Sunburst stirred awake to what he thought was a fly disrupting his slumber. Once he opened his eyes, he saw that it was actually a familiar wisp of green magic, circling his head. He also looked down to see his still sleeping, naked mother, realizing that what had transpired less than an hour ago was no dream. Though it would count as a dream come true.

There was little surprise for him by now. But he was shocked when he realized what the wisp of magic was. A message sent by Spike! How is that possible?! Is he here?! Is Twilight here?! They don’t know I’m here like this, do they?!

He nervously ignited his horn and caught the wisp, which made it turn into a parchment. Spike had eventually learned to send messages in different ways, such as making them remain as magic until the recipient accepted it. He unrolled it, and he became much less worried, and somewhat annoyed, as he read it.

He recognized the writing, though it was a bit off. Likely due to the very well deserved hangover its composer was suffering.

Sunburst! It’s Starlight! I figured out what happened! I am so so so so so so so-

The sos went on for a quarter of the parchment.

-so SO SORRY! I’m sure you figured out what happened too, and made sure to be careful-

His eyes briefly shifted to his thankfully still sleeping mother.

-like the very intelligent, handsome, attractive, well endowed, FORGIVING stallion I know you are.

He rolled his eyes. That last one’s not too accurate at the moment. I’ll be sure to make that clear to you when I get back.

Don’t worry, I have a plan! I reverse engineered the spell to see when and where I sent you. Thankfully it looks like the open space where the castle currently is. In the present, I mean. Turns out with this spell, if your opening a portal to the same destination for the same traveler twice or more in a row, then the portal is opening exactly the same amount of time in the destination as it was here. Did that make sense? Portal opened and took you, I open portal again X hours later here, it opens X hours later for you too. Get it? Not even sure I get it.

So I wrote this message, opened the portal, and had Spike send it through to you. You’ve got 1 hour. I need you to go back to where the castle will be/is, unless you’re still there, so I can reopen the portal while nopony’s looking and get you back to the future, McFoal. Remember that? How we had a good time watching that movie? Two friends who forgive each other for their teensy tiny slip ups?

Anyway, I gave you that time in case it takes you a minute to get there. I enchanted the ink at the bottom to be an active timer. Please don’t be in a jail or taken hostage or something. If you are, escape however you can! I swear I’ll make it up to you when you get back! We can do it in my backdoor whatever you want. Scratched out in case Spike catches a glimpse. Bring you back soon!

She had told the truth. The bottom of the parchment had an enchanted countdown that was visibly active. He had fifty seven minutes. He checked the clock and verified it was more than enough time to reach the second train, and for the ride to Ponyville.

His immediate thought as he tore off the timer part and magically burned the rest was to slowly and carefully remove himself from his mother and the couch, get his clothes on after getting them out of the dryer, write his mother a note, and slip out while she slept. His brain killed and buried that thought when he looked down at her. She was smiling in her content, peaceful slumber. He hadn’t seen her smile like that since he was a colt.

I’m already gonna break her heart by not being around afterward. I can’t make it worse by sneaking out on her. Damn it, why can’t I be a shitty guy?

“Hey, mo- Stellar. Stellar” he said to her, already feeling bad for disturbing her sleep. “Stellar, wake up.”

“Hm? Hey, lover” she replied as she groggily woke up, stretching her arms. “Celestia, I needed that nap after our fun.”

“Ditto.”

“Lemme guess: We slept so much that you’re gonna have to rush for the train, so our goodbye is gonna be quick” she guessed with a tone of light amusement and somber.

“Well, not exactly, but unfortunately you’re not too far off” he replied, unable to look her in the eyes. “I just got a magically sent message, I’m needed somewhere asap.” It was true, but worded as if it involved his fabricated job. “Luckily, I have enough time that I can still go with the second train, which should be due in about 20 minutes, I’m guessing.”

“Yeah, you’re right” Stellar said dejectedly after checking the clock for herself. The two of them separated and sat up on the couch. “It’s not enough. For us.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll come with you! To the train station. And on the train!” she proposed eagerly.

“I…don’t think that’s a good idea” he replied hesitantly. “Coming on the train with me, I mean.”

“Then could you tell me where you live, so I can visit?”

“That’s exactly why I think it’s a bad idea. Temptation. Didn’t you say you weren’t interested in a relationship? Not even friends with benefits?”

“A mare can change her mind!” Stellar argued, starting to sound desperate.

“Stellar, I didn’t say it before because I didn’t think it was relevant, but my job entails a lot of travel, frequently being in different places. Being away from home a lot. Even if you visited, I probably wouldn’t be there often.”

“I could travel with you!”

“Stellar, please!” he exclaimed forcefully. It already made his heart hurt doing this. The look on her face when he yelled made it worse. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I don’t like it either, but I just want you to look at this logically, to think about yourself. You have your life here, and the career your planning.”

He took her hands in his own. Now he was looking at her in the eyes.

“I like you a lot. I mean that. But I can’t even fathom asking you to put your life and career on hold indefinitely, just to be with me. And we can’t possibly know that a traveling relationship would even work for us. So much time that could’ve gone to your career would be wasted for nothing if it went bad. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

Stellar blinked, tears threatening to seep out. “Hmf. Figures. Celestia sends me a perfect stallion, and I can’t even be with him for more than a day.

“I can’t argue with what you’re saying. I just wanna say fuck it and put things on hold, but you’re right. I can’t just abandon my career plan for a guy who gave me a good dicking. An amazing guy!” she quickly added, hoping he didn’t think she was being dismissive of him. “A guy who I one hundred percent would be with if the situation was right. But it isn’t.

“Is there any chance you might come through Sire’s Hollow again?”

“I…wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“I figured” she said dejectedly. “I’m coming with you.” she said with determination. “To the station, I mean. And I’m staying with you until he train comes. And I’ll see you off after you board. I’m not-“

“Taking no for an answer” he finished for her. “Yeah. I know. It’s not like I could even make myself say it. Not to you.”

“Perfect stallion” she repeated. “You should get your clothes out of the dryer and get dressed. You’re lucky you still smell mostly clean from your shower. I’ll grab a quick one and get ready in my room.”

They stood from the couch and went to their respective areas. Stellar mean it when she said quick, she took less than 10 minutes to shower. Sunburst did a double take when he saw her new outfit had the same color scheme as her business one did. Would. Whatever.

As they walked through town to get to the station, Stellar was doing her best impression of a sleeve, wrapped around Sunburst’s arm. And she was laying her head on his shoulder. He nuzzled her head rather than try and get out of the hold to avoid public embarrassment. He didn’t care right now.

They greeted Sal, and his girlfriend Blue Leaf, who were also taking a couple’s walk through town. Sunburst managed to catch a bit of the conversation they were having. Blue was asking Sal what he thought of the name Cherry, and claiming she had no reason for asking when he asked her why she was.

“One for the next train, please” Sunburst requested at the station’s ticket booth once they arrived.

“Just one?” the booth operator asked, eyeing the still clinging Stellar.

“I’m not getting on, I’m just here to see him off.”

“Gotcha. Here you go” the operator said as she handed Sunburst his ticket. “You two make a cute couple.”

“Thank you/We know” Sunburst and Stellar replied respectively, neither bothering to correct her. They took a seat on one of the benches, waiting for the train, not saying a word. They continued nuzzling each other, and Stellar moved one of her hands to hold Sunburst’s. He squeezed it and rubbed his thumb soothingly on it.

The whistle of the train maliciously tore them out of their peaceful trance.

“That’s me” Sunburst said monotonously.

“Yeah” Stellar replied in kind. “Let’s go.” They stood up with somber expressions and went outside, seeing the dreaded locomotive pulling in.

“Sun Mage, I-/Stellar, I-“ they both began to say simultaneously as they turned to face each other, cutting themselves off and chuckling.

“You go ahead first” Sunburst said.

“I just wanted to say thank you” she began as she placed a hand on his cheek. “Thank you for showing me the best time I’ve ever had with a stallion. And for convincing me not to make a stupid decision and give up on my plans. You’re one of the best guys I’ve ever met and been with. Even if it was just for a day.”

“I’m sure you’ll meet plenty other good ones, and hopefully one who’ll be just as good, if not better. I can’t imagine they would reject spending time with a mare like you” he said with a wink.

“Yeah, neither can I.”

“Heh. Your confidence is a bit arrogant, but admittedly not unfounded” he replied, earning him a smirk. “And I mean that. I’ve never met or been with a mare like you, Stellar. And I wanted to thank you too, for helping me get clear headed, cleaned up, and a bit more confident with myself. I’ll always remember this brief time we shared together.”

“So will I.” Repeating herself, Stellar immediately lunged forward, wrapping her arms around Sunburst’s neck and smashing her lips on his for a deep, passionate kiss.

Sunburst’s mind told him to push her away, but only for the briefest instant. Instead, he went with his gut and returned the kiss, wrapping her in an embrace. Another moment they could’ve stayed in forever. If only they had forever.

“AAAAAALL ABOOOOOARD!” the train attendant called from the first passenger car’s door.

“Damn. I need to go” Sunburst said, sadly.

“I know. Goodbye, Sun Mage.”

“Goodbye, Stellar.”

They slowly pulled away from each other, their hands sliding along their arms. Their fingers caught each other in a last, futile attempt to stay together. They forced themselves to let go. And Sunburst boarded the train.

Sunburst took a window seat, and out of the corner of his eyes saw his mother walk right up to it. And they just stared at each other. The train started slowly moving, and Stellar followed it to the end of the unfortunately short station.

Sunburst practically leapt out of his seat he stood so fast, opened the window, and stuck his head out. This allowed them to keep looking at each other, until the train moved so far away they were no longer in eyesight. Sunburst spent an extra minute with his head out the window.

Stellar spent an extra minute looking off in the distance. After that, she went back into the station, to ask the ticket seller what areas the train would be stopping.

Sunburst should’ve been happy, that he was finally going back to his proper time, and would soon not have to worry about messing up the future.

He should’ve also been on the verge of a nervous breakdown, for fear of how his actions may have likely already messed it up.

But all he had was heart ache. He had gotten to see a side of his mom he never had before, and he had gotten to meet and be with an amazing mare that he would not mind pursuing. But he couldn’t because they were one and the same and society would disapprove of it, and because it could have massive consequences for the timeline.

“I hate time travel.”

He didn’t even realize how much time passed as he sat with his sorrow, the arrival at Ponyville feeling very quick. He got off the train and leisurely began his walk to the would be castle area. As he got closer, the importance of his journey began to resurface in his mind.

He checked the parchment strip with the enchanted timer. He needn’t hurry, but also not dally for too long. Once not too far away, he hid between two buildings and cast a cloaking spell on himself. Better that no one see and follow a random stallion to a small open field and then see a time portal open.

He allowed himself to fall on his back onto the area’s grass, solemnly waiting for the remaining time to end. It somehow felt like forever. Luckily, it wasn’t. The dreaded portal opened and slowly pulled him off the ground, then sucked him in and closed. Nopony saw it happen.

He was unfazed by the swirling, wibbly wobbly tunnel he was flying through. He saw an opening, and beyond it the castle’s table map. He prepared himself, removing the cloaking spell and catching himself with his magic once he fell out the other end of the portal. He gently lowered himself onto the table.

“Sunburst! Thank Celestia!” Starlight exclaimed, leaping up on the table from behind him and hugging him. “I’m so glad you were able to make it! I was worried I’d lost you in the past! I promise it’ll nev-“ she was cut off as Sunburst seized her with his magic and pulled her off. He levitated her in front of him to see his face, that was very clearly lacking in amusement.

“You’re not mad at little old me, are you?” she asked nervously. “I mean, you’re back safe and sound. And I know you like it, but not having your goatee seriously does make you look super sex-”

“You shaved it off” Sunburst seethed.

“I was hoping you forgot that.”

“Got me drunk, shaved off my goatee, which you meant for my mane, AND you sent me to the past, which could’ve seriously wreaked havoc on the timeline!”

“N-Now Sunburst, let’s be reasonable here! That was all just accidental! Well, I did mean to get you drunk, and meant to shave off your mane, but the rest was an accident!”

“You. Owe me. Big time” Sunburst said threateningly with narrowed eyes.

“Of course! I’ll do or get you anything! Anything you want! Within reason. Including that thing I scratched out on the message” Starlight said with a sultry wink.

“Nothing you’ll enjoy doing.”

“Damn.”

“In fact, nothing like that while I don’t have my goatee” he added with an evil smirk.

“Hey, that’s just cruel!

“That’s the consequences of your actions. To start. Actually, on that topic, I had an idea for how you could start to pay me back.”

“Get you some of that mane growth potion Zecora makes so we can try it on your chin?” she asked timidly.

“Nope. By letting me do the same to you.”

“I don’t have a goatee…”

“Correct, but remember, you weren’t aiming for my goatee” he said mischievously as he hopped off the table and started leading her to the bathroom.

Starlight’s eyes widened in fear as her hands shot up to protectively cover her mane. “Can’t we do something else instead?! Dye it a different color? Cut off my tail hair instead? Make it into an embarrassing style?”

“Shaved is a style” he retorted as he opened the bathroom door and walked in with her in tow. He used his magic to pull out the electric shaver from the cabinet and turn it on.

“I could put the growth potion on my face to give myself a goatee. I’ll even go full beard!”

“And I will tell Twilight you were screwing around with that spell again.”

“…Can I at least wear a cloak like Rarity di-?”

“No.”

“Shit.”

*Bzzzzzzzzzzzz*

“Here are the Friendship School’s grade reports you asked me for, Twilight.”

“Thank you, Starlight” Twilight replied as she took the forms in her magic while reading something off a parchment. She lowered it to address Starlight directly. “I can’t wait to see how the students have-“ the sentence died in her throat as she beheld Starlight with a shaved head. Well, mostly shaved.

The lock that she styled into a curl after becoming Twilight’s pupil still had a small portion of itself leftover, making it look like someone had stuck a small brick of hair next to her horn.

“…”

“…”

“…What did you do?” Twilight asked in a disappointed and expectant tone.

“Nothing you need to worry about. This is just me making it up to Sunburst” Starlight explained, pointing at her head.

“And whatever you did was so bad there’s still more you’re gonna have to do.” It wasn’t a question.

“I resent the assumption that I did something really bad” Starlight replied, offended, crossing her arms.

“Am I wrong?”

“Shut up” she pouted, making Twilight chuckle.

“So where’s Sunburst, now? Planning what he’s gonna make you do next?”

“Probably. He said he had something personal to take care of. And I wasn’t allowed to ask what specifically as part of my punishment.”

“Ah. Well, have fun at the school. The students are sure to get a laugh.”

“Yeah yeah” Starlight replied in annoyance as she left.

Sunburst meanwhile had gone to the train station, and boarded a train going to Sire’s Hollow. He did this after commanding Starlight to reverse engineer the spell to check if there were any significant differences from when he was first sent to the past to when he came back.

Luckily there didn’t appear to be any. He and Starlight surmised that he was careful enough with his actions, so he claimed, that they were so insignificant that there were no major changes to the timeline. That or time had managed to course correct to ensure that outcome.

This was honestly a secondary priority at the moment, tied with thinking of more punishment for Starlight. His main priority was who he was going to see in Sire’s Hollow, and what he was going to tell her.

I can’t keep it from her he thought to himself. I just can’t let her keep going never knowing what happened to Sun Mage. Why she never saw him again. I know she told me she’s not bothered by actual incest between consenting adults, but she doesn’t mean she’d be okay partaking in it. Whatever her reaction is, gratitude or disgust, I’ll accept it. I can’t keep this in. I can’t keep her in the dark.

He had Spike send his mother a message that he was coming for a visit, to have a talk. That was pretty much it. He couldn’t say much else without it seeming suspicious or raising questions. He just hoped she was home when he arrived.

Sunburst was basically on autopilot as he got off the train and walked through town to get to his mother’s house. His eyes caught Mary as she was carrying some cases of wine into her establishment. He gave her a wave and a smile, both of which she returned, the latter reminding him of her father.

Once he reached his mother’s, he stood in front of the door, contemplating whether he should actually go through with this. It only took him a minute. He knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Stellar called from within the house.

“Mom? It’s me.”

“You’re here! Come on in, honey. The door’s unlocked.” He did, closing the door behind him. “What did you want to talk…about?” She had paused briefly upon seeing him, her eyes going wide. No doubt due to his missing goatee that she had always tried to rid him of.

“I uh…I wanted to talk about…when you were younger” Sunburst struggled to get the words out, in spite of how resolute he’d been to tell her. “And about ponies you met back in the day. Ugh, I don’t know why I’m saying it like this. I should start with how I came to want to talk about what I’m here to talk about. That sounded like nonsense” he chided himself, placing a hand on his face.

“Okay, here it goes. Last night, me and Starlight went out to a club, as friends. And she convinced me to drink with her, and had drinks brought to us that were stronger than I intended to ingest. So we both got drunk. Some mishaps occurred” he said while rubbing his chin.

“And eventually we wound up at Twilight’s castle, and Starlight drunkenly started bragging about memorizing a certain spell that she probably shouldn’t have. She was too drunk to specifically describe which one it was, so…she cast it. And its effects were delivered onto me. So I kinda, sorta…”

“Got sent to the past” Stellar finished for him.

“Y…Yes. How did you know?” Sunburst asked in surprise.

“Well, besides you saying you wanted to talk about my younger years and ponies I met then, you look exactly the same as you did that day.”

Sunburst was surprised even further by that statement, as his mother approached him with an outstretched hand and a face that was both somber and astonished. Tears were forming in her eyes. She placed her hand on his cheek.

“I guess you just got back. You’re still wearing the exact same clothes. And you still look so attractive without that goatee. Sun Mage” she said, her voice shaky.

“Mom.”

SLAP

“Ow! Mom!”

“That’s for lying to me, breaking my heart, and never coming to see me again” Stellar said angrily, jabbing a finger in her son’s face.

“Mom, there was nothing I could-!”

“I’m not done” she interrupted him sternly. “But…lucky for you, I now fully understand why you were forced to do those things. You didn’t exactly have a choice. Couldn’t tell me who you were or about the future, or stick around, and couldn’t leave me waiting for you when I had to meet your father later. Right?”

“Yeah. That’s right” Sunburst replied with a hint of sadness.

“Then I suppose I can’t stay mad at you for it. Not even for hooking up with me. I mean, I kind of cornered you, didn’t I? And who could resist this?” She asked while gesturing to herself.

“No kidding” Sunburst chuckled.

“I am still mad. But I’m putting that aside for now, because I’m also very happy.”

“Because I didn’t keep it a secret?”

“That, and a few other reasons” she said as she raised her hand to rub his cheek where she had slapped him. “The slap was for breaking my heart and not seeing me again. This…is for finally coming back to me.”

Before Sunburst could ask what she meant, she gave him the answer by closing the distance between them and pushing her lips against his for a deep, passionate kiss. His eyes widened again, but his surprise quickly passed, replaced with a warm feeling in his chest.

He wrapped her up in a tight embrace and deepened the kiss, both of them moaning into it. She wrapped her arms around his neck like she did all those years ago (from her perspective). They found themselves again in one of the moments they could’ve stayed in forever. But they had to break for air.

“So…you don’t have a problem with what we did? Being mother and son?” Sunburst asked in surprise.

“I told you I wasn’t bothered with that kind of thing between consenting adults.”

“Right, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you would be okay with partaking in it yourself.”

“True, but I would think after you saw me be so into it that it wouldn’t be that hard to believe I am okay with it.”

“I guess you have a point. So…now what?” Sunburst asked curiously. “Do you…want us to be together? We would probably have to keep it secret. I doubt many ponies will look at us approvingly, unless we go somewhere where we aren’t known.”

“Ha ha, no, Sunburst” Stellar replied with a chuckle. “My dating days are over. I don’t need a partner. And I may have only had one day with you as a stallion, but you gave me so many more years with a wonderful son.”

“Well, I can’t really take credit for the latter” Sunburst chuckled. “You and dad brought me into the world.”

“Weeeeeeeell…” Stellar said curiously, trailing off.

“What?”

“Funny thing about that.”

Roughly a month after Sun Mage had left, Stellar had decided to finally try and get back out there. She had needed the time for her heart ache over Sun Mage to die down.

One of the first things to do was double check her birth control, make sure she had plenty left. She took a sheet of pills out of her medicine cabinet. There was a small handful left. She definitely needed to buy more, as well as more potions, only two small vials left in the cabinet. As she began to put the sheet back, she caught a glimpse of the expiration date and did a double take. She brought the sheet in close to get a better look, and her eyes widened.

“No. No no no, that can’t be right. I get the really good stuff, this should still be good!” But the date said otherwise, by a few weeks. A few weeks before she had met Sun Mage. But she always double checked when taking them. She could’ve only experienced this slip up if she hadn’t been taking them.

“My dry spell!” Stellar exclaimed in realization. “I forgot to account for the string of days when I was down in the dumps over it and didn’t bother taking them! And the potions!” She grabbed both vials to check their dates. They had a longer shelf life, but still did expire. Just a few days before she had met Sun Mage.

“Well…these are always more a rough estimate” Stellar nervously reason to herself. “And they probably mark them with less time so ponies will buy them faster. I’m sure I have a good chance of being fine. I should be. I should be. I should be.”

The following week

“Blaaaaaagh! Blagh! Ugh” Stellar hurled into her toilet, having come down with an upset stomach. In the morning. Without eating anything different than she usually did the night before. Or drinking any alcohol, which she had avoided.

“Shit.”

“Aaaand that was right before I met your father.”

“Wait” Sunburst said, his face blanched. “So…you’re saying I impregnated you and I have a sibling?!”

“A-“ Stellar cut herself off, as she was surprised he managed to unintentionally guess two things correctly in trying to guess one. “Yes…and no.”

“What do you mean?”

“You did impregnate me, but not with a sibling.” His brow furrowed, confused. “You impregnated me…with you.”

“…what?”

“The foal I gave birth to from that pregnancy was you. And you just confirmed for me that you were the stallion that got me pregnant with that foal.”

“That…makes no sense” Sunburst said as he pulled away from his mother and sat down on one of the living room chairs, clutching his head with his fingers. “How can I be my own father?!”

“DNA and genetics are more complicated and amazing than we thought?” Stellar offered. “The time travel and/or its magical nature created a…what do you call it?”

“Paradox.”

“A paradox, maybe. I really have no idea. Does it really matter?” Stellar asked as she approached her son and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything we can do about it. You can’t go back to try and prevent it, because if you’re not born then you never go back to prevent it, so you still end up born.”

“Please don’t start with that old bit. My brain hurts already” Sunburst requested, holding his head in his hands.

“For what it’s worth, Sunburst, I’m still not bothered by it. It might cause a headache thinking about it, but it still lead to me having a wonderful son, given to me by a wonderful stallion. I wouldn’t change a thing about it” she said before leaning in to kiss his cheek and give him a hug.

“Thanks, mom. That helps” Sunburst said, nuzzling his mother affectionately. They stayed this way for about a minute before Stellar spoke again.

“Since we’re revealing things to each other, there is one other thing I should tell you” she said with some hesitancy. “You weren’t wrong before.”

“About what?”

“…About having a sibling.”

“WHAT?!” Sunburst exclaimed, bolting up out of the chair and out of Stellar’s embrace. “But you said I didn’t impregnate you with a sibling! That it was me!”

“That’s still true, but that’s not how you worded it. You asked if you had impregnated me and that you had a sibling. Separately, those two things are true.”

“Wait, so you mean you and dad, the stallion who raised me I mean…?”

“Yes. We were lucky having you as our foal. You weren’t the most difficult, one of the calmer ones I’ve seen in fact. So, we actually got to have some more personal alone time than most couples with a foal do. And with being so busy taking care of you, and already not taking contraceptives while carrying you, it was pretty easy for me to forget to take them again.

“Unfortunately, while we would’ve loved to have another foal, you were barely a colt and still needed a lot of care. And we had already adjusted our finances to account for you. Taking care of another foal so soon would’ve left us struggling. We didn’t want to abort, but we also couldn’t handle it. So…we put her up for adoption” Stellar explained, moisture beginning to form in her eyes.

“Her?” Sunburst asked softly.

“Yes. You have a sister out there somewhere. And you can probably find her and meet her, if you want.”

“What do you mean probably?”

“It broke our hearts enough giving up our baby. We couldn’t stand the idea of knowing she was out there and could easily find her and possibly want to take her back. What would’ve been the point of giving her up in the first place? And we didn’t want to rob somepony of a foal, especially since we already had one. So we told the adoption agency not to tell us anything, only if she ever got adopted. We didn’t even give her a name to better separate ourselves, and to give her would be parents the privilege.

“She did get adopted, and the agency told us that if we ever wanted to, we could go to them in the future so we could find her. I’ve never been able to work up to courage to do it myself, and as far as I know, your father hasn’t either. But you never had to deal with knowing this before. Sunburst, would you like to meet your sister?”

“I…I just…wow” Sunburst said, having sat down again in astonishment, this time on the couch. “This day has given me so much to process. I’m not sure how to even respond.”

“You don’t have to right now” Stellar assured him, sitting down next to him. She placed a hand on his leg, rubbing it soothingly. “But if you decide to meet her, you’re gonna have to go to your father.”

“Why?”

“He’s a stronger pony than I am. At least one of us had to keep the agency’s info, and be the one who they contacted when your sister was adopted. I asked him to be the one. I didn’t want to face the temptation of what I said before, just a phone call away.”

“He should still be living in Manehattan, right?”

“As far as I know. He hasn’t said otherwise in our recent talks.”

“Okay. Thanks for telling me all this, mom. I appreciate it. And I just wanted to say how sorry I am for what happened in the pa-“

“Shh, don’t worry about it, honey” Stellar said, placing a finger on his lips. “It’s all in the past, no pun intended. All is forgiven. How could I not forgive the stallion that stole my heart, and gave me my son?” She leaned in to give him a tender kiss while holding his head. He happily returned it.

“Speaking of stolen hearts, where you serious about that mare you said you were interested in before, or was that just a lie to try and avoid us having sex?” she asked with a curious smile.

“It was true, if a bit of a stretch, since she’s not around that often. Let’s just say she lives pretty far away.”

“Oh, that’s too bad.”

“But she does visit from time to time. In fact, she’s coming for one next weekend. And Twilight’s going to be busy when she’s supposed to arrive, so she asked me to be there to greet her.”

“Perfect! Then you can ask her out!” Stellar exclaimed enthusiastically. “Show her a good time, make her visit a memorable one!”

“Well, I wasn’t too sure about going for it, but after being with you, I kinda gained a confidence boost. So I think I will!” he declared resolutely, puffing out his chest with his fist on his hips.

“Sounds like a plan!” Stellar exclaimed, with a light chuckle at his pose. “I just hope you don’t mind setting some time aside for me” Stellar said suggestively as she gave Sunburst’s leg a squeeze.

“Wha? Mom, I uh…I thought you said-“

“That my dating days are done. That I don’t need a partner. I wouldn’t mind having a friend with benefits now. Would you?” she asked him, uttering the question in his ear.

“Uh, I guess not” he replied nervously.

“Good. I owe you one anyway.”

“One what?”

“When we had sex, you made me cum three times. You only came twice. So I owe you a third” she uttered in his ear, before giving it a light nibble.

“S-Sounds like a p-p-plan” he stammered in nervous excitement. “B-B-But um…how would that work with if I do end up dating…?” She answered before he could say the mare’s name.

“I know you haven’t really lived in places where it’s common, Sunburst, but I’m positive you know herds are a thing. Plenty of ponies have multiple partners. Just make sure you tell her beforehand. No one likes having that sprung on them later. Although you probably shouldn’t mention exactly what our relationship is. But maybe if it gets serious…”

“Mom, are you serious?!” He asked her in shock.

“Hey, you never know. I can’t imagine we’re the only deviants in Equestria” Stellar said with a chuckle. “She could be into it! You should test the waters with her. Propose some role play, see how much she likes it, and if it’s serious enough, maybe tell her the truth.”

“Well slow down” he said, raising his hands in a matching gesture. “I need to ask her out first. And I don’t even know if she’ll say yes.”

“Now where’s your so called confidence from a second ago? Sunburst, you’re a catch! And you know I mean that.”

“It’s just that she’s really beautiful. And cool. I would consider her out of many ponies leagues.”

“Cool and a looker, eh?” Stellar said with a smirk. “Tell me more about her! I wanna know about the mare who’s caught my son’s eye. What does she do?”

“Last I heard she was a musician in a band.”

“Let me guess. Classical?” she asked expectantly.

“Rock, actually.”

“She’s a rocker?! Lucky you, she’ll be a wild one. Rocker mares always are. A wild mare for a wild in bed stallion” she said with a wink and a nudge.

“Mom” he replied bashfully.

“So a looker, a rocker, and friends with a Princess. Sounds like a catch found another catch. So what’s her name?”

The following week, Sunburst waited in the map room of Twilight’s castle, where she had set up the mirror portal for her visitor to come through. He had put on his nicest casual shirt and made sure his cloak was wrinkle free. His heart was beating almost as fast as when he realized his mom was making a pass at him. He was doing a great job of hiding it.

He could’ve thought of something else to calm himself, but he was already focussing on this to distract himself from something else that was making him anxious. A handful of days after talking to his mom, he decided that he did want to meet his sister.

He travelled to Manehatten and visited his father, Sunspot, who thankfully was aware that he wasn’t Sunburst’s biological father. Sunburst and Stellar agreed it was probably best not to tell him exactly who his real father was.

After informing him that he was now also aware they weren’t biologically related, and having a heart to heart that he didn’t seem him as less than his father in any way, he told him about his main reason for visiting. Unfortunately, the adoption agency’s contact info was buried in Sunspot’s business papers that he hadn’t yet unpacked after moving out.

Sunspot took it upon himself to search for it, telling Sunburst he would put in the request for the adoption record and get back to him once the agency did. They did, but apparently whoever adopted Sunburst’s sister had paid some extra money to keep it private. This meant they only had the number of the file, and Sunburst’s sister’s name was in the file, so the agency was going to have to do some searching as well.

It could be any day now that the agency would contact Sunspot with all the necessary info, who would then contact Sunburst. That thought got his heart racing, so he had to put it aside while he went about asking out Twilight’s friend. He didn’t want to be distracted from her.

Speaking of, the glass of the portal suddenly began to shine, and from it stepped out a beautiful mare with a red and yellow mane and tail. She decided on sporting her classic leather jacket over a purple shirt with her cutie mark on the front it, as well as an orange skirt, and black boots with a magenta design.

“Boy, am I glad Twilight figured out how to modify the portal so my human world clothes could come through. It was so annoying coming back in the clothes I was wearing when I ran away. Oh, hey Sunburst. Twilight told me you were gonna be the one to welcome- oh” she cut herself off as she got a closer look at him.

“Or should I say, hey handsome?” she asked with smirk and half lidded eyes. “Looking good without the goatee, Sunny boy. Although it did look pretty cute on you.”

“H-Hi…” Sunburst stammered, already blushing at her compliments.

Meanwhile in a storage room of the adoption agency, an employee was flipping through the various older records the Flare/Spot file had been hidden among, per the adopter’s instruction. Most of them so old there was practically no need for them.

“Must’ve paid a pretty bit to hide it in all this. And with just a number it’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

It was the third hour of the fourth day in search of the file. It was starting to get very frustrating. Luckily for the employee, their frustration was about to end.

“Finally! I found it!” they declared as they pulled it out. “Wait, holy shit! That’s the stamp of the Equestrian Royal seal! Their daughter was adopted by Celestia! No wonder she wanted this hidden, the press would have a field day. She’s lucky the birth parents barely wanted any info about her adoption. Now let’s see where she is now, and what Celestia named her.

“Well that’s a pretty name. Uh oh, this note says that inquiries about her must be sent to the princess, in specific detail. Looks like your family’s gonna have to wait a little longer to meet you-“

“Sunset Shimmer.”

Author's Note

I didn’t think this would end up this long.

Giggity.

I also really need to try and avoid writing sequel bait when I don’t have a sequel planned!

Btw, she’s called Blue Leaf in reference to the blue agave plant. Look it up, you’ll see why.