This story is a sequel to The Black Rainbow Concert
After having most of the summer to gain her bearings, Sunrise settles down to explore her new life in Equestria. New friends, a new marefriend, even magic lessons (as frustrating as those continue to be)... all under the tutelage of the Princess of Friendship. Life is good.
Plus, much to Twilight Sparkle’s delight, Sunrise Shimmer has become Ms. Cheerilee's teaching assistant. At least, assuming her first day goes well.
Of course, the first day is often the most challenging.
Chronology note: this story takes place towards the beginning of Season Six. In this timeline, Starlight is not Twilight’s apprentice.
This continuity continues in No One for the Gallows But Me.
Part of the Sunset Rising Continuity.
Heh. A shame we didn't get to see Jack's reaction. Ah well, I can certainly imagine an amusing reaction on my own.
Now, there's just the matter of dealing with foals. Arguably much more intimidating than a dark protector spirit...
10862643
Oh, indeed. Not to mention dealing with some of their parents...
Ah, I missed this AU.
Jack? Oh great, now I'll need Moondog to stop me from having nighmares.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/428991/how-the-tantabus-parses-sleep
(I have a small phobia about jack o'lanterns)
10863863
Oh, dear.
Well, if it helps any, he hunts down night terrors, so... maybe it balances out in the end?
Ohhhhh dear... she just jinxed herself, didn't she? Diamond and Silver are gonna start something, I can feel it.
Some of the students thought Miss Cheerilee would be furious. In reality, she was just nostalgic.
I love the implication that this doesn't quite top that chart.
As for recess... Yeah, we'll call Sunrise's assessment "optimistic." Let's see how she handles herself without Cheerilee refereeing.
Aww, this is so wholesome.
Oh wow, I was not expecting an exploration of Diamond Tiara's struggle to be accepted post-reformation here. Sunrise could certainly serve as a good mentor figure here. Maybe her special talent is some form of therapy?
Given that the Apple family apparently invented it in the main timeline, this is a bit of a shock.
Yikes. Still some bad blood there.
An unexpected development, but definitely an intriguing one. Let's see how Sunrise approaches this, especially with the Crusaders potentially aiding or getting underhoof. Or both.
10880780
Thank you for that. Corrected.
Reformed girls got to stick together. Though the Crusaders are a welcome addition as well. Now, let's hope that crack isn't too bad...
This bit was great, haha.
Sunrise exhibited more self control than I would have in that situation.
10897669
Yeah. Fortunately for all concerned, Cheerilee was there to make Spoiled take a step back, at least for a moment. I suspect she can crack her voice like a whip when needs be.
Just curious to what level does “professional confidentiality,” and “right to privacy,” exist in your Equestria?
My first thought reading this chapter was “Wait till Sunrise tells Luna about her day,” then the second was “Oh, private home life of a student is involved, she can’t,” then “the previous chapter made a point that Equestria isn’t a democracy and has different values and Luna is a Princess, maybe she can?”
So yeah, curious what Equestrian ethics say about the situation and what Sunrise can share.
10897777
This is a brilliant question. I shall answer as completely as I can, and hopefully not ramble too much.
(maximum verbosity)
It is important to remember that within this nation, there has never been a Magna Carta, nor any form of a Bill of Rights. It is not a constitutional monarchy, per se, simply because a need for limits to the central government - the Two Sisters - has never been perceived to such an extent that any such limits were ever placed. At least, not yet.
Literally the closest to a limit to diarchal power this Equestria has is the law making it illegal for Luna and Celestia to be worshipped as gods. Which really isn’t very close. “Democracy” is considered by the vast majority of ponies to be a synonym to “mob rule.” The principal practitioners of democracy known to ponykind are pirates, which doesn’t exactly help matters.
A lot of the laws in this Equestria are a century or more behind our world’s “first world” nations, simply because the need for those laws either doesn’t exist, hasn’t been recognized, or hasn’t reached the royal ears yet. Child / foal labor laws, for example, are way behind most modern Earth society. This is both because of the apprenticeship system being partially still in practice (though social change is slowly phasing it out) and because of the relative lack of child abuse in pony culture in the first place.
There are other areas where this Equestria’s laws are a bit ahead, usually in areas that modern human society would consider to be related to social justice. Non-discrimination laws, for example. Additionally, some laws are leftover from traditions centuries ago and were simply never abolished. And, of course, there are also pony laws that humans just don’t need, such as laws governing the use of magic.
Professional confidentiality and right to privacy do exist within this Equestria, and in the other Equestrias I am writing about. Each law or revision, however, exists only because a problem arose and needed to be addressed (with perhaps a few isolated exceptions). And the thrones were always involved in those laws.
All of which is to say, on the face of it, “professional confidentiality,” and “right to privacy” do exist in this country, and at a glance would seem to be somewhat comparable to our own expectations. However, the princesses (including, now that she has become royalty, Twilight Sparkle) are categorically above the law.
Sunrise sharing such information without being asked by a princess to do so would generally be illegal, unless the foal in question was in danger. And, that includes sharing it with Luna. However, technically Sunrise could say that she had a serious concern about one of her students, and then reply with full disclosure if Luna asked for more details. Being the ponies they are, of course, there would be a great deal more discussion on the necessity of such a revelation first.
Furthermore, Equestria has a far stricter interpretation of “higher degree of responsibility” than our world does. While commonly left to the discretion of a judge, it is commonly understood that the more personal power you have and/ or the greater responsibility has been placed upon you by pony society, the higher the expectations are upon you to cause no harm with your influence, even through ignorance. And, potentially, the greater the punishment if such a responsibility is neglected or abused. Any old pony telling a crowd to burn down a store would be in trouble, but Mayor Mare doing the same thing would be in much, much more.
(Though this is somewhat balanced by the pony tendency towards forgiveness of the repentant, the irony that pony society cannot legally call the princess to task for abuse of their highest responsibility at all is not lost on the other races.)
While common Equestrian ethics would only require that the princess ask, the personal ethics of both ladies would call for more care... which is one of the reasons the Two still have such a latitude in their power, and why Luna has such trust in her marefriend. And professional ethics for Sunrise would demand that she broach the subject with Luna only under the most dire of circumstances, especially considering the responsibility she holds regarding the well-being of foals as any kind of instructor. But legally, Luna has no obligations whatsoever... even when Sunrise does.
Everything gets tangled when you throw princesses into the mix, in part because for so long there were so few of them and they were so far removed from the rest of society. The laws just haven’t caught up yet. Technically, whether Sunny would be considered in legal violation of her degree of responsibility towards the well-being of the foals, as well as their right to privacy, could rely more on Luna’s actions than her own, with Luna’s actions being judged in part as the consequences of Sunrise’s actions. After all, Luna is above the law. Sunny isn’t. Which is kind of messed up.
Also technically, so long as Sunrise doesn’t name names or drop any other identifying information, she could share the basics of what happened. The problem is: how do you tell Luna any of this without the Princess of Dreams immediately knowing who you’re talking about? It’s unlikely she hasn’t been counseling Diamond Tiara at least a little by now. And barring emergency, Sunrise has a higher degree of responsibility regarding the foals’ safety. Which, in Equestria, includes their privacy.
So, ironically, because she’s in a relationship with somepony who is above the law (and can therefore legally hear anything), Sunrise is also in a relationship with somepony who cannot be given any information at all without compromising her students’ privacy (and therefore she can ethically tell little to nothing).
Meanwhile, while Luna is under no legal constraints whatsoever, she never speaks of the dreams she helps speaking folk navigate every night due to her own personal ethics and her own concerns for the privacy of others. You can bet there will be times these two will be bonding over how frustrating it can be to not talk about their jobs to one another, at least in any detail.
EDIT: In retrospect, it looks like I did ramble a bit. Sorry about that; I was tired.
So, is Diamond Tiara going to use her talent and MAKE her mother listen to her, or is Sunrise going to corner Spoiled and tell her something like: "You are Spoiled. Complely spoiled. Rotten to your core. You should have been tossed out like the garbage you are age ago. But no. You are still here. Poisoning all around you, your daughter most of all. But, I am fairly certain I am the first pony to speak to you like this. You know why? BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO POWER OVER ME! I answer only to the Princesses."
Well, there's your first problem.
Also, someone needs to remind Spoiled that the sister of national heroes attend this school, her family's fortune was earned in this town, and literally no one likes her. She is categorically wrong in literally every view of society she has, and she'd be pitiable if she weren't so very good at inspiring disgust and outrage in everyone she met. I don't suppose we can call in the Blueblood from a nearby timeline? Might be a bit outside the school's budget, but I can dream.
Never mind that it's much easier to crush a diamond than scratch one. Being the hardest substance on Earth comes at a cost.
Something, something, stopped clocks.
Yeah, Spoiled's philosophy is a glaring mismatch with this entire world. It's honestly astonishing that anyone who lives in the same town as Starlight Glimmer can even think it... though I suppose Spoiled did move to the capital.
There is something unexpectedly beautiful in Diamond Tiara discovering the Tao.
And there's that Shimmer wit. Spoiled has no idea who she's dealing with. Brilliant bit of manipulation for the greater good. Looking forward to the epilogue.
The irony here is that while pressure MAKES diamonds, it's the careful cutting and polishing after the fact that makes them shine.
You never see someone who cuts diamonds being overly rough with the diamond, or rushing with their work.
(Also, if Spoiled's nose was any higher in the air I swear she'd bump into the sun whenever she went outside.)
Lovely capstone to this one. Though I do worry for Silver Spoon. Here's hoping she doesn't get any worse before she starts getting better. In any case, thank you for a great tale of Sunrise finding her place.
Why does this remind her of Anne of Green Gables, which I've never read or know a thing about?
So herding's not common anymore? A shame.
And great, it's Spoiled.
FUCK HER UP, CHEERILEE!
10876624
my thoughts exactly
10899634
my favorite saying regarding those sharp-snooted bullies like Spoiled and the Canterlotian Aristocracy is "they keep their snoots so high in the air it's a wonder they don't asphyxiate."
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11543308
I will admit that might have been an influence, as you mention it.