Like many schools of its size, Canterlot High had one or two conference rooms, meant either for formal meetings between teachers or for the odd special occasion like a government-mandated hearing and vision check. They allowed for greater space than an office, and helped to create a sense of neutrality whenever a student and/or their family entered. They were also not as formal as the offices of the principal and vice principal, and thus without the looming peril of disciplinary action.
Some students, however, joked that when called to the conference room, a student stood a chance of getting it from the entirety of their teachers, but such a thing had never happened. To their knowledge, at least.
It was right outside of the larger of CHS’ conference rooms that Celestia and Luna stood waiting for their charges, who arrived in a group with Rarity taking the lead. “Good afternoon, students. I assume you had a pleasant lunch?”
“Hard not to with Granny Smith’s cooking.” Despite her best efforts, a nervous chuckle escaped Rainbow Dash’s lips. As Luna looked upon her with an arched eyebrow, she amended, “Yes, lunch was good.”
Celestia offered a comforting smile. “It’s perfectly alright if you’re nervous, Rainbow Dash. None of us will think less of you for it.”
“I’m not nervous, I just…” A shrug. “I’m not crazy about talking to shrinks is all. Eggheady know-it-alls and everything.”
“Ah ain’t exactly crazy about this either Dash, but we all know why we’re doin’ this.” Applejack looked to Sunset with a rueful expression. “Tryin’ not too repeat past mistakes and all that.”
“Indeed.” Luna looked among them and explained, “Now then, you’ll all understand if we don’t want the lot of you in there together. The doctor would rather speak with each of you individually, at least for the time being.” Her gaze fell upon Sunset as she finished, “And she’d prefer that Sunset Shimmer be the last of you that she speaks with. Beyond that, however, it’s up to you who goes first.”
None of the five seemed eager to volunteer until Rarity stepped forward. “Well, if it’s going to be any of us, we may as well start with myself.” Celestia opened the door into the conference room, and the fashionista entered.
As the door was closed behind their friend, Luna gestured towards a room adjacent to the conference room. “We’d like the rest of you to wait in here for now. No sense having you loitering in the hallway.”
“Sure thing, Vice Principal Luna.” Applejack led her friends into the indicated room, and the door was closed behind them as the two administrators traded anxious expressions. With any luck, this would work, and they could finally put Anon-A-Miss behind them.
If not, then they were out of useful ideas.
-
“Rarity, I presume?” The psychologist stood up from her chair and offered a hand. “I’m Doctor Hope. It’s good to finally meet you, I’ve heard a great deal about you from your principal.”
“Oh, thank you, ma’am.” Rarity accepted the offered hand and warmly shook it. “And if you don’t mind my saying, you look rather splendid. Not at all what I expected.”
The doctor smirked, taking the comment on her looks as a compliment. She was dressed semi-casually, light-colored pants and long-sleeved shirt with a crystalline broach over the left side of her chest. “We aren’t all eccentric old men with little glasses and beards.” She gestured for Rarity to take a seat, then took up a notebook and began. “Now then, if all of this is right, you’re currently sixteen?”
“Due to turn seventeen in June.”
“Happy Early Birthday. Have you given any thought to college?”
“Yes, though I haven’t thought of any particular schools. Whatever one I want to go to, however, I intend to major in both business and fashion design.” A smile crossed her face as she admitted, “And I wouldn’t object to taking whatever courses I need to become a certified gemologist. As wonderful as it would be to open my own boutique and sell my own designs, being able to work with jewelry sounds like a wonderful fallback.”
“Well, from everything I’ve heard, you’re off to an excellent start here at Canterlot High. From what I’ve been told, you turned quite a few heads from day one.”
The young fashionista did her best to hide an embarrassed blush. “Well, a lady does seek to impress.”
“And I’m also told that you applied to take part in last summer’s Junior Fashion Week in the city.”
That caused Rarity to turn nervous. “Yes, I did. Unfortunately, I had to pull out at the last minute.” She turned downcast as she admitted, “It’s a rather long story, and one in a rather long string of disappointments starting last spring.”
“Well let’s start there then, shall we?” A few notes were quickly jotted down, and Hope queried, “You put your hat in the running for Princess of last year’s Spring Fling, going up against the reigning princess of Canterlot High.”
“Sunset Shimmer. She and I get on much better now, but back then…” Rarity considered her next words, then quietly continued, “Back then, Sunset was rather terrible. It hadn’t started that way, of course, but over time, she showed herself as more and more of a shrewd manipulator, and rather possessive of her title. And there had been rumors of her engaging in more than a few unsavory actions in order to maintain her crown at the Fall Formal that year. Nothing that could be substantiated, of course, but still…”
“I’m not here to pass judgment on anyone, Rarity. I’m just here to listen.” She smiled and prodded, “Now, you were saying?”
“Yes, forgive me.” She took a quick breath and continued, “Anyway, I put my hat into the ring for the Spring Fling crown, mostly because I thought that of anyone in the school, I stood the best chance of defeating her. My friends were certainly onboard and willing to provide support, but then, things started happening, and the five of us began to split up.”
“Such as?”
“Well, my application to compete in Junior Fashion Week had come in, so I had to cut time for the odd commitment here and there; helping Fluttershy out at the animal shelter, for one. I still tried to find time to help the others out, but then communications started breaking down with the rest, and then I found myself getting messages from Pinkie Pie telling me my help wasn’t needed with events around the school, only to find out she was doing it all on her own.”
“She actually told you that?”
“No, we texted. And with the benefit of hindsight, I should have confirmed it with her directly, but alas, I didn’t.” She sighed and admitted, “I later found out that Sunset had falsified the messages as part of an effort to sabotage my bid. A rather successful one at that. I ended up not even going to the dance, rather than see the inevitable smug expression upon her face.” She took on a rueful expression and noted, “And that wasn’t even the worst part. I planned on announcing my acceptance for the Junior Fashion Show at the dance, as part of my acceptance speech. I even planned on asking the girls to come with me; it would have been a marvelous time for all of us!”
“You must have been distraught.”
“I was, but not as much as I was after I was forced to pull out of the fashion show.” She drew her arms in close and admitted, “It was one of the most embarrassing moments in my life. And that wasn’t the worst of it.”
“Oh?”
Rarity looked at the psychologist and asked, “Doctor, from what you’ve been told of me, what do you think is one of my defining characteristics?”
Hope glanced through her notes and offered, “Your tendencies towards altruism, I’d think.”
Rarity shook her head. “Forgive me, but I must correct you. I don’t practice altruism, I practice generosity. There’s a critical difference between the two. With the former, one is expected to give up everything, and I see no sense in doing something like that. With generosity, one gives of what one is able to give; time, energy, money, whatever. One can’t expect a tree to continue bearing fruit if it has been chopped down for use as firewood, now does one?”
“No, it would be a little pointless by then. So, your generosity proved to be your undoing?”
“Yes, in a sense. After it had been cast aside despite clearly needed, well, I was all too happy to lend someone a hand. And then it was taken advantage of, and I was forced to withdraw as a result.” She slumped and admitted, “As I said, embarrassing.”
“I’m sorry.”
Rarity waved it off. “It’s water under the bridge now, don’t worry. Still, once the new school year came along, I found myself more adrift than I cared for. I still had the odd activity with one or two of my old friends, mind, but I didn’t see them as often as I’d liked. Much like the rest of the school by that point, I’d gravitated towards my own kind.” She shook her head. “Which was less than pleasant. As much of an artist as she can be, Photo Finish does grate the nerves at times with her insensitivity.”
“But that’s changed now.”
“Yes.” Rarity smiled. “I assume, of course, that you’ve heard of what happened at the last Fall Formal, and about Twilight Sparkle?” At the doctor’s nod, she continued, “Oh, her coming was a breath of fresh air! Granted, how we came to meet could have been under better circumstances; I’m rather ashamed that I didn’t give her a proper greeting, simply swept her up, but time was of the essence. Sunset was doing to her what she’d done to me, after all, and naturally, Twilight needed my aid. I didn’t expect her to continue with her bid, but I was happy to help, especially once she helped us to realize that we’d all been tricked by Sunset.” She groaned. “Again, hindsight is twenty-twenty.”
“Sounds like you’ve got quite a lot of reasons to resent Sunset Shimmer.” Hope regarded her curiously. “Which makes it rather surprising that the two of you are friends now.”
“Yes, well, circumstances changed after the Fall Formal. Perspectives shifted and all, on her part and mine.” A sad smile crossed her lips as she noted, “Were you aware that Sunset is an able artist? I’ve seen her sketches, they’re quite good. And many are straight from memory. I found myself rather envious when I found out, I’m ashamed to say.” The smile faded as she continued, “And once I found out that she’d been evicted from her home after what happened at the Fall Formal, and worse, that she was an orphan, I had to do something to help her. Especially after her apologies, and her giving me the crown she’d won against me.”
“Very generous of you.”
“As I said, giving what I was able to give. My family had a spare room, food enough, and despite everything, I was open to giving her comfort.” She proudly sat up and declared, “And I don’t regret that for one second, and nor have I been given a reason to do so.”
“Until just before Christmas.”
That took the wind out of Rarity’s sails, and she amended, “Yes, I thought that you would get to that.” She pulled her hands into her lap and noted, “The Anon-A-Miss incident is not one that I’m proud of. Again, I was tricked and fooled, and my trust betrayed. That I lashed out against the innocent party only makes it worse, even if I did think that I was justified.”
“Once burned, twice shy?”
“I suppose. I trusted her, and I thought that she’d betrayed that trust, and acted accordingly.” A sad sigh. “And making it even worse was the fact that it was my own sibling framing her for it, all out of petty spite. Sweetie Belle regrets it now of course, but still, it’s going to be a sore point for her for some time. And for me as well.”
“And you’re not angry with her?”
“Whatever makes you think I wasn’t angry with her? I’m simply angrier with myself, even after all this time, for how I treated Sunset. As I said, I trusted her.” She noticeably slumped and noted, “Or at least, I thought that I trusted her.”
“Hmm. Well, that leaves you with an important question.” The doctor set aside her notes, leaned forward and asked, “Do you trust her?”
-
“It’s really nice meeting you too, Doctor Hope!” Pinkie Pie enthusiastically shook the doctor’s hand, then sat herself down and noted, “You’re the first therapist I’ve ever met! Well, professionally, anyway!” She paused, and then noted, “By the way, there’s something I’ve always wondered. What’s the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, and while I’m asking, which one are you?”
The doctor laughed and explained, “I’m a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. As for the differences, well, that isn’t too difficult. Both require doctorates and years of study, but psychologists focus mostly on talking issues and problems out with their patients. I can’t fill out a prescription for medication or whatever, but a psychiatrist can.” She made a small shrug and noted, “That said, I have taken some medical courses. I’m at least qualified to give you first aid if you need it, but something tells me that won’t come up.”
“Probably not, but it’s nice to know you can still try and help the ouchies to go away.”
A sad smile crossed her face. “Well, one tries. And from what I’m told, you try to do the same around here. You’re practically a one-student Glee Club.”
“Yep! Everyone deserves to smile!” The enthusiasm faded as Pinkie admitted, “Of course, sometimes I don’t do too good a job at it. If I’d been a little better about it a couple weeks back, then you wouldn’t be here.”
“Probably not.” Hope regarded her notes and asked, “But since you brought it up, is there anything you want to say about the Anon-A-Miss incident?”
Her hair visibly deflated as Pinkie admitted, “That I still feel really bad about it. Sunset knows, but still…” She pulled herself into a hug. “It’s no fun, y’know? Knowing that you hurt someone and they didn’t deserve it. Knowing you did something bad. What really hurts is how Maud reacted to it.”
“Maud Pie. Your older sister.”
“My older older sister. I’ve got a younger older sister, but she’s homeschooled with my twin back on the farm. It’s bad enough that Maud knew about what happened, but Limestone and Marble finding out? Or worse, Mom and Dad? None of them would be happy.” As if anticipating the concerned reaction from the therapist, she quickly amended, “Oh, it’s not what you’re thinking. My family isn’t abusive, we all love each other. My folks are just the sort to go with tough love, y’know? They don’t smile a lot, but when they do…” Pinkie’s eyes lit up. “It’s magical.”
“Which is why you enjoy making people happy. You want to spread that magic as much as you can.”
A nod. “But I wasn’t spreading it with Sunset back before Christmas when I turned on her. I hurt her, because I thought that she’d hurt the rest of us. I got caught up in the moment, but that’s no excuse. And Maud told me that too, the morning after we said what we did, the day we almost…” She sniffled, and the doctor handed her a box of tissues, one of which was plucked and promptly used to loudly blow her nose. “Thanks.”
“You needed it.”
“And the thing is, I should’ve known Sunset wouldn’t do that kind of thing, not after the Fall Formal. She was scared that, after all the bad she’d done, she’d, y’know, be killed. She even thought Maud might do it one morning, just because she saw Maud with a big knife about to cut up some sausage for breakfast. A part of her probably thought that she deserved it too.” Pinkie set the box aside and whimpered. “I was such a dummy-head. How can she trust me again?”
Hope looked upon her with an uncertain expression on her face. “There’s no way of knowing. But did Maud forgive you for your mistake?”
“I didn’t hurt Maud though.”
“She still wasn’t happy about it, from what you’ve said.”
“No.” Her tone lightened by just a tiny bit, and she remarked, “But she did forgive me. And she’s not gonna stop loving me.”
“Well that leaves you with these questions regarding Sunset; will you trust her to trust you again? And will you trust her the next time?”
-
A tense silence had held since Rainbow Dash had taken her seat, neither her nor Dr. Hope saying anything to one another. The doctor finally broke the silence and asked, “You know, nothing’s going to get done if you don’t say anything.” She then smirked and asked, “Or are you hoping you can stretch this out and get out of all your classes tomorrow too?”
The athlete looked at her with eager surprise. “Can that really happen?”
“No. Sorry to disappoint you.”
Dash chuckled nervously. “Kinda obvious I didn’t want to be here, huh?” Her resolve rattled, she admitted, “I’m not really one for all this touchy-feely crap. I mean, I get it, you kinda need people to whine about this stuff, or you don’t have a job, but talking about this sorta thing really isn’t for me.”
“Keeping it bottled up inside really doesn’t do a lot of good either, even if you have a positive outlet with your athletics. Which are very impressive, by the way.”
Normal surprise flashed across her eyes. “You’ve heard about me?”
“It’s my understanding that this school has you to thank for the closest thing it’s had to a victory over Crystal Prep in anything in almost a quarter of a century.”
A triumphant laugh. “Darn right! And it would’ve been a real victory if that bit-!” Dash caught herself in time and corrected, “If that big sore loser headmistress of theirs didn’t have a stick up her butt and insist on drug tests. We didn’t take drugs, obviously, but Fleetfoot ate some bagels with poppy seeds and…”
Hope stopped her. “You don’t have to justify anything to me, I’m not here to talk about all of that. I’m more concerned with more recent events. Still, it’s obvious you have a lot of loyalty to your school.”
A proud grin crossed Dash’s face. “No kidding. You can’t get it if folks don’t give it to you. That’s what my parents taught me, and they know what they’re talking about.” She turned nervous as she admitted, “Of course, sometimes I’m better at following their example than others. Did Rarity tell you that Sunset spent a night with her the week after the Fall Formal?” She was answered with a nod, and continued, “Same with me. Dad wasn’t too crazy about seeing her there, but he let her stay, though just for that one night. Said he was proud of me for having her over too, even if I’d gone behind his back.” She turned downcast as she admitted, “Mom would’ve too, if she’d been there.”
“Your mother isn’t in the household?”
Dash shook her head. “She’s not dead or anything, I just haven’t seen her in a while. A long while. Her job, and all.” She gestured with one hand as if it were a jet and explained, “Air Force. Serving overseas. Came home from one deployment last spring just to get shipped back out less than a week later. Caught me right at the same time that Sunset was pulling us apart at the seams.”
“Sounds like she made things worse for you.”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t her fault. Sunset didn’t know about my mom or what was going on with her.” She bowed her head and added, “Still doesn’t.”
“But you’re still carrying a grudge over it.”
“No! Well, kinda, but…” Rainbow Dash groaned. “This is why I don’t like shrinks. Just a bunch of eggheads messing around in your head poking and prodding at how you think and talking about your feelings and junk, and getting things all confused. Folks should be able to figure things out for themselves!” She quickly amended. “No offense.”
“None taken, and you’re right. Ideally, people would be able to figure things out for themselves. Sometimes, however, they can’t, for whatever reason, and someone like me has to come along to help them sort themselves out. Sometimes you need an outside perspective to point you in the right direction.” She smiled and offered, “Sort of like a coach helping players to perfect their maneuvers on the field and work with their teammates. They can see the big picture, while the players just get a small bit of it.”
A shrug. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.” She sat up. “Alright, Coach. What’s your outside perspective telling you?”
“Well, I’m still listening to what you’re telling me. Right now, however, it sound like you’ve got some conflicted feelings left with Sunset.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Dash leaned back into her seat and explained, “Before the Fall Formal, getting the school excited about something was hard. She didn’t help that, being the way she was. Kinda hard to take pride in yourself or someone else if you’re getting pushed around or pushed down all the time, and besides, I never liked bullies. Had to put up with too many myself, and that’s ignoring all the times someone was a jerk to Fluttershy or any of my other besties. After, well, I was still kinda sore, but I gave her a shot.” A sad expression crossed her face. “Turns out she wasn’t so bad. Had a bigger heart than I thought she did, even if it was buried under a bunch of junk. And I believed her about it. Still do.”
“And yet…?”
“Yeah, I know. Dash stupid, Dash hypocrite, Sunset sad, us nearly lose Sunset, us all go talk to shrink.” She groaned. “You know, I actually let myself think that all of what she said and did was an act? For all of one day, yeah, but still, an act. She could’ve done it, she’d been playing folks for years, but…” She turned morose and continued. “But it wasn’t an act. And we almost lost her, and I’ve been stewing over that for the last couple weeks.”
“We choose whom we’re loyal to, and it’s our decision to maintain that loyalty.”
“Yeah, but loyalty doesn’t mean turning your back on those who trust you, or on whoever you trust.” She grumbled softly, “I wish I’d learned that the first time.”
“Some lessons take a while to stick, Rainbow Dash. Still, all of this raises the important question. Do you trust her?”
-
An uncomfortable silence had taken over the room after Fluttershy had greeted Dr. Hope and taken her seat. This wasn’t so much one fueled by distrust and hostility like the talk with Rainbow Dash, however, as it was by anxiety and discomfort.
“Fluttershy, if it makes you feel any better, you aren’t in any trouble. No one is in trouble here, and no one is going to get in trouble for what we talk about. Anything specific you bring up with me will remain squarely between us, regardless of the fact that you aren’t officially my patient.” A small smirk appeared upon the therapist’s face as she added, “And that includes your little stowaway.”
The shy girl looked up in surprise. “How did…?”
“Educated guess.”
With some relief, Fluttershy opened her backpack and freed her passenger. The little white rabbit shook his head and flicked his ears as she explained, “I’m sorry. I sometimes bring one of my little animal friends to school with me. They’re very good about keeping quiet, especially Angel. I used to bring more, but that was mostly to keep myself company.”
“Really? I’d think you’d have little trouble finding yourself company. People would probably like to be with you most of the time.”
“Well, I guess, but…” She gently petted Angel as she reflected, “Talking with other people isn’t really easy for me. It’s a big world, and there’s so many of them, and just one little me, and it gets really scary sometimes. I don’t have that problem with animals, though.”
“No wonder you’re so anxious to talk. But you being here in the first place is a very brave thing.”
A small smile spread across Fluttershy’s lips as she admitted, “Well, it’s easy to be brave when you have a friend with you. And I do better with people once I get to know them.” She looked up and admitted, “Them being nice to me doesn’t hurt, either. That’s how Rainbow Dash and I first met, her standing up for me.”
“Yes, the two of you went to Cloudsdale Junior High together for sixth grade. Right before the school district changed everything around, Cloudsdale closed and Canterlot High became a six year school.” A nod from Fluttershy, and the therapist continued, “That must have been very scary for you, barely getting used to one new school after one year before going on to another one. Having a friend come along with you must have helped a lot.”
“It did, even once I got to know the rest of the girls. It was wonderful.” She turned downcast as her thoughts led to the inevitable. “Until we were broken up, anyway.” Angel nuzzled her from his perch in her lap, all too familiar with his mistress’ tendency to feel sad about bad times, as she continued. “I was so mad at Pinkie Pie over what happened at the silent auction, and I barely talked to Applejack after she started saying so many mean things about Rainbow Dash. I only saw Rarity a few times here and there, like our spa visits, but we barely talked about anything, and Rainbow was always so busy with one sports team or another.”
“And you were alone.”
A sad nod. “And that’s never fun. And I’ve always been so nervous around the other students, so talking to them was never easy. It didn’t get any easier once Sunset started showing her true colors. Especially once…” Her voice dropped low as she admitted, “Once she started to single me out. By the time she beat Rarity for the Spring Fling, the entire school was scared of her. Some of them might still be scared of her. I’d probably be with them, if it hadn’t been for what happened after the Fall Formal, and for that night she spent with me.” She smiled and noted, “Sunset has a beautiful singing voice. And it turns out her mother and mine both sang us the same lullaby when we were younger.”
“She stopped being scary then, huh?”
“Yes. And seeing her at the animal shelter afterwards, volunteering her time and playing with the dogs, it was so wonderful.” She giggled as she remembered the first time. “She took a shine to one dog in particular, Ellie. And she was so sad to see her go when she was adopted, but it was a happy sort of sad.” The laughter faded as she thought of another dog. “I wish I was feeling that right now.”
Another round of nuzzles, and the therapist noted, “I take it what happened with the Anon-A-Miss incident is still a big part of your thinking right now.”
A whimpering nod. “We shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have…” Fluttershy immediately reached for the box of tissues and started to weep. It was a good minute before she regained control of herself, and doubtless would have been more if Angel hadn’t been attempting to hug her. Several tissues were blown before she managed to speak again. “We didn’t even try to give her a chance to explain. We didn’t even think… We just… And we almost lost her…”
Fluttershy then squeaked in surprise as she felt a warm embrace about her. She looked to find that Doctor Hope had given her the hug. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.” She stepped back and noted, “Forgive me, that was amazingly unprofessional. You needed it, the way you were acting, and I can tell you meant all of that, but my job still requires me to keep some distance.”
“It’s alright. It was my fault.” A tense silence followed, neither sure where to go from there. This time, it was Fluttershy who broke it. “Can she ever trust me again?”
“Can you trust her? Did you trust her?”
-
“Apologies if Ah come across a might nervous, ma’am. Never really talked with a therapist before over much.” Applejack grinned nervously as she admitted, “Tell ya the truth, Ah’m usually the one my friends come to when they need advice or somethin’.”
Dr. Hope smiled reassuringly. “No need to apologize, Applejack. Though I’d assume you’ve gone to someone about some issue troubling you in the past?”
“A few folks here and there. Usually mah Granny or mah big brother, sometimes this one gal I got close with years back at summer camp. Course with her, has to be by e-mail; she lives out east. Still, Rara’s family, or close enough to it. All mah close friends are.” She slumped. “Makes all this all the worse.”
“How so?”
The farmgirl looked to the therapist and asked, “You ever had a client who lost a parent? Or are you not allowed ta say?”
A tilt of the head, and she admitted, “Doctor patient confidentiality doesn’t really apply to general things like that, so long as I don’t go into specifics. Yes, I’ve known many people who lost a parent at some point in their lives. One, not a patient, I know quite well.” She gestured to the files and noted, “Obviously, you’re among them.”
A solemn nod. “Ah was eight when mah folks passed. Mom was the first one ta go.” A sad smile formed on her face as she recounted, “Pear Butter was her name, but you’ve probably got that in your notes there. Daddy always called her ‘Buttercup’ though. Sweetest woman you’d ever meet, biggest smile all around. She stood out from the rest a’ us Apples easy, thanks to her not havin’ our little twang to her voice, but Daddy always said it gave her character. Might not’ve sounded like it save when she sang, but she had the heart of a country girl. Made the best pies ever, without a doubt.” The smile faded as she finished, “Her heart is what did her in, though. Aortic tear, the doctors called it. Happened all of a sudden; she was laughin’ with me an’ mah siblins’ one second, and the next, she was on the ground and Big Mac was callin’ for an ambulance. They lost her ‘fore she even got to the hospital.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Ain’t yer fault. Was her time, I suppose. Didn’t help that we lost Daddy right afterwards, though.” Another sad smile, this one warm with pride, crossed Applejack’s face as she took off her hat and examined it. “Bright McIntosh, mah daddy, was a big mountain of a man, with a heart bigger’n any mountain you could name. Taught us the value’a hard work, to respect the soil and the animals that help us work it. Taught us to value life, especially when he gave me and Big Mac shootin’ lessons. Always wore a Stetson, just like this one.” The hat was set in her lap as she finished, “Died in a car accident, same day we lost Mom. Some drunk driver missed a light and crashed into him. The other guy walked away from it, still don’t know if’n he was ever charged for vehicular homicide or whatever. Not a lot of comfort in it, but at least the two of ‘em went on to Heaven together. And both taught us the value a’ family.” She sighed. “Ah wish Ah’d learned it a little better, though.”
“You think that you’ve failed them on that regard?”
“Some ways, yes.” Applejack put her hat back on and explained, “After mah parents passed, the farm felt kinda…empty. And that emptiness hurt somethin’ fierce. Granny wasn’t happy ‘bout it, but she let me go off and stay with one a’ mah daddy’s sisters, mah Aunt Citrus Orange and her family up in the city. Kinda became clear pretty quick that Ah didn’t fit in too close with ‘em, though, and as painful as it was not havin’ mah mom and daddy ‘round, it was even more painful not bein’ at the farm, not seein’ Granny and Big Mac and Apple Bloom every day.”
“You think you abandoned them.”
“And that’s the biggest thing about family; you don’t abandon it and you don’t turn on it.” Applejack looked to the therapist and asked, “You know Sunset’s an orphan too, right? Lost both her mom and dad when she was a tiny little thing, not even out of kindergarten. Back in the bad old days, she’d give me nuthin’ but grief about bein’ a country bumpkin, but she never once gave me grief about mah parents bein’ dead. Ah didn’t find out until the mornin’ after the Fall Formal, right when Ah started thinkin’ a her as a friend. As family.”
“Which no doubt made things hurt all the more when you thought that she’d gone back to her old habits.”
“Not as bad as it did when the real culprit was revealed.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Ah yelled at Sunset. Took everythin’ Ah had not to do worse’n that. Time passed, though, and Ah started to feel bad about it. Then when Ah found out Apple Bloom and her friends had been behind it, that they’d done it all to hurt her, that stung the worst. Ah was mad. Mighty disappointed, too. Actually…” She sank as she noted, “Actually did strike her. Slapped her in the back a’ the head. No lastin’ harm, but Ah still feel plenty bad about it, both because Ah did it and because Ah was lettin’ her off easy.”
“She’s your little sister, though.”
“Didn’t make me feel any less like a hypocrite, treatin’ her one way on account’a her bein’ blood and treatin’ Sunset another cuz she wasn’t. Especially considerin’ I thought of her like she was.” Applejack shamefully rubbed one arm and noted, “And considerin’ Sunset thinks a’ me and the gals the same way. Or she did, at least.” She bowed her head. “We trusted her. But we didn’t trust her enough.”
“Did you trust her? Really?” As Applejack looked at her with a pained expression, Dr. Hope asked, “Can you trust her now?”
-
“Hello Sunset Shimmer. I’m Doctor Hope.” Greeting and handshake out of the way, the therapist gestured for her to take a seat and began. “Now then, I…” She noticed a distant expression on Sunset’s face and asked, “Is something wrong?”
“Oh, no, it’s just…” Sunset shook her head and sighed. “For some reason, I feel like I’ve seen you before somewhere.”
The older woman flashed an enigmatic smile. “It might be that I just have one of those faces.” She picked up her notebook and noted, “Now, it probably won’t surprise you that I’ve done my homework with you and your friends. Out of the six of you, however, you’re probably the one that’s the most…well, putting it politely, complicated. You’re easily one of the best students of your year academically, if not one of the best that Canterlot High has ever seen. Outside of that, however, well, there isn’t too pretty a picture over time.” She flipped through some pages and noted, “You had a fair rise in popularity for your first year at CHS, culminating in becoming the Spring Fling princess in the eighth grade and maintaining that title through the following Fall Formal and Spring Fling, but aside from a brief stint on the school newspaper, you mostly kept to social functions. And that ignores the odd reports of snide remarks and aggressive behavior towards your fellow students, as well as the rumors surrounding last year’s Spring Fling.”
Sunset bowed her head regretfully. “If those rumors are about me sabotaging Rarity’s bid against me, then those are true. But you’ve probably figured that out by now.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny that.” The therapist quickly got back on track and noted, “And all of that leads us to this year’s Fall Formal, and the incident there.” She locked eyes with Sunset. “The gas explosion.”
“Yeah, that.” Sunset nervously considered her next words. Telling the complete truth obviously wasn’t an option; one word about magic and there was a chance she’d be in serious trouble, either because she’d attract unneeded attention to the school or because she’d give Dr. Hope an excuse to call someone in to have her locked away in an asylum. Did they even still have asylums, or did they call them ‘mental hospitals’ now? Best not to go into too many specifics about it. “That definitely wasn’t a good night for me.”
“It’s a small miracle that you and your two accomplices weren’t expelled, or arrested. One would almost think that Principal Celestia was looking out for you.” She looked up from her notes and added, “Now, I’m not here to judge you, and I don’t have the authority to take you away from here, but I would like to know what prompted something that extreme. Were you really that incensed about losing the title to this mysterious ‘Twilight Sparkle’?”
“Yes, and no.” Sunset sighed and carefully picked her next few words. “Getting that title, becoming the effective queen of Canterlot High and staying at the top, it meant a lot to me. Way more than it should have. Obviously I went a little crazy about keeping it. Crazy enough that people nearly got killed.” She frowned and noted, “Suffice it to say, it was a wake-up call.”
“I’d think so. There hasn’t been a complaint about you from a teacher or administrator since then, and the five girls who were instrumental in Twilight’s victory over you have been at your side ever since. Especially telling, considering one of them was your rival barely six months prior.”
“Yeah, I’m still grateful for all of that.” Sunset quietly tucked her hands together on her lap and explained, “I’d been in a bad place for a long time. I didn’t realize how bad until after the Fall Formal, after I was forced to see what I’d become. I didn’t like it.” She forced herself to look at the doctor as she continued. “I lost my parents when I was young. Ever since, I ended up pushing people away, either because I didn’t want anything to do with them or because they refused to give me what I wanted. Without realizing it, I became a monster.”
“And you think that was because your parents died?”
Sunset laughed mirthlessly. “No, their deaths were a factor, but everything I did after losing them was my choice. One bad decision after another up until the Fall Formal.”
“And since then?”
A shrug. “I haven’t deliberately caused other people trouble. Got a new place to live, a job, started to live an honest life. I have tried to fix what I could, though it hasn’t been much. Bare minimum, my ex and I are at least amicable.”
“Your ex. Flash Sentry.”
A nod. “He broke it off with me. And I don’t blame him.” A sad smile crossed her lips as she added, “Things were actually looking up for me. And then Anon-A-Miss happened and, well, no doubt you’ve heard all about that.”
“I’d be very confused about why I’m here if I hadn’t. Given what I’ve been told, you obviously didn’t take the experience too well.”
Sunset opted against pointing out how much of an understatement that was. “I’d spent months trying to rebuild my life into something new, something better, and it just came crashing down around me all over again.” She gently examined where her jacket had been patched up months prior. “I spent a week, between the Fall Formal and getting my own place, going from one of their places to another to stay. I talked with each of them, about one thing or another. Rarity insisted on fixing this up, and Fluttershy…” A sad sigh. “She had so little room. She felt so terrible about only being able to have me for one night. But they all took me in. And then they just tossed me away because of Anon-A-Miss, like all of those months had never happened.” Her hand gripped her arm as she mournfully said, “And I was alone again.”
“And you think that it was your fault.”
Sunset looked at the therapist in surprise. “What? No! I mean, I get why they did what they did, I would have…”
“Only you didn’t. You said so yourself that you’d spent months doing what you could to avoid being who you were before the Fall Formal. Are you saying that it’s your fault that they left you?”
“Well, no.”
“That it’s your fault that their sisters chose to post all of that information and make it look like you’d done it?”
“No, they did that on their own…”
“Then why are you acting like it was your fault? It clearly wasn’t, and you know that.”
“No, and they…”
“And they accused you of it, after several months of getting to know you. Did they know about how you felt after the Fall Formal?”
“Yes!” Sunset sat up alert and exclaimed, “They saw me at my lowest point! They know how I feel about what I did!”
“And yet, they still accused you of being Anon-A-Miss.”
“Not until…”
“Whether they did it first thing or a day later, it doesn’t matter. They still did it, and you almost took your own life because of it. Do you really think that you deserve to die for something that you didn’t do?”
“No, but…”
“Then why do it?”
“Because I’d lost them!” Sunset surprised even herself at how she was suddenly shouting. “They were all I had, the closest thing to family, and they threw me away like trash! Despite everything, they still look at me and see the thing that almost killed them and Twilight that night! And so do I!” After several deep breaths, she calmed down, sank back in her seat, and mournfully said, “And I don’t want to. But how can I not see that thing if that’s all anyone else sees?”
“So you don’t think they trust you?”
“…I thought they did.”
“Well, you’re left with an important question then.”
-
Waiting for Sunset’s session with Doctor Hope to end felt like an eternity as her friends waited outside of the conference room. “Anyone else feelin’ anxious about this, or is it just me?”
“Nope, not just you.” Pinkie’s answer was delivered in an uncharacteristically saddened tone. “I don’t think any of us is looking forward to what’ll happen when Sunset comes out of that door.”
“She knows we all feel bad about what happened though, right?” Dash looked among her friends and asked, “I mean, she wouldn’t have come to Sweet Apple Acres if she didn’t, or accept the gifts, or…?”
“She does, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity’s tone turned uneasy as she amended, “At least, I assume that she does. But that hardly changes what happened, or what we did.”
“Or the consequences.” Applejack took off her Stetson and studied it for a moment. “Girls, there’s somethin’ ah…”
Applejack turned silence as Sunset emerged from the conference room and closed the door behind her. The flame-haired girl looked to her friends and softly, weakly said, “Hey.”
Rarity smiled hopefully. “Hello Sunset. I hope…” She turned silent as she took sight of the distant, almost blank expression on her friend’s face. The other girls also picked up on this hint, and remained silent.
“Girls, there’s something I need to say.” Sunset stood up as straight as she could, and made as strong an effort as possible to look all of them in the eye. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I haven’t been able to keep what happened a couple weeks ago out of my head. The talk I just had with Doctor Hope has helped, a lot, but there’s still one thing left in all of this. Just at the end, she asked me a question.”
Pinkie came within a hair’s breadth of interrupting before Applejack clamped a hand over her mouth.
“Thanks. She asked me if I could trust you. And the truth is…” Her lips pursed as she visibly struggled to continue, her hands trembling slightly as they started to curl into fists. Finally, she let it out. “…The truth is that the five of you know what you did. I’ve spent so much time trying to justify it in my head, but I can’t. Not after everything that’s happened. Not after spending so much time with all of you and everything we’ve shared. Even after all of that, you didn’t trust me.” Her eyes finally closed as tears, fueled by sadness and anger, welled up and she finished, “And I can’t trust you either.”
Fluttershy gasped, but it went unheard among her other friend’s protests as Sunset turned and ran away. As they turned silent, one by one, she finally spoke up. “We did this. This is our fault.”
Pinkie’s hair went totally limp and lifeless as the bell rang, and students started filing into the halls, blissfully unaware of what had transpired. Unable to hear the other shoe dropping at last.
That ending. Ohhhhh, boy.............
This si so sad! But makes so much sense as well.
I hope the CMC learn fo this, it be a fitting punishment to knwo they destroyed those bonds between them.
This ending reminds me of this fic, ina way, it shows how Sunset was affected by Anon-Miss
The aftermath.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/340985/bitter-tears-an-anon-a-miss-fanfic
It's so easy to think that, just because something looks fixed, it actually is. In reality, though, if a problem isn't treated just right, it is only hidden, and festers in secret, until it makes itself known once more, worse than before. It can be something obvious to the whole world, like an infected wound becoming gangrenous, or it can be something only the affected know of, like a broken bone regrowing crooked. Relationships are much the same. If a problem between two people isn't discussed and resolved, but merely swept under the metaphorical rug, then it will resurface, be it in something as dramatic as a violent confrontation, or as subtle as the silent suffering of someone who thinks no one cares about what they're going through and that making it known would just burden others.
Unfortunately, our society today is the perfect breeding ground for this "out of sight, out of mind" mentality. More and more, people care only about what things appear to be, rather than what they are. MLP's greatest failing is that it fosters ideas that perpetuate this problem, such as that facts should be subservient to opinion, justice should be subservient to harmony, righteousness be subservient to friendship, rather than the other way around, as is the natural order of things. And many of the solutions to problems in the show are exactly the kind of actions that, in real life, would only cause even greater suffering in the long run.
This is why the original comic is so terrible, at its core. It tries to paint a picture of everything being fine in the end just by pretending the whole fiasco never happened, when in reality that just left the guilty triumphant and the innocent to suffer. There's far too much injustice in the world today as is. We don't need more in the things we turn to for refuge from that.
But here, now, things are finally out in the open. Things may certainly look unpleasant now, but a problem can't be solved unless it is first acknowledged, and in some situations, the only cure for an ailment may look to an outsider as counterproductive, even actively harmful. But now that the true issue has been exposed, it can be fixed - even if that fix may be extremely painful in the short term. The only question now is, just what kind of problem is this? Is it a gangrenous limb, amputated to save the rest of the body? Or is it a crooked bone, broken anew so that it may truly heal?
Whelp, yep that's a cliff hanger there at the end. I know this is the best place for the real healing to begin from but it still is heart wrenching.
Hey there. Thanks greatly for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate you going to the effort. It took a while, but was well worth the wait. Once again, great job on the exchanges, emotional content and future chapter set-up in all the right places. I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this as soon as time and inspiration will allow.
7456920 The sad truth is that sometimes, things have to get worse before they get better. Things are definitely getting worse right now.
7456928 There's still consequences to come for the Crusaders. They aren't quite out of the woods yet, and won't really be for a while.
7456930 Time will tell, but yeah, you're pretty clearly saying things I've come to notice myself. Certainly something I've been trying to take notice of with my stuff, even if I haven't always managed it.
7456947 Was going for heart-wrenching. Wasn't certain how well I'd managed it.
7457467 Thanks. Got my fingers crossed that I'll get the next one done by the end of this month.
I actually teared up when reading this... waiting for the next chapter is going to be torture.
7457834 I'll do my best to alleviate that torture as quickly as I can.
7457516 Sad, but true, unfortunately.
And indeed they are.
Oh now I hope the cmc will get punished more for this
7458542 I can assure you that the Crusaders will continue to see repercussions for the Anon-A-Miss postings, both later in this story and in later tales, but why would they be punished more for what happened in this chapter? They were the catalyst for all of this, but it was ultimately what the Humane Five did that caused Sunset's current distress.
You know, it's kinda sad when fanfics can make better stories and handle sensitive issues better then canon can ever do.
Honestly I'm not surprised that Sunset won't trust anybody of the humane 5 for a long time.
Good job with the story, though, I'll keep an eye on it.
7470831
Unfortunately, it's to be expected in this case. The very premise the show is based off of - that friendship and harmony are more important than anything, even justice and righteousness - is inherently flawed. If you take a careful look at the show, ignoring the emotions and opinions of the main characters and focus on the moral, and you'll actually find plenty of injustices and acts of wickedness either handwaved or portrayed as good things in the name of that base premise (especially in the later seasons). You'll also find many unfortunate implications and abhorrent ideas based off that initial premise that many pony fic writers have, unfortunately, embraced wholeheartedly (most glaring examples being its support of absolute rule (which, when you look at it objectively, is really just slavery on a larger scale) as long as the ruler (or rulers, in the case of oligarchy like in the show) is "benevolent", "wise", or "just", the idea that manipulation and deception are perfectly acceptable if they are in the name of the "greater good", and likability and public opinion being considered more important when evaluating which side is right in a conflict rather than the facts).
MLP may be an entertaining cartoon with interesting characters, but as a morality show (which it started out as, and arguably still is), it fails miserably.
7470831 Give it, and her, time. And thanks. Diligently at work on the next chapter as we speak.
Why are updates taking so long!?
7533459 Real life. My job called me in for a lot of mandatory overtime last month, and couple that with my OCD tendencies and the odd shopping trip, and I found myself with very little time to write.
I can assure you, however, that the next chapter is about half done, and I'm optimistic that it will be out before the end of this month. After that, I don't know - I'm working on another story that I hope to have out on my second anniversary here, but I'm cautiously optimistic that this one will finish by year's end.
7471159 Well, an objective analysis of the merits of different styles of government are kind of beyond the scope of the tv show. But that said, I will point out that every system of government has its flaws, and what makes or breaks a culture is how well it weathers the storms when they happen.
Something a friend said to me, for instance, a long time ago has stuck with me ever since. He told me that we don't really live in a capitalist democracy. What we live in, he asserted, was a Consumerist Plutocracy. His assertion was that we as a culture have been conditioned to find value in the things we own, and that in order to feel better, we have to buy more stuff. And that it's a plutocracy, because wealth is the only qualifier that determines who gets elected. The recent election shenanigans are proof of that. No one not sitting on literally billions of dollars has a hope of being elected in the US. Ever. So, in the end, it's about the rule of money and who dies with the most stuff.
All that said, what matters here is that, whether he's right or wrong, society still continues to stumble along, somehow. Compared to how badly Western Civilization has gotten it every now and then, the occasional moral gray zone action by the Princesses is practically a model of cultural perfection by comparison. So I'd say that, cultural imprinting aside (which can cause us to champion our preferred cultural model over another simply through knee-jerk assertions that 'ours is better,') the diarchist society presented in MLP is probably culturally more stable, if prone to top-down abuses from time to time. As long as society stumbles along, it all tends to work out in the long run.
7564325 The root problem of your argument is that you assume stability is the most important quality of a society, rather than morality. Yet one only needs to look at the Third Reich or the USSR under Stalin* to know that this is a terrible measure of a society's value.
The problems you state with the USA do exist, I won't deny that. But have you ever stopped to ask why it's like that, when it truly was a constitutional republic at the beginning? The answer is because we abandoned the Judeo-Christian values our nation was built on in favor of materialism. We haven't become morally bankrupt and materialistic because of bad government; we have bad government because we have embraced moral bankruptcy and materialism.
As for your defense of the alicorns' rule; there's nothing "gray" about it. Claiming ownership of another human (or in a setting like Equestria, sapient) being is inherently evil, yet to rule absolutely is to declare ownership of every human (or sapient) in an entire country. It's slavery writ large, the fate of the commoner decided by the whims of the elite. Equestria's absolute oligarchy may be more stable than a constitutional government, but its very foundation rests on the idea that some sapients deserve to own the rest. To defend absolute rule is to defend slavery. Are you willing to defend slavery in the name of stability? And this isn't even getting into the moral problems of Celestia's at least occasional use of manipulation and deception (which again, isn't "gray", but inherently evil).
*I mention under Stalin specifically because the USSR was comparatively unstable under Lenin and Gorbachev, and because Stalin was by far the most evil of the Soviet dictators. Note that those two reasons are connected - the USSR was stable under Stalin because he was the most evil of the Soviet dictators.
7564474 Hmm. I'm going to sidestep the assertion that a religious value system was used to define the US, especially when the US constitution specifically states that it was intended to exist without the influence of a religious imperative. Essentially maintaining the separation of Church and State in the new organization. While I understand a lot of people in the US want to believe that a Christian ethos is necessary for their nation to exist, that belief often tends to ignore the fact that the nation was founded with the guarantee that religion would not become a defining condition for either rulership of, or membership in, the culture.
I'm also trying to identify where in the MLP episodes there's mention of the Princesses claiming ownership of a sapient person? You could claim Celestia "owns" Philomena, but consider the episode she's introduced in. If the phoenix didn't want to be rooming in the palace, nothing could force it to. Same goes for Owlowiscious. And as for Spike, it's pretty clear that Twilight considers him to be either her younger brother or her son, depending on your point of view. While I'm sure there's examples of the Princesses exerting "influence" over people, I'd be hard pressed finding even a single example in any era here where the leader didn't at some point exert "influence" over others for their own purposes. In that sense, every single leader is guilty of that one at some point in their career path.
(Oh, and anyone who claims Fluttershy "owns" all those animals she cares for... Really? She had to seriously "woman up" to push the Breezies out the door so they could go home, and they're about as clingy as sapient creatures get. Not a single creature stays there that doesn't want to, you can be sure.)
So, where exactly, are the examples of intentional enslavement of sapient creatures?
7564503 Funny how you claim that you want to sidestep the issue of morality, then immediately start talking about it. But to address the issue, the Constitution does in fact protect religious rights, but that doesn't change the fact that it was Christians who founded the USA under Christian values, and that the moral and societal decay of the USA, and of western civilization in general, is directly linked to the abandoning of those issues in favor of materialism.
The entire rest of the post is an amazing exercise in missing the point. The alicorns are absolute rulers. As such, they can decide to alter any facet of their subjects lives at any moment for any reason. As such, they own their subjects. That they choose not to at the moment doesn't change the fact that they legally can. As I said before, absolute rule is slavery writ large.
7564545 This is becoming flame-y, so I'm going to step away for a day or two, so that calmer posts will prevail.
That said, you're right that I said one thing and continued on to post another. My apologies. Sometimes I'm as guilty as stream-of-thought posting as the next person. I just don't equate a monarch or diarch in this case with slavery. If they actively policed the borders, prevented people from leaving, and called out the military against anyone who disagreed against them, then you'd have a point. (That's what they did in the USSR, for example.) But I don't see any of that behavior in Equestria. Given that they have a Mayor in Ponyville, who is presumably an elected official (although I recall a fanfic once asking what she calls herself when she's not elected,) I suspect what they have is closer to a constitutional monarchy, with greater executive power in the hands of the princesses. Then again, with the Elements of Harmony acting as your cultural backstop, it's hard to establish an absolute slave-state without someone calling down the Orbital Friendship Cannon on you. So in that sense, it could be seen as a cultural safety net preventing the princesses from abusing their authority too much.
7564593 Agreed that we're both getting too hot-headed. I stand by my arguments, but they definitely shouldn't have been delivered with such hostility, and for that I apologize.
You're right that we don't see anything of border policing, but that's mostly because we haven't seen any examples of someone trying to flee Equestria. The only times we see ponies leaving Equestria are Pinkie heading to Yakyakistan, and Pinkie and Dash going to Griffonstone - and in both instances, those were only temporary departures, and with the blessings of royalty (Cadance's in the case of the former, Twilight's in the case of the latter). However, even if the borders aren't policed, that isn't an argument in favor of absolute rule; it's an argument against Equestria being an absolute oligarchy, as an absolute government does police its borders.
Similarly, we haven't seen Celestia or Luna call in the military against dissenters, but all but one source of opposition to them we've seen have been either Armageddon-level threats that required the Elements of Harmony (Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek) or opposing foreign powers (Chrysalis, Sombra). Starlight Glimmer is the exception, but apparently no one knew her village even existed back when she was a cult leader, and she was essentially given a royal pardon by Twilight at the end of the finale.
However, while we don't really have anything solid one way or the other to extrapolate from regarding the border situation, we do have two things that suggest (though not prove) that Celestia and Luna might be willing to bring down the hammer on dissenters. The first: everyone, including pre-coronation Twilight, is utterly terrified of the idea of upsetting Celestia in any way. The second is how Luna played thought police in For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils. Indeed, the very fact that Luna can invade and manipulate the dreams of others, as well as access the memories of sleeping ponies (presumably without their consent, based on Rarity's continued ignorance of anything being wrong in For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils until Sweetie's confession), and all without repercussions, does not speak well for the possibility of Equestrians having any rights beyond what the alicorns allow them.
Having an elected mayor actually doesn't count as evidence against Equestria being absolute in nature. Many absolute monarchs irl allowed individual communities to elect leaders, but both the elected leader and the commoners under said elected official were still completely beholden to the whims of the monarch.
As for the Elements of Harmony, there's one big problem with that argument - like with firearms, they are only a deterrent to the government abusing its power if in the hands of the commoners. As far as the EoH go, for the vast majority of the time, they've been under the control of the government.
-Discord's fall to the banishing of Nightmare Moon: EoH only usable by Celestia and Luna
-Banishing of Nightmare Moon to Luna's return: EoH unusable by anyone
-Luna's Return to the releasing of Discord: EoH usable only by commoners, but kept in government vault that can only be accessed by Celestia
-Releasing of Discord to Twilight's coronation: EoH both possessed by and usable by commoners. At this point, they can be considered a deterrent to abuse of power
-Twilight's coronation to present: one of the EoH is wielded by a member of the oligarchy; EoH cannot be used without the consent and cooperation of one of the alicorns. EoH no longer a deterrent to abuse of power
It should be noted that, even if it's eventually revealed that Equestria is, in fact, constitutional in nature, that doesn't change or invalidate my argument that absolute rule is, in fact, equivalent to slavery. What it does do is invalidate my claim that MLP promotes absolute rule.
7564746 Wow. I always hoped that my stuff would spark a debate one day. I'm just glad that it's being kept reasonably civil.
Y'know, Dr Hope is going to work out that Sunset is an alien eventually. She's a trained psychotherapist; she's going to spot Sunset's lies and half-truths. It isn't going to take long to pull them apart and start to work out that the 'official' story of the Fall Formal isn't entirely true.
7564474
Not to butt in on an ancient argument, but ironically to what you said on the matter, the only judeo-christian value the USA was explicitly founded on is the practice of slavery. There's literally an entire chapter in the bible detailing God's rules for practical slave keeping.
This might be it. I'm really looking forward to seeing how you handle things from here on out.
These comments were pretty whack, though. What a mess...
Also
It's spelled "mite"
9503696
Something else to add to the tiny tweaks I need to do on this one, I suppose.
Christ that was basically the equivalency of taking the gaping wound in their friendship and throwing acid on it
10754685
Sometimes you gotta make things worse before you can make them better.
Wow, they’re young.
Does she mean celestia?
She should probably be lucky she didn’t hit her back, because that’s usually what happens.
I wonder if they have nightmares about that?
Well, looks like they’re even.
10898969
One of my tries at working with what canon gave me was the idea that Canterlot High is a six year high school rather than a four year one. That both justifies the presence of the human versions of the Crusaders (they're seventh graders in their first year at CHS, rather than freshmen) and helps to pad out the timeline a bit, given canon suggests a six month time frame between the first film and second (and possibly the second and third).
Doctor Hope is specifically referring to herself.
And a younger sibling stands how much of a chance of getting away with hitting an older sibling exactly? Assuming the younger sibling is smaller and in full control of their mental faculties?
Yes. Yes they do.
Well, this is more realistic than what was happening. When you are guilty, you are guilty. If someone is known to be a villain - it's easier to forgive each other. Sunset was guilty, there were no wounds, or healing the first time around. This time someone was vulnerable. They were healing, they still had unstable ground. And being betraied over something, that is not your fault is much harder than being driven apart gradually, so to speak.