Author's Notes For AMDQ · 9:00am Mar 28th, 2018
IN WHICH I'VE KEPT A PROMISE TO MYSELF
As many of my loyal readers (you poor schmucks) know, I was barely able to use FimFic for months. I promised myself once I finally bought a new computer, I'd write a story in which Sunset did the same: a fic to inaugurate my new machine. Well, one month after buying my "new" laptop, it's finally ready. I hope you like(d) it.
Before I start with the ranting, I feel I must apologize for dumping 9,500 words on you in one go. For story flow purposes, I felt like it needed to stay intact.
"But wait!" you may be asking, as well you should, "Didn't he publish two stories on Halloween AND his annual Mayor Mare story on January 20th, during his supposed hiatus?" The answer to that question is: Yes. But those required me to drive to the public library and make use of their facilities, which have a time limit (mentioned in this story) and required me leaving my home, which I dislike doing.
This story is one whose basic contours I've had in my head for a long time, as you can imagine.
Originally, I figured this would be a couple thousand words and I could bang it out in about a week and then get back to the Recovery Arc. That's not how it worked out, of course. As I wrote, Sunset decided she would dictate the pace of the story (even though it's technically written from Rarity's POV), and she wanted to spend time showing us her bank credit union and talking to characters I never expected would pop into existence, especially not with rudimentary backstories and motivations. In the end, it topped out at over 9500 words. My OCD being what it is, I changed bits here and there so it would be exactly 9500. This is my longest one-shot by far. Hopefully it'll stay that way.
With the change in the way FimFic's word-counter works, several of my stories that used to have nice round word counts no longer do. I think my next goal once I finish the Recovery Arc will be to go back and "fix" those stories to make the word counts even again.
As I mentioned in the long description, this story references the Burritoverse directly and the Recovery Arc indirectly, being yet another story that proves those two hot messes share the same continuity. Whether you consider THIS story canon to either is up to you, as it is a side story that has no bearing on the plots (such as they are) of either. It DOES, however, introduce a couple of elements that have always been canon to that universe but you may not have known it. Most notably: Sunset has a literal treasure trove of gold that she brought over from Equestria. That's how she can afford things when she's in between jobs. But, like me, she keeps herself on a very tight financial leash and would rather let her phone get cut off than access her considerable savings – each of those Bits weighs at least one troy ounce, based on how big they look in the series. The price of gold on the commodities exchange was ~$1380/tr.oz when I looked it up during writing. That means she has, at minimum, a quarter million Bux worth of gold stockpiled, probably much more.
The above paragraph is not terribly important to Recovery/Burrito, but it will become VERY important once I start publishing the parallel set of AU stories where Apple Bloom finally appears.
As is my wont, there are at least a few references sprinkled throughout the story. Can you find them all? Let me know.
"Radio Row" is based on a real place that used to exist in Lower Manhattan during the first half of the 20th century, centered on Greenwich and Cortlandt streets just west of the Financial District. It was where New Yorkers went to buy televisions and radios and stuff. The entire area was razed in the mid-60s to make way for the World Trade Center complex.
Since no one was willing to help me on a title for this story, I came up with one myself. Both the main title and subtitle riff on A Midsummer Night's Dream (the chapter title is a line from Act2, Scene1 of the play). I figured it was fitting since, once again, I focus way too much on Rarity's unrequited love for Sunset, and of course the story takes place around the time of the Summer Solstice. Goddamn I'm pretentious. But at least I'm willing to admit it.
Oh! And we finally learn the name of the second jacket Sunset bought back at the beginning of the Recovery Arc: Rachel. Rachel, named after a friend of mine from high school, is her fourth jacket and, aside from an inner lining, is almost identical to Sasha (her third), which are both close in style to… her second, from EQG1, named Heather (fitting). I have named her very first jacket and know what happened to it, but you'll have to wait to learn that. Her jackets from EQG3/4 and the series don't have names yet. Since none of that is canon to my Sunsetverse, I may or may not bother.
Given that I'm publishing this in the middle of the night 'Murica time (mid-morning Europe time) on a Wednesday, who knows if anyone will actually read it. Maybe maybe not. I've not had much luck with people actually reading my stories lately. I do at least still have my two loyal followers who for some reason enjoy any words I barf onto the interwebs. Thank you as always. Your emotional support really does keep me going.
Anyway, that's all I can come up with for now. I hope you enjoyed this story. It may not be perfect, but I enjoyed writing it, which I suppose is what really matters in the grand scheme of things. I hope to see you again in my next fic.
Peace out.
Looking forward to giving this new story a read. Also that Profile page of yours is going to need a slight adjustment now.
Good stuff! Besides, you kept me past my biological 3-minute attention span, which means the 9500 words weren't wasted, I think. Also love the way Sunset acts older and in a... cartoonish but believable way. (Also mad world depth you got here. That's pretty nice in my books)
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World-building is my crack. It's why my favourite anime of all time is The Twelve Kingdoms. Also I love maps.
I cut out a LOT in the middle of the story -- I had a paragraph each describing all four buildings around the square -- I even researched the various architecture styles of each one to make sure I had terms right -- then some time describing the space in the middle; I couldn't decide whether I wanted a park with or without trees or a paved area like the Zócalo or Tiananmen. I wanted to describe the look of the train station, why the tracks are elevated rather than at ground level, that there's a "wrong side of the tracks" part of the city, and so on.
The reason I cut that stuff out is actually because it would be redundant. ALL of those things will be mentioned in future stories, notably the next Recovery entry, which involves Sunset walking to that square maybe -- It's a long walk: several city blocks each way. There may be another square or park closer in that she goes to on her daily constitutionals though.
Funny thing, you actually mentioned the name in the prologue of "Reconciliations"! Just a few lines above the scooter name that, apparently, was different back then. I wonder if it wasn't quite intended?