Author's Notes for Rarity Pays For Burritos · 7:42am Feb 22nd, 2017
Hello and thank you for reading my latest "Burritoverse" story and clicking through to my author's notes. Before the jump, I just want to note that this story is being published on the 2-year anniversary of Sunset Shimmer Buys A Burrito. I didn't realize the dates would line up until after I finished this story, but I'm very happy for the coincidence.
First off, yes I had to break tradition for the title of this story. It's simple, really. Rarity doesn't pay for a burrito; she pays for both her own and Sunset's. And "Rarity Pays For Two Burritos" just sounds stupid as a title.
I said in the end notes of Aria's Burrito story that I was done. Finished. Through. I thought I had wrangled every ounce of "talent" (hackery) I had for the first four stories and would not be able to do any more. Then I wrote A Day In The Park - which really needs more love, IMHO - and realized it was the perfect way to begin the "Burritoverse" saga (such as it is). But I still had no intention of continuing beyond "Aria". I was busy concentrating on serious real-life issues -- along with my Anon-A-Miss story, other Sunset Shimmer one-shots, plus my annual Mayor Mare fic.
Then CoffeeMinion, in his infinite wisdom, asked me to preread a story of his. I gladly agreed. Towards the end of his story, his characters stop by a burrito place. It made me smile, and I didn't think it was a coincidence. When I pointed it out, he confirmed it was indeed a shout-out to my work. Well, THAT got the ball rolling; I realized that maybe I still had a Burrito story or two left in me after all. As thanks to him, I put in a shout-out to his work that I've been helping him on. Unfortunately, that story isn't out yet and won't be for awhile -- I'll promote the hell out of it when it is because it's a gem. I explained the situation and said I'd gladly hold this story back until his was ready. He told me I should just go ahead and publish. So I did.
I've mentioned before that I like ship-tease and (due to my own situation) the belief that feelings must be unrequited. This is FAR from the first time I've teased Sunsarity -- I did it all the way back in Highs & Lows -- but this is easily the most blatant. It's also the first time we see Sunset is clearly not interested in a romance with her best friend. It will not be the last time I tease you on this. Oh no. My next story with the two of them is doing the same thing. I honestly feel a bit sorry for Rarity, though she's bi at best and will certainly find some boy down the line. The one I really feel bad for is the other girl who will develop an even bigger crush on Sunset once I get to writing it later this year hopefully.
The character of Forrester is based upon Dr. Forrester from MST3K, though I'm pretty sure he wasn't nearly as much of a pervert. I don't know why that guy popped into my brain, since I haven't watched the show in some time, but he did, and now we all have to live with it.
This story does in fact intersect slightly with Sunset's Recovery Arc. It takes place at least two months after Reconciliations. Sunset has no qualms about leaving her home to go out. Don't try to read too much into it. CoffeeMinion tried and turned into Twist. I tried and my brain melted. That's what happens when you write a dozen one-shots over the course of two years and try to connect them all. Eh, could be worse -- like I said in THE GUIDE!!, I could be trying to justify the Zelda timelines. Also, I do have a THIRD continuity universe planned with my Anon-A-Miss story, which may reference the other two at times. Because obviously I hate myself. 
It wouldn't be a Burrito story without three things: (1) music references, (2) random ramblings, and (3) the story ending with a character saying, "What?". I have accomplished all three. I actually had a difficult time coming up with the chapter title -- originally it was the title of a Little Feat song, but I realized there was a Michael Jackson tune that fit the atmosphere I was going for with this story perfectly, so I went with that.
Ditto with that piece by CheckerBoardAZN. I recall him getting upset when someone here used his art without permission. I'd be upset too. So I messaged him and asked if I could use the pic. He said go for it as long as I credit him. So thanks to him for letting me use the perfect picture for this story.
This story has TWO random ramblings. Sunset's, of course, has a lot of science-y junk just like all her others. But I struggled a bit to give Rarity's ramble a completely different voice. So I had her concentrate on the shapes and colours around her, which is very fitting to her character, I think. Hopefully I succeeded. I probably didn't.
Finally, this is the first time in the entire Burritoverse we actually hear Big Beulah speak. I imagine her voice like that really fat lady from the WB/Spielberg cartoons, but a deeper voice. Think One Piece's Alvida (Funimation's dub) from the first episode.
WHEW! That was a long rant. Thank you for reading this far. I hope I was able to entertain you.
Evidently a week passed somewhere in there, and I didn't catch this when it debuted.
And yes, the continuity thing is perilous indeed; consider that Recovery is set between EqG1 and RR (right?) but Heavy Rock takes place after LoE. But the continuity details matter less than the themes, and it's fun to see how they line up.
That's pretty much how I see it.
I asked, "What would Sunset and Rarity do once they sat down?" They'd people-watch. Since you gave me the push, intentionally or not, to write this story, I knew I had to throw a Heavy Rock nod in there -- still looking forward to seeing it posted, whenever you feel it's ready. The shoutout also allowed me to give Sunny a little character development on the Flash front from his previous appearance, and having your club (or whatever you want to call it) nearby gave me the perfect staging for Rarity's tangent at the beginning. It was a nice symbiosis of themes, I felt.
Actually, Recovery is set between EQG1 and RR, but this story happens after RR, since it references Aria's little incident. Like I say in the guide, at least two months have passed since Reconciliations. Probably more like three or four. It's my fault for not making that clearer.
Full disclosure: I still haven't seen LoE yet.
I hope to soon.
Eagerly awaiting your next story, & Coffee's as well!
Until then, as Dr. Forrester would say:
"Push the button, Frank".
4463841 - The first chapter of Coffee's story should be posting less than 12 hours from now, I think. I really hope people end up liking the final product as much as I did when I read the first full draft.
I also really really hope my suggestions didn't make his story worse.
As for me, I often talk about stories for months before they finally post because I enjoy discussing the writing process (or lack thereof). I can at least say I made a little headway on this story's sequel tonight. It's still not close to finished, but at least I'm writing serious sh!t again after taking a break to write a crackfic.
well progress is progress, no matter how small it may seem.
Which is more than I can say for most anything I try to do lately. Instead of progress of any sort there's only the mire of procrastination and doubt.
Buuuuuuuut anyways, now is not the time for that, now is the time for Heavy Rock, so off i goes!
ps- I really liked Comma, btw. thats pretty much my brand of humor: not SO absurd so as to be totally unbelievable, but plausibly able to happen IRL (real pony life anyway
) and with juuuuuust enuff outlandishness to make u go "...wut?" 
4465323 - Well then, perhaps I should direct you to this. I don't know if you've read it yet, but it's my other crackfic. It's much zanier (and M-rated) than Comma Comma, but its insanity does get an in-universe explanation at the end that makes it all retroactively plausible. I also have this fic featuring the Dazzlings that is also an experiment which is sort of comedic. I also wrote a more traditional comedy starring VInyl Scratch.
Yes, I'm pimping my own stories. This is my blog-space; I can do that.
To be honest, pretty much everything else I write is super-sad and/or part of multi-story continuities.
It would like really help if at some point someone just helped you put all the continuity into like one huge fic with each chapter being a fic barring the multiple chapters ones with a simple an or add to the titles with a small abbreviation like SRA for sunsets recovery arc and BV for burritoverse and so on so we don't get lost trying to figure out what goes where in timlines