4 - Other parties
Sunset spun the key and unlocked the front door with a click. It was getting late, the sun was almost settled down. She should have worried about dinner soon. She pushed the door open and was greeted by a cheerful surprise.
“Surprise!”
Sunset smiled. “Hi, mom.”
Celestia smiled. “Hi, Sunshine.”
Beneath the kitchen stand, Celestia was working on the cookers. She had taken off her jacket, remaining in shirt, and replaced it with a white apron.
“So, what’s the surprise?” Asked Sunset as she was freeing her feet from the sandals.
“I just learned how to cook a new dish.”
Sunset gave her a worried glance. When her mother tried to prepare a new recipe, there were two equally possible outcomes: flawless success, or…
“And I didn’t burn down the kitchen this time.”
Sunset sighed in relief. “What did you do?”
“I exceeded myself tonight.” Celestia kneeled down and pulled out a baking tin from the oven. Then she rose and showed her work with pride. “Behold, the lasagne.”
“Uuuuh.” Sunset inhaled as much air as she could by her nostrils. “This smells good.”
Celestia laid the tin over the silk and removed her apron. “We’ll just have to wait for a little until it cools down.”
Sunset took advantage of the few free minutes to rest comfortably on the couch. She grabbed the TV remote controller and switched between the channels as her mother sat next to her.
“So, how was your day?”
“Interesting, to say the least.” Sunset turned her face towards her mother. “Did you know that there was a Sunset Shimmer attending CHS?”
Celestia smiled at her warmly. “Of course I did.”
Sunset put on a smile. “I met her today, It’s just incredible how similar we are.”
Celestia chuckled. “I hope you had a good time.”
“Yes, we really had a lot of fun. And she seemed to be such a good person under that rebellious outfit.”
Celestia held back another laugh. If her daughter thought that Sunset Shimmer looked rebellious now, she should have seen her back in the old days. Nevertheless, she was glad to hearing so well about her student from a new friend.
“You could have told me that I had a doppelgänger attending your school, by the way,” said Sunset in a playful way.
“Didn’t I? I could have sworn I called once for telling you about it,” said Celestia as her memories went three years back…
*****
Principal Celestia was walking through the halls of the school, looking over the papers that she was carrying. Most of them were in a terrible state. They were ripped and stained till the point to be unreadable. Celestia wondered what could have caused such a damage, then she heard someone calling for her.
“Excuse me. You’re the Principal, right?”
Celestia turned towards the one who had just spoken and winced at the sight.
In front of her was standing a young girl that looked almost exactly as her daughter. She had the same shapes and the same colors of the body parts. She had to be the same age too. The only evident difference was the style: this outfit was way too different from what her Sunset would usually wear, and the hair were kept longer and wilder. Furthermore, Celestia noticed another difference. It was about the way this girl was smiling, Celestia just knew by watching her in the eyes that she wasn’t in front of her daughter. That smiling expression felt… less genuine than the smile she was accustomed to.
Anyhow, the similarity was enough to freeze the principal for a short moment, giving the girl the chance to speak first. “I’m sorry to bother you, Principal.”
Then the teenage girl did something that added more confusion to the situation. She clapped her feet together and bent her waist, looking down at the floor. It almost looked as if she was… bowing?
After another short moment of silence, the girl looked up with one eye opened just to see a bewildered Principal Celestia. At the sight, the girl rose and started to panic. “I–I’m sorry, perhaps did I offended you somehow? That really wasn’t my intention, I just –”
Finally back to a familiar situation, Celestia stopped the babbling. “Please, don’t fret. I’m just a little surprised by your gesture. That was… quite unusual.”
“Oh.” Calming down, the girl blushed and started rubbing her arm. “Gosh, that’s embarrassing. Where I’m from, I’m just used to the bowing thing in front of the Prince– ahem –Principal.”
“Where you’re from? Are you foreign?”
“YES!”
The young girl recognized that her answer had been too loud and lightened her voice.
“Yes. Actually, that’s why I was looking for you. I’m a foreign student that signed for your interchange program, but I was so interested in your country that I came here a little early. However, I’m afraid that due my hastiness I may not be fully in order with your schedules. I was wondering” – the girl joined her hands and looked up to Celestia with pleading puppy eyes – “wouldn’t it be possible for me to attend your school from now?”
Celestia’s shoulders deflated as she let out a sigh. “My little girl, you couldn’t have stepped in a more fitting moment.” Principal Celestia raised the ruined documentation and explained, “This is all the documentation regarding the interchange program of this year.”
The girl gasped and brought her hands close to her mouth. “Oh no, such a mess. How did this happen? Perhaps a raccoon or something?”
“I have no clue,” muttered Celestia. “This morning I entered in my office and I saw that the window was wide open, then I found this all over my desk.” She flicked the papers with her wrist, looking at them with an annoyed expression.
The girl looked up for a moment, then back at the papers. “Yeah, I think it was a raccoon,” said she, in a flat tone.
“Well, it’s hard to think that a raccoon would run here from the Everfree–” Celestia stopped herself and shook her head. It wasn’t time to bore this poor girl with details that didn’t concern her. “But we should focus on you now. Actually, this could be a big problem. You see, this was all the documentation I had relative to the program and I didn’t keep a backup file on my computer. Serves me right, I guess, but the interchange begins the next month and I’m not sure if we’ll be able to recover all the information we need from the other schools in time. This could even mean that we won’t have any interchange this year.”
“That’s just terrible,” said the girl with a horrified voice, keeping her eyes as big and adorable as was possible. “I was very looking forward to learning so much here…”
Celestia’s heart skipped a beat at that display of true longing for education. Also, that face partly resembled her of her daughter when she acted like a pander, which was nothing less than adorable.
Therefore, Principal Celestia smiled reassuringly and said, “I think it would be rude to neglect you of your right for scholarship while you’re here. Feel free to attend our classes, I’ll personally take care of your enrollment here. I’m just going to need some I.D. information from you and then you’ll be just like any other student here.”
“But I don’t have those.”
Principal Celestia looked dumbfounded at the girl, who quickly rephrased. “I mean… I… don’t have those with me. I’ll have to check the personal data on my documents, which I should get soon.” Seeing the query look, the girl hastily added, “From my apartment. Where I left them.” Then she smiled brightly.
Celestia blinked a couple of times before getting over her perplexity. “O–kay, just your name will be enough for now. Oh, how impolite of me, I didn’t ask you what it is yet.”
The girl smiled again before answering. “I’m Sunset Shimmer.”
Celestia opened her eyes wide and looked at Sunset bewildered. “Seriously?”
Sunset got worried for a moment. “Is something the matter?”
Assuming that Sunset’s surprise was honest, Principal Celestia was quick to reassure her. “Oh, not at all. Why don’t you go socialize with the other students? I’m sure they will help you with getting oriented here. Just leave the bureaucratic work to me and I’ll let you know whatever you need for your studies.”
“Thank you, I’m sure I’ll mingle just fine.” Sunset turned around just in time to hide her complacent and twisted smirk.
As the student in front of her walked away, Principal Celestia took her phone and quickly called her daughter.
The answer was almost instantaneous and low pitched. “Mom, is something wrong?”
“Hi, Sunshine. I Just wanted to tell you one curious thing. But why do I hear you so muffled?”
“I’m at school. More precisely, I’m in class right in front of my annoyed teacher who has his palm open demanding for my cell.”
Principal Celestia heard Sunset shutting down the call. “Ops.”
*****
“It must have slipped my mind,” said Celestia, getting up from the sofa.
“That’s just it? She seemed to be rather familiar with you,” asked her daughter perplexedly.
“Did she, now?”
“Her mood changed completely when I mentioned you.”
“Well, she’s one of my students. But we also know each other personally,” admitted Celestia as she was cutting the lasagne.
“And even so, you forgot to tell me about my homonymous twin.”
As a response, Celestia shrugged. “I guess I also stopped to consider it noteworthy after the initial surprise. Or maybe I just realized how much the two of you were actually different when I got to know her better.
“I failed to notice at first, but she did give me bad shivers whenever I saw her at school. Unfortunately, even if recent events proved some of my suspicions rights, I never was able to find out what kind of person she really was until a few months ago.”
Sunset climbed over the couch and sat on her knees, looking at her mother filled with curiosity. “I’m losing you.”
“I’ll just say that she ceased to remind me of you in a very short time. Anyway, I’m happy to know that you became friends. I think she’s a very nice girl as she is now.”
“As she is now?”
“Believe me, it’s better if you hear about it from her.”
Sunset looked up and shook her head, knowing that she wouldn’t have gotten more answers. Even if Sunset was used to it, her mom was very mysterious sometimes.
Sunset switched off the TV and mused over the quiz that was her new friend. “I wonder how she’s doing now…”
Colorful balloons, flying confetti and an entire set of bright smiles flashed right next to Sunset, filling all her sight. She couldn’t help but be dumbfounded at this.
All she wanted was to get inside the apartment, reach her bed and pretend that nothing had happened in the last couple of hours. Instead, she had to deal with this...
“Surprise!” shouted Pinkie Pie, slightly later among her friends. “Happy six months anniversary to you, lovebirdies.”
Sunset was stuck on her feet, and her mind was stuck as well.
Beneath her, Fluttershy held her breath.
This was bad.
Really bad.
It was the worst possible time for this. Sunset was way too upset for confronting her friends.
How was she going to react?
Fluttershy knew she couldn’t understand what Sunset was going through. But if she were into Sunset’s shoes, Fluttershy would have run into her room, shut the door, and never opened it again.
But Fluttershy wasn’t the upset one. Sunset was. And Sunset had a more strong and direct personality, for sure. For a moment, Fluttershy could see her girlfriend completely losing it and venting aggressively on her friends.
Terror invaded Fluttershy’s heart and mind. She couldn’t allow this, she had to do something.
With her heart pounding, Fluttershy slowly approached her hand to Sunset.
“L-love,” said Fluttershy, as she reached the back wrapped in leather jacket, “please, try to –”
Ignoring Fluttershy completely, Sunset clapped her hands and chirped happily. “Girls! You shouldn’t have!”
“Aww, of course we had to, silly,” replied Pinkie Pie. “I was planning this party since your first date! And since I almost canceled it from my schedule during the last weekend, guess who's gonna get extra ca~a~ke.”
Fluttershy had frozen behind her girlfriend, failing to understand. How could Sunset possibly sound so happy?
Finally Sunset turned over, allowing Fluttershy to see her chuckle. “Wow, you sure look super surprised, don’t you?” said she, dragging Fluttershy inside. “Come on, we don’t want to let everybody down.”
Sitting at the kitchen table and eating some cake, Fluttershy was feeling uneasy, but she did her best to look like she was enjoying the party. It wasn’t even that bad, actually.
Firstly, everyone got some cake as they shared short stories about the young couple. All their friends had an anecdote to bring back from the memories, trying their best in order to embarrass them a little.
Then, Rainbow Dash challenged Sunset to play video games, and the latter agreed willingly. Between laughing and pushes on the couch, Sunset managed to win three times in a row. Much to everybody shock, Rainbow Dash didn’t complain once.
But that wasn’t Fluttershy’s concern. The shy girl had remained quiet during all the party as her friends were having fun. Every time that Sunset talked or laughed Fluttershy’s uneasiness grew.
She knew it wasn’t right, and she also noticed that Sunset’s behavior had never been merrier. Somehow, that scared Fluttershy, making her almost wish that Sunset yelled angrily at everything.
But she didn’t want to be a party pooper. Everyone was looking to have so much fun. She just had to stay silent, just a little more, just…
“Hi, Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy was so absorbed in her private thoughts that she didn’t notice Pinkie Pie until then. The latter had appeared near, kindly smiling down at her, and was taking a seat.
Fluttershy began to sweat. “Oh, hi, Pinkie.”
Pinkie leaned over the table with her elbows. “So, what’s the matter?”
“Um, nothing wrong. I’m fine.” Fluttershy’s answer had been automatic.
“I know, silly.” Suddenly, Pinkie’s tone shifted from the usual cheery and funny to one more serious and sensitive. “I want to know what’s wrong with Sunset.”
Fluttershy's eyes were wide open and her body started to tremble. They knew that something was off? Sunset’s distress was that obvious? Or Pinkie was the only one to have noticed?
Fluttershy didn’t have to ask in order to know. Keeping her tone low, Pinkie talked, “Nothing makes me happy like seeing my friends smile. But I didn’t feel any happiness since Sunset started to smile. Do I look happy?”
Fluttershy looked carefully at her friend. She didn’t have her usual smile, she looked more sympathetic and worried. Within all their time spent together, Fluttershy couldn’t remember a better smile. It felt so liberating, and warm. It made her feel like she could free herself of an iceberg that was pressing on her shoulder.
Fluttershy frowned and lowered her gaze. What was she thinking? That they could ignore the problem? That maybe Sunset could get over it? Or that they could simply postpone it? Clearly, Sunset was suffering for every second, she was just good at pretending otherwise. Fluttershy’s eyes went moist.
She couldn’t play doll and pretend that everything was fine.
Fluttershy took a long breath. “We –”
“Hey.” Sunset suddenly appeared between Pinkie and Fluttershy. She was still smiling, her eyes were darting from one girl to the other. “We’re choosing the movie for the night. Why don’t you mingle with us on the couch?”
The smile on Sunset looked unnatural to Fluttershy, she didn’t feel the usual tingling inside her heart that spurred from seeing her girlfriend’s happiness. She only felt scared. “Um, no thanks.”
Sunset’s hand quickly clenched over Fluttershy’s. “Well, at least you come with me. You’re my girlfriend, after all.” After saying so, Sunset started to pull Fluttershy forcibly.
Seeing the smiling and yet unsettling face of her girlfriend, Fluttershy felt her guts roll over. She used her weight to remain sitting on her chair, knowing that she had to be strong. Not for herself, but for the girl she loved. “S- Sunset. We have to talk.”
Fluttershy felt Sunset’s grasp getting tighter around her hand. She gave a quick glance to the other girls in the living room, they were all too busy talking to even acknowledge them.
“Can it wait?” said Sunset. “We’re in the middle of a party and –”
“The party is over.”
Both the girls turned, looking in dismay at Pinkie Pie. Neither of them would have ever expected to hear something like that from her. Yet, there she was. Sitting with a severe expression and using a hard voice. “Now talk.”
While they were still surprised, Fluttershy freed her hand and looked directly at Sunset, who returned the eye contact. They used that moment of silence between them to prepare for what was coming next.
“Sunset, I know you’re scared –”
Sunset crossed her arms. “I’m what?”
“You’re right, I have no idea about what are your feelings right now, but that’s why we have to talk about it!”
“We have nothing to talk about,” said Sunset, narrowing her eyes.
“Stop denying that,” said Fluttershy, pushed by her frustration, “you’re clearly upset.”
“I’m just annoyed, all I wanted was a little fun with my friends.”
The level of their voices raising up gathered the attention of all the other girls in the living room, who turned towards them with curious glimpses.
Fluttershy’s voice raised to a shrill scream. “But you can’t just ignore –”
“Why do you even care?!” Sunset threw her arms up. “It's my business!”
“Sunset, you have to talk about your mo–”
Sunset hit the table and shouted with all her strength. “FLUTTERSHY! DON’T!”
…
The apartment went completely silent. Nobody dared to make a sound or move a flinch. Everybody was just staring in awe at Sunset. No one would have expected such an outburst. Not even Sunset herself.
She didn’t even notice that her teeth were clenched her eyes were narrowed. She just kept glaring at Fluttershy as every breath calmed her down.
Finally, after a long moment, Fluttershy spoke with a febrile voice. “O- ok.”
Sunset’s hard face started to crack.
“Sorry, d- don’t be mad.” Fluttershy whimpered. “Ok, s- sorry I…”
…
Rainbow Dash was restraining an absurd quantity of rage. She had remained on the couch while Sunset and Fluttershy were talking, but as Fluttershy started to beg there was no way Rainbow Dash would have remained sitting and watching. She stood on her feet and walked half the way towards Sunset, across the living room. Rainbow Dash would have reached that bully and then…
‘Then what? Punch her again?’
The thought of that was enough to make her hesitate. She looked at Fluttershy once more, and she understood that she couldn’t do that to her again. She stopped, listening to her friend’s whimpers.
“… Please, Sunset…”
Rainbow Dash bit her lower lip and looked down. She just couldn’t move forward.
But someone else did.
…
Sunset’s expression morphed from anger to confusion.
She didn't understand. Why Fluttershy looked so scared? What was going on? What just happened? And why was she herself imposing so aggressively on her girlfriend?
Just as she realized what she was doing, Sunset jumped back with a wince.
She didn’t want this. She would never drive Fluttershy to tears.
Not again.
“Fluttershy, I...”
Her words died in her throat as Applejack came between the two girls. Sunset felt a shiver running through her spine as two strong hands grasped the collar of her jacket from ahead, forcing her to look at the angriest face she had ever seen.
“What the heck are you doing?!” muttered Applejack between her teeth.
“I…” Sunset explored all the corners of her brain as fast as possible in order to find a good answer. That only confused her even more, draining her eyes until they were empty. “I…”
Applejack narrowed her eyes. “You don’t yell at Fluttershy like that!”
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie left their chairs and approached from both sides, putting their hand on the backs of Applejack and Sunset as they tried to calm them down.
“Applejack!”
“Jackie, wait! Sunset is upset.”
Applejack firmly kept the eye contact. “That makes two of us.”
“No, I mean that something has happened to Sunset this evening. I don’t know what, but she’s a little nut now because of it.” Pinkie’s left hand slowly went over Sunset’s body and landed on Applejack’s shoulder. After she gained some attention, Pinkie talked with more calm. “Please, let her go.”
Applejack gave another deep stare into Sunset’s eyes, then she closed hers and released her grip, stepping aside. “Reckon the two of you have something to sort out.”
Rainbow Dash followed Applejack with her eyes, as the latter spaced herself out from the couple. That attitude was something that Rainbow Dash would have never expected from her calm and affable friend.
Sunset looked at Fluttershy and felt her heart falling through her guts. She reached her and grabbed her hand as the words came out hastily. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry you’re right. We have to talk about this. We’ll talk about this, I promise. Just not now. Ok? We were just having a party and…”
“The party is over,” repeated Pinkie. She wasn’t angry, or judgmental in her voice. She just sounded a little sad, but she smiled nevertheless. “We’re on the second floor. If we ignore the elephant in the room, it’s going to be all messy. Besides, I think we need to go now.”
At Pinkie’s invitation, all the guests approached the front door, giving a final glance to Sunset and Fluttershy. Their looks mirrored confusion, worry, and a tip of disappointment. However, Rarity and Rainbow Dash went out without saying a word.
Applejack, instead, turned herself towards Fluttershy before leaving. “Ah’ll wait for you downstairs, in my pickup. It’s gettin’ late and you’ll need a ride to home.”
As Applejack crossed the threshold in the room remained only Fluttershy, Sunset, and Pinkie. The latter just stood there until the couple looked at her curiously.
“Well, I have to clean up everything,” said Pinkie to justify herself.
Sunset and Fluttershy spoke simultaneously and in a flat tone, ““Pinkie…””
Pinkie Pie gazed upwards, clearly annoyed, and went outside as well as the others. “Fiiine.”
The door was closed, leaving Sunset and Fluttershy the only persons in the room. There was a silence that stung in the air for a while as the two girls each took a seat at the table.
They let a few minutes pass by.
Finally, Sunset spoke, “It can’t be her, Fluttershy. Celestia can’t be my…” Sunset paused. “I’m not even sure she is able to breed. She’s almost considered a divinity in Equestria.”
Fluttershy knew what Sunset was doing. She was desperately fumbling around, looking for a hold of hope. And Fluttershy also knew she had to cut it straight. “But she’s still a pony.”
“Fine. But even if she is able to, she’s never been married. At least, not during the last millennia.”
“As much as I’d like it to be otherwise, you don’t need to be married in order to –”
“We’re talking about Princess Celestia, the living example of justice, kindness, purity, and wisdom. Do you really think that somepony like her would just get… y’know?”
Fluttershy just kept looking at her girlfriend.
“And even if she got herself carrying a child, and that’s a big if, why in her name would she ever...” The words got stuck in her throat.
How could it be otherwise, after it got so tight of all sudden?
“I mean, how could she...” Nope, her throat was just too tight. So tight that it was starting to hurt. “She…” Her eyes got moist for the pain.
Feeling her girlfriend’s distress, Fluttershy stood up to reach her, to hug her and comfort her any way she could. But she stopped when Sunset raised her palm open in front of her.
Sunset wasn’t even looking at her. She didn’t want to look at Fluttershy in that moment. She just took a long sniff from her nose, raising up her head and closing her eyes to wipe away the moistness. Then, she remained motionless for a short while.
Sunset kept her hand between Fluttershy and her for all the time she remained silent and with her eyes closed. After she was sure she had calmed down, Sunset talked, “You should go now.”
Fluttershy looked at her toes and crossed her finger in front of her skirt. “I could stay…”
“Applejack is waiting for you,” said Sunset with a tone that didn’t admit replies.
Fluttershy nodded, then she slowly went to the front door. Before putting her hand on the handle she turned and said one last important thing, “I love you.”
Sunset barely grunted in response as Fluttershy left her alone.
Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had got on the pickup in the parking lot, just in front of the residential complex. Applejack was waiting on the driver seat, occasionally darting concerned look to Sunset’s apartment, while Rainbow Dash was just passing the time tapping her fingers on the passenger seat. Side by side, both the girls were wearing deep frowns.
Knowing that Rainbow Dash would have exploded for the impatience if the silence persisted, Applejack thought about something to say. “You don’t have to stay here, ya know? Ah’ll be enough.”
Rainbow Dash replied with a harsh tone. “No way. Fluttershy is there, and who knows what they’re going through right now.”
Applejack didn’t reply. Both of them were sharing that query, but it still wasn’t their time to investigate yet. They knew it was something that regarded Fluttershy and Sunset only.
So they just spent their time thinking about the last months, about how their friendship had changed and how it blossomed in love for Fluttershy.
And by thinking about what happened at the party, Rainbow Dash felt sick. “Why did she have to act like that, just now?”
Turning to her left, Rainbow Dash saw that Applejack was looking at her wryly.
“What?”
“…Just now?” asked a harsh Applejack.
“Uh, yeah?”
Applejack scoffed. “Yes, right. ‘Cause Ah reckon that’s the problem here, not the fact that she was yelling at Fluttershy.”
“What?”
“No, what bothers you is that it happened ‘just now’.”
Rainbow Dash jumped on her seat. “I didn’t say that.”
Applejack turned to face Rainbow directly, using a tone of defiant. “Then why didn’t you defend Fluttershy?”
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes wide, defenseless. She couldn’t help but wait for Applejack to go further.
“Any other time, the Rainbow Dash Ah know would have stormed rightly between them the same moment Sunset raised her voice, but ‘just now’ you kept watching in silence.”
“Geez, what’s your problem?”
“Your problem is that you’re a selfish spineless chicken sometimes.”
Rainbow Dash was taken aback by that. She felt her anger rise from the inside for the insult. She narrowed her eyes and talked slowly. “Take it back.”
“Ah’ll do that after you give a proper apologize to Sunset.”
That surprised Rainbow Dash again, allowing her confusion to overwhelm her anger. “Wait, this is what we’re talking about?”
“Yes, missy. We’re talking about your guilt feelings here.” Applejack raised her eyebrow. “Did ya really think that losin’ a couple of matches at ‘Super Derby Cart’ would have made things even between the two of you?”
Sweat covered Rainbow Dash’s forehead. “We’re fine,” said she. Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.
“Ya sure? It seemed to me like you were desperately trying to make up for something.”
“I have nothing to make up for.”
Applejack crossed her arms and looked up in thought. “Well, let’s see. Ya have ignored Fluttershy demand to not talk with Sunset before her, ya assaulted her verbally and physically, ya didn’t even spit the root of an apology, and, oh, ya also doubted her until the very end.” Applejack looked back at Rainbow Dash, who had turned tinier at every word. “Yup, sugarcube, we all noticed your attitude of today. And you can bet that Sunset was very hurt by it.”
Rainbow Dash maintained the eye contact for a few more seconds, then she lowered her eyes to her knees. “She understood that I’m sorry…”
“Sugarcube, understanding it and hearing from you that you’re sorry are two completely different things! She wants to forgive ya, but it’s a heck lot more difficult for her if you don’t swallow that massive pride of yours and admit that you made a mistake.”
Rainbow Dash did nothing for a long moment, as she pondered on every word she just heard. Then she hit the dashboard, put her feet on it and hid her head between her knees. She also enveloped her head with her arms.
When she calmed down, Rainbow Dash spun her head up fast towards Applejack. “What about you?”
“Whadda ya mean?”
“I mean…”
Rainbow Dash stopped herself when she noticed the figure of a girl climbing down the stairs and approaching the pickup. Both she and Applejack remained silent as Fluttershy took a seat behind them.
“Hey, how are you, Shy?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“I’m fine.”
Rainbow Dash and Applejack exchanged a worried look. That didn’t sound like the tone of somebody who was fine.
As Applejack started with the pickup, Rainbow Dash made another attempt. “What happened in there?”
Fluttershy tried to finish the conversation before it could start. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Within the shadows of the night, the trip was fast, short, and quiet. Neither Dash nor AJ wanted to push Fluttershy into confiding. But when they reached Fluttershy’s home, Applejack turned over her seat.
“There’s something ya have to tell us, sugarcube.” She paused, in order to make sure that she had all Fluttershy attention, and because she didn’t really want to say what was next. “Has… has it already happened before? Did she ever shout at you or…?”
“No!” Fluttershy launched herself forward. “No, she would never hurt me or yell at me. Not my Sunny. Really, she’s just… very distressed right now, but she’s the best girlfriend I could ever dream of.”
Applejack took Fluttershy’s hand and smiled reassuringly. “Ah just had to be sure, sugarcube.”
Fluttershy hesitated, then she smiled back at her friend and opened the pickup door. As she got off and nearer the house, Applejack gave a sad sigh.
After that, she remembered about her passenger. Rainbow Dash was just there, looking at her oddly. “Well, Ah suppose it’s time to take you home too.”
Applejack started the engine once again and went back on the street.
“What about you?”
Applejack ignored her.
“I mean, you’ve been acting so weird lately. You don’t normally let your emotions get to you, but you lost it in there. I saw your hands trembling when you let go Sunset. And even if I understand why you were so angry, you're usually more composed than that.”
Applejack kept her silence.
“And that wasn’t the only time.” Rainbow Dash took her chin inside her hand. “Come to think about it, even those past few days you were quite emotional. Heck, to be honest, I can remember a couple of times when we were all together and I thought something was off. Like when Fluttershy and Sunset told us they were dating.”
Applejack winced. “I was surprised.”
“I know, that's the only thing that you said that day.”
Looking back at Applejack, Rainbow Dash noticed that her body was shaking. She allowed her friend to park the car in silence before pushing further.
“Say, is something eating you?”
Applejack glanced briefly at her. Then she started biting off her nails.
“Come on, you always tell me the truth.”
Finally, Applejack let herself to bursting out. “Even Ah know that sometimes it's better if you just keep the truth for yourself.”
Rainbow Dash was speechless. She couldn't believe that her friend had just said that. “What?! No way.”
“Yes way!” Applejack raised her voice. “Sometimes, the truth is just unsettling and it would only be bad to spit it out. It would only make your friends sad and it would be only your fault for spoiling everything. So you should just keep it for yourself and cope with it because…”
Catching her breath, Applejack bit her lower lip and looked out of the window. “…it’s not important.”
Mouth agape, Rainbow Dash looked with true sorrow at her friend while she was trying to understand what she was hiding. Only now it was clear that she had been holding a secret for a while. Something that caused her to suffer, something that she was ashamed of. Something that she wasn’t able to control. And it had to do with one of their friends.
“Applejack,” whispered Rainbow Dash, an idea stuck in her mind like an ice shred, “do you… ?”
Applejack covered her face with her hat. “We’re at your place. I suggest you go to sleep.”
With her eyes closed, Applejack waited to hear the sound of a shutting door. Instead, after a long moment, she felt the strong grasp of an arm around her shoulders as a cheering and lively voice pierced her eardrum.
“Are you kidding? The night is young, and so are we! Come on, let’s get to a real party! You and me, girls night, on me!”
“Dash…”
“Don’t ditch me, sis! I dare you, no, I double dare you to bask in my awesomeness for a crazy night!”
Getting her hat back on place, Applejack gave a bemused look to her annoyingly awesome friend. Since her confident grin didn’t falter, Applejack sighed and restarted the engine.
She had come for a party, after all.
Sunset was still sitting at the table in the living room. She hadn’t moved since Fluttershy had gone away. At most, she just shifted her position on the chair a couple of times. Besides that, she had remained sitting, thinking as her gaze got lost in the room. Everything looked dull and gray to her.
Finally, her body remembered her how tired she was and Sunset went to her room. She turned off the lights during the short trip.
Sunset started her bedtime routine and, in a short time, she laid herself on the bed wearing her usual purple pajama.
She couldn’t sleep.
She wanted to, she was feeling tired and it was pretty late, but her mind kept on bugging her about one thought. Sunset kept her head on the pillow for half an hour before she decided to just solve the issue.
Sunset rose up from her bed and went to the desk. She turned the desk lamp on and grabbed her backpack. Opening it, she found the journal. That magical journal that was her only link for Equestria. That diary that would have allowed her to instantly write to the owner of the twin book.
The other copy of the book belonged once to Celestia, but it had been passed to Twilight several months ago and now Sunset and Twilight wrote to each other almost on a daily basis.
Sunset had used the diary just the day before, writing about the recent misadventure of Fluttershy with her twin and their appointment with the latter for the next day. Twilight had replied with great interest, supporting Sunset first and then asking to be informed about the matter.
Now, Sunset fiddled with the pen as she was thinking about what to write. It didn’t take her long despite the sleepiness.
Dear Twilight...
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I'm surprised that Sunset literally worships Celestia and has trouble believing that Celestia is her mother, but as a reader, I must respect your headcanons. The way I see it, after her redemption, Sunset respects Celestia and is proud to be her student, but does not necessarily see her as the living example of justice, kindness, purity, and wisdom. Then again, your headcanon actually does make sense, as many older generation North Koreans truly do worship their leaders as gods, since they were raised from that perspective and have never considered otherwise. It's quite possible that Equestrians are similar to North Koreans in this regard.
Besides that personal preference of mine, this story is great! I love how you introduce Rainbow's and Applejack's personal issues with Fluttershy's relationship with Sunset. And I'm a Sunshyne shipper, so I love it even more.
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I think it's more that she always saw her as a mother figure, and trusted her as such. But now she knows that the pony she placed so much love and trust into abandoned her as a baby, and then never saw fit to tell her the truth even after she took her under her wing. All the bad things in her life, growing up in an orphanage, feeling unloved and unwanted, striving to prove herself to her teacher, turning cruel and manipulative out of her belief that she deserved to be a princess (that wouldn't have happened if she had known she already was one), all of it because Celestia chose not to be her mother.
i wonder if the reason the girl doesn't go to school is that her mirror counterpart ruined her life? plus the whole demon thing and being mistaken for evil from the actions of another eesh.
7626523 Thanks for clearing things up! This make a lot more sense now. It certainly is an earth-shattering revelation for poor Sunset. For now, we can only begin to imagine why Celestia would choose to do so. Perhaps out of shame of having a child out of wedlock? We can't be sure now, that is!
7626524 Probably not.
First, it's kinda awkward to go to a school where your mother is the principal. But that aside, she may just happen to live in a different school district.
But no, it cannot be for the reasons you explain. The Sunset of this world has been here her whole lifetime, and if she attended another school already, she would not bother switching to CHS. The presence of the Equestrian Sunset is not going to change much.
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Chapter 3
7634175 ohhhhh. Know I get it. Still would make an interesting headcanon.
Really liking the story so far, but one thing really bugged me this chapter. After all the crap Sunset took from them (and still is from Rainbow), when she's clearly very distressed about something and kept getting pushed, when she justifiably snapped and immediately tried to apologize, Applejack jumps on her, threatening her (while she was trying to apologize), not even giving her the slightest chance to say her side, and almost assaults her. Then she acts like she has the moral high ground over Sunset and Rainbow. Sure, Sunset yelling at Fluttershy was wrong, but she practically had her life shattered and still tried to apologize. Not to mention this is the second time in less than a week in this universe that this happened (with Applejack involved). I really hope she gets called out for this.
7712006 Sir Blaze, your comment is hugely appreciated.
But I digress.
Really, it's touching to read such opinions from the readers.
You are right to say that Applejack shouldn't have threatened Sunset like that, in any situation, but you must consider two things:
First, even if Sunset WAS having a really bad time none of the other girls knew (only Pinkie suspected it). Anyhow, that still doesn't make ok to impose aggressively on your girlfriend.
Second, Applejack
mayhave overreacted and she stopped Sunset's apologies, but you must consider that she was driven by strong emotion that blinded her and, if you read carefully the Dash-Applejack dialogue, you'll understand what I'm talking about.Those, atleast, are my excuses for my (poor) writing.
I hope you'll keep reading the story (and keep commenting if you like to), the next chapter is almost finished.
Last thing: I suspect you're a Sunset disciple (which is good) so I should inform you that she'll go through and hard time soon.
But if you looked at the cover then you should know that already.
However, I promise a happy ending. Kind of. Dunno. Let's see, shall we?
7712064 Sorry if I wasn't clear with my comment. I'm almost certain at this point that Applejack has a crush on Fluttershy, and I have no problem with stories kicking the crap out of Sunset. My worry is that this will take the route of the Holiday Special comic or many other Sunset fics where her friends (usually Rainbow or Applejack) act absolutely horrible and get off scot-free. The other issue is that it seemed like AJ and the others saw the start of the argument and Fluttershy pressuring Sunset. AJ did the exact same thing she did in the previous fic and showed no remorse, even after being told Sunset is distressed, instead going off on Rainbow.
Anyways, this is a really good fic. It's well paced, the subplots aren't intrusive but still have an impact. The writing itself isn't the best, but it's still clear and very light on errors (though the perspective switches could be clearer, and some in some of the dialogue, it's hard to keep track of who's talking). With the exception of Rarity, every character feels like they contribute and their personalities are clear. Sunset had a strange moment where she was happy about her friends willing to accuse her, and while it does make sense, it is awkwardly conveyed. From what's out so far, I'd rate this fic around the same place as the really good romance one shots. With some cleaning up, I could easily see this story end up just a tier or two below the god tier Sunset stories. Currently, if Long Road to Friendship, Fractured Sunlight, and Gunsmoke were 10/10, I'd put this at around a 6.5/10, with the potential to reach an 8 or 9. Can't wait to see where this goes.