Tuesday : Meeting with the rainbooms - one ( Edited by : BiggerNate91 )
After returning home, Sunset couldn’t sleep. All she could do was lie awake in bed, her journal in hand, and the awful news running circles in her head. The fiery teen was still at a loss for words. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t believe this tragedy.
Her friend was gone.
She thought back to how upset she was at Applejack for throwing the first accusation, and at the rest of her friends for immediately following suit. She may have been angry for how they treated her… but she never wanted this. And the fact that Applejack thought that Sunset wanted her dead broke the poor girl’s heart in two.
Sunset had laid in her bed all day, not even bothering to have any food. It wasn’t just because the news of the tragedy had destroyed her appetite completely, but it was also because everything in her fridge was now two months past their expiration dates. However, by the time midnight started to roll around, Sunset picked up her phone and ordered some food to be delivered to her house.
Once her food arrived, Sunset cracked open her journal. It was time to break the news to her longest friend. She dreaded what would happen when Twilight learned about the death of her friend… but she deserved to know. Sure enough, the news struck the Princess of Friendship right through the heart.
“Oh my goodness!!!!” Sunset watched Twilight’s words appear in a frenzy. “No no no that can’t be true! She can’t be gone!!!”
Sunset winced. She took a bit of her burger and wrote back. “I know it’s hard to believe… but it’s true. Applejack took her own life.”
Then, a small circle of water appeared on the page, followed by several more. Sunset watched as Princess Twilight’s tears made the page damp. It was a full minute before Twilight finally replied.
“I don’t… I don’t know what to say. How… how could I let this happen? I was so mad at them all… I yelled at them, I scolded them… I didn’t think any of them would ever do this… if I had reacted differently… maybe Applejack would still be…”
Sunset cut Twilight off before she could finish her thought. “Twilight, don’t. This was not your fault. Neither of us could have known this was going to happen. Everyone was in a dark place while I was gone. There was nothing we could have done while we were a world away.”
There was a short pause as Sunset grabbed a few fries and took a sip of her iced tea. She watched Twilight start writing again.
“Sunset… you need to know something. This isn’t the first time that something like this has happened to me.”
Sunset stared with wide eyes. Her pen shot across the page to respond. “What? What happened? You didn’t lose somepony close to you, did you?”
Twilight didn’t hesitate to respond this time. “I almost did.”
It was about a year or so before you ever stole my crown. My brother, Shining Armor, was going to get married to my former foalsitter, Princess Cadence. At first, I was happy for him, but then I began to notice a change in Cadence’s behavior.
As it turns out, this mare wasn’t Cadence at all; it was the Changeling Queen, impersonating Cadence to feed off of his love. But I was the only one that knew that. When I tried to warn everyone about the queen, they didn’t believe me. They accused me of being a jealous bully. Shining Armor even banned me from the wedding so that I wouldn’t cause any more trouble. You would not believe how devastated I was. I tried to apologize to Cadence, but I was still right about her; the queen trapped me in the underground caverns of Canterlot.
I managed to track to the real Cadence, and we made our way out of the caverns and exposed the queen. After a long battle, Shining and Cadence blasted the Changeling queen and her subjects out of Canterlot. Everything was happy again, right?
No. Far from it.
Even though the threat was taken care of, I was still furious at everyone for not believing me and abandoning me. I was disgusted that apparently our friendship wasn’t strong enough for them to stand by my side. So, I cut myself off from everypony and didn’t speak to any of them for a while.
But I soon learned that it was the biggest mistake of my life.
I started to notice my friends’ depressed states whenever I walked past them. Their faces were so riddled with guilt, they all had tears in their eyes, and they couldn’t even bring themselves to make eye contact with me. I couldn’t believe that my words had put them in such a bad place, but I was still struggling on whether to forgive them or not.
It wasn’t until I received a letter from Cadence about an incident back in Canterlot that my decision was made for me. She told me that my brother tried to kill himself out of guilt and was currently hospitalized. I felt like I had been stabbed in the chest upon reading that letter. I couldn’t bear the thought that I had essentially killed my brother…
I teleported to Canterlot and rushed straight to the hospital, not even bothering to ask for a visit when I got inside the building. When I reached my brother’s room, he was a total mess. There was a horrible bruise around his neck that made me sick to my stomach. When he saw me, he broke down into a blubbering mess, sobbing about how I wouldn’t have to live in a world with him anymore…
My heart broke into a thousand pieces. My own brother thought I wanted him dead. While what they did really hurt me, I didn’t want this from him or anyone else. That’s when I knew that he and everyone else were truly sorry for abandoning me that day. I didn’t hesitate to forgive him on the spot, and when I saw my friends, I scooped them up into a hug and let them know they were forgiven. I had never seen them so happy.
After that, our bond and trust grew stronger, and we still continue to love and support each other despite the obstacles. Cadence and Shining are still happily married. Everything worked out in the end.
There was another dramatic pause as Twilight finished her story. Sunset chose to wait patiently for the alicorn’s response before writing back to her. It wasn’t until Sunset finished the last of her food when Twilight began writing again.
“I know you’re about to say that what happened to my brother wasn’t my fault and that I couldn't have known… but it kind of was. I could have handled the situation much better instead of blaming everyone and isolating myself from everyone out of anger. They wouldn't have been so consumed by guilt if I hadn’t. If Shining Armor had actually succeeded in killing himself… I would have never been the same again.”
“And that’s why I feel like if I had handled the Anon-a-Miss situation differently, this maybe could have been prevented…”
Sunset considered her words carefully before she responded. “Well, first of all, I’m really sorry that you had to go through all that. I’m glad your brother has recovered and that your friends are back at your side. But the thing is, this is different. It may have been your regrettable actions that caused things to spiral out of control with your brother, but it wasn’t you that had an affect on Applejack. Remember, it was her fight with Rainbow Dash that really started to crumble things. And you couldn’t have known that any of that would happen, and neither could I.”
“There is no point in blaming yourself for Applejack. No one else is blaming you, and no one is angry at you. You’re a strong mare, Twilight; you put what happened at the wedding behind you and forgave your friends. So, I’m going to do the same here. It’s not going to be easy, but I need to face my problems head-on. It’s time to let go.”
There was one last dramatic pause before Twilight wrote back.
“You’re right Sunset. You are absolutely right; we shouldn't blame ourselves for what happened. The best we can do is try our hardest to move forward and try to put this incident behind us, no matter how difficult it's going to be.”
Sunset was about to write back, when suddenly she let out a loud yawn. She glanced over at her alarm clock and realized it was already 12:30.
“Twilight, would it be okay if we ended this early? It's getting pretty late here.”
“Oh yeah, of course. It's getting late here too. Sunset, when you see our friends, please tell them that I give my condolences and that I'd like to have a word with them later this week.”
“I will. Have a good night.”
“You too, my friend. You too. :)”
Sunset closed the journal and placed the journal back onto her nightstand. She disposed of her food containers, and then slipped underneath her covers ready to fall asleep. But before she closed her eyes, she took one last look up into the ceiling. The thoughts of everything that had happened since she left were still running rampant through her head. Fortunately for Sunset, the drowsiness finally took over as the former unicorn finally fell into a deep sleep. No longer did she have to think about the terrible fate of Applejack and her friends; at least, not until morning came.
The next day, Sunset Shimmer arrived at Sugarcube Corner late in the afternoon. She sat patiently in an open booth with seats reserved for her soon-to-be company. The fiery teen was full of nothing but anxiety since waking up that morning; she knew that it was only a matter of minutes before she reunited with her old friends. She had chosen to skip the school day in order to prepare for the meeting, all while Gilda sent her updates about the four girls as time went on. The only time she had gone outside was to replace the expired items in her fridge at the grocery store.
According to the messages from Gilda, the burly teen had successfully managed to convince Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie to meet up with Sunset after school. Rainbow Dash, however, had apparently stated that she wasn’t emotionally ready to see Sunset yet. Wanting to respect her friend’s boundaries, Sunset texted back to Gilda that she’ll meet up with Dash later in the week. Once she received the update, Sunset spent half of the day in her apartment preparing for the meeting. She tried to nail down exactly what she was going to say, not wanting to say anything that she would regret later on. She couldn’t bear the thought of another tragedy.
Once she felt ready, the fiery teen made her way toward Sugarcube Corner just as the school day ended, knowing that the Rainbooms, save for Dash, should arrive soon. She soon arrived at her destination and took a seat at the usual booth that she’d share with her friends. As she continued to wait for the three girls to arrive, a few students took the time to walk up and give Sunset their own apologies. Even Mr. and Mrs. Cake offered their condolences. Sunset said nothing, however, as she was focused solely on the Rainbooms, but nevertheless accepted each apology that was given to her.
After what felt like an eternity, the café’s bell rang. Sunset snapped to attention and rose to look at the front door. Her friends had arrived. As Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy entered, Sunset saw just how much of a wreck they all were. Rarity’s mascara trailed down her face, Fluttershy was almost completely hidden by her hair, and Pinkie didn’t have her poofy hair—instead, it was completely straight. Sunset took note of the looks of anxiety written on each of their faces. She could tell that they were just as worried about the reunion as she was.
Sunset waved her hand to get the girls’ attention and motioned them over to the booth. They all took a seat on the opposite chair from Sunset, letting her get a look at all three of them at once. An awkward silence soon took over, with neither party having any idea what to say. Sunset was still terrified of saying something regrettable, and the three Rainbooms were terrified of setting off their former friend by reminding her of Anon-a-Miss… or worse, Applejack.
After what felt like another eternity, Sunset finally broke the ice. “So… hey… it’s uh, been a while, huh?”
Rarity slowly nodded, with her arms wrapped around her torso. “Yes… it has been quite a while…”
"Two whole months.” Pinkie muttered. Sunset could barely recognize her voice with how low it was.
Rarity glanced at Pinkie, and then back at Sunset. “Indeed… hopefully you’ve been… doing better…?”
“Yeah, I guess I’ve been doing fine.” Sunset answered. “At least… for now, I am.”
“How are Twilight and Spike?” Fluttershy asked.
“They’re doing fine too.” Sunset hesitated before continuing. “Twilight is still getting the hang of being an Alicorn and Spike is still the same old Spike we know and love. Twilight and Celestia are planning on opening up a school of friendship so she can teach friendship lessons to more creatures than just ponies.”
Fluttershy’s face lit up, albeit only a little. “That sounds like a lovely idea!” Her face then dropped back to a somber one. “I feel like that’s what we all need right now…
Sunset gave a look of pity to her friend. “Oh Fluttershy, I don’t think we need to go that far.” She turned back to the other two girls. “I need to know… how are the Crusaders? Gilda told me they’re at Crystal Prep now…”
Rarity was caught off guard upon hearing Sunset ask about her sister and her friends. She hesitated for a few seconds before shaking her head and responding.
“Well, darling… I would be lying if I said they were doing alright. Before the… before the tragedy struck, I had finally forgiven Sweetie Belle and Rainbow Dash had forgiven Scootaloo. And so did our families. But forgiveness wasn't enough to get them back to normal. We may have forgiven them but they couldn’t forgive themselves. I tried to ask Sweetie why she and Scootaloo were ignoring Apple Bloom, but every time she would just turn away from me and say she wasn’t comfortable talking about it. As for Apple Bloom… nobody has seen her at all ever since she started online classes. We don’t even know if she’s still in Sweet Apple Acres.”
“Celestia…” Sunset muttered, staring down at the table. “Well, if I can get ahold of them, I’ll see if I can talk to Sweetie and Scootaloo to try to find out what their side is.”
Sunset looked back up at the girls. Her solemn look matched three more just like it. All four girls knew what had to be addressed next. And none of them were looking forward to it.
Sunset struggled to get her words out. “G-girls… Gilda… she told me about…”
Sunset couldn’t even say her late friend’s name. Tears streamed down her face as she wept. The three Rainbooms held each other tight, trying to keep themselves together.
Sunset blubbered her words out through her sobs. “I’m s-so sorry… I never w-wanted any of this to h-happen… I s-should have been h-here for you… for her… you s-should have never lost a f-friend…”
Pinkie parted from her friends and laid a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Sunny… you have nothing to be sorry for.”
Sunset looked up. “B-but I—”
“Listen to me.” Pinkie interrupted. “You did the right thing by leaving. You had every right to. We were the biggest meanies imaginable… why would you even want to stick around here? Who would want to be friends with anyone who accuses and abandons an innocent person? Sunny, I haven’t thrown a party or even smiled for two whole months. After what I did to you… I don’t deserve to. All I am is a bully… a bigger one than you used to be.”
Sunset remained silently stunned. Were these really the words that were coming out of the famous Party Girl of Canterlot High School? The happiest student of them all?
“I’m supposed to be the Element of Laughter, but all I did to you was make you sad. I was too stupid to realize that you wouldn’t just throw your redemption away like it was nothing. I should have been by your side all this time, like a real friend is. But now the damage is done, and… and my friend is dead because of it. No party will ever make up for me being an awful friend. I’m a disgrace.”
Sunset reached out to her friend. “Oh Pinkie…”
“I’m no better.” Fluttershy jumped in before Sunset could say anything. “I let all the hatred I had for you for bullying me and making me suffer get the better of me. All those feelings I had for the years of torment and harassment came bubbling back to the surface when Anon-a-Miss came along. I didn’t care that you had proved you had changed, and that you had redeemed yourself, because I had never fully forgiven you for what you had done to me in the past. Anon-a-Miss was essentially just my excuse to finally make you suffer. It was easier to believe you had never changed than to believe anything else.”
Sunset’s lip quivered. The regret for all her actions as a bully were starting to flood back.
Fluttershy kept going “When I learned you were innocent all along, it broke me. I realized I was despising an innocent girl for no reason. I had let my own hatred and anger consume me to the point where I refused to believe that you could ever change. And now, I had made you suffer because I couldn’t let go of the past. In the end… I had bullied you instead of the other way around. How can I call myself the Element of Kindness… if I’ve been cruel to you for so long?”
“Darling, my actions towards you last winter were absolutely unacceptable.” Rarity began. “When Twilight told you that you had left, I was relieved… because I knew you wouldn’t have to face us ever again. I have to admit… I felt the same as Fluttershy. All the memories of you trying to sabotage me so you could be the only fashionista at the school… what happened at the Spring Fling… none of it left. I let it fester within me instead of working out like a real friend does.”
Rarity sniffed, trying to hold back her own tears, before continuing. “I am truly ashamed that it took me this long to finally accept you’re no longer the girl you once were. I was so close to forgiving you two months ago… but Anon-a-Miss reminded me of the past I should have let go of. Fluttershy is right; it was much easier to believe that our friendship was a lie… it was easier to use Anon-a-Miss as an excuse to abandon you. And now look… my idiocy has cost me everything. My sister doesn’t speak to me, your trust in me is shattered, and…”
Rarity couldn’t hold it in anymore as she broke into a sob. “I-I’ll never see my darling Applejack ever again…”
Pinkie and Fluttershy stood up and stood next to Rarity on both sides. Their eyes locked with Sunset’s, who was still incredulous about what she was hearing.
“Sunset… you have every right to not forgive us.” Pinkie said. “You deserve real friends. You deserve people who will stay by your side, and won’t betray everything friendship stands for.”
“But we want to let you know that we’ll do anything for you.” Fluttershy added. “We hurt you, and we can’t take that back. But if there’s anything we can do to be friends again, we’ll do it. We won’t leave you behind again.”
Rarity finished. “We know this won’t mean much now… we know this doesn’t repair anything at all… but we mean this from the bottom of our hearts…”
“We're sorry, Sunset.”
Hearing those three words hit Sunset with a wave of emotions. She knew they would try to apologize but she never expected them to own up to so much. She didn’t even need to question whether they truly meant it; she knew they did. Their regret was clear. Slowly, a sad smile formed on the girl’s face, cutting through her anguished expression.
“Girls… thank you.” Sunset whispered. “It means so much to hear you say that. You don’t have to worry about not being forgiven anymore… because I do forgive you.”
The three Rainbooms couldn’t believe it. “Really?” Pinkie gasped.
“Really.” Sunset nodded. “I forgive you, I forgive Dash, I forgive Applejack—rest her soul—and I forgive the Crusaders too.”
“But… why, darling?” Rarity stammered.
“Well… if I’m going to be completely real here… while being abandoned did hurt a lot… I get it, you know? I was the biggest bitch this school ever saw. I caused so much damage to everyone, both physically and mentally. I made life hell for every single person here—especially you. Who would want to forgive someone like that? And you’re right, we never worked out those issues we had. We should have talked a long time ago. But we never did. We never got rid of that animosity that was inside you all. And when Anon-a-Miss showed up, you all had your excuse. I probably would have come to the same conclusions as you in your position. And at the end of the day, your actions all stemmed from you being tricked.”
“That doesn’t excuse what we did, Sunny!” Pinkie cried.
Sunset held up her hand. “I never said it did. But I can all see the regret in you. You all showed me how you really felt, and it touched me. You all want a chance to make it right… so I’m going to give that to you. I don’t want to lose you again.
“Everyone makes mistakes, and friendships have their rough spots. Sometimes those mistakes, and rough spots, are bigger than others. But it’s not impossible to move forward and make amends. Obviously, this isn’t going to go away any time soon. But there’s been too much heartbreak these past few months… and I don’t want anyone else going down the same path as our poor friend.
“So, I’m done with Anon-a-Miss. There’s no point in dwelling any longer. I want to move on, and get our friendship back on track. That’s what I want, and I know that’s what Applejack would have wanted as well. But there’s only one thing that can allow that to happen.”
The others stayed silent as they allowed their friend to continue speaking, ready to listen to the one condition she had.
“If you can truly, and I mean truly forgive me for everything that I did as a bully… then I'd love to try and be friends with you, for real this time. If you can let the past go… you can be my family again. So, what do you say?”
The three girls nodded in unison at the fiery teen’s request as their saddened states turned to tears of joy.
“Yes… yes, of course!” Rarity cried.
“We can definitely do that!” Pinkie jumped in.
“We won't mess up this time.” Fluttershy said. “We promise, we will never let you go again. For you, and for Applejack.”
Pinkie grabbed Sunset’s outstretched hand and pulled their friend into a group hug. Sunset and her new friends all wept happily in each other’s arms. A warm feeling was beginning to spark throughout Sunset’s body—one that she hadn’t felt in two months. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Sunset felt like things were going to be okay for once.
No matter how hard it was going to be, it was never too late to try and move forward.
While editing I accidentally hit “cut” and had to write the journal section ALL over again😡Damn these butterfingers of mine!!!!!!!
But I never the less managed to complete the next chapter (FINALLY) word of advise be careful when editing your story so that you don't accidentally erase half of your progress
Anyways hope you guys are enjoying the story and I should have the next chapter up by either next week or the week after. Until then I'll see ya'll around
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nice work
I’m actually glad they addressed a little bit of sunset’s bullying in this, because it seems like a lot of people brush it off. Not just in anon-a-miss stories, but redemption stories as well. I hope we get more of that.
Good chapter, nice to see Sunset and the Rainbooms moving forward. I'm on vacation right now so I don't have a lot of time to give this chapter some edits, but once I'm back home I'll work on it.
About your author's notes... if you cut something you can paste it again. It's not lost.
11670711
No prob man, take your time i'll be patient. Have fun on your vacation
11670734
Seriously? Well TBH I was on my ipad when I wrote the journal section of the story, hehe but I already rewritten it so guess it's too late now XD just gotta be careful next time XD
Nice chapter. I wonder when Rainbow will make an appearance? If she continues to avoid Sunset, she's never going to feel "emotionally" ready.