The Rejected

by Soufriere

Last Chapter: Parting For Now

As the sun began to give up the ghost for the day, Sunset Shimmer’s apartment was filled with orange-hued light – her curtains were open for once – as she and Rarity sat at the repurposed stolen cable spool she called a coffee table, several books spread in front of them while Sunset attempted to help Rarity with preparing for final exams. Rarity, for her part, made the best attempt she could to keep up with Sunset’s explanations. This was hampered somewhat by the fact that Sunset Shimmer was the tutor, thus Rarity had difficulty keeping her eyes and mind from wandering. Nonetheless, she wrote as much down as she could around Sunset’s already detailed outlines.

“Okay,” Sunset said after what seemed like forever. “That’s about all I can do for your problem areas. It really sucks that 80% of the math you’re forced to learn won’t actually be useful in the real world unless you go into a hardcore STEM field, and CHS still isn’t great at teaching the stuff you will use – calculating tax, statistics, percent changes, interest – but I’ve tried my best. I know I’m kind of rusty as a tutor.”

“No, Sunset,” Rarity assured her. “You were able to make more things clear in an afternoon than my teachers could in half a year. I truly appreciate it.”

“Good, that means I only mostly fail, rather than completely,” Sunset deadpanned.

“Sunset, darling, I must ask you: Why did you decide to spend your time helping me study for finals rather than doing your own work?”

Sunset looked quizzically at her friend. “Isn’t it obvious? Finals dates are set in stone, but my work doesn’t have a time limit. Also, I need to ask you for a favour.”

“What is it?” Rarity inquired, visibly taken aback by Sunset’s extremely rare request.

“I want you to take those notes we wrote and share them with the others. This may shock you, but I do observe all of you; it’s an old habit from my magical research days. I know A.J. has even worse issues with math than you do, Pinkie isn’t great in the soft sciences, and Dash… kind of fails at everything. I won’t have time to help all three of them (Fluttershy will be fine). So, just give them a helping hand in my place,” Sunset said.

Rarity nodded. “Sunset, there’s something I must ask you. Well, two things, but the second can wait, to paraphrase yourself, until this is all over.”

“Sure, go ahead,” said Sunset with a friendly head tilt.

“What exactly is your work?” she asked bluntly. “Ancient languages, talk of unforgivable sins… You’ll pardon me if I don’t understand.”

Sunset lowered her head. “You know what I was like, what kind of person I was. The way I treated you your freshman year wasn’t all that different from how I acted when I lived in Equestria. I never realized, while in the thick of it, how horrible I was, even when ponies who cared tried to point it out.”

Rarity nodded slowly. “One more question. You mentioned at one point that Twilight was the chosen protégé of your universe’s Principal Celestia.”

“Princess,” Sunset corrected. “Boy, was I shocked to discover that downgrade. I can only imagine how She’d feel about it. It’s one of the enduring mysteries of this universe I hope to solve at some point.”

“Anyway,” Rarity continued. “She was your Celestia’s personal student, right?”

“Yeah,” Sunset said with a sigh, “The Princess saw something ‘special’ in Twilight beyond her extreme magical potential.”

“Does she usually accept students?”

“No,” said Sunset flatly. “With the exception of teaching good governance and protocol to my sort-of roommate Caddy for several years, in the past quarter-millennium She only took in two, one right after the other. She discovered Twilight probably a year or two after She and I parted ways.”

“I see. Do you not think your Celestia might have seen something special in you as well?” Rarity proposed, delicately.

Sunset, eyes closed, shook her bowed head ‘no’. When she spoke again, her voice was uneven. “During our final confrontation that awful night in the Archives, She told me She made a mistake, that the potential She thought She saw in me never existed, that I’m a complete failure in every way that matters. She was right, and I couldn’t face it. In my anger and hubris, I escaped to this world.”

“She rejected you.”

“And I deserved it.”

“Sunset, dear,” Rarity said, sidling up against her and placing her hands on Sunset’s shoulders, “Both of us have dealt with – are still dealing with – heartbreaking rejection. I may be just a girl who works in a dress shop, not the ruler of a kingdom, but it doesn’t matter if your Celestia is the demigoddess you say. I think she’s wrong. Or, perhaps she might have been correct then, but no longer. There is something special within you. I’ve seen it. It simply took time for you to reach inside, bypass all your guilt, and discover it for yourself. When you let people in, you are one of the sweetest, bravest, most conscientious girls I’ll ever know.”

“Rarity…”

“One thing Madame Tailor taught me… and so did you without meaning to: Very few know their path in the beginning; while some like me discover it early on, some may not find it for many years, and some never do. But once one has found their path and their place, they can be unstoppable,” Rarity concluded, misty-eyed.

Sunset’s eyes lit up, as if a light-bulb suddenly clicked on above her head. Her mouth hung slightly ajar.

“Sunset?” Rarity asked, confused.

“I think I know what I need to do now,” Sunset said. “Deciphering my old notes will still take some time; figuring out how to say my peace will take even longer. But… I have my path. Once I take my evening constitutional, I’ll get right to work.”

“You might be the only person I know besides myself who actually uses that word,” Rarity said with a chuckle.

Sunset shrugged. “Blame Princess Celestia; that’s what She called Her daily walks through the palace grounds. I guess that’s another bit of Her that rubbed off on me. Ever since you helped pull me from the edge, I’ve taken time every evening to walk to the statue or other places around Downtown and back. Anyway, I feel like my brain has mended enough for me to focus on my task at hand.”

“That’s wonderful!” Rarity enthused. “Do you need my assistance?”

“Sorry, but no. This is something I have to do alone,” Sunset said guiltily. “But, you’ve helped me more than you realize. Thank you so much!”

With that, Sunset, a beaming smile on her face, shifted position to gave Rarity a big hug. Rarity happily returned the embrace, though she was disappointed when Sunset broke it off far too soon.

“I… I suppose I should head home then,” Rarity said as she gathered her books and stood up to leave.

Sunset lightly grabbed Rarity’s wrist. Rarity turned back, intrigued.

“Once your finals are over, and my project is completed, we’ll go out to dinner together to celebrate. I’m sure Pinkie has some end-of-year party planned already – hopefully I can make that – but this will be just for the two of us, okay? A thank you for everything you’ve done for me over these last several months. I’d rather not inflict Beulah on you again, so it’ll be your choice.”

Rarity’s smile was accompanied by a blush. “I-I’d love nothing more!”

“Great,” Sunset said. “If my phone isn’t turned on, you know where to find me.” She gestured with one hand around her bare apartment. “I wish us both luck.”

“Of course, darling!” Rarity gushed as she made her way to the door.

Sunset made sure Rarity heard one last thing before she left. “Take care,” she said as Rarity briefly paused, nodded without turning around, and shut the door behind her.

---

The apartment was once again bathed in its usual silence, which felt off to Sunset when coupled with the brightness. She quickly remedied this by drawing the curtains and turning off every light except two lamps.

“No point in using much electricity if I’m not going to be here for half an hour.”

Somewhere off in the distance, a dog barked.

Sunset plodded across her floor, slipped her leather jacket Sasha back on, and exited her apartment, making sure to lock it behind her.

Almost exactly thirty minutes later, as the sun dipped below the horizon, she returned, sweating slightly due to wearing a long-sleeved leather jacket on a warm evening walk, but also sporting a satisfied smile.

She sat back down at her so-called table, spreading out her magic diary and her not-magic barely decipherable notes in front of her. She gave herself a single determined nod and grunt as she pulled out a pen.

“Okay. Time to get back to work… and finally finish this.”

Author's Note:

To be concluded in Recovery. Please read me.

Comments

[Talon and Thorn]

I can't help but think that Sunset might have missed some of the subtlety in what Celestia told her before she ran off.

[Mx Story Anomalax]

Was it ever stated why exactly Celestia turned Sunset away? I always figured it was in part because she didn't have the same cutie mark as on the Tree of Harmony, not just because she was kind of a bully.

Anyways, great story through and through, especially when it started to pick up. :)

[Vaguely Demented]

Celestia, giving fillies terrible mental disorders since Discord knows when.

[Soufriere]

8982084 -
Well, you're not wrong. Twilight's pretty mentally verkackte in her own ways. I think Cadance may be the only pony raised by Celestia who ended up NOT messed up somehow.

[Vaguely Demented]

8982114
Also I’m pretty sure Cadance was older when she was brought in. Proof that Celestia is mostly a problem in the formative years.

[Boltstrike58]

Kind of a shame Rarity never confessed.

[Ri2]

Fuck you, Celestia. No wonder she's such a mess.

[Tethered-Angel]

Nice to see Sunset doing at least matginally better.

Also youre very mean to Rarity. Which is fun. Poor thing.

[Soufriere]

9061297

You need to jump her, take her to the floor, and kiss the hell out of her. Everything else can be discussed after she knows in no uncertain terms that you want her.

You are not the first one to suggest this action. I can neither confirm nor deny that it will happen.

[Sunny O]

A weird question:

Somewhere off in the distance, a dog barked.

You use this one an awful lot. Does it mean something to you, or is it just some kind of a running gag? An inside joke maybe?

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Sunset looked quizzically at her friend. “Isn’t it obvious? Finals dates are set in stone, but my work doesn’t have a time limit. Also, I need to ask you for a favour.”

Something tells me that's half true.

“I think I know what I need to do now,” Sunset said. “Deciphering my old notes will still take some time; figuring out how to say my peace will take even longer. But… I have my path. Once I take my evening constitutional, I’ll get right to work.”

That a girl!

“Once your finals are over, and my project is completed, we’ll go out to dinner together to celebrate. I’m sure Pinkie has some end-of-year party planned already – hopefully I can make that – but this will be just for the two of us, okay? A thank you for everything you’ve done for me over these last several months. I’d rather not inflict Beulah on you again, so it’ll be your choice.”

They both deserve it.

She sat back down at her so-called table, spreading out her magic diary and her not-magic barely decipherable notes in front of her. She gave herself a single determined nod and grunt as she pulled out a pen.

I hope we'll find out soon enough what she was working on. 🤞

[PaulAsaran]

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