Parent Trap

by PhantomBulwark

Aunt Sunset's Tale

“How long are you staying Sunset darling?” Rarity asked with a smile.

“Well, I don’t want to overstay my welcome but I haven’t seen Crispin in a couple years now. I’d like to stay a few weeks and catch up.”

“Oh, darling you know you’re always welcome. I’ve missed having you around. Fluttershy always calls. And Pinkie never misses a birthday but it gets lonely on this side of the country alone.”

“Yeah, that’s why I opened up those galleries in Canterlot and Las Pegasus. I really couldn’t do extended travel anymore, I missed home too much. Pretty soon I won’t be traveling at all except to visit you girls.”

Rarity’s brow furrowed, “You’ve been living out of a suitcase since college dear. What will you do if not travel and take your photographs? You are, after all, a photographer.”

“Celestia and Luna have offered me a position as the art teacher at Canterlot High. I’m going to accept.”

“Well… I- I’m happy for you darling, if this is what you want.”

Sunset’s eyes met her friends. “I know you feel like you can’t ever go back,” she said carefully, “but you are missed in Canterlot Rarity.”

Cortland’s heart leapt into his throat as Sunset looked over Rarity’s head. They locked eyes from his position on the stairwell where he had been eavesdropping. She waited until Rarity wasn’t looking at her to wink at him.

“Darling, I’m afraid not everyone is as forgiving as you are. That ship has sunk. I’m lucky Pinkie and Fluttershy are still talking to me. By all means return to Canterlot, and spend your days as a teacher if you like.” She responded somewhat bitterly, “But I am happy AND successful where I am. There’s nothing for me there.”

Sunset frowned. “Does Crispin know what he might be missing?”

Rarity’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “That’s all I’ll hear on that topic Sunset Shimmer. This conversation is over and you will leave my son out of it.”

Sunset’s hands rose in silent surrender and she bid Rarity a goodnight before making her way to the guest room.

The next morning Cortland rose with the sun as he had every day since he was a baby. He slipped into the kitchen to scrounge up breakfast and-

“Good Morning nephew.” He jerked around to face the intruder, “how are you this morning?” Sunset smirked over her coffee cup.

“M-morning Aunt Sunset.”

Her eyes narrowed and she stared at him for a long moment. “I have donut muffins in the oven”

“My favorite!” He whooped, swinging toward the oven.

“Donut muffins are Cortland’s favorite breakfast. Crispin’s is Panettone French toast,” she said nonchalantly.

He froze, every muscle in his body tensed. Sunset could bring this plan down around their ears with one phone call.

“You’re Cortland. I don’t know how you’re here but I know my nephews. …AJ sent you to Camp Everfree too,” She muttered, almost to herself, “You two switched places didn’t you?”

She glared at him. He gulped, “Y-Yes ma’am,” He mumbled, “Please don’t tell mom yet.”

“Why don’t we eat those donut muffins I made and you can tell me what possessed you two to switch places?” It was phrased as a question but Cortland knew an order from Aunt Sunset when he heard one, he sat down swiftly.

Sunset sat quietly, listening without comment as he told his tale. He told her everything, from his meeting Crispin to the realization that they are twins. When he got to the part where they hatched their plan she stopped him.

“You did all this… to get Rarity back to Canterlot? She could just put you on a plane back and have AJ do the same with Crisp.”

“But if she did that, there’s no guarantee that we won’t just catch each other’s flights. There’s also the fact that I could refuse, do you see Mom being able to force me onto a plane.”

“But why bother trying to get your mom to the one place on Earth she never wants to go again?”

“For Ma,” He said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “She died a little when Mom left. She… she won’t say she misses her but… I overheard her and Aunt Dash fighting once. Ma told Aunt Dash that she’d never love anyone else. Big Mac told me that Rarity took her heart with her and she never got it back.”

“You want to get them back together…” She realized, “You- you boys are trying to Parent Trap them! …I should never have let you watch that movie…”

“Please don’t rat us out. This will work, I know it will.”

Sunset was on board. It felt a bit silly but, well, the boys had a point. This plan was insane, sure, but Rarity had not ever returned to Canterlot for anything. She had missed all their meet ups, even the ones AJ had not attended. She had sent back every invitation marked ‘with regrets’. If this plan got her two old friends in the same room it would be a miracle. Unfortunately, this miracle was going to need her help.

“You need to know what really happened.” She said, “Call your brother. You should both hear this.”

Once Crispin joined them on the phone and assured them that no one would hear Sunset began.

“AJ and Rarity started dating our senior year of high school. They were different but, complementary; they were surprisingly stable for a teenage couple. Way better than any of our other friends. When we went to college they kept up the relationship and, well, they seemed like they were on the same page. But, life happened. In August as we started back to college there was a lot going on. Classes, jobs, Applejack was busting ass at the farm and Rarity was neck deep in dresses and sewing machines. Then… Granny Smith got sick-.”

“But Granny’s fine! Cortland protested, “she’s fit as a fiddle.”

“Now she is, yes,” Sunset agreed. “But that August she fell off the porch and broke her hip. AJ was weighed down by a lot. Rarity did what she could to help but the stress was a lot for both of them. AJ, Mac and Applebloom were all overwhelmed. Neither would ever tell me what exactly started the argument but I know they had a fight about something.” She glanced from Cortland to the phone lying between them on the table, “this next part of the story is… unpleasant, but don’t think less of your Moms okay guys? Even adults make mistakes… Rarity yelled that it was ‘over’ as she left and AJ, well, AJ told her to ‘stay gone’. Neither one took the break up very well. AJ buried herself in her responsibilities and work and Rarity dove into designing and drinking. Not necessarily in that order. As far as I know, she had a one night stand with a foreign exchange student. She always told me she didn’t know his name, just that he looked enough like AJ that she liked him. I’m sure you guys can guess how scary it was for her to realize that she was pregnant.” Cortland’s face was rather white and his eyes had a glassy sheen to them.

“Aunt Sunset?” Crispin's voiced from the phone, his tone a little shaky, “If they were broken up then why did Mom only take me?”

“Well, they didn’t stay broken up actually.” She answered, taking a long pull from her coffee cup. “Rarity was, of course, panicked about what to do so she went to the only other people she trusted. She called me first; I was the one who bought the test. Futtershy and I waited with her for the result and… we were there… We talked about options and what she wanted. She knew from the start that she wanted you.” Here she looked at Cortland fiercely, “Never doubt for a second how much your Mothers wanted you. She wanted it kept a secret until she could tell her family but, one night she woke up and was bleeding- she got scared. The rest of us were out at a basketball game so, she called the only other person she knew would answer. AJ picked her up and took her to the hospital. The way Rare tells it, AJ never said a word the whole ride. She sat next to her and held her hand the whole time, just staring at the wall. Once they found out you were going to be okay, they talked. AJ only told me this part of the story once so it’s a little fuzzy… Rarity cried a lot and Applejack kept trying to help. She offered to take her to Sweet Apple Acres so she wouldn’t be alone and, in the middle of the hospital Rarity says ‘Stop being nice to me I’m awful!’ and just cried. It took a while for her to calm down but when she did Applejack just told her how much she loved her and took her back to the farm. They got back together after that and for a few months they were okay. Then, well, they fought again. Rarity got an internship offer in Manehatten and AJ couldn’t leave the farm. Rarity thought AJ didn’t care about her career, and she thought Rarity didn’t love her enough to stay. Rarity wanted to take you both to Manehatten and AJ wanted you raised on the farm. At the time, I think we all thought they’d get back together. I figured Rarity would miss Canterlot, would miss her friends. It didn’t happen like that though, the last fight was nasty, we were all there. They got into a huge argument about, well about what was best for you boys. They both said a lot of things that they didn’t mean but in the end, they came to a decision. They flipped a coin, heads Crispin would live with Rarity and Cortland would live with AJ; tails the opposite. Rarity took off with Crisp and, AJ kept you with her Cort.”

Author's Note:

Lots of dialog in this one, that may change at some point with editing. Right now my fingers are tired from writing about AJ and Rarity's past. Had to set up an explanation for two women having children together in college and get the story about the past out there... even if it isn't the whole story...