Sunset has awful memory
Applejack groaned and threw a piece of paper away from her. She took a moment to rub her eyes. Ever since she got home, she had been looking over Twilight's endless notes and plans for Sunset. She hadn’t expected her to be so in depth, and this was just the girls first draft. Applejack prayed she wouldn’t make anymore.
Applejack knew she couldn’t implement every single one of Twilight's ideas, but she wasn’t sure how she could implement even one of them. Plus, she still needed to finish her homework, so she couldn’t plan anything tonight
“Well, Ah guess there is one thing…” Applejack eyed the paper emblazoned with ‘An in depth guide to sleepovers for Sunsets recovery’ at the top.
Applejack reached over for her phone and brought up Sunsets caller ID. She hesitated for a moment before pressing the call button and putting the phone up to her ear.
“Wha-hey! What are you doing?” Sunset protested as Derpy held a hand over her eyes. “We’re on the same side!”
“This is the apocalypse, there are no sides!” Derpy laughed maniacally as Sunset's character was swarmed by zombies. She then struggled to aim her gun with one hand and was immediately stalled by one of the special zombies. “Oh, this was a bad idea!” She pulled her hand away too late as Sunset's character died, earning them a game over.
Sunset gave her a disapproving look, Derpy scrunching up her lips. Sunset then smiled and laughed, allowing Derpy to do the same. “Well, I know who I’m not traveling with if the zombie apocalypse happens.”
“Your loss, I’m going to become a brutal warlord and beat people's heads in with a spiked bat.”
“I know who you’re referencing, and most people don’t aspire to be like that guy. I’m kinda concerned you do.”
“Doesn’t pay to be cute and bubbly in the apocalypse, it’s a cat eat cat world out there.”
“Pretty sure it’s dog eat dog.”
“Have you seen how vicious cats can be?”
Sunset was about to retort before her phone started ringing. She pulled it out and saw it was Applejack. Surprised, she turned to Derpy. “Can you give me a moment? It’s AJ.” Derpy merely smiled and gestured for her to continue. Sunset answered and pulled the phone up to her ear. “No, I did not salt your fields.”
“That was one time!” Applejack huffed in annoyance before regaining her composure. “Look, me and Twilight talked. Well, Ah guess we didn’t because our time ran out. But Ah think the meeting went well anyway.”
“The meeting went well even though you didn’t talk?”
“Stop being difficult, yah know what Ah meant. We got distracted and she wasn’t able to ask me how everything went Saturday. Ah did get some insight into how she feels about all this and an absurd amount of notes from her.”
“Let me guess, they’re for my recovery, right?”
“That obvious huh?” There was a small snicker from the other end. “Ah’ll probably have to talk with the other girls about most of these, but there is one thing Ah thought we could talk about ourselves.”
“Yeah? And what might that be?”
Applejack was silent for a few seconds. “How do yah feel about a sleepover?”
Sunset eyes widened. “No.” She stood up. “Not again! I am not doing another sleepover again with you and the girls. Don’t you remember what happened last time?”
“Sunset, Ah know yah had a… bad experience. But didn’t yah yerself admit yah had a lot of fun when it happened?” Sunset said nothing, so Applejack continued. “Ah know Ah messed up, but Twilight really thinks a few sleepovers could help yah out. It’ll just be yah and me at first, we can invite the other girls when yah feel ready.”
“... I’m not going to your house, your sister will be there.”
“Wasn’t planning to have yah here anyway. Ah was actually hoping we could do it at yer house instead?”
Sunset hummed in thought. “I’ll think about it, ok?”
“That’s all Ah ask.” Applejack signed in relief. “Oh, and Ah may or may not have accidentally revealed that yah and Fluttershy have… issues to Twilight."
"You what!?" Derpy jumped back by Sunset's sudden change in demeanor. "Applejack!"
"Ah'm sorry. Ah thought yah already told her." Applejack said, trying to defend herself. "Ah only alluded that there was an issue, Ah didn't tell her yah hated Flutters."
Sunset groaned. “Great, guess I can expect a talk with her later.”
“Why didn’t yah tell her anyway? Yah tell Twilight everything.”
“She’s busy and already doing so much for me. I don’t need her to try in vain to fix things between me and that bi-” Sunset could practically feel Applejack's glare from the other end “... Her. I was going to tell her eventually, there just wasn’t a good time.”
“Well, Ah suggest yah try to think of what yer gonna tell her. Don’t try lying yer way out of it either, she’ll find out.” Applejack said sternly. “Now, Ah’ll Leave yah and Derpy to blow bubbles or whatever.”
“You joke, but that’s probably next on the agenda.” The two girls shared a short laugh. “See ya AJ.”
With that, Sunset pulled her phone away and ended the call. “So, she wants you to have a sleepover with you?”
“Yeah, but after what happened last time…” Sunset looked down anxiously, Derpy quickly getting up and pulling her into a small hug.
“I think you should do it. Sleepovers are always fun, surely those weren’t the only sleepovers you’ve had.”
“They kinda were.” Sunset admitted. “I didn’t have any friends remember? The only other sleepover I had was when Twilight came back… though, I guess technically me hanging out with my brother and his friend with giant pig tails had a sleepover counts.”
“Ok, this is like the third time you described your brother's friend with giant pig tails, just how big were they?” Derpy pulled back from the hug.
“About this big.” Sunset held her hands as far apart as they could go.
“Sunset, that’s bigger than a child.”
“That’s how I remember them being.” Sunset shrugged. “I also remember my brother being this small when he was first born.” Sunset held her index and thumb an inch away from each other.
“Sunset that’s smaller than a tadpole.” Derpy gave Sunset a scrutinizing look. “You expect me to believe your brother was born that tiny? He would’ve been extremely premature.”
“That’s how I remember him being.”
“You have a terrible memory if that's the case.” Derpy poked Sunsets head. "Perhaps it's all that knowledge crammed in your brain. Not enough room to recall memories."
"My brain is perfectly fine, thank you very much."
“Are you sure? Cause you did a complete 180 after the Formal. People don’t usually change that quickly.”
“There’s a reason for that.” Sunset sighed. “That rainbow laser forced me to live through every time I hurt someone in my life from their perspective.”
Derpy frowned. “So, every day I came home in tears-”
“I lived through it.” Sunset finished. “Same with everybody: from my family, to a random waiter I was rude to one day, to you and your family, Flash, my friends, everybody… and let me tell you, it’s not easy living with two sets of memories for the same event.”
“I had no idea…” Derpys face fell. She couldn’t imagine what that must’ve been like. “Why? That’s such a specific punishment, did Twilight decide that?”
“No, Twilight is a wielder of the Elements, she doesn’t decide what they do.” Sunset explained. “Harmony is a genuine force of nature where I’m from, it’s basically sentient and seems to have a knack for ironic punishments.”
“Like?”
“There was a Spirit of Chaos called Discord back home, he subjected the entire world to chaos and strife for his own amusement. When he was defeated by the Elements, he was turned into stone. Which is basically hell for a creature of chaos: static, unmoving, eternal, predictable, boring; the antithesis to its nature. Centuries later, a mare of darkness known as Nightmare Moon tried to bring about eternal night. When she was defeated, the elements imprisoned her in the moon so it would be night for her forever.”
“And what does this have to do with you?”
“I was blinded by my own ambition, only ever caring about myself and what I could accomplish. Everyone else was either there to help me, or they weren’t worth the time. So, basically I had no empathy.”
“I think I get it.” Derpys eyes lit up as she nodded her head in understanding. “Empathy is sharing the feelings of others, so the elements literally shared everyone’s feelings with you.”
“So I would know what it was like. I lacked empathy so they forced it on me, let me see past my ambition. That I wasn’t the only one that mattered.”
“Not that ambition is bad or anything, but why were you so ambitious and kind of a jerk about it?” Derpy asked curiously.
“Is it bad to say it was because of my brother?” Sunset laughed bitterly. “I wanted to be the best big sister ever, have my brother look up to me with wonder at just how amazing I was, make all his friends jealous he had such an amazing sister. Be a kind of role model and all that you know?”
Derpy giggled. “I know what that’s like.”
“So I pushed myself, outdid all my peers so I didn’t have any competition for the title of ‘best sibling.’ Studied magic far above what was normal for my age so I could impress my brother.” Sunset smiled. “And it worked too, that kid freaking loved me, said his classmates were jealous of him cause they had sucky siblings… then I got older, everyone else started praising me too, and I got addicted. The better I was, the more I was praised, and the more it went to my head.”
“And your brother?”
“His praise didn’t mean as much to me anymore. Not when compared to everyone else. In fact, I actually started to look down at him, even when he joined Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. It was embarrassing being related to someone who wasn’t as good as me.” Sunset frowned. “You know the last thing I ever said to him was ‘if you can’t handle school, then leave. I have far more important things to do then baby you all the time’ in a... less then kind tone.”
Derpy gasped in shock, causing Sunset to lower her head. “Why did you say that to him?”
“He had been struggling at school and needed my help… a lot. I was already dealing with my mentor refusing to tell me about the mirror, and I didn’t need my brother distracting me. In some weird way, I was trying to encourage him.”
“Encourage him?” Derpy asked with confusion.
“I never would’ve let someone say that to me. I would’ve doubled my efforts to prove them wrong. Saying I couldn’t do something or I should give up was the highest form of encouragement to me.” Sunset sighed. “He could’ve died any time between the seven years I’ve been gone, and that would’ve been the last thing I said to him.”
“You can visit him now though, why don’t you?”
“I have nothing to offer. Just some washed up bitch who left for eight years and has nothing to show for it.”
“You shouldn’t call yourself… that.” Derpy pulled Sunset into a tighter hug. “You know, personally, if Crackle ran away for seventy years, I wouldn’t care if he had nothing to offer. I’d just be glad to have my stupid brother back. Your brother wouldn’t care either, he’d just want his dumb sister back. Same with the rest of your family.”
“But I need to make it worth it.” Sunset argued. “I need to make everything I put them through mean something.”
“You’re enough.” Derpy countered. “The longer you wait the more it’ll hurt. Your family just wants you Sunset, holding you in their arms again will be worth the wait.”
Sunset's eyes watered and she looked at Derpy, a small smile on her face. “Why weren’t we friends before? This is very therapeutic."
Derpy giggled. "I'm told I have that effect on people."
"Kids! Dinners ready!" Both Girls looked over to Derpys door as Graceful Falls called from the bottom floor.
"Wait, that means dad's probably home by now. Crap!” She let go of Sunset and ran to her door. “Sorry to cut this short, but I have to hug my dad!” She declared as she slammed the door open and ran out, leaving a confused Sunset all alone.
“... Can’t believe I used to make fun of her. She’s adorable.” Sunset smiled and turned the console off, making her way downstairs.
Scootaloo idly picked at her food, lost in thought as she stared down at her plate. “Scootaloo, don’t play with your food.” Scootaloo's head jerked up towards Aunt Lofty, broken from her thoughts.
“Oh, sorry.” Scootaloo quickly apologized and dutifully began eating. “I just have a lot on my mind is all.”
Both of her aunts shared a look with each other. “What about?” Aunt Holiday asked.
“Uh…” Scootaloo trailed off. “Just… stuff.”
“You’re not being bullied are you?” Aunt Lofty leaned toward the table.
Scootaloo's eyes darted back and forth as she tried to think of how to answer. “Well, if I was it wouldn’t exactly be undeserved.”
Aunt Holiday frowned at Scootaloo's vague non-answer. “Scootaloo, if somebody’s bothering you, me and Lofty will march up to school and demand Principal Celestia suspend th-”
“That’s not it!” Scootaloo held up her hands. “I’m just thinking about Sunset is all. She told me she’s banned from being Valedictorian.”
“Really?” Aunt Lofty seemed surprised. “But isn’t she one of the smartest girls at your school?”
“More like the smartest.” Scootaloo huffed. “Apparently the jerks in the school board decided they won’t allow her to be Valedictorian because of her past. She won’t even be allowed to walk at graduation, which is all super unfair.”
“Oh. That must be pretty hard for her.” Aunt Holiday mused. “How does she feel about it?”
“Pretty much how anyone would I guess.” Scootaloo angrily shoveled food into her mouth. “Even worse because she’s been working towards becoming Valedictorian since she got here. Worst part is, she’s not gonna fight them! She’s totally just resigned herself to it.”
“Well, I’m sad to hear that. Sunset seems like a bright young girl, it’s sad a bunch of out of touch bureaucrats are holding her past against her.” Aunt Lofty took a bite of her food.
“Too bad there’s nothing anyone can do.” Aunt Holiday added. “Sometimes life just isn’t fair.”
Scootaloo stared down at her plate for a moment. “Or is there?” She whispered, a confidant grin on her face.
As we can see, Derpy is very competetivek even when there’s nothing to be competitive for.
Also, what would apocalypse Derpy look like anyway?
Sunset seems torn between whether or not she wants a do over for the sleepovers. Understandable all things considered.
Sunsets thoughts on Harmony subjecting people to ironic punishments is inspired by another fanfic that detailed the same thing. I thought it was kinda cold nad weirdly fitting, so I decided to include it.
It also ties into Sunset being the element of empathy, which I’ve heard she’s supposed to represent.
Sad though that that might’ve been the last thing Sunset said to her brother. She’d probably really kicking herself for that.
I’ve also interpreted Derpy as being basically the heart of her friends. Always there to cheer them up or make them happy and generally making their lives brighter.
Which maybe also may have been inspired by a well done comic of Derpy getting her cutiemark cheering Carrot Top up. What else woul dhee cutie mark mean if it’s not related to her bubbly personality?
And yes, Derpy always gives her dad hugs when he gets home. I may have also interpreted Derpy as being super affectionate and a prolific hugger.
And once again, more people that don’t want the CMC bullied. Why don’t they just report their bullies?
What’s Scootaloo planning?
Anyway, thanks for reading my fic!
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Well if scootaloo managed to get her this it would go a long way to mending what little relationship they had and it's a better idea than make her a princess. Scootaloo and friends might need a counselor to help them realize that everyone but sunset played a part in this and they shouldn't be taking everyone blame. Maybe if derpy came to the sleepover it could help. Sunset wants to trust Applejack but at the same time she is afraid to after being hurt so badly. Also everything seems different when we're little things that are so much bigger when little don't seem so when we get bigger and vice versa.
Sunset hesitate the idea of having a sleepover with AJ, which is understandable considering what happened the last time. Even if Sunset agree to it, she'll most likely stay on guard to avoid getting hurt again.
I like the whole idea that the Elements of Harmony subjecting people (Sunset included) to ironic punishments and what led to Sunset to become the element of empathy. Not a lot of stories do that.
It was sad about her brother, but it's sweet of Derpy to cheer her up. It just goes to show how great of a friend she is.
Scootaloo’s planning something about Sunset’s situation, eh? I wonder what could it be?
Excellent chapter!
Uh oh, Scootaloo, you remember what happened when Applebloom tried something clever.
11173483
Well hopefully her plan is better thought out considering applebloom was looking for a fast way to fix things and not really thinking things through all the way. If it works anyone who helps will make a big impact on sunset in terms of forgiveness. And lots of people have stupid things as kids and become better people when we got older. Do we hold it over their heads forever?
Looks like Scootaloo is about to do a big dumb just like Lyra. Still it will be interesting to see which can outdumb the other.
I went to read the story this story is a sequel of and found you only have 2 chapters nothing else. How the hell can you have a sequel to story that's barely even a story with only 2 chapters? If it was a one-shot sure, but it's not. I counted the chapters, 27, again are you sure this isn't supposed to the first story and not a sequel?
11174731
Cause I’m hella arbitrary and get easily distracted. This one I wrote first cause I wanted to write an AAM story, it got popular (enough) which got me thinking about the inevitable straightforward AAM prequel story, which got me thinking of what happened before.
Some of my favorite stories on the platform are AAM and what happens after the Formal, and because I dropped hints of backstory I decided it might be interesting to explore what happened after the Formal in, for lack of a better term, this universe.
I have meant to update it, but I focus on this one because it’s what most of my fans are here for and I don’t like to keep them waiting too long.
Chronologically ‘My past does not define me’ takes place before this one, so that makes it a prequel.
Does it make any sense I decided to write the prequel before finishing this story? No. But I have no idea when this one will get done and I want to write other stuff from time to time.
Just be glad I decided to wait to make the sequels to this story until after I complete it. At least I’m not that arbitrary.
I actually was planning to write another chapter for ‘My past does not define me’ then another chapter of this, then finally get back to poor return of chaos.
...then maybe another story I have in the works.
11174764
Far enough, we all have our favorite genres we like more then others nothing wrong with that, just don't let "my past doesn't define me" die while this story goes on to completion. Otherwise you become writers that make irritates me to a small degree, they make a sequel to 1 of their stories people want to the first story before reading the completed sequel only to find out that the first story only has a handful of chapters between 4 and 6, and as been on hiatus for like 6 months to a year and a half since the last update while it's sequel has been completed only 2 months.
Please don't be like them I want to read the pre-quel to have better context to your AAM AU (Aultirnate Universe).
11173568
Well in a way she is doing better than Lyra because Lyra was looking for a cheap answer for how she and everyone messed up. Scootaloo is doing it for sunset and no other reason than she believes that this is a bad thing to do to her.
11177351
I guess that Lyra is in the lead for doing something stupid, but that doesn't mean that Scoots could very easily turn what she is going to do into something spectacularly dumb to catch up. Even though they are all in their teens, Scoots is younger and already has shown a lack of sense & restraint.
11177358
Yeah it could go wrong but at least it coming from a better place. A wish to right a wrong. Though without knowing about her idea beyond that I can't even guess how it might go. But if she succeeded it would mean a lot to sunset.
11177367
Well there is a good reason that the phrase "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" is common.
11177372
True but sometimes it the people who butt in trying to protect others from harm that cause more trouble than the people actually trying to the right thing.
Scootaloo Chickenwing, what are you up onto now?
Nice Negan reference
Oh no, what are you plotting Scootaloo
what are you planning?😠
11174764
UH OH, SCOOTALOO WHAT ARE YOU UP TO