• Published 9th Sep 2016
  • 6,289 Views, 60 Comments

The Great Thaw - RadiantBeam



In Equestria, ponies only experience winter until they find their soul mate. Problem is, Sunset isn't in Equestria anymore, and her soul mate is human. And she doesn't know what to do about that at all.

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The Great Thaw

Sunset Shimmer stared down at the device that Twilight had slid onto the table—human Twilight, she always had to remind herself of that, it was human Twilight Sparkle, not Princess Twilight Sparkle—for a long moment, saying nothing. She let the silence drag on, long enough for Rarity to absently brush her thumb over the top of her hand and for Fluttershy to cough nervously, before she finally looked up at the purple girl that was sitting across from her, squirming in place.

“Does this really have to be recorded?” she finally asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

Practically vibrating with energy that was a mix of scientific excitement and social nerves, Twilight nodded. “It would help,” she said, nervously stroking at a strand of hair that had worked itself free from her new ponytail. “I find that I tend to do better with my research when I’ve recorded things so I can go back and listen to them, you see…”

Sunset lifted a brow, valiantly fighting back a smile. “Research?”

Twilight squeaked. “That was the wrong word! I’m sorry! I’m not researching you, I swear! I-I just want to examine you—wait, no, that sounds even worse! I just want…”

Sunset laughed, breaking the tension in that moment and leaning forward. “Twilight, relax, I’m joking. I don’t mind that you want to record me.”

Twilight’s eyes were the size of dinner plates behind her glasses. “Y-You just sounded upset…”

“I was messing with you. I wanted to see how far you would go with this.”

“… That was mean,” Twilight said, but she let go of her strand of hair.

“Which is why I’m here,” Rarity cut in quickly, giving Sunset’s hand a squeeze under the table. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Twilight, dear. I’ll make sure Sunset is good and behaved so you get everything out of her that you can.”

“And I’m here for moral support!” Fluttershy chirped, encouragingly rubbing Twilight’s back. “But if you really want to know how mean Sunset used to be, I have some stories—“

Thank you, Fluttershy,” Sunset cut in, rolling her eyes at her pink-haired friend’s overly innocent grin. “And sorry, Sparks, I was just having fun. I never get much of a chance to tease Princess Twilight, so I guess some of that came out. The recording really isn’t an issue, and you can ask me anything you like.”

She must have said the magic words, because Twilight’s eyes lit up with a fire Sunset had never seen before. She immediately regretted what she’d said.

“Oh, excellent!” the purple girl squealed, diving into her backpack to fish out her journal. “Honestly when you said you were okay with talking to me about Equestria and its magic and how you came over from there to here, I was so excited! I only have a few questions! Well, actually, I mean, I have 1,623,058, but of course I’m going to pace myself…”

“Oh dear,” Rarity said delicately as Twilight placed the journal onto the table and flipped it open, chattering all the while.

Nestled in her backpack, Spike chuckled fondly. “Yeah, she’s great,” he sighed, then leaned over and gently nudged her with his nose. “Twilight?”

Twilight blinked owlishly at him, “Yeah Spike?”

“You’re getting ahead of yourself again. Might wanna slow down.”

“Oh! Right! Sorry! I’m just excited, I’ve been tracking the magic around Canterlot High School for months, but I never thought I would get the chance to speak to the one girl responsible for bringing it over to our world in the first place!”

Sunset bit her lip to resist pointing out that magic hadn’t been involved in the human world until after Princess Twilight had crossed over from the portal; it had all happened anyway because she’d stolen the crown in the first place, so she supposed that regardless she was ultimately responsible for all of the magical events that had unfolded since then. “Right,” she murmured, slumping back in her chair and rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

She had a death grip on her girlfriend’s hand, at this point. Rarity had definitely noticed, because while Twilight was preoccupied she leaned over to whisper into Sunset’s ear, “Are you sure this is okay, love? You seem rather… tense.”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s kind of funny, actually. When I was Princess Celestia’s student, I would have given anything to have this kind of attention. Now that I’m actually getting it, I don’t know how I feel about it. It’s not at all what I expected.”

Rarity hummed, resting her cheek against Sunset’s shoulder. “Well, when you become a big, famous celebrity that will surely attract the attention of men and women everywhere, I hope you remember your friends and girlfriend in the little town of Canterlot. We’ll miss you if you ever leave.”

Sunset snorted, swallowing back a laugh. “You will?”

“I’ll especially miss you terribly.”

The former Equestrian was about to speak up, to happily reassure Rarity that she was pretty sure nothing like that was going to come from this small moment of indulging scientific curiosity, but Twilight had finished unpacking all of her things and was switching on her recorder. Immediately Sunset straightened, though it did nothing to dislodge Rarity from her favorite snuggling position.

“I’m going to start small,” Twilight said. “I just want to talk about how you came over to this world and why you acted the way you did, if that’s okay? I spoke with Fluttershy about your first few days at Canterlot High, and she told me some things that seemed a little strange.”

“I bet,” Sunset sighed, remembering all too well how long it had taken her to adjust to her new human body. Fluttershy shot her an apologetic look, visibly relaxing when her friend waved it off. “Go ahead, Sparks, though most of it will match what the princess told you about her first experiences over here. I had to work out how a human body worked just like she did.”

“Princess… oh, right, you mean the other me!” Twilight adjusted her glasses. “It’s still so weird to think that in another world, I’m a magical winged unicorn princess of friendship. And yes, she told me all about that and I figured you had a similar time. I meant more specifically how you came over dressed.”

Sunset blinked, lifting a brow. “How I was… dressed?”

“Your clothes, yes. I said I was going to pace myself, right? I figured we’d start with something small and simple that I was curious about.”
“Well, if you’re asking me how the portal makes them, I’m afraid I can’t give you much of an answer to that. I even talked to the princess about it because we were both wondering about it, and we couldn’t work anything out—“

“I don’t care about the clothes being made,” Twilight cut in. “I care about the clothes you came over to our world in. I spoke with our friends, and a few other people at Canterlot High to expand my sample size…”

“Sample size?” Fluttershy whispered to Spike, who gave an amused shrug.

“… And they all confirmed that when you first came in for classes at school, you were basically bundled up like you’d walked out of a massive blizzard.”

Ah, Sunset thought, and had to bite back the urge to sigh, had to fight the instinctive temptation to tense up. Twilight was edging dangerously close to a topic the former unicorn wasn’t ready to discuss with her human friends, but if she let it slip at all that she was uncomfortable, Fluttershy and Rarity would notice immediately and become concerned. Rarity even more so, considering she was still cuddled into her girlfriend.

Her girlfriend who’s been lying to her this whole time about a huge part of what she is, a dark voice whispered in the back of her mind. Sunset soundly squashed that voice dead and buried it.

It was fine. She already had an answer to this; she had practiced it in the safety of her own home, and she had known sooner or later this would come up. Honestly, she was shocked this hadn’t come up sooner with how much she had shared classes with her friends before they’d become her friends, but the girls had always been polite and respectful at the oddest of times.

Sunset leaned against the table easily, giving Rarity’s hand a slight squeeze, if only to reassure herself. “I’m afraid there’s no big mystery to that,” she laughed. “When I crossed over from Equestria to the human world, it was the middle of winter. We had a huge snowstorm raging outside. I charged in and ran through the portal without thinking, and didn’t realize it until I stumbled out as a human in full winter gear.”

Twilight blinked once. She blinked again. And then, as if to simply drag the moment, she blinked a third time.

“… Really?” she finally said, and there was no hiding the absolute disappointment in her voice.

“Really,” Sunset repeated.

“Are… are you sure? I’m not going to lie, I was sort of hoping there would be more to it than that…”

Sunset shrugged, “Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s true. The weather in Equestria doesn’t always match the weather in the human world. It was still winter when I crossed over, and I still felt the chill for awhile.” She paused. “… I also needed to buy new clothes, to be frank. That winter gear was all I had.”

“Oh.” Twilight deflated like a balloon stuck with a pin. She spun her pen between her fingers, completely forgetting that she still had her recorder running. “I even had this really cool magical theory about it, too…”

Fluttershy squeezed her shoulder comfortingly and gave Sunset a look that was a mix between amused and apologetic. “She was really excited about this. It took me awhile to even convince her to ask you about it.”

Well, now. She couldn’t go and disappoint a budding scientist like that, could she? The lie still stung even if Sunset knew she’d told it for her own good, but there was still a way that she could turn this around and give Twilight at least a little bit of what she wanted to hear. “You didn’t ask how I bought those clothes,” she hummed, smiling when Rarity gave her a rewarding nuzzle.

Twilight stared at her. “Eh?”

“I bought those clothes with some gems I brought over. You know, from Equestria. They were magical gems. I still have a few of them left, if you want to check them out sometime.”

For a single instant Twilight’s eyes widened, and hope blazed in her eyes again. She immediately stopped twirling her pen and yanked her journal close, quivering with the force of questions she desperately wanted to ask but was biting back to be polite.

Fluttershy’s eyes shone with relief and appreciation, and Sunset knew she’d made the right choice. So she started to talk, speaking of how common gems were in Equestria, how dragons ate them and ponies used them for fashion, but every once and awhile magic was channeled through them—magic that, in the right hooves and with sharp minds, could become magical objects and possibly even weapons.

She changed the subject gently but firmly, and no one at the table with her seemed any the wiser to it.

The lie still stung, and it continued to sting for the rest of the day.

Sunset found that sometimes, she missed the days when lying came to her as easily as breathing and she’d felt no pain for it.


Sunset Shimmer wasn’t human.

She knew the facts: she had chosen to remain in the human world even when Princess Twilight had made it clear that she would be more than welcome to return to Equestria and reconcile with Celestia, and for as long as she remained in the human world she would take on a human form. That was simply how the magic of the portal worked (and human Twilight had had plenty of theories about that). The portal had made Sunset look human, and while on some intellectual level she was sure her friends knew she wasn’t, they knew it in the sense that they had been told about it but had never seen it. As far as they understood it Sunset was human, simply because she had been a human for as long as they had known her.

She looked human. She acted human. But at the end of the day, Sunset knew what she was: she was a pony of Equestria, a unicorn if she wanted to be more specific. She wasn’t human, and nothing in either world would ever permanently make her a human.

And because she wasn’t human, it meant that things that had applied to her when she had been a unicorn in Equestria still applied to her; they only applied to her now when she wore a human skin. She’d learned that the hard way.

She’d learned that the day she had crossed over from Equestria during a raging blizzard—an apt description, though Twilight wasn’t aware of it—and had stumbled out into the human world only to discover she was still caught in a raging blizzard.

She’d learned that the day she locked eyes with Rarity during class and quite suddenly, the blizzard had died down like it had never existed, and she could feel a season that wasn’t winter.

Shortly after Sunset had crossed into the human world, she had met her soul mate.

The problem was, humans didn’t have soul mates.

And that was fine. It really was. Even after finding her soul mate on the other side of the mirror, Sunset had never intended to actually do anything about it; the whole concept of soul mates was something she’d scoffed at back in Equestria, and she hadn’t even liked Rarity all that much when she had first joined Canterlot High. If anything, finding her so soon had simply made it more convenient to settle down in the human world; her heavy winter gear had attracted its fair share of stares and whispers.

For three years, the fact that she had a human soul mate had been perfectly fine in Sunset’s book. She’d dated Flash, she’d taken over the school, she’d then fallen and been picked back up by Princess Twilight and her human friends, and her soul mate hadn’t impacted any of that.
But now she and Rarity were dating. Now—at least in theory—they were being completely honest with each other about how they felt. Rarity knew Sunset wasn’t human, and she was perfectly okay with that.

The problem was, Sunset was beginning to realize she wasn’t. Soul mates meant something completely different to ponies than they did to humans, and it was a harsh reminder to the redhead that no matter how she looked and how she acted, she would never be human.
Once, the thought of lying about something like that hadn’t bothered her. But she wasn’t that person anymore, and she’d already had one serious relationship fall apart on her because she had consistently put herself above the other person. She didn’t want that to happen a second time.

And, if she was being completely, utterly honest with herself, she already suspected she liked Rarity more than she had ever liked Flash. That was a whole other thing she would deal with, at a later date.

For now, she needed to talk to Rarity. She needed to be honest with her girlfriend.

Sunset stared at the glowing screen of her phone, breathed out a little mental prayer, and sent the text she’d been staring at for the last fifteen minutes. She didn’t even want to think about how long it had taken her to even compose it. Once it was sent, she put her phone down screen first, then restlessly got to her feet. Her phone vibrated almost immediately, but she was suddenly too scared to check if Rarity was confirming her request to meet or if she was saying she’d be too busy to make it.

It might not have even been Rarity, but now that she had put her phone down she’d made up her mind. If she didn’t do this now, she knew she never would.

And even if she didn’t know how this would turn out—this reminder to her girlfriend that ultimately, Sunset wasn’t human—something in the former Equestrian’s chest quieted at the thought that she was finally going to be completely honest.

That had to count for something.


The stairs in front of Canterlot High had become one of Sunset’s favorite places to sit and think, when she wanted to go somewhere quiet. Nobody lingered around the school during time off, and the closeness to the portal sent faint pulses of familiar magic washing through her body. The combination was usually enough to quiet any unrest Sunset felt, and now was no exception.

She was beginning to wish she’d checked her phone, regardless of her nerves. She’d been relaxing on the stairs now for some time, and there was still no sign of Rarity. Even if being out here was calming for her general state of mind, there was no real reason for her to linger if for whatever reason her girlfriend wouldn’t be able to make it and wasn’t going to show.

Just as Sunset was about to get up, however, she saw Rarity coming along the path to school. Amused by the timing of it all, the other girl shifted on her favorite seat instead of getting up and waved. Rarity smiled and waved back, picking up the pace.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Rarity rushed out as she sat down next to her girlfriend. “I got your text as soon as you sent it, but I was still on my shift at work and you didn’t answer my text.”

Sunset shrugged, “Not your fault. I kind of just left my phone in my apartment after sending that text and came right here.”

All things considered, she was probably lucky that everything had worked out so well in terms of timing. And now that Rarity mentioned it, she did look like she had just gotten off of work from the boutique; Sunset could still smell the lingering perfume she only ever used for her working hours, and while the fashionista always prided herself on dressing well, there was a little extra flair to impress that wasn’t usually present during her off hours.

Immediately Sunset felt a surge of guilt, and she took both of Rarity’s hands in hers. “I didn’t get you in trouble, did I? I didn’t even think that you’d be at work, and if you left so suddenly like that just to come and see me because I asked—“

Rarity laughed and squeezed Sunset’s hands. “Relax, love. I was already at the end of my shift anyway, so I’m not going to get in trouble.”

“… Right.” Sunset breathed the word out and tried to relax. She must have been failing miserably on every account, because Rarity gently pulled her in by her hands and snuggled her close, tucking her head against her shoulder and brushing loose strands of hair out of her eyes.
Sunset sighed, closed her eyes, and let her girlfriend fuss until she was satisfied. The moment wouldn’t last forever, she knew that; she wasn’t even trying to hide her tension anymore. But she wanted to take it while it lasted.

She liked being close to Rarity like this.

“I lied,” she finally mumbled. “When I talked to Twilight earlier.”

“Oh, Sunset,” Rarity sighed, her fingers gently lacing in mixed strands of red and gold. “I already knew that.”

Sunset sputtered. “Y-You did?”

“Well… yes. I mean, texting me so soon after that chat saying you want to talk about something? I figured you either felt guilty about lying, or you wanted to break up with me. And considering I’m quite certain you have no reason to want to break up with me…”

“I don’t!”

“Point proven! Which means you lied, and you feel terribly about that, and so you texted me because you wanted to talk and be honest.” Rarity paused. “Though, to be fair, I’m not quite sure what you lied about when you were talking to Twilight, especially considering she didn’t ask you very much at all.”

“… I love you,” Sunset said, awed and a little terrified.

“I love you too, darling, but that doesn’t address my confusion very much.”

Sunset bit her lip and chewed it, letting the silence linger for a moment as she tried to think of the best way to finally start this frankly long overdue conversation. At the very least, Rarity was willing to give her time to compose herself, content with simply keeping her close and continuing to stroke her hair until she found the words.

Finally, though, she pulled away nervously and took a deep breath, playing with her hands. “We have soul mates in Equestria.”

Rarity blinked. “Soul mates?”

“Yeah. That’s like… an actual thing, for us. It’s not just an expression, and it isn’t fictional like romance novels and movies. We have them, and until a pony finds their soul mate they, uh…” she trailed off, gesturing helplessly. “Y-You remember what I told Twilight about my winter gear?”

Rarity’s brow furrowed. “Yes?”

“That’s what I lied about. I wasn’t dressed like that because it was winter in Equestria, I was dressed like that because I hadn’t found my soul mate by the time I crossed over to the human world. The only season we can experience until we meet our soul mate is winter, and I guess the rule still applied in the human world because I was technically still a pony. The portal didn’t fundamentally change that.”

Rarity’s eyes widened in understanding, a hand coming up to her lips. “Oh my,” she murmured. “So when you actually changed your clothes…”

“That was because I saw my soul mate and could experience other seasons, yeah.” All nerves now, Sunset restlessly got to her feet and began to pace. “When I was introduced to the class, I locked eyes with them. I-I didn’t even think we could have soul mates who weren’t other ponies, so it was… a bit of a shock.”

“Oh. Oh, Sunset, darling, I’m so, so sorry.”

Sunset cringed, waiting for the explosion.

“All this time you’ve been watching Flash with Twilight—the princess, I mean, not the human one—and you’ve been encouraging them, and… oh!” Rarity surged to her feet, grabbing Sunset’s hands suddenly and yanking her into a tight embrace. “I can’t even begin to imagine how it must feel to see your soul mate with another woman!”

Sunset’s jumbled thoughts came to an abrupt, screeching halt. “What.”

“And here I was at the start, teasing him about his crush on her! Oh, Sunset, sweet thing, I apologize! You should have told us all sooner! If I had known, I would have never—“

Oh.

Oh, wait. Rarity thought…

Oh, no.

“Rarity.” Sunset wriggled away from Rarity’s embrace, grabbing her hands when she gasped and tried to pull her back in. “Rarity, I don’t mean—it isn’t Flash!”

Rarity was brought up short, frowning as her fingers curled against Sunset’s. “Beg pardon?”

“It isn’t Flash,” Sunset repeated. “Flash isn’t my soul mate. I dated him right after coming to the human world, yes, but that wasn’t the reason.”

“… You could have said something sooner.” Rarity pouted. “Here I was worrying. I must have made quite the fool of myself.”

Sunset chuckled and leaned in to kiss Rarity’s forehead, unable to resist. “It was cute. I appreciate you worrying so much on my behalf, but I wanted to stop you before you got too far with that train of thought. I did care about Flash at one point, but he was never my soul mate.”

Rarity flushed a light, pretty pink, and huffed quietly as she brushed her hair back behind her shoulder. She took a small step back, settling down on the stairs again and gently tugging Sunset along with her so the other girl sat beside her once more.

“Well then, darling, you know now that you’ve started this conversation I have to ask who your soul mate is. I would imagine that’s what you wanted to talk to me about, now that we’ve gotten this far. Yes?”

Sunset winced and sighed, resisting the urge to pull away from her girlfriend and bundle up into a little ball. “Yes, I… I was going to tell you that.”

Rarity leaned forward, bumped their foreheads together encouragingly. There was a moment of silence as she seemed to contemplate what she wanted to say next, before she brought Sunset’s fingers to her lips and gave them a gentle kiss. “I could keep guessing if you like,” she said softly, “but judging from your reaction and your request to talk, I think I know who your soul mate is, Sunset.”

Sunset breathed out, and tried very hard to ignore the tightening in her chest. “Who do you think it is, then? Since you seem pretty confident.”

Rarity’s eyes met hers, and for that single instant Sunset was in front of the class again, locking eyes with her for the very first time as the snowstorm she’d known all her life until that point died around her and she became aware of how warm the world could be.

“Just a guess,” she murmured. “But would your soul mate happen to be me?”

Sunset breathed out, and felt her chest loosening up as if in response to it. “If I said yes?”

Rarity leaned in, giving her a chaste kiss before bumping their foreheads together gently. “Then I would remind you that I believe I’m the protagonist of a romance novel, Sunset. I’ve gone to dances in the past expecting to find my Prince Charming who would sweep me off my feet. Being told I’m someone’s soul mate, your soul mate, would thrill me beyond relief. It’s just so terribly romantic.”

“… You don’t mind? I-I mean, humans don’t actually have soul mates, and I didn’t want to…” Sunset trailed off, rolling her shoulders restlessly. “It’s an Equestrian thing. I didn’t want to bring it up and force it on you. I didn’t want to remind you that I’m not… you know. Human.”

The purple-haired girl chuckled at that. “Sunset, darling, I’ve had plenty of reminders that you aren’t human, believe me. Why, did you know Twilight had that little recording session with all of us, not just you? She wanted varied opinions on the magic that was occurring around the school.”

Said part of magic occurring around the school chuckled. “Really? Did she ask you anything interesting?”

“Well, she did ask me how I felt about dating a horse.”

Sunset choked on the air she was breathing, collapsing into a helpless fit of giggles. “I never would have expected that from Sparks! She actually asked you that?”

“She did indeed. It had nothing to do with magic, but I just think she couldn’t resist asking.” Rarity smiled gently. “I was quick to correct her, though. You’re a unicorn from Equestria, and as far as I understand it, that’s quite a different thing from a horse.”

“Well, thank you for standing up for me.”

“I also informed her that I was well aware of what she was really asking, though she was trying to be a dear and be polite about it. I did appreciate that, and I’ll tell you the same thing that I told her: I’m well aware of the fact you aren’t human. I’ve been aware of that fact for some time. If it was something that really bothered me, I wouldn’t be dating you. It’s that simple.”

Rarity paused, waiting for Sunset to say something in response to her words. When she didn’t, though, the fashionista continued speaking. “But I suspect that isn’t what’s bothering you. You should already know this by now.”

Sunset sighed, “I do. I pretty easily admit that it bothers me more than it bothers you. I just… don’t like the reminder that I’m not human, I guess. It wasn’t something I used to think about, but the fact that I’m from Equestria has caused us so many magical problems…”

“It’s also given us quite a few benefits,” Rarity pointed out gently, but she settled down to let her girlfriend finish talking.

“But there’s no benefit to you being my soul mate!” Sunset finally burst. “Like okay, yeah, me not being human brought magic to your world, and that had its good parts and its bad parts. It was at least something that helped you out! But you don’t get anything out of being my soul mate, it’s just something that is and it doesn’t have the same meaning to humans and I don’t—“

She pulled away from Rarity and shuddered, exhaling shakily as she tried to compose her thoughts. The other girl was quiet, giving her that distance and that time to think about what she wanted to say.

“I don’t want to force it on you,” Sunset said at last, raggedly. “That’s why I kept it to myself for so long. It’s a reminder that I’m not human and it doesn’t even help you, it’s not something you asked for.”

It clicked into place for Rarity, then, and she understood in an instant why this bothered Sunset so much. She kept her silence, though, waiting for the other girl to settle down uneasily in one place before she gracefully got to her feet, closing the distance between them in continued silence. She reached out and gently took Sunset’s hands in her own again, pressing a warm white finger to the Equestrian’s lips when she started to stammer. Once she was sure the redhead wouldn’t try to speak, she removed her finger.

“You’re right,” she said. “This clearly isn’t something I got any say in, and I agree with you that for us humans, soul mate means something very different.”

Sunset’s shoulders slumped.

“However,” Rarity continued, “this is clearly something very important to you and your culture, and while I would have liked to know sooner, I appreciate you telling me now. I appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me, and I appreciate your concerns.”

Sunset nodded, not sure what she should be bracing herself for. Rarity leaned in closer, whispering right against her ear and sending a shiver shooting down her spine at the warmth and the intimacy of the gesture.

“But as I said, the whole thing is terribly romantic. I’m already planning out matching soul mate dresses.”

Sunset sputtered, then started laughing, the sound muffled as Rarity grinned and took advantage of their closeness to kiss her fully on the lips. The two of them simply stayed huddled together like that for awhile, enjoying the warmth of each other, before they finally pulled apart enough to head down the stairs. Sunset’s fingers absently laced with her girlfriend’s as they walked, the two of them heading towards the fashionista’s house.

Sunset had insisted Rarity come all the way out here, after all. It was only fair to walk her home.

“I’m sorry,” she said at last. “It must seem silly to you, me making such a big deal out of it. I knew you wouldn’t have any real problems with it, but once I started thinking about it…”

Rarity chuckled, squeezing her hand gently. “You do tend to think too much, but don’t worry, I find it rather charming. And you owe me about three years’ worth of catching up where I was your soul mate and I never knew, so I demand that you tell me all about it.”

Sunset hummed and tried very hard to not smile. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, start from the beginning, of course! How did you feel when you saw me, hm? Was there a light shining down from the heavens? Choirs of angels? Did something you never knew was missing click into place?”

Sunset glanced at Rarity, drinking in the sight of her in the light of the sun, and finally gave in and smiled.

“I felt warm.”

Author's Note:

I will always and forever blame Monochromatic and her story "Colors of the Soul". That is all.

Comments ( 60 )

Is this based on Monochromatic's fic?

7549137

Monochromatic gave me the inspiration to write a soul mate AU story, but it's not based in the AU she used and is its own story.

7549126

Thank you very much!

Sorry, I commented before reading it. Awesome job! I loved it!:heart:

7549160

No problem at all! Glad you enjoyed it. :twilightsmile:

This was so adorable, RadiantBeam, I enjoyed it.

Sunset and Rarity together make a absolutely divine, and adorable couple :twilightsmile:

Another fantastic story :raritystarry:

As always, Sunset and Rarity work very well together, and feel very genuine as a couple. I love how quick Rarity was to comfort Sunset about Flash, despite what it would mean for their relationship. It's easy to see how much they love one another :raritywink:

Was Twishy a thing, or was my shipping fueled heart just seeing things where there wasn't anything to be seen? :twilightsheepish:

With all the talk of Sunset still being Equestrian, it makes me wonder how Rarity might feel about visiting her beloved's home some day :duck:

7549235

Thank you! Glad you liked the story. :pinkiehappy:

7549237

The Twishy hinting was actually totally a thing, even if only subtly. I absolutely ship Sci-Twi with Fluttershy and Applejack in Equestria Girls, and one of these days I may actually do a story about it. Something about her interaction with those two just clicked to me, and some of it ended up leaking into this story when I had them interacting.

7549324

one of these days I may actually do a story about it.

Do it. Especially if you meant Fluttershy and Applejack at the same time. That should absolutely be a thing.

On that note, I've been patiently waiting (by which I mean hoping against all likelihood) for a Sunset, Rarity, Twilight poly story from you :scootangel:

7549324 You're welcome!

And I would love to see a Twi-Shy, or TwiJack story in the future, it would definitely be cute. :raritywink:

I will admit the whole "we only live in winter until we found out soul mate" is kind of silly, though it casts the Hearth Warming story in an interesting light.

Now I'm not saying the soul mate bit is silly, that would be hypocritical of me. This is a sweet fic, and yes I do think bringing Rarity over would be a good thing.

7549339

It's totally poly Fluttershy/Sci-Twi/Applejack. I ship it and I ship it shamelessly.

7549364

Unfortunately a lot of the soul mate AU premises are kind of silly, when you sit down and think about them a little too hard. :applejackconfused: Glad you found the fic sweet, though!

7549402
True, very true. Still more dramatic than the common "my soul mate's name is stenciled on my arm" I see on Ao3. What's the fun in doing a soul mate fic if you already know who it is?

I'm a sucker for good romance and happy endings.

OHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSHOHMIGOSH

IT'S FINALLY HEEEEEERE!!!!

BRB, READING.

7549402
My night has officially been made :yay:
Seriously, you have no idea how happy this makes me :pinkiehappy:

7549425

I suspect the idea behind that AU is less "who is my soul mate?" and more "where is my soul mate?", so from that premise alone you could actually have quite a bit of fun with the thought. Plus, depending on how common the name tattooed on your skin is, finding your soul mate may actually be hard.

... Funny story but this idea was originally that concept, so yeah. I put some thought into this, but it turned out way too angsty so I abandoned it and started over.

7549441

Hope you enjoy!

Really like the whole thing, very adorable Sunset. If you had any plans for a sequel, what if Sunset takes her 'soul mate' to meet her mentor/teacher/mother figure (what have you) to introduce them. IE Sunset takes human Raity to meet Princess Celestia, and they all have a good cry together.

I will always and forever blame Monochromatic and her story "Colors of the Soul". That is all.

It is easy to see the inspiration here.

I really don't want to say anything bad about this story. It's cute, well-written and there's really nothing wrong with it except how derivative it is. I pretty much read it entirely on the strength of Monochromatic's similar story about the idea. I'd say you did it justice, though, so good job there.

Man, does that premise ever not make any sense at all, though. Part of me was just internally screaming "augh god dammit how does that even work!?" at the idea the whole way through. I really want to just strap her right back into that lab equipment right now because argh. Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. :rainbowlaugh:

Aw, that was sweet. RariShimmer is a ship I can totally get behind.

This begs an important question though: Does this mean Princess Twilight has already met her soulmate? Assuming she didn't come through the portal also covered in winter gear, since no one said otherwise, and if so... who is it?

Comment posted by Galactic Raincloud deleted Sep 9th, 2016

bravo to you on such a fantastic and sweet story! i do hope you have plans in the future for a sequel. well done!!

7550128

I meant to reference who Twilight's soul mate was at some point, because I really enjoyed Monochromatic's point in her own soul mate AU story that being someone's soul mate doesn't mean it has to be romantically. I think I made her soul mate Spike, to explain why she came through the portal without any winter gear on. I couldn't find a way to work it into the story, though.

7550010

Glad you likeded the story! And honestly... don't spend any time thinking too hard about soul mate AUs, the more you do the more it's bound to make your head hurt.

7551288

Thank you!

7551391
:rainbowlaugh: Yeah, that's probably good advice. It starts out as "so how do singles help wrap up winter if they can't tell the difference?" and then it's aaaaaaall downhill from there.

I will always and forever blame Monochromatic and her story "Colors of the Soul". That is all.

I knew it! The concept fit too well to not be inspired by it! :pinkiehappy:

Though I hope you realize that this story might lose you a good few Mono-points if it weren't for the fact that somewhere on the other side of that mirror pony Rarity is snogging Princess Twilight (or just making her an awkward flustering mess). :raritywink: :trollestia:

7551504

I leave that all to the imagination. :ajsmug:

I was a little worried, given the clear and stated inspiration, that this would be too much like Colors of the Soul. I'm happy to say I think this story came into its own, and was charming, cute, and cheesy all on its own merits. And Monochromatic even gave it her own Squee of Approval :raritywink:

Since you never state it outright, I thought that, just for funsies, I'd share my interpretation of Sunset's misgivings.

Sunset is worried that telling Rarity that Soul Mates, capitals and all, are real and have a profound and magical effect on Equestrians, will make Rarity feel like she has to be with Sunset. Almost like it's a threat, or more like guilt. It would be a false tie holding them together, rather than genuine love.

But Rarity of course knows that's patently foolish because A) She already loves Sunset, B) Sunset has already proven that she's willing to find love elsewhere for Rarity's sake, and C) The fact that Sunset worried about this so much shows just how much she cares for Rarity and the strength and integrity of their relationship.

Maybe I'm wrong and it was all just the honesty thing! Either way, I really enjoyed the story. Thanks for the excellent addition to my vast shipping folders! :pinkiecrazy:

i like their character andhow they do act thank you
:heart::twilightsheepish:

7551776

It's certainly a very valid interpretation of Sunset's uncertainties! I was approaching it in the story as an idea of a cultural difference, more or less, and since soul mates to an Equestrian meant something completely different compared to a human, Sunset didn't want to force the issue and make it seem like she was trapping Rarity in something that didn't even apply to her species or her world.

I do like your take quite a bit, though.

7551888

Glad you liked the story. :twilightsmile:

This concept of meeting your soul mate and experiencing the other seasons reminds me of a TwiRare fic where you only see colours until you meet your soul mate

7551401 That's exactly where my mind went immediately after reading the description. Then I started imaging a winter-locked region of Equestria where nopony bothers to change the seasons because nopony living there has a true soul mate nearby.

Downhill indeed. :raritywink:

7552041 hey you can if you want to join my blog "idk"
:twilightsheepish:

While i am terribly not fond of Flash Sentry anywhere near Best Newest Princess, this was very heartwarming and also adds a new question that you answered a few comments up. Very noice stuff here.

7552081

Well, "Colors of the Soul" was what inspired this one, so.

7552568

Thank you very much for your comment! Glad that you enjoyed the story.

In Equestria, the only season ponies can experience until they meet their soul mate is winter.

I can't–
I just–
What the f–

*sigh*

I'm sorry, but I can't get past this premise. It makes no goddamn sense.

If you read and liked it, that's fantastic. More power to you.

But I can't. My disbelief refuses to be suspended. My brain refuses to play along.

This reminds me of a story where ponies couldn't see color until they met their soulmate; except that premise worked.

It's possible to live your life without color.

It's not possible to live your live in a perpetual winter. Not when your race is responsible for manually creating and changing every season in your world.

I didn't know it was possible for me to be completely flummoxed by a story premise, but this shows me that it is.

I'm sorry I can't enjoy this. I really am, it seems like a really nice story.

7553016
:rainbowlaugh: I really, really sympathize. 7550010 I honestly kind of want to see an Equestria-side sequel of this story that does nothing but show off and explain how in meteorology's name the bloody place even works. Seriously. I'd read that, just because the idea bugs me that much now.

7553074
7553016
I don't think it means literally 'winter' as in the season itself, it's just that it's the most colorful way of saying it. It's a less boring, and more romantic, way of saying they're always cold until they find their soulmate. There is no heat of summer, warming in spring, or cooling in autumn, only the cold of winter year-round. I'll admit it's a bit of a stretch, and while it would have made more sense to say they're always cold, it just doesn't hold that same romantic feel.

That's my opinion, though.

7553195

Actually (and unfortunately I suppose, depending on your opinion on such things) the actual soul mate AU for this particular idea is in fact that people who haven't met their soul mates yet only experience the season of winter, and then experience the other seasons after they meet them. So it's snow, ice, cold, the whole nine yards; hence why Sunset repeatedly refers to that time as being a blizzard, at least for her.

7553074
7553016

A fair enough opinion. For what's it worth, I did originally have some exposition weaved into the story about exactly how the concept worked, but it felt like it slowed down the narrative and dragged the whole thing out, so I ended up removing it.

Basically, the general premise was that before the wendigos were cast away for good, they managed to cast one last curse on all of ponykind: everypony would only experience the season of winter until they met their soul mate, so that the cold and loneliness would never completely leave the species even with the wendigos gone and defeated (for the most part). This curse either would have impacted weather magic so that nopony could control it until they met their soul mate (so for example, the weather team would be comprised of ponies who had met their soul mates; ponies who hadn't found theirs yet would still continue to feel winter, however), or it would have cut off the magic entirely so that the seasons would have continued to occur naturally, but ponies wouldn't be aware of the seasonal changes until, once again, they met their soul mate.

This curse doesn't extend to Luna or Celestia (what with them being horses) or to Spike, because, well dragons. Zecora also wouldn't be impacted, since she's technically a zebra and not a pony.

That's the explanation in my head, at least. I'm aware it probably has a whole other set of holes, but it works more or less well enough for me and I just regret that I couldn't find a way that felt comfortable to me to work it into the story to make more sense of the whole premise.

Soul mate AUs, eh.

EDIT: I also meant to reply to you in this post Narlepoax, my apologies for missing you earlier.

But winter is my favorite season...

7553623
That's explanation enough for me and really works pretty well in context here. It's already a "winter of the heart" style metaphor, so extending it that way is actually a pretty neat idea. I would've liked to see that in the story, but you're probably right that it would've just bogged it down. Thank you for taking the time to lay it all out like that.

Eh. It's a good concept - it is, as Rarity says, terribly romantic - but these weren't the right scenes to explore it, and I'm not convinced that these were the right characters, either. The focus here is on human/pony cultural differences, which is all right but never becomes much of a conflict, while the really interesting (and romantic) parts of the story - the discovery of the Soul Mate and finally experiencing the other seasons - are just brushed off in exposition. The way it currently is, only experiencing winter until meeting your Soul Mate could be swapped out for *anything*. Why couldn't we have gotten to see it?

7553623
I think it would have been better if you'd left that in.

AUs with such a strange premise need to be explained, even if it does mar the story's flow a bit.

Maybe an incredibly condensed version for the description, too.

So all in all, I think this was an interesting concept and I’ll definitely be looking up the color-based original. It felt like a peek into a variant of the world and left me wanting more, which I guess is a win… even if it’s an evil win. :raritywink:

A short little highlight reel too (Spoilers ahead!)

Practically vibrating with energy that was a mix of scientific excitement and social nerves, Twilight nodded.

Ayep. Definitely Sci-Twi. (Really, any Twi would do this, but Sci-Twi seems even worse for this sort of thing.) :twilightoops:

Rarity: “I’ll make sure Sunset is good and behaved so you get everything out of her that you can.”

Rarity, you’ve got some powerful manipulation skills, but seriously… good luck with that. :facehoof:

“And I’m here for moral support!” Fluttershy chirped, encouragingly rubbing Twilight’s back.

Only active objection. I don’t see Fluttershy chirping. Seems more of a Pinkie thing. :pinkiehappy:

“Honestly when you said you were okay with talking to me about Equestria and its magic and how you came over from there to here, I was so excited! I only have a few questions! Well, actually, I mean, I have 1,623,058, but of course I’m going to pace myself…”

Nothing gives warm fuzzies like a good ol’ fashion Twi ramble. :twilightsmile:

“Immediately Sunset straightened, though it did nothing to dislodge Rarity from her favorite snuggling position.”

D’awww!

“Rarity flushed a light, pretty pink...”

I object! Albinocorn has stated that Sunset hates pink because of Cadance. And the Word of Albinocorn is law (as far as Sunset is concerned at least). :moustache:

“Really? Did she ask you anything interesting?”
“Well, she did ask me how I felt about dating a horse.”

It clicked into place for Rarity, then, and she understood in an instant why this bothered Sunset so much. She kept her silence, though, waiting for the other girl to settle down uneasily in one place before she gracefully got to her feet, closing the distance between them in continued silence.

Tsk tsk. Perspective hop!

“But as I said, the whole thing is terribly romantic. I’m already planning out matching soul mate dresses.”

So terribly Rarity. It’s adorable and awesome. :duck:

“Well, start from the beginning, of course! How did you feel when you saw me, hm? Was there a light shining down from the heavens? Choirs of angels? Did something you never knew was missing click into place?”
Sunset glanced at Rarity, drinking in the sight of her in the light of the sun, and finally gave in and smiled.
“I felt warm.”

Some folks objected to the end, but I wanted to say I liked it. While I wish there was more and felt you could have explored the concept further, I’ve ended stories using similar techniques this before because I knew it was the right time to end it. And sometimes, that’s what you need to do.

So maybe a bit of an infodump here and there, but I’m taking this more as a concept piece than anything else. It’s a fascinating idea. Now, RadiantBeam, when are we going to get a longer tale from you, hm?

Great job!

That was sooooooooo god damn sappy- I DEMAND more!

7628511

No worries, I have plenty of other RariShimmer ideas. The issue is writing them. :twilightoops:

I liked this story. It's cute, shippy, sweet, and nice. However I do have several concerns/suggestions and things that I noticed and wish to share with you in order that you may grow as a writer.

You mention at the end that this story is inspired by Monochromatic's "Colors of the Soul." Having read and enjoyed that piece several times I can see the similarities and the many differences. I say this because I want to make sure it is understood that I am not comparing your story to hers, but analyzing your story as it's own separate work (which it deserves).

My biggest concern with your story is the lack of world building. You give us enough about the soulmateless winters to give some setting and explain some reasoning behind Sunset's emotion, but the detail never goes further than that. How does the winter work in equestia? How much does it affect their lives? Why is it so bad to live in the winter? Does finding your soulmate mean finding your true love? The contrast between living in the winter and finally feeling "warm" should be given greater attention so that the reader is truly appreciative and excited about Sunset's release from the endless winter.

Another factor of the world building is the context for Rarity and Sunset's relationship. From this singular story all we can gather is that they are together and they love each other simply because they just do. At one point it is written that Sunset thinks she loves Rarity more than she ever loved Flash. This thought is descibed as not a solid fact but a small description in how she feels abou Rarity. The lack of detail on their relationship (how, why, when) are all missing or vaguely touched upon throughout the story. So while I like the ship, and I see what your trying to do, there is no expressed connection between the two other than the fact they are apparently soul mates. Why did Sunset wait 3 years? Was she not attracted to Rarity? Is she attracted to Rarity now? Is she dating Rarity because they are soul mates or because she fell in love with her? How, why, and when did they fall in love?

Furthermore, you constantly mention the dichotomy between Sunset's equestrian nature and her human setting. This is all well and good, but you only address what the problem is and not how she is overcoming it. The climax (where she reveals her secret to Rarity) falls flat because Rarity simply accpts the situation without much fuss, making it seem like there was never a problem to begin with. I'm actually surprised she was willing to let Sunset go so quickly when she thought Flash was the soulmate. Why wouldn't Rarity put up a fight to keep Sunset? Why doesn't Rarity have more questions on equestrian soulmates? Does Sunset really offer her a way out when they barely talk about it? Was Rarity leaving an entertained option?

Lastly, and this is may be a bit silly, but what about the Rarity in Equestria or the Sunset in the human world? Will they live in elndless winter because their au personas found each other instead?

All of this is to say that you have a really great foundation for a good story. With some more attention to detail and world building, this story could grow from being cute and fluffy to something one thinks on and contemplates after reading. To be clear, I am not asking for an answer to any or all of the questions I have asked. I asked them in hopes to get you thinking and to understand what I was explaining.

I can assume that reading me tear this story appart has not been something you enjoyed. No one really likes to be critiqued. Because of this, I tried to do so as respectfully as possible. I would sincerely like to encourage you in your writing. This story shows that you have a lot of potential to grow as a writer. I hope you continue writing and honing your craft.

I hope this review is helpful, if long winded, and if you have any questions or a response to what I've said, please feel free to respond back here or through pm :twilightsmile:

-berrytone

So.... Does the Rarity in the pony world no longer have a soul mate because sunset is in the human world, or is Pony worlds Rarity's soul mate a different pony all together? That could be another story idea right there.

7992337

I left it purposely vague, but my specific thinking was that since pony Rarity and human Rarity are more or less two different entities, Sunset may not be pony Rarity's soul mate (and technically speaking, human Rarity wouldn't have a soul mate at all).

7663763

My biggest concern with your story is the lack of world building. You give us enough about the soulmateless winters to give some setting and explain some reasoning behind Sunset's emotion, but the detail never goes further than that. How does the winter work in equestia? How much does it affect their lives? Why is it so bad to live in the winter? Does finding your soulmate mean finding your true love? The contrast between living in the winter and finally feeling "warm" should be given greater attention so that the reader is truly appreciative and excited about Sunset's release from the endless winter.

I didn't really notice this while reading, but looking back, I have to agree. I've also read Monochromatic's "Colors of the Soul", and immediately spotted the parallels to it in this story's premise. I've enjoyed both stories, but "Colors of the Soul" made more of an effort to show the effect this phenomenon has on pony society, giving us at least enough to start wondering and try to extrapolate.

If anything, the winter thing would make things even more different than colorblindness. It would change the face of Equestria from the baseline that is the show we have seen. This story didn't even hint at any such changes, though. We are to assume that all the familiar events happened, with no changes subtle nor superficial, before Sunset made it to the human world and the story starts.

But that expectation doesn't really hold up when examined. The view of pony society that serves as the backdrop to the events of the show would be pretty different if everypony was cold all the time. Sprinkling just a few hints at that through the story would have done much to enrich the story, I think, though your description of Sunset's subjective experience was good enough that I didn't really think of all this until after finishing the story, which I have to give you credit for.

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