Sunset Shimmer grumbled sleepily and winced as a beam of sunlight snuck through the bedroom curtains and struck her full in the face. She twisted around under the covers and reached out for the other side of the bed, grumbling again as her hand found nothing but blankets. With a cranky groan she pulled herself into a sitting position with a huge yawn and a stretch. As she rubbed her bleary eyes, she sniffed the air, and a wry smile appeared on her face. There was a definite smell of sweet baked goods in the air. She sniffed again. And coffee. Yes, coffee was definitely involved in whatever was going on downstairs.
That was enough, barely, to get Sunset out of bed. She pulled on a robe and shuffled downstairs towards the kitchen. Sure enough, a familiar figure was standing at the counter in a puffy yellow nightgown, a cascade of frizzy pink hair pouring down her back. Sunset paused in the doorway as she heard the distinct sound of sniffling and whimpering. With a sad little smile of understanding Sunset came up from behind and slid her arms around the other woman’s waist, holding her close and giving her a soft kiss on the cheek. “Hey,” she cooed softly. “Morning, Love.”
Pinkie Pie sniffed heavily as she poured a mass of chocolaty batter into the waffle maker. “Good morning!” she blurted out, before turning into Sunset’s arms and burying her face in her shoulder.
Sunset leaned her head against Pinkie’s and hugged her close. “C’mon Pinkie…it’s gonna be okay.”
“But our baby is leaving!” Pinkie wailed, her voice muffled by Sunset’s thick plush robe. Sunset felt some tears welling up in her own eyes at that, but she took a deep breath and just held Pinkie like that for a few moments, rocking her back and forth and stroking her head.
Then from the floor above came the sound of a door opening and Pinkie immediately pulled away and wiped her face as footsteps came down the stairs. Pinkie got back to work on the dish that she was preparing and Sunset sighed again, turning to the coffee maker.
A teenage girl appeared in the kitchen doorway with a bright grin. “Gooooooood morning, Moms!” she exclaimed brightly. Her long, wavy hair was a pale red at the roots, fading to a bright amber, with streaks of lighter gold running throughout her locks, in sort of a paler version of one of her mothers’. Her face was a slightly darker shade of pink than her other mother’s, and her excited smile would have been quite familiar to anyone who knew Pinkie.
“Morning hon,” Sunset greeted as she took her first sip of coffee. As the teen in bright blue pjs sat at the kitchen table, Sunset also took a seat and leaned over to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek. “You sure seem pumped.”
The girl giggled and Sunset could hear her feet pattering on the floor. “This is gonna be the greatest day of my life!” she exclaimed.
“Well the greatest day of your life needs the greatest breakfast!” Pinkie chirped, all trace of her former tears gone. “For you, Miss Luster Dawn!” With a flourish, Pinkie placed a plate in front of her daughter, piled with chocolate waffles covered in whipped cream and sprinkles, drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with a cherry.
Luster’s eyes widened. “Triple Chocolate Brownie Waffle Supreme?!” she gasped, instantly grabbing a fork and shoving a huge mouthful of the concoction into her mouth. She moaned with pleasure. “Oh, wow…” she licked her lips clean and smiled up at Pinkie. “Thanks Mom! Oh, I am gonna miss this in Equestria!”
Pinkie’s eyes turned suspiciously liquid again, and she quickly turned away to hide them. “Anytime, sweetie!” she said. “Sunset…you just want eggs, right?”
“Yeah, but it can wait,” Sunset said, still sipping her coffee. “Why don’t you sit down and help Luster polish that monster off?”
“I can finish the whole thing,” Luster said, a little possessively.
“I’m sure, but then I’d have to explain to Princess Twilight why I had to push you through the portal in a diabetic coma,” Sunset replied sardonically.
Pinkie had pulled herself together again and sat next to Luster, the two of them sharing the decadent ‘breakfast.’ “So, are you all packed already?” Pinkie asked, unable to keep all the sadness out of her voice.
“Yeah…it doesn’t take nearly as long if you aren’t packing any clothes,” Luster said with a little chuckle. She looked at Pinkie, then to Sunset, then back to Pinkie, her smile faltering into a sad expression. “I…I’m going to miss you so, somuch, you know that, right?”
Pinkie couldn’t help herself anymore and threw her arms around her daughter, pressing their cheeks together and smearing chocolate, whipped cream and sprinkles over both their faces. “Oh, my little baby Dawnie!” she cried. “Do you have to leave so soon?”
“She’s got a point,” Sunset observed quietly. “Graduation was just a week ago. Are you sure you don’t need a little more time to get everything ready, say your goodbyes, all that stuff?”
Pinkie wasn’t crying, but she was clinging tightly to Luster, who hugged her mom back with a little smile that was both sad and determined. “Oh, I said goodbye to everyone at the graduation party,” she said. “I just really want to get to Canterlot…get used to the culture and, you know, being a pony, before school really starts for real.”
Sunset reached out across the table and Luster Dawn did the same, and they squeezed each other’s hands tightly. “And you’re sure this is what you want?” Sunset asked, for what seemed like the hundredth time to her, and probably about the millionth time to Luster.
“Yes,” Luster said firmly. Pinkie finally pulled back, still holding onto Luster’s other arm with one hand and taking occasional bites of chocolate waffle with the other. “Mom,” she said, looking into Sunset’s eyes, and using the particular inflection of the word that made it clear which Mom she meant, “I know studying magic is what I’m supposed to do, I just feel it. And you two, and Professor Twilight, and all your friends, you’ve taught me everything you can. And those books they let you borrow from the Canterlot Archives have been great…but there’s just not enough magic in this world. And most of what there is, well, it’s all tied up in you guys.
“I need to get out there and actually do something. Roll up my sleeves and get my hands dirty!” Sunset squeezed her daughter’s hand tighter as she heard Luster use words that sounded so very, very familiar. “Becoming Princess Twilight’s student…it’s the chance of a lifetime,” Luster said, looking down at the table with a soft, wondering smile. “I know it’s what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know how I know it, but I do.”
Pinkie heaved a huge sigh and slumped against her daughter’s shoulder. “Then…it’s what you have to do,” she said, smiling sadly. She gave Luster a kiss on the cheek, then giggled. “You better get ready. The portal will be open at noon, and you’re all sticky!”
All three stood up and gathered together for a tight hug before Luster went back upstairs with a smile. Pinkie’s own smile stayed on her face, but there were tears running down her cheeks. Sunset embraced her wife warmly again, and Pinkie let out a shuddering sigh as she leaned against her. “My little baby Dawnie,” Pinkie murmured.
“We have to let her do what’s best for her,” Sunset murmured back, her own voice quavering a little. A tear trickled down her amber cheek and she sighed as well. “No matter what.”
————————————
Just a few short hours later the three of them were in front of Canterlot High, standing by the pedestal that housed the portal to Equestria. Luster Dawn had a pair of small suitcases, filled mostly with her favorite books and various keepsakes she wanted to keep with her. Most items that would have been practical to pack on a trip in the human world wouldn’t be of a lot of use in Equestria.
“The portal’s probably open now,” Luster said, turning to her parents and setting the luggage down. Her voice was shaking. “I…” Tears appeared in her eyes as she ran into Sunset and Pinkie’s arms. “Mom! Momma…thank you! Thank you so much for everything. I love you both so much!”
The three of them hugged tightly, crying quietly for several long, precious minutes that seemed like they went on forever but were over far too soon. “We’ll be there for a visit in a couple of weeks,” Sunset said, her voice rough. “To make sure you’re settling in okay.”
“And I’ll come back in a few months when Mom’s new cookbook comes out,” Luster said with a shaky smile to Pinkie. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything…I can’t wait to take a copy back with me to Equestria.”
Pinkie gave her daughter a huge squeeze. “Oh Luster,” she sighed. “I don’t know what I’ll do without you to test new recipes on!”
“Everyone loves your recipes Mom,” Luster said, hugging back. She looked at Sunset. “And when you finally finish the new album, you can bet I’ll come back for that, too!”
“You’d better,” Sunset said in a soft voice, hugging her daughter as well. “And we’ve got one more thing for you.” She nodded to Pinkie, who pulled a book out of her hair. The brown cover bore Luster Dawn’s own personal insignia, her cutie mark in Equestria. “I asked Princess Twilight to make this for us,” Sunset said as Pinkie handed it to Luster. “We’ve got the other book. It’s like the journal I had with Princess Twilight. With it, we can write to each other whenever we want.”
Luster hugged it to her chest, clearly close to tears again. “I…I’ll write to you guys all the time, I promise!”
Pinkie laughed a little at that. “I think we know you won’t write all the time,” she said teasingly. “You’ll be too busy with all your new friends! But write a lot, okay?”
“I will,” Luster sniffed. She blinked as Sunset stepped forward and tapped a finger against the book.
“You’d better,” Sunset said in a low voice. “You don’t want your mom to get worried and come looking for you, right?”
“Well, she can’t really do that, right?” Luster said with a little laugh. “I mean, the portal only works if there’s a journal plugged into the Equestrian side and…” she trailed off as Sunset just looked at her with a steady, neutral expression. “Yeah, she’d find a way, wouldn’t she? I’ll write. I promise, really.”
“Good.” Sunset gathered Luster in her arms and held her close. “Luster, please pay attention to everything Princess Twilight has to teach you. Even the stuff you don’t really understand,” she said urgently. “I think you’re right…this is what you’re meant to do. So don’t waste the chance. She can teach you so much more than you imagine.”
“I…will?” Luster said uncertainly, clearly not quite getting what Sunset was driving at. “I will, really.” Sunset released her, and Luster stepped backwards to pick up her suitcases again. “I love you,” she said in a near whisper, as she turned to the pedestal.
“We love you too,” Pinkie called, slipping her arm around Sunset’s waist. The two waved to their daughter as, with a last, backwards glance, she stepped through the portal’s shimmering surface and was gone.
Sunset heaved a huge sigh. Pinkie gave her a little dig in the side with her elbow.
“That almost sounded relieved,” she accused in a voice that was part sad, part teasing.
“I’m not relieved she left…but I’m relieved about where she’s going,” Sunset said quietly. Pinkie slid around to Sunset’s front and held her.
“I know,” Pinkie said, stroking Sunset’s back. “Can you stop worrying about her so much now? Maybe?”
“Probably not,” Sunset said with a sardonic smile. “She reminds me too much of me. And some of the parts of me I see in her…aren’t the parts of myself I like very much. I mean…all the way up through the end of high school, she never made even one really close friend.”
“She’s smart, and she’s independent, and she’s strong. She knows what she wants, and she’s not afraid to do the work to get it.” Pinkie said firmly. “Just like you. Those aren’t bad things, Sunset.”
“They can lead you to a bad place if you try and do it all alone, though,” Sunset said, her eyes going distant. Then she blinked and shook her head, smiling at her wife. “But I know you’re right. Besides, I always feel better when I remember how much of you I see in her, too. She can have fun. She can be happy…that’s more than I had, before I met you.”
“And now she’s Princess Twilight’s student,” Pinkie said with a regretful sigh. “We just have to trust them both.”
“I do,” Sunset said, hugging Pinkie tighter. “Twilight managed to put me on the right track. Compared to that, getting Luster to understand how important friends are should be easy. Maybe I can stop worrying. At least a little.”
Like they did when they were students Sunset and Pinkie leaned against the side of the pedestal, slipping down till they were sitting against it, leaning on each other, hand in hand. They stayed like that for a long time, each drinking in the presence of the other to help fill the void they both felt with Luster’s departure.
Finally, Sunset stood with a sigh and a stretch, noting wryly that she couldn’t sit on concrete for nearly as long as she used to. “C’mon Love, let’s go home,” she said, holding out her hands and helping Pinkie to her feet.
“Aren’t you going to the studio?” Pinkie asked.
“Eh, I should’ve known I wasn’t gonna feel like it after this,” Sunset said dismissively. Then she looked at Pinkie with a sidelong expression. “Besides, there is one upside to having the house to ourselves that I can think of.”
Pinkie looked back blankly for a moment, then her eyes widened. “Ohhhhhhh….!” she said, blushing. A grin appeared on her face as the two walked off, Pinkie holding Sunset’s arm.