Velvet's eyes fluttered open as awoke to the sunlight streaming through the bedroom window. Beneath the blanket, she could feel the weight of a stallion's hoof draped across her. She smiled and wiggled back against him. She turned to roll toward him to wake him with a kiss.

"Good morning Shi-" Velvet froze. She had grown so accustomed to sharing a bed with her son, she had nearly greeted her husband as such on reflex. Mercifully, Night Light was still sound asleep beside her. The morning sunlight poured through the window's damaged blinds. The previous night came rushing back to her. Shining Armor, Twilight, the fight, and Night Light, here now. Bits of plaster from the wall still littered the floor of her quite-literally broken home. In a single night, all of her worst fears had come true.

"Night?" she asked the sleeping stallion, nervously, unsure if she really wanted to wake him. He looked so peaceful. She hoped that he was having a pleasant dream. But like her own fantasies, it couldn't last forever. They each needed to come to terms with what had happened. She needed to talk to him. Even if all he had to say to her was a demand for a divorce.

Would it really come to that? she worried. He had every justification. But would it be the reason? Or would he use this opportunity to rid himself of her and her lies and pursue his relationship with Twilight? Velvet's hoof trembled as she brought it to nudge him awake, stopping just a hair's breadth away. Would she be freed to keep her relationship with Shining? She shook her head, unwilling to accept defeat.

"Nightie?" she whispered, giving him a little push, gently shaking him awake.

"Mmh? Vel?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "I had the craziest dream last night, I-" he saw the carnage in the room. "Oh... Okay" he sighed, not quite ready to face this harsh reality. He was too dehydrated to cry. But Velvet could see the emotional anguish in his face.

"I'm sorry," Velvet whimpered. "About... everything! You must hate me now!" Night Light winced. His eyes felt like they had been replaced with cotton balls covered in saw dust. His head felt like his brain was rattling around inside on a bed of broken glass.

"Shhh..." he hushed her. "Water."

"What!?"

"Bring me... water," he repeated. "Please." Velvet hastily scurried from the bed, filling a glass in the sink and bringing it to him. He could tell that it had come from the bathroom sink and not the kitchen. But by the stars, in his condition, it was the most refreshing thing he'd ever had. "Thank you."

"Night, I'm sorry," Velvet started to apologize again. He put his hoof up to silence her again.

"It's okay," he said.

"Really!?" she asked, incredulous. He hazarded to open his eyes at last, and looking into hers.

"No. Not really. It's- it's not okay. Nothing is okay. Nothing about any of this is okay," he sighed, too exhausted to even stay angry. "Heh," he huffed a short laugh at the absurdity of it all. At that point, if he didn't laugh, he was going to cry. "No, it's not okay, Vel, but... Heh, what the fuck am I supposed to say!? Shining came up here to have sex with you to get revenge on me."

"Revenge? No! It's not like that! He's- he was the stallion I was cheating with."

"How could you?" he asked. "All this time? And with our son!?" Velvet buried her face in her hooves. "When did it start? A year ago?" he asked, recalling when he'd found her pregnancy test.

"No. It was before Twilight was born."

"Damn, Vel," Night Light couldn't look at her. He couldn't imagine his wife with their adolescent colt. True, he's had sex with Twilight as an adult. But their situation was completely different.

"I was weak!" she sobbed. "You were away and I was in heat. He didn't know any better and he-" she recalled her first time with Shining Armor. "He was young and horny and- oh Nightie, I should have stopped him. He didn't understand what he was doing. He was just a colt that wanted to do what felt good and I- I let him!"

"That little shit!" Night cursed, getting ready to get up and give his son a piece of his mind. Velvet grabbed his hoof.

"Night, wait!"

"No! He's an adult now. He knows better, and so did you! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go give him an adult-sized kick in the ass!" She grabbed his hoof harder, yanking him forcefully back into the bed.

"And what about you and Twilight!?" she barked.

He froze.

"Told you, did he?" Night asked.

"She did," Velvet answered. "Last night. We talked after you passed out again. So, when did that start?"

"Two days ago."

"Really? You're both adults. You knew better."

"I was weak," he echoed her words. "You were away and she was in heat. I knew better. I should have stopped her. Fuck, I should have stopped myself. But she just wanted to do what felt good and..."

"You let her." Velvet said.

"Yeah," he sighed again, losing his will to fight. "I'm a horrible pony."

"It's okay," Velvet said, holding his hoof.

"What?"

"It's okay," she repeated. "After all that I've done, who am I to judge? You deserve to be happy after what I've done to you. To this family. You deserve each other. When we go downstairs, if you want to be with Twilight- I won't get in the way. I-" her tears welled up. "I won't fight you if you file for divorce."

"What!? Divorce!? Velvet no! I don't want to leave you! Do you want to divorce me!?" He asked.

"No! But how can you not? How in the world are we going to make this work?" Velvet asked.

"I don't know! But this family has gotten this far. We've-" he paused. "Okay, I won't say we've been through worse. I can confidently say that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to us. So... it can only get better."

"You want to stay married?" she asked.

"Yes! Don't you?" he asked.

"Yes..." she said.

"But?" he lead. She blushed.

"But... full disclosure, I still want to... with Shining," she confessed. Night chortled. "What?"

"No, it's just... ironic," he said. "I was thinking something similar."

"We're horrible ponies," she said. He took her hoof.

"Hey, we all are," he smiled and hugged her. "But I'm still pissed that Shining punched me and got me shit-faced just so he could fuck you in our own bed!"

"Yes, well, he IS in trouble for that," Velvet agreed. They each hushed as the heard Twilight rouse from her bed to go downstairs. When Night heard her start to make a ruckus in the kitchen, he got out of bed.

"I'm going to go talk to him," he said.

"Let me," Velvet pleaded.

"Fine. But I'm coming with you."

Velvet walked down the hall to Shining's bedroom. Night Light followed after. She stopped him outside Shining's door and let herself inside.

"Shining?" she asked, stirring him awake. Shining blinked awake and saw her standing beside his bed.

"M-Mom!?" He sat up quickly and wrapped his hooves around her, taking her by surprise as he kissed her. She tried to push him away.

"Shining," Night Light said from the doorway.

"Oh shit! Dad, uh-" Shining let go of Velvet and backed away.

"Where the fuck do you get off behaving like that!?" Night said, taking heavy steps into the bedroom. "The way you treated your sister and I after what you two have been doing!"

"Night," Velvet interrupted him, politely, but firmly, trying to deescalate the situation. Night Light stopped to let her speak. "Shining, your father told me about what you did yesterday. I'm very upset about the way you behaved. Attacking your father and getting him drunk just so you could be with me! You and I promised each other, we promised, Shining, that we would never let what we had hurt anypony! And you broke that promise!"

"I'm sorry, Mom."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to."

"I'm sorry... Dad," Shining said, hanging his head, before snapping back upright. "I hope you're not mad at Mom about any of this! It wasn't her fault!" he said. Velvet put up her hoof to shush him.

"Your father and I have made up. And now I need both of you to, as well."

"Dad, I'm sorry, really!" Shining said. "I wasn't even that upset at first, when I first saw you with another pony. I mean, given what Mom and I were doing, what right did I have to judge? To be honest, I was barely even surprised, really, given how long Mom was away, and... how rough things were between you before." Night glared at Velvet.

"What? We talked," Velvet said.

"But when I saw that it was Twilie, I-" Shining paused, still confused about the whole thing. "I don't know what came over me. But just seeing somepony f-f-fucking my sister, my Twilie, and you of all ponies-" Shining shook his head.

Velvet's eyes lit up in realization.

"Afterwards, I really wanted to..." Shining trailed off and blushed, embarrassed to be admitting this to his dad. "I really wanted Mom, badly. Seeing you with Twilight made me feel like there was nothing wrong with what we were doing anymore. I felt justified, righteous, even. But we were all here, at home, and so were you. So I cooked up a way to get you on the couch, drunk, so I could... well, you know."

"Son of a bitch," Night spat.

"Your words," Shining said.

"Night!" Velvet scolded.

"Sorry, honey."

"Shining, I'm extremely disappointed in you," Velvet said. "A simple 'sorry' isn't going to fix this."

"I know. How can I fix this? How can I make it up to you, Dad? Buy you a drink?"

"Ha. Ha." Night deadpanned.

"You can start to make it up to both of us today by going downstairs to the kitchen and doing what you are told! Do you understand?" Velvet said.

"Yes, Mom."

"We'll be down shortly. Now go on!" she instructed. Shining stood up and obediently walked past his father to head downstairs. Velvet closed Shining's bedroom door and turned back to her husband. "Night, I just realized something!"

"What?"

"I think Shining has feelings for Twilight," she said.

"What!?"

"Does that really surprise you?" she asked. Night thought about it. Shining certainly wasn't pleased to have caught him with another mare, but when he realized who it was, he turned practically psychotic.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"No, but, I want to make this work," she said, taking his hoof in hers. "And I know you want to keep what you have with Twilight."

"Yes," he admitted.

"Just like how I want to keep what Shining and I have. I know they both want to, also. But we need them to both be okay with it, with each other!"

"I don't follow,"

"Night, come on. It's only going to be a matter of time before they consider how they feel for each other. And I don't want that to happen behind our backs. Not again! If it's going to happen, I want it to be on common terms."

"Okay."

"But first, we have to get them comfortable with our relationships. And I don't want it to be some drawn-out, awkward discussion. I want to get right to the point, and get it done."

"Okay. How?" he asked.

"Just follow my lead, and we'll all come out of this stronger." Velvet opened the door and grinned. "And if it helps you feel better, later, I'll talk to Cadance. I'm sure she'd be willing to help you... even the score," she purred with a wink. She trotted downstairs, leaving Night with a half-mast at the thought of getting with Cadance. He tried to willpower it away.

"I'm... gonna need a minute."