Learning how to be human, in the sense of both her physical body and her new outlook on life, has been an interesting process for Sunset Shimmer. Just as she starts to think she's figured things out through and through, something else comes to shake things up completely.
The latest such instance being when she learned her best friend had begun to think about their relationship in a whole new way.
And as Twilight and Sunset begin to explore what it means to care for one another the way they do, encounters with Twilight's family bring back moments in Sunset's life she'd long tried to lock away in shame. Resolving to confront some of the ghosts of her past in person -- albeit not quite in person -- the pair embark on a journey that brings Twilight to a brand new world, and Sunset to one she struggles to recognize, as both find themselves laying their souls bare before each other.
Cover art by Avery Day, who is pre-reading the story alongside Dewdrops on the Grass and The Sleepless Beholder.
While this story is not specifically a sequel, it is in continuity with two other fics: The Final Conversation and Milkshakes, Marionettes, and Midnight. The story begins late during the events of Legend of Everfree and diverges further from the canon timeline during "Dance Magic".
Featured on 6/20/23-6/21/23, 7/4/23, 8/15/23, and 9/10/23!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
Oh, no.
I’ve been seeking a story like this, awesome!!!
Delightful beginning to the relationship. I especially love the surreality of Sunset's mind and body having compatibility issues. Some degree of dysmorphia should be expected when living among aliens with a different body plan, especially as one of their kind.
Looking forward to seeing how Twilight handles it, along with whatever else rears its ugly head.
Interesting....
Gotta admit, the "Bi sweet spot" conversation in the first chapter had me rolling with laughter.
Also, its nice to see someone else exploring the whole "Oh yeah, Sunset's actually a horse" thing and how that would affect her views of things like attraction from a mental perspective. :} This is gonna be one I'll be following along with.
I love the way you’re looking at how Sunset being a pony changes the way she thinks about romance and her body, I can’t wait to see how this develops! :)
Let's see:
-queer romance?
-socially awkward protagonist ?
-making a plot point out of the fact that a character was originally a talking horse?
Sign me up.
This looks good so far. Off to chapter two...
Still setting up, I suppose. And already we are committing to the interlude structure. :)
I think it will be interesting to see how you handle Sci-Twi in this. While Sunset's past will naturally come with its own ghosts, I will like to see how you craft a journey for Sci-Twi as well.
Looking very promising so far. The two of them are cute, and the species dysphoria is something I don't think gets played around with enough. Definitely looking forward to seeing where it goes!
Oh?
Ngl this scene sure reminds me of a fimfiction story I wrote on how I'd picture Sci Twi and Timber breaking up. Except in this chapter it's mentioned they never dated. Just thought I'd get that off my chest.
Being friends is still something to be proud of. Good for you Twi.
Now there's something I can relate to. Being more social. I wasn't great at it when I was younger, but I've gotten better over time.
Your so gonna regret saying that later Spike.
Of to a great start already!
Whats so great here is instead of the binary 'Yes I'm into humans and especially you, Twilight Sparkle/Humans are apes and I literally can't feel anything romantic towards you aliens' is the fluid middle ground Sunset is currently inhabiting and wishing to explore. Its not something done too often in my experience.
Sweet rendition of Twi dreaming
Okay, that was cute. Twiggles being a neurotic mess and Sunny being understanding and willing to give things a go. Looking forward to seeing where this leads.
Geez, this pairing - even their neuroses, relationship complexities and serious discussions are unfairly adorable.
Very interesting start. Gotta say, I really like the way you handled the whole Timber situation - just a simple "decided not to go for it". A lot of the time when he's included in fics shipping Twilight with someone else, they do have the relationship be a part of the story or background, and there's nothing wrong with that, great stories have resulted from it, but... I do prefer the approach of simply cutting it off before it starts.
Admittedly, my preferred preferred approach is just to excise him and his creepy-to-me-at-least vibes entirely, but I recognize that's not necessarily the best option for many stories, nor one that many would want.
Still, I am curious - are there going to be more AU elements here? I mean, it's kind of in a bit of a grey area anyway - typically, shipfics don't require an AU tag simply because they pair a character with someone other than whoever they're with 'canonically', since the fact it's shipping another pairing makes it redundant - the same way EqG fics don't require the Human tag - but this does appear to be making more of a point about the divergence than most, so it's not unreasonable to put it on anyway. But, well, I'm just wondering what, if it can even be divulged at this point, is the extent of the AU aspect.
Wait, what?! Okay, plot twist.
Well. That final line wasn’t what I was expecting. At all. Awwwkward...
That does make me wonder where the human Sunset Shimmer is, though, with a tie-in like that that ought to be mirrored between the two worlds. And what Cady is gonna do when she sees this Sunset.
Now that you’ve surprised me like that, I have some pretty high expectations for this fic. Definitely keeping an eye out for future chapters!
Lmao, damn, wasn't expecting that reveal to drop. Maybe it's because First Hoof Account has my brain in SunDance mode, but I thought you were leading up to Sunset being Pony!Cadance's ex. It's so fun to be reading two fics that take the relationship between these two in such radically different directions.
But... Hang out, if Pony!Sunset is Pony!Cadance's sister... Where is Human!Sunset in all this
On an unrelated note, I like what you've done with the Human world's cutie marks just... Existing without ever being mentioned. I enjoy fics that give the Human world a subtle magic of its own, and icons just sort of appearing on people's clothes is a fun way to do that.
One wonders how Sunset dealt with the presence of Principal Celestia in the early days.
The actual reaction I had to the ending.
Me reading - Oh ho, jealousy perhaps? Maybe even ex-lovers?
Me reading the ending - (but in a good way!)
I am HOOKED.
Can't argue there.
Uh huh...
And here I thought it was someone else.
Yikes.
WWWHHHAAAAATTTT?!
So that's what they mean by "modern fantasy"...
Surely not because of some kind of subconscious memetic block. That would be ridiculous.
Is it being served on/with/by unspeakable grimoires?
"Yes. Ha ha. Ridiculous. Moving on..."
And that is one heck of a hook at the end. Looking forward to seeing just how Sunset handles this particular flavor of awkwardness... and what this may imply about her local analogue.
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Ahahahaha oh the pain
Excuse me a moment, my train of thought seems to have completely derailed.
...
Ok, now that my brain has rebooted congratulations are in order. It's rare that I'm caught off guard and in this case the guard was not only sleeping but was not even close to their post when caught. Well done!
Huh, this... this feels like a reference I'm not getting, but a quick search didn't turn anything up. Right now, I only know 'Oleander' as a flower and a Psychonaut. And while the latter did, in a sense, try to create his own nation, I somehow doubt it would have ended this well.
Iiiiiiinteresting. I was expecting some sort of family relation such as cousin or step something, but sister is.... yeah.
Tension you can cut with a knife.
Awww that was really sweet Lovely start, I see.
Really excellent how you've described the disconnect Sunset feels with her human body, and I like how earnest the awkwardness is, hehe
Easy favourite, right away.
Not going to lie this is exactly how I felt with my boyfriend as someone who doesn't know how he falls under the awomantic spectrum if he falls under that spectrum at all, no I still don't know how to categorize what I feel towards him I know what we have a special and he special to me, I don't know if you meant to write sunset as arrowsspec but that's what I got
Bravo I've never seen someone hold this headcanon before, I know I'm probably going to have to wait for more chapters but I would really like to know is cadence her bio sister or is this a found family situation the bravo I don't want to rush you but I'm patiently waiting for more chapters you have my interest Pete
Things got interesting...
I get the sense some of those cans will burst open whether Sunset wants to deal with the worms or not. I probably could have expressed that in a less disgusting way, but that's what she gets for not confronting her problems.
I always do love that idea.
Something, something, local equivalent of Georgia O'Keeffe...
Revealing how much remains unknown to a Twilight Sparkle is dangerous, but keeping it hidden would be even worse. I can only hope Sunset becomes comfortable enough to confront her past and share it with Twilight. Explaining Cadence's counterpart will be even more awkward, but she may well make it there in time. All told, this dinner could have gone a lot worse.
The question, of course, is what's next.
Well, Sunset's going to be a trainwreck when she learns about what's happened to her Cadance.
Not having to worry about the BIG secret means less to have to dodge or lie about. She just needs a moment or two to wrap her head around it.
fork back onto the plate.*
I figured he'd say that.
Interesting.
Oh boy!
Exactly.
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Doesn't she know? Sunset seems to know she missed Cadance’s wedding, and EQG1 would indicate that she knows at least some of the goings-on in the pony world. Of course, maybe not all the exact details like, y'know, an invasion...
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That, or her taking up the crown of the Crystal Empire.
Wtf based??? I applaud the elegant way yo addressed this fandom nitpick
A person of culture, I see. I appreciate the shout-out, hehe.
That's a hell of a line to close it on.
Excellent writing all-around, as always, I love how... lived-in this feels, hehe
I love this banter so much.
i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/033/487/rick.jpg
I love this a lot. That's a wonderful summation of Cadance's life . And, aw, that plain truth at the end...
Awww Sunset...
I adored every moment of this. I loved the banter between all of them here and how kind Cadance and Shining were, and God, Sunset being overwhelmed with longing for her sister...
Very lovely chapter, and I eagerly await for more Thank you for the shout-out, and I'm happy to have inspired you.
Go visit your family Sunset. Bringing Twilight along will just make it that much more entertaining to Candance, lol.
Courage isn't having no fear. Courage is acting despite your fear.
By forcing some of the points that show has refused to address and explaining them as Sunset actively avoiding those topics, the focus is just completely reflected back to Sunset’s conflict with Equestria. I like it.
Damn, Sunset.
Ngl, this reminds me of a speech regarding destiny from one of my favorite tv shows on Netflix.
Half of what she said made no sense imo regarding tails.
Must be tough being an orphan.
Had a feeling it was Cadence. I have no clue why my mind thought it was an oc but shouldn't have listened to it.
Sure makes sense when you put the pieces together.
At least this is helping her. Somewhat.
Redundancy there.
Oof, that was so very real and I love it.
Dang, I never thought about how Sunset would have felt aboutCadance becoming an alicorn before.
Let me just add to that to my headcanon list...
Devastating stuff. It tends to be when the thoughts you've been running from eventually catch up to you. But they always do, and the tears are how the healing begins. Here's looking forward to seeing how that takes place, especially if and when Sunset and pony Cadence ever do meet again.