Sunset Shimmer

I hated her. I really did. In Equestria Girls, she was every teenage bitch ever written. Her plan made no sense, nor did the way she acted it out.

Then September of 2014. The dreaded sequel reared its ugly head and confirmed why fanfiction should stay on the internet and off the big screen.

But there were two good things about it. One was Vinyl Scratch. I don't know why, I just found her funny.

The other was Sunset. Somehow, this hideous abomination of an animated picture managed to turn the previously forgettable and bland Sunset Shimmer into a living being who evoked positive feelings, sometimes even pity when things went wrong (though I was very much expecting her to snap).

Then came the next wave. The inevitable response from us, the writers of internet fiction. There came a surge of stories surrounding Sunset, all of them meant to do the very same thing the movie did: make us feel something for this poor creature.

And, I must admit, some of them are quite good.

While everyone likes to talk about the creepy stories (Cupcakes, Sweet Apple Massacre, the goddamn Forkanna fic), there really are a few quality fanfiction writers. Twilightclopple, soundslikeponies, JapaneseTeeth, Overlord-Flinx, SleeplessBrony, Your Antagonist, RazedRainbow, Chengar Qodath, Emerald Flight, The_Dash. All great writers in their own right.

And fanfiction writers have done something incredible (Dash, if you're reading, I'm looking at you). They've made characters, once unlikable or unknown, relatable, lovable, and memorable. I never thought I could feel bad for Trixie until I read Loyalty's Vengeance. And I never thought I could feel anything for Sunset until I found these stories.

All I'm saying is that maybe, much like the MLP fandom itself, there's more to fanfiction and the fanfiction community than the average outside observer can see.

Yinz take care.

-ClarinetOverlord