This story is a sequel to Finding Home
Things couldn’t be better for Sunset. Her relationship with Twilight and Fluttershy has been going strong for a year now, and she loves them more every day. Everything is going fine, until her marefriends start talking about moving on to the next stage of their relationship. Suddenly Sunset finds herself reliving a nightmare she’s been trying to run away from, as demons she thought she’d long overcome return to haunt her.
A story set in the Who We Become series.
Want to read this story without reading the whole series up to this point? I summarized the relevant info in a comment here 
Content warning: The narcotics tag is included for heavy alcohol use, not hard drugs.
Story workshopped with Wendy Gowak
Proofread by Moonlight, Krixwell, and Sapphire
Cover art by Pasu-Chan
For anyone who (for some reason) wants to read this story without reading the preceding ones, here’s an explanation of what led up to this fic:
Some time after graduation, Fluttershy moves into Sunset's house to escape an abusive home life. The two of them start a relationship, not knowing that Fluttershy's already pregnant. When they find out, they quit drinking and begin to plan for a life as moms together. Although she was initially against keeping the child, Sunset grows to love their unborn daughter, whom they name Sky Shimmer. Although they're poor, things are looking up for the couple, who are happy together and have the support of their friends.
A car accident changes everything, however, when Sky doesn't make it. Sunset and Fluttershy sink into depression and drinking as a coping mechanism. They begin to fight and eventually break up as Fluttershy leaves town to become a manager of Rainbow's punk rock band.
Sunset decides there are too many memories in their town and leaves for Equestria, where she lives with Twilight and Fluttershy, who are dating. Neither of them know about Sky Shimmer, as they were touring Equestria when human Fluttershy was pregnant and Sunset never wanted to talk about it with them after. Shortly after she arrives, Twilight and Fluttershy get engaged. Before their marriage, Sunset relapses into heavy alcoholism, which Fluttershy confronts her about. Sunset resolves to get sober. Eventually Fluttershy and Twilight extend their relationship to include Sunset, so all three of them are dating. Sunset has a brief moment of almost relapsing, but she stays sober and tells her marefriends about her near slip up. The wedding happens as planned, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy wives and Sunset their marefriend.
Other notable things to keep in mind, this is several years after canon so characters are older, although only a little more than half of S5 is canon (the series predates S5 and some things that happen would've contradicted stuff I'd already written), so Starlight never became Twilight's pupil. The human Applejack is Sunset's best friend. Twilight's parents moved into the castle to live with them and be closer to Spike.
This is gonna be terrigreat.
10142557
Haha that's a word for it
Very good comedy from the trio early on. Then heavy stuff when sunset went back to Everton and eventually started drinking.
Hopefully she is too poor to get too drunk as to not find her way back to equestria.
Im amazed how well all this drama fits in with the continuity. Well done indeed.
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And of course me being me, I had to make their return a drama-filled one 
It was so great getting to write these three again. Hard to believe I haven’t written the three of them together as lovers in over three years
As a proofreader, I can vouch: This story is good.
Well things are off to a fantastic start, huh. Takes one trip to Sky's grave and Sunset starts to relapse. Can't say I blame her, but this is still rough to see. I hope she can get a chance to talk with AJ.
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Incidentally, y'all, you have Krixwell here to thank for this story's existence. He was the one who pointed out to me that it would be good to see Sunset actually telling her girlfriends about Sky.
10143035
Yeah, Sunset definitely took this one pretty hard... Still got a few chapters left, so there's time for things to turn around though
or for them to get worse. I'm not saying either way lolGet great story so far interested in how this turns out , it's sad that a simple discussion activates Sun's ptsd and to start the drinking again hope that doesn't go any where she really doesn't need that in her life any more and I can see twilight and fluttershy helping her through this as well. Hope to read more soon😁😁
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Indeed, Sunset's got a lot of shit going on but at least she has a strong support group. Glad you're enjoying the story, and I look forward to bringing more to you
Bleeggh, Sunset, what the fuck.
Story of her life, I guess. "What the fuck?"
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As someone with a lot of family members who suffer from addiction, stuff like this is way more common than the classic story of someone quitting and sticking with it. Not that it's not a what the fuck moment, but I guess I'm just really sympathetic to Sunset's situation here
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This read more like a series of bad ideas than just an impulse. She didn't immediately bring up Sky with Ponyshy and Twilight(bad idea), she didn't bring it up with Ponyshy when they were tending to the bunnies(repeat bad idea), she left for Everton without telling anyone(really bad idea), she didn't fall back on Pinkie when AJ wasn't around(bonus bad idea), and she didn't leave after seeing Sky(penultimate bad idea).
I swear, it's like...no one fucking communicates with each other in this universe!!
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I don't think Sunset would have relapsed on an impulse, I think she needed to be brought to the point by a string of bad circumstances. I also don't fully agree that all of those were bad ideas even if those did lead to this. Not telling her lovers was absolutely unequivocally a bad idea, no doubt there. But I don't think going to Everton was a bad idea, with or without telling anyone. Yes it's a world away, but for them that's essentially the equivalent of heading downtown to see a friend. It was actually a really good idea because if it had panned out, she would've been somewhere safe where she could've talked about her problems in a comfortable environment. Additionally, not seeing Pinkie I think is maybe borderline bad idea, but not because of the results (which she at the time she made the decision to not see Pinkie hadn't even considered); I just think she's not giving Pinkie enough credit, and that Pinkie would've known to tone down the cheer and been more supportive than Sunset seems to anticipate. Not leaving after visiting Sky was definitely a bad idea though.
I also don't really agree that no one communicates well in this series. Twilight and Fluttershy communicate so well in this chapter that I had to bend over backwards to steer the conversation in a way that allowed Sunset to stay quiet about her views. Twilight is clearly apprehensive about the topic but affirms Fluttershy's feelings and agrees it's good to talk about things. Fluttershy sees Twilight's apprehension and gives her space and time to think it over. They both try to get Sunset to open up about how she feels and (understandably) believe Sunset when she puts on the front of being overwhelmed and needing a little time herself to process it. For a series based around romantic drama, I like to think the characters actually communicate exceedingly well for the most part
10143520
Mmm, you know what, that is true that Ponyshy and Twilight do communicate well, so I am wrong that not everyone in WWB can't talk about their issues, but shit Sunny it was going so well. She was on top of shit and even recognized how happy she was, and then she was like "let's correct that!"
Hopefully she realizes what she's doing, gets her ass back to Equestria, and tells Ponyshy and Twilight what's really going on. Or, what I think is more likely, Ponyshy and/or Twilight will go back to the castle, see the portal active, and go in to chase Sunset down. Maybe if they all go see Sky together they can help Sunset truly come to terms with what happened.
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God what a mood this is lmao
But yeah, I'm obviously not saying what's going to happen, but this is only a three chapter story so it'll happen soon
There's a storm coming, next weekend. Thunder or lightning, we shall see... Forecast's not looking so great, though.
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"Nobody tells each other anything!" is the literal linchpin of all drama, real or fictional.
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Dammit, I thought the forecast called for empty skies...
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I do still standby my claim that for a romantic drama series, these characters (eventually) have learned to communicate very well. Of course there are notable exceptions where they don’t, but like you say, it is a drama series
10154480
Oh Goddamnit, you fuck!! Walked directly into that one.
Yikes the past is coming back to haunt sunset and twilight and fluttershy are getting caught up in the middle of it and it gonna cause some major thunder and lightning, can't wait to read more😁😁😁
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Indeed, we’re nearing the end of this but there’s still one more chapter to go! I look forward to sharing it with you next week
oh Sunset, don't do this.....please
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*Evil bun cackling in the distance*
i can see why Sunset is afraid and it has caused her to fall off the wagon, she is scared of reliving her past.
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Yeah, in Playing House Sunset mostly drank away her feelings for Sky rather than confronted them
While I agree with Applejack's sentiment of "god damn it Sunset"...I don't really blame her. That...was a bad time for her. Sure, basing her relationship with Fluttershy on Shy's pregnancy made for a shaky foundation to begin with, but the car crash and losing Sky made for a hell of a storm anyway.
10154924
I definitely see where Sunset was coming from, but if not before, she should have told them about Sky when Shy started talking kids
10154945
I guess Sunset wouldn't be Sunset if she didn't hide something for way too long until it blew up in her face, huh
Can't help but wonder what this 'mystery' looks like to someone who has started with this fic in the series.
Somehow Twilight's bewilderment at thanksgiving was funny even within the very intense circumstances it was in the middle of.
Didnt expect Aj to threaten to reveal the truth if sunset didn't! But then again how else can you force sunset to be more open about something so emotional?
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I imagine it's pretty obvious even if someone isn't familiar with the other stories because the whole scene in the first chapter of Sunset talking to Sky. Still, I do wonder what people would think if they read this one first (not that I think anyone will).
And yeah, AJ's smart enough to know Sunset won't talk easily
10155271
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the gravestone scene. Only focusing on the drinking scene.
derp
Yeah you make AJ super likeable (possibly more so than the show).
Take my likes and my favourite.
Feels fucking hurts but its great
10161351
Huh, really wasn't expecting to pick readers new to my Who We Become series up with this fic. Glad to hear you're enjoying it! This story is slated to post its third and final chapter on Sunday, so you're just in time to catch that
Argggh I feel like Sunset should've explained more about what happened with Sky, and humanshy, and the torrential cascade of fucked up shit that happened between the two of them in the weeks and months following the accident. That moment defined everything that become of them; it was the 11:40pm of the Titanic, the 1:23;40am of Chernobyl, that inescapable point of no return where everything that ever was and ever would've been with SunShyne was irrevocably altered and destroyed, the aftermath of which still haunts both of them. I know Sunset's never been the open and verbose type, but just this once...
Amazing story, even if it is the literary equivalent of blue balls. I can't wait for TTW to come back starting next weekend. Maybe one day we'll see SunShyTwi in a better place, they deserve it.
They all deserve it.
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I certainly didn't mean to make Sunset's explanation come off as short, it's just that this seemed to explain things to me. In any event, I'm glad you enjoyed the story 
I'm not entirely sure what else there was to say to be honest
10166235
I guess now that I've spent some more time to think about it that there really wasn't more to say on Sunset's part, I just hoped that she would've truly opened up about it. Maybe it's something best discussed with a therapist, but I feel like Sunset should still talk about it with someone.
This chapter made me happy for several reasons.
1. They found Sunset
2. She told Twi and Flutters about Sky
And 3. She is getting the help she needs
Wow such a great ending. The explanation could've used more details on the slide to her drinking problems but we can't have everything. Really liked how supportive twilight and fluttershy were even when they found out she went back to drinking a lot more supportive than the human counterparts and she could've used that back then but now it's Nice to see her get the support and help she needs,she definitely deserves it. Excited to read the end credits scene and to see the return of thicker than water😁😁👍👍
Sunset really has the best girlfriends, doesn't she. I do wish she'd open up more, but everything's working out. Mostly. I'm curious if this post-credits chapter is going to be the trio visiting Sky's grave.
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Well, it seems to be the recurring statement on this chapter that people wish Sunset would open up more, so maybe I should have written it differently after all
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I feel like I’m missing the reference here
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Glad you liked it!
Yeah, it felt like it was time to heal some of these wounds finally
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Yeah, maybe I should’ve included more details in Sunset telling them about Sky and everything that happened. In any event, glad you’ve enjoyed this story
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After living a rough life, Sunset finally is lucky to be where she is and with the ponies who are there with her
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It's easier said than done especially in reference to Sunsets ultimate solution in getting drunk and trying to run away instead of asking for help.
The sentence "It just works" from Tod Howard is often used as reference to Bethesdas "fabulous" Creation Engine causing lots of Bugs in each game it was used (Skyrim,Fallout 4 and 76).
Something like this
Yeah I also felt like sunset was going to monologue more about the human world situation. But apon reflection I concluded that the one event she mentioned was the one that stood out by far in emotional weight. It was the only thing she had come across in her disaster filled life that was too much for her. So everything else is comparativly minor and not worth mentioning.
Really I think that the reason I thought she would monologue is because I wanted a quick recap from sunsets current perspective.
Maybe one day Twilight and Sunset will verbally spar with the minor annoyances in their life but not today.
Great stuff. I felt everything along with the ponies. The fear, unknowing, sorrow and of course at the end, hope.
Oh and I was trying to remember whether or not sunset went to the spot near Fluttershy's cottage with them on their first date as a trio. Then the married pair were like 'this is our spot what could sunset be doing here?' then it was sunsets spot too.
So if nothing else that was a roller-coaster for my mind.
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lol I think Twilight knows better to go down that route. Sunset has definitely had a harder life, Twilight is in many ways extremely privileged.
I’m glad the chapter as it was wound up working for you. With all the comments on how things went down, I do wonder if I should’ve done things a little differently, but oh well I guess.
Sunset seems to have a lot of faith in Rainbow Dash helping Fluttershy..
Can't wait for the next chapter of Thicker Than water
Good follow-up and ending, nothing much to say about it, other than it's good Sunset is getting back on track. Maybe one day humanshy will get to the same point, too. Lord knows she was hurt just as bad, maybe more, over losing Sky. She's certainly in a dark place in TTW, acting reckless, but with every instance of her helping out Gilda, or reining in Rainbow, or just being there for her band and friends, I know that she too can come out on top and move on, just like Sunny.