The Tale of Two Sunsets
(formerly A Tale of Two Sunsets) is a My Little Pony: Equestria Girls fanfic by EmeraldBlast63. It is based on an unused story concept by Nick Confalone for the end of the second season of the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Digital Series shorts.
Graduation Day has come to Canterlot High as Sunset Shimmer and her friends contemplate what to do with their lives as they begin to make plans for their futures now that high school is over. Sunset is considering returning to Equestria permanently after feeling the human world has become boring for her outside of the occasional magical problem and her desire to find out what happened to her parents. However, she feels conflicted about this decision as she feels like she's abandoning her friends. After returning to Equestria to attend Twilight's coronation, Sunset begins to explore the land to discover what has changed in her absence and to search for clues about her missing family.
This story can be found on both Fimfiction.net and DeviantArt as seen here.
The Tale of Two Sunsets contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents:
- Lily Pad's mother, Chestnut Magnifico, verbally abuses her daughter, starves her constantly and forces her to steal from others to spoil herself. Lily Pad is afraid of angering her due to this.
- Sunspot. Both versions of him. His pony counterpart doesn't recognize his own daughter when she comes to visit him, yells at Sunset throughout their entire conversation and refuses to talk to her unless she pays him first. His human counterpart showed No Sympathy after learning about his daughter's bullying at Crystal Prep and begins to complain about the money he wasted on her tuition after discovering she quit the school. His constant pressuring her to do well in school which caused his daughter to stress out didn't help matters.
- Madame Cinch later reveals that she and Svengallop are the true biological parents of Cozy Glow. Cinch ended up selling their daughter to Lord Tirek as an apprentice, which perfectly explains why the filly ended up the way she did. Though it could also be argued that Cozy Glow's manipulative personality was something she inherited from her own parents.
- Adaptational Nice Girl:
- Pony Lemon Zest is much nicer compared to her human counterpart, who for example, took part in stealing the dance choreography with her friends once.
- Unlike in Roller Coaster of Friendship, Pony Vignette Valencia legitimately cares about Rarity, and is willing to put her own career and future on the line when teaming up with her and Sunset to stand up against her corrupt boss, the Madame of Manehattan.
- Call-Forward: In Chapter 64, one of Party Favor's writings on the wall in the bad future reads "All ponies will one day have fetlocks!". The fifth generation, chronologically set long after the fourth generation, indeed has all pony characters designed with visible fetlocks, instead of just the stallions.
- Character Development: Pony Flash Sentry is much more fleshed out than Flash Sentry had been in the official series. This is because human Flash was only mainly involved in the first Equestria Girls movie, but then got reduced to cameos and briefer appearances as the series went on. Even then, most of his character revolved around being a generic love interest for Twilight Sparkle. Pony Flash in Equestria Girls canon didn't have much of a character at all, but is developed nicely here. When Sunset gets to know him for the first time in Chapter 58, we learn of his tragic backstory with his father's death, and his philosophies regarding being a royal guard to serve Equestria. We even learn in later chapters of both Twilight and Flash's response to the fandom's
Critical Backlash, and how the whole love interest arc in the first Equestria Girls film had really given Flash an infamous reputation, up there with characters like Svengallop, or even Timber Spruce. - Continuity Nod: This fanfic story is set after the events of "The Ending of the End – Part 1" & "The Ending of the End – Part 2", where Cozy Glow, Lord Tirek, and Queen Chrysalis were mentioned by Starlight as "some filly, centaur, and changeling queen."
- Dark Is Not Evil: Human Sunset wears dark clothing, has black eyeshadow and both her skin tone and hair are duller in colour compared to her pony counterpart but she isn't a bad person. Sunset changed her appearance to invoke the image of a tough girl to avoid being picked on by bullies.
- Dramatic Irony: None of the Mane Six's human counterparts know that it wasn't actually the Sunset they know who had been mean to Pinkie, but rather her human counterpart.
- Foreshadowing:
- In Chapter 37, on the third day during her stay in the human world, Starlight mentions having felt some strange jolts course through her body while also having a strange dream where she is in a pitch-black area and hears a voice that sounds exactly like her. Sunset mentions having the same thing happen to her as well. This is brought up again at the end of Chapter 41. Sunset speculates the voices she and Starlight were hearing are their human counterparts speaking to them. This ultimately comes to a head in Chapter 49 where after being absent for 72 hours in the human world allowed the human Sunset to return.
- The illustration of Chapter 61 shows Rainbow Dash from behind, hiding that she's not actually Rainbow Dash, but Indigo Zap, who swapped bodies with Dash.
- When Pony Sunset takes an extended return to Equestria, she encounters quite a number of pony versions of humans she had initially met in the human world. This includes, but is not limited to, all five Shadowbolts, K-Lo and Su-Z, Max Steele, Juniper Montage, Vignette Valencia, Abacus Cinch, Wallflower Blush, and Timber Spruce. Most of these are encountered before Human Sunset officially fades back into existence, but all these pony counterparts foreshadow that both worlds have always had their own versions of these characters, including Sunset Shimmer herself.
- Grand Finale: A fanmade one due to the series never having an official ending.
- Grief-Induced Split: After Sunspot broke the news to his wife that their daughter has been irretrievably sucked through a mirror while at Celestia's school, she blamed him for the tragedy. Solstice then left not just her husband, but all of Canterlot behind forever. No amount of bits or legal changes can soothe Sunspot's anger toward Celestia for what he sees as her destruction of his family. In the present, he's a bitter Jerkass and Solstice's whereabouts remain unknown.
- Heroic Sacrifice:
- Sentinel Sentry, Flash Sentry's father, went out to activate a switch that unlock all the doors in a lab that Princess Celestia, his son and several other royal guards were trapped in by a group of timber wolves. While he successfully activated the switch the timber wolves that were surrounding the lab noticed and started to chase him. Sentinel managed to lure them away but he was suddenly knocked out by the timber wolf king and mauled to death by the pack.
- Flash Sentry uses the power of the Dragonstone to redirect lava from an erupting volcano away from Sunset and her friends, sacrificing his life in the process.
- Identical Stranger: During her time in Equestria, Sunset encounters the pony counterparts of people she knew in the human world.
- Ignored Epiphany: Just when Human Sunset reconsiders dedicating her life to revenge after befriending Rara and Party Favor, Gilda gets her back to her old self after reminding her of her past and convincing her that they may not really be her friends.
- Jerkass:
- Human Gilda is the first major foe Sunset faces in the story. She is rude, coldhearted, and willing to abuse a poor child, Lily Pad, by attempting to steal her phone and demand money from the child.
- As Sunset herself notes all the pony versions of the Shadowbolts are this except for Lemon Zest.
- Crafty Crate is this as well as a Bad Boss with Derpy mentioning him being a swindler who once sold a cherry to a pony for twenty bits.
- Madame Cinch is considered to be even meaner than Principal Cinch, for not only being a manipulative and abusive tyrant, but also willing to hunt down anypony who'd attempt to expose her.
- Pony Wallflower is more pushy and quick to anger compared to her human counterpart who was a shy introvert.
- Sunspot, Sunburst and Sunset's father which is a huge contrast from how Sunburst used to remember him.
- Lilypad's mother: Chestnut Magnifico. She acts rude to Sunset and insults her when she takes her order and destroys a cake for Lilypad even though it was free just because it wasn't what she ordered.
- Svengallop is once again a manipulative stallion attempting to ruin Rara/Countess Coloratura's day, much like his initial appearance.
- Jerkass Realization:
- Pony Wallflower has one when Sunset acts pushy and demanding to her just as she did minutes ago.
- Sunset herself has this several times throughout the story when reflecting her past. Most notably in Chapter 30 when she looks at the photo of her young self and Princess Celestia, and also in Chapter 48 when she opens up to Princess Celestia about being spoiled and coddled all those years, which most likely contributed to her uptight behavior.
- Juxtaposed Halves Shot: The cover depicts Sunset on the right side while the left side features her human counterpart.
- Karma Houdini: Indigo Zap never received any kind of punishment for bullying Human Sunset.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- Crafty Crate is the name of the pony who once tried to sell a cherry to Fluttershy for twenty bits.
- Max Steele was never the official name of the male security guard from Sunset's Backstage Pass, who was responsible for throwing Sunset and Pinkie out of the festival in multiple instances. The name was most likely taken from Derpibooru.
- The Gordon Ramsay-looking pony who made a background appearance in a Season 6 episode is named Gourmand Ramsay.
- Never My Fault: Pony Indigo Zap refuses to take responsibility for any of her actions.
- Oh, Crap!: Everyone when they see Chestnut Magnifico holding the bewitching bell.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Human Sunset was once called "Sunny S." during her time at Crystal Prep. She goes by Sunny S. once again to distance herself from her pony counterpart.
- Parental Abandonment: Sunset doesn't remember who her parents are or what they look like due to being so young when she entered Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She has vague memories of her father but not her mother. She isn't even sure they're still alive.
- The Resenter: Human Sunset has it out for her pony counterpart for stealing her life and for living a better life than her while she worked hard throughout her life only to end up with nothing.
- The Reveal:
- Speaking with Pinkie Pie in private, Sunset discovers Pinkie switched places with her human counterpart back when Sunset stole the Element of Magic, explaining how Human Pinkie knew everything about Twilight over a "hunch" as it wasn't really her. She further explains she was the one who accompanied Sunset and the others to their camping trip at Camp Everfree and the Postcrush music festival.
- After doing a DNA test, Twilight discovers Sunset and Sunburst are half-siblings. They share the same father in Sunspot but not the same mother.
- As it turns out it wasn't Rainbow Dash who attended the friendship meeting between her and Sunset but Indigo Zap who managed to switch bodies with her.
- The identity of the thief and Lilypad's mother is Chestnut Magnifico.
- Svengallop was once married to Madame Cinch, possibly explaining why the two are about the same as being manipulative, calculated, and coldhearted. It is implied that Svengallop got his manipulative tactics from his ex-wife.
- Pony Cheese Sandwich was actually the same Cheese Sandwich that Sunset and Human Pinkie met in the human world much earlier on in the story. Pony Cheese also reveals that he was well aware of the incredibly astonishing revelation Pinkie had revealed to him around 35 chapters ago, as similar minds are terrible at keeping secrets from one another.
- The identity of the Pegasus who stole Torque's tools, Kerfuffle's gem box, and Mr. Ramsay's lamb sauce appears to be Songbird Serenade. Then she reveals herself to be Indigo Zap.
- Revenge:
- As payback for ruining her life, Human Sunset destroys the cars of Principal Cinch and the families of Indigo Zap and Sugarcoat. Later she steals all of Indigo's money to pay for her mother's operation. Sunset has no issues with this as Solstice was forced to pay for Indigo's broken goggles earlier.
- Human Sunset wants revenge on her pony counterpart for stealing her life and Indigo Zap as she felt she hasn't suffered enough for forcing Sunset to drop out of school. Human Sunset plans to ruin the graduation ceremony at both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep.
- Same Character, But Different:
- Pony Timber Spruce is a far cry from his human counterpart, who was more of a generic love interest to Human Twilight. In Equestria however, his pony counterpart is a ruthless pirate captain who talks like a pirate, acts misogynistic, and willing to drown and kill off Sunset and her crew. He admittedly becomes more interesting of a character this way.
- Pony Lemon Zest is a determined ferry captain, rather than a cheery girl who enjoys listening to music often.
- Shout-Out: Chapter 75 is titled "WHERE'S THE LAMB SAUCE!?!", and Gourmand Ramsay appropriately shouts this same phrase when he discovers his lamb sauce was stolen. In that same chapter, he is called a "donkey", to which Ramsay remarks that he only uses that insult when somepony screws up in his kitchen.
- Stranger in a Familiar Land: Sunset feels like this while walking around in Ponyville after being gone for so long.
- Superpowered Evil Side: Twilight explains this is what happens to those who use equestrian magic for their own selfish reasons as seen with Sunset and Twilight's human counterpart. The magic of Equestria is meant for friendship and harmony and for people who try to use it for their own purposes cause the magic to corrupt them, creating an alter ego that amplifies their desires and become obsessed with destroying everything around them.
- Take That!: In Chapter 64, one of Party Favor's writings on the wall in the bad future reads "
Toy sales shouldn't determine cancellations!". - The Villain Must Be Punished: It was particularly satisfying to have Human Sunset give Svengallop a well deserved thrashing in Chapter 68, considering that he practically was always a Karma Houdini in The Mane Attraction.
- Time Skip: From Human Sunset's perspective, several years have passed since she's been freed from the void she was trapped in.
- Twin Switch: While not exactly twins it turns out Pinkie Pie was doing this with her human counterpart so many times that no one could tell the difference between the two. Even Sunset is shocked at the fact the two of them fooled everyone for so long.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Human Sunset was a shy, quiet person before constant bullying at Crystal Prep changed her.
- Victory Is Boring: One of the reasons Sunset wishes to return to Equestria is because she feels the human world has become too boring and ordinary, lacking any sort of challenge for her.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Rainbow Dash gives Sunset one of these in chapter 33 after Sunset accuses Indigo (Dash's pupil) of vandalism and theft, causing Indigo to quit the Wonderbolts. Dash even claims to Sunset that she never changed from her bully days, and makes it clear that she is no longer her friend.
- Rainbow Dash gets an indirect one from Twilight after she hears from Sunset about how she disowned her as a friend after accusing her apprentice of theft. Twilight is upset at Rainbow for abandoning a real friend for a fake one.
- Human Solstice calls out her husband Sunspot for caring more about money than the wellbeing of their daughter. She is so disgusted at his behavior that she gets a divorce from him.
- Moondancer calls out both Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine for acting rude towards Sunset for her rude behavior in the past. Moondancer points out she and Twilight both acted no differently when they tried to befriend her long ago.
- Rainbow Dash gets this once again in chapter 61. All her friends chew her out not just for disowning Sunset but all the problems she caused them throughout their lives.
