Finding Home Reviews: Chapters 4-6 · 10:53pm Nov 15th, 2017
Video made by me
Well Fillies and Gentlecolts, I know its a day late but to be fair, today is actually my birthday so I decided it would be better to post the review today.
So yeah, we're back on Finding Home since I'll be taking an extended break from Fallout: Equestria fics for now at least. When I'm all done with these reviews we'll get back on it as I said before.
So this time we've got a story about my favorite flame haired girl, so shall we?
---Chapter 4: Sickness---
Video belongs to Disturbed.
So the chapter itself starts with Sunset getting a noogie from Rainbow Dash who wants to hear the rest of the story of course. Sunset mentions that she had been away from school because she had been sick, but everything turned out okay at least. She decides to tell her friends the least alarming version of the story, which makes me wonder a bit what's going on.
Our story begins with Celestia and Luna arriving at the school and Luna asked her sister what the plans are for the day. Celestia says that Chrys will tell her when the files are done, and that then she'll need to talk to Sunset.
“And make your offer.” Luna said, watching her sister carefully. “Logically, a guardian and a social security number would be hard to refuse in her position. If her living space is as you say, coming to stay with us would be the better choice.”
Celestia says that she knows, but doesn't want to scare Sunset off so she'll just offer her a warm place to stay. At the same time though she seems to be feeling conflicted about something. Luna agrees that she'd at least accept a room before she heads off to her own office. She takes out a bag lunch to bring to Sunset, figuring that she at least can get her something extra to eat.
We then cut to Sunset who had caught an early bus because she had been worried about being able to throw some trash away. Of course the problem is that she's not feeling very well, but she needed to get to school so she could stretch her money out a bit. There are a few other students around, and she got some pretty mixed reactions.
She tells herself to chin up and thinks back to the Battle of the Bands and the whole Anon-o-miss incident and how they had helped and hurt her respectfully. She is greeted by Principal Celestia who asks her if she remembers the offer she had made and asks if she's okay.
“It's only been about a week Principal Celestia. I've been fine, nothing has changed.” Sunset shrugged. The cold wasn't the best, but she had found a sweater in a thrift store that worked out for school. At that though, she sneezed.
Celestia is obviously worried and hopes that she isn't coming down with anything and offers Sunset the brown bag lunch and says that she had accidentally made a little more breakfast than usual. Sunset made sure it was Vegetarian before thanking her for the food and headed off, thinking about what she normally had to do for food.
Yeah, at this point Sunset can't really deny that she's sick. Applejack offers to have Granny Smith get her something from the back and Fluttershy offers her some soup because she apparently carries soup packets in her bag... that's not weird at all. Thankfully its exactly what Sunset needed, but she's still not feeling that well and doesn't really pay attention to the ongoing conversation.
Rainbow finally gets her attention and asks if she's going to be okay for the rest of the day, she also suggests that she might want to talk to Principal Celestia about getting a ride home but Sunset says she'll be fine though will probably have to miss band practice. Rarity suggests she go see Nurse Redheart but Sunset doesn't want Celestia to worry so she decides against it.
Her friends reluctantly agree to let her go, but Pinkie gives her some stuff to help her hopefully feel better. After the school day, and Sunset's last class being advanced Calculus, she headed out and caught a bus back home. She doesn't have a whole lot to eat at the moment, which is a bit troubling.
The next day Sunset doesn't show up for school, which worries Celestia. Her friends try to call her and she's apparently feeling even worse but she insists that she's just fine and will be back soon.
With her phone in her hand, Sunset thumbed down to Celestia's number. She looked at it, hovering over the name to dial but locked her phone instead.
Though it was probably unfair to the woman, Princess Celestia had not been the mare Sunset needed in her life. It coloured her perception of the principal.
A deep need for love that Sunset held had twisted into ambition once it had become clear that Celestia did not see her as anything more than a bright student. Sunset decided that achievement was the answer, high scores and good marks earning praise that could be a little like love. Her ambition to earn praise, that had started out as seeking a way to make the princess love her, changed. It darkened into an ambition that had turned into a soul-less quest for power. Power meant high marks, high scores, respect and praise. Power was what she had desired as her ambition swallowed everything besides.
Unbidden, her thoughts drove deep into the roiling hurt and deep sadness that had been uncapped when the relentless ambition was burned away. Everything she had shielded herself from, while unwittingly burying all the good in her, was shielded for a reason.
Sunset blinked back tears, being sick was very bad for her emotional state too. She had spent the day in bed but was still exhausted, hungry and thirsty. Sunset took a sparing sip of her water. One bottle hadn't been the best idea after all. But a day of resting would mean she was ready for school in the morning right? She'd be fine.
Yeah, she's still sick the next day, surprise surprise. Her friends tell her that they hope she recovers soon and she considers calling Celestia for help. She doesn't want to be a bother though and winds up falling back asleep to try and sleep away the infection.
Yeah, the next day Sunset hasn't even contacted her friends and they are all very worried about her, I don't blame them for that. Its also at this point that they realize they don't even know where Sunset lives and they realize they should probably go talk to Principal Celestia about it.
The Secretary lets them in to see Celestia who notices that Sunset isn't with them and they're worried that she hasn't answered their calls so they want to ask if Celestia can help them get in contact with her. Celestia of course becomes worried because that's three days where she didn't have food, power, or warmth.
“I'm sorry girls, I can't share her private information, even for friends it is against the rules.” Celestia knew she was shielding them with the useful truth. “I'll also have to check if the student administration has had any calls to register her reason for absence.” That one was a hard lie. Celestia knew full well there would be no logged call, just like she knew that Sunset was right this moment sick and alone.
After the girls leave Celestia contacts Luna and tells her that there's a Sunset related emergency.
Cut back to the modern day Sunset gets punched by Rainbow who isn't happy that she went that long living like that, and Rainbow is even starting to cry. Sunset says that she wasn't in a good place back then, but now everything is okay. She promises that she won't ever do that again, and its a Pinkie promise so she can't break it or she'll be cooked into a cupcake or whatever Human Pinkie does.
On second thought I don't want to know.
“Right.” Sunset nodded. “Now, it is pretty bad to leave it off on that point. No one has come to my rescue and you've not heard the nice stuff. The things that will hopefully make hearing all the sad things before, just a little better.” Rainbow had stopped hugging now, she was sat down by Fluttershy, accepting a little soothing fuss from her life-long friend. Sunset shifted position. “So, someone knew where to find me at least.”
---Chapter 5: Rescue---
Now that the picnic is over the six friends still want to stay and listen to the rest of the story. She says that once they had told Celestia what was going on she had left the school to try and find Sunset. Rarity is also still upset that Sunset had been sick like this and didn't have any way to really get comfortable, so she agrees to tell more of the story.
So we cut to when Celestia is driving to where Sunset lived and she's getting more and more worried about what happened to her as her mind starts to go to some pretty scary places. Thankfully Luna is there with her and she tries to calm her down but given the situation its not very easy.
When they arrive Celestia asks Luna to stay in the car so they can move fast if needed and it looked like Sunset was still there at least. She makes her way into the building that Sunset calls home and finally finds her wrapped in blankets but she's not stirring. Thankfully Sunset is still alive, but she's burning up at this point with a fever.
Then we get this, brief but really nice moment:
“Mom?” Sunset hissed through cracked lips. She sounded confused and exhausted.
That one word tore right through to Celestia's heart. This girl, this child, was suffering all alone with no one to take care of her. That decided things.
Celestia calls Luna up to help with the girl and notices that she doesn't have a lot of water. She gives her what water she can and Luna arrives, Celestia tells her that they need to get the stuff together and bring her home.
Celestia says that Sunset is sick and needs their help, which is again a really nice moment, this is generally just a really good scene that shows just how much Celestia has come to care for Sunset and wants to help her. They take Sunset to the car and Luna drives while Celestia held her close, quietly reassuring her that everything will be alright.
Back in the present day Fluttershy is crying and Sunset tries to reassure her.
“Wait a minute. You're saying that Principal Celestia, our principal, adopted you?” Rainbow said, incredulous.
“Yeah. That is what I was getting to.” Sunset replied, shrugging, nonchalant even if finally revealing all was making her so happy.
“That's fantastic!” Pinkie Pie jumped for joy, confetti randomly appeared in the air. “I'm going to have to throw you a yay you're a mom and daughter party!”
Wow, Pinkie throwing a party, I'm so surprised, I never would've expected her to do that.
Anyway, Sunset says for them to keep it low key because Celestia wants to keep it low key so people don't give Sunset a hard time about it at school. Applejack then asks to know about how Celestia wound up adopting her, so yep, we've got more story to tell.
---Chapter 6: Awake---
So yeah the reveal has actually gone over really well with her friends, but there's no real surprise there. They're happy for Sunset to the point that it almost feels infectious and you get the sense that they really care about what happens to her, its a good start for the chapter and really shows the dynamic these characters have.
Well we still have a little bit before the actual adoption apparently, so lets move on to the next Flashback.
Celestia at the beginning here kind of wishes that Sunset is too sick to see what they had set up for her, but that's honestly pretty understanding that she can't see it. She is obviously still very worried about Sunset. She's watching Sunset while Luna goes to find some help for them, which is again a good scene.
Luna arrives with Redheart who heads over to start working on Sunset. Luna asks if Celestia is okay and she says she's as okay as she can be given the situation.
“I just keep thinking, if I had paid attention to the non-attendance notice on Wednesday, or even yesterday... Maybe she wouldn't be this sick.” she had her arms crossed, grabbing her elbows, another distraction tactic.
So yeah, Celestia is beating herself up over this and its hard to really blame her given what's going on. Luna tells her that it'll be okay because Sunset is a strong kid. Redheart tells them that she has the flu and should get lots of rest and fluids and tells Celestia that she should be seen by a Doctor soon.
Celestia says that she'll get it done as soon as the records are taken care of and Redheart leaves after telling Celestia to take care of her. I was going to use a Simpsons clip here, but I can't find it so moving on. Celestia sits with her and reassures her that she's going to be okay.
When Sunset wakes up again for a moment she thinks she's dreaming given her surroundings. Obviously she's wondering where she is and gets a good look at her surroundings:
She opened her eyes , grimacing at the effort it took. 'Where am I?' Sunset thought to herself. It certainly wasn't her space in the old tram-house. In the dim light she noticed the clean ceiling, the nice bed, the painted walls. There were still a lot of candles around the place though, and opposite where she lay, Sunset could just make out the colourful Rainbooms poster. So wherever she was, someone had made an effort to make her feel at home.
There was a glass of water on the bedside table and a few objects she couldn't really make out. All in all though, it felt safe and it was warm. Somewhere a lot better to wake in than the cold and decrepit building she'd lived in for three years.
Awakening more, Sunset realised something else; a comforting presence was beside her. A hand rested on her arm from someone behind her, it was reassuring to the teen. Shifting a little to look, Sunset gave a hoarse squeak when she saw who it was.
Principal Celestia was sat in a chair beside the bed, her hand outstretched to be in contact with Sunset. She was asleep in the chair, not a comfortable looking position.
It was unexpected to say the least.
Celestia asks if she's okay and she says she's still pretty ill before asking if this is Celestia's house. There's a really nice scene here of Celestia comforting Sunset. She's reminded of her time with Princess Celestia, but she's not afraid of going down the same dark path this time, which again is nice.
“I'm fine...” Sunset said, blushing a little. “It's just, I guess it's all this; being ill and you taking care of me... It is like having a mom again.” The words tumbled out and Sunset had to just let them go. She took another sip of water to quell a coughing fit. “It is making me feel so happy.” Now she was sure her cheeks would be glowing.
It was a surprise then, to see Celestia looking just as pleased. “I'm glad I could help.” The woman turned away and was certainly looking on the dresser counter again. What Sunset didn't know was that Celestia need to regain her composure, she did not want to blurt out her idea all at once and scare the teen away.
When Sunset says that its a nice guest room Celestia says that its not a guest room, which leads to a funny moment where Sunset thinks its Celestia's room. She gives Sunset some water and medicine and tells her to rest some more. Celestia also realizes that she needs to wait to ask her at this point, and yeah right now wouldn't be the best time.
When Sunset wakes up again she's feeling a lot better and gets a look around the room. All and all its pretty nice, and seems to be set up for someone in particular. She heads over to the bathroom and tries to get cleaned up as best she can before Celestia comes in with a bundle of clothes.
Sunset starts to ask a question and Celestia says that its Saturday afternoon and that she may have lost Friday and tells her what happened with her friends. She then adds that she should have called her, Sunset said she thought she'd be okay, but we all saw how that went.
“Teenagers, you think you're invincible.” Celestia sighed. “Anyway, we've had you checked over by Nurse Redheart. You've not had enough to drink after barely having anything for days.” Celestia scolded with that and pulled her hand back.
Reminds me a bit of some stuff from an excellent book called Meg: Primal Waters, but this isn't a review of that.
Celestia gives Sunset a motherly hug and tells her that she hadn't intended to bring her so soon and without her agreement like this. She finally admits that she had gotten the room set up for Sunset to live in, and Sunset seems to like it at least. She even admits that she probably would've agreed to live there and says that she'd like it if it was her room.
“So you want to stay?” Celestia kept herself from being much too overjoyed, her other offer would be too much too fast. That Sunset would be staying here was a load of her mind and heart thought. The girl would be safe and looked after, well fed and living a slightly better life.
“I'd really like too.” Sunset said, shy all of a sudden. She ignored the negative thoughts crowing on about the princess, about the last time she had been taken in. “All this... It is so lovely and I know you want me here, going to all that effort.” She stopped when Celestia hugged her.
“You are most certainly welcome here.” Celestia was smiling and so so happy. She would find the right moment to broach the other subject on her mind. “Now, I'll leave you to freshen up, I'm sure you are looking forward to hot water in a shower.” She chuckled lightly at the very bright expression that crossed Sunset's face.
Yeah, its a good scene and the two are hitting it off really well, you can see why they came together as a family.
The chapter ends back in the present day with Sunset crying a little as she remembers what happened. I think Pinkie sums it up perfectly at this point:
“It's just soooo swee-hee-hee-heet!” Pinkie Pie began blubbering, a little over the top but the party girl always strove for great heights. Her reaction started everyone laughing.
---Final Thoughts---
Well, what all can be said here, its a great fanfic so far and it really does a great job of building up the story of how Sunset got adopted by Celestia.
The characterization is all spot on and you find yourself hoping that Celestia makes it to Sunset on time, even though you kinda know that she will. That's one minor problem I have with this, because Sunset is the one telling the story its kind of a forgone conclusion that Sunset will be okay, but that's fine, its not the point of the scene.
The point of course is that Celestia wants to help Sunset and is worried about what happened to her, which shows her character off perfectly. I love it, and can't recommend this fic more.
Chapter 4 gets a score of 5/5.
Chapter 5 gets a score of 5/5
Chapter 6 gets a score of 5/5.
My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro.
Finding Home belongs to Cirrus Sky.
Next week, we head back to the world of Under Her Wing as I'm trying to wrap this all up.
Video belongs to Hasbro.
good review thoe you didnt talk about how sunset almost died and rainbows reaction to it that shocked sunset of rainhow showing her emotions so openly
I do so love that story. It always tugs at my heartstrings. :) I hope you're enjoying it too.