Art of a Sun's Love Volume 1

It was around 6:30 in the evening. The Sentry family had finished their dinner and Vincent had just put away all the dishes. He walked into the living room and found his wife and daughter looking into the family album. Dawn was looking at an older picture of her parents when they were in high school; in it, Vincent was sixteen and Sunset seventeen.

"Wow," said Dawn. "You guys look just about the same as you did years ago."

Vincent looked at the picture; twenty-five years had passed since it was first taken and still, he and Sunset hardly looked a day over twenty-one.

"Age is a funny thing sometimes," chuckled Vincent. "Some people just look younger than they actually are on the outside. But on the inside, we're just a bit weaker."

He sat down next to his daughter and together, the three looked back at the pictures. Then Dawn noticed another picture.

"Was that really you, dad?" The Vincent in that picture couldn't have been older than thirteen; he had messy hair, braces, and didn't have glasses.

"I'm afraid so," sighed Vincent, looking embarrassed. "That wasn't one of my proudest moments."

"You looked rather dorky back then," commented Dawn.

Vincent went red with embarrassment at her daughter's cheeky comment. Sunset couldn't help but stifle a giggle.

"You really were, dear," she smirked.

"Not you too," muttered Vincent.

"We tease because we love." She put her hands on her husband's shoulders in reassurance.

"I love you too," said Vincent, kissing her on the cheek.

"So how'd you get your high school look?" asked Dawn.

"Well, you can bet it took more than a change of eye-wear and some 1960s influence," joked Sunset.

"Oh you," chuckled Vincent, giving his wife a playful shove. Sunset giggled again.

"What did people think of your new haircut at first?" asked Dawn.

"Well," said Vincent, feeling a little sheepish, "the moment a girl and her mother walked past me and uncle Flash, the girl saw me, squealed and fainted."

"So you must have been a lady killer before mom fell for you," joked Dawn.

"I was only fourteen back then," said Vincent. "Plus, I wasn't too fond of the attention as I'd rather be just another student in school."

"Oh, come now, dear," giggled Sunset. "Tell our daughter all about it, won't ya?" She then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, alright," chuckled Vincent, and this is the story he told...

AUGUST 19, 2011

It was only three days before Vincent could begin high school. He could not wait.

Three more days, he thought. After that, Sunset and I will be able to see each other more often. Vincent couldn't deny that he had a crush on Sunset; to him, she looked like an angel from the heavens and being in her presence made him feel like the happiest boy on the planet. Flash noticed how happy his little brother was.

"You're in a chipper mood," he commented.

"What's not to be happy about, Flash?" asked Vincent. "My first day of high school is coming soon."

"Wouldn't have anything to do with Sunset Shimmer, would it?" asked Flash cheekily.

Vincent went red at that comment. Inside, Flash was worried about his little brother's crush on Sunset.

Can't Vincent see how immature his crush on Sunset's getting? he thought to himself. Maybe he should try meeting other girls to take his mind off of her. It's for his own good, really.

What Flash meant by that was that he'd actually been spending a lot of time with Sunset for the past several months, but he never bothered to tell Vincent about it, although he was certain that he would eventually get over it.

Just then, their mother Lullaby Strings came in.

"Hey, mom," said Vincent, turning to face her.

"What's up, mom?" asked Flash.

"Come along, Vincent," said Lullaby. "You have your haircut appointment and visit to the mall planned today."

"Alright, mom," said Vincent, running his fingers through his hair. Over time, his hair had gotten long and messy, whereas Flash's hair was usually short in the back and longer on top.

"Have you thought of what you'd like your new hairstyle to be?" asked Lullaby.

"I have," said Vincent. "A mop-top."

"Oh, like the Beatles, I see," said Lullaby. "An interesting choice, dear."

"Sounds a bit too silly for my liking," said Flash.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Vincent, sounding offended.

"I didn't mean to offend you," said Flash.

Soon, the three were off to the barber. Fictionary was with Page Turner helping to arrange his book shop.

"Too bad she couldn't come with us," said Vincent to Lullaby.

"I know," said Lullaby, "but she has her own friends to visit her."

"I'll bet she's doing dad a big help at his own shop," said Vincent to Flash.

"You bet," said Flash. "She's just fascinated with books."

"Kinda like Twilight, I bet," said Vincent. This made the two laugh.

"Alright," said Lullaby. "That's enough out of you two. We're here." Indeed, they had arrived at the barber's.

"How long has it been since I was last here?" asked Vincent.

"Hard to tell," said Lullaby.

"I don't think he's been there at all," said Flash, "judging by the length of his hair."

"That's not true!" snapped Vincent. "I have been there... when I was eleven."

"Yeah, but not for a haircut," said Flash.

"Enough, you two," scolded Lullaby.

"Sorry mom," said the brothers. Vincent got up and sat down in the barber's chair.

"Alright, lad," said the barber. "What'll it be today?"

"A mop-top hairstyle, please," said Vincent.

"A mop-top?" asked the barber, a bit surprised. "They haven't really been big in fashion since the 60s!"

"I don't care," said Vincent. "I think it's neat."

Knowing that he couldn't go against a customer's request, the barber agreed to style Vincent's hair however he wanted it.

It took quite a few minutes, but at last, the barber was finished.

"Well," he said, showing Vincent a mirror. "What do you think?"

"Wow!" Vincent exclaimed, beaming with pride. "I look fab!"

"You are, indeed," said Lullaby. "You look very handsome, Vincent."

Flash just looked at his brother, speechless. Vincent just smirked in his older brother's general direction.

"Not so silly now, is it?"

"Er... I suppose not," Flash said at last.

After paying for the haircut, the family set out for the clothing store. Along the way, Vincent bumped into someone familiar.

"Sorry," he said.

"No, it's fine... Vincent?!"

The person Vincent ran into was Sunset Shimmer, now fifteen years old and wearing a light purple shirt with a red and yellow sun on it, an orange skirt with yellow and purple stripes, and a black jacket.

"Sunset?" asked Vincent, just as surprised once he recognized her.

"Oh, my gosh, Vincent!" To his surprise, Sunset pulled him into a tight hug, making him blush. "I really missed you."

"So did I, Sunset," said Vincent, returning the hug.

"I love your new haircut," said Sunset. "It's very handsome."

Vincent blushed even redder. "Th-thanks," he said shyly. Flash looked away enviously.

"Oh! Hello there, Flash," said Sunset, quickly acknowledging his presence. "You too, Mrs. Sentry."

"Hello, Sunset," said Lullaby. "Where's your mother?"

At that moment, Celestia came in with some bags full of sweets.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. Then she took a look at Vincent.

"I rather like this new hairdo of yours, Vincent," said Celestia. "It makes you look smart and adorable."

Vincent giggled shyly and said his thanks.

"Ahem!" Flash was looking very jealous at his brother's new popularity.

"What's wrong, Flash?" asked Vincent.

"Don't we have to get some new clothes for Vincent?" asked Flash, trying not to sound jealous.

"Alright, jealous heart," chuckled Lullaby. "C'mon, Vincent; we better get going."

"It was nice to see you and your mom again, Sunset," said Vincent.

"Same here," said Sunset.

"I look forward to seeing you at Canterlot High," said Celestia. "Of course, you'll have to refer to me as 'Principal' or 'ma'am'."

"Of course, ma'am," said Vincent. And on that note, both families parted ways.

"What's with the attitude?" asked Vincent to Flash.

"What attitude?"

"Well, you looked jealous when Sunset hugged me."

"So?"

"What's the problem with it?"

Flash just sighed with annoyance. "Never mind, Vincent."

Soon they got to the clothing store.

"Once we get inside," said Lullaby, "Vincent, you can make the decisions on what you want, and I'll help you if you need it."

"Thanks, mom," said Vincent. Lullaby and her two songs walked inside, the door ringing the bell as they entered.

"Welcome," said a nearby attendant. She was a woman in her late twenties with orange eyes with moderate persian blue eyeshadow, and her hair was vermillion with shades of amber, tangelo, fuchsia and orchid.

"Good day, Miss Saddles," said Lullaby. "We're here to buy Vincent some new clothes."

"For school, I see," said Miss Saddles. "Splendid!" she added, taking Flash by the arm. "Come with me, Vincent. Rarity will-"

"Uh, I'm Vincent," the younger brother pointed out. "That's Flash."

"Oh!" said Miss Saddles, looking a little embarrassed. "Er, yes, I knew that. Terribly sorry for the mix-up. I'm Sassy Saddles, owner of Canterlot Carousel."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Saddles."

"Now, if you'll follow me, young Vincent - Rarity will help you pick out your new outfit."

"Thank you," said Vincent. Then a name quickly registered in his head. "Wait, Rarity?" he said out loud.

"Somebody call for me?" a voice called out. Then out came a sixteen-year-old girl with styled indigo hair and blue eyes. She wore a pale blue shirt, a pale purple skirt, a dark purple belt, dark purple boots, and a yellow bracelet on each wrist.

"Are you Rarity?" asked Vincent. "Flash told me about you and your incident with the Diamond..."

"Oh my stars!" exclaimed Rarity. "You're Flash's little brother, Vincent van Colt! Rarity Belle, at your service," she added, quickly shaking his hand.

"...Dogs. Ahem. The pleasure is mine," said Vincent, feeling a bit awkward. Hopefully, he thought, Rarity won't notice my new haircut.

"And what a dazzling haircut you have as well!"

Crud, Vincent thought with annoyance. "Er... thanks," he said.

"Think nothing of it," said Rarity. "Now then, Vincent; where shall we start?"

Vincent looked at the selection of clothes.

"Hmm... I want to go for a formal look, but not too formal. I'm not the person who likes showing off."

"Might I suggest starting with a white shirt?"

"Okay then. I'm a bit tall for my age, so my shirt size is around medium or large."

"Arms up!"

Vincent raised his arms so they were nearly parallel to the floor, and was surprised as Rarity began taking measurements.

"What're you doing?"

"Taking measurements for your clothing," explained Rarity. Once that was done, she soon found a white dress shirt for Vincent.

"Try this on," she said.

"Alright," said Vincent. "Do I have the take the shirt I'm wearing off?"

"Well, if you're trying on a new shirt, then yes," said Rarity. "But don't worry, I won't be looking."

"Thank goodness," said Vincent. Quickly, he took off his shirt - a gray one - and put on the long-sleeved white dress shirt before buttoning it up.

"Okay Rarity, you can look now."

Rarity opened her eyes.

"Well?" asked Vincent. "How do I look?"

"Quite dazzling," said Rarity. "Although, I think you could do with a black necktie."

"I do?"

"Yes indeed," said Rarity, picking out a black tie. She handed it to Vincent, who simply looked at it.

"I... I can't tie a neck tie," he admitted sheepishly. "I'm not used to wearing them."

"Allow me," said Rarity. After a minute, she straightened Vincent's tie and made sure it fit.

"Thanks," said Vincent. "So what else would I need?"

"You, Vincent, need a vest," said Rarity. "What color would you prefer?"

"Yellow," Vincent said almost immediately.

"Coming right up," said Rarity. "Oh, and if I may ask, why yellow?"

"Mm, I dunno," Vincent shrugged. "I just like the color yellow."

"Hmm, fair enough," conceded Rarity, and she looked through the vests to find one in yellow. At last, she found one.

"This is the last yellow one we have at the moment," she said. Rarity handed it over to Vincent, who then put it on and buttoned it up.

He turned around to look in the mirror.

"Not too bad," he said to himself.

"You look quite stunning in that outfit," said Rarity.

"Couldn't agree more," said Miss Saddles, having just come in. "If you were only a little bit older, I would consider asking you on a date."

"Uh... okay," said Vincent, "but I don't feel I'm ready for dating just yet."

Flash and Lullaby were allowed to come in and see how Vincent was getting on.

"Not too shabby," said Flash.

"My little guy looks so handsome," said Lullaby. Once again, Vincent blushed whilst Flash looked away with envy.

"Oh, hello there, Flash," said Rarity. "How have things been for you this summer?"

"They've been pretty cool," said Flash. "I see you've taken up a job here."

"I needed to make some extra money," explained Rarity. "Besides, Miss Saddles was holding an internship here."

"Any other interns working here?" asked Vincent.

"The only other intern I know of is Suri Polomare," said Rarity, with a hint of disgust in her voice. "All I can say is that I'm glad she doesn't attend Canterlot High."

According to Rarity, Suri Polomare was an exchange student at seventeen from Manhattan, New York, but instead of attending Canterlot High School, Suri was attending Crystal Prep Academy as a senior student.

"Well, anyway," said Vincent, "Canterlot High is where I'll start attending first thing on Monday."

"Well, that is interesting," said Rarity. "We may be able to interact more often."

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Before long, after paying for Vincent's new clothes, it was time for them to go home. Then Lullaby remembered something.

"Vincent," she said, "do you remember our trip to the optometrist?"

"Yeah, I do," said Vincent. "Why do you ask, mom?"

Whilst Lullaby had generally good eyesight when Vincent was born, in the past fourteen years since, her eyesight had started to go bad and she had to wear glasses. When he was younger, Vincent had bad eyesight and by the time he was in middle school, he needed to wear glasses in order to see what was written on the whiteboard in his classes. Flash, Fictionary, and Page Turner, however, all had perfect 20/20 vision.

"The doctor prescribed some new glasses for you," said Lullaby.

"You mean those Harry Potter-styled glasses I wanted?" asked Vincent.

"The very ones," replied Lullaby. "They're expected to arrive to you today."

"Alright!" cheered Vincent happily.

When they got home, they went inside the house. Fictionary was there in the living room with something on the table.

"This just came in," she said. "I think it's for Vincent."

It was a small package. She handed it over to Vincent.

"Thanks, Fictionary," he said, accepting it. She looked up at her older brother.

"Whoa!" she cried. "I almost didn't recognize you at first with your new look."

"You like it?" asked Vincent as he opened the package.

"Sure do," said Fictionary. "Maybe with what's in there, you'll look even better."

Vincent opened the package and could not believe what he saw. It was a pair of glasses, resembling the ones Harry Potter wore. Eagerly, Vincent unfolded the glasses temples and put them on his face. He looked at his reflection on a nearby window.

"Wow," he said. "I look amazing."

"You remind me a bit of John Lennon." said Page Turner.

"Is it cause of the hair and the glasses?" asked Vincent.

"A bit."

"Well, the only difference is that John didn't have blue hair," said Lullaby, running her finger down her youngest son's hair. Vincent just chuckled.

AUGUST 2, 2038

"But hold on a minute," said Dawn. "Didn't you say that when a girl saw you, she squealed and fainted?"

"Oh, how could I have forgotten?" Vincent realized. "That occurred whilst on the trip home from Canterlot Carousel; I didn't know it at the time, but that was when the girl I later knew as Blossomforth had this, erm... unhealthy crush on me."

"This caused trouble for us later on," added Sunset. "But of course, that's a story for later."

"I bet you've got a lot of interesting stories to tell," said Dawn.

"You sure bet we do," said Vincent. "There are some events we're proud of, but there are others that we wish we might have done differently."

"Like what?" asked Dawn.

"Well, for one," said Sunset, "I was with Flash for some time before I eventually became your father's girlfriend."

"Why did you date uncle Flash?" asked Dawn. For all the time she knew her mother, Dawn never imagined Sunset and Flash having had a relationship before they married Vincent and Twilight, respectively.

"Because I was too scared to ask your father out on a date at the time," explained Sunset. "He was only seven months younger than me - and he still is, to this day - and if people saw me dating what they'd believe to be a kid, I'd probably be a laughingstock. Not helping was that Starlight and Trixie were still tormenting me a lot at the time. So I dated Flash to try and look more mature, but..."

Sunset trailed off again and closed her eyes with a sigh.

"But what?" asked Dawn.

"I did something horrible," said Sunset quietly. "And he dumped me."

Dawn was rather shocked by what her mother had said, but she understood now about the warnings she had been given before.

"Gee, mom, that's... awful," she said at last. "What was it you did that made uncle Flash dump you?"

"It's a bit complicated, Dawn," said Vincent, before turning to Sunset. "It involves your mother insulting me."

Just then, the telephone rang.

"I got it," said Sunset. She picked up the receiver and asked who was calling.

"Hi there, Sunset," a slight British accent called.

"Oh, hey, Comet," said Sunset. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," said Comet Tail. "Since we've the day off tomorrow, we thought of coming over."

"Really?" said Sunset. "That is good news. I'll let my husband and daughter know."

"Okay. See you tomorrow."

"You too, Comet. Bye." With that, Sunset hung up the phone.

"Comet Tail and his clan are coming over tomorrow," she told her family.

"Hooray!" cheered Dawn.

"We'd better tell Flash," said Vincent. "I reckon that's something he'll want to know."

"I agree," said Sunset. Both she and Vincent had a feeling that tomorrow was once more going to be interesting.