“I don’t hate you Mac.” Applejack sighed, pacing in front of her brother who sat on his bed, head hanging as he couldn’t bring himself to look into her eyes. “You are my big brother, and it would take a lot to make me hate you.”

“You should hate me.” Mac sighed, “I fell in love with her, sis. I just wanted to see her, to be with her, I didn’t know what we were doing was hurting her. I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

“Mac, despite how disappointed I am in you over this, I don’t hate you. Heck, I’m not even that mad anymore.” Applejack sighed, thinking of her new friend who she could tell even before today was trying to be strong even while something was bothering her. She even tried to bring it up, but Sunset had said she just had a lot on her mind and needed to sort it out herself. Of course she didn’t really believe that was all it was, but she respected the girl’s privacy if she didn’t want to talk about it yet. “Just tell me this, why even go to a place like that to begin with?”

“It wasn’t like I wanted to go to begin with, sis. I normally wouldn’t ever do this, you got to believe me.” Mac pleaded, looking up to Applejack with tears in his eyes. She really hated seeing the big lug cry as he was usually the strong, quiet type and hardly ever got like this.

“I do believe you, Mac.” Applejack sighed, sitting next o him and put a hand on his knee. “I believe you, I know you have more respect than to knowingly do something to demean anyone.”

“You remember that rich guy I saved a few years ago?” Mac asked, seeing Applejack nod before continuing. “I refused any repayment, but he insisted he at least take me out for drinks. While I really didn’t want any alcohol, I figured a good meal wouldn’t hurt and maybe it would make him feel better as he seemed to really want to do something. When we got to the Lotus Blossom I was a little unsure if I wanted to go in there, but he pretty much dragged me in, but the kitchen was closed because it was a special night there.”

“Special night?” Applejack asked, swallowing nervously. Maybe she shouldn’t be making Mac tell her this as it involved Sunset to and she didn’t want to hurt her friend anymore than she was already. Before she could either decide to stop Mac or not, he continued shocking her deeply.

“They were auctioning some girl off for her first night.” Mac explained, getting a faraway look in his eyes. “She was so beautiful and she seemed kind of shy, yet when our eyes locked over the crowd I felt as if we were the only two in the room. Before I knew it the guy I was with won the auction and pushed me into following her. I had no idea what to do, she led me downstairs and we talked for awhile before we…”

“I don’t need to hear the details, Mac!” Applejack cried out jumping up to her feet.

“Sorry, AJ.” Mac said as he shifted a little. “Anyways, when I came back up the man was there with a huge grin and gave me his ring that he told me got me privileges in the club and a prepaid account there that I could use to see her as much as I wanted.”

“And it was Sunset?” Applejack asked, feeling she needed to make sure.

“Yeah, though she was going by Lotus.” Mac said, “Though I know now they made all the girls go by flower names.”

“Mac, this isn’t Pretty Woman. Did you really think that she was going to just fall into your arms and let you take her away?” Applejack asked, having a feeling he did think just that.

“I tried, I asked every time we were together, but she always turned me down gently.” Mac sighed. “I even asked her to marry me once.”

“Oh Mac.” Applejack sighed, getting to the point of being unable to hold any sort of anger at the idiot. He truly believed that Sunset was happy being with him and hoping she would come home with him someday. It was really sad, both of them ended up being hurt, though Mac could have prevented it all if he just did the right thing and reported the auction to begin with. It was illegal any way you looked at it, but hearing about the big shots at the police department getting in trouble, she doubted they would do anything.

“Do you hate me?” Mac asked, fear plain in his eyes.

“No, Mac, I don’t hate you. I do want you to understand that you can’t keep pushing Sunset right now. She doesn’t hate you either, any idiot can see that, but she’s hurting and she doesn’t need a guy pushing her into anything right now.” Applejack explained, “If you care for her, let her have some space when she comes over. She’s trying to find peace, and she can’t find that if you or anybody else keeps pushing her.”

“I just want her to know that I’m sorry.” Mac sobbed out breaking Applejack’s heart. She wasn’t sure how much of this was true love, but she could see that he cared for Sunset and knowing her hurt her was tearing him up inside.

“She knows, Mac. She forgives you, but she’s having trouble being around guys too much.” Applejack sighed, “She tries to hide it most of the time, but it’s there if you just look.”

“She was never scared of guys before.” Mac said, shaking his head sadly.

“Maybe something happened to her before she got away from that place that changed it, I don’t know. All I know is that she is a sweet gal, Mac. She doesn’t deserve what she went through.” Applejack sighed, whishing that she knew how to actually help her friend. “I’m still disappointed in you big brother, but I love you. We won’t be telling Applebloom any of this though. She doesn’t need to know about this.”

“Thank you.” Mac sighed, “It’s better than I deserve.”

“I think you are punishing yourself enough as is anyways. I’m not stupid Mac, I can see that you are torn up over this. You made some stupid mistakes, but I know you never meant to hurt her on purpose.” Applejack said, “I’m going to bed, Mac. Goodnight, big brother.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Noooo please! Please stop it! SUNSET!” Came Midnight’s voice from her room stopping Velvet as she was passing by the room after checking on Twilight and making sure she was asleep. It was late at night and Velvet just couldn’t sleep after what her husband had told her. She felt really bad for judging the girl before, but hearing the pleas for the girl to stop hurting Middy in her dreams again was tearing Velvet up.

How could anybody think that little whore was anything but trouble? After comforting Midnight nearly every night from nightmares that usually involved her daughter begging that bitch to stop hurting her how else was Velvet supposed to feel? She knew her emotions weren’t exactly stable without her meds, they hadn’t been since losing Midnight the first time, but she knew she was right about Sunset.

Slowly making her way into the room, Velvet sat on the bed and gently shook her newly returned daughter’s shoulder to wake her from the nightmare. And once again Midnight buried herself into Velvet’s embrace sobbing loudly.

“I’m so sorry, Sunset! I’m sorry I got you hurt! I’m so sorry!” Midnight sobbed as Velvet held her daughter close, rubbing her back as for what was probably the first time truly listening to Midnight instead of just pieces her highly emotional state picked out. She knew she needed her medicine and was once again taking it giving her a clearer mind. Clear enough to listen to her husband’s story earlier and Midnight’s cries now enough to rearrange the pieces of the apparently ill-fitting puzzle pieces to form a better picture. Midnight’s nightmares wasn’t her begging Sunset to stop hurting her, she was crying out for Sunset begging somebody to stop hurting the poor girl.

“What have I done?” Velvet asked herself softly as her own tears joined her daughters as she held the teen and kept stroking her hair. She had apparently poorly misjudged Sunset Shimmer, but as bad as she felt, she still wasn’t too sure if she wanted the girl involved in any way with her daughter. It wasn’t that she was still blaming her, but she was afraid that seeing her would make things worse for her.

“Your safe, Middy.” Velvet sniffed, “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you ever again.”

“What if somebody hurts Sunset.” Midnight cried as she pulled away from Velvet making the older woman sigh sadly. She didn’t know what to do, all she wanted was to keep her baby safe. She didn’t want her to have reminders of the hell that she had been through forced on her, but Midnight was worried sick about the other girl.

“Nobody will hurt your friend, honey. She’s being taken care of by one of my best friends and she is okay.” Velvet said softly, “I’ll make you a deal. If you listen to the doctor for the rest of the month I’ll talk to my friend and see if we can’t have them over for dinner one night.”

“You mean it?” Midnight asked, hope filling her eyes. While she was still unsure about her daughter seeing this girl, the happy look in Middy’s eyes was something that melted Velvet’s heart.

“Yes, I promise.” Velvet said, unable to help smiling as Midnight hugged her for the first time when not needing comfort. “I love you Middy.”

She really wished her daughter would say it back, but she was happy that Midnight seemed to be genuinely happy. Something the girl didn’t seem to be much since coming home. Despite wanting to hear those words so much, she would wait for them however long she needed to as long as her little girl was safe.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunset Shimmer stirred as she felt somebody over her, panic starting to take over making her try to pull away though something was blocking her escape as she tried to push away. She was felt as if she was going to hyperventilate when she felt the soft cushions behind her as her eyes started to adjust to the dark room seeing a feminine shape above her, dropping something that was held over her.

“Luna?” Sunset asked softly, realizing who this person had to be.

“No sweetie, my sister is making us some coffee in the kitchen.” That voice said softly as Sunset realized two things. The woman had been putting a blanket on her and this woman was Celestia. Anger started filling the teen as she sat up, pushing the woman away angrily.

“Get the hell away from me you bitch!” Sunset hissed out.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just saw thought you could use a blanket.” Celestia sighed, a light flicking on illuminating the room and the tear stained face of the woman before her. At first Sunset was going to yell at her more, but the look on Celestia’s face stopped her. Sunset was many things, yet she wasn’t cold hearted no matter how much she hated Celestia. There was no way she could yell at the woman who had such a sad, defeated look about her.

“It’s fine.” Sunset said evenly, unable to be nice to the woman though she decided she could be civil for now. She had to wonder where this world’s Sunset was, in an orphanage somewhere most likely.

“Sunset, why do you hate me so much?” Celestia asked taking a step back as Luna came up behind her.

“Sister, I don’t think now is a good time to talk about this.” Luna said softly, “Let’s just get the tests sorted out for the girls.”

“No, I think we should talk about this now.” Sunset said, turning to look away from Celestia. She really wanted to know despite something telling her she was better off not knowing. “I’ve been wanting to know something. Is there a reason you are taking care of me? Maybe I remind you of somebody?”

“Sunset, please drop it.” Luna pleaded, but Celestia shook her head making her darker haired sister sigh.

“No, it’s okay. Maybe if she understands she will actually see me as a different person and not the Celestia from her world.” Celestia said shocking Sunset even more than she thought possible. “I don’t know if you are the daughter of your world’s Celestia, but I was going to have a daughter and name her Sunset Shimmer. She was stillborn though and not a day goes by that I don’t think of her or what could have been. I don’t know what happened between that other Celestia and you, but I’m not her.”

“You know I’m not from here?” Sunset asked in shock.

“It doesn’t matter to us, you are a young woman who has been hurt badly and it should never have happened. You are your own person and I care for you as such and would do anything to help you.” Luna said as the two took their own seats in chairs facing the couch where Sunset sat up with her legs folded under her.

“How do you know?” Sunset asked softly.

“Honestly, about two and a half years ago your world’s Celestia came out of the base of the statue at the school. It scared the heck out of us at first, but she said she was looking her student who ran away. She said she was very worried and explained how the portal worked. She said she couldn’t stay for long because her people needed her, but begged us to look for you and send you through the portal when it opened again. Personally if it opened back up I’d give you a choice if you wanted to stay or not because I don’t really trust her.” Celestia explained.

“So you know Twily and me aren’t really from here?” Sunset asked in shock, looking from one woman to the other.

“Yes, we know, but you shouldn’t go around telling that to people. You will get labeled crazy at best or strapped to a dissection table at worst.” Luna sighed making Sunset shiver. She had read several science fiction books where the alien was used for cruel testing. Not something she wanted to experience first hand.

“Sunset, why do you hate me so much? What did that Celestia do to you?” Celestia asked, sadness tinting her voice.

“I was taken from the orphanage when I was very young as Celestia’s apprentice. For awhile everything was actually nice, but it hurt every time I tried to call her mom that she told me I just couldn’t do that. That it would cause problems among the noble houses if I did. It hurt, but I stopped doing it, but I did everything I could to make friends and do good at my lessons.” Sunset explained, leaning back into the plush cushions of the couch while hugging herself. “I always loved her as a mother, but I obeyed her until I found an old journal one day in her chambers. I wasn’t supposed to be looking around her room like that, but I went looking for her and found it and several other old books on her bed. Curious, I looked through one and found that it was her personal diary. I found entries that pointed that she had a baby and gave her up for adoption to having to take that same baby as an apprentice because of her powerful magic. And that same baby kept calling her mom which she just couldn’t allow despite wishing she could.”

“That bitch, how could she.” Celestia seethed shocking Sunset a little, Luna obviously having the same reaction to her story.

“Very easy I guess, she just wasn’t proud of me. I did everything I could to make her proud though. I stopped playing around and hanging out with my friends and buried myself in my studies. I needed to become smarter and stronger then she would acknowledge me. The thing is she never did and even stopped bothering to try when she brought a new student into the castle and ignored me.” Sunset said pulling a cushion into her arms to hug. “I hated that new student, stalked her trying to figure out what was so special about her and somehow I developed a crush on her.”

“Twilight?” Gasped Luna, earning a nod from Sunset.

“Yeah, after confronting Celestia about neglecting me she showed me the mirror that was the portal to this world. She told me about it and had me look into it and I saw myself older and powerful, a full fledged alicorn bathed in fire. It scared and excited me, it meant I was meant to be an alicorn which meant I was supposed to be a princess. And if I became a princess then mom would have to acknowledge me then, right?” Sunset scoffed, “Well I was wrong, she became even more distant and told me I wasn’t ready. I went around her and studied forbidden magic in the Royal Library to see if there was someone to become an alicorn without her help. If she wouldn’t help me become one, then I’d do it myself and prove to her that I was good enough to be loved.”

“Honey, you didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t care what her reasons were, you were her daughter and you should have been loved just because of that.” Celestia sniffed, “I would never have turned you away like that and if you want you will always have a home with me or my sister.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know what to feel about you. I’m not feeling as hurt or angry at you as I was at first. You aren’t the same Celestia who told me I was no longer welcome in the castle if I wasn’t going to be good.” Sunset said getting shocked gasps from both.

“She threw you out of your own home?” Luna asked, fingers digging into the chair arms.

“You are not going back there! I don’t give a damn what that bitch says, she doesn’t deserve you!” Celestia snapped shocking Sunset as the woman got up and stalked over to Sunset. The teen didn’t trust this Celestia, but for the first time since being there she didn’t fight against her as the woman pulled her into a hug. “I might not be your real mother, but I’m close enough. And I’ll never let that bitch take you back.”

Author's Note

This chapter is a little short because we wanted to get it down so we could let everyone know that we are going on vacation and may not be on tomorrow either. We should be back next weekend though. We are going to try to do at least a short chapter for Music is Magic also if possible.