It had been three days since she discovered Sweet Apple Acres, and each of those days she had come back and spent all morning helping Applejack with her chores as the two had quickly hit it off and become good friends. As close as they could be at least with Sunset hiding her past and a tension growing between her and Mac. Applejack knew that something was wrong there and despite it, she wanted to be there for Sunset, to be friends.

Stretching after loading the last basket of apples onto the back of the wagon, Sunset could almost feel every joint in her body popping. It was hard work, something she wasn’t used to as Applejack worked at least three times faster, but the blonde girl was grateful for the company as she loaded her last basket along side Sunset’s.

“Let’s get these to the barn and get something to drink.” Applejack said, taking her hat off and wiping her forehead with a towel that was hanging off the side of the small wagon.

“That sounds good, I can’t wait to get cleaned up and out of these clothes.” Sunset groaned, nearly panting from how tired she was. She couldn’t help picking at the tank top that she was wearing, the shorts just as uncomfortable. She would have preferred staying in her baggy outfit, but after the first day she learned that doing so was more miserable than the thought of wearing an outfit that showed so much.

“Sugarcube, no offense, but I can’t understand why the frumpy clothes. I mean you have a great body, I would have figured that you would show it off a little.” Applejack said, “Heck, I thought you were going to drop of a heat stroke the first day.”

“I have my reasons.” Sunset sighed, hopping up on the back of the wagon, letting her legs dangled off the end.

“I won’t push you sugarcube, I can see that you don’t want to talk about it. I’m here for you if you ever need somebody though.” Applejack said putting a hand on Sunset’s knee and looked up to the other girl giving a supportive smile.

“I’ll be fine, don’t you have plans with your other friends today?” Sunset asked, shifting nervously. She enjoyed spending time with the country girl, but she wished said girl would stop trying to get Sunset to come meet her friends. She more or less enjoyed helping with the chores as she kind of liked the Apple family and the work kept her mind busy while doing it. So it wasn’t like she wasn’t getting anything from volunteering to help Applejack with her chores.

“Not unless you want to come with me.” Applejack said, offering Sunset a towel which she gratefully accepted to wipe some of the sweat away.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t feel like being around a lot of people. It’s why I like it out here so much. Sure there are maybe a dozen people at most around at a time, but never all at once, you know?” Sunset said, untying her hair and letting it fall free of the ponytail it had been in. “It’s peaceful I guess, and honestly I like working with you.”

“You have no idea how much I appreciate it. You are the only one of my friends who are willing to help out her even if you aren’t used to this. All of the others always make excuses not to come, but I don’t blame them. This is hard work with no pay.” Applejack said.

“A piece of Granny’s apple pie is more than enough payment.” Sunset laughed.

“I don’t blame you darling, Granny’s apple pie is the best.” A young man who had a little resemblance to Mac said coming up to the two making Sunset begging to feel self conscious as his eyes traveled over her body making her shiver.

“Braeburn, your back!” Applejack said hugging the man a moment before pulling back. Sunset had briefly met the man in passing once recently as he came home but had to go take care of some business for the farm taking him away before the two could be introduced. Seeing the way he was looking at her, Sunset couldn’t help wishing that it was the same now.

“Well hey there cutie, are you new here?” Braeburn asked.

“She’s too young for you cuz, she’s my friend.” Applejack said, glaring at the newcomer.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with admiring such a beauty is there?” Braeburn asked making Sunset shiver a little. Some of the men talked that way back at the Blossom before they got behind closed doors, then it was entirely different. She tried, she really did, but she couldn’t hold back the whimper making both of them look at her with worry.

“You okay there, darling?” Braeburn asked as Sunset seemed to withdraw in on herself.

“I’ll take care of my friend, Braeburn, you better head on up and see Granny. She needed to talk to you when you get back.” Applejack said, Braeburn taking the hint and walking away as Sunset shivered. “Hey sugarcube, you okay.”

“I’m sorry.” Sunset squeaked out, finding it hard to control her voice much less her shivering as she hugged herself.

“You don’t look okay there, sugarcube.” Applejack said hopping up next to Sunset and hugging her. After a few moments Sunset was able to get herself under control before pulling back with a curled up nose.

“Oh wow we stink.” Sunset said, getting a bark of laughter from Applejack.

“That we do, sugarcube. Care to tell me what that was about?” Applejack asked.

“I’m sorry, AJ, I can’t. It affects more than just me.” Sunset said sadly.

“Does this have to do with my big brother?” Applejack asked, taking Sunset’s hand and squeezing it supportively. “If my brother did something to hurt you, I’ll kick his ass.”

“It might concern him a little, but it involves a lot more people AJ. I just can’t talk about it right now.” Sunset sighed.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Applejack asked earning a smile from Sunset. Something the blonde realized the girl rarely truly offered the last few days. At least not like the one she was giving her now.

“I know, I feel as if I can trust you. I just can’t talk about it.” Sunset sighed.

“If your worried about my feelings, don’t.” Mac said, coming down the same path Braeburn just went up moments before. “If you are worried about hurting me, you can’t hurt me more than I hurt you.”

“No, Mac, just drop it.” Sunset said as she hoped off the wagon and hugged herself, unable to bring herself to look up at him.

“What do you mean you hurt her?” Applejack asked, her eyes narrowing at Mac.

“Drop it AJ, please.” Sunset pleaded, getting a suspicious look from AJ. The self conscious way she looked, the way she shied away from the men of the family when they were around, the way she had tried to work in the fields wearing those baggy clothes. It was painting a very bad picture in Applejack’s mind as she started putting pieces of the puzzle together.

“Oh Lord, Mac you didn’t!” Applejack hissed out at her brother. “You, did you? Did you…you raped her?”

“He didn’t know!” Sunset sobbed out getting a shocked look from Applejack and a saddened one from Mac.

“What happened?” Applejack asked as she pulled Sunset into an embrace.

“Please just drop it, I don’t want you to hate me.” Sunset sobbed, ignoring the smell from the sweaty girl as the blonde comforted her.

“Sugarcube, nothing you can do will make me hate you. You’re my friend and Granny says you are practically family.” Applejack cooed in a soothing manner.

“AJ, she’s Lotus from the Lotus Blossom.” Mac sighed making Sunset shudder and let out a loud sob.

“Oh damn.” Applejack gasped out, glaring over at Mac as she figured out the rest after hearing about the scandal and how several girls were kept as sex slaves there. “Oh damn. I’ll deal with you later, Mac.”

“Please don’t hate him, it was my fault.” Sunset cried.

“I may not have known Sunset, but Granny was right. I disrespected you even if I didn’t know you were being forced.” Mac sniffed, “I keep wanting to tell you how sorry I am, but Granny always keeps getting in the way.”

“Maybe it’s because she isn’t ready for it, and right now I don’t want to hear it!” Applejack hissed out, “Go away, Mac, I’ll talk with you later.”

“I’m really sorry.” Mac sighed as he walked away, head low and hands in his pockets, kicking a stone in the path as he kept going on.

“Look sugarcube, this doesn’t change anything between us.” Applejack soothed the crying girl, “You are my friend and that won’t change, but I will make sure that I’m there for you if you need to talk about it.”

“Really?” Sunset sniffed as she pulled away, a little surprised that the girl doesn’t hate her or blame her.

“Really, and I swear that I won’t tell anyone unless you want to talk to them about it.” Applejack said softly, putting as much honesty as she could in it as it was the truth.

Sunset couldn’t help thinking that maybe it would be kind of good to have a girl her age to talk about everything with. Someone she could trust that seemed honest and nonjudgmental. So even though she didn’t plan this, she chose to try and look at it in a good way. Maybe this was what she needed after all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Hey sis.” Twilight said, nervously greeting her sister after climbing to the attic where her sanctuary was. Though instead of being a solitary place to go and read one of her thousands of books she has collected up there, it was now shared with her new sister who seemed to love reading as much as her. It was almost strange in a way, if she didn’t know better she would say the girl was another her which she guessed was basically possible being identical twins.

“Hi.” Midnight said, shyly waving a hand as she kept reading the book she had in her lap sitting on the pile of pillows and cushions that was in the center of all the shelves and stacks of books.

“I was going to head out and meet up with my friends soon and wanted to know if you wanted to come.” Twilight asked, hoping that Midnight agreed. She liked her sister, found it exciting having a twin sister who was into the same things that she was. Even if she was shocked at first and unsure how to take the news that the poor girl was switched at birth, not that she believed it. It was frankly a load of bull as if some older couple raised her, why did she act as if any wrong move would bring her pain. ‘Nice older couple my cute ass, somebody hurt her.’

Just because she was a bit of a nerd didn’t mean she didn’t have some vanity as that stereotype was just so wrong. She knew she was cute, had several guys asking her out, yet she couldn’t really find any of them interesting. She had some feelings for a certain person though, but she just wasn’t too sure if they felt anything for her.

“I don’t know.” Midnight sighed, placing a bookmark in her book and closing it up. The sad look made Twilight’s heart go out to the girl, she really did care for Twilight, love her even, she was finding it hard to forge that close bond she had with her brother. There was something there that was being kept from Twilight and it was bothering her. She didn’t want to feel that way, feel as if she couldn’t fully trust Midnight, but it was just how she felt.

“Middy, it might be fun if you get out for awhile.” Twilight said, sitting in front of her while hoping that her sister would relent and come. Maybe it would help them bond more if they were able to spend more time together out of the house. Especially since it took forever to get their mother to allow it. ‘Sheesh, I know mom is having trouble with her OCD and bipolar acting up, but this is just too overprotective.’

“I don’t know.” Midnight sighed, though Twilight could tell that she was once again holding something back. “I don’t really feel up to trying to make friends with a bunch of people I don’t know.”

“Sis, if you want to talk about it, I would be there for you.” Twilight said softly, playing with the hem of her skirt.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Midnight sighed, putting the book down gently on a small table that had a lamp for reading at night. “I’ll tell you what, you get mom to let me go out without her and I’ll go.”

Twilight almost felt as if she should feel bad about this, she really did.

“That’s good because I already talked her into it.” Twilight said witch a cheeky grin, watching Midnight’s jaw drop.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“I had a feeling she wasn’t taking her meds, Night.” Luna said as she sat down across from her best friend’s husband, handing him a cup of coffee while pulling her’s close to herself.

“She’s doing better now that I’m making sure she’s taking them. She’s still obsessed with keeping Middy by her sides though. She’s terrified about losing her again.” Night sighed, sipping on the hot beverage as he wondered just what he was supposed to do. “I’m sorry I haven’t come by sooner, but I’ve been run ragged between work, taking care of Middy and now with my wife close to having a breakdown. I knew she has having some troubles before, it’s why I sent Twily to her Grandmother’s, but I didn’t know it was this bad. And now Middy showing up almost made Vel snap, and I didn’t even notice it until it was almost too late.”

“She’ll be okay, just make sure she takes her meds.” Luna sighed, “But I’m guessing that isn’t the only reason you came by.”

“No, I actually came since I know you are taking care of Sunset Shimmer. I wanted to get your take on the girl.” Night Light sighed, looking down at his coffee as he watched the steam rise from it.

“Sunset Shimmer, is a little hard to describe Night. She is a sweet girl trying her best to be strong, but so far she has cried herself to sleep about every night. She keeps asking what happened with the other girls, but she’s more concerned about Twi-I mean Midnight.” Luna explained, studying Night Light’s expression. “She really wants to see her, but she also feels Midnight might be better off without her.”

“Middy mentioned something about Sunset being punished for something she did. What happened?” Night Light asked, swallowing nervously at seeing the sad pensive look on his friend’s face.

“You can’t tell anybody about this. I guess you can tell Vel, but make sure she doesn’t talk about this. It could get Caddie in trouble.” Luna said as she got up from the table and went to get a briefcase off the counter and returned before opening it up.

“I won’t.” Night Light agreed as he watched her sort through several files before pulling one out and closing the briefcase to sit it on top.

“Caddie left this here after talking to Sunset last night again, but she didn’t want to carry it with her when Shining came by to get her for their date after checking up on Sunset.” Luna said pulling several large photos from the folder and passed them over to him. “This is what those bastards did to that poor girl, and if she didn’t have dense bone structure that Redheart said she had, Sunset would have had multiple broken bones.”

“Who would do something like this to a child?” Night Light asked, his eyes tearing up seeing the pictures of the girl right after being rescued from that place. The bruises were horrible and littered her body so much it was hard to tell where one bruise had ended and another began.

“Monsters.” Luna sighed, “They raped her to while doing this, at least twice from what Sunset finally admitted to. I want nothing more to see these bastards suffer for this.”

“Middy blames herself for this I think. The doctor says Middy needs to keep away from having any contact with things that remind her about what happened. I don’t think that’s a good idea and I talked to Soothing Voice and she agrees.” Night said, shaking a little as he passed the pictures back. “I think we should let them see each other.”

“I don’t know what to do, Night. While I agree with you, I can’t help seeing where the doctor is coming from. If Middy keeps getting reminded about what happened she might not have time to heal.” Luna said slowly. “If it was up to me, I’d say let them see each other, it might do them some good. At the same time, I don’t want to hurt either one of them by having a reminder of what they went through shoved down their throats. Sunset is already having enough of that with all the questions about the case as they try and build up the case.”

“How is that coming anyway?” Night Light asked.

“Better than you might think. With all of that bastards political contacts arrested and charged, there’s nobody to help him and his cock attitude pretty much dried up. He’s asking for a plea bargain, especially after what happened to him.” Luna said, a bit of a smirk forming.

“What happened?” Night asked not sure he wanted to know with the look Luna had right then.

“Well, it somehow got out in the prison about what Tirek had done and he had been attacked a couple times and let’s just say he knows what it’s like now.” Luna said, “Personally I kind of wish they didn’t put him in solitary to protect him, I was kind of hoping they would kill him.”

“Wow, never thought I’d hear you say that.” Night Light chuckled a little bit.

“Don’t tell me you don’t feel the same way after what they did to Middy. What they did to Sunset is a hundred times worse as she had to endure it for years.” Luna said.

“Didn’t they have Middy for years?” Night asked, afraid of the answer as it would lead to giving more credit to the alternate universe theory that he was skeptical about, even if he didn’t outright dismiss the possibility.

“No, according to both Sunset and the records, Middy was with them maybe a week.” Luna said shaking her head.

“Then where was she before?” Night Light asked, swallowing nervously as he saw her hake her head no slowly.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“I am not going in there with them!” Midnight hissed after being taken to this world’s Sugar Cube Corner, backing away from the door after seeing Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie sitting at a table inside.

“Middy, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, worried at seeing the angry yet frightened look on her sister’s face. It hurt to see such a reaction from her sister at seeing her friends just a few feet away. It was as if Middy knew them and was scared of facing them for some reason.

“I don’t want to see those backstabbing traitors!” Midnight hissed, looking about ready to cry as she started walking away.

“What the hell?” Twilight demanded, following after her as Middy dropped down on a bench near by looking as if she was going to be sick or pass out as the girl tried not to hyperventilate.

“I can’t go in there!” Midnight whimpered as she rocked back and forth, hugging herself.

“Middy, you’re my sister, and I want to help you. I can’t help you though unless you stop lying and tell me the truth.” Twilight said gently, sitting closer to Midnight and taking her hand.

“I can’t, they don’t want you to know and worry.” Midnight sniffed, wanting to be angry at Twilight, but looking up into her sister’s eyes she could see how much the girl cared and was worrying.

“Who?” Twilight asked, confused as to who it could be until realization sank in. The way Velvet had been secretive lately and tried to Keep Midnight always close to her. “Our parents?”

“Yeah.” Midnight sighed, looking around to see that they were alone. Yet she really didn’t want to tell Twilight at all, especially not out here. Yet she couldn’t do it at home as if Velvet found out she was afraid of what the woman would do to her. “I promised I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Middy, no offense, but that’s bullshit. How am I supposed to help you if you don’t let me? I’m your sister, and I want to help you.” Twilight said softly, though her pleading was clear in her voice.

“Not here.” Midnight sighed, “And not at home.”

“I know the perfect place.” Twilight said with a sad smile grabbing Midnight’s hand and dragging her away from the place. Midnight couldn’t help being happy that they weren’t heading into Sugar Cube Corner, but scared of what she should do.

Within minutes they were passing a building with a sign reading, ‘Canterlot High School: Home of the Wondercolts.’ Midnight wondered what kind of school it was having military fliers living in it, but guessed it was the academy or something. She followed her sister through a couple fields to where there were metal stairs looking big enough to sit on comfortably.

“School’s out for the summer, so nobody is here. It’s safe to talk here and nobody will overhear us.” Twilight said leading them over to the steps and sat down on the bottom one. Sighing Midnight sat down next to her.

“Look, if I tell you anything you can’t tell them.” Midnight said, making Twilight swallow nervously as she didn’t like keep secrets from her parents. Yet hadn’t they done the same thing?

“Okay, I won’t tell anyone.” Twilight said, after debating it for several minutes. As long as nobody was in trouble, she guessed it wouldn’t hurt to keep a secret.

“I know she tries to keep anything about the Lotus Blossom from making it’s way in the house, but I know it’s been all over the news lately.” Midnight said, Twilight’s jaw dropping as she had a sinking feeling where this was going.

“They were kidnapping girls and forcing them to be prostitutes.” Twilight said slowly, noticing the pained look in Midnight’s expression. She was having trouble keeping herself calm as she started putting two and two together.

“I was one of them.” Midnight sobbed out, hugging herself as she started to breakdown. After watching a few seconds trying to process everything, Twilight reached out and pulled her sister into her arms. Now she knew why their parents didn’t want to tell her, but this was something she deserved to know. How was she supposed to help her sister if they wouldn’t tell her the truth and let her?

“Hey, it’s okay, your safe now.” Twilight said, unsure of what to say though she couldn’t help being a little pissed off at their parents. How could they keep this from her? It didn’t matter though, she knew now and she intended to do her best to help Midnight through this.

“You don’t hate me?” Midnight whimpered.

“Never, I would never hate you for something that wasn’t your fault.” Twilight whispered into Midnight’s hair as she held the girl.

Author's Note

Thanks Brawny Steed for his advice and I edited part of the ending of the previous chapter, hope it flows better now

Also, Thanks to BiomasterM2 for all of his help and pointing out some things for this chapter that would be better sooner than later