Ch. 1 - Excitement and Exclusion
It was a really peaceful afternoon in the city of Canterlot. There was unusually little activity on the streets, being full of a thin yet soft blanket of snow. Now and then, there was a big plow pushing the show into tight piles on the sidewalk, leading to a few people digging through the blockades, but other than that, it was nearly silent all around.
That is, until the strike of 4pm – specifically at the local education facility known as Canterlot High. At that very moment, there was a loud series of bells, followed by the distinct, loud rush of teenagers rushing out. But this time, it was even louder than usual, as this particular dismissal marked the start of the students’ Winter Break. Two weeks full of snowy fun, hot cocoa by the warm fireplace, and – most importantly – Winter Holidays.
Among the colorful wave of students and the occasional faculty member, were a group of seven seniors that particularly stood out. Except for classes, they were almost always seen together by their peers and faculty, and there was a shared energy of friendship surrounding the group that seemed strangely contagious to everyone around them.
They met at their special little meeting spot, the school’s signature statue – or at least, what was left of it. Last Friendship Games, its mascot had sadly suffered an… explosive fate. But it didn’t matter to the girls, as they still enjoyed meeting most every day after school and catching up on current events. And despite the snowy weather, this was no exception.
Pinkie Pie, to no one’s surprise, was the first to speak up. “Whoopee, it’s snowing!” she said, as she happily bounced between the girls, tasting flakes on her tongue with each pause.
Twilight felt especially smart. “I told you girls it was going to snow today. It was obvious to anyone who paid attention to the temperature trends and humidity.”
Rarity smiled, wearing a black fur coat and slim but long purple boots. “I knew I dressed appropriately for the occasion,” she went, feeling proud of her own foresight.
“It’s like mother nature has greeted our vacation by giving us a taste of her heavenly paradise!” Pinkie said again.
Surprised at the philosophical analogy, all the others could respond with were confused noises and polite ‘Uh-huhs’.
Applejack continued the discussion, “Anyway, what are you girls doing for the holidays this year? My extended family is going to visit Sweet Apple Acres, and we’re all working together for a fantastic Christmas feast.” She sighed contently, almost tasting the delicious turkey, ham, and apple cider in her mind.
"I’ve been asked to help babysit Lily Pad and her little sister, Water Lily on Christmas Eve while their mother picks up their grandparents from the airport,” Pinkie added, with marginally less enthusiasm than before, but still clearly full of excitement.
“My family is volunteering to help serve the animal shelter and help serve the homeless,” Fluttershy smiled, only to slightly grimace. “I just hope Zephyr actually does more than take some samples for himself.”
“I’m just going North to see my family,” Twilight said simply. “We’re doing a little white elephant exchange. Little do they know, I can use weight, area, and texture to perfectly determine which present to pick.”
“I’m just going to enjoy all the thrilling sports events,” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “Did I tell you our football team is playing against the Yakyakistan Yaks?”
“About 50 times…” Rarity sighed before continuing. “Well, I’ll definitely try to get the best winter clothes for my family that my hard-earned money can buy. I’ll design some myself if I must, as Sweetie Belle would look so fabulous with the right clothing.” She suddenly stopped with a determined look, and quickly backed down after an awkward silence followed.
What else caught the girls’ attention, however, was the lack of a seventh voice. Come to think of it, there was a distinct absence of red and yellow among the group. It didn’t take long, however, to find the source of these sensations was quietly stepping back in the direction toward her apartment.
“Hmm, it’s not like Sunset Shimmer to just quietly leave us like this,” Rarity thought out loud.
The others mm-hmm’ed in agreement. “I tend to notice that sudden introversion usually correlates to a fit of depression,” Twilight helpfully said.
“Well, Sunset’s our friend, and we can’t let this go unnoticed!” Rarity replied confidently. “We should do whatever we can to get her out of this funk.”
“Ooh, can I throw a ‘Cheer Up Sunny’ party?” Pinkie blurted out.
Applejack tapped Pinkie’s shoulder. “No, we need to take a subtle and… honest approach. I think I’ll just talk to her.”
Upon Rarity’s nod of approval, Applejack began to quickly walk in Sunset’s direction.
***
Just as Sunset was about to take out the keys to her apartment as usual, she heard the distinct sound of footsteps rushing toward her. Turning around, she wasn’t too surprised to see one of her friends, in this case being Applejack. She couldn’t help but creep a smile just the same.
“Hey, Applejack,” she simply said.
“Hello, Sunset,” Applejack panted, but still made sure to tip her hat. “I noticed you weren’t in the most chipper of moods earlier today, so I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help.”
Sunset’s head went down, obviously not wanting to approach the topic. “I appreciate the gesture, Applejack, but…” She quickly whipped her head back toward the door. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
“C’mon, ya can trust us,” Applejack insisted. “We’ve always been there for ya.”
The door opened, and after a brief pause, Sunset only walked inside. A quick Applejack, however, held the door open for herself before it could be closed.
“Ya know ya shouldn’t be afraid of letting us know of yer emotions,” The farm girl then said. “It’s nuthin to be embarrassed about or anything.”
“Look, I’d rather not put a damper on your holidays.” Sunset Shimmer then bursted.
“And I don’t want you to continue giving yourself a damper on your holidays,” Applejack replied, tensing up in tone.
“Oh sure, put it entirely on me!” Sunset shouts, much to Applejack’s shock. “You think I already don’t realize enough that I have always been alone for the winter holidays?”
Applejack simply gave a somewhat surprised, but more modest look than before. “…That’s right, you really don’t have any family here.”
Sunset Shimmer sighed. She couldn’t really hide it any longer even if she tried, so might as well let it out. She took a deep breath, then calmly released her despair. “Not only have I never had anyone to be around when I started to enter this world, but I haven’t seen or even heard from my family in so many years…” She held back tears, choking as she continued. “Anyone I could’ve been around here, I intentionally turned away, and even now, you girls all have your own plans and are going to other places to spend the holidays. Meanwhile, all I have is this little reminder of how alone I really am. I-I simply mustn’t interfere.”
Applejack said. “Well, I’m sorry to hear that. …Is-is there anything we could do?”
Sunset Shimmer let a slight chuckle, though she otherwise kept her frown. “Not unless you can change the past. Thanks for trying, but I’m afraid this can’t be helped.”
Applejack wanted to say more, but wanting to respect Sunset’s wishes, simply closed her door. The other girls were waiting on the street just outside, eagerly waiting for Applejack’s update. Without waiting a second, she quietly yet quickly dumped all she picked up on to the others, who gained increasingly concerned looks as the farm girl went on. After she finally finished, there was a long silence before Fluttershy finally whispered: “Oh dear…”
Rainbow was a little more active. “Surely there's some way we can make her holiday at least 20% cooler!”
“I’m not sure…” Twilight said doubtfully. “Can we really offset her years of solitude?”
“C’mon, a little party can solve anything!” Pinkie shouted.
“Pinkie, I told you, that…” Applejack began to repeat her earlier statement, but now putting Sunset’s situation into context, she finished in self-surprise, “…might actually work.”
“I do think that we shouldn’t overdo it, but…” Suddenly, an idea came to creative Rarity’s head. “Perhaps giving her a little Christmas cheer could indeed go a long way.”
Scanning the rest of the group; Pinkie gave a quick, eager nod, Fluttershy gave a thumbs-up, Rainbow appeared excited, while Twilight gave a wide smile.
“C’mon girls,” Rainbow said, holding out her hand, “let’s give Sunset Shimmer the best Christmas ever!”
“Yeah!” they all replied, raising their arms in triumphant unison.
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while there hasn't been an animated one there was an EQG holiday special comic back in 2014. I think you might have heard of it.
A part of the reality of the EqG world that I never took into consideration but makes complete sense.
Hope the next chapter comes out!
9367349
I have heard and read it long ago, but the problem is that - beyond being pretty infamous - it basically forgets about the holidays about a third of the way through, and thus doesn't take full advantage of it.
In fact, the very basic setup - Sunset being lonely due to her past - is somewhat borrowed from that. That's really all the two stories will have in common though.
This sounds pretty good. I can't wait to see how this turns out.
Senior shouldn't be capitalized.
You should spell out seventh.
First, *whipped
Second, what in the world is that period?
"I" and "me" go second in cases like this. So in this case, it should be "the others and I." That said, "we" is probably your best bet.
Your dialogue punctuation throughout is pretty bad, which is weird because it was fine in your first story. This guy put it pretty well:
On top of that, the word "said" is your friend. I know it's boring and not interesting, but when every character "analyzes" or "exclaims" or what have you, it actually takes away from the dialogue. They often repeat what was inferred from the dialogue and should be used a bit more sparingly. Using a boring word like "said" puts the focus on the dialogue instead of the tag.
I like what you've set up here, and I'll look forward to the second chapter in the hopes that you're able to clean up these basic mistakes moving forward. And from your first story, I know that you can do that.
An EQG Christmas story that doesn't involve Anon A Miss ruining everything
omg you're right these are rare (at least when it's involving the main 6 and sunset)
Wait is the name like a pun?
Like Sunset Shimmer and The Shimmering Christmas