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Published: 2020-01-26 04:32:24 +0000 UTC; Views: 18307; Favourites: 233; Downloads: 0
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Knock Knock
"Astral, are you in there? Hello?"
At the cusp of noon, Sunset Shimmer stood in one of the many crystalline hallways of Twilight's castle. Her hoof's ginger tapping against the wood of the door before her seemed to reverberate through the quiet, empty corridor.
When no reply greeted her, she attempted to knock again, only slightly louder. She knew how her son was, working late into the morning hours on his research before crashing on the lounging chair within his lab. It was an easier alternative to making the long trek home, she guessed. Years ago it was a minor habit he had developed, one that she would half-heartedly scold but ultimately understood. She was a scientist herself. Late nights delving into tests and reading wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
But now, when she wouldn't see him home for weeks at a time? She couldn't help her concern.
After a bit of breakfast and reviewing project notes with her friend, Twilight had mentioned not seeing Astral Dusk in the past few days. In her own castle. And that was the last push Sunset needed to give in to her desperate need to check in on the stallion...again. The quick occasional swing by, of course, just to make sure he didn't need anything. He was an adult, after all. It wasn't her place to command him on how to handle his life, aside from the nervous suggestions she already gave, and that alone was becoming repetitive. Whether he took her advice or not was all up to him, as difficult as that was.
Sunset huffed when her knocks were yet again left unanswered. But, she thought, perhaps her worry was unfounded. The stallion could very well be out on his own errands for once, whatever they may be.
As one last test to confirm her theory, Sunset's horn lit up with teal magic as she tried for the door handle. Astral liked making sure his lab was locked whenever he wasn't present, sensitive documents and equipment and whatnot. But to her surprise, it turned with no resistance.
She pushed the rose-pink door open, letting the light of the hallway fill what she now saw was a completely darkened room. Sunset then came to a standstill as the growing light gradually revealed a bundle of a shape lying in the middle of the tiled floor. White and brown and green. For a moment, all she could do was stare and process what she was looking at.
Making out that it was a back that was facing her, Sunset's heart dropped to her stomach.
Every encroaching fear that had ever prodded her mind rushed the mare at that moment. Sunset Shimmer's hooves clacked noisily as she raced over to her son.
"Astral!"
Sunset quickly circled the stallion on the ground, moving to see his face. Leaning down she lifted his heavy torso up into her arms. The stallion's eyes were closed, his head rolling limply to one side. She firmly shook him. "Astral?"
Motionless. Unresponsive. Dread clouded her head, her heart thrumming wildly in her chest.
"Guards!" Sunset found herself shouting towards the door, panic overtaking her voice. "Someone!"
It was then that she felt a shift, followed by a sudden deep breath.
Her head whipped down, and there, she found the first signs of stirring. Astral's face scrunched, then relaxed as his eyelids began raising. Half-lidded, glassy teal eyes slowly blinked at the space above him, the rising and falling of his chest becoming visible now. It took half a minute more for the stallion's tired eyes to shift to Sunset's.
Inhaling deeply again, Astral Dusk gradually sat himself up while Sunset leaned back, staring at him owlishly. After scrubbing his face with his hooves, he finally turned to her, the sleep deprivation ever-present while he continued to blink blearily at her.
"Mom...?" he mumbled groggily. "Mm...what time is it?"
"I..." Sunset shook her head, shooting him an incredulous look. "It's noon. Better question is, why were you on the floor, Astral? Did you hit your head?" She slid closer, lightly touching the back and sides of his skull. "Are you okay?"
Astral's brow furrowed, and he pulled away to take in his surroundings. Sunset traced his eyeline, glimpsing at his work desk in the shadows of the far wall. Astral's personal glowpaz lamp was now off, most likely running out of magical energy over the past number of hours. "Yeah...guess I just fell asleep."
"On the floor?"
Astral met her eye, and she gave him a hard stare. He seemed unreceptive to its intensity. "Yeah...happens sometimes."
"Astral..." Sunset whispered, her tone seeped with exasperation. She dragged her hooves over her face and pressed them together before her muzzle, holding them there as her mouth thinned into a tight line. Though as much as a part of her wanted to unleash her frustration, another moment to glance over the stallion's worn face and dark eyebags had her biting her tongue. She sighed heavily instead, her shoulders sagging.
"I'm just glad you're okay..." Sunset stood up, offering an arm to her son. He took it, managing to find his hooves. "Just try not to sleep on the floor anymore?" The corner of her mouth rose into a half-humorous smile. "It's not exactly the greatest for your back..."
As if on cue, Astral twisted his torso and winced. "You're not wrong..."
"You have a bed at home for a reason, buddy. If you really insist on passing out in here, maybe consider relocating said bed?"
"Maybe. We'll see."
With that, Astral Dusk turned, taking steps towards his work desk. Sunset observed him with a cautious stare.
"What...are you doing?"
The earth pony made it to his desk and moved to press a switch on his desk lamp. There was a momentary green spark within the hood of the device before it glowed, giving enough white light to illuminate his desk space. "Back to work."
Sunset frowned deeply, following after him. She watched the stallion pull on his white enchanted glove. The mare could feel her disapproval rising, every concern and suggestion rising back up to her lips.
'Time to not sound like a broken record...'
"Well!" she exclaimed with maybe too much zest. Astral noticeably twitched at the abrupt volume change, shooting her a tired, displeased look. "Don't forget about having a healthy start to your day! Like some good food and-" A spark of magic, and there floating in her magic's hold between them was a hairbrush. "-some nice relaxing mane-brushing!" She levitated the brush over to her son before he could say anything, offering a light smile. "No offense pal, but your bedhair could use a liiitle bit of work."
Astral frowned, but extended his gloved hoof. On contact, the brush clung to the fabric with an almost magnetic-like magical pull, holding it in place as he inspected it.
"...I'm not hungry, but...thanks."
He adjusted the brush to better angle it on his glove. Sunset felt relief seeing him sleepily brush through the disheveled spikes he called hair. Only the Alicorns knew the last time Astral remembered to take care of his own physicality.
"Here, let me open your blinds," Sunset continued confidently, turning towards his windows. She squinted at the dark wall, locating the area where his curtains could part. "Some sunlight and fresh air would be-"
Sunset's ear turned at a sound. At the very edges of her auditory perception, she could make out the sound of hoofsteps...approaching. Rapidly.
Before she could react, the door slammed the rest of the way open, bouncing off of the wall from the brute force. The mare felt her pelt stand on end as she whipped around, just in time to see two guards, out of breath, rigidly standing at the doorway.
"Miss Shimmer, we thought we heard a call earlier, is everything alright?!"
However, their words were only partially heard. Because simultaneously, while her own chest was calming down from the surprise, another sound of clattering caught her attention.
The summoned brush laid discarded on the ground while Astral braced himself against his desk. She saw the way he stared at the guards, pupils constricted while his chest heaved with rapid breaths. It was when she realized Astral's gloved hoof was hovering over a sharp carving tool on his desk that recognition hit her and Sunset jerked forward.
"Stop, wait, it's okay!" she hurriedly mediated, standing between Astral and what were now two very confused, very startled royal guards. She looked back towards her son, who through his heavy breathing moved his blown open eyes to her. "This is just a false alarm. Everything's fine." Turning back towards the guards, Sunset could see their uncertainty and the way they were eyeing the stallion in the room. She gave them a reassuring look. "You startled him, it's-"
A sharp, frustrated growl and the banging of a hoof on a solid surface interrupted her. One glance back at Astral and she could see anger twisting his face.
"Try knocking next time." He hissed, his lip curling back into a snarl.
"Astral," she tried, deeply unsettled by the sight. But there was the slightest shake to his thin frame, and her more stern presence softened. The two guards looked at each other, then nervously back at those in the room.
"We're deeply sorry, sir." One of the guards answered, shifting uncomfortably in his armor. He began backing out of the doorframe at the same time his female companion grasped the door handle.
"We'll be ah...taking our leave then, Miss Shimmer." She let out an uneasy cough, then stood vigilantly as she took a step out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Sunset waited for the hoofsteps to fade before she focused her attention back on Astral. He was now sitting and scooting his chair in, stiffly rearranging the contents of his desk that had shifted since the outburst. The mare hesitated.
"Are you-"
"I'm fine."
His reply was emotionless as he brushed off her question. She wasn't fully convinced, of course. Taking in his body language, he seemed to be retreating into his own bubble at his seat. Astrel reached up, shifting his loose green scarf. He wrapped it tighter and more snug around his neck before he continued with his set up.
Sunset sighed. Easing the leftover tension would be her first order of business.
"Well...I know your lamp is active and all, but I still think an opened window will help clear out the air, don't you think?"
Astral hummed passively, opening up a book to one side of him. Sunset took that cue to light up her horn, grasping both curtains with her magic and pulling them apart. As she did, sunlight immediately flooded the room, washing away the dark purples and revealing soft lavender walls and the shimmering blues of the castle's crystal decorations. The unicorn squinted against the light at the same time she heard a quiet groan behind her. She chuckled, calling out a "sorry buddy" behind her.
She slid the large glass windows open next and felt herself relax while a cool breeze wafted past her. It had been a while since she had last invited herself into her son's lab. She nearly forgot how lucky Astral was to have such a beautiful view of the town from his window. It baffled her that he would even remotely prefer to shut it out in favor of sitting in a dark, enclosed space lit by lamplight.
The Castle of Friendship stood tall and proud near the bustling streets of Downtown Ponyville, with its various shops and residential houses. A smile pulled at her lips at the peaceful sight and the fresh, temperate air of spring that filled her lungs.
A gleam of color garnered her attention from the corner of her eye, and gazing down, she found a surprising but familiar sight. There at the windowsill sat a potted plant. From memory she recognized it as a cluster of small pink aster flowers. However, the petals all shimmered and reflected specks of opalescent yellows and greens under the sunlight, and with a delicate touch, Sunset felt their solid, gem-like surface. The unicorn perked up and grinned.
"Well hey, little guy, it's been a while!"
Sunset peered back at Astral, who lifted his head up at her commentary. She smiled softly. "I should've known your Opal Aster would be somewhere around here. I haven't seen this project in years."
Astral's eyes trailed over to the plant in question. He took a short moment to expressionlessly stare at it, wordlessly turning away to move his microscope aside.
"Yeah."
Sunset's expression softened. She left him to his devices as she leaned down towards the plant, still in awe after all of these years over how beautiful of a creation it was.
"Seems your dad is taking good care of you," Sunset joked, carefully turning the pot to watch the refracting light on the petals. Her eyes crinkled in delight. "Look at how pretty you are. I hope you have a name, because you sure deserve one."
"Kiki."
The softness of the response caught the mare off guard. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that Astral had neither lifted nor turned his head. He paused for just the shortest of moments before he proceeded to settle a pair of goggles over his eyes. "That's her name."
"Heh~ That's really cute..." Sunset complimented with a tender beam.
It was short. Simple. And cuter than what she would expect from him.
She shone one last admiring smile at Kiki before returning to Astral's desk, though not before levitating the brush he had dropped earlier. While she set it towards the far corner of his desktop, the unicorn's eyes glided over the contents of the table. A beaker full of what she knew to be a magically-enchanted liquid - 'magic essence' it was commonly called- sat to the right side of his workspace. Below it was one of his notebooks, filled half-way with what appeared to be Astral's hoofwriting. To her son's opposite side, closest to her, were a line of five identical yellow-colored gemstones. They were...well, "palm-sized" if she had to choose a word.
Astral had one of these canary yellow gems already set up in front of him on a glass disc. Silently standing back, Sunset watched with great intrigue as the stallion hovered a filled pipette over the gem. With his other hoof he carefully pressed the back bulb of the pipette to push out a small droplet of the magic-concentrated fluid.
Sunset's eyes widened upon the droplet making contact, resulting in a bright spark of yellow electricity that danced across the gem's surface. The crackling sparks continued for a few seconds longer before it died down. Only then did she realize that small lines on the gem's surface had lit up. That glow was now fading.
"Wow..." Sunset let out a short, impressed laugh. "That was pretty cool."
Moments like this had Sunset recalling previous years of her son's bright-eyed wonder in his line of work. Every new discovery and every little result had him excitedly recording the tiniest details before he'd hunt her down to proudly ramble off his captivating findings. Her boy was enchanted with his own research. And his love and passion for magic and science, something she shared with him, not once failed to warm her heart.
So it was quite a contrast, listening to Astral reply to her with a flat hum, followed by replacing the pipette in his glove's hold with a pencil. He leaned over, jotted a few notes, then proceeded to mechanically set the gem off to the side, just to replace it with the next in line.
Sunset levitated two of the remaining gemstones into view. She had to lean in and squint, but as suspected, the surface of both gems were lined with carvings of small arcane runes, a different set from one another in fact. As a practitioner of the ancient art of rune-etching herself, she was quite familiar with these common runes; fire conjuration and light conjuration.
"These runes are so steady and detailed..." She murmured, turning the gem about. "You're getting better and better at this."
"I have a lot of gems to test. That's all." Astral responded calmly. Another droplet fell from his pipette onto the new gem below. There was no immediate response, and both Sunset and Astral waited for a late reaction.
"Huh..." Sunset spoke first. She chanced a glimpse at his notes, just barely making out the various sentences and drawings from where she stood. "Only reactive to electricity conjuration so far?"
Astral shrugged indifferently, jotting down more notes. "No surprise. I've read that tourmaline is pyroelectric in the first place."
Sunset nodded, her gaze trailing over his notes, and then to a small pile of journals towards the back edge of his desk. The bindings all had labels, and she knew they were all filled to the brim with his test results. In hindsight, the magical composition of gems was a subject Astral had always been fascinated with. Even now, outside of projects Twilight assigned to him, Astral continued to dive deep into his research. Although, elemental capabilities seemed to be the lead focus of his gem studies in recent years.
"Have any specific plans in mind for your findings?" Sunset asked curiously, setting down the gems in favor of floating over one of his journals. She flipped to a random page. Listed were the components of jadeites and their high reactivity to earth-aligned runes. "Plans or none, I know Twilight is going to be just as fascinated with this information."
After a brief, faint flash of red light from his third tourmaline, Astral continued his current notes. It took him a few heartbeats for him to respond.
"It's just a personal project," he remarked, an aloofness to his tone. He turned a page, focusing on the flow of his pencil on the paper. "I'll see to its potential in time."
Sunset smiled. "And we look forward to those results."
There was no denying that his answer was vague at best, and Sunset would be lying if she claimed she didn't suspect he did, in fact, have something in mind. To outside ears, she could imagine such ambiguity appearing suspicious, even deserving of further questioning.
But if anyone knew her son well enough, it was her.
He wasn't easy to read like he used to be, and it wasn't like she had the power to see into thoughts and feelings like she could all those decades ago. But she didn't need that power to sense the weary heart before her. Nor did she need it in her choice to believe in his dedication, especially when it kept him busy and his mind occupied.
Along with his dwindling self-care, there was only one other concern within her heart. And that concern returned to the forefront as she moved to lay down one of his journals, only to notice a picture frame set off to the furthest corner of his desk, almost hidden in the shadow of his journal pile.
Regardless, it was present; a framed piece of a ripped, muddied, uneven piece of parchment, burnt and darkened around its edges. She could barely see faint green pen writing, most of the visible contents missing. Only a blurry drawn shape at the end of a sentence was truly recognizable. And Sunset's expression fell.
She worked to compose herself. Yet the heaviness in her chest remained.
"Astral," she addressed, her words taking on a hint of strained cheer as she turned towards him. "You know, you've been working so hard! You deserve a break. I'm heading back to the house, so you should come with. Eat lunch, relax for a bit-"
"I'm good," he informed decisively, not even sparing her a glance away from his writing. "I want to finish this and my two other gem sets. I'll at least head home tonight and sleep in my room this time."
"But when was the last time you spent some personal time with somepony?"
"A few days ago. Princess Twilight and I had a discussion on magi-technology and some of your recent projects."
Sunset sighed. "I meant besides me or Twilight...like friends."
She noticed the way Astral's pupils shifted to her. There was an analytical flicker there, followed by a narrowing of his eyes.
"...it's not like I don't talk to anyone at all." He returned his focus onto his notetaking. Perhaps with more intensity than necessary. "But I'm not some social butterfly. You know I don't randomly hang out and get along with just anyone."
"Which is why you need expose yourself to more ponies. Like Eve did," Sunset smiled warmly, even if Astral wasn't looking up to see it. "You two have that in common. But the nature of your sister's job helped her come across ponies she liked. It's because your line of work is so isolated that it's especially important that you get out from time to time. You can meet others through connections or through similar interests."
Sunset gazed past Astral in thought, towards the light filtering in through the window. Her smile widened at an idea. "Come to think of it...maybe consider spending time with Eventide and her friends. She actually met someone new recently. A young fellow named Skychaser."
Distracted by her own thoughts, Sunset failed to notice the slowing and stillness of Astral's pencil.
"He's a sweet stallion! A bit of an oddball, maybe," she continued, chuckling fondly to herself. "But the same could be said about Dream Flow. He works at the Cutie Mark Sanctuary, actually! He's a dance instructor and has more of a creative mind, but I get a lot of brotherly vibes from him and I think the two of you could-"
"Mom!"
The raising of Astral's voice startled her, leading her to jerk back and hone her attention in on him. Even now he wasn't looking at her. But the heated glare he was boring into his desk, and his tensed hooves, made it clear that the last of his patience had given way. "I'm not a colt who needs you to hold his hoof and help him make friends again!" he furiously snapped.
Sunset moved back a step, completely taken aback. Perhaps he could see it in her face when he finally did raise his head with a glower. Because soon the tension and frustration in his features were easing away, replaced by wide-eyed realization.
In moments, Astral had shut his eyes tightly and breathed out a long and heavy breath. Leaning back into his chair he brought up his forelegs to drag his hooves over his eyes, resting them there.
"I'm...I'm sorry." he muttered just audibly. A low, tired apology. "That..."
"It's...okay, Astral." Sunset reassured. While there was a hint of sadness, and her ears remained pinned back, she brought a hoof to his arm and gently tugged it down. Astral looked at her then.
His expression was no longer of exhaustion or anger. Just regret. Sunset took the opportunity to move aside his mussed bangs with her magic.
"Listen..." she sighed out, eyes searching the floor for the words she needed. "You're right. You're a grown stallion. You get to make your own decisions, and I try to give you your space. I'm really not trying to be the overbearing mom."
She met his teal irises, ones that perfectly mirrored her own. "But I can't help worrying about you when you hole yourself up in here for days, or when I know you've been skipping meals, or when I find you lying on a cold floor." She shook her head vigorously, to remove the images of what could have been. Sunset didn't bother to hide the slight tremor in her voice. "You terrified me there, Astral. I really thought you just keeled over and collapsed from sheer exhaustion."
Astral said nothing. But he hadn't broken eye contact either. He silently listened, something that comforted the mare. "I understand your determination to keep your workflow going. I know how important that is for you. All I ask is that you at least try to take better care of yourself while you're at it. Leave this room more. Take snack breaks. Take breaks."
Sunset heaved out a breath, now realizing how much stress she had built up. "You can even just...take short walks to the shopping square for your snack breaks. Even that would be an improvement."
The unicorn couldn't tell if she had managed to say everything she had pent up inside, or if she had run out of words to voice them. Astral's silence, along with his unreadable face, made it difficult to know if any of it had even been enough. The last thing she wanted was to push far enough to make him drift even further away from her reach.
The stallion rose up from his chair. At his full height, easily towering her, Sunset was reminded of the fully grown adult her colt had grown into. And how even then, there was so much more she wanted to do for him.
Astral's face softened as he gazed down at her. It was a look she hadn't seen in far too long.
"I can do that much...sure."
Relief washed over Sunset Shimmer. She breathed out a laugh.
"I'll...keep you to that, you know."
"Who would you be if you didn't?"
Astral paused, then reached up to fiddle with his green scarf. He loosened its constriction on his neck, distantly staring down at his hooves. "You...said you were heading home?"
Sunset nodded. "Yeah...I'm about to make lunch, actually."
She knew Astral would recognize when she was prompting him. And for the first time in a while, he followed up on it.
"I might be a little hungry."
"Good," she firmly said. With an affectionate quirk of her lips, Sunset motioned with her head for him to follow. "C'mon. Your father and I could use the company."
Astral forced a ghost of a smile. After their initial conversation, his fatigue had settled back on his face and posture. It was always there, really, as much as she desperately wanted to chase it away. As things stood, that was far out of her power. And that creeping knowledge left her feeling helpless.
Sunset Shimmer knew her son would continue to distract himself with his workaholic tendencies at the end of the day. But if she could still make any difference and help ease the burdens he carried?
Then Sunset could attempt to rest knowing she hadn't completely failed him.
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Solitaire: a single gem (such as a diamond) set alone.
I needed at least one last Astral chapter before I drifted off into different past arc. Hopefully in time I will return to Astral's arc, once I have its events better set in order.
Until then, have a chapter exploring present-day Astral's life and his relationship with his mother, Sunset Shimmer. This takes place months before the chapter "Impasse ". It's okay if you have questions. You're meant to.
Seems like Sunset's no longer the only one to experience bouts of aggression and angry outbursts. Although for her, outside of a fiery temper, those days have passed.
Destinyverse Magic Headcanons!
Arcane Runes - the foundation of magical spells. As the written and sometimes spoken language of magic, these runes when strung into formulas are what comprise the very spells unicorn mages have come to memorize and practice.
Rune-etching is a complex, ancient craft of magic developed by ancestral mages, dating back to the earliest age of unicorn civilization. The craft led to the creation of runic spell enchantments. While no longer a necessity, rune enchantments improved the lives of unicorns back when household electricity and protection from a kingdom were not yet existent. All existing ancient relics and magic traps within prehistoric dungeons were forged with rune enchantments by powerful wizards.
Magic Essence - a concentrated magic-enchanted potion used solely for experimentation. A single drop is magically potent. Made and provided by Twilight Sparkle.
Magic essence is used in a more modern field of research run by Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, for the purpose of their evolution of magic-technology. Some natural materials such as metals and gems (as history has shown with ancient relics) have inherent magical properties that become especially reactive to magical interaction. These responses can show what materials may be best at holding and even enhancing magical spell enchantments placed within electronics. Magic essence tests that reactivity, which is then closely observed under a microscope. While Astral Dusk isn’t the first in history to look into the magical potential within gems, he is the first earth pony to enter this field of magical experimentation and do extensive research on it.
This chapter was an interesting one to write. Hope you enjoy!
Please consider supporting me on Patreon , where you can view WIPs, exclusive sketches, and early images! Your support really helps me do what I do~! <3
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Comments: 38
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I appreciate you sharing art with me that you'd think I'd enjoy, and this is cool, but I'd like to politely ask that you don't link it in deviations that are unrelated eheh. I'd prefer this sort of thing on my main page or even a note.
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Wonderful read and a beautiful look into part of Sunset's and Astral's relationship. Especially well done on the "finding him passed out on the floor" bit.
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It was nice getting to write about their relationship.
This is great! It really makes me wonder what happened that has caused Astral to withdraw so much into himself. I'm also curious about the burnt parchment mentioned; I'm sure that will become relevant at a later time. I can also see why Sunset is so worried, considering Astral is neglecting his health in favor of his work and his near-violent reaction to the guards arrival. This, combined with the earlier chapter where Astral ran into Dream and Sky, really makes me want to know more about what's going on with Astral, and also makes me worry about what's going on with his friends from the other side of the mirror, especially Terra, and why he acts like he doesn't have or want friends anymore. You have a real talent for creating intrigue and emotional scenes and making everyone want to know more. Anyway, I'll try my best to wait patiently for you to come back to Astral's arc, and in the meantime, I'll be looking forward to checking out whichever character's arc you decide to explore next!
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Noting the parchment and Astral's reaction to the guards...very important things to note indeed.
Ah yes, your ponderings feed my soul
Thanks so much...!! HOO, you saying you're looking forward to the next arc is just feeding my excitement for what I have coming up. I appreciate your support~
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Yes, definitely noted for future reference.
You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoy my pondering so much! Yeah, I feel too that this was just the right amount of information to get out imaginations wondering without spoiling too much, and I agree that it is fun to postulate what might've happened or what could happen.
Oh yeah, no problem! I'll definitely check it out when you feel its ready!
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ASDDFHSHDNSJA
SUNSET IS SUCH A GOOD MUM
And oh, Astral, poor baby.
I have a feeling that Terra was the one to name their flower. But I also think they fell out of contact.
I wonder,,, did a fire burn down Terra's home? Or something similar???
I'm so intrigued, Holy HECC, YOURE DOING SUCH AN AMAZING JOB AHSHSJAK
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hEHEHE OH GOSH AAA
You're welcome!!! And EEEE I'm glad that the name has meaning and aagahashahshsh
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I absolutely love your worldbuilding. Very, very interested to see what happened with Terra, and why Astral is so terrified of the guards.
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HEHE, thanks a bunch~! ;w;
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Kind of getting the impression that he no longer has access to Terra anymore? And he's trying to fix that. HMMN.
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I personally don't like how the parchment in the frame is burnt...
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...//subtly rubs hands together
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Gosh this was... amazing <3 I'm looking forward to see more about Astral's past or something. I was specially curious about when you said Sunset was trying to "ease the burdens he carried". What kind of burdens? But I'm pretty sure that's for the chapters to come XD
I'm also really curious about the picture frame, I'm pretty sure I know who it is related to, but I wonder why Sunset's expression fell when she saw it. Are the burdens and the frame related? gosh I wanna read more so badly!
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Hehe...you caught that line....I'm glad~
Chapters that will hopefully come in the future, yeah!
Thanks a bunch~! ;w;/
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hhHHH your thoughts on Sunset warms my heart honestly
Hoo man...you're right. Future interactions between Astral and just about everyone else in the cast, including Sky, will definitely be...interesting.
Overall, thank you!
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Oh. Oh my. This is nice
I was honestly scared for a moment when I realized what was in the drawing and just rapidly went down to reading the story. Gosh did I feel Summer's fear for a while there until it showed that Astral was all good. Gosh dang it Astral take care of yourself better screee asfdgnh
Also. Hmhm. Seems like he really doesn't like sudden company of people with how his reactions to the guards were. Though a violent reaction to the point of wanting to grab something sharp? Oh man oh man.
I continue to just really love how Summer deals with her children here maann. Though things have been rough between them, at least she is trying to be aware and not become an overbearing mom for either of them, really just wanting them to get better than how they currently are too...
Also really liking the inclusion of what Astral's been working on- these runes stuff are kinda interesting to think about especially with how it is mixed with the pony technology and all heh!
and now. That lil... burnt piece of paper with green ink.... framed but hidden... Oh gosh, Astral, what happened in those years... I hope Terra's all good...
And that reaction to him just. Staying still for a moment from hearing Skychaser's name, hahh. This is before Impasse even... This is all so interesting mmm.
Also hey Mia! Might not be much but maybe just like. Either sketch or write out the lil ideas for the stories that you got right now and like- kinda look at it all and organize it afterwards before finalizing anything? Idk, i've done that a few times when I struggling to make things make sense sometimes idk asfdgd
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HEHE
Success...or well, the idea was less to trick you guys and more to put weight into the dread and concern tied to what Astral's doing to himself, especially through Sunset's eyes like you mentioned.
Loving the Sunset Shimmer appreciation~ 
I'm also enjoying your observations.
OH, I do essentially do that! I have a *peers over* 60+ page main doc full of chapter concepts and notes for character arcs. Astral's is full of ideas, but they've been a bit disconnected. With the fleshing out of Forte and the Dazzlings though, a lot of the holes I originally had have been filled in and I've been able to settle on what sort of timeline I'll follow when it comes to what lead Astral to where he is today. Now it's just a matter of organizing it all into something coherent and meaningful
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With that horrified look on Sunset's face and Astral's slumped body and not even getting to see his face in it to be sure? Definitely worked on me and others it seems so ye X"DD He may be a bit of an ass now to others but he just- be struggling a bit and it'd really hurt if he was suddenly dead from overworking or other reasons asfdgfh
You write Sunset pretty well honestly!! Especially with how she literally empathy stuff for powers- kind of makes sense that she tries to keep on having others' feelings in mind still as she do stuff and she's really trying her best as a mom here...! You just really kinda wanna root for her with all that ahah
aahh thankies i just like to ramble a lot >v>
And oh man that's a lot for sure! And yeah, sometimes it's best to just leave things be for a while and come back later after a break or whenever inspiration hits ahah! I hope you do well to take care of yourself while putting your stories together! You're doing really well with it! //thumbs up
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Not quite.
Sunset cares so deeply for her children. And since one of her kids has had a traumatic experience that lead her to change so drastically, I can only assume she's an even bigger momma bear now. At least Astral recognizes he snapped and is willing to take a break to go home and spend some time with his parents, so that's a relief. But really, I hope Astral takes that advice more seriously and takes more breaks. He works too hard.
I love this. Her expression is truly heart wrenching and you can see just how horrified she is to see him on the floor. Once again a lovely job you did, there's always so much expression in your art pieces~ <33
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Oh absolutely. <:3 With both her children dealing with mental and health strain, Sunset is doing everything she can to tend to their needs. She truly works hard to be their rock to hold onto.
Thankfully Astral isn't too far gone in his funk. His love for his mother in return is still very much present.
Thank you so much~! <3 I appreciate getting to read your thoughts!
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...This makes me worried. Not just for Astral, but for Terra Rosa, too. I'm getting the sense that something happened.
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Worrying is valid.
There's a definite reason I personally see you as an inspiration, your knack for writing stories and giving characters their emotions is just *chef's kiss* brilliant.
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Goodness gosh
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