Sunset's human world origin

Katon family home
Date: Nov 18th, time: 12:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

“Sunset, Emi, c’n ya come down ‘ere?”, Brigid called.

Sunset hopped down from her bed and hurried out to the main area. It took Emi a bit longer to get down from her room. When she did, Brigid motioned for them to take their seats at the table.

“Girls, given da current situation, we won’t be havin’ our normal Thanksgivin’ or Christmas party.”

“I don’t have a problem with this.”, Sunset said coldly.

“Are we still going to do something for Thanksgivin’ and Christmas?”, Emi asked.

“Of course, but it’s going to be limited to just us, Grandpa, Anura, and Minerva.”, Anzhong said.

Emi smiled, but Sunset didn’t react. This time of year had become sour since her fight with Fleur. However, she still enjoyed spending time with her grandfather, especially since he lives on the other side of the city and is very busy. Anzhong and Brigid explained how the plans have changed. There is still going to be a party for everyone, but it will be hosted by someone else.

“Are you going to go to the party?”, Emi asked.

“No, either we all go or none of us go. We’re a package deal.”, Anzhong said.

“We’re goin’ ta help Abbas plan n’ set up f’r da party dis yea’, but othe’ dan dat, we’re goin’ ta spend da holiday with ya.”, Brigid elaborated.

Brigid, Anzhong, and Emi continued to talk about holiday plans, but all this talk about family has the questions Sunset has about Grandma swirling around in her head. Anzhong said that it was Grandma that taught Grandpa ninjutsu. The story goes that after Grandpa came to terms with his father’s and brother’s passing, he swore off war and violence, declaring it unacceptable unless used for defense. Grandma taught him ninjutsu, along with arts focused on submission techniques, so he could defend himself. Ninjutsu deals heavily in evasion. However, that just makes Sunset curious about how she learned it.

“You’re awfully quiet.”, Anzhong said.

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Grandma” If she was going to get her questions answered, it might as well be now. “How old was she - when she died?”

Anzhong stopped drinking his tea and got a serious look on his face. He was clearly thinking very hard about something. “The things about your grandmother I’m about to tell you can not be shared to those outside this family. Not even Minerva has this information, and your mother hasn’t believed me, until recently.” With both of the girls’ full attention on him, Anzhong told Grandma’s story. “My mother was a kitsune, one of the very few remaining. She was over five-hundred years old when she died.”

“Called it.”, Emi said triumphantly. Sunset looked at her with clear confusion on her face. “What? Ah had the same information as you. Oh, and I know that you figured it out too.”

Sunset decided not to respond and turned her attention back to her questions. At least her question of how Grandma knew ninjutsu was answered. She was alive back before ninjas became the emperor's guards. “What do you mean by “very few remaining”?”

“Mythical creatures have been dying out. My family doesn't know why, but the dying out started around a thousand years ago, and ever since then, humans have been writing off many stories as pure fiction. The vast majority of those stories are fictitious or greatly exaggerated, but there are also many that are true.”

“Cool”, Emi said.

Sunset was left speechless. At one point, this planet did have magic but started losing it around a thousand years ago. What could be causing the die out?

Sunset’s room
Date: Nov 25th, time: 11:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

Brigid and Anzhong had gone over to Abbas’ house already but were expected back soon. Minerva, Anura, and Emi were busy doing stuff, while Sunset was busy cursing whatever deity thought it would be funny to make human females endure such torture if they wanted to have babies and waiting for the painkillers to kick in. Brigid joked that it was to prepare women for the pain of childbirth, but that didn’t explain why bats, the elephant shrew, the spiny mouse, and primates were the only creatures on Earth that have periods.

Being bed ridden, Sunset could only effectively do one job. Brigid asked her to organize the family pictures into a tree. She could trace the Mac Carthaigh clan back to a man named Cernunnos Mac Carthaigh, twenty generations back. He would paint his face green and wear green robes and a helmet with antlers on it to make his enemies believe that he was the horned god. They weren’t real antlers. That would’ve been too heavy. There are even stories from the British of one of their armies encountering an Irish army led by a green demon, and the encounter took place in Cernunnos’ teratory. His birth name is unknown.

After his career as a warrior was over, he started the farm. He also started the alliance between the Mac Carthaighs and O’Apples by saving the life of the O’Apples’ progenitor, Annurca Mela. The story goes that Annurca migrated to Ireland from Southern Italy and started the O’Apples farm, but one year, the trees grew sick and didn’t produce. Annurca had no apples to sell and no other way of feeding himself. Cernunnos noticed the man gowing skinnier each month. One day, as Cernunnos returned from one of his hunts, he shared his kill with Annurca. The next time Cernunnos went hunting, he brought Annurca with him and taught him how to hunt and forage. That day, Annurca swore an oath to Cernunnos that eventually led to them calling each other brothers. The two clans take that relationship seriously to this day. Annurca became known as Annurca of the apples and later, Annurca O’Apple.

Cernunnos married a woman named Orla. Orla was the only person Cernunnos entrusted with his horses. She was said to have magic powers and be able to heal and tame any horse. She was even said to have healed a horse’s broken leg. Even in modern day Equestria, a broken leg has to be amputated, and this was middle ages Ireland. Given what Anzhong said about the dying out, she could’ve legitimately had magic, or it could’ve just been oldtimie propaganda. She was a daughter of that area’s lord.

The rest of the family was unremarkable until Sunset’s great great grandparents. Brigid never went into much detail, but they nearly lost the farm. After them was Great Grandpappy Hugo and his sibs. Great Grandpappy Hugo managed to save and even expand the farm with just the help of Great Nana Mairead. Brigid never said what happened to Great Grandpappy Hugo’s and Great Nana’s siblings, but Sunset guessed that they, and their children, just completely gave up on the farm. That was the only way she could explain not even one of them returning.

Anzhong’s side of the family was much easier to organize as there weren't five kids for each pairing and Grandma’s line started with her. His family records only went back ten generations. Sunset left some space by Ryoko for Oda for when he officially joined the family. There’s no way they’re not getting married.

Canterlot Ice Rink
Date: Dec 16th, time: 7:25 pm

*Rainbow’s perspective*

9 to 9, the Thunder Griffons and Wondercolts were tied neck and neck. This last point would decide the game. Rainbow looked over to Sunset and the couch. They were trying to come up with a plan to beat the Griffons. The captain of the Griffons was Rainbow’s girlfriend, Gilda Griffon. Beating them would not be easy. Westside Jr High, the Griffons’ school, was much more focused on sports than CMS, and several of the Cults’ best players were out sick, most notably, Tiny. The overly brutal attacks of one of the Griffon players, Lightning Dust, also didn’t help.

Sunset and the couch finally worked out a game plan, and everyone moved into position. Betta was netminder, Harper and Ginger were defenders, Sunset and Fleetfoot were forward, and Rainbow was center.

“Ready to lose, Dash?”, Gilda asked.

“Not even your good looks can keep me from winning this.”

The other forwards started fake gagging and acting like they were going to puke.

“Shut it.”, Rainbow and Gilda chided.

The buzzer sounded, and the sound of clashing sticks could be heard. The Griffons got the puck first and made a mad dash to the Colts’ net. Betta widened her stance in preparation. The defenders rushed the Griffons, and the forwards began their harassing techniques. Harper was able to retake the puck and launched it to Fleetfoot. Sunset and Rainbow broke off from their harassies and moved to join Fleetfoot. They moved together like a pack of wolves. It didn’t matter how they felt about each other off the ice. On the ice, they were a single unit. Rainbow, Sunset, and Fleetfoot began passing the puck between each other like it was hot potato. As they near the Griffons’ net, Rainbow got the puck. She lined up the shot and, with all the might in her body, sent that puck flying across the ice, past the defenders. It’s going to go in. No one can stop it. It skipped towards the net until the netminder stopped it.

Rainbow went wide-eyed as the netminder passed the puck to one of the Griffons’ defenders, and the defender launched the puck across the ice and past their own defenders, right to Gilda. Gilda quickly took control of the puck and sent it straight through Betta’s legs. The buzzer sounded, and the crowd roared like a lion.

But-but, we were so close. How? We lost. Rainbow’s mouth was agape. She could barely process what happened. She looked over to Sunset, who had a solemn look on her face and was looking off into the crowd. Rainbow followed Sunset’s line of sight and found a woman she recognized as Minerva, two little kids, a man with blue hair and glasses, and a woman with hair as puffy and red as Sunset’s. The redhead had to be Sunset’s mom. There’s no way she’s not. Rainbow’s own parents were not faraway. Both sets of families were cheering and smiling, even though they didn’t win.

Both teams made their way off the ice and into their respective locker rooms. This was the team’s first loss since Rainbow joined. Instead of cheering and playful teasing and boasting that normally filled the Wonder Cults’ locker room before and after a game, there was silence. Everyone was quietly taking off their gear until the sound of someone punching their locker rang through the air. Rainbow turned her head to see that it was Sunset who made the sound. She had a look of anger on her face that was not aimed at anyone in particular. It was like the anger equivalent to soft light.

“I’m sorry.” was all Sunset said. That made no sense to Rainbow.

“What do you have to be sorry about? I was the one that messed up the shot. If I had just aimed a little more to the left, we would’ve won.”

“That’s irrelevant. I’m the leader. Every win is the team’s; every loss is the commander’s. Every time we win is because of you, and every time we lose is because of me. That’s the way it is.”

Damn, Sunset’s so cool.

They finished sorting out their gear and packing their bags and filed out of the lockers and into the hall. Some of the girls went straight to the nurse’s office to meet their injured friend or get themselves checked out while the rest, Sunset and Rainbow included, marched up the stairs. The upper ring of the arena was packed with spectators and vendors. It was utter chaos, especially for the girls, some of whom don’t even reach the adults’ chests. Some of the girls went left, and some of the girls went right trying to find their parents or whoever. Rainbow knew exactly where the person she was looking for would be. Rainbow bolted to get to their meeting spot first, she had to show off somehow. It only took her five minutes to get to the spot and was, as always, the first there, but it didn’t take long for Gilda to get there too.

“Took ya long enough.”, Rainbow said cockily.

Gilda simply stuck her tongue out and flicked Rainbow’s nose.

“Hey”, Rainbow complained. The two smiled and took each other’s hand before walking towards the exit. Rainbow really enjoyed these moments. It was so hard for them to get time together with each one living on the exact opposite sides of Canterlot. Rainbow lives to the North east of Canterlot in Canterville, and Gilda lives in the South west side of Canterlot city. They would’ve likely never met if it weren’t for those “issues” with her parents and her grandparents gaining custody of her for those couple of years and sending her to sports camp.

Rainbow took a deep breath of the cold, fresh air the moment they got out of the cramped arena. Rainbow loves every part of game day, except the part where people seem to forget deodorant is a thing. The girls noticed Rainbow’s parents walking up to them and promptly released each others’ hand. Rainbow wasn’t out to her parents yet. She wasn’t sure how they would react. Her parents love her dearly, but they were also religious. They weren’t devout, but her mom still identified as jewish, and her dad identified as cathlic. Rainbow was agnostic herself. The few times they took her to church or synagogue, the relevant speakers didn’t talk about the LQBT+ community much, but the one time each of them did, was the last time Rainbow ever went to their respective house. They talked about us as sinners. Her parents didn’t seem to react to the speakers so that was a positive. Still, she wanted to wait for the right time and place.

“That was an incredible game, girls.”, Dad said.

Mom scooped Rainbow up into a hug and kissed her on the head. “Oh, I’m so proud of you. That was a great play you came up with.”

Already thoroughly embarrassed, Rainbow did want to add the dishonor of taking credit for another’s work on top of that. “That wasn’t my plan. I’m only the vice captain. Ya know, the person who takes over if the captain can’t do their job for whatever reason.”, Rainbow said immediately.

Mom and Dad now looked confused, and Mom put Rainbow down. “I thought you were the captain.”, Dad said.

“I was, but I gave that title to Sunset. She’s an awesome leader, and she proved it tonight. She gave a speech- At least I think that’s what it was. -about how every win is the team’s, and every loss is the leader’s. She was awesome.”

“Sounds like you have a crush on this “Sunset”.”, Gilda said mockingly.

Rainbow spun around to face Gilda. She loved her, but Gilda’s attempts at “helping” Rainbow come out to her family by dropping “hints” only made Rainbow panic. She just wished that she could get some quality time alone with her to actually talk to her about how much she doesn’t like it. “No, I don’t!”, Rainbow said quickly. Rainbow mouthed “don’t” to Gilda while shooting her a death glare. Gilda seemed to show some recognition of what Rainbow was trying to tell her, but Gilda had trouble with understanding stealthier communications so it’s a 50/50 change.

“So, where is this “Sunset”? I’d like to meet her if she’s someone you respect this much.”, Dad asked Rainbow.

“Oh, she’s-” Rainbow turned around in place until she could see the massive clump of red and gold. She wasn’t able to find Sunset, but she could see the bright red lion’s mane of the woman Rainbow guessed was her mom. “I think her family’s over there. She’s most likely with them.”

“Well, let’s go see then.”, Mom said.

“I’d love to go with ya, but I got a bus ta catch.”, Gilda said.

The Hothoofs said their goodbyes to Gilda and then began weaving their way through the crowds. It didn’t take them long to catch up to the redheaded woman’s group; at which point Rainbow could see Sunset holding the woman’s hand. The first thing that became apparent to Rainbow was the sheer size of the redheaded woman. She looked to be at least half a head taller than anyone around her. Even Sunset, who practically towered over Rainbow, looked tiny compared to her mother. Being smaller than someone wasn’t a new feeling for Rainbow, she was the shortest member of most of her teams, but this lady made Rainbow feel like she needed to be careful she wasn’t stepped on. Before she got caught staring, Rainbow remembered why they were there. “Hey! Sunset!”, Rainbow called out.

Sunset tried her best to spin around to meet Rainbow but was stopped by her mother holding hand. She ended up turning around, along with the rest of her group. The moment their gazes fell upon Rainbow, she felt this strange, uneasy feeling. It was like she was staring down a mountain lion.

“What is it, Rainbow?” The moment Sunset said that, the feeling went away, but the dog with the man was still looking at Rainbow like she just asked the dumbest question. That was strange.

“Hello, we’re Rainbow’s parents. I just wanted to say that you did an excellent job. It’s rare for Rainbow to have so much respect for someone.”, Dad said.

“Thank you”, Sunset said sharply. She attempted to turn and leave but was stopped by her mother.

“Are you and Sunset friends?”, the little girl holding the woman’s other hand asked. The little girl looked extremely bundled up. Every inch of her skin was covered. Rainbow didn’t even realize that she was a girl until she spoke. She must really not like the cold.

“No, we're not. We're just teammates.”, Sunset answered flatly. “Can we go now? I’m hungry.”, Sunset asked her mother. The bundled up girl, maybe Sunset’s sister, said something that was too badly muffled by her mask for Rainbow to understand it, but Sunset did apparently understand it and stuck her tongue out at the younger girl.

“It was nice meetin’ ya, but we should be goin’ home.”, the woman said.

“Wait, are you from Ireland?”, Mom asked the woman.

“Indeed, Ah am, n’ from da sounds a’ it, y’r from Scotland.”

“I am. It’s nice to meet another woman from the British isles.”

“Ireland belongs ta da British no more dan da Americas. Dose Northern “loyalists” are traitors ta deir country.” And in that moment, Rainbow learned just how much venom you can fit into one word.

“Ookaay then.”

Everyone gave their goodbyes, and Sunset practically dragged her mother away. By then, the crowd had thinned considerably so no weaving was needed. Dad would’ve sprinted to the car if the ground wasn’t icy. Rainbow wondered why he ever agreed to move to Maine. Her best guess was that he was desperate for love and people were a lot dumber back in the 90s. Whatever his reason, Rainbow’s sure she’ll never move across the country for some girl.

Katon family home
Date: Dec 24th, time: 7:00 pm

*Anura’s perspective*

Anura liked the smaller celebrations of this year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas. The large parties were okay, but Anura oftentimes found herself asking Emi to hide her in her room until dinner. Although, the snowball fights were really fun. The adults tried to make up for the lack of kids, but adults can’t replicate the chaos that is children’s play. Anura got to help make the kadomatsu this year. She didn’t get what the importance of these were, but they are pretty.

Having a smaller party also allows Grandpa Jiraiya to spend more time with the girls. He would tell them crazy hospital stories. He always looked like some wise, old sage whenever he told a story with his graying green hair, silver eyes, and gold framed glasses. Anura wanted to hear stories about interesting or rare conditions he encountered, but Sunset and Emi wanted to hear horror stories, the grosser, the better. Unfortunately, this one was a horror story.

“So, there was this guy who came in, and his chief complaint was abdominal pain. Now, we were going to perform a CT scan because we couldn’t find anything on the outside or his history that would explain his problem. It was then that he mentioned that he had been experiencing leg weakness for the last few weeks. I asked him to explain more and to let me examine his leg. Now, he had previously told us that he recently got back from Florida and it was around then he started having the problems with his leg. He also had a small cut on the top of his foot. Working on a hunch, I opened the cut, and his whole leg deflated like a balloon. It turns out that he contracted flesh eating bacteria while swimming in his cousin’s pool, and it had been eating away at his leg and was now spreading to the rest of his body. I had to tell him to call his family and say his final goodbyes. Moral of the story, weakness in your extremities is not something that should be brushed off.”

“It’s always Florida that has all the crazy stuff.”, Emi said.

“Did you know that Florida also has a similar bacteria that specifically eats brain matter?”, Sunset asked.

“No, and now I wish I didn’t.”, Anura said with a blank face.

“Aw, poor thing’s gonna starve.”, Emi joked.

“Okay, we’re never going swimming in Florida.”, Anzhong said from the kitchen.

“Sunset, hows ‘bout ya show us y’r project.”, Brigid said.

“Sure” Sunset hopped up from her beanbag and ran off to her room. She soon came back out with her laptop in hand. Brigid had gone upstairs and came back down with a projector. Brigid set the projector down on the coffee table, and she and Sunset got to work setting it up. Once they were done, Brigid signaled for Mom to dim the lights.

As the lights dimmed, Anura noticed something weird. “Sunset, are your eyes glowing?” Everyone else, minus Anzhong, turned to look at Sunset.

“Yes, they are.”, Sunset said matter-of-factly.

“Why - are they glowing?”, Anura asked hesitantly.

“It’s so I can see better in the dark.”

Anura was about to ask another question, but Emi placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. “Ya n’ Ah both know she’s not going to answer more than that.”

Sunset pulled up a document that had all of their names and pictures on it. It didn’t take Anura long to recognize it as a family tree. The line that connected Mom to Brigid was red which, according to the reference card, meant “blood of forged family”. Anura read through everything as Sunset explained it verbally. Sunset first showed them Anzhong’s line. They were mostly farmers with some merchants here and there. The interesting thing about his family was that Aoi had no ancestors or a birthdate. As weird as that is, Anura didn’t think too much about it. After all, Aoi did grow up in a time of war, and she could’ve been in a similar situation to Sunset. Brigid’s line was much larger and exactly what Anura expected until the last few generations. Anura did not expect Emi and Aunt Brigid to be descended from nobility. The whole presentation got Anura thinking about her own grandparents and why she’s never met them.

Brigid’s office/guest room
Date: same day, time: 11:00 pm

*Minerva’s perspective*

“Mommy?”

Minerva opened her eyes to find Anura standing next to her bed. “Mm, Anura, shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Why haven’t you taken me to meet Grandma and Grandpa?”

Minerva groaned, sat up in bed, and patted her lap. She knew this day would come up eventually. She just wished it would’ve happened later. Anura climbed up onto Minerva’s lap, and Minerva gave her a hug before starting her story. “The truth is, I cut off contact with them as soon as I was old enough to go to college.”

“Why?” Anura’s face wasn’t the quizzical look she normally gets when she asks that question. It was pure confusion.

“When I was fifteen, my parents got into a very bad car accident that left them in a lot of pain. They were prescribed OxyContin to help them deal with the pain. OxyContin is a type of opioid. Do you remember what I told you about opioids?”

“They’re dangerous and can make you want more of them in an unhealthy way called ad-ic-tion.”

“Correct, and they can also change your personality if you become addicted to them. My parents used to be kind people, but they became addicted to OxyContin, and it turned them into neglectful and dishonest people. By the time I left, all they cared about was getting more opioids. That’s why I haven’t taken you to go see them.”

“But what if they’re better now? What if we can help them?”

Minerva gave Aura a sad smile. It would be nice to have her parents back, her actual parents, not the people they turned into. “I’ll see if I can contact them, but it’s unlikely we’ll be able to help them. You can’t help people who don’t want help.”

Katon family home
Date: Dec 31st, time: 11:30 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

The Katon family had long finished their traditional new year's meal of toshikoshi soba, but Sunset was already getting into some of the leftovers. She was excited for o-sechi ryori in the morning. Everyone had been joking about how Anzhong better put extra of whatever invites good health into the dish. The thing Sunset was not excited for was the first sunrise prayer. Last year, Anzhong made everyone get up super early so they can “enjoy” the first sunrise of the new year. He didn’t make them pray with him, Sunset didn’t even know he was praying, but that didn’t make the experience any more enjoyable. There’s a reason she’s named “Sunset” and not “Sunrise”.

“So Sunset, what’s your new year’s resolution?”, Emi asked.

Sunset gave Emi a cocky smile before answering. “To make sure you don’t die, but I said it as more of a “fuck you, Death”.”

Emi gave her own cocky smile before replying. “Fun, making sure I don’t die is also my new year’s resolution.” Emi looked down at Sunset bowel then back up at Sunset with a perplexed face. “How da bloody hell can ya eat so much food without being morbidly fat?”

“Ya know how active I am. Plus, as good as this is, it’s not very filling.” Even with that said, Sunset was surprised with how many calories humans need to consume and how much heat a human gives off. Sunset has a theory that Earth has a higher gravity than Equoes, and that’s one of the reasons why humans need so much muscle mass, but that’s not going to be easy to test with only having three days every two and a half years to jump between the worlds. She already had a lot of things to do once the portal opened, and she didn’t have the space to allocate to a weight and a scale. “Ya going to be awake enough ta walk to bed after da ball drops?”

“Hell if I know.”

She wasn’t.

Katon family home
Date: Jan 11th, time: 8:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

“Girls, time for dinner.”, Anzhong called.

The girls paused their game, and Emi hopped over to the table while Sunset and Anura followed at a walk. “Ya know, if ya told me what was in this before you had me try it, I wouldn’t have eaten it.”, Sunset said.

“What, week old rice cake soup doesn’t whet y’r appetite?”, Brigid joked.

“Not when you describe it like that.”

Brigid smiled and handed Sunset a bowel. They each filled up their bowels and added it to their plates. Like many other Japanese holiday traditions, this was meant to bring them good luck, health, and wealth. Looking over to Emi, Sunset saw that she had served herself even less food then she did a month ago. When she ate less dinner last year, everyone knew it was so she could eat more cake. Now, Sunset was unsure if she would even be hungry enough for cake.

As always, the dinner was delicious. Anzhong was in a league of his own. Sunset’s bio-mom was also a great cook, but she did not benefit from the lack of spices in Equestrian cuisine. They do use and have spices, rather flavorful ones at that, but there was far less variety compared to Earth spices. Plus, Sunset really likes capsaicin. Either way, it was time for cake. The moment Brigid started singing, Anzhong got a look of “kill me now” on his face. Despite what she claims, Bigid is actually a decent singer. That or she has just sang “Happy Birthday” so many times it doesn’t matter if she can actually sing. Either way, the look on Anzhong’s face is from embarrassment rather than Brigid’s singing.

“Thank you”, Anzhong said.

“He’s plotting our demise as we speak.”, Emi joked.

“Oh, my.”, Minerva said almost inaudibly.

Grandpa got a wicked smile on his face as he saw the cake.

“Hm, there’s a design on the cake. One with a lot of red food coloring.”, Anzhong noted. Anzhong’s cake was normally fairly plain. Like all other years, it was a lactose free vanilla cake with vanilla icing. However, this year, Brigid let Sunset and Emi decorate it.

“How the hell do you know that?”, Sunset asked.

“I can taste the dye.”

“No way! I call bullcrap! Mom told you.”, Emi said disbelievingly.

“No, really. Different substances are used to create the color. After many years of practice, I can taste the differences.” Anzhong gave the girls a cheeky smile. “It’s a neat party trick, wouldn’t you say? So, what is the design of?”

“You decapitating an enemy ninja.”, Emi said proudly. “And yes, there’s a lllot of red.”

“It’s very anatomically accurate, for a design on a cake.”, Jiraiya said.

Sunset wasn’t sure if the smile Anzhong gave was a terrified “oh my god, what did I raise?” smile or a proud “oh my god, look at what I raised” smile.

“We thought you needed something a little exciting. Especially considering how vanilla everything is with you.”, Sunset said.

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I’m that vanilla.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. Evidenced by the fact his hand was over his mouth the moment he realized what he said.

Brigid looked over to Sunset, hope Sunset didn’t understand evident in her eyes, but the shit-eating grin plastered all over Sunset’s face squashed any hope within Brigid.

Katon family home
Date: Feb 1st, time: 8:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

February first was many things to the Katon family. It was the start of spring, it was a holiday called Imbolc, and it’s Brigid’s birthday. The holiday of Imbolc is celebrated by having a feast in honor of the goddess Brigid and parades of local girls and young women. Being born on this day is how Brigid got her name. The Katon girls don’t get to do many of the traditions associated with the holiday due to Paganism practitioners being so rare in the greater Canterlot area. To make up for this, they have a day filled with dancing and games, and Brigid even lets the girls stay home from school. They still did things like making the icon of Brigid and laying her on a bed of birch. Their feasts weren’t very big considering there were only six to seven of them, plus dog, any given year. Grandpa wasn’t able to join them this year due to work. Brigid didn’t take it personally. She knew that they were insanely lucky to get him at all during the holiday season. He’s a burn specialist, and people’s IQ seems to drop by around ten to twenty points when cooking turkey.

“So, how much red did ya use on me cake?”, Brigid asked.

“Lots, and lots of yellow and green too.”, Emi answered.

Minerva brought the cake over while Sunset brought plates and silverware. The cake had a sun and tree design on it. It wasn’t the Celtic tree of life, even though it was the main part of Brigid’s symbol. Neither Sunset nor Emi were that good with cake art yet. Under the art was “happy 32nd” poorly written in icing.

The cake itself was red velvet and, of course, lactose free.

“Wow, thirty-two, you’re old.”, Anura said.

“Anura, that’s not nice.”, Minerva scolded.

“Yeah, especially since y’r mum is a yea’ olde’ dan me.”, Brigid said.

“Wait, how old are you, Dad?”, Emi asked.

“I’m thirty.”

“So, y’re also also old.”

“Hey”, Anzhong said, annoyed.

The mischievous grin on Emi’s face told Sunset that the cancer hasn’t made Emi any less of a little shit stain.