I Was Only a Foal When....
“I was only a foal when Sunset went off to Celestia’s school, she was a foal then too-but there was a three year difference between us,” Sunburst starts as he tells his friends and wife, Starlight Glimmer his life story. “She came running in all giddy when she got accepted into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns and immediately got to packing.”
“Where are you going, sis? Why are you leaving so quickly?” I remember asking her that day.
“Heading to Celestia’s school. I...I got accepted. My train leaves out this afternoon,” I responded says Sunset.
“Well, can I come too? Please?” I ask her as I grab her back hoof and she drags me along. “Please?”
“No,” I responded says Sunset.
“Well, why not?” I respond stubbornly. “I have just as much magical capability as you do.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know how to control it, and besides, you’re still a colt. You’re not old enough to get in yet,” I honestly snapped at him responds Sunset. I then shook him loose and ran for the train. “When I got on board, I pulled out the picture of the two of us and looked at it and ran it over with my hoof. I didn’t want to leave him behind but the rules were the rules for a reason.”
“Yeah, the truth hurt, but I moved on, got accepted in years later not long after Starlight and I were the proper age for the school. Then she got left behind...my childhood filly friend and my now wife. It broke my heart, hers even more, I’d say.”
“Yeah,” blushes Starlight. “Enough to cause me to enslave an entire town to my will.”
“Yeah,” says Sunburst, “that’s still not good.” The two then share a kiss.
“Then years later, I was distraught when I was told by Celestia that you’d gone through that mirror portal and not returned, sis, you had me worried sick for years. That worry is what caused this stupid goatee along with stress of course.”
“Well, I came back eventually,” sighs Sunset, “but you’re right. I had no right to worry you like that. I should’ve written you, but portal mail is hard without magic journals being present on both sides. I’m sorry about that.”
“I forgave you years ago, so don’t worry about it,” Sunburst responds with a smile. He then continues his story. “Across the years you were gone, I continued to study magic, spells, and so much more. I was also bombarded with letters from mom asking when I’d come home. I even became the royal crystaller for Princess Flurry Heart. All the while I couldn’t help but think, my big sis is missing so much. Is she ever going to come home?”
“And I did, eventually, when by some magical miracle your wedding invitation RSVPs got to me somehow through the mirror portal. I’m betting Twilight or Celestia probably had something to do with that now that I’m thinking about it.”
“No, I figured out how to momentarily open it,” responds Starlight, “and subsequently send the letter through. That portal isn’t far off magic wise from a time travel spell.”
“Well, good to know,” says Sunset befuddled and confused. “How are you more powerful than two princesses?”
“Years and years of abandonment issues and studying,” responds Starlight. “My mom abandoned me and my father not long after I was born, then Sunburst left, so I was left to my own devices which in hindsight, weren’t beneficial to myself or any pony else around me.”
“Well, we all have each other now, and that’s what really matters,” sighs Sunburst. “Now back to the story. For years I went on thinking about my sister that had left me and mom. During the time you were gone, Sunset, dad got colic and passed from that after recovering from cancer years prior. You have no idea how many times we went to the hospital thinking he was going to die. When he came back clear and free of cancer, that was the biggest relief of our lives, but his system was compromised to the point colic took him a year later.”
“And I’m sorry I didn’t make the funeral, I honestly had no idea,” responds Sunset. “Not until you told me years later. I do wish I could’ve been there for you and mom, I really do.”
“Well, like I said before,” responds Sunburst, “all is forgiven.”
“As he was dying,” continues Sunburst, “all he kept saying was ‘where’s my little filly? My baby girl. Where is she, Sunny Boy, where is your sister? I want to see her again before I die. Now tell me, where is she, Sunny Boy. Where’s my beautiful Sunset? My lil Sunrise Angel?’ I didn’t know what to tell him or even how but it eventually came out as my eyes streamed down tears: ‘she is gone, gone for good in another dimension known as the human world and she’s never coming back. I’m sorry, daddy.’ You have to understand, I was just so mad, betrayed, abandoned by my own sister and it came out full force at that very minute. Daddy just looked at me shocked, stunned. He didn’t understand or grasp any of what I just said. I ran out the room in tears. He knew as he lay there dying that his darling Sunset was never coming back and would never see him alive again.”
“Well, for that I’m sorry, does it matter now to you now that we go to his grave together every winter and lay flowers upon it?”
“Yes, it means the world, Sunset,” responds Sunburst with a smile. “And you know that. It’s just not the same. You missing his death and funeral is different. You know that.”
“Yeah, yeah I do,” says Sunset full of regret. “I...I know it’s not the same.”
“That first year after daddy’s passing was hard, Sunset still a no show at his grave, still stuck in the human world. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever come back. And you didn’t, not until the wedding. There you apologized about missing the funeral, most of my adult life, among other things. I had no choice but to forgive you, you were my sister. You are my sister. You mean the world to me. Anyways, I’m glad things are different now. I’m glad you’re sticking around. I’m glad you’re never leaving again. I’m glad we get to catch up and make more memories together.”
“As am I,” says Sunset as the two siblings share a hug. “As am I.”
