Sunset Shimmer was the prized student of Princess Luna. Gifted in magic and devoted to her craft, every waking hour she spent engrossed in her quest to become the best, strongest unicorn in Equestria. For the most part, Sunset could say she'd lived a happy life in Canterlot.
But as the thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration dawns, Princess Luna sends her to a small town called Ponyville. Setting hoof in Ponyville will herald a new chapter of Sunset's life, a chapter that will take her the rest of an eternity to explore.
A novelization of season one with Sunset Shimmer taking Twilight's place.
Chapters (4)
Will Spike be in this story?
I like a lot idea of role reversal and that Luna does not behave the same way as Celestia (for example Celestia would not ever teach her student dark magic). That said, I wish plot was more different from canon... Thats understandable, but hopefully there will be major deviations in later chapters.
Also Sunset seems kinda too nice. I thought she would be more arrogant and selfish; currently she is not much different from Twilight, except that she is not obsessed with books.
This was really neat! It makes so much sense placing Sunset in this alternate situation. Looking forward to what comes next
Thank y'all much for your thoughts! I promise I'll be listening to them.
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To be honest? It’s up in the air. I will say that the plan is presently to see if I can, but if I can’t reasonably make it work I don’t wanna stretch the story to accommodate for Spike/Twilight to make an appearance. Thank you much for asking though! 👍
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Believe me when I say I understand where you're coming from. These first two chapters I kinda wanted to keep closer to the first two episodes mostly to establish a baseline, but what you say is absolutely true. The latter chapters will be more different, I promise.
Sunset... yeah. I can definitely see where you're coming from. I tried to make her a kinda cross between Twilight and her pre-reformation self, but it sounds like it could still use a little work. Thank ya much for the thoughts! I appreciate it. 👍
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Much appreciated! I'm glad you're interested. 👍
Here comes Sunbutt Senior... and she's not playing games.
I like how in the feature box this is called My Faithful Stud...
Well, this is actually kinda nice. While I'm very much a fan of long chapters, sometimes they do seem to drag on a bit too much with not much happening. The 20k+ words per chapter is a supreme discipline in regard to pacing, so I don't begrudge you too much. I've struggled with it quite a lot, myself. You are doing a fantastic job with the characters, though. I like Sunset's grouchy attitude and Rarity's maturity. I dare say I would even ship them together if it were up to me.
I'll keep an eye on this and see where this goes. Now... I wonder, how would they react to finding out that Sunset dabbles in dark magic..?
I’d almost forgotten this fic was around. Seeing the update was very exciting!
Admittedly I’d hoped this would turn out a bit differently than it did. Maybe something can occur where they each earn a ticket through Luna keeping careful tabs on each of them. That could be an intriguing concept. Still, the kind of lesson Twilight learned is something I hope Sunset comes to figure out over the course of the coming chapters.
Yeah, I'd say Rarity did deserve the second ticket Luna made, maybe the others will earn something later but Rarity really earned it here
It is hard to find quality Sunset Shimmer stories, doubly so with her being a pony and not in the Equestria Girls-verse.
It is hard to find quality alternate history stories, like the inverted sisters trope you have here.
So, I think it's safe to say that with this little teaser chapter, you gained my full and immediate attention!! I have doubly high hopes for you for the contents of this story. I enjoy alternate history stories, but I LOVE Sunset Shimmer!!!
Please don't let me down.
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Well, thank you much! I hope I didn't.
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I really shouldn't have, but when I got through with typing up this chapter, I didn't want to look at it for a while. A lot of it I felt dissatisfied and tired with. A while got longer and longer and, well, a year passed before I actually forced myself to look at it and give it the once over. I'm glad I did, because I'd forgotten how much fun the creative process was. I'm hacking away at the next chapter, and I'm liking how it's shaping up. I've also been giving thoughts to the chapters that star different characters (namely those that aren't the protagonists). The decision I've come to might not be one everyone likes, but I accept this project as my training ground to try various things and learn.
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Pacing a 20k-plus chapter is hard, but I will say it gets easier when you follow an outline (the episode proper) for tempo. Whether I've done a good job at it is up for debate. I think I have, but the arts are subjective. In regards to Rarity's maturity, that was a decision born of my dissatisfaction with the idea that all five of Twilight's friends got so single-minded over those tickets. It was a perfect opportunity to highlight that the Elements were aspects of them as much as they were a tangible force. Giving Rarity a moment to willingly put Sunset's feelings in front of her desires - outside of being the right thing to do - I felt was a good way to show that she's Generosity's medium for a reason. Not just because she lopped off her tail once.
Wow, those were some MONSTERS of chapters there. I know how hard it can be to write such long novels as that, so you definitely have my respect for your dedication there.
However, I have to admit to a certain middling level of disappointment. Not in the writing quality, characters, or the overall background you made to fit the story. Just that, for as much potential as you available for some originality, you stuck rather disappointingly close to the original canon material in how Daybreaker was dealt with. So much so that it almost felt like either a parody or a reenactment.
As I said, I fully understand the burdens of writing such long and in depth chapters and characters can be like. So, while disappointing, I certainly can't and don't begrudge you sticking close to canon. That being said, I hope we can start to see a bit more flexibility in canon's portrayal or some outright original plots for the Mane 6 to deal with. After all, Sunset probably wouldn't fall into the same crazy state that Twilight did when she was 'late' for her assignment delivery. Maybe she'll have to deal with something else? Like having a chapter dedicated to her having to work on recognizing and dealing with her anger (a side effect of Dark Magic perhaps)?
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Believe me, I’m also kicking myself for it. As I wrote the most recent one — as well as the one I’m writing right now — I realize how much I unknowingly gave up being too terrified to break away from the source material, and it’s not a mistake I plan to repeat. I want to rewrite these chapters. Heavily. And I will, but I don’t want to completely pause production on this just to remake these two.
Thanks a mil for your thoughts on this one. I appreciate it lots. 👍
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As long as you're aware of this little...issue, that's enough for me.