Art of a Sun's Love Volume 1

AUGUST 1, 2038

Back in the present day, Dawn, Dusk, Twilight V, and Violet were still listening to the story. By this point, Fictionary had joined the group; she was now a woman of thirty-seven with a pixie haircut and her freckles had long since gone. Even though she was older than her nieces and nephews as well as her own children, Fictionary was short for her age at only five foot one.

"It's amazing how far you've come since we were kids, little sister," said Vincent in a teasing way, "but one thing still hasn't changed."

"What, that I'm still four years and ten days younger than you?" asked Fictionary with a hint of sarcasm.

"I'm still taller than you."

This was met with some laughter whilst Fictionary rolled her eyes.

"Some things never get old," she sighed.

"Hey, mom?" asked Dawn, "Sorry to go on a sour note, but are we gonna learn about your parents?"

Sunset sighed and looked away feeling a little tense. Vincent could tell how uncomfortable his wife felt, so he put a hand on her shoulder to calm her nerves.

"It'll be okay," he said to her comfortingly, "our daughter, nieces and nephews are old enough, so they deserve to know."

"Very well," sighed Sunset, "this, Dawn, is how my father died in the hands of my mother, and how Celestia came to be my foster mother..."

JUNE 12, 2007

The 2006-2007 school year at Rainbow Falls Elementary would be Sunset Shimmer's last. In August, she would continue her education at Canterlot Middle School where Flash was also attending.

"It's a bit of a shame that we won't be seeing one another that much in the next year," said Vincent, feeling disappointed. Even before he'd even begun fifth grade, Lullaby Strings and Page Turner had planned that Vincent would be attending CMS once he finished elementary school.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean dad and I can't come and see you," assured Sunset, "you're my best friend, Vincent, and nothing will ever change that."

"Glad to hear that," smiled Vincent. With that, the two hugged.

"Aww, young love," said Miss Punch in a sweet tone.

"Love?" exclaimed Vincent in surprise.

"Eww!" remarked Sunset, "Vincent's just my friend."

"Most romances eventually start out as just friends," said Berry Punch, "you never know, since anything could happen."

JULY 26, 2007

A month later, the Sentry family was having a stroll in the park. It was a beautiful day today, and Lullaby thought some exercise would do the family good. As they walked by the park, Vincent spotted something most peculiar; there were Sunset and Noble Shield sitting on a bench, the former with a bloody nose and the corner of her mouth looked a bit swollen. The latter was doing what he could to comfort his injured daughter.

"Oh my!" exclaimed Vincent, "Mom, take a look at Sunset over there!"

"Oh, the poor girl!" remarked Lullaby, walking up to Noble and Sunset, "What happened to her?"

"Her mother happened," sighed Noble, "we got into a bit of a squabble, and Icy ended up whacking poor Sunset in the face, so I took her to the hospital to have her nose looked at. The doctor said it should take about three weeks for her nose to heal."

Noble paused to look up at the sky, and then sighed again. "I don't know what's become of Icy; she used to care for Sunset when she was a baby, but now, she's practically become a neglectful mother at best."

"I'd hardly call neglectful good at all," muttered Page Turner. Vincent, taking pity on Sunset, offered to sit next to her, which she accepted.

"I'm sorry that your mom doesn't love you," he said sympathetically, "is there a reason why?"

"I don't really know" said Sunset sadly, "I do try and be a good daughter, but maybe she doesn't want me."

She sniffled as a tear leaked out of her eye. Vincent wrapped his arms around her and she cried on his shoulder whilst hugging him back. Noble patted his daughter on the back.

"You were there for me when those bullies attacked me a few years ago," said Vincent, "and for when I was sick on my sixth birthday as well. I guess it's fair I do the same for you."

"Thanks, Vincent," Sunset sniffled, and she gave a sad smile.

"We're best friends five-ever, right?" said Vincent, "And that's greater than forever too."

"Yep," replied Sunset, "best friends five-ever."

"I'm proud for you, Vincent," smiled Lullaby, "giving your friend comfort when she needs it most is certainly a kind thing to do."

"Thanks, mom," said Vincent.

"No, thank you, Vincent," said Sunset, breaking away, "I'm feeling a bit better now."

With that confirmed, Vincent then stood up again and rejoined his family. Noble and Sunset also stood up and he offered to get her ice cream, which she accepted, and they walked off, waving goodbye to the Sentries. Fictionary looked at Vincent in surprise.

"How'd you figure out she need a friend?" she asked.

"I don't know," shrugged Vincent, "it just... occurred to me, I guess."

"I don't like how Icy Heart can just get away with hurting Sunset like that," said Lullaby, "I'm calling the police."

"No, dear," said Page, putting a hand on her shoulder, "let Noble deal with this himself; after all, she is his responsibility."

"But what if she doesn't stop no matter what Noble does?" asked Lullaby.

"Well, there's the possibility he'll divorce her and then call the police," said Page, "it feels like the right thing to do."

Vincent was very worried for his friend.

I hope Sunset will be okay, he thought to himself.

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When Sunset and Noble got home, he kindly sent her to her room just to have a talk with Icy Heart, as there were things he shouldn't say in front of his little girl.

"Icy," Noble said calmly, with a hint of anger in his voice, "we need to talk." His wife was on the couch reading a book at the time, and she scowled when she looked up.

"What?"

That was when her husband exploded with anger. "I told you a million times to stop bullying our daughter!" he roared, "She does not deserve to be treated like garbage!"

Icy Heart was rather startled by her husband's outburst. She had never known him to be so angry. Rather than respond in kind (or unkind, in this case), her response was rather calm... perhaps a bit too calmly.

"I am merely trying to stop her from destroying our marriage," she said.

"Destroy our marriage?!" Noble was most indignant. "Sunset never destroyed our marriage; she added love to it!"

"Ever since she was born," said Icy Heart, "you basically pushed me aside and focused your attention on Sunset. Before she was born, I was the world to you! That's why I didn't want to be a mother in the first place!"

Noble Shield was shocked! He knew his wife could be temperamental, but selfish? That was crossing the line!

"That's not true!" yelled Noble, "I cared both for our daughter and you! I wanted the both of us to be happy with a family all of our own, but now I can see why people avoid you; you're basically a monster!"

"That's their problem!" snapped Icy Heart, "All we have to do is get rid of the kid and it'll be just you and me again the way it was supposed to!"

"Tell it to the police!" snapped Noble Shield, "You will never bully my daughter ever again."

Noble left the room, fuming at his wife's ignorance. What he didn't know was that Sunset had heard everything from outside the room. Now she knew why Icy Heart hated her, and couldn't believe what she'd heard. Not wanting to stick around any longer, she quickly ran up to her room and closed the door, leaning back on it fearfully.

"I need to get out of here!" she said to herself. She went to her drawers and took out some clothes and put them in a bag.

After she packed up what she knew was essential - clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, you name it - she frantically ran down the stairs and ran into Noble.

"Sunset?" he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Running away from my mom!" she cried, "She wants to get rid of me to be happy!"

Noble realized that Sunset had overheard his fight with Icy Heart.

"Sunset, come with me to your room."

Sunset wasn't sure if she wanted to, but she did anyway.

"What if she tries to beat me up or worse?" she asked nervously once in her room.

"Sunset, dear, I promise you that you will not suffer from her abuse anymore soon enough," Noble said kindly, "I'll be there to protect you."

This made Sunset feel better, so she went and gave her father a big hug.

"I love you, daddy," she said.

"I love you too, Sunset," said her father, returning the hug.

OCTOBER 4, 2007

By this point, Sunset was adapting nicely to middle school. During that time, she noticed that her mother seemed surprisingly calm, but she shrugged it off after a few days. Meanwhile, Noble Shield was privately arranging for divorce papers so he could have full custody of his daughters.

In middle school, Sunset and Flash shared three classes - academic communication, English, and history, all with Miss Cheerilee - and he frequently acted as a messenger between Sunset and Vincent to see how the other was getting on.

That afternoon, Sunset and Flash were in their history class, their last of the day, and it was not ten minutes after class began when on the loudspeaker came the following announcement:

"Sunset Shimmer, can you please report to the principal's office? Thank you."

Miss Cheerilee then wrote a pass for Sunset, who then put her books away in her backpack. The redhead was worried; what had she done wrong? As far as she knew, she'd been on her best behavior all day, and she didn't pick fights with anybody. Was somebody spreading lies about her? Had she caused trouble a few days before and the principal only found out now? Whatever it was, it didn't sound pleasant.

Nervously, Sunset walked up to the receptionist's desk.

"H-hi. I-I'm here to s-see P-principal Pierce," she said in a shaky voice.

"Well, here he is," said a voice from behind. Sunset jumped and turned to face a man in his early-forties with moderate gold eyes and white hair streaked with pale cobalt blue. This was Canterlot Middle's principal, Pokey Pierce.

"Miss Sunset Shimmer, am I correct?"

"Y-yes, sir," said Sunset, still nervous and jumpy. Principal Pierce noticed this.

"Don't worry, Sunset," he said kindly, "you're not in trouble or anything, but rather, it has something to do with your family; I got a call earlier from the police. Come with me to the office please."

Sunset didn't need telling twice, so she followed her principal into his office. She didn't take much notice to the detail in the room as she sat down in front of his desk.

"So... what's this thing about my family?" she asked, feeling slightly less nervous.

Principal Pierce sighed as he sat down on a red leather chair behind his desk; how could he break this to her?

"This... has something to do with your father," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully, "your mother called the police and said that around lunchtime, he was found in his bed with several knife stabs and the knife on the carpet."

Sunset gasped with horror! This had to be some sick joke... wasn't it?

"She claims he was having a nap when an intruder named Gabby Gums burst in and stabbed him several times. Your mother tried to stop the intruder, but she claims that Gabby made an escape and the police are on the hunt for her."

Sunset felt the blood drain from her face, and Principal Pierce noticed it, pausing to let the news register.

"...is my dad okay?" was the first thing Sunset said.

Principal Pierce looked grave. "He was taken to hospital, but the situation doesn't look good for him..."

Sunset just stared, tears welling in her eyes; she felt her heart break. Already, Principal Pierce began to wish he hadn't been this direct, and looked away respectfully.

"I'm sorry, Sunset," he said gently, "you can go wait outside the office. Your mother's promised to take you to see him. I'll let Miss Cheerilee know you're not returning to class."

"Y-y-yes, s-sir," Sunset managed to say.

When she was outside the principal's office, that was when Sunset finally let out her emotions.

"NO!!!" she sobbed, falling to her knees. Her father had promised to keep her safe, and now there was nothing to stop Icy Heart from bullying her again.

A little while later, Icy Heart had brought Sunset to the hospital. The poor girl was in an emotional state. Just then, a doctor came up to them.

"We're here for my husband," said Icy Heart.

"Is he alright?" asked Sunset.

The doctor sighed as he looked at the eleven year old's downcast expression. "He doesn't have much longer," he said.

Icy Heart looked sad, but Sunset looked as if she was about to burst into tears.

"C-c-can I at least say g-goodbye to him?" she whimpered.

"If you want to," said the doctor, "I must warn you though; the sight may shock you."

The doctor led the mother and daughter to where Noble Shield was. As he warned them, Sunset was in shock at the sight that lay before them. There lay Noble Shield, with what had to be seven or eight stab wounds in his chest, and his shirt and face stained with blood. His breathing was shallow, and the monitor beeped steadily to indicate he was still living, but only just.

"D-d-daddy?" asked Sunset on the verge of crying even more, "Can you hear me?"

Weakly, Noble Shield lifted his arm and touched his daughter by the face. Sunset cried as she took hold of his hand, and looked at her father's expression; he smiled weakly as if telling her, "it's going to be okay, sweetie". Sunset choked back a sob.

"...I love you, daddy..."

"I love you too, Sunset..." said Noble Shield weakly. He then glared as he looked up at Icy Heart. "Your... day... will... come..."

He then fell back and Sunset felt his hand go limp. There was no other way of putting it; Noble Shield was dead, thirty-nine years of age.

"Goodbye, daddy," whispered a heartbroken Sunset. She sat down on the floor and buried her face in her knees, crying her heart out. Now that her father was gone, there was no one to protect her once Icy Heart would start bullying her again. Sunset Shimmer felt that she would never have a happy life ever again.