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!

New Cover Art! See the full image here: https://www.deviantart.com/harwicks-art/art/Commission-What-My-Destiny-is-Telling-Me-969614816

Sunset Shimmer was a pony that always had her destiny in her control… but that was before. Now, trapped for months in a world where she no longer has magic, no longer has a plan and no longer even has her own body, she's lost. She found an unexpected lifeline, however, when she showed up at the Crumbles/Flanks residence, desperate for help, and formed a close bond with a human around her own age, Rarity.

Having lived together for several months, Rarity has grown to consider Sunset a sister, even as Sunset feels hesitant about the moniker. Shortly before the start of the school year, Rarity brings Sunset along on an annual camping trip, hosted by Applejack and Big Mac, hoping to better acquaint Sunset with her friends. But one morning, Rarity awakes to find Sunset, sleepless and distraught, struggling with concerns and fears she doesn't understand... as the specter of destiny continues to loom large in the former unicorn's mind.

And it's up to Rarity to provide some much-needed comfort.

Set in an alternate universe in which the timeline diverges after Sunset leaves Equestria. This story also deviates from the depiction of Sunset's past as portrayed in the comic The Fall of Sunset Shimmer. Chronologically, it takes place after the events of The Final Conversation, though reading that story is not a requirement.

Pre-read by The Sleepless Beholder and Ninjadeadbeard. Cover art by Harwick. Originally written for the Bean's Writing Group prompt "Let's Go Camping".

Featured on 8/23/22–8/26/22!

Minor Note: My stories generally treat Canterlot High School as a 7-12 school to justify the Cutie Mark Crusaders/Canterlot Movie Club being there in the main films. Keep that in mind if you notice some odd-looking age math in there; at the time of the story, Rarity and Sunset are about to start 9th grade (freshman year).

This story is a sequel to Late-Night Conversations

Cover art by SwordTune! Re-edited 17 April 2022. Now featured on Equestria Daily!

A spinoff short story, featuring Wallflower, Roseluck and Derpy, is now published! Click here to read.

It's been a year since Wallflower Blush tried to purge the memory of Sunset's reformation from the entire student body of Canterlot High. But despite Sunset's initial effort to steer the lonely, embittered girl onto a new path—and, indeed, Wallflower has developed a reasonable social life with several new close friends—the two of them remain haunted by the events of those three days, each embodying some of the darkest moments of the others' lives, and spend their school days at a stark distance from each other.

But as graduation looms, threatening the possibility that they might never get over their anxieties, the two decide it's time for a real, genuine conversation about what happened, why things still hurt and how they can move on—if it's even possible.

Timeline Notes: Forgotten Friendship takes place at the end of junior year, with Rollercoaster of Friendship the following summer. Senior year includes Sunset's Backstage Pass early in the year (along with some of the Starswirled Music Festival episodes of the digital series), followed by Holidays Unwrapped and the rest of the digital series' second season. I'm not sure exactly where Spring Breakdown happens, but it's not especially relevant here. The events of the novels and comics are not canon to my stories.

Takes place two days after "Late-Night Conversations", which is strongly recommended reading for this story.

Cover art by SwordTune! A sequel story is now complete! If you liked this story, definitely check it out!

As graduation looms, Sunset's anxieties about life—both at Canterlot High and beyond—are mounting, and that anxiety begins to manifest in intense nightmares about the Memory Stone incident, one year prior. At a sleepover with Rarity and Twilight at the latter's house, Sunset jolts awake in the middle of the night, and Rarity overhears. Determined to help her friend, Rarity sits down with her immediately to talk through exactly what's going on—and the two discover some hidden truths about their friendship in the process.

Read on for Sunset/Rarity hurt-comfort and friendshipping (with a few references to SciSet later on). An epilogue chapter has now been added!

Re-edited on 15 April 2022.

Featured on 27 November 2021 and 6 February 2022! Posted on Equestria Daily 21 April 2022!

This story is a sequel to Shards of Incongruence

A couple of months after meeting her human counterpart, they continue to spend time together doing totally innocent things like kissing and cuddling and also not so innocent things like... holding hands. It’s been going great, so Sunset finally introduces her to her friends. As her girlfriend. It goes pretty much as well as she was expecting it to. How often do you get to tell your friends that you’re dating yourself, anyway?

Thanks to Bike for helping me with the short desc and the name honestly this fic goes out to you!
Cover art commissioned by Bike and drawn by me lmfao.
Sex tag for a fair amount of suggestive jokes, and profanity tag because they hecking swear!!!

Meeting herself was not really something Sunset had ever planned to do. But once she does, she insists that they’re different people. What that leads to is something she was not expecting to enjoy.

Second place finalist for the Sunset Shimmer X Sunset Shimmer Shipping Contest! Proof read by Sunlight Rays

_{Sex tag is only for suggestive jokes and comments. This is not as serious as the title and cover art makes it seem.}

The lilim Celestia has presided over her personal monster realm of Equestria for generations- an oddity among her kind, ruling with an even hand and a will to let her subjects preserve their humanity, should they choose. Even her prized student, Twilight Sparkle, was for the longest time a mere human with incredible arcane potential.

But as her student soon discovers, life in Equestria is in grave danger. Gathering a ragtag group of warriors and monster girls, can she save her home- and maybe even the world while she's at it?

Warning: Considering the source material (the Monster Girl Encyclopedia), expect at the very least some crude humor and a little language. Most likely no outright smut, however.

It has been only a short time since Sunset Shimmer and her friends discovered the second portal to Equestria on their spring break cruise trip. It now seems that there is a third portal that leads to a new world with a super computer that contains a virtual world.

As Celestia's personal student, there was no doubt in Sunset Shimmer's mind that she was the most powerful Unicorn in Equestria. There was no spell she couldn't master, no lesson she couldn't learn...save for one.

Hoping to rectify the situation, Princess Celestia broke one of her own rules and unearthed Starswirl's Mirror, hoping that, by gazing into it, Sunset would see what she always wanted. Unfortunately, the plan worked a little TOO well, but not in the manner she hoped.

Cast out and believing herself betrayed by Celestia, a desperate Sunset decides to seek out her 'Hearts Desire' on the other side of the Mirror...to a place where she will learn the lessons Celestia so desperately wished for her to learn: that Friendship is Magic.

Late one night, Sunset Shimmer discovers a lonely old man sat on a park bench. He's worn, and grey. Muttering on about other worlds and places she's never heard of. She doesn't know what to make of him. All she knows is that he seems very focused on the old blue box sat across the path.

A short tribute to the fantastic Sir John Hurt. And a goodbye to the War Doctor.