Author's Note

I wrote this as a SoL story telling of Sunset leaving for the human world and betraying Celestia.

I simply lost steam on this idea, I honestly felt this wasn't my best writing.

As if something was missing.

As The Sun Sets ( Unfinished)

"I heard that the new cafe has a salad to absolutely die for!" Sunset flaunted her hand playfully towards her nice country friend beside a large open pasture full of various horses.

Applejack giggled wearing a dirty pair of overalls, her sun kissed blonde hair tied into a bouncy high positioned ponytail. She just got done with feeding the horses, Sunset watching her lazily from a perch stop the old wooden fence.

With all her chores done, nothing would be better than a long hang out session with her best friends. Applejack happily tossing a burlap sack of sugar cubes at Sunset's feet, the young country gal giving a well earned stretch in place.

"Hoo-boy, that sure does sound like a little piece of apple pie!" Applejack caught a strong scent of five hours working the farm, her cheeks burning a bright red as she slammed her arms down in a swift motion.

"Maybe a shower first?" Sunset smirked hopping down from the fence with a friendly wink.

"Darn tootin', I'll be ready in two shakes of a lamb's tail!" Applejack yanked her hair free from the hairband happily, waves of gold framing her face sweetly.

"Take your time! ~ I'll call the girls, get the ball rolling!!" Sunset waved off her friend who dashed off into the distance towards a massive farmhouse, the sun a bright orange hue in the calm blue sky.

"If that waitress offers me bacon on my salad again, I'm totally not leaving a tip." Sunset rolled her turquoise eyes, blowing a strip of red and gold hair out of her vision.

The teen girl decides to lean up against the fence on her phone, the soft clicking of her fingers across the cell phone echoing against the quiet melody of nature. Sunset sent off a text to Pinkie Pie, before the familiar scent of sugar tickled her nose from below.

Unguarded on the moist green grass were sugar cubes, those lovely little white pieces of paradise beckoning all to soak in their unparalleled beauty. In fact the grass didn't look too bad either, lush and vibrant from the morning rain, the fleeting scent of flowers upon the wind.

"Wow, this place is actually really beautiful!" Sunset gave a delicate sigh, she kneeled to pluck a single sugar cube from it's burlap prison.

Without a second thought, she popped the treat into her mouth with a dreamy smile upon her face. Instantly transported back to a time when she was surrounded by older friends, those late nights in the dorm enjoying sugar cubes and crunching for an morning exam.

Celestia overheard the chorus of giggles during the calm of the night, poking in to make sure all was calm and all was right.

"Shouldn't you girls be asleep?" Celestia nudged the old wooden door to the dorm open with her snout, the messy claustrophobic space of young fillies a total trainwreck. Books scattered all across the floor, half mixed potions left to bubble on the shelves forgotten by young minds.

Sunset Shimmer sprawled across her bed in a cocky manner, an extra large book on the Summer Solstice held in her hooves. "Of course CeCe, just doing a last bit of light reading." She flipped the book open to a random page sarcastically.

"Hmm, is that so? ~ Firefly?" Celestia let those all knowing eyes fall upon a pink unicorn on the floor, who happened to be reading her book upside down.

"Err, yes? ~ Right, Light Bright?" Firefly quickly passed the question off to the second bed in the room, a mint colored unicorn with pigtails curled up in the corner full of anxiety.

"Mm-hmm!" Light Bright nodded along with lips pursed tight, voice muffled by an unseen force.

"Well ok , remember tomorrow is very important…" Celestia began to leave just as a geyser of white sugar erupted from Light Bright's mouth, the stream of sugary saliva shooting across the room onto Firefly's mane impressively.

"Ewww, it's warm!" Firefly squealed out in disgusted cries of annoyance.

"The bag of cubes had a hole in it!!" Light Bright tried to explain as the wave of sugar continued to froth forth from her muzzle helplessly.

Sunset remembered only laughing from the sight, rolling off her bed with a thud.

In fact, she thought Celestia might have giggled too.

Sunset could feel the sweetness fade from her lips, the kneeling young woman left to gaze out towards the large open pasture. Lifting to her feet, she placed both hands atop the wooden post. The horizon seemed to stretch on forever, grass dancing in the gentle afternoon breeze welcoming all to enjoy the beauty of the present.

Yet all she remembered thinking about…

Was the future.

"Look at that beautiful Sunset!" Sunset Shimmer flashed an overconfident smile to her reflection within a puddle of fresh rainwater on the ground, she had aced her final exams and was well on her way to stardom.

Celestia shook her head in silence, she hoped that inviting her student out onto the school's private pasture might reignite a sense of passion within her soul. Yet Sunset seemed content to simply admire her own sense of accomplishments instead, lost in a reflection of what she could be, rather than who she was.

"Sunset, I invited you out here…" Celestia searched her mind for those right words.

"I know, because I'm now your personal protege!" Sunset gazed away from her reflection with a smug little huff aloud.

"What do you see?" Celestia pointed her hoof out across the rolling hills of the world.

The sun held lazily in the sky a dark sleepy orange hue, flowers spread across the pasture in vibrant waves of colors unmatched by even the brightest rainbow. The scents of nature formed a ballet of beauty across the winds, the sound of laughter a beautiful melody to accompany the school.

"Phst, a boring old pasture?" Sunset giggled up to her teacher, who returned a saddened gaze.

"I heard you stopped talking to your friends?" Celestia spoke in a serious tone of regret.

"Huh, Bright and Fly?" Sunset scrunched her muzzle with an eye roll.

"The best friendships are strengthened by hardships, not torn apart." Celestia smiled at her little pony with a caring sense of maturity to her voice.

"Oh, it wasn't a fight CeCe! ~ Those two were just total losers, I mean Bright alone was like four levels under my current standard!" Sunset giggled aloud full of confidence.

"Standards shouldn't guide friendships?" Celestia felt taken back by the child's sense of self entitlement.

"I'm top of the class, if I'm seen with dorks like them…" Sunset quirked her thin brow curiously, turning to her side to watch her teacher walk away.

"It's true!" Sunset yelled out after her in confusion.

Celestia hiding a stream of tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You offered me everything, yet I was too arrogant to see." Sunset cupped her cheek with her hand in a soft spoken whisper.

The pasture now an escape to a memory from long ago, it was odd how something so simple could hold a memory so powerful. Walking down the length of the fence she approached a large trough, crystalline blue water filled to the rim. Her eyes locked into her reflection once more, yet this time she saw a completely different person from before.

Sunset Shimmer gazed outside the office window in silence, rain cascaded down the glass surface calmly as the young mare pursed her lips in growing anger. The sound of the office door suddenly opening, as she could hear that blowhard teacher she once admired walk inside.

Lightning struck across the bleak grey sky above, the claustrophobic room basked in a pale blue hue from the heavens. Celestia never spoke a word, simply trotting over towards her seat behind the desk to explain herself in a collected manner.

"This is about graduation." Celestia spoke up in a loving tone of voice, as if trying to soften the blow of her betrayal.

"You embarrassed me!" Sunset pinned her ears back in absolute rage of the moment.

"I felt that you were not mature enough to be my protege, not yet." Celestia averted her gaze away from the child who returned a rude loud snort.

"What is my magic level?" Sunset grumbled underneath her breath angrily.

"That isn't important Sunset, I'll happily invite you back next year." Celestia wanted to change the subject, her student slamming her hoof atop the desk with a loud pop.