[First Person] [Alternating Perspectives] [Equisverse Era 1]
One day, Sunset Shimmer’s life is completely destroyed, by herself. Banished to a strange world, injured, and transformed, will she be able to piece a new life together for herself?
Yet to be featured. But I know we can do it!
For my fan’s convenience: This story takes place in an alternate timeline of the Equisverse. No storyline beyond that of The Bridesmaids, Horseshoes, Dinner at Ravenloft, The Queen is Dead, All Hail the Queen, Lyra-7%, and Exile’s Journey happens or will happen in this timeline. However, some world events, elements of the setting, and concepts from other works of mine apply, but this only pertains to foundational concepts such as thaumaturgic current. This is the more “serious” timeline.
Oh boy, here we go...
I wasn't specifically looking for it, but...
Shone.
Unseemly.
Have to admit, I like the way you portrayed Cadance's ascension as at least somewhat detrimental. I can see why Starswirl wanted to destroy his notes, although Celestia of course keeps them. I also want to commend you for very smoothly steering us into the subject of alicorn ascension and its problems with Starswirl's method-start off with a diplomatic incident involving Cadance, then steadily move on with the introduction of Starswirl.
Unfortunately, I have to dock you three points for no mention of Sunset Shimmer in a story supposedly about her.
Thanks 7703377 , I'll fix those up.
7703391 The first chapter is a prologue to establish Starswirl's project as it's extremely important starting about 3 minutes after EQG-Shimmer ends up in Equestria. Aside from one chapter in Cadence's PoV, (and the short epilogue that's in 3rd person), every other chapter is in Shimmer's PoV. I would have liked to start with her, but beginning In medias res did not work well in the first draft. This is smoother.
Damn. You certainly made up for the lack of Sunset material last chapter.
First off, I like the way you portray Sunset here. Very intelligent and socially aware to the point of being manipulative, but not outright malicious. I especially enjoyed her outright friendships with Rarity and Pinkie here-this makes pony Sunset's actions so much worse in destroying their friendships. Pinkie's fourth wall quips were quite enjoyable as well.
That being said, how the hell did pony Sunset even find human Sunset's house? I ask this because it seems as if you're going for the thought that she tracked them with that gem found on Rarity's dress, but that gem is implied to be magical from what I know, and magic just doesn't really work in the human world-well, magic outside the elements. After them all bets are off, but that's years down the line.
For that matter, how would she even have access to something that could knock human Sunset out-she literally just showed up in this world and doesn't have much if anything to work with. Unless she came through with chloroform or something similar to it. Which, if you're going with that, it takes several minutes of exposure to chloroform to knock someone out-which is enough time to struggle, fight, and make the time required even longer by getting out of the way of the chloroform rag. Assuming it is chloroform.
7703407
Thank you ^^
I see the mirror world as a flawed reflection of Equestria. Literally. It's a world that exists incide a mirror that is flawed (it dosent reflect prefectly due to not being constructed well). Equestria is populated by quadrupeds, so EQG is populated by bipeds. Equestria has magic that's easily accessible, so EQG lacks it. The mirrior reflects Equestria slightly differently than it is, so the Mirrior Sunset is kind and caring despite being a rebble and a little social engineering, because pony Sunset is out for herself and greedy.
b]TLDR; Because the Elements of Harmony are just extremely powerful magical artifacts in my AU, magic items need to function in the mirrior world. At least partialy.
I had to make a few small changes to fit the EQG franchise into my AU due to previously established AU lore. The one relevant here is that while spellcasting doesn't work in the mirror world, magic items do... for a while. They wont recharge without special equipment, and have their power drained by the universe as it bleeds off their stored energy. Within a few days, the item would be a useless chunk of material (Unless you brought special equipment to keep it charged by converting natural energies into mana. Remember my AU's magics is very science and physics based...) [ magic items rapidly loose charge in the mirror world, function at best at 80% efficiency, and will frequently cut out all togeather. Some won't work at all. This is why the Element of Magic could do anything at all in that universe, magical items just barely work there.
The comics show that the mirror was stored in Starswirld's lab beneath Canterlot before Celestia moved it prior to EQG. She simply raided the old lab's tools for useful looking things before going through.
Huh. But Lulu likes big mares... I think swirly saw something lavender instead, didn't he?
7703445 Starswirl was never above using his prophetic vision to mess with people by claiming their future was someone else's...
This portrayal of sunset makes everything that happens now be twelve times sadder. She's not some character to be developed after the traumatic experience, but someone with a life, friends, family... And that would most likely date dash, but the loss of romance is rather secondary. Kinda. Shaddup, I like them ponies shipped >.>
You now made this the heart-rending story of a girl losing her life to a misguided double. And we can't even get mad at such double, for she honestly doesn't understand such things enough to know what she did (because really, that girl has a lot of mommy problems).
Still, meeps, you have a grave, grave problem. You always write stories we want you to name great epics of!!!
Why do you have to torture us so?!?
So, yeah... Moar when?
7703480
Of course she is. Why would I make a cardboard cut out instead of a character? :P
Then you'll love the shit out of the later chapters. I may have accidently made the most adorable mare ever...
Because comments showing appreciation for my work are my main source of self-worth and they are most plentiful when I write good stories that can manipulate an audience's emotions in that special way something they find good does.
As soon as Popmannn can edit another chapter :)
7703492 Well no one can acuse you of dishonesty, that's for sure
The most adorable mare ever? Well, color me intrigued, good lady! It shall be a jolly occasion to read so
Oh come on, Starswirl. Spoilers
I have to ask wille Human Sunset ever return back to her home and how will Pony Sunset be dealt with?
I see what you did there
There are several time-line questions, but those will have to wait for later. All in all, I'm excited to see how human Sunset deals with these shenanigans.
Lord, that being a valid sentence...
7703567
Oh she is. So very much a sweetheart.
7703642
ha No kidding! Stuff like that is what really helps sell it having taken place around 2000.
7703630
7703686 2000? Dude, I live in Brazil and that was normal back in 2000. Hell, you could pay to have 1mb! For 56k to be "lightning fast" it would have to be set around 95, if considering the us. What brings up the problem of WiFi and USB. Those things exist since when? Like, honest question, when those things became commercially available, if not widespread?
7703748 This is also from the standpoint of a teenager from a rural-seeming town, 56k is good for her. She's also using dial-up, as shown by the America On-Line parallel company.
WiFi was a thing in that period, but it wasn't in general use until several years later. To try to get a wireless laptop at that point in time you'd be paying out the nose for it, as Sunset pointed out that she paid $2k for it, because the wireless adapter was not standard equipment. They did have USB connections then as well....but as I remember that was primarily for peripherals. The little USB wireless adapters that you see now simply didn't exist yet that I remember.
7703642
You see nothing!
7703853
well, I certainly hear nothing, now.
Interesting. You changed Cadance's origin significantly. I am pretty sure in Canon she is only maybe 10 years older than Twilight. I also like how you set it up for Twilight's finished spell being capable of being used on others like the other elements for example. Which kind of makes sense as the incomplete version definitely affected them.
7703881 Oh don't be such a baby... Ear drums grow back.
I didn't even use capslock.
7703884
no they don't :medicaside:
Such is the power of Flutter-rage. Quiet, yet booming.
Err, I mean, WHAT?
I remember those days. Now I feel old. lol.
7703622 Annoy him and he'll give out real life spoilers... Even if that particular future is highly implausible.
7703630 You'll just ahve to keep reading to find out :D
7703642
GO ahead and ask 'em
Just think, a few years before that she had that snappy 14kbs speed!
7703748 I actually looked up the tech specs of common laptops available in 1999, because I figured Sunset would not own a current year machine. All of the specs listed are accurate. Wifi existed back then, it's been around since 1991 and was getting to be more widespread in the early 2000s when PDAs and Laptops started having wireless card ad ons. As for speed, it doesn't matter how fast your network connection is when you modem can only do 56K. As for USB, while it was uncommon back in the late 90s it was arround and starting to catch on, but it didn't become standard until 2003 (Nor did broadband internet.)
7703883
I did. because her cannon orgin is LAME! She's the Princess of Push MoreProduct This Quarter in cannon. I thought she should matter. So in my AU, Cadence was born in a changeling hive in the middle of the Outbuck which kept willing ponies as semi-livestock. Due to artificial selection by the changelings, she already had insanely high empathy and a special talent for spreading love. However, Zebrica eventually learned of changelings and decided "let's be nice" and invited the hives near them to live openly within their communities so long as they didn't hurt anypony. With her hive scattered to not live in a hole in the ground, the 18 year old Cadence (Equivalent to a human of 14) was accidently left behind and had to take care of herself in one of the world's least hospitable regions.
Things went Conan for her for a few years until eventually she killed a warlord who had been doing Pol Pot level evil for a laugh. This got her enough international recognition as a warrior and liberator for Celestia to hear about her, who offered her a job as a bodyguard. Cadence accepted it and eventually volunteered to try Starswirl's recreated accention spell despite him not knowing if it could kill you.
Before you ask, Cadence never told anypony in Equestria about changelings because her hive wasn't hostile and she had never known one which was. She didn't want to potentially hurt anything living in Equestria... And the reason she got captured by Chrysalis is she invited her birth hive's queen to her wedding. Chrysalis intercepted the letter and that's how she learned about the royal wedding in the first place... (It's also why directly after the invasion in my AU Celestia has a speech about not treating all changelings as evil because that was one singular group. Cadence filled Celestia in first chance she got.)
Yep! And that is kind asorta important for my next story...
Oh, man, I love this story already. Though, I do have to wonder if Sunset (pony) was ever discovered.
7704593
The standard existing and products using the standard being available to consumers are two different things. Wifi effectively didn't exist in the consumer space until around 1997, so it was still pretty new in 2000.
You were pretty much spot-on with technology, except dial-up only took about 15 seconds to connect. I can't speak for AOL's software prep time, which may have added quite a bit more time.
More importantly, there is no point in having wifi if you're using the built-in modem. Dial-up modems require a landline connection, so a wire would have to run to her room in order for her to use the modem. Conversely, if she were using wifi then the connection point would be somewhere else in the house, and the built-in 56k modem would be pointless.
It looks like you're implying she's doing dial-up over wifi, which wasn't possible with the technology of the time. (Doing so is pointless, but now technically possible. A modem can be connected to a wifi-based VOIP box, which would then use another internet connection to transmit the modem's POTS signal to the POTS network.)
7705545 Speaking from experience in a less metropolitan area, it would often take me about 5-10 minutes to get a stable connection. Lots of dropped attempts and redials :/ That's what I was going for.
I didn't know that dial-up didn't work over wifi back in the day. Thanks for that bit of information. I suppose the mirror world's tech just is a bit different from human tech :P Or mabey they somehow rigged a wifi transmitter to their landline like how that one guy back in 87 rigged up a system where he could call any phone number for free via a bit of tech he invented. I do recall older tech being much more hardware hack-friendly.
At least I got the feel of the era down well :)
7703696
i wonder about Candance Celestia bucked up her life, coudl see Candance resent Celestia for what she did and could grow if she sends that spell to Twilight.
i also wodner baout Pony Susnet how bad she going to mess up her human counter part life and friends and family, will it end the same way Rainbow Laser?
And the aftermath...ouch!
7705594 Cadence did go through a short period of resenting Celestia, but she grew out of that rather quickly. It's hard to be mad at someone who you can now literally just read and understand they only wanted to protect their people.
I hear you there! THAT would have been much more useful then learning half the stuff we do learn, and RE-learn in HS. x.x And yep, when do parents have time to teach us how to do 'life' things like the above mentioned? They don't.
Ah to have a memory like that. Would be SO NICE. *sighs*
*raises hoof* this girl never outgrew it, but then I am no teen anymore... Sure I got into vampires and the like too, but ponies/equine have always been near and dear to my heart.
Ah the horrors of early internet and no cell phones! How did we survive?
Once again, something cool that would be awesome to be able to do!
\
*cackles* Of course that would be something human Lyra would want to do.
And so we see our first glance of Equestria's Sunset!
She's got a point. Even with the crazy ideas of hers, Pinkie can be quite accurate.
They do tend to like to do that, silly things. DO they want to scare us?
Well, that would be better than the popular fan theory of you being dead.
Awesome story so far Meep. Poor Cadence, her ascension having messed up and her being forced to act on her talent! But yeah, can hardly wait for the next chapter!
7705708
Not realy. it would limit your friend pool a lot. Because you would never forget anything anyone ever said to or about you.
>> Why do you think I have pony vampires?
Books.
It wasn't sexual, she just lieks acting like a pony, and that means giving friends rides!
Sometimes, quietly, I like to look at a random fiture and say "It's okay. I saw Toystory. You're cool." Just incase.
XD Fans of this show can be way to dark XD
Hmm I didn't think of that. Okay, fine with not having a perfect memory now!
Yes, books. Been so long since I 'really' read a book. Most of the time it is on my kindle now, or fanfiction...
Okay, that makes sense too.
*chuckles* I do the same thing. A friend of mine is even making me pretty much a actual pony sized body pillow, and I told her. "Now if Shiny ever comes to life, he will have a perfect pillow to snuggle on!
"
*nods* that we can. Especially for a show that is 'made for little girls'.
7705858
This coming from you, Meeps?
7705947 I have yet to go to even a .2 on the 40K grimdark scale.
Yikes, those poor guards. But then if they get stuff removed, guess they would have a harder time harming her in a sexual manner if they revolted..
Guess he had to be right about something, with all his insane ideas.
Good luck! Magic is not nearly that easy you know...
Don't worry, you get used to it. Trust me.
Good, becaus if you did we'd have to call you a care bear cousin. What would your care bear cousin name be? Hmmm... Sunny Heart Pony?
Ahhh so the Sunset we meet in Exiled is the 'human' Sunset. Poor girl.
WOah, just woah. She's already an Alicorn! You go girl.
Great chapter Meep. And now, it is time for bed. x.x
7705990
Actually it was a voluntary deal. The idea was to ensure that only the most loyal of soldiers would ever even WANT to be her personal guard. Sort of a test of "will you ever question an order?"
Lovecrafts descriptions of the 'beyond' are awesome.
XD Oh god that did have a show, didn't it?
Yep. I think this clears things up for the readers here.
Well damn, that is really barbaric for Celestia of all ponies to do I think.
Also, I am going to guess that she is an imperfect alicorn like Cadence is, right?
7706009 That was actually voluntary. Celestia felt that she didn't need any personal guard, but since people kept demanding the honor she established one with that as a condition, assuming nopony would go for it. A total of 2,391 over the 300 years the policy was active did in fact agree to it. Celestia felt no need to stop it, figuring it was a good way to find truly loyal soldiers who would put Equestria over everything else. Eventually political pressure put an end to that tradition.
No. Celestia and Luna were created by Clover the Clever, using the original version of the spell (which Clover invented). They don't have any of the drawbacks of Cadence (and Sunset), and are what Starswirl was aiming for with his recreation of Clover's work.
Fortunately, it's not an easy spell to pull off, and Clover never told her old apprentice how she managed to do it in the first place. However, Twilight did manage to recreate it using Starswirl's flawed version and 'finishing it'. Making Twilight the only alicorn besides Celestia and Luna to be:
Ageless, have a healing factor, immune to natural illnesses, possess the magic of three ponies ( one of each kind in equil measure) as if they had been born with that power, god-like control over one highly specific aspect of the universe, and no compulsions to use their power in any particular way. Downside: Almost sterile. Reproduction is very hard due to arcane enhanced immune system usually seeing the developing fetus as a toumer and dissolving it. (1:1000 odds of a successful pregnancy).
All other Alicorns, Cadence, Fluryheart, and Sunset, are flawed and exist under Starswirl's version and possess:
Ageless, can heal any wound at a slightly faster than normal rate and do not permanently scar but nothing like a "true" alicorn being able to grow back half their brain if kept alive somehow despite that sort of injury, God-like control over one highly specific aspect of the universe within a certain radius around them (vs Celestia being able to control Equis's sun from anywhere in the universe), and are compelled to use their power just like true gods are (the gods, with few exceptions, MUST do what they are ment to do. Discord MUST spread chaos. Dusk MUST process souls and create their appropriate afterlives. Cadence MUST further the passions of those she is around.) Upside: They can reproduce like anypony else. But only 1:100 foals would be an alicorn.
7706012 well I am glad that was ended otherwise wouldn't Shining Armor be a gelding and that wouldn't have made Cadance very happy.
7706023 Check my old comment, I made an edit. As for Shining, he never would have to begin with. He was the Captain of the Royal Guard, that's Canterlot's garrison of the Guard. It's Celestia's PERSONAL guard which had that tradition, and would be the ones guarding her wing of the palace, her private estate, and escorting her person wherever she went. It's a separate branch from the city's garrison.
(Also if Shining did have to get that done Cadence would just give him a regeneration potion when he came back home from work every day, and then another to get rid of them in the morning. She's very adept at alchemy and potioncraft.)
7706012 Interesting and would the other sunset that seems to ascend in friendship games be the greater or lesser variety?
7706034 Greater most likely. If she even is an alicorn and not some sort of other form of demigod. I want to do something with that but it's so... vauge? (We're talking about that pheonix fire moment, right? I havent seen Friendship Games yet)
7706039 yeah, so Sci Twi takes most of the other girls magic using a device she built and gains great power but turns into a nightmare like entity, then Sunset channels the power of friendship and does the same only good she has wings and an ethereal horn on her head, which honestly I do find it weird that the unicorn counter parts do not gain horns when they "pony up" but the pegasi gain wings. So many have inferred that with all that magic and her embrace of friendship she ascended, and there are a number of stories that do just that on this site when she goes back to equestria. On the other hand the newest EQ movie seems to contradict this as she doesn't have wings anymore in her powered up state, and they gave them to Sci Twi which is kind of BS because she is basically an early season 1 version of Twilight. Seems a little fast for her to progress to that point, though maybe the lingering magic she stole could have been a catalyst but then by that logic Sunset should still have wings. Honestly, Sunset is really a better character than Twi in many ways.
7706044 She is better than Twi in a good number of ways... Given those facts it's likly that given the maelstrom of magic around her she was able to temporarily transcend mortal limits and became an alicorn for a bit, or partially. Or it's like power rangers, she's the red ranger, and she has her normal morphed form, and then an alicorn form as her 'battleizer mode' which can only be used if she draws on her friend's power.
7706057 yeah I like the power ranger theory. It makes me less angry than thinking about the George Lucas worthy plot holes and lazy writing or things that get over looked. I do like Star Wars despite this comment though.
7706060 Thankyou for contributing to the Equisverse's cannon by bringing up that plothole ^^
Well that's gotta hurt. I hope she kept the plumpness she was so fond of. Interesting tidbit with the psi gems, ponyset shimmer wasn't really evil, after all. Just conceited.
So, ascension. By magical horseshoes. It does beget the question, would she ascend if no vat of acid were in her path? Most likely, as "searching for magic items" is high on the D&D, sorry, O&O priority order.
She really should just get healed, though. Specially because she got rekt for celly student's actions and sunbutt's own careless approach to swirly's lab. "Hey, it's an old wizard lab, one of equestria's finest! Let's leave it to rot!"
Well, her student DOES rant to three human her about her teacher's idiosyncrasies. That's too be expected. But damn, let the old horse know how much you appreciate her, shimmy. Let no white mare control your destiny!
7706154
She did. As someone who grew up on a ranch, that's just how a mare's parts look. Sunset's skin was restored in shape and texture, but the magic didn't have enough charge to restore the color and repair the fur follicles. So she has the shape she liked, which is a thing she's got going for her.
Yeah. She comes off pre reformation to me as conceited, arrogant, and overconfident. Less evil, more villainous.
Mabey, if she stumbled onto that room. Starlight's lab is very maze-like according to the comics. The odds are greatly lower of her ascending if she didn't suffer that accident.
She should, but people don't always do the sensible thing in life. Especially when they think their freedom is on the line.
That's sadly in character for her. "Hey Twilight,I left these world ending threats laying arround a milinia ago... Can you take care of them? K thanks bi!"
So Human Sunset asecended into Alicorness? I hope Celestia listens to this Susnet about not be the pony one, she knows of the mirror, and be cursing herself for not locking away better.