Just one week out from her demonic transformation and subsequent rainbow friendship blast to the face, Sunset Shimmer needs a new leather jacket, as her old one (seen here) was destroyed. Reluctantly, she goes to the closest clothier to her home: the infamously uptight Carousel Boutique. Making matters tougher, she must deal face to face with a girl she badly hurt. Can friendship take root even after three years of hatred and distrust?
This is the prequel story for Sunset's Recovery Arc.
Jacket art generously provided by Bootsy Slickmane.
The saga begins!
Niiiice.
Oh that ship is gonna sail all right
8182379 - The thing about reading a prequel is you know what's coming up. Sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination. And the author making a Freudian slip he didn't even notice until you pointed it out.
8182170 - Thank you!
8182068 - You have no idea how tempted I am to post the Weird Al music video in response. But instead I'll just say this:
8182429 Oh! Oh! And congrats on getting featured!
horsejokes.exe
Now I hear Sunset saying that name but with a 'heavy' Russian accent.
8183056 -
Oddly enough, I don't think I had TF2 on the brain when I first mentioned her jacket's name two years ago. Although now I'm imagining her reaction if someone touches it:
Absolutely serious: In my headcanon/backstory, Sunset Shimmer has always originally hailed from Stalliongrad.
So I guest Sunset is heavy now?
good story
Oh, waist length purple hair reaching down to her waist, you say?
By chance, do you think you could tell me how long her waist length purple hair reaching down to her waist was? :P
8184636 - Oops. Even the best editors sometimes overlook stuff.
I will fix that error. Thanks for letting me know.
EDIT: I have now made that paragraph not suck.
I... never considered this as a ship. Huh. Interesting. It plays nicely this whole story, and I'm intrigued knowing it's a sage. Will try to read the others at sometime. For now, this definitely deserves a favorite!
Rarity's flattering herself by thinking Sunset named the jacket after her. She obviously named it in honor of the late Roger Moore.
As much as I like getting the ~deep jacket lore~, I can't help but feel like Rarity's moved to forgiveness a bit... too quickly? Given how deeply her enmity for Sunny still runs at the start of this story, I mean. I can see her pitying Sunset, even empathizing with her after a fashion, but the footing that they end the story on feels more stable than it should be, if they're just rebooting their relationship.
Also:
1. Rarity's pride is clearly stung by this discovery, so it strikes me as odd that she'd share it with Sunset out of hand, as opposed to during an inner monologue.
2. I don't get Sunset's line; is it because she's been putting on weight (too many burritos? there's a line in Lows and Highs where she muses about giving in and overeating, too, so maybe it's a call forward), or is there some other mystery that I'm overlooking?
8185180 - I wish I could say that was the case, but this story dropped before I knew Sir Moore had died. The "R" jacket is actually named after an IRL friend of mine.
I was concerned about that, but the original version of the 'office' scene, which had a lot more bickering and airing of grievances, put too much info out there that's already mentioned in other stories (i.e. repetitive) and wasn't really moving the story forward; in fact, it made it harder to get her where I needed her to be. So I took the authorial reins back and rewrote the scene. Maybe more forced, but it got the job done.
As to your other point, Sunset could simply be referring to genetics -- she is a science geek after all -- and/or it's part of the bigger mystery surrounding Sunny that I'll get into in the next (real-time) story. Sunny actually lost weight during her breakdown because she hardly ate for over a month. Oh, and Rarity airs her annoyance over body type directly with Sunset because I'm an idiot and didn't think about having her complain to the merchandise. Since you've pointed it out, I should rewrite the scenes, but at this point why bother?
*Slow Clap that builds in intensity*
I did NOT know Sunset names her jackets like the Heavy with his miniguns.
8413596 - In my universe, she names just about all her major possessions. Her jackets, guitar, laptop, and scooter are named. The tiny cactus in her bathroom has a name too, revealed in my non-canon Halloween story and canonically in the next SRA entry which I haven't finished yet.
8413955 Since when does Sunset ride a scooter- Wait, I'm pretty sure scooters are skateboards with handlebars and mopeds are the kinda motor vehicle you can sit normally on. Also, I realized that the sitting style for motorcycles is similar to horseback riding.
8413968 - Where I live, "scooter" and "moped" are interchangeable to a point. Yes, a scooter can be a kid's toy (skateboard with handlebars; I had one as a kid), but it also refers to a moped with an engine displacement of ≤50cc. At that low level of power, it can be driven on local roads without need for license or tags. This plus their excellent gas mileage makes them popular in my city -- a college town with lots of foreign students.
Sunset is technically an illegal immigrant in EQG-world, so she can't get a proper ID or driver's license (I go into this in an upcoming fic -- she has several ID's, all fake). That plus the fact she lives downtown makes a motor-scooter ideal.
I've just now discovered this series.
Poor Sunny!
Huh... I think this is actually the first story I've read that realistically (snorts) depicts Sunset's struggle to change. Eager to start reading the next ones.
Not to nit pick, I like it, honest, but it's "once more unto the breach". This is litterally the only issue I see. Otherwise, great fic. I'll be reading the rest of them as well.
Baby steps Sunset...baby steps.
Very nice. I like this take on Sunset's first steps toward reformation. Another saga, another distraction.
8183090
Huh. Little Stalliongradi Match Filly? I can dig it. Headcanon assimilated.
You also had way too many extra words around your dialogue tags. A lot of those adverbs and descriptions were already communicated via the dialogue itself, so repeating it in the descriptions is both entirely unnecessary and pretty grating. It hurts the immersion of the story.
That said, this was pretty decent. I thought you did pretty well with the concept, the pacing, the character development, etc.
Lovely character building piece. I love the gradual reconciliation.
This was a sweet piece to read Thank you for writing it.
You can has review!
Jeez, that's horrible she still hasn't fixed her appearance since then.
That was quite rid calling rarity that. Even if her skin is white as snow granted I'd never call her that.
How unfortunate of her.
That's pretty nice if you ask me.
Give her a chance rarity. Everyone deserves them even if what they did might have been tragic or not.
I can understand why she's shocked since I bet she didn't expect sunset to do it to begin with.
I'm not even gonna ask why she's put it there of all places. 😦
Nice sci twi mention there
It's a long journey ahead but I know you can do it sunset!