Deviantart was kind enough to gift me a free month of core membership, so I thought instead of giving you guys another week-long art marathon, I’d instead do an ART PURGE, where I upload something (hopefully) every day this month, until I run out of stuff to post. Which will take a while, haha….I’m sitting on like a mountain of content.....buckle up kids
Sunburst
-younger than Sunset Shimmer, spent his younger years dwarfed by his big sister's accomplishments....then later, by her turn to villainy
-social anxiety like wow. at his most depressed and anxious, sunburst wouldn't leave or clean his home for weeks at a time
-was coddled intensely by his mother following Sunset's fall from grace/disappearance into the human world. Sunburst has a peculiar unicorn disability where the magical pathways between his horn and cerebral cortex are malformed, often resulting in everything from spontaneous magic surges to total spell failure. Sunburst's mother, Stellar Flare, had placed great pressure on Sunburst to follow in his sister's hoofsteps after he acquired his cutie mark, but following the discovery of his disability (and subsequent dropping out of Celestia's school), Stellar too often (loudly, publicly) draws attention to Sunburst's magical ineptitude and expresses doubt in his abilities. Sunburst has developed a lot of learned helplessness from this, and frequently gives up before even trying.
-smol and chubby, eats his feelings
-introverted, needs to recharge after social situations, frequently overwhelmed
-stumbles his way into a happy life in the crystal empire, befriends Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, becomes their official royal wizard. Guardian and "uncle" to Flurry Heart and Skyla. Marries Flash Sentry and has a daughter with him, Luster Dawn.
Sunset Shimmer
- fiercely intelligent, determined, sometimes mean without knowing it
-bullied her brother in her youth, is super apologetic now. Sunburst has forgiven her, but their current relationship still has an awkward, distant note to it where they feel mostly like strangers forced to make small talk
-HUGE abandonment complex triggered by her father divorcing her mother and leaving the family. Sunset spent much of her youth keeping her feelings coiled tight, pushing others away and abandoning others before they could abandon her.
-Resented the pressure her mother put on her to be a perfect high-flying magical protégé and developed hostility toward all maternal figures, especially Celestia, whose love Sunset always craved, yet was too prideful to ask for
-coped with pressure by becoming overachiever. Becomes furious when blocked from reaching her goals. Taught by her mother that fighting dirty doesn’t matter, winning does
Stellar Flare and Sunset (Like mother, like daughter)
Stellar Flare worked hard to build an idyllic life for herself- a quaint home in a unicorn village, a loving husband, two beautiful, gifted children. Things only look brighter when it looks like both of her children are going to be magical proteges to Princess Celestia herself! So Stellar is rocked to her core when her husband- quite abruptly- claims to be deeply unhappy, and asks for a divorce. In a heartbeat, Stellar's perfect life is shattered. Her children are devastated, especially when their father- who promised to keep in contact- eventually stops writing letters. Stellar is left all alone trying to pick up the pieces, without even her children around for comfort. Both Sunset and Sunburst are away studying at Celestia's school...and it looks like the loss of their father is impacting them more than they'll admit. Sunburst is having trouble with his magic- his grades are starting to slip. And then there's Sunset.
Stellar Flare can admit she's maybe been a bit overbearing about her daughter becoming a big success someday. But she couldn't have known it would lead to Sunset developing massive self-esteem issues. Sunset creates her cruel bully facade as a means of masking her constant fear of failing herself, Celestia, and her mother. Her rebellious streak is born from pushing back at Stellar, who tried so hard to push her toward a glorious destiny, as well as Celestia, who tried to teach Sunset humility and keep her away from her rightful future as a princess. Sunset had a lot of anger inside, directed at her mother figures, at herself, and now, most pressingly, at the father that'd broken her family apart. It is this anger that fuels Sunset's transformation into a monstrous demon.
(She gets better though. Something something, friendship is magic.)
Horrified by the loss of her daughter (who is too ashamed to return from the mirror world), Stellar vows to do better by her son. She'll be gentler. She'll be more constructive. She'll write detailed lists dictating every facet of his daily schedule, so he doesn't have to trouble himself with making decisions. She'll push him out of that anxious shell. She'll push him til his grades improve. Mother will make everything right again. In her fervor, Stellar doesn't see how the stress of school is drowning her son- she's only disappointed, deeply disappointed, when Sunburst flunks out and retreats to the Crystal Empire to hide away from the world.
Sunset Shimmer vows not to repeat her mother's mistake with her own precious daughter, Morning Glory. Sunset then proceeds to repeat her mother's mistake. But this is different, Sunset would insist! Stellar pushed Sunset to succeed for fame and glory. Sunset is pushing her daughter to succeed so Morning Glory can be a good and kind pony paragon, like Twilight Sparkle, and by proxy prove that Sunset herself is not a miserable bitter failure.
Totally different scenarios. Sunset insists.
~~
Additionally.....in my headcanon, toying around with dark magic is never so easily undone with a friendship song. Shit has lasting effects, yo. sunset's demon transformation in the first EQG movie has left her sort of permanently cursed. The dark forces of her rage and greed did not mix well with her distant kirin ancestry. So now whenever Sunset gets angry, the results are.....well, explosive.
(try taking a deep breath and counting to ten, sunny!)
If you've ever wondered why Midnight is so very calm compared to her neurotic moms, this is why. Sunset's rage curse was passed down onto Midnight, should Midnight ever lose control of her emotions, she too will ignite into a fiery she-demon. I'm certain that this information was not at all traumatic to discover, and probably hasn't led to Midnight repressing a lot for worry of hurting others. 🙃
bonus notes:
-Sunset Shimmer doesn't forgive her dad, and doesn't like to talk about him. She finds herself blaming her mother's harsh nature for driving their father away.....but this is a lie, Sunset really just doesn't want to accept that she and Sunburst weren't good enough reasons for her dad to stick around.
-Sunset can't stand being around her mom, who is so very controlling and critical. And yet....she loves her mom, she can't help it. Deep down, she will always crave approval and love for her mother. She even ended up drawn to someone that subconsciously reminded her of her mother.....Starlight Glimmer.
-Over the years, Starlight has been encouraging Sunset to reconcile with her mother. After all, Sunburst did. Sunset wants to, but her mother's resistance to acknowledge the role she played in Sunset's fall remains a wall between them. Their modern day relationship is polite and tense, where they exchange holiday cards and little else. Leaving them together unsupervised will almost certainly erupt into an argument, Stellar cannot help but constantly offer helpful advice (read: thinly-veiled criticism) and Sunset has way too much baggage to not blow up over it, no matter how innocuous the remark.
-Stellar has a surprisingly good relationship with her both her granddaughters (Midnight Abyss and Luster Dawn, respectively). She is indulgent and accepting with them in ways that make Sunset and Sunburst just a bit jealous. They both think their mom is just trying to worm her way into their kids' good graces....but then again, could it be possible that Stellar has reflected on how her parenting hurt her children and resolved to be better for her grandchildren? Eh, who knows, probably 50/50.
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