No one is without scars. Some are on the surface, and fade with time, but others run deep, and may never fully heal. And any number of things can cause those scars to reopen.
Sunrunner's scars run deep, thanks to the strong emotions tied to them, but she manages them well enough. She has to, given she's an officer in the Royal Guard. But when circumstances lead her towards having to face the roots of some of her deepest scars, she might just find herself on the way to healing one of her oldest and deepest ones. Along the way, however, she'll be reminded that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Part of the Quiververse
Chapters (4)
Segregation, huh?
I'd bet anything that that racist bastard Neighsay is behind this.
Hate that guy!
And a wonderful start to this new story in the Quiververse, Echo!
Looking forward to more!
Dammed EEA! I bet Chancellor Neighsayer was involved in this segregation thing! Damm bigot! Anyway, is awesome that you finally posted this story and I think you got a good start on it. Can't wait to see what else is in store for Sunrunner!
9115384
9115404
I'm not gonna say Neighsay's behind it...but Neighsay's behind it. And sadly, it appeared to have a basis in canon long before he came along. All Neighsay's done regarding Equestria's subtle hints of fear and ostracism towards non-pony races is make it obvious.
Glad that both of you are enjoying it so far. The remaining chapters will be out before the end of this month, barring unexpected delays on my end.
9115878
I knew it!
Sad, but oh so true.
I think we all remember Ponyville's initial reaction to her resident zebra shaman/wisemare in Season 1.
Again, true.
Which is why I cannot wait to see him get his inevitable comeuppance.
I most certain am, and that is great o know.
Gotta look out for those "unexpected delays", though, don't we?
Miserable, annoying l'il things that they be.............
9116204
Well, we'll see how things go. Next week is looking good, though.
9116762 Yup.
And that's good to hear.
On another note, about how many chapters do you think this one will go before it's done?
9116852
Two more, plus an epilogue. Assuming nothing goes wrong, the second will be up next Friday, and the third and epilogue will be up the following Friday.
9116935 Okay, cool.
I'll keep my eye out for them.
All I can say is downright great job on the start of this story. Truly emotional stuff and wonderful characterizations. I especially liked the American Tail Shout Out as well as the showing of how badly Sunrunner and her family took what happened with Sunset and the reactions to the upcoming school segregation .
Yes, I am most assuredly going to be looking forward to more of this.
9117642
Thanks. I like to think those were very understandable reactions to what happened.
9117658
And you were most certainly right.
First of all, let me apologize for the late day it took to get to this. I would have read this as soon as it appeared, but real-life crap went down for me as of late.
Now then, onto the chapter itself...
- I really liked the scene with Sunrunner and Blue Streak. That was really well-done and touching.
- The opening scene involving Runnie and Luna was well done too. It's been a LONG time since I've seen An American Tail, but I always appreciate a good reference and I think the song worked well for that
- The scene with the school... mainly, what I think is, "Wow, Neighsay doesn't even have to appear in person and I want to hit him with something heavy." XD On a more serious note though, I do feel really bad for those foals and other students, having their lives and friendships uprooted because of the asshatted decisions of the school system's higher-ups.
- That being said, I will definitely be interested to see Runnie's first meeting with Quiver Quill, however that may go down.
- Also, nice reference to the Quiververse story with the Wonderbolts. That scene with Sunrunner and her parents was also well-handled. ^_^
- Was that bit with Luna recalling her sister singing to her, a Lullaby for a Princess reference? I really hope it was... XD
Great start, and I look forward to the next installment! ^_^
9118225
Hey, real life happens. I get it. As for your specific comments...
- Genuinely loving, competent parents are a rare thing in fiction, and given how Quiver's father is hardly Parent of the Year material, I thought it would be good to have a nice contrast. Blue Streak's got his eccentricities, but he loves and supports his daughter as best he can.
- Amusingly enough, that scene was one that I ended up cutting from Nightmare's End. I saved it, though, and now I've been able to use it, albeit with a few tweaks here and there.
- That's the mark of a villain you love to hate if they can just be hinted at and the audience wants to pound their face in. And as said before, I figured this was logical based on both what we've seen of Neighsay in the series and what we've seen of Equestria's school system. I can forgive the lack of young donkeys and mules (only one of the latter, and the pair of the former are likely too old to have children), but Ponyville has a small population of cattle and sheep living in or around its borders and we've not seen a single calf or lamb in attendance at Ponyville Elementary. It doesn't outright say that segregation is present in Equestria, but it certainly suggests it as a possibility.
- Quiver's first meeting with Runnie was shown in Scars of the Quill, but this story will be showing her perspective of him telling the story that earned his cutie mark, and a few other things related to it.
- Hippogriffs aren't the only ones who appreciate continuity - I do too, and so do my readers.
- Yes, that was a very deliberate reference to Lullaby for a Princess.
Glad that you've enjoyed the story so far. Here's hoping the rest is worth the price of admission.
Oh, loved the roasting that these idiots received! Figures that someone that has 'Sun' in their name would give sick burns!
9130204
They're also very lucky that Sunrunner's disciplined enough to avoid physical violence. The real question, however, is whether or not any of them actually take what was said to heart. Gonna have to wait a week to see how that turns out.
9130204 I agree! It was LONG overdue, and the stupid outfits had it coming!
Well done, Sunrunner!!!
9130244 Yep, they are.
And I'm kinda hoping so, where that's concerned.
Promrose, Hot Trail and Roxy I have no hope of that having happened (as Hot Trail very ably demonstrated near the end of the chapter), but maybe; just maybe; some of their other classmates will.
And that's gonna be the longest week in the world to me, but well worth the wait, if what you told me about the number of chapter we'll be getting is true.
Anyway, another chapter well done, Echo.
Can't wait for next Friday to see what happens next!
I definitely got a kick out of Sunrunner's verbal spearing of her former classmates and all the crap that they put her through. (Speaking of which, great work on the mane-shearing scene - that was appropriately unpleasant to read, in all the right ways.)
I also have to say, while I remember Principal Fairweather before, I really also have had some thoughts about Miss Persimmon. She both reminds me of my ninth grade English teacher (she completely ignored what one half of the class did, letting them get away from some pretty appalling behavior, and cracked down on the other half, myself included) and this teacher my dad suffered through in twelfth grade (she was close to retirement and gave zero fucks about the students - Dad compared the experience of her class to being taught by Dolores Umbridge
)… Apathy is a terrible, terrible thing...
9130267
Well, with any luck, you'll be satisfied with that's to come.
9130279
It wasn't just herself that Sunrunner was standing up for, trust me.
Fairweather's going to be seen soon enough, so reserve any fury towards him until then. As for Persimmon...I wouldn't go far enough to compare her to Umbridge, but she's definitely a lousy teacher. I've dealt with more than a few teachers who turned a blind eye to bullying, and while Persimmon is herself an exaggeration, she's not far off the mark either. Unfortunately, some are protected by tenure, and others are protected by other means...
9130322
Of course.
I wouldn't make the Umbridge comparison myself either; I was just quoting what my dad had said about one of his crappy teachers from high school. Persimmon strikes me as being just burned-out and jaded, which still sucks.
Oh-ho yes, I'm definitely going to save my rage for Fairweather's appearance. I'm perversely looking forward to unloading my spleen when we finally get to encounter him... Mwa-ha-ha...
9130322 Oh, I have absolutely NO doubt that I will be.
I always am with your lovely stories.
As to this:
Oh, don't worry; I have more than enough umbrage saved up to blast him all the way from here to Mars.
(Or Canterlot; take your pick.)
Oh another note, fun l'il fact about persimmons (the actual fruit (the wild kind), NOT the crotchety old mare): They're sour, hard, pretty much inedible l'il things til the first good frost in the fall, then they're absolutely delicious!
Sweet and just plain wonderful to eat.
9130334
I have a sneaking suspicion that Sunrunner agrees with you on that.
Gonna be PLENTY of fireworks at good ol' Marshmuck Public School Number 101 before this is all over, methinks.
9130368
Yeah... and just to put it out there... the NAME of the school is also a damn good indicator of what kind of establishment it really is.
"Marshmuck". Really says it all, yes?
9130334
Be warned, however, he might not be your only target. Just saying.
9130401
I can imagine. There's rarely just one in these situations, unfortunately. (Life would be so much simpler if that were the case.)
9130387 Indeed it does.
9130401 Really?
Ooooo, the plot thickens!
9130244
I hope that the lesson stuck with at least one of them.
9130345
Did not know that about persimmons. I'll keep that in mind,
9130387
It's also a slight play on one of the two middle schools that I attended, and the one which I had the worst experience at of any of the schools I attended.
The name of the school is actually sort of ironic - in my mind, Marshmuck was a journalist, and something of a well-regarded and successful muckraker. The sort of person who'd make a big deal out of what was going on at that school and raise the public's awareness of it until something substantial was done.
9130438
Huh, interesting idea. And I gotta say, I do like the idea of a pony character having an ironic name.
Before "The Washouts" aired, I had an idea for a pony OC named Short Fuse. He was a very even-tempered and patient guy, with his name referring to his special talent in designing fireworks and other explosives.
Anyway, now I can't help but imagine the original Marshmuck as being like the reporters of McClure's, fighting monopolies and reporting corruption in the Progressive Era and all. In that way it's kind of fitting that Sunrunner came from the school named after him.
9130438 Glad I could be of service, dear sir.
Here's a few l'il tidbits about them:
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/what-is-a-persimmon-23613
https://www.azurestandard.com/healthy-living/what-persimmon-how-to-eat-persimmons/
https://www.hgtv.com/design/outdoor-design/landscaping-and-hardscaping/how-to-plant-and-grow-persimmons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persimmon
And here's a pic of ripe ones:
s.hdnux.com/photos/51/72/35/10987337/5/920x920.jpg
And yeah, they're pretty good.
My late grandparents (on my mom's side) had a bunch of the trees on their farm when I was a kid, and Grandma would always wait til after the frost to pick some for pies and such.
Delicious.
9130450
I'd go ahead with that name. Who says that certain names aren't relatively common in Equestria?
And sadly for Marshmuck, his name is now linked to a school that's neck-deep in corruption. Not to say he doesn't have a positive legacy, it's just that the administration at said school is more than happy to cover up particular issues in return for certain favors. Fortunately, Karma Houdinis don't last forever with me. Mwa-ha-ha.
9130588
Good point. XD And besides, it'd just be fun to have two wildly different characters bearing the same name.
And also, mwa-ha-ha indeed. I will definitely look forward to such a moment when it comes.
VERY good job on this latest chapter. I loved Sunrunner's reactions to being back in her hometown and, as mentioned by other reviewers, her experience with the students at that school (particularly her retorts toward the jerks). The exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-ups are well done in all the right places.
I will most definitely be looking forward to more of this.
9130588
Definitely looking forward to next Friday now.
9130745
You definitely won't have too long of a wait.
9130780
Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait a bit longer than that. Sorry about that.
9131620 Oh?
How come?
9131679
Mostly because the comeuppance isn't coming in this story. It is coming in a future one, but not this one.
9131697 Ah, okay.
Well, that's cool with me.
Just so long as the jerks eventually get what's coming to them, I'll be a very happy gal.
9131769
They will. Primrose is due to visit Ponyville soon enough, after all.
9131776 Good.
And yeah, I'd forgotten about that.
Heh, I'm betting that the reception that she gets from Rarity won't be what she expects it to be.
9131776 Oooo, quick question (that just occurred to me):
Is Primrose going to coming to Ponyville in this story, or the next one?
Just curious, you understand.
9131782
Don't be too quick to make assumptions. Rarity's heard Quiver's story and been told about Primrose's actions, yes, but she has no reason to treat Primrose with anything but basic decency. Primrose is, after all, a paying customer, and one does not act disrespectfully towards paying customers...at least, not without strong reason. And for all Rarity knows, Primrose has matured since her school days.
We know that she hasn't, mind, but Rarity doesn't.
9131822
Primrose is coming to Ponyville in the next story. And hopefully, that one will be out and finished by the end of this year.
9132675 Okay.
And you have a point there.
Jumping to conclusions or assumptions is rarely a good thing to do.
Can't wait to see what happens in that next story.
9132676 Okay, cool, and thanks.
I share those hopes with you.
Mainly because any new stories from you are always awesome!
Excellent ending and epilogue, Echo.
Looking forward to the final part of the Trilogy.
Keep up the rad work, hun: you're doing a wonderful job.
9143835
Thanks. I'm still hoping to have the next story done before the end of the year, but work and other commitments are kicking my butt something fierce right now.
9143842 You're very welcome.
Yeah, real life can be a bitch, can't it?
Sorry to hear you're getting hammered so hard right now with work and stuff, and I hope that things calm down for you soon.
As to the getting the next one before the end of the year; well, we still have 4 months left to go in 2018 yet, so maybe something will come up that you can get the third one written, done and up here.
I don't really have anything profound to add, so I'll just give you my upvote and my usual advice that real life is more important than pony and we're all willing to wait as long as you need to put things in order before writing.
This was a great story! Perfectly connected to Quiver's and a good place to end then transition the the third part of the trilogy.
Don't worry about real life, you take whatever time is necessary for you to create something extraordinary.
There's some good stuff here.
For one, I really gotta hand it to you. From the very first spoken dialogue of the character, I really hated Fairweather. I talked about Persimmon last time, but wow, this guy takes the cake. (And he'd eat it too, the fat glutton.)
I also really appreciated the diner scene, especially because I did not expect to see Muriel come back there. That was a really nice touch, and I quite liked her and Sunrunner's dialogue with the two classmates.
And finally, that last flashback with the Princesses was nice too. I didn't expect Cadence to make an appearance and that was a good idea. Also, the closing of this chapter was quite elegant, I thought. Yes, a shadow has fallen over everyone, on that day...
I look forward to getting to the finish. Probably do that tonight.
Dang, that was an amazing story ... feel bad for Quiver and Runnie, their school was a worse version of the shithole I went to. Loved seeing them reunite, though! Squee'd like a schoolgirl there. And I'm glad that Bit and Digit aplogized, even if they half-assed it. And I'm not surprised that Flim and/or Flam won the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 off of Bit ... well, mostly that they came by it in less savory means rather than the specifics.
Okay, I got to the ending now. And I am quite glad that I did, I really liked seeing Sunrunner's reunion with Quiver.
Good work as always, friend. ^_^
And also, I wish you the best with stuff in real life.