Salt is a terrible substance. Once a pony starts licking it, they can't stop.
It takes a truly brave soul to leave it behind...

This is an Anonymous in Equestria story. Please demonstrate your ability to read by not pointing it out an infinite number of times in the comment section. Thank you.

This story did not explode! What a relief and/or letdown.

Part of OPERATION CRACKFIC STORM 2024 ( group | stories ).

Thanks to Silk Rose for coming up with the idea, writing chapters 22 and 9, and developing the code; thanks also to Meadowsys for general code help.

Thanks to IrradiatedPirateBooty ( tumblr ) for the awesome character art.

And thanks to everyone in the comments who stuck around for the final countdown!

This story is a sequel to Steel Solstice

Sunset Shimmer's plan to escape the Steel Tower failed—but she is still returning home. Instead of a victorious pony, come back to gloat to her previous teacher about the secrets she had uncovered, she is an adviser to one of the most dangerous men alive: Tesla.

But it isn't a simple invasion; Equestria is under attack by demonic forces, and the Steel Tower has been invited to help. But there's another faction of humans in Equestria, one that is still at war, and one who Sunset suspects are plotting terrible things...

She isn't alone. One of her human friends, now trapped as a cybernetic bat pony, is sent on a covert mission of her own. Equestria may depend on them in ways they never could've realized.

Updates Thursdays.

This story is meant as a companion to Harmony Defended, and to take the place of the long-anticipated revision. I decided it would be better to write something new than to overhaul something that was so long in itself. This story will probably spoil various elements of that one, though the reverse will largely not be true. If all of this seems confusing, you should probably start with my first story in this series, My Little Apprentice. As that story was written in Season 4, this one will not necessarily incorporate the canon of future seasons of Friendship is Magic.

The Sunset Campaign was sponsored by Two Bit on my Patreon, who is generously sponsoring me to clean up my tangled web of previous stories. Sparktail and Two Bit did the editing, and Zutcha did the cover.

For nearly a thousand years the ancient prophecies of Clover the Clever sat unread in Canterlot's forbidden archives. Until the day that Celestia took on an apprentice, and everything changed.

Sunset Shimmer is smart, resourceful, and determined. No matter how many new lessons Sunset learns, she just isn't satisfied. Equestria is in danger, and Celestia refuses to give her the power it would take to help defend the kingdom.

Another pony might've given up and trusted her princess to handle things. Sunset Shimmer isn't like most ponies. If Celestia won't deal with looming threats, Sunset will take matters into her own hooves. She'll find allies for Equestria even if she has to leave the universe to do it.

A prequel set in the continuity of My Little Apprentice. This story is not required to understand that one, or vice-versa.

This story was written at the behest of Two_Bit, who is sponsoring it on my Patreon. As usual, cover by Zutcha.

Have you ever seen a pony that just seemed out of place? Perhaps some mannerism, some behaviour that just struck you as odd? Some piece of clothing that didn't seem quite right? perhaps a coat or mane whose colour just seemed flat-out weird. A strange build, a strange voice, or maybe they were perfectly normal, except that you swear you just saw the exact same pony not five seconds ago somewhere completely different?

Of course you have. Everypony has encountered an Outsider at some point. But never up close, it's always at a distance, and they're always gone before you have the chance to challenge them.

But sometimes the rules get broken. Sometimes fate gets distracted for a moment, and a lone unicorn mare gets to see something that she was never meant to see.

Twilight Sparkle's day is about to get very weird.

FAQ and Supplemental Materials (Potential Spoilers for new readers)

Featured! Twice!
...I really don't know what to say!

Special Thanks go to Horizon for initial proof-reading, editing, and signal-boosting, provided as a prize for spotting an Easter egg in his story Hard Reset II. Seriously, it's an awesome, brain-warping story and you should go read it right now.

Thanks also go to my editors for putting up with my atrocious grammar and spelling errors - Ganelon, Ephraim Blue, BronyWhooves, Commonancestry, Princess Autumn Forest, and Morning Sun

Cover art credit goes to EMedina13 and tamalesyatole. I am looking for more appropriate art, so If you think you can do better, let me know.