It was getting late, but I still managed to get Cadence alone by volunteering to clean the mugs from the after dinner sit down. I had to talk to her privately.
“So,” I began, no humor in my voice as I dried a plate. “How exactly did you find out I was a pony?”
She glanced sidelong at me. “Besides the events of the Games and the ears from videos I found since?” She shrugged. “I’ve been friends with Luna for years and Celestia is my adoptive aunt. I talked to her about Twilight’s transfer before anything else. She gave me the basic rundown, including what you told her about yourself you felt relevant for school records.”
I nodded. I had a feeling it had been something like that. Outside of my friends, the only other people that I knew that had known - before tonight, that is - had been the Principal and Vice Principal.
Twilight’s parents had been amazingly open-minded about their daughter dating a Unicorn and visiting a world where ponies were the dominant species. I had copied the hard copy photos we had taken at the Yule Ball onto my phone so I could show the girls next time we got together as well as pictures of myself and my sisters. I shared them with Twilight's parents, and they had found her pony form adorable, the two of us getting a little misty-eyed from the relief and approval. Velvet had even mentioned not so subtly that Senior Prom was just around the corner.
“Just so I know, and so Twilight won’t freak out again,” I said, facing her directly. “Is there anything else you know that we think you don’t?”
“I know that the two of you are a lot closer than most couples would be at this point in your relationship," she said, her smile reminding me of her counterpart's special talent and how she started off as a guidance counselour. "I also have a guess of what’s not in that box you brought with you.”
“That’s a big world, Cadence,” I said flatly. “You should have seen her while we were gone. We knew this day was coming and she worked herself up over nothing. I was terrified about how tonight would go.” I folded and put the towel I had been drying dishes with down, posting my hands on my hips but I softened my look. “I’m just looking out for her. I care about her and I don't want her to have another freak-out over something she thinks that they don't know. She loves them and is afraid of letting them down.”
“I know, Sunny,” she said, opening the drain to let the water out. “Which is why when she came to me about introducing you to them I suggested the dinner but didn’t tell her.” She brushes some stray hair from her face. “If you weren’t ready, then you wouldn’t tell. I know that I betrayed some of your trust by telling them information that was really yours to admit, but they wanted to know why I was recommending the transfer. Considering what Crystal Prep cost and how hard it was to contain the events of the Games, they had a right to know and I had an obligation to explain it to them. I hope you can forgive me.”
I mulled that information over in my head. It made sense, to a point. “True. But still,” I said, seriously. “You could have at least, I don’t know, told me, seeing as how it involves a decision that was mine to make.”
Cadence put her hand over her heart. “Promise, I’m in the dark now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Somehow, I doubt that.”
I walked upstairs to Twilight's room. Spike had been up here most of the night, hiding from the cold in the thick blankets that were folded across the bed. I found Twilight sitting on the edge of the bed, working her hair up in a braid quickly. She turned when I came in and sighed. Once she tied off her braid, she put her hands on her knees.
“Two weeks!” she said. “Two weeks we worried about this and they’ve known the entire time I had been at CHS!”
I patted the air, sensing that it was my turn to play the placater. “It was a needed thing, your parents wouldn’t have ok’d the transfer if Cadence hadn’t told them the whole truth. She was obligated by her position as the Dean of Students.”
“But it wasn’t her story to tell!” She was upset, but something was off. “She should have at least checked with you first.”
I frowned. “When you were transferred, it was too soon after the Games, she may not have wanted to remind you of what happened.” I rubbed my elbow. “I wouldn’t have wanted a reminder of it so soon after the Fall Formal,” I said, a haunted sound to my voice.
Twilight looked down a slight look of realization cast on her face when she realized what I was thinking about. “Sorry,” she said. “I’m just…”
“You’re upset that you worked yourself up over something that turned out to be a nothing,” I said, walking over and pulling her into a hug, insight grabbing me. “And you’re upset at Cadence for ‘outing’ me without my permission.”
She hugged me back. “Yeah,” she admitted.
“Well, this is how I see it,” I said, stroking her hair. “They don’t have a problem with it, they even asked the one question you knew they were going to ask, and they already are starting to talk to us about Prom.”
She pulled away, visibly less upset. “What are you getting at?”
“Maybe most of this fear we’ve been facing we made ourselves,” I traced a finger along her chin, tilting it up slightly so she looked in my eyes. “I love you, Twilight Sparkle,” I reminded her. “The fact that your family approves of me should be a bonus, not a requirement.”
She giggled. “You’re right,” she said, sliding her arms up around my neck. “You’re pretty smart sometimes, you know,” she breathed, leaning in.
I kissed her. “Bedtime, Sunshine,” I said.
“But it’s early,” she said.
“It’s almost two,” I countered.
“Maybe I want to spend some time with my marefriend without family around where it’s warm,” she said, tilting her head up again.
Laughing, I admitted defeat. “Let me change and I'll join you under the blankets,” I said, grabbing the overnight bag I had brought. Ten minutes later, warm flannel pajamas on and my teeth brushed, I slid under the comforter with the woman I loved. I slid an arm across her waist as she snuggled spoonwise into me.
“I love you, Sunny,” she said as she traced a finger along my arm before grabbing my hand and raising it up to kiss the inside of my wrist. “And someday, not right now, I want to reopen that conversation we had at the house in Canterlot.”
The splinter in my mind’s eye itched, reminding me that my mother’s wedding ring sat in a drawer at my loft. I had almost brought it with me, but it just didn’t seem right, for a reason I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
But the gift wrapped in a small box and green wrapping paper downstairs felt right.
“I love you too, Sunshine,” I murmured into her ear.