Opaline had stolen the cutie marks from half of Equestria and was rapidly conquering the rest. Even the fake alicorn Sunny Starscout and her minions were faltering before her. One more push would bring Opaline to her final victory.

Then she surrendered.

And even Opaline doesn’t know why.

Once upon a time, Princess Celestia meant the world to her young protégée, Sunset Shimmer. In many ways, she was the world to the unicorn filly.

Now, the relationship between mentor and student has become deeply strained. Some weeks ago, the two suffered a major spat. As the rift between them grows and emotions churn inside Sunset, she begins to wonder exactly who she is in the eyes of the age-old alicorn who controls the sun.

And as Celestia prepares to leave for a diplomatic errand, she finds herself confronted by her volatile pupil -- and, put on the spot, must find a way to bridge the gap before it's too late.

Ignores the depiction of events in the comic The Fall of Sunset Shimmer. While the story works as a standalone prequel to canon G4 animated media, it is also canon with my ongoing longform story Together from Canterlot to Canterlot, as well as, separately, my alternate universe setting established by What My Destiny is Telling Me. (Despite the name, it is not directly related to my story Late-Night Conversations.)

Cover art by daOtterGuy, who pre-read the story along with The Sleepless Beholder. Special thanks to TCC56 (First Hoof Account) and Sledge115 (Sogno di Volare) for inspiring me to dabble in this period of Sunset's life.

Featured on 11/8/22-11/10/22! Re-edited 1/14/23. Now featured on Equestria Daily!

This story is a sequel to Pink Is Your Color

Twilight and her Princess counterpart have always been as different as they were the same. It isn't until a particular book reading that they realize how deep those differences really go.

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Reading the prequel is not required, but is recommended if you like this kind of content. This is more of a spiritual successor than anything.

Preread by the lovely Lunaria, and co-written with the amazing Runic!
Art from Pinterest.

The night after defeating Gaia Everfree, Twilight and Sunset have a heart-to-heart about their new powers. Platonic cuddling ensues.

Art by mlp-hearts!
Preread by Oroboro

It's been a little over a year since Princess Flurry Heart founded the settlement of Winter's Hearth deep in the unclaimed territory of the Frozen North, and in that time she and her subjects have faced many dangers. But whether through grit or sheer equine spirit, they've survived every one of them.

So when the yaks of the Northwestern Tribes decide to declare war on them, it feels like just another Tuesday.

The yaks feel differently.

This story was originally conceived as an entry to Imposing Sovereigns IV, but I didn't end up writing it until several months after the contest closed. You can read the actual entrants to that contest here! The intended prompt was Flurry Heart/Strength.

Everyone knows that Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash are the bravest girls at CHS. But when the duo travels into Sunset’s mind to fight her literal inner demon—a shapeshifter that will take the form of their worst fears—they'll have to face a threat they never expected: each other.

Originally written for the Writeoff Association's September contest, "True Colors," where it won 4th place.
Thanks to Light Striker, Quill Scratch, Maskedferret, Not_A_Hat, and Chudo for pre-reading, as well as the whole Writeoff Association for their critique on the first draft.

Ever since Dean Cadence became Principal Cadence, she's learned the hard way that running a school as prestigious as Crystal Prep Academy is a bureaucratic knife-edge. Among other things, she has to deal with spiky students, a terrifying janitor, and constant comparisons between her and Cinch – which are somehow always in Cinch's favour.

Hardest of all might be getting one of her students – Sour Sweet – to apologize for years and years of bullying. Not least because she must convince the girl it's for her own good too…

An entry in Imposing Sovereigns III, using the prompt "Dean Cadence/Justice".

In the many months since Twilight Sparkle transferred to Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer's been to her house a good number of times, enough for it to feel reasonably familiar. So when she notices something she's never seen before -- a large, blue-tinted plush shark she calls her blåhaj -- on Twilight's bed, she can't help but ask about it. She's a little surprised to find Twilight looking a bit embarrassed about her stuffed animal -- but when Sunset realizes it might be emblematic of a sore spot in Twilight's life, she realizes it's up to her to restore the magic of the blåhaj.

Can be read as either platonic or shipping.

What's a blåhaj? Here's a summary. And remember the accent on "blahaj"!

Pre-read by Dewdrops on the Grass and The Sleepless Beholder. Featured 30 January-2 February 2024.

Featured on: 6/14/2023

Wallflower Blush, driven by loneliness, fear, jealously, and anger, used the Memory Stone to make folks in CHS think that Sunset Shimmer was still a bully. Doing so sparked an incident that helped drive the Sonic Rainbooms to do the unthinkable: they betrayed Sunset.

When the dust settled after a tragic sacrifice and the stone's destruction, Wallflower renounced her cruel ways and Twilight Sparkle apologized to Sunset for not believing her to be a good person. She would not be the last to do so as the girls affected by that fiasco reflect on themselves and seek to move forward...

Current Spot in the Friendship is Worth It Timeline:

Forgotten Friendship
What Mistakes Tell Us
Rollercoaster of Friendship
Spring Breakdown
Sunset's Backstage Pass
When Life Gives You Snow...

Series Info and Timeline

Life's been hard for Sunset ever since the Fall Formal. She's chronically lonely, much of her free time is dedicated to work and studying, and her classmates still don't trust her. Regardless, she's committed to making things right and improving herself one day at a time.

Most of her new friends are trying to make her feel welcome, but everything feels so forced and awkward at first. This is made worse by Rainbow Dash who seems intent on making things difficult for Sunset. Are they just incompatible? Or is there a deeper reason they can't seem to get along?

Shoutouts to EileenSaysHi, NudistSquid, X_c4nd13d_p3pp3r_cut13_X, Gusto Starstorm and another one of my friends for a combination of workshopping, pre-reading, editing, and proofreading

Featured 10/13/22! Thank you!

This story begins a couple months after the events of the first Equestria Girls movie.

This also takes place before the events of "Can You See What I See?", but you don't have to read that to understand this or vice versa.

• Sunset vector used sourced from here. Unable to find the original source link. If you happen to know the source, please drop me a link!
• Rainbow Dash vector used can be found here.
• Rest of cover created/edited by me.