The Sun Always Rises

by jl7895

Chapter 7: A Talk in the Park

“So…do you like him?” Sonata asked me as we walked through the park.

“I told you, I don’t know. I mean, he’s a really nice guy and I love spending time with him, but…”

“But what?”

I wanted to tell her that he saw me at my weakest point. He saved me from killing myself and made me never want to do it again. I wanted to tell her that he helped me find friends and inspired me to keep trying. But I couldn’t. As far as I know, she’s just getting information for her sisters. Maybe this is all an elaborate trick for me to spill my secretes so they can tell everyone in school. I should tell her something so ridicules that no one will believe her.

No, that’s not me anymore. Sunset Shimmer is trusting of people and always willing to give people a chance, even if they never gave me a chance. Still, I can’t tell her how I really feel because I don’t even know how I feel.

“But…we’re not here to talk about my love life. We’re here to talk about how you’re going to make friends.”

“Can we talk about your love life?” Sonata asked with a smile. “That one is much more fun.”

“Only after you made a friend. So, what are you looking for in a person?”

“Honestly, I just want someone who sees Sonata. All my life it’s ‘Here come the Dazzlings’. For once in my high school life, I want to be Sonata.”

“Has there ever been a time when you were Sonata? Maybe if we can figure out why you weren’t associated with your sisters, I can help you make that change now.”

“Well there was one time when we were younger.”

“Why then?”

“Because I didn’t play stupid. I was way more popular than my sisters. I was smart, pretty, and everyone loved me, except for my sisters. They…weren’t the nicest to me at home. They would always steal myself or take extra long in the bathroom so I wouldn’t have time to do my hair or brush my teeth. But then I started acting like I was dumb and naïve. Suddenly, Adagio wasn’t mean to me anymore and Aria stopped taking my stuff. Over the years, I just kept playing dumb and did whatever my sisters told me to do because I wanted us to be a family.”

“So, why do you want to change now? If you still want to be a family all the time, then why do you want to make friends without them?”

“Because I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not because of other people. I still want to spend time with my sisters, but I don’t want my life to revolve around them. It’s because of them no one will talk to me. They think I’m just trying to be nice to get information for Adagio or something. I just want to sit at a table with other people and have a normal conversation with others.”

“Oh, well if that’s all you want, why don’t you join me and my friends for lunch on Monday? I’m sure we’re love to have you.”

“Who do you sit with?”

“Coco Pommel, Derpy and her little sister, and Octavia. You'll fit in perfectly!”

" They won't like me..."

“I don’t think they’ll mind.”

“You don’t understand, my sisters and I have done something to all of them.”

“What could you have possibly done to make any of them angry? I’ve probably done worse and they still accept me.”

“Well with Coco, we kinda pressured one of her models into eating a ton of food a few days before a fashion show. We’ve spread countless rumors about Derpy and Dinky, all of which I am ashamed of. As for Octavia…it’s way too bad and it’s one of my deepest regrets.”

“Look, it’s fine. I don’t think Coco can hold a grudge, even if she tried. She is one of the sweetest and most genuine people I have ever met. Derpy doesn’t care about what were, only about what you are. As for Octavia, well she might be a little mad, but she doesn’t hold grudges and I think she might be a little more forgiving now that she has Vinyl. It’s like you said, your past doesn’t define you.”

“I suppose you’re right, but what if I’ve gone too far? What if no matter what happens they don’t forgive me?”

“Well then you’ll always have me,” I said with a smile.

Sonata smiled back and hugged me. We started talking about our lives before we met. Like everyone else, Sonata was extremely interested in my life as a pony. To be fair, I would be too if I learned that someone from my school was actually a magical unicorn from another universe and was a student of an all powerful ruler of the place. My past did seem more interesting than her’s, however. All she would really talk about was her sisters and what they would do as a family. She would go on and on about how her and her mother would do everything together. Sonata had an extremely positive relationship with her mother, which made me a little jealous.

I never knew my parents. I was left in an orphanage in Canterlot when I was a baby and raised by the ponies that worked there. All the time I would see other ponies get adopted while family after family passed me up. It just made me a little mad that other ponies were taking away my friends. Unlike my rise to “popularity” at Canterlot High, the ponies at the orphanage really liked me. Maybe it was because I got my cutie mark before most foals my age or because I would do tricks with my magic, but the ponies there actually like me. Doing the tricks for my friends was how Princess Celestia found me. Around the time she adopted her son, she started paying more attention to the orphaned children. I was in the middle of doing my “famous” Three Hat, One Bunny Roulette trick and she saw something special in me. She took me in and made it her goal to bring me to my potential. One day, I decided that I wasn’t getting power fast enough, and I guess the rest is history.

“Sorry, I’ve been talking for way too long,” Sonata said, not realizing I wasn’t really listening. “What about you, how was your family in Canterlot.”

“Not really. I never knew my real parents, so Princess Celestia is the closest thing I ever had to a mom. The only problem is, she already adopted another kid, so I never felt close to to the princess or her son.”

“Was her son nice at least?”

“We never really hung out. I was too busy with my studies and he was too busy having a life outside of school.”

“Maybe that’s why you like Sky. He’s the first person to actually show they care about you and never wanted something out of you.”

“So, you think I would have gotten close to anyone who would have helped me?”

“Well, not necessarily. I mean, yeah maybe you would have thought greater of whoever helped you, but Sky did more. He wanted to make sure you were okay and that you were going to be okay. He genially cared and never thought less of you.

“That’s why I like him. He’s always so kind and never expected anything from anyone. He would be the type of person to go to the store, buy a blanket, and give it to a homeless person and then buy them a hot meal. He never even expected a ‘Thank You’ .”

“Sky is something special.” I said while smiling.

“Is that why you like him?” Sonata asked.

“Yeah, but who doesn’t like a nice guy. They’re becoming rarer these days and I just want to hang out with one for a little while.”

“I mean is that why you want to be with him?”

“Who says I like him?”

“It’s obvious. They way you smile whenever you think about him, how you talk about him, how you always want to spend time with him. Most of all, how crushed you were when my sister stopped you from spending time with him. And I guess it didn’t help that I was spending as much time as possible. I bet you even got the job at the maid café to get your mind off of him, didn’t you?”

“Well…that’s not the only reason I took the job,” I lied.

“I wasn’t lying when I said I wouldn’t get in between you two. If you like him more than I do, then I’ll back off.”

“Why? Why would you back off if you basically have him in your pocket?”

“Because I’m a believer in true love. There is someone out there for everyone and maybe your someone is Sky and why kind of person would I be if I got in the way of it.”

“What if he’s your someone? I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that either.”

“It’s the little things when I’m with Sky. Sometimes I feel like we’re just hanging out as friends and not on a date. There are times when he wants to check on you, but I try to change the subject. If he is my someone, then he would be more interested in me than you, wouldn’t he?”

“Well, what if just really cares about me? Like I’m his little sister or something.”

“Really?” Sonata asked me as she rolled her eyes. “My sisters may be mean to me, but they sill care about me unlike anyone else. I know when someone cares about me as a sister, or a love interest, and now a friend. Sky definitely cares about you as a love interest.”

“No he doesn’t” I said blushing.

“And that tells me what I need to know. I hope you two are happy.”

There was a part of me that believed this was all a set up. I thought maybe her sisters were recoding me and they were waiting for me to say something embarrassing. Then they were going to show it to the whole school and then everyone would know my secret. But then I looked at Sonata. She was smiling and there was something about her that made me want to trust her.

“Okay…I like Sky. No, I really like Sky, a lot. I just want to be with him and with no one else. I want him to hold me and never let go and tell me everything is going to be okay. I want him to kiss me like no one else has ever been kissed. I just…want to be with Sky.”

“Have to talked to him about how you feel?”

“Of course not. What if he doesn’t like me back and he tells the school and then everyone knows how venerable I am? Or what if he does like me and we start dating and everyone else starts making fun of him and his life is ruined because of me? Or what if your sisters make something up to make me look bad in his eyes. Or what if Sky-”

“Sunset,” Sonata said grabbing my shoulders to calm me down. “Sky would respect your privacy, he wouldn’t care what anyone else says about you or does to him, and I’ll make sure my sisters don’t interfere. Got any other excuses?” She asked with a smirk. She was good.

We continued to talk about my fears of dating Sky. Sonata did an amazing job at figuring out some way to calm me down and fix whatever problems I had. Before I knew it we were on her street where she said goodbye. I offered to walk her to her house, but she didn’t want me to because she didn’t want her sisters to harass me, which was probably a good idea.

Lucky for me, Sonata only lived a block or two away from me, so it wasn’t a long walk. I decided to just go right up to Sky’s house, knock on his door and tell him how I feel. Lay down all of my cards and see what happens next. I was going to find out if he like me back or I was wasting my time.

But when I got to our houses, he was sitting on my front porch.

“Sunset!” he said as he saw me. “I was waiting for you. I thought you got home from work at 6?”

I realized I had no idea how long Sonata and I were talking. I pulled out my phone to check the time and saw it was 7:30. Was he really waiting there for an hour and a half?

“Sorry, I was talking to someone. Sky, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Wait,” he said holding up his hand, “there’s something that I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time, but never had the courage to say. And after I ask you, please don’t laugh and just let me down lightly.”

“I will,” smiling because I knew what was coming next.

“Do you…I don’t know…want to get dinner with me sometime? You know, like a date?”

“I’d like that.”

Author's Note:

I owe you guys an explanation. It's a little personal and bit heavy, so you can read the whole thinghere. Thank you guys for patiently waiting and not giving up on the story.

I really hope you guys enjoy the chapter because it has been on of my favorite things to write in a long. time. Most of all, thank you for holding on for almost a year. I really appreciate all of you and I hope you have a good day.

Comments

[LtMajorDude]

Yes! Story's still alive!
Good chapter so far!

And I just read your blog.
I don't mind waiting. If you're feeling down and need a break from writing and need some time off, no one is stopping you.

[HylianTabby]

When I found this I figured I'd read a chapter or two and add it to my read later list if I liked it. I certainly wasn't expecting to read all of the current chapters, and yet that's exactly what happened. Maybe it's because Sunset's depression speaks to me on a personal level, but I seriously love this fic. I love how it shows that yeah, the world is cruel, and we do make mistakes (though usually not on the same level as Sunsets), but our mistakes don't have to define us and no matter how hopeless things might seem, our friends will always be there for us. This isn't just a standard redemption story with romance thrown in, it's a story about what it means to have friends who truly care about you as well as understanding depression and not letting it control who you are. One of the things that really impresses me about this fic in particular is just how real everyone feels. A lot of the time when I'm reading fics like this the characters seem slightly... off. They always seem a bit too ooc, not quit saying or doing the things that that character would do, and because of this I'm always aware that I'm reading a fan story making it so I'm not able to experience the story as I should. that simply isn't the case here, everyone feels right.This is honestly one of the very few cases where I felt the characters felt real to me, and because of that I stopped reading the fic and started experiencing the fic. Not to say it doesn't have its problems, but most if not all of those come in the form of certain grammar issues and misspellings. All I can really say at this point is bravo. You are an extremely talented writer and I can't wait to continue reading this when it is next updated.