Community service isn't exactly fun. Sunset Shimmer is learning that the hard way—especially when Saffron Masala keeps cooking extra meals that their soup kitchen couldn't pay people to eat. It's not fun, it's not worth it, and it's never ever ever going to change. And... for some reason, it seems Saffron's okay with that.
Now, six Wednesday nights out from the disastrous Fall Formal, Sunset decides that she might as well ask Saffron why.
Written for the May Pairings 2024 contest. Special thanks to my editors Octavia Harmony and Monochromatic, and to all of my wonderful prereaders. Art by me!
Chapters (1)
Very nice story
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thanks for reading!
Really impressed at how laden with this fic is with a palpable sense of homesickness and yearning. But still hopeful! Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first fic I've seen with an EQG version of Saffron, which is fun.
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glad you liked it! and yes, i was surprised to see she had so few fics, she's got such an interesting design to me (both of her character and her appearance ^^)
THIS IS AMAZING!! Your stories always have this really solid emotional core in them and this one is no exception!! Brilliant writing that let's me feel exactly what Sunset does in the moment. The idea of Sunset feeling like she's lost her connection to home works so well in parallel with Saffron's efforts to maintain her connections. I rushed to read this as soon as I saw it was here and now I'm rushing to add it to my favorites, where it belongs!!
so freaking good, your metaphors and timing are so apat with longing and yearning and laiden with guilt so bittersweet, its a story i wont be forgetting in a long time
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wahhh thank you so much! im so happy you liked it, this was a tricky one for me to write, so im glad to hear it managed to land well for you ^^
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thank u sm for the lovely comment! im honoured to receive such high praise haha, ur too kind ^^
Wow this was amazing!
Much like a bite of dal tadka, you've provided a scene filled with richness and flavor quite beyond what size should allow. Bravo.
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tysm!
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thank u so much for reading eileen! glad u enjoyed the story :D
Gorgeous
Outstanding scene. Sunset's stomach may not have needed this meal, but her heart certainly did. Plus, I'm always a sucker for characters we only ever saw on one side of the portal showing up on the other, and being inspired by color scheme was a very cool way to arrive at this pairing. Brilliant work in capturing both Sunset's inner turmoil at this stage of her life and Saffron's melancholy and longing seen from without. I do hope Sunset stays in touch after her community service is done. She could use a cool aunt.
Thank you for this and best of luck in the judging.
This story is very enjoyable, but I just had one question. Besides being a metaphor for homesickness, and being used as the main source of "Conflict." For this story, why wasn't Saffron's food taken? Personally, if I had to resort to going to food kitchens to get by, especially free food, I couldn't imagine not claiming it for myself.
So what was the problem with the food? The narration never seemed to delve into that part of the issue. Unless it is a cultural difference, I can't imagine someone desperate and needy turning their nose away from free, aromatic, extra food.
The Canterlot locals don't know what they are missing.
A delicious story, with powerful emotions and so much said with so little, by Saffron and Sunset both.
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thanks blue!
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tysm fome!! inspo always seems to grab me from the strangest of places haha, im glad that you enjoyed the story ^^
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indian dals notoriously look “weird”, at least thats what ive found from my own experience w people who arent as familiar w asian food. which is silly, since theyre no more weird-looking than sloppy joes! and, remember that they are still offering a western meal; saffron is making extra food out of her own stubbornness, so people are just gravitating to whats familiar since they dont want to take a meal but then not like it. hope that clears things up ^^
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thanks for reading! im happy you enjoyed the story :D
Congrats on this story on being on featured as this much a sweet & wonderful read with Saffron & Sunset bonding over about missing their respective families & home.
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thank u so much! glad you stopped by to check it out :D
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Welcome!
I know what my next recipe I'm making is :3
Really nice story, I liked the vibe of it. Bit sad, reminiscent, homey.
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Ah, ok. So it is a cultural thing. Still, you'd think needy people would be a bit less picky about what their food looks like, especially when it's not only extra food that you can grab whenever you like, but is also being given out completely for free. It seems so strange... Maybe they just aren't desperate enough, who knows?
I was so happy to be alerted of a new story from you and this one didn't disappoint. EXCELLENT work, as always. I'm actually not that familiar with Saffron since I haven't reached S6 of mlp yet lol, but it didn't feel like I lost anything from not watching her episode yet, you did a great job giving me a strong sense of her personality and I loved the parallels you drew between her and Sunset's homesickness.
Your Sunset was wonderful, as always. Having her very view of magic-something sacred to her- violated by her attempt to use the crown did to her is an angle I haven't really seen before, and an incredibly heartbreaking one.
Again, loved this fic, you continue to not miss.
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fr tho, i think i managed to make half my prereaders order indian food after reading hahaha
thanks sm for the comment!
In that one moment, Sunset Shimmer got her first real taste of home in over thirty moons.
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aaaa tysm for the kind words!! maybe one day ill have to throw a "miss" fic out there, just to prevent the expectations from building ever higher dkfjsdkfjd nah i joke, nd im glad that even tho u hadnt seen saffrons ep u were still able to enjoy the story! shes a rlly fun chara, im sad that we only got to see her for a single ep
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yep, something like that :>
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It's extremely common for people to be (at least somewhat) picky about food donations, actually. They are, after all, still human and like any other human have their own likes, dislikes, cultural expectations and frameworks for understanding food, desire for variety versus uniformity, and so on and so forth. Additionally, in those situations it's often one of the few things they actually have any agency over--they can certainly choose what they eat, even if they go hungry for a while.
For that reason a lot of programs to feed hungry people--humanitarian rations, food pantries, soup kitchens, everything--try to provide food that is appropriate for the community being served. Of course in a lot of cases (perhaps most cases where this has to be thought about in the U.S.) this means non-American foods, depending on what groups are relevant in a particular community (you're likely to see a lot more Hmong food in Minnesota than in Hawai'i, but conversely you'll see a lot more Pacific Islander food in Hawai'i than Minnesota), but if the community being served is Americans who are familiar with and want American food, well, that's just what it is.
A slowly paced soothing little moment that strikes me in the heart, especially being away from my parents and family here in Japan. Something about the sharing of pain and nurturing empathy through the simple pleasures of life really strikes a chord with me. Thank you for sharing, and best of luck with the contest.
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thank you very much for reading! and, im glad that this story could resonate with you; it's a bit of a relief to hear that other people have felt the same way too ;v;
Unwanted food meet unwanted former student.
Really nice story. I wouldn't have thought to connect the events of "Spice Up Your Life" with Sunset, but this worked quite well. I don't think I've seen Sunset's situation being compared to that of an immigrant often either. You portrayed the mutual homesickness effectively.
Gotta praise the cover art too.
As someone who used to (be forced to) volunteer there, Saffron's food would have gotten a better reception at a Hindu temple, but there may not be enough of a diaspora in Canterlot, and there are plenty of Christian Indians in any case. I also assume she tried different dishes over time but none worked so she ended up sticking to one.
Beautifull work.
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In addition to echoing all of Workable Goblin’s points, I’ll add this: when your whole life is utterly uncertain—to the extent you don’t know where you will be sleeping tonight, when you will get your next meal, or even whether you will survive the next day—you are desperate for anything that is familiar and comfortable. In that regard food is about as fundamental as it gets; after all, “comfort food” is a stock phrase for a reason.
Lovely little interlude, with spot-on characterizations of everyone involved, that shines a warm light on implications of Sunset’s backstory unexplored by the franchise as well as the differences and similarities between the counterpart families of Saffron and Cumen.
And your artwork for it is wonderful as always.
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tysm for reading sigma! and yeah, i kinda just drew on personal experiences here, w cultural food not being received well in a christian environment ^^ easier to write from life after all!
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glad u enjoyed the story!
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thanks you so much for reading, and for leaving such a lovely comment ^^ im glad you liked the story (and the art)!
Amazing story, you can really feel the homesickness and bittersweet longing from both Sunset and Saffron throughout it all.
However, while the primary connection to Home for Sunset was her magic, there's another connection to Equestria hanging over the conversation like a mundane but equally sharp blade. Food/Cuisine, ironically enough.
Growing up in a palace, it is unlikely that Sunset was taught to cook before crossing the portal. But even if she was, it wouldn't help her. What a pony can digest and what a human can digest are completely different. So even if Sunset were to cook a beloved dish from Equestria, she wouldn't be able to eat it without getting sick. It adds to the thematic depth of the story that this conversation on maintaining connections to distant but still important homes is centered around an avenue denied to one of the participants.
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thats an interesting connection there too! actually, i think indian cuisine is often very vegetarian friendly, so maybe she and saffron would have another point to bond over too with respect to sharing their cuisines ^^
thanks for reading!
This fic has been an unexpected, but welcome shock. Namely because I'm currently dealing with some homesickness myself recently. This was incredibly poignant and a true delight.
Goodness... now I think I need to go cry. A good cry, to be sure.
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ahhh tysm for reading! i am glad this story can make an impact, and i hope that this homesickness will lessen for you in time ;v;
You always do this, evelili. All your stories have this rich, deep emotional core that manages to hit me where it hurts. (And this is coming from someone who has only ever known one home and has lived there her entire life.)
Stories about Sunset’s early days of redemption always hits the spot for me. Pairing her with Saffron was so unexcepted and yet, the more you delved into it, the more sense it made. As someone with Indian ancestry who grew up with basmati rice and daal, I appreciate the research that went into the food.
This is the second of your stories to enter my Heartstrings shelf and, hopefully, the second of many to come. Beautiful work, evelili, and best of luck in the contest!
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thank you so much for reading! and yeah, i was a little surprised at how few stories saffron had on here, i swore she was a more popular character, or that someone else would have made the red-yellow connection to sunset’s hair xd. im glad that the food was represented p authentically as well! ive grown up with a p good exposure to indian food, + my dads culture having similar food, so it was smth really important for me to research and get accurate (esp as someone who is a horrible cook hahaha)
tysm again for reading, and for the comment!
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You’re most welcome. Keep on rocking!
this was such a delight to read—its human-ness is ever present and strikes you in ways you dont expect it to, even if you don't necessarily empathize with either of their situations, you still find yourself trying to. beautiful!
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thank you so much! “human-ness” i think really hits on what i want to express with what i write, i really like how u describe it ^^