Fluttershy and Rarity had gone to their next two classes, though both of which went by without much being spoken between the two of them. Fluttershy was still a little worried about the fashion show that Rarity had been planning. Yet, when she saw Sunset enter the high school's cafeteria and how wistful she looked, all of her worries went out to the door. Sunset, like Fluttershy before her, had picked the line leading to the vegetarian meals and was soon standing behind Fluttershy.

Turning to her friend, Fluttershy said with a kind smile, “S-Sunset, are...you feeling alright? You look a little upset.”

Sunset didn’t reply. Her head was down, her mind in a faraway place. This time of year always made her wistful. "It's been so long since I've been in Equestria, so long since I was adopted," she thought. Her thoughts then flowed to how she had found out of her mother and father dying before she had a chance to actually talk to them.

She had been reading in the personal library of Princess Celestia. Getting up, she bumped into a bookshelf next to her and knocked a book out of it. The book landed on Sunset's head, causing the little filly to let out a painful yelp. After rubbing her head, Sunset looked down at what had hit her. Before her was a brown, leather book. She immediately used her magic to lift the book up and was about to put it away when the book suddenly opened in her magical grasp.

“Huh?” Sunset remembered saying to herself. “What's this?”

Something within the book's pages had caught the eye of the amber-furred pony. Her eyes went wide when she saw what it was that had caught her attention. It was her birth certificate, yet where Princess Celestia's name should have been, Sunset clearly saw that there was another name. Two names, in fact: the names of her mother and father.

“This can’t be right. Why would my mother's name not be on my birth certificate?” Sunset recalled thinking to herself as she continued to read the book.

Taking the book with her and wanting some answers, she recalled heading out of the library and into the royal gardens. Finding Princess Celestia sitting in front of an ornate glass table with a teapot and two tea cups in front of her, Sunset used her magic and placed the book in front of the regal pony.

“I found this book in the library. Care to explain to me why it has my name next to the name of two other ponies that are not my father and mother.”

Sunset also recalled how Princess Celestia had narrowed her eyes at the book that she had placed in front of her during their usual tea time. She recalled as well how Princess Celestia had let out what seemed to Sunset to be a forced sigh as the Princess spoke to her.

“I was hoping that you wouldn’t have found that book, Sunset.”

“Why didn’t you want me to find this book…Mother?”

“Because of what is in it."

“So you're telling me that what's in this book is the truth then? That I'm not your actual daughter.”

Celestia had looked away, her face showing pain and sadness. Sunset recalled looking down at the table in front of her as she spoke her next words to the Princess.

“Why didn’t you tell me about my mother and father?”

“I wanted to protect you, Sunset. I didn’t think you were ready for the truth.”

"I see. And what is the truth, Mo--er, Princess?"

“The truth, Sunset, is that your mother and father gave you up because they were not ready to take care of you. They both died six weeks after the adoption papers went through, killed by a dragon, Sunset. I wanted only the best for you, so I didn’t want you to learn of this. I wish you could have known them, Sunset. Despite their failing as parents, I am sure you would have liked them.”

“So the whole story you told me about how my father had been killed during a diplomatic mission was what?" Sunset looked up, then back down again. "Nothing more than another one of your lies!?”

“I didn’t lie to you about that, Sunset. It is true that Storming Wind was killed, and he was my husband, but he would have been every bit of a father to you as I tried to be a mother to you. That is, if he had lived to see you grow into the pony that you are today.”

Sunset recalled turning around, leaving the book on the table as she snarled out in anger towards Princess Celestia, “I need to be alone now, Princess.”

Sunset recalled very well that she had been angry with Princess Celestia for keeping the truth of her family from her. It was this anger that caused her to forgo any and all teachings of friendship that Princess Celestia was trying to teach her. In her mind, every word that escaped the Princess's lips were little more than lies or half-truth. She didn't need Celestia. She could be better than Celestia, a far better and more powerful ruler, one that didn't lie to those closest to her.

During her quest to become as powerful as Celestia, Sunset would come to know about the mirror and what it could do. She would also come to learn about the true power that Celestia had and would want that power for herself. This would eventually lead to her downfall and the removal of her status as Princess Celestia's personal student. It was bad enough to find out that the Princess was not her real mother, but to remove her from the castle over a single fight almost broke her.

It wasn’t until she heard Fluttershy's soft, angelic voice calling out to her that her attention snapped back to reality.

“Sunset, please, if there is something bothering you, I would like to help if I can?”

“Huh?” Sunset looked at Fluttershy with a half-blank, confused look on her face. “Oh... No, Fluttershy. I'm…well, it doesn’t matter what I was doing.” She stepped up, took her tray, then continued, “I’ll...I’ll see you at our normal table, alright, Fluttershy?”

Applejack was just coming into the cafeteria at this time and had taken a spot behind Fluttershy. She watched as Sunset picked up her tray and headed off towards their normal table. Looking downwards for a second, Fluttershy meekly squeaked out her reply to Sunset while Applejack looked on with concern in her eyes.

“A-Alright, Sunset. I-I’ll be there in a minute after I get my lunch.”

Fluttershy got her tray of food, as did Applejack, and soon, both were following Sunset towards their normal table for lunch. Pinkie, who was already at their table, called out to them in her normal high-pitched, squeaky voice, waving her hand back and forth to get their attention.

“SUNSET, FLUTTERSHY, APPLEJACK! OVER HERE!” Seeing the three of them coming in her direction, she took out her cell phone, held it up, and snapped a photo of her three friends. “Alright, now I have another photo for my 'Favorite Friends' list. Who knows? Maybe I can show it off to the others. Oh, oh, and have a party to celebrate!. Whadda you all say about that idea?”

Pinkie beamed a great smile towards her three friends as she put away her phone, taking two cupcakes from what appeared to be pure thin air and popping both at the same time into her mouth. Both Sunset and Fluttershy gave each other passing glances as they each set down their trays onto the table in front of them. Applejack set her tray down, taking a seat to the right of Fluttershy. Sunset sat down across from Fluttershy and next to Pinkie, letting out a tired but very noticeable sigh. Rainbow and Rarity joined them just then.

Rainbow noticed Sunset’s sigh. Sitting down next to her on her left, she said, “Yo, Sunset, you alright? You seem kinda down.”

“You know,” Sunset began, placing her fork down and looking right at Rainbow, a look of slight anger in her eyes, “I am getting real tired of people asking me if I am alright. Yes, for the hundred millionth time, I am fine! I don’t need you or anyone else worrying about me, alright? Please, just leave it alone.”

A very uneasy silence fell among her friends, something that Sunset noticed but did nothing about. Instead, she got up and left the cafeteria with her lunch, leaving all five of her friends, who all had dumbfounded looks on their faces. All, that is, except for Applejack.

Turning to face Applejack, Rainbow gave her an expectant look, raising her hands and saying, “Well, don’t just sit there, AJ. Do something. We can’t just let her leave without knowing what's bothering our friend.”

“You heard her, Rainbow. She wants ta be left alone. So, Ah say we just give her some space for right now. She’ll come around when she's ready,” Applejack replied sternly.

“You have got to be kidding! That is, like, the lamest thing I've heard all day!”

The group did little else as Sunset exited the cafeteria and headed into the music room. Once she got there, she finished her lunch, unaware that Principal Celestia was coming down the hallway and had seen Sunset enter the music room. Concerned for Sunset's well-being, she, too, entered the music room and found Sunset lightly strumming away at a guitar.

“Sunset,” she said to her sweetly, getting the teenager's attention, “are you alright? You seem upset.”

Sunset rolled her eyes in annoyance, trying not to snarl or become angry with her principal. She replied, “Yes, I am fine! I just--”

“You don’t seem fine to me. In fact, you seem very upset. Is there anything that I can help you with?”

Picking up the guitar, Sunset sat down on the floor, while Celestia took a seat next to her. Sunset let out a sigh, strummed her fingers over the strings of the guitar a few times, looked at her principal, and closed her eyes as she found herself saying to her, “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you what's bothering me, but you have to promise me it'll stay between us. I really don’t want my friends to know about this. At least, not until I'm ready to talk to them about it myself.”

Principal Celestia reached out, laying a soft, gentle hand on Sunset's shoulder, saying, “You have my word that no matter what you tell me, it will remain between the two of us.”

Next Chapter: After School (Edited by Icecreammac) Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours, 27 Minutes