There and back again.
The portal at the base of Canterlot High's statue shimmered, and Sunset jumped out. She was prepared for the disorientation this time, and only stumbled a little bit. Quickly glancing around the school's front yard, she sighed in relief when she saw nobody in the area.
One worry less, at least.
Not wanting to push her luck, Sunset quickly set off in the direction of her apartment. It was a chilly winter evening, and getting close to dinnertime, so few people were on the street. That suited Sunset just fine, she was in a good mood and didn't want to ruin it by running into anyone with a problem with her.
Sunset's apartment was not that far from school, just little over half an hour walk. That always made it easy to dodge public transportation fees. Her path took her past the shopping street. She quickened her pace as she passed the café where she usually got her breakfast. She didn't see anyone she knew inside at a glance, but it was a rather popular café. For a good reason, she remembered. Their coffee was one of the few actual coffees in town, which always helped her get through those early morning slogs, and the owner was always kind enough to keep a fresh bagel behind the counter for her.
She would have to let him know she wouldn't be visiting for a bit.
She pushed on, marching past store windows as fast as she could without running, until she reached the front door of a tall one room apartment building. Sunset fumbled in one of the pockets of her jacket, pulling out a door key and opening the door. A small hallway greeted her, with only one door to her right. Opening that door as well, Sunset took a deep breath.
It was a familiar scent. The kind of scent you get so used to you don't realize it's there until you leave and come back after being gone for a bit.
The smell of home.
The couch, TV and console combo she had spend so long saving up for greeted her first, being straight ahead into her room as they were, and as she glanced to her left she saw the fridge and microwave, her only cooking appliances, behind which she knew was her desk with her PC. On the far left were the stairs that would lead up to her loft where she kept her books next to her bed.
An unexpected wave of nostalgia hit Sunset as she remembered the times spend in this apartment. The joy at making a barely legal deal to stay here with her landlady, the years she had spent in this room learning everything she could about humans and scheming in frustration to become the social queen of the school, all the while keeping her eventual goal of claiming her 'rightful due' and becoming a true Princess and show Princess Celestia just how wrong she had been.
Then she remembered the days following her defeat at Twilight's hands. The days where even getting out of bed seemed like a mountainous task, her mind racked both with the stinging sense of failure at accomplishing any of her objectives and a sudden mountain of guilt over her actions she had previously barely experienced.
But slowly those days had gotten better. The girls had kept their promise to Twilight and had dragged Sunset along with them on their events, keeping her mind from her guilt. Most of the time anyway. She still remembered the first time the girls had invited themselves to walk home with Sunset, which turned into the first time she invited friends in her home. Rainbow Dash had claimed the couch and a controller before she could blink, and challenged Sunset to one of her games. It was the first time she'd ever done split-screen multiplayer. It had been a riot.
So many firsts, even just in these four walls. Some of them were terrible. A lot of them, really, as most were just stepping stones to her ambition.
But not all of them.
There were... good memories here. She could almost see the girls. Rarity snooping through her wardrobe, Applejack complaining about Sunset's lack of kitchen appliances, Pinkie Pie dangling from the edge of her loft, Rainbow Dash on her couch trying to beat one of her games and Fluttershy on the ground in front of her, content to just watch.
Sunset blinked, and her friends were gone. She sighed. They were good memories, which made their abandonment hurt all the more.
Maybe she could invite Twilight over someday and show her what this world's video games had to offer. She chuckled to herself as she tried to imagine Twilight on her couch, her tongue sticking out, eyes scrunched in concentration, flicking between the screen and the controller in her hand as she tried to figure out how to match what she had to do with her hands to what she wanted the character on the screen to do. And yet... Almost unbidden, Rainbow Dash appeared next to the couch, shouting instructions that were as useless as they were enthusiastic. Fluttershy was still on the floor, calmly watching the screen with Spike in her lap. Rarity and Applejack hung off the back of the couch while Pinkie was dancing around with pom poms in the background.
And then she saw herself on the couch next to Twilight, controller in hands and a steely look of determination in her eyes as she guided her character across the screen, but all with a smile on her lips as she was having fun. Not just with playing the game, but playing the game surrounded by her friends.
With a grunt, Sunset shook her head, dispelling the images. This wasn't what she came here for, she was here to get what she needed so she could be away from thinking about this. Grumbling to herself, Sunset marched up to her desk and grabbed all her schoolbooks and notes, stuffing them in her backpack until it was fit to bursting. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she marched out the door. She paused, just for a moment, to take one more glance at the couch, but it remained empty. With a sigh she stepped back outside, closing the door behind her.
Back in Ponyville, a glassed Luna was nosing her way through the book she had been loaned. Literally nosing, given the lack of hands and fingers.
"Are you sure it's all right for me to stick my nose in a book like this?" she asked, and Twilight looked back from the shelves she was stacking books with her magic with a giggle.
"Of course! Not every pony is a unicorn. In fact earth ponies like yourself make up the majority of Equestria's population. It would be odd if nopony except unicorns were allowed to read books."
"But won't this damage the books?"
Twilight shook her head, another giggle escaping her lips. "Of course not. Trust me, I nosed my way through a lot of books, starting as as a filly when I didn't have enough magic, but even nowadays I still do it. There's just something relaxing about finding a nice place to lie down, relax, and nose through a book."
"All right," Luna nodded in acceptance. If a bibliophile like Twilight was confident enough that it wouldn't harm any books, Luna saw no reason to doubt her. If there was one new thing Luna had learned about Twilight, it's that the Princess loved her books. Books everywhere were neatly organized, even the seemingly scattered books being used for research had a system to them, or so she'd found out when Twilight had started rearranging the pile of books she had knocked over in her speedy arrival here.
She carefully nosed another page over, skimming the text. Her eyes fell on a particular line, and she frowned lightly. "Say, Twilight?" she asked. That was another thing she noticed: It became easier and easier to think of Princess Twilight as 'just' Twilight. Perhaps it was something in her nature as Princess of Friendship, or perhaps just because the girl -no, mare- wasn't used to her status yet, but Twilight was so approachable and friendly that, baring a few slips, it quickly became easier to slip out of a high decorum around her.
The Princess's repeated requests to leave them out also helped.
She felt hear ears twitch as the clip-clop of Twilight's hooves against the crystal floor approached. "Yes?" the lavender pony asked.
"This 'Hearth's Warming' holiday, the text seems to suggest that it's an actual historical event. Is it religious in nature?"
Twilight tilted her head. "No? It's just actual history. It celebrates the founding of our nation, and finding friendship in the midst of ages old hatreds."
"Are you sure? This sounds like the kind of history that got embellished over time."
"Pretty sure," Twilight responded with half lidded eyes and a grin. "After all, your counterpart here in Equestria lived through it."
Luna smiled sheepishly, her ears unwittingly lowering. "Ah yes, the thousand year old Princess. Sorry, I'm still having a bit of trouble separating fact from fiction. In my world, anything as fanciful as fighting off evil frost demons with powerful magic would be labelled as the stuff of fantasy."
Twilight put a hoof to her mouth to hide a chuckle. "Don't worry about it. I can't even imagine how confusing it is to see a world of magic after living in a world without it your whole life. Hay, I've visited your world and I still gawk at every new thing the girls show me. Like those 'smartfones' that everyone carries. I could barely understand what I was doing when Rarity showed me hers."
Luna let out a chuckle herself as she remembered seeing Twilight fumble with a smartphone, before turning back to the book. There were a lot of similarities between Hearth's Warming and Christmas that she could see. A decorated pine tree, gifts for friends and family, and a theme of getting together. Though the underlying history was where it started to diverge.
"So Hearth's Warming is a way to celebrate the forming of your nation?"
"Hmm hmm" Twilight hummed with a nod. "But more importantly, it celebrates the day we began putting our difference behind us and work together to create a better life for everypony. And some ponies say that celebrating Hearth's Warming is all that keeps the windigos away."
Luna felt her ears flick up in alarm. "Is that true?"
Twilight shrugged. "Nopony knows. There are several stories about the windigos returning if Hearth's Warming stops, the most famous being 'A Hearth's Warming Tale', where a pony named Snowfall Frost uses magic to make Hearth's Warming disappear, but nopony has seen much of a reason to actually try it outside of stories."
"No Hearth's Warming means no presents, after all," Spike remarked dryly as he walked into the library with a tray of cookies. "Aaaand the whole 'turning the world in a frozen wasteland of strife' part. But mostly the presents."
Twilight gave the little dragon an admonishing glare that lost all its power because of the smile on her face. Spike responded with a toothy grin as he deposited the plate of cookies on the table.
Luna smiled at the exchange, but even as she picked up a cookie with her teeth her mind was pondering on what else the story of Hearth's Warming was telling her. The threat of an eternal winter would explain why Equestria had such a peaceful history. And it also implied a lot of things in regards to Twilight's 'punishment' of Sunset stealing her crown and planning to invade her kingdom, as well as Sunset's expectations on how she would be treated afterwards.
But best not to rush to conclusions. Luna was more strongly than ever convinced that this was part of how they got into this situation in the first place. She needed time to properly get her facts together. And perhaps a good talk with everyone involved soon.
Swallowing the last of her cookie, Luna turned back to Twilight. "So Hearth's Warming, is it coming up soon?"
"We're almost there, actually, why?" Twilight answered.
"I was thinking, the holidays are starting back home soon, but maybe we should try and get everyone together and talk this over. You, Sunset, and her friends."
"Uhh, is... that really a good idea? Sunset's still kinda upset right now." Spike hesitantly said.
Twilight drew in a deep breath. "I agree. Just this morning Sunset ran into this world's Rarity and her first reaction was to teleport all the way from the spa back to the castle. I hate to say it, but Sunset needs more time to calm down."
Luna nodded. "I understand, and I did not mean right this moment. But perhaps after the holidays are over?"
"I'll ask her, but I'm leaving the final decision up to Sunset. Don't get me wrong!" Twilight said, raising her hoof as Luna opened her mouth to protest. "I want nothing more than to settle this fight between Sunset and her friends. Believe me, as Princess of Friendship -and more importantly, as Sunset's friend- seeing her and her friends fight hurts me, but I know from experience that you can't force a conversation like that. Not with tensions so high, and something like Anon-a-Miss still looming over all of them."
Twilight's ears drooped and she turned her head away slightly. "I tried that once, and it went... badly. We fixed it, eventually, but if I can avoid that happening to Sunset, I will."
"What do you suggest, Twilight?" Luna asked.
"We keep going as we have been for now. Sunset will stay here for a while, back in the home of her birth. I noticed that it's doing Sunset a world of good in a lot of ways, even many that don't have anything to do with her problems in your world. Meanwhile you guys try to find out who this Anon-a-Miss is and why she is doing all this. We'll stay in touch using the journal. I assume you and Principal Celestia have it now?"
Luna nodded. "Yes, we took it out of her locker to keep it safe from any potential vandals. We don't think anyone would destroy the journal, but better safe than sorry."
Twilight nodded. "Good, keep it safe. It's the anchor that is keeping the portal stable. If either is destroyed, the portal will go back to using the lunar cycles as their anchor, and it will be a long time before we will see each other again."
"... Did you know about the journal when your first returned home?" Luna asked.
Twilight shook her head and chuckled. "No, the idea to use the books came from Pinkie Pie, of all ponies. I'd thought the portal was completely closed until she pointed out that if the book could send messages, it obviously wasn't entirely closed. After that, it was just a simple matter of getting the proper equipment, constructing an artificial dolmen gate, then stabilize the portal matrix using the books on both sides to anchor the planar coordinates."
"Yeeeess. Simple." Luna glanced at Spike, who simply gave her a 'don't look at me' shrug. She shook her head, feeling her light blue mane bounce around, as she returned to the question she wanted to ask.
"But in that case, and I apologize if I come of as being rude here, if you knew the portal would be closed for a long period of time... why did you leave Sunset with us?"
Twilight set down the cup of tea she had been levitating in her magic, and looked at Luna with some concern in her eyes.
"Because I believed, and still believe, that Canterlot High is an important place for Sunset to learn about friendship. An important part of friendship means apologizing for what you did wrong, and making it up to those you wronged. If I had dragged Sunset to Equestria, all she would have had when she got here was the guilt of what she did wrong without the lessons of what to do right. I know I wasn't there to guide her, but... I had hoped that the girls would have been the ones to guide her. I was so happy when I had to come over for the Battle of the Bands, because even if she was struggling, I saw Sunset make new friends there. She was learning. Smiling." Twilight slumped, her wings drooping at her sides.
"I just don't know where it all went wrong."
Luna nibbled on another cookie as she let Twilight's words run around in her head. Her suspicion as to where things had gone wrong was growing. "I think that when next we meet, we should talk about that. About where it went wrong. I think it will help us to prevent it from happening again, now and in the future."
Twilight nodded, a small smile on her muzzle. "I'd like that."
Luna sighed and shook her head. "Would that we could have prevented this from happening in the first place."
"Hey, you're here now, that matters a lot," Spike piped up, earning him a warm smile from Twilight.
"Spike is right. You're here for Sunset now. And since we can't do much about Anon-a-Miss from here, I will leave that in your capable hands."
"And we will leave Sunset in your capable hooves." Luna answered in return.
"See? We got this," Twilight smiled, and Luna couldn't help but smile in return. There was something encouraging about that smile. Like the Princess was telling her that they could do anything they set their minds to, as long as they did it together.
She took a deep breath, and let it out. "Well, I had best get to work then, shouldn't I?"
Luna hopped down from the low seat, Twilight and Spike quickly following suit. Twilight floated the glasses and book into Luna's saddlebag, and floated them over to her back. Luna marvelled at how odd, yet right it felt to have a double backpack on her sides instead of on her back.
"This is going to feel strange when I go back, isn't it?" she asked as she walked back to the mirror.
Spike and Twilight chuckled as they followed her. "A bit, but don't worry, you'll get the hang of it," Twilight said. "Just try not to run this time", she added with a wink.
Cheeky Princess.
Luna smiled as the group reached the mirror. "Well then, I'm off. We'll be in contact, but happy holidays in advance."
"You too, Luna. It was good seeing you again. Give my regards to Principal Celestia."
Luna nodded, before turning to the mirror and slowly pushing herself through. That proved to be enough, as the moment the majority of her body had passed through the mirror she felt the rest being pulled through as well. Once again she felt herself pulled through a world of rainbow light, barely registering as her body shifted shape before reaching a bright light on the other end.
The portal didn't spit her out this time, it felt more like a push. As she blinked away the last of the lights, she noticed that she was on her hands and knees behind the Canterlot High statue, the saddlebags on her side having returned to her usual bag.
"Vice-Principal Luna?" a familiar voice spoke up, and Luna looked up to see Sunset Shimmer, human again.
"Here, let me help you," the unicorn-turned-human said as she reached out with a hand. Luna gratefully took it and let Sunset help her back to her feet. She wobbled a bit, but she found her balance again faster than she had on the other side.
"Yeah, returning is easier than the first crossover you make. At least as long as you don't stay on one side too long," Sunset said, a bit of sheepishness creeping into her voice as she grinned.
Luna took a moment to study the girl. With her leather jacket, high heeled boots and a backpack bulging with schoolbooks and homework, Sunset looked every bit the teenage high-schooler. Luna found it hard to imagine that this young looking girl was around her age.
"Vice-Principal Luna?"
Luna shook her head. "Sorry, Sunset Shimmer. Just need a moment to adjust back to being bigger again."
Sunset snorted. "Don't worry, the you back there is also bigger than me." The girl's eyes fell on her own bag. "...Are those the translation glasses we enchanted?"
Luna reached back and took them out, pleasantly surprised that they seemed just the right size for a human head. "Yes, they are. Twilight lent them to me along with a book on Equestrian culture. I hope that's not a problem?"
Sunset shook her head with a smile. "No big deal, it'll just give me a chance to practice some more. I'm terribly out of shape magically."
"And what about you? Did you find what you needed?" Luna asked.
Sunset's smile fell, just for a moment, before it was back and the girl slung the backpack of her back. "Everything I could find. I might need to jump through before it bursts, though."
"I recommend against jumping," Luna responded dryly, but with a smirk tugging at her lips. She and Sunset exchanged a glance and chuckled.
"Sunset Shimmer," Luna spoke up, and placed a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "I know you have been through a lot this past year. But every since the Fall Formal, the entire faculty has been keeping a close eye on you, and we are all proud of the girl you are shaping up to be. You still have some rough spots, but that you are working on them just makes us even more proud. You should know that we all consider it nonsense to expel someone who is trying so hard to make up for her mistakes, regardless of what, or who, the hallways accuse you of being."
Sunset's mouth opened and closed as if she was looking for a response, and Luna lowered herself to Sunset's eye level.
"Leave Anon-a-Miss to us. Go home to study and rest in peace. And when you get back, we'll be here to help you pick back up where you left off."
Sunset's mouth opened and closed a few more times before the girl drew in a deep breath. Luna could see a bit of moisture in the corners of those aqua eyes as Sunset smiled.
"Thank you... and I'll be back."
Luna smiled back and stepped aside, letting Sunset walk to the portal. Sunset took one look at her, the smile still on her lips, as she walked through the portal back to her homeland.
The Vice-Principal let out a soft sigh of satisfaction, before gripping her bag and marching towards the school and her sister. Seeing Sunset smile again had felt like a victory, but she had a lot of work to do still before this job was done. Beginning with a long talk with her sister, and then some lengthy reading.
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Can I just reiterate how refreshing it is to see the faculty taking point on dealing with this nonsense?
9621330
Yes you can. And I agree completely.
9621330
I agree with you there.
A new chapter appeared just as I was going through the old ones again. Excellent timing!
I like what you're doing with this story so far. And while I hope to see the Rainbooms getting in on the action soon, I, like others here, really appreciate the school faculty not being useless for once in an Anon-a-miss story. I am looking forward to the next chapter.
Good work, Luna. If nothing else, at least Sunset knows she still has support in Earthrealm.
9621330
And the award for statement of the year goes to...
🏆
I'm just sayin' I still ship Luna/Shimmer
Yay updates :) I'm glad to see more and I hope it continues for a while. Shame about Little-Luna going back to CHS so soon, would loved to see Princess Celestia's, and Princess Luna's reaction to her.
Good to see this story's still going.
Yay! Update <3
9621526
Precious few ships on those particular waters unfortunately.
keep this going its a great story I glad I found it .
I’m happy that the school teachers are help mainly Luna and I can’t wait for more plus I love fanfics with sunset being happy after something bad happens and Flash will definitely protect sunset if Gilda would show up in CHS.
I smell tuna
9621330
You may. Typically in any writing, be it official or fan-written, any figures of authority are either the problem/antagonists, or abusively negligent to the point of being completely clueless and incompetent. Sometimes played for laughs (unfortunately), or played very sinister. There's almost no deviation from this. If it's meant to be morally good, strong, and respectable/respected, it's bad. End of story.
So this is refreshing to see, to an extreme degree.
9622050
Alas, the urge to flanderize is a strong one, and 'tis difficult to get a heroic protagonist to coexist with truly competent authority figures.
ah and the shimmer now knows she peeps on both sides who got her back
dis gud meng
9622067
I've always found that trope in writing to be unbearably ridiculous. What can the late-teens/early-twenties-something 'chosen one' do that a competent organization or national body attempting to do the same thing with thousands, if not millions of people more experienced and better-supplied - yet can only fail? In many cases that's answered with 'the hero can see things differently', a competent and justly-appointed large group will have an enormous number of people with different viewpoints, experiences, and differing levels of seeing outside the box.
Because many writers don't want to tackle having their hero actually be part of a group that works well, or be forced to answer all these questions seriously, we get 'the holy king was actually more evil than the demon lord all along!' with an emphasis on 'dark' and 'evil'-themed characters being the righteous and oppressed ones in their usually-anarchist perceptions. Thus we get 'organization is bad, having everyone do whatever they want with no checks and balances is good'. I'd love to see the smoking ruin that'd be left after those kinds of stories finish. That or the new order that pops up to prevent said smoking ruin...
It smacks of laziness and edgy anti-hero hyping to me. So this story's competent staff who knows what side they stand on when it comes to right and wrong? Totally refreshing.
9622153
Oh aye, YA writing these days is rubbish through and through, you'll likely find more thoughtful stories if you step back to the children's section. Old-form fantasy novels and such do a much better job of it, making the protagonist's competence believable through rigorous training, and engineering scenarios that genuinely require a small group of people rather than an army.
Though I still note that even in series like the Obsidian Trilogy or the various Valdemar novels, there is still a very capable authority somewhere backing them. That part really can't be done away with, even in the Discworld series there's always someone doing the paperwork to keep the lights on.
People tend to overestimate Twilight love for books. She never have any problems with damaging them. She stabbed books with her horn, she tore pages off and so on.
Um, IIRC in canon Twilight said that modern pony historians dont belive that vendigo actually existed.
9621330
9622050
Well, I'm glad to have obliged then.
And yes, authority usually takes a backseat or becomes the antagonist in a lot of fiction. There are a lot of reasons for this, some as simple as tapping into the teenage tendency to push against authority, but most often it's simply to tell a story about the heroes, not the giant army of people around them. MLP falls prey to this a lot as well, most noticeably with the Royal Guard and the Wonderbolts who have... almost never been of any use. The only exception is the Crystal War timeline, where amusingly the entire reason they were allowed to perform so well is because that was a timeline where the heroes never rose to challenge Sombra.
9622337
Did she? That's weird, given that Equestria is ruled by two Princesses who were there for the ordeal. Ah well, consider this a slice of headcanon then.
I have found a typo:
Can I keep it?
9622788
I can be wrong, it's kinda a long time since I see earlier seasons.
Well, Celestia and Luna are far younger than people tend to think :). And according to "Journal of Two Sisters" (which canon again, considering that they use it as a base for a play in "Horse play"?) they never been a part of Three Tribes and instead live in Equestria with the other alicorns before ponies arrived there. So they never see how exactly Tribes united.
I'm not gonna lie, I have no memory of this story. It felt like years since this was last updated. Good job, tho.
9622983
That one is intentional, "would that I could" as in "I wish I could."
9623534
Well, the last update was last year, so you're not entirely wrong?
9623437
Hmm I wouldn't say Horse Play re-canonized the Journal, given that it portrays nothing about Celestia's origins, just that she appeared at one point and took over raising the sun. But that was always a thing. The Crystalling and a complete lack of this alicorn tribe still has me lean towards Celestia and Luna ascending rather than having been born alicorns. Buuut unless an episode actually answers this, this will probably be a point the fandom will always have different interpretations on.
Besides, nowadays they can just ask Starswirl, who absolutely did live through it.
But yes, Celestia is remarkably younger than most people expect, and the episode finally gave us a rough estimate. 1111 years since she took the job, and what few sources dig into her time under Starswirl's tutelage portay a filly barely into adulthood at best, so I'm guessing about 1129 at best.
Incidentally, this also means Celestia and Luna ruled together for just over a century before Nightmare Moon happened. Goodness, so much fanfiction material.
9623688
Fair enough
9623688
I'm pretty sure that writers of Crystalling never bothered to read existed lore and just assumed that all alcorns prior to Flurry ascended rather that born. Is lead to Amy Keating Rogers twit where she tried to damage control this and give us explanation that Celestia and Luna born before Equestria was a thing so Flurry really the first alicorn who born there.
9623780
Well, it's more that anything that isn't in the show is secondary canon at best by default. Just look at Sombra, he had an entire origin story in the comics where he was an umbra pony who crystalized and shattered the former ruler of the Crystal Empire and whose purpose was to ultimately release the umbra ponies from their prison, and who returned in this arc and even ultimately got redeemed and went out to look for the shards of the Crystal Empire's former ruler by the end of it.
Then this season's opening comes along and completely ignores all of it.
The show has always done its own thing. Sometimes it uses elements of the comics and books, most of the times it completely ignores it. The authors for the other materials are aware of this, and some have gone on twitter to say as much.
Now personally, I prefer them being ascended, but I don't really mind either version all that much. Both have made for many wonderful stories. Though if canon actually does nail one of the two down for certain, I do hope they do so by actually doing something with the story. Like actually showing this mythical tribe of alicorns, or Celestia and Luna's ascension.
So . . . I love stories that show Sunset having to deal with depression after the first movie.
I would like to claim that that's because it's a realistic response* and such, but realistically it's probably just because I've been suffering from depression most of my life and I like seeing characters I can relate to. Also I like when it's acknowledged to be a problem instead of a character trait,† and stories where it can be overcome are way more uplifting than my own reality. (See also: .hack//Sign.)
⁂
On the topic being discussed in the comments, I've always liked the idea that Celestia and Luna aren't originally from Equestria. They're born alicorns who came from some other place. Then again, my headcanon can be weird.‡
Regardless, Celestia and Luna are definitely Clover-contemporaries given that all three are students of the same mortal pony. (The same mortal pony who didn't even live a full mortal life, given that he banished himself, along with six of Equestria's greatest heroes, to limbo while he was still in his magical prime.)
* Massive guilt coupled with a giant involuntary change in circumstances can definitely induce depression (sometimes temporary, sometimes fundamentally altering the brain's default chemistry going forward.)
† Depression is the most commonly, and most accurately, portrayed mental illness, but that's because the people portraying it usually don't realize they're doing it. They've met people who have it, don't realize it's an illness, and thus write characters who have it without ever acknowledging that it's a problem that can be treated and, sometimes, even cured.
‡ For an example of weird a headcanon of mine: Celestia took over sun-duty during the three tribes era, doncha know? (Luna likely took over moon duty at about the same time.) Part of the reason that Princess P was such a jerk was that she was terrified the other two tribes would find out.
If the earth ponies and Pegasuses realized that the unicorns were taking the product of their labor (food, basically) while providing nothing in return, they'd either team up against the unicorns or simply cut them out of the equation and let them starve. It's a lot less effort to feed a couple alicorns than the entire unicorn nation, after all.
When Clover the Clever gained political clout after the whole Windigo thing, she used it to bring the contributions of Celestia and Luna, her friends and fellow students of Starswirl, into the light, which would be vital in the formation of Equestria.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... ive already reached the end.
please feed me more of these delicious words.
images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f6c77d9e-1711-48fc-85e7-f0d625763ca8/daoi19g-261a656e-d42d-41d3-98ca-7391560b4958.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2Y2Yzc3ZDllLTE3MTEtNDhmYy04NWU3LWYwZDYyNTc2M2NhOFwvZGFvaTE5Zy0yNjFhNjU2ZS1kNDJkLTQxZDMtOThjYS03MzkxNTYwYjQ5NTguanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.GzACSgp9cvX2wRL8GPadHYFlK-h9MMmXkXPR1XwEoIU
9622910
Maybe the return of Discord
9623688
The prophecy only said that Nightmare Moon would return on the 1000th Summer Sun Celebration, not that it was the 1000th since she was banished, and there is no indication that the event started after her banishment either. So it's possible that there is a lot more slop in the time then it might seem at first.
9623790
That's the way I see it as well, that and while it's rare a pony becoming an alicorn it does happen about once a century or so. Twilight just found a way to cheat a bit with hers (and in a way that would only work for the main six thanks to the elements). As for Flurry being born an alicorn... at least in my head canon Shining is going to get his own wings sooner or later.
Well this is a fun little story.
9627919
Well, the Summer Sun Celebration was created to celebrate Celestia's victory over Nightmare Moon, so it'd be weird if it wasn't roughly a thousand years between the first and Nightmare Moon's escape.
And Shiny getting his wings? As in, actually becoming proactive and relevant?
Be still, my beating heart. Do not let hope run you wild.
9628120
You have to remind me, where do they say that in the show? (not being sarcastic, I can't remember where they said that at)
9629962
It was in Princess Twilight Sparkle, when Celestia talks to Twilight about the event.
But speaking of the time it took Nightmare Moon to escape, when I went back to episode one the prophecy actually does talk about "on the longest day of the 1000th year," rather than the Summer Sun Celebration itself.
9630055
Well, clearly my memory has gotten faulty over the years. I stand corrected then and thank you for pointing it out. :)
9630180
No problem, stars know I often get things wrong myself. I usually a media player with episodes open and the Anon-a-Miss comic in a tab when I'm writing to make sure I'm not getting things mixed up, and I still mix things up.
it
___________
Ummm ... Sunset isn't the same age as Luna. First Luna would be about 17 - 18 when she entered college. Gotten her Bachelors in Teaching (4 Years of school). So that'd put her up to 21 - 22 when she became a teacher. Then it's about 5 years to become a VP ( so ~ 26 - 27).
We see that Sunset entered school about the CMC age in the Equestria Girls Movie. (The frames showing her age up); and we see that Freshman Year she looked about the same, just a tad younger than she does in Forgotten Friendship.
And we know for a fact she was over there for at least 4 years. From the looks of Canterlot High, it's the same as the schools that have Middle School on one floor, and Highschool in the other. With a shared cafeteria that blends all the age groups together (I went to 2 Schools that did this.).
So no. Sunset is the same age as her friends.
And that's another thing that people keep ignoring even when proof is shoved in front of their face.
Lauren Faust said that Ponies develop mentally as fast as horses do. Making them older mentally.
She did this because she wanted them to be young enough to be ... what's the word? Where you understand and can apply what they are going through to yourself? With young girls / early teens. But old enough to have their independance. So making them mentally older was what works (Hell, they learn Astrophysics, as College Level Chemistry in Grade School.)
9631898
Um you do know by comic canon Twilight is somewhere in her mid to late 20's right? In the 20/20 IDW comic the mane six travel 20 years back in time to the day they got their cutie mark. So the mane 6 are at best early 20's if they got their cutie marks really early. We know then that we have to add some years to that to get us Sunset's age. She was already through the mirror at that point. So given your evidence is pictures and age guessing and the comics directly state 20 years ago I'm more inclined to go with the comics. Also since anon-a-miss is a comic story that would be the canon to use on fiction based from it.
The problem gets worse when you factor in Faust's comment because it means with ponies maturing faster that 20 year time frame is even more mental maturing in pony years. Now you can argue all kinds of time dilation from the portal or we don't know for sure Equestrian time words or that maybe the comic time jumps or any number of other things but that's not what you based your argument on here and it's no where stated in comic or cartoon. Not to mention that type of uncertainty applies to any "evidence" we could draw from the official sources.
If we are talking purely Equestrian years since Sunset's birth she is definitely older than her teenage friends and given Faust even more mature mentally or at least has been an adult longer mentally than a human of the same age.
9632890
To be fair, the IDW comics never really tell us how far they jump back in time.
9631898
Ah, thanks for the typo correction.
I pretty much plucked Vice Principal Luna's age out of the aether. Given that their Equestrian versions are over a thousand years old, it felt only fitting they'd at least passed their thirties in EQG verse. True, Luna technically could be in her twenties, but that assumes she only recently got the job as Vice Principal, rather than having been in the teaching circuit for a while. I chose to assume the later.
However, I will disagree on the ageing speed of ponies, physical or mental. We've followed the CMC and the baby cakes for several years in-universe, and while the CMC have certainly matured over the years, they really only went from children to teenagers at best. The baby cakes have remained mostly the same. Whether it was Faust's plan to have ponies age faster or not, there's no sign this is actually a thing in-universe.
9632933
Official IDW description of the comic:
IDW 20/20 kicks off IDW's year-long 20th anniversary celebration! An all-new weekly event giving a glimpse of your favorite characters 20 years into the future--or past! What made them into the heroes you love... and what twists does the future hold...?
Ponyville’s most courageous and magical ponies celebrate friendship and fun in this adventure set twenty years in the past! Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of your favorite pony friends are young fillies—surely things can’t get too crazy, right?! One thing’s for sure: no matter what escapades they face, the magic of friendship will see them through!
I'll have to read it again when I get home to see if it's said by any of the characters but the official synopsis of the comic says 20 years.
[Edit after reading the comic again.]
No character mentions the number of years thus the official synopsis listing of 20 years is uncontested by the comic text.
Source: https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/my-little-pony-idw-20-20/
As I hope is becoming readily apparent and the ponit I most hope to make is you really can't definitively declare Sunset's age. You can't do this because the authors of the canon don't care to define it. Time is fluid and thus ages are too. The canon contradicts itself because the various writers are only concerned with telling their individual story. That's not really a bad thing though. It let's each fan fiction author pick their head canon on age and other things. Their choices may not be "right" but since there really is no "right" they are not wrong either.
9631898
That's actually backwards. She said that ponies mentally develop at about the same rate as human beings, but they finish physical development sooner. When you couple that with the idea that Equestria considers ponies adults when they're done growing, you get a situation where the main characters are as old as, and have the maturity of, high school students while in adult bodies and doing things we associate with adults (like running one's own business.)
That being said, there's a difference between how things were intended to be and how the actually are. The show's canon never addresses the matter.
It's also well worth separating how things were at the beginning from how things are now. Faust hasn't been in charge since Season One and hasn't been involved at all since Season Two. I don't think anything has directly contradicted her ideas about the ages, but a lot of canon has been laid down without her, a fair amount by people who came to the franchise after she had already gone.
I, for whatever it's worth, completely agree that Sunset and the six ponies are the same ages as the human lead characters, but it's my opinion, not something that's been proven. It's a valid interpretation, and I wish more people would acknowledge that, but it's only an interpretation.
9632933
Based on spending way too much time looking into this, I think that the intention wasn't to have the faster aging be a steady thing. As near as I can tell, it was more that ponies were supposed to, basically, skip adolescence. They'd grow at human rates up to that point, then quickly finish growing after they got there.
That could be entirely wrong, though, and not just because I'm supremely fallible. Something important tends to get left out of discussions of Faust's opinion on ages. While she would talk about pony ages and growth and whatnot occasionally, she vastly preferred talking about maturity level, and she preferred to do that by using ranges. Given the choice, she's much rather say, that she intended the characters to have the maturity level associated with 13 to 17 year old humans, than discuss the literal ages of the characters.
Hopefully that will interest someone. I kind of got fixated on the topic a while back. When I get fixated on something like that, the search for any and all information tends to take over my life. It would be nice if someone benefited from my time spent in fixation.
9635452
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/8/8f/Lauren_Faust%27s_explanation_about_main_6_maturity_level.png/revision/latest?cb=20120214081013
There. Right there. She puts the ages.
Equestria Girls. Has them at 15/16. Which falls in line with what Faust said their actual ages are.
But they needed to be relatable to younger audiences (target demographic if you actually look it up is 4 - 12.)
So no. Sunset isn't in her twenties. She's 15/16.
But when you add in the fact that ponies age at a much faster rate (and it is shown that it's not the case that they age that fast in MLP). Then what you end up with is exactly what Faust said.
She was viewing with Maturity Ages, not physical ones, but needed an excuse to give them independence. So she could write the stories she wanted. But humans being retarded, look at canon (and EQG is canon); and see for themselves that Sunset Shimmer was a young pre-teen when she arrived. See that the Mane 6 are teenagers. And are "Oh! Ponies must be in their 20's or 30's and become younger when they travel over!" Rather than! "Ah! Canon answered our question on how old they are. And lines up with what Faust said.").
i.imgur.com/LTZLtWe.jpg
(That isn't a 20 or 30 something adult. That's a CMC age range kid (just like Twilight was when she started tutalage under Celestia)).)
Just wondering when the whole sunset and celestia reunion happens, obviously not for a few chapters but still I think it has a lot of potential
9636957
Ehhh, still something I'd question. Particularly in the cases of ponies like Rarity. Rarity is a self sufficient business owner, owning her own brand and a sizeable shop even in the very first episode of the series, and by the time of Anon-a-Miss (which takes place in the winter of season 5) she even has a second shop open in Canterlot itself. That speaks of a mental maturity level far beyond a teenager.
Compare that to the human Rarity, who at best has a private atelier in her own home, but for actual work is still an employee working under adult supervision, for whom being allowed to manage the shop's display window is considered a great achievement.
Similarly, Rainbow Dash leads the Ponyville weather teams while Twilight manages the town's library, and while the ultimate supervision on Sweet Apple Acres is still Granny Smith, Applejack does a ton of the farm's management. None of these really scream "mentally still a teenager." Rather, they seem to tell of a maturity level around their twenties, at least.
As for Sunset... well, remember that I don't really use the time dilation theory (that introduces a whole heap of plot-holes in and of themselves, chief among them her excuse that she was distracted by Starlight during Friendship Games) so those three years she won the competition would only be a part of the near-or-over a decade she spent in the human world.
9636965
Oh, plans are in place for that, don't worry.
9637086
How I see it. The CMC once they got Cutie Marks, started working their own business. And haven't actually been seen at school in ages. So they might all have been at the age when they start their carriers. I mean even Twist started working part time / most of the time she wasn't at school in a sweets shop.
Since once you get your cutie mark, you basically know what your job is and when to start it. That and you have to think of how fast their minds age compared to their bodies. At Grade School. They are learning Astrophysics and College Level Chemistry. When most of us are still trying to learn that fractions aren't mathy voodoo. (Heck it explains why Sunset breezes through math and science. She's been doing it since before she could do magic.).
But Humans and Ponies are different, and that alt.verse shows just how much. A world without Cutie Mark Destiny, where people are inherantly dumber, and their culture and standards are far different than that of humans.
9637123
We know they're still in school, though. That was made rather clear in Marks for Effort. Us not seeing them in school is more likely because we haven't had any episodes focused on their school, rather than them graduating the moment they got their cutie marks. After all, Twilight getting a cutie mark was the start of her schooling, not the end. And Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Snips and Snails all had their cutie marks from their first episodes all the way back in season 1, yet were still in school as well. Heck, the entire episode was showing off colts and fillies with cutie marks in that classroom. So it's not as if cutie marks are a pass to adulthood, or a mark that you can start working.
What the girls do in the CMC is club level at best, not a business like Rarity is running. It might grow into that someday, but that day is not now. Right now, they've gone from pre-teens to teenagers (six years did pass, after all), but they're still a ways from adulthood. Heck, in the aforementioned Marks for Effort, they tried ditching their own school and sneaking into Twilight's school solely because "it was way more fun." That's not exactly the mark of an adult mind. Teenager, yes. Adult, no.
And I highly doubt cutie marks are directly connected to intelligence. Dash still got into the Bolts and survived fighting on the front lines during the Crystal War timeline, as did Pinkie. Applejack successfully industrialized Sweet Apple Acres (not what she wanted, but the war doesn't really care what people want). Cutie Marks reinforce a talent, they don't affect overall intelligence.
And astrophysics... you mean downwards triangle and D divided by bow and u plus triangle equals diamond point right pointing triangle?
I think that's just people reading too much into something that was quickly sketched up just to have something on the board.
9636957
Im fine with you arguing Sunset is younger than Twilight in comic canon. That's your call though I think its hard to support off of any evidence but if that's what you want to declare then sure. I mean the one hard age we have in total years as given by IDW the makers of the Anon-a-miss comic and definer of comic canon is that Twilight is 20+ cutie mark gained years old.
IDW 20/20 kicks off IDW's year-long 20th anniversary celebration! An all-new weekly event giving a glimpse of your favorite characters 20 years into the future--or past! What made them into the heroes you love... and what twists does the future hold...?
Ponyville’s most courageous and magical ponies celebrate friendship and fun in this adventure set twenty years in the past! Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and the rest of your favorite pony friends are young fillies—surely things can’t get too crazy, right?! One thing’s for sure: no matter what escapades they face, the magic of friendship will see them through!
Source: https://www.idwpublishing.com/product/my-little-pony-idw-20-20/
Yep people ignoring evidence even when its right in their face. Though you seemed rather angry that others were doing it. This as little sense as it makes is a hard number on Twilight's age and thus where Sunsets age falls as written by those that create, choose, and control (with approval from Hasbro) comic canon. That is unavoidable and I make no claims on any other issues this age may or may not create. It doesn't matter if someone likes it or not or if it upsets a bunch of meticulous analysis. It's a stated concrete canon minimum age from the people who by definition set such things. You can ignore it but that doesn't make it suddenly go away or untrue for comic canon.
Oh and do please keep in mind you have been arguing years of age along with maturity only. If you want to change your argument over to purely maturity, or bring in some sort of time dilation or jumping or definition differences or something else along those lines, basically a fudge factor for your head-canon, I'll understand and drop my disagreement.
I'm going to try and save us both some time and share what I'm doing here. I'm not out to disprove your interpretation. In fact I can even say maybe Sunset SHOULD be the age you are giving but she's not by canon unless you believe she is younger than Twilight. I just wanted to prove your interpretation was just that an interpretation aka a head-canon and not hard fact. I have done that by showing where actual canon refutes your age claims, again unless you feel Sunset is really younger than Twilight in comic canon. I wanted to prove this because that way it becomes clear that since what you are arguing is just one interpretation and due to stated canon can not be FACT that others are equally as valid including this authors.