Two months later...
Sunny Starscout could barely contain her excitement as she stepped out of the Maretime Bay Museum of History for the final time before it would be officially open. The exhibits on all three races were ready, and the Guardians of Harmony wing looked positively stunning. As soon as she was determined to go back to Hitch's for a good night's sleep, the excitement only continued to pile on as she was told that repair work on the lighthouse was officially complete, and that she could move back in at any time.
So as the preparations for tomorrow's re-opening was finally complete, she now headed back towards the lighthouse at almost a full gallop, eager to see what it had looked like. She had kept herself so busy at the museum that she hadn't really made any time to go check on construction progress the past few months.
She got to the town's outer streets, and her breath left her in a gasp as she came over the crest of the first hill, and saw what had been done.
She was sure there were some details that would go unnoticed under the clear night sky, but the first thing she had noticed was the light at the top was fully functional again, and cast out a brilliant beam of light out to sea. She trotted up the path and found the moon bright enough to notice the fresh coat of paint on everything. It probably looked brand new in the light of day.
She came up to the front door and dug her house key out of her saddlebag, and brought it up to the doorknob, but found that it didn't go in, and it made her realize that they likely went with brand new locks as well.
"Looks like tonight isn't over yet," Sunny surmised, guessing they probably dropped the key off at her temporary address, which was Hitch's place. She turned and trotted back down the hill, and saw another pony come over the hill, and they met in the middle, before Sunny finally recognized him in the moonlight.
"Oh, Sprout!" She greeted.
"Hey, Sunny. The construction foreman couldn't find you, so he gave the key to Hitch... He said I should bring it by so you didn't have to walk all the way back into town. Here," Sprout said, tossing the metal key, ring, and tag over to the mare, who deftly caught it in her right hoof.
"Thanks," Sunny told him, giving him a smile.
"So, yeah. See ya," Sprout replied, turning quickly to head back down the path.
"Hey, not so fast," Sunny called after him, causing him to pause in his trot. "I haven't seen you in months. It almost feels like we've been avoiding each other. How have you been, Sprout?" Sunny asked, taking a few steps towards him.
The red earth pony slowly turned around, his ears low.
"I mean, as well as I can be, I guess. I keep reminding myself how lucky I am to still have my job with Hitch... Instead of having to take something at CanterLogic, staring at a conveyor belt for hours on end."
Sunny noted how Spout wasn't making eye contact, and was poking the ground with his left hoof anxiously.
"Hitch has said you've turned over a new leaf, and how much of an improvement you've been making."
Sprout nodded softly, again avoiding her gaze.
"Look, I know you have that museum opening in the morning, so... I won't keep you," Sprout said, again trying to excuse himself, but only got halfway turned around before Sunny spoke up again, and he realized it wasn't going to be that easy.
"Sprout, wait."
Sprout turned again, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Look, this isn't going to work, alright? I know you're trying to make nice, and act like it's all water under the bridge. Thanks, but... You don't know how others look at me now. Every single day," Sprout told her, finally looking her in the eyes, though he had to bite his lip to do so.
"Yeah, I do know. That's why I'm doing this. I wanted to see how you're doing, ask if you're okay," Sunny told him, dropping the key into her saddlebag.
"Am I okay? Really? Do you know how hard it is to get out of bed in the morning sometimes? How ashamed I feel every hour of every day now? How can Hitch ever expect me to serve this town when I can't even look at any of them?" He asked.
"It's not entirely your fault, Sprout."
"How can you say that? Of course it is."
"Not really. You, and all of Maretime Bay, were a product of your surroundings. We took the same classes, read the same history books..."
"And you're the only one who didn't turn into a paranoid, constantly frightened moron. You know why? Your dad. You listened to him, and nopony else did. That's not a very good excuse for the rest of us."
"But it is a reason, Sprout. Yeah, I listened to my dad and his research, but do you know how often I felt like doubting him, and got tempted to just go with the flow? More than you might think."
"Really?" Sprout asked, and Sunny nodded immediately.
"I also know it can be a little frustrating when your life doesn't quite turn out the way you think it will. I remember you always talking about being sheriff of Maretime Bay. Well, you didn't get it. Hitch did, and you probably have a better idea than anyone of how hard it can be to live and work in the shadow of somepony like that. When he went chasing after me, you saw it as a chance to re-capture your dream, and maybe didn't know where to stop." Sunny told him.
"That doesn't excuse what I did," Sprout said matter-of-factly.
"I'm not saying it does."
"Then what are you saying?" Sprout asked, the frustration becoming more apparent in his voice.
Sunny took several more steps towards him.
"I'm saying I forgive you, Sprout," Sunny said, slowly raising her right hoof and offered the stallion a hoofshake.
Sprout's eyes widened.
"J-Just... Just like that...?" He asked, barely above a whisper. Sunny nodded, and he slowly looked down at her outstretched hoof, his breathing slowly quickening.
He gritted his teeth, and swatted her hoof away, then proceeded to stomp at the ground.
"N... No! No! That's not fair! Y-you lost your dad, and... And after that this town gave you nothing but grief over your beliefs for y-years, and then... And then I nearly demolished your home! You're s-supposed to hate me! You... You can't just...! You can't...!"
Sunny heard his breaths come to him in unsteady gasps, noticed his ears pin flat against his head, and saw the tears rapidly accumulate behind his eyelids. He turned to gallop away, but before he could take a single step, he felt himself get turned back around and pulled into a firm but gentle hug.
"It's okay, Sprout," Sunny told him.
Spout shuddered as he felt something squeeze at his chest, and quickly build up to an unbearable pressure as it demanded release, and release it did in the form of a wailing cry as the burning hot tears finally spilled over, and he collapsed to his haunches as he lowered his head and sobbed into Sunny's barrel.
"I'm s-sorry..." He choked out between his guilt-stricken hiccups. "I'm-I'm so sorry..."
Sunny said nothing more, and held the Maretime Bay deputy as his shoulders heaved, casting aside the weight that he had been carrying these past few months, along with the guilt that had been eating him alive inside.
They stayed like that for several moments, sitting on the dirt path, illuminated only by the moonlight and it's reflection in the sea as it made it's nightly journey through the sky.
As he began to calm down, Sprout sniffled, then took a deep breath, gently pushing away from the hug.
"Thank you, Sunny. For what it's worth, thank you. I won't keep you up any longer, I know you've got a big day tomorrow morning," Sprout told her, wiping his eyes.
"Will you be alright?" She asked.
"Yeah," Sprout answered, nodding and sniffling again. "Yeah I think I will. Have a good night, Sunny."
"You too."
Hmmmm Onions.😋
Yeah, guess that was kinda due. And of course Sunny would be willing to forgive.
By the way:
Uh, it kinda is, isn't it?
Ohh look it's a kodiak moment!
🐻ROOOAR!!
Put that bear outta here!
Great chapter, glad to see sprout growing up
Yeah I expect something familiar to happen in the show too
To be honest I kind of expected that the whole time he was also hiding a black eye or other bruises.
Aww only 1 more chapter.. . ...
REALLY good job on this latest and probably second-to-last) chapter. Definitely liked the work that went into the dialogue and characterizations. REALLY understood Sunny and Sprout talking out at least a few of their issues. Glad to see Sprout taking responsibility for his actions and Sunny acknowledging how hard it was to follow her dad's teachings when nobody else was listening to him (even though, in the end, though the road was long and hard, it has finally hit a bit of paydirt).
Very much looking forward to the next (and very likely last) chapter.
only one more chapter to go?
Awwwwwww, so sweetttt!
I love this story it is amazing and though you are coming to your inspections end you inspired me and I believe many others with this amazing story and for that I thank you , looking forward to the last* chapter
Awww this was a very nice chapter and Sprout felt like he should not deserve a second chance after what he did to sunny and her friends and almost causing the warpath and he felt even more guilty but Sunny already forgave him and it was really nice to see how much he really forgave him Second Chance is a really beautiful thing yes it will take a long time for people to forgive you but if you tried hard enough it will work in the end and I wonder what's going to happen on the last chapter I guess I'll find out next time
Forgiveness is not something you get after you earned it, it's something you get so you can earn it.
So many people don't understand that and as a result will never forgive.
11004954
Yeah but magic wasn't really needed by anyone on earth
It doesn't give anything positive to people as a whole, only to few individuals, and it mostly creates a lot of problems for the rest.
Magic is like an invasive species in this scenario
You want to teleport things, sure but you probably will abuse that power so no.
UPDATE
I think people misunderstood what I meant
What I meant was that humans in the mirror world don't need any magic because it only causes problems and only greatly benefits certain people like Sunset and the human mane 6
11005070
Magic is also integral to Equestrians. You saw the unicorns in the movie, they more than any of the tribes have a powerful and potent connection to Equestrian magic, and yet they were also the tribe most affected by the loss of magic as shown in the movie. They seemed almost depressed and stagnant, 24/7. Maybe they didn't need magic in terms of how they functioned physically and the ability to survive on a day-to-day basis, but guaranteed their psyche suffered a ton.
As amazing as it would be for us humans to have magic, your points do stand somewhat when talking about ourselves, however we didn't evolve alongside magic, while the Equestrians did.
11004957
So many people seem to think that forgiveness, especially in fiction, is some magical cure-all. When you forgive someone all wrongs are immediately and totally forgotten as if they never happened in the first place.
I read somewhere that forgiveness is actually just moving past the desire for retribution. Sunny is a beautiful loving soul here. If someone did to me what Sprout did to Sunny, I can't say that I would be able to forgive them, at least not for a very long time.
It would be so easy to be angry with him, to shun him, or at least take pleasure in making him do the reconstruction as a punishment. Schadenfreud if you will.
11013400
It depends if you can you see yourself in their posittion or not. Mirror neurons active or not, if you will.
And forgiviness isn't cure-in-all, it just first step in alleviation own stress created by enmity to them. Hate prompted by someone's else wrong can be deceitfully sweet and destructive in the end. It's same mechasim that changes fearful, paranoid people into agressive fanatics. They learn to hate fear, then they learn to enjoy hate.
For guilty person... they have to find way to forgive themselves too, if they are repentful, and it's harder if someone didn't give them that already.
Some say that it is easy to see and harder to stop seeing an enemy as an monster. Wrong. It's way harder to not think you're monster if others actions imply that you are.
In a way, Sprout is convenient for Maretime Bay. Why?
Because he gives a face to all the paranoid bigotry this town peddled for centuries. Because Sprout is there, so everyone else can clap themselves on the back and congratulate each other. "None of us turned out like him!"
Just like he internalised all the bigotry, he seemed on the path to internalise all the guilt for everything that went wrong. Even those things that weren't directly on him.
11013400
I've found that all that negative energy targeted at someone is harmful to yourself and others. Not only does it not accomplish anything, but if the guilty party does want to make it up to you and is suffering, then you are part of holding them back from healing.
Yes, it's your decision wheather you forgive them, but should it be your decision how late ng or how much someone suffers?
Though, I do think an apology and some gesture to rectify the situation is somewhat expected.
Which he of course took it too far.
Princess twilight would of likely done the same thing if she were the one in Sunny's position.
she has the tongue of a diplomat.