EThe Application of Unified Harmony Magics
MLP: FiM
Slice of Life
Celestia’s prized student, Sunset Shimmer, must deal with an unexpected remnant of her past while seeking a lost book in the Royal Canterlot Archives. Right after lunch and some meddling from her friends.
Alt. Universe
Twilight
Celestia
Minuette
Sunset Shimmer
Moondancer
Amber Spark · 16k words · 607 12 · 8k views

Retrospective: Applications · 10:14pm Jul 19th, 2016

You're going to want to read the story before you read this. So go do that!

So, here it is.

I’ve been a member of the FiMFiction community for a year and a half now. For about a year of that, it was only as PR conduit for Gardens of Equestria. Now don’t get me wrong, GoE is still very near and dear to my heart. But frankly? I felt like a fraud. I claimed to be an author but didn’t have anything to show you.

Now I have plenty of written works, but they’re under a different name. And for professional reasons, I need to keep Novel Idea separate from the rest of my material. It’s complicated, but necessary.

So I needed something new.

Here's the catch: since my injury in January 2015 (concussion directly to the left temple), it physically hurts to write, especially with black on white text. My editing process where I actually print the story and read it aloud to myself? I needed so many painkillers for that. But, I did do NaNoWriMo last year and I've working in Shattered Dawn. It was time to make this happen, no matter what.

Applications was actually written in about five days, shortly after finishing Sunset of Time by Albinocorn. You can really blame him for this. He drove me to it, filling me with the desperate to actually get a story out. Before this, I’d spent the last couple months working on Shattered Dawn (Trixie: IT’S A WORKING TITLE!).

Second Edit: As you likely have already noted, Shattered Dawn has been retitled to Wavelength Theorems. So just mentally swap that!

Shattered Dawn seems to get bigger every time I come back to it. Originally, the premise was (at first glance) simple: what if Sunset Shimmer had managed to go through the Statue Portal while Twilight was dealing with the alternate timelines created by Starlight?

But I quickly learned it was anything but simple. You see, I wanted to fold in the storyline of the comics (as much as possible) in addition to an explanation as to how Equestria managed to defeat the various villains without the Mane 6 as we know them.

Well, there was only one solution: we needed new Element Bearers. And so, I started thinking about the drastic changes we see in the timeline and wondering what else might have happened as a result of the Rainboom not going off or as a result of the result of the lack of the Rainboom. (Read it again, it makes sense)

Which led me back to my favorite pony: Sunset Shimmer (Okay, fine, she’s tied with Twilight). The precursor to Twilight Sparkle. The ‘what if’ of the Element of Magic.

First and foremost, as far as this timeline is concerned, the events in the comic MLP Annual 2013 is considered canon, specifically the eight-page story named “The Fall of Sunset Shimmer.” When I was re-reading it, I came across something rather interesting. On the second page, after Sunset passes her mid-term with flying colors, she’s approached by a group of other unicorns who all appear to be around the same age.

Minuette. Twinkleshine. Lemon Hearts. Lyra and Moon Dancer. Now, this is before Moon Dancer’s model refresh in Amending Fences, but it’s still Moon Dancer.

But there’s another little fact. In the same panel, you can see a filly Twilight Sparkle playing with Cadence and Shining in the background.

Hmph. Well, that directly contradicts what we’ve seen in Amending Fences. So what to do?

Simple. I ignore Twilight in that scene. Yeah. I’m cheating. I’m not going to lie. I’m being selective about what to choose. I kinda have to. Sunset doesn’t have six seasons of stories to go from. She’s got three movies, a book and the comics. That’s all.

So yeah, I’m cheating. Cause friendship. That’s why. Now sush.

Now, I don’t want to give everything away for what happens in Shattered Dawn, but I thought about if Sunset Shimmer remained as Celestia’s student…what would happen to Twilight?

Well, a big influence on that came from an unexpected source: a fantastic short story called The Brightest and the Best by Pineta that gives an incredible new perspective on Twilight’s entrance exam for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. I won’t ruin it for you (though I honestly give everyone a brief rundown in Sunset’s revelation to Twilight), but frankly, in my head, it’s practically canon. Which is why I make several references to the professors mentioned in Brightest and the Best in Applications (Apple Polish and Crystal Clear were both professors from the story). I would also like to say I did run this by Pineta before publishing it and I am very grateful for his permission to run with his idea.

In fact, I’ve accepted it as canon so much that my first draft made almost no sense if you hadn’t read the story. Whoops.

As for other references? Yeah, let’s just get them out of the way.

Yes, Strawberry Lemonade is a callout to the brave paladin mare in Fallout: Equestria. She’s a distant ancestor in a different timeline. Or something like that.

Yeah, I freely admit that I outright stole Albinocorn’s working idea of Harmony as an actual force rather than just a concept. And I’m not even remotely done with that.

Scrollwork’s comment about the Manehattan Vaults was completely unintended. I swear. Nothing to do with FO:E or the Manehattan Project. Dammit, it’s the truth!

Fine. Don’t believe me. It’s still true!

Yes, the stories Sunset mentions from Legends of Equestria refer to the incredible fan animation “Children of the Night” and the excellent Celestia/Luna ‘origin’ story “The End of the Day.” And by the way, you have seen that book in the show before. At least twice, though it was never named.

More than anything, Applications is about setting the foundations you’ll see later in Shattered Dawn. You get a glimpse of how Twilight and Sunset first met and how their relationship developed from a misunderstanding into the beginning of a great friendship. You’ll see a Moon Dancer who’s spent a bit too much time with Sunset. The result? Moon Dancer’s got a lot more sass while Sunset’s a bit more level-headed. They balance each other out. You’ll get a picture of Minuette who’s still the wonderful cheerful and goofy pony we met for the first time officially in Amending Fences.

And more than that, you’ll get a picture of just one potential vector of Sunset Shimmer’s life.

I know a lot of authors have done a lot of versions of what Sunset could have been if things had turned out differently. “Witch of the Everfree” explores what would have happened if she had the same falling out but ran instead of going through the mirror. “Sunset of Time” explores a completely independent (but eerily close to canon) version of Sunset who never sees the mirror but walks down an ever darker path in her quest for Celestia’s approval. What makes this one special? That’s for you to decide.

So enough rambling. I could probably ramble on for another ten thousand words. But I won’t bore you with whatever happens to pop into my mind at the moment. Instead, I’ll give recognition where recognition is due.

First and foremost, to Rebecca Shoichet, for not only being the amazing singing voice of Twilight Sparkle, but also giving life to one of the greatest ponies we’ve ever seen in MLP (and I confess I actually like her Sunset singing voice more than her Twilight one) and the best redemption arc we’ve seen in the series. (King Sombra’s arc in the comics is almost as good, but Sunset’s Sunset, so she wins because Sunset.)

Next to The Manehattan Project team for not giving me too much grief over doing this side story that has nothing to do with Gardens of Equestria. Well, I did just finish the level design work for over 70+ levels and the New Appleloosa worldspace, so I was due for a break.

For all you kind folks who enjoyed my recent forays into cover design, especially the authors who used them. Some might think it’s silly to thank you, but it means a lot to me that you took the time to use the covers I made and your kind words were a great encouragement to me.

My girls for being okay with watching Amending Fences and Rainbow Rocks a few more times than necessary to get down the characters (okay, that wasn’t exactly traumatic for them, really).

Finally, time for the beta readers (or pre-readers as you call them).

A very special thanks to Ebon Quill. Even though he still had the entire script of Gardens of Equestria: This Coming Storm to work through, he took the time to give me his thoughts on Applications and pointed out a lot of mistakes that were so blindingly obvious after the fact.

Quantum State also gets a shoutout for nailing even more flubs that everyone else missed. Including me. Three times. This is why you need fresh eyes on a story, folks.

A special thanks to my wife, Painted Heart, who—as she has with so many other tales—was one of my first readers. She did it in one sitting, too! That’s a rare thing for her. Not only that, she ended her comments with a smiley face. She even confessed to getting teary-eyed about one part. That was a doozy. She rarely does that. I’m the overly emotional trainwreck in this family!

Finally, a humble thanks goes to none other than Albinocorn, who was kind enough read through Applications as a favor. You’ve probably already seen my followup on “Long Road to Friendship” and “Sunset of Time.” Both of these stories just made me fall in love with Sunset Shimmer all over again, seeing her sheer potential and the power of a redeemed character. I’ve been writing for a very long time and I like to think I can recognize masterful skill when I see it. Albinocorn has it in spades. His material is on par with some of the best professional fiction writers out there, whether he accepts it or not. His Sunset Shimmer stories are the ultimate and definitive Sunset stories on FiMFiction. I am intensely grateful that he gave me the great gift of doing a readthrough before I released this into the wild.

I also hold Albinocorn personally responsible for making SunLight my favorite ship of all time. Entirely. His. Fault. But then he had to pretty much brainwash me into shipping them without me even knowing it. Okay fine, I knew about it. I just couldn’t help it.

I hope you’re happy with yourself, Albinocorn!

I also regret nothing in regard to “Long Road of Friendship Abridged.” NOTHING.

The one cool thing that I got from all three was some variation of “I’d like to see more of this world” or “I’m curious where you’re going next.”

Well, that’s the whole idea.

So saddle up. You haven’t seen the last of these ponies. And who knows? You might get a few more short stories before the novel comes out.

Recommended Reading:

MLP Annual 2013 (Specifically “The Fall of Sunset Shimmer” introduction)

The Brightest and the Best by Pineta

Everything by Albinocorn (Be warned: You will cry during the events of Sunset of Time. If you don’t, consult a medical professional because there is something seriously wrong with you).

This has been Novel Idea. Until next time, have fun!