Canterlot What Shines and Sparkles in the Distance (Sparkle Family Thread)

[Hippo]

Shining Armor is not a mare's fool. After all, he can remember the day he got married to Princess Cadance. He can easily recall the date, the hour and the second those bells rang. And why was this? It was a moment his life changed forever. It was a time when he dropped his old life and duties and discovered a whole new world of responsibility. And on a day like today, he would remember that day for the thing that mattered now as the last time he got to see his entire immediate family altogether.

Sure, Shining's time spend with Cadance was at a premium, such as a Princess' duties are. But Shining visited her side of the family all those years, why should he not come and spend time with his? Of course, Cadance's family were Princesses that adopted her, but still! Shining never took the chance to be with family lightly. And he especially had a list of things he wanted to talk about with his sister. Who by the way, is also a princess. It's a miracle that Shining's father isn't a princess at this point. "See dad, I told you this spot was perfect!" Shining suggested to the family that they all picnic at a location on a far side hill behind the castle. Despite being an area in the public forum, it was relatively not crowded at all and had a great view of Canterlot. And thanks to hundreds of Canterlot pony's tax bits, the weather was perfect for a grassy park outing.

​

[SteelEagle]

Crescent Sparkle spent his days charting the sky and keeping up with the latest celestial patterns and hypothesi. The main work was relatively simple and the minor daily adjustments only took a few hours. What really took up his time was pattern recognition and how they fit into any of the thousands of theories relating the stars and the art of magic or economics or politics or whatever crackpot theory a bored professor was putting forward. But Crescent used his pattern recognition to note something else entirely, something much more important. As he grew older and his children grew more distant, the few times he could actually see them became ever brighter and more important. Because he knew from his own life experiences that that pattern only got worse as time went on. They would have children of their own, have even greater and more involving responsibilities, and he would continue to grow older and less active. There would come a time when the letters he exchanged with them became not only so much more vital, but rare. Love and affection was a constant he knew would remain, but time and distance were parts of the equation working against him. The pattern was obvious.

So that made the short time window they had for a little family get together all the more important to him. It wasn't too big of a deal to get time off of work- Celestia knows he had more than enough days saved up- and it was local, so both he and his lovely wife and mother of two very important ponies, Velvet, could attend with no complaint. It was the timing of the two brightest stars in the Sparkle constellation that made it possible, the windows for both son and daughter aligning rarely for a nice family reunion to take place. Shining had suggested a place in the rear of the castle, in a less trodden on public park before a lightly settled part of town which led to the roads through the mountains, east of Canterlot. It was a good location for such a gathering as wile it was public it was a sleepy part of a bustling city and that is all Crescent wanted, a nice, simple reunion with the family he loved so.

"Good choice, Shining," Crescent said, slapping a hoof on his son's shoulders before settling down, draping a large area of grass with a blanket manually before laying down two huge baskets of food down telekinetically.

"Vel, did you bring everything else?"

[Rosewind]

Velvet trundled along behind her husband, her white faux-leather saddlebags bulging. The sun was shining indeed, birds were tweeting in the sky, poofy white clouds lazily drifted overhead...and Velvet's face looked absolutely grim. She pierced her husband's gaze with her icy, aquatic stare, her white-and-lavender bangs slightly messy from a swift breeze that was kicking up. "...Did I bring anything else? Really? We're twenty minutes late specifically because of the packing preparations! We could have had this all done last night if you just listened to me instead of playing with those awful little plants of yours. You know one of them dropped my sunflower vase off the windowsill? It didn't just drop it, honey, it waved it around to get my attention before dropping it...and speaking of broken things, I couldn't find my favorite fork, so I decided not to pack any forks. It will just be spoons today," Velvet said, glancing to her son.

Her tone instantly changed. "Shining! My little star stallion! Finally, I get you all to me! Let me take a look at you." She dropped her saddlebags to the grass, which instantly created a pit in the grass from the sheer weight of them. She smooshed his cheeks between her hooves, examining her son's handsome face. She turned his head side to side to make sure he was undamaged. "Are you eating enough? How are you and our daughter-in-law getting along? Any grandfoals yet? Please tell me you're brushing your teeth twice a day. I'd prefer three, but two would help me sleep better at night. Cressy, you did pack oat punch, right? Right?"

[Hippo]

Shining relished the time he would spend with his parents today. As a teenager, his feelings about the amount of time he spent with his family and the attention his mother would give him in public places would lead you to believe he would soon rather run away from home than to spend a vacation with the ones who raised him from his beginning. But as times change, his responsibility and adulthood would cause him to miss the moments he had when he was younger. However, it would still often be embarrassing.

"Mom, Cadance is great and the crystal pony chefs we have at the castle keep me fed, but no foals yet. We'll get back to you on that." Shining found it slightly annoying that his mother would address Cadance almost as if she was a stranger pony. Shining was so caught up in calling himself and his partner a 'we' and an 'us' that he hardly recognized the angle of calling them separate ponies. Mother was always very attentive to Twilight and Shining's needs, but Shining imagined that even as she got older and he and his sister moved out, that she gained withdrawals from attending to the health and perfect well-being of her own children who lived several hoof-miles away. And on a day like today when she would have a hooves-on interaction with her adult children, Shining wouldn't have expected anything less than a constant smothering of unneeded parental guidance. As far as teeth-brushing, Shining would shove that conversation under the rug for now. He got enough lecture about the causes of pony dentures at old age from his dentist, he didn't need a bonus round from his mother.

Shining started pulling the picnic supplies out of the bag and began helping set up the area. It was typical of mother to decide not to bring any forks. After all, how could she deal with having any forks out there at all if she didn't have her favorite one? OK, so maybe it didn't make sense to most ponies, but it made sense to Shining. Shining had always been a particular colt from the moment he started playing with his first toys. Everything had to be perfect and in order, and if anything was broken or missing, you might as well scrap the whole thing. Shining sometimes had to deal with settling for less in order to grow. Fortunately, Cadance was one of the few things in his life in which he did not have to compromise his particular nature.

"It's alright mom, we're not late for anything on a day like today. We have all day as far as I'm concerned. Besides, even if we are late, Twilight's not here yet either." Shining chuckled out loud. "Heh, I get to be more on time than her for once."

​

[SteelEagle]

Uggh, wives and mares. They found fault in everything a stallion did no matter the situation unless he had come slugging out of them at some point. Didn't matter what you did or why, but it was YOUR fault and you had to accept it because for some odd reason no matter your position in life, the wife commanded who slept where. He didn't own a dog or a doghouse and his son's old treehouse had a hornet's nest above it and not even the metaphorical kind. Real live hornets stung him whenever he went up there until he deployed a basic protection spell that his son had inherited ten thousand fold. It was always your fault even when it wasn't. The traps had been particularly upset lately because they weren't getting the sun they needed because the sunflower and the vase had been placed strategically to block them. So he had calmed them down and saved that sunflower vase for a full night, but in the end they were gonna do what they were gonna do. She should be thanking him for his selfless actions in saving her dumb vase another night, but oh well. He was the husband.

"I'm sorry about that, Velv. You know how they can get when their sun is blocked. Next time, I think we should place the sunflower outside so they can't get to it. Sound like a good idea?" he offered pleasantly as they set up, keenly aware that nothing he could say or do would please her in that regard. Oh well. You did what you could when you could how you could and didn't worry about the infinite possibilities that, like the boundless sky, were filled with unattainable dreams of escape. They set up and he sat down gently, his older bones cushioning him oddly. He needed to get some magical reworking but doubted it would help him but for a few more years, back to the same position and with thousands fewer bits fattening his bank account. Once he learned how to levitate himself from his beloved daughter, all would be well anyway.

Speaking of, she was late. It was odd to consider that she would be late for a family get together that she had RSVP'd to immediately once she had received the invitation, but he was sure she had a good reason. She was a very good mare, his daughter.

"I'm sure she has a reason for being late. I raised her to be very punctual!" He laughed out loud as he levitated a sandwich into Velvet's mouth, regardless of her desires.

"How are you and Cadance? We sent her some pictures of you when you were a colt but we didn't receive a letter back. I wonder why?"

[Rosewind]

Velvet nodded as her husband responded to her comments about the Traps. She had made the vase herself from a mixture of mud and purple grass she found growing on the outskirts of Canterlot Gardens -- they currently were not allowed in Canterlot Gardens for reasons, the top of which involved a colossal fire and a missing hummingbird nest. "Sounds good, Honey!" She agreed. Yes, she did. Nothing could sway her mind from being reunited from her first born son, save for the arrival of her little girl. She could write books about how proud she was of Shining and the new addition to the Sparkle family. She certainly thought quite warmly of Cadance, and wanted to get some quality bonding time with her at some point in the future. "The baby pictures? Oh yes, we have swathes of them, all over our room! And the living room. And the fridge. The bathroom, right above the toilet. Oh yes, and of course plastered all over the front window so if anypony peeks in, they can see our pride and joy! We can send more to you and Cadance if you'd like to put them all over the Crystal Palace!" Velvet paused, poking her chin thoughtfully, her cheeks glowing a ruddy pink.

Truth be told, Velvet had a healthy dislike of forks, save for her favorite one. As a filly, she chipped her tooth on one while trying to eat spaghetti in the middle of a sneeze. She had tried alternative eating methods: chop sticks, au naturale, or husband directly putting food in her mouth. The former method had limited success, especially with soup. The latter method, well...she was at his mercy of what went in her mouth. She once tried to return the favor by giving her husband breakfast in bed ("Surprise, honey!"), while he was uncannily still asleep. This was a two-fold disaster, considering she had the cooking skills of a blind mole rat. The trip to the Doctor that morning assured her that her husband would gain his lung function back after a little rest, and he did indeed! Since then, she was sure to wake him when presenting him with a plate of scorched...actually, the plate would just be scorched. Food on it would be a bonus!

Velvet's mind drifted back to her daughter. Her tardy daughter. Her aqua-hued gaze bounced between her husband and son. She bit her lower lip. "Our little Twili is late? Tardy? Truant? Not here?! I hope she's okay. You know, she's never, ever not never on time! What if she fell into the Crystal Caves again, or got ponynapped by Changelings, or maybe she's lost in Everfree! Or what if..mrrrrrpphffafrrfffrrfffmppffff!" The mare's cheeks bulged as Cressy magically sent a sandwich into her mouth. Her eyes watered, as she gave her husband a flat glare as she chewed...

[Hippo]

About a month ago, Shining received a package in the mail from mom and dad. Inside the box were several pictures documenting the visualization of everything Shining was and did from the moment he was born to the moment he got married. Ninety percent of the photos were great, but Shining couldn't help but hide the ones that showed him in a position or a state in which no pony should ever see. Even for Cadance, it was very embarrassing for him. He was lucky she didn't question him after he told her the package was relating to military profiling. Had Cadance been a housewife like any other happily married mare in Equestria, she most likely would have gotten the package before Shining and opened it under her own regard. "Oh yeah. I- we got those. Thanks mom and dad, they are great. I can't believe you kept those pictures all this time." And by 'those pictures' he means the ones in which he was two years old eating dog food outside sitting in a puddle of mud in a diaper. Needless to say, Shining bought a few security safes over the past few weeks.

"Don't worry about Twilight, mom. There's a first time for everything. When has she not been able to take care of herself? Shes often more diligent than I am." Shining levitated an apple and bite into it, some of the fruit flesh sticking to his cheeks as he chewed.

​

[SteelEagle]

Aye, it was good that he 'received' the pictures. Crescent didn't mind a bit of revealing and hilarious information embarassing his son drifting down to Cadance every once in a while, but Velvet's insistence on sending as many baby pictures as possible as often as possible was a bit vexing. Not as vexing as what she did when Twilight grew old enough to get out of diapers- he understood that her motherly instincts were strong, but Crescent was a full grown stallion thank you very much and had no need of them then, nor for the next eight months- but still a bit of a snout punch to his son. The fact that she seemingly had an infinite number of these pictures was also something that brought him low, as despite his great effort she kept on decorating their home with pictures. She was a sorceress of love and pictures.

"I hope she enjoys the pictures as much as we have," Crescent added pleasantly, playing his role well.

Crescent might as well have been given credit for saving the world when he stuffed her wife's face full of deliciousness. She was starting to do that thing that mares do when their children aren't in front of them, they go absolutely crazy. Since his wife was always crazy anyway, she just went far too talkative and her gabby gums carried an infectious degree of annoyance to all those around her when her worries overcame good sense. he had saved the stallions of the family from having to roll their eyes which always neded with a chastising glare. Such a hero, Crescent Sparkle. He didn't need anypony other than himself to say so though, just the knowledge that he had done such good deeds was enough for him. And his wife would send him out to the dog house.

"Shush. Twilight will be here when she gets here. Let's eat and party until then. Honey, show Shining your, uhh, sweet new dance moves!" Crescent offered up to his wife a means of entertainment as he started to snog on some snacks. If nothing else, she could bust a few moves and burn off some of that energetic motherly worry for the benefit of all comedy.

[Rosewind]

Velvet chewed slowly, her glare still burning at Crescent. The trees behind him might have even bowed to avoid her seething gaze. She swallowed, primly hovering a checkered napkin to her lips. "Dance moves? Honey, that's yoga. It's a centering exercise to promote relaxation!" Truth be told, Velvet appeared in the bedroom one morning, her shadow hovering over her husband like a demon come to collect a lost soul. She had a thin thrush mat tucked in her armpit, a yoga book hovering above her, and a grin that promised Crescent he was helpless to protest what would come. The pair practiced yoga that morning, trying such moves as the overdone pretzel twist, the shrieking crane, and the reverse two-trot toe twirl. Velvet, as a mare, was quite flexible, even on the cusp of her somewhat-a-little-past-her-prime-but-not-quite years. Crescent, on the other hoof -- well, they did empty the freezer of ice and schedule him with the Canterlot chiropractor for the next three months after that. Velvet diligently practiced herself, promising she would bring Crescent back up To Her Level in due time. Probably never, but it was nice for her to think that. Hope came in many different forms, some of which included sweat and analgesic cream.

The grey mare stood up. She flicked her straight bangs out of her eyes, as she spread her hooves out. "Oooooooooooooohhhhmmmmm! Aaayyyyyaaaa! See? It's exercise, Cressy, not dancing. And now we put our leg out like so..." She kicked her hoof out, unceremoniously clipping her husband in the jaw. Her cheeks flushed pink again; placing her hooves to her mouth, she swallowed a gasp. "Oh my, this is the third time this week!"

[SteelEagle]

Twilight was later than she had thought possible. Well, she had thought it possible, just highly improbable bordering on laughable. She had made sure of it by clearing her schedule for one day out of sixty, the sort of holiday a Princess was unlikely to get but once in a blue moon. Which Twilight learned was the result of Luna in a bad mood, by the way. That could only mean she was in a bad mood much of the time. And in turn, her bad moods sometimes meant some business of the night court was deferred. usually it was no big deal but there were rare instances when Luna's at times surly attitude brought down upon her comrades a flurry of furious protests from foreign dignitaries. Odd how disrespecting the customs of a zebra tribe by not agreeing to hold a fireworks expedition at three in the morning could turn into a minor international incident. Even odder was how that somehow became her problem, unkind tasks shuffled onto her young back with the understanding that as a rite of passage into the order of rulers she got all the runt jobs.

So she had spent much of the early morning attending a fireworks display she had personally overseen while smoothing over relations with the delegation. That had pushed what she had otherwise tasked for herself early in the morning later, and in the end was responsible for making her late. And what a day to be late. She didn't have a great many occasions to meet her family alone, let alone together! She was busy and so was her father, even if he was closer as he worked. She could rarely visit home and these little jaunts rarely coincided with when her mother was home. And Shining Armor? He may as well have been a myth at times. He had a little more availability when it was time for a royal meeting of some sort, but even as a Prince distance played an important and terrible influence on their sibling friendship. So today was important and even a very important pony was never too big for a family meeting. After all her work was done, the Princess rushed out of the castle and flew to the picnic location.

In a few minutes, Twilight had fluttered and dived her way to the park, harried less by reporters and more by a stronger current than she had expected while levitating. She came down to her family, a basket and some small packages trailing behind her and coming to a soft landing at the hooves of her family. It was then that she noticed, and promptly ignored, her mother kicking her father in the face. She wasn't going to tell them how to live their lives even if it should have been kept to the bedroom...far from prying eyes. Or any eyes, really.

"Sorry! Sorry I'm late! There was some small crisis that involved me and getting up and magical fireworks and how the mating habits of an alpaca relate to the customs of zebra tribes in south-western Unyasi. Anywho, presents!"

[Hippo]

In the corner of his eye, he saw something sparkle. It was purple and seemed to float like an angel. It was an unmistakable realization Shining had at that moment. This was probably going to be the best day because of this. Shining leaned forwad and grabbed a jelly filled donut that had jelly oozing out of it. If it hadn't been for the sunlight reflecting off the jelly, he probably would have not have seen it. Maybe dad would have gotten to it first.

And with his mouth still full, she finally came. Twilight Sparkle hovered down and landed next to the picnic group. Shining quickly chewed and swallowed his food. He would not be caught talking with his mouth full in front of mother. "Twily!" Shining gave a relaxed hug around her sister, the feathers folded onto her side still being something he has to get used to. He pulled back to look at her more. "Cadance was right, you are growing a little. And your feathers are broader, too! My little sis is growing up so much!"

​

[SteelEagle]

Velvet kicking Crescent. What a surprise.

It had only been the fourth time- not third- that week after all that he had been a victim of her yoga attacks. The only thing that it relaxed was any sense of safety he had around her as after a few weeks of that he could have walked up to any guard and claimed abuse. He enjoyed the prospect of a particularly limber wife who could dominate yoga and then other aspects of life but he didn't see much benefit from it. Or any way that he did benefit had to come at the cost of a few concussions and hard knocks that he thought he had given up along with his days with friends at seedy salt bars in parts of town he should have avoided. He guessed he shouldn't be surprised that he would somehow suffer at her hooves as she was not the most athletic pony, even if she was physically as fine as the greatest wine to his eyes. Eyes which had been blackened on previous occassions, by the way. He rubbed his jaw and focused on how cold of a shower he could force her into later as well as his rebuttal, which died in its formulation as Twilight approached.

"Sweetie!" Crescent shouted out in partly incoherent excitement, only partially due to his new jaw injury. He trotted up to the newest arrival to the Equestrian royalty as well as the only other person who seemed to understand what he spoke of when he mentioned baryon acoustic oscillation and its relations to redshifts. It never hurt having a smart daughter! She was still growing both physically and in her new role, her feathers- something that still fet odd to think. His daughter had feathers? His daughter had feathers!- blossoming and her height growing. Soon she would tower over them and they would likely start to bow out of reflex. It made him wonder if Celestia's parents bowed to their daughter at any point and if they felt as weird about it as she did.

"Happy to see you could make it. I was starting to worry you were being held up by some sort of real crisis. Funny that it was just fireworks and some odd customs. Also, please throw the present at your mother. She is abusing your dear old dad with karate kicks to the face and I can't take much more," he stated with mock outrage, ending by displaying the new shiner he had on his cheek around the jawline.

[Rosewind]

Velvet felt slightly terrible for kicking her husband in the face. Then, she remembered giving birth to two unicorns, both of which were his fault. Two. Yes, the horns are soft before they are exposed to air and have a chance to harden properly, but they're still horns. Then, her daughter arrived! Her much older-but-still-her-foal daughter. It seemed like a distant, far away dream to finally have her back. No appointments, disasters, or coronations -- just family time! She haphazardly grabbed a jug of ice water and slapped it to Cressy's chin, turning her full and undivided attention to Twili's arrival. "My little filly! Oo, you're taller! And skinnier, too! Are you eating? I remember you were so chubby when you were little! Come here, you!"

She wrapped her hooves around her little one's purple neck, yoinking her into the most mothery, smothery, long-winded hug ever. Even Pinkie Pie would be envious! She brushed Twilight's bangs out of her eyes, giving her face a good look. She smooched her nose and tried her very hardest to keep from sobbing. She somewhat composed herself, dabbing her checkered napkin to the sides of her eyes. The waterworks of a mother ran freely, especially when she was rained with the fruit of her life. "Your Father and I are so proud of you! It feels like we haven't had proper time to celebrate both you and Shiny. Barring a changeling invasion or your Father going to the hospital with a concussion, I can only hope we'll have some very intense, quality family time. I hope you brought a checklist to check the list of family things we can do! List." She knew her daughter well. "I brought a list of my own! It's a record of how much property damage accrued in Canterlot over the past eighty-three moons. It's quite fascinating! I thought you'd like to see it. Ignore all the notations concerning the Sparkle family. Your Father and I have taken care of those...things." She turned her attention to Shining. "So, grandfoals. When?" Yes, that was plural.

[SteelEagle]

When just your brother says you've changed, maybe you believe it, maybe you do not. He is after all your brother and existed partially to needle you, even if he loved you dearly. But when your mother joined in your ears perked up and you bought it, as no mother would cause such a panic for her daughter with a lie. But as soon as Twilight could regain herself she felt like slapping her forehead to and fro. Of course she was taller and bigger to an extent, she was an alicorn now. Came with the territory. For some reason she was still getting used to that little fact and on more than a few occassions hadn't been paying attention and slammed her forehead into a wall or caught her wings on a doorframe. Someday she'd get used to it and that day would be the day she would make fun of her brother for being literally her little brother. Talk about a role reversal! But she'd do it only after she got used to the doorframe issue. It didn't help to make fun of somepony while you got your wings clipped daily by the foul entrances.

"Nice to see you too, Shining. I have grown- my wings feel bigger every day and tht is even accounting for a bigger frame! Did you know that an alicorn's wing is one point six tmes as big as a normal pegasi's wing? Strange because it should be a flat two times as big! But the muscle mass in the wing is more dense so it packs a higher capacity for carrying heavier bodies. Which mine is, mom," Twilight said to try and stave off a combination of worry and- nope, nothing stopping the hug.

Her mom gave the best hugs in all of the world, or so Twilight thought. She didn't mind how long this one as after a long day of silly relations she was pleased just to see it done and in her mother's caring hooves once more. Of course she then started some slight waterworks because she was always a bit of a weeper. All Twilight could do was wait that out unil she started speaking, at which point Twilight lit up. The one thing her family shared in their unique ways was book keeping and checklist making. And while her mom provided an odd checklist of property damage with their names scribbled out, Twilight provided a list of her own. This was a list of fun family activies that they could partake in and it was divided up into both full family ideas as well as every possible combination of the four. It rolled out of her saddle bag and extended from snout to ground to end of her tail. Yes, she had come prepared.

"I did bring it. I always remembered how chaotic our gatherings were before but with this checklist we can have the most exciting yet organized fun ever. And dad, stop being a baby. Just because mom wants another doesn't mean you have to personally play the role!" She chided her dad congenially before giving him a big hug, warm in his embrace.

[Hippo]

Mom was beginning to really heat down on her persuasion and interrogation. When was he going to help provide his mother and father with grandfoals? At the moment, Shining was thinking about kids just as much as he did when he first met Cadance. Which was none. Sure maybe it crossed his mind forcibly during a conversation with mother about this the last time they met, but that was about it. So Shining did the only thing he could do in this situation. He glanced at Twilight and looked back at mom. "Oh, you could probablty expect them sometime late next year. Cadance and I have been so busy, we haven't had any time to even talk about it. But if Cadance still loves foals like she did babysitting Twilight during Academy, then I'm sure we wont go very long without our little foal to watch over." It was all an empty promise. But he had to tell her something otherwise, the conversation would continue. At least, he figured it would end with that statement. And at the same time, he was able to remind Twilight of her age compared to him.

And speaking of Twilight, Shining was reminded that Twilight took after mom much more than from dad, as they both pulled out their mental lists and started speaking out loud everything that was at the top of their minds. Scary stuff. Dad, on the other hoof, was much more down to earth. And even though he was a little quirky, it was always a relief against the more attentions to detail conversation style that exists in the family. "Hey, Dad, I know it's hard to plan for us, but next time we should finally plan that stargazing trip you and Twilight kept wanting to do."

​

[SteelEagle]

Le sigh. he couldn't help but get it from both sides of the estrogen-riding side of the family, could he? There were no breaks on the Sparkle train. And that train tended to run over poor old dad again and again. He didn't have too many great objections to his treatment, though whether that was because he had been trained to temper his fevered desire for more respect with his deep and abiding love for wife and daughter or simply because he was simply that easygoing a stallion of all seasons was up for debate. He didn't even know- probably a bit of both. Though somehow, the subject of foals and babies seemed to come up from both sides. truth be told he didn't really want to care for a newborn or deal with the hassle. He loved kids- he loved his kids, the most obvious statement ever. But he knew his limits and his age. He wasn't a spring pegasus anymore. His morning jogs ended with more joint pain and a greater sense of fatigue. His mane was greying and his face wrinkling imperceptibly. He was older than middle aged- though not by too much- and on the wrong side of his natural life span. He was happy having two of the best kids in history with the best wife in history. If the third was a major screw-up then the average would go down and who wanted that? Not Crescent. Not Crescent at all.

"You wound me, Twilight. I'm not a baby. I'm a big baby. There is a difference- just as your mother," He finished with a laugh, falling into the background with his son. Now there was somepony he could talk to! They shared so many interests, like...sports! And history. And the REA, to very different levels. Well, so maybe they didn't share as much in common as he did with Twilight but that only allowed for Crescent's respect for his son to grow unfettered by personal experience or expectation of success. And it didn't hurt that they weren't jabber mouths who planned everything out. No, the testosterone driven side of the family took their lumps but when the chips were down were the go to stallions for anything you needed. The fact that it ended up mainly involving hoof rubs was just part of the deal.

"We might. I know the patterns and the charts. Missy here just needs to find the time to see her aging father before he forgets the constellations entirely. Shining, make sure to not name your first foal Orion. It is very bad luck. Or the second. Also bad luck. Just friendly advice- ignore your mother's ideas."

[Rosewind]

Velvet huffed, blowing her striped bangs out of her eyes. Clearly Shining was dodging the foal question, as she knew he would. She buried her aqua-hued eyes deep into her first born, a grin emerging from the corners of her lips. "If you'd like, I could write a letter to Cadance and send her a few foal-rearing tips. You know when your Father and I had you, it was the result of a disagreement over a...what was it again? I knew I was mad at you for something. Do remind me, honey! Anyway, the best way to have kids is through disagreement, then understanding. You know, I bet Twili has a book or six containing excellent baby names!" She turned her attention back to her daughter. "How big is that little library of yours now, sweetie? It must be an excellent resource for the denizens of Ponyville."

The grey-and-lavender mare stretched herself, unwinding her muscles from her previous session of husband-kicking yoga. She stuffed her face with another bite of sandwich, chewing thoughtfully. "Mrrf! Stargazing! Ooh, you know, that's our word for..." She trailed off. That was their word for doing things married couples do when they love each other very much, like hug, kiss, and have emotion-driven bouts of snuggling. Velvet nudged her husband in the ribs, grinning. "Okay, my little filly! Let's see that family fun list! Let's try to pick things that won't hurt your Father too much. You know how accident prone he is."

[SteelEagle]

Twilight kept a well-stocked library fit as a fiddle for any number of occasions. Usually it was her own personal scholarly work that required such an extensive collection, though she kept a lot of fiction works close at hoof. Really very little choice in that matter. That space had to be used to entice readers into coming in as for some reason few had the desire to read non-fiction all day, every day. Plus, her mother had the best line in fiction on tap at all times and it was either put them on the shelf or admit to her mother that she rarely read a lot of the books she sent. Rainbow Dash had likely read a greater number of them, or at least began to and then realized that not every work of fiction involved Daring Do and then stopped. But at the mention of foal name books Twilight had to suppress a devious smile, though it had nothing to do with Shining and Cadance and everything to do with her own flights of fancy and fantasy.

"It is the biggest library within a hundred miles, even though it honestly isn't all that grand. Six-hundred and sixty four books as well as thirty or so comic books for the little colts and fillies that like that sort of stuff. Didn't you try your hoof at making a comic when I was a foal? I swear I could remember chewing on something like that...in any case, it is only one tenth the size of one of the wings of the Royal archives and one-thirtieth the size of the Crystal Library, but its something," Twilight said, her library related pride larger than it had any reason being. Then again, did anypony else ever think about how handy living in a library was? She was never at a loss for information on any topic. Books were sure to forever remain the most efficient means of information exchange!

Twilight then looked sheepishly down for a second, her face betraying the barest hint of blush.

"As for foal name books, there are a few books in the library about foal rearing. two of them are quite good," she pushed the words out of her mouth as she got her list out, "and before I begin, you're the one who doesn't want to stay up all night looking at the stars, dad. If you could find time after two in the morning I'm always open!"

"Okay, father-safe ideas...so based on what you just said, cross stargazing out. Forever. Ever ever. Picnic? Check! We are at a picnic. Shining, did you bring any balls?" Twilight asked, staring at her brother expectantly. She was an alicorn with a lot of energy to steam off and playing with his balls would help, "failing that, dad, did you bring any long poles?" because if there was one sure fire way to have fun, it was to handle his long pole, "mom, did you bring the hats?" because her mom had nice hats.

[Rosewind]

Velvet sighed wistfully, setting her chin between her forehooves. "I love the smell of libraries. That earthy, musky book smell. You know the one I'm talking about, sweetie. I really wish we could bottle that smell and use it like perfume. It's a smell of old ages past, of lonely pages eager to meet curious eyes, of tales past and forward, both a respite and drug for wanderlust." She swooned, falling backward onto her husband, her legs akimbo. Velvet composed herself from her book geekery. Briefly. "I remember when you used to play with Shining's balls in the house. One hit an inkwell and made your father look like a zebra for a few weeks. Or, was it a month? He does look rather cute with blotchy stripes. Of course, it also got on my sparkly lace drapes. Your father isn't allowed to carry poles. Last time he did...actually, it's probably best we don't talk about it."

Velvet grinned widely at her daughter. "You wouldn't mind sending those baby name books to your sister-in-law, would you? I'm sure she would appreciate them. And think about it, Twili -- you'll be an Aunt once they go into proper use. 'Aunt Twilight' does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?!" She turned her burning, motherly gaze back to her son. "Howzabout we play flower tag?!"

[Hippo]

Shining wasn't really ready to have kids, but that didn't stop him from having a name picked out for his firstborn son. He felt it was always appropriate to name him along with the rest of the family way. So his name would be Gibbous. Shining wouldn't ever reveal to this to anyone, for he knew others probably wouldn't appreciate is as much. Gibbous has a way of growing on you. "OK, dad, I wont."

And since the family seemed to be in the mood to talk about a little picnic sport, Shining decided to offer it up, even if it would probably hurt dad, according to mother. "OK, I'll get my balls out, and I'll set the poles up too. I'm really good and getting them up straight. And then we can play a family game two on two." Shining brought his sports bag out and pulled out two volley balls, an extra in case the other one was lost or was punctured, like last time dad was involved in playing volleyball. He then extended the two poles, set them straight into the ground at the right dimensions, and then hung the net across them so that the net was springy but not stiff. Shining then picked up one of the balls and started bouncing on his head repeatedly. "So, teams. Should we go colts versus fillies?"

​

[SteelEagle]

Few ponies could match her love of books, but the one person she knew who could compete with her in that regard was her mother. Both Twilights loved books and above all else loved the journey of curiosity that brought new eyes to the discover the joys and wonder of reading and the worlds that were created with the common word that they all understood equally. Language was a powerful tool used by creative minds to sculpt fantasies that would existed in only a brief time and place but would be made immortal through imagination and desire. To her, that was what made libraries so important and incredible. They were reservoirs of knowledge of both fictional worlds and the world that Equestria inhabited. In that sense, she loved being a curator of her library because of both of her parents- her mother for the creative and her father for the factual. Of course, she didn't really think they should bottle them up!

"Well mom, I think you and I would be the only customers for that particular perfume," she stated as Crescent kissed his swooning wife on the forehead before pushing her back up on stable hooves. He smelled enough dusty old things at work, he preferred his wife smell as scented and beautiful as she did normally. Well, save for some of her perfumes. Uggh.

"I don't like the whole zebra look, especially if it's acrylic. Doesn't sit well with my coat long-term, sweetie," He offered gently as his son set the game up. Now here was something he could sink his teeth into a bit. Unlike his wife who had a love of working out and generally moving, he knew sports well enough. It would also be fun to do something with his son, who lived so far away that he hardly so much as spoke to him let alone have any ability to play with him. He remembered when stallion Armor here was just colt Armor and was still able to bowl people over playing hoofball. Ahh, never did a broken ankle feel so good. He nodded towards his son and trotted to join him on the other side, as Twilight tentatively took steps with her mother. It'd be fun, but she had never played volleyball. She thought she knew how to play.

"No magic and- sorry sweetie- no flying. Anything else?" He asked, tossing the ball to Shining as Twilight elbowed her mother.

"Just between you and me, I've never played. I've read about it. Is 'Daring Do and the Sporting Sphinx' an accurate description?"

[Rosewind]

Velvet had a very sensitive nose, which -- as any mammal can attest -- becomes especially acute during months of pregnancy. She could easily pick out the scents of her foals; even passing neighbors. She could tell when her husband had skipped a bath, for whatever reason. She also did not like the smell of pickles. With all that said, she did have a modest perfume oil collection. She preferred singular scents, so they could be appreciated without the backdrop of other competing scents. Her favorite scent, however, was lavender. She could simply bathe in lavender, and she often did when taking long bubble baths with a thick romance novel, some candles, a box of chocolates, and her mane wrapped up in a poofy pink towel with smashed avocado smeared all over her face. She did like to pamper herself once in a while. "Nonsense, sweetie! There are other ponies around that share a deep appreciation for books, and may like to smell like a good book. Or I suppose you could rub a book all over yourself, mm?" She giggled and nuzzled her daughter.

She watched as her son set up the volleyball net. It looked like of like an oblong spider web to her, and the ball looked like it was wrapped in bandages. She stood up, shaking grass bits out of her mane. "Fillies against the colts, huh? You boys won't stand a chance against us!" Velvet was all warmed up from her earlier husband-kicking yoga session. She stretched her legs, looking to her daughter with a coy grin spread across her face. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Hehe, that would make you and me both! I've never played this game before, either! The game from Daring Do and the Sporting Sphinx featured batting a pulsing fireball back and forth using a metal bar gripped in your teeth. I'm sure this will come close to that, at least as soon as I'm through with your Father!" Velvet cleared her throat, raising her voice loudly so the boys could hear her. "How many points are we playing to?!"

[Hippo]

"All right then." Shining was a little surprised at the willingness to compete from his family. Although it was rare to see mother miss an attempt at participating in a family event, it was interesting to see Twilight and dad so eager to join. Dad was always wanting to throw catch with his song when Shining was young, but Shining had thought by now that would have faded away. The more things change the more they stay the same. "We'll just play to five points, rally scoring, so points count even when not serving." Shining caught the ball his dad threw him and he in turn tossed it over the net to his female family members. "You girls serve first. You must hit it from at least ten steps away from the net." Shining began digging his hooves into the ground, smiling at the immediate thrill of competition, even if it was just his family.

​

[SteelEagle]

This would be fun. He could hardly ever get one over on his beautiful wife as she had a certain playful spirit mixed with vindictiveness that sewed a brutal burial blanket that tightly strangled him until he submitted. And he didn't mean that in the purely figurative sense. It didn't bother him at all as his wife's sense of playfulness was all encompassing but there were times where he wanted his tea to just be tea and not the gateway to a one pony psychedelic adventure through time and space because his wife had a desire to see him go a bit batty. But today he would be the one on top, finally! He knew for a fact that neither mare was quite the sporty one and as spry as he was, Shining was the one holding the whole thing together. Sometimes it was good to be king but today it was better to be a Prince, because if there was one pony who was going to be any good today it would be him.

"Alright, sounds good to me. Your turn fillies!" Crescent yelled out as he took his position, preparing for a rousing game of domination.

For Twilight, at least her mom was able to force a smile on the Princess' face. It was pretty funny imagining the balls suddenly catching fire and flying about with abandon but she somehow doubted she would have such luck. In any case, it was their serve. Twilight levitated the ball over and then looked at it oddly. Before anything else, she would be forced to come to terms with what she could do to it. If she remembered it at all she would serve it by hitting it rather hard all of which came to her basic common sense, so she trotted back ten feet and judged the angle. If she applied such and such force, would the ball get to the destination? It was hard to tell without having ever hit the ball before and knowing its mass and flight properties. In the end, she just had to hit it. She tossed the ball up and slammed it mid-arc with her hoof, sending the ball flying. And flying. It was a lot easier to send flying than she had imagined and likewise the ball took off from her hoof, overshooting her older brother and father by some significant feet. The ball smacked into a tree a fair bit aways from the impromptu court, bouncing back towards them slowly.

"Oops."

"Point stallions!" Crescent smiled as he levitated the ball back to himself. He had assumed that the first few points would be quick, but it didn't change the fact that seeing the ball skyrocket had been a thing of beauty. He took his position ten feet back and then served the ball, going a bit strong himself but still getting it within the impromptu court. The game was on!

[Rosewind]

Velvet shot her husband a burning glance. She loved the chance to Put Him In His Place, be that the living room if she wanted the bed to herself, the kitchen for cooking (as she had the cooking skills of a garden snail), and occasionally the closet, for short periods of play time. She gave the volleyball the same quizzical look as her daughter. She even tilted her head slightly to the right, like her filly might do sometimes, when studying something closely. It was clear that Twilight was her daughter, and she was her mother.

Finally, a moment to show the stallions of the Sparkle family the awe-inspiring spirit of competition, skill, and unbridled burning passion of sporting, estrogen-powered excellence! The mares would show them! Velvet gave a low whistle as the ball bounced away. Far, far, far away. She bumped Twilight on her back, smooshing the side of her cheek to her purple face. "Nice try, sweetie! We'll get them next time." She trotted to the side of the net, giving Cressy and Shining a muted glance. She cleared her throat matter-of-factly. "Boys. That was a warm up throw. I think we're entitled to at least that before any official score-taking. Right?" She gave her "right" a certain tonality; a dangerous edge that both challenged and dared. She shifted her gaze to Cressy, a grin creasing across her lips. He would know that grin. He would know that tone. Another game was clearly at play, and the stakes were higher than a family bout of volleyball.

It was her husband's move.