It's no secret at this point that everyone has their own ideas or thoughts on how Sunset should be handled compared to the other characters in Equestria Girls, seeing as they for the most part pull from their Pony counterparts with a few key differences here and there. But there are somethings that seem to have become ingrained in the collective ideas about Sunset that I've started to take notice as I've read more and more stories involving her. So let's talk about a few and see what peoples thoughts are on them. There's three in particular that I see a lot.

1. Sunset Shimmer Is Homeless or near to it. This one makes a lot of sense logically, considering how else does a pony from another world with no real records in ours survive? Some tend to go the complete homeless route while others have her getting by on previous thefts from Equestria. Regardless, though, I've seen this played with in so many stories but I'm a little surprised that so few stories go with her canon home.

2. Sunset Shimmer owns a motorcycle. Comes with the Bad girl territory and look and I honestly wouldn't put it past her to try and get one, but I'm surprised it's so prevalent an idea. As far as I can recall from the actual movies and shorts, the closest things she has a dirt bike from the Friendship Games. I find no one actually has her have a normal car (Though any cars at all seem to be exceedingly rare in EG that aren't driven by Big Mac) and instead prefer her as a biker chick.

3. Sunset Shimmer calls Sci-Twi 'Sparky'. I'm personally blaming The Albinocorn for this, considering Long Road to Friendship, but I'm not sure if that story is the progenitor of the nickname. I do know that it's common enough now that even stories completely unrelated to any of his works, from authors both good and not so much have had Sunset either give Sci-Twi the nickname or have it already in place. While I do like the idea in and of itself, it's wide spread use makes me balk at the idea of using it myself.

So, what are other fanon ideas, set ups, or otherwise interesting things you've noticed to be a bit more common in your Sunset Shimmer stories? Is it just something you think a lot of authors like? Or do you think it's something people all agreed on that 'This should be Sunset', considering that we don't have much about the girl background wise as compared to the rest of the cast? What are your guys thoughts?

One that I see relatively often (in fics where it's relevant, at least) is Sunset being quite physically powerful and a skilled fighter (either some form of martial arts or street fighting). It's common enough that I was actually kind of surprised to see her portrayed differently in Her Sunlit Knight.

I can't recall if anything has been mentioned about her grades in EqG canon, but another one I often see her portrayed as being a (if not the) top student at Canterlot High.

Other big fanon idea is that Sunset had met Cadence. And that Cadence just suddenly being an Alicorn is part of the reason Sunset demanded to also be made one. I guess the the reason is that timeline wise it could happen (even if the timeline between Equestria and Humanquestria is just weird).
Also one that I read often is that Sunset is an orphan and after becoming Celestia's student Sunset saw Celestia as her mother. Again, sometimes (part of) the reason that Sunset felt she would become an Alicorn. A sub-idea of "Sunset-Is-An-Orphan" is that Principal Celestia adopts Sunset.

6640938
To be fair to the fanfic writers, her home was only established as a location very recently.

In my case, I established her as an orphan in my works because it made sense within the context of the story. Outside of a brief mention in a comic (the canon of which is tenuous at best these days), she's never discussed her family. Having them be dead provides a reason for that. I've also gone with her as being CHS' best student for a number of reasons...though I'm shying away from her having a motorcycle.

That said, I think I'm probably one of the few who's given her eidetic memory.

6640938

Well, number one is just plain retarded. Even before Sunset's canon home was established it was a completely naive idea to think that she lasted so long in the human world without a place to live. Whoever came up with the idea in the first place was really reaching pretty far up their ass to pull out that turd.

Number two had some merit until it was Jossed. Owning a motorcycle fits her image as a bad girl and even after shaping up, her personality is still pretty firey. Putting her on a dirt bike in FG certainly ramped up the plausibility factor, but then Driving Miss Shimmer and Monday Blues stomped the idea into the dirt, so back to the drawing board.

As for number three, I think you need to expand your fanfic horizons because I have not come across a single instance of Sunset calling Sci-Twi "Sparky". I'm trying to imagine Sunset using that nickname in my head and I can feel my brain cells rebelling. ASDFGHJKL:"

Bleh. Anyway, a popular thing to expand on is Sunset's family back in Equestria since we have literally nothing to go on and Sunset doesn't seem to be going back even for a visit any time soon. My favorite idea in general in that regard is to make her Spitfire's sister. Lots of potential for fireworks there.

6640938
1. As people note it, her house was only revealed fairly recently and that has more to do with “Hasbro doesn’t want to deal with reality” than anything else.
2. That part was due to inconsistencies, not that it should be any surprise there. And actually, in Seven Days in Sunny June, I actually have her drive a car, but that’s more because my take on her was meant to be more grounded in reality.
3. i have yet to see her call Sci-Twi “Sparky”. Haven’t seen it in any fics at all.

6641086
I take it you have never been homeless and thus have little idea as to what you are talking about. I have been homeless I lived on the streets for nearly four years before I was able to get help. I bounced from one homeless shelter to another all while getting food from food banks, food shelves or food blessing box's such as the one shown below:

I had little to use for winter clothing and had to use what I could from trash cans or from the good will when they did a homeless clothing drive I was able to obtain a sleeping bag, backpack and winter clothing all of which was free. So it is not so far fetched as you might think.

6640938
1. was most common before Monday Blues, which finally showed us what Sunset's housing situation was (loft apartment), since then I've noticed it tapering off in favor of canon.

2. I fully agree here, but I have seen several fics that give her a car instead, if she has a personal vehicle at all, which according to canon she doesn't.

3. I have seen Sunset use nicknames for Sci-Twi in some fics, but Albinocorn is the only one I have seen to use 'Sparky.'

Other common fanons I've seen include the Cadance rivalry that was mentioned previously, and Sunset as Celestia's adopted, or even biological child. Another one is having her be related to characters we've met, most commonly Sunburst, due to their similar colorings. I've also seen Spitfire or even Scootaloo. Another one is part of her special talent being a prodigy in pyrokinetic(fire) related magic.

6640938
I concluded that she was homeless for a small while before committing every crime under the sun excluding murder to get a place to live. Or the Sunset Shimmer from the Equestria Girls World had left to parts unknown and she assumed her identity. Or she murdered the family and her Equestria Girls counterpart and assumed her counterparts identity. Or her counterpart is an adult witch living hidden from society and she got help by a third party to create fake I.D., Documents, and Birth Certificate, did some crime and other unsavory things for money and get her house in EQG.

Her living on the streets makes sense, no papers, no hard cash, too young, etc are all very good reasons, her buying a house or renting an apartment would be a longer shot. Her renting a really run down apartment from someone who isn't going to pry into her family situation also makes sense. Hasbro is obviously not going to delve too deep into the realism of living as an illegal alien teenager in a show for tweenagers and little girls.

I've seen people give her a car on occasion. Two writers gave her a Firebird one of them had her name it Philomena. Aside from that most of those stories also have her repair a broken down bike herself, repairing a broken down car would be more expensive and the bike fits the loner thematic tones better.

As for Sparky I've only seen 3 or 4 stories that do that, mostly romances, some of them are even non-EQG TwiDash romances with Rainbow calling actual Twilight "her Sparky". Sci-Twi makes sense but realistically it would be a bit annoying for human Twilight to hear over and over again if there is any plot at all with her not liking being held up and compared to the princess. Like "You're not Twilight, you're Science Twilight and she's Princess Twilight" which can be an issue in some story lines, particularly romances.

6640945
Making her an orphan and making Cadence one of the things that made her run away are just objectively better plot lines. It gives her motivations cause instead of receiving motherly love Celestia treated her more like a student which explains her desire to be the best and receive attention. It makes her more sympathetic and tragic and it fits well with the idea that Celestia is bad with familial relationships that Nightmare Moon can attest to. How Cadence became an Alicorn and Celestia's niece is also a perfect fit for that Sunset starved for love to be absolutely livid over.

6640944
Martial arts idea comes from the one scene in Everfree where she wakes up making kung fu hands. Physically fit is probably from striving to be the best and her physical intimidation of Twilight in the first movie hinting that maybe she wasn't fully just the manipulative bully but a physical one too. Top grades idea comes from the student of Celestia with a chip on her shoulder about being the best.

6640938

I like to imagine she comes from an upper class family that are either elitist and or insane.

6641109

Try and use your brain, please. Living like that when your main concern is finding food, shelter, and whatever else does not leave time to not only go to school, but get good enough grades not to raise any eyebrows among the staff as you spend time manipulating and factionalizing the student body.

Yeah, the person with these outfits is homeless. Use your eyes and look at the evidence on the screen before you start spouting crap all over the place.

6640938
I actually have a story in the works where Sunset is homeless and is attending school which are both things that I have actually done I know that many would say that I am spewing crap but I can assure you that I am not. For four years I lived on the streets while attending high school after my father threw me out due to his own reasons I bounced from one homeless shelter to another I was able to use the high schools showers to keep clean and the laundry rooms at the homeless shelters when I was able to get a bed there to keep what very little clothing I had clean. I kept to myself and didn't want anyone around me due to not wanting anyone to find out that I was homeless. Much of this will appear in my story once I get it posted and ready for review. But living on the streets doesn't mean that you can't keep up on your studies and get good grades it just means that you don't have a proper home there is time to study and time to find food and time to keep clean you just have to know when to use your time and how to use it.

6640945
Sunset being an orphan (Or having parents that weren't around all that much) makes a lot of sense for her character, imo. It makes Celestia and her own issues have a much bigger impact on the character.

6641016
Has it really been all that recent where it showed where Sunset lived? Honestly, I only got back into the fandom myself recently (Kinda fell out after the one shot I wrote over a year ago) so I thought that was around a lot longer then that.

6641086
Honestly, I personally think the idea of her having a more rundown/not so fantastic place to live is more realistic then her being outright homeless, but as someone else pointed out, It's more of a 'we're not going to go there cuz kids cartoon idea.' As for the music video and short screwing up her owning a Motorcycle is concerned... well, it wouldn't be the first time Fanon has over ridden canon in peoples minds and cares when it comes to Fanfiction. As for the last bit in replay.. I will say that I've kinda been gobbling up mostly SciSet stories at the expense of everything else, so perhaps that's why I've seen the over use of Sparky. I've been branching out to a few other non-Sciset focused stories and it's becoming much less common to see.

6641886
There was a map released of the human world city where the Humane Seven live that called out their individual homes right around the time they started putting out the Summertime Shorts, and one of those shorts featured Sunset's apartment - those were released last summer. It also showed up again in the Forgotten Friendship special, which saw release back in February.

6641886
The homeless Canon to me I feel is relatively new and very rare. To the point that when a homeless Sunset group was made there was barely any stories for it. I need to catch up on a lot on stories but it wasn't an issue last I remember. Most stories have her well off because bit and gems from Equestria. Gold and gems in the human world have way more worth and indetification was usually assumed or she obviously tampered with her papers. She usually has an apartment or something. Again I have to catch up too.

I'd have to agree with Jodor, homeless might a nice touch for drama but a unicorn from canterlot wouldn't settle for any less.

Never seen the nickname "Sparky" being used.

6641657
You're rude and wrong. Schools often offer free food, bully Sunset was the type of character without much of a social life to distract her from homework, and she was a blackmailer and extortionist so her getting what she wants despite her living situation makes sense.

How about you open your eyes and see she's a minor with no paperwork. Even if she had tons of money she'd still have to live in shady area's that wouldn't put her name on file or question what a minor was doing without a gaurdian. Her finding her human self is canonically out of the picture she said she never found her.

Hasbro shaded over the reality of the situation cause it's not trying to expose children to darker themes. Fanfiction can explore those themes though. Especially when the realism of the situation makes for better storytelling than "oh it just worked out, I had money from Equestria so I bought this nice house/apartment and everything was set.

No one questioned where a minor got all that gold, no one questioned the legality of gold to cash exchange to a minor, no one questioned about a parent or guardian when she went to buy the place, no one questioned the legality of a minor owning or renting a home, no one questioned her for papers or ID. It's a lot of contrived hoops to jump through to just wave away an entire facet of her character (not being from this world) just to replace it with "everything just worked". Thematically if you are trying to do the same thing as Hasbro and keep the themes light then it makes sense to use the glossy canon home idea but even middle grey themes can benefit from her more realistic portrayal.

6643560
That is all fine before there was canon to refute it. But regardless how much you like her being homeless, that fanon has been obsolete as soon as the canon cartoons showed her living inside a normal flat.

Just like I really like the idea of Sunset being an orphan (for all the reasons previously stated), but when an EQG episode finally shows her pony parents, that fanon becomes officially dead.

6652346
The show makes tons of terrible decisions that make worse stories, the beauty of "fanfiction" is that you don't have to follow every boneheaded decision they make. It's Fan fiction not official fiction or cannon fiction.

Even the official comics that are made aren't fully cannon. So the Changling, Sombra, Sunset origins in the comics aren't fully cannon either. They've said they are loosely based off of a few key points the show writers gave them but they should be treated like unreliable narrations rather than cannon.

6652346
To be fair, in many other fandoms it's actually kinda common for a fanon to be popular enough or considered to be good enough that the canon can be and often times will be ignored. It actually depends on the quality of the canon itself, the author in question, and the purpose of the story in question. It could be something as small as a name for a character who otherwise might not ever have one (Such as Akane's Mother in Ranma 1/2 or Ginny's Middle name in Harry Potter) or it could be something as big as rewriting/reworking entire SEASONS of a show because of something that got derailed (Gargyoles is well known for most fans ignoring everything after the first episode of Season three, as the original creators and writers were removed from the show at that point by the heads of Disney.)

Hell, within the fandom of MLP, there are just certain things I don't like and prefer my own headcanon and fanon over that of what the show presented us. A good example would be... Fluttershy's family. Not only are we dealing with parents who are 'meh' at best in terms of what they've shown us, but I've also have an EXTREME hatred for Fluttershy's canon brother. I'd vast prefer other ideas that I've seen through fanfiction then the original source. Does that make it canon? No, but that doesn't mean that it has to be accepted.

6643560
Well everything worked out because even with out gold and gems people still manage to get papers and IDs. Your acting like this is the a thing. If you walk the walk and talk the talk no one will question you. It's shown sunset is older then what she appears and being smart and witty she could easily acclimate to a new world. I don't think people quite understand the shit you can do with money or how you don't need to be there person to make it.

Also shady doesn't mean poor, and if people we're willing to deal with a minor I think they won't care about her parents. I don't know I think people are try to add an extra layer of sympathy to Shimmer makes for a neat concept but it's something I wouldnt say it's common place. Maybe she started out that way and then bought her shit. At most I'd say it was a transitional period for her.

6641086
To be fair there's a difference between driving a car and driving a motorcycle and there's different licenses involved for those. So it's very much possible Sunset knows how to drive a motorcycle, but not a car, that is common in real life.

And how do you think a person with no money or form of legal identification managed to get a house in the first place?