Celestia stood outside of the room with Bluey. She had always referred to the members of the Platinum bloodline as niece or nephew, a homage to the friendship she held with Princess Platinum. But with Bluey, or Blueblood the 17th, their relationship had been something closer. After the untimely death of his parents at the age of nine, he had become something of a son to her.
Celestia had always believed herself and her sister to be incapable of conceiving until Twilight discovered the magic that proved her wrong. Now she had an actual son, Solar Spark, but that did nothing to change the love she felt for either of them, both as special to her.
So it hurt when she had learnt what he had become, it hurt when she had to send him away, but looking at him now, as he prepared to go into a room full of hostility and pain, just to help a mare he had never met get better - she couldn't be any prouder of him.
“You don't have to do this if you don’t want to,” Celestia said, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Yes, I do.” Celestia looked at him, confused. “I may not have been the stallion that hurt her, but there are those out there I hurt. If I can bring solace to this one, it holds hope that I can track down the others and make things right with them.” Celestia’s chest swelled, and she kissed him on the forehead like she used to as a colt. “Aunty!” He pulled away, looking up to see tears in her eyes, so he drew her into a hug.
A knock on the door drew their attention, and they let go of each other, “It's time.”
Despite the awkward introductions, Solar Spark soon found himself fascinated as Splendid talked about her world's technology, while Splendid and Sunny were enraptured as he talked about magic.
The party was in full swing. Even after twenty odd years, the girls still enjoyed everyone like it was their first. Prince Solar had realised Pinkie had over-stocked again, and after obtaining permission, he went around the castle inviting staff and visitors.
The room Soon became flooded with ponies, some in formal dress, some in staff uniform. Nopony paid each other any mind, so Orange Peel was able to slip right into the party with her friend, without anyone blinking an eye.
Orange Peel turned to the mare next to her. “The maid uniform never did fit you right.” Her partner huffed. “It will do for now. that’s her, by the way, the yellow filly next to the Prince.” The other mare passed her a drink.
“Which one?”
Orange Peel frowned. “I’m not exactly sure.” She answered, before taking a sip of her drink.
“It matters little. Thank you, Peel, you were a good friend.”
“What do you mean we….” Orange peel slumped to the floor, and the other mare slid her under the cloth dropping from a nearby table.
“Sleep tight. I hope you did nothing important today, you won't be able to remember it.” She snickered, before making her way out of the room.
Adagio breathed deep while Sunset held her, nuzzling into her neck and whispering comforting words into her ear. They heard approaching hoof steps, and the door opened, revealing Twilight. She gave them a small smile and moved to sit out of the way. Then they saw him, a white-bodied stallion with a blond mane.
Adagio tensed up, and Sunset squeezed harder, as Blueblood walked into the room, and sat in the chair opposite. Motioning for Sunset to let go, Adagio braved the small gulf between herself and Blueblood, stopping inches from his face.
The verbal tirade that followed would go down in history, Twilight not being quick enough to erect a sound bubble.
Throughout it all, Blueblood sat and took it, his face moving from dutiful to offended, through mortified acceptance until it settled on ashen. As Adagio finally ran out of steam, she slumped back into her seat with Sunset, tears flowing freely from her eyes.
Celestia revealed herself, shedding her cloaking magic, and pressed her Bluey into a wing hug. The stallion whimpered into her wing.
“I think I needed to hear that.” He punctuated his sentence with a sniff.
Sunset rubbed Adagio's back. “How are you feeling?”
Adagio sucked in a huge breath and turned to face her. Tears streamed down both cheeks, but her face was split, a smile reaching from ear to ear. Choking back the tears, she pulled Sunset to her. “I can’t describe it. It's like a giant weight from my soul has been lifted, and its like there is nothing I can’t do now.”
Joining her in tears, Sunset turned towards Blueblood, who was just now becoming visible as Celestia withdrew her wings.
“Thank you, you've helped us more than you can know. Is there anything I can do for you?”
The stallion still looked a little broken, but he managed to sound sure of himself. “Would it be ok to meet Splendid? She is likely the closest thing to a daughter I will ever realistically have.”
Sunset looked to Adagio, trying to guess what her wife thought about the idea, but the door to the chamber slammed open.
Applejack burst through, “Haven't y’all heard?”
Twilight blushed. “Whoops, I left the sound suppression spell on. AJ, what haven't we heard?”
“Splendid ‘n' Sunny hav’ been taken!”