Honestly, given the fact she had no money when she entered, and we've never seen her have a home, it's entirely possible she either bunked with others, lives on the street and does a good job hiding it, or maybe lives in a homeless shelter.

There really isn't a lot to go off of.

4183936 I usually think like an abandoned basement in the school. It still has elecricity set up, so she stole a washer and hangs her clothes up to dry. I also, partially for the reference, would make her work in a giant lemon at the mall called "The Big Squeeze" that has pretty much no supervision as she is the only one who works there normally.

I saw at least two fics that have her living in an abandoned factory. In some others, she was taken in by Celestia for some reason.

4183936

In a story I was working on a while back, I had her live in a pretty nice apartment. She's able to pay for it because she brought a whole bag full of precious stones with her from Equestria, some of which she managed to fence to Flim and Flam. (She was actually surprised how valuable they turned out to be.)

I don't care what the comics say - she's a very smart girl, so she probably wouldn't exile herself to an alien world without making preparations.

4183936
Since I treat the school as a private school I figure they may have a small boarding population so she lives on campus. Like 4183978 I doubt she would cross over unprepared

4183936 In the fic I'm working on I went with "Took advantage of an incredibly senile old lady who mistook Sunset for her grandson."

Post reformation she feels a lot more terrible about it, and tries to do what she can to help the woman out, but is not exactly possessed with a lot of options.

4183936 My headcanon is that, for the first little while after she got to Canterlotville, she slept in the school, either in the library or the gymnasium. I mean, she's pretty much exactly like Twilight, except not as friendly, so she'd naturally do similar things.

Of course, I also think she's been in that universe for longer than three years, so she's likely worked enough odd jobs at this point to have saved enough money be able to afford a crummy apartment.

The other possibility that I like to play with is that, when she came over, she inadvertently brought over some Equestrian Bits, which are of course gold coins. She's astute enough that it would occur to her to learn the market value for that gold before selling it and then investing the Humanverse money she got from it. That would help her immensely long-term, but leaves her destitute in the short-term, requiring her to do the aforementioned sleeping in the school and taking random jobs that pay under the table so she can pay for the also aforementioned crappy studio apartment.

4183978

That maybe, but she had no way of knowing whether or not gems or bits would have any value in the alien world. Not like she went into before. Though maybe she went in, learned about the value gems and such would have, ran back to Equestria and got enough to support herself.

Theres actually a comic, where she's sleeping on a couple of mats in the gym at the same time that Twilight is sleeping on her book bed.

Found it

https://derpibooru.org/515948?scope=scpe730954b8fd3c10aecc06e732eb0c7590bdcd5618

Geez, this is, what, the eighth thread I've seen today? You guys are suddenly very chatty.

I like to think she bought a few bits with her, maybe a gemstone and pawn them to get enough crash to rent a student apartment.

My theories:

Inside the School at night.

At a homeless shelter.

An under ground facility.

In a secret place called a "Safe House".

In a apartment.

In an old asylum (not literally).

Inside an abandoned factory in the manager's office.

With Celestia (possibly adopted, which I read several stories about in the past, don't remember any.).

I figured after the events of Rainbow Rocks, she is staying with one of the Humane 5. A different one on different nights, to keep suspicions down.

4184891 wrote : " Inside an abandoned factory in the manager's office. "

That's how they did it in 7DSJ.

4184009

I guess what I mean is, if you're anywhere near as intelligent and resourceful as Sunset, and you are going to jump through a portal into another world with the intent of staying there for a while, then you will probably pack something.

Bare minimum, I'd expect her to bring food and water, camping equipment, and something she could use to trade stuff with the natives. Quality gemstones actually make a lot of sense in that regard, because she wouldn't know what kind of currency they use, but it's reasonable to assume jewels would be considered valuable to most cultures.

4184028

In the fic I was writing, Sunset explained where she got her money and showed Rarity and Rainbow a ruby the size of a tangerine. They both silently agreed to make a trip to Equestria at some point. With backpacks and collapsible shovels.

4183936
She lived at school I. EG comics explained that which I found that etheir the writer seems didn't trust sunset

I had a very fanficcy answer to that, at least from when she first arrived to the events of the first film, but no way would my solution work in canon.

Honestly, though, we have no clue where she lives.

4185306
I agree this is the most sensible explanation. Most ppl just assume Sunset jumped through the portal naked, and points to the IDW comics (which have as much canonicity as a FiMfic) as corroboration.

Besides food, survival gear, and valuables which could be pawned to the natives, Sunset probably also brought along lots of powerful arcane paraphernalia. Imagine the embarrassment of making a big show of escaping to another world, only to be eaten alive by a tiger in 5 minutes. Of course, it turned out none of it worked after she crossed the portal. So eventually she pawned them off as well.

4187050

Normally my list would include "some kind of weapon", but I'm assuming an unusually skilled unicorn magician probably wouldn't bother unless she knew ahead of time that she wouldn't get to keep her magic.

Of course, it turned out none of it worked after she crossed the portal.

Actually, that would be true for anything that would need to run on her own magic, but if they were artifacts with their own inherent power then they probably would work. That's pretty much why she stole the Element of Magic to begin with.

4187270
Glad to accidentally help. At least one of us can get off our lazy butts now.

4187293
I'm of the opinion that powerful wizards are even more powerful with tools. Don't bring a wand to a staff-fight. Going to a potentially dangerous alien world should prompt some serious packing.

Actually, that would be true for anything that would need to run on her own magic, but if they were artifacts with their own inherent power then they probably would work. That's pretty much why she stole the Element of Magic to begin with.

And also why the Sirens retained their power. This is true. Headcanon revised.

4187050
oh in my fic im actually using the IDW comic as her backstory..Is that a bad idea?

4187504
IMO, in this case no, because Sunset's Origin story is actually one of the IDW comics stories which (1) do not piss me off with its excessive pandering, and (2) supports show canon where the movies leave a gaping void.

However, that doesn't mean every panel of it is perfect. I'm specifically referring to the panel where Sunset first steps onto Earth as a human, grinning diabolically and bringing over nothing. In reality, she should have been as anxious as Twilight was, and also she should have brought over some stuff for the journey. Her diary book, for one.

I realize this is an old thread but if I understood this group's rules correctly, threadomancy is preferable to duplicate threads.

My default thought about where Sunset Shimmer lives is a boarding room within Canterlot High School, but I've always wondered if it made sense. I'd expect the bully queen living somewhere every student knows and can access with a minimum of stealth would lead to her room being vandalized and/or her being attacked while she's not expecting it at some point, and that shouldn't change after she tries to redeem herself. Even if she buys a very sturdy lock.

So is a boarding room believable or do I need to find another place if I am to include Sunset Shimmer's home in a story?

There are several options depending on what you need for the story:
a)Sunset can be living with human!Sunset parents/other family. As I posted somewhere, there is high likelyhood that due to dimensional symmetry EG!Sunset ran away from home at about the same time main!Sunset had a falling out with Celestia, so she can pretend to be a returned prodigal daughter.
b)Sunset can be very rich by herself. Depending on how big are Equestrian gems and whether bits are solid gold, as well as if Sunset can actually turn them to cash without getting robbed and probably murdered for her money, she can be anything up to a millionaire living in her own mansion. And likely every two and a half years she can swing by Equestria and grab few knickknacks from the castle that would probably cost a fortune in EQGverse.
c)She can be living on bullying money. CHS students are clearly very well-off (at least some of them), so by my memories of a British private school, you can easily find people whose idea of "lunch money" is in four digits. Blackmail or just make their social life dependent on your approval and you could probably get sufficient money to pay a rent for a small apartment.
d)She can have a job. There was a clopfic where she worked as a stripper, but it does not have to be that drastic. It would not be legal (since she has no documents and is likely a minor) but she can make money through some freelance work on the net, or some semi-legal jobs (e.g. getting employed by Flim-Flam brothers off the books).
e)She can be living in an orphanage. Orphans still get to go to school, so if CHS is a public school that is definitely a possibility.
f)She can squat somewhere (abandoned factories, derelict houses, school even).

5005681 Hey, I didn't technically necro. Last post is just two days ago!