Home Is Where The Heart Is
Author's Note
First story back!! Some Sci-Set fluff for the soul!
I'm working on an AU with a friend rn that will hopefully come out before the end of the month. Don't mark my words.
I'm so happy to be back!! 
Home Sweet Home
Earth fascinated Sunset Shimmer.
The sun and moon moved of their own accord. The weather changed all on its own. People went about their lives without any need for magic. They worked and played and created all with their own tools and devices, all without magical interference.
The Earth was an inspiration to her. No matter what happened, it always seemed to bounce back, somehow. When it rained, everything eventually dried off. When the leaves fell off the trees in the fall, they all returned by spring just as strong and capable. When something died, it was absorbed by the Earth to provide for others. Something about that just gave her hope.
Life was hectic, and stressful, and confusing, but the Earth never waivered. It held strong and fought through everything thrown at it. Yeah, humans were killing their planet. But it somehow still looked beautiful in it’s worst times.
Sunset wanted so desperately to be like that. She wanted to make being strong look effortless. And most of the time, she succeeded.
But not all the time. After all, she was just Sunset Shimmer.
“Tea?”
The bed shifted and snapped Sunset out of her thoughts. She blinked a few times and looked at Twilight.
“Ooh, thank you.” She took the mug into her hands. Twilight adjusted the blanket over her and slid under it, pressing herself into Sunset’s side. She was holding her own cup, a pink one that had pretty leaf designs on it in pastel colors.
Sunset’s own mug was purple and said GIRLBOSS. It was a tacky gag gift Rainbow had gotten her for Valentine's Day a year prior.
She took a sip. “Chamomile.”
Sunset held the cup with one hand and slid her other arm around her girlfriend. They were sitting on Sunset’s bed, leaned up against the headboard. Outside, rain poured down. The curtains were open and Sunset could see every drop hit the surface of the window. It was dark and overcast outside, just past sundown.
“We need to go grocery shopping,” Twilight grumbled. While chamomile tea was Sunset’s favorite, it was far from Twilight’s. She preferred earl gray.
Sunset kissed the top of Twilight’s head. She tousled her hair gently. Twi smiled.
“No, no, I wanna pamper you tonight,” she said, moving her head off of Sunset’s shoulder.
“Oh?” Sunset asked, the faintest smile on her lips.
“Yes,” Twilight said. She leaned up and kissed Sunset until she was breathless. They pulled away giggling. They locked eyes and Twilight smiled, captivated by what she saw. “You’re pretty.”
“I’m flattered,” Sunset teased.
“You should be!” Twilight laughed. “It’s true.” She settled back down beside Sunset, this time pulling her down so that Sunset could lay her head on her chest. “Comfy?” Sunset adjusted herself, finding the perfect spot where her ear pressed against Twilight’s chest and she could hear her heartbeat as it drowned out the pitter-patter of the rain.
“Mmm, very.” Sunset let out a content sigh as Twilight began to play with her hair.
Twilight threaded her fingers through Sunset’s wavy locks, breaking up the pattern of yellow and red and definitely messing up her hair. It was okay, Sunset rocked the frizzy look. Twilight twirled the hair around her fingers, watching it bounce back as she let go. Eventually, she moved to gently scratching at Sunset’s scalp with her nails, executing a perfect head massage. Sunset smiled, closing her eyes. She took another sip of her tea carefully, draining what was left in the mug.
Twilight used the hand that wasn’t tangled in Sunset’s hair to set both of their mugs on the bedside table. Outside, the cold rain poured down but inside Sunset had never felt so warm and home.
Home was an interesting concept to Sunset. She had always assumed home was just a place, wherever you lived. If that were true, she could pinpoint four times her home had changed.
First, there was the nice suburban home in a quaint village she lived in for the first twelve years of her life with her parents and brother. Then there was Canterlot Castle, where she studied under Princess Celestia and let her arrogance ruin herself from the inside out. After that, there were the cold streets of Canterlot City, the school library she sometimes slept in, and the abandoned building where she had carved out a little hole away from the world as a shelter. And now, she had a gorgeous apartment halfway between Twilight’s neighborhood and Canterlot High.
But home wasn’t always a place, she had learned. As cliche as it was, home was people. For Sunset, home was her best friends who had truly saved her, playing with the Rainbooms for their peers and occasionally adoring fans, and nights like these, curled up with her girlfriend and surrounded by love.
“I love you,” Sunset said, breaking the silence.
“I love you too,” Twilight returned, completely unphased by the declaration. Sunset smiled. She loved this, the easy back and forth and soft affections and the lack of repercussions for being soft and unguarded.
After a few more minutes, Twilight very gently moved Sunset to lay down on the bed.
“Huh?” Sunset asked sleepily, having almost drifted off.
“Shhh, just let me work.” Twilight kissed her forehead.
Thunder cracked outside and Sunset jumped slightly. Twilight rested a hand on her back, soft but firm to ground her. Sunset relaxed, sinking into the mattress.
From there, Twilight began to carefully massage Sunset. She rubbed her back, hitting every pressure point to relax her girlfriend even more.
Sunset sighed happily. She had no idea when Twilight learned to do this, but she wasn’t complaining. It was nice. She laid on her stomach, face turned towards the window. She watched the raindrops race along the glass while Twilight worked.
Twilight leaned down and kissed the back of Sunset’s neck, causing her to giggle. “My girl,” Twilight mumbled before doing it again.
“Yeah, your girl,” Sunset agreed. She smiled despite the fact that she was behind her and couldn’t see.
Sunset had never felt so relaxed in her life by the time Twilight was done with her massage. Twilight then laid down behind her and wrapped her arms around Sunset’s face. She grabbed one of her hands and rubbed her thumb over her knuckles. Twilight buried her face into Sunset’s messy hair.
“Night, Twily,” Sunset mumbled, almost asleep.
“Goodnight, babe.”
Sunset hummed. It was nice to have someone she loved take care of her like this, she decided. She liked having somebody care about her.
Love, she realized. This was what love felt like.
Love was strength, and safety, and home, and comfort, and Twilight.
And Sunset wouldn’t trade that for the world.
