“Mama, I think we need to talk.”
“Mama? You’ve never called me that before. It’s always been ‘Mother’, occasionally ‘Mom’ or ‘Mommy’ if you’re sick. Whatever is the matter darling?” Rarity reached out and cupped Cortland’s face gently, wiping a tear from his cheek.
“…”
“Darling,” she coaxed. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“I’m not who you think I am.” He said softly, “I’m not…”
“Honey of course you are. Is this about whatever happened at Camp? You’ve been distant and it’s like you’re afraid to tell me things now. Did you-”
“No Mom!” He huffed loudly, “I mean I’m literally not who you think I am… I’m not Crispin, Mom. I’m Cortland.”
Rarity’s face went through a myriad of emotions before finally settling on happy sobbing. She hauled Cortland into a surprisingly strong embrace.
“My baby,” she whimpered, burying her face in the side of his Mohawk. She pulled out of the hug and held him at arm’s length, “You’re so big. I can’t believe I didn’t see it, that hair just screams Apple. Oh, but darling boy whatever are you doing here? Your Mother must be simply beside herself and- Oh my stars! Where is Crispin?”
“He’s uh… well he’s in Canterlot… with Ma’.”
Rarity’s eye twitched.
They were both still crying when Sunset made it back from her meeting that afternoon.
“Sunset Shimmer.”
“Hey Rare,” Sunset greeted cheerfully as she stepped through the front door. “…What’s with the water works?”
Rarity pointed at the sofa where Cortland was already perched, his head hung low. “Sit down.”
A chill ran up Sunset’s spine at the tone of her friends’ voice. She sat. “What- What’d I do?” She half joked.
“Why is it that for the past week I have been led to believe that my darling Crispin was in some distress that he wouldn’t tell me about? Because it has been brought to my attention that that” here she pointed angrily at Cortland, “is not my boy.” The moment the words were out of her mouth Rarity froze. Cortland looked up at his mother, eyes pained but expression carefully blank. “Oh, darling… I didn’t mean it like that- I- I just…”
“I’m just not the kid you wanted?”
“Cortland,” Sunset tried but Rarity beat her to it. She kneeled in front of her son and grasped his hand.
“I have always wanted you my love. But, I couldn’t take you both. Your mother loved you both as much as I did; it would have been unfair to us all. I couldn’t take care of twins on my own while trying to run a company. And… it just seemed like separating you was the best option. You are wanted, you are loved; there hasn’t been a day of my life that I haven’t thought of you. I wondered- I wondered how you were. I wondered if you took after me; if your mother told you about me… If you knew I was thinking about you.”
“She won’t talk about you.” He said quietly, “she wouldn’t even tell me your name… Big Mac let it slip, that’s when she told me that you left.”
“I- I did leave… I can’t say that isn’t exactly what I did…”
“I don’t blame you for leaving Mom. But, why didn’t you tell us? Why did neither of you tell us that we had a brother? You told Crispin that Ma’ was dead.”
Rarity recoiled a little, “I- I never… I said, I just… said she was somewhere… better.”
Sunset sighed, “Uh Rarity, did you not think how that would sound?”
“Don’t think I’ve forgotten that I’m mad at you! You should have told me the moment you realized I had Cortland and not Crispin.”
“And deny my nephew his most desperate wish? Deny him the right to get to know his Mom? Not likely.”
Rarity grumbled, settling herself between them on the couch. “You know very well why I left, why Ap- why she and I decided this was best.”
Sunset rolled her eyes, “Rarity, you could have gone back. You got through the internship fine; there was no reason for all of this heartache. Canterlot was your home and we all know that you could have succeeded there as well as you did here. That last fight got ugly, sure, but you could have talked it out. ”
“You saw the last fight Sunny but you didn’t see the aftermath.” Rarity stressed, “When I was packing my things she- she asked me if I still loved her, I said that I did. Then, she said she would wait.” Rarity pauses to wipe a tear from her eye. “That’s not what I wanted though. I think I knew then that I would never have the guts to come back if I left, if I broke her heart.”
“Ma said that she asked you to marry her…”
Rarity gave a little half-laugh and nods, “she did. The madwoman. She said she’d go with me, if I would say yes, that she’d follow me to the ends of the earth if I’d marry her. But, Cortland, you have to understand that I couldn’t. If I had agreed to marry her, to let her follow me to Manehatten, your mother would have been miserable. I didn’t want to do that. Her place was at home, on the farm…”
Cortland stares at her for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug. The two of them cry together while Sunset makes them tea.
“Aaaapple Jaaack!” Vignette’s voice grates Crispin’s ears as he scrubs a particularly stubborn pie tin at the kitchen sink. She glides into the house, barely sparing him a glance.
“Right here honey,” Applejack drawls, “whatcha need?”
“Dearest, won’t you please work on your grammar? My parents have agreed to meet us at the Ritz-Canterton for dinner next week on Saturday.”
“I still don’t get why they can’t just come around here. This is home, honey. Don’t they wanna see where you’ll be livin’?”
“Ehhehehehe, it’s just a short visit dearest, I’m sure they’ll see the farm soon.”
That night, Crispin, Cortland, and the Aunts who were in the know hatched their plan. Cortland and Sunset told Rarity they would be meeting Applejack at the Ritz-Canterton in Canterlot to switch the twins. Crispin convinced AJ that if they were to meet Vignette’s entire family it only made sense that they meet the WHOLE Apple family… Quirky Aunts and all.