As the Sun Sets

Chapters

1 - A Cold Dawn
2 - Heir Raising
3 - Building on Foundations

1 - A Cold Dawn

My name is Sunset Shimmer. I was born a Unicorn, upper-middle class, living in the Capital of Equestria. As anypony might expect, Canterlot Castle was always the backdrop of my memories. My parents, Silk Sunlight and Dawn Star, always told me I would be destined for greatness. That I would rise above everyone else, and make a name for myself like nopony in Equestria ever had since Princess Celestia herself.

So I pushed myself. I became the Princess’ personal student, her prodige, her rightful heir… or so I convinced myself. In my self-centered hubris, I began to study Dark Magic, telling myself that I would never use it. Only learn it to protect myself from its effects. But I never did, and the Darkness seeped into me, twisted me beyond what I was supposed to be...

So when I found out Celestia had another student. Another prodige… I snapped. I screamed and roared and accused her of replacing me, of denying me my birthright as her successor… and I struck the Princess of Equestria. The guards stormed in. And I ran.

My haste, my idiocy, led me to escape from Celestia’s anger… her help… into another world. Sealed off from my own for thirty moons, for two and a half years, I had turned my anger on the people of the world around me. Earth - a strange, almost funny reflection of my own world, where everyone that existed there had a double here in the form of a creature called a ‘Human’, who lacked any of Equestria’s magic but made up for it with revolutionary technology.

Time passed, and another from Equestria was dragged into my madness - the other student that had driven me away in the first place. My replacement. Twilight Sparkle, now a Princess, came chasing after me when I stole her crown.

Through her actions, I was stopped in my plans to conquer Equestria. I was redeemed in the eyes of Canterlot High’s students. I gained friends, I learned about the magic funnelling through to the Human World, and I studied the portal between our worlds with Princess Twilight Sparkle.

And now... I have no idea where I am.

Princess Twilight was experimenting with different wavelengths in the Mirror Portal. And somehow… I think we broke it. Because when I tried to go back to Canterlot High, to see my friends…

I ended up staring down the wrong end of a wicked hook-hand at the biggest, most terrifying man I’d ever seen.

Stoick the Vast’s Perspective

Second-Person View

Stoick the Vast liked to believe he was a good man, and a better Chief. He put the needs of his Tribe before his own, used his immense strength to bolster and strengthen the people whenever he was needed, and saw to his duties each and every day to ensure there was no waiting until Tomorrow. Because for a Viking, it was generally accepted that there may never be a Tomorrow. After all, Death was just an occupational hazard.

Life in Berk had never been easy. Even back in the days of their ancestors - Bork the Bold; Grimbeard the Ghastly; Hamish the Hulking and his son, Hamish the Hiccup - the simple founding of the Hooligan Tribe had been rife with the dangers of Dragon Raids, something that had persisted throughout the tribe’s history.

As such, it was a general rule of thumb that anything unexplainable or potentially dangerous was to be brought before the Chief - in this case, Stoick himself - and the Council of Berk Elders to be appraised, discussed, and - more often than not - disposed of in as swift a manner as possible.

And so Stoick found himself staring across the great oaken Council Table at the girl that had been brought before him. The Council had answered the summoning horn as swiftly as they could, thank Thor, because Stoick had no idea what to make of the girl in a battle-skirt of silk, soft leather breastplate left open over her torso, and a tunic of such vibrant colour the Hooligan Chief simply had no words for them. And not to mention the glittering crystal around her neck that she had kicked and screamed and bitten Gobber over - the hulking Blacksmith had laughed uproariously over that last act, stating he liked her mettle.

“We should throw her to the sea!” Spitelout cried indignantly, and Stoick cast a look from the girl to his half-brother. The Jorgensons were still regarded as Family to the Chief, despite his precious Valka’s disappearance and assumed death. It was for this reason - and this alone - Stoick hadn’t punched all of Spitelout’s teeth out of his jaw a decade ago. “This girl is an unknown and a danger to the Tribe! For all we know she’s a Beserker spy, or worse, an Outcast!”

Silence met Spitelout’s outburst. Gobber looked up from inspecting his newest wound with a storm on his brow. Silent Sven set down his ale. Stoick chance a look to their ‘guest’ and saw only confusion in her eyes. Seeing this, Stoick leant forward in his large seat - more of a throne, really - and focused his eyes on her. The girl fidgeted uncomfortably in her rope bindings.

“What say you to these claims, Girl?” Stoick asked. He pitched his voice just a tad lower, sending the plates on which the Council’s mutton sat rattling across the table.

The girl flinched once before visibly steeling herself, and Stoick has to give her credit for not faltering under his gaze. Many a Viking has messed his skivvies from Stoick’s famous ‘bad days’.

“My name is Sunset Shimmer,” she began confidently, and faltered again as the whole council turned their eyes to her. Ah, but she was just a lass. “I’m far from home, and I don’t know where I am. I don’t know what you mean by Beserker, or Outcast, so I can’t say if I am one or not without risk of lying to you. I’m sorry.”

Stoick considered her for a moment, and the Council remained as silent as Silent Sven. And then he turned to the only individual more respected than himself on the Isle of Berk.

“Your thoughts, Mother Goethi?” He asked in a tone much gentler than he had used on any other save his beloved. The Mother Goethi was the oldest living relative of Berk, older even than Mildew the Decrepit, and had lived through countless Winters and three Changes of Chief. Her word was law on Berk only superseded by his own, and she often weighed in on the most important decisions for the good of the Tribe if she felt the need. Her shambling approach in response to the Council Horn had set Stoick’s teeth on edge.

Stoick watched as Goethi considered the girl - who had called herself Sunset - for a time from her perch atop the table, legs crossed as she listened and thought. And eventually, she raised her staff, the medicinal bones tangled into its hooked head clattering from the movement. As she began scribbling in a scattered mound of dirt, Gobber scrambled from one end of the table to the other to interpret, as he seemed the only one on all of Berk able to understand the silent healer’s writings.

“Goethi says…” Stoick’s friend began, squinting in the low light. “That the girl is a stranger to more than our lands… and that we should definitely… string’er to an anchor and toss’er off the Flagship-ouch!”

Stoick stared for a time as their esteemed Mother Goethi clattered her staff against Gobber‘s helm, her scowl sending a thousand unspoken curses his way as he moved to re-read her writing.

“Ah, my mistake,” he offered sheepishly as Goethi huffed indignantly. “She says we should definitely not do what I just said, as she is aware Spitelout was going to suggest.” He paused as Stoick’s brother choked on his ale. “And that we should listen to her tale. I’ll admit, the ol’ memory box is a bit leaky. Sorry Goethi.”

As Mother Goethi gave a slow nod to Gobber, Stoick turned back to the lass still tied up before the Council. She’d been made to stand barefoot - her odd leather boots tossed by the fireplace for the time being - with rope binding her wrists and ankles. And so Stoick gave a nod, and Silent Sven stood to make his way to Sunset with knife drawn, grabbing the girl roughly as she tried to back away before slicing her bindings free.

“Oh…” Sunset muttered, rubbing her raw wrists gingerly. “Thank you…”

Silent Sven nodded once, turned, retrieved Sunset’s boots to return them, nodded again, and returned to his seat at the table.

Stoick waited for Sunset to pull her boots back on, glad his beard hid the slight smile as she let out a satisfied sigh. Clearly they were built for comfort rather than combat. “So,” he said eventually, making the lass near jump back out of those boots of hers as she seemed to remember he was there. Very comfortable boots. “Would you care to tell us how you came to appear in the centre of Berk, nearly frightening our dear Gobber into making a mess of his weapons?”

“And me skivvies,” Gobber chimed in, shocking a laugh out of a good few of the Council. “I swear, Stoick, the only time some bairne’s got the drop on me like that it were that Hiccup o’ yers.”

Stoick groaned at the memory. Hiccup, his dear son, was so very… not a Viking. He was small, skinny, avoided fights as much as he could manage and never fought back when he couldn’t. And he was always making a mess. The Thorstons had been crying curses on Hiccup’s name for days after he had frightened Gobber into launching a boulder at their hall.

Of course, that had also introduced Hiccup to the Twins. And may Thor have mercy on them all when Hiccup’s imaginative mind met the Twin’s natural affinity for chaos.

Pulling himself back from his thoughts with a shudder, Stoick turned once again to the girl, and had to admit he was surprised to see her blushing and hiding a laugh behind her hands. Clearing his throat thunderously, Stoick calmed the laughter of the room instantly, calling attention back to himself. “Lass?” he asked leadingly, shooting Sunset a pointed look.

To her credit, Sunset looked adequately culled by his tone, something that made him feel no amount of shame as the laughter the small girl had shown in a moment of comfort was so quickly replaced by a hidden but all-to-clear fear of him. Still, after but a moment to compose herself, Sunset stood tall and cleared her throat before answering his question. A fiery spirit lay dormant in this lass, Stoick could see that clearly, and no amount of hardships could quell that blaze of her passion.

“In regards to your village, I’m unfortunately unaware of where I came from,” she began, pausing only long enough when Spitelout quite audibly scoffed for Stoick to silence his half-brother with a passing gesture. “But how I came to be here is a different story. I suppose you could say I… stepped through a doorway, of a sorts.” She paused again, ducking her gaze and rubbing her chin in a way that left Stoick winded for but a moment as the girl standing before the council suddenly became a young, auburn-haired stick of a boy searching for the right words to explain just why he’d come to accidentally blow up the Svenson’s chicken coop, or burn down the Hofferson’s outhouse, or demolish the village well.

“My friend, Twilight, and I were working on a project of ours that involved a… a doorway, that linked our two homes.” She looked up again, a smile forming on her lips as she began pacing - Stoick had to breath slow to re-start his own heart as more and more this girl appeared so similar to his son. “We live a long way apart, you see, far enough that visiting without this door was a near impossibility. But when I tried to go home through the door, something went wrong, and I… fell right in front of Mister Gobber there.”

“MISTER Gobber, she says!” Gobber roared with laughter, slapping his good knee and pounding the great table with his hook so hard that it groaned. “En’t noone called me MISTER Gobber since I last saw me own bairne!”

“Settle down there Gobber,” Stoick warned, giving a sigh as his old friend just kept laughing to himself, though thankfully he did at least quiet down. Turning to Sunset once again, Stoick leaned heavily on the table. “So you mean to say that your coming to be here was nothing more than a mistake?”

“Yes,” Sunset answered immediately, taking a tentative step forward. When Spitelout reached for his sword, she stopped, glancing from him to Stoick quickly but remaining on task. “I’m sure she’ll be looking for a way to pull me back as soon as she can. Please, just let me stay in your village until she can. I’ll do whatever you want to pay my way - within reason!” she hastened to add, a mild panic in her eyes. Stoick decided he’d question her on that… later, when the rest of the Council were out of earshot.

“Very well then, Sunset Shimmer,” Stoick said calmly, sitting back in his large chair. “I shall now put the motion to Council Vote. All in favor of allowing Sunset Shimmer to pay her stay on Berk until such time as her friend is able to retrieve her, or she is able to make her own way home otherwise, say Aye.”

A chorus of ‘Aye’s met Stoick’s ears, and with a glance, the two silent members of their Council - both Silent Sven and Mother Goethi - gave their own nods of confirmation. Only one Council Member refused to give an answer, Spitelout crossing his arms stubbornly as he glared down his rather large nose at the girl.

“Spitelout?” Stoick ventured, already inwardly preparing himself for another shouting match to break out.

Spitelout remained silent for a time linger before slowly giving a nod. “Aye,” he bit out. “But I don’t like it, and I’ll be keeping an eye on her.”

Stoick sighed, dragging a large, meaty hand down his face before nodding himself. “Fair enough,” he allowed. “I’ll see to it that the girl’s not left to her own devices for anything more than bathing and sleeping. For now, Sunset, I’ll have you sleep in my hall - Thor only knows there’s plenty of space. Council adjourned.”

And with that, ten Vikings stood from the table, taking up the knives they had placed upon its surface upon arriving, and made their way out of the Great Hall. Stoick remained seated, watching as Sunset first shrank away from, then smiled to, each Council member as they passed, seemingly pushing herself to appear less nervous and fearful than she was. Stoick couldn’t suppress a chuckle as Mother Goethi stopped at the girl’s side, taking her hand and patting it soothingly with a smile before moving on.

As the last Viking left the hall - Silent Sven gave him a wave as he left, pulling the heavy door behind him - Stoick let his eyes fall completely on Sunset. His Council Knife still sat embedded in the table’s center, signifying his position as the Head. Sunset looked up at him timidly, playing with a strand of her striking crimson-and-gold hair, and Stoick simply watched her for a time before grabbing the knife in his big meaty fist and pulling it free without a second’s struggle.

Sunset watched him as he stood and moved around the table, taking the longest path of any other Council Member as he sat in the direct center from either end. As he trudged down the stone steps leading to the Council Table itself, he watched her face, and she seemed to just now be realising just how big he was. And as he came to stand before her, dwarfing the girl easily, he gave a smile.

“Come now, lass,” he offered softly, placing one of his gigantic hands on her tiny shoulder. “Let’s get ye somewhere you can rest. My hall’s the largest on Berk, save the Great Hall itself, so I’m sure we can find you somewhere private to claim for your own.”

Sunset nodded, relaxing slightly at Stoick’s softer tones, before her face turned an embarrassed scarlet as her stomach gave an angry growl. Stoick blinked at her in shock for a moment before bursting out with a thunderous guffaw of laughter.

“An’ we’ll get some food in yer belly too, aye?” he added with a much larger smile, chest still shaking with suppressed mirth. Sunset gave another nod, smiling back even as her face burned red.

2 - Heir Raising

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was not what someone might call the typical example of a Viking. He was a rather small boy at best, thin where others his age had already bulked out one way or another, and with very little hidden strengths that could often be seen in a promising young Viking. His deep brown hair was tinted red at the edges by the lye soap used most often on Berk, and stood out against the usual blacks or blondes kept by most Vikings.

There were only two things about Hiccup that the boy could say might pass as extraordinary. The first was his striking green eyes, a collage of shades from grassy knolls to glittering emeralds that - as he’d been told - sparkled every time his mind got to work.

And that was the other thing. Hiccup’s brain didn’t work like a ‘normal’ Viking might think. When faced with a problem, for example, Hiccup didn’t first see how it stood up to a sword, followed by an axe, then - if all else failed - a mace. No, Hiccup preferred to think his problems through.

It was one of such problems that had seen the Berk Heir sat in his loft-bedroom in the large and spacious Haddock Hall that afternoon, instead of out at the Forge with Gobber. The old smith had shouted through the doors for Hiccup to close up and go home for the evening, and Hiccup wasn’t about to complain at a chance to have the Hall to himself for a few hours.

The central hearth had a roaring fire before he’d even shucked his boots, and Hiccup now sat at the edge of his bedchamber balcony, bared feet dangling off the edge as he stretched and wiggled his toes in the direction of the warm fire. A block of wood sat on his lap, upon which Hiccup scribbled away at a piece of parchment with his charcoal, precise drawings and lines of runes detailing something only his active mind could conjure up.

‘If I could just find a way to compensate for the torque of the bolas…’ Hiccup thought to himself, gnawing thoughtfully on the wooden holding-side of his writing tool. ‘I’ll show Snotlout who throws as far as Mildew…’

A scowl crossed Hiccup’s features as that particular thought reminded him of his truly awful cousin. Snotlout was his mother’s brother’s son, making him the next-in-line for Chief if anything ever happened to Hiccup and his father never had another Heir. Which the whole village knew would never happen. “He saw Valhalla in your mother’s eyes,” Droplaug Ingermann had said one day as she watched over him and his friend, her own child Fishlegs.

There was a pleasant train of thought. Hiccup hadn’t spoken to Fishlegs in a few weeks, but the larger boy was just as smart as Hiccup himself, he was sure. The only difference came in what those smarts applied to. While Hiccup could come up with the most intricate and unfathomable machines and contraptions, Fishlegs had the uncanny ability to understand most any maps and writings put in front of him within moments. And while foreign language studies weren’t exactly the most sought after career on Berk, Fishlegs was a born cartographer, and the ability to navigate a ship in Berk was as good as being given a chest of gold at birth.

Hiccup sighed as he wrenched his thoughts back to the designs in his lap, staring at them again. “It just can’t be pulled so tight as it is…” he muttered, once again chewing on the writing tool in his hand. “Maybe if I coat it in crushed pine needles and resin…”

No sooner had Hiccup noted the thought down did the young Haddock leap clear across his bedchamber, writing tool clattering against the wall at one end as the block he’d been leaning on bounced off his bed at the other. The gust of wind that followed the Hall’s main door being slammed open with such casual force that it could only be Hiccup’s father had the fire flickering and struggling to remain lit, sending chills and shadows dancing around the house.

“...’course, I cann’e offer TOO much privacy,” Hiccup’s father’s voice said as it carried up the stairs to his room, piquing Hiccup’s interest despite the fright that still clung to him. Despite himself, Hiccup found it impossible to keep from crawling back to the edge of his own floor and peeking over.

Now, Hiccup was no stranger to the fairer sex. A Viking’s way of life left very little privacy even for the Chief’s family - it was hardly strange to see one or two of Berk’s womenfolk strutting down to the rivers as bare as the day they’d come into the world on Wash Day, with the men huddled in the Great Hall drinking mead or eating mutton. Some men even found joys in challenging one another to see who could withstand Berk’s cold for the longest whilst starkers. And because of this lifestyle they held, Hiccup had seen many of the villagefolk in the buff - far more than he might have liked, but no less than any other Viking on Berk.

But this person his father had brought to their Hall, this… girl… she took Hiccup’s breath away in a manner he’d felt with only one other. One look at her crimson hair - not red-tinged or auburn that Berk’s lye soaps left many of their village with, but honest to goodness bright crimson red hair, interspersed with streaks of golden yellow fairer than the freshest grains of wheat. Her skin - well, the torchlight often left a tinge of red on a person’s skin, but no torchlight Hiccup had ever seen cast a person that particular shade of yellow unless they stood at Helheim’s door waiting for entry. And yet this girl seemed perfectly healthy, practically glowing in the light of the hall as she stepped in behind his father and struggled to shove the door shut behind her. His father absently reached back and slammed the portal with a single, gigantic hand.

Her clothes caused Hiccup a moment’s hesitation. He knew Berk clothes. As unmanly as it was for a Viking, Hiccup even knew what it was to make and repair them, as the task fell to him as soon as he was old enough for it after his mother’s fate. And nothing this girl wore came even close to ‘proper’ Viking garb. Her leathers were soft, her underclothes thin, her battle skirt lacked any spikes or bones to speak of. A breath of relief escaped her rosy lips as Hiccup watched her shivering form slide ever so slightly closer to the fire.

“There ‘ain’t many o’ us in this Hall,” his father continued, rolling his great shoulders as his fur cloak found itself draped across a chair facing the fire. “Jus’ me an’ my lad - and don’ you be makin’ any eyes at him!”

Hiccup had to bit his tongue to hold back the snappy line that fought it's way up his throat. How could his father say that! But then, a mere moment later, Stoick the Vast - O Hear His Name And Tremble, Ug Ug - burst out with a great, booming laughter. A quick glance at their guest’s beet-red face told him why.

“I-I wouldn’t dream of it, Sir,” she stammered in a voice unlike any Hiccup had ever heard. “Like I said before, I don’t plan on staying long if I can help it, and making any lasting ties would… complicate my plans to leave.”

Hiccup blinked. So she was a traveller. That made sense, he supposed, considering her exotic appearance and the fact that he’d never seen her around before. Really, he was shocked he hadn’t thought of it before.

“Now then,” Hiccups father boomed, once again startling Hiccup from his thoughts. “Let’s get you a cot to sleep in, then I’ll have Hiccup give ye the grand tour o’ Berk.” He paused, scratching his beard, and Hiccup felt his heart rate rise as he realised what was coming and scrambled to try and preempt it.

“Now where is that boy…” Stoick muttered at the volume most Vikings spoke in casual conversation. Hiccup grabbed two wads of furs he kept to hand and fisted them over his ears.

It didn’t help much.

“HICCUUUUUUUPPP!!!!!”

Pausing just long enough for the ringing in his ears to die down a smidgeon - which still left his brain rattling from the noise - Hiccup stumbled to the top of the thick, oak-log steps that lead from the Hall’s primary room to his sectioned off bedchamber.

“Yeah dad?” Hiccup asked, shaking his head and trying to dislodge what felt like a screaming Nanodragon from his ear.

“Hiccup m’boyo, this is Sunrise Shiner. She’ll be stayin’ wi’ us fer a wee while.” Stoick slapped a great, meaty hand on Sunset’s shoulder, causing the girl to buckle and stumble under the unexpected force.

Sunset glanced up at him with a nervous smile. “A-actually sir, it's’ Sunset Shimmer,” she corrected.

Stoick stared down at her for a moment before nodding to himself, as though reminding himself. “Aye, so it is. My apologies lass, I’ll remember it soon, ye’ll see.” He gave her a truly massive smile, Sunset could tell at once he was being 100% sincere. “Anyway!” the great chief continued. “I do have work tah get back te, so I’ll leave you in Hiccup’s hands. Son, Sunset’ll need a brief tour of the island and some help figuring out where tah help out, an’ she’ll need somewhere wi’ a bit o’ privacy teh bed down. Can I trust ye wi’ that?”

Hiccup swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, blinked the tears from his eyes, and beamed proudly. His father had come to him for a job that sounded very important! “Yes sir!” he assured, beating his chest with a fist - and internally wincing at the bruise he knew he’d just caused himself.

Stoick simply nodded, content. He then nodded politely to Sunset before turning back to the front door and stepping back out into the freezing Berkian winds.

Sunset winced as the door slammed shut once again. “He must be really strong…” she mused quietly. “Even AJ can’t slam a door that hard…”

Hiccup managed a chuckle at that. “Yeah, that’d be Stoick the Vast for you,” he said. Sunset frowned as she heard what felt like a mixture of emotions in Hiccup’s voice, both Pride and… Anxiety? “Strongest Chief Berk’s ever known. Y'know he once took down a Monstrous Nightmare with his bare hands? Squeezed it's neck and popped the head right off.”

Sunset’s mind raced at a mile a minute. What was that mix of emotions in Hiccup’s voice for? What was a Monstrous Nightmare? Was it dangerous? And why did Stoick need to kill it? Was it hard to kill? Was the Chief really that strong?

She was snapped out of her thoughts as Hiccup waved his hand in front of her eyes. “Uh, you alright there?” he asked in concern. “You do look a little… yellow, maybe Goethi should take a look at you?”

“Uh… no, I’ll be fine,” Sunset assured him, smiling. “This is… normal, where I come from.”

Hiccup stared at her incredulously for a moment, and Sunset felt a bead of sweat roll down the back of her neck. Before she could decipher whether it was from her nervousness or from the roaring fire behind her, Hiccup broke into a wide grin and began berating her with questions.

“You’re from another land!? Wow, that’s amazing, where is it? Are you from the North? No, it gets much colder when you go north - you must be a Southern Islander! I didn’t think they had clothes like yours, Dad’s stories always spoke of light furs and loincloths-“

Sunset cut in when it looked like Hiccup might pass out from lack of oxygen. “Hiccup, breathe!” she shouted, momentarily reminded of Twilight in one of her ‘lecture mode’ tirades. “To answer your questions, I am from another land, but I… don’t know exactly where it is right now.”

Hiccup blinked for a moment before smiling g in understanding. “A drifter, eh?” he asked. “Not to worry, we get those every now and then. Trader Johann says he’s from a land where the sands stretch for days, but he’s been in the Archipelago for so long he doesn’t even remember which way his homeland is anymore.”

Sunset nodded along, mentally taking notes. “So, um… not to be rude, but…” she began, shuffling slightly.

Hiccup slapped a hand to his forehead. “Right, of course!” he cried. “Okay, what would you like to do first, settle in or go on a tour?”

Sunset considered for a moment. “Probably best to get somewhere to rest ready, right?” She offered. “A tour can always wait.”

Hiccup nodded resolutely, turning and marching further into the hall. Sunset hurried to keep up, surprised at the speed the small, wiry boy demonstrated.

“Dad’s room’s in the back,” Hiccup said, motioning to a curtained-off section of the hall. “I tend to sleep upstairs in the loft. There’s a space under the stairs we could turn into a bed space for you?”

Sunset glanced to the sizeable staircase of thick, wooden logs, then to the space underneath that was easily the size of her bedroom back home. “That’d work,” she offered, though internally she was marvelling at the size of the hall. From everything she’d read of Vikings back home, they lived in somewhat cramped homes of upwards of ten people at a time - but all this was just for two?

Her head whipped around as she heard Hiccup chuckling. “It pays to be the chief,” he said simply, having picked up on her thoughts. “I’ll get some supplies from Gobber to give you a proper room while we’re out. You gonna be okay in the cold?”

Sunset thought back to the biting winds she’d walked through for no more than five minutes before feeling like her legs were going to fall off. Glancing down at herself, she bit her lip in uncertainty.

“We can drop by the Ingermann’s and ask Droplaug if she has any clothes for you, if you want,” Hiccup offered.

Sunset could only nod, blushing slightly. Here she was, in a brand new world, and once again she had to scrounge for the basic commodities just like before. Only this time, even if she was willing to steal for them, she felt like she might not survive long if she did.

Hiccup nodded resolutely. “Come on then,” he said, quickly moving to the fire and moving a metal grill in front of the roaring flames. “Dad laughed when I made this, but he loves it now,” he chuckled proudly. “Keeps the fire going safely if we have to step out. No more burning down the hall to keep our toes warm!”

Sunset couldn’t help but laugh. She really tried, but it just burst out of her at Hiccup’s goofy grin. “Come on then,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to need my super-smart guide so I don’t get lost.”

She didn’t notice Hiccup’s blush as she moved to haul the massive door open again, struggling with both hands where Stoick has effortlessly done so with one.

Gobber the Belch let out a great, rumbling iteration of his namesake as he set his flagon down with his good hand. There truly was nothing like a warm pint of ale to fight off the Berkian chill.

Of course, the forge helped. And as he stepped back up to the roaring blaze and pulled another near-molten ingot out with his prosthetic hand - the regular ‘hand’ swapped out for a set of iron tongs - he couldn’t help but think back over the day as he hammered out a rhythm on the slab of iron.

He’d seen a lot in his travels around the world - done a lot. He’d met all kinds of interesting people and killed even more. But never had he seen anyone like that Sunset girl.

While he maintained an air of jolly ignorance to the world, Gobber was quite clever. You had to be, as a Viking, to live as long as he had, even if he had left a few pieces behind. And never had a person had Sunset’s skin that wasn’t taken by plague or jaundice.

But the girl seemed perfectly healthy, seemingly just as ready to run an Island Sprint as Astrid was to swing an axe. Gobber idly wondered what kind of weapon the girl might favour. Maybe a nice hammer? Gobber liked hammers.

The aging blacksmith was pulled from his thoughts by a familiar voice calling from the front of the store. Glancing at the metal he’d been working, he shrugged - he’d flattened the ingot enough. Spitelout’s sword could wait.

“Gobber!”

“Hold yer sheep lad, I’m comic’!” Gobber shouted back, setting the metal aside before turning and trudging towards the front of the smithy. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face when Hiccup came into view - the lad was practically his nephew, with how close Gobber was with Stoick. He’d decided early on to love the lad like his own.

“Hiccup m’lad, what brings you back ‘ere!?” Gobber roared, giving Hiccup his biggest grin. The lad smiled back, ducking quickly as Gobber reached to ruffle his mousy hair. “Gettin’ quicker lad, we’ll make a Viking out a’ ye yet! I thought I gave you the day off?”

Hiccup laughed before stepping aside, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Gobber followed the direction until his eyes fell on Sunset, arms wrapped around herself tightly as she shivered enough to shake the island.

“Dad asked me to show Sunset around,” Hiccup explained. “I was hoping to pick up a few things to set her up a bedspace. Some nails and a hammer!”

Gobber stared at Sunset for a moment longer before nodding. “Ah’ll bring some lumber an’ furs te yer hall,” he offered, making sure his tone garnered no questioning. “Jus’ tell me where an’ I’ll put the lass’ room up in no time.”

Hiccup gave him a thankful smile. “Thanks Gobber. We’re going to set it up under the stairs in the hall, I’ll come give you a hand one we’ve done everything we need to.”

Gobber couldn’t resist, not when the chance was waved under his nose like a tankard of ale. “Ye’ll wanna keep yer hands as long as ye can lad, trus’ me on that one!”

The look on Hiccup’s face was priceless, the lad’s rosy cheeks paling faster than an eel slipped out of a hole in a net. The red soon returned with a vengeance as Gobber let out the biggest belly laugh he had in at least a week.

“That’s not funny Gobber!”

“Aye, it were lad! Yer face!”

Hiccup heaved a great sigh and shook his head wearily. “I should be used to this by now,” he muttered, before a chuckle escaped him. “Good one Gobber, you got me.”

Gobber could only beam at him. “That I did!” he declared, before motioning over Hiccup’s shoulder to Sunset. “Now why don’t you stop bein’ a pig and bring the lass inside te warm herself up, eh? She’s freezin’ ta death over there!”

Gobber watched as Hiccup turned to Sunset, instantly fretting over her. “What!? Sunset, why didn’t you say anything? Come on, the forge will warm you up.”

“I-I’m f-f-f-f-finnnnnne,” Sunset stammered through her chattering teeth, though she offered no resistance as Hiccup walked her out of the winds and into the forge, pulling up a stool for her to sit on.

Gobber watched curiously as the two began chatting between themselves, seeming to forget about him almost instantly. He had to wonder what was going through Hiccup’s mind with this girl - this admittedly very pretty girl, who looked around Hiccup’s age, who was now going to be sleeping in Hiccup’s hall for the forseeable future. Gobber knew Hiccup had always been sweet on the Hofferson lass, Astrid, but with Sunset around and seemingly being very friendly towards him? Thor only knew.

Gobber could only hope his not-quite-nephew wouldn’t get his young heart broken if he was sweet on the girl. Or that they wouldn’t lose their Heir when Sunset eventually went home, should he decide to go with her.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind, Gobber closed up shop for the second time that day and set about his new tasks. He had a chest of nails already that he threw in a cart out front of his shop. Hiccup would bring a hammer with him, and Gobber still had his hammer-hand on. All he needed was a good bit of lumber.

3 - Building on Foundations

Sunset lay back that night in wonder, staring at the sloping underside of the stairs that formed the roof of her bedroom. The wooden walls let the warmth from the main hearth seep into her room, keeping her nice and toasty beneath the furs of her blankets. The rattling of the walls against Stoick’s snoring at the other side of the hall was more amusing than anything else. Instead, what kept Sunset awake into the dark hours of the night… was worry.

She wasn’t worried for her safety - the people of Berk had been very kind to her after their initial bout of suspicion, which she could hardly blame them for. She was a stranger in their home that had appeared out of nowhere through unknown methods and no way of getting home. If anything, she was lucky they hadn’t decided to just set her adrift on an old longboat and be done with her.

No, Sunset spent her night thinking of home. She thought of her friends that she may never see again, of Princess Twilight fretting over the glitching Mirror Portal to try and find her, of what her own Twilight was going through on her side of the rift. Had Princess Twilight managed to contact her friends, did they know what had happened?

Letting out a long, dejected sigh, Sunset rolled over, staring instead at the wall. It probably wouldn’t do her any good to dwell on things too much. She could trust Princess Twilight… right? Of course she could. She’d know something was wrong… right?

Sunset sighed again. She needed to sleep, or she’d be exhausted for whatever she was asked to do the next day. Closing her eyes, she fell into the practice that had gotten her through so many nights when she’d first ran from Celestia - she pretended to sleep until her body was fooled.

The sound of shattering glass had her eyes snap open once again, however. Berk didn’t have any glass - she wasn’t entirely sure the residents had the knowledge to make it. So that could only mean one thing.

Whoever had made that sound, they weren’t from Berk.

Sunset scrambled out of the mountain of furs that was her bedding, shivering violently at the rush of cold air that hit her body like a semi truck. She scrambled to pull her clothes on - beginning with the underclothes that Mrs. Ingermann had provided her to combat the Berkian winds. As unflattering as the full-body fabrics were, she was thankful for them.

Moving quickly and carefully, Sunset peeked out of her makeshift bedroom, looking back and forth in the main room of the hall. Stoick’s bedchambers sat towards the back, his walls still rattling violently as the giant of a man snored away. Clearly he hadn’t heard anything.

Sneaking out of her room and along the side of the staircase, Sunset froze. A dark shape was moving ahead of her, creeping down the stairs towards the front door just the same as her.

“Hiccup?” Sunset whispered, watching as the shadowed shape seemed to leap a mile into the air before turning to her.

“Sunset?” Hiccup muttered in shock before squinting at her. “What are you doing up?”

“Probably the same as you,” she shot back with a knowing smirk, chuckling as Hiccup’s face erupted in a bright red blush. “I heard something outside. I’m guessing you’re going to check it out too?”

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Hiccup nodded in response. “It could be dangerous,” he pointed out.

“I can take care of myself,” Sunset replied simply.

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Hiccup nodded before turning to lead the way out of the hall. Sunset followed close behind, taking a breath to steel herself as the doors opened and the frigid winds hit her head-on.

Creeping out and around the hall, Hiccup taking point as Sunset hung back, the pair scanned their surroundings fervently. As much as Sunset hoped beyond hope that Twilight had found a way to get her home, she knew there were other dangers on Berk to be aware of - their reaction to her arrival was clear enough.

Hiccup paused at the corner of the hall, holding his hand up to stop her, and Sunset crowded in behind him to try and get a better look. Together they slowly leaned around the corner, gasping at what they saw.

A dark figure knelt at the side of the hall, muttering to himself as he seemed to be scooping something up from the ground that glittered in the moonlight. Sunset had to squint to see the figure - he seemed as dark as the night around him, somehow, and the lack of any light other than the moon itself only served to drape him in more darkness.

“Stupid fairies…” the figure muttered as it scooped the last of what Sunset could only guess was shattered glass up off the ground. “You take them through ONE portal and they freak out on you…”

Sunset heard Hiccup gasp, ducking back around the corner as the young man clapped a hand to his mouth. Pressing their backs to the wall of the hall, they both held their breaths, waiting to see if the figure had noticed them.

Moments passed, and as Sunset and Hiccup glanced at one another, Sunset took the risk and leaned out to peek at the figure again… only to leap back as a pair of piercing red eyes bore into her own.

“Gah!”

“Hello there,” the figure said quietly, staring at her before turning to regard Hiccup coldly. “Hmm… I wonder which of you is the Displaced one…” he muttered before offering Sunset a hand. “May I help you up?”

Sunset stared at him for a moment before slowly taking his hand, yelping as he pulled her up with surprising strength. Stumbling slightly, Sunset quickly got her feet under her before coughing awkwardly into her fist. “Thanks,” she offered, brushing her skirt off. “Um… who are you?”

“I’d like to know that, too,” Hiccup spoke up, clearly trying to stand as tall as he could to make an impression on the stranger. “You don’t seem like an invader, but you are a stranger in my village and that’s something I have to address.”

The stranger looked between the two, piercing red eyes boring into them both, before sighing. Reaching up, he pulled the long, dark cap off his head before running a hand through his snow-white hair. “Alright,” he said eventually, pulling the cap onto his head once more. “Well, you can call me Xerox. Looks to me like you’ve not heard of the Displaced, so it falls on me to explain this steaming pile of dragon dung to you, which should be fun.”

Sunset and Hiccup shared a glance, Sunset’s eyes widening in surprise as Hiccup frowned suspiciously.

“What’s a Displaced?” Sunset asked.

“What do you know about the Dragons?” Hiccup added moments later.

Xerox looked between the two for a moment before seeming to nod to himself. “Well that clears that up…” he muttered. “You’re the Displaced,” he continued, pointing to Sunset before glancing to Hiccup. “And this is your World. Easy enough. Also, I don’t know anything about your dragons, but I’ve dealt with a few where I’m from, so it’s just a phrase I use.”

Hiccup watched Xerox suspiciously, but seemed to relent, nodding slightly. Sunset took this as a good sign that he wasn’t going to raise the alarms, since this person seemed to have answers that might help her - the last thing she needed was the whole Village bearing down on him with axe and sword.

“Anyway,” Xerox continued, clapping his hands together suddenly to bring attention back to himself. When Sunset and Hiccup were focused on him, he nodded. “Do you have anywhere we can sit while we talk? As much as I’m enjoying the night air, it's freezing out here.”

Blinking slightly, Sunset turned to Hiccup, who remained silent for a moment before nodding. “Follow me,” he said simply, turning and leading the way down a stone-lined pathway away from the hall. Xerox fell into step behind the small Viking, and Sunset brought up the rear, silently thanking Celestia herself that things seemed to be going so smoothly for her.

Hiccup eventually led the group down to a secluded beach at the bottom of the Berkian cliffs and into a small cavern, protected by the strong winds and kept dry by a line of large stones set up in the sands.

“The tides are low at the moment,” Hiccup explained casually as he opened a small alcove in the cavern walls and began pulling pieces of firewood out, setting them into a basin in the center of the ‘room’. “So sometimes I come down here to think, when I want to be alone. Now, you were going to explain?” He glanced pointedly to Xerox as he said this, kneeling down with a knife and stone to try and spark the flames.

“Allow me,” Xerox offered, pointing his fore- and middle-fingers at the wood and taking a breath. A spark of fire leapt from his fingertips, catching on the wood before settling into a comforting campfire.

Hiccup stared bug-eyed at the blaze before looking up to Xerox, seemingly taking him in completely for a moment. “Odin’s Beard…” he breathed out after a moment, seemingly in awe.

Xerox simply chuckled as he crouched down to sit atop a stone at the side of the fire. “Not quite,” he said dismissively. “Don’t start worshipping me as some kind of God now? I just know a little Magic, that’s all.”

Sunset’s eyes widened at the sight, her mind racing at a mile a minute. This person knew how to use Magic too!? Maybe he was from another world… and it definitely wasn’t hers. She’d never heard of a shadowed man like this in Equestria.

“Let’s start at the beginning then, yes?” Xerox began, sitting back and steepling his fingers as he seemed to think of how to begin. Sunset found herself leaning forward in anticipation, an action she noticed Hiccup mirroring in earnest.

“Now, I come from another world, one that it looks like is not a mirror of this one, which is an interesting change,” the dark-skinned man began. “Where I come from is called Equestria, and I stay with a duo of mares in a small town named Ponyville.”

Sunset frowned in confusion. “You can’t be from Equestria,” she cut in. “I’ve never heard of anything like you before.”

Raising his brow silently, Xerox stared at Sunset for until the girl swallowed nervously before answering. “There are multiple versions of certain worlds,” he said simply. “My Equestria would be different from the one I assume you hail from.” Pausing, Xerox waited for Sunset to nod slowly before continuing. “Now, as I was saying, sometimes individuals get moved from one world to another, for whatever reason, and become stuck there. I don’t personally know if there’s any way to get back when this happens.”

Sunset sat back as Xerox’s words sank in, her hopes sinking to the bottom of her stomach. No known way home? Did that mean she was stuck here, forever?

“So how did you get here then?” Hiccup asked, breaking Sunset out of her internal spiral as she tuned back into the conversation. “Surely there’s not some sort of gateway between your world and ours, especially not one that’s been hidden for this long.”

Xerox shook his head, smiling. “You’re a smart one,” he praised casually before answering the young heir’s question. “No, there’s no standard gateway. Displaced can be called to one another’s worlds using Tokens, or sometimes we get pulled across through our own means when our help is needed. You could think of the Multiverse as moving around, sometimes the different realities come closer together and link together. I’m assuming something thought you could use my help to understand your situation better, Sunset.”

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Sunset turned the information over in her mind before speaking. “So let me get this straight,” she began eventually. “Through some kind of cosmic forces out of our control, I got taken from my home, thrown onto Berk, and now I’m stuck here for who knows how long because nobody knows how I can get home?”

Xerox simply shrugged. “I’m sure somebody knows how,” he offered. “There’s hundreds, possibly thousands of Displaced in the Multiverse. At least one of them likely figured something out. As for me, I neither know nor care about getting home - I left of my own free will.”

Hiccup spoke up suddenly, curiosity and confusion on his face. “Why would you want to leave your own homeworld?” he asked.

Again, Xerox shrugged. “In all technicality, I’m not a person - I’m a reflection of a person, made manifest by the magic of the Heavens of my world to test the Destined Hero whenever needed. Said Hero was trapped in a reincarnation curse along with the Princess of Wisdom and Evil Incarnate, and I got tired of that cycle, so when I got my chance, I left.”

Silence fell on the cavern as Sunset and Hiccup processed Xerox’s words. “You…” Sunset began, blinking rapidly. “You… left? Just like that?”

Xerox sighed as he leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It wasn’t as simple as that, but… yes. Certain actions and events also helped.”

“So how does all this help Sunset?” Hiccup asked pointedly. “Not to be rude, but your backstory doesn’t seem to be much help in our situation.”

Nodding, Xerox sat back again. “Right, well, one of the… I suppose you could call it a benefit, of being Displaced, is that you can call upon and be called by other Displaced for help. All you need is a Token, an item important or representative of you, to send out for others to find.”

“All I have anymore is my clothes,” Sunset pointed out with a dejected sigh. “I wasn’t exactly planning on coming here at the time.”

“You don’t have to do anything right now,” Xerox pointed out. “You may find something in the future that represents you best, or you may even be able to make something. But you should have a natural ability to toss your Token out into the Void just by thinking about it - just make sure you push your energy into it before.”

Sunset blinked slowly before smiling. “Oh, it's like a Find-Me Crystal!” she said suddenly, chuckling. “That should be easy then! And here I was worrying about whether I could do things or not.”

Xerox simply smiled, giving a nod before seeming to get distracted as a small, glowing orb zipped into the cavern. “There you are!” he cried suddenly, leaping to his feet and clasping his hands around the light. “I was worried what would happen if I had to leave a Fairy here.”

Hiccup’s eyes bugged out as he scrambled backwards in panic. “F-fairy!?” he cried out, trembling at the thought. “You brought a Fairy to Berk!?”

Sunset and Xerox shared a look before staring at Hiccup in surprise, the dark-skinned visitor slowly reaching to a pouch at his belt and producing an empty bottle, into which he deposited the fairy before trapping it with a cork stopper. As Hiccup let out a sigh of relief, Xerox raised a brow questioningly.

“Do I even want to know what Fairies can do in this world?” he asked, stowing his bottled fairy away once again. “Y’know what? No, no I don’t.”

Nodding in silent agreement, Sunset instead turned to Xerox. “So, is there anything else I should know?” she asked, blinking as the interdimensional visitor just shrugged in response. “Oh… then, um… how will you get home?”

“No idea,” Xerox said with another shrug. “Most summons have to be dismissed, but I was never summoned, so maybe I’ll just… poof back home when my world drifts far enough away. For now though, here.”

Sunset blinked as Xerox reached into another pouch at his belt, producing a small, intricately designed crystal container in the shape of a heart, detailed with silver inlets and filled with a viscous, black liquid.

“What’s this?” Sunset asked in confusion, taking the item and yelping as she felt energy surge from within and shoot up her arm, invigorating her somewhat.

“My token,” Xerox explained, chuckling. “It’s called a Dark Heart Container, it holds Life Energy that works best with people touched by Darkness. I’m guessing you’ve used Dark Magic before?” He watched curiously as Sunset froze before giving a slow, seemingly shameful nod. “Hey, no worries, if you made mistakes before just don’t make them again, yeah? I’m literally made from Dark Magic, and I turned out just fine, right?”

Sunset thought on that for a moment before nodding again, although still hesitantly. While she didn’t know much about Xerox, he seemed nice enough, and he was trying to help her as best he could with her situation. The fact that he was supposedly a Dark Magic construct didn’t seem to affect him the way that her mind told her it should, or if it had, he’d moved past it. “Thank you,” she offered finally, slowly closing her fingers around the Dark Heart Container and taking a deep, steadying breath as she felt the energy surge through her again.

“That’s my Token too,” Xerox pointed out. “If you ever need help in the future, you can use it to summon me here. Don’t be afraid to use it.”

Sunset nodded one final time as she slipped the Token into her pocket. “I won’t,” she promised, shuddering as the energy seemed to leave her when her touch left the Heart Container. “I’ll have to keep this safe…”

Xerox nodded in agreement before his attention shifted, seemingly staring into a dark potion of the cave before standing abruptly, Sunset and Hiccup following suit. “Time for me to go,” he said, taking both Sunset and Hiccup’s hands and shaking them firmly. “Take care of yourselves, and remember, I’m just a call away if you need help.”

With that, Xerox turned away from the duo, walking directly towards the cavern wall where the shadows seemed densest… and vanishing within them without a trace.

Sunset stared at the wall in awe. When she turned to Hiccup, she saw the same reflected back at her in his eyes. After a moment of the two just staring at each other, Sunset coughed awkwardly, turning towards the cavern entrance and making her way out. “We should get back,” she said simply. “It’s late.”

“Y-yeah…” Hiccup stammered, blinking his shock away before shaking his head. As if his life wasn’t crazy enough before…

Ducking behind a large boulder covered in seaweed and barnacles, Snotlout couldn’t help but grin to himself, shoving a fist in his mouth to keep from cackling. His luck couldn’t have gotten any better!

On yet another late-night workout session in the woods, the burly young Viking had overheard the strange sound of something breaking - he’d broken enough things to know the sound even if he didn’t recognise the material - and moved to investigate. If he could take down an intruder, he’d be a hero in the village before even killing his first Dragon!

He’d held back slightly, however, when he’d seen the unknown figure stood talking away with his twig of a cousin and that weird new girl, as if it was the most normal thing in the world! Snotlout hated to admit it, but when his cousin had been holding that knife, he’d almost been proud to call Hiccup family, ready to charge in and provide backup if the village heir had struck… only to stare in horror as Hiccup instead lead the stranger and the girl down to the beach!

He’d been listening the whole time since they’d stepped into the cavern. And what a conversation to eavesdrop on! It turned out that the weird invader was some kind of magic creature from another world, who walked around with Fairies on his belt of all things, and he’d given the girl - who sounded like a Witch of all things if he’d heard things right - a Dark Magic trinket to not only make herself stronger, but call on the creature whenever she wanted!?

As he watched the two walk away and make their way back up to the village for the night, Snotlout grinned to himself. His father would want to hear this - if the girl was a Witch, the whole village would come together to take her down. She wouldn’t stand a chance!