All the Difference
She was floating. She had no physical form; she simply was, if only just. Something was trying to erase her, like she was no more than a drawing. But she didn’t want to leave. A desire inside her, a feeling deep within her fading form told her to hold on.
Yes, she could remember something. It was faint and distorted in a way, but she knew the feeling. It was warm and inviting and loving. Gentle waves of its power washed over her and pulled her back.
Darkness appeared. She was no longer alone in this void. It was cold and angry; its own malicious waves crashed against her, disrupting the serene harmony. The cold creeped over her, bringing back horrible feelings and memories. Death, hatred, power…
But she wasn’t that being anymore. She was her own being. She was separate.
She was light.
Her light pushed the darkness away and pulled Harmony closer to her. Faces drifted in the aether, friendly and familiar. They circled around her, forming a protective ring and pushing the cold away. She was getting stronger; names were coming back to add to the faces.
There was Luna and Spike. Applejack and Fluttershy. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Ruby and Flora and her mom and dad. There was Celestia.
And from the darkness, she felt something stronger than hatred or anger. She felt regret and sadness. In the abyss, the darkness wailed a slow and painful cry.
She reached out and consoled it against her better judgement. The darkness had tried to kill her after all. But she knew someone would be proud of her—someone important.
With a push of her will, she sent a wave of light over the darkness, sharing the feelings of her memories. Joy, hope, faith, love. Bright emotions circled the both of them, driving away the negativity until, within the darkness, she could see a small speck of light.
The darkness halted the wave. She could feel it floating upwards to something beyond. It stumbled back a few times, like something was dragging it back down. Then the darkness released a burst of heat, completely driving the cold away. It drifted up, higher and higher, the light at its center glowing a little brighter.
As it vanished, she heard two soft words. They were not spoken, but felt like the rest of her memories.
“Thank… you…”
There was only light now. Her light. And her will. She still was; the erasing had stopped. But something was missing—a very important piece of her. One more name to one more face. She could remember the soft caress of her wings, her crystalline laugh, her enthusiasm from teaching.
And a promise. There was a promise that needed to be kept. Yes, she would see all of her friends again! She would not fade away, she would not sit in this abyss, she would continue! A spark of magic coursed through her.
All around her, she could hear them giving her encouragement, cheering her name. Her own name. She had forgotten that too. But it wasn’t her name that mattered—it was the other name. The one that had always believed in her, even when she couldn’t believe in herself. She reached for it. It was the key; the last thing she needed to remember.
“Twi… Twilight… Twilight Sparkle. Princess!”
Hope. More than a friend, more than a princess, Twilight was her hope.
The warm magic burned white-hot and began to take form. She felt herself grow less aware, but more real. Little by little, bit by bit, she returned, her soul burning brighter than ever.
A foal’s cry echoed throughout the room…
The sun rose through the window in front of Princess Twilight Sparkle as she lay curled on a large pillow in her study. She had been up an hour ago so she could enjoy the sunrise. She loved watching the dark of night and the new light of day mix and mingle before one completely took over.
She took a sip of her morning tea, then returned to her book when the last pink of the dawn faded. She guessed she still had about an hour before she had to get ready for the day. The page of her book turned as she sighed. All she had to look forward to today was court sessions and paperwork.
On the table behind her sat two large, empty bowls. A few hours ago, they had contained massive amounts of ice cream, courtesy of Pinkie Pie.
Twilight chuckled, remembering last night. Storytelling and ice cream, one of her favorite activities to do with her faithful student. She was surprised they had managed to finish it all. Of course, they had both conked out five minutes after the bowls were empty. Twilight mused over the fact she wasn’t in an ice cream coma.
Something shifted under her wing and let out a small snort.
Well, one of us might be in one.
Twilight continued to read with a smile on her face for the remainder of the hour. She was snatched from her peace and relaxation when one of the guards pounded on her door, reminding her that court began in forty-five minutes.
The lump under her wing moved again. As much as Twilight wanted to sit there and enjoy the moment, she knew it was time for both of them to get up. She pulled her wing back, revealing a bed head of crimson and gold hair, along with bleary teal eyes.
“Good morning, Princess.”
Twilight leaned down and nuzzled her young student’s neck. “Good morning, Sunset.”
The End
It ends as it began. Perfect!
Lovely, lovely work. Definitely one of the best Sunset fics on the site.
Lovely story, lovely ending. This was an amazing read and I happy to have been able to follow it through it's creation.
Damn good story. It is always a bitter sweet moment when a story this good ends. Thank you for taking the time to write it.
... Sunset is Twilight's child?!
... Mind blown.
Happy ending, though, so yay!
Y u do dis to me?
well. That answers that. Sunset came back as a foal like in the original timeline. Can't say for sure if Sunset remembers though. I must say I came across this story when it was mentioned somewhere as I finished chapter 26 of LRTF. I wasn't at first up to it, but got into it. Defiantly took me some time to catch up with everyone else, especially that other people had been waiting years on the back story of Vesper and I just happened to stroll right in as that was being revealed. It defiantly was worth the ride while it lasted. I was hoping that Sunset would still remain in the past one way or another, but I guess it makes sense in this case. If I wrote a time travel/timeline fic I think I would go with the parallel timeline since I guess that less confusing for some people. (Plus helps from trapping your self into a corner later on if something doesn't make sense.) Either way really good fic and can't wait for the extras, comments, and stuff that didn't make it into the story.
definitely a touching ending overall. glad it ended with the fturue changed, for the better. although how it ended was rather different than what i imagined, though related. i was suspecting that sunset was going to physicaly remove part of the regalia, and something goes very wrong because of it. However her tricking herself into self destruction is also very interesting and plausible.
a good way to close the book on this tale i think.
Little over two years of work. How's it feel?
6089597 I think it's being ambiguous, if she's Twilight's kid or was just reincarnated and Twilight found her as a foal. If she indeed became Twilight's daughter in this new timeline, that makes my ship goggles through the rest of the fic foggy.
Albinocorn, congratulations on finishing this masterpiece of fiction. Take a moment and sit down as you bask in the incoming comments. You've earned that. This was a wonderful story, original, action-packed, emotional, a lot of twists and surprises, and a satisfying feelgood ending. Anyone who thumbs downed this story or is passing it up is missing out.
Beautiful. *claps*
6089671 Well, it shouldn't have taken this long. But other than that, it feels amazing!
A happy ending and a good story overall. Screw the paradox, a good ending is worth the suspension of disbelief.
And that's a wrap
It wasn't quite what I expected, and yet it's somehow better. We now know once and for all that Vesper went to whatever awaits her next as what was originally intended with the Elements. Even better, this is not filly Vesper growing up under very different circumstances like in the last timeline, but the same Sunset we've followed on this journey. The very same soul. Her own soul . It's uncertain if she will carry the memories of her adventure with her. If she's anything like her last reincarnation, there's a distinct possibility.
It really has been an unbelievable journey and it's incredible to see it concluded :3. Well done, all!
Whoa...SHE CAME BACK!!! YAYZIES!!! I assume that when she came back, several years/decades past? Either way, A HAPPY ENDING!!!!! Man! This was SOOO great! Awesome job!
Great Story
This story has been absolutely phenomenal. One of the few stories to elicit a pure emotional response via the development of its characters and plots. Absolutely love it. Thank you for writing such a phenomenal, fantastic story.
Thank you for writing such an amazing story, I loved it to the very end. I'm also looking forward to the stories that you will write in the future.
Now........ That's a good ending.. y u brought me to tears?!
I have no words for this.
I'm not saying I've read the best stories on the site when I say this, far from it; I usually stick to crossovers, but this is the best story I've read on FimFiction and FanFiction. And it's finished to boot! Win-win!
Thank you for gracing this site with this masterpiece, and I hope you continue to be awesome in the future.
And also, 6089719 , every update was worth its weight in gold. Updating when you actually finish a chapter is always better than releasing a half-assed one when it's not completely done.
I Knew it!
Currently listening to this, not that bad for an ending song if I may say so.
All my woots!!! A great ending to an amazing story. I love how you leave it up to us to imagine who sunsets parents might be.
Thank you for this enjoyable ride into your world. May you wright happily for many years to come.
Well shoot
I'm running out of ways to intensify "Well shoot". Please send help :(
This was easily worth the wait. This was absolutely fantastic. Really quite satisfied with how everything turned out. More than satisfied, even.
6090753 use a "!"
Amazing story you have here, great job!!
Cringe-worthy use of time travel, but still nonetheless an excellent story. No major flaws that I've noticed beyond that, and very good portrayal of the characters.
This is without a doubt one of the best Sunset Shimmer fics on the site. The others, of course, being your other Sunset Shimmer fics. No one else does it like you do.
I'm sad that it's over, but it ended perfectly. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Between Chengar Qordath and you, you guys definitely have the best Sunset Shimmer fics on Fimfiction
I liked the story. CONGRATULATIONS... It was very good for read.
Very nice. Not only did Sunset Shimmer get to come back (which I was definitely happy about), but also that Vesper Radiance managed to find peace thanks to her. I'm glad to see, even if only posthumously (which admittedly was really the only way it would truly work), that in the end she came to terms with what she did and chose to pass on, and I'm happy Sunset was willing to help her do it.
That was the one thing I was actually kind of worried wouldn't get resolved, especially considering that Vesper still absorbed the Lich's power and even without a body could in theory still exist in some spiritual form as an eternally vengeful existence. But no, you managed to tie up that last part very well, which actually makes some sense: Vesper's hatred was one of the things that allowed her to return as Sunset in the original timeline, but letting go of it finally let her pass on in peace.
Anyways, bravo. Definitely one of, if not the best, Sunset fic I've seen on this site so far.
...Also, for some reason I can't get the idea of Twilight and Sunset eating ice cream together like mother and daughter out of my head now. Darn it, the cute!
6089604 What do you mean by that?
6093435 I wasn't ready for it to end. Then every time I refreshed there was a new chapter.
An amazing tale from start to finish. Glad you have shared it with us!
okay, I'm a little confused, first how exactly did Sunset manage to destroy Vesper Radiance (I mean re-reading that scene I still just don't get it)
And second, why was she reborn? Was there an explanation I just didn't get, or is it just supposed to be another miracle of friendship and harmony?
Whatever, this was a great story and I really enjoyed it, even if I found the end confusing, kudos.
I was going to say something about the overly dramatic, anticlimatic battles they have (referring mainly to the battle for the Tempest Crown. Possibly the battle in the library but I don't remember that well). Then I remembered the battle against Tirek and realized it's pretty much canon. So I won't say anything, although I still kind of want to.
6108588 Anticlimatic? I'm sorry not every battle ends with an explosion.
6108677 Poor word choice, sorry. I'm actually glad every battle doesn't end in an explosion. It just seems a bit silly to me that there's an entire chapter of them shooting lasers at each other. Then later on Twilight does the simple thing and puts Vesper to sleep, ending a battle in a minute or two.
Of course the story would be a bit lacking without the battles. So I'm probably just being nitpicky, carry on. I'll increase my Suspension of Disbelief a bit and just go with it when I get to the next battle.
6103707
Basically, the biggest weakness of Sunset's magic is that she get hurt if she absorb too much energy from the sun.
Vesper was goaded by Sunset into doing exactly that, melting all of her regalia and turning her body into ash.
The rebirth is simply a miracle.
Anyway, great story and great ending: good work!
I kinda don't want to, but I think I might go as far as to say that this is the best thing I've ever.
Similar overall vibe as Past Sins. Good!
6119730 The Alicorn Amulet can only be taken off by the wearer.
Bravo! That was a truly epic ending, although I would like an explanation as to why Sunset was reincarnated other than "force of will." Although this is nitpicking in the grand scheme of things, and overall I was extremely satisfied with the ending.
6125889 Actually sunset could have..... she IS vesper radiant after all.
What a brilliant way to end this most monumental and iconic story. I'm so glad I was able to enjoy it as the fan I originally was.
Sunset of Time is my favourite story. No bones about it. I thank Bad Seed for helping you finish this when I was occupied.
I have a lot of favourite stories here. Cartography of War, Upheaval: Breaking Point, Austraeoh, Asylum, The Age of Wings and Steel, Transcendence... all of them got a 9.5/10, because no story can ever be called truly perfect.
But screw it. In my mind, despite its flaws, Sunset of Time is charming, intense, heart-pounding, sad, hopeful, and covers everything I could ever want in a story. The personal growth you've gone through as a writer is clearly visible when I read through the earliest chapters up to now. You've always had my attention. This has been a true journey, and something I will always cherish; not just the story, but also the friendships made and experiences felt during its creation.
For the first time in my life, I give Sunset of Time a perfect 10/10. There won't be another fimfic like it ever again.
Thank you, AJ.
There is a future, no longer burned and black.
Everything has changed, we can't turn back.
The will of one pony can move mountains.
Why not then, can the will of one pony move time itself?
6155033
I checked this story pretty much on a daily basis to see if it was updated. It's one of my favorite stories in general now .
6197474 good point, didn't really think about it like that
6120411 Thank you for such a lovely story <3
Also on this note, I was kind of interested to see if you'd play with the whole "Maybe Sunset could've tricked the Amulet since they're both the same pony" to remove the regalia. Alas I shall have the ponder this on my own.
Keep up the good work. Your stories brightened my day! :)