Sunday, PM: The Silent Wings You'll Fly Away On
Sunday, PM: The Silent Wings You’ll Fly Away On
As unicorn and earth pony stood among roses and headstones, Sunset Shimmer stared at her host in ever-increasing disbelief. It wasn’t every day a pony learned that the existence of werewolves was one of Equestria’s most closely guarded secrets. First created by King Sombra one thousand years ago, the blight that was the werewolf curse lingered throughout the ages. Lycanthropes lurked in the shadows of the history books for a millenium.
As Applejack went on to explain, her parents had both been infected and subsequently murdered by a pair of werewolves. But what caused Sunset’s mouth to drop open was the reveal that Applejack herself had been afflicted by the very same curse, passed on to her by the very same werewolf that did her parents in. Seeing Sunset’s wide-eyed expression, Applejack laughed.
“Don’ worry, I ain’t a werewolf anymore. I’m cured. Twice in fact,” she said.
“Okay, this is fascinating and all, but I don’t really see what werewolves have to do with anything that’s happened recently,” Sunset said, letting out a breath now that she was relatively sure Applejack wouldn’t maul her come the next full moon.
“It’s why the girls an’ I put so much trust in Razz,” Applejack glanced over at the pair of marble headstones. “If it weren’t for her, there might be more graves out here.”
“Does this have to do with the incident on Nightmare Night a year ago?”
Applejack nodded. “Eeyup. The same night Razz was exposed for what she really was, she managed to save Apple Bloom from another werewolf; an undead one at that. Turns out my sister was havin’ a hairy problem of her own. One she’d contracted from me somehow.
“In the end, Razz was able to use her dark magic to cure everypony of lycanthropy for good. She even quite literally risked life and limb to stop that undead werewolf once and for all!”
That would explain the leg brace, thought Sunset, still feeling some guilt over nearly breaking Raspberry’s leg completely.
“As you can guess, I feel I owe Razz a lot for everything she did,” Applejack’s gaze grew distant, and all of a sudden she seemed to be reliving it all over again. “Being a werewolf was hard. I suddenly had all of these… urges to do things I would never have even considered as a regular pony. What was worse, I was afraid to let my friends and family know about that side of me. Do you know what that’s like? To hide such a big part of yourself from those closest to you?”
Seeing that Applejack was working herself up, Sunset gave her a reassuring smile. “More than you know.”
Applejack managed to return her smile. “Of course, I coulda saved myself a lotta trouble if I’d just come out with the truth right away. Word of advice: honesty is the best policy!”
Sunset’s smile started to crumble. If only it were that easy, AJ. The two mares stood quietly in the patch of roses for some time after. Applejack stared at the two marble headstones with a distant look.
“Hey, Sunset?” Applejack asked, finally breaking the silence. “Do you know them? Their human versions, I mean.”
“Oh. Um, not really; I met them the last time I slept over at AJ’s place. But I’ve talked to your human counterpart, and…”
“How are they?” Applejack asked, suddenly turning to look at Sunset with a face full of fragility. To see the hard exterior of the pony version of her friend start to crack was jarring. “They doin’ well?”
Sunset thought about Applejack’s parents back in the human world. She knew that Applejack’s mother was in a wheelchair because of the accident, and that for a long time she held herself responsible for the death that it caused. But she also remembered the time Applejack visited her at the Sugarcube Corner Cafe to tell her about her mother’s meeting with the victim’s wife.
“They’ve moved on from the car crash,” Sunset said. “They’re doing well.”
Applejack smiled, and her eyes glistened a little. “Good.” She then chuckled a bit. “Did you say ‘car?’”
“Yeah, why?”
Applejack just chuckled some more before glancing back in the direction of the barn. “Nothin’. Jus’ a funny coincidence.”
Sensing there was a story there, Sunset smiled. “Care to elaborate?”
“I’ll do ya one better,” Applejack said, turning toward the barn. “Follow me.”
“Oh, wow, um…” stammered Cadence as she watched Raspberry and Twilight levitate the ancient mirror out of her safehouse. “That is most certainly Sombra’s magic I can feel from that thing.”
“Cady….” groaned Shining Armor.
“What? I’m not going to throw myself at it like I did with Sombra’s little sanctuary back in the castle!”
“Smart decision,” said Razz, whose focus was mostly directed on the mirror she was moving out into the square. “The connection through this mirror to its human counterpart is distorted enough as it is, the last thing anypony needs is for you to make it worse.”
“Um, is moving it out of there really a good idea?” asked Luna, nervously eyeing the engraved gem representing her corrupted self. “After all, while I don’t mean to suggest fault on your part, Raspberry, but even you have said this mirror isn’t functioning to its full capacity. Thus I must question the thought process behind taking it out of its containment.”
“Nothing is going to come through it, if that’s what you’re worried about, Princess Luna,” grunted the dark magic expert as she set the mirror down in the middle of the decaying town square. The ancient relic now served as the centerpiece to the rest of the old capital’s ruins. “In fact, it’s going to be a one-way ride for whoever goes through this next.”
“But you’re sure Sunset will make it through okay?” Twilight inquired, a touch of concern in her voice.
“Yes, she will. Really, the mirror will function exactly as it will need to. In fact,the only reason I wanted it brought out was so everypony can see Sunset off.” While what Raspberry had said was true, for anypony larger than Twilight couldn’t fit in the ancient cottage, it was clear to all those present she’d meant Celestia above all others.
“Do you know how much longer Sunset has before she misses her window?” abruptly asked Celestia, clearly nervous despite her best attempts to keep up a facade of calm.
“At least several more hours, so there’s plenty of time for Rarity to come back with the others and for all of us to say our goodbyes. It won’t matter if Sunset went through now, or at the last possible second - trust me on that.“
Whatever the unicorn was going to say next was interrupted by the sound of multiple ponies approaching. Twilight looked down the old street to see four of her friends approaching.
“Hey, girls. I trust you had no problems getting here?” Twilight greeted.
“No,” Rarity answered. “As much as I hate to say it, we’ve all become quite familiar with this wretched forest.”
“And do you all have your letters?”
This question was met with much more enthusiastic nods from the four ponies.
“I gave my counterpart all kinds of pointers to help her be more awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hovering in place. A contemplative frown brought her back to the ground. “Based on what Sunset told me, she’s going to need them.”
“Where is Sunset, anyway?” Twilight asked, before noticing only four of her friends were present. “For that matter, where’s Applejack?”
“I think Applejack asked Sunset over to the farm early this morning,” Fluttershy said. “I saw them going towards the barn where they keep that truck thing stored.”
“Really? What does Applejack want with Sunset?” asked Shining.
Rarity shrugged slightly. “I think we can make a good guess.”
The next fifteen minutes were the bumpiest and most uncomfortable quarter hour Sunset Shimmer ever had. The lack of seatbelts had been an early warning sign, but evidently the truck also lacked a suspension system designed to handle off-roading.
“Yeeeee-hah!” shouted Applejack, who was actually enjoying this much to Sunset’s shock. “Normally Ah don’t drive this thing around, but this is sort of like one of those fancy whirlin’ ride machines they have at the county fair!”
“Y-y-y-ou don’t sa-a-a-a-ay!” stammered Sunset, her entire body reverberating from trying to secure herself to the seat. To say that when the truck stopped, it couldn’t have come soon enough for the rattled unicorn, who actually didn’t realize it was stationary until five minutes after it had stopped moving.
“You alright there, sugarcube?” chuckled Applejack.
“Let’s not do that again, please?” was all Sunset could say in response.
“Fair enough, though it’s yer loss.”
Sunset ignored the suggestion such a thing as the last fifteen or twenty minutes could be considered fun enough to do again, instead concentrating more on keeping herself upright. It felt awkward to her having to experience all her limbs rendered into jelly, given she’d felt the same as a human after her first time riding with human Applejack in her family’s delivery van. I can’t believe I forgot Applejack drives like a wannabe NASCAR racer!
As her legs gradually returned to normal, Sunset took in the sights around her. When she’d first arrived, she’d beat a hasty exit towards Ponyville, the only thing on her mind being to end whatever was hurting Twily. But now she had the chance to marvel at the decrepit ancient capital, which looked majestic and grand even though its prime had been centuries ago. What had once been common pony homes now lay as broken shells, surrounding the half-hollowed remains of Castle Everfree.
And then she saw the the mirror standing in the center of town square, with all the ponies around it.
“Ah, here’s the pair we’ve been waiting for!” announced Raspberry. “Took you two long enough, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, yeah, if yer gonna blame somepony, blame it on me!” retorted Applejack. “Thought Ah’d take the chance to have a little talk with Sunset so she understands what we were all bein’ so secretive about.”
“And you brought the truck?” asked Rarity, eyebrow raised. “We could hear the screaming from here.”
“Ah, she loved it!” laughed the farmer, reaching over and dragging Sunset into a surprise side hug. Rarity paid more attention to the furious shaking of Sunset’s head indicating the truck ride had been anything but “loveable” to her.
“So,” interrupted Cadence. “This is the mare who was causing Twilight so much trouble last year?” Sunset immediately paled, realizing who was speaking…or rather who her human counterpart was. While Sunset had never seen Cadence in court, she most likely was about to find out what it was like to be at the wrong side of her wrath.
“Sheesh, at this rate Cady’s looking more like the protective big sibling than you, Shiny,” snarked Twilight. “Though, I think Sunset has both of you beaten on that front.”
“Hey!” angrily retorted the one male in the assembled group, “Twilight is perfectly capable of protecting herself. Cadence, though, is the one who constantly needs saving.” He then gave a smug look to his wife, getting a chuckle out of everypony except her.
“Oh, ha ha,” said Cadence in a falsetto laugh, before leaning in close to Shining to whisper, “I’m totally making you pay for that later.”
"With interest, I'd imagine," Shining said flippantly, before he paused in thought. A second later, he added, "You are joking, right?"
Cadance just fixed him with an even look.
"Oh. I'm in trouble now, aren't I?"
"Yes, dear."
"Couchable offense?"
"For the whole week, dear."
Shining sighed. "Crap."
Everypony else laughed again.
“Though speaking of ponies in trouble,” said Celestia, suddenly fixing Sunset with a cautionary glare. “Twilight mentioned something to me about you showing off your human form to a few ponies.”
Oh shit! thought Sunset, having forgotten all about the moment she’d unintentionally transformed in front of Lyra, Sandalwood, and Octavia. How did Twilight find out about that?
“Lyra and Sandalwood are probably the two most trustworthy ponies in Ponyville outside of my friends,” Twilight explained, figuring out what Sunset was thinking. “Octavia, though, is another story.”
“Rest assured, we explained the situation to her, and Miss Melody has agreed to an oath of silence on the matter. In light of that, and the care you have otherwise put into keeping your secret, I’m willing to let the incident slide this time,” Celestia stated, allowing Sunset to relax. It was then that Celestia’s stern demeanor dropped away. “However, I must ask: can you do it again?”
Sunset blinked. “C-come again?”
“I don’t want to make any unreasonable demands of you, Sunset, but I would like to see the form you’ve chosen to take in your new life directly, not through a mirror.”
Murmurs of interest and curiosity sprouted up, to which Sunset had no choice. “Uh, I can try, though that previous time was an accident.”
“Surely your magic hasn’t decayed that fast, has it?” Luna commented with a smirk.
With an annoyed huff, Sunset fired up her horn, intending to prove the night princess wrong. The problem was, as Sunset proceeded with the spell, she found it harder to deny the truth: her magic was definitely weaker than it was when she first left Equestria all that time ago. Like before, she felt her magic begin to go elsewhere when she began casting the spell, but she was ready for it this time. Even so, holding on to so much unstable magic was incredibly daunting, and Sunset gritted her teeth as her head started to throb.
But a few moments later, the spell was complete, and Sunset stood on two legs again, panting from exhaustion. A glance at Sombra’s mirror indicated she was wearing the same clothes as she had when she left the human world, and she even had her proper skin tone this time. She was pure, one hundred percent human.
“Wow!” remarked Pinkie. “You’re really tall!” Indeed, Sunset in her human body towered over everypony else, with Celestia being eye level with Sunset for the first time ever. Curiosity taking over, Celestia took a step forward and cautiously raised a hoof, putting it on Sunset’s cheek.
“Yeah, it kinda sucks not having fur to keep me warm,” admitted Sunset. Celestia didn’t hear, too busy looking her former student over in her adopted body, which after a few seconds made Sunset feel uncomfortable.
“And what about you, Twilight?” Celestia asked. “Would you mind as well?” Without even answering, Twilight charged her horn, ready to cast a shapeshifting spell.
“Um...no offense, Twilight,” Sunset said in a choked voice, “but I’d rather you didn’t. It...it would be too painful for me right now.”
Seeing the flicker of pain in Sunset’s eyes, Twilight nodded, dissipating the spell. “I understand. You must really miss her right now.”
“She’s my sister,” Sunset replied. No more needed to be said. The fragility on the human girl’s face was clear as day. It was proof enough that the Sunset Shimmer that stood before the group of ponies now really had changed. Even Rainbow Dash would agree that she wasn’t a bad person after all.
“Sunset…” Celestia started, looking at the girl uneasily. “I know things have been… difficult between us. Thus, it would be completely within your right to say ‘no’ to what I would ask of you. Nevertheless, I want you to at least hear me out.”
Sunset nodded slowly. “Okay…” Sunset’s apprehensiveness was fueled only by Celestia’s own. Such nervous uncertainty was unlike her. Sunset was the one who had cruelly betrayed her. So why does she look so guilty?
“It has recently come to my attention that there may be more linking our two worlds than it might appear,” Celestia began.
Raspberry took the opportunity to step forward. “The connection between Sombra and Calvacanti’s mirrors is distorted. Something or someone traded places between the two worlds. Permanently. Sunset, we must know: have you seen any indication that you aren’t the first pony to take on a human life?”
“Yes,” Sunset answered gravely. “I didn’t mention anything earlier because I have no solid evidence to go on, but I think an ancient musician called Musica Allegra might have been a transplanted pony. I would have looked into it more, but my priorities shifted once Twily started having her nightmares.”
“I would like you to resume that line of investigation when you return,” Celestia said, maintaining a carefully guarded demeanor. Too carefully guarded. “Additionally, I would like you to be the eyes and ears of Equestria in the human world.”
“Wait, whoa whoa whoa,” Sunset exclaimed, waving her hands back and forth. “Are you saying you want me to spy on humanity? On my own family?!”
“Spy isn’t exactly the right word,” Celestia said carefully. “‘Evaluate’ is more what I had in mind. You see, despite our current theory regarding Allegra, you are the first known pony to have integrated into human society. Thus, you are in the ideal position to evaluate whether Equestria should… reach out to them.”
Sunset nodded, beginning to understand where this was going. "You mean, First Contact?"
"First Contact?" Sunset explained what the term meant and as soon as she was done, Celestia nodded. "Well, I wouldn't think it so dramatic...just don't expect me to play a xylophone at this 'Devil's Tower' place."
“And this wouldn’t prevent me from living my life as I’ve come to know it?”
“All you’d need to do is just send letters and stuff,” cut in Twilight. “We’ve found a way to remove the time lock on Platinum’s mirror. As long as you retain control of Equestrian magic, you should be able to step through any time you want. Additionally, I found a spell that Star Swirl created. One that supposedly allows for communication across the borders of reality without the need of going back and forth through a portal. He called it a ‘dragonfire candle’, so I made one for you. It’s in here.” Twilight then levitated a bag that had been tucked out of sight and flew it over to Sunset.
“Regardless of whether or not you accept this responsibility,” said Celestia, “I had Rarity make these saddlebags for you so that no matter where you go, you’ll have more means to support yourself then you did the first time you left.”
Sunset blushed, then opened the bag. Immediately, she could detect the powerful magic within. “Subspace storage?” she said, surprised that something requiring such a rare magic was being given to her as a gift. In her hooves was a bag that was magically enchanted to have an infinite ability to hold anything. Just looking at it wouldn’t suggest anything more than a typical pouch, but if it could fit through the opening, the only limit to what could be carried was the strength of the user, as the combined weight of all the items inside still applied. Such bags were of course normally banned for the ease of which they could be used to hide dangerous materials, but for Celestia to have such a thing made for her? It suggested that the princess had an incredible sense of faith in her former student. “I...I’m not even sure I know what to do with portable hammerspace.”
“Hammerspace?” Twilight asked, curious.
“It’s a...human term for the same thing.” And I really am not in the mood to explain the cultural values of Ranma ½ right now, the flamehaired girl mentally added.
“Regardless, you may have need of it,” Celestia said, “and I cannot think of anypony I could trust more with it.”
“I…I don’t know what to say…” Sunset said, rummaging through the bag with her magic. She found the dragonfire candle that Twilight mentioned, along with several sealed envelopes. “ Wait, why are there a bunch of letters in here?”
“Oh, those?” answered Rarity. “We all decided to write letters to our counterparts!”
“Er, I never told them thatthey have pony counterparts,” pointed out Sunset “Honestly, I think they’re still kind of getting used to being friends with just one unicorn.”
“Well, in that case,” said Rarity, “we’ll leave it in your hooves to decide the proper time to give the letters to them.”
“And please, Sunset,” began Celestia again, “regardless of whether you agree to my request, I would like you to keep in touch with me. I believe it would be beneficial for us to stay in contact. We both made the mistake of not talking to one another and I don’t wish for a repeat of where that landed us years ago.”
“It’s okay, Princess. I can keep an eye on the human world for you,” Sunset replied after some thought. “It’s the least I can do after all I’ve done. Besides, I’m already keeping the truth about my origins from my family,” Sunset tried to give a light-hearted smile, but it just looked forced. “What’s one more secret?”
Oddly enough, Sunset could see no joy in Celestia’s expression at her answer. Only grim resignation. “Very well. I suppose that brings us to the heart of the issue.”
Looking around, Sunset spotted the same uncertain looks on the other princesses as Celestia. “What’s do you mean?” Sunset asked.
“Sunset, haven’t you ever wondered why your magic has been far weaker ever since you first left Equestria?”
Sunset gave Celestia a quizzical look. “Well… the human world doesn’t have Equestrian magic, right?”
“Normally that’s true. However, when Twilight used the Element of Magic to defeat you, it should have filled the human world with enough Equestrian magic to bring you back to your full power.”
Sunset was silent for a moment. “So… why didn’t it?”
“For the same reason your magic hasn’t been working fully since you arrived back,” Celestia explained, barely meeting Sunset’s eyes. “Sunset, I... I stole your magic!”
A second passed. Then another. “...Um, what?”
“More specifically, I bound your magic; cut you off from most of your reserve. It’s something I must do sometimes with young ponies whose magic is too great for them to control.”
“She did it to me the day after I passed my entrance exam,” Twilight added. “I had turned my parents into potted plants during the exam, so it was good that she did. Of course, my parents gave their consent, but since it looks like this is the first you’ve heard of this…”
Sunset looked at her former mentor in disbelief. “When… when did you do this?”
Celestia just sighed. “The day you first left. I had been aware of your mad ambitions, and hoped that binding your magic would keep you from trying anything dangerous with it. You wouldn’t have even noticed unless you tried any really advanced magic. I was going to tell you later that night, but… well, I’m sure you remember how that went.”
Sunset didn’t know how to feel. A small part of her felt betrayed and angry that Celestia had taken such an integral part of herself without telling her. But on the other hand, Sunset knew she had more than earned it.
“Don’t worry about it, Princess,” Sunset said with a smile. “Water under the bridge and all that, right?”
Celestia returned her smile and took a step forward. “Now the time has come for you to regain the power you are meant to have, Sunset,” said the alabaster alicorn. Celestia’s horn shone brightly, as blinding as the sun, before she lowered it and touched its tip to Sunset’s forehead. In an instant, Sunset felt every atom in her body ignite with power, washing over every single speck of her existence. Had she been the Sunset Shimmer who had wanted this power, she surely would have wasted no time in plotting to abuse it. But now? This was just allowing her to use magic as a mere tool for her needs when they arose. And she smiled, for it was not power that brought her happiness now, but the idea she could protect those that made her happy.
Just as quickly as it had started, the moment ended, and it was as if nothing had happened. But Sunset knew the truth. This was her second chance. Celestia was taking a big risk in relying upon her former student, one who had committed acts of borderline treason. But that was because she believed Sunset had become the pony she was meant to be after having shed the skin of the cruel, selfish individual she’d been turned into. “Thank you, Princess,” said Sunset, her eyes watering, “I won’t fail you this time. I’ll make you proud of me.”
“As cheesy as it sounds,” admitted Celestia, “you’ve already made me very proud.”
Taking a step toward Sunset, Celestia spread her wings and wrapped her former pupil in an embrace, holding her tighter than she had when she first took the small filly home from the orphanage. “I should have told you this so many times, so long ago, but…” Celestia’s voice trembled. “I love you, Sunset. You’re the daughter I could never have.”
“And you’re like a mother to me, Celestia,” Sunset replied, only barely holding herself together.
“All this time, I thought of Celestia as a second mother,” Twilight muttered as she and the others watched the pair hold each other. “But I never realized: Celestia was Sunset’s only mother.”
Celestia pulled back as something Sunset said then clicked. “Like a mother?”
Sunset looked down. It was something that had been on her mind since she and Celestia reconciled the other day. “I’ll never forget the role you played in my life, Princess. You’ll always have a very important place in my heart. But my family’s in the human world. Twilight Velvet is my mother now.”
“I see….” Now it was Celestia who looked at the ground, and for a moment Sunset was afraid she’d broken her heart all over again. Instead, the princess gave her a teary smile and another soft embrace. “Good. I’m glad you’ve found people who love you like I do.” Despite her words, Celestia held on a little longer, unable to let go just yet, and Sunset felt the princess’ tears on her hair and face.
“Ahem?” interrupted Raspberry. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I would like to shut this mirror portal down as soon as possible and if you keep dragging this teary moment out, Sunset’s never gonna leave,” Raspberry then dropped the serious tone and gave the pair a warm smile. “Besides, you know this isn’t goodbye.”
“She’s right, you have finished your business here in Equestria, and it is time for you to go.”
Sunset nodded, and turned to face the mirror, looking confidently at the human girl shown in its reflection.
“I’ll keep a grip on it from here,” said Raspberry, lighting up her horn in its dark magic fog for emphasis. “Come hell or highwater, you’re going home. Though...I’d recommend changing back to normal, so there’s no chance of latent magic interfering.”
“But I am as norm…oh.” Sunset blushed slightly as she realized her faux-pas. Fortunately, nopony gave her grief on it, and a second later, as Sunset returned to the form she’d been born in, there was nothing but smiles all around. “Better?”
“Yeah.” Raspberry stated, before her ears suddenly pointed up. “Oh! There’s something I forgot to mention. There may have been a slight… temporal discrepancy when you came through the mirror at the beginning of the week.”
Sunset tilted her head. “Will it be a problem?”
“Nope. In fact…”
“Good,” the maize unicorn interrupted, anxious to get back home. She then turned to see everypony else watching. “Thank you, everybo-no, everypony. This week’s been one hell of a ride, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world… both of them!” With one last smile, the unicorn turned to the mirror and leapt right into it.
“Phew!” exclaimed a distinctly Ozark-accented voice. “That thing was heavier than it looked!”
“You can say that again!” agreed an equally exhausted chirpy tone. “Sunset made it look so easy when she used her magic hands!”
“Let’s just hope we’ll see those hands again, with the rest of her in tow,” said a third, quiet note. All those who had seen Sunset jump through a mirror into what she had described as almost certain death voiced agreements that they hoped their friend – or in the case of Celestia and Luna, their friend’s daughter – would return soon.
But no sooner than had the last of them turned their backs to the mirror, than did it emit a bright light.
“What in the-“ sputtered Applejack, turning with the rest of the humans to see what was going on. Her jaw dropped at the sight, as did the rest of the group. Fluttershy almost screamed, but quick action by Pinkie muffled the chiffon-haired girl in time. After all, they didn’t want to alert anybody else in the museum to the mirror’s self-illumination. Or the dark, translucent tendrils emerging from its back that seemed to wrap themselves around the protective screen in front of the mirror.
But when it looked like the ghostly appendages were going to easily crush the pane, they instead lifted it up as if it were a feather. There was now nothing between the humans and the mirror, letting them see its surface unobstructed. To their further surprise, the shape of what looked like a unicorn seemed to be approaching them. Only, as it drew closer, its shape began to twist and morph, until finally it no longer resembled a unicorn but instead…
“S-Sunset?” stammered Rarity, as the red-and-yellow haired girl stepped out of the mirror, looking exactly like she had when she had gone through the mirror, except for the addition of a backpack she’d somehow gained.
“Oh, hi, everyone!” happily greeted Sunset, who then looked up and saw the pane of bulletproof plastic being held above her head by dark forces. “Oh, better let Razz put that back down,” she said to herself, walking forward to rejoin the group and turning to watch as the mirror’s appendages gently lowered the screen until it was back in place. As the tendrils retreated back into the mirror, one of them seemed to wave to Sunset as it sunk back into the ancient looking glass, to which the girl waved back.
“Okay, what the fuck just happened?” asked Rainbow, voicing everybody’s confusion over Sunset’s sudden return. “Like, we barely had enough time to move that thing before you show back up and the mirror is suddenly your bestest buddy or something!”
“Good to see you, too, Dash,” laughed Sunset, before being promptly assaulted by a Pinkie hug. “And everybody else as well.” Sunset’s eyes narrowed suspiciously as she realized what was wrong with this picture. “Wait, what are you all even still doing here? Don’t tell me you’ve been waiting for me all week!”
“A-all week?” Fluttershy trembled.
“Sugarcube, you’ve only been gone for about five minutes!” Applejack exclaimed.
At this, Sunset looked over at the mirror and gave it a knowing grin. “Temporal discrepancy, huh?”
“Regardless, we’re just glad that you’re back safe and sound, Sunset darling,” Rarity said.
“Indeed, you have no idea how relieved I am Luna and I don’t need to explain to your mother that you’re actually a horse-like alien,” said Celestia.
“Ooh! I bet you have some crazy stories of your adventures in Ponyland!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Did you make peace with your mentor? Did you make cupcakes with a pony that kinda looks like me? Did you do battle with a pony that kinda looks like a dark version of you?!?!”
“Lower your voice, Pinkie,” Rainbow stated calmly, grabbing the bubbly girl’s arms, effectively stopping their windmill-like rotations.
“I’ll explain everything later, but I’m happy to report that I managed to figure out what was hurting Twily. My sister’s nightmares are finally at an end.” Sunset knew her own problems weren’t quite over, however. There was always the risk of the real Sunset Shimmer returning to find another having taken up her abandoned identity. There was the chance somebody would discover she was really a pony with magic powers. She still needed to uncover the true depths of the connection between the human world and Equestria. And of course there was the most problematic issue of all: summer school.
But to that, Sunset just smiled. She could handle those problems. Bring what they may, she knew that she stood strong with her friends and family; she had a foundation to stand on. She wasn’t Sunset Shimmer, the angry pony whose own ego had nearly cost her everything. She was Sunset Shimmer, the child of two worlds, and she had every reason to take pride in what she had accomplished.
TO BE CONCLUDED
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*breathing intensifies*
Awesome update! Cannot wait for the next book. I also Eagerly look forward to the day Sunset tells her family about her real past should be quite interesting to say the least
Anyways keep up the AWESOME work
Oh great, even more exposition! Shining's been exiled to the couch, ouch. Sunset's had her magic restrained for years? Well, the time distortion solved that whole problem nicely. I wonder what will happen next?! Keep it up you two!
This has been a great ride, BB! I'll be watching Shinzakura for Book 3!
Not just a ponytale, but a drug!
This is what I get for listening to Kaito and Miku's Canterella...
I assume Shinzakura will release "Seven Days in Sunnny June- Book 3" on Wednesday with in the next month or so?
I can hardly wait for the next installment.
Oh, you little timey-wimey stuff, you!
Sunset Shimmer loves summer school, doesn't she?
The first book in the series was a delightful romp through Sunset’s human life with plenty of suspense, action, character development, and an entertaining plot as she found her place in the new world, ending on a promise of a future fic that would be just as good.
This fic kills that promise and spits in our face while giving us the middle finger.
Sunset becomes stupid, slow, and completely inept while sitting on her ass for days while she believes Twily is going to kill herself.
But on top of that, from chapter 2 on, this whole thing is the most hated thing in all of television: the clip show. The entirety of the plot could have been handled in three chapters with Sunset arriving, meeting Celestia, and then talking to Raz when Princess Celestia asked about what was going on. Instead, we get an extra ten weeks that is nothing but the author trying to shove his other fics down the reader’s throats with pages and pages of exposition op top of fake-outs, nonsensical guilt-tripping with Sunset over actions she's more than gotten past, and chapter after chapter of unneeded dialogue that served no point whatsoever.
Do better Shinzuka, I know you can.
5202018
Excuse me?
Yes, because your criticisms about how that story was being handled - written in a similar manner to this one, I might add - ultimately mean nothing now compared to this?
No, it's not "our", it's your, because really you are the only one so far after both books have finished that's been this vocal. If this was as bad as you keep saying it is and your really are speaking for the collective, then wouldn't other people be complaining as well?
Yes, because immediately trying to kill Razz without being 100% sure couldn't possibly go wrong, since Sunset simply would know from the get-go if it actually was Razz, right?
Because you clearly seem ignorant of the fact that even though it was Razz, the whole thing was completely unintentional and had Sunset killed Razz then things would have been worse as Razz was the only one who could also solve the problem because of her expertise with dark magic.
Slice of Life, ever heard of it?
I'm sorry, has this whole thing been you doing nothing but effectively ranting against my role in this co-authored story because you don't like him working with me? YOU are the one who has made it sound like slogging through books 1 and 2 are somehow monumental challenges, but at no point was it ever required of you to keep reading.
So don't come in here and insult me by saying I am an inferior author who Shinzakura should not be associating with or whatever you implied by that, and that he can do better, because nobody gave you the power to judge who he should or should not work with. If you have a problem with Book 2, then at least say as such in the form of critical comments so that I - the one who actually wrote it - can better improve my work, instead of just outright spitting in my face and declaring you think I'm not good enough for working with somebody else.
5202018
You also have to remember that were it not for those stories, 7DSJ wouldn't exist to begin with. It was originally meant to be a sidestory in the overall Berylverse, and it was only when I liked the idea (and felt I owed Blue a huge debt for all the editing he's done for me) that I felt we could space this out into a three book subseries.
Though we've been working on this together, it's very fair to point out that he's been the driving impetus, and he has overall say in the story, being his universe. Just as Lost Weekend played in my AAG Saga and I had the final call, it's reversed here. Anything I've done, I've cleared with him, but it's been his overall call. That being said, many of the things that have happened in B1 and 2 (and in the upcoming 3) have been at my behest or suggestion, so I'm likely the one to take the blame on it.
To single him out for going on a "side journey" for a story that was initially meant as such is patently unfair.
Well, it looks like Sunset has finally put to rest some of her lingering issues from Equestria. As for her power up and the time limit being removed from Platinum's Mirror, I'm betting on something happening that causes Ponies and Humans to find out about each other more generally. Chekhov's Gun, and all that.
We're Ponyz an' we was made ta friend an' win!
This was a nice conclusion to this part of the story. I'm really looking forward to part III.
One thought did occur to me though. If Sunny can now assume a human form in Equestrian, does that mean she could probably do the reverse in the human world, now that her magic isn't bound perhaps?
Overall I really liked how you handled this part of the tale, especially the Cellestia and Sunset interactions. That played out a lot like I was expecting mostly, but was still very satisfying. I have a tendency to get hypercritical of myself at times, and that can triple around mentors/teachers so I can totally relate to all of Sunny's fears before coming back. Seeing the resolution to those fears about Celestia is great.
Also on another note. You did a good job of structuring the narrative here. I came into this without having read the other stories with Raz (doing that now), however I didn't feel at all like that was an issue. I'm spoiled a bit on the other stories now, but aside from that I think not reading them might have enhanced my reading of this story a little.
Since I didn't already know the details of the big secret everyone was mum about, it allowed me as a reader to get even more into Sunset's head. It made her suspicions to seem that much more plausible because like her I didn't know what was going on, the the whole secret also them seemed that much more suspicious because of it.
You're not telling? What, not even a hint?
Seriously, I'm really enjoying this tale, so I'll be watching for the conclusion.
5205810
Actually, I think this time he's letting everybody off easy and making you wait a month while teasing everybody with pics found during the several months it took for planning 7DSJ.
5202018 Dude, shut up.
5205842
Actually, no, I'm doing that and planning to put the heaviest encryption legally available on the first chapter for everyone's entertainment.
5206311
What? I can’t say that a bad fic is bad?
And it is, the fact that it’s attached to one of the best SS fics out there only makes it even worse. He got the ball handed off to him, and fumbled it badly in terms of plot, characters and resolution.
The fact that it slaughters the intelligence of half the cast while acting as little more than bait for the rest of Blue Bastard’s stuff makes it disgusting. They spend more than half the fic talking about what happened in another fic that could have been easily glossed over with a paragraph of exposition as it has nothing to do with what’s going on. Instead, we get it shoved down our throats. If I had been interested enough to read it, I would have.
Yeah Shizukara put that post about this being his universe and collaboration and all that, but that doesn’t mean much next to fact this was a bad story, especially when stacked up against it’s predecessor.
5207238
Oh man, I got a good laugh outta that. Know why?
I think it was more about the part where you are literally doing nothing at this point but going all out "Your fic is bad and you should feel bad!" Zoidberg on me for reasons that are more or less only your opinion, but instead of providing precise places for me to improve upon, you're painting my entire story here as total shit and telling the other author to cut me loose as if I'm dead weight or something. And now you're going off on somebody who told you to merely "shut up" with this drivel? I guess you're the kind who decides that everybody who disagrees with you is somebody who you must talk down to.
This means nothing to me because I don't know what you think should have happened. As far as I can tell? You expected something different then a happy ending that ties off into the third book, but because it ended the way it did, you automatically say I'm a fuck up beyond redemption and thus have now begun trying to separate me from Shinzakura like you're trying to salvage this or something. Why don't you tell me how you would fix this perceived issue of the ending, since you clearly think you know how to end a story you didn't play any part in the months it took to work the plotline out to this point?
See, that's the problem with you thinking everything that is your opinion is everybody's opinion. Because based on just a sampling of the response from your own work, you aren't exactly somebody who is a respected expert on that kind of stuff.
Know what's funny? I bet you're bitching about all the shit they're talking about that happened in Lonesome Dove.
If you actually had read my stories, you would know...the "Lonesome Dove" incident hasn't even occurred before the ending of Rise of the Furball. You're accusing me of having the characters talk about an incident that's all just "bait" for advertising my other works when you didn't even fucking check to see if it was even in my earlier stories in the first place!
A bad story that Shinzakura not only edited but also helped revise, rewrite small bits of at times, and ensure that he thought it would mesh up to Books One and Three in a way that we both agreed was satisfactory. Just because you didn't like where the story went is no excuse for your outright attacks on me as if you think you can just make me a fucking scapegoat for why shit didn't go the way you wanted it to. Either you like the story or you don't, the choice to keep reading is yours, so stop bitching about it because you choose to keep reading and act like it's some kind of fucking crucible because you don't like the direction the story has taken towards slice of life and having Sunset spend time with each of the pony versions of her friends in natural interaction situations. Because trying to make demands such that you can control what happens in the story and not the people actually writing the damn story really just makes you sound like a spoiled brat.
5207586 It also makes him sound mentally retarded and unstable.
Hey, LordBrony dude.
Go take your meds already.
5207586
Well if you really want to get into this…
Your fic was featured multiple times over the weeks and yet only walked away with 123 likes as of being complete. That speaks more than any up or down vote ever will. The featured stuff gets tons of attention, but the fact yours couldn’t even pull together enough liked to break one fifty means people found it so lack luster it wasn’t even worth bothering to click the mouse. Now, if you want to go by the scoreboard, the worst of the worst of my work that’s complete with multiple chapters has 241, was never featured once, is less than a year old, and takes 3 of the worst ideas in MLP history as its main starting points. Not to mention all the grammatical errors because I was using a talk to type program back then that wanted to go with the wrong spelling of a word 9 out of 10 times. The damn thing isn’t even fully edited.
But hey, you don’t need to know how to type to tell if a story is bad.
What your fic should have should have had was an actual plot, a point beyond Sunset just going home to leave, and been more than just you telling everyone “this is what happened to my other fics” in a story while Sunset ran around for chapter after chapter in meet and greets while they talked about other fics. All in all, you had about 3 chapters worth of stuff that you stretched out to twelve so you could talk about nothing.
Hell, it could have been finished in five minutes by Celestia just walking up to Razz with Sunset, Beryl saying she didn’t do it, Sunset accusing her with the dream proof, Razz realizing what was going on, and then everyone going home happy after apologies were handed out. Instead, we have Sunset regressing to the character she had been back in the first few chapters of the first book after Celestia said she was forgiven, and Sunset laying around for days with a ticking clock scenario is going on, on top of the clip show.
And as they went on and on about werewolves and Raz’s past, I’m pretty sure it was talking about fics that show AJ much hairier than usual with wolf-like creature in the description, and one with your OC sitting in the picture.
By the way, thanks for the link I had no idea someone actually wrote about that fic. Hell, it wasn’t even really a fixfic, someone just stuck it in that category and I shrugged about it because back then it was too much of a pain to get it out of the group without being a member. It was an experiment to see how much I could get out in so many chapters instead of getting weighed down in chapter after chapter of endless drama with the biggest drama bomb MLP had. It highlighted
Oh and you need to stop taking everything like it’s some kind of attempt to ruin you as an author. This fic sucked terribly yes, and turned me off to your werewolf line of stories altogether, but your Cheerilee one where she got turned into a pegasus was actually decent. It had a lot of good self-examination, a logical flow to the character's actions, and a somewhat nice ending. But this isn’t the place to talk about On Wings.
Now, if I had really wanted to rag on your fic, I would have been blasting on it at every chapter instead of waiting for the ending to look at the thing in full. If you don’t want to hear what people think about your work, don’t put stuff on the internet, and grow some thicker skin. You’re the one using fancy lettering to indicate strong emotions, trying to negate my opinions by trying to say I’m the only one who thinks this way despite the fact my posts at the end of your story has gotten up votes and childishly insulting my intelligence.
And yes, it was a bad fic. It was Spiderman 3 to what Spiderman 2 was.
Oh, and I did have to suffer by trudging through it, there's a sequel coming out, and I need to stay up to date on what Sunset is doing.
5211701
Thank you! This is actual, constructive criticism since you outline exactly what you don't like about the story in a way that helps me understand what you're saying and thus help me refine my craft to make better stories, because I know I'm not the greatest writer.
But when somebody comes in and just says I "flipped off and spat in the faces of my readers" while complaining about how the slice of life elements of the story is no better than stretching out the plot (something he complained about in book 1 I might add) without being more specific as to which parts of the story in particular are unsatisfactory, it's rather insulting to put it mildly.
5211902
Perfectly understandable and expected. Shinzakura's been writing for possibly longer than I've even been alive, so for his writing to be of a higher caliber than mine and thus preferable is no surprise. And I appreciate you being hard in the criticisms you've leveled on Book 2 while saying you still like it, since that at least lets me know my writing isn't totally horrible
5212014
I asked this before: considering this version of Equestria seems quite technological advanced by itself (unlike in the AAGverse), what can humanity offer to ponykind in exchange for their magic?
5223458
ib.huluim.com/show_art/3527?size=900x350®ion=US
THE RANTING. PLEASE, GO RAGE IN A CORNER PLEASE.
OR APPLEBLOOM WILL CRY
5224342 Clearly the most glorious gift of all.
damn it I hate waiting. bluebastard. please tell me when the 3rd book is up. I need to know as soon as It is up
5322449
https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/395749/a-broken-heart
Don't forget to check out the side-fics, also written by Shinzakura.
5322451 December 3rd. thanks man. I shall check out the side stories while I wait
Ugh there, marathon complete. From prequel to the end of book 2 in a few days. You are quite the prolific writer.
The story was interesting, I enjoyed the characterizations of everyone. The incorporating of lots of fanon theories and characters. It was all just very well done. I would probably ramble a bit more if I had the energy, but right now my eyes hurt and I can hear my bed calling for me with siren sounds. So as much as I feel its a betrayal to not put down my full thoughts on the series I am going to retire for now. Perhaps I will save that for the conclusion piece.
5326663
Methinks you confused me and Blue. Ah well, we do have regular planning sessions.
5328163 I did, cause I was too tired to notice. Sorry if I insulted you by doing so.. eheh
5328419
Ok, yeah, I can see what you're talking about with the whole "urgency" thing and all. If I get the chance. For this book of 7DSJ, I really was going more for simply putting Sunset into a mirrored situation that Twilight had been in EqG, having to meet the other world's counterparts of those she considers her closest friends and Sunset have to learn to be a pony again.
But as for how the stories tie into each other, keep reading and you'll see. There are actually plenty of clues right now, though mostly very subtle.
Darn, I was just one day off from finishing this in seven days... and about six months off from the right month!
Now, I was going to write a big huge thing about my overall thoughts, but I think that Ixion covered everything I wanted to say pretty effectively. Fact is, you made the mistake of letting Shinzakura set the stage for your story, and anything written by him is a pretty tough act to follow. Like others have said, the engaging tone that hooked me on the first book just wasn't here, and throughout most of it Sunset felt like a completely different character from the one in book 1. Do't get me wrong, the idea of Sunset Shimmer returning to Equestria to confront her past demons was an interesting one and I enjoyed reading about it, but the way you handled it here would have fit better as a standalone story rather than a continuation.
I must say that right off the bat I noticed a significant improvement in the quality of your writing in comparison to AHP2. That being said, I still think it can stand for even more significant improvement (the usual spelling and grammar issues notwithstanding). The prose felt really dry throughout much of it, leaning more towards "tell" than "show." I think what you could stand to improve the most though is dialogue. Most of the dialogue in this story was really long-winded and didn't read naturally at all. Too much of the dialogue took the form of massive paragraphs of run-on sentences and generally awkward structure. When writing dialogue, it helps to remember to have the character convey their idea with as few words as possible.
Don't get me wrong, the idea of Sunset Shimmer returning to Equestria to confront her past demons was an interesting one and I enjoyed reading about it (despite the aforementioned writing style grievances), but the way you handled it here I think would have fit better as a standalone story rather than a continuation.
5413039
I appreciate this very much, both the praise and the constructive criticism. When I get the chance, I'm going to see about tightening up this story so it flows better as the middle part of the 7DSJ Trilogy since in retrospect, it does get a little info-dumpy here and there along with other things that need refining.
5423724 my friend. that made my day. thank you
Okay, I've been reading through the whole Berylverse, as its called, over the last few days and I've liked everything so far (wasn't perfect, all the stories had flaws, but they were all lots of fun to read)...except this one. I'm sorry but it really feels like a step down in quality.
For one things there's allot of recaps, far more than are strictly necessary, and allot of tell don't show, in fact lets just say to much info dumping in general.
For another, I think the slice of life format was a mistake because the two main story threads (Sunset tries to save her sister from a strange curse, and Sunset returns to Equestria to confront her past and reconcile with Celestia) don't really lend themselves to that sort of format. Using it just made the story weaker.
For example, the previous story had a real sense of urgency to its ending, but because of the slice of life format this one feels unnaturally laid back (I'd expect to see Sunset refuse to model dresses or help on the farm because she's to busy running around doing everything she can to try and help Twily, it felt really out of character for her to just take things so slowly)
Then there's the central conflict between Sunset and Beryl, and I'll just be blunt, it felt forced, requiring everyone involved act foolishly to make it happen. Not just Sunset, who's actions, while foolish, seemed understandable (in fact, this was one of the few times she seemed in character given the situation, acting impulsively to protect those she cares about) but everyone else failing to talk to her was pretty foolish too. The Princesses fail to keep her in the loop and run their investigation totally separate from her input, (rather than involving her directly given its her issue they're trying to solve) and the other ponies keep dropping little facts about Beryl but refusing to tell the whole story, so of course Sunset developed a negative view of her and it lead to a misunderstanding. (sidenote: I hate reading a story and seeing the phrase "it's not my story to tell" because so often it results in conflicts or misunderstandings that could have been avoided if they'd just told the blasted story) It just felt forced and unnecessary,
And then there's the resolution. Sunset and Beryl sit down and talk and are able to figure out what's going on in five minutes, further highlighting how silly it was for everyone not to just involve Sunset directly in the first place, and then we find out that the curse on Twily was an accident, and it will wear off on its own, which I took as a slap in the face, because it means the whole quest to save her sister was pointless, and Twily would still have gotten better even if Sunset hadn't worried and had stayed home and studied.
I get that Sunset's quest sets up stuff that will pay off in the third book, and now she has new abilities (more power, a spell to make sure Twily can't be cursed like that again, ect.) which will probably be helpful in that third book, but for the present story I felt it was a really anticlimactic and just plain unsatisfying way to resolve this plot.
Also I need to talk about Beryl. I found that in the previous story Raspberry Beryl was an interesting character, but I also thought that she had the potential to be a real Mary Sue without careful handling, here I fear that she seems to be realizing that potential. For one things she gets name dropped like a million times. For another , she's the one who solves the central conflict (Sunset, the nominal protagonist, doesn't really accomplish anything). Then there's the fact that while every other characters gets to display both their good and bad qualities (even Celestia's faults are highlighted) Razz mostly left her bad qualities back in the Hairy story. (her temper, and the loss of control that accompanies it, does flare briefly, but she was provoked and was still able to stop herself from hurting Sunset prior to being knocked out) She hasn't gone Sue just yet, fortunately, but I think its fair to say there's a clear and present danger on that front.
Lastly, the whole thing just seems to lack the emotion that the earlier stories had. I don't just mean the previous book, I mean even the Hairy stories had a level of emotional involvement to them, but this one feels very dry.
I don't want to say this is all bad. The reconciliation with Celestia was really well handled, and the setup for the future looks interesting. On its own this is an okay story, for all the nitpicks I just spent several paragraphs ragging on its not bad by any means, certainly not hateful, but as part of the Berylverse its the weakest link by a fair bit, and as a sequel to the first SDISJ book its a huge disappointment. And I felt the need to comment on that, in the hopes that the third book will avoid these problems.
5500242
I appreciate the criticism! As a matter of fact, just last night I revealed in my 200 Followers blog post that Book 2 is currently undergoing heavy revision to cut out a lot of the excess fluff and to tighten the story to bring it up to par with Book 1. No idea when the rewrite will be finished but I'll be putting it up as soon as I can. I can assure you that the issues with pacing Sunset's urgency to be more in line with the end of Book 1 and Razz's delicate balance of "sue"-ness will also be corrected (she's supposed to be slightly sue-ish, no way of getting around that when she's got an excuse to bypass the reason why nopony else is throwing dark magic around like it's going out of style, but admittedly she's a bit too prominent in B2 in retrospect).
Book 3 is being written by Shinzakura, who of course wrote Book 1, and plot wise will be unaffected by the ongoing content revisions to Book 2, so you shouldn't have any problems proceeding to enjoy Book 3's chapters so far.
5500484 I look forward to seeing that when it happens
5506642 More like CMC Annihilators... yay...
Another fantastic read by a great author, although others may not have liked the exposition dumps I found them rather refreshing. To put it simply though this seemed to be the Berylverse's Equestria Girls given the amount of references to the past and how it seems to be the "Black Sheep" of the group which I actually love IMMENSELY and the setup for something bigger and better *cough* (Rainbow Rocks) *cough* is done rather well. Onto the next one!
5668261
Intentional. Razz, at least, was almost sentenced to death by execution for using dark magic, it's elaborated on back in Rise of the Furball. As is the reason why she's getting slack for using dark magic exclusively.
5669941
- It was never established the "other unicorn" ever actually passed through the mirror, or if he did pass through the mirror there is no proof he didn't also gain human form.
- Have you read the previous stories in the Berylverse?
5668261 I spent a lot of time thinking about whether Celestia's harsher treatment of Sunset here worked with her character, but ultimately decided it needed to happen that way to give the story some much needed conflict. The fact is, the last time Celestia trusted Sunset completely resulted in Sunset betraying her deeply and personally, and Celestia still hasn't quite recovered from the pain that caused. She can't afford to be anything but completely cautious in dealing with Sunset, no matter how much she wants to believe that she's changed.
The situation with Luna/NMM was completely different namely because as is mentioned in this story, Luna was possessed, body and mind, by an outside force. Luna's anger and jealousy may have drawn the Nightmare forces to her, but she never would have openly rebelled against Celestia if they hadn't taken control of her completely. Sunset's own ambition is what caused her to betray Celestia, nothing more. As for Raspberry, she may be a dark magic user, but she'd earned Celestia's trust through many trials and tribulations in the earlier story. As for Twilight, the last time she met Sunset was when she was a megalomaniac bent on world domination. She'd be a moron not to be suspicious of her right off the bat.
Not only would a magical/psychological evaluation of Sunset be invasive and morally questionable, but they have more important matters to deal with, what with more of Sombra's pet projects potentially causing problems across time and space. And I'm not sure what information you think Celestia is keeping from Twilight. Right now she knows everything that Celestia does.
5673593
the "I forgot where he got banished to" line was in the first version.
5673815 ahhhh guess I misread which had been updated at that point.
Edit: then again looks like the same. I guess I meant I never noticed it before when I read things even if it was there.
5674576
http://grammarist.com/spelling/just-deserts-just-desserts/
For the record, I always thought it was an AE/CE vs. BE/AuE/everyone elseE thing. I don't doubt others have as well.
5679708
Like you said, it's a common misuse so it seems natural for her to say it like that.
5679744
Y'know, I actually thought I'd fixed that before, but thanks for pointing that out.
BWAHAHAHAHA!