//------------------------------// // "Hey, uh... thanks for coming over to help, by the way." // Story: Sunscarred // by Masterweaver //------------------------------// Sunburst gave her a confused look. "You're... welcome? I'm not sure why you're thanking me for, well, having basic decency..." "Look, let's be honest, I've done a lot to make your life... terrible." Sunset rubbed her arm. "I mean, from the get-go I was basically obsessed with outdoing you and proving myself and... that kind of shoved you in the dirt a lot. Even when I got a handle on my whole ego issue, I... well, I tried to shove Starlight on you because I thought I knew what you wanted because... Anyway, my point is, I haven't been the best sister for you, and I can totally get if, you know, you only did this because of basic decency." "Well... you have been acting like mom a lot," Sunburst allowed. Sunset's eyes went wide. "...Oh... oh crap, you're right. Oh sweet Celestia--what does that say about me?!" "That you fall back on bad habits when you're stressed out?" Sunburst offered. "Am I becoming my mother?! Is that what's going on?" "Oh, I know the feeling," Fluttershy assured her. "But I don't think so. Even if you have some similarities with your mother, that doesn't make you identical to her by any means. Although... I don't know your mother, so I'm not in a place to judge how much like her you're becoming..." "Wait, I thought Sunburst was your mom," Pinkie pointed out. "Cause you're like, some sort of magic clone of him that he grew or something?" "Haha, no." Sunset shook her head. "I have his memories right up to that point, and I mean he was not nearly parental material. At the time. I guess he could make a good dad now if he wanted to." She waved her hands in the air. "We're getting off topic. My point is: Sunburst, you didn't have to feel like... if you don't want anything to do with me, that's fine. I understand. Just... thanks for being there when I needed it." "...I never said I wanted nothing to do with you," Sunburst mumbled. "I mean... I wasn't at all ready for suddenly having somebody that I was responsible for, back then. And... then you took over my life and..." "Yeah, I get it. I'm kind of a terrible person." "No, that's not what... look." Sunburst adjusted his glasses. "My whole life has been defined by other people. I would research magic for Starlight when I was a colt. I became Celestia's student after I got my cutie mark. Then you came in and, well, you were amazing in your own way, which was more you than me. Then, after you left, I kind of broke it off with Celestia and started doing whatever Mom wanted, until I ended up in the crystal empire and became the Crystaller to an alicorn and... I've basically been less the hero of my own story then I have the reason that other people were able to become heroes in their own right." Sunset glanced at the ground, rubbing her arm. "Whereas from the day I first existed, I was determined to make something of myself... even if it came at the expense of the people I cared about." "See, that expense part, that's a bad thing, but you've learned that. You're a great person, Sunset, it's just..." Sunburst spread his hands wide. "I want to be your friend, but I don't just want to be a side character in everyone else's story. I want to be somebody worth meeting on his own. Not just as Sunset's brother, or Celestia's student, or Starlight's friend, or Stellar's son, but..." He trailed off for a moment. "...you are the royal wizard of the crystal empire, right?" "Crystaller to an alicorn. Even that's just relying on others for my own fame." "Well... you need other people to be famous," Sunset pointed out. "You can't be admired if you have no admirers, right? And admirers need to know you're worth admiring... somehow... so you do things that help others. I mean... you're not just Sunset's brother, or Celestia's student, or Starlight's friend, or Stellar's son. You're Sunset's brother and Celestia's student and Starlight's friend and Stellar's son and the crystaller to an alicorn and the pony who cracked the ICKE spell and a traveller between worlds and--and a good person. A great person. A... better person than I am." Sunburst shook his head. "Sunset--" "Look, I know from experience the best people beat themselves up over their mistakes. Because they want to be better. Because... because they can be better. I mean, sure, terrible people do it too because they think regret excuses their bad actions... and depressed people do it because they can't... help themselves..." She paused, turning to the other girls. "I was going somewhere with this. Where was I going with this?" "...It's alright to feel bad, because it shows you where the problems are," Pinkie offered. "So long as you acknowledge them and... work toward ensuring they get fixed, or that they never happen again. Or... something. I'm sorry, I really am not good with this sort of emotional problem, I usually just either throw cupcakes at frowns or frowning people at their friends. It solves a good seventy-six of frown-related problems. Talking about emotions is important and something I'm terrible at... which is why I study psychology! See, problem, acknowledged, and I'm working on a solution." "...My point is, you're you, Sunburst. And you'll be recognized as you... at least by me. No matter what." Sunburst nodded. "...thanks." "OKAY!" Sonata clapped her hands together. "Big emotional talk about self and what self is, and I don't think I understood half of it, but I think it's over and everyone's good, right? So please, GO BACK TO FIXING OUR LAWN!" "You three know we're only doing this because it's the right thing to do, right?" Rainbow dug into the soil. "Not because we like you in any way, you're all terrible people." "Yes, fine, whatever, I don't actually care!" "AND THAT'S WHY YOU'RE TERRIBLE PEOPLE!" "By the waves," Aria groaned, "will you all just shut up, this day has dragged on stupidly long already."