Night fell over Falmouth, and sure enough work was back underway in the yard. Salty continued to work as the train continued to come together. "Nice weather we're having," he said, as he looked out to sea. "The sun is nice at this time of year, and the light falls on the snow quite nicely."

Sunny looked back as the next set of vans were getting closer. "Keep it coming, keep it coming," she said to herself, keeping a close hand on the brakes.

"Is there any particular reason you're talking to yourself?" pony Sunny asked, glancing up at her human counterpart.

"It's a nervous thing," Sunny said. "Sometimes it can get pretty lonely in the cab, and having somebody to talk to is nice, even if that somebody is yourself."

"We do that all the time in Equestria," pony Sunny admitted. "Sometimes in Maretime Bay you can see whole groups of ponies interacting with nopony but themselves! Hitch once did it when watching the magic go out of control, and Pipp asked him why he was doing that!"

Sunny looked down, though not in condescension as her pony fellow was considerably shorter than she was. "So, you're from a place called Maretime Bay? What's it like?"

Pony Sunny smiled as Salty rolled to a stop next to the vans. "Well, it's a small seaside town. It has quite a few seaside businesses and several residents. It's also where I live with my friends at the Brighthouse."

"Brighthouse?" Sunny asked. "Is that like a lighthouse?"

"I used to live in a lighthouse," pony Sunny replied. "My dad did the place up when he and my mom were dating. It had been a ruin when he found it, but he got it all restored to how it used to be. I've got many happy memories of growing up there, though sadly it no longer exists. Sprout drove a war machine into it and it collapsed."

Seems that Sprout is just as much of a moron no matter which side of the portal you find him on, Sunny thought to herself. She sighed. "Sorry to hear about that."

"We got a local construction firm to build a replacement," pony Sunny said. "We live there now, me and my friends Izzy, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, and Misty. We keep the Unity Crystals on the top floor, where nopony bad can hopefully get to them. Well, Opaline nearly stole them, but we had the protection barrier to keep them safe."

Sunny was surprised at how many details were lining up with her own life. "Was your dad called Argyle, by any chance?"

Pony Sunny looked up. "Yes. Argyle Starshine. I'm guessing that's your dad's name too?"

Sunny nodded. "Yep. Admittedly it's a nickname as his real name's Albert, but most people call him Argyle- including Salty."

"Is that a surprise?" Salty asked. "And are you planning on hooking me up to the vans rather than gossiping?"

Sunny climbed down from the cab, coupled Salty up, then climbed back into the cab. "Where was I? I remember. My mom usually goes by her nickname as well." Sunny then noticed pony Sunny looking sad. "What's wrong?"

"I guess that's another thing that sets us apart," pony Sunny sighed. "My mom's long gone."

Sunny felt awful. "Sorry."

"It's OK, you couldn't have known," pony Sunny replied. "It was a long time ago. When I only a filly, as a matter of fact. I don't remember a huge amount about her, but according to dad her name was Stella. Stella Starscout. That's apparently why my last name is Starscout rather than Starshine."

Sunny was surprised. Her pony counterpart had a dad of the same name as her, but her mother had a different name? "That's unexpected," she said. "My mom's called Goldie. Gloria's her real name."

Pony Sunny nodded. "Remember to tell her that you love her, OK? You never know how long you have left. According to dad it seemed that we'd be a happy family forever. Then she went off on an archeological dig in this place called Skyros and never came back."

Sunny nodded. "I can imagine how that must have felt. I remember one time mom went on a business trip to Europe and they forgot to tell me. I thought she'd left us forever."

Pony Sunny nodded too. "I miss my mom every day. And my dad. He died when I was only 18, and I've been alone for much of my life. Even my new friends my only be temporary, which is why I intend to make the most of whatever time I have left with them."

Argyle looked in astonishment at the scene before him. Standing there was a mare who looked astonishingly like his sister, who was currently in a loving embrace with a pony that looked remarkably like himself and was probably his pony counterpart somewhere in the universe.

"Erm, Goldie, what's going on?" he asked his wife.

"I'm not sure either," Goldie replied. "I found her under a box in the yard, and now she seems to be looking for a pony called Sunny."

The two ponies stopped their embrace and looked up. "Do you know where she is?" they asked in unison.

"No, but our daughter has that name," Argyle said. "As you know, my name is Argyle.

"That's my name too!" pony Argyle said. "But who's the lady you were addressing?"

Goldie stepped forward. "I'm Gloria, or Goldie if you prefer to use nicknames. Argyle's my husband."

Stella looked up, baffled. "But... I'm married to Argyle!"

Argyle and Goldie looked back and forth at one another in utter confusion. "So, my counterpart is not married to your counterpart but is in fact married to a pony who looks rather like my sister. Nope, that's not completely confusing."

"You have a sister?" pony Argyle asked.

"Yes, and I'm assuming by your response you don't," Argyle said.

"Nope. Only foal," pony Argyle said. "We had quite the life though."

Goldie indicated for the two ponies to sit on a sofa and then sat down at a chair. "Perhaps you could tell us more about your past?" she asked. "We can perhaps unravel this mystery by looking at our respective pasts?"

"Sure!" pony Argyle said, as he settled into a comfortable position. "I'm originally from a place called Maretime Bay, a seaside town on the western coast of Equestria. I'd lived there my entire life, and worked as a schoolteacher, having gotten my teaching degree from the University of Fillydelphia."

Argyle nodded. "I'm a college professor by trade."

Pony Argyle noted this. "Interesting. Anyway, I did my best to educate the students on the past, but the curriculum was often distorted by those in positions of power to promote and push their own agenda. Especially Phyllis, who relied on fearmongering to stay in business and frequently accused me of brainwashing."

"Plus ca change," Goldie remarked.

"What does that mean?" Stella asked.

"What a surprise," Goldie clarified. "It's one of the few bits of French I know. I mainly speak German as a foreign language."

"Sounds like Prench," pony Argyle said. "Anyway, I was off to get my lunch one day when I ran into Stella. She was out protesting against the curriculum taught in schools as she had found archeological evidence that directly contradicted what was being taught. The townsponies didn't take too kindly to that, but we were able to escape."

Goldie noted this. "Seems a bit more dramatic than us. I bumped into Argyle- literally!"

"But we then went to one of her dig sites, which was the ruins of an old unicorn settlement. It was proof that all three pony groups all lived in harmony once. A shame that Carl then had it concreted over and CanterLogic built a tractor plant on top of it."

"By destroying traces of the past, you remove the voices of those who can no longer speak," Argyle said. "I'm all too familiar with it, sadly."

"Eventually," Stella said, "we started doing up an old lighthouse that had been derelict for years. Once it was ready, we both moved in together as it made more sense than living separately. After a time, we realised we were in love and decided to take the next step."

"You two moved quickly," Argyle said. "We dated for several years and actually broke up for a spell before we got married."

"And then, nine months after the wedding Sunny came along, and the rest as they say is history," Stella finished.

"You wasted no time getting your family started, then," Goldie said dryly. Truth be told, it seemed that Stella lacked her own fertility troubles. "But that doesn't explain how you two got here?"

"Even we aren't quite sure of that," Stella admitted. "I had decided to set out for a mythical land as it would prove beyond all reasonable doubt that we used to be united. But I got waylaid and suddenly ended up here."

"This is quite the mess to unscramble," Argyle admitted. "But never let it be said we didn't try."

Author's Note

Much of this chapter is heavily inspired by the work of Admiral Producer, an incredibly prolific G5 writer and video maker. Shortly after Written in the Starscouts aired, he wrote an entire backstory for Sunny's parents, which this story draws quite heavily on.