There was no way to keep from moaning in pleasure as the hot water cascaded down her body. She would never take a hot shower for advantage again after the week she had. Sunset jumped a little when she heard the door to the bathroom opening, a shadow against the thick white curtain of the shower moving around a little.
”I put you some clothes that should fit good enough for now, Sunset.” Celestia called through the curtain. “I have water heating for oatmeal, I hope that’s good enough for now.”
“Anything would be great!” Sunset said, hugging herself a little, just enjoying the sensation of the water trailing down her body and washing away a weeks worth of dirt that she couldn’t get off in a bathroom sink.
“That’s good, hurry up and finish and we can have a bite of breakfast. Later today I’ll take you to the mall and get you some clothes of your own.” Celestia said, “Too bad your stuff didn’t have clothes in it from the apartment.”
“There is some stuff I’m really glad that you got. I regretted leaving it when I did; they’re a few keepsakes from…there.” Sunset sighed, not able to call it home really. While she wasn’t really sure about her housing, she did feel that this world was her home despite the lack of magic. Though she was feeling a little alienated from even this world now over the last week, but she knew she was the one to blame for it.
“Well, I’ll meet you in the kitchen, and I’ll see about getting your clothes cleaned later.” Celestia responded before leaving the bathroom to let Sunset finish washing up. Not that she really needed to, she finished washing up about five minutes ago…including scrubbing her hair three times. She was just enjoying the hot water after so long.
Sighing, almost wishing she could stand there forever, the promise of food was a good motivator. Turning the water off, Sunset dried off and stepped from the shower. The panties and sweats fit good enough after tying the sweats off, but the tee was a little long. She couldn’t get the bra on though which annoyed her, yet made her feel a little pride at that.
‘Don’t go gloating that you have a bigger bust that your mentor…don’t need to fall back on old habits.’ That annoying voice whispered in her mind, starting too annoy Sunset. She pushed the thought that it was something other than her out of her mind though, knowing that after everything that she had been though she would possibly be having trouble. Who knows, with the way it sounded it could be her conscience or a little angel sitting on her shoulder.
Ignoring the voice, she looked in the mirror, wrapping her still damp hair up in a towel. She looked a little better than she knew she looked a day earlier. She had seen her dishelved appearance in the mirror in the park’s restroom. Still, she wasn’t as good as she was before the whole incident at the Fall Formal, but she was looking a little better at least.
Tearing her gaze from the mirror, she finished getting ready for the day…even if it was a little early yet. She was hungry though and was looking forward to eating some good food. Opening the bathroom door she was assaulted by the smell of cooking breakfast sausage, and not the expected oatmeal. Walking down the short hallway she came across the small kitchenette directly off the living room where Celestia was standing at an island frying what looked like sausage and pancakes.
“Have a seat, Sunset. I already made you some oatmeal and hot cocoa, but I forgot I had the sausage in the freezer and some pancake mix left up in the cabinet.” Celestia said, waving to the food at the opposite side of the island where Sunset cautiously pulled up a stool and sat. “You can eat what ever you want, I’m not really hungry myself. I usually don’t get much breakfast since I wake up late normally.”
“You wake up late?” Sunset asked, taking the spoon next to the steaming bowl and mixed the thick concoction. It did smell good, real maple syrup and brown sugar mixed into it, unlike the instant stuff.
She had a hard time imagining this woman waking up late since she was the double of Princess Celestia, a pony who’s very job description was being up at the crack of dawn to raise the sun. Hearing that this woman did no such thing was a little surprising, but Sunset found herself thankful for that as it made the differences that much more obvious between the two Celestias.
“Yeah, I tend to stay up late a lot of nights talking to my sister when she comes over, or reading before bed. It’s so easy to get lost in a good book, you know?” Celestia giggled, adding more pancakes to the already growing pile as Sunset tasted the oatmeal…another spoonful quickly following.
“Yeah, a good book can be hard to put down at times.” Sunset sighed.
“Here, eat up. Sorry all I have is butter and syrup. No fruits or whipped cream.” Celestia said, smiling as she put the new plates loaded with food next to Sunset. The older woman took a mug with a pun in it and poured some steaming water into it, stirring it before taking a seat near the teen.
“After this week…I wouldn’t care if they were just plain pancakes.” Sunset said softly, but continued to put the food away at an incredible pace.
“You don’t have to eat so fast, dear. The food isn’t going anywhere.” Celestia sighed sadly, taking a sip of her drink. The smell coming from the mug letting Sunset know it must have been coffee.
“S-Sorry. Just…well, I’m kind of really hungry…you know?” Sunset said, blushing in embarrassment.
“Don’t worry about it, I just don’t want you getting sick.” Celestia said as she picked up a briefcase that was leaning against the counter as Sunset got close to finishing all the food on her plates. She nervously opened it, pulling out a manila folder that she sat down near Sunset. “Sunset, have you ever thought about what to do after you graduate from school?”
“Not really.” Sunset sighed, wiping her mouth off with a napkin as she couldn’t help feeling a little dread. She didn’t want another Celestia who cared more about her being a student than a person…than…anything else…
“Well, I admit I kind of pushed things when you…lied about your parents traveling. I made sure that you got registered at the school…but that was something that could be done kind of easily. There’s other things that can’t be done so simply, including getting real identification, birth certificate and a guardian who can vouch for you.” Celestia said, sliding the folder closer to Sunset. “These papers will give you all of that if you sign them. Don’t worry, I won’t try and become your mother or force you to do anything. You need this though if you actually plan to survive past school.”
“So…you want to what? Adopt me in name only?” Sunset asked, opening the folder and seeing the adoption paperwork held inside. She couldn’t help feeling a little hurt at that, not that she even expected this much. A part of her actually wanted to be adopted, especially by Celestia…this Celestia…but it seemed that this woman was going to be just another alicorn who cared less for her and more for her being a model student. “You don’t want me?”
“Sunset…I…I’m not going to lie to you.” Celestia sighed softly, averting her gaze…almost afraid to meet Sunset’s eyes. “I…don’t want to push you away, but honestly…I’d be proud to adopt you as a daughter. I’d give anything to have a daughter like you. I know that you have been on your own and probably don’t want me to…”
Any more of what Celestia was going to say was cut off as Sunset tackled her, actually knocking the two to the ground as Sunset cried. Slowly Celestia wrapped her arms around the girl, soothing her as the teen sobbed into the older woman’s rumpled shirt.
“I’d give anything to have a mother…especially one like you. The thing I always wanted most was a family…a mother…” Sunset sobbed as Celestia stroked her hair, staying on her back as Sunset lay on top of her.
“Then I’d love to adopt you Sunset, but we do have a small problem.” Celestia said softly, afraid of what the girl’s reaction was going to be. Sunset sat up, wincing when she saw Celestia stiffly sit up as well to meet the girl’s eyes.
“Wh-what is it?” Sunset asked softly.
“My contact that set this up for us…kind of messed up your name and we really can’t get it fixed that easily. Your name will be Sunrise Shimmer from now on if…if you do this.” Celestia explained softly, fearing the girl’s inevitable explosion of anger. She was shocked when Sunset instead smiled softly.
“Sunrise…like the start of a new day, I’d be able to start a new life. A real second chance?” Sunset asked softly, looking hopefully at Celestia. “Are you sure you want to do this though? I’ve done so much, hurt so many people. I’m not sure I even deserve this…I probably don’t deserve this.”
“You do deserve this, and so much more good.” Celestia whispered as she leaned over to hug Sunset tightly, kissing the top of her head.
“Does this mean I get to call you mom?” Sunset nervously asked, making it sound as if she was joking.
“Only if you want to.” Celestia replied, smiling at the question, smile increasing a thousand fold at the next words the girl spoke.
“I’d like that, mom.” Sunset whispered. No, Sunrise whispered as she couldn’t help feeling better than she could ever remember.
‘You deserve to be happy.’ The voice in her head whispered, only to go ignored as Sunrise basked in the loving embrace of her soon to be adopted mother. Sure it was moving kind of fast, but it was something Sunrise had always dreamed of and even if she was scared that it wouldn’t work out…she felt as if she needed to give it her best shot at making it work.
Celestia was also a little worried to about alienating the girl as she had always wanted a daughter, and she didn’t lie. She really would be proud if her daughter had lived and grown up to be who Celestia was sure her newly adopted daughter truly was deep in her heart.
After the two separated again, the newly named Sunrise looked over the papers again, eager to get them signed. She was happy to notice that Celestia was also acting just as eager to have it done as well. She had to admit that she was a little hesitant signing away her old name, something that truly belonged to her since her birth…but what was a name compared to having her heart’s desire?
“And that should be it, I’ll drop you off at the mall later today and let you do some shopping while I drop these off with my friend quickly for filing. I’ll make sure to be back by lunch so we can eat together…if that’s okay?” Celestia said as she double checked the papers to make sure nothing was out of place. She didn’t want anything coming back because an ‘i’ wasn’t dotted or anything.
“I don’t have any money really.” Sunrise said slowly.
“Well, I’ll be giving you some and I’ll also be giving you an allowance. We can talk about all that later though.” Celestia said through a yawn as she stretched, “I would like if you didn’t worry about a job right now. I want you to concentrate on your studies, friends…and our relationship…not on worrying about working.”
“You don’t have to.” Sunrise said softly, shifting in place nervously as Celestia slipped the folder back into her briefcase. She didn’t want to freeload off the woman really, no mater if the woman was becoming her mother.
“I want to, it’s what mothers do for their children.” Celestia said softly, not really wanting to admit just yet that she wasn’t exactly without money and resources. She was actually very wealthy since she came from a family that could actually be traced back to royalty, though that was before their family left the country after they switched to a different governmental style. That was some thousand years ago, and even if it couldn’t be verified a hundred percent, their family had always been wealthy.
Both Luna and herself had inherited insanely large sums of money, and that was while their older sister and family were still living. They would only inherit a lot more when their parents died as it would be split three ways between the sisters. The larger companies would be run by their eldest sister, but Luna and Celestia herself still had a lot of interest in the companies.
Celestia was the principal at the school because she was trying to fill the void in her life. She couldn’t have children so she took a job that may not have paid what she could earn going to work for one of the family’s companies, but it allowed her to be around children which she loved dearly. She took her job seriously, even if it was little more than a hobby for her, to help encourage and nurture the students that came through her school’s halls. She felt proud of every single one of them when they graduated and went on to do great things.
She did need to call her lawyer first thing Monday though and set up a will just in case something happens to her. She intended to leave everything she had to Sunrise, her new daughter. Sure she may have been acting a little rashly, but after losing her daughter all those years ago, she learned never to wait…never to take things for granted. Nothing in guaranteed in life, especially another day.