Anon a miss: family love

It was two in the morning when soft plinks of snow against glass could be heard. It wasn't long before the minor storm became an intense blizzard. It was probably thirty minutes into the storm when the sounds of thunder could be heard. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but as the minutes passed, the intensity of the storm grew until banging thunder sounded above a certain house in the mountains in the city of Canterlot.

"Ahhhhh, Mom!!!" Sunset screamed, in an almost blood-curdling scream

"Huh? Sunset?" Celestia thought as she tripped while leaving her bed because of the blankets wrapped around her leg. She struggled with removing the blankets as she heard Sunset's frightened cries. Once finally free, she made her way to her Sunsets room.

"Sunset!" Celestia said as she stormed into the room.

"Mommy," Sunset cried, who was in the corner of her room. She trembled with her arms around her legs as she rocked back and forth.

"Shhh, mommy is here for you, sweetheart," Celestia hugged Sunset and began stroking Sunset's hair. It took a while, but eventually, Sunset began to calm down. However, she didn't dare to go back to sleep.

"Sunset, I know you're too scared to sleep, but you are going to need it, and it's late. So how about you come and sleep in my room for tonight?" Celestia asked as she began to rub Sunset's back in a comforting manner.

Sunset was quiet for a few seconds before another flash of lightning came and along with it the thunder. Causing Sunset to frantically nods her head. Celestia helped Sunset get off the floor and led her back to her room when the sound of another rolling thunder made its way through the house. It was strong enough that Celestia would've sworn she felt the house shake.

"Sorry for waking you up and interrupting your sleep," Sunset said as she laid with her back to Celestia.

"Sunset, never be sorry about something like this. Your safety comes first. I'd gladly give up an entire night's sleep so long as I knew you were safe," Celestia said as she comforted Sunset. Celestia worried about Sunset's fear, so she brought her close to her in a motherly embrace.

Celestia was the first to wake up at nine in the morning. Grogglingly she looked around before a smile broke her face as she saw Sunset sleeping peacefully. A quick glance out the window showed that the storm had passed and now was just lightly flurrying. Celestia yawned as she wiggled her way out of Sunset's hug and proceeded to get ready for the day. Celestia grabbed a towel and went to take a hot shower but not before choosing an outfit for the day and laying it on the bathroom counter. She finished wringing out her hair and proceeded to comb it while she blowdried it. Once her hair was dry, she moved to get dressed for the day. She put on light purple winter pants, a light blue long-sleeved shirt, a light blue jacket, and black sneakers. She did some light make-up before walking out of the bathroom to see Sunset still asleep.

Celestia let Sunset sleep a bit longer while she made pancakes and two cups of freshly squeezed orange juice, a cup of coffee for her, and a cup of milk for Sunset. Once done with making pancakes, Celestia climbed the stairs and went to Sunset. She walked towards Sunset and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Good morning, Sunset. Time to wake up," Celestia said as she gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Sunset yawned as she looked around sluggishly before stretching with a satisfied groan, "Hughhhmmh, Good morning, mom."

"Pfft! Come along now. I'll help you take a bath," said Celestia with a smile.

Celestia took Sunset to the bathroom and began to bathe her, gently scrubbing her wounds before helping her dry. For Sunset, it no longer made her uncomfortable to have Celestia help her with what she couldn't do on her own. After she covered herself with a towel, Celestia lent her some clothes. The clothes included a dark blue jacket, a green shirt, and light blue pants. Sunset dried her hair and scrunched her hair, then she made her way downstairs for breakfast. Sunset caught Celestia staring at her as they ate but decided not to comment on it for fear of annoying Celestia.

After breakfast, Celestia told Sunset about her plans, "Sunset, I have some things planned for today. First, we will go shopping. You really need your own winter clothes. Along with clothes I want to get you a desk for school. We'll also pick out some new bedsheets for you. I'd like to change the color of your room to something you'll like, among other things," Celestia finished.

"I don't think it is necessary to go shopping," Sunset protested

"Honey, you need your own clothes, bedsheets that you like, and you need somewhere to do your homework to keep it all in one place. You need new footwear. Your boots look ready to fall apart on you. They can't be warm. Let me do this as your mom ago. I know you're independent but let me spoil my new daughter, okay?" Celestia asked.

"Alright," Sunset said with a small sigh.

"Let me grab my bag, then we'll go," Celestia said gently.

Canterlot mall was just as crowded, if not more so, because of the holidays. Celestia took her first to buy clothes. Sunset bought her sweatshirts, long pants, hats, gloves, and comfy slippers. They picked a couple of packets of underwear packets, though what they looked like of the choice of what they looked like was up to Sunset. They stopped off at a shoe store, where they picked a new pair of shoes and boots. In addition to warm slippers and clothes, they picked up scarves, shampoo, conditioner, a sponge for her. They had an early lunch at eleven at an Italian restaurant. Celestia ordered a pizza, and Sunset ordered noodles with alfredo sauce.

"Sunset, you okay if we continue this shopping trip?" Celestia asked while she cleaned her fingers with a napkin.

"Uh, shure," Sunset said through a mouthful of noodles.

After lunch, instead of preplanned shopping like they had before their lunch, they went on a more sporadic and window hopping experience of shopping.

"Sunset, do you like stuffed animals?" Celestia asked, pointing at a nearby window.

"I mean stuffed animals can be cute," Sunset said carefully.

"Well, my little sun, let's buy a stuffed animal. There is no reason to be ashamed of liking stuffed animals. Even I have a couple of stuffed animals packed away in storage," Celestia said with a chuckle.

"That was an awful pun, Cel- mom," Sunset said with a groan.

It wasn't long until Sunset and Celestia emerged from the store with a brown paper bag. It totally wasn't to hide the fact the Sunset was walking around with a stuffed animal. She bought a blue bear, a fox, and a penguin. Before they left that wind of the store, Celestia had one last shop to visit that was planned upon. There they bought some nice furniture for an affordable price. They bought a desk, a nightstand, a red lamp, a small television, an office chair, red sheets with orange, a picture illustrating an endless sunrise and sunset simultaneously. Then Celestia took her to a technology store and bought her a computer and a new cell phone.

Once home, Sunset and Celestia repainted her room. As they waited for the paint to dry, the two made the furniture outsides the room. Celestia went about rewashing all of Sunset's clothes and sheets. After building all the furniture, they went downstairs to set up the electronics. After setting up Sunset's phone and computer, she grabbed the stuffed animals and went to relax on the couch. That's when Sunset remembered her homework and ran upstairs to grab it. She shyly showed the book to Celestia.

This caused Celestia to smile before she spoke, "Let's get to work, shall we?" Celestia said, hugging Sunset. Celestia took Sunset to the study room and began to explain her homework.

After an hour, Sunset finally finished her homework with the help of Celestia. Sunset placed her papers in her backpack, then she collapsed on the couch. She browsed through Netflix and put a movie on while Celestia watched along with her. The movie was close to finishing when Celestia glanced at her phone and realized that it was getting rather late and still had yet to received a call from Luna.

"Sunset, I have to make a call. It will be short. I'll be back," Celestia informed Sunset, who just nodded as she was captivated by the movie that was playing.

Celestia walked to the kitchen and phoned Chrysalis. It rang three times before it was answered by a cheerful Chrysalis.

"Hi Chrys, are you still coming over?" Celestia asked.

"Yea, me and Luna are coming over to your house in about half an hour. Did you tell the kid your plans to adopt her?" Chrysalis asked.

"Yes, I told her. She was very happy when I told her. She also told me a little about her past last night. It's very traumatic, and I'm surprised by how strong she's been, and it explains her rather rough treatment of her fellow schoolmates in the past. Right now, me and Sunset are watching a movie," Celestia explained.

"Sounds like me and her will get along great. I let you get back to your kid. I know you've always wanted one. We'll be there soon," Chrysalis said before she hung up.

Celestia was quiet before she pocketed her phone and walked back to the living room. Celestia smiled when she watched Sunset from behind as the girl watched the movie. After a while, Celestia took Sunset to help her make dinner. Celestia made the sauce while Sunset brought the spice bottles over to her. Celestia finished adding the spices to the meat for Luna and Chris's favorite dinner, which was spaghetti. Before making a second sauce for Sunset and herself, which was vegetarian friendly.

As the sauces simmered, Celestia got to work on Chrysalis and Luna's favorite drink, Changling Love Nectar. She started out by rubbing the inside of a lime wedge along the top of the two cups before she dipped the cups in pink Himalayan salt. She added a blue curacao to each cup before pouring lime juice in along with the blue mixture. She threw in some fresh mint leaves and mixed the two together. She then began filling the cups up with ice to about three-quarters of the way full and then added a blue cocktail mixture to about half full. Thus creating a blue gradient from dark blue to sky blue. After lightly mixing the two together, Celestia added a green cocktail mixture, to which she placed two blueberries and a single blackberry in each drink.

"I didn't know you could make drinks," Sunset commented.

"Back in college to help pay rent and to have some extra spending money, I use to work as a bartender. That's how I met Chrysalis before she joined the armed forces. She was going to psychology but figured that it would help pay for school if she joined the military. She ultimately became a social worker at the government agency here in Canterlot."

"Sounds like she will have some interesting stories about her time as a soldier," Sunset said with interest in her voice that caused Celestia to worry.

"I would advise against that Sunset. Chrysalis is very touchy about her time in service. She received a purple heart and a medal of honor on the same mission before being honorably discharged from the armed forces. Please don't ask her about her time. She still has moments of PTSD."

"Sorry," Sunset said as she looked down.

"It's fine, sweetheart, you didn't know. She is just really sensitive about her time in the armed forces. I know you won't mean to but try not to stare at her scars."

"Scars?"

"Yes. Now, how about you and me change while we wait for the sauces to get ready?"

"Okay," Sunset said as her mind danced with what type of scar Chrysalis had.

Celestia led Sunset upstairs so they could change their clothes. Once in her room, where they put Sunset clothes while her room's paint dried, Celestia took off Sunset's shirt and put on a light blue short-sleeved shirt. Her sweat pants were changed for one navy blue, and her jacket was changed for a yellow jogger jacket. Once she dressed Sunset, Celestia went to her closet and change her clothes for more formal clothes than her sweats. She changed her purple pants for light blue pants, the high-heeled shoe for white sports shoes. Her purple and white striped shirt was changed for a yellow and blue nebula shirt with a light tan jacket.

When Luna and Chrysalis arrived, it was seven o'clock. Together Sunset and Celestia opened the door to see two people standing there. Luna was easy for Sunset to recognize with black pants, a dark blue shirt, a plum jacket, and dark purple sneakers. On the other hand, Chrysalis wore a royal blue dress shirt with black pants, dark blue sneakers, and a black business jacket. Sunset knew that Celestia said not to stare at the scars, but it was hard not to look at them, at least the ones on her face.

Miniature healed cuts danced all over her face, and small discolored blotches dusted her face. From the looks of it, her eyes, nose, and mouth came out unscathed. Her ears were scared and jagged to a sharp point. They looked similar to an elf in a movie Pinkie once showed her. Despite the apparent imperfections on her face, Sunset found the scar fit her. It gave her a certain amount of pressure, one that couldn't be ignored. She controlled the room, much like Celestia did when she came into a room unannounced. After receiving a hug from Celestia, Chrysalis locked eyes with Sunset and walked up to her. Sunset froze up as Chrysalis looked her over. Sunset watched her graze move from her feet to her uncovered wrist, showing the bandages. A small look of hurt and understanding hit Sunset like a ton of bricks.

"So your the squirt Mama bear Celly adopted?" Chrysalis asked.

Sunset only nodded, annoyed about being called squirt.

Chrysalis was silent for a moment before, letting out a roaring laugh, "I think we'll get along just fine." She laughed as she popped into the kitchen. Sunset looked at Luna and Celestia with a questioning look.

Luna smiled fondly at Chrysalis before saying, "You'll get used to it, Sunset. Now, how about I get you into a show I really think you'll like?"
Luna led Sunset to the living room to introduce her to a show Luna swore she would be invested in on the first episode. The two crashed on the couch while Chrysalis came out of the kitchen with her drink. Together with Celestia and Chrysalis went to talk in Celestia's study.

"You made mine and Luna's favorite drink and dinner. You didn't have to do that, you know," said Chris with a smile

"Yes, I did. You finished the adoption papers," Celestia

"It was the least I could do," Chrysalis said as she stared at her drink. Her hand trembled slightly as her eyes took on a thousand-yard stare.

"You know I never blamed you, right?" Celestia asked as she laid her hand gently on Chrysalis' shoulder. Choosing to ignore the slight flinch from the other woman.

"I know. That doesn't mean I don't blame myself," Chrysalis said, and they were quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. "But we're not here for the past. We're here to celebrate your new daughter. Here, they are all ready for you just need you and Sunset to sign them," said Chris handing the papers to Celestia.

"Thank you," Celestia said as she put them on her desk and giving the other woman a hug.

"It wasn't all that hard."

"It doesn't matter. To me, it's priceless. Let go see how much of a bad influence Luna is on Sunset," Celestia said as she released Chrysalis from her hug. They both went to the kitchen after setting the table and serving it. The two called Sunset and Luna for dinner.

"Sunset, does each of us have a counterpart in your world?" Chrysalis asked.

"Not exactly. There are a lot of people who have counterparts, but the main problem is that there are way more people here than on the other side of the portal. Even adding up creatures from other races, the number doesn't come near the number of people on this side of the portal."

"That must be why there isn't a human Sunset in this world," Chrysalis hypothesized.

"Most likely," Sunset agreed.

After dinner and a general conversation of Sunset meeting everyone outside of their work environment, mostly Luna and Celestia, and getting to know Chrysalis, Luna, and Chrysalis went home for the night. As luck would have it, they lived fairly close and thus didn't need to find a way home, considering both had multiple drinks that night. The two walked home, with Luna promising to pick her car up in the morning. After seeing them off, Celestia went to talk to Sunset, who was in the library.

"Honey, Chrysalis made the adoption papers, and all we have to do is sign them. Are you ready?" Celestia asked.

"Yes, I am, mom," Sunset said as she signed the papers in flowing cursive. Together Sunset and Celestia went through the papers and signed them. Once they were all signed, Celestia placed the documents in a safe. Smiling once the door locked, Celestia pulled a teary-eyed Sunset into her embrace as her own tears began to wet her face.