What do you get the girl who has everything?
Truth be told, that is not an accurate statement. I mean, technically, she COULD have whatever she wants. You know, at least monetarily speaking. We have several million dollars on tap whenever we need it, but that would be irresponsible, as my wonderful wife, Twilight Sparkle, likes to remind me of any time I talk about splurging a bit. Not to mention, calling her a “girl” is not accurate either. I mean, we’re roughly the same age and I’m one hundred and eighteen years old. And a very nice and curvy hundred and eighteen if I do say so myself!
*ahem*
I digress.
Actually, I probably need to explain a few things that might be eluding you, so, how about the cliff notes version? My name is Sunset Shimmer. I was born a magical unicorn in another dimension very similar to this one in a land called Equestria and ended up in this world of humans mostly by my own stupid, short sighted decisions. Bluntly, I was a spoiled brat. I was, still am, incredibly smart, but was also incredibly arrogant. I wanted a crown, I had mommy issues, problems with authority and being told 'no' blah, blah, blah. I was mad about it at first, but then I got some help to deal with my problems in the form of the best friends a girl could ask for. Seriously, the BEST. Eventually, even got the rest of the school on my side and life became a sort of, kind of, normal.
What do I mean by that? Normal high school stuff. But also throw in a number of magical mishaps, evil sirens who screwed with peoples’ emotions, magical stealing devices that tore open reality, cursed Equestrian artifacts that cause time to loop, and, oh yeah, a few magical body transformations. Those were always weird. One happening to the amazing girl who would become my crush and then later, my girlfriend, and eventually, my wife.
I mean, I’ve always been a bit of a disaster magnet, usually involving fire, but that all came to a crescendo when my father tried to destroy this dimension and the one I came from all so as to attempt to get his twisted, quasi-demonic hooves on my mother, who is an immortal goddess. It got bad, real bad, but we won in the end. Though it did cost us our magical superpowers, but that was not so bad in reality.
I got the girl of my dreams and best life partner a former unicorn turned human augment alicorn could ask for. Twilight fixed my paperwork so that we could go to college together and then we got married and made a life together. We had jobs, kids, a house, the whole shebang! (Hehehe SHE bang)
A funny thing happened along the way through all that normalcy. I found out that I stopped aging. And, amazingly, so did my wife, Twilight. Kind of a blessing and curse though. Only we stopped aging. Not our friends or our other family members. Not entirely sure why. For me, I would say my alicorn magic, which is always right on the tip of my fingers even if I can't cast spells. For Twi? No idea. She's still working on that. Still, kind of hard to explain to people you are a grandmother or great grandmother when you look like a hot, sexy post graduate. So, we cashed in on all that success we made for ourselves, (mostly Twilight, she founded her own tech company that became one of the largest in the world and makes billions in revenue a year) and stepped into retirement to see the world. Which we have been doing now for the last… hell, fifty years now, I think?
Anyhow, got a bit of an anniversary coming up and I want to do something special for Twi and I don’t have a damn clue what.
Sunset Shimmer paused to take a sip of her drink and set her chin to rest in her palm while the large green iguana she had been talking quietly to at the bar helped himself to another protein pellet that had been provided by the bartender. The barkeep had said the lizard’s name was Bart, but that really did not help Sunset’s current mood or what weighed upon her mind.
“You’re cute, you know that? I used to have a pet gecko a long time ago. I still miss him.”
“Bart ain’t really a pet. He’s more of an invasive freeloader that sometimes helps with bugs, but only when he feels like it.” Sunset smiled and nodded, taking another sip. “I didn’t catch most of what ya were mumblin’ over there. So, what’s on yer mind? Ya lookin’ for some action or somethin’? I know a few places that’re smashin’. Places where college girls can get in jus' the right amount of trouble, but not too much.”
“Hmm? Oh, no. I can get plenty of action of that kind. My wife is actually just relaxing right over there by the pool with a book. I imagine we’ll be eating dinner soon and then enjoying plenty of said action afterwards.” The bartender grinned and waggled an eyebrow. “Right, probably oversharing there.”
“I don’t mind.”
Sunset snorted, her chest jiggling pleasantly in her black two-piece bikini. “I bet. Sorry, just a lot on my mind, sometimes it helps to talk out loud. Like I was telling Bart, we have, at least what I call, a big anniversary coming up and I want to do something or get something special, I’m just stumped as to what.”
The bartender nodded. “Well, most ladies love diamonds. I know my wife is always hintin’ at wantin’ a big fat rock. Ya know, bigger than the one she’s already got that is.”
“Yeah, women are bad like that. We always want a bigger one of something.”
It was the bartender’s turn to snort and laugh, smacking his hand on the aged wood that was littered with small gouges and evidence of sea salt spray damage from the beach just beyond. “Oh, I like you, girl. Pick a shot, it’s on me for makin’ me laugh like that.”
Sunset shrugged and pointed towards the twelve year old scotch whiskey. The bartender nodded approvingly. He poured her a double, neat. She could have downed the whole thing in one burning, peat moss layered gulp, but that was no way to drink scotch. Sunset took a small sip and nodded her thanks, relishing the smokey flavor. “So, what do you get the girl who has everything?”
“Hmm…” he said while Sunset took another savoring sip and he scratched at his scruffy chin. She could not quite peg his age. Not a kid, but certainly not that old. Not too shabby in the looks department either, she thought, but she had no intention to explore that line of thought. “When you say, everythin’, you mean that don’tcha?”
Sunset nodded. “Pretty much. We may look young and sexy-”
“Absolutely.”
“Ha, nice! But we worked our butts off right out of college and are now mostly retired. My purple smart sweet cheeks over there, who must have heard me laugh because here she comes, is a certified genius and is still working as a tech contractor though it’s all remotely now. Point is, we can get anything and it all just seems like so much 'meh' to me.”
“Well, at least y’all earned it and didn’t just inherit your good fortune. But back to your question. What’d ya get a person who can get whatever they want whenever they want? I suppose the stars are the limit.”
Sunset paused before taking a sip. “The stars?”
The bar keep nodded sagely. “Sure. Figuratively or whatnot. Or if money ain’t truly a concern maybe even do one of those near orbit flights that I’ve read some rich folk do. See the curve of the world, the sky gone totally black because you's damn near in outer space. That’d be a helluva present, no?”
“Hey, Sunny,” said Twilight Sparkle as she smiled and stood next to her wife, placing one hand on Sunset’s shoulder, rubbing the goldenrod skin gently with her thumb. Her attention was briefly diverted as she curiously observed the iguana that turned to look at her expecting a treat, mouth open and tongue slightly lolled to the side.
As usual, Twilight had her hair pinned up in a high ponytail and her face framed smartly with a pair of black framed glasses. She had, however, relented to Sunset’s urging suggestion and chose to wear a pink and white striped two-piece bikini instead of a one-piece suit. The bra cups were of a tantalizing triangular shape and held together by only one string behind her back and another behind her neck. The side tie string bottoms provided reasonable coverage, but left the hips open that Sunset wanted to glide her fingers over despite the possible viewing public. Though that thought would have to wait since the bottom half was currently hidden under an indigo blue towel wrapped around Twilight’s waist.
“I’m getting hungry, how about you?”
Sunset nodded in agreement. She quickly finished her whiskey and used her phone to clear the bill, leaving a generous tip. “Thanks for the drink and the suggestion.”
“Suggestion?” asked Twilight, glancing between Sunset and the gentleman behind the bar.
“Just some casual conversation,” Sunset casually dismissed. “What are you in the mood for, babe?”
“I read that there is a great Jamaican place on the island, want to give it a try?”
“Sounds good.” Sunset wrapped her left arm around Twilight’s shoulders and pulled her wife close, planting a kiss to the top of her head. Easy to do since she stood a whole head taller than Twilight and had since her ascension following high school. Sunset added a little extra sashay to her bikini covered bottom for show as they walked away, heading back to the hotel. Using her right hand, Sunset tugged at the silky fabric, pulling it across to show off her golden butt cheeks like a thong for a few seconds before readjusting the coverage. Sunset did not have to look back to know the bartender enjoyed and appreciated the sight before turning to attend other customers.
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Dinner had been excellent. Sunset had enjoyed the variety of vegetarian choices in Jamaican dishes and Twilight had partaken in them as well as jerk chicken. The evening had been quiet and relaxing, like so many before over the last several decades. They had talked, made love, and fallen asleep in each other’s arms upon a bed that was soft as a cloud.
The morning sun eventually spilled forth through the curtains, like it always did. Sunset Shimmer looked down at her hand, the one not holding her morning coffee cup. It was perfectly manicured without a single blemish even after years of working as a part time artist and an electrical and sound engineer. Every scratch, every cut, every mark caused by living, working, and raising two wonderful daughters in life had eventually healed. Only the scars she had prior to her ascension and the ones she received during her fight in the In Between remained. It was the magic within her, she knew that, but it still blew her mind. She was an alicorn, after all, even if she appeared human Sunset knew better.
Her mother, Celestia, in a last ditch effort to save them both, had given Sunset Shimmer part of her power to unlock her alicorn heritage. The magic had saved them all, but at the cost of destroying her father and sealing the human realm from Equestria. All the wild magic that had been seeping through the portal was gone and there had not been a single major resurgence since. That had been almost a hundred years ago. It had, in all their opinions, been a small price to keep the world safe from rogue magic. Although Rainbow Dash never let Sunset forget how much she missed her super speed.
Twenty-two years after the portal had been destroyed, Princess Twilight, Twilight Sparkle’s dimensional counterpart, had rebuilt the mirror and Sunset Shimmer had been able to see and feel Equestria again, as well as show it to her two daughters, Aurora Shimmer and Sunna Sparkle. That had always been a source of joy for Sunset, being able to see her mother and Aunt Luna and share Equestria with her family.
But like their best friends, their daughters, and later their grandchildren, did not stop aging either. She and Twilight, after several long debates, casually slipped from the spotlight, but of course stayed in contact with their children. Even risking in person visits from time to time, usually when they were in Canterlot City when the portal opened. Sunset had accepted the new reality and did not dwell on it too much day to day. Twilight, however, still worked tirelessly to understand the phenomena as an anonymous contractor for her company, Sparkle Technology. She had remote access to the entire network, including some servers almost no one knew about, as well as some of the automated machines, which also allowed her to conduct further research and development in science and technological breakthroughs. They were content in their groove.
Sunset glanced up to see her wife sitting across from her, scrolling on a tablet, a piece of waffle still dangling and dripping syrup from her fork that had not quite made it to the purple skinned woman’s mouth. It was adorable and just a teensy bit sad. Sunset set her coffee aside, quickly leaned over the table, and gobbled up the piece right off Twilight’s fork. Twilight blinked a few times and realized what had just happened and blushed sheepishly.
“Sorry, I just got caught up in reading this memo.”
“Clearly.” Sunset wiped her mouth and took another sip of coffee. “What’s it about?”
“There was a demonstration of next generation AI technology in Tokyo that started yesterday. I… actually wanted to go there.”
Sunset blinked a few times, making a sheepish, 'Oh' face. “Did you mention it and I just didn’t listen?”
Twilight set her tablet down and waved her hands. “No, no! I shouldn’t go to it. I’m sure I would be recognized by at least one or two of the hardcore tech researchers at such a place. That would cause the kind of stir we are trying to avoid. Sparkle Tech had a booth and representatives as well. Maybe in another ten years I can attempt it because it would be theoretically possible that I could pretend to be a descendant of, well, me, and that would satisfy all but the most adamant, aluminum foil hat wear type. Besides, you wanted to see The Keys.”
Sunset nodded. “Okay, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t ignoring what you wanted.”
Twilight reached across the table and squeezed her wife’s free hand. “You always listen to me. Even if you don’t heed my advice, you have always done me the courtesy of listening.”
Sunset lightly squeezed the fingers in her hand. She quickly finished her coffee and set it aside before clearing her throat. “Thanks. Anyhow, I want to go browse the old town shops for souvenirs and possible gift ideas. Think you can keep yourself occupied for about an hour?”
Twilight turned her head slightly while furrowing her brow. “You don’t want me to go with you?”
Sunset lifted the hand that was still in her own to kiss it. “I always want you with me, but in this case I am looking for a gift idea for you and I want it to be a surprise. Do you not realize how hard it is to surprise you these days?”
Twilight sheepishly nodded her understanding. “I guess we have kind of seen it all at this point. But I don’t need anything more than what I already carry everywhere. Just like you… and for what occasion?”
Sunset paused to consider how much to let on. “For the anniversary of when we first met.”
Twilight blinked and then had to adjust her glasses. “Oh! I’m sorry! I did not think that was something we were supposed to celebrate with gifts. Have we before?”
Sunset smirked. “Maybe, maybe not. But this time is special. One hundred years.”
Twilight’s jaw slackened a bit and she took her glasses off for a second to clean them before slipping them back on. Much like how Sunset had done only minutes before, Twilight next examined her hand. Just as young and unchanged as Sunset Shimmer’s.
“One hundred years.”
Sunset nodded and smiled. “One hundred years since we first met at the Friendship Games.”
Twilight smiled nostalgically, perhaps, even a little bit melancholically. Eyes staring at nothing but still seeing so much. “And our lives changed forever.”
“So, you see why I might want to look around, try to find something special or at least give me an idea for one. I promise, I won’t take long.”
“Twilight’s face turned from whimsical to condescending. “I’m not that helpless teenager anymore, Sunny. You know I can survive without out you for a while. Besides, that will give me time to finish clearing my emails and confirm or plans for the afternoon. We are still doing the reef snorkeling, yes?”
Sunset shot Twilight the finger guns. “The weather is hot and so are you. Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Gaaaawd. That was lame, Sunset Shimmer.”
Sunset winked and blew her wife a kiss before rounding the table and exiting the hotel. She walked for several blocks actually attempting to window shop before taking a moment to find a bench and pull out her phone. None of the shops had anything remotely unique that would do for Twilight and such a milestone occasion. However, the bartender (whose name she did not catch) had given Sunset and idea and she knew the perfect person to call to get some information on if it was possible. Plus, she wanted to hear her voice.
After several rings that almost went to voicemail, the line connected. There were a few more grunts and the sound of a person shifting on what sounded like a bed. Finally, after a raspy sigh the person spoke.
“Sorry, Mama, took me a moment to reach for the phone. I’m not sure who plugged it in over away from the table, but that’s not where it belongs.”
“It’s okay, sweetie. How are you doing, Aurora?”
“Meh. I’m good. I get my hot meals with a side of too many damn pills and the occasional sponge bath by an assistant that my grandson hired since I’m apparently too old to properly do anything anymore.”
“Oh, um… sorry?” Sunset paused, but relaxed when she heard her daughter begin to laugh at the awkward pause. “Well, is he hot at least?”
“Pshaw! Shining Sunbright got a female nurse/caretaker for me! I think he did it more for Timber Hill, though at least Timber can get out of the house and around, but nooooo, couldn’t get a cute male nurse for grandma! Hold on a second… what? I’m talking to my mama, mind your own damn business. Don’t look at me like that. I can talk to ghost if I want to! I’ll call for your help when I can’t get up fast enough for the toilet, nosey girl!”
It was Sunset’s turn to laugh. She could easily picture Aurora yelling at the poor nurse who was probably hating her job right about then. “Is it okay you saying that? Won’t she just think you are nuts?”
“Mama, I’m going to be ninety- two years old in a few months. I’m allowed to appear senile and take phone calls from people who are supposed to be dead if I damn well please. Where are you, anyhow?”
“The Florida Keys. Currently sitting on a bench in the tourist trap section of Sugarloaf Key. I always wanted to see Key West, but we always avoided it in the past because Twi said it was a tourist trap.”
“And how was it?”
Sunset smirked and shrugged. “A tourist trap. The outdoor and ocean/beach activities are nice, but the in town attractions are nothing special compared to what we’ve seen or done in Europe or Asia. I guess for domestic travelers it’s a treat, but… yeah. I’ve seen better.”
“Yeah, I can see that. The beach sounds nice at least. I bet you still rock a bikini though.”
“Damn right I do. I even got your mom to finally try one on instead of the one piece suits. Only took me half a century of constantly complimenting her figure.”
Aurora laughed again, there was a bit of a wheeze to it, but not as bad as she had had before. “Got to love Mom, but she just never could get it through her head that she was beautiful too. Her brain always kept getting in the way. I bet you have been getting all kinds of free drinks from the horny boys, am I right?”
Sunset laughed. It felt so good to laugh with her daughter she was nearly to tears and her face was hurting in the best way from smiling too much. “Got one last night from the bartender as a matter of fact!”
“Pfft. Knew it!” Aurora laughed again and sighed. There was a pause before she started again. “I’m glad. I remember when I used to get drinks like that, absolutely owning a two piece that didn’t hide much.”
“Heh, I remember. I also remember glaring down at a few of those horn dogs because of it.”
“Oh please,” Aurora scoffed. “I mean, I appreciated that you cared, but you taught me and Sunna both how to take care of ourselves. We were fine. Though, I do recall that one time at the strip club I was glad you were there.”
Sunset nearly fell off the bench from her bent over snicker fit. “You know I STILL have not told your mom about that! Let’s see if I recall how that all played out… You were twenty-one and wanted to see what a male strip club was like and all your friends chickened out at the last minute. I overheard you saying you were just going to go by yourself and that worried me.”
“So, ever the responsible parent, you grabbed two motorcycle helmets, threw one at me, and told me to get on the back. Then you took me to a place you had heard of and it was… LOUD AND CRAZY!”
“Yep!”
“Then… oh God! Then that one guy came out and stripped down to nothing and was just waving that python right in our faces! Like he was daring us to break the no touching rule!”
“Gotta admit, it was a nice size and I was tempted, but I behaved…” Sunset turned her eyes to the sky and sighed. “Good times, goooood times.”
“I was so mortified at it all and especially how casually you were taking it all! It was the first time I had seen one that was not on the internet and then you started waving dollars around and whistling!”
“Yeah well, I’d seen plenty and was having a great time with my daughter.”
They both laughed and sighed. The silence lingered for a minute while they caught their respective breaths. “Yeah… mama, this has been fun and all, and I know you like to check in on Sunna and I, but why did you really call?”
Sunset smirked. Both her daughters were smart individuals, but Aurora was as razor sharp as she had always been and not afraid to say what was on her mind. Age had not slowed her mind down one bit. Sunset took pride in that.
“I did want to hear your voice, but yeah, I have a crazy idea for a present for your mom and I will likely need for you pull some strings to make it happen.”
“Well, this sounds like a bad idea already. Go on.”
Sunset took a breath and doublechecked to make sure no one was listening to her. “The hundredth anniversary of our first meeting is coming up and I want to give your mom a present like no other and one she will never forget. I want to give her the stars. I need you to pull some strings at the company and get us on a flight to the El Two station.”
“Oh. My. God, Mama!”
“I know, I know, crazy, right? It’s a terribly irresponsible idea, but I really think she would love it!”
“…. You really are a magical talking pony from another world.”
Sunset shrugged and nodded. “Well, yeah. You’ve seen it yourself. I’m not sure why you are bringing that up now though.”
“Because that’s how crazy you are and this is! You want me to get you on a flight to a highly secured, experimental space station that is still under partial construction and has every government watchdog agency sniffing around at all times just so you can let your wife see the stars! You are In-fucking-sane, woman!”
Sunset paused. It really was asking too much and hearing it out loud was putting it more in perspective. She was about to say, never mind, and then ask about Sunna before hanging up. However, before she could say more, Aurora let out a long, clearly annoyed groan. It didn't sound painful, but it also did not sound like an end of the previous conversation.
“Um… are you okay, sweetie?”
“I don’t know if it’s dumb luck or magic… maybe both. You always said you had both and here we are.”
“Aurora, I’m a little confused right now.”
Sunset could hear Aurora shifting about as she grunted and muttered. A minute later she settled in. “Okay, so here’s the truth. I actually could make some calls to both my government contacts and one or two trustworthy family members working for the company and make this happen. But there would be a catch. You would not be going as tourist.”
“I’m a little confused, but go on.”
Aurora groaned again. No, not a groan, Sunset thought. That was clearly a growl. She was clearly agitated, Sunset knew that growl since she was a teenager and it sounded a lot like her own. “I’m still the matriarch of this family and primary shareholder of Sparkle Tech since Sunna sold all her rights and holdings back to the company decades ago. Shinning Sunbright handles most of the day to day operations even though we have that whistle dick, whatshisface as the acting CEO because he looks good on camera. Anyhow, I still get all the internal company executive chain emails. Even the privileged ones. There is a problem going on at the space station.”
Sunset blinked several times and sat forward on the bench. “What do you mean a problem?”
“I mean they are having issues. Technical, software, hardware, you name it. The company people are doing their best to correct them and stay on schedule, but they just keep popping up like the Little Dutch Boy trying to plug all the holes.” Sunset snickered immaturely despite her efforts to hold it in. “Really, mama?”
“Sorry, go on.”
“The government reps and bureaucrats are starting to get nosey and then they will get nervous. I know them and exactly how this will go down if it’s not corrected soon. They did not want to give a non-government controlled entity so much freedom of choice and access to the project to begin with even if the joint venture was the only way it was EVER going to get done. We sold the idea to them on the premise that most of the resources and costs would fall on us if things didn’t work out. Shocking, things get done when you tell them they don’t have to pay for most of it.”
“I think I remember Twi saying something similar and marching a hole into the floor with worry and frustration on all the ‘unknow variables’ or something to that degree.”
“Yeah, that sounds like mom. Anyhow, everything has been going smoothly for the last three years of construction. But now, for the last month or so, there are issues and we don’t know why.”
Sunset bobbed her head and waved her arm even though Aurora could not see the action. “Okay, so what does that have to do with us and my crazy ass plan?”
“Two things. First, mom was the primary proponent for the El Two station to begin with. All our plans, blue prints, direction, recommendations all came from her and her ideas decades ago and I know she worked on the side to see it come to fruition. She would know how to fix what is going on and you are no slouch in the brains department either, mama. You would be able to help too. Secondly, if this station fails and we are left on the hook with no recuperation of expended costs Sparkle Tech will be out of business.”
“Oh. Shit.”
“They sank EVERYTHING into getting this contract and partnership. It’s all on the line. So, for that reason, I am considering your insane proposal, but ONLY if mom is on board. I will get you clearance and cut through most of the red tape that would risk your identities, though I would still recommend you change the ones you are currently using to ones you are not afraid to burn. After that, you go up, fix the problems, have a little fun, and then take the resupply shuttle back down four weeks later with no one being the wiser who and what you really are.”
“Obviously I need to talk with you mom about this, but you know we would do anything for you and the others.”
“I know, mama, but this… if you get caught… I’m not sure I could find you in the hole they would shove you in or get you back to the portal for safety when it reopens. I've got pull, but I was never president. You can always say no, I would rather you say no, and not risk it and we just find another way, but there it is.”
Sunset glanced down at her hand, spread the fingers, imagining the hoof it sometimes was, and closed them into a tight fist. She then stood and began walking at a fast pace back to the hotel. “I’m going to talk to Twi right now, but go ahead and start pulling your strings. We’ll be in Canterlot City by tonight.”
“You shouldn’t come here.”
“All our hard copy credentials are in the city. If we can sneak in an in person visit, we will. Otherwise, we’ll talk tonight and tell you what names you need to get clearance for.”
Sunset could hear Aurora sigh. “You are so certain she will say yes.”
“I have known that woman for a hundred years, little girl. I know her and she knows me. I could tell you exactly how this conversation is going to go.”
Aurora barked a laugh. “Like I said, in-fucking-sane.”