Sunset Shimmer hates being trapped in her human body. Everything about it is wrong, and too different from the pony she is inside. It causes her a lot of stress, and one night she just can't take it anymore. Luckily she has friends who care.
/x/x/x/
A hurt/comfort oneshot I wrote because I got burned out on TFW Nudes. This fic is mainly backstory for Sunset Shimmer in that fic so it's technically a prequel but it is a standalone fic and neither is required reading to understand the other, but they enhance each other. Cover art by https://www.fimfiction.net/user/325386/CastASpellLiana from https://www.deviantart.com/castaspellliana
Content warning: nudity (not sexual, not graphic), mild language
Chapters (1)
This is a view of Sunset we don't get very often, and I think you captured her turmoil very well. She must really love her friends if she's willing to put up with all of that to stay with them.
8903447
Thank you. I like to go for things I haven't seen much of, so I'm glad to know this was done well. And she definitely does at that: it's a huge plot point in TFW Nudes and my upcoming Dragonbourne Supremacy, so I wanted it set in stone before I got to the parts.
8903508
You can click the bottom right corner of the cover art and it takes you there directly
Can I please get a link to Paulie999's Deviantart?
Dangit, now I'm thinking of Forgotten Friendship again. Sunset needs a hug, stat.
8904928
ehehe, ummm... well, she does get that hug. but then something else bad happens in the series. and then she gets another hug. but then something way way worse is gonna happen in the series. and then she will get another hug... but then an extended series of terrible and deadly things will happen for several parts of the series. but then when all of the dust settles she'll get another hug. and then forgotten friendship will happen. but then after one more hug, nothing too bad should happen for a while, and it depends entirely on what happens in canon.
so yeah, I do make her suffer but good things happen to her too. honestly there's so much potential for her character and it's part of why I love the equestria girls movies so much after the first one.
This was a heartfelt story. You wrote Sunset's turmoil beautifully. Poor girl. I can't imagine the pain she goes through. It's good that she has such great friends to be there for her when things are too much for her to handle alone.
8905125
Thank you... I was definitely inspired by some of my own struggles with body dysphoria in the past. Maybe not to the level that hers is, because hers is a straight up different species, but enough that it was relatively easy for me to envision and conceptualize and put down on paper. I'm glad that this was able to accomplish what I set out to do. And yes, good friends are always welcome and appreciated.
8905427
Okay well you're not correct... BUT I wouldn't say that you're wrong either. There are lingering resentments and hostilities and negative behaviors and such, which will be absolutely reflected in the final chapters of my fic TFW You Find Your Crush's Nudes, as well as the majority of my upcoming ones The Dragonbourne Supremacy and The Dragonbourne Ultimatum. She certainly struggles with some harmful aspects of her personality, including a thirst for vengeance, ruthless sadism, and somewhat of a short temper, but I firmly believe that she's a good person(/pony), or at least desires and attempts to be, which is basically the same thing in my eyes. Nobody on earth is accidentally a saint. Everybody does things they're not proud of, myself included. And I beg of you to go watch the hour length special Forgotten Friendship on dailymotion or something: no spoilers but it may change your mind on her character.
Or... you could read my fics that involve her 😅 that would work too 😅 lmao
8905591
If Hasbro turns her evil in the next Equestria Girls movie, I'm burning all of my officially licensed merchandise and ignoring that canon. And there's not a snowball's chance in Tartarus that she'll end up evil in ANY of my fics. Even as the antagonist (or at least unwilling protagonist considering she's inhabiting Princess Celestia's body) in Supernova, she's still good deep down inside as we've seen in... literally all of her canon appearances after the first movie. Nobody would pull the rug out from under us like that unless it was whoever directed Disney's Frozen.
Even if you thought she was evil, this fic is about the psychological torment of living in a debilitating state of bodily dysphoria, which is suffering beyond what I believe even the worst person in the world shouldn't have to endure, and this takes place in a continuity of my own design in which she is not evil, but is a character with flaws and weaknesses but also positive aspects and qualities that provide for a huge chore ahead of me in terms of writing. If anything, Star Swirl the Bearded is the most evil protagonist in the series, and Sunset aspired to surpass his skill in magic, not anything to do with his accomplishments.
If it’s this much of a problem I have to wonder why she doesn’t just move back.
9228272
A valid point that is addressed in eventual sequels The Dragonbourne Supremacy, Ultimatum, and Legacy, but the short version is that she isn't really comfortable going anywhere without clinging to Princess Twilight, leaving a certain distance from the mirror, or any possibility of seeing Celestia before she's ready. It's a sense of duty and obligation to continue learning about friendship in the human world, an attachment to the Humane 6 (particularly Rarity), a curiosity about the world through the mirror, the desire to keep it safe from dark magic... basically all of the pros outweight the cons. Her full character arc explores the cognitive dissonance of having two separate destinies. But the events in The Dragonbourne Legacy are, well, pretty definitively cementing her decision on where to stay.
...but also this was kind of just a vent fic where I could express my own body dysphoria in a creative manner rather than hurting myself again. It just accidentally became my most popular fic ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
9232262
Kudos for the method of venting then.
This was pretty fun, actually. Can't say I've seen something like this before, either.
This was interesting. I've seen plenty of stories that had Sunset decides that she feels more human then pony and a few where she returns to Equestria declaring it her true home. Both paths bug me as it feels like she would try to hold onto her heritage from the two worlds.
This is a new take on things feels uncomfortable but in a realistic manor, it's something grounded and understandable unlike the more common take on things where she simply discards half of her identity. I can also personally empathise with her positions which makes it that bit more real to me personally.
Honestly played around with the idea Sunset would want to return to her pony form on the human side of the portal and sort of playing around with the idea in my own story. Though in that setting I was thinking along the lines of her feeling more fluid over her identity, adopting humanity without discarding pony kind, using which ever form she likes in the moment or happens to be more practical. Ideal world stuff compared to reality though I guess.
I just want to say I love this story and have reread it more times than I could count. It's just so sensitive, more original than most and captured the inner turmoils of Sunset very well. I may just develop parts of this into my own headcanon, if you would allow it.
That said, I would like to share a little sketch inspired by this story https://www.deviantart.com/castaspellliana/art/Trapped-800107270
Please keep writing and sharing your amazing stories
Thanks for the story and may you have a blessed and wonderful week
9658287
omg you don't know how much that means to me! I'm glad that my story inspired you so ^.^ by all means co-opt as much as you want. and I just checked that link, the hair is just gorgeous, and I'm in awe that something I made inspired something so cool. if it's okay with you, actually, do you mind if I use that as the story's picture provided I credit you as the artist? it's really good 😊
9663462
Oh, of course! I'd be honored ;v;
Consider it a gift, then - It's always nice to see even such a messy sketch of mine appreciated!
And thanks for allowing me to do that. It probably would only be brief in what I'm currently planning, but I'll be sure to credit you for the original idea.
9663694
hey man, fanfiction as far as I'm aware is 100% public domain. I've been inspired by a ton of other fics and use ideas other people used. fluttershy goes loopy was inspired by hard reset, for example. thanks for the permissions, now I can stop illegally using licensed artwork :D
Quite a good fic that explores a concept that I have yet to see get touched. That said while I do think that Sunset would still hold some of these views I don't think that they would remain as strong as they do here at the point in her time as a human as is given in the story. Either way that is a relatively small gripe considering that I do seriously think that she would still likely have such feelings to some degree anyway. Well done.
In hindsight, body-dysphoric Sunset seems so obvious that I'm surprised it hasn't become a trope. Brilliant work in capturing the unending struggle between pony mind and human body. Thank you for it.
Oh, Sunset...
This is an interesting headcanon. But I picture it as something she would eventually get over after a few months, once she got used to human things, like her motorcycle and video games.
Species-dysphoric Sunset, like FOME mentioned before, makes so much sense.
An interesting, if also somewhat painful, read!