11 - Gathering
There was no shop.
Not to Sunset. There were no seats, tables, windows. No Sun Goddesses, no magical ponies. Right now, it was her, and the girl she was wrapped around. Nothing else.
The air was filled with choked apologies, and equally mumbled thanks, both coming from the pair of curled up bodies on the floor. Scootaloo had adopted the foetal position, while Sunset had even curled her flaming appendages around both of them, creating a protective wall of fire from all intruders. Both girls continued to cry, oblivious to what was around them, as the world turned slowly. They were there for what seemed like an eternity, only halted by the entrance of even more people. If it weren't for them, Sunset could have stayed there forever, until the end of time.
Eventually, curiousity got the better of her, and she opened her still glowing eyes, directing her gaze upwards towards the intruder. "F-Flash?"
There he was. His once spiky blue hair had lost its looks, becoming faded and uncared for. Hi face was a different story. It was very happy, there really weren't any other words for it. It was simply happy - Sunset had knew Flash almost all her life in the human world, but she had never seen him this overjoyed. He was almost giddy. "Sunset? That yo-" His expression turn to be annoyed, as if he had been rudely cutoff. In his mind, I guess he had. "Shut up, Screwball. This is for- Jus- No-"
"Flash?" Sunset was shaking on her feet, leaving Rainbow to tend to Scootaloo. All the while, her magic flickered, a moment of unsteadiness. "Are you..."
"Thank you, Sunset..." Almost immediately, Flash was around Sunset in a second, not caring for the fire erupting from her back, or the other people witnessing the scene. And, just like Sunset a moment before, Flash Sentry was enveloped in a feeling of carelessness, making him oblivious to everything around him. The shrinking voice in his head, the cars, the slowly closing doors behind him, nothing existed. "Thank you..."
Sunset, while appreciative of the gesture, was still confused to by his actions, looking to Rainbow for any help. She merely gave her look that simply said 'Later.'
So, the girl just let it happen, while Rainbow went over to the Princess and Fluttershy, who had been silent the entire affair, but were threatening to burst out in rage again. Sunset couldn't hear what was happening, but it visibly calmed them both down, and once the younger girl in the group composed herself off of the floor, all four of them sat down at a
nearby table, patiently waiting for the remaining pair to pull away.
They eventually did so, giving each other soft shows of comfort, mostly out of understanding for what each other must have went through. Joining the others at the table, they sat in awkward silence for a while, before Sunset found the courage to speak up. "I- Okay, I'm going to be honest, I'm really confused. Anyone want to help me catch up?" All of them opened their mouths to give them perspective, but Sunset cut them off. "Actually, better question," Sunset turned her head to Fluttershy and Celestia, who were almost lokcing horns again. "Why were you two fighting?"
They had no real response. It was just stutter after mumble after stutter.
"So you two just saw each other and instantly started fighting?" She was met with two ashamed nods, who didn't even bother to look at Sunset's lit eyes. They were sure of the look they would receive. Seeing anything else would be fruitless, the girl only sighed."I can't believe this. Regardless of your... argument, I do need to be caught up. First off," Sunset swayed her arms in such a way to encompass all of the native humans. "How did you find out what-" Pausing, Sunset attempted not to be too explicit. Everyone was in a fragile state at the moment, and reminding them of her attempted suicide would only make it worse. "...I did?"
"Well, it was like this..." Scootaloo, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash spent the next few minutes sharing their various perspectives of the story, far too calmly for what they had just been through. Sunset assumed they had already had their time to grieve, and while they weren't over it, they wasn't any need for them to break down. Yet. Instead of trying to play psychologist, Sunset paid her full attention to the tale, which included how Scootaloo deleted the account, ran into Fluttershy at Rainbow's house, which led them to Principal Celestia's home, and finally to Scootaloo's where they found Flash.
"I... I suppose I should thank all three of you."
"Us?! Why?" Rainbow Dash, suddenly quite aware of her past actions, put on her most confused face, even though she was expecting what came next.
"Let me put it this way: you three are here, and the others aren't you actually regretted what you did before you found out the truth. And while that may not apply entirely to you Scootaloo, you still saved my life, and I owe you everything. So, again, thank you." Sunset finished her miniture rant with her arms folded, exaggerating her seriousness. Celestia, on the other hand, sat with an eyebrow raised in amusement, something which did not go unnoticed by the ex-unicorn. 'Yes, I copied one of your inspirational speeches, sue me.'
"Wow, we, uh, we..." Flash was struggling to get words out, even though he had not been directly addressed.
"Flash, I'm not even going to pretend what's going on with you." He winced at the words. "I'm sorry. But really, I hadn't seen you like how you came in, since... well, never."
"Sunset?" Scootaloo was tugging at her blood stained jacket, almost flinching at the feel. "Can we talk 'bout... this outside?"
"It's still cold out. Let's go into the back of the shop. I'm sure the Cakes won't mind, since they're not here anyway." Getting up, the two girls slipped behind the counter and into the connecting corridor between the kitchens, leaving the others to talk amongst themselves, usually interrogating Celestia for princess-y facts, who in turn attempted to make light of the conversation. Turning back to Scootaloo, sunset saw her head was slightly bowed, and nervously looking away. "Is this a bit too much of a... sensitive topic?"
"No, no, it's fine. It's just that..." The younger girl looked up at Sunset, showing a broad smile across her face. "this is the happiest I've seen him in years!"
"Really?!" Taking a step back at Scootaloo's sudden enthusiasm, Sunset steadied herself. She honestly wasn't sure if she was ready for what she might hear next.
"I suppose I might as well tell the whole story." The smaller girl leaned against a wall, allowing her to take her weight off of her crippled leg. "Well, you know how you and Flash were a thing? He was so happy then. He claimed he saw the 'real' you one time, and he was overjoyed. When you said you had to split up for personal reasons, he was devastated, but he mnaged to hold it together. After the Fall Formal, he... there's no other way to say this..." The girl looked into her open palm, before clenching her hand into a fist. "He lost it. His mind. No one could figure out what happened, but he just wanted to find 'her'. Who that was, we didn't know. Maybe it was Twilight, maybe you, hell, it could have been my mother. Flash did eventually start to get better, kinda going along side your reformation..." Sighing, Scootaloo tensed up, bracing herself for what she was about to say. "I... the day your fr- Twilight's friends confronted you, and you..."
"Broke down."
"...Broke down, yeah. But basically, Flash saw that, he lost himself further than before. Started talking to no one. Might've been voices in his head, we simply don't know. But he said the word 'Screwball' like it was a name, and acted like it used to be some one. I think it was the one he was looking for, or something. But after what happened on Christmas Eve, I think he was definitely talking about you, regardless of how he was thinking of Twilight for a while."
"Question?" Scootaloo hummed in the affirmitive. "How'd you know so much?"
"Didn't we tell you? I'm Flash's half-brother." Sunset's mouth slowly shrunk, letting out a silent 'oh'. "Yeah, I know we don't look alike. We share a father. My actual mother left a while back. Don't even know who she is. Can die for all I care."
Shaking herself out of her daze, Sunset started to join dots together. "Die? Why- nevermind. None of my business. But does that mean Flash's mother is Dr. Turret?" When Scootaloo nodded, an almost ironic thought came to the equestrian. "Heh. Seems your family has a knack for saving my life." Seeing the younger girl's tilted head, Sunset opened her mouth to elaborate, but was cut off by a male voice from the entranceway.
"She means I got her off the streets while we were together." Flash Sentry approached the pair from the doorway, having escaped the conversation. "And I suppose I owe both of you an explanation. One that is more than just 'I was insane, and now I'm not.'"
"Yeah, that would be appreciated."
"Okay, this might take a while. I was hearing voices, thought I wouldn't be suprised if it had something to do with magic. That 'Screwball' was one of sad voices. Sh- it claimed to be a mix of Twilight and Sunset at first, then it said it used to be Sunset. I think that was when you... yeah."
"I hate to be so blunt Flash, but I tried to kill myself. Might as well just state it."
"Yeah... right. Anyway, I really don't know what caused all of it, but Sunset was definiately part of it." His face suddenly got more aggressive, facing Sunset. "And don't you dare feel guilty. This happen to myself, I-"
"Flash." Sunset put her hand on his shoulder, gripping it tightly despite not being able to feel it. "We all did this to ourselves. We've accepted that, so there's no point in putting more on our consciences. Alright?"
"A-alright. Regardless I-" A darkened peach hand waved in front of him.
"Flash. Maybe later? We do have alot of time."
"And I do have several questions, one of which you two are in the perfect position to answer." Seeing the half-siblings motion for her to continue, she discharged the problem that had been nagging away at her for a long time. "Why does your mother hate me?"
"Ah."
"Right."
"That's..."
"Should've seen that coming."
"Yup, totally."
Listening to the uneasy agreement didn't exactly sooth Sunset's worries. "Could I get an answer? Please?"
"Right, right sorry. You do deserve at least one." Flash smiled sheepishly, a look that wasn't exactly a rarity on his face.
"This comes in two parts, one for each of us."
"You know my part already. Our mother directly blamed you for my mental screw up. You'll have to ask her why." The boy gave a casual shrug, before looking to his sister.
"Well, you know how my leg's screwed up, right? Well the day it got messed up was the day before you broke up with Flash. Don't know why those two linked together in her mind, but they did. Not much else other than that, actually."
Sunset nervously glanced at the forementioned leg, before looking up to it's user. "You mind if I ask what happened to it? Not that'll make a difference."
She was met with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Nah, it's fine. It's a long story, but it involves my friend and sap. Lots of sap. Maybe once this is all over I'll tell you in more detail."
Slightly frustrated at the lack of detail, the older girl turned back towards the main area of the cafe, where the remainder of the group were awaiting their return. "Come on, they've waited long enough." Silently agreeing, the others followed them back to the table where they had previously been gathered. "Hope we didn't keep you guys waiting to long."
"Naw, it's fine." Rainbow Dash was looking as arrogant as ever, attempting to give herself an air of superiority, despite being next to a ruler of an entire nation. It wasn't working.
"Heh, good to have you back, Dash."
"And you, Shimmer."
"Hey, why are all you guys here? I mean, I know why the Princess is here but..." Sunset also took the time to chuckle at Flash's reaction to the knowledge he was with high royalty. 'Not that dissimilar from my reaction, if I'm honest.' His jaw was open wide, and his eyes were at least three times as big as they should've been.
"Um... we were actually here to discuss the situation with, uh, you, Sunset. We wanted to see if, uh, we could see you. If that was okay with you, anyway..." The amber girl rolled her eyes at Fluttershy's response. 'Aaaand now Fluttershy's back to normal.' Sunset could hardly be annoyed at the girl, however, as everything was starting to feel as it did before Anon-a-miss.
"Yeah, we wanted to see if we could help at all. Guess we didn't even need to bother."
"Hey Flash," The boy turned at the mention of his name, seeing Scootaloo rise shakily from her seat. "should we get going soon? Ma's gonna come looking for-" Yet another loud slam interrupted her. "Nevermind."
"There you are!" A woman, dressed in a thick coat, with the same sort of colouring of Flash Sentry entered the closed cafe, walking up to the table. Now that Sunset knew Dr. Turret was related to Flash Sentry, she did look remarkably like each other, just with a different gender. "You could've at least told me where you're going!"
The doctor abruptly grabbed her two children and started to pull them towards the exit, but not before glancing at Sunset, muttering something to herself until she finally spoke up. "I- I'm sorry Sunset. I jumped to conclusions. Though I can clearly see you have more important things to sort out right now. You must have alot of questions, but save them for later, alright?" And, with the shortest cameo appearence in history, the doctor walked back out of the building, awaiting for her children to follow.
Sighing, Flash motioned for Scootaloo to get her scooter (which was going to be impossible to ride in the current conditions) and go. "Sorry about that. Our parents are very protective, but can also be understanding. Even so, she had a point. You came here to talk to her, not us." The boy motioned to Celestia, before finally turning to join his sister.
"Well, that was... sudden."
"Yeah, I... y'know what? We should probably get goin' too Flutters. Let the magical ponies do... whatever they usually do."
"Um, okay..." Fluttershy nodded her farewells to the two equestrians, and she joined Rainbow Dash in her exit, just as abrupt as the last.
"So..." Sunset turned her attention back to her former teacher, gazing at her with attentive eyes. "This has been put off for too long."
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The latest chapter does answer some questions, what is going on what happened, why Their mother was such a bloody BITCH Yeah i'm going to say it, She better offer a better fucking apology then the whimpy one there.
When they meet up to talk.
Felt like she was using her worry for her kids to make a excuse for small attempt of one and then get out quickly.
Look forward to see how Anon A Miss is exposed and really really REALLY hope Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle get harshly punished.
Not just them but most of the school for helping Anon A Miss get all those secrets as well.
the princess Celestia vs Sunset Shimmer fight was a little short and wasn't clear on the reason for the fight
8877669
I'm hoping to use most of the next chapter for Celestia and Sunset, because there's alot of stuff that REALLY needs to be cleared up between those two.
And honestly? I tried extending the fight, but it just came out worse. Became really boring, with those two just attempting to hit each other. Hmmm, maybe I should do a DBZ style scene... I can probably improve it, and I shall do so, but there won't be a vast difference.
8878449
Be funnier if it was Fist of the North Star.
8878510
Aaaand I regret saying that because now I have to look up japanese anime and manga, none of which I know...
Ooohhh, that one. Yeah, I could, but let's try to be original, alright? Half of this story is already ripping off other things.
8878519
At this point nearly everything is derivative of something. Since no one is raised in a vacuum all creative efforts are at least somewhat colored by past experiences wether from our own lives or fiction. Best one can hope for is that you can give things a good polish or combine them in unexpected ways.
8878525
Fair enough. But this story only exists because I wanted to use the plot line of another idea, and 90% of the chapters are inspired directly from other stories.
And I should really hope no one can fully relate to this story from past experiences. But hey, if you are a being from another dimension that came over here and got defeated by a princess and then attempted suicide when you got abandoned only to be taken care of by the interdimensional twin of the princess that defeated you and became magical pen pals, then PM me!
8878449
I was wondering why the fight happened in the first place
8878731
Oh, I meant that'l be explained in the next chapter. The general gist of it, though, was Sunset got into a panic and started to think Celestia was going to take her away, back to Equestria.
8888865
I am fine with it and can follow it too, it just seems out of place. Might just be me.
8890702
Better explanation than I was expecting.
I feel like Sunset's eyes are narrowed while this happens, it's the image I see when these two begin to reconcile here
Isn’t Dr Turret a woman?
9855661
Yes. My bad.
This sure was not what I expected to see happen. 😲
there should be replace they in the sentence "they wasn't any need for them to break down." It just doesn't make sense if they instead of there.
I didn't expect that one coming.
It makes perfect sense now if you ask me.
Glad that so far 2 of Sunset's friends have forgiven her being fluttershy and rainbow dash. That just leaves rarity, applejack and pinkie pie.