Celestia flew up to Sunset, finding her resting on the floor, looking at the ground. She seemed to be fine physically, but it was clear she was very scared.
Seeing her like that was breaking her heart.

“The guards are waiting outside?” Sunset asked.

“There’re no guards Sunset, just me. And I’m not here to punish you in any way.” Celestia sat down beside her. “I already talked with Twilight and her friends about what happened.”

Sunset’s forehead hit the floor. “What did I do?”

Celestia was surprised at the question. “You don’t remember?”

“Just pieces. But it can’t be good.”

Celestia ran her hoof through Sunset’s mane in an attempt to calm her. “Tell me, from your perspective, what happened last night?”

“I… died.” Sunset trembled, so Celestia continued brushing her mane. “I fought the ursa major and it crushed me against the floor. After that, everything is hard to remember.”

“Spike said he found you in Fluttershy’s cottage. And he said something to you.” Celestia tried to edge her into remembering, cautious about triggering her herself.

“I remember… something about Trixie. I was going to have coffee with her. But then he said…” Sunset struggled to remember. “I… was so angry.” Sunset suffered another tremor. “Why was I so angry?”

Celestia wondered if not telling her would be better, but realized that hiding it would only make things worse. “Twilight accidentally made Trixie look like a farce when she sent the ursa minor away.”

Another tremor coursed across Sunset’s body. “But… That would make me sad… not angry.”

“Twilight’s friends may have influenced your feelings with their actions. Do you remember what happened next?”

“I…” Suddenly, Sunset grabbed her head, looking like she was in pain.
Celestia hugged her, trying to calm her down, but it didn’t seem to work. Moon Dancer approached them and gave Sunset a mug full of a dark brown liquid. The unicorn drank it all, and her pain seemed to subside.

“What was that?” Celestia asked.

“Coffee,” Moon Dancer responded. “Was the first thing she asked from me when she crashed through my window. It seems to calm her somehow.”

“It’s better when it’s not cold,” Sunset joked, showing her improved state. “And sorry about the window.” She took a moment before continuing. “I just remember being angry… angry at a dragon… angry at… Fluttershy?”

Celestia feared how her pupil would react next. She looked at Moon Dancer, but the unicorn was already making more coffee. “I talked to all of Twilight’s friends. They each admitted their fault in feeding your anger. It looks like they were what pushed you over the edge.”

Sunset didn’t seem to have heard her. “I remember Twilight… she was…” Sunset started to tremble again. “She was scared.”

“Sunset! You need to calm down! You’re scaring everypony!”

The trembling got worse. Celestia had to hold her closely so she wouldn’t collapse on the floor. “I hurt her…”

“Sunset… I didn’t know… I…” Twilight recoiled at the heat, but moved forward anyway, ignoring the pain. “I won’t abandon you again… I need you…”

Sunset was crying. She felt sick, like if her organs were rotting inside her. “I wanted to hurt her…”

“You can take my place… I don’t want it…” Rainbow picked her up, trying to take her to safety. “I want my sister!”

“So I…” Moon Dancer gave her a mug of fresh coffee, which she drank almost instantly.

Celestia smiled as she saw Sunset finally calm down, and Moon Dancer went for more coffee. “You telep-”

“I killed myself.” The mug shattered on the floor as Moon Dancer looked at her in shock. “I teleported into a river and drowned myself.” Silence filled the room, her words resonating on all their heads. Sunset felt something wet hit her snout, and when she looked up, she saw Celestia crying. “I just… I didn’t want to hurt anypony.” Her eyes also started to fill with tears.

The alicorn hugged Sunset as close as she could. “Sunset… I promise you; you will never have to do that again, or even think about it.”

Sunset returned the hug with force, not wanting to let go. “But I am the monster… I only hurt those around me.”

“We would disagree.” They all turned their heads to the blue alicorn that was standing close to them. “We had a little chat with various acquaintances of yours, and they all seem to have a pretty good impression of you.” She walked towards Sunset, making sure her eyes were looking at hers. “Savoir Fare thinks of you as his best customer and a kind pony. Gilda, funny griffon she is, admits that your help saved her friendship, and seems to respect you to some extent. We even got word from Applejack’s brother that he was glad that you got some sense back into his sister. But we must admit, he’s a stallion of few words.” Sunset’s tears had stopped flowing. “You call yourself monster, but your actions are a far cry from something like that.”

Sunset looked at her in disbelief. “But… in the mountain I…”

Luna interrupted her. “We have a theory.” All the ponies looked at her with expectation. “It may be related with how you cheat death.”

“Excuse me, but I’m learning a lot about Sunset right now,” Moon Dancer exclaimed. “You died… and came back to life? Are you a lich?”

“Necromancy is not the only way to avoid death,” Celestia explained. “There’ve been many powerful mages that have done it, either with the use of powerful artifacts, ancient rituals or clever spells. Halas of the Many Faces made various clones of himself, and each time he died he would transport his soul to another clone. A pegasus named Firebrand had supposedly gained the powers of a phoenix and would burn himself to ash to be reborn from them. Beauty Moonlight apparently could distort reality to avoid death.”

“Where are those ponies now?” Moon Dancer asked.

“They died,” Luna stated matter-of-factly. “Cheating death is not a guaranteed thing, and if you do it to the point of being known for it, someone will find a way to bypass your method.”

“Are you capable of cheating death too?” Sunset asked to the lunar princess.

“We can. If we would suffer mortal damage, we would transport our soul to the dream plane and wait until our sister repaired our body so we could return.”

“And how do you do it?” Moon Dancer asked Celestia.

“I…”

Luna smiled wickedly. “She can’t. She’s just an old mare that stayed home while her little sister dealt with the scary stuff.”

Celestia glared at her sister, which only made her smile larger. “Yes, I can’t cheat death. So Luna fought in the battlefield while I managed the kingdom. Which is harder!”

Luna’s smile didn’t waver. “That’s up to debate.”

“I have fought alongside you, and without you, and against you! and I’m still here.”

“We just jest you Tia.”

Moon Dancer shook her head. “Wait, so when you fought Nightmare Moon…”

Celestia gave a heavy sigh. “I tried to wound her enough so we could purge her body while she hid in the dream plane, but…”

“Nightmare Moon had her own way to cheat death,” Luna explained. “When she turned to mist, all wounds would heal almost instantly.”

Celestia continued. “And with Luna’s body and combat experience, she was pretty much unstoppable without completely destroying the body. The elements were the only option left, but…”

“Since we were able to wield them previously, she managed to change their effect on us. Instead of purifying our body, they sent us to the moon, where she would simply wait and regain strength to return.”

“And she also cut my connection with the elements, so I wouldn’t be able to use them against her again.” Celestia looked at Sunset. “That’s why I was so desperate to find somepony who could wield them again. They were the only way to stop her when she returned.”

“And Twilight was the only one who could,” Sunset concluded, looking sadly at the floor.

“I only realized it when I met her, the day I presented her to you.” Celestia closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”

“You could’ve told me,” Sunset said, and Celestia was surprised at the lack of anger in her voice. “Things may have been different.”

“You looked so accepting of her, and with my blindness to my treatment of you, I didn’t realize that you were just keeping her away from our conflict.” Celestia closed her eyes as she exhaled a heavy breath. “I’ve been blind to everypony around me. That blindness created the demon that haunted Luna, and I was foolish enough to think I learned the lesson when it came to nurture you.” Celestia hugged Sunset again, but this time it was soft and caring. Not the hug of a desperate parent or a grieving widow, but the one of a loving mother. “I don’t want to ever hurt you again.”

Sunset returned the hug, much in the same way, and felt a warmness in her body that wasn’t coming from her inner fire. Instead of prideful or hateful, it was peaceful.
In that moment of motherly love, a word resonated from deep inside Sunset’s mind; Sunshine.

Luna and Moon Dancer watched them with a smile for some time, until the unicorn had to ask the question. “So how can Sunset cheat death then?”

“The correlation seems to be Sunset’s anger, so that may be its origin,” Luna explained.

“So what? I just anger myself back to life?” Sunset asked, not really convinced.

“Maybe you just reject death so much your body heals itself out of spite,” Luna joked.

“Too angry to die.” Moon Dancer joined in.

“Being serious,” Celestia interrupted with a frown, letting go of Sunset so she could see her in the eyes. “It’s possible that with all the knowledge you’ve acquired over the years, when you were at the verge of death, your desperation created a spell capable of bringing you back to life.”

“But why anger? And why can’t I remember anything afterwards?” Sunset asked.

“Dying is still a traumatic experience, and we don’t know exactly how your spell works, so I guess we won’t know until somepony witness it,” Luna explained.

“Which we won’t do,” Celestia declared without room to discussion. “You’ve died enough already. I want you to be safe.”

Sunset looked at the ground. “I just don’t want to hurt anypony.”

“Then stop dying!” Moon Dancer exclaimed, her voice rising for the first time. “If Twilight’s the chosen one or whatever, let her and her friends risk their lives against danger! You’ve already died twice trying to protect them! You’ve sacrificed more than what anypony should!”

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think I can just sit and watch Moon. Twilight is my sister.”

Moon Dancer’s thoughts derailed at the last words. “You two are finally admitting it?”

Sunset realized what she just said. “I… I think so.” She then turned sad. “If she forgives me.”

“She will Sunset.” Moon Dancer smiled. “She is your sister.”

Sunset smiled. “I can still annoy her, right?” The ponies laughed.

“Spike told me about your promise, so you can’t,” Celestia said in a motherly tone.

Luna looked at her sister with a smile. “Oh, like if a promise ever stopped you from it.”
Celestia glared at her sister for a second time, making everypony laugh again.

“Well, I just made a lot of coffee. Do you want any?” Moon Dancer proposed.

“Would be lovely, but I must refuse.” Celestia stood up “We’ve matters to return to, but if anything happens, just send us a letter and we will be here.”

“You’re just going to let me stay here?” Sunset asked, standing up too.

Celestia looked at her with a smile. “And where would I send you to?”

“I…” Sunset got lost in thought. “I don’t know.”

“You wanted to be here, so here you are. We will all be close by if you need us,” Celestia gave Sunset’s mane another brush with her hoof.

Sunset seemed calmer than before. “What about Twilight and her friends?”

“If you feel like you’re not ready to see them again, you can stay here, and I will tell them that you’re safe with Moon Dancer and that they don’t need to worry.”

Sunset took some air, calming herself a little more. “Ok… I just don’t want to hurt them when I see them.”

“We believe you incapable of that,” Luna said before going to the door.

“There will be a parade in Ponyville in a couple days, you can come with me if it makes you feel safer,” Celestia offered.

“Yes… I think I’ll be ready by then.” Sunset looked to the side. “I hope…”

Moon Dancer put a foreleg over her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry Sunset, it will be fine.”

Sunset smiled at her, feeling a little more confident, and then looked as the two sisters were leaving the room. She felt an impulse spring from her heart. “Princess?”

Celestia turned around. “Yes Sunset?”

The unicorn was nervous. “I… I don’t think I can hate you anymore.”

Celestia’s eyes widened, old tears hiding new ones. “I’m… so happy to hear that Sunset. I hope I won’t ever fail you again.”
Both mares looked at each other with a smile, feeling a weight being lifted from their hearts.

“We shall smack her if she does!” Luna shouted as she left.

Celestia rolled her eyes at her sister’s teasing. “Goodbye Sunset.”

“Goodbye.”

Author's Notes:

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Sunset's morale has gone up: +30
Current morale: -15/100

Sunset developed a new condition: Coffee dependance.

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I hope it ended up good, even if short. I was in a sad mood today, but luckily I had written most of it before.

I will be watching you.