “but of letting go, or grabbing on with both hooves and facing your greatest fear.” He sat back in the chair listening to its familiar creak. “You're probably the bravest pony I've ever met; no, scratch that, the bravest being I've ever met, but that's only because the only thing you fear is her- or more accurately, her rejection.”

The gray mare dropped down from the desk, looking dejected. “So that's it, then? 'Move on, or face her,' that's your advice?”

“Plain, speaking as a friend, not as your former teacher, not as a patriotic agent, not even as her father, but as a friend; I want to help you, and I'm not going to steer you wrong- not with something like this,” Night Light said. He tapped out a rhythm on the arm of his chair with a hoof. “Even at the risk of adding yet another wrinkle to my daughter's already overly complicated life, I'm not going to give you bad advice. This has been festering in you for a long time now. It's time to lance the wound so the healing can begin.” Trying another tack, he said, “Don't you think that Limnear deserves better, too?”

Plain Sight visibly flinched at that barb. “Leave her out of this!” she shouted.

“Why? She has as much stake in this as you or Twilight,” he calmly asked.

Hanging her head low, Plain Sight whispered, “No. She's an innocent in this. I'm the monster here; the coward.”

Night Light got up and walked around the desk and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Then mare up, Plain. You can't run from this forever; not if you want to hold your head up high.” Plain Sight ran into his forelegs, hugging him tight. He returned the embrace, stroking her mane, and letting her cry into his chest.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Celestia resumed her seat on the cushion and arched an eyebrow at the griffon across the table from her. “That hardly sounds like punishment to me, Minister Birinj. Would you accept it if ponies came to your country, tried to kidnap someone from one of the families your King favors, and the worst they face was simple deportment?” She shook her head swiftly. “No, simply expelling them from Equestria is not an option.”

Slamming his clenched talon on the table, the old, tawny griffon raised his voice at the alicorn. “Regardless, I won't have our citizenry subjected to your so-called punishments! We shall punish them ourselves!”

“I can see we're not going to get anywhere today,” Celestia said with a sigh. “Let's adjourn for now-”

“No!” Birinj shouted. “These negotiations have gone on for too long as it is! We shall resolve this now.”

Celestia narrowed her eyes at his rudeness, then smiled. “Very well, but as I am already late for other appointments, matters of state, you shall have to deal with my sister if you wish to continue today.” With that, she rose and left the room, a surprised griffon sputtering at the table.

Turning to his adviser, he said in Griffish, “She wouldn't do that, would she, Limnear? She knows how we feel about the Mad Mare.”

“I suggest you mind your tongue, Minister,” Limnear replied. “While she knows of her reputation in our lands, Princess Luna may not find our customs and beliefs so... quaint; less so, our race's name for her.” She sipped from the goblet of ice water on the table. “Throwing that in her face could cause more than a simple diplomatic problem. Moreover, endangering my sister- excuse me- your wife's niece's release could lead to problems of a more... personal nature?” For emphasis, she crushed the heavy pewter cup in her talons like it was made of paper, and dropped it on the table before him.

Birinj swallowed hard as he eyed the crushed goblet.

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Celestia stormed into the royal private dining suite and slammed the heavy bronze door behind her with her magic, making it boom like an enormous bell. She stomped over to the table where a bemused Luna sat, sipping at a cup of coffee.

“We take it negotiations are proceeding apace, then?” she said with a smirk.

The elder sister paced in front of the table, refusing to even look at the platter of small cakes laid out for their pleasure. “That buffoon is doing his hardest to derail these simple talks, and is trying to turn this into some sort of advantage towards his own! He won't even listen to me when I try to bring up punishment!”

Luna set down her cup and looked to Celestia. “Mayhap t'is time to, as they say in the modern vulgar argot, send in the 'bad cop'?”

Looking to Luna, Celestia said, “Lulu, it's time to send in the worst cop. Do you think you can manage it without destroying anything? You know what they call you there.”

“We think it meet that We 'turn the tables' on them as t'were.” She let her pupils contract into pinpoints, and one wander off wildly, while a creepy grin worked it's way onto her face.

Celestia actually managed to snicker at the face, her bad mood broken. “Please Lulu, don't hurt them,” she said with a silly giggle.

Her face returned to normal, she replied, “We shan't.” She rose from her seat and floated a glazed doughnut to her as she looked to the grandmother clock. “T'would seem that We might miss our weekly game night with dear Fluttershy. Wouldst thou rescue us if the meeting goes o'erlong?”

Nuzzling her sister, Celestia said, “Of course. Thank you.”

Luna smiled as she trotted out, but paused at the door. She looked back. “'Tia? Ar... Art thou sure that t'will happen this time? We- thou and I- were sure t'would happen afore; and we were wrong thence. We- I am not certain that I can take another...”

Celestia walked up next to her and draped a wing over her. “All the signs are there, Lulu. She even looks and acts the same. Even you have to admit that aspects of all of them taken together... You said it yourself that the stars themselves seem especially restless.”

“Aye. I just... I feel like a carrion crow waiting for-”

Celestia put a hoof to her lips. “It's not like that. You know the prophesy as well as I do. It's not... like that...”

Luna leaned into her side, basking in her sister's unusually warm body.

“She'll come back to us, sister.” Celestia said quietly. “We need only be patient.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Twilight came up for air from the box she had dived headfirst into looking for old treasures. A dusty, old stuffed bunny floated in her magical grasp. “Mr. Bun-Bun!” she exclaimed. “I haven't see you in ages!” She turned to face her fillyfriends, proudly displaying the faded blue toy to them. “This was Smartypants' best study buddy!”

Cheerilee looked around the parts of an disassembled crib she was holding up and shook her head. “Twilight, sweetie, that's cute and all, but not what we're here for. Your mother only left for that errand because we promised to keep on track.”

Plucking the toy away with her own telekinetic hold, Trixie kissed her on the cheek. “Let's at least pretend we're doing something productive, okay?”

“But... Mr. Bun-Bun...” Twilight pouted.

“...Will be coming home with us,” Trixie finished, placing it in a small box of cloth diapers. “Now, let's get all this down from the attic. As it is, we might have to buy an extra seat just for all the things we're bringing back with us.”

Spitfire flew down the open access to the second floor of the house and shouted up, “Okay, start lowering stuff down! I'm ready!” First down were the crib parts which she stacked by the wall, followed by two small boxes. The rest joined her, and Twilight absently closed the fold-up stairs on the access panel.

Twilight looked around at the assembled mares and things they were taking and sighed. “I guess I'm going to have to face facts. The tree just isn't big enough for our growing family and a public library.”

“You could always get permission from the mayor to build an addition onto the tree, you know,” Spitfire said, sidling up to Twilight and throwing a hoof over her withers.

Twilight looked at her as if she had just grown a second head. “And deface a public landmark? Unlikely.” She sighed in defeat.

Cheerilee licked her lips and nervously said, “We could move into my old place. We've just been using it as storage, but I think if we clean it up a little, it could serve us well.”

Trixie put a hoof to her chin. “Well, it is large enough to serve our needs for now...”

“And it has the added bonus of being designed as a living space, rather than a public building...” Twilight added.

“It would be nice to have a place to display my trophies again,” Spitfire added.

All four mares smiled at each other. “I better inform Mr. Wheelwright about the change in delivery,” Twilight said.

“Looks like we'll need to re-register for a change of address,” Spitfire said with a smirk.

“Trixie supposes she will have to move her cart again.”

“At least we'll still be close to the library. Do you think Spike will want to move in with us, or stay there?” Cheerilee asked Twilight.

Twilight shook her head. “Regardless of what he wants, he'll be living with us for a while yet. He's far too young for that level of responsibility. He can take one of the spare bedrooms, or failing that, the basement.”

They heard the front door open and close, followed by Velvet's dulcet tones calling out in a singsong, “Sparkles, come see what I've got for you!”

Rolling her eyes as she shook her head, Twilight walked down the stairs. “Mom, I've asked you not to call me that.” She saw her mother standing in the living room, a garment bag held in her magical aura. “What's that?”

Velvet smiled at her wolfishly. “Well, when you told your father and I yesterday of your plans, I knew I had to get this ready for you, so I took this to be dry cleaned last night.” She unzipped the bag, and white, frilly lace popped free. As more of the bag was opened, more was revealed, exposing a white silk dress.

All four mares gasped when the bag was finally discarded, leaving an old, but timelessly fashionable wedding dress revealed in all it's silk brocaded glory. Velvet smiled at her daughter, tears shimmering in her eyes. “I'm not sure what the ceremony will be like, but I hope you'll wear this for it. It's been passed down in our family for three generations, and now, it's yours.”

Twilight rushed into the older mare's forelegs, openly weeping. “Oh, Mom...”

They stood there hugging and crying into each other with an occasional “Mom...” or “My baby...”, while the other three stood there in varying degrees of damp-eyed joy. Spike, alerted by all the crying, walked into the room, and only took the time to note the situation before walking back out without a word or sound.

Finally getting a hold of herself, Twilight pulled away and said with a sniffle, “But Mom, I'm not... I mean, we... you know.”

Velvet nodded with a smile as she wiped away a tear. “That's alright, dear. That's another tradition with this dress.”

(\ /)
( . .)
*(“)(“)

Twilight levitated three books in front of her as she paced in front of her audience. “So in 276, Prime Minister Union Jack vetoed Parliament's proposed law banning herds. A law which, by all accounts, had just barely passed committee, and was extremely unpopular amongst the common ponies who still practiced that brand of unions in the rural areas.”

She pivoted in place, letting a different book take up her field of vision. “According to Herds: A Historical Account, the last known herd was actually formed in 864PT, when a stallion by the name of Gains Bond formed his herd with Moneybit, Honeycrisp Apple, Kitty Aplenty, Merry Goodknight, and Hollyhock Greatcap. Needless to say, they were quite ah, prolific, siring no less than twenty two foals among the five mares.”

“Now what this all proves," Twilight said, gently closing all three books, “is that thanks to these as well as the Princess's assurance that this tome is the sole law book that even mentions herds,” she nodded to Celestia who sat on the largest cushion in her parlor and nodded in return at her Faithful Student, “is that I can conclusively prove that there is no legal roadblock to our forming a herd.”

The librarian picked up her chalk in her telekinetic aura and turned to the blackboard, making several complicated equations as she talked. “In conclusion, barring any unforeseen events or complications, taking into account any preparations that need to be made ahead of time, our own schedules, and of course, the Princesses' schedules – who have so graciously agreed to perform the ceremony, we can be joined in herded bliss by Amorurary fourteenth.” Circling the date, she turned once more towards her audience with a satisfied smile.

“Really, Twily? Hearts and Hooves day?” Shining Armor said with no small degree of slyness.

Suddenly looking unsure, Twilight looked back up at the 2/14 encircled on the chalkboard and grinned sheepishly. “Um, oops? Would you believe it was all a coincidence?”

Trixie crossed her forelegs and looked to the Captain of the guard. “And what's wrong with Hearts and Hooves day? Trixie happens to think it would be an especially sweet gesture.”

“Not to mention slay a personal dragon of mine,” Cheerilee said under her breath.

“Well! Now that that's taken care of, what do you all say to celebrating with some cake?”Celestia said, clapping her hooves. Immediately, a swarm of ponies in white swept in pushing carts piled high with multilevel platters of bite-sized cakes, and several large pots of coffee. “I don't know about you,” she said, floating a piece the size of a bonbon and popping it in her mouth, “but I think we just found a good reason to celebrate.”

Author's Notes:

Man, I seriously think I'm going to have to give Plain Sight her own story just so she doesn't steal so much of the spotlight here. Either that, or step up the feels for Twilight and her girls. I hope that dress scene goes a long way into that debt.

The usual disclaimers here. I own the arrangement of the words, Plain Sight, Limnear, and Birinj. Amorurary is up for grabs for anyone who want to ponify the months in their own fics. All else is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust.