A Tale of Two Suns, Book 1: The Two Suns Cover Picture
After the Friendship Games, life at CHS has settled down. No more magical villains to face, or impending disasters. Sunset and the others can go back to living as normal teenage girls. Or as close to normal as a group of magically empowered girls and a former unicorn from another universe can anyway.
But when Sunset gets into trouble, someone she never expected comes to help her, and her life will never be the same ever again.
A Tale of Two Suns, Book 1: The Two Suns
is a My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic by Lupin.
Currently completed with a sequel, A Tale of Two Suns, Book 2: Mysteries Across the Mirror.
Side Stor(ies): Swimming Lessons, The Great Tabloid Disaster.
Tropes for A Tale of Two Suns, Book 1 Are:
- Accentuate the Negative: Circinus tries to exaggerate the troubles of Sunset's life to make a case for her to be taken out of Canterlot High.
- Adaptational Karma: While Cinch was apparently fired from her job as principal in canon, in the fic, she remains in her position as Crystal Prep principal. That said the fic shows her going out of favour with the Crystal Prep students for her actions in the Friendship Games and Vice Principal Cadence's rising popularity seemingly setting up the loss of her job in this universe. Her motivation for running Sunset's life is to get back at the Maine Seven for humiliating her at the games and potentially losing her job.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Princess Celestia's alter ego in the human world, Sunny Skies, deliberately plays up this role as Sunset's overly doting mother.
- Animal Motifs: Sunset quickly compares Circinus to a scorpion after seeing her intimidation tactics in motion comparing her calculating blows like a pair of pincers waiting to bait her prey before delivering the killing blow.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: Circinus and Cinch are the main antagonists, both conspiring to sabotage Sunset's life.
- Cool Big Sis: Gleaming Pearl Luxury wants to be this, but she sees Sunset as more like a doll she can play with, not as a person to love and care for.
- Deconstruction Fic: The fic shows what could happen if a public official were to inquire about Sunset's lack of real status in the human world.
- Department of Child Disservices: Circinus is trying to take Sunset away from her happy life at Canterlot High and dump her with a wealthy, but corrupt, family.
- Evil Is Petty: Circinus and Cinch are plotting to destroy Sunset's life, even going so far as to sabotage Twilight's mom, just because the Rainbooms challenged the latter's iron-fisted rule over Crystal Prep.
- Faux Affably Evil: Circinus acts civil, but it barely masks her snobbishness and ruthlessness.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Princess Luna realises that Celestia holds some jealousy to Twilight after she was able to help Sunset with her problems and that the two have been keeping in regular contact since. She warns Celestia about the dangers of holding in that kind of resentment but Celestia brushes it off. Luna turns out to be right when Celestia snaps at Twilight after she comes through the portal to see Sunset again.
- Mama Bear: After learning about Sunset's dilemma, Princess Celestia comes through the mirror to help Sunset keep her life at Canterlot High.
- Also: When Princess Celestia saw Child Sunset being threatened by a giant black widow, she went full fiery sun goddess.
- Meaningful Name: Mrs. Circinus. Her first name is Astrolabe, which is a tool used by sailors to navigate by the stars.
Word of God, both parts of her name are meant to reflect her calling, which is guiding children to new homes (it just so happens her moral compass is broken). Her last name is a reference to the compass constellation. But, also Word of God, the author did not realize that there are two compass constellations, Pyxis (the mariner's compass), and Circinus (the geometric compass), and accidentally used the latter instead of the former (the former being the one to fit into the navigation theme). - My Greatest Failure: The Anon-a-Miss incident is this for the rest of the humane six (with the exception of Sci-Twi who wasn't there at the time) and the CMC especially once Circinus starts using it as the silver bullet for removing Sunset from Canterlot High.
- Parental Substitute: After Sunset was left orphaned as a filly Celestia served as her mother figure after taking her on as her student before their relationship fell apart. After finding out about Sunset's troubles in the human world she creates a human vessel for her mind to inhabit so she can serve this role again.
- Plagued by Nightmares: Sunset has one in the first chapter, imagining Celestia turning her to stone as punishment for her misdeeds. Later chapters reveal that she has been constantly suffering nightmares about the different kinds of punishments Celestia would subject her to if she ever returned back to Equestria. Thankfully for Sunset, Celestia isn't planning that at all.
- Race Against the Clock: Sunset has a week to find a family that will take her in, or she'll be shipped off to a family in another state.
- Spoiled Brat: Gleaming Pearl is this too a T.
- Undead Tax Exemption: A major plot point is Sunset's lack of status or documentation. She was forced to live in a rundown apartment, and has been forced to dodge Child Services to avoid being taken away. Princess Celestia and Discord work together to create documentation for herself and Sunset.
- Villain Has a Point: Circinus maybe a corrupt official who has it in for Sunset, but even the other Rainbooms admit that she isn't wrong to point out Sunset's life at Canterlot High has been less then perfect, and they haven't been the best of friends.
Tropes for A Tale of Two Suns, Book 2: Mysteries Across the Mirror Are:
- Frame-Up: Rarity's father was framed for stealing steroids.
Tropes for Swimming Lessons Are:
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong?: Celestia, who has never taught anyone to swim before in her life, invokes this when she doesn't think teaching a little filly to swim will be very hard. She is quickly proven wrong.
Tropes for The Great Tabloid Disaster Are:
- Mama Bear: When the tabloid situation causes Sunset to get into a fight at school, Celestia gets so angry she orders S.M.I.L.E. agents to burglarize the offices of The Canterlot Whisperer to make it stop, a clearly criminal act.
- In addition, when Tattle Tale threatens to turn his attention to writing about Sunset instead, Celestia's initial reaction has her on the cusp of going Daybreaker.
