Follow TV Tropes

Following

Fanfic / Long Road to Friendship

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/long_road_to_friendship_v2png_2_7.png
Don't let that face fool you. She'll be kicking and screaming the entire time.

"You mean I have to be good all the time?"
Sunset Shimmer

Long Road to Friendship is a My Little Pony: Equestria Girls fanfic, written by The Albinocorn.

Immediately following the events of the first Equestria Girls movie, Sunset Shimmer wants to move on with her life and try to rebuild her shattered social standing at Canterlot High School. However, the Elements of Harmony have placed a magical compulsion on her as penance for trying to use the Element of Magic to conquer the human world. Sunset has to do whatever anyone politely asks of her, and she must always tell the truth when asked a question. To complicate matters, the friends Twilight Sparkle made while in the human world won't leave Sunset alone, and she keeps running into the human world's Twilight, time after time.

Though ostensibly a ship fic between Sunset and Human Twilight, the fic provides a look into Sunset's psyche as she slowly begins to see what her actions have caused, and how she adjusts to the effects that the curse has on her life.

A sequel, Spectacular Seven, began publication in September 2016. The fic was made available for purchase in a hard copy in 2018.


Long Road to Tropeship:

  • Adaptational Badass: Sunset takes out multiple thugs who were planning to rape Human Twilight, by herself, totally unarmed. Sunset also holds off Gilda for a little while, even handling a butterfly knife.
  • After-School Cleaning Duty: Sunset Shimmer gets a lot of this, being hit with months of detention for destroying the school.
  • Almost Kiss:
    • While in the basement of the gym trying to get the power back on, Sunset and Twilight draw closer to each other, almost kissing. They're interrupted by Vice-Principal Luna.
    • At the end of their Thanksgiving dinner, Twilight confesses her feelings for Sunset. They're mere centimeters apart before Sunset reels back, too afraid of admitting her own feelings.
  • Alpha Bitch: Defied. Sunset Shimmer is trying not to be one of these anymore, though her reputation as one still lingers. While she's still aggressive and fairly cynical, she's at least trying to improve.
  • Armor-Piercing Question:
    • Sunset asks Trixie, "Have you ever considered the possibility that, real or not, you're not good at magic?" This gets Trixie so angry, she nearly fries Sunset with a magical blast that covers her father's shop in soot.
    • Sunset also gives one to Rainbow Dash, when Dash calls her out on her years of abusing Fluttershy. Sunset asks, "Where were you when I was pushing her around? When I was knocking papers out of her hand, shoving her into the lockers and taking her lunch?" This question gets Dash so angry that she attacks Sunset.
  • Artistic License – Chess: when Twilight concedes a casual match in a mall, her opponent Sunset Shimmer refuses to let Twilight concede.
  • Asleep in Class: Sunset falls asleep in class a few times after she can't get any sleep at home.
  • Awful Truth:
    • Sunset points out to Rainbow Dash that, during Sunset's bullying days, Dash never once came to Fluttershy's defense. Dash has a brief Heroic BSoD at the thought.
    • Sunset also gets these from a pink pony doll that she named Twilight Sparkle, used to represent the thoughts Sunset would rather not be having.
  • Badass Family: The Lulamoons, as seen in Chapter 33 when they come to Sunset's aid against Gilda and her gang. Artemis uses spells to fend them off, while Selena proves handy with a saber. Trixie's teleportation sometimes backfires on her, but she's working on it, and it's hinted that she catches Sunset with telekinesis after Gilda pushes her off a three-story building framework. This eventually comes to include Sunset herself after Artemis takes her in.
  • Berserk Button: Sunset hates the word "demon," especially being called one.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: After Sunset's friends find out about Lyra's deception, they all immediately try to beat her up. Yes, even Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The Lulamoons save Sunset from what was going to be an otherwise fatal attack by the Griffons. Their magic also saves Sunset from falling to her death after Gilda pushes Sunset off of a building.
  • Big Brother Instinct:
    • Applejack most certainly has it, as Sunset notes to herself when Apple Bloom and the other Canterlot Motley Crew get lost in the Everfree Forest. One moment Applejack is just about ready to strangle Apple Bloom, and the next she's talking calmly to keep Apple Bloom from falling down the cliff she's hanging on to once they find her.
    • Shining Armor also shows a Big Brother Instinct to Twilight, giving Sunset a Death Glare before the two of them study in the library. He gives her another one after Sunset is forced to tell Twilight that she hates her. And, even though he lets Sunset go with Artemis, he does so only on the condition that she patches things up with Twilight. Once Twilight and Sunset start dating, Shining Armor gives Sunset a speech on what he'd do if Sunset hurt Twilight again.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: As sweet and friendly as she appears to be, Lyra uses the rules to try and screw over Sunset. Chapter 40 reveals that Lyra was using an outdated rule, and only invoking a personal vendetta against her.
  • Breakout Character: A meta-example; the author now does episode reviews "co-starring" this story's version of Sunset Shimmer.
  • Broken Tears:
    • Sunset, to Twilight, at Pinkie Pie's sleepover. Sunset confesses that she finally understand what a monster she was to everyone else, and now truly regrets what she did.
    • Sunset sheds a few more after the Humane Five's argument at the pizza parlor, feeling like she was the cause of her friends starting to hate each other.
  • Brutal Honesty: Sunset is forced to be brutally honest to Pinkie Pie, thanks to her curse. Sunset says she finds Pinkie annoying and obnoxious, which hurts Pinkie's feelings. Sunset thinks that "this is why people tell little white lies" when it happens.
  • Butt-Monkey: Played for drama. Events keep happening that Sunset impatiently asks the universe what else it's going to pile on top of her. In addition to having to deal with her curse, she also gets her bike defaced, is told by Lyra that she might get banned from school events, has her science fair project stolen, nearly gets arrested by Shining Armor, and is perpetually broke and alone.
  • Call-Forward: Sunset sees a picture in the Lulamoon household of a girl she doesn't recognize. It's Moondancer, who is Trixie's cousin, due to being the daughter of Artemis' sister Apalla. This is only revealed in Spectacular Seven, the sequel fic.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: In Chapter 32, Sunset discovers that she physically can't tell anyone about the curse, even if she wants to. Her throat closes if she tries to talk about it, and her hand cramps up if she tries to write it down.
  • Cannot Tell a Lie: As part of her curse, Sunset has to always tell the truth when asked a question. She later finds out that she can only resist answering so long before her throat begins to constrict, forcing her to answer.
  • Cassandra Truth: This happens a few times with questions Sunset is asked throughout the fic. Just because Sunset has to tell the truth doesn't mean anyone has to believe her.
  • Catapult Nightmare: This happens to Sunset Shimmer after every one of her nightmares. Sometimes, it happens multiple times a night. As she begins taking levels in kindness, she has them less frequently, but they tend to be more intense.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The picture on the Lulamoons' mantelpiece with a girl in white is brought up in Spectacular Seven.
  • Clothing Damage: The leather jacket Sunset wears gets ripped, torn, and partly eaten by a goat. She eventually throws it away, along with all the crowns she won at the Canterlot High dances, to symbolize her attempt to make a fresh start. Twilight gives her a new one for Christmas.
  • Combat Pragmatist:
    • Sunset's fight with the thugs that harass Human Twilight in Chapter 2. She dodges a knife strike and goes for a Groin Attack while twisting one of the thug's arms.
    • Sunset and Rainbow Dash have to fight each other, and then the Griffons gang. Notably, when Gilda has Sunset in a headlock, Dash clobbers Gilda with a cheap shot to the side of the head.
    • Escalates further in Chapter 33. The Griffons all attack Sunset and Trixie with butterfly knives, and Sunset isn't above taking one of the knives from the gang to defend herself. Gilda fully intends to kill Sunset, and almost does when she shoves Sunset off the highest floor of an abandoned building.
  • Completed Fic: Started in November 2013, completed in January 2016, with a Sequel Hook chapter added in June 2016.
  • Continuity Nod: Fluttershy's line on how "sometimes, we all need to be shown a little kindness" is lifted straight from the second episode of the TV show.
  • Cool Bike: Sunset has one, but it's undergoing repairs when the story starts. She gets it back several chapters in, though it gets defaced with pink paint later on.
  • Crush Blush: Twilight does this. A lot. In fact, making her blush becomes one of Sunset's favorite pastimes.
  • Curse Cut Short: When Rarity asks Sunset's opinion on jewelry.
    Rarity: What do you think, Sunset? Does this make me look good?
    Sunset: I think it makes you look like a wh—
    Rarity: Ooh, is that a ruby necklace?
  • Curse Escape Clause: The Elements of Harmony tell Sunset that the curse will end when she learns to trust people. She manages to invoke the clause at the Winter Ball, bringing her friends back together and uniting the school in having a good time.
  • Cuteness Proximity: In chapter 23, Sunset befriends a cute little puppy named Spot. She eventually devolves into petting and baby talk with Spot, until she's caught by Fluttershy. She talks the Lulamoons into adopting Spot in the final chapter.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash are the most snarky of the Spectacular Seven. Twilight gets a little of this too, after she starts hanging out with the main characters more.
  • Deconstruction Fic: The story doesn't shy away from the consequences of Sunset's transition from the pony world to the human world.
    • Sunset has no family in the human world, no public records, no official identification, and few practical skills. The result is she had to survive by stealing food and mooching off boyfriends, lives in an abandoned factory with nothing to do in her spare time, and has very few material possessions. The Humane Five are surprised when they find out her living situation and see it for themselves. This is later exploited by Trixie in Chapter 29. Trixie threatens to tell the police that Sunset is technically homeless and squatting in an abandoned factory, which would get Sunset arrested and/or sent off to a shelter, the nearest one of which is two towns away.
    • When Shining Armor, who is a police officer, sees that Sunset is homeless and squatting in an abandoned factory, the law dictates that Shining needs to take Sunset to a homeless shelter, or even arrest her after she confesses to falsifying school records. She's only saved from such a fate because Artemis Lulamoon agrees to take her in that same night.
  • Defrosting Ice Queen:
    • Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash, though the latter is an ice queen just to the former.
    • Trixie's attitude toward Sunset begins to soften just a tiny bit in Chapter 36, after the two spend the day looking for a Christmas tree. In the final chapter, Sunset gets a necklace styled as her pony self's cutie mark from Trixie as a Christmas present.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!:
    • Sunset is more than a little put-off by her new friends wanting to buy her things to spruce up the factory where she lives, saying that she "isn't a free-loader." She also preemptively shoots down what Sunset believes would be Rarity's offer to stay with any of them. Sunset finally acquiesces to "small gifts" in Chapter 25, then returns to the factory with armloads full of gifts.
    • The fic also makes this Sunset's Fatal Flaw. The times her friends actually want to help Sunset are all met with hostility, even when accepting would be in Sunset's best interest. She rejects them out of a misplaced sense of pride at first, but after she begins her Character Development, the rejections are done out of guilt. Even the normally cheerful Artemis is incredulous when he finds out Sunset is homeless, but she hadn't mentioned it because she didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her.
  • Driven to Suicide: Subverted. Fluttershy admits that she considered it a few times thanks to Sunset's bullying over the years. When Sunset finds out, she's horrified.
  • Easily Forgiven: Sunset forgives Lyra after finding out that Lyra's threat to ban her from school activities was based on a school rule that's no longer in effect. Sunset figures that since she and Lyra have made each other's lives miserable, they're now even. It doesn't stop Sunset from letting Twilight slap Lyra in the face, though.
  • Endearingly Dorky: Human Twilight, especially when talking to Sunset Shimmer. Sunset even notes that Twilight's incredibly awkward attempts at flirting are even more endearing than if she was any good at it.
  • Evil Feels Good: When Sunset briefly resorts to angrily interrogating anyone she comes across about her stolen science fair project, she reflects later that it felt good to be in that level of power again.
  • Exact Words: In Chapter 31, during Thanksgiving dinner with Twilight's family, Sunset's honest answers to their questions about her background start to raise suspicions. Twilight asks Sunset to "please lie" - and since Twilight said "please," Sunset starts lying. It backfires on her at the end of the chapter, when Twilight asks Sunset what she thinks of her. Sunset has a crush on Twilight, but is still stuck in "lie" mode, so Sunset says she hates Twilight, adding a string of insults that sends Twilight running off in tears, asking Sunset to "please leave me alone". Which Sunset also has to do because Twilight said the magic word.
  • Exhausted Eye Bags: Sunset gets these after being sleep deprived. It gets her out of detention one day after Principal Celestia notices it.
  • Fantastic Racism: Sunset looks down on earth ponies, which is especially notable since there aren't any around. She refers to physical labor as "earth pony work" and tells Twilight that earth ponies are like mundane ponies except "they live longer and have a slightly higher IQ."
  • Fire-Forged Friends: This is what ultimately happens with Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash. The two come to blows in a park, only to get interrupted by Dash's old gang, the Griffons. Sunset and Dash fight them off, at which point Dash isn't interested in fighting Sunset anymore.
  • First-Person Smartass: Sunset. Much of the narration concerns Sunset snarking about what morons everyone else is.
  • Footsie Under the Table: Twilight does this to subtly let Sunset know that she's interested in her. Sunset figures out what Twilight was up to later, but vows to "stomp her heart flat" if Twilight pursues things any further.
  • Geas: The curse placed upon Sunset by the Elements of Harmony. Sunset has to tell the truth when someone asks her a question, except about the curse. And, when someone politely asks (not demands) something from her, especially if they say "please," Sunset has to do it. Sunset later discovers that she can't tell anyone about the curse, even if she wants to, when she attempts to come clean to Rarity, but finds that she is physically incapable of speaking about it.
    • The curse also shows itself to be pretty flexible, too. The part about doing favors extends to Sunset even if the question wasn't directed at her, as she found out in Artemis Lulamoon's magic show. Also, if someone asks Sunset to be somewhere at a certain time, Sunset will start going there against her will as soon as the clock strikes that time if she's not already there.
    • Chapter 31 shows that the part of the curse about doing favors overrides the part about telling the truth when Twilight tells Sunset to "please lie," and Sunset starts compulsively lying.
  • Halloween Cosplay: The "Spectacular Seven" all dress up as characters from The Wizard of Oz for Halloween. Sunset Shimmer, appropriately, is the Tin Man... er, Tin Girl.
  • Head-Turning Beauty: Human Twilight stops and stares, mouth open, at Sunset in her fancy dress when they both arrive at the Winter Ball.
  • Hello Again, Officer: Shining Armor pulls Sunset over for speeding. Later that day, he spots her again when she drops Twilight off at home.
  • Hidden Depths:
    • Human Twilight can play the violin exceptionally well. Sunset uses this to convince her that her new friends don't see her as a "replacement" for Princess Twilight from the pony world. After all, Princess Twilight could never play the violin, so Human Twilight has something that separates them.
    • Sunset is a former student of Celestia, so she's very intelligent, both in book smarts and in strategic analysis and planning. This not only helps at the science fair when she had only a few days to make up a project, but also with planning the Winter Ball while also dealing with final exams.
    • As catty and cruel as she is, Trixie nonetheless loves her parents very much. Just the thought of getting their disapproval is enough to give Trixie pause. Also, Trixie is grateful when Sunset saves Trixie's life at the apparent cost of her own, as much as Trixie hates to admit it.
  • Humans Are Bastards: Sunset only really has any trouble in History class, which she describes as trying to memorize dates, also quipping that "humans sure do like killing each other."
  • Humiliation Conga: Chapter 30, for several characters. Trixie causes a small EMP that destroys lots of projects, which causes her to lose. Dexter and Quick Wit have their chess-playing robot beaten easily by Twilight. Sunset all but admits she's falling for Twilight, and gets scapegoated with the Winter Ball's preparations by Lyra.
  • Hypocritical Humor: Applejack's problem with wearing a frilly dress is quite clearly mean to be this. Because wearing a frilly skirt is so much better than a frilly dress.
  • I Am a Monster: Sunset, twice. Once after finding out her bullying nearly drove Fluttershy to suicide, and once at Pinkie Pie's Halloween party, in a tearful confession to Twilight after her curse starts getting to her.
  • I Hate Past Me: Sunset comes to greatly despise the side of her that made her do the things she did in Equestria Girls. Her frustrations build up to a head in Chapter 35, where she starts screaming at her past self.
    Sunset: Why? Why'd you have to be such a spoiled, little brat! Look what you’ve done! I hate you!
  • Incoming Ham: Artemis Lulamoon always seems to make an entrance in an over-the-top fashion. He even inserts a flowery description of himself when he's woken up by a phone call in the wee hours of the morning.
  • Insistent Terminology: At Halloween, Sunset isn't the Tin Man, she's the Tin Girl.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sunset, after a good dose of Character Development. She's noticeably upset when her curse causes her to be brutally honest with Pinkie Pie, with Sunset saying that she finds Pinkie annoying. Past Chapter 20, Sunset has gotten much more polite and courteous without realizing it, though she's still pretty snarky to everyone.
  • Kill It with Fire: Sunset repeatedly threatens to do this to a pink pony doll who vocalizes thoughts Sunset would rather not be having.
  • Large Ham: The Supreme and Mystical Artemis Lulamoon. Trixie had to learn it from someone. He likes to use his own last name as the magic word to trigger his spells.
  • Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane:
    • Artemis Lulamoon's magic tricks. He appears out of nowhere in a grocery store, miraculously fixes Sunset's broken nose, and Trixie is able to cause a small explosion that covers their store in ash. Sunset initially chalks the two up as particularly impressive stage magicians, but later chapters all but say outright that it's actual magic. Chapter 33 makes it explicit, with telekinesis and teleportation displayed, and Artemis confirming actual magic exists in the human world.
    • Several times, the "raging she-demon" form of Sunset Shimmer from the Fall Formal comes up. During the Winter Ball, Sunset even sees the demon talking to her from the shadows while she's alone. It's left ambiguous if this is part of the curse, Sunset's gradually-slipping sanity, or something else.
  • Moment Killer: Sunset and Twilight are sitting very close together on Twilight's bed, with Twilight about to confess... until Cadence walks in to tell them dinner is ready. Even Cadence is disappointed in herself.
  • My God, What Have I Done?:
    • Sunset's reaction to finding out she nearly drove Fluttershy to suicide shocks and horrifies her.
    • She has another one of these after Thanksgiving dinner. Because she wouldn't trust Twilight with information about the curse, she feels like she lost Twilight for good.
  • New Transfer Student: Human Twilight transfers to CHS a few chapters into the story. She's immediately mistaken for Princess Twilight, and thinks all the stories about a pony world are just hazing.
  • Non-Residential Residence: Sunset Shimmer lives in an abandoned factory.
  • Oblivious to Love: Sunset is entirely unaware of Twilight's feelings for her. She eventually starts to suspect in Chapter 24, but brushes the idea off as silly. By the end of the story, they are dating.
  • Oh, Crap!: The end of Chapter 2, when Sunset realizes what the Elements of Harmony meant when they cursed her.
  • Oh, My Gods!: Sunset still swears by Celestia... in a world where Celestia is a principal.
    Sunset: Thank Celestia!
    Twilight: That's still weird to me.
  • Pointy-Haired Boss: Trixie. The first thing she does when Artemis gives her control of his magic shop is to try and fire Sunset. Artemis shoots her down immediately.
  • Precision F-Strike: When Sunset tells Rainbow Dash that she's not going to hurt Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash snaps back with "Bullshit!"
  • Precocious Crush: Twilight develops one on Sunset Shimmer. Sunset only starts to figure it out in Chapter 24 after Twilight tries playing footsie with her under the table.
  • Rapid-Fire "No!": Trixie in Chapter 36, when she finds out Sunset is living with the Lulamoons. Sunset remarks, in her usual First-Person Smartass tone, that Trixie took it well.
  • Rage Breaking Point: Chapters 28 and 29 are not kind to Sunset, to say the least. Her bike is painted bright pink, and she has to spend all night wiping it off, though some of the damage is permanent. And then, it goes From Bad to Worse when the science fair project Sunset and Twilight were working on is stolen. It's enough to make Sunset briefly revert to her Alpha Bitch personality, angrily interrogating everyone she comes across.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure:
    • Principal Celestia ensures Sunset Shimmer keeps to the school's rules and does her time for the events of Equestria Girls. However, Celestia is more than willing to overlook one or two transgressions if selfless intentions are involved from Sunset. Celestia doesn't increase Sunset's detention after she found out that Sunset walked Twilight home, and Sunset having Exhausted Eye Bags one day is enough to cue in Celestia that Sunset didn't get enough sleep.
    • Twilight's brother Shining Armor is a cop, and dedicated to the law. However, despite Sunset's speeding by about 20mph over the limit, he lets her go with a warning because she saved Twilight's life. Later, after he finds out that Sunset is homeless and using forged documents to attend school, Shining Armor knows he should either arrest her or send her to a shelter. Instead, he goes with his gut feeling and lets Artemis take her home.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Sunset gives one to Trixie after Trixie threatens to turn Sunset into the police for being homeless. Sunset counters that it would make her and Trixie no different, and that Trixie's parents would no doubt be ashamed after finding out Trixie might do something so heartless.
  • Recurring Dreams: Sunset keeps having nightmares, mostly involving her demon form from Equestria Girls and the zombified students. She starts having them so often that she loses sleep.
  • Redemption Quest: Invoked. The Elements of Harmony place Sunset on one against her will.
  • Rescue Romance: Sunset saves Human Twilight from two thugs who were going to rob and/or rape her. This starts Twilight's attraction to Sunset.
  • Right Place, Right Time, Wrong Reason: Sunset just happens to be around when the two would-be-rapists are chasing after Twilight, and arrives just in time to stop them... but only because her geas forced her to obey Twilight's shouts for help.
  • Rules Lawyer: Lyra, president of the student council. After Sunset is tasked with putting on the Winter Ball, Lyra says that if it doesn't make enough money, Sunset will be banned from all other school events. Turns out Lyra was lying, since that rule was revoked over ten years ago, and Lyra just did it out of a personal vendetta against Sunset.
  • Sanity Slippage: Sunset has trouble sleeping due to nightmares, and her geas makes her very irritable. After she wins a pink unicorn at a fair and names it "Twilight Sparkle", Sunset begins to talk to the doll as if it were Princess Twilight from Equestria. After a while, the narrative drops the idea of Sunset voicing her responses and narrates entire conversations between the doll and Sunset. She also has a conversation with a reflection of herself in the mirror in Chapter 32.
  • Searching the Stalls: Sunset finds Human Twilight crying in the bathroom after a particularly rough day, thinking that the rest of the Mane Six are only friends with Princess Twilight, not her.
  • Second Act Break Up: After Thanksgiving dinner with the Sparkles, Sunset is forced by the curse to say she hates Twilight because Twilight had asked Sunset to "please lie" earlier that same evening. It takes some manipulation with the curse's rules before Sunset can clear things up in the third act.
  • Sequel Hook: The final chapter, which acts as The Stinger since the previous chapter resolved the conflict. Moondancer returns to Canterlot after a trip to Paris, intent on resuming a past relationship with Twilight, clearly in love with her.
  • Shipper on Deck: Cadance ships Twilight with Sunset after Twilight confesses that she's becoming attracted. Justified, as Cadance is a love advice radio talk show host.
  • Shout-Out:
  • Sitcom Archnemesis: Trixie. Though she's not really an outright villain, she's the main source of stress and trouble in Sunset's life as her superior at her job. She moves into proper "villain" territory in Chapter 29, where she blackmails Sunset about her living conditions, threatening to go to the police and turn her in to child services, and also revealing she stole her science fair project with Twilight. However, Chapter 33 then sees them get over their differences and start to reconcile.
  • Smart People Play Chess: Human Twilight and Sunset play a particularly intense game of it during their first trip to the mall, where Twilight concedes to Sunset. They have another one when they hang out with the Humane Five and Flash Sentry, though Sunset grumbles that Flash Sentry caused her to lose after hovering over Twilight's shoulder. They also play one last game of it in the final chapter, where Twilight wins.
    • Becomes a Chekhov's Skill in Chapter 30 when Twilight embarrasses Dexter and Quick Wit by beating a chess-playing robot.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Flash Sentry, to Twilight. While Twilight is polite and courteous to Flash, it's clear that she's not interested in him. And besides that, Flash is crushing more for Equestria's Twilight.
  • Sweet Dreams Fuel: Invoked by Sunset, who has Twilight ask her to "please go to sleep and dream of something nice." It works. She dreams of defeating the demon version of herself, with Sunset as the Tin Girl and the demon as the Wicked Witch of the West. It also gives Sunset the best night of sleep she's had in weeks.
  • Tears of Joy:
    • Sunset has to fight a few of these back after the Lulamoons let her take a hot shower. She'd been so used to cold showers in her factory, it's a tear-worthy experience for Sunset.
    • She sheds some more at the Winter Ball when her friends get back together. She tries (and fails) to mask them with her usual demeanor.
  • To Be Lawful or Good: Shining Armor is conflicted about what to do with Sunset when he finds out that not only did she forge documents to get into Canterlot High, but that she's homeless. He ultimately chooses to be "good" by letting Sunset go with Artemis instead of arresting her or sending her to a shelter, because he wants to help her, and also because Shining has no idea what the protocol is for Sunset's situation.
  • Tsundere: Sunset is a classic Type A; outwardly cruel and mean-spirited, inwardly more mature and kind. Trixie shows signs of being a type A as well, though it takes a lot of digging for anyone to see the pleasant side of her.
  • Undead Tax Exemption: Averted. Sunset doesn't have any form of valid ID, and is stuck living in an abandoned factory as a result. According to a Fourth-Wall Mail Slot, Sunset got into CHS by faking her records and transcripts on some of the local library's computers.
  • Why Can't I Hate You?: Discussed. Sunset wants to hate Human Twilight after meeting her, but finds it to be a "hollow" hatred. Sunset rationalizes that it's Princess Twilight she hates, not Human Twilight, because the latter never personally did anything to her.

Top