//------------------------------//
// Chapter 01 (Edited by: Moonriseoversunset) 
// Story: You Will Never be Alone : 7 Part Harmony 
// by Leo Luce 
//------------------------------//

"Apparently, Princess Celestia felt lazy and didn't want to get out of the bed. Princess Luna had to get her out," Sunset read Twilight's response in her journal when she was Celestia's student.

"So you all panicked, thought something happened to her, gathered everyone to rescue them, only to find Princess Celestia was just being lazy? That's something I never thought I would hear of her," Sunset wrote back with slight amusement and complete disbelief.

"Well, she's a lot different when she's not tied down by princess duties," Twilight wrote before continuing. "So, you still don't want to talk to her?"

Sunset drummed the pen on the page. Merely thinking of talking to the Princess again caused anxious thoughts to fill her head. Suffice it to say, it took a while before she found herself responding back.

"Sorry, I'm just not ready yet." Now it was Twilight's time to wait.

"Well, it's your choice. But Sunset, she really wants to talk to you," Sunset bit her lip as she looked at the massage for a while. 

'Did she really? I failed her. Why would she want that?' she thought.

"Oh, Sunset, I just remembered. Celestia said she felt something change within the elements."

"What do you mean, she felt something?" Sunset wrote back, already suspecting what it was.

"Yes. I first thought it was because of the battle of the band. But she didn't felt anything the night at the fall, the night the portal closed."

Sunset already knew what it was. It has to have something to do with what happened to her at the battle of the band. She didn't tell anyone about it yet. She looked behind to see Fluttershy walking towards her from inside the school.

"Gotta go Twilight. We'll talk about this later. I promised Fluttershy that I'll meet her parents today."

"Good luck with that, see you," Twilight wrote. Sunset smiled at that. "See you," She wrote before closing the journal and getting up.

"Was that Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, pointing at the journal.

"Yeah, it is," Sunset said before looking away. Seeing the normally confident Sunset be nervous, Fluttershy smiled before speaking.

"You don't have to worry, you know. My parents are very sweet. I'm sure they won't say anything bad."

"Well, they did know I bullied you. It's not exactly the best first impression."

"No, it is not. But they didn't meet you yet. It's the old Sunset that they know about," Fluttershy said, holding Sunset's arm.

"If you say so," Sunset said, though she still had fear in her voice.

"I know they'll just love you."

Sunset bit her lip, "Are you sure you don't want to go to the animal shelter first?" The deadpan she received from Fluttershy was her answer. "Right. Okay, you got this Sunset Shimmer. You've faced down a whole different world, learned how to use hands, turned into a demon, got a new sister, saved the world from power-hungry sirens hellbent on conquering this world. You can meet the parents of the girl your dating."

They made their way to the bus station and took a bus. The bus ride was relatively silent as they got comfort from their presence. Though Fluttershy did hear Sunset trying to keep herself brave. Before long, the bus came to their stop, and the two got off the bus holding hands, or more like clutching in the case of Sunset. Fluttershy led the way to her house with Sunset beside her. Fluttershy's house, compared to Celestia's house, was a lot smaller. It was a small two-story house. Fluttershy walked up the stairs and open the door. Sunset gathered her courage, and with a deep breath, she stepped inside behind Fluttershy.

"Mom, I'm home," She shouted. "And I have a friend with me," Sunset just stood tensely, slightly hidden behind Fluttershy. Sunset normally wasn't a coward, but Fluttershy's mom would at least wait for Fluttershy to move out of the way before throwing the knife her way while she escaped through the front door, right?

"Hold on, sweetie, I'm coming," They heard a woman call out from the back of the house. Before long, a woman with crimson hair showed up and looked at the girls. "Sweetie, how was-" She stopped herself when she saw Sunset standing there. Sunset looked up at Mrs. Shy. She smiled nervously as she slowly waved at her before she grabbed her elbow nervously.

"H-hi… Mrs. Shy…" She slowly said, in a nearly perfect impression of Fluttershy.

"Mom, this is Sunset," Fluttershy said, introducing her. Not that it is was necessary as Mrs. Shy already knew who it is.

"I thought that's who it was," She said, eyeing Sunset with a suspicious glare. Sunset shrunk down under the intense stare of Mrs. Shy as she nervously looked at her. Thankfully, Fluttershy came to the rescue.

"Um… we'll be up in my room. We have some homework to finish," Fluttershy said before grabbing Sunset's arm and pulling Sunset with her.

"Okay, I'll leave you, girls, to it. Call me if you need anything," Mrs. Shy said without taking her eyes off of Sunset.

"Yep," Fluttershy said as she pulled Sunset up the stairs.

"Fluttershy?" Her mom called.

"Yes, mom?" Fluttershy said as she looked back at her mom.

"I mean it, anything."

"Yes, mam," Fluttershy said as she pulled Sunset along.

The first thing Sunset saw when she entered Fluttershy's room is all the animal posters and plushies. The walls were green, and everything was cleaned perfectly, unlike Sunset's room, which was a tiny bit untidy. The whole room screamed Fluttershy.

"You got a nice room there," Sunset said.

"Thanks," Fluttershy said, blushing. "Let's finish our homework first. W-we can hang out… l-later."

"Okay."

After that, they began to work on their homework. While working on their school work, Mrs. Shy came into the room with two glasses of orange juice and cookies for the girls to enjoy. But Sunset knew there's more to it than that when she saw the judging eyes of Mrs. Shy. After they finished their work, Sunset got a call from Celestia saying she'd be there around 6.00 to pick Sunset up. The girls decided to spend the rest of their time hanging out. Fluttershy showed Sunset her pet bunny Angel. Though Sunset was a little wary about him because she could swear he is plotting something behind her back. She would bet money she saw him glare at her and draw his paw across his neck. Overall, the day went perfectly, until they heard a car parking in the garage.

"Oh, dad's here," Fluttershy said.

"He is?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah," Fluttershy said before looking up at the clock. They have half an hour before 6.00 pm. "So, do you want to meet my parents now?" She asked.

"Um… I… o-okay…" Sunset said nervously. They left the room, and Fluttershy led Sunset down the staircase into the living room. Inside they found Mr. and Mrs. Shy talking over something in hushed tones. They stopped when they heard the girls coming.

"Oh, sweetie, are you done with your homework?" Mrs. Shy asked.

"Yes, mom, um… Sunset… this is my dad," Fluttershy said, introducing Sunset to her dad.

"H-hi… Mr. Shy…" Sunset said nervously.

"Hm… so you are this Sunset girl Fluttershy's been talking about, huh?" He said.

"Y-yeah…" Sunset said.

"Hm-hm… Fluttershy, can we talk with Sunset for a bit. Alone?" He asked, looking at Fluttershy. Sunset quickly looked at Fluttershy with pleading eyes. Fluttershy looked at her for a moment in doubt before smiling slightly.

"Y-yes," She said before turning to Sunset. "Sunset, don't worry. Everything will be fine," She said before leaving Sunset with her parents.
On the other hand, Mr. and Mrs. Shy glared at Sunset when Fluttershy left, which startled the fiery-haired girl when she looked back at them. After they got seated, Mr. Shy started the conversation.

"So… Sunset huh? I Gotta give it to you. I never thought I'd see the day where you were inside my house," Mr. Shy said. From the looks of it, it was Mr. Shy that was going to talk.

"Um… thanks…?" Sunset slowly said, unsure.

"You know, when we first find out that Fluttershy had a girlfriend, we were so happy for her. But then we found out it was you," he said. Sunset said nothing and kept holding her head down, slightly wincing at his tone. "Do you know how many times Fluttershy came home crying for what you did to her?"

Again Sunset stayed quiet though her wince was more pronounced.

"So tell me, Sunset, do you really love her?" Mr. Shy asked. But Sunset didn't answer. Instead, she kept her head down, with her hair covering her face in a shadow. "That's what I-"

"I do," Sunset said.

"...What did you say?"

"I said that I love her," Sunset said, lifting her head up, looking at Mr. Shy, determination filling her face.

"You do? Okay then, answer me this. I need a true, honest answer. Why did you bully her? Why were you a bad person before, and what changed you that made someone like Principal Celestia want to adopt you?" Sunset's face turned into panic. Only her parents and her friends know about her true origin. All the students knew about her was that she and magic were tied together somehow and nothing else. But now Fluttershy's parents ask about her past.

"Well, are you going to answer me?"

"Um… well… that," Sunset didn't answer. She couldn't tell about her past. But for Fluttershy, she had to. And she knew the only way to gain the Shy's trust was to come clean. It's a risk, but she has to take that risk.

"Um, well, this may… sound a bit crazy, but I'm telling you the complete truth. If you need, you can ask Fluttershy or any of her friends. Or you can just talk to my mom about this when she picks me up," Sunset said.

"Okay, we're listening," Mr. Shy said.

Sunset took a deep breath before exhaling. She repeated the action to calm herself down. She thought she best begins from the beginning. So that's what she did. She started with Equestria, that she was an orphan back in then, how Princess took her in as a student, their fights and eventually the last fight, the first few months in the human world, and all the way to the day of the fall formal.

"So after that, principal Celestia adopted me. And I swore to change my ways," She finished. Sunset kept her head low, fearing what the Shy's might think. After a while, she gathered her courage and looked up at them.

Mrs. Shy looked confused. Mr. Shy had a poker face. No one spoke for a while, after what felt like an eternity, Mr. Shy spoke.

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" He asked.

"Um… I…"

"She's telling the truth," They heard Fluttershy saying from the staircase.

"Fluttershy? What are you doing here?" Mr. Shy asked.

"Um… I'm sorry, but I couldn't help but listen in on you. Plus, you were taking a really long time," She said shamefully. "But she's telling the truth. I-I didn't tell any of you about that because I was worried."

"Worried of what, sweetie?"

"I-I thought you wouldn't let me hang out with my friends anymore. W-we just got together and-"

"Oh sweetie, it's okay," Mrs. Shy said, walking up to Fluttershy.

"I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay, dear. But please do talk with us about things like this, okay? We are just worried about you."

"I agree with your mother, My Little Butterfly."

"Dad!" Fluttershy said, embarrassed about her childhood nickname.

"So Sunset? If what you are telling is true, then I'm assuming you will one day return to your world, right?" Mr. Shy asked. Sunset, for the first time, answered without hesitating.

"No, I will not," She said.

"No? But it's your home,"

"It's where I come from, but it's not home. This is my home now. Everyone I know, my family, friends… they are all here. I can't leave them. I won't," She said.

They then heard a car pull in the driveway outside their home.

"I guess that's mom. I'll go get my stuff," Sunset said before walking up the stairs with Fluttershy.

Mr. Shy walked up to the door and opened it. Sure enough. It was Celestia.

"Principal Celestia, good evening," He said.

"To you as well. So, how was the interrogation? Did Sunset pass?" She asked, smiling.

"I'm sorry?"

"You were going to interrogate her, didn't you?"

"Um… well…"

"He-he, it's all right. You have all the right to. You were just looking after your daughter."

Just then, Sunset walked down the stairs, and she looked at her mom before walking to her side. Celestia threw an arm around her and held her closer in a side hug. Sunset, for her part, looked at the Shys in slight embarrassment.

"Mom!" She whined.

"What?" Celestia asked playfully. She turned back to Mr. Shy. "It's nice to see you. I'm guessing we'll be seeing each other more often in the future?"

"Yes, of course," Mr. Shy said. They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Sunset got in the car, looked back at the house, and saw Fluttershy looking at her smiling. Sunset smiled back and waved to her before Celestia drove away.