The Rise of Passion

Stellar Flare stepped off the train, confident in her abilities. She knew what she was here to do, and she was sure she could do it. Even better, she could do it all in one day. She had the entire weekend, sure, but if she could, a single day would possibly grant her extra favour with the ponies in charge. Her part of the plan was easy, and while she had sneered at Trixie's assertion of who to pick, something that even Starlight felt a little bit uneasy about, she could think of nopony better.

She walked right back up to Sunburst's door and gripped the handle. It didn't twist, as it was actually locked this time. Instead, she rapped the knocker against the brass plate, and after a few minutes, a very disheveled-looking Sunburst pulled the door open. "Mother, do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Seven thirty-eight, ante meridiem, Saturday the fourteenth." She pointed to a clock in his foyer. "Just in time to cook you breakfast."

He groaned and pulled the door the rest of the way open. "Would you care to come in?"

"That sounds lovely," she said, brushing past him and heading into the kitchen. Starlight had sent her along with ingredients from her own kitchen along with some easy recipes. While she considered herself a stellar cook, the fact that she was wanting a different result than usual meant that she needed to expand her knowledge, especially if Starlight was right about the approaching meritocracy.

"I thought you were coming later," he yawned, shuffling after her. "Were you really in such a hurry? To make it here by now, you must have left Starlight's place in Ponyville before dawn."

"Starlight's place isn't in Ponyville anymore, dear. She bought a bigger place to enact her bigger plans, and also to raise the baby."

"Yeah, about that... What baby is that?"

Stellar Flare turned to her son and placed her hooves on his shoulders, smiling lovingly at him. "I'll tell you later, it's a long story. Why don't you go have a shower, dear, and give your mane a good brushing while I'm prepping your breakfast?"

Forty-five minutes later, Sunburst opened the bathroom door, spilling a cloud of steam all over the floor. He felt pretty good as he moved into the kitchen, kind of surprised at what kind of spread his mother had put together. "What's the occasion?"

Stellar chuckled. "Does there need to be a special occasion for me to want to see my son? More importantly, seeing my son is a special occasion. I want to be able to see you more often, but you never visit."

"I write letters," he offered as his mother filled up his plate with a lot of food, perhaps more than he could eat in one sitting.

"One piece of paper every three months is not enough." She shook her head as she sat down and started eating. "I haven't seen you since Hearth's Warming, and I didn't even receive an invitation. How am I supposed to brag about how great my son is if he's never around?"

Sunburst swallowed. "I was busy with the recitation, as you could see. I had a lot on my plate, much like I do now. I'm very busy, which is what happens when one's genius is recognised. I'm in high demand. Such high demand that I was personally asked by Princess Cadance herself to teach her daughter advanced theory in both magic and chemistry. It's very good for me."

"I realise that, Sunburst. I know that you're one of the best mages Equestria has to offer, and you have a rapport with the princesses. I'm so very proud of you, and I want to put that on full display. You're such a shining beacon of hope. How can you expect me not to be proud of you?"

"Mom..."

"I'm sorry, but I absolutely need more than just a letter every few months to let me know how you're doing. I'm your mother. I deserve more frequent updates."

Sunburst sighed. "I know. Look, it's not that I'm unhappy with the praise you've been giving me. I know that you want to show me off to all of the other parents and hold me up on a pedestal." He looked up at her and steeled his face. "That's actually why I kept you out of the loop. When I tell you about my achievements, you tell the other parents, they complain to their children about not living up to me, and it hurts them. Yes, I want all of the glory and praise that comes from my status and position, but not at the expense of their mental wellness. Even then, I leave things out of my letters because I can't stand the thought of others suffering over something I was able to control."

The room fell quiet. Neither of them spoke, knowing that there really wasn't anything for them to gain from continuing to argue. If nothing changed, Sunburst would continue to trickle-feed Stellar the information that she wanted, and she'd continue to proudly display how wonderful her son was. Neither of them was doing anything innately or intentionally wrong, and yet, ponies were suffering for it.

"Something needs to change, Sunburst," sighed Stellar finally. "Something needs to be done to fix our relationship. Your relationship with me, and my relationship with the others. If we don't, this is just going to go around in circles until one of us breaks."

"I know, mom. For what it's worth, I'm sorry we had to come to this."

Stellar smiled, stood up and walked around the table, hugging her son. "My boy. You're always looking to solve a problem; fixing things that are broken, keeping them from becoming broken or mitigating the damages so they don't break as much."

"Mother..."

"I'm just saying, if anypony can come up with a solution, it's you."

"You doing that is contributing to the problem."

Stellar chuckled. "Sorry. It's an old habit. I'll tell you what: I'll go clean up, and that should give you some time to think of some kind of solution. Does that sound good?" She rubbed his back and smiled down at him. She was not expecting her weekend to go this way, but fixing their relationship was the most important thing for them right now.

He hugged her back. "Thanks, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Sunburst."