Twilight Sparkle, princess of Equestria, was exhausted.

Supposedly, she was a lot stronger as an alicorn than she was as a unicorn. Since she was technically a mix of all three pony races, she technically was as strong as the average earth pony.
Right now, the lavender alicorn certainly didn’t feel like it. Her flank was numb from sitting at countless meetings and debates, while her back felt like it she was carrying a barrel of bricks on her back.

Probably the most exhausted part of her was her mind; the little equine’s brain was glutted with thoughts on foreign policy, laws, and protocol. In her mind, thoughts of all sorts, from the greeting customs of the Zebra Tribes, to the economic situation of the Griffon Empire, jostled for space.

As the Princess walked through the streets of downtown Canterlot, she was extremely thankful for the disguising spell Princess Celestia had given her. Finally, she could walk down the street without having ponies drop whatever they were doing and fall to their knees. Sure it was kind of amusing at first, but after a while, it just got tiresome.

Twilight rounded a corner and trotted down the street. To tell the truth, there were times when she hated being a princess.She hated the mountains of paperwork she had to fill out everytime she opened her mouth. And the nobles…

Twilight growled:there were always the nobles. While some of them were decent enough ponies, far too many of them seemed to think that being born into the right family made them superior to the rest of ponykind... and acted like it. If she had a brick for every time she’d seen some stuck-up noble treat a lesser like dirt, she’d be able to build a second wall around Canterlot.

Twilight walked through Canterlots’ residential district, careful not to tread on any of the expensively manicured lawns-she’d had enough rich snobs yelling at her today. All around her were the houses of the rich and powerful, each one elaborately decorated than the one before it. It was almost as if the houses were competing to see who could be the most extravagant.

As Twilight walked, she reached the city’s middle class neighborhood. The houses here were more to her liking; big enough to be comfy, and small enough to be modest. It was one of the reasons she’d requested a house here in the first place.

That, and there were plenty of bookstores nearby.

Now, of course, Twilight could have chosen to live at the Palace with the princesses- she had every right to; she was a princess after all. But as much as she loved the palace, it just couldn’t compare to the warmth and coziness of her home.

Her home, and her special someone.

After a little more walking, Twilight finally reached her home: a modest, two story brick house. It wasn’t the proudest of structures- just a brick box with a wooden roof. No fancy materials for the walls. No statues in the front yard or elaborate archways or what have you. Just a home.

Twilight opened the door and walked in. “Hello?” She called out. “Anypony home?”

There was no answer.

“Guess he’s not home yet.” Twilight went into her bedroom and took off and flopped down on her bed. She sighed and picked a picture frame off the nightstand. She smiled.
Her special somepony may not have been a pony, but that didn’t make him any less handsome.

Twilight smiled again, because once wasn’t enough. How long had it been? nine years? No, ten years. Ten years since that strange blue light appeared in the sky and dropped that strange metal tube into the middle of Ponyville. Ten years since she met that wonderful creature.

Twilight turned to a picture of her and her beloved after their wedding. Sure some ponies had protested their marriage- an alicorn princess marrying some creature from beyond the stars? They’d called it abominable- an affront to all that was good and decent in the world.

And Twilight did not give a buck.

The front door squeaked open. Twilight’s ears perked up. He was home!

“Honey?”

There was an ear grating screech. Twilight could hear the scraping of claws against the hardwood floors.

“Lamarr, is that you?”

The bedroom door creaked open…
Shreaaaak! Something like a fleshy crab the size of a pumpkin leapt onto Twilight’s head and attempted to latch onto it..

“Good to see you too, Lamarr.” Twilight pulled the parasite off of her head and kissed its large, lipless mouth. wrapped its clawed forelegs around Twilight’s neck, growling in contentment.

“How was your day?”

“Screeach Screch Shrreek!”

“That bad, huh?” Twilight said sympathetically. “ You think that the Palace staff would be used to having you work there by now.”
Lamarr gave another shriek.

The front door opened again. “Mommy, Daddy?”

“We’re in our bedroom, sweetie!” Twilight said.

There was the sound of tiny hooves clip-clopping on the hardwoods, and a creature like a cross between a pony and a crab-monster-thing all but hurled itself at Twilight.

“Mommy, Daddy!” The little creature wrapped her tiny hooved legs around her parents.

“Welcome home, Sparkler.” Twilight said, nuzzling her daughter’s pony-like muzzle. “How was your day at school”

“Oh it was great! I did some painting in art class, then I learned how to subtract, and then I played with the other kids at recess.”

“Did anyone make fun of you?” Twilight asked.

The hybrid’s tiny ears drooped. “Well, at recess, this one colt called me a ‘crime against nature’.”

Tears began to leak from her six, pony-like eyes. “Is it true?”

Twilight hugged their daughter. No. You’re not a crime against nature. You’re our daughter, and we love you.”

Lamarr screeched in agreement.

The little crab-horse thing nuzzled her parents. “I love you too.”

With that, she scampered off on her disturbingly pony-like legs.

Twilight turned to Lamar. “Well, I’d better get started on dinner. You mind grilled watermelon?”

Lamar screeched.

“I’ll get right on it!”

With that, Twilight headed to the kitchen and levitated a watermelon onto a cutting board. She began cutting up the wet, juicy fruit into wedge-shaped chunks.

It was good to be home.

Author's Notes:

What'd you think? Isn't it warm and fuzzy?