Admitting to the Problem
“Sunset Shimmer, please report to the principal’s office. Sunset Shimmer to the principal’s office.”
Sunset groaned. The bell had just rung for her lunch period to start. She was looking forward to getting her school lunch, sitting and eating alone. The five girls who had helped Princess Twilight defeat her less than a week ago had tried to eat with her, but Sunset had asked, pleaded really, to have her lunch alone. It had been her time to plot and scheme, though now she just wanted a chance to think. That and she simply wasn’t ready to face them yet.
Instead, she turned left at the doors to the cafeteria, heading towards Principal Celestia’s office. This wasn’t her first time being called in, and though the students let her past, there was no small amount of snickering as they did. She rolled her eyes as she fought the tide of students. In no time at all, much less than she would have wished, she was standing outside the principal’s office.
With a groan, she pushed to door open and entered. “Heya Sunset,” Silver Ink said without looking up. The principal’s secretary and Sunset had spent quite a lot of time talking while Sunset waited for the principal.
“Hey Ms. Ink,” Sunset replied, collapsing into a chair. Helping repair the damage she had caused was exhausting, but she wasn’t going to complain. The construction company the school had hired was doing most of the work; she, Snips and Snails were mostly their gophers. “Did she tell you why I’m here this time?”
Silver looked up, raising an eyebrow. “You usually know why you’re called in, Sunset,” came her reply.
“Ya, back when I was queen mega bitch,” Sunset quipped, a distinct venom in her voice. “I know my reputation is against me, but I’m trying to be better now.”
Silver shrugged. She opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by shouting from within. “I don’t care, Tia! This is my job, my responsibility. Let me do my damn job!” interspersed by what was clearly a fist pounding on wood. A few seconds later vice principal Luna stormed out. “Come with me, Sunset. You’ll be meeting with me, not my sister.”
Sunset hadn’t formed many attachments since she arrived at CHS. She certainly wouldn’t call the vice principal her friend; Most in the school agreed that Luna was far stricter than Celestia. Yet, just the name Celestia held too much baggage for Sunset. It was with a sigh of relief that she got up and quickly followed the younger sister out the door.
Luna was clearly fuming as she stormed towards her office. Sunset knew well enough to leave it alone. Luna all but kicked her door open before stomping to her desk. Once she was seated, and Sunset had closed the door behind them, she took a deep breath and visibly calmed. “I would like to apologize for my behavior, Sunset,” Luna began.
Sunset sat in the open chair, across the desk from the vice-principal. Rather than reply, she settled for a small smile. Her curiosity got the better of her, though, and she blurted out “What’s going on?”
Luna let out a slow sigh. “I would first like to reassure you; there is no punishment being handed out today. I want to talk with you.” Confusion spread across the teen’s face. “Celestia and I have been torn on how to deal with you these last few years. On the one hand, you’ve been quite the problem student. Despite what most teenagers seem to think, we are fully aware of everything going on at the school. We have certainly compiled a long list against you. However, we also know what your living situation is.”
Sunset felt her heart miss a beat. Biting her tongue, she was able to keep her outward response to a minimum.
“We know that if we brought in the authorities on you, which we have ample evidence to do, it would likely turn out far worse for you. In light of recent revelations from Princess Twilight, we recognize that it would have likely been far worse than we had thought.” Luna leaned forward, resting her head in her hands, and her elbows on her desk. “As such, we’ve done our best to correct you up until now, to no avail. We have been quite stuck on how to handle you.
“However, we are both heartened to see your improvement since the Fall Formal.” For the first time, Sunset saw a small smile cross it’s way onto Luna’s lips. Reaching over, Luna pressed a button on her desk. “Sherry? Would you order chinese for myself and Miss. Shimmer? I’ll have my usual, and I believe Miss Shimmer would appreciate something vegetarian.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow, baffled. “Vice-Principal Luna, what are you doing? You don’t need to order me food.” There was a moment's pause as everything the older woman had said processed before, “And what makes you think I’m vegetarian?” It wasn’t a secret, per-se, but it also wasn’t something she went around advertising.
Leaning back, Luna pulled a small remote out of her pocket. With a few clicks, the lights in the room dimmed and a few candles lit up, filling the room with a soft, flickering, calming glow. “The same way we know Fluttershy is,” Luna chuckled. “The cafeteria staff keeps note of those kinds of things. You must have noticed that your free lunch is always vegetarian.”
Sunset bit her lip. She hadn’t actually paid enough attention to notice. “But why are you ordering me something? Can’t I go eat in the cafeteria with everyone else?”
Shaking her head, Luna let a gentle smile onto her lips again. “I’m afraid you and I are going to be having a long talk. One which is going to take both your lunch and your free period.”
“What?” Sunset was incredulous. She hadn’t been planning on anything during her free two hours, but she certainly didn’t want it taken from her.
“Sunset we’re-” Luna paused and pursed her lips. “You know, it just occurred to me that you likely don’t know the full range of my duties.” Chuckling, Luna flipped the lights back on, pulled a small card from a stack on her desk and handed it to Sunset. “I’m not just the Vice-Principal, Sunset. I am also the school counselor.” That warm smile returned to her face, larger than before. “I help any of my students who need it.”
Busy looking at the card, Sunset didn’t look up. The card did indeed list Luna as both Vice-Principal and Counselor, with her work number and email below that. It also listed her MS in psychology from a school Sunset hadn’t heard of, although the acronym, SPGCU, was suspiciously like her old school’s. “What does a counselor do, exactly?” she whispered, making to return the card. It wasn’t a term she was familiar with.
Luna declined the card. “Keep it, in case you need to call me. As I’m sure you know, there are many illnesses of the body.”
“Ya, we spent a month on them in bio,” Sunset replied softly.
Smiling, Luna continued. “Well, there are also illnesses of the mind. Unlike those of the body though, these are much harder to treat. A cold is treated with simple medication. Depression, on the other hand, takes much more.” Sitting forward, Luna placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder, causing the young girl to look up. “I’m here to help you Sunset,” she said quietly. “I’m here to make sure that you get back on your feet. I know exactly where you’re at. I can’t say I’ve been there myself, but I’ve been somewhere close.”
The smile that filled Luna’s face was one Sunset knew well. She had seen it on the princess countless times; it was a smile of love, understanding, forgiveness. There was a time when Sunset would have hated to see it. Now, she couldn’t help but let a few tears slide down her cheek.
“You’ve got problems Sunset,” Luna whispered. “That’s okay. It’s more than okay, even. You can try to face them on your own, but I am here to help. I want to help you, Sunset.” Tears were pouring down the teenagers face now. The princess had a few times tried to help her, but only succeeded in making Sunset angrier. Luna, in a few sentences though, had slipped through the walls she had built up over the years.
“There’s a little story I’m fond of, Sunset,” Luna added. “A woman is walking along when she falls down into a hole. The walls are so steep she can't climb out. Looking up, she sees a doctor walking by. ‘Hey! Can you help me?’ she shouts. The doctor writes a prescription and tosses it down the hole. Next a priest walks by. ‘Father,’ the woman says. ‘I’m down in this hole with no way out. Can you help me?’ The priest writes out a prayer and drops it into the hole before walking away. Then, a friend walks by. ‘Hey Silver!’ the woman cries. ‘Please, I need some help.’ Looking down, the friend jumps down in the hole with the woman. ‘Why did you jump down?’ the woman asks. ‘Now we’re both down here.’ ‘Ya,’ responds the friend. ‘But I’ve been down this hole before. I know the way out.”
Luna stood and moved to the other side of her desk. Gently, she tugged Sunset into a standing position and wrapped her arms around her. “You need friends, Sunset. You need someone who can show you the way out of the hole.” Stepping back, that same kind smile graced her face. Sunset was shaking, the tears flowing freely despite her sniffled attempts to stop them. “Will you let me help you?”
Sunset bit her lip. There was a part of her that wanted to start bawling. To let out all her pain, share it with this woman who somehow understood what she was feeling. Fear stopped her. Fear of being rejected again. Fear of being tossed aside. “Why didn’t you help me sooner?” she sobbed out. The elements had shown her just how horrible she had been, and she hated the woman she had become. There was a nagging doubt in her mind, telling her that Luna didn’t care. That she was only pretending, like all those before. That if she had cared, if she had noticed, she would have done something sooner, stopped her from becoming the monster she became. She hid behind that doubt, using it to shield her from the pain and fear. It had become too easy for her to hide behind anger.
The smile of Luna’s face turned sour and she looked away. “A month ago, if I had come to you and offered you friendship and a helping hand, would you have accepted?” The tone of Luna’s voice betrayed her own pain. Sunset hiccoughed, knowing they both knew the answer. “What about a year ago? Two?” Luna smiled and returned her hand to Sunset’s shoulder. “I’ve wanted to help you, Sunset. But I could see in your eyes a fire, much like the one my sister gets sometimes. You wouldn’t have taken my help. If I had forced you to talk with me, you would have rebelled harder, gotten worse. I wish I had met you sooner. I’d like to think I could have stopped you from going down the path you did. But I’m here now.”
Sunset looked up at the counselor. Her eyes watered with the remnants of the tears she had cried; she had finally cried her last. There was a mixture of pain, fear, and sorrow in her eyes. Closing her eyes, she bit her lip, trying to find the words. “Okay,” she managed to eek out. “I want your help. I don’t want to be her again.”
Luna pulled her into a hug, which Sunset quickly returned. Pulling away, Luna was about to speak when there was a knock at the door. “Luna? Lunch is here.” A tired voice called through the door.
In a flash Luna was at the door. She thanked Sherry for the lunch before returning to Sunset. “I’ve got some more comfortable chairs over here,” she said, pointing towards two beanbags. “I’m sure we have a lot to talk about today.” Setting the bag of food on her desk, she quickly pulled out the meal for Sunset.
Taking the food, Sunset sank into a bag, almost curling up on herself. “Okay,” came her muttered reply.
An hour and a half later, Sunset left the counselor’s office. There was a small, genuine smile on her lips as she made her way to her next class. It had been good to talk. It had been good to say those things. She had also, with some encouragement from Luna, changed her mind. Yesterday she had wanted nothing to do with those five girls. She just wanted them to leave her alone. Princess Twilight had shown her the power of friendship, in a very literal way. It had left Sunset feeling worse than ever, and not at all worthy of it. Luna had reminded her that it wasn’t a matter of worth, but rather one of choice. She didn’t have to be worthy of friendship, she only had to accept it when offered.
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I'd like to comment on this story, but I honestly don't have anything to say that would be adequate.
8892850
In a good way?
I have to agree with Charlie_k I've got nothing this is just good
This was really well-done. I quite liked it.
8892970
8893010
Thanks.
Well done sunset doesn't have to travel on this road alone . I had something like this happened to me a few nights ago I went into depression .
8892858
Pretty much.
Very well done!
Nice story, thanks for sharing it!
Very nice story.
Also:
Shouldn't that be prayer?
8893265
Shush! You saw nothing.
Thanks...
This definitely feels like it came out of left field with how you portray Luna.
however, I find it very refreshing. Usually it's Celestia that has all the motherly care to give out. And giving Luna a secondary role as a counselor is quite unexpected.
Kudos to you for breathing some new life into her character.
8893335
The way princess Luna helped the cmc in their dreams really reminded me of my time in therapy. It really seems to me that she's the one who would connect with the ponies on a personal level and help them.
It seemed natural that her counterpart would have a simmilar role, which led to the idea that she would be the school counselor.
That priest ain't worth his salt.
Got as expected from the doctor though.
As someone whose siblings struggle with depression and anxiety, allow me to extend my heartfelt thanks for this wonderfully written oneshot. I have nothing negative to say about this. You have some serious writing talent. Thank you.
As someone who deals with depression and anxiety regularly, and had a big hit of it thanks to recent events, I gotta say, I appreciated this story immensely, Well done.
This was perfect. Especially Luna.
The Leo line was golden! Bravo.
8892850
Pretty much this, though I've also got to say that this is my favorite version of Luna, Princess or vice-principal. Well done.
I have to wonder, why do you think Sunset has depression?
Abandonment issues, sure. Anger issues, yes. Obsessive tendencies, quite possibly. But depression? Doesn`t seem like it.
Consider the situation carefully - what she does when she runs away to another world, one with no easily accessible magic? Plots revenge, that`s what. Granted, her plan was not exactly the best and the less is said about execution, the better, but those actions don`t really match the profile of depression.
Neither does her post-harmonizing behavior, when you think of it. What are the usual signs of depression? Inability to cope with life, putting it bluntly. Apathy, self-loathing, self-isolation are common signs of it. We don`t quite see that. While Sunset does acknowledge her actions were ill-conceived, she does not dwell on them too much. A measure of caution not to fall into old habits is all that we see.
8894856
First, I would like to be clear, I did not say Sunset has depression, merely that she has issues. While depression may be one of them, it is likely not the only one.
Two, I do think she has depression. It would be a perfectly reasonable response to having everything she thought she had ripped away from her and shown just how worthless it all was. She comes out of the crater sobbing, and for a good part of rainbow rocks is clearly still dealing with who she was and how everyone still sees her.
Third, we see snapshots of Sunset. Snapshots in a movie aimed at children. It is beyond the scope of the show to handle depression. However, just because you don't see depression in someone doesn't mean it isn't there. A common response to suicide is 'I had no idea. They seemed so happy.'
Lastly, depression is different from person to person. While there are 'usual' markers, depression is not defined by them.
Gah! Believe it or not I have some notes on my thoughts on EQG Luna and Celestia, and you just used part of my head canon lol, with her being a counselor before going to the Vice Principal position.
Makes sense if you think of it too. Princess Luna is in charge of dreams, and helps ponies with their nightmares, not just by vanquishing them, but helping ponies understand their fears and get over it. In psychology, a lot of early stuff assumed a link between dreams and our mental health (Freud)... so it always fit in my mind.
Great story though, it really was a good pickup
8894856
I don't know. That scene in Rainbow Rocks where she and Twilight are talking in the kitchen hints at both anger and depression. Feeling like everyone expects you to screw up/cause problems can be a sign of depression. And those plans of revenge? Possibly a cover for feeling inadequate since Celestia wouldn't teach her what she wanted. Yes there was anger, but I also feel there was a little part of her saying, "she doesn't think I'm good enough."
Depression isn't always as obvious as the signs you listed. Sometimes it's there but hidden by a pretty good mask. As someone who wears a lot of masks, I know this very well.
I can see the possibility of Sunset being depressed. Does that mean she was? Nope. Not at all. But the chance was there, and that's what this story explores.
This was beautiful. I can't say anything else.
To be honest, I don't really see Sunset as having depression. From what was established in the comics and in the first movie, it seemed more focused on her wanting power from the mirror, and finding that in being the most popular girl in Canterlot High.
I also don't see Luna as a student counselor, considering the whole "Framing Twilight" debacle, or that bit when she was mind controlled by the Dazzlings.
Other than that, I thought the story itself in its own self-contained universe was pretty good, especially when it came to Sunset's problems. I wish I could've seen the actual conversation of Luna and Sunset, but before then, it seemed pretty good in exploring depression and how the most important thing you'd need (though I'd argue medication helps) are loved ones who'd happily stick by your side.
I've been dealing with some horrible circumstances in my life last year, and I've made it through thanks in large part to folks I've met through this very site. People who have been there to listen to and talk with me. I've also found out that several of the people I called "friends" in real life didn't give a fuck, and on the other hand, I've grown closer to several people that I only considered casual friends or mere acquaintances. All I'm saying is that it's really important to have help when fighting against setbacks and depression in life, and I've gotten that help thanks in part to MLP.
How’d You Like To See The School Councilor!?
As for my view on depression, I know what it’s like. It is truly a difficult struggle that you can’t fight alone. I have for for the longest time to fight it alone, and it took someone asking if I needed help to reach out. Don’t wait for the help, you are wrong if you think you can find it alone. This is not a sign of weakness, this is only a sign that others care for you. Find help, don’t try and fight depression on your own terms.
This little story Luna told Sunset got me deep. There were some very dark times I'm not sure I would have survived without the help of some people and because I took some help myself. I really want to thank you for writing this little gem and providing some information for people to get some help.
I have the feeling that more and more people just seem to don't give any care for others except for themselves. I'm glad that it isn't always the case from time to time.
A lovely take on human Luna and an all-too-important message. Very nice work.
8894914
There`s an opposite side to it, you know? Just because person shows SOME indications for depression does not mean they are definitely depressed. To wit, a fair number of high-functional psychopaths come across as depressed, because people mistake their disability to give a fuck for depressed apathy. Potentially a very costly mistake, because psychopath in question WILL show unbelievable amounts of energy and drive pursuing something they determine to be of worth to them.
It`s possible to be depressed and not show it at all, yes. It`s also possible to look depressed and yet be perfectly fine or deviant in wholly different direction.
I do not believe Sunset is depressed because the show had fair amount of breaking points that should have caused a depressed person to backslide into self-isolation. She doesn`t.
Consider this - in Sunset vs. Celestia debacle, Sunset is NOT in any way of an opinion that she was "not worthy" of learning something. She assigns blame to Celestia in that case. Sunset`s assertion, in a nutshell, is this - "Celestia had made a mistake assessing my capability and intentionally hamstrung my education after taking unilateral control of it." And if we are entirely honest, she DOES have a point. As a teacher, Celestia had an obligation to her to either instruct her in all the fields she was interested in, or give concise and logically sound reasons as to why Sunset should not be instructed in the specific field. I am not surprised Sunset was furious when she run off into the mirror - I would be in towering rage myself if I discovered that my trusted mentor had sabotaged me like this.
In short, the whole debacle with the running away and subsequent attempt at zombie army was a teenager tantrum caused by "reasonable authority figure" flubbing it rather badly in communication. Which, if we`re going to be honest, is a running theme with Celestia - she has problems communicating. With Luna, with Sunset, with Twilight.
In the end, if it were not for a temporal disjunction between EG and Equestria realities, Sunset would have had returned in a couple years, had a verbal throwdown with Celestia and settled in as her personal pupil again, with maybe less reverence for Celestia, but more connection.
But the temporal disjunction exists, and a relatively short term for Sunset is a couple decades for Celestia, plenty of time to abandon any plans she had riding on Sunset and transfer the riding bets to Twilight. This is what throws the final monkey wrench into whole Celestia/Sunset fustercluck. Sunset is pretty much bound to badly overreact to the news she`s been completely replaced and cut out of equation. Which is exactly what happens.
The aftermath of the harmonization is also easy to explain from the anger management point of view. Those tears when she gets out of crater? Frustration. Both from the fact she tried her best and came up short AND from the fact that she had learned enough to admit to herself that she overreacted and not in a good way. Her consequent mood is entirely consistent with sullen "dog-damn it, I really clucked it up and squandered a good thing I could`ve possibly salvaged, I gotta try harder to salvage what I still can". As we can see it, she does acquit herself with flying colors on several occasions since, and does not shy from enjoying her victories. Does that sound like depression to you?
8895201
See above. Some signs are shown, but they`re not unique to depression. It`s entirely up to author if the story will have a depressed Sunset or not, but if yes, it needs a lot of grounding to stand to reader scrutiny.
8903325
Not liking a story because of a cuss word is rather childish if you ask me. If everyone on this site had that mind set, over 75% of the stories on this site would never see the feature box. There are plenty of AMAZING stories that have the occasional swear in it, it's just something you're gonna need to get over. People swear in life as they do in movies, tv shows, books, comics, anime, manga, and pretty much ALL forms of media. I could understand if you didn't like it because of grammar errors, inconsistencies in the plot, or constant spelling errors, but because of a swear word? Come on man, that's just stupid.
8914055
I wasn't trying to start an argument, I apologize if that's how it seems. You don't need to ' Kill me with Kindness' as it were, we're both obviously mature enough to handle this civilly. I made my opinion known as you made yours, that's all there is too it. Again, I apologize, I hadn't meant to cause you undue stress when you were already dealing with someone else who may have caused unnecessary harm. I admit that I was likely a bit harsh in my response to your comment and I'll own that mistake.
been meaning to read this for a while its good
thoe i wana say THANK YOU so many stories focus on making stories about depression uber dark and edgy crap instead of showing the real issues and addressing them and focusing on a better future
One of the reasons I really enjoyed this story was the fact that it shows us sunset in between the two movies. It's not possible that she would've just bounced back to be a happy girl with friends, still working through some issues but very much recovered, and this story recognises a serious struggle on sunset's part to improve herself and her mental health. Very well done!
I cried a touch. Very nice.
It's always good to see someone else trying their best to hand out sticks and help people out of holes.
Luna the counselor was a nice touch.
8903325
Fuck
You can has review!
Sunset got balls, because if I heard that I would have dashed out there.
I thought I was going to go in a much different way
10572808
This was one of my favorite stories to write. I hope you enjoyed it.
10572844
I did very much
10572850
If you don't mind sharing, what direction did you think it was going?
10575324
I thought for a moment because I didn’t see the tags it was going to be a lunar sunset story
10575330
ohh, more of a shipfic. I have written quite a number of those, lol.
So that's where I get that from.
I always liked that one
That...was a PERFECT analogy
Seriously