Overwhelmed by her new duties as a princess, a newly-crowned Twilight Sparkle seeks solace within the quiet confines of Canterlot Castle's royal archives, where she discovers a book she'd never seen before. Within its pages was a story about both Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded, as well as a mare that Twilight had never heard of.

Details of their lives, their history, and their relationships puzzle, intrigue, and even worry Twilight. The more she read, the more curious she became and the more questions that arose. But there was only one question to which she truly sought the answer:

Who was Sunset Shimmer?

This story is a sequel to Principal Celestia Hunts the Undead

“Look, I know Mom and Aunt Luna said I shouldn’t work ‘the business’ without them. And I know they’re right – college will be hard enough without battling the hungry dead. But people out there need a bad-ass monster hunter to save them, and that’s what I’ll be.”

“Just don’t tell Mom. You know how she gets.”

(Slice-of-life adventures of Canterlot College's rookie band of monster hunters.)

Now with a Tropes page, courtesy of AnoneMouseJr.

And check out this fan art!

Canterlot High School is having a talent show, and the Rainbooms are eager to join in. However, things get complicated when the human world version of Sunset Shimmer suddenly makes an appearance. After much confusion and several mix-ups, she finally meets her counterpart and her friends. Unlike her counterpart, however, she's shy and reserved. The girls try to befriend her, but this Sunset doesn't seem to be too interested in friendship. She is, however, very interested in the rumors of magic surrounding Canterlot High, and seems to be hiding something magic related herself. And when magical mishaps begin to occur, the Equestria Girls begin to suspect that this new Sunset may be behind them. Is it possible that she's evil and power hungry the way her counterpart once was, or is there something else at work?
STORY COMPLETE

After the Friendship Games, life at CHS has settled down. No more magical villains to face, or impending disasters. Sunset and the others can go back to living as normal teenage girls. Or as close to normal as a group of magically empowered girls and a former unicorn from another universe can anyway.

But when Sunset gets into trouble, someone she never expected comes to help her, and her life will never be the same ever again.

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony Friendship is Magic or any of it's characters. I'm just a fan.

Cover art done by my very good friend PrettySoldierPetite. (EDIT 07/08/19: And now with new cover art!)

Proofread by Dragon of Shadows

Pre-read (post ch 12's publishing) by Setokaiva

FEATURE BOX 11/28/17!

EDIT: Added the MLP: FIM tag because of recent events, and I really should have put it in before this anyway.

EDIT 04/14/19: While the content of this story does not qualify for the "Dark" tag, I have been advised to give a warning that chapter 6 contains a scenario that may trigger some individuals. Tags: psychological abuse & gaslighting.

EDIT 10/16/19: Now with a TV Tropes page!

Side Story
Swimming Lessons

This story is a sequel to Sirens of the Night

Things were looking up. Sunset Shimmer had friends, her popularity with her fellow students was on the rebound. She even had three new cousins! Then Anon-A-Miss struck. Can the Dazzlings prove Sunset's innocence before tragedy strikes?

Sunset Shimmer's life was turned upside down in an instant, leaving her not only to battle her inner demons but to also try to make amends but it isn't easy to forgive or forget when someone has hurt you and it seems only a few at Canterlot High are willing to even try to see the good in her. Will the few friends she has be enough to stop her from doing something rash?

Sunset Shimmer isn't like the other Freshman in Canterlot High School. While so many others explain away the strange things that happen in their town, she knows better. There's an entire world out there, a world of magic and incredible creatures, one that she's determined to reach.

Careful study and preparation brings her to the portal in front of her school, at the last moment of its opening. Sunset doesn't have a clue what might be waiting on the other side, but she's sure it will lead her to the magic she's always wanted.

No matter what it costs.

Updates Tuesdays.

This story was sponsored by my glorious enablers Bitera and Sparktail, who also did the editing. I know I don't deserve it. Want one of your own? Drop me a PM. Cover by Zutcha.

Anon-A-Miss occured before Winter Break, and tore down everything Sunset had built up to prove she had changed. She's the main victim of this deadly online secret teller, and everyone believes she's guilty. Including her so called friends.

It takes her to a point of no return, but at last minute before she jumps, she's saved by an unlikely ally... does she even a right to that word anymore?

For a thousand years, Equestria has been too close to the sun. With the land rendered largely uninhabitable by the scorching heat, the ponies of Equestria have retreated into the sky. Now airships roam the clouds, severed mountaintops, held aloft by ancient and powerful magics, serve as the home for ponies everywhere and the land is mostly at peace.

But that peace is threatened when an ancient prophecy heralds the return of the one who caused all this change. Daybreaker. Princess Luna's older sister, imprisoned in the Sun for a thousand years, is about to return and, according to legend, burn the land to the ground.

Can the three students of the Princess defeat the mad empress? Or did Princess Luna's desperate use of the Elements only buy Equestria a thousand years of borrowed time? Either way, it will be an adventure for the history books.

So after reading Reformation ... It's a Pony Thing and Twilight's Pirate School, both by the wonderful Let's Do This, I realized that they effectively boiled down to the tagline 'My Little Pony - Everything is Better with Airships'. This story and, indeed, this setting are the result of my mind taking that idea and going wild with it.

This story is written in full and will not interfere with my other work. The sequel to Phoenix is still in progress and sadly taking a little longer than I had hoped, but it's coming.

Twilight Sparkle has too much magic, and it will take her decades to learn to control it. Her spectacular loss of control during her entrance exam only proves that fact. She is a danger to herself and others.

After Sunset Shimmer’s disappearance, Princess Celestia needs a new student to bear The Element of Magic to defeat Nightmare Moon. With all of Equestria at stake, Twilight Sparkle…is not the pony she needs.

Princess Celestia seals Twilight Sparkle’s magic with the distant promise of one day teaching her.

But there are two diarchs of Equestria. Amidst a lucid dream, an offer is made.

“Hello, Twilight. Would you like to be my student?”

Cover art provided by Lafiir.