Sunset sprawled on the floor in the living room, her stomach happily full of chowder and fresh bread, her girlfriend close enough next to her that she could feel the buzz of proximity against her nerves, and she was surrounded by people who made her feel welcome. For the moment, life was good.

Then she realized neither of Twilight’s parents were hurrying to set up a movie, and Cadence was strangely absent. “Are we….not doing movies?”

“Nope!” came Cadence’s voice as she came into the room carrying a huge box that was practically overflowing. “It’s Valentine’s Day, so we have a different tradition…”

She set the box on the coffee table with a heavy noise, and Sunset realized it was filled to the brim with chocolate, cards, flowers, and other odds and ends. A glance at one of the tags on a chocolate box showed Cadence’s name written on it. “…what is all this?”

Twilight laughed and had already started pawing through the box, handing some sealed envelopes to her mother. “Besides a few months worth of free chocolate?” she joked. “Cady gets stuff like this on Valentine’s Day from her fans. We help her go through it all, and get the first pick of the best candy.” She held up a fancy looking chocolate rose in a box. “Like these.”

The redhead arched an eyebrow and picked up a bundle of flowers. “There's way more than just candy in here,” she observed, pausing to give the flowers a sniff. They smelled delicious, and she privately lamented that she wouldn't be able to dip those in chocolate and eat them.

Cadence sat on the couch, plucking a few stuffed toys out. “Fans send a lot of things in. A lot of things like the toys and excess flowers the station and I donate to good causes. This year we’re sending the stuffed toys to the children’s hospital, and the bulk of the flower arrangements already went to a couple of hospice and elderly care facilities. I always bring a few of the ones I like the colors of home to put in the kitchen here.” She held up a couple of bouquets. “They provide a nice bit of cheer to a very gray month.”

Sunset nodded, setting the flowers in her own hand aside and watching everyone else for a minute as they rooted through the contents of the box. Velvet and Night seemed to be focusing exclusively on sealed envelopes and cards, while Twilight was quite delightedly cherry picking out the best chocolate. Cadence seemed to just take whatever came to her hand first, organizing it into piles. After a minute she shrugged and stuck her hand in, helping Twilight in fishing out the candy so her dork of a girlfriend could decide if the chocolate was going in the pile to keep, or the pile to give away.

Still, it made a tendril of worry tug at her over the object still carefully hidden in her bag upstairs. “So…do you guys…not like this holiday then?” She asked, passing Twilight a box of expensive chocolate truffles.

The pink skinned woman paused, scrutinizing Sunset in such a way that she suspected meant Cadence had an idea as to why she was asking, before laughing lightly. “Oh, nothing like that! It's just that because I’m a bit of a well known face here, any attempt to go out on Valentine’s Day is a bit of a social disaster—and I usually end up working anyway. After all, what would Valentine’s Day be without the ‘CNTR Love Goddess’ taking calls and love song requests from lovebirds all over the tri-county area?” She waved a plush pink rabbit around like she was making some kind of point. “With all of that, Shining and I prefer to go out and have a date night on a quieter day, usually in a very different month, because I believe that you don't need a specific date dictated by card companies to tell your partner you love them. Love can be shared and shown at any time, for any reason.”

Yeah, she knew why Sunset had asked, and that wink sent her way was more than a little embarrassing. Thankfully no one else seemed to notice it or Sunset’s blush.

Night carefully cut open an envelope with a pocket knife. “As for us, we don’t particularly have any objection to the holiday, but it's become a family tradition to make this evening about spending time as a family because of Cadence’s circumstances. Love for your family is just as important as any other kind of love, after all…and if Velvet and I decide we want to have a private night out, we can do that any night we want, especially since Twilight is old enough to be left home alone for the evening without having to worry too much that she’s going to burn the house down.”

The teen made a grumpy face at her father—the effect was ruined by the chocolate staining the corner of her mouth, but Sunset thought it was definitely cute to watch her try. “Daaaaad! I swear, I set the kitchen counter on fire one time, and you're never going to let me live it down!”

“The kitchen counter, yes,” he teased his youngest child.

Twilight groaned and looked at Sunset. “It was only once, I swear,” she whispered. “The other times there was no flame.”

Snickering, Sunset tweaked her nose. “You are not helping your case, nerd.”

Her girlfriend stuck her tongue out childishly at Sunset, but did not answer, choosing instead to grab a card out of the box. The adults all shared a round of chuckles, before Velvet commented, “To be fair, missing out on the Valentine’s hullabaloo is beneficial—when we do go out we avoid the ridiculous price mark up they put on anyone they perceive as potentially being a couple.”

Cadence rolled her eyes. “Which basically means any male and female pair that looks like they're in the same age bracket, forgetting that friends and siblings exist and in a lot of places also refusing to allow any other kind of couple to enjoy the romantic promotions.”

Blue-green eyes flicked briefly to Twilight, who had gone just a little too still, and Sunset found herself drawing the attention in the room to her so that the younger girl could catch up to her emotional response unnoticed. “Which I really don't get,” she blurted out, flushing when realized it sounded petulant and childish. The adults focused on her, and she kept going, making a hand gesture. “Why does it matter so much when it doesn't affect them? Why are people so invested in the relationships of strangers?”

Twilight Velvet sighed. “That is a very good question, and I’m sorry that the answer is not a good one, sweetheart. The truth is, it comes from centuries of strongly held religious beliefs and cultural outlooks that distilled a woman’s worth and success in life to…finding a suitable husband and providing him with children.” Her eyes were full of a deep sadness and pain that pulled on Sunset’s heart, and some of it leaked into her voice. “It is not something easily shaken off, even when those beliefs and attitudes have faded. There is still a subconscious bias that views a woman—and men to, to a lesser extent—as failing in some fundamentally important way if they are unable or unwilling to procreate…even if the reason is something like a medical condition beyond their control, or the kind of person they choose as a partner.”

Night Light tugged his wife into leaning against his shoulder, kissing her hair and murmuring something Sunset couldn't make out. Her eyes looked to Cadence and Twilight, and noted both of them looking down with their own quiet and pensive expressions that she didn't quite grasp the reason for…but she couldn't find her voice to ask. There was something about this moment of silence that seemed too…sacrosanct…to break just yet, so she held her tongue, and let it pass by. Only when Velvet cleared her throat, did she relax and even consider a response.

“You're right, Mrs. Velvet—that is a bad reason.” She made a face. “I think, if it's alright with everyone, I’ll file that under ‘stupid things to never believe because I’m not an idiot.’ Right next to ghosts and trusting Rainbow Dash when she tells me she wants to show me something funny on April Fools Day.” That was an eighth grade prank she had never quite forgiven the athlete for and part of the reason she’d trashed so many of Dash’s friendships during her reign of terror.

Cadence pointed at Sunset with another of those chocolate roses. “You’ve got the right idea, Sunset. It is stupid. Love is love, and it shouldn’t matter to anyone but the people involved. Who cares if it doesn’t fit some outdated model from sixty years ago?”

The redhead checked on Twilight again as subtly as she could, and was relieved to see that her girlfriend had managed to look like the topic at hand wasn't a personal one…though that almost failed when Velvet spoke up again. “It doesn’t matter, at least not here. I’m of the mind that if a couple is happy and they love each other, then that is the most important thing in the world, and other people should celebrate that there is more love in world.”

From beside Velvet, Night made a grumbling sound. “Especially parents—the ones who toss their kids out make me sick. There’s never a reason to abandon your children, and doing it over the fact that they’ve found someone that puts stars in their eyes?” He made another sound, and pinned Sunset with a long look. “If you ever find someone, Sunset, and you bring them around here, I don't care if they're a boy, a girl, or a green alien from Andromeda—I’ll just want to know if they care about you.”

She felt her cheeks redden, and it was everything she could do to keep from looking at Twilight. Letting her gaze go to the girl at her side would have been an unmistakable signal to both parents, and something about the tension she could feel with the other girl sitting only inches away told her that despite this being the perfect moment, Twilight wasn't ready to seize it. At the same time, Twilight’s father once again so casually including her as a part of his family…she was smiling so much—she couldn't have stopped herself if she tried—her cheeks hurt. “I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Night…but right now, I’m just happy being here, with all of you.” A somewhat nervous laugh escaped her. “Having some of you meet my ex-boyfriend was already weird enough, anyways.”

Her joke made everyone laugh, even Twilight, and the atmosphere returned to being relaxed and calm. At least until Twilight made a noise of excitement as she read one of the cards. “Oh, Cady! Here’s one for your wall!” She held it out to the bubbly woman, who took one look and made a sound that would have left Sunset’s ears ringing as a pony. As it was, the teen shook her head to dispel the echo of the sound from human ears before trying to see what had caused such a reaction in everyone.

It wasn't hard to do—Cadence was holding the card out for everyone to see. Brows furrowed, Sunset found herself looking at a picture of four individuals clustered together, one of them holding a tiny bundle of pink.

What in the wide world of Equestria…?

Her brain caught on a moment later and she realized the pink thing was a human infant, wrinkly, slightly red, with its features all scrunched up. Blinking, the former unicorn determined that what she was looking at must be a newborn human—she’s seen a few older human babies before in public places, and they looked a lot more…finished…than what she saw now… The mystery was why a random fan would send something so personal to Cadence.

Velvet read the card aloud. “‘We are pleased to announce the birth of Joyeux Melody, beloved of us all.’” She smiled. “This was the group you told me about before, right? Such a sweet thing to send you!”

Cadence was grinning brightly and the room felt…lighter with the mood sweeping through everyone. “I’m so happy it all worked out for them—they always credited me for the relationship, even though I really didn't do anything except encourage them to try! I am glad that they found a name that isn't exactly like mine. It was flattering…but a little weird too, as happy as I am to hear good things came of my encouragement.”

Grabbing a piece of folded paper out of the box, Sunset found herself looking at a child’s drawing, full of bright colors, rainbows, hearts, and what she assumed were people. “This one’s from a kid—is all of this from people like this? Kids and families you helped get together?”

“Oh, I wish I could say it was,” was the wry response. “I love things like this—I have a whole wall in my office at the station dedicated to them, and I post shots of it on my big blog. Unfortunately, for every good letter there's a weird or bad one. The station guys filter most of the worst out, but some of them still get through.”

Night snorted and held up a sheet of paper looking like it was torn from a legal notepad. “Like this. Someone wrote you a…I assume its a love poem. The French is atrocious.”

Next to her, Twilight snorted with laughter. “Google translate at its finest, Dad?”

“Google translate would have been better. I don't know what word they meant, but they compare Cadence’s voice to…” He squinted at the paper. “‘The smell of wet cheese in a thunderstorm.’”

After they recovered from another round of laughter, Sunset shook her head. “Okay…I can see why you guys do this.”

Borrowing her husband’s pocket knife, Velvet cut open an envelope and pulled the contents out. Her expression was one of momentary shock, then rapidly morphed into a disapproving frown as she looked over what was in her hands. Shaking her head, she put it back in the envelope and handed it to Night, who put it aside on the end table.

It was so odd that Sunset asked without thinking, “What’s in that one?”

“A lawsuit in the making,” he told her in a very dry voice.

At her confusion, Cadence sighed. “Some of my more…amorous fans send inappropriate photographs on occasion. The station gets most of them, but one or two always seem to slip through.”

Twilight wrinkled her nose up, and leaned over to whisper in Sunset’s ear. “That's why Mom and Dad take all the envelopes, and we focus on cards and loose notes on the candy. So we don’t accidentally open up a thing photos of some creepy naked guy.”

Sunset wasn't sure if the shudder that went through her was from the terrible mental image or from the feeling of Twilight’s lips almost brushing her ear. “Wow.”

“The station sends all of the really bad stuff—hate mail, threats, stuff that sounds like they could be a stalker, to the CCPD. It's…an unfortunate side effect of putting myself out there the way I do,” Cadence said with a sigh and a smile that wasn't quite as bright as before. “…but then I get messages like this one, where a boy says he got out of a bad situation thanks to the resources on one of my articles, and I remember why I do this: because by spreading joy, encouraging love in all its forms, and helping others to understand themselves or others, I’m making the world a better place for everyone.”

The former unicorn was reminded of something Princess Twilight had said, when she looked down on Sunset from the rim of a crater, and Sunset smiled at Cadence now. “Love and friendship have a magic all their own, I think, and it's the strongest magic of all, in this world or any other.”

It wasn't as eloquent as something the princess might’ve said during a friendship speech, but it was good enough that the shadows fell away from Cadence’s eyes and Twilight wrapped her in a hug that lingered just a breath too long for a best friend.

Things fell into a lull as they went through the box, reading out happy messages, or laughing at the weird and unusual items fans sometimes sent in, and helping themselves to various items of chocolate. It was a great excuse to hold a bit of chocolate out more than once for Twilight to try. She would never admit it, but she secretly enjoyed the way her girlfriend lit up in a smile whenever she did it, and the way she seemed to savor the chocolate like Sunset had offered her a bit of fine cuisine instead of bite sized heart shaped candy bar from the local corner store made her feel as if her magic was a warm buzz inside her.

Perhaps the part of the evening that surprised her the most was when Twilight held up a stuffed unicorn with the chunkier, stockier proportions that would have been right at home in comfort toys made for foals in Equestria. In fact…

“Look, Sunny! She looks like the one you have on the shelf next to your bed.”

Her heart twinged, and she studied the toy. A creamy colored coat, just a smidge too colorful to be white, and a bright, sunshine gold mane, tail and horn…Reaching out, she took it with a hand that looked steadier than she felt, giving the toy a squeeze. “She’s…in better condition than Princess Sunbottom,” she said, her voice raspy with emotion. “But my…mom…was never much of a seamstress. Her talents lay elsewhere.” Her hand brushed over a patch on the haunch that was different in texture, and she realized the toy had a series of hearts embroidered right on its flank. “I've never seen another toy with a cutie mark before,” she commented, before realizing it was said aloud.

“Cutie mark?” Twilight asked with a soft smile.

Oh, ponyfeathers. Way to go, Shimmer. Quick, think of a way out of this one!

Thinking rapidly, she pointed at the hearts. “The mark on her flank. Mine has a sun on hers…it's…what…my mom…called it when I was little.” Because it was—the homemade toy from her fillyhood was a lopsided, somewhat well loved copy of Princess Celestia, right down to the eight rayed sun on its flank. She shook herself out of the memory of the bed full of stuffed toys made by an amateur seamstress, all mismatched limbs and oversized heads, from the softest fabric Canterlot offered, a kernel of sunshine magic in the heart of each one, surrounding a frightened filly with the Princess’ magic even on the darkest night to chase away her nightmares, none so beloved as the one that looked like the alicorn herself. Wiping her eyes, she held out the toy to Cadence. “Sorry…” she apologized. “…sometimes…memories, you know?”

With a warm smile, Cadence pulled Sunset into a hug. “Keep her—a friend for the one your mom made from your family here.”

The warmth inside her grew, and she gripped the toy tight as she returned the hug and Twilight joined in on it. “Thank you,” she whispered, already deciding on the name for the new addition to her bedside bookshelf—Princess Heart Song had a nice ring to it.

Author's Note

Here we see Sunset trying to be a good girlfriend. Even though they arent fooling anyone.

At this point, Night and Velvet are just giving Twilight opportunities to admit whats going on. She's just not taking them. >.> So now Night is trying a different tactic.

And of course, we have shipper Cadence in the corner.

So, yeah....

The thing about Cadence getting all kinds of weird fan-mail is a real thing that happens to pretty much anyone with some kind of celebrity presence. (Including the stalkers/hatemail/weird love letters stuff.) Its weird to me that anyone can get that invested in people they don't actually know, but I've long since grasped the idea that i've got a freak brain that does not think, feel, or react the same way as pretty much anyone else...so I just kind of shrug and nod and go, "...people are weird."

I do hope some of that made you laugh. We've all seen the "That sure is Google Translate" thing, I'm sure. And of course, I've not forgotten that Sparky is a chocoholic.

...confession, I laughed at my own humor when describing Sunset's reaction to seeing a photo with a newborn human infant in it. I'm not a person who likes kids, especially babies (which to me are screaming vomit machines that are always full of shit and smell awful. That thing in our brains that's supposed to make us think babies are cute and we should want to care for them? ..Yeah. I don't have that. Show me a kitten or a puppy and I'm like "awwwww, little fuzzy babies, must cuddle." But anything humanoid, even baby apes and I'm just like "...ugh. gross. Get it away." Even baby snakes are cuter than baby humans to me.) So the idea of "what would pony think of human baby, since even MLP foals seem to be born more developed, though perhaps not as much as real world horses?" ...it spiraled from there.

What else to say...

Oh yes.

I wonder what secret package Sunset has in her bag....

*cackles*

And finally, of course, the plushie. No, the name isn't from some other cartoon, or previous gen or some kind of OC.

Honestly, its a personal nod and reference to my old World of Warcraft RP guild from Moon Guard-US, Even though none of those jerks would read my story when I started this, I can credit a lot of the storytelling experience I have now to what I did there. I cant stress enough to other writers the value of learning to Roleplay in a text based format, be it forums, bbs, an mmo...You learn and gain so much experience in so many areas, from character development, to dialogue, to pacing, to plot hooks, to developing backstories...

Anyway.

Next week we get to see where this is going, and of course, you'll find out what Sunset has hidden in her bag! HAHAHAH.

See you next week!