Me and My Daughters

Who? What? How and... Why?

It's too cold.

It doesn't matter.

We've been in here for too long, Twilight will get suspicious...

Sunset will get suspicious.

Another splash of cold water was due. Why was her mind berating her now? Now, of all the opportunities it had to remind her of all the mistakes she made in her old life... Or... alternate life? What was this world, anyways? Some sort of depression-induced delusion? A cosmic joke presenting her with a depiction of what could have been?

I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

Why? Everything has gone right— no banished sister, no missing apprentice, two little fillies that love you—

This isn't right! This is not what happened!

She couldn't be this selfish... could she?

"Princess?! Are you alright?" The voice calling from downstairs brought another fresh wave of tears. She let the faucet run again as she stared at her water-stained reflection.

Why must you tell her? her traitorous reflection asked, a clever metaphor that she herself had made to impart the well-deserved blame. The fact that her own subconscious was siding against her was, if not disturbing, worrisome.

"Because it isn't right." A little chat with herself always helped to set things straight. It certainly wasn't a sign of madness...

Why? Aren't you happy?

"My happiness is irrelevant. This isn't right." Celestia turned around, drying her face with a towel. Sunset is obviously worried. Twily and Luna likely are, too. She didn't want to scare them off.

She opened the door with a glow of her golden magic, taking a deep breath before going downstairs; she absolutely didn't want to approach her children and student with her face stained by tears. Her makeup was already ruined, and her mane a terrible mess. Another reason for them to worry wasn't necessary.

In and out... the slower the better. Celestia was fairly familiar with stressful situations. She ruled a nation, after all. However, this one felt ten times more difficult. She felt like a little filly once again, about to be scolded by her teacher for doing something wrong.

But I didn't do anything wrong, did I? If not... why did she feel so nervous?

When Celestia reached the library's first floor, it was silent as a graveyard. "Sunset?" she timidly called, confused by the absence of the fillies and Pinkie Pie.

"In the kitchen, making some tea! By the way, Pinkie took the girls into town; she's going to tell my friends about the picnic," Sunset's voice rang. Hearing her relaxed Celestia a bit, but since she hadn't decided what to do about her current predicament, the familiar voice was a meager comfort.

The alicorn walked up to a purple couch, sitting down uneasily. She patiently waited until Sunset returned, but her body seemed to have other ideas. Her brain choosing this exact moment to overreact, her breath suddenly quickened, her trained psyche barely managing to hold it inside. Everything in this strange new world was trying to break her down, and frighteningly, they were succeeding.

"Here we go, all done," Sunset said as she appeared in the doorway. "I know you like jasmine tea, but I'm all out. I made chamomile instead; I hope you like it." That same need of approval ever present, Celestia barely crushed the urge to comfort Sunset, her mind suddenly reminding her of what was wrong with this world.