Snowcone was cuddled up in her room with a good book, one she had stolen from the restricted section of a magic library…coincidentally the reason she was grounded as well.

Oh well, she got left alone at the very least.

That is, until the knock at her door.

“Hey, are you okay? May I come in?”

The cup of Snowcone’s emotional limits overflowed as soon as the knock rung through her room. She shoved her head under her pillow and screamed into the muffling cushion before calling out a response.

"I'm fine but I would really prefer if you wouldn’t!"

“Fair enough.”

Aurora’s voice sounded through the door, even and calm. A nice contrast from Mom and Mother’s constant nagging, plus she knocked instead of barging in. But Snowcone still didn’t want to deal with her right now.

“I brought you chickpea tikka from the Tasty Treat, though. Can I at least drop it off?”

There was a moment of silence so quiet one could hear a pin drop, followed by the sound of rushing hooves and a lock clicking.

"You can come in if you want, I don't really care."

Aurora entered the room, not paying mind to the mess strewn across Snowcone’s floor or the curtains drawn on a hot summer’s afternoon, instead simply placing the dish on Snowcone’s nightstand.

“Sorry you got grounded. I’m around to talk if you want.”

“Thank you.”

Snowcone immediately hopped back onto her bed and shoved her nose in her book, not wanting to make eye contact after mumbling her answer.

She let out a deep sigh when Aurora began speaking.

"What is there to talk about? I broke a stupid rule and Mother thought I'd learn my lesson sitting in my room for the 49th time!"

She was so frustrated by all this, she had this impulse and taking a look at this book would scratch that impulse in her brain. It made her feel a whole lot better for…an hour.

What was the harm?

Unfortunately instead of leaving her alone, Aurora decided to settle down by the end of her bed.

“I don’t think it’s a stupid rule. Restricted spells are a pretty big deal. You may not be planning to do anything with it but who knows what would happen if the wrong pony got their hooves on it. These rules are meant to keep Equestria safe.”

Aurora tried to lighten the mood a bit.

“At least you didn’t end up in juvenile detention.”

Right away Snowcone whipped her head around and lashed out at Aurora. She was lucky her sister was understanding because she was spitting fire at the poor mare.

"You think I don't know that?! You seriously think I'd let it get into the wrong hooves?! Why did you come in here if you only wanted to…”

She stopped and teared up a little bit.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't…"

Aurora simply patted her back in an attempt at comfort.

“I get it. You’re stressed out in school, you’re grounded, of course you’re having a hard time. I don’t think you’ve had Veuve over in awhile either.”

Then she opened a can of worms.

“Is something going on?”

Aurora validating her emotions felt so good, she explained herself and she was totally right!

Snowcone began to wonder why she didn't talk to her more often…

The next question made her less than happy though. How in Equestria was she meant to answer that? Should she tell the truth? Lie?

"Nothing, I don't want to talk about it. You're just gonna shrug and then leave me to deal with it myself anyways."

To her dismay, Aurora pressed on.

“Not if you really need help, I won’t. I don’t always have the best advice but Aura has been helping Eclipse a lot, no? You don’t need to tell me anything but she might be able to help you too.”

Snowcone let out a deep sigh and shoved her pillow on top of her head as Aurora went on.

"I'm not too sure about that and I would quite rather kill myself, but sure. Whats the worst that can happen? I'll go."