Sunset made her way down the castle corridors to meet Celestia as she promised and. Bitterness and anger were all that remained against her parents
They thought they could just step in like they did?! She thought, baring her teeth, I have total control of my life and they lost their privileges when they skipped out on her for over six months without a single letter!
Opening the door to Celestia’s private quarters, she spotted the alicorn next to her unlit fireplace writing something on a scroll before sending it off with her magic.
“How did it go with your parents?” she asked.
Not holding back, huh?
Sunset sighed, “Not well...”
Celestia turned to her with a surprised look, “What? What happened?”
“What do you think happened?” Sunset growled, “Those two ponies skipped out on me for more than six months! Six months! And they had the audacity to try and boss me around when I’ve been making my own choices in my own life?! They lost their privileges, Princess Celestia!” She frowned, closing her eyes to keep her tears from falling, “Nopony deserves to go through that amount of time without hearing a peep from her folks when they have busy jobs. They claim they read all my letters and didn’t take the time to even respond to me even for a few minutes.”
“What?” Celestia asked, completely shocked.
Sunset nodded, facing Celestia with a serious and solemn look, “I don’t want to see them. Just...try to understand...” She knew Celestia would try to help in any way she can, but she had to let her know the facts about her parents.
Celestia couldn’t believe what she had heard. Sunset’s parents hadn’t responded in over six months? No wonder she wanted to find friends in the first place.
“Oh, Sunset, I had no idea...” she said.
“It’s not your fault,” replied Sunset, “I wasn’t very open about it anyway...”
“If there’s anything I can do...”
“Yeah. I know.”
Sunset looked away as Celestia frowned. Celestia made a note to contact Sunset’s parents and talk to them about this sometime but vowed to respect Sunset’s wishes during this tough time.
“What was on the scroll?” Sunset suddenly asked.
Celestia blinked, “Oh, I was sending a note to a village, remember how I told you I knew of a place and needed to do a bit of research?”
“Yes?”
“I found a place and the note I sent explained everything from how you need some seclusion and time to have the baby. I even sent a note to Copper requesting his presence, as well as your apology on getting him to do what you did.”
“Okay,” Sunset frowned, hating that she just took advantage the way she did.
“I didn’t send a note to his family just yet because I figured we’d sort things out between you two first.”
Sunset grimaced but she slowly nodded, “Fine.” She remembered how she'd been trying to reach and contact him for weeks to reconcile, but it was almost as if he'd disappeared from the face of the world.
Celestia and Sunset didn’t hear from Copper after the alicorn sent him a couple of letters to meet her and Sunset in the castle to discuss the latest development.
Nothing came.
Sunset allowed Celestia to send a letter to Copper’s family explaining that they need to see him. While they did respond, they told them that Copper couldn’t come over for personal reasons. Sunset, knowing Copper and his shyness, vowed to go find him herself and she probably knows where he is. She and Celestia talked it over and Celestia arranged for Sunset to be airlifted to Vanhoover. Celestia tracked down the family’s address and Sunset was airlifted to the city.
Coming upon a white mansion two storeys high. She knocked on the door and a butler answered the door. Sunset made her way in and pushed past a couple of other butlers to find Copper’s mother and father sitting in the living room. They were surprised to see Sunset.
“Where is Copper?” she demanded.
“Uh, maybe you...” Copper’s mom started, but Sunset glared hard.
“Where is he? This is royal business.”
Suddenly, she heard a clatter from a room in the back. Her head snapped in that direction and she began trotting after it. The butlers were moving to stop her, but Copper’s father held up a hoof, standing up as Sunset went after the noise.
Outside, Sunset found Copper trotting away by the pool. She held a firm look and stopped him by enveloping him in her magic. He yelped in shock before she turned him around to face her. She had a hard look on her face.
“There you are,” she said, trying to soften her features “You’ve been requested at the castle for the past two days. Why haven’t you responded?”
“I-I’ve been busy...” he stammered out.
“Busy? For weeks I've been trying to reach out and patch things up and tell you how much I need you. You clearly weren’t busy when I came in. So why didn’t you respond?” Sunset leaned closer to him, “Did you know that I am pregnant?”
Copper gulped as sweat poured down his forehead. He nodded.
Sunset let him on the ground, “I needed you, Copper. I can’t face this alone.”
“I...I...” Copper stammered, “I do...care...but...”
“But what?!” Sunset shouted, her eyes threatening to leak tears, “Don’t you love me? Did you not care when Celestia and I called you for an urgent matter?”
“Sunset...”
“Don’t you ‘Sunset’ me,” the mare leaned closer as Copper’s parents watched with wide eyes, “Explain yourself. Now.”
“I... I can’t...”
“What do you mean you can’t? I've accepted what I've done and I'm again very sorry,” Sunset choked, "Please, tell me."
“I just can’t...” Copper muttered, looking embarrassed.
Sunset laughed dryly, unable to believe how he was acting, “What? So, you’re just going to not help me out with this?”
Copper sulked, looking away.
“Oh, don’t give me that!” Sunset cried, “If you leave me, you’re abandoning your child! You’re pulling off a real dirty move if you just back off,” some tears rolled down her cheeks, “Didn’t you promise...”
She whispered, “That you’ll stick by me no matter what?”
Silence. Sunset waited for an answer with her hurt, teary eyes. The butlers, Copper’s parents, and his sister watched as the two ponies stared at one another. Copper whimpered, slightly looking away. Sunset almost made him look at her but she decided against it.
“Copper...please...” she pleaded, “I'm sorry but I don't want to be left alone...” She whimpered, “I need you...”
Copper shrank back from Sunset’s pleading gaze. He looked scared and sad.
“Please...” Sunset pleaded.
Copper took a step back. Then another.
“C-Copper?” Sunset whispered.
Copper took more steps back, looking ashamed.
“Copper don’t...” Sunset choked.
The stallion continued backing up before he turned and broke off into a run.
“Copper!” Sunset wailed.
The stallion didn’t return to her. Sunset stood there, frozen and alone to deal with the baby. It took her a full minute before she realized Copper has abandoned her.
Sunset collapsed onto her haunches and began sobbing into her hooves, never felt so betrayed in her life by the one friend and pony she ever fell in love with vanishing like a mist.