"Woo doggy, Ah love this time of year," Applejack said.

She along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were sitting on the steps of the school before school started. They were relaxing and enjoying each other's company.

"Haygiving is just 'round the corner, too. Boy, it'll feel good to be on break."

"Isn't that when Rarity is having her party?" Fluttershy said as she brushed the fur of her pet bunny rabbit, Angel.

"Yeah, right after Haygiving Day," Rainbow Dash added while kicking her soccer ball into a wall. "You guys get invited?"

"Yup," Applejack said as she leaned back on the steps and tilted her hat on her face.

"I think everypony got invited," Fluttershy said.

"You guys gonna go?"

"Ah guess. Don't reckon Ah'll be doin' much, anywho."

"Oh look, Twilight's here," Fluttershy pointed out as Twilight and Spike were just being dropped off by their mother. "Can I say hi to her or are we still being mean to her?"

"Hey she was the mean one," Rainbow Dash yelled. "That turncoat doesn't deserve our friendship, Fluttershy. She totally flipped on Applejack and she's been lying to us and sneaking around with Sunset Shimmer. And Scootaloo told me that her little brother's no good either."

"Ah swear," Applejack said as she lifted her hat. "If she even looks at me the wrong way Ah might be fixin' to kick her ass!"

"Oh dear, Applejack," Fluttershy said as she covered Angel's ears. "I'm afraid I've never seen you like this."

"Yeah, me neither," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm liking it!"

"Well, that's just how Ah feel. She can go be buddy buddies with Sunset Shimmer for all Ah care but she better not look me in the eye. Not right now."

"Come to think of it I haven't seen Sunset Shimmer lately," Fluttershy said.

"Same here but look who showed up," Rainbow Dash alerted.

Twilight didn't look up from the ground as she passed her former friends. She wore the same sad, pitiful face she wore for the passed couple of weeks. It wasn't as if she purposely ignored them. She didn't seem to notice them at all. Fluttershy got a good look at her face. She could tell that something was really wrong with Twilight. She and her friend remained silent until Twilight went inside the school.

"Oh dear, she looked awful," Fluttershy protested. "Maybe we should do something."

"She did look pretty bummed," Rainbow Dash said. "More than usual, even. But who cares. Not our problem."

Fluttershy became silent again. She started brushing Angel's fur. This time she wasn't smiling. She was really worried about Twilight, who continued to walk to her locker with an emotionless look in her eyes. When she got to her locker she pulled out her phone to check her messages. She saw that she had no new messages. She checked her phone all morning for messages. Sunset Shimmer hasn't retuned any of Twilight's messages for about two weeks. She hasn't been to school either.

Twilight was worried sick about Sunset Shimmer. Ever since she began fearing the worst she hasn't been eating or sleeping much. She managed to keep her grades up but she was more anti-social than ever. Twilight would go out of her way to avoid talking to others. Any free time she had she spent it alone at a table in the library with her face buried in a book she already read.

After checking her phone she sighed and turned it off. But she hesitated before putting it back in her locker. She had an idea. She thought if she could somehow get her home address from the student records then perhaps she could go see her. Twilight was sure that the office staff wouldn't let her have that information if he simply asked for it. So she thought of a lie that would help her get what she wanted.

Twilight rushed to the front office. There, Ms. Cheerilee was sitting at her desk crying over a locket with a picture of Applejack's older brother, Big Mac in it. Twilight came in to the office and approached the weeping secretary with caution.

"Ms. Cheerilee," Twilight softly said.

"Oh, Twilight Sparkle," Cheerilee said wiping her eyes. "What could I do for you, sweetie?"

"I was sent here to get a student's address. I volunteered to bring her some makeup work. Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'll be fine Twilight. You're so kind for asking. So kind. You wouldn't call your boyfriend in the middle of the night and tell him that things just got complicated. Like, what does that even mean? You go off to a family gathering and you come back and tell your lover that things are complicated, now? After I've been working at this school all day and taking night classes to be a school teacher so that we could get married and live in a nice house and have kids… I'm sorry; I shouldn't have dumped all of that on you, Twilight. I'm going through something right now."

"It's okay, Ms. Cheerilee."

"What's the name of the student?"

"Sunset Shimmer."

Cheerilee opened up a file on the computer in front of her. She found Sunset Shimmer's information and wrote it down. She gave it to Twilight along with a few other papers with school announcements on them. Cheerilee went back to sulking over her locket after assisting Twilight.

"Finally," Twilight said as she left the office with a smile. "Sunset's gonna be so excited to see me when I show up later! But wait, what if I miss her? Maybe I should go see her, now."

Twilight looked in one direction. In that direction she saw the exit leading to the unattended parking lot. In another direction she saw Dr. Discord's classroom. She asked herself what would Sunset Shimmer do, and then she immediately left for the exit. When she was outside she looked up Sunset's address on her phone and found that she lived way across town. She would need to catch the bus to get to her home. With a bit more pep in each step she made her way to the nearest bus stop and patiently waited for the next bus to arrive. She took this time to study the bus schedule on the back of the bus stop sign.

When the bus came, Twilight boarded and found a brochure with a map of all of the bus lines and their schedules. Twilight took delight in learning about the many buses schedules. She only needed to understand the best route to get to Sunset's place. But she found the carefully calculated schedule to be very fascinating. She learned that she was currently on the Ruby line and needed to transfer to the Onix line in 15 stops. She would only have to wait 4 minutes for the Onix bus to come after she departs from Ruby at stop 15, according to the schedule.

Twilight rode the bus with anticipation building inside of her. She just skipped school, again, for Sunset Shimmer. She kept telling herself that that she's only worried about her friend and that's why she skipped school to go see her. She rehearsed her reasoning as if she was going to be placed on the stand to tell her story to a selected jury. Even she was beginning to tell that she was losing it.

Twilight was a sensitive mare and has been her entire life. Family was really important to her. She gave her parents the idea to have another child after she told them that she wanted to be an older sibling too. She didn't think they would adopt instead. She had a very happy childhood. But as she got older her father, Night Light, became an alcoholic. His drunkenness drove the family apart. Ever since her parents told her that they were getting a divorce, nothing was certain for her. She never was a pony that was good at making friends but that never bothered her, because she always had family to fall back on. But siblings get older and move out and fathers end up breaking their daughter's hearts. This was the rude awakening Twilight was subject to. If family wasn't there for her, then what else would she have? That was something she used to ask herself.

The Ruby bus finally arrived to stop 15. Twilight departed and waited for the Onix bus. Eight minutes later the bus arrived. Twilight hopped on the bus and sat close to the driver.

"Thanks for stopping," Twilight said. "I wasn't sure if you were gonna come. The Canterlot Transit Authority schedule says that this bus was supposed be at Stop 15 at 10 o'clock AM. But you came at 10:03. I had to admit I was getting a little worried."

The bus driver didn't respond. Twilight thought that was very rude of the driver. She never rode a city bus by herself. But she didn't care. She knew in 4 more stops she'll be able to see Sunset Shimmer. When the bus came to it's 4th stop Twilight departed and began walking toward where Sunset Shimmer lived.

"Okay, she lives at a place called Happy Meadows," Twilight said as she looked at the gps on her phone. "Sounds nice. I really can't wait to see her!"

Happy Meadows was just down the street. The further she traveled the more the neighborhood changed. It became more questionable every street she crossed. Twilight became a bit scared. She kept looking behind her to see if somepony was following her. She picked up her pace to try and get away from her imaginary stalker.

"Okay according to the map, Happy Meadows should be right… here?" Twilight finally found Happy Meadows Trailer Park Properties. The sight was far from happy. Trailers were lined up diagonally, one lot after another. In between was a plethora of debris, trash, equipment, cars, bikes, or other trailer park lawnfare. She was really surprised to see that Sunset Shimmer lived in a place like this. Twilight was looking for lot 28. She counted the lots as she passed them. She no longer needed to count when she found Sunset Shimmer's motorcycle parked in the distance. It was parked in front of one of the nicer trailers. There was even a little garden in the front. It had nothing in it but Twilight assumed it did at one point. The trailer was white and had a red canopy over the porch area.

"Here we are," Twilight said as she straightened her skirt and mane. She knocked on the door and awaited a response. It took a few seconds before she saw Sunset Shimmer look through the window. Twilight saw that she gasped at the sight of who was knocking. Sunset frantically unlocked the several locks on her door to welcome Twilight. When she finally opened the door Sunset rushed to hug her friend.

"Oh my gosh, Twilight," Sunset cried. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you! What are you- how did you- shouldn't you be in school?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," Twilight exclaimed. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too, you degenerate! Come in. My dad's at work!"

Sunset welcomed Twilight in to her home. Twilight was surprised at how spacious the trailer was. It is much bigger on the inside than the outside led her to believe.

"Can I get you anything?" Sunset offered.

"Some water would be nice," Twilight said.

"It's really great to see you Twi," Sunset said as she fetched her friend a beverage. "We got some catching up to do. Here's your water."

"Thanks."

"Whoa, I must look kinda crazy right now. This is how I look when I haven't showered. Have a seat on the couch. I'll be right back."

Sunset turned on the television for Twilight so that she can go freshen up. When Sunset left Twilight took this time to look around the living room area. She saw cute baby pictures of Sunset and a family portrait. Twilight realized that Sunset hardly talked about her family. She looked happy with her mother and father in the picture. There didn't seem to be any recent pictures of Sunset or her family.

Twilight continued to look around the rest of the trailer. It wasn't very clean. The kitchen was a terrible mess. It appeared as if nopony washed a dish in months. The trashcan was overflowing with kitchen waste, mail was piled up on the counter, and there was a table but only one chair. She could tell that only Sunset and her father lived there. There was little sign of a mare's touch and Twilight knew Sunset probably wasn't the homemaking type. Sunset, soon came out of her room and sat on the couch with Twilight.

"So, how ya been?" Sunset asked as she continued drying her mane with a towel.

"I've been okay," Twilight said with a face that changed from delight to despair. "Actually, Sunset, I've been pretty depressed."

"What's the matter?"

"Well remember when I told you that I wasn't friends with Applejack and everypony, right? Well, I haven't really made another friend after that. You were the only one I had. So when you left and stopped returning my texts I felt alone. Nopony understands that all I want is a real friend to be myself around. Not Principal Luna. Not even my mom. It's just been really tough for me not having you around. I was worried sick about you."

"I'm so sorry Twilight," Sunset said almost on the verge of tears. "I didn't know our friendship meant that much to you. I should've told one of the Dazzlings to tell you what happened or something."

"What do you mean? What happened to you?"

"Twilight it's been pretty rough for me, too. I've been grounded, like big time. My dad found drugs on me."

"Drugs? Sunset Shimmer, you do drugs?"

"No! I mean if offered maybe. What I mean is, the drugs weren't mine. I beat it off some punk who was trying to sell it to a filly I know who lives around here. I didn't know what it was so I was going to take it to Adagio. But I guess I left it out in the open when I came home or something. My dad found it and totally went ballistic. He took my phone and my keys so I'm stranded here or else if he catches me outside the trailer he won't let me back in. He was talking about sending me to boarding school but I know he doesn't have the money for that. He sounded serious though."

"So you've been locked up in here this whole time?"

"Pretty much. My dad said he'll figure out a way to deal with me when he figures something out. I'm just waiting for him to forget about it so I can have a normal life again. It's taking longer than expected, though. In the meantime I've just been here watching TV all day. Getting fat. It's been great. But it tore me apart that I couldn't contact you."

"Same here! I'm so glad I skipped school and took the bus to see you!"

"Well, you can stay here and chill if you want. Wanna see my room?"

"Sure!"

Sunset led Twilight to her room. Like the kitchen, it was an absolute mess. Clothes and magazines covered the floor. Her desk was littered with soda cans and papers. Twilight was attracted to the bookshelf above it. She walked over to see what books she had. Her bookshelf mostly was filled with teen romance novels. Twilight chuckled at the sight of them. She didn't expect a pony like Sunset Shimmer to be interested in such mediocre literature. She then saw what was in the center of her desk. It was a decorative picture frame of her and Sunset from the night of the first hoofball game.

"Oh I remember this," Twilight said as she picked up the picture. "Aw, we look so cute together. Where did you get the picture frame?"

"I made it. I just finished it last night. I was gonna figure out how to send it to you. I couldn't remember what your address was."

"Aw Sunny! Thank you. This means so much to me. I just brought you papers from school."

"Hey, don't sweat it. What are friends for?"

Twilight smiled and hugged her picture. She sat on Sunset's bed and sighed. Sunset could tell that she had to find a way to entertain her guest. She didn't have any board games but she had a poker set. She didn't have any appropriate movies but she had lots of music to listen to. She had cable. But she wasn't sure if Twilight would be interested in any of that. Sunset was starting to feel nervous.

"Hey Sunset," Twilight said.

"Yeah?" Sunset cracked.

"No offense, but if I'm gonna spend the day with you I think I should introduce you to something called cleaning."

"Ha. That's what you wanna do? Clean?"

"With your help, of course!"

"Okay, Twi. Be my guest."

"I am your guest."

Sunset picked up a nearby stuffed animal and threw it at Twilight for that smart remark. Twilight happily returned fire as their squabble carried out of Sunset's room and into the kitchen. Even after they started washing the mountain of dirty dishes, Twilight would occasionally splash a little water on Sunset who would then retaliate by blowing soap foam on her. But every cleaning task they encountered, they tackled it, together. When the kitchen was cleaned, the two ponies moved on to Sunset's room. Just for her amusement, Sunset Shimmer decided not to help as much. Instead she wanted to see Twilight's reactions to some of the things in her room.

Sunset let Twilight walk around her room and pick up items off of the floor. She stopped when she came to a magazine with an attractive stallion on the cover. She asked Sunset Shimmer what it was but Sunset only told her to open it. Twilight opened the magazine to a random page and saw a stallion posing nude. Twilight shrieked at the sight of the stallion's large member. Sunset thoroughly enjoyed Twilight's brief introduction to clop magazines. Twilight cringed and took a step back. Her hoof made contact with something on the floor. Twilight continued to dutifully pick the item off of the floor. When she picked it up she saw that it was an oddly shaped device. She accidently turned it on and it started to vibrate. Sunset heard the sound of her special device being activated. She quickly turned around to see what Twilight was doing.

"Oh no, Twilight," Sunset said as she rushed to grab it from her but Twilight kept it from her.

"What? Forgot to put away your little toy? Did you get a free clop magazine subscription with the purchase of it?"

"You little, bitch," Sunset jokingly said as she continued to reach for her special device. "I swear if I didn't care about you-"

"Sunny, this is a very pink color," Twilight continued to tease. "It's, like, REALLY pink!"

"Okay Twilight, that does it," Sunset Shimmer said. Using her magic she opened up her bed sheets like a large net and captured Twilight. Sunset tied up her bed sheets into a sack with Twilight in it and dropped her on the bed. From different directions Sunset Shimmer gently poked Twilight with her horn, tickling her until they both fell out of the bed. The fall landed them facing under Sunset's bed. When twilight emerged from her bed sheet sack she saw something that looked like a bottle. Twilight reached under Sunset's Bed to grab what it was. It was an unopened bottle of wine. Sunset was surprised that it was under there.

"Holy shit," Sunset shouted. "Who knows how long this has been under here. Must be Sonata's. Oh well, finder's keepers. Let's get wasted!"

"But it isn't even noon, yet," Twilight protested.

"Oh my gosh, you're right! I'm so far behind. Let me go find a corkscrew."

Sunset rushed to and from the kitchen. She returned to her room with the corkscrew and two cocktail glasses. She gave one of the glasses to Twilight.

"Are we really doing this?" Twilight asked.

"If we start now, we'll sober up in no time," Sunset said as she managed to open the wine bottle. "Plus, I'm sure I could find some beer in my dad's room somewhere if we want some more!"

Twilight wasn't sure if she wanted to get drunk with Sunset Shimmer. She knew she didn't have anything to lose and she was with somepony she trusted. What Twilight was afraid of was how far she would go to be happy. She never imagined herself drinking before lunchtime. That was something her father would do and she didn't want to start following in his hoofsteps. But she looked into Sunset Shimmer's eyes and saw how confident she was. Twilight really was in a safe place. Twilight always admired Sunset's unique but warm affection. She truly believed if she were to give in to peer pressure this once, then nothing would go wrong.

"You know, there was something I've always wanted to do while drinking," Twilight said. "I've always wanted to play a drinking game."

"A drinking game, huh?" Sunset said as she used her magic to turn on her stereo system. "How about we play I Never…"

"How do you play?"

"We take turns saying something that we've never done. If you haven't done that thing, then you don't drink. But if you did do it, then you gotta take a swig. So, like, if I say I've never ate a cookie before, but you have, then you gotta drink your wine."

"Okay, but what if I say something that we both did?"

"Then we both drink. And you're a liar because you said you never done it."

"Okay, I think I got it."

"Sweet. I'll start. I never finished my homework at a library."

Twilight took a drink.

"Okay, my turn," she said. "I never wet the bed."

Sunset Shimmer took a drink.

"I never flew before."

Twilight took a drink.

"You're making this easy for me," Twilight said. "Okay. I never ate food off of the floor."

Sunset did not take her drink.

"Ha! My turn. I never attended Princess Academy."

"Hey, that's very specific," Twilight said. "You're trying to get me drunker than you! That's cheating!"

"How would you know? You don't know the rules!"

"I'll just do some research on my phone!"

"That's cheating!"

"What? I can't look up the rules?"

"You can't use your phone!"

"Sunset, you suck!"

"This is going to be a fun afternoon."

They two friends continued their game for the next hour. Every question asked resulted in either pony becoming more inebriated. When they finished the bottle both of them were pretty tipsy. Twilight got the idea to order pizza since she remembered she had money. They placed the order and decided to search for more alcohol in the room of Sunset's father while they wait for the delivery pony. They didn't find beer like Sunset thought they would but the did find half a handle of vodka. Sunset got some punch from the refrigerator to mix it with. While they continued to wait for the pizza the ponies danced to music as they continued their journey to drunkenness.

When they heard a knock at the door Sunset thought it would be funny to tease the delivery pony by flirting with him. Twilight agreed to do it all by herself. Sunset watched as Twilight open the door and batted her eyes at the delivery pony. To her surprise the delivery pony was female. Twilight hesitated and proceeded to flirt with her anyway.

"Hey there Pizza Mare," Twilight said.

"Um, hello," the blonde delivery pony said. "My name isn't Pizza Mare. It's Muffins. But everypony calls me Derpy. I'm not sure why! Anyways, did you order a broccoli and cheese pizza with bread sticks?"

"I sure did, muffin. You wanna come in and feed it to me?"

"Um, it's Muffins. And sorry but I can't help feed you, ma'am. I have trouble feeding myself, sometimes!"

"Wait, don't you go to Canterlot High School?"

"Uh huh," the pony nodded. "It's the best school I've even been to! I can't wait to finally graduate. Maybe my boss would stop yelling at me, then."

"Aren't you supposed to be in school now?"

"Now? It's Saturday, silly. Nopony goes to school on a Saturday. Anyways, it was nice talking with you. Here's your pizza. Have a nice day!"

Derpy left the trailer on her scooter. Like many times before, she forgot to collect the money from the customer. Twilight watched her as she drove off hoping she would turn around, but she didn't. Twilight wanted to do the right thing and call the pizza place to let them know what happened but she thought she would do it later. Instead, she and Sunset dug into their lunch with much enthusiasm.

As time went by the ponies ceased their drinking and simmered down in Sunset's room. The two were talking about anything that came across their minds. Through the slurs and giggles they retained a conversation that covered several topics. Twilight decided to get a little serious by asking about Sunset's family.

"Hey, tell me what's your dad like," Twilight asked while lying on Sunset's floor.

"My bag's a scumdad," Sunset Shimmer blurted out. "He cheats on mares, he drinks, and he's totally unreliable. Worst father ever."

"Is your mom around?"

"No. She had to leave us because she was crazy or something. At least that's what my dad told me."

"Oh my gosh, Sunset, that's horrible. I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay. Apparently, she always had mental problems. She was a good mom but she was never really happy. It's been rough on us after she left but we tried to get by. Dad had just got a job as a manager at the mall, at the time. He used to take really good care of me. He changed after the Starswirl Middle School fire. He stopped caring after he heard what happened. I think he believes I actually caused the fire. He stopped talking to me more and became mean. He slept with all of his female employees and got fired for it. Now he works as a fry cook at the Hayburger. The pay is lousy. He barely keeps up with the bills. We just turned the cable back on yesterday."

"Sunset…"

"It's okay, Twilight. I'm bucked up. My life is bucked up. But I just have to put up with it for just a little while longer and then I'm gone, forever."

"Oh, are you planning on going to college?" Twilight asked.

"Not right away. The Dazzlings are gonna give me a job and let me live with them until I have enough to move into my own place. I'll take class at the Community College like Adagio did. I heard it's like cheaper or whatever. Hey, you should come live with me."

"Oh my gosh," Twilight said as she rose up in excitement. "That would be so cool! And we can go to school, together. But I have to find a job, too."

"I'll see if the Dazzlings can hire you, too," Sunset said. "It only makes sense, right?"

"Yes. This is a good plan, Sunset," Twilight said as she yawned. "I'm getting kinda sleepy. What time is it?"

"It's almost 2:30," Sunset said as she looked at her alarm clock. "You can crash on my bed. I might pass out, too."

Sunset invited Twilight into her bed with her. Sunset watched her as she got in bed. Twilight immediately stiffened like a log. Sunset placed a pillow under Twilight's head, to try and help get comfortable.

"Better?" Sunset asked.

"Better," Twilight cooed. "Sunny?"

"Yes, Twibaby?" Sunset played along.

"Can you tuck me in and tell me a bedtime story?" Twilight continued her baby talk.

"Oh, honey. I don't tell stories. I like to cuddle."

"Can you cuddle me to sweep, Mama Sunny?"

"Yes I can," Sunset said as she brought Twilight closer to her. Sunset hugged her tightly. Her lips touched the nape of Twilight's exposed neck. Sunset rubbed her snout against it.

"That tickles," Twilight moaned. "This feels nice."

"Hey, Twilight," Sunset said. "Can I ask you something?"

Twilight turned over to face Sunset. Their noses practically touched.

"Yeah?" Twilight answered.

"Do you like me?"

Twilight became hesitant. She didn't know how to answer that. Her feelings haven't been fully confirmed for Sunset but she knows how miserable she was without her in her life. Every time she saw her Twilight wore a welcoming smile for her. She never thought she would become close friends with her. She never imagined being anything more than friends. It wasn't a thought that was conceivable but it quickly became a possibility for her. She couldn't stop herself from gently placing her hoof on Sunset's cheek.

"I think I do," Twilight said. "But I don't know if I'm ready for this."

"Do you want to find out?" Sunset said as she moved some of Twilight's mane away from her face.

"Sunset…"

Sunset silenced Twilight by kissing her once on the mouth. Sunset's soft lips hugged Twilight's. After Sunset pulled away, Twilight's lips were left puckered and pining for more. She liked it. Twilight picked up where Sunset left off. The two ponies kissed and embraced each other. Nothing felt more right to them than sharing in each other's affection. After they kissed Twilight nuzzled her head in to Sunset's chest. She could hear her heartbeat. Twilight let the rhythm of Sunset's heart lull her to sleep. Sunset fell asleep soon after.

Hours passed by and Sunset Shimmer and Twilight were still asleep in Sunset's bed. Suddenly, Sunset's father opened the front door. He was fired from his job today for drinking on the job. He was fired this morning but decided to drown his sorrows by getting drunk in his truck at a local park. Still drunk from his case of beer that he finished all by himself, he stumbled to the floor as soon as he opened the door. He stood up on all fours and immediately noticed the kitchen. He saw that it was cleaned. He was so startled by it that he didn't noticed how quickly his heart was pacing. He assumed that Sunset did it. He began feeling really bad for punishing her. After all, he knew he was just blowing hot air and attempting to be fatherly.

He waddled to his truck to fetch his daughter's keys and phone from his glove compartment. When he returned inside he went to Sunset's room and knocked on the door but he nopony answered. He could hear music coming from inside her room. He knocked one more time to get a response. "Sunset , are you in there?" he said. But still no response. He decided to open the door and walk in.

"Sunset? I saw that you cleaned the-" His father stopped speaking when he saw that his daughter was sharing a bed with another mare. He became livid when he saw that they've been drinking his vodka. His rage consumed him. He let go of what little rationality he had left at the moment and began lashing out at Sunset and her guest.

"So this is how you spend your punishment?" he roared, causing Twilight and Sunset to wake up. "I go to work just to get fired and I come home to a clean kitchen. That was the highlight of my day. But then when I decide to let you off your punishment I find that not only are you having sex with your whore friends in my trailer but you drank my goddamn liquor, too?"

"Crap," Sunset started as she got out of bed with Twilight who did the same. "Wait, dad. I can explain."

"You have too much of your mother in you, you know that?" Sunset's father said.

"Mr. Shimmer," Twilight began. "Please forgive, Sunset. We didn't do anything. This was kind of my fault."

"Shut your whore mouth, you homo piece of garbage," he said as he used his unicorn magic to throw Sunset's keys and phone at the wall behind Twilight. "I'm not gonna let some lespony tell me what to do to my goddamn flesh and blood."

Sunset's father picked up anything he saw in Sunset's room and aimed them at either Sunset or Twilight. He continued his violent rampage, completely destroying Sunset's room. Sunset grabbed Twilight's things and slipped passed her father to get to Twilight so that they could leave her room. When they left they shut the door behind them. Sunset used a lock spell on the door to keep it shut.

"C'mon, Twilight," Sunset said. "You gotta hurry up and leave."

"Sunset, are you crazy?" Twilight complained. "I'm not leaving you here with that monster. Let's both leave. Or call the police."

"No! No cops. If the police get involved they might take me away to live with a foster family or worse. I may never see you again."

"What do we do, Sunset? I'm so scared."

"Leave! I'll handle him. Don't worry about me."

"No Sunset. I can't leave you. I need you. I don't-"

Sunset silenced Twilight with another kiss. Twilight embraced her but didn't want to let go. Sunset pushed her things to her and with all of her might she used her magic to teleport her to the Canterlot High School. When she saw that she was successful, Sunset collapsed from using the teleportation magic, a magic skill far beyond a high school unicorn's capability. The magic spell on the locked door was released when she fell to the floor. She awaited her father's rage as she watched him slowly approach her.

Twilight appeared inside the hallway where Sunset rescued Twilight from Rarity and Pinkie Pie. It was after school hours so nopony saw her. She was confused as to how she got here. But when she realized exactly where she was she knew Sunset made this possible. Twilight broke down and fell to the floor to weep. Her best friend was in trouble and there was nothing she could do. She wanted to go back to the trailer park but she was afraid that her interference would make matters worse for Sunset. She could still hear the awful words that were said to her.

Twilight recomposed herself and began to make her way outside. She decided to trust Sunset and go home. She thought about skipping school tomorrow to go check up on her but she remembered that Sunset's father was fired from his job. He probably would be home during the day. She continued thinking about what she should do as she exited the school. To her surprise she ran right into Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy who looked like they were preparing the foundation for a parade float in the parking lot. Rainbow Dash quickly spotted her coming out of the school. Twilight cut her eyes at Rainbow Dash then quickly tried to advert them from her. Rainbow Dash took that as an insult.

"Oh no you don't," Rainbow Dash said as she stopped what she was doing to approach her. "Hey, Sparkle! I got a bone to pick with you!"

Twilight didn't respond. She picked up her pace and continued in the opposite direction.

"Hey, I'm talking to you! You know I had to fill your spot on the stupid event planning committee to help with this stupid float for the stupid Haygiving Day Parade! This is all your fault! I could be at home playing video games or playing basketball but noooo! Oh and you hurt our feelings for being a crappy friend! What's up with that?"

"Please, I really am not in the mood for this," Twilight urged.

Applejack rushed to Rainbow Dash to try and keep her from getting physical.

"Whoa there, partner," she said.

"I know you are not trying to hold me back right now, Applejack," Rainbow Dash said. "You're the one who said you might hit her if you she looks at you!"

Twilight became angry. She was appalled that her former friends wanted to cause physical harm to her. She had half a mind to fight both of them.

"Yeah?" Twilight yelled. "You wanna go? You ponies want a piece of me? I feel like my heart just got ripped out of my chest and you ponies really want to pick a fight with me, now? BRING IT ON!"

Twilight's voice could be heard throughout the school's campus. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were surprised at how serious she looked. Applejack wasn't too surprised. She realized that Twilight was good friends with a recognized bully.

"C'mon Rainbow, let's let this one go," Applejack said. "We're sorry Twilight. We don't want no trouble."

Twilight fled after that. Rainbow Dash and Applejack went back to the float where Fluttershy was hiding behind. Applejack placed her hoof on her shoulder to stop her from cowering.

"I-I-Is it o-over?" Fluttershy muttered.

"It's okay, sugarcube," Applejack consoled. "Nothin' happened."

"Yeah, about that," Rainbow Dash said. "Why'd you stop me, AJ? I know you wanted to bop her one! We both could've taken her on, no problem. What's the big deal?"

"Ah've been doin some thinkin' and well, let's just say violence would make things worse. Besides she said she was goin' through some stuff. Maybe she and Sunset got into a fight."

"I wonder who won that one?" Rainbow Dash scoffed.

"Look, all Ah'm sayin' is that maybe we shouldn't be mad at her anymore. Let's just give her some space until she seems normal again."

Fluttershy nodded and smiled in agreement to what Applejack said. Rainbow Dash, being the super cool pony she was, shrugged and got back to working on the float.

The next day Twilight and her brother were dropped off for another day of school. Twilight barely got enough sleep. She spent all night trying to do teleportation magic but she wasn't as successful like Sunset Shimmer was. However, Twilight did come up with a plan for the day. She decided to go to her trailer at night. She decided to run away with her. Twilight had made peace with the fact that CHS is not for her and her family would be okay without her. She packed her bags and found any money she had and placed them under her bed. The plan was for her and Sunset to a train to a shelter in another city that takes young wayward mares with no place to go. She found the shelter through an online search. Twilight believed this was the best plan she could come up with despite her lack of sleep. She was going to spend the day writing goodbye letters to her loved ones.

Twilight made it to her first class. She walked by Fluttershy who was at her desk. They ignored each other as if they were strangers. But before Twilight could sit down Dr. Discord asked Twilight to his desk. He told Twilight that she was to report to the counselor's office. She didn't even know that CHS had a counselor's office. Dr. Discord told her where to go. Twilight did as she was told and found herself standing in front of the counselor's door. She walked in not knowing what to expect.

"Um, hello?" Twilight said as she peered in the office to see Principal Luna and her Sister-in Law, Cadance. "Cadance? Principal Luna?"

Twilight was surprised to see them in the office. Cadance was seated behind a desk while the Principal sat in one of the seats across from the desk. Cadance wore her mane in a ponytail and wore a light blue blouse. Compared to Principal Luna's office her office was well lit and had more cute and inviting knickknacks on her desk.

"Ms. Sparkle," Principal Luna welcomed. "Please come in, have a seat."

"What's going on here?" Twilight asked.

"Twilight," Cadance began. "I'm sure you're surprised to see me here as the counselor. To make a long story short I was supposed to start next semester after I graduate but they're letting me start now. I was going to surprise you yesterday, but I learned you weren't here yesterday, even though a staff member saw you in the office yesterday morning."

"According to Ms. Cheerilee," Principal Luna spoke. "You came to the office to get Sunset Shimmer's address to go deliver her work to her. Is that true?"

"...Yes," Twilight said in a tone full of disappointment. "I'm sorry. I'll serve detention if I must."

"Well, skipping school does earn you that punishment but I will look the other way this once in light of the situation."

"What situation?"

"Twilight, we got a call this morning about Sunset Shimmer," Cadance said as her tone became more serious. "Last night, police responded to a domestic disturbance at Sunset's home. Somepony called the police and they came and arrested Mr. Shimmer for abuse and assault."

"IS SHE OKAY?" Twilight shouted as she got up from her seat. "WHERE IS SHE? IS SHE STILL IN CANTERLOT?"

Cadance and Principal Luna were surprised at Twilight's outburst. But it also confirmed their suspicions about her feelings.

"Twilight, please calm down," Cadance consoled. "She has a few bruises but she's fine. But of course Sunset had to file a report on what happened and of course according to the law she would have to live with her parent or legal guardian. Her mother agreed to have Sunset live with her in Fillydelphia."

"But isn't she mentally unfit to take care of her?" Twilight asked.

"I don't think so," Cadance said as she gave a confused look to Principal Luna. "But what we wanted to tell you is that she had to leave this morning. We wanted to be the first to let you know since she would be unable to keep in touch with anypony from Canterlot until all of the legalities have been handled. According to the report, you were… well, let's just say I know how you feel about Sunset. That's why we called you down to the office like this."

Twilight sunk into her seat. She didn't know what to say. Sunset was safe from her terrible father but she's no longer in Canterlot. She began thinking about what Sunset was thinking when she was going through all of that. She wondered if Sunset even considered her feelings. She wondered if Sunset was thinking about her when she departed Canterlot. But then she realized that this was probably all of her fault. If she hadn't skipped school to go see her then none of this would've happened.

"What have I done?" Twilight said.

"Ms. Spar… Twilight," Luna started in a kinder tone. "Please, we don't want you to think that. You did not cause for this to happen. But it is unfortunate that it did happen, especially to Sunset Shimmer. I remember when I first met her when I was working at Starswirl Middle School. She was destined for great things. Her magic skills were unlike any I've seen in a student. She showed so much promise until the fire happened. She had Alicorn potential. Part of me still believes that."

Twilight looked at Principal Luna with great admiration. Something about hearing that from her started to make her feel a little better.

"I must take my leave," Luna continued. "Don't be sad for her, Twilight. She's safe, now. Be happy for her. Ms. Cadenza, I'll leave the rest to you."

"Thank you Ms. Luna," Cadance said as she watched Luna leave. "She's right, you know. Sunset is going to a safe place. From what I hear, her mother is going to take good care of her. It's been years since they've seen each other. It would be good for them to be reunited."

"But what do I do now?" Twilight asked. "Where does that leave me?"

"Twilight, you owe it to Sunset to stay strong and keep moving. This isn't the end. There's a chance you may get to see her again. In the meantime, you should be happy for her. I'm sure Sunset doesn't want to see her special somepony with sad on her face."

Twilight laughed at that remark. Through her tears and sadness, Cadance was able to instill a sense of hope and joy in Twilight. Cadance always had a way to cheer up Twilight. She has been like a big sister to her, ever since she started babysitting her when Twilight was just a filly. Twilight introduced her to Shinning Armor and they've been close ever since.

"There she is," Cadance cheered. "Hey I'll see if I can get Shinning Armor to keep an eye on the progress of the case. And don't worry about yesterday. You're not in trouble. Your mom will never know."

Twilight left the counselor's office and headed back to her class. She was alone with her thoughts again. It was true that she should be happy for Sunset but it was much easier said than done. Twilight could see her warm sunny face every time she closes her eyes and thinks about her. The pain of loneliness wasn't easy for Twilight to deal with. But she knew Cadance and Luna were right. She had to keep moving.

"This is going to be hard," she said to herself. "But I think I can do this. This is probably harder for her than it is for me."

Before she went back to Dr. Discord's class, Twilight stopped by her locker. She opened her locker and stood there looking at the picture Sunset gave her. Sunset managed to place it in her bag before she teleported her to the school. Twilight forgot to take it out of her bag this morning. She felt happy looking at it so she placed it in her locker for her to see every time she opens it.

Author's Note

Yeah, I write a lot. I'm sorry for the long chapters. Speaking of which, just wanted to let you know we're quickly approaching the climax here. The next four chapters will be uploaded together so there might be a bit of a wait on the next installment. If if gets to be too long of a wait, I'll share what I have. We'll see how it goes.