//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 (Edited by: Moonriseoversunset) 
// Story: You Will Never Be Alone 
// by Leo Luce 
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The next morning, Sunset woke up without any nightmares. However, she was still stuck within that void. Though considering what happened the previous night, Sunset felt fresh and happy. She tried to turn around but felt something preventing that action. She opened her eyes, and her heart was filled with joy as she saw Principal Celestia, her mom, hugging her while she slept. Not wanting to wake her up and ruin the moment, Sunset snuggled closer to her mom and fell asleep again.

Before long, Sunset woke up again and looked around. Celestia was nowhere to be seen. She looked at a clock and read it was nine in the morning. After climbing down from the bed, Sunset left her room and walked towards the living room. A quick glance inside showed Sunset Celestia reading a book on the sofa.

"Ah Sunset, did you sleep well?" Celestia asked.

"Yeah. Thanks again. For what you did," Sunset said.

"You don't have to thank me. I should've done it long ago," Sunset smiled and walked over to Celestia and took a seat beside her. "So, are you going to Applejack's today?"

"O-oh, yeah. I said I'd visit her," Sunset said uncertainly.

Noticing this, Celestia spoke reassuringly, "Sunset, don't worry. Everything will be fine. You've come a long way in these past few days. I'm sure you'll do fine." Celestia paused for a moment before asking, "Do you want me to take you there?"

"Shouldn't we keep this a secret?"

"Well, we can't keep this a secret forever. Your friends will eventually know, but until then, it will be advisable to keep this a secret as much as possible. But if you like, you can tell them. They are your friends." Celestia said.

"Yeah."

"Now, go on and get ready. I'll drop you off near the farm, so they won't know you are with me."





Applejack woke up that morning and opened the windows. She breathed the fresh air from the farm and went downstairs to start her day. She remembered that Sunset promised her that she would come today, but the farm girl had her doubts that Sunset would come. Still, Applejack hoped Sunset would visit them. After having breakfast with her family and getting ready for the day's work, Applejack went about her normal routine. When hours went by, she began to think that Sunset wouldn't come today. After working for a while, she decided to call Sunset just to see what her excuse for not coming today was. But just as she was about to enter her living room, she heard someone was walking up to the farmhouse. Turning around, revealed Sunset walking up the path towards the farmhouse. A slight smile crept up her face, and she went to greet Sunset.

"Howdy, Sunset. Ah was beginning to think you wouldn't show," Applejack said.

"Y-yeah. I promised you." Sunset said. "So, did the others know that I'm here?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah, they do. Oh wait, Ah forgot to tell Apple bloom, but Ah wouldn't worry none. She won't do anything."

"O-okay. So, what do you want me to do today?"

"Nothing big. Our storage room needs some cleaning, but everyone is busy today. Think you can clean it?"

"Y-yeah. I'll do it."

"Well, follow me." Applejack said and led the way towards the storage room. It was massive, and just like Applejack said, it needed cleaning done. A lot of cleaning. Boxes were scattered around. Hay was piled up everywhere. And from looking at it, Sunset knew it was to take all day to clean the storage room.

"There you have it. The cleaning supplies are right there." Applejack said, pointing at a corner of the room. "Think you can manage it?"

Sunset just looked at the room, eyes wide. She was just tasked to clean a large room all by herself. But she's wasn't to back off now.
"Yeah, I-I can manage this."

"Great. I'll be over at the apple grove if you need anything," Applejack said before leaving Sunset alone.

"Okay, time to do this," Sunset said to herself while pulling up the sleeves of her jacket. She walked over to a large box and tried to push. "Hugh-" By using all of her might, Sunset pushed against the large crater… a few inches. Sunset collapsed to the ground and breathed heavily.

"Huh- huh- this is going to take forever." She said to herself, annoyed.





After leaving Sunset, Applejack went to begin her work. She went over to the apple field and met Big Mac.

"Is she here?" Big Mac asked.

"Yeah, she is. Ah have her clean the storage room. So let's just see what she's going to do now."

"Eeyup,"

Before they knew it, they heard Granny Smith shout for them to have lunch.

"You go, I'll get Sunset." Applejack said, to which Big Mac nodded.

Applejack walked over to the storage room, and she heard shuffling from inside. She went inside and saw Sunset slowly sweeping the floor. Applejack looked around and saw that Sunset hasn't cleaned much in the few hours she's been doing it. That and Sunset looked like someone threw a water bucket at her.

"Wow, Sunset, do you look…"

"Yeah yeah… I … I know…" Sunset said between breaths. "Sorry… I wasn't able to … clean much…"

"Uh… yeah, don't worry about that, Ah just came to tell you it's time for lunch and… you should get some rest first." Applejack said.

"But I haven't even finished half of this." Sunset protested.

"Sunset, there's no way you can clean all this in a day alone. On top of that, you are weaker than I thought." Applejack said, crossing her arms.

"Uh… okay…" Sunset said, looking away.

"Come on, you can have a nap in my room." Applejack said, leading Sunset out of the storage room and to her room.

"There, now get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a while." Applejack said.

"I- I don't want to sleep. I can still work." Sunset protested.

"No, you can't." Applejack said sternly, pushing Sunset onto the bed.

"Bu-but… I haven't… finished…I... can" Sunset protested softly before exhaustion hit like a freight train, and she fell asleep mid protest.

"Wow," Applejack said to herself. She pulled Sunset up onto the bed and into a more comfortable position before leaving the room. She made it to the dining room and took a seat at the table.

"Where's Sunset?" Granny Smith asked.

"What! Sunset's here?" Applebloom shouted.

"Yep, she is, and she's sleeping in my room. She was plum tired after cleaning the storage room, and Ah told her to take a nap. She was out like a light soon as she hit the mattress," Applejack said.

"Really? What did she do to make her that tired?" Granny asked.

"Ah don't know. She seems weaker than she should be, looked like a soaked hog when Ah went to get her."

"Wait, wait, hold on. What's going on? Why is Sunset here? And why is she cleaning our storage?" Applebloom asked, dumbfounded about the situation.

"Well, Sunset said she wanted to change. So I said if she worked at our farm and proved she really wanted to change, I'll give her a chance."

"Bu- but this is Sunset we are talking about. Someone like her doesn't want to change."

"Applebloom, we don't know that. And I'm really sure she wants to change her ways, so let's just give her that little chance, shall we?" Applejack said.

"Okay, okay, that's enough talking. I'll keep an eye on Sunset, you young' uns just eat okay?" Granny said. After that, everyone ate in silence.





After lunch, Applejack pulled out her phone and dialed Fluttershy. She couldn't help but wonder if there is something that she doesn't know about Sunset. After a few rings, Fluttershy picked up the phone.

"Hello, Applejack,"

"Hello Fluttershy, listen… I need to ask you something… about Sunset," Applejack said.

"About Sunset? What is it?"

"Well, did you notice anything… weird about her?"

"Weird?"

"Yeah, well… the fact that she changed after we defeated her is weird enough, but also… she seems weaker. You two are close to each other, right?"

"C-close? What do you mean? We are just friends," Fluttershy said stammering,

"You think I didn't notice? You like her, don't you?" Applejack said teasingly.

"I-I… w-well-"

"Hehe… it's okay, Fluttershy, if you like her, that's your choice. Anyway, did she tell you anything?"

"Um… well…"

"Spill it, I need to know."

"Well… You should actually ask her about this, but… you remember the magic we used to stop Sunset?"

"Mm-hm…"

"Well, that actually did more than what we thought it did. Sunset said, when it turned her back, it left her weak, like a side effect. But she said she's slowly getting her strength back."

"Oh, so… what else did it do?" Applejack asked.

"Sorry, you should ask Sunset that," Fluttershy said.

"Okay… thanks, Fluttershy." Applejack said, hanging up the phone. 'What have we really done to her?' Applejack thought.





Sunset was having a dreamless restful sleep when she was woken up by someone tugging at her.

"Five more minutes, mom…" Sunset protested.

"Hehe, sorry, Sunny, but ya gotta wake up."

Sunset groaned and woke up, and sat on the bed. She looked to the side and saw Granny Smith smiling at her.

"Sleep well?" She asked.

"Um… yeah… sorry. I was supposed to help the farm but-"

"Don't worry about that. You have already done enough. You must be hungry?"

"I-I'm good, n-not hungry at--" Sunset was interrupted by a sudden growl coming from her stomach.

"Hehe, come on," Granny said, leading the way down. "Oh, by the way, your… mom was calling you. She was worried about you."

"M-mom? D-did you…"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Anyway, I told her I'll take you to school after you woke up. She'll take you from there."

"Um… thanks."

They made it to the kitchen, and Sunset saw a piece of apple pie sitting on a plate.

"There, eat up, then Big Mac will take you to the school," Granny said.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Sunset began to eat the apple pie. She was savoring the pie when Applejack came to her.

"Um, hey Sunset, I… I talked to Fluttershy. Why didn't you tell me you are not well?" Applejack asked.

"Uh… she told you?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah. She didn't tell me much. She told me to ask you about anything else, but she said that the magic we used on you made you weak."

"Y-yeah, it did. But I feel a little better now. And I promised you I'll do anything."

"Yeah, I know but, you gotta tell us if you have a problem, okay? its what friends do." Applejack said, smiling.

"Wait, do you mean?"

"Yep."

"R-really?" Sunset asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Now eat up." Applejack said, patting Sunset on the shoulder and walking off. Sunset felt a smile creep into her face.

After finishing the pie and bidding goodbye to the Apple family, Sunset got in the family truck, and Big Mac drove off to the school. The entire ride went on with relative silence. Sunset tried to start a conversation, but Big Mac being the strong silent type; she only got 'Eeyup' and 'Nope'. Along the ride, Sunset got a message from Celestia saying that Luna was at the school to pick her up. After getting to the school, Sunset saw Luna's black sports car and walked over to it and got on the passenger seat. The ride back home felt a little uncomfortable as Sunset has never been with Luna alone.

"So, how was the day?" Sunset heard Luna ask.

"U-um… i-it was okay." Sunset quickly said.

"What did you do?" Luna asked. From the way she sounded, Sunset could tell that Luna was also having trouble talking with her.

"Um… I… I cleaned the storage."

"I'm guessing there was a lot to clean. Granny Smith said you were exhausted and sent you to get some sleep."

"Y-yeah I-I was." Luna might have noticed something from the slight waver in Sunset's voice as she pointedly looked at Sunset.

Luna turned her car to their driveway and parked it in the garage. Sunset tried to leave the car, but Luna stopped her.

"Wait for a second, Sunset. I'd like to talk with you." Luna said.

"T-talk with me?" Sunset asked.

"Yes. Sunset, since that night, you've been holding a lot of grief, haven't you? And I know you are hiding something."

"W-what do you mean?" Sunset asked nervously.

"Sunset, let me tell you a story. When Celestia and I were in high school, things weren't better between us. She was always ahead of me. Yes, we both had high marks, but Celestia was always the top of her class." Luna began.

"Because of that, she always gets praised. And it made me jealous. But instead of trying harder, I began to hang out with some bad kids. One day, I went to one of their houses for a party. I didn't tell anyone about it. But Celestia knew something was wrong and found me. I was drunk that night. When Celestia came to my friend's house and snapped at me, I went mad and… I… snatched someone's keys and ran away. I-I got in a car a-and… I-It all happened so fast. I-I hit her, Sunset." Luna said, tears falling down her face. Sunset gasped and held her hands over her mouth.

"T-the doctors said she might not be able to have any children of her own. I-I was sent to juvie for almost 3 years. B-but Celestia came to see me every time she could. After I was released, I continued my studies and now look at me. I'm now the vice-principal alongside my sister." Luna said. "Sunset, let me ask you something. Is what happened that night, my fault?"

"U-um… i-it's…" Sunset stammered.

"Tell me."

"U-um… y-you were drunk and… y-you didn't know that would happen."

"Yes, I didn't know what would happen. But it is my fault. I'm the reason why Celestia can't have children. If I didn't go to the party that night, none of it would happen. Isn't it the same with what happened to you?"

"I-it's-"

"You didn't know that would happen if you put on the crown, did you?" Sunset shook her head.

"But still, what happened that night is your fault. You let your emotions take control, and you almost destroyed everything." Sunset looked down. "But Sunset, that doesn't mean you have to live in the past, fretting over what happened. Everyone makes mistakes in their life. A life without mistakes is a failure. You can't change the past. All you can do is learn from the past and make sure you don't make the same mistakes again, and try to right the wrongs that you caused."

Luna reached over to Sunset and held her shoulder.

"You are a good kid, Sunset. From what I understand, you have been walking down a dark path without anyone to help you turn back. But now you do. You have Celestia, me, you have Fluttershy, and many others, who have yet to stand by you. So cheer up Sunset. You can fix everything. And I know you are going to be the nicest niece I could ask for." Luna said. "Now come on. Tia's waiting for us. And you must tell us what you are hiding." After Luna finished, they left the car and went inside, where Celestia was waiting for them at the dinner tables.