Waking up was a slow process. She could have gotten out of bed quickly, but since the library wasn’t on fire, Sunset didn’t feel any need to hurry. The dull murmur of the town outside melded into white noise, a lullaby for a static world. The tranquility of the moment was broken by a disquieting realization – Twilight was gone. Why? Had Sunset done something to displease her? Probably not, since she wasn’t waking up on the street.

With a groan and creaking of stiff limbs, she flopped out of the bed. The angle of sunlight had changed throughout the morning so that it fell directly where her head had been. All of a sudden, Nightmare Moon’s plan to bring about nighttime eternal made perfect sense to Sunset. It was probably less a quest for world domination so much as one for beauty sleep. A cursory glance around the room revealed that Spike had abandoned his bed, meaning he had seen her wake up in a bed that wasn’t her own. Oh, well, it was going to be awkward with him anyway, she thought, before spotting a piece of paper that had been left beneath a vase on a table. With a little tug the note was free, written in Twilight’s signature scrawl.

Sunset,

I’ve gone out to talk to the girls. I still feel like I need time to sort this out. It’s all very confusing, none of this was part of my life until a few days ago.

Feel free to go for a walk, get lunch, anything. I know you have at least a few bits. Maybe we can do dinner tonight. Maybe Pinkie will have set up a party somewhere. Let’s play it by ear.

~Twilight

P.S. What do you put in your mane? It smells amazing.

Sunset read the note, not quite managing to stifle a giggle. Oh, Twilight, only you would ask a mare on a date by letter, she thought as the note evaporated in a burst of emerald light.

She trotted slowly to the door, still sluggish with the last vestiges of sleep. As she pulled it open, the smell of food wafted upstairs. Sunset was starving – the scent may as well have been magnetic for how quickly it pulled her down the stairs and into the kitchen. There she found Spike sitting at the same table she’d shared with Twilight the night before, wearing an immaculate chef’s hat and a ‘Kiss the Cook!’ apron.

“Pmmkeks mmfer mmf” he said when he noticed her, or at least attempted to. She had to give him credit for his heroic effort to speak – his cheeks were so full of food that he resembled a bullfrog. He swallowed a moment later. “Pancakes over there,” he repeated, gesturing with a talon towards a plate set out for her.

“Thank you, Spike,” she said with a little smile as she took her seat. Inside, she screamed. There was absolutely no chance that he hadn’t seen her sprawled across Twilight’s bed.

“How did you sleep?” Sunset asked, trying to gauge his reaction.

“Just fine. Wow, you sleep in hard, Sunset. At least you don’t snore. Too loudly,” Spike answered with an honest grin on his face. “Was something wrong with your bed?”

Oh boy, here we go, thought Sunset.

“Because, you know, I do all the chores around here, and if there was something wrong, I’d like to be the first to know,” he continued, grin widening. Oh, come on, he’s just a kid, this isn’t fair, Sunset complained to herself. Wait, Twilight said he hatched when she was, what, six? Seven? That would make him a teenager now. Oh, I hate teenagers...

She sighed. “All right, yes, I had a talk with Twilight last night that ended with everypony feeling much better in the end, with a moral lesson about trusting your friends thrown in. I was given to understand that this was par for the course in Ponyville.”

“Well, maybe, but you still haven’t answered my question.”

“I was cold.”

“You’re a fire mage. I’m sure you could have worked something out,” he beamed. His smile was so wide now that it would look more at place on a Cheshire Cat, or perhaps Pinkie Pie’s face. Sunset felt the color rising in her cheeks as she bit back an uncharitable retort. She’d never had to explain herself to anypony before, and wasn’t quite sure how to begin.

A few moments passed, as Sunset desperately tried to invent some sort of explanation. Before she could, however, Spike waved a claw in dismissal. “Hey, forget about it. I shouldn’t have said anything, ‘specially cause I knew you’d be embarrassed. That wasn’t cool.”

She tucked into her pancakes, considering. Spike could have continued to make her uncomfortable by asking questions until he had coaxed a proper answer out of her, but had chosen not to. Why had she expected him to be so malicious? She knew him to be better than that. Was she just being paranoid again, or was she expecting him to do what she would have done in his position; taunt her, mock her?

No, I buried that Sunset Shimmer, she told herself. “Thank you, Spike.” As an afterthought, she added, “Thanks for making me pancakes, too,” as she took a bite.

His grin returned. “Making you pancakes? Heck no, these are my pancakes. I’m just letting you have some.” He chuckled good-naturedly, before returning to an almost serious expression. “You’re welcome, it was honestly no problem.” Sunset let him swallow a few more too-large bites of pancakes interrupted before she asked him another question that had been on her mind.

“How do you feel about me living here? I mean, Twilight said there wouldn’t be a problem, but you basically clean everything up, right? I don’t want to feel like I’m imposing on anypony.” She set her utensils down on the plate, staring at where the pancakes had once been.

“It’s fine,” Spike assured her. He rose to get rid of his plate, now clean, that had been covered in pancakes only moments ago. “Make sure not to, like, make a huge mess, or set the books on fire or anything, and you’ll be fine.”

“Oh, come on, I lost control in a library one time – wait.” Sunset had been sure he had been accusing her, as if he’d known the story. Instead, his grin returned.

“Wait for what? This is a new one, do tell.”

“Ugh!”

Spike changed the topic once more. He had far more tact in sensing what ponies didn’t want to talk about than she’d ever had. “No, but, for real, this is like, your house now, right?”

“Uh, yes? But like I said, I don’t want to impose – ”

“No, but that’s just the thing,” Spike frowned. “You gotta stop acting like you don’t belong. Well, you don’t really have to, but you should, ‘cause you do.”

Once more, Sunset suppressed an uncharitable thought. After all, what did Spike know? Stop that, she reprimanded herself, he’s doing his best to give good advice. “I... I think I should go, anyway,” she said, still uncomfortable with her own subconscious.

She left the kitchen then, leaving Spike behind with his diminishing pile of pancakes. As she passed through the library she took a moment to admire the shelves as she couldn’t have done the night before. In the daylight, she noted with approval that everything had been properly organized according to Dewey Decimal System. Unfortunately for her, the 900 series – history – was extremely sparse, and the few books Twilight did have were either outdated or simply wrong. History had always been her favorite subject as Celestia’s protégée; she’d have to find a way to fill the stacks with proper history, instead of all the mythology Twilight seemed to favor. With a parting glare at The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide and all the inaccuracies contained within, she pushed open the door and entered a new world of light.

Ponyville in daytime was nothing like it had been at night. There was no sense of tranquility to the hustle and bustle of daily life, but as she walked through the town she noticed an easygoing vitality in everypony she met. Unfortunately, though she knew quite well where she wanted to go, she had no idea how she was supposed to get there. An aging pegasus mare approached her as Sunset stood at an intersection doing little other than looking lost.

"Hey there, ma’am. I haven’t seen you around Ponyville before. Are you lost?” she said, waving an indigo hoof as she approached.

“I suppose, yes,” Sunset admitted. “You wouldn’t happen to know where, uh, Sweet Apple Acres is located, would you?”

The mare brushed some graying hair out of her eyes before pointing off into the hills next to town. “It’s over there, sweetheart. Have a nice day, and on behalf of the town, welcome. I hope you aren’t too high strung, because otherwise you’ll have a good surprise when Pinkie finds you.” She chuckled and trotted off through the rest of town, leaving Sunset in her wake.

Never before had she been around ponies so helpful to complete strangers. She’d grown up on the streets of Canterlot, a city which for all its beauty still had an ugly underbelly. In those crowded streets she had never once gotten a scrap of compassion. A chance encounter had allowed her into the far easier castle life, but by that point she had begun to actively cultivate a persona that would warn all warmth and sympathy to keep its distance. Celestia had attempted to gain her trust regardless, and Sunset had betrayed her for trying. When she saw how universally friendly these ponies were, so very much like Celestia, shame bubbled up from deep within.

Her hooves carried her to the edge of town and beyond, across a bridge and into the shadow of the Everfree. After a few minutes the gnarled boles of the Everfree Forest transitioned into lovingly-kept apple trees, their branches bare and leafless from the winter months. A cool breeze rustled the leaves of the apple trees, here and there freeing snow from the boughs. Sunset shivered as the wind tugged at her mane. As she continued down the lane, she heard in the distance a repeating, concussive noise that would stop for several minutes and then resume. Curious, she left the well-worn path to find the sound’s source.

She arrived in a clearing after a minute or so of walking. She was certain this was the scene of the commotion, as several lifeless tree-limbs on the ground showed that a pony had been going through with an axe recently. If they were still here, they did not show themselves.

“Hello?” Sunset called to the trees. She felt silly for doing so the moment after the word left her lips.

“Howdy.”

Sunset stifled a shriek when a voice spoke from directly above her. With a heavy thud, the mare – the voice sounded like a mare, at least – dropped to the ground. With as much forced calm as she could muster, she turned to look at the pony behind her.

It dawned on Sunset that she had only truly seen Twilight’s friends at the end of an almost successful tiara heist. Still, she would recognize Applejack anywhere. Wind carried through the leafless trees of the orchard and pulled at her hair, but her stetson remained firmly in place despite jumping out of a tree. Her orange coat was obscured in some places by a pair of worn saddlebags and spotted with grime from a morning spent working beneath the winter sun. Sunset noted an axe leaning against the tree she’d fallen from.

“Oh, um, hi, Applejack. I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. Sorry if I’m somewhere I shouldn’t be,” Sunset said, surprising herself by overcoming her instinct to run away.

Applejack dismissed Sunset’s worries with a wave of a hoof. “Nonsense, Twilight told us you’d be comin’.” She frowned for a moment before continuing, “Though ah don’t recall being told you’d be coming so early. Anyhow, any friend of Twilight’s is a friend o’ mine, so don’t you concern yourself with not belonging here at Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack said with a tip of her hat.

“Thanks for saying that, Applejack – ”

“Not just sayin’ it, Sugarcube,” Applejack grumbled, “Ah mean it, too.” A frown came over her face in an instant and was gone in the next, and she softened her expression with a smile. “Ah’m guessin’ that you came looking for me on purpose, so what can I do you for?”

“I just need somepony to talk to right now, and Twilight is off at Rarity’s, but you look busy. Should I come back another time?”

Applejack considered for a moment, scratching her chin with the underside of her hoof, then shook her head. “Nah. This work ain’t hard, just mighty tedious. You won’t be a distraction. Come along, then.”

She hefted the axe and deposited it in one of her bags, setting off through the trees at a trot. Sunset started after her, doing her best to keep up. Curiosity at what the mare was doing now outweighed the fears that had driven Sunset to seek her out. After a minute or so had passed, Applejack stopped at the base of another tree. With a mighty leap, she propelled herself into the leafless boughs of the apple tree. She pulled the axe back out of her bag and began hacking at the limb, confirming without doubt that she was the source of the noise that led Sunset through the acres. Sunset noted that the mare’s efforts to chop off the limb were not mindless or sloppy, but methodical. She first made a groove a pony-length down the branch, then cut off the rest of the branch past that point. Only then did she cut off what remained of the tree at the trunk. By the time Applejack jumped back down from her perch, Sunset’s interest had bubbled over into a question.

“Why are you cutting the branches off like that? For that matter, why are you cutting them at all? Is something wrong with it?”

“These branches are dead. If ah don’t cut them now, I’d invite parasites and disease into the tree that might make the whole thing die. And ah cut the branches like that because if you try to cut the whole thing at once, the weight of the limb will make it fracture at the trunk. Then the whole tree might die, too.”

“Really? I suppose that makes sense, but that’s fascinating. How do you know the branches are dead?”

Applejack glanced back at the trio of apples on her flank. “Ah just... do. Anyhow,” she said, clearing her throat, “No need for timber to go to waste. The second part of the job will be Big Mac – er, Big Macintosh, my brother, that is – anyway, he’ll haul a cart around and pick up the branches later today. It’s one of the winter jobs around the Acres, making sure the trees will be healthy in spring.” She lifted a hoof to scratch her ears, turning as she did so to look down the lane of trees and the cut branches she left in her wake.

“I guess he isn’t as nimble as you, then? That looks like hard work, getting into the trees like that. Do you want help? I could give you a boost with my magic, or just cut the branches myself if you show me how,” Sunset offered.

“No, but thank you kindly for the offer.” Applejack put the axe back in her bag with a smile and set off again with Sunset in tow, but slowed again almost immediately. “But you’ve been avoidin’ the whole reason you’re here, Sunset. What’s on your mind?”

Sunset sighed. She had no idea how to say any of what was on her mind. At length, she finally managed to say, “I feel as though a lot of good things are coming my way that I don’t entirely deserve.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at this, stopping completely to look Sunset in the eyes. “Ah don’t follow,” she said slowly. “Is this still you feeling guilty for all the stuff Twilight said you did? Turnin’ into a demon and all – no offense,” she added.

“None taken. But yes, that, among other things,” Sunset said. She followed Applejack’s lead and rested against the base of a larger-than-average tree by her side. “I’ve done a lot of things in my life and I don’t feel like the few good things I’ve done in the past moons can come anywhere near cancelling them out.” She sighed after finishing her spiel, rubbing her hooves against the roots of the tree just to give herself something to do.

“So... what? You think there’s some sort of scale that counts all the good and bad things a pony does over their lifetime, and if they have one more good deed under their saddle they can call themself a good pony? And you’re worried that you’re a bad pony because you’re measuring yourself on this scale?” Applejack said, a dubious expression on her face.

Sunset was surprised at how easily the other mare had understood her point of view. “In short, yes. What do you think I can do to make amends for what I’ve done?”

“Ah think you’re being a silly pony, Sunset.” Applejack tipped her hat, as if the words required no further explanation.

“I’m sorry, what?” Sunset replied, dumbfounded.

“Sorry. Ah just think you have the whole issue of morality wrong. You can’t divide the world into good and bad, and you can’t measure hearts that simply, neither. Take Princess Luna. Ah was there for all the horrible things Nightmare Moon did just to me an’ my friends, but imagine how much worse it was a thousand years ago the first time around. She’s not a bad pony, and neither are you. You both have done things you ain’t proud of, but Twilight showed us then that a single moment can change a pony forever. And I think she’s trying to show you that, too. You just gotta listen to her.”

“You’re right, that is what Twilight says. I know she’s right, but still...” Sunset trailed off, unable to find words to complete the thought.

“Everypony deserves a second chance, Sunset, so long as they sincerely try to make themselves better than they were before. It’s not about whether you’ve done enough, but whether you’re trying to do more. So, from now on, stop beating yourself up over it. Celestia trusts you enough to let you back into Equestria, and she’s no fool. Twilight told us before you came that you were one of the best ponies she’d ever met, and she’s no fool, neither.” Applejack stopped leaning on her tree, trotting over to where Sunset sat and offering a hoof. After a moment’s hesitation, Sunset took it, and got back on her hooves.

“I’ll... try, I guess,” Sunset said. “I just don’t know how I can find a way to leave my guilt behind.”

“Well, just stick with Twilight, Sunset. You’ll be fine.” Applejack winked, and set off through the trees once more. “Well, so long as you’re here, you may as well tell me what your last few days have been like! Ah miss the Crystal Empire, sometimes. How was it?”

Sunset grinned, trotting after her friend. She didn’t immediately notice as she began her tale, but the weight on her mind had vanished as if it had never been there at all. “Well, it’s sort of a long story, actually...”

Author's Note

Holy christ, these last three days have been stressful. I've had about eighteen different computer problems installing my new motherboard/cpu, so I am SO sorry it took this long. You have my sincerest apologies. The next chapters will be much quicker to come out. I feel like this probably isn't as high quality as my other chapters, so tell me if you find anywhere where the prose is too light, or there isn't enough description, or anything. Sorry about the wait.

tl;dr this chapter is worse than I'd hoped but better than I expected.