Severed Ties
is a My Little Pony: Equestria Girls fanfic by Carol Heart.
After seeking refuge in Equestria during the Anon-A-Miss fiasco, Sunset Shimmer is stranded in Equestria. Convinced that she's just not cut out for friendship, Sunset throws herself back into her studies. Unfortunately for her, all the magic around CHS has attracted the attention of a certain spectacled scientist. When her device accidentally pulls the mysterious energy from the statue in front of the school, she is shocked when an amber unicorn was pulled out with it. With the portal not working, the two must work together to gather the energy needed to send Sunset home from the only magical source left to tap: Sunset's former friends, all while dealing with the overbearing principal of Crystal Prep as the Friendship Games approach.
This work provides examples of the following trope:
- Adaptational Expansion: It is shown that Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo's human counterparts had met during the time that the former had broken off her friendships with the Rainbooms thanks to Sunset sabotaging their friendship, with Rainbow Dash signing up for a Big Sister program where she took Scootaloo under her wing.
- Adaptational Karma: After getting off scot-free for her actions in Friendship Games in canon, Cinch is given more punishment here, getting sucked into Equestria after her attempt to use Sunset's magic to power a new magical device goes awry, facing Discord driving her to insanity, and being arrested once word on her heinous actions is spread to the school board and police (thanks to Sunset sending evidence and paperwork of this to everyone).
- Came Back Wrong: Due to Sci-Twi's magic device causing the portal to malfunction, Sunset ends up sucked into the portal to Earth as a unicorn rather than her human form.
- Defrosting Ice Queen:
- While initially more cold hearted and aloof (albeit not reaching Alpha Bitch levels from pre-Heel–Face Turn) due to still feeling bitter about the Anon-A-Miss incident, Sunset grows to reaccept friendship in her life as she spends more time with Sci-Twi and Dog Spike throughout the story. This is fully cemented by chapter 32 when reading the apologies that the school (including the Rainbooms and the principals) wrote in her journal (which had been unable to send messages to Equestria due to the portal malfunctioning).
- Gilda also has this during the time that Sunset is in Equestria, accepting her punishment for attacking Sunset and the Rainbooms helping her improve her behavior by signing her up for a Big Sister program where she meets human Gabby.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: After everything they go through in this story, Sci-Twi and Sunset (who manages to come out as a human this time due to her restored friendships reconnecting the two worlds and allowing Princess Twilight to properly fix the mirror portal influencing the portal to reopen) ultimately end up reuniting at the end and joining (or rejoining in Sunset's case) the Rainbooms
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sunset drains her entire life force to seal Cinch's malfunctioning portal. Thankfully she survives due to Sci-Twi and the Rainbooms' friendships with her allowing a portal to Equestria to open to send her back for Princess Twilight to get her to a hospital to restore her energy.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Pretty much everyone in Canterlot High has this reaction after finding out Sunset wasn't Anon-A-Miss and that she had escaped back to Equestria.
- Ship Tease: Sunset and Sci-Twi get this by the end of the story.
- Squee: Gilda and Fluttershy have this when seeing Sunset in her tiny unicorn form.
