//------------------------------// // 4: Care // Story: Fractured SOULS, Broken Hearts // by TGMoonrose //------------------------------// Date: 11/2/2022 Time: 0700 Location: Sparkle Family House, Sun Side, Canterlot, Equestria. ~Twilight Velvet’s POV~ “Twilight!” Twilight Velvet called out, looking for her daughter, “Where are you?” When Velvet had awoke, she had gone to wake her daughter so she wouldn’t sleep in too long. When she had reached her daughter’s room, however, her daughter was nowhere to be found. She had checked the entire house, including the kitchen, the family library, and even Shining Armor’s room, but to no avail. The only room left unchecked was the guest room, but Twilight Velvet didn’t want to disturb Emerald, since the poor filly had already been through a lot in the past day. However, she didn’t have much of a choice, so she gently opened the door with her magic. Upon opening the door, Velvet crept into the room so as not to disturb Emerald. What she saw when she walked in, though, surprised her. There, cuddled up to Emerald, was Twilight Sparkle. A ball of mage light floated above them, and a magic field surrounded the area around the two, emitting a soothing aura. Twilight Velvet smiled to herself, guessing what had happened overnight, and then left, closing the door behind her. Time: 0800 ~Emerald Breeze’s POV~ As Emerald Breeze woke up, she felt a warm body snuggled up to her. Looking down, she saw a lavender-furred filly with a bluish-purple mane that had two stripes, one purple, the other pink, to the left of her horn. The filly’s eyes were closed, but she had a smile on her face. Emerald began wondering what happened, before remembering the events of the night, and smiled. ‘Twilight Sparkle, huh?’ Emerald thought, ‘She seems nice. Maybe we could be... friends?’ As Emerald continued to stew in her thoughts, she felt a bit of movement from the filly curled up to her, who opened her purple eyes and looked up at Emerald. “How are you doing, Emerald?” Twilight asked, nuzzling Emerald’s chest, “Are you feeling better now?” “Yeah, I am.” Emerald replied, nuzzling the top of Twilight’s head, “Thanks for last night. It really helped.” “You’re welcome!” Twilight exclaimed, “You were in my house, and you were in distress, so I wanted to help you.” “Well, I think you succeeded!” Emerald responded, a smile on her face, “Anyways, though, I think we should get up and get ready for school.” “You’re right,” Twilight stated, before snuggling closer to Emerald, “But I’m really comfortable right here.” “I know,” Emerald replied, “But I’d rather not get on the bad side of my teacher.” “Fine.” Twilight pouted, before lighting her horn and dispelling the calming spell. The two got out of the bed, and then went to the kitchen, where they saw Twilight Velvet sitting there. “Hey, you two.” She inquired, “How did you sleep?” “Good!” Emerald and Twilight replied at the same time. “I should hope so,” Velvet stated, “After all, it’s not very often that Twilight shows that kind of affection to others outside of the family.” “What do you mean?” Emerald questioned. “Twilight doesn’t have many friends,” Mrs. Sparkle responded, “She’s devoted herself to her studies most of the time. And what few friends she has, she doesn’t show that kind of affection to. She not only cuddled with you, something she doesn’t do that much, but she even used her magic to create a calming spell.” “Oh.” Emerald murmured, dumbfounded, “Why did you do that, Twilight?” “Because,” Twilight replied, “When you arrived here with Dad, I could see the pain, the hate, in your eyes. However, the hate wasn’t directed at anyone, other than yourself.” “I could tell you had been through a lot,” Twilight continued, nuzzling Emerald, “So I wanted to help you through the pain.” “I...” Emerald trailed off, her eyes darkening, “I don’t deserve this. I did something terrible. I don’t deserve to be happy.” “But you do!” Twilight exclaimed, “If you feel bad for what happened, then you’re not a terrible pony!” “She’s right.” Velvet interjected, “I don’t know all the details of what happened, only bits and pieces of what Night Light told me, but I know you’re not irredeemable. You didn’t mean for what happened to happen, but you still take the blame. That shows that you want to be Just, but at the same time, are Kind enough to not blame others.” “However,” Mrs. Sparkle continued, “If you didn’t want to do what you did, then you are not to blame. The only pony that seems to be worthy of blame is whoever injured Shadow Facade to the point they did. If you continue to blame yourself for that, you will just be lead down a path of self-destruction until nothing is left of you.” “Please, Emerald,” Twilight begged, tears in her eyes, “Just let us help you. We want you here. We care for you. I care for you. Please, I don’t want you to be hurting like you are. I want you to be happy.” “I...” Emerald replied, “I guess I’ll try. It’s going to be difficult, though.” “I understand that.” Twilight stated, “But I’ll be here for you the entire time. I’ll help you with this, no matter what.” “Thanks.” Emerald replied, nuzzling Twilight back, “Is... Is it alright if I call you Sis? It’s fine if it’s not, you just seem like you care for me like a sister.” “Yeah, that’s completely fine!” Twilight responded, “I’ve always wanted a sister, so we can be sisters!” “I’m glad!” Emerald stated, before Twilight Velvet cut in. “Now that that’s settled, I have a couple things to tell you two.” She stated, “First, Celestia herself has granted you two a break from the School of Gifted Unicorns for the day, due to the extenuating circumstances of Emerald’s situation. Second, Twilight’s (admittedly small) group of friends wants to meet Emerald.” “I’m fine with meeting Twilight’s friends.” Emerald replied, “Just... not today. I still have a lot of emotions to work through. That’s fine, right?” “It’s fine, sis!” Twilight responded, “I’d rather you to have stable emotions when meeting them, so just take the day, deal with your emotions, and you can meet my friends tomorrow, alright?” “Okay.” Emerald answered, before heading back to the guest room, where she opened her journal and began to write.