Acts of Love

by Krickis

Chapters

1 – Playing Pretend
2 – Growing Family
3 – A Good Fit
4 – Promises
5 – Taking Their Time
6 – A Perfect Day
7 – Actions and Reactions
8 – Disagreeing Together
9 – A Good Filly
10 – Stop the Presses
11 – Old Family and New
12 – Royal Bonds
13 – Expectations
14 – The Little Princess
15 – Two Suns
16 – Speechless
17 – School Blues
18 – Shadows
19 – Anger Management
20 – Rifts and Reunions
21 – Conversations Over Coffee
22 – Making Amends
23 – The Princess Summit
24 – The Perfect Family
Epilogue
Prologue

1 – Playing Pretend

Act I

Lost Filly

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Chapter One
Playing Pretend

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The only thing that Morning Glisten wanted to do was read her book. That was all. It was not an unreasonable goal. And yet, since nothing could ever go her way, some other foals were insistent on bothering her.

“Come play with us!” a filly Morning’s age said. Her name was Spring Blossom, and she was one of the only ponies who was still nice to Morning. “We’re playin’ hide and seek!”

“I don’t want to,” Morning said, a little irritation slipping into her voice. Didn’t they know better than to bother somepony reading a book?

“But it’s more fun with more ponies…” Spring Blossom said, as if Morning should care. Spring Blossom may be too nice to hate Morning like the other kids, but they were not friends.

She looked up from her book and frowned. “So get other ponies. I’m busy.”

Patchouli Rest rolled his eyes. He was a year older than her and seemed to think that got to mean he could boss her around. “Yeah, well, Miss Ginger says we have to play with you.”

Oh, so that’s what this was about. Normally other foals at Small Steps Home for Orphaned Ponies knew better than to try and get Morning to play with them. But if Miss Ginger was asking them to…

No, it didn’t matter. She turned away from them. “But I don’t want to right now.”

“It doesn’t matter!” Patchouli said with a frown. “Miss Ginger said!”

Morning Glisten was tempted to wipe that frown off his face. It was bad enough he had a dumb name like ‘Patchouli’, but he was always a jerk too.

“I’m not playing with you, so there.” She turned back to her book.

Then Patchouli did the worst thing he could do – he snatched Morning’s book from her. Her mouth fell open as he grabbed it in his hooves and took a few steps away.

“Give it back!”

“Not unless you play with us.”

Morning gritted her teeth and lunged for the book, but he pulled it away before she could grab it.

“Patchouli!” Spring Blossom called after him, but he was already laughing and running away.

Morning Glisten narrowed her eyes and concentrated. She could feel her magic building in her horn and pushed it to the book. It lit up blue and she tried pulling it towards her.

Patchouli just laughed and held it tighter. “You know you’re no good at magic! And since you can’t catch me, you’ll just have to play with us!”

Morning puffed out her cheeks and ran after him. She had no intention of playing with him, especially after a stunt like that. But she wasn’t chasing after him for her book, either. No, she was chasing him to teach him a lesson.

“Get back here!” Morning called after him.

“You’ve got to catch me first!” Patchouli flew into the air, which wasn’t fair. Morning Glisten was a unicorn, so she couldn’t follow him.

“When I get my hooves on you, I’ll –”

“Morning!” a mare’s voice cut through her threat. “Whatever you think you’re going to do, I think you’ll find you won’t be doing it!”

Morning bowed her head. “Yes, Miss Ginger…” She lifted her head to scowl and point at Patchouli Rest. “But he took my book!”

Miss Ginger frowned at the colt, who had landed and was looking sheepish. “Is that true, Patchouli?”

Patchouli glared at Morning, as if it was her fault Miss Ginger was upset with him. “Only because she wouldn’t play with us like you said!”

Miss Ginger sighed and gestured to Morning. “Give it back and say you’re sorry.”

Patchouli flew over to Morning and held out the book. “Sorry I – hey!”

Morning snatched the book as if Patchouli was going to pull it away if she gave him the chance. If Miss Ginger hadn’t been around, he might have done so, after all.

“Morning!” Miss Ginger sighed again. She did that a lot when Morning Glisten was involved. “Honestly, you kids sometimes… Morning, we don’t snatch things from ponies. And Patchouli, I told you to try and get Morning to play with you, I didn’t say you had to make her. I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway…”

Another mare chuckled and walked up to Miss Ginger. Morning didn’t recognize her, but she was a tall amber-colored unicorn, and she wore a crown on top of her red and yellow mane. “I guess that’s how kids are sometimes, huh?”

Miss Ginger smiled at the other mare. “Most of the time they’re perfect darlings. But yes, sometimes these things happen.”

“Trust me, I understand. I promise I behaved worse than any kid you’ve ever met when I was younger.”

“Oh, I’m sure you weren’t that bad.” Miss Ginger cleared her throat and turned to address the kids. “Everypony come here! We have someone very special here to visit us today!”

Ponies stopped their games to come over to Miss Ginger and the strange mare. Morning was pretty sure she’d seen her somewhere before, but she wasn’t sure.

Once the other kids were all gathered around her, she got her answer. Before Miss Ginger could even speak, one of the older kids pointed at the mare and said, “You’re Sunset Shimmer!”

“That’s right,” the mare said with a grin.

“Princess Sunset is here to visit with you all!” Miss Ginger said. “So I want all of you to be on your best behavior for her!”

Most of the kids chatted excitedly about the mare in front of them. A few of them even cheered, and almost all of them crammed in to get a closer look at her.

And yet, Morning Glisten found herself walking away from Sunset Shimmer. Morning didn’t care about her, just like she didn’t have any reason to care about Morning. She wasn’t dumb like all the other kids, and besides, all she wanted to do was read her book.

The backyard of the Small Steps orphanage had plenty of places for fillies and colts to play, many of which doubled as good places to hide herself away from the others when they were all busy in one spot like this. She found herself a nice hiding place in a plastic tunnel designed for foals to climb through, and she opened her book.

Of course, she’d lost her place with everything that happened. She flipped through the book looking for it, all while being forced to listen to the kids outside her little tunnel having a blast with their special guest. They all seemed to be asking her questions.

“What’s it like being a princess?”

“How come you’re not an alicorn?

“Do you know Princess Celestia?”

“Is it true you invented the radio?”

Morning groaned, wishing they’d at least be quiet about it.

What did she care if Sunset Shimmer had come to visit them? She wasn’t even a real princess anyway. And if Morning talked to her, she was going to tell her that. She’d say it just like that too. ‘You’re not a real princess.’ That’d show her.

Ah, there it was. Morning found the place where she’d left off in her book. She did her best to tune out Sunset and the others as she read.

It was just too bad that her best wasn’t really enough. The others were just so loud, how was she supposed to focus?

Morning popped her head out from the tunnel to get a better look at what everyone else was doing. Sunset was lying on the ground surrounded by fillies and colts, and they were still just asking her questions.

Even if Morning cared about someone like Sunset Shimmer – which she didn’t – what was the fun of just asking a bunch of questions? Usually when ponies came to visit them, they played games, or read them stories, or sang songs with them, or… or something! It just went to show that Sunset Shimmer was a dumb pretend princess who didn’t even know what she was doing.

Morning glared at them. She glared at the kids for being so loud, and she glared at Sunset for being dumb and causing it. She ducked back into her hiding place and just wished they’d all go away.

She didn’t duck back in quick enough, however. Before she could get back to her book, a filly noticed her.

Spring Blossom came running over and poked her head into the tunnel. “Whatcha doin’ in here?”

“Reading,” Morning answered shortly.

“Don’t you want to come meet Princess Sunset?”

Morning’s ear twitched. “She’s not a princess.”

Spring Blossom cocked her head to the side. “But Miss Ginger said she is.”

Morning rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, she isn’t.”

“Oh. Well, she’s still really nice! Come say hi!”

“I don’t want to.” Morning Glisten propped her book up between her and the other filly. “Just leave me alone.”

Instead of doing that, Spring Blossom crawled into the tunnel and sat beside Morning. “Whatcha reading ‘bout?”

Morning groaned. “Just go back to the others!”

Spring Blossom huffed, but she finally left. Morning Glisten just shook her head. Maybe now she could actually get some reading done.

Her eyes scanned the pages and paragraphs of her book, but she couldn’t seem to focus on it. The heroine was doing… something. She was supposed to be fighting off changeling invaders, but all Morning could think about was Sunset.

She turned her head sharply towards the entrance of her tunnel, where she could still hear Sunset’s voice. She propped her book up in between herself and the opening as if that would shut Sunset out for good.

She never found out if it would help, as yet another voice interrupted her. This one was harder to ignore, as it was Miss Ginger. “Morning? What are you doing in here?”

Great, Spring Blossom had told on her… “I just want to read my book…”

Miss Ginger couldn’t easily get inside the tunnel with her, so she stayed outside with a frown placed on her face. “You know, it’s not every day you get to meet a princess. You’ll regret it if you don’t talk to her now.”

‘She’s not a princess,’ Morning Glisten thought, but she didn’t want to argue with Miss Ginger. She was nice, probably Morning’s favorite adult. Granted, that didn’t say much. Morning didn’t like adults at the best of times.

Still, whether Miss Ginger was right or not, Morning couldn’t just ignore her. Morning groaned and set her book aside. “But I don’t care about that! Why do I always have to do stuff with other foals and stuff anyway?”

“It’s good to do things with foals your age,” Miss Ginger said.

That didn’t seem to be very good to Morning, but unfortunately, she was only six years old. That meant she had to listen when adults told her what to do whether she wanted to or not. “Fine…”

That got Miss Ginger to smile, although Morning didn’t share any of her excitement. But she let herself be guided along to where Sunset was playing with the other kids.

They seemed to have settled into a game of tag, with all the kids enjoying running away from the pretend princess. She stopped and smiled as Morning was marched up to meet her. “Hey there. Another filly joining in then?”

“Yes. This is Morning Glisten and she’s a little, well… shy.”

Sunset nodded and bowed her head to be more on Morning’s level. Morning just turned away from her. “Aww, I’m not that bad. It’s Fluttershy you’ve got to watch out for!”

It was obvious that Sunset was trying to get a laugh out of Morning, who did not oblige her. Sunset didn’t seem to care as much as Morning wanted her to.

“Princess! Come catch me!” one of the other fillies said.

“Be right there!” Sunset called after her. She turned first to Miss Ginger. “I’ll make sure Morning enjoys herself, just wait and see.”

Miss Ginger had to know that wasn’t going to happen, but she just nodded along. “Thank you, Princess.” She reached out a hoof and gently pried the book away from Morning. “I’ll make sure nothing happens to this while you’re playing with the other foals.

Morning Glisten rolled her eyes. There wasn’t much she could do when Miss Ginger outright told her she had to play with the others.

Sunset jumped to a playfully aggressive stance, as if she were a cat about to pounce. “Alright, Morning! I’ll give you to the count of three!”

Morning frowned and ran away. Not because she wanted to play, but because she genuinely just didn’t want to get caught. She ran far away from Sunset, out where there were only a few kids.

Once she was sure she was safe, she turned back to see Sunset run towards her. For a moment, Morning thought she was actually going to have to play just to not get caught, but Sunset was quickly distracted as a bold kid flew over and tapped on her shoulder. She turned and chased after him instead, leaving Morning alone.

Of course, that was typical. Even if Morning did want to play – which she didn’t – Sunset had clearly forgotten her promise to make sure she had fun. Adults were always like that, though, always saying things that they didn’t wind up doing.

But at least Morning was in a good place. She was around a few other kids, so no one could tell that she was avoiding the game, but she was out with the kids who were either uninterested in the game or too afraid of letting themselves get caught – they didn’t call Sunset over, and she focused on the kids who were more eager for her attention.

All Morning had to do was keep moving. If she sat still too long, Miss Ginger would notice that she wasn’t playing. So she wandered around the edge, wishing this stupid game would just be over already.

Of course, the game kept going. Minutes passed slowly as the dumb pretend princess played with the other foals, and Morning knew she should just be grateful that Sunset didn’t bother with her. Still, she kept trying to find some way out of the game.

Then she got an opportunity. She wandered over to a tree while the others seemed to be too preoccupied to notice. After a quick look around to make sure no one was looking, Morning ducked behind the tree. It was a nice spot. Plenty of shade, and she was hidden from view of the others.

The only problems were that she could still hear their annoying laughter and she didn’t have her book. She sighed as she got comfortable in between two large roots and watched the way the sun filtered through the leaves, making little patches of light that danced around as the breeze rustled the leaves.

She let out a yawn and considered taking a nap. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do anyway. All she had wanted to do was read her book, but then stupid Sunset Shimmer came along and suddenly she was expected to play games with some adult who wouldn’t even remember her, let alone care about her.

She huffed. Nothing good ever happened to Morning. And every time something that seemed like it would be a good thing came around, it always got ripped away.

“You know,” a mare said from behind her, “if you’re going to hide, you should tuck your tail into your hiding spot too.”

Morning whipped her head around to see Sunset Shimmer was standing behind her. She was grinning, and instead of trying to get Morning up, she lay down beside her.

“Not a fan of these kinds of games, huh?”

Morning turned away. “No.”

“Yeah, neither was I when I was your age.” Sunset leaned in closer. “In fact, I don’t really believe you’re as shy as Ginger Snap says you are. You’re not shy, you just want to be left alone.”

If she knew that, then what was she doing? “I just wanted to read my book.”

“Geez, that takes me back.” Sunset brushed her mane out of her face. “Well, I won’t make you play if you don’t want to, but if you don’t want Ginger to notice you’re here, you should tuck your tail in.”

Morning flicked her tail in, wrapping it around herself. She thought of what she had wanted to say to Sunset, but now that she was right in front of her…

“Well, I’ll let you be then. If you change your mind, I’m sure you can find us.”

“You’re, uhm…”

Sunset smiled. “Something on your mind?”

Morning stared down at Sunset’s hooves. “You’re not a real princess…”

Although she had thought telling her that would hurt her feelings, Sunset just laughed. “Oh yeah? What makes you say that?”

“That’s what Cinnamon Twirl told me.”

“And who’s Cinnamon Twirl?”

“She adopted me.” Morning Glisten frowned. That hadn’t lasted long.

Sunset’s smile also fell away. “I see. Well then, if I’m not a princess…” She levitated her crown off her head and placed it on Morning’s. It didn’t fit very well, so she had to prop it up with her hoof. “Keep an eye on that thing for me, will you?”

“What? But it’s…”

Sunset shrugged, and her grin returned. “Well, if I’m not a princess, it’s just a piece of jewelry, right? Besides, it looks good on you.”

Morning watched in a stupor as Sunset stood up and, with a wave, left her to go back to the others. She pulled off the crown and examined it. It was an interesting design. A reddish-gold color, with a red gemstone in the middle. All along the crown, there were irregular points, making it look like fire.

Even if it wasn’t really a princess’s crown, it had to be very expensive. Morning was almost afraid to touch it. Is that what Sunset wanted? Morning said she wasn’t a princess, so Sunset left her with this thing to be responsible for?

She set it off to the side and turned away. Sunset wasn’t a princess. Cinnamon Twirl had told her that. Just because someone says they’re a princess, that doesn’t make them one. And wearing a crown certainly didn’t mean anything.

She turned her eyes back to the crown, and she noticed an ant was crawling up it. Morning picked it back up and brushed the ant off. Gingerly, she set it on top of her head once again. After a quick look around to make sure no one could see her, she grinned.

“Hey you ants, listen up, I’m Princess Morning Glisten and you better listen to me!” The ants gave no sign that they noticed her words, but that didn’t stop Morning. “Keep on marching! Just like that!”

Not one to give orders to her subjects and not follow them herself, Morning stood up and started marching in place. “There we go. Oh no! Look out for that changeling!”

Morning willed her magic to her horn and cast it out. She managed to make a rock roll a little bit. “Take that, changeling! You’re no match for Princess Morning Glisten!”

But wait… didn’t changelings always travel in packs? Morning turned around and gasped. A whole horde of changelings had snuck up behind her! She jumped into the air and flapped her wings – she was a princess, and proper princesses were alicorns – and flew to safety.

But her subjects… they couldn’t escape! Morning lowered her head and charged, using her horn to stab the changeling drones in her way. “Take that! And this too!” She turned and bucked her hindlegs out, kicking the changelings behind her. That would show them.

Morning kept fighting the changeling menace, and was so caught up in it that she didn’t realize she’d attracted an audience. It was only two ponies, at least, but it was two ponies Morning couldn’t just yell at to get rid of them.

Miss Ginger and Sunset Shimmer were watching her with interest. Sunset in particular seemed to be enjoying the show. As soon as Morning noticed them, she froze in place, and the crown slipped from her head.

Before it could hit the ground, Sunset caught it in her magic and levitated it back over to her own head. “Princess Morning Glisten, huh?”

Morning blushed and turned away.

Sunset just laughed. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself after all. See, I knew I could get you to have some fun.”

That only made Morning blush more. She hadn’t wanted to have fun because of Sunset.

“It’s time for me to get going, though.” Sunset walked over to Morning, who was still avoiding looking at her. “But between you and me, I’m coming back tomorrow. Maybe we can play then. I’ll let you pick a game you like.”

Morning didn’t answer, but Sunset didn’t seem to take it personally. “See you later, Morning.”

Morning wasn’t going to answer, but she caught the sight of Miss Ginger looking at her, so she folded. “Bye, Sunset.”

Content with the goodbye, Sunset left. Miss Ginger hung around for a moment more to tell Morning to come in for lunch, then she followed after Sunset.

Morning hung her head. She liked playing games like that, but she hated when other ponies saw her playing them. There was nothing she could do about it now though, so she shook her head and walked to the orphanage.

It was raining when Sunset showed up again. Morning always hated the rain; it meant she had to play inside with all the other foals. She was in the orphanage’s crowded playroom, and for a filly that enjoyed her privacy, that was reason enough to be miserable.

But things got worse, because they had another visit from Sunset Shimmer. And with the rain, that meant there was no real way to get away from her.

Of course, all the other foals were excited for Sunset to show up. They all ran to her as she came in, and she lived it up.

Morning noticed she wore more than a simple dress this time. Along with her crown, she was dressed in a blue military outfit with a skirt. It had two medals on it, as well as a yellow and purple sash.

Sunset looked over the kids. “Hey, everyone. We’re gonna have fun today, I promise. But first, I have something to do.”

Morning cocked her head to the side, wondering what else Sunset had to do. Wasn’t she here to see them?

Sunset locked eyes with Morning and smiled, making her way over to the filly. “Hey there, Morning. How’re you doing today?”

Morning frowned. What was Sunset talking to her for? “Uhm, I’m okay.”

“Good. So got anything you want to do?”

Morning didn’t say anything. She was too confused about why Sunset was singling her out.

As if she knew exactly what Morning was thinking, Sunset laughed and answered. “I said we’d play a game you like today, didn’t I? So what do you want to do?”

“Nothing,” Morning answered automatically.

“Aww, come on. We could play a board game, or a pretend game like you were playing yesterday.” Sunset smiled hopefully, but Morning just blushed. “We could even go outside and play in the rain if you want.”

“We can?” Morning asked before she could stop herself.

Sunset smirked. “Sure. Just give me a minute to make sure it’s okay with Ginger Snap.”

Morning frowned and bowed her head. There was no way Miss Ginger was going to say it was okay for them to go outside in the rain.

But it seemed Sunset didn’t think it was a lost cause. She left the playroom to go find Miss Ginger, leaving Morning to wonder if she really could get her to agree.

But… did it matter? Did Morning actually want to play in the rain with Sunset? It might be fun to play by herself in the rain, but she didn’t even like Sunset.

Within a few minutes, Sunset came back wearing the grin that Morning had come to expect of her. “She said it’s okay. Let’s go have some fun!”

To her surprise, Sunset led her to the back door and held it open for Morning. Choosing not to question it, she walked out into the rain. It was a bit cold, but not too bad.

She turned back to see Sunset had done the same, and squinted in surprise. “You’re wearing your clothes out into the rain?”

“Yeah, I always wear clothes,” Sunset said with a shrug. She levitated the sash and medals off and put them back inside. “I’ll keep these safe, though.”

“But… why?”

Sunset chuckled. “Because I’m a weird old lady. Now, what are we gonna play?”

“Uhm, I don’t know.”

Sunset levitated her crown onto Morning’s head again. “Do you know what this uniform I’m wearing is?”

Morning adjusted the crown so it wasn’t hanging over her eyes. “No.”

“Before I was a princess, I was the Captain of the Twilit Guard. I still am. This is my captain’s uniform.”

“Oh.” Morning wasn’t really sure what the Twilit Guard was, but she could tell it was some sort of royal guard thing.

“And that crown makes you Princess Morning Glisten. So as your Captain of the Guard, that means you’re in charge.”

“In charge of what?” Morning cocked her head to the side, which caused the crown to slide a little.

“Me, of course!” Sunset grinned, but then she quickly turned to a shocked expression. “Oh no! Those changelings from yesterday are back! They must have thought they could sneak up on us in the rain!”

Morning turned around and looked at where Sunset was looking. Of course, there was nothing there, but if Morning was really in charge…

“Then you better stop them, uhm, Captain Sunset.”

Sunset nodded and her horn lit up. A ball of light appeared, which she lobbed outward. It made a flash when it hit the ground. “Got one! Watch out, Princess, they’re coming from behind you!”

Morning turned around and lit up her horn like Sunset had. It sparked a little, but otherwise nothing happened.

“Great shot, Princess!”

Morning couldn’t help but smile. “Quick, we have to find their queen!”

“I’m on it!” Sunset said, then charged, with Morning running after her. They approached the tree where Morning had been playing yesterday, and Sunset pointed at a nearby bush. “Look, what’s that over there! I think it might be the changeling queen!”

Morning frowned. It was too soon to find the changeling queen right now. “No, that’s not her. It’s a… griffon mercenary!”

“Griffon or changeling, no one is a match for Captain Shimmer!” Sunset lit her horn once more and lobbed an orb of light at the bush.

“Oh no, he jumped out of the way! I’ll set him on fire!” Morning focused her magic into the bush, causing the branches to ruffle a little bit.

To her surprise, a moment later, light erupted from the bush. For a second, Morning thought she really did set it on fire, but then she noticed it wasn’t actually burning. She looked over at Sunset and saw her horn was lit up as well. “You got him, Princess!”

“Hmph.” Morning turned away. “I can do magic too, you know.”

“Well yeah, you just set that griffon on fire.”

“I don’t want to play anymore,” Morning said grumpily. She sat down on the ground, not caring that it was wet.

“What? Because I used magic when you did?” Sunset frowned. “Maybe it was like… a combined attack!”

“No.” Morning folded her forelegs. “You just think I’m bad at magic like everyone else!”

“I don’t think that.” Sunset sat down beside Morning, getting her skirt even more wet than it already was. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I thought you’d like it if I made it a little more dazzling.”

“Everypony always makes fun of me because I’m not very good with magic.”

“Morning, you’re…” Sunset shook her head. “Like, what, five?”

“I’m six!”

Sunset smirked. “You’re six years old. You don’t have to be good at things yet, there’s lots of time to get better.”

“But the other foals my age can do more…”

“That’s okay.” Sunset nudged her. “You like to read, right? I bet you read better than they do.”

Morning scrunched her face in confusion. “How can somepony read better? You just read…”

“Well like, you can read faster or read harder words and stuff.”

“I guess…”

“And you come up with fun games like this, even if you don’t usually play them with other ponies.”

Morning frowned again. It was a pretty good game, right up until Morning ruined it.

“You know, you remind me of someone. A lot, actually.”

Morning found a rock and rolled it around with her hoof. “Is it true that you’re not really a princess?”

Sunset laughed. “Well, it’s complicated. Do you know why ponies say I’m not a princess?”

“Uhm, Cinnamon Twirl said that calling yourself a princess doesn’t make you one.”

Sunset nodded. “Well, that is true. So then, what does make you a princess?”

“Uhm… becoming an alicorn?”

“Yeah, that’s one way. The other is marrying a prince or a princess. Like Princess Fluttershy. She’s not an alicorn, but she’s a princess because she married Princess Twilight.”

Morning knew that, but she wasn’t exactly sure where Sunset fit into things. “So did you marry a princess?”

“That’s… why it’s complicated. I married Twilight and Fluttershy, but the law says that only two ponies can be married, not three.”

“Well duh, everyone knows that. When two ponies love each other, they get married.”

“So what happens when three ponies love each other?” Sunset asked.

Morning didn’t know, and she was tired of Sunset asking all these questions. “You’re the adult, you’re supposed to know this!”

Sunset laughed. “Well, that’s what I mean. It’s complicated. I love Twilight and Fluttershy, so we got married. But the law says we’re not married, because three ponies can’t get married. So we’re trying to change the law, and we think we will, but that takes time. And until we change the law, some ponies will say I’m not a princess. A lot of ponies say that, actually.”

“So… what if…” Morning gestured with her hooves to invisible ponies as she talked. “What if you married Twilight, and she married Fluttershy. Then only two of you would be married at a time!”

Sunset laughed, and Morning blushed. “It doesn’t work that way, kiddo. If I marry Twilight, she also has to marry me. So then she’s married to both me and Fluttershy.”

“Marriage is dumb. I’m never gonna get married.”

“I thought that too when I was younger.” Sunset shrugged. “But not everypony has to get married anyway. I did because I wanted to, even if other ponies don’t think I should have.”

“Oh.” Morning wasn’t really sure what else to say, so she didn’t say anything else.

“Now then, I told Ginger Snap that we wouldn’t stay out in the rain too long. Let’s head back inside with the others.”

“Do we have to?” Morning frowned.

“Afraid so.” Sunset stood up and held out a hoof to help Morning up. She ignored it and stood up on her own.

“So,” Sunset said as they walked back, “I guess you don’t like the other kids much.”

“No,” Morning admitted.

Sunset nodded. “I didn’t like other kids much either when I was your age. I kinda preferred adults.”

“I don’t like adults,” Morning said. “They always lie.”

Rather than be offended, Sunset just grinned. “Geez, you really do remind me of a certain other filly.”

Sunset held the door open for Morning, who walked into the playroom. Sunset followed after, but before either of them could get too far in, Miss Ginger saw them and stopped them. “Stay there! I’ll get towels.”

Sunset looked sheepish, but Morning just seized the opportunity to shake off as much water as she could.

“Hey, Morning!” Sunset frowned at her.

Morning just laughed. “Well, she only said to stay put, and I didn’t go anywhere.”

Sunset sighed.

Miss Ginger came back with towels, which they used to dry off. “Maybe I could take your uniform and hang it up for you?”

Sunset frowned. “My decision to go outside may have been poorly thought out. I… don’t like going without clothes.”

“She’s a weird old lady,” Morning informed the caretaker.

“Morning, you can’t just say something like that about somepony!” Miss Ginger said sharply, but Sunset laughed.

“It’s okay,” Sunset said, breaking into a grin. “She’s completely right, you know.”

Since Sunset wouldn’t take off her wet clothes and Miss Ginger didn’t want her getting everything in the playroom wet, they compromised by laying a towel down for Sunset to lay on as she read a story to the foals – levitating the book the whole time so she didn’t get that wet either.

Morning hung around the edge while the other kids gathered around her, but Miss Ginger caught her. “You’re still wet too, young lady. Let’s get a towel for you.”

“We can share, if you want,” Sunset said. “You’ll be able to hear better up here anyway.”

Morning frowned, but she walked over to Sunset and sat beside her. Being confined to one towel – a shared towel at that – meant she couldn’t escape to be on her own this time. As a result, she had no choice but to actually listen to the story.

It was about a colt who grew up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts. She was afraid it would be a scary story, but it was a nice one. The ghosts were mostly friendly to the boy, who got into all kinds of misadventures.

Sunset read it very well, and Morning could imagine it all happening if she closed her eyes. Which she did, just to visualize the scene better. The fact that she let out a yawn was entirely coincidental. And of course she was going to curl up into the most comfortable position.

The last thing she was aware of was something soft beside her as she gently fell asleep.

Morning was alone. She was walking through an empty town. She lived there, but she couldn’t quite remember how to get to her house.

She walked past places she knew. Places Cinnamon Twirl had brought her. She should have known where she was, should have known how to get home from there. But every time she turned down a street to somewhere she thought she knew, she found herself somewhere unexpected.

Still, she kept walking. There were memories here, too. Memories of visiting places with Cinnamon Twirl, of finally feeling like she maybe was somewhere she belonged. Feeling like maybe there was someone who cared about her.

Other memories too. This was where she got into a fight with that other filly. This was where she got so overwhelmed with all the other ponies around her that she threw a tantrum. This was where Cinnamon Twirl had decided she’d had enough.

Morning kept walking. All alone, the only thing she could do was keep on walking.

She had never meant to fall asleep, but all the same, Morning felt herself being shaken awake. When she came to, she was pressed against Sunset. She quickly got off of her.

Sunset smiled at her. “Guess you got a little worn out today, huh?”

Morning frowned. She really hadn’t meant to fall asleep.

“I’m heading out now, and I think it’s time for you to get some lunch.”

“Oh. Okay.” Morning stood up and stretched. She wasn’t sure how long she was asleep for, but her fur was much drier than it had been. “Will you finish reading to us when you come back tomorrow?”

Sunset stood up as well, although she was lacking her usual grin. In place she wore a frown. “I’m, uh, not actually coming back tomorrow. I was just here for the weekend.”

Morning frowned as well. “But… the story…”

Sunset worked a smile onto her face. “Tell you what. You keep the book. I’ll get another one.”

Morning didn’t particularly want to keep the book. She didn’t really want to read it herself. But all she could say was, “Oh. Okay.”

Sunset levitated the book over to her, then levitated her crown off of Morning’s head. She hadn’t even realized she was still wearing it. “Real princess or not, I think I’ll need this.”

Morning looked over to see Miss Ginger was waiting for her. All the other foals had already left for lunch. With her head bowed, she walked over to the caretaker.

Sunset walked alongside her. “Well, enjoy your lunch. I had a lot of fun playing with you today.”

“Yeah,” Morning said unenthusiastically. “Thanks for the book.”

“You’re welcome. Bye, Morning.”

“Bye, Sunset.”

Morning walked through the door, and Miss Ginger followed through it and closed it behind her. “Did you have fun with Princess Sunset?”

“I guess,” Morning said.

Miss Ginger giggled. “You sure seemed to enjoy yourself. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you comfortable enough with somepony to sleep next to them.”

Morning blushed. She hadn’t meant to sleep… And because of that, she’d missed the story. Sure, she could read it herself now, but it wasn’t the same.

Sunset was gone, and Morning wasn’t going to see her again. Just like Cinnamon Twirl. But that’s just how adults were – they didn’t care about foals, and there was no sense in pretending like they did.

Morning didn’t care. So what if Sunset didn’t come back? So what if she never saw her again? So what? She was just another dumb adult, she’d never care about a filly like Morning. No one ever cared about a lost little filly like Morning…

And why would they? She wasn’t particularly talented, she could barely do magic. She was just somepony who didn’t like anypony else and got into fights because of it. She was good at playing pretend, and that was about it.

No, it was better this way. If Sunset kept coming around, then it would just hurt more when she realized Morning wasn’t anything special and left, like all adults left her eventually.

She turned to Miss Ginger and held out her book. “Uhm, here.”

Miss Ginger took the book. “Want me to hold onto it while you eat?”

Morning shook her head. “You should keep it. Uhm, you can read it. To the other kids.”

Miss Ginger frowned. “You know, I’m sure Princess Sunset would like to hear from you. Maybe we can write her a letter later?”

“No,” Morning said. “I just didn’t really like the story.”

Miss Ginger sighed and guided Morning down the hallway to the cafeteria. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

Morning nodded, letting herself be guided along. Things were better this way. She would just not think of Sunset anymore, and things would go back to normal. Morning didn’t need anypony like Sunset Shimmer. She didn’t need anypony at all.

Author's Note

Morning Glisten’s cutie mark doesn’t exist yet, but if it did, it would have been drawn by Wendy Gowak :raritywink:

This story will deviate a bit from my usual update schedule. Instead of updating once a week, it'll update twice a week! Expect a new chapter every Sunday and Wednesday :yay: I hope you’ll enjoy it, and I’m sure absolutely no one could possibly see where it’s going from here lol

2 – Growing Family

Chapter Two
Growing Family

⠀

⠀
The train ride back to Ponyville was bound to be a little uncomfortable, but all things considered, Sunset didn’t really mind. Sure, she was in damp clothes, but it could be worse. At least she had pleasant memories of the day for comfort.

True, there had been a little spot where Sunset had made a bad assumption and wound up hurting Morning’s feelings. But even so, then they’d made up and things had gone pretty well, Sunset thought.

Hell, Morning had even been comfortable enough with her to fall asleep. That had definitely been a highlight of the day, even among a pretty amazing day.

Those thoughts carried Sunset as she took the train from Hollow Shades, where Small Steps Home for Orphaned Ponies was, back to Ponyville. What did it matter if she had a damp seat in the face of that?

She barely noticed the time passing during the trip, leaving her surprised when the train pulled into Ponyville. Surprised, but quite pleased. She was eager to get home and tell her wives about the day she’d had.

She waited patiently as the train came to a stop, letting the more impatient ponies get off first. Once the crowd dispersed a little bit, Sunset disembarked and made her way through the town towards the castle.

All along the way, she walked with her head held up and a bounce in her step. She made it to the castle with her good mood intact, and quickly went upstairs towards the bedroom. She stopped along the way to say hi to Spike, but he was caught up in his comics, so she decided to share her news with somepony else.

And she got the perfect pony when she made it into the bedroom. Or one of them, at least. Fluttershy must have taken a shower, because she was sitting on the bed in a bathrobe with a towel covering her mane. She was reading a magazine, but she looked up and smiled as Sunset entered the room. “Welcome home, Sunset.”

“Hey, Fluttershy,” Sunset said, finally stripping off the wet uniform. “Is Twilight around?”

“She’s up in the library. How about I go get her while you get changed? Then we can figure out dinner.”

Dinner wasn’t really on Sunset’s mind, but she nodded her agreement. No matter how excited she was, wearing dry clothes would be welcome.

She picked out a comfy pajama. She didn’t usually wear pajamas to bed anymore, but she had some for lounging around the house. Once she was dressed, she brought her uniform into the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom and set it on the counter. It would need to be dry cleaned since she’d had the genius idea of sitting on the muddy ground in it, but that was a small price to pay for the day she’d had.

She returned to the bedroom and lay on the bed as she waited for her wives. She wasn’t waiting long, and Fluttershy returned with Twilight in tow.

“Welcome home,” Twilight said as she walked in. She and Fluttershy both took seats on the bed. “So how’d it go?”

“It was great!” Sunset answered. “That filly I told you about yesterday, Morning Glisten? We played out in the rain and then she fell asleep on me while I read to everypony.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Aww, that sounds adorable. I wish I had been there to see it.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sunset said. “I still can’t believe nopony questioned me being a princess. Well, except Morning.”

Twilight wore a sly grin. “So one filly says you’re not a princess and you talk about her like you want to take her home with you.”

“W-What? I, uh, well…” Sunset was left stammering at Twilight’s comment, causing her wives to giggle. “I don’t know about that.”

“Well, uhm, we were actually talking today,” Fluttershy said, then looked at Twilight to finish for her.

Twilight nodded. “We understand if you don’t want to, but well… we thought we could at least talk about it? Er, foals, I mean.”

It was true that part of the reason Sunset was volunteering at an orphanage was to help her get over her feelings towards kids. Sunset didn’t dislike kids. Hell, she enjoyed them, to a certain extent. But ever since she’d lost Sky, Sunset had struggled with her feelings towards actually having kids of her own.

Spending time with kids was a good way to help her move past that, but this hadn’t ever been a way to find a foal to adopt. “I spend two days with kids and you want to adopt?”

“We didn’t mean it like that, exactly,” Twilight said.

“I, uhm…” Fluttershy nuzzled Sunset gently. “I’ve been wanting to bring up foals again for a while, actually. I just… didn’t know how to…”

“It’s okay if you’re not ready,” Twilight repeated. “And if you don’t even want to talk about it right now, that’s okay too.”

“No, it’s… we can talk about it.” Sunset hadn’t realized until they brought it up, but she didn’t hurt the way she once did. They had tried to talk about having foals only once before, four years ago. In that time, Sunset had done a lot of healing, and she didn’t feel the same panic she had felt back then. “I… think I’ll need a little while to think it over.”

“Of course you will,” Fluttershy said. “There’s no hurry at all.”

Sunset took a deep breath. There may be no hurry, but there was an inescapable fact. “I’m sure not getting any younger…”

“You shouldn’t rush into anything because of that,” Twilight said.

“I’m thirty-six,” Sunset pointed out. “I mean, I’m not old, but… I don’t want to be sixty years old raising a foal, either.”

“No, but we shouldn’t rush into things,” Twilight reiterated. “If it comes to that, we’ll still be uniquely situated to handle parenting at an older age.”

“I guess.” Sunset wasn’t as sure as Twilight sounded, but she did see the point about not rushing things. “So… I think I know where Fluttershy stands, but what about you, Twi?”

“I… I think we’re in a good place for this. We have the means to take care of a foal, and our relationship has never been more stable. We’re not going to get a better time.”

Sunset nodded slowly. That was true. “If we’re doing this, I’d rather adopt. I know we’d be able to get a sperm donor no problem, but I don’t know if I could take eleven months of freaking out while one of us is pregnant…”

Fluttershy placed her hoof on Sunset’s. “I understand. And I’m okay either way. I don’t need our foal to be biologically related to one of us.”

Twilight chuckled. “I’m sure you both realize I’m fine with adoption. I’d probably prefer it too, actually. It’s not so much the pregnancy for me, but there are so many ponies who could use our help. Why make a new filly or colt when we could make a world of difference for one who’s already out there?”

“It’s so weird to think about,” Sunset said with a nervous smile. “Somewhere out there is our son or daughter, and we don’t even know each other.”

“If we decide to do it,” Fluttershy reminded her. “It’s not a vote. We all have to want this, or we’re not doing it.”

Sunset nodded. “Twilight’s definitely right though. There isn’t going to be a better time.”

Before they could talk about it anymore, Sunset’s stomach rumbled. Fluttershy giggled. “We can figure it out later. You two relax for a bit, while I get dinner ready.”

“Do you want some help?” Sunset asked.

“I’ll see if Spike wants to help,” Fluttershy said. “You already had a big day going to and from Hollow Shades. You just relax.”

Sunset obeyed, lying back in the bed as Fluttershy left. That was one nice thing about living in a house with so many others – there was always someone willing to help with anything that needed doing. If not Spike, then Night Light was sure to lend a hoof.

And that got Sunset thinking… “They say it takes a village to raise a child, and there are a lot of ponies here.”

Twilight lay down beside Sunset. “Yeah, there’s no shortage of love around here.”

Aside from the three wives, they also had Spike, Twilight Velvet, and Night Light living with them. Twilight’s parents were retired, so they were home most of the time, and Spike did spend a lot of time out in Ponyville with friends and doing the occasional odd job to help the town, but his schedule was pretty much wide open if they needed a foalsitter.

Not to mention aside from the occasional business trip, Twilight and Sunset worked from home, and Fluttershy was always walking distance. Add in that any of their friends would no doubt be willing to lend a hoof if they somehow needed more help, and there could never be a reason they’d come up short on raising a child.

Instead of saying any of that, however, Sunset rolled over and cuddled up with Twilight. “You nervous?”

“Well, yeah, of course I’m nervous,” Twilight said with a slight smile. “But… we can do this. If we decide to, of course.”

Sunset nuzzled up against Twilight. “Just think, we could have some foal running around, making a bunch of noise, making messes everywhere, bringing in all sorts of diseases because kids have no sense of cleanliness…”

Twilight grinned. “You know, if you don’t want a foal, you can just say so.”

“What? No, those are the best parts! We haven’t even gotten into complicating our sex life.”

Twilight laughed and levitated a pillow into Sunset’s face. “You’re horrible. Maybe you shouldn’t be a mom after all.”

“Hey, kids love me.”

“Yeah, because you practically are one. Come to think of it, what do I even need a foal for when I have you around?”

Sunset shrugged. “Because kids are cuter.”

“Hmm…” Twilight kissed Sunset and smiled. “Nope, you’re wrong there too.”

All things considered, Sunset felt pretty good. They’d talked about a big step for them, and it was a topic that Sunset had previously struggled with. But she didn’t feel bad about it this time. Hell, she was even able to joke around about it with Twilight.

They kept their conversation jovial, but they moved on from the talk of foals. Instead, Twilight told Sunset about what she was researching, Sunset teased Twilight for being such a nerd, and Twilight reminded her she was just as bad.

After a little while, Spike came to get them for dinner. They made their way downstairs while he continued on to get Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

They were welcomed by the smell of vegetable chili as they walked into the dining room. “Mmm, that smells great,” Sunset announced.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said as she set the table. “Could one of you give me a hoof with this?”

Twilight helped her set out bowls and glasses for everyone while Sunset examined the food. In addition to the chilli, there was a vegetable medley on the side. As always, everything looked wonderful.

“What do you want to drink?” Twilight asked Sunset.

Although she was generally sober, Sunset had reached a point where she occasionally had a glass of wine with dinner. Drinking wasn’t exactly her problem so much as when she drank. She could drink responsibly, especially if she had her wives nearby to help keep her on the straight and narrow. No, it was just when she drank as a response to her problems that things got out of control.

All the same, they had brought up a complicated subject and it still weighed on Sunset’s mind, even if not as heavily as it once did. Better to play it safe. “I’ll have cider.”

Twilight nodded and served their drinks. Before long, Spike arrived with his parents in tow, so Twilight got drinks for them as well. Then everyone took their seats, complimented Fluttershy and Spike on the meal, and the four ponies with magic served everyone.

They wasted no more time in digging in. Chilli was one of Spike’s signature dishes. It was like Equestria, he had said once. It was made of many different elements that all worked together to be extremely delicious.

Sunset suspected his stomach had somewhat interfered with his metaphor, but she could not deny his point. Fluttershy and Spike’s chilli was delicious and showcased every ingredient. Beans, tomatoes, corn, onions, and all the vegetables she could fit in were always cooked to perfection, the whole thing becoming more than the sum of its parts.

Of course, they all complimented the chefs on a job well done.

“So how’d everything go at Small Steps?” Night Light asked as they ate.

“It went well,” Sunset answered with a smile. “Every single one of the caretakers addressed me as Princess. Guess it pays to be the daughter-in-law of the biggest donors.”

“They’re just good ponies there,” Night Light said. “I’m sure they’d accept you with or without our bits.”

It was no surprise he was interested – he and Twilight Velvet were the reason Sunset had gotten invited in the first place, although she wasn’t the pony they had expected. Ever since they adopted Spike, they had taken an interest in the adoption process, and donated a lot of money each year to Small Steps. Sunset wasn’t entirely sure how they found an orphanage all the way out in Hollow Shades, but they said they chose it because the local orphanage in Canterlot had many wealthy donors already.

And every year, Small Steps would send a letter and a photo thanking them for their donation, as well as an open invitation to visit and see the good their bits did for the children. They hadn’t taken the offer up yet, but mentioned that they were considering it. Sunset, having grown up in an orphanage, took an interest, and then one thing led to another.

“You’ll have to go out and visit sometime,” Sunset said. “It’s a really nice place. The kids are well behaved and were really happy to have a visitor.”

Twilight Velvet smirked. “The fact that it was a royal visitor might have had something to do with it. I doubt we’d have the same effect, dear.”

Sunset shrugged. “You never know. Maybe they’d like to hear some stories about what Twilight was like when she was their age.”

“Sunset, I was an antisocial bookworm,” Twilight reminded her. “I don’t think anypony could possibly be interested in what I was like at that age.”

“It might be nice to make the trip out,” Night Light said. “Although I think we’re a little too old to play with a bunch of kids.”

“I spent half the day reading to them,” Sunset pointed out. “And as someone who grew up in an orphanage, I think most kids just want a reminder that ponies care about them.”

“Hmm, did you want a reminder that ponies cared about you?” Fluttershy asked with a sly grin.

“Fluttershy, I was an antisocial bitch,” Sunset said. “Of course I wanted to know people cared about me, I just didn’t know I wanted to know that at the time.”

Spike nudged Twilight. “Hard to imagine there was somepony worse at dealing with other ponies than you were, huh?”

Twilight nodded. “It’s frankly terrifying to imagine.”

“I met a filly a lot like me, actually,” Sunset said.

“Okay, now that’s terrifying,” Spike said.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “She’s probably not as bad as I was. I did get her to play with me today, but it took some prodding and a lucky break with the weather.”

“Nice weather out there today?” Twilight Velvet asked.

Sunset shook her head. “No, it was raining. But we still went out and played around in it.”

Velvet laughed at that. “Oh, of course. Kids do always love to play in the rain.”

Fluttershy giggled and nudged Sunset. “Sunset won’t stop talking about that filly.”

Sunset blushed a little. “She’s just… a lot like me.”

“If she’s like you, then that must mean she’s delightful once you get to know her,” Velvet said.

Twilight glanced at Sunset with a slight frown, and Sunset recognized the look. It meant she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure if it was okay, and Sunset had a pretty good idea of what it was.

“Speaking of foals…” Sunset said, looking between Fluttershy and Twilight. It was ultimately their decision, of course, but it would impact everyone living in the castle. It was only fair to talk it over with all of them.

Both of her wives smiled at her, and Twilight took over. “We’ve actually started talking about something else too. We’re thinking maybe it’s – er…”

Twilight trailed off as she noticed her mom’s expression. She was beaming at them, and they could all tell she knew what they were talking about already.

“Yeah,” Sunset said with a resigned sigh. “It took some convincing, but we came around to the idea. So we’re gonna be adopting a sweet adorable little puppy.”

Twilight Velvet shot her a dirty look. “Oh come on now, don’t tease an old mare.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, we haven’t decided anything for sure yet, but we’re talking about maybe adopting a foal.”

“Whoa,” Spike said. “That’s a lot of responsibility.”

“It is,” Twilight answered. “But I think we can handle it. Especially if we can count on everypony here for help, we’ve got more than enough hooves and claws to raise a foal.”

“Of course you can count on all of us,” Night Light said with a smile. “Just be sure you think this through. You know your mom and I didn’t plan on having Shining, and while of course we don’t regret it at all, it was much easier the second time around when we actually planned for a foal.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure we’re safe from accidental foals, Dad.”

“But we’re thinking it over carefully,” Fluttershy assured him. “It’s something we’ve talked about a long time ago, and we decided it wasn’t the right time then. If we don’t think it’s the right time now, we won’t rush into anything.”

“I know you girls can handle it,” Night Light said. “And I know you all know how important this is to think over.”

“So was it a certain filly that got you thinking about it?” Velvet asked, looking directly at Sunset.

She looked down at her food. “Well, I wasn’t the one who brought it up, but since you mention it… I won’t say the idea of adopting Morning Glisten hasn’t crossed my mind.”

“Really?” Twilight asked. “You didn’t mention that.”

“Well, yeah, I know…” Sunset sighed. “I just… I don’t know, I don’t want to push anything on you two. I’m the only one who met her, after all, and it’s not like I even know her all that well.”

Spike quirked an eyebrow. “You, uh, you know that means at least one of you has met her, right? As opposed to every other foal you could adopt, that none of you have met…”

“Spike does have a point,” Twilight said. “But I think we need to give some more thought to if we even want to do this before we think about adopting anypony in particular.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” Sunset smiled, then turned back to her food. She had a lot to think about without adding more things on top of it. First figure out if she wanted to raise a foal, then she could figure out what type of foal she’d want to raise.

One step at a time. That was the way they would tackle this new direction in their life. One step at a time, and with support from one another.

They talked about foals while they finished eating. Twilight Velvet gave them some tips on things to keep in mind and what it was like to raise Twilight, Spike, and Shining Armor. Meanwhile, Night Light tried to keep her grounded, reminding her that this wasn’t a sure thing and there was no need to get too far ahead of themselves. Spike mostly just made jokes about what the three of them would be like as parents.

It was kind of nice, in a way. It was scary, but talking and joking about it helped ease Sunset’s worries. Even Spike’s jokes helped make it feel more normal. By the time they finished dinner, it was starting to feel like something they could actually do.

Since Fluttershy and Spike cooked, Night Light and Twilight Velvet offered to do the dishes. The others sat around and talked with Spike a bit about his day, which had mostly involved hanging out with the Cutie Mark Crusaders and reading comics.

He shrugged off his day’s activities. “Not like I went out of town to visit an orphanage.”

“Yeah, fair enough,” Sunset said, then she frowned. “Oh, damn it…”

“What’s up?” Twilight asked.

“I took off my badges and sash when we went out in the rain, and I forgot them at Small Steps.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Guess you’ll just have to go back and get them tomorrow. That should make Morning Glisten happy.”

That thought did bring a smile to Sunset’s face. It would be kind of cool to surprise the filly. Maybe she could even arrange some more visits while she was there. She tried to hide it, but it was obvious that Morning was really upset that she wasn’t coming back.

“I guess you’re right,” Sunset said. “Not really looking forward to making the round trip, but at least it’ll be nice to stop in.”

“Who knows,” Twilight said with a smile. “Maybe the three of us will go together sometime.”

“Maybe,” Sunset said. It would be nice to see Morning with her wives. And, of course, the other kids too. She was tempted to ask them to come with her tomorrow, but it would be kind of short notice, and they hadn’t cleared it with the orphanage.

Fluttershy let out a yawn and lay her head on Sunset’s shoulder.

“Sleepy?” Sunset asked her.

“A bit. I think I’m ready to wind down for the night, at least.”

“I guess I wouldn’t mind an early night,” Sunset said. “Especially if I’m going to Hollow Shades again tomorrow.”

“Aww, you’re no fun,” Spike said. “I was going to see if maybe you wanted to play something together.”

Fluttershy smiled. “Well, maybe a quick game. I guess it is pretty early.”

“Yes!” Spike pumped his fist, so Sunset rolled her eyes. But even as they left the kitchen to go into the sitting room where they kept board games, her thoughts trailed back to Small Steps, and the possibility that their little family was soon going to be growing just a bit bigger.

Sunset was still yawning by the time she walked into Small Steps Home for Orphaned Ponies. She’d been up later than expected playing games with her family, then she’d had to get up early to catch a train to Hollow Shades. She’d dozed off a bit on the train ride, but that just left her with a crick in her neck.

Oh well. She needed to make the trip, and she was still hoping she could make a certain filly’s day. She walked into the orphanage and told the receptionist why she was there.

She smiled at Sunset. “Oh, yes. We found your things after you left and set them aside for you. I have them here.”

Sunset nodded and took the sash and badges when the receptionist presented them. She tucked them away into her saddlebag; she hadn’t worn her uniform this time, so she’d look a little silly wearing them with her simple sundress.

That was half of what she came for, at least. Sunset scratched her neck nervously. “Is, uhm, Ginger Snap available? I wanted to speak with her.”

The receptionist nodded. “I’m sure she could make some time. Follow me.”

The receptionist led her into the building, where they checked her office. She was there doing some paperwork, and she smiled when she saw Sunset. “Forgot something, did you?”

“Yeah. Some royal guard, huh?”

“Don’t worry, Princess, my lips are sealed.”

Sunset nodded. “I actually was hoping we could talk about something.”

Ginger Snap gestured at the chair across from her. “Of course. Come in and take a seat.”

Sunset nodded and entered the room. The receptionist closed the door for them, leaving the two of them in private.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything important,” Sunset said. She wasn’t sure exactly how to start, so pleasantries seemed like a good way to go. “I know I don’t have an appointment or anything, and I don’t want special treatment because of my status.”

Ginger Snap waved her worries away. “It’s no problem at all. Now, what can I do for you?”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Where to start?”

Ginger Snap smiled and nodded. “I’ve seen this before, I know how tough it can be. I take it you’re having thoughts about doing more than visiting the foals?”

“Well… yes.” Sunset forced a smile despite her nerves. “I was just wondering if you could tell me a little about the process.”

“It is a bit of a process, I’ll admit.” Ginger Snap put her hooves together on her desk. “There’s plenty of paperwork, and the whole thing takes a while. But it’s all to look out for the foal’s interests.”

Sunset nodded. “Yes, of course. If we do this, and we’re not positive that we’re ready to yet, we do want to do it properly.”

“You know, a lot of ponies aren’t sure at first. That’s another reason the process is so long. The first thing we ask potential parents to do is make regular visits for the foal they’re looking into adopting. During that time, a lot of your concerns will come to head, and hopefully will be laid to rest.”

“That makes sense.”

“Before actually finalizing an adoption, we also like to have parents foster a foal first. It may seem a little insensitive to word it this way, but it’s sort of like a trial period. No one wants to see a foal returned to us, but if things aren’t working out, it’s better that a foal has a chance to find the right parents for them than be left with somepony under-equipped to deal with them.”

It wasn’t pleasant to think about, but it did make sense. A parent being wrong about being able to handle a foal could be detrimental to everyone involved. Better to make sure they know what they’re getting into.

“I… well, I understand I may not be allowed to know this, but is that what happened to Morning Glisten? She mentioned that somepony had adopted her before.”

Ginger Snap nodded. “Yes. I can’t go into too many details, but Morning Glisten was fostered, not adopted, and then she came back to us. Of course, to a filly her age, it’s hard to explain the difference.”

“I see. Is it okay if I ask why she was brought back?”

Ginger Snap hesitated for a moment. “I can’t go into the specific details, and I don’t even know all of them myself. But I can say that Morning can be… difficult. She struggles with anger problems and antisocial tendencies. I can only speculate on what happened exactly, but not every pony is prepared to raise a filly who struggles with those kinds of issues.”

Sunset nodded slowly. “I understand. I was the same way when I was little, except probably a lot worse than Morning is.”

“Then you also realize adopting a filly like her is going to be a challenge.” Ginger inclined her head. “Not that I want to discourage you if you’re of the mind that you’re up to it. You certainly made a connection with her, it’s just that you’ll have to think carefully to decide if that’s a task you’re up to. I would hate to have any filly returned to us twice.”

“I understand completely.” Sunset bowed her head. “Trust me, the last thing I want is to hurt her.”

“I believe you, and I’ll trust your decision once you’ve decided what’s right for everyone.”

Sunset fidgeted with her dress a little bit. She hoped that in the face of what they’d just discussed, her request wasn’t going to be crossing a line. “I was actually hoping I could see her, while I’m here.”

It seemed it hadn’t, because Ginger Snap smiled at that. “I think she’d like that a lot, Princess. Would you like to go find her now?”

Sunset knew there was a lot left to learn about the adoption process, but that could wait until they were sure this was something they were going to do. “Yes, please.”

Ginger Snap stood up, so Sunset followed suit. She led them out of the room, and into the playroom Sunset had been in the other day.

There was no sign of Morning there, so they went to another part of the orphanage that Sunset hadn’t been to before, but which she recognized instantly. It was the bedrooms, and they were organized similarly to a hotel, with one long hallway that multiple rooms connected to.

They came to a stop in front of one, and Ginger Snap knocked on the door. “Morning? Are you in there?”

“Yeah,” Morning called back, her voice making Sunset smile.

Ginger Snap opened the door gently. “You’ve got a visitor.”

Sunset looked in and grinned at Morning’s surprised expression. “Hey, Morning.”

“Sunset? But you said you weren’t coming back.”

Sunset stepped into the room. It wasn’t very big, but for a small filly like Morning, it would do. There was a bed tucked into the corner, where the little filly lay with a book open. “I had to come and get some things that I forgot. But since I was here, I wanted to come say hi to you.”

“Oh. Uhm, hi.”

Sunset couldn’t help but smile at how literally Morning took her words, and she took a seat on the bed beside her. “So, what are you reading?”

“It’s, uh, it’s about changelings.” Morning held up the cover to show Sunset the book.

“Morning wanted to share that book you gave her with everypony,” Ginger Snap informed Sunset. “She gave it to me to read to everyone. I was going to start today.”

“Aww, that’s nice of you,” Sunset said, although to be honest that didn’t sound like the filly Sunset was getting to know. A frown from Morning confirmed it – she had been angry with Sunset, so she’d given the book away. “And here I was thinking I might come back and read it to you.”

“Really?” Morning looked almost happy, then she remembered she wasn’t supposed to be. “But… you don’t want to come back.”

“I never said I don’t want to,” Sunset said. “I just live in another town, so it’s harder to come visit. But… I think I want to try and come visit more, if you want to see me.”

“Do I get to choose?” Morning asked.

“You do, actually. If you want, I’ll come by and visit. I can read to you, and we can play games and stuff. But if you don’t want to see me, well, I’ll just stay home and cry about it I guess.”

Morning tried to suppress a laugh, but a little bit got out. “I… guess you can come visit.”

Sunset smiled, knowing that no matter how she said it, those words were significant. Not for the first time, she wanted to hug the little filly, but she refrained. Morning wasn’t used to other ponies caring about her, and she’d probably prefer not to be that close to Sunset.

They talked a little more, but it was a short visit. Sunset told her she had to go, but promised she’d try to make it back before too long. She was again tempted to hug the filly as she turned to leave, but she again kept to herself.

But even if it was a short visit, it really solidified something in Sunset’s mind. She’d been trying to figure out if she wanted to adopt a kid first and worry about figuring out which kid to adopt afterwards, but she realized for all the sense that made, it was backwards for her.

Sunset didn’t know if she wanted to adopt a kid, and she might never know. But she knew that in a short time, she’d formed a bond with one kid in particular, and that she wanted to do what she could for that little filly.

Did Sunset want to adopt a foal? She didn’t know. But did she want to adopt Morning Glisten? The more time went by, and the more time they spent together, the more Sunset thought that she wanted to do just that.

Author's Note

Gasp! :pinkiegasp: This story is about adoption!? Who would’ve thought...

Worth noting here that Hollow Shades is not the same as it was depicted in the show. I basically forgot that Hollow Shades was depicted as an abandoned civilization in the S7 finale, and I picked it as the town Small Steps is in pretty much at random off a map. I could have changed it, but I said fuck it, I'm not dealing with the Pony of Shadows or Pillars of Equestria in this story and that episode is not canon to WWB. Long time readers know this, but for new readers, only the first five and a half seasons are canon to this series, with things taken from later seasons only when it interests me to do so :ajsmug:

3 – A Good Fit

Chapter Three
A Good Fit

⠀

⠀
Weekdays were better than weekends. Most foals Morning’s age disagreed with that, but most foals had friends to play with. Going to school meant Morning could busy herself with learning and projects that usually were better than being forced to play with the foals she lived with, the occasional group project aside.

Even so, she wasn’t really fond of going to and from school. She might be if she were allowed to make the trip herself, but she was only six years old – even though she knew the way, she wasn’t trusted to go alone. All the elementary school-aged kids at Small Steps walked into town together with one of the caretakers, and then at the end of the day, they walked back.

The whole way, she had to listen to all the other kids talk about their day and how good or bad it had been. She didn’t really want to be involved in the discussion. She just wanted to go to school, and then for that to be it.

Having to walk back with the others always made her days take a downward turn as soon as school was over with, so she didn’t expect much when she got back to the orphanage. On the plus side, they usually let the foals do what they wanted after school, which meant she wasn’t likely to be forced to play with the others, but there still was only so much she could do on her own.

So even though she didn’t care for the walk back to the orphanage much, she couldn’t really look forward to it being over, either. From the moment they arrived, the others were running off to play together, while Morning was just ready to head to her room.

It seemed the caretaker realized that. “Why not go play with the others, Morning?”

Morning frowned. “I just don’t want to play right now.”

The caretaker showed her a patient smile. “I think you’d have more fun if you did.”

“But I don’t like their games…”

“Oh, come on now. I bet if you… oh, hello Miss Ginger.”

Morning turned to see Miss Ginger had popped her head out of the orphanage. She was smiling at the two of them. “We have visitors in the playroom. Morning, go put away your things and head over there.”

“Oh, uh, okay.” Morning wasn’t sure who would be visiting them, but she hoped whoever it was didn’t plan on making her play with the other foals. The only pony that came to mind was Sunset Shimmer, since she had said she’d be coming back. But Miss Ginger had said visitors, plural.

It was strange, but Morning would figure it out soon. She made her way inside and went to her room, dropping off her saddlebags. She had a little bit of homework to do, so between that and seeing whoever was there to visit them, she probably wouldn’t have to worry too much about finding something else to do for the rest of the day.

Once she had dropped off her things, she made her way to the playroom. She could hear excited voices inside before she even opened the door, and as soon as she did, she could see why.

Sunset Shimmer was there, but she wasn’t alone. Morning Glisten wouldn’t have recognized the yellow pony, but she knew the purple alicorn was Princess Twilight Sparkle, and that meant the yellow pegasus must have been Princess Fluttershy.

Three princesses were visiting their orphanage. It was easy to see why the others were excited, but Morning couldn’t think of why they would all be there in the first place.

Sunset turned when she heard the door open, seeing Morning and smiling more broadly. She tapped Fluttershy on the shoulder, then Twilight. They both looked as she pointed at Morning and smiled at her as well.

Unsure of what else to do, Morning just waved. She didn’t really want to join the crowd, even if she did kind of want to say hi to Sunset.

Twilight smiled at the foals. “It’s been very nice meeting you all, but we have somepony else to see.”

They all groaned and Twilight apologized. Fluttershy frowned and said, “Maybe we can spend some time with all of you another day?”

Sunset looked like she was going to take a step away, but she was surrounded on all sides. Rather than try to herd the foals away, she lit up her horn and vanished in a flash. All the children oohed and ahhed as Sunset reappeared beside Morning Glisten.

“Hey there, Morning. Told you I’d be back.”

Morning couldn’t hold back a smile. “Hi, Sunset.”

Sunset gestured for the others to come over, and they did so with a little more restraint. They gently made their way through the crowd of children to stand beside Morning.

Seeing Princess Twilight up close was very different than seeing pictures of her. She was even taller than Sunset, and she towered over Morning. She had to crane her neck back just to see her properly.

Only for a moment though, then Twilight bent down to get closer to Morning. “Hello there. My name’s Twilight Sparkle, and I take it you’re Morning Glisten?”

Morning just nodded her head.

“Sunset’s told us all about you,” Fluttershy said. She had a soft voice, and felt more approachable than the alicorn princess. “I’m Fluttershy.”

“Uhm, hi.”

Sunset laughed. “Oh, so you go speechless for them.”

Morning blushed a little and looked away.

“Don’t tease her,” Twilight said to Sunset, then turned back to Morning. “Miss Ginger told us you were at school. Did you have a good day?”

“It… it was okay.” Although Morning had wanted to say hello to Sunset, this was growing to be a little much. She had three different princesses talking to her – well, if Sunset counted as a princess – and everypony else’s eyes were on her.

“I, uhm, I think we should go somewhere a little more private,” Fluttershy said. “Then maybe we could talk more, if Morning wants to.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Come this way,” Miss Ginger said. Morning hadn’t even noticed she was in the room. “We have private rooms set up for this sort of thing.”

She gently guided Morning along, and the three princesses followed. They made their way to a small room with a table that Morning had only been in once before. She’d met with Cinnamon Twirl here, who had eventually adopted her.

Obviously that wasn’t what was going on now, because these three ponies could adopt any filly or colt they wanted, so she was just confused as she took a seat.

“I’ll be right outside if you need me,” Miss Ginger said.

“Thanks, Ginger,” Sunset said, then she took a seat across from Morning. Twilight and Fluttershy did the same, so all four ponies were sitting around a circular table.

“There, is that a little better?” Fluttershy asked. “I know it’s hard when everypony is looking at you.”

“I… I guess so.”

“There’s no need to be nervous,” Sunset said. “We just want to talk to you.”

“Why?” Morning asked her.

Even though she asked Sunset, it was Twilight that answered. “Well, Sunset told us about you, and we wanted to meet you ourselves.

“Yeah,” Sunset said with a smirk. “I told them about this cool filly I was hanging out with and they got all jealous.”

Morning laughed a little bit. “I’m not that cool.”

“Trust me, I’m an expert on cool.” Sunset winked.

“Uhm, I thought Rainbow Dash was the expert on cool,” Fluttershy said.

“Well, we can both be experts,” Sunset insisted.

“So, Morning,” Twilight said, getting the other two back on track, “why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.”

“Uhm… I don’t know…”

Fluttershy giggled. “It’s not a job interview, Twily.” She turned back to Morning. “So do you have a nickname your friends call you, or do you just like Morning?”

Morning frowned. “Just Morning. I don’t really have any friends.”

“No friends?” Twilight asked doubtfully. “How can a sweet filly like you not have any friends?”

“I don’t like the other foals.”

“They’re not mean to you, are they?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uhm…” Morning twirled her hoof across the table. “Well, they don’t really like to play with me. Not since, uhm…”

When she trailed off, Sunset gently brushed a hoof across her shoulder. “It’s okay, you can tell us about whatever it is. Not since what?”

“Well… I said Patchouli had a dumb name, then he said I had a dumb face, so I punched him.”

Sunset let out a small laugh, so Twilight fixed her with a hard glare before softening it as she turned back to Morning. “Did you say you were sorry?”

“Yes. Miss Ginger made me.”

Twilight frowned a little, but Fluttershy kept smiling. “But they still won’t play with you?”

“I don’t want to play with them anyway.” Morning scowled. “They’re all dumb and loud. I just like to read.”

Fluttershy nudged Sunset. “Are you sure it wasn’t Twilight she reminded you of?”

Twilight nodded. “I was a lot like that when I was little. Well, I don’t think I ever hit somepony, but I didn’t think friendship was important either.”

“All three of us had a little trouble with making friends,” Fluttershy said.

Sunset shrugged. “I hit, like, so many people.”

“Sunset!” Twilight snapped.

“Right, sorry. I hit so many ponies.”

Twilight sighed and bowed her head. Although she wasn’t sure what a people was, Morning laughed.

“I think that’s enough of that,” Sunset said. She looked around the room and saw a board game, which she levitated over to them. “Instead of just talking, how about the four of us do something together? This game says it’s up to four ponies, so it’ll be perfect.”

“Would that be okay with you, Morning?” Fluttershy asked.

Morning looked between the other ponies and the game. She didn’t usually like playing games with anyone else, but at least it would be with Sunset. “I guess so.”

Sunset nodded and set up the board game.

Meeting with three princesses – she decided maybe Sunset did count after all – was a singularly strange experience, in part because of how normal it was. They didn’t really act like princesses. They played board games with Morning and teased one another while asking her about herself and the things she liked to do. By the end of the day, she was left quite confused about the whole thing.

She did what she could to put it from her mind, though. No sense in dwelling on it. The weekend found Morning as it often did – lying in bed with a book. It was the perfect way to relax, and it left her with less time to think about how strange the past week had been.

She was just getting to the good part when there came a knock on the door. More than a little annoyed, she called, “Yeah?”

The door opened to Miss Ginger on the other side. “Hello, Morning dear. You’ve got a couple visitors here to see you.”

Morning cocked her head to the side. “I do?”

The door opened wider, and Princess Twilight stepped into the room. “Hello, Morning.”

“Princess?” Morning said, confused as to why she was seeing the princess a second time in one week. And… was that a dragon with her!?

Twilight gestured to the dragon, who waved and smiled. “I thought I’d bring someone else to meet you today. This is Spike, my little brother.”

Spike didn’t look like a little anything. He stood taller than a pony, even Twilight. He was long and lanky, and Morning had never seen anything like him. “Uhm, hi.”

Miss Ginger left the three of them, shutting the door behind her. Twilight remained standing, while Spike took a seat on the floor. “Hi, Morning. It’s nice to meet you.”

Twilight patted Spike with her wing. “I’m sure you can guess, but Spike is my adopted brother. So we thought you might like to meet him, since you have something in common.”

Morning looked up at Spike. “Did your mom give you up too?”

Spike scratched his neck. “Well, maybe. Twilight hatched me from an egg. I don’t really know anything about who my birth parents are.”

“Oh.” Morning looked to Twilight. “Doesn’t that make you his mom?”

Twilight chuckled. “Well, I certainly could have been, if I had been a little older. I was only ten years old at the time, way too young to be anypony’s – or anydragon’s – mom. So instead my parents took him in, and they raised him alongside me and our older brother.”

Morning wasn’t really sure what to say, so she just shifted in place.

“But even if they’re ponies and I’m not, my family’s always been my real family,” Spike said. “So I guess what we wanted to say is that being adopted doesn’t make you any less family.”

“But nopony wants to adopt me,” Morning said with a frown. She didn’t really have that much in common with Spike after all. He’d been adopted, and Morning never would be. Never again. “Even when somepony did, she just brought me back.”

Twilight frowned as well. “Sunset told me that. But just because one pony wasn’t a good fit, that doesn’t mean somepony else won’t be.”

Morning looked at Spike then grinned. “Maybe a dragon will adopt me! Then I’ll get to do dragon stuff instead of boring old pony stuff.”

“I… don’t think dragons are big on adopting,” Spike said.

Twilight giggled. “Besides, I think there’s a lot of fun pony stuff too.”

Spike nodded. “Yeah! I’m glad I grew up with ponies.”

Morning still thought living with dragons would be cooler than ponies, but she didn’t try to argue it.

Twilight looked around and noticed the book she’d been reading. “Is that Prancey Drew? I loved her books when I was a filly!”

“I’ve read all the Prancey Drew books we have here,” Morning said. “This is my second time reading this one.”

“Reading books twice can be fun,” Twilight said with a smile. “I read a lot of my favorites more than once. There are a few books I’ve read so many times I’ve lost count.”

“And trust me, that’s saying something,” Spike said. He looked at Twilight. “Maybe Twilight and I can read some of it to you if you want?”

“That’s a great idea, Spike!” Twilight smiled at Morning. “If that’s okay with you of course, Morning.”

Morning usually preferred to read things on her own, but if she listened to Twilight read, she wouldn’t have to worry about saying the wrong thing. “Okay. I was on this part.”

Twilight sat on the bed beside Morning and read over the page a little bit. Spike took a seat beside Twilight and leaned in so he could see as well.

Twilight cleared her throat and started reading. “Very clever, Prancey Drew. But I bet you didn’t –”

“No.” Morning leaned across Twilight to see the book. “That’s the chancellor, he’s the bad guy in this book, so he’s gotta sound all tough and mean!”

Twilight giggled. “Okay, how’s this.” She put on a mean face and changed how she was reading. “Very clever, Prancey Drew. But I bet you didn’t count on this!”

Morning nodded. “That’s acceptable.”

Twilight and Spike looked at each other and laughed, then Twilight continued reading.

It was a rare treat to just get away from everyone, so Morning took it readily. Well, not everyone of course – it would be a few years yet before Morning was trusted to leave the orphanage on her own. But it was just her and Princess Fluttershy.

It was strange that Princess Fluttershy had offered to take just her on this trip, but Morning had been too excited to get out of Small Steps to question it. And so the two of them went on a nature hike in the forest that surrounded Hollow Shades.

It was Morning’s first time out in the forest, which she had been told was dangerous for foals to play in. She didn’t see anything that looked particularly dangerous, though.

“Where are all the animals?” Morning asked.

“You don’t always get to see a lot of animals,” Fluttershy explained. “Most of the time, they’re busy doing things like looking for food, taking care of their little ones, or sleeping. But even if you can’t see them, there’s sure to be a few animals around hiding just out of sight.”

“Oh.” Morning looked around, wondering if there were dangerous animals just hiding around any of the trees. She pressed closer to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked down at her and smiled. “Is everything alright?”

“Uhm. I just thought you looked a little scared.”

“Oh really?” Fluttershy smiled. “You know nothing’s going to hurt you out here. Not as long as I’m with you.”

“I know that! I’m not scared!”

Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. You’re a really brave filly.”

“Of course I am!”

“Hmm…” Fluttershy bowed her head as a smile crept along her face. “Do you think I might be less scared if I had my wing around you?”

“I dunno,” Morning said. “Yes.”

Fluttershy draped her wing over the smaller filly, who felt a little better. That would make Fluttershy feel safer for sure.

“If we run into any animals, I can tell you all about them,” Fluttershy said. “To help me feel less afraid.”

Morning nodded. “Do you know about plants too?” She gestured towards a brush with strange feathery looking leaves that stemmed out. “Like what that is?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t know a lot about plants.”

“Oh.”

“Do you like plants?”

Morning shrugged. “I guess. At least cool looking ones like that.”

Fluttershy nodded and guided them in for a closer look. “It does look pretty cool, doesn’t it.”

Morning leaned in to look at it closer when a face popped out from it. She screamed and jumped back.

Fluttershy put a hoof to her mouth and giggled. “Aww, it’s okay. It’s just a little skunk.”

Morning stayed away and put a hoof over her nose. “Skunks are stinky!”

“No, he’s not stinky. Come get a closer look.”

Morning wasn’t so sure, but Fluttershy didn’t seem to be afraid of it, so she got a little closer.

Fluttershy turned to the skunk. “Hello, little friend. Will you come out so we can say hello better?”

The skunk popped its head back into the bush, which rattled around for a moment. After a few seconds, the skunk came out from the bottom of the bush.

“Oh my, your fur looks so nice and soft,” Fluttershy said to the skunk. “Is it okay if we pet you?”

To Morning’s surprise, the skunk nodded. Fluttershy reached out a hoof and pet it. She gestured for Morning to do the same. “Come over and say hi.”

Morning stepped a little bit closer. “Is… is it safe?”

Fluttershy laughed. “It’s good to be cautious of wild animals, but it’s okay. He won’t hurt you, just pet him gently.”

Morning inched a little closer and reached her hoof out. The skunk sniffed her tentatively, then lowered his head for her to pet him. She broke into a huge smile as she did. “I always thought skunks were supposed to be smelly?”

“Skunks have a scent gland that lets them spray a very smelly liquid at ponies or animals that try to hurt them. But as long as we’re nice, Mr. Skunk won’t do that.”

“Oh. How’d you know he was a boy skunk?”

Fluttershy looked back at her flank, where she had three butterflies as a cutie mark. “I got my cutie mark when I realized I could communicate with animals. I can also just tell things about them by looking at them sometimes. That’s how I knew that this was a nice skunk.”

“Oh.”

“Which is also why it’s important not to play with wild animals when I’m not around. You’re safe with me, but on your own, you wouldn’t be able to tell which ones are nice and which ones are mean.”

Morning nodded in understanding. She wasn’t in any hurry to get skunk sprayed if she ever ran into one on her own.

But even so, she had to admit… “This is really cool.”

Fluttershy giggled. “I’m glad you think so. And I think Mr. Skunk likes the attention too. But we should let him get back to his business.”

“Aww, do we have to?” Morning asked.

“I’m afraid we do. He was probably looking for food when we showed up, and we shouldn’t keep him.”

Mr. Skunk turned and skittered off, but he did stop to look back. Morning waved to him, and he turned and kept on running.

Fluttershy reached her wing over for Morning once more, and she opened her mouth to tell her that she didn’t need to do that anymore; after meeting with Mr. Skunk, Morning wasn’t scared anymore.

But something stopped her from saying anything. Instead, she just kept close to Fluttershy as they started walking again.

The time was finally drawing close. The two ponies had spent weeks, maybe months trailing the changeling menace, and it was about to pay off.

“Careful, Princess,” Captain Shimmer said. “There are changelings here, I’m sure of it.”

Princess Morning Glisten nodded. “Lead the way, Captain.”

Captain Shimmer crept around the corner, and she gasped at what she saw. Princess Morning looked around her and did the same. There were changelings as far as they could see, more changelings than either of them had ever seen in their lives.

“There are so many!” Princess Morning said.

“It doesn’t matter how many there are,” Captain Shimmer said with a grin. “They’re no match for Captain Shimmer and Princess Morning!”

Morning nodded fiercely, almost dislodging the crown on her head. “That’s right! Let’s get ‘em, Captain!”

Captain Shimmer bowed her head and ran in, skewering changelings as she went. Morning lit up her horn and engulfed her enemies in a sea of flame.

“There’s too many!” Captain Shimmer called as she lobbed a powerful magic blast at a changeling.

“We can do it!” Princess Morning yelled. “Watch out behind you.”

Captain Shimmer bucked behind her, then turned to Morning. “Thanks for the heads up, Princess.”

“I think we got them all,” Morning said, looking around.

“Still no sign of the changeling queen, though,” Captain Shimmer said with a frown.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you…” Morning jumped at Sunset, crashing into her. “I tricked you! I was the changeling queen all along!”

“No! How could I have been fooled!” Sunset fell dramatically to the ground with Morning on top of her. “What have you done with the real Morning Glisten?”

“I locked her away somewhere you’ll never find her! Now prepare to die!” Morning poked Sunset with her horn, and she collapsed into a motionless pile with her tongue hanging out. “Victory for the changeling swarm! Mwahahahaha!”

Sunset, being dead, did not respond.

Morning giggled. “Okay, you can stop being dead now.”

Sunset lay still.

“Sunset! I can feel you breathing, I know you’re not really dead!”

Sunset’s only response was to hold her breath, so Morning pushed on her with her hooves. “Come on, get up!”

“I can’t, I’m too dead.”

Morning laughed. “Dead ponies can’t talk, Sunset!”

“They can when they’re killed by changeling queens. It’s magic.”

“No! It doesn’t work like that…”

“Oh yeah?” Sunset opened one eye. “Well maybe it works like this!” She jumped up and held down Morning, tickling her mercilessly.

“Sunset!” Morning said in between fits of laughter.

“You thought you were the only one with a surprise attack, huh?”

“Stop!” Morning said as she laughed, and Sunset stopped. Morning’s laughter trailed off slowly as she sat up, brushing dirt off of her. She saw Sunset’s crown had fallen off her head, so she picked it up and brushed that off too, then handed it back to Sunset.

Sunset placed the crown on her head and sat beside Morning. “Getting about time for me to head out for the day.”

“Okay.” Morning frowned and drew shapes into the dirt with her hoof.

“I’ll come back soon though,” Sunset said with a smile. “Maybe with Twilight or Fluttershy next time.”

“Uhm, Sunset?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you three keep coming to visit me?”

Sunset brushed her mane back. “Well, like I said, you’re a cool kid. We like hanging out with you.”

Morning pursed her lips. “You’re lying. Adults don’t do that!”

Sunset sighed. “I’m not lying. It’s just… well, there is more to it.”

“You’re just going to get tired of me and leave me like everypony else. So why don’t you just go?”

“Hey now, that’s not true.” Sunset frowned. “Look, I really like visiting you, Morning. We have fun, and you’re a great kid.”

“But you’re an adult. Adults don’t care about kids.”

“I do care about you.” Sunset put a hoof on Morning’s shoulder. “That’s why I keep visiting. I care about you.”

“You’re lying!” Morning scooted away, letting Sunset’s hoof slide off of her. “You’re going to leave me, just like Cinnamon Twirl! You’re a princess, and I’m just a dumb orphan.”

“You want to know a secret?”

“No.” Morning turned away from Sunset.

“Too bad, ‘cause I’m telling you anyway.” Sunset paused for a moment, then lowered her voice to say, “I grew up in an orphanage too.”

“You did?” Morning turned back to look at Sunset.

“It’s a long story, but I ran away from home when I was younger. When they found me, they stuck me in an orphanage, where I grew up. Plus even though they’re alive, my parents never cared about me.” Sunset scooted a little closer. “What I’m getting at is that I kinda understand what it’s like, you know? I know what it’s like to feel like no one cares about you. And to pretend like you don’t care about anyone else.”

“I don’t care about anyone!” Morning insisted.

“Oh yeah? Well that’s a shame.” Sunset smiled a little. “Because, you know, I was going to tell you the real reason we keep visiting you, but if you don’t care about us, you probably don’t care about that.”

“I don’t care!” Morning folded her forelegs and looked down at the ground. “What is it?”

“Well, we didn’t want to say anything and get your hopes up, but the thing is we’re kinda looking to adopt a little filly.”

Morning stared at the ground.

“Maybe an adorable little pink filly?” Sunset leaned in a little closer. “With a yellow streak through her rose-colored mane?”

Morning gritted her teeth and turned to face Sunset. “So what!? So you can just bring me back here and leave me alone when you realize you don’t want me!?”

Sunset’s ears folded down. “I know that happened before, but it’s not going to happen with us. We like you a lot, Morning. We’ve been talking, and I think we all agree that we’d love to take you home with us.”

There was definitely a part of Morning that wanted that, but at the same time… “You’ll just bring me back in the end anyway.”

Sunset sighed. “I promise you we won’t. But you know, this is your decision too. If you don’t want to come home with us, then that’s okay. We only want to if you do.”

“Well I don’t!” Morning stood up and adopted a defensive stance, as if Sunset was going to take her away whether she wanted to or not. “Just… just leave me alone!”

For all her attempts to get under Sunset’s skin when they first met, this was the first time she looked genuinely upset. “If… that’s what you really want…”

“It is!” Morning glared at her for a moment, then she turned and ran. She ran all the way inside, and didn’t stop until she reached her room.

Once she was there, Morning buried her head under her pillow. That’s where she was going to stay until Sunset came to try to talk to her, and then she was just going to refuse to talk.

That would show her. She’d try to get Morning to change her mind, and Morning just wouldn’t care. She’d say it as many times as she needed to, but in the end, she would not be adopted by Sunset.

And then Sunset would stop visiting her, because she was an adult and that’s what adults did. When things didn’t go their way, they just stopped caring. But so what! Morning had been fine without Sunset, and she would be fine once Sunset gave up on her!

Even when she started crying, Morning stayed resolute. Sunset would come to change her mind, and Morning would say no.

Only… Sunset didn’t come. No one did. Morning kept crying alone with no sign of Sunset. She pulled her head out from under the pillow, but she kept her back turned to the door in case Sunset walked in.

It was better this way, right? She was better off without another adult to pretend to care when she never would. She was better off without Sunset Shimmer. Morning always did just fine on her own, and that’s how she would continue to do things.

She wasn’t sure how long she cried for. She cried quietly, like she always did. Morning didn’t want other ponies to hear her, didn’t want them to try and comfort her. She hated when ponies took pity on her.

Eventually, she got to wondering what was taking Sunset so long. She was supposed to try and talk to her, supposed to try and convince her to change her mind. That’s how this was supposed to happen, so where was she?

Morning wiped her eyes and got up, walking to the door slowly. She opened it and looked around, seeing no one else. Frowning, she walked out into the hall, and then to the fork between the offices and the playroom. She chose to go to the offices.

The first pony she ran into was Miss Ginger, who smiled a little when she saw her. “Hey, Morning,” she said in that tone that made it clear she knew something bad had happened. “How’re you doing?”

“Uhm… Wh-where’s Sunset?”

Miss Ginger gave a little sigh as she walked over to Morning. “She left, dear. She said you didn’t want to see her anymore.”

“Oh.” Morning couldn’t believe Sunset had left her, just like that. “Well… I don’t…”

“Oh, Morning…” Miss Ginger brushed Morning’s mane aside. “You have to let ponies in sometimes. She really cares about you, you know.”

No she didn’t. She was an adult, and they always said they cared, but they didn’t really. “Well… I don’t care about her!”

“Come on now, you don’t mean that.”

“Yes I do!” Morning was tired of adults telling her how she felt, so she turned around and ran back to her room. She slammed the door behind her and screamed.

She wasn’t going to cry this time, though. Instead, she positioned herself in front of her dresser, and she bucked it with her hindlegs. The book that she’d been reading fell off, falling open onto the floor. Morning looked at it, but rather than picking it up, she kicked it away.

This was exactly why she was better off without Sunset. If Sunset saw her acting like this, she would just send her right back to Small Steps.

So what? Morning kicked her dresser again. Part of it chipped off, throwing Morning off her balance. She fell to the ground and screamed again.

No one would ever want a filly like her. Sunset thought she understood? She didn’t understand anything! Morning was six years old, old enough to know it wasn’t normal to act the way she did. She was better off without anypony else, just like she’d always been.

She picked herself up only to throw herself onto the bed. She grabbed her pillow and held it tightly, and she knew she was the only pony she’d ever need.

Author's Note

I couldn’t very well make this drama-free :pinkiecrazy:

4 – Promises

Chapter Four
Promises

⠀

⠀
In many ways, Fluttershy had always felt unsuited for her role as Bearer of an Element of Harmony. After all, what did she have on the others? She wasn’t strong like Applejack, or talented like Twilight was. Her friends would of course disagree – in fact they had, several times, when she had been caught dismissing her importance. Every one of them was necessary, and Fluttershy played her role to perfection.

Of course, this was because she bore the Element of Kindness. She couldn’t imagine being responsible for any of the other Elements, just as she was sure none of her friends would want to be responsible for Kindness. It was just a natural part of who Fluttershy was.

For instance, it was second nature for her to notice when her wife was trying to hide she was upset. No, maybe she wasn’t hiding it exactly – Sunset might not even realize she was upset herself. She had become the kind of pony who would bury her negativity so deeply that she wasn’t even always aware of it.

But when Fluttershy woke up to find that Sunset was already out of their bed, it sent a message about what kind of state her wife was in. Sunset did not rise early. And when Fluttershy found her in the kitchen making pancakes, there was simply no other explanation.

“Sunset?” Fluttershy said as she entered the room. “What are you doing down here?”

Sunset turned and smiled. “Hey, Fluttershy. I thought I’d make breakfast for everyone.”

“How come?” Fluttershy said, stepping farther into the kitchen.

“I need a reason to do something nice for everyone?”

“No, of course not.” Fluttershy nuzzled against her wife. “It’s just that you don’t normally like to cook.”

Sunset shrugged. “I was just in a weird mood, I guess.”

That was an understatement; ‘weird’ might not be the best word to describe what kind of mood Sunset was in. Fluttershy just smiled. “Do you want some help?”

“No thanks, I think I got a handle on this.” Sunset poured some more pancake batter into a pan. “I wouldn’t say no to some company though.”

“Of course.” Fluttershy took a seat at the kitchen table. “I was surprised when I woke up and you weren’t in bed.”

“Sorry, hope I didn’t worry you.”

“No, it’s okay. Did you not sleep well?”

“No.” Sunset frowned. “I just tossed and turned all night.”

“Poor thing… Too upset about yesterday?”

Sunset sighed. “I guess it’s obvious, huh?”

“A little bit.” It wasn’t like Fluttershy and Twilight weren’t upset that Morning had decided she didn’t want to live with them, but Sunset had definitely taken it the hardest. “And are we sure that doesn’t have anything to do with making pancakes?”

“I guess maybe a little…” Sunset sighed and turned to look at Fluttershy. She looked tired, and not just because she hadn’t slept. “I learned how to make all these different kinds of pancakes so I could make breakfast when Morning came to live with us. I guess I just… thought I’d feel better if I put it to use.”

“Do you?”

“Not really, no.”

Fluttershy got up and hugged Sunset. “It’ll be okay.”

Rather than hugging her back, Sunset flipped the pancake she was cooking. “Yeah, I know. It just sucks.”

It was strange to think of Sunset as being the one of them most upset over this. Out of the three, she had been the most standoffish about adopting a foal. But something about Morning Glisten really won her over.

No, not something. Fluttershy knew why Morning had worked her way into Sunset’s heart so completely. “Did you want to get adopted when you lived at an orphanage?”

Sunset frowned. “No.”

Fluttershy nodded. She’d thought as much. “I guess Morning was just a little too much like you.”

“But that’s exactly why she needs a good home!” Sunset turned to Fluttershy with a pained expression. “I didn’t want to get adopted, but fuck, it could’ve made such a difference for me!”

Fluttershy smiled reassuringly. “I know, and I understand. But you can’t control what she does.”

“Yeah, it just…” Sunset turned back to the pancake, although Fluttershy got the impression she wasn’t really paying it much attention. “It really sucks…”

It hurt to see Sunset like this. Fluttershy had also gotten her hopes up that Morning would be living with them, but she would be okay, and she knew Twilight would too. It was just a matter of trying to get Sunset to move on from the little filly she was already growing to love in such a short time.

There wasn’t much to say that would speed that along, though. Sunset just needed time to move on, so Fluttershy just stayed by Sunset’s side while she made pancakes. She considered insisting Sunset sit down and take it easy while Fluttershy finished, but she suspected she needed to keep busy.

“You know,” Fluttershy said after a while, “no one said you have to stop caring about Morning.”

“She made it pretty clear that she wants me to,” Sunset said.

“I don’t know. I think she was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say. It wouldn’t hurt to visit one more time and see if she’s changed her mind, you know.”

“I…” Sunset took the pancake out of the pan, adding it to the pile she already had. “I don’t know… I don’t want to try and force her.”

“What if we both go?” Fluttershy nuzzled Sunset. “We can just go and spend some time with the kids. I think Morning will at least be happy to see us, even if she doesn’t want to live with us.”

“I think… I’d like to see her one more time. We didn’t really end on a good note, and I want to say a better goodbye at least.”

Fluttershy smiled and kissed Sunset’s cheek. “We can go after breakfast. Want me to go get everyone while you finish up?”

“Sounds good.” Sunset used her magic to open up the fridge and pulled out some eggs. “I’ll make some scrambled eggs to go with the pancakes while you do that. Thanks, Fluttershy.”

“Of course.” Fluttershy gave Sunset a quick kiss, then left the kitchen to wake everyone else. She was a little worried about leaving Sunset to make eggs by herself, but she didn’t want to offend her by saying anything.

So, biting her tongue, she walked up the stairs towards the bedrooms. She stopped at Spike’s room first and knocked on the door. There was only a grumble from inside. “Spike, Sunset made pancakes. Come on down and get some breakfast.”

There was another grumble in response. She wasn’t sure if he would willingly come down for breakfast or not, but she decided to leave it at that for now. She wanted him to get a good meal in with everyone, but he was a teenager and that meant having a little extra patience.

Twilight’s parents were much easier. She knocked on the door gently and Velvet answered. “Good morning, Fluttershy.”

“Good morning, Mom.” Fluttershy smiled. “Sunset made pancakes if you and Dad want to come down and get some breakfast.”

Velvet yawned and smiled. “That sounds nice, dear. I’ll get Night Light up and we’ll head down.”

“Alright, see you in a bit then.”

That only left Twilight. Fluttershy made her way back to their bedroom, where Twilight was still sleeping peacefully. Fluttershy climbed into bed and nudged her wife. “Twily, it’s time to get up.”

“Mmm, why?” Twilight asked without opening her eyes.

“Because Sunset made pancakes. Come down and get breakfast.”

Twilight shifted positions, but she didn’t get up. “I’m not hungry. Just save some for me and I’ll eat them later.”

“Twily… Sunset’s upset.”

Twilight frowned and opened one eye. “She is? Wait, did you say Sunset made pancakes?”

Fluttershy nodded. “She said she wanted to make them for Morning once she came to live with us…”

“Oh.” Twilight sighed and rubbed her eyes, then she sat up. “Fine, I’m up.”

Fluttershy put her forelegs around her wife and they kissed. “I think Sunset and I are going to Small Steps later if you want to come.”

“Really? Are you sure Morning will want to see us?”

“I don’t know… But I think we have to try.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay. I’ll come too.”

Twilight got out of the bed and stretched, then the two of them went downstairs together. As they were passing by, Spike’s door opened and he shuffled down with them.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, they heard Sunset call from the dining room. “In here!”

The group walked into the dining room to find Sunset setting the table. She had certainly been busy – not only were there a lot of pancakes, there were several kinds of them as well, not to mention scrambled eggs.

“Good morning, Sunset,” Twilight said with a smile. “You really went all out.”

Sunset grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I… kinda learned how to make a lot of different kinds.”

Spike yawned. “Why couldn’t we do pancake brunch though?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and levitated some eggs and pancakes over to him, then to herself. While Sunset was serving Fluttershy, Twilight Velvet and Night Light came down. Like his son, Night Light was yawning, but he seemed to be in higher spirits.

They didn’t always eat breakfast as a family – dinner was their usual family meal while everyone got breakfast and lunch on their own. But Fluttershy liked starting the day together as a family, and she suspected that it would be good for Sunset too.

They took their seats and served themselves, then everyone took turns passing syrup and sauce around. Fluttershy had decided to start with blueberry pancakes, which she topped with blueberry syrup and whipped cream.

She took a bite and smiled. “Mmm,” she said through her mouthful. Once she chewed and swallowed, she turned to Sunset to add, “These are really good, Sunset.”

“Thanks,” Sunset said as she took a bite of her own pancakes.

“Yeah, the chocolate chip ones came out great,” Twilight said. She took a bite of the eggs and immediately frowned. She chewed slowly, and Fluttershy knew exactly what was going on.

Although she didn’t need to, she took a bite of the eggs to verify. They were tough and chewy because Sunset had cooked them too long. She swallowed with some difficulty, then forced a smile. “And the eggs are good too,” she said, hoping the others would take her lead.

“Mhmm.” Twilight nodded. “Everything is really good!”

Spike took a bite as well and shrugged. “I don’t know, they seem –” he stopped when he noticed his sister’s glare.

“What’s that?” Sunset asked.

“They’re, uh, pretty good!” Spike said.

Fluttershy let out a small sigh of relief. Sunset was really upset, and she really had done well with the pancakes. The last thing she needed was for anyone to hurt her feelings.

“Certainly much better than I could do,” Twilight Velvet said.

Sunset chuckled as she scooped up a bite of her own eggs. “I’m still a ways off from Night Light, though.”

Night Light laughed as well. “You know, we’d be happy to have you in the kitchen sometimes if you want to learn.”

Sunset didn’t answer, because she had finally taken a bite of the eggs. She frowned at everyone. “Okay, how come no one told me that the eggs taste like ass?”

“Is, er, that a human expression?” Velvet asked.

Spike, who knew that humans didn’t mean ‘donkey’ when they said ‘ass’, snickered. “Do, uh, do you have a lot of experience eating ass, Sunset?”

“Spike!” Twilight said sharply.

Sunset cracked a small grin. “You know, I should say yes just to put that image in your head.”

“Sunset, please!” Twilight said, rounding on her. Spike choked on his pancakes as he tried to keep from laughing, while Sunset adopted an innocent expression.

“Still better than Twilight’s cooking,” Spike mumbled, causing Twilight to give him another glare.

“Uhm, he is right about that, though,” Fluttershy added, then mimicked Sunset’s innocent expression.

“Oh, they’re not that bad,” Night Light said. “Just a little overdone is all. It’s an easy mistake.”

“And besides, the pancakes came out great,” Twilight Velvet added. “And making breakfast for everyone was a lovely thought.”

Sunset moved her eggs around on her plate. “I guess I was a little distracted…”

Velvet smiled sadly. They’d heard about what happened. “Still got little Morning on your mind?”

“Yeah,” Sunset said with a sigh. “Fluttershy said she would go with me to see her later.”

“You can count me in too,” Twilight said, apparently willing to let go of the swearing incident with Spike.

“I think she’ll be happy to see you,” Velvet said.

“I think so too,” Fluttershy agreed.

“I hope so…” Sunset sighed and pushed away her plate. “You didn’t see her, though. She was really angry.”

“Little kids can have big emotions,” Velvet said. “And sometimes they can swing pretty fast from one direction to the other.”

“Whatever happens, we’ll face it together,” Twilight said with a smile.

“I’ll just be happy if I get to say a proper goodbye to her…” Sunset muttered.

“You know, there’s something else you can do,” Night Light said with a smile, and everyone turned to look at him. “You could give her a journal so she could keep in touch with you. Maybe she’s not ready to be adopted, and maybe she never will be. But that way, she could keep in contact if she wants to.”

“That’s a great idea!” Twilight said. “We should have some around.”

Velvet nodded. “I agree. There’s no sense pretending like there wasn’t a connection between you four, no matter what happens. And who knows, maybe someday she’ll change her mind and use this journal as a way to tell you that.”

“What do you think, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked. She thought it sounded like a great idea, and they did have a surplus of the journals because of their work with Unity. But Sunset had spent the most time with Morning, and she knew her the best.

“I think it’s worth a shot,” Sunset said, the trace of a smile on her face. “I don’t know what’ll happen. I know when I was her age, I wouldn’t want anything to do with something like that. But it’s a good idea.”

“She may be like you, but she’s not you,” Twilight said with a smile. “I think she’ll really surprise you.”

Spike pointed across the table. “Well I think you should pass me another one of those birthday cake pancakes.”

With an eye roll, Sunset passed Spike another pancake. Overcooked eggs aside, everyone enjoyed breakfast. Most importantly, Sunset did. She was a little more reserved than usual, but she joined in with jokes and she smiled and soaked in the praise they all heaped on her for the pancakes.

Just as Fluttershy had expected, the family breakfast seemed to help Sunset quite a bit, her spirits significantly raised by the time they cleaned up the table. As they usually did when someone else did the cooking, Twilight’s parents offered to take care of the dishes, leaving the wives to get ready.

“This is it, I guess,” Sunset said as they retreated to the bedroom to freshen up before heading out.

“No,” Twilight said. “She’ll have a journal, and she can reach out to us at any time.”

“Yeah,” Sunset said with a small smile. She took a deep breath. “You’re right. Let’s do this.”

Hollow Shades wasn’t a popular destination, so there were a limited number of trains that made the route between it and Ponyville. Coupled with the fact that they hadn’t left first thing in the morning, that meant that they didn’t reach Small Steps until late afternoon. That worked out okay because Morning would be home from school, but it did also mean that they’d have limited time to spend together.

But before they could meet with Morning, they met with Ginger Snap. She smiled when she saw them. “Oh good, I was hoping you three would be coming back. Didn’t think you would make it back quite so soon, though.”

Sunset shifted in place. “I think we’re going to need a little time before we look into adopting another foal. But we did want to try to say a proper goodbye to Morning, and to give her this.”

Ginger Snap looked at the journal. “Morning does love books.”

Twilight nodded. “This isn’t a regular book. It’s a journal that can send messages to its mirror copy, which we have. This way, Morning will be able to write to us. If she wants to, of course.”

“Even better.” Ginger Snap smiled. “I think she’ll warm up to it, no matter what she thinks right away. She was really upset when you left, you know.”

“She was?” Sunset asked with a frown. “She said she didn’t want to see me anymore…”

“Little kids say things sometimes,” Ginger said with a nod. “Especially kids like Morning.”

“Is she around?” Fluttershy asked. “We’d, uhm, we’d really like to see her.”

“Oh yes, of course. She’s probably in her room. Come with me.”

They followed the caretaker to Morning’s room, even though all three of them knew the way by now. She knocked on the door and gently called through it. “Morning? You have visitors.”

There was a moment’s pause, then the door slowly opened to reveal Morning Glisten. She looked like she’d been crying, and she looked up at the others in surprise.

“Hey, Morning,” Sunset said awkwardly. “I know you said you didn’t want to see us, but –”

She was cut off when Morning ran forward and threw her forelegs around her. After looking around for some sign of what to do, Sunset reached down and did likewise as Morning started crying.

“I’m sorry!” Morning said between sobs. “I didn’t mean it! I missed you.”

Sunset scooped Morning up in one foreleg and carried her to her bed. Fluttershy and Twilight followed them inside, Fluttershy sitting on Morning’s other side while Twilight remained standing.

Sunset kept a foreleg around Morning. “Hey, I missed you too, you know.”

Fluttershy extended her wing over the small filly. “It’s true. We all did.”

“I thought… I thought I’d never see you again.”

Twilight took a seat on the floor near them. “Trust me, you’ll have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of us. And we brought you something.” She levitated the journal over to Morning.

Morning rubbed her eyes and flipped open the cover. “It’s all blank.”

“That’s because this is a magic journal,” Twilight explained. “If you write a message in this one, it’ll appear in another one we have at home, and then we can write back to you.”

“When we first met Sunset, she lived really far away,” Fluttershy explained. “This is how Twilight and I talked to her.”

Morning looked down at the journal, which didn’t seem to perk her up as much as Fluttershy would have hoped. Eventually she looked up at Sunset. “Uhm…”

“What’s up?” Sunset asked. “Don’t know how to write?”

“I know how to write!” Morning said and turned away.

Sunset chuckled. “Hey, I’m just teasing. What’s on your mind?”

When Morning didn’t answer, Fluttershy gently chided her wife. “Maybe this isn’t the best time to tease, Sunset.”

“Right, sorry…”

“I, uhm…” Morning blushed and squirmed. “I think I changed my mind.”

“You changed your mind?” Sunset asked, her eyes going a little wide. “About what?”

“Do you think you might want to come live with us after all?” Fluttershy asked.

“Maybe…”

Sunset broke into a grin. “Yes! This is gonna be so cool, just wait and see!”

“You, uhm…” Morning squirmed some more. “You promise you won’t just send me back…?”

“Of course we won’t,” Fluttershy said. “The four of us have spent a lot of time together, and we wouldn’t offer this if we weren’t sure.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I know that happened with Cinnamon Twirl, but it won’t happen with us. We’re going to take care of you, Morning. I promise.”

Morning started crying and held onto Sunset some more. Fluttershy turned to Twilight. “Twily, let’s go see what we need to do about paperwork while Sunset stays with Morning.”

“I think that sounds like a good idea,” Twilight said as she got up.

Fluttershy stood up as well, and she and Twilight walked out of the room to find Ginger Snap still waiting in the hall. “I heard everything. Let’s go get things started, then.”

Fluttershy often found herself glad for Twilight’s thorough understanding of, well, everything, and this was definitely one of those times. As Ginger Snap explained the process and showed them the forms they would need to fill out, Fluttershy quickly found herself becoming overwhelmed by it all. Twilight, on the other hoof, seemed to be one step ahead of the explanation at all times.

It was perhaps not surprising that they would not be able to take Morning home with them that night. Nonetheless, it was a bit disappointing. Fluttershy understood, of course; it was better if this process was a little complicated, having foals going home with potential families before everything was in order wouldn’t help anyone, least of all the foals.

At some point, they had to take Sunset away from Morning so the filly could eat some dinner and take a bath. By that point, Morning seemed to be doing much better at least. If anything, Fluttershy thought Sunset had the tougher time separating than Morning did.

Since she wasn’t legally their wife, Sunset wasn’t going to legally be Morning’s guardian and wasn’t needed for the paperwork, but she helped fill it out anyway. Mostly she focused on helping Fluttershy, since Twilight was capable of filling out forms all on her own.

In addition to the paperwork, they’d also be subject to an inspection of their house to make sure it was suitable for a foal Morning’s age. Ginger Snap seemed apologetic about all the hoops they’d have to jump through, but they were all in agreement – they didn’t want any special treatment because they were royalty, they wanted to go through the process like anypony else.

The paperwork seemed to drag on forever, and there was more that they’d be taking home with them to fill out and return later. But they were given extra motivation when they found out if all went well, they could have Morning spend the weekend with them as a sort of trial run.

Eventually, they finished up and they were allowed to see Morning before leaving. By then, she had already had dinner and would be winding down for bed, so all in all they would be seeing her very little on this trip, but that was okay. Before too long, they would all be living together, after all.

Sunset knocked on her door, and Morning called “Come in,” through it, so they did so. She was on her bed reading, which wasn’t a surprise to any of them.

“Alright, Morning, we’ve gotta get going,” Sunset said.

“Aww… But we didn’t get to do anything…”

“Well, we do have good news,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “You can come stay with us this weekend.”

“Really!?” Morning said.

Fluttershy giggled. “Yup! And you can write to us with the journal, too.”

“And if everything goes well, you might be able to come live with us in a month,” Twilight said.

Morning’s smile faded. “But… I thought you said I could come with you this weekend?”

“Oh…” Fluttershy frowned. “No, they just said you could come for the weekend, then we’ll have to bring you back. It’s so that everypony can get to know each other a little better and you can see what it’ll be like to live with us. That way you can make sure you really want to.”

“You mean you can make sure you really want me…”

“Morning…” Sunset sat on her bed beside her. “Yes, it is designed so that both the parents and the foal can make sure they want to be together. But we know we want you. If we could take you home tonight and never look back, we would. We just have to be patient, and soon, this will all be behind us.”

“You promise?”

“Yes,” Sunset said as she hugged Morning. “We promise.”

“And you’re in for a treat when you come over,” Twilight said. “Sunset’s going to make pancakes!”

“She’s really good at it too,” Fluttershy added.

Sunset chuckled. “I’ll absolutely make pancakes for you.”

“Okay,” Morning said with a smile.

Although the door was open, someone still knocked on it. They all looked back to see Ginger Snap smiling at them. “It’s getting to be time for somepony to get to bed.”

“Aww, but I’m not tired,” Morning said.

“Maybe the princesses wouldn’t mind tucking you into bed,” Ginger Snap suggested before she left to go tell other foals it was bedtime.

“Come on, let’s get you into bed,” Sunset said.

Morning put her book on her bedside table, then she lay down on the bed as Sunset pulled the blanket back for her, then tucked it in around her once she was all comfy.

“If you want,” Twilight said, “when you’re over for the weekend, we can read you bedtime stories before bed.”

“I’d –” Morning stopped to yawn. “I’d like that.”

“Hmm, we don’t have time for a bedtime story, but maybe a song?” Fluttershy suggested.

“Okay,” Morning said, already sounding sleepy.

“What should we sing?” Sunset asked.

“How about this one.” Fluttershy stepped closer to the bed and brushed a hoof over Morning’s mane. “Once upon a time, you came into my world and made the stars align.”

Twilight picked up the next line. They were all familiar with the song; Sunset often sang it to calm Twilight down when she had anxiety attacks. “Now I can see the signs, you pick me up when I get down so I can shine.”

“Shine like rainbows,” they all sang.

They took turns singing the words in the verses, and sang together on the chorus. Fluttershy was pretty sure Morning was asleep before they finished, but they sang the song all the way through anyway.

“We shine like rainbows,” Sunset finished at the end. Morning didn’t stir, already sleeping soundly. Sunset bent down to kiss her forehead. “Goodnight, Morning.”

Author's Note

I did some research on the adoption process for this fic before deciding to just wing it. It’s hard to get solid answers, then when I did, they weren’t conducive to the story I want to tell (basically it’s a much more long and drawn-out process than I’ll be showing in this fic). We can chalk it up to a difference between America and Equestria, but I didn’t want this whole adoption process to take so long :twilightblush:

5 – Taking Their Time

Chapter Five
Taking Their Time

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Twilight was not a bad pony. She knew that. She was not one to talk up her virtues, but she also was not blind to them. She was a good pony, and she usually didn’t have a reason to doubt that.

Usually. The thing with ‘usually’, of course, is that it means that there is also a ‘but sometimes…’ For Twilight, that sometimes had only crept up recently. She had never before had reason to feel like a bad pony, so the thought took her completely by surprise.

But as was often the case, once the thought had entered her mind, it had taken root there and showed no signs of leaving.

Twilight did her best to shake the thought, and she usually succeeded. Usually. She had plenty to keep her occupied, at least. They all had a lot to do in a small amount of time.

After agreeing to adopt Morning Glisten, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset’s week became a whirlwind of paperwork and meetings. Especially since they’d chosen to try and have Morning over for the weekend, which necessitated much of the paperwork to be done along with a full inspection of the castle.

That had been an ordeal. There were rooms in the castle that no one had been in for years, as the whole thing had been designed to house much more than a single family, even if it was a large and growing family.

Of course, they passed the inspection without a hitch. The whole family had spent the days leading up to the inspection going over the castle and making sure there wasn’t anything dangerous for a young filly.

The only room that posed a problem was Twilight and Sunset’s workshop, which did have various tools and equipment Morning could hurt herself with if they weren’t careful. To be extra sure, they invested in a locking toolbox that kept things out of reach as well as a lock for the door itself so that they could keep it locked up when they weren’t in there.

And it was just in time too. They did the inspection on Thursday, which cleared them for taking Morning home with them on Friday. Sunset and Fluttershy were on their way to get her now, while Twilight stayed behind to get things set up for a small welcome party.

Of course, it wouldn’t be anything extravagant. Morning was a bit shy, and they didn’t want to overwhelm her on her first day with them. They had their closest friends over, all of whom understood that they couldn’t crowd her. In all likelihood, the adults would probably let Morning get accustomed to the castle while the wives took turns spending time with her.

And in the hopes of giving Morning a few friends her own age, Pinkie also brought Pound and Pumpkin Cake. Morning had never shown much interest in other foals, but Twilight hoped that starting fresh in Ponyville would give Morning the chance to open up with a few ponies. Pound and Pumpkin were well behaved, and while they were a few years older than Morning at nine, they knew how to play with younger foals as well. Besides, if Morning thought of herself as being on the mature side, she’d likely prefer being with older kids.

As always, the two of them were proving to be an absolute delight. All Twilight had hoped for was that the two of them could play quietly while the adults set up for the party. Instead, the two foals were eager to help, and they constantly ran back to Pinkie to get new instructions.

Twilight giggled as Pinkie sent them off on another task. “You’re so good with foals, Pinkie. I would’ve run out of jobs for them by now.”

“Aww, it just comes with practice,” Pinkie said with a wave of her hoof. “Before you know it, you’ll be the bestest mom ever!”

Twilight blushed a little and grinned sheepishly. “I still can’t believe I’m going to be a mom at all. It’s just… wow, you know?”

Pinkie slid across the room to put her foreleg around Twilight. “Aww, not excited to be a mommy?”

“Trust me, we’re all excited. But we’re also very nervous.” Twilight smiled. “Somepony once told me there’s a word for that.”

“Really!?” Pinkie beamed. “Well whoever she is, she sounds super smart. I bet if she were here, she’d say you have nothing to worry about. You’re going to be a great mommy, Twi!”

Twilight chuckled. “Thanks, Pinkie. I keep telling myself that we can handle this, and that we’re not doing it alone. We have all our friends and my family to help us. But I also keep thinking of everything that could go wrong…”

Pinkie pulled Twilight into a hug. “Silly Twilight… Of course something will go wrong! When does anything we do ever go right?”

Twilight quirked an eyebrow. “That’s… not exactly inspiring.”

“Think about it, Twitwi, everything we do has something that goes wrong. But you know what? What matters is that we stick together and we help each other overcome problems that are too big for any one of us. And in the end, no matter what goes wrong, we also always come out on top.”

That was true, but Twilight wasn’t sure this time was quite the same. “But this isn’t some bad guy threatening Equestria, this is a little filly who depends on us. She’s going to be our daughter, Pinkie! Everything needs to be perfect!”

“Parents don’t have to be perfect, Twilight.” Pinkie thought for a moment, then shrugged. “My parents never really understood me. They don’t get parties and fun, they just want the satisfaction of an honest day’s work. But you know what? It doesn’t matter, because they love me and even if they don’t understand, they support me doing what makes me happy.”

Twilight thought about her own parents. Had they been perfect? Twilight couldn’t think of anything wrong that they’d done. Oh sure, they’d had little quarrels over the years, but those were always because Twilight was the one in the wrong, back when she didn’t care about being friends with other ponies.

But still, there was something to Pinkie’s point. And it reminded Twilight that she had two perfect role models that would be more than happy to answer any questions. Not that Twilight had forgotten about them, of course, but the reminder still helped to calm her nerves a little bit.

Thinking about it, maybe they could give her a few words of advice about the day. And with the party mostly set up and some time before Morning arrived, this was the perfect chance. “Would you mind finishing up the preparations, Pinkie? I’d like to talk to my parents for a bit.”

“No problem, Twilight! Just leave it to me!”

Twilight thanked her, then made her way to the kitchen. Her dad and Spike were preparing food for the party, so at least she’d have one of her parents to get some advice from.

And it seemed that luck was with them, because her mom was in there as well. She smiled as she saw her daughter walk in. “Uh-oh, looks like I’ve been caught slacking off.”

Twilight chuckled and took a seat beside her mom. “Nothing to worry about, we got it all taken care of. Pinkie’s finishing the last of the decorations now.”

“Oh good.” Twilight Velvet sipped on what looked like a cup of tea. “I didn’t mean to leave you all, I just came in here to rest my hooves for a minute, but then time got away from me…”

“It happens to me all the time,” Twilight said. “Besides, we had Pound and Pumpkin helping us.”

“They’re good kids,” Velvet said. “I hope they get along with little Morning.”

“I’m sure they will,” Twilight said.

“I don’t know,” Spike said. “It took her a while to warm up to you all.”

“It might be slow going, but it’ll be good to introduce her to some other foals,” Night Light said as he pulled some cookies out of the oven. “How much longer until she gets here again? I’ve been dying to meet her.”

“Should be pretty soon.” Twilight glanced at a clock on the wall. “Their train will be in Ponyville in about half an hour, then they’re coming right here from the station.”

“Exciting!” Night Light grinned, but then it turned to a glare at Spike, who had been reaching for one of the cookies. “Just because you can handle the oven hot temperatures doesn’t mean you can start chowing down on those cookies.”

“Aww…” Spike withdrew his claw and just looked at the cookies longingly.

Twilight giggled, then shifted in her seat a little. “To tell you the truth, I’m a little nervous.”

“Of course.” Twilight Velvet put a hoof on her shoulder. “I’d be amazed if you weren’t. But you’ll do fine.”

“What was it like for you two?” Twilight asked. “When you first became parents, I mean.”

“Oh, we were terrified,” Night Light said. “We were young and not at all ready for it. But at least we had eleven months to warm up to the idea.”

“Not that we felt very prepared by the time Shiny got here,” Velvet said with a smirk. “We were just doing our best, we had no idea if it was good enough. And if I know you, I’m sure that’s exactly what you’re worried about – if you’ll be good enough.”

Twilight chuckled nervously. “Well… yes.”

Spike laughed. “Twilight, you saved Equestria like a dozen times. I’m pretty sure that you can manage to take care of a single foal.”

“Those two things have nothing in common!” Twilight said with a frown.

“Relax, Twi,” Spike said. “I know better than anyone that you’ll be a great mom. I mean… well, you know.”

Twilight knew what he was getting at. It wasn’t something they ever talked about – Twilight herself had only ever spoken of the fact once in her life – but Spike existed in a place between brother and son for Twilight. She had handled a lot of his emotional development, including being the sole pony he lived with for several key years of his life.

Although it wasn’t all Twilight; her parents had already laid the groundwork for her by raising him from a hatchling to a young dragon. But as Twilight thought of that, she realized she was looking at this the wrong way. “What was it like when you adopted Spike?”

“Hmm… Well, you know we never planned to adopt a child,” Night Light pointed out. He looked to Spike and smiled. “Of course, we’re glad we did. But it came as a surprise to us.”

“I remember the biggest concern we had was how to raise a baby dragon.” Velvet stood up and gave her son a hug. He stood much taller than her now, so he was easily able to wrap an arm around his mom. “It turned out to be pretty similar to raising a pony, with a few unexpected differences. I don’t expect Morning Glisten will eat your expensive jewel necklace when you aren’t looking, though.”

Spike chuckled nervously. “Did I, er, really do that?”

Velvet laughed it off. “You did, but you were only a little baby. You didn’t know better. And neither did we – that was how we learned dragons eat gems.”

Night Light grinned as well. “Nearly gave us both heart attacks, though. We had no idea that you could digest something like that, let alone that it was a normal part of your diet.”

Twilight giggled. “I think I remember that, actually. I didn’t know the details, but I remember you two panicking over something Spike ate.”

“Be glad you get to skip the toddler years,” Velvet said. “Oh, I’m sure there are different challenges with adopting a six-year-old, but I think you’re actually getting off easier here.”

“I hope so.” Twilight sighed and folded her hooves on the table. “I wouldn’t mind having a bit of an easier time. I don’t know if we’ll ever adopt more than one foal, but it would be nice if our first time was easier.”

“Every kid brings their own challenges.” Night Light crossed the room to give Twilight a hug. “As well as their own rewards. I’m sure you’ll find that Morning is worth every hardship.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m sure she will be.”

“Come on,” Velvet said. “Let’s go see if there’s anything we can do to help Pinkie.”

“Good idea.” Twilight stood and walked out of the room with her mom.

Truth be told, she appreciated having a reason to leave the room. She didn’t have a problem with Spike knowing she was a nervous wreck about being a mom, and he had even helped remind her that she’d done something like this once before. But there was one thing she still wanted to ask her parents, and she was afraid it would be too awkward to talk to with him around.

Actually, she was afraid to talk about it at all. But she needed to get this out, needed to hear what her parents had felt like in this particular situation. Most of all, she needed to hear she wasn’t a bad pony.

‘Please, please say I’m not a bad pony…’

“Hey, Mom? Can we, uhm…”

Twilight Velvet frowned a little. “What’s up, Twily?”

Twilight looked away and folded her ears. “I just… wanted to ask you about something else. Uhm, privately?”

“Oh, of course. Come on.” Instead of going towards the entry hall and sitting room where they had set up the party, Velvet led them towards the stairway leading to the second floor. They didn’t bother to go upstairs; there was no one around to overhear them.

Twilight took a deep breath, using her practiced breathing technique to try and calm herself. She was afraid of asking what was on her mind, afraid that her mom would confirm her fears that she was a bad pony. Or rather, that she was a bad mother, which was basically the same thing.

Velvet placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be.”

“Well…” Twilight shifted her weight between her hooves. “When you first adopted Spike, did you, I don’t know… need time to feel like he was your son?”

“Oh, of course,” Velvet said as if it was no big deal. “It wasn’t at all like with you and Shining. I had eleven months of you two being inside me, so by the time you were born, we already knew each other very well.”

“Really?” Twilight’s eyes darted to her mom’s. Was it really that simple?

Velvet chuckled. “With Spike, I knew right away that he belonged with us. But I guess at first it just felt like taking care of him was something we should do. Like your father said, we didn’t plan on adopting him, so we were just a little blindsided by the whole thing.”

“Oh. Right.” They hadn’t planned on adopting. Twilight had. It was different for her, she should be welcoming Morning into her family as her new daughter, not as a house guest she was looking after.

“Just like I’m sure you are,” Velvet said gently. “Twily, we both know you’ve always been apprehensive about having foals. If it takes a little time for that connection to form, that’s okay.”

Twilight sighed. “It just feels like Sunset and Fluttershy are so sure about this. Fluttershy’s wanted foals for years, so I understand her, but even Sunset’s talking about Morning nonstop. And it’s not that they’re not nervous, they just… already love her.”

“Oh, honey…” Velvet hugged her daughter. “You just need a little more time to get to know her. You haven’t even known Morning for a whole month, it takes time for these bonds to form. And even if they’re less apprehensive than you, I’m sure Fluttershy and Sunset both need a little more time for that maternal bond to fully form too.”

“I just worry… what if it never forms? Of course I’ll take care of her no matter what; we can’t send her back when she’s already been through so much hardship. But what if I never grow to… to love her as a daughter?”

“You will. Just like it took me some time to grow to love Spike. And once you do, you’ll love her so much that it’ll make up for the time you didn’t.”

Every time either of them mentioned that she didn’t love Morning, Twilight felt the knot in her stomach twist. “I feel bad even just talking about it.” She looked at her mom with pleading eyes. “I’m not a bad pony, right?”

“Oh sweetie, no. You’re a wonderful pony, and whether you realize it or not, you already care about this little filly. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t mind one way or the other about this.”

“I… I guess so.” Twilight took a deep breath and smiled. “Thanks, Mom. This helps a lot.”

“And of course, you can talk to your father and me about this whenever you feel you need to.”

Twilight nodded. “Let’s go back to Pinkie. Morning will be here soon, and we should be ready for her.”

Feeling a little better, Twilight led them back to the front of the castle. She found they weren’t just returning to Pinkie and the Cake twins; Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity had arrived as well.

Rainbow practically flew into Twilight when she saw her. “Are they here yet!?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “If they were, I’m pretty sure they would have used the front door, so you all would be the first ones they’d see.”

“Oh, right.”

Applejack laughed. “Don’t mind her none, Rainbow’s just been jittery about meeting her new niece all day.”

“Oh, I think we all have been,” Rarity said. “It took me ages to figure out what to wear. First impressions are everything, you know.”

“Rarity, she’s five,” Applejack said.

“Six,” Twilight corrected automatically.

“Point is she don’t care none ‘bout what any of us are wearing.”

“Well, I think Rarity’s dress is super pretty!” Pinkie said. She was sitting off in the corner with Pound and Pumpkin, and the three of them were playing a board game.

“Thank you, darling.” Rarity struck a pose to show off her black dress, which sparkled in the light. It did look fantastic, but of course Applejack was right; Morning wouldn’t care one way or the other about it. Twilight chose not to comment.

“I just want to meet my awesome new niece!” Rainbow said. “It’s too bad she’s not a pegasus though, I’d love to teach her how to fly.”

“She’s a unicorn, which is much cooler,” Pumpkin said, sticking her tongue out at her pegasus brother.

Although she knew it was just sibling teasing, Twilight didn’t like hearing one kind of pony say they were better than any other kind. “There’s plenty cool about being a pegasus too.”

“I’d love to be able to fly,” Pinkie said. “I’d also love to be able to do magic, too. Other kinds of ponies are super cool!”

“Not me,” Applejack said. “I’m happy being an earth pony, thank you very much.”

“Of course!” Pinkie said, beaming. “I love being an earth pony, too!”

Pound Cake fidgeted. “But… what can earth ponies do that other ponies can’t?”

Twilight smiled, happy to turn this into a learning opportunity. “Earth ponies can sense things in the world around them. I admit that I didn’t really understand it until I became an alicorn and got earth pony magic myself.”

“Like Pinkie sense?” Pound Cake asked.

Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it and brought a hoof to her chin in concentration. Was Pinkie sense just concentrated earth pony magic?

She never got to postulate further, since the front door opening interrupted her thoughts. Everyone’s heads turned to face it, and the ponies who weren’t in view of it came running over.

Sunset walked in first, with Morning Glisten following behind, and Fluttershy bringing up the rear. Twilight beamed. “Hi, Morning. Welcome to –”

“Aah!” Pinkie ran up to her and crouched down so their faces were on the same level. “You’re just the cutest thing! My name’s Pinkie Pie, and we’re going to be best friends and –”

“Uhm, Pinkie.” Fluttershy put a hoof around Morning, who had backed up into her. “Maybe we could tone it down a teeny bit?”

“Don’t mind her,” Sunset said. “She’s just… really excited to meet you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Pinkie stood up and frowned. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I’m not scared!” Morning said, stepping away from Fluttershy and puffing up her chest to try and look tough. It was adorable.

“That’s right!” Rainbow said. “No niece of mine would be afraid of Pinkie Pie!”

Morning looked up at Rainbow Dash. “Your niece?”

Fluttershy flew up to where Rainbow was hovering. “This is Rainbow Dash, she’s my sister.”

“Oh.”

“I think some introductions are in order,” Twilight said. “Morning, we asked our closest friends and family to come here and meet you today. Let’s get out of the doorway and we can introduce you to everyone.”

“I’ll just slip off and tell Night Light and Spike that she’s here,” Velvet said. Twilight nodded and led the rest of them out of the entry hall.

They made their way back into the sitting room, where Twilight quickly realized there would not be enough seats for all of them. She could get more chairs from another room soon, but for the time being, they would make do.

No one seemed to be sitting anyway, they were all waiting around for introductions. “Alright,” Twilight said, “so you met Pinkie and Rainbow. This is Applejack.”

Applejack tipped her hat. “Nice to meet ya!”

“Uhm, hi,” Morning said.

“And this is Rarity.” Twilight gestured to their last friend.

“The pleasure’s all mine.” Rarity gave a small bow. “Just you wait, little one, I’m going to spoil you rotten with the nicest dresses any little filly could ask for!”

Morning looked to Twilight. “Dresses?”

“Rarity owns a boutique in town. She makes dresses, like the one she’s wearing today. And Applejack lives at Sweet Apple Acres, a farm and apple orchard. She grows food for everypony in town.”

“Oh.”

Fluttershy gestured towards Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie works at Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery. Maybe during the weekend we can pay her a visit at work and get you something sweet to eat.”

Applejack shrugged. “And no one’s really too sure what Rainbow does, exactly. Aside from eat my apples before I can pick ‘em!”

“You’re only looking at the most daring stuntpony of all time!” Rainbow did a backflip in the air. “Just wait, I’ll put on a show for you and you’ll see it for yourself!”

“She’s also on the weather team,” Fluttershy explained.

“Yeah yeah, but more importantly, I’m the coolest athlete Ponyville has ever seen.”

Pinkie pulled over Pound and Pumpkin Cake, who were waiting patiently for the adults to introduce themselves. “And these two are Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake! They’re twins! I just know you three are going to be best friends!”

“Hi!” Pumpkin said, excitedly running up to Morning. The younger filly shrunk back a little bit.

“Uhm, hi.” Morning looked up to Sunset, who chuckled.

“We thought it would be good to introduce you to a few local foals. They’re a little older than you, but we figured you’re pretty mature for your age.”

“Uhm…” Morning looked down at the ground. “I thought it would just be the four of us.”

“It will be for most of the weekend,” Twilight promised. “But we wanted to introduce you to these ponies, because you’ll be seeing a lot of them once you live with us. They’re more than friends, they’re like our family.”

“Speaking of family,” Sunset said, looking behind Twilight.

She turned around to see the rest of the family walk into the room, bringing trays of food with them.

Twilight smiled. “Just a few more introductions. You’ve already met Spike once before, I’m sure you remember him.”

Spike set down the tray of cookies he was carrying and waved. “Hey, Morning. Welcome to Ponyville!”

Morning just waved awkwardly.

Twilight moved on. “And these are my parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light.”

“Your name’s Twilight too?” Morning asked Velvet. “Doesn’t that get confusing?”

“That’s why most ponies just call me Velvet,” she explained. Thankfully she kept herself very reserved despite how excited she had been to meet Morning. “I’m very pleased to meet you, Morning.”

“I guess to you she’ll be grandma, though.” Night Light chuckled.

Morning winced and looked from Velvet to Sunset. “Do I have to?”

“No,” Sunset answered. They had agreed that they wouldn’t enforce family titles on Morning. “Only if you want to. But, well… Velvet and Night Light are your grandparents now, if you choose to live with us.”

Morning looked around. “There’s so many ponies…”

“You know Twilight’s the Princess of Friendship, right?” Sunset asked with a grin. “That means we have a lot of friends.”

Fluttershy brushed a wing against Morning’s back. “Don’t worry, we aren’t going to keep making you the center of attention. Why don’t you go play a game with Pound and Pumpkin? I know you like board games, so we brought a bunch down here that the three of you can play together.”

Morning looked at the older kids apprehensively. Pumpkin was quick to run up to Morning and smile. “Come on, it’ll be fun!”

Instead of following, Morning looked back at Sunset. “But I don’t like playing with other foals…”

Somehow, Sunset managed to keep her grin in place. “Aww, come on! Just give it a shot. Tell you what, I’ll play a game with you, and if you still don’t want to play in a little bit then we can do something else.”

That seemed to placate Morning, who grumpily walked beside Sunset toward the corner with the board games. As they walked, Night Light called after them, “Be sure to have some of those cookies first, though!”

Pumpkin ran over to the cookie tray and got one for herself and for her brother with her magic. Sunset levitated two cookies over as well, giving one to Morning.

Twilight turned to address the adults. She spoke quietly so that the kids didn’t overhear. “Let’s split up a bit. Morning’s a little shy.”

There were nods of agreement, and the group divided into two. Sunset was playing with the kids, of course, and Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike all stayed behind. Although Spike mostly seemed interested in sticking close to the snack table, so he probably wouldn’t be crowding Morning much.

Meanwhile, Twilight, her parents, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack made their way into the entry hall.

“I wonder if this is a good idea,” Fluttershy said as they left.

“I think it’ll help Morning feel a little less crowded,” Twilight said.

“Oh, not splitting up. That was a good idea.” Fluttershy looked back at the other room uncertainly. “But this whole party. Morning was so excited all the way over, but then we got here and she completely changed…”

“I think she just needs a little time,” Twilight said. “It’ll be better now that there are fewer ponies around her.”

“I hope you’re right.” Fluttershy bowed her head into Twilight’s shoulder, so Twilight stroked her mane.

“Fluttershy, darling, the Cake twins are wonderful foals,” Rarity said. “I’m positive they’ll get along famously!”

“Maybe we should head out?” Applejack suggested. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to gettin’ to know Morning as much as anypony, but I don’t want to cause any problems either.”

“Let’s see how things go with their game,” Twilight said. “Maybe she just needs a little time, then she’ll be more open to seeing other ponies.”

“Maybe…” Fluttershy said, although she didn’t sound too sure.

“We won’t push her,” Twilight said. “If she’s still not feeling up to being around our friends, we’ll call off the party.”

“Twilight’s right, darling,” Rarity said. “And I daresay, she’ll need to get used to ponies being around sooner or later.”

Fluttershy sighed and gave a small smile. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“At least she’s not trying to boss everyone around,” Night Light said. “When Twily was little, she had to be in charge of everything.”

“Dad…” Twilight blushed and looked at the ground.

“Aww, shucks, Twi…” Applejack put a foreleg around Twilight. “You’re kinda still in charge of everything.”

“I don’t mean to be!” Twilight insisted, and the others laughed.

“Is there any food left in the kitchen?” Velvet asked. “I hope we didn’t leave it all to the others.”

“There’s a bit left in the kitchen,” Night Light said. “Come on, I need to check on the main course anyway.”

Everyone followed Night Light into the kitchen, where they helped themselves to what was left of the hors d’oeuvres. It was no wonder Spike had opted to stay with the snack table, since it seemed that’s where all the sweet foods had wound up. Still, there were some deviled eggs and stuffed mushrooms to eat.

They talked about the same things everyone had been talking about ever since the triad had announced their plans to adopt – what it felt like to be new moms, how excited and nervous they were, the fact that everyone had faith in them to pull through. Twilight didn’t make any mention of the fact that she still wasn’t feeling much like a mom, especially since Fluttershy was clearly enamored with the idea.

Still, Twilight didn’t mind. She may not be as certain as Fluttershy, but hearing her wife so certain did help her feel like this was the right idea for them. Maybe her mom was right, and when she spent a little more time with Morning, she’d feel better about the whole thing.

They talked until Sunset showed up. She smiled at them and said, “There you are.”

Twilight frowned a little bit. “Sunset? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, Spike, Pinkie, and Rainbow are still keeping an eye on the kids. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with her, but there’s only so much a mare can play a kids’ game, you know?”

Twilight smiled. “Yeah, I guess I see your point. That’s something we’ll have to get used to though, isn’t it?”

“Oh yeah,” Velvet said. “Little kids are insatiable. They can play the same game for hours.”

“When I left, Morning and Pumpkin were playing a guessing game. Pound was helping Pumpkin, and Spike’s helping Morning.”

“She playin’ nice with the Cakes then?” Applejack asked.

“She needs to be reminded it’s just a game from time to time,” Sunset said. “As much as she didn’t want to play, once she did, she definitely had a competitive streak.”

“That’s something a lot of kids have, though,” Night Light said. “She’ll probably grow out of it.”

“Besides, she still can’t be as bad as Twily was,” Velvet said with a grin and a wave of her hoof.

Twilight facehoofed. “Mom, please don’t make this into an embarrassing story about me.”

“Oh no, please do,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Come on, gimme a good baby Twi story before I have to go back to the kids.”

Twilight groaned and let her head fall onto the table, but the others ignored her.

“Well, as you know Twily wasn’t big on friends back in those days. But she did try to have a sleepover. Once.”

“Not the sleepover…” Twilight muttered. Fluttershy patted her on the back, but she did nothing to try and stop the story.

“Oh yeah?” Sunset’s smirk grew into a grin. “Bet that went over great.”

“Hang on,” Applejack said with a frown. “You said that sleepover with me and Rarity was your first one.”

“I know, I just… didn’t really count the other one.” Twilight sighed. “I was a jerk, and I spent the whole night trying to get away from the others.”

“Come now, Applejack,” Rarity said with a wink. “At least we did enjoy ourselves in the end.”

“Fair enough, I suppose.”

“We couldn’t have been happier at the time,” Velvet continued. “They had even built a pillow fort together.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and figured she might as well set the record straight. “We didn’t build it together, I built it myself.”

“And then she zapped anyone who got close,” Night Light said with a chuckle. “She made it her own private reading fort.”

“I didn’t want a sleepover anyway!” Twilight said in defense of her younger self’s actions. “It was Princess Celestia’s idea! I just wanted to do something to make her happy.”

Sunset laughed. “Pretty sure zapping all your friends with magic just ‘cause they wanted to play with you wasn’t what she had in mind.”

“I’m glad we’re allowed in your reading forts now,” Fluttershy said, kissing Twilight on the cheek.

Applejack laughed along with the others. “And I’m glad ya didn’t try to zap Rarity an’ me.”

Twilight blushed. “Okay, so I wasn’t a very good friend back then! We already knew that, though.”

“Aww, cheer up, Twi.” Sunset put a foreleg around Twilight’s shoulders. “It’s kinda cute, in a weird way.”

“Besides, darling, it just goes to show how far you’ve come,” Rarity added.

Twilight just grumbled in response.

At least Twilight was spared from further teasing when Rainbow walked into the room. She was glad for the rescue until she got a good look at Rainbow’s face. She had the awkward look of someone who was clearly there to bring bad news.

“Dashie?” Fluttershy frowned. “Is something wrong.”

“Well, it’s over now, but… Morning and Pumpkin kinda got into a little bit of a fight.”

“A fight!?” Twilight sat up straighter.

“Well, you know, an argument. Not like a physical fight or anything.” Rainbow sighed. “Spike broke it up, but I don’t think he really knows what to do now. I mean, none of us do.”

The three wives looked at each other, then they all got up. They left the room with Rainbow beside them. “So what was it about?” Sunset asked.

“I dunno, their game or something.” Rainbow shook her head. “I was over on the other side of the room when I heard them start yelling about something. Pinkie got the Cakes out of there and Spike –”

They stopped when they saw Pinkie and the Cake twins standing by the door. Pinkie’s mane had already deflated. “Hi, girls. I, uhm, I was gonna take the Cakes home…”

Twilight grimaced. “That bad?”

The twins were both standing behind Pinkie. Pumpkin looked ashamed, and Pound seemed to be trying to cheer her up.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Pinkie said. “But I think Morning needs a little space.”

Twilight nodded and turned to the Cakes. “I’m sorry, this is our fault. We should have known better than to throw a party on her first day here. Morning is… not used to other ponies yet. I hope you two don’t hold this against her too much.”

“And I shouldn’t have left you all alone,” Sunset said with a sigh. “Spike, Pinkie, and Rainbow don’t know Morning like I do, I should have been there.”

“Aww, it’s not your fault,” Pinkie said. “Maybe we can do something quieter another time.”

“I think that sounds like a good idea,” Twilight said. “Thank you for coming and putting everything together.”

“Bye,” Pound Cake said.

Pumpkin looked up at the adults, then back down at the ground. “Bye, Princesses… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, Pumpkin,” Fluttershy said. “Thank you for coming and playing with Morning. I think she’ll be better when she’s settled in a little more.”

Pinkie saw the Cakes out, and Twilight turned her attention to the sitting room. She made her way towards it, the others following behind her.

When they got to the room, Morning and Spike were sitting silently side by side. There were pieces of the board game scattered all around, and Spike looked relieved to see them; like Rainbow had said, he clearly had no idea what to do.

“Hey, Morning,” Twilight said softly as she took a seat beside them. “Want to talk about what just happened?”

“No,” Morning said without looking at her.

“How about I take Morning to her room?” Sunset suggested. “You can talk to Spike, and then come meet me afterwards.”

“Sounds good,” Twilight said.

“I’ll… go and tell Applejack and Rarity that the party’s over,” Fluttershy said. “Uhm, please take some food home, Dash. We… didn’t think things would wrap up this quickly.”

“Yeah, alright,” Rainbow said, flying over to the hors d’oeuvre table.

Fluttershy left the room first, then Sunset turned her attention to Morning. “Come on, kiddo, let’s show you to your room.”

Morning didn’t answer, but she did get up and follow Sunset out of the room. Once she was gone and Twilight and Spike were in relative privacy, Twilight collapsed on the floor and sighed. “Some mom I am…”

“Hey, you weren’t even here,” Spike said.

“Exactly! I shouldn’t have left her alone like that…”

“She wasn’t alone, though,” Spike said, then he slumped over and leaned against the wall. “She was with me…”

“It’s not your fault, Spike.” Twilight sat up. “We knew Morning had… issues with other ponies. Something like this was inevitable. A party was a really stupid idea…”

“Well… maybe, but no one else thought of that either.”

“Fluttershy did… I should have listened to her.” Twilight looked over the scattered board game pieces. “I just… I wanted Morning to get along with the others so much, you know?”

Spike nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

“So what happened, exactly?”

Spike started to gather the pieces of the board game, so Twilight joined in. “Well, Pumpkin was winning, which already had Morning in a bad mood.”

“Sunset said she gets really competitive.”

Spike nodded. “So does Pumpkin, I think. Anyway, she was kind of rubbing it in that she was winning, and Pinkie was hovering around Morning trying to cheer her up, then Morning just kinda… flipped.”

“She flipped?”

“Yeah, like… lost her cool?” Spike sighed. “And… flipped the board. That was her.”

“Ah.” Twilight levitated the last of the pieces of the board game into the box. “So she’s a sore loser on top of everything. Great.”

“I don’t think that’s it. Sunset won the last game they played. She seemed almost more upset at Pinkie than at Pumpkin.”

Twilight scrunched up her face. “For trying to cheer her on?”

“Yeah, I think she was just feeling overwhelmed by all the ponies around.”

Twilight nodded slowly. It wasn’t that it was surprising – she’d said as much herself to the Cake twins – but it was a little surprising that it had escalated so far. But that just served as a reminder to Twilight. “I guess… We need to get to know her a little better ourselves, huh?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Spike said. “So… what are you going to do?”

“I guess like Sunset said, I’ll go up and talk with her and Morning.” Twilight noticed Rainbow struggling to carry her food. “Er, after I get Rainbow some containers to get that home…”

Spike laughed. “I’ll help Rainbow and the others with leftovers. You and Fluttershy should go see Morning.”

Twilight nodded and said a quick goodbye to Rainbow. Then she and Spike left the room. On the way, they ran into the others, who were leaving the kitchen.

“How is everyone?” Rarity asked.

“We’re just going to go see now,” Twilight said. “But I think everyone will be alright.”

Applejack nodded. “Lemme know if I can help any. Y’all know I have some experience with raising kids, thanks to Apple Bloom.” She turned to Twilight’s parents and smiled. “Course y’all got the experts right here, though.”

“We’ll keep that in mind, Applejack,” Twilight said. “I have a feeling we’re going to need all the help we can get.”

“So uhm, what’s the plan?” Fluttershy asked Twilight.

“Spike’s going to help the others get some leftovers to take home while we check on Morning and Sunset.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Spike.”

“Heh, better that than being in your place. I had no idea what to say to her…”

“I think I have some idea,” Twilight said. “Anyway, we should get to that. Thank you for coming, everypony, and sorry to cut it short.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Rarity said with a smile. “Take care of your little one, and give her our best!”

Twilight and Fluttershy waved off their friends, then they climbed the stairs to the second floor. It occurred to Twilight as they did just how backwards they had done things. They hadn’t even shown Morning her room and they were already forcing her into a party…

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said. “You tried to say this was a bad idea. I should have listened to you.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I didn’t think anything like this would happen. I just hope Morning isn’t too angry with us…”

When they reached the top of the stars, they saw Sunset waiting out by Morning’s room. She looked dejected, and her expression didn’t pick up when she saw her wives arrive. She gestured away from Morning’s room, so they followed her into their own bedroom.

“How is she?” Fluttershy asked when they had the door closed behind them.

Sunset sighed. “She’s still angry. Said she wanted to be left alone, and I thought it would be best to give her some space.”

“I guess that’s probably true.” Twilight collapsed onto the bed. “This whole thing is our fault to begin with. I hated my welcome party, so why did I think she would like one?”

“Hmm, I remember you hid in your bedroom the whole time,” Fluttershy said, crawling into bed with Twilight.

“And we didn’t even give Morning the same option,” Twilight pointed out. She held out her foreleg, so Fluttershy snuggled in and rested her head on her wife’s chest.

Sunset sat on the edge of the bed. “I guess we just have to wait. I showed her where those books we got her are, and told her where to find us if she changes her mind.”

Fluttershy smiled and nudged Twilight. “I think Sunset needs some cuddles.”

“I agree.” Twilight encased Sunset in her magic and levitated her over to where her wives were waiting. Sunset, who could no doubt break out effortlessly if she wanted to, just rolled her eyes and accepted the cuddles.

“It just feels like we’re wasting precious time with her,” Sunset said as she curled around Twilight.

Twilight saw her point, but at the same time… “Giving her plenty of space is something we’ll have to get used to, I think.”

“I think Twily’s right,” Fluttershy said, reaching across Twilight to stroke Sunset’s mane. “This is what we signed up for when we decided to adopt Morning.”

Sunset smiled and shook her head. “Geez, I can’t even mope with you two around, can I?”

“Nope.” Twilight kissed Sunset’s forehead. “You’re just going to have to accept that we’re right.”

Sunset laughed, and that made Twilight smile. She’d been trying to convince Sunset not to worry, and she wound up convincing herself too. They’d messed up, but all there was to do now was press on and try to be better in the future.

No one saw Morning for the rest of the day, which had them all a bit worried. They managed to feel pretty optimistic when they were cuddling in bed, but as minutes wore away into hours, they lost a lot of those good feelings.

Eventually, Fluttershy and Night Light made dinner for everyone, and Twilight went to tell Morning that it was ready. She paused at the door, unsure of what to do or say if Morning refused to come down.

But waiting around wasn’t helping. She forced herself to knock on the door and called through it, “Morning?”

“You can come in,” Morning said, sounding defeated.

Twilight opened the door, finding her sitting in a heap on the bed. As far as she could tell, the books hadn’t been moved, but she was cuddling a plush rabbit that Fluttershy had left for her.

Twilight put on a gentle smile. “Hi, Morning. How are you feeling?”

“I dunno…” Morning traced her hoof around the comforter on her bed. “Am… I in trouble?”

Twilight sighed and took a seat on the bed. “No, you’re not. I’m not happy that you threw a tantrum like that when ponies were just trying to play with you and have a good time, but this is our fault too. We should have known better than to throw a surprise party for you. We were thinking of what we wanted, not what you would want.”

“I don’t like parties…”

“To tell you the truth… I hated my welcome party too.”

“You did?”

Twilight nodded. “Pinkie surprised me with one when I first moved to Ponyville. She invited the whole town to it!”

“I’m glad the whole town wasn’t here…”

Twilight giggled. “Me too.”

“So, uhm…” Morning looked up and Twilight saw her eyes were red. “You’re not going to send me back?”

“Oh, Morning…” Twilight brushed Morning’s mane out of her face. “No, we’re not sending you back. We’re not ever sending you back.”

Morning sniffed and started blinking, and a moment later, she started crying. Not a lot, just a few tears escaping, but it still broke Twilight’s heart.

“You poor thing… You’ve been afraid of that all day, haven’t you?”

Morning nodded.

Twilight scooted closer and put her wing around Morning. She was so small that Twilight could completely blanket her in her wing. “I don’t ever want you to think we’re going to send you back. It’s just a matter of time before the adoption goes through for good, and we’re all looking forward to it. The only reason it wouldn’t is if you decide you don’t want to live with us.”

“I do though.”

Twilight smiled. It was good to hear she still felt that way. “Morning… this is new for all of us, you know? We’ve never done this before either, so we might mess up sometimes. In fact, I can guarantee that we will mess up again, although we’ll try our best not to. So… we’re just all going to have to be patient with each other. Is that okay with you?”

Morning nodded. “I… I guess so.”

“Good.” Twilight looked off to the side. “Although, just so you know, this won’t be the last time we’re going to have a lot of ponies here. And we want you to give the Cake twins another chance, and to apologize for today to them.”

Morning groaned.

“I know, you don’t really want to. But I promise we won’t try to spring anything on you again. We’re going to set up a playdate with the Cake twins, but we’ll tell you before it happens. And there won’t be a whole crowd of other ponies around.”

“I guess that’s better…”

Twilight nodded. “Now, Fluttershy and my dad made dinner, so why don’t you come down and get something to eat with us?”

“Is, uhm… Is everypony still here?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. It’ll just be me, you, Fluttershy, Sunset, Spike, and my parents.”

Morning frowned. “That’s a lot of ponies…”

Twilight chuckled. “That’s everyone who lives here in the castle, so I’m afraid you’ll have to get used to that. If you come live with us, this will be your family.”

“Can, uhm…” Morning held up the plush rabbit. “Can I take my bunny with me?”

Twilight giggled. “Sure.”

Morning hopped off the bed, carrying the rabbit in one foreleg. Twilight followed after her, turning off the light on their way out.

Twilight still didn’t feel much like a mom. She hoped she would in time, but that was something that she’d have to wait and see. For now though, she decided to think of it a different way. Morning didn’t feel like her daughter, not yet. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t welcome Morning into her family. Family was a vague enough word to cover how she felt about the little filly, and it was a strong enough word for Twilight to feel closer to her.

For now, that was good enough. Everything else would come to them in time.

Author's Note

This story has been very hard for me to write, in no small part because I'm not a parent nor am I particularly interested in being one. So perhaps it's fitting that I struggled the most with who Twilight is in this story, since she's usually the stand-in for me in my fics. I eventually decided to lean into that a little for this chapter, with her disconnection from the idea of parenting being a core part of Twilight's role in this story. I hope you all enjoy it.

6 – A Perfect Day

Chapter Six
A Perfect Day

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⠀
A new day was a second chance, and Fluttershy was thankful for it. They had messed up with the party, that much was obvious. But it was a new day, and things would be better.

Not that it had been all bad. Dinner had been a little awkward, but much less so than the party was. And Fluttershy couldn’t help but smile when she remembered tucking in Morning with her wives.

There had been some good times after the bad, and today was a chance to make those good times grow. Fluttershy couldn’t wait to see what the day brought them.

But first, she had to get out of bed. Twilight and Sunset were both sleeping, so Fluttershy had to be careful so as not to wake them. It was a little challenging since she slept in the middle, but she was used to it – no one ever woke up as early as Fluttershy did.

Slowly and carefully, Fluttershy made her way out of the bed. She stopped to look back at her wives as she did. Twilight mumbled in her sleep and reached across the space Fluttershy had been in to rest her hoof on Sunset, who only snored in response.

Smiling to herself, Fluttershy left them to sleep in. She closed the door softly behind her as she left so as not to disturb them, then made her way towards the stairs.

Along the way, she considered checking in on Morning. Of course, she’d just be sleeping, but something in Fluttershy compelled her to pop her head into the filly’s room to see for herself. She probably would have, but she wasn’t sure how light of a sleeper Morning was, so she resisted the urge.

Instead, she made her way down to the first floor, where she stopped into the kitchen. She was only going to get a drink before heading out to work, but she found something even better.

“Oh, good morning,” Fluttershy said to Morning Glisten, who was using a stool to reach the cabinet with the glasses. “Didn’t expect to see you up this early.”

“Oh, hello.” Morning blushed and turned away from the cabinet as if she thought she might be doing something wrong. “I was just trying to get a glass of water…”

Fluttershy got a glass for Morning and filled it from a pitcher of water in the fridge, then passed it to the small filly. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” Morning stepped down from the stool and took a drink.

Fluttershy got herself a glass of water as well, then smiled at Morning. “So do you usually wake up early like this?”

“Yeah, I like being up early,” Morning said, sipping on her water. “It’s nice to be up before everyone else.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, I hope you don’t mind if I’m up with you. I’m the only one who wakes up early in this family. Well, until now.”

“I don’t mind,” Morning said. “What do you usually do when the others are sleeping?”

“I go to work,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Remember how I told you I work with the animals? Well, in the mornings, I go out and make sure they’re all fed and that they don’t need anything.”

“Oh. That’s pretty cool.”

Fluttershy beamed. While she had certainly never cared about being ‘cool’ before, hearing her daughter say she was cool was completely different.

‘My daughter,’ Fluttershy thought to herself, and she had to resist the urge to hug the little filly. It wasn’t completely official yet, of course, but things were in motion and nothing short of Morning changing her mind would stop them now.

Fluttershy had to pull herself off her cloud to address Morning. “Would you like to come with me? You could see all the animals and what I do with them.”

“Oh, uhm…”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to. But some of the animals are pretty cute.”

“I… I guess I’ll go.”

“Yay! But uhm, first I’m going to make some tea.”

Fluttershy filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove, then got herself a mug and the loose tea mix. She turned back to Morning. “Do you like tea?”

“I’ve never had it before,” Morning said.

“Oh, well, would you like to try it? You don’t have to drink it if you don’t like it.”

“Okay.”

So Fluttershy got two mugs out, setting them down by the kettle. She put the loose tea in infusers and placed one in each mug, as well as sugar. While she waited for the water to boil, she turned back to Morning. “So how did you sleep?”

“Not that good. I kept waking up…”

Fluttershy frowned for the first time since she ran into Morning. “You didn’t have bad dreams, did you?”

Morning looked off to the side, almost like she was afraid Fluttershy would be upset that she hadn’t slept well. “No, everything just felt weird.”

Fluttershy nodded. “It’s all new to you. A new room, a new bed, a new house, and a new family. You’ll settle in soon, though.”

“I do like it here,” Morning said, fixing her attention on Fluttershy who smiled in turn.

“I’m glad. And we like having you here.”

Morning shifted in her seat. “Even though I was bad yesterday?”

Fluttershy extended a wing to brush against Morning. “Yes, even after yesterday. Didn’t Twilight explain how that was our fault too?”

“Yeah, but…” Morning looked up at Fluttershy, then turned away. “I don’t know…”

Fluttershy had a feeling she did, in fact, know. But it was okay, because Fluttershy thought she understood what was going on. “Morning, you’re really not in trouble. And you don’t need to walk on eggshells around us, I think we’re all understanding ponies.”

“Uhm, what does that mean?” Morning asked. “Walk on eggshells?”

“It means to be extra careful. You know, if you had to walk on eggshells, you’d have to walk very carefully to make sure you don’t crush them.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Fluttershy hoped she got the message, but she wasn’t too used to talking to younger foals. But then the tea kettle whistled, so she filled their mugs instead of thinking of a better explanation. She set Morning’s on the table, but told her, “It’s not ready yet. The tea has to steep.”

“What’s that mean?”

“See that ball in there? That’s the infuser, which has tea mix in it. So it has to soak in the water until the water turns into tea. It takes a few minutes.”

“So it’s not tea yet?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Not yet. Right now it’s just hot water with some tea in it.”

Morning nodded, then stared at her tea mug as if it was going to do something interesting.

“Besides,” Fluttershy said as she took a seat, “it’d be too hot to drink now. By the time it’s ready, it should be cool enough to drink.”

“Does it taste like cocoa?”

Fluttershy giggled, and Morning blushed a little. “No, it doesn’t taste like cocoa. Is that the only hot drink you’ve had?”

“Yeah. Are there other hot drinks?”

“A few. In the winter, we’ll make spiced cider. That’s kind of like apple juice with cinnamon and other spices in it, and it’s a hot drink.”

“Oh.” Morning turned back to watch the infuser, cocking her head to the side to watch it from a different angle.

Fluttershy decided to distract the filly by telling her about their plans for the day. “So we were thinking… How would you like to go to Cloudsdale today?”

“Cloudsdale?” Morning shifted her focus from the mug to Fluttershy, scrunching her face up in confusion. “But I’m a unicorn.”

Fluttershy nodded. “We’ll take a hot air balloon there, and then Twilight or Sunset will cast a cloud walking spell on you so you can walk around. Then while we’re there, we’ll watch an aerial race.”

Morning looked back to her tea. “I’ve never been to Cloudsdale…”

It would have surprised Fluttershy if she had, of course, but she didn’t say so. Instead, she just reached across the table to put her hoof on the filly’s. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. We’ll be very high up, and even though you won’t be in any danger, it might be scary for a little filly like you.”

Morning sat up straighter. “I’m not scared!”

Fluttershy frowned a little. She wanted Morning to agree to go, but only because she wanted Morning to want to go. She didn’t want her to do it just to prove she was brave enough.

“Okay,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “But even if you’re not scared, it’s up to you. We can always do something else today.”

“I… I guess we can go to Cloudsdale.” A smile played at Morning’s mouth. “Will I really be able to walk on clouds? I thought only pegasi could do that.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Yup! Twilight’s used the spell to help our friends go to Cloudsdale to watch Rainbow race before.”

At that, Morning broke out into a grin. “Cool!”

Smiling to herself, Fluttershy stirred her tea a bit. Although it was just an idle action, Morning mimicked it. “You know, I was born in Cloudsdale.”

“Why’d you come to Ponyville?”

When she was younger, that question would have thrown Fluttershy off. Now, she just kept smiling as she answered, “Cloudsdale wasn’t a good place for me. My mom died when I was young, and then I just had to get away from there.”

“Oh.” Morning looked into her tea. “So, uhm, are you an orphan too?”

“I’m…” Fluttershy thought carefully how to explain to a child as young as Morning. “Well, my stepfather didn’t die, but… He was a bad pony. He used to hurt me when I was little. But I got away from him, and I don’t talk to him anymore.”

Morning looked up at Fluttershy. “But why would anypony want to hurt you? You’re so nice!”

“And you’re sweet. But the thing is, bad ponies don’t need a reason to be bad. That’s just how they are.”

“So…” Morning folded her hooves and looked down at them. “Having a bad pony as your parent doesn’t… doesn’t mean you’re a bad pony?”

“Of course not.” Fluttershy frowned. “Why would you think that?”

“I don’t know.” Morning bowed her head. “I just don’t know my parents. I… I don’t know if they’re good ponies or not.”

“Oh, sweetie… I don’t know your parents either, but I do know that you are a very good pony.”

Morning didn’t say anything else, and Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to say either. She looked towards a wall clock and saw that the tea had steeped for long enough anyway, so she pulled out the infusers and dumped out the soggy tea mix into the trash before putting the infusers in the sink.

“Sip it slowly,” Fluttershy instructed as she returned to her own seat. “It shouldn’t be too hot anymore, but I don’t want you to burn yourself.”

Morning took a little sip, then reared her head back. “It tastes funny.”

Fluttershy couldn’t hold back a giggle. “You don’t like it?”

Morning took another sip. “I don’t know…”

“You don’t have to drink it if you don’t like it. I can get you something else if you want. We have a few kinds of juice.”

Morning took a slightly bigger sip of the tea. “I think it’s okay. It’s just different. Definitely not cocoa.”

Fluttershy couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Twilight really likes cocoa, so we make it a lot.”

“I like cocoa too.” Morning was still eyeing her drink with skepticism. “We didn’t have it too much, though.”

Fluttershy nodded and took a sip of her own tea. “There are a lot of kinds of tea. I picked out a pretty mild one since it’s your first time, but some are fruiter and some are more floral.”

Although she still looked unsure, Morning kept drinking. “I think I like it.”

Fluttershy laughed and drank her own tea. They talked about the foods and drinks that Morning liked, which Fluttershy took careful note of. She was relieved that it didn’t seem like Morning was too picky of an eater, and she looked forward to making her meals that she would enjoy and introducing her to new foods.

They drank their tea, and Morning seemed to find her enjoyment of it grew as she got used to it. She said she liked flowers, so Fluttershy decided to try something more floral next time. If the two of them were the only early risers in the family, they would have plenty of chances to talk in the mornings.

Once they were finished, Fluttershy put their mugs in the sink. She found out that Morning hadn’t brushed her teeth for the day yet, so she instructed the filly to go do that while she took care of washing the dishes.

Morning ran off, and Fluttershy hummed to herself as she cleaned out the mugs. She thought of how far she had come. From a scared little filly who felt all alone in the world to a mother with a family of her own.

Once she finished washing the few dishes they had dirtied with their tea, she went upstairs. Morning was leaving the bathroom as she reached the top of the stairs. “Ready to go?” Fluttershy asked.

“Uh-huh!” Morning nodded and smiled.

Fluttershy nodded, but she took a detour to her bedroom. Twilight and Sunset were sleeping soundly, so rather than wake them, she walked into Twilight’s study and scribbled a note about where they were going. She left it by the bedside table, then left the room.

With that taken care of, she led Morning back downstairs and into Ponyville. They made their way through the town, Morning sticking close to Fluttershy as ponies greeted them.

It was something Fluttershy hadn’t thought to prepare for. Everypony wanted to know who the young filly was, and Fluttershy wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to introduce her as her daughter. She wanted to, she wanted everyone to know that Morning was her daughter, but she wasn’t sure how Morning would feel about that. In the end, she decided to just tell ponies, “This is Morning Glisten. She’s helping me with the animals today.”

At least everypony was friendly and took that as enough of an answer without pressing for more. Fluttershy got the feeling that Morning would struggle if she was put too much in the spotlight, something Fluttershy herself could relate to all too well.

“Is everyone that talkative around here?” Morning asked once they finally made it through the town.

They were walking through the edge of Ponyville, approaching Fluttershy’s cottage. “It’s a friendly town.”

“Oh.” Morning looked down, and Fluttershy got the feeling she wasn’t exactly thrilled about that.

Maybe once she got used to it she’d be more open to everypony, Fluttershy reasoned. For now, animals were probably going to be easier on Morning. They approached the cottage and Fluttershy led them around to the back.

Although it was officially still her cottage, Fluttershy hadn’t actually lived there in years. It was not, however, uninhabited. In addition to various birds, mice, and other small creatures, the house had one notable occupant that had moved in some time after Fluttershy had left.

And as they walked into the backyard, they found Discord lounging on a hammock. Although there were several trees around, the hammock was instead connected to a large candy cane on one end and held up by a small balloon on the other. Soft snores filled the air.

Although Fluttershy walked forward, Morning held back. Fluttershy stopped and turned back to her, then let out a soft giggle. “Don’t worry,” she said quietly, “Discord is a friend. He won’t hurt you.”

“That’s Discord?” Morning said, perhaps a little too loudly.

The snoring stopped as Discord rose to a sitting position, letting out a yawn as he stretched. Fluttershy wasn’t sure what time he usually got up, so she hoped they hadn’t disturbed him too early. “Good morning, Discord.”

“Is that Fluttershy I hear?” Discord slid off the hammock, but instead of appearing on the ground, he popped up beside Fluttershy. “You’re up early.”

“I’m always here this early,” Fluttershy pointed out. “I don’t normally see you though. What are you doing sleeping outside?”

“Outside? Fluttershy, whatever are you talking about?”

Discord snapped his fingers and four walls fell around them. They were all painted to look exactly like the outside area, and Fluttershy was sure they hadn’t been there before. Still, she knew better than to question it.

“And who is this?” Discord asked as he spotted Morning.

Fluttershy smiled. “Discord, this is Morning, she –”

“Oh, but Fluttershy, you shouldn’t have!” Discord snapped his fingers and Morning flew into the air towards him. “I promise I’ll take very good care of her! Why, I’ll love her as if she was my very own.”

Fluttershy quirked her head to the side. “What are you –”

The next thing Fluttershy knew, Morning was wearing a draconequus costume. It was adorable, but Fluttershy worried the shy filly was going to become overwhelmed. “Discord, that’s not –”

“Oh look at us, like two peas in a pod!” Discord hugged Morning, who seemed to be too bewildered to respond.

“I told you about her, remember?” Fluttershy flew up and gently pulled Morning away from Discord. “She’s the filly we’re adopting.”

“Oh…” Discord pouted. “But I’ve already named her! Lady Stormasushi the Third!”

“She already has a name, Morning Glisten.”

“So that’s what you meant. I thought you were just telling me it’s morning right now.”

Fluttershy sighed, but she was smiling. In his own way, she knew Discord was trying to play with Morning. She was a little worried it would prove too much for the filly, but she knew that this was toned down for Discord.

“So then where are you and the little one off to today?” Discord snapped his fingers and Morning’s draconequus costume became a hoofball uniform. “Full contact sports?” Another snap and Fluttershy was in a hiking uniform. “Braving the Everfree?” One more snap and Discord himself became a lion. “Wild animal taming?”

He let out a roar, which caused Morning to scream. Fluttershy glared and stomped her hoof. “Discord!”

Discord frowned. “Was it something I said?”

“Change us back. Now.”

Discord rolled his eyes, but with another snap everything returned to normal.

Fluttershy turned away from him, focusing instead on Morning. “There there, it’s okay. Discord didn’t mean to scare you, he just… got a little carried away.”

“Oh come on.” Discord folded his arms. “I’ve done scarier things than that in my sleep…”

“Discord, she’s six,” Fluttershy said sternly.

“I wasn’t scared…” Morning muttered.

“See? She’s fine!” Discord said. A sharp look from Fluttershy silenced him.

“Come on, Morning,” Fluttershy said gently. “Let’s go take care of those animals and leave Discord to think about what he did.”

Fluttershy led Morning into the house through the back door. It led directly into the storeroom where Fluttershy kept the animals’ food. She had meant to use the back entrance to avoid disturbing Discord, not expecting him to be outside when they arrived.

Not that disturbing him was high on her list of concerns at the moment. She knew how Discord was, but she expected him to make more of an effort. For her sake, if not for Morning’s.

But she pushed that away to show Morning a smile. “So what I do is I take these saddlebags, and I fill those with a little of each different kind of food for the different animals. If any of them are hurt or sick, I make sure to bring extra for them. Mostly they can forage and hunt for themselves, but I make sure anyone who isn’t feeling well still gets to eat.”

“How do you know if any of the animals are sick or hurt?” Morning asked, looking into a bag of birdseed.

“They’ll let me know. Right now, all the animals are okay, as far as I know, so we won’t bring any extra food for anyone. If we do run into any that aren’t doing so well, we’ll have to come back and get extra food for them.”

Morning watched as Fluttershy strapped the saddlebags to herself. “Those are big saddlebags. How many animals are there?”

Fluttershy giggled. “A lot. But don’t worry, we won’t be too long. Mostly I only carry a little of everything, but there are so many different kinds of animals around Ponyville that a little of everything winds up being a lot.”

“Oh, okay.”

Fluttershy explained what the different foods were, and what they were for. The young filly paid attention to everything, which made Fluttershy happy. She thought about maybe getting Morning her own saddlebags for future trips. Fluttershy did already have an extra pair, but Morning would be too small to carry the adult-sized ones.

“Do you want something to eat or drink while we’re here?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m, uhm, a little hungry.”

Fluttershy kicked herself for not thinking of food before. She was used to Spike, who was preparing meals for himself long before Fluttershy arrived. But Morning was not Spike, and she was only six years old. If Fluttershy was going to be her mom, she had to remember things like breakfast.

“Let’s see what we can find to eat.” Fluttershy took off her saddlebags and led them to the kitchen. They wouldn’t have a lot of choices, but she did keep it stocked with a few things that she could make herself for lunch if she was working late with the animals.

A few minutes later, Fluttershy was preparing Morning a daffodil sandwich. It wasn’t exactly an ideal breakfast, but at least she’d have eaten. They sat at the kitchen table while Morning ate and Fluttershy sipped on a glass of water.

“You know, this used to be my house,” Fluttershy explained.

“Really?”

“Yup. Before I married Twilight.”

“When was that?”

“Oh, let’s see…” Fluttershy smiled as she looked back over the years. “Four, almost five years ago now. Since then, Discord’s lived here.”

“Discord is… weird…”

Fluttershy didn’t think ‘weird’ was the word Morning was looking for. Discord had frightened her, but she didn’t want to admit to that. “Discord doesn’t really know how to act around kids. I’m sorry he can be a little much…”

“So, uhm, is this his house now?” Morning looked around. “It doesn’t look like the kind of place he’d live.”

Fluttershy chuckled. “I don’t think he’s changed anything since I was living here. And I don’t think he really lives here. It’s, uhm, it’s hard to explain.”

“It’s called a pocket dimension,” Discord said, catching them both by surprise. They turned to find him in the corner of the room, with a rain cloud floating over his head. “I can put it anywhere, but I’ve left it at the cottage since Fluttershy abandoned it.”

Fluttershy sighed. “Discord, is there something you want to say to Morning?”

Discord looked at the young filly, who swallowed a mouthful of her sandwich. He frowned at her for a moment, then turned away. “Do you… like flowers?”

Fluttershy cocked her head to the side. Morning looked at her quizzically, clearly expecting Fluttershy to give her the answer. Fluttershy just shrugged.

“Uhm… I guess so?”

Discord held out his paw, and a bouquet appeared in it. He gave it to Morning, who took it uncertainly.

“Uhm, thank you.” Morning frowned. “I… don’t think I can carry this all day though.”

Fluttershy stood up. “We can leave it here and get it on the way back. I should have a vase in the cabinet here.”

“I have a better idea.” Discord snapped and the flowers floated out of the bouquet, into the air, and then into Morning’s mane. Fluttershy almost winced, imagining how much of a hassle it was going to be to get them out later, but she didn’t want to turn up her nose at Discord’s peace offering.

For her own part, Morning was grinning. “I like it! Is there a mirror I can see?”

“Of course!” Discord grabbed hold of the storm cloud and stretched it out, working it like taffy. When he was done, he threw it to the ground, where it popped back up as a mirror.

Unfortunately, it was a funhouse mirror, which didn’t really help Morning see what she looked like. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind at all. She giggled as she made faces at her reflection.

Fluttershy found a smile after all. Even if the flowers proved to be a hassle later, it would be worth it to see Morning and Discord getting along. “Come on, we can look in the bathroom mirror.”

Fluttershy led Morning to the bathroom, where she grinned at her reflection. “So pretty!”

Fluttershy couldn’t resist giving Morning a quick hug. “Yes, you are.”

She led them back out, where Discord was waiting nervously, as if he expected Fluttershy to tell him off again.

Morning smiled at him. “Thank you, Mr. Discord.”

Discord laughed. “Mr. Discord, that’s a new one. What do you think, Fluttershy? Does it suit me?” As he said ‘suit’, Discord snapped and was wearing a three-piece suit.

Fluttershy laughed. “I like you just being Discord.”

“Fine.” Discord snapped again and returned to normal, although he floated through the air on his back.

Morning tapped on Fluttershy’s shoulder, and she bent down so the filly could whisper in her ear. She smiled at Morning’s suggestion, then turned back to Discord. “Do you want to come with us to check on the animals?”

“Oh, well, I’d hate to impose…”

“Okay, we’ll see you –”

“Fluttershy, please, no need to twist my leg!” Discord’s reptilian leg spun around and detached, as if he were a toy. “If you insist, I suppose I could accompany you.”

Fluttershy giggled as they walked back to the storeroom, and she slipped the saddlebags on again. It was going to be an interesting day.

Working with Discord was not easy. Fluttershy cared dearly for her friend, and she loved spending time with him, but there was a reason she didn’t usually try to get him to help with the animals. Simply put, he was more nuisance than help.

But he made Morning laugh, and that was worth a little extra hassle. And, to be fair, he did make Fluttershy laugh as well. It was, as expected, a very interesting day.

Even so, Fluttershy found herself ready to head home for lunch when the time came. She was looking forward to showing Morning Cloudsdale, and she knew that her wives would be excited to spend the day with her as well.

By the time they arrived, the others were awake. Spike offered to make them lunch so Fluttershy could relax after working, and Morning told the others about her day with Discord.

“I’m glad you had fun today,” Twilight said as Morning finished.

“And she was so well behaved,” Fluttershy said proudly. “Even when Discord was being a bit of a hoofful.”

“I thought he was mean at first, but he’s just silly,” Morning said.

“Oh trust me,” Sunset said, “he can be a total –”

“Sunset!” Twilight shot her a sharp look.

“– pain,” Sunset finished with a slightly offended look. Morning tilted her head at the two, causing Twilight to facehoof.

Fluttershy just giggled. Everyone was waiting for Sunset to slip up and swear around Morning. It was less a matter of ‘if’ but rather ‘when’ it would happen.

Spike popped his head out of the kitchen. “Lunch is ready. Someone wanna give me a hand getting it into the dining room.”

“Coming,” Twilight said, rising to her hooves.

Fluttershy smiled at Morning. “Can you go tell Night Light and Twilight Velvet to come down for lunch?”

As she expected, Morning looked uncertain. Fluttershy understood, but she wanted her to see that Twilight’s parents weren’t anything to be afraid of.

“Do you know where their room is?” Sunset asked.

Morning shook her head.

Sunset smiled and stood up. “Alright, we’ll both go. Come on.”

The two of them walked upstairs, so Fluttershy made for the kitchen. Before she could walk in, Spike came out carrying a big bowl of macaroni and cheese. “Need a hoof?” Fluttershy asked.

“No thanks, we got it,” Spike answered. As he walked past, Twilight came out levitating various sides and drinks for everyone. Fluttershy chuckled to herself, wondering why she thought they’d need any help when Twilight was there.

She followed them into the dining room, where she busied herself by preparing a plate for Morning. She still wasn’t really used to how much a filly Morning’s age would eat, so she just guessed as well as she could.

Morning and Sunset came down a few minutes later with Twilight’s parents. “You’ll never believe this, but we found them in the library,” Sunset explained.

Twilight chuckled. “What? My parents? Never…”

“You know,” Twilight Velvet said, “inviting a mare like me to live in a place with its own library was the worst thing you could do. I never need to leave the house anymore.”

Night Light chuckled. “She says that, but we’re going out dancing tonight.”

Twilight frowned a little. “But then Spike will be home alone.”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Twilight, I’m seventeen. I can be home alone.”

“I know that, I just worry you’ll be lonely.”

Spike just chuckled. “Maybe I’ll go see into town and hang out with Big Mac or the Crusaders. I don’t know, but you don’t have to worry about me, Twilight.”

“Fine, I won’t worry,” Twilight said in a defeated tone, as if worrying about Spike was the thing she wanted to do most and he’d just foiled her plans.

They probably would have brought Spike with them, but the cloudwalking spell didn’t work on dragons, and he had grown far too big to ride on one of the other’s backs. Fluttershy made a mental note to plan some bonding activities that Spike and Morning could both attend.

They talked about their plans during lunch. Morning didn’t talk too much, but when Fluttershy asked if she liked her food, she said she did. She knew the group was a little too large for the shy filly, so she didn’t press for more than that.

As they were finishing and getting cleaned up, Twilight pointed out that they had to hurry to make it in time. Fluttershy nodded and offered to get Morning cleaned up while the others cleaned up from lunch.

“I’m clean!” Morning protested.

Fluttershy giggled. “You have cheese on your muzzle.”

Morning stuck out her tongue to try and lick off the cheese. Fluttershy rolled her eyes and guided her to the bathroom.

“I don’t have to take a bath, do I?” Morning asked. “I don’t want anything to happen to my flowers.”

“No, we’ll just clean up your face, make you all nice and pretty again.”

Once Morning was in front of the bathroom mirror and could see her face, she started to rub it off with her foreleg.

“No,” Fluttershy chided. “If you do that, you will need a bath. Hold still.” She wet a washcloth and wiped away at Morning’s face, getting the cheese out of her fur. “There, all done. You can dry off on that towel over there.”

Morning walked over to a hanging towel and used it to dry her face while Fluttershy rinsed off the washcloth. She hung that up to dry as well, then they left the bathroom.

“Ready to go to Cloudsdale?” Fluttershy asked her.

“I guess so,” Morning answered, apprehension clearly in her voice.

“It’ll be okay. All three of us will be there.”

Morning nodded, and they went to the kitchen to find Sunset and Twilight. They announced they were ready to go, so Twilight led the way out of the castle.

Sunset seemed to notice Morning was following along with her head hung down. “Hey, nervous?”

“Uhm… a little…”

Sunset smiled. “You know, I don’t have wings either. When we get to Cloudsdale, I’ll cast the spell on me first and show you that it works.”

“Okay…” Morning didn’t really seem convinced, but Fluttershy expected she wouldn’t be until she was safely standing on a cloud.

They made their way through town as Sunset did her best to cheer the filly up. It didn’t really seem to work, but at least she tried.

Then all at once, Morning stopped walking. She noticed the hot air balloon in front of them and craned her neck up to look at it. “We’re taking that up to Cloudsdale?”

“That’s right,” Twilight answered brightly. “If you want, I can explain how it works.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Sunset said. “We’ll be right beside you the whole time. It’ll be fun!”

A pink mare with a blonde mane took note of their arrival and smiled. “Princesses! I’ve been expecting you. And who’s this little one?”

“Hello, Cherry Berry.” Twilight placed her hoof on Morning’s shoulder. “This is Morning Glisten. She’s the little filly that we’re adopting.”

“Oh, really?” Cherry Berry regarded the three mares. “I didn’t know ponies like you could adopt.”

Twilight frowned. “Ponies like us?”

“Oh! I didn’t mean it like that.” Cherry Berry winced. “Not because you’re gay or anything, but because there’s three of you. Not that I have a problem with that, of course, I’m just, er… You know what, forget I said that!”

Fluttershy didn’t really mind the comment; she knew it was based on ignorance, not malice. Twilight and Sunset both looked irritated, but neither of them said anything.

“Let’s get going then, shall we?” Cherry Berry said, a little extra cheerfully.

They all filed into the hot air balloon, which Morning wasn’t big enough to see over the edge of unless she was standing on her hind legs. Perhaps that was for the best; looking down at the ground below was quite the view, but it would likely scare the poor filly.

“Everyone ready?” Cherry Berry asked.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Sunset said. Her irritation seemed to wear off as she scooted closer to Morning. Twilight stood on the filly’s other side.

As they took off, Twilight explained what Cherry Berry was doing. She told Morning about how hot air rose, which was how the whole thing flew, and about how different altitudes had different wind currents, which would allow Cherry Berry to steer them in the right direction.

Fluttershy wasn’t sure how much of it Morning really understood, because as soon as they were airborne, Morning barely seemed to pay attention to anything besides what she could see of the world outside the balloon.

“Do you want to take a better look?” Sunset asked as they rose higher.

“I…”

“It’ll be okay,” Sunset said. “You’re safe in here. And if you fell, I could catch you in my magic, or Twilight or Fluttershy could fly down and catch you.”

“Okay.” Morning put her front hooves on the edge of the basket and very gingerly lifted herself up to get a better look. Sunset put a foreleg around her to hold her in place, which was probably to make her feel better as much as for safety.

“What do you think?” Twilight said nervously. “If it’s too much, we can –”

“We’re really flying!” Morning said excitedly. “Look at how small everything looks! All the ponies down there look like ants!”

Fluttershy looked over the edge herself, impressed with Morning’s bravery. If she couldn’t fly, Fluttershy would probably be terrified of the sight. She could hardly imagine a six-year-old filly being so brave.

Twilight started to extend her wing, then seemed to change her mind. Fluttershy had to smile, imagining Twilight thought nopony had noticed. Morning wasn’t the only one awkwardly figuring out this family thing. Fluttershy could tell Twilight was questioning her every action around the filly.

But they just needed more time together. Fluttershy saw that more clearly today than she had at any point before. Spending the day with Morning and bonding over animals had really shown her that becoming a real family might take time, but that it was going to happen. She already loved the little filly, and she knew the others felt the same.

Although she may not have been paying very close attention, Twilight continued to explain things to Morning as they flew towards Cloudsdale. She talked about what they were seeing, and about what they would see once in the pegasus city.

It was a nice flight. Travelling by hot air balloon was not a fast way to travel, but it was a pleasant one. And besides, they had planned for the trip to be a longer one.

It was getting late in the afternoon when they arrived, which meant the race would be starting before too long. Even so, they couldn’t rush Morning’s first time stepping out onto clouds.

“Don’t do anything until I cast the spell,” Sunset said as the balloon hovered over Cloudsdale.

“Okay.” Morning nodded.

“I’ll go out first,” Twilight said. “Fluttershy will be the one to take you down, okay?”

Morning nodded again, so Twilight flew out and glided the small distance to the ground.

“I’ll go next,” Sunset said. “But first, I’ll cast the spell on both of us.” Sunset’s horn glowed, and a magical aura covered her body. As it went away, she smiled at Morning.

“Will… will it hurt?” Morning asked.

Sunset chuckled. “No. It tickles a little, but it doesn’t feel too much like anything.” She lowered her horn, which glowed again. She tapped it to Morning, who started glowing as well.

She looked between Sunset and Fluttershy for a moment, then she stopped glowing. “Is that it?”

“That’s it,” Sunset said. “Watch.”

She jumped out of the basket, landing on the cloud. She twirled around to show that it was solid under her hooves, then smiled at Morning. “Your turn. Ready?”

Morning swallowed.

Fluttershy laughed. “Don’t worry, you don’t have to jump. I’ll lower you down, and I won’t let go of you until you’re standing on your own.”

Morning nodded once more. “Okay.”

Fluttershy hovered in place, then picked up Morning. She fluttered over to the clouds, then gently lowered the filly until her hooves were touching.

“It’s… it’s so soft!” Morning said as Fluttershy set her down.

“See? Everything is okay.” Twilight smiled. “Just don’t go near the edge. If we have to go from one cloud to another, one of us will carry you.”

“Alright!” Morning jumped around playfully on the clouds. Fluttershy smiled to herself, glad that this was an experience she could share with her daughter even though she was a unicorn.

“Alright, frolic this way,” Sunset said, jerking her head in the direction of the stadium that the race would be held in. “We’ve got a race to catch.”

Morning did as instructed, hopping along as the others walked to the stadium. Fluttershy walked on one side of her, Sunset on the other, Twilight leading the way.

“Will I be able to do magic like this someday?” Morning asked.

“Maybe, if you work at it,” Sunset said. “That was a pretty complicated spell, though. Not just every unicorn can cast it.”

“Of course you can!” Twilight said. “You can do anything you set your mind to!”

“But it’s okay if you never get that good at magic,” Fluttershy pointed out. “Everypony is good at different things. Twilight and Sunset are both really good at magic, but other unicorns have other talents, like Rarity with her dress making.”

Twilight flew into the air a little bit and hovered by Morning. “Although if you did want to learn about magic, I could always teach you! I think it’d be fun!”

“I… I’m not very good at magic…”

“I wasn’t either when I was your age.” Twilight gestured to her cutie mark. “But then when I got my cutie mark, everything clicked into place. So don’t worry if it takes some time.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Twily doesn’t want to say it, but she really just wants to teach you.”

“It’d be fun for both of us!” Twilight insisted.

“Uhm, excuse me?” a passing pegasus asked. “But how are you unicorns walking on clouds?”

Twilight seemed to be in a good mood, because she giggled as she explained the cloudwalking spell. The pegasus just shrugged it off and went about on his way. He wasn’t the only one to take an interest in them either. Of course, that was to be expected. On top of being recognizable figures – especially Twilight, considering she was an alicorn – two of them were unicorns. They were an oddity, to be sure.

But at least it was different than in Ponyville. In their little town, everyone knew them personally, and everyone wanted to know who Morning was. Here, they just wanted to say hello to the princesses, or to know how unicorns were walking around the city.

It may have still been a little much for Morning, but she seemed perfectly content to just be walking on clouds. Fluttershy was also happy that it didn’t require as much thought over what to say. And, of course, she had Twilight and Sunset to answer the questions. That helped a lot.

Slowly but surely, they made their way to the stadium. It was a little easier once they got inside, since ponies were focused on other things. They got themselves some snacks, then found their way to their seats just as the announcer introduced the racers.

“Have you ever been to a race like this?” Twilight asked Morning, who was sitting between her and Fluttershy.

“No. There was a race in Hollow Shades once, but uhm, I didn’t go to it.”

“I’ve never been to one either,” Sunset said.

“I went with Rainbow once,” Twilight said. “I wanted to see what it was all about. It was fun, but I’m not as into races as Rainbow is.”

Fluttershy giggled. She’d also gone to a few over the years, always at Rainbow’s behest. “No one’s as into races as Rainbow is.”

“I think Pinkie is these days,” Sunset pointed out. “She and Rainbow always go – Oh, it’s starting.”

The racers had already taken the field, but one caught Fluttershy’s eye. He was a green stallion with a silvery blue mane. Fluttershy squinted at him, then pointed him out to her wives. “Did anypony catch the green stallion’s name?”

“Uh, I didn’t,” Sunset said.

“Sorry, no,” Twilight said. “How come?”

“I think I know him…” Fluttershy kept her eyes fixed on the green stallion. He’d certainly grown a lot, but still, it could be him…

“On your marks,” the announcer called out, eliciting a cheer from the audience. “Get set… go!”

All the racers were off, but Fluttershy kept her eyes on the green stallion. She watched him slowly climb through the ranks. He was good, but so were the others. Fluttershy smiled, silently cheering him on.

And then she got her answer. “Coming in from the back of the pack, rookie racer Windfall hovering in tenth place!”

“Windfall!” Fluttershy said with a grin. “It really is him!”

“You know that pony, Fluttershy?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, he was one of Rainbow’s friends back in Cloudsdale.” Fluttershy smiled wistfully. “We used to all go out for ice cream together.”

“Rainbow’s never mentioned him,” Twilight said. “I guess they didn’t keep in touch when she moved to Ponyville.”

“They did for a little while.” Fluttershy shook her head. “But you know how it goes, life happened. They lived in different cities, saw each other less and less. I don’t think either of them meant to drift apart, but it just kinda happened.”

“She’s gonna be so jealous,” Sunset said with a smirk.

“Should we cheer for that pony?” Morning asked.

Fluttershy smiled. “Yes, let’s all cheer for Windfall.”

For his part, Windfall did pretty well. But he wasn’t racing against teenagers anymore; these were professionals, and he was still new to the pro racing scene, judging by the fact that the announcer had referred to him as a rookie racer.

He fought to keep his place in the lower top ten, which Fluttershy considered pretty good for a rookie. Not that she had much experience in the matter, but he was one of over thirty racers, and he stayed in the top third pretty easily. Sure, he wouldn’t be going home with a medal, but Fluttershy was proud of him.

And on that note, he did gain some new fans with this race.

In the end, Fluttershy couldn’t even remember the name of the mare who had come in first. But Windfall had come in seventh, and Fluttershy was happy for him. Even just making it into the pro racing circuit was a big deal, and she knew he would only get better.

She wanted to go down and meet him, but Morning had started yawning halfway through the show, so they decided it was best to go back to the castle.

“Some filly’s had a big day, I think.” Fluttershy smiled as Morning fought to stay awake on the walk back. There was no more jumping around on clouds for her. Fluttershy wondered if they should’ve factored time in for a midday nap.

“I’m not tired,” Morning insisted, but she let out a yawn.

“Alright,” Sunset said with a smirk. “I’m sure you’ll be up to help Twilight then. She’s reorganizing the library!”

“I’m… a little tired,” Morning relented, causing the adults to laugh.

They found Cherry Berry waiting for them with the balloon. She smiled as they walked up. “How’d it go?”

“It was nice,” Twilight said. “Not something we’d normally do, but it was a fun change of pace.”

“Glad to hear it. We ready to set off then?”

“Sure are.” Twilight climbed into the basket, followed by Sunset. Fluttershy picked up Morning and flew the two of them in, then Cherry Berry took them up into the air.

Even though they were going down, they had to go up a little bit to get in the right air current to go to Ponyville. Twilight was trying to explain that to Morning, who had other things on her mind.

“Brr, it’s cold up here,” Morning said.

“It is a little bit,” Fluttershy agreed. The sun had gone down, and they were up very high with strong winds. She extended a wing over Morning, who tucked in closer for warmth.

“Fluttershy saw a racer she knew,” Twilight told Cherry Berry as they began their descent. “From back when she lived in Cloudsdale.”

“Oh nice! Did you get the chance to say hi?”

“No,” Fluttershy said softly. “Someone was looking a little tired.”

She had expected an insistence from Morning that she wasn’t that tired, but none came. She wondered if she was really that afraid that they’d put her to work in the library, but when she lifted her wing a little to get a better look, she saw that Morning was asleep.

She giggled, and the others all crowded around to get a look. “I guess she really was tired,” Twilight said.

“She had a big day.” Fluttershy lowered her wing so that it was covering Morning once more. “She was up early, then she met Discord and helped with the animals, then Cloudsdale… Poor thing must be exhausted.”

“I don’t think she’ll be complaining much,” Sunset said. “Something tells me she’s enjoyed today as much as we have.”

Fluttershy nodded and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and smiled, enjoying the feeling of being snuggled up close with her daughter. “I’m really happy we did this.”

“Me too,” Sunset said, and Fluttershy opened her eyes to look at her. “Who would have thought a pony like me would ever be a mom.”

“I would.” Twilight nudged Sunset. “You’re great with kids, and you care so much about other ponies. I think you make a great mom.”

“Yeah, well…” Sunset looked down at what little she could see of Morning underneath Fluttershy’s wing, then she nuzzled against Twilight. “I guess I’ll do okay, as long as I have you two to help me.”

“We do make a good team,” Twilight said with a smile.

“More than a team,” Fluttershy said. “We make a good family.”

7 – Actions and Reactions

Chapter Seven
Actions and Reactions

⠀

⠀
“And then we went to Cloudsdale and I walked on clouds!” Morning said excitedly. “They’re really soft!”

“I wish I could go to Cloudsdale…” Spring Blossom said sadly. As an earth pony, Cloudsdale wasn’t somewhere she was likely to go. Of course, as a unicorn, the same could be said about Morning.

“Maybe you’ll get unicorn parents who can take you,” Morning said, then she thought about it. “Although Fluttershy said that not all unicorns can do spells like that.”

“It’s so cool that you’re getting adopted by princesses.” Spring Blossom pushed around the toy train she was playing with. The two fillies were sitting in the playroom talking about Morning’s weekend. “I wanna be adopted by princesses…”

Morning shrugged. “I don’t really think of them as princesses anymore. They’re just… really nice ponies.”

Spring Blossom finally smiled. “I’m glad you found nice parents. I hope I do too someday.”

“You will,” Morning said. “You’re really nice, I’m surprised they didn’t decide to adopt you instead.”

“Yeah, you must’ve really fooled them,” a colt said from behind them. Morning turned to see Patchouli Rest smirking at her. “Wonder what they’ll think when they learn that you’re not really a nice filly.”

“I can be nice!” Morning insisted. “And besides, they don’t expect me to be good all the time. They said so.”

Patchouli rolled his eyes. “Of course they said that, they’re adults, they have to say things like that. But they’re princesses! They can adopt anypony they want! Why would they want to keep a filly like you?”

Morning rose to her hooves and took a step towards Patchouli. Before she could do anything though, she felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Morning, don’t…” Spring Blossom said, then she turned towards Patchouli. “Stop it! You’re just jealous of her!”

Patchouli laughed. “Yeah right. Like I want to be adopted by a bunch of ponies who don’t even care about me.”

“They do care!” Morning insisted.

“Nah, I heard some of the adults talking, and they said the princesses are only doing it for the, uhm, publicity.”

Morning narrowed her eyes. She didn’t say anything because she didn’t want to admit that she didn’t know what ‘publicity’ meant.

“Don’t listen to him,” Spring Blossom said. “Let’s go play somewhere else.”

Patchouli just shrugged. “Yeah, well, don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”

Although Spring Blossom tried to pull Morning away, she held her ground. “Warn me about what?”

“That when they’re tired of you, they’ll just get a new filly. When they adopt a pony, other ponies say ‘wow, those princesses are so good!’ So then they’ll just keep adopting new ponies and the old ponies like you won’t matter anymore. That’s what publicity is.”

Morning bowed her head. Was that true? Would they just get tired of her? It was true that Morning wasn’t always a good filly, and they could adopt any filly they wanted.

Morning lifted her head to look sadly at Spring Blossom. The princesses would probably rather have a good little filly like her. And when they realized how Morning really was, when they saw that she wasn’t a good pony…

“Come on, Morning!” Spring Blossom said. “Patchouli’s lying! Let’s go…”

Morning knew Spring Blossom was right, that she could go, but she wouldn’t budge. She stood there, staring at Patchouli, and she could feel pressure welling up in her horn as her anger grew.

Her horn must also have been glowing because Patchouli laughed. “What are you going to do? Cast a spell on me?”

Morning did something very different. She took a step towards the obnoxious colt, and she hit him in the face with her front hoof.

Spring Blossom yelled something, and Patchouli fell back. Morning stared at him and considered hitting him again, but she knew what was coming. Part of her knew there was no avoiding it, but that part was quieter than the part that told her to run and hide.

Not in her room, they’d find her there. So she ran outside to the playground in the backyard of the orphanage. If she could just get to her hiding place, then no one would find her.

So of course, she couldn’t get there. As soon as she was through the door, she was stopped by Miss Ginger. “Whoa, where are you off to in such a hurry?”

“I’m just…”

Morning couldn’t think fast enough, because before she could get away, Patchouli was right behind her. “She hit me!”

“She what?” Miss Ginger frowned at Morning, but she addressed Patchouli instead. “Are you okay? Let me see.”

While she was busy looking at Patchouli, Morning glanced away. Miss Ginger must have noticed though, because without looking away from Patchouli, she spat, “Don’t you dare go anywhere, Morning Glisten!”

Morning swallowed and stayed where she was standing.

Miss Ginger checked Patchouli to make sure he wasn’t hurt, then sent him back inside. The whole time, Morning beat herself up, her thoughts hitting much harder than her hooves. How could she be so stupid? Of course he was just going to tell Miss Ginger about it…

Once Patchouli was gone, Miss Ginger turned towards Morning. “So,” she said with a harsh tone, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Morning pouted. “He started it…”

“Oh? And how did he start it?”

Morning didn’t want to repeat what Patchouli had said about the princesses. She knew she should, but it felt like admitting that what he’d said bothered her if she did. “I dunno, he just did.”

“Well, I’m afraid that’s no reason to hit someone.” Miss Ginger sighed, and Morning just glared at the ground. “What do you think your new moms would say?”

“Are… you going to tell them?”

Miss Ginger sighed again, and she sounded tired when she spoke. “I don’t know, Morning. I think I have to. They’re adopting you, and they need to figure out how to handle situations like this.”

‘How to handle a filly like me, you mean…’ Morning thought, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she just stood there waiting for Miss Ginger to punish her.

“I think you need to go to your room and think about what you did for now. And since you won’t tell me what happened, I’m going to talk to Patchouli and see what he has to say about it.”

“Okay…” There was no telling what Patchouli would have to say, but it wouldn’t be anything that got Morning out of trouble, that was for sure.

It didn’t matter. Morning couldn’t do anything about it anyway, so she shuffled back inside, then made her way to her bedroom.

It wasn’t fair. That was the thought that carried her along as she walked into her bedroom, and she was left alone with it once she closed the door. It just wasn’t fair. Patchouli had started it, he had goaded Morning into hitting him. He’d said all those things about the princesses, and… and…

And maybe he was right. That was the part that hurt. Morning had thought it herself before, of course. Maybe someday they’d realize she wasn’t a very good filly. Sure, they said they wouldn’t, but they were adults… No matter how nice they were, they were adults, and adults always said things and then changed their minds.

Morning flopped onto the bed and turned to face the wall so that her back was towards the door. She glared at the wall as if it had been what had upset her, and she kept glaring until her vision went blurry through her tears.

The good thing about being sent to her room was that it wasn’t really a punishment. Morning liked being in her room, she liked having an excuse to avoid other foals. She did not, particularly, enjoy being forced to be there, but there were worse things.

Worse things like having to talk to Miss Ginger about what had happened. If Morning could have stayed in her room all night, she would have. Forget about dinner, it would be worth skipping it just to avoid seeing Miss Ginger, or worse, Patchouli.

But that was a luxury Morning didn’t have. Shortly before dinner time, there came a knock on her door. “Morning?” a soft mare’s voice called through it. “It’s Miss Ginger. Can we talk?”

“No,” Morning said, although she suspected it wouldn’t be that easy. “Go away.”

There was a pause, then Miss Ginger spoke again. “Well, if you change your mind, come to my office. And then afterwards, we can go get some dinner together.”

Morning just huffed in response, although she wasn’t sure if Miss Ginger could hear her through the door. It didn’t matter, Morning didn’t care about her anyway. She was just going to stay in bed all night.

Just like this. Staying in bed, staring at the wall. She didn’t need anyone, or anything for that matter. She would be fine, she’d just sit right here. All by herself. Just like this.

Morning was growing bored of being angry. And being bored of being angry made her feel other things in its place. Not remorse, she didn’t feel bad for hitting Patchouli in his stupid face, but something.

Something she didn’t want to feel, that was for sure. She turned away from her bed and looked at the door. She could go out, see what Miss Ginger had to say to her…

No. No, Morning was not going to go talk to her. She was not going to talk to anyone, other ponies were dumb and she didn’t need them. She just had to find something else to do.

She looked around the room. There were a few dolls and toys, which she liked to make up stories for, but she wasn’t in the mood to do that. Instead her eyes fell on a book. She picked it up and frowned at it. It had been a gift from Twilight. She’d given Morning a small stack of books that she thought the filly might like, and Morning had loved them all so far.

She flipped open the book and started reading, and she soon found herself caught up in the story. It was a story about a cat who met a witch, but even though she was a good witch, the cat didn’t seem to like her very much. Still, she wasn’t very far in before she got hooked on the story, and she found herself imagining herself in place of the witch.

She read the first chapter, and then started the second. The cat had agreed to help the witch find her sister, and things were starting to get good, but then Morning’s stomach growled. She tried to ignore it, but as soon as she heard the sound, she couldn’t think of anything else.

Morning was hungry. She hadn’t eaten a big lunch, and now it was dinner time. Everyone else was probably already eating…

She glanced at the door again as she thought about what to do. Miss Ginger had said to go meet her before going to dinner, and she knew better than to disobey the caretaker at a time like this. But then that would mean her only option was to go see Miss Ginger, and then she’d have to talk about what happened…

Morning sighed and tried to focus on her book again, but she couldn’t stop thinking about dinner. She wondered what everypony was eating, and that made her stomach growl again.

Frowning, she closed the book and stood up. She kept her head down as she walked to the door, and she opened it slowly. She looked around cautiously, as if Patchouli might be on the other side, just waiting for the perfect chance to ambush her.

There was no sign of anyone, so she left her room and closed the door behind her. She swallowed as she looked down the hallway, unsure of what to expect from the meeting. Although she was hungry, she walked slowly as she made her way to Miss Ginger’s office.

All she was doing was delaying the inevitable, of course. No matter how slowly she walked, she couldn’t put off this meeting for long. Sooner than she would like, she was looking at the open doorway leading into Miss Ginger’s office.

With a deep breath, she stepped inside. “Miss Ginger?”

“Oh, hello, Morning.” Miss Ginger smiled at her. “Come in. I’m glad to see you.”

Morning walked inside and climbed onto the chair across from Miss Ginger. She looked the caretaker in the eyes briefly, then turned away.

When Morning didn’t say anything right away, Miss Ginger spoke up. “So are you ready to talk about what happened?”

Morning frowned. “I dunno…”

“Well, you must be here for some reason.”

Morning considered pointing out that she was just hungry, but she held her tongue. She had to talk about what happened with Patchouli, she knew that, but she didn’t know how to.

Miss Ginger sighed. “I see. Well, I talked to Patchouli and Spring Blossom. I know that Patchouli was saying things about your new parents. Is that why you hit him?”

Morning gritted her teeth in response. “I don’t know.”

Surprisingly, Miss Ginger’s tone was soft when she spoke. “Oh, Morning… I know it hasn’t been easy for you, but you really have to try to control your anger better. It’s okay to get mad at somepony for saying something hurtful, but it’s not okay to hit them. You need to come talk to me or one of the other adults when stuff like that happens.”

It was hard to stay angry when Miss Ginger talked like that, no matter how much Morning wanted to be angry. She took a deep breath and looked up at Miss Ginger. “I just… got really mad at him for talking about the princesses…”

“And why didn’t you use your words instead?”

Truthfully, Morning didn’t know. She got angry, and the next thing she knew, she was hitting Patchouli. But that was stupid, so she just said, “I was just so mad at him.”

Miss Ginger sighed. “Patchouli said some hurtful things, didn’t he?”

Morning shifted in her seat. “I guess.”

“What did he say that got you so angry?”

Didn’t she already know? Sure, Patchouli probably wouldn’t have said anything, but Spring Blossom would have told her. Morning didn’t answer.

“He said that the princesses didn’t really want you, didn’t he?” Miss Ginger asked softly.

Morning hesitated for a moment, then finally said, “Yes.”

Miss Ginger shuffled things around her desk until she found what she was looking for. It was a newspaper, and she showed it to Morning. There was a picture of all three princesses on it, and they were smiling for the camera. “This is an article about you,” Miss Ginger explained. “It’s about how the princesses are going to be your moms, and all about how happy they are about that.”

Although she clearly expected Morning to be happy about that, the filly just felt her heart sink. “And, uhm… ponies are happy about it?”

Miss Ginger grinned. “That’s right! Everypony is happy that the princesses are adopting you, especially the princesses themselves.”

Morning nodded and looked over the newspaper. She couldn’t manage to read any of it, instead just staring at the picture of the princesses. They looked so happy.

“So you see, no matter what anypony says, they really do want you.”

There was an empty feeling in Morning’s chest that prevented her from speaking, so she nodded instead.

“Now, what do you say we go and find Patchouli so you two can apologize to each other, and then you can get some dinner?”

With one last look at the smiling ponies in the picture, Morning got off her chair. She didn’t really feel like apologizing to Patchouli, but she followed Miss Ginger out of the room anyway.

They made their way to the dining room, where foals were sitting around eating dinner, just as Morning had thought. It seemed spaghetti was for dinner, as well as numerous vegetable choices so everyone could eat what they wanted.

Miss Ginger led Morning to where Patchouli Rest was sitting, and it was clear that she would be forced to apologize to him before she was able to eat anything. She kept her head down the whole way, painfully aware that other foals were looking at her.

“Hello, Patchouli,” Miss Ginger said as they approached the colt. “I think you and Morning have something you have to say to each other.”

Neither of them said anything at first. Eventually, Patchouli spoke up, sounding more annoyed than apologetic. “I’m sorry I said all that stuff.”

Miss Ginger put a hoof on Morning’s shoulder. “Morning, do you have something to say to Patchouli?”

Morning looked up at Patchouli. He was glancing towards his plate of spaghetti, and it was clear he didn’t actually care one way or the other about the apology.

Seeing him also brought thoughts of what he’d said to her to mind. That it was all for ‘publicity’, which meant that they were going to just keep adopting new fillies so that ponies talked about them like they did in the newspaper.

Morning tore her eyes away from Patchouli. “No, I don’t.”

“Morning,” Miss Ginger said testily. “You need to apologize for hitting Patchouli earlier.”

Morning turned back to the colt, but she didn’t apologize. Instead, she smacked his plate of spaghetti onto him. He yelled and jumped up out of his seat, sauce dripping off of him and onto the floor.

“Morning!” Miss Ginger yelled as other caretakers came running over. “What’s gotten into you!?”

Morning just tore her eyes off the colt and stared at the ground.

Miss Ginger sighed and turned to another caretaker. “Can you help Patchuli get cleaned up while I take Morning to her room?”

“Of course.”

“Come on, Morning.” Miss Ginger guided Morning out of the room with her hoof. Morning walked away on her own, biting back tears.

As they walked to her room, Miss Ginger tried to get her to talk. “What were you thinking?” she asked, which Morning didn’t reply to. “Why would you do something like that? Especially after Patchouli apologized! Honestly, what do you think the princesses are going to say about this, huh?”

At that, Morning did start crying a little. She held it back as best she could, but a few tears slipped out. Miss Ginger noticed and stopped asking questions, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

Miss Ginger only spoke again when they reached her room. “I think you need some time to cool off. Just… stay in your room for now, and I’ll come talk to you later.”

Morning didn’t answer, and Miss Ginger left.

Once she was alone, Morning sat on the floor and cried. It wasn’t fair. This was all Patchouli’s fault, if he hadn’t said all that stuff… If it hadn’t been true…

That was really what the problem was. It wasn’t Patchouli’s fault, not really. It was because he had been right.

She should just call the whole thing off. She could still do that, after all. If she said she didn’t want to be adopted by them, then they would just have to tell everyone that they were bad ponies who couldn’t convince a filly to live with them, and that would show them!

Only…

Only they weren’t bad ponies. They were nice, and they made Morning happy. Happier than she ever was at Small Steps, anyway. They were the first adults since Cinnamon Twirl to make Morning feel like she could trust them, and she did trust them. Even if they were adults, they were good adults.

They did fun things with her, and they talked nicely, and they read her stories before bed, and… and…

Morning was crying in earnest now, unable to hold it back. She sobbed loudly as she sat on the floor. She didn’t want them to pick another filly, she wanted them to pick her! She wasn’t really a good filly, she knew that, but… but she wanted to be…

There were toys around her, which she hit and sent flying around the room. She wasn’t really sure why she did it, she didn’t really want to. She was just so angry, and she wanted something else to be the problem, so she pretended her toys were the problem and she hit them.

And when she was done with that, she saw the books that Twilight had given her. She picked one up, and she thought of Twilight deciding she wasn’t good enough.

“Sorry, Morning, but you’re just a naughty filly who hurts other foals. We’re going to adopt somepony else instead, and you can just think about what you did!”

Morning pushed the book onto the floor, where it fell open facedown. Then she did the same thing to another book, and another. When there was a small pile of books, she kicked it away.

And then she got to the last book, and she stopped. This book was special. It wasn’t just a gift from Twilight, it was a gift from all three of them, and it was magic. When she wrote in it, the princesses could read what she said and they would write back to her.

She opened it up, seeing her own messy scribbles and drawings she made for them beside their much neater writing.

She pulled the book carefully, almost reverently to the bed, where she set it down. Then she got herself a pencil, and went back to the bed to sit on it with the book. She flipped to a blank page, and she wrote.

‘Hi prinses its Morning. I have a queston.’

She waited a few moments for a response, and when none came, she thought about throwing this book across the room too. Instead, she bowed her head on it and cried, almost as if it was one of them and they could stroke her mane and tell her it was okay.

She felt a vibrating from the book, and she picked her head up. There were letters appearing.

‘Hello, Morning, it’s Twilight! We were just talking about you during dinner. What’s your question?’

Morning frowned. She wanted to ask if they would still take care of her even though she was a bad filly. She wanted to ask if they would keep her, and never send her back. She wanted to ask Twilight to make her feel better, to put her fears to rest, to tell her the things she needed to hear.

Instead, she copied the way Twilight spelled her name to write, ‘Hi Twilight am I going to Ponyvill this weekend?’

A moment later, Twilight wrote back, ‘Yup! We can’t wait to have you here! We’ve been making plans and I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this weekend!’

Morning took a shaky breath and wondered what Twilight would say if she knew Morning was crying. She made sure none of her tears landed on the book so that Twilight wouldn’t find out. ‘Thats good I cant wait.’

It was better to say things like that. Morning was not a good filly, but she knew how good fillies acted. They didn’t hit ponies, they didn’t throw temper tantrums in their rooms, and they didn’t cry when everything was their own fault.

Patchouli was probably right, but the princesses were good ponies. They were nice to her, and Morning didn’t want them to get tired of her. And if that meant she had to pretend to be a good filly, then she would pretend to be a good filly.

After all, she always did like playing pretend.

8 – Disagreeing Together

Chapter Eight
Disagreeing Together

⠀

⠀
There was nothing particularly unique about waiting excitedly for the weekend. All across Equestria, many ponies looked forward to the rest and relaxation that it brought. But lately for Twilight and her wives, there was something special that came with their weekends – they would get to bring Morning Glisten home with them.

And Twilight found she was looking forward to it. She wasn’t sure she felt the same way as her wives did; Sunset and Fluttershy were enamored with the little filly, while Twilight was still struggling with how she felt. But that didn’t mean she didn’t like having Morning around. After getting off to a poor start with the party, they’d had a very nice weekend.

And now it was time to do it again. They had decided to do some simpler things around Ponyville this time. It would be too late by the time they got back to do anything that day, and there was a rainstorm planned for Sunday, which meant Fluttershy would be busy on Saturday making sure all the animals’ dens, warrens, and trees were ready for it.

Besides, while they could easily dazzle the filly with trips to exotic places and spoil her with gifts and treats, they all agreed to try and give her the most normal childhood they could under the circumstances. The last thing they wanted was for her to get a superiority complex due to being adopted by a royal family.

“You don’t think she’ll be too disappointed if we just do things around town, do you?” Twilight asked as they walked into Small Steps Home for Orphaned Ponies.

“I’m sure she’ll be happy just to spend some time with us,” Fluttershy said. “We didn’t do much on Sunday last week, and she still seemed to enjoy that.”

“Besides, Ponyville is still new to her,” Sunset said with a shrug. “Give it a few years before she starts wanting to get out of town.”

Twilight nodded. “I guess that is true.”

They stepped into the foyer of the orphanage and Twilight rang a bell to alert somepony of their presence. Within a few moments, a caretaker Twilight recognized came into the room with a smile on her face.

“Princesses, so good to see you,” Ginger Snap said. “I hope the trip here wasn’t too bad?”

“It was fine,” Twilight said. “And I’m sure the return trip will be even better. Is Morning back from school yet?”

Ginger Snap’s smile shifted. It didn’t go away, exactly, but it seemed a little more unsure. “Oh, not yet. Uhm, but how about you three come into my office? We can talk a little about Morning.”

“Of course,” Twilight said, feeling a little nervous. Had something happened that was getting in the way of their adoption?

All three of them followed Ginger Snap back into her office, and she shut the door behind them. They took seats on one side of the desk while Ginger sat down on the other. It was a little crowded with all three of them on one side, but ponies didn’t really design furniture with their situation in mind.

“So what’s going on?” Sunset asked once they were all seated.

Ginger sighed. “Well, I’m afraid there’s been a bit of an incident with Morning…”

“Oh.” Fluttershy frowned. “She’s not hurt, is she?”

“No, no, she’s fine. But well, she did hit another foal.”

“She what?” Twilight looked at her wives, exchanging glances with Fluttershy while Sunset just stared at the floor. She looked back at Ginger Snap. “Please, tell us what happened.”

The caretaker filled them in about what they’d missed during the week; a colt had antagonized Morning about her adoption, telling her that they didn’t really want her, then Morning had hit him. Then they had been told to apologize to one another, and Morning had instead knocked his plate of food onto him.

It was upsetting news, to say the least. They knew Morning had some behavioral problems, of course. Truthfully that was part of the reason they had decided to adopt her; they knew they would be able to provide a stable and good life for a filly like her, with lots of love and compassion to help her learn to behave better.

But knowing that didn’t mean it was easy to hear she was getting into fights. “So what happened after that?” Twilight asked, hoping there would be no more bad news.

“She’s been grounded, but she hasn’t apologized.” Ginger sighed. “And she won’t talk to me about it. When I went to her room afterwards to bring her dinner, it was a mess. I think she threw a bit of a tantrum and tossed her things around, but she wouldn’t talk to me or explain why she did it.”

“It’s because she was being forced to do something she didn’t want to,” Sunset said, almost more to herself than the others. She shook her head and more directly addressed Ginger. “I don’t mean that you did anything wrong, or that she shouldn’t have to apologize for hitting somepony, I just… know what it feels like to be in her position. She resents being told what to do, so she’s lashing out.”

“So what should we do?” Fluttershy asked Sunset.

Sunset just shook her head. “Hey, I know what it’s like to be a messed up little kid, that doesn’t mean I know what to do about it. It took me most of my life to sort my shit out, and I’m really hoping we can save Morning from all that heartache.”

“This is something we all knew was coming,” Twilight said with an air of resignation. “But… Well, I know I’m not really prepared for it. What do you think we should do, Miss Ginger?”

Ginger Snap gave them a small smile. “It’s never easy to figure out things like this, and the truth is that different kids respond differently, so no one parenting method is best. She’s been grounded, which isn’t truthfully much of a punishment for a filly like Morning, who loves her privacy and her books.”

The whole situation was out of their depths, and Twilight kicked herself for that. She knew Morning had behavioral problems – she should have planned for this. “I don’t want her to think what she does here doesn’t matter once she’s with us. I think… maybe she should stay grounded this weekend.”

“It’s only our second weekend with her though,” Fluttershy said with a frown. “I’m a little worried she might resent us if we take her all the way to Ponyville to keep her shut in her room.”

“You don’t mean we shouldn’t take her, do you?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, no, nothing like that. I just, well, I think we should try talking to her.” Fluttershy bowed her head. “If she’s acting out like this, it must be for a reason. I think if the three of us talk to her in private at the castle, remind her how much we care about her and that we only want to help, maybe we can get through to her.”

Twilight nodded slowly, then turned to Sunset. “What do you think?”

Sunset looked apprehensive. “I don’t know… I mean, I was a way worse kid than Morning’s ever been, I guarantee. I just… don’t know if it’s really my place to say what we should do when I’ve done so much worse than what she did and got away with almost all of it.”

Twilight saw her point, but she wasn’t sure she agreed. She wasn’t sure how to say so, but then Fluttershy did it for her. “You’re her mom too, Sunset,” she said with a nuzzle.

“Shy’s right,” Twilight added. “And your insight might be just what we need to get through to her.”

“I guess…” Sunset showed them a small smile. “I just, well, I don’t know what to do either is what I’m saying.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’m glad to see you’re struggling with this,” Ginger said. “Most new parents do, and it’s a good sign that not only do they care enough to want to do the right thing, but they care enough to be worried about doing the wrong thing.”

“Well, of course.” Twilight bowed her head. “I just wish I knew what to do.”

She felt a hoof on her shoulder, and when she turned to look, Fluttershy was smiling at her. “We’ll figure it out together.”

“Who knows, maybe you three will have better luck getting through to her.” Ginger looked between the three mares. “She really admires you all, I can tell. That’s why this whole thing got to her. Maybe all she needs is some reassurance from you.”

“I guess we won’t know until we try.” Sunset ran a hoof through her mane and chuckled. “I just hope she takes it better than I did.”

While they waited for Morning to come back, Ginger Snap gave them more tips and, possibly more importantly, reassurance. She told them that they were not unique in their situation, that it was something all new parents dealt with. Not all new parents were adopting a filly with anger issues like Morning had, but all foals misbehaved from time to time and their new parents had to figure out how to deal with that.

Twilight thought back to her own parents. She was a generally well-behaved filly, but there had been times when they’d needed to ground her for misbehaving. For Twilight, the fact that she was being punished was always worse than the punishment itself. She wondered if Morning would feel the same way.

She didn’t have too long to think about it. They had timed their arrival to be around the same time Morning got back from school, so they weren’t waiting for long. Soon another caretaker came in to inform them that the kids were back, and that Morning had gone to her room to put away her school things and get ready for the trip.

“Let’s go see her,” Fluttershy said. “We won’t get the chance to talk about it on the train, but maybe she’ll open up in her room.”

Twilight nodded. “Good idea. Is that okay, Miss Ginger?”

“Yes, of course. Would you like me to show you the way?”

“No need,” Sunset answered as she rose to her hooves. “I think we know how to get there well enough by now.”

Twilight and Fluttershy stood as well, then they followed Sunset out of the room and through the building. Along the way, they passed other children playing happily. Twilight hoped Morning would talk to them, and even more so, she hoped that she would learn to play with other foals like that. She understood wanting to shut everyone away and be alone with a good book all too well, and she understood how that could backfire on a filly.

They walked into a hallway that connected all the girls’ rooms. Sunset paused in front of Morning’s door to smile at her wives, then she knocked. “Morning? It’s us. Can we come in?”

A first there was no answer, then the door opened. Morning smiled up at them. “Hi! I’m almost ready!”

Twilight smiled, happy to see the filly so excited. She almost wanted to call off any punishment in favor of having another fun weekend.

But no; that might make things simpler for the weekend, but it wouldn’t really help any of them in the long run. Least of all Morning.

Morning went back to packing her things, so the others walked into the room. Twilight wasn’t sure how to begin the conversation, but Fluttershy seemed to have an idea. “How was school today?”

Of course, they had to show they were interested in her life. Better that than jumping right into it, even if Morning just shrugged and said, “It was fine.”

“Any homework?” Fluttershy asked.

That one got a sigh. “Yes… Why do teachers give homework on the weekend?”

Twilight just chuckled. “Well, if you need any help, we’ll be happy to.”

Morning put some toys and books in a bag, then slipped it on. “I’m ready!”

The three wives all looked at each other for a moment, then Sunset closed the door behind them. “Actually… we need to talk about something first.”

Morning deflated. “Am… I not going with you…?”

“You’re still coming with us,” Twilight said as she levitated the saddlebags off Morning. “We just need to talk first.”

Morning pawed at the ground with her ears pressed flat against her head. “Did, uhm… Did you talk to Miss Ginger?”

“Yes, we did,” Twilight answered.

“We’re not mad at you,” Fluttershy assured the filly. Twilight wasn’t sure she was striking the right tone, but she seemed to be the only one with any sort of plan. “We just want to understand what was going on. Why did you hit somepony?”

Morning squeezed her eyes shut. “I… I don’t know. I was angry.”

“We all get angry sometimes,” Fluttershy said. “Miss Ginger said you didn’t apologize afterwards either.”

“I will!” Morning said suddenly. “I’ll go apologize to Patchouli right now!”

Twilight looked at the others. That was easier than she had expected. A little too easy, honestly. “How come you wouldn’t before now?”

Morning hesitated, so Fluttershy stepped in. “What’s important is that she’ll apologize now. Do you know where the colt is?”

“Probably in the playroom,” Morning said. “It’s over this way.”

With Morning leading the way, the three mares made their way back through the building. They took a turn down a hallway to a room Twilight had only briefly been in. It was a big room where the foals could play with a few different play areas and lots of toys scattered around.

It was nice to see that the foals had such a nice environment, but they weren’t there to admire the orphanage. Morning led them to a colt who looked like he was her age, and he frowned when he saw her. “What do you want?”

Twilight couldn’t really blame him for his tone considering what had happened the last time they were together, but she worried it would cause Morning to lock up.

But it seemed she owed the filly more credit, because although she kicked at the ground awkwardly and wouldn’t meet his eyes, she did manage to apologize. “I’m sorry I hit you. And knocked your dinner on you.”

“Yeah, well…” the colt looked at the three grown mares and seemed to decide his response due to their presence. “Don’t worry about it.”

Morning looked back at the others, so Twilight stepped closer to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “There, don’t you feel better now?”

“Uhm…” Morning looked at the colt, who had already gone back to playing with his toys. She turned back to Twilight and nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Twilight smiled at her wives, and Fluttershy smiled back and nodded. Not Sunset, though. She was staring at the colt and frowning. Twilight knew there was something on her mind, but she knew better than to ask what it was right then.

Instead, she guided Morning back the way they came. They came to the intersection leading back to Morning’s room, and she stopped. “Why don’t you go get your bag then meet us here? Then we can all go tell Miss Ginger we’re leaving.”

“Okay!” Morning happily ran off towards her room.

Twilight seized the chance to talk to Sunset. “What’s up?”

Sunset sighed and shook her head, then turned to stare in the direction of the playroom. “I was just thinking, you know, maybe we should’ve asked that kid why he was saying mean things to Morning. We’re supposed to be on her side, you know?”

“Maybe…” Twilight glanced back as well, although they couldn’t see him from where they were. “But no matter what, Morning shouldn’t have hit him.”

“I guess, it just…” Sunset scratched at her neck. “It just rubs me the wrong way.”

Fluttershy stepped closer and nuzzled Sunset, although it didn’t seem to penetrate through her grumpiness. “We’ll still talk to Morning later. Then we can get to the bottom of everything, and we’ll make sure she knows we do support her.”

“Yeah, okay…”

Twilight stepped forward to kiss Sunset on the cheek, which finally got a smile from her. But as Twilight was pulling away, Sunset’s horn lit up and she pulled her wife closer again. “Come here, you.”

Twilight smiled as she kissed Sunset, then blushed as she heard Morning clear her throat. Sunset just grinned, though. “Ready to go?”

Morning nodded. “Uh-huh.”

Fluttershy used a wing to guide Morning along, and Twilight led them back to Ginger Snap’s office. They only stopped in quick, but they made sure to tell her that Morning had apologized.

“That’s wonderful,” Ginger said as Twilight signed a form. It was a basic acknowledgment they had Morning for the weekend and would bring her back Sunday evening. “I knew you three would get through to her.”

“I think Morning just needed the time to think it over,” Fluttershy said.

For her part, Morning didn’t say anything, but no one pressed her to. Once they signed their forms and said a quick goodbye, they were off.

It was already afternoon and would be even later by the time they made it back to Ponyville, but the sun was shining brightly as they walked out of the orphanage, and Twilight couldn’t help but have high hopes for the weekend. She debated starting a song to see if Morning was a singer, but a look at Sunset deep in contemplation changed her mind. She knew her wife was dwelling on the colt and on how they would make it right.

Well, they might as well be clear with Morning about what was coming. “Just so you know, once we get back to the castle, the four of us still have some things to talk about. We haven’t decided if you’re still grounded, but we are happy you apologized.”

“Okay,” Morning said with her head bowed. “Uhm, I’m sorry…”

Twilight took a deep breath, then smiled and said “It’s –”

“He shouldn’t have said those things to you,” Sunset said. “And, you know, two wrongs don’t make a right or whatever, but…”

“What Sunset means is we understand why you did it,” Fluttershy said softly. “But… well, you can’t do things like that. Did you try telling an adult?”

“No…”

“We’ll talk about it at the castle,” Twilight said. “But… we’re just worried about you, and we want what’s best for you.”

“Uhm…” Morning looked up at Twilight. “I want to say sorry to those other foals. From last week.”

“The Cake twins?” Twilight asked, surprised at the sudden urge to apologize Morning was demonstrating.

“Yeah. You said I should, and I wanna do that. If, uhm, I can.” Morning turned away again. “Plus… they seemed nice.”

Twilight had to grin. She wasn’t sure if Morning meant to use this to get out of trouble, but it was the perfect ploy. How could Twilight say no to her wanting to make friends?

“Maybe one of us can bring you to Sugarcube Corner tomorrow,” Fluttershy said. “That’s where the Cakes live.”

Morning nodded. “Okay.”

Well, that pretty much settled their weekend plans. Their Friday would mostly be settling Morning in for the weekend and talking with her about what happened, on Saturday Fluttershy would be working while one of the others brought her to Sugarcube Corner, and on Sunday they would have a quiet day inside during the storm, then bring her back to Hollow Shades.

Although she had told Morning they weren’t sure if she’d be grounded, Twilight found herself doubting very much that she would be. She’d apologized to the colt, and she would apologize to the Cake twins. A clear show of a friendship lesson had to be worth some leniency.

Besides, as she walked along with the little filly, Twilight just couldn’t be angry with her.

It had been an awkward day, to say the least. Things had gone pretty well on the train ride to Ponyville, as they’d let Morning be excited about spending the weekend with them. It was easy to put aside thoughts of what was coming once they were at home in the face of how happy the filly was.

Of course, that could only last for so long. Eventually they got to the castle, and that meant they had to talk. Still, no one seemed to know how, so they put it off. Lunch first, then they’d talk. Except then they gave Morning the chance to get settled in, then they’d talk. Except then they wanted to give Twilight’s parents and Spike a chance to see her and ask her about her week, during which she didn’t talk about the fight and neither did the three wives.

It wasn’t like Twilight didn’t know they were stalling, it was just that she didn’t know what else to do. If left to her, she might have kept stalling all weekend. Thankfully, Fluttershy took a little more initiative.

“Morning?” she prompted once everyone was settling down. “We still need to talk.”

Morning deflated a little. “Okay.”

They chose to move to the sitting room so that all four of them could be comfortable, and they let Morning pick a seat first. Twilight and Fluttershy sat on a couch next to her, while Sunset sat on a chair nearby.

All three wives looked at each other, each waiting for the others to start. Eventually Twilight took the lead. “I know you said you were just angry and lost your temper. I don’t think we need to dwell on why you did it. But we do need to talk about it.”

“So, uhm…” Morning shifted uncomfortably. “What do we talk about?”

Twilight looked to Fluttershy, who took over. “Well, mostly that no matter what, we want the best for you. We don’t think you’re really a bad filly, you just… lost your temper.”

“Which isn’t okay,” Twilight said, a little worried that Fluttershy was going too soft. “But well, what we’re saying is we know you can behave better than that.”

“I can!” Morning said. “I’ll never do anything like that again.”

Twilight smiled, happy that Morning was so dedicated to doing the right thing.

Fluttershy had other thoughts, it seemed. “Never is a long time. What’s most important is that you’ll talk to us if you feel like that again.”

To be honest, Twilight considered not hitting other foals to be pretty important when it got down to it, but she didn’t want to disagree with Fluttershy in front of Morning. Still, she couldn’t say nothing. “Before you hit another foal. And if we’re not around, like at Small Steps, you need to talk to another adult, like Miss Ginger.”

Realizing that Sunset hadn’t weighed in yet, Twilight glanced towards her. In addition to being one of Morning’s moms, she had a unique perspective on the situation. But she just nodded in agreement, causing Twilight to frown slightly.

“Twilight’s right,” Fluttershy said. “It’s important to talk to ponies about what you’re feeling. And you know, you can talk to us about anything at all.”

Morning nodded. “I know.”

Fluttershy leaned in a little and smiled. “Since we’re all together and talking about things, is there anything you want to discuss with us?”

“I don’t think so…” Morning pawed at the couch beneath her, and Twilight could tell she was wondering how much longer they were going to keep her for.

“You’re not still upset about what the colt said to you?” Fluttershy asked.

Morning shook her head. “No, not anymore.”

“You know he was wrong too, right?” Sunset asked.

Twilight turned to her and cocked her head to the side. The first time she spoke, and it was to justify Morning’s actions?

“I guess,” Morning said.

“What’s his name?” Sunset asked.

“Patchouli,” Morning answered.

Sunset nodded. “Does Patchouli do things like that a lot? Say or do things to upset you?”

“Uhm, I don’t know. Sometimes, I guess.”

Sunset frowned. “Yeah, well… Just because you shouldn’t hit him doesn’t mean he’s not also wrong.”

“Have you talked to an adult about him picking on you?” Twilight asked.

Morning hesitated for a moment, then sunk her head. “Miss Ginger says we should be friends.”

Sunset snerked and muttered under her breath, “Yeah right.”

“Sunset,” Twilight interjected sharply. Sunset rolled her eyes and turned away. Twilight took a deep breath and smiled at Morning. “Do you have any other friends at Small Steps?”

Morning looked away. “I guess Spring Blossom is a friend.”

The ‘I guess’ didn’t sound too promising, but Twilight wasn’t sure there was much point in pushing for more when Morning was going to be moving to Ponyville soon. “I’m glad you have a friend. And maybe you can make some more this weekend. Do you still want to go to see the Cakes?”

Morning looked apprehensive. “Are they gonna be mad at me?”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” Fluttershy said, stretching out her wing to pat the filly with it. “They’re nice foals, they’ll understand.”

Twilight smirked. “Just try to be a little more careful if something upsets you this time.”

“I will be!” Morning promised. “I won’t get mad this time or anything!”

Fluttershy frowned a little, but Twilight was happy with what she heard. “Good. Why don’t you go play in your room and we’ll get you in a little bit for dinner. Or you could go to the library, or to see Spike.”

“Uhm…” Morning fidgeted in her seat. “Am I… still grounded?”

The three wives all looked at one another. Twilight was tempted to say yes, but they hadn’t really discussed that.

“I think we’re just going to have a quiet weekend anyway,” Fluttershy said. “So, uhm, I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “We won’t go anywhere exciting this weekend, but this time, you’re not in too much trouble. As long as you promise to be better from now on.”

“I do! I’ll be really good now!”

“Good.” Twilight smiled. “Now run along, the three of us need to talk.”

“Okay.” Morning climbed off the couch and looked at the three of them. She seemed to be debating saying something, but in the end, she ran off without a word.

Twilight waited until Morning was gone to hang her head down and sigh. “Was that as stressful for everyone else?”

“A little, yeah,” Sunset said.

“I didn’t really mind.” Fluttershy scooted closer to Twilight and leaned against her. “I think it went pretty well.”

“I’m a little worried that you were maybe too soft on her,” Twilight said with a frown. “Telling her it’s okay to hit another foal isn’t really something we should do.”

Fluttershy sat up again. “I didn’t tell her it was okay.”

“That’s kind of what you made it sound like.”

“Uh…” Sunset glanced towards the door to make sure it was closed. “I guess I’m the only one who thinks maybe it was okay?”

“What?” Twilight reared back. “Sunset, how can you say that?”

“I dunno, ‘cause this colt sounds kinda like a bully? So many people could’ve shut me down when I was queen bitch of CHS, but they wouldn’t stand up to me.”

“Maybe, but violence isn’t the answer.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. “Twilight, you of all ponies know sometimes violence is the answer. Did you talk things out with Tirek?”

“That was different!” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I don’t think this colt was threatening all of Equestria.”

“Look, I’m not saying it should be the first thing she tried. But if this kid is bullying her and the adults are just trying to force them to be friends instead of addressing the problem, well… I’m kinda glad she gave him a good reason to think twice about fucking with her.”

Twilight was horrified to hear that, although she couldn’t piece together exactly why. She disagreed, of course. But she wasn’t sure why it made her so upset to disagree with Sunset on this matter.

“I don’t really think Morning talked about it with Miss Ginger,” Fluttershy pointed out. “I don’t want Morning getting into fights either, but I think we can all agree she needs to try telling an adult before she ever does anything on her own.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, exactly.”

Fluttershy smiled. “And I think more than anything, Morning just needs to know that no matter what, we love her and want to help her. I think if she just knows she can talk to us about anything, then we won’t have problems like this.”

It was tempting to just agree, but Twilight wasn’t so sure. “Maybe, but… what about what happened last week with the Cakes? It’s only been a week and she’s already had two incidents with losing her temper.”

“I’m with Twilight,” Sunset said. “It’d be great if we could just hug her problems away, but we need to know sometimes she’s going to misbehave. We knew that when we decided to adopt her.”

“Yeah, but…” Twilight sighed. “I just don’t know what to do about it…”

“We’ll figure it out together,” Fluttershy said with a smile that Twilight couldn’t return. “We’re a team, remember?”

“Yeah, we are.” Although Twilight said the words, they sounded hollow to her ears. It wasn’t like they weren’t a team, it was just…

It was just that they all disagreed on how to handle this. Fluttershy wanted to pretend everything was okay as long as they talked about it, and Sunset wanted to let Morning get away with violence. Meanwhile, Twilight’s mind kept going to how to best correct the problem and to punish Morning if and when it came down to it.

She leaned back on the couch and let her head fall back against the headrest. That was why Sunset’s response had bothered her so much. They were moms, they were raising a kid together, and they didn’t agree on how to do that. She had always thought they could handle anything together, but, well… she didn’t feel much like they were doing this together.

“What… happens when we don’t agree?” Twilight asked slowly.

Fluttershy cuddled up against Twilight, so she put her wing across her wife. “I don’t know. I guess we talk about it, like this. And maybe we don’t always find the answer, but we always try our best.”

“I think this time, things are pretty well resolved,” Sunset said. “We have tomorrow with the Cakes, and then we’ll just spend Sunday hanging around the castle. That rainstorm is coming anyway.”

“Yeah,” Twilight said, mostly because she wasn’t sure what else to say or do.

“We’ll have to talk to Pinkie,” Fluttershy said. “It sounded like she was part of why Morning got overwhelmed last week.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ll go see her and make arrangements with the Cakes before dinner.”

Sunset sighed and walked over the couch, sitting on the edge and putting her foreleg on Twilight’s shoulder. “This isn’t the end of the world, Twi. We don’t always have to agree.”

Twilight’s ears folded against her head. “I know, but… this is important.”

“It is,” Sunset agreed. “And we should probably face facts: This is going to come up again, and we might disagree then too. So how about in the future, we talk to each other before talking to Morning? Then we can come at it with a unified idea of how to address things.”

“That’s a good idea.” Twilight smiled a little. She knew Sunset thought on her hooves – the unicorn almost seemed to prefer to go into situations without a plan and just rely on her quick thinking to solve problems. Twilight also knew that Sunset was proposing this specifically because she knew it would mean a lot to her wife to plan things out.

It was a small gesture, but it did remind Twilight that they were in this together. They disagreed, sure, but that never meant they weren’t on the same team.

Fluttershy’s head was resting on Twilight’s shoulder, so she gave it a kiss. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I should head over to Sugarcube Corner if I want to get back by dinner time.”

Fluttershy sat up and smiled. “Alright, I’ll make something special tonight.”

“Think Morning has any interest in cooking?” Sunset asked. “Maybe she’d like to help around the kitchen.”

“I could always ask,” Fluttershy said. “I think it’d be nice to cook together.”

Sunset stood up and stretched. “Come on, let’s go find her.”

Twilight took a deep breath, and she found a smile was hiding out in her heart, so she got it to work its way to her lips. “Love you two.”

Fluttershy kissed Twilight’s cheek. “Love you, Twily. And you too, Sunset.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty great.” Sunset struck a cocky pose. “And, you know, love you both too.”

Twilight giggled, and they all left the room together. Whatever would come, no matter if they agreed on everything or not, they’d still be facing it together, and that would make all the difference.

9 – A Good Filly

Chapter Nine
A Good Filly

⠀

⠀
It was too late. She was doomed. She tried to fight the slimy creature, but all her efforts were in vain – it had caught her hoof and it wouldn’t let go. Soon it would swallow her whole leg, then it would be over. If only she had listened, but it was too late now… She could still hear their voices as she struggled with her foe, as if they were still there.

“On no!” Pinkie said as she looked at the mess Morning was in. “I thought it looked like you put too much water in the mix.”

“But Fluttershy said it didn’t have to be exact last night…” Morning said sadly as she looked at the goopy mess in front of her. “And it was getting hard to stir.”

“That was cooking,” Twilight said with a comforting smile. “Baking is more exact, and even a little difference can matter here.”

“It’s okay!” Pinkie added some more sugar and cocoa powder to the brownie batter. “If we add a little more of the rest of the ingredients, we can save it. Then we’ll just have more brownies!”

“More brownies are always good,” Pumpkin Cake said with a nod.

“How do you know how much of everything to add?” Twilight asked.

Pinkie shrugged. “You get used to estimating, even with baking. Besides, I know someone else who’s had this same problem.”

Pumpkin Cake looked at her hooves. “I didn’t do it that much…”

Pound Cake cocked his head to the side. “You used to do that all the time.”

Of the two Cake twins, Morning liked Pound a little more. He was quieter than his sister, who was overly energetic about everything she did. But even she was more reserved today than she had been when they first met. Thankfully, so was Pinkie Pie.

All in all, it was shaping up to be an okay day, even if Morning had to go over to Sugarcube Corner and bake with the twins. At least she was looking forward to eating it, although she liked cooking with Fluttershy and Spike more.

On that note, she kind of wished Fluttershy was with them. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Twilight, just that the alicorn princess was a little intimidating. But Fluttershy was busy with work, and Sunset apparently didn’t like baking, so Twilight was the one who brought Morning to Sugarcube Corner.

“How’s that cupcake batter coming along?” Pinkie asked the Cake twins.

“I think it’s ready,” Pound said. Pumpkin swiped her hoof in the batter and licked it off, then nodded her approval.

Morning frowned at her own batter, which was more like chocolate liquid with a pile of dry ingredients in it. She was nowhere near as good at this as the Cakes were, and it showed.

“Better get to stirring,” Pinkie reminded her, so Morning started stirring in the sugar and cocoa. While she did, Pound and Pumpkin poured their batter into a cupcake pan. Morning frowned as she looked over at them.

Apparently she didn’t do so subtly enough. “Don’t worry,” Pinkie told her. “The twins have just been baking a lot longer than you. You’ll get the hang of it.”

“And Pinkie’s still the best!” Pumpkin said, then narrowed her eyes at the pink pony. “For now…”

Little by little, Morning’s batter turned into, well, batter. Pinkie added a few ingredients here and there, and before too long, it was looking much better. By the time she got it into a usable shape, the cupcakes were already going into the oven, but at least she got it done.

“Those cookies Twilight made should be ready by now,” Pinkie said. “Let me check on those, and then we’ll put your brownies in.”

Pinkie opened the second oven and pulled out a tray of sugar cookies. Twilight said she didn’t usually bake, but they looked really good.

While Pinkie set them on the counter, the three foals gathered around them. Twilight chuckled. “They still need time to cool. Let’s get that brownie batter in a pan.”

So Twilight used her magic to hold up the bowl of brownie batter while Morning used a spatula to scrape it into a pan. Once they were done, Twilight put it in the oven and Pinkie set a timer.

“Who’s gonna try the first cookie?” Pinkie asked in a singsong voice.

“Me!” Morning and Pumpkin said at the same time.

“Twilight made them, so she should get to try the first one,” Pound Cake said more calmly.

“Good thinking, Poundy!” Pinkie held her hoof to her mouth and ‘whispered’ loud enough that the whole room could hear her. “That way if they’re too hot she’s the one who burns her mouth!”

Twilight laughed and took a bite of a cookie. “I think they came out pretty good, but I might need a second opinion. What do you think, Morning?”

Morning took a cookie and bit into it. It had just enough crunch around the edges while being nice and soft in the middle, and it was buttery and sweet. “It’s really good!”

The others all got themselves a cookie and everyone praised Twilight for her baking. “Thanks, everypony,” she said with a smile. “Now, I think we better do some cleaning up.”

Morning suppressed a groan; she was eager to show she could be a good filly, after all. The Cakes had no such concerns, and they both groaned openly.

Pinkie giggled. “I think Twilight and I can handle that. Why don’t you two show Morning your room? We’ll come and get you to ice the cupcakes when they’re ready.”

“Okay!” Pumpkin said. “Can we take some cookies with us?”

“Of course!” Pinkie looked at Twilight. “I mean, as long as Twilight’s okay with that.”

Twilight giggled. “It’d be pretty mean to bake all these treats and then say Morning can’t eat them. Go ahead and take a few cookies with you.”

“Yay!” Pumpkin used her magic to put a few cookies on a plate, but she seemed to struggle at actually lifting the plate.

“Maybe you shouldn’t carry it in your magic,” Pinkie said. “Remember what happened last time?”

Pumpkin blushed, and Pound Cake flew up and picked up the plate. The two unicorns walked to the room, Pumpkin leading the way, with Pound Cake flying behind them.

There were two doors in the kitchen. One was where they came in, which led to the public area of Sugarcube Corner where ponies could order and eat their treats. The other was the one they went through, which led them to a hallway with a few doors and a staircase at the end. They went through one of the doors, which led into a messy room with a bunk bed.

The twins’ room was a mismatch of interests, and she wasn’t sure which ones belonged to which foal. There was a small bookshelf with some books on it, and shelves on the walls with various other things – models, cool looking rocks, and a few awards. The walls had posters of ponies that Morning didn’t recognize, some of whom looked like musicians and others like athletes.

And there were a plethora of toys around the room, most of which were scattered around the floor. Pumpkin had to clear a place for them to sit down while Pound Cake landed and set the plate on the floor.

The two Cake twins sat next to the plate, so Morning did the same thing. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she wanted to be nice, so she said, “Uhm, your room is neat.”

“Thanks!” Pumpkin said through a mouthful of cookie.

Pound Cake swallowed his bite first, then said, “Thank you.”

“Is it weird sharing a room?” Morning asked as she picked up a cookie for herself. Although there were a lot of other foals at Small Steps, she’d always had her own room.

“I don’t think so.” Pumpkin swallowed, then shrugged. “Poundy can be a little annoying sometimes, but that’s what brothers are like.”

“I’m not annoying.” Pound Cake frowned. “You’re the one who’s always running around making noise when I’m working on my models.”

“Well, you’re the one who always plays your music all loud!” Pumpkin folded her forelegs. “Besides, you snore.”

“Do not.”

“Do so!”

“You’re the one who snores.”

“I am a lady.” Pumpkin brushed her mane back. “Ladies do not snore. Right, Morning?”

“Uhm, I don’t know.” Morning wondered if she snored. She didn’t think she did…

“Morning! You’re supposed to be on my side since we’re both girls!”

Morning frowned. Had she messed up? “Sorry…”

Pound Cake just shrugged. “I’ve heard you snore.”

“So, uhm…” Morning tried to think of some way to get them to forget about her taking sides, and changing the subject seemed like the best way. “What’s upstairs?”

“That’s Pinkie’s room.” Pumpkin used her magic to get another cookie.

“She’s not your mom, is she?”

Both the Cakes laughed, so Morning blushed. “No, she just lives with us,” Pound Cake said.

Morning nodded. A lot of ponies lived at the castle, and even a dragon. And of course, the orphanage had a lot of ponies living in it. It seemed normal that the Cakes would live with someone else too.

“What’s it like living in a castle?” Pumpkin asked. “I bet there’s a lot of cool stuff in there.”

“Not really.” Morning took a bite from her cookie before realizing they were expecting her to continue. She swallowed and shrugged. “Twilight said most of the rooms are empty.”

“Isn’t Twilight your mom now?” Pumpkin asked.

“I… guess so.”

“Then why don’t you call her ‘Mom’?”

“Oh…” Morning looked down at her hooved. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it, of course. But, well… “They never told me to.”

“It would get confusing with three moms,” Pound Cake said.

Pumpkin laughed. “You could just yell ‘Mom!’ and see which one came running!”

Morning laughed as well. She wasn’t sure how she felt about calling the princesses ‘Mom’ – she didn’t usually even think of them as her moms, exactly, they were just ‘the princesses’ or the ponies that were adopting her. Still, that was a pretty fun idea.

They ate the rest of the cookies quietly, then Morning got to looking around the room. Pound Cake noticed and asked, “Do you like models?”

“I dunno. I guess they’re cool.”

“She doesn’t care about your dumb models,” Pumpkin said. “I have a really cool rock collection! Pinkie’s sister takes me out to find new rocks sometimes. She’s really cool!”

“How are rocks cooler than models?” Pound Cake asked. He flew up to one of the models, a replica of a train, and carefully picked it up. “This was the last one I finished.”

“Finished?” Morning asked.

“Yeah, I build and paint them.”

“Whoa.” Morning had thought that it came from a store because it looked so perfect. Although that one was a train, he also had buildings, boats, airships, and other things. He didn’t seem to be picky.

Pumpkin levitated over a black rock that was plain on the outside, but which was split down the middle and was filled with crystals. “This one’s a geode. They take millions of years to form!”

“That’s so cool.” Morning loved how plain it looked on the outside only to be an amazing treasure on the inside.

Both of the twins’ interests seemed really cool to Morning. All she had were books… She wondered if she should try collecting something.

“What about the trophies?” Morning asked.

“Oh, those.” Pumpkin shrugged. “They’re both of ours from different junior baker competitions.”

“You must be really good.” Morning had never won an award for anything in her life.

“I guess,” Pound Cake said, then he smiled. “Do you like music? I have a bunch of records.”

“I dunno.” Morning had never really listened to music much, but she wanted to relate to Pound Cake. “We have a piano at Small Steps, and sometimes some of the adults will play us songs. I like that.”

“Here, you should listen to Sapphire Shores.”

Pumpkin rolled her eyes. “Countess Coloratura is way cooler.”

“She’s good too,” Pound Cake said.

Morning didn’t know who either of them were, so she didn’t say anything. It didn’t keep Pumpkin from bringing her back into the conversation. “I bet Morning likes daredevil ponies better than music anyway.”

“I… well, we went to see a race in Cloudsdale last week. Is it like that?”

“Kind of!” Pumpkin guided Morning over to a poster of three pegasi in black and green uniforms. “But they’re way cooler!”

Morning wanted the Cakes to like her so she could show the princesses that she could be a good filly, but she didn’t like how they were pulling her between them. She thought things both foals liked seemed neat – she just wished they could show her one thing at a time.

She made her body go stiff, imagining she was locking it up. She was worried that she might do something bad again, and she didn’t want to give herself the chance.

But before that could happen, Pinkie popped her head into the room. “Who’s ready to decorate some cupcakes?”

“Me!” Morning said, eager for an excuse to get out of the room before she could do anything bad in it. At least the twins would be as busy as she was if they were decorating cupcakes.

They left the room, and Morning breathed a sigh of relief. She knew she’d come too close to being bad, but she held it together. She just had to do that a little bit more, then they would be going home.

Home. Was that what the castle was for her now? It was only the second weekend, and she still spent most of the week at Small Steps.

All these thoughts and questions were too big for one little filly, so Morning put them aside. For now, she had cupcakes to decorate.

It was only a matter of time, really. Morning had the perfect team, which meant that they were practically guaranteed to find their secret treasure. It hadn’t all been easy; they’d had to sneak past the vicious dragon’s den, they’d bested the Great Owl’s riddles, and they’d fought off the vicious shadow monsters.

And all of it was for this. On the other side of this door was a treasure trove of priceless artifacts the likes of which Equestria had never seen. “Ready?” Morning asked her team.

“I’m ready,” the loyal engineer, Pound Cake, said.

“Let’s go!” the brave daredevil, Pumpkin Cake, answered.

Morning, the world’s greatest adventurer, nodded and opened the door.

Spread out before them were tomes of ancient knowledge – long forgotten spells, the secrets of ancient pony civilizations, anything they could ever want to know and more!

“Aww, I was hoping for rubies,” Pumpkin said.

“Books are nice too,” Pound Cake offered.

Morning wasn’t really sure if she was friends with the Cake twins, exactly. She had only known them for a week, and she didn’t really do friends. But she wanted them to think she was cool, and that meant that they needed to think this whole adventure game wasn’t just leading to a bunch of dusty old books.

“Well…” Morning looked over the books. “There are books about how to make rubies! With magic! We just have to find the right one!”

That seemed to do the trick, as Pumpkin gasped. “Then let’s go!”

They walked into the library, where Morning herself had only been briefly. There were many good things about going to Ponyville, and one of those was the castle itself. It wasn’t that Morning cared that it was a castle, exactly; no more than she cared that the ponies adopting her were princesses. Both facts were intimidating at first, but it turned out that Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset were just ponies, and the place they lived was pretty much just a really big house.

But, well, it was a really big house. There were plenty of places Morning could explore, plenty of rooms to check out. It was raining heavily in town, but things had gone well on their baking playdate, so the adults decided to have the Cakes over for dinner. The kids were off exploring the castle while the adults all talked.

And right now, that meant exploring the library. But as they walked further into it, something other than books caught Pumpkin’s attention. “What’s that?”

In front of them was a large mirror, but it was connected to some sort of machinery. That also caught Pound Cake’s attention, who let out an “Ooh” of appreciation.

Morning approached it. “Careful, it could be a booby trap.”

“What kind of mirror is a trap?” Pumpkin asked.

“Is that another owl riddle?” Pound Cake asked.

“It’s, uhm, it’s a cursed mirror!” Morning leaned in closer. “If you stare in it too long, you switch places with your reflection!”

“That can’t happen!” Pumpkin said.

“Oh yeah? Then go touch it.” Pound Cake pushed her a little closer to it.

Pumpkin didn’t move. “I… I don’t want to get in trouble…”

“Smart kid,” someone said from behind them. They all turned to see Sunset standing behind them. “I thought I heard you three in here.”

Sunset walked past them to the mirror, which she placed her hoof on. Her expression was hard to read, and no one said anything. Morning wasn’t sure if they did something wrong or not, but she got the feeling this wasn’t a normal mirror after all.

“It’s not cursed,” Sunset said after a while. She turned to face the three foals. “But I don’t want you kids playing around it. This is the most important thing in this whole castle.”

“Even more than Twilight’s crown?” Pumpkin asked.

“Way more than her crown,” Sunset said.

“What about the Cutie Map?” Pound Cake asked

That one caused Sunset to hesitate. “Well, it’s more important to me, but the map is also really important. But now that you mention it, I want you to be as careful around this mirror as you would be around the Cutie Map.”

“Uhm, I’m sorry.” Morning pawed at the ground. “Are we in trouble?”

“No.” Sunset finally smiled. “I just want you kids to understand. Someday I’ll show you exactly what’s so special about this mirror. There are… things I want you to see with it, Morning. Good things, I promise.” Sunset took a deep breath. “But that’s something for another time. For right now, I came to find you to say that Night Light made cocoa for everyone. Come on down and get some.”

“Okay!” Pumpkin ran off, then stopped. “Uhm, I forget how to get back…”

Truthfully, Morning wasn’t positive either. Thankfully they had Sunset with them. She just chucked and led the way out.

The four ponies made their way downstairs, and then Sunset led them to the room where Morning’s welcome party had been. It wasn’t quite as full this time, but it was pretty close. The princesses were all there, of course, and so was everyone else who lived in the castle – Spike, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet. In addition, all four Cakes were there, making for ten ponies and one dragon all gathered around in the same room.

That was a few too many ponies all gathered in one place for Morning. Even with the Cakes there, she was tempted to ask if she could leave. But she was supposed to be a good filly, so she just walked into the room and took one of the mugs of cocoa that were left out.

“It doesn’t get better than cocoa on a rainy day,” Mr. Cake said. “Have you kids been having fun?”

“Yeah!” Pumpkin said excitedly. “The castle is so cool!”

Mrs. Cake smiled nervously. “Remember to sit still when you’ve got a hot drink, Pumpkin dear.”

“Yes, Mom,” Pumpkin groaned. She took a seat next to her parents.

Pound Cake sat down near Spike, while Morning sat between Twilight and Sunset. Twilight smiled at her. “What do you say we do a bit of reading? If there’s one thing better than cocoa on a rainy day, it’s cocoa and a book on a rainy day.”

“Mmm, we need to get a fire going for maximum coziness,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Maybe get a few fuzzy blankets, really go all out.”

“It’s a little warm for all that,” Twilight said.

“It does sound nice though,” Twilight Velvet agreed. “But for now, maybe just the book. Did you have something in mind, Twily?”

“Actually, I was thinking about one of your books, Mom.” Twilight levitated over a book, which she held up for everyone to see. It showed a foal lost in a sea of faceless ponies. “The Filly Who Wasn’t, by Twilight Velvet.”

“Is Morning old enough for that one?” Night Light asked.

“It is written for kids a little older,” Twilight Velvet said. “Though I’ve heard from other parents who read it to younger kids. Do you like scary stories, Morning?”

“Yes,” Morning lied. She was a little afraid of stories that got too scary, but she wanted to be a brave filly so they’d all like her.

“We all talked about it,” Sunset said. “We’ve all read it, and aside from a few scary parts, I don’t think there’s anything in it that’s too bad for a younger filly. And we thought it’d be good for Morning to hear some of what you’ve written, Velvet.”

“It’s not too scary, is it?” Mrs. Cake asked. “It’s just that Pumpkin gets a little frightened sometimes…”

“I’ll be fine, Mom!” Pumpkin said with a blush.

“I wrote it when Twilight was Pound and Pumpkin’s age, actually,” Velvet said. “It’s a fantasy story, not a horror story, but it does have some darker parts in it. Every foal is different, of course, but I read it to Twilight when I first wrote it, and then to Spike when he was a little older. They both loved it.”

“Oh, I was scared,” Spike said with a grin. “I just wanted to know what happened, so I didn’t say anything.”

Twilight set the book down. “We can always do something else if you think it might be a bit much for Pound and Pumpkin, but I always remember it as an important part of my childhood. It’s a really good book.”

“Twilight says she always thought she was supposed to be the main character,” Fluttershy said with a giggle.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight blushed. “You weren’t supposed to tell them that…”

“Well, who else would she be?” Twilight Velvet asked with a smirk. “I mean, not exactly, of course. But writers are always stealing little bits and pieces from the ponies around them.”

“You want to hear the story, Pumpkin?” Mr. Cake asked.

“Yeah!” Pumpkin grinned. “I wanna know about the filly!”

Hearing a story about a young Twilight sounded like it’d be really interesting. “I want to hear it too,” Morning said, finding she genuinely did.

“Alright, then it’s settled.” Twilight lifted the book and started reading.

“There are places not meant for ponies. Places that you have never been, although maybe you think you have. You have never, in fact, been in an empty room. You may have been the only one in an otherwise empty room, but you have not been in an empty room.

“And you should be grateful for this fact. There are things in empty rooms.”

As Twilight read the story, Morning got more and more sucked into it. There was a filly who lived in a large city with lots of other ponies, but who didn’t really know any of them. The story said she felt like she was always lost in the crowd, and Morning thought about those words carefully.

She thought about the rest of the story too. It was a good story, and it was cool that Twilight’s mom had written it. She closed her eyes to listen better, just imaging the story in her head as Twilight read it.

When she imagined it, she was the main character. She was exploring a city where no one knew her, invisible in the crowd. She went places that she shouldn’t go, places that she shouldn’t have been able to go. She was very good at that.

There was a house. Morning wasn’t supposed to go in the house. No one lived there, and she thought, well, no one was a friend of hers. She spent a lot of time with no one, she knew no one very well. No one certainly wouldn’t have a problem with her going into their house. So she let herself in.

There was no one in the house. It was empty. Empty rooms were not a place she was supposed to be able to go, but she slipped in. She was special, she could do things like that. She walked into the room, and she heard a voice.

“What are you doing here?”

Morning looked to see Pumpkin Cake. “I’m just exploring,” she told her. “What’s your name?”

“I don’t have one,” Pumpkin told her. “I used to have one, but I forgot it.”

“You can’t forget your name,” Morning told her. “That’d be like forgetting what color your fur is.”

“I don’t have any fur,” Pumpkin told her.

“Sure you do, it’s…” Morning tried to tell Pumpkin what color she was, but she realized when she tried to focus on her, she was actually just kind of a shimmering of light. Maybe she wasn’t really there at all. “Are you no one?”

“I might be.” Pumpkin shrugged – or did whatever it was that shimmering bits of light do when they want to shrug.

“How long have you been here, No One?”

Pumpkin smiled. “A long time. Long enough that everyone forgot about me. Can I show you something?”

“Sure,” Morning said, because she wanted Pumpkin to like her.

Pumpkin led her to another room with a big mirror. “My brother’s in there, but he can only come out if you switch places with him. Will you do that?”

“I… I don’t know. I think they’ll miss me if I’m gone.”

“Who, your moms?”

It felt wrong to call them that. “I’m… I’m not sure.”

“Just for a little bit. You’ll be a very good filly if you do that.”

“Okay.” Morning wanted to be a good filly, so she stepped up to the mirror, but instead of her reflection, she saw Pound Cake.

“Are you going to let me out?” Pound Cake asked.

“Yes,” Morning said. She put her hoof against the glass, and Pound Cake did the same, and they switched places.

Morning looked around. She didn’t like being in the mirror. She put her hoof on it to try and get out, but the mirror broke. That was bad. That was really bad. She was going to get in a lot of trouble, and then she’d get sent back to Small Steps, and then no one would ever want her.

She tried to call for help, but no sound came out. She had become the filly who wasn’t, and Pound and Pumpkin were nowhere to be seen. There were pieces of Morning all over the floor, sharp shards that would cut anyone who tried to get close to her.

And there was no one. She was alone.

That was the last thing Morning knew for sure until Sunset shook her awake. “Hey, you fell asleep.”

Morning got up and rubbed her eyes. Everyone was looking at her, and she wanted to disappear. But thinking of that made her think of the dream, and about being broken into little pieces and sent back to the orphanage.

“I… I…” Morning wanted to stay strong. She was supposed to be a good filly, and good fillies didn’t cry over stupid dreams. She’d said she could handle the book, but then she’d fallen asleep and had a nightmare and now before she knew it, she was crying.

She hated it. Everyone was there watching her cry, and she couldn’t stop. She just kept thinking this was it, they wouldn’t want some stupid crybaby filly, she was going to go back to Small Steps and she’d never be back.

“Oh, sweetie…” Twilight covered her in a wing, and Morning buried herself right into where the soft fur turned to feathers. Twilight wrapped her wings and hooves around the filly. “Did the story give you bad dreams?”

“N-No,” Morning sobbed. She didn’t know how else to explain it, but she knew she couldn’t admit it was the story. “I… I dreamed about the m-mirror.”

“The mirror?” Twilight asked.

“Oh.” Sunset stroked Morning’s mane. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Nothing bad is going to happen to you with the mirror, I just wanted you to be careful around it.”

“Oh, that mirror,” Twilight said. “Sunset’s right, the mirror isn’t really dangerous or anything.”

“I dreamt I broke it…”

“Uhm, let’s get you some space,” Fluttershy said.

Without letting her go, Twilight stood up and walked out of the room. Morning caught a glimpse of the Cake twins watching her and thought of how stupid she must look to them.

Twilight brought them into the kitchen, where she set Morning down on a chair. Morning was done crying, which just made her feel more ridiculous.

Fluttershy had come into the kitchen with them, and she stroked Morning’s mane just like Sunset had. “Now, what got you so worked up about the mirror? Did Sunset tell you something scary?”

“No.” Morning looked down at her hooves. “She just said it was important, like the Cutie Map. She said to be really careful and not play around it.”

“That’s… pretty reasonable,” Twilight said. “But, Morning, you just have to not play around it. There are lots of places to play in the castle without going near the mirror.”

Morning nodded. “I know, I just…”

Fluttershy nodded. “I think someone let the story get to her a little more than she wants to admit.”

“But I like the story…” Morning protested, as if that somehow meant it didn’t scare her.

Twilight sighed. “It was my idea to read that story. My mom doesn’t usually write stories for kids, so she wrote that one for me so she could read one of her stories to me when I was a filly. I wanted you to be able to hear one of her stories too.”

“I want to hear it!” Morning looked up at Twilight. “I want to hear the rest!”

Fluttershy poked Morning’s nose. “We’ll see. For right now, how about dinner? Want to help me get it finished again? Or would you rather go play with your friends?”

The thought of what Pound and Pumpkin would say to her made that an easy answer. “I want to help make dinner.”

“Okay. Twily, will you go tell everyone?”

“Of course.” Twilight smiled, then she left the room.

Truth be told, Morning didn’t really want to cook. She wanted to go to her room and just get away from everyone for a little bit. But that wasn’t a good filly thing to do, so Morning had to keep pretending to be someone else.

It was hard. Harder than she thought. Pretending to be a good filly was a lot of work, and this was just one weekend. She didn’t know how she was going to keep it up. And one look at Fluttershy’s smiling face made her want to cry again when she thought of them finding out how she really was and sending her back.

Morning shook her head and hardened her resolve. She needed to be stronger than this. She wasn’t a good filly, she knew that. But she was good at pretending. She was going to make it.

She had to. If she slipped up, she’d go back to Small Steps and everyone would know she was the filly who the princesses didn’t want. Then no one would want her, and she would never be cared for. She’d never be adopted. She’d become the filly who wasn’t.

Morning plastered a smile on her face and got off the chair to help Fluttershy cook.

~ End Act I ~

Author's Note

Act I down, two more to go!

Here's some music to end the act with:

10 – Stop the Presses

Act II

Every First Time

⠀

Chapter Ten
Stop the Presses

⠀

⠀
There were first times, and there were last times. Perhaps more often than not, one was also the other. The first weekend they had taken Morning home to Ponyville had also marked an end to their time without kids. They were not limited by being moms; they could still be anything else they wanted to be. But from that moment on, and for the rest of their lives, they would be moms.

It had been a month and a half. A wild, crazy, stressful, wonderful month and a half. From that first time they took Morning home to this day, they’d run the gambit of emotions. But despite her continuing doubts, Twilight ultimately felt like it had been worthwhile.

And now it was the last time. The last time that they’d visit Small Steps, the last time that they’d take Morning home with them.

And that marked the start of the rest of their lives. It was cliché to think of it that way, and really, it had started on that first weekend. Or maybe it started when they decided to adopt Morning, or when Sunset had first visited. There were thousands of places Twilight could draw the line of where the rest of their lives started, but this was one of them, and it was a big one.

Twilight sat in the Small Steps lounge, waiting for Morning to get out of school. They’d made arrangements to get her out of school a month early, which Morning had been ecstatic about right up until she found out Twilight had already prepared a curriculum for that month, so it wasn’t like she was really missing it. This was the last time she would attend this school, and she would have a week off to visit Canterlot, but she would make up that week once she started homeschooling.

That would be another first time. Twilight’s first time teaching Morning. And there was no telling just how many first times were to come. It was all a little overwhelming.

“What are you thinking about?” Fluttershy asked, and Twilight realized she had no idea how long she’d been staring off into space.

She smiled, happy to have her wife here with her to keep her grounded. Wives, actually – all three of them had come to take this big step together. “Just thinking about Morning’s education. I hope I’m a good teacher.”

“You will be,” Fluttershy said with an encouraging smile. “Besides, it’s only for a month, then Cheerilee will take over when the school year starts again.”

“Yeah, I know.” Twilight forced a smile. Really, she knew that Morning could completely skip the final month of school and it wouldn’t make a huge difference. She was only in second grade, and most of their curriculum was just going over what she already knew so Twilight could get a feel for how Morning was doing in each subject.

Sunset smirked. “Just don’t go overboard with the advanced calculus.”

That got Twilight to grin. “What, afraid our daughter is going to wind up smarter than you?”

Normally this would be the part where Sunset would say that wasn’t possible. She loved to flaunt her ego, after all. Instead, what she said was, “Trust me, nothing would make me happier. But well, that comes at a cost, you know?”

Twilight was touched that her wife was so concerned about Morning, but she still snerked. “Sunset, I’m not teaching her calculus. We’ll be going over basic arithmetic, reading comprehension, and age-appropriate social studies.”

“Right. Sorry.” Sunset shook her head. “I was just joking, it just…”

Fluttershy put her hoof on Sunset’s. “We understand. The things that happened to you won’t happen to Morning.”

That was something Fluttershy and Sunset could relate to much more than Twilight could. Unlike them, she’d had a great childhood. Well, maybe she could have used some more friends, but she didn’t have any complaints about how she was raised.

She would just have to learn from their example. And while they may only be Twilight’s parents, she knew all three wives would rely on their advice.

She turned all of this over in her head as they waited for Morning to show up. Before she knew it, she was zoning out once again.

The wait wasn’t long in minutes, but it still took its time. As they waited, Ginger Snap came for one last talk. “So are you ready to be moms full time?”

That got Twilight back into focus, but nevertheless, it was Sunset who answered. “A little bit ecstatic, a little bit terrified, I think.”

Ginger Snap chuckled. “Yes, that is the feeling, isn’t it?”

“Do you have any kids of your own?” Fluttershy asked.

“Not yet, but my fiancé and I have talked about it for after we get married.”

“Fiancé?” Twilight smiled. “We had no idea you were engaged. Congratulations!”

Ginger Snap nodded. “Thank you. He works here as a cook. No surprise that we decided when we’re ready, we’re adopting.”

“You’ll make a great mom,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

Twilight nodded. “You’ve certainly got some experience working here.”

“I’ve picked up a thing or two, but I’m sure it’ll be another thing entirely when it’s my own foal.”

“Any last-minute tips for us?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t know, I think you three got through to her better than I ever could.” Ginger beamed at them. “Morning has been so much better behaved this past month, and I’m pretty sure we know who’s responsible for that.”

Twilight blushed. “Oh, I don’t think we did all that much. Morning just needed a little boost is all.”

“Speaking of Morning…” Ginger gestured towards the door, which another caretaker held open as kids filed in.

Morning came in towards the end and walked straight up to the four mares. “Hi! Are we ready to go?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Are you ready to go? I don’t see any luggage…”

“Oh! I’ll be right back!” Morning started to run off.

“No running!” Ginger Snap called after her, causing Morning to slow down.

“We better go with her to make sure she doesn’t forget anything,” Twilight said.

Sunset nudged her. “You just want to spend more time with her.”

Twilight grinned. “Well… so what if I do? I’m excited.”

“I am too,” Fluttershy said. “Let’s go check on her.”

Usually Ginger Snap left the three of them to do things with Morning on their own, but this time she came with them. The four mares walked through the halls together, stopping at Morning’s open door.

“I’m ready!” she said as she struggled to carry two suitcases behind her.

She certainly looked ready. Twilight had never seen the room so empty, and she looked up at them eagerly despite struggling with her luggage.

“Here, let me get those,” Twilight said, lifting the suitcases in her magic with ease.

“Do you have any goodbyes you want to say?” Fluttershy asked.

Morning hesitated. Clearly she hadn’t been thinking of that, but she seemed to think of someone worth saying goodbye to. “Uhm, I guess I could say goodbye to Spring Blossom…”

“Alright, let’s go find her.” Fluttershy used a wing to guide Morning out of her room. She looked back one last time, then walked out with the four mares.

They didn’t have far to go. Ginger Snap brought them to a nearby room, and she knocked on the door. “Spring Blossom? Are you in there?”

The door opened and a light green earth pony looked up at them. “Hi, Miss Ginger. Hi, Morning. And, uhm, Princesses.”

Twilight wondered if they had failed as Morning’s new moms by never having met this filly before. She was the only pony at Small Steps that Morning had counted as a friend, and they’d never thought to introduce themselves until it was time to say goodbye.

“I’m leaving for Ponyville,” Morning said. “So, uhm, bye.”

“Oh, okay. See you on Monday.”

Morning looked up at the others, and Ginger Snap took over. “Morning isn’t coming back this time. From now on, she’s living in Ponyville with the princesses.”

“Oh.” Spring Blossom kicked at the ground. “Not even to visit?”

“I, uhm…” Morning looked at the ground.

“Maybe we can come back to visit,” Sunset said. “I liked visiting with all you kids before we knew we were going to adopt Morning, and I’d like to visit you all again. Morning can come with me when I do, if she wants to.”

“I, uhm, that would be fun,” Morning said, but Twilight wasn’t sure she really believed the little filly. She might want to see her friend, but she probably had mixed feelings about coming back to Small Steps herself.

Twilight had another idea that Morning might find more appealing. “If it’s not against the rules, maybe you could come over for a sleepover sometime. Then Morning could show you Ponyville and the castle. Would you like that, Morning? Having your friend over?”

“Oh, uhm, yes.” Morning looked up and smiled. She still sounded awkward, but it was probably just an awkward situation.

“Is that okay, Miss Ginger?” Fluttershy asked.

“We do allow the kids to sleep over at friends’ houses, so it should be fine. It’s a little out of the ordinary for her to be going as far as Ponyville, but we’ll know she’s with good ponies, and that’s the most important thing.”

“That’d be fun,” Spring Blossom said, sounding much more certain than Morning had. “Are you leaving right now?”

“Yeah, we have a train to catch,” Sunset said. “Speaking of, we really should be on our way.”

“Okay…” Spring Blossom looked at the ground then walked over to hug Morning, who returned it awkwardly. “I’ll miss you.”

“I’ll miss you too,” Morning said.

Twilight didn’t like to see friends part, but she did like that Morning had such a nice filly as a friend. She hoped they really would get to have her over to visit sometime after Morning was settled in.

The fillies pulled apart and Spring Blossom waved. “Bye, Morning.”

Morning waved back. “Bye, Spring Blossom.”

Then it was time to go. Morning turned to Twilight, who smiled at her and led them towards the entrance. Once again, all four mares walked together with the filly.

Since Twilight was carrying Morning’s things, Sunset got the door. Twilight thought as they crossed the threshold that it was for the last time, then she thought it wasn’t really since they might come back to visit. Maybe ‘last times’ weren’t really all they were cracked up to be after all.

“So this is it,” Ginger Snap said sadly as she brought up the rear, and Twilight realized why she had been tagging along with them all day.

Fluttershy nudged Morning. “Go say goodbye to Miss Ginger.”

Morning walked over to the caretaker, who was blinking away tears. “Oh, Morning… I’m going to miss you, you know? But I’m so happy you have such good moms to look after you.”

“I…” Morning looked around, clearly unsure of what to say. “I’ll miss you too, Miss Ginger.”

“Can I get a hug before you go?”

Morning stepped closer to oblige, and Ginger Snap gave her a tight hug. “You be good for the princesses, now.”

“I will be,” Morning said with a smile. “I’m a good filly.”

“Of course you are.” Miss Ginger wiped her eyes and smiled. “And don’t forget you can write to us.”

“We’ll make sure she writes once she’s settled in,” Fluttershy said.

“I won’t hold you up any longer, then.” Ginger Snap took a step back towards the door and waved to them. “Take care!”

Everypony waved to the caretaker and said their goodbyes, then they turned and walked down the road. Maybe it wasn’t for the last time, but it was still a big deal for the little filly. Twilight caught her stealing glances behind them as they walked.

“Don’t be sad,” Twilight told her. “We can visit them, and Spring Blossom can visit us too.”

“Yeah, I know,” Morning said, turning back to face ahead. She didn’t look back again.

Twilight wasn’t really sure of what to say as they walked to the train station. This was a good day, and they’d all been excited about it. But then, this was a colossal change for Morning. It would be impossible for her to not be feeling some complicated emotions right now.

Unfortunately, no one else seemed to know what to say. It wasn’t a long walk to the station, at least, but it was made longer by walking in silence. Thankfully, Fluttershy filled it a bit by humming as they walked, which Twilight thought lifted all of their spirits just a little.

Although she knew they reached the station with a little time to spare, Twilight still checked the train time posting to make sure. It never hurt to double-check, after all. “We’ve got a little time to kill. Is anyone hungry? We could grab a couple of cinnamon buns to share.”

“That sounds good to me,” Sunset said, and the others gave their agreements as well. There was a sweets vendor they liked to stop at if they had the time, so they made their way to his stall.

He smiled as he saw them. “Hello, Princesses. Here for your weekly cinnamon rolls?”

“Yup!” Morning said happily. He smiled at her, then looked over the group. “How many do you want?”

“Two, I think,” Twilight said. They were big, so two ponies could share one.

“Coming right up.” The vendor got out a couple of plates for them and grabbed two cinnamon rolls out of his case. He set them on top of the counter and rang them up on his cash register. “That’ll be four bits.”

Since Sunset was the only one with clothes, she always carried their money. She got out the bits and passed them to the vendor. “Here you go. I’m gonna miss this little ritual.”

The vendor put the bits into his open register. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“I’m not coming back!” Morning told him excitedly. “I’m living in Ponyville from now on!”

“Really now?” he asked. “And what about me, huh? What am I supposed to do without my favorite customers?”

“Uhm…” Morning thought for a moment, seemingly believing it was a serious question that he wanted her to answer. “You could come to Ponyville?”

The vendor laughed. “What, and compete with the legendary baker who saves Equestria in her spare time? Next you’ll be telling me to open a doughnut shop in downtown Canterlot.”

“You must be pretty well travelled,” Twilight observed. “If you know Pinkie Pie and Donut Joe, I mean.”

“I met Joe in Canterlot a while back, never met Pinkie Pie. But well, when you’re that famous and still baking cookies for the local sweet shop, word gets around.”

“I suppose that makes sense,” Twilight said. “We’ll stop back in if we’re ever here to visit. We think we’d still like to visit the kids at Small Steps once in a while.”

“Sounds good!” He turned to face Morning. “Now, you take care of these three, alright? They’re counting on you.”

“I will!” Morning promised solemnly, getting a snicker out of all of the adults.

They found a bench and took a seat, Twilight next to Fluttershy, and Sunset and Morning across from them. Each of them shared with the pony they were next to.

Sunset pushed hers closer to Morning. “Have as much as you want. This is a celebration stop, too.”

“Okay!” Morning tucked into the sweet while Sunset picked at it idly. Fluttershy and Twilight ate more along the lines of Sunset, picking at theirs little by little.

“What are we doing this weekend?” Morning asked.

“We don’t have a lot of plans,” Twilight answered. “We don’t have to try and cram a bunch of fun into a couple of days anymore, after all. But we were thinking we could go out to celebrate tonight. We could go back to that restaurant you liked, or go to a new place.”

“The one with the cheesy bread?” Morning asked.

Twilight smiled. “That’s the one.”

“I think we should go there.”

“Well then it’s settled,” Fluttershy said before taking a bite of the cinnamon bun.

“Next week we’ve got something planned, though,” Sunset said. “We’re taking you to Canterlot so you can meet Celestia and Luna.”

Morning stopped chewing and looked up at Sunset. She swallowed uneasily and asked, “Really?”

“Really,” Sunset said. “They’re nice, you’ll like them. Cadance and Shining Armor are gonna try to make it too, and they’ll bring Flurry Heart.”

“The, uhm, the princess and prince of the Crystal Empire?” Morning asked.

In a way, Twilight was pleased Morning knew who they were. Cadance and Shining were pretty well known, but it was good that Morning knew the notable Equestrian figures. But on the other hoof, that meant she might have some lofty ideas of who they were.

“Shining Armor is my brother,” Twilight said, unsure if Morning had known or thought about that fact. “He’s like, the biggest dork. And Cadance used to be my foalsitter when I was a filly. She’s really nice, and they’re both really good with kids. They’re not scary ponies, I promise.”

Morning nodded weakly.

“I know it’s a lot all at once,” Fluttershy said gently. “But this is the last of the family you still need to meet. And that includes Luna and Celestia. They’re like family to us too.”

“Okay.” Morning returned to the cinnamon bun, but she didn’t eat it with quite the same fervor she had before.

Twilight wanted to reassure Morning that there was nothing to be afraid of, but she wasn’t quite sure how to do that. Twilight remembered the first time she met with Celestia. There had been a lot going on that day, but once it sunk in who Celestia actually was, she’d been pretty intimidated.

Maybe there was something to that. “What was it like when you two first met Celestia?” Twilight asked her wives.

“Oh well, you were there when I first met her,” Fluttershy said. “We never really talked one on one until after we were dating, and even then, it’s not like it happened much. I was scared, but then I learned that she’d just a pony and she’s really nice too.”

Twilight nodded, knowing that Fluttershy had included that last part for Morning’s benefit. There was a distance between Fluttershy and Celestia, and it wasn’t anypony’s fault. Celestia was not an easy pony to get close to, and Fluttershy was still a little shy.

“I think I threw up,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Thankfully not in front of her or anything. But like Fluttershy said, she was always… always wonderful.”

Sunset turned to look away, and Twilight wasn’t sure what to do. There was a distance between Sunset and Celestia as well, and that was less easy to explain.

“Luna’s different, though.” Fluttershy giggled. “I was terrified of her the first time we met. But then she’s become so special to me.”

“Yeah, Luna’s great.” Sunset smirked, and Twilight internally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed she wouldn’t have to do or say anything about Celestia right now. “The first time I met Luna, she broke the ice really quickly.”

“Broke the ice?” Morning asked.

“It means she made it easy to talk to her,” Sunset said. “She’s really good at that. And I hated Cadance when we met, but that was a long time ago. We get along much better now.”

“Why did you hate her?” Morning asked.

“Well, because I wanted to be a princess. I was jealous because she got to be a princess even though she’s younger than me.”

“But, uhm, you are a princess,” Morning said.

Sunset ruffled Morning’s mane. “Sure, but I wasn’t back then. Not until I married Twilight and Fluttershy.”

Twilight looked at a large clock in the center of the platform. “Only a few more minutes before the train gets here. We better finish up these sweets, or pack them up to eat on the train.”

They quickly finished off the remainder of their cinnamon rolls, then Fluttershy stopped to clean up Morning’s face. By the time that was done, the train was pulling into the station, so they all lined up to get aboard.

As they stood and waited, Twilight smiled at Morning. This was it, it was really happening. Things had been set into motion almost two months ago, but this was the start of something truly special. She’d had her doubts, and sometimes she still had them. But even so, she was excited.

The train doors opened, the ponies on board got off, and then they walked on board. Whatever came for them, it would come for them as a family. That’s what this day meant – they were a real family now, and Twilight couldn’t wait to see what they would achieve together.

The train trip was generally uneventful. They passed the time playing kid-friendly card games like Go Fish and Old Mare. Twilight was learning to get used to playing the same games over and over, which was something that kids did a lot, as she was told by both her parents and Ginger Snap.

Still, getting used to it didn’t exactly mean that she enjoyed it. She had fun for a few rounds, but by the time they were finishing the two-hour-long trip to Ponyville, she was thankful for the break. They put away the cards, waited for the train to come to a stop, and got their things together to leave.

Twilight noticed there were a lot of ponies outside of the train, but she didn’t think much of it. It was a Friday, and she didn’t know where this train was headed next. Hollow Shades wouldn’t draw a big crowd, but if it was headed to Canterlot, that might do it.

Of course, she learned better as they were departing. The moment they stepped off the train, camera lights began flashing and ponies started asking question after question.

Twilight stopped in place. It had been a long time since reporters had gotten to her, but there were a lot more than usual and she hadn’t been expecting them.

Sunset pushed past her and started barking orders. “Make way, make way! You all know I’m still the Captain of the Twilit Guard, right? No touching or I can and will make you back off!”

Twilight shook her head and looked back at the others. In addition to Morning and Fluttershy, she saw there were a number of ponies behind them trying to see around, either to see what the commotion was or why they were stopped.

Twilight swallowed and forced a smile. “Morning, we’re going to head straight for the castle. Stick close to us, okay?”

“O-Okay…” Morning shrunk back, but Fluttershy guided her forward with a hoof.

Sunset cleared a path in front of them, sometimes quite literally by creating a magic barrier that ponies had to step out of the way from as it advanced. The questions were hard to make out, but they were all about Morning.

The four of them pushed ahead, Sunset clearing their path, Twilight following with Morning’s bags, and Fluttershy in the rear with Morning herself.

Even with Sunset’s magic and despite her warning, ponies were pressing right up to them, all trying to get a picture of the royal family or have their questions answered. They all stuck close together behind Sunset’s barrier.

“Hey, watch it!” Twilight said as a pony sidestepped the barrier and bumped right into her.

“Just one question for Pony Magazine!”

Twilight sneered, but not directly at him. She instead just looked at the ground and kept pushing onwards.

“There you are!” a familiar voice said from above them. Rainbow Dash swooped down and butted somepony away to get in close to the triad. “As soon as I saw the crowd, I knew something was up. What’s going on?”

“We’re just trying to get home,” Twilight said, then an idea occurred to her. “Actually, can you fly Morning to the castle? I know she’s not used to flying, but there’s just so many reporters…”

“Of course!” Rainbow looked around a bit. “Where is she?”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked. “She’s right – Aaah! She’s gone!”

“She’s gone!?” Twilight whirled around and saw that Fluttershy was right. “Sunset, stop! Morning’s missing!”

“Missing!?” Sunset turned around as well, looking around wildly. “So help me God if anypony here laid a fucking hoof on her…”

“I’m so stupid!” Fluttershy winced. “How could I let her out of my sight, I had her right with me!”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up,” Rainbow said. “We’ll fly overhead while Sunset looks on the ground. We’ll find her.”

Sunset raised her voice and called, “Morning! Morning Glisten! Where are you?” When there was no answer, she pulled the suitcases from Twilight’s magic. “I’ll teleport these to the castle, then teleport back and look for her. Better me than you, since you can fly.”

“Okay,” Twilight said, though her voice was just another thing that probably got lost in the crowd. She looked over the sea of ponies and felt like she herself was going to get sucked into it, to drown under its waves.

“Hey.” Sunset reached through Twilight’s thoughts with a hoof on her shoulder. “We’ll find her.”

Twilight nodded a few short, sharp nods. “Right. We’ll find her.”

Sunset nodded once, slow and deliberately, then she teleported away.

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy said. “I’m so so sorry, this is all my fault, I just…”

Twilight wanted to console Fluttershy, but she didn’t have time to do that and search. “Come on, let’s get looking.”

Fluttershy nodded and took to the air along with Twilight and Rainbow. Once airborne, Rainbow gestured to each of them, giving them all a different direction to search in. Twilight nodded and flew off in the direction Rainbow had instructed.

Twilight scanned the ground as well as she could, but she wasn’t sure it was working too well. All she could see was the reporters, many of whom were still shooting pictures of her.

This wasn’t Fluttershy’s fault, of course. It was Twilight’s. She was the one who had decided to tell so many ponies about the big day, it was no wonder word got around to reporters. She should’ve known better, should’ve kept this a secret.

Twilight felt a familiar tightening sensation in her chest. This shouldn’t be happening. If only she’d been more cautious, it wouldn’t be happening! What if they couldn’t find her? What if something happened to her? Wherever she was, she was scared and alone and they weren’t there to make it better!

Flying became hard as Twilight’s breathing became strained, so Twilight landed. Better that than crashing because she couldn’t stay airborne.

That was just another of many reasons she felt like a failure, though. She could have carried Morning in her magic, or kept her under her wing. She could have teleported herself and Morning to the castle like Sunset had done with the luggage. She could have just kept her mouth shut and none of this would have happened. She couldn’t even manage to keep searching; her daughter needed her and all she could do was try to breathe through a panic attack!

“Uh, are you okay, Princess?” somepony asked. Twilight turned to see a reporter, his camera lowered.

She gritted her teeth. This wasn’t her fault, this was their fault. “No, I’m not okay! You… you… you vultures are everything wrong with Equestria!”

Twilight took off into the air again, her anger winning out over her panic. Why did reporters always have to butt into her life? Why couldn’t they just mind their own damn business!?

It barely pierced through her anger, but Twilight saw a flash in an alleyway. It had to be a reporter, butthat made no sense; they weren’t over there, so why would a reporter take pictures of some alleyway? Could it be…?

Twilight shifted course to go down the alley, and she saw Morning backing against a building with another pony reaching out a hoof to her. Twilight put on a burst of speed and landed in between them, causing the reporter to stumble and fall backwards.

“What is wrong with you!?” Twilight demanded, stamping her hoof. “You see a lost filly and you still just want your cover story, huh!?”

“I-I-I…” the reporter shook his head. “No, I –”

“Save it!” Twilight turned to Morning and scooped her up in one foreleg. Morning was crying, her poor baby girl was crying.

“It’s okay now,” Twilight told her. She turned back to the reporter. “And you should be ashamed of yourself! ‘Local reporter cares more about his cover story than a little filly’. There’s your damn headline.”

Twilight walked off, cradling Morning in her foreleg. Reporters kept trying to swarm them, so she screamed and pushed them all back with a magical surge. She knew she’d regret getting hostile with the press later, but right now she just didn’t care.

Besides, it caught Rainbow Dash’s attention. The pegasus swooped in, not quite touching the ground. “You found her!”

“Yes,” Twilight breathed out. “I’m taking her home. Can you tell Fluttershy and Sunset?”

“On it!”

Rainbow sped off, so Twilight turned back towards the castle. It was a long walk, and they were surrounded by reporters, so she sighed. “Morning, I’m going to teleport us home. You’ve probably never teleported before, but just stay close to me and it’ll be okay.”

“O-Okay…” Morning sobbed, breaking Twilight’s heart.

She closed her eyes and welled her magic up in her horn, then they disappeared. When they reappeared, they were much closer to the castle. Morning clung to her tightly, so Twilight nuzzled against her.

“Are you hurt?”

“N-No…” Morning rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Twilight…”

Twilight pursed her lips to keep from crying. “Why are you sorry? You haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“Oh no, of course not.” Twilight took a deep breath. “I’m angry at myself, not at you. I told ponies you were coming, and this is what happened.”

Twilight started walking, but she didn’t put Morning down. They reached the castle soon, and Twilight was all too happy to walk through its doors. Only when she was on the other side did she put Morning down. Sunset had left Morning’s things in the entryway; she must have been in a hurry to get back.

“Uhm, were those bad ponies?” Morning asked.

“They’re… well, they’re reporters. Do you know what that is?”

“Uhm, ponies who write the newspaper, right?”

“Some of them are. Some of them work for magazines too.” Twilight gathered Morning’s suitcases and brought them upstairs. Morning followed, and she kept explaining as they walked. “The thing with reporters is that they don’t usually care about other ponies much. Sometimes they act friendly, but what they really want is a story. And you getting lost today… well, I’m afraid it might have given them a story to tell. ‘Royal moms can’t keep track of their own foal! Read about on page seven.’ ”

“I’m sorry… I tried staying close to Fluttershy…”

“This isn’t your fault,” Twilight said gently, reminding herself to keep her anger in check. She was furious, but that didn’t mean she had to show it. “Anyway, I’m just glad we’re home. The press shouldn’t be too much of a problem once they get used to you being here. We may have to do some interviews though…”

“I, uhm…” Morning fidgeted in place. “I don’t think I want to go out tonight after all…”

Twilight frowned, but she couldn’t blame Morning for that. “That might be for the best. Maybe we can go out tomorrow night if ponies settle down by then.”

Before Morning could respond, Sunset and Fluttershy walked into the room. Twilight had been so worked up she hadn’t even heard them enter the castle. “Thank goodness you’re safe,” Fluttershy said as she hugged Morning.

“Where’d you find her?” Sunset asked.

“In an alleyway with a reporter,” Twilight said flatly. “He was taking pictures of her! I saw them when the flash on his camera went off.”

“Fucking hell…” Sunset muttered.

“Language, Sunset,” Fluttershy chided, although she didn’t look up from Morning.

“Uhm, he didn’t take my picture,” Morning said.

Twilight cocked her head to the side. “But I saw the flash. You probably just didn’t notice.”

“It was my horn…” Morning said. “I was trying to use a spell, but I couldn’t do it.”

Sunset ruffled her mane. “Don’t worry, Twilight and I can teach you magic now that you’re living with us. And using magic on other ponies is probably not the best idea anyway.”

“I didn’t mean to… Sometimes when I get angry my horn just starts doing things…”

“Latent magic,” Twilight said, then shook her head. “It’s normal for unicorn foals, but we’ll go over all that another time. What matters right now is that we’re safe. What do you say we work on getting your stuff unpacked?”

“Okay. But, uhm, Fluttershy has to let go of me first.”

They all laughed, and Fluttershy let go of Morning. Rainbow Dash, whom Twilight hadn’t noticed was still around, stepped into the room. “How about I go run damage control while you get Morning settled.”

“Good idea.” Twilight sighed and showed her friend a smile. “Thanks, Rainbow. You’ve been a big help today.”

“No problem! And hey, now that Morning is here for good, we should get together sometime. I need to get to know my awesome new niece, you know.”

“Of course,” Twilight said. They’d been introducing Morning to their friends slowly here and there, but it had been a while since Morning and Rainbow spent any time together.

Rainbow said her goodbyes, then saw herself out. Twilight placed a smile on her face and turned to Morning and the others. “Now then, let’s get you settled into your new home.”

The day had been something of a disaster, and Twilight couldn’t stop thinking about it. This had happened because of what they were. They were princesses, and that meant that Morning was a magnet for the press.

If they had been normal ponies, this wouldn’t have happened. For the first time since they had decided to do this, Twilight gave serious thought to whether or not they were doing the right thing. Little by little, she’d become enamored with Morning, and she couldn’t stand the thought of losing her, but at the same time…

If they had been normal ponies, this wouldn’t have happened. It all came back to that fact. Over and over, that was what Twilight thought about. If they had been normal ponies…

That was an issue that had no easy solution. Worst of all was that something like this could easily happen again. Twilight shuddered to think of Morning being thrust into another situation like this.

More presently, Twilight would have to deal with the fallout of this incident. She’d insulted various members of the press, and even used her magic on them. True, it was only to push them away, but it could be portrayed very negatively.

Which was why Twilight found herself staying up late into the night preparing a public statement in the event that she’d need to make one. She also drafted several letters to send to notable publications explaining her regret over her actions and extending an invitation to talk about it in private interviews.

She rubbed her eyes and stared at the candle on her desk. It was burning low, and it had been a while since Fluttershy had tried to get her to go to bed.

With a sigh, Twilight pushed her work aside. She picked up the letters in her magic and stood up. After blowing out the candle, Twilight left the room and entered the main bedroom.

Sunset and Fluttershy were cuddled up in bed, and Twilight smiled as she watched them sleep. She only had moonlight coming through the open window to see by, but she could make out Sunset’s larger silhouette curled around Fluttershy’s smaller one. She knew that when she entered the bed, Fluttershy would welcome her into it with a kiss before cuddling up to her. Sunset, if she even woke up, would just grumble and fall back asleep just as quickly.

It was just what Twilight wanted, but she had to drop off the letters into their outgoing mail first. So she left the room, closing the door gently behind her so as not to wake her wives. As quietly as she could, she crept downstairs.

The front doors to the castle were not quiet, and Twilight didn’t like to open them in the middle of the night if she could help it. Thankfully, Fluttershy woke up before the mail was collected, and they had a system worked out. Twilight set the letters down on a table near the doors, which Fluttershy would know meant they were supposed to be sent out, and she’d drop them off on her way to take care of the animals.

With that taken care of, Twilight made her way back upstairs. Truthfully she was more exhausted than tired; she was worn out from the events of the day, not sleepy. But either way, a nice soft bed and a cuddle with her wives would be welcome.

But first, a detour. Once she was upstairs, she stopped at Morning’s door. Ever so gently, she pushed the door open. The room was lit by a nightlight, which would be enough to see Morning sleeping peacefully.

Except Morning wasn’t sleeping. She was sitting in bed, looking up at Twilight wide eyed. Twilight frowned and stepped into the room. “Hi, Morning. Why aren’t you asleep?”

Morning looked down at her bed. “I’m sorry…”

“You don’t have to be sorry, I’m not upset.” Twilight took a seat on the bed. “You didn’t have another nightmare, did you?”

Morning shook her head. “No. I couldn’t sleep.”

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little as she felt like she was beginning to understand something about her daughter. “I should’ve known when you didn’t fall asleep during your bedtime story. You always fall asleep during stories.”

Morning fidgeted. “Do not.”

Twilight giggled a little. “So what’s keeping you up? Too much excitement today?”

“I guess…” Morning looked up at Twilight and then back down. “I keep thinking about those bad ponies… What would they do if you didn’t find me?”

Twilight reached out and brushed Morning’s mane with her hoof, a gesture that she knew she wouldn’t have made even a few weeks prior. “They aren’t all bad ponies. I shouldn’t have made it sound like they were, I was just angry when I said that. Maybe some of them aren’t very good ponies, but they aren’t evil or anything. They would’ve brought you to the castle, but they might’ve written a mean story about it too.”

“I don’t want anyone writing stories about me…”

That was exactly what had been on Twilight’s mind all day. She wanted to protect her daughter from it, but there was no sense in trying to deny their reality. “That’s going to be part of living with us, I’m afraid. We’re famous, Morning. Ponies write things about us, and they’re going to want to write about you too. But we can try to make sure they write nice things about you.”

“Oh…”

This was an important conversation they needed to have with her. Although no one expected her to, technically Morning was still being fostered by them rather than outright adopted, which meant she could still call it off if she wanted to. She needed to know what she was signing up for.

But just because it was an important conversation didn’t mean they had to have it now. “You know, when I was your age, sometimes I’d sleep in my parents’ bed when I couldn’t sleep in mine. Do you think you might want to come sleep with me, Sunset, and Fluttershy?”

“Is that okay?” Morning looked up at Twilight. It was a little hard to make out her expression in the low light, but she was pretty sure Morning looked like she liked the idea.

“Of course it is. And we’ll protect you from all the reporters, or anything else you’re scared of.”

“Okay.” Morning got out of bed, so Twilight followed suit. She shut off the nightlight, then led them out through the hall by hornlight.

Neither Fluttershy nor Sunset stirred as Twilight opened the door into their bedroom. Morning hung back, as if she was having second thoughts. “Come on,” Twilight said gently. “It’s okay.”

Morning walked gingerly into the room, and Twilight helped her onto the bed, which was large and not designed for fillies.

That seemed to be enough to get Fluttershy to wake up a little. “Twily?”

“Yeah,” Twilight said softly. “Morning’s with me, I told her she could sleep with us tonight.”

Fluttershy sat up and looked at Morning. “Of course she can. Did you have another bad dream?”

“No, I just couldn’t sleep…”

“Today was a lot for her,” Twilight answered.

Sunset grumbled, so Fluttershy shook her awake. “Sunset, Morning is sleeping with us tonight.”

“Huh?” Sunset lifted her head and blinked at Morning. “Is something wrong?”

“She’s just a little overwhelmed is all,” Fluttershy answered.

Sunset yawned. “Yeah, okay. Heh, guess you get to pick who you’re sleeping between.”

“Oh, uhm, I don’t know…” Morning looked down at the bed.

Twilight giggled, seeing what the problem was. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by picking between them. “I think Sunset’s pretty well settled in over there, so how about you sleep between me and Fluttershy tonight.”

“Okay.”

Sunset was the first to lie back down. “Good night, everyone. Love you all.”

“Good night, Sunset,” Fluttershy said. “Come on, Morning. Come get settled in.”

Morning lay down in the bed as Fluttershy covered her in their blanket. Twilight lay down on her other side and brushed her mane gently with a hoof. “If you have any bad dreams, feel free to wake any of us up.”

“Okay,” Morning said.

“Good night, Morning,” Fluttershy said. “Good night, Twilight.”

“Good night,” Twilight said.

“Uhm, good night.”

Twilight wanted to say something else, but she hesitated. She was kind of jealous of something Sunset had said. She said she loved them all, and that included Morning. Maybe she was just half asleep and wouldn’t even remember saying that, but she’d become the first of them to say ‘I love you’ to their daughter.

It was strange. Twilight had more doubt than any of the others when it came to being a mother, but she was realizing more and more that her doubts weren’t stopping her from one important realization: She did love Morning. If anything, today had crystalized that idea. When she thought of the panic she felt of losing her, and how fiercely protective of her she had become in those few minutes, well… what else could she call it but love?

She wanted to say so, but she didn’t want to overwhelm Morning either. She was new to family, and this was a big step.

“Love you both,” Fluttershy said. Twilight looked at her to see she was looking directly at Twilight and smiling.

Twilight smiled too. “Love you both,” she said.

Morning didn’t say anything, but that was okay. It was a big step, and they weren’t going to rush her. She was probably worried about what to say, and – oh, wait, no she was asleep.

Twilight suppressed a giggle at the realization that her daughter had already fallen asleep so quickly once she was with them. Really, that said more than words ever could anyway. Twilight gently kissed her on the forehead before lying down to sleep herself.

“Love you, Morning.”

11 – Old Family and New

Chapter Eleven
Old Family and New

⠀

⠀
There weren’t many things that scared Sunset Shimmer, but today, she was terrified. She hid it well, of course, but her wives knew, of course. They’d stuck by her side all day, at least one of them always within a foreleg’s reach.

Currently, it was Fluttershy. She was sitting beside Sunset on the sofa with her hoof on her wife’s. They were listening to Rainbow Dash tell a story about the trip she recently took with Pinkie to watch her friend Windfall race.

“And then whoosh! Windfall took the lead!”

Fluttershy gave her a knowing look. “Did he really?”

“Well… no. But he took fourth place!” Rainbow grinned for a moment, but then it faded a little bit. “Then he dropped to sixth by the end of the race.”

“That’s still pretty good,” Twilight said. “This is his first year in the professional scene, right?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Yeah, but you know. He raced against me back in the day, so he’s already gone head to head with the best. He’ll be taking first place soon!”

“Of course,” Fluttershy said. “Did you and Pinkie get the chance to talk to him?”

“Yeah! You should’ve seen his face, it was priceless!”

“Uhm, is that the pony we cheered on?” Morning asked.

“That’s right,” Fluttershy said. “He was a friend of ours when Rainbow and I lived in Cloudsdale, but we haven’t seen him in a very long time.”

“It was pretty cool,” Rainbow said. “He couldn’t really stay and talk, but we’re meeting up on Wednesday to catch up.”

“That’s so nice,” Twilight said. “It’s too bad we’ll be in Canterlot, so Fluttershy won’t be able to see him again.”

“It’s okay, he was always closer with Dashie anyway.” Fluttershy smiled. “Although I would like to catch up with him sometime.”

“Yeah, for sure,” Rainbow said. “We’re meeting up in Cloudsdale this time, but I’ll have him stop by Ponyville sometime and we can all hang out.”

Fluttershy nodded. “Sounds good.”

Morning frowned. “Do I have to meet him?”

That cracked through Sunset’s concerns to get a smile on her face. “No, you don’t need to meet all of our friends. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Windfall will probably go out to eat or something whenever he comes around, and Twilight and I will stay home with you.”

“Oh. Okay then.”

“But hey, if you want to come out to a race sometime, I can bring you!” Rainbow said. She struck a proud pose. “I am your guide mother now after all.”

That was why Rainbow was over. They had decided each of them would pick different guide parents for Morning, and Fluttershy had predictably chosen Rainbow. Twilight had chosen Shining Armor and Cadance, and she would be asking them when they went to Canterlot in a couple days.

Sunset had also made a choice, and they were going to ask her very soon.

They let Rainbow keep telling stories and making plans with Morning, which seemed to be her chosen method of showing affection to her guide daughter. She really was very excited about being chosen, even though everyone else seemed to take it as a given. Sunset just hoped she didn’t try to spoil Morning too much.

As Rainbow switched to a story about one of the times she helped save Equestria, they were interrupted by a vibrating sound. All heads turned to look at the journal, which Sunset levitated over. She felt Fluttershy’s wing on her back as she did.

Sunset opened the book to the last page with writing on it and read the short message. “She’s ready. It’s time to go.”

Although Sunset was filled with dread, Morning jumped up and beamed at her. “Really? We’re really going to another world?”

Sunset forced a smile. “That’s right, kiddo. Sorry, Rainbow, maybe you can finish the story next time.”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll catch you later.” Rainbow flew over to Morning and patted her on the head. “See ya later, squirt!”

Rainbow flew off, leaving Morning to fix her mane. Fluttershy helped her, and then they left the sitting room to head upstairs.

“Now, Morning,” Twilight said once they reached the library, “do you remember the most important thing?”

“Uhm, stay close to you three.”

Twilight nodded. “Good. As long as you stick with us, everything will be alright.”

Morning frowned as they walked up to the mirror. She’d been so excited about it when they told her she’d get to see a whole other world, but now that it was upon her, she didn’t look so sure. “It’s safe, right?”

“It’s safe,” Fluttershy said, and Sunset was left hoping she was right. “But you don’t understand that world, so we need you to stick with us.”

Morning nodded.

“What are the other rules?” Twilight asked.

“Uhm, don’t tell anyone we’re ponies or about Equestria.”

“That’s right, except for Applejack and Pinkie Pie. They already know.”

“And… and don’t go into the road unless I’m holding someone’s hoof.”

“They’re called hands over there,” Fluttershy said. “You’ll see.”

Morning nodded. “And only walk on two legs, and uhm, keep my clothes on.”

Sunset smirked a little. “Yeah, that’s an important one over there.”

“And… I forget, are there any more?”

Fluttershy put a wing around Morning. “That’s good enough. Just remember to stay close to us, that’s the main one.”

“I’ll go first,” Twilight said as she levitated the journal into the slot for the machine. “You wait and go through with Sunset, then Fluttershy will come through after us.”

“Okay.”

Twilight stepped forward into the mirror and disappeared.

“Whoa!” Morning blinked as she watched the place where Twilight had been.

“Pretty cool, right?” Sunset asked in an attempt at keeping her own nerves down.

“Yeah! But uhm, it doesn’t hurt, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t hurt,” Sunset said. “It does feel weird though. It’s not a very nice feeling, and you’ll probably be dizzy afterwards. But it isn’t that bad.”

“Oh…”

Fluttershy nudged Morning a little closer to the mirror. “It’ll be okay. We’ll be right there with you.”

“You ready?” Sunset asked, almost hoping Morning would say she changed her mind and she didn’t want to go.

But she just nodded. “I’m ready.”

Sunset guided Morning forward and nodded to her. “We’ll go together on the count of three. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Sunset thought about everything that could go wrong. When Sunset had gone through the portal, she had grown twelve years younger. What if something like that happened to Morning?

“One.”

Of course, it had been Sunset who wanted to show Morning the human world. She had wanted Morning to have that as part of her heritage, because it was important to Sunset. And she wanted to show Morning something else important to her, too.

“Two.”

But what if she was being too impatient? What if this was something they needed to wait for? What if something terrible happened when Morning went through the portal?

“Three!”

Sunset hesitated just a moment, too scared to move. Morning, however, did not. She ran right into the mirror and disappeared.

That got Sunset moving in an instant. She dove in, determined to catch up with her daughter. Oh dear sweet Celestia, why had she decided to do this? So what if all her tests with Twilight showed that things should be fine, so much could still go wrong!

She tumbled through the familiar yet still sickening dimension between the worlds, being pulled and prodded in all directions. Then it came to a stop, and she caught herself before falling face-first on the other side.

She looked around wildly. Applejack and Twilight were there, but they weren’t what she was looking for. But half a moment later, she saw a small child, with pink skin and a yellow streak through her rose-colored mane. She was wearing a sundress with a hat.

Sunset fell to her knees and embraced Morning, knocking her hat off in the process. “Oh thank God you’re okay. How do you feel? Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay! But, uhm, I dropped my hat, and I’m not supposed to take any clothes off.”

Sunset laughed. Without thinking about what she was doing, she stood up and picked Morning up with her. “It’s okay. You can take your hat off.”

Her hat soon forgotten, Morning wrapped one arm around Sunset and looked around at everyone. “Everything looks so weird!”

“It’s like the photos we showed you,” Twilight said. “Remember, we’re humans in this world.”

Morning looked down at her hand, taking note of how strange that was too, no doubt.

As she was looking around, Fluttershy came through the portal. She fell to her hands and knees, so Twilight helped her up. She looked around and took note of Sunset with Morning, and she smiled. “See? Everything worked out just fine.”

Even though Sunset knew her wife was talking to her, Morning was the one who answered. “I know, I wasn’t scared.”

Twilight giggled. “Not at all?”

“No!”

“Aww, she’s just like her mom.” Applejack walked over to Morning and beamed. “Ain’t you just the cutest thing!”

“You look like the Applejack in our world, but different,” Morning said.

“Yeah, it’ll take some getting used to.” Applejack gestured for them to follow her. “Come on, let’s get used to it somewhere a bit more private.”

Sunset followed Applejack, not letting go of Morning. She never wanted to let go of her. Twilight scooped up Morning’s hat, then she and Fluttershy followed along behind.

They made it to the road, then Morning asked, “Do I still have to hold your hoof?”

Sunset laughed, finally feeling good enough to let out some genuine happiness. “No, I think this has you covered just as well. It’d be a little awkward to hold your hand while I’m holding you, after all.”

They crossed the street, where Applejack’s truck was parked. She got into the driver’s seat, and Sunset folded the passenger seat down so they could get in the back.

“You’ll sit in the back with us,” Twilight said. “Sunset can sit in the front.”

“What is this thing?” Morning asked as Twilight got in.

Sunset helped Morning into the truck, and Twilight got her buckled into the middle seat and put her hat back on her. Fluttershy climbed in afterwards, then Sunset folded back the seat so she could get in.

“It’s called a truck,” Twilight explained. “It’s a kind of automobile, or vehicle.”

“What’s that mean?”

Sunset buckled herself into the seat. “You’ll see what it does in just a moment. You ready?”

“I guess so.”

Sunset nodded to Applejack. “AJ, if you’d do the honors.”

“With pleasure.” Applejack turned the key in the ignition, and the truck came to life.

Morning gasped in disbelief, which caused the adults to laugh. “Just you wait,” Sunset said. This trip is going to be interesting.

As soon as Applejack started backing up, Morning got scared. “Are we supposed to be moving!?”

Fluttershy wrapped an arm around her. “Yes, we are. It’ll be okay. That’s what this thing does, it moves us around. It goes very fast too, which is why we’re wearing these seatbelts.”

“Can you see out the window?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah.”

Twilight started pointing out different vehicles, teaching Morning the words for car, truck, and van using examples of what they saw on the road. Morning looked around at everything in wonder as they drove.

Everyone else’s attention was on Twilight and Morning. Sunset barely took notice of anything else, she was just so overcome with relief that her fears hadn’t come true. Although she knew better, Sunset hadn’t been able to shake the idea that Morning could have come through as a baby, or worse, could have vanished in the flow between the worlds.

The trip to Sweet Apple Acres flew by in a blur, and before she knew it, Sunset was getting out and folding down the seat so the others could get out. Sunset helped Morning out again, and this time she set Morning on the ground.

Since Sunset had carried her before, Morning took a few steps and promptly fell to the ground. Sunset couldn’t help but smile a little as she helped Morning up. “Here, hold my hand and try again.”

“Mine too.” Fluttershy took Morning’s other hand, and the three of them walked a few steps.

Morning laughed loudly. “This is so weird!”

Before anyone could say anything, they were interrupted by a squeal that could only come from Pinkie Pie. “Oh my gosh!”

Pinkie ran over to them, and Morning took a step back. She almost fell, but Sunset and Fluttershy caught her.

“Easy, Pinkie,” Applejack said. “Remember how new all this is to her.”

“Oh, right.” Pinkie kneeled down to be on Morning’s level. “Hi there! My name’s Pinkie Pie.”

Morning looked up at Fluttershy, who nodded encouragingly. “Say hello.”

“Hi,” Morning said shyly. “I, uhm, I know you from our world.”

“Oh, that’s a different Pinkie Pie,” Pinkie said with a wave of her hand. “She’s a good friend of mine, though!”

“Really?” Morning cocked her head to the side.

“Really,” Sunset said. “Pinkie’s come to visit Equestria a few times before. One of these days you’ll see, there will be two Pinkies and two Applejacks hanging out together.”

Applejack stepped in front of them, walking backwards so she could face them as she walked away. “Come on, we got a little shindig set up in the barn.”

“Want to try walking on your own?” Sunset asked.

“Okay. I think I can do it now.”

Sunset and Fluttershy let go of Morning’s hands, and she took a few shaky steps towards the barn. “I’m doing it! See, I can do it!”

“Good job,” Fluttershy said.

“The first time I came through, I tried running on all fours,” Twilight said with a giggle.

“Me too,” Sunset admitted. “So you’re doing better than us.”

They made their way to the barn, where they wouldn’t be interrupted by the other Apples. They could always make an excuse about Morning being a relative of Twilight’s or something, but none of them wanted to pretend she wasn’t their daughter. Not to mention that the human Fluttershy had been spending some time around Sweet Apple Acres, and she looked noticeably different than the pony one these days.

Applejack opened the door to the barn, and they all went inside. There were a few tables set up with food and drinks, and some party games that Pinkie had brought. Not wanting to overwhelm Morning too much, they had agreed to only use non-electronic games.

There was someone else waiting for them when they got there. Winona let out a bark, then went running up to them. She stopped just before getting to Morning, sniffing the new person.

“That’s Winona,” Applejack said. “Be nice to her, she’s gettin’ up there in her years. Course she’s really just a big puppy at heart.”

“Hi, Winona,” Morning said, holding out a hand. Winona licked it, and Morning laughed.

Rather than any of the part games, they just let Morning play with Winona for a little bit. It probably was a good way for her to get used to her new body.

It also gave Sunset the chance she needed to step away. “Hey, AJ.” Sunset jerked her head toward the door. “Got something to ask you.”

Applejack nodded, and the two of them walked back outside. Sunset led them far away enough so that they wouldn’t be overheard, then stopped and scratched at her neck awkwardly.

“This about you bein’ scared of Morning comin’ here?” Applejack asked.

Sunset let out a nervous laugh. “Oh fuck, I was so terrified, AJ. Twilight and I did some experiments on the portal to make sure it would work, but all we really had is theoretical data.”

“Guess I can understand not wantin’ the same thing that happened to you to happen to her.”

“We knew it wouldn’t. Or well, it shouldn’t. We finally think we cracked how the age thing works.”

“Oh yeah?”

“You know how I told you I saw that video of the other Sunset?”

Applejack nodded. “The arsonist, I remember.”

“Yeah, that’s what got the gears in my head going. She was the same age as me. As I am here, I mean.”

“Yeah? So?”

Sunset shook her head. “Well we didn’t know for sure until we started looking into it, but when you go through the portal, you’re the same age as your double. So you’re actually a few years older in Equestria, you just never noticed because by the time you went through, a few years didn’t matter so much.”

“Huh. So you’re younger here because the other Sunset is younger than you?”

“That’s right.” Sunset bowed her head. “We still don’t understand why all our doubles synced up to be in the same grade of high school, but at least we can figure out how old someone is gonna be when they go through the portal.”

“So what, you knew that Morning would be the same age?”

“She’s seven.” Sunset looked at Applejack. “She’s a year older here. We found the human Morning, or at least a record from a few years ago that had her age. Dunno where she is now, but three years ago she had a small career as a child model. She was on a pamphlet for a preschool on the other side of the country, and we found her resume. I had her name and her picture, I knew it was her, but until I saw her on this side of the portal…”

Applejack put a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Hey, it all worked out now.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sunset smiled. “Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh yeah? What else is on your mind?”

“It is about Morning, though.” Sunset shifted her weight. “I can count on you to help us raise her, right?”

Applejack arched an eyebrow. “Shoot, ya don’t even gotta ask that. You know I’m always there for my family.”

Sunset smiled. “That’s kind of what this is about. Family.”

“Whatcha mean?”

“Well…” Sunset looked back at the barn. “I was thinking… would you maybe want to be one of Morning’s guide mothers?”

“Guide mothers?”

“Yeah, you know. Like godmother, but without the god part.”

“Sunset, I’m honored.” Applejack pulled Sunset in for a hug. “You know I am, and I’d love to, but…” They pulled apart, but Applejack kept an arm on either side of Sunset. “Is that a good idea? I mean, I’m not even Equestrian, and if anything happened to you…”

“Then she’d stay with Twilight’s parents and Spike,” Sunset explained. “We’ve been clear on that with everyone. We think that would be the smallest upset to her life, she could stay in the castle with the ponies she already lives with.”

“So then what’s the whole guide mother thing?”

“Well, it means…” Sunset sighed. “It means I want you to be her family. Like, formally. We’re picking guide parents that we want to take a more direct role in helping to raise her. Fluttershy picked Rainbow, Twilight’s picking her brother and sister-in-law, and I’m picking you.”

“I don’t know what to say.” Applejack shook her head and grinned. “What am I saying? Of course I do! Yes, I’d love to be her guide mother.”

Applejack wrapped an arm around Sunset in a half hug. “You know I’d see her as family one way or the other, right?”

“I know. We’ve been family for a long time. But… I’m kind of glad it’s official now.” Sunset laughed a little. “I didn’t even have a backup plan if you said no.”

Applejack clapped Sunset on the back. “ ‘Cause ya knew I would never say no! Apple Bloom’s gonna be so jealous.”

“How’s AB doing?” Sunset was kind of hoping to see her, but they decided to limit it to just Applejack and Pinkie to keep Morning from getting overwhelmed.

“She’s alright. She’s off on a date right now.”

“Nice. Glad things are still working out with them.”

“Working a mite too well, actually.” Applejack frowned. “She’s pregnant.”

“Oh, shit.” Sunset looked at Applejack, who seemed to be wrestling with her own feelings. “Not the planned kind, is it?”

“Nope.”

“She keeping it?”

“She says she don’t know yet, but I know she’s gonna.” Applejack sighed. “Granny wouldn’t be happy if she got rid of it, you know. I made sure she knows it’s her decision and I’ll fight for her if it comes to it, but I think part of her already wants this. And whatever she does, Trail Blazer proposed to her.”

Sunset nodded. “You know, she’s in a good place for this. I mean, I don’t know what their relationship’s like, but it always seems to be going well. They’ve been together for a few years now, and she’ll have the family’s support.”

“Yeah, that’s why I think she’ll keep it. You know I would of wanted this to be the kind of thing she decided to do, and only after she was married. But I guess she’s old enough for a kid if she thinks she’s ready.”

“She’ll do fine.” Sunset nudged her. “You know what I think? You’re just sad your baby sister’s growing up.”

“Yeah, well…” Applejack pushed Sunset back. “Maybe that’s part of it too.”

Sunset took a deep breath. “Everyone’s settling down. Everyone but you.”

“Yeah…”

“You looking for someone?”

Applejack looked at Sunset and smirked. “Who says I ain’t already found someone?”

Sunset lit up. “Really!? Who?”

Applejack laughed. “I’ll let ya know when I decide that’s your business.”

She started walking back to the barn, so Sunset chased after her. This only caused Applejack to start running, with Sunset chasing after her and yelling. “No way, you’re not getting away from it that easily! Applejack!”

It had been a good day. Sure, Sunset had never found out if Applejack seriously had her eye on someone, but that wasn’t what the day had been about. It had been about sharing a part of her youth with Morning, showing her what life on the human side of the mirror was like.

To that end, it had gone very well. Sure, there were a great many things Morning didn’t know about. It would probably be years before they tried explaining the internet to her, for example. But she’d gotten used to her body, and she’d gotten to know Applejack and Pinkie.

And there was one more thing to do before they could head back. They were leaving the barn, but Sunset put a hand on Morning’s shoulder to stop her. “Hey, I’ve got something important to show you.”

Morning looked up at Sunset. “What is it?”

“It’s over here.” Sunset took Morning by the hand and led her away from the barn.

It wasn’t a long walk, but Sunset tried to fill as much of it as she could with plans for what she’d say once they arrived. She couldn’t come up with anything satisfactory.

“Oh,” Morning said once they came to a stop. She looked up at Sunset. “It’s a grave.”

Sunset took a seat on the ground and pulled Morning closer. Morning sat in her lap, and Sunset wrapped her arms around her. “This is my first daughter’s grave. Your sister.”

“Oh.”

They sat in silence for a little while, and Sunset wasn’t sure what to say. She wanted to tell Morning all about Sky, but how could she? Sunset had never known Sky either.

But she’d known Fluttershy. “Before I knew the Fluttershy from Equestria, I knew the one from this world. The two of us, we were going to have a little girl together. Her name was Sky Shimmer.”

“That’s what it says on the grave,” Morning said. “Sky Shimmer.”

Sunset nodded. “That’s right. Sky was everything to us. We were so happy that we were going to be moms. But then there was an accident.”

“Did she die?”

“Yes, she did. Fluttershy – that’s the human Fluttershy, not the one you know – she was still pregnant with Sky at the time. So your sister was never born.”

“But she’s still my sister?”

Sunset hesitated. “No one really knows for sure what happens when we die. And a lot of different people and ponies believe in different things. Sky’s mama, she believes in a place called Heaven. And in that place, everyone we lost, they’re all up there looking down and watching over us. So even though you’ve never met her, and you’ll never be able to, Sky is looking out for you too. Looking out for her sister.”

“Oh. Is she my big sister?”

Sunset thought for a moment. “Actually, she’d be right around your age. She would’ve been born about six years ago now. I think she’d be a few months younger than you.”

“Then I should look out for her.” Morning looked up at Sunset. “The big sister is supposed to look out for the little one.”

Sunset smiled and traced a hand along Morning’s cheek. “Family looks out for family. That’s all there is to it.”

“Sunset? Are you crying?”

“Only a little.”

Morning looked back at Sky’s grave, and they didn’t say anything. They didn’t have to, Sunset had her daughter in her arms, and somewhere up there, maybe Sky was watching over them.

Author's Note

Someday I'd like to get Pasu to draw this ending scene. Maybe for the print edition whenever I get around to that.

12 – Royal Bonds

Chapter Twelve
Royal Bonds

⠀

⠀
Things could be a lot worse. True, they could be better – there were still reporters around when they left the station in Ponyville, after all. But they were a lot less prevalent than they had been the week before.

And even better, there were none when they disembarked in Canterlot. It seemed that while reporters may have been hanging around their hometown, no news of their early visit to Canterlot had spread.

That had been Twilight’s idea – they intentionally spread the word that they were bringing Morning to Canterlot on Saturday, then instead they left on Thursday. And now their ruse was paying off, as they finally got some peace while in public.

“Wow,” Morning said as they got off the train. “All the buildings around here are so big!”

“That’s right,” Sunset said. “And for me and Twilight, this is home.”

“Really? What about Ponyville?”

“What Sunset means is that we were both born here,” Twilight explained. “Ponyville is our home now, but just like Fluttershy was born in Cloudsdale, Sunset and I were born here.”

“Oh.” Morning never took her eyes off the tall buildings as they spoke. “Like how I was born in Hollow Shades, but now I live in Ponyville?”

“That’s right,” Fluttershy said. “Now, stay close to us. It’s easy to get lost in Canterlot, and it’ll be harder to find you if we do get separated.”

“But if we do, tell somepony you need to get to the castle,” Twilight said. “If you can find a guard, tell them. They’ll be able to get word to us, okay? Can you remember that?”

“Tell a guard, or go to the castle,” Morning repeated.

“Good girl,” Fluttershy said. “But if you just stick close to us, we won’t have anything to worry about.”

“Are we going to the castle now?” Morning asked.

“Soon,” Twilight said. “First we have to find Shining and Cadance. They should already be here. Look for a big white stallion with a blue mane or a tall pink mare with a purple and pink mane.”

“Okay.” Morning started looking around at all the other ponies intently. Twilight just chuckled and led them further onto the station.

Sure enough, they came upon the others before long. They were sitting on a nearby bench, and Shining called to them when they got close. “Twily! Over here!”

“Oh, is that him?” Morning asked.

“Yup! That’s my brother, Shining Armor.”

As they approached the other group, Morning noticeably hung back behind them. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Fluttershy kept a close eye on Morning all the same.

“Twily, Fluttershy, Sunset, it’s so good to see you all,” Cadance said once they got close enough to talk. They also were close enough to see the ridiculous state that Cadance, Shining, and Flurry Heart were in.

“What are you wearing?” Twilight asked. Sunset just laughed.

Shining Armor stroked the obviously fake mustache he had on. “I think it suits me.”

“I think you look ridiculous,” Twilight said.

“That’s what I told him, but he just wouldn’t listen to me.”

“You’re, uhm, not any better,” Fluttershy said with a giggle. Cadance was wearing glasses and a fake muzzle, which wasn’t even the same color as her fur, and a top hat that was placed awkwardly to hide her horn.

Even Flurry was in a costume. Specifically, she was – for some reason – dressed as a pig. “We’re ‘n disguise!”

“You’re in something,” Twilight said.

Flurry ran up to Twilight and shook her leg. “Did I do good, aunt Twily? Disguise is big word!”

Twilight smiled for her niece. “Yes, you did very good. Er, well.”

“Yay!”

It was still strange to see Flurry up and moving around, not to mention talking. She seemed to be maturing fast, and no one knew if it was a natural thing or because of her alicorn genes. She wasn’t the first natural-born alicorn, but they were exceedingly rare, requiring an alicorn parent to even have a chance at being born.

“And you must be Morning Glisten,” Cadance said as she leaned in close to the filly.

Morning ran and hid behind Fluttershy’s leg, causing her to giggle. “Say hello to Cadance.”

Morning looked at Cadance’s hooves and muttered. “Hi, Princess…”

“Aww, you don’t have to call me ‘Princess’,” Cadance said. “We’re family, you know. I’m your aunt Cadance!”

“We’re not using family names,” Sunset said. “We don’t want to force Morning into calling anyone anything that doesn’t feel natural.”

“Oh, of course. Just Cadance is fine then. Or Cady if you prefer.”

Twilight gestured to Shining Armor. “And you can call him ‘stinky’.”

“Hey!” Shining said, then made a show of sniffing himself to get the foals to laugh. It worked on Flurry, but Morning was still a little too skittish.

“Why are you dressed like that?” Morning asked.

“We’re disguise!” Flurry said. “I’m a piggy!”

“Uhm…”

Cadance laughed. “Well we didn’t want anypony to know who we were, so we thought we’d go incognito.”

Morning scrunched up her face in confusion, causing Fluttershy to laugh. She gave them a smirk and decided to play along. “We almost didn’t know who you were.”

“Yes we did,” Morning said.

“I dunno, could’ve fooled me,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Now I just feel silly, not in disguises or anything.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and took pity on Morning, who didn’t seem to catch on to the joke. “They’re just being silly. We should probably get going, though. We’re starting to attract attention.”

It was true. Whether it was because of the gathering of Equestria’s royalty or because of the ridiculously bad disguises, ponies were staring.

“Come on,” Shining said. “We have a carriage waiting.”

“A carriage?” Morning asked as they started walking. “Like what babies ride around in?“

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, it’s sort of like a bigger version of the same thing. We’ll all fit in it, and a couple strong ponies will pull us.”

“Oh.” Morning fell into contemplation as the group followed Shining as he led them away from the station and into the street.

As he had said, there was a private carriage waiting for them. He held open the door while everyone else climbed into it, then he came in behind.

Surprisingly, instead of sitting by her mom, Flurry immediately followed Morning and sat beside her. Morning frowned at her, but Flurry was all smiles for the older filly. “Do you like my costume?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in disguise?” Morning asked. “Pigs don’t talk.”

“Play nice, Morning,” Twilight gently chided.

Flurry had her own thoughts on the topic, it seemed. “Pigs talk! They say ‘oink’!”

Since Morning, Sunset, Fluttershy, and Flurry were all on one side, Twilight sat on the other with Cadance. When Shining got in, he sat beside his wife and sister. “All ready to go!” he told the stallions in front, and they started pulling the carriage towards the castle.

“This is a carriage?” Morning asked. “It feels more like a truck.”

“A truck?” Cadance asked. “What’s that?”

Twilight chuckled. “We took Morning to the human world yesterday. Trucks are a thing humans ride around in.”

“That must have been a pretty big adventure,” Cadance said with a smile. “Twilight told me all about that world when she first went to it.”

“It was weird, but cool,” Morning said.

“Oink!” Flurry added. Morning looked at her with visible confusion.

“So how are you settling into life in Ponyville, Morning?” Cadance asked. “That must be its own kind of adventure.”

“I like it,” Morning said. “Everyone is really nice, and I don’t have to worry about all the other kids at Small Steps.”

“Morning had a little bit of a problem with a colt there,” Twilight explained. “But she did have one friend, who she wrote to before we came here. We’ll probably have a letter back from her by the time we get back to Ponyville.”

“It must be tough to not get to see your friend,” Cadance said.

“I guess,” Morning said, sounding like she didn’t mind one way or another.

Shining laughed. “You sound just like Twily when she was little, you know.”

Twilight laughed nervously. “We’re hoping she takes to friendship a little better than I did.”

“She can be very friendly when you get to know her.” Fluttershy brushed her hoof through Morning’s mane. “She’s just a bit shy.”

“Of course.” Cadance took off her fake muzzle and glasses, though she left on the top hat. “It must be tough getting used to everything.”

“It’s been a bit of an experience for all of us,” Twilight said.

“I think we’re all going to be just fine,” Fluttershy said with a smile. She felt so good being here with all of these ponies. Like Morning, she had been a filly that didn’t really have a family after her mom died, but little by little her family had grown, and now she loved everypony that was part of her life.

“Look!” Flurry said as she pointed out the window. “The castle!”

“It’s even bigger than the castle in Ponyville,” Morning said as she watched it from the window.

“I used to live there,” Sunset said. “Cadance and I both lived in the castle together for a while.”

“Who would’ve thought we’d ever be part of one family,” Cadance said with a smirk.

Sunset laughed. “I didn’t, that’s for sure.”

Fluttershy didn’t know the exact details, but she knew Sunset and Cadance hadn’t gotten along when they first met. Things were much better between the two of them now, but Fluttershy still wondered sometimes if there were still buried emotions they weren’t addressing.

But that wasn’t a conversation to be had around the fillies. Sunset just shrugged it off, anyway. “I wouldn’t have ever expected much of anything that happened in my life, though. From the moment I ran away from Canterlot, nothing in my life went like I expected.”

“You ran away?” Morning asked.

“Didn’t I tell you about that?” Sunset mussed Morning’s mane. “That was why I lived in an orphanage for a while. Even before I ran away, I was a very bad kid when I was younger. Gave Celestia and Cadance a lot of trouble.”

“What about Princess Luna?” Morning asked.

“Luna wasn’t around when I was a kid.”

“Wow.” Morning looked up at Sunset with a look of awe. “You must be so old!”

Sunset blushed as the others tried to stifle their laughter. Twilight stepped in to save her wife. “Did you ever learn about Nightmare Moon?”

“Oh yeah, that was like Luna but it wasn’t?” Morning scrunched up her face. “I never understood that.”

“Maybe we can ask Luna to explain it together,” Fluttershy said. “But when we were younger, Luna wasn’t in Equestria. She was still Nightmare Moon, and she was banished to the moon.”

Flurry nudged Morning. “That means she was in time out.”

“I know what banished means,” Morning said with an eye roll.

Flurry just giggled and oinked. Throughout the rest of the trip, she took to oinking at everypony. The adults all thought she was adorable, but Morning seemed to be less amused. Fluttershy was a little concerned about how openly annoyed Morning was, but she didn’t say anything mean to the younger filly, so she let it slide.

Still, when they reached the castle and everyone else got out, Fluttershy hung back and put a hoof on Morning to keep her in place. Sunset looked back at them before leaving, but Fluttershy just gave her a smile. “Go on, we’ll be out in a minute.”

Sunset nodded. “Alright, we’ll make sure they don’t drive off with you in the carriage then.”

“Thank you, Sunset.” Once her wife left, Fluttershy was alone with the filly. She smiled at Morning. “I’m going to guess you don’t really like little foals, do you?”

“I was good!” Morning protested.

“You were,” Fluttershy agreed. “And I’m proud of you for being a good filly. But I just wanted to ask you to keep being good a little longer. I know it’s tough, but I think Flurry actually looks up to you a little bit.”

“But why? She’s an alicorn!”

“Twilight’s an alicorn,” Fluttershy pointed out. “But she looks up to me and Sunset in some ways, just like we both look up to her.”

“I guess…”

Fluttershy brushed Morning’s mane back. It was quickly becoming a habit of hers with the little filly. “Flurry is younger than you. Sometimes younger foals look up to older foals just because they’re bigger than them. And she’s never had a cousin before, so I think she just wants to get along and for you two to like each other.”

Morning just looked down at the floor, not saying anything.

“Just… try to be patient with her, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Thank you. Now, let’s go back to the others.”

Fluttershy held open the door, and Sunset helped Morning get out of the carriage. With one final reminder to keep close to them in the castle, they made their way inside.

Morning had gotten used to their castle in Ponyville quickly, but then their castle in Ponyville was very different from Canterlot Castle. For one thing, there were ponies everywhere. Guards, politicians, castle staff; no matter where they looked, there was somepony doing their job.

And of course, Canterlot Castle was immaculately decorated. Even before Fluttershy and Sunset had moved in, Twilight had preferred to keep her castle more homey. But where Twilight would have hung pictures of her friends and family, Princess Celestia had paintings that were quite possibly priceless. Where Fluttershy would have placed a bookshelf full of knick-knacks, there were suits of armor standing guard.

“Nothing like being back at Canterlot Castle,” Shining Armor reflected.

“I guess this kind of feels like home for you too,” Fluttershy said.

Shining nodded. “I wasn’t Captain of the Royal Guard for nothing. I know this castle like the back of my hoof.”

“You were Captain of the Royal Guard?” Morning asked.

Shining wore a prideful grin. “I sure was. Used to meet up with Twily for lunch while I was on duty and she was studying here.”

“The good old days,” Twilight said wistfully. “I used to study in the courtyard where Shining would have his guards run drills.”

“Oh…” Morning looked around. “Did you ever get lost?”

“Once or twice,” Twilight said.

“Oh, I’m positive she got lost more than that,” Sunset said with a grin. “I know I did, and I’m better with directions than Twilight is.”

“I’ve only ever been here with Twilight, Sunset, or Luna,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t think I could find my way around without them.”

Twilight leaned closer to Morning. “One of us will be with you wherever you go here. And if for some reason we can’t be, we’ll have a guard escort you around. Still, if you somehow get lost –”

“Find a guard,” Morning finished for her. “Right?”

Twilight smiled. “That’s right.”

Morning smiled as well, until Flurry bumped into her and oinked. She rolled her eyes, but she didn’t complain at least.

The occasional oink notwithstanding, they made their way to the throne room without incident. Shining had to be reminded when they were outside that he still had his fake mustache on, so they stopped for a moment so Cadance could help him take it off. No one seemed concerned about getting Flurry Heart out of her pig costume, least of all Flurry Heart herself.

While they waited, Fluttershy noticed Morning looking up at the door apprehensively. “Nervous?”

“A little.” Morning bowed her head to look at her hooves instead.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Sunset said.

Fluttershy smiled. “Yeah, the princesses are really nice.”

“But… they’re the princesses!” Morning said.

Sunset grinned. “Thought you’d be used to princesses by now.”

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are different,” Morning insisted.

It wasn’t that Fluttershy couldn’t see her point, of course. She still felt a little nervous around Princess Celestia herself. But it was something she was going to have to face eventually.

What she said was, “It’ll be okay. They’re good ponies, Morning.”

Flurry looked at Morning strangely, then ran over to Cadance. She shook Cadance’s back leg to get her attention, then asked, “Mommy, is Morning a princess?”

Cadance smiled. “Yes, Flurry. Even though she’s not an alicorn, Morning is a princess. Just like Aunt Fluttershy and Aunt Sunset.”

“No I’m not,” Morning said, causing the adults to all look at one another.

Twilight smiled sheepishly. “Actually… you are. Or you will be once the adoption is finalized, anyway. You’ll be our daughter officially, and that means you’ll be a princess.”

“We, uhm, we weren’t sure how to bring it up,” Fluttershy explained. “We wanted to make sure you decided to live with us because you wanted to, not just to become a princess.”

“But… but I’m not special…” Morning looked between all three moms.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re so special to us,” Fluttershy said. “And we all felt the same way before we became princesses.”

“I didn’t,” Sunset muttered.

“Most of us felt the same way,” Fluttershy said with a smile and an eye roll.

“Oh.” Morning looked down at the ground.

“So you see, there’s nothing to worry about,” Twilight said with a smile. “Everyone here is royalty, and that includes you. And just like you, they’re all just normal ponies.”

Morning nodded meekly.

“Do we need a minute?” Shining asked. He was rubbing his muzzle where the mustache had been stuck.

“No,” Morning said. “I’m ready.”

Fluttershy wasn’t sure, but Twilight nodded. She opened the door for them, and everypony filed inside.

Directly in front of them, Princess Celestia and Luna were both sitting on their thrones. Celestia smiled warmly at them, while Luna didn’t acknowledge their presence – she was wearing sunglasses and sipping on a mug either tea or coffee. There was a third pony with them as well, a pegasus sitting beside Luna.

Morning hung back as they approached, so Fluttershy had to use a wing to guide her forward. As they approached, Luna finally smiled. She seemed to be looking directly at Fluttershy and Morning, and Fluttershy herself couldn’t help but smile when she saw her friends. She hadn’t known that Amber Glow would be here.

“Welcome, everyone,” Princess Celestia said. “It’s so good to see you all. I trust you had a nice trip?”

“We did,” Cadance said. She and Shining Armor approached Princess Celestia. “It’s nice to see you, Auntie.”

“Aunt Tia!” Flurry ran up to Celestia. “I’m a piggy! Oink!”

“I see that,” Princess Celestia said with a smile. “Is it Nightmare Night already?”

Flurry giggled. “No, we’re disguise!”

“Really now?” Princess Celestia looked over the others. “I believe everyone else here is a pony.”

“Mommy and Daddy were disguise too,” Flurry explained.

“Were in disguise,” Princess Celestia corrected.

“And what of you three?” Luna asked. “Although I suppose it was you four this time. It’s nice to meet you, Morning Glisten.”

“We got in just fine,” Fluttershy said. She nudged Morning forward a little. “Say hello, Morning.”

Morning pawed at the ground. “Uhm, hi…”

Luna and Amber stood up and walked down towards them, Luna levitating her drink with her. She bent down low to look at Morning while Amber and Fluttershy hugged.

Luna lifted her sunglasses with her magic, and Morning shrunk back against Fluttershy’s wing. “Hello, little one. My name is Luna.”

Amber butted Luna aside, causing her to spill a little of her drink. “You’re scaring her!” They turned to Morning and smiled. “Don’t mind her, she likes to flaunt how big she is.”

“It is not my fault if I am taller than the average pony!” Luna protested.

“She’s a big softy, really,” Amber said.

“Uhm, are you a prince?”

Amber grinned, likely in part due to Morning’s apparent assumption that they were male. “Nah, I’m just an unemployed layabout who mooches off of Luna here.”

Fluttershy leaned in. “This is Amber Glow. They’re Luna’s lover.”

Morning cocked her head to the side and leaned close to whisper in Fluttershy’s ear. “Are, uhm, are they a boy or a girl?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, Amber was born a girl, but they decided they don’t really feel like they’re either a boy or a girl. So instead of saying ‘he’ or ‘she’, we say ‘they’ for them.”

“Oh. I didn’t know ponies could do that.”

There was a whole lesson there, and it was an important one since Morning would likely be seeing Scootaloo around as well. But Fluttershy wasn’t sure she was the best pony to explain it, and she knew Amber was pretty new to the whole thing as well.

Morning looked over Amber, who just shrugged. “Most ponies don’t get it, it’s alright.”

“And dearest Amber misled you just now,” Luna said. “While it’s true they’re unemployed now, they’ll soon be working again.”

“Oh really?” Twilight asked. “What’s the job?”

Before they could answer, Flurry ran over to Morning. “Mo Glow! Come play with me!”

“What did you call me?” Morning asked.

Flurry Heart giggled. “That’s what Auntie Luna called you! Morning Glow!”

“Morning Glisten,” Morning corrected.

“Oh. Well, Mo Glow is cuter.” Flurry laughed as if getting somepony’s name wrong was a great joke by itself.

“It is a pretty cute name,” Twilight admitted, and Fluttershy was inclined to agree.

Sunset walked over to Morning and took a knee to be more on her level. “Hey, we’re gonna talk about boring adult stuff like jobs. Will you do me a favor and keep Flurry busy so we can talk for a bit?”

Morning looked like she was going to protest, but in the end she just said, “Okay…” and went off to play with Flurry.

Sunset returned to the others. “So what’s this new job?”

“Well, I’m gonna be your favorite thing in the world,” Amber said sheepishly. “A reporter.”

“Oh. Really?” Twilight wore a grin that was a little too big to be real.

“Do not fret, Twilight, Amber is not going to be that kind of reporter.” Luna nodded to Amber. “But I shall let them explain.”

Amber nodded. “Well, I was thinking about how much I miss travelling. Living with Luna is great and all, but I really miss the train days, you know?”

“I suppose being a reporter would mean you’d get to travel,” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, and like Luna said, I won’t be that kind of reporter anyway.” Amber smiled, and it was clear to see how excited they were about this. “I’m going to travel and talk to regular ponies. Luna here heard about a travel magazine looking for slice of life stories, and we got in contact with them. Every week, I’ll have an article about a different regular pony somewhere in Equestria.”

“That sounds really nice,” Twilight said, finally sounding genuine in her happiness. “That’s the kind of news Equestria needs more of.”

“And it sounds perfect for you,” Sunset said. “You always were good at getting ponies to open up.”

“That’s what this is for.” Amber gestured to her cutie mark, a heart-shaped lock that was unlocked. “But enough of that, what’s it like being moms?”

They explained how the past two months had been going for them, from Sunset’s first visit to taking Morning home for good. As they talked, Fluttershy leaned against Luna, who draped a wing over her.

Soon enough, the groups were shifting. Sunset and Twilight went to talk with Princess Celestia as Cadance and Shining Armor came by to say hello to Luna and apologize for waking her up.

“It is nothing a bit more coffee can’t fix,” Luna said. “We have a small concession stand over here. Please, help yourselves.”

They made for the concession stand, all the while Fluttershy staying under Luna’s wing. She worried just a little about making Amber jealous, but they never seemed to have a problem with how close Fluttershy and Luna were.

Quite the opposite, as Amber just popped under Luna’s wing with Fluttershy, so that Fluttershy was sandwiched between her friends. “Room for two under here?”

Fluttershy giggled. “Of course!”

“I do have two wings, you know,” Luna said with a smirk.

“But this one’s extra snuggly,” Amber said, nuzzling against Fluttershy.

“I think Amber’s right,” Fluttershy said. She smiled, and even continued to do so when she noticed the look Cadance was giving them, even if she did so with a blush spreading across her face. She could practically hear the gears turning in the Princess of Love’s head.

In truth, Fluttershy hadn’t been sure what her relationship with Luna was for quite a long time. Even Sunset and Twilight had noticed; they’d made a point of telling Fluttershy that if she did want to date Luna, that was something they were open to discussing. Fluttershy appreciated that her wives accepted that she might develop feelings for another mare, but when it came down to it, she just didn’t know if she did have those kinds of feelings for Luna. There was a closeness with Luna that was different from how she felt about her other friends, but when she thought about things like kissing Luna or getting even more intimate with her, she realized she just wasn’t that interested in that.

Getting cuddly with Amber was just a bonus. She knew she didn’t feel anything beyond friendship with them, but she could still enjoy being close to a friend.

Luna also seemed to notice Cadance’s attention. She raised her other wing. “Perhaps you would care to join?”

“I think I’ll pass,” Cadance said. “I’d hate to intrude on a private moment, you know.”

Luna looked around. “There are ten ponies here, Cadance. One of them is my sister and two of them are foals. I shouldn’t think this in any way constitutes a private moment.”

Fluttershy giggled as Amber snickered. Not for the first time, Fluttershy thought that there was some sort of secret history at work between Luna and Cadance.

“All the same, I think I’ll leave you to it,” Cadance said. “Private or otherwise, I do think I know enough on this subject to see there is something going on here.”

“I’m sure none of us have any idea what you mean,” Luna said. “Do you think I would be so brazen to woo a pony in front of her wives and daughter?”

“Yes,” Fluttershy, Cadance, and Amber all said at once, then everyone aside from Luna and Shining laughed. Shining seemed to just be trying to figure out what was going on – he never did quite grasp the whole polyamory thing – and Luna was hopefully blushing, because Fluttershy thought that she’d be cute if she was.

“Well fine then.” Luna withdrew her wing. “If you’re going to be like that, then you can find another wing to hide under.”

“Aww, but Twily’s talking to Princess Celestia.” Fluttershy nuzzled against Luna. “Besides, I hardly ever get to see you.”

Amber took a more direct approach, flying into the air and landing on top of Luna. “Suit yourself, I’ll just stay up here. Wanna join me, Fluttershy?”

Luna sighed, but Fluttershy could tell she enjoyed it. “I do believe you’re a bad influence on Fluttershy, Amber dearest.”

“You’re just now realizing this?” Amber asked as they stole Luna’s crown and put it on their own head. “I’m, like, a bad influence on everypony.”

“I don’t think so,” Fluttershy said. “I’m glad I met you.”

“Yeah, well, no need to get all sappy with me,” Amber said, then patted Luna on the head. “Get sappy with her instead.”

Fluttershy just giggled, then walked over to get herself a cup of tea from the concession stand. It was going a little cold, but Fluttershy didn’t mind too much.

Not that it mattered, because Luna seemed to have other ideas. “Here, let me see that.” She bowed her head and touched her horn to the cup, using her magic to reheat it. “There, that should be better.”

Fluttershy took a sip and nodded. “Thank you.”

Before she could enjoy her tea, however, her attention was torn from it by the sound of a filly crying. Everyone’s eyes turned towards the sound, and they saw Flurry sitting on the floor and crying while Morning looked around in a panic.

All five parents were quick to get to the scene while the others hung back. “What happened,” Twilight asked.

“I – I didn’t mean to, I was just…” Morning looked down at the ground.

Cadance picked up Flurry who continued to cry as she clung to her mom. “There there, it’s okay.”

Cadance and Shining walked off to calm down Flurry, leaving the others to figure out what happened from Morning. “What didn’t you mean to do?” Sunset asked.

“I… She wouldn’t let go of me! I told her to, but she kept holding onto me, and I…”

Fluttershy sighed. It wasn’t hard to get the picture. “Morning, she’s only three years old. You’ve got to be careful with her.”

“I know! I just wanted her to let go of me…”

Twilight and Sunset exchanged glances, then looked to Fluttershy, who didn’t know what to do any better than they did.

“I’m sorry…” Morning said.

Twilight looked over at Flurry. “You need to apologize to her once she calms down.”

“I will.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Sunset asked.

“You asked me to keep her busy…”

Sunset groaned. “I didn’t mean you couldn’t come get us if there was a problem. You do have to learn to play nice with Flurry, but your personal space is important too. It probably would’ve taken Cadance, like, two words to get her to behave herself.”

Morning bowed her head. “I just… I don’t know…”

Fluttershy wondered if there was something else on her mind. “I think somepony might’ve been a little on edge because of a discussion earlier.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Was there something on your mind that made you feel a little overwhelmed?” Fluttershy asked.

“No,” Morning answered, though Fluttershy didn’t believe her. “I just didn’t want Flurry on top of me all the time.”

Fluttershy wanted to press the topic, sure that Morning’s behavior was linked to suddenly realizing she was a princess, but she didn’t know that this was the best place to do that. Eventually she just shook her head. “I’m going to go check on Flurry.”

She left Morning with Twilight and Sunset and walked over to Cadance and Shining. “How’s she doing?”

“Calming down,” Cadance said as Flurry’s crying lowered in intensity.

“What happened?” Shining asked.

“I think Morning was feeling a little overwhelmed by learning she’s going to be a princess. Then Flurry was being a little too touchy, and Morning pushed her back. I think she fell down, and that’s when she started crying.” Fluttershy stole a glance back at the others. Twilight was saying something to Morning about how to act around younger foals. “Morning has… a tough time when she feels overwhelmed. We should’ve been watching her better.”

“It’s okay,” Cadance said with a smile. “Kids are resilient. I think Flurry was hurt more that Morning didn’t want her around than by the fall.”

Fluttershy nodded; that was probably true. “I feel bad for Flurry, I know she just wants to be friends with Morning. It’s just that Morning isn’t so good at friends yet, especially with younger foals…”

“She really is like her mom, huh?” Shining asked, looking at Twilight.

“Like Twily and Sunset, really,” Fluttershy said. “Sunset was bad with foals when she was little.”

“You can say that again,” Cadance said with a sigh. “I just hope things work out with the two of them better than they ever did with the two of us.”

“I’m sure they will,” Shining said. “I don’t think Sunset had as good role models as Morning does.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, she didn’t. It won’t be hard to give Morning a better childhood than Sunset or I had.”

Flurry had stopped crying, instead just nuzzling close to her mom. Shining stroked her mane, which Flurry didn’t react to.

“Should I bring Morning around to apologize?” Fluttershy asked.

“I think that would be a good idea,” Cadance said, so Fluttershy went back to the others.

Morning looked at her expectantly when she did. “Flurry’s alright. She’s not hurt, she just really wanted you to like her.”

“I don’t not like her,” Morning said. “I just wish she wouldn’t be on top of me all the time.”

“I know,” Fluttershy said. “But sometimes little kids are just like that. If it gets to be too much, you need to tell one of us.”

“I’m sorry…”

Fluttershy nodded towards Flurry. “Come on, let’s go tell her that.”

The three moms and their daughter walked across the room. Flurry sniffed as they approached, but she kept her eyes focused on Morning.

Morning folded her ears and bowed her head. She kicked at the ground before saying, “I’m sorry I pushed you.”

Flurry didn’t say anything. Morning looked up at Twilight, who nodded.

Turning back to Flurry, Morning asked, “Do… you like books?”

Since Flurry didn’t answer again, Cadance answered for her. “She likes picture books.”

“Uhm, maybe I could read to her?” Morning suggested.

“What do you think, Flurry?” Cadance asked in an elevated voice. “Do you want Mo Glow to read you a story?”

Flurry nodded.

“I’ll take Morning to the library to find a good book for Flurry,” Twilight said. “We’ll be back soon.”

Twilight and Morning left, and Fluttershy turned to Sunset. “Whose idea was it for Morning to read to her?”

“Twilight’s,” Sunset said. “But it was Morning who wanted to do something. She didn’t want to just apologize, she wanted to make it up to her.”

“Really?” Fluttershy smiled. Of course she was upset that Morning had another outburst, and with a filly as small as Flurry at that, but this was a very good step for her.

“Yup. I think she just loses her cool, but then she regrets it after.” Sunset smirked. “Unlike me when I was younger, in that I had no cool to lose.”

“Flurry,” Cadance said softly. “Do you remember that talk we had about personal space?”

“No,” Flurry said. Fluttershy couldn’t tell if she honestly didn’t remember or if she was being obstinate.

“Some ponies don’t like it when you get too close to them,” Shining said patiently. “Morning is one of those ponies.”

“I just wanted hugs…”

“I know, and we’re happy to give you as many hugs as you want,” Cadance said. “But Morning doesn’t like hugs as much as you do.”

Flurry sniffed.

Princess Celestia walked over to the group. “Is everything okay?”

“Just a little excitement,” Cadance said. “I think everything is going to be just fine, though.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Princess Celestia grinned sheepishly. “I admit I wouldn’t know what to do. I’ve never been terribly good with younger foals.”

“Half the time, you just need to let them play with your mane,” Luna said, approaching the group as well. “Our manes are particularly appealing to little ones, I’ve found.”

“Aww, foals aren’t that hard.” Amber tickled Flurry under her chin, and she gave a small laugh. “Isn’t that right, cutie? You just want someone to hug, huh? I like your costume!”

Flurry gave a bashful “Oink.”

It didn’t take too long for Twilight and Morning to come back, Twilight levitating several books along with her. “We couldn’t pick just one,” she said as if anyone ever expected Twilight to pick just one book.

Morning sat down with the books, and Cadance set Flurry down near her. The others all gathered around Morning in a circle. Cadance and Shining sat beside their daughter, with Amber and Luna next to them. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Sunset were next, then Princess Celestia rounded out the circle by sitting between Sunset and Morning.

Morning looked around at everypony and blushed. “Is… everyone going to listen?”

Twilight giggled. “Sure, we’d all like a story. Right everyone?”

There were murmurs of agreements, so Morning lifted the book so that it covered her face and she didn’t have to see anyone. Fluttershy got comfortable lying against Luna while holding onto Twilight, who in turn held Sunset.

“Remember to show Flurry the pictures,” Twilight said.

Morning may have been embarrassed but she read the story well. It was a simple and familiar story about a country mouse and a city mouse, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but imagine Morning and Flurry as the titular characters.

As she read the story, she showed off the pictures to Flurry. Not content with just showing them off, she would often explain what was going on in them. “See, that’s the country mouse dressing up in fancy city clothes, like in the story.”

Little by little, Flurry scooted closer to see the pictures better until eventually they were pressed side by side. Then Flurry let out a big yawn, and everyone knew what was coming. Morning kept reading though, and soon enough Flurry was sleeping soundly against Morning.

“I’m sorry,” Cadance said. “Here, I’ll take her.”

“No, it’s okay,” Morning said. She blushed as she continued. “I don’t want to wake her up.”

They really were quite adorable together. Flurry was sleeping peacefully, and Morning didn’t quite seem to know what to do, but she was still letting her new cousin sleep on her.

“Should… I keep reading?” Morning asked after a moment.

“Sure, go ahead,” Sunset said.

Morning set that book down and picked up a different one. She read pretty well for her age. Of course, the books were for younger kids, but she still read them easily and pronounced the words well.

And almost everyone found someone to snuggle with. Cadance draped a wing over Shining as they listened, and Amber leaned into Luna’s other side so that she was the one in the middle. Then Twilight and Sunset were snuggled close to Fluttershy, leaving only Princess Celestia without a partner. Still, something about the Solar Princess felt more at peace than Fluttershy was used to.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was with her family listening to her daughter read to them. The day had held another learning experience for them, but now everyone was happy.

Fluttershy had her family with her, and that was all she could ask for.

Author's Note

I've wanted to get Flurry and Morning together for ages, it was one of the parts of this fic I was looking forward to having done.

13 – Expectations

Chapter Thirteen
Expectations

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Considering they only had a week in Canterlot as a whole family – Sunset was staying a little longer than the others for a personal reason – they all wanted to make the most of it. And while they had some different ideas of how to do that, none of those ideas involved going to Sunset’s foalhood home to meet with her father.

And yet, that’s what they found themselves doing. He’d gotten word that Sunset was in Canterlot and requested her to bring her family for a visit. Her initial impulse was to refuse, but they all knew they were on thin ice with the press after Twilight’s outburst when Morning got lost in Ponyville, and the last thing they needed was for tabloids to get word that they’d refused Morning’s grandfather the chance to meet her.

So for publicity’s sake and absolutely no other reason, the family found themselves in a carriage heading into the wealthiest part of Canterlot. Sunset herself was staring out the window and glaring at the passing city streets.

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Twilight said hopefully. “Sure, it’ll be a little awkward, but what’s the worst that can happen?”

Sunset sighed. “Yeah, I know. It just sucks.”

“Is he mean?” Morning asked.

“He can be,” Sunset said. Part of her wanted to sugarcoat things for her daughter, but that wouldn’t be fair. She needed a proper warning about how the day was going to go. “He’s certainly not a nice pony. He’s a jerk, and if there weren’t so many stupid expectations for me, I’d drop him from my life in an instant.”

Fluttershy put her hoof on Sunset’s. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad. He barely said anything to you at the wedding. We’ll probably be in and out before we know it.”

“I hope so…” Sunset grumbled. She turned to Morning again. “Listen, hopefully Fluttershy’s right and things go well and all that, but if he’s mean to you, you don’t have to be nice to him just because he’s an adult. If he’s gonna be a jerk, then he’s gonna get what he has coming…”

Twilight grimaced. “Er, but only if he’s mean. If he’s not, then you do have to be nice to him.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yeah, even though it would serve him right if we all just treated him like a jerk, be good until he does something mean.”

Fluttershy looked between her wives and cocked her head to the side. “But if he’s mean, we’ll probably just leave…”

“Oh yeah.” Twilight blinked. “That makes sense.”

Truth be told, Sunset preferred the idea of sticking around so everyone could give him his just desserts, but that wouldn’t be a very good lesson for her daughter. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Do… you have a mom too?” Morning asked.

“Yeah, but she divorced my dad,” Sunset explained. “She’s really not much better anyway.”

“She did write about us that one time,” Twilight said, which was true. For reasons Sunset couldn’t understand, her mom had decided to write in support of Sunset’s polyamorous relationship despite never having been interested in talking about it.

And while Sunset had always wondered about that open letter, it didn’t really make up for a lifetime of ignoring her daughter. “Whatever,” Sunset said. “I’m just glad we won’t ever have to deal with the two of them at once anymore.”

Morning stared down at the floor, and Sunset sighed. “Look, I’m making it sound worse than it is. It’s probably just going to be boring. We’ll talk about dumb adult stuff for a while, and then we’ll leave and have a nice dinner somewhere. Tomorrow we’ll do something fun.”

Morning just nodded. Sunset felt bad for making her worried about the meeting. She’d thought that not swearing would be the hard part, and to be fair, she had slipped up here and there where that was concerned. But only now that it was impacting someone else did she realize exactly how grumpy she was most of the time.

At least her wives were better at being cheerful for Morning than she was. Fluttershy started talking about how many different restaurants there were in Canterlot, and Twilight gave suggestions. Morning seemed a little overwhelmed with the idea of making a choice, but it was better than listening to Sunset being miserable.

They kept Morning busy with food options for the rest of the trip. Sunset didn’t chime in too much, but she did say enough to show that she wasn’t determined to be irritable the whole way. Still, it was hard to feel anything else when they reached the manor.

She got out of the carriage and looked up at the house she constantly hoped to never see again. Despite her resolution to be a little less down, she still let out a sigh as she saw it.

There was a wing on her shoulders, so she turned to see Fluttershy. “It’ll be okay.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, let’s get it over with.”

After a quick kiss from Fluttershy, they made their way up to the building. Everyone followed Sunset, who turned to grin at them before ringing the doorbell.

As expected, it was a maid who answered. She held the door open for them and stepped aside. “Princesses, please, come in.”

They walked into the foyer, and the maid led them to a sitting room. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. Is there anything I can get for you? Tea, perhaps?”

“Tea would be nice,” Sunset said. “Er, wait, Morning, do you drink tea?”

“Yup!” Morning answered proudly.

“She drinks floral tea, if you have anything like that,” Fluttershy said. “Oh, but not too strong, though. She likes it sweet.”

The maid nodded. “Of course, I’ll be right back with tea for five, and I’ll send the General down as well, of course.”

She left the room, and Morning turned to Sunset. “He’s a general? Like a soldier?”

“Yeah,” Sunset said, suppressing a sigh. “He loves when people call him by his title too. He instructs all the house staff to call him ‘General’, he’s so pompous…”

“We usually just call him ‘sir’,” Twilight explained. She and Fluttershy had never known what to call him, so they’d settled on the polite option. Sunset called him ‘Dad’, mostly because she was pretty sure it annoyed him.

They didn’t wait long for Brass Badge to show up. Twilight and Fluttershy stood as he entered the room, although Sunset and Morning remained seated. He didn’t comment either way.

“Welcome to my humble home,” he said, nodding and locking eyes with each of them in turn. “I trust you’re all well?”

“Yes,” Twilight answered. “We’ve been pretty busy ever since we decided to adopt Morning, but we wouldn’t change that for the world.”

Brass Badge nodded and took a seat himself. He chose one that separated him from everypony else. “I can imagine. New foals are a hoofful.”

Sunset smirked. “Didn’t realize you had any idea about what that was like.”

“Sunset…” Twilight muttered.

Brass Badge just held up a hoof. “We perhaps relied on hired help more than we ought to have. I trust you’re doing things differently, then?”

“Yeah, we don’t even have hired help,” Sunset said.

“We do have my parents, though,” Twilight said. “They live with us and have been a huge help. And Spike, my little brother. There’s no shortage of helping hooves and claws around the castle.”

“And of course, they all adore Morning,” Fluttershy said with a smile at her daughter.

“Yes, of course,” Brass Badge said. He had never really cared to talk about ponies’ personal lives, but he was Canterlot elite. Whether he cared to or not didn’t matter, he was expected to listen to the goings-on of his peers. He turned his attention to Morning Glisten. “So, you’re my granddaughter, then.”

“I… I guess so…” Morning looked at Sunset, who stroked her pretty rose-colored mane.

“Are you studious like Sunset?” he asked as the maid returned with tea. She served the others while they talked.

“I’m, er, I don’t know…”

“She’s six, Dad,” Sunset said flatly. “She’s going into first grade.”

“You were in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns when you were six,” Brass Badge pointed out.

“Yeah, I was the youngest ever, and then I was the youngest to graduate.” Sunset frowned. “I also hated everypony and didn’t even know what it meant to be happy. We’re doing things differently with Morning.”

“Yes, of course.” Brass Badge sipped his tea.

No one said anything for a moment, the maid moving around the room to serve everyone. When she got to Morning, Fluttershy smiled at her. “What do you say?”

“Thank you,” Morning said to the maid.

“You’re very welcome, Miss,” the maid said, before moving on to serve Twilight, who also thanked her.

Sunset sipped her own tea. She would’ve thought to thank the maid if they were anywhere else, she told herself. This place just reminded her of bad habits and superiority complexes she’d been trying to get rid of.

If her father had any thoughts on the subject of thanking the hired help, he kept those thoughts to himself. “I suppose this is the first time we’ve all been together in private like this.”

“Yeah, here I thought we’d only see each other at weddings,” Sunset said.

“I thought it was past time, under the circumstances.” Brass Badge gestured to Morning. “I want you to know if there’s anything you need from me, you only need to ask.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow, and she was about to ask what they could possibly need from him. Fluttershy beat her to it, however, saying, “Thank you, that’s very kind of you.”

“Perhaps I could hire a tutor to work on her magic.” Brass Badge stared at the way she used her hooves to hold her teacup. “She ought to be able to levitate by now.”

“Twilight’s teaching her, actually,” Sunset said. “And after the summer vacation, she’ll be going to the local school in Ponyville where she can be with other foals her age and make some friends.”

“And uhm…” Twilight cleared her throat. “Most unicorn foals don’t actually master levitation until they’re a little bit older.”

“Really?” Brass Badge frowned. “Everyone in my family seemed to take to it pretty quickly. Of course, we always did have the best tutors.”

Sunset jerked her head at Twilight. “I think even you’ll have to agree that the Bearer of the Element of Magic is qualified. Anyway, we’re not worried about Morning excelling in anything. We want her to be happy.”

Brass Badge nodded and sipped his tea. “I suppose that is what younger parents are doing these days.”

“That’s how my parents raised me, and I think I’ve done pretty well for myself,” Twilight said.

“It wasn’t a criticism,” Brass Badge said simply.

The three mares all looked at each other, and no one seemed to know what to say. Eventually Fluttershy offered, “Uhm, your house is lovely.”

Brass Badge nodded as if it was just an understood fact rather than a compliment. “It’s been in my family for generations. Though I suppose Sunset probably has no interest in taking it after I’m gone.”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, I kinda live in a castle, so…”

“Hmph. Not like I have anyone else to leave it to.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true.” Somehow, that caught Sunset off guard. She never really thought about her parents dying. In a weird way, they weren’t close enough for her to ever think about that. And then he was going to leave his mansion to her? He loved this place, probably a hell of a lot more than he had ever loved her.

“Sunset…” Brass Badge sighed and set his tea down. “I asked you to come here for a reason. There are… things you might hear. Things that might call our relationship into question.”

Sunset couldn’t help but let out an incredulous laugh. “You can’t be fucking serious…”

“Sunset…” Fluttershy said, her eyes darting towards Morning.

“Sorry,” Sunset said quickly to her daughter, then rounded back on her father. “Did you really think I haven’t heard about the divorce? It’s been months! Not that you cared enough to tell me about it when it happened, so I don’t know why you do now.”

“Watch your tone, Sunset,” Brass Badge said gruffly. “I am your father.”

“Not by my choice,” Sunset muttered.

Brass Badge stared at her for a moment. Then he sighed. “I am your father. That is what I wanted to say to you.”

“You called me here to say that?” Sunset’s ear twitched. “Believe it or not, I haven’t forgotten.”

“Yes.” Brass Badge met his daughter’s eyes. “I called you here to say that. I am your father, and you are my daughter. That is all.”

“Yeah, okay.” Sunset rolled her eyes. She’d never quite understood what had possessed her parents to have a child, and frankly, she didn’t think she wanted to know. “So… what? You think that because Mommy and Daddy split up, suddenly I think they don’t love me?”

“This isn’t about the divorce.” Brass Badge went back to his tea. “I just needed to say it.”

“Alright, fine.” Sunset downed the rest of her tea. “You’ve said what you need to say. Happy now?”

Brass Badge let out a single laugh and grinned. “Is that a joke?”

Sunset found herself chuckling. “Yeah, guess happiness doesn’t really run in our family, huh?”

“Seems like you’re doing pretty well, though.” Brass Badge nodded.

Sunset jerked her head towards her wives. “Yeah, well, for some reason these two just won’t give up on me.”

“Maybe because you never give up on us,” Twilight pointed out.

“You’re worth sticking with,” Fluttershy said.

Sunset smiled contently, but then she caught sight of her father staring at her. Rather than let it get her down, however, she forced a grin. “It’s called a functional relationship. I know that’s new to you.”

“Sunset, that’s mean,” Fluttershy said sharply.

“It’s no secret my marriage was never the greatest,” Brass Badge said. “Your mother and I actually discussed how your marriage differed from ours on the night of your wedding. That probably was what led her to file for divorce.”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. “So my happy marriage is the reason you’re divorced?”

“It wasn’t a complaint.”

“You know,” Twilight said far too brightly, “it would be lovely to see more of your home!”

Sunset suppressed a sigh. The last thing she wanted to do was go on a tour of her childhood home, but she wasn’t going to argue with Twilight in front of her dad.

Brass Badge finished his tea and set down the teacup. “Very well. Follow me.”

He stood up and led them out of the room, so everypony followed him. Sunset did chance a glare at Twilight as they left the room, but she was pretty sure that it went unnoticed.

They started their tour of the house by leaving it. Out behind the manor there was a rather impressive garden. At least, the others seemed to find it impressive. Sunset couldn’t manage to care; it was all just bought and upkept with money, nothing either of her parents ever worked on.

That didn’t stop the others from loving it, though. Worst of all, it seemed to impress Morning. “Wow, do the bushes just grow like this?”

“The gardener cuts them into shapes,” Brass Badge explained. “Most of these flowers are exotic.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Canterlot’s a mountain, Dad. Most flowers are exotic here.”

“Exotic to Equestria, I mean.”

“Everything’s so pretty!” Fluttershy leaned in to smell a big purple flower. “And fragrant, too.”

“I like these little ones,” Morning said as she admired some orange and white flowers. “What are they called?”

“Couldn’t tell you, I’m afraid.” Brass Badge looked over the garden. Sunset wondered when the last time he had bothered to actually look at it was. “My father was the gardener. He started all this, I just maintain it.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about him, Sunset,” Twilight said.

“He died before Sunset was born,” Brass Badge explained. “And my mother soon after, so Sunset wouldn’t remember her either, I’m sure.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Twilight said.

“Such is life.” Brass Badge gestured around him. “He left behind this garden, and I make sure it’s kept up to his standards.”

“That’s basically how everything here is,” Sunset explained. “Some family member or something started it, and then it gets maintained by house staff forever.”

“It’s like a museum of family history,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “What a nice idea.”

Sunset frowned; she’d never found it very nice. No one cared about any of the stuff in the house, they just took care of it because they were expected to. It was a waste when a lot of it would be better off in a real museum.

But arguing with Fluttershy in front of her father wouldn’t be any better than arguing with Twilight, so once again Sunset held her tongue. She had a feeling she’d be doing that a lot during the day.

When everypony had seen enough of the gardens, they made their way back inside. After a quick stop by the kitchen so everypony could have a cold glass of water after being out in the summer heat, they made their way to the library.

Which, of course, meant Twilight was enamored. Sunset had to hold back more than her tongue when she saw her wife looking around the room with genuine enthusiasm – frankly, it made her want to gag.

“There’s a tradition within our family to expand the library with our own fields of study,” Brass Badge explained. “I’ve added a fair amount of military texts over my years.”

“And here I haven’t added anything,” Sunset muttered.

“Not true,” Brass Badge said. Sunset scrunched up her face, wondering what he met. She found out when he led them to a bookcase filled with textbooks. “All of the books on the study of magic that you collected while studying at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns are stored here.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about those.” Sunset’s eyes skimmed across the books. Some of them she remembered, but most were from so long ago that she couldn’t recall them.

Brass Badge took a random book off the shelf to examine it. “I suppose these books wouldn’t be of much interest to you anymore.”

Sunset shrugged. “Well, not really, no. I’ve pretty much outgrown them all by now.”

“These books taught you to do magic?” Morning asked, looking up at the books that would all be much too advanced for her.

“Well, these books and my teachers.” Sunset smiled at Morning. “You have me and Twilight to teach you, you’ll be just fine.”

“Oh, you’re teaching me too?” Morning asked.

“Well, I’ll let Twilight handle most of the academics, but sure. All three of us will be teaching you some stuff here and there.” Sunset glanced towards her father and frowned a little, but then smiled again for Morning. “That’s what parents are supposed to do.”

If Brass Badge had anything to say about that, he kept it to himself. He replaced the book on the shelf, then resumed walking.

They kept making their way through the memories and accumulated knowledge of Sunset’s ancestors. Occasionally Brass Badge would offer input about which family member had added a particular section, and Twilight would stop to admire some dusty old book or other.

“I asked for a few extra shelves recently,” Brass Badge informed them as they passed through an almost empty section.

“Really?” Twilight asked instantly, likely as much to prevent another sarcastic remark from Sunset as it was out of genuine interest. “Did you find more books tied to your family’s past?”

“No,” Brass Badge said with a pointed look at Morning. “For the family’s future.”

He made his way for the door, leaving the three wives to stare at one another. Twilight was positively beaming, and Fluttershy also looked very pleased. Only Sunset was left with a scowl on her face.

Morning went running after Brass Badge, so the others followed as well. The next door they came to led to the wine cellar, which Brass Badge noted then walked past. “I think we can agree that would be inappropriate for our current company.”

It wasn’t clear if he meant the fact that they had a recovering alcoholic or a child with them, but it was something they could all agree with.

They made for the next room, which was a gallery of some sort, but which was rather sparsely decorated. “This is where some of Sunset’s maternal grandfather’s paintings were. Of course, Lace took those with her in the divorce.”

“I didn’t know your grandfather was a painter,” Fluttershy said.

“Starry Night,” Twilight said. “I was surprised to find out you were related to him, but I did read that he was your mom’s dad.”

Fluttershy giggled. “He must be a pretty big deal if Twilight’s heard of him.”

Twilight grinned. “Yeah, well, I’m not an expert or anything, but I’ve seen some of his work.”

The room may not have had much in it, but what it did have was probably still priceless. Brass Badge showed them around and explained a little about what they were looking at.

“This one looks funny,” Morning said as she examined a colorful zebra mask. It was painted wood with a burned-in design, and it looked a little out of place in the house, which otherwise only showed pony history. Like much of the Canterlot elite, Sunset’s family had a long history of racism.

“That was a gift.” Brass Badge frowned. He didn’t like to talk about the mask, and even Sunset didn’t know anything about it.

“A gift?” Morning asked.

Brass Badge frowned at the mask, as if it had somehow offended him. “Yes. To my brother.”

Sunset blinked. “Your brother? I didn’t even know you had a brother.”

Brass Badge nodded. “Bronze Star was my older brother, and at the time, my commanding officer.”

“Did… something happen to him?” Twilight asked.

“He died. This was a long time before Sunset was born. I was just a kid, seventeen years old.”

“Wait, hold on.” Sunset shook her head. “How am I just now learning that I had an uncle?”

Father and daughter locked eyes, and for a moment, Sunset could see it. The unbreakable wall that was her father when she was younger. The impenetrable fortress of a stallion that would allow for no argument, that would never bow, would never show any sign that he was in any way equine.

But Sunset was no longer a filly. For better or worse, she had learned his lessons, and she stared back at him, a silent challenge passing between the two.

And then the wall cracked. For the first time in her life, the impenetrable fortress let down its gates in the form of a sigh as Brass Badge declined to meet his daughter’s eyes. “There never was much to say. He died, and I was only a kid, and nothing was ever the same again.”

“It sounds like he meant a lot to you,” Fluttershy said.

“Hmm? Oh, I barely knew him.” Brass Badge looked at the mask. “He was called by Equestria to aid our allies in the zebra lands. I was meant to go with him, but he said I was too young. Then he died, and the zebras sent him home with this mask. It’s meant to be an honor in their culture.”

“A big honor, if I’m not mistaken,” Twilight explained. “If that mask means what I think it does, then whatever he did for them, they accepted him as one of their own.”

Brass Badge nodded. “He really was something. He had a gift for words, like Sunset and like her mother do, and like I do not. And he was a good soldier. I’m not surprised he won them over.”

Sunset stared at the mask, almost wishing she had met this uncle of hers. She had some family on her mother’s side, but on her father’s side there was just him.

Brass Badge turned unexpectedly towards Morning. “Do you like it?”

“Oh, uhm, it’s neat,” Morning said with a look towards Twilight, who nodded encouragingly. “Is it like a real mask that you can wear?”

“I’m sure it’s too special to wear,” Fluttershy said.

Surprisingly, Brass Badge seemed to disagree. “If you’re careful with it.” He took the mask in his magic and levitated it off the wall, then he placed it on Morning’s face. Almost as surprising as that, he smiled afterwards. “You look very wild.”

The mask didn’t fit her any more than the smile fit the older stallion. Brass Badge had to keep the mask in place with his magic, but Morning laughed and looked around. “It’s hard to see out of this thing!”

“Well, you are a little small for it,” Twilight said. “If you like it, we can ask our friend Zecora if she might help you make one of your own. It wouldn’t be a real ceremonial one like this, but it would fit better.”

Morning gingerly pulled the mask off. “Thank you for letting me try it on.”

“You’re welcome.” Brass Badge put the mask back on the wall. “Bronze didn’t leave much left behind for the family collection, so this mask is his legacy now.”

“And you’re suddenly okay with letting someone just wear it?” Sunset asked testily. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I should think my granddaughter isn’t just ‘someone’.” Brass Badge locked eyes with Sunset again, once again the unbreakable wall. “I would have thought you’d agree with the sentiment.”

“I’m just saying this isn’t like you.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “Nothing about today has been like you. What game are you playing at?”

“There’s no game, Sunset.” Brass Badge turned away. “I’m not your mother. I don’t play games.”

“Bullshit.”

“Sunset!” Fluttershy chided, but Sunset ignored her.

“You’re up to something. You’ve been… for fuck’s sake, you’ve been nice! There’s no way divorce changed you this much! So what, are you trying to win over my daughter for some reason? Maybe you think you can use her to control me again.”

Twilight walked past Morning to pull Sunset’s attention away from her father. “That’s enough, Sunset. What’s gotten into you?”

“Coming here was a mistake.” Sunset turned away. “We’re leaving.”

“Fine.” Brass Badge’s voice didn’t betray any of his emotion, as usual. Not for the first time, Sunset wondered if he felt anything at all. “Just remember what we talked about today.”

“What, the whole ‘I am your father’ thing?” Sunset glared at him. “You’ve never been my father in any way that mattered, and now you want to play the grandfather card? The only thing you’ve got going for you is biology, and Morning’s blessed enough to not have even that connection with you.”

“Sunset!” Twilight spat with a glare. Sunset knew she screwed up by bringing up the fact that Morning wasn’t biologically related to them, something they’d all been in agreement would never matter in any way. Still, she envied her daughter for having that separation from such a despicable stallion.

“Come on, let’s go.” Sunset started walking, and with some reluctance, the others fell in step behind her. She heard Twilight apologizing profusely to Brass Badge, but she didn’t pay much attention to it. She just needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

Thankfully they had never left the ground floor, so she reached the exit quickly. Only then did she stop to look at the others. Twilight never really understood Sunset’s struggles with her parents, but even Fluttershy looked uncertain. That was unfortunate, though not unexpected.

But the worst of all was Morning. She had her ears folded and was staring at the floor with a defeated expression. Sunset had planned for what to do if her father was mean to her daughter, but she’d never stopped to consider what to do if he had been nice to her.

It tore Sunset up to see her daughter like that, but she couldn’t back down now. She opened the door and stepped outside.

“Sunset,” Brass Badge said.

“Save it.”

There was a hesitation, then Brass Badge sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”

Sunset rolled her eyes and walked out towards the street without answering. She did listen in to the others, though.

“I’m so sorry,” Twilight said. “She’s usually not like this.”

“She is with me.” As usual, Brass Badge didn’t show signs of how he felt about this.

“Thank you for showing us your house,” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, it wasn’t boring adult stuff or anything!” Morning said, causing Fluttershy to laugh a little.

“It was nice to meet you, Morning.”

“Let’s go,” Sunset said over her shoulder. She knew she shouldn’t push them, but she didn’t like hearing him talk to Morning.

“I’m… not sure if we’ll meet again.” Brass Badge almost sounded sad, which Sunset was pretty sure was an emotion he was incapable of feeling. “Enjoy the rest of your stay in Canterlot.”

“Okay.” Morning looked between Sunset and Brass Badge, then ran off towards Sunset. Twilight and Fluttershy weren’t far behind.

Sunset was the first in the carriage. Twilight helped Morning in, then Fluttershy was the last. Twilight and Morning sat on one side, Sunset and Fluttershy on the other.

Once the door was shut, Twilight glared at Sunset. “That was uncalled for.”

Sunset just looked out the window.

“Sunset…” Fluttershy leaned against her. “Do you want to talk about what just happened?”

Sunset sighed. “I know he’s up to something. He’s not like this normally.”

“Maybe the divorce did change something with him,” Fluttershy said. “I think, well… I understand if you don’t want to let him in, but uhm, maybe he’s trying to be a better father?”

“Too damn late.”

“Language,” Twilight grumbled. “Not that you’ll listen to me…”

Sunset winced. “Sorry. I’ll just… stop talking.”

“I, uhm, I thought he was kind of nice…” Morning said. “Are we really never seeing him again?”

True to her word, Sunset didn’t answer. Unfortunately, no one else seemed to have the answer to that either. Eventually Twilight said, “I don’t know. Forever’s a long time. He’s never been a pony we’ve seen a lot of, but we’ll probably see him sooner or later.”

In a way, Sunset envied Fluttershy. Not what had happened to her, of course, but the ability to say she was done with her father and have that be the end of it. Sunset wondered what would happen if she tried to do the same thing. She didn’t expect Twilight would support that decision, in any event.

The carriage rolled on, heading out of the ritzier side of Canterlot into somewhere they would all feel more comfortable, where they could find a restaurant and put the whole thing behind them. But Sunset’s thoughts didn’t go with them – they were back at the manor.

“I am your father, and you are my daughter.”

Yeah, right. He wasn’t a father, he never was. What did he think he was trying to pull now? Sunset was better without him.

She cast her eyes to her daughter. He was something, at least. He was a good lesson in what not to do as a parent. “Look, Morning… I’m sorry. I wish you didn’t have to see me at my worst like that, but… Well, it doesn’t matter. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.”

Morning just nodded.

Sunset forced a smile. “I guess both of us have a little to learn about controlling our temper sometimes.”

Morning looked up at Twilight. “Is Sunset going to be grounded?”

All three mares laughed. “Well, maybe.” Twilight grinned at Sunset. “She can try to make up for it by figuring out dinner plans for tonight though. That way the rest of us can all relax a little.”

“I guess that’s fair.” Sunset looked out the window and watched as they approached downtown Canterlot, where some of the best restaurants would be. Still, her mind lingered on that one moment.

“I am your father, and you are my daughter. That is all.”

Author's Note

Brass Badge has actually become one of my favorite characters. Not in terms of I think he's such a great guy or whatever, just like writing him and getting out his story is great.

14 – The Little Princess

Chapter Fourteen
The Little Princess

⠀

⠀
It was lonely in the throne room all by herself. The others were coming, but Morning had gone ahead to wait for them. She was regretting that decision.

She looked over the room, from the stained glass windows – several of which showed pictures of her new parents – to the red carpet covering the floor, to the thrones themselves.

There were two, one for Princess Celestia and one for Princess Luna. Morning walked up to them to get a better view. It was easy to tell them apart – one had a sun on top of it, the other had a moon. They looked comfortable. A much better place to wait for the others than just standing around.

They wouldn’t mind, right? Morning gingerly walked over to the Solar Throne and climbed on top of it. It was just as comfortable as it looked. She surveyed the throne room, and for a moment, she felt powerful.

But then somepony came into the room, and not one of the ponies she was waiting for. No, it was a royal guard, and he seemed to be in a hurry.

He bowed before her. “Princess, we need your help immediately.”

“What?” Morning looked around. There was no one he could be talking to except for her. “You need my help?”

“Yes, Princess.” He lifted his head and frowned. “Changelings are attacking the city. You need to know what to do.”

“But what about the princesses?”

“You are one of the princesses!”

“Oh.” That was true. Twilight had told her that.

“What are your orders, Princess?”

It was hard to tell how long Morning stared at the guard, but eventually she answered. “Uhm, we should fight them.”

“Yes, Princess.” He stood up. “We’ll ready the troops at once. Come with me.”

Morning didn’t want to go with him, she wanted to hide. But she was a princess, and that meant she had to face danger head-on. So with her head bowed, she followed the guard.

“Princess, behind you!”

Morning spun around to see a changeling lunging for her. She screamed and ran. She ran as fast and as far as she could, forgetting about the guard. She didn’t know where she was going, all she knew was that she couldn’t stop, that no matter what happened, she just couldn’t stop running.

Down this corridor. Around that corner. No, not that room, into this other one.

Morning ran.

Then she stopped. She had breached the doors of the castle and was staring at the city outside. In the streets, changelings were fighting ponies, and the ponies were losing.

This was happening because Morning had ordered this. She had told ponies to fight, and she had been wrong. She watched in horror as the changelings fought and killed the ponies, and she couldn’t do anything about it.

It was all her fault.

“Morning? It’s time to wake up, sweetie.”

Morning stirred awake and looked up to find Fluttershy smiling at her. They were on the train from Canterlot to Ponyville, and Morning was sitting between Twilight and Fluttershy. She had chosen to take a nap since they’d had to leave early to catch their train.

She regretted that choice. When she closed her eyes, she still saw Canterlot under siege from changelings.

But she wouldn’t say anything. Good fillies didn’t complain about stupid dreams. She was a big filly, too big to be afraid of things like nightmares.

Besides, it was over now. The train was pulling into the station, and soon they’d be back at the castle.

Morning frowned. She wasn’t really looking forward to being back in a castle, even if it was their castle. In a way, she almost wished she was back at Small Steps. Not that she ever wanted to go back there, not really. But at least it wasn’t a castle…

“You’re awfully quiet.” Twilight poked Morning’s shoulder. “You’re not still half asleep, are you?”

“No, I’m awake,” Morning said.

Fluttershy giggled. “Don’t listen to her. Twily never wakes up quickly.”

“Which is what makes me the expert.” Twilight stuck out her chest proudly, which got a smile out of Morning. Even if she was an alicorn, it was easy to forget that Twilight was a princess. The same went for Fluttershy and Sunset, too. That helped Morning feel better, at least a little.

The train doors opened up, and even though they were in a private room, they could hear ponies shuffling about. That was their cue to get up and gather their things.

Since Sunset had stayed back in Canterlot to do something – Morning wasn’t sure what – it was just the three of them returning. That meant they didn’t have much luggage to carry; most of what they’d brought with them to Canterlot had been Sunset’s, since she always wore clothes for whatever reason.

With limited luggage for their return trip, Twilight carried most of their bags in her magic. Morning only had to carry one small bag, which was just a few toys, stuffed animals, and a book that she had brought.

Fluttershy opened the door, and then she extended a wing over Morning. After the incident with the reporters, she always made sure to hold onto Morning when they were going into a crowd. Morning kind of liked it, since it gave her a way to hide from everypony around her.

Even so, Fluttershy leaned in to remind her, “Stay close.”

Morning nodded and pressed up against Fluttershy as they walked.

There were some ponies out and about, as was expected, but no one seemed to be there for them specifically. They were able to make their way through the town to get to the castle easily.

Twilight and Fluttershy greeted ponies along the way. Morning mostly just ignored it. Once in a while, somepony would say something to her and she’d offer a quick ‘hello’, but generally she was quiet as they walked.

At least, she was quiet until a familiar voice spoke up. “Morning! Hi, Morning!”

Morning turned to see Pumpkin Cake running up to them. She blushed a little, embarrassed to be under Fluttershy’s wing around the older filly. “Hi, Pumpkin.”

“Hey, Morning,” Pound said before his sister could speak. He walked up far more calmly and kept pace with them. “How was Canterlot?”

“It was good,” Morning said. She didn’t let on that she was glad to be back in Ponyville. She couldn’t say that after everyone had gone out of their way to be nice to her in Canterlot.

“Did you really get to meet the princesses!?” Pumpkin asked.

Morning frowned, unsure of how to answer. Thankfully, Pound answered for her. “You know her moms are princesses.”

Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, we met with the other princesses.”

“You know, you two have met them before too,” Twilight pointed out.

“Yeah, they’re so cool!” Pumpkin stood up on her hindlegs and reached her forelegs into the air. “Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are so big!”

“Yeah, they are,” Morning said. “When did you two meet them?”

“At the weddings!” Pumpkin said.

“Remember?” Fluttershy must have decided it was safe, because she pulled her wing back so that Morning wasn’t hidden under it. “Pound and Pumpkin were the token bearer and flower girl at our weddings.”

“Oh yeah.” It was a little weird to think that her friends knew her parents before she did.

Morning blinked, unsure whether she was more surprised at the fact that she’d just thought of Pound and Pumpkin as friends or that she thought of Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset as her parents.

She didn’t voice these developments, of course. Instead she just asked, “So what have you two been doing?”

“Just school,” Pumpkin grumbled. “Oh, but maybe we can do something fun now that you’re here! We could explore the castle some more, or you could come to our house, or –”

“I think we need to get settled in at home first,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “We had a long day today, and Morning might be too tired to play. Maybe tomorrow.”

“We’re glad that you want to play together though!” Twilight said brightly. “If Morning wants to play once we’re all settled in, we’ll come get you.”

“Okay. We’ll see you later, Morning!” Pumpkin said with a wave.

“Yeah, bye,” Pound said, then he and his sister ran off as Morning waved to them.

“They’re good foals,” Twilight said. Morning wasn’t sure whether the comment was meant for her or for Fluttershy.

Either way, it was Fluttershy that answered. “Yeah, they are. I’m glad you all get along.”

That one was meant for Morning, but she wasn’t sure exactly what to say, so she just nodded. That seemed to be enough though, as they didn’t press for a more wordy reply.

Before too long, the castle came into view. Morning frowned when she saw it. The first time she’d seen it, it had been full of wonder. A possibility at a new life that was beyond anything she could have hoped for. Then she grew more familiar with it, and it stopped feeling like a castle at all. It was just the place where she lived, with the nice ponies that she lived with.

Now it felt like a castle again, and not in a wondrous way. It was the place that she belonged, because she was a princess now, and princesses were supposed to live in castles.

She turned to the others. She wanted to ask them about what they had felt when they had first become princesses. She couldn’t find the words, though. She turned her eyes back to the ground.

“Home sweet home,” Twilight said. Even though she was already levitating their luggage, she still used her magic to open the door to the castle. She waited for the others to enter, then followed inside herself.

Once they were through the doors, Twilight set down the bags she was carrying and called out, “Anyone home?”

Moments later, Spike’s door opened. He stretched and yawned as he walked downstairs. “Welcome home.”

“Spike, were you asleep?” Twilight frowned. “It’s the middle of the day.”

Spike shrugged. “It was just a little nap…”

Twilight sighed, then shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

Spike grinned as he grabbed two suitcases. “Nothing, unless you don’t want dinner tonight.”

Twilight grinned back. “You’re not the only one here who cooks anymore.”

“True, but I cook the best.”

Fluttershy pouted. “Aww, I thought you liked my cooking.”

That caught Spike off guard. “Er, I didn’t mean that! Of course I like your cooking!”

Fluttershy giggled. “I know, I’m just teasing.”

“Sunset’s rubbing off on you, Fluttershy.” Spike shook his head. “I always knew she was a bad influence.”

“Yeah, on you especially.” Twilight poked Spike in the stomach. “Come on, let’s get these bags upstairs.”

Morning followed the others up the stairs, carrying her one bag. They stopped to drop most of the luggage off in her parents’ room, then Morning dropped her bag off in her own room. There wasn’t any sign of anyone else.

“Are Mom and Dad around?” Twilight asked.

“No, they went to a matinée with some friends.”

Twilight nodded. “I’m glad they’re getting out of the house.”

“How are you feeling, Morning?” Fluttershy asked. “I know you had a little nap on the train, but are you still tired? You can take a nap for a bit if you want.”

Morning was kind of tired, but she thought back to the dream she’d had on the train. She didn’t want to have another dream like that. “No, I’m not tired.”

“We’ve got a pretty boring day, I’m afraid,” Twilight said. “I have to catch up on everything I missed while we were in Canterlot, and Fluttershy has to meet with Applejack to make sure everything went well with the animals.”

“You could come with me if you want,” Fluttershy said. “We’re not actually visiting the animals, but you could come see Sweet Apple Acres.”

Morning had been to Sweet Apple Acres once before, and it had been pretty interesting. Another trip didn’t sound bad, but to be honest, Morning kind of wanted to get away from castles and princesses, no matter how much she liked spending time with those princesses.

“Uhm, maybe I could go see the Cakes?”

“You’re sure you’re not too tired for that?” Twilight asked. “You don’t want to fall asleep in the middle of playing with your friends.”

“I’m not tired!” Morning was a big filly, she could stay awake all day if she wanted to.

“Well, okay then. We can go get them and invite them to the castle.”

“No!” Morning answered quickly, then looked away when Twilight frowned at her. She kicked at the ground and thought quickly. “I, uhm, I wanted to play outside.”

“Outside? That might be hard right now.” Twilight placed a hoof on Morning’s shoulder. “Fluttershy and I have work, remember? And so do Pound and Pumpkin’s parents, I’m sure. There wouldn’t be anyone to watch you.”

“That’s okay!” Morning stood as tall as she could. “We’ll be safe.”

Fluttershy walked closer and smiled. “Such a brave filly. But Twilight and I aren’t so brave, we’d be worried sick that something might happen to you three.”

“Oh.” Morning deflated. “Okay.”

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at one another, then Fluttershy said, “Do you think maybe Spike wouldn’t mind watching them?”

“Suppose we could ask.” Twilight smiled. “Come on, Morning, let’s go find Spike.”

There was something to be said about living with so many others, at least. They didn’t have to go far to find Spike, as he was just in his room. Twilight knocked on the door and he opened with a yawn.

Twilight frowned. “Spike, you weren’t sleeping again were you?”

Spike grinned. “No, I was just thinking about going back to sleep.”

Twilight groaned and looked at Morning. “Don’t ever become a teenager.”

Spike shrugged. “Not like there’s anything going on.”

“On that note, Morning has something to ask you.”

Morning turned to Twilight. She didn’t know she’d have to ask him… Twilight just nodded encouragingly, so Morning swallowed and looked up at Spike. “Uhm, can you take me and the Cakes outside to play?”

Spike ruffled Morning’s mane. “Sure. Maybe we can go to Whitetail Woods. I don’t think you’ve been there yet.”

“I thought Fluttershy said the woods were dangerous,” Morning said.

“No, that’s the Everfree Forest,” Twilight corrected. “Whitetail Woods are safe. Well, I wouldn’t want you kids playing there alone or anything, since you could still get lost, but it’s safe if you go with a grownup.”

“Oh, okay.”

“We’ll only go for a few hours before dinner.” Spike stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. “Ready to get going?”

“Yeah!”

They said goodbye to Twilight, then left the castle with Fluttershy. She didn’t stay with them for long, though; once they got to a fork in the road, Fluttershy went one way, heading to Sweet Apple Acres, and Morning and Spike went the other way, towards Sugarcube Corner.

“Guess you’ve been cooped up while you were in Canterlot,” Spike said as they walked.

“We spent most of the time in the castle, and when we went out, we just took carriages everywhere.”

“Yeah, that’s Canterlot.” Spike stretched. “I like Ponyville, it’s nice to walk from place to place.”

“Yeah, Ponyville is much better,” Morning agreed.

They talked about Canterlot and Ponyville as they walked, which was nice. Morning felt a little more at ease around Spike, probably because he wasn’t a princess.

That’s why she wanted to spend the day with the Cakes, after all. They were just regular ponies, and they didn’t expect her to be a princess or anything. Did they even realize she was a princess? Morning hoped they didn’t.

She wasn’t about to ask them, in any event. When they walked into Sugarcube Corner, the Cake twins were sitting near the counter talking to Pinkie, who waved frantically at Morning and Spike.

The Cakes turned to see them as well, and Pumpkin ran up to them. “Hi, Morning! Hi, Spike!”

“Hello,” Morning said. “Uhm, do you want to go to Whitetail Woods with us?”

“Oh, we’re not allowed to play in the woods…” Pumpkin said.

“Let me talk to your parents,” Spike said. “Maybe they’ll let you if I’m there to watch you.”

“Okay, follow me!” Pumpkin ran into the building with Spike following behind.

Morning started to follow, but Pinkie called to her. “Yoohoo! Morning, come over here! I’ll get you something tasty to snack on.”

“You said we couldn’t have anything,” Pound Cake said with a slight frown.

“Because you already got a snack earlier, silly!” Pinkie ducked under the counter and pulled out a cupcake, which she gave to Morning. “Besides, Morning is a guest.”

“Uhm, you can have part of it,” Morning said, not wanting to get any special treatment. She broke it into pieces and gave one to Pound Cake.

“Well, sharing is important…” Pinkie tapped her hoof against her mouth in contemplation, then smiled. “I guess you can have some, but that’s it for sweet snacks today!”

The two foals happily ate the cupcake while they waited for the others to come back. Morning felt guilty when she realized they didn’t save any for Pumpkin, but by the time she returned, they had eaten all the evidence.

Pumpkin and Spike came back at the same time, though predictably, Pumpkin came back at a gallop while Spike only walked. “Mom and Dad said we can go!” Pumpkin told them.

“Aww, I wish I could go with you,” Pinkie said, though she didn’t look too disappointed. “Somepony’s gotta keep all these ponies fed though!”

“You can come next time,” Pound Cake said as he stood up.

“Here,” Pinkie pulled out another cupcake and gave it to Spike. “Share some of that with Pumpkin. She didn’t get any while these two horked one down.”

Spike laughed and broke off a piece for Pumpkin. “You got it, Pinkie.”

Even though she wasn’t that much older than Morning, Pumpkin was able to levitate the small piece of cupcake so she could eat it as they walked. Morning frowned and made a mental note to hide her own struggles with magic.

They left Sugarcube Corner, then slowly made their way out of Ponyville altogether. The three foals tried to run, but Spike reminded them not to get too far ahead, so they had to keep pace with him.

“Have you ever been to Whitetail Woods?” Pound asked as they walked.

Morning shook her head. “No. Have you?”

“Yup!” Pumpkin jumped on a fallen leaf, making it crunch under her hooves. “Every fall, we do the running of the leaves with our parents!”

“The running of the leaves?” Morning cocked her head to the side.

“It’s a local tradition,” Spike explained. “Twilight does it every year. I’m sure she’d be happy to do it with you if you want.”

“Fluttershy and Sunset don’t do it?” Morning asked.

“Sometimes they do.” Spike snickered. “I heard Twilight saying Sunset needs to get out and do stuff like that more often. She’s getting a bit chubby these days. Not that Twilight is one to talk, but you know.”

“It’s so weird that you call them by their names,” Pumpkin said. “But I guess calling them all ‘Mom’ would be confusing.”

“Yeah…” Ponies kept bringing that up, and Morning didn’t know what she thought about it. “They never asked me to call them anything else.”

“They don’t want to push anything on you,” Spike said. “It’s up to you what you want to call them, just like everyone else in the family.”

“Family is weird…” Morning frowned at the ground.

“Your family is,” Pound said. “Our family is easy.”

“Except Pinkie,” Pumpkin said. “She’s kind of like our aunt or our cousin or… I don’t really know.”

“Yeah, except Pinkie,” Pound agreed.

Spike shrugged. “Family is what you make of it. I’ve never lived with Pinkie, but she’s like family to me too, you know? Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack, Rarity… they’re all family to me now.”

“So wait, are we family then?” Pumpkin asked Spike.

Spike laughed. “Well… family is weird. Pinkie may be family to me, but I barely know her family, so I wouldn’t call them my family.”

“Ugh, this doesn’t make any sense!” Pumpkin grumbled. Morning was glad she wasn’t the only one who was confused.

Spike just laughed. “Don’t think about it too much. Family isn’t about what you think, it’s about what you feel. If you feel like someone is part of your family, there’s no reason they can’t be.”

Pound Cake looked at Pumpkin. “So does that mean I can make Pumpkin not be my sister someday?”

“Hey!” Pumpkin rammed into Pound, causing him to take a few steps back. “I’m a great sister.”

“Yeah, great at getting on my nerves,” Pound said with a laugh.

“Aww, that’s just part of what sisters do.” Spike winked at the foals. “Trust me, I know all about that.”

“Yeah, but your sister is Princess Twilight!” Pound said. “She’s probably a much cooler sister than Pumpkin is.”

Pumpkin turned up her nose. “Well, Spike’s probably a cooler brother than Poundy is.”

Spike grinned sheepishly. “Aww, I’m sure Pound Cake’s a great brother. And sometimes Twilight and I don’t get along either.”

“But we never get along!” Pumpkin said with an exaggerated eye roll.

“You two play together all the time,” Spike pointed out. “I… don’t think I’ve ever seen either of you alone.”

Pumpkin opened her mouth to reply, but she seemed to be at a loss for words. In her place, Pound chimed in with, “Yeah, but she still smells.”

Spike and Morning snickered. The twins kept bickering, but even Morning could tell it was meaningless. The two of them actually liked each other a lot, but arguing with each other was part of how they interacted.

And true to form, they bickered all the way to the woods, to the point where they both seemed surprised when Spike announced, “Well, here we are!”

“It’s so nice here!” Morning said. “It’s like the woods in Hollow Shades.”

“Did you play in the woods a lot?” Spike asked.

Morning shook her head. “We only got to when the adults took us out, and they didn’t do it too much. Fluttershy took me once, though.”

“We can go from time to time now that you’re here if you want,” Spike said. “Whitetail Woods is nearby, and there are a lot of ponies to watch you.”

“Okay,” Morning said as she ran through the trees. She knew well enough to stay close to Spike, though.

Pound and Pumpkin were quick to follow her. “I know!” Pumpkin said. “We should play tag! It’ll be fun with all the trees around.”

“Uh, okay.” Morning had never liked tag very much, but she didn’t want to disappoint her friends.

“Great!” Pumpkin said. “Not it!”

“Not it!” Pound repeated after her.

“Huh?” Morning looked at the other two in confusion, but they just laughed and ran away. She frowned and turned to Spike.

He just shrugged, though. “Guess you should chase them!”

“Uhm, not it,” Morning said. “You’re it, Spike.”

Spike laughed at that. “Long dragon legs carry me around a lot faster than little pony legs, so it wouldn’t be fair if I played. I’ll just watch. Sorry, you’re gonna have to be it.”

Morning kicked at the ground in frustration, but she saw there was nothing she could do. So she looked around and saw where the Cake twins were waiting. They had both stayed reasonably close, but they’d run off in different directions. She could only go after one.

She made her choice and ran after Pumpkin. Immediately, the older filly started running as well. Morning ran as fast as she could, Pumpkin doing the same.

It was no good. Morning just wasn’t fast enough, and the distance between them only grew. She stopped to catch her breath, then looked around. Pound and Spike had followed them, but kept their distance.

Realizing there was no point in chasing Pumpkin anymore, Morning swivelled and ran after Pound Cake. He caught on immediately, and soon he was running as well. She gave it her all, running even faster than she had when she was chasing Pumpkin.

She put everything she had into chasing the colt down, but no matter how fast she ran, he was just faster. Morning narrowed her eyes and pushed herself even harder.

She had to catch up to him. She had to reach him, had to prove she could do it. She was supposed to be a big filly, she was supposed to be good at playing with big foals, she had to do this.

But she ran too fast. Without looking where she was going, she tripped and fell, sliding right into a bush. For a moment, she just blinked in confusion, the shock of what happened overriding any other feeling.

Once her mind caught up with what had just happened, she started sniffling as she righted herself. Her head hurt, and she was all dirty. She was caught in a bush, which meant sticks were poking her, but getting out was tricky because they were tangled up in her mane and tail.

She had to untangle herself, but first she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. It proved to be a mistake, as she just got dirt in them instead. She wanted to cry harder, but she caught herself. She was with her friends, who were older kids. She didn’t want them to think she was a baby, so she took a few breaths to calm herself down.

That’s when she heard Pumpkin calling for her. “Morning? Where’d you go?”

She was going to call out, but she was afraid he’d be able to tell she was crying. Instead, she just worked on getting the sticks out of her hair so she could escape.

“She’s probably hiding to sneak up on you!” Pumpkin said. “Watch out!”

Morning blinked. They thought this was part of the game, and Pumpkin sounded close. As carefully as she could, Morning parted the branches to see what was going on outside of the bush.

As she had thought, Pumpkin was coming her way. Morning waited, biding her time as Pumpkin wandered a little closer. She gritted her teeth, hoping the branches didn’t hurt too much when they pulled her hair, and she lunged.

“Aaah!” Pumpkin jumped backwards, but not by enough. Morning crashed directly into her, the two fillies toppling towards the ground.

“Gotcha!” Morning decreed triumphantly. “You’re it!”

She expected Pumpkin to complain about being caught, or maybe to say something about how smart Morning was for hiding in the bush. She did not expect the older filly to start crying.

It started slow, with just a little sob, but before long she was crying openly. Morning quickly got off of her, but she didn’t get up. Instead, she just rolled onto her side and put her hoof on her head.

Morning wanted to do something, but she wasn’t sure what to do. She looked around, seeing that the others were running towards them. Pound Cake ran as close as Morning, where he stopped and stood next to her. Spike ran closer, kneeling down beside the filly.

“Are you okay? What happened?” Spike asked as he helped Pumpkin up.

Pumpkin just cried and moved her hoof carefully around her head.

“Did you hit your head?” Spike asked, to which Pumpkin nodded.

It was only a matter of time before they found out Morning was responsible. Then they’d all be mad at her, and the Cakes wouldn’t want to be her friend anymore, and Spike would tell Twilight and the others, and then they’d send her back to Small Steps because she was not a good filly.

She always messed things up. The first time she met the Cakes, getting into a fight at the orphanage, making Flurry cry in Canterlot… No matter what she did, Morning couldn’t stop being a bad filly.

It was too much. Morning started running, not sure where she was going. “Morning!” she heard Spike call after her, but she didn’t stop.

She ran around trees until she was sure that no one would be following her, then she dove into another bush. It had worked well the first time, and it was her best chance to hide out.

What was she going to do? She knew she had to face them eventually, but for right now… she just couldn’t. She needed time to think, she needed time to figure out what she would say to Spike, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset.

But for now, she needed to hide. It was like her dream. She closed her eyes and imagined that she had to stay still or else the changelings would get her. If she just stayed where she was, if she just managed to keep from getting caught…

“Morning?” Spike prompted from right behind her.

Morning squeezed her eyes shut tighter. Spike didn’t know where she was, he wasn’t going to find her.

But he did. He parted the bush and gently pulled her out. She squirmed and tried to get away, but he held her tightly. “You know bushes don’t normally have tails, right?”

Morning stopped resisting and let him carry her back to the others. He held her cradled in one arm, and she blushed as she approached her friends. “Why did you run?”

“Because you’re going to be mad at me,” Morning answered.

“No one’s mad at you,” Spike said. “I saw what happened. It was just an accident.”

Morning frowned as Spike set her down. Pumpkin was sitting up now, but she was still sniffling. Pound Cake was sitting beside her.

Spike pushed Morning a little closer. “But accident or not, I think you need to apologize to Pumpkin.”

Morning looked down at the ground as she talked. “I’m sorry, Pumpkin. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s okay,” Pumpkin said.

Morning wasn’t sure what to do next, so she just kept staring at the ground. Which meant it came as a surprise when Pumpkin wrapped her forelegs around her.

She looked first to Spike, who was smiling at her, then realized she was probably expected to hug Pumpkin back. She used one foreleg to hug the other filly, then asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just bumped my head.” Pumpkin pulled away from Morning and sat down again.

“Pumpkin’s head is as hard as a rock anyway,” Pound said, nudging his sister.

“Yeah right!” Pumpkin pushed him back. “If you hit your head, you wouldn’t even feel it!”

Both of the Cakes laughed, and Morning smiled. She was glad she wasn’t in trouble, but even more, she was glad her friend wasn’t too hurt.

“How about we just take a nice walk before heading back?” Spike said. “I think that’s enough playing for one day.”

The Cakes groaned, apparently not interested in taking a quiet walk, but Morning didn’t mind. She liked being out in the woods, and was happy to see more of it. Plus if they weren’t playing, she wouldn’t have to worry about meeting anyone’s expectations.

Spike led the way, and all three foals fell into step alongside him. He would occasionally pause to show them a cool tree, flower, or bug, which he said he learned a little about from Twilight. Morning wished he knew more; she’d ask him about different plants that she thought were cool, but most of the time she was lucky if he even knew their names.

Despite their earlier groans, the Cakes seemed to enjoy the walk as much as Morning did. It was a nice day, and by the time Spike said it was time to head back, Morning joined in with the groaning.

“Sorry, but we don’t want to be in the woods when it’s dark.”

“Do scary monsters come out at night?” Pumpkin asked.

Morning shivered. “Or changelings?”

Spike laughed. “No, it’s just hard to tell where you’re going and we might get lost. There aren’t any monsters or changelings in Whitetail Woods.”

“Those are in Everfree,” Pound Cake said knowingly.

“Well… there aren’t exactly monsters in Everfree,” Spike said. “And there aren’t any changelings there. But there are dangerous animals in there, so you kids should stay away. Even grown-up ponies stay out of Everfree.”

“Not Princess Twilight and her friends,” Pumpkin pointed out.

Spike scratched at his spines awkwardly. “Well, it is true we sometimes have to go into Everfree, but we make sure we’re safe when we do. Plus we have Fluttershy, and she understands all the animals and knows what to do with them.”

“That’s so cool!” Pumpkin said.

Morning wasn’t sure it was so cool. She didn’t like the idea of her parents doing anything dangerous like that. She didn’t say anything, though; she didn’t want the others to think she was a scaredy-cat.

They talked about how the Element Bearers had to go into Everfree on official business to save Equestria. Morning didn’t contribute much to the conversation, spending her time instead hoping that they’d never have to do anything like that again.

It didn’t take too long to get out of the woods, at least. Their first stop was to drop the Cakes off at Sugarcube Corner. It was closed for the night, but Spike ignored that and opened the door to bring them inside.

“Welcome back,” Mrs. Cake said as they walked in. “Oh my, you two are filthy! You’re both going to have to take a bath before dinner.”

Pound Cake groaned, but Pumpkin didn’t seem to mind. “I’ll go first!” she said, before running off into the back of the building.

“So did you have fun?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“Yeah, we played tag,” Pound said.

“There was a little accident,” Spike said, causing Morning to tense up. “Morning got a little too excited and knocked Pumpkin down, and she bumped her head.”

“Well, she seems okay now,” Mrs. Cake said with a smile. “I’ll check on her after her bath.”

Morning blinked, surprised that she wasn’t in trouble. She didn’t question it, however.

“Do you and Morning want to stay for dinner?” Mrs. Cake asked.

Spike smiled. “That sounds great, but Twilight and the others are expecting us to come home for dinner. Thank you, though.”

“Well, don’t be a stranger! You’re welcome any time, you know.”

Spike thanked Mrs. Cake again, then nudged Morning who caught on and did the same. She said goodbye to Pound Cake, then they left the sweet shop.

Along the way back, Morning kept thinking about Everfree and her parents. Spike seemed to notice, as he turned to her as they walked. “You’re awfully quiet. Something on your mind?”

Morning looked up at him, then back down to the ground. “Do… Do Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset do dangerous things a lot?”

“Not that much these days,” Spike said with a shrug. “It used to feel like there was something going on every week, but lately all our adventures have been quiet ones.”

Morning scrunched up her face. “What’s a quiet adventure?”

“You know, like adopting a foal.”

“Oh.”

They walked quietly for a little while before another question popped into Morning’s mind. “Uhm, you’re adopted too, right?”

Spike chuckled. “What gave me away?”

“So is Twilight adopted?”

“No, Twilight and Shining aren’t adopted. When I was just an egg, Twilight hatched me as part of her entrance exam into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Then I guess they didn’t really know what to do with me, because my parents – Night Light and Twilight Velvet – adopted me.”

“So you were just a baby when you got adopted,” Morning said.

“That’s right. But as far back as I can remember, that hasn’t mattered one bit. My family – our family never treated me any different for being adopted. Just like it doesn’t matter where you come from.”

“We really do have a weird family, don’t we?” Morning blushed a little. It was the first time she had called them family out loud.

“Even more than that! Fluttershy and Rainbow adopted each other as sisters when they were fillies, I don’t even know the story behind that. And then there’s Sunset and Celestia. She won’t say it, but you can tell Sunset thinks of Celestia as her mom.”

“Wait, really? I thought she had a mom.”

“She does, but her mom didn’t take very good care of her, and Celestia did. So you see, none of your parents ever cared about being related by blood. And… that’s what makes our family so great!”

Morning nodded. She was still new to family, but she thought she agreed. As long as they didn’t go run off and get themselves hurt or anything. “Okay, but they’re not allowed to go into Everfree anymore!”

Spike laughed. “I’ll be sure to let them know.”

When they reached the castle, Morning felt a little apprehensive again. It was just so big, and the ponies that lived inside were princesses.

But… they were also family. They were her moms, and they were going to take care of her. That thought made the castle just a little less daunting.

Morning followed Spike inside, ready to tell her moms about the fun day she’d had with her friends.

15 – Two Suns

Chapter Fifteen
Two Suns

⠀

⠀
It hadn’t been easy to arrange. If Raven hadn’t been on Sunset’s side, it probably wouldn’t even have been possible. But Sunset was nothing if not determined, and this was something she had set her mind to doing.

She was a little nervous, which was silly. It wasn’t a big deal. She was just going to see Celestia, someone she’d known for most of her life. She was probably one of the only ponies alive who could usually see Celestia without being nervous about it.

Still, today she was nervous. Just a little. It was an important day, and she wanted it to go perfectly. She didn’t let her nerves show, however. She was dressed up for the occasion, and she was carefully finishing up her makeup.

Sunset was wearing a nice flowing dress accentuated by a necklace and earrings, with just a light application of makeup. She had been careful to not dress too ritzy; she would be underdressed at a formal event among the Canterlot Elite, but that was what she wanted. She wasn’t going to a formal event, after all. Just an informal meeting between two ponies who had known each other for many years.

There, that should do it. Sunset grinned at her reflection. She looked stunning, as always. Confident in her appearance, she left her room and walked along the hallways towards Princess Celestia’s meeting room.

Along the way, she thought about how far she’d come. She used to make this walk regularly, always thinking about what the day’s lesson would be, or what new breakthrough she could share with her teacher. Now she was going to have tea, and they’d talk about things, and that would be enough.

Her mood was lifted slightly by the fact that every guard she saw saluted her as she walked past. Although her title was almost an honorary one, she was still the Captain of the Twilit Guard, which made her a higher ranking officer than anyone present in the castle. Even if these were Solar Guards rather than Twilit Guards and thus not under her command, they still greeted her as a superior officer.

All in all, Sunset’s ego was stroked and her mood high by the time she reached Celestia’s reception. Raven smiled at her as she came in. “Hello, Sunset. I’ll send a note to the princess that you’re here.”

“Thanks, Raven.” Sunset took a seat while the secretary sent a message with magic into the next room.

“So is your family still in town?” Raven asked.

“No, they went back to Ponyville.” Sunset glanced away. “I just stuck around for today.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“Thanks for helping set it up, by the way.”

Clearing Celestia’s schedule for the majority of the day would never have worked without Raven’s help. Sunset had put in her request in advance to get as much time with Celestia as she could, but nopony got to spend more than an hour or so with the princess, especially on a Sunday. But when Raven heard about what Sunset was trying to do, she cleared as much of the princess’s schedule as she could.

Raven just smiled and adjusted her glasses. “Don’t mention it. I was happy to help.”

The two mares exchanged pleasantries and small talk while they waited for Celestia. It didn’t take long before she opened the door with her magic and called from the room inside. “Come in, Sunset.”

Sunset stood up, gave one more nod to Raven, then walked into the room. The door closed behind her, while in front of her, Celestia smiled warmly. “Good morning, Sunset. It’s nice to see you.”

Sunset smiled as well. Celestia was reclining on a large pile of pillows, while a smaller pile lay across from her. In between the two, there was a tea set served for two. Without needing to be asked to sit, Sunset took her seat as Celestia prepared their tea.

“I was pleasantly surprised to see I had so much time with you today.” Celestia passed Sunset her cup of tea, sweetened with honey. “Careful, it’s hot.”

Sunset sipped it gingerly and smiled. “You know it was never too hot for me.”

Celestia smiled as well. “Yes, I recall. I was always afraid you’d burn yourself.”

“Like you were any better.” Sunset pointed a hoof accusatively.

Celestia chuckled. “I suppose that is a bad habit you picked up from me, hmm?”

“Yeah, I suppose it was.”

They both sipped their tea in silence. Sunset had never realized how much she enjoyed these quiet moments with Celestia. Or rather, she hadn’t properly enjoyed them as a teenager. With a different pony, it might be uncomfortable, but with Celestia, Sunset’s smile never faltered.

It was Celestia who spoke next. “Morning and the others are back in Ponyville, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“Is it hard to be away from them after just adding Morning to your family?”

“A little,” Sunset admitted. “I wonder about what they’re doing and if they made it back okay, and I’m so used to sharing the bed with someone that sleeping alone is a little weird. But I’m fine and I know they are too. Plus it’s only until tomorrow.”

“Yes, indeed. Then back to life as a mother.”

Sunset chuckled. “I’m learning that being away from Morning isn’t being away from being a mom. I can’t stop thinking about her, hoping she’s behaving herself, that she’s not giving Twilight and Fluttershy a hard time.”

“I can see how much you care about her already.”

“It happened pretty quickly, really.” Sunset smiled slightly at the memory. “Right from when I met her, it was just this instant connection. Not exactly like I knew I was going to be her mom or anything, just… there was something that told me she was different.”

“She reminds me a bit of Twilight when she was a filly. You were always more reserved and polite.”

“Yeah, what happened?” Sunset chuckled. “I think Twi struggles a bit more. Or, no, ‘struggle’ is the wrong word I think. It just… wasn’t as instant for Twilight as it was for Fluttershy and me.”

“Twilight seems quite taken with her now,” Celestia observed.

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, I think Morning grew on her. She just needed time to warm up to the idea. She didn’t want to have foals for a long time, you know?”

“I see. I wasn’t aware she felt that way. Still, I think she’ll make an excellent mother. All three of you will.”

Sunset smiled more at the praise. “Thank you, princess.”

Celestia sipped her tea. “That’s one joy I’ve never known, though I’ve always wanted it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Being a parent. I’ve lived a long life and done almost everything I’ve wanted to do at least once. But I’ve never been a parent.”

“Oh.” Sunset sipped her tea to hide her fading smile. “Really?”

“Well, as I’m sure you know, Luna and I are long past fertile age, and we were never able to have foals with normal ponies anyway.”

Sunset nodded. It wasn’t a well-known fact, but natural-born alicorns like Celestia were technically a separate species from other ponies, and there were more questions than answers when it came to how similar the two were. And as they were the last of their kind – as far as anypony knew – it would be quite impossible for either of them to mate with anyone.

And if that wasn’t enough, there was their age. As Celestia said, they had missed the mark to have children by some unknown amount of time; they were both aged even among a long-lived race.

Even so, Sunset wasn’t quite sure why that mattered. “But what about adoption? It’s not like any of us care less about Morning because she’s adopted.”

“It’s true, and I’ve thought of it many times.” Celestia sighed. “But the truth is that I’m uncertain.”

“About what?”

“Many things. But perhaps most of all… I worry I wouldn’t be terribly good at it. I am… not unaware that I can be emotionally distant. You made me aware of that more than anypony.”

Sunset frowned openly at that. “I don’t… You know I don’t blame you for how I turned out, right?”

Celestia smiled sadly. “I wish I felt the same. But the truth is I was in charge of your wellbeing and I failed you. If I can’t even raise somepony as a teacher, how would I be as a mother?”

“That’s not true though!” Sunset set down her teacup. “You were a great teacher, and if my opinion doesn’t count because of what happened, just look at Twilight.”

“I am glad you feel that way, but in truth, Twilight only flourished when I sent her to Ponyville. You, too, learned best when you were away from me.”

It wasn’t like Celestia to be so unsure of herself, and Sunset wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with it. “I was a special case. Besides, my parents screwed me up long before you were in the picture.”

“That is what I thought until I had to send Twilight away for my lessons to sink in.” Celestia smiled and shook her head a little. “I seem to be very good at teaching lessons that only take hold later in life.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself.” Sunset smiled as a thought occurred to her. “And besides, there’s a lesson both me and Twilight learned that would help you here: Sometimes you need to ask for help. If you adopt a kid and need some advice, well… you know some parents you can turn to.”

“I suppose you have a point there.” Celestia sipped her tea. “I’ll think about it, but I don’t plan on rushing into something as big as parenting. Though knowing I’d have your support does mean a lot to me.”

Sunset blushed a little. “Well, you know. I just want you to be happy.”

“I appreciate that, Sunset.”

Unsure of what to say, Sunset returned to her tea.

“Now then, I hardly think you requested this time to talk to me about me being a mother. What can I do for you?”

Sunset sipped her tea while thinking about how wrong Celestia was. But her former mentor’s words stuck in her head and gave her pause from answering with the full truth. “Honestly? I just wanted to spend the day with you.”

“Really?” Celestia cocked her head to the side. “That is unexpected.”

Sunset looked down at the floor. “Well, you see… it’s actually a holiday today. Not a pony holiday, obviously, but a human one. It’s… well, it’s sort of like Family Appreciation Day.”

Celestia’s mouth formed an O for a moment, then she smiled uncertainly. “I’m touched, Sunset. But I’m also surprised. Why would you choose to spend a day like this with me and not your family?”

Sunset felt a tug on her heart as she wondered if Celestia was really excluding herself from that category. “I’ll spend the Equestrian holidays with them, of course. But this day, it doesn’t mean anything to them. It doesn’t mean anything to anypony, just me. So… I thought since I’m already spending other holidays with them, I could spend this one with you.”

“Oh, Sunset…” Celestia’s smile grew bigger and warmer. “I’m honored. Truly, you have no idea how happy this makes me.”

Sunset smiled as well, thinking that Celestia was wrong once again. She knew exactly how happy Celestia was, because she felt the same way.

Celestia finished her tea and set the cup aside. “Did you have anything in particular you wanted to do today?”

“No, I’m okay with anything.” Sunset finished her tea as well.

Celestia nodded. “Then perhaps I could show you something special. Something I don’t often show other ponies.”

“I’d love to see it.”

Celestia stood up, so Sunset did as well. They walked into the reception room, where Celestia stopped. “Raven?”

“Yes, Princess?”

“Can you reschedule the rest of my appointments for the day?” Celestia turned to Sunset and smiled. “Something else came up, and I believe I’ll be indisposed until tomorrow.”

Raven nodded. “Of course, right away, Princess.”

Sunset couldn’t believe it. She’d never known Celestia to cancel appointments over anything. But there was no time to stand around in a stupor, Celestia was already moving on, and Sunset followed.

“Where are we going?” Sunset asked as they walked.

“You’ll see,” was the only answer Celestia gave.

Not that Sunset pressed for more. She was content to follow along and wait to see what this big surprise was. Knowing Celestia, it was something of majestic beauty, like her stained-glass windows.

They seemed to be heading towards Celestia’s solar, and that was where Sunset expected them to wind up. But they walked past that door and down the hall. Sunset frowned slightly, more out of curiosity than anything negative. Wherever they were going was somewhere very near Celestia’s private quarters, but not quite her bedroom or solar.

Instead, they came to an unassuming door, where they stopped. “Is this the place?” Sunset asked.

“It is,” Celestia said. Her horn lit up, and there was the sound of a lock undoing itself. The door itself didn’t have a keyhole, meaning magic was the only way to unlock it. That said, the lock itself sounded mechanical, not magical, so any sufficiently skilled unicorn could get into this room. It was a bizarre combination of low and high security, leaving Sunset even more confused.

Once inside, Sunset saw the room was full of clutter, though nothing seemed valuable. There were various arts and crafts projects, both stored in boxes and hanging on the wall. There was also a stairway leading up to a higher room, which Sunset suspected wouldn’t have a door of its own; no matter how many floors this room had, the door they entered from was likely the only entryway.

She walked further into the room, looking around to try and find a common theme. It looked a bit like a school art room, only it was impossible to tell the grade level. There was kindergartner level macaroni art alongside rather decent pottery and sculptures. Decent, but nothing was expert level. Like everything in the room was made by novices of different skill levels.

“Do you have any idea what this is?” Celestia asked.

“No, I don’t,” Sunset admitted. She looked closer, which was when she saw it – a scarf draped on a ponyquin. “Is… is that what I think it is?”

“That depends,” Celestia said. “If you think it’s a precious gift that was given to me a long time ago, then yes, it is indeed what you think it is.”

Sunset walked over to the scarf, which was really rather hideous. It was an unassuming red color, and it was uneven in width throughout it. A bit too short, especially for somepony as big as Celestia, because the filly who had made it had underestimated how long it would take to make, and had run out of time before Hearth’s Warming. She had been a filly who believed she could do anything because she was the best, and there was no reason that couldn’t include sewing. It had been the first gift she had ever made for somepony, the first gift she had ever wanted to give to somepony in the first place.

Sunset reached out to touch it. “I can’t believe you still have this thing.”

“Now then, my gifted student. Do you know what this room is yet?”

Sunset looked around again, and she began to notice a theme. There was a vase with a crude sun etched on it. A necklace of plastic beads the same colors as Celestia’s mane. A poor quality painting of Celestia herself raising the sun. Not everything, but many of these items looked like they were made in honor of Celestia. Or, Sunset thought, were perhaps made for her.

“Are… are these all gifts from your students?”

Celestia smiled. “Yes, they are. They’re my most prized possessions.”

Sunset looked around and could almost imagine the fillies and colts who had made these things. “But they’re all novice work. Some of your students have gone on to be amazing artists, poets, songwriters… Where are the masterpieces?”

“These are masterpieces, Sunset.” Celestia used a wing to guide Sunset over to the painting that she had noticed earlier. “Twilight painted this for me. She was twelve, and had never tried painting before.”

Sunset blinked and couldn’t help but grin. “Twilight painted that?”

Celestia nodded. “She went through an artist phase, or so her parents told me. But this was her first painting.”

“She’s… not much of a painter.”

Celestia regarded Sunset for a moment, then chuckled. “No, she isn’t. Not then, and I doubt she is now. But I cherish these things more than any master’s work. Would you like to know why?”

Celestia was usually one to make Sunset guess, but for once, it seemed like she was content to simply explain. “Why?”

“Two reasons. For one, consider yourself. You’re an esteemed inventor. You could invent something for me that I never even knew I needed, something I could never even imagine until you gave it to me. But it would never mean as much to me as that scarf. Because, Sunset, you are an inventor, it’s something you do. A painter must paint, a singer must sing, and an inventor must invent. This is not to say I don’t appreciate the paintings and songs that have been made in my honor, but when the painter tries his hoof at songwriting for one pony who inspired him to do something different? That’s something special, Sunset.”

“So… it’s because Twilight’s not a painter, and I’m not a seamstress?”

Celestia smiled. “Yes. I want all of my students to try as many things as possible, I want them to try things they may hate and then to try something else when they’re done. So every time my students try something new… that’s special to me.”

Sunset thought about that, and about Morning. Before Morning, she couldn’t have really understood. Maybe she’d realize the words had meaning, but she’d never have felt them. But now… now she knew exactly what Celestia meant. “You said there were two reasons.”

“Very astute, my gifted student.” Celestia bowed her head for a moment, then gingerly stretched out her wing to cover Sunset’s back. Sunset blushed a little at the touch. It was the most intimate gesture Celestia had ever made for her. “You are an inventor, Sunset, and I am so proud of what you have accomplished. All of Equestria knows you, or at least they know your work.”

Sunset realized the significance of her earlier assessment. This room looked like a school art room because all the creations were made by fillies and colts. “But… they don’t know me like you know me.”

“They don’t know you as the filly who once tried her hoof at sewing, and they never will. That memory of Sunset Shimmer is mine, and it’s one I don’t have to share with the rest of the world.”

Sunset didn’t know what to say. Just knowing that Celestia still had that ugly old scarf meant a lot to Sunset. To hear her speak so highly of it left Sunset speechless.

“Could I… show you some of them?”

“I’d love that, Princess.”

Celestia smiled and took back her wing, then she went through the memories in each item. Despite the large assortment of gifts, Celestia seemed to remember each and every pony who had given them to her. Many of them were hundreds of years old, some of them were only being held together by magic enchantments Celestia had put on them to preserve her memories.

There was a warmth to Celestia, as was befitting of the Solar Princess. Everypony knew that. But as she went through explaining her memories to Sunset, she radiated. Although she was far from the emotional sort, Sunset found herself almost moved to tears to see her former mentor so sentimental.

Not Celestia, though. She seemed to feel nothing but pure joy at getting to talk about all these ponies who had made an impact on her. She smiled as she explained a crude statue, and how the pony who made it went on to be a celebrated author.

It all made Sunset feel small, in a way. There were so many students, and Celestia cared about them all so much. Sunset was just one of many, a long line of pupils that had all stood in her place.

“Is it… ever hard to keep track of us all?” Sunset said with a smirk.

“No. Every student is special to me in their own way.” Celestia’s mouth curved into a smirk of her own. “It helps that I rarely take two students as close in time as you and Twilight. It’s not uncommon for fifty years to go by without me taking a personal student of my own.”

“So… why me?” Sunset asked for the first time ever. She had always taken her role with Celestia as a given, but this experience had proven humbling.

“I’m afraid you won’t find the answer to be very special.” Celestia’s smile faded as she spoke. “You were the youngest student ever at my school. I took an interest in you, and realized that you might be the brightest mind since Starswirl the Bearded. Possibly even greater than him, if you applied yourself in the right way. I wanted to help you along the path.”

Sunset sighed. “So my parents pushing me actually did get me everything I have.”

“I’m sorry it was not the answer you wanted.” Celestia reached up a hoof to spin a mobile that hung from the ceiling. “I have thought often about that. If you had been born to other parents who didn’t push you, would I have still taken note of your brilliant mind? I’d like to believe I would have, somehow, but it’s impossible to say.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, well…” Refusing to be bitter on a day like today, Sunset broke into a grin once again. “Hey, why don’t we do something? You showed me something special, now let me show you something I don’t think you’ve seen much of.”

“Oh? What’s that.”

“Canterlot.”

Celestia chuckled. “I assure you, I have seen Canterlot.”

“Yeah, from a castle. Come on, let’s go out on the town! We’ll catch a local play, eat at a hole in the wall restaurant, go places regular ponies go that a princess would never be caught dead in.”

“I think you underestimate the places my sister would be seen frequenting.”

“Yeah, well, take a cue from her once in a while! At least Luna knows what city life is really about.”

Celestia seemed to consider it for a moment, then she smiled. “Alright, sure. I’ll let you decide our itinerary for the day.”

“Great!” Sunset said, leading them out of the room. “You’re going to love this.”

The day was fun, in no small part because the endless sea of faces shocked to find themselves face to face with Princess Celestia was a constant source of amusement. Sunset tried to focus on more humble locations. They ate tacos from a cart, which allowed Sunset to see Celestia make a mess of herself; they visited a school to watch the students put on a play, where Celestia led the audience in a standing ovation; they went to an arcade because Celestia had never been to one, and they discovered she was extremely fond of skeeball despite being horrible at it.

They had fun doing the sorts of things that everyday ponies did, though they did make it back in time for Celestia to lower the sun. They did that together too, climbing up to Celestia’s balcony to watch the sun set.

“Do you remember when we used to do this?” Celestia asked.

“Every year on my birthday,” Sunset answered. “I remember. It… it meant a lot to me, actually.”

“Me as well,” Celestia said softly.

They watched as the sun made its slow descent. Sunset took a chance and scooted closer to Celestia, and she was rewarded with a wing draped around her.

“I… I must apologize, Sunset,” Celestia said.

Sunset looked up at her former mentor. “For what?”

“I have not been fair to you. Or to your wives.”

It was strange for Celestia to call them wives; usually she danced around the topic without directly addressing what they were to each other. “What do you mean?”

Celestia closed her eyes. “I… I have never liked polyamory. You’re far from the first ones I know to practice it, even Luna has from time to time, but… I’ve never understood it. For myself, I could never imagine dividing my attention between lovers. Just as I’ve never taken more than one student at a time. Where I choose to give my attention, I give it fully.”

Sunset cast her eyes down.

“But I’ve come to realize I do not need to understand it. I only need to accept that you understand it, and that’s not something I’ve done.”

“It… it’s okay.” Sunset put on a weak smile. “I never really thought you’d get it, you know? I don’t expect that of you.”

Celestia looked Sunset in the eyes for a moment, then turned away. “It… pains me to hear you say that. Mostly because I deserve it. I wish you had higher expectations of me, but mostly, I wish I deserved higher expectations from you.”

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Sunset replied quickly.

“No, I know. But I want to do better by you. By all three of you, but by you most of all. And so I’m going to speak with Luna about this, and with her help, I’m going to see what I can do to support Twilight’s legal reform.”

“What… what are you saying?”

Celestia turned back to Sunset and smiled. “I’m saying that we’re going to legalize your marriage to Twilight and Fluttershy. Things shouldn’t be this way, but alas, with my word backing legal reform, all objections to it will fade away.”

“That’s… that’s amazing!” Sunset beamed at Celestia. “Thank you so much, Princess.”

“No, this is just something I should have done long ago.”

Sunset could scarcely believe what she was doing even as she did it, but without thinking, she threw her forelegs around Celestia. It seemed to catch Celestia off guard for a moment, then she returned the hug.

Sunset pulled away after a moment. “Sorry, it’s just… wow.”

“There’s no need for apologies, my gifted student.” Celestia looked up at the sky. The sun had set, and the moon was now rising. “Luna’s moonrise looks exceptionally pretty tonight.”

Sunset was far too happy by the turn of events to focus on that, but she agreed anyway. They continued to watch as the moon rose and the stars came out, then they eventually adjourned when the mosquitoes came out and ruined the mood.

Still, Sunset felt lighter than air as she walked back into the castle. Celestia guided her as far as her room, where they stopped in the hallway.

“Today was nice, Sunset,” Celestia said. “Thank you for it. It’s a day I’ll treasure.”

“We could do it again, you know,” Sunset said. “Next year, maybe?”

“I think that would be a lovely idea.”

Sunset nodded. “Well, guess we should get to sleep. I have an early train out tomorrow.”

“And I have early Monday meetings.” Celestia smiled. “Since I probably won’t see you on the way out, have a safe trip to Ponyville, and give my best to your family.”

“Of course, Princess. Good night.”

“Good night, my gifted student.”

Sunset turned and walked away down the hall with a smile on her face. The day had been everything she had wanted from it and more.

She stopped when she heard Celestia’s door open and close. Turning back, she saw the princess was nowhere in sight. Sunset sighed contently and spoke the words she couldn’t bring herself to say to Celestia’s face. “Happy Mother’s Day.”

Author's Note

BAM, right in the feels :trollestia:

16 – Speechless

Chapter Sixteen
Speechless

⠀

⠀
Everything looked different at night. By day, the Whitetail Woods were full of chirping birds, buzzing insects, the soft sunlight filtering in through the trees, and the gentle sound of leaves underhoof.

But at night? Suddenly the world was covered in shadow, and the woods had a malevolent feeling to them. Morning could swear there were eyes on her, and everything was dead silent except for her own rapid heartbeat.

She wandered through the woods scared and alone, not daring to call out. Where were her friends? She was with Pound and Pumpkin Cake, they had wandered into the woods to play, and now…

Now they were separated. Morning didn’t know where either of them were, and then it had gotten dark, and she was getting so cold.

She heard a sound behind her and wheeled around, but nopony was there. “H-hello? Pound? Pumpkin?”

A voice snickered. “Nope.”

Morning backed up. “Wh-who are you?”

The voice came from behind her. “What’s a little filly like you doing this far into the Everfree Forest?”

Morning gasped as she spun around. Again, there was nopony there. “The Everfree Forest? No, this is Whitetail Woods!”

“Wrong again.” The voice seemed to be right over her shoulder now. “You’ve strayed too far from the path, little filly, and no one can save you now.”

“And she’s a princess too,” another voice said. “She’ll make a fine addition to the hive!”

Morning screamed and started running. She hadn’t seen them, but she just knew that those had been changelings talking. And if they captured her, they would drain her of all her love and then she’d be a changeling too!

As she ran, Morning heard more voices join in with jeers and taunts of their own. They were all laughing, telling her she was only running deeper into the forest, and that she’d be lost forever. She knew they were telling the truth, but she couldn’t do anything about it, so she ran.

“Morning Glisten,” a strong mare’s voice called out, but Morning ignored it. “Stop!”

Morning couldn’t stop, she couldn’t let those things get her. She ran and she ran, never looking back.

“Enough!”

Morning ran into something that she was sure hadn’t been there a second ago. A large shadowy figure, one she couldn’t make out fully. She screamed and covered her face, certain that she was going to be eaten.

But something else entirely happened. A soft wing covered her, and she felt warm. She opened her eyes slowly to see a silvery blue light illuminating a darker blue mare’s face. “Pri-Princess L-Luna?”

“That’s correct, little one,” the princess said. She pulled her face back, allowing Morning to see more of her surroundings. They were still in the forest, but somehow it didn’t feel so scary anymore.

“What… what are you doing here?” Morning looked down at the ground. “Did, uhm, did the other princesses send you?”

Princess Luna smiled. “Do you not realize what this is? You did not wander into the forest, Morning Glisten. You merely dreamed you did.”

“This… this is a dream?” Morning looked around, suddenly noticing how hazy everything looked, like it wasn’t really there. She had been taught that Princess Luna visited foals in their sleep to protect them from nightmares, but it had never happened to her. “So… the changelings aren’t after me?”

“No, they are not.” Princess Luna knelt down to lay on her stomach beside Morning, keeping her wing covering the much smaller filly. “Are you afraid of changelings, Morning?”

“They’re, uhm, they’re bad ponies.” Morning scrunched up her face. “Are they ponies?”

“No, they are not ponies. And truly, I don’t know if they are bad either. I know their leader is bad, and that makes them dangerous.”

“Oh.”

Princess Luna sighed. “Many ponies are afraid of changelings these days. It has been seven years since the changelings have been playing their shadow games, since before you were born. Understand that this is what they want. They do not attack fillies out in the open like you fear, because it is fear itself they are after.”

“But… why?”

“To create panic. If ponies are panicked, they are easier to control. So I ask this of you: I ask you to be brave. For if you are brave, then the changelings lose their power over you. If all of us, if every pony is brave, then the changelings have failed.”

Morning stood up. “I… I can be brave.”

Princess Luna smiled. “It is a lot to ask of a young filly. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“Yeah! I’m a brave filly!”

“I am glad to hear that. And if you find you’re not as brave as you want to be, there’s somepony who can help you. Some ponies, actually.”

“Who?”

“Your parents. Have you talked to them about your fears?”

Morning looked away. “I… no…”

“How come? They care deeply about you, little one.”

“Because…” Morning shook her head. “I can’t tell you.”

“And why is that?” Princess Luna smiled. “I promise I am very good with secrets. I wouldn’t even tell your parents if you don’t wish me to.”

“Because… because you’re a princess.”

“Ah.” Luna nodded as if she instantly understood. “And you can’t tell your parents because they are also princesses?”

“No, I can’t tell them because…” Morning shook her head instead of finishing. She couldn’t tell Princess Luna about that. She couldn’t admit that she thought they might send her back. Not to another princess.

“Morning, I am here for you, but you need to let me in.” Luna stroked Morning’s mane with her hoof. “I just want to help you.”

Morning took a deep breath. “Were you, uhm, were you always a princess?”

“No, I was not.” Princess Luna leaned in and smiled. “I think I know what’s on your mind. You’ve come to learn that once the adoption is finalized, you’ll be a princess.”

Morning didn’t say anything.

“Do you know that two of your parents had the same worries? Both Twilight and Fluttershy struggled with becoming princesses.” Princess Luna chuckled. “Sunset was the exception.”

“But… they’re so good at it!”

“They are. And so is Cadance, although I’m told she also had doubts when she was crowned, though I was not here for that.” Luna tapped her chin for a moment. “I talked most with Fluttershy about it. She had so many doubts. She felt like she was nopony special, and that she could never live up to Twilight as a princess. Does that sound familiar?”

“Yes.” Morning couldn’t imagine Fluttershy ever feeling that way. Couldn’t imagine Fluttershy ever feeling like she did.

“Talk to her, Morning Glisten. They’ll all understand, but in this, perhaps Fluttershy will know the best of what you feel. She can help you talk with the others as well.”

“I… I’ll try.”

“Good.” Princess Luna stood up, reminding Morning of exactly how big she was. “And Morning? Even if you are a princess, the changelings are not your responsibility. They never will be. Do not concern yourselves with them, for my sister and I shall take care of that problem ourselves.”

“Oh. Are you going to fight them?”

“If I need to, then I will. But we will see what actions need to be taken when the time comes.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“Your dream is coming to an end, I can feel you waking. As I promised, I will not talk to your parents about what we discussed.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

Princess Luna smiled. “Please, you may call me Luna. You are Fluttershy’s daughter, and for that, you are very precious to me as well. If you need me, you can always reach out to me. But for now, face the day ahead of you.”

“Okay. Thank you, uhm, Luna.”

Luna nodded approvingly. “Goodbye, Morning Glisten.”

Everything felt easier in the daylight. All the fears of the night were gone when the sun was shining. Morning was waiting at the train station with Twilight and Fluttershy, watching a train pull up. Sunset would be on it, returning from Canterlot to Ponyville, and they had gone to the station to meet her.

The train slid to a stop and the doors opened. Morning craned her neck to try and see, which Twilight noticed. “Want a lift?” she asked with a giggle.

The alicorn bent down to let Morning climb onto her back, so the little filly did so. Twilight was taller than most ponies, so Morning got a good look over the crowd to watch as everypony left the train.

She used a hoof to block the sun from her eyes while she scanned the crowd. Before too long she saw a flash of yellow and red, so she pointed excitedly. “I see her! There she is!”

“Where?” Fluttershy said. “No fair, I’m too short.”

Morning laughed. “Maybe Fluttershy should be up on your shoulders too.”

“I don’t know if I’m strong enough to pick up both of you,” Twilight said. “I don’t think Sunset sees us. You should call out to her.”

“Sunset!” Morning used one hoof to wave to her. “We’re over here!”

Sunset saw them and smiled, then walked over towards them. “Well if it isn’t my three favorite girls.”

“Hi, Sunset,” Fluttershy said. “How was the trip?”

“It was good. I have a lot to tell you about, but let’s get out of the way first.”

“Should we head back to the castle?” Twilight asked.

“Nah, we need to celebrate.” Sunset grinned. “How about ice cream?”

“Ice cream!” Morning cheered.

“Sunset, it’s the middle of the day,” Twilight pointed out.

Fluttershy giggled. “Well, we did already have lunch… I wouldn’t mind some ice cream.”

Twilight sighed. “Fine, but if Morning spoils her appetite for dinner, it’s your fault.”

Sunset laughed. “I’m sure she’ll be hungry for dinner. Right, kiddo?”

Morning nodded. “Right!”

The three mares started walking without taking Morning off of Twilight’s shoulders, so she enjoyed the view on the ride to the ice cream parlor. While they walked, Sunset told them about the train ride, which was pretty boring, but Morning half-listened anyway because it was nice to hear Sunset talk.

Once they reached the ice cream parlor, Twilight levitated Morning off of her. It was a little weird to be levitated, but also kind of fun. She made a mental note to ask Twilight or Sunset to do it another time.

“Welcome to – Well, if it isn’t my favorite customers!” a cheerful mare said.

“Hi, Cherry Topped,” Twilight said.

“Take a seat anywhere you want, and I’ll be right with you.”

Sunset led them to a booth away from other ponies, using an empty booth next to them to house her luggage. Twilight frowned at that, but she didn’t say anything. Since she’d been gone, Morning chose to sit next to Sunset, with Twilight and Fluttershy sitting on the other side.

“Here.” Sunset levitated over one of her bags and set on it the seat, so Morning climbed on top of it. It was a little lumpy, but it was soft, kind of like a bean bag chair. Besides, she could actually see across the table that way.

“Do you know everyone in Ponyville?” Morning asked once they were all sitting down.

“Not everyone, no,” Twilight said with a laugh. “Pinkie Pie knows everyone in Ponyville, we just know a lot of ponies.”

“She is the Princess of Friendship,” Sunset said, as if Morning ever really forgot about that.

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Now then, what do we all want?” Fluttershy asked.

Morning looked over a menu, which Sunset helped her with. She tried to get the biggest sundae they had, but Sunset said she couldn’t, so she got a smaller strawberry sundae instead.

Cherry Topped came around before too long, and Twilight apologized for the luggage before she could even say anything. “Oh, don’t worry about it. Not many ponies are around this early anyway. Now, what’ll it be?”

“I’ll have a banana split,” Fluttershy said.

“I think I want peanut butter,” Twilight said.

“And I’ll get orange and vanilla,” Sunset said. “Morning will have –”

“I wanna do it!” Morning said.

Sunset grinned. “Alright, go ahead.”

Morning turned to look up at the pony, who smiled at her. “What’ll it be for the little princess?”

“Uhm…” Morning pointed at the picture of what she wanted. “That.”

“One strawberry sundae, got it.” She wrote everything down, then tucked the notepad into a pocket on her shirt. “I’ll be right back with all of that!”

“Thank you!” Twilight said. The others echoed her, so Morning did as well.

“So then, what’s this big news?” Fluttershy asked once she walked off.

“Well, you know I spent yesterday with Celestia,” Sunset said, which Morning hadn’t known.

“Oh!” Twilight beamed. “Did you actually tell her what day it was?”

“No, I… kind of lost my nerve,” Sunset said. “But it’s fine, we had a really nice day together.”

“I’m glad it went well,” Fluttershy said brightly.

“I haven’t told you the good news yet though.” Sunset grinned and leaned forward. “She’s going to back our marriage! She’s gonna talk about it with Luna and legitimize polyamorous marriages!”

Both Twilight and Fluttershy went wide-eyed. Twilight recovered first and said, “That’s amazing! I can’t believe you got her to change her mind!”

“I wasn’t even trying,” Sunset said. “She said… that she wanted to be there for us more.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I think she knows what yesterday was really about, even if she doesn’t realize it.”

“Uhm…” Morning looked around to the others. “What does that mean? Leg… legalize polamrus marriages?”

For some reason, all three adults laughed. “Polyamorous,” Sunset said. “That’s what it’s called when three or more ponies are in a relationship. Like us.”

“Oh…” Morning remembered Sunset explaining that when they first met. “Does that mean you were illegal before?”

“No,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “It just means that, well…”

“That I wasn’t officially Twilight and Fluttershy’s wife,” Sunset explained. “Twilight and Fluttershy were legally married, and then I got married to them, but it wasn’t a legal marriage.”

“Not that it was illegal, exactly,” Twilight explained. “Just that as far as it counted officially, Sunset was just our marefriend, not our wife.”

Morning was still confused. “What’s the difference?”

“To us, nothing,” Fluttershy said. She reached across the table for Sunset’s hoof. “Nothing is changing in how we do things or how we feel about each other. But it’ll mean that everypony else will see Sunset as an equal part of our relationship.”

“So it’s good news,” Twilight said. “And it’s good for other ponies like us.”

“There are other ponies like you?” Morning asked. “I never knew ponies did that, uhm, polyam…”

“You can just say poly,” Sunset said.

“Oh. Well, I never knew other ponies were in poly relationships.”

“Luna’s been in them before,” Fluttershy said. “Though she’s not right now.”

Morning glanced down at the table. She hadn’t told them about meeting Luna in her dreams yet.

“And there are other ponies,” Twilight said. “If you want, we can show you letters and pictures ponies have sent to us. Then you can see for yourself that there are other ponies like us.”

“Okay.” Morning wasn’t sure why it mattered, but she got the feeling Twilight wanted to show her, so she decided to just go with it.

It was strange to think that they hadn’t really been married before, though. Morning remembered when she first met Sunset, she had told her that she wasn’t a real princess. But… then Morning got to know them, and they were the same as any other lovey-dovey adult ponies, just with three of them instead of two. She didn’t understand why it would matter.

But if they were married even when the law said they weren’t, did things like that matter? Maybe it was just like Spike said, that family was about what you feel for other ponies.

Everything was so complicated. Morning always thought it would be simple; she thought two ponies would adopt her, and then she’d have a mother and a father. But now she had three mothers and no father, and a bunch of other family members she didn’t really understand, and apparently she could be family with anyone she wanted to be family with?

“Here we are!” Cherry Topped announced, shaking Morning from her thoughts. She set four bowls of ice cream on the counter, one for each pony. “Enjoy!”

That was better anyway. Family was complicated, but ice cream was easy. Morning licked her lips and grabbed her spoon.

“Why don’t you show Sunset what we practiced today?” Twilight asked.

Morning frowned. “Do I have to?”

Twilight frowned as well. “Well, no, not right now if you don’t want to. I just thought you might want to show them what you’re learning.”

Morning sighed and set down her spoon. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, just like Twilight had shown her. She felt her magic moving to her horn, and she opened her eyes. She pushed the magic out towards the spoon, and it shook in place a little, before lifting off the table a bit.

She got it about a foot off the table, then lost her grip on it. The spoon fell to the table, clanging against it. She barely heard that over the sound of Sunset and Fluttershy clapping, however.

“Good job!” Fluttershy said.

“Yeah, that was really good!” Sunset added.

Morning looked up at Sunset. She didn’t even seem to notice she had her own spoon levitated beside her; it was such a natural thing for her that she didn’t even realize she was doing it. Not to mention she could levitate all her luggage without even noticing, and Morning could barely lift a spoon.

“I’m not very good…” Morning said.

“That’s okay,” Twilight said quickly. “That’s why we’re practicing! You’ll get better.”

“With Twilight teaching you, I know you’ll get it,” Fluttershy said.

Morning nodded and returned to her ice cream, but she couldn’t help but feel this was another way she’d never live up to her new parents.

It had been a good day. After ice cream, they dropped off Sunset’s luggage at the castle, then they took a stroll through Ponyville together. Morning was getting more used to everyone knowing who they were, and they were getting a little more confident in letting her walk around outside of Fluttershy’s wing.

They went back to the castle, and Morning read comics with Spike until dinner, then they had a nice meal. Morning ate a lot to prove that she could have ice cream before dinner, and wound up tiring herself out by the time dinner was over.

She went into the sitting room to listen to Twilight Velvet telling stories, and she had just wanted to lay against Night Light and rest her eyes while she listened. The next thing she knew, she was being carried away.

She fully came to as she was being tucked into her bed. “Huh?”

“Shh, you fell asleep,” Twilight said softly. “It’s been a big day and you didn’t have a nap, so why not lay your head down and get some sleep?”

“Oh. Okay.” Morning lay down and closed her eyes. “Uhm, will you read me a bedtime story?”

“Another one?” Twilight said jokingly. “Well, I guess. How about the one about the brave knight who broke the curse of the silent ponies?”

“That’s a good one,” Morning said.

Twilight pulled the book off the shelf, and then she started reading. It was a story about a village that was cursed by an evil unicorn, where no one could speak. Since they couldn’t talk, they couldn’t ask anyone for help.

Until one day, a knight showed up. She was brave and strong, and she soon realized something wasn’t right. So a local colt took her deep into the woods where the evil unicorn had her castle.

Like any proper evil castle, it was tall, black, and pointy. Morning gulped as she looked up at it. But one look at the local colt who had brought her here and she knew she had to do this. She couldn’t leave those poor ponies unable to speak, no matter what it took.

“I’ll be fine,” she said to the colt. “You should head back to your village now.”

He nodded and ran off, leaving Morning alone. She took a deep breath, then walked into the castle.

It was dark, mostly lit by torches on the walls. She saw eyes overhead, but told herself they were just bats and they wouldn’t hurt her. She tried to quiet her heartbeat as she walked deeper, into the heart of the castle.

All along the way, there was only the sound of her clinking armor, the crackling fire from the torches, and the clip clop of her hooves against the stone floor. She kept her muscles tense, ready for a fight if one should appear.

Eventually she reached an ornate door, and she knew it was what she’d been looking for. This was it; through this door, she would find the evil unicorn that had done this.

She pushed it open.

Inside it was dark, but she walked in anyway. There were no torches lighting the room, and as she walked in, the door slammed behind her.

She was left in the dark, unable to see. Then she heard cackling, and a light exploded from a cauldron. The evil unicorn was there, looking down on her. “I see another fool has come to give me her voice then! What’s your name, little one?”

“I’m Morning Glisten!” Morning said defiantly. “And I’m not little, I’m a big knight pony!”

“Oh really?” The witch stepped forward, the light from her cauldron casting long shadows over the room. “And here I thought you were just a little princess pony.”

“No, I’m not! I…” Morning realized she wasn’t wearing a suit of armor, she was wearing a pretty dress. “I… I’m not…”

“Oh yes, and you know what happens to little princesses when they wander into deep dark evil lairs?”

Morning backed up, but bumped into the wall.

“They get captured!” The witch stepped closer, cackling the whole way. “I’ll throw you in the dungeon, and you’ll never speak again!”

Morning tried to scream, but she couldn’t. Her voice was already gone, the witch had taken it.

The witch just cackled evilly.

“No!” Morning bolted upright and looked around. It was dark, but not as dark as her dream had been. She was in her bedroom, and her night light illuminated everything in a soft glow.

She climbed off her bed, hoping nothing would grab her from underneath it, and she made her way out of the room. She walked down the hallway, not daring to look into any of the open doors for fear that a witch would be waiting on the other side.

She only stopped when she came to a door that was only partly open. She knocked on the door and it opened at her touch.

“Morning?” Fluttershy said. She was lying on the bed in a bathrobe. Sunset was beside her with a book, though Twilight wasn’t anywhere in sight.

“I, uhm…” Morning felt like the witch still had her voice. “Can… can I sleep with you tonight?”

“Of course, sweetie.” Fluttershy hopped off the bed and guided Morning to it. Along the way, she shook off the bathrobe she’d been wearing. Her mane still looked a little wet, but her forelegs were dry as she helped Morning onto the bed.

“Twilight?” Sunset called.

“Coming!” Twilight said from the next room. It was her office, and Morning had only been in it once. There wasn’t anything interesting in there, but it was where Twilight spent a lot of her time.

“So since Morning went to bed early…” Twilight said as she walked into the room. “What do you say we – oh! Morning, you’re here!”

For some reason, Twilight was blushing as she gave Morning a sheepish look.

“Morning will be sleeping with us tonight,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh, okay.” Twilight climbed into bed with them. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Morning thought about what Luna had said. She should tell them about what she was afraid of.

But… but she didn’t want to disappoint them. They all expected her to be a princess like them, and she couldn’t let them down. Maybe they wouldn’t really send her back over something like that, but she still wanted them to be proud of her.

“I dreamt about changelings…”

“Oh, honey…” Fluttershy brushed a hoof through her mane.

“Changelings aren’t going to hurt you,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Believe me, I can mess up a changeling.”

“What Sunset means is,” Twilight said, “if a changeling ever did try to hurt you, we’d protect you. But that won’t happen, because changelings aren’t going to get anywhere near you.”

“They’re scary…”

“I know,” Fluttershy said. “They scare me too. But I just remind myself that there are a lot of ponies who are looking out for us and keeping us safe.”

Morning nodded. “Like Luna?”

The others looked at each other. “Yes,” Fluttershy said. “Like Luna.”

“Where’d that come from?” Twilight asked.

“I, uhm… Luna told me. In a dream.”

“Oh.” Twilight used her magic to lift the covers of the bed, and she took a spot on the end. “I’m glad Luna was able to help you in your dream.”

“Luna’s helped me in my dreams a lot,” Fluttershy said as she took a spot beside Twilight. Morning climbed in beside her, then Sunset on the other end.

“Was there anything else in your dream?” Sunset asked. “Or just scared of changelings?”

“Well, uhm…” Morning frowned. “It was in the castle, in the Everfree Forest.”

“There is a castle in the forest,” Twilight said. “But it’s not a bad place. It’s a little creepy, but maybe when you’re older we can take you there to show you there’s nothing to worry about.”

Morning wasn’t sure she wanted to go to a creepy castle in the forest, so she didn’t say anything.

“Only when you’re older and if you want to go, though,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t want to make the nightmares worse…”

“Yeah, but it could show her that there are no monsters in the castle,” Twilight said.

“I don’t think the castle is the problem,” Sunset pointed out.

“Oh, right,” Twilight said. “Fair enough.”

Morning thought for a moment, then asked, “Are, uhm… are there any good changelings?”

Everyone was quiet at first, then Twilight answered. “I don’t know. There’s so much we don’t understand about them.”

“Luna said… that their leader was bad.”

“That’s right,” Twilight said. “And sometimes when someone has a bad leader, they have to do bad things even if they don’t want to. I don’t know if the changelings are all bad, and as long as Chrysalis is leading them, we may never find out the answer to that.”

A bad leader… What if when she was older, Morning was a bad leader and she made good ponies do bad things?

“What matters is that we’re safe from changelings,” Fluttershy said.

“And that I could beat one up,” Sunset said with a grin.

Fluttershy giggled. “Yes, we’re extra safe because Sunset could beat them up.”

That did make Morning feel a little better. “Okay.”

Both Fluttershy and Sunset rested a foreleg on Morning, surrounding her and making her feel protected. That also made her think of something else she wanted to ask them, but those words were hard to say too…

“Uhm…”

“Is there something else on your mind?” Fluttershy asked.

She wasn’t sure how to say it, but she knew she couldn’t keep avoiding it. “What… what do I call you three?”

They were quiet at first, then Sunset asked, “What do you mean?”

“Well, uhm, I know I can’t call you all ‘mom’, that’d be confusing…”

Twilight sat up so she could look over Fluttershy. “Do… you want to call us ‘mom’?”

“Well, uhm, I d-don’t know…” Morning squeezed her eyes shut. “Is… that okay?”

“Oh, Morning.” Fluttershy nuzzled against her. “Of course it’s okay!”

“I guess we could all be different titles,” Sunset said. “That’s what, uhm, we were going to do for Sky.”

“I think, if it’s okay, I’d like to be ‘Mama’,” Fluttershy said. “That’s what I called my mom.”

“Okay,” Twilight said. “One of us can just be ‘Mom’.”

“You can be ‘Mom’, Twi,” Sunset said. “That’s what you called your mom too, right?”

“Yeah, but I don’t mind either way.”

Sunset shrugged. “Well, I called my mom ‘ma’am’ and I do not want you to call me that. I guess I could be ‘Mommy’.”

Morning blushed. “That’s a baby word… that’s embarrassing.”

Sunset laughed. “Hey, your mommy could beat up anyone who teases you.”

“Sunset,” Twilight said.

That made Sunset laugh more. “Okay, fine. What about ‘Ma’? I’m an honorary Apple anyway, might as well go all country with it.”

“I guess that’d be okay,” Morning said. “So… Mama, Mom, and Ma.”

“And you’ll be our little Mo Glow,” Sunset said.

Morning frowned. “But that’s not my name!”

Fluttershy giggled. “But it’s so cute!”

“Besides, aren’t moms supposed to give their kids embarrassing nicknames?” Sunset asked.

“My mom called me Twily,” Twilight said. “Everyone in my family does.”

“I guess Mo Glow isn’t that bad…” Morning let out a yawn.

Fluttershy nuzzled her again. “I think someone is getting pretty sleepy.”

“Maybe a little,” Morning said. “Good night… Mama.”

“Good night, Mo Glow.”

Sunset kissed her forehead. “Good night, kiddo.”

“Good night, Ma.”

“Good night, Morning,” Twilight said.

Morning yawned again. “Good night, Mom.”

She smiled to herself as she let sleep take her. It had been hard, but she’d found her voice about one thing, and she felt much better. Maybe soon she’d find out how to talk about other things that were bothering her.

But for now, she was going to sleep and she knew she wouldn’t have any bad dreams when she did. She had her moms to protect her, and everything would be okay as long as she had them.

~ End Act II ~

Author's Note

Luna's apparence was unplanned until I realized I keep giving Morning nightmares so I really ought to show her meeting Luna at some point lol

Here's some end of act music :raritywink:

17 – School Blues

Act III

The Bonds of Family

⠀

Chapter Seventeen
School Blues

⠀

⠀
“And you remembered your lunch box?”

“Yes, Mom,” Morning said in an annoyed tone.

Even if she was annoyed as she said it, hearing Morning call her mom made Twilight’s heart flutter. It had been three months since Morning had started calling her mom, and the spell hadn’t worn off yet.

She smiled at her daughter as they approached the schoolhouse. “I just want to make sure you’re going to be okay.”

“I’ll be fine,” Morning insisted. “I’ve been to school before.”

“But not since you’ve come to Ponyville!” Twilight said. She put a hoof on Morning’s shoulder. “This is my first time…”

Morning sighed and gave Twilight a hug. “It’ll be okay, Mom.”

Twilight hugged her back. “You’re right.”

The hug went on a little longer than Morning was okay with, apparently, because she pulled away and said, “Ponies are staring…”

Twilight yielded, letting go and opening the door to the school building. There were a lot of foals inside, as well as a few other parents.

“Morning! Over here!”

Twilight and Morning looked towards the voice to see Pumpkin Cake frantically waving to them. Pound Cake was sitting beside her, smiling and waving with less enthusiasm than his sister.

“Can I go see my friends?” Morning asked as she waved back.

“In a minute,” Twilight said. “First let’s go say hi to Miss Cheerilee.”

The teacher was talking to another parent when they walked up, so they patiently waited their turn. It didn’t take long; Cheerilee noticed Twilight waiting and waved her over. “Don’t be a stranger! It’s nice to see you two again.”

“Hello, Miss Cheerilee,” Twilight said.

“Uhm, hi,” Morning said more quietly.

“Hi, Twilight. Hello, Morning.” Cheerilee smiled at Morning in particular. “Excited to start school here in Ponyville?”

“Uhm, I guess…” Morning glanced back at her friends. “Can I go see my friends now?”

“Why don’t you go find a seat near them?” Cheerilee said. “I’ll make sure your mom is going to be okay without you.”

Morning didn’t waste any time in running off to sit with the Cakes. Twilight was glad she was excited to be with her friends, but she did wish they had a chance to say goodbye before she ran off.

Cheerilee turned to Twilight with a knowing smile. “It gets easier.”

All three of Morning’s moms had taken their daughter to the open house before the school year, where Morning and Cheerilee had met for the first time. In that one short meeting, Cheerilee seemed to have picked up that Twilight was the one taking Morning going to school the hardest.

“I hope so… I know she’ll be in good hooves, and she has friends here already, I just…” Twilight sighed. “I don’t know. I can’t help but worry.”

“It’s normal to be worried,” Cheerilee said. “But you’ll see when you come to pick her up today, she’ll have stories of having fun with her friends.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

A nearby stallion chuckled. “I remember my first time.” He extended his hoof to bump Twilight’s. “I’m Stiff Neck, and my daughter Gusty is a student here. It was hard at first, but she made some good friends and we learned how good Cheerilee is as a teacher, and before you know it I wasn’t worried about her being at school anymore.”

He pointed to a mint-green pegasus filly, who was too busy chatting with two other fillies to notice them. They all seemed happy to be back in class together, and they were around Morning’s age.

“Maybe Morning and her friends can become friends with them too,” Twilight said.

Stiff Neck laughed. “Well, she is the Princess of Friendship’s daughter. I’m sure they’ll get along great.”

Twilight forced a chuckle, but she wasn’t so sure. Morning had already come a long way in learning about friendship thanks to the Cakes, but she still had bouts of anger issues and she was shy around new ponies.

‘No, they look like nice fillies,’ Twilight reminded herself. ‘And Morning is getting better about behaving herself. Nothing bad is going to happen!’

“So how long did it take before you got used to leaving Gusty alone at school?” Twilight was eager to get used to it, she’d been up all night worrying.

“Eh, give it a few weeks.” Stiff shrugged. “Of course it was a little easier for us. Gusty has a cousin the same age as her, and they started school together.”

Twilight nodded. “Morning has a few friends here already. It’s nice to know that she won’t be surrounded by strangers.”

“It’s good for them to have someone who will help look out for them. Well, I guess I’ll go say goodbye to Gusty and head out.” Stiff Neck winked at Twilight. “This is the best part, ‘cause you get to embarrass them in front of their friends.”

Twilight grinned. She didn’t actually want to embarrass Morning at all, but she had to admit that she was sympathetic to the point of view. “I’ll keep that in mind. It was nice meeting you!”

“You too, Princess.” Stiff Neck bowed his head, then walked off to see his daughter.

“He seems nice,” Twilight said to Cheerilee.

“Oh yes, he is. Gusty’s a good kid, too.” Cheerilee smiled. “I know you’re nervous, but everything will be fine. You’ve visited the school before, so you know the foals are happy here.”

“I know, I know.” Twilight sighed. “I don’t even know what I’m so nervous about.”

Cheerilee put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “It’s something a lot of parents feel. And you three just became parents not that long ago, so I’m sure it feels like things are moving very fast right now.”

Twilight smiled. “It does. But… this is good. Morning will get to spend some time with ponies her own age, make some new friends, and I know she’s got a great teacher.”

Cheerilee chuckled. “Well, I can’t disagree there! Maybe you’d feel better if you went and said hi to her friends.”

Twilight was pretty sure she understood what Cheerille really wanted – it was time for Twilight to say goodbye to Morning. “Alright. I’ll see you later, Cheerilee.”

She left the teacher to greet another parent and made her way over to Morning instead. It seemed that Pumpkin was excitedly telling her about the school and what she could expect.

“But the best thing is recess! We can play together outside then!”

“Hey, kids,” Twilight said as she walked up to them. “Getting Morning acquainted with school?”

“Yes, Mrs. Twilight,” Pound Cake said.

“It’s Princess Twilight!” Pumpkin said.

“But Mom and Dad said to call our friends’ parents Mr and Mrs…”

Twilight giggled. “It’s fine, you two can call me whatever you want.” She turned to Morning. “It’s time for me to go. I’ll be back to pick you up this afternoon, though.”

Morning nodded. “Okay. Bye, Mom.”

Twilight wanted to ask for a hug goodbye, but she didn’t want to embarrass her daughter in front of her friends. “Bye, sweetie. Have a good day!”

“I will.”

Twilight had to pry herself away from Morning. One hoofstep at a time, she moved herself out of the schoolhouse.

Once she was alone, she let out a sigh. She looked back towards the schoolhouse, then started to wander home with her head hung low.

It wasn’t like Twilight had never been away from her daughter. She’d gone on a business trip a month prior, but at least then she knew that Morning was at home with Sunset and Fluttershy. At least then she wasn’t in a classroom full of kids she didn’t know.

All alone, when Twilight knew very well kids could be cruel…

“Hey, you’re the foal whose own parents didn’t want her!” they’d say.

“No!” Morning would insist. “My moms did want me, that’s why they adopted me!”

But the kids would just laugh at her. “No, your real parents! I bet you don’t even know who they are, do you?”

Then Morning would come back home with all these thoughts bouncing around her head, and she’d decide, “I don’t want to live in Ponyville! I want to find my real parents and live with them!”

And what could they do? They’d have no choice but to help find her birth parents, even though that could only go poorly. And then she’d go back to ponies who probably didn’t deserve her, and they’d never get to see her again, and…

And Twilight needed to get her act together. She picked her head up and started walking home, reminding herself that Morning wouldn’t want to leave them to go back to her birth parents. Probably. Almost definitely, even!

Although… was it normal that Morning had never asked about them? The orphanage had said she was surrendered as a baby by a mare who had refused to give them any information about herself or the father. Even if Morning wanted to know about them, no one had the answers. But Twilight had the resources to find them, or at least to put forth a strong attempt at it. Would Morning want that?

Part of Twilight felt like she should talk to her daughter about that, but… but a much bigger part of her never wanted to broach that topic. Maybe it was okay for Morning to never talk about her birth parents. Maybe it was even for the best. If it never came up, then they could just be a happy family!

Or, wait, was that just Twilight’s fears talking? Maybe she should ask her wives about it.

“So,” Twilight would ask them, “do you think we should try to find Morning’s real family?”

“What?” Sunset would ask. “Why the heck would we do that?”

“Well, I was just thinking she might want to know…”

“Twilight,” Fluttershy would say with a frown. “Morning is our daughter, nopony else’s. It doesn’t matter who her birth parents are.”

“Yeah, I know, but –”

Sunset would cut her off with a sigh. “Twi, it’s been five months since we started this whole thing. Why don’t you love her like we do yet?”

“What!?” Twilight would be taken aback that Sunset would even ask her that. “I didn’t say that!”

“You, uhm, you don’t have to,” Fluttershy would say. “We can tell. But, uhm, you could at least keep pretending to be a good pony instead of trying to get rid of her.”

“I wasn’t trying to get rid of her!” Twilight would insist, now brought to tears. “I do love her! I really do, I don’t want her to go at all!”

Fluttershy and Sunset would look at each other and frown at her. “Not like we do,” they’d say. “You’ll never love her like we do.”

On second thought, maybe Twilight wouldn’t bring it up with them.

She tried to keep her thoughts more in check as she walked through Ponyville, to mixed results. She managed to keep them from running away quite to that extent, but she was still a mass of anxiety as she walked the peaceful town’s roads.

So much so that she didn’t notice when a couple of stallions walked up to her until one of them tapped her on the shoulder. “Aaah!”

The stallion recoiled. “Oh, sorry! Didn’t mean to sneak up on you!”

Twilight quickly adopted a smile. “Oh, it’s no problem! I guess I was just lost in thought.”

The two stallions looked at each other for a moment and grinned. There was a blue one, who had been the one to speak before, and a green one. The blue one laughed awkwardly and said, “Oh, I know the feeling.”

“So, er, what can I do for you?”

The blue stallion blushed and looked down at his hooves so the green one spoke. “It’s a little embarrassing to admit. The thing is, well, when you and Princess Fluttershy first came out, you inspired me to do the same thing. I asked out my crush, and well, now he’s my husband, and now…”

“Now here we are,” the blue stallion finished for him. “We’re travelling, you see, and we were hoping we might run into you while we were in Ponyville.”

Twilight smiled warmly. That was just what she needed to get her mind off of things. “I’m so happy we were able to inspire you two. And congratulations on getting married!”

“Oh, congratulations to you too, Princess,” the green stallion said. “We were happy to hear about your marriage to Princess Sunset. We’ve followed you three in the news for some time, you know, and it’s meant so much to us to watch you break down those barriers.”

Twilight hadn’t exactly been trying to break down barriers with her love life, but she supposed she could see why ponies would view them that way. “I’m just happy to be able to spend my life with the ponies I love.”

“So modest too,” the green stallion said. “We always joke around about what traditions you three will shatter next.”

“Well, Princess Morning, of course,” the blue stallion said. “Adopting a foal into a polyamorous marriage is a pretty clear sign that nothing will stand in the way of love ever again.”

Twilight forced a small laugh, although she wasn’t really happy with Morning being talked about as if she was some political pawn. “To tell you the truth, we don’t really think of it that way. We just decided we were ready to adopt a foal, so that’s what we did.”

“You really are an inspiration.” The green stallion sighed contently.

“Well, thank you for your support.” Twilight glanced away. “I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m… uh, needed back at the castle.”

“Oh, of course.” The blue stallion nodded. “We’re just delighted that we were able to meet you. Thank you so much for your time.”

“Of course, the pleasure’s all mine.” Twilight inched away. “But, er, duty calls and all that.”

“Bye, Princess!” The green stallion waved her off. “So nice to meet you!”

Twilight waved awkwardly, then turned and walked away quickly. It wasn’t like she didn’t know some ponies saw her whole life as some political statement, but she always thought those ponies were on the other side, so to speak. She never expected it from progressive ponies who thought they were supporting her.

Was that how ponies saw her? Is that what they thought this adoption was about? Just some barrier that she decided to take down, what, just because she could?

And worst of all, what would that mean for Morning if somepony said something like that to her? There was no telling if the pony who would say that to a child would even be as jovial as those two stallions had been, either.

“So what’s it like to be part of a political scheme to undermine whatever we’re pretending to be worried about this week?” they’d ask her.

Of course, Morning wouldn’t understand that at all. “What do you mean?”

“Your moms don’t care about you, they only adopted you to prove a point!”

Being young and impressionable, she would come home brainwashed. “None of you care about me! I need to be in a real family with one mom and a dad!”

They’d try to explain to her that family didn’t have to be like that, but she wouldn’t listen. In the end, they wouldn’t be able to cope with the fact that their daughter would hate them, so they’d have to help her find a new family.

Twilight sighed as she reached the castle. It had been an exhausting walk back from the school. She pulled the door open with her magic and went inside.

The sound of hoofsteps greeted her, and she was met in the entryway by Night Light. “Welcome back. How’d it go?”

“Hi, Dad.” Twilight put on a smile, but she didn’t put much effort into it. “It was fine. Pound and Pumpkin were there, and Morning was excited to spend time with her friends.”

“Yeah, I knew Morning would be fine.” He gave her a knowing smile. “What I’m wondering is how you’re doing.”

“I’ve… been better.”

“I thought so. Come on into the kitchen, your mother and I figured you’d need a pick-me-up so I made cocoa.”

Twilight smiled and followed him. Her mom was already waiting for them at the kitchen table.

Twilight Velvet took one look at her daughter and gave a comforting smile. “That bad, huh?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“A little, yeah.” Velvet pulled out a chair for her. “Here, take a seat and tell me about it.”

Twilight did as her mom asked, sitting down while her dad got them each a mug of cocoa. It was already the perfect temperature, he must have made it when they left in the morning and then set the pot to keep warm while Twilight made the round trip.

Once everyone was served, Night Light took a seat beside his wife. “So, first day of school blues. Always tricky, especially the first time.”

“Were you nervous when I first went to school?”

“Oh, sure,” Velvet said. “Maybe a little less than you are because Shining had already been going to school by the time you started, though you brought your own set of concerns with you.”

Night Light chuckled. “At least we knew Shining was good with foals his own age.”

It was a little strange to think of her parents being worried about her when she first started school. She’d never thought about what it was like for them back when she was in school. “How did I do in school, anyway? I mean, I remember it, but mostly the lessons and my teachers.”

“Hmm, well, you made a few friends,” Velvet said. “Sort of.”

“Wonder how those other girls are doing these days,” Night Light said.

“They’re fine, we write letters now,” Twilight told them.

“Ah good.” Night Light sipped on his cocoa. “Anyway, that was always our biggest concern. You may not remember it, but you were a bit bossy as a filly. Other foals didn’t like to play with you much.”

“I’m worried about Morning.” Twilight cast her eyes down. “You know how she is. She still has anger issues, and not every foal is going to be as understanding as the Cake twins.”

“Are they in her class?” Night Light asked.

“Yeah, so at least she has a few friends.” Twilight smiled and took a drink of her cocoa. At least there was that. Cheerilee taught a few age levels, with Morning being one of her younger students and the Cake twins being some of her older students.

“Well, they’ll look out for her,” Night Light said. “I don’t think Morning is going to become the most popular girl in school, but that’s okay. She’s got a few good friends, and they’re good foals. She’ll be alright.”

“I hope so…” Twilight sighed and bowed her head. “But what if… what if something they can’t handle happens?”

“Something like what?” Velvet asked.

“I don’t know, maybe… what if it was a mistake to send her to a public school? She’s a celebrity, what if paparazzi swarm them at recess?”

“Hey, come here and answer a few questions for us,” they’d say. “Trust us, your parents do this all the time! Just tell us about –”

“Then their teacher will step in,” Night Light said before Twilight’s imagination could run off with her again.

“Is that what you’re so afraid of?” Velvet asked. “That somehow being your daughter is going to backfire on her?”

“I don’t know…” Twilight shook her head. “Yes. Yes, that’s what I’m afraid of. And… and I’m afraid if it does, she won’t want to be our daughter anymore.”

“Oh, honey.” Velvet placed a hoof on hers and smiled sadly. “Morning loves you three. She’s happy here, she isn’t going to want to leave no matter what.”

“Yeah, but!” Twilight realized she was on the verge of an anxiety attack, so she took a few deep breaths. “But I can’t get it out of my head.”

Velvet gently stroked Twilight’s hoof. “She loves you.”

“She’s never… she hasn’t brought up her birth parents.” Twilight looked up at her parents. “Is that normal?”

They looked to each other for a moment, then they both smiled. “I think normal is a difficult word,” Velvet said. “I think it would be normal for her to ask, but I also think it’s normal for her to not think about it much.”

“Did Spike ask about his parents?” Twilight asked.

“Not exactly,” Night Light said. “Spike asked why he was different from us, though. That was when we explained what happened. So he always knew we didn’t know about his birth parents.”

“But speaking of Spike,” Velvet said, “you know how happy he is, and you know he’s never once complained about being adopted.”

“Well, there was that time he wanted to get in touch with his dragon heritage,” Twilight pointed out. Her parents hadn’t been there for that, but they’d heard about it.

“And he learned who his real family is,” Night Light pointed out. “And didn’t you say that your bond with him was even stronger than before?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Yeah, it did feel that way.”

Velvet chuckled. “Plus I don’t think Morning has a ‘dragon heritage’ she’ll ever need to connect to.”

“Yeah, I know.” Twilight took another deep breath. “And… and Morning will be the same way. She knows she’s loved, and she’s happy with us.”

The door to the kitchen opened. They all turned to see Fluttershy walk in, some mail under her wing. “I thought I heard voices in here. Your magazine came in, Mom.”

“Oh, good.” Velvet smiled as Fluttershy handed her a large writer’s digest, which she set aside. “There’s supposed to be an interview with a good friend of mine in this one, I look forward to reading it.”

“Anything else good?” Twilight asked as Fluttershy stopped to give her a kiss before taking a seat at the table.

“You got a letter,” Fluttershy said, handing it Twilight.

“Would you like some cocoa?” Night Light asked.

Fluttershy smiled. “That’d be lovely, thank you, Dad.”

Twilight used her magic to open the letter, and a picture fell out. She looked at the picture first, which showed a pregnant mare and two stallions. Twilight quickly read the letter and smiled.

“It’s from one of the stallions in the photograph,” Twilight said. “I’m not actually sure which one is him, but the mare is his wife and the other stallion is her coltfriend. It says that they’ve wanted a foal for a long time, but they were afraid they couldn’t do it as part of a poly relationship. Apparently we encouraged them to go through with it.”

“Aww, how nice,” Fluttershy said.

It was a good reminder that even if it wasn’t their intention, their actions were having a positive effect for other ponies like them. “I ran into two stallions on the way here. They were married, and said we inspired them to start dating years ago when you and I first came out, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy leaned on Twilight. She took a sip of her cocoa, setting it down next to another letter. “That must have been nice, too.”

“It was at first. But then they started talking about us like we weren’t really ponies anymore. Like we were just this… this political machine, adopting a daughter just to challenge conventions or something.”

“Oh…” Fluttershy wrapped a wing around Twilight. “Well, that isn’t very nice at all…”

“No, it wasn’t.”

“I take it that was something else on your mind today?” Night Light asked.

“Yeah, it was.” Twilight leaned her head against Fluttershy. “I don’t want ponies to think we’re doing this for any reason other than because we love Morning, no matter if they support us or not.”

Velvet levitated the photograph to get a better look. “I don’t think these ponies feel that way. I think they might even know how you feel a little.”

“Yeah, true.” Twilight smiled. “I’ll have to write them a letter.”

“We can write it together,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight nodded towards the other letter, the one by Fluttershy’s cocoa. “What’s that one?”

“Oh.” Fluttershy frowned. “That one’s, uhm…”

“Uh oh.” Twilight frowned. “One of those, huh?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, it’s not somepony being mean to us. It’s… from Cloudsdale.”

“Cloudsdale?” Twilight was tempted to levitate it over to take a look, but she figured Fluttershy must have set it aside for a reason and she didn’t want to pry. “Some sort of school reunion?”

“No, nothing like that,” Fluttershy said, although truthfully Twilight had known that wouldn’t be it. She would’ve just told them if it was something like that. “It’s… about Stormy Skies.”

Twilight’s jaw clenched. “Oh. What about him?”

“He died.”

Twilight blinked, her jaw going from clenched to slack. “He died!?”

“Yeah, over the weekend.” Fluttershy spoke oddly calmly. Not casually, there was definitely something in her voice, but it was even and didn’t hint at exactly what it was that she was feeling. “It says I’ve inherited all of his things.”

“Does it say what happened?” Twilight asked.

“Some sort of pills and alcohol.” Fluttershy shook her head. “I never knew he was doing anything other than drinking.”

“Are you okay?” Velvet asked.

Fluttershy put on a very convincing smile. “I’m fine, Mom. I… well, you know I cut ties with him years ago.”

“So… what do you want to do?” Twilight asked. “I can take care of all the official stuff for you, but do you want to do anything?”

“Thank you, Twily.” Fluttershy nuzzled against her. “He might have had some of my mom’s stuff. I’d like to get that. I don’t care about the rest of it.”

“Of course,” Twilight kissed Fluttershy’s head. “Do you want me to go pick it up?”

“We can go together,” Fluttershy said. “I’m fine, really. And we’ll go tomorrow, I don’t want to miss Morning coming home from her first day of school.”

It wan’t that Twilight thought Fluttershy’s answer was the wrong one or anything, but she wasn’t sure it was healthy for Fluttershy to not feel anything over this. Then again, if anyone had a reason to be numb to it… “We’ll go when Morning is at school. Do you want me to talk to her about this?”

Fluttershy sighed. “I guess we should tell her. It’s not like she was ever going to meet him, but she should know he’s dead.”

“I’ll talk to her about it,” Twilight said gently.

“Not today,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t want her to remember that alongside her first day of school in Ponyville.”

“Right.” Twilight nodded.

“You know,” Night Light said, “we’re here if you want to talk about anything.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Fluttershy smiled. “But really, I’m fine. A little shocked, but I’m okay. You two are more my parents than he ever was.”

Night Light patted Fluttershy on the shoulder. “And we’re proud to have you as a daughter.”

Fluttershy smiled warmly at him, then turned to Twilight. “Okay, how did Morning’s first day start? I want to hear everything.”

Twilight smiled. “Well, there isn’t a lot to tell, but…”

She told her about dropping off Morning, about meeting another parent, about seeing Cheerilee, about Morning being the one to comfort her before dropping her off. Everything, just like she wanted.

Everything except the insecurities on the way home. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t tell her wives about her worries, just that this wasn’t the time. Fluttershy needed Twilight right now. She wasn’t torn up over losing someone she hated, but she was in a weird place, and she needed a little positivity from her family.

And maybe that was all Twilight needed too. Just something to get through the day until Morning came home and they saw that things were even better than before. That’s what their family was all about, after all. They grew little by little, and they were always better than before.

Soon Twilight’s parents were telling stories about when Twilight was in school, which Twilight laughed through along with the others.

Twilight felt better, and she was pretty sure Fluttershy did too. Before she even knew it, all those insecurities had slipped away.

Author's Note

I know a lot of people were waiting for this with Stormy Skies, so here you go!

18 – Shadows

Chapter Eighteen
Shadows

⠀

⠀
Going back to Cloudsdale was always at least a little uncomfortable at the best of times. Fluttershy visited it enough that she had formed good memories of her hometown, but they never quite replaced the bad ones from growing up in that house.

Today those bad memories were at the forefront of Fluttershy’s thoughts. Still, Fluttershy didn’t feel as bad as she would have expected. This was the second time she was returning to Cloudsdale because of Stormy Skies, and she felt better than she did on that first trip.

That had been six years ago. Back then, she was relying on Twilight not just to keep her from panicking, but also to keep her safe from the pony she saw as a monster hiding in her closet. This time, he was nothing but a shadow, and he could never hurt her again.

And besides, at least the house was gone. Fluttershy never wanted to set hoof in there again, and she never would. At some point, Stormy Skies had moved into a cheap apartment complex, and that was where Fluttershy and Twilight found themselves. They brought a few empty boxes with them; they were here for one purpose, and once it was done, they would be gone.

“I think it’s down this way,” Twilight said, taking the lead down a hallway on the second floor of the apartment complex. They’d gotten his room key from the apartment manager, who had offered to come to show them to his apartment. Twilight was going to accept, but Fluttershy declined. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, and she didn’t want strangers getting involved in this.

Not that she expected much of a reaction. Sure, there was a small part of her that thought that he would be in there waiting for them, but she knew better. He was gone. Finally, he was gone and he’d never be coming back.

It was strange. She had thought she’d feel free once he was dead and gone, but she just felt numb. Not just to his death, either. To everything around her. The only time she had felt anything since reading the letter was when Morning was talking about her first day of school. If anything, Fluttershy’s desire to be around Morning had only grown.

“I wonder if Sunset handled dropping Morning off better than you,” Fluttershy said with a slight smile. She wanted to feel something, and talking about Morning was the best way to do that.

Twilight seemed confused at the topic, but she didn’t question it. “Probably. She’s better at keeping her nerves in check, at least.”

“Yeah, I guess she is.”

“It’ll be your turn tomorrow,” Twilight said with a smile. “If you’re feeling up to it, that is.”

“Of course I’ll be feeling up to it. I’m looking forward to it.” She had been tempted to ask to take Sunset’s place today, to make the trip to Cloudsdale later. But nothing good would come from delaying this; the sooner it was over, the sooner she could go back to feeling normal.

“Yeah, of course.”

“Oh, hello there.” Fluttershy stopped in her tracks as she saw a cat. It was rare to see any pets other than birds in Cloudsdale, since they couldn’t walk on clouds.

“She’s friendly,” a mare said. She was a young orange pegasus, and she was sitting outside of a nearby apartment.

“What’s her name?” Fluttershy asked as she held out her hoof for him.

“Joy.” The mare looked at them quizzically. “Say, aren’t you Princess Fluttershy? And then you’d be Princess Twilight.”

“That’s right,” Twilight said.

The mare scrambled to her hooves. “It’s an honor to meet you two.”

“Please, just treat us like regular ponies,” Twilight said. Fluttershy was too busy petting Joy to pay much mind to the mare.

“What are two princesses doing in a place like this? I mean, I know you’re from Cloudsdale, Princess Fluttershy – that’s how I knew who you were – but this isn’t exactly a high-class place.”

“It’s… hard to explain,” Twilight said.

“We’re here because my stepfather died,” Fluttershy said simply. It wasn’t that hard to explain.

“Oh, I’m so sorry… Wait, hang on, do you mean Stormy Skies?”

“That’s right,” Fluttershy said. Joy wandered away from Fluttershy and back to the other mare. “Did you know him?”

“Yeah, he lived right next door to me. He’d come feed Joy when I was visiting my brother in Las Pegasus. I never knew he was your stepdad though.”

“I guess he didn’t talk about me much.” Fluttershy wasn’t really surprised. It wasn’t like he’d ever want to admit to anypony why she wasn’t in his life anymore.

“Never mentioned you to me. Oh! I’m really sorry for your loss. Did I say that yet?”

“You did, and it’s fine,” Fluttershy said. “We weren’t close. I’m here because he didn’t have anyone else, so I’m sorting through his things.”

“I’m Peach Blossom, by the way,” the mare said. “Yeah, I didn’t really know him, but he was a good guy. Joy really liked him.”

It was hard to imagine Stormy Skies getting along with a cat, and strange to hear anyone refer to him as a good guy. But Fluttershy wasn’t in the mood to explain why that wasn’t true, and besides, it didn’t matter. Maybe if he was alive, then Fluttershy would want to tell Peach Blossom to be careful around him, but he wasn’t hurting anyone now.

“He wasn’t always great to Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a frown. She looked at Fluttershy, clearly unsure of what to say.

“Really? He was kinda gruff yeah, but I never had a problem with him. Had him over for dinner a few times, but even then he didn’t talk much. Real shy.”

“You invited him into your apartment?” Fluttershy blinked. If only she knew how horrible of an idea that had been… It was a miracle that nothing had happened to her.

“Well, not a lot, but yeah. Why?”

“It’s just…” Fluttershy shook her head. “Never mind. He… sounds like he changed as he got older.”

“Maybe.” Peach Blossom shifted in place. “I can tell things weren’t good between you, and I won’t pry or anything. I’m really just the neighbor. Oh, but uh, he had the spare key to my apartment. If you find it, could you give it to me?”

Fluttershy and Twilight looked at one another. Twilight turned back to Peach Blossom. “He had the key to your apartment?”

“To feed Joy when I was gone, yeah.” She looked between them with a confused expression. “Never gave me a reason not to trust him. Why?”

Twilight looked like she wanted to explain, but Fluttershy knew she wouldn’t. “Don’t worry about it,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll see if I can find your key.”

They walked past Peach Blossom to the next room, which Twilight opened with the key they’d gotten from the apartment manager.

It hit Fluttershy as soon as the door was open. She hadn’t expected anything about this apartment would be familiar except for maybe a few decorations, but there was something undeniably Stormy Skies about it: It smelled just like him.

Fluttershy had completely forgotten the scent; whenever she remembered the way Stormy Skies smelled, it was the scent of alcohol that came to mind. She had prepared for that, but that wasn’t it. No, it just smelled like him.

Oblivious to what she was experiencing, Twilight walked inside the apartment. Fluttershy forced herself to follow her wife. She was not going to break down in the middle of the hallway.

Twilight looked around, then turned to Fluttershy to say something. She must have seen Fluttershy’s feelings on her face, because she stopped and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“This place, it…” Fluttershy took a sharp breath.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Twilight said soothingly, stepping forward.

“Hold me,” Fluttershy said. “Please.”

“Of course.” Twilight sat on the floor and wrapped her forelegs around Fluttershy, who did likewise. Fluttershy buried her face into Twilight’s mane. She inhaled deeply, taking in Twilight’s scent, using that to replace his. Twilight stroked her mane. “It’s okay. Everything’s alright, I’m here, I’ve got you.”

Fluttershy nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

“Do you want to get out of here?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy pulled away and looked at Twilight. Even though she looked scared, Fluttershy felt better just looking at her. Twilight would make things alright. Twilight could always make things alright.

“No,” Fluttershy said. “No, I just… I didn’t expect the smell.”

“The smell?” Twilight scrunched up her face and sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything.”

Fluttershy shook her head. She wasn’t surprised that only she could smell it. She’d lived with him, after all, and Twilight hadn’t. “I know. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. Let’s, uhm, let’s try to get this over with.”

Twilight nodded and stood up, extending a hoof to help Fluttershy up as well.

She took a good look around for the first time. The house was sparsely decorated, and almost everything there was from their old house. It seemed he hadn’t gone shopping in the past six years.

Twilight unfolded one of the boxes, and they started filling it with stuff. Fluttershy would find something she wanted, and she’d give it to Twilight to pack into the box. There were a few photographs of her mom, some of her embroideries, knick-knacks Fluttershy had liked as a child. Nothing of monetary value; she expected Stormy Skies had sold anything that was worth a few bits to get booze money ages ago.

And, of course, there was booze. He may have sounded like a different pony when they were talking to Peach Blossom, but one look in his kitchen showed otherwise. And one look was all it took, then Fluttershy quickly moved onto the next room.

“Where do you think he’d keep the key?” Twilight asked.

“Can you look around the living room again?” Fluttershy suggested. “I’ll check his bedroom.”

“Are you sure you want to be alone?” Twilight frowned.

“I’ll be okay. I just want to hurry up and get out of here.”

“As long as you’re sure.” Twilight gave Fluttershy a quick hug, then walked back into the living room.

Fluttershy went through an open door into the bedroom, the one room they hadn’t explored yet. She braced herself for the worst, but found that she didn’t feel any worse in there than in the rest of the apartment.

Still, she was completely on edge and ready to leave. They were almost done, she just had to go through this one last room and find the key. She glanced at his bed. The sheets were all messed up, and Fluttershy wondered if that was where he died.

There was a bedside table with a drawer, so that was where Fluttershy started. At first it just looked like a few normal things – a hairbrush, a bottle of body spray, things like that. Fluttershy moved them aside, then found a key ring. She pulled that out, noting it had just two keys on it. Probably his own and Peach Blossom’s.

She kept looking through the drawer to see if there was anything else she wanted to take. There was a picture of Stormy Skies and her mom, and they looked so happy. It was old, taken before Fluttershy was born. Not for the first time, she wondered if they could’ve been a happy couple without a daughter.

That wasn’t surprising, and Fluttershy just set it aside. She’d taken a few pictures of her mom, she didn’t need one that also had him in it, especially one where she looked so in love with him.

What was surprising was the next thing she found. A picture of Fluttershy as a filly. She couldn’t remember when it was taken, but she was lying on her bedroom floor and coloring. It was the only picture of herself she had come across, which suited her just fine. She didn’t like the idea of him having pictures of her. She was going to leave it, but then she thought Twilight and Sunset might want to see the picture, so she took it.

After that, she noticed a journal tucked to the side. She frowned, not sure she wanted to see anything he had to say, but then her curiosity got the better of her. She opened it to the first page.

‘This is dumb.’

That was it. The only thing he wrote on the first page was that it was dumb, probably referring to the idea of keeping a journal. That almost made Fluttershy smile. It was kind of funny to imagine him keeping a journal when he didn’t even want to.

The next page was a lot more revealing.

‘Another bucking nightmare. I guess that’s what this is about, right? Keeping track of these things. Because it’s not enough to experience it once, I have to write it down too. Sick bastard, making me do this.

I was in a corridor with doors, and I felt like something was following me. I kept walking down it, hoping that whatever it was wouldn’t catch up with me. Eventually I opened one of the doors to try and get away, but it was even worse inside.

Breezy was there, and she was dead. But she didn’t stay dead. She got up, and she kept coming at me, and I realized she was what I was running from all along. I knew she was going to kill me for what I did. I know she’d never forgive me.’

Well, at least he knew it. That sounded like an awful dream, but Fluttershy certainly wasn’t about to feel sorry for him. She turned the page.

‘Woke up screaming again, but I don’t remember why. Time to drink.’

It sounded like he had a lot of nightmares. Fluttershy was hesitant to say any pony deserved that, but if anypony did, it was somepony like Stormy Skies.

‘What the buck does he mean… Write about my waking thoughts? I have weird bucking nightmares, I’m not some crazy who hears voices or whatever. I guess I should write about how I ran out of booze and don’t have money to buy more. I’m too sober to sleep, if I go to sleep now I’ll remember the dreams, so I’ll just stay up.’

Something wasn’t right. Where was Luna? She’d never mentioned visiting his nightmares, although she understandably might not tell Fluttershy about that. But entry after entry, Stormy Skies was suffering from terrible nightmares, and he never mentioned Luna. There was no way she hadn’t noticed. She couldn’t visit every nightmare, but she was so good about finding ponies with recurring nightmares and helping them.

Was… was she specifically avoiding him because of what he’d done to Fluttershy? Luna was usually such a good pony, Fluttershy didn’t like to think she’d let anypony suffer like this, but she was protective of Fluttershy…

‘I can’t keep doing this. I swear I’m going to end it. The only reason I haven’t is because life could become one big nightmare when I’m dead. One never ending nightmare, I know I’ll never be with my Breezy again. I know she wouldn’t forgive me enough for that, buck, I think… I think she’s the one doing this to me. This is her revenge, she’s the shadow pony I see in my dreams sometimes, she’s reaching through the afterlife to punish me for what I did to our daughter.’

Shadow pony… No… It couldn’t be…

Fluttershy closed the book, and she tucked it under her wing along with the keys. She looked at the picture of her mom and Stormy Skies one more time, and she knew he was wrong. Breezy Day was the sweetest mare that ever lived. Fluttershy didn’t know if she could forgive Stormy Skies for what he did, but she didn’t have to. Just like Fluttershy would never forgive him but wouldn’t wish this on him, her mom would feel the same way. Fluttershy knew that.

But she didn’t know if someone else might wish this on him. A shadow pony was causing this. And Fluttershy was pretty sure she knew what that meant.

On the way out of the room, she dropped the book off in the box of things going back to Ponyville. “I found it,” Fluttershy said to Twilight.

“Oh, good. I was just going to come check on you.” Twilight levitated an open letter. “I found this letter, and I couldn’t help but read it. It looked like Stormy Skies was seeing a therapist about something, but he stopped going. The letter urges him to come back to therapy and reminded him that the process takes time.”

“He was going for dreams,” Fluttershy said. “I found his journal. He was having nightmares.”

Twilight blinked and her mouth fell open slightly. “Oh. Well… I guess I can’t really feel bad for him.”

“I don’t forgive him,” Fluttershy said, as much to herself as to Twilight. “I’ll never forgive him. I’m glad I’ll never have to see him again. But…” She shook her head. “But he shouldn’t have suffered like that.”

“I’m… not sure I agree with you,” Twilight said.

“That’s okay. It doesn’t matter. He’s gone anyway.”

Twilight shifted in place. “Yeah.”

“I found the keys. Let’s give them to Peach Blossom.”

“Right.” Twilight looked at their box. They had brought a few, but had only used one. “Just one box then.”

“Just leave the others. We’ll let someone else clear out the rest of this stuff.”

“Fair enough.”

They left the apartment together, Twilight locking it up behind them. Peach Blossom was still outside, so Fluttershy walked over to her and held out the keys. “Found them.”

“Oh, thank you.” Peach Blossom took the keys from her. “Oh wait, there’s two here.”

“The other one is his apartment. Take whatever you want from it, then give the keys back to the apartment manager.”

“Oh… are you sure that’s okay?”

Fluttershy shrugged as Twilight walked over to stand beside her. “It’s all my stuff now, but we took what we wanted. I don’t care what happens to the rest, so if you want something of his, it’s yours.”

“Okay. Thanks, I guess.”

“Uhm…” Fluttershy frowned. “Did Stormy Skies ever mention dreams to you?”

“No, but…” Peach Blossom looked away. “He’d wake up screaming at night. I asked him about it once, but he got embarrassed and apologized for bothering me. I knew he was really troubled by something, but I didn’t want to pry. Maybe I should have though…”

“There was nothing you could have done,” Fluttershy said. Nothing Peach Blossom could have done, but she knew something could have been done.

“I did suggest he go to this therapist I know. Dunno if it really helped him.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “He stopped going. We found a letter from the therapist asking him to come back.”

“Oh, damn. Didn’t know he dropped out.” Peach Blossom sighed. “I know he was drinking a lot too. He’d stumble home just reeking of alcohol. I helped him into his apartment sometimes. Figured it was probably his way of coping.”

“He drank before he had anything to cope with,” Fluttershy said with a frown. “He was an angry drunk.”

“Not with me, he wasn’t. He just seemed sad.”

“He really changed as he got older.” Fluttershy winced. She wondered just how much he had changed. “Thank you for talking to me about him. I… I don’t like him. I never will, no matter how much he changed. Some bridges just stay burned. But… But I am glad he had someone who remembers him more fondly than I can.”

“Yeah, poor guy.” Peach Blossom sighed. “Well, I won’t keep you. It was nice meeting you, although I wish it had been under better circumstances.”

Twilight smiled. “Nice meeting you too. Say goodbye to Joy for us.”

“Yeah, of course.”

Twilight turned to Fluttershy, who nodded. The two of them walked down the hall, leaving Stormy Skies behind once and for all.

But not completely. If anything, he was more in Fluttershy’s thoughts now than when she first showed up, and for different reasons.

“Hey, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah?”

“Is the Tantabus just something Luna can make?”

Twilight hesitated for a moment. She didn’t really seem to want to answer, but she did anyway. “Probably. Other ponies can have special talents related to dreams, but only an alicorn with that special talent would have that kind of power over dreams.”

Fluttershy nodded. That was what she had thought.

“Why do you ask?”

Fluttershy sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I need to think about some things.”

“Okay.” Twilight covered Fluttershy with a wing. “You know I’m here when you’re ready to talk, though.”

Fluttershy leaned on Twilight as they walked. “Of course. Thank you, Twily.”

Only Luna could make a Tantabus. Fluttershy wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think Luna was ignoring Stormy Skies’s dreams after all.

19 – Anger Management

Chapter Nineteen
Anger Management

⠀

⠀
It had only been a week, but school in Ponyville was already clearly better than school in Hollow Shades was. It wasn’t so much the school itself, but the fact that Morning had two friends now.

That was still new to Morning, and at times it could be a little overwhelming. But now for the first time, she could go home at the end of the school day and just be alone when that was what she wanted. Sure, the castle had lots of others living in it, but they gave her space when she wanted to be left alone.

All of that made school better. Other foals were easier to be around when she didn’t also live with them, and it was nice to spend time with her friends. Plus Miss Cheerilee was really nice, and Morning felt a little better learning from an earth pony than from an alicorn who was also one of the most accomplished magic users in all of Equestria.

Morning was even learning to see what the others saw in recess. It had always just been a time for her to read or hide away and play make-believe games, but now she had two friends to play with. That was what they were doing now. It wasn’t Morning’s favorite game, but they were playing hide-and-seek during recess.

At least she wasn’t seeking. Morning didn’t like that much. But hiding? She was good at that. She had years of practice hiding from other foals, and she put it to good use in their game. She looked around and decided on her hiding place – a bush that she was small enough to carefully crawl into, and then no one would see her.

The branches poked at her when she crawled in, but she ignored that. It would be worth it for her perfect hiding place. She made sure to tuck her tail in, as that was the only thing that ever gave her away, and she waited.

Morning was in place, and just in time; Pound had finished counting and was looking around. Morning could see out a little through the branches, though she couldn’t always see well enough to know where he was.

From what she could see, he looked in some obvious places first. Behind trees, under the slide, places like that. She wasn’t sure where Pumpkin was hidden, but it seemed Pound didn’t find her either.

He walked off somewhere Morning couldn’t see, and she smiled to herself. He’d never find her here.

Some ponies walked closer to her. Morning risked moving the branches enough to get a look at who it was. It wasn’t Pound or Pumpkin, so it didn’t matter, just three of her classmates that were always together.

They called themselves the Hero Club, and they really seemed to take that message to heart. They seemed to think that since the Elements of Harmony were all getting older and not going on adventures anymore, a new generation of heroes was going to be needed, and that it was going to be them. That they were all six years old didn’t seem to matter to them.

“So what are we going to do today?” one of them asked. Her name was Snake Eyes, and she was a white unicorn with a very fluffy brown mane. She had talked to Morning once before, and afterwards, Morning couldn’t find the cookies her mama had packed into her lunch box. Needless to say, Morning didn’t trust her.

“I don’t know,” Boomer said. She was a red earth pony with a blonde mane. She wore glasses and always seemed kind of grumpy. Morning didn’t like her much either, though they had never talked. “Looks like all the good stuff is taken. We could wait our turn to play tetherball or something.”

“Actually, I think we should try to find that new filly,” the last one said. A mint-green pegasus with a darker green mane, her name was Gusty Breeze. She was the only one Morning didn’t have a negative opinion of, but anyone who was part of the Hero Club rubbed her the wrong way. “What’s her name? Morning something?”

“Morning Glisten,” Snake Eyes said. “She seems alright. But what do we want to talk to her for?”

“Think about it,” Gusty said. “You know who her moms are, right?”

“Mom says it’s okay for a pony to have three moms,” Boomer said. “Seems kinda weird to me, but if Mom says it’s alright.”

“It’s not that,” Gusty said. “Her moms are heroes. They’ve saved Equestria and everything! We should ask her to join the club!”

“Well, two of them are,” Snake Eyes said. “My mom talks about Princess Twilight and Fluttershy all the time, but Sunset Shimmer…”

Morning tensed up and began listening more intently.

“What’s wrong with Sunset Shimmer?” Gusty asked.

“She is pretty weird,” Boomer said. “She used to be Princess Celestia’s student when she was younger, but then she just sort of disappeared. Then all that bad stuff happened, with Nightmare Moon and Tirek and Discord and all that stuff. Then she just comes back, and suddenly everything is good again.”

Gusty seemed to consider Boomer’s words. “So? It sounds like her being around is a good thing.”

“No way,” Boomer said. “Think about it. Where did she go? Nopony knows anything about what happened to her, and if she’s so good, why didn’t she help when we needed her? I think she had something to do with all that bad stuff.”

“So, what?” Snake Eyes shrugged. “She started dating the princesses because she couldn’t beat them? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?”

Gusty tapped her chin. “She married the princesses, Snake. She got close to them. What if she’s still planning something?”

“Bingo,” Boomer said. “So if we stop her, they might make us princesses!”

“Boomer, we have to stop her for Equestria,” Gusty said. “We’re not doing this because of the reward.”

“Yeah, but they could give us a reward too…” Boomer kicked at the ground.

“So what’s the plan?” Snake asked. They all turned to Gusty.

“We need more evidence,” Gusty said. “We know she’s bad, but we need to prove it. Maybe she writes her evil plans in a diary or something and we could swipe it.”

“Leave it to me,” Snake Eyes said. “We just have to get close to her. Maybe we should talk to Morning Glisten after all.”

Morning had heard enough. She was going to talk to the Hero Club, but there was no way she was going to let them get anywhere near her ma.

She forced her way out of the bush, getting pricked by all the branches because she didn’t bother to leave as carefully as she entered. The Hero Club all took notice of her, stopping their conversation to watch her.

Boomer walked over to her. “Oh, hi, Morning. We were just looking for you.”

Morning stood up and walked over to Boomer. She gritted her teeth and glared, then she punched Boomer in her stupid face.

“Ow! What the hay!?” Boomer glared at her.

“Hey!” Gusty jumped between them. “What’s wrong with you!?”

Rather than answer with words, Morning jumped at Gusty, tackling her to the ground. Morning took advantage of her position of being on top to punch Gusty. “Don’t talk about my ma like that!”

Gusty quickly proved stronger, however, easily rolling them over. The two of them rolled a few times, but in the end, Gusty was on top. “How dare you hurt my friend!”

Ponies rarely ever hit Morning back, so she wasn’t prepared for the feeling of Gusty’s hoof against her face. But it only motivated her even more, so she struggled against the other filly, eventually squirming free.

“Get back here!” Gusty called.

Morning was distantly aware that her friends were calling to her. They seemed to want her to stop, but she couldn’t do that. Gusty had insulted Morning’s parents, nopony was allowed to do that!

Morning felt pressure welling up in her horn and she channeled it into a spell – she wasn’t sure what spell – and aimed it at Gusty. There was a small pop, then nothing.

Forgoing the use of magic, Morning ran at Gusty full force. The other filly turned around, and for a second Morning thought she was going to run.

Instead, she aimed a kick squarely at Morning. It caught her in the shoulder and sent her flying backwards.

She landed on her back, and everything felt like it was spinning. She tried her best to get up, but only fell down again.

The next thing Morning knew, she was looking up at Gusty Breeze, who looked furious. “Don’t ever try to hurt my friends again! You… You…”

Morning had to get up. She had to teach Gusty a lesson. Had to teach all of them a lesson. She had to defend her moms, she had to…

She had to…

Morning couldn’t get up, and not just from the pain. Her body was sore all over, and everything that had just happened was sinking in. She couldn’t move, she could only lay there as she started crying.

“Easy, Hero…” Snake Eyes said to Gusty. “You got her…”

“Morning!” With the fight over, Pumpkin ran over to Morning and kneeled down beside her. She was soon joined by Pound Cake, though neither of them seemed to know what to do or say.

It didn’t matter, because Morning’s crying alerted someone else to what was going on. “What’s going on here?”

Morning hid her face at the sound of Miss Cheerilee’s voice, but she couldn’t stop crying. She was hurt, and she was angry, and she was scared.

What would they do with her? This was exactly what had gotten Morning sent back to Small Steps before, what were her moms going to do with her now? She no longer thought they wanted to send her back, but after something like this…

“She started it!” Gusty said.

“She punched me in the face!” Boomer added.

“Yeah, Gusty was just protecting her,” Snake Eyes finished.

Morning felt somepony take hold of her protectively. “But they were talking about Morning’s moms!” Pumpkin said. “They, uhm, prov… provo…”

“Provoked her,” Pound said.

“Yeah!”

“And why didn’t anyone come and get me during any of this?” Miss Cheerilee asked. Instead of answering, everyone shifted in place nervously. She sighed. “Okay, let me get a good look at you all. Is anyone hurt?”

“No,” Gusty said.

“My face hurts,” Boomer said.

Morning peaked through her hooves to watch as Miss Cheerilee looked over Gusty and Boomer. She didn’t seem to find anything wrong with them, so she quickly moved onto Morning. “Come on, Morning, let me get a good look at you.”

Morning turned away.

“You need to let Miss Cheerilee see,” Pound Cake said.

Morning wasn’t sure that was a good idea, but she trusted her friend. She pulled away her hooves and looked up at Miss Cheerilee.

“Oh dear…” the teacher said. “That’s going to be a black eye.”

Morning didn’t care about that. It hurt, but she was more afraid than hurt at this point. She wasn’t even that angry anymore, she was just terrified of what her moms would say.

“Do you want us to take her home?” Pound Cake asked. “We know the way.”

“No,” Cheerilee said. "Why don’t you two help her get into the schoolhouse? Her moms gave me a journal I can write to them in case I need to get a hold of them.”

It looked like Morning wasn’t even going to get to put off them finding out until the end of the school day. With her friends each supporting her on one side, Morning made her way into the schoolhouse.

“Does it hurt?” Pound Cake asked.

Morning sniffled. “A little…”

“Poor Morning…” Pumpkin said. “Stupid Gusty Breeze…”

They made their way to their usual seats, and Morning just put her head down on her desk. She noticed the Hero Club had come inside as well, sitting on the other side of the classroom. The two groups didn’t pay much attention to each other.

Miss Cheerilee pulled open a drawer and pulled out several small journals, one for each filly involved in the fights. She wrote a message in each of them, then put them back into the drawer.

“Now then,” the teacher said when she was done. “What happened, exactly?”

No one answered at first. Thinking about it made Morning want to start crying again.

“We were playing hide-and-seek,” Pound Cake said. “I didn’t see how it started. The first thing I saw was Gusty yelling at Morning.”

“Because she hit Boomer!” Gusty said.

“But Boomer was talking about Sunset!” Pumpkin said. “They all were, I heard them!”

“What do you mean talking about her?” Cheerilee asked.

“They said she’s evil!”

“We said she’s suspicious,” Snake Eyes corrected.

“I tried to talk to Morning about it, then she punched me!” Boomer said.

“Is that true?” Miss Cheerilee asked, looking directly at Morning.

All Morning could do was nod.

“I’m disappointed in you,” Miss Cheerilee said, looking over the room. “You all should have known better.”

“We didn’t do anything!” Pumpkin said.

Miss Cheerilee smiled at her. “Oh, except you two. Although you really should have known enough to come and get me at the first sign of trouble. But that goes double for everyone else. You three should never have been talking about Morning’s mom like that, but Morning, you should have come and told me instead of hitting Boomer.”

Morning pursed her lips. It wasn’t like adults ever did anything when she told on other foals before.

Miss Cheerilee turned her attention to the Hero Club. “And when Morning hit Boomer, you should have come and told me about that instead of fighting.”

“Yes, Miss Cheerilee…” Gusty said.

“Uhm, are we all in trouble?” Snake Eyes asked.

Miss Cheerilee sighed. “We’ll see after I talk to your parents. But no matter what happens this time, you’ll all be in big trouble if anything like this happens again.”

Before that message could even sink in, there was a flash of light. All eyes turned towards it, except for Morning, who just hid her face in her hooves. She knew it was a pony teleporting, and that it would only be one of two ponies doing it.

“What happened!?” Twilight asked, a note of panic in her voice. “Is everypony okay!?”

“It’s all calmed down now,” Miss Cheerilee said. “But Morning was in a fight with another filly.”

“I am so sorry,” Twilight said. The sound of hoofsteps alerted Morning that she was walking over towards her. “Morning? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Morning said without moving her forelegs away from her face.

“Why are you hiding?” Twilight asked. She didn’t sound angry, but she would be. “Let me get a good look at you.”

“Morning may have a bit of a black eye,” Miss Cheerilee said. “Why don’t you and I talk about what happened?”

“Oh, Morning…” Twilight stroked Morning’s mane, which caused her to wince. Not because she was sore and the touch hurt a little, but because her mom seemed so concerned for her.

“Princess Twilight and I are going to step out,” Miss Cheerilee said. “But I’m leaving the door open, and I’ll hear if any of you say or do anything.”

Nopony answered, and Morning heard hoofsteps heading for the door. Once they were gone, Morning took a look around. Gusty was pointedly ignoring everyone while Snake Eyes gently patted her on the shoulder. Boomer was glaring at Morning, and it looked like she might have a black eye of her own.

Pound and Pumpkin were both looking at Morning with concern. Pound whispered, “Do you think you’ll be in a lot of trouble?”

“I don’t know,” Morning whispered back. She felt like crying again. “Do… do you think they’ll want to send me back?”

“No way,” Pumpkin whispered. “They love you.”

Morning nodded a little, hoping that Pumpkin was right. But of course, she had thought that once before, too…

They all sat in silence for a few minutes, then the two mares walked back in. Morning forgot to hide her face, so she and Twilight finally got a good look at one another. Twilight didn’t look angry. She looked sad and worried, and that made Morning bow her head.

“Morning, you’ll be going home with Princess Twilight. Pound, Pumpkin, you two can return to recess. The rest of you will have to wait for your parents to get here.”

Morning stood up and walked over to Twilight while looking down at the ground. Once her view consisted of Twilight’s hooves, she stopped.

“Come on,” Twilight said. She sounded tired. “Let’s go home. I already have your things.”

The two of them started walking, and neither of them said anything. Part of Morning wanted to run up and hug her mom and say she was sorry, and part of her wanted to run away and never have to face whatever consequences were coming.

She did neither, of course. She just walked along with her mom leading the way back to their castle.

She chanced a look up at Twilight after a few minutes. She was carrying Morning’s bag in her magic, and she had her eyes facing forward. She seemed to notice Morning was looking at her, as she looked down and their eyes met. Only for a moment, then Morning turned away.

“So,” Twilight said after a while, “Miss Cheerilee says this started because the other fillies were saying mean things about us.”

Morning frowned. “Not all of you. They like you and Mama.”

“But they don’t like Ma?”

Morning shook her head. “They think she’s a bad pony. That she only married you two to get close to you and she’s going to do something bad.”

“I see.” Twilight used her wing to brush up against Morning. “I’m sorry you have to deal with ponies talking about us like that. If we weren’t famous, nopony would say those things.”

What? Twilight was apologizing to her? Morning looked up in disbelief, unable to say anything.

“But we are famous, Mo Glow. Ponies are going to say things about us. Sometimes they’re going to say horrible things that you’ll know aren’t true. That’s never going to be a good reason to hit somepony.”

Oh, that made more sense. Morning bowed her head. “I’m sorry…”

“You’re going to have to apologize to the ponies you hit too.”

Morning nodded meekly. “Okay…”

“I can’t make them apologize to you, but they should.” Twilight bent down to nuzzle Morning. “I want you to know that even though what you did was wrong, they weren’t right either.”

Morning nodded. “I know.”

“Next time, talk to Miss Cheerilee. She can take care of things like this.”

“Okay.” Morning chanced the question on her mind. “Uhm… you aren’t going to send me back to Small Steps, are you?”

“What? Of course not.” Twilight stopped in her tracks, so Morning did the same. “Morning, we are never sending you back. We couldn’t even if we wanted to, everything’s been finalized. We are your legal parents now.”

Morning looked up at her. “Really?”

Twilight smiled. “Really. And besides, we don’t want to. You’re our daughter, and we love you.”

Morning blinked, and tears started welling up again. Other ponies had said that her parents loved her, but none of them had ever said it yet. She stepped forward and Twilight scooped her up into a hug.

Her mom started walking again, walking on three legs while cradling Morning in the fourth. Morning cried gently while holding onto her, overwhelmed by all of the events of the day.

“It’s all alright now,” Twilight said. “But don’t think this is getting you out of trouble! I don’t know what your punishment is going to be yet, but it’ll be something.”

To her own surprise, Morning laughed a little bit. She didn’t mind that so much.

The sun hadn’t even come up when Morning felt somepony shaking her. She looked up and blinked sleep out of her eyes, seeing her ma looking down at her. Her horn was lit, casting weird shadows over her face in the dark.

“Rise and shine, kiddo,” Sunset said. “We’ve got somewhere to be today.”

“Huh?” Morning sat up and rubbed her eyes. She regretted it as her left eye still hurt at the touch. “But it’s Saturday.”

“Yeah, and it’s time for your punishment. Sleep is for ponies who didn’t get into fights at school.”

“Oh.” Morning looked down, the reality of having to face a punishment really sinking in for the first time. She had been so happy that her moms still wanted her that she hadn’t spent much time thinking about her actual punishment.

“Come on,” Sunset jerked her head. “First breakfast, then we’re heading out.”

“Why does it have to be so early?” Morning asked as she got out of bed. Sunset left the room, so Morning shuffled after her.

“Because what we’re doing starts at dawn, and I still want you to get some breakfast first. I thought you liked being up early?”

“Not this early!”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, well, imagine how I feel. I gotta get up early and I didn’t even do anything!”

Morning let out a yawn as they walked into the kitchen. She took a seat and Sunset got each of them each a bowl of cereal and some toast. They ate in silence, both of them too tired to talk much.

Little by little though, Morning did wake up. She noticed things as she did, like the fact that Sunset seemed to be just as tired as she was, if not more. “Why isn’t Mama the one getting me up? She’s up early anyway.”

“Because she has to work, and helping her isn’t a punishment.” Sunset grinned. “Seeing all the animals is fun. What we’re doing today is not.”

“Oh.” Morning frowned, both wondering what they were doing and wanting to wait as long as possible to find out.

They finished their breakfast, then Sunset marched them out of the castle. They didn’t take anything with them, so whatever they were doing either didn’t need tools, or the tools they needed were already there.

The sun was just starting to come up as they walked. Sunset seemed to be watching it, which made Morning curious. “Is it true that Princess Celestia is like your mom?”

“Where’d you hear that?” Sunset asked.

“From Mama.”

“Ah. Well, it’s complicated.” Sunset sighed. “My mother isn’t a good pony. She never cared about me. She ran a company, and she spent all her time doing that and never paid attention to me at all. She’s not, like, a bad pony, but she was a bad mom.”

“Oh.”

“So then Celestia took me away from my parents because they weren’t taking care of me, and I lived with her for a few years.”

“So she is like your mom?”

“It’s… like I said, it’s complicated.” Sunset looked at the sunrise. “Celestia is… she’s not good at being close to other ponies. I think if I told her she’s like a mom to me, it would really weird her out. I mean, she cares a lot about me and everything, but she still thinks of me as her student.”

Morning looked at the sunrise. Somewhere out in Canterlot, Princess Celestia had to be awake and raising it, and yet Sunset was way out in Ponyville. “So why don’t you live in Canterlot?”

Sunset shrugged. “Twilight lived here already. I was living in the human world after I ran away from Canterlot, then I moved here to live with Twilight and Fluttershy.” A moment passed, then she added, “I mean Mom and Mama. Someday I’ll get used to calling them that.”

Morning giggled. All of her moms started using their new titles around Morning, but her ma struggled with it more than the others.

It seemed like they walked through all of Ponyville, passing very few ponies on the way. Occasionally they would pass by houses with the lights on, and once they passed a coffee shop that was full of ponies, but otherwise it was very peaceful to walk through Ponyville at this hour.

They walked for so long that Morning thought maybe they were just going to keep walking all the way to the next town, but they eventually came to a stop at the edge of town. It was a place Morning had been a few times before, although she hadn’t expected to go there as part of her punishment.

“Sweet Apple Acres?” Morning asked. “What are we doing here?”

“I’m visiting, you’re working.”

Morning wasn’t really sure what working at Sweet Apple Acres was going to be like, but she suspected she was going to find out. The Apples were all out and about, and one of them came walking over to greet them.

“Hey there, Morning. Hi, Sunset,” she said. Morning couldn’t remember her name, but she was Applejack’s sister.

“Hi, Apple Bloom,” Sunset said, reminding Morning what her name was in the process. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty good. So y’all ready to work up a sweat, then?”

Sunset shook her head. “Oh no, no way. I’m going inside and chatting with Granny Smith over coffee.” She jerked her head towards Morning. “This is your worker today. I trust Applejack filled you in on what to do?”

“Yeah, she told me. Don’t worry, I’ll work her good and hard for you.”

“Sounds good.” Sunset turned to Morning. “Apple Bloom is your boss as long as we’re here. Do what she tells you to do, and if you finish, tell her you’re done so you can do something else. I’ll come get you when it’s time to take a break.”

Morning frowned and bowed her head. “Alright.”

Sunset nodded and walked towards the farmhouse. Apple Bloom smiled and led Morning to a wicker basket. “Alright then, you’re gonna need this.”

“I, uhm… I’m not good at levitating.”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Yeah, me neither!” She patted her head to show it was hornless. “ ‘Round these parts, we do things without magic. Just balance it on your back like this.”

With a little help from Apple Bloom, they got the basket on Morning’s back. It was small enough for a filly like her, while Apple Bloom carried a bigger one. They walked out into the apple orchard.

“What are we doing?” Morning asked.

“Apple bucking.” Apple Bloom walked over to one of the trees. “So whatcha wanna do is get in front of the tree like this, then jus’ give it a good kick.”

Apple Bloom demonstrated, positioning herself in front of the tree and facing away from it. She reared back and kicked out with her hindlegs, and a bunch of apples fell into her basket. Morning blinked, not quite sure she could pull that off.

“Give it a try on that tree over there.”

Morning had her doubts, but she walked over to the tree anyway. She positioned herself like Apple Bloom had done, and she kicked back at the tree.

There was a loud thud when her hoof made contact with it, but that was all. No falling apples, just a filly with a basket who felt very silly.

“There ya go,” Apple Bloom said.

Morning cocked her head to the side. “But nothing happened.”

“Yeah, you need more practice. Keep doing that, and eventually you’ll get the hang of it. Come find me, my brother, or my sister when ya got your basket all filled up.”

Morning frowned as Apple Bloom walked away, bringing her full basket somewhere else. With a sigh, she tried again.

Nothing happened.

Again.

Nothing.

And again.

Morning kept hitting the stupid tree, but no apples fell. She even looked up to make sure they were there, and saw that they were. She just wasn’t strong enough.

What were they thinking? She was just a filly! She was six years old, she couldn’t do this! And it made her legs hurt to keep kicking a tree like this.

This was so dumb. She had been looking out for Sunset. Nopony should be allowed to say things like that about her family, they were good ponies – even if they were also dumb ponies for making her do this. They took her in, and ponies needed to know that Morning wouldn’t let anypony talk about them like that.

Morning gritted her teeth and kicked, imagining it was stupid Gusty Breeze.

Nopony really understood. Morning was under all this pressure now. She was supposed to be a princess, and okay sure, maybe princesses shouldn’t go around fighting with ponies like Gusty, but no one was telling her what princesses were supposed to do! She wanted to be a good filly, a good princess. She wanted them to be proud of her, and no one was telling her how to do that.

She adjusted her stance, and she kicked.

They all kept telling her that she only needed to be herself. That was all well and good for other ponies. Ponies like her moms, they were good! They didn’t have to worry about what would happen if they were their true selves because their true selves would never get into fights, or yell at other ponies, or do all this bad stuff like Morning did.

It wasn’t fair! Morning was just trying to be good and she didn’t know how! And kicking a stupid tree wasn’t going to help, but she had to do it anyway, so she put all of her anger into it, and she kicked with all her might.

An apple fell. Just one apple, and it missed her basket, but it fell. Morning blinked, then she smiled. She did it! She actually managed to buck an apple!

She picked it up and tossed it into her basket, put a grin on, and launched another kick.

There was no end to it. Morning finally filled her little basket, then Apple Bloom just gave her another one. She was angry about that, but she just channeled that into apple bucking.

Little but little, she got less angry. Not that she wasn’t, but she wore herself out hitting the apple trees, and she found her anger was replaced with tiredness.

And eventually, Sunset came to get her. She was levitating a pitcher and two cups with her. “Break time, Mo Glow.”

Morning was huffing and sweating, so she wasn’t about to turn that down. Rather than go anywhere, Sunset took a seat in the shade of the tree that Morning had been bucking, so Morning did the same.

Sunset poured them each a glass of apple juice, then passed one to Morning. It was cold and refreshing, just what she needed after working so hard.

“So how do you feel?” Sunset asked.

“Hot.”

Sunset laughed. “Yeah, that’s fair. Heard you’ve been doing good work, though. Been at it for an hour already.”

“It’s only been an hour!?”

Sunset laughed again. “Yeah, afraid so. But don’t worry, you don’t have to put in a full day’s work or anything.”

“So how long do I have to keep bucking apples?”

Sunset seemed to think for a minute. “I guess that depends on you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, tell you what. You asked me earlier why I was the one taking you out here today, and I did tell the truth about Fluttershy needing to work, but there’s another reason. How about I answer that, and maybe you’ll understand better.”

Morning nodded. “Okay.”

Sunset looked at her for a while, then took a long drink of her juice. When she was done, she looked down at her hooves. “I was a bully. A really bad one. I almost killed my best friend. I almost killed Twilight once. Not on purpose, I didn’t want to kill either of them. But I did a lot of really bad things before I met your other moms.”

Morning thought back on what she heard the other kids saying, about how her ma wasn’t a good pony. She hadn’t expected there to be any truth to that…

Sunset looked at her. “I was just so angry. I was angry at everything, but mostly, I was angry at myself. I knew I had done some bad things, and instead of working on being better, I just let myself become worse and worse. Then I met Mom, and she turned me around. Showed me another way.”

“Did she make you buck apples?”

Sunset chuckled. “No, she did something much worse. She made me have friends.”

Morning scrunched up her face. “That’s not worse!”

Sunset laughed. “To me, it was the worst thing I could imagine. Opening myself up to someone else, letting myself care about someone… It was hard. But that’s not really the point right now. The point is I was just so angry. And I know you get angry too.”

Morning bowed her head.

“It’s okay, Morning. It’s okay to be angry. Even when it’s over something you know you shouldn’t be angry about. It’s never wrong to feel things. On the walk over, when I was talking about my mom, I was angry then. Not at you or anything, but at her. Because just talking about her makes me angry. And it shouldn’t, but it does. I get angry, but I’ve learned to control that anger.”

Morning nodded. She needed to control her anger. “How do you do it?”

“It’s hard. It took me years, and I still mess up. Remember when we saw my dad in Canterlot? I couldn’t control my anger then, and that was bad. But mistakes happen, and all I can do, all anyone can do is try again.”

“It’s hard to keep trying though…”

Sunset placed a hoof under her chin and gently guided her face up so she could see her ma smiling at her. “I know. Trust me, I know. And that’s why we’re here. See, it’s not just about punishing you. Don’t get me wrong, what you did was bad and you’re still grounded. But punishing you isn’t something we want to do. Instead, we want to show you how to be better. And we don’t know what will help you the best, so we’re trying something.”

“Bucking apples is supposed to make me less angry?”

“What did you feel when we made you buck apples?”

“I… I got mad I had to do this…”

“And then what about as the day went on?”

“I guess… I got less angry…”

Sunset nodded. “It’s never okay to hit somepony just because you’re angry. But you know, if you get angry enough that you want to hit something, there’s an awful lot of apples to buck.”

“So if I get angry… I should come and buck apples?”

Sunset nodded. “That’s one thing you can do. And if that doesn’t work, there are other things we can try too. We’re willing to try as many as it takes to help you work out your anger.”

Morning bowed her head, but not because she was upset. For perhaps the first time ever, it really struck Morning how great her moms were and how lucky she was to have them.

She looked at the tree, then back to her ma. “Do I still have to keep bucking apples?”

“Well… what do you want to do? You said it helped you feel less angry. Do you still think you have more anger to work through?”

“I don’t feel angry right now. I just feel tired.” Morning tilted her head to the side. “Can I take a nap?”

Sunset laughed. “You know what? A nap sounds good. I think this feels like a pretty good spot for one, too. What do you think?”

There was some truth to that. The grass was nice and soft, and the autumn air was cool. Still, Morning thought she knew a way to make it better. She stood up and walked over to Sunset, then curled up against her. “Yes, this is a good spot.”

Sunset wrapped a leg around her and kissed her on the head. “Sleep well, Mo Glow.”

Exhausted as she was from the day’s work and as comfortable as she was with her ma beside her, Morning knew she’d be able to do just that.

Author's Note

The Hero Club fillies come from a story of the same name which has had several Who We Become characters appear in it (Amber Glow, Morning Glisten, and Violet Dusk). It's very underrated and well worth a read, one of my favorite fics on this site. These stories are not in the same universe, it's just that Mind Jack and I have worked together for a long time and have an OC sharing policy with one another. These characters aren't just a cameo though, they'll be recurring side characters throughout WWB.

20 – Rifts and Reunions

Chapter Twenty
Rifts and Reunions

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There was a little mouse. Fluttershy was surprised to see it, because for all the animals they had rehomed to the castle, Twilight had drawn the line at mice. Still, there was a little mouse scurrying about. He stopped to look up at Fluttershy for a moment, then went back on his way.

“Hello, little friend,” Fluttershy said with a smile. “Are you lost?”

The mouse let out a squeak, then he ran off. Fluttershy decided to follow him. If he was lost, he probably needed a little bit of help. The crystal castle was not a place for mice, after all.

She followed him upstairs to the seldom-used third floor, curious to see where they ended up. He’d occasionally stop and sniff the air, but he seemed to know where he was going. Fluttershy followed.

He led them to a room Fluttershy had never seen before. It was a big ballroom, and Fluttershy hadn’t ever known it was there. She looked around in wonder, then focussed when she saw her mouse friend was getting away from her.

He turned to her and squeaked, then ran into a small hole in the wall. Fluttershy got down on her stomach to look inside, but it was too dark. Still, it didn’t seem scary. It was filled with warmth, and she decided to try and go after the mouse.

It was a tight fit, but Fluttershy was a small pony. Little by little, she shimmied into the mouse hole. With a look around, she realized she could see after all, and that it seemed to be a tunnel. She started walking, keeping an eye out for the mouse as she did.

She hummed to herself as she walked through the tunnel. It was such a cozy little place, it made her feel warm all over. Eventually she did run into the mouse again, although he was now wearing a vest and standing on two legs.

“Hello, little one.” Fluttershy giggled. They were the same size now that she was in the mouse hole. “Or not so little one. I like your vest, it makes you look very handsome.”

The mouse opened a door, and Fluttershy followed him through. They were back in her cottage, with all her animal friends around her. They were all dressed up for the occasion.

“Hello, everyone,” Fluttershy said. “It’s so nice to see you all!”

“Fluttershy, you’re just in time for tea!” Angel Bunny hopped over to her and smiled. “Come take a seat, the hummingbirds made it special just for you.”

“Oh, how lovely! Of course I’d love some tea.”

“Tea does sound quite nice,” a new voice said. This one didn’t belong here, and it made Fluttershy frown. “Is there room for one more?”

“Hello, Luna,” Fluttershy said as she turned to face the princess. “This is a dream.”

“Yes, a rather lovely one, I might add.”

Fluttershy sighed. “I should have known. Angel is never that friendly.”

As usual, Luna’s arrival made the dream fog lift, and Fluttershy’s thoughts became more lucid. Little by little, details of the waking world seeped into Fluttershy’s head. She had written to Luna asking to meet her in dreams, and Luna had accepted. And now, here she was.

For the first time in many years, Fluttershy was not happy to see Luna. She had asked her here for a reason, and it was not a social one.

Luna seemed to realize that. “I was surprised to see your message. The Princess Summit is less than a month away, after all.”

Fluttershy nodded. “I needed to talk with you. It couldn’t wait that long.”

Luna took a seat at a nearby table while the animals served tea for two. “I hope there is nothing wrong.”

“There is.” Fluttershy took a seat as well. “Stormy Skies is dead. But you probably already know that.”

Luna bowed her head. “I have heard, yes. As you know, I had my ponies keep an eye on him, and I was notified of his passing. I imagine you must have some complicated feelings at the news.”

Fluttershy took a sip of the tea. She had grown accustomed to eating and drinking in dreams, so she was used to how the flavor was strange and difficult to place. It was, after all, an idea of tea rather than actual tea.

“I didn’t feel much of anything when I found out,” Fluttershy explained. “I felt like I should have felt something. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or upset, actually. But I didn’t feel anything at all.”

“He wasn’t part of your life anymore,” Luna said gently. “It is okay to feel disconnected from him.”

“I know. That isn’t what I wanted to talk about.”

“I see. In that case, please continue.” Luna sipped on her tea while allowing Fluttershy to speak.

Not that it was easy to talk about. Not when she knew she wouldn’t like the answer. Fluttershy pressed on. “Twilight and I went to Cloudsdale to go through his things, which I inherited. It was hard being in his apartment, but it wasn’t a long trip, and I was able to get things that belonged to my mom, as well as some nice pictures of her.”

“I’m glad something positive came out of it.”

“We also spoke to one of his neighbors. It was kind of funny. Hearing her describe him, he sounded a lot like me. He liked her cat, and he was quiet and shy. So unlike how he was when I knew him.”

“I see. And now you’re wondering if he really changed?”

That wasn’t what Fluttershy had wanted to talk about, but there was perhaps something she could learn about there. “You had ponies watching him. Did he become a better pony?”

Luna was silent for a moment, then answered. “The ponies I had watching him were mostly doing so from a distance. I can say he never tried to do anything… reprehensible again. But I do not know what he was like as a pony.”

“And now we never will know…” Fluttershy sipped on her tea.

“It troubles you to not know? Fluttershy, you need not worry about him. After what he did to you, no matter what he did afterwards –”

“I’m glad I never have to see him again.” Fluttershy turned to look at Luna. “He could become a national hero, and I would still never want to see him. This isn’t about me wanting to have him back in my life or anything, even if he did find a way to become a good pony.”

Fluttershy winced as she said it. The very idea that Stormy Skies could be called a good pony was a challenge for Fluttershy to accept. Luna took notice. “You are right to remain angry with him.”

“Do you think… there’s anything a pony can’t come back from?” Fluttershy met Luna’s eyes. This answer was important. “I don’t mean that I would have wanted to see him again, but I want to know if he could be a… well, at least an okay pony. A normal pony who goes about his life and doesn’t bother other ponies much. With friends and a job and all that, just living day to day like everypony else.”

“I… I do not know if he was that kind of pony. I know he never hurt anypony else, and that is all I know. I’m sorry I have no closure for you.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “That wasn’t what I asked, Luna. I don’t want to know if he did, I want to know if it’s possible. If even a pony like him can turn himself around. Is there anything a pony can do that’s so bad that they can’t come back from it?”

Luna hesitated. “It is… complicated. But it was you and Twilight and all your friends who taught me that it was okay to forgive myself for the things I had done. I do not know if it is my place to make a judgement on someone else after I myself have done horrible things and then was forgiven for them.”

Fluttershy bowed her head. “But you did make a judgement.”

Luna scrunched up her eyes. “I do not follow. Are you angry at me for keeping watch on him? I assure you, the ponies I had watching him did nothing to impede his life.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “He had nightmares. Terrible ones, every night. His neighbor said he woke up screaming about them sometimes.”

Luna’s face was expressionless. “I see.”

“You do, don’t you? You know what I’m saying.”

“You’re saying I did that.”

“Did you?” Fluttershy didn’t need to ask, but she still did. Part of her wanted Luna to deny it. To say that at worst, she ignored his nightmares. That she was guilty of nothing but inaction.

“I did. You are right, the nightmares were my doing. In light of a proper punishment for him, I thought it prudent to do something.”

Fluttershy nodded. She had known, of course. “You put a Tantabus in his dreams.”

“Yes. I… I see this upsets you, but I will give you nothing but the truth. I did do this.”

For the first time, Fluttershy’s voice carried her anger. “You didn’t even ask me.”

Luna set her teacup down. “I did not think you wanted to know. I thought you had suffered enough, that you did not need to know anything beyond that it was taken care of.”

“That was all I wanted to know. But then… then I didn’t think you would do anything like that!”

Luna was silent for a moment. She looked off to the side, and Fluttershy realized that all the animals were gone. The dream had felt warm and comforting, now it felt cold and lonely. “I am sorry I have upset you. I did not think this would burden you so.”

“Burden me?” Fluttershy shook her head. “My conscience is clean. I didn’t do anything. This is about what you did.”

“Very well. But I would like to understand, why does this upset you so? You endured terrible nightmares for years despite being innocent. Why was it not just that he should have to do the same?”

“Because I was able to heal! I did have terrible nightmares. Every night at first. But little by little, I got better. The nightmares came less and less often, and when they started to come back because I was with Twilight, you helped me then.”

“Of course, it is my duty.”

“A duty you ignored when it was hard,” Fluttershy shot back. “So let’s say you were right, maybe he did deserve to feel what I felt. You could have given him nightmares for a while, then made them go away. I didn’t have nightmares every night for six bucking years, Luna!”

Luna bowed her head. “You are wise, as always, Fluttershy. I was in the wrong.”

“You killed him.”

Luna recoiled. “I did not! Nothing but the nightmares were my doing!”

Fluttershy shook her head. “He died of an overdose, but the only drug he ever talked about taking was alcohol. But he wrote in his journal about killing himself to stop the nightmares. Luna, he wasn’t an addict who went too far one night, he got the pills specifically to kill himself, and that was because of what you did to him!”

For once, Luna seemed to be speechless.

“You didn’t just kill him! You made him do it himself!”

“I did what I did for you!” Luna rose to her hooves. “I was looking out for you!”

Fluttershy flew into the air so that they would be eye to eye. “No! He wasn’t a threat to me anymore! All you had to do was make sure he wasn’t a threat to anyone else either!”

Luna stamped her hoof and glared. “He deserved to pay for what he did to you.”

The room got dark for a moment, and Luna was gone. In her place stood a different pony, and yet, the same pony. Fluttershy locked eyes with Nightmare Moon.

Then it was over. The light returned, and Luna was back. She seemed to know what Fluttershy had seen, as she recoiled back in horror. “Is… is that how you see me?”

Fluttershy stopped flying, landing on the floor and looking away. She did not answer, she didn’t feel like she had to.

“I would never! I would not!” Luna shook her head wildly and looked pleadingly into Fluttershy’s eyes. “I would not prey on the weak like before!”

“You did, though.” Fluttershy looked up at her. Luna was one of her closest friends, the pony she looked up to more than anypony else. “I don’t think you are who I always thought you were.”

“Fluttershy…”

“I would like you to leave my dream now.”

“Please, don’t… We can talk about this.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No. Goodbye, Luna.”

Luna bowed her head, and Fluttershy turned away. “Goodbye, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy gave no answer, and when she turned back, Luna was gone. Fluttershy was all alone, in a dream that felt even colder than before. But she was still lucid in the dream world, which meant she could shape it as she wanted.

Fluttershy walked up to the door of her cottage and opened it. Instead of stepping outside into the front yard, she was in a different house altogether. One she had long since left behind, and had never expected to set hoof in again.

She looked around her childhood home. She had been so afraid here, but now she knew there was no reason to be afraid. Stormy Skies was not going to be here, this was a nice visit.

She walked around a little, remembering things here and there, then she walked to her parents’ bedroom. She pushed the door open gently.

A mare who looked a lot like Fluttershy was sitting on the bed, working on her embroidery. She smiled as Fluttershy stepped in, and Fluttershy couldn’t keep the tears from coming.

“Fluttershy,” Breezy Day said. “My little Fluttershy. You’ve gotten so big!”

“Hi, Mama,” Fluttershy said, inhaling sharply as she cried. “I have so much to tell you.”

Breezy Day set aside the embroidery. “Come sit here with me. I want to hear about everything.”

Fluttershy walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. There was so much she needed to tell her mom. About her wives, about their daughter, all the friends she had made, and all the things she had done.

But mostly, she wanted one thing more than anything else. She sat on the bed and hugged her mom. “I’ve missed you, Mama.”

Breezy Day stroked Fluttershy’s mane. “I’ve missed you too, my dear. I love you, Fluttershy, and I’m so proud of you.”

Fluttershy nodded her head as the tears kept coming. “I love you too, Mama.”

“There there.” Breezy held onto Fluttershy and hummed soothingly until Fluttershy felt like she could talk. “Now, why don’t you tell me about what you’ve been up to these days?”

Fluttershy smiled, and she did just that.

21 – Conversations Over Coffee

Chapter Twenty-One
Conversations Over Coffee

⠀

⠀
In truth, Sunset probably should have ignored the request. She knew that. So what if her mom wanted to meet with her? Sunset didn’t owe anything to Golden Lace.

But… she had a certain morbid curiosity with how her mom’s life after the divorce was going. For example, why had she moved to Sire’s Hollow? Had she retired from her precious company? And what was up with that time she had written an open letter defending Sunset’s marriage?

Golden Lace’s letter had requested that Sunset bring her family, but she had learned her lesson from bringing them to see Brass Badge. There was no telling if Sunset was going to keep her temper in check around her mom, and she didn’t want Morning to see her like that again. Besides, they all had other things to do.

So Sunset found herself getting off the train in Sire’s Hollow alone. She checked the letter her mom had sent for the address, and started walking.

Along the way, a few townsponies took notice of her, but that was expected. Sire’s Hollow was a pretty small town, it wasn’t the kind of place one would expect to see a famous pony walking down the street, and she had come wearing her captain’s uniform. It helped her to think of this as an official visit of some sort rather than some family thing.

After stopping and getting directions a few times, Sunset found herself standing in front of an unassuming house. It wasn’t that Sunset particularly cared if they were meeting in an upscale place or just a cozy country home, but it was strange to imagine her mom retiring to a place like this.

Well, she’d find out what was going on soon enough. She knocked on the door. A few moments passed, then a mare who was not Golden Lace opened it. She was an orange mare with white socks and a reddish-brown mane.

“Uh, hi, I’m looking for Golden Lace?” Sunset said, wondering if this other mare was some sort of hired help. This place wasn’t big enough to need a maid, but her mom was used to being waited on, so it wouldn’t be that strange to imagine she’d hired one anyway.

“Right, I know who you are,” the mare said. “Come on in, Lace is already here.”

Okay, there was no way a maid would call her mom Lace. She was about the same age as Golden Lace, so maybe they were friends? Did… did her mom have friends?

One way or another, Sunset stepped into the house. They passed through a kitchen and into a dining room. It was a nice place with a very homey feel to it, which made her mom look out of place when they saw one another.

Still, there she was. Golden Lace was sipping on a drink of some sort, and she smiled as Sunset entered. The smile also looked out of place on her. “Sunset! Come take a seat, there’s somepony here I’d like you to meet. I see you’ve already met Stellar Flare.”

Sunset did as she asked. The pony she was talking to was a yellow stallion with a two-toned orange mane. He gave Sunset a strange look, almost like he recognized her.

On second thought, of course he did. She was pretty famous, after all. Plus he knew Sunset’s mom, so it made sense he knew about her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Sunset Shimmer.”

“Sunset Shimmer,” the stallion said. He shook his head and grinned. “Sorry, I’m just a little lost in thought. My name’s Sunspot.”

“Wait, I’ll go get Sunburst,” Stellar Flare said. “We should all be together for this.”

Golden Lace looked between Sunset and Sunspot. “I can’t believe it. The three of us all here together for the first time.”

Sunspot nodded. “I never thought I’d see this day.”

Sunset just cocked her head to the side. “What’s going on here?”

“In a minute, Sunset,” Lace said. “We’ll wait until Sunspot and Stellar are here. But where’s your family? I thought everyone would come.”

“Yeah, well, Morning has school and Twilight and Fluttershy have work. We’ve got the Princess Summit coming up, you know. Really, I should be back in Ponyville getting ready for it, or in the Crystal Empire checking on preparations.”

“Thank you for making the time to come out,” Golden Lace said. It seemed odd for her mother to thank her for anything. “You’ll see soon enough, but this is an important meeting.”

“It’s amazing to think you’re a princess,” Sunspot said. “Sorry, I know that doesn’t make sense to you that I would think that, but I’ve been following your story for years. Never thought we’d actually meet though.”

Sunset nodded. She was used to ponies saying things like that to her before, but never quite like this. He was acting like he was personally invested in her story. “Well, it’s certainly been quite the ride.”

Stellar Flare returned with a stallion, and it wasn’t hard to tell he was their kid. He was younger than Sunset, maybe around his mid-twenties. A lighter orange than his mother, though he had her white socks. He also had his dad’s two-toned orange mane, an orange goatee, and he wore glasses and a cape.

“Sunset, this is Sunburst,” Golden Lace said. “He’s Stellar and Sunspot’s son.”

Sunset nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

Sunburst looked at Sunset and adjusted his glasses. “Yeah, the resemblance is hard to miss.”

Sunset scrunched up her face. “Resemblance?”

“We haven’t quite gotten to that,” Sunspot said. “Though now that we’re all here, maybe we should explain?”

“Wait, let me serve dinner,” Stellar Flare said. “Once that cat’s out of the bag, we’ll forget all about the food, and I went through all the effort of cooking it for everyone.”

“I don’t think anything will get in the way of Dad’s appetite,” Sunburst said with a chuckle.

“If anything might, this is it,” Sunspot said.

Sunset cocked her head to the side at that. Sure, she was a big deal, but he already knew her mom… “So we haven’t met before or anything, right?”

“No,” Sunspot said. “Not really, anyway. The last time I saw you, you were still in your mom’s belly. I wanted to see you after that, but… well, I didn’t think your mom would like that much, and I had my own family by then…”

Golden Lace put a hoof on Sunspot’s. “You’re confusing the poor thing.”

Sunset’s ear twitched. She wasn’t fond of being talked to as if she were a child, especially by her mom. “Well, if no one’s going to tell me what’s up, what about you, Mom? How’s life without Dad?”

Golden Lace waved a hoof in the air. “Never been better, dear. Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t do this sooner.”

“Dad said it was seeing us at our wedding that did it. Something about you two talking on the night after.”

Golden Lace nodded. “That’s right. I haven’t had the best opinion of marriage in a long time, but you showed me I was wrong. It wasn’t marriage that was the problem, it was my marriage in particular. So, I decided to break things off with Brass and try to find another way to be happy.”

Sunset nodded. “So you’re dating then? Anyone I should know about?”

Golden Lace blushed and glanced towards Sunspot, and pieces fell into place. “No, no one right now.”

Sunset put on a grin, positive that even if nothing was going on between her and Sunspot, clearly she wanted something to be going on. Had her mom asked her here to be her wingmare? She certainly knew a thing or two about polyamorous relationships, after all.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone,” was all that Sunset said as she debated if she would play along. She didn’t much care about her mom’s love life, but it could be kind of fun. Besides, she had come all this way. Maybe at least for the evening, she could see what she could do.

“Someone want to give me a hoof?” Stellar called from the kitchen.

“Coming, Mom!” Sunburst stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaving the others alone again.

Her mom might have called in help from the right pony, but she really had gone about it in a dumb way. Sunset wanted at least a few minutes to ask her mom some questions in private, to get a feel of the situation. It seemed she’d have to think on her hooves, though.

“So Sunspot,” Sunset said, “how long have you and Stellar been married?”

Sunspot let out a whistle. “I’m glad you asked me that when she wasn’t around to hear. Let’s see… I’m going to guess thirty-three years.”

“That’s impressive,” Sunset said. That gave her a guess into his age, as well. Sunspot and Stellar Flare were probably in their mid-fifties, maybe early sixties, and they were extremely well established in their relationship. And it was true that some older ponies were polyamorous, of course, but Sunset had no idea if they were considering her mom didn’t stop to talk to her about it at all! ‘Great, Mom, way to pick a challenge for me to try and work a miracle on.’

Not like she had much time to work on things. Stellar Flare and Sunburst returned to the room levitating several dishes. It seemed that soup and salad was the menu for the night, and everyone got a bowl of each. It was a simple dinner, but Sunset didn’t mind.

“So does anyone want to fill me in on what’s going on?” Sunset said as she sipped on her soup. Although she was pretty sure she had figured out her mom’s real intentions, everyone else seemed to have some other idea of what was going on.

“It might be a bit of a shock,” Sunspot said.

“But if you really think about it, I think you’ll see this is good news,” Golden Lace said.

“Someone just tell her, or I will,” Stellar said.

Golden Lace and Sunspot gave each other a meaningful look and Sunset couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m sorry, it’s just… Okay, if I’m wrong this will sound really bad, but are you two, you know… together?”

They both blushed and looked away from each other.

Sunset laughed more at that. “Oh man, you are. I was wondering what was up when you said you weren’t seeing anyone. Come on, I’m thirty-seven and have two wives. You can’t think I’m gonna be weirded out because my mom is seeing another stallion.”

Sunburst choked on his salad, and Stellar Flare cleared her throat without saying anything. Sunspot and Golden Lace continued blushing and not looking at one another.

Although she kept grinning, Sunset felt a lump in her throat. “Well, shit. I guessed wrong and now everything’s weird.”

“I… can see why you thought that,” Sunspot said. “But no, Lace and I haven’t been a couple in a long time.”

“Oh. I thought you didn’t date anyone before Dad.”

“I, er, I didn’t.” Golden Lace moved her soup around and frowned.

Sunset went wide-eyed. “Oh shit.”

“I had an affair on your father with Sunspot,” Lace said. She spoke plainly, not dwelling on it in shame, but also not brushing it off as insignificant. She was just stating it was a thing that happened. “An affair that ended with a pregnancy.”

“Fuck.” Sunset looked around the room at the other ponies, noticing a certain resemblance as she did. Suddenly the night was making more sense, at the cost of the entirety of her life leading up to it. “And I’m guessing the pony you were pregnant with was not Sunburst.”

“Nope,” Sunburst said. “I was born after all that was done with. Didn’t even know Dad had another kid until Lace showed up a year ago.”

“I knew,” Stellar Flare said. “I knew about you before I ever started dating Sunspot. But you were a world away from us, all the way in Canterlot being raised by Lace and her husband.”

“I wanted to reach out to you sooner,” Sunspot said. As Stellar had predicted, he set his spoon down in favor of looking longingly at Sunset. “I always did. I didn’t know anything about you until you came out as Princess Twilight’s marefriend, but then I looked into you and learned who your mother is. And the resemblance was easy to see, even though she changed your name…”

“Changed my name?” Sunset looked at her mom instead of Sunspot. As far as she was concerned, it was Golden Lace who owed her answers. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Lace chanced a look at her daughter. “Sunspot – your father wanted to name you Sunrise.”

“Okay, first off, he’s not my father.” Sunset put a hoof to her temple. “Look, you’re probably a nice guy and all, but I’m thirty-seven fucking years old. I don’t need a new god damn dad.”

Golden Lace cleared her throat. “Sunset studied abroad for a number of years. She picked up a… colorful vocabulary.”

“Right, my language is the problem here,” Sunset grumbled. “Seriously, how could you hide this from me!? And what about Dad?”

“Brass Badge knew,” Golden Lace said. “He didn’t know who Sunspot was, but he knew you were another stallion’s.”

“Sunset,” Sunspot said calmly. “I realize this is a lot for you to take in. And you’re far too old for me to come in and try to be a father to you after all these years. But I want you to know you’ve always been in my thoughts.”

She was always in his thoughts, and she didn’t even know he existed. Meanwhile, she’d been told another stallion was her father, one who bullied her into submission at every turn.

It was too much. Sunset stood up and stepped away from the table. “I’m going to get some fresh air.”

No one stopped her as she walked out of the house. She stepped outside and looked around, letting the cool autumn air clear her head a little bit.

What the hell did her mom think she was trying to pull? Okay, so all this shit happened. The pony she always thought was her dad wasn’t, and this pony she didn’t know was, at least on a biological level.

But to invite her here and introduce her to all these ponies and then drop this on her? Why the fuck couldn’t they meet in private for this? Hell, a letter explaining it all would have been better, then she could have taken all the time she needed to sort out her feelings in private and decided if she wanted to meet with these ponies or not.

The door opened behind her, and she sighed. She turned, expecting to see her mom but finding somepony very different. “Sunburst, right?”

“Yeah, that’s me.” Sunburst walked over to stand beside her. “I think they figured you’re probably not mad at me.”

“I’m only mad at my mom, but frankly it’s better you than your dad.” Sunset sighed. “What a fucking thing to learn.”

“Tell me about it. I mean, I’m sure it’s even weirder for you, but finding out my dad had a foal with another mare was like… I didn’t even know who he was anymore.”

“Heh.” Sunset grinned. “I don’t think I’ve ever known who my parents really are. We didn’t have the best relationship.”

“Yeah, Lace told us about that.”

“So your mom seems pretty cool with my mom showing up. What’s up with that?”

Sunburst shrugged. “I don’t know, really. I think… I think my dad was always really upset about not being able to know you, so my mom is just glad he has that chance now.”

Sunset smirked. “Is this the part where you ask me to come back in so your dad can get to know me or whatever?”

Sunburst chuckled. “If I were you? I’d probably already be heading for the hills. I won’t stop you if you want to leave.”

“It’s cute that you think you even could.”

“I’ve read about you. Before I even knew we were, er, related. Your work on the marriage of magic and technology is fascinating.”

“Oh yeah? What about you, what do you do?”

Sunburst blushed. “I’m just a researcher right now. I mean… I’m twenty-five and I live with my parents, so you know… Not exactly making a whole lot of my life.”

“What do you research?”

“Everything! It started with just magic, but your work with Twilight got me really interested in technology too.” Sunburst grinned broadly, then his mouth fell open. “Oh! I mean Princess Twilight, of course.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Hey, it’s fine. I mean… I guess we’re family now, right?”

“Well, yeah, I guess we are.” Sunburst adjusted his glasses as he shifted nervously. “You know, I don’t think anyone wants to force this family thing on you. If you don’t want to see us as your family, that’s fine. It’s just… good for each of us to know the other exists.”

“I guess.” Sunset kicked her hoof idly. If it was just Sunburst, that’d be one thing. Sunset had grown up an only child, but she loved stepping into the big sister role for Spike. Having a brother of her own wasn’t a problem.

But she did not need a new dad. It didn’t matter that she didn’t like the one she had, she was comfortable with her parent situation being exactly what it had always been.

“So… where did you study abroad?” Sunburst asked.

That got Sunset to laugh a little. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“I don’t know, I can believe some pretty crazy stuff. Theoretical magic researcher, remember?”

“I went through a portal to another world. Got stuck there –”

“For fourteen years,” Sunburst finished for her. He was staring at her in awe, but he seemed to take her word as truth.

“Heads up, it’s always a little weird when ponies know things about you just because you’re famous.”

“Sorry. I just read a lot about you when I was studying your work, and I noticed there was a sizable gap in your life. It was like one day you were just gone, then you came back and started making public appearances with Princess Luna.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much what happened. I went through this magic mirror and came out the other side as a human. They’re these weird bipedal creatures, and they’re the dominant species in the other world. Lived there for a long time with no way home, then when I found a way back, I decided to stay in that other world for a while. Long story. After a while, I just figured I was going to make my life there, but a bad break up sent me back here.”

“Wow. That’s incredible!”

“I’ve lived an interesting life,” Sunset said with a shrug. “I’ll tell you more about it sometime. You can come visit me in Ponyville or something, we can compare research notes and all that stuff.”

“That would be amazing!”

“For right now, my mom and I need to have a chat.” Sunset sighed. “And neither of us are going to like it much.”

“Last chance to turn and run.”

Sunset smiled. “I would’ve taken that chance once, you know. But I’ve run away from things a lot, and it never helps.”

Sunburst nodded and led them to the house. He held the door open for Sunset, who walked in to find the others talking. Whatever they were discussing though, they dropped all conversation as Sunset walked back in.

She looked around the room as Sunburst walked in and made his way past her. She took a deep breath and sighed, then got into what she had to say.

“Okay, so I’m sure you’re all great people, but I wasn’t looking for a whole new family. I have a family, and frankly it’s kind of a crazy one already without adding any craziness to it.” She met eyes with Sunspot, who was frowning slightly but who nodded his understanding.

“But,” Sunset continued, “I guess life doesn’t always give us what we want. What I’m saying is I guess I’ll probably never really see you as my dad. But family is more than what we can easily define, and I guess if we all want to get to know each other better, then we can do that.”

Sunspot broke into a smile. “I for one think that would be perfect.”

“That said, I’m leaving. I need some time to think about all of this on my own, and I’m taking my mom with me because I need to talk to her. But you’re all invited as my guests to the Princess Summit in the Crystal Empire. All expenses paid, of course. By then… I’ll be ready to talk to you all about this whole family thing.”

“Th-The Crystal Empire!?” Sunburst sputtered. “I’ve always wanted to go to the Crystal Empire!”

“That sounds really nice,” Stellar Flare said. She stood up and walked over to Sunset. “I think we all understand that you’re not looking for new parents. But we’d all really like to get to know you better.”

“I… think I’d like that too,” Sunset admitted.

Stellar gave her a quick hug, then stepped back. Sunspot also approached her, although he kept it at a friendly hoof bump. Sunset could tell he wanted a hug as well, but she wasn’t feeling very huggy.

That just left Golden Lace. She nodded to Sunset, who nodded in turn. Sunset turned and led them out of the house, with everyone wishing her a hearty goodbye as they left.

Once they were outside, Sunset turned to her mom. “Do you know your way around this town?”

“Yes. I do still live in Canterlot, but I’ve been visiting quite a bit.”

Sunset nodded. “Where can we go for coffee at this hour?”

“Coffee? Well, there is a diner not too far. We could always go for something stronger, if you’d like.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Mom, I’m a recovering alcoholic.”

“You are?”

Sunset sighed. Why had she expected her mom to know that? “Yes, and I’m four years sober. Coffee.”

Golden Lace nodded and led the way. “They really are nice ponies, you know.”

“I’m sure they are.”

“I’ve always thought… if I had gone with Sunspot instead of Brass Badge, we could have made such a nice family.”

That idea just made Sunset angry. “Yeah, well, if you and Dad hadn’t been so awful to me, we could have made a nice family.”

Golden Lace bowed her head and didn’t speak after that.

The walk to the diner was an uncomfortable one, but Sunset preferred the silence to listening to her mom prattle on about how she could have been a better mom. Slowly as she walked, everything that she’d learned sunk in. It was kind of funny; if her mom hadn’t been there, she might have wanted to spend some more time with her new family members.

But as long as her mom was around, Sunset would only be thinking about her. Thinking about her parents was the last thing Sunset wanted to do, so they had better clear the air with all of this stuff as quickly as possible.

“Here we are,” Golden Lace said as they approached a small diner. Sunset held the door open with her magic, and they both walked inside.

“Take a seat, and I’ll be right with you,” a mare said. They took a seat in a corner booth, away from other ponies.

“Don’t suppose you’ve ever been here?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, we get breakfast here when I’m in town sometimes.”

Sunset quirked her eyebrow. “I don’t think you’ve ever eaten at anything but a five-star restaurant as long as I’ve known you.”

“Sunspot and his family have always been working-class ponies. And Sire’s Hollow doesn’t have high society, anyway.”

Sunset smirked. “Bet you hate that.”

“Actually, it’s kind of nice.”

Sunset wasn’t sure what to say, but was saved when their waitress showed up. “What can I get you two?”

“Just coffee for me,” Sunset said. “Cream and three sugars.”

“I’ll have coffee as well. Black, two sugars.”

“You got it, I’ll be right back with them.” The waitress disappeared, leaving Sunset and her mom to talk.

They proceeded to not do that. It had seemed to Sunset that she’d have so much to say, but now…

They sat in silence until their coffee arrived, then they thanked the waitress, and Sunset began sipping on her coffee.

“I’ve never understood how you can drink things so hot,” Lace said. “Just like your… like Brass Badge.”

Sunset had preferred to credit that trait of hers to Celestia, but it was true that her father was the same way. “I’ve learned a lot from him, for better or worse.”

“I suppose you have.”

Sunset sighed and leaned forward. They might as well get into it. “Why now, Mom? You and Dad divorced like a year ago. You could have reached out to me about this at any point.”

“I wasn’t sure I was going to. I didn’t know if I was going to ever see Sunspot again, or if he’d want to meet you. Then it felt like too much too fast to try to do it immediately.”

“Yeah, what about me!? Don’t you think inviting me out here to meet them at the same time as you tell me about them is too much too fast for me!?”

Golden Lace sipped her coffee gingerly, then set it aside to cool more. “I know you don’t care for me much. I thought if you met them… maybe you’d like them enough to want to make this work.”

“And what does making this work mean to you?” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “What, you think this is a way back into my life?”

“Quite the contrary. I don’t think you want me back in your life, and I’m not sure it would do me any good either.”

“So what?”

“It’s… for Sunspot. He’s always wanted to know you, and I took that from him.”

Sunset looked at her mom, then sighed and looked away. “For fuck’s sake, you do still love him.”

“Language, Sunset.”

Sunset shook her head and rolled her eyes. “So am I, like, your way into Sunspot’s family?”

“I suppose if I said ‘yes’, you’d hold that against me.”

Sunset smirked. “Honestly, I’d just be glad to know where we stand.”

Golden Lace was quiet for a moment, then she said. “I wish I had been a better mother to you. Unlike Brass, I know I was awful. I’ve always known that. I used to think that made me better than him, but maybe it made me worse. At least he did what he thought was right, I was always the coward who just did what was easy.”

“Yeah yeah, you both sucked in different ways.”

“What I’m saying is I’m sorry. It’s too little too late, but I am sorry for how I was to you.”

Sunset just sipped on her coffee. It was too little too late, but there was no sense in harping on that.

“I am…” Lace sighed. “This isn’t easy for me, and I wouldn’t blame you for refusing, but I’m asking for your help. Sunspot is… he was the one thing I did that was right, for a little while. And there’s something there, there is! I know he still cares about me, and Stellar… Stellar has been my first true friend since, well, since her husband. And… and…”

“Jesus Christ, Mom, do not start crying.” Sunset pressed a hoof to her temple. She sipped on more of her coffee and thought. “Alright, I’ll help you. You wrote that article that one time, and… it actually meant something to me to see you defend us. So to repay you for that, I’ll help you with this. But there are rules.”

“What are they?”

“I’m not at your beck and call. I have my own life. For fuck’s sake, I have a daughter, whom you haven’t even asked about.”

“Oh…” Lace winced. “Morning Glisten, how is she?”

“She’s good. I guess you’ll meet her at the Princess Summit, but that’s rule two. If you do anything to ever hurt Morning in any way, I will never forgive you. You may be her grandma, but you’re not entitled to her love. You’re not even entitled to her time.”

Golden Lace looked like she might protest, but then bowed her head. “Of course. I’m sure you’re a much better mother than I was. I would probably just mess things up.”

Sunset frowned at her for a moment, then sighed. “Ugh, fine, you’re seeing her anyway. Just don’t do anything weird and it’s fine.”

Golden Lace nodded. “Anything else?”

“I’m not helping you get Sunspot to cheat. If they want to do the poly thing that’s fine and I can help answer questions, but cheating isn’t something I’m okay with.”

Golden Lace sighed. “I was young and stupid when I had an affair. I wouldn’t do that again. Not to myself, and not to either of them. Stellar knows what we were to each other, and she still lets me into their home, into their lives.”

Sunset considered for a moment if there were any other rules she wanted to add. This was her chance to get anything she wanted from her mom, after all. “I guess that’s it. So what are you going to do after this?”

“I guess I’ll go back to Sunspot’s house. That’s where I’m staying while I’m in town.”

“You’re staying at their house?”

“They insist. I’m always a guest when I come to visit. What about you? I could ask them if you can stay, though someone will have to sleep on the couch.”

“Nah, that’d be a little too awkward. I’m hopping on a midnight train and getting out of here.”

Golden Lace drank some more of her coffee. “Of course.”

Sunset took a big drink of her own, eager to finish it so she could get going. Although she knew there was another question she needed to ask. “Why did you write that article? You never seemed to care about our marriage before.”

“I may not be a good mother, but I am your mother. I know what ponies are saying about you three, so I wanted to say something of my own.”

Sunset nodded slowly. It was what she had expected. What she had wanted, even. But then, it did bring another question to mind. “Why did you wait until I was an adult to stand up for me? You know what Dad was like to me growing up. I always wanted you to say something to him.”

“I tried. Not as often as I should have, but I tried talking to him about you.” Golden Lace looked away. “But… I was a coward. He was worse with me, you know. He liked you.”

“Never felt like it…”

“I know, but he did.” Golden Lace smiled a little. “At least until you left with Celestia, not sure he liked you much after that. You really hurt his pride that night.”

“I thought that was going to be it, my life would be fine after that. But then Cadance showed up, and suddenly I felt like I needed to be Celestia’s favorite.”

“You think you weren’t?”

Sunset laughed. “I mean, Cadance calls her “aunt”. They’re, you know, family. I don’t mind now, I’m happy being her gifted student, but back then? It was infuriating.”

“She didn’t walk Cadance down the aisle at her wedding, you know.”

“No, but she presided over their marriage.”

Golden Lace sipped on her coffee before answering. “I can only speculate. I don’t know Celestia well. I don’t even know you that well, really.”

“No, I guess you don’t.” Sunset drained the last of her coffee then set the cup aside while she waited for her mom to do the same.

Golden Lace picked up on the cue and finished hers as well, then she stood up. “I’ll pay for the coffee.”

“How generous,” Sunset said with a smirk.

Golden Lace left a few bits on the table, and the two of them left the building. They were headed different directions after that, so they stopped outside of the diner.

“You know the way back to the station?” Lace asked.

“Yeah, I’ll manage.” Sunset sighed. “You know, all things considered, I hope things work out well for you and Sunspot.”

“I’m content to just be part of their lives.”

Sunset nodded. She had felt that way about Twilight and Fluttershy before they had started dating. “Take care, Mom.”

“You too, Sunset.”

There was no hug goodbye. They didn’t even bump hooves. Sunset simply walked away, and her mom did the same.

It was late, and Sunset was tired. She was ready to go to bed by the time the train pulled to a stop, and walking through town didn’t help that feeling any. She longed to be in bed with her wives, but that wasn’t happening tonight.

Instead, Sunset found herself standing in front of a familiar door that she kept hoping she wouldn’t come back to, but that she kept seeing anyway. Without a care for what time it was, she rang the doorbell.

A minute passed in still silence, during which Sunset had the chance to regret her decision. What if he didn’t answer? She hadn’t come all this way to be left on the doorstep. She thought about teleporting inside, which brought a smile to her face. It would frankly be hilarious to scare him by appearing in his house unannounced.

But she was not left on the doorstep. The door opened, and Brass Badge stood before her. He was frowning, and Sunset wondered if it was because of the hour or because of whom he was looking at. Probably both.

“Sunset,” he said. “It’s three in the morning.”

“Yeah, well, I talked to Mom.”

“Oh.” He stepped aside. “In that case, come in.”

Sunset smirked as she walked into the house. He shut the door behind her. “The staff have gone home for the evening, but I could prepare us some tea or coffee.”

Sunset doubted very much that he knew how to properly prepare either, but she appreciated that he didn’t offer to take her to a bar. “Coffee sounds good, but I’ll make it.”

He nodded and led them to the kitchen. They didn’t talk as Sunset got to work preparing the coffee, not until she was waiting for the coffee to boil and didn’t have anything else to keep her attention.

“Did I wake you?” Sunset asked.

Brass Badge had taken a seat at the kitchen table, and he didn’t seem to be too tired. “No. I have difficulty sleeping through the night these days. Getting old isn’t so fun, you know.”

“I’ll try to avoid doing that, then.”

“What about you? You were always up late into the night studying.”

“I thought you didn’t know that,” Sunset said with a smirk. “I was supposed to be sleeping.”

“And I was supposed to be making sure you did sleep.” Brass Badge turned to her with a hard to place expression. It almost looked amused, except he was incapable of ever looking anything but stern, so somehow he combined both emotions into one look. “I guess we both were misbehaving.”

“Guess so. I still stay up late into the night when I’m working on things, although these days I have to try and keep on schedule.”

“Of course, you have a daughter now.” Brass Badge nodded. “How is little Morning doing? Her studies are going well, I take it?”

“Yeah, they’re learning about the history of Ponyville at the school. She’s doing well, although she did get into a fight last week.”

“Did she win?”

“Don’t think so, she walked away with a black eye.”

“Pity.”

Now Sunset was sure they were both amused. The coffee had boiled long enough, so Sunset set it aside to cool. She took a seat while she did.

“So she’s feisty like her mom, eh?” Brass Badge asked.

“Her ma,” Sunset corrected. “We all got different mom titles. Twilight’s Mom, Fluttershy’s Mama, and I’m Ma. But yeah, she’s a lot like me.”

“Ma, huh? Interesting. Sounds like an earth pony thing.”

“Not every country pony is an earth pony,” Sunset pointed out. “But it’s not really a pony thing at all. I was kinda taken in by this family in the human world. They were pretty country, so I figured what the hell, might as well lean into that.”

“I see.”

“Humans, they don’t even have different types. Everyone’s just human. And sure, they find other reasons to hate each other, but it makes you realize that all the separation is bullshit. The whole unicorn elitism of Canterlot, or the pegasus elitism of Cloudsdale, it’s just blatant racism.”

“You’ve grown very worldly, I see.” Brass Badge nodded. “You remind me of my brother in his letters from the zebra lands.”

“It’s still strange to think you had a brother.”

Brass Badge nodded. “I think you’d have liked him. He was a stallion of honor, as well as kind and well-spoken.”

It was strange to hear her father talk so highly of someone. “I know you said you didn’t really know him, but It really sounds like you looked up to him.”

“I was expected to replace him. When he died, I became the only son, the bearer of the legacy. I… did not live up to him.”

Sunset blinked. Her father had always been so proud of his work. “You’ve done so much for Equestria though.”

“At a great cost.”

Was he talking about Sunset? Her mom’s words that Brass Badge had actually liked her rang in her ears. She shook away the thoughts and got them their coffee with her magic so she didn’t have to get up.

He took his without thanking her, and sipped on it carefully. Sunset did the same.

“So I guess now it’s up to me to lead the family legacy, huh?”

“I guess it is. I don’t expect you to care much, though.”

“Honestly? No, I can’t say I do. These days, I care about being a good mom, and that’s about it. It’s hard. I don’t have the best role models.”

“No, I suppose you don’t.” Brass Badge sipped on his coffee.

Sunset sighed. “You know what Mom told me.”

“I do.”

“You could’ve warned me.”

“I… had hoped it would not come up.”

“Why? What, are you afraid I’m going to leave the family legacy now that I know I’m some other stallion’s screwup?”

“No. I’ve figured you left the family legacy for many years now.”

“Then what?”

Brass Badge was quiet for a moment, then said, “I don’t have the words. I’ve never been good at this.”

Sunset sipped her coffee and took a guess. “Is it all that ‘I am your father’ crap? You’re afraid that now I’ll turn tail and leave you behind?”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Brass Badge said, and Sunset took that as a yes.

She sighed. “Look, you were an awful father. You really were, in so many ways. Mom says you actually used to like me back when I was a kid, but fuck, I didn’t even know that. But you know, you’re still my dad.”

“Even now?”

Sunset sighed. “This really should be apparent given my family, but I don’t give a shit about biology. You’ve always been my dad, and there are a lot of times I wished you weren’t, but that doesn’t mean you’re not. So we can go on not liking each other and being this dysfunctional family, but we’re still family.”

“I never said I don’t like you.”

That caught Sunset off guard. “Are you really saying you like me, even after all the shit I did? Leaving with Celestia, publicly humiliating you at the first wedding, just, like, every fucking word I’ve said to you since I came back to Equestria?”

Brass Badge sighed. “You have not been kind to me, but I do not deserve your kindness. I’ve been watching you and what you do. I’m proud to see your accomplishments.”

Sunset laughed. “I guess whether I care about the family legacy, becoming a successful inventor pays into it well.”

“Not just that. Embracing and defending your love life being what it is. Taking an interest in politics and standing up for what you think is right. Confronting your struggles with alcohol.”

“So you actually know I’m sober now. I was wondering about that.”

“Of course I know. Do you think I drink coffee at three in the morning habitually?”

“I don’t fucking know. That’s kind of a thing, I don’t know anything about you.”

“I suppose you don’t.”

Sunset shook her head and drank some of her coffee. She wasn’t sure where this conversation was going, but it was surreal. She’d never had a real conversation with her parents before, and now she was having her second one of the night.

“So what is your story?” Sunset asked. “Not just the military stuff, I know that. But why go into the military in the first place?”

Brass Badge shifted in his seat, and it occurred to Sunset that he looked very old. “Our family has a long history of soldiers and strategists. I happened to be good at the latter, so that’s what I leaned into. It worked. Bronze Star was already in the military, so my joining reflected well on him, and whatever reflected well on him reflected well on the family.”

“Then he died.”

“Then he died, and I became the heir to the legacy.”

“Sounds fun.”

Brass Badge shook his head. “I decided I wasn’t going to have kids.”

Sunset blinked. She had always been so sure she was born specifically to carry the family legacy, it was hard to believe he would ever let it die. “What about the legacy?”

“What about it?”

“You were just going to let it end with you?”

“I was. And then Lace came home pregnant, and suddenly that plan was shot.”

Sunset couldn’t help but smirk. “Look at me, fucking things up before I was even born.”

Brass Bade drank from his coffee. “At the time, I thought it was a punishment. I was abandoning the family legacy, so I had the choice taken from me. I had a daughter, whether I wanted one or not.”

“You could have put me up for adoption, or even convinced Mom to get an abortion.”

“I had tried to spurn the family legacy once. I was… afraid to try it again. And while you’ll find this ‘elitist’ of me, I’m sure, I was not prepared to face the scandal.”

Sunset nodded and sipped her coffee. “So you really thought everything you were doing was for me?”

“I did. I only realized at your wedding I was wrong when I saw Celestia walk you down the aisle.”

“Upset I chose someone who wasn’t you?”

“No. I was happy.”

Sunset wasn’t sure what to make of this. This whole side of her father was one she had never expected was even there, let alone that she’d see it at three in the morning after learning he wasn’t her biological father.

“This has been a hell of a day…” she said.

“I suppose you’ll be staying here tonight?”

“I suppose I will.”

Brass Badge nodded. “Very well. You know where the guest bedrooms are.”

“No, I’m staying in my old bedroom. Don’t worry, I know where that is too.”

“You should know that nopony’s set hoof in there since you left it.”

“I’m not afraid of a little dust.”

Brass Badge nodded. “Very well.”

Sunset drained the last of her coffee. “What do you do with yourself these days? You’re retired, you’ve never had a lot of friends, I’ve never known you to have hobbies.”

“I’ve taken up model making. It’s good to keep busy. There’s the occasional Canterlot garden party, but mostly I just kill time while I wait for time to kill me.”

Sunset nodded. “Look, Dad… I’m glad we had this talk. And I guess I’m not as angry with you as I used to be. But… I don’t think there can ever be a good relationship between us. I’m not looking to make up for lost time or anything, I’m happy with my family being what it is.”

Brass Badge nodded. “I expected as much.”

“But… Morning kinda likes you. I think she might like to have a second grandfather in her life.”

Brass Badge looked down into his coffee. “I would like that.”

“Do you think you can get along with Mom and the stallion who knocked her up?”

“Are they together?”

“No, but they’re close. Mom wants to date him, but he’s got a wife. They’re all friends, it’s kinda weird to see.”

“I’m glad she’s finding some way to be happy. I won’t cause any problems with them.”

Sunset nodded. “Then come to the Princess Summit. You can see Morning there.”

“I wouldn’t miss it. Thank you for allowing me to be in her life.”

Sunset had no obligation to invite her parents, and yet, she’d invited both of them. This had been a weird night… “Yeah, well, just don’t screw it up.”

She got up and stretched. “I’m going to bed. I’ll say goodbye in the morning, but I’m not sticking around.”

“Right. You have a daughter to get back to.”

“That I do. Good night, Dad.”

“Good night, Sunset.”

Sunset left the kitchen, then climbed the stairs to the second floor. She walked down a hall past her father’s bedroom, then entered a familiar door.

It was like her dad had said, everything was the way Sunset had left it. She had brought most of her possessions with her the night she left, so it was pretty sparse except for a few things she’d never cared about or that were easier to replace than to move. A writing desk and her bed, some books she’d lost interest in on a mostly empty bookshelf, a stuffed bear someone had given her just because she was a girl.

She levitated the bear closer to examine it. She had forgotten all about it, like everything else in the room. She wondered if Morning would like it, although she had a lot of stuffed animals already.

She decided to figure out what to do with it after getting some sleep, so she set it on the writing desk and climbed into the bed. Thankfully her parents had given her a large bed when she was a teenager, big enough for a full-grown mare to sleep in.

It was surreal being back in this room, but everything about the night had been surreal. Sunset closed her eyes and found something else to focus on. Morning would be asleep right now, and in a few hours, she’d be woken up for breakfast with Fluttershy before heading out to school.

Everything about the day had been too crazy to really think about, it would need time to sink in. But this was something Sunset could focus on, something that put a smile on her face. That was the world she understood these days, her daughter and her wives, and their strange ever-growing family.

22 – Making Amends

Chapter Twenty-Two
Making Amends

⠀

⠀
By all appearances, Twilight was busy at work. She was sitting at her desk with plans for the Princess Summit sprawled out before her, and there was a half revised speech that she would have to make in a week’s time. If anyone looked in, Twilight was quite sure they would think she was working.

But she wasn’t. She wanted to, but she just couldn’t think. She hadn’t been able to think right for the past three weeks. Not since that trip to Cloudsdale, not since Fluttershy had asked her that question…

“Is the Tantubus just something Luna can make?”

Of course it was. Twilight knew that, and more importantly, she knew what that meant. There was only one reason Fluttershy would ask that. One way or another, she had figured out what Luna had done to Stormy Skies.

Twilight had forgotten all about that until the moment Fluttershy asked about it, then the reality settled in. Stormy Skies had killed himself because of what Luna did. And the worst part, Twilight had known about it, and she did nothing. She had allowed this to happen. She had wanted this to happen.

She wanted more than anything to talk with Fluttershy about it, but how could she? How could she tell her wife that she had been part of something so awful?

She had to, she knew that. Twilight had been married to Fluttershy for four years, and she’d been dating her for two years before that. She was no longer new to relationships, and she had learned how important it was to discuss things with her partners.

But this time, that was easier said than done. Fluttershy had been upset, that was clear to see. And while they hadn’t talked about it after leaving his apartment, Twilight knew she was still upset. Of course she did, how could she not? But what could she do?

‘I could talk to her…’

It was the only real choice, and Twilight knew she would make it. But she had yet to work up the courage.

For now, she passed time by rubbing her eyes and turning back to the speech. She needed to finish that, her guilty conscience could wait a few more hours.

There was a knock on the door, and Twilight opened it with her magic. Morning Glisten was there looking up at her. “Hello, Mo Glow. What’s up?”

“I, uhm, Ma said I should ask you ‘cause she’s never been to a Princess Summit, but uhm… what am I supposed to do there?”

Twilight forced a smile that she didn’t feel. That was the other thing she felt guilty about. “You don’t need to worry about that. All ponies want to do is see you with the other princesses, you don’t have to do anything difficult. They’ll take some pictures of you with everyone, so Rarity will dress you up really pretty and you can pose for pictures with us. Let the adults worry about all the other stuff.”

“Oh…”

It wasn’t fair to Morning that she had this on her shoulders. It was all because they were princesses. Not for the first time, Twilight wondered if she might be happier in a normal family.

But she couldn’t voice that to her daughter any more than she could admit that she’d been complicit in a murder. So although she didn’t feel like she had the right to do anything with such a precious girl after being a part of something so awful, Twilight motioned for her to come closer. “Want to see what I’m working on?”

“Okay.” Morning walked over and Twilight picked her up and set her on the chair with her, using her wings to hold her.

“This is the speech I’m working on. It’s not coming along too well.”

Morning looked up at her. “Can I hear it?”

Twilight chuckled. “You’ll hear it in a week, when it’s ready. To tell you the truth… well, it’s mostly about you.”

“Really?”

Twilight poked Morning’s nose. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’ve never been a mom before. Raising you has been a new adventure for me, so I decided to talk about what I’ve learned from you.”

“But I haven’t taught you anything.”

“Sure you have. You haven’t taught me about things like what you’re learning in school, but you’ve taught me things about the best bedtime stories, and what to do when your daughter throws up in the middle of the night, and about –”

“Mom! You’re not writing a speech about that, are you!?”

Twilight giggled. “No, I’m not. But I might write a speech about what it was like the first time you called me ‘Mom’. Or about learning what it’s like to care about somepony so much you’d do anything for them. Or about all the new responsibility that I’m still learning how to manage.”

“No, don’t write about that stuff either!” Morning thought for a moment. “Okay, you can write about what the best bedtime stories are.”

“And what are the best bedtime stories?”

“The ones with girl knights.” Morning nodded her head affirmatively.

“Hmm, okay. And should I talk about all your favorite desserts while I’m at it?”

“Yes, you can… wait, are you talking or writing?”

Twilight grinned. “Both. I’m writing a speech now, but I’ll have to memorize it then recite it in front of a crowd later.”

“Oh. I don’t like crowds…”

Twilight felt a pang of guilt. Whether Morning liked them or not, she would have to deal with a lot of crowds because of who her parents were. “It’s okay. You just have to wave to everypony. Think you can do that?”

“I guess so.”

Twilight nodded. “Why don’t you run along while I work on this speech? Maybe someone can take you to visit your friends.”

Morning nodded. “Okay.”

She got down from the chair, then ran off, leaving the door open behind her. Twilight turned back to her speech.

Not for long, though. “You know we can’t hide her from it forever.”

Twilight sighed and turned to face Sunset. She hadn’t been aware that anyone was listening in, but Sunset was the perfect pony to talk about what was on her mind with. “I know, but she’s only six…”

“And she’s a princess.” Sunset walked in and stood next to Twilight’s desk. “Have you talked to Cadance and Shining about it? They’ve gotta have some ideas of how to handle princess stuff so young because of Flurry Heart.”

“I was going to talk to them at the Summit.”

Sunset nodded. “I’m sure they’ll help, but we should kinda give Morning a lesson other than ‘smile and wave’ before the Summit. You know they want to interview her.”

Twilight winced. She didn’t like to think of that. “Yeah, I know.”

“Hey, it’ll be alright. They’ll just ask her, like, what’s your favorite color, do you like school, what’s it like having three moms?”

Twilight leaned back in her chair. “It’s that last question I’m worried about.”

“Pfft, Morning loves us.”

“I hope so…”

Sunset arched an eyebrow. “Really? Are you seriously worried that just because she hasn’t said so, she doesn’t love us?”

“I am a little worried she’ll never say it…”

“Come on, she’s just nervous. She’s the one who decided to give us mom names, remember? She’ll say the L-word when she’s ready.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Twilight stood up just so she could lean against her wife.

Sunset did likewise. “You’ve been really out of it lately. Is it just the Summit stuff?”

“Not exactly.” This was it, time to talk about what was on her mind. Sunset was easier than Fluttershy, at least. “Close the door.”

Sunset did as Twilight asked, then turned to her. “Is everything okay?”

“I found out something in Cloudsdale,” Twilight said. “Something bad.”

Sunset frowned. “Did he do something else to Fluttershy?”

“No, nothing like that,” Twilight answered quickly. “It was about Stormy Skies, and… how he died.”

“Painfully, I hope.”

“Sunset, I’m serious.”

“So am I.”

Twilight sighed. “You know what, forget it.”

Sunset blinked. “You can’t expect me to be sad he’s gone.”

“No, of course not. It’s just…” Twilight shook her head.

Sunset sighed and pulled Twilight into a hug. “I’m sorry. Please tell me what you found out so I can help.”

“Well, when I first learned about what he did, I talked to Luna about it. She told me that she made sure he didn’t sleep peacefully anymore. She… she put a Tantabus into his dreams.”

“And now you’re wondering if Luna is a good pony?” Sunset arched an eyebrow. “Twi, if I could’ve, I would have put a Tantabus in his dreams. Hell, I’d do a lot worse to him than that if I could’ve gotten away with it.”

Twilight sighed. “You’re just saying that. He died because of this, Sunset. He killed himself.”

“And the world’s better without him. Are you really that upset that he’s gone?”

“No. I’m upset because I knew about this and I didn’t do anything! I’m the Princess of Friendship. I’m supposed to be all about forgiving ponies and second chances, and… not revenge against somepony who wasn’t a threat to anyone anymore.”

“Come here…” Sunset pulled Twilight into a hug. “I really think you’re beating yourself up over nothing here, Twi. He was scum, he’s not worth thinking about.”

Twilight pulled away, but she stayed close to her wife. “I don’t think Fluttershy would agree with you. She’s more upset about this than she’s letting on.”

Sunset’s ears folded as she looked off to the side. “Yeah, I’ve noticed she seems out of it lately too…”

“Don’t tell her how you feel. It’d just upset her more.”

Sunset turned back to Twilight and smirked. “What, you think I’m crazy? I know when to tread lightly. But uhm, maybe you should talk to her. I… don’t think this is something you should keep from her.”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Want me to be there to help?”

Twilight shook her head and smiled. “No, I’ll talk to her in private. But… maybe I’ll wait until tomorrow. It’ll be better to do it when Morning’s at school.”

“Good call. I won’t say anything to her then.”

Twilight nodded. “Thanks, Sunset.”

Sunset used her hoof to pull Twilight closer, then kissed the side of her head. “Don’t mention it. It’ll all work out, one way or another.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“And then we can figure out what to do about Morning.”

Twilight winced. She had almost forgotten about that. “Right…”

Sunset’s horn lit up. “Meanwhile, is this the speech you’re working on? Want some help?”

“No!” Twilight blushed and snatched it from Sunset. It needed some heavy editing before she was ready to show it to anypony else, even if that pony was her wife. “I’ll manage that on my own too, thanks.”

Sunset sighed. “You don’t let me do anything! I don’t get to do a speech of my own…”

“Maybe next year. You’ll be an official princess by then.”

That got a smile out of Sunset. Celestia had begun working on legal reform, but it still had a while before any laws were passed. “That’d be nice. I’ll go check on Morning. If no one else brought her out to visit her friends, I’ll do it.”

“Sounds good.” Twilight sat back down. “Love you, Sunset.”

Sunset bent down to give Twilight a kiss. “Love you too, Twi.”

Then she left the room, and Twilight got back to work.

“And so you see,” Twilight said matter of factly, “the best bedtime stories are ones that involve valiant knights. Especially if those knights are mares, which give our little fillies something to aspire towards.”

There were murmurs from the audience, as ponies took note of her point. The speech was going perfectly, and Twilight hadn’t even gotten to the part about why oatmeal custard was the perfect dessert!

“Morning Glisten!” somepony called from the audience. A mare ran forward. Twilight didn’t recognize her, and her features seemed hard for her to focus on. “There you are!”

“Uhm, who are you?” Twilight asked.

“Why, I’m her mother of course,” the mare said. “Her real mother. A normal pony who can give her a normal life.”

“You mean I don’t have to be a princess anymore!?” Morning said, running forward. She kicked off the nice dress she was wearing and ran into the mare’s outstretched forelegs.

“But… but I’m your mother…” Twilight said, reaching a hoof out for her daughter. “I’m Mom, I know your favorite bedtime stories and your favorite dessert!”

The other mare waved her hoof and suddenly Twilight was sitting at a desk with a sheet of paper in front of her.

“But do you know her favorite color!?” the mare demanded.

“Uhm, she likes green, I think?” Twilight started writing her answers down on the paper.

“What’s her favorite number?”

“What? I don’t –”

“Her third favorite book?”

“B-but I…”

Twilight scribbled furiously as the mare asked her about Morning’s favorite things, about her schoolmates, about what she wanted to be when she grew up. Question after question, Twilight tried to answer everything as best she could.

A bell rang before she could finish the open-ended essay question about what made Morning the most precious filly in all of Equestria. “Time’s up!” Morning’s real mom announced.

She snatched the paper before Twilight could stop her. “But I didn’t finish!”

Morning’s mom scanned the paper and turned it around. It was filled with pictures of Twilight failing as a parent. “Oh, I think you’re quite finished here! You are a bad mom!”

“No!” Twilight reached for Morning, but she ran behind her mom. She was getting farther and farther away.

Somepony placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “That is enough.”

Twilight turned to see a familiar face. “Luna? This… this is a dream?”

“Yes, Twilight, this is a dream.”

Twilight took a deep breath, then let out a sigh of relief. “I thought I really lost her.”

“Are you afraid of Morning’s biological mom?”

Twilight shook her head. “Not really. I’m just… I guess I’m afraid that Morning would be happier if she was allowed to live a normal life.”

Luna nodded and took a seat at the desk next to Twilight. “It’s an understandable fear, but you know, most fillies would love to be a princess. Do you not think Morning is the same?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m just worrying over nothing.”

“Have you talked with your daughter about this? She may have concerns over being a princess, but I think you’ll find she’s quite happy with you.”

“Luna, she’s six. I can’t just have big conversations with her like that.”

Luna smiled. “In my work, I speak with children quite regularly. I think she might surprise you if you just talk to her.”

Twilight bowed her head. “Sunset says I should give her lessons on how to be a princess, but I don’t know. I just want her to be a kid, not just a princess.”

“She is both, Twilight,” Luna said gently. “It is not wise to ignore part of her reality.”

Twilight leaned her head on the desk. “I guess.”

Luna was silent for a moment, then spoke cautiously. “Twilight, I… confess I did not come here because of your nightmare.”

“You didn’t?”

“I tried to pull you into my own dream to speak, but your mind resisted me. I see now that it was because of your nightmare, and while I am eternally at your service in the realm of dreams, I did have a matter I wished to discuss with you.”

“Please, go right ahead. I think I know what to do for my nightmare, and I can always talk to Sunset and Fluttershy about it.”

Luna nodded. “It was Fluttershy I wished to speak to you about.”

“Oh. I should have known…”

“You know, then?” Luna looked into Twilight’s eyes, and understanding passed between them.

“I know. You put a Tantabus in Stormy Skies’ dreams. That was why he killed himself.”

Luna nodded. “I did, and I fear in doing so I have wounded my relationship with Fluttershy. I hope I have not done so with you as well…”

Twilight sighed and looked down at the desk. “How can I be angry with you? You told me what you were doing, and I didn’t stop you. I didn’t want to stop you. I was happy about it.”

Luna reached her hoof towards Twilight, and she reached her own hoof out to take hold of Luna’s. They had both been a part of this thing that had hurt Fluttershy, and only the two of them could understand the position they were in.

“I did not mean to kill him,” Luna said. “I wanted him to suffer, but I did not mean for this to bring about his end.”

Twilight nodded. She had suspected as much. “But now he’s gone. I was happy when Fluttershy first told me. I’m so disgusted with myself, I was happy that somepony is dead!”

“It is a complicated situation. Your emotions being complicated seems fitting.”

“Luna, I’m… I’m still happy about it. I’m glad he’s gone. We learned he wasn’t such a bad pony in the end, so why am I still glad he’s gone!?”

“Fluttershy said to me that he could become a great hero of Equestria and she would not forgive him. I think it is fair for you to feel the same way.”

“But to be happy that he’s gone…”

“I understand how you feel.” Luna looked at Twilight and frowned. “Truthfully, I understand how you feel more than I understand Fluttershy. What I did may have been bad, but she defends him as if he did nothing wrong. And it’s not as if I were the one who put the noose around his neck.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about it from Fluttershy’s perspective. As far as she’s concerned, we killed him. She doesn’t separate it, she just sees it as our fault.”

“You mean you do, unless Fluttershy also blames you.”

Twilight closed her eyes. “No, I haven’t told her that I knew yet. But… I’m afraid. I’m so afraid that she’ll think I’m a monster for not doing anything.”

“I’m sure she’ll understand. She loves you.”

“She loves you too,” Twilight opened her eyes and turned to face Luna. “You realize that, right? You know how she feels about you.”

“I… am not blind to the fact there has been something growing between us. And I confess it is a mutual feeling. That is why this hurts so much. I am content to let our relationship be what it is. I do not need another lover, and I do not know if Amber would accept that. But I do truly cherish Fluttershy, and I did not want to hurt her. What I did… I thought I was protecting her. Now I am not sure.”

“I think that’s what makes it so bad for her. We didn’t just kill somepony, we did it in her name. We’re both supposed to know her so well, how could either of us ever think she would want that?”

“Your words ring true. I see more clearly now why she reacted the way she did.”

Twilight let go of Luna’s hoof and stood up. She didn’t usually do things like this with anypony but her wives, but they were both upset and they could use some comfort, so Twilight walked over to Luna and leaned against her. Luna covered her in a wing. “So she really tore into you, huh?”

“She did. It was truly a sight to behold.” Luna almost sounded amused, but Twilight knew that was to hide the hurt. “She is small, but when angry, she is quite fearsome. Like a mongoose who easily fends off the lion.”

Twilight couldn’t help but smile. “She’s done that to me before too. There’s a lot more than meets the eye with Fluttershy.”

“Truly, there is.” Luna sighed, all the amusement leaving her voice. “I just hope I will once again be able to see her many positive traits as well.”

“For better or worse, Fluttershy forgives pretty easily. She’ll come around, we just have to talk to her. I’ll… I’ll talk to her today. Explain things from my point of view and apologize to her for not doing anything to stop it. Maybe that’ll help get her to accept your apology as well.”

“Thank you, Twilight. I am sorry to have you share in my burden, but I am grateful for your support.”

“Of course.”

“Now, we put aside your issues to discuss mine.” Luna smiled at Twilight. “Was there anything more you wanted to discuss about Morning?”

Twilight smiled as well. “No, I – well, actually, yes… I keep thinking, how am I supposed to be a mom when I’ve been part of something so horrible?”

“Twilight Sparkle, listen to me. You are not responsible for my actions. I have done many horrible things in my life. Let this be one more mistake of mine, and do not trouble yourself with it.”

“But I could have done something!”

Luna shook her head. “No more of this, Twilight. It was my mistake. You were angry, and your inaction is not as great as my action.”

“Maybe…”

“Talk to Fluttershy about this. Although she is angry at me, I think she will forgive you.”

Twilight nudged her. “She’ll forgive both of us. I’ll make sure she does.”

“You are a good friend, Twilight, and a good pony. You need not worry about being a good mom; I have every confidence in you.”

Twilight nodded slowly.

“The time for waking comes, and the day shall be an eventful one. I would offer my assistance, but I feel it would not be appreciated.”

Twilight smiled. “It’s okay. Thank you, Luna.”

Luna used a foreleg to hug Twilight and then pulled away. “Good luck, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight was going to say something else, but before she could, everything faded to white.

Waiting through the day proved to be a challenge. By the time Twilight woke up, Fluttershy had already left to take care of the animals. She still got to say goodbye to Morning before Sunset took her to school, but then she had to wait around the castle for Fluttershy to come home.

It was nerve-wracking, and Twilight considered flying over to Fluttershy’s cottage to see if she could find her. She would have done it too, except that she’d more likely just run into Discord, and she was in no mood for his antics.

So she waited. She cleaned around the library a bit, tried to work on her speech some more, and had lunch with Sunset and Spike before he left for the day to do some work around Ponyville.

It would have been a nice day – struggles with the speech aside – were it not for all the anxiety. Twilight couldn’t manage to stop herself looking at the clock constantly, and it was a huge relief by the time Fluttershy came home.

“How was work?” Sunset asked as Fluttershy walked in. She and Twilight were waiting for Fluttershy together and discussing plans for the film projector they were working on.

“It was nice, but I’m pretty tired.” Fluttershy gave Sunset a quick kiss, then walked towards the stairs. “I think I’m gonna go lie down for a bit.”

“Oh.” Twilight hadn’t counted on that.

“Twi was just saying she was tired,” Sunset said, which wasn’t true at all. “You two should go lie down. I’ve got an idea I want to work on for the projector.”

“That sounds nice.” Fluttershy giggled. “If Twily doesn’t mind putting aside work for some cuddles.”

“Cuddles sound nice.” Twilight smiled her appreciation at Sunset, who winked at her while Fluttershy’s back was turned.

As Sunset went to the basement to work, Twilight and Fluttershy walked upstairs. They went into their bedroom, and Fluttershy wasted no time in jumping into their bed.

Twilight was quick to follow. “So did you want to sleep? Or just cuddle a bit?”

“I don’t know.” Fluttershy stretched out, then Twilight snuggled up close to her. “What about you? If you’re still tired, you probably didn’t sleep well last night.”

“No, I… well, actually I had a bad dream.”

“Oh, poor thing. Want to tell me about it?”

Twilight chuckled. “It was dumb. Morning’s real mom showed up and made me fill out a test to see how well I knew Morning. And… I failed.”

“Oh, Twily…” Fluttershy kissed Twilight. “We are her real moms. Her biological mom – whoever she was – isn’t going to steal her away from us. Even if she wanted to, Morning would never want to leave us. She loves us already.”

“Yeah, but… maybe she’d want a more normal life without all the princess stuff.”

“You’re just being silly. But we can talk to her about it.”

Twilight grinned. “Everyone says we should talk to her… I guess even if she is six, we can still talk about it.”

“We just have to bring it up carefully.” Fluttershy nuzzled her head against Twilight’s chest. “So who’s everyone?”

“Hm?”

“You said ‘everyone’ says to talk to her. Sunset and your parents?”

“Oh, er…” Twilight hadn’t thought that through. This wasn’t how she planned to get onto this topic. “Luna came to my nightmare.”

“Oh…”

“You’re… really mad at her, aren’t you?”

The irritation was clear in Fluttershy’s voice. “Did she say something?”

“She did, yes. And… and I kind of expected it when you asked about the Tantabus in Cloudsdale.”

“You figured it out too,” Fluttershy pulled away to look at Twilight. “What Luna did…”

Twilight bowed her head so she didn’t have to look into Fluttershy’s eyes. “You know what’s awful? I’ve been happy that he’s gone, you know?”

“I understand. Until we went to Cloudsdale, I thought it was a good thing too.” Fluttershy sighed. “Then we met his neighbor, and… I don’t know anymore.”

“Yeah…” Twilight wanted to leave it at that. She could. She knew Fluttershy wouldn’t press for more from her. But she needed to do more, she needed to come clean to her wife. “I have something to confess.”

“Oh?”

“I knew about the Tantabus.”

Fluttershy frowned. “What do you mean you knew?”

“Luna told me years ago, back when she did it. Or soon afterwards, anyway. After we went to see him, Luna told me that she made sure he didn’t sleep soundly anymore, and I… I didn’t stop it.”

“I see.” Fluttershy didn’t pull away from her. She didn’t yell or cast any harsh glares. ‘I see,’ that was all she said.

Twilight felt the need to say more anyway. “I’m sorry. I should have stopped her, I should have told you about it, I… should have done something.”

“Yes, you should have.” Fluttershy looked Twilight in the eyes. “Why didn’t you?”

“I was angry. I was just so angry. I wanted him to suffer.” Twilight bowed her head. “I don’t have a good reason. It was horrible, and now he’s dead. I never… no, I can’t say I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t think it would, but back then, I was so angry that I wanted that.”

“I’ve been thinking about Luna a lot. I don’t want to be upset with her, and it’s not like I can’t see where she’s coming from. But…”

“It wasn’t her decision,” Twilight finished. “And it wasn’t mine. We should have talked to you, and we didn’t.”

Fluttershy sighed. “At least you’re sorry for what you did. Luna’s only sorry that it upset me.”

“I… I think you’re right, but…” Twilight wanted to nudge Fluttershy, to touch her in some way, but she didn’t feel like she should right now. They were still pressed against each other, and that would be enough. “She really is sorry. Maybe she’s not sorry for what she did exactly, but she never would have done it if she realized it would hurt you. She cares a lot about you, you know?”

“I know.”

“And… well, I can’t speak for Luna, but to tell the truth… I just forgot about it. It wasn’t like I was sitting there all the time thinking of how good it was that he was suffering. I think if I would have thought of it, I would have thought better of it, or at least decided you should have known. But by the time I wasn’t blinded by anger, I had already put it out of my mind. And I’m not saying that’s a good thing, letting him die by neglect isn’t good, but…”

“I understand,” Fluttershy lay down on her side, pressing closer to Twilight. “I hadn’t thought of it like that. It doesn’t make it okay, but it’s good to think it wasn’t something Luna was actively doing.”

Taking her cue from Fluttershy, Twilight rested her head on her wife’s. “Are you mad at me?”

“I don’t know.” Fluttershy sounded tired. “I’m not happy with you. I wish you would have told me, but… I can see why you thought you shouldn’t.”

Twilight decided to take a chance with a small joke. “Already perfecting the ‘I’m not angry, just disappointed’ routine?”

“Well, Morning will be a teenager someday. Better get some practice in now.”

“Guess so.” Twilight smiled a little. “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to make this right. I feel awful, especially when I see Morning. I keep wondering if I’m still fit to be her mom…”

“Twily, you’re a good pony and a good mom. You made a mistake, and it was a big one, but you just have to pick yourself up and be better.”

“You know, I’m really glad I have you. I will be better, for you, and especially for Morning.”

Fluttershy nodded, tickling Twilight with her mane as she did. “How about we take that nap after all. I’m tired…”

“Okay.” Twilight wasn’t too tired, but she was just happy that Fluttershy wanted to nap with her. She knew she had let Fluttershy down, but she had a chance to be better, and that was all she could ask for. “Maybe by the time we’re awake, Morning will be back from school.”

“I hope not. I’d like to be awake before she comes back.” Fluttershy got up to tuck herself under the blanket.

Twilight did the same, cuddling close to her wife. “Yeah, that’s true. I think… I’ll give her a lesson on princess etiquette today.”

“Sunset too,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight scrunched her face up. “I love Sunset, but I don’t think she’s the best to teach etiquette with me.”

Fluttershy giggled. “No, give Sunset lessons while you’re at it. She could stand to learn a thing or two.”

Twilight grinned. “Morning might find it funny if her ma was taking lessons with her.”

“There you go, that’s a perk.”

Twilight nuzzled against Fluttershy and took a deep breath, taking in her wife’s scent. “I love you, Shy.”

“I love you too, Twily. Good night.”

Twilight could have done better, but she could have done a lot of things in her life better. What was important was that she was going to keep trying, and that she was surrounded by ponies who would keep supporting her as she did.

She smiled to herself as she closed her eyes to drift off into sleep. “Good night, Shy.”

23 – The Princess Summit

Chapter Twenty-Three
The Princess Summit

⠀

⠀
A trip to the Crystal Empire was usually a good time, but seeing Morning’s reactions made it even better. Of course, she was already familiar with their crystal castle, but seeing a whole city where everything was crystal still awed the little filly.

“I like their manes,” Morning said quietly as they walked to the castle, referring to a group of ponies they passed on the street.

“Maybe we can ask Aunt Cadance how to style your mane like that,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight nodded. “That’s how a lot of ponies used to style their manes a thousand years ago. Do you know why the Crystal Empire might use a style from so long ago?”

“Uhm… is it because that was when it disappeared?”

“That’s right!” Twilight said proudly. “Most of these ponies were actually alive back then, but when the Empire vanished the ponies disappeared with it.”

“And who was it that saved them?” Spike wore a cocky grin.

Twilight rolled her eyes, but she smiled. “It was kind of a group victory, but yes, Uncle Spike was the one who saved the day in the end.”

Twilight Velvet cast a glare at her son. “Spike, no bragging.”

Spike looked sheepish. “Sorry, Mom…”

Morning and her friends laughed. As a special treat, she’d been allowed to bring the Cake twins as her guests to the Princess Summit. Altogether they were a very large group – the three moms, Spike, Twilight’s parents, and the three foals. It was a little nerve-wracking to travel in such a big group, but the Princess Summit was an important occasion, and all the adults helped keep an eye on the three foals.

And as they reached the castle, their group grew a little bigger. “Hello, everypony!” Cadance said as they approached. “Say hi, Flurry.”

“Hi!” Flurry Heart smiled and waved at everyone, then tapped on Shining Armor’s foreleg. “Daddy, can I play with Morning?”

“Not right now, but after the Summit,” Shining Armor said. “For now, why don’t you go meet her friends?”

“Okay!” Flurry Heart used her wings to glide down from the top of the stairwell to the others. She immediately ran over to Morning. “Hi, Mo Glow!”

Morning blushed at her nickname being used around her friends, but she just said, “Hi, Flurry.”

“Morning, introduce Flurry to your friends,” Twilight instructed.

“Uhm, Flurry, this is Pound and Pumpkin Cake,” Morning said, gesturing to each in turn. “And this is Flurry Heart, my cousin.”

“Nice to meet you, Flurry,” Pound Cake said.

“It’s so weird that you’re related to all these princesses,” Pumpkin said.

“Mo Glow’s a princess too!” Flurry said. “Mommy said so!”

Pound Cake scrunched up his face. “Morning’s not a princess. She’s just a regular pony.”

“Uhm…” Morning kicked at the ground. “Mom says I am a princess…”

“It’s true.” Sunset placed a foreleg around Morning’s shoulder. “Don’t read too much into it, though. She’s a princess, but she’s also a regular pony.”

“So she can’t boss Pumpkin around?” Pound Cake asked.

“Morning wouldn’t boss me around!” Pumpkin insisted. “She’d boss you around because you’re a boy!”

“Morning doesn’t care about that,” Pound said, but he didn’t sound too sure. He turned towards Morning for confirmation. “Right?”

Morning looked between her friends. “I’m not going to boss anypony around!”

Shining Armor chuckled. He and Cadance had walked over to the rest of the group while the kids talked. “Cadance bosses me around sometimes.”

Cadance nudged him playfully. “That’s because I’m your wife, not because I’m a princess. Don’t listen to him, kids, being a princess isn’t something that should matter to your friends.”

There were many greetings around the large group, as everyone wanted a hug or a hoof bump from everyone else. They made the obligatory comments about how big Flurry was getting, told each other it had been too long since they were all together, introduced Pound and Pumpkin to Cadance and Shining, then made their way into the castle.

“So has anyone else shown up?” Sunset asked.

“A few other guests are here, but I don’t think any of the ponies you invited,” Cadance said. “Aunt Celestia and Luna aren’t here yet either.”

Fluttershy frowned a little. She knew she was going to have to meet up with Luna at the Summit, and she had been dreading it. She was fine with everything else. Visiting their Crystal Empire family was always nice, and doing so with their Ponyville family coming with them was even better.

She didn’t even mind the Summit itself; she was dressed up in her regalia that she never wore for any other occasion, but she would just hide behind the more charismatic princesses during the event. Only the adult alicorn princesses were expected to give a speech, and then there was an interview afterwards where she’d have to answer a few questions, but the journalist they got for these events was always friendly and polite.

No, all that stuff was fine. But seeing Luna… Fluttershy hadn’t seen her since they met in the dream to talk about Stormy Skies, and she wasn’t sure what would happen. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to happen.

But before anything could happen, they reached a large room that had been set up as a buffet for their guests. Spike immediately ran off to get something to eat and, probably, to mingle with the Crystal Empire ponies who saw him as a hero.

Twilight’s parents saw somepony they knew and excused themselves from the group as well. Fluttershy looked around and found that there were a few ponies she knew as well, but everyone seemed busy and there was still plenty of time before the event to talk to them.

Instead, she turned to her daughter. “Are you hungry? There’s lots of food here.”

“No, not real– is that cake?”

Twilight extended a wing to guide Morning along. “How about we get you some real food, then we can go to the dessert table? That goes for all of you kids.”

All the other foals followed Twilight, leaving the rest of the adults to talk. “How’s Morning feeling about the Summit?” Cadance asked.

“She’s holding up well, but I think she’s really worried,” Sunset explained. “She’s still getting used to even being related to princesses, it’ll be a while before she really accepts that she is a princess, I think.”

“I know I was nervous at my first time at the Summit.” Fluttershy watched Morning as Twilight helped get her and the other foals plates of food. She looked like she was getting overwhelmed trying to keep all four plates separate. “I think Twily could use some help.”

“I’ve got it,” Shining said and walked over to her. He took two of the plates, and they managed them much better.

It was cute to see how Flurry stuck close to Morning. It was only their second meeting, but they were already inseparable. Maybe that would help Morning see that being a princess didn’t mean she had to give up being a kid.

“Well, if it isn’t Princess Fluttershy.” Everyone turned to see a couple of stallions approach them, and Fluttershy broke into a smile.

“Silver Spark! Sea Star!” Fluttershy extended her forelegs to give hugs to her friends, which they each accepted in turn.

“It’s been quite a while,” Silver said with a smile. “How have things been?”

“They’ve been good. Have you heard about Morning?”

“We have,” Sea Star said. “We’ve been very interested in meeting her.”

“Sea especially.” Silver chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say he wants a little one of our own these days.”

“Really? That would be wonderful!”

Sea Star rolled his eyes. “He’s exaggerating, I never said that. But we were both very happy to hear your news. I know you and Twilight are sure to be excellent moms, and everything I know about Sunset makes me think she’s the same.”

“I don’t think we’ve met,” Sunset said. She extended her hoof to bump each of theirs in turn.

“This is Silver Spark and Sea Star,” Fluttershy explained. “They’re the heads of Unity.”

“Oh, it’s nice to finally meet you,” Sunset said with a smile.

“Silver’s the head of the company,” Sea Star corrected. “I mostly just get him into trouble.”

“That he does,” Silver said with a shake of his head, though as always it was clear that he loved his coltfriend. “I believe Twilight mentioned it was your journal that inspired the Unity program?”

“That’s right,” Sunset said. “Celestia gave me one when I was younger, then her copy wound up in Twilight’s hooves after a while. It was really cool to hear it was used as a blueprint for something so positive.”

Silver nodded. “It’s been very rewarding working with ponies and setting up their pen pals.”

“Is your mom still causing problems?” Fluttershy asked. “I haven’t heard about her in a while.”

“Actually, something amazing happened.” Silver Spark grinned broadly. “She came to see us. She’s… I can tell she still doesn’t like it, you know, but she left the VES and we’re speaking again.”

“She asks about me sometimes,” Sea Star said with a smirk. “ ‘How’s your friend doing?’ That sort of thing.”

“Baby steps, love,” Silver said. “At least she asks.”

“That’s great news,” Fluttershy said. “Twilight always said if she would just talk to you about it, that she’d come around.”

“Little by little,” Silver said. “But speaking of moms, you’re one yourself now! What’s it like?”

Fluttershy giggled. “It’s been wonderful. Morning is the sweetest thing, we all just adore her.”

“Aww, that’s sweet.” Silver watched her as Twilight and Shining sat the foals down to eat. “How’s she adapting to being a princess?”

“She’s learning little by little,” Fluttershy said.

“I think spending some time with Flurry might help her,” Cadance added. “We could always plan a sleepover.”

“Ooh, that sounds like a great idea!” Fluttershy smiled at Morning and Flurry, who were sitting side by side

“Good to see she’s getting along with the other princesses,” Silver said.

“She’s still a little unsure about that part,” Sunset admitted. “But she’ll come around.”

“Oh yeah?” Sea Star asked. “How is she with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?”

“She’s… still getting used to them.” The idea of Luna and Morning had come across Fluttershy’s mind a lot lately, and she wasn’t sure what she thought of them spending time together. “I think they’re a little more daunting than the others, but I think they both like her a lot.”

“Wanna go say hi?” Sunset asked. “They’re with Twilight right now, so it’s probably a good time. Once they’re on their own, they probably won’t want to talk with strange adults.”

“That sounds good to me,” Silver said, then turned to his coltfriend. “Sea?”

“Of course, I’d love to. Lead the way.”

Sunset led the couple towards where Twilight and the foals were, and Fluttershy was going to follow. She was stopped when somepony tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and found herself instantly being hugged.

Fluttershy giggled as she realized who the other pony was. “Hello, Amber.”

“Hey, Fluttershy.” Amber pulled away from her. They’d gotten dressed up in one of the suits they favored. “How’s it going?”

“It’s pretty good. How are you doing?”

“I’m good. You nervous about the Summit?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “No, but I think Morning is.”

Amber nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Her first time and all that.”

“So, uhm…” Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. “I guess if you’re here, then Luna must be here too.”

“Yeah, she is.” Amber scratched at their neck. “Actually, she wanted me to ask you if you wanted to see her. I mean, you’ve got to for the Summit, but like, before that starts I mean. She… really wants to talk with you.”

Fluttershy sighed. She knew this would be coming. “We can talk.”

“Alright, I’ll let her know.”

Amber left, and Cadance took her place. “Is everything okay between you and Luna?”

Fluttershy sighed. “No, we’re having a fight. Luna did something really bad, but I don’t want to talk about it here.”

Cadance put a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “I understand. You know I’m happy to help if I can.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I know. Thank you, but for now, I think I should probably talk to Luna one on one.”

“It may prove difficult here,” Luna said from behind her, causing Fluttershy to frown. “Perhaps we could go to another room?”

Fluttershy sighed, then turned to see her. Luna had her head bowed. “I think that would be a good idea.”

Luna turned and led them away, and Fluttershy followed. She looked back and saw Cadance waving, and Twilight was talking to their friends. Sunset noticed she was leaving and nodded encouragingly.

They made their way out of the room, and Luna led them down the hall. She opened a door and they walked into a storage room filled with boxes of food and drinks. There was nopony else in sight, so it would serve their purposes.

“I must start by saying I am sorry,” Luna said before Fluttershy could say anything. “I have thought carefully over what happened and what we talked about, and I have come to see how wrong I was. I am sorry.”

“Twilight said you talked to her.”

“That is true. I wanted the counsel of somepony close to you, and Twilight or Sunset were the obvious choices. I chose Twilight because I felt she would be less sympathetic to my position.”

Fluttershy nodded. She hadn’t talked about it with Sunset, but she knew her wife. Sunset wouldn’t see anything wrong with what Luna did, whereas Twilight could be sympathetic to both of them. “Twilight told me she knew about the Tantabus all along.”

“Yes, I spoke with her about what I did some years ago. I… hope you are not angry with her as well.”

“I don’t know. I’m upset with her, but it helped me understand what you were thinking too. I don’t know how I feel.”

“Fluttershy, I…” Luna stepped forward and bowed. “You believe Stormy Skies could have come back from what he did. Please, believe in me as well. Give me the chance to make amends.”

Fluttershy wished Luna wouldn’t bow to her. She knew it was a sign of respect, but she didn’t like feeling like some judge to decree who was right and wrong. “Luna, please… this is hard enough on me.”

Luna picked up her head. “I just want to know what I can do to make up for this.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t know! All of this is just so much, and I can’t even ask you for help. You’ve always been there for me when I need advice, and this time… you can’t be.”

“I… I am sorry.”

“I know you’re sorry,” Fluttershy said testily. “If that was all I needed, then everything would be okay now.”

“I see. I’m… unsure what to say.”

Fluttershy bowed her head, and she almost wished Luna would come over and hold her. She just wanted Luna to tell her that this would be okay somehow, because when Luna said things like that, Fluttershy believed her.

But Luna didn’t hold her. Of course she didn’t, nothing about Fluttershy’s actions suggested she wanted to be held right now. Eventually, Fluttershy looked back up at Luna. “I love you, you know. You’re so important to me, and in so many ways. But… but I’m also disgusted with you. I can’t believe you’d do that, and I especially can’t believe you’d hide it from me.”

Luna winced, looking almost as if Fluttershy had struck her. “I understand. I would like to honor your wishes, but… I admit I am not prepared to lose my friend. Please, if not now, tell me someday things can be okay between us again.”

Fluttershy caved in and leaned her head against Luna. “Yes, okay. Yes, things will be okay between us again. I… I care about you too much to lose you. But I think I need some time right now.”

“I understand.” Luna gingerly wrapped a foreleg around Fluttershy. “Thank you, Fluttershy. I promise I will be the friend you deserve.”

“You should say hi to Morning,” Fluttershy said, making up her mind where she stood on that topic. “I don’t want her to know that we’re having problems. She’s having a hard enough time getting used to you.”

“I am glad you still want me around young Morning.”

Fluttershy bowed her head for a moment, then pushed herself tighter against Luna. “You know, I almost wanted you to be Morning’s guide mother…”

“Truly? I am honored.”

“Rainbow is great, and I’m happy she’s one of Morning’s guide parents. But I did want you to help guide her as well.”

“I take it these feelings have changed,” Luna said sadly. “I am still grateful that you told me.”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I haven’t changed my mind. Luna, we may have chosen other ponies to be Morning’s official guide parents, but I want you to be there for her too. I want you to help us raise her.”

“I… I do not deserve this honor after how I’ve hurt you. But I will, I promise, I will do my best to raise her alongside you and her other mothers.”

Fluttershy pulled away. “Thank you. We should head back.”

Luna nodded. “I suppose we should. I would like to speak with Morning, and with the others.”

Fluttershy opened the door, and the two of them walked out of the room. They made their way back to the main room together, with Fluttershy’s thoughts rattling through her head. She didn’t want to be upset with Luna, certainly not over Stormy Skies, but she would sort those feelings out in time.

For now, what mattered was doing what was right for Morning, and that meant making sure she got the chance to spend time with her unofficial guide mother.
⠀

⠀
There were so many ponies to greet, but Sunset didn’t mind that. She was good at it, after all. She floated between ponies, exchanging pleasantries and answering questions. It helped that for once ponies were asking about something she actually wanted to talk about – Morning Glisten.

It also helped that she finally got the chance to talk to somepony she’d genuinely like to spend more time with. Amber was catching her up on their travels as part of their new job as a reporter of everyday life.

“Then I spent a couple weeks with this wilderness guru,” Amber explained. “He lives out in the Smoky Mountains, and just like, lives off the land and stuff. Spends a lot of time meditating. Drinks these disgusting onion and banana smoothies.”

“I remember reading that one,” Sunset said with a smirk. “Sounds like he was a load of fun.”

Amber chuckled. “Fun might be the wrong word. But he was actually really cool. Taught me a lot about coping with anxiety, and it’s already helping when I travel.”

Sunset nodded. “So you’re still getting travel anxiety?”

“Nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but sometimes it still hits me. Anyway, I think he was skeptical since I wanted to write a story about him, but he came around to the idea of teaching ponies a few things and maybe inspiring them to get in touch with nature.”

“Sounds like it’s going well then.”

Amber grinned. They seemed genuinely happy, which was nice after they’d spent so long living miserably in Fillydelphia. “It is, and ponies are responding well to it. Even right here in Equestria, there are so many ways to live! It’s really been eye-opening.”

“For us too,” Sunset said. “We get your magazine delivered to the castle, and we always keep up with what you’re doing.”

“Aww, thanks.”

“Yeah, Morning even did a school report on one of them. The kids had to do a current event report, so she picked one of your articles.”

“Oh gosh.” Amber broke into a wide grin. “That’s so sweet. Does she even remember meeting me in Canterlot?”

“A little, but that was a big day for her.”

Amber laughed. “Yeah, hard to compete with meeting Luna and Celestia on the same day.”

“A bit, yeah.” Sunset laughed as well, then she stopped when she noticed someone. She had to remind herself that she had been invited by Sunset herself, and that this was inevitable. “Well, there goes my good mood.”

Amber followed her gaze, but they just seemed confused. “Why, what’s up?”

“That’s my mom over there.”

“Oh, shit.” Amber frowned. They had met Sunset’s parents once, and no doubt remembered how awkward that meeting had been. “Want me to cause a distraction so you can sneak out?”

Sunset chuckled. “No, I’m just gonna go say hi. We’re kinda on better terms these days. Not good terms, exactly, but better.”

“Oh, cool. I guess I’ll see you later then.”

Sunset nodded. “Yeah, absolutely. If I’m still talking to her in half an hour, come and save me.”

Amber laughed. “Yeah, okay. Good luck.”

Sunset nodded, then walked over to greet her mom. Predictably, she was with Sunspot and his family. Sunset had expected that, and she’d been mentally preparing for this meeting for the past two weeks. She still wasn’t sure how it would go, but she was prepared for it.

“Sunset!” Stellar Flare said. Out of everyone, she seemed to find being around Sunset the least awkward. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Hi, Stellar,” Sunset said. “And everyone else. How’re you all doing? Was the trip here okay?”

“We’re all doing good,” Sunspot said. “Had a nice train ride over. Stellar and I used to travel a lot, so it was nice to get out again.”

“What about you, Sunburst?” Sunset asked. “Have you travelled much?”

“Not unless books count,” Sunburst said with an awkward laugh. “The Crystal Empire is such a fascinating place! I really hope we can get the chance to check out the royal library while we’re here.”

“I’m sure I can arrange that,” Sunset said. “Today is going to be pretty busy, but we’re here for the weekend, and you all are welcome to stay as long as you want.”

“That’s very generous of you,” Stellar said.

Sunset shrugged. “Not really, it’s generous of Shining and Cadance to let you stay in the castle. I just paid for the train ticket, and that costs the same whether you stay for the weekend or a month.”

“Well, we won’t overstay our welcome.” Sunspot chuckled.

Sunset turned to the one pony who hadn’t said anything yet, and she reminded herself to keep things cordial. At the very least in front of Sunspot and his family, Sunset would get along with Golden Lace. “And how about you, Mom? Doing alright?”

“I can’t complain,” Lace said. “I’m glad to show Stellar, Sunspot, and Sunburst a little luxury. You know I’ve tried to get them to come out to Canterlot, but they haven’t.”

Sunset suppressed an eye roll. Why ever would a married couple not want to stay with the recently divorced mare who clearly fawned over the still married stallion? “Well, some ponies don’t like the high society thing. I’ve lived both ways, and it’s hard to go back and forth.”

“Oh, I understand,” Golden Lace said, and Sunset wondered if she really did. “I’m just glad we have this chance.”

“So the rest of your family is around too, right?” Sunspot said. “I understand if you don’t want me to, but I’d love to meet them.”

“Yeah, they’re around somewhere. Let’s see…” Sunset took a look around to find her family, and she did. Not the family she was expecting, though. “Is that Dad?”

It was a little hard to tell with him being across the room, but it looked like him. Golden Lace narrowed her eyes. “I didn’t realize Brass would be here.”

“Yeah, I didn’t exactly plan on inviting him originally,” Sunset said. “But then, I didn’t really plan on inviting you, either.”

She hoped her mom caught her message to play nice, but it didn’t really matter too much. She doubted her parents would cause problems with one another.

But her dad… he was just standing around awkwardly. He clearly didn’t know anypony, or if he did, he didn’t want to talk to any of them. Sunset could not believe it, but she pitied him. At least her mom had Sunspot and his family. “I’m gonna go say hi.”

Golden Lace frowned. “But you just –”

“Of course,” Sunspot said. “Maybe we can talk later.”

Sunset nodded. “We’ll be here for the weekend. I’m sure we’ll find some time to get to know each other.”

Sunset left the others and walked across the room. Her dad saw her coming, but he didn’t react until she was right in front of him. “Sunset.”

“Hey, Dad.”

They stood in silence for a moment, until eventually Sunset sighed. “Alright, this is awkward. You wanna go find Morning?”

“I think that would be ideal.”

Sunset looked around, and she saw the kids raiding the dessert table. She led the way towards them, her dad falling into step behind her.

Morning jumped back when she saw Sunset, scrunching up her muzzle and looking off to the side. Sunset arched an eyebrow. “Are you kids supposed to be having more sweets?”

“Uhm…” Morning wouldn’t look at her.

“What did Mom say?”

Morning sighed. “She said we could have one dessert each.”

“And how many have you had?”

“I don’t know,” Morning said with the tone of somepony who knew very well how many she’d had.

In truth, Sunset didn’t care that much. At least not about the sweets thing; it was a special occasion, and if she got herself sick, she might learn a lesson about overdoing it. But she did care that Morning had disobeyed Twilight. “Okay, that’s it, you’ve got a babysitter now.”

All the kids groaned. “But Mrs. Sunset,” Pumpkin said, “Mrs. Twilight said it was okay if Pound and I looked after Morning and Flurry.”

“Yeah, and it was until you disobeyed her.” Sunset jerked her head towards her dad. “So now he’s watching you.”

Brass Badge blinked. “Pardon?”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s easy, just make sure they don’t eat a bunch of sweets, tell them a few war stories, that sort of thing. You wanted to spend some time with Morning.”

“I’m not sure this is a good idea, Sunset,” Brass Badge said.

“Uhm, who is he?” Pound asked Morning.

“He’s my grandpa. But uhm, not my grandpa I live with, my other one.”

“You both wear clothes like my daddy!” Flurry said, referring to the officer’s jacket that both Sunset and Brass Badge were wearing. Since she wasn’t appearing in the Summit itself, Sunset hadn’t bothered to wear her regalia.

“You know, I helped train your dad when he was a recruit,” Brass Badge said. “He was a good guard.”

“See, there you go,” Sunset said. “You have something to talk about already.”

Brass Badge looked at Sunset, and she had to stop herself from laughing at the panic in his eyes. “I’m really not sure about this, Sunset.”

“Okay, fine, you big baby.” Sunset gestured for the kids to follow them. “You babysit the kids, I’ll babysit you.”

They made their way for a secluded corner, and Sunset found a chair for Brass Badge while she and the kids sat around him on the floor.

Brass looked at Sunset uncertainly. “So go on,” Sunset said. “You were telling us about Flurry Heart’s daddy.”

“Right.” Brass Badge looked at the kids with panic in his eyes. It didn’t break through to his voice, at least. “I wasn’t in the Celestial Guard, but as a general, I did work closely with them. At times when there wasn’t a need for military action, our soldiers stay sharp by training with the royal guard. That is how I met Shining Armor.”

“So got any cool stories about him?” Sunset asked.

“Let’s see… I didn’t know him that well. I knew his captain, Stout Shield. Of course, Shining Armor became the captain after Stout Shield retired to Princess Celestia’s personal guard, but by that point I was on the verge of retiring myself. I did go to the ceremony when he was given the title Captain of the Celestial Guard. He gave a speech, and spoke very well.”

“Did you two ever speak personally?” Sunset asked, for her own curiosity as much as for the foals.

“We did, but only once. He told me that he admired my work. He had studied my battle tactics and learned from them. That was when he invited me to the ceremony, although we didn’t get much of a chance to say anything besides a quick greeting then.”

“Aww, that’s nice,” Pound said. “Morning’s grandpa and Flurry’s dad were friends.”

“Yay, friends!” Flurry said.

“Well, we weren’t really –”

“You forgot something,” Sunset said.

Brass Badge blinked. He had never told any of this to Sunset, and Shining hadn’t mentioned it either, so of course she had no idea what really happened. “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t mention the manticore attack!” Sunset punctuated her statement by pouncing on Morning, who giggled as Sunset pretended to eat her.

“The manticore attack?” Brass Badge asked in confusion. “You’re mistaken. It was a normal ceremony.”

Sunset nodded. “Right up until the manticore attack. Isn’t that right, Morning?”

“Yes.” Morning nodded matter-of-factly. “It was, uhm, the king of the manticores!”

“And then you and Shining had to team up to stop the manticore from destroying everything.” Sunset pointed with her eyes towards the foals, who were already laughing about the sudden change in the story.

Brass Badge bowed his head and for a moment Sunset thought he was going to refuse to play along. “Right. The manticore. How could I forget.”

“What did you do?” Flurry asked, possibly the only one in the group who didn’t realize this was a made-up story.

“Well, I’ve fought manticores before. In the, uhm, manticore wars.” Brass Badge looked to Sunset, who nodded encouragingly. “That was why the manticore king wanted to attack. He was looking for revenge.”

The foals all gasped at the story, although Sunset got the impression the older foals just did it for the effect of the younger ones. “Did you have to fight him?” Pumpkin asked.

“We did. Shining Armor and I, we fought back to back against the manticore king.”

“And that was when Flurry’s dad saved you from a sneak attack,” Sunset reminded him.

“Yes, it was.”

Much to the delight of the foals, Brass Badge told a high action story about the time he and Shining had squared off against the manticore king. He wasn’t the best storyteller, but the kids seemed amused. And when he got stuck, Sunset was always ready to throw in some ridiculous twist for him.

The story concluded with Princess Celestia thanking the two of them for their bravery, which all the foals seemed to find to be a satisfying conclusion. They all thanked Brass Badge for telling them the story, then Morning leaned in to whisper something into Sunset’s ear that made her smile.

Brass Badge took notice. “Not a fan?”

“Oh no, she loved the story,” Sunset insisted. “Morning just isn’t sure what to call you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Twilight’s dad is already ‘Grandpa’, so you’ll need to be something else.”

Brass Badge frowned, but that was his usual reaction to anything so Sunset didn’t read too much into it. “When I was growing up, we called older stallions ‘sir’.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yeah, no offense, but that probably messed you up as bad as it did for me. How about Granddad?”

Brass Badge frowned more. “Granddad?”

Sunset turned towards the pony who would have the final say. “What do you think, Mo Glow?”

“I like Granddad.”

“There you have it,” Sunset said. “Trust me, I’ve heard worse.”

“I… suppose it will do…”

“Great, it’s settled.” Sunset smiled, then she saw somepony else she wanted to greet. “Celestia’s here. Come on, kids, let’s go say hi. Granddad can come too.”

“Auntie’s here!” Flurry Heart cheered as she got up.

“We’re meeting Princess Celestia?” Pound Cake asked.

Pumpkin rolled her eyes with an exaggerated roll of her head. “Poundy, it’s the Princess Summit! We gotta meet all the princesses!”

“She’s right, you know,” Sunset said. “Come on.”

Their group made their way over to Celestia, who was unfortunately talking with Golden Lace. Sunspot, Stellar Flare, and Sunburst seemed too in awe to say anything.

Sunset stopped in her tracks when one detail of Celestia’s apparel came to her attention. She went wide-eyed, and Pumpkin bumped into her. “Is everything okay, Mrs. Sunset?”

“Yeah, it’s… nothing.” Sunset led them the rest of the way to greet Celestia.

She turned to smile at them as they approached. “Sunset, hello. I see this is becoming quite the family reunion.”

“I guess so,” Sunset said, lacking her usual bravado. “That’s a nice scarf.”

“Do you like it?” Celestia used a hoof to gesture to the scarf, which was really quite ugly and poorly made. “Somepony very important made it for me.”

“You don’t say.” It was enough of a surprise that Celestia had kept that old thing, to see her actually wearing it… And to the Princess Summit at that!

“Brass,” Golden Lace said.

“Hello, Lace,” Brass said, sounding more casual than Sunset had expected of him. “You look well.”

“You too. How have you been?”

“You know how it is. Keeping busy as best I can.”

Golden Lace nodded. “I see. I suppose you haven’t found something more fulfilling than making models, then.”

Brass Badge looked back at his granddaughter, who was too distracted by Celestia to notice the grandmother she hadn’t yet met. “No, I think I found something after all.”

Morning seemed to notice that the others were looking at someone other than Celestia. She tapped on Brass’s foreleg. “Granddad, who’s that?”

“That’s my ex-wife,” Brass Badge explained. “Your grandmother.”

“Oh.” Morning looked up at Lace, who smiled.

“Granddad? How cute. You must be Morning Glisten, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Hi,” Morning said shyly.

“Morning Glisten,” Sunspot said. Whether Sunset considered him her father or not, he was looking at Morning the same way he had looked at Sunset – as a long lost part of his family. “So you’re Sunset’s daughter then.”

“Morning, come say hello to Princess Celestia,” Sunset instructed. “We’re going to be spending some time with your grandmother and these other ponies over the weekend, so you’ll get to know them soon.”

“Okay.” Morning walked around Brass Badge to look up at Celestia, who bent down to smile at her. “Uhm, hi, Princess Celestia.”

“Hello, Morning,” Celestia said. “I wanted to show you this scarf. Your mother made it for me when she was my student.”

“Oh. Uhm, which mother?”

Celestia chuckled. “Sunset did. Twilight also made me something, but I’ll have to show you that another time.”

“Were you ever Mama’s teacher too?”

“Fluttershy is Mama,” Sunset explained.

“No, I was not. I met your mama when she was already an adult. She’s a very good pony, and she’s actually taught me some things.”

“Like about animals?” Morning asked.

Celestia chuckled. “No, not about animals. She taught me about love, and what it’s like for your parents to be in a relationship together.”

“Oh. Did you also think only two ponies could be together?”

“Yes, I did. I thought that for a very long time. Your mama helped me see that I was wrong. All of your mothers did, but your mama was the first one to show me.”

“Mrs. Fluttershy taught me to eat broccoli,” Pumpkin said, causing the adults to laugh.

“Do you think you can manage the kids on your own?” Sunset asked Brass Badge. “The Cake twins can pretty much watch the younger kids alright, just make sure they stay away from the dessert table.”

“You’re insistent on seeing me fail, aren’t you?” Brass Badge asked, and Sunset wasn’t sure if he was joking. She had no idea if her father had a sense of humor, so she wouldn’t know how to recognize it.

“You could ask Sunspot and Stellar Flare for help,” Sunset said with a shrug. “They’ve got a son, so I’m sure they know a thing or two about kids. Might mean Mom tagging along, though.”

“That’s…” Brass Badge gave Sunset a meaningful look, and she understood.

“Yeah, that’s who that is.”

Brass Badge nodded. “So be it. If they’ll help me, I would be grateful.”

Sunset turned towards the couple, but before she could speak, Stellar answered, “We would be delighted to.”

That got rid of everyone except for Sunset and Celestia. Sunset looked at the ground as she spoke. “You didn’t have to wear that thing today, you know.”

“Are you embarrassed? No one even knows you made it.”

“I guess a little.” Sunset shook her head. “Anyway, where have you been? The Summit is about to start and I haven’t seen you around. I figured you’d show up with Luna.”

“I had an errand to run on the way in,” Celestia explained. “I had to stop by Ponyville.”

Sunset scrunched up her face. “Ponyville? What for?”

“For this.” Celestia levitated a crown from a nearby bag. It was instantly recognizable, as it was Sunset’s crown. “I hope you don’t mind, I had your friend Pinkie Pie show me into your house.”

Sunset blinked and took her crown in her magic field. “What? But why?”

“For the Summit, of course.” Celestia gave a sly smile. “I should have thought to tell you to bring it ahead of time so I wouldn’t need to go through your things, but by the time it occurred to me, it was too late to send word.”

“Yeah right.” Sunset placed the crown on her head. “You just wanted to see my face when you brought it here.”

“Well, that didn’t hurt either.”

Sunset wanted to hug Celestia, but she resisted the urge. “Does this mean what I think it does, then?”

“It means I would like for you to join us at the Summit and present yourself as Princess Sunset of Equestria. The law may not have changed yet, but it is well on its way. I feel it is overdue that we treat you as our equal.”

“Thank you.” Sunset looked up at Celestia. “How do I look?”

“Radiant, as always.”

Sunset nodded. She didn’t really know what else to say; her relationship with Celestia had never been an emotional one. She was saved when Twilight walked up to them. “There you are! The ceremony is about to begin!”

“Already?” Sunset asked. “I just sent Mo Glow off with my dad.”

“With your dad?” Twilight scrunched up her face in surprise, then shook her head. “We’ll talk about that later. Can you go get her, please?”

“I’ll wait here for you,” Celestia said.

Sunset nodded and went back into the crowd. A lot of ponies had shown up, which made searching a little challenging. Thankfully, it was a big group she was looking for, so Sunset was able to find them before too long.

Surprisingly, Brass Badge and Sunspot seemed to be talking amiably about something. The kids were mostly doing their own thing while the adults kept an eye on them.

“Morning, Flurry, it’s time for the Summit,” Sunset called.

“Oh… okay…” Morning walked over to Sunset with her head bowed.

Sunset guided her along gently with her hoof. “Hey, it’ll be alright. Just remember those etiquette lessons Mom gave us.”

Morning nodded. “Right.”

Sunset turned to the others. “Can you keep an eye on Pound and Pumpkin Cake for us?”

“Of course,” Stellar said. “Leave it to us.”

Sunset guided Morning and Flurry back to the others. Along the way, they found Cadance and Shining and passed Flurry off to her parents. Fluttershy and Luna had shown up with the others, so they were all together.

Luna approached Sunset and Morning. “Sunset, if you would like to change into something more regal, I had a change of clothes prepared for you.”

“Oh, so you were in on it too?” Sunset said with a smirk.

“She wasn’t, actually.” Celestia arched an eyebrow. “You knew I was going to invite Sunset even before I did, didn’t you.”

“I had my suspicions, yes,” Luna said proudly.

“Sunset’s joining us?” Twilight asked. “That’s great!”

Fluttershy walked over to Sunset and kissed her on the cheek. “It is. You and I can keep Morning from worrying too much.”

“I’m not worried!” Morning insisted.

“I am,” Flurry said. “It’s scary when everypony looks at you…”

“Oh.” Morning walked over to Flurry. “Well, stay with me then.”

Cadance placed a hoof on Flurry’s shoulder. “Would you like that, Flurry? Standing next to Mo Glow?”

“Yes,” Flurry said, then pressed against Morning.

Celestia chuckled. “I think if we don’t head into the dressing room, Twilight will have our heads.”

“We are six minutes behind…” Twilight grumbled.

They all started walking, with Twilight leading the way. Cadance, Luna, and Fluttershy followed, with Flurry forgetting her decision to stay next to Morning and running after her mom.

Celestia smiled at Sunset, then started walking. Sunset followed behind her, and Morning behind Sunset.

As they walked, Sunset couldn’t help but smile to herself as she thought of Celestia's earlier words. She’d called it a family reunion, but she didn’t even realize how accurate that was. Three generations of princesses, following behind the rest of their family.
⠀

⠀
“Alright, say cheese!”

A flash went off as a picture was taken. Morning was smiling for the camera, and with the photographer’s instructions, she had managed to shake her awkward smile and take a few genuinely good press photos.

“I think that’s a wrap,” the photographer said. “You’ve been so good, Princess Morning, if you’ll just move along to the next station so I can photograph Princess Flurry Heart next.”

“Okay.” Morning stood up and walked over to Twilight, who already had a wing extended to guide her. The two of them walked over to another stallion, who was smiling at them. Meanwhile, Flurry Heart took the seat Morning had been in and the photographer started snapping photos of her instead. Despite her age, she was much more used to being photographed and needed less coaching.

Of course, Twilight was more concerned about the next station. She had already done her interview, but it had been with a different reporter. This one looked friendlier, at least; Twilight had gotten a stern mare that asked hard-hitting questions about Twilight’s political stances and what she was doing to help lead Equestria. This stallion was a friendly-looking earth pony with a warm smile and soft features, and the only goal of the day was to introduce Morning to Equestria.

“Hello, Princess Morning,” he said with a small bow. “How are you feeling today?”

“Uhm…” Morning looked to Twilight, who smiled and nodded. “I’m okay…”

“She’s feeling a just a little overwhelmed by everything,” Twilight explained. “This is her first interview, after all.”

The stallion nodded. “Of course. There’s nothing to worry about, we’re just going to have a little chat and I’ll ask you some easy questions. If you don’t feel like answering any of them, you can ask me to skip it and we won’t use that question.”

Instead of answering him, Morning turned to Twilight. “You won’t leave me, will you?”

Twilight smiled. “No, I’ll be with you the whole time. But they do want to hear from you, not me, so I’ll let you answer the questions.”

Morning bowed her head. “Okay…”

The stallion picked up a pencil with the corner of his mouth, and he proved quite adept at talking while holding it. “Let’s start with today. What did you think of being part of the Princess Summit?”

Morning looked to Twilight, who only nodded. “It was strange. There were a lot of ponies there, and uhm, I kept expecting them to ask me to do something.”

“Was it a little scary having all those eyes on you?”

“A little… but I told Flurry that I would look out for her, so I had to be brave.”

“And might I say, you did wonderfully. This is your first public appearance, but you’ve met the other princesses before, correct?”

Morning nodded. “In Canterlot. And uhm, I’ve met Luna in my dreams. Oh, am I supposed to say Princess Luna?”

“Whatever you usually call her is fine,” the reporter said. “But if you met her in dreams, were you having a bad dream?”

Morning shrunk back a little. “Uhm, yes.”

“Poor dear. But it’s good we have somepony like Luna, isn’t it?”

“Yes. She’s really nice.”

“What about the other princesses? Do you get along with all of them?”

“Yes, they’re all nice to me.”

“Of course, no one could be mean to a sweet filly like you. You said you were being brave for Princess Flurry Heart. Are you and Flurry good friends?”

“Well, uhm, I think we’re cousins. But I guess we’re friends too.” Morning looked at Twilight. “Can you be cousins and friends?”

Twilight smiled and nodded. “Yes, you can.”

Morning turned back to the reporter. “Aunt Cadance says we can do a sleepover soon.”

“Oh, how fun! Are you going to sleep over at the Crystal Empire, or is she going to sleep over at Ponyville?”

“Uhm, I don’t know.”

“Alright. Speaking of Ponyville, you didn’t live there until around five months ago. Do you have some friends there too now?”

“Yes. Pound and Pumpkin Cake. They’re twins. They came with me to the Crystal Empire.”

“Aww, how nice. Do you go to school with them?”

“Mhm, we’re all in Miss Cheerilee’s class.”

“Er,” Twilight interrupted. “Maybe we could omit Cherrilee’s name? I don’t want ponies visiting her at school.”

The stallion nodded. “Of course, with kids we always remember to filter out personal details.”

“Sorry…” Morning looked down at her hooves.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Twilight insisted. “I’m sorry for interrupting. Please continue.”

The reporter nodded. “Another new thing is your moms. Do you like living with them?”

“Yes, they’re really nice and they take care of me and teach me things.”

“I’m sure a lot of ponies wonder what it’s like to have three moms. Most ponies only have one or two.”

“Uhm…” Morning thought about that question for a moment. “I think… it’s good to have three moms. I think it’s better, because there’s always somepony around if I need help with something.”

“You live with some other ponies too, don’t you?”

“Yes. Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Spike all live with us. We’re lucky we have a castle because I don’t think we’d all fit in a house very well.”

“Do you like having so many ponies around? Well, ponies and a dragon, of course.”

“I like it. I didn’t like it at first, but now I know everyone and they’re all nice and they take me out to play with my friends and tell me stories. It’s good.”

“It is a very big family, I can see why that was a little much at first.”

“I like it now. I like how our family doesn’t care about who’s actually related. Like Aunt Rainbow and Uncle Shining.”

Twilight smirked. “Uncle Shining is related to me by birth, Mo Glow.”

“He is? I forgot that…”

The journalist chuckled. “It’s a pretty special thing when you don’t even remember which family members are related by birth and which aren’t. I bet there’s a lot of nice things that come with having so many family members too. Lots of ponies to spoil a sweet little girl like you.”

Morning shifted in her seat. “Maybe.”

“Like, I bet being the granddaughter of a novelist means there’s always a lot of stories to hear, huh?”

Morning smiled. “Yeah, Grandma tells really good stories. Ma’s really good at storytelling too, and Mom is good at, uhm, reading stories.”

Twilight smiled to herself as she caught the difference, but she couldn’t disagree. Her mom and Sunset made up stories all the time, but Twilight wasn’t really creative in the same ways they were.

“Oh, which one’s Mom and which one’s Ma?”

“Twilight is Mom, Sunset is Ma. And, uhm, Fluttershy is Mama.”

“That’s such a lovely idea. It sounds like you have a really nice life with them.”

Morning looked up to Twilight and smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

“Well, we won’t take up any more of your time. Thank you so much for doing this interview, and I’ll let your mom take it from here.”

“That’s it?” Morning asked.

“That’s it,” Twilight said. “See, that wasn’t so bad.”

“So… now what?” Morning asked as Twilight guided her along.

“Now we’re done! What do you want to do?”

“Can I go play with my friends?”

“Let’s wait until Flurry is done, then she can play with you all too.”

“Okay.”

Flurry’s interview was even easier than Morning’s had been, since she was a few years younger. They took about half as long, and they learned such vital pieces of information as Flurry’s favorite color being blue, but only light blue with lots of sparkly bits in it.

During the interview, Twilight took Morning over to a snack table and got her a few non-sugary snacks. She’d learned from Sunset that she had caught Morning and the others raiding the dessert table after they’d explicitly been told not to do that, so now she wasn’t allowed dessert for the rest of the trip.

While they were waiting, Fluttershy came into the room and walked over to them. Twilight smiled at her. “How’d it go?”

“It went well,” Fluttershy said. “I think she went easier on me than on you. I’m glad I’m not an alicorn.”

Twilight kissed Fluttershy’s forehead. “Morning’s interview went well, too. We’re just waiting for Flurry’s to finish up, then the two of them are going to play with the Cakes.”

“Sounds nice.” Fluttershy turned to address Morning. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. I thought it would be harder.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “I thought it would be too, my first time.”

Before long, Flurry was running over to them, with Cadance following behind. “Mommy says I can play with Mo Glow again!”

Cadance nodded. “There’s a playroom for all the kids in the castle, I’ll take them over that way. Once Sunset finishes up, Shining can show you three where it’s at.”

“Sounds good,” Twilight said. “Be good for Auntie Cadance.”

“I will be,” Morning said, then she followed Cadance out of the room with Flurry hanging on her side.

“They’re so cute together,” Fluttershy said. “I’m glad they get along.”

“Me too. Morning’s really doing a lot better about other ponies these days.”

“She is. All she needed was a little bit of love and patience.”

Twilight nodded and put a wing around Fluttershy. “We’re actually doing a pretty good job, aren’t we?”

“We are. You were worried, weren’t you?”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m always worried, Shy. But… But I think we’re doing good. I just have to remember this the next time I’m worried.”

“Hmm, you need to come to us more when you’re worried too. We can help, you know.”

“I know, I just… you’ve both been going through a lot lately. I’m the one who doesn’t have all this drama going on, I need to be the strong one.”

Fluttershy bapped Twilight with her wing. “Nonsense. None of us need to be the strong one, we need to all support each other.”

“You’re right, again.”

“So what’s got you nervous lately?”

Twilight gestured around her. “This. All the princess stuff. It’s gotta be a lot for a little filly. It was a lot for me, and I was a grown mare when I was crowned.”

“It was a lot for me too. But we had help, and that made it okay. And now Morning has us, and we’ll make it okay for her too.”

“You don’t think… she’d rather be a normal kid, do you?”

“Well… I think she is a normal kid.”

Twilight frowned a little. “She’s a princess, Shy.”

“And the first thing she wanted to do when her princess duties were over was run along and play with her friends. And you know Pound and Pumpkin don’t care that she’s a princess, they didn’t even realize until today.”

Twilight could kind of see Fluttershy’s point, but she wasn’t sure she agreed. “Sure, she has friends who are regular ponies, but she’s still a princess.”

Fluttershy giggled. “That’s not what I’m saying. But, uhm, what would she do if she wasn’t a princess? She’d probably play with her friends, and spend time with her family, and read books about ponies who aren’t like her and imagine herself in their place.”

Twilight nodded slowly as she caught on to what Fluttershy was getting at. “And she does all of that stuff already.”

“Exactly. She’s a regular pony who has something different about her. But she can still be a normal pony. Especially in Ponyville, where ponies are used to seeing princesses out and about thanks to us.”

“I guess that’s true.” Twilight hugged Fluttershy and felt a little better. “Thanks, Shy.”

Fluttershy hugged Twilight back. “Want to go check on Sunset?”

“Sure, let’s make sure the interviewer isn’t going hard on the newbie.”

The two of them left the room, heading next door where they had been interviewed and photographed. They had decided to keep the triad separate from the fillies so they could ask about the political nature of Sunset’s marriage becoming official without having it frighten Morning.

Sunset was talking to the interviewer, and she seemed to be doing a rather good job of it. Or at the very least, Twilight thought she was judging by her expression. She looked smug, like she knew the perfect answer to every question. Knowing Sunset, she probably did.

“– relationships with more than two ponies where everypony isn’t together?”

“Oh, like V’s?” Sunset nodded. “That will require some thought, but yes, I would like to extend marriage as an option to those relationships as well. I think what’s important is figuring out what’s right rather than what’s easy. It’ll take some extra work, and I don’t know all the details of figuring out how that’ll work if, say, only one part of the relationship gets divorced since not all assets are shared like in a closed triad, but I’m committed to figuring out answers to that stuff with my fellow princesses.”

“Some have noted a change of heart with Princess Celestia taking a more active role in the matter of polyamorous marriage than before. Do you have a comment on this?”

“I think it would be better to ask Princess Celestia about that, but if I were to speculate, I don’t think it’s a change of heart as much as it is her deciding what she wants to do after careful consideration. It’s worth noting that even if she never directly involved herself before, that goes both ways. She never opposed polyamorous legal reform.”

“Poor Sunset,” Twilight muttered.

Fluttershy shook her head. “Something tells me she’s loving this.”

It did seem like Fluttershy might be on to something. Every question that was thrown at her, Sunset had a well thought out answer. True, she wasn’t asked any easy questions, but she really was in her element.

They weren’t the only ones watching. Celestia came up to greet them as Sunset answered questions. “She’s quite good at this, isn’t she?”

“She is,” Twilight said. “Have you done your interview yet?”

“Yes, they asked me many of the same questions. Luna shrugged it off to take a nap, I’m afraid.”

“She has been up all day,” Fluttershy said.

“She seems troubled lately.” Celestia shook her head. “It’s probably nothing, but I do worry about her.”

“I think Luna will be fine,” Fluttershy said. “It just might take a little time.”

Celestia seemed to be studying Fluttershy. “I see. Something has happened, then. I won’t pry, but I do hope it gets resolved.”

“It will,” Fluttershy assured her. “But, uhm, I think she could use somepony on her side in the meantime.”

“Of course. I will speak with her about it.”

Apparently the interviewer finished with Sunset, because she came up to see them. “Hey, where’s Morning?”

“Cadance took the foals to play,” Twilight explained. “Are you done? We can go see them.”

“I am, yeah. Where are they?”

Twilight grinned sheepishly. “Well, first we need to find Shining so he can show us the way.”

“I’ll let you three get to it, then,” Celestia said, though she smiled at Sunset. “You did very well today.”

Sunset scratched at her neck. “Hey, I learned from the best, right? I’ve seen you answer more questions than I can count.”

Celestia stepped forward and gave Sunset a quick hug. “Still, I wanted to say you did well. Good work, Princess Sunset.”

Sunset chuckled. “I think I like being your gifted student even better.”

“Really? Well then, my gifted student, I’m proud of your accomplishments.”

“Yeah yeah,” Sunset waved off Celestia’s praise, but it was clear that she loved it. “Thank you. We should go save Cadance from having to watch all four kids herself, though.”

Celestia left the room with them, then she walked a different direction as they set off to find Shining. Sunset smiled the entire way.

“That was interesting,” Twilight said, pressing against Sunset and nudging her playfully. “I didn’t get a ‘congratulations’ from Celestia.”

“Hey, you just didn’t kick as much ass as me.” Sunset nudged her back. “But don’t worry, I could give you some lessons.”

Twilight snickered. “Lucky me.”

“Sunset,” Fluttershy said. “You don’t think Morning minds being a princess, do you?”

“I don’t know, why?” Sunset frowned. “Did she say something?”

“No, Twily’s just worried.”

“Oh, that makes more sense.” Sunset leaned against her wife. “Twi… I don’t know what Morning thinks about being a princess, but she seems happy, right? Even if that’s not her favorite part of her life, she can still be happy.”

“I guess… I just worry that she’d be even happier if we were regular ponies.”

Sunset shrugged. “We’ll talk to her when we’re back in Ponyville. But you know, she’s happy. Just focus on that. And anyway, it’s not like she’s going to have to be a ‘save Equestria from Nightmare Moon’ kind of princess. She’s not even going to be a political princess unless she wants to be. She’s just gonna be a ‘enjoy the perks of the title’ princess.”

Twilight nodded slowly. “So neither of you think this is something to worry about.”

“Not something to worry about, but it’s something to think about,” Sunset said. “Maybe she does need to talk to us about this. Maybe she needs to talk to somepony who isn’t us about it. We talked about enrolling her in therapy for her anger issues. Maybe she’d like having that to talk about princess stuff too.”

“Maybe…”

Fluttershy giggled. “I think Twily needs some time to process that even if she does have a point, we’ll still be able to handle it.”

“We do kind of kick ass,” Sunset said.

Twilight sighed at Sunset’s language, but at the same time, she actually kind of agreed. “I guess we do.”

They walked for a little while before Fluttershy said, “Uhm, do any of us know where Shining Armor is?”

“I was following Sunset.”

“What? I was following Twilight.”

They all stopped and looked at one another, then they laughed. “Let’s just find a guard,” Twilight suggested.

Sunset nodded. “Good idea. And Twi?” She kissed Twilight on the cheek. “It’ll be okay.”

Twilight nodded, and this time, she believed it. “You know what? I think you’re right.” She extended one wing over each wife. “As long as we’re together, everything will be just fine.”

24 – The Perfect Family

Chapter Twenty-Four
The Perfect Family

⠀

⠀
The trip to the Crystal Empire had been many things. Despite Morning’s nerves, it had actually been a lot of fun. She liked spending time with her new family, especially Flurry. When she was at the orphanage, Morning had always hated being forced to spend time with younger foals. But now? Now it was kind of cool to have her little cousin looking up to her.

It had been overwhelming, though. Not just Flurry, though that was a little overwhelming too. But everypony at the castle called her ‘Princess Morning’, and she’d had ponies waiting on her. Flurry was a natural at it, and she didn’t seem to understand why Morning found it strange.

Which was why Morning was glad to be back in Ponyville. Although some ponies around the smaller town seemed to realize she was a princess, nopony seemed to care here. She went to school just like every other foal, and she liked it that way.

Not that she didn’t also like when school ended. Her mama hadn’t arrived to pick her up yet, so she waited with Pound and Pumpkin outside.

It gave her the chance to talk to them a little bit. “Hey, uhm…”

“What’s up?” Pound asked.

“So… what did you guys think of the Crystal Empire?”

“It was awesome!” Pumpkin said. “I wish we could live there!”

“It’s not like that at your castle, is it?” Pound asked.

“No, our castle only has my family. We don’t have all those guards and butlers and stuff.” Morning kicked a nearby rock, watching it roll away. “It was weird.”

“Your whole family is weird,” Pumpkin said, then Pound punched her shoulder. “Ow! Not like, bad weird! Good weird!”

“Yeah, they are,” Morning said. “But it’s hard to be a princess.”

“I wish I was a princess,” Pumpkin said.

“What’s hard about it?” Pound asked.

“Everypony wants you to be perfect.”

Three ponies went rushing out of the schoolhouse. One of them gave Morning a dirty look, then the Hero Club ran off on their way.

That caused Pumpkin to snicker. “Boomer doesn’t expect you to be perfect.”

In a weird way, Morning liked that the Hero Club hadn’t forgiven her for the fight. It was proof that some ponies really didn’t care that she was a princess. Not that she thought her friends did, but still.

“You two, uhm… you don’t care that I’m a princess, do you?” Morning asked. It didn’t hurt to make sure.

Pound shrugged. “No, why would we care about that?”

Pumpkin put a foreleg around Morning. “You worry too much! Being a princess is so cool! You get to do whatever you want and boss ponies around and everypony likes you!”

“Boomer doesn’t,” Morning said.

“Yeah, but you punched her.” Pumpkin shrugged as if that wasn’t a hole in her logic. “Lots of ponies like you though. Even ponies who don’t know you!”

Why couldn’t Pumpkin see how much pressure that was? All these ponies liked her, and they all wanted her to be the perfect filly!

But she didn’t say that. She didn’t know how to. Instead she just shrugged and said, “I guess.”

They weren’t waiting for too long before someone showed up for Morning, but it wasn’t her mama. “Hey, Morning,” Spike said. “You ready to get going?”

“Sure, but where’s Mama?”

Spike shrugged. “I had an errand to run around the school today, so I said I’d come and get you after.”

“Oh, alright.”

Spike led them away, so Morning followed. Sugarcube Corner was on the way to the castle, so they always walked the Cakes home as well. Fluttershy had once said it was a big help to the Cakes because they couldn’t leave work like Morning’s moms could.

Along the way, Spike asked about how school was going, but Morning didn’t pay too much attention. She was thinking of something else – wondering if all these ponies would be let down if she wasn’t perfect.

She didn’t talk much on the way to Sugarcube Corner, and barely noticed when they reached it. “Bye, Morning,” Pumpkin said, snapping her out of her thoughts.

“See you at school tomorrow,” Pound added.

“Oh. Bye, see you tomorrow.”

The Cakes waved, then walked inside.

Spike turned to Morning once they were gone. “So now that it’s just you, want a ride to the castle?”

“A ride?”

“Yeah, I can carry you the rest of the way if you want. You can hang on to my shoulder.”

“Okay.”

Spike picked up Morning and set her on his shoulder. She held on with her forelegs while her back half dangled behind Spike. She liked being so high up, she could see everything from up there.

“When we first moved to Ponyville, I used to ride around on Twilight’s back,” Spike explained as he started walking. “About time I return the favor.”

“You were that small?” Morning asked. It seemed strange to imagine Spike small enough to ride on a pony.

Spike laughed at that. “Well, you don’t think I was born this big, do you? I was just a little dragon back then.”

“Oh yeah.” A thought question to Morning that she had never thought to ask before. “Was it weird being a dragon when all your family are ponies?”

“Sometimes,” Spike said. “I guess I kind of felt like I didn’t really fit in sometimes. Do you ever feel like that?”

“Sometimes,” Morning admitted.

“You know what helped me?”

“What?”

“Spending time with my family. Seeing how much they loved me, and knowing that they didn’t care, so I shouldn’t either.”

The strange thing was that Morning did believe that. But there were other ponies that cared… There were so many ponies that wanted Morning to be the perfect little princess.

“And if you wanted to see when I was a baby dragon, we’ve got some old pictures you can look at. I’m sure Grandma would love to show them off to you. She’s got plenty of pictures of Mom and Uncle Shining too, even some of Aunt Cadance when she was a teenager.”

“Mama showed me a picture from when she was a filly. I haven’t seen any pictures of Ma when she was little.”

“Me either,” Spike said. “We can ask her about it, but I don’t know if her family did that sort of thing.”

“Oh, okay.”

They walked in silence for a while, and the steady bounce of Spike’s steps generally kept Morning too distracted to worry about princess stuff. Not completely though; she found herself wondering about Spike, and if he ever had to worry about being perfect.

Spike seemed to take notice of how lost in thought Morning was. “You know, you’ve been quiet since we got back home from the Crystal Empire. Is everything okay?”

Morning frowned, which Spike thankfully couldn’t see. “I’m okay. It was fun.”

“Just tired from the trip?” Spike asked.

“Yeah,” Morning said. “I guess so.”

“I understand. It can be a lot to travel around the country like that. But now we’re home and you can relax.”

Morning nodded and didn’t say anything. Spike didn’t question it again, and they made the rest of the trip to the castle in silence.

At least the ride was nice. Morning thanked Spike for it when they reached the castle, and he set her down inside.

“So do you want to take a nap?” Spike asked. “You said you were tired.”

“I don’t need a nap,” Morning said. She wasn’t really tired, she had just said that because she wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Alright. You could always ask Grandma to show you some photos.”

Morning nodded. That sounded like fun. “Okay. Is she in her room?”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t know, I just got here. You could check her study.”

“Oh, right.” Morning went upstairs with Spike, then he went into his room while she continued to another door. It was Twilight Velvet’s study, where she wrote stories. She said she was currently writing a story for Morning, but that she’d have to wait until it was finished to hear it.

The door was partially open, so Morning pushed on it. “Grandma?”

Twilight Velvet spun around in her chair and smiled at Morning. “There’s my girl. How was school?”

“It was nice. Uhm, Spike said you have some pictures of when he was small enough to ride on Twilight’s back.”

Velvet got up and chuckled. “Oh, I have pictures of when he was even smaller than that! Let’s go down into the sitting room and I’ll show you.”

Morning nodded and walked back out of the room. Velvet followed behind, levitating a book with her. They walked to the first floor together, and then into the sitting room.

Morning took a seat on a couch made for two ponies, and Velvet sat beside her. She opened it to the first page, and showed Morning a photo of Velvet and Night Light when they were younger. “That was our first photo together. We weren’t even married back then.”

Velvet flipped through the pages, explaining the photos to Morning as she did. “Ah, here we go, this should be more interesting to you,” Velvet said as she turned to a picture of a little purple unicorn. She looked younger than Morning. “That’s your mom.”

“That’s Mom?” Morning smiled. “I forgot she used to be a unicorn.”

Velvet laughed. “Sometimes I still forget she’s an alicorn. In my memories, she’s always that little filly who was so in love with her books.”

“What was she like when she was my age?” Morning asked.

“Hmm… a little like you. Not as good with her friends, though.”

“Really?” Morning had always thought her mom was so good with other ponies.

“Oh yes, Twilight was horribly antisocial when she was younger. It wasn’t exactly that she was shy, she just… didn’t like other foals.”

“Huh.”

“But she was a good foal. She liked her books and she loved magic. She wasn’t very good at it for a long time, not until she got her cutie mark.”

“Mom wasn’t good at magic either?”

“That’s right. She’s never told you that?”

Morning thought back. “I think maybe she did, but I forgot.”

Velvet nodded. “I’ve heard your ma say she was always a natural with magic, but your mom, she wasn’t. She knew a lot about it, but she couldn’t quite manage to use it.”

Morning wondered if that meant maybe someday she’d be able to do magic as well. She looked back at the picture. Her mom looked so… normal. She didn’t look anything like a princess.

The photos went on. There were pictures of Shining as well, and of Spike as a baby – Velvet called him a hatchling. As it went on, there were a few photos of Cadance, and Velvet explained before she had started dating Shining, she was Twilight’s foalsitter.

Later still, there were some pictures of Fluttershy as well. By then, Twilight was an alicorn. Even later there were some pictures of Sunset, and then to Morning’s surprise, some of her as well.

Velvet laughed at the surprise. “Well, why not? You’re part of the family, you belong in the family photo album.”

“Oh. Thank you.”

Velvet wrapped a foreleg around Morning and kissed her on her head. “You know, your grandpa is working on a treat in the kitchen. Maybe you could go help him.”

“Okay.” Morning climbed off of the couch and left the room. Looking at family photos had been fun, and she was happy to be part of the album. Getting to eat some of her grandpa’s delicious food would be a good way to follow it up.

She walked into the kitchen and saw him icing some sugar cookies. He looked up and smiled broadly as she walked in. “Hey, Mo Glow.”

“Hi, Grandpa. Grandma says you might need some help.”

“Sure do.” He gestured for her to come inside. “Come give me a hoof with these cookies.”

Morning walked inside and he helped her onto a stool so she could sit beside him. The cookies were cut into shapes, so she started decorating one that looked like a leaf.

“Do you have a favorite kind of cookie?” Night Light asked.

“Uhm, I don’t know. Maybe peanut butter?”

“Oh yeah? Well, we can make some of those too if you want.”

“Really?”

“Sure! You’re allowed to have dessert again now that we’re back in Ponyville, after all.”

Morning nodded. They iced the rest of the cookies, then they ate a few as they worked on peanut butter cookies. “Can we cut the peanut butter ones into shapes too?”

“We can try,” Night Light said. “It might not turn out as well as the sugar cookies though.”

“Oh. Maybe we shouldn’t.”

Night Light was already getting out the cookie cutters. “What shapes do you want?”

“Hmm…” Morning looked over them and picked out three shapes – a butterfly, a sun, and a star.

“Excellent choices,” Night Light said, and they got to work.

It was fun. Morning didn’t like baking a whole lot, and she wasn’t good at it like the Cake twins were, but she liked spending time with her grandpa and eating the cookies afterwards.

“Grandpa?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s your favorite cookie?”

“Hmm…” Night Light tapped his chin. “Maybe oatmeal.”

“Oh. We can, uhm, make oatmeal cookies too. For you.”

Night Light grinned. “Are you sure you don’t just also want oatmeal cookies?”

“I don’t know…”

He mussed her mane. “Maybe next time. I think two types of cookies are enough.”

While the peanut butter cookies baked, Morning helped her grandpa clean up the mess. After, they talked about school – adults always asked about school, after all – and about Morning’s friends.

“Auntie Cadance said we can do a sleepover,” Morning said. “I hope Flurry comes over here.”

“Do you not like the Crystal Empire?” Night Light asked.

“I liked it. But I like Ponyville better.”

Night Light nodded. “Ponyville is nice. We’ll talk to Aunt Cadance and Uncle Shining and figure out what works best for everyone.”

Morning nodded.

“But first, we’ll have some cookies.” Night Light opened the stove and pulled them out, then set them down to cool.

“Oh no!” Morning frowned. All the cookies had turned into bloated balls with weird poking out bits. “You were right… They don’t look good.”

Night Light stroked her mane. “It’s okay, they’ll still taste just as good. That’s why we usually stick to sugar cookies for shapes, though.”

Morning nodded, but she still worried she had messed it all up. “They’re not perfect anymore though.”

“Nothing’s ever really perfect, Mo Glow. But what matters is that you can still enjoy them. These cookies will taste just fine.”

“Okay…”

“Why don’t you go tell your moms to come down and get some cookies? I’ll tell Grandma and Uncle Spike, then we’ll all meet up back here. By the time we’re back, the peanut butter ones should be cool enough to eat.”

Morning nodded and ran off to go back upstairs and tell her moms about the cookies. She checked their bedroom first, but they weren’t there. Twilight wasn’t in her office either, so she checked the library, but they still weren’t there.

They were probably in the castle if Night Light had asked Morning to find them, but there weren’t a whole lot of places left to check. She knew they weren’t in the kitchen or the sitting room since she had been in both of those rooms, which meant…

The basement! Morning ran back downstairs, then opened the door to the basement. She’d been told not to go in there without one of her moms, so she stayed at the top of the stairs. The lights were off so it was probably empty, but she still called, “Hello? Is anyone down there?”

“Yeah, we’re here,” Sunset called back. “You can come down. Just watch your step in the dark.”

Morning carefully walked down the stairs and saw all of her moms standing around some sort of mechanical device. “What’s that?”

“It’s a projector,” Twilight explained. “Come stand with us and we’ll show you.”

Morning stood beside her moms and Sunset turned on the projector.

It shot out a beam of light that created a picture on the wall. The picture moved though, and it showed a lion roaring. It looked so realistic, although it was in black and white.

“Wow! That’s amazing!” Morning said.

The pictures continued, showing some clouds with words on the screen. “There should be music playing now,” Sunset explained. “We haven’t gotten the audio equipment set up yet.”

“It looks a lot clearer than our projectors,” Fluttershy said.

As the pictures went on, a human mare appeared on the screen, running through a farm with a little dog following her. Morning let out an “Oh!” of surprise.

“AJ picked this up for me,” Sunset explained. “It’s a famous movie in the other world.”

“A movie?” Morning asked.

Sunset turned off the projector and used her magic to turn on the lights. “A movie is like… well, like what you just saw, though usually they have sound and color. That one actually has color partway through. They can be a couple hours long, and they tell a story.”

“Wow.”

“Have you ever seen a projector before?” Twilight asked.

Morning shook her head. “Uh uh.”

Twilight gestures to the machine. “We have them in Equestria, they look similar to this one. But the ones built by other ponies can only show short films, a few minutes long, and the video quality is lower than human ones. Sunset’s trying to create projectors that work like the human ones for us, so we can have long movies too.”

“That’s so cool!” Morning examined the projector, but she was careful not to get too close to it. Her ma had made something amazing, and Morning didn’t want to accidentally mess it up. “You’re all always doing such great stuff.”

Fluttershy kissed Sunset’s cheek. “Ma is really amazing.”

“She is,” Twilight agreed.

“All of you are.” Morning looked down at the ground.

There was a moment’s hesitation, then Twilight asked, “Are you okay, Mo Glow?”

Morning shook her head and looked up. “I’m fine!”

Her moms all looked at one another, then Twilight used her wing to guide Morning over to a couch. “Come sit down with us. We should talk.”

Morning felt a lump form in her throat, and her legs felt like they might give out as they walked the short distance to the couch. They all took seats on it, and Morning sat between Twilight and Fluttershy.

“Morning,” Twilight said, “how have you been feeling lately?”

“Uhm, okay,” Morning said. “I’m not sick or anything.”

“That isn’t what Mom meant,” Fluttershy said. “You’ve had a lot going on with the Princess Summit. Are you feeling overwhelmed at all?”

Morning looked down. “I don’t know.”

“It’s okay if you are,” Twilight said. “In fact, that would be completely normal. We were all overwhelmed at our first summit.”

Sunset smiled. “I was –”

“Except Ma,” Twilight added.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “What I was going to say is that I was a little overwhelmed, too. I’m pretty good at handling stress, but yeah, even I was worried when Celestia told me I would be in the actual Summit.”

“Really?” Morning looked up at Sunset. “But you’re all so… perfect.”

“No, we’re not,” Twilight said. “None of us are. Believe me, I’ve done some really stupid things. We’ve all made mistakes, and we just keep trying again.”

“Remember what we talked about at Sweet Apple Acres?” Sunset asked. “We all have problems we have to learn to overcome.”

“But what if I never overcome my problems?” Morning asked. “What if I’m never a… a good filly?”

“Oh, sweetie…” Fluttershy brushed her hoof over Morning’s mane. “You are a good filly.”

“No I’m not!” Morning jumped off the couch. “I’m just pretending! I’m always pretending to be a good filly, because the real me isn’t good!”

Sunset shook her head. “A bad filly wouldn’t care about trying to be good.”

Twilight held out her hoof. “Please come sit with us.”

Morning did as she was asked, and this time, Twilight wrapped both of her wings around her. “Morning, we love you just the way you are. Even when you misbehave or get angry, we always love you no matter what.”

“But…” Morning sniffed. “I can’t be a princess like you… I’m just an orphan, nopony special…”

“I wasn’t always a princess,” Twilight said. “None of us were.”

Morning frowned. “Grandma showed me pictures of you when you were little. You looked like a normal filly.”

“Because I was,” Twilight said softly.

“And when my mama died and I left home, I was basically an orphan too,” Fluttershy said. “I wasn’t ready to be a princess either. But I had help. I let Twilight and Luna help me, and now you need to let us help you.”

“I pretty much wrote the book on being a bad filly,” Sunset said. “I know you’re a good filly. You think it’s an act, but it’s not. You’re doing so well and we’re all so proud of you.”

“I… I…”

“Where you come from doesn’t matter,” Fluttershy said with a bright smile. “What matters is what you do with what you have. There’s always the chance to grow into something else, and we all get to have a say in shaping who we become.”

Morning couldn’t hold it in anymore and started crying. “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“I’m just so happy I have you to help me!”

Sunset and Fluttershy moved in closer, and they all hugged Morning while she cried. She wasn’t even completely sure why she was crying, but she appreciated having all three of them there with her.

“What if…” she said eventually. “What if I don’t want to be a princess…?”

They were all quiet for a moment, then Sunset said. “Then you won’t be. We’ll tell ponies to stop calling you Princess Morning, you won’t have to go to stuff like the Princess Summit, and we’ll still love you just as much as we already do.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Fluttershy said. “But you should know, being a princess only has to mean what you make of it. You don’t have to do anything.”

“It just feels like everyone wants me to be perfect all the time.”

“No, Morning.” Twilight kissed Morning on top of her head. “No one expects you to be perfect. You’re allowed to make mistakes. You’re only six, you should be making mistakes, that way you can learn.”

“So… can I punch Boomer in her dumb face again?”

Her moms all laughed. “Let’s try not to make the same mistakes,” Twilight said. “Learning from them is an important part of this.”

Morning rubbed her eyes and felt a little better.

“And Mo Glow?” Sunset said. “Don’t ever feel like you can’t talk to us. Something tells me you’ve been hiding this for a long time.”

“I guess I have been…”

“You can always come to us with anything,” Fluttershy said. “No matter what. Our most important job is to help you through life, and nothing you do or think will ever be so bad that you can’t come to us.”

“What if I… rob a bank?”

Twilight giggled. “We’ll help you do the right thing then, too.”

“Yeah, we’ll tell you the best places to hide the bits,” Sunset said, so Twilight nudged her.

Morning laughed, then remembered why she was there. “Oh! Uhm, me and Grandpa made cookies!”

Sunset nodded. “Well then, guess we better go get some before a certain dragon eats them all up.”

“Before we go, are you okay now, Mo Glow?” Fluttershy asked. “Is there anything else you want to talk about?”

Morning shook her head. “No, I feel better now.”

“Good.” Twilight retracted her wings and let Morning hop off the couch.

She ran ahead a little bit, but she stopped before she reached the stairs. “Uhm, I think maybe it’s okay to be a princess. Maybe.”

Fluttershy reached her first. “And remember, you can change your mind and talk to us about that.”

Morning nodded. She was going to start walking again, but instead, she threw herself into Fluttershy’s legs, hugging her as best she could.

Fluttershy hugged her back. “Something else?”

Morning blushed, and said, “I love you, Mama. I love all of you.”

Fluttershy scooped Morning up in her forelegs, and she looked like she might cry. “Oh, Morning, we love you too.”

They all crowded around her for another hug, and they all repeated Fluttershy’s words. And Morning felt it. She felt loved.

Once they let her go, she led the way up the stairs. Love was great and all, but fresh cookies waited for them, and Morning was ready to eat them with her family. There was a lot she still didn’t know about being a princess, but there was one thing she did know for sure. Her family loved her, and she loved them too.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, the only thing I ask is that you stop into the comments to let me know what you thought :twilightsmile:

I have a Discord server if anyone wants to come hang out (please note that it is a 16+ server, if you are not 16 years old or older please do not join!) :ajsmug:

And of course, here's some end credits music:

Epilogue

Of course the sun was shining. The Crystal Empire weather team wouldn’t schedule anything to happen on today of all days, after all.

The Princess Summit was here once again, and the mare wished she were anywhere else. She hated the Princess Summit, hated the way ponies flocked to it and celebrated all of Equestria’s favorite heroines.

But unfortunately, her partner had been adamant about going. Anywhere with a big crowd was a place they wanted to be, after all. At least if they wanted to eat.

And eating was exactly what she was about to be doing. It was midday and they were breaking for lunch, so the mare had gone to get them a couple of hayburgers. She normally didn’t mind running errands like this, but listening to everyone chatter about their favorite princesses was driving her up the wall.

Every princess had fans, even the controversial Sunset Shimmer. The mare tried to tune them out, but occasionally things drifted into her perception.

“– think of Equestria’s newest princess?” she overheard someone asking.

The mare just rolled her eyes. She remembered a time when Celestia was the only princess. Now it seemed that every time she checked, there was a new princess popping up.

“I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out today,” somepony answered. “What was her name? Morning something?”

“Morning Glisten.”

The mare stopped in her tracks and looked back at the two stallions that were talking. She walked over to them and smiled sheepishly. “Excuse me, did you say Morning Glisten?”

One of the stallions shrugged. “I think that was her name, but I’m not positive. Why?”

The mare shook her head. “Nothing, I just, er, hadn’t heard the news.”

It had to be the wrong name. It had to be. Morning Glisten…

She had to be sure. Thankfully, there were only a hundred different ponies hawking the day’s newspaper, so it was easy enough to find one. She only had a few bits on her, and they were supposed to be for food. Still, she would go hungry to make sure they’d had the wrong name…

She bought the paper, and looked at the cover, which only showed the four adult alicorn princesses. The mare hated looking at them, but she’d gladly take that over the alternative. The story continued inside, so she tore open the paper and flipped to the right page.

There were pictures of all the secondary princesses. Fluttershy, Sunset, and Flurry Heart were expected, but like she had heard, there was a fourth now.

It had been six, almost seven years, and still the mare recognized her. Recognized her daughter. She’d never forget that little pink filly that had cried so much when her mother had been forced to give her up for a better life.

But not for this. She was meant to have a normal life with other ponies like her, not be adopted into Equestrian royalty!

“There you are,” her partner said. “You took so long that Trixie came looking for you.”

The mare turned to her, but she couldn’t speak. Instead she just levitated the paper over to her.

Trixie skimmed the article, then turned to look at her with her mouth hanging open. “Morning Glisten? But isn’t that your…?”

The mare nodded, then looked up at the castle. That was her daughter, and she had made the ultimate sacrifice to give her a better life. And now this…

No. This was unacceptable, this could not be another thing that Twilight Sparkle took from her. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do yet, but as the mare looked up at the castle, she knew she would do something. Twilight Sparkle… she had not seen the last of Starlight Glimmer.

Author's Note

Who We Become is a story that takes place across two worlds. The human story and the pony story happen concurrently and affect each other, but they can also be read as standalone stories.

Coda is the next entry in the series, taking place in the human world over a span of time ranging from shortly after Thicker Than Water to happening concurrently with Acts of Love. It follows Fluttershy as she closes several pages of her story. It’s the next recommended story for those interested in the full series, but it's a side story and could be skipped.

If you only care about the pony side of things, you could skip to Coloring Outside the Lines, a story about Flurry Heart as she deals with kindergarten crushes.

There is currently no main story after this one, but I'm working on it slowly. It's called Life in Equestria, and I hope to have it out by the end of 2022!

Prologue

It was raining. Of course it was raining. Because things weren’t bad enough already, the weather team in this damn town had to schedule rain today of all days.

The crying infant in the mare’s foreleg didn’t help either. She knew that her daughter was crying because of the rain, but she couldn’t help but imagine it was because of where the two of them were going. Because of what she was about to do…

Despite the rain, the mare stopped to look at the building’s sign. It read ‘Small Steps Home for Orphaned Ponies’, a fittingly quaint name for the rural orphanage, she decided. The mare resumed walking towards the building.

She opened the door with her magic, since she was using one foreleg to cradle her daughter and needed the other one to stand. She was aware she was dripping rain water all over their floor, particularly because her heavy travelling cloak was soaked, but she paid it no mind. She needed the cloak to hide her as she did what she had to do, even more so than she’d needed it to keep the rain off her.

She left the door open and walked up to a desk and caught the attention of the stallion sitting at it. He took one look at her and stood up. “Wait right there, I’ll go get you a towel.”

“Don’t,” the mare said. “I’m not staying.”

“Miss?” The stallion frowned. “What, uh, can I do for you?”

The mare looked down at her daughter. A tiny little pink unicorn, she had rose-colored hair that had a yellow streak through it. She took a steadying breath, then tore her eyes off of her to look at the stallion instead. “I need to surrender my daughter.”

He looked between the mare and the infant. “There are steps to take, paperwork to fill out. Please, let me go get you a towel then we’ll sort this whole thing out.”

“I’m sorry.” The mare kissed her daughter on the forehead. She closed her eyes and for just one moment, she let them be as mother and daughter once more. “I’m so sorry…”

If only she wasn’t crying… The mare didn’t want her last memory of her daughter to be of her crying. She looked up at the stallion and levitated her daughter towards him.

He took the child. “Miss, we really need –”

“Her name is Morning Glisten. Please –” The mare’s voice caught in her throat, but she forced the words out anyway. “Please take care of her.”

“Miss, wait!”

But the mare did not. She turned and ran out the still open door. She heard him get up, but there was a desk between them and he was holding a crying infant. He wouldn’t chase her into the rain, and even if he did, she would get away from him.

It wasn’t the right way to do things, she knew, but it was the best way. Her daughter, her Morning Glisten, she would be so much better off without her. Better to have no mother than a mother like her.

She’d grow up with other children like her in a quaint country orphanage, the same as anypony else, and that was the only gift her mother could give her.