The Twin Suns Winter Uncertainty
“You have to be pulling my leg. This other world has a set of traditions that are so similar to ours, you’ve been able to celebrate a pseudo Hearth’s Warmings and your friends haven’t realized?”
Sunset laughed, nodding her head before taking a sip from a cup of cider held by the gentle glow of her magic. She was in college now, the famed friends from Canterlot High now a little more spread apart and a little busier so they weren’t seeing each other every day like they used to. They were still seeing one another, of course, still good friends, but now it was more nights and weekends than anything else.
And that was fine for Sunset Shimmer, In fact, it had been the reason why she was able to be here, in Twilight’s Castle of Friendship, for a Hearth's Warming party. The rest of her friends were either busy with their own college classes, their budding businesses, or were just spending time with their own families.
So for the first time since she left, Sunset was back in Equestria for Hearth’s Warming, and her brain was bubbling in nostalgia. All the nuances that made Equestria’s holiday’s true, and literally, magical were coming into play. The weather was absolutely perfect. The pegasi created light snow that danced on the wind just outside the windows. Decorations had been hung and illuminated with magic, providing twinkling lights that had no need for wires between them.
But of course, Hearth’s Warming is mostly about the company, and Twilight’s castle was bustling with a network of friends that was only growing more interconnected with each passing minute. Sunset herself had gotten a chance to talk with Dragon Lord Ember and King Thorax. She had been drawn to and sought out the former just because she was a dragon, and dragons had always fascinated Sunset during her studies at Celestia’s academy. She had spoken with the latter by chance but found it an amazing conversation. She got to hear how, because of Twilight’s own student, the changelings had been able to free themselves from their tyrannical queen.
But of all the conversations Sunset had been able to have that evening, the one that she was enjoying the most was the one she was having right now with School of Friendship’s fresh, but talented, Vice Headmare: Sunburst. The inquisitive unicorn stallion had sought her out, fascinated to hear about the other world.
He was the only one that really showed that interest. Of those that might be curious at the party, Twilight and Starlight had both already been there. Every other attendant likely didn’t know from where she had come or had simply accepted it, and didn’t want to bring it up when it was supposed to be a festive party. But Sunburst, his interest was earnest and Sunset couldn’t deny it was nice to be able to talk about her own life instead of just listening to others.
Sunset finished taking her sip of cider and cleared her throat. She hadn’t realized she had been talking so much she was making herself a little hoarse… or that her brain was so eager to fall back into Equestrian equine puns. “I think they realize that things like my 'Holiday Dolls' on the mantle are an old tradition of mine, but none of them have taken the next logical step.”
“Fascinating,” Sunburst said, adjusting his glasses. That was something else that Sunset had noticed, a rather adorable quirk of the raggamuffin stallion. He would say a single word to express his interest in a subject, and would always adjust his glasses up at the same time. He had done it no less than five times over the course of the conversation. Though now that Sunset thought about that, she realized it was a bit odd she had been paying enough attention to count the number of times Sunburst had done his little quirk.
The last time she had really had such an enthralling conversation with another stallion, or guy, was when she first started dating Flash Sentry.
“The mirrors are supposed to be glimpses into parallel dimensions. I think that does tend to mean that there should be more similarities than differences,” Sunset said.
“Yes, of course.” Sunburst gave a firm nod. “ But even if all alternate realities are considered parallel to one another, then it’s just a matter of distance that separates our reality from ones that are truly and absurdly different. Though, I can’t help but keep thinking back to what you said about your world’s physics. The earth orbiting the sun and the moon orbiting the earth, resulting in the flow of day and night being nearly identical to what we experience in Equestria.”
“That reminds me, I’ve been meaning to ask Celestia about that.” Sunset’s mind tripped back to when she was a freshman at Canterlot High. The day she learned the basics of the human world’s solar system had been the most shocking. The sun and moon, moving on their own simply by the laws of physics and the pull of gravity, was almost too absurd for her pony brain to believe. Yet, when the initial shock had worn off, her rather disillusioned mind had been quick to stitch together rather dark conspiracies about how Celestia had been lying to the nation for centuries.
Sunburst took a sip of his own cider before looking across the room to Princess Celestia. The royal sun princess was at the buffet table, getting a slice of pie. “It does have some rather shocking implications. I mean, if I didn’t know better, I’d have to wonder if Princess Celestia was lying to us. That the sun and moon move on their own, and she's been using it as cover to keep herself in power.”
Sunset laughed. She hadn’t said a word, and yet this stallion's mind had jumped to the same conspiratorial conclusions. “Wow, better be careful there. I’ve heard Celestia has banished ponies for such talk.”
Sunburst snapped his head back, looking at Sunset with wide eyes. “Really!?”
“No,” Sunset said, laughing again through her words. “In fact, I bet Celestia would love to know how the human world’s sun and moon work. If we could figure it out, then we wouldn't we dependent on somepony having to cast specific magic on a daily basis. Sure, Twilight has the responsibility now, but I hear Celestia and Luna have had to sub in once in a while. It'd probably be better for every nation if the rising and setting of the sun and moon were more automatic. I mean, even a morning person like Celestia wants to sleep in once in a while, right?”
Sunburst was the one laughing now, and Sunset found herself laughing with him. His laugh was so infectious, and kind of cute. He was cute. The goatee didn’t really do it for her, but imaging him with a proper beard, he’d really look the part of a wizened wizard at a school about the magic of friendship.
“Sunburst?”
A new voice was calling out from the crowd, and Sunburst’s ears flattened at the sound of it. “Oh great.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, Sunburst, there you are!”
Sunburst sighed, but put on a smile and turned to address the approaching mare. An older mare was approaching them. She was a darker tone of orange than Sunburst, and the reds in her hair were a deeper tone as well, but Sunset was quick to notice she had the same white fur around her hooves as Sunburst.
“Mother?” Sunset said quietly as the mare was still crossing the room.
“Eeyup,” was all Sunburst could stay before the mare was next to them. “Hi, Mom.”
“Sunburst, do you happen to know where… oh, sorry, am I interrupt… ing…”
Sunburst’s mother had stopped dead in her words, her eyes bulging as she was looking at Sunset. Sunset had to glance around. Was there something behind her? No, she and Sunburst were sitting on some cushions near the wall. The only thing behind her was a rather plain painting of apples. Sunset could only imagine who had donated such a picture to Twilight’s castle.
Still, when Sunset looked back, Sunburst’s mom was still staring. “Uh… Hi, I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
“S-stellar Flare,” the mare croaked out, regaining her voice. She tried to glance away, to look at Sunburst, but her eyes were drawn back to Sunset like metal to a magnet. “Do forgive me, Sunset, but… you bear a striking resemblance to someone I… used to know. Where are you from?”
“Oh, uh… I was raised in Manehatten, actually, by my dads.”
“Dads… plural, as in you have two fathers.”
“Is there a problem with that?”
Stellar Flare shook her head firmly. “No, no of course not, but… that means you were adopted, correct?”
“Oh, yes, that’s right.”
Stellar Flare’s eyes drifted, losing focus as she seemed to stare off into the horizon that was the wall of Twilight’s castle.
“Mom?” Sunburst said. His tone was inquisitive to start, but it grew more concerned as he began to repeat himself. “Mom?... Mom!?”
What followed was an emotionally draining hour spent tucked away in a private room in Twilight’s castle. A series of tumbling revelations that Stellar Flare had to choke out through tears and running makeup.
Sunburst had not been her first child.
Stellar Flare and Sunburst’s father, Sunspot, had been schoolyard sweethearts, though Stellar’s own parents didn’t always approve of the relationship. Stellar’s family had been affluently positioned for generations, and that had left its mark on the family in some rather unideal ways. Sunspot, in comparison, was the unicorn son of a couple of earth pony farmers. He couldn’t be more down to earth, but in so many ways, that was why Stellar loved him.
They were young adults, hormones raging, and they made some poor choices.
Stellar found out she was pregnant just before she was supposed to head off to one of Equestria’s premier business schools in Manehatten. Sunspot was shell-shocked but steadfast. He was going to be there for her, no matter what. Stellar’s parents, however, rattled on and on about how a foal, now, would ruin Stellar Flare’s future.
Stellar attended her first semester of business school pregnant as the debate raged. Who’s future deserved to be prioritized? It got ugly, nasty, and bitter. Stellar’s parents were eager to attack and berate Sunspot at every turn as the cause of the dilemma.
Yet, Sunspot stayed true and was a rock of support for Stellar during such a trying time. He moved with her to Manehatten, the pair of them getting a small apartment together. As Stellar attended school, Sunspot got a job to help pay the bills. Yes, Stellar’s parents continued to provide financial support, but Sunspot was dead set on doing his part. Stellar had nothing to worry about in those months except for the school and the growing foal.
It was a trying time. Even with Sunspot’s support, Stellar Flare felt she was being assaulted on all sides. So, one-night Stellar Flare sat down with a quill and scroll and put together the first of what were to be many detailed plans. She laid out several scenarios, considering every possibility. When Sunspot awoke the next morning, the apartment looked like it had been hit with an explosion of paper.
In the end, based on all the factors coming from Stellar’s family and the pressures of the school, she made her choice and made her plan.
She would put the filly up for adoption.
“I only saw her once. I only held her once, right after she was born. Yellow, like her father… with cute little tufts of mane like the colors of… the sunset.”
Those words, and the memory of all she had just heard, hung in the air around as Sunset was standing out on a balcony of Twilight’s castle, watching the snowfall. She had never really given much thought to her birth parents, though now she was feeling guilty that she had come to Equestria for this holiday party but had not gone to see her dads. She still had time. She could hop on the train to Manehatten tomorrow and pay them a visit.
But tonight… there was just a lot to process.
Sunset watched the snow dance, lost in her thoughts and to the world until a sweet aroma tickled her nose. Glancing down and to the side, she saw a cup of hot chocolate had been set down next to her on the balcony banister. And it was now that she realized she was not alone on the balcony.
“Mind if I join you?” Sunburst was standing a few steps behind her, holding a hot chocolate mug of his own.
“Sure,” Sunset said, picking up the warm mug and taking a sip. The drink was deliciously sweet and warmed her core. She hadn’t realized how cold she had gotten standing out in the gently falling snow.
“So… wild night, huh?”
“Yeah,” Sunset said with a sigh and nod of her head.
“I feel like I should apologize to my mother. I mean, I can understand where she’s coming from, but it’s not like you’re the only yellow unicorn filly in Equestria. For all we know, her real daughter is somewhere else.”
“Yeah, but I imagine your mother has also seen other mares my age and color scheme and didn’t have that strong of a reaction.”
“You’d be surprised. She doesn’t really get out of Sire’s Hollow that often.” Sunburst gently blew on his hot chocolate, causing the trails of steam to race out and mix with the dancing snow before taking a tentative, testing sip. “I mean, there were at least two fillies in my classes at Celestia’s School that would meet the same description.”
“Maybe… guess the only way to be sure would be to look up the adoption records. It’s not like they were sealed or anything, I just never had a reason to look. My dads were great, probably better than I deserved considering what I tried to do.”
“I’ve read about the whole… demon army invasion of Equestria plan. But hey, still not as bad as Starlight, right? It’s hard to beat rewriting history.”
Sunset rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t deny the smile on her lips. “Guess you’re right, but you want to know what sucks the most?”
“What?”
“My luck dating.”
Sunset glanced over her shoulder to look at Sunburst’s face. His brows were furrowed in confusion and he reached up to nudge his glasses with his hooves again. “I… don’t follow.”
“Just that this stallion I thought was cute and funny might turn out to be my long-lost brother.”
Sunburst blinked once, then his eyes went wide and a blush bloomed onto his cheeks. “W-what!?”
“Hey, you asked,” Sunset said, turning back to watching the snowflakes. She lifted the mug to take a sip of her hot chocolate, only to wince a little and stick out her tongue. Still a touch too hot, but it was almost perfect.
Sunburst dared to take the final few steps forward, the pair now standing shoulder to shoulder and watching the snow. His cheeks were still flushed. “Well, if I’m being honest… I was having a lot of fun talking to you earlier, and… I can’t say you’re not… cute too. Though, I have to wonder what that says about me where the mares I gravitate towards all tend to be ex-villains who tried to take over Equestria.
“Maybe that’s a clue I should avoid talking with Tempest.”
Sunset hung her head, a laugh bubbling up from her chest to escape her nostrils. “First Hearth’s Warming party back in Equestria. I was sure it was going to be awkward, but I would have never guessed this.”
“I thought my mother was going to make the party awkward, but yeah… I don’t think I could have predicted this either.”
The pair fell silent, just watching the snow dance. Sunset lifted her cup of hot chocolate. She took a more tentative sip. Feeling the temperature was more reasonable, she took a long drink. Silence and snowflakes, a few more drinks. Neither Sunset nor Sunburst spoke, not until Sunset had finished off the last of her mug a few minutes later.
Sunset set down the empty mug, breathing out a puff of steam from her mouth. She watched that cloud of steam rise for a moment, disappearing among the snowflakes as her eyes now looked to the cloud choked skies. “Well, here’s the way I’m going to see it. If we are related, then I’ve got a cool brother that’s helped save Equestria a couple of times.”
Glancing to Sunburst, Sunset saw him smile and nod. “And I’ve got an older sister who, while a bit of a trouble maker, has saved her own fascinating world a few times as well.”
“And if we’re not related,” Sunset continued, “then I’ve made a new friend because of a really crazy Hearth’s Warming and… well… maybe something more. But, either way… I think we know what the plan is.”
“Have Twilight use her princess authority to look up your adoption records.”
“I was going to say sneak into the Manehatten government offices and look up the records ourselves, but your answer is more practical."
Sunburst laughed, shaking his head as he turned to head back inside. “Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t grow up together if you were my sister. You’d probably have been a bad influence.”
Sunset rolled her eyes and began following Sunburst back inside. “Hey, the way it sounds to me, you need a bad influence in your life, even now.”
Author's Note
It's Jinglemas! Merry Jinglemas! Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year!
Writing for Shakespearicles was quiet an interesting challenge, trying to strike a balance of giving something he would like but also is something I feel I could do a good job writing. Personally, I'm rather happy with the result, particularly in that it leaves the final answer up to your imagination.
Hope 2021 wasn't too bad for everyone, and may 2022 be a whole lot better!
