Sunset Shimmer was leaving Canterlot Hostpital when Princess Cadence came up to her. "Princess Cadence, what are you doing here?" Sunset asked.

"Well, it's just that Twilight's Parents asked me to come fetch you." Cadence said.

"Huh? Why would they want that?" Sunset asked.

Sunset wasn't sure why she expected Twilight's parents to be two different pony species, but perhaps considering it was Canterlot, the orange unicorn should've expected Twilight to be come from two unicorn parents. "So you must be Sunset Shimmer; Twilight's been talking a lot about you." The female adult unicorn in the room said. "I'm Twilight's mother, Twilight Velvet."

"And I'm her father, Night Light." The male adult unicorn said

"Hello again, Sunset." A white unicorn who looked to be around Sunset's age spoke up.

"Hello Shining Armor." Sunset said.

"...Shining Armor, you know her?" Twilight Velvet asked.

"Why he knows me isn't important to why you wanted me to come here, now is it?" Sunset asked, having stopped Shining Armor from saying anything.

"Straight into the point I see." Night Light said.

Shining Armor looked at Sunset Shimmer confused, but then quickly realized why she did that. Guess Sunset must want my little sister to like Sunset for Sunset. The unicorn soldier thought to himself.

"We were just wondering if there's any reason why you've been playing with Twilight so much." Twilight Velvet said.

Sunset looked like she was deep in thought for a moment. "...Perhaps, it's better to simply show you then to explain things." Sunset said.

Now Shining Armor looked confused again, but decided that Sunset had her reasons and let the orange unicorn lead the family to Canterlot Hospital.

It was at the hospital where the entire family of Twilight Sparkle was now visiting Stellar Flare, who was currently laying in bed.

"Sparkle, remember yesterday when you asked if I had any family? Well, this here is my mother, Stellar Flare." Sunset said. "There's no need to worry, she doesn't have something that could get you sick, so it's okay to be close to her."

"If she's not sick, then why is she in a hospital?" Sparkle asked.

"Twilight, ponies can be in the hospital for things other than being sick." Velvet said.

"Well, actually you could say in a certain way, when she was administered to the hospital, she was sick; just not something that could be spread from one pony to another." Sunset said.

"You mean she wasn't contagious?" Sparkle asked.

"Basically, yes." Sunset said. "She's still sort of sick now, just not the traditional kind of sick."

"What do you mean?" Velvet asked.

"The reason why she's in the hospital right now still, is something that Sparkle isn't old enough to know." Sunset said.

"Oh..." Velvet understood right then and there that, the reasoning was something not safe for a pony as young as Twilight to know about yet.

"So, if you mind me asking, where's your dad?" Night Light asked.

"The stallion who is my bio-father doesn't deserve to call himself my dad. Not after what he did to mom." Sunset said. "And let's just say, the full details on that are something that Twilight is too young to hear as well."

"Wow, it must be something super bad or something." Sparkle said.

"Heh, you are a lucky filly to have a father like Night Light. Even my step-father wasn't a great father to me either." Sunset said.

"Your mother re-married?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah. But that's a story for another point in time." Sunset said. "My mom still need to recover, and there are things Twilight Sparkle is too young to hear."

"Princess Cadence, would you mind taking Twilight to the park while Sunset fills us in." Velvet asked.

Some time later...

"...I...I see..." Velvet said after Sunset got done saying things.

"Not sure where my younger brother is; there's been no sign of him in Canterlot." Sunset said. "If only I had been a better older sister, I doubt he would've run off in the first place."

"It's not your fault Sunset." Night Light said. "Sometimes, ponies are just beyond help."

"I still had an argument with him the night before he vanished." Sunset said. "How can I not blame myself?"

"So, out of curiosity, is Sunburst the reason why your mother is in the hospital?" Velvet asked.

"Well, knowing Sunset, it probably is." Shining Armor said. "In fact, Sunburst is how Sunset and I know each other."

"What do you mean?" Night Light asked.

"Shining Armor was the one who discovered Sunburst's trashed room." Sunset said.

"He trashed his room before he left?" Velvet asked. "What was your argument even about?"

"He was complaining about 'Glim-Glam' again; he had been complaining about that his whole time in Canterlot." Sunset said. "And frankly, I was getting upset over him bringing it up, that I...I basically told him off."

"I can't really blame you; if my little sister was bugging me about a specific toy for that long, I know I'd be upset enough to tell him off too." Shining Armor said.

"Except I no longer think Sunburst was talking about a toy." Sunset said.

"...You're starting to realize he may have been referring to a pony, aren't you?" Velvet asked.

"Yeah. Just wish I knew what kind of pony he's referring to." Sunset said.

"I'm sure you'll find that Glim-Glam one day, Sunset." Night Light said, putting a hoof on Sunset. "You can trust me on that."

Sunset smiled. "Sparkle really won the jackpot in terms of who her bio-father turned out to be."

"Still don't know why you're hanging out with my sister so much..." Shining Armor said.

"You may be her big brother, but Sparkle needs a big sister model in her life." Sunset said. "I failed with Sunburst, I won't fail with Sparkle. That's my word, and I'm sticking to it."

"Well, I don't want you anywhere near my little sister for that reason. I have half a mind to tell Twili everything tonight." Shining Armor said. "In fact, I know I will."

"Shining Armor, you will do no such thing." Velvet suddenly raised her voice.

Sunset was put off a little. I recognize that tone of voice from my own mother. This is the tone a mother takes when she means business. Rest in peace Shining Armor... She thought to herself.

"B-but mom--"

"No buts!" Velvet said. "Or would you rather I pull you out of the royal guard for breaking your younger sister's hopes and dreams?"

Shining Armor wilted at that. "...N-no m'am..." Shining Armor said meekly.

"In that case, whatever you know about Sunset, you are keeping to yourself. Do I make myself clear young man?" Velvet asked, but not in a way that made it clear that she was merely asking.

"C-crystal clear..." Shining Armor said.

"Good. I'm glad we understand one another." Velvet said.

Wow, seems Twilight Sparkle doesn't just have a great dad, she's got a great mom too. Sunset thought to herself.

"And Sunset?" Velvet asked.

"Y-yeah?" Sunset said, still a little put off from the tone from earlier.

Velvet smiled. "Feel free to come by any time you want."

Sunset smiled. "Thank you, Velvet."

"I consider you a part of this family now; I have a good feeling my little Sparkle will be in great hooves with you." Velvet said.

"Same here!" Night Light said.

"...Twilight's really lucky to have such great parents." Sunset said.

"Now, what do you say Twilight gets back home, and we enjoy a family evening together?" Night Light asked.

"I was thinking the same thing." Velvet said.

"...Super lucky..." Sunset finished.

Author's Note

This is the last episode before a time-skip is going to occur. Not much else of note is going to happen prior to when Twilight Sparkle witnesses Princess Celestia raising the sun in three months' time.

Oh, and that won't be the only event going on at that time.