Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Sunset Shimmer's Time to Shine by Perdita Finn is the fourteenth book in a series of chapter books published by Little, Brown and Company. The story involves Sunset Shimmer trying to find a place for herself at Canterlot High School.

Production
Two editions of the book were published: a Barnes & Noble Special Edition bearing ISBN 978-0-316-38650-0 and another edition bearing ISBN 978-0-316-41079-3.

Storm on the Horizon
At Canterlot High School, the Rainbooms prepare to take a chemistry exam after having spent the previous night studying together. Sunset Shimmer is confident that she'll pass the exam, but she is disappointed to have missed out on the group's study session. In class, after finishing the exam before everyone else, Sunset thinks about the magic that she and her friends create through their music and how it works. Struggling for answers, she writes about her magic and friendship-related troubles to Twilight Sparkle with her magic journal.

After class, the six friends decide to celebrate getting through the exam with a slumber party but also mention that they have extracurricular activities after school. Sunset Shimmer feels left out due to not being a part of any school clubs, so she focuses on figuring out how the magic of this world works.

Getting the Green Light
That evening, the Rainbooms have a slumber party at Pinkie Pie's house. In the middle of their fun, Rainbow Dash mentions that the school's sports teams need new uniforms in time for next year's Friendship Games. Sunset Shimmer suggests putting on a fundraiser to raise money for the new uniforms. Her friends think it's a great idea and decide to put on various events including a fashion show to model the new uniforms, a bake sale, and a pet parade.

Sunset is unsure what to do herself, so she simply agrees to help her friends with their events. Soon after, she finds a response from Twilight in her journal offering her encouragement. She reasons that her friends' magic was tied to their individual talents, and she resolves to uncover the mystery as a "magic investigator."

Sunset Shimmer's True Colors?
The next day, Sunset gets permission from Principal Celestia to put on the fundraiser. She then helps out her friends with their activities while also attempting to monitor them for magic. She gives Rainbow Dash a wrist device to track her heart rate and caloric burn, she takes photos of Rarity's uniform designs and uploads them to the Rainbooms' website, she observes Applejack as she bakes for the bake sale, and she helps Fluttershy out at the animal shelter.

However, Sunset's assistance does more harm than good. Rainbow Dash becomes too distracted by Sunset's wrist device to focus on practice, Rarity's online photos are met with public ridicule, Sunset's equipment makes a mess of the cafeteria kitchen, and Sunset accidentally leaves the door at the animal shelter open for the animals to escape.

When Principal Celestia learns of all these developments, she questions Sunset Shimmer's ability to be in charge. Sunset briefly doubts herself, but she resolves to fix the mess she made.

Picking Up the Pieces
With Twilight's guidance to look to her friends for help, Sunset helps the Rainbooms with each of their difficulties and apologizes to each of them for her various blunders. She also develops a special computer application to show off the new uniforms to restore public interest in the fashion show.

However, when ticket sales for the fashion show are low due to Sunset's school image, she approaches her schoolmates one-on-one to befriend them better. She also extends her friendship to Trixie, and Trixie helps her sell tickets.

Sunset Shimmer Shines
On the night of the fashion show, the Rainbooms get ready to perform for a sold-out crowd, and Sunset Shimmer overhears some students talking about her positively. In a new dress that Rarity made for her, Sunset joins her bandmates in performing a brand new song. The magic of their singing causes them to sprout pony ears and tails, and the auditorium lights up with tiny sparkling rainbows in the air.

Some time later, Sunset—realizing that her special talent in this world is being helpful—is now a member of several school clubs, an animal shelter volunteer, and a part-time math tutor. She writes to Twilight Sparkle that she's still curious about the magic in her world, but Twilight tells her that it's okay not to understand everything and that magic just happens without explanation sometimes.

Quotes

 * Fluttershy: Are you worried about the test?
 * Sunset Shimmer: No. You just have to memorize the formulas and the reactions and the periodic table and all the elements, and be able to predict reactions, and check your answers, and do all the math without making a mistake. That's all.


 * Rainbow Dash: It's our team uniforms. It shouldn't matter, but they are old and faded. We're going to look so scrappy on the field compared to the other teams in the championship. We have to win this year to boost morale. Everyone is getting nervous about next year's Friendship Games.


 * Sunset Shimmer: Principal Celestia, we've put on proms in a day and concerts in a night, and you know how responsible I am as a student. Right?
 * Principal Celestia: That's true. You promise me that you can pull this off?
 * Sunset Shimmer: I promise!


 * Sunset Shimmer: I'm experimenting with magic the way you do with cooking.
 * Applejack: I always follow a recipe.
 * Sunset Shimmer: But we don't really know the recipe yet. Every time you whip up a batch of donuts, people ask what the secret ingredient is, don't they?
 * Applejack: And I always tell them there isn't one. Because there isn't.
 * Sunset Shimmer: That's where you're wrong!
 * Applejack: I am?
 * Sunset Shimmer: There must be. Only it's magic flowing out of you, possibly the very same ingredient that sets off the reaction that results in everyone ponying up when we play our music. That's my theory, anyway.


 * Fluttershy: What do you miss most about Equestria?
 * Sunset Shimmer: What?
 * Fluttershy: Do you miss your pony friends there?
 * Sunset Shimmer: My friends? Not really. I was different then.


 * Sunset Shimmer: You know, it's like chemistry—you have all the right ingredients, but then it takes a spark to trigger the reaction.
 * Pinkie Pie: If it's like chemistry, I might not be very good at it.


 * Principal Celestia: What is going on in this school? The cafeteria kitchen is in shambles, and the art room is littered with fabric. I've got athletes coming into my office telling me there is no way they want to do a fashion show, and I just got a call from the animal shelter that all the animals have somehow escaped.


 * Rainbow Dash: You think you can persuade my teammates to model in the fashion show?
 * Rarity: Can you repair my style status?
 * Applejack: Can you do some real cooking?
 * Pinkie Pie: Can you blow up some balloons?
 * Sunset Shimmer: I can do it all.


 * Sunset Shimmer: You've been spreading rumors about me so that nobody wants to come to the fashion show.
 * Trixie: Maybe.
 * Sunset Shimmer: I'd like to be friends with you, Trixie. You’ve got a lot of energy. You really do. It's kind of amazing. But I'm also friends with the Sonic Rainbooms. After all, they've stayed friends with me despite everything I've done.


 * Rainbow Dash: It's just hard sometimes to find your place on the team. To know how best to play your position. If you know what I mean.
 * Sunset Shimmer: But I don't have any special talents like the rest of you....
 * Rainbow Dash: Isn't being a friend the most special thing of all? Being on a team is not about being a star—it's about working together.


 * Fluttershy: What are you thinking?
 * Sunset Shimmer: I'm thinking that I'm lucky to have such good friends.


 * Twilight Sparkle: I'll just have to hope those girls keep Sunset Shimmer busy. Very busy.