Author's Note

New chapter yay!^_^ Sorry for the wait and I know this was an extremely short one but I thought it was about time to wrap up the Sunset rescue arc and jump into the main story from here. Note it will set in at least two years from this arc.

Accpetenace...

“Oh my head….” Sunset groans as she finally comes around. “Where am I?”

“You’re in my bed,” came Celestia’s voice.

“Princess,” Sunset threw her arms around her mother’s neck, “I thought it was all just a nightmare,” she sobs.

“Take it easy Sunset,” Celestia nuzzles the little pony. “You hit your head quite hard on the floor.”

“I did…” Sunset placed a hoof on her head and sure enough winced slightly. “I guess that means what aria told me was definitely true then.”

“I was hoping to ease you into that if I’m being honest but yes, Aria is indeed mine and Levi’s biological daughter,” Celestia says with a nod, “but that doesn’t make her in less your sister.”

“How is she even possible though?!” Sunset jumps out of bed and staggers slightly, “What is he? A pony or a human? And seeing as I’ve been to the human world i know that ponies and humans are not genetically compatible!”

“Calm yourself Sunset,” Celestia gets up and strokes her daughter’s mane. “Yes, Levi is one-hundred percent human. He’s been in this world for roughly two-hundred years now,” that fact caught Sunset’s attention, “He gained immortality due to circumstance in his younger days but that is it, he is immortal, not invulnerable. You saw the scars on his face and the metal fingers on his hand,” she sighs. “His immortality is some form of ancient foreign magic, so we have no real understanding of it. But back to the topic at hoof. He is indeed human and even he thought he couldn’t have foals of his own. He and his wife tried some years ago before we met but never could conceive.”

“So they adopted didn’t they,” Sunset says as she joined her mother on her veranda as the night breeze blew through her mane. “If he’s married then why is he here?”

“His wife died many years ago Sunset,” Celestia somewhat says with a harsh tone, “And he loved her very much, and even know many years after her death he still does. I love Levi to and he does care about me much more than just a friend but I wouldn’t say he loves me in every sense of the word. And yes he and his wife did adopt and he cared for those foals as if they were his flesh and blood, just as he cares for Spike as if he was his own flesh and blood. Even Twilight thinks of him as a second father. His granddaughter lives here in Canterlot with her husband and their daughter. Of course, this is his family by several generations now but nonetheless, he has remained steadfast in staying with them.”

“He really cares about those he considers family a lot doesn’t he?” Sunset says.

“Blood means very little to him yes,” Celestia looked at the moon. “Once he considers you part of his family that means you're his and he will do everything he can to do what’s best for you. And that goes for you to my little Sunset. He brought you here and tended to you until I could come, which I wasn’t long once Twilight sent me a letter. He stayed until you started to move around before leaving. He wants you to have as much space as you need.”

Sunset looked at her mother and then heard giggling and laughing from below. She trots over and looks down to See Levi playing with her and Spike along with another yellow mare with a fiery mane sitting not far from them. She looked a little off to the left and saw a Pegasus that was nearly identical to herself.

“I… I think I want to meet them tomorrow…” She says with a bit of hesitation.

“You're sure?” Celestia asked carefully.

“Every pony has their own lives and I want to know who’s a part of mine,” Sunset turns around, “Starting with my mother, sisters, and little brother and baby sister. And maybe my father.”

Celestia gave a soft smile and nodded once.

Some days later in the evening...

Levi sat not far away as the children played and the teens conversed with each other, with the only outlier being Spitfire who was mainly just listening and getting to know her sisters or occasionally answering the odd questions. He was currently standing watch slash enjoying his view of the city. He'd occasionally glance over at the youths to make sure nothing was going on, wanting to keep an eye on them and beware of them but also letting them have their distance from him.

Sunset was a bit apprehensive towards him the day after she'd fainted but soon got over it after she thought about how she saw him treating those around him. She'd taken an interest in his gear, and not just his maneuvering gear but many of the things he had or has been working on. She was very much like Twilight in that regard but much more emotional about it than just curious about how some of his devices worked and some of the spells that were embedded into the object he used.

Unfortunately for Sunset, she was met with the exact same opposition as Twilight in that these were unknown, as well as highly guarded secrets held by the Strawberry family alone. Spike found Sunset in the tower one day trying to magically scan the maneuvering gear and he told her she didn't want to do that but the older sister she was didn't listen and was met with a sharp headache as a magic surge ran through her horn and gave her a bacon color afro. Levi scolded her good that day and says all the gear hs Corps use is heavily warded with several layers of protection magic and rigid with other enchantments should and enemy ever get their mitts on it. Not only was he extremely mad but he was also very relieved she was okay in the end as she was extremely lucky she didn't cause an explosion.

"Why are you sitting over here by your lonesome dad?" Spitfire trots up and sat next to her adoptive father.

"Letting you girls have your time," He says. "Sunset reminds me a lot of you, just with more of a temper."

"Well, she is my little sister after all," Spitfire chuckles, "But yea, she seems to have gotten dad's less than favorable short-fuse alongside mom's talent for fire. How's she holding up without us around?"

"Like any teen in a similar situation would if their mother wasn't the ruler of the nation," Levi shrugs, "She's very strong but at times she little more than a little filly around Aria's age."

"Summer and I are going to see about renting an apartment in Cloudsale," Spitfire says, "She'd need an enchanted item with the cloud walking spell but she could live with us for awhile," She suggests.

"No," Levi shakes his head, "Sunset is more of a Teen than grown-up right now Spitfire. She didn't age nearly at all on the other side of the portal. I think it's best she stay with us where she can be near your mother and me. She'll also have more ponies closer to her mental age and similar hobbies and mindsets."

"If anything-"

"Happen I'll be the first to let you know after Tia if need be," Levi says as he keeps looking over the city. Then he looked back at the group of Sunset, Twilight, Moondancer, and Sunburst. "I wonder if Sunburst is a distant cousin of yours?"

"Trust me," Spitfire says, "He's not related to us at all."

Twilight then pulled up Michigan from the box she had him and started to tell Sunset his backstory and after the group all started laughing while the front just did a mismatched blink. Sunburst then suggests they try and trace his origin in order to send him back and that's also when the frog had had enough, cause he wasn't going to be an experiment, especially not for these yahoos. The frog opened its mouth and shot its tongue strain onto Sunbust's eye. The unicorn then began to run around in circles screaming at the top of his lungs.

"GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!!"

Twilight and Moondancer gave chase in order to try and pull the evil amphibian from their friend's eye. Meanwhile, every one else's started to roll around on the ground holding their side form the ache of laughter.

"Are you sure?" is all Levi asked.