This story is a sequel to The Unbearable Lightness of Being Sweetie Belle
So, where do you go when you make a mistake? Like, a really big mistake? Like, a smash your life with a hammer, lose all your friends, and almost die mistake? You know, the types of mistakes that lead to you waking up in a hospital bed with more pain than you thought possible. Where do you go when you make that type of mistake? My name's Sweetie, and right now, I wish I knew the answer.
Cover art done by KarmaDash.
Chapters (18)
Awesome, gunna read this tomorrow (tired right now).
6591766 The first chapter is... dark. It gets better and brighter later on (it would have to), and im not apologizing for it, I just wanted to give fair warning.
I have really missed this series of stories. (Almost as much as WTPV) Can't wait for more.
Fasten your seatbelts, folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride...
(Oh, BTW, 6591786 — you can't use BBcode markups in the short descriptions; it's literally showing the [ i ] and [ / i ], instead of italicizing "really".)
6591904 Fixed it. That's... embarrassing, but at least I know, now. I figured that if it worked in the long description... well, at least I learned something, so that's good, but I hate having such an obvious mistake in my description. And hey, I think this chapter is by far the bumpiest. Other chapters might still be rough, but Sweetie's mind isn't completely fractured in them. Just mostly fractured.
Oh man, it's finally here, and totally unexpected. What an awesome surprise.
Yaaaaaaaayyyyyy!
Am I even allowed to say I like what you've written in a chapter this depressing? I think I was supposed to not like what you've written.
It's begun again, I see. Seems there's only one thing to do now.
*jumps down the rabbit hole*
Away we go~
Read this after walking up from a dream. The imagery works. Let me tell you. It really works.
Laying in a puddle of you're own blood and shame ("shame" is what you call urine at rock bottom), waiting to see if it's the end this time, or if anyone still cares enough to throw you back in the nut-house, I know these feels,
6591786 Dark is one of my most read genres lol. Thanks for the consideration though.
Dang Sweetie was doing some serious shit. I look forward to reading more.
6592519 Thanks! The imagery and this chapter were a lot more inspired than other chapters. I was walking back from class one day in May, I'd been turning over how I wanted to do this chapter for a few weeks, and suddenly everything clicked. I drove home, rehearsing the rough draft as I went, locked myself in my basement, and didn't emerge until the first draft was finished.
6592301 I think you are. I worked hard on this chapter. I might say it's my most daring piece of prose so far, and I'm really proud of it. Sure, it deals with themes like self-destruction, drug abuse, and madness, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the flavor of the language.
Damn this is dark. I like it.
Yes! This story is exactly what the doctor ordered!
Glad to see it's up!
And I just want to ask, is the whole story going to be told from Sweetie's perspective?
Yay! Time to begin the decent!
The fuck? I was kidding when i said decent, geez. Welp, ain't this one big shitstorm to manage. Not the darkest i read but damn, im am impressed Distaff, keep the story coming.
6603558 Sorry, I thought I responded to this earlier. Yes, the whole story is going to be in Sweetie's head, although hopefully she won't be so... in her head during the later chapters.
Taking on a student, eh? That's pretty damn awesome. I'm curious to see whether this will be a more permanent thing after she recovers fully.
I can't wait to see how she reacts to the other stuff with Rarity and co ;D
Also, Luna needs to use Sweetie like this against Bright Lights.
Help! Dying!
Nice chapter, though I'm not sure I like the SweetieLoo...
Dang you know you're f'ed up when you're in two different dimensions at the same time.
6620365 The Scootabelle in this story is interesting. There's some things they'll have to work out if they're going to have the happy relationship they want. Either way, it's still going to be Sweetie's healthiest relationship so far.
6620242 Right? My initial joke title for this story was Princess Luna's Student, but decided against it.
Also, I still haven't figured out Bright Lights' comeuppance. She needs some humbling, but I don't want to fetishist Sweetie's vengeance and think her best revenge will be living well.
6620606
ON THE MOON!
Hmmm, sweetie immediately took love to that definition. I don't know bout that. And where the hell are those books?
6622216
You say that like it's a new thing. Sweetie has been taking love to "that" definition for quite some time now; confusing sex with love (or maybe "confusing physical pleasures with emotional bonds" would be a better way to put it) is one of several problematic worldviews she has which contributed to her downfall in the latter part of The Unbearable Lightness of Being Sweetie Belle. Combined with her "all-or-nothing" mentality and the fact that she's still detoxing from at least three years of increasingly-heavy drug and alcohol addictions... subtlety isn't exactly her strong suit at the moment.
6622942 odd, I could've sworn I put on my sarcastic voice while typing that. But no really, im not surprised as just kinda... upset? That Sweetie would immediately put Scootalo in that position.
Can't wait to see wherever Luna's tutorship would take her, and the challenges that's definitely going to follow this relationship (Sweetieloo...you totally caught me off guard). Scootaloo's helping Sweetie out of her trauma and compunction, in one way or another. For all I know SB hasn't got her reason and good sense back yet, and she seems impossible to forgive her self. It's going to be like RPO but a several times worse.
6623756
I did feel a bit upset too, like the Sweetie Belle who was so bent on dating anypony as she saw fit is still there lingering.
6624373
Why would you expect her to have? Keep in mind that at the end of this chapter, it's only been three or four days since the drug overdose that nearly killed her, and she spent at least two of those days unconscious while the unicorn doctors flushed all of that "better living through chemistry" out of her system. She's still detoxing, still hallucinating, and in several ways she's still not entirely grounded in reality...
Not to mention that the emotional issues which fueled her self-destruction haven't even begun to be addressed or dealt with yet. "Reason", "good sense", and Sweetie Belle have been strangers to each other for a very long time; she's not going to suddenly come to her senses overnight.
Over 12k words in this chapter and it felt so short to me. I'm super excited to see where this new chapter in Sweeties life goes!
Damn, you write some pretty deep stuff
I agree w Equestron. Sweetie isn't quite as clueless as Pinkie pretends to be but she is a close 2nd. As a foal, she was always sweet as molasses & twice as thick. She is almost stupid enough to be a jock.
seems insanity is a prerequisite for Luna's job. Funny how both of them are mentally unstable. do i need to remind you that Luna still suffers from P.T.S.D?
6661026 I think I touch on her history of self-loathing in either this chapter or the next.
6661241
good plan
... I don't know how to feel, other than that sweetie will probably end up like octi on the alcohol deal. Probably...
My brother used to say he didn't have a drinking problem -they sold drinks everywhere. What he had was a sober problem because they didn't sell that anywhere.
When young, Sigmund Freud recommended Cocaine to treat Morphine addiction. (Modern thought is you end up w 2 problems for the price of 1). The scandal almost wrecked his career.
Sneaky Rarity!
Good to see them sharing moments. And no, Dash doesn't have a problem!
To quote the dwarves of Azeroth:
"I don't have a drinkin' problem! I drink, I get drunk, I fall down. No problem!"
Great chapter once again. Glad you're updating so frequentl–
Wait no, I can't just comment that, I have to complain or else everybody'll think you're my favourite writer on this site! (which you are, totally)
That description is only relevant to the readers. The doctor wouldn't be most well known for that.
I was also gonna complain about something else, but I forgot, so yeah.
I got such a weird picture in my head, there.
pre13.deviantart.net/c2ae/th/pre/f/2012/118/c/2/rarity_derp_eyes_by_c_h_loboguerrero_c-d4xnd4i.png
This fic... Yet another Distaff Pope story which does not disappoint at all. The entire fic reminds me of Showbiz, by Muse for some reason. Dunno what that is? Take a listen, here:
Sweetie and Rarity's talk did not disappoint.
6683003 Do you think there's any chance in hell Rarity wouldn't find a way to be there for her... Sweetie.
6683495 Just wait, there's a better one coming up.
6683394 What? I'm your favorite writer on the site? Well, I'm flattered, but I think there are a lot of really talented writers on here who are better. As for the other thing, I think it's reasonable that Sweetie's primary experience with him would be at the wedding. They don't exactly run in the same circles.
6682331 Wait? Are you saying Sweetie DOESN'T have a drinking problem? Because I'm not saying she's an alcoholic, I think once she sorts out her emotional baggage, she'll be able to have a drink without over indulging, but she definitely has a problem with it right now.
6683796
Well, I wouldn't say your stories are the best on the site (dammit, now it looks like I'm insulting you), but I definitely enjoy reading them the most. There's something about your prose that just drags me in and makes it really fun to read.
6684006 Well, I'll take it. I like having fun interesting prose, it makes up for my trouble coming up with incredibly intricate plots.
Sweetie doesn't have a drinking problem, she has a sober problem. (As in "can't handle it")
Somebody or other once said "I started drinking to drown my problems. The trouble was, they learned to swim"
6685234 Well, she has to deal with sobriety now, because there's no chance in Tartarus that Rarity and Scootaloo are going to let her relapse (Although Sweetie can be remarkably clever when she applies herself).
Moving on to other subjects. How can Sweetie be her own worst enemy if Bright Lights is still alive?
Maybe the title should be Second Worst Enemy