I never knew my parents. Whoever they were they dumped me on the doors of the Canterlot orphanage when I was just a few days old. I suppose that most ponies would want to know why their parents would do something like that. Maybe to find out that there was an important reason or to tell them off for some small retributory moment. But I’m not most ponies. I could not care less about my parents and have no desire to scream at them or reconcile. The way I see it, they didn’t want anything to do with me so I’ll return that courtesy.

I learned a lot about the world while I grew up in the orphanage. Not all of it was positive, but then again, even in Equestria everything isn’t sunshine and happy thoughts. Most of the nobles I ran into turned their noses up at me as if I wasn’t even worth a passing glance to them. I always hated those looks and those nobles. If I had wanted to I could’ve thrown the entirety of the Canterlot upper crust into anarchy from everything that I had overheard from my time on the streets. I never did it, but that particular thought did give me a smile before going to bed a few dozen times.

One of the biggest moments of my life was when I found a soggy beginner’s guide to magic on the street one day when I was out looking for a way to feed myself. I still don’t know what it was that compelled me to pick the thing up. I couldn’t eat the thing and with the condition it was in I wouldn’t have been able to sell it. Whatever the reason was I’m glad I did. I rushed back to the orphanage with the book and held it up to the heater for about an hour to try and dry it out. It smelled like mold but I didn’t care as I read it. I loved every single thing about the book as I turned through the pages and saw all the different spells in it. And the most amazing thing to me was that I seemed to have a knack for magic.

The next big moment was when I overheard that the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns was accepting applicants for the upcoming school year and that particularly impressive applicants would get a full scholarship. This caused my face to light up and I rushed back to the orphanage to crack open my guide on magic. I read the thing from cover to cover over and over and mastered what I could from it but in the end I just didn’t think anything in the book was good enough to impress the teachers at the school. I’m not entirely proud of what I did next, but I don’t regret it. I rushed out into the streets to find a bookstore while wearing the one outfit I kept in good condition that I used to get into places. Which was just a plain red dress that hung down to my knees. It took me a while to find the store but I knew what I had to do when I got in there. I scoped out the store for a while and always made it look like I was looking at something to avoid suspicion. Once I saw the aisle where the books on magic was clear of ponies I crept over to it and looked for what I needed. I found them fairly quickly and after making sure nopony was looking I stuffed a couple into my bag. Once I was done with that I picked out a cheap children’s book and bought it.

I walked back to the orphanage so I wouldn’t get noticed by the royal guard and rocketed up into my room so I could practice everything my new books in order to get into the school. I spent the next few days going without sleep and even food a few times as I threw myself into learning new magic. After that I made it to the academy so I could finally get out of the orphanage and have a steady source of food. I had to keep my mind from drifting off into fantasies so I could focus on the spell I was going to show off. I felt butterflies in my stomach and adjusted my one good outfit, hoping that everything would work out. Eventually I was called and I nervously walked into the room where a row of three teachers sat waiting for me. I took a deep breath and tried to think back to the spell books I had read. My mind seemed to blank as I looked the critical teachers in the eyes. I started to tremble and I started to think that there was no way I would be good enough to enter the school. Tears started to well up in my eyes and the teachers started to whisper amongst themselves.

“It seems we found another washout,” the one on the right whispered to the center one.

“There’s always a few, though they usually show us some spell, even if it is a small one,” The center teacher whispered back and the two shared a short chortle. This set me off and I started to shake a little. These teachers were treating me just like the nobles that I passed on the streets every day. My mind started to race as I tried to find a way to stop those two ponies from laughing at me. I felt something shift in my body, like somepony turning on a faucet, and I felt something click in my head. Inspiration struck and I gathered magic into my horn.

I closed my eyes tightly and pictured something in my mind. All of a sudden the air in front of the teachers started to shimmer and a shape started to form. After about a minute what appeared to be a dragon was hovering right before the panel of teachers. A smirk wormed its way onto my face as the appearance of the illusion took them all by surprise, but I wasn’t done yet. The dragon I had conjured blocked me from their view so they couldn’t see as I lit my horn in preparation for another spell. Flames started to spew from my horn and I sent them flying right toward the teachers. Due to my aim it looked like the dragon was breathing the flames itself. The ball of fire raced right over their heads and left their manes singed slightly. The looks on their faces were priceless, though I didn’t get to enjoy it for long. Those two spells took a lot out of me. The dragon illusion dissipated and I fell unconscious.

I don’t know how long I was out but I eventually woke up in an infirmary. I groaned and froze up when I saw that the three teachers were in the room with me. The full implications of my actions came rushing through my head and I tried to make myself look as small as possible.

“I am so sorry for what I’ve done,” I practically whispered.

“As you should be, that stunt you pulled was very dangerous. We should punish you for something like that.”

I clenched my eyes and prepared for the worst.

“Though you did show a real talent for a filly,” the teacher that hadn’t laughed at me said. I opened my eyes and cautiously looked up at the three teachers.

“We have deliberated on the matter and we feel that it is best that you cultivate your talents at our school.”

“You mean… I got the scholarship?” I asked, brimming with hope.

The three teachers shared a look before nodding to me. I broke into a wild grin and had to stop myself from jumping up and down on the bed I was in.

“Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this means to me!” I beamed up at them. “So, does this mean I can move my things into the dorms?!”

“Yes, you may stay in the dorms if you wish.”

My grin threatened to overtake my face as I jumped off of the bed and rushed to the door. “Thank you again! I’m going to go get my things and bring them to the dorms!” I paused, a blush blooming across my face. “Um, if that’s okay?”

“Yes, you may move into the dorms right away,” The teacher that hadn’t laughed at me replied with a soft smile. She then scrawled something onto a piece of paper and levitated it over to me. “There, take that to the front desk of the filly dorms and the pony there will get everything arranged for you.”

I nodded as I clutched the slip of paper to my chest and rocketed out the door. I passed through the streets of Canterlot as fast as my legs could carry me. It didn’t take me long before I made it back to the orphanage and was collecting my things. I stopped when I saw the old spell book that I had found in the streets. I hugged it to my chest with tears streaming down my face.

“Thank you,” I whispered to the book. “I couldn’t have done this without you.” I then carefully placed the book on the top of the few things I had and ran back out the door so I could get to the dorms soon.

I made it there without incident and was led to a room. It was fairly small, but it was really comfortable and made me happy to see it. I happily unpacked my few things, putting my spell books on display proudly. I thought I was done, but at the bottom of the small box of my belongings was the book that I had actually bought when I stole the spell books. I figured that I had nothing better to do so I settled into my new bed and cracked it open. It didn’t take long to read at all. It was a simple fairy tale about two sisters that controlled the sun and the moon. In the end the elder sister had to lock the younger one in the moon using a powerful magical item. Creating what everypony called “The Mare in the Moon”.

I closed the book and looked out the window and saw the large spires of Canterlot Castle in the not too far off distance. Inside those walls resided one of the most powerful beings on the planet, Princess Celestia. At that point in my life I hadn’t even so much as seen her, but I had heard stories. She was supposed to be tall, nearly larger than life. And she was able to raise the sun and moon. That made me think back to the fairy tale and I wondered if that story was about her. It also made me wonder if she really did seal her sister away. Thoughts like that continued to swirl around in my young head until my eyes felt heavy and I fell onto the bed, fast asleep.

Things were okay for a while. Though they took a slight downward turn when classes began. Most of the students were nobility of some kind so I was the odd one out. I was pretty much excluded from all their conversations and activities. I didn’t mind though. I didn’t want anything to do with those noble foals anyway. I just wanted to learn as much as possible so I could go on to do anything I wanted with my life. I didn’t really know what that would be exactly, but I did know that learning all the magic I could would help me do it. I just had a feeling somewhere deep down inside that it would. Classes continued rather uneventfully for a while. That is until I started rising to the top of the class due to my dedicated studying and my natural talent. Apparently the noble foals didn’t like losing to the little orphan filly because they started to mess with me whenever they could after that. It started out small, as most things usually do, some spitballs to the back of my head, snide remarks, crude drawings left on my desk, the usual sort of bullying.

Of course, the lack of teacher intervention emboldened them. They started to do more to me. They stole a textbook from me only to return it with pages desecrated. Or they would trip me while I was walking anywhere. Eventually it got to a point that by the end of the first school year I was grabbed by a group of colts and taken to a dark part of the school’s courtyard. I don’t remember much of what they said, I think it was something about not being able to explain to their parents why a commoner had better grades than them. What I do remember clearly is that the biggest colt pushed me to the ground and signaled for the group to kick me. I remember feeling helpless and crying out for somepony to rescue me while I tried to cover my face and horn with my hands. Then, I felt the same sensation that I had during my test to get into the academy. My horn glowed brightly and a dome of energy shot out, tossing the colts all across the courtyard and crashing into several things. Right as I got up I heard a voice call out to me.

“What is going on here?” I groggily turned my head and my eyes threatened to bulge out of my face at the sight. It was none other than Princess Celestia. How did I know it was her? The large wings and horn on her head were pretty good indicators. Plus, she was as tall as some of the stories I had heard about her. She craned her head to look at all the now unconscious colts with a hard to read expression and turned back to me. When she finally got a good look at me her eyes widened. At least I think they did. It was only for a split second if it happened at all. “Did you do all this?”

I just nodded, too scared to speak properly.

“How did this happen?” She asked before lowering herself to her knees to get eye level with me. “You don’t have to be afraid, young one. I won’t punish you, no matter what you tell me.”

I nodded again and told her everything about what had happened, including the strange feeling I had before my outburst of magic.

“I am so sorry to hear that,” Celestia told me, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. “Still, to be able to send so many ponies flying like that. You have quite the raw magical power. Is one of your parents one of my royal guards?”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “I’ve never met my parents.”

Princess Celestia’s face fell a bit at that. “That is awful, what is your name, little one?”

“The mare at the orphanage named me Sunset Shimmer.” Princess Celestia’s eyes widened for a second again and seemed to be thinking something over. She looked at all the unconscious colts again and back to me and a small smile spread across her face. “Well Sunset, if what you just told me is true, then you are quite the talented little pony. How would you like it if I took you on as my apprentice?”

I was absolutely stunned when she asked me that. Me! An orphan with hardly anything to my name, and she wanted me to be her apprentice! It almost felt too good to be true. “A-are you sure you want me?” I asked quietly, looking away from her. “I’m nopony special.”

Celestia giggled a bit at that and started to stroke my mane. “The way I see it, Sunset. You are like a piece of coal. To the average pony you may not look like much. But, given enough time and the right conditions, you can become a diamond.”

“Y-you really think I could be like a diamond?” I asked, looking back at her cautiously.

“I know you can,” she told me with the brightest smile I had ever seen. “So, will you come with me?” She asked, standing up and holding out a hand.

The look she was giving me filled me with a confidence I had never felt before. I nodded emphatically and took her hand. Her smile seemed to grow as she led me out of the courtyard. After that, Princess Celestia filed some paperwork that officially made her my legal guardian. Meaning that I was going to be staying in Canterlot Castle. The place that was always in the background of my life and seemed so far away was now the place I’d call home.

The morning after, Princess Celestia gave me the tour of Canterlot Castle. I was awestruck by all of the sights. Somehow, the castle seemed to be bigger inside than it had looked outside from the city streets. She led me through all the important rooms and ended our tour in a rather odd place.

“And now I think I’ll end the tour with my favorite place in the castle, the gardens,” She said as she waved a hand to indicate all the various flora and fauna. “This is the perfect place to go get some fresh air at the end of a long, hectic day. Oh, and I suppose I should show you the statue garden as well.”

Princess Celestia motioned for me to follow her. I did and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw all the statues stretch out along the garden. I stared back after her as she started giving brief snippets on each of them. All except one. She stopped in front of one that looked similar to a pony, but very different as well. They didn’t seem to have a muzzle and their hooves seemed to be oddly shaped. The thing that puzzled me was just how goofy they looked. They were in an odd pose with their fingers crossed and a giant, dumb grin was on their face.

“Princess Celestia, what is this statue of?” I asked, looking up at her.

“Not a what my dear, a who,” Princess Celestia clarified with a dry chuckle. “Take a look at the inscription,” she said, pointing at a plaque on the statue’s plinths.

“Vash the Stampede: A great ally to Equestria, true friend, lover, and father,” I read aloud. “Who was he?” I asked her.

“Like it says on the plaque, he was a good friend. He even saved my life,” she told me with a fond smile.

“What?! He saved your life? But you can move the sun and moon! Why would you ever need to have your life saved?”

Princess Celestia chuckled and shook her head at me for that. “I may be strong, Sunset, but I am not invincible. Would you like to hear the story of how Vash saved my life?” I nodded and she led me to another statue not too far away from the statue of Vash. This one was wild. It was a creature made up of several different animal parts that seemed to be thrown together at random. “This is Discord, nearly one thousand years ago he came and wreaked havoc on Equestria while I was still very new to the title of Princess. I tried and failed to fight him with my sister. When the two of us believed that we were going to die, he appeared,” She said indicating Vash’s statue. “He came bursting out, cursing up a storm. He later told me that he had been chased by a manticore when he crashed into us,” She said with a giggle.

“When he saw us in our condition he immediately jumped to his feet and stared down Discord. Then,” I leaned in closer, wondering where the story was going. “He distracted Discord, grabbed our hands and ran away with us to what is now known as the Everfree Forest.”

“He ran away? How did that help?”

“It allowed us to gather our strength and come back to put Discord in stone here,” She said, patting Discord’s statue. “In fact, it was Vash’s idea to put Discord on display like this. After Discord’s defeat Vash went on to help my sister and I with so much. He and Hammerfall created so much for this country. And he was a big part in bringing peace between changelings and us ponies.”

“Wow, what was he like?”

“Hmm, in one word, eccentric,” Celestia answered with a laugh. “He was dedicated to his work and constantly made terrible jokes to try and make us all smile, and quite a number of other things. I miss him terribly,” Celestia finished with a sigh as she turned back to his statue.

“What happened to him?” I asked, staring at the statue.

“I’d rather not say,” Celestia told me with a sad look in her eyes. “There are certain memories I’d rather not go through.”

“Okay,” I replied, not really satisfied with that answer. “Um… you mentioned your sister. Is she the same sister they taught us about in school?” I asked carefully.

Celestia let out a long sigh before answering. “Unfortunately yes, I wish I could’ve done more than what I did. That is the single biggest regret of my long life. Sunset, I’m sure you’re familiar with the Summer Sun Celebration.”

“Yeah, I never really celebrated it or anything but I know about it.”

“Well, to everypony else that is a day of rejoice that the peace in our country was maintained against a catastrophic threat. But to me, it serves to remind me just how fallible I can be,” she said, looking up to the sky. “Sunset, let this be your first piece of advice under me. Do anything you can for the ones you love. And try to live a life with no regrets.”

“But I don’t think I have anypony I love,” I told her honestly.

Celestia laughed a bit again and ruffled my mane. “I’m sure you will eventually. Now come, it has been a long day. We will begin your real training in the morning.

“Of course, Princess!” I beamed following her out of the garden.

My training began and time started to pass. I got to know some of the other ponies in the castle. Cadance, who was an alicorn like Celestia, and Blueblood. I got along with Cadance fine most of the time, but I could not stand Blueblood. He was everything I couldn’t stand about nobles but multiplied by ten. I did my best to avoid him when I could, but when we did cross paths… Well, let’s just say that Blueblood got taken down a peg and I got punished. Don’t tell Celestia I ever said this, but it was still totally worth it. Anyway, a few years passed and Celestia gave me some troubling news.

“Sunset, I have something great to tell you,” Celestia told me with a smile.

“What is it?” I asked, looking up from a book. “Are you going to teach me some new magic?”

“No, nothing like that. Today, a young filly showed some surprising amount of raw magical power today. Raw magical power that reminds me of another young filly that I once knew,” Celestia told me with a little, knowing grin.

I put down my book and quirked an eyebrow at her. “Is that what those random bolts of magic were earlier? I think I saw one of those hit somewhere around the castle,” I said, putting a hand on my chin in thought. “Wait, what are you trying to say?”

“I’ve taken another apprentice,” Celestia answered with a grin. “Her name is Twilight Sparkle, and she’s about the age you were when you first became my apprentice.”

“What?!” I shrieked, standing up. “Why on Equis would you want to take another apprentice?! Am I just not good enough for you?!” I couldn’t believe this, I felt so betrayed.

“Sunset,” Celestia started, shrinking a bit. “What would ever make you think that? You are a wonderful student.”

“Then why are you taking on another apprentice?” I seethed.

“Because like you this filly has raw potential. A potential that can be extremely dangerous if it is not properly nurtured. Sunset, you and Twilight are going to have wonderful futures. In fact, I believe the two of you will be able to do things that I never could.”

“Whatever,” I told her with a dismissive wave of my hand. “Do whatever you want. You are the princess after all.”

I turned and walked away from her. I think she was calling out to me but I didn’t want to hear anything she said at that point. I was on my way to the castle gardens, where I usually went to vent when something annoyed me. I made it there without incident and just as I was about to rant and rave without anypony coming to bother me, something was off. There, in the middle of the statue garden, somepony was standing in front of one of the statues. It was Morning Star, the captain of the guard. I didn’t deal much with her; she was always busy with her work. I walked over to her, noticing that she was in front of the statue that Celestia had shown me so many years ago. All of a sudden, she perked up and looked over to me.

“Ah, young Sunset, what brings you to the gardens?”

“I just needed to clear my head,” I answered, crossing my arms over my chest. “What about you, what are you doing out here?” I asked

“Oh, I am just catching Vash up on the goings on of Equestria,” the naga answered, patting the pedestal of the statue. “Many things are happening that I’m sure he would be quite interested in hearing.” It seems the confusion I was feeling was evident on my face as she chuckled and shook her head. “Why don’t you take a seat on the bench and I’ll tell you more?” I did as she asked and sat down. Time seemed to pass quickly as she told me stories, stories that I couldn’t help but be enraptured by.

Author's Notes:

What manner of sorcery is this? I managed to post a chapter in less than a week!

In other news, the time skip has finally occured. It only took about two years longer than I originally thought it would.