Sunset Shimmer/Synopsis

The story of Sunset Shimmer from My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.
== Background ==
Most of Sunset's origins are unknown (family, home, etc). What is known is that she was a unicorn mare with an exceptional gift for magic, and was determined to prove her worth. Noticing her talent, Princess Celestia took her on as her personal student (likely with the intent for her to form a team to wield the Elements of Harmony and redeem her sister, Nightmare Moon). However, as time went on, Sunset became impatient with obtaining her goal, thus making her selfish, cruel and dishonest. Even though Celestia attempted to help her understand the importance of goodness, Sunset decided to forsake the princess as her teacher to explore her own dark path.
At some point, she learned about a mirror that led into another dimension, where instead of magical creatures, the world was dominated by regular humans. After leaving Celestia, she jumped through the mirror and was transported into the alternate world; upon which, she took the form a human teenage girl. She then enrolled at Canterlot High and quickly became its top student, but was also a bully who made all the other students fear her, and made two young boys Snips and Snails her personal henchmen. She had won every pageant where she wore a fake princess crown that apparently gave her a feeling of power. When one girl attempted to challenge her for the crown, she had Snips and Snails ruin her reputation as an example to any who would cross her. To further install her rule over the school, she drove apart the student body into separate groups. She even broke up the friendship between that world's Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash by causing several incidents and framing each-other for them.
After a few years in the human realm, she somehow learns about Princess Celestia's new student, Twilight Sparkle, who had managed to become a princess with the help of her friends as well as the Elements of Harmony. Overcome with jealousy and desiring that power for herself, Sunset plotted to take Twilight's crown, the Element of Magic, and bring it back to the human world, believing that the dimensional difference would allow her to usurp its power for herself, allowing her to conquer the human world and then Equestria.
====Comics====
Sunset's backstory is explored deeper in the comics. Here, it is shown she had a very troubled and apprehensive relationship with her mentor Princess Celestia, which explains her descent into evil (though she was already extremely cynical, arrogant, traitorous, self-centered, tricky, and antisocial, thus her mentor's short patience with her). Sunset had previously appeared in the form of a toy and as an NPC in the MLP Gameloft game. In both versions, she was merely a neutral character and not a truly evil one. Sunset's desire was to gain princess hood and have everyone in Equestria recognize her. However, she felt Celestia's tutelage was not getting her anywhere fast enough, showing her impatience with her. During the night, she took it upon herself to do research on the crystal mirror Celestia had shown her some time ago. Just as she found information about the mirror, Celestia and two royal guards arrived on the scene. At first, Celestia tried to console Sunset, but Sunset retaliated by demanding to be crowned a princess. It was then Celestia saw that Sunset lacked all the qualities needed to be a true princess, and deemed the young unicorn unworthy of such a status. Celestia then expelled Sunset from the school, banished her from the castle, and had the guards escort Sunset out. Sunset told her former mentor that this would be the greatest mistake ever made, but of course, it was only one of many. When the chance came, Sunset took the guards by surprise and jumped through the mirror, emerging as a teenage girl on the other side.
==My Little Pony Equestria Girls ==
In the first Equestria Girls movie, Sunset Shimmer takes on the role as the main antagonist. She steals Twilight Sparkle's element of magic crown and during a tussle with Twilight, the crown is thrown into the Crystal Mirror that acts as a portal to another world. She then follows the crown shortly after.
Princess Celestia reveals that Sunset was a former student of hers who began her studies not long before Twilight did. However, when she didn't get what she desired as quickly as she wanted, she turned cruel and dishonest, eventually abandoning her studies to pursue her own path. In this other world, Sunset has been living as a human and student at Canterlot High School for some time. She discovers that Fluttershy found the crown and turned it over to Principal Celestia, much to Sunset's annoyance.
After learning that Twilight will be competing against her for the title of Princess of the Fall Formal, Sunset employs various ways to hinder and humiliate Twilight. She has Snips and Snails record embarrassing videos of Twilight struggling to get used to the human world and releases the videos online, and she doctors photos to frame Twilight for ruining the dance decorations. But Twilight's friends help to counter these ploys by improving Twilight's reputation, and Flash Sentry, Sunset Shimmer's ex-boyfriend, helps prove Twilight's innocence.
At the Fall Formal, when Twilight is named princess and given the crown, Sunset has Snips and Snails kidnap Spike and threatens to destroy the portal to Equestria unless Twilight gives her the crown. Twilight refuses to give the crown up, stating that her being stuck in the human world would be worth stopping Sunset. As Twilight's friends commend her bravery and sacrifice, Sunset snaps and attacks her. 
Despite Twilight and her friends' efforts, Sunset succeeds in getting the crown and puts it on, and a dark magic aura transforms her into a demon. With her newfound powers, Sunset transforms Snips and Snails into similar-looking minions and brainwashes the other students at the school. She reveals that she never intended to destroy the portal and plans to invade and conquer Equestria with her army of teenagers.
Twilight is able to evoke the powers of the Elements of Harmony when her friends move to protect her from Sunset Shimmer's attack. Temporarily given pony-like characteristics, they use the magic of friendship to defeat Sunset Shimmer and return Snips, Snails, and the rest of the students to normal.
As everyone recovers, a beaten and repentant Sunset is reduced to tears and apologizes to everyone she's hurt. She admits to not knowing anything about friendship, to which Twilight says her friends can teach her. Sunset, Snips, and Snails are later tasked by Vice Principal Luna with rebuilding the part of the school they had destroyed during their attack.
==Rainbow Rocks==
Sunset Shimmer re-appears as one of the two deuteragonists, reformed from her villainous ways in the first film. With the exception of the Rainbooms, the rest of Canterlot High bears resentment toward her and she even resents herself for the actions she'd taken as what she refers to as a "raging she-demon". She even admits to herself and her friends that she only dated Flash Sentry to make herself more popular.
When Sunset gives the Dazzlings a tour of the school, she gets a bad vibe from them when Adagio Dazzle gets defensive about her pendant. Her suspicions are later confirmed when the Dazzlings mesmerize the students and faculty with their singing. Using a magical book with her cutie mark on the cover, Sunset sends an SOS to Twilight Sparkle in Equestria. During Twilight's role as the Rainbooms' lead singer, Sunset acts in a supportive role and keeps an eye on the competition, especially the Dazzlings during the Battle of the Bands.
When the Rainbooms lash out at each other during the final round of the Battle of the Bands, Sunset realizes the Dazzlings' true intentions and is able to stop the arguing. She even accepts partial blame due to her lack of knowledge about friendship. When the Dazzlings overpower the Rainbooms during the film's climax, Sunset Shimmer steps up and sings on the band's behalf. 
Her help not only gives the Rainbooms the strength needed to defeat the Dazzlings, but she also undergoes a half-pony transformation like her friends. Afterward, Sunset joins the band as a singer and guitarist, and she uses her old journal that she communicated with Princess Celestia through to write her friendship reports to Princess Twilight Sparkle.
During the credits, Sunset is seen having now been accepted by the rest of the school, as the Cutie Mark Crusaders walk happily with her and Bulk Biceps helps her get Angel Bunny down from where he is stuck.
Sunset Shimmer is featured in the songs Welcome to the Show and Shine Like Rainbows during the film.
==My Past is Not Today==
Sunset Shimmer is the central focus of the musical short "My Past is Not Today", having solo vocals during the titular song. In the song, Sunset reflects on her past to show what lessons are learned. She explains how misguided her goals were during the first film and decides to let go of the past. The Phoenix appearance at the end shows how she is being reborn.
==Friendship Through The Ages ==
Sunset appears throughout the song "Friendship Through The Ages", being led each of the Rainbooms one by one during the song. Fluttershy takes Sunset through a hilly field where Sunset blows the seeds off a dandelion. Rarity then appears in her Sgt. Pepper-esque outfit from Rainbow Rocks in a psychedelic background, as Sunset sprouts from a flower. Rainbow Dash then takes over with a metal-style verse as Sunset crowd surfs. Applejack then sings a country-style verse on a farm while Sunset rides a horse and line-dances with her. Pinkie Pie, Sunset's best friend, then sings a techno-pop style verse as Sunset vectors onto a grid. All of the Rainbooms sing two more choruses, joined by Sunset. At the very end of the song, Sunset joins the rest of the Rainbooms in a group hug.
== Friendship Games==
Sunset appears as the main protagonist, competing on the Wondercolts' team in the Friendship Games' motocross event. She is tasked with keeping magic out of the event, but she gets worried that she might fail at understanding how magic works in the human world and that she doesn't have Princess Twilight to help her with her task.
When human Twilight's device starts gathering magic from the main characters and she releases it under pressure from Principal Cinch, she becomes overwhelmed and corrupted by the power. Sunset uses the device to harness the magic of friendship from her friends to stop Twilight's rampage. In the end, Sunset realizes that she is fully capable of solving her own problems and that she can't always count on someone else to do it for her.
==Legend Of Everfree==
thumb|Sunset singing Embrace the Magic.
Sunset Shimmer appears as the deuteragonist, serving as moral support for human Twilight. At Camp Everfree, Sunset is paired up with Twilight in the Sapphire Tent. While at the camp, Sunset's magic undergoes a dramatic change, and she develops the ability to sense others' thoughts, memories, and feelings through physical touch.
Throughout the film, Sunset helps Twilight come to grips with the dark magic of Midnight Sparkle inside her, and she guides all of her friends in embracing their new magical abilities. She also helps Flash Sentry get over Princess Twilight, and they start over as friends after their bitter breakup.
When Sunset discovers strange goings-on behind the scenes at Camp Everfree, she initially suspects camp co-director and Twilight's crush Timber Spruce. However, she later discovers it to be Timber's sister Gloriosa Daisy. By helping Twilight overcome her fear of Midnight Sparkle, Sunset proves integral in defeating Gloriosa when she is consumed by Equestrian magic. She and her fellow Rainbooms also take part in saving Camp Everfree from closing down with a Crystal Ball fundraiser. After the ball, Sunset ask where the magic from the cave come from.
==Equestria Girls: Dance Magic==
Sunset Shimmer helps her friends raise money to renovate Camp Everfree. She also takes part in the Dance Magic music video near the end of the special, but she accidentally tears Rainbow Dash's jacket during rehearsal.
==Equestria Girls: Movie Magic==
Sunset accompanies her friends to the set of the Daring Do movie, expressing an interest in seeing the volcano movie sets. She is also briefly mistaken for an actress in the Power Ponies movie, cast as the Mane-iac. In the end, she helps expose Juniper Montage's thievery and deception, and she is cast as an extra in the Daring Do film.
== Equestria Girls: Mirror Magic==
Sunset expresses considerable worry about the next magic-related problem that she and her friends will have to face. During a brief visit back to Equestria to get a replacement magic journal, she befriends Starlight Glimmer and brings her back with her to the human world. With Starlight's advice, Sunset learns to stop worrying too much about the future and instead live in the moment.
Sunset also contends with a revenge-hungry Juniper Montage when she traps her and her friends in limbo with an enchanted mirror. After Starlight convinces Juniper to set them free, Sunset and the rest of her friends forgive and accept Juniper as a new friend. Sunset, as well as Twilight and Starlight, is especially forgiving of Juniper, having used magic to enslave a whole school in the first film.
==Equestria Girls: Summertime Shorts==
Sunset and Twilight are the focus of the short Monday Blues, which also reveals Sunset's house. In the short Pet Project, Sunset feels left out when all of her friends have a photo shoot for their pets, so she adopts a pet leopard gecko and names him Ray. In The Art of Friendship, she helps Pinkie find inspiration on what to paint.
In Epic Fails, Sunset thinks back to her most embarrassing moment of chewing on a plant while trying to warn Rarity about a piece of lettuce stuck in her teeth. In Good Vibes, Sunset is revealed to work at a sushi restaurant in the Canterlot Mall. Rainbow Dash gives her a new pair of sneakers after she breaks her sandal strap, and she later offers some lunch to a depressed Flash Sentry.
==Better Together/Choose Your Own Ending==
Sunset Shimmer is the main focus In A Fine Line, waiting in line for the new video game Tirek's Revenge, and in Display of Affection, where she is revealed to be a street artist named Flanksy and helps Rarity with her window display. She is also a main focus in the beach shorts X Marks the Spot, where she follows a treasure map to a sushi truck, and Unsolved Selfie Mysteries, where she investigates a mysterious black splotch in the background of a selfie. In Queen of Clubs, she appears as a member of the CHS fencing club. In Overpowered, her geode powers become supercharged, causing her to uncontrollably read other peoples' thoughts without touching them. She also has supporting or minor roles in The Finals Countdown, Super Squad Goals, Road Trippin, The Last Day of School, Five to Nine, and So Much More to Me.
In the second season, Sunset is a main focus in Game Stream, in which she plays a video game with Fluttershy on her gaming channel that Fluttershy easily wins. She is also the main focus in How to Backstage, where she gets a backstage pass to a Starswirled Music Festival and films a tour of the various rooms. In Let It Rain, she performs the titular song on the festival stage during a rainstorm. She makes supporting or minor appearances in Schedule Swap, Twilight Under the Stars, FOMO, I'm on a Yacht, Festival Looks, Festival Filters, and Five Lines You Need to Stand In.
Throughout the Choose Your Own Ending series, Sunset serves as director for the Canterlot High School play. She is the main focus in Driving Miss Shimmer, in which she retakes her driving test, and in All the World's Off Stage, in which she solicits help moving a heavy stage backdrop for the play. She is a possible ending in Text Support and Opening Night. She also makes supporting or minor appearances in the Twilight Sparkle ending of Best Trends Forever, Fluttershy's Butterflies, Stressed in Show, Rarity Investigates: The Case of the Bedazzled Boot, Constructive Criticism, and Happily Ever After Party.
In the second season, Sunset is the main focus in Wake-Up! and a possible ending in The Last Drop and Costume Conundrum.
==Equestria Girls: Forgotten Friendship==
Sunset serves as the main protagonist and the president of the CHS yearbook committee. When everyone's good memories of her are mysteriously erased, she turns to Princess Twilight for help, reconciling with Princess Celestia in the process. They identify the cause of everyone's memory loss as a magic artifact called the Memory Stone, and Sunset teams up with Trixie to track it down. They discover the culprit to be Wallflower Blush, a shy and constantly unnoticed student who resents how popular Sunset has become despite her bullying past. During the confrontation with Wallflower Sunset tried to reason with her but Wallflower didn't want to listen and after yelling at her she tried to take Sunset's friends memories of high school using the Memory Stone, but Sunset jumped in front of the blast and sacrificed her own. After Sunset loses her memories to save her friends' memories, they help her destroy the Memory Stone and undo its effects. Sunset and her friends later win the "Best Friends" yearbook superlative.
==Equestria Girls: Rollercoaster of Friendship ==
Sunset, who is one of the five tritagonists, and her friends visit the amusement park Equestria Land. She and Twilight spend some time at the ring toss booth (run by the Flim-Flam Brothers). Despite acknowledging that the game is rigged, Sunset repeatedly attempts to win, even refusing a free prize out of principal. Later, she and most of her friends are sent into a small room by Vignette Valencia's phone. They initially believe they are inside the phone, leaving Sunset incensed when they find out otherwise. After escaping, they work together to defeat Vignette and play a song for the parade.
== Equestria Girls: Spring Breakdown==
In the special Spring Breakdown, Sunset, serving as one of the two deuteragonists, goes on a sea cruise with her friends for spring break, but she is forced to deal with Rainbow Dash's obsessive quest to find Equestrian magic. When Rainbow goes missing, Sunset heads out on a lifeboat with Twilight to find her. After they find her stuck in quicksand on a desert island, the three discover a portal to Equestria, where they all turn into ponies. With the help of Princess Twilight, Sunset and her friends borrow the Staff of Sacanas to quell a magic lightning storm created from the Storm King's magic. When the cruise ship sinks, Sunset and her friends uses their powers to evacuate the passengers to the island, and Sunset brings everyone through the portal to return home.
==Equestria Girls: Sunset's Backstage Pass==
Sunset serves as one of the two main protagonists, alongside Pinkie Pie, of the special, in which she and her best friend, Pinkie Pie, are excited to see their favorite band PostCrush at the Starswirled Music Festival. After Pinkie's antics ruin her chance to see PostCrush, Sunset gets trapped in a time loop as a result of Equestrian magic, causing her to relive the first day of the festival over and over. With the help of Princess Twilight, Sunset traces the cause of the time loop to an artifact called the Time Twirler, which Kiwi Lollipop and Supernova Zap of PostCrush use to repeat the day until their concert is perfect. Sunset and Pinkie ultimately destroy the Time Twirler and succeed in breaking the time loop.
==Equestria Girls: Holidays Unwrapped ==
In "Blizzard or Bust", Sunset and her friends attempt to fool Principal Celestia into declaring a snow day after they are too tired to take a test. In "Saving Pinkie's Pie", she takes part in a snowball fight to help Pinkie get her souffle to Rarity. In "Winter Break-In", she leaves her storage space key in her locker at school, and she suggests an elaborate heist to retrieve it. In "Dashing Through the Mall", as part of a Secret Santa-like gift exchange, Sunset gives a gift to Twilight and receives one from Pinkie Pie. In "O Come, All Ye Squashful", she is roped into taking an embarrassing costume picture with her friends after a misunderstanding with Applejack.
==My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic==
In "The Last Problem" (the series finale), an image of Sunset Shimmer appears in the background montage during the song "The Magic of Friendship Grows".
==IDW Comics ==
An eight-page featurette included with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #9 and My Little Pony Annual 2013, titled The Fall of Sunset Shimmer, details Sunset Shimmer's last days as Princess Celestia's student.
Like Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer is a magical prodigy. However, unlike Twilight, she's quite boastful and condescending toward others, despite Celestia's lessons about humility. Celestia shows Sunset the Crystal Mirror; in it, Sunset sees herself as a powerful Alicorn—one who could rule Equestria. Sunset briefly sees something else in the mirror, but Celestia guides her away from it before she gets too curious. During the weeks that follow, the mirror is all Sunset can think about, and Celestia repeatedly tells her that she'll learn about the mirror and other lessons "when [she's] ready".
Not convinced, an undeterred Sunset Shimmer begins researching the mirror in a dark magic library behind Celestia's back but is soon caught by the princess and her royal guards. Sunset berates her teacher for hiding such magic from her and demands to be made a princess. Celestia refuses, saying that being a princess must be earned, and removes Sunset from her position as her student and banishes her from Canterlot Castle. She has the royal guards escort Sunset out of the castle, but Sunset overpowers the guards and escapes through the mirror.
As Celestia has the mirror moved to her throne room, Sunset Shimmer emerges in the human world as a teenage girl.
In the Equestria Girls comic of IDW's Annual 2013, Sunset Shimmer interviews Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack for a story for the school paper, but her expression at the end of the comic suggests a far more sinister motive.
On page 12 of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #12, the binding of one of Princess Celestia's books reads "Progress on Sunset Shimmer". Twilight Sparkle mentions Sunset on page 19 of Friendship is Magic Issue #17, and Celestia mentions Sunset on page 3 of Friendship is Magic Issue #18.
In the My Little Pony: Equestria Girls Holiday Special comic, Sunset Shimmer has no one close to be with during the holidays. Her friends cheer her up with a series of slumber parties. In the wake of this, an online persona named "Anon-a-Miss" starts making disparaging posts and comments about Canterlot High students in social media, and Sunset is the prime suspect. Through Twilight Sparkle's advice, Sunset convinces her friends that she isn't "Anon-a-Miss". Later, when "Anon-a-Miss" is revealed to be the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sunset forgives them for their misguided actions.
Sunset Shimmer appears as a pony on the original version of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #44 Fried Pie Comics cover portraying the "Dorothy" role in a Wizard of Oz parody. She was replaced by Starlight Glimmer in the final version. In Issue #50, Sunset appears as a pony in a photograph on page 15. She also appears as a filly on Issue #68 page 17. On Issue #71 page 2, she appears celebrating Nightmare Night in Ponyville with Starlight Glimmer and Trixie.
On My Little Pony: Nightmare Knights Issue #1 pages 12-13, Sunset Shimmer appears in Princess Eris' casino.
In My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Issue #79, Sunset Shimmer makes a surprise appearance at the anniversary party celebrating the founding of Ponyville.
==Chapter Books==
Sunset Shimmer is featured as the main antagonist in the My Little Pony Equestria Girls film screenplay novelization My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Through the Mirror. In chapter 18, "Back to Equestria", "Twilight had noticed Sunset going around the gym, apologizing to several students. Luckily, most of them had no idea what she was talking about because they'd been in a trance during her little fiery tantrum. But it still showed that she wanted to change."
Sunset Shimmer is featured as a protagonist in the My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks film screenplay novelization My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks: The Mane Event. In chapter 20, "Battle of the Bands", her half-pony transformation includes wings.
Sunset Shimmer is featured as the main protagonist in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine. Wanting to find her place in a world without magic, she decides to become a "magic investigator" and study her friends' pony transformations in great scientific detail. She also helps her friends organize a school fundraiser to raise money for new Wondercolt uniforms.
Category:Synopsis