//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 (Edited by: Moonriseoversunset) // Story: You Will Never Be Alone // by Leo Luce //------------------------------// "So, how was the day?" Celestia asked Sunset that night at dinner. "It was great. Pinkie took me to the local orphanage to cheer up the kids," Sunset said, smiling at what happened there. Celestia and Luna looked at Sunset with concerned faces. Sunset, noticing this, quickly alleviated any worry, "It's fine. Believe it or not, I'm glad Pinkie took me there. Because I met someone amazing." "Oh, who was it?" Luna asked. "Well, I was trying to play with the kids, but it didn't work that well. When I was about to leave out of frustration, I saw this girl. She was away from the others, all alone. Her name was Snowdrop. I wanted to see why she was not going to play with others." Sunset said before her face left some of its colors. "She was blind, and because of that, no one wanted to be friends with her; she was so sad because of that. I understood what she felt because I know how it feels. No one wanted to adopt her because of her blindness or be her friend. It's so unfair. With me, it's my own fault for not having any friends." "Oh, Sunset, don't say that," Celestia said, holding Sunset's hand over the table. "Well, that's the truth, and she was alone for something she didn't do. She had no control over the matter. It's not like she wanted to be born blind," Sunset spoke with passionate anger in her voice. "She was born blind?" Luna asked. "Yeah," Sunset said, calming down. "She was, but… she isn't actually… blind. I mean, she is blind, she can't see with her eyes, but she doesn't need her eyes. It's just different." "Different?" Celestia asked. "Yeah, that's what really special about her. After I got to know her, we talked a bit. And she actually can walk around without a blind cane. She can hear if there's something in front of her. It's kind of like how bats find their way." Sunset said with a bright smile. "Wow, really?" Luna asked, amazed. "Yeah, well, she can't sense everything like what's on a table, but she can pretty much see, from her ears. Snowdrop said she has trouble with stairs sometimes when she's in a place she doesn't recognize, says they look like a wall to her at times." "She really sounds special," Celestia said. "Mm-hm, she also said she could hear the stars." "Hear the stars? That's not possible," Luna said. "I thought so too. So I asked the director about her, and she actually confirmed all of this. Every night, Snowdrop would sit on her bed and look up at the sky through her window like stargazing." Sunset said. "I just wish someone would adopt her soon," Sunset said with a sigh. "Don't worry, Sunset, now that she has you, everything will be fine. Why, just a couple of weeks ago, you were so lost, with no one. But look at you now, you've made a lot of progress, and today, you made your first friend all on your own," Celestia said, smiling at the fiery-haired girl. "I couldn't be more proud of you." After dinner, Sunset went to her room. She picked up her new guitar and began to play it. Celestia, her mom, buying it for her after she was adopted. Sunset was still getting used to calling her that despite her wanting it for so long. She was so engulfed in her music, she almost missed the knocking at the door. Abruptly stopping the string, she focused her attention on the door as the series of knocks ended. "Sunset, can I come in?" She heard Luna call from the other side. 'Wow, I never thought I'd hear it from her.' Sunset thought. "Y-yeah, come in." She said, putting her guitar down. Luna opened the door a little and poked her head inside. "Um… Sunset, if you don't have anything to do… can you come down to the basement? I'd like to show you something," Luna said. "Isn't that off limit?" "Not anymore," Luna said, closing the door. Sunset stared in silent shock at the door for a while. "Well, let's get going." Sunset placed her guitar back in her case and walked out of the room. She went downstairs and looked down at the basement. "What could possibly be in there?" She asked herself. "Well, here goes nothing." She braced herself for what is coming and walked down the basement, and knocked on the door. The door suddenly opened with Luna smiling at Sunset. Luna dramatically spread her arms as she declared, "Welcome to the 'Moon Lair'." "What is all this?" Sunset asked, dumbstruck as she was led inside. "Hehe, it's just as I thought. Didn't expect this? It's pretty neat, huh?" Luna said with a smirk. "Neat? That's an understatement. I would've never imagined," Sunset said, looking at all the colorful LED light scattered everywhere and the enormous flatscreen TV with all sorts of gaming systems attached. There was a complete gaming PC setup on the right side of the TV, and there were shelves filled with CDs and cartridges. "One little thing, by the way," Luna said. "What is it, miss Luna?" "No one, I repeat no one, should ever know about this. Right? Or you are gonna have a bad time," Luna said, looking Sunset dead in the eyes. "And also, please call me Luna, or aunt or whatever outside of school. We are family, remember?" "Y-yes mi- aunt." "Now come on, have you ever played any video games?" Luna asked. "Um… no. I never had money to play games." Sunset said. "Well, we have to fix that. I know, let's begin with the classics." Luna said as she walked over to a shelf and picked up a cartridge and an old Sega genesis. She hooked it into the TV. She plugged the cartridge and turned on the game. The game began with the Sega logo. "Here," Luna said, handing a controller to Sunset. The game went to the title screen, and Sunset read the name. It said 'Sonic the Hedgehog'. "Classic Sonic the Hedgehog. A platformer like this will be great for you to get accustomed to the controller." "I've heard of this," Sunset said. She pressed start and began the game. "Green Hill Zone," Sunset said, reading the stage name. "Yep. The controls are pretty simple. Use the 'D-pad' to move, 'A' to jump. Figure out the special move by yourself." Luna said. "Okay, let's do this." And Sunset began to play her first game. It took a while for her to get used to the controls, but being a fast learner, she soon got the hang of it and beat the first few stages with ease. "Jump! Jump! Jump, you need to jump!" "That's what I'm going to do, mom...- aw shoot!" Sunset said when she got hit by a spike ball on one of the seesaws. "That's your last life, but you did pretty well for a new gamer," Luna said. "Thanks, Luna… wait- mom!" Sunset suddenly exclaimed when she realized who she talked to before and looked back. She saw Celestia standing behind them. "H-how long have you been there?" "Quite a while, actually. I see Luna gave you permission to enter the 'Lair'." Celestia said with air quotes. "Hehe… yeah," Sunset said, stroking the back of her neck. "Anyway, it's getting late, so you should go to bed now. You have school tomorrow." "It's that late already?" Sunset said, looking at the clock. "That's a little side effect when you get into playing games. So heads up next time." Luna said, patting Sunset's shoulder. After leaving the 'Lair', Sunset went to her room to call it a night. She was so happy about the day. She made not one but two friends, though she had a feeling that Pinkie was her friend even before today. To top it all off, she got to see another side of her aunt Luna. She flopped in bed and about to fall asleep when she heard Celestia calling her from the other side of the door. "Sunset, can I talk to you for a sec?" "Yeah, come in," Sunset said. Celestia opened the door and walked over to Sunset's bed to sit on it. "So… what do you wanna talk about?" "Well, first I need to tell you that I'm really proud of you. You came a long way since that night," Celestia said. "Thanks, mom. I've been trying my best." "I actually want to talk to you about what you said at dinner today." "At dinner?" Sunset asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, about Snowdrop. I'm happy that you became friends with her. Though I have a feeling that when you said someone should adopt her… you didn't mean… someone random, did you?" "W-what do you mean?" Sunset asked. "Don't be afraid I'm not complaining or anything. What I mean is when you said that... the way you said it, it almost felt like you want her to be your sister." "M-my… well… s-she…" Sunset stuttered. "It's okay, calm down," Celestia said, holding Sunset's shoulder. "Just tell me this. I already talked to Luna about this. Do you want a sister?" "U-um… it would be nice… but… I-I can't ask you that… y-you've already-" "Sunset, like you, I also wanted a family. Since what happened with Luna and me when we were in high school… I knew my life wouldn't be easy," Celestia said, stroking Sunset's hair. "But my sister stood with me. Then you came alone to color my world. And now you want to add one more color to it. So how can I say no? Plus, I've always wanted a big family." Sunset kept looking at her Principal turned mom. She had tears rolling down her face. They weren't tears of sadness in her eyes, but of joy. That overwhelming sense of familial desire, along with her mom's words, quickly brought tears to Sunset's own eyes. Sunset quickly enveloped her mom in a hug. "I also want a big family," Sunset softly said. After a few more minutes, they let go of each other, and they both dried their tears off their faces. "It will take some time for me to adopt her, though. First, we have to make her a room. It won't be easy. She's maybe special because of her abilities, but she still will need help. So we should be prepared for that. Luna and I would also like to meet Snowdrop personally and get to know her, too," Celestia said. "Yeah, I know. And I will be with you and Aunt Luna through it all." Sunset said. "Now get some sleep. You have school tomorrow." Celestia said softly. "Okay," Sunset said, shifting under blankets. Just as Celestia was about to leave, Sunset sleepily said, "I love you, mom." Celestia stopped and looked at Sunset before she smiled, "I love you too, my Little Sun." Sunset suddenly stirred awake and stood up. She looked around to see that she was once again in that empty void with the light emitting from far. But when she looked at the light, she saw it was way closer than it was before. "What's going on?" Sunset asked no one in particular. "What are you trying to say?" But she got no reply. Sunset then tried to run towards the light but just like before, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get an inch closer. "Come on. Answer me! What is the meaning of this?!?" Sunset shouted after stopping to catch some breath. A blinding light suddenly answered her, and everything went black before she woke up the next morning to the alarm clock.