9- Spectrum
/x/x/x/
Applejack can't help but breathe with her mouth, nose held, as she steps into Sunset’s apartment. The stench of blood, dirty laundry, and stale body odor overpowers all.
“Get in, grab it, get out...” she mutters to herself.
She steps over and snatches the journal off of the counter where she'd left it. She gives a brief once-over to the apartment, nods her head, and quickly shuffles out. With the door shut behind her, she sighs in relief and heads back to the front door.
She checks the pages inside, ensuring that yes indeed it did contain messages between Twilight and Sunset. A brief curiosity passes her as she turns to the most recently marked page before stepping outside proper. A gentle smile crosses her face as she reads, which quickly fades into a shameful not-smile. She quickly snaps it shut and pushes out into the cold.
The journey back to her car is quick, and as she steps inside, she hands the journal over.
“Sun, I looked in it...” she admits. “I wanted to make sure it was the right book before I headed all the way back. I figured it was okay since I've already written in it anyway.”
Sunset shrugs. “Yeah, I mean. That's smart. Why? You say that as if you found something you didn't want to see.”
Applejack sighs. “Twilight chewed us out but good. Disappointed. Furious... Betrayed.”
Sunset awkwardly ambles around the book as she flips the pages. Applejack gets the crew back on the road, and the backseat duo give each other a nervous look. Sunset skims the reply.
“Glad you're okay, much to discuss, heart at ease... okay, yeah, I see what you mean. She seems pissed. But also sad. Sorta like Celestia was... they're a lot alike. Wait, AJ, she also says you went above and beyond and that she’s proud and grateful, and isn't chastising you. She said she’s glad to call all of you her friends, that she's upset about the situation and everypony makes mistakes. And she says she forgives you... that you're strong and capable, she wishes you the best, she loves you, and... snrkt,” she stifles a giggle. “And we should give her regards to Flash.”
The mood whiplash sends the girls into a cackling fit.
Sunset shakes her head as she shuts the book. “Oh Twilight. Never change.”
/x/x/x/
Flash sneezes.
“Gesundheit.”
“Ever get that feeling people are talking about you somewhere?”
Spearhead shrugs, shoveling a mound of corn flakes into his mouth.
Across the table, Flash continues to scroll through his phone. Snow is expected to fall on Sunday evening but probably not enough to delay school. Acclaimed director Canter Zoom buys out the screenplay for an upcoming Daring Do movie. A message from Rarity asks if he saw Applebloom when he almost hit Sunset. He answers yes, and swipes away the notifications before setting the phone down.
“I'm gonna head out soon. You need anything until me or dad get back?”
He leans back in his chair, twirling the spoon around his fingers. “I think I’m good right now.”
Flash picks his phone back up again and glances at a specific message indicating a lunch meeting slated for that afternoon with one Shining Armor.
“Alright, cool; later.”
“Enjoy your day off, man.”
Flash pushes out the front door and heads down the steps to the sidewalk and subsequently his car. Down the street he notices a familiar rusty red pickup truck, and after a moment’s hesitation, waves. It honks as it passes, and from the opening window he can hear Pinkie Pie’s voice yelling.
“Hi Flash! Bye Flash!”
After they pass, Pinkie pulls her head back inside the vehicle as Applejack shuts it from her controls.
“Don't do that,” she gently chides. “Don't you know if you hit something at this speed you'll lose it?”
“You're going like twenty miles an hour.”
“A punch is twenty miles an hour,” Rainbow counters. “It'd be like something punching you in the head, times how big it is compared to a fist.”
Pinkie blinks. “Nerrrd!”
“How is that nerdy!?” She exclaims. “It's about punching! That's the least nerdy thing I can think of.”
“Physics is pretty nerdy, Dash.”
“Whatever AJ, as if you don't use physics sometimes. Come on, Sunset, help me out here.”
Sunset smirks. “I am an impartial mediator.”
“You can't say that, that's Fluttershy’s line.”
“Can and did.”
“Dashie’s a ner~rd,” Pinkie cheers. “Dashie’s a ner~rd!”
Rainbow crosses her arms and tries to glare out the window. “You guys are lame.”
The truck rolls up to a stop sign.
“Chin up, Rain,” Applejack says, before continuing. “At least nerds make money. Doesn't your dad work in weather analysis?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, he and Fluttershy’s dad are meteorologists. That's where they met. They've been friends since they were our age, that's why Fluttershy and I grew up together.”
“What's your mom do?” Sunset asks.
“She's an army medic.”
“So she's a doctor?”
“Not really. Medics don't really have a high survival rate for their patients. But that's probably because medics deal with bullet wounds and third degree burns. Doctors just prescribe you aspirin for a headache, or tell you to start drinking diet cola because you're diabetic. It's more like she's a surgeon but without many sterile supplies and you could get blown up any second. She's kind of a badass like that.”
“That's cool. My mom was a nurse. I think. I don't really remember, it's been so long. Does your mom work in a hospital?”
“Nah, she retired once she found out she was pregnant with me. Ever since then she’s been a stay at home mom.”
Applejack pulls into the driveway, putting the car in park. “Alrighty, we have arrived. Sunset, you-”
“I got her,” Rainbow says, unbuckling. “Thanks for the ride AJ. Pinkie, I'll see you when I see you.”
“By Dashie! Bye Sunny!”
Applejack just tips her hat as Sunset waves. Rainbow hops out and helps Sunset leave the car. Pinkie clambers into the front passenger seat... from the back. Rainbow and Sunset head up the driveway towards the front door. Applejack honks twice, then pulls out of the driveway and heads off.
“You know you coulda walked around, right?”
Pinkie shrugs. “Yeah... but that way’s not as fun.”
“Heh... you're like a cartoon character, you know?”
“I'm not a cartoon, silly, I'm a human.”
“I didn't say you ARE one, I said you're LIKE one.”
“Simile schmimile, fo mimile, banana fanna fo fimile, fee fi fo fimile~”
Applejack nods her head. “Betcha can't say that five times fast.”
“Simile shimile fimile mimile- dang it!”
“Silver star. I ain't gonna challenge ya. I get bronze.”
“Then who gets gold?”
“Mic the Microphone. Duh.”
“Mix the Mic? Puh-leeze, he is sooo twenty ten. And besides, he doesn't even make music anymore!”
“Two Pacer don't make music anymore, it don't mean he's bad.”
“Well that's because he died... Allegedly.”
“Pinkie. The man died. People saw his body. He had a funeral.”
“That's just what he wants you to think, for when he makes his big comeback. He’ll come back as a hologram and drop the hottest album of the century, bet!”
“Alright, I'll bite. If he does come back as a hologram and makes an album, how’s he gonna hold the microphone?”
“Well duh, the microphone is also a hologram!”
“Okay, smarty pants, is the cord a hologram too? How about the speakers, the stage, the audience. This whole hypothetical situation is off the charts weird. What next, is there gonna be a whole band made of holograms?”
“It worked well for Jem.”
Applejack lets out a very long and drawn out expression of disgust.
“Aw, you don't like Jem and the Holograms?”
“Do I look like I like that... ‘band’?”
“Well AJ there's not any one ‘look’ of liking a band. Don't be a stereotyper.”
“I just don't like ‘em. It ain't my jam.”
“Could it be your jelly?”
Applejack sighs.
“Or maybe your peanut butter?”
“I ain't talking to you anymore.”
“Aaaaawwwww...”
A moment of silence in the car passes, until...
“Hey AJ?”
“Hm?”
“What if... we started a band?”
“A band?”
“Yeah, like a rock band. Dashie can play guitar, right? And don't you know how to play the bass?”
“A little bit.”
“And I can play the drums! That's pretty much everything we need. Maybe a singer, unless Dashie can sing and play at the same time. A power trio! Sunset can sing if Dashie can't do both. Fluttershy probably won't wanna join because she doesn't like the spotlight, and Rarity... well, we’re not talking to her right now. But maybe eventually when we’re all friends again we can get her to play the piano, and-”
“Why don't we start with making sure I can play bass and you can play drums, okay? Like I said, I only know a little. And Rainbow’s got her hands full already with soccer, softball, and tennis, and I think she wants to try out for the wrestling team too.”
“We have a women’s wrestling team?”
“No. But still, even if she doesn't make it in, that's three sports, plus all her classes, plus hangin’ out with us. Plus, we don't know if she wants to be in a band with us, and we don't even know if Rarity’s ever gonna be friends with us again! And Sunset ain't in no position at all to be in a band right now anyway. It's a neat idea and all, but now ain't the time to have it.”
Silence awaits her.
“Pink?”
“You... you don't think Rarity’s gonna be friends with us again?
Applejack sighs. “I don't know. I hope so. I hope she can come to her senses and see what's so clearly the truth. For Sunset’s sake. Problem is, what Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo did is just... so vile. I could barely believe that my sister could do something like that. Let alone the others. And lookin’ at everything, Rare got hit the worst out of all of us. For me it was just some dumb story about when I was a kid. Didn't ever make any orphan jokes. Makes sense, Belle’s the only one with both living parents. For Rainbow it was low grades, which, you know. It ain't a huge secret anyway. Fluttershy wears hair extensions. Big whoop. But Rarity... they posted personal, private pictures of her.”
“But Rarity likes her body!” Pinkie snaps. “Rarity’s pretty and confident and... and skinny...” she sniffs. “I'm... I’m sorry, AJ, I’m not mad at you. And that's unfair to Rarity, it doesn't make it right. And I know what you mean. It's hard to believe her own sister would do that to her. I wouldn't wanna believe it if you said Marble did that to me. But...”
“No, I... I get it. I’m sorry too, Pinkie. I didn't mean to make it seem like I didn't care about your stuff too, which was bad. I just mean that, like. Showing a picture is a lot worse than just empty words. Ain't nobody worth a hoot said nothing to you about your body, right?”
Pinkie shrugs. “Yeah, I guess so. But MyStable is full of jerks and idiots. I blocked everyone who said anything, but it doesn't erase the memories. And I'm sure that the things people said to Rarity because of her pictures were really bad. I just... I hate that this happened. It hurt all of us and it hurt all of our friendships. I just want things to go back to how they were before.”
“You n’ me both. Only people who don't are, well, Bloom, Belle, n’ Scoot.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, clearly they weren't okay with Sunset bein’ friends with us. Somethin’ had to be wrong, otherwise they wouldn't a’ made the blog.”
Pinkie puts a finger to her mouth in thought. “I guess you're right. They’d need a reason. A really good one. But I can't think of any. Did Sunset do anything really bad to any of them?”
“Worst I heard is she was just mean to ‘em. But she ain't been mean to ‘em, or anyone, since the Fall Formal. I'd ask Rare about Belle, but... ouch. And I’d ask Dash about Scoot. I'll ask Bloom when I get home. We’ll get this thing figured out soon.”
“I hope so. I liked having Sunset back, but it was... different without Rarity. It's like a jigsaw puzzle but with a missing piece.”
“I know what you mean... she and I ain't been the closest of friends but we always had each other’s backs. Except when none of us were friends. But that warn’t cuz of any bad blood between us, that's just how it went. There was a wedge between me n’ Dash, but not really anyone else. You were the one who had it the worst, with both Fluttershy AND Rarity against you. The problem was Dash was my connection to Fluttershy, and Fluttershy was my connection to Rarity. And you were, well... busy. You can't tell me you spent much time with Dash solo back then.”
“Yeah, I didn't really... juggling two hundred and sixteen friends is hard. If I cut down on how many people it is down to just you six, then I feel like I can spend enough time with all of you without letting any of you feel left out.”
“Mmhmm. It probably didn't help you or Rarity’s case I was always on you two about makin’ up. I probably wasn't either of your favorite person.”
“Well you're one of them now!”
Applejack nods. “And I wouldn't have it any other way.”
The rock farm on the horizon creeps ever closer as the two continue on the road, now more dirt than concrete. The time the two have alone is growing shorter, and a burning question rises to Pinkie’s lips.
“Hey AJ?”
“Hm?”
“Do you think Dashie’s gay?”
She doesn't answer for a minute. Pinkie begins to regret the question before Applejack bursts out laughing.
“Are you kidding? That girl’s about as subtle as a tomato on a grape vine.”
“What!?”
“Pink. Come on. Has Dash showed any interest in dating boys?”
“I... well... no.”
“And you ever notice how she avoids pronouns when she talks about eventually dating?”
“Kinda? I just thought maybe she didn't like the terms boyfriend or girlfriend.”
“She's a bigger sports fan than my brother.”
“That doesn't mean anything, lots of straight girls can like sports.”
“Pinkie. She has rainbow colored hair.”
“That's because she got that gene from her dad!”
Applejack chuckles and shakes her head. “Alright, alright, there's a chance that maybe I'm just being stereotypical. But she glances at pretty girls a few more times than most guys I know. And I wouldn't be surprised in the least if she told us she was.”
“Does... does that bother you?”
“Not really. I spend time with a lot of straight boys. I'm okay with that. Why shouldn't I be okay with a gay girl, especially if she’s my friend, I trust her, and we got all the same parts? She respects all of us too much to let us feel uncomfortable by stuff she might do or say. And anyway, after becoming friends with Sunset Shimmer, after she used to be actually evil, I've found that things like sexuality, or religion, or, I don't know, hair color, or whatever... those things don't matter to me when I think of who I wanna be friends with. What matters to me is character, and Rainbow’s got more than most. Gay, straight, or otherwise.”
Pinkie nods, and turns to look out the window, contemplating this.
“Why do you ask?”
Pinkie shrugs. “I’ve never seen her say I love you to anyone before. Not even her parents. Not even Fluttershy. But she said it to Sunset.”
“You think Rainbow has a crush on Sunset?”
“I don't know. Maybe.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I... don't know.”
“Does the problem have to do with Rainbow and Sunset starting a relationship, or-”
“I don’t want my friends to start dating each other because what if they wanna spend all their time with each other and none with m... with the rest of us...?”
“...ah.”
“I mean part of it is that I don't wanna give her the wrong idea or anything if she is, since we’re close enough that we can sleep together and it not be weird, but most of it is that if Rainbow and Sunset started dating then that's two people who aren't in the friend group as much. And it already hurts to have Rarity gone, so I don't know what I'd do if it was two people. And if Rarity never is friends with us again then that's three people gone. And I love you and Fluttershy and I'm glad we’re friends but if there's only three people, I... I would feel like a third wheel.”
“Pinkie. Even if Rarity is never friends with us again, even if Rainbow and Sunset do go out, even if it's just me you and Fluttershy spending time together, do you think she and I are gonna ignore you?”
“Well... no. I guess not.”
“And do you think that if Rainbow and Sunset did start dating, they'd ignore the rest of us?”
“...no.”
“And do you really think that me and Fluttershy and Rainbow and Sunset are ever gonna stop trying to get Rarity to see reason and be friends with us again?”
“No. You're right, I'm being silly...”
Applejack reaches a hand over to clamp on her shoulder. “All of us are going through some heavy emotions right now. Guilt, shame, regret, concern, worry, anger, it’s hard right now. For all of us. But we are gonna make it through this, and we’re all gonna come out better friends on the other side. I guarantee it.”
Pinkie puts her hand on top of Applejack’s and nods. “Thanks AJ.”
The truck finally pulls into the long driveway down to the Pie household. They can see Limestone tilling soil in the side yard, and Igneous splitting wood in the front. He hacks a piece clean in two before leaning back up to wipe his brow. He raises an arm to wave as Applejack slows to a stop.
“You okay to stay home?” She asks. “You know there's always room at my house if you don't wanna be alone right now.”
“I'll be okay. Maud’s here. And I need to get ready for tomorrow anyway.”
“Got it. I'll see you at school then?”
“Yes, unless I accidentally stay up too late on Sunday and sleep in. But don't worry, I won't do that. Probably. Bye AJ, thanks for the ride!”
As Applejack nods and waves, Pinkie steps out of the car and heads up towards the house. She pulls a K-turn on the gravel driveway, honks twice, and begins the drive home.
/x/x/x/
Rainbow Dash and Sunset watch Applejack’s truck drive off, waving until they can no longer see it. As soon as it passes out of sight, Rainbow pulls out her phone and texts Fluttershy that she made it home safe. As she does so, Sunset studies the house.
As far as two-story suburban houses go, this one is pretty standard. The walls were a dull grayish-blue, the roof a dull dark bluish-gray with splotches of white, thanks to the weather. Tacky Wondercolts decals decorate the main window on the upper right, and vertically-striped rainbow curtain covers a smaller one on the upper left. A small alcove in the middle holds a plain white door. A path leads to it from the driveway, which sits in front of a brick garage built into the side. The lawn is well-kept underneath the smooth dusting of light snow.
“Alright, let's go in. And don't worry, I already texted mom and dad that you were framed, so you don't gotta worry about, uh... being treated how I treated you yesterday.”
“Oh, thanks. I don't really know your parents but I'd like my first impression to be one where they don't think I ridiculed you in front of the entire school.”
“Right...”
Sunset pulls Twilight’s journal to her chest as the duo make their way up the driveway. A frigid bitter gust rolls through, and Sunset winces in pain.
“Oh no...” she mutters as a few bits of her wrists begin to moisten. “Hey uh. Rainbow? I think I'm gonna need new gauze.”
“Already? Man... well, we’ve got a bunch of army surplus in the basement so it'll be fine.” Rainbow unceremoniously shoves the door open. “Mom! Dad! I'm home!”
Sunset steps in the doorway as Rainbow shuts the chill out. She glances down at the small red spots dotted on her arm and sighs, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from letting her face betray the pain. However, she can feel her muscles relax as the toasty warmth of the house’s interior envelops her.
“Go on and wait in the bathroom. You wanna clean up there? Oh and you can set the journal in my room, last door on the left, I'm gonna go get the stuff.”
“Bathroom’s fine.”
“Cool.”
Immediately inside the house are two stairways, the left one heading down and the right one heading up. It seems the first floor is halfway underground, so technically a basement. Sunset glances down at the shoe mat and steps out of her footwear, then takes a deep breath and heads upstairs.
She can hear some kind of sports announcer on the television. As she climbs the stairs she glances around the room. The right half of the house is comprised of one large room; the front half is a living space and the back half is a dining room. Immediately ahead is a kitchen, and a hallway lies down the left. A burly man with familiarly rainbow colored hair sits kicked back in a recliner with a can of beer in his hand. He looks up at his guest and points a finger.
“Okay, you're, uh... you're not Fluttershy, certainly not Rarity, definitely not the pink one. Spitfire? No, wait, she has orange hair. Applejack?”
“Ehh... no, I’m... I’m Sunset.”
He snaps his finger and nods. “Right, I forgot that you were the one coming today. You'll have to forgive me, I'm a bit scatterbrained at the moment. And, uh... not quite sober. Last night was a bit... hectic. Anyway, mein heim ist dein heim, so feel free to make yourself at home... Oh? Where’d Dash go?”
“She's...” Sunset begins to rub her fingers against the journal. “She's getting some... stuff from downstairs. I'd sit but I'm... a little bloody at the moment.”
“Ah, lady problems, I understand. Say no more. There's, uh. Chocolate in the refrigerator.”
Oh.
“No, that's... that's not what I meant!” Sunset exclaims, feeling her cheeks color. “I mean. Medical stuff. Cuts and... stuff.”
“Oh dear,” a voice murmurs from behind Sunset, startling her a bit. She whirls and is taken aback by Rainbow Dash. Except, not Rainbow Dash. She’s a bit older; her hair is just a bit too short and not multicolored enough, only a reddish orange hue rather than the full spectrum. Her voice is just a bit different as well.
“Whoever wrapped your gauze is very clearly an amateur,” she continues. “I can only hope they did a better job disinfecting and sanitizing. How bad are the lacerations, honey, do they hurt much?”
“Don't scare the kid, Windy!” Bow calls from his seat.
“I'm not going to scare her, dear, I’m a trained professional!” She reaches a hand out. “May I?”
Sunset hesitantly nods, and sets the journal on the floor before presenting her arms. “Rainbow told me you’re an army medic?”
“I was,” she says, deftly unwrapping the bandages. “And damn good at my job. Most I do nowadays is the occasional diagnosis or second opinion. Oh my, some of them seem to have reopened. This damnable weather... at least they don't seem to be infected, that's a good thing. I won't touch them, I haven't washed my hands, but I suggest cleaning the blood, then running some lukewarm water over them in the bathroom. Moisturize the gaps if you can. Should be fine if you just rewrap it. Is my daughter getting you fresh gauze?”
“I think so.”
“Good, she should certainly be able to do a better job than these were,” she says, giving a slightly disdainful look at the fabric. “I'll go ahead and dispose of these, you go on ahead and wait for Rainbow. Can I get you anything to drink? Have you eaten today?”
“I'm... I'm fine.”
Windy nods and winds the bloodied reels. “Just let either of us know if you need anything... Rainbow told us what happened with the anonymous blog. And judging by what I see here, I think I can infer enough. I can't help with the psychological aspect of things but I can make my home accommodate your physical needs.”
Sunset nods. “I'll keep that in mind. Thanks.”
As Windy takes care of the mess and proceeds to wash her hands, Sunset picks up the journal and heads down the hallway. There are two doors on either side; the first on the right leads to the bathroom, but she passes it. She steps to the second door on the left and nudges the door open, tossing the journal onto the bed before giving a cursory glance at the floor, ensuring no little red spatters, and heads into the bathroom.
She flicks the light on, and a loud noise starts up. She jolts and glances towards the grating grinding noise coming from the ceiling. After a moment it smooths out and reveals itself as simply a fan. She sets a hand to her chest, willing her heart to slow with a touch, and takes a seat on the toilet lid. The bathroom is sparsely decorated. A powder blue towel, a 3-in-1 bottle of soap/shampoo/conditioner- orange scented- a single toothbrush, and an open crumpled tube of toothpaste are the only visible items. Sunset pokes the edge of the bathtub with her toe.
Her boredom comes quick and is unrelenting. She analyzes the sink cabinet to her left, and pulls out one of the drawers. Inside is a stack of magazines. She files through them seeing mostly stuff for video games or firearms or naked women or basketball or... wait a second. Sunset slowly slides that drawer closed, a touch of color coming to her cheeks, and pulls open the next one up. Inside is a tangled mess of cords attached to various items like a blow dryer and a curling iron. The next and final drawer holds some combs, brushes, cologne, deodorant, various razors and disposable blades...
Sunset slams the drawer shut and tears away from it, putting her head in her hands. Her eyes trace the tally marks as part of her brain asks, “what’s one more?” She grits her teeth and screws her eyes shut, willing the darkness away.
After a minute or so, the door swings inward.
“Hey Sunset,” Rainbow begins, shutting the door behind her with a foot. “Sorry it took so long, a lot of these words are hard to read. But I think I got everything.” She starts setting the contents of her arms down onto the sink, muttering a curse as a few items clatter inside. “Mom told me to rinse and moisturize, I'll leave up the how to you- hey, you okay?”
Sunset drops her hands, not bothering to wipe her face. “I looked in the top drawer.”
Rainbow is still for a moment, then sighs. “Damn it. I'm sorry, I should've texted mom and asked her to move my razors into their bathroom for the night.”
“No, it's... it's fine. I'm fine. I just... I'm just not healthy yet. It's been less than a day, I'm still adjusting to having you girls back, and I’m still adjusting to not actively wanting to hurt myself. But my mind is just not getting with the program. It keeps telling me that I want this, that I want to hurt myself, but I know I don't. I really, really don't.”
“I believe you...” Rainbow crouches, then sits on her knees and leans in. “I have friends who’ve gone through the whole cutting thing before. I don't understand what it's like to ever want to do that to yourself, but I know it sucks. I know you're always fighting with yourself. Because it's a disease, but like for your brain and stuff. But they got through it, and no offense to them but you're a lot stronger than them, so if they can do it, so can you.”
Sunset nods, and pulls some toilet paper into a makeshift napkin. “Thanks Rainbow... it does suck. But I stopped it. I didn't let my hands grab them. I will be better one day, over this all. It's just hard right now.”
“It will. But for now, we gotta get you wrapped back up. AJ is... well, she's very, uh. What's that word when you do a job but you don't think about any of the little details? Practical?”
“...Utilitarian?”
“You tilla... um. Sure. She's very that. It's like she’ll play SpeedyCart and just hold the X button down all the way the whole race, because it's faster to go fast, but she hits like every wall because she thinks about going fast but not driving efficiently. You gotta hit the brakes sometimes so that you can make turns better, but still keep your forward momentum going. That's why I always beat her, heh. But she always says I'm cheating even though I just... am better than her.”
“Yeah, that...” Sunset offers a light smile as she tilts her wrists up. “She really didn't take too kindly to that match at Pinkie Pie’s house. I’ve never been closer to hearing her use profanity than I was that day, I think.”
“Pro what now?” Rainbow asks as she pulls out a few cotton swabs.
“Cuss words. I heard lots of grunting all of the consonants of fuck and shit but without any of the vowels.”
“Oh, so is profanity like the fancy word for cussing?”
“Y...yeah...” Sunset cocks an eyebrow. “You didn't know that word?”
Rainbow shrugs as she sets to work. “I know cuss, why do I need to know pRoFaNiTy,” she mocks slightly. “It's like four times as long. I don't really see why people gotta have huge words for everything when small words work better.”
“What about earlier, with efficiency and momentum?”
“Well efficiency is its own thing. Speed is doing the whole thing fast, and efficiency is making better decisions and cutting down on how much you waste. Sure you can run fast, but if you don't run efficiently then you run out of energy and you hit the wall too soon. And momentum is how much force is behind the speed. And the direction is velocity. You gotta know about that stuff when you play softball and golf and tennis and stuff, since sports is just physics but cool.”
“That makes a lot of sense actually. There's not really shorter words for any of those. Profanity is kind of an ostentatious word now that you mention it.”
Rainbow’s blank stare is her response.
“Pretentious.”
Rainbow blinks.
“Full of yourself, like you're better than everyone else. Like you find everyone around you so far below you that they should consider it a privilege to be basking in your presence.”
“Oh, so it’s like high and mighty?”
“Pretty much, but for intelligence rather than morality.”
Rainbow nods sagely. So basically like you used to be...”
Sunset nods her head but eventually concedes. “Yeah, kind of...”
“Or Rarity.”
Sunset sighs. “Yeah... kinda, I guess.”
“Don't wanna talk about her?”
Sunset shrugs. “I have a lot of feelings about her right now but none that I can really put into words. I still care about her, I still wanna be her friend, and I would love to forgive her and have her back in my life. It just hurts that she thinks I would hurt her like that. And I mean I get why, because I would have done that before, when I was still evil. But not anymore. Not now that I've accepted the magic of friendship into my heart. And not now when it's so obvious that it was Applebloom!”
Rainbow winces. “Yeah... I still can't believe I thought it was you for so long.”
“Do you mind if I ask why you did, actually? Was it just loyalty?”
“Not really. It was more like, it made more sense that you were being a bitch to us and lying about it than it did for our own family to do it and then frame you for it. Plus with the whole thing that happened between us a few years back, I'm sure you can get why I was really hesitant.”
“Right, I forgot about that... honestly I did so much bad shit in my past it's kind of all bled together. I don't even remember individual things I did, just the overall misery and loneliness. The bursts of euphoria- er, of feeling good- they started off so strong when I first came here. You were all like sheep to conquer. But eventually they stopped coming altogether. That's why I got with Flash.”
“Oh yeah, you two dated for a while, right?”
“I wouldn't say dated. He tried, I always gave him that, and he tried to make me happy. Make me feel loved. When he asked about my family and I lied and said they were all dead, he wanted to get me to meet his family. Last year he wanted me to have Hearth’s Warming at his house so I wasn't alone for the holidays, but I said no. I thought I was better off alone anyway. And I didn't wanna get too close to him because I knew it wasn't forever, and I didn't wanna break his heart when we did.”
“You liked him?”
“I... I don't know. I think I less liked him as a person and I more liked the attention he gave me. I think it's more about respect. He gave me the attention I wanted, thought I deserved, so I wanted him to feel rewarded. And, well, what better way to reward a teenage boy than to fuck him? Hormones probably added to everything. Faust, being a human is so confusing.”
“Yeah, sex is a great way to make you think you're in love when you're not. It feels awesome, though.”
“Oh?” Sunset asks, a mischievous smirk crawling across her face. “And how would you know, miss?”
Rainbow blushes and looks away. “I, uh... one time I was staying after soccer practice running a few drills with one of the upperclassmen. Afterwards we were sweaty so we were gonna shower in the locker room. And I kinda liked her a little and I knew she was bi and, uh, well I think she caught me checking her out, and she asked if I liked what I saw, and I said yeah, so we, uh...”
“Inside the school!?”
“Let's just say that was the day that I confirmed that yeah I do like girls. Like, for real.”
“Who was it?”
“That's between me and her... okay don't tell her I told you but it was Blossomforth.”
“Oh, nice! She's cute. Any reason why you didn't go out with her?”
“Yeah... you.”
Sunset drops her head. “...ah, right.”
“It wouldn't have worked out anyway, she started dating some douche from crystal prep, and now she's graduated and gone. We still keep in touch sometimes though.”
“That's good to hear.”
“...she's reeeeeally flexible.”
Sunset snorts laughing as Rainbow gives her a smug smirk. “Now there's the Sunset Shimmer I’ve been missing. Alright, I think I got all the blood off, we should just rinse and put some lotion... maybe not lotion yet though, you still look a little tender.”
“Yeah, sounds like a plan... thanks Rainbow.”
“No problem, it's just blood after all.”
“No, I mean. Thank you.”
“What for?”
“For- you know, just. Going back to normal with me. Having a conversation and being my friend and making me laugh when I'm upset and letting me into your home even though I treated you so badly in the past and... trusting me and stuff.”
Rainbow pats her knee. “Well, you're welcome I guess. It's not that big a deal to me, I think you're cool and like being friends with you, but I know it's a big deal for you, so lemme just say that I enjoy it and I'm glad that you like having me as a friend too.” She stands and holds her arms out, helping Sunset pull herself up. “You hungry?”
Sunset nods, and laughs nervously. “Yeah I kind of haven't eaten anything besides a slice of pizza and a scone in... a while.”
Rainbow sighs. “They're not called scones.” She reaches for gauze and begins applying it. “Stop it.”
“They're what I call them and you should respect my culture as an immigrant to this world.”
“You are not an immigrant, you are a magical pony unicorn from a different dimension. My parents are immigrants, they’re from different countries. There is a huge difference.”
“Rainbow are you denying me citizenship status based on my species and national origin? That's racist.”
Rainbow shakes her head. “Space horses are not immigrants. They're aliens. Sunset, you're an alien.”
Sunset then takes her free hand and latches it onto Rainbow’s head. “Game over, man.”
The girls laugh as the gauze finishes wrapping, and they file out of the bathroom. With one final glance at the top drawer, Sunset pauses as her finger hovers over the light switch.
“You won't break me,” she mouths. “I will heal.”
And with that, she hits the light and closes the door.
/x/x/x/
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We ship.
I hope Dash hooks up with Sunset
Rainbow is doing a very good thing here. Normality is very important when trying to help someone stabilize.
Technically, immigrant and alien are synonyms.
Good to see this again. And I'm glad the girls are being there for Sunset.
Which is why it’s gonna be a real slap in the face when Rarity finds that Sweetie Belle really was the one who humiliated her. And that Sunset really did try to kill herself. And that she had a hand in that.
10275109 Actually, an alien is anyone who's not native to a place. I'm British, so I'm an alien from the point of view of the U.S, even sitting here in my home in Liverpool. However, I would only be an immigrant if I came over to the U.S and started living there.
An immigrant can be an alien, but an alien is not necessarily an immigrant. Though Sunset Shimmer is both, and not registered as such, making her a literal illegal alien.
10275235
That's why people say the truth hurts.
Apple Bloom is two words. Why does Knighty dislike Hurt/Comfort?
10275319
Right, my bad, alien is synonymous with "foreign". I knew that, too.
10275333
You already made this exact same post, and the author already gave you an answer barely a week ago.
10275319
Here is the obligatory song to sing, if you illegally move to New York...
10275694 As long as I don't have to wear a ginger wig and spout off about killing Paul Atredies.
10275998
I'm sure we can work something out.
Why does it not surprise me that Rainbow Dash has magazines relating to naked women and guns in her bathroom?
Ok am just going to say it that conversation about words, space bourses and origins at the end was the best. Gosh that had me laughing so hard I got a few strange looks from people.
Update! I modified the story description slightly, to better reflect the state and direction of the fic now as compared to how it was in chapter 1. Also I wanna thank everyone for bringing this fic to 200 likes; thanks for rating, reading, commenting, offering feedback and criticism, and for enjoying my work. Next update may take longer than I expected in the most recent chapter's author's note,, as I have to literally work every single day from last Thursday to this Sunday except for this coming Thursday (because overtime dodging, disgusting, especially since I made over double not working as I do working) because reopening a restaurant after a global pandemic and during a national catastrophe sucks ass. But, I've already begun work on chapter 10, so take that as a good sign.
10252349 10267136
Thank you for the well wishes ❤️
10252776 10253142
;)
10253559
Thank you, I'm glad to see somebody noticed. I've actually altered a handful of major story beats in response to criticisms and concerns that began cropping up, in order to improve the work as a whole. I'm glad you like it.
10254696
One-X was- and still is today- one of my favorite albums ever made. It, Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory, Evanescence's Fallen, Seether's Finding Beauty in Negative Spaces, and Bullet for my Valentine's The Poison were my entire middle school life in 5 albums so I may be projecting slightly onto Scoots here 😅. Anyway I was devastated to see Adam leave but honestly I like them so much better with Matt.
I'm glad you find it realistic. I wasn't sure how to incorporate it without it feeling like a ham-fisted backpedal and excuse for her behavior here. But here's the thing., Meghan and Jayson wrote and directed the movies and those were perfectly workable but then Katie and Ted fucked everything up with the comics. Since I have no choice but to consider the comics canon I have to take them at face value and the only way I can reasonably make it work is by changing what Katie and Ted suggested in the comics because it was JUST THAT BAD. Ok so in the same comic, not only did they suggest that Twilight did not have her cutie mark at the time that Lyra, Twinkleshine, Minuette, Lemon Hearts, and Moondancer were already full grown mares, but Sunset entered the human world at the time of the Sundance, she interviewed Rarity Pinkie AJ Shy and Dash for the paper long past freshman year had begun, Babs is a high schooler when Bloom is barely middle school at max and ALSO is a bully herself (they didn't even watch the fucking show), Pinkie has a thing for Rainbow's feet (I'm 100% serious), either the middle schoolers and high schoolers share classes OR Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon are just really short freshman (neither option makes sense), and at least an entire year and no more than three years must have passed where Sunset infiltrated the school and took it over. Except wait a minute. If Sunset was there between one and three years but she entered the mirror when Twilight was a blank flank that literally means that Twilight got her cutie mark and stopped Nightmare Moon and stopped Discord and became a Princess IN LESS THAN THREE YEARS TOTAL. And all this before the Holiday Special came along and suggested that either Twilight had gone from being freshly Princess'd to the Tree of Harmony to fighting Tirek and getting the new castle in either the span between the Fall Formal and Hearth's Warming in, at the absolute max, between September and December (which is ridiculously insane), OR the Holiday Special happened AT LEAST 13 months after the first movie and therefore after the events of Rainbow Rocks WHICH DOESNT. MAKE. SENSE. It is literally physically impossible as well as highly improbable to apply logic and reason to the timeline, UNLESS you apply heavy amounts of time distortion as well as change around the dates and times of what Katie and Ted said happened and alter the schooling system from a Western style to an Eastern style. I have to make time pass twice as fast in the human world as in Equestria, as well as make it so their school system is Japanese, just to make the movies and comics blend together, and I have to use healthy amounts of time suspension just to even write my fics. So I can understand your confusion as well as that of the rest of the readers. But Twilight and Sunset will definitely chat about it so that the timeline can make any amount of sense.
TL;DR the comic authors are amateurs.
Anyway thanks for liking the story. I do aim to complete it.
10255439 10256292
I'm not gonna lie I felt weirdly satisfied seeing people having a debate about my intentions as an author because it means you care about to argue about it. However I ask that debates don't turn into fights in the comments section. I'm not saying that's what happened here, or that it would have, but things can escalate and I'd prefer they stay somewhat civil as they did. The only drama should be between the fictional characters, not between fellow fimficcers. Trust me, I've had more than enough fimfic drama to last a lifetime, as anyone who read my Sparity fic would know.
10258164
Applebloom is a bad liar, but she's surprisingly really good at keeping secrets. If AJ has asked Bloom "hey are you Anon-a-Miss" she'd have cracked like a china piggy bank in a hydraulic press.
Also I'll drink to the teenage angst. *blares my chemical romance*
10265173
*looks at the most recent chapter* I don't know ;P
10275057 10275062
Well technically what happens in the canonical chronology of my fics is Rainbow and Pinkie hook up (Water Conservation) and Rainbow dates SciTwi (Milkshake) then SciDash break up (Beach House) then Rainbow dates human!Spitfire [there is a SciTwiDash AU (Study Date) as well as a dark AU where Sci-Twi kills herself (Stone) as well], while Sunset doesn't really do much dating [besides an untitled StarSet project] until she gets back with her ex, pony!Spitfire (Dragonbourne Ultimatum), and starts a polyam relationship with Rarity as well (Copper Sulfate), buuuut there's no reason why I can't also write an AU following from this fic into Sunset and Rainbow getting together if there is a demand for it. Unfortunately, the only romance you'll find in this fic is ScootaBelle and even that is only in because it's circumstantial and semipertinent to a future plot (Coming Out & subsequently SciTwi/Rarity living together). Well, and I guess Flash's thing for Twilight. But that doesn't count.
10275084
Relevant song lyric: "You can give your broken heart to me, cuz you know I'll stay with you, that's why they call me loyalty~" -AcousticBrony & Mandopony
10275235
/me nods head sagely
10275109 10275319
I appreciate that I sparked this discussion but Sunset is a legal citizen of Terra; she forged some signatures on some documents and stole some money to pay some fees and maybe committed some minor identity theft to secure a down payment for housing and transportation and did all sorts of other illegal junk... but she's still a legal citizen. :3
10275333 10275564
I'll reiterate. I spell it Applebloom the same reason I fudged a whole lot of other canon; I like it better that way. And Knighty released a blog post a long while back, like 8 years ago, indicating that he thought hurt/comfort wasn't really a compelling genre or something. There's no angst, western, or family genre tags on this website either for similar reasons.
10276487
Response 1: "uh... those are my dad's 😳"
Response 2: "well duh I'm gay 😎"
Response 3: "I have a perfectly reasonable explanation for this!" *runs away*
10276749
I'm glad you liked that bit :3
10277616
Also yes I think many of us would like to see more of sunset and dash being well sunset and dash cause there funny and adorable together.
Nice update.
10286701
Because it is incredibly easy for minors to get alcohol. Use a fake id, get an adult to buy it for you, sneak it from your parents... buying weed was illegal but it didn't stop most of my peers from doing so. And lots of kids in my high school smoked cigarettes. It is painfully easy to get your hands on alcohol in certain parts of the states and canada. My two oldest younger sisters both had their first experiences with alcohol at 14. I myself had tried beer, red wine, champagne, absinthe, vodka, ipa, hard cider, and margarita before I was 21, some before i was even 18. Also I feel like in a world full of magic rainbows, talking unicorns, dragons, interdimensional portals, and crystal superpowers, the exact methods of the teenagers getting alcohol was within the suspension of disbelief. But if you need a reason, I guess I can say that zephyr is friends with a dude who works at a tiny liquor store or gas station that sells booze (I'm sure those exist somewhere) who looks past the ID situation. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If that's the only thing you take issue with then I take that as a success. But you probably aren't gonna have a good time with my fic Stupid Girl which takes place in this Equestria Girls universe where they've got a lot more than just a bottle of whiskey.
10288139
She fearmongered about Zecora just because she was different, completely walled off her friends when she thought they were ignoring her party invitations, fearmongered about Luna on her first nightmare night (granted she viewed it as harmless fun but it was clearly causing Luna undue stress and self esteem issues), took part in the Mare-do-Well scam just to put Rainbow in her place, takes HUGE offense to Twilight offering her help with the Cake twins, flips OUT about Applejack breaking a pinkie promise, rejects the plan to reform Discord, agreed to commit genocide on the fruit bats, initiated a rivalry with Cheese out of jealousy, took part in the 28 Days Later scam just to put Rainbow in her place, was pretty salty with Rarity and Applejack (her cousin(!)) in the rashomon episode, absolutely freaked out at the prospect of Rainbow disliking her pies, outright HATED mudbriar, and guilt tripped her friends when they suggested she wasn't the greatest flugelhorn player in the world. She did forgive Gilda though but after she tried to get rid of her then played coy with Rainbow's pranks. Frankly, all the canonical evidence I've found, Pinkie- at least circa Season 4- is given to pettiness and judgment, so your claim that Pinkie is the most forgiving and accepting pony in the show is basically an insult to Twilight and Applejack, both of whom I find to be SIGNIFICANTLY less judgmental, and Fluttershy, who... is kinda famous for being accepting and forgiving. Rainbow and Rarity tho, they're both petty af.
Now, according to the Equestria Girls timeline, the ONLY person who didn't hold a grudge towards anyone because of Sunset was, well, Pinkie, since Rarity and Fluttershy were the ones who actively had problems . But Pinkie did kinda hold a grudge towards Sunset, AND abandoned her in the Holiday Special. Granted everybody did, but her grappling with internalized homophobia doesn't have anything to do with forgiveness or acceptance or judgment. She still loves Rainbow and the main crux of her worry is with her subconsciousness. I just haven't gotten to the point where I discuss it in more depth when Sunset stays the night at Pinkie's house. Rest assured it doesn't end badly, if Water Conservation is any confirmation of that. I'd like it to you but it's rated M and idk how knighty feels about that in case you're a minor or something. But Pinkie doesn't have a problem with Rainbow being gay per se, she's merely worried that she might, and as I mentioned, her worry is significantly more with the prospect that if her friends dated each other it would interfere heavily with the group dynamic, and if Rainbow is gay and Sunset is gay and they're friends and Rainbow said I love you to her what if they fall in love" so basically she's Timon in the Lion King and not
Furthermore even if she WAS the kindest and most forgiving and accepting person on the planet, like for example my grandmother- my parents got pregnant before they got married but she never judged them even though she's a staunch believer in only sex after marriage, she helped raise me like a third parent, she helped my dad through his mental health and drug addiction issues, she is all in all a genuinely good person unless you're gay or trans- they could certainly still be raised a bigot. Not every homophobic person is the Westboro Baptist Church. Many homophobic people are very kind and loving unless you're gay. Bigotry is insidious like that, same with abuse. Any abuser can seem like a kind-hearted person to everyone but to the person they beat up every night. I've lost friends whom I thought I could trust when I came out as queer to them because their discrimination ran deep. Just because a person seems nice doesn't mean that they can't harbor hatred for minority demographics that you the observer are not a part of.
And anyway this is the very first fic that isn't fully canon to the source material within the bounds of the current chronology; the current status quo of how she feels and LGBTQ people is merely a spring board for character development. By Milkshake she's publicly fully down with the rainbow, by Water Conservation she's had a same sex experience, by The Beach House she's fully out as pansexual, and by
Confessions she's totally chill with sleeping naked in the same bed as a lesbian without it being weird or sexual. A good 40% of this particular fic is just me planting some seeds for events that occur later on in the series in parts I've already written that depend on context I hadn't established at the time.
Still, if this comment doesn't persuade you or at least adequately explain my intentions and stance on the subject, I genuinely hope you find a different fic to read that suits your interests better than mine has.
10289019
I'm right there with you. My parents straight up told me that I would be disowned if I were to come out. I am bi, and only two of my friends know. No one in my family does and I don't want to be the cause of my family tearing itself apart, so I keep it to myself, no matter how stressful it may be.
Congratulations at stereotyping, whoever you are. Sunset Shimmer is technically transitioned into human body.
10301546
I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean here. Who is stereotyping what?
10301572
AJ and Pinkie Pie discussing RD sexual life because of the color of her hair
10301588
Oh, those were two different sentences.
1- I don't condone stereotypes against the LGBTQ+ community as a member of it, and only had AJ the character use it as a reflection of her character in the fic. Similarly, I don't condone cyberbullying and only have Scootaloo do it as a reflection of her character as well. Your anger is justifiable but misplaced.
2- I still don't understand what you mean about Sunset transitioning into a human body
10303238
She was a pony liked pony things then she walked through the mirror and turned into a human. Maybe I am just overthinking it but I am starting to think that Equestria Girls is a light hearted tale about trans people community.
10303968
ah, I see what you mean by that, especially since in another fic I wrote in this series, https://www.fimfiction.net/story/408361/the-wrong-body , I basically go that exact route.
10305153
next chapter, i want to see Scootaloo going full out only to get caught . so its impossible for her to take back what she did
Good Story you have here. Hope you get your muse back soon.
Great story so far! I like how the truth coming out did not immediately wrap up the problems. Rarity’s denial is sad but understandable, considering how compromising her pictures were. Scootaloo fixating on vengeance Is an interesting twist on this idea. By the time they are discovered—and they will be—she may not have any friends left.
There are some issues with the dialogue. While your banter is good, and many of the casual lines sound fine, a good deal of the expository dialogue feels stilted to me. This is most apparent in dialogue where the characters discuss their feelings or provide exposition. Their lines feel more like narration than something people would plausibly say.
But that is the only real criticism I have for this story. I look forward to seeing your next update!
Next chapter?
10518648
Damn right I am.
really good. Are you going to write more?
Is this dead
10632826
I hope not
Wait...
Did i just get a Pac reference in my EQG fanfiction?
Nani the fuck!?
Im deeply moved. This is lovely.
Please continue 🙏😭
I feel like rainbow might have a learning disability, my first thought was maybe dyslexia but as someone with dyslexia I have a big vocabulary and is able to comprehend a lot of stuff I just have trouble reading and writing, but rainbow's experience could match someone else's experience with dyslexia but definitely some sort of learning disability, also I'm using voice to speech so that's why there's no periods and even if it wasn't to my dyslexia also affects when to put punctuation
11012135
Another reason why I say learning disability, is that people with learning disabilities are often extremely smart in other subjects, like I just click with math
I already guessed that it meant your home is my home before reading the note.
Either that means I'm getting better at German or that I just guessed it because that's a line that's normally said when you invite someone over.
Btw, love the story, it's one of those ones that are flowing, and I can't stop reading.