It was a new day. Sunset woke up from the makeshift bed she and Moon Dancer had made for her and smelled breakfast being made. She stretched her body before rising and going to the table.
“Good morning Moon.”

“Morning Sunset.” The ash-white unicorn walked with two plates with still steaming food over to the table, putting one in front of Sunset, who quickly took a bite out of it.

“Wow, this is really good!” she exclaimed taking another bite.

Moon Dancer smiled. “Thanks! It took a lot of failed attempts until I got it right.” She took a bite out of it with a little pride. “I can tell you the recipe if you want.”

Sunset smiled awkwardly. “I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

Moon Dancer raised an eyebrow. “You… don’t know how to cook?”

“Moon, I lived in a castle. With maids and chefs and everything.”

“Yeah, but you also lived in Ponyville for like two weeks or something. And I don’t think there are maids there.”

“I just bought breakfast every day,” Sunset admitted.

Moon Dancer gave a chuckle. “One of the most powerful mages in Equestria can’t even make its own breakfast.”

Sunset smiled. “Just, shut up and teach me Moon.”

Both mares started laughing, until there was a knock on the door. They looked at each other, neither expecting visits.
“I will get it, maybe is Celestia,” Sunset said before teleporting to the door. She opened it carefully, peeking one eye first, but as soon as she saw the face of the stallion, she opened it completely. “Bigby?”

Shining Armor smiled. “Hey Sunset. May I come inside?”

“Of course!” Sunset stepped aside, letting him in. “What are you doing here?”

“Twilight sent me a letter asking me to check on you.” Shining turned around to see her with a smile. “And also, I apparently have new sister now.”

Sunset had a big smile. She was getting a whole new family all of a sudden. “I guess I can’t call you Bigby anymore.”

Shining ruffled her mane. “I’m still older than you.”

Sunset pushed him away with a smile. “Bigger doesn’t mean older.”

“How about this? If you win the next Sibling Supreme, you get to be the big sister.”

Sunset’s jaw dropped. “Are you really inviting me to that?!”

“Of course, but we won’t go easy on you.”

Sunset pushed her hoof against his chest defiantly. “Oh, I’m having that crown on my head and you know it!” They both laughed.

“Want to share my breakfast?” Moon Dancer offered from the floor above.

“No thanks, I ate in the barracks before coming here.” Shining responded before looking back at his new sister. “But there are some things I would like to talk with you.”

Sunset’s smile faded a little at the implications of what Twilight would’ve told him in the letter. “Sure. Moon, could you please make some coffee?”

“Already on it!” the unicorn responded outside of her view.

Both siblings sat down on Sunset’s bed, both nervous about the oncoming conversation. They knew that it would be unpleasant to both tell and hear it, but they needed to. They were family now.
Shining took the first step. “Twilight told me that you died.”

Sunset took some air. “I did…”

He looked at her. “How do you feel about it?”

“I’m… not sure. Everything is a blur. And when it becomes clear… there’s only anger.” Sunset shook her head. “Bigby I…”

“I know Sunset. She told me.” He put a hoof over her shoulder. “And I know that you didn’t mean to do it.”

Sunset trembled. “How can you know?”

“Because I saw you raising her into the pony she is now.” Shining moved Sunset’s head so she looked at him. “You played a part in her growing up, just like me, my parents, Celestia, and Cadence.”

Sunset’s eyes grew wide at the last name. “Cadence… does she know?”

Shining shook his head. “As far as I know, Twilight only told me. And I won’t say anything if you don’t want to.” He moved his head a little closer to her. “But she should know, eventually.”

Sunset closed her eyes. “I know, but it’s-”

“Not easy. I can only imagine.” Shining gave a short sigh. “I want you to know that this won’t be the rest of your life. We want to know because it’s the only way we can help you, so it won’t haunt you forever.”

Sunset gave a chuckle. “That’s a pretty good question.”

Shining looked at her confused. “Am I missing something?”

The mare shook her head. “Sorry, it’s just… I thought I was getting some time to relax and put things in order, but everything just seemed to…”

“Go FUBAR?”

“Exactly!” Sunset exclaimed. “Everything’s a mess and I don’t know where to go from here.”

Shining took a moment to think an answer. “Well, I can’t think of a more boring place than Canterlot to relax. Even as captain of the guard everypony just hangs around without much to do. My men have been shooting crossbows at empty cans all day out of pure boredom.”

“At least they will remember how they work.” Sunset looked in the direction of Ponyville. “That town could use a couple of guards.”

“Oh, I would move my entire regiment there by myself just to protect it and see Twilight every day, but sadly, it would be seen as a military subjugation.”

Sunset gave another chuckle. “Give them a couple more monster incursions and they will plead for more security.”

Shining smiled. “Well, they’ve Twilight, her friends, and I’m sure a little distance won’t stop you from going there and protect your sister.”

Sunset looked at the ground, not sharing his optimism. “I don’t know Bigby. I tried to protect the town, and I died, got yelled at, and I hu-”

Shining Armor, grabbed her by the shoulders. “It wasn’t you Sunset, I know it. Your anger got the better of you, it happens to all of us.”

Sunset shook her head. “Not all of us can melt rock, burn dragons and boil skin when we get angry.”

“And not all of us would face an ursa major all by ourselves. I should give you a Pink Heart of Courage.”

Sunset chuckled. “For something that nopony saw, I can’t remember, and lead to the mountain incident? I don’t think that award would mean much.”

Shining’s mood didn’t change. “Well, then I will save it for next time.”

Sunset gave him a puzzled look. “Next time?”

He smiled. “Oh, I’m more than sure that you will end up saving a town or two.”

Sunset’s eyes lit up with hope. “You really think that?!”

“Of course! You’re one of the most driven ponies I know, and have the power and knowledge to back it up.”

Sunset looked to the side, her insecurities crawling back again. “But what if it goes FUBAR again? What if I end up really hurti-?”

Shining stopped her once more. “That’s what we are for. Me, Celestia, Cadence and Twilight. If it happens again, we will help you. That’s a promise.”

Sunset’s smiled, tears trying to escape her eyes. “Thanks Bigby. Twilight is lucky to have such a great big brother.”

Shining ruffled her mane again. “I’m your big brother too now.”

“Until I get that crown on my head,” She said laughing.

Shining took some air. “There’s something more.”

Sunset got worried. “What is it?”

“Twilight’s friends are… in various levels of regret for how they acted and what they did to you. Twilight chewed them out, they are not in speaking terms right now.”

Sunset lowered her head. “Twilight doesn’t deserve that. They are her friends. Even if they fuck up. I hope she can forgive them.”

Shining looked surprised. “You’re not mad at them?”

“I am, in fact I’m not sure what I will do when I see them, which scares me.” She lifted her head back up. “But wouldn’t it be kind of hypocritical if I get to be forgiven for what I did but they don’t? I know they didn’t have bad intentions, especially Candy, I mean, Pinkie Pie.”

Shining looked away. “About her.” Sunset looked at him closely. “She thinks that she killed you.”

Sunset’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “What?! Why?”

“Because she told you about the ursa coming to the town.” Shining quickly added. “Which is kind of confusing to me, but Twilight said ‘don’t question it’”

Sunset looked straight ahead, frowning, her mind deep in thought. “Would you mind doing a quick trip to Ponyville?”

Shining raised an eyebrow. “I can’t exactly just abandon the city.”

Sunset made a raspberry. “You just said nopony has anything to do, besides, you get to see Twilight. Just say that Celestia’s pupil send you on a mission or something.”

Shining smiled. “And what mission must I complete?”

Twilight’s eyes skimmed through the pages of yet another book, and when she finally hit the last page, she threw it to the ever-increasing pile of literature she had been making all night.
Spike, still groggy from sleep, walked up to it and did his best to put everything in place.
“Twilight, you’ve been up all night, can you at least eat something? I will make it for you.”

The unicorn opened another book and continued her quick reading. “I’ve to find something Spike, we can’t just keep hoping that Sunset will keep coming back from the grave. I need to find a way to-”

“Twilight, I’m as worried as you are, but we also can’t just assume that Sunset will die again in the near future.”

Twilight turned around to face him. “How can be sure that she won’t? We couldn’t do anything the first time and we didn’t even know about the second! What if another threat like Nightmare Moon appears and she tries to protect us and gets- ?”

“Then we will protect her,” Spike suddenly declared, stomping his foot on the floor. “You and your friends defeated Nightmare Moon, and you dealt with the ursa by yourself. If we all work together along with Sunset, nopony has to die!”

Twilight opened her mouth, but no words came out. She slowly lowered her book and felt the exhaustion of the sleepless night fall on her. She was getting blinded by desperation. She had just now realized that he was also going through his own grief.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“I will get it,” Spike said descending the stairs.
Twilight looked at the pile of books and started to levitate them to their respective places, reducing some of the work from Spike.

“Hey Twily.”

The books quickly forgotten, Twilight turned around and jumped towards her brother for a hug. She really needed him right now.
Shining smiled and returned the hug, happy to be able to see her sister after so long.
After a few seconds, they finally separated, and Twilight was the first to talk. “Did you see Sunset?”

“Yeah, in fact, I’ve a message from her to give you.”

Twilight looked confused. “Why didn’t she send a letter?”

“She said that it would be better if it was in person.”

Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and Applejack approached the library with worry.
They knew Twilight was still angry at them, and had every right to be, so her sudden invite to her house was completely unexpected.

“What do yah think she wants to tell us?” Applejack asked the group.

“Maybe she got more news of Sunset,” Rainbow guessed.

“I hope she’s okay,” Pinkie added.

Rarity took some air to calm her nerves. “At least I don’t think it can get any worse than what it is now.”

“I hope you’re right,” Fluttershy said as they knocked on the door to the library.
Spike let them in, and they found Twilight alongside a white unicorn almost twice her size. They didn’t pay him any mind, the important here was what Twilight had to say.

“Thanks for coming,” Twilight said standing up, and all the other mares sat on the floor. “This is my brother Shining Armor.” They all gave a short but courteous hello, and their attention went back to Twilight. “He brought me a message from Sunset herself. To all of you.”
They five mares got visibly nervous. They didn’t expect anything good coming from a mare kilometers away from them due to their actions.

Twilight turned to Pinkie. “Pinkie Pie, I don’t blame you for my death. Your unintended warning probably saved a lot more ponies in the town, and I also had my own plans backfire on me, causing my death. Please, don’t beat yourself up for it, you’re not a killer, you’re a weird but good pony who cares for others. That’s how I see you.”
Pinkie had tears in her eyes again, but the pain in her heart wasn’t as big as when she came down form the mountain.

Twilight continued. “Rarity, Rainbow and Applejack. I hate you.” The three mares recoiled at the words. “You’re a bunch of selfish, ignorant mares that can’t appreciate when someone does something for you even if you don’t ask them to do it.” The three mares were looking at the floor. “But I know that you are good ponies. Everypony makes mistakes, some small, some big, some just don’t learn and repeat them constantly, so that’s what I ask of you. Don’t wallow in misery, learn from your mistakes and do better next time. And if you ever see Trixie again; apologize.”
The three mares nodded. They were given another chance; they wouldn’t waste it.

Finally, Twilight looked at Fluttershy. The yellow pegasus wanted to dig herself into the ground and cry, knowing that she would get the worst of it.
“Fluttershy, I don’t understand you.” The words both surprised and confused her. “I know for sure that you’re a kind soul, and that you wouldn’t snap at somepony like that without a motive. I don’t know what you saw in me, and I don’t know anything about you besides that you embody kindness, but you’ve avoided me from day one, and I just don’t know why.”
Fluttershy didn’t know how to react.
She expected anger, but instead, Sunset was just trying to understand her actions.
‘Something that I failed to do with her,’ she concluded looking at the ground.

“The final words were for me, and I will just tell you this part; She wants us to keep being friends. She wants me to forgive you for what you did to her and be happy with all of you.”

“Are you sure the mare in the mountain was Sunset?” Rainbow asked.

“She sounds like a completely different pony,” Rarity added.

“One that’s a better mare than us,” Applejack concluded.

“Well, do we really know her?” Fluttershy suddenly asked, surprising everyone.

Applejack was the first to respond. “We tried, we spoke to Twilight about her attitude.”

Pinkie wiped her tears before talking. “Yeah, but we didn’t really talk to her. We know her attitude and that she likes to prank and help other ponies, but is that really all that Sunset is?”

The question dug deep in each of the pony’s minds. Even Rainbow, who got to hang out with Sunset when they practiced some maneuvers, could only remember that she was speaking to Sunset, not the other way around.

“Ah guess we still have a lot to learn about being friends,” Applejack concluded.

Twilight gave a short sigh of relief, and smiled. “We all do, but we can learn together.”
The five mares looked at her, seeing her smile. They smiled back, and quickly went for a hug, which Twilight gladly returned.

Shining Armor looked at the girls with a smile, remembering the part he omitted from the message.
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about sis. You are the fairy godmother of friendship.’

Author's Notes:

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Sunset's morale has gone up!: +20
Current morale: 5/100

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Who needs sleep? Healthy people? I have coffee!

I will be watching you.