Only Sunshine
...are my sunshine... only sunshine...
...when skies are gray...
...never know dear...
...much I love you...
...don't take my sunshine away.
Twilight Sparkle paused in the hall, one hoof poised off the ground. It was her first night in the castle, and she'd just gotten up to find the little filly's room. Now she was... on an adventure! Certainly not lost. Being lost was scary, and big fillies didn't get scared.
But she hadn't expected to hear the sound of somepony singing to themselves. Certainly not in the middle of the night, down a dusty corridor where she'd gotten lo—had an adventure.
Whoever it was, they were singing quietly enough that she could only make out half the words. She crept closer to the sound, the thick rug muffling her hoofsteps, until she came to a door that was hanging ajar. She peered up along the doorframe, and found no nameplate—this wasn't an office, or a meeting room. Given the state of the dusty hall behind her, and the lack of adornments on the door, this was probably nothing more than a disused storage room.
So why would somepony be singing in it?
Clearly, this called for further investigation. She pushed the door open further, and crept inside.
Boxes.
Piled high, right up to the ceiling, there was nothing but a solid wall of boxes. But whoever was singing had to be in here somewhere. Unless the boxes were singing...?
No, that was ridiculous. She looked around, searching for some kind of pathway through the boxes. There! At the far right edge of the room, there was a narrow gap between the box-wall and the actual-wall. She crept forward, careful to walk heel-to-toe to be quiet, like Shiny had taught her. She rounded the corner, and made her way down the narrow alley between the wall of boxes on her left, and the wall of the storage room to her right.
As she approached the end of the makeshift passage, the singing grew louder. She held her breath, and slowly peered out into a small space at the back of the room.
She gasped. "Princess Celestia?!"
The solar monarch's head whipped around, eyes wide. "Twilight?" she gasped. She quickly scrubbed a foreleg across her eyes, but not quickly enough that Twilight missed the tear tracks running down her face. "What are you doing out of bed at this hour?"
"I was looking for the bathroom," she said. "Are you okay? What are you doing in here?" She moved forward, looking around the little open space more closely.
It was just large enough for Celestia to lay down—which she had—in front of an elaborate blue-and-purple mirror upon a pedestal, with a frame shaped like an elongated horseshoe. A narrow shaft of moonlight from a small window high on the far wall painted a luminous rectangle upon the ground next to Celestia.
Celestia spent a moment looking at Twilight searchingly before she smiled and raised a wing, beckoning. "Come here, Twilight."
Uncertainty sidelined for the moment, Twilight eagerly scampered forward and burrowed against the alicorn's side. Celestia's wing came down and pulled her close, and Twilight gave a happy little sigh.
"I was remembering someone very dear to me," she said, turning so that she was giving Twilight her full attention, "who I had lost. I used to sing that song to her when she was young, and couldn't sleep."
"Could you... sing it for me?"
Celestia frowned, opened her mouth to speak, and paused. She turned to the mirror and spent a moment considering. Finally, she nodded. "Certainly, Twilight." She closed her eyes.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...
Twilight stood outside the throne room door, fighting the urge to fidget, and trying to keep her wings still. The darned things kept wanting to fluff up. It was a purely instinctual part of the fight-or-flight response, in an attempt to make her look larger and more intimidating and it was not helping!
Breathe in, hoof to the chest, breathe out, push away the stress.
Okay.
She laid a hoof on shoulder of the yellow-coated unicorn in front of her, and tried to project princessly serenity, the way that Celestia always seemed to do so effortlessly.
"Sunset. I know that you're nervous, but Celestia misses you as much as you miss her. If you're willing to apologize for—"
"I am!" Sunset Shimmer blurted. She blushed, then continued at a more reasonable volume, "I am. I was... a terrible pony back when I left. At the very least, Celestia deserves an apology from me, face-to-face."
Twilight favored the unicorn with a genuine smile. "I'm sure it will work out. Would you like me to come inside with you?" She glanced at the closed doors again.
Sunset sucked in a breath and followed her gaze. "I think... I'd like you to walk me in, but after that, would you mind staying at the back of the room? I want to, uh, handle the rest myself."
Twilight bit her lip and nodded. "If you're sure." She turned to the door. "Ready?"
Sunset took a deep breath, then let it out. "Nope. No reason to let that stop me now, though."
After giving Sunset one more smile, Twilight turned and pushed doors open. She stepped just inside, then moved aside, and gave Sunset an encouraging smile.
Sunset followed closely behind and jumped as the heavy doors boomed shut behind her. She tried very hard not to mentally add the words with finality.
She looked down the long hall, and had eyes for neither the intricate stained-glass windows lining the walls, nor the richly decorated mural upon the far wall. Instead, her gaze was drawn to one thing, and one thing alone: the tall white alicorn seated upon the golden throne atop the dais at the end of the hall.
She gulped and started forward. She couldn't look at anything but Celestia, but couldn't bring herself to meet the princess's gaze. Instead, Sunset just stared at her hooves, and focused on keeping her pace steady and even.
Finally, she reached the foot of the dais and, gathering her courage, faced the princess of the sun.
Sunset found Celestia's expression virtually bare of emotion—there was distant curiosity, with perhaps the barest touch of uncertainty, but no more.
When it became apparent that Celestia was waiting for her to speak, Sunset took a deep breath, and began. "Princess Celestia. The last time we saw each other, I was your snide little pupil who betrayed and abandoned you." Unable to bear watching the princess's face any longer, she turned to the rug beneath her hooves. "And... I'm here to say that I'm s-sorry," she said, her voice breaking on the last word. "And I'd understand if you never wanted to see me again. So, before I go... I just want to say one last thing."
She took one more deep breath, opened her mouth, and sang...
"I was your sunshine, your only sunshine
I made you happy when skies were gray
I never saw, oh, how much you loved me
I'm so s—"
Her voice broke. She finished in a ragged whisper,
"S-so sorry I w-went away."
She stared down at the richly-embroidered rug beneath her hooves and tried to regain her composure. She was startled to hear the sound of hoofsteps from the throne above her, and backed up a step reflexively.
Celestia loomed over her, expression unchanged. She stared for a long moment, and Sunset gulped, as she realized with absolute certainty that she was about to be banished straight to the sun for her presumption.
Celestia's lower lip trembled. Then, it twisted. Finally, her entire expression crumpled, and she let out a gasping sob. "I thought I'd lost you," she managed to whisper before she gathered Sunset into both forelegs and wings and held her tight, as heaving sobs wracked her body.
Sunset stood frozen in shock before, with no more warning than a burning at the corners of her eyes, she found herself clutching at Celestia and bawling into her chest. "I'm... I'm... sss-sorreee-hee-hee-hee!" she gasped, clinging to Celestia like a drowning mare.
Finally, after all their tears had been shed, and they'd restored themselves to something resembling presentable, the two of them wiped their eyes one last time and gave each other watery smiles.
"Oh, Sunset. Of course I accept your apology. Can you forgive an old mare for being blind and foolish?"
"If you can forgive me for some of the things I said? The things I did?" Sunset said, breathing still unsteady, "Of course," she laughed.
Celestia smiled and let out a long sigh, and a weight seemed to slip from her shoulders. "Thank you." Then, looking uncharacteristically uncertain, she continued, "Would you... like to stay for lunch? I can have the kitchens make your favorite."
Sunset gasped. "Is Greasy Spoon still head chef?"
Celestia giggled. "He is. Shall we go request his stir-fry?"
"I'd love that," Sunset said, beaming.
Twilight joined the duo as they exited the throne room in search of lunch. Celestia shot her a brilliant smile. "And I think I have you to thank, Twilight, for bringing us back together. Was the lullaby your idea?"
"Not really," Twilight said, "I just mentioned that I'd heard you sing it once. The rest was all Sunset."
"Well," Celestia said, turning to Sunset, "it was an inspired choice. It was beautiful, if melancholy."
Sunset acknowledged Celestia's comment with a nod. "I was afraid it might be the last thing I ever said to you. I wanted it to be... honest."
The look Celestia gave Sunset was best described as complicated. Pride, grief, joy, pain, and relief, all mingled together. "It was, at that. I'm so grateful to have you in my life again." Then, her eyes shining, she added, "My sunshine."
Sunset's breath hitched, and she wiped away a stray tear.
It was good to feel whole again.
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Wahtiff · 2.9k words · 181 1 · 6.9k views
- Cirrus Sky · 1k words · 73 1 · 2.5k views
- Snowflake Dissonance · 1.5k words · 41 1 · 1.8k views
- Majadin · 1.9k words · 32 1 · 709 views
- Shaslan · 8k words · 151 3 · 1.4k views
- Godzillawolf · 6.3k words · 135 5 · 5.3k views
- 3litt0 · 3.7k words · 33 2 · 818 views
- Stormy787 · 8.5k words · 26 0 · 2k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.055 seconds
Total duration
1,043 users online
1,544,601 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Nice!
I like it, very emotional and heart touching.
The feels.
When you say better, I know you mean made it longer, and more angst ridden, than what actually happened. I prefered Forgotten Friendship precisely because of how they did it.
There was no reason to make it as long winded as the fandom was fused to thinking it should be. Short, and to the point, and that was perfect.
I like the story, don't get me wrong. But I don't understand why people still think writting Celestia and Sunset's reunion like this is a good idea.
some of my earliest happy memories are of my mom singing that song to me
Beautiful!
10043764 THANK YOU!!!
Nice :)
10043900
My mother used to sing that to me as well.
Oh, nice! I've got plenty of time to read something quick before I leave.
*Checks Featured box*
A 1600 word Sunset/Celestia reunion fic. That should be nice!
*Five minutes later*
Oh, good. I've got time to stop crying before I leave...
*Sniff*
Oh gods the the feels.
Really lovely, thank you.
Read this story while listening to the song, and it hit me right where it hurts. God, the feelings...
Nicely written! Must say, this is one of the better, if not best, fics I've read. Good job!
Man, I'd never heard of this song until give minutes ago, and now I'm wondering how I lived my life without it.
Thank you
10043689, 10043691, 10043900, 10043936, 10044304, 10044378, 10044453, 10044502, 10044515, 10043693
To be fair, that song is absolutely a cheat code. It's like giving your brain a swirlie in a toilet marked "bittersweet nostalgia".
10043764
I think I was disappointed in how they handled it because they did it in the "okay-est" possible way. It was perfunctory, and serviceable, and that was all. The main series managed to evoke more emotion in the episode where Rainbow has trouble saying goodbye to a pet for a few months, than EqG did with Celestia's reunion with her dear, long-lost student.
Not saying my take is better, per se, just that I was disappointed in how they did it.
I've seen a video of Sunset and Celestia reuniting before. It was a comic dub made by Wubcake. This goes to show that Sunset is open to being forgiven. Especially by Celestia.
I read this last night and couldn't post a reply right after. Made me to emotional. My mom also sung me that song when I was a kid. I lost it. Thank you.
10044652
It might have been what the fandom demanded it be, if the reunion was the sole point of the special. Since it wasn't, they couldn't make it what so many demanded.
I agree it wasn't perfect. But drawing it for the sake of, well, anything, makes Sunset and Celestia look lame and weak.
I think by the time of their reunion, they both agreed what happened was 100% both of their faults, and not split between them.
I needed some feel good after the day I had, and this hit just right.
So sweet, thanks for writing this.
That was very nice, whether you (using the word generally) liked FF's version of the reunion or not. I don't know who the heartless bum is that gave this story that first downvote.
I liked in equestrian girls she came back and reconciled with celestia, though I wish the scene was more emotional sometimes. Yours and few others are how I imagine their meeting should have ended.
This song always gets me,
. you portrayed the emotions wonderfully.
well done author.
Nice. I like Celestia with the mirror especially.
damn that Dust Storm is a bad one...so much sand in my eyes...
God damn this made me cry, this was a excellent story and it made me sad and happy and I just cant explain it. It always hurts to read Celestia and Sunset Mom and daughter stories but they also make me so damn happy too.
Yeah, I have had this idea from another story I've read. Named Champion of the Sun. This is Sunset's theme there. No, Sunset is not IN the story, she is only mentioned at the end.