"Then let's head back too."
The winter sun always set quickly; perhaps because during the cold days, Celestia also wanted to get off work early.
Watching the Twilight descend, Aurora couldn't help but yawn as she spoke, looking quite lethargic.
"Didn't you sleep well last night?"
Sunset Shimmer asked.
In fact, ever since finishing lunch, Aurora had been yawning from time to time, only surviving on coffee to keep from falling asleep.
"Yeah, once I thought about you staying at my house tonight, I was too excited to sleep. So I just kept thinking about it until it was daylight."
"Are you a little Foal?"
"I am a Foal, after all."
Aurora said this quite righteously; from a physiological perspective, she was indeed an underage Foal, even younger than Sunset Shimmer.
"...Alright, kiddo. Let's go home now. You lead the way; I hope you're conscious enough to at least recognize the way home."
Sunset Shimmer took off her scarf and wrapped it around Aurora. Because of her lack of rest, she was a bit sensitive to the cold. To prevent her from catching a cold, she had to bundle her up tightly.
"There's no need for that much trouble."
Aurora stood by the side of the road and waved a hoof casually, and a carriage pulled up steadily in front of them.
"You can still hail a taxi on Hearths Warming Eve?"
Sunset Shimmer said, sounding surprised.
"Of course not. This is my family's driver; I asked him to come pick us up at a certain time."
Aurora casually answered Sunset Shimmer's confusion, then said to the driver.
"Sorry about that. I was reading with a friend today and lost track of time. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
"It's fine, Miss. It's not late at all. After dropping you two off, I can stop by and buy my child the toy he wants as a Hearths Warming Eve gift."
The driver tipped his hat to them. With the "money power" of triple overtime pay, he was naturally delighted to do this job.
Having once been a worker herself, she naturally understood the difficulties of a working pony, so Aurora never skimped on the proper work benefits.
The driver opened the door for them, helped put Sunset Shimmer's luggage on board, and then pulled the carriage steadily along the snow.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you really live a comfortable life."
Although Sunset Shimmer didn't have it bad living in the castle, she basically had to walk whenever she went anywhere. It wasn't that she couldn't afford a carriage, but she generally didn't travel far, so she didn't need the Royal Guards to transport her. Perhaps the furthest she had ever traveled was the last time she went to Ponyville with them.
"You know I don't usually use a carriage; today is just special. My house is a bit of a distance from here, it's getting late, there's snow on the ground, and you're carrying luggage, so it would be inconvenient otherwise."
The environment inside the carriage was much darker than outside, which intensified Aurora's sleepiness. Even though the driver was driving steadily, it was a carriage after all, so it inevitably swayed, making it hard for Aurora to hold on.
"I had planned to stay up all night for the new year, but I don't think I can make it. I need to rest early tonight. It seems when a pony reaches a certain age, they just can't stay up late..."
"What kind of talk is that? You're so young, yet you act like you're old... I think you're just exhausted, starting to talk nonsense again."
Although she complained, Sunset Shimmer carefully lowered her voice, thinking it would be good to let Aurora rest in the carriage before they reached their destination.
"I need to doze for a bit. Make sure to wake me up when we're almost home. I can't let my mom and dad know I stayed up all night last night..."
As she spoke, Aurora's voice grew quieter and quieter, and finally, she simply leaned against Sunset Shimmer to doze off for a while.
Sunset Shimmer didn't speak again, just adjusted her sitting position to let Aurora lean more comfortably.
She gazed at the scenery slowly moving backward outside the carriage window. Canterlot on Hearths Warming Eve was always so brightly lit, with dazzling lights everywhere and flashy holiday decorations.
Sunset Shimmer once thought that such lively scenes were irrelevant to her. Of course, she still felt that way now.
Sunset Shimmer watched for a while before withdrawing her gaze, pulling the curtains tightly shut without leaving a gap, so as not to disturb the sleep of a certain sleep-deprived pony.
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