Epilogue
Winter Break passed way too quickly for Sunset's liking. She wanted to spend as much time with Shimmer as possible before the fateful day. The day before, Shimmer left for Equestria, promising to return a few days later after making some preparations for her return (namely, living arrangements and the like). However, Sunset knew it was only a matter of time before Shimmer left entirely. Sunset knew that Shimmer would come for a visit every now and then, but she already knew she would miss having her friend around.
Now, she found herself standing in the entrance hall of Crystal Prep Academy, waiting for her tour guide to arrive. She had already met Dean Cadance, a very nice woman judging from her short encounter, who had accompanied her to her homeroom. Dean Cadance was supposed to show her around the school during the next free class while Sunset’s class schedule was being finalized, but she sadly had to attend to a problem that had popped up earlier, so she would be unable to show Sunset around. But Cadance had assured her that she would not be left alone. She had asked a student she knew who also had a free period to give Sunset a tour. Sunset just had to wait until said student arrived.
By now, Sunset has been waiting for five minutes, and she began to grow bored. She had already looked around the hall to occupy herself or watched some of the other students walking past who eyed her warily or simply ignored her existence.
So far, Sunset didn't like the impression she got of the other students. The few she had seen or interacted with had been the snotty, bratty, holier-than-thou type. It reminded her too much of her previous school in Manehattan, but this time, she would make sure not to let school dictate her life like her previous one had.
Her thoughts on the school uniform, however, were better kept to herself for the time being.
Idly walking around the hall, Sunset decided to peek around some corners, looking down the corridors without leaving the entrance hall to see if she could spot anything of interest to ask later once her guide arrived. The first two had been ornate but otherwise boring, with nothing of interest to see.
When she got closer to the next corridor, she heard hurried footsteps coming closer, but it was too late for her to react. Before she could do anything, someone rounded the corner in haste, colliding with her.
Sunset fell back with a yelp of surprise. She tried to regain her footing but to no avail. Soon enough, she found herself on the floor, groaning from the light pain of falling on her butt and from hitting her head against whoever ran into her.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" a female voice said, one that sounded oddly familiar to Sunset, but with her aching head, she couldn't place it. "I shouldn't have run around the corner like that. Here, let me help you up."
Sunset opened her eyes to see a lavender-colored hand in front of her. It appeared that the girl who ran into her had more luck with staying on her feet than she had.
Sunset reached for the offered hand with a chuckle. "It's alright, things like this happen all the—" Sunset stopped speaking once she followed the hand up to look at the girl’s face, her expression turning to surprise.
The girl looked down at her with a nervous smile, as if she were unsure whether or not Sunset would bite her hand. She wore her dark blue hair, accented by pink and purple streaks running through it, in a bun, with two curled strands framing her light-lavender face.
"You gotta be kidding me..." Sunset whispered. The girl seemed to have heard her, as she slowly pulled her hand away, worry now on her face. Before she could pull back completely Sunset smiled and took her hand. The girl looked surprised for a moment that she accepted her help before she helped her to her feet.
"Sorry about that," Sunset said once she stood on her own again, dusting off her uniform. "You look a lot like someone I know. That's why I was surprised when I saw you."
"Oh, I see. Sorry again for running into you," the girl said with a hesitant smile. "My name is Twilight Sparkle."
'I know,' Shimmer thought to herself. "I'm Sunset Shimmer. Nice to meet you."
'The universe seems to have mercy on me,' Sunset thought. Maybe attending Crystal Prep wouldn't be as bad as Sunset thought.
~*~
Fluttershy sighed deeply as she walked down the hallway of Canterlot High. It was only the end of the first week after winter break, but it was clear that things would never be the way they had been before Anon-a-Miss.
While it was not even close to how it had been during Sunset’s reign, many former close groups of friends had been broken apart after Principal Celestia revealed that many students had been the source of nearly all of the posted secrets. Celestia revealed no names, but it didn't take long until students confessed or those who had been hurt figured out who was responsible for their revealed secrets.
Much to the surprise of many, Principal Celestia stood true to her words that she would take off the kids’ gloves from now on. Celestia was still looking out for her students, giving them advice whenever needed, the opportunity to change their behavior, and offering programs for help, but she was no longer willing to let them get away whenever they showed no will to change. The times someone got away with a stern word or a figurative slap on the wrist were over, replaced by increased detention times and suspensions.
Overall, the mood at Canterlot High was in a state of neutrality, somewhere between how it was before and after the Fall Formal. It wasn't a bad environment but neither was it a good one. Fluttershy hoped that things would at least get back to a more positive note over time.
Ultimately, though, she mostly hoped that things would get better for her and her friends. Outside of the dreadful feeling of being a terrible friend, not much had changed for Fluttershy. She was still as quiet as ever, maybe just a little more so than usual, and the other students left her alone.
Applejack and Rarity both tried to not let the others see how much of a toll everything was taking on them. With their sisters being behind the whole mess, they had to endure some harsh words directed at them from other students. More than once during that first week did Fluttershy find herself by Rarity’s side in the bathroom, comforting her crying friend.
The first week of school after winter break was usually a very busy time for Pinkie Pie, who chatted with most students about their activities during break, greeted new students that had transferred to CHS over break, and threw her yearly "Happy New Year" party in the lunchroom. Now, Pinkie seemed to have lost her fire as she walked through the school, not interacting much with other students on her own. She was still cracking jokes over conversations, but it was clear that the entire situation affected her greatly.
Rainbow Dash had been hit the hardest thanks to her involvement in the entire situation with Gilda. True to Sunset’s words, even after she had been declared not guilty, the shadow of doubt hovered over her head. Many students avoided any interaction with her, to the point that they got out of her way while walking down the hallway. No one spoke about it, but most feared what she might do to them if they crossed her path.
It got to the point that Rainbow resigned from every sports team, since many of their members decided to leave so that they wouldn't have to play with her. Now, Rainbow barely did anything at school besides sit in a quiet corner whenever her friends had classes or other things to do.
Reaching her locker, Fluttershy replaced the books she was carrying with her for those she needed next. Just as she was about to close the locker again did her gaze fall on the two pictures she had taped to the inside of the door.
The first was the old picture of her and her friends, the same picture Twilight had found and shown them to remind them of their old friendship back when Sunset Shimmer ruled the school. Fluttershy had made her own copy of that picture and taped it to her locker door to always remind her of the first of her biggest mistakes, the time she did not even try to figure out why they had all drifted apart.
The other was a more recent picture, taken after their victory at the Battle of the Bands, with all members of the Rainbooms, including Sunset Shimmer and Princess Twilight. This was to remind her of the second of her biggest mistakes, when she once again did nothing to find out the truth and believed a lie designed to tear her friendship apart.
"I hope that someday you can forgive us, Sunset, and that, just maybe, things might go back to how they used to be," Fluttershy said quietly to herself before she closed her locker and walked towards her next class.
~*~
The sun shone down brightly on Sunset Shimmer while she trotted down the road in Fillydelphia. It has been four weeks by now since her return to her homeworld, and while she missed having her counterpart and her family around, she felt it was the right decision to return.
Leaving Sunset alone had bothered her greatly, more than she admitted to her doppelganger, but she was relieved that Sunset had met new friends quickly, even if Shimmer herself was still wary of their intentions.
None of that mattered to Shimmer—or simply Sunset now since there was just one of her in this world—at this moment. The last few weeks all centered around this moment, the moment she had hoped to reach for as long as she could remember.
Tracking down one of the names Desert Sunrise provided her with would have been near impossible on her own, but with the help of Twilight, it only took a couple of weeks, but the problems didn't stop there. Knowing where he lived was more than Sunset ever hoped for, but contacting him was a different matter entirely.
Sunset had been afraid. Afraid of how he would react upon learning about her. Actually, no, “afraid” wasn't the right word to describe it; she was terrified. Would he accept her? Would he acknowledge her as who she was? Or would he not even believe who she claimed to be?
Those questions haunted her every time she tried to write a letter to him, to the point that she was close to giving up entirely. In the end, it was once more her dear friend Twilight who helped her out by writing the letter for her and vouching for everything with her title as princess.
The letter had found its destination, and within a few days’ time, an answer arrived with an invitation to his home in Fillydelphia with the desire to meet her.
Now, Sunset stood in front of the small suburban home, her nerves once more trying to get her to turn around. Twilight had offered to accompany her to this meeting, but Sunset had declined; her friend had already done so much for her, but this was something she had to do herself.
Sunset closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm her traitorous nerves before she walked up to the door and knocked.
Sunset heard the sound of approaching hooves from inside the house, and moments later, the door opened to reveal a pegasus stallion, his coat a sandy yellow and his mane a bright gray with white streaks. They both stared at each other, silently observing the other.
"D-Desert Gale?" Sunset finally managed to ask.
The stallion nodded, his eyes fixated on her. "That's me. And... you must be who Princess Twilight mentioned in her letter..."
Sunset nodded as well. "Yes, I'm Sunset Shimmer... your niece. I... It's..." Sunset stuttered, losing her nerves again.
Before she could say or do anything else, Desert Gale had stepped forward until he stood right in front of Sunset. Not knowing what to do Sunset lowered her head and took a step backwards, but stopped when he lifted her head again with one of his hooves under her chin. Both looked deep into each other’s eyes for what felt like hours to Sunset.
"You know," Gale began, a smile forming on his face, "you have your mother’s eyes."
Tears began to form in Sunset’s eyes, doubling as Gale had wrapped her in a hug, one she returned moments later.
"I... I don't know what to say..." Sunset muttered.
"It's alright. We have all the time to talk later," Gale said quietly, stroking her mane before letting go of Sunset. "In fact, how about we go inside? I'm sure my wife and daughter would like to meet you."
Sunset perked up, smiling brightly with her tears now falling freely. His wife and daughter, her aunt and cousin. "I would love to."
Gale nodded before he stepped back, holding the door open for her. Without hesitation, Sunset walked inside, her fear gone now that she had found the family and the acceptance she so desperately sought.
It's done...
After 3.5 years this adventure is over. It has been a very fun ride, even though I had some trouble at certain parts. Guess that is to be expected regarding the fact that I never thought this story would gain so much attention and so only posted the beginning out of fun without planning everything properly to see if anyone likes the idea 
Nonetheless, I had a lot of fun doing my best to write a good story, and I'm grateful for all of your nice words in the comments under every single chapter.
My biggest gratitude goes out to icecreammac who offered his help at the very beginning and helped me out fixing my terrible english grammar 
As I mentioned a couple of times I do have some plans for a sequel, but currently it is still in an early planning phase and this time I want to plan it out properly in advance to not have as much trouble 
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I think you might be missing a "knew" between Sunset and was.
overall it was a great story. I'm glad I stuck with it this whole time.
I'm actually a little surprised there's going to be a sequel. While things suck for the humane 5. I think everything else wrapped up very nicely.
Thank you for making a another story to this already beautiful one. I already feel like it's going to be great
Take as much time as you need for the sequel. With you slow and steady definitely works.
Well, save for the Rainbooms and Canterlot High, life finally gives a warming smile upon both Sunset Shimmer. Still I'm feeling sorry for the students of Canterlot; maybe one day, maybe, they'll regain the spirit and be able to move on - with or without Sunset, only time shall tell.
Thank you for your story and the time dedicated. I'm sure the sequel will be as captivating as this one.
I liked that the human world helped her to reconnect with family.
Sadly, I HIGHLY DOUBT it will be "how it used to be". Even IF Sunset or Human Sunset ( Or her Parents) might want to "forgive" you all.
10769733
Considering that they; along with the Canterlot Movie Club, are the ones truly responsible for all the crap that Shimmer and Sunset had to go through, I honestly don’t see them being forgiven...at least not for a very, very long time.
And nothing is ever gonna be the same again, Fluttershy. Being completely forgiven and everything becoming positive and living “happily ever after” again? That can only happen in your little fantasy land. This is the real world. And you’ll have to learn to deal with it.
"hugs you"
Take as much time as you need. This was amazing and well-balanced in terms of how Anon-A-Miss fics normally turn out. You're an awesome writer
10769765
True. I mean, Sunset/Human Shimmer ALMOST FRICKIN DIED by Gilda ( and particularly being Rainbow Dash's fault as well). So, I doubt that they will be 100% "forgive" the Rainbooms, CMC, and CHS Students for all of that crap.
Sad to see a ending to this great story, but what a ride it has been. Looking forward to the sequel :)
Wow, it's finally over... feels weird not to be waiting for a new update on this, but at the same time glad we reached a conclusion. Still one of my favorite AaM and Sunset stories in this site!
I honestly...am quite confused.
Nothing about this story, mind you, this story is honestly one of the top stories on this site about Anon-A-Miss. It's not as overboard as, say, Dainn's version where, if my recollection of the story was correct, Sunset got ambushed by Gilda and more CHS students and nearly died because of it, but you still gave it a good bit of action with the introduction of Human Sunset to the story and the fights both of the Sunsets got into.
What I am confused about (And, excuse me because I am now going to go onto a tangent) is how I felt with its ending. I've always never liked Sunset going back to Equestria fics. Yes, the reasoning is sound and yes most times it's for a good reason like she misses Equestria or this bull**** with Anon-A-Miss, but what I see as the problem is that Sunset is inherently tied to EQG whether she likes it or not. Her introduction into the MLP franchise was that she stole Twilight's crown in the very first movie. We all think EQG and the first person that would probably come to mind is Sunset. Sunset is the face of EQG alongside her Rainboom friends, and her deciding to go home and live out her life in Equestria just doesn't sit right with me.
It's why, due to Hasbro canceling the series, I've subscribed to the theory that Sunset stays in Terra (Pardon me, I'm on a bit of a Latin thing right now) and takes up a job in CHS rather than going home to stay with Princess Twilight because I don't like seeing Sunset leave the world that she was introduced to be in. Backing up to your story, I feel like if I was in your position, I'd have let her stay in the Human World with Human Shimmer's family and be adopted by them instead of going to Filydelphia and meeting with her aunt and uncle (Even though that is a perfectly passable reason to go back to Equestria) because I would rather her stay in Terra.
But otherwise, very good story! You've managed to bring Human Sunset in a way that doesn't make her evil or bullheavy, and you managed to give Sunset and Shimmer both huge emotional connections and ties to each other. A very good sequel option would be one of the Friendship Games, where Human Sunset goes against the Rainbooms, who join the team in a attempt of redemption amongst their peers, and we'd have to have either her or Pony Sunset try and defeat Twilight when she goes magic-crazy because they don't have the power of friendship with them anymore since the bearers in the Human world are hated by them.
Arbitrary grading system rating:
Platinum Tier
10769907
"Everything would be fine."
"I'll make a lot of friends!"
That's what she said
I love how in the epilogue, all of these are fulfilled in a Private School setting, as opposed to her belief that it would happen in a public school. I mean, her becoming friends with Sci-Twi is at least more friends than she made in CHS
That was one heck of a ride! Excellent job on this excellent story!
And take as much time as needed for your sequel!
And so ends what amounts to one of my favorite fics, thanks for the great ride, even if I only jumped on in 2019. This was a great journey and I can't thank you and icecreammac enough for your amazing work bringing this story to life. Unlike many stories none of the chapters felt like pure filler, instead, you just cracked on with the story, and for that I'm grateful!
Looking forward to the sequel, (and any other future endeavours), but don't rush, if it takes another 4 years to get it right, I'll wait 4 years, or 5, or 6, you get the idea.
Once again, thanks for the amazing story, and I hope to get updates in my feed from you again sometime in the future!
-Bailey_Chap
10769579
there you can see how tired I was yesterday. I noticed that myself when I got it back from icecreammac, pointed it out and we laughed about it and then I forgot to change it xD
10770476
glad to hear that you had fun, and better late than never
let's hope it won't take that long for me to get around to do the sequel, but we will see
Not crying
Not crying!
Man I can't wait to see how part 2 turns out.
Great end to a great story.
Looking forward to the next story.
Three and a half years it took to finish this, on one hand I'm happy that it's finally over on the other hand I'm also disappointed it took this long. I only say that because, how long it took to update a new chapter to the point where I forgot what the plot was. Regardless, it was still great to see it finally come to a conclusion.
Been waiting for this to finish to start reading, it was worth the wait. Thanks for the great story.
Dude, this is one of the first stories I came across on this website. What a journey man. Thanks for continuing to update it and really indirectly introducing me to all this.
Just now got caught up and I loved this story. Great work.
10987679
Oh no, I whooshed!
The only thing that was missing was why her parents abandoned her in the first place.
A great story that tugged on my heartstrings!
11209417
It was Equestria Girls music...
11126266
They died when Timberwolves attacked their wagon. Her parents lured them away so the wolves wouldn't get Sunset, but her parents never made it back to her.
I found this fic just today browsing the page and I couldn't stop reading it until I finished.
Congratulations for such a good story!
I always feel that the Anon-a-Miss fics are very similar to each other, but yours stands out for its story management and good pacing.
Knowing how to do it quite differently but keeping the important elements that the story needs to have.
I like how you handled the characters, the familiar ones and the new ones, and how the new ones were integrated into the plot.
After reading the whole story, the only thing I didn't like is that after suffering the attacks of the first chapters, the new Sunset stays a bit to one side, and it's the Sunset pony that solves everything. I think that using the human Sunset and the effects of confusing them with each other is not used well.
I can also add that I found it awkward that the Sunset we know is called "Shimmer", since everywhere she is called "Sunset", and usually it is the human that is called differently. But that may be more of my whim and it doesn't affect the plot or the story anyway.
Still, the story is very good and very entertaining, I really enjoyed reading it and seeing how it all unfolded.
I hope one day the sequel will arrive and see what happens with all the characters.
Thanks for the story!!