It was a seemingly normal day, but in one house in canterlot, there was a lot being moved.

"Thanks for agreeing to help us both pack." Twilight told the five new friends she and Sunset made in Ponyville.

"Ain't no problem Twilight; after all, what are friends for?" Applejack asked.

"I'm just glad the books here are so light. I'm not a very strong Pegasus." Fluttershy said.

"The way I see it, we all have things we're good at and things we don't do so well in." Sunset said. "It's that balance of knowing when to call for help that lets you know when it's time to rely on your friends." She added.

"No offense Sunset, but Twilight's collection of books is MUCH bigger." Pinkie Pie said.

"Actually, some of these I'm leaving behind. Moondancer said she'd love to read these and I'm giving this place to her." Twilight said.

"How generous of you Twilight. Why, I'm surprised you didn't end up as generosity." Rarity said.

"I may not be as smart as Twilight, but considering you put gems on your clothes, I hardly see this as more generous." Rainbow Dash said.

"Everyone can express parts of the seven elements, but Rarity cranks it up to an eleven." Twilight explained. "It's why you, Rainbow Dash, are the element of Loyalty. Sure you can be honest and Applejack is very loyal to her family, but loyalty is more about loyalty to both friends and family alike while honesty is about telling the truth and spotting lies." She explained.

"I think your loosing her little sis. What Twilight means Rainbow Dash, is that yes, we can be exhibit the other elements at times, but there's one particular element we express more of in our day to day life then the rest." Sunset said.

"...Yeah uh...Twilight, no offense, but Sunset is much better at this summery thing then you are." Rainbow Dash said. Sunset rolled her eyes.

"I always have to summerize the things Twilight says. She can say things that'll fly over anypony's head, not just yours Rainbow." Sunset said.

"Well you did become her surrogate big sister Sunset." Applejack said. "But ah couldn't help but hear that you said something about a brother?" She asked.

"Oh right. That. I suppose I might as well tell you all if we're going to be friends from here on out." Sunset said. "See, I have a mother who doesn't live in Canterlot; in fact I originate from a town that gets a lot of monster attacks daily; and I also have a brother. Once I was of age and had a cutie mark, my mother sent me off to Celestia's School where I proceeded to become the Princess's first student. A month later, my brother gets his cutie mark and soon joins me but not as Celestia's second student. Things were going well, but my brother struggled with the material. I was going to help him after the mid-term exam that was coming up. See, until after the mid-term exam, a rule of the school is that your unable to write home to anyone you want to. You can only write home after the mid-term exam regardless if you pass or fail. But with how much my brother was struggling, he was bound to fail." Sunset said.

"Wait, what's so bad about failing the mid-term?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"If you fail the midterm, your put into a magic training school; essentially being downgraded. Two months into that school, your given another test where failure means getting kicked out of the program entirely. If you manage to pass, you are put back into the main course in the school for gifted unicorns." Sunset said. "To date, only three unicorns have ever failed the training school test; those that do essentially bring shame to their entire family by proxy." She added.

"Oof...that's a bit harsh don't you think?" Rarity asked.

"Harsh but understandable; if these rules weren't in place, then the school wouldn't be so prestige." Twilight said. "Of course, my family lived in Canterlot, so I never had to worry about the letter issue." She added.

"So, did your brother fail the training school test then and vanish as a result?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's worse then that I'm afraid: On the day of the midterm test; two weeks before I met Twilight in fact; my brother didn't show up. The midterm rules state that all current students that have not taken the mid-term test must be present before the test can be given. So I offered to help out with the search since I knew exactly which dorm room my brother used. But when I went to his room, I found it completly trashed and my brother missing. The entire day was then spent searching for him, but we never found him that day. My brother has been missing ever since then, and it's taken it's toll on my mother." Sunset suddenly had tears in her eyes. "The...the last time I saw my mother...which was five weeks after I met Twilight...she looked like she hadn't been eating for months. I had to pratically force feed her. I know it wasn't kind of me to do that, but she was going to die if I did nothing. I've since asked Celestia to move her to Canterlot and asked her to keep an eye on her so that that doesn't happen again." Sunset explained through her tears.

"Talk about a downer..." Pinkie Pie said.

"That's why I'm hoping one day I'll find my brother somewhere. Even if it means my search turns up his dead body, at least then my mother will have closure. I have to find my brother somehow, if not for my sake, then for my mother's." Sunset said. Twilight gave Sunset a hug.

"I'll do my part to help you Sunset. You've helped me so much in being a big sister figure to me. Now, it's my turn to help you." Twilight said.

"Hey, I'm the current head of the weather factory at cloudsdale; I think I can ask the folks who go there to keep an eye out for your brother." Rainbow Dash said.

"And the Apple family is spread out all over equestria; maybe one of ma kin has seen him." Applejack said.

"Thanks you gals..." Sunset said and then took out a photo. "This is the only photo I have of him on hand." Sunset said. It showed Sunset together with an orange unicorn colt with Sunset clearly being older.

"Huh...he looks like a male version of you Sunset but younger." Rarity said.

"I don't know why my brother and I look so similar. Mother jokes it's because father was also orange like the rest of us. Still, while he's going to be older then this, because he looks so similar to me, I don't expect it'll be tough to pick him out." Sunset said. "I'd tell you his name, but I'd rather save that for when we find him." She added.

"So you can introduce us to him right?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes. That way he'd know about all those that kept me on the search for him." Sunset said.

"We'll do our best then. For your mother." Fluttershy said.

Author's Note

What did you think I was going to reveal her brother's name and cutie mark in this chapter? No I'm keeping that stuff vague on purpose because it'll be important later.