//------------------------------// // Sunspots // Story: Her Sunlit Lineage // by Graglithan The Greater //------------------------------// Twilight and Sunset arrived at Hot Air’s home, and they instantly felt their blood run cold. The door, which had been shut when they both left, was currently wide open. They shared a glance before moving silently into the home. Twilight peaked into the living room, seeing nothing disturbed, as Sunset headed for the stairs. When she was at the top, she could hear someone from the direction of her father’s bedroom. Gulping back her nerves, she slowly made her way closer and took a peek inside. Her father was fast asleep, drooling on the pillow as he snored. Next to him, however, she could see that Line Writer was busy going over a few hastily scribbled down notes, green magic holding them aloft. He was scowling as he did, before grumbling to himself. “Figures I’d have to use a hot spell for this. It will be worth it in the end, though.” The notes were put away, and his horn lit again as a beam struck Hot Air between the eyes. From the point of impact, a holographic image of a door slowly grew, before it rested next to the bed. Without any hesitation, Line Writer opened the door and stepped through. Sunset ran in as the door started to close, horn alight. Her magic tried to grip onto the door, but she didn’t have enough power behind her horn to get a grip. “No, no, no, no!” She looked at her Dad, still sleeping, but his face started to scrunch up in discomfort. “Twilight! Get up here!” The sound of hooves pounding on the stairs preceded the princess before she burst into the room panting. Twilight looked at the restless Hot Air for a moment. She then gasped at the sight of the ethereal door in the middle of the room. “We’re too late.” “Twilight, why can’t I get this bucking door open!” Sunset grunted as she tried to force it open again. Twilight pulled the spell book out of her bag before taking a moment to read it’s contents. “The book says that only somepony with exceptionally high levels of magic can open the door by force from the outside. The pony that cast the spell can pass with ease.” “Then how do we get him out?” Groaning, Sunset stomped her irritation into the carpet floor as she finally stopped pulling. “We can’t just leave him in my dad’s head!” “We have two options. One, we get the guard involved and have even more ponies running through your father’s own memories. Two,” Twilight looked hesitant, before sighing. “One of us will need to hold the spell, while the other goes in to stop him from causing any damage.” Sunset stared at the door for a moment before narrowing her eyes. “Twilight, open the door.” Lighting up her horn, Twilight’s magic bled into the handle, turning it a light magenta. “Are you sure?” “My dad has continuously lied to me all my life.” Sunset’s face scrunched as she stepped closer to the doorway. “I know at first, his intentions were an attempt to spare me the pain of knowing what happened to her. The problem is that he never stopped, and I don’t think he can anymore.” She looked over at Twilight, a reigned determination flashing through them. “But he’s still my Dad. When I felt alone, he made me feel loved. His memories might finally let me know who my mother was, and I’ll rot in Tartarus before I let some old idiot destroy them and take him away from me.” Twilight matched her stare for a moment before the door was pulled open, and an audible whine came from her horn. A bead of sweat dripped down her face as she held the passage open. “Just... be careful, okay?” Sunset gave her friend a quick nod, before diving through the doorway and into her father’s mind. Twilight let go of the spell as soon as Sunset was through, and fell to her knees panting. Looking up, she could see any traces of magenta were gone from the door. She hauled herself back to her hooves and moved to the side of Hot Air’s bed, looking at him in worry. If he was going to be alright, it was going to be up to Sunset now. The detail that Sunset noted the most after hopping through the spell-made doorway was how similar it was to going through the portal back to CHS. There was a lot of spinning, colors, and nausea, but she at least got to stay a pony this time. With a thud, she landed on her face in a patch of grass. “Ow.” Pushing herself up, she gave her head a quick shake. Despite the landing, she didn’t feel much of an ache. Looking up, her jaw dropped. Starting a few yards before her, was a sheer drop from the place she landed. That was not what garnered her attention, however, as floating in sight was several masses of land. Islands of grassland and forest, flying through the sky atop masses of cloud. The one she was standing on had a single tree, providing shade from an overhanging sun. “Wow.” Sunset took a tentative step as she looked around at the islands, walking along the edge of the island she stood on. “This... is my dad’s mind?” Something moving in the distance managed to catch her attention, and with a bit of squinting, she saw a blue hot air balloon floating towards another island. More importantly, however, was the stallion piloting it. Line Writer, who had yet to notice he was not alone in Hot Air’s mindscape, moved the balloon further into the distance, much to Sunset’s chagrin. Sunset almost took off after him, but skid to a stop at the edge of the island she was on before stupidly plummet to her demise. Looking down, she noted how if she did fall, she never would have stopped falling. There was simply nothing below her. A blue void that matched the sky above her. Looking around her current island again wasn’t much better. There was nothing here but the same tree providing her shade. Nothing but dirt, grass, a tree, and the door leading out of the mindscape. “BUCK!” Sunset slammed her hooves into the tree with a kick and started stomping as she paced. “How am I supposed to follow him now!?” That’s when she noticed a flower that wasn’t there before. Curiously, she looked it over, before the petals split open, making Sunset jump back in surprise. Inside the leaves was not a flower, but a flower shaped hole in reality. Inside, she could see something was happening between some ponies. Curiosity fought back control from her surprise. Lifting her hoof, Sunset tentatively touched the flower, and her eyes went white. Blinking the spots from her sight, Sunset squinted as she looked around. Gone was the island, and she found herself standing instead in the Royal Palace. Her heart leaped into her throat, as a pair of guards started down the hallway, but when they didn’t pay her any mind, she began to follow them. “Um, hey, can I get some help here?” The guards continued to ignore her as they walked. “Hey! I’m talking to you--” Sunset, in an attempt to get their attention, tried to grab onto one of their tails. Only when she came into contact, her hoof fazed right through, and she stumbled. She stood there in shock for a moment before it clicked in her head. “A memory. I’m inside a memory right now.” She looked around again and frowned. “But which one?” Seeing nothing else she could really do, she followed the guards, before rounding the corner and spotting her father in full armor, looking much younger. Of the two guards going down the hall, the older one stopped and stared him in the eye. “Private Hot Air, report.” Her father saluted. “Nothing to report, Captain. The Treasury is secure.” The older guard nodded with a grunt. “Return to your post. A patrol will relieve you in ten.” Hot Air lowered his hoof and went back to his spot at the door, and the rest of the guard walked away. Sunset, however, stayed behind and waited. The moment that the old guard was gone, Hot Air slumped a bit and let out a long sigh. “Old decrepit stuck up holier than thou-- If only I could punch him in the face without getting discharged.” He grumbled and leaned against the wall with a disgruntled glower. “Guard duty is bucking boring.” Sunset found herself stifling a giggle. For some reason, this version of her father felt all too real. It was almost humorous with that pout he was making. The memory of Hot Air sighed as he rubbed his head with a hoof. “I could leave for like... five hours, and I could bet bits nothing would happen.” He rolled his eyes and sighed again. “Yeah, like I could also bet bits that I’d end up talking to myself while standing here. Good going, Hot Air.” Sunset was almost feeling sorry for him at that moment. The sound of crashing came from within the room, making Sunset jump. Hot Air immediately jumped to attention and rushed inside. “Halt! Who goes... there?” Sunset ran in after him and winced at the sight of several old relics topped over. Half of these were ones she had read about but never got to see herself, having been destroyed prior. Underneath them, she could see a single pink, almost white, hoof sticking out of the pile. There was a groan from the pony in question, and Hot Air moved to start picking up the debris. Sunset’s eyes fell to the one relic in the Treasury that made her heart stop, and realize just where she was. At the back of the room, facing the pile of ruined history, was a mirror. Her eyes slowly moved back down to where Hot Air was moving broken relics. It was almost painful how she couldn’t move anything herself to help. Slowly though, she finally got to see something she had wished she could for years. The coat of the pony was a pale shade of pink. Her mane’s color looked to be pulled straight from the fullest pink roses. One eye was closed, a small trail of blood coming from a cut by her hairline. The other, violet in color, was busy looking up at Hot Air in shock. Sunset’s voice was no more than a whisper. “Mom?” There she was. Her mother. Oh how Sunset wished that she was able to interact with the memory. She would have used her magic to pull her mother into a hug right then and there. To cry into her shoulder to keep the tears from streaking down her cheeks. To talk with her and finally learn what kind of pony, no, what type of person she had come from. The memory continued regardless of the unicorn’s wishes. Sunny Days looked around in confusion and groaned out her question. “W-Where, am I?” Hot Air looked just as shocked as she did, but tried to offer her a hoof. “Ma’am, are you alright?” The moment she saw him, Sunny’s pupils dilated as she leaped back in surprise. “Talking horse!” Unfamiliar limbs tangled under her, and with a less than dignified squawk, she fell over and hit her head on a shield that was on display. A loud gong to echoed through the castle as she fell over with a slump. As more guards came in and Hot Air tried to explain the situation, Sunny Days was picked up and taken out of the room. Sunset took a look at her flank, finally getting to see her cutie mark in full. Upon her side was a blazing sun, similar to her own, but there were a few differences she noticed. The corona around her own mark was wavey, and two-toned. Her mother, however, had a dull yellow core to the cutie mark, as well as a paler corona surrounding it in uniform waves. Had it not been for the color, the cutie mark would have matched Celestia’s pastel orange sun. Sunset wanted to follow, but before she could take a step, a white light blinded her. Blinking again, Sunset found herself back on the island from earlier. In front of her, the flower that had grown was now a pure yellow lily. “That was...” She knelt down to try and touch the bulb again before noticing another difference. Stretching from her current island to another was a large mass of vines. Each vine could have easily dwarfed a pony as they curled around the base of her island. All along its length, she could see other lilies growing periodically. She glanced at the flower again and smiled. “So, that’s how it’s working.” Taking a step onto the vine, she tested it, before galloping down the path she now had set before her. She’d learn about her Mom, save her Dad, and catch Line Writer at the same time.