All That Shimmers
My name is Sunset Shimmer and welcome to my cruddy life.
All That Shimmers
is a My Little Pony: Equestria Girls fanfic by Justice4243, set immediately after the events of the first movie.
Sunset Shimmer is having a bad night. She turned into a demon, was forcefully turned back, and now has to deal with all the people she's wronged in the past. As luck would have it, it seems like her demon self isn't done with her, either.
Can the power of friendship overcome this maniacal creature, or is Sunset Shimmer doomed to bring death and destruction to everyone she meets?
All That Shimmers provides examples of:
- And I Must Scream: When Sunset was in her demon form, she was not enjoying it. She describes it as being forced to look at her worst moments, a la A Clockwork Orange. She’s rather miffed when she learns that Snips and Snails apparently liked their experience.
- The Atoner: Sunset Shimmer is aiming for this, despite her demonic half being more interested in attempting world domination a second time.
- Big Eater: In Chapter 9, Pinkie Pie ordered three whole plates full of desserts. She drenched the food in hot sauce (because of a bet she had with Sunset), but she still easily devoured it all.
- Big "SHUT UP!": Sunset has one in Chapter 3 while the Humane Five are in a huge argument.
- Big "WHAT?!": The Humane Five (minus Fluttershy) and Sunset react when they hear that there's a (false) rumor going around that says that Sunset threw a brick at Fluttershy.
- Cassandra Truth: In Chapter 4, Sunset's demon half reacts to her threats by cheekily alerting her that getting rid of her would be like removing a vital organ. Sunset naturally doesn't believe this, to the demon's amusement. Fast-forward to Chapter 15 and...
- Cerebus Rollercoaster: The story generally has a somewhat serious tone, with the narrative occasionally bouncing between the bizarre comedy situations that makes up most of the writer's work and the angst of a character who is dealing with the aftermath of becoming a literal uncontrollable she-demon.
- Character Development: Sunset is trying to become a nicer person. When Sunset hangs out with Snips and Snails for the first time since the Fall Formal, they're confused by her current "scheme" (collecting research books) being so mundane and are partly convinced that her apologizing for her actions and openly admitting she enjoys their company are signs of her being sick or replaced by a clone until she threatens to kill them like she usually does.
- Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much every thought Sunset Shimmer has whenever she isn't in the midst of panicking. Other demons display this in spades as well, with one deeming sarcasm as "the language of our people."
- Didn't Think This Through: Apparently, Sunset’s original plan was to try and use the crown to become an Alicorn Princess herself and return to Equestria in the hopes that Princess Celestia would give her a kingdom of her own on the spot. In retrospect, she’s forced to admit that she and her former mentor would probably have just ended up fighting it out.
- Dramatic Irony: Sunset assumes that Twilight Sparkle grew up with a lot of friends, being Celestia’s student and all. We all know that she couldn't be farther from the truth. She assumes the same of Human!Twilight, but recants on this when she first sees her.
- For the Evulz: Ba'al wanted to sacrifice Human!Twilight and the Humane Five to find Sunset, but after Sunset comes to him on her own, he decides to kill them for kicks.
- Jerkass: Gilda, who attacks Sunset despite not having been one of Sunset's victims from the dance, and thus having no direct reason to attack her, even pulling a knife on her!
- Make It Look Like an Accident: Sunset has dreamt up theoretical ways to do this to pretty much everyone she's met. She assumes it goes hand in hand with being human, since she never had those thoughts before coming to the human world.
- Musicalis Interruptus: The Humane Five try to sing while helping Sunset rebuild the school entrance, but their musical number is interrupted when Pinkie accidentally hits Fluttershy with a brick.
- Mythology Gag:
- According to Chapter 10, Vice Principal Luna got jealous of Celestia because she didn't have much to do during the day, so she tried to force the students to take after-school activities. In response to this, Celestia sent Luna on a vacation to "Space Camp" for "1,000 hours". All of this is a clear parallel to Princess Celestia and Luna's relationship in Equestria, and Luna's banishment to the moon for 1,000 years.
- Principal Celestia asks Sunset to write a "friendship report" about what she learned from her new friends, which is an obvious reference to Twilight Sparkle's friendship reports she writes for Princess Celestia.
Sunset Shimmer (reaction to this): But that sounds so...so... 'after school special', or some stupid plot from a TV show for little girls! - Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Pinkie accidentally hits Fluttershy with a brick, giving the girl a concussion, while trying to help Sunset clean up the school entrance with the rest of the Humane Five. Naturally, the rumor mill thinks Sunset did it.
- Not Quite Back to Normal: Sunset's demon self is still in her head and constantly trying to convince her to embrace it.
- Shout-Out:
- Sunset is a fan of A Clockwork Orange, and describes her experience of being a demon as reminiscent of the film's Ludovico scene.
- In Chapter 6, Snips and Snails play Spot the Car (to Sunset's confusion and frustration), and the dialogue is quite similar to that particular scene in the film.
- Sunset Shimmer compares Pinkie Pie's eating in one scene to eating habits associated with overweight cartoon cats.
- In both Chapters 9 and 10, Pinkie Pie keeps mentioning a bonesaber.
- Tarot Troubles: In Chapter 3, Pinkie Pie gives Sunset Shimmer a Tarot Card reading. Sunset is put off how accurate the "Tower, The Devil, Death" appears and is pessimistic about any sudden change in the future actually being positive. Both Pinkie and Sunset continue to do readings concerning the latter throughout the story, with each of them reflecting present and future plot developments.Pinkie Pie (referring to the change implied by Death): Oh, well you see, you drew only Major Arcana, so that means your fortune is extra, super, special important! Maybe it’s the evil inside you that dies!Sunset Shimmer (depressed): Yeah, or just me...
- Tempting Fate: After the gang clears up what happened with Fluttershy for Vice-Principal Luna, Rarity says that at least Sunset is in the clear now, only for Celestia to come down the hall wanting to talk about it.
- Tomato in the Mirror: After trying to handle her demon dreams and violent urges for the past fifteen chapters, and nearly killing herself in the process, the end of Chapter 15 has the demon Gaaabooo explain to a confused Sunset that she's always been a demon. The following chapter has him clarify that she's part-demon like himself, with them sharing an archdemon ancestor somewhere on her family tree. Her current "split personality" problem is the result of the Element of Magic rushing the awakening of her demonic heritage, rather than being gradually eased into it.
- Villainous Lineage: Lampshaded. When told that she's always been part-demon, Sunset suggests that all the horrible things she has ever done are a direct result of that. Gaaabooo immediately calls her out for trying to shirk responsibility for her own actions, saying it's just as likely she was simply an unpleasant person.
- Villain Protagonist: Well, “villain on the path to becoming a better person” protagonist.
- Weirdness Magnet: Sunset Shimmer. Her transformations into a she-demon have been causing spikes in magic energy that are beginning to attract of sorts of creatures to Canterlot, with a number being interested in Sunset directly.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 12 starts off with the group at the library, looking for Twilight's human counterpart and engaging in silly texting banter, while Sunset waits outside. The chapter ends with Sunset running inside when she sees all the library patrons start fleeing the building, the group discovering a meeting room that has been completely coated in human blood, and the presence of demons. The next two chapters build on this, leading up to Sunset entering her demon form once again.
- Wham Line: "You’re not possessed by a demon. You are a demon."
- What Have I Become?: Sunset's reaction after realizing she was about to murder Gilda and would have enjoyed doing so if Rainbow Dash hadn't walked in at that moment to stop their fight.
- What the Hell, Hero?: In Chapter 18, Celestia admonishes Sunset for locking herself in her apartment, pointing out that she stopped trying to be a better person when she cut herself off from the others and that she's actually becoming worse than she was when she actively wanted to take over the world.Principal Celestia: You weren’t just trying to start a shouting match with Applejack in there. I saw the look in your eyes right before I asked for a cigarette. (...) You planned to hospitalize Applejack, if she was lucky. Now, I know you’ve done some pretty unkind things, but I’ve never known you to physically injure another student.
- With Friends Like These...: How the Humane Five behave at times, with the group tending to fall into petty arguments when all of them are together. During one such shouting match, Sunset privately muses that it's no wonder it was so easy to destroy their friendships with a few texts and emails, and how the old her would have reveled in watching them fight.
