//------------------------------//
// Secrets Told, Confessions Made 
// Story: More Related Than You Know 
// by Skye Mist 
//------------------------------//

The two normally composed alicorns, more or less in Luna's case, looked on with bewildered faces. What made the two immortals gawk in surprise was Sunset Shimmer. Or more specifically, that she was running away from the castle with Princess Twilght and a dozen Royal Guards on her tail. Both alicorns stared at the scene and shared a glance with each other.

Both had the same thought. 'What in the name of Equestria had happened in the few minutes we talked together?'

Without a second thought, the alicorns spread out their wings and launched themselves out the window.


************


5 minutes ago,

"Look, Sunset! There's Canterlot!" Twilight exclaimed. "Aren't you excited?"

"Yeah. Excited to get it over with," Sunset mumbled. She didn't mean to sound blunt, and truthfully she was having an army of emotions battling the anticipating meeting.

They landed in front of the palace in the next minute. The guards escorted them to the throne room and one of the guards knocked on the door. Sunset expected Princess Celestia's calm, quiet voice to answer. Instead a brisk (and rather loud) voice answered. Sunset felt like she knew that voice, and then it struck her. 'Princess Luna! Wait, why's she in the throne room? Is she going to be in the meeting as well?'

Sunset couldn't help her curiousness, so she turned her back to everyone and tried casting an eavesdropping spell. To her surprise, she found it easier to cast the spell than before she left this world. 'Probably because of my 'new development'.'

She focused her attention on the interaction between the guard and Princess Luna.

Sunset heard the guard first. "Your Majesty, Princess Twilight and Sunset Shimmer are here for the meeting."

She was surprised to hear Princess Luna answer for her sister. "Would you send them in here please? And make sure no one disturbs us?"

Sunset cut off the spell right then, not hearing Princess Luna's words to her sister. A flurry of questions filled her head. 'Why does Princess Luna want to be in the meeting? It was only supposed to be me, Princess Celestia, and Twilight! Why can't we be disturbed?'

These thoughts were bothersome, but one question terrified her. 'Did Princess Celestia intentionally let Princess Luna enter the meeting at the last minute?! So I would agree to go and they could carry out some punishment for me?' It was a distorted thought, but Sunset had already succumbed to her fears. She was so lost in thought, she barely noticed that she was slowly backing away from the throne room.

"Sunset! Where are you going?" Twilight asked with concern.

Sunset didn't hear the concern. She answered hotly, "Anywhere but here!"

With that, she ran toward the castle's front doors, her fear making her run faster...and lose concentration on the illusion spell. Sunset didn't notice as she burst through the doors and ran in a random direction. What she also failed to notice was Twilight on her tail.The guards at the castle's doors looked at the scenario bewildered and gave chase. Even in her frenzied state, she turned her head back once in a while to fire a spell. None of them hit their mark. After a few misses, she curved around a bend and was met face to with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. She turned back to see Twilight and the guards.

'Horseapples! I wished I'd taken my time to learn using these stupid wings! Good thing I'm an expert in magic.'

She saw a row of rooftops in the distance, offering a good getaway. She charged her magic and let loose a force field that pushed back the other ponies, including the princesses. She teleported to the rooftops and ran across them. She kept running, not caring if she was crying her eyes out. She didn't care about anything except getting far away from Canterlot and the princesses. A midnight-blue wall-like force field appeared in front of her and she was running so fast, she couldn't stop or change direction. So she blasted it. It didn't work and she was covering up the distance between her and the force field.

Seeing no other option, she spread her wings and tried to take off. She flapped them and kept running. At the last second, she managed to get over the force field with the momentum. She still flapped her wings as her pursuers gained on her. The wind from her running served her well in taking off, but she had barely flown a few meters before a gust of wind knocked her out of the sky.

In her panic, she couldn't use her magic. She would probably die when she hit the ground. Sunset closed her eyes, anticipating the feeling of broken limbs.

It never came.

Sunset cautiously opened her eyes to see herself enveloped in a golden light. She couldn't take anymore, so she did what she felt like doing.

She fainted.


************


"Is she okay?"

That was the first thing Sunset heard when she woke up. 'Why was I asleep?'

And then it all came back to her. 'Oh horseappples.'

"Sunset! You're awake!"

Sunset got to her hooves and looked around. It seemed like they were in the castle garden. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were behind Twilight, who was anxiously staring at her.

"Yes, Twilight. I'm awake and okay."

All three princesses released a sigh of relief.

"You had us very worried, Sunset Shimmer," Princess Luna said. "If I may ask, what made you so agitated?"

Sunset flinched. She was still wary, but her mind was no longer clouded. She took a deep breath before answering. "I overheard you tell the guard to make sure no one disturbed us and I panicked, thinking you and Princess Celestia were about to punish me for my misdeeds in the past."

Sunset was eyes were downcast. Princess Luna lifted Sunset's chin and said softly, "I have done worse deeds than your own and it was only when I forgave myself that I stopped worrying about such things."

Sunset felt more at ease. But she still had doubts. "If it is fine with you and Princess Celestia, could we have the meeting out here?"

Princess Luna looked surprised, but after a nod from her sister, she also nodded. The four alicorns each took a seat on the grass and Princess Celestia made a sound proof barrier around them. Princess Luna cast an anti-eavesdropping spell on the barrier and ordered the guards to leave them in peace.

Princess Celestia started it off. "It seems that the 'something new that came up' was about Sunset's new wings, am I correct?"

Twilight made sheepish face and told the princesses everything starting from when Sunset first came through the portal. "...And I thought that you might know about why this happened," she concluded.

Princess Celestia was as ridged as a stone. The two younger alicorns noticed this and exchanged a glance with each other. Princess Luna quickly filled in.

"We both may know why this has happened to Sunset and it concerns why we had this meeting in the first place...You remember your families, correct?"

Sunset and Twilight were both baffled. Sunset asked, "With all due respect, Princess Luna, but what do our families have to do with my wings?"

Princess Luna sighed and glanced at her sister before continuing. "Because...they're not you're real families."

The silence that followed was so thick that one could've heard a pin drop in the grass.

Sunset broke the silence as she asked in a wavering voice, "Th-then who's our real families?"

Princess Luna started to answer. "Your moth-"

She only made that far before Princess Celestia stopped her. 

Her voice was quiet and filled with sadness. "I think I'd better tell them, Luna...Sunset, Twilight, I'm your mother."