JANUARY 11, 2014

At Sweet Apple Acres, Big Macintosh was tending to his girlfriend, Sugar Belle. She was a beautiful young woman at nineteen-going-on-twenty with moderate cerise eyes and poofy moderate magenta hair tied up near the end with two ball-shaped hair clips; one light blue, and the other a very light gray. At this moment, the two were having a talk about different ways of making apple related treats.

"From what Ah've heard," said Big Mac, "if ya'll use wood from an apple tree in a wood burnin' stove, it'll add more apple flavor to what ya'll cook."

"Really?" asked Sugar Belle in amazement.

"Eeyup," replied Big Mac in his usual manner. "Granny Smith taught me that."

"So how has your sister's band been going?" asked Sugar Belle.

"They're doin' mighty fine," said Big Mac. "Though," he added with concern, "of her friends, Sunset Shimmer, ain't doin' so well from what Applejack tells me."

"What's wrong?"

But before Big Macintosh could reply, there was a loud scream coming from the barn where the music was being recorded.

"What was that?" cried Sugar Belle.

"Sounds lak trouble," said Big Mac. "We'd better go investigate."

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER

"'My Past is Not Today' - take 23..." Flash groaned with dismay, and he used to find it a lovely song.

The Rainbooms were recording Sunset's composition "My Past is Not Today" - or at least, they were attempting to. For the first seven takes, Sunset found herself unable to play the correct chords on the piano because of shakiness in her hands; it had been loaned to them by Celestia and Sombra. Because of their familiarity with the accompaniment, the Rainbooms were almost certain they could've picked it out without Sunset's help; Rarity had even offered to play the piano in Sunset's place, but the latter had refused.

Poor Sunset Shimmer was looking pale and sick. In the last fifteen takes, she had been stumbling in her vocals; she'd forgotten a few lyrics in one take, and her voice cracked in another. It had become painful to watch and listen to for Song Cue and Comet Tail; they'd come to Sweet Apple Acres to listen to the Rainbooms practice, but seeing Sunset stumble was the last thing they wanted to see.

"Maybe we should try this again when you're feeling better, darling," suggested Rarity.

"No," said Sunset. "I want to get this done today." And then she began to play the chords.

For take 23, things were looking up as Sunset got through the first verse and chorus, but after she'd finished the chorus, her voice began to quiver as she got to the second verse. Without warning, she stopped. Flash turned off the recorder so as not to waste valuable tape.

"Hey, Sunshim!" called Rainbow Dash. "You okay?"

There was no answer.

"Sunset?"

Suddenly, Sunset broke down sobbing in front of everybody in the room. Now everyone was worried for Sunset as she buried her face into hands as she cried uncontrollably.

Comet decided to see if Sunset needed help, but as he got closer to her, Sunset suddenly went berserk. She'd shoved Comet to the ground, picked up a stool and sent it flying towards a wall, fortunately not hitting Fluttershy as she'd ducked out of the way just in time.

But it didn't stop there as Sunset knocked over anything that got in her way; microphones, an amplifier, guitars, and even demolished Pinkie's drum kit right in front of her! The pink haired girl was not very happy about that at all.

"Hey!" cried Pinkie. "That took me an hour to set up!"

RIGHT NOW

Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle had turned up just in time to see Sunset throwing a microphone in Rainbow Dash's way, but luckily, the rainbow haired girl ducked before she got hit. Then Sunset turned her anger towards the piano and began to punch and kick at it.

"What's going on in here?!" demanded Big Mac. "Does Sunset have rabies?"

"No, I don't think it's that," said Song Cue. "But whatever it is, it can't be good!"

"Ya'll got that right!" said Applejack, putting down her bass. She then grabbed Sunset around her chest and started to drag her away from the piano, and then out of the barn.

"Settle down, Sunset!" called Applejack. But she didn't. She broke free from Applejack's grip but then found herself in Big Macintosh's; he was much bigger and stronger, so escape for Sunset was futile.

"Let me go, you stupid hick!" Sunset screamed. "I'll kill you!" But Big Mac ignored her threats and dragged her as far from the barn he could into the cold weather. The wind hit them like a knife, but it wasn't enough to knock Sunset out of her spell; it was as if some demon was taking control of her and taunting her endlessly.

Eventually, Sunset was dragged to the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, and before she knew it, Applejack slapped her hard in the face, and Sunset's screams of rage turned into yelps of pain. After a few slaps, Sunset had finally calmed down and Big Mac let go of her. (Sugar Belle had stayed behind to make sure nobody had been hurt; no one was, thankfully, but they were shaken up.) Sunset sat on a nearby tree stump, and the oldest Apple siblings stayed close in case she did something crazy again.

"Why was she acting all crazy like that?" asked Rainbow Dash. She and the others were cleaning up the mess Sunset had caused; Pinkie was trying to reassemble her drum kit, but had forgotten how it was supposed to be put together.

"It'll take forever to put this back together," she groaned.

"I think I know what's up," said Flash, heading towards the door. "I'll be back in about a few... or longer, depending on what it takes."

Applejack and Big Macintosh were most relieved when Flash walked up. He turned to see Sunset sitting on the tree stump; she'd barely moved in the last ten minutes or so.

"Erm... you're not gonna climb a tree and try to jump off of it, are you?" asked Flash, hoping to strike some small talk.

"Wouldn't that be a way to end a day?" replied Sunset, not looking at Flash. "What's up with everyone?"

"They say you went insane and started throwing things," said Flash. "Why?"

Sunset blew some hair that had gotten into her face and rolled her eyes. "I dunno who the hell that was in the barn," she said, "but that person's in for trouble."

"What person?" But Sunset didn't answer Flash's question. After a few moments, Flash asked, "Is it because of... Vincent?"

Sunset looked up at Flash and responded with a rather blunt "yes" before looking back down again. Flash then decided to sit on the tree stump as well, facing away from Sunset. Neither looked at or spoke to one another for about fifteen minutes; despite the cold, they appreciated the silence. It felt like they were communicating telepathically and thinking about the same person.

"Did something happen between you and Vincent?" asked Flash finally.

"Nothing bad, thankfully," said Sunset. "I think it'd be best if I told everyone about it."

"Better than flipping out and throwing things at them," agreed Flash in a joking tone. Sunset just chuckled. With that, they went back up to the barn.

When they arrived, the others were still unhappy with Sunset's ruckus.

"Whoa," said Sunset. "I caused that big a mess?"

"Yes, you did," replied Song Cue. "Don't you remember?"

"I think so," said Sunset.

"Well, why'd you suddenly go crazy on us?" asked Rainbow Dash. Sunset took a deep breath and spoke again to her friends.

"I was just feeling frustrated." she said. "You see... I'm in love with Vincent." Song Cue's expression suddenly went from annoyance to a mixture of understanding and surprise.

"The song we were working on was a subtle message to him," Sunset went on. "But I kept worrying that a relationship between us wouldn't work."

"And that's why you went crazy and started throwing our stuff?" asked Fluttershy.

Sunset sighed. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

"Sunset, I can understand how you feel," said Sugar Belle. "Before Big Mac and I started dating, I was worried a relationship between us wouldn't be able to work."

"What actually happened?" asked Sunset.

"This rather obnoxious guy named Feather Bangs started flirting with me."

"He wasn't too bad, was he?" asked Sunset.

"Nope," said Sugar Belle, imitating her boyfriend's way of responding.

"Him and me eventually argued fer Sugar Belle's hand," continued Big Mac. "And in the fight, we ended up wreckin' the shelf Sugar Belle was using for her sweets."

"I know what that's like," muttered Flash. "Except for the shelf thing."

"So how'd you end up together?" asked Sunset.

"While I was out shopping," said Sugar Belle, "Big Mac built me a brand new shelf that looked much more grand than my old one."

"Aww, that's really sweet of him to do that," said Sunset.

"Eeyup," smiled Big Mac.

"But what about Feather Bangs? How'd he take it?"

"He was pretty disappointed when he saw us at a table," said Sugar Belle.

"But then we suggested he try his luck on three ladies who had been in love with him all along," explained Big Mac. "And do ya'll know what we found out?"

"What's that?" asked Sunset. Big Mac couldn't contain a smirk.

"He was almost as bashful as Fluttershy!" Hearing this made the others laugh.

"He wasn't used to actually talking to girls," explained Sugar Belle. "That's why he acted so cool to try and impress them."

"Vincent never acted like a cool guy to try and impress me," said Sunset. "He always does what he can to help someone in need. Still," she said, looking at the lyrics sheet to "My Past is Not Today" and sighing, "how am I going to surprise him with this silly love song we can't even finish?"

"You think that people have just had enough of silly love songs?" asked Song Cue, having not spoken up until now. "I've looked around me and I see that isn't so." And then she began living up to her name:

"*rest of the first verse goes here*"

At that moment, Vincent was at the local cafe, thinking about Sunset. He was using his phone to look at pictures taken of him and Sunset together; in almost all of them, they were smiling together.

I love you, Sunset, he thought to himself. But I wish we could take a relationship seriously...

As Vincent was thinking, he could hear music playing from the Jukebox. Paul McCartney's "Silly Love Songs" was playing and got to a set of lyrics which Vincent could right now relate to:

"*second verse goes here*"

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Song Cue had gotten to a verse which reminded her of her relationship with Comet Tail:

"*middle eight goes here*"

By this point, the Rainbooms (barring Sunset) were playing their instruments to go along with Song Cue's singing. Pinkie was only able to play her snare drum as her kit was still in pieces. Song Cue was dancing with Comet, as was Big Mac with Sugar Belle; Flash just sat there and recorded everything on tape. Soon enough, Sunset chimed in with a verse of her own whilst the Rainbooms chorused "she loves him" in the background:

"*repeat of second verse goes here*"

Back to Vincent; he was just leaving the cafe and heading his way home, singing a verse of his own:

"*repeat of first verse goes here*"

"Hey! Could you mind keeping your singing to yourself?"

Vincent snapped out of his singing mode and noticed many people looking at him as though he were stoned.

"We're not in a musical, you know!"

"Well, isn't that how we express our emotions?" Vincent retorted.

"Why don't ya buzz off, Mr. Singsong?"

"Fine! I was heading home anyway! Some people have no taste," Vincent muttered to himself. "I wonder how Sunset and her band are getting on..."

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Song Cue had just finished her part of the song.

"You see?" she said. "Love songs aren't silly."

"See, Rainbow?" teased Sunset. "Told you Soarin would love your singing."

"I wouldn't be caught dead writing a love song!" protested Rainbow Dash. "Let alone a silly one!" The rest of the Rainbooms just laughed.

"One o' these days, Dash, ya'll be eatin' yer words!" chuckled Applejack.

Eventually, Pinkie Pie's drum kit was reassembled and they got back to recording the 24th take of "My Past is Not Today." (By now, Big Macintosh and Sugar Belle had returned to the house.) The song had a piano intro which carried over onto the first verse and chorus. At the start of the second verse, the bass and drums came into play, and when the second chorus kicked in, Rainbow Dash played the guitar before delving into a solo based upon the verses, leading to a "Day in the Life"-styled outro with Sunset singing a third repeat of the chorus. It taken the band a couple of takes to complete it because Sunset had missed a couple of lines here and there, but take 26 was what they now called the definitive version.

Just then, Flash's phone went off.

"Hold on," he said. "I gotta take this." He took out his phone to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Hey, Flash. It's Vincent."

"Oh hey, little brother. What's up?"

"I just got home, Flash. How's recording getting on?"

"Oh, it was... eventful," said Flash.

"Well, I heard they were doing a new song. Could I come by and hear it?"

"I'll ask the band first," said Flash. He looked up to the Rainbooms. "Vincent wants to know if he can stop by and listen to your new song."

"Sure thing!" said Pinkie.

"Come on over," said Flash.

"I'll be there in about ten," said Vincent.

"See you then," said Flash. With that, he hung up.

"You think he'll like it?" asked Sunset hopefully.

"I'm sure he will."

Within ten minutes, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Rarity. As expected, it was Vincent waiting at the door.

"Trick or treat," he joked.

"Yer three months too late," replied Applejack.

"I know," said Vincent. "I was just being silly."

"Sounds like your silliness is rubbing off on him, Pinkie," remarked Sunset.

"Think I should be a teacher of silliness?" asked Pinkie. But no one really answered her question as they knew the reason Vincent was here.

"Flash says you want to hear our new song," said Fluttershy.

"That I do," said Vincent.

"Sunset wrote it herself," said Rarity. Sunset blushed a bit.

"I hope you like it," she said. "We just got it set up for playback." She went to a laptop computer she'd brought and began typing. Within seconds, the song began playing.

"This was incredible!" cried Vincent when the song was done. But before he could say more, Sunset was so happy to hear that Vincent loved her song that she hugged him and kissed him. This caused most of the girls to giggle. Sunset let go of Vincent and composed herself.

"Oh, it's not like you and Soarin had some sweet moments, eh?" she retorted. Once again, it was Rainbow Dash's turn to be on the receiving end of teasing. She was about to make a snappy comeback, but couldn't come up with anything and admitted defeat.

"Alright, fine!" she cried. "I'm dating Soarin! You happy now?!"

"Yes, but why are you so brash about it?" asked Sunset.

"If my family found out," said Rainbow Dash, "they'd never let me forget it."

"Oh, right," said Fluttershy, remembering the nature of Rainbow Dash's family.

"Don't be ashamed about being in love with Soarin, Dash," assured Sunset, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Being in love is a normal concept."

"How would you know?" snapped Rainbow Dash, but not as harshly. Sunset motioned over to Vincent, who then walked over to her. Vincent then put his arm around Sunset and smiled at her. Song Cue couldn't help but giggle at the scene.

"Let's rock out some more!" suggested Pinkie Pie.

"Sounds lak a hoot," said Applejack. The other Rainbooms agreed, with Fluttershy once again last with a quiet "Yay!" With everyone agreeing to Pinkie's idea, the Rainbooms went back to playing music.

Author's Note

Sunset's outburst is based upon a Beatles alternate history book I've read called The Death and Life of Mal Evans by Peter Lee.

The sequence where Song Cue, Vincent and Sunset sing to "Silly Love Songs" is meant to play out a little like a Disney musical number. Lyrics are not included due to FiMFiction rules.