Sunset yawned as she stretched her hind legs out as she nuzzled Celestia again, swishing her tail happily. The taller mare had her hooves wrapped around Sunset as Celestia snored softly. Sunset couldn’t remember the last time she had shared a bed with her mom. Sunset smiled warmly and pressed her muzzle into Celestia’s chest fluff and curled up in a ball closer to Celestia.

“You’re so warm,” Sunset muttered and Celestia smiled slightly.

“I faintly remember telling you that last night,” Celestia teased and Sunset gazed up at her. She hadn’t known she was awake. Celestia was always good at pretending to be asleep. “Good morning, my little sun.”

Sunset blushed at the nickname as Celestia kissed her forehead. Sunset didn’t really expect Celestia to remember that nickname. Sunset certainly did. Kinda hard not to after the kids at school had found out about it.

“Are you feeling better?” Celestia asked and Sunset nodded quickly.

“Mhm. I can actually use magic and it doesn’t hurt anymore,” Sunset’s horn lit up and she levitated some stuff around before placing them back. “Want to make pancakes?”

“Like we did when you were little,” Celestia mused and Sunset nodded.

“Mhm!” Sunset slid out of Celestia’s hooves and Celestia resisted the urge to levitate Sunset back into her hooves. “I haven’t cooked in ages but well, I have multiple cook books all over the place and-”

“I’m sure we can make it up as we go,” Celestia smiled and rolled out of bed, idly noted Luna had raised the sun in her absence. Celestia left her crown and regalia on the couch where she had left them the previous night.

“I agree- Raven?” Sunset paused after opening her door and stared at the mare tidying up Sunset’s office. “Holy heavens!”

Sunset trotted forward with probably the largest grin she’s had on this week and hugged Raven, nuzzling the mares cheek.

“It’s been ages,” Sunset commented and Raven hugged her back before the two separated. “What are you doing?”

“It’s only been six months Sunset, but yes, it’s been too long,” Raven agreed and tossed a folder into Sunset’s filing cabinet. “As for what I am doing, I am organizing this mess of an office. This is ridiculous Sunset!”

“It’s not even messy!” Sunset shot back and Raven raised an eyebrow.

“It’s chaos!”

“It’s organized chaos!”

“Organized chaos- that’s not even a thing!”

Celestia watched as the two went back and forth as Raven smiled with a head shake as Sunset waved her forelegs around.

“Alright you two,” Celestia giggled behind a hoof and the two fell silent, gazing at Celestia expectantly. She often had to break up arguments between the two, though she knew they weren’t true arguments. Raven was the pony Celestia had trusted with Sunset most, after all.

Spitfire occasionally had watched over Sunset when visiting the castle, but that was when Sunset was considerably older. That was only because Celestia decided to test Spitfire before she became the Wonderbolt Captain.

“Now let’s hurry along. I don’t know about the either of you, but I’m hungry for pancakes. Do you still like strawberries?”

Sunset rolled her eyes with a smirk and levitated several cartons of strawberries out of her fridge.

“You don’t even have to ask.”

“The town is coming well,” Artic commented and the desert tan stallion brushed his yellow mane aside.

“For a pony named Artic, you’re surprisingly not white or blue,” Trixie muttered as she and the other elements stood Celestia’s carriage.

“Royal Guard armor has an enchantment on it. Changes our coat color to white except for high ranking officers. It’s about uniformity. You can switch it on and off. This is my normal coat color,” Artic explained to the magician. “Cobalt has a bright blue mane and a very pale blue coat. It’s almost white. Comet Chaser has a pink coat and Thunder is a dark gray.”

Silverspeed and the others tuned the two talking out as Sunset hugged Celestia. It was a bit weird for everypony in Ponyville except Raven and Sunset to see Celestia without her crown on.

“More ponies will be arriving later in the week to assist with repairs,” Celestia informed the others and nodded at Raven. “My advisor here has all the details she left at your houses. I hope to see you all soon. And I presume you all learned something this week?”

“Yeah we did,” Silverspeed and the other five smiled at Roseluck who blushed. “We all learned we should communicate better. Communication is important in friendship, especially ours. Sunset was out most this week, but I’m certain she can agree.”

“Absolutely.”

“What was she even sick with?” Shoeshine wondered aloud and Raven cleared her throat.

“She had a flu that affects mainly unicorns. It’s a fairly common flu. I remember Sunset had it once before as a child. She was up most of the night crying. Celestia and I barely got any sleep that week. Other tribes can be affected by it, but it is primarily unicorns. Lots of rest and tea is key to a quick recovery along with warm baths,” Raven explained and the others nodded.

“We’re ready to go,” Cobalt gave a brief salute as she stretched her wings out.

“It was an honor meeting you all. Anytime you need me or any of us, we’ll be there,” Comet nudged Silverspeed with a smirk. “Take care of yourself. I hope to see you soon. I believe Thunder said he wants to at least try practice fighting you one day.”

“He can try,” Silverspeed snorted and Comet gave a low laugh.

“I’ll look forward to seeing this. Until next time,” Comet stepped back and saluted Silverspeed. Silverspeed hesitated before returning the gesture. She wasn’t entirely used to ponies who outrank her saluting her first. It was usually the other way around. “You have my information along with the other three. Whenever you’re in Canterlot, track us down and we will get some drinks off duty.”

“I will.”

“Saying goodbye is always the worst,” Sunset muttered to Derpy. “I hate it.”

“Why don’t you all go visit Canterlot sometime? I gotta stay behind. Bits and all. Train tickets are expensive,” Derpy responded and Sunset rubbed her chin with a hoof.

“I’ll pay for you tickets. You, Dinky and Sparkler. Or I’ll throw my royal weight around as Mom’s daughter,” Sunset winked as Roseluck scrunched up her muzzle.

“Achoo!” Roseluck sneezed and her eyes widened as she wiped some snot off. “Oh, come on! I was the only pony to be around Sunset the least amount of time. Why am I the one to get sick?”

Sunset snickered and shrugged. Bad luck, she guessed.

Author's Note

I'm gonna have to get Comet, Thunder, Cobalt and Artic drawn now. I quite like them. Who knows, they might return in future events? 👀