//------------------------------// // The Sire's Hollow Mission // Story: The Mission Begins Anew // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// “Hmmm…” “Something wrong?” “Just looking into something.” “Do you mind?” “…” “Sunburst?” “I’ve been keeping an eye on him ever since Flurry Heart’s Crystalling. I mean, anyone with a connection to two, possibly three, princesses is probably worth keeping an eye on. Anyway, I’ve taken note of a… somewhat troubling habit.” “Which would be…?” “Allow me to direct your attention to this obscenely large pile of letters, all addressed from the same pony, one Stellar Flare.” “And from the looks of things, all unopened.” “I mean, I can sympathize with the guy to an extent. But I don’t think I’d leave my own mother hanging for that long.” “Ah. That would definitely be a problem. You happen to know why he’s avoiding her?” “Oh, Mrs. Flare has this habit of trying to push him into planning out his entire future, with little respect for his own feelings on the matter.” “So, it’s a case of mutually assured unfriendliness, then.” “Well, whatever you call it, it’s not a unique problem. Starlight Glimmer seems to have some parental issues too.” “Amazing how those two are so different yet connected by similar fates.” “I wouldn’t call it like that; her problem with her father, Firelight, is that he seems to be stuck in some phase where his daughter never really grew up in his eyes.” “Hmm. Let me take a look at this.” “…” “Well, the good news is the parents are still acting like proper parents. I mean, if you squint hard enough, but it is there. It’s just the methods that are off.” “Still doesn’t address the problem at heart: Both families are straining right now, and neither side is making the first move towards reparation.” “Is it really that important, though? Sure, it’s a problem, but I’m not sure why you’re so invested in this.” “Call me a sympathetic fool. I’ve been keeping an eye on these two for a while now; I’m just looking out for them.” “…” “…You’re not thinking…?” “I know what you’re going to say, but this is different.” “Oh, really? Well, let me refresh your memory, just in case. I go to the Cosmosymposium to meet and talk business with all the other entities, leave you to keep an eye on things, and when I come back, I find you’ve not only started a friendship mission without discussing it first, but said mission ends up being the fault of the one you called, and it just makes everything worse than if you’d left well enough alone.” “…We could argue that last statement all day…” “The point is, the last time you called someone who started their own problem, it just barely succeeded, and only by a fluke.” “Look, I’m not going to say it was the smartest idea to have Spike’s first friendship mission basically amount to saying, ‘Get your act together.’ But I assure you, it really is different this time.” “Aside from the number of ponies, how is this any different?” “Well, for one thing, the town both parents live in, Sire’s Hollow, is suffering from a large case of anachronistic feuding.” “…Okay, what?” “Turns out Firelight and Stellar Flare weren’t satisfied with just subjecting their kids to their behaviors. Half the town is so preserved it’s collecting dust, and the other half won’t sit still for two minutes with all the innovations going around. Firelight wants to remain stuck in the past, and Stellar is all about moving forward. And neither side will compromise.” “I… guess that’s something that should be addressed soon.” “Oh, look, someone’s opening the gate.” “Welcome to Sire’s Hollow.” “And it does that…?” “Every time someone opens it.” “…Okay, putting aside the whole parent thing, this needs to end now.” “And speaking of the parent thing, are you really going to tell me that their relationships should end because of something like this? Yeah, Firelight needs to see Starlight as grown up, and Stellar should probably stop trying to control Sunburst’s life, but is either case really a legitimate excuse for children to never speak to their parents again?” “…I’ll say this much: it’s a lot more logical than the Spike Mission.” “I take it I have your blessing this time?” “This is why we needed to discuss it the last time, so we could come to an understanding. And right now, that understanding is that everything concerning this town, both in and out of it, needs to be fixed.” “I’ll take that as a yes.” “I do have one more concern, though.” “Knew it couldn’t be that easy.” “What about Sunburst? We already have the Starlight marker, but we don’t…” “…” “You already made one for Sunburst, didn’t you?” “Compared to the CMC, this one was much easier, given how much time he spent around the map during the Stygian Mission.” “Okay, then, no more questions. Let’s do this.” “Calling Starlight Glimmer.” “Calling Sunburst.” “Your mission begins here!”