~~~~~ The Golden Oaks Library ~~~~~

Three Months Later...

Morning… She knew morning. Knew it pretty well in fact, but it was only lately she’d grown to eagerly await the sunrise. She would always wake up at the crack of dawn, no matter how late she’d stayed up the night before or how long of a day it had been. It really wasn’t all that great for getting plenty of rest, but nothing she’d tried had fixed the problem. She conjectured it had something to do with her specific magic talents, but as the sun was the princess’s domain, she remained leery of diving into the subject like her instinct told her to.

Her eyes opened and shut with slow, dreary morning ‘wakefulness’. She did this only a few times before she fluttered them more quickly and became fully awake. She was still a bit stiff, but a nice shower would take care of that. And at the thought of a shower she rolled over to her other side (away from where the first rays were just barely peeking over the horizon) so she could look at something more beautiful than any sunrise. Mistress Twilight was still sleeping with a little smile on her face, her mane ruffled over her eyes in a cute way. There were days Sunset would go ahead and get about the morning chores, but she honestly didn’t feel like doing that today.

She snuggled more deeply into the covers with a suppressed giggle and inched her body closer to Mistress until she was laying inside the curves of her Mistress’ flawless body. At least, she thought it was flawless. Even if Mistress insisted she needed to lay off the sweets. She laid her head against Mistress’s hooves and gently closed her eyes, relishing in just the feel of her fur and warmth. Life was pretty close to perfect on days like these. She nuzzled against Mistress ever so slightly so as not to wake her and could imagine those down feathers stretching out and holding her close.

She never wanted to forget these moments, or any of the close moments she spent with Mistress. She’d never been loved the way Mistress loved her, and it wasn’t something she ever wanted to lose. She had paid so much for this, and she wasn’t going to let it slip away. Hardship and loneliness had been her lot in life, often times by choice. She had spent so long driving others away from her, that sometimes she wondered how she’d ever been saved.

Hopefully that was permanently in her past, what with the way Mistress kept her close and took care of her so well. And all it had taken was to be honest with herself and with those who were willing to care. She sighed heavily, unsure why such weighty thoughts had descended on her this early in the morning. Still, she was determined to keep them from dampening her good morning mood. She had Mistress, Mistress wanted her, and that was all she needed to care about. Her head dropped a little more, resting more against Mistress’s chest, where her steady heartbeat began sending her back into sleep.

She dozed for an indeterminate period of time, tucked up warm and safe where she ought to be. And it wasn’t until she felt a little tickle right along the back of her neck that she stirred, murmuring indistinctly… The gentle tickle turned into a full blown stroke and scritch that made Sunset kick her rear hooves a little back and forth in unconscious response to Mistress petting her. At which point her brain woke up all at once, and her eyes shot open. The sun had fully risen into the sky, and Mistress was looking at her with tolerant amusement on her face. “Good morning, Sunny,” she said with a bright cheerfulness that Sunset knew spelled instant doom for her relaxed morning.

“Mmmph,” she whimpered, bringing herself closer to Mistress’s lips. “Good morning Mistress,” she cooed oh-so-softly. She purposefully and slowly blinked her eyes and let a sultry smile creep onto her face. Adding as much syrup as she dared, she asked, “May I?”

Mistress giggled faintly, her mane quite frizzy from just having come off her pillow and nodded with a still faintly sleepy smile. “Of course. Come show your Miss some love.” She replied in a saucy tone, sounding almost a little much like a schoolteacher. Mistress had some very funny ideas in her head in the morning sometimes.

But funny ideas or not, she couldn’t resist and gradually leaned in closer, her eyes drooping closed just as her lips met Mistress’s. Oh, this was the best way to start a day. Mistress’s hooves came up and wrapped her close, their kiss becoming ever more passionate with each passing second. Sunset felt herself melt into it, dragging her lips against Mistress’s mouth and their tongues beginning to brush each other’s teasingly. It wasn’t long before Sunset was falling on her back under the slight, dominating pressure of Mistress’s body against her. She just gave into the flow of Mistress’s tongue and lips, eagerly responding to their every touch.

And then she pulled away suddenly, with a distinct ‘yuck’ look running across her face. “Sunny, I love you dearly, but have you showered yet? You smell like we just spent three days in the fungeon.” Mistress’ nose was quite wrinkled, and she looked like she was quite close to delivering one of her legendary lectures. The kind that could make lesser ponies cry in terror as they were slowly bored to death.

“Ah…. no…. Mistress,” Sunset dragged out the words, remembering their affairs from the previous night. She subconsciously ran a hoof through her mane and couldn’t help but wince a bit in something akin to shame when she reached the crusty sections. Yes, they had forgotten to shower last night… definitely. “My apologies, Mistress,” she whispered, eyes unable to look directly in Mistresses eyes anymore. Except… she was smiling. She was amused.

She sighed in a very teacher-like fashion and gave Sunset a stern look. “You’d best go get clean then. I’ll lay your outfit out for you, and your daily task list.” She was tapping her hoof firmly on the bedsheet, but there was a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. That Mistress was making no move to get up meant Sunset’d have to shower alone for her forgetfulness. Just before she could heave a sigh, Mistress spoke again. “And that’s five demerits for that taste in my mouth. Blech.” She actually stuck her tongue out and put on a face so comical that it took every ounce of restraint Sunset had not to giggle at it. “Now scoot,” she said with an audible snap to her voice as she rolled to the side - as clear and direct as the crack of her whip.

Mm… Mistress’ Whip… ACK! She felt her hindquarters twitch and chose not to think of the half-pleasured thoughts that raced through her head. Sliding out from Mistress was easier said than done, but it wasn’t Sunset’s first time doing so, and she was standing beside the bed remaking it into good order just the way Mistress liked in only a few seconds. Satisfied her deft magic had gotten the job done, she eyed Mistress for approval to leave for the shower. Mistress’s mouth cracked open as if she were about to pass her acceptance when it shut abruptly, and a glint crept into her eyes. Mistress’s horn lit, and the bed sheets were thrown right back to where they had been. “How about you do it with your teeth so I can watch you squirm all over the bed, hm?”

Sunset’s heart had probably dropped into her organs when Mistress had flung the bed things into a new state of chaos, but on the upside, Mistress did want to watch her. That was always a good sign. Though still showing a fair amount of dutiful drag in her hooves, she grabbed the first of the sheets in her mouth and pulled it forward. It was an insanely difficult way to make a bed, especially when the wall side was involved, but she couldn’t deny the warmth that surged in her when she had writhe all sprawled to to get it right and could feel Mistress’s eyes burning into her flank.

But after several long minutes that Sunset didn’t care to think about, Mistress finally spoke up in a warm and approving voice. “Very good. You may go shower now. And I want you smelling extra sweet when you come down, okay?” A gentle wing smacked up against her flank, even as she was still sprawled out, and Mistress giggled happily. “Your clothes will be on the bed!”

“I understand, Ma’am,” Sunset nodded, not completely suppressing a little squeak as Mistress trotted off downstairs. She stood properly upright, grabbed her towel from off the back of the door, and stepped into and made ready her, admittedly, overdue shower. The cold blasted her first, and with a little shiver, decided she would keep it that way.

She let herself soak for a long while and ran her hooves through her fur, mane, and tail just to be sure she washed out what remained of Mistress’s love juice. Next was the shampoo, and she lathered it on thick, making certain she could smell it before rinsing off. She shook and dried herself with the towel and wandered back into the bedroom to see what cute, revealing outfit Mistress was in the mood for today.

~~~~~~~~

Let’s see. No… no… no… Mmm… Tomorrow. No… Ooo, here we go. Twilight mentally chuckled as she pulled the outfit off its rack, neatly organized in a way that would have made Rarity proud of her. The whole thing fit on a single hangar, thanks to strategic use of the whole device and was easily transported upstairs to the bed, where she laid it out and took a glance at herself in the mirror. Her mane was an absolute mess, and she was going to need to tame it before she could do anything official today. But that meant waiting for her little love to step out of the shower, and so that left only one option.

“Oh, Spike!” she sing-songed out as she trotted down the steps. The smell of breakfast was already strong in the air by the time she’d gotten to within ten feet of the kitchen, and her number one assistant was already delivering toast, juice, fresh waffles, and scrambled eggs to the table. “Ah, excellent,” she beamed at him, and he grinned back at her before attending to the stove.

“Sweetie Belle and the crusaders say hi, Twilight. They’d like to know when you’re going to hold lessons again.” Spike dialed back the flames on the stovetop before leaning against it while he munched happily on an impressive emerald. “An’ Dash said she’s gotta run outta town for a few days to take care of some kind of business in Cloudsdale.” He finished off the gem with a satisfied burp, making her laugh as she began to tuck into her own food.

It was delicious of course. Spike had become a rather accomplished little chef in the years since they’d moved here together, probably in defense against her own lacklustre skills. Spike rummaged around in his apron before extracting a rough roll of parchment and rolling it open. “Lets see. The Princess is going to be expecting another report from Sunset tomorrow, and Big Macintosh wants to know if you’ve got that next batch of Potion Nineteen done yet.” His eyes squirmed down the list, as she watched him tossing out the things that were the usual order of the day… and finally coming to the end of the scroll, where he made a little squeaking sound. “Oh, and Applejack says she’s going to be by around dinner time. Says it’s pretty important she talk to you in private.”

That last bit made Twilight frown around a mouthful of waffle. Applejack was the very last pony in Ponyville that Twilight got emergency consultations from, but when she did it was never particularly good news. She really hoped Discord hadn’t gotten bored again and tried to turn her apple orchard into pears or oranges or something. “Well, tell Big Mac I’ve got his order, but he’s going to have to fill out a form on why he wants an Object Animation elixir for the eighth time.” She cocked her ear, keeping a close listen for when the shower went off. “And see if you can’t find out what AJ’s so fussed about. I’d rather try to get ahead of it this time.”

Spike nodded, scribbling down a note and saluting. “Okie Dokie, Twilight. I’m gonna run and grab those potion ingredients you need, and then get to work on the daily cleaning. Tell Shims she’s got muffins in the oven, and I’ll see her in the stacks.” And with a cheerful wave, he was off out the door, whistling some strange earworm of a tune. Winter wrap-up, winter wrap-uupp… Oh, bloody Tartarus! Damnit, Spike!

She sighed, taking a moment to facehoof before returning her attention to breakfast. Midway through, she heard the shower cut off and took a moment to mentally review her checklist for the day. Set potion twenty-two and seven to brewing, spend time with Sunny during lunch, prep up a disaster bag in case she’d have to do heavy work at Sweet Apple Acres and send off a few letters, including her weekly missive to Rarity in the hopes that she’d finally come home.

Twilight felt her mental self derail for a moment at that thought but quickly forced herself back on track. There was nothing she could do about it until Rarity was ready to talk, and that was just the way it was. She couldn’t keep stressing herself out over things she couldn’t change, so it was best to focus on what she could… Like making certain that she was keeping Princess Celestia firmly in the loop about things and trying to help Sunny come out of her shell a little bit more each day.

Though one wouldn’t know she still had a shell given how cheerful she was around Twilight, but she knew it was there. As invisible as the air itself, but hovering over the proceedings like a phantom. And lately… well… Maybe she’d just become accustomed to Sunset’s habits enough to notice it, but she could feel Sunset withdraw into it sometimes, even around her. In fact, she was one more incident away from begging Princess Celestia to come to Ponyville and help her, as every tactic she had tried so far had lacked any long-lasting effect.

But as Sunset bounded into view, with a big bright smile on her face, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little of her fear ebb away. Friendship had gotten them this far. She just had to trust that with work, love, and the judicious application of Pinkie Pie, that anything could be accomplished if she put her mind to it. It didn’t hurt that the way Sunny greeted her every morning was almost better than coffee.

“Good morning, Mistress!” she beamed and planted a firm and happy kiss right on Twilight’s lips. She also happened to wear whatever Twilight put on her (today a set of foreleg socks and panties both deep, deep violet with black embroidery and a thin silk veil over her eyes) like a model, and not once did Twilight fail to remind herself how lucky she was.

“Spike left muffins in the oven for you, Love,” Twilight told her, allowing her eyes to take in the sensual way the panties lifted her tail. Sunset nodded in thanks, took a plate and extracted two of the morning cakes from the pan. And as was their routine, she set the plate at Twilight’s hooves, and waited patiently for the go-ahead. Twilight always kept it on her self now, and she desperately wanted to slip the leash and collar over the neck of her little Sunny, but they’d be going their separate ways for chores. She decided against it, just brushing Sunset’s horn with a sweet kiss before motioning for her to go ahead.

She dove into them, not using hooves or magic and eating right off the ground, and the sight never ceased to send little goosebumps up Twilight’s legs in a form of glee she couldn’t get anywhere else. She didn’t quite understand what made Sunset so fascinated with the experience, but that was true for many things she’d observed in other ponies over the years. Dash had probably said it best, though. Hey, everypony’s got different sweet spots they like to have tickled. This is just one of hers! So she smiled and made sure to stroke her hoof carefully through Sunset’s mane while she ate. And the fact that she sighed every couple bites was satisfaction enough that Twilight was doing right by her.

She inhaled deeply, smelling the lovely tangerine shampoo Sunset loved so much. “Mm, you smell much better, Sunny, and I…” She stopped mid-word and blinked at the table where her breakfast had been. Then up at the sun hanging in the kitchen window and the clock on the wall. Oh, crap! “I’m going to be late!” she half-squealed and paused only to plant a firm kiss on Sunny’s lips before dashing at top speed out of the room “I’ve got to get ready I’ll see you at lunch oh carrots oh carrots…” She spoke with all the frantic pace of the train as she left the room, with the only noise following her being the helpless giggles of her little Sunny.

~~~~~~

Sunset couldn’t really giggle as much as she wanted to as Mistress tore out of the dining area. Not with so much muffin stuffed in her mouth. But her smile she could make as big as ever. Her chuckles died away and, bending over, she snatched up the last of the remaining muffin. She chewed a little longer than usual to savor the rich carrot flavor, and upon swallowing she sighed delightedly. The little dragon really was a pretty good baker. Well, down to business it was then. She stood up, rubbing her stomach from how full it felt, and grasped all of the dishes up in a haze of sky blue magic.

It wasn’t on the list Mistress had given her, but like a good deal of the general chores around the library, many things she did were just understood. Cleaning up after meals was one such thing. She eyed the many plates and bowls in her magical hold carefully before beginning to organize them, largest to smallest and plates to bowls to cups. Soon enough, her dangerously leaning stack of eating and drinking utensils was all in order, and she trotted happily into the kitchen. Not for the first time that month, she was briefly aware of how she now waggled her hips a little more sensually when walking, but she always took it as a good sign that she’d been paying attention. Mistress had trained her well in what she liked to see.

Spike was already back and working away, scouring his cooking pots and pans and cleaning the stoves and counters where spots of batter or juice had splattered. His eyes darted in her direction briefly as she entered, but when he realized it was her, he went right back to his work. “Morning,” he said, as had become the norm. There was nothing antagonistic in the way he spoke to her anymore, and thankfully, he had also come to stop staring when she wore something particularly eye catching.

“Morning, Spike,” she answered, gently lowering her teetering stack of dishes next to the sinks. They had found a common ground, after much conflict with one another:.They both loved Twilight in a way most other ponies had a hard time understanding. Once Spike had figured out she wasn’t there to sweep Twilight away… and Sunset had grudgingly admitted that Spike, like all annoying little brothers, wasn’t going anywhere, they’d come to a mutual truce. “Are we going to be working mostly together this morning?” she asked. “Or are you running errands most of the day?” Her magic worked the valves of the faucet, sending warm water splashing to the sink. A small drop of soap later, and it was ready to accept it’s first offering. Sunset carefully slipped off her socks so as not to ruin them and began dipping the dishes into the soapy water.

“I dunno. It depends if Miss Cheerilee is gonna want me to stay for her intermediate-class again.” He half chuckled, preening his head spines with faux smoothness. “But there isn’t much to do today anyway. We finally got caught up with the basement, so we’re mostly waiting for Twi to get to work cataloguing everything.” He eyeballed her and smirked faintly. “She’d be a lot further along if you weren’t prancing around the place like Rarity on fashion week yanno.”

“I don’t prance,” Sunset retorted as she used her magic to wipe away extra food remains before transferring the now clean dishes to the second sink, filled with only water. “I’m not some silly teenaged filly. I strut. Honestly, after living with Mistress and her friends for so long, I’d have thought you might have picked up on the difference.”

He half snickered at that one. “Twi doesn’t strut, Shims. She scrambles.” He laughed brightly and racked up another pan onto the drying rack. Sunset joined him in the laugh. He was nothing short of absolutely true. “Trust me, I’ve seen her do it enough.”

“I saw her do it just now,” Sunset said as her laugh died away. “But still… Yeah, well, I guess we’ll have to work in the library for re-shelving anyway. Have you checked on what it looks like yet?”

He nodded, drying his talons off with a towel. “Yeah, it’s not bad. Mostly returns of all those growers almanacs that Carrot Top had, and that pile of kids books Ditzy finally remembered to bring back.” He hopped off his little stool and trotted over the pantry cupboard, throwing it open with a little hummed tune. “Oh, would you grab a bit of scroll?” he half-yelled out of the door, rummaging around. “We need to make a grocery list. I think Twilight’s been sleep-snacking again.”

“What’d you mean?” Sunset asked, a small tickle in the back of her brain making itself uncomfortably known. “Mistress doesn’t sleep walk. I’d wake up if she got out of bed.” She didn’t want to ask, and she wanted Spike to say even less, what they were missing.

“Must be lab munchies then. She gets like this whenever she’s wrapped up in a project.” He poked his head out, holding a large crock labeled ‘pickles’ and eyeballing the inside. He demonstrated by upending it, and showing nothing inside. “Yeah, definitely lab munchies. Or she’s been trying to make lamps out of pickles again.” He rolled his eyes and put the crock back. Sunset only gulped and could not explain why, especially as she put conscious effort into not opening her mouth, she asked what she did.

“Is there anything else missing?”

“Uh…” Spike muttered to the sound of more rummaging as he pulled almost his whole body inside the cabinet searching. “Huh, yeah. We’re running low on oatmeal cookies, and we’re completely out of hot chocolate mix.” There was another rummage, a pause, and a bright chuckle. “Hey, so that’s where I left that ruby! Awesome!” With the sounds of happy dragon now wiggling through the cabinet, there was one more pause and a mutter. “Okay. This has got to be the work of nefarious ponies unknown. And by unknown, I mean a certain blue pegasus.”

“Dashie hasn’t been over lately,” Sunset replied instinctively. It was true. On the days she and Mistress had met up with Dashie, it had usually been at Fluttershy’s place.

“Not that we’ve seen, but who else is gonna filch the soy sauce!? That stuff ain’t cheap, yanno. Pegasi. Oi.” He finally clambered down, dusting himself off and huffing as he exited the cabinet. “We need to do an inventory of that thing tomorrow. Celestia only knows what else I might not be noticing.” He gnawed thoughtfully on his found ruby.

“Oh well, then I’ll make sure to mention it to Mistress so she can put on our to-do list tomorrow,” Sunset said, the words spilling out a little faster than she intended. But in her own defense, she needed to get to work before she outright admitted to drinking hot chocolate with copious amounts of soy sauce and cookies with pickles on top. She took an average pace out of the kitchen, hoping she wasn’t forgetting anything in her mental hurry.

As she slid back into the lacy violet socks (an art she could finally claim mastery in), she did her best to rationalize her recent snack choices. It didn’t make any sense in the slightest. She didn’t even like pickles! But on a cookie… Oh, there was often times nothing better. Or at least her stomach seemed to think so. Her hoof tapped at it experimentally, trying to not think too hard as to why she wanted such weird combinations of food. Instead, she thought of the best way to discreetly clear out the underside of Mistress’s bed of used cocoa mugs. Before Spike found them anyway.

We her socks now tightly strapped into place, Sunset made her way to the second basement entrance. The first only Mistress was allowed to enter, not that Sunset wasn’t always a guest. A grin crept over her face at the mere of idea of going inside later in the evening, but she’d save her more elaborate daydreams for when the evening got closer. Instead, she unlocked the bolt of the second lock and stepped down into Mistress’s lab. It was particularly humid in the room today, and Sunset was privately grateful Mistress had been in the mood for scanty clothing. Sure enough, Mistress had close to every burner running beneath her convoluted potion vials and beakers.

It was still pretty early, so most of them weren’t boiling just yet, but there was still a good layer of rainbow colored steam in the air. Sunset decided to save her inspection of the potions for last, instead circling around the lab to be sure everything was clean and orderly. Of course, like everything Mistress asked of her, she took pride in completing it, but caring for the lab when Mistress wasn’t working in it was perhaps the most rewarding. Nopony, not even Spike, was allowed around the delicate setups and dangerous spellbooks. That Mistress trusted her to such a degree set Sunset’s mood to glowing without fail.

It probably hadn’t hurt that after six months of doing this, she’d yet to cause a single unintended explosion. Well. Except for that first time she was in here, but Mistress had assured her she should’ve had that one bottled already and had simply forgotten. Not that having her mane a couple shades of black for a month had been consoling to Sunset, but at least it hadn’t been her fault.

She rounded the final corner of the drawers, and checked off the proper count of protective goggles on the clipboard hung on the wall nearby. Next were the potions themselves, and perhaps the most tedious yet mentally demanding of her chores. If it had a different color or something special in it (potions had never been Sunset’s strong suit in studying magic), there was likely a clipboard Mistress had for it.

Each project had a record of temperature, time checked, weight, and a whole slew of other numbers to write down. Sunset liked to think she was relatively capable by this point, but there were still days she caught a mistake or two. Picking up the first board and quill in her magic, she began.

A number just off here or there, she had Mistress’s permission to correct if she knew how, which was often times most of the vials. Usually, it was something as simple as adding a drop or two of water to the solutions. The rest of the time, the needed ingredients were almost always ready at hoof. It baffled her sometimes how a tiny town like this had gotten such an appetite for arcane admixtures, but it was also kind of entertaining in its own way. She supposed Mistress herself might have brought the ‘business’ to life, as without her, Ponyville would have no chance to have any of these brews. Though she did wonder herself why Big Macintosh kept ordering that Object Animation stuff...

She went down the line, smiling as more and more of the potions were right on track. Easy days were nice. She finished in what must have been a record time and took a trot back out onto the main floor. She really did need to gather up those mugs…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Spike, ugh, this is disgusting up here. Did you actually dust last week?” Sunset said, wrinkling her nose and semi holding her breath. She was atop the tallest ladder they had in the library, duster in her magical hold, watching as the wood almost shone when she ran the feathered cleaning tool over it.

“You know I did, you were here!” he huffed, taking a deep breath and digging back into the shelves where he was sweeping out random bits of crumpled parchment. “It’s those teenager pegasi, I swear! They’re all getting feather molt, and it leaves dust and feathers everywhere, and Twi keeps….” His voice descended into a mutter, his displeasure at Rainbow Dash holding weather wrangling classes in the library having been long since established.

“Uh huh,” Sunset replied, unconvinced and her eyes half lidding to prove it. “You don’t get this thick a layer of dust just from pegasi. This is straight neglect. I won’t say anything to Mistress, but get your dragon tush over there and do your job.” She climbed down from the ladder and lay her duster aside. “I’m going back upstairs to clean Mistress’s bedroom. It needs it,” she said. At last, an opportunity to clear away the incriminating evidence.

He grumbled softly as he pulled himself out of the shelves, piling up the scrap paper into a bucket next to the fireplace. “Neglect my tail. You don’t know how much crap teenage pegasi can produce. Literally.” He snorted and grabbed up the heavier duster from where it lay in his bucket of tools and slowly clambered up the ladder. “Next time they’re here, YOU can handle cleanup duty. Maybe then you’ll believe me.”

“If you say so,” Sunset shrugged, already half way up the stairs by that point. She finished the climb and all but raced back to Mistress’s loft. Well, their loft. She quickly dropped onto her stomach, peering under the bed and shining a light from her horn. She winced. There were at least a dozen little casual dining glasses under the bed. Gently, so as not to scrape them on the floor boards and make unnecessary noise, she levitated the lot out into daylight. She could probably just easily slip into the kitchen and wash them all without Spike ever noticing, but she didn’t want to risk it. Especially as he had just made mention of the missing cocoa. Weird. They all still smelled like chocolate. Mmm… Chocolate… Wait! No! Focus, Sunset!

She shook her head clear of stray thoughts, opened the single window in the loft, and jammed the glasses in the upper branches of the tree until she could retrieve them later. She gingerly closed the window back and let out a relieved sigh. Good. That was taken care of. But now that she was up here, she might as well clean like she said she would. Not that there was much to do. Mistress tended to keep the room immaculate all on her own. Perhaps some of the dresser drawers needed reorganizing. Sunset casually stepped up and began pulling open the vanity drawers. They were filled mostly with things that Mistress liked to put on Sunset for any given reason, but there were plenty of small accessories that went with Mistress’s more stunning dresses.

But one of the drawers had something extra. Sunset knew what it was before she’d even turned it around to see, as Mistress had just recently swapped the picture out for a different one. She flipped it over anyway to see Mistress as an adorable filly sitting excitedly beside Princess Celestia. Sunset could still, if barely, remember those days. Bathing in the glory of the pony so many ponies would give their lives to just exchange a few words with. Learning from her, being brought through the tough times by an encouraging word. And she’d forgotten all of that somehow as the years went by. She gave it up, missed what it could have brought her.

She could feel her throat starting to tighten, but was only dimly aware of what it meant. Her hoof came up, running down the length of the picture, and without her conscious will, she lost her self control entirely. Her tears came running hard and fast, the sobs thick and random. She rocked back and forth, clutching the picture close to her chest as she wailed her heart out. She couldn’t stop, and eventually the reason she’d been crying and sniffling at all faded out. Things just seemed depressing all of a sudden and bawling the only response she could give. She didn’t know how long her uncontrolled tears and anguished rocking continued, but she eventually began to settle, her crying becoming little hiccups and her hips ceasing to move.

She set the picture and stared at it, wiping away the remaining tears. What… what was wrong with her? It wasn’t a sad picture by any means. What had… Why? Had she actually just had a small emotional breakdown? No, that didn’t make sense. Only mental patients did that. Well, mental patients and ponies in legitimate mental distress. Sure, she’d been in that place a few months ago, but she loved Mistress, Mistress loved her, and she couldn’t be happier.

She scrunched up her face trying to focus, rubbing at her cheeks where the tears had left dried salt on them. Well… maybe Guard ponies got in the dumps every once in a while. That and their wives or husbands, but she wasn’t in that position. And all of them had due reason anyway. She’d just burst into tears for no reason! She stared at the ground for a moment, and her eyes drifted to the window. Or, more appropriately, what she’d just thrown out the window. Weird tastes like that weren’t normal either. And those had only crept up recently as well. If they were related somehow, that could leave only a few possibilities…

The downstairs door slammed open. A voice called out, “Spike, we’re going to have company for dinner!” Mistress’ voice singsonged through the library, as bright and happy as she’d sounded in weeks. “Sunny? Where are you?” she was crying out, and more than two sets of hooves trundled along on the first floor. One was easily identifiable as Miss Twilight’s, but the others were… Hmm.

Heavy steps, with the kind of weight only real mass or muscle could achieve. They were quick, but economical, speaking of somepony who didn’t prance around much without need. They were also not shaking the treehouse, which meant it probably wasn’t Big Macintosh. That only left… “Y’all sure this is a good idea, Twi?” Yep, Applejack. “Ain’t it better t’ let things move a mite slower?”

Sunset quickly stood up and stowed the picture away with her magic. She couldn’t dry up the wet mess her tears had made or hide how red her eyes probably were, but maybe Mistress wouldn’t notice. She sounded excited about something, so maybe Sunset was in luck. She took in a deep breath and tried to control the shuddering exhale before exiting the room. “Mistress!” she called and peered down the stairs to the second floor. “I was up in your… I mean, our bedroom Mistress! I was cleaning it over!”

“Excellent! I had been smelling something odd in there lately.” She made a half sniff, tilted her head and shook off the thought. Then she gave Sunset a sharp look and sighed with a touch of exasperation. “Sunny, I told you to put on goggles before checking the potions, didn’t I? You look like you’ve been standing in the fumes all day.” She huffed once, then put on a firm lip. “We’ll discuss lab procedures later. We’ve got more important things to deal with tonight, so you should go take another shower and get ready for company.”

Applejack eyeballed her, and there was something unsettling about the way she was looking at her. Applejack was legendary for her keen sense of when somepony was concealing things, even if she herself didn’t always pay attention to it. But when she did… “I think ya’ll should reconsider, Twilight. Tonight might not be the best night fer it,” Applejack continued stubbornly, jutting out her chin. “I know ya’ll jes’ want to get this problem behind ya, but...”

“Oh?” Sunset asked. It was odd for Applejack to think there was a problem when Mistress didn’t. At least she’d gotten out of being asked why she’d been crying. “What’s gone wrong? I’ll help however Mistress needs.”

Mistress smiled brightly. “Nothing wrong at all. I’ve just come back from a lovely discussion with her, and we’re going to put an end to this little chapter of drama tonight.” She tossed her mane and beamed. “Rarity came back to town a few days ago, and she’s coming over for a little talk and dinner!”

Sunset felt her face try to move through astonished, confused, resentful, and outright upset all at the same time. The result was only her eyebrows lowering and her mouth becoming a touch thinner. Her… Why now? What had prompted this? And why did Mistress seem excited? She didn’t want to question Mistress in the slightest. She didn’t want to question her at all. But surely she remembered the damage Rarity had nearly sealed before she’d disappeared. All of this came out of Sunset’s mouth as a single, “What?” And it was only after she said it that she realized it hadn’t been in the most accepting tone. And Mistress’s expression wasn’t good either, come to notice it.

Oh, dear.

Author's Note

Welcome readers, new and old! If you've just found this story, I highly recommend reading the 1st story, or else you'll likely be incredibly confused.

Updates to occur every other day until story completion. Inky and I hope you all enjoy immensely!