15 – Shattered
Chapter Fifteen
Shattered
⠀
⠀
The new semester of school brought about mixed feelings for Sunset. It was a welcome relief, because if she had thought that winter break had given her too much to think about before, that was nothing compared to the final week of it. During the events at the lake, Sunset had been forced to relive some of her false memories while under the ice, and it was hard to try and shove them back down. School would provide a much needed distraction, especially since she still resolved to actually put forth some effort into her grades.
On the other hand, there was a lot she wasn’t looking forward to. The stitches in her hand had been removed, which was good. But that was just about the only thing positive about Sunset’s appearance. At least she could wear gloves to cover the blisters on her knuckles. Her face was another story.
Once the initial redness turned to bruising on the day after the fight, Sunset made an emergency trip back to the mall. Although Sunset had never cared for makeup, she needed something to cover the evidence of the fight. She managed to grab a few shades of concealer and some other stuff to experiment with without being seen, but she wasn’t too confident in her efforts. True, none of the bruising was showing up, but she was worried the makeup itself would stand out too much, or that it would fail to hold up for the day.
She counted it as a victory when no one at the orphanage commented on the makeup. They probably just assumed it was normal for a girl her age to care about crap like that, or maybe they just didn’t pay enough attention to her. Either way was fine with Sunset, since she didn’t want to have to explain why she had the sudden interest in looking pretty. Other kids could be far more critical, but there was nothing to do but handle that if it came up. That was a concern, but it wasn’t really the problem.
The problem, of course, was Applejack. In the week after the fight, Sunset had been left with plenty of time to think about what had happened, and about what would happen when they inevitably saw each other again. She’d changed her mind about what she thought would be best at least a dozen times, and was trying her best to find the certainty that she’d had when she pushed Applejack away. A friendship between the two of them would never work out.
But no matter how much she reminded herself of that, it didn’t seem to help. As she walked along the crowded hallway towards her first-period class, she was surrounded by kids catching up with friends and sharing their winter break experiences. Any other year, this would have been a prime time to catch up with some rumors she could exploit. But instead, all the words from the other kids seemed to elude her, becoming nothing but background noise against the much louder words in her head.
“Well then, I’m Applejack. What’s your name?”
“I don’t think you’re pathetic.”
“So what’s the plan, partner?”
“What d’ya say we just put all that behind us and start over?”
“Now, now, there ain’t no reason to be like that. Here, I’ll help.”
“You really haven’t changed a bit since we were little.”
“Just… you don’t have to do it alone, ya know?”
“Well, she’s got me now.”
“I can’t believe you’d do something like that. But I also think you got it in you to be a better person than that.”
“You need people in your life, and I… I want to be one of ‘em, if you let me.”
“– the one who fucked her cousin?”
Sunset stopped walking as the tail end of a question floated into her perception. Her head snapped in the direction that the voice had come from, and she saw two guys talking.
“No, I haven’t seen her,” the second guy said. “Why, something else going on with her now?”
“Yeah, you could say that,” the first one answered. “She must’ve had one hell of a rough winter break, for sure.”
The second guy laughed. “Well, you know how it is with rednecks. Old man probably started hitting the bottle, then started hitting his daughter.”
“What was that?” Before she could even think about what she was doing, Sunset was already walking up to the two assholes.
One of them gave her an incredulous look, but the second one looked scared. Although Sunset couldn’t recall who he was, it seemed he had no problems recalling her. “Oh, uh… Hi there, Sunset…”
Sunset folded her arms and adopted a menacing glare. If he knew who she was, this was going to be a snap. “I asked you a question. What were you talking about?”
Asshole number two swallowed nervously, but asshole number one still hadn’t caught on. “Dude, are you seriously scared of a –”
An elbow to the ribs cut him off, and number two took over for him. “It, uh, it wasn’t anything about you, promise. We were just talking about that new girl… Apple-something?”
“Well, don’t.” Sunset narrowed her eyes. “The less you have to say about Applejack, the better. Understand?”
“Yeah, you got it, Sunset!”
“Good. Because I’m not going to have a friendly discussion like this a second time.” Although his friend still seemed confused by the whole situation, Sunset turned and resumed the walk to class. She would have made a more direct threat if she could remember why he was so afraid of her in the first place. As it stood, she just had to hope that a vague one would do.
Her foul mood followed her into first period, where she sunk into her usual seat. Every time the door opened, Sunset had to resist the urge to look at it. Applejack would walk through the door at some point, and Sunset had to see what would happen. If she looked at Applejack as she walked through the door, she might influence her decision on what to do, and Sunset needed to know if Applejack would even want to still make the attempt at being friends on her own accord.
And what if she did? What if she sat down next to Sunset, taking the same seat she had claimed before the break? Sunset knew what she should do. They couldn’t be friends, so Sunset would just have to make Applejack move or else move herself. Being hostile and guarded came naturally to Sunset, and in a lot of ways it was just easier on her to maintain the wall she had built.
After spending so much time alone, it was sort of draining to be around another person. There was the touching, which Sunset wasn’t sure she would ever get used to. The constant internal reminders that she was supposed to at least try and stay well behaved. The fact that if she actually decided to maintain a positive relationship with Applejack, she would have to give up most of what she had worked for to fit into Applejack’s world.
There was no real reason to do anything else. It wasn’t like she got anything significant from Applejack. Just friendship, and she’d never cared about that before. There wasn’t anything substantial to be gained, just that she’d have someone whom she could spend her time with. Someone who could make her laugh. Someone who could make her feel warm with just a smile. Someone who maybe seemed like she could understand her, if she were ever allowed the chance. Someone who made her feel like maybe there was finally something worthwhile in her life.
Sunset set her head down on her desk, hiding her face in her arms. In truth, she had no idea what would happen when Applejack took the seat next to her. But she knew she couldn’t keep being friendly in one meeting only to push Applejack away in the next. Whatever happened was going to be what happened. At the end of the day, she would either commit to giving a friendship with Applejack a real chance, or she would give up on the idea entirely.
It was almost time for the class to start, but the seat next to Sunset was still empty. She was beginning to wonder if Applejack was coming and pulled her head up to look around the room, just in case Applejack had come in without her realizing it. There was still no sign of her. Sunset slumped in her seat and began wondering what she would do if Applejack didn’t show.
Just as the bell rang, the door opened one more time. “Sorry I’m late, Mr. Trotter.”
“It’s… Oh, hello, Applejack.” Globe Trotter’s voice seemed off. Something had caught him off guard, and against her better judgement, Sunset looked to see what it was. Her mouth fell open at the sight. “Let’s not worry about it. First day back and all that.”
“Right. Thank you, sir.” Although Applejack kept her tone business as usual, her face was anything but. Unlike Sunset, Applejack had done nothing to cover up her face. Sunset had suspected that much when she heard the talk in the hallway; besides, Applejack seemed even less like the type to go messing around with makeup than Sunset was. But what Sunset hadn’t expected was exactly how much worse Applejack looked.
During the fight, Applejack had only managed one good punch on Sunset’s face, and had otherwise been concerned with just overpowering and subduing her opponent. But towards the end, after they had fallen onto the ice, Sunset hadn’t held back on her assault at all, and it showed. Applejack’s face was covered with several yellowish-brown bruises. They were clearly old and healing, but that didn’t make them any less ugly, and it was also clear that they weren’t from an accident.
Applejack kept her eyes pointed down as she walked through the room, obviously aware that everyone was staring at her. Including Sunset, despite her earlier decision to wait to see what Applejack did before so much as looking at her. Aside from her own backpack, she was carrying a brown paper bag, which she set on the floor beside Sunset.
Without a word, Applejack turned and walked to another seat. She chose one several rows away from Sunset, and didn’t do anything else to acknowledge her. Sunset finally tore her eyes from Applejack and realized for the first time exactly how much she had been expecting her to persist in spite of what had happened.
Mostly just to give herself something to focus on that wasn’t the empty feeling in her chest, Sunset pulled the bag closer to her. She looked inside to find her own clothes, the ones she had dressed Applejack in to get her warmed up. They were folded neatly, and looked to be freshly washed.
Sunset scooted the bag to be next to her backpack. She cast another glance towards Applejack, but all she could see was the back of her head as she prepared for the day’s lesson.
Everywhere Sunset went she heard the rumors. It seemed to be collectively agreed amongst the students that Applejack was abused by her parents, but few kids seemed sympathetic. They probably would be, but whenever Applejack came up in conversation, so did the other rumor. It seemed that most kids were content to view her as a caricature, and the abusive homelife only added to the situation.
Probably as a result of the two rumors, it seemed that Applejack had taken to keeping to herself for the day. Sunset kept her eyes and ears open whenever she was in between classes, and occasionally noticed Applejack walking through the hall with her eyes fixated on the floor. A few kids mentioned that although she had seemed fairly open before the break, she was keeping to herself now. It was hard to blame her, but at the same time it made it easier for kids to forget that she was a person, not just a walking joke.
A couple of times since they had met, Applejack had mentioned that she had locked up in the past, shutting out the people around her. Sunset worried she might do the same again, and resolved to fix things. Both rumors were her fault, anyway. How hard could it be to use her power to stop a rumor rather than start one?
Very, it turned out. For every person she was able to stop, five more were still spreading rumors. And she couldn’t stop all of them; Sunset had carefully maintained a position in the shadows, which meant most of the student body didn’t know her well enough to be threatened into silence.
By the end of the day, Sunset still hadn’t made any progress. Once the last class was over with, she stopped by her locker to collect the paper bag with her clothes. Not wanting to carry around the reminder of how horrible she was, Sunset had taken the first chance she could to drop it off in her locker. It didn’t matter, anyway; she was able to remember exactly how much of a worthless person she was without the reminder.
Sunset was making her way towards the buses when she saw Applejack again. She was in the path in front of her, but she hadn’t seen Sunset at all. Instead, she was walking alongside Golden Harvest, who was giving angry looks to anyone who seemed to be thinking about making any uncouth jokes.
“Can you imagine actually being friends with someone like her?” Summer Rain said as she approached Sunset.
“Not really,” Sunset answered. It was the truth – Sunset couldn’t possibly imagine being friends with someone as amazing as Applejack.
Summer Rain smirked. “I’m sure you heard everything by now? The whole school’s talking about it.”
“Yeah, I have.” Sunset shrugged as if she were indifferent, but she realized Summer Rain had just provided her with the perfect opportunity. Sunset couldn’t stop the rumors herself, but she didn’t have to. She had people to do that sort of thing for her. “So it turns out I was wrong about the whole incest thing. Someone just made it all up as a joke after all.”
“Huh. Well whatever. Too late to worry about that now.” Summer Rain just watched Applejack hungrily. “Besides, it’s all too fun to bother thinking about too much.”
Summer really was a perfect partner for Sunset. They were both self-serving and uncaring, and they lacked anything vaguely resembling positive character traits. The best thing for both of them would be to just move on and get back to business as usual. “So I heard one of the football players making plans to meet up with someone at the park by the school, if you want to try and catch something good before the buses get here.”
“Really?” That seemed like enough to get Summer’s attention away from Applejack. Sunset and Summer Rain had a good understanding of their relationship, and it did not include working together to spy on their fellow students. Summer seemed positively excited by the development. “Is he meeting up with someone interesting?”
Sunset grinned. Look at that, making friends was easier than she had thought. “Well, I didn’t recognize the name, but I’d say the star quarterback meeting up with his secret boyfriend could be pretty interesting.”
If Summer had seemed excited before, it was nothing compared to how she looked after hearing that. “Oh yeah, I’m definitely up for that!”
“Thought you might be.”
They walked out towards the park beside the school. It wasn’t really much of a park, just a small field with an old playground that hardly got used anymore. A larger one was put up nearby, further away from the middle school and thus away from the older kids. Because the playground was less used, the city had made it a low priority for maintenance, which meant it was left to disrepair and rust, which in turn meant even fewer people bothered to use it. They were tearing it down eventually, but for the moment it was occasionally used by Everfree Middle School kids as a close place to hide away or meet in secret when they were trying to avoid the rest of the school.
No one seemed to be using it when they got there, though. “Did you hear when they were supposed to be coming?” Summer Rain asked.
“Hmm, I kinda thought they’d beat us here actually.” Sunset set her bag down and took a good look around, making sure there were no secret lovers anywhere in sight. Or anyone else, for that matter. “But maybe they’re just running late on account of the fact that I made the whole thing up.”
Summer Rain turned to face Sunset and looked perplexed, as if she wasn’t sure she heard correctly. “What? What do you mean you –”
Sunset wrapped her hand around Summer’s throat and pushed her up against a metal ladder. She pressed down tight enough that Summer would have difficulty breathing, but was careful not to press so hard that she’d leave marks. “Listen up, Summer, because I’m not really big on repeating myself.”
Summer grabbed at Sunset’s arm and tried to squirm away, but clearly had no idea what she was doing. She was used to being part of Sunset’s cherished circle, after all, and nobody ever fucked with Sunset’s lackeys.
Sunset used her free hand to grab one of Summer’s and twisted it backwards. Summer made a painful grimace and stopped struggling. Sunset just smiled. “All that shit about Applejack? It’s not true, and to be honest with you, I’m just a little sick of hearing about it. So I don’t give a fuck what you do, but you’re going to make it stop. Understand?”
Sunset moved her hand away from Summer’s throat so she could answer, instead holding her in place by her shoulder.
“I… I can’t…” Summer said in desperate gasps.
Sunset frowned and let go of Summer’s shoulder, instead grabbing a handful of her hair. Summer made a pathetic whining noise. “Well then, that’s unfortunate. Because see, you’ve had the wrong idea in your head for too long. You think that because I use you regularly it means I give a damn about you, but I don’t. For the past year and a half we’ve had a pretty great thing going, but you know what? That means I’ve got a year and a half’s worth of dirt on you. And let me tell you, I can bury you deeper than any other kid in this school. So what do you say? Think you might want to try to set the rumors straight?”
At first Summer didn’t answer, so Sunset tightened her grip on her hair. “Ow! Yes! Yes, I’ll do it!”
“Good!” Sunset let go of Summer and held her arms open wide. She showed her friendliest smile and spoke in the brightest tone she could. “And hey, don’t worry so much! You’re the slimiest gossip queen in the school. If anyone can do it, I know you can.” Sunset accentuated her comment with a friendly wink.
Summer Rain didn’t seem to appreciate her hospitality. She had collapsed to her knees and was rubbing her throat while trying to catch her breath. There was a certain appeal to having someone kneel before her, even if she did so with tears in her eyes.
“So before I leave and you get to work, we should lay out the conditions of the next year and a half. Because this? This is just to keep me quiet for now. There’s no wiping the slate clean from here. So here’s what’s going to happen: If I tell you to do something, you’ll do it. If I need a favor, you’ll come through. And if you double cross me? Then you’ll wish you hadn’t. Remember that at my word, this whole school will turn on you. So keep your head down and do as I say, and above all I want you to remember one thing.”
Sunset picked up the bag of her clothes and held it close. “I only care about one person at this damn school, and it sure as hell isn’t you.”
There was no need to wait for confirmation, so Sunset walked away. If Summer Rain had even the smallest amount of backbone, she could report the assault. Even the report without any real evidence would probably be enough to get Sunset sent away to the military academy, but it didn’t really matter. Summer was a coward, and she would never tell a soul about what happened.
Sunset got to the bus shortly before it pulled out, while Summer didn’t get on at all. That was for the best; maybe she could get the rumors to die down a bit before the morning. Since the seat next to her wasn’t taken, Sunset set the paper bag down in it.
At school, Sunset hadn’t bothered to look through the bag at all. It only held her own clothes, and it wasn’t like she suspected Applejack had kept anything for herself. But out of boredom on the bus trip, she decided to take a look.
Turns out there was something unexpected after all. Tucked in between a shirt and a jacket, there was a CD. Sunset pulled it out and stared down at the new Thistle and Weeds album, the same one she’d stolen. It was no longer sealed, so she opened it and found a piece of paper inside. Once unfolded, it revealed a handwritten note.
I know it’s late, but Merry Christmas! You said you don’t really like the holiday much but I figured it can’t hurt to get a present anyway.
To tell you the truth I wasn’t sure what to do with this. I don’t really feel good about having a stolen CD so I was just gonna bring it back, but then I thought maybe you might want it after all. I know you said you didn’t but I think deep down you just felt guilty about taking it. Well no need to worry about that because I went back and paid for it! I can already hear you saying that it was a really stupid thing to do, but I think I’m also beginning to be able to tell when you’re actually happy and just don’t want to say anything.
Of course I was also not really sure if I wanted to give you this on account of whatever happened with Golden Harvest. But then I was thinking and I guess I decided that whatever it was happened before we even knew each other. I’m not saying that it doesn’t matter but if you want to try to be a better person going forward then I’m ready to stand beside you.
So cheer up! Yeah it’s winter and it’s cold and all that, but that just means there’s still time for a rematch if you think you can take on the snowball queen!
PS, hope you don’t mind that I listened to it. You’re right, they’re pretty good. But don’t think I’ve forgotten our deal. Now I’m just gonna make you listen to twice as much country music!
Sunset frowned as she read the note. Underneath, there was a blank space followed by a second part to the note. Immediately suspecting what it was, Sunset took a moment to brace herself before reading.
I really don’t know what to write here, but I feel like I have to write something. When I got home my family was all kinds of worried about me, and I didn’t even know what to tell them about everything that happened. I guess you can rest easy because I didn’t tell them anything about you specifically. Not sure why I didn’t, but I didn’t.
So now I’ve got this CD and I was planning on giving it to you. I guess I still am. I wanted to just throw it away, but it just didn’t feel right. Maybe I am just as stupid as you always say I am after all.
So… now what? What am I supposed to do? After everything that happened I keep telling myself that you must of been telling the truth because nothing else makes any sense. No one would just act the way you do so I guess you really do hate me like you said. I know that but it still feels wrong. I guess I just also know that you’re hurting and I still hate to see that.
I may be an idiot but I have my limits. So I guess what I’m saying is this. If you ever change your mind then come talk to me. Until then I’ll keep out of your way. Maybe that really is all you wanted. If so then I guess congrats. Hope this makes you happy somehow.
Sunset placed the note back in the CD. This didn’t change anything. It couldn’t. As much as Sunset wanted to use this as an excuse to give this whole friendship thing another shot, she refused. Applejack already had enough to worry about without having someone like Sunset around. They would both be better off this way.
Sunset would fix the rumors, whether Summer Rain came through or not. No matter what she had to do, the remainder of middle school would be positive for Applejack. She hadn’t been lying when she said that there was only one person at the school she cared about, but it sure as hell wasn’t herself. As long as things could be made better for Applejack, that would be good enough.
~ End Act II ~
And so ends Sunset's time in middle school, which is probably gonna be my favorite part of this whole story. Ah well, all good things and all that.
And if you're interested in this sort of thing, here's some thematically appropriate music to close the act.
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This arc was amazing indeed! It was heart crushing how messed up our girl ended. But it made sense.
Really loving your take on Sunset. If you hadn't, you should really write a one shot, or something, with your own scene between Applejack and Sunset after the events of EQG.
Good to know you are feeling better and still feel like writing. Can't wait for the return of LG after a few weeks.
Good luck with your new story. Will at least read the first chapter, sounds fun. I will be honest, if I am, or I'm not interested. Is Sunset in it? That would help, because I'm obsessed with her atm.
7962451
And no worries; this may be the end of the middle school arc, but the Sunset-Applejack dynamic continues in other stories. Plus it's not like Applejack won't be at CHS when Sunset gets there 
Happy to hear that you liked it so much
As for the other story, sorry to say but it won't have Sunset. She is part of the AU, but this story takes place before she's involved. The main character is Applejack
7962480
more AJ and Shimmy. I assumed you won't leave them just like that, but after this, I am just too curious how would a conversation between Sunset and AJ would go, right after the She-demon fiasco, and the whole crying and "I'm so sorry" in the movie.
Ah no Sunny makes me sad
I'll still give the story a try though. 
As I understand, in the AU the main pair is Appleshy, right?
7962497
So all I'll say is that the Applejack & Sunset dynamic is literally my favorite part of this story, so trust me when I say I've got solid plans for it moving forward 
lol sat here trying to figure out what I could say that wouldn't be spoilery, but... I got nothing
Glad to hear you'll still be checking it out. And you're correct, Appleshy will already be an established couple by the time the story begins.
7956494
Does she get her actual age back when she returns to Equestria or does her body stay the same ? I didn't get this piece of information in the other stories or overlooked it.
This story is so cool.
7962526
If Sunset were to go through the mirror now, she would be her actual age (so she's since she's been a human for seven years and was seventeen when she left Equestria, she'd be twenty-four as a unicorn). There's always a twelve year age difference for her between the two worlds. In Finding Home, this is much less pronounced because she's an adult with or without the twelve years (twenty in the human world, thirty-two in Equestria).
Information about how the mirror affects age that I haven't revealed anywhere, but probably will at some point (not really a spoiler, but hiding it behind spoiler tag just in case, since it hasn't been established anywhere): The mirror syncs up anyone who goes through it to be the same age as their counterpart is. So Sunset went from seventeen to five because the Sunset Shimmer that already lived in the human world was only five at the time. Likewise, Twilight was twenty-two, but she became seventeen because that's how old the other Twilight was.(or so, not 100% on SciTwi's age in this series). As for what would happen if someone went through the mirror before their counterpart was born... I don't really know lol
7962542
Thank you, I'm always happy to hear that
But...but Mondays
nice chapter like always mite hive to give the others stories in this vers a read that or start reading one of the thirty odd real world books I have collecting dust wile I wait would of read this chapter durning work but it was nuts had a guy call in so it was hit the ground running no lunch or break (no time)
7962565
If the portal translates the different ages so what happens if one counterpart dies? The portal wouldn't have a focus point to compare anymore:P
Something like this might happen as well
7962916
Perhaps the mirror just keeps track of the age they would be, if they were alive, but then what about Celestia/Luna? In two hundred years, if they came through the mirror would they simply die, as two hundred year old humans simply aren't a thing? Lol I write drama, not sci-fi; I just make sure my character stuff lines up and fall back on the excuse that in canon they often seem to be unsure of how magic stuff works to avoid figuring out these details 
I admit that I don't really know
7962786
If the other story I'll be posting doesn't seem interesting, and you do decide to check out other stories in this series, then it's worth pointing out that two of them are spoiler free. Both of these take place in Equestria.
By Blood or Choice is a short story (by my standards; it's around 15k words) about Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy when they were teenagers, taking place after Fluttershy moves to Ponyville but before Rainbow does. Not wholly necessary for understanding the overall storyline of the series by any means, but it's a closer look at their relationship dynamic than I have in any of my other stories. Since this takes place in Equestria before EqG and doesn't feature anyone who knew Sunset, there is nothing remotely close to a spoiler in this story (but on the flip side of that, until you get later in the series there will be zero connections between these two stories)
Inner Strength is my first story on this site, and is a longer chapter-based story (novel length, around 90k). It focuses on Twilight and Fluttershy roughly around the time the show takes place (after Tirek and Rainbow Rocks and what not). Sunset makes several appearances throughout the story, but only in the form of the journal. It doesn't spoil anything, unless you consider the events of the first two movies to be spoilers.
Other than that two stories, you'll run face first into spoilers. Choice is yours, of course, but it's worth pointing out that Sunset literally summarizes the events of this story in one of them, so the spoilers are fairly huge
7962991
Most all of my Cd's have 9 to 13 track's and last 70 -80 minutes. Granted most of my CD's are audio books the exception being the rare mix CD's that I harvested when my neighbors had a fight and threw more than a dozen of them in the streets... It's not my fault they were too lazy to clean up after themselves. I mostly collect books and DVD's though. I'm more of a mp3 person myself.
7962565
Pretty much the same headcanon that I've always used for the portal. It's just about the only thing I could come up with to do a fairly reasonable job of explaining away the bizarre age issues that the portal seems to bring up. As for the hypothetical at the end there, my guess is that the portal simply wouldn't allow them to travel through if their counterpart was dead or hadn't been born yet. Just kind of toss them back out on their own side if it couldn't find an adequate template. Or, perhaps, find the next closest thing - a parent, sibling, cousin, or something along those lines. I guess it might just make up an appearance for them, but if that were the case you would think it wouldn't ever make them look like their counterparts.
Though this does make me wonder if the Dazzlings have human counterparts or not. After all, while I think it was shown in the comics, I don't think the movies ever actually showed us how they crossed. So if they didn't go through the mirror, it might just be an effect of traveling to a different world. If they did, then I guess they probably did have counterparts somewhere.
Something i'm hoping is Sunset meeting Crystal Prep's Twilight. might be interesting, Especially with how much Twilight and Sunset have in common. I would actually like if she has the first actual friend Sunset gets. Also don't know if your ever planning on having Sunset have any relationships. But if she ever does I have to vote for Twilight( Mostly cause that's one of my favorite ships) But i do hope your gonna take your own path with Sunset and not follow the path the show went with Sunset (If that made any sense) But i will be waiting tell the next Act
7963065
I also predominately listen to music on MP3, and only use CDs when driving (my car is older and doesn't have the aux hookup to plug my phone into). Currently in the story it's 2006, so not a time when a twelve-year-old (or at least not one living in an orphanage) would be likely to own an MP3 player. Suppose it's Sunset, so she coulda just stolen one, but that's neither here nor there. In any case, I was assuming approximately fifty minutes for the average music album.
7963468
I hadn't considered potentially matching someone up with a relative. I'd personally be more inclined to headcanon that they simply can't cross over without a double on the other side. "You don't exist in this world, so you can't be in this world" type of thing.
Rainbow Rocks does state that Starswirl sent the sirens to the other world, but I don't recall how specific it was. I seem to recall the images that accompanied the explanation showed Starswirl just magicking them across, but A) we could interpret that as an artist's rendition of the events rather than solid fact, and B) I could also just be mistaken. I'd be inclined to think they didn't use the mirror, actually. Unless we go with the comic's stance that they left ancient Equestria to pop out in modern-day Earth, I'd have a hard time believing they never went back to Equestria. I mean, they surely would have remembered where the portal let them out at (assuming they weren't also aged down like Sunset here), so in a thousand years they couldn't figure out how to get back through it? But if they weren't brought in with a portal, it makes much more sense; they never knew such a portal existed in the first place (and even if it did, searching for a portal that's only open for three days every thirty lunar cycles is not going to yield results).
And of course we have the whole age thing... the sirens pose numerous problems which I don't really have ideas for at the moment. I suppose I ought to start thinking about them though, as I kinda plan on doing something with them someday.
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Sorry to say, but this is not an AU story. This is leading directly into the movie, and aims at closing some plot holes on the way there. Since Sunset and SciTwi didn't know each other prior to the Friendship Games, they won't be getting to know each other here. I did have ideas for all of the mane six to cameo before CHS, but cut them all out (except for Rarity) to focus more on the AJ-Sunset dynamic (and to keep this from being 500k words long).
As for relationships, well, sticking with canon means there will be Flash Sentry
Regardless of what anyone's opinion on him is, he's canon so he'll be appearing (not to mention my own opinion on him really isn't bad). But after their inevitable breakup, Sunset will be in other relationships, but that's pretty far down the road (i.e. not until the sequel)
7964122 yeah was expecting that but oh well i still enjoy the story as is
The comic depicts their entry into the human world as being thrown into an alley without any visible entry point and they wear the same clothes as in the beginning of Rainbow Rocks. For all that we know they didn't spend a long time merely days in the human world till they detected the magic at Canterlot High.
Starswirl also had to cast a spell to force it open so perhaps it didn't work as intended.
)
(Navigating through the space-time continuum isn't easy!
Twilight had a focal point in Sunsets book to anchor it so she doesn't get lost.
For all that we know Starswirl felt remorse over his actions and got himself displaced in time when he went through the portal to get them back and thats the reason why he disappeared
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But regardless of how much facepalming I'll surely do (and there will be facepalming; Starswirl, stop rapping!) I'll surely give the comic another read before planning anything with the Dazzlings.
Indeed, the comic provides a plausible explanation to many of the mysteries surrounding the sirens. I've just always hated that comic, and I'm probably overly dismissive of it
Huh, hadn't thought of that. Does anything in canon state that he disappeared? I always assumed he just died eventually lol
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Wait. I am confused. Those numbers don't add up correctly. Correct me if I am wrong. Sunset was a 17 year old unicorn when she left equestria. She came into the human world as a five year old, so 12 year difference. She was in the human world for 14 years so that would make her 31 in finding home as a unicorn. And it would make her 19 as a human, not 21. I may be totally wrong but that's what i have put together based on your past comments and what I remember from finding home (It has been a little while since I checked). Anyway, I can't wait for Act III.
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Ah you're right, I was thinking of her age at the end of the story when I said thirty-three, but she was thirty-two for the majority of it. As for why it's twenty and thirty-two and not nineteen and thirty-one, as I mentioned here 7884218 I messed up my dates when I wrote Finding Home; it should've been fifteen years in the human world, not fourteen. I've been going through my older stories to correct for grammar and make a tighter timeline (I believe Spike's age also has a discrepancy somewhere...)
So you were remembering right, I was just incorrect
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Oh okay, thanks for the clarification.
So, I do too much introspection and this is the story I always wished I could pay for.
TL;DR: I'm a jerk because being pushed around taught me that hurt feelings don't matter.
And if I want to validate all bronies, I would have to commit every fanfic sin all at once. It would actually be less effective if I just put my philosophy in Rainbow Dash's mouth.
Am I wrong for using this as a method of persuasion? Sarcasm doesn't seem like a valid brony choice, unless it's...a lot of fun.
Well. At least I know why I'm damned.
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In any event, I'm glad you're enjoying the story 
Homie, I'm gonna be completely honest here and admit that you lost me on this one
7977293 That's what I do. Sorry, I was in a bit of a manic revelation state. I make sense in my head.
Anyway, you'll probably like my writing even though it will commit all the fanfic sins. That's the real joke.
Hello! The frank is here with opinions you don't want and suggestions you haven't asked for.
For starters, reading looking glass was a blast, and I know I have found a new story where I will look forward to reading every new chapter. I like your style, and your take on how Sunset became who she is today is interesting with some twists I don't think I have seen before.
Now we're coming to the hard part, I suggest you stop reading here.
then I read Finding Home, and while I enjoyed it in large parts, I just couldn't shake off the feeling that this was... how shall I put it... Looking glass was written by a more experienced and developed writer and Finding Home was a slight step backwards. Not that it's bad, but Looking glass is... better. That wouldn't be a problem usually, because every writer is a work in progress, but since the prequel is written after the sequel and I read them chronological I was a bit thrown of by the difference in style.
And now to my suggestion: Have you considered breaking this out from Who we become and start a new continuity? Three reasons you can consider. 1. The stories will be more tuned to the same "voice". 2. Anything written that you regret in Finding home which complicates this story will no longer be a problem. 2. This sunset is more intriguing than finding home-sunset. Her world feel line the more interesting to explore. 3. Anything you've written into finding home which restrains this story would be gone.
Sorry about this.
As you may have guessed, english is not my first language. I'm sorry if I come off as posh or snotty, I get that sometimes.
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I really appreciate both.
Thank you for the feedback, and for your interest in this story
You're definitely right that the quality of the writing here is better than Finding Home (or indeed, any other story I've written). I expect it'll be better still be my next story. As you said, it's pretty natural; I learned the craft of writing as I wrote. That said, I haven't the slightest interest in splitting this from Who We Become. I really don't have much interest in writing stuff other than Who We Become and my upcoming stories for Pasu-Chan's Noodle AU. I have a huge amount of stuff planned for the future of this series, and I mean to get there.
Wouldn't matter. This series is going to last for something like five years, at its current pace. If the final story has the same voice as the first, well, what the hell have I been doing as an author?
Nothing from Finding Home complicates Looking Glass, its sequel, or the future of Who We Become. I do have regrets from the story, but they only impact my thoughts on Finding Home.
Matter of opinion. I'm rather fond of who Sunset is in Finding Home. Aside from that, Sunset is not the main character of Who We Become (she is kinda the main character of phase one of the series, but not the series overall), so it'd be pretty strange to just reboot the series on her account.
That's pretty much the same point as before. This story is largely unaffected by Finding Home. Considering this is a prequel, I'm a little confused as to how Finding Home would restrain this story in any way
Frankly, I would sooner rewrite the other stories than split this Looking Glass from WWB. Not that I plan on doing that either
What I do plan to do is reread every story in this series and smooth over grammatical errors while improving awkward sentences and fixing some minor timeline errors.
You have no need to apologize. Nothing you said came off as posh, snotty, or any other negative outlook. Your point is very valid, just not what I'm interested in doing
7980268 Thank you for your answer. I can definitely understand that you have no interest in rewriting, and I have to admit that I had no Idea how big your universe was. I had the impression that you had the beginning and the end published and where working on the middle. But if Every story you've published in the verse as now IS the beginning than neither of my points stand and I withdraw in silence.
A five year long trek of stories? Color me intrigued. You have now officielly gained a follower.
Oh, alright... I can't really leave in silence, I would like to adress a couple of things.
1.
It's possible that we mean different things when we use the Word "voice" to describe an authors style. What I meant was that when I read Harry Potter, it was a bit strange to go from the more sofisticated tone from the half-blood Prince and then, in the middle of deathly hollows been thrown back to the more simple style of the philosophers Stone in the big standoff with Voldemort, since that scene was written at the same time as the first book, sort of. Or, when Reading Narnia, when you begin with the rather boring the Magicians nephew, and then proceed to more sparkling the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, it's almost as they're written by different people. Nine years or so changes a writer, and when you write a prequel... it's just something to be aware of.
Now, since this is the beginning of your saga, it won't be a matter to you. And even if this is purely academic, I just want you to know what I mean.
2.
Yes, my three to four points was pretty far fetched in retrospective. But since your asking... well, let's say you are writing looking glass and one day you get a spendid Idea! "Let's put Sunset in an accident making her loose her Ears and a leg so she has to get a prostetic!" And then you go "noooo, I can't do that, I've already written in finding home that she has all her legs there". Yes it's an over the top example, but you get the Idea. Once again, purely academic. Just explaining myself. I might be a bit crazy.
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Regardless, we're really just getting started. Every story so far exists in phase one of three, so we're less than a third of the way through this thing. Glad to have you along for the ride 
I came up with the five years estimate a little while ago, and while it was based on some logic, I honestly can't remember it
I do get what you mean about the voice, and I believe we had the same meaning in our uses of the word. And I do worry some of the readers that are holding off reading the other stories will be in for a bit of a shock when LG finishes and they move on to other stories (my goal is to have everything touched up by then, but still). My point was just as you said, this is all still part of the beginning anyway. There may be some hiccups early on, but I don't plan on writing out of order after this, so things ought to be more of a gradual evolution hereafter.
As for being locked into what I wrote in other stories, even discounting WWB, this would still be a prequel for EqG. The sequel to LG is somewhere I'll be really locked into what I've already written, but I suppose that was probably your point since you were suggesting starting a new series from LG.
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My head cannon about the sirens and how they got to the human world was that Starswirl opened a portal without using the mirror, sort of like how discord can open portals to other dimensions. So they wouldn't need to have a counterpart in the human world. I read this one story where discord goes to the human world to become friends with sunset after the tirek incident because he felt like she could empathize with him. In it he could hop into other dimensions without transforming into a human, therefore he remained in his draconequus form.
7980462 ...Ah yes... EqG... A bad assumption of mine, so mane authors throw official canon out the window that when someone actually follows it... You are right and I am wrong.
And I have to say that I'm glad that you acknowledge the differences in tones between the stories. Even if you choose to do nothing, you are aware of it, and that is part of what makes a good writer. And it's never to late. One of my favourite authors, Tove Janson, did some pretty heavy rewritings of her four first moominbooks in the mid-sixties to match her more then-recent work. And at least in some of the cases it was an improvement.
Aaaaand it looks like Sunset's thrown away her only real chance at friendship.
Well, at least once she gets to high school she'll see the statue again.
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It is sort of a dream of mine to do something like that. The problem I think I'd hit is not knowing where I'd stop
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Indeed, Sunset's managed to dig herself a pretty deep hole to lie in
I'm sure that'll be an all around fantastic experience for her
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The bad news is that I had to put all my writing on hold for the time being (because life sucks sometimes), with no idea when I'll get back to it. The good news is that I don't have much aspiration in life aside from writing (lol that sounds depressing when I word it like that, but mean that I plan on making it a career), so I absolutely will be coming back to this. Hell, I'll probably be back at it sooner than it takes most authors to update anyway 
And once I do come back, I'll be updating on a chapter per week schedule, which is always nice 
Well, I've got good and bad news for you
And no worries about AJ. Her dynamic with Sunset is literally my favorite part of this story, so while I won't say what's coming, it is safe to say that she'll remain a significant part of this story
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Hey, do you have any updates coming out tomorrow? For this or for heart of the forest?
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I'll update HotF as soon as I can get the chapter finished, with Looking Glass resuming once I'm confident in my ability to get back to writing at a regular pace (be it weekly or some other regular schedule). Trust me, homie, no one wants these stories to start up again more than I do
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Still, I would like more of this type of story. Maybe you could write it up, or have screwball have an adventure in that reality.
Personally, I want my own 'epidermits' Rainbow Dash. Sadly, all I have is the virtual Rainbow Dash on fimfiction that dreams about Pinkie Pie being random... Either way I would prefer something more energetic, alive, and interactive than a pleo or robosapien. I mean it's not like Hasbro is a toy company or something that could make that happen, and it's not like they have toy dragons that can toast marshmallows now or anything. I'm guessing a virtual pony that lives on your computer that adapts and grows like one of the mekakucity actors would be fun...
8052596 Yeah, that's a tough one. You could say that parts of the dictionary are damaged/missing (given Kindergarten-age kids have access to it, it wouldn't be too outlandish), but to be perfectly honest, it's an easy one to shrug off. It's not very distracting, as far as plot holes go.
Hey um so I just sat down and read the whole thing this afternoon and I wanted to say I've been sobbing, like there's been a consistent and unassailable stream of tears running down my face, for the last two hours. this is fic has literally made me reevaluate every single novel or piece of fanfic I've ever written it was so unbelievably incredible. like every paragraph made me sit back and stop for a while and just cry some more. thank you so much for this phenomenal story and I hope your mental health improves soon! it's terrible to hear you're not feeling so good :( but again thank you you've made me cry more than I have in months and possibly a tear
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The next chapter will hopefully be out soon! I've actually gotten back into writing in the past week or so, and I'm about halfway through writing it. My plan is to begin updates on Looking Glass again once I'm confident that I can handle weekly updates for the entirety of Act III. So it certainly won't be back on this Monday, but the next one is possible
Thank you so much, I'm flattered you think so highly of my writing
(although if I were to take a guess, the 24th seems most likely).Obviously I missed that, but if anyone's seeing this then I think I'll have the next chapter up on May 1st.8077078 sweets
Sadly the song is gone. needs a new video :P
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Thanks for pointing that out, fixed now
Shit like this is why you're on my top shelf. So much dripping meaning here. On the surface- she's just being a cunt to Summer and trotting out "it's all about me" etc.
But you sit back for a second and even before you reiterate later and underline what she means, it's obvious that she's not talking about herself, but Applejack.
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Hilariously, Confirmed as of Shadow Play
I haven't been able to stop reading since I started, and honestly I can't wait to see how this story wraps up.
You really capture Sunset's self-destructive behavior to a T, as well as the sense of self loathing I've always pictured her to have, so I have to say that although this entire piece is a favorite of mine, I might just be a little biased. 😋
I love how you describe character's body language, and how you manage to tell a non-linear story so clearly, which is something that can be very difficult to achieve.
I'm rambling now at this point, and I just wanted to leave a little here before I'm at a loss for words by the end.
I can't wait to read on!
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Oh wow, getting through this story quick! I'm super flattered
Looking Glass was the first place I experimented with telling parts of the story non-linearly, and I'm glad to hear it came through clearly. It's something I've enjoyed doing a lot and will probably do more of in the future.
Sunset's self-deprecation and self-sabotage are always a great source of writing for me, so expect a lot more of that going forward
I like the music idea. It is a really good idea to wrap up the Act.
As much as I wanted to read this without breaks and in one go, I don't really have that time.
I love the Sunset depicted here. Best pony is also the best crime boss! I always yearned for a story depicting an extended 'Sunset's reign of terror'. Like, she didn't get this good at manipulating people overnight, so this story is perfect.
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And yeah, it'd be rather insane to read this whole story without breaks. 200k words is a bit much for one sitting. And glad you're liking Sunset's evolution. It was a ton of fun to work with, easily one of my favorite things I've ever written.
You know, you're the first person to ever comment on the music. Makes me really happy that someone actually likes it
Man, even though I knew how this would turn out, I still hoped it wouldn't. Anyway, I really love the way you wrote AJ. I mean, if she weren't the element of honesty, I'd say she was the element of stubbornness. Or maybe determination, that's probably a more positive spin on things. Anyway, big fan of this act, as much as it makes my heart hurt :(
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Yeah, I came up with a bunch of AU stuff for if they had stayed friends because I just love their dynamic duo much and thought it could make for a really interesting AU. I didn't exactly consider abandoning the canon route, but I did kinda want to sometimes lol
Savage! :O I'm loving this complexity of emotion Sunset is struggling with, and the turn on Summer Rain was very satisfying somehow, even if it's not exactly For The Right Reasons.