Sunset Shimmer was far better at rebuilding her life than she ever wanted to be. The first time, she'd enjoyed it. That had mostly been psychological rebuilding, redefining herself as the student of the Sun and reconsidering everypony and everything around her in that context.
But then had come the second, much more literal rebuilding, where she'd found herself in a magicless world with nothing but the clothes that had appeared on her back. Yes, she'd brought a fair number of gems that were orders of magnitude more valuable here than home—and she still had pulling the same trick with aluminum foil in reserve, just in case—but pawn shops could only give her a small fraction of their actual value, and money couldn't buy her enough knowledge to seem unsuspicious. That she'd had to learn on her own, along with dividing and conquering the locals before they could imprison her. Or cart her off to Hoswell and dissect her, based on what she'd gathered from their pop culture.
And now? Well, "third time's the charm" was a saying on both sides of the mirror, but Sunset wasn't sure if that would really be the case. She still had her apartment and her bank account, and she supposed the girls Princess Twilight had assigned to watch her counted as a gain in some way, but she'd lost any and all respect at CHS, and that loss cut deep.
Still, the princess had demonstrated that unity produced far greater power than division, and Sunset had never shied away from learning a new way to bend the universe to her will. This one just meant accommodating other wills. And if the perfect purple princess could learn it, so could she.
Even if it meant driving a car almost as old as her peers—"friends" seemed a bit optimistic at this point—to the furthest outskirts of town for a "Sunset's-Not-Evil Week-a-versary."
"In a quarter of a mile, turn left, onto Saddle Street."
At least she had a car. And a phone that could rattle off the directions. She might never have magic again—and after the whole "raging she-demon" thing, she wasn't sure if she even deserved to—but human technology was an acceptable substitute in many ways.
For example, it could make the truck in front of her go at a mind-boggling speed of thirty miles per hour, unthinkable in Equestria without pegasus magic or tracks to steady a roaring steam engine the size of a young adult dragon.
Furthermore, it could make that feat of engineering feel like a snail after Sunset had been going fifty. She groaned and resisted the urge to honk. Good girls didn't honk. Sunset didn't think she qualified as one yet, but the lingering burn in her shoulder blades and coccyx reminded her that the alternative was much worse.
Then the first yellowish wisp blew by her, and she registered the finer details of the truck.
Her stomach growled. The others had assured her that it was best to go to a Pinkie party hungry, especially one at Sweet Apple Acres.
More wisps blew past her car, and she had to resist the urge to roll down the window and try to catch one. Possibly in her teeth.
The truck flashed its right turn signal. Sunset's hopes soared.
"In five hundred feet, turn right, onto State Route 219."
They soared for about three seconds before they came crashing down, which just meant they were back to her new normal. Still, maybe she didn't have too much further to go.
"In about five miles, your destination will be on the right."
Sunset resisted the urge to bite her steering wheel.
Applejack waved as Sunset pulled into the Apples' driveway. "Howdy, Sunset! Welcome to—"
Sunset marched up to her, grabbed two handfuls of her shirt, and stared into her eyes with all the burning, hellish fury of the Fall Formal. "I have been stuck behind a hay truck for the last ten minutes. I. Am. Starving."
"Why would... Right. Magic horse."
"Pony." Sunset was pretty sure she said that. She just wasn't sure if she said it in a human language.
Applejack's dumbfounded reaction wasn't giving her hints either way. "I'll, uh, get you some grub."
"Please do," Sunset nickered.
It's her inner equine nature shoving to the forefront. Think of a human trapped behind a chocolate truck for a half-hour, while hungry. At least she didn't do anything rash.
...And now I'm wondering what else she got up to on the steal-the-crown trip. Raid the kitchens? Deface statuary? Balance a bucket of water over a door or two?
Insert some wisecrack from Applejack about how Sunset seems to have the same feral love for apples that normal horses do.
A fun little story that takes the good old "Sunset Shimmer's horse-brain craves a simple horse pleasure" in the rare food direction instead of the... other direction.
and she still had pulling the same trick with aluminum foil in reserve, just in case
So Ponies haven't developed the magical version of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayer_process]Bayer process, then?
10117410
"Dispatch, can you clarify identity of driver and truck contents?"
"Driver was female, age sixteen to eighteen, red and yellow hair, orange complexion. Truck was carrying hay bales."
"No need for mental services. We've dealt with this one before."
10117706
Given what we've seen from Sunset the other times she's returned to Equestria? Probably spending a good ten or twenty minutes in the mirror room remembering how to unicorn.
10117737
(crunch crunch crunch)
"Sure you ain't a horse, sugarcube? Only creatures I've seen love apples that much are horses and family."
"Shut up and get me more apples, food-ape."
"Aww, she's like a kitty."
I see Sunset missing her digestive system only slightly less than she misses her thaumic system. The other common candidate is much lower on the list.
10117813
Given Equestria's schizotech, who can tell? Though I do like the idea of bauxite being considered a weed on rock farms. For now.
10117737
Rare, but not entirely unheard of. I know I've seen a comic.
30 mph is very fast for a pony, but not mind-boggling. Plenty of ponies here on Earth can hit or break 25 at a full gallop, which means that Equestrian earth ponies, with their magically-augmented strength and stamina, might well be able to hit 30. Highway speeds are a different matter, of course, as the next paragraph discusses.
This checks out. It is pretty hard to reform when you're hungry.
10120932
But can they do it while pulling that much metal? And while they're still colts/fillies, because I'm pretty sure that's the size comparison for a standard engine? Let's not forget the whole "Usain Bolt is pretty mind-boggling" factor as well, because he is.
10123073
Probably not, but that's not how I read the sentence. It seemed it was talking about it as an unreachable speed for non-pegasus ponies, rather than infeasible while pulling a load. And yes, Usain Bolt is mind-boggling, but I don't think that's a valid comparison to make beyond absolute speed; as far as I can tell, 30 mph would not be Usain Bolt-level speed for a pony. While as far as I know, Bolt hasn't broken 30, he's a human, not a horse/pony. I've seen claims of speeds of up to ~28 mph for a pony, and 25 is definitely a speed racing shetland ponies can hit.
Anyway, as far as I can tell 30's a very fast unladen gallop for a pony (depending on breed) but not quite Olympics-level performance. Some horses have broken 50 mph, but they have longer legs than ponies. Makes me wonder about the larger alicorns (NMM, Celestia, Twilight in the final episode) and Saddle Arabians, though.
10123131
At this point, I should probably mention that I did not actually research equine velocity capabilities. Let's say Sunset meant sustainable speeds, not sprints. (Or that doesn't work either. Again, not currently in a position to do research. )
10123131
10123140
I should note that I didn't actually research anything either, I mostly just went "okay, Earth Pony magic can believably let them beat one full-sized horse, but probably not a hundred, and 100 horsepower is decent at best by the standards of modern vehicles" (and upon doing said research, I find it's actually significantly below par. Humanity OP nerf plz)
Love that bit about aluminum foil. :D
Sunset, I say this with much love and sympathy, but trust me -- you don't want that load of hay moving any faster, or some of the bales may end up in your lap or under your wheelwells... at speed.
What a thoughtful look at a WIP-Reformed Sunset! Great use of ancillary details!
Poor Sunset. I hope she had a wonderful meal after that wait.