Twilight stirred, feeling consciousness steal over her in a slow and deliberate fashion—something that rarely happened to a teenager often woken abruptly by an alarm clock. She snuggled deeper into the warm softness of her pillow, trying to decide if she could go back to sleep for a little longer. Though, she thought in the detached fashion of early morning grogginess, that would be easier if her pillow stopped moving. Then her brain caught up with her, and her eyes snapped open because pillows were normally inanimate objects that didn’t breathe.

It was dark in her room, that odd pre-dawn grayness that was slightly better than pitch blackness but leached all the color from the world, and without her glasses everything was blurry when it got more than a few inches from her nose. Regardless, she could translate the washed out curves and form close by into Sunset’s body, and that while her face might not have been resting on her normal pillow, the ‘pillow’ under her cheek was almost better despite it rising and falling steadily with every breath the sleeping redhead took. She shifted a little, worming deeper in the arms holding her, a tiny thrill running down her spine from the sensation of skin on skin contact, even as she tilted her head to observe her girlfriend.

In truth, it was mostly a study of contrasts rather than details—red and gold hair translated to a tangle of darker and lighter grays against the pale off-gray of amber skin, and how all of them stood in sharp relief against the dark midnight of the bedsheets and blankets. One hand slid up to gently trace along the contours of Sunset’s face, over her brow and cheeks, and brushing over the lips that had left trails of fire on her skin hours before.

She let out a little sigh of relief at finding Sunset’s features completely relaxed in sleep. After the emotionally stressful explanation of what had happened to Glamour, Sunset had…not withdrawn, exactly, but faded into the background. She still participated in the big family dinner, and moved to help wherever it was needed, but the bright presence had been…shuttered…like the sun behind the clouds or one of those old fashioned lanterns with the cover that let a person adjust the light they gave off. That quiet had persisted even after they’d come upstairs to get ready for bed, but Twilight had been hesitant to address it then, between the long day, how they were both at the ends of their individual emotional ropes from a stressful week, and the fact that neither of them had seemed to feel much like talking. Instead, Sunset had sought and offered wordless comfort, and Twilight had latched onto that, allowing herself to be dragged down into a world that was made up of soft instrumental music played over her laptop, breathless whispers, calloused fingers, wandering lips, and the leather-and-summer-sunshine scent that was Sunset Shimmer, drowning out all the external stimuli as well as her own racing thoughts that were worrying about a thousand and one things.

Now though, in that soft space between sleep and truly awake, Twilight could assess the situation without having to go right into uncomfortable questions. She felt relief in knowing that Sunset still felt safe enough to sleep deeply and relax utterly at her side. The lines and tension were banished from her face, her brows smoothed and lacking the little furrow that meant she was dwelling on something, her lips no longer pulled into a slight frown. She still worried about what had made Sunset retreat emotionally, but that would have to wait until the older girl was awake and ready to talk; she made herself a mental note to try bringing it up before the weekend was over.

Exhaling slowly, Twilight shifted again, trying to get comfortable enough to doze back off for a while longer. Just as she was starting to relax and feel like she might be able to, she realized that Sunset’s whuffly snores had stopped. She glanced up to see that her girlfriend’s brow had creased.

“…it's too early to raise the sun, Princess…five more minutes…” Sunset mumbled.

Stifling a giggle, Twilight wondered what the other girl had been dreaming about. That seemed to register with Sunset, and one eye pulled itself halfway open to peer down at her. “…Sparky…?” came the husky murmur in a voice still muzzy with sleep.

She smiled and teased lightly, “Yes, it's me. Why? Were you expecting someone else?”

That blue-green eye was joined by its partner in peeking out from under half closed lids, both bright and distinct in her otherwise washed out field of vision. “…never know…with Pinkie…” she answered. “…no concept…of personal space…”

Twilight frowned. “I’m not sure I’d be okay with your friend ending up topless in bed with you.”

Sunset let out a husky, sleepy chuckle. “If she ever does…you’ll know, because you’ll be there…beside me…don't sleep like this just anywhere…” One hand came down to run through dark locks. “…what time is it?”

That necessitated rolling over and fumbling out for her glasses to check the alarm clock. She squinted at the glowing numbers that reminded her of Sunset’s eyes in the dark and in her dreams. “Five forty.” Then she rolled back over to wiggle back into her spot against that warm body; sleep might be proving elusive, but that didn’t mean she was ready to leave that warm cocoon under the blankets yet.

“….’s early…even for you,” Sunset said, nuzzling into her hair. “….you okay?”

She was silent for a long time, listening to Sunset’s heartbeat and slow, steady breathing. “…not really?” she admitted. “…This week has been…a nightmare. I was just starting to find my equilibrium with what's been happening at school and that I’m being made to transfer and all the work I have yet to do on my project, especially since the energy source is the most frustrating and uncooperative scientific phenomenon I have ever encountered…and then Glamour showed up last night and…”

The hug tightened, and Sunset kissed her forehead. “Her story was pretty terrible.”

“It's worse than terrible! I always knew Lucky and Summer were shallow and self absorbed and fixated on money to an unhealthy degree, but…practically…selling Glamour as some kind of escort during big important dinners is…something I can’t believe they would stoop to!” She pressed into her girlfriend’s warmth. “And she was so upset and I couldn't do anything to help, not even say anything to make her feel better…” Tears welled in her eyes, frustration and pain bleeding out of her into her physical reality.

“Shhhh…” Sunset soothed her, humming softly, the soft lullaby-like tune that she always started with whenever she did that, something that Twilight always felt reached down in her soul. “…know it's hard—I couldn't do much to help either…but it sounds like your dad is fixing it…and you did help…You were there. You listened…You validated how violated she and Wildsong felt.” Amber fingers brushed her hair back from her face. “…and right now, you're crying for their suffering…hurting because they are…and it's all we can do.”

Through her tears, she could see moisture tracking down Sunset’s face too, even as the words drilled right through the lump in her throat to pierce her heart. Twilight pressed her face into Sunset’s collarbone and cried. She cried for herself, for her cousin, for Wildsong, for Sunset. She cried because of the stress that felt like it was eating her alive. She cried over the cruelty and unfairness of other people, over the way the worst things always seemed to happen to good people while bad people got away with their actions. She cried for her own helplessness…

The entire time, she could hear Sunset again, singing while tears dripped onto Twilight’s hair. It was that same song, but this time with lyrics she had never heard before, lyrics in a language she couldn't even begin to place. Something about it was strangely melancholy but also soothing, and it pulled her from her own tears to listen in silent rapture. Sunset’s eyes were faraway, shadowed and pensive like they had been the night before.

As the song trailed away into silence, Twilight reached up and cupped Sunset’s cheek. “…I didn't know it had words…”

Blinking, the redhead was brought back to her, and she gave a wan, crooked smile. “I…don't actually remember all of it. She…didn't sing the words often. Usually…midsummer…midwinter…and…Nigh—Halloween…but it was a lullaby she used when I was little.”

“It’s beautiful…Do you know what the words mean?”

Someone shrugging while holding her felt…weird, but she ignored it. “Kind of. Dead languages are a bit cumbersome to translate, but she taught me the meaning of some other songs and literature in the same dialect. I can try, if you want? Might have to take a lot of poetic license though.”

Twilight nodded timidly. “…if it's okay with you? I’d love to know what it’s about?”

Sunset’s expression was still dim and lacking its light, but she obliged.

“Destiny cruel, Harmony lost,

I did not wish you away…

Bearing wounds for a failure all mine,

The music is silent this day.”

“Yet into the still night, I sing you a song

In hope your company it keeps,

Until your weary eyes and my lullabies

Carry you softly to sleep…”

Several verses of the original language followed, places where Sunset could not translate or recall the exact wording, along with at least a verse worth of humming, before she shifted back to English.

“….there was so much more love for you than you ever knew,

May it take the hurt away from your mind,

Please forgive me for being so blind…”

“Centuries stretch out before us,

Full of fear and rife with the unknown,

In all my darkest moments I never dreamed

I’d face each one alone.”

“May all the lonely winters

Swiftly fly, I pray…

I lo-love y-you…I m-miss you…

All these m-miles away…”

Sunset’s voice had started to falter in the last verse, and then she stopped singing abruptly, curling forward to let tears soak into Twilight’s hair. “Oh, Sunny…” she whispered, shifting their positions so Sunset could tuck her face into the younger girl’s neck.

“…’m sorry…” Sunset mumbled.

Twilight rubbed her back gently. “Sunny, no… you don't need to be sorry. It’s okay to be hurting…you loved her so much, and that kind of hurt lasts a long time.”

Shaking her head, Sunset choked a little on her sobs. “…but your family wants me. My friends want me…she didn’t. After everything I’ve done…people here want me in a way she never did…and I’m happy, and I want to be happy here, have a family, a home, you…I can belong here. Have a life here...so why do I keep thinking about her?! I don't even miss anyp-anyone else, so why can't I let her go?! Why am I letting this hold me back?!”

Holding her girlfriend close, Twilight tried to be as gentle as she could in her reply, biting back the unpleasant things she felt about the woman who had been Sunset’s guardian. “Because she is your mother.”

“…but she’s not…” came the immediate retort. “I was her ward, out of necessity. She never asked for me.”

That made Twilight’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but she filed it away for another time. Sunset did not need the ‘Twilit Inquisition’ right now. “That doesn't matter. What matters is that she raised you. You lived with her from a very young age, she was the primary authority figure in your life above all others, and she obviously spent time with you when you were little, teaching you things and modeling behavior for you—like manners, or how you bring gifts to a host, or even how you carry yourself in public. Whether she intended it or not, she stepped into the role of a parent, and that is exactly how you viewed her…exactly how any child in your situation would have viewed her.”

The older girl didn't answer, even when Twilight left a deliberate and extended pause to let her, so she continued. “It doesn't matter if a piece of paper said ‘So-and-so is the legally adoptive parent of one Sunset Shimmer’ she was the one you saw as your mother, the one you wanted to be proud of you and love you and make all the bad things go away when they happened…” Her hand was still rubbing up and down Sunset’s back. “…and her rejection wounded you deeper than anything else—you told me that. That her love and acceptance drove every little thing you did, right up until the night we met…which is normal, Sunny. No matter who we are, our parents and our relationship with them…especially with our mothers…is something that impacts people their whole lives, and it's something that is…perhaps not impossible, but extremely difficult to excise completely.” Twilight tried to keep her breathing slow and even. “Did you know that one of the most common individuals someone who is gravely wounded cries out for is their mother? It does not matter the circumstances, or how old they are, or even what kind of relationship they have with their mother…they still call out for ‘Mom.’”

More silence, but it was the kind of silence that told her Sunset was listening. “So you…not being able to let go of her…that’s normal. That's…very human…and it's okay to feel that way. You don't have to let go if you don't want to or aren't ready. You may never be ready…and that's okay too.”

Sunset’s shoulders slumped, and she went more than a little limp in Twilight’s embrace. “…but what if I want to?” she bit out, sounding somewhere between angry and more tears. “I have so much here—people who want me, who respect me, who are proud of me…who care about me…and…”. Fingers gripped Twilight’s arms tight, almost painfully so. “…and I…I want to try. I want to embrace everything I’ve found, everything I’ve earned without her and everything about the place I came from and who I used to be…” She pulled back, and the only word Twilight had for the emotion etched across her face and in gleaming eyes was anguish. “…but how can I if I'm still holding on to the past?”

Twilight reached out, letting her hands follow the contours of cheek and jaw until her palms rested lightly against amber skin. “You don’t have to cut yourself off completely and cast away everything and everyone, Sunset. Your life doesn’t have to be divided into ‘Before’ and ‘After.’ You can embrace your life here while still having things from your past you aren’t ready to let go of or that you still need closure on.”

“…but…how is it fair to be part of everything here if I’m not willing to…” The redheaded teen’s words faltered as whatever she was trying to articulate fell drastically short.

Biting her lip, Twilight tried a slightly different approach. “Sunny…no one here expects to replace her…or anyone else from your past. Mom and Dad definitely aren't. Finding home, finding family…isn't subtracting your old connections and relationships from your life and overwriting them with new ones. It's about adding on to it. You can accept the friends you've made and all the changes in your life without removing anyone from it that you don't want to remove.”

She could feel more than see Sunset’s brows furrow, before her girlfriend reached out and pulled her back into that warm hold. “…I…want to…” Sunset mumbled, trailing off again into that pensive silence, as if the weight of the world was crushing down on her.

Resting her head against smooth skin was soothing. “Are you up for going on this date today, Sunny? I’ll understand if you aren't.” There could be other dates, but Sunset deserved the chance to sort her thoughts and feelings out.

A humorless chuckle escaped the older girl. “I was actually planning on asking you the same thing.”

Twilight had not composed a response for that question yet. She had been fairly excited the night before, but everything just felt…heavier now. Full of a weight and expectation and stress that hadn't been present before, as if the world itself was holding its breath in some…indefinable and irrational way, waiting on the next thing to happen.

The words hovered in the early morning quiet long after they stopped vibrating the air, before Sunset shattered it again. “…maybe the question should be: are we up for going on a date today, or is it going to be too much on top of everything else we have yet to deal with?”

“I…don't know,” the dark haired teen found herself answering. “…if you had asked that last night, I believe the answer would have unequivocally been yes from me. Despite—or perhaps because of it—I…was looking forward to a day where all I had to worry about was you and me.”

Sunset shifted positions, and Twilight could feel the kiss she brushed against her ear. “I know what you mean. The last few months have been…stressful…even with things going so much better at my school for me. I've got so much I’m trying to do—band practice, making time for the girls, running that weekly tutoring that now has like a hundred people showing up every week—we actually had to take over the cafeteria because they wouldn’t all fit in the library—the big group project, the upcoming Friendship Games…I have less time than ever and more people that want part of it, and its cut into the time I used to spend with you…” A frustrated sigh escaped the redhead.

Making a humming sound of agreement, Twilight added, “It's not been much better on my end. This project is driving me insane—normally I’d be pretty much done by now, and I’m not. I feel like I’m not any further than when I started. Plus the trouble with my school and Principal Cinch now…I mean, the family lawyers and Great Uncle Stalwart are involved—that's bad and huge and I didn't ask for any of it and I don't know why it's all going so wrong…” Air ran out and she had to force herself to breathe. “…plus the troubling revelations about my friendship with Wallflower, and all the work I’m doing to prep for college applications, not to mention trying to work on my plan for coming out to Mom and Dad…it feels like I barely see you anymore other than Fridays and I miss you…so I was really excited for this. I was hoping it might help me with coming out to Mom and Dad sooner.”

Then she hesitated, chewing on her lip. “But then…”

Her girlfriend understood where her thoughts were going. “…but then your cousin showed up, and you're asking yourself if it's fair to expect her to still want to go out today after everything she’s been through with her parents?”

Twilight found herself nodding silently, acknowledging that Sunset had voiced exactly what she had been thinking. Her eyes fell, finding the dark vagueness beyond the older girl’s shoulder to be a fascinating place to focus so that she wasn't looking into bright, knowing, blue-green irises.

“Sparky?” The word was barely more than a whisper, and full of concern.

She couldn't keep the edge from her voice as guilt weighed her down. “…that's not even accounting for whether or not she even wants to associate with me any longer.”

Amber fingers turned her back to face Sunset. “Why do you think that?”

The dark haired girl frowned. “…I…can't help but think…if I hadn't spent years dismissing her as vapid and shallow…if I’d done something other than look for the quickest possible exit to any and all conversations and actively avoiding her…and…maybe tried to be a friend…then this would have come to light sooner. She could have been around my parents and she would have trusted them with this when it started, instead of putting up with it for years and she could have had a chance to reconnect with her sister years ago and—”

“Twilight, stop and breathe for a minute, okay?” Sunset sat completely upright, pulling Twilight with her. A warm hand moved soothingly up and down her back. “You are not to blame for what has happened with your cousin. Could you have done things differently? Sure, but she could have too…and who is to say it would have made much difference in the long run?”

Sunset had a point, something she couldn’t deny from a rational perspective. “I know…but it might have.”

Sighing, the older girl pulled her into her lap so she could enfold Twilight in her arms. “It might have, but you can't know for certain and unless you’ve got a magic spell or a time machine, what's done is done. And I don’t believe Glamour or her girlfriend blame you in any way for anything, because there’s nothing to blame you for.” She nuzzled into Twilight’s hair. “I do agree that we need to ask them if they are still interested in continuing with today’s plans or not, but we need to assess ourselves first. There’s no point in even bringing it to them if we come to the conclusion that we don’t want to go out today or we’re going to be unable to really enjoy our date…so let’s finish talking about that first.”

Twilight was silent as the words tumbled around in her mind. Was she up for this? Did she still want to? Could she handle it and still enjoy herself, despite how stressed and anxious she was already? And was it fair to even be dismissing Glamour’s feelings, even for just a few minutes? Wasn't that selfish?

Yet the more she thought it over, the more she realized Sunset had a valid point. Yes, she felt awful for Glamour and what had been happening to her, for what she and Wildsong had been putting up with for months…but…she still needed to be honest with herself and consider her own feelings too. Twilight’s own school year had been terrible, growing even more so since the start of the semester, and she felt more stressed and anxious now than she ever had, overloaded with responsibilities and fears and the pressure of her project and trying to escape Crystal Prep with her GPA intact…it wasn't fair to expect her to deal with other people’s problems on top of everything in her own life…even if her knee jerk reaction to that thought was shame, shame and guilt over how petulant and childish it sounded.

Her girlfriend must have read something in her body language, because she nuzzled into Twilight’s hair. “It isn't wrong to take time to consider your own needs, Sparky, remember? That’s what you keep telling me.”

It was something she had said to Sunset more than once…and something she suspected her parents had also tried to reinforce to the redheaded girl.

…and it was as true for her as it was for Sunset.

Going back over her own thoughts, she acknowledged her sadness at Glamour’s treatment by her own parents, but set it to the side to consider herself and what was right for Twilight Sparkle.

She wanted time with Sunset to help forget, even if just for a little while, all the awful things going on that were threatening to drag her under. Twilight had been looking forward to this date and day out—she’d carefully planned as much as she could, looked up the town they were going to to get an idea of potential places they could go and made sure to have a map handy on her phone, opened up a brand new SD card for her new phone so they could take all kinds of pictures and store them on there for when they didn't have to hide anymore…she’d even had her date outfit organized and ready to go, along with a secret plan to wear one of the more…enticing and daring sets of underthings Cadence had encouraged her to purchase, just in case things went in the direction she was hoping for. More than that…Twilight realized that she didn't just want the day with Sunset…she needed it, with the same urgency as food or water or even air. Some part of her craved the attention and connection with her fiery maned best friend, knowing instinctively that it would help ground her and soothe frayed and shattered nerves.

Words burst out of her then, as she clung to the girl whose presence enfolded her like a blanket. “Oh…you are going to think I am a terrible and insensitive person, but I really do want to go, Sunny! I’ve been looking forward to this, holding onto this weekend to get me through the worst parts of the week…through the talk with Mom and Dad, through the stress of this project, all of it…I…”

“Hey…” Sunset murmured. “It’s okay. You're not insensitive. It’s been a hard few months, and it's okay to want to do something for yourself.” The taller girl nuzzled into Twilight’s hair, inhaling through her nose. “If I’m honest, I want to be selfish too. I’m exhausted, and tired of being pulled in twenty different directions. I need a break, where all I am doing is something that makes me happy, makes me feel good…something that doesn’t have baggage or a past I can't really forget…and for me, that’s spending time with you. With you, I can just be Sunset, and not constantly second guess if I’m going to remind you of some awful thing I did to you as a bully.”

Her hands rubbed over Twilight’s arms. “I need a day that's just us. Whether that's out on a double date with your cousin, or just the two of us driving to the next town over and forgetting everything for twelve hours while we go to a museum and dinner and maybe a movie or whatever, or drive out to the beach and just enjoy the fresh air and majesty of the sun on endless waves before stargazing on the sand, or maybe one of the million and one ideas I know you can come up with with a location, five minutes, and Google maps…I don't care. I just need time where all I have to worry about is seeing you smile, and whether or not I need to stop and breathe or I can keep kissing you for a bit longer...a day to forget about your school and my friends or our various projects and responsibilities…”

Twilight sighed softly, feeling some of the stress melt off her. “It sounds like we feel very much the same way about the situation then…that we both need a break from everything.” She cuddled deeper into the warmth her girlfriend gave off to chase away the cool air that made goosebumps prickle at her exposed skin. “Maybe it is insensitive, maybe it's not, but…I think if Glamour and Wildsong don't feel up to going out, then I’d like to take your suggestion for the two of us to go do something ourselves.” Trying not to grimace, she added, “Last night was intense, and a little too much on top of everything else and I don't think I can manage a whole day here where it's just…omnipresent…”

“The manticore in the ballroom, you mean? Yeah, I’m not sure I could deal with a whole day of that and not be a bitchy mess by the end of it.” Sunset rested her chin on Twilight’s shoulder. “How about we get up, go take our showers, and go down for breakfast. After we get food in our stomachs, Glamour should be awake, and we can talk to the two of them then? See what they want to do so we know how to plan our day going forward?”

Twisting a little, Twilight pulled her girlfriend in for a brief kiss. “Ten minutes? I want to start our day with a proper good morning…”

“I can agree to that…” Sunset purred, before capturing Twilight’s mouth with her own…

Dawn was underway by the time the two girls had showered and dressed, the first rays of golden sunshine sneaking into the house through east facing windows and warming away the coolness of the early spring morning. They came downstairs and passed the living room where Night was already relaxing, smartly dressed and reading a book. “Good morning, girls,” he greeted. “Your mother and I will be leaving soon for the day, and probably won't be home until late. Cadence said she’ll pop by after work to collect Spike and take him to her place for the evening—that way, you don't have to worry about cutting your own plans short. Just let him out before you leave and make sure you put a fresh pad down for him in the laundry room just in case.”

Sunset canted her head. “You look like you're going to a ball,” she commented, the question in her eyes obvious.

“I wish it was a ball—at least I could talk Velvet into going with me then.” He shook his head. “Every year a few of us get tapped to schmooze the big financial donors for the university, and as you can imagine, I get to be one of the faculty go-to’s when dealing with upper class snobs—apparently my family ties impress them.”

Wrinkling her nose into something like a sneer of disgust, Sunset offered her sympathy. “Ugh. Those kind of ‘parties’ are the worst. Business meetings without a boardroom, all of them, and full of beings who strut around like peacocks showing off how much more important their family is than anypo—anyone else’s.”

Night arched an eyebrow. “I see you have experience.” He didn't question further, but Twilight could see him taking mental notes.

“More than a little. If there's one thing I don't miss living here, it's that.” Sunset gave a full body shudder. “Good luck in the peacock garden, Mr. Night.”

He chuckled. “It feels more like a shark tank, most of the time.”

The redheaded girl shrugged. “That's because you’ve never been pecked by a horde of peacocks,” she countered, before heading for the kitchen. Twilight exchanged a bit of a bewildered look with her father before hurrying after Sunset. Her girlfriend had never been so casual in admitting to her guardian’s upper class status in front of her parents before, and she really wanted to ask what was up with that.

It would have to wait, she determined, as she heard the soft sound of voices in the kitchen as she caught up to her fiery maned paramour. Sunset looped an arm through Twilight’s and pointed through the doorway as half muffled but genuine laughter trickled through it. There she could see her cousin and Wildsong at the table, both looking a bit tired but otherwise happy, with a stack of papers and a manila envelope on the table in front of them. Glamour was pushing her girlfriend’s shoulder, protesting half heartedly, “Tiger! That’s terrible! Just think for a moment how those poor fire ants would feel! That's cruelty to animals!”

Twilight exchanged a look with her girlfriend. The good mood seemed to her to be a positive sign, and it was with that in mind that she let Sunset tug her into the kitchen. “I’m afraid to ask what you are doing to those insects that constitutes cruelty,” Sunset said dryly as the pair at the table looked up at them.

Glamour giggled. “You should be—it was terrible!”

As Sunset slipped away to make herself a cup of coffee, Twilight dropped into a seat across from her cousin. “You sound like you're already having a better day,” she ventured carefully.

“We are,” Wildsong answered with a bright grin. “Thanks to your dad, and this.” She tapped a finger on the paper stack.

Her cousin nodded in agreement. “It's great—Twi, I’m free!” She gestured at the papers. “A courier showed up a few minutes ago with these—Great Uncle Stalwart must have pulled some strings—and I’m free of Daddy’s games!”

Padding back over with a steaming mug of coffee and Twilight’s orange juice, Sunset squinted at the papers. “What is it?”

“Restraining order, copies of papers drawn up against the school—someone had to unlock and let him into our dorm-room, which is a huge no-no, apparently? Your parents volunteered as my emergency contacts when I need someone over twenty-one, as well as a temporary mailing address for important papers from…well…everywhere…until I either get done with school or get a PO box. A completely new bank account from the bank, with all my spending money transferred into it, along with extra in case I need it for school, and all the cards and a checkbook for it…and also the paperwork for an apartment in a building owned by a friend of Stalwart’s that he offered to pay for while we’re in school to keep Mom and Daddy from trying to surprise us again…if we want to do that. The building has security, and according to his note, if we take the offer, my parents' names and photos will be on the ‘No Entry’ list.” Glamour looked like she was about to cry. “I…I’m a little overwhelmed,” she added quietly as Wildsong hugged her around the shoulders.

Twilight could understand that. “It is a lot to take in…it explains why Dad was on the phone so long last night…but I’m glad that they could help.” She hesitated, then asked quietly, “…did you want to cancel our plans for the weekend?”

Sunset added, “We understand if you do—like you said, this is a lot to have to deal with all at once, and it wouldn't be fair to ignore how you feel and expect you to just go ahead with the original plan.”

Wiping away the tears that had gathered at the corner of her eyes, Glamour managed a real smile. “You’re both super sweet and considerate…and it means a lot that you're worried about me.” She leaned into Wildsong’s hug, even as she reached across the table to squeeze both Sunset and Twilight’s hands.

“We’re still planning on having our ‘day out,’” Wildsong confirmed, her free hand making air quotes at the end of the sentence and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively as if to imply something much more scandalous than just a date day. “I refuse to let something little like this ruin the weekend for any of us!”

Glamour Shot bit her lip to stifle her laugh and failed. Then she recovered enough to address Twilight more directly. “We want to do it for two reasons, really. One…” she lowered her voice a little as she glanced down the hall, “I know how much you two were looking forward to this after we talked last week, Twi…and I know you’ve had a pretty lousy month too, even if it is for different reasons. You two deserve a day out and away from all that stress.”

At Twilight’s side, Sunset made a noise of agreement. “We were going to take the day for ourselves either way,” she admitted. “We talked about it when we woke up…but we didn't want to push you into feeling like you had to cater to us.”

The two young women smiled with what Twilight thought was gratitude, before Glamour turned serious. “And that's the second reason, really. This is the first day of freedom in my whole life—in a way, it's the first day of the rest of my life! Maybe that’s corny but…I feel…liberated. Mom and Daddy can't use me as a dress up doll anymore, and I can make my own future that I want, and I have people who will support my choices about what I want, even if it's not the biggest moneymaker.” She let go of their hands to wipe her eyes again. “I’m free, really free, and I want to celebrate, to do things that make me feel happy and good, and not dwell on just how much my parents have taken from me…And that means I want to spend the day with the woman I love and get to know my favorite cousin better! I can be sad and hurt and upset about what my parents did later, like…when I talk to a therapist.”

“Which we’re gonna do,” Wildsong interjected. “Therapy, I mean. Not just for Glamour, but both of us together, as a couple. Your mom recommended it, actually.”

Twilight nodded. “I’ve seen a therapist since I was little and I know Mom and Dad have had therapy from time to time with traumatic life experiences. The value of good mental health professionals and the tools they provide you with cannot be overstated. It really does help provide an unbiased understanding of what is going on in your head and why.”

Wildsong nudged her partner pointedly, and Glamour stuck her tongue out at her childishly. “Yes, Tiger, you made your point, you can stop beating the dead horse now. Before you accidentally turn it into one of those creepy zombies from that show you like.”

“Please,” Sunset added dryly. “I happen to have a personal attachment to equines, and I’d rather not deal with one that spontaneously reanimates to file a complaint with the manager.”

There was a brief breath of silence as the other three stared at the redhead before they lost in, breaking down into laughter that Twilight thought might have carried with it a touch of hysteria—a release of some of their stress and trauma with the ridiculous visual Sunset had provided. At the very least, she felt a touch better once she had managed to regain enough control that she didn't worry she was going to shoot orange juice out her nostrils. Sunset, for her part, just smirked at their reactions—she knew very well what she had done and radiated all the smugness of a satisfied cat.

Shaking her head, Wildsong chuckled, “Okay, kid, that was a good one. Now I’m just picturing a horse with a bob haircut dyed a hideous shade wearing yoga pants that are one size too small and more make-up than a streetwalker shrieking in a loud voice about how she wants me fired from a place I don't work from. Thanks for that—that’s gonna live rent free in my head until the end of time, right next to a few catchy theme songs and childhood trauma.” She ran a hand through Glamour’s hair, addressing her girlfriend playfully. “Still…babe, you won't let me indulge in venting what I’d love to say about and to your old man. I gotta let the feelings out somehow—y’know, the whole ‘repression is bad’ and all that. It's also not considered arson.”

Sunset didn't miss a beat. “I’m not sure setting a person on fire is counted as arson,” she countered. “Also, people on fire tend to scream a lot.”

Twilight arched one brow. “I’m going to avoid inquiring too deeply into that and just go with continuing to advocate for therapy as the healthiest option, while ensuring that going out is something you're certain you want to do for yourselves and not because of Sunset and me?”

Her cousin ignored the way Wildsong and Sunset were cackling over their bad jokes. “I’m sure, Twi. Song and I talked about it this morning too. I don't want him to ruin this too, for any of us. We’re going to go out, we’re going to have fun, and we’re going to spend the day free from the shackles other people have put on both of us.” She beamed at Twilight, happier and more relaxed than the dark haired girl had ever seen. “I haven't been able to just be me in so long…”

The words struck a core in Twilight, and she found herself agreeing, aching for the freedom Glamour was describing, and her own chance to throw off the chains her own anxieties and other people’s expectations had bound her with.

First off, Happy New Year to you all! I hope the holidays--if you celebrated them--were kind and wonderful for all of you lovely readers, old and new! Ours were actually pretty relaxing here, and I'm glad I took the month to just vegetate and hang out. I even managed to write about five chapters too! Go me!

Now, onto the meaty bits you're probably wanting me to ramble on.

We're at the beginning of the Double Date now, and we start off with a melancholy but fluffy chapter that I really had fun writing, especially with a tiiiiiiiiiiiiny reveal in it that I've been holding onto since this story started.

For those unaware, the truth is, the "lullaby" from Sunset's memories, that she can remember Celestia humming to her when she was little--the same one that PRINCIPAL Celestia makes reference to in the Interlude: Eclipse, was always meant to be "Lullaby for a Princess." (Took a little bit of poetic license with Sunset trying to translate the lyrics from a language she only partially knows, because translating is never quite 1:1, she was mostly a foal when she heard them, and she doesn't remember them perfectly.)

Though...there's a twist to it. See....unbeknown to Sunset, there were two versions of the song. The first, what Celestia hummed to her, was the one Celestia's mother sang to her when she was little. Its an actual lullaby for foals from the particular splinter group of ponies that her family was part of during the Discordian and Windigo Eras. However, the only lyrics Sunset ever heard were never meant to be overheard...composed by Celestia as part of her dealing with her grief and guilt over her sister's fall to the Nightmare. Celestia sang them, as Sunset notes, on important days--Luna's birthday, Luna's holidays, that sort of thing--and only when she thought she was alone.

Sunset was a sneaky little shit.

But yes. Its been "Lullaby for a Princess" all along. Every time Sunset has hummed or sung "Celestia's Lullaby," in the story, that's the track that's been playing. (If you've never heard of it, you can just search it on youtube or google. Has a pretty animation and everything.)

Figured I'd blow a few minds as a good way to start the year. :P

We have Twilight here finally calling out the truth: Whether it was official or not, Celestia was Sunset's mom, and Sunset is going through something very difficult with that--its hard to let go of parents, even if they are neglectful or abusive or just absent. Saying the things out loud....thats one of those steps in healing, because it forces you to acknowledge it.

And she's right, Sunset's not ready to let go of that part yet...but she can embrace what she has now too.

Now if only this stubborn horse will listen.

In turn, we have the girls dealing with a lot, a lot more than even most teens have to deal with, and they are trying to balance empathy/compassion for others with their own needs and desires. Which can suck.

Luckily, Glamour and Wildsong still want to go out.

Lessee....Sunset joking with Night Light about upper class snobbery, that was fun. You cant tell me that Sunset didn't at some point get pecked by the peacocks in Celestia's fancy garden. She was a mischievous little shit, and she had Philomena egging her on.

And of course, the Zombie Horse-Karen joke.

I couldn't resist. Having had a few encounters of my own with Karens--like the lady years ago who interjected in a walmart line about how her tax dollars paid for my kids to go to school and I needed to stop complaining about buying school supplies. (Ironically, I was like 19, had no kids, a full time job, and II was with my mother, a 1st grade teacher at the time, who was expected to pay out of pocket to provide extra school supplies in her classroom to supplement for those children whose parents Couldnt AFFORD school supplies.) That was a hilarious '...Lady, I dont have or want kids, I despise the little hellions, and people like you are why, so butt the fuck out and mind your business,' moment.

Anywho, its good to be back, and I'll see you all in the comments! :}