"I heard the front door open and close, but I didn't hear Indigo..." Twinkle said as she entered the kitchen, then gasped as she saw and heard her daughter sob into her husband's chest. "What happened?" She asked, only for Azure to shrug his shoulders.
Twinkle walked over to the two, and slowly ran her fingers through Indigo's hair. If her daughter felt it, she gave no indication. The three of them stayed in place until Indigo finally had no more tears left in her. She sighed, then pressed her head against Azure's shoulder.
"I really needed that." Indigo said calmly. "Like you have no idea." She said, looking up at her parents.
"Well, that's true. We don't have any idea. What happened?" Said Twinkle, concerned.
Indigo reluctantly broke the hug with Azure, then sighed heavily. "Well, the day started out normally enough, but then..."
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"...And then everything after that was pretty much a blur until I got home." Indigo said, sighing again and shuddering from the memories of seeing Sunny Flare in that state.
"Oh, sweetie." Twinkle said, coming over to her and giving her a hug. "That does sound rough."
Indigo gratefully returned the hug. "It was. I can't remember the last time something freaked me out that bad." She made a sputtering noise. "Seriously, I feel like I'm going to lose it if I have a nightmare about this." She broke the hug. "I need something to take my mind off of the whole thing."
"Do you think head trauma is a viable option?" Said Azure.
Indigo snickered. "I might just take you up on that, but please be gentle."
Twinkle smiled and rolled her eyes. "How about we go with a more...non-violent approach?"
"Aww!" Indigo said in mock disappointment. "But violence is fun!" She paused for a moment. "Sometimes."
"Don't worry." Twinkle said with a giggle. "We'll save the head trauma for when you go to bed."
"Yay!" Indigo shouted, jumped up and clapped her hands, then burst into a fit of laughter. "God, I love family banter." She sighed contentedly. "I feel so much better now."
"Glad to hear it, Zappo." Said Azure, then slapped his daughter on the back. "So what do you say? You up for some dinner?"
Indigo grinned. "You know it!"
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After dinner, Indigo, Twinkle and Azure all sat around in the living room. Twinkle was reading a book, Indigo was staring at the ceiling, and Azure was simply relaxing with his eyes closed. Twinkle spoke, breaking the silence.
"You seem to stare up at the ceiling a lot, Indigo." Twinkle said.
"Yeah, I do." Replied Indigo. There seems to be a lot of dust up there.
"You're welcome to clean it if you want." Azure said with a grin.
Indigo snickered. "No thanks, I'm good. I was just saying."
"Well, someone's gonna have to do it eventually." Twinkle said.
Indigo sighed. "Okay, fine. I'll do it. If I'm going to stare at it, I might as well make it pretty."
"That's the spirit!" Said Azure. "You know where the duster and the ladder are, right?"
Indigo rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course I do! I've only been living here my entire life." She went to the house's cleaning closet and grabbed the duster, then went over to the garage, where the ladder was stored. "All right." Indigo said as she entered the living room. "Can one of you keep this ladder stable so I don't end up in the hospital?" Twinkle put her book down on her chair, then held the ladder as Indigo climbed it. "Thanks, mom."
Twinkle smiled. "You're welcome, hon. Oh!" She exclaimed. "I can't believe we almost forgot! You'll need the vacuum for when the dust gets on the floor."
"Right, right." Indigo said as she dusted the ceiling. "Watch out, incoming debris!"
"Acknowledged." Said Twinkle. She kept her mouth closed to avoid inhaling the dust that didn't get caught by the duster as it fell to the floor.
Azure opened his eyes and watched his wife and daughter with mild interest. "You ladies having fun over there?" He asked.
"Having the time of our lives." Indigo said sarcastically.
"Say, why don't you vacuum up the dust on the floor?" Twinkle said. "That way all three of us contributed."
Azure shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She said as he got off of the chair he was resting in. "Might as well make myself useful. I can't let you two fine ladies do all the work, after all." He said with a wink before walking off in search of the vacuum. Twinkle giggled and blushed.
"Mom!" Indigo said, snapping Twinkle back to the task at hand.
"Sorry, Indigo!" Twinkle said. "All these years, and that wink still makes my heart flutter."
"I get it, yay love." Indigo said flatly. "Please keep this ladder sturdy, you're making me nervous up here!" Twinkle tightened her grip on the ladder, and Indigo heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
Azure returned with the vacuum. "So, did I miss anything?"
"Only a near-death experience, dad." Indigo said as she finished dusting the ceiling. She quickly got off of the ladder, then kissed a part of the floor she knew that had no dust on it. "Glorious, glorious ground!" She said in an over-the-top fashion.
Azure blinked and looked at Twinkle. "Your trademark wink distracted me momentarily." She explained.
"Ah, yes." Azure said with a smile. "The Wink. You'll have to forgive me. I haven't used it in so long, I forgot the power it holds over you." He said, winking again. Twinkle nearly swooned, but held herself in place.
"Hello?" Indigo chimed in. "Teenage daughter here!" She sighed. "Seriously, foreplay when I'm not around!" Indigo's eyes widened suddenly as she realized what she just said. "Oh, god, eeewww!" She nearly yelled as she put her head in her hands. She walked up to her father before he turned on the vacuum. "I think I'd like that head trauma right about now."
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The rest of the evening had been uneventful for Indigo, but now she couldn't get images of her parents out of her head. I almost prefer seeing Sunny Flare unconscious over the images in my head right now. She thought as she headed up the stairs for the night. She changed into her pajamas and sighed. "Ahhh. Comfy." She crawled into bed and turned off the light on her nightstand, then slowly fell asleep.