Sunrise Shimmer

by Draxonos135

Early Sunset Gets the Shimmer

Back in Ponyville, certain things were common knowledge: the Everfree Forest was a dangerous place, magic could be dangerous if used by the wrong hands, bits weren't always just chocolate shaped like money...

And most importantly, Princess Celestia raised and lowered the sun.

Among all the pieces of information that were drilled into the young Sunset Shimmer's head, this bit was the one that stood out. While the other bits, she could sometimes forget or even misinterpret, Celestia being in charge of the sun was as clear as the fact that people thought her hair looked like bacon at certain angles.

Personally, she didn't see it, but hey, everything's on the eye of the beholder.

So, the bacon-haired pony thought that fact would be universal across all existence. After all, it's not like she knew alternate worlds existed until she invaded the Equestria Girls world.

However, after staying there for several months, the pony-turned-girl got quite a shocking revelation:

"Sunset, the sun doesn't rise because of Celestia."

The girl stopped herself and held on to her books as tightly as she could.

"W-Wait, what?!"

Sunset turned to the person who told her the statement, who was none other than Mrs. Cheerilee.

"What do you mean the sun doesn't rise because of Celestia?!"

The woman wanted to cut the chase and tell Sunset it was because things worked differently in their world, but, knowing the bacon-haired girl, this would only cause her to ask further questions.

So, she decided to explain to the best of her ability.

"Sunset, this world might've been struck by magic a couple times, but the sun was rising and setting long before magic entered the picture, and especially long before Celestia was even born."

"B-But, how could that be possible?" Sunset scratched her head. "Where I'm from, I was told that it was Celestia herself who raised and set the sun!"

"Well, I don't know what community you came from, but I'm sorry to tell you that they might've been lying to you," Cheerilee answered, putting a hand on Sunset's shoulder. "Either that, or Celestia's been up to some shady business I'd rather not look deeper into."

Sunset lowered her head and frowned.

"If Celestia doesn't raise and set the sun, who does?"

Cheerilee took a deep breath.

"Nobody does, Sunset. It's because the Earth rotates that the sun "rises" and "sets" in the first place."

Sunset lowered her head further, until her hair covered her eyes, remaining motionless as Cheerilee brushed her hair in a reassuring manner.

"I know this might come as a shock to you, but it's the truth. And if there's any other information that community told you about, I'll be more than happy to help you confirm if it's true or not."

With that said, Mrs. Cheerilee walked past Sunset and left the school, leaving the girl to gain a brand new goal for tomorrow.

"I don't consider you a liar, Mrs. Cheerilee..."

Sunset raised her head, and flashed a determined look.

"But I must confirm this myself!"

---

5 AM.

That was the time that the sun began rising over the city that housed Canterlot High School, at least, that's what Trixie told her.

Sunset had a feeling she shouldn't take what she said at face value, but since she was the only person she asked whose answer didn't seem to be doubtful, so she had to work with what she got.

She also gathered the courage to ask Vice-Principal Luna at what time Principal Celestia usually woke up. She didn't seem particularly baffled by the question, and she gave Sunset a straightforward answer.

6 AM.

A whole hour after the sun began rising.

And right now, Sunset was sitting on the rooftop of her house, holding first seat to witness the sun rise over the horizon.

The girl literally couldn't ask for better circumstances.

"Alright then, Cheerilee, I'm going to see if you're right about the sunrise! I'm going to sit here, wait to see if the sun rises before or after Celestia supposedly wakes up, and then we'll see if it really can rise and set without her-"

But then, something unexpected happen.

The scenery began gaining an orange, radiant tint.

"W-Wait, that tint..."

Sunset stood up and got a better look at the surrounding area as the tint progressively covered it, moments before a strong, cold wind began to blow.

"I forgot today was going to be a windy day..."

The wind blew once more, sending a shiver down Sunset's spine and prompting her to hug herself.

"Good thing I'm on my pajamas, 'cause my normal outfit would make this cold affect me even more!"

Sunset looked over the horizon, where, although she could see the sky gain the same orange tint as the rest of the scenery, she couldn't see the giant yellow hot sphere that was known as the sun.

"Wait, where's the sun?"

Then she looked down, and saw a large, thin shadowy figure spreading across the scenery, oddly shaped like her form.

Could this imply that her demonic form was still haunting her? That it could still gain form to torment her for days to come? That maybe, in trying to find out if the sun really rose and set without Celestia's assistance, she gave her evil self a away to gain sentience somehow?!

...

Actually, on closer look, it turned out to just be her shadow as a reaction of the large light from behind her...

It was at this point Sunset realized she was facing away from the sun.

So, one slap in the face later, Sunset turned around, faced the giant ball of fire in the sky, and was promptly left mesmerized by what she witnessed.

A giant ball of fire, illuminating the once ignorant Sunset's entire body at once, while the girl found herself standing in place, unable to move or look away from the giant circle in the sky.

And what's more? It was still too early for Celestia to wake up.

"Mrs. Cheerilee was right..." Sunset spoke after gazing at the sun's form for a minute. "It really does rise and set without her."

After watching it for a few more minutes, Sunset flashed a smile, and shed a tear of delight.

"It's so beautiful..."

---

Skipping the rest of the weekend, Sunset found herself back at Canterlot High School, where the rest of the Humane Seven immediately noticed something was... different, about her.

Maybe it was the wide, joyful smile that screamed that the girl was happy to have decided to call this place home.

Maybe it was the sparkles coming out of her around her face, which couldn't be touched by the girls.

Pinkie Pie verified it.

But one thing was clear to them: Sunset was happy.

"Good morning, Sunset," Rainbow Dash greeted. "You seem... happier than usual."

"Happier, nothing, she looks radiant!" Rarity remarked, scratching her chin. "Something wonderful must've happened to you, right, darling?"

Sunset nodded.

"I stood on my house's rooftop this Saturday, and got to see the sun rising for the first time, with my very eyes."

The girls immediately became concerned.

"What?!"

"Sunset, you're not supposed to look directly at the sun for too long!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "That thing's so bright that watching it for too long can leave you blind!"

"Yeah, take it from me: I once challenged the sun into a staring contest, and he won after just a few seconds!" Pinkie Pie stated, clenching her fists. "What's worse is that I still haven't been able to get payback for it!"

"What Pinkie's trying to say is that you should go see the nurse as soon as possible, Sunset," Twilight said.

"We can take you to her if your sight's a little foggy, too," Fluttershy added.

"It's okay, girls, I can see just fine," Sunset replied, waving her hand in a dismissive manner. "But just in case, I'm going to go there for a check-up."

The girls nodded, and Sunset promptly walked to the nurse's office, coming across a familiar face in the process: Mrs. Cheerilee.

"Good morning, Sunset," the teacher answered. "I can see that you're feeling quite relieved."

"That's because I am, Mrs. Cheerilee," Sunset answered with a nod. "I managed to confirm your statement about the sun rising and setting: Celestia doesn't do it after all."

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really? What did you do to find that out?"

Sunset beamed a smile.

"I stood on my rooftop and looked at it rise with my very eyes."

Cheerilee pointed at the corridor nearby, sporting a nervous smile. "The nurse's office is over there, please head there immediately."

"Alright, alright."

Sunset giggled as she walked past Cheerilee and headed to the nurse's office, now with the knowledge the sun could work without Celestia's involvement in another universe.

This world was certainly more interesting than she thought.

Comments

[Dream Dusk]

Oh sunset, 3 years in that world and your still learning things.

[Nopetrain]

You can, in fact, safely stare at the sun during early sunrise and late sunset.

[Knight of the Raven]

When I read the description's last three words, I expected to witness several shenanigans from Sunset Shimmer as she tried to keep Celestia asleep and/or busy all the while she checked the horizon for signs of the sun rising, but thankfully for the principal of Canterlot High School, this story was Slice of Life rather than Comedy and Sunset took Luna's word for her sister's usual waking-up time.

Even so, I found the little bits of humor that were written here and there enjoyable. Sunset being nowhere near as clever as she thinks she is being my favorite of them all. Because of course she would initially face the wrong way as she waited for the sun to rise.

She still wanted to confirm Cheerilee's claims herself rather than just blindly believe her, so credit where's it's due. Not too much credit though, because she did believe Luna's own claim, regardless of the "supposedly" in her musing.

I was surprised to see the story start with "Back in Ponyville" rather than "Back in Equestria" seeing as Sunset very probably never set foot in Ponyville before going to the human world and the story focuses entirely on her. You might have to remove the bit after the Everfree Forest if you decide to change the sentence since Twilight apparently never heard of it before Friendship is Magic, part 2... but then again she knew about zebras when nobody else in Ponyville did and she never actually showed she was unaware of the forest's existence or its dangers in the episode.

I'm also curious about what prompted Cheerilee to tell Sunset the truth about the sun. The narration makes it look like Sunset either wasn't talking to her or didn't even know she was around ("Sunset turned to the person who told her the statement"), so Cheerilee going and mentioning the sun to her appears to spring out of nowhere.

I was glad to see more pronouns and names than in your previous fanfiction. Outside of "the Humane Seven," they peak at "the girl" and "the woman" with the more egregious ones—"bacon-haired pony," "pony-turned-girl" and "bacon-haired girl"—feeling like they were used to enhance to the light humor present in the rest of the story.

Yes, the last one seems out of place because the previous two were used before Sunset's pony preconceptions came crashing down, but the narration in that particular paragraph makes it look like "bacon-haired girl" is Cheerilee's genuine opinion of Sunset, which I find hilarious in its own right.

"the Humane Seven," however, feels like something that would—or at least should—never be used in-universe by anyone to describe the protagonists. "the rest of the Humane Seven" can be very easily replaced with "the rest of her friends." Or "the rest of her best friends" if you want to be more accurate (all the while ignoring Princess Twilight).

Speaking of that scene, I believe "Pinkie Pie verified it." should be "Pinkie Pie had verified it." because the former implies Pinkie checked "the sparkles coming out of her around [Sunset's] face" during this very sentence whereas the latter implies she did it before the sentence.

"Pinkie Pie had checked." might fit her voice better, incidentally, if you're into that sort of things. Possibly "Pinkie Pie had made sure of it." as well.

I found it interesting that Sunset referred to Cheerilee as a Mrs. rather than a Miss. Then again, supposedly the former was used for both married and single women until the 1800s, and Equestria is quite schizophrenic about which era it's supposed to emulate. Canterlot City is probably closer to that date than (for example) Manehattan, so it's not a stretch Sunset would call Cheerilee Mrs. rather than Miss since she spent a lot of time there as Celestia's student.

Yes, it's also possible it was simply a mistake or a conscious choice (she may be married in your version of Equestria Girls, for instance), but I wanted to explore another possibility about using this word rather than another.

Also, if Sunset's italicized sentences in the middle of the story were meant to be her thoughts, the quotation marks should be removed.

Finally, I liked these lines:

"Either that, or Celestia's been up to some shady business I'd rather not look deeper into."

Cheerilee pointed at the corridor nearby, sporting a nervous smile. "The nurse's office is over there, please head there immediately."

[Draxonos135]

9605554
I don't know what prompted you to read this and Fluttering Wall, but I'm very glad you did. You're the first commenter I've gotten who goes very in-depth on what they liked, disliked, and could've worked better, which is a very important thing for me, who's still just starting to write MLP fanfiction.

Or Equestria Girls fanfiction, if you want to be more specific. XD

Now, I do have to ask regardless, what prompted you to read the stories?

Also, name's Draxonos135, nice to meet you.

[Arthurian_Legend]

Cuuute~

[WyattS]

me WAT
also me mmhhh okay i get it sunset somehow survived looking at the sun by not going blind