Between Two More

~~~~Sunday Night~~~~

Golden Oaks Library

The sound of the kitchen door swinging shut was not unlike what Twilight imagined the sound of a tombstone slamming into place over a grave to be like. She didn’t want this. She really, really didn’t want this right now, but Celestia had insisted that speak to Sunset while she converse with Rarity. By the time Twilight had managed to rally a good excuse as to why this was all a terrible idea, she was already alone with Sunset in the room again.

She was not going to cry. She was going to be a big Princess and keep her cool, and not cry. Nope. No crying. Zip. Zero. Her eyes would be a veritable Saddle Arabian desert. She was going to deal with this quickly, firmly, efficiently, and then get the bloody tartarus out of Ponyville before she disgraced her office. “Sunset, I- ” she began, turning back to the pony that had been the source of so much joy and so much heartbreak all in one package.

“Twilight, I’ll be brief to start,” Sunset interjected herself, and Twilight couldn’t really find an excuse to try to shove her way back in. “I’m sorry. So, so, so sorry. Just for not talking with you really,” She paused, bowing her head, and when it came back up, a hopeful but nervous smile lit her face. “Hug before we drag this out like we should have weeks ago?”

“Bwuh?” Twilight felt a gear go loose in her mental works as she tried to wrap her mind around all those unexpected words.”I… Who… What… Where… And with Rarity…” It was just a bit too much. And Sunny seemed to understand. In the span of a second, the mare she loved was against her, wrapping her forelegs around Twilight’s neck. She wasn’t leaning into her form, seeking anything Twilight would need to give. She just hugged her. Hugs were good. Hugs were definitely a positive thing.

Twilight took a deep breath. “Sunset, I don’t-” She halted over her words, trying awkwardly to return the embrace without seeming too desperate for the affectionate gesture. “I really wish-” She halted again, then huffed in frustration. “Okay, I am officially confused out of my mind, and I don’t like it one bit.” She stomped her hoof imperiously, and loudly declaimed in her most petulant voice: “I demand a thorough, complete explanation before I give up on everypony and go on a permanent vacation to the San Pegasino Islands!”

“No!” Sunset pulled away, her face rather desperate and her hooves gripping Twilight’s shoulders. “I mean, sorry. Let me try again.” She breathed in and let her hooves drop. “Let me start with some good news. I’ve resolved my problems in my dumb brain with Rarity. I was being selfish and ignorant to avoid admitting she and I were even remotely similar. It took more happening than it should have for me face myself, but I did, and I can start to call her friend again at least. Good?”

“Well that is certainly… um, good.” Twilight managed to nod slowly, trying to collect her thoughts. It was good. It was spectacular. There was just one tiny problem…”I’m very proud of you S-Sunset. Learning to forgive others is a very important friendship lesson to learn, and I’m glad you’ve found a nice center with her.” She put on her very professional smile. She couldn’t keep taking all of this presence of her. The last thing she needed was to start a row with Fluttershy.

“Um…” Sunset replied, scratching at her foreleg, “No offense, but I thought you’d be a bit happier. I mean… there’s a lot we’ve gotta talk over, but, that’s kinda what caused all this, so at least the source is done and dealt with… yeah.”

“I-I am happy, Sunset. Very much so.” Twilight tried to keep her smile from becoming strained, rubbing at her own leg in an odd mirror of Sunset. “I’m just… I want you to be happy, too.” That was genuine, as genuine as anything she’d said in the recent past. “And not just trying to…” She gulped down the words, wishing she had a better way of saying things.

“I know,” Sunset said simply, nodding as well. “That’s… well that’s why I ended up being able to face my own dumb. I was hurting you more than me being upset at her, and I couldn’t keep willfully doing that. But… what’s wrong? If you’re happy that it’s taken care of… I mean, is it just everything else at this point? What…. what do you want to hear, Twilight?”

“It’s not what I want to hear…” Twilight began to say, then stopped. “No, that’s not right. It’s more that what I want to hear has a caveat.” She looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “I want… I want you to smile for me, Sunset.” It was tough to say it, but one couldn’t be a princess if one couldn’t handle the bad as well as the good. “I want to see you smile for real again. Like you did when I first met you. I want to know that you’re going to be okay.” She tried to smile herself, but it just came out weird. “I want… I want to know you’re going to be happy with or without me.” There. It was out. Now she could finally put this whole nightmare behind...

Sunset just started at her, jaw working but no words coming out. She stayed like that for what seemed like a few very long moments before her hooves came up to her eyes and rubbed them. She blinked several times afterward, and then words came. “WHAT THE HOLY FUCK?” And Twilight was once again enveloped in a hug, but this time, she was being held onto with a fierceness born only from the purer kind of love. "Don’t DO… Don't SAY things like that! YOU! I want YOU! Every bit of your stupid, silly, sexy, OCD plot! Sweet mother of Celestia!” She managed to take a breath, and when she spoke again, she was still greatly impassioned, but managed to lower her volume. “I’ll explain how it all happened, how badly I messed up, but I want you to promise me to tell me you love me afterward, because I love you more than… Oh, fuck this gushy cheesiness! I love you more than anypony else in the world!”

Twilight blanked out for a few seconds at all of that noise and hugging. “You… I…” She blinked, and wondered why her cheeks felt wet all of a sudden. Oh. No. She was crying. Damnit. She found herself hugging back, not entirely sure when her forelegs had started moving. “Of course I promise. But… I just thought…” She stopped, mid-thought, and closed her eyes. “Okay, before we go into long drawn out explanations, I need to know exactly one thing before anything else.” Sunset was watching her expectantly when she opened them up again, and she tried her best to keep calm. She was still crying too, but at least she could talk. “What on earth happened with you and Fluttershy?”

Sunset didn’t stutter or let her mouth fall up or down in sad attempts at speaking. Nor did she gesture or make odd sounds. And thankfully, she didn’t stare into Twilight’s eyes either. She merely sat before her, scratching her chin with her hoof and looking somewhat distant. As if she had certainly heard Twilight and wanted and intended to answer, but wasn’t sure of the best way. That she was trying to choose the best words to use and had quite the library to choose from.

There was a moment where Twilight expected her to begin, where her hoof ceased tapping, but when her eyes darted and met Twilight’s again, she went back to the same twitchy behavior. At long last she spoke, very deliberately and carefully, “I accidentally overheard you and the princess talking about something to do with other bed mares. And I wasn’t in the best emotional state at the time anyway. I ran to Fluttershy’s to talk, and we… Yes, Ma’am, we had sex, and I felt like a complete bag of…”

Sunset stopped as her words began to run together, took a moment to recompose herself and began again. “I was emotional, Fluttershy really was pretty amazing in putting up with me,” she half winced, but kept going, “and I felt terrible afterward for not having asked you about it first. And I bottled it up, and… this is what happened.” She shrugged, clearly unable to go on with anything more coherent.

Twilight took a moment to absorb all of that. Then she exhaled a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding before she spoke again. “I’m sorry, Sunset. I wish I would’ve explained what was going on with Celestia, but I was so frightened you wouldn’t take it well.” She put her chin into her hoof and leaned into Sunset’s shoulder. “After what happened with Rarity, I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to handle the things she was suggesting. So I kept trying to minimize the damage by trying to talk Celestia around to something that would be purely ceremonial.” Her tears had stopped for the moment, but she was still feeling heavily emotionally drained.

But now was not the time for that. She rubbed at her temples. “Okay, so… Here’s the deal with what happened.” And so she told her in the best detail she could. About the new staff, about Celestia rolling out the law… and the reasons she had done so. She didn’t quite bring up the point of the Royal Consort thing yet, though… that… that was something that needed to wait for the right moment now that everything was already blown to some degree of tartarus. But she did insist Sunset would always hold pre-eminent place in her heart.

In turn, Sunset described most of what she’d been going through on her end and why she’d become so distant. Little by little, the puzzle pieces slowly began to come together and Twilight felt incredibly silly for the presumptions she’d leapt to. She would feel stupid later, though. Right now, they still had far too many problems to solve between them, and foremost amongst them was how to handle Celestia’s plans.

“Well, at least I’ll be able to talk to the princess without seeming like a complete idiot,” Sunset smiled, and Twilight felt her own lips turn up. There was a return of that silly, genuine mare she remembered from not a few weeks ago. “But…” Her smile didn’t exactly fall, but uncertainty unlike anything from before settled on her features. Strangest thing was, her smile kept momentarily flashing back, as if she couldn’t decide how to feel. “Twilight… I’m going to… um… I’m pregnant with our foal!” Her last words were definitely a squeal. Definitely.

Twilight opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Closed it again. She tried to be rational and failed utterly. “Oh.” Was all she managed to say, and then tilted her head, and hummed. “Well. That’s… uhm. Wait, how is that possib-” She blanked out, and then everything clicked all at once. “Oh. I overdid it again, didn’t I?” It was a dazed sort of statement, then a huge smile crossed her face. “That’s… wow… I’m… I’m going to pass out now.”

And then she did.

~~~~~~~~

Sunset had seen Mistress, er, oh she didn’t know anymore. Whatever. Her marefriend had passed out on her more than once, so the situation wasn’t exactly foreign to her. But given the circumstances she wasn’t sure yet if she should be happy or glum. She couldn’t really gauge how Mistress felt about having a foal. And as she’d somewhat set herself in a self honest state, that worried her a bit. But she still restrained herself from using a basic revivification spell. She’d heard they weren’t best for a pony’s heart. Instead, she gently cast a light mist and cool air over Mistress until she started to show signs of waking up. “Okay?” she asked, leaning over her head to examine Mistress’s eyes.

Twilight’s eyes were focusing and unfocusing rather rapidly, and amongst the other physical signs it was pretty clear she’d suffered some kind of stress shock. When she finally began to focus a little more consistency. “I’m gonna be a mom?” She asked, kind of quietly. “Or would that be a dad? Or… Um… Oh, fie. I hate it when I don’t have the right terminology…” Her voice was kind of shaky, but it wasn’t angry.

“No, no,” Sunset half giggled, helping to pull her up with a hoof. “You’re not going to be a mom, we are moms.” And the half giggle became a full titter that set her grinning ear to ear. She hadn’t thought, even without knowing yet how Mistress felt, that just being able to share it with her would’ve made her so giddy and excited.

“Oh.” Twilight half said in a daze, then her lips turned into a big grin. “Can we name one of them Bright Sunrise?” Her voice turned up into a little squee, her eyes sparkling brightly enough to release all of the tension in Sunset’s body all at once. “Or maybe Little Celly?”

“We are not naming our foals after the Princess,” Sunset said flatly, but grinned none the less. “But… who knows? We might have twins! I’d like to name a filly Moonrise…” She let her voice drift into a dreamy kind of tone as she imagined a cute little filly calling her mommy. But the thought faded from her mind’s eye as a small silence dragged between her and Mistress. Really, before she could fantasize and dream and anticipate, she still had one more pony she had to talk to. “Twilight… I want to talk to the princess. I want to hear her plans from her own mouth. Just get it out of the way.”

Twilight nodded at her once, and reached up to squeeze her hoof. “I know she has the best of intentions, Sunset. I have to believe it.” She sighed softly, then slowly pulled herself back up to her hooves. “Well, she said she’d stay in the kitchen till we were ready. Might as well go there. There might be tea.” Twilight’s voice took on a note of momentary panic, then settled down. “It’s gonna be okay. I gotta believe that.”

Sunset nodded, and walked towards the door… only to catch a little hop of movement in the corner of her eye. She turned to see Twilight doing a little bounce behind her as she walked, a faint smile on her face and a Fluttershy like squee going on under her breath. “Gonna be a momma, gonna be a momma, Shiny’ll be jea-lous.” She chanted, over and over again.

Sunset let her smile become something of a permanent feature as she entered the kitchen. With that little image playing in her mind, she didn’t think even the worst Princess Celestia had to offer could shake her good mood now. In fact, now in a better mood than she’d been in weeks, she was determined not to let her shake it regardless. And upon actually entering the kitchen, that neither Rarity nor Celestia were already speaking greatly helped ease any remaining apprehension.

The both of them were drinking tea, though Sunset suspected of different varieties based on the smell. Neither were looking at one another, though not in a upset or distrustful way. If anything, they plainly looked as though they’d been patiently awaiting her and Mistress’s arrival. And the thought of tea did seem mighty good. “What is it that’s been brewed? Or should I make some of my own?” she asked, glancing between them.

“Just take a seat, Love,” Twilight said softly from behind her before moving around and starting a fresh pot of water to boil. “I’ll make something for us both.” Sunset nodded her thanks and took her seat, beside Rarity and across from the princess.

“Good news, then?” The Princess said with a quiet and proud smile.

“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed before Sunset could even think about formulating something to say. “Sunny’s pregnant with our foal! Isn’t it…! It’s amazing! We’re mommas!”

And in one of the very few times in her life, Sunset got to see Princess Celestia’s jaw drop a little in shock. “You… You what?” She said incredulously, then stopped and facehoofed. “Twilight, have you been rooting around the restricted section of the Canterlot Library again?”

“Maybe?” Mistress said with a slightly sheepish grin, rubbing her hoof over her foreleg. “I was kind of… curious, I’ll admit it… Um… Did I do something wrong?”

Celestia sighed gustily. “No, but you have made things egregiously more complex. Not that I ought to be surprised by that. ” She wore a wry smile, her chin in hoof and sounding rather… snarky. “I’ll be honest, Twilight, those… particular spells have been used for far stranger applications. I shouldn’t be surprised when you end up using one to make somepony pregnant,” she chuckled richly, shaking her head.

“Princess,” Sunset asked cautiously, “are there any… um, records of this sort of pregnancy? I mean, what if there are things that could wrong that normal doctors won’t… agh, you understand right?”

“Well, it’s far from unprecedented.” Celestia grinned cheekily. “Spells for… physical enhancement are common enough, and Potency is something that was highly prized in the early days of Equestria when many of those spells were written. Though why Twilight did not immediately know about it is unclear.” Celestia scratched her chin. “It’s possible there are side effects to some of those spells that have not been fully explored, or perhaps were never actually written down. I shall put Cadence on that problem right away.” She shook her head slowly. “If I may, I would recommend caution in using such spells in the future. There’s no way of telling what other shenanigans might come into being if we are not careful..”

“I like shenanigans though,” Sunset replied with a grin and overzealous enthusiasm. “It makes it all so much more interesting and enjoyable. Right?” She let her eyes drift to Mistress, and saw the expected heavy blush on her cheeks.

“Anyway,” Twilight said hurriedly, shaking her head. “I’ll make sure to review the spell more thoroughly later.” She coughed once and pulled the piping teapot from the stove. “So I suppose with that settled, Sunset. Don’t you have some things to talk to the Princess about?” She said it quite pointedly, spooning the tea leaves into the pot and covering them with the water to steep. It was obvious she wanted to get off this topic for the moment.

“Oh, nonsense Twilight,” Rarity insisted, waving her hoof in Mistress’s direction. “We can’t have a proper discussion or conversation if you two are woefully behind on your tea. Wouldn’t you agree, Princess?”

“Mmm. It does help sharpen the mind for difficult conversation.” The Princess seemed almost maddeningly calm, filling her cup from a separate teapot.

“Well, is it really all that difficult, Princess?” Sunset asked. “I think I’m probably the only pony who’s really out of the loop, and… heh, it’s more just telling me things that are long overdue, yeah?” That’s what it seemed like, and she honestly hoped that were the case. It would make things easier, she imagined, if it was only her who had to adjust to something new. She was already in that zone, so why not strike the iron while it was hot? She took several deep sips of her tea anyway, enjoying the flooding warmth and flavor. “Thank you for this by the way,” she nodded to Twilight before taking another drink.

“Well, let’s keep things simple then.” Celestia set her teacup down and gave Sunset a stern look. “I’m going to be very blunt with you Sunset, and you’ll forgive me if I’d like you to promise not to become overly upset with some of my opinions.” Her gaze softened a bit, “I mean you no disrespect by them, but I fear they are things which you are finally ready to hear.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Sunset replied, setting aside her own teacup only to retrieve it again. It was rather good tea. “And yes, I promise.”

The Princess inclined her head, then spoke. “Greed is an insidious emotion. It eats into our hearts in a way that few other things can. Perhaps only pride is worse, but that is a discussion for a more thoughtful time time.” She tilted her head to one side, firmly regarding Sunset. “This is relevant, as it has always been your greed which has been your great flaw, Sunset. Your desire for power drove you away from me the first time.”

Celestia set her teacup down, and looked solemn. “When you returned, I had hoped that at last the hole in your heart could be filled by something far more powerful and satisfying. Friendship.” She smiled faintly at Twilight before continuing. “Perhaps I should have been more cautious. Perhaps I ought to have realized you would seek to fill your heart with the one who freed you from your past. Hindsight is ever perfect, though. So I shall not dwell.”

The Princess ruffled her feathers and fixed her glare on Sunset again. “When I heard of what had happened, I sought answers. When I realized what had taken hold of you, I feared the worst. That you had traded a lust for power for a much more base lust for Love. For the love and friendship of another, to belong to you…” She drew the word out and the way she spoke the next words sent a chill into her. “And only to you. To be hoarded and withheld from the rest of the world in any and all of it’s forms.”

Celestia’s eyes darkened, and her mood visibly fouled. “Down that road, Sunset Shimmer, lies a destiny that I would not have allowed you to reach the end of. It has happened before, you see. A powerful pony whose all consuming desire for the love of another ultimately destroyed her… I could not, and I would not risk a second Chrysalis. Not after I realized what she had become.” She shuddered for a moment, then glanced away with a faint smile. “But when I arrived, I found you not nearly so far gone. You were simply angry, and confused and hurt. You had nothing to base your knowledge of your new love on, and I saw you foundering so badly. You needed support and guidance from somepony with experience, but I knew any words I spoke to you would fall on deaf ears from the moment we spoke. You were in no mood to listen to your dear old teacher.”

Celestia’s mouth twitched into a sad smile. “Admittedly, I was fortunate that I had seen this before. Many centuries ago, my little sister suffered much the same as you did, Sunset.” She sighed softly, shaking her head. “She too was angry and alone. She felt as though nopony appreciated her and her work, and believed she deserved more. She began to crave attention - ANY attention - so that perhaps she might not feel so alone. She began to covet power, believing it would grant her the love and respect I was so blessed with.”

Celestia lowered her eyelids, and it was impossible not to see the emotion there. “Had I known what to do, perhaps I could have saved her.” Her head fell a little, and a slow breath taken. “I could not risk being wrong again. I could not risk hesitating again.”

“So…” Sunset drew out, narrowing her eyes, not quite sure of what the princess was trying to say. “Isn’t… you want to make our relationship politically official or something?”

“Well, that’s a small part of it. Twilight really ought to have proposed to you already.” The matter-of-fact way Celestia said that made Sunset’s cheeks burn a bright red, and did the same to Twilight’s. She squeaked a little, point of fact, just before the Princess kept speaking. “But that’s not really relevant right now. The point of this is to make certain that you both can find a balance with one another. Love, especially the love of an Alicorn…” Celestia’s smile turned slow and smoky, “Can be a very potent thing.”

Celestia slowly shook her head. “But it cannot be the only thing you have in your life, Sunset. There must be other friends, other small loves between yourself and those you care about. Twilight will have duties, Sunset, and so shall you. Twilight will love other ponies in other ways, and so shall you.” Her head ducked down and she spoke quietly. “Perhaps I ought to have considered matters more carefully before acting. I can only but hope I can mend my missteps.”

But a second shiver followed the first. Different. Eye widening and heart spiking. She could feel her panic and… her old arguments welling up in protest to what the princess was surely implying. It was ridiculous. Ancient and long since discarded from tradition. But at the same time, she just couldn’t be certain. “Princess…” she said, slowly, deliberately. “You don’t mean to give us a….” her tongue rolled around and twisted at the word, “harem do you?”

Princess Celestia sighed softly. “Sunset Shimmer, there is nopony on this earth or any other whom can make you fuck anypony you don’t want to.” The bluntness of her words shocked Sunset, but not more than her next sentence did. “And I could not and would not make Twilight accept anything I might think is a good solution to the problems that you have. Twilight asked me for my advice, and I gave it.” She stomped her hoof firmly. “You need someponies around that you can trust with absolute certainty on intimate matters. Unfortunately, all of the bits in the universe cannot buy absolute silence. Only friendship, love and the bonds we form with others can do that.”

Celestia tossed her mane. “I promised you I would give you a world where you could live in the lifestyle you have chosen without fear and with absolute comfort. This is the best way I know how.” There was a quiet, desperate note to her voice as she spoke, and she closed her eyes. “I wish I had a better solution, Sunset. I truly do. But I could think of nothing else that will not simply make your problem worse.”

Twilight cut in a moment later. “What the Princess is dancing around,” she half glared at Celestia, before speaking slowly, “is that she wants to make sure we never feel so desperate for affection or safety that it clouds our judgement or makes us… unstable. Something that has most certainly happened to you in these past few weeks.” The crack of the whip was plain in Mistress’ voice, and it made Sunset swallow her immediate retort. “We’ve discussed it thoroughly, and she has agreed to my terms.” She lifted her hoof and made a ticking motion. “Three attendants and one somepony to be in charge of them, who will also be in charge of the household staff. Officially, they’ll be sort of like… um...” She coughed. “Hoofmaidens, technically. Though they’ll be required to perform… other duties on an as-needed basis, but neither of us are required to indulge. And most importantly, I would neither select them nor approve of them without your input and agreement.”

Celestia piped up, sounding oddly cheerful. “Sunset, think about this past week. Think about what you did when your emotions got the best of you, and you could not turn to Twilight.” She gestured with her hoof. “You went to your close friend, Fluttershy. All I seek to do is to make that a little more official, and to make it easier for you to draw on such ponies without fear of scandal or rejection from Twilight.” Then she giggled, a bright and happy sound and then spoke in a clearly joking tone. “You ought to thank Twilight. The original laws required a full two dozen attendants, equal parts mares and stallions.”

“That’s just weird,” Sunset said flatly. And it was really the only thing she could manage at the moment. Her mind was flying with all of the implications. Good, bad, up, down.

“Well, I rather enjoy it.” The Princess said with a sly smile. “Had your brother not been quite so smitten with Cadence, Twilight, I rather was intending to invite him to join. Frankly speaking, had Twilight not been my student…” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively, and Twilight slowly sank down into her chair as Celestia mused,”Though I suppose that it was fortunate for everypony involved that I did not indulge myself. Else where might we be now?” She giggled happily, and Sunset was pretty certain Twilight was trying to hide under the table now.

“And that idea’s going to give me bad dreams for the rest of the week,” she intoned with heavy sarcasm, eyes narrowing. She really didn’t need to hear that about Princess Celestia. It conjured disturbing images, and she imagined she might be arrested for some of them. Not to mention they cluttered her mind trying to sort out the reality of what she and Mistress were proposing. A harem? She flicked away the immediate, lustful thoughts that encouraged her to go full forward with the idea. Those benefits were obvious. She looked down at her hooves, and one of them unconsciously came up and rubbed her stomach, where everypony in the room now knew a foal was sleeping.

“Sunset?” Twilight’s gentle voice interrupted her thinking, and a hoof touched her shoulder. “I told Celestia I wasn’t going forward on this without you, and I meant every word of it. Even if it might cause…” She glanced at the Princess, who looked oddly serene. “Problems.”

“No… I understand why….” Sunset managed, which was actually true. The princess had made an excellent case as always, yet… “It’s just strange. We’re having a foal together, so as long as I’m special that way, I don’t think it’ll bother me all that much. Eventually. Only…. I don’t really know that many ponies that well that I’d actually trust to… um… take of care of us. I don’t know, it just feels really awkward when I think about it.” She sighed and leaned onto Mistress’s shoulder.

A polite cough startled her a little. Rarity had very red cheeks, and was looking more than a little awkward. Which was… very very strange for her. “Well, what about myself? I certainly know the both of you as well as anypony does.” Her smile was a little too perky to be entirely genuine. “Perhaps I could assemble your ah… Staff, so to speak. There aren’t terribly many ponies who will know how to be discreet about it better than I do. Then all you’ll need to do is choose somepony to be in charge, and you’ll be set.”

“A bit pretentious Rarity,” Sunset smirked, sitting upright and eyeing her more thoroughly. She paused, biting back a second less than complimentary phrase. She wanted to just dismiss her. Shrug it off as just Rarity’s embedded desires knocking at the door. But at the same time, Rarity, more than even Mistress perhaps, knew where Sunset’s buttons were in terms of her relationship to Mistress. In a sense, she would be a… well not perfect, but a damn good fit. She wouldn’t let these consort ponies tread where Sunset might bite their heads off, and she herself would know the boundaries. “Mistress,” Sunset said to her, eyes still on Rarity, but the latent curiosity in her voice obvious even to herself. “What do you think about Rarity? I’d bang her with you.”

Twilight spat out her mouthful of lukewarm tea. Fortunately, she did so away from the table. She also dropped her cup, which clattered to the floor with a thud and sent what was left of the tea leaves scattering across the wood. After a few moments of coughing by Twilight, she finally recovered enough to speak. “I’m sorry, but I think I just had a psychotic episode. I could have sworn you just suggested Rarity to lead our attendants.”

“I did,” Sunset repeated, nodding her head clearly to be sure Mistress understood. Surely Mistress could see the signs. And if anything, having just overcome a feud with Rarity, she imagined Twilight would want a chance to make up for lost time. Perhaps she feared a kind of preferential treatment amongst her friends, but Sunset was certain everypony would just be happy to see the three of them all happy around one another. She grinned. “And I also said I’d bang her with you…”

Twilight stared at her, then reached up to rub at her eyes. “This is a dream. This has to be some kind of dream, and I’m imagining all of this nonsense…” She muttered for a few moments before laughing softly. “You, Sunset Shimmer, are incorrigible.” She turned and smiled faintly at Rarity. “What do you think?”

Rarity, on the other hoof, was a bright red cheeked pony looking like she wasn’t sure what to say or do. “Would you trust me with such a thing, Sunset? Truly?” Rarity’s whisper was soft, almost begging her for the validation of what she’d said.

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Sunset said with a casual shrug. In retrospect, she realized this was probably how she had been acting not to long ago. What seemed so plain to her was a shock to everypony else. No, surely she couldn’t have been that annoying. “I mean, you know the boundaries we have between Twilight and myself, so I can’t think of anypony better suited to the job, aaaaannnd - ”

“Enough, Sunset. You’re going to give the poor girl a heart attack.” Twilight gently scolded, but she was smiling. “We’ll discuss… what those sort of activities might entail later.” She eyed the Princess for a moment. “Will that be satisfactory, Celestia? Rarity’s very trustworthy when it comes to this sort of thing.”

Celestia inclined her head, and smiled brightly. “I am more than satisfied, Princess Twilight. And I think it ought to be more than enough for the grumblers in the court as well.” She grinned wolfishly. “And if it isn’t, I’ll make them agree.” She giggled faintly, then tossed her mane back. “Rarity, any objections?”

“None, Princess.” Rarity said with a quiet smile, her hooves tucked together and every inch of her calm and quiet. “It will be both my honor and my pleasure.” She beamed at them all, as bright and sunny a smile as Sunset had ever seen.

~~~~~~~

Sunset sidled into the kitchen, intent on finding something to do while Mistress and Princess Celestia went on a small, private walk with each other. She was used to chores and the like, and found them oddly more soothing than advanced research and experiment setup. But as she wandered the small space, she couldn’t find much to be cleaned or put away more properly. Spike certainly was a natural as Mistress’s assistant, as Sunset herself couldn’t remember having done much in the way of cleaning over the past few days. So much other stuff had always kept intruding. But she supposed she ought to get used to the feeling, what with a host of ponies soon to be joining them in the library whose jobs would be cleanliness.

Perhaps she would take up a hobby or two. Perhaps Mistress would take up one with her. That would be fun. Magic shooting maybe? The subject and mechanics had always fascinated Sunset. Eh, Mistress might not be so into the sport. She thought back to her old days as a filly in Celestia’s School, trying to recall any pasttimes she had had then that she had given up after fleeing Equestria. None sprang to mind immediately, but that had been quite a long time ago. But it was an engrossing thought process, and she took a seat at the dining room table to give it proper attention.

Don’t want to do anything too… she paused and smiled as a little flutter lifted up through her chest. ... that might be bad for our foal. A small squeal of happiness escaped her just being able to think about it without fear or worry. And rather than her mind going back to hobbies and silly things of the sort, flits of ideas began swimming in her head about cribs, and room colors, and names, and… everything. She sighed contentedly as her hoof twirled circles in the wood, some ideas becoming more cohesive, others not.

The kitchen door slowly pushed open and then creaked closed again. Sunset turned around to see Rarity standing there with a strange, quiet smile on her face. “Sunset, I…” she began hesitantly, and rubbed at her foreleg nervously.. “I’m… I’ve not the words, I am afraid.” She blushed a bright red, and exhaled firmly. “So, I shall do this the only way I know how.”

Before Sunset could open her mouth for more than a moment, there was a pair of new lips upon them. Rarity had crossed the distance in a blur and was kissing her firmly enough to make her tailhairs raise up. It was… strange, but not in a bad way. Rarity’s eyes were closed, and her lips hotly passionate upon hers. The kiss went on for almost a full minute before she finally pulled awaity, gently panting and blushing so badly one might have thought Sunset had been the one to kiss her. “I’m… I’m…” She gulped and tried smile. “Thank you.”

“Nah, no,” Sunset interrupted her with a wave of her hoof and a pleased, amused grin on her face. “First, thank you, and I’m going to take away from that that I am ridiculously hot.”

Rarity laughed softly. “Darling, I do not believe I have ever disputed that fact.” She batted her eyelashes prettily. “Now, hotter than myself on the other hoof…”

“At least my mane only takes five minutes to look this good,” Sunset flaunted with a puff into her bangs, posing to the side like the famous models and plastering the most exaggerated face she could imagine on herself.

Rarity giggled softly. “Hmph. Your mane, maybe, but it’s the total package that matters, darling.” She tossed her mane to one side in response, eyes sparkling. “Never fear, though. I shall make certain we can solve the disaster of your decolletage dear. Twilight shall be rendered speechless at the sight of you.”

“Haha!” Sunset laughed, real joy filling its every note. “I already render her speechless… every night.” She giggled and let a little bush color her cheeks. “But I wouldn’t worry about it for a while. I’m gonna start showing here pretty soon.”

“Mm.” Rarity smiled slowly. “Don’t worry. It shall be a trifle to keep you in appropriately ravishing garments dear.” Her smile was warm, genuine… and more honest than it had been in weeks. “In the meantime, though… I did have some ideas on to whom we could choose to join us.” She tilted her head with a sly smile. “Though I rather think at least one of the names shall be fairly obvious.”

“Fluttershy of course,” Sunset said. “It’s not really even much of a choice for us, just more of her saying yes and Dash being alright with it… I hope Dash wasn't too angry at her for what happened.” Sunset couldn't help but frown a bit at that, wishing she'd taken the time to find out for herself.

"We shall speak with Dash and Fluttershy in the next few days and explain what has happened." Rarity nodded decisively. "I am relatively certain that once all of the facts have come to light, Dash will at least understand the circumstance."

Sunset exhaled softly, then nodded once. Then... she paused, a curious thought passing through her brain. “Do you know if Mistress already has a list? I mean, I don’t think she does, but I’ve given up assuming on things like this.”

She shook her head. “According to the princess, she’s been stubbornly refusing to even consider other ponies until she spoke to you.” Rarity chuckled, “But I rather think we should be able to make the appropriate judgements. No need to bother the Mi-” Rarity’s mouth snapped around the word all at once, and she blushed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t presume.”

“Oh, go ahead. Might as well,” Sunset shrugged, and she honestly was surprised at her own neutral feelings on the matter. At the very least, she felt she would have thought it awkward. But as it was, she decided to just roll with it. “I want you, and Fluttershy, so that leaves only two other ponies. And I require all four of you to speak to Mistress respectfully the way I do if you want any attention from either of us.” Her head bopped briskly, as though settling the matter.

Rarity nodded her agreement, then bit at her lower lip. “This isn’t going to be easy, you know.” Her voice was quiet, and her hooves dry washed against one another. Sunset blinked at her. “Putting together something like this, I mean.” Rarity continued, trying to sound optimistic and failing horribly at it. “I know the Princess means well, and I truly do wish to try, but we’re all going to have to find a way to love each other as much as we love… Mistress.” She licked the word around her mouth with relish, as though tasting a fine wine.

Sunset knew the feeling. “I don’t… I don’t wanna sound pretentious or anything, but I can help anypony that feels like they’re having trouble. I’ve gotten through the worst I could throw at myself after all. Besides!” she added cheerily, “I already love you! That’s gotta be a great example!”

Rarity looked… shocked. “You… you love me?” Her voice had descended to a whisper, and her eyes gone wide. She blindly groped for a hoof, and Sunset gave one to her to squeeze. “I’m… I’m not…” She sniffed… “I don’t have to just…” She was falling all over her words, in a way Sunset was all too familiar with. After all… hadn’t she been here, not so long ago? Not believing that somepony else could… or would love them?

Wasn’t it right… wasn’t it fair that she pass on that same blessing, that same wonderful feeling of belonging to somepony else who deserved it too? “Of course I love you,” she said, bumping noses with Rarity. “I mean, I always did… It was just… buried for a while, ya know? And it did kinda grow even then…” And tentatively, almost unsure with herself and whether it was a real feeling what was beating in her chest, she leaned closer and latched onto Rarity’s lips with her own. Simply. She pulled away before anything else could build and smiled at her. “See?”

Rarity reached up to touch her lips with a hoof, and a slow and warm smile crossed her face. “I… Thank you, Su-sunny?” She said tentatively, and Sunset couldn’t help but giggle and nod at her. If she was going to be part of the family, she got to be part of the nicknames too. She’d have to come up with something cute for her too. Rara? “I’m..” She shook her head and exhaled deeply. “Goddess, I’m horrible at this.” Then she kissed Sunset back - lightly, perkily, smiling brightly. “We will find a way. Between the three of us, we shan’t face anything we cannot handle!”

“All six of us,” Sunset reminded her. “We can really only consider this a start if we actually go somewhere from here.”

“Of course, M’lady.” Rarity did a cute little curtsey in place, then nearly fell over in giggles. “I suppose that means I ought to start making the arrangements for your pregnancy. Have you considered names?” She fluttered her eyelashes, and her eyes sparkled. “I do have a list of the hottest names for noble children this season.”

“Ehhhh…” Sunset muttered. “I’m not sure about names, actually. I don’t know if it’ll be a filly or colt, for one; and two, it’s still pretty early, Nurse Redheart said it looks like I’ve only been pregnant for about a month, and… it’s a pregnancy based on magic, so, you know. I wanna see somepony with a little more expertise before I make any solid decisions. That and ask Mistress too.”

“Tsk tsk!” Rarity shook her hoof at her. “It’s your foal, Sunset. You’ve a right to dream a little.” She grinned brightly. “Come now. What would you like to have? Filly or colt?”

“Well, it’s actually our foal, but…” she stopped and a filly-like smile spread across her lips. “I really want twins!” she squealed, hopping up and down in her seat excitedly. “Filly and colt, both pegasi! I’ve always wanted to be able to fly, and being able to have my foals experience what a cloud feels like… Ooooohhhhh! I’m so nervous and happy at the same time now!”

Rarity embraced her firmly, and squeezed her gently. “The princesses are likely to be busy for a while dealing with paperwork. What do you say we go grab a bite and discuss…. our family.” The way she said it with a tremulous smile was all too cute.

“Sure,” Sunset replied, cuddling right back and giving her a warm smile. Somehow or other, they’d figure it out. Together.