Sunset made her way to the parking lot, walking towards the gray hand waving at her wildly above the cars. A few minutes later, she found Derpy still waving at her. “Hi Sunset!”
“Uh, hey Derpy.” She offered with an awkward smile. “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”
“Nope, I’ve only been here a few minutes.” She held up her phone to show a text conversation. “And Dinky’s already in the car. It’s my brother that’s keeping us waiting. He’s trying to squeeze as much time as he can with his friends, or trying to chat up that girl he likes.” She pulls her phone back and starts typing on it rapidly. “But I can annoy him into compliance.”
“That’s totally something I’d do to my own brother.” Sunset giggled. “What girl does he like exactly?”
“Silver Spoon. He’ll swear up and down that he doesn’t-”
“But we know, right?” Sunset smirked, crossing her arms. “The more he denies it the more it’s true?”
“Exactly!” Derpy exclaimed cheerfully. “Who did your brother like?”
“His best friend and her giant pig tails.” Sunset smiled fondly at the memory. “I used to always ask him how he and his girlfriend were doing, or hum wedding bells when they were hanging out and I was walking by. Never failed to get a reaction out of him.”
“I think you just gave me an idea for later.” Derpy said deviously before looking up from her phone. “Oh, here he comes.”
Sunset looked over the parking lot, spying the middle schooler with orange-yellow hair and gray skin making his way to the car, an annoyed look on his face.
“You type like a maniac, you know that?” Crackle Pop stopped right in front of Derpy. “That was over a hundred texts.”
“Well, if you weren’t holding us up by trying to woo Silver Spoon, I wouldn’t have had to resort to annoying you.”
Crackle Pop blushed and his body seized up. “I do not like Silver Spoon like that! She’s just a friend!”
“We were just talking about that.” Sunset added as Derpy began laughing.
Crackle Pop turned his head towards Sunset. “Wait, Sunset Shimmer is the friend you’re hanging out with today?”
“Is that a problem?” Sunset asked, her smile fading and nervousness creeping into her voice.
“Oh no of course not.” Crackle Pop said with mock politeness. “Other than the fact you bullied my sister. You know how many times she came home crying because of you? Couldn’t you have found anyone else to torment?”
Sunset's face fell and she looked at the ground in shame. Derpy meanwhile pinched Crackle Pops right ear tightly and tugged his head to the side. “Ow! What was that for?”
“Now you listen here. I know Sunset was a bit of a bully, but she’s made up for how she acted in the past. I’ve already forgiven her, and I don’t need you to try and protect me. I’m a big girl and I can choose who I hang out with.” She growled angrily. “She’s been through a lot with Anon-A-Miss, and she doesn’t need you to further drag her down.” Derpy let go of his ear and placed her hands on her hips. “Now I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can handle myself thank you very much.”
Crackle Pop rubbed his right ear gingerly. “Why can’t you just hang out with Octavia? She never made you cry.”
“You clearly haven’t been paying attention for the last few weeks; You know perfectly well why me and Octie aren’t speaking right now. Until she comes up and apologizes, I’m not talking to her.” Derpy said sternly. “Now, apologize.”
Crackle Pop grumbled in annoyance and looked to Sunset, rubbing his right ear. “Uh… sorry for yelling at you. It was rude of me to not even give you the chance... and I guess you went through a lot with Anon-A-Miss, so I should probably be nicer.”
“It’s… fine.” Sunset said awkwardly. “You have every right to be mad, I treated your sister terribly. I’d do the same thing if someone bullied my brother.”
Crackle Pop said nothing as he turned back to Derpy. “Good, sorry for pinching your ear. Now get in before I pinch your cheeks.”
Crackle Pop grimaced and let out an audible groan. “That’s worse!” He quickly ran past Derpy and jumped in the back seat.
“Sorry about that.” Derpy sighed. “He thinks he’s bigger than he really is, always feels the need to protect me and my sisters.”
“It’s fine, really. It was actually kinda sweet that he was looking out for you.” Sunset flashed a reassuring smile. “But how much of that should I expect from your parents?”
“I told them you were coming over. Admittedly they weren’t thrilled with the news, but they’re just glad I’m hanging out with someone. Also, I told them about all the magic, but I’m not sure how much they actually believe.”
“Oh…” Sunset's face fell. “Should… should I talk things out with your parents at some point?”
“If you want to, it’ll be awkward but they might appreciate the effort.” Derpy opened her door and climbed in. “Now, let's get going.”
Sunset did the same and climbed into the car, buckling her seatbelt, Derpy turning the car on and driving off. “Hi Sunset.”
Sunset looked behind her and saw a light purple girl with blonde hair waving at her. “Oh, hi Dinky.”
“Hope Crackle didn’t give you too hard a time, he’s just a big protective dummy.” This earned her an annoyed look from her brother. “I for one am glad you’re hanging out with Derpy, she’s been so sad since her friends kicked her out.”
Sunset looked over to Derpy who only looked embarrassed as she continued driving. “I can relate. But she hangs out with her boyfriend right?”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same. Boyfriends aren’t the same as friend friends.”
“Well, if you say so. I wouldn’t know either way.” Sunset admitted sheepishly. “I haven’t had much of either. I’ve only known my friends for a few months and things are a little… strained between us.”
“What about you and Flash? You two were dating right?”
“Uh, well, yeah. But I didn't… like him." Sunset said awkwardly. "Back when I was... awful, I only got with him to get more popular. No idea why he put up with me for so long.”
“Oh…” Dinky sat quietly for a moment. “Well, was Flash your only relationship?”
“No, but I’m not sure they’re great either.” Sunset admitted. “My first relationship was when I was about ten with some girl in class I thought was cute. Being ten year olds, we didn’t exactly have any idea of what a relationship entailed. It mostly amounted to calling the other pretty and making sickening love poetry. We ‘broke up’ when I was transferred from the school.”
Derpy and Dinky giggled while Crackle just stared out the window. “What was her name?”
Sunset got red in the face and cleared her throat awkwardly. “This is going to be very weird and embarrassing but… it was Lyra's counterpart.”
The whole car broke out into laughter as Sunset meekly hid behind her head rest, an embarrassed smile on her face. “Really? Are you sure it was her?”
“I mean, I’m pretty sure. It was seven years ago, but I know it was a mint green unicorn named Lyra. So unless it’s a crazy coincidence, it’s probably her counterpart.”
“Do you know if the same thing happened here with your counterpart?” Derpy asked curiously.
“I don’t think so, I’m sure Lyra would be really confused if her childhood girlfriend showed up at her school one day out of nowhere. Surely she’d say something.” Sunset countered. “That and I did some digging and found my counterpart lives all the way in Manhattan. She’s lived there her whole life.”
“And I’ve known Lyra since 3rd grade, so there’s no way she was smooching your counterpart a thousand miles away.” Derpy chuckled. “Lyra also writes sickening love poetry to Bon-Bon, guess some things are universal.”
“Ok, but what about your second relationship?” Dinky leaned in, hoping it’d be just as exciting.
“Well, when I was about thirteen, one of my peers came up to me and asked me out. This was when I started getting awful, so I accepted, thinking it’d be nice to have a stallion who would hang on my every word.” Sunset frowned regretfully. “I wasn’t very nice to him. All I did was boss him around and manipulate him, which he followed without complaint because I was pretty… don’t even remember his name now.”
“And Flash?”
“I treated him the worst.” Sunset let out a long sigh. “I practically did every abusive partner technique in the book: lied to him, manipulated him, gaslit him, yelled at him, started arguments for no reason, guilt tripped him into compliance… it’s a wonder he put up with me for so long. Thankfully I never hit him or cheated on him, so that’s a point in my favor.”
“Well, you’re better now, right?” Dinky offered awkwardly.
“You also seemed outraged when he broke up with you.” Derpy added. “It must’ve meant something to you.”
“That’s mostly because I was humiliated. That was my thing, I break up with my partners, not the other way around. And he did it during lunch in front of his friends? That was what I was gonna do to him!” Sunset cleared her throat. “I think I’m going to take a break from romance for now. I can’t even get friendship right, so how can I expect to be in a healthy relationship with my track record?”
“Well, whenever you do find that certain someone, we’ll all be shipping the two of you from the sidelines.” Derpy smiled brightly.
“You might need to do more than ship me, considering how much I’ve bungled most of my relationships.”
“You also said earlier that you haven’t had many friends.” Dinky tilted her head. “Care to elaborate?”
“Well, to be honest, the Rainbooms were my first friends ever.” Sunset said sadly.
“Really?” Derpy gasped. “But surely you had friends back home!”
“Didn’t need them. I had my brother, his weird friend, and her giant pig tails. When me and my brother didn’t hang out as much when we got older, I decided my time was far too precious to waste on those lower than me. I would only be friends with those I deemed worthy of my time, and even then I’d probably not spend a lot of time with them.”
There was an awkward silence in the car, Sunset sinking lower in her seat. “Well… you’re not like that now. You’re spending your ‘precious’ time with me, and I doubt I would’ve made the cut back then.” Derpy turned to Sunset. “You’ve come a long way since the Formal.”
“Thanks Derpy.” Sunset frowned. “Wish the rest of the school thought the same during Anon.”
“Yeah, well, better late than never right? I think this whole situation will make everyone reconsider their prior feelings towards you.” Derpy huffed in annoyance. “Now, how about we change the subject to something less depressing?”
“Oh! I know!” Dinky excitedly placed her head in the crook of Sunset's headrest, looking down at the redhead. “You’re a unicorn back in Horseworld right? What was it like? Are there fairies? Do you know if I’m a unicorn? Tell me everything!”
“Something tells me you like unicorns.” Sunset said in response to Dinky's excitement, slowly pulling herself up from her seat.
“She always has.” Crackle spoke up, still staring out the window. “I never got it. They’re just horses with a skull deformity… over here anyway. I imagine they’re much cooler back where you're from, so if you want to talk about them...” Crackle tried to hide the curioustity in his tone, trying to remain aloof around Sunset.
“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.” Sunset chuckled. “I won’t tell your friends you like ponies, though I think Silver Spoon might.”
“I do not like-!” Crackle stopped and looked at the ground for a second. “You really think Silver Spoon likes ponies?”
Everyone in the car began laughing as Crackle blushed and looked away.
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Stay tuned, and join the speculation club. I want to see if anybody can get it right.
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Ew, COD vanguard.
But man, Sunset packs a mean right hook.
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How many Anon fics are like that? I don’t usually see Flutters popping up to tell Sunset she knew she was innocent.
But admittedly, when I was starting this story, that kinda was what I was gonna do. Sunset was going to hate Fluttershy because Flutters was the element of Kindness but thought Sunset was guilty anyway. But than I realized people would probably be disappointed if that was solely the reason, plus everyone was freaking out over what huge event happened between the two to warrant sunsets hate and I realize I could get much more drama if I gave a definitive reason.
Wonderful theory though, and it would’ve been accurate when I was starting out
Pretty innocent enough chapter. Little dip into Sunset's past in Equestria, have to admit I'm a little curious who the first guy she dated was. I doubt it'll be very relevant but guys lack much prominence in the series as a whole so I tend to be a little more invested when they are brought up.
Crackle is a little bit of a dick, but he's a kid and loves his sister, so understandable. Again not too much to say here, just a little innocent interaction.
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Nice to know my fan base has such faith in me, I’m touched.
I was kinda afraid people might consider it a cop out if I didn’t give a definitive reason. Like they waited all that time and it’s just ‘shy didn’t do anything.’
I felt someone was gonna complain if I didn’t put a suicide tag even with that one tidbit, Sonia died it in just to be safe. I had also planned to have it be revealed Sunset started cutting during Anon while I was writing the first chapter, but there was no way to add it in organically so I scrapped it and decided I’d reveal it later.
... btw Sunset started cutting during Anon-
Yesssss... speculate more, my children.
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I was gonna have it be Flash because irony. But I had no idea how I would’ve really made that make sense.
I’m also not sure who would be in the castle enough and around Sunsets age to even start dating her anyway.
... maybe Blue Blood?
He’s like, 12, so we’ll let it go.
How many chapters long will this story be?
This is nice. But awkward
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I have no idea.
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That’s the idea.
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A bunch of them. It the most interesting sunset story in the short series considering they after the last3 movies they sidelined it there were a few comics. A few here are unfinished and some are better than others
Yay! Another chapter with Derpy!
Nothing much to say here: Crackle Pop's have a grudge against Sunset, but he's being protective to his sister, so that's understandable. Dinky is adorable. And it's interesting to hear a bit more on Sunset’s backstory about her past "relationships".
Sunset "dated" Lyra’s counterpart once? Well, it's no wonder why Sunset originally wanted to hang out with her. I wonder how the human Lyra felt about that.
I'm curious to when Sunset meets Derpy's folks... that's probably going to be awkward.
Great chapter!
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Yeah, I heard a lot of people don't like that game, but if Sunset really does have a mean right hook, I think Dash deserves it right now.
Not gonna lie; I was taken aback that Sunset used to date Lyra's Pony counterpart when they were kids/fillies. And a nice confirmation that Sunset's human counterpart does exist here, but lives in a different city. I wonder if she might have heard that there is a girl that looks exactly like her from social media? And what will happen if they were to meet one day?
Crackle's hostility towards Sunset is understandable and was only trying to protect his sister. And Dinky... still adorable as ever
Anyway, I await the moment Sunset meet's Derpy's parents!
...
...
...
Hoooo.... booooooy... that's going to be very awkward... let alone tense given that Sunset used to bully the poor girl.
It's okay for boys to like ponies, Crackle. Look at the fanbase of the show you come from.
I think Sunset iS being an awful person for not forgiving the girls right away, or be so mad at them. She was an AWFUL person and they forgave her and gave her a chance. Why can't she do the same ? Plus she's been friend with them for a few months. Who does she think she is ? Sure, they were wrong about her, and that shit hurt, sure, but they're so very sorry. I get that she's holding a grudge, that Rainbow decked her, abd that she is entitled to feel this way, but they gave her a chance when she's been tormenting them for years. She broke her friendship.
And there's nothing fluttersby could say or do that she is right to be mad about
Especially when she doesn't even know herself...
Anyway can't wait to see the rest
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I think awful a bit of a strong word.
You would immediately forgive your friends for the same thing? Even realistically, I feel people would need some time to think things over before they forgave their friends.
And what about the rest of the school? Is she awful for not forgiving all of them?
They didn’t forgive her immediately, and they only gave her a chance because Twilight asked them to. I doubt they’d have given her a chance immediately if Twilight didn’t do that.
It was rather personal for her. They basically spat in the face of everything she was working for and threw her to the wolves. Plus, she is giving them a chance. I feel most people wouldn’t want to talk to their friends at all if something like this happened in real life.
Sorry as in they want to make up for their mistake and make sure this never happens again, or sorry as in they just want to alleviate their guilt?
Sunsets trying to gauge which way her friends feel.
People are entitled to who they feel and when they forgive someone (albeit not to a ridiculous extent). Especially since this is the first time Sunset has literally ever been through something like this, she doesn’t know how to feel or what to do. Since this is the first time someone’s done wrong by her and not the other way around.
She wants desperately to forgive everyone and move on, but she’s scared the same thing will happen to her again and is angry her struggle to be redeemed was so easily turned over.
I mean, there is. We don’t know what happened between them yet.
But yes, this is probably the worst thing Sunsets doing during this situation. Her genuine hatred of Fluttershy is going way too far for what happened, even if she is entitled to anger with the girl.
Which girl? Flutters or Sunset?
Stripping away all the drama and fantastical elements, I feel Sunsets actions and feelings are pretty realistic. People probably would need time away from their friends, be mad at their fellow students for tormenting them during Anon, and have mixed feelings about all this.
At least I’m not going the route of several Anon fics and making this into revenge porn (which I find gratuitous) or having Sunset cut the Rainbooms out of her life forever. That I don’t agree with, it seems a bit hypocritical for Sunset to cut out the Rainbooms when they gave her a chance (depending on what happens in a fic. Though that might make characters ooc)
Also, I think I should be able to post the new chapter some time later today.
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Well when you say it like that...
Maybe I'm just too much of a let bygone be bygone person lol
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Truthfully as I was reading this I felt a bit of a burn in my chest, as I kind of feel the same was Sunset is. If I get burned by a friend, well meaning or misunderstanding or otherwise, I become absolutely and utterly vindictive but at the same time ultimately guilty because to be the "better person" I'd need to forgive them and move on. But ooooo... that burn on the inside, the urge to enact vengeance, or have them do more than apologize. Just... yikes.
But I've had a history of people burning me due to my naivete, so... probably just me then.
🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
Well I believe they did evetually marry and have a daughter named Luster Dawn.
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How would you like to be called family and then later abandoned,accused, asaulted, everything for something you obviously didn't do.
Do I need to make a reminder for what she did in the battle of the bands?
What that not enough to gain full trust and friendship?
And he has a point, they only became friends with her because of a promise and not because they wanted to.
If they were truly friends, then why did they easily accuse her?
That brings up the question;
Was their friendship fake from the start?
Did they truly not forgive her even after everything she did?
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And they betrayed their elements.
Rainbow Dash is suppose to be the Element of loyalty.
But what did she do?
She left Sunset in the halls to suffer.
Pinkie pie is suppose to be the element of laughter and make people happy.
But what did she do?
She took away Sunset's happiness and replaced it with a broken heart.
Fluttershy is suppose to be the element of kindness and show everyone kindness no matter what.
But what did she do?
She showed agression and specificly said
'You are not our friend'
Rarity is suppose to be the element of generosity and give friendship to Sunset.
But what did she do?
She threw away their friendship.
oh hohoho
Applejack is suppose to be the element of HONESTY. She even said Sunset was part of the family.
But what did she do?
She LIED and and left Sunset.
If she really was part of the family then you wouldn't have ditched her!
Thats not what family does!
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were you like, living under a rock when rainbow rocks came out and you completely missed it or something?