Prereaders:
Gelatino (offprint, fimfiction.net) who is also credited in the main author's note for something else, too.

After four years in prison, human Sunset Shimmer comes back to reclaim her identity. For the pony who's been impersonating her, this might get complicated.

Also, we learn the secret TRUTH about Angry Gamer Sunset, and why so much computer software is buggy and annoying.

This is an authorized AU fanfic for C-L-Strife's story "Two Sunsets." Strife described his story as

Sunset's other self from the People Dimension is released from Jail but, The Criminal Life-Style is too hard for her to get past.

(I wanted my story to be at least partly original. That's why I carefully avoided reading most of Strife's story before composing my own fanfic of it! I only read Strife's story AFTER writing my fanfic, and I enjoyed Strife's tale even more than I had expected!)

Mildly AU.

I'm very lucky that Samey90 (fimfiction.net link) preread even part of this story. Thank you! As so often happens, I might not work out how to apply some of the more interesting and profound feedback until later stories, after this contest's deadline.

Thank you to Mykola (offprint, fimfiction.net) for advice on an obscure topic relating to science fairs! (Specifically, Mykola checked a Google translation of a Russian language line of dialog by Twilight Sparkle.)

This story might be an entry in a Sunset x Sunset story contest, idk.

_{#sunsetxsunsetshipcontest2021}

Weeks ago, Flash Sentry disappeared. Sunset searches for him, and discovers the horrifying answer to the mystery that no one else seems to care about.

This story was inspired by eemoo1o's "A Flash In The Pan," and can optionally be read as an unofficial and NON-canon (but authorized!) sequel to that story.

Thank you, eemoo1o!

I guess you don't HAVE to read the prequel, but it does provide some very relevant backstory, especially about the general apathy, and most importantly the ballpoint pens. Do you really want to miss out on all that foreshadowing? I don't think so!

For prereading, I thank: eemoo1o, "CarlosSainz55 (no, not THAT CarlosSainz55, a different one.)"

Our society pressures people to be thin, no matter how unhealthy the obsession can become. What if we were idiotic enough to start treating other forms of self-harm the same way?

Running out of options, maybe Wallflower Blush would finally try to stand up for herself.

But she might overdo it.

Contains or references: anorexia, bulimia, related eating disorders, cutting, suicide, bad parenting, mass media giving terrible advice about how to look more attractive, Sunset Shimmer doing crimes, an innocent green-haired girl gone bad.

I thank bananachips for prereading a version of this story, and for helpful correspondence about it. This story's flaws, however, are not bananachips' fault.

(I made the cover image from show art. Details in the Author's Notes.)