The Misadventures of Sunset Shimmers

by Yukito

XXVII - Epilogue 1

Five months had passed since the girls had stopped Sunset Shimmer from crossing the portal and declaring war on her homeland. After that day, Sunset had opened herself up more to the girls, hanging out with them without any groaning and allowing herself to smile and laugh along with their jokes.

Two weeks later, however, Sunset left the school, and although she hadn't told any of her friends what she was doing, she assured them that she was totally fine and stayed in contact via video calls. Celestia herself had assured the girls that Sunset was fine, and so, they trusted her.

Now, the girls were getting ready to face graduation by visiting the local university on an open tour day.

"It's… big," Applejack said, gulping as she looked around at the crowds and crowds of people flooding the vast campus. "How do folks find their ways around here?"

"Canterlot University is actually one of the smallest universities in the country," Rarity told her, humming as she looked through the brochure. "Hmmm… There are some interesting courses here, but I've already been accepted to Fashion University North…"

"Then why are you here?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, the rest of you were coming, so I thought I'd tag along."

Applejack peered over Rarity's shoulder at the brochure. "To be honest, ah'm probably jus' gonna take over the farm… but ah'm thinkin' 'bout takin' up some agriculture classes part-time."

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I already know I'm gonna do somethin' in sports. Just dunno where."

"Oh, there's a vetiranary course here," Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief. "And there's a seminar on the science faculty soon."

"Well, let's head on over then," Applejack said, and the others nodded, besides Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the former groaning at the mention of 'science' and the latter pouting, because…

"I still can't believe there are no party courses here…"

---

The six girls took their seats in the large lecture theatre, Applejack whistling her appreciation at the sheer size. "This ain't nothin' like the classrooms back at school."

"Of course not," Rarity said. "Classes here are roughly five times larger than they are at Canterlot High."

"How d'ya remember all the names of classmates, then?"

"Well, when you're studying that much, I imagine you don't have enough time to be making friends with everybody, anyway."

Pinkie Pie frowned. "I don't like this place."

"Okay, everybody! Settle down!"

The girls turned their heads to the front of the room, where all other eyes were also pointed. Many surprised gasps and murmurs passed through the crowd, and the girls were no exception, watching as a teenage girl in a lab coat took her place at the podium and looked over the class.

"I am Sunset Shimmer. I teach theoretical physics here at Canterlot University, and I am here today to talk to you about enrolling in the sciences."

Pinkie Pie slammed her hands onto the table in front of her, and screamed, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!"

---

After she was finished giving her speech, Sunset's eyes fell on the five girls that had never stopped staring at her with those dumb looks for the past twenty minutes. She gave a relieved sigh, and her five friends climbed out of their seats and made their ways down the theatre, running towards her.

"You're alive!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, tackling Sunset in a hug after arriving first. "I'm so happy! It's been so long! Where have you been? What've you been doin'? Why're you a teacher here? Did we go through wormhole that skipped time forward a few years? Is that how time works? Anyone got a watch?"

Sunset crawled out from under Pinkie whilst the other girl was rambling, and saw an extended hand from Applejack. She accepted it and rose to her feet. "Thanks."

"Well… this's a surprise," Applejack said simply.

"Yeah. Five months without comin' out to see us, and now you just show up as a teacher at Canterlot U.?"

"She wanted to surprise you," Celestia explained as she approached from the side, smiling at Sunset Shimmer. "That was a nice first speech, Sunset. Well done."

"Begging your pardon, but… what exactly is going on?" Rarity asked the two. "How is it that Sunset, who was just five months ago attending the same high school as us, suddenly a lecturer at a university?"

Sunset cleared her throat, and took a few seconds to figure out where to begin. "Well… after I decided to stay in this world… er, town, rather… I thought about what I should do with my life here. You see, I'm actually much older than I look in this body, and in my last… town…" Sunset glanced to Celestia, who was still listening intently. "… Where I came from previously, I was already educated to a level far beyond high school, even beyond college and university."

"Sunset asked me if there was a way to speed up her education," Celestia explained. "She said that she wanted to earn her degree sooner so that she could look for employment. I know the dean of this university and so I asked him he could test her for early enrolment."

"So y'all enrolled early then? But wait, you said you're a teacher," Applejack pointed out, and Celestia giggled.

"When the dean offered to test her for early enrolment, Sunset asked if she could simply be given the final assignments to complete over the summer and earn her degree right away. He humoured her…"

"And she earned her degree in just five months?" Rarity asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

"One," Sunset corrected. "Had I known that the content here was so easy, I would have waited a little longer so that I could hang out with you girls some more."

"In five months, she has earned a total of three Bachelor's Degrees and a Master's," Celestia said, grinning as the girls' jaws dropped in unison. "And is currently working on her PhD."

Sunset puffed her chest out in pride. "As I said, I'm a genius. Had I been officially tested where I came from before-"

"Marry me!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, before asking, "Wait, scientists make lots of money, right?"

"I think so," Applejack said.

"Marry me!"

Rainbow Dash pulled Pinkie Pie back, and Rarity asked, "So, does this mean we won't be hanging out anymore?"

Sunset felt bad for a moment, especially when she saw the hurt looks on their face. "For the moment, I've got just too much work… But as soon as I earn this final degree, I'll be able to hang out with you all again, just… probably not on a regular basis."

"Well, it sounds like this's what ya wanna do," Applejack said with a smile. "An' ah'm glad ye're doin' so well."

"Me, too," Fluttershy said. "Um, I-I mean, as long as you're happy, so am I."

The other girls agreed, and Sunset felt her heart flutter as a tear started to well in her eye. To think, she was going to give up these great, supportive friends, and for what? Revenge? War? A possible lifetime in a cold, rotting dungeon?

She wiped the tear away, confident that she had made the right choice back then. As she did so, Rainbow Dash noticed the jewel-line glove on her hand. "Wait, you made another one?!" she shouted as she pointed.

Sunset gasped, and grinned sheepishly. "W-Well, y'know, magic just has… so many perks, y'know?"

"'Magic'?" Celestia asked.

Sunset gulped, and ushered her friends closer so that she could whisper. "By the way, I meant to ask: which of you picked up my old glove?" The five friends looked at each other with puzzled expressions. "None of you?"

"We thought you did," Applejack told her.

Sunset shook her head. "I went there to pick it up, but it was gone." She hummed in thought, and then shook her head dismissively. "Well, I'm sure it's fine. Nobody could just pick it up and know how to perform magic, after all."

---

The waiter approached the table with the strangely-dressed man, raising an eyebrow but saying nothing as he placed the strawberry shortcake down. "Sorry, sir, I've talked to the manager, but we just don't serve chocolate milk here…"

Discord lowered his newspaper and gave the young man a smile. "Oh well, that's fine." He left the boy a rather generous tip and watched him leave. Afterwards, he reached the empty glass on his table with his gloved hand. A golden light surround the cup, filling it with chocolate milk from the top-down.

As he took a sip and leaned back in his chair, the madman chuckled. He pulled the glass away with a contented sigh, using his magic to add some marshmallows to his drink. "Chaos is a wonderful, wonderful thing."

Comments

[Seether00]

Meh. Discord.

[David Goliath]

Yay, Discord!

[MythrilMoth]

"It's… big," Applejack said, gulping as she looked around at the crowds and crowds of people flooding the vast campus. "How do folks find their ways around here?"

Oh, like Applejack's going to college.

There are some interesting courses here, but I've already been accepted to Fashion University North…

Nice LPS reference.

Applejack peered over Rarity's shoulder at the brochure. "To be honest, ah'm probably jus' gonna take over the farm… but ah'm thinkin' 'bout takin' up some agriculture classes part-time."

Couple of business classes wouldn't hurt either.

"Oh, there's a vetiranary course here,"

veterinary

"I still can't believe there are no party courses here…"

Well there are, but they're in Greek.

The six girls took their seats in the large lecture theatre,

Should be five girls, shouldn't it?

"I am Sunset Shimmer. I teach theoretical physics here at Canterlot University, and I am here today to talk to you about enrolling in the sciences."

Oooh, twist!

Honestly? You could've left the Discord bit at the end off. Other than that, happy to see this version of Sunset got herself together, applied herself, and built a brand new life!

[proto20]

Discord with the magic glove. Methinks a sequel is about.

Pretty please?
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[Emperor]

Maybe Sunset should use her super-smarts, age-regression she got when crossing over, and her ability to use magic to become President of the United States. Then President of the Entire World.

Then she can rub it in Princess Celestia's face. "Oh, you got handed control of a single nation in your world. I gained control of a nation through democracy, then parlayed it into an entire world order through diplomacy "

[Kage no Brony]

7407636

... Where is Applejack? You skipped AJ, you jerkface.

Also: Yes, suffer. Suffer! Ahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa...

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Oh, that ending... Of course. Who else would get the glove? :D