"Hey Cielle," Ascentia said as she came through the door, setting her bag down and glancing around the room, "Where's my little girl disappeared to?"

"No idea, she kinda ran off and I didn't see her since then," Cielle said with a shrug.

Ascentia looked at her questioningly, but disregarded her and headed upstairs, "Sunny? Sweetheart are you up here? Mama's home," she called, pushing open the door to Spectrum's room, "Where are you, sweetie?"

"M-Mama..."

Ascentia whipped around and pushed open the door to her bedroom, "Sunny? Are you in here?"

"Mama..." A sniffle followed.

Ascentia dropped to her knees and flipped up the covers of her bed, peering underneath to find Sunrise cowering under her bed, "There you are," she smiled, "Are you hiding on me, sweetie?"

"Mama... I'm scared..." Sunrise sniffled, cowering back a bit.

Ascentia's smile fell and she held her hand out to her, "Come on out, sweetie, and tell Mama what scared you."

"I was... playing a game... it was a maze on the computer," Sunrise murmured, taking her hand.

Ascentia gently tugged Sunrise out from under the bed and picked her up, nestling her onto her hip, "Okay, you were playing a game, and then what happened?"

Sniffling, Sunrise snuggled against her, "Then I heard screaming and this monster face came on! It was scary! I think it was gonna eat me!"

All at once, the game Sunrise was talking about clicked into Ascentia's mind. Holding her tightly against her, she turned an angry face to the stairwell, "CIELLE!"

"WHAT?!" Cielle shouted from downstairs.

Ascentia marched downstairs with Sunrise clinging to her neck, "What on earth did you show her?!"

"What are you talking about?" Cielle asked, standing up.

"I know you were the one who showed her that horrible game," Ascentia glared, "She sure as hell didn't get onto the computer by herself."

"Ohhh! That's what you meant! Yeah, I showed her the maze game! It scared the bejeezus out of her! She went running and started screaming!" Cielle recalled with a laugh, and then stopped as she saw Ascentia wasn't pleased. She gulped, "...I... shouldn't have done that... oops."

Ascentia hoisted Sunrise up higher, her glare darkening, "No. You should not have. She's a little. Fucking. GIRL!"

"Hey, I'm sorry! Chill out, I didn't mean to hurt her or nothing! I-It was just a little prank, to scare her a little bit!" Cielle protested, "I'm sorry! I didn't think it'd be that bad..."

Ascentia's glare showed no signs of abating, "Go. Upstairs. Now."

"Okay. But where upstairs?"

"To your room," Ascentia said firmly as she sat down and rubbed Sunrise's back.

"Okay," Cielle sighed shamefully, then went upstairs and up to the bedroom.

Ascentia sighed and patted Sunrise's back as the girl trembled against her, "It's okay, sweetie, nothing's gonna come and eat you..."

"It was scary..." Sunrise mumbled, "The monster... the monster will come and get me!"

"No it won't sweetie," Ascentia whispered softly, leaning forward and popping her laptop open.

"Nooo!!" Sunrise squirmed away, "No no no! The monster!"

"Shhh," Ascentia patted her back as she tapped at the keys and bringing up the infamous image, zooming it out so it looked incredibly tiny, "See Sunny? It's just a picture on a screen."

She rapped her knuckles against the screen.

"See? She can't get out."

"It's a monster..." Sunrise sniffled, not looking, "I don't wanna see the monster..."

Ascentia patted Sunrise's back and kissed her cheek, "It's okay, sweetie. Mama's here, she won't let the monster get you."

"Okay..." Sunrise sniffled.

Ascentia closed her laptop and leaned back on the sofa, rubbing her back as she nuzzled her hair, "You're safe, sweetie. Nothing's gonna hurt you."

"I don't wanna play anymore..." Sunrise nuzzled into her neck.

"You don't have to, Auntie Cielle shouldn't have shown you that in the first place," Ascentia whispered, squeezing her tightly against her.

"Mmm..." Sunrise whimpered, "Mama... I want milk..."

Ascentia stood up, hoisting Sunrise higher up on her hip, "Alright, you can have some milk, sweetie."

"Thank you..." Sunrise nuzzled more into her neck.

Ascentia carried her into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling the milk out and pouring a glass full. Handing the glass to her, she kissed her forehead, "Here you go, sweetheart."

Taking the glass, Sunrise clutched it in her hands and proceeded to drink from it. She drank slowly, though heartily, to calm herself down. Ascentia held her steady and watched as Sunrise trembled in her arms.

"Poor little angel," she whispered, kissing the top of her head, "You wanna do anything special, Sunny?"

"I wanna go see Mommy..." Sunrise murmured.

"Okay, we'll take you to see Mommy," Ascentia nuzzled her cheek.

Sunrise managed a little smile, "Yay..."

"Sparkle!" the orderly barked, "Your wife and kid are here!"

Twilight yet again held back the urge to tell them they had names, but otherwise let it slide. She was just happy to be able to see them, "All right, send them in."

Ascentia strode into the room, Sunrise timidly clinging to her shoulder. As soon as she spotted her mother, she brightened up and reached out for her.

"Mommy!" she squealed excitedly.

"Hi there, sweetheart!" Twilight smiled all the more and took her into her arms, "How's my little Sunny bunny?" She kissed her forehead.

Sunrise giggled and wrapped her arms around Twilight's neck, squeezing her as tightly as she could.

"She's doing better, Cielle gave her a foul scare earlier this morning," Ascentia explained, sitting down in the chair.

"Oh, no..." Twilight's smile faded, "What happened?"

"She made her play the scary maze game," Ascentia scoffed.

"What?! Oh, she didn't..." Twilight hugged Sunrise tighter, "My poor baby... Oh, you shouldn't have had to see that..."

Sunrise whimpered and nuzzled against her mother's neck. Ascentia came over and hugged the both of them.

"Cielle's been punished pretty harshly," Ascentia smiled, "Fluttershy was NOT pleased."

"I can imagine..." Twilight nuzzled her, "I take it sending her to her room wasn't exactly cutting it. What did you guys end up doing?"

"Rainbow is making her wear a chastity belt for a week," Ascentia explained, "You should have seen the look on her face. It was like someone had killed her puppy in front of her."

Twilight let out a laugh, "Oh my gosh! Cielle in a chastity belt! What a fitting punishment."

"Oh yeah," Ascentia giggled, "And just to put the icing on the cake, Shy and Rainbow were getting frisky as I was leaving."

"Ooooh my," Twilight giggled, winking, "Lovely and quite a fitting little punishment addition."

Ascentia nodded and nuzzled the two of them, "Mmhmm."

"Mama," Sunny whimpered, "When's Mommy coming home?"

Both women fell silent for a few moments, exchanging glances.

Twilight sighed, kissing Sunrise's hair, "We don't know, sweetheart."

"Mommy could be here for a very long time," Ascentia kissed her cheek.

"Why?" Sunrise pouted.

"Mommy has a lot of serious problems," Twilight explained softly, "So Mommy needs a lot of supervision and help."

Sunrise whimpered and nuzzled Twilight's neck, "But I want Mommy to come hoooooome!"

Twilight nuzzled her, holding her tight, "I know, sweetie. Mommy would love to come home, too. But she can't right now."

Sunrise started to cry and buried her face into her mother's shirt, "I want Mommy home!" she whined.

Looking to Ascentia sadly, all Twilight could do was hold Sunrise and gently rub her back. Ascentia kissed the top of Sunrise's head and hugged the both of them.

"Why did Mommy have to go?" Sunrise whimpered.

"It's a very long and sad story, sweetheart," Twilight murmured, "You're a very smart girl, but I don't think you're going to like it."

Sunrise mewled unhappily, nuzzling into Twilight's shoulder, "Why'd Mommy go?"

Biting her lip, Twilight looked to Ascentia, "...Should we tell her?"

Ascentia nodded, "She wants to know... We were going to have to tell her eventually."

"That's true... All right, Sunny. We'll tell you," Twilight said softly. She then carefully placed Sunrise into Ascentia's lap, "Mommy was... very bad. Back before you were born, Mommy was angry, tired and stressed all the time. This was when I became Princess. But because of that, Mommy... ended up hurting Mama. Very badly."

Sunrise mewled questioningly and looked back at Ascentia, who pulled the collar of her shirt down to show the faded scars that covered her body. Sunrise looked at her own shoulder, where a scar was left from Spectrum hitting her with a rock when they were playing. Remembering how much it had hurt, Sunrise whimpered and buried her face into Twilight's neck.

"No! No hurtie!" Sunrise whined.

"I know, sweetie," Twilight murmured, sniffling a bit, "But it's true. Mommy hurt Mama very badly. Even leaving scars. It got so bad after a while, and eventually... Your aunties made sure I was arrested and taken away to jail."

"When's Mommy gonna be better? Didn't you say you're sorry?" Sunrise whimpered, kissing Twilight's cheek.

Twilight nodded, "Yes. Mommy did say sorry, but sometimes it isn't enough. Mommy doesn't know when she's going to be better. It will take a long time, sweetie... I'm sorry I can't be at home with you. But it's what I have to do."

Ascentia kissed Sunrise's cheek and nuzzled Twilight's hair, "Mommy will be home eventually, Sunny baby. I promise."

Twilight looked up at her with gratitude as she held her sniffling daughter.

"It's okay," Twilight kissed her head, rubbing her back, "Mommy loves you, Sunny. And Mommy loves Mama. So much."

Sunrise had finally calmed down and kissed Twilight's cheek again, "I love you, Mommy..."

"Mommy loves you too," Twilight kissed her cheek too.

Sunrise looked up at her mothers and frowned, "Kiss!"

"...What?" Twilight blinked.

"Mommy, Mama, kiss!" Sunrise said adamantly.

Blushing a little, Twilight looked at Ascentia with wide eyes, "I...well, gosh, we... haven't done that in a long time."

"Sunny, things are a little... complicated between us," Ascentia said softly, "Just after you were born, our marriage... ended."

Sunrise frowned, "Kiss!"

"Sweetheart, we can't just do that on command and because you're telling us to," Twilight chided gently, "We do love one another, but we just can't do that right now."

Sunrise growled, "Kiss! Now!"

"Sunny, we-"

"Kiss!"

"Now just-"

"Kiss!"

"I-"

"Kissy! Now!"

Twilight and Ascentia looked at one another, giggling at how silly their daughter was. Giggling that turned into full on laughter as they snuggled closer togehter.

"Hello? I said kissy!" Sunrise said, tapping their cheeks like she was slapping them.

Ascentia and Twilight laughed again, stopping as they looked at one another. Ascentia squeezed them tighter as she lowered her head down toward Twilight's.

Twilight's cheeks turned bright pink as she leaned closer, "Okay, Sunny... as you wish." Twilight and Ascentia closed the gap as their lips met for the first time since they'd seperated.

"Yay!" Sunrise cheered.

For a moment, both women hesitated, but relaxed as they settled into the kiss. Ascentia whimpered softly as she squeezed them tighter, the feeling of Twlight's lips a welcome sensation after years of being apart.

Twilight could feel it, too. The warmth, the comfort, the sheer connection of it. It had been years, but it felt as if no time had passed since their last kiss. Ascentia melted into the kiss as she lifted Twilight and Sunrise off the ground, nibbling Twilight's bottom lip as her familiar taste sent shivers down her spine.

Opening her mouth wider, Twilight met Ascentia's tongue with her own, engaging in a curious duel. She chuckled lightly, melting further into the kiss as it grew a bit more heated. One of Ascentia's hands came up to cup Twilight's face as her tongue curled around her ex-wife's, mewling softly as Sunrise giggled and nuzzled into her neck. Twilight returned the hold, bringing her hand to Ascentia's neck to gently cradle. She moaned softly, losing herself further in her ex-wife's lips and tongue.

Ascentia pulled away briefly to take a much-needed breath, "I've missed you so much, Twiley," she whispered, her eyes glistening.

"I've missed you too, Kitten," Twilight murmured, nuzzling her, "So much..."

Ascentia leaned back in and met her lips again, slipping her tongue back into Twilight's mouth as she hungrily sought her intoxicating taste once again. Almost immediately after, Twilight returned it with no hesitation. She moaned, coming closer and applying gentle pressure against her mouth.

"I need security down to Wing H, Sparkle's violating the terms of her admission," came an orderly's voice from the doorway.

Hearing this, Twilight quickly pulled away, wide-eyed, "Oh, shit..."

"What's he talking about?" Ascentia asked, looking back at the orderly as Sunrise cooed into her neck.

"I forgot about it myself, but... part of the terms of my admission was that I couldn't get close to you like that," Twilight admitted shamefully, sighing, "And we're not married, so we couldn't even if we really wanted to."

"You can't get close to me?" Ascentia asked quietly, "But... I kissed you."

"To correct myself, we can't get intimate like that," Twilight said, looking downward.

"Who... who ordered that?!" Ascentia demanded, "Who would be so... callous?!"

Twilight pondered for a moment or two, "It's hard to explain, but it goes through a lot of people. You'd have to talk to the head of the department about it, though."

"I intend to," Ascentia glared as security came down to Twilight's room, "Go away! We're having a moment!"

"Ma'am, she is in direct violation of her terms of admission," said one of the security guard, "We have to escort you from the premises."

The guard moved forward to take Ascentia by the arm, but Ascentia grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind the guard's back, shoving him into his co-worker.

"I said get out," she growled.

"W-We're just doing our job!" He protested weakly.

"I missed the part where that's my problem," Ascentia hissed, pushing them and the orderly out the door and closing it, before returning to Twilight and Sunrise.

Twilight had no response she could even try to make. All while Sunrise giggled and clapped her hands.

"Yay, Mama!"

Ascentia nuzzled Sunrise's head and kissed her cheek, "If this is what the doctors are doing here, Mommy might be coming home sooner than I thought," she cooed, wrapping her arms back around Twilight's waist.

"Yay! Mommy's coming home!" Sunrise cheered.

"We can only hope," Twilight murmured, hugging her back.

Ascentia leaned down and moved to kiss Twilight again, only for Twilight to pull back, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just a little shocked," Twilight admitted, managing to look at her, "I didn't want us to get into any more trouble, either."

"Neither did I, but I'll be damned if I let them stop us from having a moment," Ascentia nuzzled her, kissing her cheek as she sat them both down on Twilight's bed.

"I know," Twilight agreed, "It's funny how I forgot about that, though. The basic rule was that I couldn't lay a violent hand on you or anyone who visits me, which goes without saying. But I really couldn't tell you that it said I couldn't, well, engage in intimacy."

"Assholes," Ascentia murmured, nuzzling Twilight under her chin, "If I want to kiss you, I'll fucking kiss you."

"Me too," Twilight nuzzled her neck.

Ascentia leaned down and met her lips again, this time with no resistance as she slid her tongue over Twilight's lips and mewled softly. Returning it with fervency, Twilight relaxed all the more and snuggled closer to her. Sunrise giggled happily as she snuggled between the two of them as Ascentia slid her tongue back into Twilight's mouth.

Moaning between kisses, Twilight ran a hand through Ascentia's hair, bringing her closer. Mewling softly, Ascentia brought both arms around her shoulders and nibbled on her bottom lip as she took in Twilight's lovely lavender scent.

"Kitten..." Twilight purred softly as she pulled back a little, "It feels great to do that again..."

"It does..." Ascentia smiled, "It'll feel even better when... when we can be intimate again..."

"Mm-hm..." Twilight nuzzled her, "We'll have to see what we can do for that."

Ascentia nodded and kissed Twilight's cheek, "...Can we do that soon? I've missed you so much..."

"I've missed you, too," Twilight kissed her cheek as well, "I'll have a talk with my doctor about it, too."

Ascentia moved her hand down to Twilight's chest, cupping one of her breasts as she nuzzled her hair, "I'm so sorry that you're stuck in here..." she whispered.

"It's not your fault," Twilight whispered back, "We needed this... even if it's been hard."

Ascentia sniffled and held the two of them, "I just want you home with the rest of us..."

"Me too, I'd love to just be home and live a normal life with all of you," Twilight sniffled, "If I can avoid being too stressed and stay on my medication, I could very well manage. But I'm a little scared... I don't want to end up hurting you again."

"I know..." Ascentia whispered softly, "You can do it, Twilight. I know you can... I love you."

"I love you too." Next Chapter: A Little Jiggly Action Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 57 Minutes