Chapter 11: Epiphanies
Gunsmoke
by Wanderer D
Chapter 11: Epiphanies
Rainbow Dash stared at the poster she had set up on the ceiling above her bed. It was an enlarged picture of the team for the Friendship Games. They were all there: Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, herself and Sunset Shimmer.
She let out a breath, looking at the smiles, remembering the good times... and the bad times all the way back to the previous year. Ignoring the others for months due to a single event that had turned out to be a set up. If she had just talked to Applejack back then they would have figured out something was wrong.
She shuddered and focused on Sunset. The cause of the problems, and arguably, the Rainboom—no, ex-Rainboom—she had felt closest to. She was strong. Fast. A good soccer player if the couple of times they had played together was any indication, and... well, Rainbow had thought she was loyal.
"How was I supposed to know that she didn't want to do something, or that she'd rather do something else?" she muttered. "I get it, she wants to do stuff. We all do, but does she have to do it when we're so close to the fair? Did she have to abandon us now?"
"Ugh!" She grabbed her pillow and groaned into it. Finally willing to admit that she was unable to sleep, she rolled off the bed and sat at her desk, turning on the light and pulling out a photo album.
She snorted, looking at the rainbow and lightning theme on the cover. It had been Rarity's idea, back when they had forgiven Sunset and started hanging out with her. So, Rarity had made them and personalized each for everyone in the group. Each cover was different, with their logos on it, or as Sunset called them "Cutie Marks". Not that it mattered now, but the idea had been nice.
Rarity and Fluttershy would print out pictures to add to it from time to time for everyone else since none of the others were really inclined to print out stuff from their phones, and it was up to them to update their own book, and that morning they had given her the batch from the last two weeks.
Stretching, Rainbow set to work, looking at the pictures and sorting them from "Pure Awesome" to "Cool", to "Meh."
She sighed when she looked at the first picture. It was Sunset Shimmer and herself, back-to-back doing guitar riffs. Her hand hesitated before putting it down on the "Awesome" pile, but then, she frowned and moved it to "Cool".
Shaking her head, Rainbow started browsing through the rest of the pictures and sorting them out into their piles. More often than not, an awesome picture would be downgraded to cool because Sunset was in it and it was slowly starting to frustrate her. Finally, she got to the last one, which was another group picture: a close up of the gang laughing. Rainbow Dash was about to put it in the cool pile when she noticed something.
Frowning, she set it aside, then started going through the the pictures again, separating the ones where she saw it again and again, and putting them on top of the new pile. Then she opened her photo album and started browsing through it, pulling out picture after picture where she found the same thing.
Finally, she reached the first pictures of the album. Grabbing the large pile of pictures, she leaned back on the chair and slowly browsed them again, starting from the oldest to the newest, her frown slowly lessening until she couldn't look at them anymore.
Putting down the pictures, she rested her face in her hands and sighed, before dragging them down and looking at the clock. It was already one thirty am, she needed to sleep. Shaking her head, she grabbed an envelope and put the pictures inside, before turning the light off and walking up to her bed.
She wished it was Saturday, so she could sleep in.
The clock hit 6 AM and the mp3 player/alarm clock started blaring a random song from her vast musical selection.
Luna's eyes opened slowly as the intro to the song played and she stared at the ceiling, while her mind processed the lyrics. "Huh," she said.
It had been some time since she had been woken up by Meatloaf of all things.
It was a good song, however, so she decided to leave it on as she prepared for the day and more importantly, for tonight when Sunset would return. She hummed and sang the lyrics as she made her way to the bathroom and Luna found herself nodding to the music as she brushed her teeth. She imagined herself and Sunset racing through the streets, to the musical backgound, having dinner, settling down at Sunset's apartment, holding hands as they used their Amuspheres to to FullDive into GGO and—
She stopped brushing her teeth and stared at herself in the mirror. She slowly finished cleaning up, then met her reflection's eyes once again.
"I was having a musical fantasy about Sunset Shimmer to an 80s song." She sighed. And rubbed her temple. "And not just any song. 'Out of the frying pan, and into the fire.' of all things. How cheesy can it get?"
Somehow admitting it to herself did make her feel a little better. She glared at the mp3 player and shook her hairbrush at it in mock anger. "Curse you, Meatloaf!"
Shaking her head, she forced musical fantasies out of her mind and finished getting ready. If she wanted to grab breakfast with Celestia cooking, she had to be ready by six thirty at the latest, otherwise "Miss Early Mornings" would have already wrapped up and Luna would have to make her own.
Soon enough, she was ready and it took her a few seconds to reach the kitchen, where her sister was already serving two sets pancakes. "I heard you singing," Celestia said. "So I figured you'd be on time this morning."
Luna grumbled a bit, pouring some coffee for herself and sipping it before seating down.
"Another Sunset musical number?"
Luna had almost spit out her coffee, and she could feel a bit had gone up her nose, but she forced herself to swallow before glaring at her sister.
"Oh, my." Celestia grinned and shook her head in mock pity. "You've got it bad."
"What happened to my supportive older sister from last night?" Luna grumbled half-heartedly.
"She decided to remind her younger sister that she's a grown woman and that she needs to make up her mind about what to do and say to Sunset Shimmer." Celestia declared, raising an eyebrow. "Since I am fully aware that you have already considered the professional implications, not to mention the social ones, I am left to conclude that your hesitation to either end it or pursue it is either moral, or stupid."
"That is hardly fair."
Celestia shrugged, sipping her coffee. "Luna, you're not acting like yourself. You need to get yourself together, for your own good and for Sunset's."
Luna snorted, but took a deep, calming breath. "It was just unexpected, Tia. That is all."
Celestia smiled.
"And I haven't any idea of how she feels. You know I have few friends, hence why I have hesitated to take the next step."
"You're not a teenager anymore, Luna," Celestia reminded her, although Luna knew she could see that she was a lot calmer. "And neither is Sunset, we both know it. She's mature enough to make an honest, informed choice without allowing too much drama into it. And I know both of you will remain friends regardless of the end result."
Luna nodded, sipping her coffee as well, while her mind settled into a course of action. Maybe tonight would be the best time, depending on how things had gone for Sunset in Equestria.
Applejack was leaning on the wall next to the doors to the music room and listening to the guitar being played, when Rarity and Fluttershy arrived. She waved them over before they stepped in.
"Ah think somethin's wrong with Dashie," she said.
"Why? What's wrong?" Pinkie Pie asked, making the three jump.
"Pinkie Pie! How many times do we need to tell you not to startle people?" Rarity demanded, placing a hand on her chest.
"But I like surprises!"
"Anyway," Applejack interrupted. "To answer the question, y'all can hear that, right?"
The guitar in the room kept playing and they nodded.
"Oooh! I like it!" Pinkie exclaimed, grinning. "Did Dashie make that up? It sounds so cool!"
Applejack facepalmed. "Really, Pinkie Pie?"
Pinkie Pie blinked in confusion. "What?"
"Well," Rarity spoke up, clearing her throat. "I really don't see what's wrong with Rainbow Dash playing 'Sweet Child of Mine', darling."
"It's um, a very nice song." Fluttershy nodded.
"She's played it three times back to back," Applejack said. "Now, Ah know that Dashie likes her guitar riffs, but not that much."
The others exchanged glances. "Oh." Was all Fluttershy had to offer into the silence.
"Wait," Pinkie Pie raised a hand. "She's stopped."
They waited for a second before...
"Is that 'Stairway to Heaven'?"
"Okay then," Applejack took a deep breath and tilted her hat down resolutely. "Ah'm goin' in."
They pushed the door open and found Rainbow Dash sitting on the floor, guitar propped against her knees thumbing away at it.
"Okay, Rainbow Dash," Applejack took the guitar. "Tell us what's buggin' you."
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, but instead of answering, passed Applejack an envelope, which she opened, fishing out a lot of pictures.
Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie looked over Applejack's shoulders as she browsed through them.
"Pictures of Sunset?" Rarity asked.
"Do you have a crush on her?!" Pinkie gasped. "Is this a High School Drama story?"
"What? No!" Rainbow Dash resisted the urge to kick her friend. "Where did you get that idea?!"
"Well, you were playing the guitar while moping over her pictures," Fluttershy offered. "I mean, I-I guess it doesn't mean you like her necessarily but..."
"Ah get that you're upset over your recent fight, Dashie," Applejack said, glancing at her friend. "But goin' all mopey is really not you."
"And certainly not the way to solve things between the two of you," Rarity added.
"You mean if it can be solved."
"Oh, Dashie!" Pinke hugged her. "It's just a fight! I'm sur—"
"It's not just a fight!" Rainbow Dash pushed Pinkie away. "Look at the pictures!"
"Ooh! That's the time we were at the Sugarcube Corner two weeks ago! I remember it because I had just made those amazing little cupcakes with the Rainboom logo on them!"
"And that's the time we went to the farm and had ourselves a camp out," Applejack said.
"And that time I got us all to dress up in my 'Hotel Chic' designs!"
"And the time we went to the Zoo and got to hang out with the farm animals!" Fluttershy added.
"Yeah, I don't get why they make it such a big deal at the Zoo of all places," Applejack muttered.
"Well, Rainbow Dash if this is to remind us that we haven't got any pictures doing something that Sunset wanted—"
"No, no, no... you're missing the point." Rainbow Dash stood up and gave each of them the picture they had talked about. "What do all of those pictures have in common?"
"Oh! Oh! Me!" Pinke bounced up and down, hand up in the air. "We're all in them!"
"Yes, Pinkie, and?"
"Well, it's not a 'group' picture per se," Rarity said after a moment. "We're all there, but only a pair of us is in the front, and everyone else is behind doing other stuff. If I recall correctly it was one of those fast reaction pictures Pinkie and you like to take."
Rainbow Dash nodded, motioning with her hands to go on.
"Uh..." Applejack tilted her head, trying to figure out what Rainbow Dash was getting at, but a sudden gasp drew all their attention to its source.
Fluttershy had her hand covering her mouth and was shaking a little.
"You see it too?" Rainbow Dash asked.
When Fluttershy nodded, Applejack frowned, looking at her picture again. "Ah don't get it."
"She's not happy," Fluttershy said, reaching out to take the stack of pictures and slowly looking through them. "She's not happy in any of them."
"But she's smilin' on this one!" Applejack said, bringing up her picture, where indeed Sunset was smiling.
"Yeah, but you're not paying attention," Rainbow Dash replied, grabbing another picture from her backpack. "This is one of the earlier ones, about a month and a half after we started hanging out. Look at her eyes, then at her eyes in your picture."
"Oh my," Rarity said in a low voice. "It never reaches her eyes... she's just doing it almost as if to be polite."
"D-does this mean she cries inside, like Applejack?" Pinkie Pie asked, hair down.
"It means," Rainbow Dash said as she sat down and looked at the others. "That this has been going on for a while now. She's been sad for a long time and we never caught on."
"Well, it's not like we can read her mind," Applejack pointed out.
"Yeah, I know," Rainbow Dash responded with a sigh. "But it just makes me wonder... is it that she never told us? Or just that we never paid attention? And it's not a one-off thing. Look, this is a long time for none of us to notice."
"Not only did we concentrate on what we wanted," Rarity nodded. "But we never really tried to understand how she felt. Even after she told us how she was feeling during the whole situation with the Dazzlings, trying to live up to our expectations..."
Applejack bit her lip, thinking before she spoke up. "Well, it ain't like mopin' around is going to solve anythin'." She looked around at the group. "What matters is, how are we going to fix this?"
"I don't know," Rainbow Dash replied, looking steadily at the others. "But I won't be okay with just an apology. I want to really reach her and to make sure that she understands we mean more than a simple sorry. I want her to know that we know it's not a one time thing that caused this... I-I need to find out what I've done as well to take it to this point."
Rarity marched forward and rested her hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "We all need to do that," she said. "So we'll do it together for Sunset."
Fluttershy nodded with a smile and Pinkie whooped. "For Sunset!"
They all looked at Applejack, who grinned back at them. "Well," she said picking up her own guitar. "Ah know a good way to do it from the heart so there's no mistakin' it."
Rainbow Dash smiled. "And I know the perfect place to tell her our message," she added, bringing up the poster for the music contest.
"But!" Pinkie deflated. "How are we going to get her to listen if she's avoiding us all? Why would she go?"
"Maybe I can help you with that," a familiar voice said. The girls gaped at Principal Celestia, who was leaning against the doorframe. She grinned. "But you'll have to finish playing 'Stairway to Heaven' for me."
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My heart aches. I'm not kidding. This is amazing writing.
Keep going!
These chapters are too good to be this short.
Sunset and Luna? Surprisingly shippable
I see Gunsmoke has made the featured box! Congratulations!
Rainbow Dash has come to the realization that her way of thinking had proven itself to be incorrect, and now knows what must be done in order to resolve this problem. The big question in all of this, is what Sunset's reaction is going to be when all of these different factors come bearing down on her all at once. Also, Luna is apparently a fan of Meatloaf.
Now this is going to get complicated. They want to apologize at the fair and Celestia is helping them but Sunset's tournament is at the same time and she genuinely wants to be there. It's going to be an uphill battle to get her there. I honestly no longer know how I want this to turn out. You are one of the few authors than can make me dislike a character and then want to see them succeed again. Bravo, sir.
This was the chapter I was hoping for! Maybe I'm sappy but it's the friendships that always gets to me. And maybe they won't be able to salvage the friendship (although I'm crossing my fingers!) but they want to make Sunset happy.
Great work!
Aw, no Sunset, but glad to see Rainbow Dash has moved on from just being angry at Sunset. Relieved to see she's cooled off a bit and done some self-reflection. Although Rarity already kind of pointed out the problem a few chapters back, but checking old photos probably really drove the point home.
So Luna is leaning in that direction. That's going to be... awkward, as Celestia said. I was wondering about that or if was just reading too much into it. Wonder if Sunset will clear things up with both the Rainbooms and Luna at once, or separately.
I love me some Led Zeppelin. And Guns N' Roses.
I think that it would be really interesting if when Sunset came back through the mirror if her human body had caught up with her true age.
Ta-da, one of Luna's issues magically fixes itself.
So there isn't a [Romance] tag. D pls :(
RIP quotation marks
sunset and luna?..... i ship it.
Friends don't let friends sit around playing 'Stairway to Heaven'. Even given Rainbow's actions in the fic, this is just too cruel.
Rainbow needs to play Tears in Heaven as well.
You're music taste is impeccable. It's been far to long since I've seen a Meatloaf reference.
Wild guess, I bet what Dash noticed is that Sunset is never smiling, or something like that.
Oh wow.
So that's Luna's angle? Not quite what I was expecting. Interesting ship, though, not sure I've ever seen it before.
Time for an intervention.
Yeah, about what I was imagining with the pictures. Heaven help Sunset now that "full speed ahead" Dash has reconciliation as her goal.
Levels of rock and metal in this fic are staggering, especially considering how it’s not even focused on music per say. I’ve read other fics with as much, but those fics had an explicit focus on the music. Maybe it’s because it’s so much to my taste in music, but I love this so much.
*spits tea* *wheezes* Tooo cloooose
Lmao
Toooooo close to home!
Celestia Ex Machina
10330250
also I love it