~~~~Monday~~~~

The Golden Oaks Library

They only had a single window in their bedroom, and with the curtains closed over it, light was hard pressed to get inside. Even morning light. But every now and again, enough would stream through some crack somewhere and hit Sunset right in the eye. And invariably, even if she was sleeping, it would wake her up. She rolled over on her other side, but she couldn’t go back to sleep. She yawned, stretched, and lay splayed on the bed for a while. And her thoughts began to turn as general morning grogginess wore off.

She and Mistress had a routine again, which was nice to a degree, but it was probably as far from a desirable routine as Sunset was likely to have without speaking out about it. Wake up, have breakfast, leave, come home, eat dinner, go to bed. There were random times she got to stop by and see Mistress, but it was never for all that long. There was always something for Mistress to be doing, and Princess Celestia seemed to always be behind her, perpetually reminding her of the fact.

Sunset crawled out of bed and shook off the last of the weariness before working her mane into something semi presentable. Celestia. Sunset had ideas about Celestia, and she was fairly certain that on some days, those thoughts could properly get her arrested if she didn’t keep her trap shut. She would claim she was here to help, but all Sunset could see was somepony insistent on keeping her and Mistress apart. What about their relationship she didn’t like, Sunset couldn’t be sure, but she spent a good deal of each day trying to puzzle it out.

The only upside, if it could even be called an upside… well, yes, it could be… was that those few little moments she had with Mistress were now all that much sweeter and often times, more intense. It was a give and take, Sunset knew, but she just wished the pony responsible for it had asked her if she’d be alright with it. On second thought, Celestia had and Sunset had agreed, but looking back, she’d been incredibly sneaky about it.

Sunset shook her head. Whatever. She’d be taking time to mull over it all today anyhow. Right now, there was breakfast with Mistress to look forward to. She edged open the bedroom door quietly, and began making her way to the dining room. She could hear Mistress rattling off to Spike, and she came into sight a moment later. Sunset quickly ran up behind her as she was backing up, earning a little breath of surprise as her reward.

“I got up early to see you this morning, Mistress,” Sunset murmured, lightly kissing Twilight’s cheek. “Thank you for these as well, I slept better than I have in days.” She wriggled out from behind Mistress and shook one of her hooves. Or, well, more appropriately the sleeve of her far too long pajama shirt. She loved the things, how loose they fit an’ all. And judging by Mistress’ warm, cute smile, she liked the way Sunset looked in them with her messy morning mane.

A little hum escaped Sunset when Mistress leaned in and returned the kiss. “I’m glad you like them,” Mistress said warmly before her eyes darted to the clock. “Lunch at one today, okay? I’ve got no idea how long the interviews will go this morning, and I’d like to make sure I can take a long lunch.” She leaned to nuzzle against Sunset’s cheek, sighing softly. “I’m sorry things’ve been so busy, Love. I promise that this ridiculous nonsense won’t last much longer.” Sunset nodded. Perhaps more consoling than the increasingly vibrant little moments was Mistress’ own dislike of the whole situation. It was nice to feel like she was one with her again

“I know,” Sunset said. “I trust you, Mistress. And… well, it’s not so bad. At least I don’t get in your way being here.” Blegh. That could’ve come out her mouth better, but all she could think about as she said it was having to readjust again after it was all over. Then there was that other thing even further along… but Sunset hid that away in the same place she had shoved that day with Fluttershy. Both were in a corner of her mind she chose not to wander. But regardless, it seemed that life would never be content to let her live without some momentous change, no matter how happy she was. Whatever. She’d deal with it. After all, she was still around right?

“Will you be at Rarity’s most of the day?” Mistress asked, jolting her out of her thoughts. And a good thing too. Had she allowed herself to answer without being fully aware of what she was doing, she might have blurted what she really did half the time she was supposed to be over at that… ugh, no words she knew were apt enough. “What’s she still needing help with now that she’s moved in all the way?”

“Well…” Sunset replied, and she let her full displeasure show in her tone at least. But honestly, whenever she was actually at Rarity’s, she was sure anypony would be as irritated as she got. “Apparently...” she rolled her eyes, “apparently the paint on the walls inside lost it’s ‘shine’ while she was gone, so I’m helping her repaint the place one room at a time. Why didn’t she wait to unpack, Mistress? I wouldn’t have to be moving half the furniture I am now.”

Mistress chuckled a little with an amused shake of her head. “Because it’s Rarity, Sunny. That’s actually fairly standard for her. She never trusts first impressions when it comes to the style of something.” Oooo… Yes, even Mistress would be annoyed, judging by that eye roll. “Don’t ask me to explain how it works. I certainly don’t have her eye for fashion or her keen instincts in the world of sales. At least she isn’t replacing her floors again.” Mistress paused her eyes looking around, and Sunset waited. Mistress sometimes had to think about things separately from saying something unrelated. “So, how are you two getting along now, hm?”

“You know, I keep telling her she should just hire some - Oh… yeah, that. We… uh, deal with each other mostly,” Sunset started to explain the most grating aspect of having to paint with her, but caught herself midway through. “It’s… weird. Pinkie had a good word once I’d use… um… Oh! Yeah, frenemies. That’s the best way I explain it.” She sighed expressively. “It’s not so hard as it was, Mistress, I’ll admit for you, but I still don’t like being in her house. Meeting her on the street wouldn’t be so bad maybe.” She actually meant that one. Seeing her in the market, probably insulting what she’d bought, and maybe eating ice cream with her… Sunset could do that and come away with a neutral mood.

“Well, hopefully we can get to something a little better with some more work,” Mistress said brightly, and despite Sunset’s intensity, she ignored the flat stare. “Right, I’d better get on top of this, Sunny.” She kissed her warmly once more on the lips and nuzzled her cheek. “Good luck today. Make me proud.”

Sunset smiled faintly at her, and Mistress hurried off toward the door while glancing at the top of one of her lists.

~~~~Tuesday Afternoon~~~~

Sweet Dreams’ Ice Cream Parlour

“And I’m pretty sure she’s gonna make that Silver Shill guy the accountant or whatever,” Sunset giggled over the outside table, a glorious triple stack before her. “He’s so… bland…” She more than giggled this time. “What a rude awakening he’s in for.”

“Well, do remember he had to deal with Flim and Flam for quite a long while.” Her company smiled faintly, sipping on something frozen and fruity. “I’m told he’s got an excellent head for numbers though.”

“Lyra!” Sunset said, exasperated. “I’m trying to make light of all this by making a joke. You’re not helping very well.”

“Wise pony say one must look for humor in the most unlikely of places.” Lyra Heartstrings arched an eyebrow at her, a faint smile on her face. “Besides, I don’t think anything could prepare anypony for the madhouse you live in, Miss Shimmer. No offense.” She winked. “You ponies are ca-ray-zee, even by my standards. And I live with Bon Bon.”

“Bon Bon isn’t crazy,” Sunset sighed. “... that’d be you.”

“Why does everypony think I’m the nutty one?” Lyra idly wondered, sipping happily at her smoothie. “I’m not the pony with a serious neat-freak on or the anger management issues. Is it the meditation and martial arts thing?” She headtilted, grinning slightly at her. “Or is it my supposed peculiar obsession with mythical history?”

“Your sense of humor,” Sunset answered dryly, taking a large bite of her ice cream and only slightly regretting the brain freeze. “Nopony knows when you’re making a joke. Like, ever. See, you can tell in me, yeah?”

“Oh, I’m afraid that doesn’t work. Rumor has it that you don’t have a sense of humor.” Lyra smiled slyly, sucking the last of her fruity concoction out with a seeming total immunity to the brain-freeze effect. “You’d need to have one to laugh at my clever jokes and wicked satire.”

“Well, if you’re referring to the decent life stealer in the boutique across town, there’d be where my sense of humor went,” Sunset said with a slight intonation there in the end. She’d chosen to skip out on going to Rarity’s place today. As she so often did. And truth be told, hanging out with Lyra for the afternoon usually ended with something close to a genuine smile on her face. A far better result than the alternative.

“What, gembutt? Pft, nah. I don’t run in her rumor circles.” Lyra chuckled richly, shaking her head. “That’s Bon Bon’s gag. Though last I heard, she’s been trying to make some other ponies stop talking smack about you.” That was one of the funnier things about Lyra. She’d gotten from… somewhere… a remarkably excellent grasp of the ancient slang. “No, I’ve been getting worried talk from Dash of all mares. I think she’s afraid you’re cracking up.”

Sunset chose to ignore Lyra’s little spiel about Rarity. It was better for her sanity and keeping the universe from imploding. However, “Well, she’d be right. Or at least close to it. When we can just chill around like this it helps. Too many ponies’re meddling with my life and Mi - and Twilight’s to be frank.” Sunset took another bite of her treat, admittedly smaller. “I dunno. I know it’ll be over soon, to some degree, ugh I don’t wanna think about that all that much, but yeah. I’ll make it through this mess everypony seems to think is so great, but I’m just worried none of its gonna be the same anymore. And then everypony’s gonna insist to me that it is.”

Lyra hummed, waving a complex series of gestures at one of the waiters and getting an ‘okay’ gesture in return before turning back to Sunset with a curious look. “You ever try taking all of the maple syrup out of the bottle and then putting it back in?”

“With or without magic?” Sunset grinned. She thought she knew where Lyres was going with this, but why not have a little fun with it?

“Without, naturally. Magic is cheating no matter what you use it on.” A few moments later, a deep, dark chocolate milkshake slid onto the table in front of her, and Lyra eyeballed it greedily. “Bon Bon taught me that.”

“Sounds like an earth pony argument to me,” Sunset said, barely containing the laugh in her voice. “Couldn’t imagine why she’d go that route.”

Lyra took a slurp, with a shadow of a smile in her eyes. “Well, think about it. Lets say you knew some kind of spell that could magically put everything back the way it was, but it didn’t fix any of the problems that caused the issue.” She took another slurp, and chuckled softly. “Now, the right question you should’ve asked me is ‘how did the syrup get out of the bottle in the first place?’”

“Enlighten me,” Sunset said, arching her eyebrows and deliberately taking her next spoonful extra slowly.

Lyra hummed, leaning back to regard her carefully. “When Whispering Wind first took me on as her student when I was a young filly, she asked me the same question. She told me that until we know every dimension of a problem, we cannot hope to solve it. Your bottle could have a crack in it, or maybe somepony dropped it.” She arched an eyebrow right back, smiling. “Maybe you dropped it. Maybe it got knocked over accidentally. Maybe someone stole the bottle and left the syrup all over the floor.” She paused. “Waste of maple syrup, though. Such a shame.” She took another suck of her milkshake. “And maybe…” She paused, drawing the word out slowly.

“What’s the point?” Sunset asked, not exactly dreary, but her voice did sound a little that way. “I swear to the moon, why can’t the problem just say ‘Oo! Look! I’m here!’ then take it’s merry little bum away and let us solve it. Oh no, it has to constantly shove itself in our face and make sure to ruin all our plans and memories and always make sure we remember what a pain in the flank it is and hot damn… It’s frustrating and irritating and obnoxious okay?”

Lyra watched and listened very attentively until she ran out of stream, sucking happily on her milkshake. Once Sunset ran out of words, Lyra popped back up. “Do you feel better after talking a lot like that?” She tilted her head curiously. “You tend to use a lot more words when you’re frustrated. Is it relaxing in some way?”

“It didn’t make the problem go away,” Sunset said flatly, “but… well, yeah I suppose. You’re the first pony I think who’s listened to me the whole way through something like that though, so I don’t really have a point of comparison.” She paused. Lyra was right, no matter how much she didn’t want to admit to what degree. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more sincere and get it out of her system. “You know, if everypony would just stop thinking I can… or even should dammit!… just, just alter what I know is right to make somepony else feel better about herself. Nopony would be in this situation if the hoof pointing was in the right direction.”

“Mm,” Lyra wasn’t quite agreeing with her there, but it was a positive noise. “Having conviction is not a bad thing.” She grinned cheekily. “But, you know, I may enjoy having a certain amount of mess to my room, but it drives Bons absolutely mental. I’m not saying it’s a direct comparison, but…” She shrugged her shoulder. “You know.”

“Well, duh, no offense,” Sunset replied. “That’s in the little things. The big, life altering decisions don’t - ”

Lyra’s voice was as sharp as a blade, “Are no different, when you get right down to them. Partnership…” She raised a hoof, and used it to draw attention to the glittering gold ear-ring with Bon Bon’s cutie mark on it. “... is about more than just the little, everyday domestic things. It’s about when the going really gets rough, and you’ve got to make the hard choices, you make them together. And sometimes,” Lyra leaned back, looking… oddly sad, with that smile on. “That means you don’t get to have everything you want. No matter how hard that might be.”

“Rarity…” Sunset paused. “She’s not a thing or course of action that has a middle to it….” She sighed and looked around absently at the other parlour patrons. “It feels like it’s so much more than that now though, what with the way it seems like everypony and her sister wanted to get involved. Things just got compounded ya know?”

Lyra giggled faintly. “Well, she is a princess. And a very young one at that.” She tossed her mane and slurped up the last of her milkshake. Sheesh, had she really finished it that fast? The mare was a bottomless pit for sweets. “I agree, It can be very hard on somepony when it seems like all the world wants what you have.” Her smile turned very gentle all at once, and she reached across the table and squeezed her hoof. “I know that you'll find your way, Kiddo. It just might take you a little longer than most others." She leaned back, grinning. "I wish there was more I could do other than spout the nonsense my Sensei keeps beating into my head.” Her smile turned into a sudden, bright grin. “Maybe you should come to practice with me sometime?”

“Martial arts? Me?” Sunset nearly laughed in disbelief. “Ha! As if. Mistress keeps me away from things that aren’t necessarily good for me, but I know all on my own that’s not a good idea. I mean, I know better than to trust myself with that sort of thing. Thank you though.” She ended her thanks with a smile and her last scoop of the ice cream. Lyra was so funny sometimes. “I’ll make it through I think, yeah? Once Princess Celestia finishes up with her plans with Mistress anyway. The fewer ponies involved, the better.”

“Mmm. Sometimes you need to boil down to essentials.” She did a little athletic twist of her shoulders and leaned back with a satisfied smile. “But if you need somepony to just rant at, don’t be afraid to give me a holler.”

“Isn’t that what you just did?” Sunset asked with and amused, rueful smile.

Lyra just grinned back at her, and winked.

Sunset rolled her eyes.

~~~~~Friday~~~~~

Ponyville

Ponyville had a weird vibe to its streets unlike any other place Sunset had ever visited throughout Equestria. And that counted for no small number of places as she had accompanied Princess Celestia on many of her royal tours. Ponyville was different though. A pony could either be completely and utterly overwhelmed by all the sights, sounds, and streaming colors; or, as was Sunset’s case now, tune them out entirely. It was strange. No middle ground existed. And there were enough interesting places to wander aimlessly (at least in the center of town) that she was sure could do as much for an entire afternoon without ever running out of locations to drift toward.

Several times now, she had made to turn her path to vaguely make for Rarity’s boutique, but her motivation was never strong enough for her to carry through with it. She supposed that was due partly to having skimped on meeting with her that morning like she had been ‘supposed’ to, but not wanting to be around her in general probably played a bigger role. But at the same time, even with being able to ignore stares or distractions in the streets, she wanted to be somewhere. Thanks to Princess Celestia though, she couldn’t very well go home. Not to mention Mistress would likely be pretty cross with her if she found out Sunset had skimped on Rarity.

Celestia. Her name was beginning to put a bad taste in her mouth. She didn’t… hate her, like she had before, but she definitely wasn’t encouraged to talk or associate with her. But what was worse, she couldn’t truly be sure if her assumptions were true. It certainly felt like the princess was on a purposeful mission to keep Sunset and Mistress from enjoying each others’ company like proper lovers. But, at the same time, Sunset had never seen the princess really go wrong on smaller things. Like this. Compared to somepony like Discord anyway. There was always a nagging doubt in the back of Sunset’s mind that all that was making her uncomfortable with these whole series of events was just an unfortunate and unintended byproduct.

She would look like an utter fool if she barged in randomly, accusing Princess Celestia of attempting to sabotage her relationship with Mistress. Especially if the opposite were true. On the flip side though, the way the princess emphasized her or Mistress having something to do that day, every day, kept Sunset from calling herself out.

There were a good number of days, like now, where she wondered how long it had been since Celestia had had a true, devoted lover. Certain things would stay the same in love, of course, but things definitely changed too. Perhaps royals typically didn’t spend time with a mate in the time the princess was drawing reference from. No! That was flimsy, and Sunset knew it. She didn’t want to believe it, as she had no real course of action as to how to counter it, but it was looking more and more like Princess Celestia didn’t approve. Or, at least she didn’t approve about certain things.

Sunset could accept that. There were loads of ponies in Ponyville alone who disliked it when Mistress went out in public with her, especially when they were dressed for an occasion of some sort. She’d gotten looks, mail, and every other thing under the sun except (and sometimes even so) shouting dislike. However, for Sunset, she didn’t feel the princess had a ‘right’ as it were, to interfere as she saw fit. That was the line she had crossed. Advice, of course. Counseling, sure. Direct action to the contrary, absolutely not. And she hadn’t even really had a chance to talk to Mistress about what she thought. Mistress mostly just wanted to get it over with. Out of the way.

Rarity was bad, but at least Sunset could ignore her and not have her constantly trying to tug Sunset his way and that. She respected Sunset, in a way (she guessed) that Princess Celestia never really would. And it was odd in a way, comparing the two of them. Rarity knew most of what there was to know about Sunset and Mistress whereas the princess knew next to nothing. And yet, she didn’t try to use that. Just… just like Fluttershy...

She squinted her eyes shut and shook her head rather violently. Why did those memories, marred by equal parts happiness and regret, keep intruding on her so much lately? She’d done with them what she always did with things she wanted to never remember ever again. And it had always worked for those times, no matter how intense or dramatic the memory was. Yet this, especially in the past few days, had continually found a way to break free into her loose thoughts. She didn’t want to think she felt weighted, tired, but she slumped against a wall inside a short alley regardless.

Everything about that night was a vivid scape of emotion and sensation. Yet despite all the details she could still recall from it, she couldn’t for the life of her understood why it had all happened in the first place. She’d tried reinforcing her stuffing into a dark corner of her mind by insisting to herself that she had just been emotionally unstable and unable to rationalize. A simple mistake she really didn’t have all that much control over. But that obviously hadn’t been strong enough, considering how much it plagued her.

In the end, she supposed it was guilt. Guilt over having not asked Mistress first and having been upset over the possibility over Mistress doing the very thing she did. And worse, it was a guilt she couldn’t rid herself of. It was the last thing she thought Mistress needed to deal with on top of everything else, and after all Mistress had been trying to do for her (getting them both through Celestia’s increasingly odd suggestions), how much of an ungrateful slut would she look like? She buried her face in her hooves, not crying, but just letting herself give up for a few moments. Let all of it seem to flow out and over her shoulders. Be rid of it all for a few fake moments.

She breathed in deeply, taking it all back in and steeling herself. Why? It was the catch all question for everything that had happened. Nothing seemed to have a complete answer or ponies didn’t want to give one at the very least. Was it really guilt? Or… was it all guilt? Everything? Fluttershy? Rarity? All the things she’d done to hurt other ponies? Had she hated just to hide guilt she didn’t think she could rid herself of? And in that single moment, one thought flew through her head that froze any sense of self-pity or confusion.

It was the strangest feeling, thinking she needed to hate Rarity, remembering how, remembering what it felt like inside… but not being able to. She still didn’t want to talk to her, didn’t want to see her, didn’t want to eat with her, or anything of the sort, but she couldn’t rationalize out why anymore. And after a fashion, it terrified her. It really had been one of the few things keeping her going for the past few days, determinedly not going to the boutique.

And just like that, it was gone. Poof. An odd series of memories and emotions seeming to logic it away without her consent. What had replaced it, she didn’t know. Not yet. But she couldn’t run from it any longer. Not Fluttershy, not Rarity, not even the special warmth gathering in her belly. She would talk to Mistress somehow, and laying it out to somepony else she trusted would help her sort it out better than letting it fester and mutate in her brain. It wasn’t exactly a run, but she did hurry back to the library at a decent trot.

~~~~~Saturday~~~~~

Golden Oaks Library

Sunset wandered about the top floor of the library, tossing open any of the windows on the three floors that weren’t exposed to the hot sun. It was extra warm today, and anything to cool off the inside was welcome. She considered setting up a chilling spell, but frankly she wasn’t certain to what extent that would affect the magic keeping the tree alive. All the same though, the heat today was good for one thing.

It kept her inside. It forced her to think. And it meant Mistress wouldn’t be out for very long.

She’d run back home yesterday, but at the last minute, her common sense had kicked in and stopped her from actually going inside. Mistress hadn’t been expecting her back until later that evening, and despite how much having to wait around with all the muddled thoughts on Rarity buzzing around in her head sent her to pacing, she’d managed to save face. And now, she was better off in more ways than one. She’d be able to talk to Mistress without looking like a completely disobedient and disrespectful filly, and she’d had time to settle. Think.

She thought, perhaps, that Princess Celestia had done some good by showing her where her real issues were. True, Rarity had been wrong and a little more than obnoxious when she’d come back, but at least she had actually tried to apologize. No, it wasn’t Rarity, not entirely. It was Sunset’s interactions with everypony else. She knew herself pretty well now, thanks to Mistress, and if her past was any indication, it took her time to figure out how best to deal with the larger conflicts in life. It seemed to her that Rarity was no exception and that everything that had thus gone wrong had been the result of everypony else trying to force this plan or that type of apology down her throat. They’d wanted normalcy even more than her.

And finally having come to a vague idea of how she could deal with Rarity, she needed to let everypony else know as much. Get them all out of her mane and off her plot and let her do her thing. If she failed, then she’d be more than willing to do anything and everything Mistress suggested without an ounce of deviation. But as it was her problem, she’d take a stab at it first.

She huffed out, crawling into a reading sofa and lamenting her lack of appealing attire. Mistress just hadn’t had time as of late to decide and lay something out for her, and Sunset frankly didn’t think she could even come close to guessing what Mistress might be in the mood for on any given day. She pulled a small book of simple poetry off the shelf and sipped at her hot chocolate (soy sauce added and pointedly forgotten about) while perusing the passages. The more relaxed she was when Mistress came home, the better this would all be. And the sooner it would be over at that.

She was, eh, about three quarters through with her cocoa when the latch could be heard being turned from outside. She quietly shut her book in anticipation and tried to not overdo her look of ‘ease’. It was hard to look normal when one had so much to look ahead to.

The door swung open with a little bang against the wall, making Sunset jump in place. Odd, Mistress normally never let the door swing like that… Whatever. She needed to stop attaching meaning to every little thing. Her nerves were getting to her more than she’d thought they would. Mistress came through the door at something between a run and a walk, doing a fast spin in place before spotting Sunset and putting on a bright smile. “Oh, there you are! Good, good, I was worried you might be out or… or something.” She tripped over her words a little, but there was an unmistakable warmth in her voice.

“No…” Sunset said lightly, looking down and scratching at the sofa with her hoof for a brief second before looking back up. “I thought about going out and getting some kinda snack with Lyra while you were gone Mistress, but it’s honestly too hot to go out without needing to.” She paused. “Do you need some water, Mistress?” She did look like she was sweating a bit.

“No, no, I’m fi-ne!” Her voice cracked a bit, but she took a breath and shook her head. “Fine. I’m fine. You’re fine.” She stopped, then nodded as though agreeing with herself. “Right. Um. Sorry, I’m a little scatterbrained. Are you feeling okay?” She sounded concerned, for some reason.

“I can tell,” Sunset replied, straining a smile. “And why would… oh, horseapples,” Sunset trailed off, interrupting herself. “It’s not really that anything’s wrong… exactly. I think I’m a little better right now, actually.”

“Oh! Oh… Oh good.” A great deal of tension went out of Mistress’ shoulders, something she was glad to see. “Um… So!” She perked up, going bright and chipper as Pinkie Pie. “What’ve you been up to this week? I know you’ve been very patient with all this buggery with Princess Celestia…”

“Could… could we talk about the princess, to be exact, Mistress?” Sunset asked, swallowing a little harder than she’d meant. There. Done. Out in the open, almost, mostly. Whatever. She’d get there. She was warming up. Yeah. That was it.

“Oh, sure!” Mistress seemed just a hair too enthusiastic about that, for some reason. “I mean, it’s not like I’d want to keep anything important from you.” She put on a big smile, her tail swishing back and forth on the floor. “I mean, that’s why we’re a team right?”

“Uh… yeah?” Sunset said, a little put off. Mistress was strange a lot of the time, but that was just… straight awkward even for her. Granted, she wasn’t here so much anymore, particularly when the princess was conducting her business. The stress must’ve been getting to Mistress more so than she’d thought. “So… that’s why I wanted to talk to you about Princess Celestia. Um… right. She, well, I think she ought to go back to Canterlot now. As in, now, now.”

Mistress looked awful confused, then. “Sunny, Celestia left for Canterlot yesterday afternoon. She’s not due back until Tuesday.” She tapped her hooves together and looked awfully lost. “I could’ve… I could’ve sworn I told you that. She’s just coming back to… ah…” She gulped visibly, and looked down. “To finalize some things that we really ought to talk about.”

“Well good!” Sunset brightened considerably. Phwew. This was going to make things cities easier. “It may have gone over my head,” she admitted. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately, so I don’t think she should come back. It’s not necessary. In my opinion anyway.”

“Well, it’s not really up for a debate.” Mistress wasn’t testy, just kind of… worried about something. “We’ve got one last important matter that needs addressing, and it really is something we need to talk about.”

“But… “ Sunset caught herself. She couldn’t sound desperate. She reigned herself in, trying to rest her head against the back of the couch. “I can handle it Mistress. I know I can. It just took me a bit to figure out why and how, that’s all. What if the princess comes back and she doesn’t like my solution? But we do? It’ll just be a massive ball of stupid. And it’s not too late, really! You could still write her and explain we’re fine. There’s plenty of time to be courteous about it, if that’s what you’re worried about, Mistress.” She smiled, hoping she hadn’t said too much. Those last few sentences had run on a bit… fast.

Twilight blew out a frustrated breath, and stared at the wood surprisingly sullenly. “Sunset, I just… I just want to make sure everything is okay with you. I know none of this has been as easy as we’d hoped it would, but I want to trust that Princess Celestia knows what’s best. Can I trust you to trust me?” She looked hopeful enough, biting at her lower lip.

“Well, I could turn that around in a way Mistress,” Sunset said, forcing down her feelings of affront and trying to be as cooly focused as Mistress often was. “It's my fault all of this is happening. It just takes me a while to sort things out and decide how I’ll handle stuff. I think I can make good with Rarity, really, I do, and I’m going to do that today! Really! I am! But, the princess coming back will only make that harder than it needs to be, and I…” What was it? When she thought about it without trying to hide, what was it that was so confusing to her? It wasn’t how. Or when. Time changed ponies, she knew that better than most.

Why… It was why. Why hadn’t she been able to hold onto her conviction? Why did she feel like she should properly mend things with Rarity? “I really do wanna talk about… what I feel in here…” she tapped her chest and her took a breath, feeling a lot more energy drain out of her than she anticipated, “About Rarity I mean.”

Mistress’ eye twitched a little. Not a good twitch either. Her breathing turned erratic, and a host of emotions crossed her face in rapid succession. Sunset couldn’t help but feel a little confused, until… “Th...Then you should j-j-just go talk to Rarity then, shouldn’t you!” she barked out, her voice cracking mid-word. “I’ll be f-fine here, by m-myself!”

“Isn’t… Isn’t that what everypony’s wanted all this time?!” Sunset snapped back instinctively, and despite trying to keep her voice from rising, she wasn’t sure if she had.

Mistress went silent, her butt hitting the floor with a quiet thump. This wasn't good. She was shutting down her emotions, going all stupidly logical on her. She'd seen it before, and it was never a good sign. “Yes, I suppose it is,” Mistress said in an almost maddeningly calm voice. “Sorry, I sort of…. lost control there. I apologize.” She shook her head slowly. “Go… go see if you can sort these things out, Sunset. I’ll trust you to… to know what’s best for you.” She smiled brightly, almost too much so. “And if everything… ends up s-sorted out, I’ll write Celestia and tell her it’s all taken care of.”

“What… what’s going on Mistress?” Sunset asked, climbing out from the couch and approaching her. “What’s going on? Maybe I can help? I mean, I know you do that for me most of the time, but nopony says a filly can’t try to help her Mistress every now and again.” This was all very, very odd. And Sunset couldn’t get rid of the crease in her forehead for the life of her.

Twilight shook her head shortly. “I just-” She stopped, her voice halting on the words. “I would-” She snarled in her throat and jerked her head back and forth. “If you wanted to be with somepony else, you could’ve just told me and saved us all a lot of headaches!” Her head smacked back into her chair, her eyes closed tightly. “I wouldn’t have been angry at you! It’s not like I don’t know you love Fluttershy to bits too. She’s practically family already!” Sunset felt her throat tighten into silence, with Twilight breathing heavily over and over again. “I know I’m stupid sometimes, but you could’ve at least talked to me about it! I’ve just been trying to… to… to keep you happy too…” Her voice began to break down, her head sagging into her lap. “And I can’t even get that right… What the fuck was all of this about with Rarity then!?” Her words came out in a burst of profanity that was utterly unlike her... and sounded desperate for answers.

Sunset paled. She couldn’t ever recall the sensation before and had chalked the description up to colorful literature. But she could feel the color draining from her face. How had Mistress found out about that? Not… she hadn’t wanted to hide it, just forget that it'd happened. She’d not been thinking right, she loved Mistress more than anypony else in the world. She wanted to say all of this, try to explain, to repair the damage of her lapse in judgement. But nothing would come out. Her jaw was locked, and her thoughts jumped back and forth between attempts at apology and comfort to outright defensiveness. And she couldn’t seem to find a good middle ground. One didn’t exist.

“It’s… okay,” Mistress half whispered. She was putting on a brave smile of some kind, and gesturing weakly toward the door. “Go do what you need to do to be happy, Sunset. I love you.” Then she lifted both hooves and did a little shooing gesture. “Go… go. B-be happy. Please. I can’t… I can’t… Just go. Go to Rarity. Or Fluttershy. Or wherever you need to go.” Sunset didn’t want to, knew she oughtn’t to. But her mind couldn’t decide on anything else, and she knew at least how to do as Mistress told her. She had shut the door by the time she’d overcome herself, but by then… it was over. She’d just have to tackle everypony one at a time, starting with the pony who was the source of it all. Her hooves dragged on the road to the boutique, and the gravel behind her was wetted a little too.

~~~~~~~~~~

Twilight sucked in a breath and rubbed away the tears. The library seemed a lot colder than it usually did, even in the heat of the summer’s day. How could she have missed it? Gee, probably because you were a lousy mate, her mind snarked at her, Spending all that time worried about the princess and everypony else when the problem was right in front of your fucking nose. It was unfair, but also fair at the same time. Stupid, stupid, naive Twilight. The problem right in front of you, and you still smack your horn into it like a foal!

She dragged herself up the stairs. It would be easy to busy herself later, to get her mind off of things enough to keep functioning, but right now she wanted to drag her sheet over her head and cry herself to sleep. Really, Twilight. Why should you be surprised? It’s not as though she hasn’t been obsessing over Rarity for three months now. It’s not as though she feels more comfortable talking to Fluttershy than you. It’s not like she hasn’t been giving you every single sign under the sun! Of course it’s none of those things. You’re just a moron because you can’t put the bloody pieces together and realize that she's changed and hasn't changed at the same time, except now she doesn’t even trust you enough to fix it.

Then what did they have? Did they ever have anything? Was it a flash in the pan, a moment’s romance blooming in the heat of desire and need? Was there more, but now buried beneath too many lies and secrets and omissions? Was what she felt utterly irrelevant? She didn’t know. She didn’t even know where to start looking for answers to those questions, much less all of her other questions about what she was going to tell the princess. The only small comfort she had was that Sunset was now undoubtedly on the way to a healthier, more honest relationship with someponies who could take care of her better than she ever could. There was a tiny, matchstick like warmth in that in the middle of the vast wasteland of ice that was her bedroom. At least they had seen her issues for what they were. At least they could take care of her. At least they might be able to help her the way she never could...

She passed her bedroom door, her mind mechanically slamming it shut behind her and blindly grabbing for the nearest parchment and quill. If nothing else, the princess needed to be aware of the goings on. Maybe if she explained her failures, Cadence could tell her where she’d gone horribly wrong. Maybe if she drank enough wine, she could explain her failures without hedging or rationalizing. And maybe if she got drunk enough, she could sleep once the letter was written and pretend this had all been a very awful dream.

Author's Note

First off, I have a request from Inky Jay (My Co-Writer) to make the following statement:

While some plot threads involving side characters may end up as not entirely resolved, that is due to the fact that this story was written to be focused almost entirely on Sunset, Twilight, Rarity and the relationship between them. While we are incredibly flattered by the level of examination and commenting from our readers, we do not have plans at this time to get into the nitty-gritty exploration of the other characters stories. We have tried our best to securely tie off as many plot threads as possible, and we hope you can forgive us for a couple of lingering questions about how certain characters ultimately resolved their own issues. We apologize if this is unsatisfactory, but after much review we have decided that there is no way to fully explain EVERYTHING without derailing the emotional pacing of the story.

As for myself, while I wish I could include every single factor of every single relationship in this narrative, the story is ultimately about Sunset and Twilight (And Rara) and so I must defer to my co-writers convictions on this. This story is as much his as it is mine.

Secondly, I'd like to thank Literary Lord for creating a TV Tropes page for The Two Between, you can find it here - http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/TheTwoBetween