Wednesday, December 16
Unlike the last week, Sunset actually woke up peacefully snuggled up close to Velvet who was still sleeping soundly with her arm around the younger girl. Sunset couldn't bring herself to pull away from the warmth being given by the woman as she basked in the caring gesture even if the old woman didn't mean it. She was obviously asleep and not consciously hugging Sunset, yet the woman had been spending so much time with her.
That was something that made Sunset feel guilty as she knew the woman was sacrificing time with her husband to watch and make sure the teen didn't try killing herself again. Something that Sunset really didn't plan on doing, especially after seeing the results of the last attempt. Sure she was told she was lucky and the damage was nowhere near as bad as they first feared, but there was still damage that was going to take time to heal. Time where she would need help with a lot of things which she would have to burden others with, which was something she really didn't want to do. Especially since she was nothing to them but an extra body for the holidays.
Yet she was sure that Velvet was going to call her daughter at the mall, which confused her. Throwing around money if you had a lot was one thing, but all of Velvet's actions showed that just maybe Sunset meant something to the woman. Did she dare to hope for that though? Hope for something that she had once dreamed of, only to have her heart shattered by one pony who showed her the same care yet turned her away so easily?
“Your awake?” Velvet asked softly, sitting up in the bed and stretching a little.
“I didn't mean to wake you up.” Sunset sighed as she averted her eyes from the woman so Velvet wouldn't see the pain and loneliness that was likely showing.
“You didn't dear, but let's go get cleaned up and I'll make some breakfast. You can help again if you want.” Velvet said in encouragement even though Sunset couldn't help rolling her eyes. What did she do to help before? Taste the sauce? Sit around and talk? “I enjoyed your company so much while cooking yesterday. Nobody else here likes taking the time to help cook a good meal.”
“I'll help whenever you want.” Sunset said, giving the woman a hopeful smile. She knew that she wouldn't be around to help for long though.
“That's sweet dear.” Velvet said kissing Sunset's forehead as she climbed out of the bed.
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The morning had went well, seeing both Night Light and Twilight off leaving Sunset to lounge around on the couch while Velvet curled up on the love seat watching some show or another. It was strange that even though they weren't talking at the moment as they watched the show, or at least while Velvet did, Sunset felt...cared for. It was kind of a strange feeling to her, though not bad. It had only been a couple of days and during that short amount of time she felt connected to this family even if she knew it wasn't hers and never would be.
Sighing internally so not to distract the older woman, Sunset looked down at her bandaged wrists. She was wearing a simple tee and a pair of sweat pants and socks leaving her damaged wrists in full view. She still couldn't get a tight grip on anything, and when she tried it stung really badly, but she could pick things up. It was a start at least and she knew that as soon as the holiday was over and her wrists healed up more she would probably be going to another home. Something she really didn't want to do. She trusted this family despite her best efforts otherwise, hell she cared about this family, but she didn't want to risk ending up with somebody that was out of a nightmare.
“Sunset, if you could have anything for Christmas, anything at all, what would it be?” Velvet asked, drawing her away from her thoughts to look at the curious expression on the older woman. Before she could think about her answer, she blurted out something that made her cringe at the pure sappiness and stupidity of it.
“A family.” Sunset said softly, sitting up and looking down at her wrists as she knew that it was what she truly wanted. No matter how tough she acted or how much she hid her envy of her friends with their families, she wished she had one of her own. And spending the last few days with this one made that desire only grow more. She just wish she hadn't blurted it out as she didn't want to make the woman feel guilty about having to send Sunset away soon.
“You do have a family.” Velvet said softly sitting down next to Sunset, surprising the girl as she didn't realize the woman even got up from her seat. The older woman wrapped an arm around the teen hugging her gently. “You will be spending Christmas here with us.”
“Thanks.” Sunset said, trying her best to sound cheerful and thankful though she didn't really feel that way. The longer she stayed here, the harder it was going to be on her when they sent her away. Would Twilight still want to be friends after Sunset left. And what was she supposed to do about school now that she was pulled out of Canterlot High?
“You are a very special young woman Sunset, don't dwell on the past and try to be happy in the present. Don't let yourself get weighed down so much that you try something like this again.” Velvet said, motioning to the bandages. Not that Sunset was planning to try it again to begin with, but she doubted anyone would believe her if she said so, which she actually had a time or two so far.
“Yeah, special.” Sunset sighed, once again being reminded that she was special compared to other humans.
“You are sweetie.” Velvet said when a barking got their attention. Spike was dancing around barking wanting to go out for a walk which Sunset was actually thankful she had an excuse not to at the moment. While the dog was cute, it slobbered way too much for her taste and just seemed too energetic for her at the moment. The smile on Velvet's face kind of made Sunset swallow with worry. “I think a good walk would do us some good. I'll help you get changed and we can take spike out for a bit. When we get back I'll order us some takeout for lunch since we have dinner plans for tonight.”
“Dinner plans?” Sunset asked curiously.
“Yeah, we're going out to dinner with Shiny and Cadence. I'm sorry, I thought Twilight told you.” Velvet said feeling a little guilty dropping this on the girl.
“I thought she meant you guys were going since it was a family dinner.” Sunset said slowly, wanting to facepalm. Of course they wouldn't leave her alone since she was on suicide watch.
“And our family is going to be there, Sunset.” Velvet said, squeezing the girl's shoulder as Sunset held back the retort about it being Velvet's family and not hers despite how much she was starting to pine for it.
It didn't too long to be bundled up and walking down the street with Velvet holding the dog's leash and Sunset walking behind with her hands deep in her extra large coat pockets. She insisted on leaving the hood down with the scarf hanging untied around her neck for now with Velvet doing the same. She had to admit the cool, fresh air felt rather nice. It wasn't as biting as it had been, but then again she was bundled up in warm clothes now which made a huge difference.
“You know, this is a pretty nice neighborhood.” Sunset admitted, looking around her at the large houses that were loaded with Christmas decorations and lights. It was nice to see a neighborhood in the Christmas spirits instead of toning everything down. Not that Sunset loved the holiday, but this year things did seem kind of nice even if it wouldn't last.
“It is, we have a lot of friends that live close by including some of the students from Crystal Prep. Maybe Twilight can introduce you to some of them.” Velvet said hopefully, though Sunset couldn't help rolling her eyes at the suggestion as it was very unlikely. From what little Twilight told her, the few friends the girl had at Crystal Prep were dubious friends at best. She wasn't very popular because she was shy and that shyness caused her to be extremely socially awkward at times which caused a lot of the students to make fun of her. Not that the environment helped much as Twilight had told her before bed that it was more like a shark tank than anything else.
“Why bother though, after Christmas I'll just be sent somewhere else won't I?” Sunset asked sadly, looking up at the sky as Velvet gave her a sad thoughtful look.
“Sunset?” A familiar voice asked from behind the two getting them to stop. Gritting her teeth as the two turned around, Sunset found Fluttershy bundled up as well from the cold walking several dogs from what Sunset suspected was the animal shelter.
“What do you want?” Sunset asked, her voice turning cold and angry even as she was shaking on the inside. Between the last confrontation with the girl and her nightmares, Sunset really didn't want to be near her at the moment.
“I've been worried about you.” Fluttershy said, eyes tearing up as she looked toward the dogs pulling on their leashes.
“Do you know each other?” Velvet asked, though she sounded as if she was going on the defensive.
“She's...one of my ex-friends.” Sunset said making Velvet sigh sadly. She may not really know Fluttershy that well but she did know her, despite never really formally meeting because of the difficulties with Posey.
“Sunset, I'm sorry.” Fluttershy cried, wanting to reach out to Sunset though couldn't because of the leashes in her hands and the dogs trying to pull her away.
“Don't be, it's over. Our friendship is over and I...I don't want to deal with any of you anymore.” Sunset said as she fought back her own tears. It hurt to say that, more than she wanted to admit, though saying it to Fluttershy was a thousand times worse than it would have been to any of the others.
“Please, just hear me out.” Fluttershy pleaded, struggling with the now barking and fighting dogs drawing her attention away.
“Maybe you should worry about your dogs for now.” Velvet sighed and began leading Sunset back to the house.
“But...Sunset!” Fluttershy cried as the dogs pulled her away from the two walking away with Spike.
“Are you okay?” Velvet asked softly as they got into the warmth of the house and letting Spike off his leash. Her only response was for Sunset to collapse into her arms sobbing.
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Later after getting Sunset to calm down and helping her get ready for their dinner, Velvet left her alone with Twilight to get ready herself along with Night Light who didn't take all that long himself to get dressed. Thankfully he wasn't hurrying Velvet along as she couldn't get Sunset out of her mind.
“Okay, I waited for you to say something, but since you haven't I will.” Night Light said as he came up from behind Velvet who stood in front of the mirror adjusting her dress. It was a simple black dress, which most of hers were as she hated spending thousands of dollars on one fancy one despite having the money to. She couldn't hide the worry though and as usual her husband picked up on it pretty quickly.
“It's Sunset.” Velvet sighed as Night Light hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder and looking into her eyes through the mirror.
“What about her, what happened?” Night Light asked now growing worried himself. It may have only been a couple days, but he had grown attached to the teen who was just as smart as Twilight though the two seemed to be smart in two different areas. If the two ever worked together on something they would surely show the world a thing or two.
“I was thinking, we are only supposed to let her stay until after Christmas, right?” Velvet asked, Night Light nodding in agreement. “I was thinking, would it be so bad to just let her stay for good? We don't have to adopt her or anything, unless you want to later, but she really needs a stable environment with a family that actually cares. Not many foster homes really care a lot.”
“I'd love to have her stay, she's been wonderful to have around.” Night Light said thinking back to some of the time they spent talking equations and scientific theory. Some of the things seemed weird, but after he figured out what she was trying to say it made perfect sense.
“Do you think Twilight would be okay with it?” Velvet asked with some worry.
“Honey, Twilight's happier than she has been in awhile.” Night Light said.
“She didn't look too happy when she came home tonight.” Velvet sighed, remembering the grumpy mood that seemed to vanish upon greeting Sunset. She tried talking to Twilight, but her daughter had insisted that everything was fine.
“No, she didn't, but I'm hoping she will talk to Sunset about it.” Night Light sighed kissing his wife's neck making her squirm with an annoyed look.
“Don't do that, we're supposed to be getting ready.” Velvet said as she grabbed her heels and sat down on the corner of the bed putting them on. “Besides, we don't want Sunset getting upset, she doesn't need that right now.”
“No, but she could use a friend and what better way of making one than helping them with their problem?” Night Light said as he leaned back against the dresser. “Vel, tell me something, do you care for Sunset? Do you...love her?”
“Of course I care! She's still a child, a child that has been through so much pain that she should never have had to deal with.” Velvet said.
“Pity isn't love honey. I know how I feel, but I want to know how you really feel. We can't offer her a place here if all we feel is pity. It would never work out.” Night Light said as she shook his head.
“Night, I love her more than I probably should have reason to. I know we haven't known her for more than a week, but I almost called her daughter. Night, I meant it, I thought of her as another daughter.” Velvet sighed, “Sure I feel pity for her, for her situation, but there's something about her.”
“I know what you mean, I'd be proud to call her daughter.” Night said with a small smile. “If you are sure that you want her to stay, I'll get Twily alone sometime and talk to her about it. Cadence called though and told me that she had an important announcement to make to us tonight at dinner.”
“Do you know what it's about?” Velvet asked, curious about what her daughter in law was planning.
“Not a clue, but when she has an announcement like this, it's usually good.” Night said, getting a nod of agreement from Velvet.
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“Can't you report her?” Sunset asked in shock as Twilight brushed her hair. Once again Sunset needed help doing something so easy. Despite Velvet helping her earlier, she needed a quick fix for her hair after an incident with a gallon of dog slobbers. At the same time, it felt kind of nice making Sunset wonder if this what sisters did. Talk about things like this over doing each other's hair or something similar?
“To who, and who would believe me?” Twilight asked. “Since she came to our school its reputation for being the best in not only sports, but academics too, has skyrocketed. All the school board cares about is results. They don't care that Dean Cinch turned the school into an extremely competitive environment, turning friends against friends. I used to love Crystal Prep before she showed up.”
“What about Cadence, she's the counselor there isn't she? She's the one with contacts in social services that put me with you guys.” Sunset suggested.
“My brother and her are the ones who pushed me into going to see her about it.” Twilight sighed, “I don't think they know she blackmailed me, but Cinch wants me to train and be ready for the games after Christmas break. Shiny was so excited that I agreed to be in them, I just can't let him down.”
“If he's your brother, he would understand. I know if you were my sister, I wouldn't want you doing anything that made you uncomfortable.” Sunset said, “Are you sure you want to get out of school early for college though? That seems a little drastic.”
“First, as far as I'm concerned you are my sister and best friend.” Twilight sighed, not voicing the fact that right now, Sunset was the only person she could actually count as a friend her age. Of course she had a few at school that she was close to once before Cinch, but now the competitive atmosphere and the demands from Cinch to strive for personal excellence no matter who you hurt had all but driven them apart. “Second, I would love to stay at Crystal Prep if it was the way it used to be.”
“What about talking to your mom?” Sunset asked, unsure of how to help Twilight.
“I don't want to bother her with it, it would just ruin the holidays for her.” Twilight sighed, “Besides, just venting helped a lot. Thank you for listening.”
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Sunset had to admit that even if the portions weren't huge, hell she ordered triple helpings on her second order, the food was actually really good. And while both Night Light and Velvet seemed pleased with it, they seemed even happier when she waved the offered glass of wine away when asked if she's like to try one glass with the meal.
“It's a test, they always do it to me to see if I've gotten into drinking.” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes at the guilty, yet pleased looks on her parents faces.
“Well, that was good.” Cadence sighed happily, before getting a serious look on her face. “I guess you are wondering what the announcement is.”
“Well, we are curious dear.” Velvet admitted, getting a nod of agreement from Night Light as both Sunset and Twilight looked on in confusion.
“Well, it partly has to do with Twilight.” Cadence said, taking Shining Armor's hand on the table for support.
“With me?” Twilight asked in surprise.
“Yeah, that interview that your brother and I took you to? It was bugged.” Cadence said getting a worried expression from Twilight. “I didn't know Cinch was going to do that Twilight, but it put the final nail in her coffin. As of now she is suspended and I'm the new Dean of Crystal Prep until a replacement can be found or I decide to take the job permanently.”
“The Friendship Games will either be forfeited because of Cinch's actions, or postponed until later in the year if our opponents will agree to it.” Shining Armor said giving Twilight an apologetic look.
“What was Dean Cinch going to do?” Velvet asked turning to look at Twilight for an explanation.
“She was blackmailing me to head up the academic portion of the games.” Twilight said nervously.
“It's a good thing she was suspended, because if she wasn't I'd have her head.” Night Light growled out causingVelvet to take his hand to calm him down.
“Why didn't you tell us honey?” Velvet asked softly.
“I didn't want to ruin anybody's holiday.” Twilight sighed.
“Honey, you could never ruin anybody's holiday. Promise me that you will come to us if anything like this ever happens again.” Velvet said, “Are you okay though?”
“I promise, and yeah I'm okay. I kind of talked to Sunset about it earlier and she suggested I came to you with it.” Twilight said noticing the thankful looks her parents shot Sunset.
“Yeah, Sunset's a pretty smart girl.” Night Light said giving said girl a smile making her blush at the sudden attention.
“You two could be sisters, your names are kind of similar.” Cadence said thoughtfully, not really intending to say it out loud. The look Night Light and Velvet shared didn't escape her either making Cadence smile to herself. Maybe Sunset found a place where she belonged already.
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“Hey honey, can I come in?” Night Light asked, knocking on the door before quietly entering the room on Twilight's invitation. Said girl spun around in her desk chair to look at Night Light as he sat on the edge of her bed next to where Spike was sleeping peacefully.
“What's up dad?” Twilight asked, fidgeting a little. She had been ready all night to hear one of her parents lecture her over not telling them about her problems at school. She was shocked by his reply though, not really expecting it in the least.
“What do you think of Sunset?” Night Light asked, looking to grow a little nervous as he scratched the sleeping dog behind the ears.
“Well, she's really nice and doesn't deserve what happened to her.” Twilight said leaning back in her chair, tapping the plastic arm in thought. “She's probably my best friend right now, even if I've only known her for a few days.”
“Would you say that she is sister material?” Night Light asked slowly, Twilight's eyes widening in surprise before a smile formed.
“Definitely. Dad, are you guys planning to adopt her?” Twilight asked, actually hoping that was the case and sighing when her father shook his head 'no.'
“Not yet, we really don't know her well enough to decide that no matter how much we like her. And on top of that we don't want to scare her off moving too fast. We do want to ask her to stay and see where things go from there.” Night Light said, his hand falling away from Spike. “To be honest, we would kind of like to adopt her, but we don't really know how that would work out. It's why we want her to stay so we can see if it would work.”
“I'd like that dad.” Twilight said as she got up and moved to join her dad on the bed, hugging him. She really hadn't been looking forward to saying goodbye to Sunset, and now she may not have to.