Sunset's Hearth's Warming

by ThomasZoey3000

Storytime with Dad

Chapter 3: Storytime with Dad

The following next morning, Sunset got up bright and early, and after whispering to Sunny Rays that she was going downstairs, she went down to see if her parents were up. As she got halfway down the stairs, she could hear two female voices talking in the kitchen, one was her mother's voice, and the other was of her Aunt; Sunflower.

"...so there I was, stuck in the concrete and it was starting to harden over. I was scared I can tell you that much," groaned Sunflower. "Then Concrete appeared with a jackhammer. He told me not to move, so I didn't and he jackhammered me out of the mess I was in."

Sunrise giggled, "I bet after that, you learned to watch where you were going right?"

"Indeed, and it's what brought Concrete and I together."

The two ponies stopped talking as Sunset entered the room, "sorry, didn't mean to interupte you," she said. "I was just checking to see if any ponies were up yet."

"No Sunset I'm not up, I'm sleep walking," giggled Sunrise.

Sunset shook her head while laughing. She always did like that sense of humor from her mother.

"Your Aunt Sunflower was just telling me about how she and Concrete met back in Manehatten, it's quite the interesting story to be honest."

"It is indeed," nodded Sunflower, "and you know what, while I'll admit that I wasn't fond of getting stuck in the concrete, I was glad to have met him. We live happy lives back in Manehatten, though little Granite's got to learn to be nice."

"Oh I'm sure he'll learn in due time," said Sunset. "Assuming he doesn't go down the path I went down once." Sunflower looked confused by that remark. "I'll explain that later. Uh Mom, is Dad up at this time?"

"Yeah he is. He has a big order to fill in, so he's got to work extra hard to make sure he doesn't fall behind. You can see him if you want, but remember...."

"I know, I know, knock before I go in."

Sunset grabbed her winter gear and went out to her father's workshop. She stopped before the doorway, remembering the accident from years ago, and the moment that almost caused an eternal rift between herself and her family. She took in a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" called the voice of Moon Crest.

Using her magic, Sunset opened the door and walked into the workshop. Inside was a large collection of tools, wood and even a few statues. There was one spot though Sunset wished she couldn't see. On the floor was a dark batch, it was the very spot Moon Crest landed on after he accidently tripped over Sunset's back hoof.

"Don't worry about that spot." Sunset looked up and saw her father looking at her with a kind smile, "my workshop is due for a repaint any day now, so I'll paint over that and it'll look like nothing happened."

"Well it did, as proven with your scar Dad."

"It's water under the bridge now. I rather focus on the here and now with my family. My entire family."

Sunset smiled just hearing that.

"So, what brings you out here kiddo?"

"Oh I just checking to see what you're doing. Looks like you've quite a few orders here."

Moon Crest looked to a pile of papers and the few wooden statues on a nearby desk, "oh those are just the calm before the storm. Trust me, after a couple of days, I'll really be working my hooves off."

"Really?"

"Really, and I think probably next year I'll have to get an assistant to help me out." He paused and straightened out his back, "your dear old Dad can handle the work, but I am getting older and I can't handle everything alone. It's too bad you're not living here Sunset, otherwise you could help. After all, when you were around Sunny Rays' age, you loved working with me."

"That I did, but alas I live in the other world. But who knows, maybe you'll get an assistant like myself or even Starlight Glimmer."

"Who? Oh you mean the Princess of Friendship's new pupil?"

"That's the one. I've never met the pony myself. In fact I didn't see her at Twilight's castle, but from what Twilight has told me, she's got magic that rivals her and she's very smart."

"Impressive, but we'll see when the new year comes around."

Moon Crest took a sip of water, then went back to work on his latest carving. Sunset looked around the workshop some more. She was impressed with the craftsmanship in there. Then she noticed a couple of pictures of what she believed was her father, back when he was around her age or younger than she is now. Some photos made her giggle as her mother had crazy pom-poms in her hair. One photo though caught her attention.

"Hey Dad, who's this pegasus in the photo with you?"

Moon Crest put down his tools and went over to see the photo Sunset was talking about. He smiled when he saw it, "that would be of my old friend; Skywriter. He was a daring bold pegasus who could pull off stunts better than any pony I know of, but he was always willing to help a friend when they were in trouble. That photograph there was taken on the first day of camp in Baltimare." He sighed as he thought back, "oh yes it was great fun, we'd play games, went on hiking trails, sat around campfires and even told Ghost stories from time to time. Some though were about Nightmare Moon, and others were about the creatures in the woods. Truth be told, that's where I met your mother for the first time."

"Really?"

"Yeah and it's thanks to Skywriter." He looked to the clock, then back to Sunset, "I think I got some time to tell you everything."

Sunset sat down on a nearby chair, and her father began.

It was the first day of Camp, and the first two ponies to arrive were young Moon Crest Shimmer and Skywriter Limits. Both had been good friends ever since the age of four, and always hung out like brothers. Both ponies were excited, "two whole weeks of hiking, games and other cool activities, I can't wait!" cheered Moon Crest.

"I personally can't wait to show off my flying skills," boasted Skywriter. "I bet I can impress the girls with these moves."

"Says you. All you'll do is crash into the trees and break the bones in your wings again, like you always do."

"Hey, I don't always break my bones, and you know it full well Moon Crest."

Both ponies chuckled, it was a common joke that while Skywriter was a great flyer, he had a tendacy to get hurt while pulling off stunts and more than once, broke his bones in the process.

"What about you Moon, you hoping to meet a girl while we're here?"

"Perhaps, but we both know they'd never go for me. I mean, can you imagine hanging out with me and then meeting my mother? One wrong look and she'll hate them."

"Like your sister?"

"There's nothing wrong with my mother and sister, you know most kids don't get along that well with their parents." Of course at the time, he had no idea of the true nature of the situation.

A short while later, other ponies started to arrive. One of those ponies caught Moon Crest's eyes right away. It was an orange pony with red and yellow mane, and a yellow sun for a cuite mark. Seeing her made Moon Crest blush. Skywriter had noticed this, and knew too well that Moon Crest wouldn't say anything. It had nothing to do with his parents, it was the fact he was shy.

"Alright, if he doesn't at least get to know the girl over the next two days, I'll give him a push in the right direction," he thought to himself.

Two days went by, and then the third, but Moon Crest's shy behaviour kept him from meeting the beautiful pony. Skywriter noticed this, and wasn't too happy.

"Do I have to do everything myself?"

He did. He wrote two notes, one for Moon Crest and the other for the female pony. He left the notes by their tents saying to come to the dock near the river. He then flew over towards the dock and hid in the trees. He waited for three minutes, then saw the female unicorn pony arrive.

"Okay that's one, now where's Moon?"

Moon Crest was just arriving, but stopped when he saw the unicorn at the dock. He was too nervous and started to turn away.

Skywriter smacked his forehead. He took to the sky, hit a cloud and using his hoof, wrote a message to the unicorn pony. It read 'Look Behind You'.

She turned around and saw Moon Crest.

"Hey there!" she called.

Moon Crest froze when he heard that voice. But it wasn't fear that stopped him, it was because the voice was so beautiful, he couldn't just walk away from her. He turned around and walked over towards her.

"Uh, hi there. I didn't mean to distrub you, I was just given a note to come here."

"Funny, I got a note too."

When he looked up and saw the message in the sky, Moon Crest put two and two together, and came up with what was going on.

"Sneaky," he thought to himself. He looked back to the female pony, and although nervous, he introduced himself to her; "I'm Moon Crest Shimmer."

"Well it's nice to meet you Moon Crest, my name is Sunrise Shines."

After that, the two got into talking and before long, became very good friends.

"So that's how you and Mom met, I had always wanted to know that story," smiled Sunset.

Moon Crest just smiled as he looked back to that photo, "yeah that's how we met, and it was because of Skywriter that I went from being a shy pony to who I am today. For you see, after meeting your mother, my confidence grew and I made lots of friends." He paused and chuckled, "I even returned the favour and got Skywriter to meet a girl too."

"Sort of a thank you for what he did?"

"Yep, that's it excatly."

"That's good. So, do you two still talk on a regular basis?"

Moon Crest's smile faded as he looked back to the photo once more, "I haven't really spoken to him in years, nor do I know if he's married or not." He sighed unhappily, "he moved away to the far ends of Equestria, last I heard."

"How come?"

"I don't know, maybe both he and his wife wanted to go out there. All I know is, the accident changed his attitude and life forever."

"What accident?"

Moon Crest was silent for a minute, then he broke the silence and told Sunset everything.

It was the last day of camp. Everypony there had finished their last hike in the woods and were now enjoying a swim in the water. Moon Crest and Skywriter were on the docks looking down at them all.

"You and Sunrise sure are getting along nicely," Skywriter said to Moon Crest. "Maybe she'll become your wife one day."

"That is if I don't blow it."

"Hey, don't jinx yourself Moon. After all, that's my job remember?" he chuckled.

Moon Crest laughed, but then suddenly shivered. A strong gust of wind was blowing in, which caught everypony's attention, "I thought the weather pegasi weren't suppose to bring in rain clouds till after we had gone."

"Must've gotten their timing wrong. I'll go up and see what's going on."

And Skywriter took off in an instant. He soon returned with bad news, "those clouds are not being controlled by the pegasi, they're out of control storm clouds."

"What do you mean they're out of control?"

"Excatly that, they're out of control. Some pegasi decided to take those clouds as a joke and rain on a picnic, but those clouds got away from them and now they're heading this way."

"Oh no, we better get everypony out of the water before then."

"Let's do this Moon."

They shouted out to the other ponies to get out of the water. At first, they didn't believe the two stallions and stayed in the water, but once the clouds rolled in and the winds picked up, they decided to get out of the water.

"Why ingore good warnings to begin with?" groaned Moon Crest.

Skywriter counted everypony that came ashore, but soon discovered two were missing. He quickly figured who they were, "Moon Crest! Our girlfriends are missing!"

"What?! Well then, they must be at camp."

"No, they were in the water with us," said another pony. "They decided to go for a swim down the river."

Skywriter smacked his forehead, "for crying out loud, my girlfriend must've challenged yours to a race. Come on Moon, we better go after them."

They ran along the pathway of the river until at last, they could see the ponies. They were unaware of the storm clouds.

"Sunrise! Berry Flight! You got to get out of the water!" Moon Crest cried.

"Why Moon? We're just having a little race, there's no harm in that!" cried Sunrise.

"There are out of control storm clouds right behind you!"

Both girls looked and gasped to see the clouds. Then they saw something worse, waves in the river. They tried to swim back to shore, but the waves caught them and pushed them down the river.

"Moon Crest! Help!" cried Sunrise.

Without thinking, Moon Crest jumped into the water and swam towards his girlfriend. He got to her and she got onto his back, "I got you, don't worry."

Berry Flight swam close to them and they tried to get back to dry land, but the waves were pushing them further away from shore. Worst still, there was a waterfall just up ahead. Any moment, they would fall to their doom.

Skywriter didn't even think things through, he charged in and grabbed hold of Berry Flight. He lifted her to shore, then he went back for Moon Crest and Sunrise. By now though, they were getting too close to the falls. One or both would go over. Skywriter couldn't let that happen, so he dived into the water.

"Skywriter, what are you doing?" Moon Crest asked.

"Saving your flanks of course, now go!" He extended his wings and using all the strength he had, bucked both ponies towards the shore. Berry Flight caught them in an instant and helped them to shore.

"Skywriter, get out of the water!" cried Moon Crest.

Skywriter took flight and was out of the water for a second, before he got a cramp. Within seconds, he fell into the water and disappeared down the waterfall.

"SKYWRITER!"

Sunset was horrified by this part of the story. Moon Crest sighed once more and continued, "turned out his many earlier injuries had taken their toll on his wings and that's why he got a cramp. He was found at the bottom of the waterfall later that night and taken to the hospital. He was out cold, his wings were in terrible shape and he had dozens of bruises all over him. The three of us waited for days for him to wake up, and one week after the accident, he did wake up."

Sunset sighed with relief, "so he was okay."

"To an extent, yes he was and glad to be alive, but he wasn't the same as he was before. You see Sunset, during the fall, his wings hit the rocks hard and damaged beyond believe. The doctors had to remove his wings, and they said he could never fly again. As if that wasn't enough, he had suffered brain damage too as was proven when his grades started slipping. He got held back for two years before he finally walked out on the school, and much later, he was starting to forget things. But the one thing he lost during the fall was his awesome attitude." Moon Crest lifted a hoof and placed it right beside the photograph, "it was like my best friend was lost in that waterfall, and in his place, was a pony I haven't seen or heard from in moons."

"That's terrible."

"It is, but I'm sure one day our paths will cross again, I just hope he'll remember who I am."

"You never know Dad, he just might. After all, friendships are eternal and once you have friendships, you will never lose them."

Moon Crest smiled and placed a hoof on his daughter's shoulder, "wise words Sunset, maybe you could teach the Princess of Friendship a thing or two."

Sunset chuckled, "yeah right, she knows way more about friendships than I do. If anything, I'm still learning from her."

Her father just laughed, then looked back to the clock. "Well anyway, storytime is over, I need to get back to work." Using his magic, he lifted up his tools and was just about to get back to work, when a thought came to him, "would you like to help me with some of these carvings?"

"I don't know Dad, I don't want to mess up and get you in trouble."

"You'll be fine, with a few tips from me. What do you say?"

He lifted one of his carving tools over to Sunset, who nodded and excepted with her magic. Then they began to work on the carving, which was to be of the Friendship Express locomotive. As they worked, Moon Crest looked back to the photo and smiled, "we will meet again my friend, we will meet again."

A little later, the two ponies came back into the house and found the other ponies all talking to each other, smiling the entire time. Even Sunny Rays was talking to Sunflower's side of the family. Only Granite Slab wasn't talking, he was just sulking.

"Boy is he ever a ray of sunshine," Moon Crest muttered to Sunset.

"I was thinking the same thing Dad," Sunset whispered back.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Sunrise went to answer it, and gasped, "oh uh Sunbeam Shimmer, Night Glide, what a surprise to see you."

"Uh oh, I sense trouble," Sunset thought to herself.

In walked two elder ponies. The first being Night Glide, who was Moon Crest and Sunflower's father. The second was a grumpy looking mare named Sunbeam Shimmer, and she was the mother of the two ponies. She looked around, and her head shook.

"This must be a joke right? Why are the traitors in this house?"

Comments

[Magic135]

I hope Moon will see Skywriter again one day.

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

The following next morning, Sunset got up bright and early, and after whispering to Sunny Rays that she was going downstairs, she went down to see if her parents were up. As she got halfway down the stairs, she could hear two female voices talking in the kitchen, one was her mother's voice, and the other was of her Aunt; Sunflower.

Following or next should be removed imo, makes no sense if they're both there.

"Indeed, and it's what brought Concrete and I together."

Talk about an odd way to start a relationship.

"That's the one. I've never met the pony myself. In fact I didn't see her at Twilight's castle, but from what Twilight has told me, she's got magic that rivals her and she's very smart."

You will eventually.

Berry Flight swam close to them and they tried to get back to dry land, but the waves were pushing them further away from shore. Worst still, there was a waterfall just up ahead. Any moment, they would fall to their doom.

Oh no! 😱

"To an extent, yes he was and glad to be alive, but he wasn't the same as he was before. You see Sunset, during the fall, his wings hit the rocks hard and damaged beyond believe. The doctors had to remove his wings, and they said he could never fly again. As if that wasn't enough, he had suffered brain damage too as was proven when his grades started slipping. He got held back for two years before he finally walked out on the school, and much later, he was starting to forget things. But the one thing he lost during the fall was his awesome attitude." Moon Crest lifted a hoof and placed it right beside the photograph, "it was like my best friend was lost in that waterfall, and in his place, was a pony I haven't seen or heard from in moons."

What a sad story.

He lifted one of his carving tools over to Sunset, who nodded and excepted with her magic. Then they began to work on the carving, which was to be of the Friendship Express locomotive. As they worked, Moon Crest looked back to the photo and smiled, " we will meet again my friend, we will meet again. "

👀

"This must be a joke right? Why are the traitors in this house?"

Shit! 😨