Let's take a break from my regular Christmas shitposting to ponder this: · 3:47am Dec 24th, 2017
wat.
Sunset Shimmer, canonically, has a drivers' license. This is from the Driving Miss Shimmer EQG short available on the Discovery app.(which I don't have or a link to a version online, sadly.)
Sunset Shimmer is a horse. A horse alien from another dimension wearing a cute AF people suit. Consider the logistical nightmare it must have been for her to have a home and now the ability to legally drive. I know there are plenty of real world ways around needing things to prove your identity, heck, I've used a few of those in fics featuring ol' Bacon Bangs. But having a legit Driver's License requires a SSN in the States and for all intents and purposes, that seems to be where EQG takes place. Which implies that at some point, Sunset had to commit identity theft.
That could be as simple as getting a hold on her human counterpart's SSN, but I like to think it wasn't. It's funnier that way. Another thing, if you think about it, but during her time at high school, she'd need a parent signature for bunches of things. That's a whole other identity that she'd need to fake, for years, just so the talking monkeys around her would accept her as one of their own. Personally, I like to think that Principal Celestia has been covering for Sunset here and there. Cleaning up her record just in case someone else came sniffing around later.
What I'm saying is I think there's room there for a fic titled "Sunset Commits Identity Theft." Not that I'll write it. But...I'm not saying I WON'T write it either. It just tickles me.
Sunset's Secret Diary, Entry 312: "Day 147. In order to continue to blend in with these talking monkeys, I have discovered I need an unique number that identifies me as a member of their kingdom. These numbers are issued at birth, but a little digging has turned up a way to get one. All it requires is a little digging. If I don't find something at the Canterlot Municipal Landfill, I intend to try Canterlot Eternal Rest Cemetery next."
Stay suspicious.
-Fuzz
Bro, if you really wanna travel down the rabbit hole, consider this:
Sunset Shimmer has been out of Celestia's tutelage for so long that no one else remembered her. She's at least as old as Shining and Cadence. So, she's in her late 20s/early 30s.
And she's making eyes at high schoolers.
You're welcome.
AHHH! AHHH! THERE'S SO MANY HOLES IN SUNSET'S STORY! AHHH! MAKES MY BRAIN BLEED!
ILLOGICAL! ILLOGICAL! ILLOGICAL!
Ahem...
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Oh we have discussed this at length. One of these days I will break down and write a whole story to fill in all these damn holes and inconsistencies. 30+ year old Sunset pretending to be a teenager is my jam though.
Which reminds me, I need to finish up that sketch of Sunset as Steve Buscemi...
Five minutes and fifty bucks in California can get you enough fake ID to get a driver's license. And it is always sunny and pleasant at Canterlot High.
Sunset Shimmer's story is so full of holes, but that's what makes it so fun. You can do pretty much anything with it, and it won't be much more ridiculous than the actual show. I would totally read Sunset Shimmer Commits Identity Theft.
4757418 We have, yes. If I felt particularly trolly, I'd probably write a fic where that came out and Sunset had to get tried or something. But I'm too lazy to put that much effort into aggroing everyone lol. I'd rather write cute changelings/ponies.
Oh god, the legal aspect of Sunset’s story is a mess. I had to sort some of it out in my story because there’s a part where she crosses the border between the USA and Canada; I didn’t go into too much detail but I made a point of having her say she had her citizenship and a passport, and I left it up to the readers to imagine all the nonsensical government hoops she would have had to jump through to get them.
Given what we witnessed as her attempt to create photo evidence to convince Luna that Twilight wrecked the gym, it's entirely possible that her license is just what she drew on a small piece of paper after someone described what a driver's license is at one point.
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You do you. I'll do Sunset and the Sirens.
4757449 And together we shall rule the galaxy as father and son?
4757420
Like I said, "ways to get around it", and honestly, that would be even funnier. It just raises so many questions about EQG's version of the legal system. Like, how poor is their security if a completely alien to the specie can sneak in and become one of the herd in such short time and with no eyebrows raised high enough to get even a cursory investigation?
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Sunset Shimmer is also canonically a dang good artist.
Maybe the fic should be titled "Sunset Commits a Photoshop."
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You know who your daddy is.
4757456 Damn right, who else is going to supply me with Raven pics~
4757445
I've maintained that she gets by paying for everything with cash that she got from trading Equestrian gems/gold at various pawnshops and curios. Under the table transactions is her literal bread and butter.
Or, she took the easy way out and just filled out an interdimensional transfer student form for a Japanese high school.
4757457
shhhh...no one needs to know about that, bby.
vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/teen-titans-go/images/3/39/Legendary_Sandwich_48.png/revision/latest?cb=20150523231011
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OR Celestia took pity on her/needed to fill out a diversity quota for a Special Needs grant based on her probably illegible mouth-writing. Gotta pay for that school somehow.
Do you by chance have the link to the actual video that you are talking about within this post I am having a hard time finding it on Youtube.
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Now I'm picturing Sunset Shimmer having terrible mouth-writing, so she tapes a pencil to her forehead like a horn and fills out paperwork like that until she figures out the hand thing.
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That works for me, but how long would that last?
See, my story takes place in 2022, so the girls are in their mid-twenties (though Sunset’s mind would be older, say mid to late thirties?) and so she’s been to university by then, and at some point she must have realised that it would be easier in the long run to become ‘legit’ as they say, in order to go to school, get a job, etc.
I don’t know how that stuff works though; how does a mystery person with no IDs or anything obtain a citizenship? Maybe she played the amnesia card. Who knows? I sure don’t. This is why I kept it vague.
It’s an interesting aspect of her character though, that’s for sure.
4757475
pffft. That makes a weird amount of sense.
4757481
See now, I think Sunset is pretty smart and after a couple of transactions could judge the value of the stuff she stole in Equestria to fund her living in humanlandia. Plus she had a pretty poor state of ethics at first. If she was frugal and used the opportunity to sneak back to Equestria every time the portal was naturally open to steal more, she could stretched that cash pretty far. But it wouldn't last forever, that's why she works the Sushi Shack at the mall.
As for how she could go legit, she could apply for citizenship/naturalization like any other illegal alien. So eventually, she'd have all she needed to get by. Sunset in the show might have a Green Card for all we know. But I like the idea of her hording gems and little trinkets under her mattress to pull out when her funds start to run low.
I find the idea of Sunset learning to drive almost as funny. I suddenly had a stupid mental image of her tying herself to a car in an attempt to pull it like a chariot.
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There is not a rip or upload to youtube/vimeo I could find yet. So far as I can tell it's one of the shorts released on Discovery's app. We should get a youtube upload pretty soon though.
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Anything goes, really. I like that the show is vague enough about it so that we can pretty much just come up with whatever we want to explain it.
In some states it's actually pretty easy to get a driver's license. (Source: live in New Mexico)
Considering Canterlot's blase attitude about magical shenanigans, I figure it's similar in airtight bureaucracy to the Simpson's Springfield.
The U.S. is pretty notoriously not strict about how legit you are to work/drive.. as long as you're paying your taxes (which is so ironic, so many people go "hurr durr illegals don't pay taxes or buy insurance," when your average illegal alien is definitely paying more of a percentage of their income in taxes and insurance than the fucksticks those same people elected to office... sorry /politicalrant)
Not true about the at birth bit on SSNs. My sister and I got ours when I was 14, 15? You need a Taxpayer ID number for the IRS, and for most people that's their SSN, but you can get an Individual Taxpayer ID Number for, say, minor children you're claiming on your tax return. And I think you only need a birth certificate to get an SSN, which opens up possibilities.
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Also true for "non-resident aliens" i.e. people who legally came to the US, but aren't (yet) going through the process to become permanent residents. They literally pay more in taxes through additional withholding.
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A quick google search turns up that the rule vary a bit from State to State, and while not actually issued at birth, a lot of States and local hospitals heavily recommend applying for one when a child is born. Which is what happened with my family. All the better for my parents to apply for credit with the SSNs of my siblings before they could talk or walk on their own, let alone sign up for a credit card themselves.
Whatever kept us fed, amirite?
This is much less fun than identity theft as a story to write, but consider:
- Humania apparently is some sort of direct mirror-world duplicate of Equestria, what with having all the same individuals in a different form.
- Equestria canonically has carts and conceivably therefore has driver's licenses.
- Passing through the portal alters not only your physical form but also your possessions in a manner that equips you for the world you're going to. (See: Twilight Sparkle not arriving Terminator 2-esque nude)
- Therefore, Sunset Shimmer's driver's license is probably just the cart license she had in her saddlebags when she left Equestria.
All that said, I think she still committed identity theft anyway, just on principle.
4758045
Equestria Girls would have been a very different movie if she had.
Sunset's Secret Diary: "Day 21. I tracked my dimensional counterpart to a building that I have identified as her home. It's much like the multi-level stables back in Equestria. Complete with a poorly lit alley behind it where no pony will hear you yell. I waited until dark and gained entry by holding a (empty) pizza box. I left with my doppleganger and the contents of her purse. I kept the purse and threw the rest in the trash. Before I closed the lid, the other Sunset asked who I was. I replied You, but better."