The Truth of Forgiveness
Morning came, and with it, the cessation of the snowstorm of the night before.
Applejack, never one to sleep in, found herself on the front porch, a cup of coffee clutched in one hand. As the sun rose, her thoughts turned to the day's activities.
She heard the screen door claw open and shut behind her, and Granny's voice cut through the silent winter day. "I heard you all up a little late last night," she huffed. "And now, we got an extra. When did Dash get here?"
"'Round eight o'clock." Applejack pivoted on one foot. "Granny- I think Ah made a mistake- an old one, that is."
Granny frowned. "Ah thought you'd made up with Sunset, Jackie?" She paused in thought. Applejack didn't interrupt- she knew that particular face. "And it ain't Dash or Rarity- you'da apologized to them here. Naw- gotta be one of your other friends." Her eyes narrowed. "Can't recall you doin' anything to Pinkie Pie, 'cept listenin' to the old Sunset's drivel..." She paused. "Nor Fluttershy..."
"It was Fluttershy, Granny. And it might be why she ain't spoken a word in Sunset's defense since this whole mess started." Applejack frowned. "Or spoken at all, come to think of it. Horseapples, Ah gotta apologize..."
At Granny's pensive look, Applejack sighed. Rainbow knew Fluttershy better than any of them- she'd have to explain it.
After a brief round of explanations, the five girls (Apple Bloom had walked downstairs at seven, Rarity had awoken at seven thirty and woken Sunset in the process, and Sunset had dragged Rainbow's unconscious body down the stairs at eight thirty) the girls started making plans. Sunset and Rainbow Dash were ready to go seek out Fluttershy posthaste, but Applejack had other plans.
"Look, y'all," she said, working on a stack of apple pancakes. "That siren girl- Sonata, right Dash?" Seeing Dash nod around a mouthful of pancake, she continued "Since she knows about where Sunset is, we got a problem. The fact she told Dash of all people was a real lucky break- but as long as Sunset's staying here, we gotta make certain she don't spread it around."
Rainbow gulped down her pancake. "So, either Sunset's gotta move, or we gotta shut up the Dazzlings. No big deal- Sunset can stay at my place."
Simultaneously, Sunset, Applejack, and Granny all said "NO." The three ladies looked at one another, and Applejack gestured to Sunset to go first. "Dash, if the news gets out, people might come here looking for me. I not going risk them not finding me, and doing something to lure me out. And I don't wanna put your house in danger, either."
Applejack nodded. "We've got privacy out here- if anyone's gunning for Sunset, they ain't gonna find her without help, and everyone here we can trust." Granny was the only one to notice Apple Bloom flinch at that statement. "So, we gotta find the Dazzlings, and give em a reason to keep their mouths shut."
"Besides, girl, Sunset just moved in here. I ain't gonna bounce her no time soon." Granny finished. She took a gulp of coffee, then glanced at Applejack. "Jackie- take the 12, but leave it in the van, and try to be back before dark. No drivin' after sunset, not until the roads'r clear, ya hear me?"
Applejack blanched. Sunset took note of her reaction, then turned to Granny. "Two questions. First, why is it that everyone but me understands why Applejack can't drive us after dark? I've see her do it before. Second, what's a 12, and why does Applejack look so upset about bringing it?"
Granny frowned as the room got real quiet. She pulled in a breath, then spoke softly "For your second question, Sunset, the 12 is mah old model 1200 shotgun. Applejack ain't ever shot anyone with it, and she don't wanna have to start. But Ah ain't sendin' my girl out to the seedy parta town unarmed. As for the first..." She looked down. "After what happened to Bright and Pear, we don't drive at night on snowy roads. Ah lost two kin that way- ah ain't losing any more."
Sunset winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't..."
"Ah know you didn't, dear." Granny looked up at Sunset, a sad smile on her face. "It happened a while back, but you weren't to know any better. 'Sides, you're family now- and that story would'a come up eventually." She stood up, and went to pour herself another cup of coffee. "I'll tell you the full story another time."
Granny walked out of the room, leaving the table in silence for a moment. As the girls pulled themselves together, Rarity spoke up. "While I agree that the Dazzlings must be dealt with, finding them will be a little difficult. After all, they could be anywhere near Sunset's old..." she hesitated for a moment, "Living space."
Sunset shook her head. "I saw Sonata walking around once after the battle of the bands. I followed her back to her apartment. If the Dazzlings are working together, they're probably living together." At the incredulous looks the others gave her, she shrugged "I know it sounds weird that I din't tell you guys, but what was I going to say? That while I was living in a factory, I saw where the Dazzlings were living and trailed them back to their place? Way too much explanation for my liking."
Apple Bloom spoke up "So, you guys are going in to town, right?" At Applejack's nod, she followed up "So, can I come with you guys? Not to see the Dazzlings, but I wanna see Sweetie and Scootaloo."
Applejack shook her head. "Sorry, Bloom, but Ah gotta turn you down. We're going to a bad part of town, I reckon, and I wouldn't feel safe droppin' you in the middle ah nowhere in the snow." She looked over at the counter, then picked up Apple Bloom's cell. "Here; call your friends and set up a time, then ask Big Mac to take you when he gets back from his date. Or ask Granny, if he ain't of a mind."
As Apple Bloom took her cell phone out of Applejack's hands, Rainbow Dash spoke up, her eyes wide. "Wait- you guys own a shotgun? Sunset was living in a factory?" her voice rose in volume. "Big Mac's TAKEN? Why don't I ever hear these thing?!"
Sonata looked up over her bowl of oatmeal. While normally the sweet oats and brown sugar mixture would have kept all of her attention, the knocking at the door drew it like a magnet. She quickly pieced together a few things.
Aria looked up from the couch, where she had absently leafing through a book about dogs and London. Adagio was holed up in her bedroom, and currently finishing up her second session of the day. None of the girls had ordered takeout, not at 10 o'clock on a Saturday, and packages were left at the bottom of the building. So, there was no conceivable reason for someone to have come knocking.
That meant trouble of some kind.
Adagio hadn't expected Sunset to get hurt immediately, but she'd become very worried when no calls for vengeance echoed out over social media, and those that asked for info about where "The demon bitch" might be found were still unanswered. Closer questioning of Sonata had revealed just who she'd given the info to, and at first Adagio had been pleased- until she realized that one of Sunset's former friends might not decide to betray her.
She still thinks like a siren. Echoed through Sonata's head. That's going to get us all in trouble, sometime soon.
Hesitantly, Aria rose from where she was sitting, an walked to the door. "Who is it?" she said, trying not to growl the words. (no need to upset the super, if that who it was)
"Open up, Dazzling." said a raspy voice. "We need to talk for a minute."
Sonata and Aria both frowned, as Adagio walked out of her bedroom. What was Rainbow Dash doing here? How did she find us?
Adagio, on the other had, seemed to see opportunity knocking. "Here about Sunset, dearie? Well," she said, walking to the door, and shoving a startled Aria aside, "we can discuss proper ways on getting back at her, if you'd just come in and-" Her words cut off as she swung the door open, revealing Rainbow Dash, two of the other Rainbooms, and Sunset Shimmer herself.
"Yeah, 'bout that." Rainbow snarled. "We do have something to talk about."
It was a tense group that had gathered in the Dazzling's sitting room. Oddly enough though the place was small, it wasn't nearly the dump the girls had expected. It had been cleaned recently, the lights were working fine, and the furniture, though second hand, was neat.
Seeing their confusion, Sonata broke the ice. "What? You didn't think we couldn't fend for ourselves?"
Everyone looked at Sonata as though she was crazy, and it was Rarity who spoke up. "I had thought, ,without your powers, that you might have had difficulties, darling."
"Of course we have!" Aria shouted. "But let me guess- you thought we'd had everything we'd ever wanted handed to us on a silver platter, right?" Rarity nodded. "Fat chance! There's a reason that Starswirled bastard sent us here, of all places."
Adagio nodded. "She is correct, you know. This city-" she tapped the table for emphasis "-has a greater magical field than almost anywhere on this planet. Our powers were much stronger just from being here- enough to actually begin controlling people again." She paused, then explained. "Most of the power we gathered over the years went into keeping us immortal- and what remained was barely enough to charm the occasional person, with effort. It made things much easier, but we never managed anything like what we were able to pull off at your school."
Sunset frowned. "You're being awfully open about this."
Adagio shrugged. "Unless you've come to bequeath us with a fresh set of pendants, our powers are lost. And I think offering you some useless information in return for what we... leaked... is a fair deal." She smirked. "Although that information we leaked may now be similarly useless. So tell me, Sunset, how'd you convince them you weren't Anon-A-Miss? I can tell a frame up when I see one." She sighed "Brings back memories of Manehatten..."
Sunset shook her head. "They spotted the holes in it themselves. I din't have to do anything, once they had time to think."
Aria whistled. "Well, hunky dory for you, princess." She scowled and leaned back in her chair. "So. Why're you here? And where's the pink-headed duo?" She smirked. "Let me guess- they haven't come around yet."
Sunset's lips tightened, and she was about to reply when Rainbow Dash cut her off. "They don't matter here- you guys do." She leaned forward, her eyes blazing. "You tried to sick me on Sunset. You thought I'd blow up and go and beat her ass." She scowled. "And if you hadn't told me-"
Aria snarled back "Do you blame us? Fine, I'll accept that. But all we were doing was passing along some info- it was up to you to use it."
Sunset interrupted Rainbow's response. "That's true, although my old mentor would have said that trying to get someone else to hurt someone for you was as bad as doing it yourself." She shook her head. "And in the interest of not being beaten up any time soon, we're going to need you to keep that fact to yourself until this issue resolves itself."
"And what's in it for us?" Adagio said, glancing over her nails.
"A second chance."
Six pairs of eyes fixed on Sunset. "WHAT?" echoed five voices in unison- Rarity's only absent because the girl had fainted across Applejack's lap.
Sunset shrugged. "You keep quiet," she said, motioning for her friends to stay silent, "And I'll make certain that you guys can finish classes at Canterlot High."
The room was silent, until Sonata, oddly quiet throughout the whole discussion, spoke up. "Why do you think we want to go back to school? And how would you do that?"
Sunset frowned. "I asked, after you guys left, whether or not you'd actually enrolled. Principal Celestia said you were on the rolls, but were marked absent." She shrugged. "If I put int a good word with Celestia, she'll give you guys a chance- she gave me one, after all. And as to why?" she pulled in a deep breath. "You're now having to do everything without magic. That means holding a job, getting paychecks. And to succeed, you'll need skills you can actually sell. That means a diploma- and a degree, if you want one."
Aria a looked stunned, and Sonata looked blank. Adagio, however, quickly gained control of herself. "We'll take it." Aria and Sonata glanced at her, then looked back at Sunset and nodded.
Sunset stood up, and dropped a notecard on the table. "That has my cell phone number on it. Call me or text me if you want to contact me. One of you should so I can let you know when Principal Celestia wants to see you." The other girls, including an awoken Rarity, stood up and filed out of the apartment. As she turned for the door, she felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder.
"Wait." Sunset turned to see a pair of purple eyes glaring into hers. Aria spoke. "Why are you willing to forgive us? And why would you forgive them? Or the pink one, or the shy one? What do you get out of it?"
Sunset hesitated, then answered in a soft voice. "When I left my mentor behind, I said terrible things, then did something terrible. I made a massive mistake in my anger, and lost everything because of it." She looked up, her gaze firm. "Someday, maybe soon, I plan on going back to her and asking her forgiveness. And if I want her to give me a second chance- after everything I've done- I need to be willing to give one to others." She took a steadying breath. "I don't know if you were driven by anger to do what you did or not- but I've seen that when you're lost in darkness, it takes help to find your way back. Maybe... maybe I can be the friend you girls need. But I have to give you a chance."
Aria released Sunset's shoulder, then watched as she turned and left.
As the four girls piled into the car (Applejack checking under her seat for the 12, then checking the safety again) Rarity spoke up. "I know you said we should follow your lead, darling, but don't you think it's a bit much?" She hesitated and continued, "I know it might be the right thing to do, but is is the smart thing to do?"
Sunset shrugged. "I know, but this is necessary. Worst comes to worst, we can always fall back on hiding me at Dash's place, then going after them with Twilight. We do have a plan B after all."
Applejack started the engine. "Sugarcube, I hope you're right. This seems like it's gonna backfire real bad..."
Adagio looked down at the notecard continuing the ten digit number with a grin. "I would never have expected for someone so clever to do something so foolish. We may have to fake trying to be friends for a while, but this gives us a perfect chance to really mess with Ms. Shimmer..."
"Wrong, Dagi. There isn't a "We" here. If you go for some scheme, I'm not helping you."
Two pairs of red eyes spun to face a pair of purple ones. Aria glared up at Adagio over her copy of White Fang. "I'm taking them up on the offer for real, Dagi, and I hope you and Sonata do the same."
Adagio snorted, and said "And what? Learn to be a better friend? To be a mortal, living with others, cooperating-"
"We are mortals now, Dagi!" Aria put down her book and stood up. "You know me, Adagio. I'll never back down from a fight. Hell, you chose me to partner with you as the second of your little coven because I never stopped trying to be the best!" She scowled, then started speaking, her voice rising in volume as she continued "And we lost. That "pathetic friendship" stuff beat us when we were hopped up on more power than we had in CENTURIES!" She looked Dagi in the eyes. "You don't win by being static. And their power was greater than ours. Now I've got a chance to try it for myself. And I won't let you screw it up." She looked down at the table, then pulled her pink slip off it. "And even if I don't get a chance at friendship, it's better to try then getting fired all the time. I want more than this, Adagio. Sure, we've got a place to sleep and food, but I want to live again. Not just hide here anymore."
Sonata finally spoke up. "Dagi, she's right." Adagio glanced at the blue girl, then motioned her to continue. "We're being given a second chance. You're not a siren anymore- you don't have to prove you're the meanest anymore." She stood up and picked up her bowl of cold oatmeal. Then she glanced up at Adagio and grinned. "Besides, this will give you a chance to try to seduce that Shimmer girl. I know you love girls like her."
Adagio's scowl morphed- briefly- into a startled blush, before it twisted into rage and she began to sputter denials and threats. Aria burst out laughing. Over the chorus of expletives, Sonata just turned and went to reheat her breakfast. Well, that worked out better than expected. I wonder if this will actually work?
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8444670
I wanted to see a good trap
When will pinkie and fluttershy get into the picture?
I'm a little confused. Didn't the sirens also tell Gilda and her cronies?
8444719
...when did they do that? Or rather, when did I imply they did that?
8444705
Next chapter for Fluttershy. Three chapters for Pinkie.
If everything goes as planned. My subconscious may decide to mess with me some more, and extend the story. It's already much longer than I originally envisioned.
8444696
Fair, but do you really think Gilda and Lightning Dust would be able to pull off a good trap? Rainbow might, but if she was angry enough she wouldn't bother.
8444736
I think everyone thought the sirens were talking to lightning dust when they confronted the jogger that was rainbow?
8444737
Cool, thanks
long stories are good. Let's you get everything down that you need to without rushing it.
Keep up the great work.
Will adagio also go for Sci Twi after she becoes Midnight, get the best of both worlds, ExBad girl and Sweet native nerd?
MMMMMMMMMMMMMM yesssss
8444736
So in "Sworn Promise" that wasn't Gilda? Cause the description kinda fitted her: athlete, usually angry, hates and threatens others
Well, that situation is taken care of. There's still more drama to come though.
Very nice chapter, with reasoning as to what happened to Applejack's parents, comedic moments such as Rainbow reacting to all that information getting dumped out and rarity fainting, to Sunset showing why she is awesome in how she is handling the Dazzlings and her own hop of being forgiven by forgiving in turn. It was also nice to see Aria and Sonata take a stand for what they want against Adagio and make fun of her possibly liking Sunset in that sibling teasing sort of way.
There is one dislike. Good work
8444785
Or a pissed off Rainbow Dash. I wrote it ambiguously on purpose.
8444742
Fair enough
So Sunset forgive the Dazzings, the Apples owned a shotgun & Applebloom didn't own Big Mac is taken, a great way to make up a one day of no new chapter.
That was an amazing bit of levity right there. Eased up the tension quite nicely.
Well! Good to see the Dazzlings are at least being given another chance.
had woke(n)/woke
Sunset
Oh god. The EQG version of Skynet "Susnet" has begun it's campaign to eradicate humanity and it's starting with Rainbow! We're all doomed!
Uhhh... What.
You're sending your granddaughter, who is a minor, into town with a shotgun to talk to some girls who, as far as appearances and the authorities are concerned are also minors? That's pretty much bringing a knife to a fist-fight or argument; no way that will help anything and will likely get you or someone else killed.
8457067
hmm. Probably true. I added that little segment as a development on Granny Smith's character- I'm planning a side story concerning her later. In real life, though, you're probably correct.
Oh?
Now you're speakin my language
"Besides, this will give you a chance to try to seduce that Shimmer girl. I know you love girls like her."
Yes
All Of My yes! I support Adagio trying to bed sunset!
I support her actually succeeding even more!
What kind of session is this?
8531630
I was wondering when someone was going to catch that!
Now that someone's noticed, I get to reveal it in a later chapter of Sparks Catch. This should be fun!
I've seen fics of Gamer/Youtuber Aria and Sonata working in a fast food or Mexican restaurant, I'm sure there's something for Adagio... other than the red light district.
Very nice story so far, good work.
Great taking control of the situation Sunset
Before, it just felt a tad fast. Nothing too bad. This with the Dazzlings, though, felt a lot faster than that.
The first question is a valid concern. Knowing your friend's family has a shotgun can lead to many uncomfortable questions about said weapon.
The second question is also a valid concern. Learning that the girl you were supposed to be teaching friendship to might not have a proper home can be devastating, especially to those who value loyalty, kindness, generosity and laughter.
The third question is hilarious, and led me to think that maybe this Dash had feelings for Big Mac. Though slightly out of place compared to the first two questions, it fits Dashie to a T, in my opinion. getting a little worked up over the question with the least significant impact~
I love it. plain and simple, can't wait to finish this story now~
Ah, lil' Dashie confused as heck. Lve it.
8545399
Bartender probably
Alright, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, Sonata; DO NOT BETRAY SUNSET.