At last, we finally kick off volume two of Art of a Sun's Love! The five sub-volumes in it are as follows: Silly Love Songs, Heroes and Villains, Song of the Comet, The Rise and Fall of Abacus Cinch, and Demons Within. But now, let's start with Silly Love Songs and see if Vincent and Sunset will finally fall in love!
Art of a Sun's Love Volume II
Series Created by Zack Wanzer
Based upon My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic by Lauren Faust, My Little Pony Equestria Girls by Meghan McCarthy, and the music of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr
Sub-Volume 1 - Silly Love Songs
Chapter 1 - What Is Life (Harrison, 1970)
Written by Zack Wanzer and James Riddle
Five days ago, seventeen year old Dawn Spark walked into Canterlot Cafe and met with three women who collectively referred to themselves as the Dazzlings; they recounted to her the story of her grandmother Celestia and great-aunt Luna and how they had a falling out before reuniting a thousand days later. Afterward, and over the course of three days, Dawn learned about everything her parents Vincent van Colt and Sunset Shimmer went through in their childhood and teenage days. Stories ranged from the death of Sunset's father Noble Shield at the hands of Icy Heart; the first meetings with Twilight Sparkle, Comet Tail, and Math Equation; Vincent's first disastrous Fall Formal; a brief love triangle between Flash Sentry, Twilight, and Math; Comet Tail starting a relationship with Song Cue; the abuse Butterscotch suffered from Scattered Marbles; how Sunset overcame being bullied by Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon; another love triangle between Blossomforth, Vincent, and Sunset; the Sentry family becoming splintered prior to Lullaby Strings' death; and the re-appearance of Celestia's husband Sombra. All were incredible stories in their own right, but there are still many more to tell...
Our story resumes on Friday the sixth of August in the year 2038, at Waterfall Prism's restored mansion with Dawn and her parents. At this point, they were playing a board game known as Snakes and Ladders. Right now, it looked as though Sunset was going to win.
"Aww, no!" she cried as she landed on square 98. "I missed by two squares!"
"And you've angered the gorillas too," Vincent teased as his wife went down to square 78.
"Oh, I'll try to roll a two next time," said Sunset. "Just you wait!"
"Here we go," said Dawn, rolling the dice for her turn. She was on square 65 and got a six. "Yippee!" she cried, and moved her piece from 71 to 91. "Okay, dad; it's your turn."
Vincent was on square 46. He rolled the dice and got a four.
"I'm halfway there... again," he said as his piece landed on square 50. After a few more turns, Dawn made it to square 100.
"I win!" she cried happily. At that point, Dusk Charger and his two sisters, Twilight Sentry V and Violet Glow, walked into the room. Dawn was the first to notice her cousins.
"Hi, guys!" she waved. The young Sentry siblings waved back.
"Aunt Sunset," said Violet, "are you gonna tell us how you and uncle Vincent fell in love?"
"It was a very interesting period for us after the holidays," said Sunset. "Vincent, dear, why don't you start things off?"
"Don't mind if I do," said Vincent. And here's the story he told...
DECEMBER 31, 2013
It was mere minutes before the new year 2014. Many people were gathered outside of Town Hall to celebrate. The person in charge of Rainbow Falls was Mayor Marion Weseluck. She was in her late-forties with phthalo blue eyes behind her yellow-rimmed glasses, light cornflower bluish gray hair with a lighter streak (which was dyed), and she wore a pale, light grayish amber suit with a dark turquoise neck tie. She looked proper and dignified.
Among his small group of friends, Vincent was bundled up in a dark blue jacket with a dark red wool-knitted hat, thick black gloves, and a scarf that was canary yellow and black. It was very cold out here, and Vincent harbored a deep resentment for snow.
"Bothersome snow," he grumbled.
"Why do you hate snow?" asked Fluttershy.
"Apart from being silly soft stuff," said Vincent, "it can cause havoc if you're outside. It takes a lot of physical and mental effort just to go somewhere!"
"I think snow can be beautiful," said Sunset, "as long as there's not too much of it."
"That may be," said Vincent, "but it's still dangerous if we're not careful." He was about to head over to the snack table before, with a cry, he slipped on some ice and landed on his rear end.
"...just like that," he groaned.
"Let me help you up," offered Sunset. But as she walked over, she too slipped and landed right on top of Vincent!
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she cried.
"Erm, it-it's alright," said Vincent, blushing madly. Suddenly, both friends began to laugh.
"You two alright?" asked Flash as he walked up to them.
"As fine as we can be," said Vincent.
"Though we are a bit stuck," added Sunset. Flash helped the two back to their feet.
"Thanks," said Vincent. "Like I said; snow can be dangerous."
"I think we got the point, Vinnie," Sunset said, giggling a bit at her pet name for him.
"Yeah, well, it's only a couple of minutes until the New Year," said Flash. "The mayor will be announcing the countdown any second."
The trio then walked carefully to where a crowd was gathered around Mayor Weseluck's podium. A digital clock was set next to her to countdown the seconds to the new year.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she announced to the crowd, "it gives me pleasure to announce that it is now the time to count down to the New Year!"
Everyone cheered, and then the countdown began.
"60... 59... 58... 57..."
Whilst many people were at Town Hall to celebrate the New Year, there were some people who preferred to sleep in. Among those people was Cranky Doodle, a grumpy teacher at Canterlot High. His eyes were pale arctic blue and at one point, he had dark grayish blue violet hair; since balding, he had worn a toupee of the same color. Cranky Doodle groggily got out of bed just to open up a window.
"Hey! Keep it down!" he barked. "I'm trying to get some sleep!"
But it was no use; nobody could hear him. Annoyed, Cranky Doodle shut the window and climbed back into bed, clutching his pillow to cover his ears with.
"Kids these days..." he muttered. "No respect for their elders, honestly!"
"...26... 25... 24... 23..."
"Vincent," asked Sunset, "what's your resolution for New Year's?"
"My resolution?" asked Vincent. His resolution was to tell Sunset how he felt about her, but was afraid she might reject his feelings.
"...fifteen... fourteen... thirteen..."
"I'm not sure what my resolution is," said Vincent at last. "What about yours, Sunset?"
"...seven... six..."
"Well..." said Sunset, before deciding, "my resolution is to..."
"...one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
Fireworks were then set off and launched into the sky, meaning Vincent couldn't hear what Sunset had said; perhaps it was a good thing that he hadn't.
"Sorry, what was that you said?" Vincent shouted over the fireworks. "I didn't catch that!"
Sunset blushed slightly before saying, "Let's just enjoy the celebrations, shall we?"
"Of course," said Vincent. "Resolutions can wait for now."
Darn it! Sunset thought unhappily. I could have told him my feelings...
Still, Vincent and Sunset enjoyed the celebrations (the same couldn't be said for poor Cranky Doodle) but they couldn't stay out all night; they went home by 1:30 in the morning.
When Vincent next awoke, it was almost half past ten. Yawning, he stumbled out of bed and went to the kitchen, making himself a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice. Vincent had no idea how long Flash had been at the party, but he figured he must've stayed there until at least five. He wasn't wrong; Flash was passed out on the couch, and wearing a lady's dress.
"What's with Flash, dad?" asked Vincent.
"He got drunk at last night's party," said Page, sounding annoyed. "Flash isn't even twenty-one yet! It's situations like these which makes me wish for Lullaby to be there for her kids."
"But what about Cindy?" asked Vincent. "She's not my mother, I know that, but she's the next best thing, especially with how she handled First Base and Scootaloo for almost fourteen years."
"Sure, but they live apart from us," reminded Page. Pointing his thumb at Flash, he added, "Do you think you can deal with that in the bathroom?"
"Will do, pop," said Vincent. With a bit of struggling, Vincent managed to drag his passed out brother into the bathroom. Once Flash was lying in the tub, Vincent turned on the shower. Cold water sprayed onto Flash, quickly waking him up.
"YEEEOOOOWWW!" he cried as he quickly stood up. "That's cold!"
"Good morning, sleepyhead," said Vincent innocently.
"Vincent?!" Before Flash could scold his brother, he looked down and saw the dress he was wearing.
"What... the... crap am I wearing?"
"It's called a dress, Flash."
"I know what it is!" snapped Flash. "Why am I wearing it?!"
"Dad said you got drunk at the New Year's celebration last night," explained Vincent. "Do you remember anything?"
"Well..." said Flash, wincing a bit from the cold water, "there was this woman with thick make up... but I don't remember what happened next."
"You didn't get her pregnant did you?!" cried Vincent, scared of the thought of being an uncle at seventeen.
"No! It didn't go that far," said Flash. Vincent sighed with relief. "But I think it had something to do with an octopus and a turkey... I don't remember anything about last night at all, Vincent."
"Well, do you think you could get rid of that dress?" asked Vincent. "Green doesn't really suit you at all."
Flash took off the clothes he was wearing and handed them over to Vincent, who left the bathroom as he didn't want to be near his brother whilst stark.
Eventually, Flash was showered and more sober than he'd been that morning. Page Turner made sure to give him a lecture about being responsible.
"I am very disappointed in you, Flash Sentry," he scolded. "Getting drunk at nineteen? You know better than that!"
"But how come British kids are allowed to drink at eighteen and American kids have to wait till they're twenty-one?" asked Flash.
"The British don't always do things better," said Page. "Their drinking laws are quite skewed from what I've heard."
"I'll tell you what," said Flash. "The next time I even consider drinking is the day pigs fly."
"Much as I'm glad to hear this," said Page, "I'm afraid I can't let this incident slide, Flash. You'll be taking out the garbage for the next two weeks."
"Fair enough," sighed Flash. With that said and done, Flash began preparing himself some breakfast. All he had was some milk and toast with jam.
"You feeling better, Flash?" asked Vincent, having just come out of the shower himself.
"Much," said Flash. "You're not telling anyone about this, are you?"
"No, I'm keeping my mouth shut about it," said Vincent. "It'd be embarrassing for us if it got out."
"Got that right," said Flash. There was a pause before Vincent spoke up again.
"I had this dream last night," he said.
"What dream?" asked Flash.
"It was about Sunset," Vincent explained, "and... well, it was kind of in a world where I wasn't born."
"What was it like?"
"It was awful!" cried Vincent, looking distressed. "Sunset suffered more from being bullied by Starlight and Trixie, and without me around to save her from herself, she... she..." Vincent was so upset, he could hardly finish his sentence. Flash could tell what his brother was trying to say, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"It's alright, Vincent," he said. "It was just a nightmare."
"...I'm in love with Sunset," Vincent managed to choke out. "I can't picture life without her..."
Flash stayed quiet for a minute to think about the entire situation; he knew for ages that Vincent had a crush on Sunset. At first, he thought it was merely a childish crush, but when Sunset blurted out loud that she loved Vincent, that was what cemented it to Flash. And the more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt for trying to split them up. It was obvious to Flash that Vincent and Sunset were meant for each other.
"Have you told Sunset how you feel about her?" he suggested.
"I wanted to last night," Vincent admitted, "but I balked."
"It'll be fine, Vincent," assured Flash. "There's no reason to rush things."
"Thanks, Flash," said Vincent. "I wonder if Sunset feels the same way for me."
"I guess you'll have to see for yourself," said Flash. With that, the two brothers sat down for breakfast. It's best to let Vincent and Sunset work this out for themselves, Flash thought to himself. I've done enough damage as it is...
After breakfast, Vincent headed out. He had promised to meet with Sunset later on by the waterfall. Vincent wasn't entirely sure why Sunset wanted to meet up there. Still, he was certain he'd eventually find out once they were together, and it wasn't long before Sunset herself arrived.
"Hi, Vincent," she greeted. "I'm glad you could make it."
"Y-yeah," said Vincent, slightly shivering. "S-same here. So, why'd you pick this place to hang out?"
"This is the spot where you saved me from the path I was going down when I was being bullied," explained Sunset.
"So, it's kind of become a special spot for us both?" asked Vincent.
"You could say that. Erm... Vincent...?"
"Yeah, Sunset?"
"Have you... ever been in love?"
Vincent blushed. "Erm..." he said, trying to come up with an answer. "I suppose I have..." he said at last. "Why do you ask, Sunset?"
"Because..." Sunset plucked up courage. "Because I love you!"
Vincent's eyes widened and his face went as red as an apple. He didn't know what to say. Sunset looked away slightly and blushed as well, asking herself why she had to say that out loud. Still, was it worth the risk, she thought?
"You... love me...?" Vincent whispered quietly.
"Yes. I've wanted to confess sooner, but I was always too afraid."
"I... I felt that way too..."
"Really?" asked Sunset.
"Y-yes..." said Vincent. "Yes, I have."
Hearing those words made Sunset feel so happy that she grabbed Vincent and kissed him. Vincent blushed redder still; Sunset giggled slightly seeing his reaction, and hoped he'd feel the same way too.
"I love you too, Sunset," said Vincent, "but... erm..."
"What is it, Vincent?" asked Sunset, sounding confused. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not so sure about starting a relationship."
"But... but why?" asked Sunset, feeling a bit hurt.
"I'm sorry I upset you," Vincent apologized. "It's just that I'm worried about a full commitment. What if something goes wrong?"
"I... I understand," sighed Sunset. "I'm sorry if I tried forcing this upon you."
"It's alright," said Vincent, kissing Sunset on the cheek. "Maybe some day, we'll be comfortable enough to have a relationship."
"Yeah," agreed Sunset. "But for now, I'm happy we still get to be friends."
The two then sat down on a bench to enjoy their surroundings.
"Vincent," said Sunset, "last night, you said snow was bad and yet last year we had a bit of a snowball fight. Why the change in attitude towards snow?"
"I kind of wanted to amuse myself by throwing a bit of snow at you," Vincent admitted. "But then you shoved it into my face." Sunset giggled innocently. What Vincent didn't know was that she had a snowball behind her back.
"Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing in another direction.
"Where?"
Splat! He felt the snowball hit him. Vincent turned to face Sunset, trying to keep a straight face.
"You bacon-haired sneak..." he grinned.
He scooped up a snowball of his own and threw it at Sunset in retaliation. It hit her square in the face.
"This means war!" she laughed as she reloaded her ammunition. "As aunt Luna would say, the fun has been doubled!" The two carried on with their snowball fight, happily enjoying the fun they had shared together.
FOOTNOTES
Mayor Marion Weseluck is Mayor Mare; her last name is based off her voice actress Cathy Weseluck.
Vincent references Thomas, Terence and the Snow.
Sunset quotes Luna Eclipsed.