Family Matters
"Remember, Octavia and Sandalwood are still at each other's throats," Rarity warned Pinkie, "so be sure to keep them miles apart at the table." The Rainbooms sat in a commons room during their free period, going over the guest list to Sunset's surprise birthday.
Pinkie jotted down Rarity's instructions enthusiastically. "OK-Dokie."
"Did you remember Steven and Zecora?" Rainbow asked Pinkie.
"Yepperoni," the pink skinned girl sang, holding up her massive list of the people being invited. "Seeing them there, along with everyone else us, will make Sunset so, so happy!"
"Because when they're there, it will remind Sunset she's done so much good for others, and not just in Canterlot High," Fluttershy enthused.
"That's the most important thing," Applejack stressed, "we have to remind her she feel's welcome and that we're not just keeping her around because we have to."
"Is Princess Twilight invited?" Rarity asked.
"Yep and yep," Pinkie Pie said. "I wonder if we're missing anyone else." Pinkie Pie's chin fell into her hand, before another happy smile formed on her face. "We forgot about Sunset's family."
Rainbow frowned. "Wait, does Sunset even have a family?" The Rainbooms fell into a pensive silence.
"I'm sure she's mentioned them...once," Rarity mused in deep thought.
"Who are they?" Fluttershy asked Rarity. The fashionista's face became more contemplative.
"No, she hasn't really talked about them at all," Rarity muttered aloud.
Applejack frowned seriously. "Why?"
"I think I can shed some light." The Rainbooms turned around and saw Twinkle coming into the room with a smile, holding a package in his left arm.
"Hey Twinky-Winky," Pinkie greeted. Twinkle smiled, long used to Pinkie's charming immaturity. "What'ya got there?"
"Just dropping off some props for the theater club, thought I'd stop by," Twinkle said with a shrug.
"So you know about Sunset's family?" Applejack asked the red-skinned athlete.
"Well, not exactly," Twinkle said. "A week ago, I talked about my family, and I asked about hers."
"And?" Applejack pressed. An uncomfortable frown formed on the track runner's face.
"So enough about me. What was your family in Equestria like?" Twinkle asked. The athlete took Sunset to a salad joint, thinking the vegetarian girl would love it. Sunset looked down at her plate of salad uncomfortably. "Sunset is-"
"I...wasn't really close with any of my relatives," Sunset said with a serious frown. "I cared more about...my studies...then them."
"What about your mom and dad?" Twinkle asked her.
"My dad...died when I was five years old," Sunset muttered.
Twinkle put a kind hand on Sunset's shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"My mom...I was a horrible brat," Sunset said, her eyes wet. "I was mean to my mom, no matter what nice thing she did." Her eyes darted back and forth. "And...I ignored her like everyone else once I became Celestia's student."
"Sunset listen to me." Twinkle's voice was both strong and comforting. "I know you did bad things in the past. But you've changed for the better. If your mom was still here-,"
"She'd find out I bullied everyone, became a demon, blew up the school, was given community service twice, and got a poor girl paralyzed," Sunset replied.
"Sunset-,"
"Quick still hates me for what I did," Sunset muttered. It wasn't a question. Twinkle frowned, not even bothering to deny it. "If he hates me, she'll hate me."
"That's Quick," Twinkle muttered angrily. "But you've also volunteered around school, defeated the sirens, worked hard to make it up to-,"
"I blew it with her," Sunset muttered with depressed certainty. "That's how it is." Sunset felt her eyes water some more.
"So how's the sushi thing going?" Twinkle said with a smile. "I bet you'll be employee of the month." Sunset smiled at Twinkle, grateful that he changed the subject so smoothly.
"That explains a lot," Applejack muttered.
Rainbow looked at the apple farmer. "What do you mean, AJ?"
"Remember that talk I had with Sunset after the Formal," Applejack wondered. Rainbow nodded. "Sunset was mostly truthful, but there was something she didn't talk about."
"What?"
"Why she was so willing to leave her family behind for a whole new world she knew nothin' about," Applejack muttered. "I didn't press her about it, because I didn't really care at the time. I was wondering whether or not she was a jerk or not." Her eyes widened. "But yeah. How bad was their relationship that Sunset would ditch her without a second thought?"
Fluttershy looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Poor Sunset. She hated herself so much, she didn't think her mom would care." Everyone else felt upset at that revelation.
Pinkie was so upset her hair dropped downward. But in a fraction of a second, her hair puffed up again, and her trademark smile returned. "I just thought of the best idea ever!" Pinkie punctuated this with a blast of confetti from behind her.
Rainbow looked at Pinkie. "What's that?"
"Why don't we go to Equestria, find her mom, tell her about all the good things Sunset did, and bring her to her party," Pinkie chirped happily. "Bringing Sunset and her mom back together would be the best gift ever!"
Everyone smiled at the thought.
"That's...actually a pretty good idea," Applejack said with a smile. Twinkle and the other Rainbooms were also in agreement.
"Alright then," Rainbow said with a smile, "it is settled. We'll all go through the portal after school, talk to Princess Twilight about it, find Sunset's mom, talk to her, and invite her to the party."
"When Sunset sees that her mom still loves her, she'll be so happy," Fluttershy gushed with glowing eyes.
Pinkie got her pink pen. "I'll put on her on as 'Sunset's Mom'." She wrote the name on the list.
Twinkle marveled at the size of the list. "That's a lot of people." He snatched it from Pinkie Pie.
"Sunset's needs to remember she has a lot of friends," Pinkie Pie said.
Twinkle frowned as he looked over the list. "There's one more person you forgot to add."
Pinkie Pie looked aghast at the idea of someone being left out. "Who?"
"Quick." Everyone, except Rainbow and Pinkie Pie turned to glare at him.
"Quick?!" Rarity hissed at him.
"Yeah, he's coming back to school in a few-,"
"NO!" Applejack screamed forcefully.
"Absolutely not!" Rarity muttered.
"But-,"
Fluttershy said nothing, but let out a whimper.
"OK sure," Pinkie Pie said, adding his name to the list, much to the chagrin of three of the Rainbooms.
"Are you crazy!" Applejack bellowed. "Do you remember what that varmint-,"
"He hurt me and I forgave him," Twinkle said forcefully, "I don't see why-,"
Rarity scowled furiously. "He terrorized the school and attacked Luna."
Fluttershy looked scared. "He got Sandalwood in trouble."
"Well, Sunset was a big meanie-weenie for a long time," Pinkie said to her friends with an edge to her voice. "And we forgave her, and she became nice. So why can't we do the same for Quick?"
"Pinkie's right," Rainbow said with a serious look. "What he did was shitty, and I get why you hate him. But," she frowned guiltily, "Twink and I...weren't much better."
Twinkle looked down shamefully, remembering how he treated Sunset after the Fall Formal. "Yeah, if you want to blame anyone, blame us for the bad example we set." He let out a shrug. "Sure, what he did was worse, but we were the same key played higher."
"Also, Sunset said with have to let go of our grudges," said in a serious tone. "I did that with Gilda, and know we're friends again. So, shouldn't we let go of our grudge with Quick?" Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity frowned furiously.
"And...in his own messed up way," Twinkle said uncomfortably, "he was trying to help Muharib out." Everyone frowned, still upset over what had happened to that poor girl.
"Princess Twilight said that Harmony applies to everyone, not just when we want it too," Rainbow said with an unusually sage like voice. "So if we can't give Quick a chance, how can we really call ourselves the Elements of Harmony?" A thoughtful silence came over the room.
"Well, let me ask ya'll this," Applejack said, the iron returning to his voice. "How has Q-Quick," she stammered, still uncomfortable with mentioning his name, "been behaving?" She stared at Rainbow and Twinkle, the only two people in the room who have had any contact with the short track runner since his suspension.
"He's done his community service," Twinkle said proudly, "he's gone to his meetings with Officer Garda, he's gotten back into Celestia's good graces."
"He's been cool so far," Rainbow said casually, "and he's regretted everything he did."
Rarity glared at the blue skin girl. "How does he feel about Sunset?" Rainbow and Twinkle looked uncomfortable.
Rainbow rubbed the back of her head. "We...haven't really talked about it."
Rarity looked exasperated. "You haven't discussed it?!"
"Because...he talks about Muharib," Twinkle said, "and how she's doing. It doesn't seem to be-,"
"Well you have to talk about it with him!" Applejack stressed. "Because if he isn't calm, and he's in the same school with Sunset, he might explode again." Applejack shivered, still remembering his attack on her. Rarity put a comforting hand on Applejack, which calmed her down a bit.
"He's not going to explode," Rainbow argued. "He hasn't done anything like that."
"Because he hasn't been with Sunset," Fluttershy uttered in a serious tone. "What do you think he'll do when you put him next to Sunset?" Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twinkle frowned at that, not considering the possibility he could go nuts again.
"Here's the deal darling," Rarity said in a more sympathetic tone. "We'll give Quick a chance, but only if he can forgive Sunset."
"Which means ya'll have to bring it up him," Applejack stressed. "We can't have those two together if he's still red hot mad." She frowned furiously. "Ya'll have to be sure he's not mad, or he could end up ruining Sunset's birthday."
"I get why he's angry at Sunset," Fluttershy said in soft, understanding tone. "If Sunset did the same thing to Zephyr," Fluttershy balled up her fists and turned red, the thought of anyone hurting Zephyr like that being too awful to articulate. She took a deep breath and calmed down. "But if he wants to be our friend, he can't keep acting angry around Sunset." Fluttershy's tone indicated that this was not negotiable.
Twinkle and Rainbow frowned, but than nodded in agreement. "Alright that's fair. We're gonna meet with him tomorrow anyways."
"And Quick tells me Muharib's been making progress," Twinkle said with an optimistic smile. "So maybe there is a good chance he could be in a better mood to forgive Sunset."
"If he can let go of his anger fine," Applejack said in a serious tone. "If he can't, he has to stay away from us and her birthday party."
"Alright," Twinkle said in a melancholy, but understanding, tone. The bell rang, signaling that it was time for the next class.
"Alright so we're all in agreement," Applejack said as she got up from her chair. "We'll go through the portal, and ask Twilight about finding Sunset's mom. Deal?"
"Sure," everyone cheered. They smiled as they left the commons room, hopeful they could rebuild the relationship between Sunset and her mom, and make Sunset more secure about being at CHS.
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Another story in this series, nice.
"Did I do that?"
Sorry, that question came to my mind when I saw the title of this chapter.
Things are about to get real interesting
I Love this series soooo much
Seeing Anon as a sequel is worrying but I'll follow for now...
Ok while this is a nice start, you already blown it by inviting quick which us beyond stupid.
i know this si your story, but you using your power of a writer to make AJ get over her PTSD so easily is stupid.
BECAUSE IT NOT THAT SIMPLE! PTSD does go away in few weeks or months or even years!
Unless AJ been seeking reat meant by the best and most expensive therapist I don't see her getting over to the point she can be in the same room with him so soon!!
COME ON!!
Alos making celestia like quick even afte rnealry mudering her sister...Yes i can see that as she that stupid.
10468145
Well...
My question to you is the same question that the characters ask: does Harmony only apply when we want it too?
And well, when it comes to Principal Celestia, if she can forgive Sunset for her stupid behavior, why can't she forgive Quick?
10468388
What the heck does Harmony have to do with PTSD?!
Which YOU gave AppleJack, and using your writing powers to fix in a unrealistic time, which is very insensitive to those who have it in real life by the way.
Sighs...What ever...I'm not going to worry about this story anymore just try to enjoy it, even if I disagree with something.
It's not doing anyone any good.
10468513
I do show that.
But I also point out that Sunset herself has done terrible things, and the way that Rainbow and others behaved wasn't much better.
I am not trivializing PTSD, I am saying "work past it."
I love the story, I do have one critic though. I feel like Applehack should be more defensive with regards to Quick. I think something along the lines of this would have been more appropriate.
"Ah will allow you to invite him, but Ah dont want him anywhere close to me and if he does Ah won't hesitate to show him how strong an Apple can be when we get an honest fight."
Again this is your story and I like it but I would stress consistency with a character, at least one with a traumatic experience like Applejack went through. Character like Pinkie, Rainbow, Discord, and maybe Rarity are more lose in the terms of needing to stay consistent. They all can change emotions very quickly, or at least their pony counterparts do.
cool story: have you considered writing more?
I'm with some of the others here. The whole invite Quick idea is a bad place to go for this story. It's not about forgiveness or harmony. It's about trama. AJ is still suffering from the trama of the act. She should not be expected to be near the source of her trama till shes ready. Yes exposure therapy is one of the ways to help PTSD but it's done in a professionally controlled way and the sufferer is prepared to take that step.
Your harmony applied without thought without concern isn't harmony at all. Its actually very harmful to AJ in this case. A forgiveness for Quick plot event is certainly in the purview of this universe but you need to either change what happened to AJ to remove the PTSD in the first place or have a longer path to Quicks forgiveness that shows AJ healing enough to not be so stressed and afraid at just the idea of him.
10471442
Actually, I think I will make an edit to that end.
I kinda like how this story is going so far. I mean if the Rainbooms do let Sunset Shimmer reunite with her mother: Princess Celestia, then maybe she will realize that the Rainbooms are really sorry for the way they treated her during that Anon-a-miss incident.
is Forgotten Friendship still gonna happen? Cause Sunset is right.. they never will let go of their grudges but this time its not their fault. They lost their memories.
10534842
Agreed.
Please please continue this i want to know moreeeee!
10469223
If i may ask, when will this story be continued?, or is it okay with your permission if i continue the story for you?.
DM me if it's allowed.
10534842
Yes, but they've opened an older wound, because Sunset and her mother, Princess Celestia, (either biological or adoptive mother), didn't part on the best of terms so it would hurt Sunset way more, and i fear that if they reunite, she may become depressed and suicidal, now i know that sounds far-fetched but Sunset in this story, still feels she failed her mother and feels unloved by her to the point she feels that Celestia wouldn't care, someone who has that level of depression isn't far from suicide, trust me, i've been depressed and i've never been as far as suicide, but i've been in a deep depression before so i know what she would feel.
And this may seem like i'm a psychologist, but i'm not, as i'm actually training to become one for a job, i'm currently School Councelor for my school, it's great, i give others who are down a bit of inspiration and give them any advice should they need it.
Sunset in this story and it's prequel, needs to see a therapist A.S.AP for her depression, either a therapist or psychologist. Trust me i can see in my head how their reunion plays out and you don't wanna know what i've seen because you're not gonna like what happens.
10504300
Exactly, i get the group is trying to help Sunset and AJ here, but exposing AJ to him or having her near him would likely cause her to have a panic attack which is never good to have, she needs to be slowly reintroduced to him slowly now and again in order for her to realise he won't hurt her, Trauma, like you said, doesn't go away overnight, it takes days, weeks, months, years to get past, and it leaves a mental scar in the back of your mind.
Severe emotional trauma causes lasting changes in the VPCR(ventromedial prefrontal cortex region) of the brain that is responsible for regulating emotional responses triggered by the amygdala( An almond-shaped set Neurons in the Temperal Lobe of the brain). Specifically, this region regulates negative emotions such as fear that occur when confronted with specific stimuli. The brain becomes somewhat disorganized and overwhelmed because of the trauma, while the body goes into a survival mode and shuts down the higher reasoning and language structures of the brain. The result of the metabolic shutdown is a profound imprinted stress response.
The brain starts to heal from a said traumatic event after 8-6 months. Sunset is experiencing some of these symptoms which are.
1: Guilt.
2: Shame
3: Self-Blame.
4: Feeling sad and hopeless.
5: Withdrawing from others.
6: Feeling disconnected and numb.
Sunset has Acute Trauma. A single stressful or dangerous event.
Trauma, psychological, that is, leaves you with memory loss, for me after a traumatic event 4 or 5 years ago it blocked out every single memory that i had instead of the traumatic memory, which is quite odd as my brain should've locked out and removed the event, but it's in the back of my mind now but i still remember it clearly. That's why i want to become a psychologist, help those who have experienced emotional trauma because i can relate to what they feel, or have felt.
10468388
Well for one, he almost murdered Luna, and injured quite a few people, attempted murder and either 1st, 2nd or 3rd degree assault can land you and attempted murder in real life is 5-15 years jailtime. and for assault the max jailtime is 26 months which is 2 years. which would be 17 years max in jail.
you're not even using factors of criminal assault, attempted murder or anything regarding law for this story that connects to trauma which needs to be an important factor. Quick would have to be given 17 years max jailtime without bail.
Bringing Sunset and her mother, Princess Celestia, (either biological or adoptive), would be a very bad idea.
Like you said in the title
"They and Princess Twilight decide that helping Sunset and her mom reconcile would be the best present ever".
"But in their well-meaning attempt to help Sunset heal from the scars of her past, the Rainbooms have unwittingly opened an old wound instead"
That old wound is emotional pain/baggage for Sunset, she feels so depressed to the point she feels she failed her mother and feels unloved, which would require serious therapy, which could take weeks, months and years to heal.
Now i know we've seen the video where Princess Celestia immediately forgives Sunset, but in this case it would be a whole lot more emotional. I get they want to make up for what they did, but this is a very bad idea, Twilight, (Sweet, innocent Twilight) being the good sisterly friend she is agrees with them(which is a bad idea as she didn't ask Sunset first, in which she'd be going behind her back and keeping this a secret from her). Which would/could cause Sunset to be very, very mad at Twilight, and possibly lose trust in Twilight by going behind her back. (I'm sure Sunset and Twilight consider each others like sisters I don't really know but their bond is like that).
With being reunited with her mother, Sunset could have a traumatic flashback and could pass out from stress and shock, or could have a panic attack, Sunset could possibly refuse to call herself Celestia's former student and daughter out of her depression, in which Sunset's mind would fill with those dark and heartbreaking thoughts, which could lead to a worse situation, (if you know what I mean by, "Worse Situation"). (I mean suicide),
Celestia would try to soothe Sunset and calm her down, but I fear it won't work, Sunset will just refuse the feeling of love from her mother and deny herself the love that she deserves to feel. I know Sunset isn't usually emotionally this weak, she always shows how bold and tough she is emotionally and mentally, I know during the Friendship Games she yelled at Twilight for those obvious reasons, she was worried for the pony version of Equestria and the dark, corrupted magic damaging both worlds, almost like she was acting like a princess herself, which makes me proud of Sunset in that regard.
With the Anon A Miss comic, we saw how upset she was, that is not the case here, she'd be tougher than that and would find ways to prove everyone wrong and stop Anon A Miss for good.
What I meant by this was that Sunset is very good at hiding her past and her emotions from others, she's put up mental defences as well as emotional. Reuniting them would only do more harm than good. Sunset would only suffer if they met in these terms.
Author, write the story however you see fit, but use psychology and show what the character is clearly feeling, write about the expressions, the tone of their voice, how they are standing, etc. Show in deep what Sunset was truly feeling, don't lie and coddle the deep darkness she has, and having everyone reunite them will only upset and harm Sunset more.
When you write about someone with a traumatic past or has been through trauma, either mental, emotional or physical, show the signs to show the audience what trauma they suffered, when you write about trauma you show exactly how that person feels and show how there could be a therapy/cure to heal the pain, show how long it would take, and why, and what type it would be, when you write about someone explaining physical trauma you need to show if they're breaking down and trying to hold themselves together, if they're calm and collected, if they're frightened.
I'm a trauma victim myself, emotional and mental trauma from a car crash 3 or 4 years ago, i'm fine now but you just need, NEED!, to show exactly what that emotion is. I'm not nagging or being rude, i'm just suggesting. sorry if I came across that way.
yeah, you guys
10468145
si, you mean is.
you mean
10688484
Thank you.
you mean:
Please correct this.
Now for this to continue.
10772397
Which it probably ever won't.
Sooo... are you planning on updating? I mean, no pressure or anything but it's been quite an while since you last updated this or Working Girl Sunny. But great fics i never been this engaged on a story ever since i read unOrdinary.
10947724
I think it's a dead story.
I hope this amazing series of stories continues eventually
10688517
I don’t want to sound annoying but is there gonna be more chapters of this?
This is great so far! I can't wait to read the next chapter!