The great joy was like a shot in the arm for the group, finally, after shooting texts apologizing, begging and groveling for a chance to make up for what they had done, Sunset Shimmer had unblocked her phone and made contact.
It wasn't surprising that out of all of them, she had contacted Fluttershy. The timid girl had almost lost hope until that old, familiar number came up. The animal caregiver was excited but extremely cautious, not wanting to upset the red head and cause her to put the wall back up. Thankfully the five minute phone call went smoothly, ending with Sunset simply saying that she would call again later.
Every call was exciting news that Fluttershy shared with her friends, a light finally seen at the end of the tunnel that grew to it's brightest when, after three weeks, Sunset finished her latest phone call with Fluttershy saying that she wanted to meet the group.
Naturally there were conditions. No hyper Pinkie Pie, Dash and Applejack had to keep themselves in check, and no speaking up when she would say her peace.
Fluttershy called back ten minutes later saying everyone was in agreement of the rules before agreeing to meet at the mall in the afternoon.
The group was tense as they sat at a table in the food court, barely touching their soft pretzels and other snacks as they waited. Rarity kept fiddling with her hair, Pinkie was gripping the edges of her seat to keep still and Applejack was sitting tensely with her arms crossed.
She knew out of all of them, she and Dash had the beSt track record for contracting foot in mouth syndrome. Applejack hoped she'd gotten better, she wasn't perfect,but she wanted to show Sunset she was better.
When Pinkie Pie sat straight up like a merkat, everyone knew she'd spotted Sunset. A strange tension washed through the group, a mix of excitement and nervousness.
They were... Nervouscited, if Pinkie had to put a word to it.
Sunset hadn't seems to change a lot since a year ago, leather jacket, new clothes, the horrible scar on her cheek that made more than one of them wince.
As she took her seat, she studied each of them, beautiful turquoise eyes as she studied them, testing them, seeing if they would keep to the rules. Her gaze ever remained neutral as the group kept quiet and still.
A long time passed in the tense silence, the noise of thr mall fading away as the first move slowly made it's entrance.
"It's been awhile." Sunset said simply.
"Quite awhile." agreed Rarity, ever the social one and able to take the lead. "You look good, darling."
"I'm sure the scar accents my features nicely." Sunset said cooly as Rarity'a charming smile became strained.
"Yes, well..." she began, a small stall as she cleared her throat and recovered. "I'm sorry. That it happened to you."
The only response was a small hum, from Sunset's throat, almost a mystery to it's meaning as Sunset kept a figurative distance as ahem looked first to Dash and then to Applejack.
Knowing she was testing again, like a top dog circling a leaser dog, Applejack kept her mouth shut and returned the neutral look with one of her own. This distrust and prodding was deserved, ahem knew it, and if it meant proving things could be okay and patched up, she could take anything Sunset threw at her.
The tension lessened by some as the awkward small talk continued, everyone in the group muted and trying to stay as far away from the line as possible.
Finally, Fluttershy summoned her nerve to speak at the next opportunity "So... We were planning to go to the movies next weekend. And I was thinking, if you wanted... You could join us?" she asked, averting her gaze from Sunset's as she fiddled with her fingers.
Staring for a moment, Sunset replied "No, thank you Fluttershy."
Looking like her stomach had dropped, Fluttershy quickly stitched a smile back on as she attempted to salvage the fumble "O-oh! Right, it would be too soon, I'm sorry, m-maybe in a month or so."
Frowning, she waited for Fluttershy to finish before speaking "This is where I'm going to say my peace. And I do not want to be interrupted until I finish." When they all nodded, she took a breath and let it out slowly "I won't be hanging out with any of you again after today."
"What!?" said Dash, standing up and looking ready to continue until,the hard look front Sunset cowed her. As she sat down, that look turned to the rest, both Rarity and Fluttershy look upset, Pinkie was about ready to burst and Applejack had sat up straight, arms uncrossed.
"Look... after Anon-A-Miss, I just can't feel comfortable around you guys."
"But we just did the one bad thing! Not the really bad thing!" said Pinkie Pie, taking her turn for an outburst.
"One more and I leave right now." said Sunset, giving Pinkie Pie a glare that made her wilt in her seat before turning it on the others. Once she was sure things were in order, she continued "I know what you guys did and didn't do, but all of you abandoned me when I needed you most. And after that I can't trust you guys."
"But we can! If you just give us a chance-!" began Fluttershy.
"No." said Sunset, her words like a slap to to Fluttershy's face "After everything, you guys don't deserve it." she said as she stood "I want all of you to stopsending me emails and texts. Goodbye."
In the moment Sunset turned her back on them, Applejack looked between her friends. Fluttershy was near tears and Rarity was trying to console her. Pinkie Pie was totally deflated and Dash was holding her head in her hands, biting her lip hard to keep quiet.
It made Applejack's blood boil and she uttered something that Sunset caught, stopping her in her tracks "What?" she asked, turning her ear I. Applejack's general direction.
"Ah said..." began Applejack, her voice much louder and drawing the group's attention to her. "Ah guess that'd make us damn foolish givin' ya' another chance after the Fall Formal, wouldn't it?" she repeated, green eyes locking with blue as a storm began to brew.
"Yes, and it was so noble of you to do that favor for the princess." sneered Sunset, ready to walk again.
"Ya' know damn well we didn't have to." said Applejack, standing up and crossing her arms. Her power stance not nearly as intimidating as Sunset's but she was doing a decent job. "Princess Twilight weren't there ta' twist our arms it bein'yer friend!"
"No but some friends throwing my mistake in my face. But no offense right?" said Sunset, turning to face Applejack and one up her on pose-Fu as she crosses her arms.
"And we were sorry fer bein' jackasses! We cut that out after!" Applejack countered.
"And sorry doesn't cut it after you all stabbed me in the back during Anon-A-Miss!" said Sunset, temper flaring as she slammed her hand onto the table, making the other four jump."Maybe if you had been real friends, I wouldn't of almost died!"
"AND WE'RE SORRY!" shouted Applejack, voice warbling slightly as her throat tightened some. "We made a horrible mistake, we wanna make up fer it n' be friends again!"
"Well I'm not interested in tolerating any of you any more just so you lot can feel less guilty!" Sunset hissed out.
"Cause ya' can't give us the same courtesy we gave y'all after the Fall Formal? To give us a chance ta' make up fer our wrongs?" asked Applejack, voice cool and sounding sad as she asked "Did y'all even care 'bout our friendship?"
"Did you during Anon-A-Miss?" Sunset deflected cruelly?
"Well?" pressed Applejack, waiting for an answer.
Staring for a moment or two, Sunset seemed to come to a decision as fire turned to ice "I thought I did. But not anymore."
The blonde felt her heart tighten, like a horse hitched up way too tight. But then her temper boiled over "Then go ahead and run, ya' coward. It's what year good at!" she snapped.
Sunset's eyes narrowed dangerously, boring into Applejack's before she turned and left, quickly disappearing into the mall crowd.
"Applejack... What the hell?" asked Dash, slumped in her chair, her and the others staring at the cowgirl.
"... Ah'm goin' home." said Applejack, quickly turning before anyone could say anything else, wiping her eyes on her sleeve as she too disappeared in the crowd.
Whoa.......
Uh.......... ist there gonna be a chapter after this? Cause I can see potential with this story.
Foot in mouth, Applejack.
9054852
A continuation would just have AJ berate herself.
9054852
No plans for a sequel honestly. Just a thought that came to mind.
9054940
Man you got to! i mean AJ royally screwed up, if Sunset didn't hate them before now..........i wouldn't be surprised the others broke up their friendships with her now.
9054955
Honestly I'm interested in seeing what people think and so far, interesting.
Retread
You had ONE JOB APPLEJACK! One Frickin' Job!
9054967
Honestly think AppleJack just being bitter over it all.
she said such hurtful things as what Sunset was saying was true. they threw into Sunset's face her mistakes over and over, heck even if Anon A Miss didn;t happen they still be doing it. In the Summer Camp they did it again to Sunset and Sci Twi.
I think AppleJack more angry at not getting a chance to make up for what she fail to do.
Being honest and true to their friendship, and letting go of her stubborn stupidity and grudge she still had, they fell for the same trick twice, Sunset just sent a few texts and had them at each other throats for several years the first time.
When all they had to do was talk to each other at the time, and then they fall for a obvious frame up, and honest Jacky lying to herself, i think she wanted to be right, and ignore the obvious truth.
she bitter she was wrong, she bitter that her sister was guilty, she bitter that her sister is a target, and only by Sunset's grace, she not being ambushed.
by making the same teens who nearly kill her be their body guards,, and she bitter that Sunset could of died, and it was one of their own who did this.
So yeah Sunset has every right not to trust them if Dash the so call Element of Loyalty was willing to set her up to be ambushed and nearly murdered in cold blood.
Never mind she didn't know it go that far, she still set up for Sunset to be attacked.
then what would the others do, so far AppleJack proven her true, to throw everything into her face like a bitter angry spoiled brat like her sister.
If Granny smith heard what she said and did.....she be holding a long flexible stick and having her bent over to take a whipping.
9054967
Well, things said in the heat of the moment cannot be unsaid.
I agree. This doesn't feel or read at all like a one shot. Feels like a start.
wow Applejack lost her brain cells when she lost Sunset.
This definitely feels like a chapter one and not an open ending. I do like the idea and it can go in just about any direction. Heck, maybe it could be left open for others to take a shot at doing a follow up?
Anyways, in this particular case, I don’t think Applejack has any argument whatsoever to stand on. Her trying to use the argument that they didn’t have to do what Twilight asked them to was borderline pathetic, you mean your not going try doing the one thing the person who just saved your friendships from your own stubbornness asked you to? Couple that with them only willing to talk it out after Twilight showed them they were tricked in the first movie and Sunset making it piss easy on them, this argument falls flat.
Then we have Sunset calling them out for not being good friends. And she has a point. In Rainbow Rocks, they made a token attempt to be her friend, but constantly left her out and forgot about her, not really giving her a real chance. And Applejack tries to counter this by saying they said they were sorry... Except the only times we’ve seen them go out of their way for Sunset was to include her in the band after she stopped them from fighting and was the key to defeating the Sirens and the slumber parties. Sunset already forgave them once for being asses, then after a tiny amount of time being friends, Anon-A-Miss happened. Again, no real argument on Applejack’s side.
And now the real kicker. Applejack doesn’t seem to realize that not only did they go out of their way to destroy the friendship that was building after Sunset had proved herself, none of them were there to help her when she was tortured and left to die. Worse, one of them set it up, with the intent of Sunset getting hurt. Every time the chips have been down, they devour themselves. One incident each was enough to tear them apart for a long time before Twilight cleared it up. None of them stood up for Sunset in Rainbow Rocks and even seemed to agree with the crowd (plus weren’t willing to admit to their own mistakes). Then they tore themselves apart from the pressure until Sunset reunited them. Sure, they were friends after, when Sunset was accepted by the rest of the school and it was easy. They’re fair weather friends at best.
Sunset did forgive them once for the RR and before treatment. She did give them a chance. Then Anon-A-Miss happened. Why should Sunset care anymore? Should she have to constantly watch her back in case they decide she isn’t worth the effort? Or worse, what if she does actually make a mistake? They aren’t exactly a forgiving bunch without someone else to drag them into it.
Run, or quit while she’s ahead? Trying everything she could to fix that friendship nearly got her killed, partly due to one of said friends. It was barely a friendship before that.
One thing I’m kind of iffy on in this story is that I’m pretty sure Dainn’s Sunset would’ve torn apart Applejack’s arguments pretty thoroughly.
9054855
You mean foot, ankle, and Leg
9055006
idiot
Uh, is this really complete? Because it sure feels like the first chapter of a story, not a complete short story.
As other have pointed out this is a very good start to a story. However if nothing follows it, (you can change it to incomplete and keep going) this is just sorta meh. Nothing meaningful happens and nothing is resolved at all. It's like Sunset just showed up to be a bitch and the Rain-boom's all forgot she was nearly murdered.
It really is a good start though, you should keep going and build on it.
can you PLEASE make this a story! THIS IS SO INTERESTING!
In order for them to have been friends they would've needed to have given her the benefit of the doubt, a chance to defend herself and have had faith in her innocence until there was irrefutable evidence of her guilt. So what friendship is she referring to?
Goddammit, AJ.
Correction Applejack: You five were the real cowardly former friends after all, not Sunset.
9054940
I don't care, I'm bookmarking this anyway, just in case.
9055006
Hey, I was gonna use that line in an Anon-A-Miss and Loki crossover story, where Loki (set after the events of Infinity War, where he somehow ends up in Equestria and becomes the Element of Fun) confronts them about this mistake and berates them heavily in front of many students at Sugarcube Corner.
I wake up and have my coffee and bam, all these comments. Let me address the choice ones.
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To y'all wanting more, I'll say it again. I only intended this to be a one shot based on a thought I had. I honestly didn't think it would get a strong response, nor do I know what to write next. Sometimes things don't have a clear ending or a resolution.
HOWEVER, reading some of these comments may be planting little ideas in mind. So we'll see if it bares any fruit in the futrue, but I'll keep it complete so as not to unnecessarily raise hopes.
9055215
A very nice break down analyzing the faults of the one side. I do so enjoy a comment that makes me think.
I will say one thing for Sunset not tearing apart AJ's arguments. Sometimes you can argue with a stubborn mule, other times you can just say nothing because nothing needs to be said.
9055441
Fairweather Friendship I suppose?
Fairweather Friendship Definition: A friendship consisting of fairweather friends instead of real friends.
Not bad but the ending screams part 2.
Hope to see it sometime
Just to let you know you put stop sending as one word
9055710
Applejack is going to be kicking herself, isn't she?
Well no one appears to be actively bleeding or on fire so I’d say that went about as well as could be expected.
I have to say I kind of agree with Apple Jack, I mean for 3 years, Sunset made their lives a living hell before the Fall Formal, and even tried to enslave them to use them as puppets to take over a alternate dimension to their own. I mean they gave Sunset a chance to atone for her mistakes, yet Sunset can't give them the same treatment. I know that they betrayed her trust, but giving up on them entirely just justifies them turning their back on Sunset seeing how she is turning her back on them. I mean, she could at the very least give them a chance to atone and then if things don't work out then be done with them. I mean, what was even the purpose of her being lonely and wanting friends if she won't even give the only friends she ever had, the same chance they gave her. I hate what happened to her, but at the same time, it points out a character that has no issue taking the kindness and forgiveness for her own actions but then when presented with the same scenario only reversed, she can't do the same. I hope the author of this story makes a follow up to this, I want to know if anything Apple Jack said, stuck with Sunset, or if she is just going to ignore it, and move on, I mean the whole point of the meeting even seems pointless, if she had no intentions of forgiving them, then why do any form of meet up at all, just keep them blocked and stay away. It gave the false sense that Sunset could forgive them or at the very least give them hope of atoning for their mistakes, yet this entire meet up was essentially Sunset telling them to stop texting her. Something she could have done through a text message, over the phone or done on a social media site that they all followed. And then went back to ignoring them. I can understand why in this situation Apple Jack is upset, she was given a sense of false hope and wasted her time just to hear Sunset tell them the same they she told them a year prior.
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Seemed like she met with them in person to tell them to their faces to stop pestering her, so that it would feel final. It seems like they wouldn’t stop otherwise.
As for what Applejack said, the problem is that both Rainbow Rocks and the comic (or in this case, Dainn’s story) happened. Sure Applejack can claim they forgave Sunset and want her as a friend, but what reason does Sunset have to believe that? They only didn’t completely ostracize her because Twilight asked them in the first place. They casually insult her through Rainbow Rocks and left her out. As soon as things get rough, they never stick up for her and do think the worst. And it’s not like there was any risk to them, they were some of the more popular students and Sunset was completely at the bottom. They could’ve dumped her whenever they wanted. Then, when she’s saves them and their friendship, they finally accept her, only to dump her at the first sign of trouble. They don’t investigate, they don’t try to stop anything Anon-A-Miss is doing, they just dump her and mope. They barely even questioned if it was really her and why would she do it (and didn’t even remotely think about either).
It’s even worse in the Dainn version, as one of them willing baits her into an ambush. Sure Rainbow didn’t know how bad it was going to get (she did nearly get Sunset killed, left to be frozen to death after being beaten multiple times and scarred), but did what she did fully willingly expecting Sunset to get hurt.
There’s also the first movie to take into account, where Sunset was able to break up their friendships with a message or a few each. They’ve fallen victim to fraud very easily before and it took Twilight to bring them back together. Then they nearly tear themselves apart in Rainbow Rocks when things get hard and Sunset pulls them back together. Fraud again, and bam, leave Sunset to rot and nearly get her killed, all while Sunset actually solves the case for them.
If this was in the movie timeline and included the shorts, sure Sunset was being a hypocrite. The issue is that anything post RR was wiped barring the modified version of the comic. Applejack can easily claim they forgave Sunset, and she’s technically right, but with too many buts attached. It took until the end of Rainbow Rocks for them to accept her and even then still dumped her. They didn’t include her because they wanted her there but because Twilight asked them to.
How can she be sure they won’t do this again? Can Sunset even be happy spending time with them after everything that happened? Do they even want Sunset as a friend for more than helping with their guilt? How would they react if Sunset gave them a chance but was still bitter until they do something like Rainbow Rocks? Sure, everything can go perfectly, but what are the chances (especially in Sunset’s mind), can she even know if it’s going well, and is it worth the risk?
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I see what you are saying but what you are not seeing is that their relationship was still extremely new by the point of RR and even the Anon-A-Miss comic. You can clearly see a timeline in the very beginning of RR where you see the sirens seeing the rainbow that is blasting and reforming Sunset, indicating that it is set just after the first move. By this point, why her friends and even the school may have stopped fearing her, that does not mean that forgiveness was 100 % there. When you spend years terrorizing a school and the people you now call friends, those actions just don't go away even if the person has changed. Yes they forgave her, but that does not mean they still was not skeptical of her. I mean, essentially to expect them to drop all those years of hurt, in one moment, and put their faith in her 100 % would be as if Twilight and her friends walked up to Discord right after they freed him from stone and said "Hey we forgive you, here take the Elements as our sign of trust" They may have forgiven her but that skepticism was still there and by that time they did not really have enough time to really see that Sunset had truly changed.
Now had a Anon-A-Miss story happened around the time or lets say "Forgotten Friendship or heck even "Legends of the Everfree" then I would 100 % agree that they have no merit, but given how recent it was after their friendship, I could see why they would jump to conclusions rather than stand up for Sunset, that skepticism was still there and Anon-A-Miss, brought those fears to life and yes they acted rashly, but when Sunset going back to her old ways was a constant fear, and seeing the signs that she just might have in Anon-A-Miss, I can't really blame them for reacting badly to it. I mean to them if they thought that Sunset did it, they are not going to care about details such as Sunset saving them or those other good times inbetween, because to them, they could have been a part of her ploy, a ploy to get close to them, find personal secrets, and then expose them. And her saving the school from the sirens could have just been her getting rid of any competition.
Now what Rainbow Dash did I agree is inexcusable and unforgiveable, but should the other 4 be brought down with her when they even disagreed with Rainbow Dash once they learned what she had done? I could understand Sunset not forgiving Rainbow for that, but was the others being fooled like the rest really such a crime that Sunset (Someone who tried to enslave two universes) can't forgive them like they had her? I mean why not forgive them but house that same skepticism they held toward her, make it clear that they have to prove themselves, rather then just outright forgiving them. Also again, it was nothing but a waste of time for Sunset to go down their and tell them to stop pestering her, given her attitude and the fact that she even threatened to walk away if Pinkie did not stop interrupting her tells me she really did not care enough to even tell them what she told them, so why not just leave a message and block them.
Its one thing to just abandon them and move on, but why drag them somewhere, waste their time, and get their hopes up over something that she could have done over the phone.
One final note, if Sunset was truly done then why not go back to Equestria? It is obvious their is nothing left here, so why Stay? I am surprised she stayed for a entire year past this incident, which brings me to my final point, their has to be something in this world she still cares about and that she knows she and her x friends are the only ones capable of stopping whatever evil rears its head, I mean imagine Midnight Sparkle appearing in a world where the Rainbooms have fallen apart, their world and Equestria would die, at the hands of Twilights corrupted counterpart.
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Sunset does still have people she cares about in the human world, Snips, Snails, and the principals. Sure it’s not much, but what’s there on the other side of the portal for her beyond Twilight? Dainn didn’t establish any kind of life she left behind, so there’s no knowing if there is anything worthwhile for her there.
As for Sunset trying to kill and enslave them, she wasn’t under control of her own actions at the time. Yes, she put on the crown (not sure what she was expecting to happen, Movie kind of forgot to establish almost everything...), but after that she changed. Went from not willing to use Spike to trade for the crown to mind control and murder, plus the later movies and specials confirmed. It doesn’t mean she’s innocent as she did still put on the crown, but the actions were involuntary. Plus, in the end, she was the only one hurt by it.
And for the gap between movies, it’s unclear how long it was, but it was long enough for all the pre movie shorts to happen, the girls to form a band, and the entirety of season 4 to happen (though time does travel at different rates between the worlds), so a decent amount of time has passed. The time between the movie and comic/Dainn’s story is also unknown, though it does seem to be soon after the movie.
There’s also some very important differences between past Sunset and the Anon-A-Miss scenario. Sunset was an ass, but always an ass. She wasn’t their friend (or when she pretended she was, it didn’t last long). She got trounced and had a wake up call. On the other hand, Sunset trusted them completely. They were the ones who pushed her to her lowest point. They were the first to turn. And they didn’t even try to talk it out with her, just yelled at her in front of everybody (only confirming she still had her phone, even after they’ve had fake texts before...). Sunset tried talking to them many times, none of them gave her a chance and all them were certain she did it, never doubting it. That was how they treated her when they jumped to the conclusion she was guilty.
Rereading this chapter, I think Sunset may have been testing out whether she can actually tolerate being in their presence. Plus, she did give a chance for closure, saying goodbye one last time to their faces. I really don’t see the issue with setting up the meeting after they’ve kept trying to get a hold of her. It is what they wanted, just didn’t go how they hoped.
Funny thing is that I personally do think Sunset should give them a chance. It would probably be good for both of them and I’m pretty sure the girls learned their lesson and are genuine (not just trying to ease their guilt). I just don’t think Applejack’s argument holds any weight, nor is there any reason for Sunset to see it as such. Applejack essentially tried to argue Sunset was in the wrong and selfish for not wanting anything to do with them, while ignoring all the details.
somebody stab AJ please?
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she cares bout snips snails and the principals???
9094175
dang I can barely stand writing essays in school and ya’ll do it in your free time
9094175
wait but enslaving them was already on her mind before she put on the crown she wanted to be queen now the enslavement she did and the one she wanted to do were different though. it’s probably a bad idea to post this but bad ideas is my middle name and hindsight is 20/20 is my motto
9098095
Can I play the Psycho shower theme? Because that's as close as I can get.
I can see they both have some very good points. Don't get me wrong they all screwed up in their own ways at different times.
Really? Why did they abandon you? Because they thought you betrayed their trust?
9094175
Many times? When? Also you forget that from their perspective Sunset betrayed them and were being harrassed over their secrets by the rest of the school. Do you expect them to be calm and rational after that? Did they have any way to prove that her phone was hacked?
That is all speculative and you know it.
Possibly not, because she sure doesn't realize her own hypocrisy over feeling hurt over betrayal...despite the same thing having happened to the other girls and no other culprit found. I hate to say it, but she was the most likly subject.
like they did for her and then some? More hypocrisy.
9094175
My guess she was lost to own dark side. We all have mean thoughts that we never do because it is wrong but strong magic plus negative emotions equal monster who is power crazed in some way. Nightmare moon went nuts because she wanted to be appreciated. Sunset went nuts because she wanted to powerful for some reason.
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yet she did her best to make up for it including helping to save the school from the sirens yet that wasn't enough for her to be forgiven by them because they took the first piece of evidence that she was bad to throw her away. If she had been bad the whole time why would she have helped them with the sirens.
Princess Twilight didn't twist your arm into being Sunset's friend, Applejack or the arms of the rest of the Rainbooms. If you didn't want to be Sunset's friend, you should've said so to Twilight.
I know it's 5 years late, but I just wanna throw in my 2 cents. She gave you a second chance after the battle of the bands when you all, including Twilight, treated her like crap. But she came in and saved you all, and gave "you" a second chance. She didn't ask for a third, but you're demanding one.
All in all well done, a short nicely written story.