Teenage Angst (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 2)
Sunset's Isekai
Teenage Angst (Stargate SG-1 — Pt. 2)
By Wanderer D
A few moments earlier...
"Uh, hi Princess Celestia," Sunset spoke, making Jack do a double-take. "I'm guessing you want to keep the conversation private?"
"Sharp as always, my dear student," Princess Celestia responded. "I suppose I could have cast a translation spell, but I'd rather your allies not know what I am saying for now. I am somewhat surprised, however, that you managed to disrupt the forcefield."
Sunset shrugged. "Well, Luna always liked her glyphs."
That had been apparently the wrong thing to say, as the Princess's muzzle turned into a frown. She nodded with her head at the others. "Captain, arrest these creatures. Careful with the one with the mark on his forehead. He is a member of the army of an ancient enemy of ours."
"What about Sunset Shimmer, Princess?" another unicorn asked.
"She and I will have a long talk about bringing armed forces to Equestria," the princess said. "Then I will decide what sort of punishment is appropriate for allying herself with ancient enemies."
"Wait!" Sunset shouted, jumping between them, hands held up just as Jack was raising his gun.
"Please… there's much you don't know, Princess. But Jack and the others are not your enemies, they really are fighting the Goa'uld. They didn't know anything about this world."
Celestia shook her head warily and the unicorns that made up the guard lit up their horns with magic. Almost instantly the others were gone, leaving her alone, surrounded by angry ponies, and facing an unamused Celestia.
"We have taken away their weapons and equipment, your highness," the guard said.
"Thank you, Captain," Celestia said, nodding at the unicorn. "A job well done. Don't underestimate them, however. If they came with Sunset, they might have some other way of disrupting the peace."
"Understood, your highness."
Sunset crossed her arms. "You really don't have to treat them like that."
Princess Celestia rolled her eyes. "You have a lot to answer for, Sunset Shimmer. Given your last words to me, I'm not going to trust you just because you say you changed your mind."
Sunset snorted. "This is why it was always so hard to talk to you."
"Was?" Celestia looked at her warily.
"Scan away," Sunset said, "It's usually easier than this at the bar, but this situation is different."
Celestia did not look convinced, but she walked around Sunset, slowly taking her in as her horn glowed. "My senses do not lie, you are Sunset Shimmer, but your magic is much more powerful than when I last saw you." She paused, a look of wary surprise on her face. "A lot more powerful than I thought possible."
"That's because I'm not the Sunset Shimmer that left you," Sunset replied. "I'm… similar, I would guess, but not the same. I'm centuries older than your Sunset."
"If you're not here as an enemy," Celestia said, rearing back her head as a clear indication of distrust, "why do you carry weapons?"
Sunset shrugged. "It's a long story… how about we talk over tea?"
"I am still wary of you, Sunset Shimmer. It's been a month since you—or rather your counterpart—left. I have little reason to trust you since I exiled you."
Sunset closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "You really don't want to go there."
"Why not? Y-she left in anger, promising revenge."
"Really?" Sunset growled. "And whose fault was that?"
Celestia drew herself into her full height, her wings opening slightly as she glowered at her. "She did it to herself. Through selfishness. Through betraying my trust: through her greed."
Sunset snorted and shook her head. "You're worse than the other Celestias ever were," she muttered. "Did she look up to you? Did she call you 'mom' by accident on Hearths Warming? Did you tell her that she would always be your student?"
Celestia tilted her head. "What does that—"
That was all Sunset needed to know it had taken place, just like in her own past. "...did you exile her when she went on her own to learn spells to turn into an alicorn?"
"I did." Celestia sighed. "With a heavy heart. That area is forbidden for a reason an—"
"Please," Sunset interrupted raising her hand. "Skip the bs." She waved her other hand, summoning magic as a chair and a table appeared. She walked over to sit down and run her hands through her hair. "You were an incredible teacher, Celestia."
Looking unsure at the turn of events, the princess slowly made her way to sit across from Sunset, who looked up to meet her eyes. "Most of the time, you are the best example of what ponies can be," Sunset continued. "Calm. Friendly. Wise. Knowledgeable… but for all of that, in almost every world, you miss the clear signs that are right in front of you."
Shaking her head with a bit of disdain at the notion, Celestia summoned a tea set. Around them, seeing what was going on, the remaining guards spread around, guarding the area, but giving them as much privacy as they could. "And what would that be?"
"That your Sunset was a teenager," Sunset replied. "A misbehaving brat, that said too many things she didn't mean and regretted. One that had craved something you didn't make an effort to give her."
Celestia once again shook her head, this time not with disdain but rather a firm denial. "She was, and probably will never be ready to be an alicorn."
"Probably not," Sunset agreed. "But that's not the point… did you ever stop to wonder why I wanted to be an alicorn?" she noticed the slip, but didn't correct herself.
"Power, obviously," Celestia said, filling out their cups. "I am not sure what your experience was, but through the years, my Sunset's desire to be acknowledged to be the best turned her into a bully and a schemer."
"Okay," Sunset said, taking a deep breath. "Acknowledged by who? Because if you had looked at the cause rather than the result, you could have handled things differently."
Celestia's tea hovered just an inch from her mouth, and remained there as she glared at Sunset. "Are you saying that it is my fault?"
"Yes." Sunset took a sip of her own tea, "...and no. Of course it's not all your fault. Celestia, you and I are… well, old. Or at least very much older than your Sunset. If I went on a rampage like that… you would be very much right in exiling me, or even imprisoning me. But she... your Sunset? Celestia, she's just a kid."
Celestia looked away, her eyes studying the forest around her, and the painful reminder the crumbling castle at the edge of it brought with its history.
Celesta took a small drink from her cup. "She should have known better than to break rules like that." She raised her eyes to meet Sunset's. "The magic in that section is highly dangerous, Sunset."
"And yet you keep it there and not in the secret chamber under the library itself," Sunset pointed out, making Celestia blink. "You showed me that place during an emergency."
Celestia snorted. "So you do come back and make peace."
"And I apologized to you. But you never said sorry."
The princess frowned. "Why would I apologize?"
"Celestia, you know what Sunset sees you as, right?" Sunset asked, setting her cup down on the table.
The princess sighed and nodded. "I know what she saw me as, when she was a little filly. But I cannot be her mother. She understood that and grew out of it."
"I saw you… or my Celestia the same way," Sunset said, tapping the table with her fingers as she remembered. "I was terrified of saying the wrong thing, because it hurt so much that you would just… tell me I was a good student. A gifted pupil. That you would just… brush over that and leave me feeling alone."
"That was never my intention."
"I know, Celestia. For my part, I forgave the other you a long time ago. My business partner keeps calling her my mom. But even though our relationship is… so much better than it was now, in this period of time, I can't. Even if she said I could."
"I… said that?" Celestia blinked. "But that's—"
"You have to understand a little on what you're dealing with here, Celestia," Sunset interrupted. "I know why you selected me as a student when I was just a filly, instead of your traditional tutelage of older ponies," she added, giving a meaningful glance at the castle beyond them.
Celestia's eyes went wide. "Does that mean…"
"I can't tell you, but I know you want help… and I understand. I really do. I didn't then, but I do now," Sunset said gently. "But that is just the tip of the iceberg. It makes sense that you'd want to… have control—in a way—of the type of pony that would take on that job. It would be imperative for that pony to be the best kind of pony they can be. Someone that values love and friendship. Someone that can be reliable and wise when they're needed.
"I get that… but I—and I imagine your Sunset too—never experienced those things. My friendships in school were little more than ponies trying to suck up to me to get closer to you, either through their own initiative, or their parents'. The few ponies who would have been my friends without those interests, were intimidated by the others into going away. And, when it came to love and caring… I didn't have an example for that. Because the only pony I wanted to care for and love me, only needed a pupil."
Celestia closed her eyes. "That is a very hard thing to hear."
"But it is true," Sunset said. "And I would love to say that you couldn't have known, but… princess, you knew me better than anyone." She let out an exasperated sigh. "It's not—I know that when I left, I was old enough to make some choices, but I was still just a teenager, Celestia. I had no example of family; no examples of real friendship… and when Cadance became an alicorn, you immediately adopted her into your family." She studied Celestia's face as she said that. "How do you think I… your Sunset felt about that?"
Celestia bit her lip, but did not argue.
"I'm not saying that she and I are not responsible for how we act. We all are ultimately accountable for our actions in one way or another, and she broke the rules. She needed a punishment of sorts… but we adults are supposed to have a perspective and understanding that teenagers are just developing.
"Teens act on a lot of instinct… and lash out more easily. They are more than smart enough to know what to say for the greater effect, sometimes with cold, angry logic. Oftentimes they use that, twist it and end up hurting others and later on regretting it. And yet they are not emotionally prepared for the most part to deal with fixing those emotional moments.
"You judged her as an adult for lashing out and testing the limits when the only recourse she thought existed of being meaningful to you was to become an alicorn. And instead of reassurance, and… you know, a firm hoof… you exiled her."
"It was intended as a lesson," Celestia said slowly. "I was hoping it would make her reconsider."
"At that point… it just felt like the last nail in the coffin," Sunset replied, taking her cup in both hands and studying the honeyed tea within. "In my eyes, you had Cadance, and you had just told me I would never be worthy of you, and that I might as well just get out. It was too harsh a punishment… too raw a scare to work against my resentment for it to turn into teaching me humility." Sunset shrugged. "In short… it was a mistake—as we adults often make—but it came at the worst possible moment."
"I know." Celestia let out a slow breath. "I've known ever since it happened that I should have chosen a different punishment. But she's gone, and she left angry and she hated me, Sunset. I saw her eyes."
"She's a teenager," Sunset repeated. "I was so angry… when I came across the mirror, my anger kept me going even though I had changed into a completely new species. When I calmed down, I had to deal with essentially being in an alien body, running away from home, and no way of going back. Oddly enough, my first year in that other world wasn't too bad. I got back in school, I proved myself as a great student, I was popular without being your protege… but that recognition brought back those feelings of inadequacy, and the fear that I would be forgotten and ignored.
"When I was named queen of the Fall Formal, I saw that as a chance… to never let that power go, to always be recognized as the best of the best, so that I would never be ignored. As little as it objectively really matters… to me it was absolute proof that you were wrong, and I was right." She chuckled. "It wasn't the worst part, however."
Celestia raised her head to look at her. "Oh?"
Sunset felt herself smile a little. "Did you know I took my diary with me?"
The princess visibly winced. "Oh, Sunset."
"I waited, you know?" Sunset said. "I checked daily for a while. A month went by. Two. A year. You never said anything, and I just stopped checking. Back then, I couldn't write back to you… I felt that, when you exiled me, I had burned that bridge forever; that if I begged or apologized, I'd only prove to you that I did not deserve to be part of your family." She chuckled. "When I came back briefly… Twilight Sparkle was all grown up… which meant that years had passed for you."
Celestia looked up. "So you know Twilight?"
"Yeah. I looked into it when I visited Equestria, and found out that you had taken her as your apprentice the morning after I left. That felt… well—" She snorted. "—not good. It cemented my thoughts that there was no point in me expecting you to acknowledge me. Especially if I had been so easily replaced."
"Sunset, it wasn't something I planned—" Celestia hastily started, only to be stopped by Sunset's raised hand.
"I know, Celestia. I don't blame you for that. Twilight's test was… an event. I don't blame Twilight either, but learning to deal with that took some time. What I don't understand… the thing I never asked my Celestia is… why didn't you try to contact me? In all that time? Especially with how you really felt about me. My Celestia has expressed several times regret at not taking that step."
"I… don't know. Right now it's only been a month and a half since you left, Sunset." The princess used her magic to warm the tea, her watery eyes betraying her troubled thoughts. "I keep thinking I don't know where to even begin."
"Then you still have time to fix things between you," Sunset countered, "I know I turn out well in my own timeline, but you… you can change things so it turns out better for both of you. You, well my Celestia, never could bring herself to adopt me… but your Sunset really could use her mother right now," she insisted. "That's who you are. That's what you mean to me."
It took a moment between saying it and Celestia's wide eyes before she winced in realization. She groaned and sank down, resting her forehead on the table. "Crap. Rarity was right."
The princess, of course, looked amused. "You're not going to say that to my counterpart from your world?"
"It's too late for me for that to have any meaning, Celestia. Not after centuries of avoiding the issue, and when I'm a full grown adult," Sunset said, shaking her head, "it would just be a title, and she and I have a friendly dynamic now that works for us, but you can still fix that error here if that's what you want, and if she means to you as much as you mean to her."
Sunset took a deep drink, emptying the cup of tea—now that it was a little cooler—in one gulp before continuing. "I don't know if your Sunset will continue to be a brat for a while—she'll definitely need watching and a firm hoof—but knowing she is loved is the first step towards healing, and I can tell you it will mean a lot to her." She swallowed. "That's… something that took a while for me to even get started on."
Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "And how would I do that? The portal is closed."
"I can open it," Sunset said. "There's a couple of ways of opening it back up, but you have to decide what you want to do." She smiled at the princess. "I know I projected a bit of myself into this whole conversation—" she ignored the look Celestia gave her "—but whatever it is you do, please… take the time to at least write to her. Don't let her be completely alone where she can fester in her hatred. Give her a chance to talk… I think the distance will help, and even if she doesn't come back to live here in Equestria, at least she will know she has a home."
Celestia took another deep breath and let it out with a half-laugh. "I've thought several times on how things would go when—or if—I eventually talked to Sunset Shimmer again. I never considered that I would be the one on the receiving end of the 'taking responsibility' lesson."
"I never thought I'd sit down with you, or any Celestia, and go down that rabbit hole." Sunset leaned back and took a deep breath herself, letting it out slowly before she faced the princess again. "I do feel better though… and I hope your Sunset also realizes where she is wrong… and comes around to accept her part in what happened."
Celestia chuckled. "I guess there's only one way to find out." She glanced over at the castle, her smile turning sad. "But Sunset… she did choose of her own free will to do this. If she's not willing to accept the consequences of her actions then, and in the future…"
Sunset nodded. "You can only do so much. But take it from me… no matter what anyone else says, at least you will have tried."
End Part 2
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Since this story is getting a full multiverse, what about Dragon Ball Z abridged since this year confirmed that is over, And I really san to see Vegeta and Nappa talking about the events of all the 3 seasons
Damn... thatbwas deep, and amazing
*Wimpers* More please! Another lovely chapter, but the week long wait shall be rough.
Nice little chapter, little surprised something didn't blow up, or the Goa'uld didn't come through the Chappa'ai, now that Sunset dropped the protection, or a Ha'tak dropping into orbit/coming out of hyperspace.
I mean, its still SG-1, that is what seems to happen.
Vegeta amazingly turned into a good dad.
Fantastic! Though it's curious to think how this sunset ended up where she was, part of a SG team, on call to SG-1, and a well respected one at that.
If what I think is true happened, than it's been quite a long time for sunset, much more than a month. Joining the marines(I can't remember if that's right) and getting placed in the StarGate program would take at least 5 months, not including the high school time she might have spent.
Is this a MLP crossover you found, or just an AU of SG-1? Because I would totally read a "Sunset joins the Stargate Program" story.
I look forward to seeing how you finish off this arc, hopefully you'll have the sunsets meet. But I trust you to do what's best for the story.
uff the feels
So the time dilation is the other way around in this one I guess.
Lieutenant Sunset Shimmer might be that dimension's Earth Sunset Shimmer. Not Equestrian. The Equestrian Sunset Shimmer of that dimensions Equestria is on the Earth of another dimension.
At least it isn't as big a headache as time travel.
Damn, the maturity of this chapter is very high indeed. Centuries of living really does bring one to understand the philosophy of life.
she left angry and he hated me, Sunset [ she ] the story is just too good to let this go.
Awww... How sweet.... Almost makes me sick.
Now, what the heck is happening with Team Stargate?
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I mean, the mirror could be connected backwards in time 10 years to a place on Earth, or the anchor point of the opposite end varies from moon to moon, meaning that going back in time to that moment was once in a lifetime.
10312221
Can we get a list of all the crossovers so far, I need to know if I should look up something to get the context.
Neat a new cover and is that Michiru? BNA Chapter incoming?
loved the update!
Well, that was unexpectedly heartwarming. Thank goodness we didn't get one of those Celestias...
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I'm fairly certain that this Sunset could back them right up and out of the picture if that happened.
If Alternia found out about this she’d do a happy dance. This was an amazing chapter. I loved it!
Michiro and kipo are a great choice to be friends
Then what about her worlds friends?
Interesting development. Have Celestia and Sunset deal with their issues at an earlier stage.
I’ve seen a few other stories with the ‘whole taken out of the orphanage and Cadance’s adoption being the thin end of the wedge for Sunset’ though I’m not sure how common that is. The only problem is that we were given no confirmation on what the issue really was.
Sunset being a potential candidate for the element of magic is a concept that is explored occasionally but has some backing to it with the end of Friendship Games, but again nothing came of it. There were lots of missed opportunities by Hasbro there to really flesh out Sunset’s history. Good job we have plenty of good writers here doing their best to fill in the blanks.
Now for the fun part in Sunset explaining things to SG-1 as well as potentially meeting a younger version of herself as well as explaining the human version of herself as well.
This could end up getting extremely complicated!
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I believe multiverse shenanigans means slower passage of time in certain universes. Eventually everything will catch up, but for the moment her CHS friends are still around.
This was very good
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The new cover really depict a small crowed bar on the multiverse-level service. However, what catch my eyes even more was another pic where Gwen talking to Freya. On the all behind them was an unmistakable Kujo Jotaro and his gangs from Stardust Crusaders. I am looking forward to reading that story, if D gonna write one.
Thanks for taking my suggestions into consideration. :) I do have a bit of an... overreaction to blaming Celestia for Sunset's actions, admittedly. A very nice talk between them, here.
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That is assuming that Lieutenant Shimmer came from Equestria and is not the one native to earth
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If you’ve read the authors Xcom story then there’s probably a good chance that there is a native Sunset Shimmer who is part of the Stargate program.
It’ll be interesting to see how both Celestia and pony Sunset react to her.
This has a lot of potential to be its own story.
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Yeah I had the same idea for multiversal time shenanigans. Kinda like dr who?
There always were many ways to spin the relationship between Sunset and Celestia.
Different from my headcanon, so it's a look into another perspective.
This point in Celestias timeline is just between Sunset leaving and Luna returning, given Luna hadnt returned when Sunset left?
Very nice new cover image, Im suprised I can recognise most entities even though I havent seen the sources. Very good story telling to do that.
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Carter: Dimensional counterpart and time travel and a species that blocked the Goa'uld from their world?
O'Neill: I did NOT ask for a remix. I've asked for do-overs, but never a remix.
10322067 each chapter has the crossover on the title, you don't need to have read/seen anything in particular to get context in different chapters.
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Oh, I didn't really consider that one as an option. That is a possibility.
Ah, so not Sunset's home universe. Kinda figured with the stargate being there. So what, this is a practice run for her when she visits her Celestia?
Also trying to imagine what will happen next. "Hey guys, I'm a Sunset from another universe. Can you go back to Earth, grab your Sunset and bring her back so she can settle things with her not-mom princess here?"
...Yeah, there's a reason I don't write these myself.
I fully expect SG1 to have escaped by random BS by now.
Excellent talk between these two, sure to create quite a few ripples... assuming that Sunset's local analogue isn't the Stargate soldier rather than a high schooler. Potentially awkward there. Still a great take on Sunset's origin and the underlyig motivations thereof. Not the only possible take, but a great one.
Now there's just the matter of SG-1...
Wow the conversation between Sunset and Celestia was wonderful no overt accusations or playing the blame game. It was very well thought out. Also the new cover art is radical
For someone who's so old she's rather bad at seeing what's right in front of her. They're both immortals, centuries mean nothing - and she should see that already and recognize she has a mother. By now the only reason not to do it is her stubbornness and fear, the last one being extremely baffling still.
Liking the new cover art. I saw it before on the blog post but wasn't sure if this was the one you were going to use. Really like the look that Sunset is giving that just says: yep, another slow Tuesday night here.
There's just two characters here that I'm unsure about, kind of surprised that it's just two.
1. The girl arm wrestling with Michiru from Brand New Animal
2. The older gentleman talking to G'kar (right side, white shirt, balding)
Would appreciate any pointers on them.
As for the chapter, good talking points between Sunset and Celestia. Sunset gets to have some catharsis on her issues and Celestia might be able to repair her relationship and avoid potential problems in the future.
I am kind of concerned that SG1 didn't get any screen time. Knowing how these things usually go they're either about to do something unwise or be caught up in more galactic/multiverse type shenanigans. Looking forward to seeing which one it is.
Sick new cover art! Look at Kipo and Michiru wrestlin
10322659 So the one arm wrestling Michiru is Kipo from Age of the Wonderbeasts, neither of which has appeared here yet. And the old man talking to G'kar is Coach Kamogawa, who appeared in the chapter: Side by Side
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Thanks for the info!
I feel better about not knowing them now. Hajime no Ippo isn't really my type so I've never really checked it out, and I haven't really been keeping up on the local animation scene for awhile so I'd never caught wind of Wonderbeasts.
So looks like Kipo is going to be added to my want to watch (eventually) list.:
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Are they from other fanfictions and shows?🤔
10322956 Yes
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Still, think you can make some links to the stories, I tried finding featherfall and ended up finding an odd videogame? Took me a bit to find it on Fimfiction
10322984 I usually link them in the author's notes, unless it's a mature fic, since that'd be against site rules.
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Where can I get be those?
10323007 At the end of the chapter. Links usually look bold and underlined.
K, jack is not happy. We need a Sunset-less conversation with SG1 we need Colonel Snark and Eyebrow Prime badly. Its fun when you have just a moment of that. Also i am wondering how the ponies would know which equipment to take other that the obvious items which were pointed at the ponies and the Goa'uld made weapons.
Although i suppose just grabbing everything but body coverings work
I also realize I am glazing over a very important conversation Sunset had been needing. She should have it with hers anyway.
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Inevitably, there's the moment in the show when they're all in jail going over what they know. Then they ambush the guards, and either get their weapons back and beat a hasty run for the gate, or get captured and brought before the leaders.
I wonder how that dynamic will get turned on its head here.
Edit: I just had an evil thought... What if, in the process of rebuilding the defenses around the Stargate, Sunset and Celestia add the relevant portions from the mirror's transformation magic to the Stargate? A little supplementary enchanting to further trip future travelers up. That way, when they arrive in Equestria, they appear as their Pony alternates. Think the Goa'uld would avoid Equestria like the plague, if they knew their "all powerful gods" would appear as cute and adorably fuzzy quadrupeds?