“So, where are you taking me, Twi?”

“Would you please stop calling me that?”

“I like nicknames.”

“I don’t.”

“You didn’t mind before! Anyway, I’m pretty sure it says somewhere in the rulebook that the pony you’re dating is supposed to annoy you in subtle ways, Twi.”

“And how is that supposed to be romantic?”

“I never said it was romantic. I said it was required.”

Twi rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Moon Dancer in their carriage as it headed into the depths of the southern sprawl of Canterlot City. This part of the city was older than the rest. The architecture wasn’t quite as polished and shiny, but there was still plenty of white and gold. Hey, this was still Celestia’s city, after all. Canterlot ponies loved their motif.

“So, where are we going?” Moon Dancer asked again.

Twi rolled her eyes for like, the hundredth time. “It’s a surprise. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

“Enough times that you stop saying that and just tell me the truth,” Moon Dancer said with a smirk.

“Ugh, you’re impossible.”

“Why thank you!”

“You know, I don’t remember you being this snarky when we were fillies.”

“Blame Sunny,” Moon Dancer said with a little shrug. “She rubs off on you after a while. Kinda hard to resist.”

“No kidding,” Twi mumbled.

Moon Dancer couldn’t figure out how to respond to that. An awkward silence descended upon them for a block or two. Despite the last week, one question still burned in her mind. She’d tried to keep it to herself, but in the end, she had to know.

“You still sure about this, Twi?” Moon Dancer blurted as the carriage driver rounded a corner and they entered the southern civic district. “This whole… you and me thing?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Twi looked really confused.

Moon Dancer stared at Twi. “You’re kidding me. You’re smarter than that.”

Twi dropped the act. It had been a good act. A cute one. But still an act. She sighed and shrugged.

“I won’t pretend this is going to be easy. Not for any of us. Sunset made her decision though. We both know it. She helped make us happen. She wants this to work.”

“Do you?”

Twi’s expression of shock wasn’t an act. “Of course I do! I never would have agreed to the second date if I hadn’t. Or the third, fourth and fifth!”

“But you’ve got this whole… shared life thing with Sunny.”

“I’ve got the same thing with you,” Twi said as she snuggled just a little closer to Moon Dancer. For some reason, ever since the second date, Twi had taken to public displays of affection way more eagerly than Moon Dancer had expected.

Probably read a new book on mating practices of the ancient unicorns or something. Not that I really mind…

“It’s not the same thing,” Moon Dancer insisted to the snuggly pony beside her. “We both know it. You two… you shared your souls… or something.”

Twi looked up at her through her glasses. A flash of sunlight made them to glitter for a second before they passed under an archway.

“She saw my life,” Twi murmured. “And I saw hers. I won’t lie. It was… an intense experience. But the Princess said that this sort of thing is rare. Even married unicorn couples don’t often experience it. It takes just the right set of circumstances to make it happen.”

“I know all of that,” Moon Dancer muttered. “But it’s still not making me feel much better, Twi.”

Twi giggled and rolled her eyes. “But that’s the thing! It’s not like Smart Cookie, Clover the Clever and Private Pansy ended up falling in love after Hearth’s Warming Eve.”

“Heh, you should read some of Coco’s books. From what she says about them, they tell a different story entirely.”

Twi rolled her eyes again, shoved Moon Dancer over and righted herself. “I’m talking about reality. Not fiction.”

Moon Dancer just smirked.

“You were there from the beginning, Moon Dancer. You forced yourself into my life. You kept up with me. And you tried harder than anypony else to keep me around, even when I shoved you away. Just because I didn’t have some magic mind meld with you doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

“And Sunny?”

“Sunset’s a friend,” Twi said with conviction. Moon Dancer couldn’t tell how strong the conviction was… but it was there. “She’ll always be a friend. And I’m looking forward to working with her on the Spire project and all the other things the Princess wants us to do. But right now, I’m here with you. And that’s what matters.”

“What happened to the stuttering, terrified Archivist I remember meeting last week over dinner?” Moon Dancer said as they came out from a tunnel. The carriage began to slow as they made one more turn.

“She realized she didn’t need to be terrified anymore,” Twi said with a smirk of her own. Well… at least as close to a smirk as she could get.

Twi didn’t have as much practice as Moon Dancer, after all.

“So, you’re not afraid, huh?”

“Oh, I’m totally freaking out,” Twi laughed. The laugh bordered on maniacal. “I keep expecting to wake up to find this was all a dream. But right now… I don’t know… I feel…”

Twi swallowed as the carriage stopped in a roundabout alongside a rather nondescript building. Moon Dancer’s heart hammered in her chest as she watched Twi search for the right words.

“I feel wanted,” Twi whispered, staring down at her hooves.

Moon Dancer wrapped Twi a tight hug. Twi responded with a surprising ferocity. As if she’d been alone for a lifetime and now that she’d found somepony, she never intended to let go.

Almost a minute passed like that before the carriage driver coughed politely.

“Sorry!” Twi squeaked as she disentangled herself from Moon Dancer and hopped down off the carriage. As Moon Dancer stepped down, Twi floated a hoofful of bits to the driver, enough to include a sizable tip. “Keep the change.”

The carriage driver nodded, tipped his hat to them and trotted off back the way they’d come. As his hoofsteps faded away, Moon Dancer looked around. A large fountain dominated the middle of the roundabout. Sparkling water sent waves of rainbow light across the cobbles. On the other side of the street were some offices and a few small government buildings. There was almost nopony around, save for a single amber unicorn reading a book down the street outside a small cafe.

“Well, Twi,” Moon Dancer said as she surveyed the scene. “I wasn’t expecting this. You really outdid yourself.”

“Ugh,” Twi groaned. “You’re impossible.”

“You said that already. And here I thought somepony working at the RCA would have a bigger vocabulary.”

Twi nudged her and gestured for her to turn around. Moon Dancer did so with a roll of her eyes and looked up at the wooden structure that dominated this side of the roundabout. It was a least a couple hundred years old, if Moon Dancer was any judge. Older even than the Cosmo. Still, it had the air of a place that had been lovingly cared for. It radiated warmth. Something about it drew Moon Dancer like a magnet. She couldn’t help herself as she stepped forward toward the small unassuming door on the side.

“What is this place?” Moon Dancer asked in a hushed whisper. She didn’t even know why she was whispering, but it felt right.

“Apparently, it was going to be the surprise we were promised last week. But… it’s a little different now.”

Twi took a deep breath as Moon Dancer turned to face her.

“You told me how sorry you were that you weren’t there when I came back after that summer,” Twi said, poking at the cobblestones with a hoof. She was suddenly acting shy again and Moon Dancer couldn’t figure out why. “You promised to be there for me now.”

Twi gently knocked on the door as if she were requesting access to some sacred temple.

“Yes, yes!” came a slightly cranky voice from inside. “I’m coming, I’m coming!”

“I decided it was only fair to show you where it all started for me.”

Moon Dancer blinked as Twilight pointed up at the sign above the door.

“Royal Canterlot Archives… South Repository…” Moon Dancer read aloud, barely able to believe what she was seeing. “You mean…”

The door opened.

“Yes, yes, who is it?” An older mint-green unicorn with a blonde mane blinked in the afternoon sunlight before her gaze landed on Twi. Behind her rectangular reading glasses, her eyes lit up and an enormous smile appeared on her face.

“Twilight!” she cried as she darted forward and swept Twi into an enormous hug. Twi actually coughed a few times, her eyes bulging behind her glasses as she fought for breath. “Oh my, dear! I haven’t seen you in far too long! I knew you were coming, but didn’t expect you this soon! How’s my favorite librarian doing today?”

“I’m wonderful, Jade,” Twi said once the mare had released her and Twi managed to learn how to breathe again. “I actually brought somepony to meet you.”

The mare’s eyes narrowed as she studied Moon Dancer. “Twilight Sparkle, you know how I feel about fanfillies!”

“This isn’t a fanfilly, Jade,” Twi said with a smile. “This is my…”

Twi turned to Moon Dancer, suddenly at a loss for words.

She’d been wondering when this moment would come. When Twi would have to introduce her to somepony new. Or when Moon Dancer would have to do the same. It meant that they needed to ‘define’ their relationship, something neither of them really wanted to do. Moon Dancer knew Twi wasn’t ashamed of her. And Moon Dancer wasn’t ashamed of Twi.

Just putting a label on it… seemed… well, daunting.

Sunny would probably be laughing her tail off if she knew how nervous we were about this!

Moon Dancer then realized Sunny wouldn’t have done anything of the sort. Not at all. That stung a bit.

So, she decided to do what Sunny probably would have done in her place.

“Marefriend,” Moon Dancer said with a small smile at Twi, hoping that it would be good enough.

To her relief, Twi’s smile blossomed into something much deeper and much more appreciative.

“Marefriend… Moon Dancer,” Twi continued. “Moon Dancer, I’d like you to meet Jade Singer, the current head of the South Canterlot Archives and author of—”

Moon Dancer’s heart just about stopped as the name finally registered in her head. No way.

“Yes, yes, yes,” Jade Singer said with a shooing motion at Twilight as she stepped over to eye Moon Dancer critically. “I’m sure she knows who I am. Anypony who would associate with you would have to know who I am.”

Moon Dancer desperately tried not to squeal. It was a very hard battle, but one she just barely managed to win.

Jade Singer adjusted her glasses with her magic and studied Moon Dancer as if she were some trashy pulp fiction novel about vamponies that had been dumped in the donations box.

“Hmmm… padding on the glasses shows she’s more concerned with comfort than appearance. That’s reinforced by that ridiculous topknot…”

“Hey!” Moon Dancer protested, even over Twi’s giggles.

“Mane’s in good condition, tail too. And don’t think I missed the coloring, Twilight, dear. I daresay she almost looks like a recolor of you.”

Twilight just giggled some more while Moon Dancer suffered the ‘abuse.’ She wondered if Twi’s parents were going to be this bad.

Wow… I just thought about meeting her parents. I guess… I guess I am taking this seriously.

Gah! I shouldn’t be freaking out like this! Freaking out is for Sunny and Twi! Not me!

Finally, Jade Singer lifted up Moon Dancer’s right hoof and studied it critically. She mumbled to herself for a moment or two before dropping it and staring intently into Moon Dancer’s eyes.

“Not bad, Twilight,” Jade Singer finally said as she stepped away. “Not bad. Definitely a bookpony. You don’t seem the RCA type, though.”

“Cosmo, ma’am,” Moon Dancer replied.

“The Canterlot Cosmopolitan Library?” Jade Singer said, her eyes going wide. “That I wasn’t expecting. Fancy yourself a social pony, eh?”

“Hardly,” Moon Dancer scoffed. “I just… I don’t know, I feel like I can help more ponies at a public library rather than the RCA.”

Jade Singer’s face was impassive for a long time. “Is that right? Well, my little Twilight here isn’t an elitist if that’s what you’re getting at, young lady.”

“No!” Moon Dancer said. What was with this mare? “That’s not what I meant, I just…”

“Oh, you so can’t even say what you mean? Then how am I supposed to believe anything you say?”

“But—”

“I won’t tolerate that kind of behavior toward somepony who waltzes in here and claims to be my Twilight’s new marefriend! I have standards, young lady! You’d better make sure you’re ready to meet them, or by Celestia, I’ll tan your hide!”

Moon Dancer gawked at her, trying to figure out what just happened. One moment, it seemed to be going well, now she was being threatened with a ‘tanned hide?’ What was wrong with this pony? Why would Twi even want to introduce her to—

That’s when she realized Twi was going red in her desperate attempt to keep from cracking up entirely. The moment Moon Dancer noticed, Twi lost her battle and collapsed, gasping for air as she laughed, her legs flailing in the air. Her near complete inability to breathe did dampen the laughter a bit, though.

Jade Singer cracked a smile a second later, the thundercloud that had been her face breaking like the dawn.

“Twilight, dear,” Jade said in a bemused voice. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you don’t breathe.”

“But… her face…” Twi squeaked as she clutched her stomach. “Her face…”

“Yes, it was quite priceless, wasn’t it?” Jade Singer smirked at Moon Dancer. “I can see why you like her. Though I suspect she’s usually the snarky one.”

Twi nodded as she finally got control of herself and pushed herself to her hooves. “Yeah… but… she needed to be taught a lesson I think.”

Moon Dancer just gaped at the two of them.

“This was planned?”

Twi’s eyes sparkled. “After all the teasing you do to just about everypony I know—especially me—you had it coming, Moon Dancer.”

Moon Dancer couldn’t help but laugh. She sat down and slowly clapped her hooves together.

“Well done,” Moon Dancer intoned. “Now, the student has become the master.”

“Hardly,” Jade Singer scoffed. “I had to do all the work. Twilight just suggested I give you a hard time. I wasn’t expecting you to make it so easy.”

“It’s not everyday a pony meets a living literary legend,” Moon Dancer pointed out with a faint huff. “You cheated.”

“Only been dating her a week, hm, Twilight?” Jade Singer asked with a sly grin. “I think you’ve already got her pegged.”

“We’ve known each other for a long time,” Twi replied with a shrug. “We’re just now… getting reacquainted.”

Twi smiled at her. Moon Dancer smiled back.

“Well, as long as you don’t get too ‘reacquainted’ in my Archive, you’ll be just fine.”

“Jade!” Twilight squeaked, instantly turning red.

“Oh, Twilight,” Jade cackled as she turned and headed into the depths of the Archive. “You should have known you’d get it just as much as her.”

“This was your idea,” Moon Dancer pointed out.

“Don’t remind me,” Twi muttered. “I’ll probably end up regretting it.”

“Well, I don’t,” Moon Dancer said with a smile as she bumped against her marefriend. “So, let’s just enjoy it and see where it goes, huh?”

Twi’s blush actually deepened at that. “Okay… I think I can do that.”

“One day at a time, Twi.”

Twi nodded. “One day at a time.”

They walked inside together, both grinning like idiots. And Moon Dancer loved it.

“You’ve been quiet today,” the Princess of the Sun commented from her large cushion in the middle of her study. “Far quieter than usual for a one-on-one lesson.”

Sunset glanced out the window, unable to meet her teacher’s gaze. Philomena fluttered down and nuzzled her just a little. Sunset stroked the bird absently. She didn’t have anything to say, really.

That wasn’t true. She didn’t trust herself to say anything.

That was an entirely different problem.

Still, she couldn’t just ignore the Princess of the Sun. Even if Celestia did already know the answer to her own unasked question.

“It’s not important, Princess.”

She’d forced herself to go through the motions of normalcy. As if nothing had changed. In reality, nothing had changed, save for one thing. One very special, very important thing. But it didn’t affect her. It didn’t impact her.

It shouldn’t impact her.

“Sunset,” Celestia repeated. “For the last week, you have been so quiet. Don’t think it’s escaped my notice. Please. Would you talk to me about what’s on your mind?”

You already know what happened, Princess. What am I supposed to tell you? That I did exactly what you asked me to do? That I even went so far as to successfully…

Sunset looked back down at A Study on Chaos Theory. She hadn’t turned the page in over an hour. Of course Celestia had noticed. Celestia wasn’t a fool.

A golden glow encompassed the book. With a faint application of magic, Celestia closed it and moved it onto a nearby table. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before getting to her hooves and stepping over to the half-built model in the center of the room. After the latest accident, they’d temporarily moved it up to Celestia’s study—which happened to have the strongest wards and shields in the castle. Gemstones and sigils lined the circumference of the crystalline castle-like object. Sunset watched as Celestia slowly walked around it, studying it with a critical eye.

“I’m proud of you, Sunset.”

For the first time in a very long time, Sunset didn’t get the happy warm surge she usually had at those words. Instead, they were just… words. Nothing more. Dull and flat.

Philomena nuzzled her again.

Sunset stared at the model.

“It’s not done yet,” Sunset replied woodenly. “I’m… I’m not sure if I can finish it anymore.”

“I wasn’t talking about the Spire.”

“I know.”

Celestia stepped over and settled beside Sunset. She gently draped her great white wing over Sunset’s body.

“Just a few days ago, you were in the laboratory with Twilight and Moon Dancer working on the Spire. Talking about unified harmony magics and chaos theory. You seemed to be enjoying yourself.”

“It’s easier when we’re just talking about magical theory or constructing arcane leyline taps,” Sunset said with a shrug. “At least… until a pause comes along. Or when Twilight smiles for… ‘no reason.’ Or they both blush at the same time.”

Celestia watched her for a long time, not saying anything. Sunset couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking, but she couldn’t get the energy or the courage to ask.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this, Sunset.”

Sunset snorted. “I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of ponies in my position, Princess.”

“I didn’t say that,” she chided gently. “I said I haven’t seen you like this.”

“It’s just hard right now. I’m sure… in time, it’ll get easier, right? What’s that saying? ‘Time heals all wounds?’”

To Sunset’s surprise, Celestia actually flinched. She stared at the Princess as the alicorn seemed to search for the right words.

“So many ponies misquote that,” Celestia said in a distant voice. “They remember that single statement as simple folk wisdom. Words meant to comfort… but in reality, they mean little.”

“Princess?” Sunset asked, her ears flat. A chunk of fear rattled around in her chest. To see the Princess of the Sun react like that to such an off-hoof statement… It was…

It was wrong.

Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “The Countess Shamrock Rose said it best: ‘It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scars and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.’”

Celestia opened her eyes and met Sunset’s gaze. Sunset’s heart started hammering in her chest, though she felt oddly cold for reasons she couldn’t explain.

“The thing to remember, Sunset,” Celestia continued, her voice still little more than a whisper, “is that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s a lesson you’ve already learned time and time again. A lesson that everypony learns. The trials and difficulties we go through in life—the decisions and the consequences of those decisions—they make us what we are. Who we are. If we forget them… if we allow them to simply pass from our minds and our hearts… then we are diminished.”

Sunset gaped at her. She’d never seen the Princess look so… vulnerable. But more than anything, this lesson felt wrong. She needed to know. One question that didn’t work with the rest of this.

“But… then how do I forgive myself for the things I’ve done?” Sunset whispered.

“There’s a difference.” Celestia smiled wanly. “To Rose’s point… time allows us to cover the wound and move on. If you don’t learn to forgive yourself, if you clutch at that guilt… it’s forcing the wound to remain open with no protection. Such an action will always cause more pain. Indeed, such a wound could have dire consequences.”

It’s what you deserve, you freak.

Sunset flinched at the sudden venom from the voice in the back of her head.

“Do you want to talk about them?” Celestia asked. It wasn’t a demand. It was barely a question. It was more like a suggestion. An offer. A shoulder to cry on.

“No,” Sunset said with a cracked smile. “No, I really don’t.”

Celestia’s smile was as gentle as the morning sun on a spring day. She knew what Sunset’s real answer was without her having to say it. As usual.

“They seem happy.” Sunset shrugged. “Really happy. Well, at least until they found out. They were a little… um… miffed… when they discovered we’d been spying on them. At least… until I reminded Moon Dancer that I had pretty much told her we were going to.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. Sunset knew the expression. It was designed specifically to admonish her without saying a word. Sunset just sighed. She felt no shame in watching the beginning of their date. After all… she’d been pretty involved.

Well, she felt no shame for watching it. She’d had plenty of shame for… pretty much everything else.

Still, there was a faint glimmer in Celestia’s eye that told Sunset the Princess would have likely have done the same. It helped a little.

“Apparently, it was after midnight when they left the Carriage House.” Sunset sighed. “Those two had a lot of catching up to do.”

“Time and distance can be a hard thing to overcome.”

Sunset nodded.

“And?”

“And… I’m actually happy for them.”

A tiny little sliver of you is. The rest of you is either jealous or dead inside, Sunset.

Celestia paused before nodding. “As I said… I’m proud of you.”

Something cracked inside Sunset.

“You shouldn’t be,” Sunset snapped. “You shouldn’t be proud of me, Princess. I tore them apart.”

“And you put them back together.”

“But they lost so much time.”

“And now they’ll make up for it.”

“Do you really think it’ll be that simple?” Sunset demanded, staring up at her teacher as she fought back the tears that threatened to overcome her.

Celestia squeezed Sunset with her wing. “No, Sunset. Of course it won’t be that simple. It could never be that simple. Friendships are rarely easy. Indeed, they’re often quite difficult. Romance… even more so. But do you know what I see when I look at you, Sunset?”

“I know what I see,” Sunset mumbled, staring at her hooves again.

A broken-down wreck of a pony who doesn’t give a damn about what she actually deserves. A pony who is everything I wasn’t. You could have been so much more. You could have been me. Now… you’re just you. How pathetic is that?

“I see that my prized student put the feelings of her two friends above her own,” Celestia said gently. “And in the space of two days, rebuilt a long-abandoned bridge between them. You put aside your own desires. Then, you did what you believed was best.”

Sunset frowned. “Don’t you mean ‘what was best?’”

Celestia hesitated for a fraction of a second before she answered.

“No. Because I cannot tell the future, Sunset. I don’t know how this will turn out. You, of all ponies, know that I make mistakes. I have done so in the past and I will likely continue to do so in the future.” She placed a naked hoof on Sunset’s chin and lifted it so their eyes met. “All any of us can do is the best with what we know at the time.”

For a moment, Sunset was a filly again. Back when Celestia had been the entire world to her. Back when she’d been so wise, so knowing, so kind…

Back when Celestia had been her mother in all but name.

Back when things had been simple.

She missed simple.

“Even when it hurts?” Sunset asked in a tiny voice.

Celestia leaned forward to nuzzle her. “Especially when it hurts.”

Philomena took to the air and looped around the half-completed Spire before she settled down on the edge of the table, watching over the two ponies lost in their thoughts.

Author's Notes:

“It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But it is never gone.”

―Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy

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If you come across any errors, please let me know by PM!