8b- Stoplight
/x/x/x/
“I can't escaaape myyyseeelf~”
Scootaloo’s earbuds blared many an anthem of teenage angst. Growing up in elementary school alone and friendless breeds a bit of a different taste in music than that of the more well adjusted crowd, who ascribe more to Top 40 fare than edgy anthems of rebellion and introspection.
“So many tiiimes I've triiied~”
She rested her head against the car window, the cold of the outside contrasting with the warmth of her body. Pale grey streets bathed in moonlight were coated in fresh snow that continued to fall. Streetlamps illuminated the frozen sidewalk every block.
“But I’m still caaaged iiinsiiide~”
She huffed and glared at this new city, this ugly concrete mess of decaying bricks, degeneracy, and corruption. Canterlot. Another stupid freaking horse pun because of a stupid freaking culture that uses a stupid freaking horse religion to name everything. Ugh.
“Somebody help me through this nightmare~”
Much as she stewed and harrumphed and hemmed and hawwed for the past few months, it did nothing to stave off the unstoppable truth. She and her family really were moving to the big city. And there was nothing she could've done to stop it.
“I can't control myseeelf~”
She felt a hand on her knee, so she paused the music and glanced over at its owner.
“Hm?” She asked.
“Things will be better,” the woman said, comfortingly.
“Tch. Sure.”
The woman sighed. “Canterlot High’s middle school program is really good. And the soccer team has a junior division. You'll make friends. It won't be like it was before.”
“Yeah right. We’re moving from the country to a rich kid school full of a bunch of trust fund preps. I'm sure they'll love an emo tomboy.”
“I really wish you didn't use that word... ‘emo’ has such a negative connotation. But there's nothing wrong with liking music about dark themes, or being a tomboy. There's more than one way to be a girl, after all. And anyway, a lot of kids are in on federal grants, academic and sports scholarship, or extracurricular volunteer hours. It's not all people who pay to get in, there are people like us there too.”
Scootaloo smacked her head into the headrest behind her. “You can't know that for sure. You haven't been to school since you were a kid so you don't understand what it's like anymore.”
The car slowed to a stop at a red light.
“Baby, please... will you at least give it a try? If it doesn't work out, we’ll figure something else out. Your father and I want what's best for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Fine, mom. I'll give it a try. Whatever that means... the Wondercolts seem alright, at least. Spitfire’s mom is a war hero, and there's that Rainbow Dash girl too. But they're all in high school already. I don't wanna have to wade through the idiots who are my age just to get to hang out with the older kids. I'm mature enough for high school now, I should be able to just skip ahead, right?”
“You certainly are intelligent enough to do so, little miss straight As. But I feel you should still have the same experience as all of your peers, and I don't want you to miss out on the middle school life to help you move on, culturally... and, who knows, you might even try your luck with the boys.”
“Ewww, mom!” She complained, cracking a smile. “Boys are gross.”
“I said the same thing at your age. But look at me now, a fool in love with your father.”
“Dad’s not a boy, he's... a dad.”
“He used to be a boy once. A long time ago.”
“Nah.” Scootaloo crossed her arms. “I refuse to believe the universe existed before I was born.”
The light turned green, and the car started to roll forward.
“Well trust me because I lived for a while before you were born-”
Suddenly the brakes slammed, but the car still skidded forward a bit. A screaming motorcycle came from the left and the two vehicles very nearly collided. The bike had to roar around, veering way left in its course just to not get hit. The two in the car directed their attention out the right window.
“Holy shit,” the older woman breathed as she put a hand to her chest. “I almost hit that person!”
The cyclist skidded to a stop in the middle of the road, before steadying the vehicle and looking back. She took off the helmet revealing a young woman with long red and yellow hair. She glared at the two and stuck one very rude finger into the air; admittedly it was somewhat deserved but hey, the light was red.
“You didn't though,” Scootaloo supplied. “It was a close call.” As she turned she noticed something on their left, but not soon enough before it was too late. It was a pair of oncoming headlights. “Mom-”
The truck barreled into their car.
/x/x/x/
Scootaloo shakes her head and blinks a few times, returning to the present day. She draws her attention to the people around her; Sweetie Belle’s family is gathered, looks of concern in their eyes.
She grunts and wipes at her eyes. “This is stupid!” She roars, pulling away from the group. She glared at the tv, a freeze frame of a car accident flickering on the screen. “It's just a movie! I'm fine!”
The memory still rings fresh, stinging the same as it did when it happened. But it was in the past. It's in the past. It shouldn't matter anymore. It doesn't matter go away go away GO AWAY-
Her train of thought is interrupted by the arms of her best friend, her secret girlfriend, secured tightly around her torso.
“You started screaming again...” Sweetie Belle murmurs. “Same as before.”
Scootaloo grinds her teeth. “Yeah... the movie just... I didn't know there was a car crash in it. And it...” the fingernails dug into her palms draw blood. “It reminded me of...” she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
Sweetie Belle turns to her sister and mother. “She'll be fine, she just needs some time.”
Cookie nods. “You know how best to help her. We’ll be in the kitchen... come, dear.”
Rarity follows, sparing a last look at the two young teens before shutting the door.
“What was that?” She asks.
Cookie sighs as she begins to tidy up the kitchen. “Her mother died in a car accident. When Scoot is reminded of that dreadful incident, sometimes she has flashbacks.”
“Like ptsd?”
“Possibly. I'm not sure. Only her father has her medical records, I only know what she's told me.”
Rarity steps over to the coffee maker and begins a brew. “How often does something like... that... happen?”
“You mean the screaming for her mother? Not too often. Maybe once every couple of weeks. In this crazy city of terrible drivers, there are quite a few wrecks. None fatal, of course, not since that one wretched day, but... it seems her mind sees a car accident, and it brings her back to when the tragic accident happened.”
Rarity leans back against the counter as the brown nectar drips into the carafe. “Why have I never seen it happen before?”
“You aren't here very often, dear. Always with your friends. Which is okay, I'm not saying that to make you feel guilty. But it usually happens when you're gone. In fact I've only been present for a few. This happens more often during times of stress as well, sometimes she has nightmares. Last exam week, when you were studying at Cloudy and Igneous’ house, she woke us up at one in the morning.”
“She doesn't need a trigger? She just remembers it?”
Cookie nods, somber. “It's a terrible ordeal, made only worse by this Sunset Shimmer business. This is what I was talking about earlier, but I didn't think it was my place to tell you if you didn't know. But now, well, I'm sure you'd just worry, and it isn't as if you can ask right now. You may be home more and witness this, so I might as well tell you now.”
The coffee maker dings.
Rarity sighs. “I never knew... that’s awful.”
“True, but it's all in the past now. She's getting better as time goes by. One day she may even get past this. But for now... ah. The market. I should leave before too long, as I have errands to run. Can I assume you can help with anything they might need until I return?”
“But of course.”
Cookie nods, gathers her purse, and heads out.
Rarity sits pensively in silence for a while. She pulls out her phone and begins searching, typing through local news and obituaries. Yes, there is indeed overwhelming evidence that such an event did occur. Woman killed by drunk driver, young girl left motherless, drunk driver kills woman, local man grieves dead wife, and the photographs used all shared a remarkable likeness to a young Scootaloo.
She put the phone back down, biting her lip. Guilt and shame cross her face. “To think I doubted- wait...” After a moment, confusion joins, and she heads across the room to a desk in the corner. She reaches for a pen and a piece of paper tucked inside a stationery cabinet and begins to write a few notes:
Sunset makes Anon a Miss blog. Sunset gets caught. Sunset threatens to out Scootaloo. Sunset holds my nudes hostage to extort Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Sunset cuts herself for sympathy. Sunset pretends to try to kill herself and makes Flash and Applebloom corroborate the story. Scootaloo lies to say Sunset followed her. Sunset blackmails Applebloom to take the blame. LIE. Sunset blackmails Micro Chips to lie to Pinkie. Sweetie Belle tells Applebloom to lie and agree that Sunset threatened Scootaloo.
Rarity taps the pen on the paper a few times, deep in thought.
“Okay. If she doesn't have Flash and Applebloom in on her lies, Flash could have hit her with his car. That's dangerous, a sociopath would never put themselves in harm’s way. And if she has Flash and Applebloom in on it, she must have something terrible on them. Even worse than having a small penis or... hm. Actually come to think of it, Anon a Miss never posted anything about Applebloom...”
She furrows her brows.
“Come to think of it, she never posted anything about any of the kids. Even though she knows Scootaloo is a lesbian. Somehow. Hm... If she’s using Scootaloo’s sexuality as leverage, it was foolish of her to tell me she was bi. But then again, she probably knew I couldn't use that against her without it turning the others against me when she eventually earned some of our trust back. But how would she know she only fooled some of us?”
She begins to chew on the pen as she thinks of that one Shadow Spade novel where the up and coming rookie was framed by the record holder, and he was only caught by a chocolate stain on his scarf.
“I need to find that chocolate stain... or even just eat a few chocolate chips would do-” she freezes in place.
“Micro Chips!”
/x/x/x/
Applejack and Sunset step out into the living room. Everything seems to be in order. Applejack asks ‘what happened’ but with a glance and a head nod.
“Dashie dropped the knife block.”
Applejack blinks. “How.”
“I, uh... didn’t know there was a thingy on the bottom to balance the weight out.” Rainbow grins in a sheepish manner. “Lucky I stepped away first before it fell and rained blades. Handle first but still, coulda been dangerous.”
“I don't even know why mom and dad have such sharp knives in the first place... they don't even cut anything with them. Everything they eat is either steamed, microwaved, or takeout... Oh, Sunset,” Fluttershy finally looks up from her tea. “The dress looks so good on you!”
Sunset shrugs. “Eh, it looks all right on me. But I like it. Thanks.”
“All right?” Rainbow asks. “You look awesome!”
“Yeah Sunny,” Pinkie adds. “Sooooo~ cute!”
Sunset shrugs. “If you say so.”
“Alright y'all, we should talk transportation before too long. Shy, you're stayin’ here?”
“Um, yes... if that's okay with all of you.”
“Nice. Suns, we’ll stop by your apartment first to get your journal. I'll be headin’ home last cuz duh, and I'm droppin off Sun n Rain- heh- at Rain’s in between. That leaves Pinkie as the only one with a decision left to make.”
“I’d rather go home and get ready for a super fun-tiffer-astic time for tomorrow! ...but it doesn't matter to me when.”
“Alrighty, that was quick n’ easy. Sun, Dash, Pinkie, home, works out well. Anything y'all need to do before then?”
Rainbow and Pinkie both look down at their pajamas, look back at each other, and shrug.
“Y'all will freeze.”
“Psshh, I'm protected from the heat by a solid wall of muscle and pure awesomeness.”
“And I'm built like a bunny <3”
“Alright,” Applejack concedes, turning in place. She freezes for a second, contemplating what Pinkie just said, but shakes her head and drops it. “Ain't no time like the present. Fluttershy, thanks for havin’ us.”
“Yeah, you rock!” Pinkie cries.
Fluttershy politely waves. “It was nothing really. I liked seeing you all.”
Rainbow and Sunset hug her from opposite sides, holding for a few extra moments than most would deem necessary. They pulled away slowly.
“Text me when you all get to where you're going please,” she asks, stepping back from the group. “I’m probably going to take a bath myself soon. We should do this again. Maybe not this weekend but maybe the weekend after that? Or it could be this weekend if you want it to be-”
“Shy.” Rainbow stops her. “How about you just tell us when you're ready to have us all over again?”
She pauses, blushes, and lets out a nervous, demure giggle. “That sounds like a plan.”
With very little pomp and circumstance, the quartet make their way out of the apartment to finally give the timid girl a much-needed break from people. The trek down the hall to the elevator is about as uneventful as the ride itself down, save for Pinkie dancing and humming along to That Song. As the doors finally opened to the parking garage, she immediately regrets not wearing full length pants.
The overcast sky and dreary weather don't affect them long as the girls move quickly to the truck. Sunset still needs help getting in and buckled but she is still able to at least close the door herself. Applejack fires up the engine and pulls out, and in no time at all she hits the open... ice. Needless to say they don't go very fast. The radio plays.
“~He said I wanna see you again~”
“Nice!” Applejack exclaims, bumping the music up slightly. “I love this band!”
“~But I'm stuck in colder weather~”
Rainbow Dash makes her displeasure at the southern twang known.
“~Maybe tomorrow will be better~”
“AJ, play something good!” she whines.
“~Can I call you then~”
Sunset clenches her hands into tight fists.
“~She said you're a ramblin' man~”
“Driver picks the music, passenger shuts ‘er cake hole!”
“~You ain't ever gonna change~”
Soft piano chords and a melancholic violin supported the dramatic vocal delivery.
“~You got a gypsy soul to blame~”
“I don't mind it,” Pinkie chimed. “It's really pretty!”
“~And you were born for leavin’~”
Sunset suddenly shudders, letting out a sob, and presses a hand to her eyes.
“Sorry girls, I...” she catches her breath, and sniffs. “The song just...”
Applejack clicks the dial over to another station. “We don't gotta hear that song, no big deal.” The next one plays some random pop song that nobody pays attention to. “Too close to home?”
Sunset nods. “Yeah...” she wipes her eyes as well as she can. “A little.”
The car slows to stop behind a red light.
“Well, you have changed,” Pinkie insists. “Ever since Twilight came, and you got blasted with those rainbows, you've been different than you were before. Way different.”
Sunset nods and turns to face her. “Thanks Pinkie.” On her way back she glances out the driver side window, as the light turns green. “Hey, don't go yet.”
“Hm?” Applejack asks, frozen for a second before a car roars by in front of them. She blinks and tracks it before checking both ways and continuing forward. “Boy howdy, that coulda been bad. Good eye, Suns.”
“This light sucks,” she replies, settling back in her seat. She glances at the base of the streetlamp as it passes out of her vision. “The yellow ends right as soon as the green goes. I saw a garbage truck absolutely cream this sedan a few years back. I heard the driver died.”
“Heavy,” Rainbow says. “I think I heard that story somewhere, actually. Just can't remember where.”
“That's sad.” Pinkie sinks a little deeper into her chair. “We should write city council to fix it or something.”
“Maybe.” Applejack pulls into a parking spot outside Sunset’s apartment building. “Someone should do somethin’ ‘bout it. Don't know why it's still like that after a tragedy like that. Anyway, best not to dwell on it. Sometimes sad things happen. It sounds heartless but the best thing we can do is help people move on. The people we’ve lost in the past would want us to stay happy even though they're gone.”
A somber silence passes the group, broken only by a commercial break. After a second, Applejack kills the engine and unbuckles.
“Suns, you wanna stay here while I go get your journal?”
Sunset nods. “Yeah, I... don't wanna go back in there just yet. Too many bad memories.”
Applejack nods and pops open the door. “I'll be back in a minute.” With that she shuts the heat in and bustles her way up the steps.
Once she was inside, Sunset turned to face Rainbow and Pinkie.
“Hey, girls...”
They face her, expectantly.
“What.. happened to her parents?”
/x/x/x/
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Sorry about your mum and hope she gets better
Rarity, you're still being a jerk. Screw off, i hope the girls don't accept your apology
Everything's ready. Just need to arm the blasted thing. What should I set the timer for? We need to be out of the blast radius, but I also wanna see the fireworks. Any ideas? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 15? Anyone got a car to get away real quick?
......So.....Scoot is Blaming Sunset about her Mom....it comes to that in the end...I think......at least Rarity starts to think.....
Sorry to hear about you Cat and you mom.....
Good chapter also I wish your mum a good recovery
A little background to put the plot in context. Good call.
I feel your frustration. Almost the exact same thing happened to my father. He got sick because someone else decided to go to work sick. I wish your mom a restful recovery.
Sorry about your cat.
10251529
Of course, Rarity is carrying the Idiot Ball and looking for a kickoff return touchdown. So, she's gonna connect Sunset with the death of Scootaloo's mom as the truck driver or other direct act.
It's hard to investigate when emotional bias exists, even subconscious bias. Rarity has all the pieces of the puzzle even without outside help but part of this bias has eliminated suspects far too early, and so nothing is fitting in her analysis.
And so we have our context. Oof.
Sorry to hear about your family's run ins with the C-virus. I live in a cooperative house with ca. 25 or so people, and sometimes there's a bit of conflict with a few of the "I want to do my normal thing" people and those of us that want the quarantine to be properly maintained. Such fun.
10251492
To quote Fiery Joker, "Ka-BOOM!"
I do wonder how big a crater this is going to leave...
Yeah, that'd leave a mark on an already angsty teenager.
I think you made the right choice bringing this up now. Your story is about healing and moving on from trauma and depression. Leaving the audience without Scoot's motivation works in a more pure mystery or adventure story, but would actually hurt your theme, at least in my opinion.
Glad to see this updated again <3
Sorry to hear what happened to you and your family. Hope things will be better now.
Sorry about your cat as well and I hope for the best for you and your family
I'm sorry about your cat. I hope your mom is okay.
idiot, if your sick. STAY HOME.
and the light is confusing. need to clear that up.
So wait? Sunset was the one on the Bike? Well crap, if Rarity finds that and reports it to the Cops it will make her Irredeemable. It wasn’t sunsets fault that the Truck hoot her, it was the Truck Drivers fault and to some Degree Scoots mothers fault too for staying stopped in the middle of the road.
I hope your mum keeps getting better and sorry about your cat!
10252102
You seeemed to have missed this:
10252125
I was referring to the top bit I quoted, unless it was another person with the same hair color, well.
I don’t think Scoots is blaming Sunset for her mother’s death, least not directly. I think she blames herself for putting them in that position due to her actions that forced them to move schools and, likely, homes.
Does it validate what she has done and said? No, not it doesn’t. But it does give some leeway due to mental trauma and I really, Really want the readers to keep this in mind: she is a young, Traumatized girl that goes though VivId PTSD and that even though her actions up to this point are done of her own free will and sanely, she can’t be fully blamed for it.
10252162
No, but you implied Sunset had been partially responsible. In the part I quoted it shows the stoplight hasn't been working properly for years, the switch to green happens before the other side switches to red, so Sunset didn't quite run the red light as Scootaloo seems to think.
It was a genuine accident (Rarity's mom even mentions the truck driver was drunk), but she's laying the fault squarely at Sunset's feet.
10252188
Oh, OH! Nonono, I meant that if RARITY reported Sunset then RARITY would be irredeemable. She is looking for dirt to get sunset out of the picture and if she reported her (her fault or not) then the rest of the Scooby Gang would NEVER forgive Rarity.
Sorry my wording of it could have been better!
10252194
Ah, gotcha, yeah I read it as it making Sunset unforgiveable.
Still, I don't think there's much for Rarity to report. She'd have to get the story out of her, and even then she really wasn't at fault, it seems the event was already judged by the authorities and the fault was on the truck driver.
10252202
True, but imagine if she spreads it around the school or worse social Media? It would make Sunset a Pariah as she technically distracted Scoots mother long enough that she didn’t notice the truck.
She would be a fish in a shark tank.
10108943
I headcanon Equestria as a blend of Canadian culture and British government (with American flavor)
10109380
Hemp has no THC so it's legal. Weed has THC so it's illegal, especially for minors involved in athletics.
10119578
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are covertly in a relationship throughout my mainline EqG timeline as well as my Dusk's Dawn AU because secretly-dating is an underrated trope.
10136767
Applebloom Apple Bloom, potato potahto. Knighty released a blog post back in like 2013 or something about how he thought hurt/comfort was less a genre and more an emotion, and was sufficiently coveted by drama, and that's why it's not available as a genre tag on this website.
10136857
Nah, I was gonna do it anyway, but I did think of you as I typed it :P
10138723
I don't mind "harsh criticism" as long as it's constructive, which you were doing. My only issue is I had no idea which dialogue you were talking about so I couldn't see what you meant by self reflective.
10150354
Sunset took the journal she used to talk to Celestia with her through the mirror. No way in hell would Celestia just drop the only means of communication she had with Sunset in case she had a change of heart, into STORAGE to gather dust. So I have it that Celestia either gave her journal to Twilight so it became Twilight's journal, or gave her a new journal just like Starlight did in Mirror Magic. I'm leaning in the latter. It makes more sense for that to have happened than a deus ex machina shot in the dark like what actually happened in canon.
10251730
I'm glad to hear that. I was a little worried it would be too much too soon but then I figured I could just use dramatic irony instead.
10252087
The North/South light turns from red to green at the exact moment the East/West light turns from yellow to red. Which is a bit dangerous when you consider a lot of people rely on "pink lights", where they're still in the intersection when the light turns red, and it's especially more dangerous when the roads are icy and it's difficult to brake. There was a light like that in town where I live. They fixed it after somebody hit and killed a twelve year old boy. Granted they were also going 45 in a 25 but still.
Thanks everyone for the well wishes and the condolences <3
I am glad that your mother is doing better, and I am sorry to hear about your cat. I hope everything gets better.
It seems Rarity's finally starting to notice that the "facts" don't add up. (About time)
The twist in all this would be if the person on the cycle with red and yellow hair wasn't Sunset at all.
TBH I'm hoping Rarity figures out the truth soon.
Plus I think I understand why Scootaloo seems to have it in for Sunset here... she blames her for her mother's death.
I am thoroughly enjoying this story. Very well written with audience concern in mind. Can't wait to read more. Keep up the good work
Ahhh. No better shorthand for teen-angst than good ol' TDG.
It's really good to see some realistic motivation for everything going on, heartbreaking as it is. I really want to know when that flash-back took place relative to everything else. Like, if this was a few years ago (about when Sunset first arrived at CHS), then it was probably, at the closest, the native sunset on the bike. Heck, Scoots might even understand that logically, but still be driven to hurt Sunset on a emotional level.
I really freaking love this story! I hope it doesn't die before it's conclusion.
10252776
OBJECTION! If you re-read the chapter. Sunset testified in witnessing a car getting t-boned by a truck because of a faulty traffic light. This leads to believe the girl on the Bike IS sunset, and she witness the gruesome accident
10254926
That's currently circumstantial at best. If the light's been this way all this time she could be talking about a different incident. Or she might've witnessed this particular incident from a pedestrian perspective.
Until she actually says she was the one on the motorcycle, you can't determine that it was her.
10255165
Sunset would have notice her doppleganger or make mention of her if thats the case. Even if she saw the accident, she'll probably catch sight of the bike with a familiar face . And Don't say the biker would have ridden off already, the 'biker' would have also stop and look at the accident when they heard it
10255398
That's only true under specific conditions. One being she's actually talking about Scootaloo's accident and another being her human counterpart was actually the one riding the motorcycle.
10255439
Are you serious? What other accident are they referring to? is it coincidence the author show us Scoot's dream in the same chapter Sunset mention witnessing a very familiar accident? Just admit it, she was the one who saw the same accident
you gonna continue this seires
Great update! Looking forward to seeing more. Hope all gets better with you and your family.
then her mom reborn as commoner in another world. her otherworldly soy sauce and curry is too much for people of that world. in the end, reverse harem of ikamen was formed.
when you applied anime-style deduction into real life.
brainwashing rainbow laser strike again!
10252162
Hahahaha! She totally is if you saw the current 2 chapters.